morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: clear sky

We slept decent in the shelter last night and we¢re glad we chose it because it did rain on and off last night. We were up early 7ish and out pretty early. The terrain is very enjoyable and we meander our way through the wet forest, crossing the same stream several times. It is cloudy and muggy and a bit uncomfortable because it is so sweaty and sticky. We come to a wide open field and we see two deer dancing through it, their bright white tails flopping up and down behind them. It is a prefect scene. The grass and trees around us are bright, bright green. The woods smell so sweet, the sweetest smell of springtime. It think it may be honeysuckle, mostly, but the dirt and grass and flowers and moisture and sunshine all mixed together is the perfect blend of nature to make me fall in love with the outdoors on this great day. We traverse the woods and fields then cross the railroad tracks and descend into Atkins, VA. Brad and I, Stubbs, Mr. Bones and Briar enjoy breakfast at The Barn, which is not actually a barn, but a restaurant. It¢s about 9:45am and we head to the Relax Inn and unfortunately decide to stay. I would prefer to go on, but the alleged bad weather coming wins instead.We pick up our mail drop we had bounced here and realized we are set to get to Pearisburg. Brad takes a shuttle to the grocery store and gets cheese, cereal, and powdered milk. I do laundry while he is gone and talk to Mom, Babcia, Sadie, Lucy, Hannah, Phoebe and Gram. I LOVE calling home and there¢s a part of me that can¢t wait to get farther north just to be able to see family. We eat dinner at The Barn and run back to the hotel as it starts down-pouring. The rest of the gang is here too: Busdriver, Sunbeam, Sunkist, Kyanite and Hi-Lo. We just lay low in the room watching you know what on a Thursday night ?
Date: 2008-05-10
From: Lynn Camp Creek

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained on and off all night but we stayed dry and slept great. I love our tent! It had stopped raining when it was time to get up. We slowly packed, ate breakfast and headed out.Our day starts immediately with a climb up Lynn Creek Mountain. It was pretty rugged right out of the gate, but that may have a bit to do with my legs not even really being awake yet. We went through some rhododendron thickets for a spell as the Trail wandered through the woods. We then started our huge climb to the shelter. It started out really steep and right when I was ready to start cursing at the intense grade of the beast, it leveled out and became much more enjoyable.We walk through an open field and it¢s a welcomed change of scenery compared to the sheltered forests. We stopped along the way at a pond and relaxed. The views were great. There is a ridge line that runs out as far as you can see. Uphill to the Chestnut Knob Shelter. We are told that we just missed seeing 3 baby bear cubs and getting someTrail magic. I did find one mini baby ruth candy bar that I quickly devoured. We take off our boots and socks and eat lunch. It is a beautiful day and we just lay in the sunshine. We relax with Briar, Sherlock, Stubbs and Mr. Bones. It¢s a great place to be and it¢s hard to leave it and start hiking again, but after over and hour break, we are soon on our way again.We have a very strenuous ridge walk that is filled with ups and downs over ankle-breaking rocks. It kicks our butts and feels as though it will never end. We decide to cut our day short and set up camp at the next available spot. But, we can¢t. There is no water and absolutely no tenting options on the rocky ridge. Grrr! We get a breather when we hit Garden Mountain and have an amazing view of the lush farmlands far below us. We are so high above that the cows look like little ants. Were we see Hammer, Re-Curve, Pop Top and Blues Traveler.The last miles to Jenkins Shelter are not fun. We had wanted to be done miles ago. Our feet are absolutely killing us. The Trail just keeps going down, down, down but never getting there! I run at some pints, but have to pee so badly I am forced to stop. Finally, near tears from wanting to stop hiking so desperately, we get to the shelter.I go to pump water which sucks because the pump is so slow. I think we¢re going to invest in a new model. I have the platypus full and it spills over, emptying halfway before I am able to catch it. I let out a defeated moan, but fortunately no one hears it over the roaring waters. I angrily pump again until it¢s full. Brad meanwhile sets up the tent. It¢s good to alternate these duties. Water is less fun.We chow dawn and socialize a wee bit. We are too tired for much more. It¢s hard to even enjoy the fire; our feet are so tired and sore. We fall asleep with unhappy feet.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Kimberling Creek
Miles today: 12.5

Happy Mother¢s Day Mom (x2), Gram, Babcia, Sadie and Brandy!!!I think it probably rained during the night but I was so wiped that I didn¢t notice a thing. We decided last night that we were going to sleep in, and we did just that. We slept soundly till 9am, then off and on until 10am. Someone had started a fire this morning and we get sucked in. Doesn¢t matter the time of day, fire is always captivating. We ended up hanging around, chatting and very, very slowly packing up our gear. We finally left at 11:40 am!We started our hike with a rather steep hike up Brushy Mountain. My feet are still tender from yesterday so I was really slow moving. It¢s generally painful, or more uncomfortable, the first mile or so. Then I get into my groove and am able to move more easily.On the way down the mountain it began to thunder and the sky got gray. We put on all our rain gear and pack covers as it started to down-pour. It was so hard at times that I thought it might be hail, it hurt! It rained for about an hour or so, but we stayed dry. The sky then turned bright blue and the sum came out as though nothing had happened. We walked along to a campsite and ate some snacks. We debated for a bit whether or not we should take a ¢nero¢ day and relax here, or just keep going. We decide to move on. The next climb is so gradual that you can¢t even tell you¢re going uphill. It is really pleasant. Just as I was thinking how great it was that we could put away our rain gear dry, it starts to rain again. Another scramble to get everything back on. The weather continues this way all day; sunny blue skies then gray skies and rain. It¢s rather cold out too, and quickly, it gets old.We cross over Interstate 77 on a bridge. We get to Kimberling Creek, just off the highway and find Stubbs and Mr. Bones there. We decide against doing the last 1-1/2 miles to the shelter; we are drained of energy. We quickly set up our tents before it rains again, but it doesn¢t really matter because it is a muddy mess anyway. We cook in the tent vestibule while snuggled in our sleeping bags. We have tomato soup and tuna wraps and it hits the spot. We knew we had held onto the soup for a reason; just waiting for a rainy day.No fire. No hanging out. Quick calls to our lovely mothers and off to dream land.
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Kimberling Creek

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It was kind of scary sleeping so close to the road. We could hear traffic all night long. It was freezing too, and so hard to get out of bed. We ate cereal in the tent, and then slowly packed up. The tent was soaked and miserable to put away. For the third day in a row our hike started with a climb right away. We need to stop stopping right before them! My feet hurt, especially my right one that feels as though it is cramped or pulled between my pinky and second toes. I move slowly on the cold morning. We wear our rain gear, partly to dry it, partly in preparation of the impending rain today.We hike past Helvys Mill Shelter as it is 0.3 miles off the Trail and we don¢t want any unnecessary walking this morning. The terrain is very smooth, ¢flowy¢ and we move right along. It doesn¢t rain at all, thankfully, but it does mist just a bit. It¢s wicked cold and windy; a definite winter hat day. Our rain gear serves as good wind breaker too. The terrain does get a bit boring today as it is unchanging all day long. We hike yet another Brushy Mountain without anything exciting happening.We make it to Jenny Knob Shelter at 3:45pm and we choose to set up our tents and eat dinner. This is the earliest we have ever stopped! We are joined by Auntie Mae, V8, Zach, Busdriver, Snackies, Eric & Kristen, Canuck & Mango and a few others whom we didn¢t know. It is a busy place.Eating dinner at 4pm is a bad idea. I was hungry again by 8pm! I made a pb&j and made a s¢more for dessert (Canuck had brought the ingredients).We go to bed early in hopes of rising early¢¦.
Date: 2008-05-15
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I didn't sleep that well last night; lots of tossing and turning and then I was up early. The first step out of bed was so incredibly painful. My feet hurt so badly. Fortunately as the day goes on they hurt less and less. My right foot is still not able to bear my full weight and I limp. This is scary. I'm hoping it will get better.Brad rents a car from the local dealership so we can head to Trail Days. He picks up Mr. Bones and Stubbs at the Trail-head when they call. I pack up our bags and while I'm waiting for them to return I have a pleasant chat with Eric and Kristen (Tailgate and AquaMaria).I hop into the car, a fancy Chevy Malibu, and we go on the hunt for Busdriver after we heard he was in town. No luck at the local hostel but the guys there direct us to Wal-Mart. We have him paged, which gets a few odd stares, and we find him food shopping. He hops in for the ride.On our ride to Damascus we detour through Bland to pick up a package for Sunbeam. Brad had helped her order a new pair of shoes from Merrill. Hers were falling apart and she needed someone to be a little "firm" with the folks on the phone. It worked. She got new shoes!We drive to Wytheville, VA and get rooms at the Best Western. We do this so that we are closer to Damascus. We go to do laundry and there we meet the owner, James Wassum. He loves to hear about our journey on the Trail and even calls the local radio station to see if they will come interview us. Too bad, but they don't return his call. He is older and loves to talk. He gives us his business card and asks us to send updates and photos once in awhile. He is so sweet and it is probably the best laundry experience we have had so far.We head back to the hotel and relax for a bit before heading out for a seafood dinner. We eat way too much fried food but that doesn't stop us from stopping at Dairy Queen for some dessert.We roll ourselves back to the hotel and veg out. For such a lazy day I am wicked tired.
Date: 2008-05-16
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept great last night! The free breakfast at the hotel was really good. They had a make your own waffle machine which was pretty cool. And yummy too. Simple things are now quite exciting to me.We went back to the room and watched New Kids On The Block perform on one of the morning shows. It was hysterical! Man, they suck! They were way cooler when I was 8, I swear! It did bring back a lot of funny memories from the concert I went to with my sister and cousin (and Mom and uncle). Did the quarter thing really happen, Ashley? Anyway, Brad, Busdriver and I had their songs stuck in our heads for quite some time...whoa oh oh oh hanging tough! Again, not cool to be walking around jamming to NKOTB. ha haWe then cruised to Damascus for Trail Days with Busdriver, Stubbs and Mr. Bones. It was interesting. Not what I expected, neither better nor worse, just different. We walked through all the tents that were set up on the common. It was more local people selling their crafts than anything else. I did buy two tie-dyed t-shirts which made me oh so happy! Brad had custom insoles made by a PT/foot guy that was there so hopefully his feet feel better. He also bought a Lafuma 40 degree sleeping bag so he can be more comfortable at night. I'm going to wait a little bit longer to do that; I get cold to easily. Over in "tent city" which is located at the other end of town, is where all 2008 thru-hikers pitch their tents. There is a good number of people there doing a good deal of partying, so we just pass through. Not really our scene anymore.We stop by the Leki tent and they clean our poles for free and also give us new tips and baskets. I get reprimanded for having wicked dirty poles and am given a quick lesson in how to clean them. Apparently if you don't take them apart once in awhile the insides will start to corrode from so much moisture building up. Good to know.Brad and I both try on new, smaller, light-weight Gregory packs. They sure are nice. I just don't know if I could really downsize, though it would be nice to carry less weight. But my Arctyrx is so comfy! The one I want isn't out until July so I guess we will just wait and see.We run into Fal and Hercules and also Shadow and Numb Toe. Both couples gave us fabulous trail magic a while back, so it was neat to be able to thank them again. We see Blythe too who is now back on the Trail.We stop by Mount Rogers Outfitters and buy the new MSR hyperflow water filter. This is going to be nice! Way faster and easier than or old one. And also pick up our mail drop.We eat awesome "carnival" food for lunch from one of the many booths set up. I have a burrito the size of my head!Sunbeam, Sunkist and Kyanite are all camped out in tent city with plans to stay the whole weekend. Busdriver decides to stay too. I'm sure we will miss out on some fun stuff, but it's really best for us to move on. And so we do with Stubbs and Mr. Bones. We get a hotel room and go to dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Very yummy ending to a long day.
Date: 2008-05-17
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Random Campsite Along Trail
Miles today: 4.2

It felt so good to sleep in. The bed was wicked comfortable, which made it okay that the pillows were not. I talked to Timmo, Mom and Sadie on the phone and even got a quick hello from Lucy! It's gonna be a good day.We (us plus Mr. Bones and Stubbs) go to the FedEx store and mail home stuff we no longer need. I send home all my winter gear, except my hat. This is a big step and I really hope my timing is right! My clothes bag is about half the size now, which is nice. Brad gets rid of some clothes and his winter sleeping bag.We stop by Dick's sporting goods and pick up some fuel. Brad gets a pair of super lightweight shorts in preparation of the heat. I get a new hiking t-shirt cause my other one had been shrunk in the dryer one too many times and was now a belly shirt. Not cool at all!We eat a yummy lunch at Panera Bread. We had seen a sign for the movie theater and to avoid hiking just a little bit longer, we decide to go. Really our reasoning was that if every one else was taking the weekend off to do fun stuff then so should we. Brad and I get popcorn and twizzlers (yeah we just ate lunch, so what?) and see "What Happens in Vegas" which was just okay.We stop by the super Wal-Mart and get our last minute food items we need (cheese). We bring the rental car back then sit in the parking lot packing, or rather cramming, all the food into our packs. And off we finally were at 6:45pm!We have a big climb and its torture after 3 days of nothing but eating and lazing around. I always feel like I get "unconditioned" even after just one day in town. We make it to a campsite just a couple miles in. It's getting dark and we're tired. We set up the tent and go straight to bed. No need for dinner, cause in addition to all the other food we ate today, we stopped at Dairy Queen before we left. Brad's first night in is new bag. Tonight I'm glad I kept mine; it is really windy and a bit chilly. He is like a furnace at night so he should be fine. We'll see...
Date: 2008-05-18
From: random campsite along the trail

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

I slept so good last night. I really do love our tent, my sleeping pad, sleeping bag and pillow. They are so comfortable. For the first time on this trip Brad actually told me to go back to bed this morning. Woo-hoo! Usually he is telling me to get my butt in gear. But this morning we were both so tired, and he actually slept later than me! We very slowly packed up camp, and I mean slowly. We had a short climb leftover from last night before we got to Rice Field Shelter. There were great views from Rice Field that showed all the towns below and the mountains in the far distance.The weather was blah-cloudy without any sunshine and a bit chilly. It looked as though it was going to rain at any moment all day. I wore my rain pants from the get-go and had my jacket real handy.The terrain was really mellow and we moved right along the ridgeline. We met up with Aaron (Shout) and Neta (Whisper), two friends of Stubbs and Mr. Bones that they had met earlier on the Trail. We all stop for lunch at Symms Gap Meadow. It has been misting on and off but shortly after we finish eating the skies just opened up. It pours and even hails! It is a cold, cold rain and lasts a couple hours but thankfully we both stay dry. The downhill to the next shelter does a number on my feet. It is the first time all day that they really hurt. We get to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter and find a stone building with no roof and not a single dry spot. It looks like maybe a tree went through the roof, but not recently. And so we are forced to move on.We come to a sign that informs us the bridge across Stony Creek is out do to a hurricane back in 2004. You could ford the creek, but when we get a look at it we all decide against it. It's more of a river and is moving fast and is ice cold. It sounds like an accident waiting to happen. So we detour around the road. There are the words "trail magic" spray painted on the road with an arrow pointing to a house. Brad and Mr. Bones go to investigate, even knock on the front door! Brad finally finds a sign that says "drinks in creek" but unfortunately they're all gone. We move along on the road where cars go flying by at 90mph. I really dislike road walking, especially when there are crazy rednecks behind the wheel! We get back on the AT after about 1 1/2 miles on the road.We have 1,100 feet in elevation to climb to get to the shelter. It is straight up in some spots and I really don't want to be doing this. But, at the end of the day, I am always glad I went on. Today was no different.Brad set up the tent while I went to get water. Our new pump is awesome! We eat dinner and chit-chat for a bit; no hanging out late because it is too cold. Fortunately our rain gear dried out, that always makes me a happy hiker to put away dry rain gear!Brad was warm enough in his new bag last night and hopefully will be again tonight. I'm so glad I didn't give mine up yet, its cold out!
Date: 2008-05-19
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We stayed warm and dry last night despite the cold and rain outside. For some reason though, I didn't sleep that well. There was some crazy thundering and lightening so that may have played a roll. This morning we were woken by airplanes flying really, really low overhead. It sounded like they were mere feet above our tent, that's how loud it was. We think that maybe they were spraying for gypsy moths, but we're not really sure.We hang out later than usual this morning. The sun is out so we let the tent dry out. We finally hit the Trail at about 10am. The Trail is really rocky, full of ankle breakers, but the incline is pretty mellow. The sun is shining and that makes all the difference. It is really, really windy but the skies are blue. We make it to Wind Rock and have views of ridges as far as you can see in both directions. The hillsides are an array of every color green imaginable and together with the bright blue sky and a few snow white clouds, it is a beautiful picture.We head on down to War Spur Shelter and even though the descent is gradual my feet still hate it. I go to get water and end up falling on the very, very slippery rocks. My feet just came out from under me. I managed to not land in the water, but squished between two rocks. It hurt pretty freakin' bad but it just left a bruise on my arm and a dirty butt. We take a long, lazy lunch with our boots and socks of. This shelter and the next two miles after it have excellent tent spots: flat, level, next to water and great fire pits. These sites are only ever found during the mornings and afternoons, never at night when it's time to set up camp. Go figure. We start our long ascent up some no name mountain and it's nice and gradual. A lot of the rhododendrons are full of pink buds just on the verge of blooming. I can't wait! For the first time in awhile we stumble across some Trail magic! There are ice cold sodas left from a man by the name of Super Dave. According to the journal he left for us to sign, he has been leaving Trail magic at this spot (Rocky Gap) for 6 years and so far the 2008 hikers are the cleanest. We each pack out a soda to have with dinner. It is a most pleasant surprise.The remainder of the climb is not bad at all, nor is the downhill to the shelter, but this may all be do to the fact our day is almost over and we have a little pep in our step. About 1/2 mile from the shelter it starts to sprinkle, not really raining, but hard enough that we need to put on the pack covers. As Brad is putting his on the elastic snaps. This makes for one angry hiker. I rig it on as best we can and we make a mad dash for Laurel Creek Shelter.We are the only ones there and take over most of the shelter. Aaron and Neta come in and the four of us fill up all the space no problem. We move the picnic table partially out of the rain as close to the shelter as we can get it. We cook sitting in the shelter and our stoves on the table. It's a slick little set up and we stay dry. It's a wet, chilly night and we snuggle into our sleeping bags to hopefully stay warm tonight.