morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-13
From: Daleville, VA US 220 - mile 727.8

To: Mile 746.5
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: clear sky

After carbing up on hotel waffle, donuts and granola, we set out a little later than usual around 9:20. I stopped at the dry cleaners to see if they do alterations on site because I need a dart in the waistband of my hiking pants to keep them up better but they didn't. (If you want to lose weight with a high carb, low vegetable diet, hike 10-12 hours every day for a month!)The temp was a little cooler and the air felt less humid. So the morning climb didn't feel so bad thanks to the weather and being well fueled. Today ended up being the Best Weather Hiking Day so far! I warmed up on the climbs but the warm cool air actually dried the back of my shirt when I took my pack off. Usually it stays wet. We saw a Sweet Eyes, Wrecker and Mouse. We played leapfrog with Star Man and Mighty Mouse all day. Thanks to the weather and terrain, we were able to average a steady 2.5 mph pace even with the steep climbs and descents which were not long, but the grade was pretty high. We arrived at the Blue Ridge Parkway crossings hopeful because the BRP is famous for tourists and day hikers who share treats with thru hikers. Alas it is Wednesday in the late afternoon and we saw very few cars on the BRP or parked at the overlooks. At least we could toss our trash in the garbage cans (less ounces to carry!)We arrived at Bobblets Gap Shelter to find some weekend campers there and the only good tent site already occupied. We didn't see Andreas so kept going. Several other hikers were moving on so we got water and climbed the steep 0.2 miles back to the AT and then up a hill. Fortunately about 1/4 mile later we saw an area which we decided to make our campsite.As we sat in our tents, a new very loud bird started a constant shrill chirp that has been nonstop for the last 15 minutes. It doesn't sound like the bird plans to stop any time soon. Will sleep be possible? Wait! Now there is a chorus of them!
Date: 2015-05-14
From: Mile 746.5

To: Thunderhill Shelter
Miles today: 23.5

The chorus of birds woke me up at 5 am. For some reason the birds were silent after I got up an hour later. Mother Nature was kind to me again as it was actually chilly this morning! I even had to wear gloves for an hour! This kept the bug activity down which is good since I still woke up in the middle of the night itching like crazy from the older bites.Today was a big climbing day. We spent most of the day climbing up vs descending / "flatter". Fortunately the cooler temps helped keep the sweating tolerable. I sweat up the hill, especially in the sun but was able to cool off. The shelters were also spaced nicely every 5-6.5 miles which was a good snack break. We have been pushing to get out of the hiker bubble that gatherings like Hiker Feeds create because it makes the shelters and tenting more congested like last night's crowd at the last shelter where folks had to move on. We didn't see any of yesterday's hikers except Papa; however, we met several new hikers today - Thistle, Cody Coyote, Cat Napper, Sugar Magnolia & TR and their dog Sullivan, and Milk Man.By mid day, Crafty and I started plotting about turning our 23.5 mile day into a 30 mile day just to challenge ourselves. Around the 18 mile point and climb, I could feel my legs fatiguing but figured dinner would refuel and we would keep going. The last climb seemed to last forever but we met Milk Man from Iowa on the way up and we finally saw the FAA tower. Not much of a view as we hoped but we soon hiked through the guillotine after descending some steep rock step terrain. The guillotine is a rock suspended between two others that the AT goes under. We finally made it to the 4th shelter of the day where we planned to eat and move on. However Andreas had stopped there not wanting to get too far ahead of us. A section hiker Don aka Stork had given him a bunch of food he was carrying to practice hiking with a full pack. We were planning to hitch into Glasgow tomorrow because Crafty needed more snacks. However Andreas gave her some of Don's snacks and we decided to go into Buena Vista a day later instead. So that changed our plans and we tabled our 30 mile day goal and decided to tent at the shelter. I was ravenous and felt like I could have eaten everything left in my food bag ... But I didn't. However I may finally cave and purchase some junk food calories in Buena Vista. I have been holding off and saving the junk food to enjoy it more whenever I got lucky with trail magic but I think I am going to need more variety besides bars and trail mix for lunch and snacks. But it's also a function of what's available in the store too ... Which is often a Dollar General type of shopping experience!Milk Man, Heisenberg, Sugar Magnolia, TR, and Cody Coyote also showed up after us. It's a chilly night which feels great!!!!
Date: 2015-05-20
From: Rockfish Gap - Waynesboro, VA mile 861.7

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Mr. Gizmo kindly picked us up and dropped us off at the trail at 9 am. We learned he is Miss Lady's significant other! Waynesboro has been great for complimentary rides and we appreciate all of the hospitality we received. Within a few minutes, we hit the registration box for overnight camping in Shenandoah National Park. After filling out the form and tagging our packs, we moved on. We had been debating back and forth about hiking 20 vs 28 miles. Andreas proposed we shoot for the campsite 28 miles away vs the hut 20 miles away. We had a late start so that meant a long day. Our packs were fully loaded with enough food to get usb160 miles to Harpers Ferry. And mine had a few extra luxury pounds. A 1 lb bag of sugar snap peas, an apple and I was hoarding the remainder of Raymond's Zion bars I had not given away. Wasting a pound of pack weight on 200 calories of sugar snap peas is a big hiker no no. One 13 oz jar of Nutella is worth 2,000 calories and takes up less space in your pack. But I had purchased the snap peas on impulse as I longingly walked through the produce section and salivated at the fresh veggies I couldn't buy.The temperature was definitely less humid and more tolerable than the past few days. At Sawmill Run Overlook, our first Skyline Drive crossing we stopped and sat on the stone wall and decided to just do the 20 miles so we took an unprecedented 90 minute leisurely break on the stone wall under a tree since the bug annoyance level was also tolerable.   Numerous cyclists passed by. The time flew by and we consumed almost all the snap peas so finally at 3 pm we headed off to hike the remaining 10.2 miles to the shelter. I caught up to Andreas around 5:30 pm with 3.3 miles to go. He asked me if he was hiking slow since I was able to catch up to him. ??. We hiked the last 3.3 miles together arriving at the shelter 70 minutes later after some climbing. Virginia is still not flat! Several people were already there including Ninja Geisha with whom we had leapfrogged a couple times earlier in the day. She had seen a bear in the last mile of today's hike. We read in the shelter register someone had seen 5 in the last 2 days. Angel arrived flustered while I was cooking dinner because he had seen a bear which had stood up on his hind legs at him. I was a little jealous I had not seen a bear, turkey and had only heard the male deer in the woods which Andreas had seen on the trail. Just a couple of deer earlier in the morning. Andreas said he heard bear noises near his tent while he was eating dinner. Rain is also forecasted now for tomorrow which likely puts a damper on our big plan to hike more miles so it may be another 20ish day again.Should be an interesting night!
Date: 2015-05-21
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Swift Run Gap
Miles today: 24.8
Weather: light rain

I woke up at 5 am so I could pack up my tent before it started raining. We left the shelter at 6 am and hiked the 8.5 miles to Loft Mountain Wayside Cafe which is another 0.5 miles off the AT on Skyline Drive. Crafty was struggling because she had mailed her sleeping bag home and purchased a fleece since it has been so hot the past couple of weeks. We had both mailed our cold weather clothes home in Waynesboro and only had short sleeve shirts, shorts and rain jackets. Mother Nature has a funny sense of humor because the temp dropped to the 40s last night so she couldn't sleep because she was so cold. It was still cold in the morning. So she was planning to try to get a ride back to Waynesboro since the next two nights are supposed to be cold as well. It started to rain just as we arrived at the cafe. Andreas was already there. We ordered food and sat in the cafe strategizing Crafty's options. I looked in my guide and found a motel in Elkton, VA about 3 miles off the trail a few miles past our planned shelter destination. We decided that made more sense so she wouldn't lose time on the trail, and we would split the room with her so it was more affordable for all of us. Then none of us would have to be cold and have wet tents. Rabbit, Remedy and Ninja Geisha arrived. As we left, we invited Ninja Geisha to join us at our motel. It was raining and our packs got soaked outside when we finally left the cafe so it was a cold wet start back up the 0.5 mile side trail back to the AT. The uphill warmed us up and we started hiking the remaining 16.3 miles to Swift Run Gap.At Simmons Gap, Nancy was parked with trail magic! We enjoyed sodas, fruit and cookies. She's from the Panhandle area in FL and had been hiking in New England and was driving back to FL and decided to do some trail magic in the Shenandoahs. We met another hiker Friction. After 15-20 minutes we started moving again as we still had 9.5 miles to cover and it was 2:30. The weather cleared a little in the afternoon but then it got misty and foggy again. Towards the end of the section it was getting colder. So it would definitely have been a cold wet night to tent and Crafty would have been miserably cold! We passed the 900 mile mark mid afternoon! We got to the gap a little after 6 and walked to the ranger station to await our ride to the motel. We checked into the Country View Motel and Linda showed us to our room. We had told Section Hikers Angel, Bonsai and Sam who had stayed at the shelter with us about our plans as they arrived at the Wayside as we were leaving. They apparently liked the idea because they were already at the motel and had been asking about us. Some ladies who had had also been at the shelter were at the Wayside and gave them a ride to the motel mid day.Showers, laundry and food and we were happy hikers! Even if the room wasn't quite renovated as we'd been told. Everything is relative and it was better than renting out in the wet cold??.
Date: 2015-05-22
From: Swift Run Gap

To: Skyland Resort & Restaurant - Mile 932
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: light rain

We returned to the trail around 8 am and quickly hiked the 8 miles to Lewis campground where we detoured on a side trail to the camp store for a snack. It was 45 degrees and breezy but clear blue skies, basically perfect hiking weather. There were a lot of day hikers out for the holiday weekend and one lady asked me a lot of questions before I reached the camp store trail. We sat on the curb consuming our food after hearing the clerk tell us about his thru hike 27 years ago with several of his marathon friends and how they averaged 38 mile days. ISO sat down next to us and already knew who I was because Rabbit had told him I was the only other Asian he had met on the AT. It was a beautiful day which is always tough. You want to hike in great weather but you also want to relax and enjoy it too. We reluctantly got moving again. Crafty and I took the side trail to Bearfence Mountain overlook. We hiked on for a few more miles. She stopped to take a break but I decided to take my break a mile further up on a scenic rocky outcropping.I found Ninja Geisha hanging out a half mile away. She decided to hike all the way to Skyland with us. We hiked on and I took the side trail to the rocky viewpoint where I met Laura, an older woman from Texas who had hiked a third of the AT last year before she had to stop due to a couple injuries. We chatted and then I got moving again figuring everyone was at least 20 minutes ahead of me. I passed Big Meadow Campground where another couple asked me questions and asked if I needed anything. I hiked on trying to catch up to Crafty. After several miles and a couple hours, I finally saw her. We still had about 4 miles to go. The last couple miles were tough because our feet really hurt and I was feeling the effects of hiking to catch up. We arrived at Skyland Resort just before 7 pm and found Andreas and Ninja Geisha. The temperature was supposed to drop to the low 40s again so Andreas had reserved a cabin since it would be too cold for Crafty. We dropped our packs off at our cabin which seemed like the longest walk ever. The cabin was nice with two rooms and an amazing big window with a view. Then returned to the Dining Room for dinner.
Date: 2015-05-23
From: Skyland Resort & Restaurant - Mile 932

To: Campsite at 951.4
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: clear sky

We decided to take it easy today so we didn't start hiking until 9:20 since we indulged in some wifi time. Ninja left before we did so Crafty, Andreas and I hiked 4.4 miles to the Pinnacles picnic area where we ran into Ninja at a picnic table. Her ankle was hurting and she had hiked a slow painful 4 miles. Her family was supposed to pick her up a few miles later for the weekend anyway so she decided to wait there and not risk it just in case it was more serious. We snacked with her and watched the day hikers and picnickers arrive. We finally left Ninja and headed out again stopping at the Pinnacle Overlook, a rock outlook and Mary's Rock, a very popular tourist day hike. The side trail to Mary's Rock was congested and it was slow hiking behind everyone but amusing to listen to them wish for an elevator, etc. Similar thoughts may have entered my mind a few months ago. We climbed to the top and Andreas took our photos even though he hates heights. The hike down to the trailhead was slow as many day hikers were on the trail. It's strange to feel crowded on the trail when you are used to having it to yourself. We finally made it down. It was 3 pm and we had 8.5 miles to make it to the Elkwallow Wayside (last place to buy food in SNP) before it closed at 7 pm. So we hoofed it and arrived just after 6 pm. Of course Andreas was already there with his beer waiting for us at a picnic table. We cooked dinner and bought cold drinks at the Wayside. A thru hiker named Five from Ithaca, NY joined us. She is going to Princeton for her masters in the fall. She was waiting for brothers Remedy and Wild Thing. We chatted and ate. Remedy finally arrived and convinced the already closed Wayside to let him buy snacks and beer. We got moving at 7:30 as we needed to find a place to camp. About a half mile up the trail, we saw a mother bear and her cubs. I saw Andreas freeze and a black blur at the bottom of a tree. Then I saw the bear standing up hugging the tree base as the second cub climbed to the top of the tree. The tree was just off the trail on the left so we walked off the trail to the right around her and got back on the trail. I had to wait for my phone to turn on and Crafty and I paused and took a few pictures from different angles hoping one would come out. I was happy to have finally seen a bear!! We then hiked on another 3/4 of a mile and found a flattish spot off the trail and stealth camped.
Date: 2015-05-25
From: Sealock Spring Mosby Campsite

To: Stream at Mile 991.4
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

This morning was another 6 am start. We had a mission to hike 16.6 miles to meet my husband and his cousin who were bringing us food, cold drinks and company! It's been nearly 2 months since I've seen him. Andreas left first and Crafty and I followed a few minutes behind. The first couple of miles were really pleasant in the woods with a nice trail. We saw a deer in a field and a rabbit on the trail. After 5 miles we had to cross railroad tracks and walk under I-66. It's never fun to have to cross interstates because it's ugly and noisy. We climbed up and finally away from the traffic noise. We stopped at Manassas Gap Shelter for water where we saw Andreas had left us a note not to take too long of a break. He was eager for food and drinks. We hurried off the side trail and in spite of excellent signage, missed the fact we were already on the trail and turned back to where we thought the AT continued. We were startled to hear and then see two women on galloping horses come upon and pass us. We continued on for 25 minutes slight uphill until we were startled to come out into a trailhead parking which was not right. We then realized we had walked 0.9 miles on Ted Lake Trail off the AT! Somehow we made it back in half the time it had taken us to get there but we were now going to be much later than planned for or meeting time. I don't know how we missed the warnings: nice wide trail, horses, one woman had asked if we were day hiking, no blazes. It was a rookie mistake! We started hiking on the right, more narrow trail. It got really hot in the less shady, uphill sections and I began to wonder if I would make it in the heat again. Fortunately more shade and downhill came and we were making good time. We finally entered Sky Meadows State Park and were 3 miles from our goal. A mile away I got a phone call from my husband saying they couldn't find Andreas. We soon realized there had been a miscommunication and he and his cousin were 25 miles away where we had been yesterday! Fortunately we were able to figure out where they needed to go. Crafty and I arrived at the meeting spot and explained to Andreas what had happened. 20 minutes later they pulled up with picnic blanket, cold drinks, subs, chips, fruit, cookies, soap, water, hand sanitizer, etc. We enjoyed lots of food and time. We even pushed a minivan whose battery had died in the parking lot up a slope so the jumper cables could reach the engine to jumpstart it. After three hours had passed, we packed up and walked down the side trail back to the AT. We planned to hike 4 miles to the next shelter but saw a stream about a mile before and decided it would make a nice campsite. A section hiker was already there but we found space. We set up camp and used Andreas' great shower bag! A tree suddenly fell nearby while I was using it; For once I was glad it wasn't a bear!
Date: 2015-05-26
From: Stream at Mile 992.2

To: Bears Den Hostel - Mile 1,002.9
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

This morning we slept in and started around 8:20 since we were only hiking almost 12 miles today. Andreas remembered he had filmed a video of Standing Bear Farm where we all first met right after the Smokies but at the time had no idea we would end up hiking buddies several hundred miles later. We watched it and discovered he had me on his video. Proof we were both there! We saw Star Man briefly. Today's section is the beginning of "The Roller Coaster" which is a series of steep ups and downs for about 13 miles. They even have a sign posted warning hikers about it! The first climb did not disappoint as it was steep! I did my best to secure loose items and to keep my hands inside at all times. After the first descent, we passed by Colorado Hiker, a German lady, and Mother Theresa who both currently live in Denver, CO and are probably in their 70s. They asked how many ups were there and we counted at least 10 if you ignored the small ones. They groaned and I prepared them that the next one was even bigger than the one we had just climbed. They also mentioned they had just been talking about going to Antarctica a couple days ago and I highly recommended they go. We hiked a few more miles and decided to stop and soak our feet in a stream just past our halfway point. Andreas caught up to us and we started the next climb. Finally we stopped at the shelter at mile 999.9 and then hit the 1,000 mile marker! Andreas had planned to video Crafty and I crossing the mile but he walked right by it. So we settled for photos instead. It felt surreal to think I had hiked over 1,000 miles on the AT. My pre-AT life seems like eons ago but I can't believe I have already made it 1,000 miles!! I am not even halfway but it still feels really good to be in quadruple digits.Another 3 miles brought us to our final destination around 2:45. Bears Den Hostel is a cool stone building which is operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club as a hiker hostel. Check in wasn't until 5 pm but we were able to shower, which was great since it was so humid. We met Ice Cream who started hiking Feb 21, Hendo and Hendo's Mom whom we passed on our final climb. Star Man stopped in but was disappointed he couldn't buy pizza till 5 and left. Remedy showed up, and later his brother Wild Thing. Around 7 pm my husband and his cousin picked us up after Andreas gave them a quick tour. We went to BBQ in Purcellville about 8 miles away. It was nice to share a meal freshly showered and not sitting on the ground! A great way to celebrate 1,000 miles!
Date: 2015-06-02
From: Campsite at Mile 1104.4

To: Passed by Alec Kennedy Shelter After Midnight - 1117.4
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: moderate rain

It rained all night and looks like it won't stop all day. Since we didn't have to pack up in the rain, we decided not to and to stay in our tents until the rain is supposed to let up this evening. So I am confined to my tent with not much to do. I hope I don't eat my entire food bag out of boredom. The rain finally stopped around 4 pm. Thrilled to be liberated from the confines of my tent, I quickly packed up before Crafty could even finish eating. We headed out a few minutes before 5 pm and quickly hiked the 6.1 miles to Green Mountain Store. I had not purchased any food at the last two stores we had stopped at (except a half gallon of ice cream!) so I was suddenly eager for a veggie sub. We weren't sure if the store would be closed but we're thrilled to see it was still open at 7:15 pm. I enjoyed my veggie sub and we enjoyed a few minutes of cell service which I had not had for several days. We moved on and started hiking. The two rock mazes were kind of fun to navigate in the dark. Fortunately they were well marked with big white arrows; otherwise it could have been trickier. We had to toss out packs up on a rock before we could climb up at one point. At the end we took a snack break and then moved on. We almost had to forge Little Dogwood Run because the water was so high. Other parts of the trail had water running down the middle so it was like hiking in a stream. We passed the Alec Kennedy Shelter trailjust after midnight. Night Hike To Be Continued ....