morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-22
From: Cherry Gap Shelter TN

To: Ash Gap Campsite TN
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: few clouds

Day 34 ¢ Saturday March 22 ¢ Ash Gap Campsite TN ¢ Miles Today: 13.7 Total Miles: 369.9We woke to temps in the mid 40s. The temps rose to the mid 50s today, but a wind kept us cool on the inclines. It was a mostly clear sunny day. The winds were not overly strong.We crossed paths with Traveler today, the 62-year-old man we hiked with for a few days in the Smokies! He was slack packing southbound when we ran into him. He¢s looking great. We wish him the best!We also saw just a couple day hikers out today, as it is a weekend. Tonight we are at the Ash Gap camping area. It's one of the few times that we've camped at a location that does not have a shelter. We¢re finding, in this region, that the camping areas are better marked, as are the blue blazes to the water source. Always a nice thing to be able to find alternative camping sites. We made a silly mistake at camp tonight. We set up our tent, exploded our packs, and then noticed a huge dead branch hanging above our tent, just waiting to complete its journey to the ground. In addition, there was a huge 100-year-old dead tree right beside our tent. Bummer. Guess we forgot to check our surroundings before setting up the tent. So although the tent was set up and everything was unpacked in it, we removed the heavy stuff, carted the assembled tent 50 yards down the camping area and set it up in a nice grove of pine trees. Lesson: Always look for dead trees before you set up your tent. You¢d think by day 34 of this adventure that we¢d have it down pat. Sometimes I guess our brains are just too tired to think.We can definitely tell we're getting ready to summit Roan Mountain (6285¢) tomorrow as we had quite a bit of altitude gain today. We're camping at 5350', about a mile and a half from the summit. Tomorrow will be a tough day. We have several steep incline/decline sets, so we're resting and getting ready for the big summit tomorrow. Our last 6000¢+ mountain until New England! Wow, that is just really hard to believe.Hammer and Nails were still in their tent this morning when we left and we have not seen them today. They generally hike later hours than we do. It's about 7:30. They may have passed us in the past hour that we've been in the tent. Since the next shelter is just a mile and a half up the trail, perhaps we'll see them tomorrow morning when we walk through that area.It's about 50 degrees in the tent at 7:30. Goodnight just shy of Roan Mountain.
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Campsite just past Dolls Flat NC/TN

To: Unnamed Campsite TN
Miles today: 18.0

Day 36 ¢ Monday March 24 ¢ Unnamed Campsite TN ¢ Miles Today: 18.0 Total Miles: 401.8We woke up this morning at Doll Flats campsite at 4600' to a light snow hitting the tent. It was about 25 degrees outside so we bundled up in our rain jacket and rain pants and headed out in the light snow flurries, which we had most of the morning. Despite the snow, we are seeing more signs of spring; the tree buds are getting bigger and at lower elevations, we are seeing some trees in bloom. We continued today to see daffodils out in the wild. It was pretty neat to see signs of spring but yet snow flurries in the air. The forsythia is also blooming down in towns. Today was a long hike, a bit over 17 miles, but uneventful - a bit of sun, a bit of clouds and a bit of snow. We got to a camp around 4:30 - not quite sure if we found the one that was designated at 400.5 miles but we found one regardless. This site did not have water but we are used to making sure that we have enough water to get through the night and breakfast the next day. We don¢t seem to excel in finding campsites per our guidebook nor necessarily the water source mentioned in the same book. Or if we find the water source it is sometimes dry, so we tend to over carry on water. Shortly after climbing in the tent around 6:00, nice little snow flurries arrived and our tent walls were soon covered with snow. We shook it off which we've now learned we should not do because then it all promptly fell on the tent perimeter, shutting off any venting. So then we had to get our Brakeman's camp shoe and move all the snow away so that we have the proper venting for our tent. More snow has arrived and the tent is now covered once again. There's probably 1/2" to 1" of snow on the ground from this little 30-minute flurry but our thermometer's reading about 40 degrees so we do anticipate some melting, hopefully over night. If not, we'll be heading off in the snow tomorrow. The original game plan for us was to stay at Kincora Hostel tomorrow. But because of the miles into Damascus and the fact that we've been staying in a motel every four or five days recently, whether we need it or not, we'll probably just pick up our food drop, make a donation for that service and keep on hiking to the next shelter. We hit two major milestones today. First of all, we've passed over 400 miles! And second, we finished North Carolina! Last night's campsite was at the North Carolina - Tennessee border. We're now fully in Tennessee!   Two states down, 12 to go!Goodnight from the AT. Still having a blast.   Looking forward to seeing Harry and Marian in 4 1/2 days.
Date: 2008-03-29
From: Unnamed Campsite VA

To: TomÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin - Damascus VA
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: light rain

Day 41 ¢ Saturday March 29 ¢ Tom¢s Cabin - Damascus VA ¢ Miles Today: 1.9 Total Miles: 461.1We had just a couple mile hike in to Damascus where we hit the Post Office and the Outfitter and then waited for Harry and Marian to whisk us off to Tom's cabin for a long weekend of R & R, cleaning - both us and our gear - and eating - tons of eating! We had a field day at the Outfitter while waiting for Harry and Marian. We got our tent pole replaced (under warranty) and they gave us a couple extra ones in case we had any more problems. We picked up a stuff sack for the tent so we can stuff it smaller.   We also got a waterproof stuff sack for all our electronics replacing the double baggies we¢d been using. Hopefully this will be a safe solution and a bit more convenient. We picked up a new cartridge for the water filter and while they were helping us remove our old cartridge they upgraded our whole unit to the new unit!   We ran into Just Rick, Rock Star, Uncle Max/Sandlewood and Chatter at the outfitter. We were all eyeing new gear options like kids in a candy store!We were also forced to partake in a few glazed donuts being offered by the Outfitters! We showed great constraint by only having 2 each!We walked around main street for a bit while we kept an eye out for Harry & Marian. It was not long before they arrived, with donuts and milk! Before we even left the town limits we had each downed 2 donuts, in addition to the 2 donuts we had at the outfitter!   Gosh, this weekend is getting off to a good start already!The drive to Tom's cabin turned out to be much longer than expected. It was 50 miles but because it was on windy mountain roads, it took nearly 2 hours. We arrived almost carsick, but to a beautiful cabin! Cabin is really a misnomer, as it is a home just beautifully decorated with views that are probably to die for, but we can¢t see much due to the fog.Harry kept a roaring fire going in the fireplace and we all just relaxed. In between relaxing and eating we did emails, washed clothes and called REI regarding our leaky Gortex (GoreMesh) trail runners.Our Trail Angles prepared a ton of food for us. Today was Dagwood sandwiches for lunch, spaghetti for dinner and a double batch (i.e. 2 cups flour) of raw chocolate chip cookie dough made with milk chocolate morsels and walnuts for desert. It was all most delicious, especially the cookie dough. Thanks H&M!!
Date: 2008-03-30
From: TomÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin - Damascus VA

To: TomÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin - Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 42 ¢ Sunday March 30 ¢ Tom¢s Cabin - Damascus VA ¢ Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 461.1Another relaxing day at the cabin!   Eating, sitting in front of the roaring fire manned by Harry, packaging our food for our next section, repairing gear and doing emails.The sad news is that the raw chocolate chip cookie dough is gone!   Yep, a double batch gone in less than 24 hours! We are now limited to just Oreos for our dessert. Such horrible sacrifices!The great spread of food continues: pancakes and sausage for breakfast; Dagwood sandwiches for lunch and pork tenderloin for dinner. Yum!It continued to drizzle and the icicles hanging on the porch railing tell us that it is cold outside! So glad we are not hiking today!So very, very nice of Harry & Marian and Tom & Paula to be our Trail Angels! Thank you.Back to the roughing it on the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Lost Mountain Shelter VA

To: Just Past Wise Shelter VA
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: light rain

Day 44 ¢ Tuesday April 1 ¢ Just Past Wise Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 17.6 Total Miles: 494.5Happy Birthday, E. J.!! The guy at the shelter last night had mentioned to us that we probably didn't want to tent with the 60% rain forecast last night and 80% this morning but we had nothing other than a couple sprinkles all day long. So these people who live by the forecast in the mountains - foolish, foolish - as forecasts change all the time. We did have quite a bit of gray clouds this morning but they never produced any precipitation, at least on us. It was a warm night - probably one of our warmer nights and we woke up this morning a bit earlier, probably due to the warmth. We hit the trail by 7:20 and it wasn't long before we were hiking in shorts and a T-shirt. Of course, we were going uphill for a good bit of the morning and I¢m sure that added to our warmth! Today we had our last 5000' elevations (Whitetop Mountain and Mount Rogers) until we hit the Northeast! We did not take the side trail to the top of Mr. Rogers (been there before ¢ all treed in), but we still topped out over 5400¢. The descent off Mount Rogers reminded us of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as we had the typical boulder fields, roots and winds associated with elevations above 4000 - 5000'. Grayson Highlands State Park is pretty, but basically a huge boulder field. So today was a hard day on the feet but we did nearly 18 miles and are not feeling tired at all. Met two flip-floppers today heading south, Blueberry and Professor, who might switch his name to The Wizard. They started, I believe, in the James River area and are heading to Georgia and will then flip flop. I'm not sure if they will flip-flop back to Virginia and head north or go to Maine and then head south. A very nice retired couple. We're running about 5 days behind schedule due to our side trip to the cabin and the flu bug but we're thinking within the next week or so, we'll probably be just 4 days behind our schedule. Not that it matters.It's an early evening. We accomplished our nearly 18 miles in 9 hours, arriving to Wise Shelter at 4:30. We cooked our dinner, filtered and headed on down the trail, as Grayson Highlands State Park does not allow tenting around shelters.   Just .3 miles past the shelter, we found a flat spot and set up camp for the night. The skies are clear this evening. It's supposed to be clear for two days and then perhaps rain three days from now. But who knows. It¢s too far out to predict.   It¢s 7:20 and just under 60 degrees. It looks like we're going to be calling it a night here soon although it's still daylight. We¢ll have to start hiking a bit later into the day if we don't want to rest so much at camp. Tomorrow is another big day as we pass the 500-mile milestone! If you hear a YAHOO tomorrow, it'll be us. Good night from just past Wise Shelter.
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Campsite just past Knot Maul Branch Shelter VA

To: Jenkins Shelter VA
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 48 ¢ Saturday April 5 ¢ Jenkins Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 18.7 Total Miles: 569.4We awoke to our 3rd gray day in a row and headed out with our rain gear on due to sprinkles.   However, for 99% of the day, we were lucky as most of the day remained dry, despite the gray and fog. We had that feeling of being on a treadmill today - that is, walking and walking but having the same view over and over again. At least the views when we could see off the ridge, which was not often, were gorgeous. The sights were of many farms in the valley with lovely green rolling hill pastures.   Very pretty.It was an uneventful day but much, much longer than we had expected. The last 10 miles of the day, from Docks Knob Shelter to Jenkins Shelter, was just pure rock! Not a good way to end a nearly 19-mile day. It was quite strenuous. It taxed us both mentally and physically and we were mighty glad to see Jenkins Shelter. About 3-4 miles shy of our shelter the sprinkles arrived again, so on went the rain gear. We ended our day with rocks and sprinkles.Grasshopper's fall tally, by the way, is up to 7! With the score of 7-1, it looks like it's going to be a non-contest event.There were 2 guys, perhaps weekenders, already at the shelter when we arrived. We passed two section hikers - older gentlemen - within the last 4 miles of the trail who were also heading to this same shelter.   The shelters here are not spaced quite to our liking. They're either a little bit close together or a bit too far apart. Tomorrow we're going to get up earlier (6:00 a.m.), be on the trail by 7:00 and try a 23.8 miler. The terrain looks a whole lot easier than today. We'll be at lower elevations so we¢re hoping that the rocks, which we experienced for the last 10 miles today, will be MIA tomorrow. One can only wish! As we got into our tent, it really started to rain.   Good night from Jenkins Shelter. It's about 50 degrees as it's been all day long and it¢s currently raining.
Date: 2008-04-15
From: Comfort Inn Daleville VA

To: Comfort Inn Daleville VA 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 58 ¢ Tuesday April 15 ¢ Comfort Inn Daleville VA ¢ Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 716.7Had a nice relaxing day in the motel room eating, going downstairs to the lobby about a million times to use the internet, eating, looking out our window at the beautiful clear blue sky - a warm 60 degree day and eating! Did we mention, eating? We could hear lawnmowers running today from our room and the last couple times we've been through various towns we could smell freshly cut grass. More signs that spring is here. We've done a lot of work with the Gregory pack situation. We've drafted a repair letter that we'll send when we hit Waynesboro and we've talked several times to Brakeman's cousin, Karen, who used to work for the company that owns Gregory. Karen was able to contact her previous co-workers and has secured a loaner Triconi pack for the remainder of our hike, which is really cool. Its capacity and weight are a bit more but we can get it in the small size, which Brakeman definitely needs as his waist has shrunk. This also gives him the opportunity to try out the pack before purchasing it. It's a super deal and we really appreciate her inside track on helping us secure that pack. The next three days look like they're going to be dry. However, there are freeze warnings for tonight. It¢s to be in the low 30s in the morning, but by the time we eat our continental breakfast for 45 minutes or so, and hit the trail for a leisure 11-mile hike, it should be quite warm. That's it from exciting Daleville. We'll be back on trail tomorrow with hopefully more rested legs. Goodnight.
Date: 2008-04-22
From: Sky Rock Campsite VA

To: Maupin Field Shelter VA
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 65 ¢ Tuesday April 22 ¢ Maupin Field Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 17.7 Total Miles: 829.7We woke up to our normal Virginia mist, light rain and gray skies. It was in the 40s this morning and based on yesterday's chill in our bones, we headed out with a little more clothing under our rain gear. Today we wore our long pants and our #1 tops. It misted on and off until about lunchtime. The timing for the rain stopping was great, as after lunch we had nearly a 3000¢ incline, and we were able to shed our rain gear for the climb! We had been really hoping to be able to do the climb in cooler temperatures and we were. It¢s the small things that make us so happy! Partway up the big climb, it misted but luckily not enough for us to get out our rain gear. Today was a day of contrasts. This morning we dropped about 3000' via 36 switchbacks on Priest Mountain and then after lunch we climbed up about 3000'. Unfortunately, most of the trail today was rocky so by the end of our nearly 18-mile day, our knees and feet were definitely ready for a break. Although we had no sights today because of the fog, we did see plenty of new wildflowers, so it was still a beautiful day. The trail took us to many lookout rocks; however, we could see nothing. We may just have to come back and visit this area someday when the weather is dry and clear.The nice thing is that the mist and fog cleared out by the time we got to the campsite around 5:00. We hung the rain gear and rain fly to dry. By bedtime, they were still slightly damp, but slightly damp is good living compared with what we've been in the last couple days. We've not seen any sign of Chris for the last 2 nights. We thought he¢d be here with us tonight, but it's 7:30 and he has not arrived yet. It's about 60 degrees and time to crash. We¢ll probably do 15-16 miles tomorrow to position us for Waynesboro the following day, with just a 5-mile hike in. Goodnight from just shy of Waynesboro.
Date: 2008-04-27
From: Pinefield Hut VA

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut VA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: light rain

Day 70 ¢ Sunday April 27 ¢ Bearfence Mountain Hut VA ¢ Miles Today: 20.6 Total Miles: 904.3 We had a couple major milestones today ¢ we went over 900 miles and we just completed 10 weeks on the trail!!!!! Wahoo!! That's probably actually the best news we had all day. Mentally, it was not a fun day, as in addition to the gray skies our views of the forest were one of huge devastation. The forest floor is just covered with tons and tons of downed trees. Luckily the trail was clear. We cannot even imagine how many hundreds of hours it took the trail crews and volunteers to clear the trail! The blow-downs are perhaps from Hurricane Isabelle or another hurricane around 2003. The 50+ miles that we've hiked in the Shenandoah National Park has really not been pretty whatsoever due to the devastation. In the last few miles today, the devastation decreased, so we're hoping that perhaps the few days that we have remaining in the park will be prettier. But luckily, we had cool temperatures and no rain today for our hike! We had gray skies and temps in the upper 50s for most of the day.We continue to see deer every day in this Park. It's amazing. They are not skittish. They just pretty much go about their business and don't run off the trail when they see us. Grasshopper was not a happy camper today. She decided that her feet did not like back to back 20+ mile days, especially when breaking in new stiff shoes.   So we spent time in the tent this evening laying out the next 2 weeks, as we have to let Mike, Robin and Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper know when to meet us. We need to make sure we have a game plan that is doable without killing the feet. We¢re going to need happy feet to get to Maine! We have 2 more very long days in this park. Tomorrow is going to be a nearly 19-mile day followed by a 21-mile day. After that we're going to get back down in the teens. Although this park is easier, when we increased the miles from 16-18 to 20+ with new shoes, we basically neutralized the easiness of the terrain and put the extra wear and tear on the knees and feet. Each day lately we've been getting up at 5:00, hitting the trail by 6:00 and getting to camp at 5:00 p.m. It does make for a long day.Once we were in the tent this evening, it started to rain. It's now 8:00 and about 60 degrees. It's been sprinkling on and off for about an hour. Forecast for tomorrow is probably rain, so the rain gear has not been put away. The rain gear has been our constant companion the last few days. We've got it ready for tomorrow and we shall see what we are given. Goodnight from 904 miles!
Date: 2008-05-04
From: David Lesser Memorial Shlter VA

To: Comfort Inn Harpers Ferry WVA 
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 77 ¢ Sunday May 4 ¢ Comfort Inn Harpers Ferry WVA ¢ Miles Today: 9.4 Total Miles: 1011.5We had an uneventful night with the Boy Scouts. They got settled in pretty quickly and were quiet.We had a few sprinkles last night, perhaps less than a minute and then it was dry for the remainder of the night. We¢re really enjoying the dry weather! Hopefully the 2 limbs that fell on our tent last night did not do any damage, but it will take a long, hard rain before we know for sure. The Scout leader was up at 6:00 barking loud orders for the kids to get moving. He sounded just like a Marine Drill Sergeant. There was no consideration for other sleeping hikers who may not have planned to get up at 6:00. Luckily for us, it was not a problem as we had planned to get up at 6:00. We had a 9-mile hike to the AT Conservancy so that we could meet Brakeman's brother (Mike) and nephew (Ethan) for lunch. We got to the ATC a little after 11:00. We¢re hikers numbered 33 and 34 to check in at Harper's Ferry! Not bad, since our numbers at Neels Gap were 49 and 50 and we are twice as old as most of the hikers out here! But we figure more of the young March crowd will be passing us soon!We had a great afternoon with Mike and Ethan at a restaurant overlooking the historic Harper's Ferry area. Good hamburgers and fries. They then took us to a grocery store so we could buy our dinners and lunches for the next few days on the trail. THANKS trail angels Mike and Ethan!!We decided that since the Harper's Ferry KOA was not charging $10 per site as our book stated but $35, that we would stay at the Comfort Inn instead. Our motel costs are adding up quickly. We seem to be in a motel again every 4-5 days but that will end soon once we get up into the New England states.The big news is that we entered West Virginia today and tomorrow we will enter Maryland! The states are winding down; however, we're not quite to the 1/2 way point. Good night from the psychological 1/2 way point - Harper's Ferry.