morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-27
From: Wapiti Shelter, VA 

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

Day: 71Date: 5/27/06Start: Wapiti Shelter, VAWeather: Warm, sunnyFinish: Pearisburg, VAMiles: 16.6Cumulative A.T. Miles: 622.1Clay: Today we got up after a fairly good sleep during a rainy night and we were on the trail by 7:20 AM. When we got to the road we met a large group of section hikers at our first road crossing. Although they were very nice, we were bombarded by about 20 questions from them in about 1 minute. I felt like Neo from the Matrix as I fielded 2 and 3 questions in a shot. "Are you from Maine?" (asked because Branch was wearing a "Maine to Georgia" shirt), "Are the shelters full of thru-hikers?" (being Memorial Day weekend, they were full of section hikers), "When did you start?" (followed by the comment "You are behind! Many hikers are in New York right now."), "How many miles do you hike per day?" and "Do you look at flowers as you go?" were some of the questions as the group blocked the trail. As the group as a whole started looking more and more like Agent Smith, Branch and I bolted. The nice, fresh legged, day pack-toting, inquisitive group chased us all day until we lost them on a steep hill.After seeing our destination from Angels Rest, we dropped about 2200 bone-jarring feet in 1.7 miles to get to the highway. Food and hotel were calling our name. When we got to Pearisburg, we walked about 15 minutes uphill on the highway to get to the Dairy Queen and the hotel. When we saw Big Foot and Goose at the hotel we were overjoyed. We had not seen them in a week. We could not wait to hear how their week had gone.
Date: 2006-05-28
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day: 72Date: 5/28/06Start: Pearisburg, VAWeather: SunnyFinish: Pearisburg, VAMiles: 0Cumulative A.T. Miles:Clay: Like most "zero" days, there was a lot to do today to prepare for the upcoming week. We washed our socks and undergarments in the tub with soap because the laundry was sort of far away. We ending up buying 7 days of food. With vitamins and Ziplocs, we spent $97.00. We wanted to hang out with our buddies, Big Foot and Goose. So, we ate every meal with them and spent time planning the next week with them. We have hiked off and on with these fellows since Georgia. We love them.What do we typically eat while on the trail? Junk food! It is not that we want to eat junk food. That is essentially all that is available since there is no refrigeration on the trail. A typical 15-mile day will include a quick, no-cook breakfast (e.g. Pop-tarts, pre-cooked bacon), a medium-sized lunch (usually P.B.J. with flax and whole wheat bread), a dinner (e.g. Lipton Sides, instant potatoes, and a snack), and 3-4 snacks (King-sized snickers, apple or cherry pie, GORP, fruit, oatmeal squares, cereal bars, M&M's, pudding). Nearly every hiker eats this way or a similar way. Unfortunately, we have to eat non-perishable, light weight, calorie-packed, easy-to-cook foods while out here.
Date: 2006-05-29
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Symms Gap Meadow, VA
Miles today: 11.6

Day: 73Date: 5/29/06Start: Pearisburg, VAWeather: Blue skies, Africa hotFinish: Symms Gap MeadowMiles: 11.6Cumulative A.T. Miles: 633.7Branch: Today was a typical out-of-town day. This means that I was plagued by all sorts of physical ailments that I can usually suppress on a normal hiking day. For starters, it was hot. The news people predicted 91 degrees, but at times (like during the big climb for the day) it felt worse. I think a combination of the heat, the climb, and my heavy pack brought on my second problem. I have an odd problem called dysphasia where the muscles in my throat at times will sort of spasm and tighten incredibly. This only really bothers me when I am eating or breathing hard. Sometimes I can't breathe well or food gets stuck in my throat. Unfortunately, both eating and breathing are integral to our hiking success. So, I had to stop and take lots of breaks to try to get my breathing under control.There is a positive to these kind of problems, however. My prayer life improves dramatically on days like today. It is when I am struggling to breathe or groping for energy under the oppressive heat that I realize that there is no way that I could or would do this hike without the direction and strength that comes from being within the will of Jesus my Lord. In my mental and physical weakness, I can and do take comfort in knowing that I am out here under His direction. His strength and not my own will see me through it. It is because of this assurance that I happily lie here awaiting the adventure of tomorrow.Clay: Like Branch said, today was super hot. So, from the Hotel, I called my buddy Kneebee and I asked him to send our Summer sleeping bag to Daleville, VA. Since Branch is having some minor knee problems and our buddy, Goose, is having knee problems, we planned on doing low mileage and getting into Daleville/Troutville in 7 days. The heat may make us speed up. Certainly, we will be hiking early in the mornings. Today, we and the other hikers we are with are running a little low on water. The guide said that there was some at this spot but we cannot find it. After looking at the map again, we believe that the water is .5 miles south of here and about 350' down a bushwhack. Oh well, we will have to conserve water for about 6-8 miles. Branch and I have about 1 liter and 8 oz each. This is a drought year, we probably need to start thinking through the next days water as well as the next days hiking.I read through Ecclesiastes over the past few days. It was almost as if the Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, had read Solomon's works. As you may recall, Solomon had done it all. He sought and got riches, wisdom, and love. The theme of Ecclesiastes is that life and its events is meaningless without God
Date: 2006-05-30
From: Symms Gap Meadow, VA

To: Bailey Gap Shelter, VA
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Day: 74Date: 5/30/06Start: Symm's Gap Meadow, VAWeather: sunny, hotFinish: Bailey Gap Shelter, VAMiles: 11.3Cumulative A.T. Miles: 645.0Branch: Wanting to hang out with our friends, Grey Goose and Big Foot, we decided to do yet another short-mile day today. It was great! We got up and out by 6:50 and took our time the entire day. The highlight of the day came when we forded Stony Creek. The sun was so hot and the water felt so good to our hot feet, that Clay and I decided to stay and play for a while. We washed the salt off of our skin and clothes and cooled down before the climb into the shelter.Tonight we are in sleeping in our tent (to keep the bugs away). Sleeping in and around the shelter alongside us are Bigfoot, Grey Goose, Mary, Mackenzie, Sara, Beernuts, Ronnie, and another fellow.
Date: 2006-06-01
From: Laurel Creek Shelter, VA

To: Niday Shelter, VA
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day: 76Date: 6/1/06Start: Laurel Creek Shelter, VAWeather: Thunderstorms all around, drizzle, overcast, coolerFinish: Niday Shelter, VAMiles: 12.4Cumulative A.T. Miles: 672.0Branch: Knowing that we had a fairly short day for today, we definitely took our time getting up this morning. Clay was a bit depressed, so we decided to have a slow, fun morning.Within the first hour of hiking, we came across an old house. It was obvious that at one time, this house was the pride of those that worked hard to own it. I'm sure the owners worked hard in and around the house to keep it up. Sadly, now the house, once someone's home, is not even fit to be a shelter. The roof is missing in the back, many of the boards have rotted away, and none of the windows are remaining. A few hours later we walked by another homestead. The people that lived there spent countless sweat-filled hours of back breaking labor building up huge piles of rock to make what we believe were at once time huge fence posts. These too are now useless.As we walked by these home sites, I was filled with a sadness for those who spent so much time building up those dwellings. I was reminded of the passage in Luke 16 where Jesus talks about serving God versus serving wealth. On the trail, we realize how little it takes to survive comfortably. So many times, people will spend so much of their time accumulating stuff and working at things that will rot and be quickly forgotten. Walking by the rotted, falling apart, home sites, I was once again reminded to work to store up my treasure in Heaven.Clay: Today started out tough for me. I am sort of depressed about the mileage that we have been doing. I am ready to crank some miles out but it is obvious to us that we are not supposed to be just yet. I have heard over and over that Virginia is "easy". I want to know where the easy part is! Today we were hiking along exposed rock with cloud-to-cloud thunder overhead for much of the hiking day. It was sort of tough.As we started the short 12-mile day, I thought and rethought about 1,000 "what if" questions. Branch was patient with me as we left camp at 10:15 AM--the latest ever. As we crossed some beautiful rolling fields and I admired the beauty my depression lifted temporarily until I christened my new shoes when I stepped into a large, fresh pile of cow manure. The stain and stench have stayed on my shoe all day.In the past two weeks I have encountered my first fall, my first blister, my first pain, and my second depression. I feel thankful that God has kept me physically healthy and mentally sane. It is my prayer that we can make some miles while in Virginia. We still have 1,400 miles to go. October 15 seems just around the corner.
Date: 2006-06-02
From: Niday Shelter, VA

To: Pickle Branch Shelter, VA
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

Day: 77Date: 6/2/06Start: Niday Shelter, VAWeather: Overcast morning, thunderstorms afternoonFinish: Pickle Branch Shelter, VAMiles: 9.9Cumulative A.T. Miles: 681.9Clay: Why did we do only 9.9 miles today? The shelters are spread apart very crazily. After the Pickle Branch Shelter, we ascend Dragon's Tooth. There is no camping at this site. The ALDHA Companion goes on to say to not camp from between VA-624 to VA-220. So, we decided to obey the rules. Everyone else is going to stealth camp. So, our group is broken up for now. We had about 40 miles to Daleville. Tomorrow we plan on hiking about 17 miles and the next day we plan on hiking about 15 miles into Daleville. Next week we would like to hike some big miles.The spiritual words of Redwing (AT '03,'05), Nate (AT '03), and Vapor (AT '05) have been very encouraging on this venture. I read and think about their words often. Their words have been worth much. I am grateful for them, Sherlock, Circuit Rider, and Hopeful (both of them). Their spiritual wisdom along with their hiking advice has been invaluable. Branch: Today has been an odd day for me. I felt like by the time I got good and warmed up to hike, the hiking day was over. Today, just like every day for the past week, we climbed up a ridge, followed it for a few miles and then descended into a gap. For the most part this particular ridge was filled with evergreen trees, so the trail was covered in nice, soft pine needles to walk on. It was a nice treat after yesterday's rocks. We had a good time leap frogging Grey Goose and Big Foot today. We hope to catch up with them soon.
Date: 2006-06-05
From: Campbell Shelter, VA

To: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson Hotel
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day: 79Date: 6/5/06Start: Campbell Shelter, VAWeather: Warm temperature, blue skiesFinish: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson HotelMiles: 15.4Cumulative A.T. Miles: 714.3Clay: Today we started out 6 miles south of the Tinker Cliffs. We knew that we had a big day ahead in order to get into town but we were also glad that we decided to not hike over Dragon's Tooth in the rain and thunder the other day. We tried to keep town talk to a minimum so that we would not feel anxious about getting there. We had about seven or more hours of hiking ahead of us.We started early this day hiking with and then leap frogging with Sarah and Mac. The terrain heading towards the cliffs was steep and short both up and down. Nearing the cliffs, there were the giant, tablelike rock slabs familiar to this area jetting out of the mountain at 45-degree angles like the "teeth" of the top of the mountain. As you can imagine, walking on these we sort of tough and it slowed our pace.Nearing the cliffs even more, we walked between and even under several large boulders--great for rock climbing. Some of the rocks were large slabs and others looked like huge ice cubes. Maybe I was dreaming.When we reached the Tinker Cliffs the views were amazing. The ALDHA Hikers Companion says that Revolutionary War deserters hid here. I can see why. From the half-mile stretch of cliff we could see the ridge we hiked yesterday, the back side of valley we saw yesterday, and neighboring mountain ridges. At one cliff, we walked up to a vulture-looking bird. After assuring it that we were not dead and that it should not eat us, we snapped some photos of it.The remainder of the day was difficult and it brought out a sense of satisfaction after completing certain sections. Sarah and Mac decided to sleep in the woods instead of renting a hotel room. So, we bid them adieu. When we got the conveniently located Howard Johnson Hotel, we removed our sweat-soaked clothing and put of dry, less stinky clothes. We had a big "date" to go on. Across from the hotel was Pizza Hut. When we got there, we ordered $34 worth of pizza (soft drink and tip too). We had been in the woods for 7 days, we had hiked 92 miles, and we rationed our food. We were famished. Branch was so tired and so hungry, I noticed that she was eating with he eyes shut at times! We finished a large pizza in about 10 minutes and we ate half of another medium pizza in another 10 minutes. Knowing we'd be hungry later, we decided to save the remainder for later that night. Instead, after we each took showers, deep comatose-like sleep was inevitable. It was a tough week. While Virginia is easier, it is not easy to us thus far.
Date: 2006-06-07
From: Cove Mountain Shelter, VA

To: Thunder Hill Shelter, VA
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day: 82Date: 6/7/06Start: Cove Mountain Shelter, VAWeather: blue skies in the morning, rain and wind in the afternoon, clear and windy eveningFinish: Thunder Hill Shelter, VAMiles: 17.2Cumulative A.T. Miles: 756.4Branch: Today was a day of long, uphill climbing. Oddly though, we were actually thankful for the uphill. Downhills are much more pounding to the feet, joints, and body and we always find ourselves more tired at the bottom than at the top. I guess the highlight of the day was running into the trail crew keeping working on the trail. We had just finished our lunch and had began walking up the mountain when we heard a chainsaw in the distance. Thinking that we might be near someone's home we thought nothing of it and kept going. As we walked we got closer to the sound until we turned a corner and saw 5 or 6 people from the Natural Bridge ATC each working extremely hard to keep the trail clean. Clay had I had just been talking about how wonderful the trail has been since we got into their section. We spent some time talking with the very nice individuals before trotting North on some super well maintained trail.Tonight we caught back up with Big Foot, Grey Goose, Handlebar, and Veto. It was nice to see familiar faces when we got to the shelter. Clay has already passed out fast asleep. I think that I will join him in dream land. The sun sure does come up fast and I love to sleep.Clay: We began hiking this morning around 8 AM and we finished hiking around 7 PM. One of our friends back home alluded that we must have a lot of time to read and a lot of time to write on the trail (I am writing this at 5:30 AM). I have certainly not found this to be the case. To me, trail life can be summarized by the phrase, "perpetual motion and perpetual recovery". After we hike, we make time for everything else according to priority.Today was a fun, yet difficult, uphill day. The uphill started at Jenning's Creek (951'). The trail was some of the most well kept yet! The highlight for me was crossing over Apple Orchard Mountain (4225') and going under the famous Guillotine boulder (4090'). When we got to Thunder Hill Shelter (3960'), the older group consigned us to tent behind the shelter. They even "helped us" to find a space. I can surely understand these four men wanting space in a six-person shelter. They were certainly very kind to give us water. We did not have to go to the spring. Since we arrived at 7 PM and had to do chores, conversation was minimal because they go to bed around 8 PM. One fellow mentioned that he saw "The DaVinci Code" and another had read the book. I was glad to hear that they believed that the book was fictional and entertaining. So, I did not feel the need to enter the conversation.
Date: 2006-06-08
From: Thunder Hill Shelter, VA

To: John's Hollow Shelter, VA
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day: 83Date: 6/8/06Start: Thunder Hill Shelter, VAWeather: blue skies in the morning, thunderstorms and rain in the afternoonFinish: John's Hollow Shelter, VAMiles: 16.3Cumulative A.T. Miles: 772.7Branch: Usually, when the sun comes up and the birds start to sing, I start waking up and getting ready to hike. This morning, however when the birds started their song, I groaned, put my jacket over my face, and went back to sleep.Once we got going this morning, the miles were very nice. After all the climbing of yesterday, we were paid back with an equal amount of downhill today. The scenery was very nice today we went by and crossed some very nice streams. For lunch, we stopped at Matt's Creek Shelter and I sat by the fairly deep creek watching the 3-4 inch long fish swim about. After lunch, we crossed over the James River Foot Bridge--the longest foot bridge on the A.T.--635 feet. I could tell that Mr. Foot, the man who worked to make the bridge possible, had put countless thankless hours into the endeavor.Clay: As we were hiking down the long, steep descent today (from 3960' to 678'), we met a young college student named Sarah from Liberty Christian University running up the steep ridge. As she passed by us she offered us a ride to town when we all got back to the parking lot. We politely refused the nice offer and we continued on our separate ways knowing that we'd see her again.We caught up to the early-rising retired guy group at Matt's Creek Shelter where we saw the chipper Christian woman again. After introducing herself to the A.A.R.P. crowd, she also offered to take them into town, take them to dinner, and bring them back to the trail! These 'grumpy old men' (I can say this because they are my friends, I care for them, and I'm ribbing them), weary from days of hard hiking, began to become chipper. They must have had a great time. By the time they reached John's Hollow Shelter in the rain that night, they were lively and fun! What happened? These guys were in a great mood because of the kind deed that this nice Christian college student did for them. The conversation this night at the shelter was light-hearted and fun. Thanks Sarah!
Date: 2006-06-09
From: John's Hollow Shelter, VA

To: U.S. 60/Buena Vista, VA
Miles today: 20.1

Day: Day 84Date: 6/9/06Start: Johns Hollow Shelter, VAWeather: Clear, blue skies, and warm (low-80s)Finish: U.S. 60/Buena Vista, VAMiles: 20.1Cumulative A.T. Miles: 792.8Clay: Job 19.17 says, "My breath is offensive to my wife." Today I would like to talk about cleanliness, or lack of it, on the trail. Since we are on foot, it is difficult to get around town to do chores, and we stay dirty every day on the trail, we don't shower, brush our teeth, or wash our clothes at every possible opportunity. We don't wear deodorant because it does not work out here. We brush our teeth about once or twice per week. We wash our outer clothes when convenient--every hundred or so miles. In one long stretch, we did not wash our outer clothes (i.e. shorts, shirts) from Hampton, TN until Pearisburg, VA. Our under clothes (i.e. socks and underwear), we wash as frequently as possible. Sometimes we wash our undergarments in sinks, tubs, streams, or we will put water and biodegradable camp soap in Ziploc bags and wash them there. We constantly try to keep our hands, face, undercarriage, and feet clean. We use baby wipes or Purell waterless cleanser for these daily cleanings. As soon as we get to town and we rent a hotel room, we desire a shower. You would not believe the amount of dirt and salt that comes off of us. One of our friends said that she is not going to shower for about two weeks.Hikers do not smell each other but we do smell town folks either on the trail or while in town. They smell like chemicals--harsh soaps or perfumes. Since our senses are heightened from being in the woods, we tend to not like these smells. We prefer the smells of natural scents--like flowers or sweet shrub. I can see why hikers are so odd to town folks. We stink and we don't care so much while we are on the trail trying to achieve our goals. In order to achieve our goals certain sacrifices have to be made. What is valued quite basic out here--safety, shelter, water, food, and good companionship with God and people. When we get back to the "real" world, we plan on focusing on the basics in life.Christ talked about cups being clean on the inside and dirty on the outside in reference to our bodies and souls. Although we are dirty in our external appearance, we are attempting to keep our souls sparkling clean by reading the Bible, praying, confessing our sins, and asking the Holy Spirit to empower us moment-by-moment.
Date: 2006-06-10
From: U.S. 60/Buena Vista, VA

To: U.S. 60/Buena Vista, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Day: 85Date:6/10/06Start:US 60/ Buena Vista, VAWeather: grey skiesFinish: US 60/ Buena Vista, VAMiles: 0Cumulative A.T. Miles: 792.8Branch: Today I was determined to sleep in. The plan was to be lazy in the morning, only doing our laundry, shop for groceries in the afternoon, and then get out of town and hike about 6 miles to Hog Camp Gap. Today did not really go that way.Like I said, I was determined to sleep in. However, at 6:45 I gave up and turned on the TV. while Clay worked on our journals. By 8:00 I had gathered up our laundry and put it into the washing machine. We checked out of the motel room at 11:00, and ran into Sara (who is getting off the trail today) and her sister, Rachel. Rachel has a masters in Philosophy from Vasser, so she and Clay exchanged geek speak for a while.In short, we found ourselves at Burger King at 2:00 with all of our town chores completed. We still planned to hike out, but we were so exhausted that we were falling asleep in our cheeseburgers. At one point, Clay looked at me and asked if there was any way we could stay in town and remain on schedule. It was all the encouragement that I needed. We got up and rechecked into the motel where we were asleep in a cushy bed within the hour.Clay: I failed to mention that we were concerned for days about hitching into Buena Vista. So, we prayed 24-hours in advance that the hitch would go well at US-60 and it did go well. We got to the gap, I collapsed one trekking pole, I stuck out my thumb as a F-250 long bed drove by, and a nice family named O'Conner picked us up--all within about 30 seconds of us being there! Praise God!We truly need the rest. I'm glad we are taking the remainder of the day off. We need a Sabbath. We did a 5, a 20.1, a 16, a 17, and a 19.9-mile day so far this week. We plan on doing another 20, 14, and 21 Sunday-Tuesday--whew!