morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-08-28
From:  Paul Wolfe shelter 

To: Maupin Field shelter 
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: broken clouds

Edit yesterday:COG - crazy old guy (chinook driver)Old grave. Picture.Joey and I got up around 6:30 this morning, made breakfast: oatmeal and coffee and bacon that Joey brought. Then we broke down our camp, got packed up, got some more water, and headed south on the trail. We talked to Denim about his tent for a few moments before getting started. So we were actually on the trail about 8:40.Shortly after we left the shelter we met 3 elderly gentleman hiking North. Joey and I stopped to talk to them for about 15 minutes. They were interested in our hike and had done large sections of the Appalachian Trail themselves. After saying farewell and safe hiking we continued South.The morning hike up Humpback Mountain was basically an uphill 2000 foot climb. Part way up about 11 o'clock we reached a side trail, and at the recommendation of the guys we had seen earlier, we decided to hike the one quarter mile trail down to what is called Humpback Rock. At this point a large formation of slanted rock juts sharply out of the hillside, providing a cliff top to which we could climb and from which we could see pretty much the entire Shenandoah Valley to the west and the little bit of the valley on the eastern side of the mountain range on which we were hiking. We both took some pictures from this location and then we paused for a snack break.Shortly after that we reached the actual summit of Humpback Mountain. A mile later we came to a viewpoint from which we could see the Wintergreen ski area and we took some more pictures from this cliff top. Later we passed the Dripping Rock parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway, another viewpoint called rock paint, and yet another from which we could see the Three Ridges. From there it was a short hike to the Reeds Gap Road crossing and parking lot. And from there only 2 miles to the Maupin Field Shelter. On the way a couple of day hikers had told us there was no water at the shelter, so when we arrived and found a shallow and running spring behind the shelter we were very happy. We filtered four liters of water and then started preparing dinner. Intrepid arrived shortly after that. And just as we were collectively about halfway through with dinner the two of the elderly gentleman we had seen in the morning showed up with two pizzas and a half dozen bottles of water. So we had a sort of Pizza party with them for a little while. Their names were Junkyard Jim, who was 72, and Russell, who was 78. Jim claimed that Russell was the fastest bow-legged man in Virginia. We thanked them profusely and they departed to return home about a half an hour later. We finished dinner and as we were doing so three other through hikers arrived at different times. One party was a couple of two northbound. And the other was a single hiker who arrived relatively late, and I did not get much information from him yet. And before we knew it it began to get dark. We finished preparing our bear hang for the bear pole and getting ready for bed.
Date: 2017-08-29
From: Maupin Field shelter 

To: The Priest shelter 
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: moderate rain

Edit yesterday: the last guy to arrive was "Beaker" who was wearing a kilt and beret and a shirt from the Irish pub at the Inn at Long Trail. We got up at 8am, after it had rained hard from about three a.m. The couple who tented were up first, and it seemed none of the rest of us were anxious to go out (from warm sleeping bags) into the cold rain. Slowly we "warmed" to the idea though, and Joey and I and Intrepid finished breakfast and filtering some more water, and we were hiking south on the trail around 10:15 a.m. The morning hike up Three Ridges was relatively easy, but we had only partial views. We reached the summit and then hiked more carefully down the slippery rocks on the south side. We arrived at the Harper's Creek shelter about 1p.m. We all had lunch there, and Joey and I decided to hike on and climb the priest. Intrepid chose to remain there, however. So we said goodbyes, and "see you up the trail". Joey and I left the Harper's Creek shelter about 2:15p.m., and we reached the Tye River and crossed a suspension bridge (pictures) about 3:00. We then began the 3000 foot climb up The Priest. We chatted along the way about a whole bunch of subjects, and this made the climb easier for me. We reached a very nice easterly view part way up and took pictures. All of the remaining viewpoints were above the cloud line, however. We reached the summit and then The Priest Shelter a bit before 6 p.m. There was already one hiker ("Morocco Mole, with his dog "lil woof") and a large college orientation group from nearby W&L College (pictures). The students had stayed in the shelter all day after getting caught in the rain the night before (some had left clothing and boots out, and these things had been soaked). They were in the process of cooking dinner when we arrived, but they moved their stuff out of the shelter and into tents. Joey and I moved into the shelter with Morocco Mole. We made dinner for ourselves and chatted with the whole group for about an hour and a half. Then we hung our bear bags and got ready for bed.
Date: 2017-09-01
From: John's Hollow shelter

To: Glasgow Stanimal 328 Hostel
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: light rain

I woke up and started getting up sometime after 5 a.m. and the W and L students got up shortly after that. They loaded up their stuff and we're hiking out in order to see the sunrise at the James River if possible. I took my time and had breakfast. I ate oatmeal and had hot coffee. Then I finished packing up my stuff, and at about 7:15, I headed back up to the trail, and set out to the south in order to meet my shuttle driver at 9 a.m.Pickup went as planned. I checked into the hostel, got a shower, did laundry, and then went to the dollar General and the grocery store to get supplies. The rest of the day, I relaxed and binge-watched defenders on Netflix. Wesley (Mr Lippy) also checked into the hostel.  I had hiked with him and several others on the Long Trail in Vermont, although I called him Adam because that's what his brother called him. He had wanted to hike some more and asked if he could join me. I said ok.We discussed plans for the next several days. We also had both lunch and dinner down the street at a pizza place. I watched defenders until I could stay awake no longer.
Date: 2017-09-02
From: Glasgow Stanimal 328 Hostel

To: Cornelius Creek shelter 
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: light rain

It was still raining when we got up this morning so I talked to her was laying we decided to take her time getting started. I checked my pack weight after yesterday's resupply, and it was a little over 40 pounds with all of my food and all of my water bottles full. This was too much, so I went through my food bag and pulled out two packs of beef jerky, one knorr meal, one jar of peanut butter and jelly, and one almost-empty fuel canister. I gave away the beef jerky to members of the softball team that were also staying at the hostel, I put the fuel canister in the hiker box, & I ate the jar of peanut butter and jelly for breakfast. That was about 2100 calories!After settling up with the hostel manager, the shuttle driver gave Wesley and me a ride to the trailhead. We got on the trail southbound about 10 a.m. The first part of the walk was across a bridge over the James River and on the other side I saw sign that indicated that this was called the foot bridge not because people walk on it but because it was named after someone who's last name was foot. Apparently Bill Foot and his wife were avid hikers and were the first two people to complete the coast to coast cross country American discovery trail.We stopped briefly at the Matt's creek shelter, and then moved on. At some point, we met several day hikers. The last two of these, we talked to for a few minutes. They were Josh, who was in the Army for 5 yrs as a 31F (MSE SEN operator, and Brandon who we did not get to know as much about. Later, near the peak of Apple orchard Mountain, we met hiker Brown Arrow -- a woman in her 70 maybe even 80s, who was hiking northbound to Pennsylvania, trying to reach the official halfway point on the Appalachian Trail. She intended to meet friends there.We reached the Thunder Hill shelter around 3:30 p.m. and took a short break.  We decided to continue, and around 5:30 p.m. We came to the Cornelius Creek shelter. Here we met Henry who was on his 3rd day of a 4 day hike. He was an IT professional employee of the patent office in Shirlington, VA (near the Pentagon). We talked about hiking and the trail. Then we ate dinner and hung a bear bag. It was cold, and we all added a layer. Soon it began to get dark.
Date: 2017-09-03
From: Cornelius Creek shelter 

To:  Wilson Creek shelter
Miles today: 26.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 6ish. Got down bear bags. Breakfast, morn routine. Henry gave us some of his extra food. I got three ramen and a couple snack bars. ate the snack bars for breakfast. On the trail about 8 a.m. 15 min later caught up with Henry and realized we went the wrong way.  Turned around (.6 mi to make up; 1.2 mi extra hiking!) Arrived at the Bryant Ridge shelter about 10 a.m. very nice double decker. Picture. Short snack break then back on the trail. .3 later stopped to fill up on water. Then up 1000 ft, down 1000 ft, up 1000 ft. Arrived at Buchanan view point. Took pic of view to the west. Nice valley; could see quite far. Then arrived at the Cove Mountain shelter about 1 p.m. I ate a bacon chicken and cheese sandwich with mayonnaise on lavash bread. The chicken and lavash bread for given to me by the W & L students before they stopped hiking. The bacon I got in Glasgow after seeing and tasting the bacon Joey had brought when he was hiking with me. We were back on the trail shortly after 1:30 p.m.The continuing climb up Cove Mountain went along a narrow Ridgeline which offered more of use to the west and to East. Picture.Later we passed views at the Peaks of otter and bear wallow gap. Pictures. And then Mills gap. Picture. Shortly after that would came to Bobblet's gap. And at another overlook are saw a sign describing the migration patterns of Hawks. Picture. In the view to the west I could see a hawk circling in order to gain elevation by writing a thermal up draft kama exactly as depicted in the graphic on the sign. On the opposite side of the road there was also a great view to the east at a point where they wouldn't guardrail curved as the road vent to the right and I could see trails on the slopes on the opposite side of the valley in the distance.At this point we had come 20 miles from our start this morning. Wesley took a5 minute break while I continued walking slowly. I knew he would catch up, being 22 years younger and a bit faster. I was hoping to get to the Wilson Creek shelter tonight so that we would have fewer miles tomorrow remaining between our start and the town of Daleville. I had contacted a friend from college who lives in Roanoke and she had invited me to dinner kama shower, and laundry, not necessarily in that order, at his house. So I was hoping to be able to reach the town of Daleville early enough in the afternoon to make this convenient for him.Shortly after that I came to another overlook labeled Montvale and took some more pictures. I think there mat have been a couple more overlooks, but eventually, we reached the Wilson creek shelter. Tupe was there, as well as two other groups of hikers. Papa bear and muffin, and Brian and Christina.  We chatted with everyone, and made dinner. After dinner, we hung a bear bag, and soon enough it was bedtime.
Date: 2017-09-04
From:  Wilson Creek shelter

To: Rhemus residence
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

Mostly uphill 5 miles to Fulkhart shelter then mostly downhill 6 miles to Route 11, Interstate 81, and then Daleville. Went to pizza hut with Wesley, then he checked into a hotel and my college friend, Dave came out and first gave us a ride the the grocery store and then dropped Wesley off at his hostel. Dave then took me to his house. I had a shower and Dave helped me do laundry. We told stories and caught up (after 33 yrs). Later he took me out to dinner at a great place called Montanos.  Afterward, we went back to his house and talked some more. His wife Suzie was returning from out of town late, and I would meet her in the morning.
Date: 2017-09-09
From: Rice Field shelter

To: Angels Rest Hostel
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: clear sky

Got up a little later than usual around 7. Breakfast, packed up. On the trail at 8:30. Stuart arrive again just as we were heading out. I showed him a peach tree that I had found the evening prior and from which I had eaten several pieces. They were small but the taste of fresh fruit was amazing. Picture.The hike down up down to Pearisburg was relatively easy. And around 10:30 kama we were crossing the New River. The bridge provided a sidewalk next to a busy divided four lane highway called New River access road. And under it ran several runs of railroad track on both sides of the river.Shortly after that, we got to the route 100 trailhead. We hitch-hiked into town and went to the angels rest hostel. Laundry, shower, lunch at a Mexican place, then resupply shopping at food lion. Relaxing afternoon. Dinner at a Chinese place. I did not like it. I could not even finish my first plate of buffet. My belly still felt full from lunch, and I had no hunger. Back to the hostel. Movie. Bed
Date: 2017-09-11
From: Wapiti Shelter 

To: Lickskillet Hostel 
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

I got up around 6 a.m., when I heard Stewart moving around. Packed up, breakfast, took some pictures of our tents.  On the trail between 7:45 and 8 a.m. I got pictures of other campers who joined us after, dinner last night. They were:  "Bearclaw" a nobo hiker doing a section to Buena Vista. His real name was Dave Bosman; he's a retired computer programmer.  He and his son wrote a book about their hike.  "Omega," a slim young guy with long dark hair, a nobo."Nature Boy" who was a sobo hiker from Denmark. He said he was glad to meet me because he had read my entries in log books for a long time.  We talked about where we might have crossed paths.Reached Dismal Falls just before 10:00.  A nice swimming hole, on another day, maybe. Continuing south, we came to Route 608 about 12:30p.m.  I called the hostel there, at Lickskillet Hollow, and Mongo came to pick us up.  He had hiked parts of the trail before but not finished.At the hostel, I met "Dream Catcher" and Lobo, from Vermont.  The former was probably a little older than me, and the latter was a young person in his 20s. Later two older women joined the group: "Dee Baggins" and "Pam".While Mongo was out picking them up, another guy joined us.  This was "Wallstreet" -- someone we had met the previous afternoon, but he had moved on and not stayed at the Wapiti shelter.  We went to the store in Bland for resupply, and got lunch while we were there.  Later, we watched the TV for news about the hurricane (Irma).  Predictions of rain for tonight, maybe high wind.  Tomorrow uncertain. Wesley and I discussed and thought we might zero if the weather got worse, but we would reassess in the morning. We watched DVDs and ate frozen pizza for dinner.
Date: 2017-09-12
From: Lickskillet Hostel 

To: Lickskillet Hostel 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Raining when I got up.Made coffee.Mango took Wesley, Stewart, and me to breakfast. Watched movies.Picked "Bucket List" to watch on Netflix, to get ideas about what other things to put on mine. I still have over 600 miles to hike on the AT, but I'm starting to think more about what comes next.
Date: 2017-09-14
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Knot Maul Shelter 
Miles today: 20.1

Got up this morning around 6 and took my time with a normal routine. I got a picture of the two hikers who had joined us last night: Crush, who was probably in his forties, an Investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Gringo, a 30-something with a big sombrero. Both were Mechanical Engineers. Crush was hiking north to the Lickskillet Hostel where he had parked his truck. Then he would return to work. Gringo was also hiking north, but he explains that this was temporarily backwards because he was a soobo who had started at Katahdin in Maine. He had had to jump south and hike some sections backwards in order to link up with a friend who is going to join him in Daleville.Anyway, we got on the trail about 8:15 a.m. Stewart and I hiked together for a while.  At about 10:15, I saw two black bear Cubs slide down out of trees directly adjacent to the trail about 15 feet away, and run off down the hill into the woods, presumably to link back up with their mother. So, my bear count for this hike is now at 8.The trail was wet today from a light and steady rain. It was also completely overcast, so there were no views from the high points.We stopped for lunch at the Chestnut Knob Shelter at about 12:45 p.m. and we were back on the trail headed south at about 1:15 p.m. IT had gotten cold and windy, so I wore my windbreaker on top of my t-shirt. An hour and 3.3 miles later, I had come down almost 2000 feet in elevation. The misty fog was now replace by good visibility. And the cold wind was replaced by warmer and relatively still air. Everything was quiet, dark and damp, and the leaves on the trees were not moving. However, I was much more comfortable in these conditions, & I stopped to remove my windbreaker and have a snack.20.1 mi trail
Date: 2017-09-16
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Campsite near mile marker 1669
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up around 6 a.m. and then morning routine was very much like yesterday. We were on the trail before 7:30 a.m.. It was cool when we started, but by 8:30 a.m. the sky was clear blue and sunny. Where we were hiking there was a substantial green canopy provided by a variety of trees, so it was still cool at trail level.I came to the Mount Rogers Visitor Center about 10:15 a.m., and stopped to charge my phone and get a Dr Pepper from the vending machine. I talked with the lady inside about Grayson Highlands and Mount Rogers hike. Then I met up with Wesley and Stewart who were both already there. They left to continue hiking around 11 a.m.  I followed separately around 11:15 and as I picked up my pace, I later passed the others.At two points during the day I passed signs warning hikers about angry Yellow Jacket nests on the trail ahead. In both cases I found a way around through the woods. The first of these was a sign set on the trail by another hiker, but the second was actually yellow warning tape used to block off the trail, installed by trail maintainers. In both cases it appeared that a bear had dug up the nest in order to eat the larvae.At 3 p.m. I stopped on a hilltop to take a break and have a late lunch. I was hiking much faster and covering more miles than usual.  I spent a half an hour there, and no one else showed up. So I kept hiking south, but more slowly. I came to this spot where a campground was supposed to be, but it was blocked off. Trail maintainers had stacked dead wood which one could use to access a flat clearing. It appeared they were trying to revitalize that area, and it seemed it was no longer an official campsite. So I decided to backtrack rather than wait here for the others. I hiked back to the ridgeline where I had eaten lunch, only about a half mile, and I saw Stewart coming. He said Wesley was just behind him. We walked back down the trail and found another path on which there was a different campsite about .2 miles off the trail. Here there was a pretty old picnic bench with moss growing on it. We decided to make that our camp site for the night. I was glad to have a place to stop and companions to stop with.We found a small stream and I was able to use a Rhododendron leaf as a funnel so that we could collect water more easily. (Picture) I had seen these before, made by other hikers. This was my first. I laid up my tarp on a piece of flat ground, and I checked to make sure there were no dead trees or dead branches that could fall on our camp site.Normal evening.19.5 miles trail.7 miles backtracking .2 miles off trail20.4 miles total
Date: 2017-09-19
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Crazy Larry's Hostel
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Up At 5:45 and on the trail before sunrise.  Hiked with headlamp about 30 min.  Met two sobo hikers near a water source about 9:00.  They were "Sauce" and "Pantry," recent college grads, girl and guy, respectively. (photo) Easy hike down to Damascus.  Got coffee at a cafe and checked into Crazy Larry's hostel.  Shower, laundry, resupply.  The package Teresa mailed me, with cold wx clothes, food, was here.  My new shoes came while I was at the outfitters. (Picture)Got meds at a pharmacy that my doc sent my Rx's to. Lunch at a burrito place. Productive day of errands!Repacked my backpack in the afternoon, plucking out some items to send home, like my bug net and a few other items I don't need now that it's getting into the fall season. Planned out my next week or so, with possible resupply at Roan and Erwin, TN. 75 and 126 miles, respectively. Pizza for dinner? I'll drop the box of at the post office on the way out of town tomorrow.
Date: 2017-09-25
From: Beauty Spot Mountain Campsite

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

I got up this morning around 5:30 a.m. It had been a windy night and I had been awakened on and off. At one point the wind pulled up the tent stake holding a line connected to the trekking pole at the foot end of my tarp. That end of the tarp collapsed on me, and I had to get up and stake it down again. While I was at it I collected some small rocks around the size of 10 pounds each, and placed them on top of the tent stakes at each line connected to my tarp. I guess that happened around midnight. After that I slept fairly well. After getting up, I started packing, made and ate my breakfast, finished packing, watched the sunrise, and took pictures. The sunrise this morning was as beautiful as the sunset was last evening. (Pictures)One disadvantage of camping in the open here is that dew tends to collect on exposed surfaces, such as my tarp. So when I rolled it up in the morning, it was damp. I made a note that I would need to dry it out later in the day. I started liking south around 7:15 a.m.About 915, I arrived at the Curly Maple Gap shelter and stopped for a break. I signed the logbook with my usual, "Next time, hooah!" but I added two more lines: "Too bad my food bag is empty! :-(" and "Good thing there's Irwin! :-)." Back on the trail just before 9:30 and very shortly thereafter, I met northbound section hiker Need. He was a retired Air Force pilot. I talked with him for a few minutes and then we wished each other good luck and moved on.Arrived at Uncle Johnny's Hostel at about 10:45 a.m. and checked in. Stewart (Vanilla Thunder) was there. He had tented near the last shelter I passed before arriving at the hostel. We shared stories of our troubles since before Damascus when we had last seen each other. Then I put my stuff in the private room that I rented. After laundry, and showering, I dried my tarp my sleeping bag and some other damp gear. Then I caught the lunchtime shuttle to Pizza Plus with Stewart and two other hikers that were at the hostel. Their names were Rock Spider from Israel and Mike from Pennsylvania. We paid $7.50 for all the pizza and salad bar you can eat. Then I headed to other stores on the block, an IGA grocery store and Dollar General store for supplies. After lunch I retrieved my superfeet insoles from the hostel.They had arrived the day after I left the hostel in Damascus and Crazy Larry was kind to forward them to me here. I trimmed them to the right size, and I put them in my trail runners. I relaxed until it was time to catch the 5:30 shuttle to dinner. I caught up on some journaling and I watched some Netflix and rested.