morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-24
From: A little after Laurel Fork Falls

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Pete and I had camped by the river leading away from the Falls last night but when I woke this morning there was no sign of him. We had lain there and chatted amongst the bats last night and I left him to cowboy camp as I crawled into my tent. His foodbag was still hanging with mine and I suspected he had decamped to the nearby shelter overnight.I washed in the river, broke camp and headed off to find my errant friend who was, as expected, safely tucked up in the shelter. Apparently it had rained briefly (like for two minutes) around midnight which was enough to force positive action and Pete had, unfortunately, to leave our rather lovely campsite.The day threw the first really steep miles our way for quite a while as we headed up to Ponds Flats. It was surprisingly tough and a timely reminder that the terrain needs to be respected. I laughed as Pete plodded up with sweat dripping from his nose: nothing quite like a bracing walk in the fresh air to bring a rosy glow to your cheeks.After that it was down to the shores of Watanga Lake where I received two pieces of ¢Trail Magic¢. Firstly, a can of pop left in a cooler for AT hikers and then me old mucker Pete returned from town with a strawberry milkshake and some Pringles for yours truly. This is becoming a bit of a habit as Pete quite enjoys a trip to town while I try to avoid them. So the giving and receiving of town treats is a bit of a one-way street at the moment. I am grateful but feel a little guilty. I shall try to repay him with my rapier wit and repartee. He may yet end up feeling rather short changed.The afternoon was good: wet, ordinary and then a drag in about that order. It was, however, brightened up by the presence on the Trail of a turtle and a toad (or maybe a tortoise and a frog ¢ I really wouldn¢t know).
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Town beckoned, town beckoned a lot, so it was a bright and early start although in fairness it wasn¢t all that bright. My thoughts were on food but there were still miles to do and, indeed, still bears to see. It seems they are quite active around these parts. The Trail Register was full of recent sightings and I managed to stumble across two more single bears this morning ¢ one five minutes from the shelter and another about an hour away.Today I saw one of the bears before it saw me but generally it¢s noise that alerts me. So my completely unscientific advice for those hoping to spot wildlife would be:1.        Don¢t make noise ¢ walk alone, if you do walk with others then don¢t chat (bears hate inane and boring conversations), don¢t use hiking poles, tread lightly.2.        Listen ¢ don¢t listen to ipods or other devices that block out nature from your senses.3.        Be in the right place at the right time ¢ being out early before the crowds and their associated noise might help, but maybe this is just more a case of ¢being lucky¢.Anyway today it appeared I was lucky. Today, however, I was actually more intent on being a consumer and consume I did ¢ dedicating myself to a ten hour spree of consumerism:Banana milkshake, confectionary, stromboli, garlic bread, ice cream, hot chocolate, more ice cream, pasta (lots of it), more garlic bread. I made space for them all and it was good (it was very good). If the recession ends, and if it can be pinpointed to the 26th of May, then I would hope that, at least in part, my efforts will be recognised.It was a dirty job but someone had to do it!
Date: 2009-05-27
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: moderate rain

Spent the night at ¢Dave¢s Place¢ last night and although I didn¢t sleep well I like it a lot.I know it sounds corny by honestly tenting means great deep sleep (and at the moment lots of colourful dreams) so town equals poor sleep. It¢s either too warm or too cool, the pillows are too big or too soft. Maybe my mind has just been more active. I¢m not sure but what I do know is that I stay up late, I should be tired but then I¢m tossing and turning, wondering why what comes so easily in the spartan environment of my tent eludes me in town.However, Dave¢s Place won¢t be remembered for sleep. Instead, it will be for its guitar and chess set. Of course a chess set isn¢t much use without somebody to play so I was happy that, when I asked, Pete said he had played but not in ages. He seemed willing to give it a go though and then proceeded to give me a lesson that I wouldn¢t forget in a hurry. What can only be described as a comprehensive thrashing. In fairness, due to his (now questionable) assessment of his ability, I hadn¢t taken our first encounter very seriously ¢ wandering about, strumming the guitar, moving quickly, wanting to ensure that it was fun. Instead, I got blown away (hey maybe it was fun ¢ for Pete!).Anyway, this morning the big rematch was on. At 10 o¢clock sitting outside under the blue skies battle resumed. This time I didn¢t take my modest opponent lightly. This time I focussed on the game. This time I made Pete work. This time ¢ I lost again! A more credible performance though. I was always on the back foot but this time, at least in my mind, I made him work a little. This ain¢t over though. This ain¢t over by a long chalk. It would have to wait though as it was time to hit the Trail.
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Wildness. It¢s a funny concept, or at least it is to me. I¢m not really sure what wild, wildness or wilderness are or mean. In truth, to me, the Appalachian Trail doesn¢t feel wild: the readily available information, the maintained trails, the surrounding services, the shelters. But that doesn¢t mean it¢s not raw or natural or challenging and it¢s certainly not ¢domesticated¢. In many ways it¢s way beyond rural, but does that make it wild? At the moment I can only conclude that wildness has no ¢absolute¢ and certainly on the Trail it¢s a very relative concept. Relative to the comfortable off Trail lives we take for granted.The reason my mind wanders off on this topic is that we are now nearing the Grayson Highlands, a much revered and much loved section of the Trail. Revered for its scenery, uniqueness and most of all, it appears, its ¢wild¢ ponies. At Elk Gardens a sign explained the upcoming terrain and mentioned that the Forestry Service ¢maintain a herd of wild ponies¢ in the area in order to help maintain the treeless ¢balds¢. The use of the words ¢maintain¢ and ¢wild¢ in the same sentence, however, did nothing to aid my understanding of wildness. A few days back at Beauty Spot Lumpy said that they actually put food caches out in winter. I¢m looking forward to seeing the ponies of course but I still don¢t know what will be wild about them. Perhaps time will tell.I particularly enjoyed my 30 minute rest at Elk Gardens. It had been a reasonably hard day ¢ mainly due to the quantity of rocks we had to hop along (not unlike Pennsylvania in my opinion). They take their toll on already weary feet. We also had a reasonably stiff climb up to a nice but not exceptional view at Buzzard¢s Rocks. So by now, as it was coming on to evening, I was tiring. Elk Gardens was, therefore, a welcome opportunity to take a break.A nice peaceful spot with a view I considered rural farming America. There was a quiet road, a fancy gate, a hill, cows, hikers and blue skies. Is that rural farming America? In my weary and fatigued state it seemed so to me.
Date: 2009-05-29
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Well today I got my chance to see the famed ponies and to wander the Grayson Highlands. To be fair it all exceeded my expectations, if truth be told, it was all really rather pleasant.There was some rain and mist around this morning so I lay around and had breakfast in my tent (a rare occasion) finally getting going at 8.30am ¢ once I could see more blue than grey. Pete and I didn¢t plan many miles today so the pace was slow with lots of breaks giving us two grumpy old men plenty of time to put the world to rights.Throughout the morning we saw ponies. They were dotted around at regular intervals, gathered into small groups of three to five (I wondered why? Were they family groups? Did they ever gather in larger groups?). By and large they showed no disturbingly obvious signs of being dependent on humans, mostly (but not always) minding their own business and eating grass as I assume ponies should.The whole area was actually pretty good. It is high pasture as opposed to balds and as such it was definitely different from anything we had seen so far. There were lots of rocks. It was untidy and unkempt. It felt wild (or at least I had a sense of what I thought wilderness is). There were trees and bushes, there were birds and pleasant views, as I said it was nice and a little bit different, definitely a success.   Just leaving the Highlands I bumped into Honey and her sister again (having seen them a week ago). They were out for another day hike and it was nice to see them again. Honey was treating hikers again: cookies and apples were thoroughly appreciated by Pete, SNP and me.The afternoon was spent wandering over Stone Mountain and Pine Mountain ¢ small round hills really. Once again it was Scottish like. It was windy, chilly, it threatened rain, it sprinkled, it stopped. There was pleasure in it all ¢ at least there was for me.Just as I approached the shelter it began to rain properly so I headed off early to pitch up my tent to get out of the way of whatever hikers might follow me in seeking shelter and respite from the inconvenient, it not particularly bad, damp conditions.As I lay there I heard a voice and opened up to see who was calling. It was Rocky. It was good to see her again. I hadn¢t seen her since Hot Springs and had assumed she was some miles ahead. It just shows ¢ assume nothing. People appear and reappear in the most unexpected ways and at the most unexpected times. The great thing is, it is also an unexpected pleasure.
Date: 2009-05-31
From: Wild camp south of Fork Holston River

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

Today¢s walk was predictably damp underfoot but it was definitely a case of ¢sunshine after the rain¢ and the fine day was made all the finer, in my opinion, by our ability to spend an enjoyable couple of hours at he Mount Rodgers Visitors¢ Centre while avoiding anything to do with Partnership Shelter and Pizza.Instead we spent the night at Chatfield Shelter. A stones throw from town and were pleasantly entertained by Fiddle¢s fiddling. A perfect compliment and in sympathy to both the surroundings and our peace of mind.
Date: 2009-06-01
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Groseclose
Miles today: 4.5

A whopping 4.5 miles to contend with today before the luxury of washing, eating, laundry and maybe, if I get the urge, a beer or two.After six weeks on the Trail the hunger thing definitely seems to have kicked in. As a result it can sometimes be a little hard to enjoy the Trail on these town days. Instead, wishing the miles away, obsessively focussed on the oasis of veritable shangrila that lies ahead. There is no real rush, you will get there soon enough but like a small kid you can¢t get there soon enough ¢ you want to be there now!That said 4.5 miles to town is certainly preferable to 12 miles to town and I could, for the most part, relax and enjoy, at least, some of this morning¢s stroll. I managed to stop to rest, read and spend some time visiting the ¢Settlers¢ Museum¢, an old preserved farmstead and schoolhouse. Unfortunately, the visitors¢ centre was closed today. I was disappointed to miss out on the display explaining the journey and subsequent settlement in Virginia of a hypothetical Scottish family. I¢m sure it would have added more insight but it was still interesting to glimpse how lives were live one hundred years plus ago. Indeed thinking that methods 100 years old to us are still being practised in many regions around the world today. The schoolhouse in particular was a calming and peaceful place.There isn¢t really much at Groseclose. Just a hotel, a couple of gas stations and a really rather good restaurant but a good time was most definitely had.I booked into the hotel, washed, wandered a couple of miles to Atkins. Atkins was not really worth the effort (not much there and it was hot) but I did enjoy seeing lots of red-winged blackbirds: probably a common enough sight but a new experience to this traveller. Back at Groseclose I caught up with Pete and we squandered the afternoon in unforced congeniality with some Bud Light lubricating our aimless chatter, free as we were from any other more pressing responsibilities. We headed up to the restaurant to eat. I thoroughly enjoyed my smothered chicken, breaded mushrooms, mash and gravy. Even more memorably I managed to round it off with some delicious coconut meringue pie and ice cream. Life was good and it took another turn for the better when Rocky once again appeared unexpectedly.Another lazy, relaxed, unforced really rather pleasant spell of drinking and chatting followed before Pete, Rocky and myself headed our respective ways to put ourselves and a most satisfying day to bed.
Date: 2009-06-02
From: Groseclose

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

Normally I¢d plan on making the most of town, taking it easy, availing myself of the facilities and rolling out for a reasonable, but short, day¢s hike sometime around (or more accurately just after) lunch. But Groseclose isn¢t a normal town (it¢s not really a town at all) so instead I was off and out by 10am.I met Mike, Jess and SNP at the Esso gas station when I stopped to get the last few snacks that would pad out my food bag. SNP had been struggling with new shoes since Damascus but she was in much finer fettle this morning as she was out of those (insert expletive here) shoes, had a new (and hopefully much more forgiving) pair waiting for her at the hostel and was planning a zero day. I was glad she had made it through those tortuous miles and we said our goodbyes with expectations of bumping into each other again somewhere on up the Trail. I¢d be ahead for the next week but then I¢d be taking a week off to visit friends so she would no doubt creep ahead. The Trail is full of unexpected reunions, they are some of the brightest moments, but given our plans and all being well we could reasonably expect our paths to gross again. Let¢s hope so.Today was pretty much just another uneventful and unexceptional hike. The sort of day you have to thoroughly enjoy if you are going to make it to Maine: another good day, another ¢life is good¢ day, with nothing in particular to commend it. Maybe on Day 2 I would have lots to say but it¢s now day 42. I walked, I stopped, it was hot.   I chatted to people (Jess, Mike, Collins, Dangle). We walked across open field, through narrow easements and across private property. I enjoyed shade and sometimes cursed the sun.I pitched my tent in the farthest spot from the shelter that I could find. I rolled out my sleeping pad and lay there, my mind more or less vacant. I chatted with Pete and Rocky and watched a couple of deer that wandered through camp. I watched dim flashes of lightening brightening and filling more and more of the sky. I turned in. I was happy, unexceptionally and uneventfully happy.
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a great morning to wake to. I unzipped myself from my protective cocoon of sleeping bag, inner tent and outer tent and peeked out to find a gorgeous morning. A morning where the sunshine and surrounding trees turned the clearing into a patchwork of varying degrees of both brightness and shadow. It was the sort of start to a day that can so nothing other than make you feel that all is well. A day when your initial views are not of roads, traffic, brick and stone but of fallen leaves, trees and blue skies beyond a canopy of green. A day when you are not warmed by heating or stout walls, but where you are tickled by the increasingly intense rays of a rising sun. A day where if the light doesn¢t exactly dance it shimmers and glides, apparently alive.Maybe it was those initial moments that sowed the seeds of some other thoughts that crept up on me that morning. I sat alone by a steep section of trail and felt that I had the whole of the AT to myself. Obviously a completely non sensical notion but, none the less, that was how it felt. It felt good, I got to thinking that if I was the only out here then everybody else must be somewhere else, and that a significant proportion of them must be sitting in offices somewhere; at a desk; tapping away on a keyboard (or maybe it¢s just that that¢s where I would be if I wasn¢t out here). I felt kind of sorry for them, they could be out here (or somewhere) but perhaps more sobering I could easily be stuck behind that desk.Getting going again it was uphill and hot and I was soon dragging (not enough to wish for that desk but dragging none the less). I continued upwards and the, passing a small pond I could clearly remember being here in 2003. I pictured the weather then, the shelter ahead and the long day we did that day. I remembered dragging then too.The afternoon threatened thunder but despite a few sprinkles it help off and eventually it turned into a nice walk through an avenue of mountain laurel in full bloom. A tunnel through the woods leading onwards, perhaps in fantasy novels to enchanted grottos of bands of dancing elves but here in the real world to a clearing where deer grazed peacefully, aware, but apparently unfazed by my presence. It had been a long day but not a bad day.
Date: 2009-06-05
From: Wild camp north of HelveyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Mill Shelter

To: Wild Camp Beyond VA606
Miles today: 16.0

It started to rain yesterday evening and there was still a noticeable bit of moisture to contend with this morning. It wasn¢t bad. It was hard to say exactly what it was. I wasn¢t even sure it was raining at all. It might have been, but then again, the mist may just have been condensing against the leaves and then dripping off. It doesn¢t have to be that wet before a few occasional drips can make you think that you are actually in the middle of the Indian Monsoon ¢ as each individual drop crashed against the foliage below and reverberates around under the forest canopy. It can be hard to convince yourself that you are not being drenched when, in fact, you are not. Initially you get a little damp but then just stay that way. The occasional drip that actually hits merely replacing previous moisture that has evaporated off.I know that I can go on about the weather and sometimes this must seem more like ¢theweatherchannel.com¢ than ¢trailjournals.com¢ but it can have quite an impact out here. If you think about how much people go on about weather back home when by and large they go from house to car to office and watch the weather through the window well, perhaps I can be excused by blethering on as after all I really am out in it most of the time. That said, just like home we do seem to focus more on the doom and gloom; lots of talk of rain, less so of day after day of sunshine. Anyway to cut a long story short ¢ I got a little damp this morning (or did I already say that?).I managed to avoid getting much damper this afternoon by taking a short side trip to Trent¢s Grocery. Sitting out some definite showers was a bonus but the real orders of the day were two pints of ice cream, a brownie and a tine of pop. Just what the doctor ordered.Trent¢s also sold ¢macho hunting dolls¢ for little macho boys and plastic deer for the ¢macho hunting doll¢ to shoot and no doubt mount and hang above their fireplaces. All of which made me laugh. But was it really all that different from my scuba diving Action Man complete with hunting knife and rubber shark. Oh the battles that were fought way back then ¢ it seems that despite time and place, in some respects we are all the same and very little changes.
Date: 2009-06-06
From: Wild Camp Beyond VA606

To: DocÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I¢d camped alone last night on a ridge that showed some, but not excessive evidence of prior use. It was a peaceful place to wake and I found myself in no particular hurry to get moving. It wasn¢t long though before I managed to find another excuse to rest ¢ taking a side trail three tenths of a mile to Dismal Falls. A fine choice it was too, turning out to be far from dismal. It was no Niagra but the creek above and below the falls was picturesque and the falls themselves provided a fitting spectacle, in terms both of scenery and noise. I found a nice flat rock by the lip of the falls breaking out my food bag for the second time that morning. I sat a while. I sat alone. Later I was surprised to find that I was the only hiker that morning to make the effort. Those others chose for whatever reason not to walk that extra half-mile. To view or not to view? That is the question.Later that afternoon we would pass two more viewpoints. The first was reasonably busy as a group of us sat in the sun with expansive views from our rocky perch out across the valley below. Bit at the second, 50 yards from the Trail I sat alone as I listened to the following hikers debate whether or not to go and then, to a man, decide to pass on by. I enjoyed the last viewpoint. I don¢t know that it was. The view wasn¢t the greatest I had seen (not even that day) but it had something. The day was drawing to a close, the heat had died down, a breeze blew. Maybe it was in sympathy with my weariness. Maybe it was simply that I was alone. Whatever it as it proved to be a great spot. Perhaps the greatest spots don¢t necessarily have the greatest views. But some spots, unexpectedly, have that ambience and become special.I won¢t go to every viewpoint or take every side trial; sometimes I will stop in the ¢wrong¢ place, but if I stop enough then I¢m going to have many more Dismal Falls and ¢Viewpoint 50 yards¢ moments. I think that will be reward enough to encourage me to keep making the effort.