morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-21
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we powered up the big inclines by eating Tim Tam biscuits (cookies)from Australia. Thanks Laura and Dominic. Later we used the same technique by using raisonettes. Thanks Andrea. There are more rocks in this state. Every foot placement is an experiment. All the mountain laurel are in bloom. It is very beautiful.The rain has held off but it is very threatening. We made it a short day because our feet are sore. We are sharing the shelter with Magnet, Whiperwill, Dodger and Dirsu.The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-22
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: moderate rain

The trail started out easy. We crossed over some log bridges that were a little rickety and then climbed up 2000 feet. As soon as we got to the top it started to rain. We quickly put our rain jackets on and proceeded down the trail. These jackets keep you warm but you perspire wearing them so you get wet from the inside. Carol wears a pair of light gloves in the rain and then over them she wears a pair of yellow kitchen gloves (the kind you wash dishes in). Her hands perspire but they stay warm and do not blanche white due to raynauds syndrome.We stopped at Laurel Creek Shelter for lunch and a dad with his two sons were out hiking. They were around 5 and 7 years old. He was very patient with them. It was a nice family outing.The trail emerged onto a farmers rolling field. It started to pour and we again covered up with our jackets. We walked about a mile through these fields. Carol said a donkey was eyeing her suspiciously the whole time.As we hiked we passed the Keffer Oak tree. It is purported to be 300 years old.As we left the fields we merged back into the woods and climbed 1000 feet. It continued to rain and we spotted an abandoned old hay shed. We climbed inside and had our snack out of the rain. We hiked briskly to get out of the rain. Finally we got to the shelter. It was .3 of a mile off the trail down a grade. I hated to walk down there and I knew I would hate the climb out in the morning. The shelter was very new and not used much (because it is off the trail). We had the shelter all to ourselves. We went ghetto and had wet stuff hanging everywhere. We hoped it would dry by the morning.This note is for future thru hikers. VA is not flat. There are rocky ridges that they seem intent on sending you over and it is very difficult on your feet.In addition to that the trails are not as well maintained and there are not many switchbacks to ease the uphills.The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-23
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Despite our efforts to dry our gear and clothing. Nothing dried. We put the wet clothes back on and climbed up out of the shelter and back to the trail. We warmed up right away due to the .3 uphill climb. The next 6 miles was relatively flat and we made great time. Then we ran into a bare granite field that was at a 45 degree angle. This section was difficlt to navigate as the fall into the valley would be unpleasant. This section went on for about half a mile. Once in a while the clouds would part and you could see into the valley. It was beautiful.We had lunch at Niday Shelter with Dodger, Rabid and 2 other hikers. They told us there was trail magic up the trail at the road. We quickly wolfed down our lunch and hiked the 1.3 miles to the road. When we got there Super Dave (2005 thru hiker) and Doris were cooking burgers. We ate well. (Two burgers each, chips, cookies, muffins and 2 cans of coke).As we left the trail magic there was a 1500 foot climb and at the top was the monument to Audi Murphy. Growing up in Canada I knew of Audi Murphy as a western hero in the movies. It was not until I took an American history class in college that I learned of his heroics in the second world war. He joined the military at 17, was wounded 3 times, won every medal for bravery America had to offer including the Congressional Medal of Honor. He also won the top awards for bravery France and Belgium had to offer. He died in 1971 when his plane struck the mountain top near the trail. Beside the official monument hikers have built another monument out of piles of small stones. His body is buried in Arlington National Cemetary.Just as we left the monument the rain returned with a vengence. We covered up and headed for the Pickle Branch Shelter 5 miles away. On the way day hikers gave us a sandwich they could not eat. We never pass up food and took it with us for later.Once again we have our belongings spread around hoping they will dry. Once again we are alone in the shelter. Tomorrow we face the famous Dragon Tooth.The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-24
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Catawba Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: light rain

We started out in the mist and fog. We hiked up 1500 feet in 3 miles. We did not speak as we were both wondering how hard this section of the trail would be. I had not told Carol about Dragons Tooth because I did not want her to worry. Unfortunately others started metioning it a couple of days ago so she had time to worry about it. Dragons Tooth is one of the most difficult sections of the A.T. It is a perpendicular rock face with big 3 and 4 foot steps and rebar ladders to climb down. It was difficult and took us more than an hour. Making it even tougher was the rain and fog. No view to photograph here. I had 2 falls and Carol had one but we dusted the mud off and continued.We hiked along an area called Knife Edge for another 3 miles of uplifted granite racks. Finally we emerged on VA 624 and saw in the guide book a store was .4 of a mile away. We quickly hiked to the store and ate hamburgers, coke, coffee and other garbage food until we were full. We returned to the trail and climbed numerous stiles through uphill cow pastures. We marked mile 700 at John Springs Shelter. We hiked 1 more mile to Catawba Mountain Shelter. We head into Daleville tomorrow.The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-25
From: Catawba Mountain Shelter

To: Daleville VA
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

We hiked up McAffee know. This is one of the most photographed sites on the tail ans views are fantastic. For us - fog only. We were very disappointed. We hiked on to Tinker Cliffs and the fog lifted. Here the view were spectacular. The trail goes needlessly close to the edge and both Carol and I were a little nervous because it is easy to stumble. Finally we started down and it was a false down hill. After a couple of miles we started up a mountain knob. Then down again. We did this 7 times. Each time on the knob there were razor like rocks that you needed to walk on. These ridges are very tiresome.We finally emerged in Daleville and registered in the Howard Johnson's Motel. We met many hikers we had not seen in a long time, Joe, Gear Bomb, Magnet of course. We also saw the boys from West Virginia. In the Mexican Restaurant we went to we ran into Spas McGee (he is making a documentary of the trail and we met him just before the Smokies). He was with Crusher. Both of them are from Quebec and we had a big old Canadian hug. Spas has his website linked to ours and is following our journey. It was good to see these folks again eh!The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-26
From: Daleville VA

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

Chores today. Laundry, resupply, update journal, go to outfitter and post office.I will be getting summer sleeping gear here and sending the other back to Andrea.The Canadian Geese (Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-27
From: Daleville VA

To: Bobbetts Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

There was a gentle incline out of Daleville and about 2 miles into our hike a flock of Canadian Geese flew over us honking. They were encouraging us onward. We had been told by a previous thru hiker that the next stretch to Waynesboro was particularly difficult, remote and hard to resupply. We have a tentative resupply location about 5 or 6 days from now.We hiked uphill for the next 4 miles to the Fullhart Knob shelter and hard our snack. The trail took us up, up and up, then down again to the Wilson Creek shelter where we met a hiker named Q tip. We ran into him 3 times during the day. We had lunch at Wilson Creek and met some other old familiar faces (More Blue Sky and Web Walker) doing a slack pack south on the trail. Almost everyone seems to do these slackpacks. It always confuses me because they are always going south. They then get picked up and are driven to their packs up the trail (north). The daughter of one of these women (they are sisters) was having a romance with another hiker named yule. Apparently that is over and he is now with another female hiker. By the way when a male hiker slows to hike day after day with a woman he meets on the trail it is called pink blazing. The trail was not as rocky today and we decided to tent as the shelter was mostly full of young hikers. There names were Whiporwill, Kumquat, Compass and Dirsu. There was another hiker with his dog Charlie.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-28
From: Bobbetts Gap Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We climbed out of Bobbetts Shelter (it was low in a ravine). The trail took us gently up and down until we came to Cove Mtn.Shelter where we had our snack.. We did a long down hill to Jennings Creek which was only 960 feet above sea level. We had lunch and soaked our feet. That was very soothing, as the water was very cold. We also filled our water bottles being careful not to scoop up any of the many tadpoles. We knew we were in for a big climb because we were at such a low elevation. We started up and went the 1000 feet up in 1 mile. We stopped at a huge multi level shelter called Bryant Ridge shelter. I can hold 20 hikers (most hold 6 or 8). We ate lunch and debated staying there but decided to hike on instead. It was 4.9 miles to the next shelter and just as we left and began a 1500 foot climb we heard the rumbling of a thunderstorm in the distance. We wondered if we made the right decision but we had already committed ourselves to getting to the shelter. As we hiked the thunder came closer and closer. We hiked as fast as we could and it finally got so dark we could hardly see the trail. We arrived at the shelter in record time considering the uphill climb. We covered the 4.9 miles in just under 2 hours. Five minutes after arriving a tremendous storm hit and the trail became a raging stream with water 4 or 5 inches deep.We were so wet from perspiration that it looked like we had been caught in the rain anyway. There was another hiker named Croft at the shelter. She turned her back as we stripped off our wet clothing and got comfortable. We hung our clothes, but nothing ever dries because it is so humid. In the morning you just put your cold stinking clothes back on and hike on. Sounds enjoyable doesn't it.The highlight of the day was seeing a copperhead snack lying on the trail sunning itself. We just disturbed it with our poles and it slithered away.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-29
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Thunderhill Shelter
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We had heard about trail magic at mile 761.3 and Carol never wanting to miss food convinced me to wait around from 11 AM until 3 PM for it to occur. After hiking the 5.3 miles we lounged around on the Blue Ridge Parkway at an overlook for several hours and then a nearby shelter.Eventually 3PM came and we walked to the location of the trail magic. It was indeed worth it! It is called Hiker Feed and these individuals do this yearly. Two of the individuals Lizard and Sugnags (the name may be spelled wrong)had hiked the trail previously and this was there way of giving back. Ann, the third individual involved in the trail magic, is a professor of Education at Radford University. She chooses to do community service and hiker feed fills the bill.They cooked the food in large cast iron pots with charcoal briquets underneath and on top. They made lasaguna, quesadillas, banana bread, biscutits, salads of all kinds, fruit and other wonderful food.Ann gave each of us a mineral marble to take with us. She does this to all her friends that travel. These marbles have been left in all continents of the world. She says they give you extrodinary power and if we leave them any where to let her know where we have left them.Carol thanked Ann very much for her extrodinary generosity with the food and Ann turned and said it was we who were extrodinary. She went on to say that   the world needed more extrodinary people like the thru hikers.Carol and I comment regularly on how wonderful the people we meet are, and how we wish people outside of our trail adventure were more like this (in the real world).The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-30
From: Thunderhill Shelter

To: Wildwood Campground mile 775.9
Miles today: 14.6

We hiked in mixed woods today with the temperature at 94 degees F. We had one big climb and then hiked down to the James River at around 900 feet above sea level.When we got to Matts Creek Shelter we stopped and soaked our feet - it was hiker heaven. The stream was cool and clean. We hiked across the James river on a foot bridge named after a guy named Foot (how about that). After the bridge we decide to hitch a ride to the Campground where we were going to stay. All the cars were flying by empty and no one was stopping. All of a sudden a car coming the other way did a U turn and came back and said where are you going. We told them and they entered the destination into their GPS and took us to the campground. I appologized for stinking up their new BMW with leather seats. They gave us a powerade drink and asked us questions about the hike. They wrote the blog name down so they could follow our trip. Thank you so much your kindness was remarkable.We got to the campground and were shown a patch of ground to put the tent on. We were surrounded by huge trailers. We asked about a trail angel (Ken) and apparently he lives at the campground during the summer months. After our shower he met us and took us to Big Island where we resupplied at a convenience store/ restaurant.We also got pizzas and beer (I was instructed by Carol not to get any of that light stuff - meaning light beer). We did our laundry and sat at a pavillion eating and drinking beer. After being on the trail for over two months, and seeing only hikers we were suddenly startled at how fat and lazy the folks in this campground were. We watched as they drove their vehicles 200 yards to the bathroorm. We felt shocked.Ken, a remarkable trail angel, drove us back to the trail at 7 AM.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-05-31
From: Wildwood Campground mile 775.9

To: Brown Mtn. Creek Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The hike up from the James River was brutal. It was 90 degrees F and we climbed from around 900 feet to 3372 feet. It was a 4 hour climb. We stopped at the Punch Bowl shelter for lunch. There was a pond and lots of bugs. We filled our water bottles from the run-off from the pond. We chemically treat all our water, but it is amazing the color of water you will drink after a couple of months on the trail.The weather threatened rain all day but we stopped anyway to soak our feet in the Little Irish Creek. Camp is still 5 miles away. We finally got into camp and it did not rain. We are alone in the shelter, others are tenting nearby. (Kunquat, Dodger (age 61), Whipperwill, Compass, Safari, Trashman (age 60) and others.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-01
From: Brown Mtn. Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

In 4 miles we hiked up 3000 feet. We crossed the 800 mile mark. We are at 4059 feet above sea level We got a distant look at the profile of The Priest. A legenday mountain in VA. It is a legend because it is tough to go up and tough to come down. We can't worry about that we just take them as they present themselves.We walked along the ridges and they kept dropping 500 feet and then we needed to re-climb that 500 feet later. This happened 5 or 6 times today. It is a leg killer. We estimate we climbed well over 5000 feet today.We were tired from the hike yesterday and needed to stop for extra snacks. It is amazing what you will eat for energy. I watched Carol eat large spoon fulls of peanut butter straight from the jar. This is a woman who does not generally eat peanut butter.It started to rain (thunder shower)around 2:30 PM after rumbling for several hours. The rain lasted about an hour and was quite cooling. It did, however, make the trail slippery. We hiked hard and covered the last 5.2 miles in 2 hours.At the shelter tonight are two section hikers Wizard and Smamich. They are out for a month hike. Also present are Safari and a couple of English blokes named Winston and Churchill. They are very humerous. Winston hikes with no shirt on and has tatoos of naked women all over his arms and chest. When they get to camp the first thing they do is make a fire and have a cup of tea. (rain or shine)Several young hikers stopped for dinner and moved on to the Priest Shelter which is on top of the mountain. We will tackle that when we are fresh in the AMThe Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-02
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.4

Today we hiked the Priest. It is 4063 feet high and was indeed difficult. Because of the shape of the mountain, however, we found the hike down harder. It is a 5.6 mile trip down the mountain and there are all kinds of loose rocks and bolders to walk over. In places it is very steep. Finally the last 2 miles are more comfortable switchbacks.We finally got to the Tye River and soaked our feet in the cool water. Winston and Churchill were also there soaking there feet. It felt so good.We hiked the last 2 miles up to the shelter (1000 feet up. Magnet, with his sore knee, is staying in the shelter with us.All day long there was a beautiful perfume in the woods, smeeled like honey suckle. We don't know where it came from but it was nice.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-03
To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

Two firsts today. We saw a bear run across the trail and up the hill, and we hiked 22 miles over 2 mountains. It was a very tough day. We had only 2 stops of 10 minutes each and we hiked from 630 AM until 630 PM. The temperature was in the mid 80's.The first mountain is called 3 Ridges and it was strewn with rocks and boulder fields. We climbed up to 3800 feet from the river below. On the way up we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of times and got rid of our trash in the bins.It is hard to explain how difficult the loose rocks and big step ups and downs are for me. I have a weakness in my left knee due to the knee replacement and a weakness in my right hip due to my hip replacement. I have to use my poles to assist me. Because I am using upper body strength it is even more tiring than for most hikers.After the 3 Ridges we got to Humpback Mtn. at 3600 feet. This mountain had even more loose rocks and boulders. We had to climb hand over foot to climb up a huge boulder pile. At one point Carol cried out and I looked back to see her turned around and lying on her back on a boulder. She was able to right herself and we got over the boulders safely. During times like this I can't help but think - one slip and our adventure is over.It was very slow going up to this point and we still had 8.2 miles to the shelter. We met Ace, a 20 something hiker and a male hiker, and cruised along behind them. They set a good pace as they talked to one another. Carol and I were going their pace but unable to speak because we were winded. Oh to be young again.finally we got to the shelter with very sore feet. As we came into camp several hikers yelled out they were impressed with our hike today. Most hikers break this portion of the trail into two hikes. We of course did not know this before we tackled these 2 mountains. We needed to get to town on Friday because the Post Office does not have hours on Saturday and we had to get our box that we mailed or wait until Monday.There were many hikers at the shelter waiting to go to Waynesboro.During the night we had a lighting and rainstorm. We were glad to be in the shelter and not on a ridge.(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)The Canadian Geese
Date: 2010-06-04
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: broken clouds

We did the 5 miles in 2 hours and got to Rockfish Gap at 830 AM. Safari and Winston also arrived at the Gap when we did. We all crossed the road and were about to start to hitch a ride for the 5 mile trip to Waynesboro when a car drove up and it was a trail angle named Roy. He took us to the Post Office for our boxes and then drove us to the Quality Inn where we are staying. We love these trail angles.After showering we went to return the box to the Post Office and then to Mings Chinese Buffet. It is all you can eat - yahoo!We stayed in and had Pizza in our room at night.The Canadian Geese.(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-05
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Rockfish Gap - Quality Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are finishing up our chores. Carol has gone to do laundry. I am in the Library updating the journal. We will then be going to the outfitter for new boots and fuel, and then later tonight the Grace Lutheran Church is having a AYCE (all you can eat) Spaghetti dinner for hikers. Yahoo!The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-06
From: Rockfish Gap - Quality Inn

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

Waynesboro was a great hiker friendly town. There are lists of trail angels at the outfitter and hotels. When you telephone them they come and take you around town. What a wonderful way to treat people. Thank you Waynesboro.We got dropped off at Rockfish Gap by a trail angel at 7 AM. The trail was a series of long rolling uphills today. The miles clipped by pretty easily. The weather was overcast and windy with thunder in the background. Carol comented that it seemed we were in a Stephen King Novel.As I hiked along I thought of my sister Penny who has tried to drive along Skyline drive several times but it has always been raining or foggy. I hope we have better luck.We crossed Skyline drive several times today and infact will cross it 28 times in the next 107 miles.When we got to the shelter it was overflowing with section hikers. We hadn't seen this many hikers since the Smoky mountains. We hope it thins out. A fellow hiker (Magnet)had saved us a good campsite and we settled down for the evening. During the day we noticed long rock walls in several places along the trail. Perviously we noticed this also. When we were in Waynesboro a local trail historian told us these walls were built by slaves for the settlers. The were built to keep the animals out/in.We are looking forward to some easier terrain in this section of our hike.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)