morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-25
From: Thunderhill Shelter

To: Buena Vista - Budget Inn
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: moderate rain

Great sleep last night, it always amazes me how the sore body renews itself. On the trail by 7:30 am. Beautiful day for a hike, blue sky, warm sun and light breeze. We saw sides of the trail covered with pink trillium, wow!I have not mentioned that Greenstone pulled a groin muscle the second day out on the hike. It has been bothering him a little on the ups but today , with a double dose of Motrin, it is really painful for him. So we are headed down the trail, slowly, and up comes a couple out for a day hike. We explained our problem and they offered to give us a ride to Buena Vista when they got back from their hike! More "Trail Angels"! So we are headed to town to rest and heal up for a couple of days. Thank you so much, Out and Back, for the ride to town, we will never forget your kindness!! 4-25-12.
Date: 2012-04-27
From: Stealth site

To: Stealth site south of VA 60
Miles today: 28.0

Tberry took a shuttle back out to the trail where we came off yesterday and is hiking toward Hwy 60 where we will meet tomorrow. I am in Buena Vista trying to heal up my pulled groin muscle. Sunny today, but Tberry had off and on showers yesterday.
Date: 2012-04-28
From: Stealth site south of VA 60

To: Hog gap Camp
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I left camp around 7:00 am to meet up with Greenstone. I had about 4.4 miles to the highway, I made it by 9:15. There he was waiting for me! He had gotten a ride out of town with another hiker. He brought me a cookie from town, we caught up on everything and hit the trail by 9:30. It was a tough climb up to 4,000 ft then a thunderstorm hit us! Cold, wind and rain!! Welcome back to the trail, Greenstone! We got to some bald round tops and the rain stopped but wind and fog persisted. It was beautiful there even though the weather was not nice. By this time Greenstone was suffering again with pain. We had about a mile to go for the day and three students from a nearby university, who were out for a day hike, offered to carry Greenstone's pack to the campsite. Again God provides trail angels!! We are now cozy in the tent and the sun is out and warming us up. Greenstone is feeling better.We shall see what tomorrow brings. I feel so bad for Greenstone, he is very frustrated. I just keep praying for healing. Guess it is time to strike up the stove and make supper. I think we are having Mtn House spaghetti. It's food thats all I can say! Hey, Steve and Leanne, I know you won't like this but another hiker told me of a meal that he likes and I tried it! Ramen and mashed potatoes! )). Yumm!
Date: 2012-04-29
From: Hog Camp Gap

To: Porter's Field
Miles today: 9.0

Camped at Hog Camp Gap last night and rode out another thunderstorm. Got quite a bit of rain. Thunder and lightning were close a couple of times. We woke to beautiful weather! Looks like a beautiful day for hiking. Easy trail today and greenstone did great meandering thru the Virginia woods. We are camped tonight at Porter's Field. It is by a pretty little spring and oh! the water is cold! As we were cooking up supper a horse and rider came thru camp. Now that is something you don't see everyday on the AT! The horse's name was "Rooster" and the rider gives trail rides from the local camp store at Montebello. Very nice guy!We want to thank you all for all of the e-mails and signings at trail journals! We love hearing from you!
Date: 2012-04-30
From: Porter's Field

To: Dutch Haus B&B
Miles today: 1.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We came off the trail today to the Dutch Haus B & B. resting today then tomorrow we will do a slack-pack. The owner here takes you to a trailhead and then you hike back to the B & B to stay there for another night. This will allow Greenstone to continue to get miles while not carrying the weight of his pack. This is a beautiful place and Lois and Earl, the owners, are so nice! We highly recommend this to everyone even if you are not an injured hiker!!!! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful.
Date: 2012-05-01
From: Dutch Haus B&B

To: Dutch Haus B&B
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: broken clouds

We had T storms move thru about 5 this morning. After a fantastic breakfast @ the Dutch Haus (blueberry pancakes, fruit and scrambled eggs w/ sausage) we were dropped off at trail and went around 11 miles up and down Priest Mt. It took 2 hours of fast hiking to descend more than 3,000 ft to the valley floor to be picked up and returned to the Dutch Haus. After a shower and another great supper we are resting up for tomorrows hike.
Date: 2012-05-02
From: Dutch Haus B&B

To: Dutch Haus B&B
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: few clouds

Another slack pack day. We hiked north to south from Reeds Gap to the Tye River at Hwy 56. As we were near the end of a 3,000 ft decent Tberry spotted a large Black snake going into a knot hole in a tree just off the trail. The snake was about 4' up the tree and still had about 2' (half) of his body hanging out when I took a picture of him. We soaked our tired feet at the river while we waited for our 4pm shuttle ride back to the Dutch Haus. Saw a Copperhead 3 to 4 ft long swimming away when I stepped into the river. Had another great supper again a packed to hit the trail in the morning.
Date: 2012-05-03
From: Reed's Gap

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 10.5

Earl shuttled us back to Reed's Gap after we enjoyed one last wonderful breakfast. Big thank you to Lois and Earl at Dutch Haus B&B. They made our stay memorable and were amazing hosts. Back on the trail headed north by 8:30 or so. The trail was very rocky, and the weather was hot and humid. Both factors took a lot out us. We stopped hiking around 4pm and were in fed and in the tent before 6. Headed to Waynesboro tomorrow.
Date: 2012-05-04
From: Stealth Site

To: Quality Inn - Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

We were up early and on the trail by 6:35 am. Thimbleberry got out of the tent first and immediately saw a deer grazing nearby. The trail was nice today but our feet and bodies were still tired from yesterday's hike. After 4 miles or so we took a break and watered up at a stream near the Paul Wolfe shelter. We departed on the wrong trail and descended about a third of a mile before figuring out our error. We did get to view a nice waterfall this way but were not too happy about the long climb back up and loss of 40 minutes. We made it to Rockfish Gap by 12:15pm. We called Trail Angel Bill Gallagher and he picked us up in 5 minutes or so and delivered us to the Quality Inn. We showered, went to the post office, Pizza Hut & Dollar General. Now it's time to relax and rest our bodies. The groin pull seems to be improving somewhat for Greenstone.
Date: 2012-05-06
From: Quality Inn - Waynesboro, VA

To: Stealth Campsite north of Turk Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

Bill picked us up at the Quality Inn @ 8 am and dropped us off back at Rockfish Gap. Thank you Bill. We hiked a short distance and came to the self registration station for SNP. With permit in hand we headed on up into the clouds and fog. Most of the the day we could only see about 100' down the trail. Around 4 pm we were starting to look for a stealth campsite. As we were about to cross the Skyline drive at Turk Gap we were surprised to see Flame standing in the trail. She and Pyro surprised us with some wonderful trail magic of ice cold Cokes and candy. Two other thru hikers came thru and were able to enjoy the magic too.Thank you both as it was much appreciated.
Date: 2012-05-07
From: Stealth site N of Turk Gap

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Monday May 7th. 11.8 milesOur hopes for improved weather did not materialize today. We walked all day. In fog. We did see our first SNP deer this morning and also saw an Indigo Bunting (bird)!Only saw about six hikers and most were day hikers. We met a group of four women out for a day hike and one of them, we will name Grandma Cookie! She was carrying a tin of Oatmeal cookies and spreading some trail magic! They were delicious! We are both miffed about the weather, we know we are missing some beautiful views. Oh well, nothing you can do but keep hiking! On the positive side, it is cool and no bugs! Goodnight, Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-08
From: Stealth site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 12.7

Tues. May 8th We don't want to sound like we are complaining, but we are!! Woke to continued fog and drizzle (Highlights of today were two deer, one bear cub and one orange newt!We only met one hiker on the trail and he was southbound.We hiked in four miles to Loft Mtn Wayside and had brunch and two sandwiches to go. We are not seeing to many wild flowers here, I don't know if it is a little early or a different type of woods. The woods are certainly different than what we walked thru on the AT thru the Blueridge Parkway.I did see a white Spiderwort. I thought here were only Purple ones. I would like to say to my flower loving friend (Debbie H). I think that is an awful name for such a pretty flower)For the next two days the forecast is for thunderstorms and 60 percent chance of rain. Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's a sloshing' we will go!! Signing off! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-09
From: Stealth site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Wed May 9th. 11milesSunshine!!!!!! We are happy! It made w everything better in the woods! We saw some more deer today and lots of hikers! Most all were north bound. Another bubble of fast northbound young guns passing us. If you can't tell by looks that they are thru hikers you can certainly tell by smell! Don't these guys ever take a shower or do laundry!It was a beautiful day for hiking! Rain moved in just as we were finishing up supper so we are now in the tent listening to the all to familiar sound of raindrops on our tent. Good night! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-10
From: Stealth site

To: Bearfence Mtn Campground
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

This morning we woke to sunshine, about 40 degrees and strong cool winds. Great to hike in but I (Thimbleberry) am on the cool side! Shivvvverrrrr!We hiked this morning about 6 miles into Lewis Mtn Campground by noon, got some real food, took showers (felt great) and then a load of laundry. So this is going to be a "Nero" day with a few miles.We will hike on to Bearfence Mtn campground and call it a day. Feels great to be clean!! Talk to you tomorrow!
Date: 2012-05-11
From: Bearfence Campground

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Friday May 11th. Miles 11.5Oh what a beautiful day for hiking!! We left Bearfence campground and hiked into Big Meadows Wayside. That is a gift shop, restruant, and camp store all together. Bet you can guess what we did first!! The burger and Blackberry shake were delicious! Then we picked up some supplies! Oh! I forgot to mention Olivia our granddaughter called us while we were there, it was so good to hear her voice! We miss our family so muchWe saw three deer today! As we were getting back to the trail we met a couple that looked to be in their seventies. They are from New Zealand. Said they hiked last year from Springer Mtn, GA to Hot Springs, NC, then came back this year to continue. They hiked from Hot Springs to Damascas, VA and said "enough of this!" for what ever reason, but they wanted to get their 1,000 miles so they jumped up to Harper's Ferry and are now southbound! They were cute! We continued to hike on to our stealth campsite for the night. We are on top of a mountain looking out over the valley, it is beautiful! We are going to see a sunset tonight! We hope all that read this are well! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-12
From: Big Meadows

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We were up early his morning! Greenstone was looking forward to brunch at Skyland restruant. We had about five miles to get there.Delicious meal and that powered us for the entire day! It was a gorgeous day and the Skyline Drive Pkwy was busy.We had many day hikers out hiking so the trail was busy. This section from Big Meadows north has been the best! Killer views! The only down side was a lot of rocky trail.We were hoping to stealth camp up high before coming down into Thortons Gap. There was no places to camp so we can most of the way down and found the one and only campsite !We are meeting up with ZigZag, husband, Mike and daughter, Laura sometime tomorrow. ZigZag will be day hiking with us to make up some miles she needs to complete her AT hike.Looking forward to her company on the trail for a few days. My feet say good night! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-13
From: Elkwallow

To: Big Meadows
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy Mother's Day!! Today we met up with ZigZag and family and dogs at Elkwallow. They all drove vehicles so that we can day hike with Zig Zag for a few days. Then we will spot our car at Harper's Ferry and Zig Zag will bring us back to where we ended with her.They had great trail magic for us! We ended up heading to Big Meadows to camp for the night and we had bad weather move in and it rained all night. Think we may not be hiking tomorrow! . Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-14
From: Big Meadows

To: Luray
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

May 14th. Miles 0We woke to worsening weather so decided, we needed to head to Luray and get a room for the night and let the weather move through. So we spent the day relaxing. Looks like we will be able to get back on the trail tomorrow. Greenstone and I are thinking we may call an end to this section hike in Harper's Ferry. Still thinking about it! We will keep you posted!
Date: 2012-05-15
From: Luray

To: Mathews Arm Campground
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

May 15. Miles 10The weather cleared up for us this morning so we headed out of Luray, back into the park. Spotted the vehicles then hit the trail. We had such a nice day just walking along enjoying the great weather and talking about everything with ZigZag! What an awesome woman she is. She is working hard to come back from some health issues and she did the ten miles today just great! I hope she is not sore in the morning! We met quite a few "young gun hikers" this morning. All were talking about the bad weather they endured yesterday and last night. We met a young guy doing a through hike from Germany, really nice! We also met an older gentleman, that looked very familiar and he said he remembered us from last year! His trail name is Papa Rose from Connecticut. He is also a section hiker!We are camping at Mathew's Arm Campground for two nights, using it for a home base for our day hikes. We have really enjoyed the SNP and will finish it tomorrow, and keep moving towards Harpers Ferry. What a privilege it is to be able to hike these mountains and enjoy their beauty!We saw lots of wild flowers today and all the blackberries are in blossom ( the bears will eat well this year!). Speaking of bears we got to see one this morning as we were spotting the cars. It was crossing the road and starting up the side of the hill. It was not a big one but was clearly on his own. We finished our day at the Wayside with a barbecue pork sandwich! Yum Yum! Really will miss these Waysides!That is all the news I have to report, over and out! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-16
From: Mathews Arm Campground

To: Mathews Arm Campground
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: light rain

May 16th. 9.5 milesAfter a great night sleep because of the pillows ZigZag brought us, we shuttled cars and were on the trail by 9:30 am. We had a great day of hiking. We saw two snakes both soaking up the sun! We didn't see many through hikers, some day hikers. We saw Willie Boy, which we had spent sometime with at Dutch Haus B&B. Zig Zag was doing great today, feeling not as tight as she did yesterday. Greenstone and ZigZag talked sports all morning as we hiked. The special event of today was that we hiked out of Shenandoah National Park. We really enjoyed the park!ZigZag had left two gallons of water by the trail this morning as trail magic. When she stopped by on our way back to camp tonight to pick up the jugs, a hiker had left a note. It said that he really appreciated the water, because he was short of water and he left $6.00 with the note for her to be able to buy more and do more trail magic!! What speaks well of hikers is that the money was still there at the end of the day, no one helped themselves to it!! Going to bed!
Date: 2012-05-17
From: VA 522 near Front Royal VA

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke this morning to a beautiful morning! We got away from camp 7:30am. We shuttled our car into Harper's Ferry so it would be there for the end of our hike.ZigZag then drove us back to Front Royal, we got a Subway then went to the trail head. Gave ZigZag hugs and said our goodbyes and headed on up the mountain around noon. We really enjoyed the afternoon and hiked further than we had expected, maybe that was because Greenstone treated himself to a solar shower at the James & Molly Denton shelter and it revitalized him!! Thank you ZigZag for all of the magic!! We really enjoyed our miles together. Greenstone had no one to talk sports with today! I was just walking along the trail thinking, no soft cushy pillow tonight, back to the clothing bag pillow! Enjoy your last few days with Laura! Good night!
Date: 2012-05-18
From: Stealth Site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

May 18th. We had a great night sleep, stealth camping, which we are having a very difficult finding at the end of our days. Got up early and broke camp and were on the trail by 6:50am.We knew we wanted to put in some miles, so we got going.We were starting near High Knob. Weather again, was picture perfect! We crossed a railroad track then crossed under Hwy 66, thru the Sky Meadows State Park, then crossed Hwy 50 on up to Fishers Hill. We finally found a stealth site and are in for the night.Crossing through the state park was a real treat! Mowed path, wide open meadows and gradual downhill made for 3 mile an hour hiking, we liked that. Plus, it was beautiful!Along the trail today we saw a small 2ft black snake, sunning himself! The best part was the continual fragrance of wild honeysuckle and wild rose, I swear someone had an open perfume bottle, it was that strong! I just loved it!We saw three women dayhikers, one thru hiker that was slack packing, two college girls section hiking south and one girl thru hiking north and Willie finally caught up with us late this afternoon. We will not see him again unless he takes more days off. We begin and hopefully finish the " roller coaster" tomorrow.It is 13.5 miles of tightly packed ascents and descents. We hope to get past Bears Den Hostel but we will stop in to get some Ben and Jerry's ice cream and check our resupply. If we are worn out we will set up the tent there. We will see! Very great day to be out hiking! I think I will pass out now! ). Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-19
From: Stealth Site

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

We have had a very tough day, but ended with a wonderful time at Bear's Den Hostel. The roller coaster was everything we expected and more. I would say 85 percent of the trail was rock. We have about 4 more miles of it tomorrow then the trail will ease a little!! As much as the AT can ease!!Anyway we ended our day dragging ourselves up to Bear' s Den Hostel. This is a wonderful place, we will post pictures of it when we can. We baked a pizza and had Ben and Jerry's ice cream! Great ending to a challenging day! We will cross into West Virginia tomorrow and we should pass the 1,000 mile mark! Good night!
Date: 2012-05-20
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Festus Campsite
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

May 20 th         Miles 13We survived the Roller Coaster! We were done with those nasty miles by 10:00 am. Then the ridge smoothes out to a nice walk in the woods, with a few rocks.We had to work for our water today. All water was either off trail by 0.2 of a mile and we didn't find a spring the pages tell you about. Not much to tell you about our hike today just walking through woods all day! We are camped at a legal campsite tonight! It is called Festus campsite! Worked great for our needs. Well this will be our last night on the trail for this section hike, unless we don't make it the 7 miles into Harper's Ferry in the morning!! They say we might get some rain tonight, I hope not!   I will send out one more journal tomorrow, talk to you later! Thimbleberry
Date: 2012-05-21
From: Festus Campsite

To: Harpers Ferry WV
Miles today: 7.0

This morning we awoke to a light drizzle. We can't complain though as we have had a week of beautiful weather. We broke camp and headed to Harpers Ferry around 7 am. We made good time and did the 7 miles to HF by 10 am. We spent an hour or so at the ATC headquarters and had our official picture taken. At that point we walked downtown to catch the park service bus that returned us to our car. We headed for Pizza Hut for lunch and decided to head for Michigan. We are now enjoying a few days with family before we head home to the UP. If all goes well we will head back out this fall to do some more of the AT.
Date: 2012-08-11
From: Home

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hello Everyone! It seems just like yesterday that we hiked into Harpers Ferry on a dismal rainy day this past May. We are getting anxious to return to the AT and head north out of Harpers Ferry at the end of this month. We have our Southwest Airline tickets bought and will fly into Baltimore where we will be picked up by our friend and trail angel, Zig Zag. We are looking forward to seeing Zig Zag and her husband Mike again and to hear all about their adventure to Alaska that they are currently enjoying. We hope you will follow along on our journal as we continue on our adventure on the trail.
Date: 2012-08-19
From: Home

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We plan to start another section of the AT in just over a week. We have enjoyed our summer at home here in the UP. We each built our own kayaks about 3 years ago or so and up until this summer hadn't used them as much as we had hoped. We have been more disciplined this summer in taking the time to go for a nice paddle on Lake Huron in the mornings while the water was normally more calm. We are very lucky to only live about a ten minute drive from several great sandy beaches that we can launch our kayaks. We have also tried to get out for a 3 to 4 mile walk most mornings this summer in hopes that we will be a bit more ready for the trail. We are looking forward to seeing Zig Zag & Mike again before we hit the trail. We will try to post on this journal as often as possible. We hope you will follow along as we explore more of the AT.
Date: 2012-08-24
From: Harpers Ferry

To: BWI 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

In just a few more days we we jump on a Southwest Airlines 737 and make our way to Baltimore. Zig Zag will pick us up and after spending the rest of Tuesday together she will drop us off in Harpers Ferry Wednesday morning. We are anxious to see ZZ and Mike and to hear about their recent trip to Alaska. A 3 or 4 month trip to Alaska in our truck camper is on our "Bucket List" sometime in the near future. Meanwhile we will hike north over the next month or two and enjoy the arrival of autumn on the AT.