morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-10-13
From: rod hollow shelter 

To: jim and molly denton shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

my first full day of hiking with my friends mike and shawn. i am surprised at how fast they are moving, and that they are willing to pull an 18 mile day with me. not much scenery or excitement today. we played leapfrog with the vermont mafia and duster and honey today. stopped for lunch at dicks dome shelter and it was pretty crowded.we named ourselves the council of manville, and came up with several man laws. most of them revolved around making mikes life harder, shawn and i passed it through with a 2/3 majority.finally made it to the shelter or the night around 6. 10 of us here 2night, a little crowded but fun. i got booted out of the shelter because i kept up some people with my snoring, but my tent is more comfy anyway. on to front royal tomorrow with duster and honey. musicman and vermafia will hike on past us, ill have 2 catch up 2 them sometime soon.
Date: 2008-10-14
From: jim and molly denton shelter

To: Tom Floyd Wayside
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

(Post Trail Update)Ran out of supplies, so Sheriff, El-Nino and I hiked into Front Royal. Had some trouble getting a hitch, but eventually an older couple stopped and made some room in their minivan for the three of us plus Duster and Honey. Went to the outfitter and dropped off our stuff, then it was a diner for lunch and then the grocery store. I ended up buying too much food and then got hassled by everyone for carrying too much stuff. I was having a lot of problems with my shoulder and asked the outfitter for help readjusting my new pack. he ended up going through my whole pack and telling me how i was doing everything wrong. Normally this is just asinine, but I had 1200 hiking miles under my belt at this point, people need to respect that. No one in that store did, it made me very angry. I was about to go nuclear, but then suddenly everything changed.BooBoo walked in.I had read her trail journal and contacted her about how to prepare for my hike; she was a real inspiration. And then she kicked ass, the only one in the store that defended my choices. Its very strange to have someone go through your pack and judge what you carry; like someone going through your whole house and tell you you're living your life wrong. But Boo made it all better. I got some new gear to lighten my load and soon I was out of that place. I would never trust an 'outfitter' or 'hiking expert' again.Duster, Honey, Sheriff, and El Nino got a ride to the trail with a trail angel, while BooBoo gave me a ride later so I could further sort my stuff out. We really hit it off well and I was very sad to see her go. I ended up hiking up to Tom Floyd wayside (note: its a shelter, not a wayside!) and met up with the group. But not before losing my bite valve and most of the water I was carrying. I got regulated to tenting again, but that was all right with me.
Date: 2008-10-15
From: Tom Floyd Wayside

To: ElkWallow Picnic area
Miles today: 16.6

Illegally camped at picnic area. Kept tent fly open to look for bears. Slept great.***Post trail update***I don't remember that much from this day. Sheriff spotted a bear, the first one I saw on the trail. We got into the wayside and ordered some food. Also we got some beer, my first time sampling Yuengling..and it was $.93 a glass bottle! Quite the deal at a wayside where a soda fountain coke was $2. We decided not to go too much further today, so we hiked down to a picnic area and stealth camped. We where all worried about the bear, so we hung our food pretty high. We where also worried about getting caught camping here and chose a spot to tent where no one could see us. It ended up being a very peaceful night.
Date: 2008-10-16
From: ElkWallow Picnic area

To: Skyland Road
Miles today: 18.1

***Post Trail Update***I don't remember much about this day either.We continued our hike as a big group. BooBoo was around doing trail magic for us all and would leave cokes for us at various trail crossings. I left my coke for someone else since there was a wayside coming up, but it turned out to be closed. El Nino gave me his instead, very very much appreciated! A little drizzle started, and we made it to a nice pavilion. It was full up with a high school field trip though...but they took pity on us and let us gorge on hot dogs, chips, and soda! Then BooBoo showed up, and life was good. I cooked some hot dogs for her, and in return she slack packed us up the trail 4 or 5 miles. We flew through that section to the next wayside, but when we go there it was full up! So BooBoo drove us to big meadows campground. We met up the Vermafia and Magic Man, grabbed a shower, got dinner at the restaurant, and hung out and listened to some guys play some tunes. I started talking to BooBoo about the PCT, I was just beginning to think that would be fun to do after the AT.Went back to the campground and nearly got lost in the fog. I ended up hanging out with BooBoo and talking for some time, what a cool person she is!
Date: 2008-10-17
From: Skyland Road

To: Bearfence Mtn Hut
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

***Post Trail Update****Woke up and had a big breakfast at the Big Meadows lodge. BooBoo slacked all of us except El Nino (Sheriff, Duster and Honey, and myself), back up to Skyland and we slacked it back to Big Meadows. Picked up our packs and headed to Bearfence, where El Nino was waiting for us. Missed a whole lot of trail magic on the way somehow, but when we got to the shelter El Nino had the biggest fire going. It was awesome. I was even allowed to spend the night in shelter!
Date: 2008-10-18
From: Bearfence Mtn Hut

To: Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: scattered clouds

This marathon day (plus 0.2 miles!) is what you call a pink blaze. Full pack, medium terrain, and a very cute girl waiting at the end. It was worth it.***Post-Trail Update***I said good bye to El Nino and Sherriff. It was time for them to head back home and to civilization. It was great fun hiking with some friends from home, sorry to see them go. I thought about hiking with Duster and Honey, but BooBoo said she was staying at a shelter 19 miles in, and that was more than they where willing to do. So, I hauled butt all day. I remember stopping at a scenic overlook, and ran into some dayhikers. They where bragging to other dayhikers about how they hiked 4 miles that day. Then they asked me where I started my hike. "Maine". That felt good, but in a douchebag kind of way.I got to the shelter where BooBoo said she and her crew would be...and it was empty. There was a journal entry saying they decided to move on. I was pretty upset, I was really looking forward to seeing her again. I didn't know whether to go or stay, so I made dinner and hung out. After a rest I decided to push on. It started getting dark...but I pressed on. I decided to call a night, but there was no place to stop. It got darker. I startled something very large in a bush right next to the trail, kinda freaky. I had a beautiful view looking over Shennondoah valley at night. I finally reached the mega-campground, and after some searching found a note for me from Boo. Took awhile to find here, but it was a happy reunion.
Date: 2008-10-19
From: Loft Mountain Campground

To: Town
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The 2007 hikers where tired and wanted to zero. I was exhausted but willing to follow BooBoo anywhere. We went to the wayside for a hot breakfast then eventually took a zero in town. Highlight of the day was Tengu lifting his hiking kilt hoping to hitch a ride with passing cars. It didn't work.We went into Elkton, I was pretty exhausted. Devoured food at TGIF's(?) and got a gigantic milkshake next to a laundrymat.
Date: 2008-10-21
From: Calf Mtn. Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Just wanted everyone to know Derek is alive and will update us soon..."Just got out of shannondoa park, no cell service for days. everything great, talk more later!"***Post Trail Update***We had 7 miles into Rockfish Gap and then town. The Mafia, friend, and BooBoo and I headed into Waynesboro for lunch. We ended up an exteremly girly place called the purple foot or something. The mens room was ridiculous...all frilly pink stuff and flowers. The food was good though, so I let it slide.BooBoo convinced me to mail some extra gear home here, like my 2nd treking pole that I never used. We got ferried up to Rockfish gap outfitter and hung out for a bit. The Vermafia wanted to continue hiking, but I wanted to hang out with BooBoo and see Charlottesville. SO...I decied to skip 30 miles of trail and meet up with the girls in a few days.C-ville was cool (spoiler-BooBoo and I ended up moving here eventually!). We looked for a cheap place to eat, and ended up at a place called Charlottesville Grill. Turned out to be the fanciest place in town. I don't know why they let us in. I ordered a $40 steak and 1/4 head of lettuce. It was amazing. Spending time getting to know BooBoo was even more amazing!
Date: 2008-10-23
From: VA 56 (road)

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

Skipped about 30 miles to catch up with Mafia.***Post trail update***I was very sad to see BooBoo go, but it had to happen eventually. I got dropped off at the beginning of the Priest, pretty easy climb but no real views. At the priest shelter register, everyone confessed their sins. I confessed that I just skipped 30 miles of trail and didn't regret a thing! Later that day I met to spy rock (?) and met some college kids. Pretty cool place, glad I stopped. Eventually i made it to the next shelter and decided to call it night. Just as I started to cook dinner the Mafia showed up! I was really happy to see them again and get back into our normal routine.
Date: 2008-10-24
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Buena Vista, VA
Miles today: 14.0

To celebratee 1300 miles of trail, we are eating 1300 burger king fries. thats about 9800 calories and about 530 grams of fat.***Post-Trail update***The 1300 french fries was ridiculous...but very memorable. Had a mix up with a guy giving us a ride into town, but got it settled out. Got a sketchy hotel room, but it was kind of nice. I had bed for once (being the only guy, I always slept on the floor!) Wandered around town for a bit. EKG and I got a hitch somewhere...forgot where? Kind of dreary place, it was raining the whole time. I ran out of time and energy to go food shopping, so the Mafia helped me out and bought some stuff. From here to Hot Springs, NC we would share food and making meals, it was very cool and made me feel part of the group! This was also the last day that Defaults friend Anne hiked with us. Sad to see her go.
Date: 2008-10-25
From: Buena Vista, VA

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: moderate rain

***Post-Trail Update***We where all tired after Buena Vista, no idea why. We had plans of doing a big mile day, but we got to a shelter 2 miles in and I suggested stopping for the day. To my surprise the group agreed. It turned out to be pretty cool relaxing day!
Date: 2008-10-27
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Post Trail UpdateHiked alone for at least part of the day. crossed the James River early, almost got lost. Later we followed the Blue Ridge Parkway a lot, it was extremely windy and cold. Finally made it to the shelter, long walk down but not too bad. Water source was a little river dammed up by some rocks, but it was kind of dirty. had to clean out the leaves and my hands froze. The shelter was very very windy, the floor boards were space out a lot and the wind came straight up. The mafia pitched their tent inside the shelter and where relatively cozy, I managed to cuddle up in a corner and sleep the night away.
Date: 2008-10-30
From: daleville, va 

To: lamberts meadow shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

Had a busy morning in town. we all went in on a hotel room and destroyed the AYCE breakfast buffet. next i went to the post office and picked up some maps. i got a ride from the local trail maintainer, he gave me a ride to the outfitter too. i was like a kid in a candy store, hard to resist buying more gear. i got out with a new nalgene, stuff sack and some socks. mafia and i had lunch in town, then headed out. Made it to the shelter by 5 and couldnt decide to stay or not. decided to stay, ate potatoes and pepperoni for dinner, then i read a chapter of 'twilight' to the girls (its so bad it amuses us). cold night, and i miss the Boo, but i managed to survive. (From Marceen: HA!HA! on the daily miles!! Derek took so long to update us I just adjusted the difference from his total miles!)(Haha! I adjusted the mileage back! It's 2 months later and I don't remember much, but Flamebo kept track of the actual mileage and I'm just going back to fill it in.)
Date: 2008-10-31
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Salem, VA
Miles today: 10.5

Sometimes the Appalachian Trail can serve as a example of differences. For instance, this morning we woke up in a windy dilapidated shelter full of mice; the privy door was ripped off, the toilet seat was missing and the privy itself was full of human waste. Right now I'm relaxing at the most beautiful house I've ever been in but more importantly the bathroom is magnificent and the toilet seat is HEATED! It's pretty much the most awesomest thing I've ever experienced, so much so it's worth ignoring the laws of the English language.A little more info on how our day progressed:We woke up and made breakfast, but were pretty low on water. I've thrown my fate in with the Mafia and we all share our food, at least for the next couple days. This made things easier, but the lack of water kind of sucked. We got going around 9am and started out with a big climb up Tinker cliffs. There were beautiful views of the valley below and it was hard to walk away. The trail was a little difficult, but not too bad. We made it to Campbell shelter and got some water, then climbed up to McAffe Knob.McAffee Knob is one of the most photogrpahed places on the trail, and it was absolutely stunning. We met Beef's cousin Jim at the top and he had lots of trail magic waiting for us. We started with fresh homemade blueberry muffins and finished with homemade blueberry pie. It was beyond delicious. Beef and EKG played some songs on the guitar and harmonica, then we made our down the hill.Jim gave us a lift to his good friends house (this is where the heated toilet seats reside, and I hear there is even a 1966 VW Bus in the basement! Its kind of like heaven here...) The house is amazing, it's got a really cool covered back porch and an amazing tree house. For dinner we trekked to Catawba to eat at the legendary Home Place restaurant. We've hearing that this is the best place to eat on the trail, and we were not dissapointed. They serve food family style there, they just bring dishes to your table and you take what you want and pass the plate. Our waitress explained that we get fried chicken and either roast beef or ham. She asked me which one we wanted and I just said yes. Our food arrived shortly, and for the next 30 minutes we had our waitress running back and forth from the kitchen to our table filling dishes. Everything was amazing and it was hard to stop. I especially liked the pinto beans, much to the dismay of my hiking partners. We finished off with ice cream, cobbler and coffee then set off for home (for the night).We got back to the house and went through the kids haunted house, impressive show they put on. Pretty much everything here is amazing, especially our hosts Sam and Damon.Life is good...
Date: 2008-11-01
From: Salem, VA

To: Salem, VA
Miles today: 21.0

We started out the day with a wonderful blueberry pancake breakfast made by cousin Jim. Hot pancakes and heated toilets make it hard to hike a lot of miles, but we where determined to slack about 21 miles.Cousin Jim drove us down south of Catawba and dropped us off at the elusive parking lot. We finally got going around 9 am and headed north back to Catawba. Almost right away we ran into Foxtrot, pretty much one of the coolest hikers ever. The mafia say I have a man crush on him, it's hard to deny it. He pretty much hikes 8 months of the year and works a fishing boat in Alaska the rest of the year. He has hiked the PCT (pacific crest trail) twice and got me excited about that trail (whoops - did I just let my future plans slip out? Hmmm...) We ran into Bearwalker an hour or two later, he is a SOBO we have been behind for awhile, we passed him a couple days ago while he slacking north. After that we ran into a big group of frat boys from Virginia tech carrying a cinder block and folding chairs, don't think they where going very far.For lunch we had cucumber, tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, nice change from our normal peanut butter and bagel ration.Kind of a tough day, lots of elevation changes and very rocky terrain. We made it up Dragons tooth and enjoyed the beautiful view before climbing down. It was a pretty tough downhill section, BooBoo said it would remind us of main and she was right! I had fun though, especially when we could pretty much run by all the dayhikers. Hiking without a pack is kind of like what it must be to walk on the moon, I feel like I weigh 1/3 my normal weight and can just fly down the trail.We kept hiking on, through some cow fields and on through the dark. We only had 2 headlamps between the 5 of us (DOH!), but we managed to get to the parking lot OK. We made it back to the house and Sam showed me the VW Bus (1964 it turns out), it was in amazing shape. We went out to dinner and I was shamed by Beef and Flamebo when they devoured their gigantic Calzones and I couldn't finish. I can barely live with myself. Sam and I downed 2 pitchers of beer and I slept well.
Date: 2008-11-02
From: Salem

To: Stealth Site (Rocky Gap)
Miles today: 16.0

*Post Trail Update*I think we slacked part of today, Cousin Jim met us late at night at a random road crossing in the middle of nowhere and dropped off our stuff. We where tired and figured we would just stealth camp a couple hundred feet in. No luck in finding a flat spot, so we ended up camping on a slope. Sad to see our days in Salem over...
Date: 2008-11-04
From: Stealth Site (Peters Mountain)

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I can't say I remember much about hiking this day. Ran into some hunters, but they where all cool. Close to town we ran into Foxtrot, the coolest hiker ever! We hiked with him a little before, and he was bored so he came to find us. It was election day, so he wanted to hang out in town and watch the results. The girls got their own room, and Bearwalked, Foxtrot and I got another one. The lady at the hotel let us borrow her car so we could resupply and get dinner, nice. We also had an election day party (yes Pecan pie!), but I skipped most of it to do laundry and talk to Boo. Fun times.
Date: 2008-11-07
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Laurel Creek 
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Went into Bland today for lunch and resupply. Couldn't hitch a ride, so i yogi'd a ride for all of us from the Old Folk home, nice people! Went to a grocery store for food and got a 2l of cheerwine to split amoung us. Cheerwine is a delicious soda. Then I treated everyone to A&W for lunch, it was great. Got lost trying to find the trail, but eventually found it. Bearwalked is hiking with us all the time now, nice to have another memeber of the team!
Date: 2008-11-09
From: Stealth SIte

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

southern virginia is turning out to be one of the most beautiful places ive seen. kind of cold this time of year and cell phone coverage is non existant. hiking with mafia still and bear walker too. had fun in pearisburg on election night, mafia threw an election party and invited me, bearwalker and foxtrot. i got my winter sleeping bag and the most awesome care package from BooBoo! cant get over how beautiful this section is.i dont think i will be able to journal daily anymore, but cell phone coverage is just too hard to come by. ill send updates when i can! *Post Trail update*The hotel in Atkins was a dump, but it had hot water and roof so I guess its not so bad. Bearwalker didn't have any money, so he went on ahead, I felt really bad for him, it was very cold that night. Tried to get dinner from the restaurant in town, but it closed early. Also, had to resupply at a gas station. Very expensive and bad food. We had baloney sandwhiches for the next couple days. Ordered a pizza for dinner though!
Date: 2008-11-10
From: Atkins, VA

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Post Trail updateMade it out of town and where on our way. Stopped by a museum along the way, but didnt really have a lot of time. Made it to Partnership shelter somewhat early. We had spent time at the museum there too, it was neat. There was a guy and his dog there (pepper - the dog, peppers dad -the guy). He was nice, but kind of weird. I don't know if he was homeless or what not, but he was good to talk to. The girls where having an internal discussion, i didn't really understand, but they got things worked out. The shelter is very nice, it even has a shower! but its too cold and the water is turned off. We could have ordered pizza, but we just ate trail food instead. Slept a wonderful sleep up in the loft.
Date: 2008-11-12
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Va Route 600
Miles today: 20.0

*post trail update*Hiked in the Grayson Highlands today, saw lots of pony's. only one was brave enough to come near, but as soon as she figured out we weren't giving out treats, she walked away. I felt bad because the pony was very pregnant, but keep it wild I guess.Defaults parents were coming to pick us up and slack us for a few days, but we had a little trouble getting a hold of them. Default kept playing cell phone roulette in a shelter, but nothing was getting through. The rest of us where joking around, and I let loose quite probably the loudest fart of the entire trail. It echoed off the wood floor and the walls of the shelter like a sonic boom, very impressive. Of course, Default finally made contact with her parents moments before I let loose and they too where subjected to the music of my digestive system. Sorry about that...We made it down to the road a little early, so we set up the Mafia's tent and read more a book to each other. Our trail angles arrived not too much later and soon we where off on our way to nice cabin retreat
Date: 2008-11-14
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a slack pack, thanks to Defaults parents. They also put us up at a really nice cabin in Tennessee, complete with hot tub!It was a nice hike today, should have been 23 miles but I took a blue blaze. About 10 miles in we (Mafia, Bear Walker and I) came across the virginia creeper trail, and old railroad converted to hike/bike trail. Since its not the AT, it scenic, easy and altogether enjoyable. It sounded good to me, so I split from everyone else and had a solo hike. The creeper trail was pretty cool, a nice break from the AT. It went through a couple little towns and followed a little rocky river the whole time. I walked in to Damascus around 4pm and set about trying to wash my repugnant rain jacket. After some odd advice from the outfitter, I just washed it normally. Hopefully the gortex still works...Lots of rain in the forecast. We had a zero yesterday, but Saturday might be another one.