morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-11
From: Laurel Forks Campground

To: Not moving
Miles today: 0.0

A Necessary Break   From the looks of this trail journal you would think Pete and I never went hiking..it seems like we are always in town or stopping in somewhere for a snack, phone call, etc. But we have honestly done a good amount of hiking! Today we are taking a true zero day. We are approacing 500 miles and I'm tired. It feels so nice to lie horizontal and not move my body. This is a rare state for me to be in...I'm ususally so jumpy and ready to get up and move anywhere!   I've felt increasingly tired while hiking since Hot Springs, NC despite our zero day there. The miles went by slower and it became much harder to power yourself up the hills. I've been moving at more of a slow plod than a walk at times. Somehow at the end of the day we have still made our 20 plus mileage goal, but the time we spend actually hiking is greater and greater. This means dinner and sleeping time is less and less. Not a good trend.    Erwin, TN where we stopped for a 24 hr mail drop resupply was great, but it wasn't really a break. When you walk 11 miles before noon to get to town and then spend your afternoon/early evening biking around town...you are not really resting. So here we are...50 miles from Damascus, VA tucked safely up in the mountains were there are less distractions (like bikes..although there is a basketball hoop. After playing for an hour when I first arrived yesterday I'm vowing to avoid it today in favor of the hammock!).   The air here is cooler, a river flows nearby, John (the manager) cooks great cheap burgers with all the fixings (including beans!), and the hiker hostel is clean and cool (also cheap). We were planning on resting up a bit in Damascus, but with the reported mayhem of Trail Days (a huge, 1,000 plus hiker people, week long "festival"), we thought it might be easier to actually rest here rather than in the next town (heck of a lot cheaper too!)   Trail Thoughts   Hiking is often a refreshing and great time to let your mind wander in any direction in chooses, however on this trip thus far I've been reminded of the strong connection between the mind/body. I've often been so tired I've literally had trouble thinking and speaking. Joan not being able to talk up a storm!! How strange! At times I'm fine and very coherently talkative, but both Pete and I have had many amusing and/or frustrating times when we try to convey a thought to each other and fail misearbly to get the words out in an understandable format! We usually just laugh at ourselves and keep hiking. There's always more to write...but I think it's time to go in search of more food.-Joan aka SCRUBS....because I am actually scrubbing my socks and other dirty clothes items and my feet every day (well...pretty much everyday)...strange contrast to my previous trail name don't you think!
Date: 2004-05-11
To: Nowhere :)
Miles today: 0.0

Day 28   I love peanut butter. It's fattening and filling, sticky and gooey, and simply satisfying. Peanut butter comes creamy or chunky, sweet or salty, partially hydrogenated or all natural. You can get peanut butter in: single serving tubes, "spreadable fun" squeeze bottles, and by the 1/2 lb, pound, or 5 lb jar. Peanut butter now comes flavored: apple cinnamon, berry blend, chocolate swirl, or as that awful Goober's stuff with the jam/pb mixture. You can eat it b/w oatmeal cookies, mixed with chocolate in a Nutragrain bar, on pizza if you are Ann or on mint chocolate ice cream if you are me. Then there's the classic pb and j on bread, toast, rice cakes, crackers...you name it. I've even heard of one starving hiker who mixed his pb and j with tuna and cheese in a burrito.    I love peanut butter on the trail. Peanut butter and bananna chips on a tortilla for breakfast, a spoonful or two at lunch to slow the bulgur down, and a pre-bedtime snack. Pete and I can eat a pound of pb in 3 days. We either carry our own out of town or fight over who gets to carry the shared plastic jar for the next section. Why do we fight? If you carry it you have instant access and are entitled to an extra scoop on the fly as you stuff the jar into your food sack, you know...just to lighten the load a bit. Sometimes the pb jar even gets its own place in my pack: upright and prominent right next to the cooking pot. Sometime while hiking this next section I'll get my favorite pb treat: all natural pb on a bagel with m+m's and cheetos
Date: 2004-05-26
To: Sarver's Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 43   We learned a good lesson this morning about arriving late in a shelter: make plenty of noise and let everyone know that you have arrived and are planning on staying. This morning we awoke to discover that someone had unwittingly urinated on Pete's backpack and shirt during the night. Who in their right mind would take one step out of the shelter and pee in a random direction without even turning their headlamp on! For all you know you could be peeing on a skunk who had inadvertingly wandered into camp and you might end up with a nasty surprise. This is the fate we have in mind for the fool who peed without thinking!   Despite the disgruntling start we had a great day of hiking. The trail was all rocks and involved lots of skipping, hopping and general agility; something we have discovered I possess but Pete does not...plenty of rocks are the only thing that allows me to hike faster than him! The afernoon and evening of hiking were a bit easier as we crossed gorgeous VA farming valleys. As usual an afternoon thunderstorm blew up and we nervously skirted into a tree covered hollow to cook by a stream and wait out the storm.   It rained and rained, but dinner was yummy underneath the Tyvek (our waterproof ground sheet). After dinner we decided we could wait no longer and headed north in hopes that our trail would remain under the trees so we could hike during the storm (whoever thinks that most thunderstorms only last 20 minutes has not hiked enough down here...there can be many storms and thunder coming from every direction and frankly it is quite frustrating when you're not very fond of getting struck by lightning). After a mile or so of hiking the trail went out into a meadow again, so we waited and tried to stay dry in the torrential downpour under the large branch of a "starry doob" (old oak in Russian...of great significance in "War and Peace"). I know it's not a good idea to hang out by a big tree in a thunderstorm...but hey, if this thing has been here for 300 years I'm not too worried.    Post-storm, we hiked up the hill and crossed mile 666. Spooky rock piles that looked like funeral pyres lined the trail (was somebody actually clearing all these rocks to farm or what?!?). It gave us goose bumps as the light dimmed. We reached Sarver Hollow Shelter just before it was pitch black and were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful shelter with a covered picnic table and porch to dry out our stuff! A worthwhile place to head towards even if it is 0.3 miles and 600 feet downhill!   The thunder showers brought a new chill to the evening air and we were quite cold with our wet gear and one lightweight unrated sleeping bag to share. We were fooled by the thought of progressively warmer weather in Pearisburg and mailed our last warm sleeping bag away too soon. In a failed attempt to slept warm (or sleep at all) we pulled the tent over the top of us and tried to snuggle close.   Needless to say it was a very long night with lots of weird dreams and kicking as one of us would inevitably fight the other for full control of the sleeping bag.-SCRUBS
Date: 2004-05-28
To: Lambert's Meadow Campsite
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

Day 45   Ah...the power of food!   Pete and I spent a cold, windy/rainy night on top of Dragon's Tooth, waking up in "fits and starts" (one of the trail names we contemplated taking because we tend to walk in fits and starts...we spend so much time eating, pooping, peeing, drinking, pumping water, etc it's amazing we get any hiking done at all!). I hiked down the hill feeling very tired but happy - it was a great rainy day and the trail was chilly and rocky.    The lure of a grocery store 0.2 miles away at a road crossing at the bottom of the hill and the fear of pushing hard all day on my remaining snack food proved too strong. After a liter of orange gatorade....time to leave the lib!-SCRUBS
Date: 2004-05-29
To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 46   Food!   If you happen to find yourself in the Catawba area between Thursday-Sunday evening, you must go to the Home Place Restaurant. The food is amazing - and it's not just my thru-hiker "I'll eat anything" mindset. It's a popular spot so you are almost guaranteed at least a 30 minute wait. Oh, but once you get in (!) it's all you can eat, served family style. Iced tea, lemonade, green beans, corn, baked pinto beans with bacon, coleslaw, biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and either roast beef or country ham (we had both), plus coffee/tea and fruit cobbler a la mode for desert! I had to road walk the 3 miles back to the hostel just to make sure dinner spent the night in the right place.   Although it was a bit weird to be walking SOBO (southbound), I'm glad Pete and I decided to do so for this section. We had great weather for views of the valley at Tinker Cliffs and McAfe's Knob. Since we have spent so much time in and around this valley in the past few days, it's starting to look like home. For once on the AT Pete and I could easily name every ridge/mountain and pick out where we had walked from and where we are going to. This is much easier to do when there are distinct ridges and valleys and not just a bunch of bumps and lumps everywhere you look. -SCRUBS
Date: 2004-05-30
To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 47   Our packs are too heavy! They are not really designed to carry 30 plus pounds comfortably. We are hoping to hike the 132.2 miles from Troutville to Waynesboro in time to get our drop before the weekend. That means 10 today, then two 20 mile days, three 25 mile days, and a mad 5 mile dash and hitch into town before 11 on Saturday! Can it be done?    My faith in humanity was restored this morning when young Josh showed up as promised with our food by 11. He gave us a wonderful ride into Daleville and was very excited to learn that we "knew" the members of his favorite band "Dispatch" (Pete opened at one of their concerts at Middlebury).-SCRUBS
Date: 2004-05-31
To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 48   It rained, it poured, and our tent became an obstacle in a newly formed river! As soon as I woke up, packed things up, and struggled sleepily out of the tent to pee - the rain poured down! Pete and I scurried into the shelter to eat breakfast and wait out the worst of the morning storm. After grudgingly packing up our wet tent, we left camp a bit late and meandered north along the Blue Ridge Parkway.   To ease the burden of our heavy packs, we ate an early lunch 7 miles in, dinner at Jenning's Creek with a swim 9 miles later, and stopped for the night (and a hefty, eat anything that's heavy snack) at the monolithic Bryant Ridge Shelter.-SCRUBS
Date: 2004-06-01
To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 49   We are camping in a shelter again...oh no! We were lured in last night by the luxurious roofline and multi-storied nature of the Bryant Ridge Shelter, only to fight the bugs and each other for the warmth of our one sleeping bag. We got up tired, cold and vowing never to do that again. But here we are now, all because of a few rain drops that fell just when we were planning on setting up the tent!       The hiking today was amazing. Pete and I managed (finally...more my fault than his) to leave camp @ 7:30. We cruised up Floyd Mtn and Apple Orchard Mtn to lunch on top. The weather proved to be superb for views and we could see for miles down into the valley - crisp, clear blue sky with clouds way up high and little of the oppressive humidity that is characteristic of the SE.    Happy post-lunch cruising with plenty of random chatter (you would be amazed at how much Pete and I talk...talk, talk, talk about nothing in particular and half the time I doubt we are listening to each other...Pete's Mom used to say he had "diarrhea of the mouth" and I guess it's quite true for both of us!). So we talked up, down, and around until we crossed a road and climbed up High Cock Knob (!). We stopped for a map/nap break on top, cracked a few jokes about the mountain's name and then began our long and dreaded 3,000 foot descent to camp (I hate downhill!!).   Although my knees were complaining by the time we reached camp, the majority of the descent was beautiful. At times in VA I've felt like I was on the PCT/West Coast. Scrubby pines and brush line the trail, lizards scurry about, shale makes our trail tread flatter and we have on occasion actually walked AROUND the mountain ridge and not up and over every little bump!   Beautiful views down into green, green valleys and once we faced north - the James River - mighty and brown. We'll cross it tomorrow on a very long foot bridge.-SCRUBS
Date: 2004-02-17
To: CAS Number
Miles today: 0.0

My shoes, gaiters, and gloves arrived today - as did my rain mitts which I've been told I won't need. Hurray! And whatever. If my coworkers were privy to my plans, I'd be marching around the office with my gaiters hitched to my shiny black oxfords.So enough with the details ... for now. Why am I hiking the AT? The short answer is "for my health". And I'm not talking about looking good in a bikini. I'm too old to care if I look good in a bikini, although I do care if bikinis still come in my size. You know? What I'm really talking about is health - mental and physcial - the basis for fitness. In other words, are all my organs working well enough to be happy? And this has proved quite a challenge. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis 13 years ago, and through the years it's become progressively more difficult to manage. Colitis is an inflammatory disease of the colon characterized by ulceration, diarrhea, gas, bloating, pain, and rectal bleeding plus the corresponding effects of those symptoms, namely fatigue, exhaustion, malnutrition, and anemia. We don't know what causes it, and frankly we can't predict when we'll go into remission or what triggers an exacerbation. Stress is certainly a factor, but not always.Anyway, when I'm outdoors for extended periods of time, my condition improves. I'm not cured - there is no such thing - but I get better. And next fall, I plan to make some HUGE changes in my life. With luck, I'll be moving and starting a masters program in the fall. Though this sort of stress doesn't guarantee a flare-up, it increases the likelihood. So I'd like to begin the fall as healthy and as resilient as possible. I see the trail as a way to get there.
Date: 2004-02-18
To: Matrix Spike Duplicate
Miles today: 0.0

I loaded my pack last night, and it is beautiful! Sigh ... I'll be carrying a Granite Gear Vapor Trail, so need to keep my total pack weight under 30 lbs. To me this means keeping everything but food, water, and medication under 15. No one in my house owns a scale, so I don't know yet if I've been successful And even if it is over 15 lbs at this point, I haven't a clue what to cut.I plan to post a gear list, so paring/replacing equipment advice would be greatly appreciated.
Date: 2004-02-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I'm pretty happy with my packweight without food and medicine. I'm even pretty happy with it plus food. It's the medicine I resent a bit. Most of my colitis meds are pills, and though lots of pills can make for lots of weight, they're not so bad. The worrisome medication is heavy - liquid in a 3 oz squeezy bottle for each day (!!). It can't be compressed, so I'll have to load it in the top of my pack. Sniff. My boyfriend suggested that I string them on the outside of my pack like Christmas lights - rows of enemas - just like Christmas lights.
Date: 2004-02-20
To: Running Stairs
Miles today: 0.0

My boyfriend and I went for a little jog yesterday, he for fitness, and me to assess my lack of fitness. We ran a little over a mile and maybe a quarter mile's worth of stairs. Despite covering so little ground, I am overjoyed today to find that I am *not* sore. It's rather terrifying think what the trail might do to me if a mile or so of running made me sore. Hurray! I am not completely made of jello!
Date: 2004-02-25
To: Quantitative Ecology
Miles today: 0.0

I'm interviewing today for graduate school at the University of Washington Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management program (mouthful, eh?). This program is fantastic and Seattle is a great city. I'm desperately trying not to get too excited. What if I don't get accepted? By O how I hope to get accepted.I saw my doctor yesterday and got the green light to go on the trail. He not only thought it was "OK" but a good idea - saying I could use the mental break. Yippee! So now I consider the AT, a doctor recommended hike.
Date: 2004-03-02
To: One Week and Counting
Miles today: 0.0

The time of our departure is drawing near and I'm beginning to feel like I won't be prepared. By prepared I mean settling debts, getting my finances in order, and filing the paperwork - taxes, residency forms and insurance forms (a curse on all health insurance companies). Ugh.By prepared, I also mean physically. I'm not fit. Any bit of exercise I do this week will merely highlight my weaknesses and strengths (if any). I presume many folks early on the trail will be just as soft as I. There will at least be comfort in the company.However, I will be prepared in terms of mail drops, itinerary and gear. Many thanks to my pal and fellow adventurer, Bill, for all his hard work!
Date: 2004-03-09
From: One Week and Counting

To: Black Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Detroit Airport - Leaving for Atlanta                     March 9, 04   This isn't quite how I thought it would be. Yesterday -- early in the day -- flying to Atlanta to hike the AT seemed like an unreal future. I imagined sitting next to Bill on the plane -wordless- too aprehensive to collect my thoughts into logical sentences.   Instead, I am alone at the Detroit airport. Bill had a health emergency and won't be joining me on the trail . . . for some time won't be joining me. Won't be joining ME? I was to be tagging along with him, enjoying as much of the trail as I would - perhaps 300 miles of it, maybe all of it - then heading home.    I'm having trouble now understanding why I'm doing this. For my health, right? I'm trying to recall that I've done lots of solo trips, that I enjoy them. It is merely my unintended independence that has unsettled me. That's all. It will pass. I hope it passes quickly. Black Gap Shelter                                          March 9, 04   I slept through the flight, so didn't fret and didn't gnaw off my nails. I took the MARTA to North Springs where Tom Raymond picked me up. Form there, Tom took me to Walmart, a convenienve store, and Shik-Fil-A for $75. I was transported to Amicalola State Park and the approach trail to the AT.   Temeratures were in the high 40's and with partl sunny skies, it made forgood hiking. Light showers fell intermittantly, seeming to start as soon as I took my jacket off and end when i put it on - a neat trick, but frustrating.   The walking was neither easy nor hard. It reminded me of the classic Shenandoah hike, dd Rag, but longer and without the rock scrambles. The colors were beautiful in the wet forest- deep browns and greens, brilliant lichens, and rich stormy sky.   I started at 2:00pm and reached the Black Gap Shelter at dusk. Though I meant to reach Springer Mountain's summit, I stopped due to the coming dark and welcomed the rest.   As far as being alone, I've slipped easily into my solo mentality-- country music playing in my head or no thoughts at all. Some would say these are the same.   I'm sharing the shelter tonight with Footloose, a recently retired plumber and as far as I can tell, a very kind man.   Overall, it was a lovely hike. Only at the end did I become anxious to stop. My shoulders were aching and the temperature had dropped with the sun. It was, considering I was without my hiking buddy, better that I thought it would be.
Date: 2004-03-10
From: Black Gap Shelter

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

I hiked 9.1 miles today over significantly easier terrain than yesterday. I was very tired, however, and by mile 4 (or so) was feeling close to awful. My feet hurt- like my arches were becoming flat- and my right shoulder was cramped. I took a break and Footloose caught up. We chatted over a snack then finished the hike together. It was great to have him with me, we talked some and it kept my mind off my feet and off the destination.It was a beautiful day, clear, cloudless, blue sky. I've decided I should introduce a temperature estimation of some sort. i don't have a thermometer. yesterday I hiked in my long underwear (top and bottom) and rain pants. Today I wore my long underwear, rainpants, and my fleece top. Occasionally, I wore my rain jacket- mosly on breaks. So the rating will be 2 numbers representing , # of top layers and # of bottom layers.I think I should also creat a stench estimator scale. Let's call it: Estimated Stench Depth (ESD). Depth will be in feet and measure the maximum distance from which you can smell me. 0 (zero) is just out of the shower, gotta have your nose on me to smell me. 1 is for when I can be smelled (good or bad) from one foot or less. I will round down for partial feet, so if I can be smelled at a maximum distance of 1.6, my ESD will be 1. The top of the range will be 10. I figure if you can be smelled from 10 feet away, the difference between 15 and 20 doesn't much matter. My ESD for today is 0. Not bad.So, like Bridget Jonesi.e. weight 130Alcohol units 2Cigarettes 4I give you my day in summary: Temperature 2,2 (2 top layers, 2 bottom layers); and ESD 0.
Date: 2004-03-11
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Big Cedar Mtn
Miles today: 13.4

ESD: 3 (What a difference a day makes)Temp: 1,1I covered a lot of ground today, mostly because I planned to get from Amicalola to Neels Gap in 4 day s and am running low on food.Most of the walk today was reasonable, and the bit between Justus Mtn/Justus Creek to Gooch Gap Shelter was gorgeous rhododendron tunnels of green. It must be amazing when they bloom.I've left behind footloose, Goua and Sasquach as well as Buzz the dog- all hikers from Hawk Mtn Shelter. I'm worried about another hikeer from Hawk Mtn Shelter who seemed to be carrying a heacy pack but had a far from adequate sleeping bag. He has at least one more difficult night ahead of him before reaching (?) Gap.I am snug in my tent, which I find far warmer and more comfortable that the shelters. The shelters are drafty (duh, they have only three sides) but save you the trouble of pitching a tent and drying it out in the morning. They're also level which my site tonight is not. Hrmph.A bit ago, I heard whining and howling, and I thought it might be teenage boys in the woods. Talk about frighful. But why would they be up here? cCould it be coyotes?I'm bushed, beat, sleepy so will now attempt sleep at this unlikely angle.