morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-05-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was essentially a zero day since I hiked the extra miles to the Partnership Shelter yesterday. The hostel that I'm staying at picked us up from the Mt. Rogers Visitor Center and drove us the 3 miles into town.There was a minor snafu with the shuttle. When I originally made the reservation for the hostel, I had planned to camp about 6 miles away and hike in the next morning. The hostel owner said there was no cell reception at the visitor center, but I should have one a few miles beforehand. He said to text him when I got a signal and he'd have someone waiting when I arrived.Well, since I was going to hike the extra six miles and stay at the Partnership Shelter (which is pretty much right next to the visitor center), I tried to call him while I was on the trail, but he didn't answer. So, I tried to text him to find out the earliest he could pick me up, but couldn't wait around for a response, so I just had to hope he'd get it and that I would at some point while hiking get a signal again to read it.I never did get a signal and he was mostly right about not having reception at the visitor center. But, once or twice I must have gotten a good enough signal to recieve texts because I did get his response and was able to reply back that I would be ready at 7:30am the next morning.To shorten this already long story a little, the shuttle didn't show up at 7:30am because he wrote the day down wrong or something. Fortunately, Steve ended up staying at the Partnership Shelter also and he was able to text him using his Garmin, which uses satellite instead of cell towers. So, we were able to get into town at about 9:00am.Marion was a pretty decent sized town (compared to other trail towns anyway). It was big enough to have a Wal-Mart, a couple grocery stores, and some fast food places. So, it was a good resupply town.The hostel (The Merry Hiker Inn) was very nice. It was on the second floor of the owners outfitter store and you got to it from a set of stairs that led to the sidewalk. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take pictures.Other than resupplying and trying to relax a little, the only other thing I did was eat. Since we got in early enough for breakfast, we went to a restaurant called Downtown Pioneer. I got French toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, and baked apples. I felt the same way about breakfast as I did about the pizza yesterday. It wasn't the best, but it was better than fig bars or other breakfast bars that I would have had.For lunch we went to a Japanese place called Yummy Yummy. I got some sort of chicken and steak dish with fried rice and some sweet buns. It was okay, but I doubt I'd eat there again.For dinner a bunch of us went to the Wooden Pickle. Apparently the Wood family and the Pickle family are (or maybe were) a big deal in Marion, so the name of the restaurant is just a combination of the two family names. I actually wasn't that hungry because we didn't leave for dinner until late and about 30 minutes beforehand I drank almost a quart of chocolate milk. But, I did get a pear and blue cheese salad with chicken and it was a solid choice.
Date: 2023-05-22
From: US-11/Long Neck Lair Hostel

To: VA-42/Bear Garden Hostel
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

I wouldn't say I slept great, but I do think I slept better than I have for a while. Between the privacy wall/curtain, ear plugs, and fan, I didn't hear a thing all night. No tossing and turning, no snoring, no noisy cock, nothing.The only noteworthy about the hike is that several times I had to climb over these wooden contraptions that went over some barbed wire fencing. It's a bit of a chore when you've got 40 lbs strapped to your back. Apparently putting in a gate is asking for too much.Actually, I also officially crossed the 25% threshold. I've done 1/4th of the AT.I'm staying at the Bear Garden Hostel tonight. Steve and I rented the private house they have available and it's quaint. It's about 100 years old and it used to be some kind of grain store. Well, at some point they moved the whole building by putting it on some logs. When you walk around the place, you can feel where the logs are at.On the note I'll say that I know it isn't sustainable, but I really like knowing that at the end of my hike, I'll have at least a shower, laundry, and a bed waiting. If I had more money, I would almost certainly do this as many times as feasible all the way to Maine.Breakfast: Two bowls of Honey Nut Cherrios and a bananaLunch: Terry's trail mix, an oatmeal cream pie, and some Jolly Ranchers Drink Experiment: Powdered Ovaltine mixed with powdered goat milk. It wasn't terrible, but the goat milk doesn't dissolve all the way so there are chunks of it left. Still, I think it'll make a good recovery drink. First Dinner: Good To-Go Chicken Pho. Since I'm staying at hostels, it's easy to not eat my packed food. Unfortunately that means I have to carry it the next day, so I'm trying to lighten my load a little.Second Dinner: Chicken Fried Chicken TV Dinner and a Dr. Pepper with Cream SodaDessert: Vanilla Caramel Drumstick
Date: 2023-05-23
From: VA-42

To: Walker Gap/Burke's Garden Hostel
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I forded my first river today. It took about two hours to cut down some trees and lash them together to make a raft. After that I loaded myself and my pack onto it, I used a branch and floated across the 50 foot expanse of water. Fortunately the currents were mild and I did not tip over. So, all of my buffalo and deer meat, clothing, and bullets remained safe and nobody drowned or died of dysentery. In reality, the river was more like a creek, it was only about 10 feet across, and never got more than ankle deep. There used to be a bridge, but apparently it got washed away in 2020 and they haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. So, I took my shoes and socks off, put on my Crocs, rolled up my pants, and walked across. The water was pretty cold, but it felt good on my feet so I stood in it for a few minutes before continuing. Afterwards I sat down for about 15 minutes so my feet could dry, put my socks and shoes back on, and went on with the rest of my hike.I'm staying at Burke's Garden Hostel tonight. It was almost a mile off trail down a rocky/gravelly road that turned into an asphalt road, but fortunately he offers free shuttles back up to the trail in the morning. It's a renovated Amish pole barn and seems very nice. There's a large common area downstairs and some floor beds upstairs. I haven't tested them yet, but people on FarOut say they are very comfortable. In the mornings there is a waffle bar, so I'm interested to see what that is all about.Breakfast: A large bowl of knock-off Cocoa Krispies and some toast with homemade apple butter.Lunch: The rest of Terry's trail mix, two packets of Starkist lemon & pepper chicken, and two Little Debbie apple pies. Recovery Drink: Ovaltine with powdered goat milk First Dinner: Backpackers Pantry Mango Sticky Rice. It was pretty bland. If I get it again, maybe adding some chicken would make it better.Snack: Milky WaySecond Dinner: Digorno three meat rising pizza and a chocolate milk
Date: 2023-05-26
From: VA-606

To: Sugar Run Rd/Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

There were no setbacks this morning and I was able to get on the trail pretty soon after breakfast. I did have to walk probably about 3/4 of a mile from the hostel to where the trail began which is always kind of a pain since it's basically miles that don't count.There was a little bit of a climb at the start, but for the majority of the morning it was a very level walk. Still, I was feeling a little sluggish. I think the previous two days of hiking wore me out quite a bit and I wasn't fully recovered. There was a shelter right before a big climb, so I stopped there for lunch and rested for about 30-40 minutes. The climb was about 1600 feet over a 4 mile stretch, but a significant chunk was in about the first 2, so it was fairly steep to start with. It did get more gradual, but I was still pretty tired when I finally made it to the top. After the climb it was pretty much downhill to the hostel.The hostel is call Woods Hole and it's one of the oldest hostels on the trail. The sleeping arrangements are pretty standard, but the thing that sets it apart and makes it a popular stopping place is that all the meals are home-cooked organic vegetarian food. They have a small garden out front that they use to create their salads. For dinner we had fresh baked bread, fresh picked salad, brown rice, and Chana Masala (chickpea curry). It was all very delicious and I can understand why this place is so popular.Steve enjoyed it so much that we are going to stay here another day. Originally we were going to hike to Pearisburg and stay at a hostel in town, but now we are going to slackpack into Pearisburg and then shuttle back to Woods Hole for the night. It's only about 12 miles, so I'm hoping the relatively short distance and light pack weight will help my legs out a bit.Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes from The Weary Feet Hostel Lunch: A small bag of trail mix and two oatmeal cream pies.Recovery Drink: Ovaltine with powdered goat milk Dinner: Chana Masala on top of brown rice, fresh baked bread, and fresh salad.Dessert: A chocolate chip cookie. It was okay. A piece of birthday cake because it was a thru-hikers birthday.
Date: 2023-05-27
From: Sugar Run Rd

To: Cross Ave/Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm now in a trio hiker group instead of a duo. A hiker named Pacer slackpacked with us to Pearisburg today and we are planning on possibly slackpacking 20 miles tomorrow if we can get a shuttle to pick us up early enough.The hike to Pearisburg was uneventful. Though despite the fact that I said I wasn't going to slackpack at all, I'm now going to do it three times in four days. And I'm glad for it for a couple of reasons. First, it's better for my joints and tendons because I'm not carrying as much weight. Second, and I think more importantly, it keeps me hiking with other people. I really enjoyed my hike today because I had multiple people to talk to. It made it more pleasant and it kept me out of my head for a while.When we got to Pearisburg, we ate at a Chinese buffet, did some resupply at Food Lion, and then got a shuttle back to Woods Hole.Breakfast: Scrambled eggs mixed with spinach, peppers, and some other things. Bread with strawberry jam. Oatmeal with maple syrup.Lunch: Some bread and cheddar cheese that was bought from Woods Hole. First Dinner: Chinese buffet Second Dinner: Some sort of Asian dish that had Japchae noodles, peppers, mushrooms, and some other vegetables. Salad and fresh baked bread. Dessert: A chocolate chip cookie.
Date: 2023-05-30
From: VA-42

To: VA-621/Angel's Rest Hostel
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Unfortunately I was not reunited with my pet deer today. Pacer and I slackpacked a modest 11+ miles today. The Professor also slackpacked with us the 11+ miles, but when we got to where the shuttle was to pick us up, he continued on. He is meeting his wife tomorrow further up the trail and getting off for a few days to go see his granddaughter's dance recital.The hike was pretty easy. It was very similar to a few days ago. It started with a decent climb, then stayed level most of the way, before decending back down. There was about a two mile stretch along the ridgeline at the top that was very rocky. Not tiny stones, but large flat, usually not horizontal rocks. It was a little slower going during this section. The weather wasn't as terrible as yesterday, but it did rain a little towards the beginning of our hike and a little towards the end.Speaking of yesterday's rain. It certainly caused some problems for quite a few people from what I heard. One section hiker's car got flooded and several people got stuck at The Weary Feet Hostel because the nearby creek flooded the road. I guess this is the kind of thing you have to deal with when you live in a valley.Breakfast: Some fruit that was leftover from yesterday's meal and a glass of chocolate milk.Snack: Food Lion chocolate peanut protein bar Lunch: Pacer packed out some of the leftover chicken from yesterday so I had some of that. I also had some cherries, a sweet pepper, and some chicharrons.Dinner: Since Steve and some of the others made dinner yesterday, Pacer and I are returning the favor. We are making two lasagnas, one meat and one vegetarian, salad, garlic bread, and cake for dessert.
Date: 2023-06-01
From: VA-311

To: US-220/Fairfield Inn
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

So, I'm going to reevaluate the Four Pines Hostel somewhat from yesterday. On the positive, their shuttle driver did wake up at 3:30am so that he could get us to the trail by 4am so that we could see the sunrise at McAfee Knob. So, they are very accommodating. On the negative, they need to do a better job of enforcing their quiet hours. Since Pacer and I were going to start so early, we tried to get to bed a little early. Now, I obviously didn't expect people to keep the noise down prior to 10pm. But, I ended up waking up at about 10:15 to the lights still on and several loud conversations happening in the bunkhouse. It wasn't until about 10:45pm when someone finally came in and turned out the lights.The other negative is that they don't have a clothes dryer for general use. They have a washer and then you're supposed to hang your clothes on a line to dry. There is a dryer in the main house that can get used if it's raining or late or whatever, but only the owner can use it and it was being used pretty heavily last night. So, we didn't get our laundry until about 9pm.Finally, they allow pets, which I suppose is nice, but there were two dogs that decided to growl at each other for 15 minutes or so after the lights went out.So with all these things combined, I ended up getting about 4 not so great hours of sleep. So, I was pretty tired for a good portion of the hike. Around 10 or 11am, I did finally start to "wake up", but now that the hike is over (we finished around 2:30pm), I'm exhausted. So, that was my experience with Four Pines. But, the risk we took in getting up early for the sunrise paid off in spades. I was worried the day before because it was overcast almost the entire day and I was afraid it would carry over into the morning. But it was absolutely gorgeous this morning and I think I got some amazing photos. The hike up there wasn't too bad either. I think because it's a very popular destination, the trail is very well maintained. But, it was mostly in the dark, so we still had to be careful.The only other real tough section was up to Tinker Cliffs and even that wasn't too bad. So, I've now completed the Virginia triple crown.I'm staying in Roanoke, VA tonight. Hopefully I can get some good sleep tonight because we may be doing another 20 miles tomorrow. It's still being decided. Breakfast: I woke up too early and didn't really have time to get anything to eat.Snack 1: A Food Lion chocolate peanut protein bar at McAfee Knob. Snack 2: A Nutri-Grain apple cinnamon barLunch: Two Starkist white chicken packets, a really crushed oatmeal cream pie, and another Nutri-Grain apple cinnamon bar.Dinner: A 3 meat BBQ platter from Big Valley BBQ. I got pulled pork, smoked chicken, brisket, mac and cheese, corn pudding, and a Barq's root beer. The corn pudding was pretty runny, but still good. I didn't really like the rub they used on the brisket, but everything else was good.
Date: 2023-06-03
From: Blue Ridge Parkway

To: Mills Gap/Fairfield Inn
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: clear sky

Not much to say about today's hike, except that it was long and a little wet towards the end.I think 22 miles (or close to it anyway) may be the longest distance I've gone in a day. It started out fairly moderate, but at about the halfway point, there was quite a bit of uphill climbing. Nothing super difficult, just a lot of it. With about 5 or so miles left, it did start storming. At first it barely rained at all and seemed like it was going to miss us, but about 20 minutes later it started to rain pretty hard. Fortunately it only did it for about 30 minutes and it did lower the temperature quite a bit. We also had to pick up the pace towards the end because the road where we were getting picked up was going to be closing for an Iron Man race tomorrow. About the only points of interest worth mentioning are The Guillotine and some kind of weather radar. The Guillotine was actually pretty neat. It's a large rock that is wedged up between the underside of a crevice. You walk right under the rock. I just hope no one is there when gravity finally wins out against friction. I don't know anything about the weather radar other than it's a weather radar.Pacer and I did hike with another thru-hiker named Jelly Bean today. We met her yesterday when she got picked up by the shuttle because she was also staying at the Fairfield Inn. Originally she was going to do the 20 miles today that Pacer and I did yesterday and then on Sunday do the 22 we did today. However, because of the Iron Man race on Sunday, the road that she would have had to get dropped off at is going to be closed. So she's doing that section with us today and will go back and do the previous 20 mile section tomorrow because her pickup point should be accessible by the time she finishes. Breakfast: Eggs, turkey sausage, oatmeal, and chocolate milk from the hotel breakfast. Snack: Some kind of Nature Valley bar and a banana.Lunch: A Payday candy bar, some peanut butter crackers.Trail Magic: We finally got some decent trail magic in Virginia. We were coming down to Jennings Creek and a group of people we just packing up because of the incoming storm. Fortunately they still had some things out, so we got some chips and Gatorade and a few other goodies.Dinner: Ananas-Kaju-Malai Chicken, a Samosa, garlic Naan, and at Mt Dew.
Date: 2023-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Unfortunately I had to take an unplanned zero today. I either got food poisoning or I caught some kind of bug because I was in and out of the bathroom all night starting around 10 and into the next morning.So, Pacer went on ahead and I'm staying in the hotel for one more night. Fortunately at the time I'm writing this, I feel much better. Another night's rest and I should be good to get back on the trail.I really didn't eat much all morning. I tried to eat breakfast but it just came back up a short while later. So, I pretty much spent all morning sleeping. By the afternoon I was starting to feel better, but didn't want to eat anything to heavy so I thought I'd Doordash some food. That's how I ended up with a 36 count variety box of Motts applesauce, a 28 count box of Gatorade, and one very large container of Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt. I didn't realize it at the time I ordered everything, but I got it all from a wholesale store instead of a regular grocery store.
Date: 2023-06-05
From: Blue Ridge Parkway

To: US-501/Stanimals Hostel
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

The hike today was relatively easy. There was only one section that was a pretty steep climb, but the rest was either flat or downhill. I'm glad for it too because it still took a lot out of me. I'm still feeling some of the after effects of being sick. My sides hurt and I was definitely feeling a little worn out most of the hike. Hopefully a good meal and another night's rest will bring me back up to top shape. Tonight I'm staying at Stanimals hostel is Glasgow, VA. It's a pretty small house, but also kind of nice. I definitely need to get some food in me though. I weighed myself before I got in the shower and I'm down to about 154. For reference, I started at 192 back in Georgia. The last time I weighed myself a week or two ago, I was around 165. I'm hoping that I'm so low right now because I got sick.Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, a blueberry muffin, a banana, and two small glasses of orange juice. Snack: Some kind of peanut and chocolate snack bar.Lunch: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich First Dinner: Great Value rising crust pepperoni pizzaSecond Dinner: A taco bar that was put together by a church in Glasgow, VA for hikers.
Date: 2023-06-06
From: VA-60

To: US-501/Hampton Inn
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was quite a bit tougher than yesterday. It started out pretty easy, lots of flat walks. So much so that at one point I think I was close to averaging 4 miles/hour. But several miles in is when the uphill climbing started which put a stop to that pretty quick.I was originally going to stay at Stanimals again tonight, but my hiking partner for today, Jelly Bean, is staying at a Hampton Inn in Lexington, VA. Since we are hiking together again tomorrow, and doing 25+ miles, we decided it would be easier if we just shared a room so we can leave and start together at the same time.Breakfast: Three blueberry pancakes at Stanimals. They were fine.Snack: A small bag of cheese goldfish and Snack 2: A very unflavorful clementine. Lunch: 2 clementines that were a little better, but not by much. A small bag of honey roasted peanuts and Dinner: Bourbon glazed chicken, a baked potato, and broccoli from Ruby Tuesdys. It was very good. I definitely wanted something other than a frozen pizza. I also had a root beer and a bottle of pink lemonade.
Date: 2023-06-07
From: US-60

To: VA-56/Hampton Inn
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: mist

So, 25 miles...All in all, it wasn't terrible. It was long. I'm tired. I wouldn't want to do it often, but it's good to know that under the right circumstances, I can do it in a reasonable time if I needed to.The only real tough section was right at the beginning. It was about 2000' up in a little under 3 miles. After that, it was mostly just a few rolling hills, quite a bit of flat areas, and two moderate couple hundred foot climbs. Those did come towards the end though, so even moderate climbs are tough after already walking 18 miles. It ended with a 3000' decent over about 4.5 miles. Maybe I was just determined to get the hike over with, but I actually got a nice burst of energy and ended up jogging down the mountain for probably 2 or 3 miles I'd say. We started the hike at about 7am and I got to the parking lot at about 5:45pm. 25 miles in under 11 hours is pretty good to me.Breakfast: Two pre-made small western style omelets, an orange, a banana, an apple danish, a sausage patty, two glasses of orange juice, and two glasses of strawberry-kiwi water from the hotel breakfast. Snack 1: A double chocolate chip muffinLunch: Two peanut butter and jelly bagel sandwiches. Snack 2: Two really broken frosted Pop-Tarts. I think they were strawberry, but not sure. My hiking partner Jelly Bean gave them to me last night.Recovery Drink: A quart of chocolate milk that our shuttle driver Michael was awesome enough to pick up for me on his way to the pickup pointDinner: Penne pasta with Alfredo sauce, spinach, and blackened chicken. And a coke.