morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-30
From: Black Bear Resort 

To: Campsite 
Miles today: 16.0

Apr 30, 2016 - With the stress of my infected toe basically alleviated by the antibiotics, I was looking forward to an 18 mile day to Vandeventer Shelter to put myself into striking distance of Damascus, finally! The first thing I noticed when I got up was that all Survivor's equipment was gone. Apparently, at around midnight, he had the bright idea to leave the resort and hike to the top of the mountain for better service to call his ex-girlfriend. Oh and he was hammered, by the way. All morning during our hike, we couldn't help but comment on the difficulty of the terrain and how much tougher it must have been drunk and in the dark (Don't worry, Shawna, he's totally OK). I gave him a good jab when I finally saw him at lunch for being such an idiot. If only I had been awake to stop him. Well, it turns out that nearly the entire day was uphill so it turned exhausting very quickly. The humidity didn't help at all. I did circumnavigate Wautaga Lake, which provided for some excellent swimming and refreshment before the remaining 9 miles to the shelter. The second half of the day was beautiful as well until the thunderstorm. I crossed Wautaga Dam and started up yet another mountain. This put me on top of an isolated ridge just as the thunder and lightning attacked, which was more than convenient. I ended up stopping about 1.7 miles south of the shelter at a small campsite near a spring and setting up camp during a lull in the rain because, frankly, I was exhausted and soaking wet. If all goes well, I'll be in Damascus in less than 2 days.
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Campsite 

To: Campsite
Miles today: 0.0

May 1, 2016 - All did not go well. Halfway through the night, I woke up several times with severe diarrhea, which forced me into the dark and the rain. Just as I thought I was finished, I stumbled out of my tent just in time to vomit over the side of a rock. The throwing up continued through the night and into the morning. A throw up session is also much more likely when you're in a sleeping bag that quite literally smells of shit and you're wearing sweat soaked clothes that haven't been washed properly in 7 days. Thankfully, Steel made me coffee (which I threw up) and left me some extra toilet paper since I was almost out. She basically saved my life. Also, I did make it out of my tent for each gross event. Things could always be worse, though it would've been cool if the new Goo Goo Dolls album was suddenly released 6 days early (as if I could even download it out here). Drained of energy and dehydrated, I slept through most of the morning and still couldn't keep water down. Between my toe, the foot cramps and norovirus, which has to be what I have, I was forced to fall behind and serve another zero in my tent. I even realized that I couldn't take my antibiotics because I would just cough them up shortly after. Sitting in your tent all day is not fun for your information. I was even glad for the rain as the day started cool and allowed me to relax a bit. But, of course, the sun came out midday and forced me from my stifling tent. It sucks watching other hikers walk by, too, since this campsite is a great spot for lunch and I have to tell them I'm sick and they shouldn't eat here. Norovirus is to hikers as kryptonite is to Superman. Literally. So, now, I'm THAT guy for a few days. On the bright side, I did have a day of rest for my toe and foot cramps and I did manage to hold down a box of raisins, some water and my antibiotic around midday. So, I would say this has definitely been my low point on the trail so far, but hopefully tomorrow, I'll have enough strength to push halfway toward Damascus at the very least. Never have I wanted to reach a town more.
Date: 2016-05-02
From: Campsite

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 34.8

May 2, 2016 - I must have broken my fever in the middle of the night because I woke up absolutely drenched in sweat on a cool night. I woke up at around 6:30 am and felt much better. Damascus was 35 miles away and it's been dangled in front of me for 9 days - a town that finally had an outfitter that could solve some of my foot problems. I had sent a message ahead letting my friends know I'd be there on Tuesday, one day later than scheduled. But as soon as I woke up, I knew I'd be there by the end of the day. At 7:15 am, I just started walking. I couldn't really eat anything other than a small handful of trail mix at a time because my stomach was still a bit off so I stopped only twice throughout the day for 5 minutes to refill water. I was in zombie mode - I didn't even talk to anyone. The weather was hot and humid as I neared the town with a thunderstorm on my heels. At about mile 25, I was so tired, I felt like I was driving home late at night and needed to talk to someone to stay awake. I called both my parents separately to take my mind off the walking and the fatigue. In 11 hours and 45 minutes, I arrived at The Place, a church that opened its doors to hikers and bikers for a small donation. The thunderstorm hit as I was walking through the front door. Finally, things were starting to go my way. By the way, the proprietor of The Place was a man named Bayou who looks and acts exactly like that guy in Office Space that loves his red stapler. However, I saw no staplers of any color anywhere inside. After a quick shower, I walked over to Bobo McFarland's for a bite to eat. I ordered three different dishes and as soon as they were put in front of me, I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat even half of it. I ordered with my mind and not my stomach.Tomorrow, at last, I can rest and figure out my damn footwear.
Date: 2016-05-03
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

May 3, 2016 - Damascus is a hiker town similar to Hot Springs in that the trail runs right through the center of town. It's the home of Trail Days, the largest hiker festival that takes place from May 13-15 this spring. Needless to say, we'll all be headed back here in about two weeks. I zeroed again today in Damascus so at least I was not confined to my tent all day. I began with an everything bagel breakfast sandwich at Mojo's, a very unique cafe situated directly on trail. I wanted the cinnamon roll and the breakfast quesadilla also, but I learned from my mistake last night. Next up was footwear. I visited all three outfitters in town and finally settled on a pair of Oboz with Superfeet insoles. I had no idea what I was looking for or needed, but the man at Mt. Roger's Outfitter was surprisingly the only person to actually measure the length and width of my feet and present a trail shoe that fit. I learned that my left foot is actually smaller than my right foot and that my feet have not expanded as I expected. I stuck with my usual size 12s and hoped for the best. The Oboz were definitely lighter and more supportive than my Keens at the very least. It was pretty funny when I took off my Crocs, the employee visibly recoiled and commented on how screwed up my feet were. Yea. I also picked up a new dry stuff sack for my food bag since my current one had a few holes and suffered a marshmallow fluff explosion. In case you didn't already know, marshmallow fluff may be the actual worst thing to have explode inside a bag. If not the worst, then definitely top 5. I picked up another massive and much appreciated package from my mother. This one contained my all time favorite cookies: rich chocolate chip toffee bars. I returned the favor by mailing home a package with smelly clothes and her Mother's Day gift. Honestly, by 2 pm, I had finished my chores and was wiped. I napped for a few hours and then went to Hey Joe's, a Mexican place for dinner. I still couldn't eat anything other than rice, though. My stomach was still unsettled and I was still experiencing the other issue that accompanies norovirus. I finished my zero by soaking my feet in Epsom salts and calling it an early night. It was back to the trail tomorrow and I definitely needed all the sleep I could get.
Date: 2016-05-04
From: Damascus, VA

To: Campsite north of Lost Mountain
Miles today: 17.2

May 4, 2016 - Mojo's round 2: this time I did get that cinnamon roll and wow I screwed up yesterday. Juicy was hanging back in Damascus today since she had to catch a flight later in the week back home. After a tearful goodbye, Hot Toddie, Peach and I got back on trail (Survivor didn't want to stay another night so he had hiked out yesterday).The AT coincided with the famous Virginia Creeper Trail for a few stretches today, which is a popular biking trail. We hiked a fairly uneventful 16 miles to a campsite set in a spruce forest - it's always a pleasure falling asleep on a bed of pine needles. We did see a pretty cool black rat snake on one of the brushes we crossed today (see picture). We also encountered our first detour: one of the bridges on the AT had been washed out by the river so hikers were rerouted on the nearby Virginia Creeper Trail. Since the detour is considered the official AT, we didn't argue. I was still extremely tired all day so I was more than relieved when we reached our campsite for the night. It's amazing how comfortable my tent after sleeping in it for over a month. Any subconscious anxiety I had about sleeping outside is no longer existent and I would honestly choose my smelly sleeping bag in my tent outside over a bed in a hostel or hotel room. Another really fun part about camping (sometimes) is hanging the bear bag. Whether it's throwing the rope over a branch with a rock or stick or trying to get the rope down when it's caught, crazy shit always seems to happen. I remember a few mornings ago stepping out of my tent just in time to see Spoon throw a stick like a spear at the bear bags because they were stuck in the tree. Well, tonight Peach and I got the rope stuck while trying to hang the bag. Peach yanked on the rope and a massive branch snapped and came raining down on us. When we surfaced, a 6 foot branch had impaled itself in the ground where we had been standing. Now, we were stuck using Hot Toddie's two tree method, which she's been rubbing in our faces for a few nights now. I met a few new people today: Salty, Bug Juice, Crisco, and Long Cloud.
Date: 2016-05-05
From: Campsite north of Lost Mountain

To: Campsite north of Grayson Highlands State Park
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

May 5, 2016 - Snow in May? Wild ponies? Today was easily the most unique, bizarre, and enjoyable day on the trail in my opinion. The day started as expected - a brisk, cold morning with a good chance of rain later in the day. We packed up camp (Helton had to stay back as he came down with noro during the night) and set off toward Mt. Rogers, Virginia's tallest peak at just over 5,700 feet, and Grayson Highlands State Park, which is famous for the wild ponies that will lick the sweat off your skin. Now, remember I sent home the rest of my winter gear in Damascus just two days ago. The only item I still had was my 20 degree down sleeping bag and, as you'll soon see, thank god for that. As we hit our first incline that would bring us back into higher elevations, it started sleeting. The sleet turned to snow the higher we climbed and it just kept coming down. May 5 and it's snowing. Unbelievable. Predictably, as we crested 5,300 feet, the landscape changed from spring foliage to a dense pine forest. That was when we saw our first two wild ponies. Survivor came running back along the trail with his pack off yelling that two ponies, a mother and her foal, were chasing him. These harmless, beautiful animals were just looking for food and hardly noticed us. We didn't have any sweat for them to lick off anyway since the temperature was down in the 30s and I was hiking in a bathing suit, a t-shirt, and a rain jacket. The trail skirted the summit of Mt. Rogers by about a half mile and brought us into Grayson Highlands State Park. The gently falling snow had now turned into an all out blizzard. High winds and thick, wet snow flakes and high winds of bombarded us as we picked our way across the rocky, exposed landscape. We were not allowed to make camp within the state park and the shelter was full, so Survivor and I quickly crossed the boundary and set up camp in a dense thicket of rhododendrons to give us some relief from the wind. All through the night, we heard the loud clumps of snow falling off the branches and onto our tents. That night, the 20 degree bag that smells like it is stored in a bucket of human waste was the most comfortable thing I've ever experienced after freezing all day. It's really tough to convey how wonderful that thing is without experiencing it firsthand. Princess Peach, Hot Toddie and Brandon managed to find us and set up alongside our tents. Peach singing "I want a rich, dumb, young nymphomaniac" (our perverted marching song) at the top of his lungs was more than enough to herald his approach. In one sense, we were robbed of the magnificent views provided by the state park, but in an entirely different sense, we got to push ourselves through a cold, windy, wet winter storm across a unique section of trail and that was immensely satisfying. Especially when you throw in the wild card that is wild ponies roaming the fields next to us for food in the middle of a storm. It was a crazy, unexpected, and fun day, but the winter weather should actually be behind us now. We will see.
Date: 2016-05-06
From: Campsite north of Grayson Highlands State Park

To: Campsite north of Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 23.6

May 6, 2016 - Crawling out of my sleeping bag seemed impossible with frigid air blowing under my rain fly, but somehow I managed to extricate myself and begin packing up all of my gear. Most of it actually stayed pretty dry - I've got my system down to such a routine that it's actually fairly easy to keep everything dry even when setting up and taking down in inclement weather. Today, the goal was to push ourselves about 23 miles so a short hike tomorrow would allow us to hitch into Marion, VA for a quick resupply. The weather finally started to warm up around mid morning and the sun was definitely doing its best to come out. When it finally did, the sunshine was short lived and it started to rain again. This teasing cycle continued a few times throughout the afternoon and evening. Frankly, this is a pain in the ass because you're constantly putting on your rain jacket and then taking it off. Finally, after the third time, I just said screw it and let it rain on me. Honestly, the highlight of today was the release of the new Goo Goo Dolls album 'Boxes' so I continually checked for service until I could download the new songs. The album definitely made the rain more bearable. I also made a long overdue call to the foot doctor, Dr. Wallack, whose office is across the way from my Dad's office. I explained the issues I've been having and how the new shoes and insoles have definitely helped with the pains near the ball of my left foot due to better arch support. However, I am still experiencing some discomfort and occasional stabs of pain down there. His cell phone diagnosis is that the bone in that region of my foot is broken. That's comforting. Seriously, though. I would very much prefer that to a muscle or tendon issue. This is just pain and that can be dealt with. We missed Trail Magic at one of the road crossings, but still caught the Angels in time for some conversation. One of the ladies actually has a triple crown under her belt, which means she thru-hiked the AT, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). That's pretty unfathomable at this point on the AT. I mistakenly set up camp at a premature campsite to the one we were aiming for so everyone else grumbled while they set up in the adjacent spots. The site had a stream running right next to it and enough flat spots. I mean, come on (the campsite we were supposed to stay at ended up being like 200 yards up on the left. Whoops.).I split my Pecan Log (an incredible dessert that I've been missing my whole life) with Survivor and then proceeded to make some dinner. The day before a resupply is great because you can binge on everything in your food bag and binge we did. Survivor and I split a homemade Thai noodle dish (Ramen without the seasoning packet mixed with peanut butter, olive oil and hot sauce), a bag of loaded mashed potatoes and some hot chocolate. Delicious.
Date: 2016-05-07
From: Campsite north of Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: broken clouds

May 7, 2016 - Resupply day! A short 6 mile hike brought us to the Partnership Shelter near Marion, VA. This shelter was similar to the Fontana 'Hilton' shelter in that it had a sink and shower with solar heated water and a nearby bathroom. Unfortunately, there hasn't been sun in about 3 days so my shower was ice cold. St. Nick, Princess Peach and myself had all these plans for a fast food crawl of Hardee's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Sonic when we noticed a Chinese menu on the picnic table. Buffet from 11 am to 2 pm. Hell yes! St. Nick and I hitched a ride in a back of a pick up truck from a gentleman named Mike and soon found ourselves with loaded plates of the good stuff. We were only on our third plate when the rest of the gang joined us. Our favorite anecdote dish was the 'Cucumber Salad', which was just a tray full of pickles. I resupplied at the adjacent Ingles supermarket and Wal-Mart. Everyone agreed to pitch in and get a meal and beer for later that night at the shelter. We had Bubba burgers courtesy of Survivor, corn on the cob courtesy of myself, hash browns courtesy of Peach, baked beans courtesy of Songbird, and s'mores courtesy of Hot Toddie. There was plenty of craft beer from Trouble brewing company to wash it all down. Peach also impulse purchased this game called Zombie Dice at Wal-Mart that turned out to be a blast. It was an excellent meal and definitely worth doing only a 6 mile day.
Date: 2016-05-08
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Crawfish Trail Campsite
Miles today: 18.4

May 8, 2016 - Mother's Day! I made sure to check for service today so I could wish my Mom well on her day. The sun actually managed to come out today though that may have been due to Songbird's sun dance. We're still not sure. Our plan on this magical day was to push 26 miles to Knob Maul Shelter. That was before we received no less than 4 instances of trail magic. The first was about 8 miles in - we had just taken lunch when we realized that a family had set up a table outside an old one room school in a country lane with sandwiches, chips, sodas, salads, cookies and homemade banana pudding. There was also a loaded hiker box with literally anything you could need. On full bellies and with food comas setting in, we hiked through the small town of Atkins, VA. Peach and I stopped in at an Exxon to get a coffee to counteract the effects of the postprandial somnolence. When we walked out, Bad Apple and Sleeping Beauty pull up out of no where in a stranger's pick up truck. Some guy that gave them a hitch just gave them a truck for the day and said bring it back before 9 the next morning. They couldn't even tell us the stranger's name. They had just purchased a case of beer and were planning on stashing them in the woods for other hikers when they saw us. Naturally, we stopped, had a few beers and caught up with the Warrior Hikers who were taking a zero today.We managed to tear ourselves away only to find sodas stashed along the trail less than a mile later. We weren't done yet - less than a mile from there, someone left a big bag of cookies on the hood of their car with a nice note. Since we were so stuffed, we decided to take some for the campfire later. In the end, our 26 mile day turned into just over 18, but honestly, that's impressive considering our late start and the ridiculous string of trail magic that eats into the day. Another super enjoyable day - they never end out here.
Date: 2016-05-09
From: Crawfish Trail Campsite

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: clear sky

May 9, 2016 - We had big plans for miles yet again today as we left our campsite. Survivor and I left camp early and nearly had 12 miles done before noon. My only regret that morning was not swimming in a river that we passed so when I saw a second river around lunch time, I had no choice. I stripped and belly flopped off a little ledge into the refreshing water. Beast, St. Nick, and Sassy were alarmed for a second until I got out completely covered in mud. Getting dirtier was not what I had in mind so I crossed to the rockier side of the stream and properly cleaned myself off. Later on that day, Survivor and I were walking through the woods when we were startled by an extremely loud sound similar to an incoming missile. We both reacted on instinct and threw ourselves down behind a nearby rock. When we chanced a glance upward, we saw a fighter jet fly by just above the tree line. The trees actually swayed and split apart a bit due to the force of the jet stream. It was freaking awesome - I couldn't stop talking about it all day. While Survivor and I were set on walking more miles, Sassy had brought up a good point - we needed to catch a hitch into Damascus for Trail Days in two days. It's tough to catch a hitch in the middle of the woods so we needed to position ourselves near a major highway. Bland, VA was the best place to do this, but it was only 20 miles away. Because of these hitchhiking logistics, we ended up stopping about 7 miles short of our original goal at Chestnut Knob Shelter. The shelter was one of the only completely enclosed shelters on the trail because it was situated on top of a bald. I set up my tent on a grassy patch overlooking a beautiful valley filled with farms and completely enclosed by mountains. Honestly, the view we had was like one of those backgrounds they put behind you at one of those mall photo shoots. It just didn't look real. The campfire that night was a hell of a good time. Sushi, Sassy, Songbird, Chicken Feet (a hysterical, old Asian man that retired the day before he started hiking), Hot Toddie, Princess Peach, Survivor, and St. Nick finished up some s'mores from our party at Partnership shelter and played some more Zombie Dice.
Date: 2016-05-10
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Campsite
Miles today: 15.1

May 10, 2016 - The revised, pre-Trail Days plan was to walk a pleasant 15.1 miles to a campsite by Laurel Creek, about 7 miles from Bland. As I left Chestnut Knob Shelter, I heard a crash in the woods off to my right. I had scared a pretty medium sized black bear that took off running through the trees. Still, my first black bear on the trip. A moose is still number one on my list, though. I'm a very fast hiker. I mean when I get going full speed, I have not had a single person pass me in about 600 miles regardless of the terrain. That was until today. I was on cruise control when I heard snapping twigs behind me and immediately thought there was a large animal behind me. Nope. It was Nature Boy, this tall, lanky hiker with the smallest pack I've seen on trail. He didn't just pass me, he flew past me and even jogged every few steps. Needless to say, that was the last I saw of him. The rest of the hike was uneventful as I finished 15.1 miles in 5 hours flat. I arrived at the Laurel Creek campsite early in the afternoon and I was very glad I did because the river was perfect for swimming and laying out in the sun. I quickly set up my tent and doubled back to the stream to take a bath, swim and try to even out my severe hiker tan. I was soon joined by Sassy, St. Nick, Chicken Feet, Sushi, the Tenacious Tripod, Hot Toddie, and the Goon Squad (Sundance, Muffinman, Q-tip, Romeo, and Scarecrow. We were also joined by this kid named The Gatherer. His reputation has preceded him - he never stops talking. As this was the first time I met him, I had a little trouble keeping a straight face. Oh well, every group has its Karen (what up, Dane Cook).