morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-23
From: Deer Lick Shelter

To: Little Orleans, MD
Miles today: 14.3

I got up today and I hiked about 5 miles and I made it to the Mason-Dixon Line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Yeehaw!!!!!! I was very excited about that. I don't think I've ever been so happy to cross an imaginary line. I'm also excited to be into Maryland and out of rocky Pennsylvania! I stopped for a break at PenMar Park and then went on to Wolfsville Rd. I then hitched into Smithsburg, MD and called my cousin from there. She came and picked me up and took me to her house for the night. She cooked a WONDERFUL supper of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, and green beans! It was very good! I had a great time visiting with Mrs. Debbie and her family and it was good to see them.
Date: 2003-08-24
From: Little Orleans, MD

To: Edward Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: clear sky

This morning Mrs. Debbie cooked me sausage, eggs, and blueberry muffins! Too bad I can't have this kind of breakfast every morning! After eating, Mrs. Debbie drove me back to the trail. I started hiking around 9 AM. Thank you Mrs. Debbie for letting me stay. I really enjoyed it! The terrain was great all day! A lot of it was flat and it was mostly dirt! Very nice! I walked through Washington Monument State Park. It was really cool because it had a Monument that was built in 1827 and as I walked along, there were signs on the side of the trail that timelined George Washington's trail. I guess this is one place where I learn history as I walk. It was neat. I then went on to Dahlgreen Back Pack Campground and ate some EasyMac. I then went on to Gathland State Park and ate supper there. They had a Coke Machine there and I got 2 Cokes! Nice treat for supper. When I was getting up to leave, I met another SOBO named Fox. We decided to go to the Ed Garvey Shelter for the night. This is definitely the nicest shelter so far! It has varnished wood and two floors! It's more like the Ed "Hilton" Garvey Shelter. Great day again today!
Date: 2003-08-25
From: Edward Garvey Shelter

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 6.4

I left the shelter this morning around 7:00. I then hiked for a few miles on the ridge and then I came down and hiked on the C & O Canal Towpath. The canal runs beside the Potomac River from the Ohio River to the Chesapeake Bay, hence the name C & O Canal. The towpath is where the mules used to pull barges up the canal. It was nice walking because it is completely flat and no rocks! I then crossed over the Potomac River into Harper's Ferry, West Virginia!! Another state! I went to the ATC Headquarters and they took my picture and I signed the official register there. Morning Moose lives right across the river from Harper's Ferry, and she was there today so I called over there and they came and picked me up. I am staying at her home tonight. This afternoon, West Virginia Public Television was doing a special and interviewing Morning Moose, they also filmed us hiking and interviewed us some. So I guess I'll be on West Virginia Public Television sometime! Nanowolf, Smokey, and Cephus are staying at her house tonight also. We've had a great time today telling stories about each other to Morning Moose's parents and just relaxing! It was also nice to hike only 6 miles for a change! I cannot believe I'm already in Harper's Ferry! Great day today!
Date: 2003-08-26
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Mrs. Roberts cooked breakfast this morning and we got back on the trail around 10:15. I walked over the Shenandoah River on a bridge and then I crossed over into Virginia!!! Over one quarter of the entire trail is in Virginia, so I'll be here awhile! I've heard it's beautiful though! At about 10:30, it started raining pretty hard for abou 30 minutes. There are now 6 of us hiking together. Smokey, Cephus, Nanowolf, Morning Moose, her brother Brian, and me. It's fun hiking with other people for a change. We goof around all day long and it makes the day go by faster. We all stopped and ate at David Lesser Shelter. After eating, we continued on and it started to get extremely dark, in the middle of the day. We knew a storm was brewing! It rained the hardest it's rained on the entire trail today! It got so dark that I couldn't even see where I was walking! I walked really slowly and had to be extra careful. We didn't hike on the Appalachian Trail, we hiked on the Appalachian River! We walked up a lot of mountains and the trail was literally a river! It eventually quit raining and the sun came back out and it got hot again! We got to Snicker's Gap this evening and of course, we had to eat a Snickers Bar there! There was also a cooler of 20 oz. Cokes there!!! I love trail magic!!! We then hiked up to Bear Rocks and watched the sunset from there. It was a beautiful sunset. We started a section called the roller coaster for about the last 5 miles of the day. The roller coaster is a 15 mile section that has lots of ups and downs and it's like walking over a roller coaster. It's not too bad though. I'm staying at a hostel that was one tenth of a mile off the trail tonight. It's extremely nice and I had a Tombstone pizza for supper!!! It also has couches!!:) Today's been a great day!
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: Manassas Gap Shelter
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I left this morning around 7. The first ten miles of the day was the section known as the "roller coaster." It's called this because there are LOTS of ups and downs in this section. It wasn't too terrible though. I hiked with Smokey and Cephas all day and Nanowolf most of the day. We stopped to eat at Rod Hollow Shelter and then continued on to Dick's Dome Shelter for another break. After leaving Dick's Dome, it start pouring down rain about 5:30!!! It was probably the most severe thunderstorm I've walked through yet! There wasn't any gap between the thunder and the lightning, it was right on top of us! It also got extremely dark again and it made it hard to see all of the rocks in the trail. It lasted all the way to Manassas Gap Shelter. Our books warned us that this shelter is infested with Copperheads and there is a sign on the shelter that warms about them. We hard they get in the rafters and fall on people during the night!!! I've seen two here already, one baby and one two and a half feet long. Nanowolf named it "Bitey!" Hopefully he won't bite us though! After trying to dry out some, to no avail, I went on to sleep!
Date: 2003-08-28
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Tom Floyd Wayside
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

This morning we hiked 5.5 miles to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter and we took a break. We then continued on and walked beside a Wildlife Preserve that has African donkeys and lions in it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of them though. When we got to Highway 522, me, Nanowolf, Smokey, and Cephas hitched a ride into Front Royal, VA. The first truck to drive by stopped and picked us up! I sat in the back and as soon as the truck started moving, all of the water in the front of the bed sloshed back on me and I got soaked! When the guy dropped us off at the post office, I walked in dripping water from my backside.:) After doing business at the po, we all went to a local diner to eat. We met a couple at the diner and they gave us a ride to the Food Lion. We bought groceries and then had some other errands around the shopping center, but we didn't want to carry our packs around, so we borrowed a Food Lion buggy and pushed our packs around in the buggy all afternoon!:) It was very convenient! After doing our errands, we returned the buggies and then went to McDonald's! After eating, we hitched a ride back to the trail and hiked another 3 miles uphill to Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter. There are 7 of us here tonight and it's pretty crowded! It's been VERY hot and humid today! I think today's the hottest day yet. Hopefully it'll cool off soon!
Date: 2003-08-29
From: Tom Floyd Wayside

To: Pass Mtn. Hut
Miles today: 23.6

After half a mile of hiking this morning, I entered into Shenandoah National Park. I'm excited about the Shenandoahs because I've heard they have really nice trails and lots of snack bars along the way! Also good views! The trails have been nice today, but I'm definitely getting back into some mountains finally! Today is the first time over 3,000 feet since Massachusetts! Stopped in at Gravel Springs Hut this morning for a break and then went on to Elkwallow Wayside to eat. We did 16 miles by 1 o'clock. I love these places to eat!!! They are campstores for all of the people who are camping in campers in the Shenandoah Park. They have hamburgers, Dr. Peppers, chips, and all kinds of stuff!!! And they're right on the trail! It's great! After taking a 2 hour break at Elkwallow, we continued on over Hogback Mtn. and Pass Mtn. We finally got to a shelter BEFORE it rained!!! It started raining pretty hard about 30 minutes after we got there! I love sitting UNDER the shelter listening to it rain! It's been hot and humid again today. It feels good to be back in some mountains!
Date: 2003-08-30
From: Pass Mtn. Hut

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

After leaving this morning, me and Smokey and Cephas got to another campstore around 8:00, but it didn't open til 9 o'clock!!!! We could see the drinks and food through the glass inside!!! But it was locked!!! It was torture!!! We decided not to wait an hour so we hiked on, disappointed. We had a pretty good climb up to the top of Mary's Rock. Once on top, we climbed up some big boulders and had a WONDERFUL view of the surrounding mountains and valley! This was one of the best views in a long time! The breeze up on the rocks felt extremely good too!!! We then continued on to a place called Skyland. It's another campstore and restaurant. It was .3 miles off the trail, and we didn't really want to walk it, so we hithced a ride 3 tenths of a mile!! The guy who gave us a ride called us lazy, but I call us smart, that's .3 miles off the trail we didn't have to walk!!:) We stayed at Skyland for 3 hours eating and drinking Cokes!!! I also called home and talked to grandma and granny and when I called granny's house, all of my family and cousins were there and I got to talk to them! They were all there for Labor Day weekend and it was kinda sad that I was missing another family getogether, oh well. After we finally decided to get going again, we walked back to the trail and continued on. We only had 4.5 more miles to the shelter. We got to the shelter pretty early, but we decided to just do 15 miles today. The scenery's been beautiful today!!! The Shenandoahs are beautiful!
Date: 2003-08-31
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 23.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning and hiked 3.5 miles and we came to Big Meadows Wayside. It's another store. I got 2 Pepsis and some vanilla wafers. They didn't have Dr. P, but atleast it was caffeine! We then continued on through the fog to Bootens Gap and took a break and some people there gave us some bread to eat! It tasted great! We then went on to Lewis Mtn. Campground Store, where we stopped to eat again. I ate a quartercheeseburger and some Doritos. Yummy!! We stayed here for about an hour and a half and then hiked 8 miles straight to Swift Run Gap. We sat on the bridge here for about 30 minutes taking a break and just watching all the cars go by. We then hiked up and over Hightop Mtn. and made it to Hightop Hut, where we're staying for the night. We also went over Baldface and Saddleback Mtn. today. A cold front came in today and it's been pretty chilly all day! It has felt extremely good hiking in cooler weather for a change!!! I saw a bear today. That makes 10 total for the trip now. Nice day today!
Date: 2003-09-01
From: Hightop Hut

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: clear sky

When I woke up this morning, it was cold and rainy!!! So me and Smokey and Cephas decided to sleep an extra hour! When we got up, it had quit raining. We hiked to Pinefield Hut and stopped in to sign the register and refill on water. We noticed in the register that a lady named Joy had left her phone number and said that thru-hikers were welcome to call her and we could stay at her house. So we got her number and decided to call her later. After the break, we hiked on to Loft Mtn. Campstore. I got Beef Ravioli, Doritos, Orange Juice, and some Cokes! I tried to call Joy, but she wasn't home so I left her a message. Unfortunately, this is the last store in the Shenandoahs!!! They've been wonderful! I'll miss them! After a 2 hr. break at the store, we hiked on to Blackrock Hut for the night. Today has been the most beautiful day yet in the Shenandoahs!!! There are vistas everytime you turn around and they are beautiful!!! The trail is really nice and well maintained also! It rained on us the last 2 miles of the day. When I got to the shelter and was hanging out my clothes to dry, I laid my bandana on a snake before I realized it! Luckily, it was jut a rat snake, so maybe we won't have any rats eating our food tonight!!!:)
Date: 2003-09-02
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Harrisonburg, VA
Miles today: 20.0

We got up this morning and left around 7 o'clock. We hiked on to Jarman Gap and reached the southern boundary of Shenandoah National Park. SNP has been beautiful and I will definitely miss it! I'm looking forward to the rest of Virginia though! We stopped at Calf Mtn. to eat and then we climbed up Calf Mtn. and Bear Mtn. On top of Bear Mtn., there were lots of old tractor seats. I have no clue why, but there were about 15 up there. We had to sit in them for a little bit and take a break and then we continued on to Rockfish Gap. When we got to Rockfish Gap, we went to the visitor info. center there and they called a lady to come pick us up and take us into Waynesboro, VA. Mrs. Alice took us to the post office. I tried calling Joy again at the PO and her mama answered and said Joy was waiting for us at Rockfish Gap. So her mama called her and Joy came and picked us up at the Post office. Joy drove us to her house that was about 30 minutes away in Harrisonburg, VA. Her and her parents took us to an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for supper and paid for us. I ate 11 pieces of pizza and it tasted great!! They also had Dr. Pepper! Doesn't get much better!!! After supper, they took us to a Supercenter WalMart and we bought our groceries and then came back and they had us ice cream and we watched a movie. I have a queen size bed all by myself tonight and boy does it feel good!!! Thank you Mr. Winston, Mrs. Carol, and Joy for the hospitality and for being so kind to me!
Date: 2003-09-03
From: Harrisonburg, VA

To: Harrisonburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Today is my 100th day on the trail and I'm celebrating by taking a zero day here at the Hensley's home! Today has been a really nice day of relaxing and eating! Mrs. Hensley fixed lots of good food including pork loin, homemade bread, lasagna, green beans, corn, and more! I can't thank ya'll enough for all you've done! It's felt extremely good to rest and watch a Brave's game on tv. Great day!
Date: 2003-09-04
From: Harrisonburg, VA

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: light rain

Woke up today after another great night of rest at the Hensleys and they drove me, Smokey, and Cephas back to the trail at Rockfish Gap. We started hiking around 9:15 and it was raining when we started. We had a nice hike for a few miles and then we had some ups and downs. It quit raining for a few minutes when we were on top of a mountain and we had some great views. The trail here is not as well maintained as the trail in the Shenandoahs. It's overgrown in some places with a plant called stinging nettle, and it stings when you rub against it! We got to the shelter around 6:30 and got settled in. We're here with 4 other people and we sat around the campfire talking with them for awhile. It quit raining around 4 o'clock. My stuff is completely soaked! I guess I should be used to being wet by now!
Date: 2003-09-05
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: few clouds

We started off the day with a big climb up The Three Ridges (3970'). It was a long climb up and a long descent down to the Tye River, which is at 997'. Almost 3 thousand feet of downhill! When we got to the river, we saw a car in the parking lot near it and started talking with the two ladies in it and it turned out that one of the ladies is Morning Moose's grandma!!! Morning Moose is another SOBO that I've hiked with some. She was waiting for Morning Moose there to give her some food. So we talked with her for a few minutes and then a truck pulled up and Morning Moose, her brother, and Nanowolf got out of the back!!! I was shocked to see them! They were taking a zero day at a hostel and the owner of the hostel drove them there. It was good to see them again, even though it was only for a short time. After seeing them, we had a HUGE climb up to the top of The Priest!! The climb was over 3,000 feet from 997' to 4,022'. It was 4.5 miles all uphill!!! I was very surprised that I didn't have to stop one single time going up! My stamina has definitely built up since Maine! We stopped on a rock cliff on top to enjoy the view and a Snickers bar. We then went on to The Priest Shelter and ate lunch. The spring at the shelter had really cold water and it tasted great! We then carried on to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter for the night. We passed a few apple trees on the way, which was a nice treat! We were all pretty tired after all of the ups and downs for the day, so we called it an early night and went right to sleep!
Date: 2003-09-06
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: overcast clouds

When I woke up this morning I thought I was going to freeze!!! A cold front moved in and it was in the 30's!!! All I have to wear is shorts and short sleeve shirts right now with no coat!!! It was extremely hard to pull myself out of my sleeping bag and get going, but I eventually did! I knew once I got hiking I would warm up, but it took about 30 minutes to get feeling in my hands again! We made really good time today. We had lots of ups and downs this morning over Cold Mtn. and Baldface Mtn. We saw a trashcan on the side of the trail, so we decided to stop and take a break and empty our trash. While we were sitting there, a guy walks up in full camouflauge carrying a shotgun in one hand and a dead squirrel in the other. He informed us that today is the opening day of squirrel season up here and we are walking through all of their hunting land, so I guess we better be careful! On top of Cold Mtn., somebody keeps the grass cut with a tractor and mower. It was very unique getting to the top of a 4 thousand foot mountain and having freshly cut grass! I'd like to see how they get the tractor up there! We then carried on to another shelter to eat lunch. We had over 16 miles done by 1 o'clock. We then walked by Brown Mountain Creek for a few miles, which was very nice and flat! The creek emptied out into a lake that was formed by Peplar Dam. We walked below the dam on the trail and we decided to go for a swim! It had warmed up so much from this morning that it was hot enough to go swimming! The water felt very good and it kinda cleaned me off! After the swim, we had more climbing to do to get to Punchbowl Shelter for the night. I ate some spaghetti for supper and then got in my sleeping bag to warm up because it got cold again when the sun went down! I can't wait to get to town and get my winter gear express mailed to me!
Date: 2003-09-07
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Matt's Creek Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up this morning and started off the day with a climb up Bluff Mtn. There is a memorial at the top of the mountain to Little Ottie, who is a 4 year old boy who died on the mountain in 1891. People now leave toys at the memorial so there are toys on top of the mountains. We then had beautiful views from the ridge and then descended down to the James River. We hitched into Glasgow, VA to resupply. I had a wonderful meal at an all you can eat buffet and I ate roast beef, mashed potaoes and gravy, corn, green beans, fried chicken, rolls, and sweet tea! I think they lost money on me!!!:) We stayed in town for 7 hours just eating and sitting. This town is kinda strange because there are dinosaurs everywhere. The gas station has a dinosaur head sticking out of the canopy over the tanks. There's a T-Rex in front of another gas station and a tricerotops in front of the grocery store! They say it brings in tourist! Never know what I'll find in these towns! We then hitched back to the trail and crossed over the James River on a footbridge and had 2 miles to the shelter. I packed in a 1 Liter Dr. Pepper and a hamburger from town and it tasted great for supper! Great day today!
Date: 2003-09-08
From: Matt's Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Today has been all uphill and downhill! No flat! We started off the day with a 13.5 mile uphill climb!!! I didn't know that mountains could last that long, but apparently they can! We stopped after 12 miles at Thundering Hills Shelter to eat lunch and then we continued on to the top of Apple Orchard Mtn.(4,225') I was hoping there would be an apple orchard on top with apples, but no luck! There were some great views this morning on the climb up though. After reaching the top, the rest of the day was downhill, 9 miles of it! We got to Bryant Ridge Shelter around 5:30. This is definitely the biggest shelter I've seen! It has 3 levels!! We could probably fit 50 people in here, but tonight it's just me and Smokey and Cephas. I built a big fire to keep warm tonight and it was very nice relaxing out by the fire. I then settled into my sleeping bag for the night.
Date: 2003-09-09
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 30.3

My first 30 mile day!! I didn't plan on doing 30, but after we did about 3 miles, Cephas said we should just go all the way into town today, and I knew there was a Cracker Barrel in Troutville, so I said sure!! The thought of eating Cracker Barrel kept me going all day!!! We made really good time today and didn't take a lot of breaks. We had some mountains this morning to go over, but then we got on a ridge and it kinda flattened out for a little while. The last mile was walking through a cowfield. I was trying to push my way through a herd of cows and one of the mama cows got defensive about her calf, and she started running at me! I banged my trekking poles together to make a bunch of racket and she ran the other way then. The rest of the cows were stubborn and wouldn't move, but I finally made my way through them!   I then got to US11!!! I was very excited about doing my first 30 mile day and I still felt really good. We got to the road about 7:30 and tried hitching to Cracker Barrel. It was after dark before somebody picked us up, but we made it!!! I ordered country fried steak, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits, cornbread, and sweet tea!!! It was as good as I had imagined all day!!! It was a great ending to the day!!! We then walked over to the Best Western and me and Smokey and Cephas are staying here for the night. Great day today!
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Troutville, VA

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Today has been a nice zero day! Cephas's friend Heather came up to visit today and she drove us around everywhere. We went to the post office and I got my winter gear!!! I'm very excited about having a fleece and hood again! We ate a lot today. I ate at Bojangle's for the first time and it was really good. I went to a movie theater for the first time in a LONG time today!!! It was pretty cool to go into Roanoke and see a movie. Great day today!