morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-10
From: Tired Feet Cafe, Glasgow, VA

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Slept in till 8:30...that felt goodGot the rest of resupply stuff. Packed my pack and box for bouncing toWaynesboro. Met up with Trail Angel Ken and took him to lunch at the Tired Feet Cafe...he deserves a little trail magic, too!Got out to the trail head about noon and up to the first shelter about...shortly thereafter, who comes walking up but Tony Tiger. I didn't expect him so soon, what with his girlfriend being here and all. We decided to push on another 8.4 miles to this shelter. It was a long afternoon with heavy feet, heavy pack, no energy, rocky climbing. I plodded and plodded, but I knew I'd eventually get here...and I did about 7:45. I keep walking, one foot in front of the other because I have to. There was no water for that entire stretch and no places to camp, so my only option was to keep hiking. Step...step...step...step...Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-12
From: Dutch Haus B&B, Montebello, VA

To: Dutch Haus B&B, Montebello, VA
Miles today: 0.0

I think my rest is helping. I'll find out tomorrow when I slack 10 miles of the0 miles I skipped when I got the ride here Monday. A good breakfast of fruit,quiche, pancakes and sausage helped. Then a lunch of lasagna with chicken andeggplant helped. Followed by a dinner of meatloaf, baked potatoes, and greenbeans...salad too...and red velvet cake....mmm! This place filled up yesterdayas the day went on. Peach, a woman pharmicist in her 40s arrived (I had heardof her and was glad to finally meet her), then Crutch and Rutabaga came or thefree lunch they offer here every day to hikers. When Rutabaga saw Peach parading around in her spa robe after her shower, that was it...she wanted to stay the night. She had one issue, she had to get to Waynesboro by Thursday to get some medicine that was being dropped there. She was able to arrange a shuttle with Earl, so they decided to slack 10 miles in the afternoon. Then another couple whose names I can't remember arrived, and later Coach and Kimchi showed up. They had called here the night before and arranged to have their packs picked up in the morning so they could slack here yesterday. Yup, we had music again last night...where there's Coach in the. I hate to be a grouch, but it gets a little old after awhile.I decided to curl up with a good movie in my room and watched an old HarrisonFord movie, Regarding Henry.I'm a little nervous about hiking tomorrow, but Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-13
From: Dutch Haus B&B, Montebello, VA

To: VA826,Crabtree Farm Rd
Miles today: 13.7

I'm back! I slacked over 13 miles today and I felt good. Met up with a young man called Tree Work at the the Seeley-Woodworth shelter when I stopped by today and we hike the last 7 miles together. just chatting away about life, college, his girlfriend, etc. Loved talking with him. When I got to Fish Hatchery road where I was to call the b&b to get a lift in, I couldn't get anyone on the phone. So I was going to have to hike the 3 miles from the trail to the inn. Tree Work suggested I hike the 3 miles onward of the trail with him to where a friend was picking him up and they'd give me a lift to the b&b. That sounded like a better deal, so on we hiked, just a chatting away, neither of us paying much attention to our surroundings. We got to what seemed like our second road, but couldn't be sure this was VA26...it was quite a rutted back woods road that didn't seem driveable. A campgound was supposed to be 05m down it, if it was right...and if it wasn't, we had another 0.8m to hike on the AT to get to the right road. What to do? How were we going to figure out if this was the right road? We decided to hike it a bit to see if we could find the campground. we did hear water a ways down it and the right road was suppose to go near a falls. Looks plausible. Kept hiking...there she is, in her 2006 Lexus SUV rocking and rolling down this dirt road...2 woman, my age and then some, laughing and having a ball driving 4 miles back into the forest! They cleared a spot in her overstuffed vehicle for an extra body and pack and out we drove again fording 3 flooded road crossings on the way.Boy, were they glad to see me back at the B&B...thought something had happened to me out there 'cause I took way to long to hike the 10 miles I had originallyplanned. All's well that ends well.Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-14
From: VA826,Crabtree Farm Rd

To: Fish Hatchery Rd.
Miles today: 10.3

Did the last leg of slacking to make up for the yellow-blazing I did on Mondaywhen I got a ride to the B&B. The most interesting area today was the Brown Mountain Community, a settlement of ex-slaves that settled along the Brown Mountain Creek on the early 1900's. You could still see remnants of a long stone wall for quite a distance along the creek. It was hard to imagine farming this land as there were no flat areas at all and they would have had to haul their crops out up over the mountain. But to feel the history of the people that once lived here was moving. The other thing I noticed today was that whoever weed whacked the edges of the trail to push back the weeds growing over the trail was a lover of wildflowers...they left the columbine standing and whacked around them! Thank you!I met up with a gentleman, EZ Dozit, that I met my second day on the trail and proceeded to leap frog with for the first two months today. He just came back on the trail after an 18 day leave and I caught him resting during a hard climb today. He was planning on coming to the Dutch Haus for the free lunch tomorrow, but when I told him I as being picked up about 3 miles further down the trail, it was easy to talk him in to coming to the B&B tonight...especially since it had been misting all day. Earl, the innkeeper, had arranged with me to pick me up at 3, although I had thought I could be there by 2...but when EZ Dozit and I got there around 2:30, Earl was waiting for me. Because it had been cold and rainy all day, he had worried that I would be huddled and shivering in the roadway waiting for him. It has been a special time staying here for 4 nights. Lois and Earl run a tight ship and they work hard... there's little down time for them. Lois' mother just recently passed away and Earl's mom is in a nearby facility dying. Both the fathers are here. One lives here in a cottage on the property and the other is temporarily hear while his wife is dying. It's a lot to be juggling, but they sure do it well. Great folks, that's for sure.Tomorrow I strike off on my own fully loaded...off to Waynesboro 36 miles away. I plan to be there Sunday night. Then I'll be heading into the Shenandoahs which are supposed to be fairly easy. Well see. I was always told that Virginia is flat...but it's not!Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-15
From: Fish Hatchery Rd.

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: light rain

I'm back on the trail. Not a long day, but then I didn't get started until 10am and it's been rainy all day...so I was easily convinced by Fuzzy Monkey tostop at 3:30 when I got to the shelter.The worst thing that happened todasy was the realization as Earl was drivingaway leaving me standing deep in the woods that I had left my Pocketmail in histruck...or on the bumper, but it wasn't anywhere on the ground. Darnit...nowwhat was I going to do?First I'd try and call them as soon as I could get a signal, which would be atthe top of the highest Mountain. Yup, they have it. Could you mail it toWaynesboro? Where are you? Earl will meet you at the Tye River in 2 hours. Great! Saved! I would have been totally lost without this thing. I havenothing to write a journal on if I lose it.It's been rainy and mist and chilly all day, but I felt good and strong. When Igot up the woods road to where the AT xrosses this morning I ran into twinsisters, Scuffles and Little Bug Shoe, whom I had met last Sunday for the firsttime and seen again on Monday when I was sitting at Trail Magic waiting tofigure out how I was going to get out of the woods. They are the smiliestgirls...always cheerful. We leap frogged all day to this shelter, but thedecided to move on. to the next one 6 miles further on so that tomorrow won't beas long. I'm here with Thumper (a guy my age, retired prison dentist fromFlorida), Fuzzy Monkey (mid twenties guy software engineer), Privy Winks (midtwenty too...don't know his story), Justin and Sarah, and Ricey and his dogPetey (a local hiker).The shelter is just about full. I didn't want to put my tent up in the rain andhave to pack it up wet...it's heavier when wet.This forest was spectacular today, there were the tallest, straightest trees with no lower branches, only ones at the top canopy. They were nearly 10-15 stories tall and 3-5 feet in diameter...so majestic, especially in the mist! I kept stopping and looking up in awe.Tomorrow we're going to try and do 22 miles...are we crazy? That sheltersupposed to be really nice and in a pretty spot. It will be my longest mileageyet if I make it, but then Waynesboro is only 5 more miles the next day.Fun new friends...glad to be hiking! Good night.Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-16
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Campsite on Humpback Mtn.
Miles today: 14.0

Rocks, the story of the day is rocks. Have I told you how rocky the AppalachianTrail is? It is 75% rocks, I'm sure! Today one section was described by theridge runner (someone who's paid to walk a section of trail every day...he'sonly the second one I've met since I started, so they are not tooplentiful)...well, he said a particular section we had ahead of us "sucked", andhe said that was a technical term! He was right. From the shelter we were atlast night to the next shelterwas 6 miles and then to the shelter beyond thatwas 16. The first was too close, and the next too far. Thumper and I werehiking together today and we found a small site next to the trail on our way upHumpback Mtn about 9 miles befor the next shelter. Looks good to me!I found and ate some lamb's quarters today...good way to get some freshvegetables into me. Similar to spinach...my daughter, Dana, taught me about itand we would eat it at home. I plan to look for more every day to supplement mydiet.As we were nearing our campsite I noticed a long stonewall off to my left. Andit went on for quite a ways. Made me think about the hard work done way backwhen to lear this land and farm up here. We've stopped doing manual labor likethat and maybe this hike is to remind me what physical exhaustion feels likeIt really is a pleasant feeling to lie down at the end of the day and realizewhat you've accomplished that day under your own power. I have to say itboggles my mind to think that I've hiked over 800 miles these last few months,but there was a time when that type of effort was much more common. I'm so gladto be experiencing what that travel might have been like.In to Waynesboro tomorrow and another B&B for me. I think Thumper is going tostay there too. After a zero on Monday, on to the Shenandoah's where we hearit's quite flat and there are camp gounds with restaurants and stores every 25miles. No food to carry and lots of milkshakes...oh boy!Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-18
From: Tree Streets Inn, Waynesboro, VA 

To: Tree Streets Inn, Waynesboro, VA 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I can't believe what happened this morning...my one morning to sleep in. Iawoke and looked at the clock in my room and it said 8:05. Breakfast wasscheduled for 8:30 so I thought I'd call Dennis before I went downstairs. Icalled his cell phone, our home phone and his work cell...no answer. As I waslooking outside at what looked like a very gray and dismal day, I checked mywatch. You can imagine my surprise when it said 5:50! No wonder he didn'tanswer the phone. I decided to try and go back to sleep, so I turned off myphone so he wouldn't wake me when he called back. But I couldn't get back tosleep, so I journaled a bit. Awhile later I turned my phone on got hisvoicemail and called him back. Oops! He had awakened to all my calling andtried to call me back and couldn't figure out why he couldn't get me. Turnedout the clock couldn't keep time and gained many minutes every hour.After a lovely pancake breakfast, did laundry, got groceries, and picked up somedelicious peanut butter balls at the \/. Thank you Sherry Bennett! They were ahit with all of us at the B&B..we ate some of them out by the pool resting andswimming. I also spent 3 hours getting my pictures all labeled and moved onto aflash drive to send to Dana. I think I need to take less photos because it'staking me too long to prep them. Did I mention that I dropped my camera on the tile fireplace hearth and now itwon't shift to the viewing mode? That also limits my viewing many of the menusthat come up in that mode.Nikki and Bill,the innkeepers, lets us borrow their Mercedes last night to go to dinner and down to Wal-mart to buy a new camera. I wanted one that used 2 AA batteries, the XD photo card and was a Fuji upgrade so that I wouldn't have to learn a whole new system. They didn't have anything. I almost bought a Canon, but they didn't have any memory cards to go with it, so I decided to to live with my broken a while longer. It matches my cracked screen on my pocketmail..part of learning to make do with things that are less than perfect, but still work...kinda like my legs!   Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-19
From: Tree Streets Inn, Waynesboro, VA 

To: Calf Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Starbuck...Moose says "Hi"! He's hiking the trail again this year.Short day, but when the thermometer hit over 100, it does get hard to hike. The sweat was pouring into my eyes and I was having to stop frequently to wipemy face. They don't use many switchbacks too, so even though the climbs areshort they were quite steep...straight up.One place we hiked through was loaded with cell towers and we had to hike down a very rough forest road. I was hiking along when a big truck is driving towards me. When he passed me he asked "Is Georgia this way?" Gave me quite a chuckle thinking about driving the AT! Dennis says Sweetie, our 18 yr old family cat is not doing well at all and willhave to be put down soon. I was hoping she would hold on till I got home, but it doesn't sound like it's gonna happen. She's been a wonderful pet and I'm sorry Dennis has to take care of something like this for me...not an easy thing to do.Looks like we're gonna try and do a 20 mile day tomorrow to get to Loft MtnCampground. That means we're gonna try and break camp by 6 am, so I think I'dbetter get to sleep. Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-20
From: Calf Mtn. Shelter

To: Loft Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 20.4

Last night's shelter was filled to capacity and it was a double decker...therewere eleven of us in there...two women and nine men...there were also 4 otherhikers in tent. Late in the evening the storm we were expecting finally rolledthrough, but I was so tired I hardly noticed. The great thing was...even withall those men it was the quietest shelter I've slept in yet.My first 20 mile day! In 11 hours! Am I beat!!! If E.Z. Duzit hadn't draggedmy butt in, I would never have made it all the way here. The pain in my feetwas excruciating, my body did not want to climb one more hill. I just put myhead down and plodded onward behind him. Thee were no other options...there wasno place else to camp anyways...so keep hiking. I hope I have strength lefttomorrow to do the 14 miles planned...that will be after a big breakfast at therestaurant here.While I was hiking alone earlier in the day, I was pushing along, head down,listening to my tunes, when I looked up...guess what I saw standing in the traillooking back at me? A bear! }was both excited and scared. But I went for mycamera first to get a picture. It probably won't turn out because he was about75 feet away and it waited me to use a flash...oh well. I even started to movecloser to get a better shot...but had second thoughts and just stood where Iwas. He was sniffing the air, trying to smell me..then he turned around andheaded up the trail the same direction I was going. This was a bit of apredicament. Then he wandered off the trail to the left just where the trailwent around a bend. Was he gone or jut on the side of the trail? I walkedcloser, slowly looking to see if I could see him. Nothing. He was out ofsight. As I passed the spot, I kept looking back thinking he might come upbehind me. What a thrill! He was beautiful!I met 3 different couples today in my travels. First I met two women teachersout for about 5 days, flounder and Kingfish. Would have loved to have beenable to talk a bit longer...flounder was a biology teacher and might have beenable to help me identify some of the tree. A bit later I met Rob and Sarah, ayoung couple out for a few days. Sarah was showing off her yoga flexibilitywith her hands behind here back when I came upon them   They were also dryingout their gear as it had rained hard the night before.   Lastly I met Diane &Robert Gauthier, a couple from Ottawa, Canada. They gave me trail magic when Ineeded more water to finish the day and get here. E.Z. Duzit and I hiked withthem about a mile back to their truck where they plied us with water and bananas. Thanks so much Diane & Robert. Trail magic! Hope the rest of your visit to theUS went well...especially the roller coaster!That's all for today...sleep beckons this exhausted body! Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-21
From: Loft Mtn. Shelter

To: Hightop Nut
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

We agreed we'd sleep in because we were having breakfast down at the WaysideRestaurant and it didn't open until 8. But getting up early becomes a habit,mostly because we go to sleep early. I was awake at 6 and I wasn't the onlyone. Most of the hikers there ( there were about 10 of us scattered over 3sites) were up. We picked up the trail close to where we left off, circled thecampground and headed north. The map showed a side trail that cut over to therestaurant. The side trail turned out to be over a half a mile steeplydownhill. I'm not going back up this after breakfast, I announced. Breakfastwas good. There was Thumper, EZ Duzit, moose and me, checking out the giftshop, writing postcards, getting milkshakes and just plain loitering. I wascontinually looking at a map to figure out another way back to the trail. Moosedecided he was going back the way he came...and with that EZ and Thumper bothfollow suit. I"m not going back up that steep climb. My legs just don't have it in them after yesterdays 20.I found a maintenance road that looked like it almost connected to the AT, I'lltry that route. There's got to be a way. The trail comes so close to theSkyline Drive. So off we go in our separate directions. I tried onemaintenance road, going about .3m and it deadends at a ravine. Doesn't looklike that's going to work. I go back to where it split, and find a sign thatsays the AT is 0.6 up it. So I take that, and sure enough, I hook up with theAT...but I don't know if the guys are ahead or behind me. I told them to makesure they had me with them, but there was no way to do that. I hikedon...eventually, they came up behind me! My route worked well. and I didn'thave to climb that stinkin' hill. My legs were dead today and there were a lot of hills. Switchbacks must be forbidden in the Shenandoahs...they like to placethe rail straight up or down the mountain. I was dragging so hard, but finallygot my first wind (can't call it a second wind because I didn't have one yet)...got it just before we stopped at a shelter for lunch around 1.After an hour stop, I had to warm up the legs all over again. Seems like afternearly 900 miles, this should be getting easier...it's not. Some days it's justas hard if not harder than in March. I don't know if it's because I'm gettingworn down or what. We did 14 miles today, with all three of us dragging intocamp tonight. Moose was way ahead of us.Right now I'm snuggled in my tensix Moons Designs Lunar tent (have I said howmuch I love my tent?) It's raining outside, but I'm so cozy. This shelter is in a rocky mountainsidewith few tent sites. It was packed with hikers and boy scouts when we got here. I managed to find a service road that was level for us to put our tents upon...make do...this will do.Step lightly
Date: 2007-06-22
From: Hightop Nut

To: Lewis Mtn. Campground
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Short day, but the shower felt good. E.Z. Duzit, Thumper and I have decided to stick together to Maine. We like each others company, and we hike the same pace. These guys a great laughs and very supportive so we all are having the best time. We think that together we can have more strength than we can alone. It's nice to have a trail family.Cahoda, the woman I met at the Dutch Haus hiked with us today.   After we got to the campground, a ton of hikers passed through, most of them just getting food at the camp store and hiking on to the shelter which is less than a mile beyond. We wanted to catch showers and do laundry, so we elected to camp here. Besides it's fun talking to the other campers and sharing tales of our journey. Hikers are a friendly bunch!We crossed the 900 mile marker today. The hundred miles just sem to be clicking by. When I was in GA it seemed forever to complete the first 100 miles, now we do it every 8 days...about. The half way poinnt is getting closer and closer. It's in southern PA.I caught Thumper with his head in a dumpster today...probably looking for food! Check out the picture when Dana gets it uploaded,. So EZ gave him a new name...Thumper, the Dumpster Humper!I got the worst bellyache today. I was worried that it was early giardia. I felt like I was having abdominal surgery without anestheia! It hurt so bad! If I had been at the office, I probably would have gone home, but when you're hiking, there's no home to go home too...you just have to suck it up and keep hiking..another 7 miles for me today. This trail sure toughens you up...no place for wimps, that's for sure. I'm feeling better tonigh, thank you.i've been eating much better out here. The first day out of town I had spring mix sald greens, broccoli, cauliflower, carrrots, avocado, bacon, and crunchingbread. Made it into a sandwich the next day. Last night I had spinach and ricotta tortalini(sp?) with spaghetti sauce. Tonight I had Dinty Moore BeefStew and caned green beans (we got them at the campstore and threw away the cans). Mmmm! Early today I was hiking strong...the guys wondered what got in to me...but I tired and dragged later. Go figure!Step lightly