morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-26
From: Pond Campsite -Mile 423.7

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: light rain

Today marks 4 weeks since I started hiking the AT. It seems like ages ago but it's also hard to believe it's been that long! I've met a lot of great people and have seen amazing views and wild flowers. It started to rain at midnight but had stopped when I woke at 6. It was very misty and foggy. It was a nice descent (unlike yesterday's steep hot climb) to US 321 Shook Branch Recreation Area. The couple, Hot Chocolate and I arrived within 15-20 minutes of each other and we sat at picnic tables enjoying 4-5 bars of connectivity. Then it started to rain so time to get moving. It didn't last long. This 4 mile stretch allows hiking only due to high bear activity. No vamping and they closed the Watauga Lake shelter. The lake views were pretty and the walk across the dam was the second flat part of the AT so far. Fontana Dam was the other. I mentioned knee issues a few days ago. It's better. I consulted Side Kick and it may have been tendons popping due to tight muscles. This occurred after several days of hiking in slick mud and some very steep long climbs. The trail is ALWAYS up and down but the last few days have had shorter steep climbs and descents. Someone told me the Pacific Crest Trail is actually good practice for the AT because even though you hike to higher elevation, the grade is not as steep due to more switchbacks. Some climbs I could only see the trail in front of me it was so steep. So my only issue now is a pesky blister on my left pinky toe that I can't seem to get through. It's in there deep and hurts every step but maybe I can find a blister guru in Damascas. I met Shakes at Vandeventer Shelter. He was struggling to build a fire but the wood is all wet. We chatted and he told me he hiked sections of the AT until his back forced him to stop. Now he just hikes whatever sections he wants to avoid going home and being put on a diet by his wife. The Mayapple is as tall as my knees now! I only saw one other couple and a south bound hiker today. Hikers are definitely more spread out now. I finally arrived at the shelter happy to see 3 tents up but its occupants had already retired and it wasn't even 6 pm! I met Krista from CT who arrived while I was cooking dinner. So my random mental debate during my hike was whether or not I should succumb to some of the more popular hiker food. I eat oatmeal, granola bars, Pro Bars when I can get them, trail mix, and then cook couscous or my Mary Jane Organic Veg dehydrated meals for dinner. I tried pop tarts once but they are heavy, dry and tasteless. I have not purchased any typical junk food everyone else carries like snickers, honey buns, cookies, candy, etc. My junk food was mostly Trail Magic back in GA as I have not had soda or chips since Fontana Dam. But I am not eating enough calories (Yes this is definitely a first in my life!) and you can only eat so many dry granola bars a day. I will try peanut butter and tortillas next ... Another popular combo.
Date: 2015-05-01
From: Wise Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a rough night sleep in the shelter as a was paranoid about kicking Rush in the head and Seeker snored very loudly on my right side. This morning I woke up and had to take a double look outside because it was actually snowing and a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground! After breakfast which included my one hot chocolate I had been saving for a cold necessity. I set out behind Mustafa navigating the sloshy muddy trail with puddles everywhere. Walking through the Scales I couldn't see anything from the fog and snow but I could hear cows mooing around me. Finally I made it to the next shelter where the Mississippi boys and Fourteen had stopped. Rush and Vulture had also caught up when Warm and Toasty approached going southbound confirming there was trail magic and a fire at the next gap. Hearing the word "fire" I flew down the 1.7 miles down the mountain in a record 25 minutes to find a sign that said "magic" hanging on a bush. I turned right and found Gray Jay and Rahn hosting their annual two weeks of trail magic. They had snacks and hot beverages! I enjoyed a ton of calories (hot chocolate, banana, Apple, pop tart and mini snickers) with the other hikers who arrived shortly after me. After inhaling all that food and not even feeling that full, I started across the street and ran into PokeyHontas who was hiking southbound to Damascas. I told her about the trail magic and then effortlessly climbed up the ridge. Amazing what you can do when you've eaten a lot of calories! Crafty caught up to me and we ran into Rush at the top who was on his phone. We then hiked on to The road where many of the hikers were getting picked up or hitching to Troutdale. Crafty and I hiked the next 4 miles to Trimpi Shelter where we were surprised to find nobody there! It was a stone shelter with a fireplace. We knew two hikers behind us were en route ... Cob from S. Carolina whom I saw at trail magic and Beast of Burden from Iowa whose name I recognized from a couple registers. I was again debating sleeping in the shelter vs tent. I dried out my rainfly from a couple nights ago. The tenting area was nice and flat but wet and muddy. So I decided to spend a second night in the shelter since only 3 of us were in there. We built a fire in the fireplace and warmed it up nicely. I did see a mouse run under the floor boards so I am hoping it does not emerge while we are sleeping.
Date: 2015-05-02
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: 0.3 miles past I-81
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: few clouds

It was another rough night of sleep but maybe it was the critter noises in the shelter. However I did not feel any critters scamper across my bag ....Crafty and I got an early start and headed the 10 miles to Partnership Shelter. We passed a trail magic cooler on the way but the supplies had already been depleted. We passed a local section hiker Low Gear and his dog Tinkerbell. He was chatty. The terrain was pleasant and not too steep. Muddy at times but relatively easy vs what we have been hiking. We made it to Partnership earlier than expected and I took advantage of the shower. I felt like a new person. Warm & Toasty arrived and we ate a snack and chatted. We then headed off stopping in the Mt Rogers Visitor Center to stamp my AT passport and looked at the AT display a student had put together. We also weighed ourselves but it was hard to see the exact weight but we definitely are done some lbs! We headed off again for the 11 miles to Atkins. It was a tougher section with some steep climbs and descents with and without rocks. We paused at Chatfield Shelter where Wolverine was setting up just passing us the last half mile. We told him we planned to hike to Atkins for a hot meal and camp just outside of town. He decided to go too and soon passed us. Crafty found a shiny penny heads up on the ground. It turned out to be a lucky penny because 2 minutes later, we stopped at Lindagood School, a one room school house where there was the most amazing trail magic inside! Fruit, snacks, cold sodas, water and all sorts of supplies like hygiene items, etc. We enjoyed snacks and soda while we chatted with Wolverine. I was thrilled to find safety pins as I lost the button to my pants last week. Fortunately I have a belt but the pants get so loose after a couple days. The three of us then hiked the final 2.7 miles into Atkins. It was not quite how we envisioned from AWOLs book. We stopped at The Barn Restaurant which we thought was supposed to be okay but another hiker told us the Mexican restaurant in the Exxon was better. The hostess told me they didn't really have any vegetarian dishes. My ATI friend Bob had sent me a loaf of his famous cranberry bread from his mom's recipe so I picked up my package at The Barn and we walked across the street. Thank you Bob and good luck I your AT hike starting today!! Apparently my town food seems to be vegetarian fajitas as that's what I seem to eat every time I eat town food. But the veg fajitas were hot and delicious. And we were temporarily back in the Land of Flushing Toilets ("LOFT"). We were disappointed the gas station was not the truck stop with showers we had hoped. So I was glad I took the shower at the shelter. We then hiked under I-81 and back on the AT for about a quarter of a mile and found a flatter high grassy area where we found a place to pitch our tents facing the sunset.
Date: 2015-05-03
From: 0.3 miles past I-81

To: Lynn Creek Campaite
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

This morning there was a layer of frost on our tents. It was a beautiful day but for some reason where we camped was frosty. The dew in the grass and on our tents was icy. I shared my cranberry bread with Crafty and Wolverine then hiked back to where we re entered the trail by I-81 to meet Short Stride, a friend I met at the Austin airport when we ran the marathon in February. She will be hiking with me for the next 3 weeks. We bid farewell to her dad and set off. It was a beautiful day to hike. We caught up with Crafty about 7 miles later. Two southbound section hikers passed us. Around the crest of Walker Mountain, we saw the sign!! It read "1/4 Way Point. 1641 to Maine, 547 to Georgia" woo hoo! Another milestone!! We passed Papillon and a NY couple Tortoise and Garmin. We hiked down to the river and stopped to soak our feet. My toes are so dirty and the ice bath really helped my the strange pain that was on top of my right foot since yesterday. Probably sore from kicking a stick into it. 0.4 miles later we hit a trail magic cooler with sodas. I enjoyed a PB&J sandwich too. A mile later we hit another trail magic stop at the O'Lystery Pavillion thanks to Hannah, Nick and J____. They were cooking hot dogs but we enjoyed the fresh fruit - oranges, blueberries, pineapple and strawberries! It was delicious! Crafty's lucky penny was still working!! We climbed up Brushy Mountain in the hot sun. Reached Knot Maul Branch Shelter where we paused for a few minutes and then headed another mile and a half to our intended campsite. We built a campfire and enjoyed dinner with Papillon who joined our fire. Crafty and I stayed up and watched the fire mostly burn out...stars car out! Another awesome day!!
Date: 2015-05-04
From: Lynn Creek Campaite

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

We set off today with a warmup climb up Lynn Camp Mountain followed by a very steep 2 mile climb up to Chestnut Ridge. It's been awhile since we had such a long, steep climb and it was hot! We made it to Chestnut Knob Shelter which is a cool fully enclosed concrete block stone shelter where we a had great cell service! We then had a long 9 mile stretch of ups and downs but no water sources. Somehow Short Stride and I missed the sat chance to get water. Short Stride ran out completely within the next 3 miles and I had only one 22 oz bottle which we shared the next 8 miles. It was really hot and dry so it made for a slow hike. Some of the ridge was really rocky too. We met a few southbound hikers including Smiles who is flip flopping and was hiking in from a harpers ferry. We passed Warm & Toasty who kindly took some of Short Stride's extra food and fuel in her daypack to lighten SS's pack a little. We finally made it to a trickle stream where SS got some water and then to a stronger stream where we were able to fully load up on water. Less than a mile later we reached the shelter where we learned Tortoise and Garmin had run out of water too and had flagged down a car whose driver gave them what was left in his/her water bottle. A good lesson for us all as streams have been plentiful but we are now entering areas where water sources may be 10 miles apart at times. We had dinner and I chatted with Retro, Matos and Crafty by a campfire. We saw a deer walk by and hang out just beyond our tents.
Date: 2015-05-08
From: Campsite at Mile 639.2

To: Stony Creek Valley VA 635
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: few clouds

Today was an unexpectedly a tougher day after yesterday's Nero. The descent into Pearisburg was nice and we entered some lush vegetation before popping out next to someone's backyard. A couple blocks through a neighborhood put us back into a steep climb passing by an old cemetery. We then came out next to a loud busy highway and had to cross a long bridge towards the polluting Celanese plant, turning in front of it and descending down to walk under the overpass. Finally passed it, we re entered the woods into a nice trail and uphill which walked right along a fence line where some heavy machinery was doing some sort of noisy landfill work. After a mile we were higher than the machinery work but continued to climb and climb. A couple hours of climbing later, we finally came to a water source which was too hard to access down a steep ravine so we decided to keep going another 3 miles to the next reliable water source. It was so hot and the climbing continued another mile to the top where we paused at Rice Field Shelter for a quick snack, the trail changes into a rolling open bald and then nice wild flower field. We finally stopped at a small spring for some water ... It had been 10 miles! A German couple Mr. Clean and Little Debbie caught up to us. Germany is the most represented country in the AT! I have met many Germans hiking the AT followed by several Australians. Apparently there is a popular documentary on the AT which has helped convince many folks to come to the U.S. and hike the AT. We passed some beautifully blooming trees with white flowers, and I thought there was a beehive nearby initially but soon realized every tree "buzzed" with bees pollinating the flowers. It was a really beautiful area. The last five miles included yet another super steep long climb followed by a couple more. I never know if it's better to power climb or slowly climb with breaks. I prefer to power climb and get to the top as fast as possible even though I am dripping with sweat. We passed a hiker doing the slow climb method. I put my head down and went for it. Finally we arrived at My friend Dawn whom I met in high school and lives in the area kindly offered to pick me up a couple days earlier than we planned to meet and fed us a delicious spaghetti dinner with a kale & Brussels sprout salad, garlic bread, and watermelon after a hot shower. I was in heaven!
Date: 2015-05-09
From: Stony Creek Valley VA 635

To: Sinking Creek VA 42
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Thanks to Dawn, I am able to slack pack this weekend! It was a beautiful but hot day and I quickly worked up a sweat climbing up the Rocky trail to Baily Gap Shelter. It's hard to believe I woke up in snow just last Friday! At the shelter we ran into Mr Clean and Little Debbie, Bob aka BC, and Moose whom we passed in the trail. We continued on and finally caught Andreas at Mountain Lake Road whom we had been following for a couple weeks. He was struggling and not enjoying his hike at the moment. He thru hiked 20 years ago and wanted to do it again but wasn't so sure anymore. It happens and I hope he feels better! We moved on stopping at Johns Creek to soak our hot feet for a few minutes before immediately climbing up Rocky Gap (another power climb moment) only to have the worst part of the climb manifest itself in a steep, rocky hot 0.6 mile torture. Finally at the top we somehow missed the view at Kelly Knob and descended a rocky ugly trail section pausing at the shelter to sign the register and quickly moving on. The last mile went through a pasture and I was happy to see Dawn driving back and forth on VA 42 looking to pick me up!
Date: 2015-05-10
From: Sinking Creek VA 42

To: Trout Creek VA 620
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today we immediately ran into Haiku who had already hiked 9 miles that morning. We started out passing Mr Clean, Little Debbie and Six Strings by the creek. A steep climb brought us to the top of the mountain where I saw some hikers taking a break. I thought I recognized Little Engine sitting on the ground when suddenly I heard someone shout "South Pole!" It was Tortoise whom I had not seen since Hot Springs 400 miles ago! He was there with Little Engine, Hunter, Six Strings, Rocky and then Road Runner showed up whom I lost in Erwin. They had hiked 160 miles since Monday in order to make it to the hiker feed this afternoon! It was a big reunion! We hiked on over some slanting rocks with great views, past the Eastern Continental Divide, and on to the Niday Shelter and then reached VA 621 where the Mothers Day Hiker Feed was located. It was already packed and 37 Hikers had already shown up by 1:45 and it wasn't scheduled to start until 2 pm. First round of food was already gone but Ann and her crew kept bringing more from dutch ovens and coolers. A record 54+ hikers showed up an hour later including 7-8 Germans! The food was great including Vegetarian quesadillas, tofu spring rolls, salad, snacks, soda, Dutch oven lasagna, vegetarian chili, homemade bread, candy, chocolate, salad, chicken, ziti, etc. Other Hikers I had met but not seen till now: Stoney (Standing Bear), SmokeBreak (last seen in Damascas), PokeyHontas, Don now called Salty Dog, Andreas, Wolverine, Squeeze the Human & Alan the Dog (following forever), Black & Blue (has to leave the trail due to her Achilles) After nearly two hours, Crafty and I finally pulled ourselves away and started the last 7.5 miles of the day's hike. Everyone had talked about how tough the climb was but fueled on food and adrenaline from seeing hiker friends, we easily climbed to the top and then enjoyed the ridge and descent to Trout Creek. It was the best I felt hiking at the end of the day in a long time if not ever. The temp was pleasant, the trail was nice and the scenery was beautiful. I still got passed by Alan the Dog. At the bottom, there were a lot of hikers planning to camp. Fortunately Dawn picked us up and we enjoyed another feast of lemon fusilli pasta with arugula ad broccoli, her homemade artisan bread and strawberry shortcake biscuits. I need to hike few more miles to work off all the great home cooked food Dawn made this weekend!! It's been awesome catching up with a longtime friend ... Who knew the AT would reunite us after all these years!! Thanks for taking in a stinky hiker and spoiling me!
Date: 2015-05-11
From: Trout Creek VA 620

To: John Springs Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Dawn hiked with us today! We dropped a car at VA 311 and then drove to VA 620 and started up the ridge. It was warm but pleasant the first few miles up to Dragons Tooth. We took the side trail where I climbed to the top rock. The view was amazing! The descent was worse than the climb up but I made it back down. A ton of day hikers showed up - mostly college kids. We ate our lunch in a swarm of bugs and then headed back down. The descent was very steep and rocky. The worst we have encountered so far. You know it's bad when they put iron rings into the rock to help you get down. There were narrow passages you had to squeeze through. We finally made it down and we're happy to see the rhododendron were blossoming beautiful pink flowers. The rest of the hike was the usual ups and downs mixed in with rocks. It was really hot especially walking through the pastures in full sun. The bugs are out and biting. I have dozens of bites all over and I am itching and swelling all over. This is where my hike is going to really get very difficult and test my endurance. Heat and mild allergies to bug bites will be me nemesis to the end now. I can barely tolerate my skin right now as its sticky and itchy in spite of constant wiping and rinsing. We only saw Earth, South Paw heading south now cast free, and 4 other hikers from yesterday's trail magic. Surprising given the number of hikers at the feed yesterday. We arrived at VA 311 finally! Dawn did a great job hiking a very tough 13.9 miles plus the side trail to Dragons Tooth! She was also fantastic slack packing and making delicious dinners! Thank you Dawn for a wonderful reunion and hiking weekend! Crafty and I then hiked 1 more mile to Johns Spring Shelter where Rocky was already there. We hung out bear bag just as it started to rain.
Date: 2015-05-12
From: John Springs Shelter

To: Daleville, VA US 220 - mile 727.8
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's hike started out with an unexpectedly pleasant climb to McAfee Knob, which is one of the most photographed spots on the trail. We passed several day hikers who had gone for sunrise. We didn't have the best sun position for the ledge photos but based on my FaceBook comments, folks still got the picture. We chatted with Rocky a few minutes and then moved on. The next 5.6 miles took us along the ridge climbing up to Tinker Cliffs where we sat and had lunch and could see McAfee Knob from where we hiked. Wrecker stopped by and decided to join our lunch spot. The next half mile ran along the cliffs with more views then the trail took us past the shelter where we had a message in the trail register from Andreas letting us know he would be at the Howard Johnson Express. He had offered to share his room with us the day before. Buoyed by a confirmed destination, we had 9 miles to cover passing a couple overlooks. Mother Nature was kind to me today as we had a nice breeze, even gusty on the ridges in the morning. We also had a lot of shade so today's hike didn't feel as brutally hot as yesterday. Wrecker and Mouse passed us. We could see civilization to the west but still had 4 miles to go. That is always tough when you see something but know you still have a long way to go. Especially when the trail gets tedious with rocks again. We passed through a section which look like it had been burned. Finally we hit an ugly section near the power lines which was dead and very dry but it was the 2 miles left landmark. The descent! It seemed to go on forever as we could hear the traffic on US 220 for awhile but we finally emerged and saw the gas station and HJE next to it! We found Andreas' room and enjoyed hot showers.   We walked 0.6 miles to the outfitter store, Krogers, and then met Andreas at Three L'il Pigs for dinner. Many hikers were there and we enjoyed a pleasant meal on the patio. Great day with great trail friends! Thank you Andreas for sharing your hotel room!