morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-05-31
From: The Rabbit Hole Hostel

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: scattered clouds

May 31stRabbit got us to the trailhead at 8:45 a.m. After 2 miles of hiking we stopped for a quick water break where I realized that my tent poles were no longer attached to the bottom of my backpack.It's pretty hard to set up a tent without poles, so I took of jogging back to the trailhead in search of my poles. Shortly after starting my jog I met Alex, who we had met on multiple occasions and told him why I was jogging back to our trailhead. He told me that he found a Smart Water bottle, showed it to me, and indeed it was mine. It was clipped to my backpack and had fallen off the day before. I continued my jog to the trailhead, and alas there were no poles that I could find.That prompted me to call Beth to let her know that she might need to be sending me my other tent in a highly expedited fashion. It would be a bit of an understatement to say that she was justifiably quite unhappy with me! Anyway, I jogged back to Brian, and lo and behold Alex had rescued me. He found my poles not nore than a quarter mile from where we had stopped for our water break. Brian had told me on more than one occasion that I shouldn't strap my poles to the bottom of my backpack, that I should instead use a long vertical pocket intended for poles. Because I didn't have the stuff sack for the poles and my previous backpack was falling apart due to poor stitching I was concerned that the poles might ultimately poke a hole in the bottom of the pocket. Sometimes it pays to listen to one who has more experience. Now I use the pocket for my poles.The hiking goal for the day was to get to the Virginia border. Because of the time lost looking for poles we ended up about 4 miles from Virginia and 6 miles from Damascus. Brian had been having a great deal of back pain from sciatica at night and had a pretty sore back and numbness in one leg every morning. His intention was to take 2 days off in Damascus to see if his back would improve. I had to continue on because I needed to make Troutdale, Virginia by Friday night (population about 70) to get a pickup at their post office. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to get the pickup until Monday.
Date: 2022-06-01
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: clear sky

June 1stI had a knee brace to pick up at the Damascus post office on June 1st (Wednesday). We hiked pretty efficiently and got there by 9:30 a.m. I bought breakfast for us at the Damascus diner. The fresh coffee, eggs, hash browns, sausage, grits and biscuits and gravy were great. Brian couldn't check in to the Methodist church hiker hostel until 3 p.m. I left about noon to resume my path towards Troutdale. Cell phone coverage that day was nonexistent once you were outside of Damascus. I ended up stealth camping at 483.3 with no contact with anyone in the outside world.
Date: 2022-06-02
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Elk Garden Virginia Hwy 600
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: moderate rain

June 2ndI wanted to cover 21 or 22 miles this day, but Murphy's Law ended up throwing a monkey wrench in my plans, which ultimately proved to be a real blessing. I thought that if I made mile 503 on the trail I would make Troutdale Friday afternoon, and if it was Friday evening the post office was open on Saturday morning until 10 a.m.When I got to Elk Garden at Virginia highway 600 I would be getting close to the Grayson Highlands. That part of the trail is famous for the herd of wild ponies that live up there. Just inside the pasture, no more than a half mile off of the road I took my backpack off to take pictures of a few ponies that were not actually in the highlands. When I tried to put the backpack on, it didn't go as a pin that held the left shoulder strap bolt on was gone and I had no spare parts to replace it with. I was blessed with 2 ladies who had been hiking that day and were on their way back to the parking lot. They offered to take me back to Damascus where a couple of hiking supply stores were open. I gladly accepted, and before we arrived in Damascus a very healthy rain storm developed. The store had what I needed, and since Brian was there and is a lot handier than I he get the part replaced. A hiker shuttle service then came and drove me to Troutdale where I spent the night in a Baptist hiker hostel. It was nice to get another shower and clean some clothes.As it turned out, even if the weather had been favorable and I had no backpack issue I seriously doubt that I would have made Troutdale until Saturday well after the post office closing time. If you haven't hiked a section you can be surprised by the trail. The portion of the trail going through the Grayson Highlands, while beautiful, was excessively rocky. Troutdale itself is a good 3 or 4 miles off of the trail, and there was virtually no cell phone service.The disappointing part of the day was that Brian was told by a neurologist at the Wichita, Kansas VA hospital that despite the sciatica he shouldn't be suffering from numbness in his leg. They want to see him in Wichita on Friday, June 10th. Words can't express how grateful I am for Brian's experience and teaching me what I really needed to know to successfully complete this adventure. I will always be grateful for the time that we spent together on this hike. Thank you Brian, and God bless!
Date: 2022-06-03
From: Elk Garden Virginia Hwy 600

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

June 3rdThe Troutland Baptist Hiker Hostel was a nice place. It did not have internet access though which was its only drawback. It seems like no rural place in southern Virginia has internet access. I needed a shuttle ride after picking up my package from Beth at the post office. My room actually had a walkie talkie. A sign on the wall said to use Channel 12 to call Cole, a shuttle driver who fortunately was one of the very few residents of Troutland. The walkie talkie didn't work real well for me, although I was able to visit with him for a moment or two but couldn't get a pickup time arranged. Next to the post office was a bank, and a lady there tried about 4 times unsuccessfully to contact Cole, but after he saw the missed calls he called the bank and was told he had a customer that was ready for a shuttle ride. Cole was nice to deal with and got me back to the Elk Garden trailhead to resume my hike I ended up at Old Orchard Shelter at mile marker 510.2. It was a bit of a late start since the post office didn't have my package until 9:30 and it took time to get my shuttle, and more time to drive to the trailhead. It worked out to be a 15.3 mile rock filled hike. For just the 3rd time since April 22nd I stayed in the shelter so that I wouldn't have to break down my tent in the morning.There were lots of tents set up there, and 4 of us sleeping in the shelter. I had my cell phone alarm set for 5:15 a.m. Fortunately all of us in the shelter were there for the same reason - to get an earlier start on the hike.
Date: 2022-06-05
To: Hotel in Marian, Vaaaaaa
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

June 5thI took a zero day on this Sunday and while in Marion attended the Baptist Church a quarter mile or so down the road from my hotel. After the end of the service a gentleman, Bryan Halsey, asked me if I would like to have dinner with he and his wife Carol. We went to a Mexican diner down the road a short ways and had a very nice time visiting. Bryan and Carol have a daughter who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana and who attended Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. That's only about 30 miles from where my maternal grandparents lived in Crawfordsville, and they were quite familiar with the town. Though I tried to pay the bill the waitress gave the check to Bryan, though he allowed me to leave the tip. The next morning he picked me up at 7:15 and after a cup of coffee at McDonalds (though I had 2 breakfast sandwiches) he took me to the trailhead to begin Monday's hike.
Date: 2022-06-06
From: Hotel in Marian, Virginia

To: Crawfish Trail
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: scattered clouds

June 6thMy Trailjournals from June 5th is overstating my overall AT mileage, excluding the approach trail, by 4.5 miles. This day was just steady hiking, nothing especially noteworthy that ended at mile marker 552.5. For the day it was actually 18.3 miles. I tented at Crawfish Trail.
Date: 2022-06-07
From: Crawfish Trail

To: Burkes Garden Hostel
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: clear sky

June 7thJune 7th was a windy, rainy day. I managed to slip and fall one time. There was one long uphill that seemed to go on forever. I use an app on my cell phone called FarOut (formerly called Guthook). My Samsung phone seems to like to take pictures mysteriously when it's turned on in airplane mode in my pocket of various screenshots, from where they come from I don't know. Because it was raining I had it turned off. But when it's turned on in airplane mode it uses GPS to pinpoint your precise location on the AT. FarOut actually sells online maps for lots of different trails.Anyway in the rain it refused to tell me what my location was for a good 30 minutes that didn't make my attitude improve in the steep uphill, rainy climb. When I hit a shelter at the top of the mountain it did finally tell me how many miles I had yet to travel to arrive at Burke's Garden Hostel. In the last 3 miles of this hike I met 3 southbound slackpackers, one of whom, a young lady, Lemon Drop (young to me anyway at 34) Brian and I had seen multiple times. Slackpacking is when you leave most of your gear at one place and get picked up at a predetermined location at the end of the day.These 3 slackpackers were staying at a different hostel that has what they call a marathon challenge. If the hiker successfully completes 26.5 miles that hostel baked them a free cake. Hopefully they all made it successfully in the rain.My hostel was at mile marker 571.2. An hour or so after I got there the clouds dissipated, the sun shone, and up the hillside 400 yards or so in a pasture with a few trees 2 baby bear cubs were playing. For the day I went 18.7 miles.
Date: 2022-06-08
From: Burkes Garden Hostel

To: Walker Gap
Miles today: 21.2
Weather: overcast clouds

June 8thThis was a pretty day. There were section hikers out enjoying the weather, but I only passed on northbound (nobo) thru hiker this day, but a young man who routinely passed me in the afternoon did pass me that day. I was never sure where he stayed because he consistently passed me every afternoon, but evidently stopped earlier in the day than myself. I am putting one picture up from this day. Besides the pretty view I saw 2 pretty long black snakes and one fawn, but as of yet still haven't seen a rattlesnake.I'm not sad that I haven't seen a rattlesnake. I haven't heard of a single instance where a hiker was bit by a rattlesnake. But I am also attaching a picture of one very important piece of safety equipment that all hikers should have at their disposal on the trail. My particular order for this equipment has not yet arrived from Amazon, but if you look at the photos you can tell what it is!I finished the day at Walker Gap, mile marker 592.4 and tented for the night. Total miles for the day were 21.2.
Date: 2022-06-10
From: Weary Feet Hostel

To: Pearis Ledge Campsite
Miles today: 24.1
Weather: scattered clouds

June 10thThis was a long hiking day, with scenic views overlooking the areas around Pearisburg, Virginia. The day started off early; hiking at 5:45 a.m. For the day I covered 24.5 miles, leaving me just a few miles from Pearisburg for a resupply of food on the 11th. I camped at a stealth site at mile marker 634.1. One other hiker camped there as well. Attached is a picture of the Pearis Ledge at the top of the mountain.
Date: 2022-06-11
From: Pearis Ledge Campsite

To: Stealth Campsite mm 651.1
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

June 11thOn this Saturday I actually hiked 18.25 miles, but only 17 miles count on the AT. I walked in to Pearisburg, VA to resupply. When I was in the city limits at the Food Lion grocery store a shuttle picked me up to take me to Walmart. After resupplying at Walmart I made the short walk to McDonalds for breakfast and coffee.The shuttle driver picked me up, returned me to the trail and I continued my hike on a pretty day to a stealth campsite at mile marker 651.1. Before resuming my hike at the trailhead a young man thru hiking with his Labradoodle passed by while I was on a phone call. Because of the proximity to town and the fact that itwas a Saturday I saw numerous day hikers on this day, though only 2 thru hikers. The big bubble that Brian and I saw at the start of our hike has definitely diminished. Probably many of them have left the trail. A good number of thru hikers that I see now seemed to have started in March.
Date: 2022-06-12
From: Stealth Campsite mm 651.1

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: overcast clouds

June 12thGosh the weather is starting to get hot and humid here in southern Virginia. My plan for this day was 18.3 miles, 20.8 miles for the 13th, and 21.8 miles for the 14th.I made my 18.3 miles, though it took longer than I had intended, mostly because a very nice young lady with the trail name of Harmony from Crested Butte, Colorado provided trail magic at the 14 mile mark. She got off the trail at Pearisburg and was providing food and beverages to thru hikers. I gratefully ate 2 McDonalds sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, and drank 2 Mountain Dews during my nearly 60 minute stay with her. When I first got to the road there there was another vehicle parked there that was just preparing to leave. Harmony said that the lady leaving in her vehicle was the mother of the current AT quickest time record holder. Her son had passed through earlier in an effort to break his record of 41 days and 6 hours.Having hiked after this day a total of 669.4 miles I surely don't see a lot of benefit in that. He would be averaging more than 53.16 miles per day to break his record; and it would seem to me to be a good way to break bones rather than records. I probably had previously mentioned that a Philadelphia physician with a trail name of Achilles had told me that he had seen thru hikers intent on setting AT speed records with broken bones rather than new speed records. Considering that a marathon is 26.5 miles (approximately) and you aren't climbing up and stepping down on high steps, boulders, and navigating other obstacles on a marathon to cover the equivalent of 82.7 marathons in 41 days seems unhealthy. My 67 year old legs surely couldn't even come close to that! My perception is that when you are doing that you might carry water and a snack, but you are being supported by someone else with most all of your supplies, bedding, and etc. I spent the night in a shelter for a change - I was the only one there other than a large black snake laying underneath the shelter. Not having to set up and break down a tent makes for a time savings. And since I had generous trail magic, I didn't cook any dinner that night either. The shelter was named War Spur. I have a picture of Harmony attached.
Date: 2022-06-13
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Stealth Campsite 690.2
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: overcast clouds

June 13thToday was hotter than the 12th but was a memorable day. At mile marker 693 there is a memorial monument for Audie Murphy. He was the most decorated soldier of World Wa II and he was killed in a plane crash near this site in 1971. It is a touching site, and a vivid reminder that freedom is not free. My belief is that as a country we are moving towards an undemocratic aristocracy where freedom of speech and liberty are curtailed. Why else are certain types of speech restricted if they don't fit contemporary leftist norms? Universities regularly attempt to silence conservative and libertarian speech. Traditional liberalism welcomed debate, but that's not the June 13thToday was hotter than the 12th but was a memorable day. At mile marker 693 there is a memorial monument for Audie Murphy. He was the most decorated soldier of World Wa II and he was killed in a plane crash near this site in 1971. It is a touching site, and a vivid reminder that freedom is not free. My belief is that as a country we are moving towards an undemocratic aristocracy where freedom of speech and liberty are curtailed. Why else are certain types of speech restricted if they don't fit contemporary leftist norms? Universities regularly attempt to silence conservative and libertarian speech. Traditional liberalism welcomed debate, but that's not the norm today. Today if you are an African American conservative you are a traitor to your race. If you believe that voting ID proof is a sound way to provide election integrity you are suppressing minority voting rights and hence a racist. Even though in all my years in the retail tax business I have never had a so-called minority client who didn't possess a valid picture ID. Anyway, enough editorializing. But whenI am off the trail I want to watch the movie "To Hell and Back," an autobiography about Murphy's wartime experience. I've attached 2 pictures of the Murphy monument. I also passed a sign signifying that I was at the Eastern Continental Divide. I really didn't know that there was such a thing. And at the tail end of the day who did I run in to, but Harmony with more trail magic! Thanks so much Harmony for the 2 Mountain Dews, 1 Gatorade, Pringles, Cheezits, and Oreo cookies. It may not have been the most nutrional dinner, but I once again didn't cook!My day ended at stealth campsite 690.2, for a day's total of 20.8 miles.
Date: 2022-06-14
From: Stealth Campsite 690.2

To: 4 Pines Hostel
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

June 14thIt rained during the early a.m. hours of the 14th. My cell phone alarm was set for 5:30 a.m. But due to the rain and my lack of desire to break down my tent in the rain I didn't get started until 9:30 in the morning, way past my desired hike starting time of 6:30. This was perhaps the most difficult hike of all of my days on the trail. Brian and I sure had some tough days getting started and in the hills of North Carolina, but it started out with uphill climbs and hot, humid temperatures from the start. Navigating the boulders, climbing both up and down using your hands to help secure your safe passage for progress was sure wearing on my psyche. The rocks seemed to go on forever. But it could have been worse. By the time I hit them at Dragon's Tooth they were dry instead of wet and slippery. Thank you Lord that I didn't take any spills on this day! I failed to take any pictures of the Dragon's Tooth and related boulders because I was only concerned about keeping myself in one unbroken 67 year old piece!When I reached the point where I was going to descend from Dragon's Tooth (I actually keep thinking of it as Devil's Tooth) there was a young lady from Pennsylvania ahead of me. Before I got to the gravel road I did pass her. Her father was providing car transportation for her (he was smart enough to not hike this portion of the trail with her) and she offered that they could provide transportation to me for the last half mile that was not part of the AT to 4 Pines Hostel where I was spending the night. That was also a blessing, even though a half mile might not seem like much.At the hostel I called a convenience store about getting pizza delivered to me for dinner. The young lady who answered my call said that they were done cooking for the night, that they had 3 big pieces of pizza left but that they did not deliver. The hostel manager drove myself and another hiker to the store. The young lady gave me the pizza at no charge, and I bought 2 20 ounce bottles of Pepsi to go along with it. I shared my pizza with one of the hikers, shared some of my crust with a hostel dog, and drank both of the Pepsis myself.The mileage for the day was just 14.3, but it seemed like the longest hike of my AT hike to date. I have an annoying blister on one foot, and a blister on the heel of my other foot. Consequently I am taking two days off in Daleville, Virginia to recover. On Friday the 17th I will have to take a shuttle back south to actually complete the hike from mile marker 704.5 to Daleville. That stretch of trail will include McAfee's Knob, the most photographed point on the whole AT. I will for that 26 mile stretch of trail slackpack, so instead of carrying 34 pounds I'll only have to carry about 16 pounds.
Date: 2022-06-17
From: 4 Pines Hostel

To: Bee Chill Hostel
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

June 17thMy shuttle driver dropped me off at 9 am at my previous ending mile marker of 704.5. The day started off hot, and because I was dropped off at a road, that always means you get to use your uphill legs first. At mile marker 714.2 I reached the most photographed site on the whole AT, McAfee's Knob. There was no one else at the top, and a selfie doesn't really give you the flavor of what it's like, but nonetheless I have attached 2 pictures at that site. I didn't try to get to close to the edge - in May an individual fell to their death there, which I personally didn't care to replicate! At the time of the picture (probably about 1 pm) it was a bright, sunny day. A few hours later the weather changed drastically. I was hiking on top of a ridgeline for about 4 miles when clouds poured in, the temperature dropped, and the wind really blew hard. The trail was very close to the edge of the mountains so I was glad that the wind was blowing you away from the precipice rather than towards off of the mountains. I heard 2 trees get blown over. I passed an older gentleman from Syracuse, New York when the wind was blowing ferociously and I made the Lamberts Meadow Shelter by 5 pm. About 1 mile before that I came upon 2 ladies who were section hiking south standing on the trail. They wondered what the weather was like on top of the ridgeline. My advice to them was to forget about it until the storm blew over and head to the shelter that became my night's destination. Happily they took my advice. When I made the shelter a forest service ranger and an Appalachian Trail employee were there also waiting out the storm. An hour and a half after I arrived the man from Syracuse got there. He said that one tree blew over on his hike and narrowly missed him. Surprisingly with all of the cloud cover no rain came, and after 2 hours at the shelter the storm had passed. The next day would be shorter. For this day, my mileage was 16.4.
Date: 2022-06-18
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Bee Chill Hostel
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

June 18thSaturday the 18th I was back in Daleville, Virginia at the Beech Hill hostel. It was only a 9.4 mile hike to there, and the first order of business was to get, I hoped, a Wendy's double cheeseburger and milk shake. Unfortunately it didn't happen. That Wendy's couldn't hire enough people to be fully staffed and dining in was not offered. I settled for BoJangles next door, but it wasn't my first choice. Now about 2 days earlier Beth had asked me if it was time to send me my new boots to replace the ones that I had worn for the last 550 miles. I told her no, that I thought I still had another 150 miles left on what I was wearing. However on Friday the 17th my right trail boot decided to fall apart. I used Leukotape to put it together, so the second order of business on this day was to buy another pair of trail boots. In the same shopping center there was an outdoor outfitter so new boots were bought, and after that, still in the same center was Krogers. Sure I had a sandwich, fries, and 2 Pepsis at BoJangles but hikers eat a lot of food and still lose weight. So I bought and ate lunch at Krogers, as well as purchased a spinach dish and a carton of ice cream for that evening's dinner. Until that day I had never consumed an entire carton of ice cream in one sitting.