morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-21
From: Jennings Creek (Campsite)

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: broken clouds

March Winds6PM - Wilson Creek ShelterToday was the first day of Spring. But...Last night I had one of my best sleeps on the Trail - the temperature was right, no mosquitos, the sound of the creek in my ears. Around about midnight a gusty wind blew through. Listening to a gusty wind in the woods is fun. You can hear it coming a long way off. For a minute or two the sound builds, sort of like a jet coming toward you down the runway. Then the gust hits. The tent shakes, the branches of the trees around you bang into each other. Then the commotion dies down. But five minutes or so later the process begins again.When I woke this morning, the gusting wind was still blowing, giving me a bit of trouble taking down the tent. It was blowing as I started walking, when I stopped for breakfast, when I stopped for lunch, and even until I reached this shelter, when it died down a bit. The whole day I wore about a half layer more than usual (that is, about half the time I was wearing one more layer than I would expect given the temperature, the amount of sun and my level of exertion.).Today was my longest day so far, by a long way. I wanted to do about 14 mi so I can get in to Daleville tomorrow, but when I got to Black Horse Gap where I expected to find a place to camp, there was none. (Gaps usually have a flat place in them because they are essentially saddle-shaped. However, in this case the flat area was occupied by the Blue Ridge Parkway.) Since it was downhill all the way to this shelter, I decided to add the 2.5 miles to my day. My body is feeling fine, but I find my mind loses interest in what is going on around me as I hike past my comfort zone. I probably won't do another day this long for a while, until I develop more stamina than I have now.Very little wildlife today. A couple of squirrels and a half dozen or so small brown birds I wasn't familiar with. But there were several places where the rhododendron will form that famous 'tunnel of green' as soon as new foliage comes in.The terrain today was pretty moderate, other than the 1500' elevation gain in 2 miles, starting about 100 yds from where I camped. However for most of the day I was hiking across a valley from a magnificent line of mountains. It turns out that they were The Peaks of Otter. I remember my parents talking about them, and thought they must have been in Idaho somewhere. No one knows why they have that name, and there are several competing theories. But they were sure a nice looking set of mountains (I wonder why the AT doesn't go over them?).Tomorrow, Daleville. Town food (and taxes)!See you on down the Trail
Date: 2004-03-22
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

Survival10PM - Daleville EconoLodgeThe cooling down mentioned in the last entry continued through the night. I slept comfortably until about 10 o'clock, when I began to feel cold. So each hour or so for the next three hours I added a piece of clothing. By 2AM I had nothing substantial to add. My torso and legs felt comfortable, but my fingers and toes and nose felt uncomfortably cold. So about once an hour until my usual 5AM rising time, I would wake up and do a series of in-bag exercises to try to generate a little heat.After beginning the break-camp process my extremities began to feel fairly comfortable. However, since I had set up my tent in the shelter again (which makes my decision the previous evening to hike the extra distance to be able to stay in a shelter and at a lower altitude look extremely good in hindsight) it took extra time to take it down. By the time I got hiking my camelback tube was nearly frozen, and 15 minutes later it was completely blocked. Fortunately, I had nearly a quart of water in another bottle which didn't freeze. Otherwise it would have been a dry hike for the seven or eight miles I walked until I got to a lower altitude and the tube thawed again.So, from about midnight until late this morning my situation was uncomfortable enough that I could easily see how weather extremes could lead to disaster. I am fortunate that I was just one day from town, rather than the two days out that my schedule originally allowed for. Especially since tonight is to be as cold or colder (Last night's temperature in town was in the low 20s, so up at the shelter and the mountains I walked through this morning it was probably in the low teens.).After I hit the first paved road in Troutville (indistinguishable from Daleville in the AT thru-hiker's world view), the weather turned warm and pleasant, as I walked through woods and fields to get to the business parts of the towns. Those woods and fields were reminiscent of the woods and fields I played in growing up in Beltsville, MD in the 40s. Beltsville is 100 or so miles further north but 1000' lower, which probably gives them comparable climates. But, alas those Beltsville woods and fields are no more, having been replaced by the tracts of houses needed to support the activity inside the Beltway.After reaching town, I took care of the most immediate town needs: post office, outfitter, laundry, shower, AYCE (twice). However, I have not been able to go on line for more than 10 minutes, nor have I begun to resupply. And of course, there's still taxes.See you on down the Trail
Date: 2004-03-23
From: Daleville VA

To: Daleville VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Mail Drop ScheduleThis is not a real entry. It is being made in Daleville, VA, on March 23 and regards the Mail Drop Schedule.I have updated that schedule as far as Front Royal. Please consult it if you plan on sending me anything (Oatmeal Raisin cookies are particularly appreciated in a mail drop :-).One thing you should understand about my mail drop schedule. The date listed is not the date I expect to get there, but is the EARLIEST possible date I expect to. The actual date may be up to a week later (and in the case of Neels Gap, up to three weeks later).If you intend to send anything, a) please check the current schedule, b) allow time for the Postal Service to do its thing, and c) remember that the Postal Service will not hold anything in General Delivery for more than 30 days, and even shorter if busy, so try to aim for about a week before the date in my schedule.And now, back to your regularly scheduled program:Real entries up through March 22 are in the hands of Tammy, my transcriber, and should begin to appear here anon.
Date: 2004-03-23
From: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)

To: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero Day - Re-supply11PM - EconoLodgeThis will be a short entry. I've already stayed up way past the hiker's bedtime (when it gets too dark to see outside), but I still wake up as soon as it begins to get light.One thing I learned today is that AYCE can be too much of a good thing. My first three meals after hitting town were AYCE, and boy, was my stomach tired. My last two meals were slightly less insane, but my stomach is still protesting its earlier abuse.I finally got nearly three uninterrupted hours on the InterNet. I used it mostly to catch up on e-mail, particularly to answer the many people who have signed my guest book on this journal (Joanie, your messages didn't have the ISP portion of your e-mail address on it. Please e-mail me directly to my mindspring account so I can respond.), but I also used it to check that my finances haven't gone completely haywire in my absence, and to check that the weather ahead is better than the last couple of days (it is).I didn't get as much done on my taxes as I wished, but it will be done by the time the PO closes tomorrow afternoon. Now, it's to bed so I can be as fresh as I need to be.See you on down the Trail
Date: 2004-03-24
From: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)

To: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero Day - Taxes8PM - Daleville EconoLodgeFinally got my taxes done. It actually only took a few hours, once I got down to the task. Somehow that seemed to be an appropriate parallel to walking the Trail, or other major undertaking in life, the troubles you anticipate and worry over ahead of time are often much worse than what you actually encounter. (Makes me think that I should have done them before I left home. But I know from my experience as a long distance runner that after the race there is a tendency to think I could have pushed harder coming up that last hill, or whatever, but in reality I gave the race everything I had at the moment and there was no way I could have pushed harder. I had so many commitments before I left home that there was no way I could have mustered the time or energy to focus on my taxes before I left.)While I was doing my taxes, I missed out on one really big event - the first NoBo (northbound) thru-hikers came through Daleville today, a married couple and a guy. I would have loved to have met them, but was holed up in my room. They stopped at the outfitters just a quarter mile from the Trail, then moved on. I didn't get their trail names, but will see them in the shelter registers as I move on down the Trail again starting tomorrow morning.Speaking of the outfitter, there are two people who have helped me tremendously here in Daleville. One was Mark Futrell, manager of Outdoor Trails (540-992-5850). Mark helped me re-adjust my pack so it fits better, suggested major changes to the way I pack my pack, and shared a lot of trail wisdom. He performed the service most thru-hikers receive at the outfitter in Neels Gap, barely 30 miles from Springer. It was worth much more than the few dollars I spent at his store.The second person who helped me a lot was Del Schecterly (540-529-6028). Del is almost a professional Trail Angel (a thru-hiker term for locals along the Trail who do things for the hikers without charge). In fact, Del has a business card with the title 'Trail Angel' right on the card. Del took me to the library for three hours of InterNet access and to a restaurant yesterday, and to the PO today so I could send off my bounce box, my taxes, the photos I have taken since Shenandoah NP, and even some stuff I have been carrying but haven't used. Del surely deserves to be the Trail legend he is.And now, for me it's a long soak and hitting the sack at something close to hikers' bedtime before putting on that heavy pack again and heading south early in the morning.See you on down the Trail------------------------------Have you ever seen a rock scrapethe sky? www.pocketmail.com
Date: 2004-03-25
From: US 220 (Daleville EconoLodge)

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Tinker Cliffs6:30 PM - Campbell ShelterIt is hard getting out of town, especially after a double zero day. Your pack is at its heaviest, you invariably go UP, and everything hurts as if in protest at being made to work again after time off. That was certainly true of me today. In addition, today was the first time I have done long mileage coming out of town. The new aches and pains went away after an hour or so, as if realizing that their protest was of no avail. And it was only toward the end of the long day that my tiredness impacted my hike. The Trail was much more alive today than it was before I reached Daleville. I met a local hiker who has done all of the Trail within 50 miles of Daleville, who gave me a lot of information about what lies ahead. I met a section hiker, Road Runner, who is hiking from Pearisburg to Glasgow (near Jennings Creek) who is obviously a faster hiker than I am. We discovered we had both been active long-distaance runners in the past. And i met a half dozen ladies from Blacksburg, VA, out for a day hike.The wildlife was more plentiful as well. I saw a lizard with a blue belly. I saw many birds including at least half a dozen hawks soaring below me as I looked down from various peaks. I saw many butterflies, of several varieties. I spent at least 5 minutes within 50 yds of a deer, but she never let me get close enough for a picture. And now as twilight is falling, I can hear a couple of peepers calling.But the real star of today's hike was Tinker Cliffs. They are at the top of Tinker Mtn that slowly rises from Daleville to a height of 3000'. At the top of the mountain there is a layer of granite, between 20 and 50' thick, stretching for a half a mile along aline overlooking a valley. This layer has broken off in a fairly straight line, leaving cliffs where the drop off may be 100' or more. The Trail goes right along the edge of this cliff for its whole length, affording many good views of the valley below, as well as of the surrounding mountains, such as Apple Orchard Mtn and Peaks of Otter which I passed nearly a week ago, and McAfee Knob, which I will go up 1st thing in the morning.So now that it is almost completely dark, hence hikers' bedtime, I will sign off until tomorrow.See you on down the Trail
Date: 2004-03-27
From: VA 624 (Four Pines Hostel)

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

Dragon's ToothThe high point of today's hike (in elevation) was the Audie Murphy memorial. Audie Murphy was the most highly decorated veteran of WWII, and a minor movie star in the 50s (action and war movies). He was killed in a plane crash near the memorial. That reminded me how many celebrities have been killed in plane crashes: Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, JFK Jr, Paul Wellstone, etc.The most interesting part of the hike was the boulder hopping necessary to get up Dragon's Tooth. Many places i had to climb up rock faces, and two of those places had iron bar imbedded in the rock to help with the climb. And to top it off, when I reached the top, I had completed the 200th mile of my hike.I met many people today, including the first true thru-hiker I have met, Ice Cold and his dog Mr 3000. By the end of the day I had met two more, Dan and Felix, and incredibly missed one, Magic, even though I had left the Trail for only 5 minutes to visit the memorial (maybe he had a cloak of invisibility). I also met a couple of section hikers, a weekend hiker and former thru-hiker, Seven Sisters, and a bunch of day hikers. The Trail is definitely beginning to get populated, and my days of solitude will soon be over.Also tonight, after three weeks I am staying the same place as other hikers. Larry and Shawna and their boys Cory (9) and Justin (5) are tenting right next to the shelter. Thanks to them I enjoyed a cup of greentea for the first time in many weeks.See you on down the TrailPS - I had two equipment failures in the last two days.Yesterday about noon, the tread on the toe of my left boot separated. That part gets a lot of hard use, so can't go neglected. I patched it with a piece of duct tape I carry in my first aid kit (for blisters). When I got to Four Pines I got a roll of duct tape and supplemented what was already on my toe, and put about 10' around my hiking poles for later use. Here a day and a half later it is still holding up, so I think I will switch to my summer boots in Pearisburg and try them out to Atkins. If they work out I will wear them for the rest of the hike, or until they wear out. If they don't work out I will wear my duct-tape-patched boots from Atkins to Damascus where there is a good outfitter and get them replaced.My second equipment failure was that my watch stopped soon after this morning's rain began. Those of you familiar with my relationship to time will realize what a potential catastrophe that was. But it started working an hour and 15 minutes later, and since the other three pieces of electronic equipment I have (this PocketMail, a digital camera, and yes, a cell phone) agreed on the time within two minutes, I was able to set my watch to the average of those times. So, catastrophe averted. But, I wonder about the next time it rains...------------------------------Have you ever said g'day underwater?www.pocketmail.com
Date: 2004-03-29
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: few clouds

Wind Rock7PMUntil lunch time there wasn't much to today's hike. Of course there were the two UPs (1200' and 2000'), but they were nothing out of the ordinary. On the way down from the first high point I did have a first: my first 'found' Trail Magic. That is when someone (a 'Trail Angel') leaves some goodies at the side of the Trail with a note 'Help Yourself!'. Today it was a cooler full of sodas. Thanks, Super Dave, 02/03!After the second UP the trail profile showed pretty level going for about 4 miles, with a little bump in the middle called Wind Rock. Since the AT Handbook mentions there is an overlook there, I decided to make that my lunch spot. So as soon as I reached the level spot, I put my feet on automatic and began pondering, every once in a while wondering when I'd get there, since it was already well past my usual lunch time.When I finally got there, what a surprise - there was an armcheir on top with a man sitting in it! Not exactly what I had expected after walking 7 miles since the last road. It turns out that it was two students from VA Tech near here who were doing an art project, involving the armchair and the scenery from the overlook. And, there was a road less than a quarter mile down the Trail.Satisfied, I settled down to have lunch (a trail bar, some trail mix and a Snickers). Not five minutes later another couple came up to the Rock. It seems that they had a son who loved hiking and had section hiked the Trail, but had died three years ago today. They had come to Wind Rock today because it reminded them of him and what he loved. I was honored to have met you, Victor and Judy, and am glad I happened by the same time you did.After Wind Rock, the Trail was still mostly level, but what a difference! First off, it was extremely rocky (can the feared rocks of PA be worse than these?). Second, they were covered with leaves, making the Trail hard to follow, especially since there was very little undergrowth to help mark the course I needed to follow. Finally, the trees in this area had some kind of lichen growing on them whose color and size match that of the white blazes marking the Trail, so many, many times I got a false positive indication when I headed off in a certain direction.So I was certainly glad when the Trail turned downhill toward this shelter, and particularly glad when the shelter showed up earlier than expected, rather than the usual later.See you on down the Trail------------------------------Have you ever caught a water taxi tothe Opera? www.pocketmail.com
Date: 2004-04-01
From: Pearisburg (John and Jenny's in Blacksburg)

To: Pearisburg (John and Jenny's in Blacksburg)
Miles today: 0.0

Blacksburg - Zero Day3PM - John and Jenny'sA bit frustrated by having a computer sitting in front of me for much of the day, but not being able to access the InterNet.However I had plenty to keep me busy as I did all the normal zero-day activities: grocery, outfitter, and am about to hit the post office to mail my bounce box and other stuff.Am feeling relieved that my watch now has a new battery and is keeping regular time. But I can hear my friend, Teasenberg, saying 'Come on Shorb! Suck it up and make do without such abject slavery to time!'. But still, I am feeling relieved.9PM - John and Jenny'sAnother delicious dinner with J & J and daughter Naomi, and am mostly packed up to start hiking first thing in the morning.I intend to pick up the pace a bit on my next two legs, from here to Damascus, VA, about 160 miles from here. The reason is somewhat ironic.I have signed up for a 'personal exploration' workshop in CA the last 10 days of May. Among the issues I want to address is my relationship with time. I have a flight out of BWI the morning of the 20th. My reasoning mind has accepted that if I haven't reached Springer by then, I can catch a plane or bus to Baltimore from wherever I am, and after returning from the workshop continue my hike from where I left off. However, that part of my mind that controls my motivation is clearly seeing going to Baltimore before summitting Springer as some sort of defeat. (The reason I was so pleased to hear yesterday that Dusty and Lefty had only taken 46 days to reach Pearisburg from Springer is that I will have 47 days to make Springer from Pearisburg if I am to make my plane, and I won't need the ramping up period in my 47 days, which is included in their 46.) Over the next weeks I will be closely watching this conversation between the two parts of my mind (and I'm sure other parts will join in), and probably reporting a large part of it here.But now, it is definitely past this hiker's bedtime.Thanks J, J & N for a great zero day.See you on down the Trail------------------------------Have you ever caught a water taxi tothe Opera? www.pocketmail.com
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Sun6:15PM - Jenny Knob ShelterToday I saw the sun for the first time in 5 days just as I was walking into the shelter.The first part of today's hike was through the watershed of Dismal Creek. Here the land was flat, stream crossings frequent and often the Trail had standing water in it. It wouldn't be too far fetched if the area were called Dismal Swamp, although I saw nothing dismal about it. Instead of the rhododendron which were abundant yesterday, this area was mostly pine forest. Curiously, the understory of different areas had different size trees. For a while next to the Trail the understory would be nothing but pine trees 3 to 6' tall, but a quarter mile later, the understory would be pine trees 10 to 15' tall. The second half of today's walk was more like it has been throughout VA so far: an UP followed by a bumpy ridge walk, followed by a DOWN.I met 2 thru-hikers today. The firstwas Enoch, just about at the end of the pine forest. He mentioned a hamburger place just off the Trail at the next road crossing. I decided to go there to have my big meal for the day, which I topped off with a Little Debbie, an item I am only familiar with through frequent mention on trailjournals.com. I am sure I will have more on this hike, but don't think it will become my favorite dessert.The second thru-hiker was Boy Wonder. He is trying to make it to Katahdin by the end of June. That means he will need to average nearly 20 miles per day. Boy, I thought I was dominated by time pressures.I was not as pleased with the switched-in shoes today. I have developed a hot spot at the back of one heel. I will cover it with moleskin before hiking tomorrow. Also, the ball of one foot aches more than usual. I will try to not tighten that shoe as much tomorrow.See you on down the Trail------------------------------Have you ever seen a rock scrapethe sky? www.pocketmail.com