morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-02-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I¢m planning on getting on the AT on Thursday, February 16, 2023. Hiking the AT has been something I have thought about for a number of years. But it was always a ¢someday¢ kind of thing. I had never given it serious consideration. During the year of the big COVID outbreak, in June of 2020, I read an article about the infamous Bus 142 out in the wilderness of Alaska that was being lifted out by the Alaska Army National Guard. To be honest, if I was ever aware of the Chris McCandless ordeal of 1992, I had forgotten about it. Upon reading the article about the bus being moved, I was motivated to look up more information about McCandless which lead me to read the book by Jon Krakauer, ¢Into the Wild¢. After reading that book, it rekindled my interest in reading outdoor adventure/survival books. Pretty soon I found myself reading every book I could get my hands on that was written by anyone who had hiked the Appalachian Trail.I began giving more thought to the possibility of hiking the AT myself. The only problem was, I had never done much backpacking. I had gone a couple of times several decades ago but never more than a couple of miles into the wilderness. I mentioned my interest to one of the PE teachers at the school where I was working as a School Resource Officer. They offered to go with me on an overnight backpacking trip so I could get a feel for it. My first overnight trip was on a section of the Bartram Trail in Georgia going from Warwoman Dell to the Russell Bridge which is the Southern Terminus. I guess I just needed that to convince me that I could do it. A few months later I did another Georgia section of the trail with my son and his wife.Each time I broached the subject of through hiking the AT with my wife, she was not very open to it. But as time went on, she knew it was something that I really wanted to do. So about this time last year, she said she would support me doing it. Since then, I have been preparing for it and acquiring appropriate gear. I still did not have a vast amount of experience with backpacking. In August 2022, after consulting with a friend who had section hiked the AT, I decided to hike a section of the trail which is close to my home in Franklin NC. I hiked a loop which included the section of the AT from Deep Gap NC to Glassmine Gap. This was about an 18 mile section of the trail although my loop included about six additional miles of trail. A reasonably seasoned hiker could have easily done that loop over two days and one night. But just to get a feel for it and because I wasn¢t all that ¢seasoned¢, I did it over parts of four days and spent three nights on the trail. Completing this section gave me the confidence to continue doing additional sections.To be continued¢¦
Date: 2023-02-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Bears and Bears and Bears, oh my!During my first three outings on the AT, I encountered bears. Not that this was the first time I've encountered bears in the wild; but it was the first time encountering them when no one else was around. The first time was when I was doing the Standing Indian Loop hike in August. On this particular occasion, I was just walking along enjoying my day when I heard a loud "Huff". I looked to my left in the direction of the sound and saw an adult bear climbing backwards down a tree at no small pace. It startled me pretty good and it was a little close for comfort but I instinctively reached for my phone to take a picture. It all happened so fast there was no way I could have captured it's picture. You'll just have to take my word for it. When that bear made it to the ground out of the tree, it gave one more grunt and then I never heard another sound. I would have expected to hear sticks breaking as it ran away but I didn't.The second time I encountered bears was on my hike from Springer Mtn to Woody Gap. I was almost back to Woody Gap. So close in fact, that I could hear the traffic on the road. I heard a sound up the hill to my left and saw a bear running away from me. I kept walking and just a few steps later I saw yet another bear. This one ran down the hill to my right and stopped. It was afraid of me but it didn't keep on running. It stopped and looked back at me. I wasn't really scared but I certainly wasn't going to try to get closer. At least this time, I was able to get somewhat of a picture.The third time I encountered a bear was a bit different. It was on the weekend I hiked from Woody Gap to Hogpen Gap. Again this time I was nearly to the end of my weekend's hiking. I had met a nice fellow from the area who was out enjoying an afternoon hike and we were hiking at about the same pace so we just stayed close enough together that we could have a conversation as we hiked. As we approached Tesnatee Gap which is perhaps 30 minutes before you get to Hogpen Gap, we saw some bear hunters. We spoke to them and they told us they had harvested a bear and their partners were just bringing the bear up out of the woods. I walked down to where they were coming up out of the woods carrying the bear. So, as I said, this encounter was a bit different in that the bear was not still alive at the time I saw it. I snapped a picture of the deceased bear but out of respect for others, I don't usually share that picture. It was a large healthy looking bear. I suppose there are people who object to hunters harvesting wildlife. I view it a little differently though. I know there are wildlife management practices which are necessary to maintain a healthy population of a species without it becoming overpopulated. I respect all hunters as long as they make appropriate use of the animals they harvest.It was kind of surprising to me that in all of the 241 miles of the AT I have completed so far, I have not seen a single deer on or near the trail.
Date: 2023-02-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

¢Anticipation¢ Carly Simon - 1971In the final few days before I¢ll be getting back on the trail, I can¢t deny that I am pretty apprehensive. On the one hand I¢m really looking forward to it and on the other hand it¢s gonna be hard leaving my wife and the rest of my family and our dogs.I have put a lot of preparation into this trip. Anyone who has ever planned a long-term through hike would know what I¢m talking about. But even with all the preparation, you can still be apprehensive about how prepared you are. I retired from my full-time job at the end of December 2022. Although I was doing lots of preparation for several months prior to then, I wasn¢t able to do a lot of things around the house simply because I didn¢t have time. So during the months of January and first half of February, I have done a lot of little things around the house trying to get them ready for me not being here. I feel good about those preparations and if I missed something, I¢m confident I can fix it when I get back.I feel good about my equipment for the most part. Perhaps the most important piece of equipment would be my shoes. I have decided I like Salomon¢s X Ultra 4 the best. I normally wear a size 12 but when I first started hiking I went ahead and got a size larger and I got the Salomon shoe in GTX (waterproof). That is an excellent shoe but it doesn¢t allow for any breathability. The size (13) worked for me. I bought a second pair of Salomons in size 13 but without the GTX. Not quite enough room in the toe box even though they were fine in the GTX version. So I settled on size 14 Salomon X Ultra 4 non-GTX. I got a pair and loved them. Then I ran into the problem of getting additional pairs of them in my size because I wanted to start my hike knowing I had at least four pairs on hand. Throughout last Fall, I kept trying to find additional pairs but no one had them, not even Salomon. So I decided to try the La Sportiva Wildcat in size 13. It didn¢t give me enough room in the toe box. I also tried Merrell MOAB 2. I do really like this shoe but after wearing Salomon, I think I like Salomon better. I especially like Salomon¢s lacing. Then later in the Fall I noticed that Salomon had the exact shoe in stock again. So I quickly ordered three more pairs. I discovered another thing about my feet doing all this hiking. I developed Plantar Fasciitis mostly in my left foot. I¢m learning to deal with it and I have found that my flatfootedness contributes to it. So two things I have learned; one is to stretch early and often both before and after exercises. The other is to get a good set of arch supporting insoles. I¢m not going to rely on the ones that come with the shoes. I didn¢t really intend for this post to be so much about shoes. But when it comes to hiking, if your feet aren¢t taken care of, you aren¢t going to make it very far.
Date: 2023-02-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Three, Two, One, Blastoff!Well, it is February 15th and tomorrow is the date I have planned to get back on the trail. I am both excited and a little nervous. I'm confident enough in myself and my preparations but being away from home this long is going to be new for me. I'm sure it would be for most people. I've done a great deal of preparing for this adventure but there is always be a little more I could do. I know I will continue to learn as I go and I therefore, purposely did not prepare a lot of mail drops. I would prefer to get most of my resupply along the way. Of course that doesn't mean I won't be receiving any mail drops. Over the course of last Fall with all the hiking I was doing, I achieved a certain level of fitness. I know I have a long way to go but I was a lot further along than when I started. I was concerned about taking time away from hiking that I would lose some of the fitness I had gained. I have tried to continue hiking and getting exercise but in all honesty, it just isn't the same. I have a hiking trail close to my house where I can go out and hike about four miles. I have been doing this trek multiple times per week while wearing a 25 lb ruck vest. By doing this, I believe I have been able to maintain at least some of the fitness I gained last Fall.My next post will be from the trail. I'm not really sure how often I will be able and feel like posting. I know it won't be every day. I'm thinking maybe every three or four days. I'll talk at you later.
Date: 2023-03-13
From: Damascus

To: Rural Retreat
Miles today: 14.8

¢Waiting for the World to Change¢¢John Mayer - 2006After arriving in Damascus Wednesday, March 8, I had a nice burger at the Damascus Diner and then checked in at The Place, which is a hostel run by the Methodist Church in Damascus. There was no heat in the building but otherwise it was a nice stay and was very economical for the suggested donation of $10. The next morning, I had a really good breakfast at the Damascus Diner. I had arranged to slack pack with the bike rental company The Blue Blaze. I borrowed a slack pack bag from Lady Di and got my ride up to Grassy Ridge Rd about 15 trail miles out from Damascus. I got on the trail just a few minutes after noon on Thursday, March 9. I had a really nice hike that day. I met Prepper heading out and later that day I met a young woman from Finland (trail name Finn). I made it in to Damascus and Lady Di¢s right around 6:00 PM. I didn¢t have to wait long and my wife arrived. On Friday, my wife and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Lady Di¢s, spent the day together and ran a supply box ahead to the Longneck Lair Hostel. Saturday, we enjoyed another good breakfast at Lady Di¢s and were joined by our sons and their families that morning. We did the Virginia Creeper trail on rented bicycles. That was a blast. That evening, we enjoyed a good meal at the Wicked Chicken in Damascus. We did a couple other things in Damascus before going down to Abingdon VA where we checked in at the Country Inn & Suites and we spent enjoyable evening together.I had been planning on having my wife drop me back off on Grassy Ridge Rd, Sunday morning but Prepper called me Saturday night and told me what a hard time he had been through that day coming down to Dickey Gap. I looked again at the forecast on ATWeather.org for the relevant shelters and realized the forecast had changed a great deal for the worse since I had last viewed it. So I had to revise my plan. Sunday morning, after enjoying a nice breakfast with my family at the Cracker Barrel in Abingdon with a ¢d¢, I had my wife drop me off at Long Neck Lair which is also an Alpaca farm. I zeroed the rest of the day Sunday with Prepper and another Hiker, Wandering Monk. Later, we were joined by Shades and her seeing eye dog Blaze. Blaze is his trail name. His real name is Thor. He¢s an awesome black lab. Shades is trying to become the first blind female hiker to through hike the AT.At this writing, it is Monday, March 13, which is my wedding anniversary with my truly wonderful wife. The four of us hikers are zeroing today and our plan is to do the same tomorrow with a forecast high of the low 30¢s. We are all enjoying each other¢s company. Our plan is to get our host Cyndie, to take us to Partnership Shelter Wednesday, March 15, and hike back into Longneck Lair. Thursday, I think we may be going in different directions. I have to get back to Grassy Ridge Rd and hike across Grayson Highlands to Dickey Gap.
Date: 2023-03-20
From: Rural Retreat

To: Ceres VA
Miles today: 12.6

On Monday, March 20, I headed out from Longneck Lair Hostel going north. I immediately crossed under Interstate 81. There was a lot of pasture crossings throughout the day. I also crossed the quarter way mark of the AT. The temperature at the beginning of my hike was 19 degrees and it only got up to about 35 during the day. Nevertheless, it was a good hiking day. I opted to stop after 12.6 miles at Bear Garden Hostel. I had done about 2,800 feet of elevation gain. The temperature was forecast to drop down to around 20 overnight.
Date: 2023-03-25
From: Longneck Lair Hostel

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 79.4

On Monday, March 20, I headed out from Longneck Lair Hostel going north. I immediately crossed under Interstate 81. There was a lot of pasture crossings throughout the day. I also crossed the quarter way mark of the AT. The temperature at the beginning of my hike was 19 degrees and it only got up to about 35 during the day. Nevertheless, it was a good hiking day. I opted to stop after 12.6 miles at Bear Garden Hostel. I had done about 2,800 feet of elevation gain. The temperature was forecast to drop down to around 20 overnight.On Tuesday, March 21, I hiked 12.7 miles from Bear Garden Hostel (mile point 558.5) to Burke¢s Garden Hostel (mile point 571.2). On the way, I encountered a footbridge that had been washed out. The creek had to be forded. I took my shoes and socks off and rolled my pants up. This was the first time I¢ve encountered this situation. The water was quite invigorating (i.e. it was really cold!). I understand there will be other water fording opportunities further north but hopefully by then temperatures will be warmer. That evening while at the hostel, I received a call from Prepper telling me that if I would hurry up and catch up to him, he would slow down to give me time to catch him and we would hike together.So on Wednesday, March 22, I hiked 20.7 miles from the point on the trail closest to Burke¢s Garden Hostel to Hwy 52 in Bland VA. There, I was picked up by Julie from Weary Feet Hostel and brought back to her hostel for the night. I enjoyed a good dinner that evening, and a really good breakfast the following morning before Julie returned me back to the place where she had picked me up the evening before.On Thursday, March 23, I hiked 18.2 miles back to Weary Feet Hostel where I again enjoyed a very good dinner and breakfast the following morning.On Friday, March 24, I hiked 15.6 miles to Woods Hole Hostel. Prepper had already zeroed two days there waiting on me to get caught up to him and he agreed to zero one more day to give my body a chance to rest before we take off Sunday morning. At this writing, it is Saturday, March 25 and I am taking a zero day.
Date: 2023-04-01
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Daleville VA
Miles today: 105.0

On Sunday, March 26, we hiked out of Woods Hole hostel and made our way to Angel¢s Rest Hostel in Pearisburg, Virginia, for a total of 11.6 miles.On Monday, March 27, we hiked from VA Hwy 100 to a point on VA Hwy 635 at the Pine Swamp Trailhead. This was a total of 19.9 miles. On this particular day, we did not have our full packs because we had a shuttle pick us up at the trailhead and bring us back to Angel¢s Rest Hostel for another night.On Tuesday, March 28, we had the shuttle driver returns to Pine Swamp Trailhead and we hiked to Laurel Creek shelter for a total of 18.2 miles.On Wednesday, March 29, we hiked from Laurel Creek shelter to VA Hwy 621 for a total of 13.9 miles. Our original intention for that day was to go about 8 miles further, but I became very fatigued that afternoon, and we decided to cut the day short and call for a shuttle driver to pick us up and bring us to Four Pines Hostel. The reason we were trying for such high miles was because we wanted to make it to McAfee knob on Thursday rather than Friday. The weather forecast for Thursday was for it to be very nice, but the weather forecast for Friday was for it to be cloudy and raining.So on Thursday, March 30, instead of going back where we left off the day before, we hiked out of Four Pines Hostel at VA Hwy 624 and went all the way to US Hwy 220 in Daleville. This was a 25.7 mile hike. This hike took us a cross McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs and included a lot of beautiful views. We had to shuttle back to Four Pines Hostel. On Friday, March 31, we shuttled back to VA Hwy 621 and hiked to VA Hwy 624. On this day we hiked past Dragons Tooth which was an awesome sight although it was pretty technical getting down. We were thankful we decided to do McAfee Knob the day before because Friday was very overcast and rainy. We got a shuttle back to Daleville and checked in at the Super 8. We had hiked 105 miles since Sunday morning and decided to make Saturday, April 1, a zero day. We plan to get back on the trail Sunday morning, April 2.
Date: 2023-04-29
From: Waynesboro PA

To: Fayetteville PA
Miles today: 15.3

After taking a zero on April 27th, we ended up taking another zero on Friday the 28th as well. The reason for taking the second zero was twofold; Prepper needed some additional time off his knee and infected foot, and the forecast was for temperatures to be in the 50¢s with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 35 mph. This extra downtime allowed us to spend some time with Stumbledore and Bougieboss, a couple of NOBO through hikers who were also staying at the Cobblestone Inn. We also met Lucky Penny and her daughter Prickleberry who are flipfloppers starting in Harpers Ferry. They are from Mills River NC. There were several other hikers around and it was fun visiting with them as well. I don¢t remember all the other hikers¢ names but I do remember one. His name was Ramen and he must have been from India. He had that kind of accent. I suspect we will run into him and some of the others again. We are encountering more hikers now that we are north of Harpers Ferry.  On Saturday, April 29, Charlie took us back to where the trail crosses PA Route 16 and set us out. We got on the trail about 6:35 that morning and by 1:00, we had hiked the 15.3 miles to where the trail crosses US Hwy 30 East of Fayetteville PA. Along the way we met NOBO hikers Oz and Little Engine. We also met a section hiker heading south whose trail name was Terminal Lance. This was one of the easiest sections of the Appalachian Trail I have hiked. Prepper struggled a little because his knee and foot were not healed up enough for him to be on them.Once we got to US Hwy 30, we walked .5 West to 65 South BBQ. We each had some really good pulled pork and then walked another .3 to a Church/Hostel called Through It All Ministries. This is a very clean, well run hostel in the back of a Pentecostal Church. The Pastor and other staff are very nice. We will be zeroing here again on April 30 to give Prepper additional time to heal. Also, it is forecast to rain 100% with thunderstorms. We will be back on the trail Monday, May 1st.
Date: 2023-05-01
From: Fayetteville PA

To: Ironmasters Mansion Hostel 
Miles today: 19.9

When we got up Sunday morning April 30th, Prepper¢s foot was worse. The doctor at Harpers Ferry had thought it was Bursitis and gave him an antibiotic. But Prepper had posted pictures of his foot on Facebook and several medical people who saw it suggested he might have cellulitis. He looked it up and learned that it can be life threatening if left untreated. One of the church members came in and took one look at his foot and handed me the keys to his car and told me to get him to the emergency room. When we got him to the emergency room, once the doctor saw it she admitted him to the hospital and scheduled surgery to clean out the infection. So I have lost my hiking partner. It will likely be multiple weeks before he can resume hiking.On Monday, May 1st, I headed back to the trail by myself. Of course I started alone back in February but Prepper and I have hiked the last 460 miles together. It was hard leaving without him. I¢m hoping he can jump forward and rejoin me when he recovers but that would cause him to have to come back and make up the section he skipped.I got on the trail at 7:00 am and made pretty good time. The trail was fairly easy with only a couple of short moderately demanding climbs. I¢m seeing a lot more hikers on the trail these days. I crossed the 1,100 mile point today which is the true halfway point. So now, there is less of the trail I have left to do than what I¢ve already done. I hiked 19.9 miles and arrived at Ironmasters Mansion Hostel by 3:00 pm.
Date: 2023-05-04
From: Ironmasters Mansion Hostel 

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 44.5

On Tuesday, May 2, we hiked out of Ironmasters Mansion 15.4 miles to Alec Kennedy Shelter. I say we because I have a new hiking partner. Her name is Blue Bear. We first met at the Through It All Ministries Hostel in Fayetteville. When I first walked back into the hostel after taking Prepper to the hospital, Blue Bear had just walked in off the trail. That evening we were discussing our goals and determined that we both hike about the same pace and we both want to cover about 100 miles per week. Also, her goal is to reach Katahdin around the middle of July, which is the same as my goal. So we discussed hiking together, and agreed that we would give it a try. After we left the Ironmasters Mansion, we stopped on our way at Green Mountain General Store and had an early lunch. We arrived at the shelter with plenty of daylight left, so we were able to get set up in plenty of time before dark. Later, we were joined by another couple, whom we had passed along the way. The man¢s name was Magilla Gorilla, and the woman¢s name was Hotfoot. They are from upstate New York, and were really nice folks. We had a nice conversation with them before turning in for the night.The next morning, on Wednesday, May 3, we hiked 20.4 miles to where the trail crosses PA Hwy 850. At this location, we were picked up by a trail angel by the name of Natalie. She brought us back to her home and we enjoyed a really good home cooked meal and were able to get cleaned up and do our laundry at her house.The following morning, Thursday, May 4, Natalie dropped us back off at the same location where she had picked us up the previous evening. From there we only had to hike 8.6 miles to reach Duncannon Pennsylvania. So at this writing, we are staying at a hostel known as Kind of Outdoorsy. So far, we have only met one other hiker. He is a SOBO named Skippy.