morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-23
From: Spring Mountain shelter

To: Flint Mountain shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Whoo hoo! Two milestones today! First, i passed the 300 mile mark... i did it at a place called "big butt", which seems appropriate in a fun sort of way. So as of right now, i only have 1,872.2 miles left to go!My second milestone is that i did my first 20 miler. whew! It was tough, but i'm still feeling good. I broke the day into 3 parts, and kept my pace slow, so even though i was on the trail from 6:30am to 5:30pm, my feet did okay, and i didn't hurt myself....the first part of today was from Spring Mountain shelter to Little Laurel shelter 8.6 miles away. The walk between the two was pretty good... I passed up on some trail magic at allen gap because i knew i had big miles to go, and if i had taken it, i would have lost a couple of hours... bummer... i heard that it was quite a spread. The climb out of allen gap was fairly gentle with some spikes of steep uphill... nice walking, mostly, and i saw an owl. That was cool....The second section was Little Laurel shelter to Jerry Cabin shelter. This was a slow section, mostly because the climb out of the shelter kicked my butt! Holy guacamole... that was hard. But that was redeemed by a fun rock scramble that lasted for almost a mile... lots of cool views on this section too... look left, and see Tennessee... look right, and see North Carolina...Then from Jerry Cabin to this shelter was lots of flat or roadwalking, and some steep downs.... this went by fast. So at each shelter along the way i ate the equivalent of one of my normal lunches, and when i got here, i ate an entire box of mac&cheese, a tuna packet, and some nutty bars. I also drank over a gallon and a half of fluid today. The temps got up into the mid 70's, so i was sweating a lot. I hope the 3 quarts of gatorade i drank will help get the salts and stuff in my body rebalanced.I listened to the MP3 player all day to help keep me moving at a good pace. My thoughts were all over the place today, but nothing profound yet. I am still waiting to have an epiphanic moment. (hopefully it will involve something important, or useful)I am the only one in the shelter tonight... everyone else is tenting. I am being lazy and staying in here with the mice, so i don't have to set up the hammock.I'm with chef, soupy (brothers in-law, from RI), post-man, and crown-royal,(some section hikers). They are all nice guys. I also got to meet stops-a-lot and stops-a-lot II (her husband) who were out section hiking, and hawkeye, who is out section hiking, and the chainsaw and guns, two other thru hikers, who didn't come this far today.Tomorrow is another long day, so i had better get some sleep....more tomorrow....
Date: 2008-04-25
From: Bald Mountain shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

I got orange blazed!!!Well, i think it's called orange blazing... what else would it be called? ...anyone?...I was kicked off the trail today by the Forest Service and made to take a detour down a dirt road... They were doing a "controlled burn" on 3500 acres, which involved part of the AT...between Devil's Creek Gap and Temple Hill Gap.. well, that's the best i can guestimate from my maps.So that kinda sucked, walking down the road, but scooby and i got some trail magic in the form of a red pickup truck who gave us a ride for the last 1.5 miles to the next Forest Service checkpoint, where we could walk back to the trail... okay, okay, so i am no longer a purist, but i can still claim that i never actually left the trail, i was always on the trail... i just got to have a ride for part of it. And it was great!So today started out as normal... scooby and i were up and moving early... I got started first, just before 8. The walking was great. Some small steep uphills, with lots of gradual downhills. Ahhhh.. good for my sore feet. Scooby caught up to me at Spivey Gap, and we started leapfrogging each other after that. The best part of the day was hiking out of the gap because we were hiking next to a pretty stream... not a lot of good views today, but this made up for it...So scooby and i were in close proximity when we hit the detour... and we ended up walking together and talking as we went down the road. Scooby was sharing stories from his 2005 thru hike, and it was a good conversation. Then we got the trail ride - thanks for that! The road was killing my poor feet... and when we got dropped off at the next checkpoint, we ate lunch and talked to the Forest Service guys. Then it was back to hiking...A brutal climb back up to the gap, then another 500 foot climb out of the gap. whew! We caught up to repack, and he had just gotten thru the section when they closed it down... he was a shelter ahead of us. So then it was an uneventful walk down to Erwin.. good views of the town as we descended... so that was fun. Then, at the bottom of the mountain, i got to park my bottom on the deck of Uncle Johnny's and eat snacks and drink cold drinks till my wife came and got me!For those of you behind me... Uncle Johnny is a cool guy, and everyone there was super friendly, even though i wasn't staying with them. I peeked around the outfitting store, and it has just about anything you could want. Definitely stop in and say hi when you pass by or stay there... looks like a fun place.So now I am in Johnson City, in a hotel with my wife and doggie, clean, and dry, and non-stinky...Two days of R&R for me before i go back to the trail. Plenty of time to let my feet rest up, and gather my strength for the next leg of the journey.But now, it's time to sleep... exxxxxcellent....
Date: 2008-04-26
From: Johnson City, TN

To: Johnson City, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Zero days are nice... especially when you can spend them with your loved ones. I spent today hanging out with my wife, doing some errands, and exploring the town. We also drove up to Carver Gap, by Roan High Knob, to do a quick look around. I had heard it was a really pretty section of the trail, so i wanted to take my wife up there to see it. I'll be back there in a day or two, but this was a fun preview. We also wanted to drive up to a scenic view...Roan Bluff, but the road was closed until May. uhhh, 4 days from now. D'oh!!Oh yeah, and it's prom season here in Johnson City... both last night and tonight the restaurants were full of girls in sparkly dresses, and boys in the prom tuxedos. Fun to watch, and painful at the same time. When we went to prom, did our "formal wear" look that garish?? But they all looked like they were having fun, so it's all good.I'm stuffed from eating too much, and I've got my behind firmly parked on the hotel bed, with my hiking boots nowhere in sight. It's been a good day. Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.
Date: 2008-04-27
From: Johnson City, TN

To: Johnson City, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Spent another day resting the feet, and hanging out with my wife. A good day. Ran errands and just spent time hanging out.Spent a lot of time repacking my gear, and trying to update my bounce box. Also spent a lot of time trying to figure out my schedule for the next couple of weeks. Must make sure i get to towns when it's not Sunday, so i can get my bounce box, and i had to make sure i could get to Homeplace when it's open. mmmmm.. really looking forward to Homeplace.Tomorrow i head back to the trail, and my wife heads back to MD... so sad. But gotta keep moving! It's been lots of fun seeing her...Heard from gobbles today - he is having foot problems and is heading for the doctor in the AM... hope it isn't anything serious. Hokewa is on his way to Erwin and was supposed to get here tonight or early tomorrow. Hoping to run into him again.Okay, time for sleep, gotta have my brain functional tomorrow!
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Erwin, TN

To: Cherry Gap shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

I am in a bad mood today. The weather was bad all day - cold, windy and rainy, i had to leave my wife again, and the balls of my feet hurt.whine, whine, whine....So i will keep this short, in order to minimize my griping. The terrain today wasn't bad... nothing overly strenuous. Did the 16 miles in just about 8.5 hours...long day, especially when you are in a bad mood.Tonight, i'm in my hammock. I opted not to stay in the shelter so there would be room for team phenomenon in there. But now it has started to rain again... bluh...also here is half-elvis and twinkletoes and another who said his name, but i missed. There were also some guys who got into the shelter before i got there and never came out.Oh well, i should see them tomorrow.Well, time for sleep, as i listen to the pitter-patter of rain on my rainfly.
Date: 2008-04-29
From: Cherry Gap shelter

To: Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

Uh oh. My feet really hurt. Something is wrong. I thought i could rest them up in Erwin while my wife was here, but they aren't any better, and maybe worse. They started out okay, but that may have been because they were numb from the cold. After about 3 miles though, the balls of my feet started screaming. I was leapfrogging with team phenomenon, and when they said they were heading to a hostel, i decided i would follow them, to take a short day, to let my feet rest, and try to figure out what to do.I had a good day at the hostel. Warm and cozy, sitting on the couch here watching movies. Saw pirates II, the doors and no country for old men. The woman who runs this pace, CC, is awesome, and for other hikers out there, this is a cool place. It's a little hard to find, so when you get to greasy creek gap, follow the rock cairns down the hill.So did i mention that it snowed on us?Yeah, that, and it was 25 degrees when we got up, with winds of about 25 mph, sustained. Made for a cold morning.So i talked to my wife, and I have decided to get off the trail for a week or so, to see a doctor and let my foot/feet heal. It needs more than a few days obviously, and i want a doctor to look at it, to make sure i don't do any perm. damage if i keep walking on it. So tomorrow, i will ask CC to give me a shuttle to town, so i can get a car to come home for a week or so, to heal up, and figure out what to do.This is not good....
Date: 2008-05-14
From: ATC HQ Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Crampton Gap shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

10.4 plus mileage between the HQ and the Byron memorial bridgeI'm back! Today was a pretty good day - we went about 12 miles or so - an easy day to break in the boots and test out the feet. The boots seem to be doing well... the feet seem to hurt... but not as bad as in TN, and if i stopped to let them rest, and/or took the pack off, they got better right away. So i just need to stop and rest the feet, and occasionally take the pack off. And keep the miles low for just a bit. I am hoping that the foot pains are going to just be part of the breaking in process... although i have a trick or two still up my sleeve to try if the pain continues. I just don't want to try them until i know the pain won't go away by itself. We shall see...So the day started off beautiful.. sunny and clear skies for the drive to Harpers Ferry (h.f.). My wife dropped gobbles and i off at the ATC headquarters, where we talked to the folks there and got our pictures taken. I noted on my picture that instead of GA-ME, i was Springer-Erwin, h.f.-Maine, h.f.-erwin. My number was 78 or so... as compared to 492 when i left Amicalola. Easy to jump 400 folks in a car! ha ha....We wandered through town, and got really going about 10:45 or so. First 3 miles on the towpath sucked because, well, it's the towpath. Flat and gravel... it got more interesting once we got off of that - woods and rocks and creeks. first stop was Weaverton Cliffs for lunch. We spent time there hanging out, and then we just boogied on down the trail to Gathland State Park and the shelter. The trail was rolling and wide, and nice. Rocky in some spots, but not too bad. You could see how the trail had become a stream last week with the 5" rainfall, but it was mostly dry for us today... some puddles, but not bad. The trail has become the "green tunnel" here... it hadn't yet when i left TN.So the hiking is easy, and it should stay that way for us for the next few days. The weather is calling for rain tomorrow and the next day, but sunny for the weekend, and then rainy for the start of next week. Good thing about where we are in the hiker pack--plenty of room in the shelter. Today we met up with thud and his dog money shot and time-traveler. Nice people. Fun to talk to. They will pull ahead of us, since we are only doing 12 again tomorrow, and they will be going 20+... Maybe we'll see them again.Okay, gotta massage the feet, will write more tomorrow.
Date: 2008-05-15
From: Crampton Gap shelter

To: Pine Knob shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

I'm not sure of my exact mileage today.. the book tells me its either 12.5 or 13.3. i put down the lower mileage...Today was a good day of hiking. We got going about 8am, after putzing around the shelter eating and getting ready. We were the last ones out this morning. We figured we were only going 12, so no big rush....It was partly sunny all day, and that made for good hiking... especially through flat Maryland. This is nice. We stopped at all the views, er, view (singular), and then took a long time for lunch at the Washington Monument. It was open today, so for the first time, i got to go to the top. That was fun. We had a good view of Boonsboro, MD below us. We left as a field trip got to the tower... Then we had a stray dog follow us for about 2 miles from the top... i felt bad - it looked hot and thirsty, and i wanted to give it water, but i also didn't want to encourage it to keep following us.... so i kept walking. Eventually, it stopped following. I hope it decided to go home. I read in a trail register later on that it has been following hikers around for a couple of days...We got here to the shelter around 3, and have had time to rest and just chill out (and nap). The feet still are hurting... i am hoping it's just while i break in the insoles and new boots. I taped up my feet in a new way, and that has cut the pain down by 90 percent, but i still get twinges. I am also making a more concerted effort to do my toe exercises, where i attempt to scrunch up a towel with my toes. I am hoping to strengthen the tendons and all that so eventually, i won't need all the tape. I need to get some new feet...tomorrow it is supposed to be rainy and crappy, but nice for the two days after that. I am hoping that it's just going to be overcast and sprinkles for tomorrow. I hate hiking in the rain, and trying to deal with wet gear... i always have... as long as i can remember. maybe if i was wearing swim trunks, and had water wings i might enjoy it more... maybe.It's finally getting dark now, and i am ready to lie down and fall asleep to the sounds of traffic on I-70...
Date: 2008-05-16
From: Pine Knob shelter

To: Devils Racecourse shelter
Miles today: 13.5

13.5 {not including side trails to fogged in viewpoints}How would be the best way to describe today?... hmmmm.... let's see. let me try this: pppppppbbbbbblllllttttt!!It was another rainy day out here on the trail. I don't like hiking or camping in the rain - mostly because i always get soaked, and then have trouble getting dry. Well, today was better than most rainy days... i used a poncho instead of my rain jacket, and although i still got wet, it wasn't so bad. But it was still cold.. about 55 all day, so when i stopped i would still get cold. But we got to the shelter early, so we had time to get into our warm dry clothes and hang out for a while and be dry and warm. I was going to wash my stuff tonight, but it wouldn't dry, so maybe tomorrow. My stuff is getting pretty stinky...I had a first today... it was a double. It was the first time i had to take my shoes off to cross a stream on the AT, and also the first time i ever had to do that in MD. Because of the 5" of rain this area got earlier in the week, in addition to the rain we got all last night and today, the creeks were very swollen. I never thought i would do that in MD. Even the rocks they put in the stream for us to walk on in case of flooding were under water. Yoiks! So that made for some fun...Not much to add about the hike... lots of rock fields, wet rocks = slippery, so that was entertaining, and due to some re-routing since the last time i came through, the trail was different. That was fun.... it wasn't what i was expecting. The trail was nice and flat - one quick but steep climb out of the shelter, and then another longer climb up to the shelter. Not too bad, but hard, since my legs got used to the flatness... the trail to the shelter is loooooong. They say it's .3 miles, but that was the longest .3 i've walked yet.My feet are doing better... the pain is down to that dull ache you get when you've been standing up for too long, or if you've been on you feet all day. Occasionally i still get a sharp pain, but those are are getting fewer.... the left foot feels better too. This is encouraging. I wish that the shoes would break in faster, but at least they are breaking in.Tonight at the shelter are me and gobbles, brooks and susan (no name yet) and andrew and chris (also no names yet) and their dog champ. Everyone is excited by the thought of the snackbar at pen mar park tomorrow, and we discovered that a local pizza/sub shop will deliver to the park. That really got everyone salivating. Only 3 nights away from home and already jonesing for the junk food. Not sure what i'll get but i feel like getting a treat.Not much else to say at the moment. It's cold and i am going to wiggle down into my sleeping bag to stay warm. I was trying to figure out when to send home my winter gear - i was thinking this coming weekend would be good, but now i am reconsidering... brrrr!time for sleep....
Date: 2008-05-17
From: Devils Racecourse shelter

To: Tumbling Run shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was a good day. My feet felt good for most of the day, it was sunny and somewhat warm, and the trail was nice and flat/gradually rolling. Started about 8am... and had the big climb out of the shelter. For those of you behind us... the shelter is NOT just 0.3 down the trail, it is farther, and it is DOWN to get there... a long down so be ready for that.The hike was good... got a great view at High Rock... and met a nice guy named bobby there who was scouting out the spot to bring his kids there. And then we went down to the park. There we met "fat chap" who is the owner of the hiker hostel in Glencliff, N.H. He was down to surprise his son doing the Maryland Challenge, where you try to hike the whole state in a single day - 42 miles. He was fun to talk to, and it will be fun to talk with him again when we get up there.Pen Mar was as pretty as always, but we were thwarted by the closed snack bar! What was that? No snacks!!! So then, we read about CJ's, who delivered food to the park. But the number was disconnected!! aaaaaaaggh! So we scrambled to find some sort of delivery... and we found it! A local at the park had a daughter who works at a place which delivers... we were saved! yummm! I had a ham and cheese sub and french fries and a coke... so good. I packed half my sub and brought it out here for dinner... yummm! good stuff....So after sitting at the park for 3 hours, and stuffing our faces, we continued off down the trail. There was one pretty big uphill, but other than that, it was gently rolling. Lots of road crossings out here, and we hear traffic constantly... a little unnerving. But i guess it should be expected, with all the folks out here.So we went for the 3rd of three shelters... first had scouts, second had people there already, and this one had no one.. so here we are.Today we picked up "olive oil", who will probably be with us for a few days. She is a northbound flip-flopper, who just started on wed. too. brooks and susan dropped back, and so did chris and andrew and champ. We will probably see them tomorrow at quarry gap.A good day of hiking, but i'm disappointed with the REI boots, today the foot pain faded, but i developed blisters on my heels and my little toes started rubbing bad against the side of the boot... ouch! My friend chris is coming to meet me tomorrow, and he agreed to get my old boots and bring them up to me. That is really cool! A good friend!!.... i'm psyched about my feet not hurting, and getting my replacement boots, and seeing my friend tomorrow....Time to sleep...
Date: 2008-05-21
From: James Fry shelter

To: Alex Kennedy shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: scattered clouds

An easy, short day again today. We got a late start today because 1) it was FRIGGIN FREEZING last night and this morning, and i didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag, where it was _not_ cold, 2) it was nice to lie in my bag watching the sun pour into the shelter. sun!! that was an amazing sight..., and 3) chris and andrew wanted to do the half gallon challenge at the green mountain store 1.5 miles into the hike today, so we hung around waiting for them to get ready to go, so we could watch them try to eat the ice cream....chris ate his half gallon, but andrew ate about as much as me... it was fun to watch. Chris looked pretty sick there at the end, but he kept it down.We actually started hiking around 10 this morning, and got to the store around 11. I got some snacks, and ate my lunch while the other guys ate their ice cream. Gobbles and olive oil got some deli sandwiches and snacks while we watched, and while we were there, two section hikers, chris and keith (we first met them at quarry gap) caught up to us, and a fast thru-hiker "dodger" caught up and passed us. It was fun...We got back to hiking about 12:30, and we got to the shelter just as it started to rain AGAIN. What is going on with all this rain??? I'm going to need to change out my hiking clothes for a wet suit. Or at least get some hiking hip-waders and water-wings. The hike was pretty level again, more ups and downs than the last few days, but still good hiking, and they threw in some rock scrambles to spice things up a little.There are 7 of us in the shelter tonight - it's crowded... 2 new through hikers hard-bound and rabbits foot (fast... started in early march) in addition to chris, keith, gobbles, olive oil and me. chris and andrew and champ kept on to boiling springs... but i'm sure i'll see them again on the other side of duncannon.It's only 6:30 and everyone is in bed, or settling down for the night...glad i am hopping off tomorrow, the next shelter is going to be crowded... everyone is heading for it... the 7 here, plus 4 we know of in town, plus any other thru hikers who push big miles to cross the valley, but who are only a shelter or two behind us...I am excited to see my wife again, and looking forward to celebrating our anniversary...It was a good day - weather was good until it rained, and got cold again, and the hiking was smooth. My feet don't hurt anymore in the balls of my feet, but i have to deal with the crushed toes in my boots, which i should be taking care of this weekend. So all is good.This will be my last post until i get back out next monday... and it'll be a few days until i get to a pay phone after that... but stay tuned!