morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-10
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnersip Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: light rain

Partnership Shelter, the only shelter with a phone, where you can order pizza. This shelter is talked about a lot, especially after leaving Damascus. The shelter has a shower and it is located by the visitor's center which has a real bathroom. Partnership was the goal for the day. I told everyone last night that I was going to get out early and walk today, which I did. I was packed and on the trail by 6:30. It was only a ten mile hike today and I let the Monster out. The terrain was excellent and I put it into cruise mode. So much so that I reached the sheter in a little over three hours. As the day wore on a lot of people came into the area. Not many were going to go on because the lure of pizza was strong. Some of us got a ride to the store from Christine, a Konnarack crew leader. Konnarack is a trail maintanance group that does a lot of work from GA to VA. They use a lot of volunteer workers and we talked to her about joining up with a crew for a few days around the Shenandoahs. Something we are going to keep in our minds. Around four we called in our order and what an order it was. Nine large pizzas! The total bill came to around $150.00! With all the people there those pizzas were consumed quite rapidly. The rest of the evening was spent talking and relaxing. I met quite a few new people. Most everyone is doing what we have been doing, taking it slow and planning on heading back to Damascus for Trail Days.This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.
Date: 2005-05-11
From: Partnersip Shelter

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Just an update on last night. Pacman caught up with us and I found out that Gypsy and Touk were only a day back. Hopefully they make it to Atkins by one tomorrow so they can catch our shuttle. Some of the other people I met were Nu-B, Fireball, Beantown, Tex, and Sunshine. Sunshine was a name that I thought I had remembered from last year. People asked me this year if I knew her and I couldn't say yes or no. Today I had the chance to talk to her and we officially introduced ourselves. She and I had hiked all around each other last year but never ran into each other. She hiked with a lot of the people I hiked with on and off. We laughed about that and it was good to talk to her. We all got out of the Partnership area between 8:30 and 9:00. The temps are great! High 70's, low 80's. I love it! I stopped at the Chatfield Shelter around 11:30 for lunch. Pacman and Linux came by saying the pull of the Dairy Queen in Atkins was too strong to stop so they moved on. Around 12:30 the girls pulled in, minus Break, who, I found out later had found a nice spot for a nap. I left them around 1:00 and headed for the museum. The trail passes by an old one room schoolhouse which is pretty interesting. Some of the books in there are copyrighted 1896! There is also a small building that has a history of the area and some of the old artifacts. The whole place was called The Settlers Museum. As I was getting ready to go the girls showed up again. I told them I would see them at the DQ and off I went to complete the last 2.5 miles for the day. When I got to the DQ Pacman and Linux had already gone through a couple of Blizzards. I grabbed one and joined them. The cool of the ice cream was especiallly tasty on this warm day. Eventually everyone else came in, including Break. The shuttle back to Trail Days was going to pick us up tomorrow at one right here so now the discussion centered on what we were going to do:1) Stay here.2) Shuttle north and hike back to meet the shuttle.3) Hike north and have the local shuttle bring us back to meet the Damascus shuttle. Plans 2 and 3 were shot down real fast when we found out the cost of the local shuttle. It would cost just as much to get a room at the motel and that is what we decided to do. At least we would be able to get a shower before heading back to Damascus although I did decide to cowboy camp it later on in the evening. It was just to nice to sleep in the room. Tomorrow we go back to Damascus and Trail Days.
Date: 2005-05-12
From: Atkins, VA

To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

We lost Poet this morning. She has a prior commitment in a couple of weeks and needed to push on. We all gathered for breakfast and afterwords we said our goodbyes. I will be the first one to admit that it was like losing a member of the family. Our group has become pretty tight and all of us seem to complement each other in one form or another. I walked with her to the top of the hill and took a line from the movie "Witness" and said, "Be careful out there among the English", as she headed off. The nice thing is we will see her again in about three weeks. By time she gets back on the trail we will be within a day or two of where she gets off. That will be a good day. Last year I remember Little Bit saying that when you find a good group it becomes your family. I was too busy followng the Monster last year to be with any group for very long, but now, I understand fully what she meant and that is the feeling I have toward our group. We still had several hours before the shuttle came so Pacman, Linux, Free, Serenity, Break, Boots, Blue Light, and I hung out and talked. It is funny how you can get comfortable hanging out on the side of the road, by a building, or anywhere. Someone commented on how we were just one step away from being hobo's. We eventually moved up to the DQ for a mid morning ice cream. As I was standing outside I looked toward the road and there was Gypsy and Touk. They saw the message I left them at the last shelter and they busted out the last 4.5 miles to get here in time to catch the shuttle. It was so good to see them again! Last time was around Erwin.At 1:00 the shuttle arrived and we all piled in. We dropped Serenity off in Marion but she will be back with us on Tuesday. Again, another member gone for awhile. We arrived back in Damascus around three and one of the first things we did was claim a spot for our tents. Boots and Blue Light had already claimed an area so Free and I set up there. Bruce Spuce, Squid Jerky, Domino and several others from the very early days of the hike were also there. The reunion has begun!From this point I will just post a recap of Trail Days events on Tuesday or so. Free, Gypsy, Touk, Scholar, and I will be doing Hardcore on Sunday and Monday. Hardcore is a two day trail maintanance program spearheaded by Bob Peoples. We will be hiking again on Tuesday.
Date: 2005-05-13
From: Trail Days

To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

For Trail Days I am going to do one entry mainly because it is about meeting and talking to people. People I hike with this year and those I knew from last year. Trail Days is a celebration of hikers. Gear vendors and outfitters come to town for three days, showing new gear, selling replacement gear and fixing broken gear. For example, Leki will clean, replace tips, and fix anything wrong with your hiking poles. This is free of charge and much apprecited by the hikers. The most fun however, is talking to everyone. A lot of people I knew from last year were here and I am going to give them all a shout out in the journal; Krispy Kritter, Boo Boo, Gaia, Big Stick, Ski Bum, Party Girl, Little Bit, Moonstone, Michigoose, Lefty, Lady Di, Sampler, Skeemer, Hopeful, Yertle, Banana, Lonesome Dove, Cat Dog, Hawk, Crash Bang, Luna, Southern Man, Pegasus, PA Mule and more. It was so good to see everyone and to catch up on what everyone is doing now. The weather did its' usual spring thing. Sunny early and thuderstorms in the afternoon. On Saturday there is supposed to be the Hiker Parade. This parade consists of present and previous hikers as well as the usual parade stuff lie a band, baton twirlers, etc. It started pouring about a half hour before the start of the parade and eventually it was cancelled. Cancelled for everyone else that is. The hikers decied they would parade anyway and so we did. As it got going it quit raining. Now, part of the tradition is that this parade turns into a masive water fight. The hikers are armed with water cannons, balloons, pistols, buckets, anything that carries water. The people watching are also armed, at least those that know they should be. We started off and the fight began. There are about a 1000 hikers in this walk and since the parade was cancelled we kinda blocked traffic throughout the entire route. The water fight was great and we all had a good time. The entire time in Damascus was good but, on Sunday, real early on Sunday, Free, Stilts, Gypsy, Touk, Bassline, and I packed up to catch our ride to Kincora. There are many ohers doing it but I just named our group Sunday afternoon and all day Monday we will be doing Hard-Core, a two day trail maintanance. Pacman, Linux, Scholar, Break and the rest were moving on. Break came to see us off and this was not a happy parting. She is going to be 3 days ahead by time we get back on. Hopefully, at some point, we will catch up or she will slow down. Remember what I said to you Break! Next update will include Hard-Core but may not come till Pearisburg.
Date: 2005-05-14
From: Trail Days

To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

I realized I said I would only do one entry about Trail Days but I realized I had a couple of stories I wanted to tell. Saturday morning Free and I were sitting by the tents figuring out our food situation for the upcoming week. We were debating how much too carry and looking at how much we had. As we sat there we heard a voice say,"I was wondering what happened to my perfume. I bought that for my girlfriend". We looked up and there was Nean. If you remember Nean's place is where we found the perfume originally. Free and I looked at each other with panic in our eyes and volumes could have been said with what we said with our eyes! We both thought we were in deep trouble! Then Nean laughed and we knew we were safe. We told him the actual plan was to get the bottle to Damascus and return it to him at Damascus. Unfortunately, the bottle still hasn't surfaced so we couldn't give it back just yet. The three of us talked a bit and we gave him some treats as a form of partial payment and then he said goodbye. Nean, some day, don't be surprised when you receive something in the mail! Another thing I forgot to mention. I gave out my second trailname on Saturday evening. It took two days to do it but the goal was accomplished. The story goes like this; Two friends from last year, Yertle and Banana came down for Trail Days. They brought a friend with them who did not have a trailname yet. When we met we talked for a bit and I told her that she would have a name before she left. So, Friday and Saturday, at various times, we would bump into each other and we would talk. I was looking for something that would give me a clue for a good name. Early that evening it dawned on me. We were sitting around our GLGE area in tent city and I looked at her and said, "I have a name for you".She, "You do? What"?Me, "Waterfall".She, rolling the words and saying, "Waterfall. I like it".Me, "Waterfall it is then"?She, "Waterfall it is".Me, "Cool".She, "Cool. Thanks". The best part of it is that the name fit hers and she accepted it. For the rest of the night she introduced herself with her new name. That is my second name. One last year and one now. Kinda cool, giving someone a name.
Date: 2005-05-15
From: Trail Days

To: Hard - Core
Miles today: 0.0

Hard-Core. What can I say about Hard-Core other than it was a fantastic experience and I am so glad I did it. There is a 9 mile section of trail that is maintained by hikers. It is the only part of the trail that is maintained by hikers only and it is a stretch near Kincora. Bob Peoples coordinates the work done in the area and hikers do little things all year long. Hard-Core is where a big chunk of work is done. Our work was to create a new section of trail in order to eliminate a PUD (pointless up and down). The process to put in a new part of the trail is not a quick thing. The section we were to work on was in the planning for 3 years. The first year the ATC goes out and flags the potential trail. Then the forest service goes out and flags it. Eventually the path of the trail is set. The second year is for the biologists. They go out in every season and they look for endangered species of plants and animals. If they see anything then the trail is rerouted some more. When they are satisfied and in the third year the archeologists go out and do their thing. After everyone is happy then the trail workers can start. As I said earlier, the bunch of us caught our ride down to where the work was to be done. When we arrived it was still raining but we grabbed our gloves and a pulaski(sp?), a tool that is a cross between a pick and an axe and off we went, about 2 miles up the trail. We arrived at the new area and were given basic instructions but the one that stuck the most was, "Build it like you would want to walk on it". To tell a thru-hiker that was all we needed and soon we were clearing the duff. Duff is the organic material that builds up on the ground. In some areas it can be a couple of feet deep and we have to get down to the dirt. We were spaced about 4 to 5 feet apart and everyone worked on their section. When you finished you moved up the line. Best way to describe it is from the movie "Cool Hand Luke", when they are blacktopping the road and running up to get to the next section. At the end of the day we walked back down where we were taken to a park for a bar-b-que and then back to Kincora. When we got back to Kincora Mountain Man, from the old Side Track Cafe in Damascus, showed up. He brought 20 dozen eggs for us to use in the morning! Free, Stilts, and I found a place to cowboy camp and, for the most part, it was an early evening. A long day with not much sleep the night before.
Date: 2005-05-16
From: Hard - Core

To: Hard - Core
Miles today: 0.0

Eggs, lots of eggs this morning. I was up early and so I got the coffee going and started hard boiling eggs for people to take for lunch. Origami joined me and he started scrambling eggs for breakfast. Soon everyone was up, eating eggs and drinking coffee. We went through 15 dozen eggs and almost a pound of coffee but everyone who wanted some was fed. Thanks Mountain Man! At 8:30 we piled back into the vehicles and headed back to work. It was more of the same as yesterday but now you could really see what was developing. By the end of the day we had built, from scratch, a little over a half mile of new trail. Quite an accomplishment for 2 days work. Now came the best part. As we headed back toward our rides we each got to paint our own white blaze marking the new section of trail. That is something I won't forget for awhile. To know, that in the near future, hikers will be walking over a section of trail that I helped make plus walking by the white blaze that I painted. It's a good feeling. We went back to Kincora where Baltimore Jack, Lone Wolf, Krispy Kritter, and others had spent the day preparing a pasta dinner for us. It was good and there was plenty of it. One thing I have to bring up. None of these dinners or sodas provided duing the last two days were funded by the ATC. Everything was purchsed by other hikers wanting to give back to the trail in some way. I can never emphasize enough the community spirit that is the trail. As Bob said, "If the community of the trail existed outside the trail there wouldn't be half the problems we have in the world". We also received a Hard-Core patch which is unique because the only place you will get one of these is if you participate in Hard-Core. After all that the ride asignments back to the various trailheads was announced and then it was soon off to bed. Back on the trail tomorrow!
Date: 2005-05-19
From: VA 623

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night Gypsy told us about a rumor she had heard. A free breakfast and shuttle that brought you to it about 5 miles past the next shelter. This meant 9 miles from where we were. We talked about it but there was no way to confirm so we figured if we hit it, OK, if not, no big deal. Gypsy and I had the early start although she pulled ahead quickly. It was another good morning weatherwise but there was a chance for heavy thunderstorms tonight. Today's early walk felt much better than yesterdays and I was having a good time. Around 9:15 I reached Jenkins Shelter. Butterfly Moon and Socks were there. They pointed to the sign hanging in the shelter. Sure enough, breakfast was waiting if we made it to the road by noon! 5 miles in 3 hours was very doable. Gypsy, Scholar, and the rest were thinking the same but nobody was going to push it to hard to get there. I took off and headed down the trail. This particular part crossed the Little Wolf Creek 12 times on the way to the road. That is what is says in the book but I know I crossed it at least 16 times. Doing things like this is fun because it is different from the rest of the trail. I made it to the road around 11:00 and was met by two men with trucks. "How about some breakfast"? one of them said and with which I readily agreed. I hopped into the truck and off we went. Eventually everyone showed up except Free and Serenity. They had gotten a late start and didn't make it in time. This was a breakfast that would rival any breakfast I have eaten. Everything was homemade and it was excellent. Not to mention there was plenty of it! The breakfast takes place on Mondays and Thursdays so the timing has to be right. It is put on by the New Hope Church and you can tell they get a kick out of feeding starving hikers. After breakfast, the pastor, Alan Ashworth, broke out his guitar and treated us to some music and song, some of which he wrote himself. It was a wonderful trail magic and much appreciated by all of us. We were brought back to the trailhead and the rest of the afternoon was spent in true GLGE fashion. Walk a little, rest a lot. We eventually made it to the road where, once again, Funkee Monkee was waiting with water and soda. Water was great because the last stretch had very little and we all were thirsty. We sat by the roadside for awhile and then started on the last 2 mile stretch to the shelter. Funkee Monkee joined us in the hike to the shelter. We are trying to convince him to come along with us to Maine but he keeps talking about something called a job. It started to rain lightly as we arrived so those of us that were tenting quickly got camp set up and then we ate. Butterfly Moon was performing minor foot repairs due to a good size blister she had gotten the day before. Several people that got new shoes or boots at Trail Days are having problems getting them broken in. After eating I climbed into the tent because the rain had begun again. A good night to catch up on reading and writing.
Date: 2005-05-20
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Kimberling Creek
Miles today: 16.2

We have a new member in GLGE. A new certified member that is. Many walk with us but not everyone becomes member. I told Sunshine she was now official. Bassline follows this up and says, "What about me"? I told him, with a laugh, that he was still on probation. There are no rules as to what constitutes a member. As with everything in GLGE it is arbitrary and a state of mind. The four charter members consist of Break, Scholar, Weatherman, and myself. New members consist of; Gypsy, Touk, Linux, Pacman, Sunshine, Free, Serenity, and Poet. Since I am not able to consult with Break on the nomination of Sunshine because she is experimenting with something called "Mach 1" I took it upon myself to make her a full member. Luckily for Break she is a founder or I might have had to banish her from GLGE because of the path she has now chosen. Moving fast! Yes, she is going fast! Oh, the shame and humiliation of it all. I am sure that she will see the evil in the path she has chosen and will return to the light soon! Today's hike wasn't going to be anything special. The goal was to get to the creek and lay up there so that in the morning we could go 2 miles and spend a lot of time at the Dismal Creek Falls. The weather today was overcast with a chance of rain but tomorrow was supposed to be nice. I was the first one out today and I et the monster out. Not for any particular reason or need. I just felt like walking today. Sure enough, I got to the meeting point around 1:30. Funkee Monkee was already there and he was surprised to see me. He figured he wouldn't see anyone till 3:30 or 4. We sat and talked and watched the clouds roll over. Aound 4 the rest of the crew started showing up. We set up camp and a few of us went to the little store .3 miles from the campsite. We had to laugh at something we saw there. Hunter Dan action figures. Action figures in various hunter clothes like an elk hunter or a bow hunter. We commented on how none of us would see those toys in our hometowns.When we returned to the campsite we stoked up the fire and spent the evening doing what we do best... Chatting. Another good day on the trail!
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Holy Family Hostel - Pearisburg, VA

To: Campsite
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light rain

There is some kind of cold or flu bug working its way around the trail. Free has had a cough for most of the week and so has Sunshine. Scholar also wasn't up to par. There are several others that aren't feeling well according to what I have heard. This has all come about after Trail Days so I am assuming that, with all the people there, it was easy for a bug to spread. Today was chore day. I headd to the laundry bright and early with a load of laundry. My load consisted of four peoples clothes. It would be a waste of money and time just to your own. Heck, my laundry wouldn't even cover the bottom of the washer! The hostel was away from the center of town and I didn't want to walk all the way back there after laundry so I told Serenity, Sunshine, and Free I would meet them at the post office later and they could get their stuff then. Shortly after eight I was on my way to the post office where I got my maildrop. I decided the best place to sort through it was right there so I went outside, found a spot by the wall, and proceeded to sort out the food for the next week. Scholar, Serenity, Sunshine, and Free came along soon thereafter and we were all going through our packs. It was quite humorous to see the contents of food bags and packs strewn about the post office area. After the post office scene there were several other little things to take care of but by 1:30 Free and I were ready to leave. Scholar said she wasn't ready yet and that she would see us later. We had not seen Gypsy, Touk, Bassline, or Sunshine since the post office but everyone had the basic plan for the week. Free and I left and, as usual, the hike started with a climb. Loaded packs out of town and a climb does not make for a lot of fun! We passed Serenity, who was taking her time and by four or so we reached the shelter. One thing we didn't pay attention to was where the water source was. Camel and Jack-a-roo were already at the shelter and they said it was .4 miles down the hill. Almost a mile round trip just for water! Free whipped out the guide book and saw there was another camping area, with water, 1.4 miles up. Do the math...we left a note for the others and off we went. We set up camp at our new spot and then Fireball rolled in. Fireball was sporting the bandana look. He was dressed in two bandanas. One covering the front and one the rear. He said to heck with clothes in this weather. We both cracked up at that. He is quite the character! Nobody else came in so they must have thought the walk to water was worth it or they got in real late. We got ready for bed when someone mentioned that we were now out of Southwest Virginia and in Central Virginia. Still a whole lot of Virginia to go though.