morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-26
From: unnamed campsite

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 17.0

Day 50 - There was a very light rain falling when I awoke this morning. It was the kind where you don't know whether to hurry and break camp before it gets worse or just go back to sleep and hope it stops by the time you wake up again. I elected to do the latter. When I re-awoke 45 minutes later, it had indeed stopped. The forecast called for a slight chance of rain with rainfall amounts not exceeding 0.1 to 0.25 inches except locally in thunderstorms. It sounded like great hiking weather - if it did rain, you wouldn't even bother putting on your rain gear because it would be just enough to cool you down. All was well for the first 5 miles; no rain, overcast, light breeze. At that point, I decided to go an additional 12 miles into Bland even with my defective shin. HikerFamily with their non-hiker friends were heading into Bland so I decided to tag along with them. Shortly after starting the additional 12 miles to Bland, it started to rain - gently, just enough to cool me off. HikerFamily and their friends started fumbling with their packs looking for their rain jackets. "Rookies", I thought, and kept walking, enjoying the cooling drops. It started raining a little harder, but it still felt good; then even harder. I was thoroughly wet, but still comfortable. Then all hell broke loose with thunder and torrential rain, and the rain got colder - uncomfortably but not dangerously cold (it's hard to get hypothermic when it's 68 degrees and you're hiking). Since I was completely soaked, putting on a rain jacket at this point would be pointless and just get my pack wet. After a couple of hours of this (I bet the rain total exceeded 1.5 inches), the rain did stop, the sun came out, the temperature rose and I dried out. This part of the trail was very easy, following old logging roads carved into the sides of the mountain. No steep climbs or drops, no rock scrambling; very pleasant hiking - once the rain stopped. I arrived at Rt 52 and hitched a ride into Bland. Fortunately, I had called the Big Walker Motel earlier (once I was sure I was going to make it) and made a reservation. When I arrived they were full - 16 of their 20 rooms rented to hikers. I did my laundry in the bathtub while taking a shower, hung it out to dry, then tried on my new shin sleeves. They feel good, so I'm optimistic. Rock Steady's here and we went down to the Dairy Queen for ice cream around 9 pm. I heard there's an AT hiker 2 day feast at a hostel in Pearisburg this coming weekend - just about the time I'll be walking into town. Sounds promising!
Date: 2015-05-27
From: Bland, VA

To: unnamed camp site
Miles today: 13.0

Day 51 - When I spend the night in a motel, I always get a late start the next day. The birds don't sing me awake at 5:30 am like they do in the woods, so I sleep in until about 7:00. Then when I'm finally all packed up, there's breakfast to consider. In the woods, it's oatmeal and I'm done in 10 minutes.   In towns, there are places with coffee and I linger there, always having 3 or 4 cups.   Bottom line for today - by the time I got a ride to the trailhead and started walking, it was already 10 am. That's why I only got in 13 miles today - in spite of the beautiful weather. If I want to get to the hiker feed in Pearisburg by Friday evening, tomorrow will need to be a big mile day. Pearisburg is still 33 miles away. So, early start tomorrow. The really good news for today is that the compression sleeve for my right leg shin splint seems to be working very well. My shin feels normal and it didn't bother me once all day. So a big thank you goes to my sister Pat and her son Dan, who recommended this 'treatment'. Also today, I reached another milestone - 600 miles!! I should reach 800 miles before I'm pulled off the trail for about 5 days in Mid-June to meet up with my family to head to our yearly family reunion. Thanks to all for your kind words on Trail Journals. I read them when I have wifi available.
Date: 2015-05-28
From: unnamed camp site

To: Wood's Hole Hostel
Miles today: 20.3

Day 52 - I got an early start this morning. It's obvious that I'm the first one on the trail. During the night, spiders lay lines of web between plants across the trail and the first 'lucky' hiker of the day collects them. Most are down low and don't bother me, but about 10% are at face level so my face collects them. Not my favorite thing, but I like early morning hiking, so I put up with it. It's about 30 miles into Pearisburg from where I camped last night. I want to get there early tomorrow for a resupply and to check on the hiker feed at the hostel there. The more miles I do today, the easier tomorrow will be. So that's how today I ended up doing my 4th 20+ mile day. I was planning to do 16 - 18 miles, but Rock Steady said he was heading to Wood's Hole Hostel. In the AT guide written by AWOL, he said Wood's Hole Hostel "is not to be missed" so I thought I'd try for it too. And that's where I am typing this right now. All the hikers in my bubble are here tonight (Gorp Gobbler, T- Storm, Rock Steady, Square Peg, and a few others). My shin feels good even after 20.3 miles (22.4 if you include side trips to Dismal Falls, Trent's Grocery, and the 0.5 miles off trail to get here) so things are looking good. Until tomorrow.......
Date: 2015-05-29
From: Wood's Hole Hostel

To: Holy Family Hostel, Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 11.1

Day 53 - Wood's Hole Hostel served a great breakfast this morning: buttery grits, scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, and coffee. After breakfast, everyone had to pull a chore from their chore jar and do the chore before leaving. My charge was to sweep the floor in one of the bunk rooms. I wasn't in any rush to hit the trail today, I only had 11.1 miles to get to Pearisburg. However, I was eager to get somewhere that had AT&T cell service though. I haven't been in contact with my wife for several days now. I finally got cell service within a couple of miles of Pearisburg, but I was on a ridge and could heard thunderstorms booming not far away. You don't want to be on a ridge top during a thunderstorm - it's a scary place to be. Just about the time I got down to the village, the threat of thunderstorms diminished. In town, I ran into Rock Steady. His family is visiting with him here. He arranged to give me and Hummingbird a ride to the Holy Family Hostel - about 1.5 miles away. I was really disappointed - there is no hiker feed here this weekend. I resupplied at Walmart and plan to head out with a heavy pack tomorrow. I'd like to get to Waynesboro at the south end of Shenandoah National Park before my wife picks me up for our reunion. The relatively easy hiking section through Shenandoah will help ease the shock of being reinserted back onto the Appalachian Trail. I had a chance to weigh myself at Wood's Hole Hostel. I'm at 190 pounds, if their scale is accurate. That means that between trying to eat more and the trail being easier in this part of Virginia, I have been able to slow or stop my weight loss. I still plan to fatten up at our family reunion, though, just in case.....
Date: 2015-05-30
From: Holy Family Hostel, Pearisburg, VA

To: unnamed camp site
Miles today: 13.1

Day 54 - The Holy Family Hostel in Pearisburg, VA does not have a caretaker present. When Hummingbird and I got there last evening there were about 7 hikers who seemed to have taken up residence there for several days and the place looked like a frat house after a wild party. The posted rules stated: no alcohol, no drugs, 2 day maximum stay, quiet after 9:00 pm because the hostel and the church are in a residential neighborhood. Hummingbird, who has PTSD, was very upset at the condition of the place; the current residents, all quite young, were abusing the place and the trust of the church. A very noisy party was still going on at 10:30 pm and Hummingbird had her fill of it and called the caretaker, who then called the police. They arrived about 10:45 pm, confiscated all the alcohol, and issued warnings about what would happen if they received any more complaints. Behavior like this is why hostels get closed. I was in my tent trying to sleep as were several other hikers when the police arrived and we had no interaction with the police, but we heard it all. It rained most of the night until about 3 am, so my tent was wet when I packed up this morning. The sun started to make an appearance by the time I finished breakfast at McDonalds. By the time I hitched a ride for the 2.5 miles back to the trail, it was already warm and humid. There is an amazing difference in temperature between the city and the woods. As soon as I got into the woods, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees. As I climbed up higher, a cool breeze developed and made the woods very comfortable - compared to the forecasted 86 degrees for Pearisburg. Because of the late start today was a short mile day, only about 13.1 or so. I've thought a little bit about having a Katahdin party as mentioned on Trail Journals, but actually Katahdin isn't even on my radar. My outlook is very short term: where is the next water source, where will I sleep tonight, where is my next resupply point, is it going to rain or do I have cell coverage here? In general, my furthest time horizon is about 2 or 3 days and usually it's no further than 4 or 6 hours.
Date: 2015-05-31
From: unnamed camp site

To: unnamed camp site
Miles today: 18.4

Day 55 - I slept great last night, maybe the best since starting and I didn't even use any Benadryl either. It was an 18+ mile day with a 1200 ft climb around midday. It was pretty humid, about 75 degrees and I was sweating buckets. I was hiking with Chief Pretty Feet and he was hardly sweating at all! I can't figure it out - do I just have more sweat glands on my face than he does??? We stopped in at "The Captain's" - you get there by taking a zip line ride across a small river - but we were a day late for their big hiker feed! Check out the zip line on my photos page. There were a few sodas laying around the Captain's though, so I had one of those. Hikers who were there reported that the food was great, but the party Saturday night got pretty wild. I took a picture of a big black snake for my friend and former co-worker - Laura - just for you! I know how much you love snakes! That's what those are called: Black Snakes. They look pretty intimidating, but they're harmless. Today was a difficult hiking day what with the heat, humidity, and lots of miles - I might just go for an easier day tomorrow. One more thing - I know some of you think I'm really a blogging genius - but truth be told - my wife takes all the nonsense I send her and turns it into something readable for you on Trail Journals - both the pictures and the text - everyday. It's a thankless and time consuming job for her - fixing my many run ons and rambling thoughts. So thank you Sweetie - on behalf of me and my 7 readers!!
Date: 2015-06-01
From: unnamed camp site

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 56 - Today was all about thunderstorms - thunderstorms in front of me, behind me, to the left, to the right, and finally, near the end of the day, right overhead as I was walking on an exposed ridge line. My sister, Spyder, would have totally freaked out. I wasn't that comfortable with the whole idea either but I wanted to get to Niday Shelter before dark. It ended up being another high miles day. I was tired, hungry, and wet, but you just do what you have to do. I think there are thunderstorms forecast everyday for the next 5 days. These are afternoon pop-up storms - very unpredictable. I'm doing something else that I really shouldn't be doing tonight - keeping my food bag inside my tent. Mice have been known to chew holes in tents to get inside to get into foodbags. Little Bean woke up in the middle of the night to find 3 mice running around inside her tent after she kept her food inside. I will risk it - I'm dry, it's raining outside, and I'm not going out to hang it. Besides, maybe I'll have a midnight snack. I don't know exactly how far I will be going tomorrow, but since Niday Shelter is at mile 685.3, anything over 14.7 will put me at the 700 mile mark. I think I'm on track to be at Waynesboro when my wife picks me up to head to our family reunion at the beach.
Date: 2015-06-02
From: Niday Shelter

To: Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School
Miles today: 16.4

Day 57 - I love sleeping in my tent. It took about 6 weeks before I was able to get a good night's sleep in it though. This is pretty counterintuitive - everyone thinks that after exhausting themselves hiking all day every day they'll fall asleep instantly when they lay down, but it just doesn't happen like that. Typically, I'd toss and turn for hours before falling asleep. But now, after all this time, it does happen just about instantly. Today I hiked over "Dragon's Tooth". It was more challenging than yesterday's hike over rock walls in a thunderstorm. It was scrambling/climbing on all 4's where one misstep could result in a very serious injury or worse - it keeps you focused. We (Chief Pretty Feet and myself) were on a schedule - which made things worse since we were late. Last year, Chief Pretty Feet attended a 4 day wilderness survival class at a place called Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School right near the AT. They invited him to stop in this year when he got to this area. Chief Pretty Feet told the kind folks @ Mountain Shepherd that we would be at the Dragon Tooth visitor parking area at 5 pm. We didn't make it until after 6:00 but they were still there waiting for us. They drove us to Mountain Shepherd, fed us all we could eat, did our laundry, opened the bar for us (I had 3 Sam Adams!) and are putting us up here for the night. Tomorrow they're feeding us breakfast and putting us back on the AT at 8:30am. Best. Place. Ever. You should look up Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School, owned and operated by Dina and Reggie Bennett, on FaceBook and the web. I felt the faint beginnings of a shin splint in my other leg this morning, so I pulled out my other compression sleeve and put it on. Unfortunately they are black. If they were green I would rename myself 'Green Sleeves' after the song - which I really like. 'Black Sleeves' doesn't have the same appeal - sounds like a pirate name. With the compression sleeves on, both legs are doing great. Thanks for your comments on my guest page on Trail Journals - if you have any questions, please ask and I'll respond via my daily update. I forgot to mention I passed the 700 mile point. There's a photo on my photos page. Until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-06-03
From: Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

Day 58 - I had a great night at Mountain Shepherd with Chief Pretty Feet and our hosts, Dina and Reggie Bennett. In the morning, Reggie cooked us a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, and coffee and then delivered us back to the trail. It was raining when we started hiking, a very light drizzle, and it continued to rain all day. The drizzle was light for most of the day. I didn't wear my rain jacket, but from time to time, I did have to put it on. The really bad thing about the rain and the low clouds was when I got to McAffe's Knob and Tinker Cliffs - there were no views!! These are iconic photography spots on the trail. Everyone wants to take photographs there, but they were a washout for me. Google image them and you'll see what I was hoping for. Chief is getting off the trail tomorrow to spend a couple of zeros with his wife so I'll be hiking alone as I head forward. I prefer this, I think, because it's hard to hike your own hike (HYOH) when hiking with someone else, especially when that person has an agenda (i.e. getting to a rendezvous spot to meet one's spouse). Tonight I'm dry inside the Lamberts Meadow Shelter. 10 miles north of here is Route 220 and there's a Kroger supermarket just 0.5 miles off the trail, perfect for resupplying, then on to Daleville. You may be wondering just what a thru-hiker gets when resupplying. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the items in my food bag after a visit to Krogers. I'm sure Mrs. Pockets would like to see that picture as well. AT&T coverage is still very spotty around here - I keep expecting it to improve so that these updates can get out in a timely manner, but so far I've been pretty disappointed. Maybe they should send that "Can you hear me now?" guy for a hike on the AT. Until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-06-04
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 10.0

Day 59 - I got a late start out of the shelter; it was only going to be a 10 mile day into Daleville. Much to my surprise, Chief came up to the shelter all ready to hike. I thought he might have gotten lost in the woods awhile back as I hadn't seen him since about 5 pm the night before. Hah, he had slipped by me when I was taking pictures and had beaten me to our day's destination. At one point, I seriously considered backtracking to look for him. I decided though that we were all big boys out here and we all knew how to take care of ourselves. Despite today's hike being only 10 miles, I felt myself really dragging. I think it's just because I've done a lot of miles recently without a break. 4 zero days is not very much for hiking 700+ miles - I may slow down a bit and give myself a little break. Daleville is a great trail town with everything within easy walking distance. I went to their urgent care center to have them check a spot on my arm. They said not to worry, but keep an eye on it. Then on to Kroger's to resupply, the outfitter to get glue to hold my old shoes together, and to the UPS store to mail back my winter jacket, rain pants, gloves, and old hat - basically anything I hadn't worn in the past 3 weeks and didn't intend to wear again until probably New Hampshire. All told, a productive day - I exceeded my expectations. At the urgent care facility, I weighed 189 with probably a pound of clothes on, so I have succeeded in greatly slowing my weight loss. Although I look pretty skinny in the mirror, that's a bit of a relief. I took a picture of a typical day's food - the Skittles (little bursts of fruit flavored sugar) will last 8 or 9 days. I use them to provide a energy boost to help get me over mountains and it also doubles as trail money. My next resupply point is 6 or 7 days away so I'll be leaving here with a heavy pack - hard on the shoulders. Until tomorrow.....
Date: 2015-06-05
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 60 - 2 months into this journey. The weather today was a pleasant surprise. The forecast called for 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms. After an overcast morning, the sky cleared and produced a very nice day. I didn't leave Daleville until about 10 AM. After reviewing my next food resupply point, I determined that I would be short 4 days of food. A return trip to Kroger (1 mile round trip walk) was in order. Almost every hiker seems to take a zero in Daleville (it's called the Daleville vortex) and I was tempted. I managed to resist the Trail Town Sirens and ended up putting in 11.2 miles to Wilson Creek Shelter, not bad for a 'get out of town' day. Like always, it felt good to leave 'civilization'. I have blisters from hiking in worn out socks on too many rainy days. I wasn't sure if moleskin would work well enough to allow me to continue to walk - without pain. Fortunately, this fix seems to be working out very well. I do need to replace my shoes. I've been told that hiking shoes are only good for about 400 to 500 miles before they stop supporting and cushioning your feet like they should. The shoes I'm wearing now have 736 trail miles and maybe 300 'break-in' miles (wearing them to work and on the treadmill at the gym). I'm a frugal person and always thought that as long as shoes had tread and weren't falling apart they were fine. Now I wonder if the shoes I'm wearing have been responsible for my shin splints. Who knew?? My wife is bringing me new shoes soon. I'll have a chance to break those in for several days before hitting the trail again. Beginning tomorrow, my hike on the AT will start to approximate and eventually parallel and cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. That may allow me to increase my miles substantially. Doing the AT isn't a race, but covering ground is satisfying. I do want to be in Waynesboro, VA by the time my wife picks me up. The forecast for tomorrow is 50% chance of rain and thunderstorms, which always slows me down a bit. Until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-06-06
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 61 - It's about 100 miles to Waynesboro and I have 6.5 days to get there before meeting up with my wife and daughter.   That means I need to do at least 16 miles per day to make it; difficult but doable. If I don't make it, we should be able to meet up somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Today was a long day - 20+ mile days wear you out. The trail is roughly paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway - although tomorrow there are some big climbs, one of which is 2200 feet. I'll tackle that early tomorrow morning, but it'll likely reduce the miles I cover. The weather has been remarkably good the past 2 days, much better than forecast. Tomorrow has only a 20% chance of rain so it looks like my luck is holding out. The first half of today I hiked alone; the second half I hiked with Paisley, The Mayor, Mama Sunshine, and 4BE. Nothing was really notable about today other than multiple crossings of the Blue Ridge Parkway and views at the overlooks. Here at the Bryant Ridge Shelter (one of the nicest so far) there are huge spiders, bigger than the Wolf spiders I've seen in the past. The spiders have everyone a little jumpy, but I'm in my tent so they can't get me here. You may have noticed a lack of flower photos recently. Now that the Mountain Laurel, Rhododendron, and Azaleas are gone there are very few blooming flowers around. It will be interesting to see what flowers are next to make an appearance. I think the shin splints are gone, but I'm going to keep wearing the compression sleeves until I get my new shoes. The only issue I still have are blisters on the toes of my right foot from all the rain. They're healing nicely and will continue to do so as long as the weather stays dry. So, until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-06-07
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Marble Spring campground
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

Day 62 - Waynesboro, VA is at mile 860, about 83 miles north. I need to do about 16.6 miles a day if I want to roll into there on Friday evening. Today I had a long, high climb from about 1300 ft to 4200 ft. That got me to the top of Apple Orchard Mountain - the site of an FAA center radar system. The climb up could have been worse, but it's a cool day with nice breezes. Thru-hikers have a love/hate relationship with large climbs. We often swear at them, but one of the reasons we're still out here is for the physical challenge. If we had a magic wand that would eliminate all climbs, I doubt we'd use it. I just need to remind myself sometimes that all hills have a top and if I just keep walking eventually I'll reach it. Just a week or so ago, I thought the landscape was flattening out, but I guess I was a little premature in that regard. Oh well. Recently, I've been hiking with The Mayor, Mama Sunshine, 4BE, and Paisley. Now it's just Paisley and me because the others decided to stop at a campground 3.2 miles south of here. At higher elevations today, the rhododendrons are still in bloom. Many of the rhododendron flowers have fallen at lower elevations, carpeting the forest floor and trail. It is quite a pretty sight. I'm afraid the pictures just don't do it justice. Columbines are starting to bloom. I'm sure several of my now 10 readers were able to identify them immediately.