morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-05-12
From: Rabbit Hole Hostel

To: Damascus
Miles today: 21.8

Overnight the storms increased and with it the rain. It was going to be a wet day. Once again the trail was supposedly flat, again taking the ridge line. There were short ups and down which I took in my stride until early afternoon after which every small rise seemed to increase its gradient. I was tiring! I made it to Damascus by 6:15pm. A long but good day. Today was also one of sad news for the skinny hiking bubble community that I have been in. A couple of weeks back I along with many hikers encountered ¢Sovereign¢ who clearly had mental issues. He had been detained by police but was released. A colleague tried to help him and gave him a ride to get home where he could get help. Tragically though he rejoined the trail a couple of days forward of me. I learned today that he had attacked 4 hikers, and sadly one hiker has passed away. Things like this affect so many people. As ever I try and stay wary. Occurrences like this are very rare. It is so sad.
Date: 2019-05-13
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0

Day 42 Hiker StinkOnce through hikers pass the 400mile mark they do tend to become focused on doing as many miles as possible, day in day out, without a break. Days of doing this inevitably means being unable to properly wash clothes or air out hiking shoes. This in turn predictably leads to the aromatic calling card of hikers: ¢hiker stink¢. It¢s a nose-wrinkler combination of sweat, dirty laundry, rotting fruit and other unidentifiable aromas. The worst thing is that the actual hikers cant smell how bad they really are.Now of course, I take constant care of my hygiene. I¢m sure I couldn¢t possibly have such a tag. But I do know that the reverse is happening. I can actually smell the day hikers coming from 20 or 30 metres away at least. Everything smells so fresh!My theory is that hikers are exercising so hard that there are an array of toxins produced by burning all this energy and these toxins are not nice.One consequence of all this is that hikers gain a reputation when they come to town. Rooms are set aside for hikers as I¢m told their stench can l linger for days after they have left. I have even heard of car owners offering hikers a ride only then regretting the decision as they felt the need to thoroughly fumigate the interior of their vehicle, to get rid of the smell!!Today I was to experience the upshot of some of this aromatic reputation that hikers that have. I had an appointment to have a tooth attended to by a dentist in a city near to the hiker town I was passing through. I had made an appointment a week or so ago so was anxious to get my mouth looked at. When I got to the surgery, the receptionist said that they were all ready for me. She then slid the glass window between her and me shut. Later I was lead to a room. The nurse said ¢We have a special room for you, ¢¦ we usually don¢t use this room! ¢ I was ushered inside and then for the next hour they fussed around. It seems the room had never been used before because half the equipment didn¢t seem to work. At some point the nurse asked the head dentist ¢Couldn¢t we put him in one of the regular rooms?¢ To which was the answer ¢Oh no, we can make this room work¢. At some point the head dentist gave up on me and handballed my tooth to his junior partner. ¢He¢s much better at this sort of thing!¢ I was told. Well after what seemed to be 2 hours of fidgeting about my tooth was done. I¢m not sure how well. At my regular dentist I¢m sure it would have taken no more than 30 minutes. I guess I will pay him a visit when I return to Australia just to check up on what was done. On leaving I did spot that the dentist practice specialized in artificial tooth crowns so perhaps my simple procedure was a bit out of the norm. But I do know that it¢s unlikely that the room I was in will be used again until the next through hiker has a dental emergency!
Date: 2019-05-14
From: Damascus

To: Campsite at Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge
Miles today: 13.6

Day 44 Southern HospitalityToday I was treated to some amazing southern hospitality. I started slowly. I had the hostel virtually to myself. The full hostel from yesterday had emptied of hikers, who were now making a push to get some more miles in before Trail Days next weekend. I sauntered over to the Damascus Diner and had a huge ¢Hungry Hiker¢ breakfast washed down with countless cups of strong black coffee. When I went to pay my bill and leave, I was told the account had already been settled. I was swept away with surprise. Truly amazing. It left me in such high spirits heading out on the trail again. The route today took me alongside ¢The Creeper Trail¢. Back in the 1960¢s Damascus went through a decline due to a number of industries closing. To transform the town, a push was made to improve the tourist potential. An old railway line which ran from the mountains with a gentle downhill gradient was converted to a bike path. It¢s now very popular and along with the Appalachian trail this has really highlighted the outdoors theme of the community. At the end of the day I came across a magnificent trestle bridge made with huge lumber frames. I was so struck by its structure that I camped the night there to take the time to have a better look. Just after I had set up my tent, two young men waded across the adjacent river carrying an icechest. They were former through hikers and figured they would run into other hikers (me) and figured I would enjoy some refreshment. They were right about that. It was extremely chilly so they set up a roaring fire to keep away the icy breezes, and we had great conversation late into the night. (Late for me is now 9:30pm)
Date: 2019-05-15
From: Campsite at Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge

To: Rhododendron Gap Campsite
Miles today: 15.0

Day 44 Mt RogersToday¢s big workout was the climb up to Mt Rogers which is the highest mountain in Virginia at 5,729¢. Along the way I dropped down to a trail head at Elk Gardens. At about 3 miles or so away, the hikers coming in the opposite direction started telling me that hamburgers were being handed out. As I got closer the reports of how delicious they were kept on being reported to me. I fairly raced the last mile or so! But disaster ¢¦ they were just packing up the grill as I raced on up!! It was though, a pleasant meeting spot. The trail magic had been organized by Bob who had given me my introduction instructions back at Amicalola Falls. I felt like a young student re-meeting an old teacher and proudly announcing how well I had done up to date. It was so good to see him. I did get a cola and brownie and this powered me up the mountain. I found a really pretty campsite overlooking the distant mountains. There had been reports of lots of bear / human encounters in the area so I was quite pleased to discover a bear box where I could safely store my food. It was another chilly night so I quickly set up camp and headed to bed.
Date: 2019-05-16
From: Rhododendron Gap Campsite

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 45 No Ponies but More Trail MagicThe day started with another milestone: 500miles! The distances seem to becoming easier to fulfill! Shortly after that I entered the Grayson Highlands. This is an area which is a highlight for many hikers because it has many small wild ponies. They are stocked there to graze and maintain the grassy area and thus enhance the views. Back in the 1940¢s a group of local ranchers bred small-statured horses that could survive life on the Appalachian Mountains with little to no human interference. In a bid to engineer the land around them, they bred a horse with a pony and the lineage resulted in the wild ponies that live here today. I was really looking to coming across them because I had heard of so many reports of how cute they were. But alas I made no sightings. There was though a lot of pony poo!!! The walking through the area was really special, and the gradients much easier than what I had been used to. Coming on down to a lower stream by a road I heard voices and saw a number of marquees. More Trail Magic, this time being organized by a worker from a New Hampshire Brewery. Needless to say he brought with him a large sampling of the product he makes! And this time the grill was in operation and I had a fair share of hamburgers! Speaking with a number of hikers they encouraged me to return to Damascus for the Trail Days. Originally I had decided to continue on, but hearing so many positive reports I decided that if I did manage to find a ride back then I would go. The next road junction was 10 miles distant so with a full belly I got going from the very pleasant marquees, and headed up to Hurricane Mountain Shelter. It was about half way to the road and thus I figured I could easily make it there in the morning. The shelter was relatively new and due to more reports of bears there was also a new bear box to store food.
Date: 2019-05-17
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 5.1

Day 46 Trail DaysI had made a decision that I would go to Trail Days if I could get a ride back to Damascus within 3 hours of arriving at the next road junction. As fate would have it I had a ride within 3 minutes!!! I put out my thumb, waved and smiled and sure enough the next car pulled over and drove me half way there! It didn¢t take too much longer for another car to then pull over and take me the rest of the way. Upon arriving back in Damascus there were hikers everywhere. Trail Days is the ultimate celebration of the Appalachian Trail and a homecoming for hikers from many years past. It¢s a showcase of hiking vendors, a huge music festival, gear repair stations, food, talent show, and a hiker parade. On arriving I was directed to Tent City where literally hundreds of hiker tents were set up. Meanwhile in the woods nearby were even more tents with all manner of camp setups from the whacky to the gentlemanly. After getting myself set up I wandered the town and pretty soon I was meeting and greeting all the faces I had met along the trail so far. Lots of fun.
Date: 2019-05-18
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0

Day 47 The ParadeAs I have explained previously, most hikers who come to Damascus arrive with a very unpleasant aromatic reputation. As Trail Days lasts for a number of days the hikers in conjunction with the community have come up with very novel solutions. The citizens donate all their unwanted clothes to a charity store that in turn sells articles of clothing to the hikers for $1 or $2. Hence pretty soon everyone is to be seen walking around in all sorts of 1980¢s era fashion items, in totally unmatched styles and in weird and whacky combinations. Some folks even step it up a notch or two and go totally left field. The blokes wear ballroom gowns with appropriate makeup and the girls dress down equally ridiculously. The hikers are a rainbow of personalities so the combinations are quite random.Meanwhile a number of the Baptist churches bring in specially equipped caravans. They are emblazoned in large formal letters ¢Disaster Relief Unit¢ and are used when floods, tornadoes or hikers hit town! These massive trailer trucks have banks of commercial grade washing machines in them. So the hikers regular clothes all get thoroughly washed. There are squads of volunteers manning the trailers and they have a very logistical situation well handled for the hundreds of filthy hikers involved. A highlight of the event comes in the afternoon when all the hikers mass at one end of town and parade down the Main Street. The townsfolk meanwhile are well stocked and prepared with all sorts of super soaker guns, ice chests filled with water  and showering devices figuring that what smells the baths and washing equipment didn¢t get, their douches will! It turns into a hilarious soaking scrum. Everyone then heads back to Tent City to recoup. Another fun event are the vendor booths. All the major suppliers are there knowing that the AT is a significant testing point and marketing opportunity for their products. At the end of the afternoon they raffle off excess gear so there are lots and lots of give aways. I didn¢t score anything but I happily joined the groups with hopeful anticipation. The day ended in the evening in the woods where various groups were roasting up pigs, spaghetti and other feasting foods. There was a drum circle and a memory service was held for the VET hiker who recently passed away on the trail. One saying was passed around ¢Take stock of the people you love, take care of the rest.¢ Once the ministrations were complete the drumming began and this went continuously until well past 1am.  Many people partied hard - there were lots of sore heads!
Date: 2019-05-19
From: Damascus

To: Creekside Camp
Miles today: 7.6

Day 48 Back on the TrailThe partying went well into the morning. Some time around 3am I heard a saddened wail from a tent nearby, ¢Help me, I have 60 cans of beer left to drink. Do you want some? Come help me drink them!¢Now in my youth I¢d have hopped right of my tent and joined in the fun! Indeed even now one of my three head/heart/gut brains was urging me to open the tent flaps and at least see who was at the instant party nearby. But the other two were having none of that and I dozed back to sleep. At 8 In the morning I arose and there was a group still going! But the general atmosphere of Tent City was of movement out of there. Folks were busy packing up and texting friends trying to find rides back to the trail to where they had left off. It had rained during the night so I took the time to dry my tent fly and air things out. Over at one of the Baptist Churches formal rides had been organised. A big yellow bus was heading north whilst smaller shuttle vans were heading south to a number of different destinations. I was thinking of joining the bus when a young man asked if I needed a ride. I did and so he said to me¢Hop in my truck. We¢ll get you where you want to go!¢ He did indeed have a monster truck and off we went winding through the mountain roads until I made it back to my trail head a couple of hours later. I waved goodbye then it was back to my hiking routine. There weren¢t too many hours left in the day so I made to a campsite by a stream 7 miles away. It was good to be back walking.
Date: 2019-05-20
From: Creekside Camp

To: Crawfish Trail Campground 
Miles today: 24.6

Day 49 Restaurant Closed Out of LuckAfter the time spent at Trail Days I was anxious to get back to some longer distances of hiking. Checking out my AWOL guide ( a guide book that lists the mileages of key points of interest, shelters, hostels,cafes and so on) I spotted the ¢Red Barn¢ Restaurant 18 miles away.  It¢s well known for great Hiker Food so I figured that if I walked fast, I¢d make it by late afternoon, giving me time for dinner, then I could amble on a mile or two and make camp. My plan went so well up to getting to the Restaurant! First up I made it to the Partnership Shelter, which is a really fancy and relatively new two storey haven. There I made breakfast of apple cinnamon instant porridge washed down with Starbucks instant coffee. Whilst I was there a gentleman wandered up with a case of cokes for hikers so I had one of those as well. Next up was a historic one room school house that ran up until 75 years ago. There were 4 timber crates inside each with all sorts of Trail Magic goodies. Now as it was only two miles from the restaurant I held back on the treats figuring that I wanted to enjoy my meal. I sketched the building from the side. Anyways I made it to the restaurant with plenty of time, and high hopes of a great feed. After 18 miles of anticipation I sure was hungry!There was a large banner outside announcing ¢Now Open¢ ! But alas it was closed on Mondays and today was Monday. Oh goodness me. On the other side of the road was a Mexican restaurant but it too was closed! I was so annoyed but instead decided to channel the negativity into walking on a lot more! I ended up with my longest day so far and was really pleased about that! I even found some trail magic along the way. A trail angel had left a cooler of bananas apples and oranges... perfect healthy walking fuel!
Date: 2019-05-21
From: Crawfish Trail Campground 

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 17.4

Day 50 Chestnut Knob ShelterThe country I was in was the scene of the tragic events from a number of days ago. Naturally I took time to contemplate the perplexing and inconceivable twists that life takes. It is beautiful land and I took time to sketch a barn and concentrate on the allurement rather than the distressing. As chance would have it, I walked today with ¢Belch¢ and his partner who had become directly entangled with the events that night. They had been forced by the FBI to curtail their hike for some time so that they could provide statements and testimony to the Grand Jury. Today was their first time back on the trail and they were bravely getting straight back into it. I chatted with ¢Belch¢ heading up our next mountain. His favourite Australian was Steve Irwin, so our conversation was about all the dangerous ¢down under¢ animals that can kill you. His choice of conversation not mine! Who knows what ¢Belch¢ was thinking at the end of the climb as he listened to my mad and extremely fool hardy adventures in outback Australia and beyond. But before I knew it we were at the top of what was normally a very steep climb. There was a very picturesque view from the top of Burke¢s Garden, a large crater like natural geological phenomenon. It was from a grassy field filled with poison ivy and ticks. I made what I thought was a very strategic decision to spend the night in Chestnut Knob Shelter a fine stone structure complete with a door to keep the bears and ticks out. It turned out to be a very smart move as I was later to learn from the many hikers who instead chose to sleep with the ticks and poison ivy. ( more about that later)
Date: 2019-05-23
From: Laurel Creek Campground 

To: Lickskillet Hollow
Miles today: 20.0

Day 52 Hiker SqueezepointI have loved squeezepoints as they happen around the world. Back in the 1970¢s and 80¢s (yes I¢m showing my age) the top squeeze point on the overland trek fro Singapore to London was the Puddin Shop in Istanbul. They had a notice board up and on my way thru I checked up on all my new found mates as to where they were on the way through. Similar thing in the 90¢s on the African route from London to Capetown. There was the Thorn Tree cafe in Nairobi, Kenya named after an old Acacia Tree where travellers used to tack notes back to friends they last saw half way up the Nile. Somehow the messages usually got through! Lonely Planet use that as the title on their blog page.Everyone knew of these squeezepoints and made a point of stopping by to see who is where! The Appalachian Trail is somewhat similar. Of course there are the message books in each Shelter although in these days of smartphones things have gone digital. However when there is ¢Food¢ close to the trail, particularly a grill selling comfort food it immediately becomes a focus point.  Today I came across one such establishment, Brushy Mountain Outpost. I was up early and was first one breaking camp. When I got to the restaurant I was first one there, but pretty soon there was a steady stream of hikers flocking in. As you can see by today¢s photo. The food was greasy, calorie obese, and just what I needed!!!Fortunately for me the next section was downhill. I don¢t know how I could have made it uphill on such a full belly. Once I did get to go up I had plenty of energy and finished up with 20 miles for the day. A local church at Lickskillet Hollow (what a great name) had a surplus old meeting house and it had been converted into a hiker hostel. It was an excellent spot to rest up and revive for the night.
Date: 2019-05-24
From: Lickskillet Hollow

To: Campsite near DocÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Knob Shelter
Miles today: 25.4

Day 53 Signs and Messages.As I walk along the Appalachian Trail, I come across many scrawled messages of wisdom such as this one: ¢You are stars wrapped in skin The light you are seeking has always been within.¢ I think this encapsulates the sentiment of the hiking fraternity. One common reason to undertake the Appalachian Trail experience is to rediscover ourselves or to let the esprit of the trail create us. I meet many hikers who are using the trail to overcome addictions or veterans who are walking off the scars of battle. Earl Schaeffer the first hiker to complete a through hike did so to walk World War 2 out of his soul. Certainly there are many peaceful spots along the way that are welcoming for a time of meditation and reconnection with the quintessence of the land. Not long after I saw that star sign I came across another saying ¢No clothes allowed past this point.¢ Another symbolic action to unshackle society norms? I choose to ignore the directions of this message!Today took me along Dismal Creek. There was nothing Dismal about it at all, very peaceful and lots of flat trail. In true AT tradition though after this was a very very steep ascent followed by a treacherous rocky scramble. The bliss of the creek could only last for so long. I ended up doing 25 miles for the day, though it was getting on dusk at 8pm when I did halt for the day. I didn¢t come up with any mind boggling messages to scrawl somewhere but I did feel so very satisfied with my days efforts.
Date: 2019-05-25
From: Campsite near DocÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg 
Miles today: 6.8

Day 54 Haunted HouseOne of the reasons I pushed so hard yesterday and did the miles I did was because I¢d been invited to join a group of hikers for a birthday celebration in Pearisburg. The birthday girl ¢Sasquatch ¢ had hired an old house with lots of bedrooms for us all to take time off in. I figured that as time is at a premium it¢s best to get to town as early as possible and naturally, not get back on trail the next day until as late as possible, and that is what I did!! I awoke early and fortunately for me the trail was a long downhill from my camp. First place to visit once I got to Pearisburg was the All You Can Eat Chinese buffet. Hunger once quelled (very temporarily I can tell you) I was graciously picked up by the boyfriend of Sasquatch in his pickup truck. I got a passenger seat but there were also hikers plus all our backpacks in the rear! It was great as I was getting to meet up with lots I hadn¢t seen in a whiles. Once at the house we all lazed about, drank beer and had a good old time. The house itself was huge and dedicated to the children of a large family who had tragically been killed by a gas cylinder explosion. Each room was pledged to one of the children. It was done in a very gracious respectful and meaningful way. But hikers being hikers, the banter later that night turned to ghosts and all things supernatural! Just as the conversation was getting a tad bit creepy, a massive storm erupted outside and then the power went out! Well... for some this meant the house was truly haunted. Needless to say some of us got to sleep, whilst others were more awake that night.
Date: 2019-05-26
From: Pearisburg 

To: Dickenson Gap Campsite
Miles today: 14.3

Day 55 Back on the TrailWe were all slow to awake come the morning after the ghosts of last night. Most hikers chose to kick back and spend another day. (A ¢Zero¢) Sadly it¢s a fact of life that my Treetrunk logs can¢t keep up with the ninja spiritedly steps of my younger hiker friends. So I decided to get back to the trail early. I knew I¢d be seeing them all again in a few days! So I gained a ride in the pickup truck, collected groceries then it was a short 1 mile stroll back to the trailhead. Once again it was a steep climb up, dip down to a valley, then more up!! The day went by fast and before I knew it the sun was starting to set. I found a pleasant campsite and secured my tent for the night. Lucky I did because without warning a massive storm blew in and it belted down with rain. Learning from my mistakes in the past I was on a leafy, mossy site so the water drained straight away and I was dry for the night.