morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-08-07
From: Otter Pond oarking access

To: Katahdin Ironworks Rd. 
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It's 8:07 pm, and Princess and Focus are asleep. I need to be, but I'm going to give you a quick rundown on today's adventure on the AT. Today we picked up at the northern end of yesterday's hike and headed NoBo. Today we had a lot of mountains (at least 5). None were really high but when you're starting at 700 ft, a 2700 ft mountain means a 2,000 ft elevation rise. Today's mountains were: Barren Mtn, Fourth Mtn, Third Mtn, Columbus Mtn, and Chairback Mtn. There was a big climb to the first mountain, Barren, but after that the other mountains were no more than a 600 ft climb since we hiked along the ridge. However, it seemed a lot tougher than the elevations suggest and I was completely exhausted by the end. The tops of almost all the mountains were large slabs of exposed granite (I think) and we had the opportunity to test the traction of our footwear as we tried to walk up the steep rock slabs. One of the hardest parts for me was descending through a large boulder field. Fortunately, Focus helped navigate through the field. A number of the descents were treacherous. If I remember correctly, Fourth Mountain had some of the most unnerving descents. We would come around a corner and suddenly the trail would drop 40 or 50 feet, with very little to hang on to and climb down. Perhaps this is second nature to veteran hikers, but it was freaky to me. Both Ranger and Focus helped guide us through, and Princess grew more intrepid as she got more practice. Oh, and there was lots of mud. One hiker we encountered stepped on a log in a bog and found that the log was floating. He went into the mud up to mid-thigh, and had the stains on his pants to prove it. So I had a tiring day. But there were nice sections. And it was rewarding, we were treated to a number of great views. We heard from Spartacus that his knee is improving and he still plans to rejoin us on Sunday evening. Ranger stayed with us here at Shaw's in Monson last night, but he's camping out in the wilderness tonight. He's doing a hybrid hike (his term). When we get shuttled out in the morning, we take him a slack-pack for the day's hike and he gives his backpack to the shuttle driver to keep for the day. When the shuttle comes out to pick us up at the end of the hike, he trades in his slack-pack for his backpack that's still in the shuttle vehicle and he camps out near the starting point for the next day. We even bring him fresh water and food. So he gets to camp in the woods (which he likes), and he only has to carry a slack-pack when he hikes. Tomorrow's hike will be another tough one, we will have to climb 3 successively higher mountains and finally the fourth and highest, Whitecap Mountain at 3,650 ft. This should be the last mountain challenge before Mt. Katahdin next week. Now it's time for sleep.
Date: 2015-08-09
From: Logan Brook Rd. 

To: Jo Mary Rd. 
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Spartacus is back!! After a brief recovery at home from an unfortunate incident on Bigelow, Spartacus returned today to pick all of us up at the end of our hike. He looks fine and fit and ready for action. He's been walking at home and his knee seems to be doing OK. It was great to see him and we're working out plans for our last few days of the adventure. The terrain today was good and bad. The bad part came first. Not really bad, but the kind of roots and rocks and mud that we've come to associate with Maine. And in spite of weather forecasts for 0% probability of rain, it rained last night and intermittently early this morning. So everything was wet and slippery. Regardless, we pushed on slowly and eventually made it to the top of Little Boardman Mtn., the high point for the day. Not long after we started down, I managed to take a pretty hard tumble. I slipped in one rock and went down hard on another. No major injuries, only a small scrape, but I'm starting to feel the after effects now. I was really lucky that I didn't fracture a rib. So that was the bad part of the hike. From then on, things improved and the terrain slowly got better. Make no mistake, there were still nasty spots, like rotting plank walks and slick puncheons over bottomless bogs, but fewer and farther between. And we did pass some beautiful ponds and hiked over a beaver dam at the end of one of the ponds. Much of the second half of the trail was easy walking over relatively level, dry terrain. It reminded us of AT trails from the southern states. Wide, clear and very few obstacles. We were able to pick up the pace and overcome the slow pace of the earlier sections. And there at Jo Mary Rd at the end of the hike was Spartacus. A passing hiker took a ceremonial pic of all of us back together. We've shifted our base from Monson to Millinocket for the rest of the hike. We planned to stay at the Appalachian Trail Lodge, but somehow our reservations got screwed up so we're staying at the Katahdin Inn tonight and hope to move to the AT Lodge tomorrow. We had a good dinner at Scootics and the rest of this week depends on the weather. Except for tomorrow it looks like a good chance of rain most of the week. If something changes and the weather improves for a day, we'll rearrange things and do Mt. Katahdin. We'd like to have good weather for safety - first, and good visibility as well. Tonight we're tired and nursing our bruises. Some of us may take a zero tomorrow to recuperate. We'll see.
Date: 2015-08-10
From: Jo Mary Rd. 

To: Pollywog Stream
Miles today: 23.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Ah, my partners did a long one today, and I did zero. But I had a productive day nonetheless. First of all, I got up early, has breakfast with them, and shuttled them into the 100-mile Wilderness, then checked out tomorrow's trailhead in the wilderness, then got a car pass for Baxter Park for our summit day (Thursday), then drove out to ABOL bridge to refresh the route in my mind, then checked into the Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket, and then drove back out to pick them up in the wilderness. So there was no extra sleep for me today. The weather was gorgeous. Zero day weather is always problematical. If the weather is lousy, you feel cheated somehow, like you finally got some free time and it's raining. On the other hand, if the weather is beautiful you feel guilty that you're wasting a good hiking day. So anyway, today was beautiful and I took advantage of it.The hike today was long, but pretty flat. There were a few sections with roots and rocks, but overall it was easy compared to others. The stream crossings were manageable. And the pace was around 2 1/2 mph, very respectable.There were two major events. First, Spartacus did a fabulous job in his first return hike. He hiked carefully (not an easy thing for "throw caution to the wind" Spartacus) and at a comfortable pace (no rushing), and none of his blood was spilled. In fact, he completed the day without a crash. It's great to have him back and we'll do our best to keep him well. The second event was a bee encounter. Spartacus got hit first and shouted "ouch" as he got stung on the hand, and then moments later Focus did the same and swatted a bee off his leg. Notably, Ranger was hiking between them and wasn't touched. He must have bee immunity. No one saw any more bees, fortunately. Tonight, Ranger is back in the woods, his favorite place. He succumbed to the Katahdin Inn last night, but today I met him at the end of the hike and he traded his slack-pack for his backpack. So tonight he's camped out somewhere in the wilderness. The rest of us have moved into the Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket. They have a bunkroom and some private rooms for reasonable rates. It's very clean and has all the amenities of a good hiker hostel. Plus it's on the Millinocket main drag, only a few steps away from several eateries and other services. We were disappointed that after several phone calls and even discussing shuttle arrangements, we had no reservations when we arrived. But we found alternative lodging last night and moved in today for 3 days. I would suggest that you call to confirm if you plan to stay here. Tomorrow should be the last wilderness hike if all goes well. Rain is predicted. With luck it will hold off until afternoon when we're finished.
Date: 2015-10-24
From: Loft Mountain Store, Shenandoah Park, VA

To: Riprap spur trail
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This hike is to makeup a section of the AT through the Shenandoah National Park that I missed in April while recovering from cellulitis. I propped my leg up for 6 days while Princess hiked through SNP. The section I missed extends from the Riprap spur trail at Skyline 90.0 north past the northern end of the park to VA 602. For the next week, Princess and I are staying at the Skyland Resort in SNP and Princess plans to shuttle me to and from each section that I hike. I¢ll be slack-packing and I¢m not concerned about whether I hike NoBo or SoBo. After finishing the hike with Spartacus on Thursday, we drove back to Norfolk on Friday and then drove directly to SNP on Saturday morning, arriving around mid-day. I was ready to hike and Princess dropped me off on the AT at the Loft Mountain Store. Since I had a late start, I did about 10 miles SoBo to the Riprap spur. The weather was great, cool and partly sunny, and the hike was relatively easy. I found it hard to believe how many other hikers were on the trail. The crowds were out to see the fall colors. The parking lots along Skyline Drive were jammed and the trails were packed with day hikers, but not many backpackers. I did meet one SoBo thru-hiker, BlackBeard, who started in Maine in July (I believe). He planned to continue on to Waynesboro and resupply there. Along with all the hikers, four horseback riders passed by in a parking lot. But I think they veered off on a different trail.I met Princess at the Riprap parking lot and we drove north to the Skyland Resort area. We checked in and were pleased to find that our room in the Pinnacle (nearest the registration desk) has been recently renovated, and is much nicer than the room we had this past summer. But apparently the park is charging more for the renovated rooms The whole resort is packed for the weekend with the color seekers. It¢s hard to get a weekend room here and we made our reservations nearly 2 months ago. Later we had dinner at the Taproom and we opted to head to bed early. I have a longer hike planned tomorrow.
Date: 2015-10-25
From: Pinefield Gap

To: South River Picnic Area
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The weather changed overnight and I woke to cooler temperatures and the threat of rain. I countered the weather challenge with sleeve warmers (from a bike store), long convertible hiking pants, wool glove liners and my Zpack poncho. I¢m also wearing high gaiters to keep the leaves and trash out of my boots, and they also help if the trail turns muddy. This setup is similar to what we wore in chilly temps last spring. The poncho is a pretty good windbreaker and provides more ventilation than a jacket to keep me from sweating. And of course it¢s a big help when it rains. I like the sleeve warmers because I can pull them down to my wrists when I get warm on the lee side of hills and then pull them up for more warmth when I catch the wind on the other side of the hill. My slack-pack is pretty light with a water bladder, emergency Sawyer water mini-filter, a Thermoball jacket (stuffed in a dry sack) in case I need it, and a couple of energy bars. I¢m not taking the Delorme satellite locator on this trip since the trail criss-crosses Skyline Drive all along the SNP. But I do have the GutHook AT app on my iPhone, mostly to find out how far I am from the finish line.The chance of rain was highest in the morning and I hoped to avoid it, but just as we reached the starting point it started to rain. So I donned the poncho and trudged off expecting the worst (I really don¢t like hiking in the rain). But it was my lucky day and the sprinkles tapered off quickly and never returned. Later I shed the poncho entirely. By the time I was finished in the afternoon, the temps was just where I like it for hiking. And the crowds were back. So far, the trails here in SNP are in great shape, well maintained and well marked with the brush cut back. It¢s easy to see why they¢re so busy.My hike today was 14.7 miles, several miles short of what we typically hiked earlier this summer. But I can tell that I haven¢t been on the trail, and the daily trips to the Y didn¢t maintain my stamina. After dinner and a couple of IPAs, I turned in early. Tomorrow will be longer still.
Date: 2015-10-26
From: Loft Mountain Store & South River Picnic Area

To: Milam Gap & Pinefield Gap
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

Princess is my captain and I have relied on her to recommend each day¢s hike. She pours over the SNP map, the ATC maps, and Awol¢s AT Guide to identify AT access points with parking lots and she also factors in road crossings that can provide emergency exit points if necessary. Plus she includes time to drive to a resupply store or do a quick laundry (not available at Skyland FYI) while she¢s waiting on me. So today I did a mix of 6.1 miles SoBo from Pinefield Gap to the Loft Mountain Store where she picked me up. And then 11.3 miles NoBo from the South River Picnic Area to Milan Gap. So by the end of the day, I filled in the gap from the Loft Mountain Store to Pinefield, and now I¢ve finished everything up to Milan Gap.Today was a beautiful day. It started off a little cool in the low 40¢s, but mostly clear and it climbed to near 60 in the afternoon. Again, the trails were in great shape and I was able to make good time. I have to be careful when the leaves are thick to avoid hidden trip hazards, but I haven¢t had any trouble so far. I had some fun making a short video as I walked along the trail and described the conditions as I hiked. This won¢t be so easy when there are more rocks.There were several good views today and the sun brought out the color. Bearfence Mountain is a fun climb for me, but I decided not to take the rock scramble at the top - the AT actually bypasses the scramble which is a blue blaze trail. The great weather brought out quite a few day hikers even though it was a weekday. The last climb today was up Hazletop, which is one of the higher mountains on the AT in SNP at 3812 feet. But it doesn¢t seem like a tough climb since it starts around 3200 feet. The Skyland Resort where we¢re staying is around 3700 feet and the highest point on the AT in SNP is the trail to Stony Man Mountain at 3837 feet just a little to the north.The 17.4 miles today tired me out, no trail-legs yet. After a quick dinner I crashed and got a nice long sleep. The bed here at Skyland is really comfortable.
Date: 2015-10-29
From: Milan Gap

To: Skyland Resort
Miles today: 10.6

What a difference a day makes!! We took a day off yesterday, fortunately. It was miserable outside: wind, rain, cold. And comfy inside: slept in, blazing fireplace, taproom. But today, things have changed. It¢s still windy and cold, but the rains stopped last night. The day started off cool and then climbed into the mid-60¢s with plenty of sunshine. The trail was damp from the rains, but the ground has been dry so the trail drained well. There was light debris on the trail with several recent blowdowns, otherwise it was in good shape. We tried a different support strategy today. Princess has been shuttling me to and from the trail, but she¢s getting antsy and wanted to do some hiking. So we arranged a key swap. My next section of trail is from Milam Gap to Skyland - where we¢re staying. We both got ready to hike about the same time. Princess took off SoBo from Skyland and I had a quick breakfast and then drove down to Milam Gap. I parked the car in the lot at the gap and then headed NoBo toward Skyland. After a couple of hours, we met on the trail and I gave her the car keys, then we both continued on. When she reached Milam Gap she hopped in the car and drove back up to Skyland. A bit later I hiked into Skyland at the end of my hike. It¢s likely that we will use the same strategy for the section that¢s north out of Skyland. As far as my hike was concerned, it was relatively short and went quite well. Elevations ranged from 3,000 to 3,700 feet. Several miles after starting, I skirted around the Big Meadows Campground. As usual, I saw plenty of deer, but not many campers. Next came some views the valley from Franklin Cliffs. Interesting features for me were the talus slopes along the trail. William (from Raleigh, NC) has provided a good description of these rock debris fields in our guest book (May 4), as well as interesting explanations of other features along the trail (like ¢Gods Thumbprint¢). I wish I had learned geology somewhere along the line, I¢m sure the AT would mean a lot more. Thanks to William for filling in some of the blanks. I ran into more rocks near the northern end of my hike, but trail maintainers have done a lot of good work over the years and the rocks were fairly easy to navigate. The final climb into Skyland was pretty easy along a broad, well-travelled trail. The AT crosses the middle of Skyland with a peak of about 3,750 feet sporting a water tank. When I reached the service road on the northern side, I circled back to the lodge where Princess was waiting. We have 2 more sections remaining and I think tomorrow we¢ll do the northernmost section, picking up from where I stopped on Tuesday and continuing north to the edge of the park. Then we¢ll finish things with the section just north of Skyland.
Date: 2015-10-30
From: Skyline Drive Mile 18.8 (AT crossing point)

To: VA 602
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I hiked the northernmost portion of the section I missed this summer, from where I stopped on Tuesday (the AT crosses Skyline Drive¢s 18.8 mile point) to VA Rt. 602. The end point is actually outside the park boundary, and the trail descends from about 2,800 ft. at the start to 1,150 ft. where I finished. Along the way I crossed South Marshall Mountain, North Marshall Mountain and Compton Peak. It was chilly at the outset and then warmed to the mid-50¢s with sun early, but more overcast near mid-day.This was not a particularly challenging hike, but very pleasant and I had great hiking weather. I warmed up quickly and shed my arm-warmers, but kept my glove liners a bit longer. The South & North Mountain climbs were both about a mile long with a moderate grade, but only a few view points. They were followed by a long, gradual descent. The trail was in great shape and well-maintained, and I¢ve included a pic of a sign that identifies the Potomac AT Club as responsible for the AT in SNP. Most of the trail was wide and smooth with few rocks so I could look around and enjoy being in the woods. Princess followed along and met me at five places along the trail where the AT crosses or meets Skyline Drive. Compton Peak was the last climb and also not very challenging. Compton Gap was the last contact with Skyline Drive. From this point, Skyline Drive diverges from the trail and leads to the north end of SNP and on into Front Royal. Princess drove into Front Royal on Skyline and then came out on Rt. 522. The AT crosses Rt. 522, but Princess met me at the Rt. 602 crossing where I resumed hiking back in May. The last portion of my hike (beyond Compton Gap) was fun and I remembered much of it from our 2014 hike. The trail is wide and flat for nearly 2 miles after the gap to a point where a side trail splits off toward Chester Gap. This side trail leads to the Front Royal Hostel, a.k.a. Terrapin Station, run by Mike Evans. We¢ve stayed there in the past and Mike is a good shuttle driver to nearby points. From the split, the AT begins to descend faster and has several switchback sections with more rocks. Along the way I passed Tom Floyd shelter. I haven¢t stayed there, but it looks quite accommodating in a wooded hillside setting. The descent continued and a little more than a mile later I rock-hopped a stream and met Princess at the Rt. 602 crossing. At the AT intersection, Rt. 602 is a one-lane gravel road and a bit difficult to find, but it¢s only about a mile from Rt. 522. I had the trail to myself most of the way. I encountered a few hikers climbing Compton Peak as I was descending, and a guided groups near Compton Gap and Rt. 602. But otherwise I had hours of solitude to enjoy the trail and the woods.Afterwards, we drove into Front Royal and had lunch at the Main Street Mill. Previously Mike Evans took us to the Lucky Star and we enjoyed that as well. After a Starbucks stop, we headed back to Skyland, a long drive. Tomorrow, I tackle the final piece of the SNP that¢s just north of Skyland.
Date: 2015-10-31
From: Skyland Resort

To: Beahms Gap
Miles today: 12.7

Today I finished the last portion of my makeup hike through Shenandoah National Park, a 12.7 mile segment between Skyland and Beahm¢s Gap. Much of the hike was at elevations over 3,000 ft. that afforded some impressive views of the Shenandoah valley to the west. Last night was really cold, several of the water pools I saw in the rocks along the trail had ice on the surface. I started off with my ThermoBall jacket, a toboggan and several pairs of gloves. Fortunately, for the first time in days there was essentially no wind. After the first significant climb I shed the jacket and I was comfortable with a long-sleeved shirt. But I kept the gloves most of the time.Princess wanted to put in some miles today, so we did another ¢key swap¢. Princess drove the car north on Skyline to Beahm¢s Gap, parked it there and started hiking south. I hiked north from Skyland, and when we passed each other she gave me the car keys so that I could drive back to Skyland after I finished at Beahm¢s Gap. She started a bit earlier than I and we met near the Pinnacles. The hike today was about the same distance as yesterday.Shortly after starting from Skyland I passed by the trail to Stony Man summit. The trail intersection is the highest point on the AT in SNP (3837 ft.), just below the Stony May summit at 4011 ft. After skirting Stony Man and Little Stony Man, the trail offers some great valley views from the ledges of Little Stony Man cliffs. Much of the trail in this section is on the ridge or just below on the west side, so there are views of the Shenandoah valley from several points on the trail. I also saw several talus fields along this section. They were not quite as prominent as the fields I saw earlier and were somewhat obscured by brush, but they had the same characteristics. Next, the trail climbed and crossed the summit of The Pinnacle. The summit is wooded, but there are good views at points on the flanks. I also saw a number of day hikers along this stretch, there is a nice picnic area, restrooms, parking, etc. about one and a half miles south of the summit. After descending from the Pinnacle and passing Bird¢s Nest #3 hut, the trail climbs toward Mary¢s Rock. There is a blue blaze side trail to Mary¢s Rock and an overlook, but I passed it by and headed down the steep, rocky descent trail. I was amazed at the number of hikers headed up the trail, I¢d guess that I passed at least 50 along the 2-mile trail down. Essentially all of them peeled off at the parking lot near the bottom. At that point, I had about 3 miles left to go up and over Pass Mountain that peaks at just over 3,000 ft. The climb was long and a gentle uphill, with a little steeper downhill to Beahm¢s Gap. That completes my missing sections in SNP. We¢re taking a day off tomorrow, then heading down to Lexington, VA to cover a few AT miles near there early in the week.