morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-09-11
From: TomÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Run Sheter

To: Rocky Mountain Shelters
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

We tried our best to pack up quietly in the shelter this morning. There were many weekenders in the tenting sites around us. Five people in a shelter are bound to make noise. We stayed fairly quiet and we¢re able to start walking by 6:30.It had rained steadily throughout the night and continued to rain for most of the morning. The trail was easy and the morning was chilly. We were able to make great time. We passed mile 1097.7, the AT midpoint, at about 8:15. We, again, had the feeling of accomplishment mixed with the feeling of much work to be done. Just an hour later we crossed 1100 miles. They¢re really starting to add up!We cruised through the morning, snacking as we went, and rolled into Quarry Gap Shelters at 11:30, 13.7 miles from our morning start. That¢s 2.75 mph on 5 hours! We felt great to be there. Quarry Gap Shelters has 2 shelters, each sleeping about 4, separated by a dog run and surrounded by a large covered patio. Covered picnic tables, a bench swing, and an outdoor fireplace made us wish we had planned a zero here. We spent about an hour and a half eating lunch and napping. A short 3 miles further was Caledonia State Park. We stopped for trash and bathrooms. I arranged a shuttle driver for tomorrow¢s hotel after hearing that the road walk was dicey. Then we rolled on headed for Rocky Mountain Shelters. We got to the shelters about 4:00 having put in 19.2 miles for the day! We claimed one of the two small shelters. Joni and Lotus have been texting and we were hopeful they would catch up to us here. No Kidding rolled in just behind some section hikers. Then Stretch and Lotus showed up about 5:30. We first met them at NH 25 before the Whites at a burger and pizza joint. They started 100 miles north of us in New York and then summitted Katahdin 2 days before us. While we were doing Vermont and the car rides between. they were headed south, closing the 100-mile gap between us. When we got back on trail they were 35 miles north of (behind) us. It took them 2 weeks to close the gap but they did it tonight! It was fun to see them and catch up on the stories since we last talked. Crocker Cirque was the last night we spent with them and we saw them once more while slackpacking the Bigelows 2 days later. We¢ll be leapfrogging with them for the foreseeable future. We¢re all 5 in the shelter now. Baxter and I unsuccessfully tried to sleuth out where the mouse poop on Joni¢s sleeping pad just fell from. We¢re ready for rain but not for falling mouse poop. We¢ll see how it goes tonight.
Date: 2022-09-12
From: Rocky Mountain Shelters

To: PA 16
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: light rain

It¢s difficult to overstate the feeling of being clean, being comfortable, being a little over- fed, and being set for sleep behind a closed door. I have become accustomed enough to dirtiness, uncomfortableness, and hunger but I haven¢t yet figured out how to sleep soundly in the woods. I don¢t think it¢s possible. I do, typically, get good sleep in the woods, the kind of sleep that fuels the next 20 mile day; but I don¢t ever sleep soundly like I can behind a closed and locked door.We are at the Cobblestone Motel in Waynesboro, PA after a 12.4 mile morning from Rocky Mountain Shelters. I had arranged with Linda, a local shuttle driver, to meet us at 11:30 at PA 16. We were on track all morning to make the meeting until we walked in to Old Forge Picnic Area, 5 miles before PA 16. Jasper had hiked ahead and the rest of us walked into the picnic area, unknowingly missing a sharp left turn just as we exited the woods. We threw away trash and all of us unknowingly started following everyone else! None of us knew where we were going. We caught our mistake about 200 yards up the road and turned around. When we got back to the trail we mistakenly went back the same way we had come (Jasper, meanwhile, was patiently waiting for us in the woods to the south). I was on the phone with a friend, not paying any attention. It took Joni about a quarter of a mile to stop and check the map. We all felt pretty sheepish. We ended up hiking that piece of trail 3 times! Kit later said that we could skip that section on our next 2 thru-hikes. Ha!We got to the road at 11:45. Linda took Baxter and Joni to the Walmart next door to the hotel and returned to get me, Jasper, and Grayson. We went to the hotel and checked in about the same time Joni and Baxter arrived with lunch, shampoo & conditioner, and laundry detergent. We all sunk into chairs in the adjoining hotel rooms and enjoyed sandwiches and lemonade. Showers, laundry, filter cleaning, and charging were all started right away. Much lounging was done by all. We left about 4:30 and walked past Walmart to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. We hit up Walmart for ¢desserts¢ and resupply. Then back to the hotel for bedtime. We¢ll sleep in tomorrow and repack before Linda picks us up at 11:00. We¢re looking forward to the continental breakfast!
Date: 2022-09-13
From: PA 16

To: Ensign Cowell Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: moderate rain

We are done with Pennsylvania and we loved it! To all the haters we say ¢suck it up! It¢s some rocks!¢  Nobody calls it ¢Flatsylvania¢, ¢Magicsylvania¢, or ¢Cruisylvania¢. New Hampshire is THE GRANITE STATE for goodness sakes!! Everyone says ¢wow the views are awesome.¢, then they go off and leave out the best parts of Pennsylvania!?! Hertline Campsite swimming?!? Pizza at the 501 Shelter!?! Epic Civil War History!?! Nope, no one mentions any of that. Annual September Citizen Hawk Census!?! Crickets at night!?! Nope. ¢Rocks¢ is all they can say. Neanderthals. Today¢s synopsis:Linda wouldn¢t take our money for the shuttle rides this morning! A real Trail AngelPenMar Park was beautiful. We ate Walmart sandwiches and chips on the benches overlooking Hagerstown. Crossed the Mason Dixon Line into Maryland.Cruised down the ridge of South Mountain to our shelter stop for the evening.
Date: 2022-09-14
From: Ensign Cowell Shelter

To: Crampton Gap Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: clear sky

I was awakened last night at 11:30pm by a flashlight shining at us through the woods. It was too far off to have spotted us yet but I sat up between Jasper and Baxter and studied the beam. We had heard reports of drifters frequenting the shelters on this stretch of trail and we were close for the road. I had hung bear lines instead of using the bear boxes in case someone came late snooping for food. Now this flashlight in the woods...It was not from the direction of the road, nor from someone approaching by the AT, but rather high up the hill behind our camp. As I studied it, I decided it could be a car¢s headlights parked at a roadside pullout up the hill. I took out my phone to compare our location to nearby roads - I didn¢t know of a road up there - but I had no service. The light seemed to move slowly in the trees for about the next 5 minutes. I listened for voices or footfalls in vain. Then the light disappeared. I unzipped the tent and climbed out over Baxter, intent on resolving the mystery. As I stood up I saw the moon though the trees. ¢Brother!¢, I thought to myself. I¢d been awake and intently studying this ¢flashlight¢ for the last 7 or 8 minutes! It was the rising moon the whole time.This morning on the trail, I began to retell the story to Joni and the boys. ¢Last night I saw a flashlight pointed at us through the woods,¢ I began. ¢Oh, yes¢, replied Joni, ¢the moon!¢Shagrinned, I relayed the whole story to everyone¢s amusement.We slept in this morning until 7:00. A friend of Joni¢s from Camp Glisson days was set to meet us this morning at the road with breakfast. Emily and her boys did not disappoint! We walked into the parking lot at 8:00 to watermelon, strawberries, juice, milk, and sausage biscuits. We spent an hour together, talking about the trail and Maryland while the boys (ages 4, 7, 11, 13, 15) waged a small war around us complete with mobile artillery, sticks of dynamite, Molotov cocktails, air strikes, and six-shooters. We loved the company and the breakfast. We set out on the trail at 9:00 for our latest start of the trip. We still had our minds set in a 20 mile day in hopes of getting into Harper¢s Ferry before lunch tomorrow. The trail today was a cruise occasionally broken by some misplaced Pennsylvanian rock. We arrived at Washington Monument State Park about 2:00 and ate a late lunch. We stepped back into the woods about 3:00 to finish up 8.5 miles to Crampton Gap Shelter. We arrived at 7:00 as the light began to fade and set to work pitching camp. Jasper wanted to give the new tarp a try so we pitched it along with the two triplex tents. Ramen for dinner. Bear bags up after dark. We¢re all in tents. A cricket invasion of the tarp drove Jasper into the tent with me and Grayson. We¢re up at 5:30 tomorrow for a morning cruise into Harper¢s Ferry!
Date: 2022-09-17
From: South of Bears Den Rocks

To: Whiskey Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: broken clouds

It was lunchtime when I started making phone calls into a front Royal to start plans for a zero day. Baxter¢s leg has gotten progressively worse over the last several days. We can¢t give it what it needs while walking 16 miles each day. We¢re going to take a day or two off to give it some real rest and to get real ice in it.We stopped near Rod Hollow Shelter for a lunch of tortillas stuffed with peanut butter, Nutella, trail mix, and dry instant oatmeal (water to drink). My calls to Front Royal hostels went unanswered so I left some voicemails. Manassas Gap shelter was a possible exit point, 12.9 miles ahead. We¢d need a night in the woods before then so we set our sights on Whiskey Hollow Shelter. We spent the warm afternoon under beautiful skies and are thankful for the weather of the last several days as well as the forecast for the coming week. Audiobooks passed the time - Phil Dragash¢s reading of The Lord of the Rings has kept Baxter, Grayson, and I hooked for many hours.We arrived at Whiskey Hollow Shelter around 5:15. A group of over 20 young boys scouts and dads had overrun the shelter and the surrounding tent sites. We were able to find purchase for our tents on a nearby roadbed. Water was plentiful at a slow-flowing stream nearby. The bear pole at the shelter looked like a Christmas Tree ornamented with food bags so we threw our own bear line near our tents. Cell reception was strong enough to get a call out to Mallory. She¢s camping with friends in Front Royal this weekend. We called to see if she could meet us tomorrow at the Tucker¢s Lane parking area and drive us into town. She agreed to be there at 9:30. So we¢ve got our work cut out for us in the morning. Six-point-eight miles before 9:30 is doable with another early start. We¢ll land in a Front Royal hotel for Sunday and Monday nights and re-evaluate Baxter¢s leg after the nero/zero combo.
Date: 2022-09-18
From: Whiskey Hollow Shelter

To: TuckerÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Lane Parking
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: scattered clouds

¢I think 7 miles is about as far as I could have gone today.¢ -BaxterWe stealthed our way out of Whiskey Hollow this morning before the sun began it¢s morning revelation. The 6.8 miles to Tucker¢s Lane passed quickly on easy trail and we arrived at the parking area just after 9:00. Mallory arrived to great fanfare just after 9:30. She had left Eliana with friends at her campsite so our time together this morning had to be short. They were packing up this morning and, as a parent who has packed up a campsite while simultaneously supervising young children, I was doubly-thankful for making us a side-errand this morning. She gave us a quick tour of downtown Front Royal. Our plan was to do showers and laundry at The Basecamp on Main Street (a hiker space in the backroom of the local outfitter) before checking in to the Baymont hotel at 3:00.The Basecamp didn¢t open until noon (it¢s Sunday) so she dropped us off at the nearby McDonalds. We took over the back corner with all of our gear and put in our first order. We¢ve learned to do an ¢appetizer¢ round at fast food joints instead of ordering everything that we think we can eat up front. Getting a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit into the tummy helps gauge if it¢s possible to eat 2 more or if just 1 more will do. The next 2 hours were passed refilling drinks and people watching in the surprisingly busy McDonalds. Grayson and I walked across the street to the Rural King to see what was there (baby chicks, spears & tomahawks, guns & pistols, free popcorn, UTVs). We shouldered packs and headed to Main Street just after noon. The Basecamp is a back room in a multi-storefront property downtown. It¢s got showers and laundry reserved for thru hikers. We spent about an hour there.Jasper and I took lightened packs and walked back past the McDonalds to the grocery store. Mallory returned to shuttle the other 3 to the Baymont Hotel. The town is walkable but having a car to help with the gear and the injured leg is a real luxury.Jasper and I bought food for the next several meals. Our hotel room is a suite with a stovetop and refrigerator. We¢re planning on cooking several real meals.We all met back at the Baymont about 3:00 and settled in for a good rest. We had only hiked 7 miles in trail today but we¢ve been moving since 5:30am. Dinner was beef skillet on Fritos with sour cream and shredded cheese topping. Feet got soaked, leg got iced and elevated, and Joni¢s pack got soaked in a vinegar bath - she¢s trying to fight the stink.We¢re sleeping in tomorrow morning before a breakfast of sausage, eggs, and blueberry pancakes.
Date: 2022-09-19
From: TuckerÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Lane Parking

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Joni and I awoke simultaneously to the sound of falling water. It was 1:30am. Someone in room 318, just above us, had started the shower and water was cascading into the sink area of our room. Joni called the front desk while I mitigated the situation at the sink. A hotel manager could anon be heard knocking on the upstairs door. Next he was at our room¢s door. He took a look at the situation and decided to move us to a new room. We had settled into a 2-room suite with a kitchen. The boys were still blissfully unaware of what was conspiring in our room. The manager led me, toting my pack and whatever I could carry, around the building to our new room, number 231. He accidentally opened door 230 first and quickly backed out of the doorway and closed the door - hilarious. I don¢t know if anyone was in the room or not. I headed back to 218 to wake the boys and make the move. They were awake when I got back. ¢Are you guys ready for a night hike?¢, I joked. We made two or three trips but we¢re able to move all our gear and food to the new suite. We all settled down into our new beds, adjusted alarms for 7:30, and got back to sleep. Sausage and pancakes with bottomless coffee and chocolate milk filled the morning. I enjoy cooking and have missed a real stove and cookware. Blueberries, chocolate chips, and nerds clusters were mixed into the skillet batter.We watched TV and lounged around until about 11:00 when the boys and I headed down to the outfitters about a quarter mile down Main Street. Mallory and Eliana returned to Front Royal at noon with Chick Fil A sandwiches and sweet tea! We met at the visitors center and enjoyed the afternoon at the picnic tables. Off to ice cream and the game store afterwards. The kids played in the arcade for an hour while the moms went to Walmart for a trail resupply. I took the kids next door to a Rural King when the game time ran out. We enjoyed free popcorn, chicks and rabbits, and tactical weaponry. Eliana played along for all of it.Mallory and Joni came back and took Baxter & Jasper back to the hotel (the car can only hold 5). Grayson and I walked back but took 2 detours. First we went back to the game store and bought an escape room game. We will play this tomorrow- we¢re likely going to take another zero day. Then Grayson and I went back to the ice cream stand and got another round. A Strawberry Cheesecake Special Sundae for me and a cookies and cream milkshake for him. Then we walked back to the motel.  Our PT friend Seth face timed with Baxter and Joni and have some good advice on the leg. We¢ll see how it helps.I cooked beef skillet - a home favorite - for dinner. We enjoyed the rest of the evening inside. We suspect we¢ll take another day off tomorrow since Baxter¢s leg is still bothering him. We¢ll see how it feels in the morning and make a call.
Date: 2022-09-20
From: Front Royal, VA

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Another zero in Front Royal. Joni and Jasper hike 9 miles from Tucker¢s Lane to US 522 while Baxter, Grayson, and I relax in town. J & J we¢re gone from about 10:30 until 3:00. B,G,me walk to the used bookstore - about a mile round trip - to test out Baxter¢s leg. We made sandwiches for lunch.We spent awhile in the lobby while housekeeping mopped the (very dirty) floors in our rooms and brought new towels (since we used all of ours on the air conditioner leaking in the floor). I took a nap for an hour. More beef skillet for dinner. Grayson and I did laundry at the laundromat. We made another clandestine ice cream run while the load was washing, this time to the parlor in town. Two milkshakes: brownie batter and citrus orange.We played the Exit escape room game while doing dinner and watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.
Date: 2022-09-21
From: VA 522

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 114: The Autumnal EquinoxIt is 7:37pm. We are all in tents at Gravel Springs Hut in Shenandoah National Park. The fading light paints a grey backdrop to a forest of black silhouettes. From today onward we will have more dark each day than light. We have 960 miles to go and 63 days to do it. Baxter walked the 13 miles today and felt good doing it. ¢I¢m at eighty seven percent¢, he said. We all felt great after two and a half days of rest. The trail today was a climb uphill into Shenandoah National Park. It was a gradual climb, easy on both feet and legs, but the climbing took eleven miles of the walk today. We passed several westerly views, crossed Skyline Drive 5 times, and met several day hikers out for their equinoxial stroll.The day started at the hotel with continental breakfast. We divvied up the food and repacked packs before walking out the door and down Main Street to the Visitors Center where Mallory had met us for lunch in Monday. The town trolley arrived about 9:30 and we boarded for what turned out to be a wild ride to the trailhead on VA 522. I glanced behind us more than once to see if we were, perhaps, being chased by police cars. We got in the trail about 10:20 and met Kung Fu Kitty at the trailhead, a southbounder that we hadn¢t yet met and didn¢t see all day despite our slower-than-normal pace. We stopped after 3.5 miles at the National Park boundary and had a tortilla-peanut butter-Nutella lunch. Nerds Gummy Clusters are our new vice. Five bags were bought at Walmart so we don¢t have to share. I ate all of mine before we left the hotel.We met Hurricane Dave and First Time Fred here at the shelter. They are friends from way back who met in corporate jobs. Dave needed a buddy to hike SNP with so he called Fred. This is their 3rd night out after starting at 522 (where we were for brunch today). Too bad our paces are so different. I¢m sure we¢d love to hang out another night. Dave was here at this shelter in 1979 during a hurricane (also named Dave). He relayed some wild stories about the experience. We¢re going to sleep in until 6:00 tomorrow morning and roll out at 7. We¢ll take another ¢short¢ day, maybe 13 miles, to give Baxter¢s leg another day of rest. Then we¢ll hopefully be able to start back to our 16+ routine.
Date: 2022-09-22
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Late start after hot breakfast. We planned low mileage to give Baxter¢s leg more healing time. Rain caught us about an hour into the hike. Arrived at Elkwallow Wayside as the rain subsided. Availed ourselves of the packaged food selection. Temp dropped, clouds moved in, hard rain began. We moved under the restrooms pavilion and hung out for 3 hours. Charged phones, drank blackberry milkshakes, talked with people stopping to get off the very foggy road. Hiked a short 7 miles to Pass Mountain Hut. Mashed Potatoes in the bag for dinner. Cooked at the bear box since a bear had been sighted by hikers here with us. Debated staying in the shelter since the wind was picking up and the temps were dropping. We chose to stay in tents.
Date: 2022-09-25
From: Baldface Mountain

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

We woke before dawn again and found our way back onto the trail by headlamp. Water was scarce so we had decided to hold off on breakfast for a mile and a half until South River picnic area where there was a spigot. I was last in line coming down the trail in the pre-dawn dimness when I perceived a man standing directly to my left less than 8 feet away. He was in jeans and a camo jacket and was watching me as I passed him. I startled and stopped short. ¢Did they see you!?¢, I asked, motioning to the boys ahead. ¢I think they did, but your wife never looked up,¢ he said, smiling. The man explained he owns land adjacent to the national park and comes out to the AT to scout deer and turkey before the seasons open. I asked the boys and they assured me that they had, indeed, seen the man.We had grits and coffee when we arrived at the picnic area. Nat Geo & Sunset arrived soon after us with the same plan. We discussed the possibility of rain but none of us had a recent forecast. Just after noon we crossed over Hightop Mountain and came to a boxed spring in the side of the trail. We¢ve seen water pouring from the rock less than half-a-dozen times on our trip but here was a beautiful spring doing just that. Cold, pure water. We lunched at Hightop Hut hoping to eat under cover if the rain began. It did not. The rain didn¢t catch us until we can to came to Simmons Gap about 3:00. Thunder rumbled on the nearby mountaintop. I was with Texas Pete and Ninja Squirrel at the road. North Star and Fish were far behind. A ranger station was 0.2 miles east down the road. I took all the empty bottles that the boys had and told them to take North Star & Fish to the shelter 2.1 miles ahead. Is meet them there. I hoped they might be able to beat the rain or at least get out of the worst of it. I started down the road with 7 empty quart bottles. I hadn¢t gotten halfway to the buildings when the sky opened up. It was a downpour. I was able to fill the quarts and get them into my pack without getting too wet. I was headed back up the road less than 15 minutes since leaving. As I started walking the road a pickup truck appeared and began a three-point turn to head back the way he¢d come. I looked and pointed at his side mirror so he¢d see me as he pulled off. Sure enough, he rolled his window down and asked if I needed a ride. Yes!I was back to the trail just as North Star and Fish were arriving. The rain had abated after wetting the canopy above. We arrived at Pinefield Hut about 4:00. The rain had stopped and we were able to set up camp slowly. Ramen for dinner. Nat Geo and Sunset pitched camp on a tent pad nearby.