morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-02
From: Campsite past Wise Shelter

To: Troutdale Baptist Church Hostel
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Hiked fast today, as I do on all town days. If you can call Troutdale a town. There exists only a post office, a ¢trading post¢ (restaurant and convenience store, sans gas station, closed Sundays) and this the Baptist hostel. It¢s still great, though¢sleeping on the floor of an old AWANA buildings reminds me of bike trip post. And the showers rock. Plus free laundry and detergent. So I hiked with Bonnie and Clyde most of the day, a young couple from Seattle. They¢ve been really sweet, giving me advice about my pack and waiting for me at the road so I wouldn¢t have to hitch alone. It was a hard day otherwise, though. It rained off and on all day. Sometimes pouring and I really felt pressure to move so Bonnie and Clyde wouldn¢t have to wait at the road. Saw two more ponies though¢cool. I¢m still really struggling with my competitive instinct and my needs to accept my hike as it is and not compare myself to other people. It¢s hard. I can¢t somehow manage too accept that doing fewer miles than someone else makes me no better or worse than someone else. But, I made it¢hitched in with three drunk fly fishermen who wondered what the heck was in Troutdale, only to come up to what looked like a completely closed church in the rain and think the door was locked. We figured it out eventually, though, and even managed to get a shuttle to food, which Bonnie picked up for us while we showered. Bacon double cheeseburger¢mmm. Then Queen Diva and the Fab Five showed up along with Pipesmoke. I had heard about Queen Diva, but had never met her¢she¢s a missionary that does trail magic as a ¢hiker ministry¢. It¢s pretty cool, and she¢s promised us French toast tomorrow morning. They also fed us left over pizza, pop, and cookies post-burger. It was great. Two of the other four have done multiple thruhikes also as missionaries¢Circuit Rider and Sherlock. The other two are troubled youth they¢re also ministering to. Made some phone calls tonight, which was great, and going to check the post office for packages tomorrow.
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Troutdale Baptist Church Hostel

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

Got a really late start this morning. Queen Diva didn¢t get back from dropping her boys off until nine then made us French toast. It was delicious, but I felt a little bad eating as much as I wanted, it being a gift and all. Which is what I get for complaining about missing my trail magic all the time. We spent the rest of the morning piddling around, making phone calls, talking (Queen Diva can talk)¢heck, I don¢t know what all we did. I went to the post office and got one package¢pop tarts and chocolate from Robin. Yay! I love you, Robin! Anyway, we didn¢t get to the trail until one, only to discover that what we thought was eleven-odd miles was really fourteen and a half. So it was another day of an above two-mile an hour pace. I still got here before dark, which just goes to show I can do more than a sixteen-mile day if I so chose. Which I know, but still. I just don¢t so choose. It ended up being a beautiful day, even though it threatened to rain all morning, and even though it¢s cold. Virginia really is gorgeous, and the terrain is much easier. Crossed some beautiful bridges over trout streams today, also through yet another cow pasture, and post a horse farm! With beautiful horses grazing. The reason we wanted to make it here so badly is that this is the legendary shelter with the shower, whence you can order pizza. So we did. Bonnie had already placed the order when I got here, bringing me dinner for the second night in a row. So I¢m here again with Bonnie, Clyde, and Pipesmoke, plus I caught up to Hey Bob, Quiet Guy, and Syracuse. And there¢s a bunch of other people. The shelter¢s huge, with a loft and plenty of sleeping space. The day was much better today too¢Clyde (the other girl) gave me a massage this morning, which greatly improved my back pain, plus helped me adjust me hip belt to its proper position. Hiking is fun when you¢re not in excruciating pain!
Date: 2004-05-04
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Relax Inn, Atkins, VA
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

Succumbed to the lure of town again today. Not exactly town¢the trail crossed the Interstate and there¢s a truck stop that the trail goes right through. Called Erica this morning from the pay phone at the Visitor¢s Center, and then did 11.6 miles to the truck stop. Virginia really is beautiful¢we¢re walking through all this private land and cow pastures and there are gorgeous fields everywhere. The days are getting more and more beautiful too¢it¢s gorgeous and sunny out today. I had a hard morning, as usual¢the morning¢s are always hard, and my feet have been hurting more, but had a moment of revelation as I usually do, standing on this mountain looking down at the interstate and the semis going by in complete silence and feeling so separated from it all. That¢s why I¢m out there. I suppose for those perfectly serene moments. To be in the world and not of the world. That why I¢m staying at the Relax Inn tonight. Actually, what happened was I got into the truck stop and went to the restaurant (the ole Barn) for a bacon cheeseburger and met up with a group that had stayed at the shelter the night before: Big County, Flippy, and sunshine. Big County and Flippy had been part of this group called the Offensive Six that has more or less split up. We all went over to the Dairy Queen for blizzards after lunch and Flippy talked us into splitting a motel room for ways¢only twelve bucks. We¢re here now, watching movies on television and playing cards. I called Peter to congratulate him on is 21st birthday, which was nice. I¢m having a great time with the gang here¢they¢re all really cool. County is retired at the age of 26 and has 120 acres and a horse in Maine¢Flippy is married with two kids and has a computer security company in Texas and Sunshine is a Christian nurse from North Carolina.
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Relax Inn, Atkins, VA

To: Campsite past Virginia 610
Miles today: 9.4

It was a beautiful day today. Gorgeous. The weather is incredible, now that summer is starting. Everyone says it¢s tough not to do twenty-mile days in Virginia, but what a surprise¢I¢m not having a problem. I¢m finding the opposite actually¢with all the exquisite weather I¢m finding I want to sit under trees and stare at fields and take naps and talk about life. Took some great breaks by streams. The hiking itself becomes less and less hard¢I can fly if I want, and my back isn¢t hurting me at all. But we stopped this afternoon with five miles left to go to the shelter and County and I got to talking and decided to just camp right here. He¢s a really cool guy¢one of the few out here who¢s really interested in Thailand and stuff. Most out here don¢t ever bother talking about where you¢re from or what you do at home. It¢s all about gear and miles. The sky is beautiful tonight, too¢clear and there are stars and a full moon.
Date: 2004-05-14
From: Campsite past Virginia 610

To: Trail Days, Damascus, VA
Miles today: 2.4
Weather: scattered clouds

So I¢ve taken some serious time off¢a friend came to visit and the Trail Days. It¢s a good thing, though¢I had intended to give my back some rest. The only thing that sucks is that everyone I know is once again ahead of me. I¢m trying to let that trouble me less and less, though. Let Katahdin take care of itself, or I¢ll worry about it when September rolls around. In the meantime, people are still starting from Springer. I¢ve been very disappointed by Trail Days, though. Not impressed at all. I haven¢t really found many people I knew, which is really the whole point. I did see Camel and Flora and Fauna again, Hoss, Bonnie and Clyde, Pipesmoke, Ashtray, Dragonfly, Goldfish and Koi, Hey Bob, Quiet Guy, Sundance, Syracuse, Jason, and Dogg¢so I guess that is a fair number. I¢m camping with County and Flippy, Sunshine, KLess, and other remnants of the Offensive Six who are still not nearly as offensive as some other people I¢ve met on the trail. All in all, though, the festival hasn¢t been nearly as cool as I had expected, given its reputation. It seems slightly counter-intuitive to celebrate something like hiking by doing things that have absolutely nothing to do with hiking. There are a ton of hiking groupies out here¢tons of hippie girls, none of who, I¢m sure are hiking the trail. And the gear tents are just as intimidating as outfitters, so I¢m probably not going to get much gear taken care of, as I had expected. I probably could, but it¢s just so much work. I shouldn¢t really be surprised. There have been some cool things, like drum circles around bonfires at night with people dancing and swinging flaming lanterns all pretty primitive, but for the most part it¢s just been a whole lot of people partying. I¢ll probably take off tomorrow. I¢m ready to start hiking again.
Date: 2004-05-17
From: Trail Days, Damascus, VA

To: Campsite past Grayson Highlands
Miles today: 0.0

So instead of leaving Trail Days and getting back on the trail, I was convinced by a group of people to come back to the Grayson Highlands and hang out for a couple of days, which has been well worth it. KLess¢s girlfriend, whom we¢ve named KFul, drove up to Trail Days, so we had a car, and Trail Days kind of sucked and I had really regretted not spending some time in the Highlands when I cam through the first time, so it seemed like the perfect solution. It also seemed much more in keeping with the spirit of the trail¢so many people out here are obsessed with gear and mileage, and the white blazes, and I admit I can be obsessed with those things too, and this seemed like a way to clear my head, to get in touch with what the hike is really about¢the beauty of nature and fellowship with God and the wilderness. This is one of the most beautiful sections I¢ve hiked through so far, and it¢s well-worth camping here extra several nights. This way we¢ve gotten to wander around the balds, climb up random rocky outcroppings, see the Highlands in different weather, instead of walking straight through. The ponies are also foaling right now. We came back to our camp after dark one night, after trying to start a fire in the drizzle, and found a herd of twenty or thirty ponies in the mist, two with foals. They don¢t herd together like that during the day. It was unbelievably amazing to stand in the middle of them all, close enough to touch with these barely walking foals, about three feet tall trying to figure out who we were. They would spook occasionally and eventually ran off, probably because of coyotes stalking the babies. I can hear coyotes now, from my tent, closer than they¢ve ever been.
Date: 2004-05-18
From: Campsite past Grayson Highlands

To: Bland Horse Stables
Miles today: 0.0

Back in Bland. I was going to start hiking again today, but we got out later than expected, and the curvy country roads to get from Grayson to Gland took longer than expected. It was cool, though¢KLess played music in the car that I didn¢t think I¢d be able to hear until I got off¢the Flaming Lips, Beck. I don¢t realize how much I miss music out here. I¢ll crave songs for days. We stopped at DQ when we got to Bland and KLess told us about where he had stayed when he came through town, these horse stables behind the town baseball diamond, evidently used during county fairs and such, but generally abandoned. So we traipsed back there at about dusk and I found a relatively poop-free stable, right next to one that had spray painted on the wall ¢OSCAR IS OUT OF JAIL.¢ A little creepy, but cool, too¢it feels like civilization to me, having a roof over my head and making fresh sandwiches for dinner. I¢m always saying that we¢re just homeless people out here, that¢s what people don¢t realize, and tonight it really feels like that.
Date: 2004-05-19
From: Bland Horse Stables

To: Walker Gap Campsite
Miles today: 12.4

Finally hiking again. It feels great, even after two weeks off. My feet feel great, and what¢s better my back feels wonderful. An added side benefit of the trip to Grayson Highlands is that KLess sold me his virtually brand new Osprey backpack for half-price. The torso is too long for him, so jus about right for me. It was a beautiful day, and the terrain in Virginia is really getting easier¢either that or I¢m finally in shape. I¢m still hiking with County¢KLess went on to Pearisburg. Ran into some other hiker, a new group, yet again¢a couple named No Name and Whiskey and another solo female thruhiker named Stands with a Fist. She¢s having a really hard time and is thinking about quitting¢She just got sick of walking and is missing her boyfriend back home. The bugs have gotten really bad, too¢I¢m being eaten alive. I¢ve taken to sleeping just in the mesh part of my tent, leaving the rain fly off for airflow, just so I can stay clear of the bugs.
Date: 2004-05-20
From: Walker Gap Campsite

To: Bland Horse Stables
Miles today: 20.2

My biggest day so far¢I finally broke the twenty-mile barrier! And, I¢m back in Bland, at the horse stables yet again, which was part of the motivation for the twenty-mile day. The last seven miles or so coming in the road were all along a ridge, so it was either stop at thirteen miles or push for twenty and hitch back into Bland. I knew there was a free place to say in Bland so that wasn¢t a consideration, but I must admit that I was very motivated by the Ultimate Burger at DQ. We got there just before closing, too. When we came up to the road that we could hitch from it was just dusk, borderline dark, and I thought there was no way in the world that we would get a hitch, but a nice old man in a pick-up truck actually turned around on the highway to come pick us up and give us a ride back into the city. We got to the DQ with ten minutes to spare. And the old man actually offered us a place to stay at his mother¢s and ride back to the trail in the morning. We didn't take him up on either offer, but it proved once again that Bland, not Damascus, is the friendliest trail town on the AT. Then we made our way back to the old familiar horse stables, and got here at about twelve. It¢s just County and me tonight¢I think I may have found my hiking partner. He¢s having to slow to stay with me, but he had planned to do that anyway to enjoy his hike more, and he¢s motivating me to speed up. We get along really well, too. I¢ve been getting really sick of the whole hiker grind¢the constant socializing, the competitiveness¢and it feels really great to be safe from all that.
Date: 2004-05-21
From: Bland Horse Stables

To: Campsite past Helveys Shelter
Miles today: 4.6

I got out of town late this morning as usual. I suppose that¢s the peril of hiking twenty miles to get into town. No Name, Whiskey, and Stands made it here also this morning¢they re-supplied at the grocery store and we went down to the diner for a burger. Ended up just hanging out beneath a carport for a while¢it¢s getting hot, and it¢s hard to get started in the middle of the day. Maybe not for me, but for everyone else not raised in Thailand. We finally hitched back to the trail and everyone else stopped at the shelter two miles out, but we kept going with the goal of doing more miles only to stop at this beautiful overlook looking out oat the mountains. There¢s just enough room to camp here, and I think I¢m going to sleep out tonight. Hopefully the bugs won¢t eat me alive, but it¢ll be worth it to see the sunrise in the morning. We packed in some town food, so we¢re sitting here eating it and watching the light die. I¢m perfectly content¢this is exactly the sort of thing that I decided I should do more of in the Grayson Highlands.
Date: 2004-05-22
From: Campsite past Helveys Shelter

To: Campsite at Kimberling Creek
Miles today: 14.0

Woke up this morning to an incredible sunrise over the hills. Maybe the most beautiful I¢ve ever seen. The sun came up from behind the mountains and the valleys were shrouded in a sea of fog¢you could only see the mountains like islands above. I did get eaten by bugs, though they¢re getting worse and worse, and I¢m especially susceptible. There was also an incredible lightning storm last night, and thunder, and wind¢I was sleeping out and I kept panicking thinking that rain would start pouring and I¢d have to pitch my tent in it, but it never did. And the lightning was so cool to watch, and the wind beautiful to listen to. It was well worth it to camp here.   The only problem being that I¢m out of water this morning. This is the peril of camping at overlooks. We ended up having to walk nine miles with minimal water¢these Virginia ridgelines are brutal when it comes to water¢and then made it another five to a road crossing where there was a country store a half-mile off the trail. So we went and got burgers and packed a pizza back to the trail where we camped by the creek. It¢s supposed to be clear tonight, but I¢m pitching my tent anyway sans rainfly¢the bugs are evil. County¢s building a fire¢fire and pizza in the woods. It doesn¢t get any better.
Date: 2004-05-23
From: Campsite at Kimberling Creek

To: Dismal Creek Falls
Miles today: 1.9

Got a late start again today. It didn¢t rain at all last night, but as soon as I woke up and got out of my tent this morning the sky opened up and it started pouring. I was able too put my rainfly on my tent fast and keep the things inside dry, and I probably should have gotten in too, but by that time I was already soaked and it seemed pointless to get everything in the tent wet, too. Just when I had gotten everything covered up and the pack cover on my pack, but everything had already gotten wet and I was soaked through it cleared up. Evidently, this is common for Virginia storms. The problem, however, is having country stores too nearby¢at that point we were both soaked and the store was only a half-mile away so we decided to wander back down an get a late breakfast. So we did that and ran into No Name, Whiskey, Stands, and another named Sunshine who has just switched to trail shoes that are brutalizing his feet. They all stayed at the campground behind the store and got showers last night, lucky dogs, which cost $3. They also managed to stay dry this morning at the store. So I¢m not sure our money-saving technique was really a good idea. When we finally set out, after hanging out and drying for a couple hours, we were tempted by a .3 side trail to the waterfall that had been recommended. It was well worth the trip¢County jumped off the waterfall and I almost did but chickened out¢maybe if it¢s warmer tomorrow. There are come cool locals here too hanging out. It¢s fun talking to people who are not hikers. Evidently this is a big hangout for cottage kids on the weekend. Someone said we missed steaks that were packed in on Friday night¢bummer. But we still lazed away our whole Sunday playing in the falls, and then the locals convinced us that it was worth it to camp at this campsite overlooking the falls. It is, I think¢it¢s another beautiful night, and how often does one have the opportunity to camp at falls? It¢s another Grayson Highlands night, I think¢I want to be motivated by the beauty on the trail, not by mileage. My latest plan is to go from beautiful campsite to beautiful campsite, no matter the mileage.
Date: 2004-05-24
From: Dismal Creek Falls

To: Campsite past Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.2

I¢m breaking my pre-Trail Days highest mileage record with ease now¢maybe it¢s the new backpack or maybe I¢m just finally used to this. I got a late start again this morning, hanging out at the waterfall. Met some new hikers¢Mama¢s Boy, Poppins, and Skippy. Finally left the waterfall and hiked all day. Ran into Stands at the first shelter. She¢s decided to go home¢she¢s going to aim for Pearisburg on Wednesday and get picked up there. It¢s a beautiful day for hiking a beautiful hiking weather¢I always forget how much I actually enjoy hiking itself. Stands and Whiskey were talking about how sick they are of it and I couldn¢t disagree more. Maybe you just need to take two-mile days to appreciate it. We got to Doc¢s Knob Shelter at about dusk and cooked there, but the shelter was more or less full and I really didn¢t feel like packing in with a bunch of hikers I didn¢t know. The alleged thinning out past Damascus is not happening at all. If anything the trail is more crowded. To make things worse, this guy Restless, who works at Neel¢s Gap, and whom we ran into at the country store said that only 1200 have started this year. I can¢t imagine what the trail is like in a crowded year or maybe there will be a really high finishing rate this year. Who knows. Or, maybe the trail will finally thin out past Harper¢s Ferry.   So we went on after dark, my first time really night-hiking with my headlamp. It was great¢we mainly walked through rhododendron thickets and they were like these dark tunnels. The leaves are so dark, but they¢re all putting out these fringed new leaves for spring, and they glowed white in the light. Saw a deer, too, off the trail¢or at least its eyes and outline. Finally found a place to camp on an old side road. Hopefully it won¢t rain tonight.
Date: 2004-05-25
From: Campsite past Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Plaza Motel, Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked into yet another town today. I¢m deciding that there are too many towns on the AT. More of a reason to do the PCT next year. And too many hikers. People who do the PCT call the AT the ¢party trail¢ and I¢m beginning to understand why. It¢s still nice to be in town, though. There were beautiful overlooks on the way into town, marred only by the power plant immediately outside town. Got an overpriced motel room and went to the Pizza Hut buffet, a necessity for hikers in any town with a Pizza Hut. Everyone¢s here¢-all the hikers I¢ve see this week-¢about twenty of us were at the buffet. The whole motel is taken over with hikers. Made some phone calls from my room, mainly to my parents, to whom I had to explain why I wasn¢t yet in Catawba. I¢m not sure they really understand my Grayson Highlands side trip or my two-mile days to experience the beauty of the tail. Sometimes I don¢t understand either and I worry about how slow I¢m going, or how long this thing is taking me. But I¢m really not worried about finishing. Katahdin can take care of itself. I will finish, somehow, and that¢s the challenge. I¢m meeting people who started in April now. Depressing. But I¢m having a great time, and I¢m loving the trail, and that¢s what matters.
Date: 2004-05-26
From: Campsite past Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Holiday Motor Lodge
Miles today: 0.0

So I zeroed today despite all protestations to the contrary. I ate lunch at a Chinese buffet for $4.95, did laundry, re-supplied, sent stuff home from the post office, and hitched back down to the trail, only to have the sky absolutely open up. It was late in the afternoon by that point and County asked some guys working in a shop by the trail if we could take refuge in one of their horse trailers. So we hung out in this horse trailer for a couple of hours waiting for the rain to stop, and it never did. So we decided to stay, it seeming pointless to start in a lightning storm only to discover that two of the motels and the hostel were full. We got one of the last two rooms at the Holiday Motor Lodge, and they gave us the special hiker rate even though it wasn¢t a hiker room. So I guess it all turned out for the best, although I¢m feeling some pressure about whether or not I¢ll get to Waynesboro in time. No worries, though. And it feels great to be sheltered from the storm tonight.