morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-09
From: Little Irish Creek Campsite

To: Waynesboro, Virginia
Miles today: 6.5

Today started out great with a trail magic breakfast! I think I got out of the tent the earliest I have in a month, before eight. The couple promised we¢d be awoken by the smells of bacon and coffee and indeed we were. It was great¢it¢s always so astonishing to be met by trail magic from people who have really no reason to overwhelm us with such generosity and hospitality. This couple honeymooned near this spot twenty years ago. They come back every year for about a week and feed hikers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Craziness. It was great for us too because we have such problems waking up early and this way we were able to make it into Buena Vista in time to meet my parents.We only had six miles to walk, but they were a cool six miles. For two miles we walked along this river that had been the center of a freed slave community a hundred years ago. There wasn¢t much left other than fallen down stone, but it¢s so interesting to be surrounded by history. The only sad part was wondering if they had been thrown off the land so that the trail could exist. That¢s what the National Park Service doesn¢t tell you on its placards.When we got to the road, we got a hitch almost immediately, even though we had been warned it was a tough hitch. Our ride was a local environmentalist who owned a house that was completely sustainable in the middle of the woods. He fought local power companies and logging companies trying to keep development out of the land.Then Buena Vista¢it was a really cute little town with a quaint downtown. We hung out at the post office and the park and aired our stinky feet until my parents arrived. Also went wandering through some great thrift shops. Evidently Buena Vista is very near Washington and Lee University where one of my good friends from high school went.Tonight we¢re at my uncle¢s house in Waynesboro, the first leg of a trip that will take us all the way north to Hanover, where my brother is graduating, and where we¢ll follow the course of the trail, essentially. It¢ll be weird to drive all these states before we hike them. It will mainly make the trail feel very long.
Date: 2004-06-17
From: Waynesboro, Virginia

To: Hog Camp Gap Campsite
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: few clouds

We¢re back on the trail, after a full week off. And obviously, not quite up to speed yet. My parents dropped us off this morning. We had the ambitious plan of doing 19 miles today, but then started talking, and after only a week off, that first 1,000-foot climb was hard for me. And when it started pouring rain and we found a great little spot with water and where other tents were pitched we just decided to stop. It actually feels fairly good even though the rain cleared before it got dark. Better to ease back into hiking. It felt weird being off for a week, too. It was great seeing my parents and brother and sister and going to my brother¢s graduation, but it was weird being in a trail town, seeing the blazes, and not being a thruhiker. The unlimited food was weird, too. Good, but weird. I felt vaguely guilty every time I ate a meal for not having hiked before it. And people annoyed me more and more. I think being in large groups of people after the trail will be intolerable.
Date: 2004-06-19
From: Tye River Campsite

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: scattered clouds

A short day today, in recompense for yesterday. Neither of us felt like walking today, partly because of yesterday¢s night hike, I think. We didn¢t get started until noon, as usual, and we just missed trail magic at the Tye River. This couple was actually crossing with coolers as we set out and County even wondered aloud if we were missing trail magic, it being Saturday and at a road, but neither of us were brave or energetic enough to ask. So we missed it. We found out from people staying at our shelter later that day, and the trail angels were even complaining that they hadn¢t seen any hikers.It was still a beautiful day, though. I passed through this section where for some reason the trees seemed twice as tall and twice as straight. The trail seemed like an iridescent green cathedral with the trees stretching up to heaven on both sides of the trail. I just wanted to stop and worship.Being miserable and tired and worried about finishing is so antithetical to the spirit of the trail. Sometimes I feel like I¢m hiking the trail all wrong. Sometimes I think thru-hiking is all wrong. I feel like I should just let the trail guide me, not worry about miles or time, and just stop when the trail is beautiful and walk when the trail compels me. That if I trust it, the trail will guide me into the arms of Katahdin like a mother. But I just can¢t trust it enough. I can¢t let go of control enough. I have to know my mileage and I insist on worrying about finishing. I keep working, though. Maybe this is what the trail is teaching me.So, we ended up getting to this empty shelter at about nine miles, cooking, and deciding to stay, even though there were hours of daylight left. Two thru-hikers showed up before dark, K-Dog and Yoga Monkey. Yoga Monkey is an older female yoga instructor who started the trail on May 6. Craziness. Definitely a different spirit than my seven-and-a-half-month thru hike. She¢s on a faster than four-month pace. I never thought I¢d be lapped by a May starter. April, yes, but not May. Still, though, it was a good night. Some much needed relaxing, and there was reading material in the shelter.
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Waynesboro, Virginia

To: Stealth campsite near Skyline Drive
Miles today: 0.0

So it¢s been a couple of days¢we hiked through Waynesboro, stopped briefly to resupply and eat some town food, and moved on into Shenandoah National Park. Just outside of Waynesboro we hiked up Humpback Rocks, these cliffs I had climbed as a child and had complained about the whole time. I promised I¢d take a picture at the top for my parents, and I did, of me reading a book at the top. I had wanted to read instead of hike as a kid. The frustrating thing was that our guidebook (the Thruhiker¢s Handbook, by the infamous Wingfoot) was more than a mile off, and what we thought were Humpback Rocks were not really Humpback Rocks at all. So we took another picture of me on the real Humpback Rocks looking very unhappy. I think those rocks are doomed to curse me. It definitely put a kink in our day.We also walked a five-mile or so stretch into Waynesboro that was supposedly haunted. There are a lot of allegedly haunted sections of trail. In this one the only weird thing was a huge blow-down that hadn¢t been cleared and around which there was no trail. We resupplied entirely out of a hiker box in Waynesboro, and ate at Gavid¢s, a fantastic AYCE where my parents had also taken us when we had driven through.Now we¢re at long last in the Shenandoah. Everything does feel different here. More sophisticated somehow. It may just be that the trail is better maintained and the forest better preserved. The hiking is incredibly easy, too. The grades are fantastic, and we¢re walking on ridges the whole time, so you¢re always looking out over the river valley. Camping is a little tricky, though. You¢re supposed to camp a quarter-mile from all roads and you cross Skyline Drive twenty times a day. We may end up mostly stealth-camping. We¢ve been warned about bears, too, because there¢s supposed to be a ton here. At the huts (they¢re called huts in the Park) they have bear poles to hang your food.
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Stealth campsite near Skyline Drive

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

Another big mile day. They¢re easy to do here because of the terrain. And we saw three bears!!! My first bear sighting in the wild ever. It was raining this morning as we packed up and during our first couple of miles we saw a huge bear lumbering off to our right. I had heard that most bear in the Appalachians are no more than five feet tall, and I heard other people describing them as looking like Rottweilers. So I really wasn¢t expecting something this big. It probably weighed 700 pounds, both County and I agreed. It didn¢t seem bothered by us though or threatening. Then, later in the day, we saw two more together, more average-sized. They ran off when they heard us, but stayed near the trail where we could see them and kept eating. People weren¢t kidding about bear in the Shenandoah.The deer here are incredible, too. You can get within five feet of them. County wants to try to touch one. A lot of them are young bucks. Today at one point we saw a young buck and doe, and as we passed the doe was in front of us on the trail, and we were following her, and the buck got behind us and was following us. People aren¢t very impressed by deer stories, I guess, but it¢s very cool being this close to them. We got to the hut fairly late, almost at dark, but there wasn¢t any very bad night-hiking.Another problematic part of the Shenandoah, both financially and time-wise, is that there are stores everywhere along the trail. We passed one tonight at a campground and bought ice cream and chips and ended up hanging out for about an hour. Otherwise we would have been in camp a lot earlier.
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Another twenty-mile day, and this one on a day when I had to go into town to pick up a mail-drop. An advantage to staying at shelters is that other people in the shelter generally wake us up. So we had a relatively early start today and got to the road where we had to hitch to my maildrop with relative ease. We couldn¢t figure out where exactly the town was, but two wonderful women came by and offered to drive us down to town and give us a ride back. We even stopped by McDonald¢s and got food to go. A wonderful break in the middle of the day and my easiest mail-drop pick-up ever. It enabled us to make it to the next hut for a twenty-mile day. And, on the way there at dusk, we saw another bear! This one was right on the trail, facing us, and there was a weird moment of silence as we all confronted each other. Then the bear ran like crazy off to the right. He was an average-sized one again, and he watched us as we crossed the blow-down he had been behind. We continue to see deer all the time, very close up. No night-hiking today, again, which proves that if we get up early enough we can do twenty-mile days no problem.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Stealth campsite by Big Meadows
Miles today: 8.0

A short day today--mainly because we found out last night at the hut that there was going to be trail magic at the Big Meadows picnic area tonight. We had read something about a steak-and-chicken dinner in one of the registers, but I hadn¢t believed it until we ran into the church group providing the trail magic at the hut last night. So an easy day. It¢s worth it for steak! A cool thing was that as we were leaving the shelter we saw a doe just to our left. We stopped a moment to fellowship with it, and as we got ready to leave, I saw a fawn off to our right. It was tiny--about the size of a Chihuahua. Still with spindly legs and white dots on its back. Just how they look in pictures. A great way to start the day. And a great way to end the day, too--the barbecue was scheduled for five and when we got there they already had the barbecue running with actual marinated steaks and chicken breasts. They also had baked potatoes cooked on the grill and salad and rolls. It was amazing. Definitely the best trail magic yet. And, they let us get seconds before they even got in line. And, they gave us massages! Two of the girls were walking around with massage balls and gave us really long massages. It made it difficult to focus on the food. After that we decided it wasn¢t worth it to move on so we stealth-camped near the picnic area. I¢m getting less antsy about the Shenandoah camping restrictions. All in all, a pretty incredible day.
Date: 2004-06-26
From: Stealth campsite by Big Meadows

To: Stealth campsite near Skyland
Miles today: 8.1

Another short day, this one without valid excuse. We woke up really late this morning, partly because of tiredness and partly because of being so far off the beaten track with the stealth campsite. Generally people walking by will wake us up. So we decided to stop at Skyland anyway as it¢s a famous part of the history of the park. The rich used to vacation there as the land for the park was slowly taken away from local farmers to make Skyline Drive and the park. Herbert Hoover also supposedly had a famous resort up here. Anyway, we got here just about at sunset and went to eat at the restaurant. A little expensive, but worth it. Especially because the whole dining room is surrounded by windows and we were able to see an exquisite sunset over the valley as we were eating. After dinner, there was this wonderful old man playing folk music and old-time country in the lodge and we sat and listened to him for a while. It was fantastic¢made me feel like a civilized human being again. The man can¢t have been under seventy. What a great way to end your life, playing the music you love.
Date: 2004-06-28
From: Stealth campsite near Skyland

To: Stealth Campsite near Elkwallow Gap
Miles today: 18.1

A long day today, to make up for our short ones. I guess it was rather uneventful, as days in the Shenandoah are tending to be. There is beautiful scenery but easy terrain, which means we should be doing more miles than we are. We encountered some trail magic today, a cooler full of cold drinks left by a hiker we know who was taking some time off. And, more bear sightings today! We saw one this morning as we were leaving Skyland, surrounded on all sides by tourists on a little strip of land. It was a rather unimpressive specimen, and all I saw was its back and it was a little sad. That¢s how people get attacked, driving through, stopping their cars and surrounding bears on all sides with people and video cameras. I saw another one late in the day¢County was up ahead and I saw a bear cub off to my right. It bounded away when it saw me and climbed up a log and stared at me as I passed. It was extremely cute, exactly as you imagine a bear cub looking. It¢s funny how much of a surprise it is to me how much these animals look like their pictures. Tonight we¢re at our third or fourth stealth campsite in a row.Tonight we ended up running out of water and needing to go further than expected. We ran into night the last several miles, which always makes me unhappy, but ended up not having too many problems camping. And, we get breakfast in the morning at the wayside!
Date: 2004-06-29
From: Stealth Campsite near Elkwallow Gap

To: Campsite near Dickey Ridge Trail
Miles today: 13.9

I wanted to get out of the park today, but no such luck. We¢re only 1.8 miles from the boundary today, but it would have been nice psychologically to cross that boundary. We ended up getting a late start again today, not because we woke up late¢we woke up early enough to get breakfast at the Wayside¢but because we were seduced by the Wayside. After breakfast, we decided to wait until eleven to get lunch because we were unsatisfied by our breakfast sandwiches. Also, I really wanted to try one of the Shenandoah¢s legendary mountain blackberry shakes. So we got burgers and shakes, too, and ended up dawdling for hours. The rest of the day wasn¢t hard at all, but we realized we were going to run into dark so we decided to fill up at a spring and find a campsite. Then the next two springs marked in our book turned out to be dry. Extremely frustrating. Especially tonight for me¢I absolutely didn¢t want to be walking after dark, and I hate feeling like I have no other choice. Sometimes I¢d rather camp without water and go without supper than keep walking. But we did, found the next spring, and found a campsite right at dark.It was especially frustrating for me tonight because there was this exquisite sunset and we were walking past our last vista in the Shenandoah on our last night in the Shenandoah and if I had had any peace I could have enjoyed it. But I was so stressed out and worried that it was just a reminder of what I couldn¢t enjoy. Sometimes the trail is just as hard as the rest of life.
Date: 2004-07-01
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

To: Ashby Gap
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

July already, and another great day. We started late but moved quickly, intending to make eighteen today. It was a rather uneventful day¢we got some trail magic, just a coke someone had left in a stream, but still nice. We met another couple at a spring¢Michael and Nitro. When we first saw them, I thought immediately that they were section hikers because his shoes were new. Funny the conclusions you jump to. She¢s stopping at Harper¢s Ferry, and he has more time pressure than we do¢he has to make it to grad school by September 15. Anyway, we got to this road at Ashby Gap, where there was a barbecue restaurant 8/10 of a mile away, and the two of them already had a ride. So we threw our gear in the back of the pickup truck and went for dinner. An interesting side note is that the road is the boundary of the county that George Washington surveyed at the age of 19. As Wingfoot says, ¢¢¦he went on to found the United States of America. Where shall you go hence?¢ Which has got to be the best Wingfoot quote of all time. Someone should build an online automatic Wingfoot quote generator or write Wingfoot fanfic. Our noble author named after Hermes, the Greek God of thieves. Anyway, by the time we got done with dinner, it was nearly dark.A delicious dinner it was¢I ordered a side of baked potato instead of French fries for maybe the first time in my life. It just sounded so good to me. We met the owner outside, who was building a house right next to his restaurant, and he offered to let us stay there for the night. It was just a shelter, really¢no doors, sawdust on the floor, building materials everywhere, but it felt like the Taj Mahal to us. We hung out on the porch with Michael and Nitro outside and ate junk food and then went to bed. I¢m still stunned by how generous everyone on the trail is. And how trusting. We could totally trash this guy¢s house or sue him, and he totally trusts us to stay here. It¢s just the most amazing generosity and hospitality. I really didn¢t think people were like this anymore.
Date: 2004-07-02
From: Ashby Gap

To: Snickers Gap
Miles today: 14.1

Another amazing end to a day. It was a very uneventful day walking-wise-we got a ride to the trail early from the owner after breakfast and walked all morning, stopped and got water at a spring. Today was the legendary roller coaster-ten climbs in thirteen miles. They didn't really seem that difficult, though. We ended up at Bears Den Hostel, and decided not to head down the side trail because I had a maildrop at a road a half-mile down. We ended up not being able to get a hitch. As it turned out, it was good, because it was after five anyway and we couldn't have gotten the mail-drop.We decided to walk down instead to this tiny fourth-generation restaurant to see if someone would give us a ride. We were hungry, too, but when we got there we discovered that they didn't take credit cards and we didn't have cash. So we got in and ordered something for about two dollars, the cash we had. The waitress (who as it turned out, was also the owner) looked at us pityingly and said that if we didn't have cash we could order whatever we wanted from the menu and send her a check. We were both stunned. How could she trust us to do that? She said that no hiker had ever stiffed her. So we got a fantastic meal-appetizers, drinks, burgers, fries, and it really wasn't that cheap-and we walked out of there without paying a cent. The thing is with people like that who treat you so kindly, there's no way you can mistreat them. People who are trying to wring you for every red cent you don't care whether or not you rip them off. You see it again and again on the trail.So when we got back to the trail it was after dark. There were no camping restrictions posted, so we decided to just sleep out beneath the little signboard at the trailhead on the gravel. It's fun to realize out here that we're nothing more than homeless people. It's very humbling. I always think we should bestow homeless awards to those people who embody homelessness. Publix, who was harassed by police for taking shelter during the rain in front of a gas station, for instance. Anyway, I think we should win one tonight.
Date: 2004-07-03
From: Snickers Gap

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Yet another short day. People walking past us on the trailhead woke us up this morning. A huge accomplishment today in the crossing of the West Virginia line. We¢re finally out of Virginia! Actually, the trail follows the state line for a while, so it¢ll be tomorrow before we finally say goodbye to Virginia.We had heard that there was a barbecue going on today at the Blackburn AT Center, and hadn¢t really intended on stopping, mainly because we thought we¢d be past it already. But we got here and the barbecue looked amazing, so we decided to stay. They had hot dogs, hamburgers (with real cheddar), barbecued chicken, homemade potato salad, an amazing tomato salad, ice cream, cake, and drinks. It was unbelievable. This whole place is unbelievable, actually.The Potomac AT Club runs it out of their own pocket and by donations from hikers, and there¢s a free hostel on the back porch or you can sleep on their covered porch. They give sodas to every hiker that passes and dinner every night they can. There¢s also a solar shower in the lawn, which I took¢amazing hot water. All in all, it¢s a wonderful place. Exquisitely beautiful, too¢nestled in the hills, with a vast lawn in front, and a view of the valley below. Allegedly, on a clear day (meaning one without smog) you can see the monuments of Washington DC. The place is run by a couple who are caretakers¢they actually get to live here year round and take care of the hikers. It seems like the most amazing job in the world. They prefer former hikers, so maybe I can get the job when I¢m through.It was an amazing night. We got to hang out with some people who worked at the ATC headquarters, and someone else who was on the AT Board. We ended up sleeping on the porch. Also, I got a bunch of things out of the hiker box, which is good, since I missed my maildrop yesterday. County assures me that I can forward it from Bluemont to a post office down the road from the Harper¢s Ferry post office, but to do that we¢re going to have to zero in Harper¢s Ferry because the post office is closed on Monday for the Fourth of July holiday. We¢ll see what happens. I also have to see the outfitter about my pack. My suspension rod is still digging into my back. I have this wound on my hip from where it rubs. Pretty crazy. I¢m hoping they can help me out.