morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-06
From: THE SCALES

To: TRIMPI SHELTER
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

"NO RAIN, NO PAIN" ETC.A lot of miles on a lot rocks equals a lot of pain in the foot. But, like they say, "No rain, no pain, no Maine". It was all worth it today once we got to the shelter, though. Sitting at the picnic table were Brains and Brawn, Just Joan, Banjo Man, Opa and Indiana. Over by the tent sites were Old School, New Day and B-Rad. We hadn't seen them since Erwin! Later came Fish and son, Minnow. Minnow just started hiking with his dad a week ago and plans to finish at Katahdin with him. We wish him luck and are impressed with his twelve mile days this early into his journey.Banjo Man entertained us all by playing several good ol' familiar tunes on the guitar. B-Rad did a Tarzan impression swinging from a large vine. Someone got a warm fire started in the shelter's fireplace. A good time was had by all.
Date: 2006-05-08
From: MARION, VA

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

MUDFLAP'S WEEKLY INPUTWe started off the day packing our gear to go hit the trail. We met our hiking comrades at the motel office. We went across the street to have our free breakfast. The person who owns this motel owns two more across the street. The breakfast was the best we've had at a motel so far. While we were finishing our breakfast, Brawn had an idea to run by us. He said "Why don't we take a 0 day today and do our laundry today instead of hiking 11 plus miles on the trail to our next planned stop?¢ It was still raining and cold, so it sounded like a good plan. The motel was also cheaper here than there. So we split the cab fare and went to the other side of town to the Laundromat. While I did the laundry, Daisy was busy typing journals in the pocketmail. While Daisy typed, I also dried out the tent. I had all our gear all over the motel room drying out. We had Chinese with Brains and Brawn for dinner. The weather should be good for a couple days. Wet and cold is not a good combo. Our fingers were numb for hours yesterday. We felt colder yesterday than we did in 6 inches of snow in NC. Sometimes you have to keep moving until you reach some kind of shelter. Then you have to put dry clothes on and warm up.
Date: 2006-05-09
From: MARION, VA

To: DAVIS PATH SHELTER
Miles today: 14.2

CHEESEBURGERS AND MUSEUMSIt was fairly easy going on the trail today. We stopped in Atkins for cheeseburgers on the way. Before coming to the shelter, we came upon a sign that read "1890's Farm". There was a trail leading in that direction so we took it. It was a farm that had been turned into a living museum but no-one was there today. We did get to look inside the windows of the well-preserved farm house. We could also see the barns and farming equipment. Then, about a quarter mile further up the trail, we came across an old one room school house complete with a wood burning stove in the middle. While we were there, other hikers showed up, plus the caretaker came, too. We got a great picture of some of the "Class of 2006" on the front porch of the school.
Date: 2006-05-10
From: DAVIS PATH SHELTER

To: KNOT MAUL SHELTER
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

WHO MAKES THE PROFILES?Whoever it is drawing these profile maps must be getting a good laugh at us hikers as we gasp for air climbing these mountains. As many hikers do, I check the profile before the hike so I can mentally prepare for the day. Oftentimes, the profiles lie. They lie, I tell you! There was no indication of how steep today's last hill would be. One by one, hikers arrived at the shelter red faced, out of breath and very surprised by the late-day butt buster. Otherwise, the most interesting incident today was the half-inch long fish skeleton I discovered floating in the bottom of my water bottle. Nice, huh?
Date: 2006-05-11
From: KNOT MAUL SHELTER

To: VA 623
Miles today: 15.2

STANDING ROOM ONLYAfter a good night's sleep, I was up early and very optimistic about today's hike. There were big hills to climb and I was ready for them. What I wasn't ready for was the weather: bone chilling, windy, cold, wet weather in the middle of the day.One point eight miles south of Chestnut Ridge shelter, we came to our planned water source. It was a spring fed pond. We found the pond but not the spring. We have yet to drink pond water and didn't want to start now. I was feeling cold and tired so I sat on a cold wet rock while Mudflap searched for the water source. It had been raining for a while already so the Precip Jacket had soaked through. Other than that, I was not wearing any other weather protection. It was probably a bad idea to sit down on a cold rock wearing shorts in 40 degree, rainy, windy weather. By the time Mudflap returned with water, 25 minutes had lapsed and I was very weak and cold. I could not get my rain pants on because, once again, my hands were numb and I could not grasp anything.We finally did get me off that rock and into pants but it wasn't easy. I found it difficult to move my legs to get myself up that hill to the shelter. I figured I could be getting hypothermic so I ate a snickers bar and it did seem to help.When we finally arrived at Chestnut Ridge shelter, we found that it was one of the few completely enclosed shelters on the trail. It is a small stone building with a door and a tin roof. We opened the door and were pleasantly surprised to find a room full of hikers. Many of them were gathered around the large picnic table in the middle of the room, cooking themselves a hot lunch. There were also many of them already in the bunks that lined the walls. Wet clothes hung everywhere. The dim atmosphere inside sort of reminded me of a rustic old tavern. People were just happy to be warm, dry and fed.We, too, cooked ourselves a hot lunch. But as usual, I had trouble warming up. Our friend 42 noticed I was still shaking after awhile and was so kind to offer me her knit cap to wear. She also offered a dry capilene shirt, but I knew we would be going back out and did not want to get too comfortable. I knew once we started hiking I would warm up just fine.A few hikers decided to leave before we did. It's a good thing too, because more hikers kept filing into this now "standing room only" space. When we finally got up our nerve to return to the blustery weather outside, we pushed the door open to find...SUNHINE! It was still windy but it was sunny... glorious sunshine! We knew we had made the right decision to move on. Had we stayed at the shelter, we would have had to sleep on the cement floor anyway. That just doesn't appeal to me. It rained again on us as we traveled another 6 miles. It didn't matter though; the sun also came out again and warmed us.We found a rocky little flat spot near a forest road to park our tent for the night. I am quite satisfied with our progress today. We pressed on through bad weather and big hills. Today, we were "hard core".
Date: 2006-05-12
From: VA 623

To: BLAND, VA
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

BIG WALKERThe temptation to quit early today came in the form of a very civilized campsite near a road. It had a picnic table and trash can. Those are luxuries out here. A nine mile hike for the day just would not do, though. Besides, the Big Walker Motel awaits in Bland. I was fairly hobbling by the time we hitched our ride into town. That's okay though; a hot shower and soft, warm bed can make a hiker forget about sore feet and knees for a little while.
Date: 2006-05-13
From: BLAND, VA

To: BRUSHY MTN.
Miles today: 16.3

LEVI LONGSo often it's the people out here that make this hike such the worthwhile experience. Minutes after we put thumbs to the wind this morning, a pickup truck sporting A.T. stickers and plates that read HIKER AT pulled over. The driver was Mr. Levi Long. In the brief ride back to the trail he told us of his years of hiking and how he finally blew his knees out up on the mountain years ago. 'Ol Levi is retired now, but he used to own a diner and bunk house in nearby Bastian that catered to hikers. You could tell by his wistful expression he would love to take on a few more mountains. Nice of him to give us a lift.We couldn't have hoped for better hiking conditions today. The sky was sunny yet the air was cool and breezy. Better yet, the trail finally relented, carrying us across several miles of flat, rock-free, pine needle softened path. This is the day I have dreamed of since Springer Mtn. Gotta love it while it lasts!One more thing: we talked to my son last night about coming out to hike with us. He will be 20 years old in a couple of days and doesn't have any plans for his future. We think if he does this hike, it may give him confidence and inspiration to do other things. He's not sure he can do this hike but he said he will think about it. I would love to have him out here with us.
Date: 2006-05-14
From: BRUSHY MTN.

To: SUGAR RUN GAP
Miles today: 16.2

"HAIL-ACIOUS" WEATHERRailroad and Critter were just leaving Dismal Creek Falls when we caught up to them. They had left teasing remarks in the trail registers lately saying "look who's in front now". Even though we all started March 7th, we were ahead of them for weeks. It's fun to see them frequently now. After a brief conversation, they moved on while Mudflap and I took the .3 mile blue blaze trail to see the falls. It was a beautiful place with lots of good campsites. Just as we were figuring out how to get down closer to the waterfall for a better photo, thunder issued its ominous warning. We had left our packs uncovered back at the A.T.; we had to run. Donning rain gear, packs covered, we hit the trail running. It's funny how rain can make a person walk faster even if there's nowhere to go to get out of it. Then came the hail. Little pea-sized icy balls started bouncing off the pine needle strewn path. As the weather gained momentum, so did we. At our quick pace, we soon caught up to R.R. and Critter again. By now they had been joined by a four legged companion. She was a gorgeous husky. She was well groomed and wore tags so someone was probably missing her pretty badly: on Mother's Day too! R.R. and Critter said they would allow her to follow until they can get to a phone to call the owners.At lunch we all enjoyed sharing our beef jerky and cheddar cheese with Loopis the dog. She was very well mannered, following commands and taking food gently from our fingers. Her poor owners must be frantic.At least it was sunny, albeit chilly, for lunch. When Mudflap and I got going again, so did the rain. As we climbed the 2,200 feet up Sugar Run Mtn., the weather worsened. The rain came down in sheets and it started lightening. It was freaking me out pretty badly. Our hiking poles are made of metal but we just kept going right through it. Luckily, we didn't get fried.Not only was the weather awful, but the trail was unmercifully rocky on the mountain. We opted not to walk another half mile to a hostel once we got to Sugar Run Gap. We were finished after an exhausting day. Our campsite is a bit rocky, but it suits me just fine. Now that we've had a hot meal I feel much better. The sky is clear now and the moon is full and bright. There are owls hooting loudly from trees very near our tent. It would be great if we could see them.
Date: 2006-05-16
From: SUGAR RUN GAP

To: PEARISBURG
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

PICTURELESS IN PEARISBURGWhenever we get to a town with an accessible library, we try to post some pictures to share with our folks at home. More often than not, it has been a huge hassle. We were not even allowed to use the computers in Damascus for that purpose, so we looked forward to getting it done here in Pearisburg. Today, the library is only open from noon till 5 p.m. That would be great except this town is full of many hikers anxious to get online. So we signed up on the waiting list for our hour's worth of Internet time. When it came to be our turn, it took 30 minutes to download our pictures, then it took 3 to 4 minutes to upload each one onto Trailjournals. Because the computer was so slow, we barely got anything done. Very frustrating. We were going to leave town early tomorrow to get back on the trail, but we will return to the library instead. We signed up for an hour each, so maybe we'll make progress. Coming back here tomorrow adds another two and a half miles of walking to our day. Plus, it's a mile and a half from the motel to the trail in the other direction. Do I sound like I'm whining? Okay, I'll stop.
Date: 2006-05-17
From: PEARISBURG

To: RICE FIELD SHELTER
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

TECHNOLOGY VS PRIMITIVE LIVING   I'm so glad to be back on the trail again. Our stay in Pearisburg was frustrating. We went back to the library, worked on posting pictures for an hour and twenty minutes when the computer crashed. The librarian rebooted the computer but our picture file had been erased. Very aggravating. We only got a few new pictures up for all our efforts and we have so many we want to share. It is a little strange, though, to live a rather primitive lifestyle out here on the trail and suddenly rejoin the modern world every few days in town. Pearisburg traffic was awful; huge trucks come barreling through the small town on Bus. 460, spraying thick exhaust all over people and buildings and trees and homes. A large factory on the edge of town also spews out foul smelling smoke. Yuck, what a stinky place. This is not a reflection of the good folks who live there, it's just a shame they have to put up with all that pollution.Meanwhile, back on the trail, we are in good company here at the shelter. Chainsaw brought hotdogs and we provided the mustard. Able Jack is entertaining as usual and R.R. & Criiter are just plain nice. It feels more comfortable out here in the woods than in town somehow.
Date: 2006-05-18
From: RICE FIELD SHELTER

To: BAILEY GAP SHELTER
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

I'D RATHER BE TENTING         Feeling well rested, we got off to an early start this morning. Wouldn't you know it though, about a mile into the hike I got thirsty but when I reached for my water bottle, it wasn't there. Shoot! Mudflap volunteered to go get it and I let him. The reason is because he seems to hold up better after a long day of hiking and we had a 16 mile day to do. Of course that means it would be an 18 mile day for him. The day did run long so we set up in the shelter instead of tenting. The campsites are another .3 miles up the trail. The family of 3, Old School, New Day and B-Rad arrived at dusk and did manage to find a spot amongst the rocks to put their tents. Right now, it's cold and windy in this shelter: I'm kinda missing the tent.
Date: 2006-05-20
From: LAUREL CREEK SHELTER

To: AUDIE MURPHY MONUMENT
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

LOST AND FOUNDIt got very hot out today; hot enough for the snakes to start coming out. I almost stepped on a huge corn snake that decided to cross the trail as I was passing by. We went through a lot of water today.Before climbing our last mountain today, we stopped at Craig Creek for our last water supply for the day. For the first time since we've been on the trail we are camping at a place with no water. There is a memorial to Audie Murphy at the top of this mountain with a nice campsite next to it. Much to our dismay, when we got up here, we discovered that we no longer had our Thru-hiker's handbook or the Companion. We rely heavily on the handbook for all kinds of information like water source locations and mileage. The only place we could have lost them was back at the creek a mile and a half and 1,500 feet back down the mountain. There was no way we were going to go back. We will have to get by without this information for a few more days until we get to Daleville.Just as were accepting our plight, Stampede, a hiker we met earlier in the day was coming our way. "You guys lose some books?" he called out, waving them in the air. What a relief to have our books back! He didn't have to carry those extra couple of pounds up that hill but he did. He knew we were ahead of him and he said he figured they belonged to us. We are so grateful. Stampede was asking about the distance to the next water source. Since it is so hot out, he was running low. We actually had just enough for the night and morning; the next water source is three miles away. But since he was so helpful to us we shared some water with him and also gave him a Snickers Bar. He said he'd be doing a flip-flop so we hope to catch him going southbound.
Date: 2006-05-21
From: AUDIE MURPHY MONUMENT

To: CREEKSIDE CAMPSITE
Miles today: 12.4

DRAGON BREATHThe possibilities are endless in the morning. We were stoked to do seventeen miles today, or so we thought. Enter: THE DRAGON. Dragon's Tooth that is, on the top of Cove Mountain. Dragon's Tooth is a rock formation that is curved and pointy, standing about 30 feet tall.The early part of the day was pleasant enough. It was hot out but the climb was gradual. As we progressed it got hotter, steeper and rockier. Up at the top, we found Kilgore Trout, another hiker we occasionally see. He was by himself so he joined us in our climb up the tooth. He offered to take our picture from down below once we got out on the point. We started climbing up, and it got narrower and narrower and windier and windier. "Uh, Kilgore...we're not going any higher than this," I called down to him. We only went about halfway up: it was scary! Then I suggested to Kilgore that he go up and we'd get his picture at the top. So he began the climb much the same as we did. He managed to make it to about six feet from the point before he chickened out too. The point is only about a foot wide and with that hot wind blowing up there like dragon's breath, it's best to play it safe.Leaving the summit, we took a wrong turn. First Kilgore, then me, then a hiker named Snickers and then Mudflap. None of us realized there were no white blazes down this incredibly steep slope until we got about 50 yards down. We should have known something was awry when we had to grab onto branches to save ourselves from sliding down on our rears. The climb back up wasn't much fun, but you gotta take it all in stride. The actual trail down the mountain was quite memorable though. There were iron rungs built into the rock in some places for hand and foot holds. The rocky descent went on for hours. Because of the heat and strenuous trail, everyone was getting low on water. We were already a little dehydrated to start with because of too little water yesterday. We filled up every vessel we had before the mountain, it just turned out to be more draining than anyone anticipated. We ended up stopping five miles shorter than we thought we would go today. We made sure we camped by water this time.
Date: 2006-05-22
From: CREEKSIDE CAMPSITE

To: LAMBERT'S MEADOW CAMPSITE
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

MUDFLAP'S WEEKLY INPUTWe survived the Dragon yesterday. We were leery of what today was going to be like. On the way to McAffee Knob we met Froggy and Sherpa. They are former thru-hikers who are in a couple of AT documentaries. McAfee Knob was a great view. It was an easy hike up to the overlook. You can see the Roanoke valley and Tinker Cliffs. We headed to Campbell Shelter for lunch. We ran into Oly going to get water. He said there were two tents in the shelter. After getting water, I went to the shelter to check out the tents. There were two four-person tents in the shelter. The people weren't there. There were also three more tents outside. They were all car camping tents. They must be up at Tinker Cliffs. When we arrived at Tinker Cliffs it was very windy. The views were almost as good as McAffee Knob. We were tired and had a couple miles left to go. We got to our campsite an hour before dark. While we were preparing dinner, two deer were wandering around our camp. They were real interested in some orange peels between some boulders. The larger deer chased the smaller one from the orange peels. That's another exciting day with Mudflap and Daisy.
Date: 2006-05-23
From: LAMBERT'S MEADOW CAMPSITE

To: DALEVILLE, VA
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

HOW SWEET IT ISWild roses, strawberries, honeysuckle and sunshine sweetened the last mile of trail into Daleville. As we stepped out of the woods onto US HWY 220, a hiker named Postcard was walking by and greeted us with an enthusiastic "Welcome to Daleville!" Guess we're in the right place. Then as we walked just a few hundred feet down the road to the Howard Johnson's, another hiker named Marley echoed the first with a big "Welcome to Daleville!" Wow, is everybody this happy here?We soon found out there are great restaurants here within easy walking distance. That explains the cheerful mood. The only problem is the post office is 1.5 miles away up a very busy highway. Our bounce box, which we had to pick up from there, is a 35 pound duffle bag. Mudflap was not very happy about having to tote that thing back to the motel. I offered to help, but he refused. I suppose it would look pretty bad for a woman to be hefting it down the highway while the man went empty handed. Fortunately, on the way back, we met up with Dell the trail angel when we stopped at the outfitters. We had already made arrangements with him to pick up my son Bobby from the Greyhound station in Roanoke tomorrow morning. We're grateful that we don't have to rent a car to do it. We found out Dell stays pretty busy shuttling hikers around. He hands out his business cards to every hiker he sees in town. It sure is helpful to have friendly people like that in some of these towns. It will be hard to get to sleep tonight anticipating seeing my son tomorrow. He will have a long, uncomfortable bus ride from Tampa to Roanoke. Hopefully he'll get some rest on the way.
Date: 2006-05-24
From: DALEVILLE, VA

To: DALEVILLE, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

HE'S HERE!Dell picked us up at exactly 9:30 just like he said. The 15 mile drive to Roanoke took exactly 20 minutes. The bus carrying Bobby was due in at exactly 9:50. It wasn't there yet. Dell checked with a Greyhound employee to make sure it was on the way. "Five more minutes," he informed us. I waited nervously as any mother might. I imagined the worst like what if he fell asleep in Richmond where he was supposed to transfer. My heart leapt with excitement as I spotted the bus rounding the corner a block away. "Please let him be on that bus," I silently prayed. As it pulled into the terminal, the interior lights were on. "He's here!" I squealed. I spotted him right away; 3rd seat back driver's side. I'd recognise that mop of hair anywhere. What a relief to see him. He was pretty tired and hungry after the 23 hour trip. After cleaning up back at the Howard Johnson's, it was time to go eat and get outfitted; no rest for the weary. Before we could leave the motel, we ran into lots of hikers we were eager to introduce him to. He met Critter and Railroad, Able Jack and Chainsaw, Old School, New Day and B-Rad. When we introduced him to New Day, she gave us the unfortunate news that she would have to go home to take care of family issues. She has come so far in this journey, and would stay out here to finish if she could. I admire her strength both as a hiker and as a person who has to make a tough decision. Good luck to you, New Day.Lunch was at Three Little Pigs Barbeque. This was not your typical BBQ joint, however. It is a little on the upscale side with excellent choices on the menu such as Smoked Salmon and Veggie wrap with tomato soup. The food was delicious and the company entertaining. We sat with Kilgore Trout and E-Rock. At another table were Enuff, Too Much, Sundancer, Feng Shui and Burner. Once fed and feeling a little better, it was off to the outfitter. It is no small thing to get completely outfitted in one afternoon. It took hours and was quite expensive. By the time we finished it was time to eat supper. This time we chose the Mexican restaurant across from the motel. We were joined by Railroad and Critter, then later by Compost. The food was good and once again, a great time was had by all.