morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Troutville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

Well here we go! My daughters 1st day on the AT, and she already gave herself a trailname. "Evergreen" I thought it was good so we went with it.We had to walk 1.1 miles of road and track, (pic above) To get to the trailhead and her 1st white blaze. I had to tell her that road hiking does not count to the daily miles. Those are only for mile walking the trail. She got the brunt of it very quickly as most hikes out of town are always up! Now this was not a brutal climb, but she doesn't know any better and to her it's brutal. We did see a mixture of different terrain today and it was nice to hike some open farmland even though it wasn't much. I taught her how to use the AT guide book, where the next shelter is, how to filter water, and what to do when nature calls. Lol. She trouped it out for most of the day, but the last couple miles were hard. I knew they would be as most adults have trouble doing 8 miles on the 1st few days in Georgia. We got to Wilson Creek Shelter about 5:30 and no one else was there, so we found water, set up her hammock and my tent, cooked our Mountain House, (she had the Mac and Cheese) and hung out bear bag. By the time we were almost settled in Mudderfingers and Cool Story showed up around 8. Evergreen was happy to see other hikers as I sensed she was a little nervous sleeping in the woods with no one else around. She got into her zebra pj's and crawled into her hammock for bed. I did the same in my tent which was very close to her. It's wouldn't take long however for her to come over to my tent and sleep with me. Lol. Cute. She was nervous, and probably a little cold, but my tent is a 2 person, but barely. 2 people is a tight fit, and you better like the person very well to share it. She wrote in the journal a bit, and I taught her how to use the red light on her head lamp. She learned a lot, and 9.3 was probably a real big day for her.Song of the Day, -Lowdown, -Boz Scaggs
Date: 2014-04-24
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was a long day but very nice. Evergreen and I did some road walking on the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw some beautiful overlooks. The trail criss crosses the BRP several times and some of these overlooks we wouldn't have seen if we stayed on the trail. We had a nice long lunch of creamy chicken rice wrapped up in a tortillia at the Iron Mine Overlook. Even had time for a short nap even though the loud thunder of the continuous Harley's kept us up from a deep slumber. At the end of the day we did an incredible 13.8 miles and made it to Cover Mountain Shelter just before dark. We got there right at the same time as Rocket Girl, and Dorothy did. Dorothy is a guy who carry red crocs, so hence the name Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Andy was also there along with another guy who went to bed very quickly and was snoring by the time our dinner was cooked. Again Evergreen shared the tent with me swearing she will try the hammock again soon, but I agreed it was too late to mess with it and the night was colder than the others before. At dinner Evergreen tried the teriyaki chicken but didn't like it. I devoured my chicken and rice and the shared Oreos that Rocket Girl brought. The stars were definitely out and Mars was as bright as I ever seen it. Since Evergreen didn't bring a sleeping pad we have to improvise a bit. She gets the warm GoLiteZ-10 bag, and I keep my Big Agnus pad. She stays warm and my back gets the support. Small tradeoff. I keep my down jacket on and wrap myself in the thermolite bag liner with her pink bag that wouldn't keep you warm if you were in Costa Rica in August. But it all works out and she doesn't seem to mind. Song of the Day, Driving my Life Away, -Eddie RabbittWaitress pour me nother cup of coffee, pop me down, jack me up, shoot me out, flying down the highway. .... Lookin for the morning. ...
Date: 2014-04-25
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Middle Creek Campground
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

Decided to do a Nero with evergreen after a few long days. I have to remember what it was like when I started in Georgia. Tired rarely used muscles along with some mental fatigue, and she's only 10 years old. She is really doing well so I decided to treat her to the Middle Creek Campground, plus it was starting to rain anyway. When we got to the road at the AT trailhead I started to walk left down the road. The book said West, so that's what we did. The rain was off and on as we walked the narrow paved back road. I didn't see any sign for a campground and I started to think we went the wrong way. Evergreen was getting anxious and tired but then I saw the campground sign! Yes! However when we got closer it was the sign for North Campground. Sigh. We went 1.1 miles in the wrong direction so its another 1.1 back just to get to where we started. By the time we got back to the trailhead the rain subsided a bit and a familiar face was sitting on the guardrail. It was 5 Star! She was waiting for Skittles and Goofy to arrive as they were thinking of going to the same campground as well. I walked maybe 50 yards the other direction and sure enough there was a big sign that said Middle Creek Campground! Goodness. If I only just took a second to look around. Evergreen and I started the walk up the hill to the place and within a few minutes the owner of the campground picked us up with the other 3 formentioned hikers already in the big Suburban. The campground was pretty cool, about what I expected. It had RV, tent, cabin, and even permanent sites. A pool which of course wasn't open, pool table, old arcade games, and a decent resupply with a grill to order. The 5 of us decided to take the last cabin for rent and it came out to $15 a piece which was great. The cabin had 2 sets of bunks, a double bed, and a couch that was probably old and outdated even if it was the 1970's. Full electric with a stove and fridge. Perfect!Spent the day exploring around the lake in the back and even a game of hoops with Evergreen. Skittles and her watched a movie that I probably wouldn't have picked for her to watch, but she enjoyed it and it gave me time to get caught up on journals. We ordered a darn good, reasonably priced bacon burgers with enough fries to choke a camel. The peanut butter milkshake was awesome as well. I would say it's a great place to stop even though it's off the trail a little. A great day indeed!Song of the day, Copacabana, -Barry Manillow But that was 20 years ago when they used to have a show.
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Middle Creek Campground

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: clear sky

Middle Creek Campground to Cornelius Creek shelter. 8.7 milesThe 5 of us got a ride back downhill about 9:30 to the trailhead ready for another day of hiking. A little later than I wanted but oh well. The owner of the campground couldn't be any nicer as she dropped us off and wished us luck.The weather was almost perfect and a great change from the rain of yesterday. However the hills and climbs were difficult especially for Evergreen. At lunch we stopped at a nice and fairly new 20 man shelter right next to a roaring creek. It was a good spot to take a break but it was almost too long. Evergreen took herself down tonthe water and washed off her legs as they were bleeding from mosquitoe bites and also soaking her feet to reduce the swelling. We also prepared ourselves for water and filtered all 4 of our bottles.The uphill didn't stop for the most part and it was starting to get late and dark. We finally got to the trail leading to the shelter right when Rocket Girl and Dorothy did. I met Rocket Girl back in Damascus but it was the 1st time I ran into Dorothy. Dorothy is actually a "he" and got the name due to his ruby red Crocs! Andy and a SOBO Mohawk guy from Pittsburgh was there with us as we were all eating a late dinner. Rocket Girl shared the Oreos she brought and they were all gone within minutes. They sky was clear and the stars were great with Mars about as clear as possible. Evergreen still not wanting to use her hammock slept in the tent with me again. She seems happy with it, and probably more secure and safe. And thats fine with me.
Date: 2014-04-27
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Harrison Creek Stealth Camp
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was pretty cool with a bunch of scenery and cool landmarks.I knew it wasn't going to be a big mile day cause Evergreen and I wanted to take the 1.1 mile side trail to Apple Orchard Falls. The trail to the falls I'd straight downhill so I decided to drop our packs at the top, grab our water bottles and a couple snacks and hike to falls without the weight. Its a cool side trip especially for her. It was getting very warm and a nice waterfall would be perfect. We stayed there for about and hour and played on the rocks near the falls probably were we shouldn't have. But I kept an eye on her and every thing was just fine. What wasn't fine for her was the hike back up. Even though we didnt have our packs on it was still tough. Lots of stairs to begin with and over a mile to climb.Apple Orchard Mountain was also hard but we both made it over the 4000 foot mark and a great view as well. Evergreen was super set of cowboy camping on top of the bald. It wouldn't of been a bad idea but I had to keep telling her we didn't have much water and the next creek was over a mile away. Disappointed as she was we kept on and ran into the "Guillotine" a cool landmark with a nice round boulder caught in between two bigger rocks. We had to hike under the boulder as we took pictures. The end of the day we stopped and pitched tent at a stealth site on the gap of these two mountains. Another person was there and already in his tent for the night, but not before he peeked his head out and introduced himself as a southbounder. We already had dinner at a picnic table next to a roadside parking lot next to the Blue Ridge Parkway, so all we has to do is set up camp and sleep. Which we did in the dark mostly. Song of the day, Another Brick in the Wall -Pink Floyd
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Harrison Creek Stealth Camp

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 11.4

Today started off a bit cloudy and it ended up raining some of the day as well, but not hard. The terrain was flatter as we reached the James River and the "Foot" Bridge. The longest foot bridge we traverse on the entire AT.Today she made it 50 miles! She was very happy of her accomplishment as you can see from her picture. By the time we crossed the bridge it was raining pretty hard. Evergreen lost her poncho at some point so we had to use the trash bag to cover her and her backpack. We reached the road that is to take us to Glasgow that is 6 miles away. We were told it was an easy hitch into town, but Evergreen and I waited over an hour before we got picked up. It was her first hitch but she seemed to like sticking her thumb out. Lol. Glasgow is a super small/dead town. It has a Dollar General, 2 gas stations, a laundry mat, and one pizza restaurant right behind the hiker shelter we planned to stay at. Only one thing though......It was closed on Mondays, and wouldn't you figure....today is Monday. Sigh. We put our pack down at the hiker shelter that was built and provided by the local church, and a guy named Bass was already there. An older guy who looked more homeless than he did a thru-hiker. Come to find out his home was the AT. He has gone up and down the trail 10 times now... never leaving. As scary as he might have seemed he was very nice and courteous to Evergreen, but we never intended to sleep in the shelter, as we always tent. Today was no different and we set up right behind the shelter.We went over to the Gas station which was actually pretty well supplied with food, and it had a microwave for use. I'm guessing they were used to hikers coming in. We got 2 microwavable pizzas, cooked them up and headed down to the laundromat to do some much needed clothes cleaning. Evergreen seemed uneasy and started crying a bit. When I asked what was wrong she said she was a little scared about the town she was in. I had to inform her that this is just small town America. Not every place has a Starbucks and a Pier One on every corner. As a matter of fact if we walked into our town like this with backpacks on, we would probably get picked up by the police. She calmed eventually as we headed back to our tent and I just realized she was just over-tired. Physically and probably more mentally. She fell asleep very quickly with her head lamp still on her head in the red setting. Lol.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: Glasgow, VA

To: Buena Vista, Va
Miles today: 21.1

The big storms started to come in with bad tornado action to the west. The next couple days are supposed to be very nasty as they were calling for this storm at least a week ahead..... and they were right. Now we had off and on rain yesterday, last night wasn't really that bad.We decided to take a zero in Buena Vista and the Blue Dog Art Cafe. What a cool little hostel this was. It's a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, but also caters to stinky hikers like me in their hostel upstairs. Evergreen getting used to the smell and the other thru-hikers didn't really have a problem with the 6 other guys that were occupying the hostel. Andy she already met a few days back at a shelter, but the others were new to me and her. They all seem to welcome the 10 year old girl and watch their P's and Q's around her, but for the most part they kept encouraging her and telling her how great she was doing hiking a lot of miles on such a difficult trail. We spent most of our time either shopping for resupply, playing cards, or going to the public library so she can read, and I can do my blogs. We stopped by the Amish Cupboard which had some cool sandwiches hand carved, and other off the wall type local/home made foods. Better than the Dollar General but obviously not as cheap. I was getting kinda restless to be honest and wanted to hike, but with the forecast of even more rain and heavier downpours coming, I wasn't going to have her hike in such conditions. Especially when she forgot her poncho!. The hike out of the city was bad enough already.
Date: 2014-05-01
From: Buena Vista, VA

To: Hog Camp Gap
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

Even after a couple zero days we had another short hike to Hog Camp Gap because one of the trail angel legends "Fresh Grounds" was doing what he does best. Providing trail magic! Hog Camp Gap, which is a mouth full btw, is a nice strip of land right on the AT. When Evergreen and I arrived Fresh Grounds already had a couple of hotdogs ready for us with anything you wanted on them. He had a big tarp and canopy up with other yummy snacks and drinks. Evergreen asked if she could set up the tent all by herself. Lol. Sure! I said surprisingly. It took her a bit, but she was determined to do it on her own and she did. Very cool! I still have to remind her to always zip up the tent so bugs and spiders don't enter, but all in all she does a great job.For dinner Fresh Grounds made us fajitas. Evergreen, Sun Bear, Flex and I devoured these yummy things while we watched American Lampoons Family Vacation. Not exactly a 10 year old girls speed movie but she was having fun, enjoying her popcorn while huddled up in a sleeping bag.What a great day on the trail!
Date: 2014-05-02
From: Hog Camp Gap

To: Crabtree Campground
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: few clouds

Today is a long hike and it's also going to be Evergreens last. When we woke up and packed up, Fresh Grounds had pancakes, eggs, home fries, and of course fresh coffee. What a treat to have someone out of the goodness of his own heart help us hikers. Of course I give him $10 so he can buy more food for the upcoming hikers. He said he is suppill be there for afew more days, and who knows.... He can just show up again at anytime. Today is a long hike but has many views and sights. Spy Rock (pic) is a short side trail from the AT for some fantastic views. A little bit of rock climbing, which is cool, and doable for a 10 year old... so no excuse not to. By the time we got to VA 826 we had a couple options to take. We could hike another 4 miles to The Priest which is supposed to be a great lookout or side trail 2.5 to Crabtree Falls which are the highest falls east of the Mississippi, either way we are going to stay at Crabtree Campground. She decided on the Falls and it didnt disappoint. Over 24 people have died on this trail cause of the close proximity of the dangerous falls, and I can see why. It was all downhill over slippery rocks and tempting closer views. I kept my eyes on her and under no circumstances did we go off the designated trail. As pretty as it was it started to get dark so we had to hurry down so we could find this campground.When we arrived at the road it was pretty dark and there were no signs for this camp. There were several ways that we could of chosen, but thank goodness we choose correctly. In the distance we saw the fires from other sites and came up to the camp store around 9pm. We got a nice spot, and bought some ice cream to reward ourselves for a nice long hike.Both tired we fell asleep very quickly, but I woke up knowing her mom is supposed to be here around 1 or 2am. This is not an easy place to find and the roads are very tough and windy. With no signal at all I was slightly worried about her making it, but she finally showed up, had her park the truck in front of our tent and she slept in the back as I climbed into the tent with Evergreen. She was exhausted and didn't even budge. Another great day.
Date: 2014-05-04
From: Crabtree Campground

To: Campsite mile marker 845.5
Miles today: 17.5

As if someone took me away from Virginia and dropped me of in Southern North Carolina. From VA 56 to the top is a 3000 foot climb to Three Ridges Mountain. And when the terrain was not climbing it was rock and boulder hopping. Brutal! Its like a got cast down with the sodomites, felt like I got hit by a freight train. (Ha! Just a movie quote from Shawshank... relax)Bumper and his wife are the owners of the campground, and are a very nice Christian couple. Bumper is a thru-hiker from 1976! Old school with 70-80 lbs lugged on the back. There was nothing light weight about thru-hiking in those days, even 8 years ago you lugged some weight. I give it to these guys, it just couldn't be easy. I packed up and Bumper gave me a ride 4 miles back to the trailhead and off I went. I knew it wasnt gonna be easy for sure, but with 10 days of easy going low miles, and about a month of not seeing any climbs like this, the 17+miles I planned was a huge miscalculation. However, I'm motivated to get back into the groove, I took breaks, ate and drank alot and pushed my body onwards. There was a lot of great views today as well. Even though it was tough the scenery improved. Chimney Rock and Hanging Rock was a definite beauty. At Cedar cliffs, late in the day with the view looking west, it was hard not to stop 3 miles shy and pitch camp there. I probably wouldn't have regretted it. Lots of 1st recently after seeing 2 snakes the day before a saw another big black one today. But the big first was I finally fell. Yep! A big slip, total loss of control, butt plant! Grrrrrrr. After all that time in the high elevations, with the snow and ice and slippery rocks, I didnt fall once. I let two ladies thru who were going south bound, as I got my foot back on the trail my shoes lost grip and slid as my poles went up in the air and I landed on my ass and right hand. Was dirty for a bit but my wrist stung for a long while. I really thought I would eventually fall as everyone does at some point, but after the Smokys I thought I would be great till New Hampshire. Oh well.I night hiked for about 2 miles and the last .8 was not terribly uphill, but my legs were just giving in and it was a big struggle. I finally saw the campground I was looking for and to my surprise there was 2 tents already set up. My light flashed on my head and a female hiker with her red light speaks up and ask who I was. Lol. I did my best to set them at ease and apologized for coming in so late. She introduced herself as Jules. I never heard or met her before and never even got a look due to the darkness. I set up camp as quiet as I could then headed to the overlook for a dinner of shrimp Ramen. Oh boy! Yummy!Its starting to get real chilly and the wind blasting doesn't really help the matter either. I took my last Goodys body ache powder and fell asleep before I could count to 10. Its was a long day, but I felt great to be hiking the miles again.Song of the day, Getting Figgy With it. I just cant get this out of my head!!!! La la la la!
Date: 2014-05-05
From: Campsite mile marker 845.5

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Or whatever....... Over 200 countries in the world, all with Independence days for the most part, yet we celebrate Mexico's Independence? Why not all of them? Ahhhhhh.... I'll stay off this... Just thoughts while I hike.Woke up from the stealth site to a very chilly morning. I actually put on my gloves for the 1st time in a while today. Thankfully it warmed up before the precipitation fell. Which was by mid-day. The rain started to come down pretty hard as I got to the road that is to Waynesboro. This is another popular trail town which supposedly the best Chinese buffet on the entire trail. Easy to get in and out of the town, with plenty on options for resupply and a night stay. I might be the only hiker to not go into Waynesboro as I skipped right by it and continued to the boundary of Shenandoah National Park, and the next 100 miles of the trail. Just like Smoky Mountain National Park you have to register for a back country permit to enter if you are going to camp. But unlike the Smoky's you don't have to pay the $20. So it was just a self register type on thing, and on I went.I ran into Jolly who I haven't seen since The Homeplace Restaurant near Four Pines. For some reason he was going SOBO so I had to inquire. His and Flashlight got a ride to the northern part of the park, hiked south, then going to "Aqua blaze" the park back north. "Aqua blazing" is where to take the river instead of the trail. The Shenandoah River flows north bound from Waynesboro to Front Royal which is the full length of the park. It sounds cool, and I was glad they decided to hike the trail AND aqua-blaze it. Most Aqua-blazers don't hike it.At the shelter there was 3 thru-hikers I haven't met yet. All 3 girls. Canadia, from, well, Canada, One-day, from Durham, and Fun Size who lives in Michigan, yet has the strongest Boston accent I ever heard. They informed me that tomorrow was "Marathon Day" as it was 26.2 to the 2nd shelter up ahead. They also told me that they were getting up at 4:30am to accomplish this "day"! Well that made my decision to pitch a tent right there. I was going to the campground the next day, and didn't have any intention on getting up that ridiculously early. I was pretty tired and fell asleep before it actually got dark.Movie of the Day. Caddyshack 2 is so bad that I don't even remember most of it anymore, so it makes me want to see it again. I'll probably regret it.