morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 17.9

Today has been a difficult day to pee in privacy. This morning there were five other people in camp besides me and Steven (who has decided to change his name back to Count), so I walked down the road a short way. When I was pulling up my pants, a truck came around the bend. Aaah! Then, the 2nd time, two hikers walked by just as I was crouching down. The 3rd time one of the same hikers walked by! WTH!? Just now, when I thought about peeing, the same guy looked at me! We had lunch with him and found out that his name is Tiger Bob. He is from North Carolina and has run the Boston Marathon more than once. He is currently building a fire. We are also here with Groundhog and Firefly. They¢re from Canada.I think we hiked a 17.9 today. 672.4 to go! We passed a sign today that said ¢Eastern Continental Divide¢. There were big rock piles around the area which made it look like people tried to farm up on the ridge. We saw baby cows, a rabbit, and several chickens on the drive to the trail head today. The rolling hills are stunning, but the roads here are so curvy. Steven said that nothing in Virginia is straight. I added, ¢Except the people.¢ Obviously, that isn¢t entirely true.This will be our 2nd night camping at Trout Creek ¢ sort of near Newport, VA. I¢m not really sure where it is.I scored some long hiking pants today that someone left at the Niday Shelter! In/on/under them was living an ant colony and a big spider, but we slowly shook them off so they could take their larvae babies to safety. The spider just walked away.
Date: 2014-06-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.3

I slept in a bit today ¢ until about 7:15. I felt really tired. The tent was not in a good place for me, but I feel like I slept more than the night before. However, I was still very tired. I was glad to have a short day today.Like most days lately, we started with an uphill. It was a cool morning and I was glad to get warm from hiking. When I stopped about an hour later for a small snack, I got pretty cold. Steven checked weather and email while I hiked on. I saw a black snake that I almost didn¢t see! I went past it before it registered that it wasn¢t a root. I took a video of it slowly slithering away.We went to Kelly Knob Overlook for lunch. Count explored a cave for a little bit, so he had a good time. I sat in the warm sun. We stopped in at the shelter where we met Butterfly and her husband (can¢t remember his name). We moved on to the ¢abandoned house¢ which was basically a pile of rubble. I was a little disappointed.We walked through several fields after that throughout which there was a tremendous amount of poison ivy. It really is quite hard to not touch it. The fields are gorgeous. They were really rolling hills. The view of the cow speckled hills with some trees dividing fields and the backdrop of mountain ridges was exquisite. Add buttercups, clover, daisies, and asters, plus the song of red-winged blackbirds under a fluffy white cloud patched sky and THAT was our experience.Speaking of birds, we heard our first cuckoo! It was really cute. We are camping at John¢s Creek. We both rinsed off in the water because of poison ivy potential. I did a rinse off of some of my body as well. My armpits don¢t seem to smell any better.I just met Carmen SanDiego. Also camping here are Murray and his son, Lone Wolf. Carmen SanDiego says she met a NOBO Applejack at The Captain¢s yesterday. Apparently there was a big party there! A band played until midnight and it was noisy until 3 AM.
Date: 2014-06-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.2

This morning on our drive, I saw a goldfinch. We slept late ¢ until almost 8 AM!! Crazy. I was so tired that my legs felt like lead. I decided it was because I hadn¢t had enough to eat in the past 2 days. I was full at dinner last night and gave the rest of my food to Count, but by the time I was going to sleep, I was hungry. This morning I ate two Pop Tarts (1 package) and a banana. I also stuffed my face with peanut M&Ms before lunch. I had a sandwich, a nutty bar, and the rest of a bag of cheetos for lunch. I finally felt like hiking after that!We zip lined over to The Captain¢s just to see what it was like. Today there were a lot of rocks. It was kind of like skipping over a stream except it was trail. It was kind of fun, but my feet get more sore if we walk on rocks. Chipmunks were scurrying and chirping all about. Some were more brave/curious than others. Sometime during the day, Count¢s shin started hurting. The pain has been building up over the past several days. Not good. In the middle of the day, the trail seemed to have been purposely blocked with tree limbs. We thought that was odd until we saw the GIANT rattlesnake napping directly on the path. Its head was tucked into its folds and its rattle was protected by its body. We listened to it breathe for a few minutes and then we walked around it off the trail giving it a WIDE berth. Count was nervous about walking in the brush because he didn¢t want to get poison ivy. I asked, ¢Would you rather have poison ivy or a rattlesnake bite?¢ He decided on poison ivy. I didn¢t see any around us, so I¢m not concerned about it at all. Yay! We finally saw a rattlesnake!!Towards the end of the day, the ferns we were walking through gave off a delightful aroma, reminding me of childhood summers in the woods. So, a day that started out poorly because a good day (for me). I ate an entire Mountain House lasagna for dinner as well. I¢ll probably not lose a pound on this adventure!I met the other Applejack today. She is a dancer from Oklahoma. She is with Forest. We also met Twirls who used to teach music in Turner¢s Falls!
Date: 2014-06-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

This morning Forest asked us if we would drive him and Applejack to a town. Applejack¢s foot is hurting her and she needs new shoes. We, of course, said yes. We miraculously made enough room in the pack seat for them and three packs! We drove to the WalMart in Pearisburg, as they requested. We went shopping for a few things ¢ cheese, bread, Pop Tarts, etc. While walking around Count decided that his leg was bothering him enough for him to not hike. I was a little disappointed because I was all psyched up to hike a big day, but I know that healing is far more important than banking miles.We went out to breakfast at the Friends and Family Diner across the street from WalMart. I had a western omelet with a biscuit and pink lemonade. Steven had eggs, sausage, a biscuit with gravy, grits, and coffee. He finished the last two bites of my omelet and part of my biscuit for me.We drove to the trail parking area and changed into civilian clothes and drove over to Narrows to the Laundromat. I¢m never sure how to work the machines, but I think we got it figured out. We combined our stuff into one big machine. I¢m hoping the extra water will make the clothes a bit cleaner. Time will tell. It is on spin cycle right now.* * * * * *The clothes seem clean. I¢m wearing my long johns right now. At least they smell nice! We had lunch at Wendy¢s, which seems to be a happenin¢ place here in VA. We went on what I consider an ¢off¢ time and there was a line inside and at the drive-thru. From there we went to the movies and saw Maleficent. It cost $9 each for a matinee! Robbery! Anyway, I liked the movie a lot. Some of the story was changed, but that was okay. We went back to WalMart to get things we forgot earlier (like toilet paper) and drove to a campsite near Dismal Falls Walnut Flats Campground. On the way, we passed a bunny in the road that had been hit by a car, but it was still alive. It looked like a spinal injury because it could move its front legs and head, but not its hind. We were both brokenhearted for the poor bunny. It is one thing if an animal catches and eats the rabbit, but another if it is hit by a car. We also saw no less than three raccoon road kills today. I dodged a squirrel and a turtle today. Also a pileated woodpecker flew in front of the car on its way to a tree. It was BIG!We may try to do a short section of the trail tomorrow, but I¢m not sure. :-/ I do like it here at Walnut Flats. There are frogs croaking in the nearby pond and we saw a deer grazing. There is also a toilet (with paper!) and trash bins that are bear proof.Two years ago today, Steven and I were struggling while trying to hang our food in the rain at Katahdin Stream Campsite. It is amazing to see how much we¢ve been through together. I look forward to many more adventures, though maybe slightly less ambitious than hiking such a long trail.
Date: 2014-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We did not hike today. Instead we went to Natural Bridge. The AAA guide description sounded awesome. When we go there, two of the attractions were no longer available including the main draw, a butterfly house. That was disappointing, but we made the decision to see the bridge and caverns anyway. Each took about an hour.We were going to go to a health clinic for Count¢s leg, but he thinks his health insurance has expired. Instead we went to the AT&T store to get me a new SIM card. Mine had stopped working yesterday or the day before, so that was a good mission. Then we went to the movies (again) to see A Million Ways to Die in the West. Horribly hilarious!We are now back at the Sleep Inn at Tanglewood in Roanoke. We have made the decision to make our way home since Steven¢s leg is not getting any better. So, this trip we hiked 207 miles of beautiful Virginia in about 2 weeks. We¢ll be back, trail! We¢ll be back!
Date: 2016-06-25
To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Well, we made it in one day and one piece from Massachusetts to western Virginia. It was a nearly 12 hour trip with very few stops. The place we drove through in CT was beautiful. THere were full grown trees in the median and many bridges with stonework.There were some fairly congested areas that were stressful, but only one bad construction area. Virginia, of course, is the best scenery with all of the mountains. The Blue Ridge had some interesting looking peaks. I wondered what we had hiked as we drove through.We hike in to the Pine Swamp Branch Shelter to spend the night. Here we found Fanciful Feet who wasn't particularly talkative, so I didn't engage him in too much conversation. There are also 2 tents pitched, but they are asleep. It is 8:30 PM and it is still light out and we aren't tired, but everyone else is sleeping. We don't want to be rude, so we opened our sleeping bags and are sitting at the picnic table not talking. Well, whispering... about toilet paper, which Count got out, but didn't bring. > He also forgot his Cocoon.It is fairly humid, so I will expect to be sweaty tomorrow.I saw a deer (alive, opposed to the many dead ones I saw on 81) on the side of the road and I took its picture with my cell phone. I was going to text it to my mom saying that we made it here, but we have no cell service. The phones are off.
Date: 2016-06-26
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 18.9

Last night was a horrible night's sleep! I was hungry and got really cold. I also had to pee at one point, but avoided getting up because I didn't want to wake Fanciful Feet. He was up a lot of the night and playing with his flashlight. Really? That was annoying. The good part was around 10:00 we heard a pack of coyotes. I woke up feeling like someone had sat on my face.We drove to Pearisburg and started our hike. It was a nicely graded uphill and I was grateful. Then it went downhill which I didn't remember seeing in the profile elevation in our book. Oh, we saw a jogger, a trail runner, really. He passed us just as we left the road in Pearisburg. We went up and over the hill and we both figured he had left the trail at that road, but when we were on our BIG ascent, he was still jogging on his way back!! His calf muscles were insane!! Anyway, we figured out after a while that the trail had been re-routed in 2014, so it was different than what the AWOL book said. Going uphill was tough. By 10:00 I was ready to throw in the towel, but we had planned on a 19! We kept going. The trail was mostly flat with not many rocks or stones, so that was GREAT! We were flying after lunch!Rice Field shelter was nice. We stopped there for a snack around 11:00. Count was worried about ticks going through the field (which is reasonable since he is currently on medication for Lyme Disease). There was also a bit of hiding poison ivy, so that was concerning.Near the end of our day, we came upon a couple who were from Attleboro, MA! We didn't get their names, unfortunately. They planned on hiking to CT. The man had done all the trail north of there. We also saw a sole trail maintainer from Virginia Tech. I named him Virginia Tech Tim. I don't know why. He carried a machete and wore blue jeans. He commented on how hot the day was, though we were nice and cool up on the ridge. I thought, "Of course you're hot. You're wearing jeans!" Poor guy. I'm sure he was wearing them for protection - he was using a machete. We stopped at the Pine Swamp Branch Shelter (where we slept last night) for dinner. The Ramed Noodles didn't taste salty at all. I went to scratch my neck/chest and it was gritty - probably from dried salt from sweating so much. Crazy!Count was feeling lightheaded as the day went on. He isn't sure what the issue is. He also sneezed and then had a hard time taking a full breath. He seems to be better now.We drove to Walnut Flats Campground. We stayed here 2 years ago! There are fireflies surrounding us and an enthusiastic bullfrog down at the pond. There is one other person here with a motorcycle.We aren't sure what we're going to do tomorrow. Thunderstorms are predicted throughout the day. We may hike a 19 or a 12 or a zero. We don't want to be on a ridge in a thunderstorm! After today's hike, I'm pretty sure we'll sleep well tonight!
Date: 2016-06-28
From: Ribble Trail

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I didn't sleep as well last night because I was so sore. I kept changing positions. At 5:45 a barred owl was very close and started hooting. I laughed. It was sort of raining still, so I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until after 8! It was still raining. Ugh. Then I got up to walk - THE PAIN! My right knee bend hurt really bad when I walked down a small hill to the pit toilet. I figured it would work itself out like so many stiff muscles, but it didn't. I made the decision to take a zero to prevent further injury. I didn't want to do that, but I do think it was a smart move. It is now almost 5:00 and it is still quite stiff and achy.We drove around a bit and ended up eating lunch at a rib and wing place in Radford called Sharkey's. We waited a ridiculously long time to even order drinks. We shared boneless wings which weren't all that great (for it being a wing place). I got a side Cesar salad and Steven got a cup of potato cheddar soup. We were STUFFED! Then we went across the street to the cookie place and got 3 cookies to eat later. They are okay, but I like Connie's Cookies better. The chocolate with Ande's mints in it was a smart choice, I think. We stopped at Dismal Falls before coming back to our tent at Walnut Flats. It is pretty buggy here, so we are in the tent, though I was sitting in our camp chair for a short while. Our stuff is hopefully drying out a bit now that the sun has come out. We have it all laid out on the tarp. The rope is in my car. As we were fixin' for bed, we heard this really mournful sound. I thought maybe it was a lost fawn. I poked my head out of the tent and saw a smallish pale yellow cat!! I tried to approach it; it ran away, but stayed relatively nearby, crying. We found a can of sardines. I followed the cat a short way up a trail and chucked a sardine at it. By the end of the can (3 large sardines) I was petting the cat. We feel so bad for it. We hope it finds its way home somehow. We will probably tell someone at the gas station tomorrow morning.
Date: 2016-06-29
From: Ribble Trail

To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.3

I had bad dreams last night. They were really odd and involved having to hit out at a friend's place and later finding two dead bodies. It was disturbing. I suspect it had something to do with me thinking about the cat from last night.We stopped at Trent's Grocery to pick up bread since ours got went and moldy. I mentioned the cat just in case someone was looking and he said, "Somebody probably dropped it off." We left and I couldn't help the silent tears streaming down my face. I know people do that all the time, but it is horrible. TO see how scared and desperate that young cat was caused me great sadness and pity. I thought about that cat for the better portion of my day today - and that is no exaggeration. When you have nothing but hiking to do, you think. A lot. About the same things over and over.On Brushy Mountain, we saw two youngish black bears - Count's first on the trail! One ran to one side of the trail and one ran to the other, so we were cautious while walking through in case mama bear was around somewhere. We didn't see her.My left knee was still acting up, so I tried the knee brace, but that seemed to make things worse. I finally took an ibuprofen and life got better. No wonder that it seems all the smokers and drinkers have more success on the trail - their pain is slightly dulled. I'll live with good ol' Vitamin I. In the afternoon, we stopped to soak our feet in a stream. We had walked through and by tons of poison ivy and I wanted to rinse off my legs because I know I brushed up against some. The stream was beautiful and refreshing. Then Count said, "Is something biting me? Ahh! Yes!" It was a crayfish! I laughed and then I felt something on my calf! I yelped and jerked my legs out of hte water. HA! I rinsed off my face and dried my feet to put my socks back on. It was a nice stop - a thrush was singing its sweet song in a tree across the creek almost the whole time.The last four miles of our hike seemed interminable. It was flat, so not very tiring, but maybe that's why it felt so long - the sameness. We walked through many rhododendron tunnels. We were both relieved to see the blue blazes of the Ribble Trail which led to our car. We have less than 600 miles of trail left! That is pretty exciting. By the end of this trip, we're hoping to be under 500. Tonight is our last night at Walnut Flats. I like it here, so I'm bummed. I think this was my favorite place that we camped on our trip 2 years ago. We've seen some deer here, the owls were hooting again this morning, though not as cloase as when we first heard them, and those frogs at the pond are quite charming. Count doesn't appreciate the frogs, though.I hope the cat shows up, but I also hope it doesn't. I feel so bad for it.I hope I'm warm enough tonight. Last night I was pretty chilly. I had to wear my hat! I purposely ate more food today hoping that I'll be warm tonight. My 2nd toenail on my right foot is turning kind of purple. Yikes!
Date: 2016-07-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.2

This morning started at 6:09, but I didn't do anything until 6:20. We drove to Route 625 which turns into Forest Road 222. We almost had a head-on collision with "The Furnace Man" on 222!! Since the road is basically one lane and there is a drop off on one side, we were in the same "lane." It was around the bend. We had a big uphill to start which opened up to a mountain top meadow where there was a shelter - Chestnut Knob. The views from there were fabulous. Then we hiked down and up, repeat. The biggest thing that happened today was when we saw a black bear run away from the trail to the east. Then we heard rustling to the west. It just happened to be cubs! We saw two climbing up a tree. We weren't sure what to do since the trail went right between mother and cubs. Mama wasn't going anywhere, so we decided to pass and if she huffed, we'd back away. She watched us, but let us pass. We spoke to her in gentle tones the whole time. Phew!We were pretty tired by Jenkins Shelter, and in a normal Applejack world, we would have stopped there, but since we are hiking car to car, that ain't happening. We pushed on for the last five. We were like machines. Unfortunately, Count's knee started to really bother him and then my blister expanded. BLAH! I have very interesting oe blisters now. My right pinkie toe appears to have grown a while new toe. When we got to Laurel Creek, a thru hiker named Mountain Goat was here waiting for his girlfriend who was four hours late! I told him if she hadn't come within the hour we would drive him into town where there was cell phone reception. We ate and went in the creek, but the girlfriend never came. So, we took him and McQueen to Bland. Mountain Goat's girlfriend was fine. She left very late, so he was relieved. They got food from Dairy Queen and scored a FREE ice cream cake! Me, Mountain Goat, McQueen, Count Rainbow, Newman & Beehive split the cake. The dog Ginger got to clean the bowls. There is a fire and a small radio or mp3 player and people are sharing stories. It is nice, but really late 9:22! I think I should head to bed. It was a fun evening.Oh, we heard a tree crash down on the other side of the creek just as we were getting into our tent. I'm glad we didn't camp over there!
Date: 2016-07-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 17.4

Last night was fun until it wasn't. Since we had no idea that anyone else would show up, we set up our tent in the flattest spot - right next to the campfire. Our NOBO friends stayed up extremely late. Maybe 11:30 or midnight, so we didn't get much sleep as usual (we woke up around 6). We just got up and packed everything and left. We stopped at WalMart to get a couple things and started our day. We had some trouble finding the trail-head and where to park, but we got there eventually. Then we weren't positive where the trail was! Because we had to open (and close) a fence to get through!Today was beautiful, scenery wise. We went through several fields with pretty views, we dodged cow poop and cows. At the beginning of the day, the calves were curious enough to follow us, but shied away if we approached them.We had a lot more extended ups and downs today. It was very tiring and I gained a new blister! On my left big toe. I thought I was done with new ones. Oh well.We saw another bear today! And I haven't said so, but I think we've seen deer every day we've been on the trail so far this year. We also saw a small snake and a salamander. My feet are TIRED! We hiked from 8:45 AM to 6:50 PM. Dang! Tough day!Steven decided that we'd get a hotel tonight, so we're at the Relax Inn in Atkins, VA. I wouldn't exactly recommend it unless you're a hiker. That is all I'll say. We didn't get the predicted thunderstorm today. Woo hoo! Good night! 10:20 PM!!