morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-18
From: Helvey's Mill Shelter

To: Trent's Grocery
Miles today: 16.3

A goodnight's sleep - must have been the bone chilling bath in the stream or that little bit of food for lunch! The birds are chirping away this morning, almost drowning out the noise from I -77. There goes another wood pecker pecking away. I bet I've heard one each day for the last month. Well, I have to get packing. I¢ll talk to you later.I'm back. Chapinlara came into camp this morning, said he had tented down below. I made some chicken curry something or other and had some more tuna - for breakfast. We are tenting tonight at a place called Trent's Grocery. Six bucks to tent and I¢m also able to charge all my gadgets. I got here just at dark. Today's hike was fairly easy I guess. When we got down to Lickskillet Hollow, ¢Nomad¢ was there with "Chevy", a dog, and "Camero", her owner. They¢ve been slack packing due to Camaro's ankles hurting. When Chevy saw me, she came running towards me, happy to see me. I have met them both before. Nomad is a thru hiker who got off the trail. He said God told him to feed the hikers, so he bought a van from Grimm, who works for Uncle Johnny¢s Hostel back in Erwin, TN and now he¢s going around feeding the hikers and shuttling them around. After our bellies were full, we decided to hike a mile or two and camp, but there were no places to tent. We were on a ridge line and they¢re calling for high winds and rain - been there done that! So we hiked 5.3 miles to get to Trent¢s Grocery. I saw four deer yesterday and two more today but still no Yogi. Our plan is to hike to Woods Hole Hostel and hopefully get a massage there, we¢ll see! Ahh, tonight I hear a river and horses.Almost forgot - I've passed my 600 mile mark!
Date: 2013-04-19
From: Trent's Grocery

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 14.9

The night was a very windy one and the rain held off. For breakfast we went down to Trent Grocery and had scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns and a ham biscuit. Then I bought a lot of junk food for today's slack packing hike. Thanks to the Morris family who took our packs to the Woods Hole Hostel for us. Their son is slack packing all the way with the help of his mom. They are calling for rain all day. I started out with shorts and short sleeve shirt. We started off with a good fast pace until lunch, then it became cooler and the last five miles rained like crazy and I put on my rain coat. Left my rain pants off because the heat builds up, and the rain felt good at first. I have made it here at Woods Hole Hostel. I had a hot shower then a deep muscle massage - it was a good one too. After that, at the supper table, we introduced ourselves to the group and had to tell what we are thankful for. I said that I was thankful that my wife didn¢t let me go home in Damascus! We had a very nice supper of salad, homemade bread, pumpkin lasagna and Amish ice cream with Rice Krispie treats. It¢s ¢Z¢s¢ 28th birthday tomorrow. It's late and I'm going to bed, that's right BED!
Date: 2013-04-20
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.4

Please note that I have changed the settings on my website so that after my next post (not today's post) you should come directly to my latest entry when you come here. That should save you a few clicks, especially for those of you who come back to see how I'm doing on a daily basis. Thank you for your interest and especially your support!Last night¢s stay is ranked in the top ten. Both yesterday¢s supper and this morning¢s breakfast were great! Had to wait on them to go the mile to get the mail out of the box, which is four feet by four feet. Two young girls, daughters of a good customer of mine sent me a encouraging card, a very nice bird watchers pamphlet and a nice star gazers map. Everyone here was picking it up and looking at it. Thanks girls - that was sweet! : ) I walked outside and the temps were in the low thirties, a big difference from yesterday. Chapinlara is staying behind another day, so after I left the hostel, it was a half mile to the trailhead uphill. It would have been nice to get a ride back to the trail head, but oh well. It's only 10.4 miles to Pearisburg, VA, so it shouldn't take long, yeah right. It¢s a nice clear day with great views. I made good time till the halfway mark, then the views were good, so I took some pictures. Then I met a nice gentleman from the area doing a day hike, Bob - aka Gator. I hope he had time to make it to the top to see the great views. I decided to stay here in town as I need more food and need to do some laundry which I didn't do last night.Some sad news to report: Flounder, a hiker I had hiked with for a while but we somehow got off each other schedules, went home with a hip injury. I was really hoping to get to hike with him again. He will be missed and I hope he recovers quickly.Lastly, according to Command Central, I am headed into a no-AT&T zone, so I may not be able to update for a few days, but I will be back on as soon as I get cell reception - Thanks!
Date: 2013-04-21
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Mile 646.6 Stealth tenting
Miles today: 15.8

Woke up at 6am and took a shower, then walked to Hardee's. AJ from Arkansas walks in and we seat and talk like all these old people in these places do! Said he's waiting on a pair of shoes. He wore a pair out and I know why now. He says he¢s been hiking with ¢Saber¢. Saber hiked from Erwin to Pearisburg in seven days. A little later, I sat out front of the office using the wi-fi because ATT sucks! I finally left to WALK my half mile or so, uphill of course, back to the trail head, but first I stopped by the D Q (Dairy Queen) and got an ice cream dipped in chocolate. Ice cream is ok at 10:15 in the morning right? Then I started my walk. Not much has changed. There are still hills, rocks, streams and my little friends the Gnats! Had some views, but for the most part I'm in the woods. I don't know what it is with me, but I seem to notice a lot of dead animals lately - if a crow lands on my shoulder I'm in trouble! Found this glob of feathers of a medium sized bird, so I get my bird pamphlet out that the Walter girls sent me and it looks like a Merlin to me. And then later I see a dead mole or vole in the middle of the trail. I have enough food so I leave them laying! It's getting late. I came across one tent and I'm thinking it might be Hoosier but I don't say anything and hike on, looking for a flat spot on a pointed hill, and come across another tent so I hike further and finally find a nice windy, rocky place to tent and man is it windy.I thought my tent was going to fly away. I'm holding my stakes down with big rocks. If the rocks move, I may end up in a tree! I've got the shakes from the cold, so I'm having a hard time tapping these little squares. Goodnight.
Date: 2013-04-22
From: Mile 646.6 Stealth tenting

To: Mile 663.7 campsite
Miles today: 17.1

I woke up 6:30am, mumbled to myself and fell back to sleep. Woke back up at 7:15am and mumbled to myself and fell back to sleep again. I see a pattern here! Once again I woke up, at 8:30am and this time I stayed awake. That wind last night kept waking me up and I was tired too. I finally packed up and headed out. It¢s turning out to be a nice sunny but somewhat cool day. Not much to see today accept a lot of ROCKS! The first person I saw today wasn¢t until around 4pm and she was a college girl from Virginia Tech out on a day hike up to Wind Rock. She asked if I needed a ride. I told her no thanks, I'm trying to make the next shelter. I didn't see any other hikers until I passed the War Spur Shelter at 8 pm. There are three hikers in there, all in their sleeping bags, so I pushed on another mile and am tenting, listening to the sounds of the whipper wills and the stream down the hill.The Dragon is trying to raise its head at me. When I was packing up this morning I bent over and my back went out. The pain dropped me to the ground like a hot potato! So I lay there in pain for awhile and then made it back on my feet. With my pack on its not too bad. My feet are always swollen in the mornings and are sore all day long. Yesterday both my knees were hurting but today are fine. Now my left shin, just above the foot stated hurting late today. I need a zero day and haven't had one since Hot Springs some 398 miles ago.
Date: 2013-04-24
From: VA 630 

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I'd like to once again thank Ann and Lori for being there when I needed them. And a special thanks to Lori for going out of her way to take me to the Budget Inn in Christensburg, VA. Yesterday I went to my room, lay on the bed and wondered what to do. I called Kathy and let her know what was going on. She suggested that I have it X-rayed. I was too tired, sore and mad to go yesterday and it was getting late as well. I fell asleep and woke up later that evening hungry. I noticed a Burger King around the corner when I arrived so I make my way down to it. It takes about 15 minutes when it should have taken about 5. I eat and fight back the pain and walk back to the room and I fall asleep. So this morning I pack up and I call a cab to take me to the urgent care facility. They take X-rays and said no broke bones, probably shin splints. I¢m still not satisfied as I was not prescribed anything or given any suggestions on how to help it heal, except to put ice on it for 20 minutes every hour. I leave and walk across eight lanes of traffic and get a room at the Super 8 Motel. I ice my leg. Kathy shows up around 9 pm with a frosty from Wendy's across the street. I think she stills loves me!Kathy had also called our family doctor and he had prescribed an anti-inflamatory that she brought with her. She also talked with one of the nurses, Lisa, whose daughter, trail name Benz, hiked the AT in 2010. She was very supportive and gave some good suggestions as well. So now I start my recovery.
Date: 2013-04-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The anti-inflammatory pills I have been taking seem to be working. My leg is feeling a little better. I can walk on it but not too far or stand on it long. WalMart is across the main street so we went and put my pictures from my camera on some CD¢s. About that time I got a text from Trudger. She asked how I was doing and told me where they were at. I told Kathy they'll be crossing VA 42 soon. I said let¢s see if we can surprise them. So we pick up some junk food that I thought hikers would love to have and we headed out to where I had crossed VA 42. The first hiker we see is just crossing the road when we drive up. It is ¢Just Dave¢, who drinks a Coke, tells us who he has seen today and moves on. And we waited. I¢m sitting in the back of Kathy¢s van with my leg propped up and ice on it looking across the farm land for them. I see someone coming but I can tell it¢s not them. This hiker stops at a small footbridge and decides to take a break, 150 feet from trail magic! Then I see another hiker. I say to myself, ¢No that can't be him.¢ Sure enough it was ¢ Chapinlara. I holler out at him and he comes over to the van and takes a seat and we fill him up with food. Then we see two ladies coming across the footbridge and we knew it had to be Trudger and Vegas and it was. They ask how I'm doing and I tell them better and I notice Vegas is all stopped up and coughing a lot. She said she thinks she picked up something on the plane (from her trip to her son¢s wedding in Las Vegas) and said she's fine but she looks tired. We talk about the trail and we try to fill them up on junk food. Finally, this lone hiker that decided to stop and take a nap walks up. He introduced himself as ¢Groundpounder¢. This is one of the hikers that Kathy has been reading about on Trailjournals, since he had been ahead of me for most of my hike and she likes to see what¢s coming up for me. I offer to take all of their heavy packs to the next road crossing. It¢s only 0.9 miles away and I know it¢s not far but any hike without your pack is great. They don't hesitate to let me take the packs so we pile them in the van and off they go. We drive over to VA 630 and about twenty minutes later, here they come. Groundpounder said, ¢I think that¢s the shortest slack packing I've done! Does this put us in the record book?¢ We say our good byes and they hike on. It's hard watching them leave as this is the spot where my two angels rescued me. On the way back to our hotel, I can't help but think where the ladies are camping and where they¢re going to be on Saturday. (I have something up my sleeve but I don't mention it to Kathy right yet). We did however make it to Dicks Sporting Goods and I buy a new pair of hiking shoes and some insoles to try. Tomorrow I go see an orthopedic specialist. My fingers are crossed!
Date: 2013-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

My doctor¢s appointment was at 12:15pm so we just lay around the hotel room taking it easy, icing the leg until it's time for us to go. My leg is sore but I'm able to walk around for short periods without too much pain and it is much improved from yesterday. We meet with Dr. Siegel, who is one of the team orthopedic surgeons for Virginia Tech. We go into the room and the walls are plastered with sports posters and all the Virginia Tech players that he has helped. Then I noticed a picture of a hiker on McAfee Knob that had been there and received his help. That made me feel more confident that we had come to the right place. The doc looked at my X-rays that were taken at the urgent care center and examined my leg and said he was pretty sure its tendonitis. He tells me to keep taking my anti-inflammatory pills and gives me a couple of sample bottles of liquid anti-inflammatory to rub on the area along with some exercises and stretches. This was all reassuring to me and Kathy. After that the rest of the day is a blur!Kathy here: After that we went to the library in Blacksburg to check email and update the Trail Journal. I bet Bruce can count on a few fingers the number of times he had been in a library in the past 30 years before starting on this hike. Now he knows his way around a library like a pro!
Date: 2013-04-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The pain in my leg is gone. I can't believe it. I asked Kathy if she wants to go up to McAfee Knob and she said only if your leg doesn't hurt and the first sign of pain we turn back, so I agreed. (My fingers are crossed behind my back!) But first we go to the outfitters in Daleville. Right before we get there, we see Hoosier and Joe the hiker and another hiker I don't recognize walking down the road. Then I'm at the outfitters and I've already picked out my new summer sleeping bag and a couple of other items and in comes ¢Bean¢. He says ¢Snow Frog¢ is at the coffee shop next door and we talk awhile. I am getting ready to leave and I get a text from the ladies. They¢re about three miles from the parking lot for McAfee's Knob. I tell Kathy and we decide to surprise them. The surprise was really on us. We stop at McDonalds and then drive about 20 minutes to the parking lot and it is PACKED with weekenders. We get a parking spot only because someone else was leaving. There had to be at least 40 to 50 cars there and on the sides of road too. We pack our small day packs with water and snacks for us and 2 soft drinks, 2 cheeseburgers and snacks for Trudger and Vegas and start up to the Knob. I had never heard of McAfee Knob before I became interested in hiking the trail, but it is the most photographed place on the Appalachian Trail and for good reason as you can see. I'm doing okay at first, so we push on. About 1.5 from the top, my leg is starting to hurt. Kathy is not happy because I tell her I'm ok and she knows different. Then I let her know that I forgot my pills. I thought I saw her pick them up this morning. We are at last on top and there must be some thirty people up there. I finally take my spot and Kathy takes my picture. It¢s a cloudy day but a least it's not raining .........yet! We're up here for awhile and I'm thinking about going down to the van hoping to see the ladies. Then Kathy said she hears taping (hiking poles on rock). I turn and its Trudger followed by Vegas. They are happy to see us and likewise. We take their photo on the cliff and give them all the food and soda we have. And yes, they both wanted those cheeseburgers we had been carrying for quite some time. It's going on five o'clock by now and we all need to go, so we say our goodbyes and they go one way and we go the other way. Kathy and I decide to take the fire road down, which is easier on my leg, but not by much! By the time I get down to the van my leg is killing me. I sit in the back icing it while Kathy drives back to the hotel. Later that night, we go through my pack getting it ready for my departure on Sunday morning, depending on how bad my leg feels. I really intend to leave tomorrow. I wonder where the ladies are camping tonight as the rain has begun!
Date: 2013-04-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

This morning my new ground cloth is washed and packed away along with my new summer sleeping bag, a Mountain Hardware Lamina 45 deg. The backpack is ready and so am I. I knocked some weight off but not enough to make me jump up and down with joy! Pack weight now is 32 pounds without water. We checked out at 11 am and are heading to the drop off place, when I noticed a Cracker Barrel, another chance for Kathy to fatten me up before she turns me loose once again. I ate till it was coming out of my ears! My mom says if you stand up you can eat more - she's right! We get in the ¢Gold Nugget¢ (Kathy¢s van) and are heading up 460 towards the spot where I had gotten off the trail back on Tuesday evening. Kathy must have seen me grimace with pain as I was getting in the van earlier. She asked how I was doing. She said she saw me limping earlier. I was not getting out of this one, so I told her the truth - I was in pain. We discussed how much pain, how I would deal with it back on the trail and the possibility of making things worse by not giving my leg more time to heal. So with some choice words I said to myself and much regret she turned the van around and we are headed home. The plan right now is to return in a week or two. Stay tuned for updates and thanks for all of your support. It is much appreciated!
Date: 2013-05-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It's been five days since I came home and I'm still not used to taking a shower every day. And Kathy has re-introduced me to this stuff called deodorant. I no longer smell like I belong in the woods, and I've been eating like a hog. My lunch buddy even paid for my lunch the other day. Thanks lunch buddy! My leg is feeling better, my feet ache all day and hurt first thing in the mornings. My knees ache a little, probably because I'm not using them to the point of numbness. I get at least nine hours of sleep each night which is strange - I usually only get five or six. Other than that, life is good. Our dog was happy to see me and now won't leave me alone! Kathy and I have been working on a video, so check it out and give me some feedback. Let me know if I should keep my day job or not! Thanks again for all the prayers and get well wishes.You can click VIDEO on the left side bar to see the two I have posted.Ready to be back on the trail¢¦in my mind if not my body.
Date: 2013-05-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hello everybody! I hope everyone is staying dry. A lot has been going on since I got home. First off, I'm a year older, six pounds heavier and still gaining weight. I am getting restless sitting at home. I have found it hard to get out of my Polyester/synthetic clothing and wear cotton once again. And when I'm out driving around, I'll see a stream and say, ¢I could get water from there if I need it.¢ I'll see a mountain and I think about hiking it. My left leg, which had tendonitis to the left of the shin and is what originally took me off the trail, is doing better but now my legs above the knee caps are sore in the morning, especially when going down stairs. I'm thinking it¢s from not using them as much. The bottoms of my feet are still painfully sore and my big toes and heels are still numb and it has not gotten any better since I have gotten off the trail. And I lost a pinky toenail just the other day. I went to a podiatrist today. He took x-rays and said my feet are in good shape. Really??? ¢ They certainly don¢t feel that way! There are no broken bones or anything that he can see that would cause the pain I have. Because of the numbness, he's thinking it¢s really a lower back issue, which is something I've dealt with most of my life. But I can say that during the last two weeks on the trail my lower back had been hurting more and more, but nowhere near as bad as my leg or my feet. The doctor has set me up with a neurosurgeon on Thursday to see what he thinks, but I don't know about that. I was close to The Village Outdoors and talked with Don, the owner about my problems and he has lent me his own light weight backpack to try out. I will see how it feels fully loaded at home. I also decided to call my chiropractor to see if he could see me and hopefully get an adjustment and I really hope it will do some good. My goal is still to start back this coming weekend and I would love to have some of this pain gone (along with the rain!)It's a little past 8pm now. The chiropractor adjusted my back and worked on my legs and feet. When I left there, I felt more confident about my return to the trail this weekend. It seems like he put me on every machine in his office. I have a massage lined up for Tuesday morning, next door to the chiropractor¢s office, and another appointment with the chiropractor on Wednesday - doing everything I can to help get me back on the trail ASAP. It has been a long day.