morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-01
From: Wal... Mountain Shelter

To: Frozen Knob
Miles today: 0.0

2 days ago I was in Hot Sorings. Nice little town with everything a hiker needs. After a good time at dinner, Remix, Stash and I headed for a night hike. 4 hours and 8 miles later we set up camp at Mollies field. While setting up, we saw our first bear. Kinda eerie seeing one while setting up camp. Yesterday, I humped it to Little Laurel Shelter. At the major road crossing for the day, I was treated to a 4 course meal by Tal and Hercules, '99 NOBO's. rained in the afternoon. Today I am looking at doing 20+ miles. Looks like it will be bad weather so no reason to stop much. Terrain does not look bad either. Stopped at Frozen Knob to watch sunrise. Heard this shelter was going to be full, hoping for no rain tonight.
Date: 2007-04-03
From: Frozen Knob

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday was my longest day yet, 25+ miles. It was also the most rewarding. I was able to pet a wild pony and donkey in a meadow that had a view of Big Bald (major climb of the day). The view from the Bald was zmazing. Athe Bald Shelter, I met up with CB, Caboose, Singer, Ol' Yeller, Peagasus, Mean Joe and Bushwacker- Great Group!. Hiked the afternoon with them. Bushwacker's friends, Bicycle and ?. We all camped out at ?Gergers? and had a great time. Erwin today!In Erwin, Tn right now. A large group of us are at the Super 8 Motel. I am sharing a room with Pegasus and Caboose. The 11 mile hike in from Spring Gap was easy enough. 2 major climbs was about all the day consisted of. The 11 miles did not take long, only 4 hours. We were all moving pretty fast. Bonesay and Tricycle drove us into town. We chilled at Miss Janet's for ahile. She is a very nice woman. She seems to be willing to do anything for hikers. After we showered and hung out for a bit, we all went to dinner at Brown Burrito. Great food! Mean Joe was working his magic on a girl that turned out to only be 18. We all laughed at this. On the way back from dinner, Songe(?) made a comment on the movie selection, asking what "700 Only" was. she did not realize it was saying that the film was only playing at 1900. All in all a great day with some great people. I am not sure if I will slack and take a zero day or move on tomorrow.
Date: 2007-04-07
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Grassy Creek Gap Friendly
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Snowed In! 6+ inches of show and still falling. 13 degrees F outside right now. We are 25 ish miles out of Erwin and it has been tough going. We ended up 0ing in Erwin on the 4th. That was nice letting the body relax and letting the nuscles get stronger. It was a fun day sitting around and having a good time. On the 5th we had morning breakfast of eggs benedict at Miss Janet's. Hiking wise, we did not get started until 1430, a later start even for this bunch. We pushed 12 miles to Deep Gap. On top of Beauty Spot, it was too windy to hang out long. It was gorgeous watching the sunset, but we were down in just a few minutes. It was cold that night, well below freezing. We had a raging force going for most of the night, but we were pushed into our tents by the raging cold. The memory of the 6th was just as bad, the cold was worse. Sub-Freezing til around noon, when we actually broke camp. That hike was 11 miles to Grassy Creek Gap. Ath the end of the day we were already getting snowed on and cold. We retreated down to the Grassy Creek Friendly (a hotel). Connie (the host) was not in as she was in town. We watched TV for awhile, then played some cards before heading to bed. When we awoke, there was a good 7 inches of snow, and still falling. After talking with Connie, CB et al, we decided not to press for Overmountain Shelter. Right now we are still at the Friendly awaiting the weather.
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Grassy Creek Gap Friendly

To: Warren Wilson College
Miles today: 0.0

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! We awoke this morning to a TON of snow. We decided to not climb Roan Mountain today, so we went from a 16 mile hike to Overmountain Shelter to taking 2 0 days in a row. Granite offered to drive us to Asheville (60 miles away) and then back to Erwin, TN for Miss Janet's Easter dinner and then after dinner back to Grassy Creek Gap Friendly. In Ashville we went to Barkey's and had a good time. After dinner, we got 2 flat tires and had to go to WalMart where we changed the 2 tires then came back to Warren-Wilson College. All and all, a great extremely random day.
Date: 2007-04-09
From: Warren Wilson College

To: Greasy Creek Friendly
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Happy Easter! Today was a great day. We woke up at Granite's house around 0830 and we showered and walked over for a church service but there was none @ the time we thought. It would have been funny because although we were shoered, we were wearing our diry hiking clothes. We ended up going to eat at Rosetto's Kitchen, a vegan place. I had a great filling southern breakfast. Mean Joe was upset because they did not serve any meat. They had sousage and vegan bacon, but no real meat. After breakfast, we packed all and we got in the car and drove to Erwin, TN. We got there just in time for Miss Janet's Easter Feast. There were 60ish hikers present. We had ham, chcken, breads, veges and all sorts of goodies. All of the food was consumed in 2 or 3 go-arounds. It was nice catching up with hikers I have passed. We came back to the Greasy Creek Friendly and had a good night watching movines. Tomorrow we will go over Roan Mountain, rain or shine, hopefully shine.
Date: 2007-04-11
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday was amazing. We left Greasy creek Friendly very late in the morning. Because of the snow, we decided to all stick together while hiking. That turned into a big walking snowball fight, very fun. When we arrived at the base of Roan, we took our lunch break. This turned into body sledding hour. Dirty, wet, but extremely entertaining. The 2300 foot climb up Roan was very beautiful. The snow at some of the places was up to my knees. The top of Roan was nice, the descent just as gorgeous as the climb. We had serveral snow, muddy climbs over various terrains, I got my boots covered in mud several times. Some of our spirits wavered, but my morale remaned high. Upon arriving to Overmountain Shelter (around 2115), we made dinner than raked out. I was the only one able to --- the water last night, and that was only because I could hear it. It is obvious that tensions are growing within the group, more small quarrels have begun errupting. Last night, Bushwackers socks were burned by the fire. I gave him one of my pair. Things just seem to be falling apart right now, I hope that morale will improve in the coming days.
Date: 2007-04-11
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Kinkora
Miles today: 0.0

Kinkara! But first, let me say that the past couple of entries have been on the wrong dates. I found out today, that today was the 11th. My past couple arre off by a couple days. That just goes to show how little dates and times really matter out here. As near as I can tell, today marks the 1 month anniversary of my hike. Today, I also crossed the 400 mile mark, quite an achievment. Yesterday, we got a late start (1200) leaving camp. It was just too nice to leave in the morning. For most of the morning, I hiked alone. The climb at Hump Mountain was tough for me. For the first time in several days, it was warm and drained my energy. I took a break atop the Bald where CB and Caboose caught up. We hiked the trail to Apple House Shelter together. Supponsedly, there are longhorn steer on Hump but I did not see any. At Doll Flats, we left NC for good. Nice to have another section done. At Apple Hous, Pegasus had a fire going and we all waited for Mean Joe, Bushwacker, Singe, Ol' Yeller. Yeller, Singe and Joe pressed the 0.5 miles into town. I hope to meet up with them in a few days. After awhile @ Apple, I got antsy and hiked 3-4 miles and camped near a Babtist Church. I have about 20 more miles to go until Kinkara. Today, I awoke @ 0500 and began my trek. It was a nice hike to Moreland Gap shelter (14 miles on). Most of it was in the dark, it was rainy today. The winds on the exposed ridges nearly knocked me and several trees over. When I made it to the shelter, I took a nice nap then started the long descent (6 miles) to US 50 where Kintara is. I did not see a single person today while hiking. When I was taking my boots off, Mac Gyver strolled in. It was nice catchin up with him. Grasshopper is here as well. We are off to resupply, so I will write more later.
Date: 2007-04-12
From: Kinkora

To: Kinkora
Miles today: 0.0

1100 and still at Kinkora. Had a wonderful breakfast this morning. We had a communal French Toast Breakfast. It was good. We also had a grand dinner last night. We had Ham and steak and soup. Very nice. I am planning on leaving here this afternoon and hiking for some of the evening. Bob Peoples is away, so I may 0 just so I can meet him, heard he is one hell of a guy. I just want to get to Damascus by Saturday. Afew more chores to do before I make a decision. Otto and the car____ here right now, Army retiree and he has a big German Shepard named Raven. He has over 15,000 miles of Trail under his belt, very knowledgeable and a great guy. The hostel feels like a relaxed home, very cozy and quiet. The opposite of Miss Janet's which is much more rast paced. Both hostels are wonderful places though and I am glad I have stayed at both of them.
Date: 2007-04-15
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: light rain

In Damascus, VA, almost 1/5 of the way done in my journey. Needless to say, I felt relieved when I passed the Mt. Rogers National Rec. Area sign on the treal that marks the TN/VA state line. Yesterday, I had a VERY windy day. For all of my 18 mile hike, I was on the exposed eastern face of the mountains and the wind whipped at me so hard I had to walk diagonally to stay on the trail. 2 locals warned of T-storms followed by 8-10 more inches of snow in the coming days. I am glad I have the chance to wait out the storms. A little after I settled into Dave's Place, the heavens opened up and it poured from yesterday afternoon all through the night. One thing I have noticed is how my hiking spped over the past week has dramatically increased. I have found myself pushing 4 mph when the terrain allows it and around 3 mph on the climbs. My goal is to complete VA in 30 days from the time I leave Damascus. I think I will have tho average around 10-20 miles per day. Will be tough, but I think that I stand a chance of being able to do it. I am in town all day today (Sunday) waiting on the post office to open tomorrow. Works out nicely as I am also letting the storm blow over. I hope Bushwacker and co. show up today. I miss hanging out with that crew.
Date: 2007-04-16
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

After a full 0 day, I am bored out of my mind and ready to hit the trail. I still have town chores to attend to (get mail), but I plan to leave early this afternoon. Yesterday, I spent a good 1/2 of my day at Sicily's Pizza place. I ate 2 full meals there while playing Scrabble and Yukow (card game). Its funny, all of the hikers in town seem to be going crazy because of so much town time recently. Also, every hiker is suffering from a cold, so in the hostel one is constantly hearing a cough of some sort or snivelling or sneezing. Sounds like a house of people left to die. Time to start packing up and getting out of here. Oh yes, I have lightened my pack by about 7 ish pounds, should be nice. I have decided to ditch my filter, bug netting for tent, bear rope,...... and the hood of my pact and its baseboard.
Date: 2007-04-16
From: Damascus, VA

To: Saunder's Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

I left Damascus, VA today heading north. It took me til about 1500 to get all my chores done today. I had a great lunch at Dairy King where I took some time to write a couple letters. I covered the 9ish miles to Daunders Shelter by 1800. I contemplated pushing on but decided against it. I am still sufferring from a cold and do not want to overexert myself while sick. Looking to make a push to Greson Highlands tomorrow. Hope to get an early start. The hike today was easy and not many good vistas. The VA Creeper Trail has been parallel to the AT all day, but it stays level while the AT makes a couple steep climbs and descents. Time to eat!
Date: 2007-04-17
From: Saunder's Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

18.8 miles today to Thomas Knob Shelter. The trail today was tough! Not so much the climbs but we were either walking through mud, wet snow or a stream. It made the going extremely slow. We climbed the highest 2 peaks in VA today, Whitetp and Rogers, so the coming days should be easier. The shelter here is nice but very drafty and the roof sounds like it is going to fly off. Behind the shelter there is a herd of wild ponies. I got a coupe nice photos of them.
Date: 2007-04-18
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Shelter
Miles today: 16.0

16ish miles today to Hurricane Shelter. The push did not happen. I had too much fun playing with the ponies today. I even fed a couple. There was a herd 3-5 miles down the trail. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. McGyver and I had some nice conversations through out the day. We found out that the mileage charts are worthless. From Old Orchard Shelter to here is 5 miles, but hte book lists it as 3.9. 1.1 miles is a fairly decent discrepency. 20 ish miles tomorrow will put me at Partnership Shelter where we can order pizza and soda from the road. YaY!!!
Date: 2007-04-20
From: Partnership Shelter

To: ??, VA
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

Still full from pizza. Lingered at the shelter before heading out today. We only covered 13.6 miles today. We were at the Sttlers Museum of SW Va for about 4 hours today. Amazing museum about how the area was settled with many full size and still working exhibits. The director was very informative. Will have to get in touch with him once off the trail. Not going to read tonight, long push tomorrow to make up for this lax day.
Date: 2007-04-21
From: ??, VA

To: Chestnut Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 21.1

21.1 miles today. It was a gorgeous day today. The high was probably around 80 degrees today with clear skies. Grasshopper, McGyver and I all left camp this morning at different times with McG leading and me in the middle. Most of the afternoon ws spent rolling up and down 500 ft mountains. At one junction in a pasture, I was stopped by a massive black dairy cow who did not let me pass for some time. After that adventure we took a break at a nice picnic area where I took a nap. For the rest of the day, I was sluggish all the way to the base of the Chestnut Ridge climb. I had dinner with Coe and Mosbey before the 2200 ft climb to Chestnut Ridge Shelter. The climb was togh but the view was well worth it. The race for Pearisburg is on, 2 straight 24 mile days, a 20 miles to make the town.
Date: 2007-04-24
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 33.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Haven't written in a few days. 22nd went 15 miles because of trail magic at ATOM. On the 23rd, that day only walked 6 miles and then got a hotel with Annonomys and NiteRider. 12.1 miles today to Jenny Knob Shelter. Ankle in extreme pain. Limped most of the day. Finished another book tonight. Makes 4 for the trail. Heart of Darkness, The Hobbit, Op-Center and Patriot Games. I will pick up a new one in Pearisburg, not sure what type of book yet.
Date: 2007-04-25
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 30.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I made it to Pearisburg! One long ass 30+ mile day today and I made it into town. It's a nice thing to be here, knowing that I can rest my aching body. Ankle still hurts like no other. I may end up 0ing tomorrow. I walked with Niterider although, it was hardly walking, more like a run. We played the name game the whole time. I once again caught McGyver and Grasshopper. McG and I are staying at the Holy Family Church Hostel. We are having a communal breakfast tomorrow, SOS (shit on a shingle), whish is beef sausage and gravy, french toast and cook to order eggs. Nite, McG and I hare heading it up. As of now, there are only 2 others here, Blackbeard and Dirty Blonde. I got a new book here at the hostel. Journey to the Center of the World. Have seen the movie but looking forwar to the book.
Date: 2007-04-26
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Greetings all,   My mother will be inputting the most recent batch of entires later today. And I will be sending the journals from Damascus to here tomorrow. I just wanted to make a personal note here and let everyone know that I am still alive and well. I am now almost at the 1/3 way of the journey (should be there in a couple more days), and I can honestly say that I have loved the trip so far. It has its ups ans its downs, but so does life. It is a very nice thing to wake up in the morning and know that my only responsibility will be to walk until I get tired.    But there have been some setbacks on the trip as well. Most recently I have been dealing with a pretty bad ankle sprain that just wont go away. It has been getting steadily worse for the past week since Damascus, VA. I have decided to take today off and take a 0. Not really what I wanted to do, but the weather forecast looks pretty dim for tonight (T-Storms). I hope to be back on the trail tomorrow and heading North once again.    I would like to thank everyone for all the support that they have been giving me and just want you all to know that it is greatly appreciated. It helps me out when my morale starts to slip.    I guess that is about it for now. Take care all.
Date: 2007-04-27
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well, I ended up taking a 0 today. It has been raining all day today. It was a good day to take off from hiking. I mailed home some extra geat, ate at a Chinese Buffet and took a nap and that is about it for the day. Think we are playing a game of Monopoly later tonight.
Date: 2007-05-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I've been preparing for my section hike since December, so I figured it was about time to get some of this stuff online.The plan is to start at Delaware Water Gap, PA, and make it to Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It will be more than 500 miles, and should take me about six weeks.The hike I'll be doing, as I think most of you know, is a section of a 2,147-mile footpath called the Appalachian Trail. The entire AT hike, from Georgia to Maine, usually takes about four months.Reading other people's trail journals -- gear lists, mileage totals, trail descriptions, etc. -- has been immensely helpful to my own planning, so this journal is my humble contribution to that body of literature. Thanks for stopping by.
Date: 2007-05-04
To: Training hike at Raccoon Creek State Park
Miles today: 0.0

Just got back from an overnighter at Raccoon Creek State Park, about 45 minutes from Pittsbugh. I hiked yesterday, camped last night, and hiked back to the car this morning. My pack contained my full AT load: five days of food, about 3 liters of water, 20 oz of stove fuel, and all other gear.The state park is a fine place to train. There were lots of hills, minimal people (I saw one other person on the entire trip), muddy trails to test out shoes, and four "backpacker shelters" as well. See pictures.Wildlife report: I saw a million chipmunks; numerous birds including three turkeys (right outside my shelter), some woodpeckers, blue jays, and a pair of wood ducks; several squirrels; a deer - but only for a second; and one rottweiler dog - he was with the one other human I saw.Gear report:Seam-sealed my new tent, and then couldn't decided whether to stay in tent or shelter. Ended up putting tent (without fly) inside the shelter, to keep bugs away. Worked fine. Love the tent.Katadyn Hiker water filter worked great. Converted stream water into a full 32-oz Gatorade bottle of clean, delicious water in less then a minute.New Balance trail runners were fine. Light-weight, fast drying, comfortable. Never wearing boots again.Camp sandals - glad to have them. I almost didn't bring them, but it's really nice to have my shoes off while I'm cooking dinner and otherwise hanging out around camp. I'm considering cheap-o flip-flops, though, instead of my current Wal-Mart fake Tevas. Flip-flops are lighter, and lack the loud velcro that Tevas have.I brought a sweater just to simulate my AT pack, thinking I'd only use a sweater in New England's mountains. Wrong! It was chilly at night, and in the morning, and I wore the sweater. It had been 75F earlier in the day... but the hills cool down at night. I probably could have worn long pants all day, too, but I wore shorts. The military "boonie hat" I brought never left my pack. The woods have shade. Didn't need sunglasses, either. Maybe I'll leave these items at home.STOVE: Trangia stove ($12) worked great, with my homemade stove stand. I guess it does use a lot of fuel, about 3 oz to cook dinner, but it was pretty fast, silent, and light. Best of all, SIMPLE. Check out the pictures.In conclusion, I think I finally have my definite gear list for the AT, and I have all the gear I need. I'm ready, as far as all that goes.Now I just need to pay my bills in advance, work out my food maildrop/resupply packages (THANKS KATE), and tie up some other loose ends.Bus leaves May 10.
Date: 2007-05-09
To: What will I eat?
Miles today: 0.0

Most of my food will come through the U.S. Postal Service. I've mailed out a few boxes to post offices along the trail, and my friend Kate has kindly agreed to mail out another four while I'm walking.Apparently if you mark a box "General Delivery" and ask the post office to hold it, they will. Many AT hikers do this.Of course, I can always stop at grocery stores along the way if I need more food; there are roads leading to stores every several days, usually. Also, there are of course restaurants at the same interval, and I'm sure I'll hit some all-you-can-eat places when I have the opportunity.But what am I mailing?Each box usually contains five days of "rations." A typical's day's menu:Breakfast:-Instant oatmeal with brown sugar in it-Coffee made with a coffee bag; basically a tea bag of coffee-Multivitamin-WaterDaytime:-3 "bars" of one sort or another: Clif Bars, Power Bars, granola bars, etc.-Trail mix in copious quantities-WaterDinner:-1 huge stove-boiled meal. Examples: couscous mixed with instant soup mix; macaroni & cheese; dehydrated red beans and rice; pile of noodles.-WaterThat might not seem like a lot, but it adds up to nearly 3,000 calories each day. Approximately 100 grams of protein. Cost of one day's food: $7. (Shipping and handling not included.) I'd like to thank Wal-Mart for selling Clif Bars for $1. And I'll apologize to small businesses and Main Street America in general for my shopping at Wal-Mart. But I love Clif Bars, and Wal-Mart sells them for less.
Date: 2007-05-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Before I begin, many thanks are in order. My parents and sister and brother for being so supportive. More specifically, my mom is actually typing some of these journal entries, after I send them to her via postal mail. And my dad has offered to help me get home from NH. My Aunt Ellie and Uncle Dave have offered to pick me up at the base of Mt Washington, which will be a great help. Kate for mailing me food AND storing my car AND driving me to the bus. Brent for watching my goldfish! Galina for getting my mail. Carolina for just being Carolina. I'm lucky to know such great folks.