morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-05
From: Glasgow, VA

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

So after hhitting up the breakfast bar we headed out. Debra, domino's girlfriend, gave us a ride to the trail. It was hard to get motovated for the climbing that we knew the mountains had in store for us. Glasgow was the lowest elevation we had been at silence we started at 735 feet. It seemed like we climbed all day and the 90 degree heat and high humidity made it miserable. We took a break only about 2 miles in at the first shelter. We were there for at least an hour letting the heat of the day pass. We took our time and drank alot of water and made it to the shelter around 6. there was a really nice pond that was over run nwithh bull frogs that croaked all night long. We sat up our tents and had a fire for bug control. We cooked hot dogs that Moose packed in.
Date: 2005-06-06
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Hog Camp gap
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: clear sky

I was up and out of the shelter as soon as I could be. I knew that iit was goingn to be another hot day and I wanted to knock out as many miles as I could before it got to hot. I had told everyone else that i would meet them at the creek. I got there and filled up my water bladder and took a refreshing bath in the stream. i finished that and then moose, piker and mileage showed up. We stayed there for about an hour cooling off and letting the heat pass. We cooled off but the heat did not pass but we continued. I had a butterfly riding on my shoulder from the creek for about 20 minutes before he got bored and moved on, but it was nice to have company for a while. We hiked around the resivoir where we were not allowd to swim, but we found a nice spot with a waterfall and a pool. the water was refreshing and gave us the energy to make it to the shelter for lunch. We took a long lunchh before we started out 3000 foot plus climb. 700 foot into the climb we got to a road where there was a note addressed to all of us. It was from Squid. It said that he had to get off the trail because his brother was getting married and he was going to be an uncle. This was all news to all of us and obviously to him as well, but he did leave us some beer hidden by the trail. We enjoyed a hot beer then started the huge climb. This climb kicked all of our butts and we were beat at the top. The skies started to cloud over and started to rumble but it only sprinkled on us. By the time we reached the shelter we planned on staying at, the skies were blue and we decided to move 2.5 miles closer to our destination. We got to camp and set up alng with TDS, Loose Goose, Jaybird, annd section hiker. They hahd a fire going so we cooked and enjoyed the swings that someone had tied in the trees.
Date: 2005-06-07
From: Hog Camp gap

To: Dutch Haus B&B
Miles today: 10.0

So I was up with the sun and out by 6:25 iin route for the free lunch hfor thru hikers a little over 10 miles out. i left the crew sleeping. I walked alone most of the morning and got to see alot more wildlife than usual. I Isaw a huge whitetail sprinting along the trail and a turkey flew by me as I hhad a snickers for breakfast. TDS caught up with me a couple miles before Seely Woodworth shelter. We ran into Stiilts and Apple pie who were just getting up and hhaving a morning snack. i made it to the road to the B&B arounnd 10, but had to walk about a mile on a gravel road before getting a ride. I had lunch hat the B&B with TDS, loose goose, section hiker, and sundance kid. Afte3r the lunch I decided to stay here. I got a hot shower while they washed my clothes. Then I slipped into a cotton robe to wait for my laundry. It was great to wear something othher than the one pair of shorts and one of the two shhirts i am carrying. I went to othe store and saw moose walking up the road. He said he was going to stay, and then piker and mileage showed up and decided to stay. We all sat around in our robes. actually I still am as I type, life is good.
Date: 2005-06-07
From: Dutch Haus B&B

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I want to use this to just talk about whatever, and give my 2 cents about the trip so far. I am honestly having the time of my life, and I would not be able to do it without my parents who have helped me out so much. I will never be able to give them back what they have helped me achieve by doing this.I would also like to say that it is a real pleasure hearing from people. I don't care if I know them or not, it is good to have support from everyone. I love getting emails, letters and maildrops from people. I have met some really neat people out here. I have met some people that I am sure will remain some of my good friends for the remainder of my life. If you have any desire to ever do this, or something similar, I encourage it.It seems llike I am living a dream out here, I have no worries, no deadliines, no schedule, nowhere I ihave to be at any certin time. I know that when this trip is over that I will have to go back to being normal with responsibilities, but until then I Ifully intend to enjoy every moment out here.I was not sure when I came out here what I was searching for, and I am still not sure but being out here with time to think and people to talk to, I have realized a few things about myself. I do not have to have money or fancy things to be happy. The most important thing I think is just doing what makes you happy and surrounding yourself with people who really care about you and that you care about. My family and friends really do care about me, and though I have taken it for granted before, I don't intend to let the moments that i have with them slip away in the future. These are just a few of the things that I have come to reconize out here. I have many more things that I am sure I will include in the future, but these are the things that come to mind now.
Date: 2005-06-09
From: Tye River

To: Humpback Picnic area
Miles today: 0.0

everyne stared to stir about the same time. I fixed some oatmeal and got packed up. Moose was the first one out but I caught him about 1/2 a mile into the climb up three ridges. This was a tough climb that seemed to last forever. All together it took us about 2.5 hours to climb to the summit which was a big dissapointment since there were no views from its wooded summit. The best thing about the climb is that as soon as we started up the steep part it started to pour rain which was welcome on this very hot day. We stopped at Maupin Field shelter for a late lunch before moving on as far as we could in order to cut miles off our trip into Waynesboro to meet Dad tomorrow. We were stopped at Three Ridges Overlook taking a short break when we ran into a guy going south that told us about a picnic area that was not in our guidebook. Apparently there were bathrooms there with a water fountain. Priceless when you are used to finding a stream for water. Mileage asked Piker if he was ready to move on down the trail and he told her that we should wait for someone to stop and give us something. He was just kidding, but as soon as the words came out of his mouth a car pulled into the parking lot. The lady driving, Pam, stopped and rolled down her window and said, "that is what I like to see, a bunch of thru-hikers sitting around waiting for trail magic!" we all laughed at that. Then she pulled off and unloaded a big box of goodies, Pepsi, brownies, honey buns, tootsie rolls, and much more and told us to help ourselves. This was too ironic, but welcome jsut the same. she also gave piker an alcohol stove which he was wanting for the summer to replace his heavier one. full of sweets we headed down the trail. This section was tough, not because of the climbs, but the rocks that were wet from rain. this made them really slippery. I managed to make it with falling, I wish I could say the same for Piker who had a little more trouble. We got to the picnic area a little before dark. There was nowhere to tent, and the storm was starting to get bad, so we did what any thru hiker would do and set up camp in the bath house. I told them that I was not above sleeping on a bathroom floor. this trail is about the ecperiences and stories, right? Freedom showed up after dark and Moose and Jaybird made room for her in the ladies restroom since Piker mileage and I were in the mens.
Date: 2005-06-10
From: Humpback Picnic area

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I was up at 5:30 and I thik that I woke everyone else up in the process and for this I apologize. I cooked up some oatmeal and was on the trail by 6:30. I had 13 miles or so to town. I used the last of my fuel cooking breakfast so it was either cold ramen or make it to town for the Chinese Buffett. I chose the later of the two and got my feet moving. I saw about 100 orange salamanders in the trail today. No matter how many I see i still get excited, they are awesome. The hike into town was not that bad so I did it with east and was there by 11:30. I stopped at the Visitors center and they called someone to give mne a ride into town. He showed me around town and dropped me off at the Quality Inn where I was going to get a room and get cleaned up before I went to eat. I thanked him and went in as he drove off. I found out that they were all booked up and there were no other hotels around. So without a ride, I walked to the Buffett to eat. I ran into Stilts, Bassline, and Clearwater eaing so I joined them. In order to pass the time til I culd find out a way to get to the other hotels, I came to the library and did this. I talked to Dad right after I got into town and he was still 500 miles away so it will be late before he gets here with a car, oh what to do.
Date: 2005-06-11
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We zeroed in town to get all our stuff in order and rest a bit. We all went to the outfitter and spent more money that we intended. After all was said and done I left Waynesboro with a new summer sleeping bag, new gaiters, new shoes (went up a size), and more. It will be good to cut some weight on my pack. Not that it will be any lighter I will probably find more toys to take the place of what I lost.
Date: 2005-06-12
From: Waynesboro, VA Rockfish Gap

To: Calf Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

We all got up and had the continental breakfast at the hotel and started packing up. We had so many people and so much stuff to take that we were going to have to make several trips to get everyone shuttled where they needed to go. We also had to find a way to shuttle our car up skyline drive and get back. We started taking people to Weasies for another breakfast. Freedom and Thatch were at the hotel and needed to get into town so we gave them a ride as well. While we were at Weasies I called a trail angel and they said that they could help us get the car shuttled. So we all ate and the trail angel showed up. Dad and I took the car while everyone else waited at Rockfish Gap. We got it taken care of and got back to the Gap around noon and started hiking the few miles to the shelter. Dad had to take it slow but seemed to be enjoying himself and seemed glad that he made it out. Mileage was feeling sick but was not sure what the problem was. They were not sure how far they would be able to make it today. Dad and I were actually ahead of them for a while. We all met up for a break and she said she was feeling a bit better. We all ate a light lunch on top of the mountain. When we were getting ready to go I hit dad in the nose with my trekking pole on accident. I did not hit him hard but it was hard enough to break the skin on the bridge of his nose. I felt bad but it did not seem to bother him. We made it to the shelter with no real problems, just taking it slow on the up hills so dad could keep up. I ended up asleep at 6:30 in the shelter.
Date: 2005-06-13
From: Calf Mt. Shelter

To: Blackrock Gap
Miles today: 0.0

Dad and I were out of the shelter and on the trail at 6:45 this morning. We wanted to get an early start because dad would be slow and we did not want to be in a rush to get to the car that was parked at Blackrock gap. We ate breakfast at the trailhead out of the shelter and started our day. It was nice hiking, the climbs were not bad but we took our time and stopped several time so dad could rest. He seemed to be enjoying himself. We saw a turkey strutting across the woods and across the trail. I snapped a few pictures and kept moving. I finally started moving ahead of dad and just waiting for him ahead on the trail. He had just caught up with me and we started hiking again when I rounded a corner just ahead of him and walked upon a peacock walking north on the trail. It caught me off guard since that was one of the last things I expected to see out here. I followed it for a while trying to get a few good pictures while dad rested. We hiked on but dad's knee started to bother him and he decided that he could not go on. He said I should go ahead and get the car and come back to get him. He said to take my time while he relaxed in his hammock. We had not seen the rest of the group all day and hoped they would catch up soon. I got to the car and came back to meet dad. He had fallen asleep so he had no clue how long I had been gone. We packed up and drove around for a while. When we passed that gap again we saw everyone sitting there. We pulled in and they were excited to tell us about their bear sighting. I was jealous since I had not seen one yet, but was glad that they got to see one. They threw a lot of their stuff in the car and hiked the last three miles of the day. We decided to stay at Loft Mtn campground that was just up the road. Mileage and I took the car and picked out a spot then I went back and picked Dad, moose and piker up. We got a message from Squid Jerky that said he would be in Daleville this evening around 6:30. We planned on going to pick him up so he could rejoin the group and we would be complete again. After we got all our stuff set up at camp dad and I left to go get him. On the way there we stopped in Waynesboro and ate at Shoneys. It was about an hour drive to get him but it gave me time to make some phone calls. Squid was at the Comfort Inn on the Internet when we pulled up. We got back to the campground late that evening and most everyone was in bed but they got up to see him. We sat around and talked for a while before going to bed. I slept in the car.
Date: 2005-06-14
From: Blackrock Gap

To: Ivy Creek Overlook
Miles today: 0.0

We got up this morning and decided that since dad would be hanging out all day with nothing to do that we would slack pack and have him meet us with water drops. We all took nothing. We all figured that if we were going to slack pack that we would do it right. For some reason trail running sounded like a good idea at the time. It was not bad the first 8.8 miles or so to the campground where we were staying, but after a break there in the heat of the afternoon we all regretted it. While we were waiting out the heat the sun started to beat down on our campground with no shade so dad moved his tent into the shade to take a nap and we moved all our food to the table next to us in the shade to eat. While we were finishing up lunch and getting ready to lay down for a nap a lady who worked at the campground pulled up and got rude and tried to make us pay for a second campsite since we were using the table. We explained that we were just getting out of the heat since it was over 90 degrees in the sun. She was really rude about it and so we told her that we would just move our stuff back to our site. It made no sense to us since the campground was nowhere close to full. We wanted to knock out some more miles this afternoon so after the heat had passed and we were rested, we left to do 11 more miles. Squid and I were the last ones out of camp and caught us to Piker and Mileage sitting at an overlook a couple miles in. His knee was hurting him so bad he could not continue. He felt dumb for running and questioned what made him think at the time that it was a good idea. We hiked to the next road crossing and Squid and I hitched to meet dad and went back and picked up everyone else. We all went back to the campground to rest and eat.
Date: 2005-06-16
From: Lewis Mtn campground

To: Lewis Mtn campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Thurs 6/16/05 Lewis Mtn campgroundPikers knee is still hurt so we did not hike out this morning.   Dad, moose, squid and I went up to the wayside at Big Meadows and ate breakfast. We came back and hung out for a while then did a load of laundry at the camp store at the campground.
Date: 2005-06-17
From: Lewis Mtn campground

To: Lewis Mtn campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We took a zero at the campground while Piker and Mileage hiked the miles up to here to catch up with the rest of us. Jaybird, who is now Warlock, stayed here too so we all decided to do a few side trails. We all went up to the rock scramble and 360 degree viewpoint. This was really neat and gave us a great view of the entire SNP it seemed. We also walked to a waterfall that was a bit disappointing for the amount of walking we had to do to get there. After this we had lunch at the Wayside at Big Meadows and went back to the campground. We were hanging out throwing the Frisbee and hacking when piker and mileage made it back. They had a good hike and we were all glad to be back at the same place on the trail again.
Date: 2005-06-19
From: rock spring shelter

To: byrds Nest 3
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

I woke up this morning to everyone in the shelter getting ready to hike out. There was alot of comotion with everyone talking about the visitor we had during the night that I slept right through. according to the stories I heard a bear walked into camp in the middle of the night. a hiker that was jsut sleeping on the ground behind the shelter woke up and started yelling at it and throwing rocks to scare it away. Piker head this noise and threw on his shorts to go investigate. to his surprise when he got outside the tent there was a big black bear staring him right in the eyes. I think he was a little freaked out to say the least. everyone escaped unharmed and we got to continue another day of hiking. squid and I were the first two of our group to leave the shelter. We walekd for a mile or so and saw a nice rock ledge with a nice palce to sit. We were eating a snack and talking about how we still had not seen a bear and it seemed as though everyone else had when we heard the sound of leaves cracking and twigs breaking. we jumped up and walked toward where we heard the sound but saw nothing. We sat back down and I had just finished telling him that I was ready to see more wildlife that I had not seen, (bear, or anything else)when we heard the noise again and all of a sudden in front of us an the trail about 10 yeard away stood a large bobcat. I grabbed my camera and started towards it. It was walking down the trail and we followed it but were unable to get close. I was able to get a picture and a video of it from a distance before it ran off out of sight. this got my blood pumping and got me excited again. I knew that this was much more uncommon that a bear and was glad that I got to see it. We headed on down and waited for everyone else at the horse stables. When everyone showed up we decided to go to the lodge and grab lunch before moving on. After a good lunch I called dad to wish him a happy fathers day even though I had just seen him yesterday. we hiked out and crossed the pentacles which were awesome rock formations. We moved on but Pikers knee was still bothering him and he was not sure how much farther he could make it so we decided to find a spot to camp. We came on a picnic shelter where there was no overnight camping but we found a tentsite up the trail from there according to regulations and set up. we spent the night in the shelter where we built a fire in the fireplace, which is perfectly legal for any one that doubts our ethics. We had a good night of laughs as we sat around and told stories.
Date: 2005-06-20
From: byrds Nest 3

To: 3/4 mile past Hog wallow gap
Miles today: 17.5

We all slept in this morning. I think I finally got to stirring around 10:30. I felt really good to rexax in my tent and catch up on some sleep. we had no visitors that we know of last night, which I was kind of happy about. I had bacon on a baglt for breakfast before packing up my stuff for a late start. Our plan for the day was to go to gravel springs shelter which would be about 17 miles and I was getting a late start. squid and i left and got to Marys rock area where there are enormus rock formation that seem to stick up above all the trees. We decided that we should climb to the top of the first one to see what kind of views we could see from there. When we got to the top we were right above the trail and saw Piker mileage and moose heading our way. we said hi to them from up above and then headed back down. we had a long downhill after this that put a hurt on my feet. I had used up most of the battery in my camera last night goofing off and needed to find a place to recharge it. we stopped in at Pamorama which was closed down but I searched around the building for the possibility of an outlet. I did not find one but I duid run accross a dead rattlesnake on the back porch. I cut the rattler off of it for a keepsake and went on to continue my search. Just after Panorama we got some trail magic in the form of root beer. there were only 2 left so moose Squid and I split one. we were ahead of Piker and mileage quite a ways and made it to the wayside store. I got a pepsi and the girl was kind enough to let me charge my battery while I waited for piker and mileage. they never showed and we were cutting it close on time to make it to the shelter which was 5+ miles from here. We left and hoped that they would be able to make it. We got to the shelter but it was packed full of boy scouts and there was no where to camp. there were about 5 hikers there and about 15 scouts. We had no choice but to move on and find a place to camp. In order to do this we would have to night hike and add miles onto our 17 miles we had already done. so Squid, Moose, Warlock and I took off. we left a note for Piker and mileage telling them our plan. We caught a great sunset from the ridge where we took a break and moved on. While we were taking another break around 10 at hog wallow gap a Park ranger stopped after seeing our head lamps. she asked if everything was ok and we told her our situation. she said that the boy scouts were not supposed to be in the shelters and that she would say something to them in the morning. She said to follow the park regulations the best we could when it came to camping but under the current situation not to worry about them too much. we found a place that wouled accomidate all 4 of us and set up camp. I ate while Moose set up the ten that we shared due to lack of space. I knew I could look forward to a good nights sleep after doing more than 20 miles today.
Date: 2005-06-21
From: 3/4 mile past Hog wallow gap

To: front royal, VA
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

so we slept in again and when we were getting ready a few hikers came by and said that Piker and Mileage were just behind them. we decided to wait until they got there to break camp. we got all packed up and jsut then we saw them comming down the trail. We all talked for a while and they said that they may get off trail before front royal and go to the hostel. they were not sure on their plan and alot of it depended on Pikers Knee. they said they may go on into town with us if he could make it. He started to feel better after a few miles and was ready to get out of SNP as much as we were so they said that they could go on. We got to the road and got a ride in about 2 minutes from a cool girl. We all crammed in the back of her truck and went to the post office where Piker and Mileage had a couple packages waiting for them. from there we walked to a mexican restaraunt where we all had a huge lunch/dinner. We all split a room at the cheapest place we could find.