morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-27
From: West VA

To: Blackburn Hiker Center
Miles today: 12.6

Well, daylight woke me at 5:30 but I tried to go back to sleep as the ATC offive didn't open until 9 and I wanted to stop in there before heading out. So I piddled around until 8:30 and then checked out of the hotel and walked down the road. I probably spent an hour at the office looking up the hikeers I had met on my spring hiking sections. Most of them have already passed through, some I only missed by one day. I am happy that they have made it this far but sad that I won't get the chance to see them again.I set out for the trail about 10:30 and it was already extremely hot. I see three women tubing down the Shendendoah River. Now that's what I should be doing. To quote Dierks Bentley, "What was I thinking?"The biggest climb of the day is short and sweet. I pass some nobos who have "town" eminating from them. It's funny how hikers take on a certain delberateness to them when they are going into town - that eagerness to get fresh food, shower, laundry, beer, simple creature comforts. When I got up on the ridge, I am quickly reminded that I am not hiking the south anymore. I am taken back to memories of PA and MD. Oh yes, it's my good friends, ROCKS! It's not that bad though. The heat is worse. I can't keep my nose dry as sweat keeps dripping off of it.I met Skip today who told me about the gypsey moths and when I crossed WV9, I met them personally. These moths are flying every where and they are dropping their larvae which hits the leaves and sounds like rain. And worse yet, they are eating the leaves which means that for about 3 miles where there should be shade there is none. Yes, I am questioning why I got off the trail last November and gave up hiking in the cool air for this oppressive heat. Yes, this must be as hot as Hades. Maine was definitely not this hot. You know how I know? Because my candy bars are all melted. And my water is boiling. Which reminds me that I need to get some gatorade. Oh how did I forget it???   I met Vegas at the David Lesser shelter where I took a shoes off break and consumed some water and food. Rested up, I hiked another 3 miles to the Blackburn Center. I arrived just in time for dinner. Hopeful and Redwing with baby Hikelet are the caretakers and they cooked up brats, beans, potato salad and green salad with tea and kool-aid. It was absolutely delicious and considering that I ate almost nothing today, very satisfying. I also consumed lots of liquids. I promise to drink more tomorrow. As we were eating, five nobos came in, three of which I met at Stecoah Gap. These three are great musically, and they kept us all entertained for the evening. Coach carries a hiking guitar, four harmonicas and a percussion egg. Mat© sings beautifully, and Genesis also plays the guitar. Nice Enuff and Torpedo are traveling with them but not musically inclined. Times like these are really what make the trail the awesome place it is.
Date: 2007-06-28
From: Blackburn Hiker Center

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: broken clouds

Today was wonderful. A vacation actually. I left Blackburn around 8 after relaxingly packing up and socializing with the other hikers and Hopeful. The first few miles were pretty breezy, a bit rocky though. But I hear that all of VA is pretty rocky. I saw a mother and baby deer in the middle of the trail. I keep looking for a bear, but I haven't seen one yet. The trail pretty much stayed rocky so I couldn't tell when I was at the Devil's Racecourse, but when I got there I knew it. It was a small boulder field and not to hard to cross. Then I began the rollarcoaster. I had a nice view at Crescent Rock and saw some people setting up to rock climb. The rollercoaster is a series of about ten uphill/downhills over about a 13 mile span. Its not so bad but its harder because of the heat and humidity. I took lots of breaks today and am making myself drink and eat more today. Its about 1 when I arrive at Bears Den and its starting to sprinkle. Perfect spot fr an afternoon siesta. I walk inside the hostel and Snack Break is serving up enchilada leftovers for lunch. Perfect! I am soaked to the bone in sweat, so I slip off my shoes and enjoy some home cooked food. I'm thinking a shower would be lovely to get the sweat off my body. There are quite a few nobos here and before the night is through, its a full hostel. I try and send my emails through Pocketmail and find out that I need new batteries. I go up to the store to get some, even though they aren't open and ask for some help. I also send in a hello message to Queen Diva. She hollers down to me and teases me into staying the night with a promise of fried chicken dinner. Stumpknocker always raves about her fried chicken. I later find out that it is not her homemade fried chicken, but some store bought kind, but I am already hooked into the idea of staying, if anything for the experien! ce of meeting and hanging out with the people. Afterall, that is my favorite part of the trail and is sometimes hard to experience being a sobo and not having a steady pack to travel with. Its a good decision to stay. I ate a ton of food - homemade broccoli/chicken lasagna, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, ice cream. I'm never ging to lose those 15 pounds I gained this winter if I keep getting good food like these last two days. Not to mention, my food bag is not getting any lighter. It did rain tonight so hopefully tomorrow will be cooler and I will make up the miles I missed today. I still want to finish in 4-5 weeks, but I'm not going to make a job out of it. It will be FUN!
Date: 2007-06-29
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Dick's Dome
Miles today: 19.3

Last night was fun. I talked to Binjali, Firestarter, Grizzle, Rex, Loose Bruce, Slick, Rebel, Snake Charmer, Easy Strider, Fuzzy Monkey, and Further, and Lois, Jambalaya's mom. Many of us even stayed up watching movies, House of Sand and Fog and Failure to Launch.So needless to say, I was tired when I got up at 6. But, I did and I quietly packed up my stuff and got ready to go. Then I went upstairs for some hot tea and got sucked into homemade pancakes and more conversation. It was 8 by the time I snuck out resisting the urge to say goodbye to some hikers as I knew it keep me there longer. So I'm cruising about a mile into today's continuation of the rollercoaster and its misting, but I still here leaves rustling to my left. Then I see a big round black animal bouncing away from me and the trail I watch it for about 45 seconds. It's a BEAR! Not scary. Cute as it looks like a fuzzy ball. It moved too fast for me to get a picture. But I can finally say I saw a bear!I arrive at the Sam Moore shelter for a look see. I think I am farther than I am, but oh, well its a short break and a nice shelter. The rollercoaster goes up and down and over lots of rocks and its pretty boring. Its raining too. I do pass lots of backpackers. 22 I think I counted between Bears Den and Rod Hollow shelter where I stop for lunch and a reprieve from the rain. I stay too long but by the time I leave, it has stopped raining. That doesn't mean its beter weather conditions for hiking because now its humid. Nine more miles to go and its about 4/4:30. It will be about 8:30 when I get to Dick's Dome Shelter. I don't see another hiker during these nine miles. The rollercoaster is over so I have a bit of a rest form ups and downs. I have counted at least seven deer encounters today. They are cute, so curious. Sometimes they just bolt when they see me, but sometimes they stare at me with their ears up and their heads cocked to the side wondering what I am ! and what I am going to do. I cross over a busy four lane road and then enter Sky Meadows State Park. I don't know what's so special about it, it looks just like a field with trees dispersed randomly through it. The bugs are bad here, so even though I am wanting to stop for a snack, I push on to the southern boundary of the park where there is a park bench. I sit and eat and relax and contemplate hanging myhammock right here, but I need water. So, again, I push on. I stop at a nice spring a mile before the shelter. When I arrive at the shelter it is dusk but with the leaf coverage of the woods, its pretty dark. There are thre sleeping hikers in the tiny and ugly shelter. I hang my hammock, clean of my legs inspecting for ticks and cook some dinner. The guide says there are food hoist cables, but I can't find them, so I hang my food on the mouse hanger alonng with everyone else.Too tired to journal, I climb in the hammock and go to sleep.
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Dick's Dome

To: Jim and Mollie Denton Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Short day today. That 19 in the rain and over the rollercoaster was tiring. I woke up early planning to do another 18 today, but once I started talking to two of the ladies who stayed in the shelter, things got confusing. See, I need to resupply and I don't want to stay at a hotel in Front Royal and I don't hike too fast. So at my pace, I would get to the road to hitch in late n the afternoon which means an evening hitch back to the trail and I won't do that being single and female. This is when I really wish i had a hiking partner. So I plan to hitch into Linden for resupply and stop at 10 miles for the day. Its 9 by the time I leave the shelter. The rules of the Shenandoahs and the availability to resupply anywhere other than the parks overpriced waysides has things complicating my mind. Its 11 by the time I get to Manassas Gap shelter for some water. I dilly dally still contemplating what to do about resupply. I talk to a good many nobos on the way to the road to Linden. They all went shelter to shelter in the park, most paid the money to eat at the waysides. Most didn't like the park saying it wasn't flat, it was rocky and there are no views. I am getting the VA Blues and its only my 4th day back on the trail. What am I going to do? I still have 500 more miles to go!Getting a hitch into Linden seems fruitless as no one is stopping to pick me up and there is no shade to stand in. I make the decision to go into Front Royal for resupply and pray that I don't get sucked into the town. I will hang out at Jim and Mollie Denton Shelter and then stealth somewhere near the road. Well, that was the plan.The more I hung out at this phenomenal shelter, the more I realize I don't want to leave. So I make my bed, take a shower -yes, this shelter has a solar shower! - and catch up on the journals. I will justify this decision by enjoying the time I have to relax, going to sleep early, and setting my alarm and geting up really early to still do 18 miles tomorrow and make a town stop. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this! Currently, I need to average 16 miles a day to finish by the end of July. Well, another hiker showed up here at the shelter. I thought I might have this palace to myself, but, no. Alas, he is tenting. So I guess it will just be me and momma bird (a bird has set up a nest and is incubating her eggs in the loft of the shelter) inside the shelter. Time to cook some dinner and socilaize with Clearwater.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Jim and Mollie Denton Shelter

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today I have two accomplishments to report. I did 18.6 miles and went into town for 3 hours and got to the shelter before dark. And, I saw 5 bears.   Geting up early, I had hiked the fastest and easiest five miles before 8 AM. I even got to eat some fresh picked blackberries when I crossed under some powerlines. You can see where the bears sit and stuff themselves full of berries just like the humans. Then I luckily got a hitch into town from a man leaving his neighborhood, presumeable on his way to church. He dropped me off at Martin's grocery store. Lovely store full of all sorts of foods and sundries that look absolutely wonderful. I probaly bought too much food as now my bag is completely stuffed and weighs a ton. I also called home and talked to the folks and to my friend Kelli. Then I got a ride back to the trail with a long haired, tattoed, heavy metal music listening, hippy kind of dude. He was harmless. Didn't see any animals at the zoo (the trail passes by a zoological research facility), but I did stop for lunch at the shelter/wayside before entering the park and met two speedy nobos, Figgy and Stitch. Once inside the park, I immediately had two encounters with deer. The first one had the deer eating clover right by the trail. I could have touched it, I was that close. Then two deer crossed the trail behind me snorting and such. It was fun.Then when I was climbing Compton Peak, I saw a bear. He was off in the woods a good ways. On the other side of Compton Peak I heard all sorts of screaming and hollering and when the day hikers caught up to me I asked tthem if they saw the bear and that's why they were screaming. They said no, they were just pretending to be bears. I thought great, they are going to scare off all the wild life, but luckily they turned off the AT shortly after that. After crossing Skyland Drive near Hogwallow Gap, I see up ahead on the trail, another bear and this one has two cubs. I want to be especialy cautious around this one as mommas are agressive. I move slowly and snap a picture from a distance, and call out to her announcing my presence. I firmly but politely say, "Hey, Bear. Go on Bear, take your babies and go on." And she did. The babies were so cute bouncing around and one even climbed a tree briefly. I kept my wits about me as I passed making sure she didn't change her mind and come after me.The last bear sighting of the day was near South Marshall and the bear was off in the woods running around. He looked pretty big too. When I arrived at Gravel Springs hut I am greeted by lots of friendly folks including, Yellow Snowman, whom I had met near Damascus. The others were nobos Moosehead and Redwood, section hikers John and Sharon and their yellow lab, Less, and the ridge runnner Mike aka The Grateful Greenpeace Guy.I enjoyed a bagged Asian salad and a cheese and bean burrito hiked in from the store for dinner. Then Mike helped me figure out the bear bagging pole system and then I set up my bed in the shelter. Its chilly tonight and bright due to a full moon.
Date: 2007-07-03
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Rock Springs Hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Ooh, it was cold last night. But I still slept better in my hammock than I would have in the shelter. And, no mice or bears bothered me. I got up this morning at 5:30 and hit the trail by 6:30. The mile and a half to the gap and road was pretty easy. I saw three dear: 2 does in the middle of the trail leaving the shelter looking at me like I was crazy for walking up the trail, and a buck off to the side of the trail wondering why I was interupting his breakfast. Then it was a rocky and pretty steep climb up to Mary's Rock. I took the side trail to the rock and had a nice view of the Shenandoah River Valley, but no view of the river. Could hear lots of automobile traffic, though. It's even a bit chilly today up on this ridge, but I am not complaining. Cool is so much better than hot. An easy climb up to the Pinnacle despite the rocks. This 15 mile section is very rocky-yuk! I took a brief rest at the Pinnacles Picnic area and ate some weight out of my food bag. S! till don't know what I was thinking when I went to the grocery store. Time to climb Stony Man. Where the trail turns from the blue-blaze summit trail, you are at the highest elevation on the AT in the SNP. Soon after this spectaclar At moment, you are at the road that will take you to the Skyland Lodge and Restaurant, which I timed perfectly to arrive for lunch. I enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich with spinach, caramalized onions, tomato, and smoked gouda and a side of kettle chips with a Yuengling lager to wash it all down. Delish! While letting my body digest the scrumptious lunch, I lounged in a comfy couch in the restaurant lounge and made some phone calls. It's only four miles to the hut, so I have time to be lazy. The trail from here is a little graveling and on the side of a mountain meaning steep up to the left and steep down to the right. But overall, it's not that bad. I arrive at the shelter and a man shouts, "Superstar!" It's Preacher whom I met at Kincora Hostel near Hampton, TN, early in June. Worldwide aka Motor Mouth is there too and is yapping a mile a minute. Lumpy is here as well - I met him on a GA hike in March. He hikes in a suit with a pink tie. Interesting character. John and Sharon are here as well as is a Canadian nobo, Pierre. A few of the fellas are drinking beer and roasting hodogs bought at the campstore and it is an overall lively evening. Tron and Pogo arrive a little later. I can tell it's going to be a late night so I set up my hammock on the trail to the locked cabin away from the noise. Once my home is set up, I make dinner and watch the sunset from the cabin porch. There is a church group tenting here as well and there are deer that are not a! ware of us humans. Or if they are, they don't seem to mind sharing the space. Everyone is getting along fine and it's a nice evening.
Date: 2007-07-05
From: Hightop Hut

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I slept well last night in the hut. It didn't rain on us as it looked like it might when we went to bed, but it is cool and overcast and looks like it might sprinkle some. I'm on the trail by 7, attempting another big mile day. I'm feeling the effects of yesterday's miles in my feet, butt and thighs, so I'm going a bit slow. After yesterday's bear encounters, I'm thinking that 11 bears is quite plenty to see. Eleven is a nice prime number - a good number to end on. Nope, off in the woods I hear some branches breaking and look to see a big bear butt running away from me. Bear count now at twelve.I pass a few nobos on my way to Pinefield Hut but we don't really talk. I stop in the hut for an early snack and to look over the guide for planning my next resupply. As I leave the hut, I meet Coldylocks and she gives me some advice on where to stop. The hiking from here on is a bit boring. Just walking through a tunnel. I run into Dodd and Dirt at Ivy Creek Spring. I met Dodd back in June when I hiked near the Elk River in TN. We talk for a bit. Then I climb up to the Loft Mountain Campground and buy an early dinner of a microwave mexican meal, ice cream and an orange soda. Then I push on another 8 miles. The best view in my opinion in all of Shenandoah is at Blackrock. Its a huge devil's racecourse at the summit of a mountain and the sky is clear and the view is nice. A short run down the mountain and I'm at the Blackrock Hut. It looks pretty full on the bottom level and Dodd and Dirt had told me of a huge rat that lives on the second level of the hut, so I cruise by the shelter and set up my hammock. Then I grab my food bag to have dinner at the picnic table and socialize with the other hikers. One of the girls is Spilled the Beans whom I had met near Wautauga Lake, TN in June. She has two friends with her that came to hike the park with her. The other woman is Toodles who I had heard of because she had been hiking with my friend BP. One of the guys is Gator8 whose name I had seen in the registers as a sobo and had hoped that I might could hike with but he's getting off at Rockfish Gap. We have a nice time sharing stories until its time to go to bed.
Date: 2007-07-06
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Calf Mountain Hut
Miles today: 13.0

Buy, I must have been tired last night 'cuz I only woke up once in the night and I slept through my alarm. Usually, I'm on the trail by 6:30, but today I didn't even roust out of my hammock until then. I packed up and went up to the shelter to talk to the other hikers while I ate my breakfst and perused the shelter log. Toodles and I were the last to leave, getting on the trail at 9. I saw a whole family of wild turkey this morning as I made my way to the Blackrock Gap and Skyline Drive. Its a series of boring ups and owns today and leaving late I am immediately feeling the heat and humidity. Plus, I am still sleeping. And my right exterior ankle ligament is feeling a little strained probably from pushing so far two days in a row. I take lots of breaks and drink lots of water today. Thank goodness I have decided to only go 13 miles today. Time to rest, plan, and catch up on some journaling. I passed quite a few hikers today. That crazy guy that mooches off of other hikers and tells tall tales that I met a Kincora. A bunch I had never met before, and a couple I had met when I did the approach trail in March. It was a really hot weekend and their dogs were thirsty and they were out of water, so I gave them some of mine. Funny that Fishstick rememered me from months ago. But I am happy to see that they made it this far. I stopped for a shoes off break about three miles from the shelter and met Jolly Green, Toodles son, and his girlfriend Kristy. Very nice couple. So happy to be at the shelter and to not have to hike anymore today in the heat and humidity. Two section hikers are taking a break, but they soon leave and I have the place to myself. Its the first time I've finished this early in the day and the first time I'm had a shelter to myself in so long, I kinda don't know what to do with myself. But I do ctch up on some journal entries and I clean up a bit and call my sister and eat. this shelter is actually very noisy with train and automobile (motorcycle) noise. Its a little disturbing. I have stt up my stuff in the shelter, but the bugs seem to be bad that I may set up my hammock afterall. Its after 8 and I am so tired, but the sun is still up. I may just go to sleep before dark anyway. Farewell, SNP! You were an interesting place to visit, but I'm not so sure I am impressed enough to return. Not a fan of your hiking trails, although the PATC does a great job of maintaining you, your wildlife was exquisite, however. So looking forward to Waynesboro and a shower and laundry and food and internet. Then its on to Central Virginia and just 395 more miles until I am home! Yippee!