morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-11
From: VA. 630

To: VA. 621
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: broken clouds

Have you noticed the mileage on the top right side of the page? Yep, I'm back in the saddle again - lets hope I don't fall off! I had about a hundred of my closest friends to greet me about fifty feet up the trail and I have to say I did not miss them, and was sorry they showed up! Let me start from the beginning. Kathy and I arrived at the spot where I left the trail on April 23 rd. My plan was to start around one pm. But I forgot my rain gear and they are calling for rain so we ended up going to WalMart in Pearisburg and getting a pair of dry ducks rain gear. So now its 2:30 and when we pulled up to the trail head, we were greeted with trail magic by Longhorn. Unfortunately, we had stopped and ate in town. I thanked him and introduced myself to the hikers - Trooper, M-80 and their dog Willow, E T, Little Foot and Garbage Man, all of which were nice to talk to and it felt great to be back. We gave them some water that we had brought just in case we came across anyone that needed any. I have to say it feels good to do trail magic, but it feels good to be back on the trail also. I finally left at three o'clock, slack packing to state road 621. I stopped and took a picture of the largest Oak Tree on the A T in the south, ( 18 ' around and over 300 years old ). I was making good time. The pain in the leg that took me off the trail is not hurting but my knees and bottom of my feet still hurt, but not like they did before. I did buy new boots with a good solid sole and it's helping. I stop more and move my feet around and stretch them out. I passed Buddha Jim taking a break. He said he started in Erwin Tn. and that I missed a lot of rain. So now I'm ridge hiking and I can't believe what I'm hearing - thunder rumbling and the clouds are coming my way so I pick up the pace trying to get off the top of this mountain. Something about me, thunder storms and ridge walking I don't like! Funny thing is, I was looking for a boulder to take cover under if it gets too bad, but it seems to be going around me, so I'm just getting rained on for now. I then see a sign that reads Eastern Continental Divide. I take a couple of pictures and move on. I passed up two shelters - didn't even check the logbook to see who had been there lately. I'm a little gun shy due to all the stomach virus going around. I made it down to state road 621 at 8:15pm, where Kathy was waiting on me. And now I'm in Salem, VA, icing my knees and feet. Oh yeah, I almost forgot - my hundred friends were GNATS!Its good to be back.
Date: 2013-05-13
From: VA 620

To: Mile 701 
Miles today: 11.2

I have a surprise to tell you all, but it will have to wait till you finish reading this - no cheating!The plan was for Kathy to go home after dropping me off at the trailhead this morning, but she said I could slack pack today and she would leave in the late afternoon. I've learned over the years it's hard to change a woman's mind. I'm no dummy, so I'm going slack packing. What a day. I'm feeling good and the sun is out. The hike is easier than I thought it would be. I made it to Dragon's Tooth and Robin and Mary were right - the blue blaze to the tooth is worth the small detour. I hiked with them back in the snowy beginning. Check out their Trail Journal at http://www.trailjournals.com/robinandmary. I just made it to Dragon's Tooth before about ten college kids showed up and the views were unbelievable today. When I made it down to the road, my trail angel was waiting for me with a Subway sandwich. I sat in the car and ate it and talked about where I was going to go tonight. I decided I'd tent just past VA 785, where I could soak my feet in the stream. So I loaded my pack up with some goodies Kathy bought today and we said our goodbyes, probably till Harper's Ferry, and off I go. It's only a couple of miles to go - yeah right! About a mile into it I come across a very nice campsite next to a beautiful stream with no houses or roads nearby. It¢s really peaceful, but no, I decide to keep going to where I said I would go, and when I got there I wished I would have stayed put. There was not a good place anywhere to camp, and then the trail was going straight up. I finally made it to the top and I found a flat spot for my tent, but it¢s just too windy so I keep going. My feet are doing good but my calf muscles are sore (I guess they got soft sitting at home) and about a hundred feet further I top a small hill and there it was, about sixty feet in front of me on the trail, a big black bear. After 700 miles, Boo Boo has finally found Yogi! At first I didn't know what to do. It looked right at me. It's like I had lock jaw. I reached for my camera and started taking pictures and then reached into my pocket and grabbed my iPhone and was snapping away and then I decided to film it. I'm thinking, ¢Is this thing blind? Does it not see me?¢ I finally hollered at it and it ran down the hill. I hike a little further and find a nice flat area to tent and I have a cell signal, which is a plus tonight!To see my Yogi video and others, just go to the left blue side bar and click VIDEOS.To see my Yogi photo and others not shown on the journal page, just click the picture to make it larger and you can scroll back and forth thru them or just click PHOTOS on the left blue side bar.
Date: 2013-05-14
From: Mile 701 

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: clear sky

I didn't get much sleep last night. For one thing, I went from king size bed at the house to a small air mattress in a tent, plus I switched out my winter sleeping bag to a summer bag, so yes I was cold. Or it may be the fact that I saw that bear and I was hoping my food would still be there in the morning and so I would clap my hands and yell out, ¢Go away!¢ all night. So I was in no hurry to leave this morning, but I finally did at 10:15am, which is late for me. I passed a lot of Virginia Tech college students going south. I made it to Hwy 311 at about 11:45am, hoping there would be trail magic. I needed water, but there wasn't any magic for me. I headed on towards McAfee Knob. I know there's water near the shelter and there is, so I fill up and drink a quart and I'm off again. I must have seen 30 college students going up to the knob. I finally get there and now there are only 15 of them - I don't know what happened to the rest of them. I sit down and eat my tuna and one of those little plastic tubs of peanut butter and a Snickers bar. I take some pictures and decide to make this a short day. I'm staying in the Campbell Shelter along with Draggin Fly and Night Rider is tenting. The birds are just whistling away.
Date: 2013-05-15
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 15.4

Last night just at dark, while I'm laying in my sleeping bag, I hear something at my feet. I grab my light and there are two mice about five inches long going in and out of a hole in the corner. Then I see one on the deck of the shelter and one running on the wall next to me. For some reason they¢re on my side of the shelter and not Draggin Fly¢s side and where there's mice, there's snakes. I try to put them out of my mind and try to fall asleep. I put in my ear plugs and struggle with my sleeping bag and my pillow made of clothes. About twenty minutes later I'm hot. I take my jacket off, then remove my bag liner and take my buff off my head. The night before I was cold and tonight I'm hot. I tossed and turned all night, then at 4:30am I hear a lot of noise coming from Draggin Fly. This goes on for about fifteen minutes. Then I start to hear the birds around 5:30am and I'm up at 6am. Draggin Fly said the mice kept going in his pack last night. He moved it a couple of times - to me it sounded like he was beating them with his hiking poles.I decided to try and make it to Daleville, about 15 miles, mainly because you can only tent near the shelters and the last shelter is 6 miles away, so as long as my feet don't kill me, I'll be in a bed tonight with no creatures of the night and hopefully, no bed bugs. I took my time and made it to Tinker Cliffs. It was very windy up top, thank goodness, because the temperatures hit 91° and I was sweating up a storm. I never did see Draggin Fly or Night Rider again. I made it to Lambert's Meadow and it¢s a good thing because I only had about 8 oz of water left. I filled up on snacks and water and soaked my feet in the creek - man was that water cold! I only lasted five minutes or less. On the walk into Daleville, Garbage Man and Little Foot passed me (I had met them on my first day back on the trail) and I was running on empty. The heat of the day is just zapping it out of me. I ran out of water and I thought I would never make it into Daleville. Now I've got to cross four lanes of traffic without getting hit and it¢s busy and the people in the cars are in a hurry. I made it across and got me a room at the Super 8. I took a shower, turned the a/c on 61 and walked down to the Mexican restaurant in front of the motel. Tomorrow I will be taking a zero (which means no mileage on the A T), but I will be walking or yellow blazing everywhere to resupply.
Date: 2013-05-16
From: Daleville, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I am taking a zero today at the Super 8. I walked (of course) down Hwy 220 to go to the outdoor store. I got there at 8:30am and to my surprise it¢s closed and doesn't open till 10am, so I went to the Goodwill store and bought a 12" television with remote control. Just kidding! I didn't see anything I couldn¢t do without, so my next stop is Kroger's grocery store. So I'm going down the aisles with my grocery cart full of junk food and I come to the candy aisle and there's ¢K Fox¢ doing her shopping. We talked awhile then I paid for all my junk food, high in calories and sugar and headed back to the motel. That afternoon I hiked down underneath I - 81 to the T/A truck stop and looked around a little bit. Man was that place crowded with tractor trailers. I went ahead and bought me a comb, because I didn't feel like crossing more traffic to get to the Dollar General store down the road. After that I went back to the room and did some packing and reorganizing. That evening I walked back down to the Kroger shopping center and went to the outdoor store and bought me a compression stuff sack for my sleeping bag. Then I went over to the Three Little Pigs and had some barbecue. So there you have it - the life and times of a hiker in a noisy small town.
Date: 2013-05-17
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It's Friday morning and all the hikers are leaving town because Virginia Tech's graduation is this weekend and all the rooms go up in price and they're all booked anyway - good luck to all the hikers coming into town. I didn't leave till 11:00am because I had some bank card issues to handle, plus I had no cash. The first couple of miles were along I-81. It was loud and hot and I'm ready to leave this loud, busy town. I was running low on water so I stopped at the first shelter and their water source is a cistern, so I filled up my Gatorade bottle just in case I ran out of filtered water. Not too many views today. I made it down to Curry Creek and Shaggy was seating on a rock eating so I joined him. I poured my cistern water out and filled up with some good creek water. I took my boots and socks off and soaked my feet while I made and ate my three cheese mac and cheese. Then as I was getting ready to leave, it started to rain so out comes my pack cover and I head off to Wilson Creek Shelter. The rain stopped about 30 minutes later. I'm here at the shelter tenting. ¢Shaggy¢ is here but is going to meet his parents down the road at 8 pm. ¢Pace Maker¢ and her husband ¢Runner Up¢ are from Germany and are here at the shelter for the night. Also here is ¢Big Red¢ and his wife ¢Yooper¢ and ¢JD¢ and his wife ¢Trip¢. They¢re grilling steaks on an open fire and this has been going on for 2 hours and it¢s now 9 pm. I think they may be eating them for breakfast! So I'm lying in my tent journaling and there's a whip-a-will, whipping away and ¢Runner Up¢ asks ¢What kind of bird is that?¢ in his German accent. I yell out from my tent, ¢Whip-a-will¢. I made someone laugh. Now the train is blowing its whistle. It just came by at 8pm and now again at 9pm. I think it's going be a long night! Something I've noticed since I've been back - now don't get me wrong, I like the people I have been meeting on the trail, but I feel like an outsider now. They all seem to know one another and have been though stuff together and I'm sure I'll find my place again. But I do miss the ones I¢ve hiked with in the past, a lot. Goodnight.
Date: 2013-05-18
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Wet, wet, wet! About 12:30 this morning a bolt of lightning cracked over me. Do I stay and take a chance of not frying or do I run to the shelter? I take my chance and stay. Heavy rains began splashing in from under my doors, but the floor stayed dry. I soon fell back a sleep. By morning the rain had stopped. There was a mystery tenter yesterday when I got there - never seen anybody, but this morning I heard a cough and it sounded like ¢K Fox¢. I went ahead and packed up my wet tent, said good-bye to everyone and started my hike for the day. The trail wasn't bad. It had some hills but for the most part it smooth and flat. I saw a lot of red-spotted newts ¢ I counted 22 within half a mile. The AT runs along and over the Blue Ridge Parkway for several miles. I was taking a break at one of the overlooks when out of the woods comes the mystery tenter, ¢K Fox¢. We ended hiking together the rest of the day. The views weren't that great because of the fog, but the temperature made for great hiking. We are stopped here at Cove Mountain Shelter along with three other hikers. I set my tent up to dry it out and I'm sleeping in the shelter due to the possibility of more storms.I would like to say congratulations to my nephew Ben and his new wife Ashley on their marriage today ¢ I was thinking of you both!
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

The thunderstorms never came but the rains did. I'm dry but I did not sleep much and I tossed and turned all night. I was the second one up and the fourth to leave the shelter this morning. It rained off and on ALL DAY LONG! I just put my head down and went on. I stopped by Bryant Ridge Shelter just after 1pm and the rains started again so I had lunch. This shelter has three floors and could hold twenty people. Just as I was ready to leave, in comes a very wet hiker and soon after it stopped raining. The climb out was tough. It went up a little more than 2200 feet in 4.3 miles and my butt was draggin! Once I was on top, the light rain and fog started and it stayed with me all the way to Cornelius Creek Shelter, where I'm tenting in the rain because the shelter is full. I don't mind the rain ¢ it¢s the lighting that puckers me up! (Yes, I'm still trying to keep my sense of humor.) Not too much to photograph today except a mouse, another red newt, a black snake, a snail and I think a centipede. I'm in my tent, listening to the rain hit my tent and to an owl nearby - oh, yeah and listening to about a million frogs! Where's my ear plugs?To see more photos, just click the photo on this page. That will take you to all of my photos. Or, you can click the word PHOTOS in the left, blue sidebar.
Date: 2013-05-21
From: Sulfur Spring Trail Crossing

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 7.2

The rain never came. That's good, so now I don't have to pack my tent up wet. I snapped the last buckle on my pack and here comes ¢K Fox¢ so at 6:50 am we hiked together down the mountain and across the mighty James River foot bridge, the longest foot-use-only bridge on the Appalachian Trail. Then we started white lining. Some people call that yellow blazing but walking on the white line was scary enough for me and I can't imagine walking in the middle of the road. We walked for about a mile and a half before someone stopped. His name is Andy and he said he was a merchant marine based out of Mississippi and that he's off for three weeks and he's headed home to Maine - funny thing is we¢re headed there too! We're here in Glasgow, VA. Population 1,102 ¢ Salute! (from the Hee Haw show, remember?) This is my kind of town - not much here and real quiet and friendly. The town has no hotel/motel but does offer a place for hikers to tent and also a small shelter, free of charge, with hot showers and a real porta potty. There is a donation box which I will gladly donate to. I then went to the eating joint nearby called Scottos and had a large pizza, sweet tea and mozzarella sticks. Then I went to the library and uploaded some pictures to Flickr, but not all of them because it is sooo slow. I Photostreamed my iPhone pics as well. Then I went and done my laundry. Now I'm eating at Scottos again, having a pulled pork sandwich with fries and a sweet tea. Next I'm going shopping for food, since I am completely out. I will head out again in the morning, but have enjoyed my stay here in Glasgow.
Date: 2013-05-23
From: Tenting

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

While I was laying down last night, listening to the rain hit my tent, I had an idea. Don't get too excited, I've had a couple before. I thought, why don't you collect rain water? So I took my Jet Boil and cup, along with a plastic bag that I made into a bowl and placed them on the edges of the tent flaps and started collecting water. This went on for about twenty minutes, then the rains slowed up and I fell asleep. In the morning, it was still drizzling so I just laid there for a while. When I did get up, I packed up and filtered all the water I had collected, about one liter, which was good because I only had a cup full left.Today's hike was all over the place - one minute I'm in the enchanted forest (check out my video - use the left blue sidebar to get there) and the next I'm on the top of a mountain looking down on a town. There¢s a monument telling of an almost five year old boy back in 1891 that wondered off from school, seven miles away and died here. Then I cross a swinging bridge and about a mile up the trail I'm sideways on the trail taking a break and turn my head and there's the biggest German shepherd I've ever seen - scared the living ---- out of me! Right behind him was his master. He calls himself ¢Caveman¢ and the dog is ¢Jessie¢. Caveman carries a ¢Walking Tall¢ kind of stick. You just never know what or who you are going to meet on the trail. Then I go around a lake for 3 miles and I come across an old community were freed slaves lived back in the early 1900's. So it¢s been more like a pleasure hike today compared to when I left Daleville. Speaking of Daleville, you know I couldn't wait to leave that town, but yesterday in Glasgow, I didn't want to leave. I just felt more relaxed there than any of the towns I've been in so far. So I'm the only one here in Brown Mountain Creek Shelter (which is also named after the community of freed slaves). There are four tents and one hammock down near the stream. I heard thunder as I was passing this place and decided to turn around because I have a five mile 2700 foot climb. So I¢m set up inside the shelter and I even went down to the stream and took a bath. It felt great to get all that salt and funk off me! I'll leave out the details, and yes the water was cold. The thunder storm is here and it's a frog strangler, you know - a gully washer. I hope the stream don't rise as those tents are pretty close. Well that's all folks.I almost forgot - I've passed the 800 mile mark! Can I get a Whoop! Whoop! - That's what I thought!
Date: 2013-05-24
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Porter's Field
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

That was one heck of a storm last evening! I am glad I was in here inside the shelter and that everyone stayed put and didn't wash away. I left at 6:55am and started going up the trail along the stream where you can still see remnants of an old rock wall and a chimney from the community that had once lived out here in the middle of nowhere. Today's hike had some nice climbs. That first one was a doozie - all of a sudden the winds picked up and the higher I got, the stronger the winds were. A hiker that I met in Daleville, "Don's Brother" passed me and I am glad to see he's back on the trail and doing well. Just before I reached the top, about ten senior citizens passed me by, going south, and they were hauling the mail (moving at a fast pace!). Once I was on top, the winds were so strong that at times it made hiking in a straight line impossible but the views were incredible. I stopped for lunch behind a boulder to try and stay out of the wind and a deer, just below me, got up and walked about thirty feet and laid down in some heavy brush. After lunch I was on a wide ridge and I decided to walk over and look down and saw another deer. This happened again one other time later in the day, so three times total! I also met a young man today who was sitting on a rock rubbing his feet. He said they were killing him and that he is getting new shoes in Waynesboro. He said the ones he's been wearing have no support on the soles. I told him I know exactly what he's going through. I gave him my two cents worth, wished him well and moved on. I decided I couldn't go any further, so I'm tenting in a place called Porters Field. I pitched my tent under a bushy tree trying to stay out of the wind. The wind has not let up all day, a constant flow with big gusts. I will try to post a video of this crazy wind soon, but will let you know.
Date: 2013-05-25
From: Porter's Field

To: Tye River
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: few clouds

Last night was cold and windy. In the middle of the night, I woke up cold and put on my wind jacket and still tossed and turned, trying to keep warm. I couldn't take it anymore so I finally got up and packed everything up and I found out pretty quick that I have three new hiking friends. Let¢s just call them Blister #1 and #2 on my left heel and Blister #3 on my right heel. Great! This should make for a painful hike today. I also have a sore neck - must have slept on it the wrong way. My goal today is to meet Kathy and my son, Brandon, at 2:00 o'clock at the Tye River Suspension Bridge. I started out at 6:30am so this should give me plenty of time to make it. As I start out, the wind is still blowing but not as strong and the temperature has to be in the very low thirty's. I'm seeing a lot of weekend hikers this morning and I came up on Boy Scout Troop 1893 out of Richmond VA. One of the leaders asked if I was a thru-hiker and when I said yes, he yelled out, ¢Thru hiker on the trail¢, ¢Everyone off the trail¢ and they all got off real quick. I was very impressed on how well behaved and polite they all were as I went by. My blister friends were killing me on the up hills. The good news was I had about a 3,100 foot descent in 4.3 miles. The closer I got to the Tye River, the more people I saw going up the trail and as I rounded a switch back, there they were - Kathy and Brandon, looking at a water fall. Just as I reached for my camera they saw me and all of us had big ol¢ smiles. Kathy asked if I was hungry and said that she had brought me a BBQ sandwich - which I took my pack off and woofed down, right on the spot. My plan is to take a zero tomorrow, which is Sunday. It¢s going to be nice to spend some time with them both, and yes I made it there with time to spare.