morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-06-14
From: VA 621

To: Roanoke
Miles today: 0.0

Yikes. I felt ok in the hostel this morning so went out back to finish the last portion between where we left off and the hostel, but not even half a mile in I realized I couldn¢t go further and turned around. My knee pain was a 7/10 (10/10 being making you cry from the pain) and it wasn¢t loosening up at all. I was crying on the way back about having to get off as today was the first time I was unable to hike when I wanted to hike. I passed friends who were encouraging and said that I would just need a day off, but  it was such an intense feeling to not continue the plan and I was scared that my stubbornness yesterday cost me my hike.I called my Mom to calm down and make a game plan, which was to go up to Roanoke and rest for a couple of days. SP would meet me, and hopefully his cousin would come and we can have 2 easy days in which I could ease back into hiking. I would come back and fill this missing section post-Katahdin as the Triple Crown would make for a very scenic weekend hike. I had previously been extremely anxious about leaving for a friend¢s wedding, and in retrospect this was a good reminder that it¢s going to be totally fine - the trail will still be here when I¢m back. When you¢re thru hiking it becomes your entire world, and scary to leave that and not be on the FarOut redline moving north. Maybe it is a cult¢¦. I kid. When I got to Roanoke, showered, and rested I felt better and realized this was the right move and need to baby myself. It was an important reminder to respect my limits on the trail and take care of my body. I chilled out, got Japanese for lunch and bought the book Barn 8 to read, iced my knee, ate from my bear can, and caught up with friends from home over FaceTime. Feeling much better than the beginning of the day, and hopeful I can continue hiking.
Date: 2023-06-20
From: Black Horse Gap

To: Middle Creek Campground
Miles today: 14.6

Oh man I was NOT happy when I woke up, or more accurately kept waking up in the middle of the night as the rain puddled beneath me inside my tent, I fought to keep my quilt dry while going to pee and coming back in and dirt was everywhere, and the wind was buffeting my tent. I woke up for good around 7am and grumpily packed as SP just waved at me with pop tarts in his mouth. I was not excited about the thought of hiking all day in the rain, but the rain had tapered off at 7:45am so I hoped to get miles in before the rain came back with a vengeance.We hiked off to the shelter to use the loo, but did some road walking on the Blue Ridge parkway as it 1) had better views, 2) was the original AT route, and 3) was easier on the feet. We chatted with a British American woman waiting for her husband and she gave us mini Paydays which I love, it¢s a bit more of an esoteric candy but reminds me of getting them from the corner store as a kid when I would split a bar with my mom. Later on the road walk we were sitting by the trashcan, when an RV pulled up and Redbeard popped out - he had been yellow blazing! The driver offered us chicken sandwiches which really fortified my resolve, and helped us shove off again. It was forecasted to POUR inches upon inches that night and all of tomorrow, so we were trying to make it to a campground that night as I really really did not want a repeat of last night. When I found out the campsite was first-come, first-serve, I bolted off ignoring the pain in my feet as I was determined to get us spots in the bunkhouse. There were 5 open beds, and I knew 7 hikers around us trying to get to the campground tonight. Nothing fuels me like spite but also competition. And guess what? We were the first down to the gap! So huzzah, we didn¢t have to tent in the pavilion, and the beds were gel memory foam which was so so nice. I had a bacon cheeseburger and a coffee milkshake for dinner, and the milkshake was delish. I am proud of us for pushing through the rain when previously if we heard a single roll of thunder or felt sprinkles we would try to bail to a hostel and wait it out. Our hustling our bustles a bit to make progress is working! But don¢t want to go too fast that we don¢t enjoy the hike. Just need to be less of a baby about the weather when it¢s merely ¢gross out.¢After dinner we sat outside airing out our water-logged stuff, when we walked to the lake behind the cabin we saw thousands of fireflies dancing above the lake like a light show. It was absolutely lovely.
Date: 2023-06-21
From: Middle Creek Campground

To: VA 812
Miles today: 11.4

We slackpacked to keep progress going, hoping to hike all the way to the beginning of a camping ban (due to bear activity) but it was so cold and rainy we bailed out on the earlier side. We were sitting eating lunch and our hands were freezing and decided to amend the plan, but after hiking for 20 minutes our hands warmed up and we were like ¢welp, we could have kept going.¢ Bud you know what? I¢m still proud that we kept moving forward, as we are aiming to do 12 miles a day minimum but of course happy to go  slower in bad weather. We¢re getting tougher as hikers, sucking up the rain! And this was torrential buckets of rain, wetting out our rain clothes, versus a few sprinkles. We came back and changed, dry and cozy again. Rabbit and Respawn caught up and were also bunking in the bunkhouse, so we shot the breeze with them and it felt very much like a rainy day at camp. Another hiker in the bunkhouse was a New Yorker and lives a few doors down from my eyebrow place! What a small world.
Date: 2023-06-22
From: VA 812

To: Glasgow VA
Miles today: 17.4

Another gross day of torrential rain, I put my glasses in my pocket since they were so wet they weren¢t helpful for seeing. However while hiking they fell out of my pocket so I hiked for 15 miles unable to see but we made it! Got to Stanimals, showered, and reclined on the reclining chair. Saw loads of people we know hiding from the storm at the hostel, and we got Italian (my first Italian on the trail!) and saw even more hikers.
Date: 2023-06-23
From: Glasgow VA

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 20.0

Did a zero yesterday partly due to SP chafing from the rain and due to being tired of hiking multiple days in a row in the driving rain. Of course it cleared up and I sighed gazing out over the distance enjoying seeing blue skies for the first time in what felt like weeks. But the air was still charged and my skin kept prickling. It was so so hot and humid and sticky today, I was drenched in sweat the whole time but at least besides a quick sun shower it didn¢t rain! And I saw blue skies for the first time in ages on the trail, missed that. It reminded me why I love the trail. When we stopped for lunch, we saw this guy Oak looking super despondent and when we asked what¢s up he said he was getting off trail for good. He was just so crushed that he curled up in a fetal position on the pavement. His despair was palpable, but then SP says ¢this is a weird question but if you¢re not hiking anymore can I have your water?¢ He said sure, and I ended up taking a liter as well which is maybe not the most sympathetic move but we did try to pep him up during our lunch break! Again, it made me so thankful that I was able to go back on trail after the 25 mile day.Taking stock of my body / hunger - today my hiker hunger finally kicked back in, and I ate all the snacks I packed out for the day, plus my big meals. My knee was fussing but at least my feet felt ok, pinky toe was better after taking shoes off at lunch. I think it¢s time to size up again in sneakers to an 11!
Date: 2023-06-25
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Spy Rock Junction
Miles today: 19.5

Today¢s mileage includes the 1 mile round trip to eat lunch at the Cow Gap Shelter - it should be illegal for shelters to be more than 0.2 miles off trail!I woke up to SP tripping over my tent guy line and grumpily got packing. However once we left camp I was perky enough (I was trying the yuzu pineapple caffeinated Liquid IV which I ended up liking. I felt awake, but not wired, which is a hard balance to strike! Plus it tasted like candy). We left around 7:37am or so. We had a 5 mile climb to start, and took a moment to read the Brown Mountain Creek community sign and sit on the bench as I wondered if the community members willingly sold their land to the Forest Service, or if they were forced to. Post quick history lesson, I chugged up the climb (they don¢t hurt my knees so I¢m happy to do them), and there were so many false summits! Too many, I fear. We got up and over, and stopped for lunch at the early hour of 10:30am. I rinsed my face in the creek to freshen a bit because yesterday was so humid that I smelled very gross lol. Then onwards we went! SP was grumpy so we largely hiked in silence, but I just zoned out and enjoyed the blue skies, nice weather, and grassy bald ridge walks which are some of my favorite views! We got to the next shelter at 5:30 and had dinner (it was INSANELY BUGGY as everything was swampy due to the water runoff from the rains last week), and did a nice post-dinner passegiata for 2.7 miles further and set up camp on a pretty, grassy area. During lunch I had realized we could make it to Waynesboro a day earlier than SP had forecasted (math is hard) so I pushed us a bit today just so we can inch closer and do shorter mileage the last 2 days. I am doing a quick off-trail stop for a friend¢s wedding, and it would be great if I could shower before the 7.5 hour train ride home. Both for my and other passengers¢ sakes. As I write, I see a firefly glowing from my tent, and feel content. I felt strong today, it was very gentle on my body (uphills are gentle for me, downhills are not) and hopefully I¢ll feel good tomorrow!
Date: 2023-06-27
From: Reid Gap

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 19.1

This morning Spills walked in the living room to say hi, and I realized we must have started catching up with folks given we a) hiked in the rain and b) monster miles the past few days. We decided to slackpack today, whee!We road walked instead of taking the trail, since it mostly ran parallel and the views were more scenic. We walked with Rabbit and Respawn for the entire day, and it was a fun change of pace! At the visitor center we talked to some bike tourists about their kit set up, which was fun to see the gear in action and get advice as I¢m thinking of a bikepacking adventure next. The road walk itself was murder on my feet and joints since the road was so hard, and I wasn¢t used to walking in the direct sun since you know¢¦. Green tunnel. Anyways the road walk shaved 5 miles off the red line mileage so we ~only~ did 14 miles, which is crazy how that feels like a walk versus exercise, even though it is objectively a lot of exercise even slackpacking.We got back, showered, and we all went out for (mediocre) burgers. I have yet to have a good burger on this hike, just saying for the record. Post dinner we went to Kline¢s Dairy Bar where I got a scoop of speculoos custard. After this I went back to the bunk room, read more of the Catcher in the Rye (I¢ve been meaning to read it and I saw a copy was moving from hostel to hostel and it was finally my turn to read it), and fell asleep at 7:20 pm with the lights on as I was so tired!
Date: 2023-06-28
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 0.0

This morning the bunkroom was awakened by some Stanimals employees walking in and out of their room (aka the closet under the eaves) screaming at each other (marital issues perhaps fanned by the flames of living in a closet?). I and the others just made awkward eye contact and texted each other furiously as we tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. Once that settled down and I finished writing yesterday¢s entry in bed, I saw Spills and Junko in the room across the hallway! I hadn¢t seen her since Angel¢s Rest, so I went to catch up with her.The original plan was to blueblaze Shenandoah but given the timing of me quickly peacing out for a wedding + swollen river levels, the plan changed to doing a DC side trip with some hikers where I would reunite with Crypt for the first time since Marion.Today I went to Walmart to get cash for the shuttle, which drove me promptly to Charlottesville Amtrak station. Upon arrival I found out the train was delayed 2+ hours (as always, thank you Amtrak for being consistently terrible) BUT upside was being in a cute college town so I was able to get liquid gold aka almond boba as well as swap out my nose piercing. While waiting in the station, another hiker walked in which was incredibly random.On the train I updated my trailjournal for all of May, and got home staggeringly late at 2:30am.  Amazingly, Kodiak found my glasses!!!!! What a miracle, I knew they would come back to me eventually.
Date: 2023-07-02
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Hightop Parking Area
Miles today: 10.4

I made it back late last night, getting dropped off at the gap and hiking to the shelter around 9:15. Respawn andSP were up, and there was random watermelon sour beer left at the shelter that they saved me a can of - which delightful. Wetried to plan while I set up my tent but it was just too humid and we decided to make a plan in the morning. While talking we were hounded by a a pack of deer who kept coming near and being deeply annoying.Bizarrely a weekend hiker decided to hang his bear bag on the bear pole directly next to my tent instead of the glorious bear box away from camp (do not be like this person) so Respawn moved it to the bear box.In the morning I got up at 6, had breakfast, and was ready to go by 7:30 but the guys were still in their tents andit was revealed that Rabbit and SP got food poisoning from a veggie pizza in Waynesboro and needed to recover a bit from the emotional trauma. I took a half hour nap and then it was like ¢May as well makelunch!¢ BUT I dropped most of my wild mushroom fettuccine :( After this I bounced and I left them to their own devices to stagger into camp on their own time. It was hot, gross, humid, and I was so tired from all the traveling so I wasn¢t in any mood to hike. I just kepttaking breaks, andjust was grumpy and bored the whole day even though it was just 8.4 miles and the Shennies are SUPER EASYin re flat and just bland. I rolled into camp first, set up camp on this amazing flat dirt spot that would be theflattest nicest spot since my first night on the trail, and was making dinner when Rabbit came in. He thought wewere going out of Shennies tonight, and when SP came in we discussed if we wanted to go to a hotel and theycould finally get clean after the 4 days out + food poisoning. We were all fine with this, but couldn¢t reachRespawn so had to wait for him and I contacted a shuttle driver while waiting for him. Respawn finally came inand was fine with the plan, but then I had to break down camp again and set off to the pick up spot which AH life is suffering.At the hotel the shuttle driver tried to overcharge us $60 which... SIGH.(Note from post trail - I now love and cherish the Shennies for its glorious flatness, abundant water faucets, bathrooms, roadside food places... I KNEW NOTHING. Also big regret not aquablazing it).
Date: 2023-07-05
From: Hightop Parking Area

To: Big Meadows Wayside
Miles today: 17.3

DC trip was lovely; I got to know Rabbit and Respawn properly by watching Below Deck and wandering around the city with them. However, I yearned for trail and the first 31 miles I would have to make up in the Shennies. Today I got picked up at 7:36am to get taken back into the park, and on the way I called my grandfather to wish him happy birthday. I felt loads better than the last hiking day, and in much better spirits. Took a quick break at Bearface Hut and then nighthiked until 11pm. While it was lovely doing it with our lamps off and watching the fireflies glow and the starswheel overhead, the road really fucking killed my knees and I was SO TIRED as I didn¢t nap. We stopped at awayside and decided to tent in the parking lot. Hiker trash.
Date: 2023-07-06
From: Big Meadows Wayside

To: Skyland Resort
Miles today: 8.8

Today was ok, we got up super early as we had stealthed in the Wayside parking lot and I walked half a mile outbefore realizing I left my headlamp at camp so I had to double back to grab it so that was an extra mile onconcrete (MY KNEES).We made good progress to the Skyland Wayside (we got rain dumped on us the last hour but got there at11:15), changed and dried off in the bathroom, and got lunch which was mediocre and expensive, but hadStarbucks!! I tried to nap outside for a bit while laying my clothes and tent out to dry as the afternoon was dryand sunny. After 2 or so I was ready to go but SP got vortexed by access to an outlet and reading manga sohe was like ¢let¢s leave at 4:30!¢ but I was so tired from the long long hiking day yesterday. And then at 4:30 heonly started making money moves and at that point I was like we may as well grab food for dinner, and thenRespawn walks in and joins us and Rabbit appears from elsewhere in the taproom so we eat all 4 of us. Andthen I¢m like ok let¢s leave by 5:30 but then my knee is throbbing and swollen and I¢m just upset and grumpyand SP suggests we go to a hostel to let it heal up overnight which I grudgingly agree to and go sit in arocking chair while watching the view. I had a weird moment when I heard someone approaching to sit in therocking chair next to me, and I looked up fully expecting it to be Dad.Shuttle driver comes (Allison, the Open Arms hostel owner was away seeing a musical), Rabbit and Respawndecide to tag along and we go along our merry way. The shuttle driver got tired of me and Rabbit riffing on ATporno titles oops. Hostel itself is a cluttered little house but cozy; I sat with the hostel owner and watched the Magicians while icing my knee.
Date: 2023-07-07
From: Skyland Resort

To: Elkwallow Gap
Miles today: 18.3

Slackpacked with a minion backpack! Put head down and hiked, Shennies has so many amenities withbathrooms and faucets aplenty. Practiced having a consistent downhill speed as for some reason my downhills are half the speed of my level pace.At the end we made it to the Wayside and I had a nice chicken sandwich with bacon jam.
Date: 2023-07-08
From: Elkwallow Gap

To: US Route 522
Miles today: 19.1

When we got dropped off we waited for the Wayside to open to get breakfast snacks before heading out. Weput our heads down and hiked out of the Shennies, notable hits including we met a PATC trail maintainer cuttingdown a log; we chatted with him a bit and he recommended the Thai place in the hotel for dinner.When we left the Shennies¢ boundary there immediately was a rocky descent (of course!!) and we hiked alongthe trail between people¢s backyards and Smithsonian biological research land. When we made it to US 522there was the Front Royal trolley! But we already had arranged for Stumble Inn to pick us up, and he dropped usoff in town to resupply and get dinner. I didn¢t realize until we were almost at the hotel but this was the sameplace we stayed at before leaving for Fourth of July (I was super out of it that night and I was just tired andhangry going into town) and then it all made sense how this place had a hotel with the same name and Thaiplace inside lol.The Thai food was shockingly delicious for the randomness of where we were. I got the duck curry, coconut juice, beef pad sew ew for later, and we got 2 orders of mango sticky rice when the firstwas delicious (even though they served the coconut cream on top of rice only instead of soaking the rice in thecream). Delicious and satisfying, the best town meal I¢ve had all trail. We then got picked up by Stumbles (wholooked like Jennifer Garner), and dropped off at the hostel to shower and veg out. I had booked this placebecause someone on FarOut had described it as ¢if you were having a sleepover at your rich friend¢s parents¢basement¢ and it was super nice, clean, and organized with a ton of amenities (they even had razors andlotion!!). They made us keep our packs outside in a tent and honestly that made a huge difference in smell lol. There was a picnic bench inside that was tagged by hikers and Italked to some people sitting there, and a couple was from Greenpoint! So that was fun talking to them about home. Iiced my knee, massaged it with Thai balm and a quarter (as Ra, the person I met, taught me), and read ¢Becoming Odyssa¢ and got 150 pages in. Itwas cool seeing her talk about places I¢ve passed through (and compare to my own experiences at those locations), including when she talks about the warning aboutaggressive bears at Deep Gap because that¢s where we had our bear encounter lol.
Date: 2023-07-09
From: US Route 522

To: Whiskey Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 15.2

Stumble Inn is my as my favorite hostel after Quarter Way Inn - the FarOut comment calling this a rich friend¢s basement was very on the nose. But alas I was unable to sleep in as it was forecasted to have terrible storms starting at 12.We got dropped off and hiked to the Jim and Molly Denton shelter, getting there like an hour before the storm began. It was an amazing shelter and more like a summer home, with a horseshoe court (SP and I played a couple of rounds), landscaped gardens, solar shower, cooking pavilion, deck, Adirondack bench, and a very nice shelter. We cooked, chilled, and the group of older folks rocked up (including Country Tart and the random dude who booped my feet in the Smokies and weirded us out). Once the rain finally started to fall at 12:54 SP and I fell asleep for a dank nap. Post nap we left and hiked, stopping at the next shelter for dinner and chatting with the other ridge runner K2 who was a triple crowner. On the way here SP had found a listing for the Happy Time Hot Tub Cabins, and I was able to get a sizeable discount asking for a thru Hiker discount that night LOL. Alas we couldn¢t find more people to split the cabin with, so we pressed on versus heading back to yet another night off trail (so brave of us Lolol perhaps we are platinum blazers). We did some night hiking into the next shelter, which was super cool but mice-infested so we set up tents on the fire road behind the shelter and fell asleep. It was SUPER humid all night and I just felt slimy which was TERRIBLE. That is the downside of Virginia in the summer and cannot really be avoided.
Date: 2023-07-10
From: Whiskey Hollow Shelter

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.2

Today we started the roller coaster, and it was more annoying for its rockiness versus its actual rollercoasterness - although I got a laugh out of the starting sign.We were both extremely grumpy today, but passed the 1000 miles sign which made us emotional and hug it out. After our requisite photo ops at the sign, we agreed that since we were already grumpy we may as well hike some more.At the end of the day we were torn between stopping at Bear¢s Den or just passing though, but we were dead tired and the call of the shower and food was too much. To be economical we tented on the lawn (which was so lavish and grassy and flat!!), but got pizza and ice cream as part of our meal. We sat in the lodge with the beagle who was extremely food-driven and also loved to bark at everyone, so he was just a pain the ass but cute. I read a book they had about the history behind the names of trail spots which was fun.