morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-15
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

I was awakened around 3:45 AM with sounds of rain drops on my tent and some fairly high winds. I really don't like hiking with a lot of wet gear -- so I decided to just go ahead and get packed up. I got everything loaded and moved it under the shelter awning, where I found that 3-4 other hikers were packing up as well. The lightning and thunder were getting more intense. I went ahead and ate my breakfast while I waited for a break in the weather. At around 4:45 the rain had almost stopped so I decided to get started toward Damascus. I made super time and walked into town around 7:15 AM. I was the only person walking down Main Street -- the town was still asleep.Little by little other hikers began to appear and Damascus came alive. Having been in Damascus several times before, I knew my way around. I poked my head into the outfitters store and then headed over to the Side Track Cafe for some breakfast and internet access. Once I had that taken care of I walked over to the hiker hostel known as The Place and met up with some of my friends. Before long I was on my way out to the hiker campground to see who was out there. The rest of the day consisted of wandering around and meeting other hikers.Leslie's flight was due in around 7:30 PM and we were meeting at The Place, so I stuck pretty close. It was 8:30 and she still hadn't arrived. I heard that there was bluegrass music being played live at The Side Track which was only a block away. So I left word with some hikers that I would be there, and headed over.I wasn't at the Side Track for 15 minutes when the front door opened and in walked Leslie and her friend Ruth, who had picked her up from the airport and had driven her to Damascus. We had a few beers and then headed off to Abingdon where Leslie had made a hotel reservation.It doesn't get any better than this -- a hot shower, a good meal and a REAL bed, and finally reunited with my wife after 46 days on the trail.
Date: 2003-05-19
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Trail Days was fun but it was time to move on. These boots were made for walking and they were getting pretty itchy. BA Turtle and I had originally talked about trying to do a fairly high mileage day. But then we ran into Rumbler, Jersey, Skidmark, and Balloo and found out that they were hiking into the first shelter and having a weenie roast. So we signed up to carry the ketchup and mustard -- and that pretty much locked us into a 9-10 mile day. Then again, we didn't get away real early AND this was BA Turtle's first day on the trail, so it was smart to keep the mileage down.The hiking was pretty easy (all things are relative) and we reached the shelter around 4 PM. There was a group of college students on a field trip and we all exchanged names and had a good chat. Shortly after that the other thru-hikers started to pile in. It turned out to be "tent city" and the shelter filled up too. The hot dogs were fantastic and we both crawled into our sleeping bags with full tummies. All was well with the world -- it was a GOOD day!!
Date: 2003-05-20
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Whitetop Mountain Road
Miles today: 11.9

Woke up early and were packed and had eaten breakfast by 7 AM. Pretty much everyone else at the campsite was still asleep when we left. The day started off pretty easy. But then came the climb up to Buzzard Rock. It was a steady uphill section that began as a covered trail and then broke out into an open field (but still uphill). The open field was loaded with rocks and boulders that slowed us down quite a bit. We finally got to the summit and the trail headed toward Whitetop Mountain. We knew that Thomas Knob Shelter was out of reach today, so we began looking for a tent site. We found a great water source near Whitetop Mountain road and that made our decision. We found the most level ground, pitched our tents, and made dinner. We were joined by another hiker shortly after. We spoke a bit and then turned in for the night.
Date: 2003-05-21
From: Whitetop Mountain Road

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: light rain

Today was our hike through the "Highlands." BA Turtle's feet were pretty sore so we backed off the pack. We reached Thomas Knob Shelter by lunch time. A hiker named Constant Motion was in the shelter. We had hiked with her yesterday and recognized her. She was sick to her stomach and had stayed in the shelter after all the hikers who stayed there the night before had left in the morning. She thought she had a virus -- it turned out a lot of hikers were suffering from the same symptoms, and the mysterious disease got the name "Hiker Crud." We offered Constant Motion some food and gatorade, and then moved on. With our bellies full and bodies rested we hiked out. The trail was mostly downhill and very muddy. Within a few minutes we found ourselves surrounded by wild ponies. They were very approachable and several came right up to us. They loved licking the salt from our hands. The rest of the afternoon took us through several cow pastures. It wasn't a long day but we were very glad to reach the shelter, grab dinner, and call it a day!
Date: 2003-05-22
From: Wise Shelter

To: Dickey Gap (Troutdale)
Miles today: 16.1

We knew going into today that it was going to be long and hard -- but we also knew that we would be in a bed and breakfast tonight and that kept us going. the trail was rather unremarkable but we did cross a pretty cool bridge and took some pictures. The final 4-5 miles were monotonous ups and downs and finally we could hear the cars on the road so we knew we were getting close. However, like many of the other town approaches, we could see and hear it long before we got there. Finally we walked out of the woods and onto the road. We stuck out our thumbs and got a ride in just a few minutes. Once we got to the Troutdale Trading Post, we made a call over to the Fox Hill Inn (a fantastic B & B that caters to hikers as well as "normal" people) and shortly after that the owner drove up to shuttle us over to his place. It was a realy great B & B. Got a shower, got our laundry done, and even got to watch a little TV. Life is GOOD. Living the Dream!!
Date: 2003-05-23
From: Dickey Gap (Troutdale)

To: Troutdale
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

BA Turtle's blisters had gotten SO bad that she could not continue to hike in her boots. It was either get her into more comfortable footwear or take some time off the trail. Neither of us wanted to get off the trail, so the best option was to find an outfitter and look at footwear alternatives. The closest outfitter was back in Damascus, the town we hiked out of 4 days ago. I gave them a call and got some good news -- they had a van headed up our way to drop off some hikers, so they offered to come pick us up. To make a long story short, we rode back to Damascus and BOTH of us got light weight trail runners. I was planning on cutting over to a low cut shoe anyway so this was a perfect excuse to pull the trigger a bit early. We got a ride back to Troutdale and arrived at the Baptist hostel just as the rain started. We had decided to stay in the hostel as it was cheaper than the B & B and closer to the trail. We settled in for the night, ready to hike again the next day.
Date: 2003-05-24
From: Troutdale

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

Hard day for BA Turtle. The new lighter weight shoes are an improvement but the blisters on her heels are very painful. She has them covered with duct tape to lower the friction but they still hurt. This was also a lot of miles to hike with her heels in such bad shape. But the elevation profile made the miles and terrain appear relatively easy. In addition we really needed to position ourselves so that we could hike into Rural Retreat in the morning. All in all it was a good day to hike. Not too warm or coold and a pretty steady breeze. Around 5 PM we reached the shelter. This is a huge 2-level shelter with running water and a shower. On top of that we had arrived on a day when some trail angels had shown up to cook us hot dogs. there was even cold beer!! We stayed on the upper deck. The hot dogs and beer were great. The shelter was full of hikers, and we knew many of them. Setted in for a good night's sleep with full bellies.
Date: 2003-05-25
From: Partnership Shelter

To: US 11 (Atkins)
Miles today: 11.6

Woke up early and to our surprise the same trail angels had set up to make us a pancake and sausage breakfast. We fed our faces and then headed out on the trail. This was a fairly easy day and found us walking through several pastures and fields. By 4 PM we were at the Relax Inn Motel and got nice hot showers. We even managed to get our laundry done before dinner. Speaking of dinner, we got Dan, a fellow who was wheel chair bound and lived next door to shuttle us into the town of Marion for an All You Can Eat Chinese dinner and grocery shopping. Dan turned out to be a real character. His car smelled terrible and the seats were covered in animal (dog) hair. We appreciated the shuttle but we were all glad to make it back to the motel in one piece. We watched a little TV and then turned in for the night.
Date: 2003-05-26
From: US 11 (Atkins)

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's hike started on the road. Had to cross under the expressway and then the trail took off into an overgrown field. This was one of those days when I wished I had high gaiters to cover more of my legs. By the time we got across the field my legs and shorts were soaking wet. After crossing several fields of waist high, overgrown grass we tucked into the woods and began a series of PUDS (Pointless Ups and Downs) and finally reached the shelter. Not the longest day we had done in a while but one of the more difficult. As has been the case on many days recently, the trail for the most part was muddy. Hard to get any traction going uphill and then slipping and sliding and occasionally falling on the downhills. Not sure of the exact statistic here but I'll bet this has been one of the wettest Mays in many years. Most of us are complaining about the rain but I know that in a few months it'll be so hot and dry we'll be begging for rain. All for today. Time to catch some zzzzzzz's.
Date: 2003-05-27
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

The day started out cloudy and rainy. then the rain stopped but it remained overcast. Actually, all things considered, I've started to like the overcast days for hiking, especially if there's a breeze.We broke out of the woods onto an open bald area around 11:30. Hiked across half the bald to a water source (pond) and decided to do lunch there at that spot. the rest of the early afternoon was spent crossing the remainder of the bald and then walking an old forest road. The road headed uphill and we reached the shelter about 3PM. This was a very unique shelter. Full under block/concrete walls, tin roof, and a door. Another unusual feature of this shelter is that it stands alone in an open field on a hill. Most shelters are deep in the woods and fairly well concealed. This shelter also has no water source. Originally, we were planning to hike on to a campsite about 5 miles away, but since the shelter was so unique (and we were a bit tired) we decided to stay. Now what to do about the water? I went with Jersey and Rumbler, carrying water containers, to the nearest water source, which was about a mile and a half down the AT. The directions in Wingfoot's book to this water source said to go half a mile down the AT, then 100 yards on an old logging road, then 50 yards down a blue blazed trail. Unfortunately, there were several old logging roads that we crossed, and we spent a good 45 minutes examining two of them before we came to the one we wanted. Once we got water, it was another mile and a half back uphill, carrying water, before we got back to the shelter. Was it a good decision? It seemed so at the time.Anyway, the shelter filled up with hikers over the next few hours. While we were making dinner the rain started again and continued all night -- Go Figure. The trail should be good and muddy in the morning.
Date: 2003-05-28
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Little Wolf Creek 
Miles today: 14.3

The first segment of the trail was a very steep downhill. We had all to do not to fall. The trail was solid mud and after about an hour we were pretty much covered in mud from the ankles down. We walked a ridgeline for several hours and then came out onto an old forest service road. The AT went downhill and there was a "High Water" alternate trail that followed the forest service road. BA Turtle was having considerable foot pain and opted for the alternate trail. I decided to continue on the AT -- and boy what a trail it was. Mud, mud, and more mud, and mostly downhill, crossing and recrossing Wolf Creek. It made no sense to go slowly so I literally ran through the rhododendron bog. As I reached the junction of the AT and the high water trail, I heard someone call out my trail name. It was T-Bird and she already had her tent set up and was gathering wood to build a fire. Just then I looked uphill and saw BA Turtle headed toward the campsite. We decided that this was a good spot for the night and set up our tents. Shortly after we got set up our other friends (Skidmark, Balloo, Rumbler, and Jersey) showed up and they pitched their tents as well. T-Bird got out her guitar and began to play songs while we all ate our dinner. Wouldn't you know it -- the rain started to fall!! That pretty much put the kibosh on the night's activities and we all called it a day.
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Little Wolf Creek 

To: US 21/52 (Bland)
Miles today: 7.2

Woke up to the sound of rain -- so what else is new. If it was up to me, we would have just stayed in our tents and waited out the rain. But, we were out of food and needed to get into town. Plus, BA Turtle had waked up early and was just about ready to go. So we packed everything up and headed for Bland. The trail wasn't too bad in terms of ups and downs but it was as muddy as it gets. After several hours of winding in and out of different gorges we came out onto an old forest service road. We followed that road on a gentle downhill grade for about 30 minutes until the highway was in sight. As we reached the highway we discovered that a former thru-hiker named Cinderella was there with sodas and cookies. She also gave us a ride into town where we were able to buy groceries and eat lunch at the best restaurant in town -- the Citgo Station! Cinderella also gave us a ride to the Big Walker Motel, where we got a room for the night. They had no laundry service so we just strung a long line and hung everything out to dry. Other hikers who arrived knew exactly what rooms hikers were in, because of the tents, sleeping bags, boots, and other gear laid out to dry in the parking lot. It looked like hobo central!For dinner we walked down to the Dairy Queen -- great milkshakes! That was it for the night. Just as we settled in for a night's sleep we heard it start raining again -- YIKES.
Date: 2003-05-30
From: US 21/52 (Bland)

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: broken clouds

The hike out of Bland was different -- it started off on a mile and a half road walk. Seemed like we were never going to get into the woods. But finally we saw the double-white blazes indicating that a turn was coming up. Soon we were headed uphill and out of sight. There was a shelter about 2 miles from the road and we reached it quickly. We stopped for a moment to use the privy; the shelter was supposed to be .2 from the trail -- we never actually found the shelter, but hiked in much further than .2 to the privy and then back out to where we had left our packs. There were a few ups and downs but nothing too steep -- for the most part the trail followed the ridgeline on an old logging road. We managed to maintain 2 miles per hour and reached our shelter by around 4 PM. Again it started to rain so we strung a line and hung up some clothes in the hopes they would dry out. Of course, the humidity was near 100%, and there wasn't much wind, so we knew we'd be putting damp clothes back on in the morning. Did some journaling, made dinner and drifted off to sleep. We had a good time and some good food in town but it was great to be back out on the trail.
Date: 2003-05-31
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Crossed the 600 mile mark today. With the exception of the excessive mud and blowdowns on the trail, today was a pleasurable hike. We crossed something called Dismal Creek a dozen times or more. Not sure how it got it's name but it was located in a wet and damp area.There were some side trails during the day that threw us off a bit and the mileage callouts definitely seemed incorrect in places. We finally got to the shelter and found that several of our friends were already there. The shelter itself was full so we set up our tents. It was getting pretty late so we made dinner right away and crawled in our sleeping bags for the night.
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

In the wee hours of the morning we were awoken by the sounds of high winds and rain. We both heard something hit the ground close to our tent. when we crawled out of our tents we discovered that a branch about 1" in diameter had fallen like a javelin and stuck in the ground in between our locations. A couple feet in either direction and one of us would likely have been injred. we chalked that up to good luck and got ready to hike out.We made great time and hiked right into the town of Pearisburg at about 3 PM. The first thing in sight was the Rendezvous motel. There was a note taped to the window at the hotel for me with instructions to call James Stockton at a local number. As I was dialing the number, Jamie (a young fella I know from Boy Scouts) showed up. He offered us a ride to the Holiday Motor Lodge, where a lot of hikers were staying. We took him up on the offer. It turns out that Jamie had hiked for 3 days out of Springer and never saw another hiker so he wanted to jump ahead and hike with a larger group. We checked into the motel and I took off into town to do laundry. Once I got back we had some dinner and then settled in for the night.
Date: 2003-06-02
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero Day in PearisburgWe got a ride into Blacksburg so that I could check out the backpacks at the outfitter there. With my lightweight sleeping bag and clothes I wanted to see if I could lower the base weight of my pack. I found a new pack that I thought would do the trick. It weighs 2 pounds, which is a 3.5 pound savings off my original pack -- I went for it!While we were in Blacksburg, BA Turtle managed to get in touch with a friend of hers from grad school, Cheri. Cheri teaches at Virginia Tech, and when they spoke on the phone, Cheri said she was only 3 blocks away. So she came over and hung out while we waited for a ride back to Pearisburg. What fun!That night, Cheri and her husband Todd, and their BEAUTIFUL baby Emily came over to Pearisburg and treated us to dinner at the local pizza place. Thanks Cheri and Todd!
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Pearisburg

To: 2nd Campsite after Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

Weather still wasn't so hot but we couldn't bear another day in town. The hike out of Pearisburg was wet and the trail was all overgrown. The terrain involved some pretty steep climbs and somewhere along the way the rain tapered off to a drizzle and then finally stopped. We hit the first shelter pretty fast and took a break. Tom for Short and Seneca Lou headed out first toward our agreed upon campsite. As we were getting ready to leave and noticed that there was no water at this upcoming campsite. That meant we would have to haul water from the previous water source. We did JUST THAT and it made for a rough afternoon but Tom and Lou sure appreciated seeing us hike up with all that water. They had missed the notice about water and had run dry.The campsite was beautiful and we had a great sunset. The wind really picked up though and made sleeping in my hammock rather interesting. It was on this night that I decided the hammock was going back home -- I want my tent back!! Hammocks are comfortable for sleeping but a tent allows you to organize better and that is important to me.
Date: 2003-06-05
From: 2nd Campsite after Rice Field Shelter

To: Campsite after Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: scattered clouds

This was a tough day. The ups and downs were rugged and the elevation changes were magnificent. When the terrain is this challenging you tend to lose track of where you are and you just HIKE! The day turns into a death march.We finally reached the campsite and started a nice fire. No one had much energy left for talking. We ate our dinners and CRASHED.Happy birthday, BA Turtle.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Campsite after Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

Hike started off pretty nice, which was good after a rough night in the hammock. Had every item of clothing on I owned and was still cold.Anyway, we hiked pretty much downhill for the first few miles, to the first shelter. Had a snack and took a short break. The hike then started going uphill -- and steeply uphill. We met Rumbler at the forest service road when we got to the top. Had lunch and then continued on to the next shelter (Laurel Creek). took a break and got water. The trail was a little confusing as we crossed the creek but we were able to figure it out. the trail again started up and we crossed some cow pastures and finally came to a road. After the road we crossed more fields and then started an incredibly steep uphill. Once on top of that hill the terrain got level and stayed that way until we reached the sign for the shelter. After a steep 1/4 mile dowhill we reached the shelter. Totally exhausted we fetched water, made dinner and CRASHED!! That was 2 really hard days in a row and my dogs were really barking.
Date: 2003-06-07
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up to the sounds of pouring rain -- AGAIN. Had talked about doing 16 miles today but with the weather it was going to be rough. The trail out of the shelter was about 1/3 mile (uphill). We were on level ground for a while but soon encountered huge rocks. The trail ran along the ridge and over a lot of exposed rock. At times, the white blazes were hard to find and footing was poor. turtle and I both slipped and fell several times. we were soaked from head to toe. In fact, we had standing water inside our shoes. The trail finally started downhill and about 3 hours after we had begun the first shelter appeared. We stopped for lunch but in order to get comfortable we had to get into dry clothes and socks. About a half hour later Rumbler rolled in, then Jersey and Tom and Lou. Although we had only come 6 miles the consensus was to call it a day. The rain was coming down even harder than before and none of us wanted to get back out in it. So, this is how the day would end. We strung lines and hung out everything to dry. Most everyone took a long nap. I used the time to catch up on my journaling. Hopefully the weather will clear by tomorrow and we'll be able to put in a nice long day.