morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-16
From: Trail Days -- Damascus, VA

To: Saturday Trail Days -- Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Partly cloudy today, but the good weather continues! Franklin and Sister arrived today, and MoFo and I went with them for breakfast at Cowboy's. Cowboy's is a gas station/store/restaurant on the edge of town which serves inexpensive, tasty, filling breakfasts starting at 7 am -- what more could a hiker want? After breakfast, Mofo and Franklin and Sister went out to do a bike ride of the Virginia Creeper Trail.I went back into town and was happy to see that Tom had arrived! It turns out that his leg was so swollen and hurting that he had to stop hiking. He went to a clinic and was told he had an infection due to a tick bite. He got a penecillin shot in the butt, and a course of antibiotics to take. He was told not to hike for at least several weeks. He plans to go home, and return to the AT at Mt. Katahdin sometime in August -- perhaps I will join him!In the afternoon, I walked in the Hiker Parade. Perhaps 750 hikers participated in this walk through town, highlighted by the many weird costumes and by the continuous water fights between the paraders and the spectators. I walked near the front with several dozen hikers I knew, including the Three Stooges (the Dutch brothers), who instituted a periodic hiker group chant accompanied by pelvic thrusts. I'm not sure what that was all about (some strange European custom?), but it was fun.The hike ended in the town park, where there were food and equipment vendors, music, and a hiker's talent contest. Hiker's talents included playing a kayak-bongo, and rapping (you can see these in the videos I have attached to this journal). The winner of the contest was Ahab, who did an amazing beat-boxing routine. I would guess this may be the first time in history when beat boxing went head-to-head with bluegrass music, and came out on top!After dinner, I sat on the porch of the Hiker's Inn and drank wine with fellow hikers Floater and Braid, and Suzanne and her friends Navigator and Old Man, who own a hiker's inn at the other end of the trail in Millinocket, Maine.It started raining in the evening, but nevertheless I went out to Tent City to see what was happening: mostly alot of drinking and bonfires, with crazed dancing around the fire to the beat of drums. Many of my hiker friends were at Billville, where there was a large communal tent that held 30 people or so. I participated in a chanting/yelling game where improvised chants were handed off from one person in the circle to another. My screaming chant was "It hurts so bad....it feels so good!" Guess you had to be there....
Date: 2009-05-17
From: Trail Days -- Damascus, VA

To: Trail Magic
Miles today: 0.0

I said goodbye to my friends, and found Old Timer, who had offered to give me a ride to the Tri-Cities airport where I would pick up a rental car. I ended up with a big, black, 4-door Dodge pick-up truck. This worked out well, because I would be travelling back roads and carrying alot of stuff, as well as giving rides to hikers as needed.I decided to drive north to the southern end of the Blue Ridge near Roanoke, Virginia. This would allow me to tour the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs alongside the Appalachian Trail, at a point about two hiking-weeks north of Damascus. My plan was to then work my way south, hopefully intersecting with hiker friends as they worked their way north out of Damascus.During the following week, I carried out this plan. My trail magic took on several forms:--I found a place where the road was only a few hundred yards from a shelter on the AT. I walked into this shelter at dinner time, carrying a backpack full of food, including steaks and beer. --I put together coolers full of food (candy bars, soda, beer, orange juice, gatorade, yoghurt, danish buns and cinnimon rolls, cookies, carrot cake, tomatoes and avocados) and left them at trailheads in the morning. Then drove around the countryside and did short hikes, and returned in the late afternoon to pick up the empty coolers. I left a log book in the coolers, so hikers could write comments.--I drove to trailheads near towns and waited for hikers who needed rides to and from town. --I hiked 3 miles on a side trail up to the AT on a ridge far from town, with a backpack full of goodies, including soda on ice.Doing trail magic was very enjoyable. These little unexpected treats really pick up a hiker's spirits. Some of the log book comments:--"You just made my day. I didn't have enough food til Catawba, and a PBR? Cherry on top!" Joe Kickass--"I like a good beer buzz early in the morning." Hellbender--"Sweeet! Awesome suprise on an awesome day!" Millipede--"Thanks for the Love, it came at just the right moment." Maui Bob--"Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!" Luke--"Denver Dave, you rock man!! We need more people like you in the world!" Juke--"I'm southbound, and walking past the parking lot I was praying somebody would offer a soda. Then I find this! Thank you." The FishAll in all, doing trail magic was as fun for me as it was for the hikers. I also got to drive some wonderful country roads in Virginia and Tennesee, and was amazed at the beauty of the countryside, both the natural beauty, and the handsome churches and farmhouses.
Date: 2009-06-15
From: Trail Magic

To: Home in Denver
Miles today: 0.0

I've been home now for two weeks and have gone through hiking withdrawal and re-insertion into the real world. The aching feet and sore legs are a fading memory; I'm feeling lazy and wonder how I found the energy for all of those long days of hiking. But I think it's like riding a bike -- it would quickly come back to me, should I make the decision to do it again.And I certainly would recommend to anyone that they make a similar decision. The AT probably is an experience unique in all the world. It is different and intense enough to be mind bending.It seemed like people of all types were on the trail. It helps if you like nature; it helps if you like walking; it helps if you have some experience. But none of these are required if you have the will.When on the trail, your needs and activites are reduced to a simple few, and you become a member of the tribe. Individual moments can be far from spiritual (damn mud; damn bugs; damn rain), but the timeless existence of the woods slowly seeps through your pores and places a wordless understanding inside you.When you leave the trail the tyranny of choice reclaims you. And there is the added complication of learning to rein in your unfettered desires: you no longer have the moral authority to give yourself whatever you want. That's why ex-hikers often gain back twice as much weight as they lost during their hike.The AT experience probably will not change your life all at once. But it will have changed you forever.
Date: 2010-03-26
From: Home in Denver

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It seems strange but comfortable to be typing in this Journal again. I hope the trail also quickly becomes comfortable (and I'm sure my fellow hikers will be wonderfully strange, as always). I'll be on the trail in one week, starting in Bland, VA -- last year's stopping place. I'll be hiking with Asher, a hiking friend from last year. Plan to hike for about two months.I'll be hiking with the same gear as last year. I have done a little more in the way of training hikes this year, mostly to try and prevent getting blisters right away on the hike. It seems like the spiffy poly sock liners that my sister gave me will prevent the blisters. But I'm overweight again, the body is one year older, and my back hurts from a long ski trip last week. So it will be one day at a time...It's interesting reading the journals of the hardy folks who already have been on the trail this year. Seems there was alot of snow in March, but hopefully spring will arrive on schedule in April.
Date: 2010-04-01
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Today I arrived in Roanoke to meet Tom. I think Tom's trailname should be something like "Freight Train" or "Ironman". He is in his late 50's, is about 6' 3", plays tennis three times a day, and has very strong legs. On the flats and downhills I don't know anyone that can keep up with him. However on the uphill he doesn't have the red corpuscles in his blood that I have from living in the Mile-High City, so I can outpace him then.
Date: 2010-04-02
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: light rain

This morning I learned that my daughter Sara needs my presence in Washington, DC for a week to be with her while she recovers from a tonsilectemy. Sara is a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali and has been getting life-threatening throat infections, so the Peace Corps decided to Emergency Medical Evacuate her. So on April 4 I will drive to DC and stay there for a week. Tom and I will hike south from Daleville for the next 3 days, then part and be re-united in Roanoke on April 12 to start hiking north.Two hiker acquaintances who did the AT last year (Bill--the father, and Bill--the son) have graciously offered to drive us to the trailhead. We got a late start (2 PM) because Tom's backpack didn't arrive on the plane with him last night and was not delivered until noon today.We started the climb up to Tinker Ridge sweating in the 85 degree heat -- it has been 20 degrees above normal in Virginia the last two weeks, and the forecast is for more of the same. What a difference from April of last year when it rained or snowed almost every day. I have been told that last year was the wettest year of record on the AT.We hiked past dusk without our headlamps when the trail seemed to vanish. We lit our lamps and discovered that the blazes that we had been following were blue (not AT white), meaning that we were off on a side trail. So we retraced our steps, found the main trail, and finally saw the campfire light from Lambert's Meadow Shelter, which we reached about 9 pm. There still was space available; we are ahead of this year's hiker wave, which starts in Georgia around this time and won't reach this part of Virginia for 6 more weeks. So we expect to see alot fewer through hikers this year.
Date: 2010-04-03
From: Lambert's Meadow Shelter

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

Another hot sunny day today, and we struggled abit up and over Tinker Cliffs and only made 6 miles today. Our minds quickly remember our old hiker routines, but our bodies struggle -- we don't have our hiker legs yet.Tinker Cliffs are a sentimental place for me since I brought some Trail Magic up here using a side trail last year. But the clouds of biting gnats wouldn't let us stay put for long. We got to the shelter around noon and just stayed put, recuperating, while quite a few day hikers passed through, including one couple who kept getting lost -- the lady could be heard giving a severe tongue lashing to her hapless leader boyfriend.We're drinking about 8 liters a day of water in this hot weather, a lot more than was needed last year. Thankfully the springs and creeks are full, probably due to the four and five foot snowfalls received in Virginia in March.
Date: 2010-04-04
From: Campbell Shelter

To: VA 311 -- Catawba
Miles today: 6.5

We hiked under another hot sun over McAfee Knob, where we shared the famous overlook with a dozen day hikers, several of whom were conducting an Easter sunrise service. Down we went to VA 311 where we walked one mile into the tiny mountain town of Catawba. There we had Easter dinner at the Homeplace Restaurant -- a large old country farm house that now famously serves family-style all-you-can-eat dinners. The place was crowded with diners (one hour wait), ranging from smelly hikers (Tom and I), to families in casual dress, to folks in their suits and Sunday best. Upon being seated, Tom immediately gulped down 6 glasses of lemonade and as a result was so full that he couldn't eat any fried chicken or roast beef!We hitch hiked down the hiway to the next AT road crossing (VA 624) where we bought some goodies from a convenience store and then tent camped one-quarter mile up a ridge from the trailhead. Before dusk we made two more trips back to the convenience store to get more Coke -- Tom and I both are addicted to ice-cold diet Coke.
Date: 2010-04-05
From: VA 624

To: VA 311
Miles today: 7.6

Tom and I parted ways this morning; he to hike further south, while I hiked back to VA 311 and Catawba to pick up my rental car. I had a nice valley and ridge walk, while it turned out that Tom sweated up the Dragon's Tooth, and fell and gashed his leg--but he soldiered through the ordeal and eventually everything was OK.
Date: 2010-04-11
From: VA 311

To: Washington DC
Miles today: 0.0

I drove to DC, set up my tent in the nearest campground to city center, and had a wonderful week with Sara. Allow me to be the proud papa: Sara is an amazing woman who is equally at home negotiating in the halls of power in DC as she is living in a mudbrick village with no water or power in the Dogon outback in Mali.I am happy to report that Sara recovered well from her painful operation, and now anxiously is awaiting her return to Africa.
Date: 2010-04-12
From: Washington DC

To: Tent site near Wilson Creek
Miles today: 8.6

I drove to Roanoke and re-united with Tom, and we began hiking north on the AT from Daleville. After about 1500 ft and 4 mi I reached the top of Fullhardt Knob and relaxed while waiting for Tom to catch up. When he arrived we prepared to push on, when to my chagrin I discovered that my right boot had self-destructed. So I double-timed the 8 mile round-trip back to town to buy new shoes at Outdoor Trails. They had a pair of mountain running shoes that fit my 13-wide feet, so now I will see how these perform compared to my old high-top leather shoes. My greatful thanks to the young proprieter at Outdoor Trails who helped me through my emergency and gave me a ride back to the trailhead.I re-joined Tom, who now had been patiently waiting for me for 3 hours, and we hiked north 5 miles to our campsite. The new shoes seem to work fine!
Date: 2010-04-13
From: Tent site near Wilson Creek

To: Cove Mt Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

We had an uneventful day hiking to Cove Mt. Shelter. We reached the Blue Ridge Parkway which we will be crossing multiple times in the miles ahead. At the shelter we met Reckless and Boomerang, our first northbound thru-hikers. They started mid-February and used snoeshoes through much of Georgia and North Carolina. Young college students, they are quite tough and don't even carry tents! They told us they estimate they are about the #10 and #11 hikers in the field of northbounders this year. There was alot of snow in the south so many hikers dropped off the trail to wait for better weather, so the wave will be clogged up and a few weeks later than normal this year.
Date: 2010-04-15
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

We went over Apple Orchard Mt. today, which at 4225 ft is the high point of this year's hike. There were beautiful views, but the radar VOR with bristling antennae, the road, and the work crews, made me want to move through the summit quickly (can those invisible energy particles hurt you?). Then we went down, down, down towards the James River. Along the way, at Marble Spring, I encountered two dogs lying on and near the trail with no owner in sight. I called out, but no one answered. One dog had tags, but ran away when approached. Boomerang and Restless came along and the friendly dog followed them down the trail. Hours later I arrived at Matt's Creek Shelter to find them along with Dirtroad Dave, Leadfoot 5-By, and Rebel. All these hikers eventually moved on, but the dog stayed at the shelter with Tom and I -- now it's new masters. We fed the dog and wondered if we should take him to town the next day. But what happened to the real owners? Could they be injured hikers? Dirtroad Dave hypothesized that the two dogs just went out on an adventure and began following hikers until they were out of their accustomed range and lost.At dusk a Lithuanian hiker passed through who said he always wanted a dog, so he took him along, back southbound, in the direction from which the two dogs came -- maybe they will stay together for life, or maybe the dog will remember where he lives and return home.
Date: 2010-04-16
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked down to the beautiful wide James River and crossed on the world's longest hiker-only bridge. We tried unsuccessfully for one-half hour to hitchhike into Glascow, but then decided to go on for two more days since we had food. So up we went out of the river valley, back to the high ridges and mountains. We spent the night with Leadfoot 5-By and Rebel. Leadfoot is a 69-year old architect from Kentucky who hiked 250 miles on the AT some years back, then had a 5-way bypass surgury, and now is back on the trail again. His immediate health concern however was a large 2 inch long raw blister on one heel, which he covered with about 5 feet of duct tape every day. He was in good spirits though and talked enthusiastically about his love of trees, horses and fishing at his second home in southwest Florida.Rebel is a retired school district superintendent from Kentucky, and he and I discussed the mountains and education for quite a few hours as darkness approached, the clouds of gnats slowly went to bed, and the croakers in the nearby pond began their chorus.
Date: 2010-04-17
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: US 60 - Buena Vista, VA
Miles today: 11.3

We had a beautiful hike today down to the Pedlar River and up Brown Mountain Creek, where escaped slaves once had a thriving community. By now we had been hiking for six glorious hot sunny days and were now having food fantasies involving steaks and ice-cold cokes, so we hitched a ride into Buena Vista, Va from an interesting young man driving a big truck hauling a long horse trailer. The driver told us of his plans to move to Idaho next year to build a new house on his land there while living with his wife in a tent. He was a custom furniture builder by trade, and I was impressed by the passion of his vision and his willingness to pack up and start a new life.In town, we headed immediately to Captain Tim's Gallery for our fantasy meal. As we left the restaurant we saw smoke billowing from the house across the street. A fire engine arrived within minutes, had their hoses out in seconds, and quickly put out the fire. As we walked further into this small town, several more engines from nearby roared into town -- turned out to be a 4-alarm fire, quite the excitement for this sleepy place.
Date: 2010-04-18
From: US 60 - Buena Vista, VA

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

We were up at 7 am and hired a shuttle driver to bring us back to the trail. On the drive up we passed many road embankments filled with dead Kudzu, which are very common in the southeast. Kudzu was introduced from southeast Asia by road engineers who thought it a good way to control erosion on steep slopes, but it grows so fast ("you can see it grow" said our shuttle driver) that it now is considered a pest invasive species. And it is butt-ugly in the cold season when the cold kills the above-ground growth.Today's hike was great, on Bald Mountain which may have the most northern Bald on the AT?
Date: 2010-04-19
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Harper's Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

Today we hiked over Priest Mountain and down to the Tye River. In the log book at Priest Shelter were several hilarious entries by hikers confessing their sins, including a 5-page listing of sins by one southbound hiker, whose numerous mostly sexual transgressions were enumerated State by State.We shared Harper's Creek Shelter with Bunyan, a thru-hiker from last year whom Tom and I had both met. This year he is hiking south from his home in New Jersey down to Damascus for Trail Days. We spent several hours discussing old trail acquaintances and their fates. Bunyan is a logger by trade and I was amazed at his ability to glance at a forest stand and immediately list the species there, which in the vicinity of the shelter were maple, oak, poplar, and one linden (used for carving duck decoys).
Date: 2010-04-20
From: Harper's Creek Shelter

To: Humpback Mountain camp
Miles today: 16.0

Today I hiked alone since Tom preferred to hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway parallel to the trail, which often has better views. My path took me along a rocky, sunny, and steep sideslope which was infused with poison ivy -- leading to my nomination of this stretch as the ugliest on the AT to date. But the trail soon climbed to more pleasing high ridges where I followed a remarkable 5-foot high rock fence for miles along Humpback Mountain. Why was so much effort made to build this remote fence?I camped alone on the ridge. It began to rain during the night -- the first rain of our trip.
Date: 2010-04-21
From: Humpback Mountain camp

To: Rockfish Gap -- Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

It rained all day today as I hiked through a primeval looking forest. One stretch was on a wide old road made of great slabs of black rock -- a Lord of the Rings type setting to my mind.By noon I reached the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway -- and the southern terminus of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. I am excited to see this next stretch which will bring us to Harper's Ferry and the northern boundary of Virginia.But for now, I caught a ride into Waynesboro where I meet Tom at the motel and we begin drying out our belongings. We will spend two nights here, including our first Zero day after 10 days of hiking and 134 miles. This is close to my target rate of 15 miles per day, but a good start to the trip as we just now are getting our hiking legs, and the terrain ahead is said to moderate a little.
Date: 2010-04-22
From: Rockfish Gap -- Waynesboro, VA

To: Rockfish Gap -- Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today is our first zero day. After 10 days of hiking our aching feet and legs need some time to recover. However we walked quite a few miles around town. American towns just aren't very compact (Tom is annoyed with this, comparing America with Israel, which he often does). Think of any small town with which you are familiar: how many miles would you need to walk (starting from a motel) to visit the town restaurants several times, the town library, the grocery store, the laundromat, and the camping store? In Waynesboro, this amounts to perhaps 10 miles. I have my floppy sandals to walk in while Tom has more sturdy shoes, and Tom cannot ever slow down so I imagine us to be quite a sight in our hiking clothes with Tom speeding ahead while I struggle to follow him about 20 paces behind. I can't imagine how Tom can go on walks with his wife unless she ties him to a leash. The people of Waynesboro are very friendly to hikers (it's the largest town 'on' the trail, ie within 3 miles of the trail crossing) and it's a very cheerful place despite the many closed store fronts which are very common in the towns we visit. The locals say this is a long-term trend although the recent economic crisis has accelerated the decline. You see alot of home renovations taking place because people can not afford to buy new houses.In town we attempt to slake our desires sharpened by deprivation on the trail - food desires and culture desires. It turns out that we haven't been on the trail long enough to be ravenous, so our visits to the all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant and home-style steak house were disappointing: quantity just doesn't trump quality yet. However, we had a great lunch at Stone Soup (a combination book store/organic food restaurant).We also tried to get a cultural jolt by flipping through the channels on the motel TV, but we had no patience for all of the commercials, and a few hours of watching the 'fair-and-balanced' gloom-and-doom of Fox News was a big downer. Like last year we found the Weather Channel to be the most fulfilling entertainment.