morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-06
From: No Business Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Yesterday's long day made it an an easy walk into town. However, during the night, my knees were extemely painful. I am sure that the mileage yesterday had alot to do with pain. When I started hiking the pain for the most part went away. Let's hope it stays away. I am on track to reach Damascus on Friday right in time for trail days. Saw my first Rhony flower today. I guess spring is officially here.Uncle Johnny's hostel has an unigue charm. If you are in the area, stop by for a visit. Erwin, TN is not a great trail town, it is really spread out. From the hostel to the Post Office was about 4 miles. It seems like I walk more in town then I do on the trail. Luckily, Uncle Johnny's provide shuttles several times a day. I took the lunch shuttle to an all you can eat pizza buffet (AYCE) with the other hikers (including the Goonies), then walked the rest of the way into town to take care of some business. On the way back to the hostel, I stopped and got a banana split. Several of the other hikers were jealous of my banana split. I ended up catching a ride back to the hostel from a local. Somehow several of the other hikers didn't get the word that I was going to stay in town for a bit and wasn't going to take the shuttle back to the hostel. Several of them were concerned that something happened to me. Just a little miss understanding, but it nice to know that other hikers are looking out for me. I ended up just hanging out with "The Goonies" after arriving back at the hostel. Crazy Train and Restless received mail drops and they had gear spread all over the place. I ran into Country Gold at the hostel. I haven't seen him since the first week of my trip. I was really surprised to see him. In GA, I really didnt think he would make it this far.
Date: 2010-05-07
From: Erwin, TN

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Yep another Deep Gap, but the first one I camped at. Hiked out of the hostel with Country Gold and Ripple. I met Country Gold the second day on the trail and hiked with him, LB and Gonzo for the first few days of my trip. I just met Ripple. Went to a camping spot on the other side of Beauty Spot. A nice flat area with a good water supply. It ended up being a very warm day, ok a very hot day. In one gap, we hiked down the mountain under full foliage, but when we started back up the mountain most of the trees were dead and there were no shade and a hard uphill climb. The balds on top provided some great views, but between the sun pounding down on our head and the millions of bugs, nobody wanted to stay and enjoy the views.Of course, since I was tenting it rain. What can I say if it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.
Date: 2010-05-08
From: Deep Gap

To: Campsite
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to a cold, windy and wet morning. The wind gusts must have been 40 - 50 mph. I didn't get up until about 8:30 and still managed to be the first one up. The 1,000 ft climb over Unaka Mountain was not as bad as I had originally thought and wish I had hiked it last night before stopping to camp. Once on top, it reminded me of Dolly Sods in WV. A pine forest with a very soft spongy trail. Made for an excellent hiking trail. If the entire AT was composed of the type of trail, nobody would have foot, ankle or knee problems. Met up mid-morning with "The Goonies" as they were breaking camp. They are a good group and have hiked with them on and off for the last several days. UPS's parents were meeting her at the Greasey Gap Hostel for a cook-out and she invited all of us to join her. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.The owner of the hostel was an extremely nice lady. She even fixed the zipper on my pants and the butt of Wookie's pants after he split them while moving a rock around her fire pit. We left the hostel late in the afternoon and found a campsite. I am camping with "The Goonies".
Date: 2010-05-09
From: Campsite

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

Continued to hike with "The Goonies" and I really like hiking with them. They are a good group. They do believe in their three hour lunches, but who is complaining. We had a very tough 2,500 ft climb over Roan Mountain. There is a bald on top with the ruins of an old hotel. When we arrived it was sunny and warm so we hung out for a bit. Other hikers said that in the morning, it was snowing on top of the mountain. At over 6,000 ft in elevation, I can believe it. The highest shelter (in elevation - 6,275 ft) is located just below the summit of Roan Mountain.Since it was late when I made it down off of Roan Mountain, I cooked dinner at Carvers Gap parking lot since they has a water source. Coming out of Carvers Gap, we spent a couple of miles in open balds, since it was getting towards dusk it made for some awesome hiking. I loved watching the sun go down behind the mountains from the balds.Overmountain Shelter is an old converted barn. One of the more unique shelters we have seen so far on the trail. It had amazing views from the sleeping platform. Sideways knee is really sore so he decided to hike back to the hostel and will catch a ride to Kincora Hostel and meet us there. A few days rest should do his knees some good.
Date: 2010-05-10
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

A pretty typical day on the trail, nothing really special. The Goonies all piled out of the shelter and headed north on the AT. When we arrived at the shelter, Puma and Wookie was in the process of trying to talk UPS into hiking another 10 miles or so. In the end, they succeeded. Peach and Bam Bam never arrived at the shelter. I did stop by the Mountain House Hostel on Route 19. The hostel was unique as it was upstairs of an old barn. Which I could have stayed the night, but needed to make miles if I was going to make Trail Days. As far as a resupply stop, it left a lot to be desired. I did manage to pick up a couple of Snickers Bars and some pop tarts to hold me over until I reached Kincora Hostel the next day. I did hear that they had a great breakfast.
Date: 2010-05-11
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 15.0

Another fairly uninteresting day. I did make it to Bob Peoples Hostel, Kincora. If you are in the area, you need to stay here and try to get the tree house room. Bob Peoples is a trail legend. He only asks for a $4 donation to stay at the hostel. Bob does a lot of trail maintenance in the area. After trail days, Bob gets 100 volunteers (50 current thru-hikers and 50 former hikers)for Hardcore Trail Maintenance, two days of trail maintenance and relocation. We have all heard the Chuch Norris jokes and on the trail they seem to be popular this year. For example, Chuck Norris can count to infinity - twice. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isnt lifting himself up, he is pushing the earth down. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. In this part of the country, Bob Peoples is Chuck Norris. Unfortunately, I can only remember one saying about Bob Peoples....When Bob People goes to a shelter, the mice bring him food. Bob Peoples is very highly respected by all on the trail. Peach and Bam Bam never showed. Sideways was able to catch a ride up to the hostel with Mountain Camel. There is much conversation around the hostel as to what everybody is going to do to get to Damascus in time for trail days. There seems to be two groups of thoughts. The first group is planning on hiking into trail days. I am part of this group. The second group is going to hike over to Lake Watauga, take a zero day and catch a ride with Ripple's friend or another shuttle. Most of "The Goonies" and County Gold are part of the second group. Low Rider is going to hike to trail days because he only has 3 months on the trail and wants to hike as much of it as possible. I was able to resupply, shower and laundry. Some of the other hikers made a nice pasta dinner for everybody. In the morning, one of the other hikers made fresh bagels. Very cool. In looking at the thru-hikers, it will totally surprise you, which ones are good cooks or should I say chefs.
Date: 2010-05-12
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

We got a slack pack Pond Mountain, which is great as Pond Mountain is a 3 mile uphill, 1,800 foot climb. Mountain Camel took our packs by car to the other side of Pond Mountain so all we had to carry was water and snacks for the first 6 miles of the day. Sideways caught a ride with Mountain Camel and will watch our packs until we arrive to pick them up. Sideway and the rest of the group will hang out at the lake the rest of the day and catch a ride to Trail Days with Ripple's friend. There was trail magic at the lake pavillion where we were picking up our packs. After a snack and soda, I picked up my pack and started the easy hike around Lake Watauga before climbing once again to the shelter. I was extremely tired when I arrived at the camp since I only got 4 hours of sleep at the hostel. I didnt even bother to set up my tent. I just spread out my ground cloth and slept ride out under the stars (cowboy camp). The shelter was crowded with thru-hikers trying to get to trail days and a group of college kids.
Date: 2010-05-13
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: scattered clouds

My longest day yet. The terrain was reasonably flat for this kind of a mileage day. No big mountains to climb.However, the day really didn't start out on a good note. At the shelter, there were a group of students from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. They got up and left camp at 5:30 in the morning and of course they had to wake up the entire camp. They YELLED at one of the students 4 times before she got out of bed. I was not happy. After I left camp, I ran into some of the group again. One of the students was very sick and the professor left her behind with another student. She was really struggling to the point I thought she was going to pass out. After making sure they had water and other necessary supplies, I went on to get help from the rest of her class. I passed another student and had her wait for them so that should some thing happen they would have one person that could go for help and one person that could stay and tend to the sick hiker. Also, I told them to pass along information about her health with the other thru-hikers since we move at a much faster pace. Once, I found the teacher, I informed him of her condition and he didn't seem to take it very seriously. After some discussion I finally convencied him to go back with a couple of students and help her out. Luckily, after puking several times she felt better and was able to walk out to the road crossing on her own and get a hitch into town. In talkimg to some of the students, I found out they are getting 3 college credits for a two weeks backpacking trip. They do have to write a paper. I was joking around with them, if they get 3 credit hours does a thru-hiker get a bachelor degree for completing the trail.I made it to the shelter about 10 pm that night. I had to hike by headlamp the last couple of miles, which was harder then one might think and the first time on this trip. When I arrived at the shelter, Puma and Little Foot was getting ready to hike the 10 miles to Damascus on top of the 23 miles they already hike today. Puma didnt even have a headlamp or flashlight, but was going to night hike anyway. I lent him my headlamp. There were many hikers tenting around the shelter, but nobody was sleeping in the shelter.
Date: 2010-05-14
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, Va
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I made it to Damascus and Trail Days. My goal was to be in town by noon and I made it at 11:35 am. I hiked almost 200 miles in 12 1/2 days, but I hiked into Trail Days. My knees are very sore, but I have a couple of days off while I enjoy Trail Days. Low Rider and I walked up to the Post Office to pick up our mail. I then went over to the outfitters to pick up my mail drop containing my summer gear. I will be sending most of my winter gear home, so my pack should be about 7 pounds lighter. I made my way up to tent city (where all the hikers camp and party) and found "The Goonies" camp. I setup my tent and chatted with Country Gold for a while. I ended up just roaming around tent city catching up with old friends I met on the trail and hadnt seen in a while including LB and offkilter.
Date: 2010-05-15
From: Damascus, Va

To: Damascus, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Taking it easy at Trail Days. In my prior posts, I forgot to list a couple of items.I finished North Carolina on Thursday and Tennessee on Friday. Two more stated down, 11 more to go.I passed the 400 miles marker a couple of days ago.Tent city was a real party last night, I really wish I had camped in one of the backyards in town. The hiker parade was today and I walked in my very first parade. The hiker parade is really just one large water fight between the town folks and the hikers. Nobody seem to know how the water fight started during the parade, I am assuming the water fight started because the town folks thought the hikers needed a bath. And we always do. The local Baptist Church with help from their sister churches really goes all out for the hikers. It is amazing everything they do: on Wednesday night they sponsor a cookout and on Thursday night a sit down dinner, they also bring in a portable shower unit complete with towels, soap and shampoo, they have a coffee bar at night complete with entertainment, they set up computers with internet connection in the basement of the church, they have all kinds of care packages for the hikers, they bring in doctors and vets to look after the health of the hikers and their pets, they are consitantly making sandwiches for the hikers and if a hiker needs something special (such as a ride home) they will go out of there way to help. And it is all FREE. UPS, Sideways, Low Rider and couple of other hikers caught a ride with Ripple's friend to Abington to get a hotel room. They couldnt handle the noise and partying of tent city. I really dont blame them.
Date: 2010-05-16
From: Damascus, Va

To: Abingdon, Va
Miles today: 0.0

Hitched a ride for Damascus to Abingdon to stay at a hotel for a day or two since Damascus has no hotels only expensive Bed and Breakfasts. The rest will do my knees good and an extended break will allow me to meet up with my friends at the end of the week. Most of the hikers I have been traveling with will be headed south to to complete the section heading into Damascus. By taking a couple of days off it will allow them to catch back up. At the hotel, UPS, Sideways and Low Rider werer there. Low Rider was trying to figure out how to get to Charlottesville to meet his girlfriend.
Date: 2010-05-17
From: Abingdon, Va

To: Abingdon, Va
Miles today: 0.0

Another zero day today. The rest is doing my body good. The rest of the gang took off today to head back to the trail. They should catch up with me in a few days, depending on how many day off I take. Caught the bus to go to post office to mail my winter gear home. The bus picked me up right at the hotel. I even stop and got a haircut while walking back to the hotel.
Date: 2010-05-18
From: Abingdon, Va

To: Damascus, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Another zero day today. Was going to leave today, but with friends coming down over the weekend, I needed another zero day in order to meet them at Grayson Highland Campground on Friday evening. I did catch a ride back to Damascus and staying at one of the hostels. Really just taking it as easy as I can.
Date: 2010-05-19
From: Damascus, Va

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Finally left town after Trail Days. It was a much needed rest. Since I had already hiked this section of the AT I decided to hike the Virginia Creeper Trail to the last AT intersection as it is a much more scenic hike. It didn't hurt that there are a couple of restaurants/ice cream shops on the Virginia Creeper. A thru-hiker can find any restaurant/ice cream shop. On the way to the shelter, I met another thru-hiker (Flash Forward) from Richmond, Va.The story about a M&M.....A day hiker sees a M&M on the ground and walks past it totally ignoring it.A section hiker sees a M&M on the ground, picks it up, eats it and continues hiking.A thru-hiker sees a M&M on the ground, picks it up, eats it and then gets down on their hands and knees looking for more.Unlike the wildlife, please feed the thru-hikers. We are always hungry.
Date: 2010-05-20
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

It was a pretty easy day even through we had to climb to within 1/2 mile of Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia at 5,729 feet. When I arrived at the shelter there was a mother pony licking the salt off the picnic table and her new fold was laying a few feet away. The pony totally ignored us even when we sat at the picnic table or scratched her ears. We decided not to mess with fold as we didnt know what momma would do. Even through the ponies are small, I understand that they do deliver quite a kick with their back legs. As I was hanging out at the shelter, a few of the students from Christopher Newport University that I met in TN stop by on their way to their campsite. The weather this time is very different then the last time I camped at the shelter. The last time was a few days before Trail Days and I almost froze my backside off. It was cold, windy and raining. Today is nice and warm. I prefer today.
Date: 2010-05-21
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Grayson Highland State Park
Miles today: 3.0

Left the shelter in a mist of rain for the short hike to Grayson Highland State Park to meet my friends. My luck with the weather held out. It didnt start raining until after I reached the Camp Store, where I waited for my friends to arrive.I was there for so long I thought the rangers might start charging me rent. I went down to the group campsite and hung out with some section hikers to kill time.While hiking down to the road, I was in no real hurry. I stop by and talked to some of the college students and a couple of other groups camping on the overlooks. I saw a couple of small herds of ponies on my way down to the campground. They left me alone and I left them alone.When my friends arrived, the had many treats for me which was greatly appreciated including a streak dinner. They also brought me some replacement supplies. It rained on and off the rest of the night, but it was quite enjoyable to be hanging out with old friends.
Date: 2010-05-22
From: Grayson Highland State Park

To: Camsite
Miles today: 4.0

Another milestone...passed the 500 miles marker on my tripIt rain at times extremely hard in the morning, but by early afternoon the weather cleared and I hiked with a few of my friends a few miles North on the AT before setting up camp for the night in a pretty mountain meadow.   It was fun hanging out with my friends on the AT during the trip. I hope that we can do it more when I get North of the James River.
Date: 2010-05-23
From: Camsite

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Left my friends (most of them were still in their sleeping bags) as it was early and finally put in a full day of hiking. It was hard not to hike out with them and get in the car and go home, but I stayed on the trail for now. It rained some during the night, but again the rain held off during the day. While coming to a road crossing, I found a cooler full of cold drinks, what can I say "Trail Magic". Met a mother and daughter section hikers (Midwest Momma and Jersey Girl). This is the 4th year that they have done a 7 - 10 day trip on the AT. Talk about some quality time together. I think this would qualify.
Date: 2010-05-24
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Made the easy hike to shelter behind the Mount Rogers Vistor center. And like all the other hikers, ordered a pizza to be delivered to the shelter. Also, met two more thru-hikers and one section hiker from Richmond, Va. This is beginning to seem like old home week with all the Richmonders I have been meeting. Again, the weather gods is with me. It rained hard during the night and rained on and off until I was ready to leave and then quit raining until I got to the shelter. Of course, once at the shelter it rained again, but I wasn't hiking at the time, just waiting for my pizza. It rained for the most of the nightJeresy Girl wouldn't eat any pizza, nor does she accept any "Trail Magic" while on her trips with her mom. She only does a "real" meal when the trip is finished. Her logic is that it is for the thru-hikers and since she is not a though hiker, she doesn't do it. I don't agree with that logic. Thought for the day.....Learn to accept all treats when the opportunity arises as they won't arise often.
Date: 2010-05-25
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Took a zero day today to get my town chores completed. The Town of Marion Bus Service will come up to the visitor center and pick up hikers and take them to town for 50 cents. When you are finished in town, you call them and they will take you back up the mountain for another 50 cents. What a deal considering it is a 10 - 12 miles to the grocery store. Went to town with Sideways, went to the grocery store, laundry mat, library and then we stopped at a coffee shop for a bit to eat. I think this is really the first time I really got to hang out with just Sideways. It is usually a group hanging out together. Went we got back to the shelter, UPS and the rest of the group decided to over to the next road crossing at Gloseclose and get a hotel room. I decided to stay at the shelter. I am not a fan at arriving at a hotel at 10-11 pm at night and then have to leave by noonish the next day. Seems like a waste of money to me. I tried to convience the group to stay here and take the bus to town tomorrow to resupply. But they were convienced that there was a grocery store at Adkins were they could resupply. They wouldn't listen when I told them there was no grocery store. This is the best diet ever. I can eat anything I want, as much as I want and as often as I want. So far I have lost almost 40 pounds. I need to find a way to eat more. I have decided that the hardest mile on the trail is the last mile into town. The miles seems to take forever to complete. The second hardest mile is the mile going into a shelter or campsite.Question for the day...The other day we went over Lost Mountain....How do you lose a mountain?