morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-04
From: Pearisburg, VA - Holiday Lodge

To: Tented past Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

I was up early today (7:30), I couldn¢t stay sleep. I showered again, lined up my gear so it was ready to pack, went for coffee & danish at the gas station across the street. I had coffee and a honeybun (I went back twice¢¦ I miss coffee on the trail), read the Sunday Paper, packed all my gear and was ready to go by 9:30. Too bad no one else was ready, so I sat around and watched TV until noon. Then I checked out, put on my gear, made a few adjustments and went to Dairy Queen for lunch. No ice cream, just a double bacon cheese burger & fries. Wench showed up then & we finished eating & hit the trail (well, we walked to it first). Fly & Smoothie were nowhere to be seen, we weren¢t sure if they left already or were behind us, so we started (it turns out they took another day off & I don¢t think we saw them again until Harpers Ferry at the ATC headquarters (briefly). After a few miles there was a steep rocky 2 mile section (we have lots of these coming up this week), then some rolling ridges to walk. It started out sunny with a cool breeze, and ended up damned cold on the mountain. The wind was roaring!! It¢s fun sweating up a storm, then freezing¢¦. NOT!!! Anyway, we hiked up to the first shelter @ 7 miles out, took a break ( this was after the big hill). Put on wind proof jackets, and hiked 2 more miles to set up our tents & eat dinner. Eve an airy tent feels nice on a windy day (snuggled in a warm sleeping bag).NOTE: I bounced my warmest fleece thermal top & bottom ahead to save weight, but I kept another fairly warm set (good thing, I needed it). Murphys law: It¢s always coldest the day after you get rid of any cold weather gear.Luckily OI only bounced it ahead a week, to see if I really needed it (if so , I can get it back¢¦ My warm hat too). The wind is howling and I¢m toasty¢¦ Life is good.Did I mention that beer, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey 101, Kamikazes & other mystery liquors don¢t mix? Well, they sort of do, if you drink them over a 7 hour period¢¦ Phew¢¦ The All Sports Caf© in Pearisburg closed at 2AM Friday and we hung with the local people for a while in the hotel parking lot (the bar is attached to the hotel). I finally got to sleep at 5:30 (I had to get my journaling done, and my mail drop boxes (bounce box & ¢return home¢ box), set because the post office closed at 12:00. on Saturday & there was no way I was waking up before 10:30 or 11:00. Sigh¢¦ I¢m getting to old for this (I¢m still tired 2 days later). But it was fun¢¦ Life is good.
Date: 2003-05-05
From: 1.2 miles past Rice Field Shelter

To: .7 miles past Wind Rock
Miles today: 18.2

Well, there sure is a butt load of wind on these ridges. The wind howled last night and most of today. It blew us around, blew the rain sideways, but at least it kept us from overheating (did I mention it was COLD too?). I wore gloves most of the day. Even now, my hands are still cold. Brrrr¢¦. Anyway, days like this make me wonder why I¢m doing this. Day after day of being wet, cold, tired, and sore¢¦ Day after day of wet clothes, gear, Pruney body parts, etc.. Setting up a tent & taking it down in the rain. But summer will be here soon ( or so I thought..), and a hotel with a dryer & a hot shower will be here sooner! You just have to ¢do it¢, you can¢t wait for the rain to stop, or for the temperature to get warmer, or for sunshine. The people that only hike in nice weather, don¢t make it to Katahdin. Sigh¢¦ Bur nice weather IS nice to hike in. And we have had lots of nice weather so far (on reflection, I wish I never said this¢¦ bad luck¢¦.). This week must be a fluke (rain all week)! The terrain is OK, so we just put our heads down & hike (we can cover lots of miles this way). We are on sort of a schedule now, we have to avg 15 miles a day (Mon ¢ Fri) to get to Daleville, VA before the post office closes on Saturday. Wench & I both have maildrops there, otherwise we might do a couple shorter days and stay in a shelter (today we could have). Anyway, enough talk, I¢m cold & tired and going to bed. Maybe I¢ll write more later after I warm up. Good night all!
Date: 2003-05-06
From: .7 miles past Wind Rock

To: Sarver Hallow Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I started out wet & cold. All my gear was wet or damp. Oh well, at least I didn¢t get over heated in the morning, just clammy & wet. Most of the day stayed overcast, so it was great for hiking. We saw more cows & bulls today, as we again hiked through farm country ( thru pastures¢¦ Had to watch where we were stepping, it¢s like a mine field). We had some interesting stream crossings ( the water was high), we had to slide down a big wet rock, hit a wobbly rock with our left foot, use poles to tilt ourselves up& step across the rapids to another wet rock (balancing on my poles). We both made it across safe & dry, I don¢t know how. I¢m typing this in 5 months later & this stream crossing is just as vivid now, as it was then¢¦ And I still can¢t figure out why we didn¢t fall in. Later we crossed a log bridge (3 logs, not flat on top, slippery & wobbly), it needed t2 logs & 2 poles to cross (more fun). Later we did some steep climbs up the mountain towards the Sarver Hollow shelter. By the way¢¦. What idiot put the trail straight up the mountain (and very steep). Are you related to someone in Tennessee? I thought Tennessee was the only place where they took us Straight up the mountains. And the blue blaze down to Sarver Hollow shelter (3 tenths)¢¦ What were you thinking? You could break a leg going down to the shelter, it was so steep (and wet). We almost needed ropes to get back out in the morning (OK, maybe I exaggerated a bit, but you get the point¢¦ Looks like they are putting in switch backs for next years hikers). But having said all this.. It¢s a great shelter, and a 5 star privy. While we were setting our gear out to dry, an accountant hiked in (he was out on a section hike). He was very dehydrated, his clothes were all soaked and he was exhausted. After resting a bit & sipping some water, he felt a little better and proceeded to tell us a little about the trail north of Sarver shelter (what a nice guy). Only 3 of us were at the shelter that night, it was very peaceful. I guess not many people are willing to go 3 tenths of a mile off the trail, steep down hill to get to a shelter. We ate our dinners, and part of the accountants too (he was too dehydrated to eat all his food). How am I feeling today? My knees are sore, my ankles are swollen, and I¢m tired¢¦ But it¢s still awesome being out here. I guess I¢ll just take 4 Advil & go to sleep. A frustrating, but good day. Note: We stopped at Kelly Knob to get pictures of the view at the neat rock overlook. It was fun jumping over a 20 foot deep gap in the rocks to get to the end of the overlook¢¦ Wahoo! We also took pictures at the Keffer Oak (300 years old), the 2nd oldest Oak on the AT.. Cool¢¦ Now off to sleep amidst a symphony of mousy feet¢¦
Date: 2003-05-07
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Did I mention that animals stole my socks and 1 insole last night? I had them layed out to dry. I made a new insole out of my blue foam pad, then found all of my stuff underneath the shelter! The mice have a big pile there!Anyway, today was another 16 miler, so we can get to Daleville Friday afternoon. Some sun, mostly clouds and cool. great for hiking. Only problem, everything hurt today. My back was sore, my hip was sore, my feet hurt all over (I have a slight strain/sprain of my right ankle... my right foot seems to hurt all over...oh well...Wench and I are both getting sore more often after and will take it slower after this weekend (she has a shin problem, not sure what it is). Well after lots of stops and aches we made it to Pickle Branch Shelter, and it was full. But we finally caught up to people that started before us. Bonfire and Apollo started February 24th and they are here. So are Greg, Snuggles, Lisa, Sampson, and 2 other guys. (Tapeworm and his partner came in after we did). So we are tenting at the shelter. Hope it stays dry tomorrow into Catawba for lunch and enough snacks to get us to Daleville on Friday. I am craving peanutbutter M&Ms. Hey a side note here: Anyone out there that knows my Mother-in-Law, give her a hard time for not ready my journal. She only reads Wench's journal (her's is done sooner, she uses Pocketmail, and I write on paper). Tell her I am writing all sorts of stuff about her and making her look bad...LOL!! This should be fun...Anyway, back on topic. The Audie Murphy Monument was a nice place to talk a break today. We took pictures of the stone, then took more pictures of Wench and I holding Ted's flag in front of the monument. Audie was quite a great guy and died young (he was 46). He did so much. He was the most decorated soldier of WWII.Tomorrow Catawaba, tomorrow or the next day McAfee Knob, supposedly the best view in Virginia (cool, I have been waiting to see this for years), after that a cliff walk along Tinker Cliff. I'll keep you posted for now it's time to brush my teeth and go to sleep, tomorrow another 16 miles...sigh...
Date: 2003-05-08
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Virginia 624 (Catawba Grocery)
Miles today: 6.0

We started out from Pickle branch on a soggy trail (rained last night). Hiked on & off with Loderunner & Apricot (his sister) over Dragons tooth & down to Virginia Route 624. We had some really tough climbs and descents (felt more like controlled falls, with some metal ladder steps embedded in rock). A change of pace, rock climbing instead of hiking. Now I really like rock climbing, but not here & now. We had been busting our asses to get to Daleville for our mail drops & we were in lots of pain today. We had been averaging 16 miles a day through some really tough sections of trail & I was on the verge of collapsing¢¦ It¢s always nice to get to trail magic at this point¢¦ We came around a corner and there was a cooler & a chair sitting on the side of the trail¢¦ Yahoo!!! It was freshly filled with soda, juice, snacks, food, everything you could dream of!!! & I was dreaming big!!! Wench & I sat & drank sports drink, snacked & relaxed until Loderunner & Apricot showed up, and we let them sit & eat. What a great place for trail magic, thanks ¢Southpaw¢ (Jeff Williams), you ¢re awesome!!! It was a sunny sweaty day, and once we got to Catawba Grocery, Wench (OK, Teresa¢¦ yes, she has a real name) called her mothers friend Beverly (Beverly was sleeping, but she talked to her husband Vinnie), and we decided to go and visit instead of pushing to Daleville. Vinnie came & picked us up at the Grocery store (he said not to worry about recognizing him, he was a big guy with long hair¢¦ He was right, we had no trouble picking him out). Teresa went to the house & I went to a hotel in Roanoke by the Mall (love it, time to shop!). Enough hiking for the day, we needed to relax after being beat down by the long, tough miles this week. Sore feet, knees & minds. Once I got to the Hotel, I quickly took a shower, did laundry, and went to the mall. I got my glasses fixed (From the header I took a while back, they were kind of bent like a pretzel)., bought a book, a new karabiner & shoe waterproofing. Later Vinnie, Beverly, Wench & Vinnies dad Ike (a veteran, who still helps other vets) went out to dinner at a Mexican place (El Toreos). Yummmm¢¦ Mexican food & beer¢¦. These guys crack me up, what a blast dinner was. After dinner we went downtown for coffee & up to Mill Mountain park to see the giant lit up star that shines over the city. It¢s a big, colorful, cool looking star, and a great place to view the lights of the city of Roanoke. Now I¢m back at the Comfort Inn Airport, waterproofing my boots, journaling, eating snacks & watching TV (news & weather ). Tomorrow we get our maildrops and go to some outfitters for more gear (maybe zip off pants). But that¢s another day, I¢ll write more tomorrow. Now off to bed. Names to remember. Vinnie, Beverly & Ike Payne (funny people¢¦ I laughed the whole time I was there).
Date: 2003-05-09
From: Comfort Inn - Roanoke

To: Roanoke
Miles today: 0.0

After Continental breakfast at the hotel, I packed up & checked out. Beverly& Wench picked me up & we went to the Dalevile Post office top get our mail drops (Thanks!!).Then we went to a local outfitter, then back to the ¢house of Payne¢ to get Vinnie, and out to an all you can eat pizza buffet for lunch. Later we went to K-Mart, Books-a-Million, another outfitter (oops, it was a rod & gun shop), then cruised the blue Ridge Parkway to see mountain views (hazy, no views)¢¦ Wow¢¦ people do this in cars? I thought we were supposed to walk.. ;-) Later it was back to the house for dinner (Steak, potatoes, corn on the cob, broccoli, and more. Yumm!! They sure know the way to a thruhikers heart!! A little later, I collapsed on the couch, and didn¢t wake up again till 8AM¢¦ It was a good day with good people. Beverly & Vinnie are true trail angels, they treated me like one of the family, and they had never even met me before. Awesome!
Date: 2003-05-10
From: House of Payne

To: House of Payne
Miles today: 0.0

Today stared out slow, relaxing at the house over coffee (boy I miss coffee¢¦), then out to the Post Office to send out my bounce box & send some of my winter clothes home. Then, heaven¢¦ we went to IHOP for breakfast (this day is getting better & better) , and on to more stores. We stopped at Blue Ridge Oufitters at the Mall, where I got my convertible pants (zip off legs), and capilene underwear, but no boots (I don¢t usually see boots stocked in size 14). Next was a required WAL-MART visit (gotta stop in, just in case), for a few small items & some food, and back to the house to repack my pack and sort through my gear to see what else I can get rid of. I weighed myself & saw I was 195 pounds (I was 222 when I left home the end of February). This weight loss is very cool, but has to stop. I can¢t afford to lose any more, I still have 4 months of hiking to go! Later we had dinner, then I lent my services to help install a light fixture in the kitchen for them (I almost got it right the first time, but after a bit it was installed right & working fine). Now I am sitting in the kitchen journaling (under the new light¢¦), relaxing, and thinking how nice these people are. They fed me, took care of me, ran me round shopping & sight seeing, took me out to eat& let me use their PC to get my email¢¦ Wow¢¦ Very nice, very cool. Ike is a nice guy too (Vinnies Dad). He is a veteran that was injured in WWII in Italy, and now he spends his time helping other veterans. They don¢t make many people like this any more. Now off to bed to rest up for the trail tomorrow.NOTE: I ordered new boots today from Appalachian Outfitters in Greenville, SC. I also ordered a new Hip belt from Ultra Light Adventures (ULA) for my P2 pack. I needed one that was smaller, because I lost 25 pounds & was running out of adjustment room on the old one. I wish I could find some lightweight boots for summer, but no one carries size 14, so I am out of luck (I can¢t try them on). Oh well¢¦ Hopefully my knees & ankles are rested for the trail now & hiking will be a bit easier (except for the fact it will be 87 degrees tomorrow¢¦). Life is good.
Date: 2003-05-11
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Virginia 624
Miles today: 10.1

Today was a tough day, it¢s always tough to leave a house & go back out & hike the trail. Especially when people have been so nice to us! But leave we did¢¦Beverly & Vinnie dropped us off at the VA 624 trail crossing and we stared up the trail (after taking a few farewell pictures). Shortly, we were lucky enough to get rained on (hard) and have some wonderful thunder boomers around us. The forecast called for a chance of severe storms today, so we were pleasantly surprised when the clouds went away and the Sun came out as we were climbing up to McAfees Knob (did I mention we saw more cows on the trail?). We stopped for lunch at the AT trailhead parking lot for McAfees Knob. As we were eating, 2 day hikers (a couple) came back from the Knob and we talked to them a bit before they went to their car. A few minutes later they came back with Ice water & Quaker chewy granola bars (Butterfinger flavor¢¦ Yumm¢¦). More nice people (trail magic). After we were stuffed, we hiked on up to McAfees Knob (an easier hike than we thought), and arrived by 2:30. The Sun was out, the conditions were perfect, I could have stayed there forever, it was awesome¢¦. It turned out to be an awesome day, and an awesome view, even better than I expected. We took lots of pictures, and sat around soaking up the Sun & views. A bit later Puff Puff & Snappy arrived (good company), and we talked and soaked in the views some more (and of course, more pictures). We sat looking across the valley at Tinker cliffs, we watched Buzzards glide over the cliff edges & in the valley, and sat on the cliffs with our feet hanging over the edges (Hey Papa Wench, your little Wench is pretty brave!). Since it was so nice, we called Beverly to let her know the weather had cleared up, that we were having an awesome day at the cliffs, and to thank them again for all they did for us. Hey Vinnie! No shit here, I really mean it J. Thanks!! Mama Wench, thanks for having such cool friends. Anyway, it had to end sometime, so at 5:30, we hiked down the trail to Campbell shelter for the night.. Nothing exciting happened here¢¦ We ate, it got really windy, then we wrote in our journals and slept. Tomorrow we head for the 220/11/81 interchange near Daleville/Troutville, then on to the Blue Ridge Parkway later in the week. Cool! Note: we met a section hiker here (Mountain Break), that we were to see on and off for a while ( very nice guy).
Date: 2003-05-12
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Virginia 220 - Best Western
Miles today: 15.4

The night started out very warm (I was sweating & had to open my bag), and ended up cool & WINDY¢¦ A front had pushed through & brought high winds with it. The wind gusted up to about 70 MPH all day, from the shelter, to Tinker cliffs (a long ridge walk). The AT over Tinker Cliffs was a great 12 mile cliff walk, where we tried not to get blown off (almost lost my hat to a big gust here). All day, the dust was kicking up in the wind, stinging our eyes, sticking to our sweat, branches & leaves were blowing at us¢¦ we were a sore itchy mess for sure, but the views were awesome (back up the valley to McAfees Knob). Then, we looped around the mountain & went back the other way along another set of ridges¢¦ Great hiking! First cliffs, then a ridge walk, then more cliffs, then another ridge, then more cliffs (A great place to do an overnight hike!). By the end of the last ridge, we could see all the ridges & cliffs we had hiked on for the last 16 miles¢¦ And had a reservoir view thrown in for fun¢¦Cool! But now we took our sore knees & feet towards Daleville (We were both in lots of pain again, so we were anxious to get near a town again. We only stopped a couple times to rest (due to the wind), but one of the stops was on a cliff, next to cans of orange soda (trail magic). It felt good to sip soda & look out at the views. By the time we got to Daleville (220), we were both limping badly. Wench had a bad shin pain, and I had a sore instep/arch. We both really hurt, so we checked into a Best Western hotel to get our aches on ice & take a load off . We shopped for food, ate at Bojangles & rested. Not an exciting night, but we needed ice & rest, so it was good. I¢ll write more tomorrow, but suffice to say today was sunny & full of great views.
Date: 2003-05-13
From: Daleville - Best Western

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Since both of us are sore, we are taking a few shorter days. Also, the shelters and water line up so you have to do short or very long days. We left Daleville on a nice sunny morning, with 10-30 MPH breezes. A nice days to hike, sunny but cool. Nice trail and well graded, we took a break at the Fullhardt Knob shelter. This shelters water supply is a cistern, it collects water from the rain. The first of its kind I¢ve seen on the trail so far. A faucet is used to get the water (it costs a lot to set this up). Anyway, after this we had lunch at Curry Creek. We sat & ate while I soaked my feet in the cold water (There was a hiking group there when we arrived, playing in the water). Don¢t soak sore feet in COLD water, then start hiking right away. My feet didn¢t hurt until I started hiking on them, then they hurt like hell (frozen bloody stumps?). We arte planning on going to Traildays, sort of. I have a ride lined up if we need it. Wench was not going to go, but I talked her into it. Then we took a couple days off in Roanoke, so she isn¢t positive she wants to go now (as of today), but maybe. I really want to go & see the other thru hikers, but I¢m not sure I want to fall farther behind the people I have been hiking with (not sure if they are going or not). I¢m looking forward to Shenandoah National Park (SNP), with the snack bars and well graded trails. Maybe Shari will hike some with me here, or maybe her parents (Bob & Pat). Bob is going to be biking the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer. Some other people are also interested in hiking with me this summer, so that will be cool too. Anyway, back to Traildays¢¦. I may be there, then again, I may not. But I think I probably will (then again¢¦. I should make sure I still have a ride first). Now we are at the Wilson Creek Shelter relaxing, the wind is blowing and the air temperature is dropping. Tomorrow will be a nice breezy day, good for hiking. NOTE: There are Gypsy moths here along the Blue Ridge. The Sprayer Helicopters are sitting loaded with spray, waiting for the breeze to let up. If they take off & spray, the AT will get closed (while they spray, and for 4 hours afterwards.. bummer). Oh well, enough for now, my foot got sore the last few miles I hiked, so I¢m going to rub it (I need a trail partner that does foot massages), put mineral ice on it, and then read my book. There are only 3 of us in the shelter tonight. Camo is here, he hiked the trail with his wife (¢never again¢) in 2000, he hiked the IAT to Cape Gaspe from Katahdin, and hiked across Newfoundland¢¦ Hmmm¢¦. Maybe someday¢¦