morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Tenn 91 (hwy)

To: Watauga Dam Road
Miles today: 15.6

Reverse slack, again. back to LCL. Sopping wet all day long. peeled my toe nail off for the second time in a week. blook blister underneath. yum. walking is hard. wet, cold day full of PUDS (pointless ups and downs.) At least tonight is at a hostel (pronounced HOE-stel by the proprieter, john.)
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Tenn 91 (road)

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: broken clouds

slacking again. long day. tired. flattest hiking on the trail. finally in virginia! hiking is STILL hard. when is it going to get easy? tomorrow night miss janet is throwing a party at the side track cafe. pumpy and vsa are in town. so are seth, candice, mcguyver (who's getting off the trail), half-pint, shankadelic, and a lot of nice "blurs". and q and jonachi, who might be playing tonight. i hope so, since they are awesome on fiddle and guitar/banjo.
Date: 2003-07-04
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Waynesboro VA
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: few clouds

Nero (Near Zero) day into Waynesboro. Awesome guy named Steve gave us a lift to town without us even sticking our thumb out. I'm now on the Atkins Diet to lose weight. Anything to reach katahdin. staying in a hotel and looking forward to reconfiguring my pack tomorrow.
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Waynesboro VA

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

Taking a zero in Waynesboro (about 1300 miles to go). After reading email, have only 3 minutes to write a months worth of journal entries, so here it is:Things are going very well. I am getting rid of unessential items, like my sleeping bag, in order to make more miles and reach Katahdin (the end of the trail in Maine.) I am a knife edge. All my will is bent toward this one objective. I will not fail. Thank you all for your words and for your love. I miss you all and hope to see at least some of you soon. Take care and be brave on your own "Appalachian Trails". You will make it.love,Reason.
Date: 2003-07-06
From: Waynesboro VA

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

Feel good after a long day. First day in the Shenandoahs. Weather is very hot. Started at 7:45 this morning -- new pack feels light with 3 liters of water in it, which is good since i needed at least that to make the 12 mile dry stretch during the middle of the day.saw a deer with 2 fawns. couple hours later saw a big black bear for the first time, through the trees. Met I.B. at the shelter. Nice to see a familiar face. He seems well. He had to get off but his family has rallied to support his trip to Katahdin. My heart is warmed. You can see in his eyes how much it means to him.Enjoying the shenandoahs, except for the ticks. Then again, I do enjoy ripping off their legs and setting them free. Catch and release is the only humane thing to do.
Date: 2003-07-07
From: Blackrock Hut

To: High Top Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: clear sky

Guess who appeared at the last shelter while team creason rested? Very Small Animal and The Dude! They've been off the trail for a while and decided to start hiking again, with us, which rules, 'cause I miss VSA and want to get to know the dude. right before the last shelter we saw a black bear and a cute little bear cub. they left the trail before i got bluff charged. bummer.
Date: 2003-07-08
From: High Top Hut

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 20.4

Going to katahdin. new gear performing acceptably. maybe get headlamp back, for night hiking. hiked for an hour or so at night. difficult -- tires my knees and feet. should be avoided. finally ate at the 'taproom' at the Big Meadows Lodge. Avoid this place. Then slept on some grass under the stars. hard day, but team creason kicks ass.
Date: 2003-07-10
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

Short, relaxing day today. Fast pace. Send more love to the feet. my 'slack' pack is working well. will acquire a GoLite Breeze pack, i think. hoping silk liner will greet me in harpers ferry, since sleeping under my poncho is not ideal. very glad to be sharing the company of VSA and The Dude. We are going to Katahdin. Booyah! Over the lasst 3 days, we have gained 7.3 miles over our "pace" of 15 miles per day. This pace puts us at katahdin on the 1st of october (approximately). We must exceed our pace now, since 15 miles a day should be impossible to sustain in the mountains of VT, NH, and ME. My destination is Katahdin. I will not fail.
Date: 2003-07-12
From: Front Royal VA

To: Dick's Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: few clouds

Ride to trail from the owner of Blue Ridge Motel. Nice man. Walked through sludge runoff from the National Zoological Park. Made good time today. Feeling guardedly optimistic about progress. VSA's mom will slack us for a few days. longer day tomorrow. ready to crush it. happy to be hiking with my big, happy crew. saw pertinax and retardo today, along with orlando jack, sage, and little bear. the shelters have been packed recently -- a change from the empty ones for the past few weeks.
Date: 2003-07-18
From: Deer Lick Shelter

To: Quarry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

still exhausted. i feel like the air is syrup. am i sick? underfed? overtired? new sleep system (silk liner, fleece airline blanket) works well. onward.ordered overprice burgers at a state park today from bored teenagers. makes me glad i'm not a teenager anymore -- they're so busy being cool.
Date: 2003-07-19
From: Quarry Gap Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Made it to the halfway point on the trail! 1086 miles! Almost there! and still have 2.5 months to do as much as it took me to do in 3.5 months. no problem.as is customary among thru-hikers, i celebrated my accomplishment by consuming half of a gallon of ice cream, 3500+ calories of moose tracks. as usual though, i burped up (and spit out) around half of it. one of my quarks is that i regurgitate ice cream. hmmm. very small animal took the booyah! prize: at half her carton, puked it up (green mint chocolate chip), and finished the second half. booyah! going to katahdin!jester, one of the bills from billville and a friend of VSA (and hikers everywhere) will slack us tomorrow. he is cute, funny, and kind. quite a yummy catch, ladies (and gents.)
Date: 2003-07-20
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 19.4

Great hiking. beer at road crossings. fun with people. easy terrain. boiling springs is a beautiful sleepy, old-skool town that reminds me of concord, mass. stayed at mother hen's place. she seemed overwhelmed by the 15 hikers that appeared at her door, but i was grateful for her floor and her generosity to all these people.the real surprise of the day was that VSA met woodsdragon in duncannon and brought her along today. i haven't seen her since may 20th! she's taking an extra zero day in order to leave duncannon with us. excellent! our crew is growing.
Date: 2003-07-21
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: broken clouds

longest day ever! after the first 8 miles, jester left a cooler of beer and soda at a trail crossing and tucker's dad was there with a cooler and some snacks. then, after we'd been drinking soda for a few minutes people started to arrive. everyone was slacking -- cruiser, reason, vsa, the dude, burger, pertinax, little dirty barn monkey, starburst, bodhi, sage, seamus, tucker, and the nudge -- and hanging out at our impromptu 10 am party!then we all did 18 miles more to duncannon, to the doyle, a bar/hotel that sucks hikers in for days. 2 dollars for 22 oz. of yuengling. rooms cheaper then a hostel. life is good. everyone was at the doyle, including woodsdragon, winnebago, snot-rocket, and shamrock. i'm surrounded by a huge wonderful hiker family, at least for a while. now it is time to get drunk and sleep in, for the first time in...as far as i can remember. yay! katahdin, here we come.almost forgot, today cruiser and i officially dubbed our growing hiking crew the "booyah brigade," a crack team of hiking specialists hell-bent on enacting "Plan Booyah", which calls for summitting katahdin on Oct 1st. Booyah!p.s. i've had many requests for details on the status of team creason. let's just say that team creason really digs itself. the rest is classified top secret (and left up to your collective imaginations.)
Date: 2003-08-31
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: clear sky

Sorry for the sporadic journal entries. Internet access has been lacking. That and i lost my paper journal and my address book, again. Ever since leaving PA I've been in a pretty good mood. The north is so beautiful and recently i've been feeling like the end is in sight. We have been catching up with people left and right. Now there are only two states remaining. This magnum opus nears completion. Travelling with Cruiser is fantastic. Being stalked by an angry gun-toting local is scary. The Booyah Brigade is a blast and I am psyched to be reunited again, though some of us seem to have stopped hiking. As for me, I won't stop until they drag my cold dead body off Katahdin.It is getting cold. I look forward to the beautiful mountains of the north, cold weather, and cameraderie as we approach the end of a wonderful journey.If you don't yet know, I named myself "Reason" to remind me of my reason for hiking the trail. Whenever someone asks me what that reason is, I just look them in the eye and tell them that what matters is their reason.May your journey be full of joy and greatness.
Date: 2003-01-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's been a couple of months since I last posted a journal entry and a lot has happened. First, the leave of absence I thought I was going to get has seemed to have run into a problem and it's in doubt whether i'll be granted the time off work to do the entire hike. It seems that they have so much happening and going on this year they can't let me go hmmmmmm. The other thing that occured was my best friend in New Jersey became ill and almost lost his life over the christmas season...this is a man i've known since 1st grade and it really makes your mortality stare you in the face. It makes you realize that you are not going to be on this earth indefinitely and things you've dreamed of doing for almost 25 years is something worth doing. I had to weigh all the angles, such as postponing the hike or just going for it, and with my families support, i'm going for it. I've had to move my starting date up a few weeks so that i'll now start my hike at Springer around the middle of March. Well, now that's out of the way I can get back to to preparing for the hike again. I finally decided on a stove today. I went to REI's main store in Seattle to check out the new MSR Simmerlite and liked what I saw in the demonstration. It only weighs 8.5 oz and has a simmering valve to regulate the flame, and it was much quieter than i expected. I'll give it a few test trials before I start on my journey, but it looks very easy to operate and maintain.It seems the weeks are flying by now and very soon I'll be doing what so many have done and dreamed before...setting foot on Springer and moving up the trail. I'll be seeing you'all on the trail very soon....come on March!!
Date: 2003-02-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

As I was walking around the REI store in Seattle this morning looking for a few more items I'll be needing for the hike I couldn't help think about how things seem to work themselves out. In this case, my job. After the on again, off again issue about my getting a leave of absence....It's on again! After a talk with my district manager I believe he realized that i wasn't kidding or bluffing about leaving my job and that I was quite serious about heading out on the A.T. To make a long story short, because of a good deal of effort from my immediate boss I'll be getting the leave of absence anyway...Thanks R.J.One of the great things about going to Atlanta to start the hike is that I'll be able to spend some time with some good friends I don't get to see enough, Lee and his wife Stephanie. I'll be coming into Atlanta a couple of days early before heading up to Springer so my wife and I can spend some time visiting. I'm glad I was fortunate enough to have these friends there to share with me and my wife, Joni, the excitement of this hike. Well now its just a matter of waiting patiently for the next 3 1/2 weeks to go by...I want to thank all of you that have sent emails of encouragement, it was great to hear from all of you and hopefully we'll meet up somewhere along the trail.I've noticed that some of you have put some favorite poems in your journal entries that relate to the hike. I have one that might meet this occasion that I found inspiring about 20 years ago when I first starting climbing and I'll be thinking of whenever I'm trudging up a steep slope along the A.T........."Reaching the peak of this dizzying height, Footholds unstable, knuckles worn white,Hours spent climbing, driven by will,A shiver of triumph, my heart stands still,Adrenaline shifts from body to mind,Darken my sights and absorb the sun's shine,One with the mountain, my dreams freely soar,Self satisfaction the grandest reward,My eyes roam miles of untouched green,My soul transfixed on this inspiring scene,Think not of hard times, money or strife,For laid out before me is the meaning of life."
Date: 2003-03-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Only two weeks away now and the reality of leaving is really hitting me.   I'll be getting together with family and friends over the next week to celebrate and to send me on my way to begin the trail. I'm glad I decided to start this journal so that family and friends will be able to keep track of where I am...I'm surely going to miss everyone, especially my wife and son.         It seems quite a few hikers left for the trail this weekend and I can only imagine how excited they are to get started. I hope all have a safe journey and hopefully I will run into some of them along the trail. Those of us left behind can only count the days until its our turn, and its coming fast. My last day at work is tuesday, 3/11 and I'm going to miss many of the people I work with. At this point I've aquired all my gear and supplies to get started with and I'm spending a good deal of time trimming those items down to save whatever weight I can manage and keep the necessary items (and a few luxury items..radio, camera, and cell phone...to keep in touch with wife and son when I get the opportunity). As it stands the pack weight with water and food is hitting just at 40lbs and as soon as Spring really arrives i'll send some of the cold weather items home and save a few more pounds.That about it for now...before I know it I'll be on the plane heading for Atlanta and then to the trail :) I'm looking forward to meeting those of you starting the same date with me...see you in two weeks!
Date: 2003-03-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday was my last day of work and Oh what a feeling...Big Smile here. I can't tell you how good it feels to put those ties away for awhile, I won't be missing them one bit. R.J., Bob, Lee, Ken, and Harry...your a great bunch of guys to work with and I'll see you when I return.                           I'll be leaving for Atlanta tomorrow and will be starting on Springer Sunday...can't wait!   I spent today getting everything ready, taking a last minute inventory of what i'm taking and spent an enjoyable day with my wife. She is coming for the start of the hike and will be maintaining this journal from now until I return home again. We had a couple of fun get togethers over the weekend with friends and family to see me off. At this point it almost seems surreal that the time is here already and I'll be stepping out on the A.T. in just a few days. I know it is going to hit me somewhere on that first day when I find myself with a pack on my back and I'm hiking down the trail that I'm really doing this...Wow! To all my friends and family that have given me so much support I can only say thank you (but i'm still not taking a gun..lol) and I'll be thinking of you all along the way. Now it's off to Georgia and the start of a new experience...talk to you all again soon.
Date: 2003-03-16
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

And so it begins. The drive to Springer this morning was both melancholy and exciting. It was hard to say goodbye to my wife at the trailhead with all the emotions one feels when leaving a loved one. I want to thank Lee Engle and his wife Stepahnie for a wonderful stay in Atlanta the past 2 days and for the drive to the trailhead. I have to say that it was hard to believe at times that I was really hiking the A.T. My first encounter with a thru hiker was "70" (trailname) who was actually 71. You really have to admire one that age that still feels the excitment and then does something about it and takes to the trail. I also ran into Footslogger and Chocolate Foot. The weather threatened rain all the way from Atlanta but, to my surprise and pleasure, the sun came out and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect start to the hike. Hawks Mountain Shelter is rather small and was filled when I arrived, but I found a nice level area cushioned with leaves to pitch my tent. It's kind of weird, for a while we cound hear machine gun fire from a nearby military training station and now we have the sound of a woodpecker pecking a nearby tree. I'll take the woodpecker any day. It's 6:30 p.m. and I'm going to climb into my sleeping bag and see if I can't find a good station on the radio to listen to for a while and then try to get a good night's sleep and see what tomorrow brings.
Date: 2003-03-17
To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: light rain

Presently I'm sitting in my tent listening to the rain pouring just outside. The day began nice enough, even though it rained during the night. We were able to pack up and start our hike in a heavy fog but there was no rain-YET! It started as a soft rain, hardly enough to get you wet but that didn't last long. It poured most of the day. A bunch of us decided Gooch Mountain Shelter was far enough for the day but again, the shelter was full so I had to set up my tent in record speed so as not to get it soaked, and get everything inside. The weather was nice enough to let up just enough so I could cook dinner-good old Knorr Minestrone and Top Ramen-a great mixture actually.Today's hike was very much an up and down day-up one hill and down another. Today was also my first experience with "trail magic". As I was hiking down toward Cooper Gap, I saw through the rain up ahead a plastic bag hanging from a tree. As I came up on it I saw 2-24 packs of soda under the bag and the bag was for empty cans. Thanks to whoever that was. It was a definite spirit lifter.As I'm writing now at 5:30 p.m., I've noticed a leak in my rain fly zipper-good thing I brought a small tube of seam sealer with me. Well, I guess the expression is right-"no pain, no rain, no Maine". The rain is just part of the experience. So, as with everthing else on this hike, I'm going to enjoy it too-but a dry day would be nice tomorrow :).P.S. I got my trail name today. I was showing another hiker how to use the "rest step" climbing on one of the many steep inclines yesterday. Rest step is a mountaineering term of the way climbers climb the big mountains but it works great here too.
Date: 2003-03-18
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Slaughter Gap
Miles today: 12.7

Well, today began as yeterday ended-rain and fog all day again along with some very stiff winds. Needless to say, we started out damp from yesterday and ended up soaked. The rain let up enough for me to get my tent up and to cook dinner-let's see, cream of chicken Lipton, dumped in about 4 oz. of tuna fish and sprinkled in some instant mashed potatoes. Now that's real eating. I'll tell you though, after hiking 12 miles today up and down these mountains wet through and through, it tasted better than anything you could imagine.It's presently 7:15 p.m., our bear bags are hung and I'm listening to the rain against my tent. I was thinking of all the great over looks I passed today and didn't get a chance to see anything due to the heavy fog. Most of the day you could only see about 20-30 yards in front of you. I'll be in Neels Gap at the Walasi-Yi center tomorrow morning. I can dry off, resupply, and get some real food (hamburgers, etc.). The zipper on my sleeping bag broke last night so I'm hoping they will be able to get me fixed up.That's about it for now, I'm going to listen to a little radio and then catch some sleep. Looking forward to another day tomorrow on the A.T. rain or shine, but hopefully shine.
Date: 2003-03-19
From: Slaughter Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: moderate rain

What can you say about last night. The wind blew in heavy gusts, probably 30-40 miles an hour and you could hear it coming through the trees just before it slammed into your tent. This lasted all night with medium to heavy rain. I actually got to sleep after awhile only to be woken up with a loud bang. It was like a wake up call at 6:00 a.m. and quite a light show could be observed through the tent. The thunderstorm lasted about an hour and we all had to wait in our tents until it passed because of the heavy rain. Packing up camp was very soggy business and realizing that all our equipment was soaked, most of us (there were 6 other tenters) decided to call it a day at Neels Gap. I'm staying in the hostel tonight at Walasi-Yi at the gap, drying everthing off and resupplying. I actually got to take a shower (hot water!). Can't tell you how good that felt after being cold and wet for the last 2 1/2 days. I met some of the hikers that emailed me on trailjournals.com at the hostel! Journey, The Smith Family, and Footlogger and Chocolate Foot were all there and it was great to meet them and some again. We're planning on heading to Blairsville tonight for an all you can eat. Definitly looking forward to that.I'll get started again tomorrow when everthing is dry again. Forcast is for more rain and a nice weekend. I figure I can handle 1 more rainy day and then hopefully some sunny weather.
Date: 2003-03-20
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Stopped tonight at Low Gap shelter and found space inside for the first time so the tent stayed dry. Before I reflect on today I'd like to mention a few things I should have the past 2 entries. First, when I was at Slaughter Gap camping and next day hiked over Blood Mountain, I should have mentioned they were so named for a reason. About 400 years ago, the Creek and Cherokee tribes fought a big battle where many were killed and the legend goes, the mountain was covered in blood. Just a little history on that area I camped and walked through. Second, I'd like to thank the half dozen local citizens that greeted us coming off of Blood Mountain in a heavy rain at Neels Gap with that 2 dozen or so donuts as we arrived at Walasi-Yi. The people from the surrounding communities are a big part of the hiking experience. As for today, we hiked out of Walasi-Yi hostel this morning with just about everything dry. It started out as though it would stop raining but, you guessed it, it started again, but not so bad this time. It rained maybe half the hiking day so we did have some dry periods which were wonderful. I'm staying in a shelter with 5 other hikers tonight, 1 of which is "Recycled". He's called that because it's his second attempt at hiking the trail. He got as far as Connecticut last year before breaking his foot. He's 63 and a retired trial lawyer and I hiked a good part of the way with him today. We found out we were both Civil War buffs and quizzed each other up the trail. It really made the time fly by. It's presently raining and it's 7:00 p.m. so I think I'll listen to the radio for a bit before going to sleep. Weather is supposed to be good tomorrow. (: