morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-10
From: none (zero day)

To: Saunders Shelter, VA
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

I woke up around 5:30 this morning to the sounds of trailers being unloaded and people setting up for Trail Days. Today was the first day of Trail Days and there was a town-wide yard sale. Every front yard and parking lot was full of tables and people. The small town suddenly turned into a small city. My mother would have gone nuts there today. It was a yard sale mecca. She could've bought a bunch of Virginia's junk to take home and sell at her own yard sale in Massachusetts.Blue-spotted SalamanderColby's decided to hike with me for a while. He needs to slow down to give his knees a break. I needed to take it easy on my calf today, too, so we just planned to make it to the first shelter today. We took our time leaving town...we used the computers at the library, stuffed our faces again at Damascus Eats, and got on the trail just after noon. While I was on the Internet this morning, I bought bus and plane tickets to go home and surprise Tara for her birthday! I'll be flying home on Friday...CAN'T WAIT!I went really slow today to take it easy on my calf. Yesterday's rest was just what I needed, so my calf felt pretty good today. I'll take it slowly again tomorrow, but with an earlier start.A millipede crossing the trailMy new boots...good lord, my new boots. My feet want to marry Tom from Mt. Rogers Outfitters, but I told them it's not legal in Virginia. It's too early in the relationship anyway. My feet were insanely more comfortable today, though. Hopefully that will continue.Wildlife sightings: We saw a blue-spotted salamander today. It was about 4-5" long and really cool. We also saw a millipede crossing the trail. I've been seeing them a lot lately...have to try not to step on them.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: Saunders Shelter, VA

To: Lost Mt. Shelter, VA
Miles today: 6.4

Not much to report today.It was really windy last night, so I'm glad I was in the shelter. It was pretty chilly, too, but I cinched my sleeping bag almost all the way closed (just had a hole at my mouth to breathe through) and I was warm.It was overcast and still windy when Colby and I left the shelter. The forecasted monsoon arrived when we were a couple miles from the next shelter and we were soaked within minutes of its arrival. The rain stopped and the sun came out just as we arrived at Lost Mt. Shelter. Perfect timing. The rain and thunder continued on and off and we decided to stay put instead of taking our chances above 5000' on Whitetop Mt. and Mt. Rogers...it can be treacherous up there.6.4 miles is kind of shameful, so we talked a couple of times about moving on. When another driving rain came through we knew we had made the right decision. We're not in a big rush anyway. We're both catching a Greyhound out of Marion at the end of the week (me on Thursday and Colby on Friday), so we have plenty of time. We got a fire going after some gentle persuasion and were able to dry our clothes for tomorrow...mostly, anyway.I wanted to call my mom today to wish her a happy Mother's Day, but I haven't had a signal since I left the shelter this morning when she would've been at church. I suppose a belated "Happy Mother's Day!" is better than none.It's cold and raining...time to get in the sleeping bag to get warm. It's not even 7:00 p.m. yet.
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Lost Mt. Shelter, VA

To: Thomas Knob Shelter, VA
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: light snow

We got a really late start today. I won't tell you how late. It was cold, rainy, and windy and we had only planned on 12 miles, so we procrastinated...and procrastinated. It's miserable getting up and ready when it's so raw out and your hiking clothes are still wet from the previous day. It'll wake you up, though!I was able to hike without getting rained on, but it was still cold and damp. It was actually a nice day of hiking despite the weather. I hiked down to Elk Garden, which produced neither elk nor a garden while I was there (I did walk among some cows in a cow pasture, at least) before summiting Whitetop Mt., crossing a bald that was so windy I kept getting blown off the trail. Good thing we didn't do it yesterday.Two section hikers had been evacuated from the shelter before I arrived tonight. I guess they were hiking in jeans and didn't have the proper equipment. They had gotten wet and were going hypothermic when a couple of thru-hikers recognized that they needed help. They were walking around in a confused state (an early symptom of hypothermia), so the thru-hikers brought them to the shelter and called the Mt. Rogers headquarters for help. Colby saw them being helped down the mountain and questioned whether it was safe to keep moving toward the shelter. He's a pretty light packer and his equipment isn't always up to the challenge of really cold weather.It's gonna be a cold night. We're in the second floor of the shelter, so we're shielded from the wind, but it's still only 40 degrees up here as we're in our sleeping bags cooking dinner. It sounds like the wind is trying to tear the aluminum roof off the shelter.Mustang Sally's here! We hike at much different paces, but we keep running into each other!Wildlife sightings: I saw a few feral ponies today. I suppose they aren't really wildlife because they're fenced into the park they live in. Still, I was hiking down the trail and a pony came around the corner and walked up the trail in front of me. Pretty cool. I should see a lot more of them tomorrow, so I'll be sure to take some pictures to post.
Date: 2008-05-13
From: Thomas Knob Shelter, VA

To: Hurricane Mt. Shelter, VA
Miles today: 16.0

Last night was a cold one. It was 35 degrees on the second floor of the shelter this morning. My clothes, still wet from yesterday, were draped over my pack and my shirt started to steam when a ray of sunshine touched it. It was tough to get motivated but we actually got a good start. I hiked with Colby and Sky Surfer and hiking was great today. The scenery was beautiful and we saw lots of ponies. We even saw some foals. One foal was a little too curious, so Mom had to step between us when it got too close. They were friendly, but not overly so. One licked Sky Surfer's palm looking for food, but most of them just ignored us.Foal & mom, Grayson Highlands State ParkSome southbound trail angels500 miles!The weather was awesome today and we hiked a bunch out in the open on rocky and grassy areas, so I got a bit of a sunburn on my face.Not far into the day, we came across some southbounders who were carrying snacks and sodas to hand out to thru-hikers. One of them thru-hiked the AT a few years ago and it was good talking to him for a bit.We passed the 500 mile mark today! Wow, that feels good. By the time I head home on Thursday I'll have gone 525 miles, nearly a quarter of the trail.We're planning on going almost 20 miles to get to Partnership Shelter tomorrow. That will give us all day Thursday to relax and whatever in Marion. Colby's planning on taking a Greyhound to Richmond to visit a friend and I'll be doing the same to get to the airport for my flight to Boston.
Date: 2008-05-14
From: Hurricane Mt. Shelter, VA

To: Partnership Shelter, VA
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: clear sky

I set my watch alarm for 6:00 a.m. so I could try to call Tara to say Happy Birthday before she left for work. No luck there (weak signal), but I was fortunate enough to be awake to watch the sunrise from my sleeping bag. Hurricane Mountain Shelter is only a few years old and really nice.When I picked up my left boot to put it on this morning, I tipped it upside down and a peanut fell out of it. Sky Surfer had put a bunch of peanuts in the fire pit last night after they dumped on the ground. As soon as we all went to bed, we heard the mice rustling through the leaves to retrieve the peanuts from the fire pit 15' away from the shelter. So we all laughed about the mouse hiding a peanut in my boot. Then I picked up my other boot and dumped out about 30 peanuts and a lonely M+M...all soggy from mouse saliva. Hilarious. They had worked hard to get the peanuts, so I left them in a pile on the picnic table as a token of respect instead of packing them out.I found a cell signal later in the day and called Tara to say Happy Birthday. I can't wait to surprise her! She has no idea I'm coming home. She also has no idea there's a surprise party planned for her. Awesome. When I talked to her today she told me about a crazy neighbor that's been harassing her saying that Tara's been shining a flashlight into her window and watching her from our apartment window. She even called the cops on Tara! I think she's just crazy...the fun never ends in Quincy.I hurt my ankle after getting off the phone with Tara. I'm not even sure what I did, but I almost hobbled the 10+ miles from the to the shelter. It seemed to go away when I took my pack off, so maybe the weight has something to do with it. I'm glad I'm taking some time off the trail...hopefully resting it will help.Colby told me today that he's been bored with hiking. I feel the same way, so I told him I didn't want to talk about it and make it worse. Then we talked about it. He's leaning toward not coming back to the trail and to be honest, I'm a little jealous. I've just been getting bored with the monotony of hiking. Maybe some time off will be good for me.Partnership Shelter, VAPartnership Shelter is awesome. It's 100 yards from Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area headquarters, so it's pretty developed...a sink, a shower (the water heater is broken right now, though), and a nice privy. There's even a battery-operated light on the second level. And there's a free courtesy phone at the headquarters, so we all called Pizza Hut for delivery. See? Awesome.Me & Colby with pizza at Partnership ShelterI can't wait to see Tara and all our friends this weekend! I don't feel too guilty about taking time off the trail because most people will be at Trail Days anyway. I wasn't planning on going to it, but still...it makes it more okay to be off trail.I smell bad.
Date: 2008-05-15
From: none (zero day)

To: none (zero day)
Miles today: 0.0

Lipstick gave me and Colby a ride into town and even drove us around to do laundry and get our bus tickets and lunch. What a big help she is!Colby was planning on catching a bus to Richmond tomorrow to visit a friend, so he got a room at the Royal Inn for tonight. Don't even get me started on this place. Okay, fine...Colby paid $35 for a single room. I chipped in $5 to use the shower before my bus ride tonight. The room reeked of cigarette smoke, so we kept the door open and the owner kept snooping on us while we were hanging out in the room. Finally, as we were watching a baby giraffe being born on Animal Planet, the owner told us that if I was going to hang out in the room until my bus ride at 10:30 p.m., I should pay an extra $20. Colby had already paid $35 and a double room would only have been $39, so how in the world did he figure we should pay $20 for me to hang out for a bit. I wasn't even sleeping there! What a crook. He kept telling us that his manager (wife) was telling him he had to get extra money from us. This guy was from another planet, so after we argued with him for a while I finally just gave him $10 for some peace. We were going to leave, but Colby had already paid with his credit card and it would have been another huge argument to get a refund. To make it all even funnier, Colby jumped (snuck) on the bus with me tonight using tomorrow's ticket, so neither of us even stayed overnight in the room.So Colby's still thinking seriously about getting off the trail. I think he's already decided. We used our (possibly) last opportunity to hang out to grab some grub and beer at Macado's for dinner. On the way there I talked to Tara and almost gave away the fact that I was coming home...what a dope. I backed out of it, though. She's had a pretty rough week with the crazy neighbor and all, so it was killing me to not be able to tell her I was coming home. I've made some plans to see my folks while I'm home, too.You know, there's far too much Pepsi down here. Every time I ask for a Coke..."Is Pepsi okay?" "No. No it's not. But bring me one anyway."I won't be writing journal entries for the next few days while I'm home. Deal with it.
Date: 2008-05-21
From: none (zero day)

To: Partnership Shelter, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

After 19+ hours of traveling, I'm back at Partnership Shelter near Marion, VA. It was GREAT being home for a few days and the trip was interesting...6 hours in a bus station in the middle of the night.Check out my beard (2 months)!Tara was wicked surprised to see me. She had had a tough week, so our friends Sandra and Celia suggested I surprise her Friday night instead of waiting until Saturday...so I did. Sandra had made plans to come over and watch a movie with Tara, but I showed up instead. She still had no idea about the surprise party, so that was a big surprise, too. We went to my parents' house on Saturday morning for breakfast with them, my sister, my nieces, and my grandparents.After shavingI was anxious to get back to the trail, but I didn't want to leave home. It was tough. I made it back, though, and man, what a trip it was. I spent a few hours hanging around and napping comfortable in the airport before catching the last taxi of the night to the Greyhound station at 11:30 p.m. Then came the fun part...6 more hours in and out of sleep in a bus station. What a sad place that is in the middle of the night. It was like watching a depressing version of Night Court. It was all good stuff...the total lack of seating that forced 90% of the people to stand or sit/sleep on the dirty floor, the rude employees, the janitor who I saw having to clean a large swirl of fresh poop off the bathroom wall, the 4 guys freestylin' (rapping while making up the words) way too loud in the corner in front of little kids and old ladies. Yeah, all good stuff.The bus ride was surprisingly pleasant and I finally pulled into Marion, VA around noon today. I resupplied and walked all over town looking for canister stove fuel. There was none to be found, so I bought food for cold dinners for this week.I was in the post office mailing a letter and had planned to call for a $20 taxi ride back to the trail when a local hiker named Gonzo gave me a slip of paper listing all the ways he could help thru-hikers. He ended up giving me a ride back to the trail, which was a big help. He even offered to take me home for dinner with his wife and some friends, but I wasn't really comfortable doing that alone. Nice guy, though.A section hiker showed up at the shelter with fruit, shrimp cocktail, and cookies for us. Two minutes later a few others (two of whom I'd met before) appeared out of nowhere with Little Debbies, soda, and marshmallows for us. I hereby declare today Trail Magic Day (unless a bigger day of trail magic occurs in the future...then that day will be Trail Magic Day...it'll be a sliding holiday).The good folks at Kincora Hostel found my journal! It should be waiting for me at the post office when I get to Pearisburg, VA.
Date: 2008-05-22
From: Partnership Shelter, VA

To: Spring near Davis Path Shelter, VA
Miles today: 13.4

It felt good to get back into the woods today. It was strange to be hiking again after 7 days off the trail. I was actually a little bored with it and wondering why I was there at first, but that eventually passed.My first day back came with gorgeous weather, easy terrain, and beautiful scenery. Everything is green and full, including the poison ivy...I hope I've outgrown my severe allergic reactions to poison ivy. Lots of meadows and rolling hills, too. Virginia is my favorite of the states we've been through so far.I called Tara when I found a cell signal from a meadow near the campsite and I think we've maybe figured out where she'll be joining me to hike. That'll be fun and at least it's only about a month away. The meadow I called Tara from was a really pretty spot...the kind of place I could sit all day.Davis Cemetery near Atkins, VAI took a quick side trail to an old Cemetery from the 1700's and 1800's. It was a pretty spot with a nice view of a vineyard and some of the headstones were so old that they couldn't be read.The pain that I was having in my shin during my last day on the trail came back today. It came out of nowhere, so I hope it will disappear just as quickly.I'm camping with Wookie, Couscous, and Sandman, who were at Partnership Shelter with me last night. Stubby and Sparky, a really nice couple from New Hampshire, are also here. I love seeing northerners. I've been expecting the Trail Days crowd to catch up to us and overtake us, but there's no sign of them yet.Wildlife sightings: I saw four deer in the meadow as I was talking to Tara tonight. The fourth one was by himself and he just sort of stared at me for a while before prancing away like a little wuss when he heard me laughing loudly.
Date: 2008-05-23
From: Spring near Davis Path Shelter, VA

To: Lick Creek, VA
Miles today: 15.1

I was the first one out of camp this morning, an unusual occurrence that carries with it the mandatory responsibility of clearing the masses of cobwebs that were strung across the trail during the night. Somehow, the cobweb creators know to place them right at face level for maximum aggravation.I stopped for lunch today and cut my finger by stupidly trying to slice a block of cheese the long way like Colby does. I guess you have to be from Wisconsin like him to make it work, though. So for Steve and Tony, who are just waiting for me to say it...yes, I made myself bleed trying to cut the cheese.I had some dinner at Knot Maul Branch Shelter and decided to go another 3 miles to camp. That's pretty good, considering I once said that I could never eat dinner at a shelter and then move on. So I made a small sacrifice to the trail gods in the form of a tick I found attached to my leg and subsequently pulverized, and I was on my way.My shin felt a lot better today, so I didn't have any problems making it to Lick Creek tonight...except that I was getting tired and my morale is dwindling. I got to Lick Creek and found a place to camp just before dusk. I'm the only one here, which I still find a little creepy. I'm getting used to it, though. I'm hoping Crabby and I can meet up again soon. He should only be about 3 days behind me now.Wildlife sightings: A deer, a 5 inch baby black snake, a bat, and a lot of ticks that were stealthily trying to tap into my blood supply. Consider this a notice to ticks everywhere: I'll be doing regular tick checks and any tick found on my body, whether attached or not, will be immediately put to death via fire or the aforementioned method of pulverization. The choice is mine. I also reserve the right to feed you to a frog or drown you in a stream of urine. You've been warned.
Date: 2008-05-24
From: Lick Creek, VA

To: Jenkins Shelter, VA
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

I woke up to some unexpected heavy rain this morning and it made me lazy. I waited it out in my tent and the rain eventually gave way to sunshine. I put my tent and pack in the sun to dry out and took my time getting ready, so I didn't leave camp until 11:30! There were yellow butterflies all over the place in the morning and the creek I was at made it a pretty spot, so it was hard to leave camp.I wasn't feelin' it at all today. Not at all. I'm getting really bored with the monotony of hiking every day and everything seemed to aggravate me today. It was a really tough day mentally. I even sent Tara a text message saying not to buy her plane ticket just yet because I'm not really having fun anymore. Yeah, it was a tough day.Just after texting Tara I reached a road crossing and some sweet trail magic from 4 people parked there with their RV. Happy, who I haven't seen since I left Damascus, was there, along with Rock, Roll, Wookie, and Couscous. Three chili dogs, 2 servings of baked beans, and 2 glorious Mountain Dews later, I was back on the trail for 4 more miles to the shelter. The trail magic and my lack of motivation before it had set me back (not to mention leaving camp so late this morning), so I got to the shelter just before 9:00 as it was getting pretty dark. Everyone who was at the trail magic with me is here tonight. The trail magic had raised my spirits a little, but it didn't really change anything.I told Happy that he had been screwin' after the trail magic and I couldn't keep up with him. I had to say it twice and nobody knew what "screwin'" meant. I miss Boston.
Date: 2008-05-25
From: Jenkins Shelter, VA

To: Helveys Mill Shelter, VA
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy birthday, Mom!I don't know if it's the infamous Virginia blues or what, but I'm getting more and more bored, so I'm thinking seriously about getting off the trail. I'm just not really having fun anymore. The people and scenery is great, but it's starting to feel like a job I don't like going to every day. That makes me wonder why I'm still out here. I'm at the point where I have no doubt I can do this, which is what I was ultimately after, so it makes me wonder what I'm doing out here if I'm not having fun anymore. My recent trip home probably reminded me of all the people and things I miss, but it wasn't just that. My heart's not in it. We'll see what happens.There were 3 deer circling the shelter area eating something from the ground through the night and this morning. It was cool seeing them hanging around, but I don't like to be circled...it's creepy.I stopped about 5 miles in to eat lunch and soak my feet by Little Wolf Creek. It was a nice spot with a strong-flowing creek about 10' wide and I stayed there for about an hour and a half.Man, I can't wait to wash my sleeping bag in Pearisburg. It's a filthy, smelly, disgusting funk pod and I wonder if I'll even be able to get all the funk out of it.The 5 guys I've been keeping pace with all caught rides into Bland to resupply today. Happy brought back some beer and Couscous bought hot dogs to cook over the fire. Both of them shared. I told all of them I was thinking of leaving the trail and they all tried to talk me out of it. I've already thought of all the things they said...how cool it would be to be able to say I've thru-hiked, losing more weight, etc. I'm not making any decisions tonight. I'll give it a few days and think about it again.I think I'll shoot for 16 miles to Trent's Grocery on VA606 tomorrow. I can resupply there and take a shower, do laundry, and camp for $6. Not bad. I've been thinking of slowing down to let Crabby catch up, but I don't know...I really want to get to that store tomorrow. They have pizza.