morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-04
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Marble Springs
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

We got going early (6:50) to try to manage in the heat and get some miles in the morning.  It turned into a long day, but we took some good breaks to hydrate and cool and dry off.  There were big climbs early and near the end. In the morning, I was cruising along and started to see pink and white trillium here and there. It was the one year anniversary of Mom¢s passing and Dad and her used to have them growing in her back yard and she loved them and had a set of decorative plates with them. When I got further up the trail, there were more and more and then hundreds if not thousands of them and I was completely blown away by it and the coincidence of that particular day. Oddly, the next day, I saw none. I¢ll never be the same. I had an incredibly spiritual day. Eventually I climbed up Apple Orchard Mountain where there was huge weather station that looked like Epcot at Disney, then the Guillotine, a rock suspended between two others that the trail runs under.  I made it to camp at 6:30. There were 7 tents overnight. A threat of thunderstorms was in play with a bunch of wind until about 11:00. A bit of rain fell, but my tent kept me dry and it was dry in the morning.  Our plans were well executed as we only had a short 7-ish miles to Glasgow and a resupply/Hostel stop the next day.
Date: 2018-05-05
From: Marble Springs

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

There was a little rain overnight but my tent was dry in the morning. We were excited for a Nero day and were going by 7:50.The terrain made for a mostly easy hike except for my blisters which were painful.I called Stanimals where we were headed and told Donna we¢d be at the road by noon.  We crossed the 1000 foot, longest footbridge on the Trail over The James River and got to the parking lot at 11:30. Donna was there at 11:35 and we were at the hostel in 10 minutes.  After showers, we walked a short way for lunch, resupply shopping and then went back for laundry and rest.  As it was Cinco de Mayo, I made nachos for an afternoon snack.Stanimals was a great hostel, very clean and friendly.
Date: 2018-05-06
From: Glasgow, VA

To: Brown Mountain Creek
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: light rain

Maverick, Beast and I left the hostel at 8:10 and were hiking at 8:30.We started uphill right away and had a lot of big climbs today. The morning weather was really nice, there was a predicted chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we stopped at an off trail shelter for water. Unfortunately, the water source was a small trickle from a cloudy spring or a stagnant pond.  At 3 o¢clock, we decided we¢d go forward to Brown Mountain Creek which was 9.5 miles further.  About an hour later, it rained for an hour and I got soaked, before the sun came back out.  It took me until 7:45 to get to camp, where I pitched my tent right next to the creek. I went up to the shelter and made dinner, then back across the creek to hang my food bag. I crossed the 800 mile mark today, and was quite tired but happy we made the miles. Our goal was to get to The Devil¢s Backbone Brewery on Wednesday, and today¢s location set us up nicely fir that objective.
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Brown Mountain Creek

To: Seely Woodworth Shelter 
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: few clouds

After last nights late arrival, I was slow getting going. I needed to spend about 20 minutes bandaging my blisters, and everything was pretty damp from being 10 feet from the stream. I got hiking about 8:25.Where we camped was part of an old slave community call The Brown Creek community. There were old foundations visible and a couple of historical interpretive signs that described what it was like back in the day. It was interesting walking along the creek with this background.I climbed a big hill and was taking a break when Beast caught me and was now with Silver, who I hadn¢t seen since The Greyson Highlands at mole 503.We hiked uphill for another 2 hours. It was a cool and dry day so was nicer than the previous hot days. I was able to get a bottle of water 2 miles ahead of the Seely-Woolworth Shelter. I found a nice spot behind the shelter to set up my tent.  I spent 30 minutes getting my bear line up and then fetched water down a ravine where there was a beautiful fast flowing piped spring. I made my dinner, just before it started sprinkling.  Once that started, I went to my tent and turned in for the night.
Date: 2018-05-08
From: Seely Woodworth Shelter 

To: Harpers Creek
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Silver and I left the shelter together and hiked up The Priest mountain and to The Prost Shelter, where we stopped for a break and Maverick and Beast caught up with us. After the shelter there was a long down hill walk that was pretty easy. We all stopped at a rock outcropping for a sit down break with an outstanding view.  We continued downhill past Cripple Creek (we sang) and the to the Tye River for another break.  We hiked up a short way to Harper¢s Creek, and got set up pretty early. I rinsed my clothes in the creek and hung them overnight to dry.  Quite a few hikers rolled in later and camped in the area.
Date: 2018-05-09
From: Harpers Creek

To: Reid Gap
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: clear sky

The four of us had to make just under 8 miles to mile 843 and were looking forward to a Nero to The Devil¢s Backbone Brewery.We had to get up and over Three Ridges, a 2000 plus foot climb first though.  Silver was ahead of Maverick and me and we took about 2 hours up and over and caught up with him at an overlook where he was chilling out. Beast left later, but came zooming up behind us right as we were getting near the top.  It was a nice morning with gorgeous long distance views.   We made it down to Reid Gap, tried to call for a ride, and hitch at the same time. A pickup truck driven by Bill Makki, stopped and drove us right to the main gate at the brewery.  Thank you Bill!We were greeted and briefed by Elizabeth who showed us to the restaurant and let us stow our packs before we sat down for lunch. After lunch, which included a beer flight, some of us went to the camping area and set up. It was really nice. Every site had a picnic table and a fire ring. All of this looked brand new. Just through a clearing was a huge campground under construction including a bath house and RV sites.  I took a nap in my tent for about 45 minutes and then we headed back to the outdoor area by the restaurant to play Cornhole for a while, then dinner and back to the campsite by around 9:00.It was a fun day.
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Reid Gap

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: moderate rain

Maverick, Silver and I got up and went to the restaurant area at 7:15 for the hiker breakfast special, which included eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and coffee plus a souvenir T Shirt for $5.00.  The scheduled drop off was 10:00, but I asked the driver if we could go early, so the three of us plus Low Gear got to The Trail at 9:00.  Our goal was a shelter in 15 ish miles with a stretch to 19 to Waynesboro. I took point and we cranked out 6 miles in a couple of hours. I was suffering bad blister pain on my right heel, and stopped to address it. Low Gear and Maverick kept going and Silver was behind us.  I took my boot and socks off and found the problem-my bandage had slipped off the wound and my sock was rubbing me even worse.  I re-bandaged myself using some tincture of benzoin to help the tape stick. As soon as I got the wound covered it felt much better.  I caught up with the others and we all stopped at the shelter at about 3:30 for a break. We all decided to move on and get to town.Waynesboro is known as ¢The Friendliest Town on The AT¢. When we got to Rockfish Gap we called a Trail Angel, John, who came out to drive us to our motel. Since we had 20 minutes, we stopped at the local hot dog trailer for a chili cheese dog and two sodas.  John dropped us off and we got showered, and changed and found the all you can eat Chinese buffet for dinner and then back to go to bed.
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Waynesboro 

To: Waynesboro 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Maverick, Silver and I hit the laundry at 7:45, then shopped at a mini-Walmart for resupply.We went back to the motel and Sue, the desk clerk offered us her car to get to outfitter. We were floored by her offer, and I declined a few times but she insisted , so we took advantage of the offer and were back by 11:00. Thank you Sue.  We walked to the post office and mailed boxes of gear home, I sent my fleece, my rain pants and my new boots home since they caused blisters. I am going to use the trail runners my wife mailed to me that arrived yesterday-perfect timing!As it was after 11:00, we went to Jakes for an early lunch and then ran to catch the local bus to the real Walmart to round out our stuff. I bought a pair of swim trunks, so I can swim when/if the occasion arises. Maverick and I walked out for a steak dinner at about 6:00 and then back to the motel for the night.
Date: 2018-05-12
From: Waynesboro 

To: Waynesboro 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

A double zero meant that there was more time to do little things that needed to be done like spraying my clothes with Permethrin, replacing the tip of my trekking pole that got jammed in and cleaning my Tyvek, and sleeping pad.   As it was Saturday, some local folks were cooking and selling barbecue in the parking lot of a shopping center across the street, so it was meat-fest for lunch-half a chicken and three ribs. Mmmmm.I took a nap, then got organized and packed and called a trail angel at random from the list.  Karl agreed to drive me, Maverick and Silver back to Rockfish Gap the next morning at 7:30, so we were set.We walked a few hundred feet up the road to a local burger place for dinner and got back to settle in by around 7:30.
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Trail angel Karl arrived as promised at 7:30 sharp. He drove us back to where The Trail comes out at Rockfish Gap and we walked up the road for a short ways until we went into the woods. Within a few hundred feet we came to a self-permit station and got tags for our packs. The permits are for overnight camping in The backcountry.It was already humid and getting hotter by the minute.  We had full water but needed to be careful as the next water source was in 8 miles and then not again for 13 more at Blackrock Hut. In the Shenandoah National Park what we¢ve called shelters are called huts and pavilions for day use are called shelters.The terrain consisted of a bunch of small ups and downs for most of the day. My blisters felt better today and my Trail runners felt good. The heat was brutal and combined with the heat made for a very challenging hike. We got to the shelter just after 6:00 and found two almost flat rocky tent sites.  (Silver used the Hut). The water was flowing cold from a piped spring which was a welcome sight. I fought off black flies while setting up, cooking and eating dinner. I hung my food bag from the bear pole and got into my tent before dark. Unfortunately, I suffered leg cramps overnight and tried to drink to alleviate them, but I think the big miles and lack I water all day made it inevitable.
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Stealth spot at 900.1
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I left BlackRock hut at 7:25 ahead of Maverick who was a few minutes behind me. It was already hot and humid and we went up to the summit of Blackrock mountain. I climbed the rocks up there for a view and the breeze was wonderful. When Maverick got there, I climbed down and we continued on The Trail.  There was a lot of easy terrain today, but the heat was strength-sapping.  We took a half mile side trip to the camp store at the Loft Mountain campground for an early lunch....a foot long turkey sub, chips, moon pie and soda for me. We were back to The Trail at 11:00.  We stopped at Pinefield Hut for water and to wait out a passing thunderstorm and Maverick and I made the decision to continue hiking at 4:30 with a plan to get water at a ranger station in a few more miles. Silver took off and was planning to go further than we were.We got to the ranger station and got water and it started raining while we were there. We hung out under the eves of a garage while the storm intensified into a full blown thunderstorm.  This was the storm that apparently left 400,000 households without power.We ran onto the back porch of one of the buildings at the ranger station and eventually went back out into the rain to get our packs. It was getting dark and we were cold and shivering.  We put on our rain coats and I ate all the snacks I had in my pack waist pockets to help stave off the shivers. We joked about going from being near heat stroke to hypothermic on the same day. At 7:00 or so, after debating whether we should camp on the porch or not, we decided we¢d hike out, and find a stealth spot.  We were kind of worried that we get busted trespassing on a Federal facility if we just posted up on the porch.  The first place we found was in a gulley like spot and kind of dank and there were dozens of lizards running around, so we nixed  that location and kept going. At about 8:00, and at the 900.1 mile mark, we found a nice flat soft spot big enough for two tents and set up camp.  We didn¢t cook dinner or eat much as we were tired.  Maverick hung a bear line and hoisted the food bags.  The sky cleared up and there was an orange sunset through the trees and a nice cool breeze blowing into the tent as I went to sleep.
Date: 2018-05-15
From: Stealth spot at 900.1

To: Lewis Mountain campground 
Miles today: 16.6

5/15 16.6I got a good night¢s sleep with the cool breeze that came through my tent. It was dry in the morning and we got up in the dark at 5:00.  We got moving by 5:55.I spooked what I think was a bear, about 30 yards off the trail to my right.  I was going along and hear branches breaking, stopped and looked and saw it undulating away in a hurry.  I¢m assuming it was a bear as the deer we¢ve seen just stand there and look at you.  We stopped at the first hut we came to to have breakfast and get water from a nice piped spring on a short side trail from the Hut.I felt much better after breakfast. I think the lack of dinner and breakfast made for a low energy start.  It was another hot day and humid as all get out, so by this first stop I was already soaked. Managing water means sometimes you have to carry more and Oman to go off Trail a ways to get it. We thought we¢d have water at a picnic area and we¢re almost out. I double checked my App and saw that the comments indicated that the water was off at the picnic area due to low water availability, so thankfully, a half mile ahead of that, we went 1/3 mile to a spring to fill our bottles.We stopped for lunch at the picnic area and planned to get to Lewis Mountain campground by mid afternoon. There was laundry and showers in our future.  I got a text message from Silver and Low Gear that they were already at the campground and had rented a 4 person bunk house. We rolled in and got settled, showered and made the laundry deadline.  We bought dinner from the camp store; two ham and cheese sandwiches, Fritos and a V8 for me. We hung out under the overhang of the bunk house during the late afternoon thunderstorm and rain and were dry all night thankfully.
Date: 2018-05-16
From: Lewis Mountain campground 

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: light rain

Low Gear, Maverick and I said goodbye to Silver who had plans to get off trail for a day. We left the campground at 7:25, and had an easy pace to Big Meadows for lunch. It started to rain while we were in the restaurant eating lunch. We checked the radar and it looked like there would be a lull in the rain between 1 and 3 (not). It was lighter but we still hiked the remaining 3 or so miles we had planned to Rock Spring Hut. We arrived at 2:45 and decided to stake our spots in the hut. We hung what we could to dry optimistically.  It was a very busy hut with a large group from Bucknell plus several section hikers, and other Thru hikers arriving late and cooking getting settled etc.  I went to sleep with my ear plugs in at 8:30 and slept great until a hiker arrived at 11:15 and tried to figure out if he could get into the shelter by shining his bright white light in everyone¢s face and then loudly apologizing for waking everyone up. There¢s no logic for this behavior. I was awake for about an hour and then went back to sleep until the birds started tweeting at 5:15.
Date: 2018-05-17
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Thornton Gap
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: light rain

Most of the shelter was up and at it by 6:00.  We moved out in groups and Low Gear, Maverick and I were walking at 7:10.  We stopped at Skyland Resort for 2nd breakfast just before it started raining and then were treated to trail magic at a picnic area. We were aiming for Thornton Gap, where Toni, Low Gear¢s wife was meeting us to drive us to Front Royal. We rolled through the rain and were almost exactly on time for our rendezvous at 2:45. We were soaked. Maverick and I got dropped at The Super 8 and got our stuff unpacked and headed to the coin Laundry and the Mexican place next door for dinner and then the grocery store for supplies and then back to rest for the night.  We¢re slack-packing the next t 2 days thanks to Toni¢s visit. Since it¢s forecast to rain, we¢ll hike lighter and faster and know we¢ll be able to shower and dry out overnight.
Date: 2018-05-18
From: Thornton Gap

To: Little Hogback Mountain 
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Toni and Low Gear picked us up at 8:30 and drove us back to Thornton Gap for our planned slack-pack day.  I wore my rain jacket and used the pockets to carry what I needed for the day; my water filter, a Gatorade, snacks, my Spot device and phone. No backpack for me today. It felt very strange, but I could float. The terrain in Shenandoah is pretty flat, but all the rain of course meant that the trail was pretty muddy and wet. Our plan was to hike 12.5 miles in 5 hours and included a stop at the Elkwallow Wayside for a Blackberry milkshake which is a must have during a thru-hike in The Shenandoah National Park.We made that objective, and because we were soaked, the stop and cold drink made us all cold, so we moved out again quickly and met Toni as planned at 2:30.We went back to the Super 8, got showered and changed and rested ahead of getting picked up again for the four of us to go out to dinner. Thanks Toni for driving us all over Front Royal and Low Gear for sharing this time with us.
Date: 2018-05-19
From: Little Hogback Mountain 

To: Front Royal 
Miles today: 15.1

5/19 15.1Maverick and I met up with a couple other hikers that were staying at the motel and walked to L¢Dees Pancake House for breakfast.  We weren¢t getting picked up to hike until 12:00, so we had an easy morning. I went to the outfitter next to the motel, River and Peak, and talked with the owner, John. It¢s a nice shop and I noticed his dog had a dancing bear collar (Grateful Dead), so we had a nice chat and he gave me a shuttle driver¢s number for a ride back to town tonight and agreed to drive us to the trail in the morning. Toni dropped us off at 12:40 and was heading to the airport to go home, and we rolled through a cloud and muddy trail. The trail was a stream much of the day, so shoes and socks were wet. We had learned that later in the day we¢d hit 2 streams that required a ford, so I wasn¢t too worried when I was wet almost immediately after we started. We moved at close to 3 mph and there was a mid-shin stream crossing near the end of our hike.  I called the shuttle driver and she got us back to the motel by 6:30.We showered and headed to a different laundry than we¢d used the other day, did a community load and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a beer while we waited for our clothes to be de-mudded.I had pain in the front of my left ankle after the stream ford and as soon as we got back to the motel, I took ibuprofen and iced for an hour. We planned to meet at the outfitter st 8:20 for John to drop us off where we ended today.
Date: 2018-05-20
From: Front Royal 

To: Whiskey Hollow Creek
Miles today: 15.2

John drove us back the 5 or so miles up the the trailhead and we started up the hill at 8:45. Thanks again John! It was hot, humid, and wet and muddy. I was a stinking dirty mess almost immediately.I turned a corner and saw a black shadow dash off the trail and crash down the slope. I didn¢t get eye contact with this one, but he was a fairly decent sized bear. I hollered and made noise and continued on up the hill.Maverick and I hiked faster than Low Gear and we stopped at Manassas Gap Shelter for about 90 minutes for water and to dry out mid day. There were a couple of high school seniors out for a week hike and they had a project to complete for their graduation, that required them to interview thru-hikers. Maverick and I gave them an interview. I hope they get A¢s, they were bright and respectful young men. One heading to Middlebury and one to USC in the fall; good luck guys!Once again today, there was no hope keeping feet clean or dry. The last week dumped record rainfall so conditions were sloppy.While we stopped, Low Gear passed us and we caught up with him just before we got to the shelter. The blue blazed trail to the shelter was a rock hop over streams for about 100 yards.  We got set up, gathered water, cooked and rinsed the mud and sweat out of our clothes as best we could. We were all tired from the strength-sapping heat and turned in before 8:00.
Date: 2018-05-21
From: Whiskey Hollow Creek

To: BearÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: scattered clouds

We got up and had breakfast and broke camp at 7:00. We were able to take an old road bed back to The Trail to avoid a lot of the muck and water crossing of the blue blazed trail. It meant we had to hike up hill and then downhill southbound to get back to where we had turned off last night. We were northbound by 7:15. Trail conditions continued to be muddy. We made pretty fast pace for the first three hours and stopped for a break at the first shelter we came to. We found a trail magic toolbox near Ashby Gap with cool Gatorade in it. It was most welcomed!  We entered a section of The Trail known as The Roller Coaster; a 13-ish mile series of intense steep ups and downs. We had to get through 8 of them to get to Bear¢s Den Hostel. Wow. They were hard climbs followed by descents into wet trail and mud followed by another climb.  Maverick and I hit the 1000 mile mark at about 3:00, stopped for pictures and continued to the next shelter to get water and eat. We had 4 more miles to the hostel where a shower, pizza, ice cream and laundry would be ours for $30. We got there at about 5:30 after a really tough last climb.  Glenn at the hostel was really welcoming and gave us the rundown of the hostel.  We enjoyed our showers and food and got bunks and to sleep by 9:00. The hostel is an old stone building that was originally a Washington doctor¢s weekend/summer home and was stunning. Definitely a worthwhile stop!