morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-23
From: Stealth campsite @ mile 911.5

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 12.6

Day 78 - The trail these past 3 days has certainly been the easiest so far. If it was not so hot and humid and I had no injuries, I could really cover some ground here. It's a little frustrating to do only a little more than 12 miles today. I know that it's not a race, but I'd like to make up some of the time I lost while at the Outer Banks. Meanwhile, my blistered foot and overextended knee are feeling better so that is returning to normal. My mental attitude is improving as well as I distance myself from time spent with family and have more days on the trail. I remind myself that I have a whole lifetime ahead to do the things I'm missing now, but only one chance to do the AT. The website www.atweather.org warned of violent storms with damaging winds in this area starting around 3:00 pm and lasting until about 11:00 pm as a cold front moves through. I decided that was reason enough to spend the night at Big Meadows Lodge instead of in a tent in the woods. To me, 'damaging winds' in the woods means 'trees and dead branches falling'. So I'm having a very pleasant evening in the lodge. I had a good dinner w/beer and watched the storm come in from the west. According to NBC's nightly news, this same front has wreaked havoc all along the eastern US with reports of tornadoes, softball sized hail, etc. The good news is that the high tomorrow will only be in the upper 70s, so finally a break from the heat. HVAC and Lorax have also stopped here for the night and will be heading out in the morning. One of the benefits of hiking the AT in Shenandoah National Park is that there are camp stores, restaurants, waysides, and lodges scattered along the trail so I don't need to carry much food, which makes for a light pack. So far I've hit the Loft Mountain camp store and wayside, the Lewis Mountain camp store, the Big Meadows Lodge, and tomorrow I'll hit Skyland at some point. A 'wayside' is just a restaurant along Skyline Drive. Last night's stealth camping was pretty interesting - my first night alone in bear country. There's safety in numbers so most hikers like to camp at shelters/huts in the evening. The huts also have bear poles for hanging food out of the reach of bears. I didn't have any of that when stealth camping, but the upside was that I was able to sleep as late as I wanted without being awakened by the noise of all the early risers breaking camp. I am a little disappointed that I have not yet seen any bears here in the park when it seems everyone else has. Until tomorrow....
Date: 2015-06-24
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Byrd's Nest #3 Hut, SNP, VA
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 79 - Today was just what the doctor ordered to cure my mental malaise - low humidity, sunny skies, and temps in the mid to upper 70s along with a nice breeze. In addition, my feet and knee are almost back to normal. I also got a diagnosis for that thing on my back that I thought was perhaps a bee sting or a brown recluse bite - shingles!!! This is a fairly small and mild case - Traildoc (not his real trail name) looked at it at Skyland and made the diagnosis. What is surprising is that I got the shingles vaccine last October. He said that it was a good thing that I had gotten it or it most likely would be much worse. I have a patch about the size of a quarter and it matches all the shingles symptoms, but mainly it just hurts. It's not so bad. I can ignore it. It should be gone in about 2 weeks, but I may stop in at an urgent care facility in Front Royal to have them look at it when I exit Shenandoah if it doesn't clear up by then. I got a late start today. That was partly because of the breakfast I had at Big Meadows with HVAC, Lorax, and Cricket, and partly because I wanted to resupply at the Big Meadows wayside. Resupplying there would eliminate the need to hitch into Luray to resupply this evening. The problem with that was it was 0.9 miles from the lodge to the wayside and no one stopped to give me a ride. Then when I went to pay I realized that my money and credit card were back at the lodge. So I had to go back to the lodge, get my credit card, then go back to the wayside to pay. Bottom line - I didn't get onto the AT until after 10:00 am. I hope I learned a lesson in there somewhere. I have a problem getting rides when hitch hiking. I think it's because I'm tall and I must look like a hobo. Someone told me that thruhikers are basically hobos with a credit card. HVAC and Lorax treated their clothes with a veterinarian strength (5%) permethrin solution as a tick repellant. It caused a bad rash reaction when they wore the clothes. The Sawyer's brand permethrin solution is 0.5% - this is what I have used and I've had no problem. I ran into HVAC, Lorax, Cricket, and Ambush at Skyland where I stopped for lunch #2 - HVAC and Lorax are staying at the lodge there tonight so I don't know when or if I'll see them again. I enjoyed their company when I was with them. Tomorrow morning I'll cross Thornton Gap where my brother 'Cotton', my sister 'Spyder', and I finished our Shenandoah section hike a few years ago. After that, I will once again be in virgin territory as I go north from there towards Front Royal, the northern terminus of the park. After that comes the 'roller coaster', a series of about 13 PUD's (pointless ups and downs) before coming to Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. Harper's Ferry is the unofficial 1/2 way point between Georgia and Maine. I'd like to get there before I reach the 90 days (3 months) point so that I feel like I'm on track to finish in 6 months. Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-06-25
From: Byrd's Nest #3 Hut, SNP, VA

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 80 - Way back when I was still in Tennessee, I promised you, dear readers, that I would photograph some bear poop. Everyone has seen photographs of bears, nothing new there. But how many photos have you seen of bear poop? Probably none, until today, that is. And this is fresh, probably less than an hour old. Bear photos - same old thing. Bear crap photos - out of the box thinking!!! Tonight is my last night in Shenandoah National Park. In general, the hiking was the easiest to date, but it was made more difficult by hot, humid weather and my knee and foot problems. Those added at least a day to the time it took me to transit the park. Now mostly healed, I expect to take only 3.5 days to get to Harpers Ferry. I should get there by the 29th of June. From there, it's only a day or so to get through Delaware and into Pennsylvania. I'm ready to be done with Virginia with it's 500+ AT miles. At the same time though, I'm a little more apprehensive about Pennsylvania with it's infamous rocks. After a week back on the trail, I think I have lost most of the weight I gained on the Outer Banks. It's difficult to know for sure without actually weighing myself. Maybe I'll have a chance to do that tomorrow in Front Royal when I go there to resupply. The last time I weighed myself I was at 181.5 pounds, but I have no idea how accurate that scale was. I heard a new description on the AT today: "The world's longest pub crawl". It does make sense - lots of the young hikers love their beer, they stop at every bar in a trail town. Then they hike to the next trail town and repeat the process all the way up to Maine. Note to Steve Sturm - the book you gave me was just too heavy to continue to carry; I ended up leaving it at a shelter. Maybe it has found a receptive reader(s) there!!Until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-06-26
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Terrapin Station Hostel
Miles today: 9.6

Day 81 - I finally saw a bear in the park today - it was far more satisfying than finding bear crap so forget all that stuff I wrote yesterday!!! Today was going to be a 12 mile day ending up in Front Royal for resupply. Ambush told me about a hostel he was stopping at (Terrapin Station) and that seemed like a much less expensive option. A stay there included a shuttle into town for resupply so that sealed the deal. The forecast for tomorrow is for a 100% chance of rain. The weather guys are forecasting 1 to 3 inches of rain with flood warnings. If that's true, there is a chance I might stay here tomorrow as well. I visited the urgent care facility when I went into the town today. They weren't convinced that I had shingles. Instead, it might be some other skin infection that is already starting to heal, so that's good news. While there, I weighed myself on their digital scale - 190 pounds. That is good news as well. I have decided that if I drop below 175 lbs., I will need to get off the trail. So 190 lbs. is a change in the right direction. The hostel here is owned by Mike Evans, an AT and PCT thruhiker with lots of stories to share (and beer/pizza to drink and eat). I recommend this place highly as an alternative to overnighting in Front Royal. In fact, I think I'll have some pizza right now. Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-06-28
From: Terrapin Station Hostel

To: Dicks Dome Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 83 - Once again it was a big relief to be back in the woods, escaping from the Terrapin Station Hostel. It's not that the hostel was a bad place - quite the contrary. But after spending two nights and an entire day there, I was really antsy to be moving north. Zero days feel like wasted days to me even though, in this case, it was necessary. Today was cool and rain free and I wanted to capitalize on that. Many of the hikers at the hostel took advantage of slack-packing provided by Mike, the hostel's owner. He provided them with a day pack for carrying some food and water and dropped the hikers off 25 miles up the trail. They would then walk back to the hostel while carrying much less weight. My personal hike, as I define it, only allows for slack-packing if I am injured or ill. Everyone has to decide for themselves what is allowable for their hike. I'm what might be called a 'purist' - no slack-packing, yellow blazing, skipping around, etc. In my case, I think that would detract from what it means for me to backpack from Georgia to Maine - but to each his own. There was a good philosophical discussion at the shelter this evening. Usually I avoid discussions involving the big 3 (religion, sex, or politics) because many people have deeply held beliefs on these topics and the debate can easily become acrimonious. That was not the case this evening. The conversation was very enjoyable (even though not everyone agreed with me). The small (quarter sized) rash on my back is healing nicely. The urgent care doctor in Front Royal didn't think it was shingles, but just some type of bacterial dermatitis that would respond, if necessary, to antibiotics. It looks like that won't be necessary though. Today I enter the 'roller coaster', a strenuous series of 13 climbs and descents that ends at Route 7 in Northern Virginia. I don't expect to finish it quickly. Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-06-29
From: Dicks Dome Shelter

To: Sam Moore Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 84 - One of the most common questions I get asked is, "Are you having fun on your hike?". That's like asking someone who is climbing Mt. Everest, "Are you having fun yet?". The purposes of adventures are many and varied and fun is near the bottom of the list. For me, the purposes include (in no particular order and certainly not all inclusive): getting outside of my comfort zone, challenging myself, finding my limits, getting to know people outside of the demographic that I normally associate with, experiencing nature in a more intimate way, learning to adapt to unexpected and/or new situations, and generally to shake my life up a bit. It's so easy to become comfortable with our day to day lives that we can become risk averse, always taking the easy and safe path, doing the stuff we've always done and become hesitant to try new stuff. But fun?? Fun is going to parties, amusement parks, taking a cruise, buying a motorcycle, going on vacation, etc. I'm at mile 999.9 and will cross the 1000 milestone very early in the morning. Rest assured, I'm not failing to photograph that marker. I'm halfway through the 'roller coaster' - it's not as bad as the hype would suggest. Without the name, it would just be a series of fairly steep ascents and descents close together, but because someone gave this section a name, it has acquired a reputation. I'm just about 6 miles from the West Virginia border and about 23 miles from Harpers Ferry. I'm pretty excited about that. Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-06-30
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: Rt. 7 @ mile 1003.5
Miles today: 3.6

Day 85 - Today was a short day on the trail, but a great day at the home of Bob and Kerry and their two young sons near Berryville, VA. Because I knew it was going to be a short hiking day, I slept late, had a leisurely breakfast, and was under none of the usual pressure to keep on walking. I knew I only needed to do about 4 miles before meeting up with them around 1:00 in the afternoon. When I was planning my thruhike back in February and March, Ellen, my friend from home and Kerry's mother, suggested I stay with her daughter and family, who live near the trail. Luckily, I was able to make contact and meet up with them. My stay at their house was wonderful - great food, great conversations, a resupply in town, and a great night's sleep in clean clothes. Thanks go out to my friends Ellen and Dan for their suggestion and to Kerry and Bob for their kindness and hospitality!! Thanks to them, I'll be heading on north tomorrow well rested, resupplied, and ready to hit West Virginia and Maryland. Until tomorrow....
Date: 2015-07-01
From: Rt. 7 @ mile 1003.5

To: Unnamed campsite @ mile 1019.3
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 86 - I got a late start on the trail today, but for all the right reasons. Bob cooked up a scrambled egg w/cheese breakfast that included apple juice and coffee. It was excellent! Bob drove me back to Rt. 7 and I headed north around 9:30 or 10 am. Then I completed the last 3 or so miles of the Roller Coaster and crossed into West Virginia. Finally I'm out of Virginia after more than 500 miles. I considered going all the way to Harpers Ferry, but there is not an inexpensive place to stay there. I decided to stop at a campground about 4 miles south of the village. That will still allow me to get there for breakfast, stop in and get my picture taken at the ATC (and find what my thruhiker number is. I'm guessing it's about 500), eat lunch, and then head into Maryland. At the campsite, I had a reunion with some hikers I hadn't seen since Tennessee: Buckle, Dutchy, Kate, and Fox - along with her husband. None of them recognized me because of my weight loss and beard, but upon hearing my name, they made the connection. We had a good time catching up on what has been happening, who's off the trail, etc. I was especially pleased to see Buckle (named because his knee could 'buckle' at any time). I had assumed that with a knee that bad he was surely off the trail. He's about 67 years old and has also had problems with weight loss. He gave me some great ideas he has learned about trail cooking that I am eager to try out. Physically, I'm in good shape now (except for that small mysterious rash on my back that isn't disappearing as quickly as I'd like it to disappear).Until tomorrow....
Date: 2015-07-02
From: Unnamed campsite @ mile 1019.3

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 4.1

Day 87 - Today was just one of those days where nothing goes as I planned. When I woke up around 6 am, it was raining so I went back to sleep. When I awoke again at 8 am, everyone was gone from the campground - I was there all alone. I did not like that feeling at all - like everyone else had gone to a party, but I had somehow missed it. I packed up quickly and headed to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Center (ATC) in Harpers Ferry. There I had my picture taken and added to "The Book" at the ATC. I'm hiker #1058 to pass through Harpers Ferry northbound, a higher # than I expected. One of the staffers said that half of the hikers that make it this far typically make it to Katadin Mtn. in Maine. He also said that the numbers have been rising every year. Next year, they are anticipating a much larger number due to the release of the movie "A Walk in the Woods" in September 2015. I left my pack at the center and went to get some lunch, a delicious mushroom cheeseburger w/fries. After going back to the ATC to pick up my gear and head north, I discovered that one of my trekking poles was missing. When I was eating lunch, one of the ATC staffers had moved my backpack and had put one of my poles either into or near the ATC's hiker box (where hikers put stuff they don't want anymore and others are free to take it). A hiker who needed a pole must have seen my pole in/near the hiker box and took it. Long story short: the ATC staffers helped me figure out who took it, I tracked him down and 4 hours later I had my pole back. I thought about just buying a new set of poles, but the local outfitter wanted $110 for a new set. So now it's too late to hit the trail and make it to the shelter before dark. Here I am at Teahorse Hostel in West Virginia for the night when my plan had been to be at Ed Garvey Shelter in Maryland. One thing this hike is teaching me is that you just have to roll with the punches and not get too upset when things go awry. So I've taken this opportunity to fatten up a bit on local restaurant fare. Tomorrow the hostel will be serving blueberry pancakes for breakfast - I expect to pig out and then hit the trail running to make up for lost time. I'll let you know how it goes. Until tomorrow....
Date: 2015-07-03
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Dahlgren Backpack Campground
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 88 - Finally I escaped the trail town vortex, got into Maryland, and put in a reasonably good number of miles. The trail followed the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath for a while before heading up into the hills. The shelters on this part of the AT are extraordinary: recently built, well maintained, sometimes with deck railings, benches, chairs, and with a capacity of 12 to 16 hikers. Some of us were discussing this during a lunch break at one of these shelters. We concluded that the Potomac Appalachian Hiking Club, who maintains this section of the AT, must charge their members high membership dues to pay for all these fine shelters. Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, is about 80 miles north of the campground that I'm at right now. That's about 5 days ahead if everything goes well. Mrs. Pockets is going to meet me there - I can't wait. Although our home is in Northwestern NYS, as I get further north, maybe we can meet up more frequently. It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning as well. In fact, it's raining quite hard right now as I type this in my tent. As always, my concern is that I'll need to break camp while it's raining, which is always tricky. Until tomorrow....
Date: 2015-07-04
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Raven Rock Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: few clouds

Day 89 - Today started out wet and the rain continued on and off until a little after lunch time. It rained so hard last night that I wondered if my tent would keep me dry, but it held up well. I did have to put it away wet, which I don't like to do. I've decided I really don't like rocks. Pebbles and boulders are fine as are domesticated rocks, but the feral rocks of Maryland can be maddening. Maryland must be very proud of their rocks since they've routed the AT over every rock pile in the western part of the state. These gangs of rocks trip me, cause me to slip, grab at my trekking poles, trap my feet, and in general slow me down so that I don't get as far for the day as I have planned. I get along ok with sedimentary and igneous rocks, but this metamorphism is not okay. I'll leave the south and enter the north as I cross the Mason-Dixon Line tomorrow. This also coincides with Pennsylvania's southern border. Some hikers attempt a 24 hour 4 state challenge where they try to do the 40 miles from the Virginia/W.Virginia border to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border in one day. I have a hard enough time with 20 miles in one day - I don't need to torture myself with 40 miles in 24 hours. Happy Independence Day to all!!!Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-07-05
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Quarry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 90 -   I'm dissatisfied with how long it takes me to get on the trail after I wake up in the morning. Typically, it's about 1 hour and 15 minutes. This time includes tearing down my tent, eating and packing my pack. I've seen others do the same in about 40 minutes - about half the time I require. I might need to do a kaizen on my procedure and get it down to 30 - 40 minutes. It's been quite a while since I've had a 20 mile day. I was beginning to wonder if I still had my 20 mile mojo. So today, I resolved to do 20 miles. My goal was Rocky Mountain Shelter, just about 20 miles even. About noon just as I was thinking about food, I recalled a conversation I had at Dahlgren Campground with a hiker who said that there were cheeseburgers, hotdogs, sodas, etc. at Caledonia State Park. They have camping there too. I figured I'd stay there for the night, the distance would be over 20 miles and I could demonstrate my mojo. As I was eating that cheeseburger, Cricket and a couple other hikers stopped in to eat too, but their plan was to continue on to the Quarry Gap Shelter. My feet, which had been complaining loudly as I got to the park, had calmed down as I sat there, so I too hiked on to the shelter. I think this is my longest hiking day so far: 25.4 miles. I don't plan to make a habit of this! I'll pass the halfway mark on the AT tomorrow. Harpers Ferry is really only the psychological halfway point. The actual mileage halfway point is 10 miles ahead at mile 1094.6. It's all downhill from there! I'm also looking forward to the famous 1/2 gallon ice cream challenge tomorrow at Pine Grove Furnace. I know I can meet this challenge because I ate 1/2 gallon of butter pecan ice cream non-stop at Terrapin Station Hostel about a week ago. I'll let you know how the official challenge goes. Until tomorrow.....