morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-10-25
From: Bearfence Shelter

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I had a wonderful walk today. The trail was great, the sun was shining and all was well in the world. It was a bit breezy, but it kept me cool.East and Tiny did a 20 mile today, sooo I miss my buddies a bit. I just have no desire to walk big miles, i.e. greater than 15. It bothers me sometimes, but that is just where the Brown Dog and I are.I met Ranger Dave and am sharing a shelter with him tonight. He is from New Jersey and is out for 8 days on the trail. The time changes tonight and I wonder if I should even change my watch. I won't know the difference until I go into town and need services. Even then I would be early for the services' operation hours, sooo I am debating. I am really counting down until my shower and laundry. It has been 6 smelly days. I definitely want to get cleaned up before Jen and Audra come out. Just don't want their eyes watering the whole time they are near me. So Loft Mountain Campground tomorrow night it is.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-10-27
From: Loft Mountain Campground

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: moderate rain

It rained most of the night, at times pouring. I woke to dripping water in my face. It seems my little tarp sprung a small leak on one of the seams. Oh well, no big deal. I stayed mostly dry. I made my way up to the Main Campstore where the washers and dryers were and dried off most of my stuff and warmed up, anxiously awaiting my buddies, Audra and Jen. While I was waiting, a retired couple was there in their motorhome and she offered me a cup of coffee with real French vanilla creamer. I sat and chatted with them out of the weather, quite a nice surprise. I was in buying a soda and Doritos from my friend, Maxine, in the store when they rolled up. It was so good to see them and get hugs from home. I have been on a high since. We have covered all the basics of home news and had many good laughs. Have I mentioned it poured rain for the first part of our hike and was horribly yucky weather and that they are troopers? We are in the hut. The weather is clearing and life is GOOD!Happy trails!
Date: 2003-10-28
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We all slept like logs last night waking refreshed with Jen and Audra ready for a 13 mile day. They are brave souls to say the least. So I am going to turn the keypad over to Jen this evening for guest journaling. What a privilege to be a guest journalist. The trail experience has been incredible so far. I don't know the last time I slept for over 10 hours, waking up to the sun coming up rather than an alarm clock or a dog wanting to be let out. I was thrilled to see my breath when I woke up. Right On mentioned that she looked over to where we were in our sleeping bags, wondering if we had slept okay in the cold night, and she saw a big gust of exhaled breath. Yep, that was me. We were off after packing up and having breakfast. It was a tough hike. There were lots of steep hills for us to go up and down. Right On and Brown Dog are an amazing team. Brown Dog led the way most of the time. She'd get ahead, stop and then look back to check on us. If we dilly-dallied, she'd come running back. Right On set the pace and gave us one heck of a workout. We crossed paths with a few other hikers - all were friendly. One had a big brown dog that looked a lot like a bear. When the dog rounded the corner without any sign of a two-legged person, we all sucked in our breath. Then we saw the lanky man who whizzed by after letting the dogs say hi. His trail name was Underpants. The shelter finally appeared off in the horizon just in time. We (Audra and I) were exhausted. The shelter was a full house. There were 7 adults and 2 dogs. A hot dinner hit the spot. Then off to bed we went.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-10-29
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: few clouds

It was a cold start this morning. We got up thankful we had shelter through the night as it poured most of the night. We were excited to get into town for hotel, soda and food. The going was slow for several reasons. The trail was slick with wet leaves and rocks and there were some beautiful views that we had to take photo opportunities. I had my first wipe out of the southern portion and there were two witnesses. . . a little embarrassing, but what can you do. I tried to get a hitch for us, but my hitching karma is off right now, so we walked down to this visitor's center and called a trail angel. Before we knew it we were in Waynesboro clean and fresh. Jen and Audra treated us to dinner and treats galore. We crashed at the hotel about sundown and didn't move.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-10-30
From: Waynesboro

To: Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We woke up slow this morning and tanked up on coffee and other goodies from the continental breakfast. I decided to fast forward to Daleville, VA. Jen and Audra kindly agreed to transport me up the trail. Now I am guaranteed to be home for the honey crust ham and chocolate delight at Christmas. There are two other sections ahead I will be bypassing as well, the Smokies(no dogs in the park) and a section north of Erwin that I walked in 2000. Sooooo family be warned, I will be home with my appetite for the holidays.Now, let me thank Jen and Audra for coming out and being super troopers through some yucky weather. They went above and beyond the call. Thank you both for everything.And so the trail goes,Happy trails!
Date: 2003-10-31
From: Daleville

To: Lambert Meadow Shadow
Miles today: 9.4

I slept soooo good last night and am glad I took part of the day to relax . I woke and promptly headed over to get coffee and donuts. Then I headed back to the bed for coffee, donuts and TV, a whole hour and half of it. I started packing up, 7 days worth of food. Uugggghhh, it is heavy, necessary, but heavy, and right now I dreaded it. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, Indian summer I would say. There were some beautiful views, and I could even see the hotel were I stayed for most of the day. I met a really creepy guy today, heading the other way, thank goodness! He looked normal enough but once we got talking my gut said something is off. As we were parting he stopped 20 yards down the trail and shot off some more questions. I asked his name and he said Lex Luther, you know the scary guy from "Silence of the Lambs." That put some pep in my step. Phew, glad that is over!Today was tough hiking - a heavy pack and ups are a bad combination. My feet are rebelling in the new shoes with my toes screaming. They just need to get over it because we are not stopping.We were glad to get to the shelter and thought we were going to be all alone, then 4 southbounders rolled in. Yipppeeee! I love company. I will sleep better with others around.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-01
From: Lambert Meadow Shadow

To: Catabwa Shelter
Miles today: 8.2

Phew! The going is slow and I am not sure why.I had another beautiful day today. I walked the edges of Tinker Cliffs with a beautiful view of the ridge walk ahead and of the Catabwa Valley. The valley was lined on both sides with ridges and down the middle was a patchwork of farms, homes and woodlands. Up and down the ridge we went. We had many breaks and a long lunch. Then up we went to Mcafee Knob. Mcafee Knob is a icon on the trail. They say it has the best views in Virginia and I believe it. We had our photo opportunities and a long break there, too. A couple from Roanoke asked me to take their picture and email it to them. They gave me 5 dollars for it, then offered me a trip into town to stay with them. I declined and decided to keep plugging along. Now we are at the shelter and it seems we will have it all to ourselves. But I hear voices in the woods. They might be coming this way. I have to say it is a completely different experience heading south. I think I prefer my family of northbounders, for I have not found a family, yet, in this direction.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-07
From: Catabwa Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Okay, so here is the deal. I was at the Four Pines Hostel in Catabwa, VA. I stopped in there Sunday after a wonderful home cooked, all you can eat, meal at the Home Place. The hostel was in Joe's garage and provided the comforts a hiker needs. He graciously took us to the trail the next morning at 6:00 am before he went to work. I walked about 3 miles up the hill and just sat down and couldn't/wouldn't go farther. So I sat for about an hour thinking and writing about whether or not I was finished. I came to the conclusion that I was and turned and walked down the hill. I stopped in at the Nidday Shelter and wrote it out in the register. I was happy, content, and off to rent a car or something. I got to the trailhead and there was a trail maintainer, Red. He agreed to take us back to the general store in Catabwa. Cool! The trail always brings what you need.I spent hours on the phone there with friends and my mom laughing, crying and discussing options. Suddenly my choice was not so clear. Having come so far was I really done? Hummmm, I couldn't rent a car because my driver's license expired on my birthday while I was out here. Uuugggghhh! So I headed back to the hostel to evaluate. In the end I made my way to Pearisburg on Tuesday and got a hotel room. I have spent the days watching TV, wandering the town, drinking coffee, reading and getting a haircut. I have also spent a fair amount of time on the phone with my mother and father. Bless them, they have been sooo patient and supportive with me. Emma and Carrie have also helped me steer this boat in some heavy waters. So in the end I have chosen to stay on the trail for now. Gray Jay is meeting me in Bland on the 11th and hiking for about 4 days with me. I figure I will be pepped up after that and then there is only a month to the end. I suppose I have just gotten really tired of walking. There are not very many folks out here now, either, and it is a bit lonely. I am ready to be finished. So I guess you could say I have hit the wall. I will just have to ride it out and if I can't I will choose again. Today I slackpacked 10 miles back into Pearisburg and the hotel. What a way to hike with only a light pack and then back to a shower and bed.Send all of your hiking karma this way.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-08
From: Sugar Run Gap

To: Dismal Falls
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Today marks five months on the trail. I can't believe it, five whole months. So many things have come and gone in that time and so many miles later here I am a month and a half from Springer Mountain, Georgia. I had a nice walk today. The skies were clear blue and the temperature in the 50's. The sun sets now about 6:00 pm, so I like to be where I'm going no later than 5:00 pm. During my ride to Sugar Run Gap on the back roads of Virginia it became apparent to me that this is hunting country. There were loads of cars on the side of the dirt roads and some men hanging out in their blaze orange and camouflage outfits with guns slung over their shoulders. We are officially the brightest, loudest undeer like things in the woods. I sing out loud some times and generally just make a lot of noise. The forest changes in so many ways with the seasons. I saw two deer and told them to run and hide.I am happy to be back on the trail and realize how close I am to my destination. I am hoping my stamina holds and my feet carry me swiftly to Georgia.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-09
From: Dismal Falls

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

We woke this morning to frost on my tent and a frozen dog water dish. The temperatures are sure dropping after the sun goes down. The sun came up over the mountain and we began to warm up and I decided to lay my tent stuff over the bushes to help dry them out. They were wet from the moisture in the air or simply my breath during the night. I read two chapters in my book while I had oatmeal and hot chocolate. I have been devouring books with the days being shorter and more time to pass at night. I am enjoying all the time I have for reading. We broke camp at 9:30 am and walked, and walked and walked. The trail was nice today, manageable climbs and rocks. We arrived at the shelter at 3:30 pm, not bad for a day's work. I thought about pressing on, but there is no water for about 10 miles, so we stayed and read in the chilly sunshine. We have now retreated to the warmth of the sleeping bag. Aaahhhhh, a warm bag. It is supposed to get down into the 20's tonight. I sure hope I don't have to answer the call of nature in the middle of the night. I feel like I have my wheels back mentally and physically and am praying for strength until the last step.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-10
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Since it gets dark at 6:00 pm I have begun a weird sleeping pattern. I go to sleep about 7:30 pm, then I wake in the middle of the night for about 2 hours and I read. I finished a book last night during that time. We were also awakened by a coyote yelping at the full moon. It was very close and I was kind of freaked out at first, as Gelert was too. But then I relaxed and realized how cool is that. She went on howling for about 10 minutes. Then I guess she ran somewhere further from us and started up again. It is very cool some of the things I have heard out here. When the moon is full out here it is really cool, too, because there are shadows in the forest in the middle of the night. I never thought the moon could be so bright.The days have been beautiful, but rain is in the near future, but so is Gray Jay.   I called a woman named Mickey that Gray Jay knew from her time hiking. Mickey lives near the trail out here and teaches an Appalachian Trail class at a local college. Anyways, she was wonderfully kind and has brought me to her house for the night and tomorrow morning while Gray Jay makes her way here. Her and her husband have basically opened their house to me, fed me and made me feel right at home. The generosity and kindness of people on the trail is amazing. So since I am missing other hikers on the trail I will find company in other places. I even stopped and had a conversation with a hunter yesterday. He couldn't figure out what was making that jingling noise, Gelert's bells, so I was happy about that. All in all, I am happy to be out here. Soooo, I will continue until I reach Springer Mountain, GA.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-12
From: Bland, VA

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Gray Jay is here. It is awesome to have my hiking buddy back. The miles ticked by so fast! She caught up with me yesterday at Mickey's house and we shuttled her car down the trail and stayed the night at the Big Walker. We were up and out early this morning with biscuits and gravy at the Dairy Queen. We walked about a mile into Bland and tried to hitch. We believed we were unsuccessful and started walking to the trailhead when two cars pulled over full of hikers headed for the trail. This group of women come together and do day hikes to add the miles up on the trail. So there we were ready for the trail, Gray jay and I decked out in orange! We talked and talked. It was great. It drizzled on us off and on but no big deal. Now we are in the shelter with two hunters and two other hikers. Crazy! I don't see people for days and then bam, they are everywhere.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-13
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Here we sit at Chestnut Knob Shelter - cold, cold, cold, clear and WINDY. It is probably below 30 already. So Gray Jay is here with me and I have asked her to be the guest journalist tonight.   Take it away Gray Jay. . . . Even a cold night on the trail is a good night! I am glad to be hiking a few days with Right On & Brown Dog. Yesterday, when we arrived at the shelter, it was obvious that a couple of hunters had been staying there for a while. We were apprehensive to say the least. In a while, 2 more women hiked in. We figured with 4 of us we could handle the situation. Well, after dark the hunters arrived. They were so nice & friendly. They even offered to fix us coffee this morning. We were glad to get to know them. T hey helped relieve some of our fears of hiking during hunting season. Today we had some long ascents & ridge walking. The wind was very strong. Often we felt like we would be blown off the mountain. It is still raging tonight. Thankfully, we are in an enclosed shelter. The day was clear, sunny & beautiful. Tonight, the stars are brilliant. It's just too cold to stay outside & look at them for very long.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-14
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Ceres, VA
Miles today: 12.0

Holy smokes, was it cold last night! It got down into the low 20's inside our four-sided shelter. The wind was blowing so hard I could feel the shelter shake a bit and I was wondering what I was going to do when the roof flew off. I was toasty warm in my bag, but there is always the morning when the harsh reality sets in that one can't walk and still stay inside a sleeping bag. We got up shivering, got all our gear inside the packs, put all of our clothes on and walked out into the blustery cold. The views from the trail were beautiful.We got down to a dirt road and decided to walk the road down to Ceres to get out of the cold in a motel for the night. As we were walking down this never-ending dirt road, we began to conjure up ideas of coffee and other goodies at the supposed store in Ceres. Much to our dismay there was nothing in Ceres, nothing. So we were there and needed to get down the road to Atkins, but we didn't know which road to take because the maps stink for this section. Sooo, I decided to go knock on a door and ask for the phone. Luckily the man who answered the door let me use the phone and we called the motel. They sent someone out for us. We waited for an hour, shivering our buns off, in the 30 degree air. The shuttle driver was very interesting, to say the least. His mouth was full of chewing tobacco and I could not make out any teeth. Yucky.Needless to say we made it to the hotel, warmed up, cleaned up and were off in Gray Jay's van to get Mexican food, the first taste of it since I left Texas. Aahhhh! Gray Jay has pampered me fully. It has been great having my buddy out here.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-15
From: Ceres, VA

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

So last night I had Mexican food. It was sooo good and I ate so much, but it is having revenge today. I guess my bland diet on the trail really makes Mexican food a shock to the system. I have chosen to stay for the day here due the revenge of spicy food. The up side of that is Gray Jay and I went to the outfitter up the road aways and I got the fuel I so desperately needed. They had loads of cool stuff. It is a good thing I have to carry everything or my wallet would have gotten very thin.Gray Jay headed back to Kentucky this afternoon. I so enjoyed her visit. It has really pepped me up. She brought back to perspective one foot forward is all I have to do. Time is drawing near for the end of this journey. I must not miss a moment.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-16
From: VA 603

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: moderate rain

I left the hotel this morning in the cold rain. We got to the trail and were fairly happy even though the weather was yucky. Today I passed through the Grayson Highlands, a portion of the trail that looks like the old west and has ponies grazing here and there. We saw their tracks and scat and then we saw the famous ponies. Brown Dog was good, but didn't quite know what to make of them. I took their pictures and we continued through the rain and wind.The shelter is at about 5300 ft so it is a bit chilly, but really what should I expect this time of year? There are other hikers here tonight and I always love company.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-17
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: broken clouds

Well, we slept in the clouds the whole night last night. The wind gusted off and on and everything had a dampness to it. I woke today excited about hiking. It has been awhile since I have been excited about hiking. The journey today would skirt us near the tops of Mt. Rogers and Whitetop, Virginia's highest and second highest mountains respectively. It sounds big and bad, but the walking was nice. The cloud cover lifted by 11:00 am and we had lunch on an open spot looking at more mountain ranges. It was superb. I had a peanut butter bagel sandwich laced with peanut M&M's, yummmy!We walked and walked and walked. Also we ran across two hunters today and I must say, I am becoming less apprehensive of them. So now I am enjoying hot chocolate as the sun fades for the evening. I can see the big mountain I was on today. We can take ourselves anywhere we want to go.Oh yeah, and I have the hiccups. Oh well!Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-18
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

John Galt showed up last night and we chatted through dinner up until it was time to settle in for the night. I woke easily and was packed as I could hear Damascus calling and pulling me. Damascus is the trail town, THE TRAIL TOWN. Five miles from the Virginia, Tennessee border, it is a huge milestone, HUGE. I decided to walk the Virginia Creeper Trail, which is a trail into Damascus following an old rail bed, a rails to trails project. The creeper was about 2 trail miles from the shelter and then I would be rewarded with easy, slightly downhill walking. Well, I got to where the trails met up and turned left, walked for thirty minutes, checked the map and was going the wrong way. Aaaahhhhhh! What other choice but to turn around and walk back. It is a good thing the creeper is easy, beautiful and follows a creek with cool bridges over the creek. I was slightly perturbed with myself, to say the least. I knew I had a long day and I just added two miles. We walked and walked averaging 3 mph, good for us. I came into Taylor's Valley, a small community tucked in the mountains. I saw a soda machine and you guessed it, I sat on the porch and drank a Dr. Pepper. Motivated onward by the threat of rain we walked. About 45 minutes down the trail I look up and there is someone walking toward me. Slowly I recognized the figure and Brown Dog did too. It was Guana, of Sonic and Guana from the north. She was there to whisk me away to Damascus, then a zero day at her sister's. Cooool! We zoomed into Damascus, had good pizza and spent some money at the local outfitter. We checked the post office where I had two unexpected packages, cookies from Kokopelli and from Moonshadow. Wow!!Then we were off to Mt. Airy, North Carolina, better known as Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. It was rainy and foggy, but I was in the car with no worries. We arrived to a warm welcome with Melissa and Jake, her son. We had a wonderful dinner and we were off to watch TV and a wonderful night's sleep.Happy trails!
Date: 2003-11-20
From: Mt. Airy, NC

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 118.0
Weather: clear sky

You might be wondering how I hiked 118 miles in a single day. I hiked the section from Damascus to Erwin in 2000, so I will count it in.Guana and I got to town and headed straight to Erwin Burrito. Yummy! We were talking about the possibility of seeing Sure Step and B-monk. I knew I would see them before the end of the hike. You might recall I hiked with them some up in Massachusetts and they are also flip floppers. We headed to Miss Janet's and sure enough, Sure Step was there, holy cow!! We caught up on old times and made plans to slack pack together. B-monk arrived later with her never ending smile. It was just great to be at Miss Janet's, see those guys, hang out with Guana and have a nice soft bed. Life is good.I said my goodbyes to Guana. Thank you so much for everything. It was great to see you. It was back into the trail culture.Happy trails!