morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-20
From: Salem, VA

To: 2 miles outside Daleville, VA
Miles today: 24.5
Weather: clear sky

As bad as the hiking conditions were 2 days ago, today was just the opposite. The weather gave us a good day and many awesome sights. Beekpr and I were picked up by Dave and he dropped us off at the trail head on VA624 around 7:00 a.m. We were off! We finally had luck with us, as far as weather was concerned, since we were heading for McAfee Knob, one of the most scenic places in Virginia. The views were just fantastic and we stayed up on those rocks close to an hour. We were happily surprised to see an old friend on the knob when we arrived, Dred. He was up there with 2 other hikers, Lemming and Zero. He spent 3 days in Damascus for trail days giving us the opportunity to catch up. After awhile chatting and taking pictures, Beekpr and I left the knob and continued on. There were many scenic overlooks today and the 1/2 mile walk on the edge of Tinker Cliffs just took your breath away. Here the AT runs along the very edge of the cliffs with extremely high vertical drop offs-you don't want to slip up there.After leaving the cliffs we continued on to Lamberts Meadow Shelter which would have given us a 16 mile day, but it was only 3:30 and we figured we'd go a bit further and find a camping spot. The few spots we did find were not big enough for our 2 tents so we kept on walking. Finally, we found a spot just to the right of the trail where we crammed our 2 tents into. We found this after walking 24.5 miles and only 2 miles out of Daleville. We were very happy to find this spot for my feet were killing me by that time.Tomorrow we'll go into Daleville early and get some breakfast before heading to the outfitter and then on to Troutville where we'll stay overnight to buy some food and get some pickups at the post office.I called Hatteras on Sunday but Nuke answered and informed me that Milo and he will resume hiking on Wednesday. This was good news. They will be a few days behind us but will probably catch us later on up the trail.We got into camp at 6, set up tents, ate. I'll sign off now, it's getting dark.
Date: 2003-05-21
From: 2 miles outside Daleville, VA

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 5.0

As predicted it started raining about 5 a.m. so by the time we got up at 6:30 things were pretty wet. Getting packed up as we took down our wet tents dampened a lot of gear. We hiked off the ridge and down to Rt220 and Daleville and my boots for some reason soaked up the rain and after about 3 miles my feet were completely wet. We detoured about a 1/2 mile up Rt220 to an outfitter so I could get some boot water proffing but we arrived at 9 a.m. and it wasn't opening until 10 so we went back up the road and continued up the trail to R11 and Troutville where we planned to get a motel and mail drops. A word to anyone hiking into this area, send your mail drops to Daleville post office and stay in the motels close to the AT on Rt220 instead of going to Troutville. In my opinion Troutville is pretty spread out and the motels are about 2 miles from the post office and the outfitter is in Daleville. That said, after we checked into our motel we walked to the post office, couldn't get a hitch. We tried hitching on the way back but to no avail until a very nice young guy named John driving the other way turned around and picked us up when when we were about 1/4 mile from the motel. He took us back to drop off our parcels and then volunteered to take us to the outfitters in Daleville. John, you saved us a great deal of time and made our stay a lot more pleasant. He went into the coffee shop next to the outfitters to wait for us. When we finished we went to get him and his mom was there also and she bought us coffee. You have to love this southern hospitality! John then dropped us off at our motel to continue getting our gear dried out and in order.The plan now is to head out tomorrow even though the weather for the next 2 days calls for more and more rain with flood warnings. Sure hope the water proofing for my boots works, I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow.We ran into Dred, Zero, Spiderman and Just Dan today. It's always great to see those guys. Just Dan left today and the rest are leaving tomorrow so I'm sure we'll see them all up the trail. Hopefully it will be a little dryer than predicited.
Date: 2003-05-22
From: Troutville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It was hard getting up out of that warm bed in the motel after looking out the window and seeing a wet, cloudy day outside. After showering we went down to the lobby for our free continental breakfast and stuffed ourselves in preparation for our hike. We couldn't help but notice the temperature was raising goosebumps on our skin-it was VERY cool. After loading our packs we headed out to Rt11 and tried to hitch, unsuccessfully, to the trail head about a mile away. It drizzled on us for the first couple of hours of the hike. That plus a couple of pasture crossings was getting us wet. The weather forcast was calling for heavy rain later today and we wanted to at least make Wilson Creek Shelter, about 10 miles away, before it started. We had several hairy creek crossings where one slip would have put our boots under water.We made Wilson Creek Shelter around 2 p.m. and by the time we pumped some water from a nearby creek it started to rain, harder and harder. I'm glad we made those creek crossings today because they will be flooding tomorrow.Tomorrow we're looking to do a 20 mile day to Bryant Ridge Shelter if the weather permits. We're hoping for better weather and a good day of hiking. Today we had a 10 a.m. start, I'm sure well get an earlier start tomorrow. I'm signing off for the night and going to start dinner-another noodle thing.
Date: 2003-05-23
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We got an early start this morning, around 7:15 a.m., and hiked out of Wilson Creek Shelter on what we knew was to be a long day. It rained lightly all morning and part of the afternoon getting us wet and making many of our things damp. About 7 miles into the hike my right foot started acting up, probably the planter fecitistis that I have in my heels. It persisted until we arrived at Bryant Ridge Shelter. I was never so happy as to take off the damp boots and put on my dry camp shoes. The hike today took us up into some beautiful trail areas with all the mountain laurel and rhododendrons in bloom. It really is beautiful, even in the fog and rain, to come around a corner and see flowers blooming on both sides of the trail-it's really something!We hiked into Bryant Ridge Shelter after a 20.6 mile day and WOW, what a shelter. It's fairly new and built like no other shelter on the trail. We're staying in the second story loft instead of tenting just because this is such a cool shelter. It's Beekpr, Dred, Spiderman, Zero, YoYo, Bag, Lemming and me staying here.Tomorrow's plan is to get within an easy hike to VA130 and hitch into Glasgow, VA Sunday. We're going to resupply our food and stop at a local restaurant for a good meal before heading out again that day for Waynesboro. I'll need to visit the outfitters there to buy a new pair of boots. My Asolo Fusion 95's have seen better days and after the 800 miles I'll need to replace them, if possible, by Waynesboro. I've certainly got my money's worth. I hope they carry the same brand because they have served me well. I've had no blisters and until recently, thy've kept my feet dry and comfortable.I'm going to sign off now and lay back and relax. It's been a long, wet hike today and these old bones could use a rest. Thinking sunshine for tomorrow, well I hope so anyway. One more thing, our stay at Wilson Creek Shelter yesterday marked the first 1/3 portion of the AT hiked.
Date: 2003-05-24
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Marble Spring
Miles today: 17.2

The weather held for us today and didn't rain. In fact something novel came out later in the afternoon, the sun. Beekpr and I started out of Bryant Ridge Shelter at our usual time, around 7:15 a.m. and the trail began to climb almost immediately. When we were a couple hundred yards from the shelter I realized I left my rain jacket there and so I made a quick trip back to get it. Heaven knows, the AT hikers could never do without our rain gear. We climbed often today with our biggest climb coming over Apple Orchard Mountain at 4,225 feet. We've been crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway several times in the past couple of days and paralled it for many miles.Since we had the sun finally we decided to tent it tonight at Marble Spring, about 7 miles from VA130 where Beekpr and I will hitch into Glasgow tomorrow for food resupply and to do laundry before heading back to the trail. Our next destination will probably be Monticello for our next resupply before getting into Waynesboro, VA by the end of the week.Now that the sun's out were all hoping it'll stay a while and make our hiking a bit easier. As for me, I'm taking these weary feet and stretching out in my tent to get some sleep for an early start tomorrow. Nite all!
Date: 2003-05-25
From: Marble Spring

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

Our day began with the pitter pat of rain on our tents at 5. Not what we were hoping for. By 6:30, Beekpr and I were packing our gear inside our tents with only the wet tents to take down. This was only a minor annoyance since we only had a 7 mile hike to U.S. 501 where a hitch into Glasgow, 5.9 miles away, would net us some real food. The rain stopped around 8:30 am and as we came down the mountain side we had some awesome views of the James River Valley and surrounding mountains. The fog was still thick in the valley and I'm hoping some of my pictures do it justice. After crossing the James River footbridge we arrived at US 501 and began hitching a ride into Glasgow around 10:30 am. After about 30 minutes a man from Lynchberg, Va. going kyaking on the James picked us up and took us into Glasgow where we first visited the Wright Restaurant and sat down to an A.Y.C.E. lunch. That was fabulous after 4 days of trailfood. It was a busy morning and afternoon as we went to the laundermat and then went food shopping for the 5 days we figured it would take us to hike into Waynesboro. Nothing like 5 days of food to make your pack feel like someone put cinder blocks in there.Getting back to the trail took about an hour of hitchhiking from downtown Glasgow. We usually don't have any problems getting a ride back to the trail once we're in town but we did today. It was weird, the cars would go by and many of them waved to us but wouldn't stop, and here we were in nice clean laundered clothes and smelling not half bad for a change. To our amazement a small car going the other way with 2 vacationers from New York turned around and picked us up and took us back to the trailhead. It was a tight squeeze but we managed. We were quite thankful they came along.We only hiked 2.4 miles into the next shelter since it was already 4 PM when we were dropped off. Over the next 2 days we have a lot of elevation gain and with the extra food weight in our packs we'll probably pace ourselves a little slower than usual. Beekpr just yelled out from his tent that one of the local radio stations was doing an all Elvis hour so I got to run and lay back and listen to the tunes. Catch you'all later!
Date: 2003-05-26
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Our day, as predicted, started out wet with a continous rain from 11 last night to about 4 am. At least we didn't have to take down our tents in the rain, but we had to pack them wet anyway. Beekpr and I left camp around 7:30 AM and the trail proceeded up, up, and then up some more. We had to go from 1020 feet to 2992 feet in the first 3 miles. That certainly gets the blood pumping in the morning. It was still very cloudy and views were non existant at this time, so we pushed on. Four miles later we crested Bluff Mountain at 3372 feet where there is a memorial stone for a 4 year old boy named Ottie Cline Powel, who in 1891 wandered away from the school he was attending and was found dead on the summit here, 7 miles from the school....Very sad. On the way down the mountain I tried the reception on my cell phone and was able to reach my wife, which is always a treat for me. After about 9.5 miles into the hike we decided to stop for lunch where the A.T. crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was a nice parking turn in where we came out and me and Beekpr spread our wet tents and rain flys on the pavement to dry and sat on the sidewalk to eat lunch. Just as we were finishing a car pulls up and a man and woman from Ohio get out and ask if we're Thru Hikers and when we replied yes, he handed us a couple of ice cream sandwiches and stayed and talked with us for awhile. Two 19 year old section hikers from PA., who were staying at a shelter .6 miles from the Parkway emerged from the woods to get some of the trail magic too. They were amazed that me and Beekpr covered the same 9.5 miles that took them the whole previous day in only 4 hours. It certainly flattered us both and made us feel a little younger to hear this, but not too young for we're both aching pretty well after the 17.6 miles hiked today.After we left the Parkway we proceeded down the trail about 100 yards. At the time I was talking to Beekpr over my shoulder when I thought I noticed something move under my foot and there was indeed something there. As I stepped over it, Beekpr jumped back just before he almost stepped on a Copperhead snake. It was about 2.5 feet long and slithered away before I could get my camera out. The next few hours we were both checking every root or stick on the trail to make sure it wasn't a snake.We arrived at our campsite at Brown Mtn. Creek Shelter around 4 PM. We picked some tent sites next to the creek, away from the shelter. It's always restfull to lay in your tent and hear a creek rushing by a few feet away. Tomorrow will take us over our last 4000 foot mountain, Cold Mtn, until we hit New England. We're hoping the weather will hold for there should be some pretty good views, but predictions are for more rain. We can only hope.
Date: 2003-05-27
From: Brown Mtn. Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: moderate rain

Today's hike was to be our hardest from Glasgow to Waynesboro, and it was in more than one way. The day began almost immediately with a 2600 foot climb up to Bald Knob at 4059 feet then down 1000 feet and then another 1000 foot climb back to make the summit of Cold Mountain. What made this even harder was the rain.I woke up this morning at 3:00 AM and it wasn't raining so I was feeling like we might just have a decent day for views and hiking and rolled over and slept for another 2 hours. At 5 AM I heard the first drops hit my tent rainfly and didn't hear the last drops until around 3:00 PM. After arriving at Seeley-Woodward Shelter, Beekpr and I pulled down our wet tents and started our hike around 7:30 AM. The first mile was just some normal small ups and downs and the rain lightened up to a light shower so we started with shorts and rainjackets. The rain stayed light through our first 2600 foot climb and almost to the top of Cold Mtn. when it really let loose on us. We had to stop and get into our rain pants, which we hate to hike in, and proceed to the top of the mountain where we found the reason for the name Cold Mtn., It was dang Cold up there. The wind was blowing and the temperature was in the mid to upper 40's and the rain felt like someone pouring ice water on us. We've had pleasanter days. Of course, there were no views today so no need to take the camera out of the pack. Ther rain stayed with us the rest of the hike so we hiked through our lunch and break times to get to this shelter and dry out somewhat. We arrived at 2:15 PM covering the 15.8 miles and immediately went to get our water for the evening. Once we stripped off our wet clothes and put on our remaining dry ones, we sat inside the shelter and cooked our dinner. The rain stopped around 3 PM so we strung a rope to hang our wet clothes on. Since the temperature was so low nothing really got dry so we'll be putting on some wet clothes to begin tomorrow's hike. At this point in time all the through hikers would enjoy seeing the Monsoon Season in Centeral Virginia come to an end soon. With any luck maybe the forcasters are wrong and we won't get more rain over the next 2 days. Well, here's hoping anyway.We should make Waynesboro by Friday, which will give us our first showers in 9 days and a chance to completely dry out.Outside of Beekpr and me, Spiderman and Bag are presently in the shelter with us. Hopefully, we'll all have a chance tomorrow to take our cameras out....Come on sun!
Date: 2003-05-28
From: Seeley-Woodward Shelter

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The day started out rather frosty. When I looked at my thermometer at 5 AM it was reading just under 40 degrees and with the breeze it was one cold shelter. Around 6:30AM it started raining and no one was moving to get up. The prospect of putting on yesterdays cold, wet shirt, shorts, socks and boots just had no appeal. About 7:15, Beekpr and I made the move to get up and once the cold clothes were on you better believe we were packed and hiking hard trying to build up some body heat.We had several climbs today, one taking us to Spy Rock, where Confederate soldiers used to spy on Union positions below. We got there just as the sun finally poked through the clouds and actually hung in there for the remainder of the day. What a treat for all hikers.At about 11:30AM we arrived at Priest Shelter and decided to take an early lunch there. We strung a long clothes line out and dried all our gear. It felt good again to have everything dry to pack up, that is except our boots and socks which are still pretty damp.It really was nice today to take advantage of the sun and see some of the beautiful views Virginia's mountains give you. Yesterday was significant for more than the rain for we went past the 800 mile mark and are now working on 900. Sometimes it seems rather surreal that we have come this far with still a good distance to go. I can only say the experience has been worth all the aches and pains and bad weather days as well as the good ones. The day to day experiences and friendships make it all worthwhile and the memories will last forever.Tomorrow we start our day with a 2000 foot climb and then a 22 mile hike to the Paul Wolfe Memorial Shelter about 4.5 miles from Rockfish Gap and Waynesboro. Maybe we will have 2 days with sun, that would be just fabulous.
Date: 2003-05-31
From: Waynesboro

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We were a little apprehensive about leaving today since the weather report had a string of severe thunder storms coming through our area in the early afternoon. After a few cups of coffee and bagels at the Day's Inn and waiting out the first rain we decided at 9:30 AM to call a local "Trail Angel" to pick us up at 10:00 and take the 3 of us back to Rockfish Gap. "Us" now consists of Beekpr, me, and Beekpr's daughter, Milissa, who is joining us up to Harpers Ferry. She arrived in Waynesboro yesterday morning and after breakfast joined us in our regular chores whenever we getinto a trailtown...laundry, grocery shopping, visit to the local outfitters, etc. She finished her Freshman year in Dickinson College and came down for the 10 day hike through the Shenandoah National Park with her dad before starting her summer job.After we were let off at Rockfish Gap by a very nice lady named Bee, we began our hike into the Park. About a mile from the start we came to an information board where all hikers have to fill out permits to hike into the park. The hike was rather easy as compared to the last few days of hiking and we were only going 7 miles to the first shelter because of the coming rain we were expecting. We arrived to find Mountain Mom and O.L.O.F, two ladies we met briefly Thursday evening after arriving at the Paul Wolf Shelter 5 miles before Rockfish Gap.They remembered Beekpr and me staying just long enough to dump the water from our boots and wring out our socks before leaving and knocking out the rest of that 27 mile day. One of them, Mtn. Mom, is the mother of Leif, one of the co-producers of this website, so we have a celebrity in our midst.Milissa survived her first day with us with some minor foot problems from the new boots she was wearing. The thunderstorms came rolling in around 3:30 PM and we've had light to heavy rain ever since. We're supposed to have this front blow out of here tomorrow morning and have at least 2 nice days for hiking. We are really looking forward to this, and hopefully we'll be able to unbury our cameras from our packs and shoot some views again. Tomorrows plan is calling for only a 13 mile day to the next shelter since your restricted from camping except around the shelter areas or designated camping areas. Also a shorter day will help Milissa get her hiking legs and maybe we'll pick up the pace in the days to come. We're really looking forward to the Park hike and want to enjoy the whole scene.Before I forget, Milo and Nuke shwoed up in Waynesbor while we were there along with Brie, Bam Bam, and Smoking Bear. They got off the trail just north of Troutville, Va. after several days of rain and with the other mentioned hikers are taking a canoe trip up the Shenandoah River to Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Chances are we will run into them when we arrive there.
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Black Rock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We got our wish today and hiked most of the day in sun. It was definitely a blustery day with winds so strong we stopped a few times half expecting to see limbs break off and come crashing down. We didn't see any crash but we could sure hear them. The trail hikes like a dream here and is very well maintained. Melissa is still getting used to the long distance hiking scene and has a few heel blisters making it hard for her to keep a fast pace, but I'm sure they will heal soon and she'll be moving the mountains like her dad before long. Tomorrow will be a rather different day for me and Beekpr since we're going to temporarily split for about 20 days or so. The reason is my wife and son are coming to visit me near the end of the month and I'll be taking several days off the trail, so I'm going to hike ahead of Beekpr and Melissa starting tomorrow up through Middle Penna. where Joni will pick me up in Port Clinton when she flies into Newark Air Port. Beekprs wife is meeting him in Harpers Ferry for a few days also, so the plan now is for Beekpr and me to get together again somewhere around Port Clinton, Pa. when my wife drops me back off on the trail before she goes home. It will seem very different now hiking solo the next few weeks since Beekpr and I have been hiking partners for over 2 months and 800 miles. We both want to finish together in Maine so I'm looking forward to meeting up with him again in PA. We'll stay somewhat co-ordinated with each other from time to time with cell phones and by the time Joni drops me back on the trail we should be fairly close to each other. Anyway, that's the plan and I'm sure we'll make it work out.I'll hike with them to Loft Mtn. Campground Store tomorrow morning where we'll resupply and then I'll move ahead.It will be since Hiawassi, Ga. since I hiked solo, so I'm looking forward to the experience again. I'm hoping the weather holds for Melissa and Beekpr so her Shenandoah experience is a good one.On a hiking note today, I almost walked into my first wild turkey. It came out on the trail about 10 feet in front of me and before I could get my camera out it ran back into the brush. Seems it was camera shy.The weather forcast looks good for tomorrow...2 days in a row (Big Smile Here), so I'm going for Hightop Hut about 20 miles from here. I reckon I better get my sleep, I'm going to need it.