morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-25
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 25.1
Weather: overcast clouds

For once, I wasn't the first one awake this morning. Chef was up and out very early, quickly followed by Stealth and Archangel. I woke around the same time but left a little later, since I wanted to drink tea before I left. It is also a very real difficulty to get out of bed when it's so cold outside. There is a considerable temptation to just stay in my sleeping bag for the entire day (which is something I have actually seen others do). So, I drank my tea and left the shelter at 7am. The trail was actually decent today, with many sections that had very slow and gentle inclines. There were even some flatter sections around the James river. I imagine that it is very picturesque in sunlight, but in rain and mist it just looked creepy. There was also a massive mountain section to climb for the last about 9 miles. All of this was made a lot harder than it needed to be because of the weather. It was grey and drizzly for most of the day, with some cold blustery winds. For the last couple hours over Bluff Mountain, the wind was fierce and the rain was freezing. There was even ice on some of the trees at the top. I had to stop a couple times to add on my cold weather gear. I'm so glad that I kept hold of some of it! My gloves kept my hands dry and protected from the freezing wind, my buff protected my face, my rain trousers kept me warm and dry. I also still have my thick long pj bottoms, which I am very grateful for tonight when it is absolutely freezing. The good thing about bad weather is that I don't see any snakes and very few bugs. This is the only advantage. Disadvantages include; being cold, being wet, lowered morale, drink less water, take no photos, dry sack pillow is very small. When I finally got to the shelter at 4.30 (I'm getting a little faster), there was just enough space for me to fit inside. Though later, we managed to cram in 3 more people. Two people are sleeping right on the edge of the shelter, by everyone's heads. The rain is still coming down, and the temperature is still low enough for me to see my own breath. Once again I'm going to be sleeping beside my Sawyer, which I'm constantly afraid of crushing. I also have to move it every time I roll over, since otherwise it might get too cold being away from my body. Tomorrow we have to hike about 10 miles to a road, and then hopefully get a 9 mile hitch into town. Dopey has to wait for a package, since the post office won't be open until Monday (tomorrow is Sunday). I'm probably going to split a room in town with her, mostly because I hate staying outside when the weather is so cold and wet like this. And because I love hotel rooms, showers, and electricity.
Date: 2015-04-26
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Buena Vista
Miles today: 11.3

Today I was definitely the first awake, but it took me a long time to get ready. The rain was pounding on the tin roof, and there was a thick fog outside the shelter. I could also see my own breath, which is never a good sign. I cooked breakfast whilst still inside my sleeping bag, and stayed there as long as I could. I left about 8am, wearing full rain gear. About an hour later, I had to stop and take it all off. The rain had stopped and I was boiling again. I was speeding through the trail as fast as I could to get into town. I got to the road crossing at 11.30am. The last 1.8 miles I did in less than 30 minutes, which is great time for me. I was quickly given a lift into Buena Vista by a hiker (Badfoot) who I actually passed in the poor weather yesterday. I resupplied at the Family Dollar, which had everything I needed (though doesn't sell gas). The resupply was only for 3 days, since Waynesboro is about 60 miles away. After that, I met up with the others outside Don Tequilas, which is a Mexican food place. It was very busy, because it seems to be the only restaurant in the town and it is a Sunday. The food was decent, but the dessert was better. I tried Mexican fried ice cream for the first time, which was delicious and not what I was expecting. It was just plain ice cream with a fried wafer bowl, and covered in whipped cream. Later, I met up with Dopey and we tried to check into the Budget Inn... But it was closed for an emergency. So we had to wait for an hour, and then checked in. The room was $20 more expensive than the guidebook suggested, and the receptionist only revealed that it was only one bed after Dopey had paid. The room itself was quite spacious, and the bed was at least large. There was a plain bathroom, and a big kitchenette. There was a full sized refrigerator, table, seating, loads of cupboard space. There was not any cutlery or plates, or anything remotely helpful. The free wifi also did not work, which was incredibly frustrating. However, the shower was hot. I spent the rest of the day flopped on the bed, reading, eating cereal, and relaxing. Tomorrow, we have to leave the comfy warm room and head back to the trail. The weather is supposed to get steadily warmer throughout the week, so I hope it will be warmer and drier tomorrow. My ankle is still feeling off, and some of my blisters are getting worse instead of healing. I am going to see what they look like in Waynesboro before deciding what to do next.
Date: 2015-04-27
From: Buena Vista

To: The Priest shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

I woke today about 7am, after spending the night trying to wrestle the covers from Dopey. It turns out that a king sized duvet is not really big enough for two people who are used to sleeping bags surrounding them. After the usual hustle and bustle of packing up, and eating the rest of my cereal, we headed out to the post office to get Dopey's parcel. She successfully retrieved it, and we headed for the main road to get a hitch back out of town. Our wanderings around Buena Vista revealed more of the little downtown area. It's a strange place, with mixed architecture. Some of the buildings look like they're straight from the 1860s, real saloon style fronts. But the real strange thing is that the majority of the stores are closed down. It's the first time I've really seen the damage to small town America because of the rise of bigger stores (like the nearby Walmart) and the recent recession. It's a very sad sight for so many beautiful buildings. We managed to get a lift from a man who has been shuttling hikers for decades, and we were back on the trail by 10am. It was a very late start by my standards, but I managed to make good time and reached the shelter by 5.30pm. The weather this morning started off with an ominously thick fog, but thankfully lifted to reveal sunny skies. However, the clouds later rolled in with random gusts of fierce wind which made it really annoying. Half the time I was either freezing or burning. With my late start, I stopped for lunch at 3pm on a random rock. It was a point where I thought if I didn't stop then I would surely faint if I didn't eat immediately. About 5-10 minutes after I started hiking again, I reached the second shelter. Annoying. I carried on hiking and snacking. Archangel and Lorax greeted me at the shelter, and Dopey arrived not long later. The Priest shelter is fairly standard, but has a good spring right beside. The privy has four walls, but the door doesn't close. Instead, it swings open whilst you're sat inside, on the freezing metal toilet seat. But still better than having to dig my own hole.We are now only about 35 miles from Waynesboro. Dopey expressed a desire to do 30 miles tomorrow, but I don't think I will do that. Instead, I expect I will camp after about 23 miles. Worryingly, I just heard from a southbounder that he saw a bear by a shelter a few days ago.At the very least, tomorrow is predicted to be a sunny day, and the first part of the morning is a 3000 foot drop. Of course, it is then followed by a 3000 foot climb, but at least it's a gentle one over a few miles (or at least, I hope it will be gentle).
Date: 2015-04-30
From: Waynesboro

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

My hotel bed was extremely comfortable last night, and I sprawled out and enjoyed the space greatly. I went to the free breakfast at 7.30. I've noticed that the hotel breakfasts have waffle making machines, which I think all hotels should have. I briefly chatted with Lorax, who is staying in town with Archangel for another day. Then, I called "Miss Lady" who is one of the many people listed to give hikers shuttles in Waynesboro. I got lucky, as she was just dropping off a hiker in town and came to pick me up and take me to the trailhead. At the parking lot, Bearbaits wife was there again, dropping off Butter. She gave me another coke, and I headed off into the Shenandoahs. About a mile in, I had to register for a permit and attach part of it to my pack. Second Guess and Butter joined me and quickly passed me. The trail was quite sunny again today, but the predicted rain appeared. It was fairly light though, just enough for me to wear my coat but not enough to drench my trousers. There were also very loud thunderstorms, but they didn't bother me too much because I wasn't on a bald. The weather was a bit difficult, because it was just cold enough that I would get chilly and then I would immediately get too hot if I pulled my sleeves or trouser legs down. The trail is a bit easier here, but some sections have been quite rocky. I fell right on my face at one point, which hurt a lot. The trail seems very similar to the sections beforehand, but with a lot more road crossings and power lines. I haven't noticed anything special about the Shenandoahs yet. However, I have been told numerous times about the waysides. These are places which allegedly sell food and milkshake. I will reach one of these waysides about 10 miles in tomorrow, which is nearly halfway through the day, so it will be a nice place for lunchtime. As always, the hike from town was quite difficult because my pack felt very heavy and I felt so tired. Leaving towns always makes me feel tired, especially when I remember how comfortable and lazy I had been in town (and how I could be feeling if I had stayed in town instead). I eventually made it to the shelter just after 5pm. To my surprise, Smasher and Deerdog were there, along with quite a few others. I haven't seen them since Daleville. We have a full shelter tonight, as the weather is supposed to hail though there is no sign of that yet. Although I have split from my group, I am definitely not alone on the trail. In fact, I saw a lot of hikers today, though most were just day hikers.For the first time, I had to use one of the bear poles. This means sticking my food bag on a metal pole and then lifting it onto another metal pole with hooks about 10 feet off the ground. It was quite difficult for me to do, and I looked very ridiculous trying to control the pole and hook the bag. I'm sure I will look more ridiculous trying to get it down tomorrow. Now it's only 7.30pm, but I am going to try to sleep since I already feel so exhausted. Everyone else in the shelter is already in their sleeping bags, so I think the feeling is mutual.
Date: 2015-05-05
From: Front Royal

To: Manassas Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Right now I'm sat inside Manassas Gap shelter, listening to the heavy rain falling into the metal roof and the loud rolling thunder. I've only gone 10 miles today, but I have plenty of time to get to Harpers Ferry, so I am going to stay here with the rain and the bugs. There is also a birds nest inside the shelter, but no birds. Earlier, Smasher and Second Guess got up at about 6am. I enjoyed my comfortable hotel mattress far too much to move that early, so didn't move until an hour later. Similarly, they left town at 9. I had to get some more neosporin and stove gas, so stayed a little longer. Frustratingly, nowhere in Front Royal had any gas (the hotel manager even called several shops). So, now I am probably going to run out of fuel very soon. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning. I got back to the trail at 10am and very slowly made my way through the woods. Before that though, I managed to somehow break my earphones (the ones I had only bought about 2 weeks ago). It was extremely humid today. The clothes that I had just laundered last night were quickly ruined with sweat. Once again, the trail was relatively gentle in terms of climbs. I think the trail has been trying to lure me into a false sense of security, as I know that "the rollercoaster" is coming up in the next couple days. The rollercoaster is 13.5 miles of constant ups and downs. The elevation profile in the book is just ridiculous.The forest is also much greener than the Shenandoahs, with even splashes of purple and white trees starting to bud. There are daffodils and bluebells dotted about too. But along with this lovely spring view, there are also a million more bugs. I am constantly having to brush them off my arms and face, and if it's not bugs then it's sticky spider webs. If I stop for even a minute, I get swarmed by bugs. Some of them are bugs I have never even seen before. At least I still haven't seen any ticks yet though. At lunch time, I stopped at a picnic table and was joined by a SOBO section hiker. He asked me how my feet were doing. I told him honestly that they hurt, and that they always hurt, even if I spend the entire day resting. I look forward to the day when I can once again walk without limping or hurting. It is strange how normalised this kind of constant pain has become. Only 20 miles until I'm at mile 1000, but I have to wonder how much this has cost my body for the long term. I've just gone to hang my food bag on the bear pole, and there were two hares hopping along the trail. One of them ran away, but another came quite close to me. I had brief visions of the rabbit from Monty Python's Holy Grail, but it thankfully ran away as well.
Date: 2015-05-09
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up at 5am, and rolled around on my squashy comfy mattress until breakfast at 6.15. I had some delicious waffles, courtesy of Laurel (the owner) herself. After that, I returned to bed but didn't sleep until 9.30, when I packed up and headed out to the ATC. Prior to leaving, I had been exchanging emails with a trail angel, Vicki, who had been reading my blog. She kindly offered to help me go to Walmart (5 miles away) and resupply. She also gave me an enormous amount of delicious food, to the point where I was stuffed full for hours. For the third day in a row, I have experienced the incredible generosity and selflessness that surrounds the Appalachian Trail. It does make me wonder what it is about the trail that has encouraged so many people to offer so much to strangers, without any recompense except for gratitude. I eventually had a small pasta lunch at the Towns Inn, which was delicious, but I was mostly there to use the wifi. After, I went back up the hill to the ATC. I met Vicki again, who was about to head off for her own hike on the extremely sunny trail. Then, I stayed in the ATC for a couple hours reading on the sofa and acting as an exhibit of a thru hiker, to be peered at by the many visitors. Some asked questions or sought advice. I felt a bit like a sage hiking guru, though I know there is still so much to learn. Eventually, I made my way back to the Towns Inn (again, wifi). I was waiting for my family to come and visit me all the way from Michigan. I wasn't sure that they would be able to make the long journey, but was very happy when they finally pulled up. They were very impressed by my (ridiculous) tan lines, and noticed that my body has definitely changed shape a bit. We went to dinner at the Canal Cafe, where I ate yesterday, and had another excellent but very pricey meal. From there, it was back to an extremely fancy hotel - at least for the standards of the AT. It had a power shower and multiple kinds of free soap! My bed feels like a giant cloud. Tomorrow I am going to get up at the usual early time and look forward to seeing what the breakfast buffet for this hotel will be.
Date: 2015-05-10
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Washington DC
Miles today: 0.0

Officially took a full zero day miles away from the trail for the first time. My family and I took a trip to Washington DC, which is a far cry from the tiny towns and minuscule populations that surround the majority of the Appalachian Trail. Washington is fairly easy to get to from Harpers Ferry- there are a few trains early in the morning and in the evening. It's even easier if you can get driven there, as I did. To my amazement, Washington has a lot of parking spaces available for tourists, for free on weekends. We had an exceptionally burning hot day, and now I already have a bit of a burn line around the shape of my new Tshirt. First, we went to the Washington Monument. It is huge, and is an excellent geographic marker to find your bearings. After, we went to the White House (or rather, a fence quite far away from the White House). Perhaps it is because we were standing so far away, but the White House was not particularly impressive. It's certainly no Buckingham Palace (where you can get much closer). From there we walked to the Smithsonian American history museum. We passed many enormous stone block buildings on the way. The style for the federal buildings seems to be a faux European style. Some of the buildings would have fit in very well in London. The American buildings also have a strange feature where they carve onto the buildings entire giant paragraphs, instead of just a motto or something smaller. The Smithsonian was okay, but not exceptional. It was actually disappointing, given the Smithsonian reputation. Half of the museum seems to be under construction for future exhibits. Also, it cost $2 for a single banana, or apple, or orange, at the restaurant. After, we walked down to the Holocaust museum. Both of these museums are free entry, by the way. The Holocaust museum does an excellent job of setting the right tone, and also actually educating people about the facts of the Holocaust which are so often ignored (or unknown) in the public consciousness. I really enjoyed this museum, despite the sad subject matter, and I recommend a visit. From there, it was back up the Mall to see the reflecting pool and the. The Lincoln Memorial. It was also huge, and had a bunch of steps that I stiffly climbed up. My knees today have been far worse than my feet. Washington was a nice place to visit for the day, but I really have to wonder what else you can do there except for visit the rest of the museums. It is definitely the sort of place that you can see the major features of within one day, easily, which makes it great for thru-hikers.At the end of the day, I returned to the Teahorse Hostel, which was much fuller than last time. I had to creep about with my torch, because by 10pm everyone was in bed asleep. Tomorrow, I plan to hike 15 miles, and I hope I can remember how. I think the hardest part will be just setting off.
Date: 2015-05-13
From: Ravens Rock Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.8

Last night Crane appeared at the shelter. I was surprised to see him, since the last time had been in Hot Springs, months ago. Two other hikers showed up briefly but moved on, I think they were attempting the 4 states challenge. I tried to sleep but was restless all night. I woke up with another mosquito bite on my hand this time. I will have to start sleeping in my tent soon, for bug protection. I left just after 7. The trail was flat for a little, then had a painful rocky descent for a bit. It was all big rocks that required me to actually bend my knees properly, which hurts a lot now. I can't even climb stairs easily anymore. The morning started off windy and cloudy, but brightened up later on. At least for most of the day, the bugs were gone. I barely had to wipe away any webs. There was quite a lot of flat on the trail today, which was quite nice but a bit repetitive. Some more sections were rocky, but small enough to be a nuisance to my ankles rather than knees. There was only one major climb, about 900 feet, which is nothing compared to what I have done in the past. I'm slightly jealous of the flip flop hikers, their start point is so flat! I didn't see any interesting animals today (thankfully). The only really notable sight was the privy at Tumbling Run shelters, which was very clean and white inside. It had 4 rolls of toilet paper on holders, and I actually forgot I was in a privy and looked around for a flush. I had a couple surprising incidents of trail magic today. First was when I crossed into PA (Pennsylvania) and came down to a footbridge. I noticed a purple box, which contained a log book, on the ground. Next to it in the river were cans of root beer and cream soda, as well as a couple of apples. They were in the water to keep them cool and protect them from animals. A great idea.When I got to the shelter, it was 2.45pm. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself- yesterday it took much longer to do a little more. I think the absence of bugs and a bit cooler weather helped me regain some speed. After a while, the shelter caretaker showed up (a volunteer) and he cleaned up some of the trash and random clothes that had been left here. Before he left, he gave me a wooden spork, which he said that he makes himself. It's very light and much more durable than my plastic one (which has lasted surprisingly long). There are actually two small shelters here, but I'm the only one so far. I didn't pass anyone going north, even though I passed three shelters, so I'm not expecting any one else here tonight. Instead of cables or poles, this site has a bear box, which I need to figure out how to use later. Tomorrow, I am walking three miles down and then I am going to either walk a further three miles into Fayetteville, or get a hitch in. I'm having a bit of difficulty trying to decide which towns to go to, since the ones that have cheap hostels are fast running dry.