morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-05-07
From: Damascus 

To: Feathercamp
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well I'm finally back on the trail! The swelling on my face has gone down, the bruises are almost gone, and the headaches and neck aches have stopped. I drove up to Damascus yesterday to try and find someone to key swap with. My former partner is already further up the trail and I didn't want to miss any more of the trail than I had to. (I'll have to come back and pick up the 50 miles I missed because of injury after I summit Katahdin in Maine.) Ran into a bunch of my trail friends and told them I was back and what I was looking for. They told me about a man named Chip who had an injured foot he was trying to rehab and needed to slackpack. Met him this morning and we decided to try it out for a few days. We hiked a little less than five miles going north out of Damascus and are now camping in the truck for the night. Interesting sidelight - Chip drove the truck north when we hiked, parked by the trail and started back to meet me. We met in the middle and he said he parked 15 yards from the trail. When I got to the highway at what I thought was Feathercamp Gap I looked all through the parking lot but couldn't find my truck. I assumed then that I had not gotten to the right Gap yet and continued walking. A mile and a half later I met a lady on the trail and asked her how much further to the highway. She said the highway was behind me a mile or so. Uh oh. Turned around and went back to the first parking lot. Couldn't find the truck. Mild panic. But I remembered that Chip said the truck was only 15 yards from the trail. Still no truck. I knew it must be just off the highway, so I started walking down the highway. After half a mile, there was another parking lot, and there was the truck. And it was parked on the Appalachian Trail too! Turns out that the trail was relocated last year because of a washed out bridge, and Chip had actually parked at the former trailhead and walked the former trail. That trail had joined up with the trail I had been on. We didn't know that it had been relocated. I was so glad to finally find the truck. I ended up walking almost eight miles. Fun times. I'm grateful2 be back on the trail.
Date: 2017-05-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Met about twenty of my Trail friends today on the trail, including two of the ones who stopped to help me when I fell. It was good to see them all. Most were surprised to see me back and asked how I was doing. I'm doing really good I think, considering what happened. I even got an email of concern from Michael and Rikki at Dividing Ridge Hostel. They helped get me to the hospital. Good people! Went about 13 miles. Hiked the Creeper trail out of Damascus. The AT joins it for a few miles. What a wonderful trail for bicyclists. It follows the Whitetop and Laurel rivers for a number of miles, all the way to Damascus and Abingdon. Wide and flat and gorgeous. I want to come back and bicycle it sometime. Saw my First Lady Slipper today. Rather rare and difficult to find in bloom. The bloom actually looks like a lady's slipper.
Date: 2017-05-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity drizzle

Boy has it rained today! Probably an inch and a half or more. Marble sized hail too. Twice. It started last night and continued most of the day. We got up this morning and assessed the weather. It was in the thirties and raining hard. Prime hypothermia weather. Decided not to hike. Turns out it was a good decision. It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. Tomorrow we will hike rain or shine about 13 miles. We went to town, ate at an all you can eat Chinese buffet, went to Walmart, and then went to McDonald's for second lunch. Funny thing happened at the Chinese restaurant. While we were there a thru hiker came in to eat. (You can spot a thru hiker a mile away because we all dress alike - breathable raincoat, synthetic t-shirt, baseball hat, short pants, wool socks, usually trail runners, and a little bit unwashed.) I said hey and asked him if he was a thru hiker. He said he was. I introduced myself and so did he. He asked how I had gotten there because he needed a ride back to the trail after eating. I explained to him that we were doing a key swap and briefly told him how it worked. We had a truck. He said he knew how that worked; he had had a friend who was doing that, but he had had to go home because he fell and had broken his nose. (That's me.) I had never met this guy. I told him I was the guy. He didn't believe me until I pulled out my broken nose photo. (Oops on him!) lol. It always pays to tell the truth. We gave him a ride to the trailhead anyway.
Date: 2017-05-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I passed 500 miles on the trail today! Only about 1700 to go. I went over the first half of the Grayson Highlands today. For generations wild ponies have roamed the grasslands and forests of this massive tract of land. I saw four different sets of ponies grazing under the beautiful blue sky as I walked with a couple of sisters, Mama Bear and Bambi, who are section hiking. One pony even let us pet him as we went down the trail. We went through Fatman squeeze and over Mt Rogers. BTW- None of us had any trouble getting through the squeeze. I saw a bird's nest today unlike any I have ever seen. As I walked up Buzzard Rock with another thru hiker, Smalls (You're killing me Smalls.), we saw a bird fly out from the edge of the trail. We looked down to find the bird's nest it had flown out of. The nest was built on the ground! What kind of bird builds its nest on the ground? I know quails do, but evidently some other birds do also. It was a small bird. How does it protect its eggs from predators? There were five little eggs in the nest. The nest couldn't have been more than nine inches from the trail. Not a great location choice in my mind, but then again, I've never been a mother bird. As I walked up the trail with Smalls, he told me what happened to him yesterday evening. He was climbing Buzzard Rock as it started to rain. (Buzzard is a 2000 foot climb.) He was trying to catch up to his friend who had gone on ahead. As he neared the top, he said the lightning and thunder began to hit close. He said suddenly a bolt of lightning hit a tree about 100 feet off the trail. He said it was intensely bright and very loud. He said he was really scared! He turned around and began to run back down the mountain until he got near the bottom where he then pitched his tent in the rain. He said he wasn't ready to die yet. He said he liked living. As we talked and walked up the mountain this morning he suddenly stopped and pointed out in the woods. Sure enough, about 100 feet off the trail was a large tree split and broken just like he had described. He said, "That's the tree!" I could see why he would have been scared. Look at the picture on the bottom right. I'm glad I didn't hike yesterday!
Date: 2017-05-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Went about 10 miles over the second half of Grayson Highlands today. The skies threatened but I stayed dry all day, as dry as you can stay climbing over mountains. I saw another group of the wild ponies again and also saw two herds of wild longhorns. They say to leave he longhorns alone because they can become aggressive. I gave hem a wile berth. Being gored by a longhorn while on the AT is not on my bucket list. I was able to snap a photo of one cow with her newborn calf. It was my turn to go north to south in our key swap. I like it because I get to see all my trail friends. Today I only saw six or seven friends. I usually see thirty or forty. I am afraid I may have fallen behind my bubble of friends. We only hiked five miles the first day and we didn't hike at all in the rainstorm. Usually hikers will zero in really bad weather, but since they had just zeroed in Damascus, I think most went ahead. It will be sad if I have just missed them. It's hard to make new friends when you don't stay at the shelters. The hikers I don't know look at me with disbelief when I tell them I am a thru hiker because I don't have a big pack. Maybe I can catch up to them later, but it will be hard. I'm still grateful2 be out here.
Date: 2017-05-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Even the Mayapples were trying to stay dry today. It was raining when we went to bed last night, raining when we got up, and it rained on the trail most of the day. Lots of water on the trail today. It's even supposed to rain all night. Flash flood warnings are out for our area for tomorrow morning. Good thing we had planned to take a zero in Marion tomorrow. Time to wash our stinky clothes, pick up resupply boxes and visit Walmart. I passed a girl yesterday named 10 who recognized me as the one who did trail magic for her and her friends. I gave out sodas about two hundred miles back. When she passed me on the trail yesterday she told me that her friends had renamed the place to Soda Mountain. She then sent me this picture. You never know when some little kindness you do will come back to you later. And then last night, guess who shows up at the Hostel where we are staying? 10. We have been staying in a nice Hostel in Troutdale at the Troutdale Baptist Church. They have eight clean bunks along with nice bathroom facilities. They do it all for ministry and they only ask for donations from the hikers. Great job Pastor Ken! Your church is making a difference in the lives of many hikers. Keep up the good work. And I'm Grateful2.
Date: 2017-05-14
From: Hwy 42

To: Settlers museum
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Most hikers I have met have some kind of injury at this point of the hike. From twisted knees to sprained ankles to shin splints to stress fractures to even broken arms, the hike takes a toll physically. I've even heard about two other hikers who have face planted like me. One twenty something girl fell and broke her nose this week. Someone there when it happened said she reached up and reset it herself. She's back hiking now. Tough girl. Another twenty something guy fell and knocked out his front teeth, split his lip and broke the bone above his left eye. He went to the hospital and then home. I am fairly certain that I have a stress fracture on the fifth metatarsal of my left foot. That's my good foot. (My bad right foot has had repeated surgeries.) The good left foot also has plantar faciatis. I have been walking on the outside of my foot to relieve the pain from the faciatis, and I have developed increasing pain on that outside bone. The pain started about three weeks ago and will not stop. The good news is that it only hurts when I walk. The bad news is it hurts when I walk. I had an orthopedic doctor recommend a brace that I began wearing today. It seemed to help a little, but helped even more with the plantar faciatis pain. Time will tell. I would be in trouble without Chip to work with me in slackpacking. We hiked over 16 miles today. The Wytheville Methodist Church cooked trail magic for hikers today at the old school at Atkins. The one room schoolhouse was started in 1894 and was a fixture in the community. The kind church people drove 30 miles to feed us Cheeseburgers, watermelon, cantaloupe, potato salad, beans, soft drinks, and banana pudding. It was wonderful to experience the food after a full day of hiking.
Date: 2017-05-15
From: Settlers museum

To: Hwy 42
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

15 miles today through several different fields of plants. First it was wild geraniums, then ferns, then blooming rhododendrons, then blooming blackberries. The blackberries are blooming everywhere right now. I would love to be coming through here about six weeks from now. I love to pick and eat blackberries. The rhododendrons are absolutely spectacular and beginning to bloom. Some of the are over twenty feet high. There seems to be two varieties blooming this week. One has dark green leaves that stick out parallel to the ground. This kind has dark fuchsia blooms. The other variety has medium green leaves which seem to droop more. They have light pink blooms. I also walked through several fields of cows today. Going through one field I encountered a calf with her fully horned mama standing guard right in the middle of the trail. I stood there for a few seconds waiting for them to move, then thought the better of it and decided to walk through the high grass and give them a wide berth. I thought back to a hike I had several years ago in this same area. I was walking through a similar field on the AT when a bull followed by several cows started walking menacingly towards me. I quickly began walking towards the fence and was over it quickly before the cows could reach me. We handed out Mountain Dews as trail magic to about a dozen hikers. We had stopped at Walker Gap to camp for the night and hikers kept coming by. Hikers are always ready for a good soft drink!
Date: 2017-05-16
From: Olystery Pavilion 

To: Walker Gap
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

I was climbing down a big steep mountain today. There were numerous switchbacks on the downhill trail. As I was going down, I noticed an older male hiker coming up the trail toward me. I noticed him but he didn't notice me. I think it's because we all tend to focus mostly three to six feet in front of us in order to find our footing. We have to be careful or we might trip and fall. Haha. Anyway, I saw him as he was walking almost parallel to me just a few feet below me. Both of us were heading for the same switchback u-turn. I also noticed that there was a big tree on the inside of the u-turn. I stopped next to the tree and realized that he still hadn't seen me. When he came around the tree, I said boo! Not too loudly, but just enough to get his attention. He JUMPED. He said, "Boy, you really got me." We both laughed and went our opposite ways. A little while later I had to cross over a large fallen log on the trail. The usual way to get over such a log is to step close to it on this side, put a pole in the ground on the other side, and use it as a brace to swing the other foot over the log. As I approached the log, I noticed that there were a lot of leaves piled against my side of the log. I immediately thought to check the leaves for snakes. It would be a great hiding place. I stuck my hiking pole in the leaves. Nothing. I put the other pole on the far side of the log. I stepped close to the log. When I put my foot in the leaves, I looked down and saw the brown head stick out from under the leaves next to my shoe. I JUMPED. As I was going up and back, I thought, "What a strange looking snake." It was a five inch brown millipede. Startled by a millipede. Trail justice. I climbed over Chestnut Knob today. Topped out at 4300+. Tough 2300 foot climb. 1500 feet up without any kind of break. I made it without slowing down. I'm getting my Trail legs back. The radio reported 90 degrees this afternoon, although I am sure it was not that hot at elevation. It was still very hot however. I'm wondering what it will be like in July.
Date: 2017-05-18
From: Walkers gap

To: Dismal creek
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a day of ups and downs. The ups included being able to finish 14 miles in the brutal heat wave we are having. At one point I was feeling a little lightheaded and nauseous. Probably a combination of the heat and the fact that my body had not completely caught up from yesterday. But I finished nonetheless. I saw a bunch of wildlife - a rabbit, two deer, a groundhog, and about ten gazillion chipmunks. I was able to get pictures of everything except the chipmunks. They are very quick! They zoom around so fast that I think they are the ADHD carriers for the animal kingdom. Either that or they are all on methamphetamine. The downs today began with finding out that three of my friends are going home. One because of shin splints, one because he's just tired, and one because of dizzy spells. The downs got worse when I realized that my truck has transmission problems. It almost stranded us on the highway, and now we are in a motel in Wytheville near a transmission shop. Looks like I will have to have a new transmission. Big bucks! I won't know until tomorrow how long it will take either. Looks like I may have hiked my last hike with Chip because he leaves for a conference on Saturday. I may not be hiking for several days while the truck is being worked on. Oh well, I need to be Grateful2 in spite of the truck problems.
Date: 2017-05-19
From: Pearisburg

To: Charlotte
Miles today: 0.0

Finally found someone in Wytheville to fix the truck. It's definitely the transmission! They're tearing the transmission apart today. A new one has been ordered and will be installed on Monday. Took Chip and I all day to wrangle a rental car. I drove him home to Charlotte this evening where he and his family served a big steak dinner for us. It was great!
Date: 2017-05-21
To: Zero
Miles today: 181.7

Got up this morning and drove the rental car to Pearisburg. I'm staying in the Plaza Motel, awaiting my new partner. Met with Peter Pan today and we talked about hiking together slackpacking. He's staying at a friend's Hostel - Angel Wings, I think. We plan on starting to hike together beginning Monday morning. It will give his hurt knee a chance to finish healing.
Date: 2017-05-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It took longer to fix the truck than anticipated. I'm still in Pearisburg. Get transmission is now mostly fixed. He muffler had to be repaired also after a gravel road mishap. Things didn't pan out with Peter Pan, so I am looking for a slackpack partner again. Staying in the Plaza motel in the meantime.
Date: 2017-05-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.0

Hired a shuttle driver to take me 23 miles up the trail and walk back to the motel. It was to be a day of meetings. We were under a flood watch last night and this morning, with heavy rains expected this afternoon. I met amphibians, appropriately enough, on this wet day. I saw salamanders and frogs. I also saw one reptile, a garter snake. I met rain swollen creeks. I could the water roaring well before I got to it. It was deafening every time. Water that I could normally jump across had to be waded. The water was up to my knees. My shoes stayed soaked all day. I met some old trail friends, Bushy and Sparks. They want to key swap with me! Hooray! We decided to talk when I got through hiking today. After talking, we decided to join forces and hike the trail with my truck as a shuttle. It will take tomorrow to organize everything so we can start Saturday.
Date: 2017-05-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Had to fix the truck again today. This time the hydraulic lifters on the camper shell window went bad. Sparks, Bushy, and I spent a good part of the day at Auto Zone getting them replaced. We also made sure everything was set up with gear, maps, daily distances, etc. so that we would be able to hike for the next several days. We watched a family's house burn to the ground this afternoon. We stood in the motel parking lot and watched the smoke billow out of a house across the valley less than half a mile away. The smoke was white then black then finally white again. I am sure the flames could be seen for miles. The lone fire truck sped past us in the parking lot and in a moment was spraying water over the roof of the house. It burned to the ground. I felt so sorry for the family. They must have lost all of their possessions. I can only wonder what that must feel like. Sparks commented that they once had a moving van with all their possessions stolen from a motel parking lot and it was never recovered. He said that they learned then what was really important. What's important is not stuff. I guess that's one of the lessons that the trail teaches you. You carry everything you need on your back. You have such a small amount of stuff and you realize that most of the stuff you have back home you don't really need. It's just stuff. So many other things in life are more important than stuff. Relationships. Experiences. Acts of kindness. Goodness. World views. Health. God.
Date: 2017-05-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today is the day my wife and son come to visit and slackpack with us! I have to hike 18 miles to meet them. After Bushy and Sparks leave going north I drive the truck to the finish to start walking south. What the map doesn't show, however, is that the route I have chosen has to cross a creek where there is no bridge! Now I have to drive all the way back around another route and contact my wife about the new route. It's 9 am before I can start walking. We are supposed to meet at 430 and I have 18 miles to go. I basically ran the trail over very rough rock jumbles today in a little over 7 hours. I was absolutely exhausted when I finished. We had issues getting to her though, and we didn't make it before the fancy restaurant closed at 6 pm (on Sunday). I was so hoping to make it because it was our one chance to have a nice meal for our anniversary weekend. I'm Grateful2 she was understanding about the timing. I tried so hard to make it happen. She and our son are now slackpacking us for the next couple of weeks.
Date: 2017-05-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

We had a 13.8 mile day today. I still haven't recovered from three hard days and running all day yesterday. About 10 miles in today I just ran out of gas. I managed to finish finally and knew I had to take tomorrow off. The last three days of terrain has been very difficult to say the least. I went over Dragons Tooth today. It is a difficult scramble up and over several cliffs and rock faces. At one point I even had to cling to the cliff face with metal rings. It's easily the hardest climb on the trail so far. I'm SO glad it's behind me. They say it gets worse further north. I hope not! The last three days have been so difficult that Bushy and Sparks have decided they need to do less miles, so they have decided to put their packs back on and reduce their mileage. I'm sad to see them go. They are a lot of fun. Now I need a new slackpack partner when the family leaves in a couple of weeks. Carol and AJ did trail magic again today, handing out sodas and snacks to thru-hikers. They love doing that almost as much as the hikers enjoy getting it.
Date: 2017-05-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked 3.6 miles up to Mcafee knob with Carol and AJ. It's the iconic cliff overlook on the AT. They did wonderfully and enjoyed the hike up. Then they turned around and went back to the car as I continued on my 17 mile hike for the day. Tonight they are both sore from not being used to hiking. Went over Tinker Cliffs at lunchtime. Tinker Cliffs is even more spectacular in my opinion than Mcafee Knob! Saw a bunch of my hiking friends hanging out on the cliffs, including Chip! He has come back and decided to jump ahead. He doesn't have his hiking legs back yet, so he is taking it slow for a few weeks until he is ready for the bigger miles. Talked tonight with two other hikers, 10 and Goalie, about joining us as we slackpack. They are taking tomorrow off in Daleville. We decided to take tomorrow off also so that they could join us.
Date: 2017-06-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Another zero in Daleville. Washed clothes, ate out, and did the usual Walmart run. We went to see a movie, Wonder Woman. AJ loves him some superhero movies. Spoiler alert- she saved the world. Surprised? We leave at 630 am for the trail. I'm finally recovered from the 18 mile run.
Date: 2017-06-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Goalie, 10, and I set out from the hotel for a 14 mile day. Carol and AJ drove to the appointed stopping spot for the day to do trail magic and wait for us. We arrived at the camping spot at 12:45 and decided to drive out for Chinese food and ice cream for lunch. Trail life is so tough sometimes. Lol. Tonight we are camped on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The vistas are stunning and the weather is cool. Supposed to be in the mid fifties tonight.