morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-14
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

Woke up this morning to a little snow on the ground. It was hard to get out of the warm sleeping bag. Jon and I left camp by 8:40. There were a few little climbs, but then it was all down hill to town. We made it to Erwin by 11am and saw Dirty Harry, Moss and T leaving Uncle Johnny's Hostel. They had already seen Knuckles, so we said our goodbyes. We walked the mile to the Holiday Inn and got showered and did laundry. Then we walked another mile into town for pizza buffet and resupply at the grocery. Fire and Mouth (who we've camped with the past few nights) were at the pizza place. They were planning on hiking four more miles to the next shelter but it started hailing and raining while we ate. It was still raining when we left the grocery store so we tried our first attempt at hitchiking. A mom and teenage daughter picked us up. Thanks Brandy and Katie!When we got back to the hotel we uploaded photos and updated our journals on the computer in the lobby. Then we saw Jenx walk in! Jenx is on Trail Journals as well and I love reading his perspective on the trail... very entertaining! We also met LateStart who hiked in '04 and now she is doing a 300 mile section hike. In the morning we are meeting Knuckles at the trail head at 9 am for a 16 mile day.
Date: 2008-04-15
From: Erwin, TN

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Had a good continental breakfast at the hotel and met Jenx in the lobby at 8:30. We met Knuckles and Cabot at the hostel and started hiking. It was a pretty easy day and we took our time. At the top of the first mountain there was some snow accumulation. The sun was out and was melting all the snow off the trees and it was like we were dodging snow balls from above. We even had to put our pack covers on. Jon and I had lunch on top of a bald called the Beauty Spot, which lived up to its name. Next up was Unaka Mountain, a 1000 ft climb. On top, everything was covered in a thick layer of snow and we were surrounded by red spruces. It was beautiful but slippery. On the way down I slipped on a tree root and hit my hip on a rock and my elbow on the root. I just now realized it ripped a hole in my shorts. I took it slow after that. I feel ok, but I'll probably be a little stiff in the morning. At the shelter is Cabot, Knuckles, Jenx, some weird yoga guy(shake and bake), and an older gentleman from Australia (Alf). I started cooking dinner and as soon as it was ready I knocked it over. It was all over the picnic table, but there was enough left in the pot for Jon so I made some mashed potatoes. Today really wasn't my dayTonight is supposed to get pretty cold, low 20s possibly. It's 7:45 pm and I'm already going to climb in my sleeping bag. The rest of the week should be warming up.
Date: 2008-04-16
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

Slept in till after 7:30 and didn't leave camp until 9 am. I was very warm in my sleeping bag. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be when I got up, but I still wore my base layers. At some points in the day I was burning up, but once we got to Roan Mountain it was significantly cooler. It's amazing what several thousand feet in elevation can do. Near a road crossing we saw what we thought was trash but it was a bag with two apples in it. We had them at lunch with some sharp cheddar cheese and a peanut butter bagel. They were amazing!The last climb of the day was never ending. The shelter we are camped at is the highest shelter on the AT. There is still quite a bit of snow on the ground from a couple of nights ago. Jon and I are camped here with Fire, Mouth, Jenx, Cabot, and Knuckles. Tomorrow is another 15 mile day where we get our resupply box and some goodies from Jon's mom!
Date: 2008-04-17
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Roan Mt, TN
Miles today: 15.2

We were the last to leave camp today. It's so hard to get up when it's cold outside. With all the thick snow around us this morning I didn't think to put my sunscreen on. By the time we met Knuckles and Cabot at the shelter .5 miles from the road, I realized my kneck was burned badly. I'm going to have some great tan lines by the time this thing is over. We got to Mountain Harbour Hostel where we had a mail drop sent. We met the owner Mary Hill as we were walking up. When Jon told her his name she was so excited. We had our mail drop, a care package from his mom and 4 letters from his family. She said he was Mr. Popularity. The hostel is a cottage built above their horse barn. Pretty neat inside. We decided to tent for $8 each, but we were able to hang out in the hostel with another thru hiker, Trunk who had taken a few days off for ankle problems. He was really nice and he even went to MTSU (he's from TX). It was nice sitting around watching movies and eating as many of the goodies Jon's mom sent as we could.
Date: 2008-04-18
From: Roan Mt, TN

To: Dennis Cove
Miles today: 24.3

Woke up in the tent at 6 am and had to go to the bathroom. I headed to the hostel where I made coffee and read newspapers from 2 weeks ago. Still news to me!We started hiking around 8:30 am. All day I kept thinking of Knuckles. They had pushed an extra 6 miles yesterday and were going to stay at Kincoro Hiker Hostel. When we got to the shelter I told Jon I wanted to push on. It was an extra 6.2 miles to the road crossing to get to the hostel and it was almost 5 pm. We got there by 7:30 and Bob People, the hostel owner, was there and gave us and Gray Ghost a ride to his place. He only charges $4 donation to stay including shower and laundry. Knuckles, Cabot, Pippi, and Hamburglar were there along with a lot of new faces.There are people here that started 2 weeks before us. It was good seeing everyone and getting another shower (2 in 2 days!). Bob People told us that after Trail Days he organizes trail maintenance and will take the "Hard Core Crew" to do maintenance on Unaka Mt and Jane's Bald. THe hikers even get to paint the blazes. Jon and I think we definitely want to do that. We've always talked about ways we want to give back to the trail and that sounds like a great opportunity.
Date: 2008-04-19
From: Dennis Cove

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: light rain

Started on the trail by 8 with a little rain. The day started with a hike down to Laurel Falls over some slick rocks and then it was a steep climb. I think after a couple of big mileage days my feet are starting to suffer. We have been taking more breaks and longer lunches but I can tell I'm slowing down. Knuckles and Cabot are trying to make it to Damascus in 2 days but there is no way I can keep up that pace. We will still get there by lunch time on Monday so we'll still get to see them and hopefully Dirty Harry and Moss will still be there. Bob Peoples had told us to look for a spring about 2 miles before the shelter because the water source at the shelter was 1/2 a mile down hill. We kept looking for a spring when we came to a blue blaze trail around 5 pm. It had just starte to sprinkle so we put our pack covers on and headed down the hill. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill we realized this was the half mile trip for water, it started pouring. Jon didn't have his rain jacket on... this is when the fit began to happen. WE made it back up the steep hill and realized we were right by the shelter. Jenx had just gotten there so he got to witness Jon's tantrum as he threw all his stuff in the shelter. Luckily it was short lived. Tonight is the first night we've slept in the shelter since the SMokies. Gray Ghost showed up and 2 women with a dog.
Date: 2008-04-20
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: light rain

Started hiking around 7:15, the earliest in a long time. The first half of the day I felt good, but by the afternoon my feet started to kill me. I'll be glad to be in Damascus tomorrow and then take a zero day to rest up. We got to the shelter around 6. There are 4 section hikers here as well as Jenx and Gray Ghost. Gray Ghost is 66 years old and his son has thru hiked, now he is, and his grandson is going to meet him out here to hike a section.Tomorrow- Damascus and lasagna or brats or cheeseburgers or whatever!
Date: 2008-04-21
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up early and packed fast. We were out of camp by 6:50. By 9 am we were at the MT Rogers sign indicating that we were now in our 4th state and only had 3.8 miles to town. We were there by 10 am! Jon and I wandered around town (the trail goes right through the middle of town) and ran into Gray Ghost. We made plans to meet him at noon to go to the Pizza Plus buffet. We decided to stay at The Place, a hostel run by the Methodist Church. They only ask for a $4 donation and to keep the place clean. There we saw Moss, Dirty Harry and Knuckles. I was so glad to see them. We also met some new hikers, including Applicator who does a wonderful Bob Peoples impression. After showering, we met up with Gray Ghost and walked the half mile to the Pizza Plus. Jon had a huge salad and 13 slices of pizza. I'm not sure how much I had, but it wasn't near that much. Gray Ghost even bought our lunch. After that it was laundry and relaxing.
Date: 2008-04-22
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Apparently last night after we went to bed, Dirty Harry decided to night hike 9 miles because T bird got kicked out of the hostel for smoking a cigarette outside. I feel bad for Knuckles because I know she pushed really hard to catch him in Damascus, but she seemed ok this morning. She is still hiking with Cabot, so I'm glad she's not hiking alone. Jon and I had breakfast with the Gray Ghost. Gray Ghost got his name because you will be hiking behind him and look down, then look back up and he's gone! He and Jenx are heading out today while we are taking a zero so everyone we have been hiking with will be a day ahead. I will miss everyone but I like keeping our schedule open and not feeling like we have to keep up with everyone. I guess we are all finally "hiking our own hike".Moss now has his pack weight down to 10 lbs with food and water. That's all he's carrying besides half his sleeping bag. And he bought a headlamp so he can night hike from 6pm-6am and sleep during the day. I'm not really sure how that's going to work out.
Date: 2008-04-23
From: Damascus, VA

To: Lost Mt Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

WE cut today short by about 5 miles because my feet were hurting so bad. We'll have to make up the miles tomorrow because we have a mail drop going to the post office in Sugar Grove and we have to get there by Saturday morning and today is Wednesday. We met Columbus at the shelter but he decided to push on a couple more miles. Then Cash showed up, who we'd passed earlier. She was really nice to talk to. She is section hiking the AT and started south of Damascus. Last year she hiked 700 miles.Since we had gotten to the shelter so early we were in the tent before 7pm.
Date: 2008-04-24
From: Lost Mt Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night I fell asleep at 7:30 and still struggled to get up at 6. I don't think I got very much rest while in Damascus. Shortly after leaving the shelter a rabbit hopped on to the trail. It stuck around long enough for Jon to take a couple of pictures. Today we got to see the wild ponies! We had read in the shelter log at Thomas Knob Shelter that they had been spotted there and we could see little hoof prints on the trail. We hiked into this clearing when I heard a loud whinny and a brown and white spotted pony ran by. Then we saw a family of 3 right on the trail. My first reaction was to get a bunch of pictures, but another mile down the trail there was a whole field of them. They would let you get pretty close to them so we got a lot of good pictures.We got to the shelter at 7:30 and were the only people there. Jon set up the tent while I started cooking dinner and we got everything done before it was completely dark. I had heard an owl earlier and I saw it in a tree above our tent before we went to bed. I took a picture of it and as soon as the falsh went off it swooped down over Jon's head. Then it just hung around our tent... spooky.PS: Ponies do NOT answere to "Here pony,pony,pony"They don't even blink an eye.
Date: 2008-04-25
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: broken clouds

Another big day of hiking but it wasn't so bad. We s till got to camp by 7 and that was with 2 snack breaks, a 45 minute lunch break, and 2 just because I wanted to take my pack off and sit down breaks. Two ladies we had met at Kincora and Damascus are here with Fontana the dog. This shelter is really nice, it even has a showere but I don't think it gets very warm. I'll wait till tomorrow when we get to a hotel.
Date: 2008-04-26
From: Partnership Shelter

To: VA 683, Groseclose,VA
Miles today: 11.6

The shelter is only .1 miles to the ranger station, where there is a phone so we called the owner of the Sugar Grove Diner to get a shuttle into town to get our mail drop. Her name is Peggy and she is a very nice lady. It was worth the $6 not to walk those 3 miles. We ate breakfast at her diner, which was great and the coffee was fantastic, then she drove us to the PO. Even though it wasn't that far of a walk I'm glad she did because we had 4 boxes waiting for us. She took them back to the diner while we mailed back our zero degree sleeping bags, mittens, and a few other things. We also had 4 cards from Jon's family and even a postcard from Madrid from his niece Megan. Two of the boxes were our 25 degree sleeping bags and our food supply. The other boxes were care packages from Jon's mom and my BFF Maegan. We walked back to the diner where we spent over an hour sorting through all the goodies deciding what to keep. We started our own hiker box that could resupply 2 hikers for a week. Peggy hadn't heard of a hiker box before but she thought it was a good idea so she set it up inside her diner.Thank you Mary, Tom and Lucy, Lou and Megan, Mike, Brooke, Matthew and Sara, and Maegan for making our day special. Luckily from switching out sleeping bags I had extra room in my pack to carry some treats. At the top of my pack were 2 cans of pringles, 2 cups of cookies, 1 pound of twizzlers, and 2 apples. We even turned down trail magic today (little debbie cakes). It was a pretty easy day of hiking except that it was hot and my stomach was disagreeing with the sausage, eggs, 2 cups of coffee, and 3 juiceboxes I had for breakfast. The upside is all the shelters in Virgnia have privies. Hooray!We made it to the Relax Inn by 4. It's a little run down, but the price is right ($40) and we did laundry and took showers. It also started raining and lightening after we got in so I'm really glad we were not on the trail. Instead of spending money on a restaurant we went to the gas station and bought bread, cheese, bologna, and a 2 liter of MT Dew for $10. That and the pringles and we feasted all night!
Date: 2008-04-27
From: VA 683, Groseclose,VA

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: broken clouds

Slept in till almost 8! We took our time getting ready and we watched some news. Then we went to the gas station for some coffee. We were on the trail by 10 am. Another fairly easy day, but a few climbs. We met the Limestones today, an older couple thru hiking the AT. Gray Ghost had told us about them and this is Mr. Limestone's 3rd attempt at thru hiking. We stopped at a spring 2.5 miles from the shelter to get some water and that's when it decided to pour down rain. We finally got to the shelter at 5:30. There were 2 guys already here that are section hiking (Rick and Joe). The Limestones are staying here as well. The rain stopped for a bit so we decided to tent. The shelter looks extra mousy.
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Wow... we slept in till 9 am! That's 13 hours of sleep for me. I guess my body really needs the rest. We were going to wait out the rain this morning but it didn't show any signs of letting up. We had breakfast in the shelter and decided to just zero here for the day. It's almost noon and I'm caught up on all my journals now. We are back in the tent and now I need to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. I think I will collect more duff for the privy... or take a nap.Jon and I agreed earlier that it's nice being on our own so that we can make decisions like this. It's not a race, and we are still ahead of schedule.
Date: 2008-04-29
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

SNOW! I can't believe 2 days before May we wake up to several inches of snow. This is not what we had in mind when we zeroed yesterday. Or when we switched to our summer sleeping bags a few days ago. I stayed mostly warm, though, sleeping in my thermals, down jacket, and thick socks.Jon and I had lunch at Chestnut Knob Shelter, an old firewarden's cabin. On the way down the hill after lunch, my left shin started to hurt. The pain was excruciating. I hobbled slowly to the next shelter where we saw Rick and Joe who we had met at Knot Maul Branch Shelter a few nights ago. They were section hiking to Pearisburg but had to get off the trail early due to a death in the family. They gave us most of their food they had left over and packed out our trash. Rick gave me 2 Godiva Chocolate bars. That made my shin feel a lot better!
Date: 2008-04-30
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: VA 615
Miles today: 4.8

After several days of sleeping in, we got up early and out of camp by 7:30/ As soon as we started heading down hill, I started to feel a shooting pain through my left shin. We caught up with Rick and Joe and they noticed my hobbling. They were getting a shuttle from the owner of the Redezvous Motel in Pearisburg 5 miles from the shelter. They offered us a ride and we gratefully accepted. So now we are at the Plaza Motel (Rendezvous was full) in Pearisburg to rest my legs for a few days. Just when you really need it, you get the best trail magic. Thanks Rick and Joe, you really helped us out! You are real trail angels.Ran in to Gray Ghost at the motel. He was so excited to see us, I even got a hug! We also met Daddy-O and his son Peacock, and a few others that we've seen in the shelter logs ahead of us.
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was nice staying in a motel (they even did our laundry for us) but since we will be stuck here for a few days we decided to go to the hostel at the Catholic church. On the way we stopped at Rite Aid and put all our photos on CDs to send home. We had 2 copies made and we'll send each to different locations in case one gets lost in the mail. Then we went to the Post Office to get our new tent poles that Big Agnes sent to replace ours that cracked. Great company, easy to work with!The hostel is an old barn that is equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and shower. Padre was there cleaning up when we arrived. We set our tent up outside and headed to Walmart and Wendy's. At Wendy's, I ordered 3 Jr Cheeseburgers, Chili, and a baked potato. I think they thought that was for the 2 of us because the girl asked if that was all. Of course not! Jon then ordered 3 Jr Cheeseburgers, fries, and a frosty. A great lunch for $12. After lunch we went to Walmart and got some things that we could cook at the hostel for dinner and breakfast. Toots and Burrples are also staying here but are slackpacking today so we haven't seen them.
Date: 2008-05-02
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 5:50am and had to go to the bathroom. Saw a beautiful sunrise though. The hostel has a great porch that overlooks the surrounding mountains, but they are building a new hospital next door so that interferes with the serenity of it all. Went to the library to upload photos and update journals. Then it was on to the Post Office to mail the photo cds home. While there a nice lady asked us if we needed a ride to the hostel, bt we were just going down the street to Pizza Hut for lunch. Too bad the hostel is a 2 mile walk from the PO. After lunch we picked up a bag of ice at the g as staion to ice my shin and someone else offered us a ride! What luck!At the hostel we met Hot Cheese and Bird Bath. The Limestones had given them a ride in their rental car. They have to head home for a week. The Limestones had seen our names in the thru hiker log at the PO and couldn't figure out when we had gotten ahead of them.
Date: 2008-05-03
From: VA 615

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Brenda from the Rendezvous picked us up from the hostel at 9:30 and we were back on the trail by 11 am. When we bought our resupply at Walmart we got enough to cover us for the 3 1/2 days back to Pearisburg as well as for 6 days after Pearisburg and left a resupply box with Brenda.I took it very slow today, but no pain at all in my shin. I'm glad we took the 2 days of rest for it. We still made it to the shelter by 3 pm, right before it started to rain. It was just a sprinkle, but it's supposed to thunderstorm tonight. We had cell reception so we called a few friends that we hadn't talked to since we left and we even talked to Troutbum! He got off the trail at Groseclose to visit his parents and will be back on Monday. He said he will be at Trail Days and is thinking of doing the trail maintenance with the hard core crew like us. I can't wait to see everyone. Jon's dad and stepmom are picking us up at the Peaks of Otters on May 15th to take us to Trail Days. I can't wait to see Tom and Lucy as well.
Date: 2008-05-04
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: VA 606
Miles today: 16.3

No one else was at the shelter last night, but we did see that Peanut, Wingit, and Wrongway were a day ahead of us. Pretty easy day and still no shin pain. We got to the road crossing at 606 by 4 and walked the half mile west to Trent's Grocery. They have an area with old RVs were you can tent, shower, and do laundry for $6. We didn't really need to shower or do laundry, we just left town yesterday!The grocery is really a gas station but they serve a great pizza, which Jon and I split for dinner. Also seems to be a popular hang out for the locals.
Date: 2008-05-05
From: VA 606

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Had breakfast at Trent's this morning. The tent was full of condensation from the tall grass around us. We also realized after the fact that we had set up near a pig pen. My shin started hurting after walking on the road so we wrapped it with an ace bandage which seemed to help. We ran into Grasshopper leaving Dismal Falls. We haven't seen him in weeks. He said he was trying to catch back up to his group. At lunch we met these 3 ladies at Wapiti shelter with a young golden retriever. It really made us miss our dogs.We ended up tenting at Doc's Knob where we ran into Evergreen again and Papa Paul. We met Evergreen at Knot Maul Branch Shelter the day we zeroed. Papa Paul comes to the AT every summer with his wife in the RV. He hikes for 3 days and then spends 4 days with her. Nice set up!
Date: 2008-05-06
From: Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Our original plan for today was to get in town, pick up our mail drop from the Rendezvous and hike another 4 miles. When we got there we started talking about food and showers and luandry so we decided to go for another night at the Plaza Motel. Linda the owner is very nice. Before we took showers we headed across the street to Goodwill to get some "town clothes". Basically, we were tired of wearing rain gear while waiting for our laundry. Let me tell you, we look pretty spiffy.After dinner we saw that Sandgrover (the Austrailian) was staying next to our room. We haven't seen him since Damascus. After having a few beers with him we decided to get to bed early.