morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-03-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We¢re still planning to use our car, our ¢chuck wagon¢ as we call it, as a mobile ¢bounce box¢ full of all the supplies we¢ll need for the hike. We have a 2-month¢s supply of Mountain House meals in the car, so we won¢t have resupply problems along the way. We won¢t have to carry any town clothes in our packs; those are waiting for us in the car. And we can swap out our heavier cold weather gear for lighter, warm weather gear when the time comes. No mailing things home, buying new clothes, or depending on mail drops.Last year was our first full hike using the chuck wagon approach, and it turned out great with lots of advantages, but also a few disadvantages.Pros: Besides those mentioned above, we actually got to rest on zero days. We didn¢t have to walk miles to do town chores like doing laundry, finding places to eat, or resupplying provisions. But we did get to visit places in towns like museums, antique stores, and other point of interest.Cons: We didn¢t get hiker rates at motels or hostels when we pulled in with our car. And we had to pay for shuttles up and down the trail so we could hike back to the town where we left it.Using the car is a more expensive way to hike, but it does provide more freedom of choice in town as well as an easy way to get back home if an emergency arises.
Date: 2019-03-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We met lots of interesting people on last year¢s hike. On our second day we met a guy whose mom¢s birthdate was exactly the same as Woofie¢s. The morning we left the Boots-Off Hostel we met a guy who had camped the night before in the no-camping area near Watauga Lake and then complained to us that he¢d lost his food to the bears. No surprise there. And one poor sole was having a terrible time on the trail because his dog was injured, and he¢d just discovered that someone was accessing his bank account.  Our favorite interesting person was Half-Slow, a Vietnamese hiker we met while climbing Little Hump Mountain. He recited a Shakespeare poem from memory to us because he was so impressed that we were hiking at our ¢advanced age.¢ We¢re looking forward to meeting many more interesting people this year. They¢ll be hiking the AT.  That¢s interesting.
Date: 2019-04-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

With about two weeks to go before this year¢s hike it¢s time to start final preparations. I called our shuttle driver, Rambunny, today to arrange a tentative pick-up date. We plan to drive to Marion, VA on Thursday, Apr 18. We¢ll park our car at the Mount Rogers National Rec Area building on Friday morning, and Rambunny will shuttle us about 24 miles north to the trailhead at VA 42. Then we¢ll enjoy our hike south back to the car.Over the next couple days I¢ll be checking out our gear--putting up and repacking the tent, testing the water filter, checking the headlamp batteries, filling the bottle of alcohol for the stove, and practicing packing the backpacks. Practicing ensures that not only we can find what we need when unpacking, but also that we know where everything belongs when packing up quickly in the mornings. That¢s a lesson we learned at the first shelter we stayed at in the Smokeys. It took us over two hours to pack up, and we were the last ones to leave. Then we had trouble finding things the next night, because we hadn¢t assigned set places for everything in the packs.  After a couple days we knew exactly where each item in our pack belonged. That not only reduced our packing time, but also kept us from forgetting things at a campsite like lots of hikers do. Last year we met a hiker returning to a campsite where he¢d left his hiking poles behind.
Date: 2019-04-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It turns out that the weekend we wanted to start our hike is Easter weekend. That and the forecast for three straight days of rain we¢d be starting in led us to postpone our start day to the Monday after Easter.  But that¢s ok. It¢s only three days. Last year we had to postpone for two weeks because of snow & sub-freezing temps.
Date: 2019-04-22
From: VA 42

To: Tent site 552.6
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: clear sky

We got to the Mount Rogers National Rec Area HQ at 8 am when they opened and registered our car in the long-term parking area. Rambunny picked us up at 8:15 and drove to Atkins to pick up another couple, Pie Man & Viva, who was also getting a shuttle ride to the same place we were.  The good news was that the fare was split between us so it cost less. The bad news was that the driver and other 3 passengers got the actual seats. I had to sit on the spare tire in the back of the van with everyone¢s backpacks.  But thanks to seeing only out the back window, I got to see a red fox running across a field after the car went by. We got to our drop-off spot and were hiking by 9:20.  It didn¢t take long for our bodies to let us know that it¢s been almost a year since we did anything this strenuous. But the weather was perfect ¢ sunny and 60-75 degrees. We found a good campsite near a spring, and there are a few other hikers here with us. One is a thru-hiker, Ian, from England. He once lived near where we were stationed in England, so we had a good time talking. We¢re going to do another short day tomorrow, so our bodies don¢t complain so much.
Date: 2019-04-23
From: Tent site 552.6

To: Tent site 547.4
Miles today: 5.2

We woke up this morning to 37 degrees at 6am, but with full sunshine, it warmed to the 60s by the time we started hiking at 8:15. Little did we know that the day would turn into a late June day, hitting 87 by mid afternoon. It was a gorgeous day to be in the woods¢just being, not hiking. With our out-of-shape bodies and ?record? heat, we had to take many breaks.  But that was ok to stop hiking and enjoy being on the trail. We even took a half hour nap around 1pm. And as we made our way along the trail we met several northbound thru-hikers.  We met Lord Hobo & Disk (like a Frisbee). They were too young to know the significance of my Wooly Booly trail name.  I told them it was a song. They said they¢d look it up,Later we stopped to talk to Capt Handy, and then a woman from MD with the trail name Firefly.  I also stopped to talk to a guy named Tijuana, who also journals on Trail Journals. We¢ll have to look for his journal when we get into town. Tomorrow we¢ll be getting to Atkins for a great breakfast in a restaurant called The Barn. It¢s right on the trail because the trail there is a road walk on Rt 11. Then we¢ll head down the trail to the Chatfield Shelter, the first shelter we¢ve come to since we started.
Date: 2019-04-24
From: Tent site 552.6

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: clear sky

Tiffany, Renegade, and Gummy Bear came into camp last night and we met them today before we all departed for the day¢s hike. We got going by 8 and made it to the Barn restaurant by 9 and had a great breakfast.  Pieman and Viva were also there. Pieman¢s going home, but Viva is continuing southbound to Georgia, so she¢ll be at our shelter tonight. After breakfast we hiked another 1.5 miles and then took a break. Along came a northbound hiker called Yuwasa, Indian for ¢alone.¢  He said ¢yuwasa wey¢ in Indian means lone wolf. After we got going again, we came to a stream that we had to cross barefoot carrying our shoes to keep the them dry.  The water was freezing cold but felt really refreshing in the 80+ degree heat. Before we got to the shelter we met Blacksmith & Hank the dog from Maine. At the Chatfield Shelter were Grumper and Viva.  Viva saved us a spot for our tent, because ours was the only spot big enough for a 2-person tent.  Grumper got his name from his 11-year old grandson, whom he¢d taken hiking on the AT for several hundred miles. Later Mosey, Napster, Smirk, Columbus, Dr J, GMA, and Buck Wild came to the shelter. Dr J and GMA are young men who came from Germany just to hike the AT. When everyone learned I had a small scale, they all wanted me to weigh their packs, so I was a hit. Finally, it was worth the effort to carry it in my pack. Columbus is on Trail Journals, too, and said he¢d seen our journal. Before we all turned in for the night, Buck Wild sang the Wooly Bully song for everyone, since the youngies had never heard it.
Date: 2019-04-25
From: Tent site 552.6

To: Mount Rogers NatÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂl Rec Area HQ
Miles today: 6.8

Today was supposed to be a cloudy day. We left the shelter before 8am at 60 degrees and cloudy, perfect weather for hiking. It was a tough climb leaving the shelter. Half way to the top of Glade Mountain we stopped at a scenic view of Walker Mountain in the distance. Before we left, it started raining, so we put on our rain gear. As soon as we started hiking again it stopped raining. The rest of the day was just partly cloudy. Along the way today we met Mountain Dew and later Two Tents. They are both on Trail Journals. Two Tents got his trail name because he said he¢s too tense much of the time.  He was carrying a bear canister to keep his food safe. Some states are planning to make them mandatory for hikers on the AT. Later in the day Woofie stopped by a tree along the trail to tie her shoe better.  But as she was doing that a very large rock fell from the side of the trail and hit her in her calf. Fortunately Woofie has strong leg muscles, and that boulder just bounce off her without even leaving a mark. We ran into Viva again also heading to the Rec Area Visitor Center, so we offered her a ride to Marion, VA with us. She was already there at the visitor center when we got there. We drove her to her motel and then we went to ours across the street.  After we got showered and changed, we picked her up again and we all had a terrific pizza.
Date: 2019-04-27
From: Red Roof Inn, Marion

To: Big Walker Motel, Bland
Miles today: 0.0

We spent Friday resting in Marion. It was a good day to be in town because it was a rainy day. Viva had told us about a wonderful restaurant in Witheville called The Log House 1776 Restaurant. We went there for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. It¢s an amazing house, started before the revolution as a two-room house. After many additions over the years it¢s now a very large two-story building. The meal was fantastic and reasonably priced. This morning we shuttled Viva back to the trail at the Nat¢l Rec Area visitor center and said our final farewells before she headed south. After we checked out of our motel, we drove back to Wytheville to visit a shop that Woofie had seen the night before. Then we drove the rest of the way to the Big Walker Motel in Bland, where we¢ll stay tonight and leave our car for a few days until we hike back. After checking in, we had lunch at the DQ next door and saw Goku, Mowgli & his dog Bronco there, whom we¢d met on day 2.  We had some spare Clif Bars in the car so we offered them some, which they gladly accepted.  Then we asked them if they¢d like hiking in a kilt, and they said yes. So we offered them the two new kilts that we¢d been keeping the car to put in a hiker box.  They were thrilled, and immediately went and changed into them. We¢re so pleased to know who got them and really liked them. So, even if we never make it to Mt Katahdin, maybe our kilts will. We also met Bubba at the motel and arranged for our shuttle ride tomorrow back to the trailhead at VA 42, where Rambunny dropped us before. But this time we¢ll be hiking north, and it will take us four or five days to get back to the car at the motel.
Date: 2019-04-28
From: VA 42 - 558.3

To: Campsite - 565.8
Miles today: 7.5

Before leaving the motel for today¢s hike, we went to Subway and each bought a ham & cheese sandwich. We ate half for breakfast and carried the rest to eat for lunch. Bubba picked us up at 8 am and drove us to the trailhead at VA 42. We were hiking by 8:30. Not long after getting started hiking north we met Gringo Loco, a south bounder. He¢s from VA but is now retired and living in Ecuador. We stopped for lunch at the Knot Maul Branch Shelter at 10:30, two miles from where we started. While there, Brass Compass & Jazz Hand showed up. We stopped again at 1 pm to rest and refill our water bottles at a steam. Not long after we got going again, Two Tents, whom we met on Thursday, passed by us again. Tonight at our campsite are Bolt from Canada, Pome from England, & Rainman from MN.
Date: 2019-04-29
To: Campsite - 571.1
Miles today: 5.3

We wanted to get an early start this morning because the first four miles where all uphill with Chestnut Knob Shelter at the top. Our choices were between doing a long day (10+ miles) to the Mountain Garden Hostel, or stopping at the campsite at the bottom of the mountain after passing the shelter and taking two short days to reach the hostel. We knew the choice would become more obvious as the day went on.But even getting out of the camp this morning seemed to be a difficult task. With both of us working together, we managed to get packed and ready to go in just over an hour (by 7:15). It was about 50 degrees and windy, so we both had put on our gloves. That¢s when I discovered that my phone was missing. Neither of us had seen it while packing the backpacks, so most likely it was still in the tent.I took off the gloves and unpacked the tent. Sure enough. It was in the tent. I got the phone out and repacked the tent. So we were ready to leave now. Where did my gloves go? Oh no. Did they get rolled up in the tent? So I unpacked the tent again and rolled it out. No gloves. Finally found them safely packed in the backpack right where they are normally kept. But I don¢t remember putting back. It¢s good I did, but remembering doing it would have saved so much time, energy, and frustration.We finally got going at 7:40, but stopped to get water at the first place we came to, as we¢d planned, just .2 miles from camp. After that the real work began. The grade for the first 1.6 miles was quite steep. The last 2.4 miles were easier, passing out of the forest and going through long meadows, which gave us great views of the mountains in the distance. Woofie enjoyed herself as she motored up to the top, but I labored the whole way.On our way to the top we were passed by Griz, West Country, Goat, and Early. They¢d all carried on hiking before we made it to the shelter. We ate lunch there and took some pictures before heading down the other side of the mountain.I felt much better going down the mountain. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, Woofie found a really nice place to camp with a spring near by. So, the choice was clear. Two short days would be way more enjoyable than one long day.
Date: 2019-04-30
To: Mountain Garden Hostel - 575.9
Miles today: 4.8

Before we left our camp this morning, we bid farewell to Happy Man & his daughter, who camped nearby last night.Although today was a short mile day, we knew we made the right choice not push to the hostel yesterday. The trail, although not steep, was still difficult to walk with any speed or rhythm because of the rocks. It took us most of the day to cover the few miles and we were very tired at the end of it.When we got to the road to the hostel, we met Fern, Bacon, Books, & Castaway. Fern and Bacon hiked on, but Books & Castaway wanted to go with us to the Mountain Gardens Hostel. We called for a ride to the hostel, and the owner arrived about 10 minutes later to pick all four of us and our packs up in his Prius.We thought there was a store near the hostel where we could buy sandwiches and ice cream, so we hadn't eaten lunch yet. That turned out to be wrong. Instead Mark, the hostel owner offered us a pizza for lunch, which was even better.Mark is an elderly retired doctor from England who bought a 100-acre farm and has in the last three years turn his farm house into a hiker hostel. He lives there alone and does everything himself. He even cooked us a fancy dinner, shrimp and scallop pasta Alfredo, and served white wine.We had a great time with Mark and our two new hiker friends, Books & Castaway.
Date: 2019-05-01
From: Mountain Garden Hostel - 575.9

To: Suiter Road Campsite - 584.7
Miles today: 8.8

This morning Mark fixed us a traditional English breakfast of bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes, and baked beans. I chose to keep my breakfast more traditionally American, so I skipped the fried tomato and baked beans, neither of which would I eat at any other meal, anyway. Mark took us back up to the trial head in his Prius, and we were hiking by 10:10. We stopped for lunch at Jenkins Shelter before starting a one mile climb. But after only a few hundred yard, we had to take our packs off where a tree had fallen across the trail. The only way through was for Woofie to climb through the downed tree, I passed the packs through one at a time to her, then I climbed through. It took us ten minutes to travel 10 feet. But that was followed by 2.5 miles of easy hiking that we did in one hour.We reached our campsite by 6 pm and found Books & Castaway already there with their tent up and meal cooking. Although we'd gotten a late start and done our longest day of this hike, it was a good day.
Date: 2019-05-02
To: Big Walker Motel - 591.7
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We had another fairly easy day with cooler temperatures and made it to the Brushy Mountain Outpost on Rt 52 by 1:35. Books & Castaway were already there. We all had the best burgers for lunch together. Bubba picked us all up and brought us to the Big Walker Motel. As we arrived, I saw that Mowgli was still at the motel. He¢d been waiting for Goku to return from visiting his family so they can continue their northbound hike together.While checking in at the motel, I met Saunter. He¢d heard that we donated our last year¢s supply of Clif Bars to the hiker box, and he thanked us.The rooms here are very nice, and we like them better than the ones we had at Econolodge and Red Roof Inn in Marion. At least the rooms here have carpeted floors. Our poor hiker feet need the pampering of a nice soft carpet instead of a bare hard wood floor.
Date: 2019-05-04
From: Big Walker Motel, Bland, VA

To: Big Walker Motel
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday in the morning we did chores - laundry, shopping, prescription pickup, and so on. In the afternoon we took Books & Castaway to Pearisburg to visit the Angel¢s Rest Hostel.  That¢s the place we¢ll be basing our car for the next two legs of our hike.  The young fellow who greeted us as we pulled in turned out to be from where Castaway grew up. They didn¢t know each other, but the guy and Castaway¢s brother-in-law were best friends all through high school. How small is the world!Today we shuttled Books & Castaway back to the Rt 52 trailhead. Then we drove to Wytheville to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. After that went looking for antique stores and accidently found the birthplace of Edith Bolling Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson.  It¢s one of the stores right on Main Street, and upstairs was the home her family lived in and where she was born.  We watched a short documentary video about her, and learned she was an amazing woman.  She owned and operated a jewelry store before women even had the right to vote. She was the first women to get a drivers license in Washington, DC and own an automobile.  She married President Wilson after his first wife died and went on to establish a prominent role as First Lady, one that became the model for successive First Ladies.  She was even given the duty of naming newly commissioned naval ships as they joined our war effort during WWI. We never expected to get such an interesting history lesson while just walking around a town on an AT hike zero day. We really enjoyed ourselves. Tomorrow we¢re getting a shuttle to a trailhead about 18 miles north on the trail, almost half-way to Pearisburg. It should take us two or three days to hike back to the car.
Date: 2019-05-05
From: Kimberling Creek

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: light rain

Bubba picked us up at the motel and delivered us to the trailhead at 11:15. We started hiking south back to our car at 11:30 in the rain. It was a light rain, and as time went on it tapered off. Eventually the sun came out in the afternoon. We had only gone about three miles when we met Books and Castaway going north. They had gone twelve miles yesterday and stayed at a hostel overnight. Today they waited there for the rain to stop before heading out.  They¢ll reach Pearisburg in a couple days. About that time we¢ll be driving there, so we¢ll be seeing them again. We reached the turn-off to the shelter at about 5pm. As we approached the shelter Goku, Mowgli & his dog Bronco were just leaving after stopping there to eat. It¢s funny how we can meet the same people on the trail many times even though we hike much slower than the young ones. Tomorrow the next shelter is almost 10 miles from here, and there are no water sources along the way. So, I¢ve filled all six of our water bottles for tomorrow¢s hike. There is a tent site a couple miles short of that if we need to stop early, and our car at the motel is a couple miles past the shelter if we feel extra energetic. So we have lots of options and will have sunny and cool weather. Should be a great day.
Date: 2019-05-06
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Big Walker Motel - 591.7
Miles today: 11.9

We wanted an early start this morning so all three of our options (8, 10, or 12 miles) would be possible. Our alarm went off at 5:30.  Although still dark, whippoorwills we¢re singing, which would have woken us up anyway.  We started hiking by 7:15. The morning was sunny, calm, and in the high fifties when we started. Around 9am we stopped for breakfast, and a young 28-year old guy going the other way also stopped to eat. His name was Tripod, and he¢s from Illinois. Once we got going again we met a young girl hiking north by the name of Burner. When we got to the campsite that was our first option for today, it was only 1pm. We had a nice lunch and rested about an hour, while also drying our rain coats and pack covers still wet from yesterday¢s rain.  With only four more miles to reach Rt 52 and the burger place, we decided to choose option 3, the 12-mile option. We got to the parking area at SR 612 and discovered that the last mile to the burger place was all on the road. Besides having a surface the makes feet hurt, it was a very steep hill all the way and completely boring. Definitely the worst mile we¢ve hiked. But we got to the burger place by 5 pm, so all was good.Bubba picked us up at 6pm and brought us back to our motel. Tomorrow after breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we¢ll drive to Pearisburg to get a room. Wednesday we¢ll get a shuttle back out on the trail and start hiking back.