morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-18
From: Abington Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

Friday the 18th. Todays hike had us walking the Holsten and Iron Mountain ranges--many areas were ridgeline walking--my favorite. Walking the ridgeline is easy going and you feel you are on top of it all. It affords good views from either side. Today, the views were few due to the dense brush and trees. Highest ele. was 4125, so the climbs were easy too. We walked a beautiful meadow and found wild roses along the way. Wild flowers all over. We hiked 9 hours, no one worse for wear. We passed many hikers today. Doc, Tracey and her dog Suzie, Jig and Flatwheel, the Blues Brothers and more--all on the road to Damascus. We'll be returning there on Saturday. We passed Nick Grindstaff's tomb (1851-1923) who's epitaph is "He lived alone, he suffered alone, and he dies alone." He was the region's famious hermit having traveled west to find his fortune, been robbed of all he had, and returned to Iron Mt. around 1880 to life his life on the mountain.
Date: 2004-06-19
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: US 321. Hampton
Miles today: 15.6

Saturday the 19th. It was a difficult night's sleep due mostly to the coyote, the werewolf, or heretofore undiscovered howling Iron Mt. creature. For -- maybe 4 hours -- this thing would howl a weird sound. It would ebb only to return and disturb a new slumber. The 3 of us were really miffed by the time dawn broke. We'd earlier decided to go the 15+ miles since the terrain was so "dooby dooby doo" but it still would be a long day. We left at 9 and walked 9 hours. We passed Vanderventer Shelter (3620 elev) where we lunched but did not see it's reported ghost. We did get a fair view of Watauga Lake clouded in. We later were caught in a T-storm. I don't like T-storms. They take so much of your energy. I worry of being conked by a tree, of others being conked, of one of us falling, of gear getting soaked--all 3 of us were now sloshing in our boots. The storm was way too close but it lasted no more than 30 minutes. Onward now but more tired than we should be due to storm stress. MB is shouting obcenities for no one to hear in the wet woods. Along the dam, around the lake, in the car, to Damascus and our spirits re-ignited, proud of ourselves, smiling, back at the Old Mill Restaurant to pat ourselves on one another's back.
Date: 2004-06-20
From: Damascus, VA

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Father's Day, 2004. Sunday. Today Greenie and I talked about our dads. Both men died of heart failure after a life of hard work. The idea of retirement as we've come to know it was unknown to these men. Also, it seems that neither understood the FE in the word female. We know in their way they loved us but it was not as depicted in "Father Knows Best". We agreed that their closed-mindedness contributed to our self-sufficient and independent nature and for that we are thankful to them. For MB, it's different. How well does a 17 year older know his father? The night of the junior high school play, MB's entire family prepared to attend and see him perform in Lost Horizon but at the last moment MB's dad begged off-- feeling sorta off, indigestion, something...When Dan rushed back home, he found his dad slumped on the sofa, having died of a heart attack at the age of only 50. I know these two would have enjoyed one another as adults.Today is also the Solstice and a zero day for us. Last night we spent at the hostel. A quiet night's sleep. The plan for the day was breakfast at Cowboys, MB doing laundry, move cars: 1st to Bastion; the other to Pearisburg. Here we are at the Holy Family Hiker's Hostel. (Catholic) All along the southern part of the AT, it is not unusual to have churches operate these hiker hostels. They do this for a donation and ask that you help keep it clean. In return you sleep here, shower , have use of a kitchen, and often, laundry facilities. This particular hostel is located in a very peaceful setting on a hill with beautifully maintained gardens and surroundings. It offers views across the New River valley, of the AT and Peters Mt. We are greeted by Father Prenelli, a former missionary who spent most of his years in VN. He first ventured to VN in the milit in an advisor capacity in the late 50s. He wanted to tell us all his stories and I know he has volumes but we had things to do so after an hour and a half of giving him our ear, we finally found a way to leave. A zero day allows us to do stuff: Food Lion for resupply, Rite Aid for the blistered feet...etc and time to recuperate for recent long mileage days. So far we may have hiked over 200 miles now. We are all in good spirits, feeling very happy about what we've done. Often, we hike along-- or 5 to 10 minutes apart. This is a good time to reflect if only you can shoo that silly tune out of your head. For me lately it's been: "For ever and ever, My heart will be true, sweetheart forever, I'll wait for you...we both made a promise...that we'd never part..." (I need to go tear my hair out).
Date: 2004-06-21
From: Pearisburg

To: Woods Hole with Miss Tillie
Miles today: 12.5

Monday, the 21st. Should have been a great beginning given our comfortable night's sleep at the Holy Family Hostel. But, we started following the white blazes and BOOM...they disappeared. Looking back we realized we were following white reflectors. The AT goes through Pearisburg so it was logical--until we crossed the bridge at New River. We had to backtrack. Then, once we finally found the double blazes indicating a turn, we came upon a sign saying "Appalachian Trail, VA 635-20.4 miles". Greenie and Mike's Brother bounded up the trail and I decided to check the guide page -- Sweet Sweat o' Juno-- we're heading the wrong direction. "Hey, guys, c'mon back - something is really wrong." They both stood there like deer caught in headlinghts. "C'mon back". Quelle disastre! Who could believe this. We backtracked again and in all lost 2 hours. We needed to climb Pearis Mt. which meant an ascent from 1700 to 3100 in 2.3 miles. This was difficult given our earlier detours but fortunately there were many switchbacks so the steepnest was lessened. Then we ridgewalked. great! And so was the weather. A nice breeze coming to us whenever we needed one. Our day was a 10.5 mile one, not counting our wasted earlier miles. We saw deer, a doe, a fawn. We kept quiet and still to allow them to get a good look at us. We ambled along with me singing "Forever and Ever"...2 squirrels...We made it to Tillie's hostel at 6:15. Nice place. Signed up for her breakfast, had a sloar shower, brrrr. C'est tout.
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Woodshole

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: scattered clouds

6/22 Tuesday. What a lovely breakfast Tillie fixed for us this AM. Biscuits, eggs, bangers, grits, o.j., coffee all in a nice setting in her 1880 log cabin. Tillie Wood operated this hiker hostel from 5/1 to 7/1 every year. It was started in 1986 by her husband Roy, who died in 1987. Roy Wood found this old homestead while studying a herd of elks (wapiti) in the 1940's. He paid $300 for 100 acres and this log cabin. During the Carter Administration he became assistant to the secretary of the interior. Tillie found hikers so interesting, she continued the hostel. She is in her 80's now and todayt at breakfast, she seemed to still enjoy the strange assortment at her table. Besides we 3, there was Dr. Bob from NH. He section hikes every year during his "vacation" time. So far over the years he has completed weel over 1/2 the AT. He is a man in his 50's. Then, there was Stephen and Hannah, brother and sister (maybe early 30's) from Iowa. Hannah hiked with her brother from Springer but is going off the trail in Pearisburg. (I have bigger fish to fry). Stephen is going on to Maine with their dog Dozer. Stephen sports leather earrings which dangle by his neck. The holes in his earlobes are about the size of a marble and these holes are leather-lined. He has tattoos here and there. When we arrived at Tillie's, he was completing the mowing of Tillie's huge lawn, then with a scythe cleared all along the creekbed. More later...gotta sign off right now.I'm back...About Stephen...He must have worked some 3 or more hours and he was working hard. For this, Tillie offered him and his sister a free breakfast the next day, and she offered them a nice big piece of pecan pie that evening. Tillie got her money's worth. But despite his appearance, Stephen is a swet and polite and thoughtful guy. Also at the breakfast table this morning was Arletta, Tillie's friend from Roswell who had driven up the night before to help with the hostel duties. So--well fed, another beautiful day, we hiked away on rocky terrain. Four hours out we got the best view--or the clearest view since we started on Memorial Day. The view was the Pearis Mt. valley area and Tillie told us we'd see her log cabin from there. We think we did but we're not sure. Today's hike was only 6.2 miles during which we spotted 1 deer, 3 snakes: 2 are indigo; and 2 are black with yellow lengthwise markings on both sides. P.S. There is no longer an elk population in this area. They were hunted to extinction in the 70's in order to protect the farmers' crops.
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: VA 606
Miles today: 7.7

Wednesday June 23. We left Wapiti Shelter at 8:30 this morning with the goal of going 14.2 miles to Jenny Knob Shelter. This was like a walk in the park ---walking along side the Dismal Creek which provided us gurgling entertainment. (Forever and Ever was still in my head). Then, sprinkles and more and more...and a big rainfall. We started sloshing in our boots again. We made it to Dismal Falls and decided to go the extra .3 miles to see the falls and maybe find some shelter to eat lunch. No Go. It just poured once we trekked there and there was no good shelter area other than standing under some sopping tree. We were getting cold too. We hiked back up to the trail and continued until we got to a road crossing. I checked the guide page and found it must be VA 606. Mike's Brother, who had already picked up a bad case of poison ivy (both legs were covered with the stuff) saw his opportunity and offered to hitchhike to the car in Bastion and come back to pick us up. "Hey, how about I hitch a lift to the car and come back to pick you up." Well, Greenie and I thought about this for a second and agreed if he can hitch a lift within 30 minutes, it would be worth it. About 1 hour and 30 minutes later, he came around the bend in a warmed car beeping away. We packed it in and returned to the Holy Family Hostel. We cut about 19 miles off the AT on this leg of our journey. If we become serious, we will have to return one day and hike this stretch.
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Groundhog Trail

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

Thursday, the 24th. We talked with the hostel keeper, Bill Gautier, and asked about a slack-pack opportunity along Peters Mt. He thought a good hike would be from the Groundhog Trail which would be a blue-blaze one up to Peters Mt where it would intersect with the AT, then 13 miles south back into Pearisburg. Good. We'll do that since the day was absolutely gorgeous. He drove us to Peterstown and along this teeny road ("What happens if you come across someone on this road?" "You just stop and stare until someone decides to try to go around.") I think this is in W.V.. In any case it was a 2 mile hike up this trail, not properly marked so that at one point we were just scrambling up a mountain following no trail, then came upon a trodden path which eventually got us up to the AT. No packs on our backs so it was easy. MB was hiking with long pants to not aggravate the poison ivy. Once on top, it was a beautiful ridge walk along meadows offering views of W.V. maybe 30 miles out. The best vistas so far. It was dooby dooby doo all the way. We bumped into Stephen and Dozer heading north. He hooked up with Whitetail (Jim) whom we'd met way at the beginning while we were hiking with the pastor and his son David. We bumped into Spare Pocket who had been at the Holy Family hostel nursing a hip sprain from falling off a little bridge. She felt great she said and would continue beyond the shelter. So we ambled along enjoying our hike sans packs and returned to Pearisburg around 6:30. We went to Narrows, VA to Anna's Restaurant for dinner. It was good along with the blue grass band strummin' away. Good, maybe now I can sing "Goodnight Irene, Irene goodnight, I'll see you in my dreams."
Date: 2004-06-25
From: Pearisburg

To: We're not sure
Miles today: 0.0

Friday the 25th. We will leave Pearisburg today and want to consider a few more slack pack hikes during these last few days of our journey. We may just jump up to Catawba and try to find a way to hike McAfee Knob. Need to find a place to park the car and can't seem to locate something off our maps. It will be a zero day, naturally. It's gloomy outside anyway. This AM, MB awakened all shook up about this tick he'd retrieved from his head. He thinks he scabbed off 3 ticks, but I wondered if it was the same one. He thought he had a small scab on his head, scraped it off, and did that one other time before getting this tick in his hand. We now have it in a plastic bag and will carry it around until we find someone who can tell us if it is a lyme one. Dusty, we need you here. Tell me about this and go to the "guest book" and tell me if Dan needs to keep worrying. I will check my guest book for your wisdom.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: VA 624 (Four Pines Hostel)

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Sort of an annoying day today. Dan is so concerned about his tick that, after inquiry at Rite-Aid, we see Dr. Olson at the Giles Clinic. He is prescribed prednisone which he needs to take 2x a day for about 2 weeks, AND, tetracycline for the poison ivy (or all is for the poison ivy, I don't know). Dan has poison ivy runing up both legs. Greenie and I both have a little on arms and bit on legs but we have no reaction to it...not even an itch. By the time we do this medical stuff it is mid-afternoon. We have decided to go to Catawba area and hike McAfee Knob--a 26 mile, two night, 3 day hike. It is rainy all day today and we hope for clearer skies Saturday. Once at Four Pines Hostel -- M.B. discovers he has forgotten his hiking boots in Pearisburg. Do I get his message or not? Is he ready to get off the trail? Back we go to Pearisburg along their narrow little roads. Back and forth it takes 2 hours. I may have to tear my hair out again.
Date: 2004-06-26
From: Route 220, Daleville

To: Lambert Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: scattered clouds

We found the 4 Pines hostel easy enough last night. There were about 6 hikers already there but we went to bed early. By 11PM, the last hiker arrived (a Korean lady). She'd been hiking through constant rain/downpour, in the dark, through a tough area called Dragon's Tooth, Cove Mountain. This is reputed to be a difficult rocky area where there are rebar rungs to help you get down or up. How she could do this in the dark and rain, I don't know. Apparently she was in a shelter waiting for the rain to stop and someone told her "Dragon's Tooth is really not that bad", so she set off at 6PM only to find the opposite. The hostel finally housed 11 hikers of which 7 were thru-hikers...GA to Maine. We were up around 7AM to take one car to Daleville (Rte 220)and hike 9.3 miles to the Lambert Meadow Shelter. Our prayers for a gorgeous day worked because it was really nice...great views as we ridge walked Tinker Mountain. Tinker name is believed to come from the Revolutionary War deserters who took refuge and hid out in this area. They made pots and pans (tinkers) to survive. Our hike began around 11 AM and finished at 5PM. We are in great spirits, in part because of the very nice hiking weather, terrific ridge walking, visions of real food very soon on this the last days of our adventure. Poulet L'oignon for dinner tonight with sun-dried tomatoes.
Date: 2004-06-27
From: Lambert Meadow Shelter

To: Catawba Shelter
Miles today: 8.3

An awesome day hiking Tinker Cliffs on a gorgeous--perfect day. Views abound and how can you rate therm. Wait--we're on our way to McAfee Knob, reputed to be Roanoke's best kept secret because it is considered to have the best views in Virginia and so it does! Especially on this clear sunny cool day. We laid on the rocks for more than an hour. We could look back to Tinker Mountain and Tinker Cliffs --we'd just hiked some 7 miles ago. We culd see Roanake, Daleville, and 30 miles out to the Peaks of Otter: Sharp Top and Flat Top. We bumped into thru-hikers, week-end hikers,and others. Stephen and Dozer, the Iowa guy who sports leather grommets around his marble sized earlobe holes; Chafe from NJ who had been hiking some 10 years or so; Bluebird, the Korean girl who hiked Dragon Toot in the dar and in the downpour; Lightweight Joe who is going to Main wearing sandals. He is from the Finger Lakes region in upstate NY; No Pain, the dashing black man who has thru-hiked 4 times already and freely gives good advice in easy manner. We have bumped into these hikers a number of times given our backwards hiking system with the leap-frogging of cars. We enjoyed sharing information about terrain, rocks, views, water, etc. It turned out to be a great system. We hope they all make it to Main in 2004. P.S. All along the trail today, and yesterday too, we stop to eat blackberries and blueberries. Hmmm.
Date: 2004-06-28
From: Catawba Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

Could we possibly get another great sunny cool day? Yes! Our short hike was uneventful today, a few ups, a few downs and in between, ridge walking. What was eventful was MB's mood. Could it be the meds? These past few days, he seemed to really enjoy everything, was leading often times, and at one point I heard: "Val-de-ree, val-de-ra, val-de ra-ha-ha-ha-ha, val-de-ree...here I go a-wanderin'..." I'd finally gotten "Forever and Ever" out of my mind and now this! We share thoughts about the month long venture...we blended in so well, personalities...and tonight at Daleville's Three Little Pigs Restaurant, over our beers, we exclaimed again, patting ourselves on the backs, and toasting one another. Later, we run into Whitetail (Jim) at the hostel nursing shin splints. We saw Blubird again in Daleville resupplying. We agree that these people we've met and kept reincountering all contributed to livening and enriching our adventure. On the ride to Daleville, we looked up to see Tinker Cliffs and couldn't believe wer were there. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we plan to do Dragon's Tooth.
Date: 2004-06-29
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: VA 620
Miles today: 7.5

Weather holds! What did we do to deserve this? Maybe because today is Greenie's 62nd birthday? Maybe because this is to be our last hike? First order was to get Greenie's car to VA 630, Sinking Creek, to hike the .2 miles to Keffer Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT in the south. It measures over 18 ft in girth and is estimated to be 300 years old. Dover Oak, on the AT, in NY is slightly larger. Our short trip back had us crossing the Great Easter Divide. All waters south and west of the Sinking Creek Mt flow to the New River, perhaps the oldes river in North America. These waters eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. All waters North and east of the Meadow Creek flow into the Chesapeake via the James River and eventually into the Atlantic. We needed to park Greenie's car on RT 630 in order to slack-pack over Dragon's Tooth and Cove Mt. We'd earlier decided to do this only if the weather was good. Greenie's car had to ford a creek over 630 in order to get to the AT parking area. This whole episode was to hilarious. A road with no bridge over its creek. Whew! Made it, but not without long, appraising looks and inteligent! discussions. Dragon's Tooth, here we come. Some 3 miles or so of rock hiking and again great views along the rocky ridge. We needed the rebar support to get down and we were diligent and purposeful in stepping sideways along the Dragon's Tooth rocks. What a birthday! We'll all remember Greenie's 62nd. Back at Four Pines hostel to clean up and ride into Salem for another celebration dinner at Mamma Maria. Tomorrow we are off the trail.
Date: 2004-06-30
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Free Union, VA
Miles today: 0.0

We're all smiles as we sort out the cars today, donate our leftovers in the "Hikers' Food Box" and slowly pack up the cars to head to Free Union where Sharon's will spend some time with her twin sister, Karen and her husband Lee. She is given the 1798 restored log cabin to finally have a good night's sleep. Sharon's hips did not enjoy the shelters' floors. We spend the night in the main house. The setting is perfect. Mountainous backgroup to a sunset and moon rise. Tomorrow, Dan and I will drive to friends house in NH, Liz and Sonny. It will be a 13 hour drive, then on to Lewiston to visit with my mom and sisters and family. No more hiking the AT until next summer. We have already talked about the Presidential range in NH to coincide with Dan's 40th college reunion in Hanover, NH. The AT runs right through Hanover. He has lost some 15-20 lbs; Greenie and I have lost 8-10. No one plans to re-gain. We don't miss the loss. Our plans are to be back in Juno Beach sometime around the 11th. Back to record next summer.
Date: 2003-10-07
To: Bio
Miles today: 0.0

Well we are within 4months of realizing our dream. To be on the Appalachian trail in georgia to start our journey with maine on our goal. When i say we i Mean me and my good friend josh who is going to come do the trail with me or i am going to do the trail with him. To introduce myself i Am an 18year old boy(as of today) that graduated from High school in June.I am from Dieppe NB Canada. About an hour away we have a national park and that is where I discovered my love for the outdoors.To take advantage of the outdoors I started mountain biking and actually got pretty good at it(winning the atlantic title for eastern canada in the under-17 expert class in 2000).This summer i quit racing to backpack and hike more. I was suppose to go to university this year and after beeing registered and all I realized that this is the chance of a lifetime to take a year off from studying and what better way to enjoy this time on the At. Right now I am figuring out the exact date that I will be leaving . Im working full time to cover my trip's expense and converting canadian money for american money because the exchange is great.Now to talk about the trip I am leaving in February prob around the 6th to be on the trail around the 8th. It will be cold there in February but here in February is extremely cold!
Date: 2003-11-03
To: getting ready
Miles today: 0.0

Well 3 months and one day until i get to Atlanta. I got my plane ticket about 2weeks ago. woohoo!My hiking partner for the trail Josh has been talking to someone over the internet who will be starting with us in Springer. The boy or man will be picking us up at the Atlanta Airport and we will get a drive with him to the trailhead. The part of the trip that was suppose to be one of the hardest to plan just got easy. Well Josh and I are still working at Purolator (biggest courier comapny in Canada) and are doing 50h weeks to have enough money not only for the trip but for university when we get back.We dont hike and backpack as much as we'd like to but next week we're going to backpack the fundy footpath. 4 days of backpacking. Its gonna be sweet because at night here the temperature gets below 0 degree celsius (32farenheit) so we will have to bring our winter gear. Yeepi! Its almost winter here. Right now we are trying to find all the info about the temperature in the georgians mountains during february as it is during that month that we are going to be on the trail. One thing for sure is that it wont be as cold as the canadian winter during february. Well if it is cold i have the gear but that means more wheight on the trail at the start.Can't wait to be on the TrailDom (as for my trailname im not sure yet)