morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-04-17
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

Hard to leave an awesome hostel like this this morning, but made it out by 8:35 and on the trail 10 minutes later. Awesome waterfall early on, and the trail followed a narrow rock ledge between the cliff and river before climbing up over Pond Mt, then gradually climbing for the rest of the day. Hiked with Chainsaw for a good part of the day, he is a retired Baltimore County MD Fire Medic.Took a slow pace, but no hurry, as no deadlines for the day. Small shelter so tenting nearby. Also in are Chainsaw, EnZed, Hi-5, The Colonel, Lego, Redwood, Cascade and Sierra. Fabulous views from the back of the shelter, hopefully a nice sunrise.
Date: 2011-04-18
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: clear sky

No sunrise this morning like I had hoped, clouds on the horizon. Warm start to the day though, thought it was going to be a hot one but luckily the clouds held and it never got really hot. Did the long day, longest so far in fact at 22.7 miles but with flat(ish) ridge walking. The definition of flat is hazy at best on the AT and can depend on the weather and how you feel... Still ended up being a long day with all the breaks I took but not particularly hard. Trail magic of the day was in the form of bottled H2O courtesy of a local Baptist Church. Little in the way of notable scenery, the ridgeline we walked was wide and vegetation killed any view.Shelter packed again, same group as last night minus Chainsaw, but plus 6 section hikers. Trying for another early start to hit Damascus by noon, not sure if I'll zero or not, I have a lot to do though so I may. Renew passport, food resupply, phone card, new socks after blowing the heels out of two socks within a day of each other.Not much else to say, so bed now.
Date: 2011-04-19
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Dave's Place Hostel, Damascus VA
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Another early start, once everybody was hiking we formed a fast moving paceline down the trail, doing between 3.2 and 3.5 mph. After the long days, even with the easy terrain I was hurting and had to drop out of the paceline about 7 miles in to do a slower pace. Made the TN/VA with EnZed and Hi-5 and stopped for pictures, three states complete and now into the longest state at over 500 miles of VA trail.Slow pace down the hill into town, but still got in at 11:00. Big crowd of hikers in town taking zero days; Earl Gray, Mammoth, Fuzzy Navel, Tiger Lily and many others I didn't know. Mt Rogers Outfitters said that the hostel was full already, and to try The Place, a church run hostel with an unsavory reputation, with hikers saying that they were woken up every night around 2 or 3 AM by the police coming in and shining flashlights around. As I was walking that direction though, I ran into a hiker who said that Sky was at Dave's, and was looking for a roommate within the last 15 minutes. Headed back and found Sky, and we ended up splitting a room there.Had a banana split, did some laundry, and then we all went for pizza en masse. Interesting logic that the pizza place had. They weren't allowed to serve pitchers of beer to an individual, but me and Sky could split two pitchers. Southern math, I guess.
Date: 2011-04-20
From: Dave's Place Hostel, Damascus VA

To: Dave's Place Hostel, Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Got up early and did a group breakfast at the Dairy King, which was pretty good food. The place had such a 'local' vibe, people would come in, get a cup of coffee from the kitchen behind the register, then sit down.   Did my food shopping at Dollar General and mailed some stuff home to lose a little more weight. Never made it to Abingdon, so no new passport yet. Time getting a little short to get it renewed, May 9th my current one expires. I would worry, but when Jen picks me up from Katahdin the fastest way home will be to drive through Canada, so it needs to get done while I'm on the trail.Grandpa showed up today, apparantly when he was at Kincora Bob Peoples took a look at his pack, and gave him a new (used) Osprey pack. Here at Dave's place, there were a pair of Keen boots in his size, and a synthetic 20* sleeping bag (broken zipper) in the hiker box. Grandpa is actually starting to look like a traditional hiker now!Pizza place for dinner again, time to pack up for the morning.
Date: 2011-04-21
From: Dave's Place Hostel, Damascus VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

All woke up and were packed by 7:30 this morning. Breakfast at Dairy King again, on the trail by 9:10. The hills out of town were short but steep, and I can feel my conditioning improving still. Calves however were both tight and painful, even with stretching so my pace was on the slow side again. Won't be able to do long days mileage wise at this slow of a pace, but not much else to do but wait for it to heal up on its own I guess.Shelter full again, the usual suspects plus Hawk, Rumblestrip, and The Professor. Planning on 17.3 miles in the rain tomorrow over Grayson Highlands and maybe see wild ponies. Also, crossing the 500 mile mark the day after that!
Date: 2011-04-22
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: moderate rain

All accurate predicitions yesterday, did big hills in the rain ahd wind and saw no ponies, even though the people ahead and behind us did. Sneaky horses. never really got raining good, but sprinkled all day and the blowing clouds made everything nice and wet with no visibility.Made shelter to find it full again. Grandpa rolled in about 5:00, cooked dinner, and packed up and said he was going another 6 miles. Crazy. Left calf still sore, taking some vitamin I and put Tiger Balm on it, hurts less than yesterday, which is good because planning or a 20 mile day tomorrow with a town stop in the middle of the day. Should be interesting! At least forecast is for clear weather.11.8 mi/day overall average.
Date: 2011-04-23
From: Wise Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

PONIES! Good start in clearing weather, the scenery on the highlands looks like out west. Came across a herd of wild ponies just outside of the GHSP boundary. Not particularly wild, came looking for handouts until Sierra decided to try and chase a baby pony that couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. The herd took offence and left, but not before Sierra came within inches of getting a full double-barrel kick to the head. Dumb Dog.I managed to score something few hikers dream of, something we called a four-leaf clover. I managed to get trail magic four times today! Started with a breakfast burrito from section hikers at the shelter, then a trail maintainer named John cooking burgers and brats with a few coolers at Fox Creek (VA 603), a shuttle ride into Troutdale in an old 1977 ambulance, and marshmallows at the shelter from more section hikers!I have enough food to make Atkins tomorrow, the problem of the day seems to be my left shin now which is starting to hurt. Hi-5 has some prescription anti-inflammitories that she said cleared her shin problems up in two days. I'll give that a try in the AM if it still hurts. Good news is that the calf feels 100% better now.my mom will be coming out for my birthday on the 29th, somewhere around pearisburg probably. Just have to figure out what to do! Despite the shin pain, it was a good day overall, crossing the 500 mile mark.
Date: 2011-04-24
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Relax Inn, Atkins VA
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

Started early today, 7:40 after taking one of the pills that Hi-5 had. She said that it gave her boyfriend a buzz when he took one for a knee thing, but she said it doesn't affect her at all. Famous last words.I have no idea what the hell it was, but it wasn't just an anti-inflammitory. I spent the first few hours hiking staring around at trees, and at one point ended up stopping and looking around and saying "Shit, I'm in a field. With no trail. WTF." I had wandered off the trail watching birds up in a tree and skipped a turn. Shin didn't hurt all day.The terrain was really nice, fantastic for doing fast miles. We did the first 10.6 miles in 3 hours to Partnership shelter. This shelter is right on park building, so the Pizza Plus delivers there, even on Easter Sunday! Each of us ate half a pizza and drank a liter of soda, which was all awesome fuel for a hot day of hiking during which there was much sweating involved. The last four miles was rough, just because I was tired, but nice rolling pastures with big pubby clouds in vivid blue skies make for a nice walk into town.Town is a loose term as well on the trail, town was two gas stations, a restaurant, and a motel with a burned out building in front of it. Hi-5 said she was really glad she was staying with three guys there, because she would be too creeped out to stay otherwise, with the broken motorcycles on the motel sidewalk, and shirtless, one armed guy drinking beer with his buddies. The room was cramped, we were going to sleep two in the beds and two on the floor, but there was no room on the floor to lay down, so four people in two double beds. Normally would have been bad, but we are pretty used to sleeping like this in shelters!Restaurant is closed for Easter, and gas station is just junk food, so it's Little Debbie pies and leftover PBJ sandwiches from my pack for dinner.
Date: 2011-04-25
From: Relax Inn, Atkins VA

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Late start, 11:45 after breakfast at the restaurant and saying goodbye to Hi-5, who is ending her two month stretch on the trail early here. Big ups and down were the theme of the day, and after 1:00 there were near constant thunderstorms. I hiked slow and took a long break at the edge of a pasture to wait for a storm to pass, as I could see the trail going straight across the pasture and up a steep hill on the other side of the road in the gap, still in exposed pasture. Rolled into the shelter at about 7:00. Fun for the day was a herd of cows on the trail, which I got some pictures of, and a really beautiful piece of property on the Holston River. The hills are definitely getting more of the rolling variety. Sky never came in to the shelter, and had not left town by the time we left. Maybe he is giving his feet a day off; they looked pretty awful.19 miles tomorrow with a big climb at the start, but fairly level for the rest of the day, then 12 miles into Bland for resupply, and maybe farther. Mom should be out on Thursday, and we might slackpack 10 miles or so. We'll see!
Date: 2011-04-26
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Another longish 19 mile day. After a 7:40 start I'm only doing about 2.2 mi/hr average. That includes all breaks, but it seems like I'm slowing down, and can't figure out why. Tomorrow will be my longest day, 23.8 miles with a town stop in the middle if all goes to plan, and an ambitious plan it is. I wish I didn't need the stop, but I'll run out of food if I don't. So, long day, mandatory town stop, and 100% chance of thunderstorms. Plans may change. Today was a really hard 'easy' day.
Date: 2011-04-27
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Managed to make plans work today! 7:25 start after a restless night. Took a long time to get to sleep because of accidentally using a caffinated drink mix with dinner. Full shelter next to a snorer, and a herd of deer that kept coming back to right in front of the shelter and snorting until Sierra would chase them off into the woods and come back 10 minutes later. Also, my air mattress has developed a leak and needed to be reinflated several times overnight. SO. Not much good sleep, and therefore was not in a very good mood when I started hiking.Luckily, the funk didn't last long. made it to the road to Bland about 11:45, just as a downpour started. Didn't last long though, and I got a quick hitch when it stopped in a pickup truck. I was going to go to the DQ where everyone else was going (they all got there and were gone to town when I got to the road), but the guy that picked me up said that the gas station diner had better food, and the DQ was "The dirtiest and nastiest place I've ever been to". I took his advice, and the food was pretty good. They didn't have good resupply options at the convenience store though, so I still had to walk to the Dollar General for resupply.   Ran into some other hikers coming out of DG that said that the rest of the crew were still at DQ eatiing. I decided just to head back to the trail knowing that they would catch me up and pass before I reached the shelter. Another quick hitch from a guy that was going in the other direction, but stopped and asked if I was going to the trailhead, and it ws no problem to head back a couple miles that way. Back on the trail by 1:40 with a full belly and two days of food to get to Pearisburg.Thankfully the predicted storms have held off but the wind is really kicking. Made the shelter by 6:00 (after everyone had passed me), not bad though considering it was a 23.8 mile day with a town stop in the middle! My left quad is still pretty sore, and now my right shin is acting up after doing something to it going fast on a steep downhill. Thankfully a short easy day tomorrow, when I'll meet up with my mother in the evening. Don't know exactly how long of a day, depends on when I get started in the morning. Caught us some more people today, all here at the shelter are Cascade/Sierra, Lego, Redwood, EnZed, The Colonel, Hansel, Gretel, Chainsaw, Mammoth, Sherpa, and a hiker who didn't introduce himself to me. Tenting due to a full shelter again, hope not too much hail tonight.
Date: 2011-05-04
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Campsite outside Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

Leaving Woods Hole was a very hard thing to do, but the call of the trail was too compelling. The weather over the last few days has been cool, and the forecast for today was not very inspiring. Began hiking slowly, and was very thorough in stretching everything when I got a little warmed up. Angels Rest was supposed to have impressive views, but looking down into the industrial areas around Pearisburg was not very scenic. Additionally, fighter jets were doing low level passes between the mountains, which while impressive to watch was not very conducive to restful hiking. The most important discovery of the day however, was that my shin is not at all better. It began hurting within a few miles and continued to worsen through the day again. I considered stopping at the hostel in Pearisburg, but really didn't want to be out in the city tonight, so I kept going. My mood was a perpetual funk today, starting early and not improving when it began sleeting going down the hill into town. The trail through town is a not nice place, cutting between houses and going through a thicket of waist high poison ivy. Apart from trees, there were long stretches where it was difficult to find a plant that wasn't poison ivy. After this, the trail crosses the New River on a US highway bridge. The river was murky and swift, the muddy banks littered with trash, and what appeared to be a big screen TV that had been tossed from the bridge. Next the trail goes down the driveway of an industrial plant, Celco Acetate. I had planned to camp somewhere before the climb up back to the ridgeline, and saw a flat area with a stream on my map. However when I got there decided that it was not a good place at all, being next to a freight track that had trains every 15 minutes or so that blew their horn for a grade crossing. Additionally, the water source was questionable at best. A small gravel road the the trail crossed had a very large no trespassing sign, stating that it was the private industrial landfill for Celco Acetate. The stream came down the hill from this property. Awesome. Kept hiking to the next stream which was next to a road. No campsite, and there was a smell of dead animal somewhere around the stream, but couldn't find where it was coming from. Moved on and finally found a small stream with a campsite. Still not ideal, as the other side of the stream was backyards, but I was tired, hurting, and it had started raining again. Pitched tent extremely tired and frustrated. Ate a quick dinner and laid shivering listening to the rain. I may have switched to warm weather gear too early; while it had been in the 80s before I switched, a cold front has moved through and the nighttime temps are in the upper 30s.I knew that I didn't want to quit the trail, but if my leg still hurts like this in the morning I was going back into Pearisburg in the morning and finding a ride back to Woods Hole.
Date: 2011-05-05
From: Campsite outside Pearisburg, VA

To: The Captain's place
Miles today: 17.9

Today stands in stark contrast to the grand funk I was in yesterday. The night was cold, but not unbearable. Woke up slowly with the thoughts of the night before really dragging me down. I had some really angry dreams last night. I don't remember much of the specifics, but I was punching a lot of people in the face and the anger just kept flowing. When I got out of the tent however, the sky was blue and the sun teasing through the trees I was under motivated me to get moving. Got everything together, and hit the trail at 9:15 with the shin feeling somewhat decent. My mood improved significantly as I climbed to the ridgeline. Cloudless blue skies, bright sunshine but cool temps and a nice breeze made for nearly perfect hiking weather. Not a surprise that weather has such an affect on moods. I kept my pace slow and deliberate, taking care with each step to get good footing, as twisting and sliding seem to make the pain worse. The ridge was fantastic terrain and views, a narrow ridge with only 50 or so feet of ground on either side before dropping away down the mountain. The thought came to me today that hiking like this today is like feeling poetry. The rhythm of my footsteps was like the rhythm of the words in a poem, and the sights and sounds around me were everything that poetry tries to describe. Not hiking with a crowd was different and nice too, although I do miss chatting with the crew. At one place, I saw a tree that had grown in such a bizarre shape that it reminded me of calligraphy. I took some photos, and considered adapting the shape of it into my register signature. I could hear the distant sounds of the valley, mostly lawn mowers and cows lowing that somehow really fit and gave it a pastoral feel that fit with the hiking perfectly. A definite pleasant change from the industrial sights and sounds of the day before. The shin seems to hurt less as I hike, so maybe the rest days did help some. Tonight is camping at "The Captain's Place". Described in the book as a private home where the owner lets hikers camp on his lawn, it would not have been particularly interesting, except for the fact that the directions to get there are to "Use zip-line to cross creek". How could I not go? I indeed did have to use a zip line to cross the creek, good time. Had a carabiner at least to hang my pack from so it didn't drop in the stream. Captain ended up being a cool guy, let me cook in his kitchen, gave me some sodas and watched TV with him for a bit. I must have been used to the cool weather, because it felt hotter than hell in his house, even though it was only in the 70s. Feels like another cool night tonight too.
Date: 2011-05-06
From: The Captain's place

To: Hunting Cabin
Miles today: 12.3

Started hiking late, about 10:00 on the trail, so big mileage was out for the day. Not feeling good today hiking alone, the early sun quickly clouded over. The trail over the ridge today sucked because of long stretches of rocks that made walking slow and much more work than it needed to be. When the rain started, I was just about at the Mountain Lake Road parking area on VA 613. As I arrived at the road crossing, I saw two vehicles parked, a SUV and a pickup truck with a tarp spread up over the back. I hoped that it was trail magic, and was grateful and relieved that when I crossed the road the three guys standing there greeted me, and asked if I wanted something to eat.I was apparently the first hiker that had come through that day, and they had some Italian sausages on a grill ready. I stood under the tarp and ate sausage and drank a beer. There is nothing like hot grilled meat to brighten the day a little bit. As I stood and chatted for a while several other hikers came through, including Twigg, who ended up being from Mankato, MN, not too far from where I live. As we ate more and chatted, the guys, Sean, and two others whose names I wrote down and promptly lost the paper (Terrible with names, many apologies if y'all are reading this!) told us that they come out every year on this weekend to do a bit of magic, but that none of them have done the trail. What really caught our interest was that they told us about a beer festival at the Mountain Lakes Resort just a few miles down the road. Twigg and I expressed some interest, and the guys said that they have a cabin that they're staying at down the other side of the mountain, and that we're welcome to stay with them tonight there, then go to the beer festival tomorrow and get dropped back at the trail! It did not take much convincing to get on board with that plan.We didn't want to stop quite yet however and the guys were doing magic for a little while longer, so we asked if it'd be cool if we walked for a couple more hours and got picked up at the next road crossing at VA 632. They thought that'd work fine. We set up at 5:30 meet time at the road crossing, and parted ways. As we hiked, Twigg and I were plagued by fears that they wouldn't show, and that it was some horrible joke. We made good time though, and stopped at War Spur Shelter for a bit before heading the rest of the way to the road. We arrived about 5:25 to find the guys waiting for us there. Score!They drove us down to a hunting cabin on a small piece of land with a couple cabins that a group of people own, where we drank more beer, grilled a bunch of burgers, and shot the potato cannon off into the woods. We missed the redneck skeet the day before, when they attempted to shoot the potato from the cannon with a shotgun. Oh well, guess we can't have all the fun. 12.8 miles hiked, two meals, beer and fun! Good day after all.