morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-11
From: Laurel Creek Campsite

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 7.1

May 11, 2016 - A loud clap of thunder woke me up this morning a half hour earlier than usual. Bland, VA, our destination before Trail Days, was only 7 miles away so I got up, packed up in the pouring rain and started walking. Of course, the rain stopped only 20 minutes after I left the campsite, which means I could've done without the puddle in my tent's stuff sack. In just over 2 hours, I arrived in Bland to find Trail Magic waiting for me in the form of bananas, powerade and a ride to the center of town about 3 miles away. Richard is a repeat thru-hiker from Alabama that simply remembered how hard it was to hitch into Bland and wanted to help. Obviously, it did help that Trail Days was right around the corner. Richard dropped Sundance and myself off at the Dairy Queen in town (my only two options were that or Subway). I pounded some breakfast food, chicken tenders and a blizzard while I waited for the rest of the group to arrive. I also set up my tent in the lawn so the sun could begin drying it. Ken, Husker, Survivor, Hot Toddie, Princess Peach and I decided to split a motel room for the night because it was right next to the interstate and we were going to hitch early the next morning an hour back to Damascus for the festival. A motel was a perfect opportunity for a shower, some bath tub laundry, and some beers. Despite the rain that morning, it ended up being a beautiful day as we relaxed outside at the motel with our neighbors: Beast, Sassy, Lino, Buckeye, and Bobsled. Tim, the pizza count is up to 56. Sorry, but it's been a while.
Date: 2016-05-12
From: Bland, VA

To: Damascus, VA for Trail Days 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

May 12, 2016 - I used the top of the pizza box from last night to make a sign to help Survivor and I catch a ride down to Damascus for Trail Days (Hitchhiking is a lot easier in pairs). We made our way back to Dairy Queen for some breakfast. Another former thru-hiker named Parks must have noticed my sign and just straight up offered us a direct ride. I had expected to be hitching various rides all morning to get to Damascus, but I didn't even get to use my sign. Trail Magic strikes again. Trail Days is the largest hiker festival period. It was estimated that about 20,000 people would visit the humble hiking town of Damascus (population: 800) this weekend. The festival is like a Trail Magic smorgasbord: showers, laundry, multiple hiker feeds, resupply items, raffles for gear, gear repair and most of it is free. Parks dropped us off at Tent City, which is a field and an adjacent wood where all the hikers could camp. This place was jam packed with probably over 1,000 tents. No exaggeration. Survivor and I even had the honor of helping set up Miss Janet's tent. Since the festival technically started on Friday, the rest of our day was spent running errands, seeking out free food, drinking beer, and catching up with all the other hikers we hadn't seen on trail in a while. Peach and I walked to the Damascus Brewery around dinner time to check it out and continue Brew Blazing. The brewery was literally a 50 gallon system with a super friendly atmosphere and unique, tasty beer. Definitely worth it. Later that night was our first experience of Miss Janet's drum circle - a massive fire pit that hikers ceaselessly dance around and play drums. It was like one of those Native American celebrations you see in the movies.
Date: 2016-05-14
From: Damascus, VA for Trail Days 

To: Damascus, VA for Trail Days 
Miles today: 0.0

May 14, 2016 - I woke up with an insane hangover as I fell out of my wet tent into a pile of mud. I headed straight to the pancake breakfast across the street, took a shower, then went right back to bed for the rest of the morning. I just couldn't function as was evidenced by the multiple syrup stains on my tie. When I finally came to, I headed to the park in town where all the gear and food vendors were set up. I needed something greasy and I found it in a plate of deep fried gator bites, which definitely improved my state of mind. Next, I had my picture taken for the thru-hiker yearbook then quickly headed to the south side of town where hikers were assembling for the Trail Days parade. This parade had no floats, but was just a large mass of hikers walking from one end of town to another while spectators shot at us with water guns. A few of us had acquired our own water weapons so we could retaliate in kind. The crowd dispersed after the parade and Peach and I took one more lap around town to see if anything else was going on. We saw several men wearing dresses and carrying handbags. Schnicklefritz informed us that the dresses were for the hiker prom, which was taking place that night. Apparently, the guys are supposed to "dress up" and the best dress is actually voted on. Peach and I went straight to the thrift store and picked out two blue dresses and two handbags, which were actually necessary since we no longer had any pockets - it turns out balloon cleavage isn't enough to actually hold anything. All this buildup and we didn't even end up going to the prom. It was sponsored by the brewery so when we bought our wristbands and beverages, we simply went straight to the brewery to redeem our beers. Of course, people there were not expecting dresses so we stuck out like a sore thumb. I even caught a few people trying to sneak photos. The night ended just like every other night: at Miss Janet's drum circle. I swear there was an added fervor to the circle on this last night of Trail Days and the bonfire raged long into the morning. The picture is of Hot Toddie dressed as a man and Peach, Helton, and myself dressed as women. Weird, but fun.
Date: 2016-05-15
From: Damascus, VA for Trail Days 

To: Campsite 3 miles north of Bland, VA
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: few clouds

May 15, 2016 - This morning, the hangover wasn't too bad, but I was exhausted.Three straight days of drinking, slack packing (walking without a pack, or I guess just walking to a normal person), eating and not sleeping will do that to you though. Survivor and I had to find a ride back to Bland so we could resume hiking. Princess Peach elected to stay behind with Hot Toddie (yes, they're basically dating now) and perform some volunteer trail maintenance for two days. And just like that, the Tenacious Tripod became the Dynamic Duo. Moonshine will probably catch us in a week or two, but I'm not sure about Peach. Another thru-hiker suggested that we walk to the north end of town and try hitching there rather than in the center of town or in the parking lot. I crossed the bridge on the edge of town and stuck out my thumb. Before I even had a chance to look behind me, a car was already pulling over. Kelly and Joe just happened to be going to Bland. This hitching thing is just too easy. Not only did Kelly and Joe drive us to Bland, but they gave us chocolate frosted donuts, brought us to the supermarket to finish resupplying, and gave us a lot of their leftover food from the weekend. Ridiculous. Kelly was also playing some very relaxing music that caused Survivor, Joe (who was also exhausted) and myself to fall asleep. I know I'll have a harder time hitching as I move north, but so far my luck has been outstanding. Back at the trail head in Bland, we ran into Sassy and started hiking with her. All three of us didn't feel like doing anything, especially hiking. We loaded up on water and stealth camped a whopping 3 miles into the woods. And so ended a weekend I will certainly remember for the rest of my life. The picture is of me with The Real Hiking Viking, who recently completed his southbound thru-hike of the AT in the dead of winter. He is a beast and is set to start the PCT in about a month. Tim, the pizza count is at 74. I did better this weekend.
Date: 2016-05-16
From: Campsite 3 miles north of Bland, VA

To: Dismal Falls Campsite 
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

May 16, 2016 - The temperature dropped into the low 40s last night and, despite how amazing my new quilt is, I got quite cold. However, I pulled my fleece on in the middle of the night and that was enough to get me to the sunrise. Sassy, who, contrary to myself, actually knows where she wants to hike to each day, mentioned a campground near Dismal Falls. At about 17 miles, that seemed just about right for a first day back from vacation. Plus, how bad could camping next to a waterfall be? The hike was honestly freezing today - it was that weird temperature where putting a jacket on is way too hot, but a t-shirt is just cold. Our solution was to move quickly and stop at Trent's Grocery (basically a gas station with a lot of common hiker resupply items and treats) for some warm food. I passed mile 600 today after about 6.5 weeks on trail. This isn't as far as I thought I'd be (unfortunately, I'll have to miss an off trail camping trip in Assateague, MD over Memorial Day weekend), but based on the average hiking pace of my fellow thru-hikers, I'm still moving at a pretty good clip. I'm also in no rush and am enjoying the hell out of this trip so I don't really care if I'm a little behind in miles. Trent's Grocery hit the spot, as most hot comfort food will undoubtedly do. On our way back to the trail, we found Sassy staring across the road at the trail head and taking a break. She had attempted a thru-hike last year and Trent's Grocery was the furthest she got until she skipped, fell, and broke her arm. It seemed like a pretty important moment for her. It's crazy to think that one slippery rock or a patch of slick mud can end a thru-hike in less than a second. I mean I fall all the time so it's a scary thought. Dismal Falls was only 2 miles from Trent's Grocery and was definitely worth the hype. Survivor and I got a campfire started and then ran into the pool of water at the base of the falls. Holy shit it was cold - as close to a polar plunge as you can be without breaking through a sheet of ice. The breath was knocked out of us and the cold made our heads hurts, which are definitely the same sensations you feel when you jump through the ice. Still, it's a chance to clean myself and why I've been in just about every body of water I've seen so far. Songbird, Shaman, and the Colonel joined us in time for dinner and we caught up on stories from Trail Days.
Date: 2016-05-17
From: Dismal Falls Campsite 

To: Stealth Campsite 5 miles from Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 19.4

May 17, 2016 - I woke up to rain and, as I've already mentioned, not much is worse than taking down camp in the cold rain of morning. The best thing to do is just start walking as quickly and as soon as possible. The rain continued unabated for the entire day. However, it did warm up so the rain ended up being quite refreshing especially since we had our first climb of over 1,000 feet in a while (Virginia is definitely not flat, but it is flatter than the previous states). Hiking today (and most days in the rain) kind of sucks - wet leaves and branches continually spraying you with water, my shoes sinking into piles of mud until my socks are soaked through, slippery rocks, unstable footing, slick patches of mud that make hiking hard and dangerous, pooping and wiping with wet toilet paper, my glasses fogging up due to condensation or just becoming covered in droplets of water making it difficult to see, a heavier, wetter pack, sometimes a wet sleeping bag and pad, chafing, and just being wet all day. On the bright side, I don't notice my sweat in the rain and it can feel good when you're climbing mountains and working hard. Survivor and I did stop at Woods Hole Hostel a half mike off trail because it has such an excellent reputation among hikers. The hostel was a beautiful wooden home with an adjacent farm and bunkhouse. I looked at the chalkboard on the front porch and when I saw that rain was forecast for the next 3 consecutive days and all the patrons were having homemade lasagna for dinner, I was very tempted to purchase a bunk for the night. It seemed as if the hikers were just staying at Grandma's house for the evening. That's how at home this place made you feel. I settled for a homemade blueberry smoothie and a homemade loaf of bread that I packed out for dinner. We ended up stealth camping again about 5 miles from Pearisburg, VA because I need to pick up a package from Mom tomorrow. Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for us to set up our wet tents. I may also find myself at the Chinese buffet, but we'll see. Actually, I will definitely be there. I may also try to do some laundry. It has been 13 days since I've washed my clothes in an actual machine rather than the bottom of a bathtub.
Date: 2016-05-18
From: Stealth Campsite 5 miles from Pearisburg, VA

To: Rice Field Shelter 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

May 18, 2016 - Rain, rain, rain. This morning is the second in a row with rain pouring down as I take down camp. It's cold rain, too, with temperatures in the 40s, which makes it very difficult to get moving in the morning. My quilt isn't enough in these cold temperatures and I have been uncomfortably cold for the second night in a row. I only had 5 miles until I hit the road crossing that led to Pearisburg, but it was all straight downhill in some of the slickest conditions we've seen on trail. No less than three times I found myself on the ground with my ass and pack covered in mud. It was not fun. Exacerbating the trail conditions was a flare up of the IT band on the outside of my left knee. Mild pain began yesterday, but on the downhill this morning the pain was excruciating. The pain would build then shoot down my lower leg causing pins and needles in my foot. Despite all this, my Mom's package was waiting for me at the post office and the bag of chocolate chip toffee bars waiting inside was far better than Aleve. Following the cookies was a Chinese buffet and I was ready for some more hiking. Another 7 miles uphill brought me to the Rice Field Shelter where I could rest my knee. Zebra brownies left at the trailhead helped fuel my climb and ignore the pain in my knee. I ended up calling it a day then and there. Survivor decided to push on for another 3 miles so he could sleep in. Joining me that night at the shelter was Sassy, Good Talk, Clovis (finally, Ken got a trail name), Puma, Ragwort (a type of flower), Easy, Crumb Cakes, Little Rhino and Lolligag. We basically commiserated together about the rain (it's only been two days but it honestly feels like a week because there's just no escape from it. Plus, the forecast that night was rain until next Tuesday, which was 6 days away) and Good Talk showed me some stretches for my knee.
Date: 2016-05-19
From: Rice Field Shelter 

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: light rain

May 19, 2016 - The morning was cold and wet again. It took me a little longer than usual to pack everything up and set off across the field in the dense fog. I hadn't gone 20 feet before I completely lost sight of the shelter behind me. My knee felt much better this morning once I got going. It turns out Survivor went rogue. I didn't see him camped anywhere along the trail for several miles. Finally, I reached the first shelter 12.5 miles into my hike - the trail register said, "Somehow ended up staying here last night. Look alive Mountain Goat. -Survivor". That means he hiked 12.5 more miles starting at around 6 pm. That's nuts. Now, I was kind of stuck between two bubbles of the hikers I usually hang out with, one ahead and one behind. I decided to push and catch the group ahead of me. So, I just kept walking. I had to use the notes left in shelter registers to figure out how far ahead everyone was and where they would most likely be staying tonight. I was able to deduce that Survivor was trying to catch Steel, Bad Apple, St. Nick and Sushi among others. If I was to catch Survivor today, I needed to do 30 miles which was not going to happen. However, the sun did manage to come out and assure us that it is, indeed, still there. So, I just decided to keep walking until around 6 pm. It was a pretty quiet 25.3 miles as I was hiking alone for most of it, but at the same time, very peaceful. I rolled into the War Spur Shelter around 6 pm and joined Ragwort, Splinter, Boyardee, Homer, Trail Talk, Ghostbusters, and Chupacabra. Despite the wet conditions, I labored at making a fire because I had an entire log of pork roll fresh from Jersey that I wanted to sear. It took almost a half hour to dry out enough wood to get it going, but the heat was worth it. I used long strips of dry bark to support my bread, cheese and pork roll on top of the coals as they were cooked to perfection. With a little hot sauce donation from Boyardee, I felt like I was at home eating a deli breakfast sandwich. Phenomenal. The pork roll was a hit with the others at the shelter, too, as none of them had ever tried it before. Splinter even lives in New York City - I told him he needs to get out more m.
Date: 2016-05-20
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter 
Miles today: 28.3
Weather: clear sky

May 20, 2016 - My goal today was to finally catch the group in front of me. Looking at the trail guide, I determined that I needed to push over 28 miles to get to the shelter where I knew (I think) they'd be staying. Ugh that's a long day. I started early and just kept walking - when I do big days like that, I stop as little as possible and only to refill on water or grab a snack.Morning sunshine gave way to overcast skies before noon and it threatened to rain again. There was nothing wrong with the rain except that it began as I was walking along the exposed ridge and clambering over massive, slanted rocks. The rocks became wet and made the scramble much more difficult. I arrived at the Niday Shelter 18.2 miles into my hike at around 3:30 pm and decided I had enough left in me to push the extra 10.1 and complete the comeback. Brush Mountain was the only thing standing in my way - nearly 2,000 feet of vertical spread across 2 miles. Despite the continual ache in my knee and general fatigue, the climb wasn't bad. As I stood covered in sweat on the summit, it started to pour and it actually felt wonderful. I passed Keefer Oak, which is the largest tree on the AT in the south. It's 18 feet in circumference and over 300 years old. Check out the picture and the two hikers sitting below it for perspective. The rest of the hike was just downhill for 5 miles into Pickle Branch Shelter where nearly everybody was waiting: Bad Apple, Survivor, Steel, Husker, and Finch. Only Sushi and St. Nick were still ahead of us. I triumphantly walked into camp and then collapsed at the picnic table and made some dinner in the rain. I made it! The plan was to rest tomorrow at Four Pines Hostel and go to the Homeplace restaurant for dinner - an all you can eat buffet of homemade southern comfort food. Since we were near Virginia Tech, I texted Robbie Lajeunesse and asked him if he ever ate there while at school. This is his response: "GO THERE RIGHT NOW YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT EVER FOR THE REST OF YOR LIFE". Hell yes.
Date: 2016-05-22
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

May 22, 2016 - While the Whipporwill remains my arch-nemesis, the Rooster may be a close second. They started yelling at 5 in the morning and wouldn't stop until the sun was up. I exited my tent and made my way to the garage to cook myself some freshly laid, free eggs on top of the stove. I supplemented these with Mama Survivor's delicious, homemade banana bread and apple fritters (Thank you, Shawna!). Joining the Tenacious Tripod at Four Pines that day was Husker, Good Talk, Clovis (Good Talk was pissed because Clovis put a 7 lb rock in the bottom of his already heavy pack), the Goon Squad, Flannel, Stardust (I gave her a lot of shit for not having read the book OR seeing the movie), Pokey, Lupine, Two Souls, Lemonhead, Waterboy, Steel, Finch, Pluto, Bee's Knees, the other Mountain Goat, Iceberg, Blazer (he is not a Globo Gym Purple Cobra), Wander, Puma, and I think that's it. We spent about 15 minutes cleaning the hostel, but the rest of the day consisted of nothing but corn hole, chess, beer, and a short trip to the grocery store so we could get ingredients for a homemade dinner. It was, in fact, a true zero because we actually rested. Steel, Finch, and myself decided to make two pasta dinners and garlic bread for ourselves and share the leftovers with everyone. We actually incorporated healthy foods, such as asparagus, spinach, eggs and tomatoes. However, I did attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream in preparation for the Half Gallon Challenge coming up in Pine Grove State Park. I failed pretty miserably and have much work to do.
Date: 2016-05-23
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Tinker Cliffs 
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: few clouds

May 23, 2016 - Mama Mountain Goat is driving down to meet me in Buena Vista, VA, this Friday, which means I needed to hike about 105 miles in 5 days. That wasn't too bad - I just hoped my knee would be able to handle that workload. Princess Peach, Steel and I were headed to the Hay Rock Campsite about 20 miles away. Survivor, unfortunately, decided to stop at McAfee's Knob, about 10 miles short of our destination due to his shin splints. It was an emotional, temporary goodbye - we had no doubt he'd catch back up to us eventually. It was finally a sunny, warm day and the hike was refreshing after a day off. My IT band wasn't too bad, just a continual ache that was aggravated primarily on steep downhills. We reached McAfee's Knob, which is Ondrof the most famous and photogenic spots on the entire AT. A large slab of granite juts out over the cliff at the top of the mountain providing for ridiculous views of VA below, the next 5 miles of our hike along the ridge line, and the Tinker Cliffs across the valley. Its traditional for hikers to creatively pose for a picture at the tip of McAfee's Knob. The classic picture is of hikers hanging their legs off the cliff as they look out over the valley. After Steel captured my classic picture, she called for my "next pose". With about 15 other friends and strangers resting and eating on the cliffs around me, I took off all my clothes and took my position at the tip of the knob. It was perfect. I did apologize to the three college students who unexpectedly received a full frontal, but they thought it was great. Check it out!We ran into Q-tip, Sundance, and Wander on the trek to Tinker Cliffs and began hiking with them. I was about 2 miles away when I made the mistake of reaching down and massaging my IT band. It exploded with pain and I couldn't take two steps without stopping. I had to stop and rest for about 20 minutes and when I finally got moving again, I slowly and painfully limped to Tinker Cliffs. The views were absolutely gorgeous so we decided to make camp right there on the cliffs despite having less than a liter of water each. Honestly, I was so relieved to stop walking, I would've set up camp with no water. After dinner, we all sat with our legs dangling over the cliffs and looked out over everything the sunlight had for us on display. A quick shower passed over and we were lucky enough to watch it traverse the valley before us - a curtain of rain varying in density and slowly moving away from our location. The dark clouds were moving slightly southeast and they cleared out just in time for the sun to set. I was pretty down on myself and frustrated while my knee inhibited my walking (especially since there are no signs of this problem going away), but if it hadn't forced me to stop, then I would've missed out on one of the top campsites of the trip so far. It's also extremely liberating to be able to change plans so quickly and abruptly. Whatever we do out here, the only thing we know for sure is we don't want to have any regrets and that is why I took my clothes off.