morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-17
From: War Spur Shelter

To: just past Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Last night we had a really nice campsite and I'm at a nice site again now. This good weather is nice. My tarp worked a lot better last night. I realized that the reason it condensated so bad was because I was right next to a river both nights. I left at 9:15 and had a nice hike today. The bugs and the weekenders were out in swarms today. I had lunch at Chestnut knob shelter which was pretty cool. Didn't take many breaks after that because the bugs were so bad so I just kept trudging. I love the weather though. I was going to continue past the shelter but my feet disagreed so I went in search of water and also found this campsite along with Sara, Nick, Spammy and the Boss. I am cowboy camping next to the fire. Don't know what happened to Lightning. I left a note for her at the register.
Date: 2009-04-19
From: just past Jenkins Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 38.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 53: Didn't leave camp until almost 10:00 yesterday. I was cowboy camping and my stuff got wet because I was near a river so I made a fire and dried everything out. I had a nice hike with great weather. Found trail magic at a road crossing a few hours in. A church left a cooler of gatorade and a trash can, so I decided to have lunch there. It was so nice finding gatorade instead of soda! I donated my bowl that the cookies came in to the church. Later that day I decided to hitch to Bland. I got Subway and some things at the dollar store. Stayed at Helveys Mill Shelter a few miles out with Silver, Always Fire and Sunny. All of them started near-ish me, but I hadn't met them yet. I actually left camp at 7:15 this morning and made it over 10 miles to lunch by 11:00. Silver and Always stayed, but Sunny and I both pushed on. Before I left, Retro showed up. ;-) He is camped a few miles back. I expected him to catch me, but not this soon.   I made it to the road crossing and went to the store for hot food. I ate with Sunny and had a pizza, a salad, cheese sticks and two gatorades. We hiked the rest of the day together. I am at the shelter now with a bunch of people. Today I did 24 miles.
Date: 2009-04-22
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 32.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 56: I actually did the 17 into town fairly quickly. The warm morning helped a lot. When I got into town I picked up my packages at the Rendezvous and went to the food places to find the other hikers who were congregated around the D.Q. The donation hostel was closed and the other hostel costs like $20 so I wanted to try and get a room with some of the others. Hikers seem to congregate in towns so there were lots of people to split rooms with. I got a pizza at Pizza Plus with Sunny, and Unplugged came by and told us he got a room at the Plaza Motel for the single person price, but it had two beds.. so we snuck in and split it three ways. I liked Pearisburg. It was a cool town. Did my shopping, did laundry and ate a bunch of town food. I do NOT recommend the Chinese place. Sunny and unplugged got the AYCE and both felt bad later, and the food didn't taste great either. I slept great in the hotel bed that night. They are better than a lot of the hostel beds. I realized during the night that I was turning over every couple of hours out of habit, even though my hips weren't hurting like they do in shelters. Left town pretty late the next day, at like 12:30. I waited out most of the rain. I got to the first shelter at 4ish and met Stink, Boss, Spammy, Tex, Sara and Sunny. Sunny and I hiked another 12ish to the next shelter which included some night hiking. I'm glad we did though because it brought us to a lower elevation and a stone shelter for the SNOW early this morning. I didn't leave until noon and did 13ish today. Note to future potential thru-hikers: do not use fuel injector and carb cleaner for an alcohol stove. It burns funny and smells awful. It spilled in my pack and I smelt it all day. Other than that, the weather cleared up later in the day and it was a nice hike but very rocky. I cooked over the fire tonight. I'm here with Stink, Sara, Tex, Spammy, Boss, Birdman and Lil' Wayne. Not sure how far I'm going tomorrow, as usual.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 57: Didn't leave until 9:00. Just didn't want to face the day, even though it was warm and sunny out. Earl was limping and I never saw him after I left, so I hope he is okay. It was a beautiful day today.   There were a couple of nice mountains and a field of cows and donkeys. I saw some lizards and a bunch of different animals and spring flowers. Days like today are much nicer than days like yesterday. I'm here with Lightning, Stink, Birdman and Lil' Wayne. Still out of fuel, so I cooked on the fire again. I'm kind of hoping to get to town tomorrow to get fuel, water purification and AAA batteries. And of course, the AYCE buffet. Being out here has made me think about friendship quite a bit It's very unusual. Imagine walking along in New York City, striking up a conversation with some people that happened to be walking the same direction as you, learning their whole life stories by the end of the day, and splitting a room with them that night. Not likely, huh. Relationships are developed at a highly accelerated rate here. But they are gone even more quickly. In some ways I am reminded of the single serving friends in fight club. Here only as long as you hike at their pace. Some you will see again, and some you never will. Trust is developed very quickly, but if you get attached you will probably get hurt or disappointed. It is a very weird situation..My back hurts.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Niday Shelter

To: Near Dragons Tooth
Miles today: 10.0

Day 57:   Left at 8:30. Today was a great day. It was sunny and warm and not snowing. I really hope they have water purification in Catawba tomorrow though. I went swimming with Lightning, Lil' Wayne and Birdman about 4.5 miles back. Ended up staying there for a few hours.Note from Mom: I'm not sure on today's mileage. I can calculate correctly on tomorrows journal and it should be close to right.
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Near Dragons Tooth

To: Catawba Shelter
Miles today: 14.5

Day 58: Left at 9ish. Birdman, Lil' Wayne and Spammy passed me before I left. I went down Dragon's Tooth and I wanna shoot whoever said Virginia is flat. It was very warm today and full of day hikers. Made it to 311 before 2:00 and got a ride to town with some college kids who also gave me water.   Spammy, The Boss, Lil' Wayne, Birdman and Lightning were there when I got there. Not sure how Lightning managed to get there before me. Chilled with the Boss and Spammy for like 5 hours at the gas station. The Homeplace is NOT vegetarian friendly, so I got a pizza and some other stuff at the gas station and eventually hiked out. I'm here with the Boss, Spammy and 2 cool weekends that I played cards with. I'm allergic to spring.
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Catawba Shelter

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 29.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 60: I left the shelter at 9ish. The walk up McAffe Knob was easy and the view was great. Tinker Cliffs were cool too. The weather was great again and I saw a bunch of wildlife including lizards, deer and a flock of bunnies. The weekenders thinned out after the cliffs. I think it's funny how some thru hikers complain about weekends as if the thru-hikers own the trail. Most weekenders are okay, even if they do smell weird. :-)I got to town at 7ish and shared a room with Lightning who was having issues because she lost her maps and credit card and some other stuff. I had Mexican food for inner, took a shower and got a pizza. I met another hiker named Cookieman who ended up dropping out because his brother got diagnosed with cancer. I felt really bad for him/them. Before I got to town I also found out that Endor, one of the guys I started with on Feb. 26, had to get off too. :-(I put most of my chores off until morning. Slept GREAT in my bed. While I was in Kroger this morning I saw Stink who found a free place to stay (again)and did trail maintenance. I had a nice hike out of town with more great weather. I'm here with three non-NOBO hikers including a flip flopper that reminds me of TJ from AMP only older and probably smellier. I met a section hiker named Hat Rack at lunch and he gave me a dinner he didn't need, so I ate that today. Apparently the last stop was the 1/3 point of the hike as well as 1/2 way thru Virginia. It definitely doesn't feel like it and I don't have the Virginia Blues at all.
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Jennings Creek
Miles today: 15.9

Woke up early-ish and read for a while. I picked up Spartacus in the last shelter and it's pretty good so far. The Honkin Hiker honked a tune when he left. Today was another beautiful hiking day and a great day to be alive. I love warm and sunny weather. Apparently not everyone agrees though because I came across Crispy napping at the first shelter. His strategy now is to hike until 1 or 2:00 and take a 5 hour nap break during the day. We were wondering if someone came thru camp last night.Crispy gave me Iodine because I ran out of Aquamira part A (again). I found a tick on me today and accidentally yanked it out before I realized what it was so I don't think it was in deep. It was on the back of my leg and that spot is a little sore now but there isn't a ring around it. It would suck to get lyme disease. Either water sources are getting scarce or I am just finding them less convenient because of the heat. I took a long second lunch and read for a while and then hiked on to this spot. I might go swimming in the morning. I am here with Early Bird, a hiker I have seen since Georgia.
Date: 2009-04-29
From: Jennings Creek

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 62: Bye bye sun. I didn't leave until almost 2:00 today. Just didn't feel like getting up so I didn't. Then I decided to reclaim what was left of the day and I actually made good time on difficult terrain.   I don't really think mountains are more difficult (note from mom, hard to read notes) that an infinite series of pointless hills and you actually get somewhere. All the flowers are coming out in so many different colors. It's cool to watch the seasons change like this. My head phones broke today and now only one ear works.I walked through clouds again today and now it's rainy-ish out. I haven't seen another thru-hiker all day and I'm with two pretty cool section hikers now. Apparently Bluegrass is SOBO now...?Been thinking about school again today. I really hate the idea of taking another semester off but I don't see how to avoid that without sacrificing part of this hike or rushing the rest of it (not gonna happen). Also, it's too late to transfer and I don't want to rush this to go back to a boring school that has nothing for me but hockey. I kinda wish I had gotten my shit together more before I left. I really really don't want to be a one-semester drop college drop out or a 21 year old freshman.
Date: 2009-04-30
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 63: Left at 10ish this morning. It rained last night and was foggy in the morning. I hiked over 2.5 mph today. Had some nice views in the evening and crossed a big river. I'm here with the section hikers from last night and two flip flopers. I'm tired of not being with a trail family.
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: moderate rain

Day 64: Apparently there is a hiker missing in the area. There were a bunch of ridge runners and search and rescue people looking for him. Don't remember his name but he is blind and has been missing since Sunday. I hope they find him. Left at 8ish and started the day with a long 'I wanna kill myself' climb which would have been much better with music but my headphones broke all the way. It was cloudy and icky again. The day was pretty good after the climb. It rained a little but not to bad. Before i left I heard that you shouldn't hike the AT unless you can stand being completely soaked and having everything you own completely soaked. What I want to know is why these people haven't heard of dry socks, pack covers and shelters. I may get wet, but my stuff never does. Passed some nice swimming holes in the afternoon but it wasn't warm and sunny out. The last mile was the remains of an old settlement which was neat. I got here before 5:00 and could have kept going but I didn't feel like another uphill and I'm going to make it to the Dutch Haus tomorrow but miss lunch either way. I'm going to stay for free lunch tomorrow though. Still the only NOBO thru hiker. Where are you people? The same two section hikers from the last two nights are here again as well as two others going south but they are tenting outside. I'm going to try and finish this book tonight so I can ditch it. I really hope I can get headphones in the next town. I argue that the MP3 player is not a luxury item because it follows the ultralight principle of serving more than one purpose. It motivates, distracts, and keeps me sane. That's three. Someone left cupcakes in the shelter.
Date: 2009-05-03
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: The Priest Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: moderate rain

Day 66 Yesterday I left at nine and at the road crossing I met Flash and Hot Flash who gave me donuts. They definitely powered me up the next hill/mountain. After the major uphill the skies cleared up and I had some nice views. The ridge walk after that wasn't too bad. I found a swing during lunch. During the late afternoon it got icky and cloudy again. I tried to call the Dutch Haus to pick me up but I didn't get reception as usual. Note to all future potential hikers AT&T sucks. So I had to walk and it started raining and it turned an 18 mile day into a 21 mile one. When I finally got there I had a nice warm shower and wore a borrowed bathrobe while they did my laundry. I had a room all to myself with a big soft bed and a T.V. Another thru-hiker named Bouf showed up later. He started March 21 and does 30 mile days. He's crazy but cool other than that. There were three section hikers: The Vacationers and Sam I Am. We had a delicious dinner of lasagna (vegetarian for me) with salad, lemonade and desert. I used the internet for a while after that and stayed up late watching t.v. with big plans to sleep in and do some chores before the free hiker lunch and then hit the trail about 1:00 or 2:00. That didn't happen. I was woken up at 7:3o, which is earlier than I get up on the trail sometimes, but the delicious breakfast was definitely worth it. But then I was majorly rushed and hiked out by 10:00, before I had time to get to the store and before lunch. It kind of set the day off in a bad way and it's raining out. I got here at like one and ate my lunch, and was slowing packing up and trying to convince myself that I really did want to leave when Retro showed up. We both stayed so I got my nero after all and it's great to see a familiar face. A section hiker is here too. Had a pleasant afternoon and now I'm going to sleep.
Date: 2009-05-04
From: The Priest Shelter

To: Maupin Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: light rain

Day 67; It rained last night and was drizzly and icky when I woke up. I left at nine and it felt like I was hiking in the rain forest or something. No bugs though. The strap on my right Leki pole broke but I'll get it fixed in Waynesboro. When I came to the road crossing today there was a stream of old cars going by. They were cool looking like the kind at car shows but I don't know much about cars so I didn't know what kind. There was another climb today. The clouds broke for about an hour at the top. Got to the shelter about 4:30. There are a bunch of people here tonight which was a nice change. Retro, Spammy and the Boss are here along with a group of three other NOBO thru hikers, a flip flopper and 2 section hikers. My toe has been doing something weird. Retro calls it hammer toe. My feet are still doing better than most.I hope the weather clears up soon.
Date: 2009-05-05
From: Maupin Shelter

To: Paul C Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 68: When I woke up today Retro was already gone. I was the last to leave and most of the others had to ask me where the AT was because they blue blazed to get there. It was icky out again and I really can't wait to get headphones to distract me. I had kind of a rough time today. Sometimes the trail makes it hard to get my mind off of certain things. Every time I see a register I am reminded of my friends that are ahead. Cabot and Wizard caught Left-Toe, who is still perpetually four days ahead. Thinking of my hiking friends both ahead and behind kind of brings me down after a while. I also start to think of miles which is never good.   So I try and distract myself and think of other things. I think I'm going to try and get some books on tape and I'm going to stop reading the registers.. But probably not. My curiosity gets the best of me. I have recently begun to fully appreciate certain people in my life who are constantly there for me and not just around when convenient. Mom, Dad, Rose, Nick, Randy and countless others, thanks for being there for me. Anyway, today's hike. I went over a section of rocks that are notoriously slippery and only tripped once. Had lunch on a cliff that looked like it would have a nice view, but Retro says it was just a resort and we didn't miss anything. Did a little rock scrambling on Humpback mountain which was kind of fun. After that it got cold and rainy and I found myself looking at my watch ever 20 minutes and wishing I had a hiking partner today. I was considering going the extra 5 miles to town tonight but the hostel isn't open and the only places to stay are camping or hotels. I might nero tomorrow and stay in a hotel with Retro tomorrow night, might not. Depends on the weather and my mood., and the quality and availability of pizza in town. I kind of feel like I shouldn't because I just neroed out of Dutch Haus but that wasn't the most satisfying nero ever and screw schedules and miles anyway. I could really go for a pizza right now and I just ate. I have noticed about my mail drops. Before I left I figured that dehydrated, cookable food weighed less so most of my breakfasts are food that needs to be cooked. Bit I never cook breakfast anymore. So I am going to be complete out of lunch foods but I'll have oatmeal and some dinners. Another thing is there is no such thing as having to many snickers.
Date: 2009-05-07
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Black Rock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

Day 70: Pulled an easy 5 mile nero yesterday into Waynesboro. I saw a really cool bright orange lizard right after I left camp. It was another foggy day. I got to town early and got a room with Retro and lucky and then we hit up the AYCE pancakes at Weezys. A bunch of hikers were there; Spammy, The Boss, Sara, Tex, and three others I didn't know was well. Did chores and resupplied and stuff. It rained a lot so I was glad to have a roof. Went to the Chinese buffet for lunch with Retro and then had pizza for dinner. A bunch of hikers showed up in town. I met a lot of people including Penns, who left as I got there and a while crew showed up later. I hung out with like seven people in a room until pretty late. It was a nice change. I met Hatcher, Topo, Out Loud and Indiana Jones and the Dude, Hungry and Soares were there too. And there were tons more around. I had a nice breakfast at the motel and pizza after that. Left town with Retro and Lucky and got back to the trail by 10ish. I liked Waynesboro a lot. It was spread out but the people were very friendly, and it had a lot. Last night I texted Starbucks and Lance to see what happened to them. Lance is only a little ahead but Starbucks got a motorcycle and went to Florida. I wanted to watch Brother Bear last night but the others didn't want to.Today was supposed to be thunderstorms and stuff but it turned out to be a great day. It was icky and raining at first but cleared up after about two hours. I entered the Shenandoahs and like it so far. It's very easily graded. Hiked pretty much non stop until lunch at a stream where I stopped for an hour. I hiked a little longer and stopped for a pee break when another hiker walked up. It was very inconvenient timing. The hiker turned out to be Fast Track. We had both heard about each other but never met before and I ended up hiking with him for the rest of the day. We did over three mph to the shelter and I can still walk. We talked about a bunch of stuff like Canada and Math. It was fun hiking with him and a beautiful day out. We got here at 6:00. Three section hikers are here and Indiana Jones showed up later. I thought more people would be here since there were so many in town. I had Ramen for dinner and talked to Indiana Jones for a while when he showed up. He's pretty cool. he's my age and plays goalie (hockey) and he only started hiking three days after me. Fast Track is cool but he started April 1st and does 30 mile days so I'll probably see him once. I'm feeling another long day tomorrow, weather permitting. I'm off to brush my teeth with my newly bought toothpaste and hope it doesn't cause us to get attacked by a bear because I didn't hang it.
Date: 2009-05-08
From: Black Rock Hut

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

Day 71:   Found 8 ticks after lunch. That's 1 tick per mile. It was ridiculous. Anyways I woke up early and left by 7:45. Fast Track was gone when I woke up and I never saw him again. The morning hike was really nice. It was sunny again. I got to the first shelter pretty early and took a very long lunch. During lunch I took care of my two new blisters. Yes, I actually got blisters for the first time out here. It looked like it was going to rain but never really did. I saw some deer that were really tame. My Leki pole broke (again) but I'll get it fixed for real at trail days. I also want to get new boots and socks, and that seems like a good time and place. Hopefully I will make it to Harpers Ferry on the 13th or 14th. I'm getting a ride down to Damascus with Padre, and hopefully back up. I got the shelter at 5:45. Since I took a long lunch I assumed that Indian Jones had passed me there but he wasn't here when I arrived. Apparently he got a very late start. Three section hikers are here too. Fast Track blew by and did like 35 miles today.I'm going to catch Left Toe tomorrow. I'm excited. Haven't seen him in a while. Indie and I are going to try to make it to a wayside for dinner before it closes tomorrow at 5:30. It's 20 miles away. I think we can do it. Hopefully at least one of us will. I told him to order me a pizza if he makes it and I don't but it should be doable. Would be nice if the weather helped us out. I'll probably see him a lot for a while since we are both aiming for Harpers Ferry on the same day.