morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-22
From: vendeventer shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: light rain

Yes, yes, you read that correctly. 22.7 miles. In one day. Yep,that's a record. Ok, so there's this thing called the "DamascusChallenge" where you try to walk 42 miles to Damascus in one day.It's suppose to be cool because the terrain is "flat" and what not.Lies. Anyway, we didn't attempt that challenge, but we figured wecould swing the 22+ miles. The terrain is definitely not as rugged aswhat I was use to by any means, but nor was it flat and easy. Ok, atsome points we easily averaged 3mph, but there were some climbs (i.e.Iron Mountain). So those of you planning thru-hikes next year, don'tlisten to what anyone says about the terrain (except me, of course).It's easier, but not what you'd expect based on it's reputation.I woke up this morning feeling kind of cold. I was cold last nightbefore I got situated in my sleeping bag (there are several tricks tostaying warm in a mummy bag, and they're easy to figure out after awhile). Surprise, surprise. Snow was scattered around my tent thismorning. It was just a light dusting, but there was sure-enough snowon the ground. Brrrrr. It was hard to regulate my temperature againtoday, but I figured it out by lunch. A lot of hiking is stuff youlearn on the gooooooo. Anyway, we rocked out the 22.7 miles and madeit to the shelter in time for dinner. One Pint, Dutch, Duncan, thecrew (my friends), and a southbounder named Mike rocked it out. Goodtimes all around. Tomorrow -- Damascus!Ok, profile of the day is: Wags!Wags (aka "Sport" "Alias" etc.) had a hard time accepting herGod-given trail name, but I believe she is finally ready to officiallybe dubbed Wags. We're gonna use a sword and knight her and what not.Anyway, Wags goes by Amy Erskine in the 'real world' and has a trailjournal you can follow along with. She grew up in Michigan, went tothe University of Michigan, lived in Chicago for a while, moved out toBend, Oregon to be a wilderness therapy instructor for troubled teens,and is now rockin out the trail. We hike together a lot, and haveenjoyed several interesting episodes of laughter but I won't divulgetoo much in order to respect her privacy (haha). She takes someawesome spills, and usually right in front of me...I truly enjoy eachand every one. We also eerily have a lot of similar gear: boots,longjohns, tents, cameras, water filters, etc etc. I think the boystend to hear us laughing for 1/4 mile away in the woods and just shaketheir heads. Wags and Gangsta, a match made in heaven.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus Viriginia
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

I woke up totally excited to be alive today. Damascus is dubbed thefriendliest town on the trail, and I was so ready to experience someof their hospitality. The 10.2 miles weren't too bad this morning,and we got to town right at noon. That's right, just in time to downan entire pepperonni pizza in one sitting. Yeah, I can eat like a dogthese days. It was delicious. I think I'm going to get some icecream after I'm done in the library.Damascus has been a type of Holy Grail for me for a while, and it wassooo exciting to be hiking into town. I think it's one of thosemental waypoints for me - I've made it this far, it seems likeKatahdin is a lot more attainable now. The next time I cross a stateline (yep, we said goodbye to Tennesse and their lack of priviestoday...thank God!) is going to be into West Viriginia - into Harper'sFerry. Harper's Ferry isn't the geographical midpoint anymore, butit's the mental one. And I'll be there in about 5 weeks, which isless than the amount of time I've been out here. I'm by no meanswishing this experience away, but it's just unbelievable how fast thetime is going by. I definitely had a few downer days, but I workedthrough them and am still happy and healthy out here. I thinkexpectations have a lot to do with your experience (i.e. if somebodytalks up a mountain then you expect it to be horrendous, but inreality it's not that bad) out here, and in a weird way I think havingno expectations is the best way to go about having a good time outhere.I also swung by the post office today, and was sooo excited to see allthe letters and packages I got! You would not believe how awesome itfelt to walk down the street towards the hostel carrying all mygoodies. I sat on a picnic table outside the hostel and read theletters and then opened my packages. Every single letter made melaugh out loud. I loved them all. The care packages were amazing,too. Ya'll are great at picking out things that I can definitely use! Thanks so much to everyone for thinking about me!!Today's profile: Wind-Up! Wind-up (aka Bee or Sarah) is from Canton,Mass (right outside of Boston) and is hiking with her brother (Saint). She's not on trail journals but does have a blog (I don't rememberthe URL right now). Originally, she and her best friend planned tothru-hike together but her friend had to cancel at last minute so nowSaint is along for the journey. She went to Holy Cross, was on theice hokey team, and is an all around badass. Wind-Up is definitelywhat I would call a thinker. She majored in English and is hoping togo back to grad school for creative writing. She seems to have aquiet side AND a rambunctious side. She seems to get a lot more outof her everday experiences than I do...I think she contimplates life24/7 which can be intimidating but she's not pretentious or anythinglike that. She's a cool intellectual...one who embraces everyone andenjoys talking to folks from all different walks of life. She's asuper fun gal!
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Damascus Viriginia

To: Damascus Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Ahhh..zero day. It's been great. Totally rocked out Damascus - a very cute town! Had fun dancing at Dots last night and enjoyin a yummy breakfast this morning at Mojoes. My next mail drop will be in Bland, Virginia in about 8 days:Nevena MartinGeneral DeliveryBland, VA 24315Please hold for AT hikerAnother for sure mail drop will be in Harper's Ferry (about 5-6 weeks from now):Nevena MartinGeneral DeliveryHarpers Ferry, WV 25425Please hold for AT hikerHittin the trail tomorrow! Can't wait to get past Mount Rogers - that's supposedly the spot you need to go by before you send home winter gear! Yessss!
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Damascus Virginia

To: Campsite
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

They say that Damascus is a blackhole in terms of hikers - you just can't escape it. Well, we managed somehow. After another delicious breakfast at Mojoes, and a last minute banana berry smoothie we headed out of town. The crew (aka The Goonies) picked up one more member - Dutch. So, the 7 of us left town in high spirits. It was a really warm day and the first 1/4 mile or so was along the Virginia Creeper trail so it was really flat and followed along the river. When we had to hook a left and head up the mountain, I realized it wasn't warm -- it was HOT! We passed Jones who is a thru hiker with two dogs. She hiked with Wind-Up and me for the day and ended up staying with us that night. We got to the campsite around 4 and found a note from the boys...they had gone swimming at a swimming hole not too far away. I thought about joining them, and then realized how cold the water would be so thought better of it. I think there'll be plenty of time to swim once the waters had time to warm up. We set up camp, got a fire going, and then really, really enjoyed the smores Julie sent me in a care package. Yummmmmm (thanks Julie!!). It was hard to leave town, but exciting to be back on the trail again.Today's profile: Hermes! Hermes is from Connecticut, went to school in Montana and studied film, and is 23 (his birthday is March 12th (?)). He talks about maybe going back to grad school sometime soon. I like to sing songs to Hermes ..."Hermes....Her-mega-saurus!" I don't think he likes to hear them as much as I like to sing them. He took a while to open up, but once we got him to come out of his shell he just won't shut up....ok, so maybe he's still fairly quiet. But I think he's gotten pretty comfortable with the group, and I can definitely get a better read on him these days. He's really fun to watch eat because you can tell how much he enjoys it. And the other day I gave him the ultimate compliment: "You know, Hermes, you remind me of my little Cash." His real name is Mat Miller, and he is also on trail journals. He's also a super fast hiker, and we think he must really like us for slowing down to stick with the group.
Date: 2009-04-26
From: Campsite

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

I got an earlier start this morning - the birds and sun are starting to rise earlier and earlier these days. The first few miles flew by today, and I got to hike along the Virginia Creeper trail some more. We all met back up at the first shelter we passed, and stared at the elevation profile for a while - Whitetop Mountain was an intimidating mass on the map. Part of me wanted to just stay at the shelter and slay that dragon another day, but I sucked it up and kept going. I was happily surprised at how nice of a climb it was, once again solidifying my rule - never believe anyone about anything! I powered up it and then we all had lunch on top of Buzzard Rocks (they don't look anything like a vulture, in case you were wondering). I finally got a smidge of cell service (apparently Sprint and AT&T get great service in this part of Virginia but Verizon doesn't), and got a text from my dad saying Knowshon's got drafted by the Broncos...so now I'm a Denver fan, but I probably still won't watch the NFL. We kept hiking, and as I got closer to the shelter, the landscape opened up to more baldy type stuff, and low and behold I came across feral ponies. Yes, yes I pet them. No, I forgot to bring goodies to treat them with. But I did let them lick my arms which were covered in salty sweat so I figure we're even.   The shelter is gorgeous and so are the views! A definite re-visit type place!Today's Goonie Profile: Saint! Saint is Wind-Up's younger brother by 16 months. I forget the name of the school he went to, but he studied criminal justice and has talked about going back to law school. He's kinda like me in that he can be loud and has a dominating personality, but he's got a soft side in there somewhere. He actually wasn't planning on thru-hiking until sometime in February of this year (that's right, a month before he left) but Wind-Up needed a fill in when her best friend had to pull out of the hike last minute. That's right, he's basically a city boy who'd never gone backpacking a day in his life until he started his thru-hike. And he's doing really well - he's lasted a lot longer than a lot of other folks who have planned to do this for years. Saint has fun entertaining us, and we like to talk about the food we cook back at home. Saint isn't really documenting his hike anywhere, but hopefully you'll get to know him a little better just by reading my journal!
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Dickey Gap campsite
Miles today: 21.2

Grumble grumble. Today was a very long day, made longer by the fact that we didn't intend to hike as far as we did. It started out gorgeous - we saw more feral ponies and hiked through Grayson Highlands State Park. It was baldy, and the weather was gorgeous once again. However, as often happens in parks where there are lots of other trails and the signs can get kinda old, we managed to make another wrong turn. We went less than 1/2 mile in the wrong direction, though, but we did add extra mileage to an already long day. The girls all woke up not feeling great and our feet were super sore, which was made worse by the rockyness of some of the miles. However, we did pass the 500 mile marker today so that was exciting! Wags also saw the tail end of a bear towards the end of the day so we decided to hang our bear bags (we started slacking the last few days). We also saw a snake today - perhaps a pine snake...we weren't in a piney area, though, and I'm not sure their range comes all the way up here. That's something I'll have to look into.Today's profile: Rusticus! Rusticus is from Indiana, he's 20 and has his associate degree in plane mechanics. His name is part of the scientific name of the barn swallow which is related to maritime legend, I think. He even has two barn swallow tattoos on his chest. He spent some time in Pennsylvania, and worked at a theme park for a couple weeks. Rusticus doesn't really talk much, but he makes up for it in eating A LOT: he can stomach two foot-long subs when he goes to subway....in one sitting!
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Dickey Gap campsite

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

I woke up super early this morning, and was heading out of camp before most folks got up. The birds wake me up, and I knew what was awaiting me at the shelter so I wanted to get going. I made it to the first shelter where I had to duck in to get water and have an emergency privy stop (thank goodness for privies!). I passed through the field that boasts an abandoned school bus which has a mattress and stove inside...I didn't poke my head in, but I did have flashbacks to the cover of "Into the Wild." Dutch caught up to me and we hiked the rest of the day together. Well, I basically ran at a job behind him the whole time, but we got to the shelter just after 1. Partnership shelter is one of those famous shelters: it has a propane-powered warm shower and is situated right close to the Mt. Rogers Recreation Area Headquarters, allowing for the easy delivery of pizza! We also met some Forest Service folks who were prescribe burning right around the shelter. Once the rest of the goonies arrived we ordered pizza and enjoyed a lazy evening!Today's profile: Dutch! Dutch is from Jacksonville, NC and is 26. He went to UNC Greensboro and majored in psychology, maybe. He lived with his sister for a few years and as a result has seen every episode of Sex&theCity. Me and Boss actually hiked down Blood Mountain with him when we were in Georgia, but he was going by Finneous then. He's got a lot of energy, and in 2005 he ran from the North Carolina/Tennessee border 500 miles back to his house in Jacksonville--basically, he ran across the state of North Carolina. He can do an amazing Bob Peoples impersonation, and has a knack for entertaining folks. Ladies, he's SINGLE! His real name is Carl, but I don't think he has a trail journal or anything. He's also a super fast hiker, and I'm guessing he'll probably push ahead of us sometime soon.
Date: 2009-04-29
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: light rain

This morning was a slightly slower start than the previous few. Me and Wags hiked together today, and had a great time! It seems like spring ran up and slapped us in the face all of a sudden - leaves are budding on the trees and flowers seems to be blooming more and more. We crossed a lot more agricultural land today, and enjoyed some of those nice fence crossings (I'll post pictures soon!). The terrain was very forgiving and we had a good time jaw-gabbing all morning. We got to Atkins in time for lunch at The Barn and resupplied at the gas station next to the interstate. We pushed on a few more miles into a storm, and got rained on a little. It wasn't too bad now that it's not cold. I set up my tent and tried to hold back the fear of tenting in the rain (I'm telling you, those first few days of my thru-hike conditioned me to be terrified of tenting in the rain). I'm not sure if I'm going to hang on to my Hubba or switch it for my two man Eureka tent - my pack is pretty light, and I'm going to be getting rid of a lot of my winter gear soon. I'm definitely going to have to ponder that decision for the next few days.Today's profile: 1 Pint! I'm not sure if 1 Pint considers herself part of the official Goonies or not, but we love her and hope she sticks around. 1 Pint is originally from California, but now lives in Akron, Ohio. She has a law degree (faaancyyy!), and attempted a thru-hike in 2007. She made it through the Smokies before she broke her ankle on a zero day in Asheville and wasn't able to keep going. When her company said they needed some employees to take 3 months of unpaid leave earlier this year, she jumped at the chance to get back on the trail! We're hoping that the economy stays bad just so she can squeeze a couple extra weeks out and hike with us longer.
Date: 2009-04-30
From: Campsite

To: Chesnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

DANG! I'm on fire today! I basically hit the ground running this morning - yep, I was definitely feeling it today. It was a gorgeous morning, and the birds were singing everywhere and were even flying into view! The sun broke through the fog and let me take some really gorgeous pictures. I crossed a lot of ag land today, a couple miles of it was along private land. I thoroughly enjoyed my hike today, even the last 4ish miles up the the shelter. There were tons of views, and I felt exhilarated to be out hiking. When I got to the shelter, I saw Dutch so I hollered at him, and then, low and behold, 1 Pint, who'd been a day ahead of us for a while, popped out! She decided to take an easy day and spend the night at the shelter with us! Very exciting. The shelter is an old fire warden's cabin, so it's more like a little building equipped with a door and all! We had a cozy night inside the shelter, out of the wind. Sure was a good day, tater.
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Chesnut Knob Shelter

To: Bland
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: light rain

"Accidentally in Bland" was the song I was singing in my head tonight. We meant to find a campsite 5 miles or so outside of Bland, but had little luck finding a decent one. After a lot of grumbling and talk of sore feet, we found ourselves at the road to Bland with interstate 77 to our left - not a good place to camp. Dutch and 1 Pint had planned to get to Bland today and get a hotel room, so we decided we'd join them - afterall, it's been a week since I washed my hair! After a Dairy Queen 6 piece chicken strip dinner and some chocolate milk, a 20 minute shower, and some eyebrow plucking and finger nail clipping, I felt like a brand new woman!The hike today wasn't too bad - we hiked Brushy Mountain for the 4th time. Apparently there are 5 Brushy mountains within about 70 miles of one another. Almost as popular of a name as "Low Gap" and "Deep Gap." We even experienced some trail magic - someone left a cooler with gatorades at the Laurel Creek Campsite. Very much appreciated! Glad to be in a bed, but wasn't expecting to do so many miles today! Tomorrow is now a zero day with my Dad who's driving down from Ohio for a visit! Well deserved after a week of hauling tail!A couple things I've been meaning to mention:- The couple who gave us a ride into Gatlinburg were Beth and Bernie, not Barry- Congrats to Julie who successfully defended her thesis in April!- Thanks bunches to Momma Wags who sent me some yummy yummy m&m's for Easter! Very thoughtful of you!
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Bland

To: bland
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

yay yay for zero day! We woke up and went to the post office. Wagsshowed us all up by having approximately 52 million pieces of mail.Shes a popular lady! I felt equally special with a care package frommomma gangsta full of yummies and a letter from kerrie anne - shes agreat pen pal! Then we mozzied on down to the citgo which serves adelicious breakfast and ate like champs. I have to say that eventhough damascus is advertised as the friendliest town on the trail,bland is full of super nice folks! Then we headed for the library sowhile i caught up with jellybean on the phone, the rest of the gooniescaught up on email. Papa gangsta arrived in a very timely manner - ihadnt seen him in six months so it was great to see him again! He gotwags and me a super nice hotel room (we each ot our own queen!) andthen we had a delicious meal. He got to experience town chores with usand we settled in to watch the kentucky derby...i was super excitednone of the horses got hurt and that the Blue collar underdog blew the competition out of the water! I fellasleep to wedding crashers. It was, all in all, a great zero day!
Date: 2009-05-03
From: bland

To: dismal creek falls
Miles today: 20.5

wags and i got off to a record setting time this morning in terms oftown days...papa gangsta dropped us off at 9am! We snapped somepictures and hit the trail! It was definitely hard to walk away fromsuch comfortable and dry accomodations, but we were called forward. Weclimbed brushy mountain twice in 6 miles (to whoever names mountains:if you need some inspiration ive got a few ideas), met a hiker namedyoung gun and his parents who joined him for the weekend and gave us amountain dew (oh yeah!), and made it to dismal falls in time to set uptents, eat dinner, and meet truckin, sir richard, and gnarwall. Thegoonies split up temporarily when me and wags took the zero day andhermes, dutch, and 1 pint pushed ahead, rusticus was somewhere betweenhere and there, and saint and windup were going at a different pace.Wags and me have a plan for the next week: MISSION B.O.C. (bring iton catawba!). We wanna make it to catawba by next sunday so we canenjoy the AYCE (all you can eat) buffet at the home place. Its goingto require some long days, but i think we ll make it.now that ive profiled the goonies thus far im marinating on a new daily topic.
Date: 2009-05-04
From: dismal creek falls

To: campsite
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: overcast clouds

last night we got some rain. I was nervous. Im kind of a princess whenit comes to tenting; im definitely not a fan of sitting in therain...terrified that my tent will leak and get my sleepingbag wet(thatd be breakin the cardinal rule!). Those first few days of my thruhike definitely scarred me, along with my torn but repaired rainflyand too short tyvek groundcloth. Yep, gimme a shelter any day! But imade it through the night with just a few drops of condensation.wags and i enjoyed a very leisurely hike with some great views. Westopped and made phone calls (happy bday papa wags!) and made it tocamp.Ok so imagine yourself (or remember) hiking through the woods 24/7.You have to pee. What to do? Easy - find a tree asap. Ok now pictureyourself going to town. You have to pee. What do you do? Duck behindan ornamental shrub? Find a public bathroom? Totally freak out andalmost wet your pants? Yep, that last one about sums it up. Itsstrange how easy it is to lose the ability to hold it. Maybe thatsmore than youd like to know...but its the truth! The beauty of a thruhike. I love it.
Date: 2009-05-05
From: campsite

To: stoney creek bridge
Miles today: 24.7

im a slackpackin southbounder! Ouch that sounds kinda harsh. Anyway,we made it in to pearisburg this morning, i dropped most of my gear inwindup and saints hotel room, and caught a shuttle with sean fromtangeant outfitters (great outfitter! Very helpful and friendly)north. It was rainy and almost chilly but james and the pupsters weregoing to meet me at the end of my almost 25 miles so i was motivated.Soboing is confusing to me as is; it was worse going solo and in thefog.But i made it, no sweat. I finally met the famous packadivas and foundrusticus. When i got to town i got a ride to the hotel with the couplewho just opened the brick hill hostel...its not in the guidebook yetbut its open and the folks are super friendly! Im taking a zerotomorrow with james and will be ready to keep headin to catawba afterthat!still workin on a daily topic...one of these days ill think ofsomethin great. For now ill just have to entertain you with tidbits ofdaily trail life. Heres a rundown of my injuries so far: 3 burntfingers (alcohol stove newbie), 1 blister with 5 layers, 4 newcallouses, 2 blisters under a callous, a creaky goin up mountainankle, strange rashes, 2 swollen feet (sausage toes!), one mildsunburn, 5 amazingly talented spills and one lost nose ring. Yep ibetter think of somethin good to talk bout soon....