morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-06-18
To: Carlisle, PA
Miles today: 106.7

My neighbor Jim commented that my last journal entry was free of concerns about injury and fatigue. If so, that was purely an oversight and I apologize to my readers. My fans - yes, both of them! - demand tales of woe. Let's not disappoint them!Death March Dan and I have endured periods of rain over the last four days, and apparently this pattern will continue for the next millenium. It made for slippery mud today, where I slid on my feet on a steep downhill, turning 180 degrees and facing backwards. Who said hiking wasn't an art form?We are now in Pennsylvania, our seventh state, having left West Virginia and Maryland behind. En route we saw the Jefferson Rock and the original Washington Monument. We crossed the Mason Dixon line between Maryland and Pennsylvania.We passed the true halfway point near Pine Grove Furnace State Park, where many hikers undertake the half gallon challenge, eating a half gallon of ice cream. Instead, I had a cheeseburger, soda and what I call the half quart challenge by eating a pint of ice cream. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was gluttonous, mind you!"For no particular reason", as Forrest Gump would say, a rear molar chipped one day. A bridge that attaches to it still does so, but I now need to find a dentist on those rare days when we may be in a trail town.At those times when we need to find a motel to shower, wash clothes or dry out, selection can be limited. Our last motel provided an example. You know you're in an old motel when: (1) the major selling point on their sign advertises "TV" or (2) the bathroom has the original pink tile, pink tub, pink sink and pink toilet with matching seat!Blue mentioned that he operates according to the Pirate Rule, which I found funny: you fall behind, you're left behind! Life can be tough on the AT.Death March Dan told me of this quote from the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" which I find to be much more representative about life on the AT.: "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts". To be sure, there can be many discomforts, and you have to find a way to get beyond them.Thanks to my high school friend John, who sent a funny and encouraging letter, and others who have been so supportive.New hikers met include a retired trio, Nobro 1 and 2 (AL) and Moonwalk, and Stormchaser (WI).
Date: 2019-06-28
To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 128.4

If it's been awhile since I've written, it's because my life has been rocky lately. It all began with this phone call: "Hello, this is Pennsylvania. For your hiking adventure, we have this deluxe package for you: rocks, rocks and rain, and rocks, rain and mud puddles. Enjoy your stay!" Boy, they weren't kidding. My wife may disagree, but I've seen evidence that PA has more rocks on the trail than I have in my head! One hiker said that the terrain changes from "more dirt than rock" to "more rock than dirt".This has presented some difficulties in various ways: (1) the rocks make footing treacherous, and we slow our pace as we carefully and painfully traverse them, (2) the rain kept the trail and our shoes wet, resulting in some blisters, and (3) the shelter spacing did not adjust for the terrain, resulting in some 12 hour days, about 3-4 more hours than I would prefer. So, I'm a bit tired currently.We have had good moments. We have tasted Pennsylvania fare, birch beer for me (similar to root beer) and scrapple for Dan. Three trail magic opportunities were appreciated. When taking a nero in Pine Grove, I attended a welcoming Lutheran church service and Pastor Barry offered to shuttle us to the trailhead the following morning.Yesterday we hiked over the Knife Edge, an aptly named section which rivaled VA's Dragon Tooth in terms of danger.Death March Dan and I have been hiking together for three weeks now. He has "Father of the Year" written all over him. As an example, when his now-grown children were young, he would take them on family hikes which turned out to be too long and difficult, where they would scream "this isn't a hike, this is a death march!" Hence, the name.Our compatibility as a team is enhanced because both our pace and IQ are similar. My cynical readers would guess that it took 1,000 miles to find someone with a negative IQ (like mine). But, au contraire!, Dan has a PhD, and is a former university professor and retired electrical engineer. So, to those cynics, I say "Nyaah!" (in a mature fashion, of course). Dan is a serious but positive guy. I try to be lighthearted but get worn out. I told him at the end of the day, Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" plays in my head, and sang one line from it. He claimed not to recognize it, even though I sounded exactly like Elton John. Maybe if I added sequins and rhinestones to my hiking attire it would help jog his memory.Dan says he hopes to learn patience while on the trail. He certainly needs it - he waited a leisurely 10 days after retiring before beginning the AT. I am helping him learn patience. One day at a muddy location, I hopped on a log to chat with another hiker. Dan, who was behind me, shouted "Get off the log! I'm standing in mud!" Ah, me! As you can see, a lot of work remains to teach him patience! Fortunately for him, I unwittingly create such situations every day, so we will have daily assessments to guage his progress!Milestones reached include passing 1,200 miles. New hikers met include Scout, Sharkchow, and Rope (who lived in Rochester for 3 years).
Date: 2018-10-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Just finished an amazing 4 months off of work, travelling, hiking and seeing the country. We started july 4th and travelled thru 32 states, visited a dozen or more national parks and reached 11 more state high points. We climbed the 3rd highest mountain in the USA at 1441ft in Colorado. We went on a 8 day cruise to Alaska and spent a month in Spain hiking the Camino trail. We hiked 528 miles in 27 days. Tomorrow we move back to North Carolina to start working to get our money together for our 2019 yoyo of the AT. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-01-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We have 7 weeks before we start our AT thru hike. This will be numbers 4 and 5 for us thru hiking the AT as a couple. We start March 22nd and our friend Spirit who has been on the AT about every year since 2004 hiking sections, along with one thru hike in 2012 when we met her. She is going to meet us at road crossing until we reach Dicks Creek so she can spend some time with us as we start this yoyo journey. We are getting excited about this trip, just to get back on the AT after 4yrs is great. Cant wait to meet up with all the 2019 fellow thru hikers, be safe and enjoy your hike. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-01-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Instead of starting at Springer and hiking to Maine, then turn around and hike back to Springer, we have come up with a new way for our yoyo. We will start in Damascus and hike to Katahdin, then hike back to Damascus in 160 days averaging 21.5 per day. Then get off trail for ten days to go on a cruise with friends, then return to Damascus and hike to Springer before turning around and finishing at Damascus. This will save us from renting a car to go on a cruise bc our family only lives and hr away and it also will allow us to celebrate with family in Damascus when we finish the trail. So, i guess it is logistics and getting to finish near family. We have NOBO twiced finishing at Katahdin and SOBO once finishing at Springer so this will also be a new finishing place. The adventure begins March 21. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-02-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

One month until we start our yoyo of the AT. We have checked all of our gear and we only have to order a few small items, then we are ready to hit the trail. We cant wait to get on the AT again, its been 4yrs since our SOBO thru hike in 2015. We cant wait to reconnect with trail friends along the AT that we have met on our 3 thru hikes. GOD BLESS and hope to see everyone out there on the AT.
Date: 2019-03-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We start in 5 days, again if you are following us we are doing an unconventional yoyo. We start in Damasacus to Katahdin then back to Springer then back to Damascus. We are doing this because our family is 1hr away from damascus. We want to be close to family when we finish because it will be our 5th thru hike of the AT as a couple and for the people that know us we dont hike the AT for any records, we have been told 5 thrus for a couple and a female might be the most for a couple or female. Like i said we dont care about that we just love the AT because it has been such a big part of our lives since we first set foot on the AT march 27 of 2010. We had never hiked in our lives and since then we have thru hiked the AT 3 times, been married at Springer and hiked the AT for our honeymoon summitting Katahdin on our 1 yr anniversary to doing trail magic every year around the smoky mtns. So we hope to meet and make many more new friends along the way. GOD BLESS, and thank you for following our journey. Also we are going to strava the whole hike, so if u stava find us on stava under marcia or winston terry to follow us there as well.
Date: 2019-03-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We start our yoyo tomorrow with Ratmans dad and sisters hauling us to Damascus. We have a friend joining us at Dasacus to hike the first 2wks with us. We met her on Springer in 2015 when we finished our 3rd thru hike. Thankfully the weather looks great for the next week so we are so looking forward to getting back on the AT. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-20
To: White top luarel creek
Miles today: 14.4

We were driven to Damascus by ratmans dad and sister with a stop at crackee barrel for breakfast. We arrived in Damascus at 11:00 and started hiking with a sunny day to hike as well. We are joined by our friend Sharon for the first week. We started by hiking thru town before reaching the steps and entering the woods. We climbed from damascus up to 3300ft at Saunders shelter in 9.6 miles. We had a few steep climbs along the way and even met to ladies hiking down into damascus. We arrived around 3 and decided to hike on because it was such a great day and we were excited to be on the AT. We ridgelined hiked for about 4 miles before reaching the creeper trail and hiking the final mile before crossing a bridge and hanging a left. We found great campsites here for the night so we stopped around 6:30. We set up camp , then built a fire and socialiized until 8:30. We here its suppose to snow tomorrow so we hope they are wrong. It was 39 in our tent. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-21
To: Elk park
Miles today: 10.6

We woke up to blue skies and sunshine. We sat around the fire until 8:00 drinking coffe and eating breakfast before heading up the trail. We climbed 600ft in 1.8 miles and stopped at the Lost Mtn shelter. Then we made our way down 1.1 before crossing US 58. Then we started the 3.8 mile 2000ft climb to buzzard rock. About .5 from the top in started snowing pretty good. We stopped at a nice spring for water before making our way down to Elk Garden where we had lunch in the privy out of the snow and wind. We were going to hike 5 more miles to mt rogers but decided it would be even colder up there so we stopped at built a fire before making camp. We know the next 3 days our suppose to be in the 60's and sunny. We plan to do big miles then. Its 43 right now and we figure it will be freezing so we made the right decision. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-22
To: Troutdale
Miles today: 8.3

We woke up to 27 degrees and 3 inch of snow with 10 pounds of ice on our tent. We slept well but looking up at Mt. Rogers and talking to a young man in the parking lot we decide to get a ride and skip 17 miles thru the grayson highlands. When we get back we will hike that section in August since we live 1hr from here. We were dropped off at the foot of Iron Mtn and climbed back up into the snow at 4500ft before making our way back down to the road leading down into Troutdale. We hitched a ride with the second car and we are staying at the church hostel tonight. It was a great day and pretty walking thru the snow with blue skies and sunshine. We were told it was 15 degrees with 20 mile per hr wind gusts on mt rogers so we made the right decision. We are drying out and will hit the trail again tomorrow. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-23
To: Chatfield shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: clear sky

After unthawing at the church hostel and staying warm we were back on the trail by 8. We had a 700ft climb in the first 2 miles but we were happy because there was blue skies and sun. Still, it was cold and windy at the top. We were at 4000ft, then for the next 3 miles we wound our way down before crossing Va 672 and taking a short break. We then went up and over the next ridge in 1 mile and came across trail magic. The church had a bus set up with hot drinks,sodas,snacks,banana nut bread and more. We stayed there for about an hr talking about GOD and how are hike has been going. We then climbed again before walking 2 miles thru rhododendron bushes before reaching partnership shelter where we stopped for lunch. This shelter is famous bc you can order pizza here at the visitor center. We then climbed up to 3900ft back down to 3600ft before reaching the top of another climb to 4000ft. We had about 2 more miles before reaching the shelter and our campsite for the evening. We arrived at 6:15 and met another thru hiker, a young man from Greenville SC. We chatted for awhile before getting cold and retiring for the night. The temp inside the tent reached 35 so not to bad i guess. GOD BLESS and pray all is well with everyone.
Date: 2019-03-24
To: Campsite 6.7 outside Atkins.
Miles today: 0.0

We had a chilly night at Chatfield Shelter with very little area for tenting. We were up this morning with blue skies and sunshine with a temp of 34. We had a 550ft descent in 1.5 miles to the Settlers Museum and the Lindamond Schoolhouse which was built in 1894. We then had to shed one jacket because it was finally warming up. Then in the next 2.8 we made it into Atkins Va. We were at exit 50 on I81. We had to wait 1hr for The Barn Restuarant to open but it was worth the wait. We had 12 inch Philly Cheesesteak and Chickensteak with onion rings. They gave us huge portions for the price and also gave us bottles of water free to fill our water bottles. They said they wanted us to have good water, not tap water. They are very nice people who bought the place in November. Ratmans patient in Wytheville who he used to treat, his daughter was the previous owner. We met the famous Rambunny, who is a female thru hiker who hiked the AT 3 yrs in a row. She is one of 9 ladies to thru hike 3 times, so i was in the same room with 2 ladies who are tied with 3 thru hikes. Rambunny was picking up sharon to shuttle her back to Damascus. We started hiking again around 2 by crossing under I81 and heading for Bland. We had to climb 1000ft before dropping down to 2600ft in 6.7 miles and making camp. We built a fire by the stream and camped with Kenny, a young man from Greenville SC. We want to thank Sharon for hiking with us, sorry for killing you on that 21 mile day. Thank you also for lunch before you starting home. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-25
To: Bear Garden Hiker Hostel.
Miles today: 6.1

This morning we woke to sunny skies but knew rain was coming in by noon. We started hiking by 7:45 with a 900ft climb in the first 2 miles. After reaching the top with some nice views we started a long down in 2.3 miles to Va. 610 where we had to hike thru a farmers pasture before entering the woods again. We then made our way over to Va. 742 in 1.5 miles and crossed a footbridge over the North fork of the Holston River. We ran into a older gentleman who was finishing up his thru hike he started last yr. He said he had to make it to Damascus and he was finished. We told him this was our 4th and he looked amazed and wanted to run away from these to crazy people lol. We then hiked another mile before reaching Bear Garden Hiker Hostel where we are holing up so the rain will pass thru tonight. We made it here at 11 and will head out around 8 tomorrow. We have a huge climb up to Chestnut Knob where the Biltmore was suppose to be built before they settled on Asheville. We have been talking the last week and have decided to only do one thru instead of 2 because we have so many friends up the trail that we want to spend time with along the way. This way we dont have to hike 25 a day and can enjoy the hike. We are planning on getting to Katahdin on July 6th with 2 friends coming up to hike it with us and then they are dropping us off at Grayson Highlands to hike back to Springer to complete our thru hike. We are calling this our last AT thru we have decided 4 is enough and we want to experience some new adventures with family and esoecially our grandbabies. So pray for us and thank you for following along on this last journey across the Appalachians. Also some have asked how they can send gift cards or care packages along the way, we will know more in about a week and will post info on how u can send something. Again thank you guys and GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-26
To: Jenkins shelter
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: light rain

We heading out about 8 from the hostel, we were glad we stayed there bc it rained hard last night for about 6hrs. We climbed 600ft in 2 miles before descending to Lynn Camp about 1.5 miles longer. We crossed a footbridge and made our way to USFS 222 for a break. While we were sitting there 2 more young men thru hiking passed us, one from Va and the other Austin Tx. We then had a 2100ft climb in 4.6 miles to Chestnut Knob Shelter which is an enclosed shelter overlooking Burkes Garden. We made it to the top at 130 with the wind blowing and cold temps. We ate lunch before running practically for 3 miles to warmup. We started ridgeline hiking with a few steep climbs and very rocky terrain at 3800ft. We made it to Va. 623 which leads to Burkes Garden, we were hoping someone would offer us a ride into town but no luck. We had 4.5 more miles to the shelter and our next water source. It was getting cold with the sun setting so we hiked fast just to stay warm. We made it by 7 and wanted to just get in the tent, eat and get warm. The two guys had made it as well. Tomorrow marks 9yrs to the day we started this epic hiking journey that we are on. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.3

This morning we woke up to temp of 27 in the tent and ice covering our tent fly. We built a fire and dried some of the tent while drinking coffee and talking to the two young hikers who stayed at the shelter with us. Today is a special day for us , it was 9 yrs ago today that we joined the hiking community standing on top of Springer getting reading to hike to Maine. What a great hiking adventure it has been every step after that day. Well, we started hiking at 1030 with a 800ft climb in 1 mile followed by a 2.5 mile easy ridge hike. We then descended to Va. 615 in 1 mile for a break. We then climbed 600ft via switchbacks and in refreshing warm sun. Then we basically hiked parallel to the ridge and hiked thru a fire area before reaching a gravel road. We then hiked .6 down to the road and stuck our thumb out for the ride to Subway in Bland. It took 5 cars but a nice elderly gentlemen gave us a ride to Subway. We make it a tradition to eat at Subway every time we thru hike thru this area. We decided to hole up it tonight and head towards Pearisburg Va. In the morning. GOD BLESS
Date: 2019-03-28
To: Va 608
Miles today: 13.1

This morning we started hitching back to the trail around 8:45 and this police officer there in Bland turned around and gave us a ride. Our hats are off to the Sheriffs Office and County police there in Bland, thank u for the ride. It was sunny and warm finally when we started. We first had to road walk .8 downhill before entering the woods. We had a 400ft climb first off which is good to get warm and also get the blood pumping. The climb wasnt to bad and we reached the shelter turnoff in 1.4 more miles. We didnt stop at the shelter because it was .3 off trail so we kept hiking. We then did mostly ridgeline hiking with a few minor climbs. We stoppped for lunch around 1 agter 8.5 miles of hiking. When we started back we met Mike who is a 71yr old man trying to hike all 3 long distance trails in 1yr. We crossed Va. 611 where me and marcia in 2010 started our longest hike for 1 day on the AT of 34 miles. Mike was out of water so we split what we had left for the 3 miles to Jennys Knob Shelter where we found water. We said our goodbyes and started hiking downhill for 1.2 miles until we found camp around 4:30. We are only doing around 14 for the next 3 days to reach pearisburg Sunday morning bc Sunday the temps is suppose to be 47 and rain. We will stay in a hostel there before hiking on Monday. We have to avg 15 a day to reach Katahdin by July 5 so we can summitt on July 6. Today the Elevation was 2785ft in 13.1 miles. GOD BLESS.
Date: 2019-03-29
To: Sugar run mtn.
Miles today: 15.9

Today we started with sunny skies and temps around 40 at 8 am. We had to cross Va. 608 and start a 800ft climb in 1.2 miles. Near the top we jumped 5 deer which was good to see because we havent seen that much wildlife on this hike. We then hiked along a rocky ridgeline to the top of Brushy Mtn. We then hiked 2 miles down to Va. 606 after crossing a long suspension bridge. We then walk .5 up the road to trents grocery for pizza. While there the elderly locals were hanging out drinking coffee and shooting the bull. We sat next to them, 7 guys total and shot the bull as well. They asked about our hike and one guy even knew some people back in Lee County where we are from. They also told us we were starting to hike thru the area where Robert Smith in late 1970's killed 2 hikers at Wapiti shelter. We told them we already knew that because my wife read the book, murder on the appalachian trail. We had our pizza and bought a few supplies before walking the .5 back to the trail. The locals at Trents were a hoot to talk with but we had to get hiking. We had a slight climb up to Dismal Falls before we started leveling out and walking thru tunnels of rodedendron bushes. After 5 miles we stopped for a break and to dry our tent out bc it had some dampness from the evening before. After our break we started hiking thru an area that looks like Colonial times and instead of hikers there should be horse draw buggys coming thru the area. We were surrounded by pine trees and cedar trees and every now and then more rhododendron tunnels. We also hiked along the trout stream before reaching a 120o ft climb up to 3800ft where we have mads camp tonight. We are as high up on the mtn as u can be, so it should be a pretty sunset and sunrise. Todays elevation was 3725ft. GOD BLESS, tomorrow is suppose to be 70 so we are hiking 13 miles and camping on top of Angels Rest overlooking Pearisburg.