morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-07-16
From: Katahdin Ironworks Road

To: East Branch lean-to
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

After one last night at Shaw¢s where I shared a room with Iceberg, we were shuttled out at 5:30 for the hour drive down the logging road to the trail. Mike, the shuttle driver, is a retired former thru hiker from Georgia who is working for six months at Shaw¢s because he likes the hiker community.  He told us that after dropping us off the previous morning he came across a full grown bull moose in the middle of the road!  We had missed seeing it by 5 minutes. Just a half mile into the hike we had to ford a shin-deep river, so out came my $3.32 shower flip flops/camp shoes for the crossing. Then began the last mountain climb of Maine, save Katahdin itself: a total of 3100 feet over 11 miles and four peaks to White Cap Mountain. Just after 10:30 there was a 15 minute heavy rain shower as I was climbing the second of the four summits. I didn¢t bother with rain gear as it was 70 degrees and I was already damp from sweat. Then around 11am it started to get dark with some rumbles of thunder. It soon was so dim it seemed like it was past sunset - the kind of mid-day dark that you know means heavy rain. When the skies opened up it was a deluge, a real gully-whumper (I may have just made that saying you) and I was jump-in-the-lake wet in less than a minute. The trail had turned into a waterfall as I ascended White Cap Mountain and just before the top I put away my lightning rods (trekking poles) as the thunder had me slightly concerned. Then just like it began, the rain stopped as I crossed over the top. 25 minutes later the clouds started breaking up. Another half hour later and the sun came out.There were about a dozen SOBOs that I passed today but I did not meet any NOBOs other than the three I was hiking with. We did just under 17 miles to a lean-to and I had enough time get my clothes dried out for tomorrow. There are six more SOBOs here along with a guided hike of ten sixteen years old boys who are hiking the 100 mile wilderness. They have huge packs and are carrying roughly 45 pounds of gear. Yikes!After some discussion regarding weather forecasts and departure timelines,  Iceberg, Quiksilver, Lamb¢s Ear and I came up with a three day plan to reach Baxter State Park on the afternoon of the 19th to set up a summit on the 20th or 21st. Iceberg had a rough day, tearing his shoe, face-planting, losing a water bottle, finding his bug net mildewed, and discovering some wet gear due to a hole in his pack liner. He¢s ready to be done. Tomorrow we pick up our last resupply/food drop at 1pm then we plan to hike to the Antlers campsite and have a chill afternoon. Katahdin is in our sights.
Date: 2021-08-05
From: Rte 11 Troutville, Va

To: US Rte 220
Miles today: 1.4
Weather: few clouds

I originally left home for my trail adventure on April 6th, and now four months later I was once more leaving for the trail with a mix of sadness and excitement. I had the best kind of air travel day - uneventful. No issues boarding, no delays, no luggage problems, I even arrived in Roanoke 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Strangely, the shuttle I had arraigned didn¢t seem that interested in picking me up and even suggested I call an Uber. So I did. I like to support the locals who support hikers, but maybe the driver was having an off day. It happens. I first had the Uber stop by the hotel I had booked so I could drop my pack off and then had him drop me over at the trailhead where I had started waaaaay back on April 12th. That¢s right: first day back and I¢m already slack-packing! There was less of me then back in April and more of the trail in terms of greenery and canopy. So call today a ¢nero¢ as I did 1.4 miles. Quiksilver was already at the hotel as he had an easy 12 miles into Daleville today. We caught up on his hike over the last 10 days and my time at home. Tomorrow we will be heading out into the fun part of Virginia, getting to experience Tinker Cliffs which is the first leg of what¢s termed the ¢Virginia Triple Crown¢.  We also discussed how we plan to approach the next 730.4 miles to make sure we¢re enjoying miles and the trail experience. I¢m really looking forward to the next seven weeks!
Date: 2021-08-07
From: Campbell Shelter 

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

As planned, we were up well before dawn to pack up and climb up to McAfee Knob to watch the day arrive, leaving just after 5:30 for the .7 uphill to the overlook. I¢d like to take back yesterday¢s praise of young people on the trail, as this morning the group from our campsite blew past me on the uphill and made me feel bad. The wretches. Quiksilver and I stopped just short of McAfee at the Cliffs overlook and though the sky was cloudy and overcast, we still had amazing views all the way down into Roanoke.  We tarried for half an hour then walked the additional.1 mile to McAfee knob in order to take each other¢s photo on the iconic ledge. Although I know that eventually this piece of rock is destined to break off and plunge down the cliff, I reckoned that it wasn¢t likely to do so just at the moment I was standing on it. I¢m such a risk taker!After spending an additional 30 minutes at McAfee we got back to hiking. Both Quiksilver and I were dragging a bit as neither of us had slept that well, so it was a blessing to be traversing some more soft Virginia trails.  10 miles in we reached a road where a .3 mile walk off-trail held the promise of cold drinks and food at a gas station/grocery/deli just outside Catabwa, Va. I purchased two Gatorade¢s a burger, and I also bought the first YooHoo fake chocolate milk of my life in honor of Iceberg.  The Yoo-hoo was palatable, but the ingredients list left me a little bewildered at it¢s length and complexity.  I¢ll stick with real stuff, thanks. After getting back to the trail my lethargy had not abated so I told Quiksilver to go on ahead and he took off and was out of my sight in about a minute. We had a two mile climb to Dragon¢s Tooth - a vertical rock formation that requires some measure of technical climbing.  Quiksilver was waiting for me at the base so we could snap a few action shots of the climb. It¢s not too tough but it was mildly challenging in a ¢falling would hurt¢ kind of way.  With that behind us, there was another 5 miles to the shelter area we planned to stop at. Water was nonexistent on the trail again today, and though Pickle Branch was .3 off trail the promise of ruining water couldn¢t be passed up. We did scare up a large Barred Owl as we hiked, it flew about 70 feet away and perched in a tree, regarding us with disdain. Once we arrived at the shelter and went an additional .1 miles down to the creek, it was decided that we¢d stay here for the night. We both enjoyed a 10 minute foot soak in the creek as well. What I didn¢t enjoy so much was realizing I had blisters under both big toe nails. So I had to tend to those before dinner and I¢m not sure if those nails are going to hang on. I¢m not sure why I got the blisters as I¢m wearing the same model Hoka shoe I wore throughout New Hampshire and Maine, but it is what it is. Tomorrow we plan a longer 19 mile day with a couple of substantial climbs in front of us. It¢s likely to be hot and muggy so long water carries will be the rule of the day. Until tomorrow, sayanora!
Date: 2021-08-08
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Stealth Site 
Miles today: 19.26
Weather: fog

It¢s certainly going to be an adjustment getting used to sunrise coming after 6:30 versus 5:00 like it was up in Maine. Being further south and west makes for a dark wake up at 4:45. Accordingly, I didn¢t get up until 5:30 this morning and slowly broke camp until it was light enough to hike. Quiksilver and I planned on a 19 mile day and had also scoped out water sources for the trek. The day started with a 1500 foot climb over four miles on more of that gentle, switch-backy Virginia trail. It¢s nice to be able to actually walk and not to constantly short-stepping or long-striding betwixt rocks and tree roots, which was the order of the day the last 400 miles NOBO. At the top of the climb there was a short side trail to the Audie Murphy memorial.  Audie was one of the most decorated soldiers in WW2 and tragically lost his life  in a plane crash near this spot back in 1971. It was quite moving to see not only the monument itself, but also all the small mementos - some very personal- that people have left by the monument over the years. A long three mile downhill and then two mile uphill brought me to the Niday shelter where I loaded up with 4.5 liters of water and took a lunch break. I also took some time to examine my toenail blisters *GROSS CONTENT WARNING* and popped the one on Dudley resulting in a Mt St Helens eruption of fluid. Needless to say, my big toes hurt. But I laced back into my shoes and hoisted my very heavy, water laden pack and continued uphill.  Quiksilver pulled into the shelter just as I was leaving and we confirmed the plan to hike another 9 miles. The afternoon brought with it sun and temps of 90 degrees, so it got a little¢¦warm. I shifted down into plod mode and gave myself 5 hours to get to camp. There were some rock slab traverses that brought back memories of New York and New England, but the views were a fantastic recompense for the dicey footing. Today was also a big wildlife day with many deer to be seen (including an 8-point buck), a box turtle ambling along the trail, a 4 foot black snake that scared the bejesus out of me when it dashed across the trail under my descending foot, and lizards galore running hither and yon. Tomorrow is going to be another hot day - in fact the whole week will be hot - and we have two big climbs. The second of which will take us above 4000 feet. That second climb will be with loaded packs again as there won¢t be any water once you start the climb. So it¢ll be 4-5 liters - that¢s 10-12 pounds - on the back for the last 12 miles of the day. This is fine. Dehydration is worse than discomfort.
Date: 2021-08-10
From: BaileyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap shelter 

To: Rice Field Shelter 
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

It was another big night for the tree frogs at the Bailey¢s Gap Shelter as they started their serenade at sunset and kept it up until 3 am. Once they had taken their bows and exited stage left, the owls had their turn at bat calling back and forth to each other, undoubtedly bragging about all the tree frogs they had eaten that night. Quiksilver and I had set our sights on a 16 mile day, anticipating more of the rocky and overgrown trail we had yesterday - as had been reported to us by hikers two days ago. I got on trail at 6:45, waiting for the sun to rise so as to make the downhill trail a little less treacherous. There were some dark rhododendron thickets to walk through that really block out the light and lend a quiet stillness to the trail. I always enjoy those sections. I got to my first planned stop at 4 miles where the last water source was located. After ranking up with 3.5 liters I ate a snack and tended to my tootsies. Then I noticed, for reasons known only to him, that Dudley had decided to sprout a blister on the back of his heal. This is fine. Socks and shoes back on, I hit the trail for the 1700 foot climb ahead. This was one of those cases where the elevation and trail profiles tell one story, the trail another. It was perhaps the quickest and easiest climb I¢ve had to date. The progressive switchbacks served as a distraction and before I realized it, I was on flat terrain. I consulted the trail app to make sure I wasn¢t being fooled, but I was indeed at the top of the climb: score!A little later I stopped for a lunch break and Quiksilver caught up to me. Being that we only had another 7.5 miles to the shelter, we took it easy and hiked together. This was the stretch of bad trail we had been warned about and our low expectations for good Trail we¢re firmly in place. But¢¦it wasn¢t that bad. I mean, it wasn¢t great, but it wasn¢t bad. I only ended up bleeding from a half dozen new spots on my arms and legs, so not bad! And I want to make it clear: I don¢t think I¢m owed good trail. The maintenance on the AT is done by volunteers and life can pop up for anyone. They work hard when they can to keep things clear for the hikers, it¢s just that the local trail club is having a hard time getting any right now. Hopefully things I prove for them next year. We cruised into the Rice Field shelter at 2:30 and stuck to the plan to call it a day. We only have 7.5 miles into Pearisburg in the morning for a chore day and relaxing afternoon. We had a good time shooting the breeze until 7 and right now I¢m on a ridge looking over the stunning countryside, only wishing my wife were here as well. So expect a restaurant report tomorrow and a review of the Angel¢s Rest Hostel - which is supposed to be a peach of a place. Goodnight, all!
Date: 2021-08-11
From: Rice Field Shelter 

To: AngelÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Rest Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: overcast clouds

After watching the sunset I retired to my hammock where I was inundated with strange dreams involving (in no particular order): Earthquakes, having my dog (which turned into a kind of tyrannosaurus bear) chase my friend Mike, being suspended above a hockey rink during an NHL game by Meredith from the office, buying the house next to mine (but not my actual house) and finding it was full of spiders that talked.  Please, any Freudians out there, keep your analysis to yourselves. I got up and went back out to the ridge (which was actually in West Virginia) and watched the day arrive over the valleys and mountains.  Then Quiksilver and I lit out at seven for the short day into Pearisburg. He took off with verve and was soon out of sight. This bummed me out not in the least as he would be the one doing the silk blazing today!  Once of the ridge it was a pretty dull, mostly downhill hike. I listened to an Isaac Asimov Foundation novel on audiobook as I hiked. About four miles in I started running into a lot of spider webs and it took me about five minutes to realize that this seemed odd. I wondered: ¢Is Quiksilver ducking under these to mess with me?¢ Just then I got a text from him that he took a wrong turn and was behind me. I remain dubious - he may have hidden and let me pass to do the silk sweep again. I¢ll have to keep a closer eye on him. Once we crossed the New River we called the hostel for a shuttle and they arrived toot-sweet. The shower felt fantastic after five hot and humid days of hiking. All the clothes went into the laundry and we walked half a mile to a Hardees for some breakfast-like substances and middling coffee. Quiksilver also got a milkshake. Then on the way to the local outfitters we passed a Dairy Queen and a splurged on a caramel Moolatte and, channeling his inner Iceberg, Quiksilver stepped up and sent a blizzard chasing after the milkshake he had just finished. I spent the afternoon getting caught up on my iMovie project - I hadn¢t updated anything since July 12th and getting my pack reorganized with the food box I had mailed to the hostel. My food bag weighs in at 10lbs - that¢s five days of food - which makes me a little bit weepy knowing how much water I¢ll be carrying as well over the next week. Ugh. This is fine. There is a NOBO hiker here named Ursa who started in Georgia after Memorial Day and two other SOBO flip floppers - Doc and Professor who apparently have been just behind Quiksilver and I since leaving Daleville. So we may be not so alone on the trail the next few weeks. We shall see.  We¢re heading out around seven tomorrow with a big climb out of town and into the ridge-dessert of Virginia.  Hopefully looking to do 18-20 miles but the trail will tell. Oh, and today¢s picture is of one of the hostel dogs here.  He enjoys standing on the picnic table, all the better to drool on your neck when you sit down and then put his head by your ear until you pet him to his satisfaction. Good times!
Date: 2021-08-14
From: VA Rte 623

To: VA Rte 12
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

A clean room, AC running all night, comfortable mattress, and no bee-laden dreams - what a great night!  After a nice breakfast and a whole lotta¢ coffee, Quiksilver and I took a 45 minute shuttle ride up a winding forest service road to the top of Brushy Mountain for our hike NOBO back to where we got picked up yesterday. Being that we were slacking, I took a day pack and minimal gear including about 2/3rds a liter of water. Our shuttle driver Robbie is a great dude, we talked hunting and cattle ranching (he runs the farm for hostel owner Julie on addition to helping at the hostel) during the drive and I learned that in rural Virginia, you didn¢t grow up somewhere, you grewed up somewhere. After hiking 44 miles over two days with an over-full pack, it was nice to have about 6 pounds riding on my spine today. The trail was also in pretty good shape with nice grades on the climbs and very few briars - only one bleeding scratch today! Quiksilver and I hiked together the whole day as well, talking about this and that and just enjoying a nice day. There was only one view to be had on the day (pic above), but it was a stunner with the blue sky and clouds over the valley below. We also had a bear encounter as we rounded a corner of a ridge and surprised a mama bear and her two cubs about 50 yards ahead right on the trail!  They initially broke uphill, but then the cubs ran back downhill with one continuing down the slope but the other climbed a tree right next to the trail. Mom then ran back and paused on the trail and stared at us before continuing about 30 yards downhill and then stopping to keep an eye on us. After roughly 5 minutes, the treed cub slowly started down while watching us, then scrambled down the last 15 feet to join his family. We hiked on then. We covered the 16.6 miles in just under 6 hours (hooray slack packing!), feeling pretty good about the day. Then we enjoyed a nice home cooked dinner from Julie and then had some of her homemade pound cake and sweet tea. Quiksilver has been hiking for 12 straight days, so made the decision to take a zero tomorrow. We¢re still on schedule for our anticipated but not cast in stone ¢summit¢ of Springer Mountain in late September. It looks we are going to get a visit from tropical storm Fred next week and they are currently predicting 2-3 inches of rain for the AT where we will be hiking. They really, really need the rain here. I¢m finishing my night watching the fire flies in the field in front on the hostel and listening to the thunder from stray storms in the area. I had a chance to talk with my wife after dinner and that always puts me in a good mood and helped make a good day even better.
Date: 2021-08-15
From: Weary Feet hostel 

To: Weary Feet hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We saw Lost and Found off this morning at 6:30 as she continued northbound to Daleville to complete her section hike of the AT. Quiksilver fulfilled his function as a trail-dad and walked with her to the road crossing. I fulfilled my role as trail-slug and sat on the porch, drinking coffee. Weary Feet isn¢t close to anything other than the trail and Trent¢s Grocery store, which happens to be closed on Sunday¢s. So today was a true zero day with nothing on the agenda. I chose to read a trail book called ¢Platinum Blazing the AT¢ which gives advice to the deep-pocket set on how to have the most possible first-class experience on the trail. After perusing that offering, I read a good bit of Treasure Island- something I¢ve been meaning to read for years. After lunch I went for a leisurely walk (side note: rural Virginia drivers speed like armies of the living dead are following them) and managed to secure one bar of ATT cell signal and used that opportunity to call my parents.  I hope they enjoyed their chat with their hobo son as much as I did chatting with them, though the two horses staring at me from the other side of the pasture fence didn¢t seem to be enjoying my proximity to them at all. The hostel owner¢s husband stopped in and sat for a bit on the porch with me and we bonded over a mutual dislike of North Carolina Tarheel basketball.  Then Quiksilver and I spent a half hour or so fishing for Brook Trout in the stream in front of the hostel. I did catch one trout to his zero, bringing back memories of the many, many times I¢ve out-fished my younger brother. One takes small victories, when that¢s all that¢s available!We also did a little map-reading of the trail ahead over the next week to see where we can find water and do a resupply. Next up will be a two day hike to Atkins, Va before heading on to Damascus and the end of Virginia, but that¢s still 95 miles in the future. One day at a time.
Date: 2021-08-17
From: Va Rte 623

To: Knot Mail Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Julie came and collected us at 7 this morning, but not before I had one more glass of her awesome sweat tea (it was good, not like McDonald¢s syrupy sweet tea - blech!) and some coffee. The ride back to the trail took an hour and 15 minutes and my poor bladder, swimming with sweat tea and coffee, barely made the voyage intact. Once at the trailhead, Quiksilver and I each gave her $20 as a thank you for the water caches she and her staff have been doing during the drought and to help fund the continued effort. Camped at the trailhead was a group of volunteer trail maintainers from a group called ¢SAWS¢, though from what we could tell, they must have just arrived the night before and hadn¢t done any trail maintenance as of yet. We hiked off into the damp clouds that had descended on the ridge line and spent the next three hours hiking amongst the drips and mists. Around 11am after a steep climb, we reached the Chestnut Knob Shelter. It¢s a stone hut built in the 1920¢s for the fire warden¢s use and has been remodeled a few times since. It¢s a fully enclosed structure, which is very rare for the AT.  We had lunch inside and read the various shelter log entries, well¢¦Quiksilver read entries and I watched for mice. Shortly after hiking out we had our first and only views of the day when descending from the shelter and shortly after that, the rains started.  For the next three hours it varied from a light drizzle to heavy downpours. This is probably going to be pretty constant for the next two or three days as Tropical Storm Fred enters the region. Around one thirty we came to Lick Creek (the only water source on the day) where the trail bridge had washed away a while back. Due to the drought, I barely got my shoes wet when walking across the stream bed. They did, however, get soaked from above as the rain really came down while I was gathering and filtering water. We met a NOBO section hiker named Bandanna just past the creek and we spent a few minutes trading trail intel both north and south. Bandanna is doing a LASH (long ass section hike) from Georgia to Harpers Ferry - I have no doubt he¢ll make his goal. We eventually reached our target of Knot Maul Shelter at 3 just as the rain - which had let up for a bit - started in again. So we sat in the shelter for 30 minutes and waited it out before setting up our hammocks and doing camp chores.  It looks as if the rain will return after midnight and then pretty much stay all day Tuesday as we hike another 15 miles or so to Atkins, Virginia. My poor widdle toenails are a bit better today, but in true trail fashion, my left achilles is slightly swollen and sore. I¢ll wear a compression sock tonight and see if that makes it any better in the morning. It¢s always something out here. As Doc said a few days ago: ¢you can¢t walk this many miles and expect everything to be in good shape when you¢re done¢.I¢ll post this entry (written Monday evening) as soon as I can but the rain may preclude that until Tuesday evening. We shall see.