morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-28
From: Dismal Branch; Captain Jack's

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

5/28Crossed the creek and dropped my pack while disembarking the zip line. It rolled down the hill and stopped right at the edge of the creek. Phew. The day was hot and humid and the trail was really rocky. Crappy day all around. I did hike with Ranger and Hambone. I first met them at Jenkins Shelter. We did score double trail magic. First was from some SOBOs who were getting off early and they were unloading all their food, drinks, and fuel. Second was just a tub with some warm Miller Lites. At the top of the second big climb of the day was Kelly's Knob, a mammoth rock outcropping with large cracks that ran 4' wide and 15' down. It was a little nerve-wracking stepping over those cracks to get out to the edge, especially with tired legs.
Date: 2012-05-29
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: few clouds

5/29Another hot and humid day, miserable hiking all around. In switching ranges the trail crossed through cow pastures and the view was magnificent. Climbing up the next ridge we passed by the Keffer Oak, the largest oak on the southern half of the trail, over 18' in circumference. Getting to the top of the ridge there was a side trail going halfway down the other side to a shelter. A bunch of us said nuh-uh and stopped for lunch on top. I had taken my shoes and socks off to let everything dry. When I went to put them back on after eating, there was a tick on my insole. He's dead now.The ridge was a sheet of rock going up at a 45* angle on one side and cliffs on the other. Walking along something so hard and steeply tilted sideways was killer, especially exposed to the sun like that. I was grateful to get to the shelter in time to beat the rain. A section hiker said it was a tropical storm that had blown in that evening. As a bonus, Bam had run into town that day and packed out ground beef and buns. He cooked me a burger (in the rain!) and I provided cheese I had been using for lunches.
Date: 2012-05-30
From: Niday Shelter

To: VA 624; 4 Pines Hostel
Miles today: 16.8

5/30I woke up at midnight and couldn't go back to sleep. Not sure why but probably included the no-see-ems being a nuisance and not being able to get a comfortable temperature. It was a long night but the sound of rain on the tin roof of the shelter was nice. The day started out again with switching ridges. Today's big climb took me up to a memorial to Audie Murphy, the most decorated US WWII veteran. He died in a plane crash somewhere on that Mtn.Back down the gap and across a footbridge over a creek which was a beautiful spot for a picnic. I sat on the bridge over the water dangling my feet off. Then straight back up onto the ridge of Cove Mtn, which was a lot of rocky ups and downs. Somewhere on this was Dragon's Tooth, so I had to make sure the ridge formed consummate 'V's. It turns out the Tooth is a huge pointy rock at the far end of the ridge. I was too tired and sore to take the 0.1 m side trail to get a better look so I began he descent off the ridge. And by descent, I mean climbing down an almost sheer cliff face with a 30# pack on my back. With fresh legs and no extra weight, it would have been a lot of fun. I frequently had to throw my poles down to the next ledge and on one occasion had to throw the pack down too. It was scary. At the bottom I walked to the convenience store ordered a pizza ate half and then walked 3/4 m to the 4 Pines hostel. It was just a 3 bay garage a guy threw some old couches and beach lounge chairs in. He also put a shower and toilet in there. In wound up being a really neat place. Two people were spending a week there and then getting off trail for good due to injury. I met Yetti and Kentucky and Y's dog Jada there. There was also Gus. If you picture an old washed up fisherman who is the town drunk, you have Gus's exact appearance in mind. He was actually very drunk too, muttering incoherences to nobody in particular.
Date: 2012-05-31
From: VA 624; 4 Pines Hostel

To: VA 624; 4 Pines Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

5/31I slept poorly again as beach chairs don't make good beds. Today was a zero day for two reasons: 1) The Homeplace wasn't open he previous evening and 2) I had three days to go less than 30 miles to Daleville when my adopted Raleigh family was picking me up and taking me to their parents' house.I spent half the day down at the convenience store to eat breakfast and lunch. Upon returning, I found Rhyno and Baltimore Jack at the hostel. I was happy to see Rhyno again. At 5pm, about 12 of us climbed in the pick-up to go eat at the Homeplace. It is an old old house refurbished into a family style restaurant. You only order drinks and meats, they bring plate after plate of sides to go with the meats and it's AYCE!  It was divine and the place was very crowded. All the locals came very dressed up to eat. A definite must if you're in the Roanoke or Blacksburg area.
Date: 2012-06-01
From: VA 624; 4 Pines Hostel

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

6/1I slept poorly again for the third night in a row. This time it was fever and nausea. Thankfully half way through the night the fever did its job and killed the bug off. I woke up feeling 85%, enough to keep breakfast down without any trouble. The weather looked very threatening and the forecast indicated tornado watches throughout the day. Given that, everyone else decided to zero there. I would have too, especially with recovering from being sick but I was confident I had killed the bug off and I had to meet my friends the next day, thirty miles away. So I set off in the drizzle, everyone at the hostel thinking I'm bad-A.It was six miles to he next major climb and along the way a day hiker gave me a banana. Trail Magic! A mile after the road to Catawba I stopped to rest and saw Smiley had spent the night there. I first met him at Hurricane Shelter just after the wild ponies. Anyways, another mile down the trail and another shelter. I found Smiley there with camp set up. He's become a reading fiend on trail and hikes shelter to shelter, reading in all his spare time. I chuckled that he only did a mile but to each his own, aka hike your own hike.The big event for the day was McAfee Knob, the most photographed spot on the trail. It was overcast but I still had a magnificent view of the valley and Roanoke in the distance. The cicadas in the valley below were vey loud. I happen to be hiking on they one in seventeen years that they come out. For days I found their dead bodies and wings along the trail, as well as little holes that I assume they came out of. Watch Planet Earth if you don't know about the cicadas. It's a really cool series.Another big down and big up. This up is to Tinker Cliffs and a huge storm blew in while I was climbing. Thankfully the storm had more bark than bite and I stayed relatively dry despite strong gusts and loud thunder. The trail follows the precipice of the cliffs which was a little scary with the wet rocks and strong winds. By then the storm was almost over and so I had a great view off the cliffs. Supposedly the cliffs hid many civil war soldiers who went AWOL as their were many nooks and crannies. After that it was down to the shelter where I spent the night by myself.
Date: 2012-06-02
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 10.9

6/2Finally had a good night's sleep. The hike into town was along a ridge with a lot of cool rock formations that make for tons of sweet bouldering opportunities, if you're in the area. The first order of business in Daleville was BOJANGLES! It was so good I plumb forgot to order boberry biscuits. After lunch I hiked another 1.5 m down the trail to the next town, Troutville. I thumbed a ride to the town park where they were hosting their very first annual trail days. I was the only hiker their at the time so I was treated like a celebrity. It was a lot of fun. There were only about five booths, and none of them were allowed to sell anything. Additionally, no dogs were allowed in the park. Kind of awkward for a hiker rest. They did have a line up of local bluegrass bands playing and there were probably about 20 locals in the park. The guy who gave me the ride also bought me a hotdog! Rebecca, one of the people running an outfitter's booth got off work at 3 and offered to drive me back to Daleville where my friends were going to pick me up. On the way we stopped at her parents' house to grab her dog, and her mom gave me a couple of comes, a banana, and a brownie! Then we stopped at this delicious sno-cone shack. After she dropped me off, I did some shopping until they picked me up. We spent the night at his parents' house. All afternoon I hung out with them and played with their three girls. It was a lot of fun and very refreshing to see them again. Us adults wound up playing Rook until 12:30am.
Date: 2012-06-03
From: Troutville, VA

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

6/3The first half of the day was spent hanging around the house. I played with the girls some. We played some frisbee golf around the yard. I helped my friend and his dad tear down a dead branch hanging precariously over the swing set. But alas, as they ha to head back to Raleigh that evening they took be back to the trail. 10 feet down the trail and I startled a deer. For about 2 weeks straight now, I've seen a single solitary deer every day. This section of trail was annoying as it was working its way across ridges trying to get over to the Blue Ridge Parkway. But I made it to the shelter without incident.
Date: 2012-06-04
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Jennings Creek; VA 614
Miles today: 17.0

6/4Woke up and hiked. The trail paralleled the BRP for about half the day, crossing it several times. The trail eventually descended down to Jennings Creek, at 951' above sea level, the first time below 1000' I believe. On the descent there was a huge black snake across the trail that I has to coax out of my way. The creek had a great swimming hole in it but it looked like storm clouds were rolling in so I only waded a little ways in. While in the water, a guy named Hillbilly Catfish drove up in a truck saying that he's doing trail magic at a picnic pavilion a short ways away and told us all to get in the truck. Everyone else felt compelled to make miles so I was the only one. Those dummies. They had a smoker there cooking up some amazing ribs and roast pork shoulder. Some other hikers were already there, including Bam. Catfish, and his friend AT (short for Butt Trumpet) had thru-hiked last year and were trying to pay it forward. There was another hiker there named Pops. He was in his fifties or sixties. He had had all kinds of correctional and security jobs all around the world, even running security detail for the prince of Egypt. He was a cool guy and treated us youngins as his own kids, constantly trying to impart knowledge and wisdom from his vast array of experiences. With a these great people and food, this made a perfect spot to camp for the night.
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Jennings Creek; VA 614

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

6/5The problem with being so close to sea level is that you have to go that much higher to get to the top. This marks the spot of several days of 3000'+ of elevation gains and losses at least once a day. Part way up the first climb was an elaborately designed shelter, with a wrap-around porch, Bryant Ridge Shelter. There I met a Danish girl named Claudia and Mmrf. Mmrf ("Murph") is from my hometown and was in the major newspaper there as his hike is attempting to raise money for the Multiple Mylieoma Research Foundation, a disease that took his father's life back in December. Anyways, later on up the mountain was a side trail to Apple Orchard Falls, a waterfall that supposedly makes Laruel Fork Falls look tiny. However big waterfalls don't happen near the tops of mountains and I didn't want to lose all that elevation I had just gained so I skipped it. At the top of Apple Orchard Mtn is another FAA station, this time with radar. A few miles later I got to the shelter, which was right by the BRP. Trail Angel John was there to cook Claudia, Poetry in Motion (one of the section hikers I played cards with at Trent's Grocery), and myself breakfast for dinner!! We had pancakes, eggs, sausage, and OJ with ice in our cups. Ice! While we were eating, the rain moved in so he packed up to leave. Before he left I filled my Jetboil pot with OJ as a treat for the morning.
Date: 2012-06-06
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 25.1
Weather: light rain

6/6Disaster! You've heard the saying, "Who peed in your Cheerios?" Well, for me, "What rodent pooped in your OJ?" I had the lid on my pot of OJ but there was a small opening. I guess a mouse was mad T me that he couldn't get to drink so he pooped all over the lid an in the hole. All three of us had had a mouse on our heads in the middle of the night. Additionally, a mouse chewed a hole in my toiletries bag and stole some vitamins, so I had to throw those out.Grumpy day until I got down to the James River. The river is huge and so they built an incredibly long foot bridge just for the AT. I'm continually amazed this stuff exists for a hiking trail. Due to my bad day, I decided to thumb into Glasgow to have some real food to cheer me up. When I got there, I was amazed to find the perfect exemplar of the category "trail town." All within two blocks they have a shelter for hikers with shower, a diner, coin laundry, a library for Internet, a bank/ATM, a liquor store, a grocery store, a Dollar General, and a statue of a brontosaurus being ridden by a lady who looks like she's on meth. Supposedly, the town felt like they were the town that time forgot. To make fun of themselves, they out up a bunch of dinosaurs and this was the only one left.Feeling better, I decided to do some big miles and night hike. I thumbed back out of town. The town's parks & rec guy gave me a ride back. At the first shelter, I found out from the log book that the river was deep enough that I could have jumped off the footbridge and swam around. That was a little disappointing. Anyways, it was up another 3000'+ and into the shelter in the rain by 10pm. I did get to see another bear, and finally a good view of him though he still ran away quickly. I had judged those three bears as cubs before Erwin based on the size of black bears I had sen in CO. I'm beginning to think maybe bears out here are MUCH smaller. I also got a fantastic night view on Bluff Mtn of the city lights below.
Date: 2012-06-07
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Hog Camp Gap; USFS 48
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

6/7I hiked fast in the morning as I wanted to eat lunch in Buena Vista. The trail ran over another suspension bridge, around a small dammed lake, through Brown Mtn Creek Valley which used to house a community of freed slaves until the Forest Service bought the land, and up to the road. I guess I had gotten greedy, town food two days in a row, as I tried to thumb into town for 1.5 hours before giving up. I was at a nice little picnic pull off area. There wasn't much traffic on the road and most of it was commercial. Twice, vehicles pulled over and stopped in the turn lane but neither to pick me up. Why do they tease?! Eventually two dogs came from somewhere and sat beside me. Then I knew that Buena Vista just wasn't meant to be. The town has a trail angel network to give rides, but only one hiker came through and his phone didn't get service there.New problem: I was out of water and had a 3000' climb between me and quenched thirst. I had past plenty of water before the road but let myself run out as I kept thinking, "I'll be in town soon." I wound up going about 6 hours without water, much of that either climbing a mountain or standing in the sun with my thumb out. The worst part was that the water was a half mile off the trail back down the mountain I had just climbed. Anyways, from there I hiked to a meadow that had a swing hanging from a free and camped with a bunch of other thru-hikers. And yes, I swung on the swing so high that my feet touched the leaves.
Date: 2012-06-08
From: Hog Camp Gap; USFS 48

To: The Priest
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: few clouds

6/8Happy Birthday to me! I woke up early as I had to make 10 miles by 11am in order to enjoy a free lunch at the Dutch Haus B&B in Montebello, VA. No one else I was with wanted to give up the time to go down the mountain. I was treated to a delicious AYCE BBQ chicken and homemade mac and cheese casserole. While I was eating, Yetti (4 Pines hostel) called saying that her and Kentucky would be there the next evening and that it would be K's birthday. I figure it would be fun to have a big birthday party so this is the plan we concocted. They were to drop me off 20 trail miles north and I would hike south, getting there the following evening for the party. Also, two other hikers showed up, Belch and Simco, having hiked 20 miles to get the free lunch. They missed the 11am pickup at he bottom of the mountain and had to walk all the way to town and beyond to get there.They dropped me off at Reeds Gap, where there is a brewery that was highly praised at Trail Days. Devil's Backbone Brewery was amazing, the Weiss I had there was the best beer I've ever had. The burger was excellent too. I got a ride back up to the trail from a waitress there around 4:30. Then it hit me that if I night hike, I can get to the B&B in time for the free lunch the next day. I trucked it big time going way up Three Ridges and then back down again to the Tye River where every hiker I passed said there was trail magic. Unfortunately, I didn't get there until sundown and so he had already packed up and left. Up next was The Priest, a huge rocky 3000'+ climb. Better tonight than in the morning, right? It was nice because I could only see the few feet in front of me, and not the amount of climb that I had left. One huge rock outcropping was beautiful, between the stars and the city lights. I turned my headlamp off to enjoy it better and realized that if I moved my feet, I risked tripping into nothingness. I made camp at the summit, around 11pm.
Date: 2012-06-09
From: The Priest

To: Montebello, VA; Spy Rock Rs
Miles today: 4.8

6/9Up at 7 and cruised to the pickup as it was all downhill. I did make a pit stop at Spy Rock, a huge rock that is taller than the surrounding tree canopy. It was fun trying to climb the thing. At the pickup point I met Claudia and her new friends Tex, Wiffle Chicken, and Trekking Pole. Wiffle chicken plays wiffle ball on trail and has already hiked the PCT. Trekking Pole is Polish, hence the name, and is thru-hiking the AT for the third time. All I have on Tex is that he's probably from Texas.We enjoyed our free lunch but unfortunately Yetti and Kentucky were running a day behind so I didn't get my party. We spent the afternoon on the front porch watching ten hummingbirds fight over two feeders. They would dive bomb each other. They would stare each other down while slowly circling the feeder. It was all very entertaining.
Date: 2012-06-10
From: Montebello, VA; Spy Rock Rs

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: overcast clouds

6/10Breakfast certainly did not disappoint; and I even got a piece of cake and they sang for me. For four meals and a twenty mile shuttle, $55 was definitely an excellent birthday treat. I highly recommend The Dutch Haus to any future hikers. They dropped me off back at Reeds Gap and I was on my way 15 miles to the shelter. Nothing special about the hike other than finding three baby raccoons right beside the trail. They were scared paralyzed and didn't know where to run. At the shelter was Simco and Old Time Ed, who I met at the shelter just before my first free lunch at the Haus.At the shelter there was a three ring notebook with articles. I started to read the first one and it was a grim story about how an AT veteran had tried to hike the PCT and made a lot of stupid decisions and got himself lost and killed by the elements. I thought that it was strange bedside reading but then I found out he was active in the local AT maintenance club and had a bench at his shelter dedicated to his memory.
Date: 2012-06-11
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

6/11Simco and I were up early to hike the five miles to Waynesboro, VA. At the road was a sign with all the local trail angels you could call to get a ride into town. In fact, Santa's Helper was already there, waiting for hikers to show up. On the drive down, he gave us the 411 on all the major hiker services. He took us to this excellent diner for breakfast, which was to die for. Then we were off to the library for Internet and phone recharge. I got to see the weather forecast and a huge storm was blowing in that evening. Simco decided to stay in town at the Methodist hostel but I was still undecided. On our way to the infamous AYCE Chinese buffet on trail, a flash mob busted out into song and dance. At the library. I like this town! The buffet was a bit of a disappointment. While the inside was luxurious, and there were many many options, including sushi and Mongolian BBQ, the food was typical subpar Chinese buffet food. After that, we were bored and so it was back to the library for more tech binging. At around five, we left, Simco to the hostel and me to hitch a ride to the outfitter to pick up a few things. Despite it clearly storming on top of the mountain, stupid me then hitched from the outfitter to the trail. It was so foggy up there that it took me about 15 min to even find the trail from where I was dropped off.Right before the trail left the road for the woods, Rock Ocean was parked. After a side trip to the beach with some hikers, he had finally gotten his radiator fixed and was back on the shuttle circuit.Into the woods I went, in the rain and fog, with the sun already starting to set, and with 7 miles to hike to the next shelter. Needless to say, I was drenched and everyone in the shelter was none too pleased with my late arrival, having to scooch to make room. Oh well.
Date: 2012-06-12
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

6/12The rain didn't stop until noon. Birdman and I were the only ones to wait it out, everyone else hit the trail in the downpour. Nothing special for this short day other than seeing two bears, a deer, and a momma-less fawn, scared paralyzed just like the raccoons. No picture though due to the afternoon thunderstorm (hooray...). 40% of the trail has been conquered.A quick note on nomenclature. Some dummy decided that in the Shenandoah National Park, shelters would be called huts instead. To make matters worse, the park also has "shelters" which are the exact same structure. The only difference between a shelter and a hut is that you can sleep at a hut.
Date: 2012-06-13
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: overcast clouds

6/13The highlight for today was the campstore and wayside. Shenandoah National Park is home of the Skyline Drive, a continuation of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with many amenities along the road, and also abundant wildlife. I saw another bear. My deer a day streak is still going strong. With the campstores and such, you only need to carry a day of food as the resupplies are so frequent. The wayside has a short order grill with the infamous blackberry milkshake. I spent a few hours there drying everything in the sun, charging the phone, and eating breakfast and lunch. It was a good stop. Afterwards more hiking to a shelter where some guys made a giant fire. The trail in the SNP is very boring, flat and view less, at least so far. The view situation does improve, but it's the same view over and over of the Shenandoah Valley (which is magnificent the first time).