morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Campsite

To: campsite
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

Today was the day I had to say goodbye to Male Drop. He had come out to hike a section of trail with a friend from home, but ended up hiking with meand Bumpkin. I was glad at the turn of events, as I have enjoyed hiking withhim.He has some photography jobs to take care of and then he will be back tohike again. He wants to hike the Sheandoah National Park and Katadin this year, so he is thinking about meeting up with me when I get there.We packed up, I admit I was moving rather slow, and got out on the trailby 9:45. He wanted to photograph the cliffs that were only a half mile awayand I wanted to draw out our last mintues together. We hiked for an hour andnever saw the cliffs mentioned in the book, but we did find another area calledWhiterock Cliffs which might have been mislabled in the book.We shared the "view" with Kelsey, who is hiking with her brother, Dirt. She tood a picture of us on the cliffs with the mist in the background.It was now time for Male Drop to turn around and hike back to the car andfor me to continue my hike. With MD going home and Bumpkin with a headstartyesterday, tht meant I would be hiking alone.I hugged MD goodbye. I like what he said before he left. "I'll see yousoon" instead of "goodbye". It was difficult to turn around and start hiking.He had joking suggested that I could hike back to his car and to go Philly withhim. That was tempting, but there are several things I think I need to learnbefore I go home. I will miss him, but I need to continue.I met up with Kelsey and Dirt at Jerry Cabin Shelter and had lunch. I asked them if I could camp with them as I didn't like camping alone. Sure they said, we would love the company. Good, so would I. We talked about wherewe were going to camp. There were two campsites about 5 miles apart. The first one was too soon and the second too far. So we planned to meet somewherebetween.Well, there were no campsites between the two that could fit three tents.Kelsey and Dirt went a little farther than I wanted to go, so I debated when to stop. Soon my decision was made for me. Just before the final climb toFrozen Knob, I found a campsite and I am now camped alone. Now that I am here,I realize I needed to be alone.I've never camped by myself before on the AT, but there is a first time foreverything. I hope my first night camped out alone treats me well. Meaningno animal encounters.
Date: 2003-05-04
From: campsite

To: Sam's Gap/ Erwin
Miles today: 5.7

   I was woken up very early this morning. Woken up by an animal sound. It is probably not what you think. No,it wasn't a bear, dear, or even mice. It was an Owl. What did this owl do that spooked me? He swooped my tent!    After being woken in this manner, and with my heart still pounding and my tent still swaying, I realized I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again. It was 4 in morning. I don't like night hiking, so that wasn't an option. I decided that I was going to write in my journal and catch up on the ones that I was missing. When it starting getting light out, I started to pack up and was out of camp at 6:30. See what being alone motivates you to do? :)   After about an hour of hiking, I ran across the campsite of Dirt and Kelsey. I noticed that Dirt was awake so I went over to say good morning. I talked to them for awhile before I realized that if I were to catch up to Bumpkin, I was going to have to get moving.    I was hoping that she had stayed at the next shelter, Hogback Ridge Shelter. I had a few more miles to hike and only about an hour to make it to the shelter before the time that Bumpkin usually got going in the morning.   I made it to the shelter around 8:30, just in time. There was Bumpkin! She was walking the blue blazed trail to get back to the AT! A few moments later and she would have been ahead of me.    I hiked with her to the road as she told me about the crazy adventures of the day before. She had gotten lost and ended up hiking behind Rick the Lone Wolf, who very much needed to talk according to Bumpkin. I had not meet Lone Wolf yet, but had heard a lot about him. It wasn't too long after she told me about her conversation with LW that he was hiking behind us. Man! that guy can talk! It was great to meet him. He's an intrestion character.   As Bumpkin had already hiked from Sam's Gap to Erwin last fall ("It was a perfect hike with perfect weather and company, that I don't want to relive this section.") so she had decided to hitch in. I didn't mind hitching with her as I had already hiked the section last year and besides, after not hiking with her for the last few days, I didn't want to get to far behind her. I enjoy hiking with her.   We ended up staying at a hotel instead of one of the hostels because the hostels were packed full of people and very chaotic. It's good to have a little space for yourself some times.
Date: 2003-05-05
From: Sam's Gap/ Erwin

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: light rain

   With Miss Janet's help today, we slack packed 8.3 miles today. We were going to do the 19 mile slack pack but were reluctant to do so because of the weather that was predicted. Thunderstorms.    We ended up hiking most of our slack pack in the rain. We hiked with Firefeet and Strider.   Tonight at Miss Janet's, Baltimore Jack is making his famous lasagna for everyone that wants to stop by. I never got to try it last year, so I am curious to try it this year. It's supposed to be very good.
Date: 2003-05-06
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: moderate rain

   We started later that what we had planned (10:30) but still made it to the shelter by dark. It rained a little today and was also foggy so we had condesation dripping off the trees.   It was great to see the shelter that I helped to renovate at last year's Trail Days Hard Core Maintenace Hike. It looked great! I like to say a job well done to the guys and gals who worked on it last year.    Very tired tonight so this will be a short entry.
Date: 2003-05-07
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: moderate rain

   Long day today. Longer then what I would have wanted, but Bumpkin needs to meet up Jerry, her husband tomorrow. Plus this section doesn't have very meny options of places to stay.    I asked Bumpkin if she wanted to hike with Jerry alone until Trail Days. I thought it would be nice to give both of us some room to breath because we had been hiking with each other for almost a month now. She said that she would like that. Cool. It's great hiking with a partner, but even people who get along together need a break from each other every once in awhile.   Got to see the two waterfalls on the new reroute section of the trail. One huge one and a smaller one. Glad they rerouted the trail past them. Another good thing about the reroute, was there are less PUD's (pointless ups and downs) than last year. It was still a tough section regardless.   Camped out with Bumpkin, Martha Gram, Wounded Knee and Rome(a section hiker). Good company tonight, but it looks like it's going to rain, so I'm going to bed now.
Date: 2003-05-17
From: Damascus, VA TRAIL DAYS

To: Damascus, VA TRAIL DAYS
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

   Not going to write too much except about the new gear I have gotten.   I have decide that I want to hike in sandals so I have purchased a pair of Bite Sandals that have toe and heal gaurds and also allow you to put your custom footbed inside. Nice.       I also will be leaving Damascus with a new pack. Not that I have had any problems with my old pack, I just wanted the opportunity to test out a pack for Granite Gear. I had to write an essay in order to be selected. They had 8 packs to test. 4 of the Vapor Trail, which is what I had been carrying, and 4 of a new pack called the Nimbus Latitude.      It's a neat pack. It's a panel loading pack. But it's different from most panel loaders in the fact that it has two zippers parrell to each other down the front of the pack. You can reach anything in your pack by using the bottom or top sets of zippers. It will be nice, cause I alway manage to put something at the bottom of my pack that I need through out the day.    I have to keep in contact with Granite Gear, letting them know how things are working out with the pack. Sounds good. I can do that!
Date: 2003-05-18
From: Dickey Gap, VA650

To: Campsite next to creek
Miles today: 6.0

   For the next 50 miles I am honored to be hiking with three wonderful guys, Werewolf '02, Macgyver '02 and Deelious (a friend of Werewolf's).    For the ease of getting back to vehicles, we have decided to shuttle 50 miles north of Damascus and hike back. I'm hoping to run into several hikers that I know are ahead of me. Plus, it will fun to try to confuse the other hikers on which direction they are heading.   I packed up early and went over to the Granite Gear guys to fix a problem with my new test pack (my hair is catching on the zippers at the top) and to weigh my pack. I think they were surprised at how close I came to guessing my pack weight.   I then put my stuff by Werewolf's van and started doing my rounds to say bye to people. Some I'll see soon, some who are far behind or ahead of me and I might not see them again.    I ran into Boiler Plate, who seemed distracted and a little down. He has been in some sort of funk lately that I hope he can snap out of. He did seem happy about his new test pack, the same pack that I will also be testing for Granite Gear.   The guys (now calling us Daisy and the three stooges) got someone to drive us to our starting point and we hiked 6 miles and set up camp. We had a great time around the campfire, joking with each while cooking our meals.   I was very happy to be hiking with Werewolf again, as I had not really had the chance to say goodbye to him when I got off the trail last year. I had ended up hiking ahead of him and only saw him briefly before I left to get on the train to head for home. It was good to have this opportunity for the closure I needed.    It was good to be hiking with Macgyver as well. I had enjoyed Poetry in Motion's journals about their adventures. He's a hoot to hike with.   More from Daisy and the three stooges tomorrow. :)
Date: 2003-05-19
From: Campsite next to creek

To: Grayson Highland State Park, Campsite
Miles today: 15.0

   I couldn't believe how many people we say heading northbound today! It was great. Even though we were stopping every 15 minutes or so, we were still able to hike about 15 miles today.    I must say that I am proud of these SECTION hikers I am hiking with. (Sorry guys, I had to rub it in! hehehe) They were able to keep going today and hike 15 miles on non-thru hiker legs. I don't think I would have been able to do that.    We camped just before the end of the Grayson Highlands and Thomas Knob Shelter. We wanted to have a fire and knew we couldn't have one at the shelter. It has been wet and foggy all day. Made for some great pictures on the rocks with our shadows in the fog, though. I am beginning to think that we are not going to get many dry days this year.
Date: 2003-05-20
From: Grayson Highland State Park, Campsite

To: Campsite with the Hobos!
Miles today: 23.0

   The guys surprised me yet again by doing a big mile day. We were going to try to get into Damascus tonight which would have made for a 30 mile day. What happened? We got side tracked by the Blue Blazin' Hobos. I ended up getting feed by the Hobos-again. These guys are the greatest.   Not much to write tonight as I am very tired. Tomorrow we head back to Damascus and the guys will be heading home. I will miss them. It's been great hiking with this fun group of guys.
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Symms Gap Meadow Campsite
Miles today: 11.7

weather:Sunny/Windytemp:60'sIt's so good to be out of town! Even though my pack seemed heavy with full foodand water, it was a great day for hiking and moving on. The week of slack packingwas good, but I think everyone was at the end of their rope. No one had spentthat much time together and were not used to being in such close quarters.It felt like I passed a major milestone in my journey today. I am realizing thatI am enjoying the hike much more then last year. Werewolf gave his words ofwisdom at Trail Days saying that the further north you get, the better thejourney becomes. I'm not yet to the point that I left the trail last year, buttoday, it is apparent that his statement is true.During today's hike, I thought about the great times in this section last year,even though I was having a tough time with my ankle. I had just started hikingwith Werewolf and Just Hikin'. The first night out of Pearisburg, we all hungour food bags together and ended up bringing the tree down. I had fun tellingthe story to people. I hiked slower today, taking my time thinking that everyone was going to acampsite 8 miles out of town. We were feeling so good, that we moved on to thenext campsite. It turned out to be a wonderful choice. A great spot for asunset.Tonight there is a big group camped in the meadow. Flatlander, Sleepy Floyd,Viking, Pipes, Windtalker, Jay, Two Dog Night, and Yaker. I am hoping to make up some missed sleep from this past week. That means anearly night. It's already past hiker midnight, so it's time for bed.
Date: 2003-06-02
From: Symms Gap Meadow Campsite

To: Campsite
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

weather:Sunnytemp: 60'sThe day started a little later than I planned. I like to start early if I go over15 miles, but I didn't worry too much about it. I knew I could make it; it wasjust a matter of what time I would get there. I didn't want to be cooking in thedark.The terrain was easy to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. I hiked with Windtalker mostof the way. I wanted to make sure her ankle was ok as she had sprained ityesterday. I was also thinking of taking part of her load when she wasn'tlooking, as she was refusing all offers to carry part of her gear. Never got thechance though. I was concerned because I knew what it is like hiking on asprained ankle. I don't want her to end up getting off the trail because of it.During lunch at the shelter I wrote in the register. The owner of the notebook(Rocket) asked three questions to be answered:1.What are three things that you don't need and should send home?  a. a huge water jug hooked to the back of my pack b. Camp Shoes. (I hike in Sandals so why carry an extra pair) c. I do not remember what I put for the third one.2. What is your luxury item? a. pocket mail b. mini disc player c. a figurine of Roger Rabbit for my original hiking partner who had to get offthe trail due to knee problems. (see Roger Rabbit's journal for more details) 3. Where in the world are you from? a. MinnesotaI liked the idea of answering those questions because it was something differentfrom other registers I had seen. It was also fun reading other peoples answers.Some were serious answers, and some were in jest. Like the answer of a tire ironfor a luxury item. Littlest Hobo had "written" that. (It was actually Loser whohad written that several days before. HL was at the shelter when I was thereand thought it was pretty funny.) The fun of the questions was soon forgotten as I started climbing up the monsterhill to the next shelter. I realized how slow I was going after the third personpassed me. I didn't know if I was going to make it to the campsite that I wantedto. I contemplated whether to stay at the second shelter or move on. I took along break and decided to move on. This Shelter also had more questions toanswer. One of them was "What song was going through your head today?" Ianswered Fly By Poe. I wasn't quite sure of the title, though. I liked thatquestion so much that I am going to add that to my daily journal now. It wasgreat to se that almost everyone had a song going through their heads.As the shelter was grew further behind me, I realized how late it was. If I hadnot run into Capt. Ben and Auntie Em, I think I would have found the next trailside campsite and stayed there for the night. I was so tired. They told me thatit was fairly easy trail to the campsite I wanted to be at tonight. I decided togo for it. I got into camp at 7:45; enough time to put up my tent, eat dinner,and get ready for bed.Tomorrow - I will start earlier. Suppose to get rain tonight and morethunderstorms tomorrow. Looking forward to the mental challenge of walkingthrough another rain soaked day.
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Campsite

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: moderate rain

weather: raintemp: low 50'sSong in my: Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis ( I think that's the title)When I woke this morning and realized that it had stopped raining, I packed upquickly knowing that I might not have another chance. I left soon after 7 am and it wasn't long before it started raining again. I reached the first shelter, 4 miles away, by 8:15. I was motivated to get tothe shelter and good thing too. Smokey and the Bandit were there. Haven't seenthose two for a while. I walked with Jim, a friend of Smokey's, to the next shelter. It was good tohave the company even though we didn't talk all that much. I dislike hiking inthe rain alone and he said that helped to keep his pace steady all he way up the hill. It worked out nice for both of us.When I got to the shelter I was so cold that a warm meal was in order. I justcouldn't get warm even with the warm meal so I decided to stay at the shelterfor the night and get into some warm clothes as soon as possible. It's rained alot on the trail this year; it's going to take a strong willed person to go thewhole way. If it warmed up a little it might not be so bad. Cold, wet rain is adrag.I stayed in my sleeping bag most of the day trying to get warm. Then it was amatter of staying warm. My hands were quite numb for a long time and it wasquite a while before I was comfortable and not shaking anymore. I am glad that I decided to stop. I am staying in the shelter (first time since the Smokies I believe) withViking, Flatlander, Jim, Smokey, Bandit, Moxie, and a southbounder. 360 fromCanada and the Littlest Hobo are both tented near by.
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: VA 630, Sinking Creek
Miles today: 4.3

weather: fog then sunny then rainytemp:70'ssong of the day: Time of your life from the Dirty Dancing SoundtrackI tried not to wake anyone as I tiptoed around packing up all my stuff. Ididn't realize how early it was until I asked Moxie (who was also packing up)and she told me 6:22. Good. On the trail by 6:45 then. Again I was trying tobeat the rain, because I didn't pack up in it.We hit the trail. Wait! what's this I see? We were surprised by the sun tryingto peak through the clouds. It was looking to be a good day after all. MaybeI'll be able stop and enjoy my day instead of hurrying to the shelter. Also, Inoticed the start of a cold, so that is another good reason to take my time.Moxie past me when I stopped to get water, so I was alone when I came to somepasture lands. With the cattle on the other side already stomping their feet and snorting, I was a little nervous about stepping across the stile. I dislikecrossing through pastures alone. Then I remembered that Two Dog Night and herdogs had gone through late yesterday. I guess her dogs have a problem withbarking at and chasing cattle. These cows must not had liked that too much andwere warning me. I decided that they were safe to pass after the cows didn'tmove for a few minutes.The trail to the top of the pasture was "slicker than snot" as Windex '01 wouldsay. I was sliding down a foot or so for every step I took. I guess I would have had a difficult time running from the cows even if I would have had to. Now that I look back on the slippery trail, it wasn't so bad, compared to what came next that is.I was soon walking through ankle deep mud and who knows what else. I hope thatpart of the field hadn't been used in a long time. If the smell coming from mysandals was any indication, I needed to wash them off right away. I knew there was a stream about 1 mile north on the trail. I set my pack downnext to the stile to grab my camera out to take a picture of my filthy feet, and then my pack fell frame side down, straight into the mud. I then had a serious debate with myself. I was wet, muddy, getting sick and now very low in spirits cause I sure didn't want to put a filthy pack up on my back. I almost hitched a ride into Catawba to the Four Pines Hostel. I decided to press on another mile to the stream to wash off my sandals and siton the rocks near by. After about an hour, I started throwing up. I was going to wait for Flatland and Viking to come by before deciding what to do, but I now knew that I needed to go into town.People started to pass my resting spot and let me know that they were at the road a mile away. I picked up my stuff, hiked about a quarter of mile and threw up again. As soon as I saw Viking and Flatland, I let them know what was going on. Viking went to a near by house and called his mom to see if she could come and help me out.She soon arrived and gave me a ride to 4 Pines Hostel. Thank you so much to Sara for being my much needed trail angel for the day. I'm not feeling so good right now. I am going to go sleep for a while.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: VA 624

To: Lambert Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

   It was going to be a beautiful day for going over McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs so I decided to hike, even though I was still feeling a bit sick. The next few days after that were not supposed to be very nice, weather wise. I wanted to be able to take my picture on top of the Knob again.   I hiked out with Windtalker, Pipes, Two Dog Night and a few others. I was hiking way slower then I usually do and soon fell behind everybody. That's ok, I told myself. I knew that they would wait for me up at McAfee Knob.   What a beautiful view! Well worth the climb. I had a great day, great company, and I was starting to feel a little better. What more could I ask for?   We also sat at the overlook at Tinker Cliffs as well. What a great place. These are the types of views that people think they are going to see when they hike the trail.   The shelter is full tonight in antispation of forcasted rain. More rain. It's beginning to seem lilke it's going to rain every day. The last two days have been a welcome rest from the rain.   Here tonight are Windtalker, Superman and Torch, Sleep Floyd, Pipes, Two Dog, Rick the Lone Wolf, Krazy K, Tumblewill Baggins and three dogs.   If it rains, I hope my tent doesn't leak. I seamed sealed it while at 4 Pines Hostel, so I hope it works.