morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-10
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Low Gap/Durham, NC
Miles today: 17.9

Didn't sleep too well last night. Just about everyone in the shelter snored. Took a lot of breaks at shelters today. Ran into some trail magic from the Riff Raff crew around noon. Had a bloody mary and continued on. Hit a second trail magic at Low Gap with hot dogs and snacks. Really nice. Tried to hitch to Boone but we were only able to get a 3 mile hitch to Shady Vally, TN. Rambo's sister drove the extra hour to pick us up. Stopped in Boone at the Black Cat Restaurant for dinner. Had a tasty burrito. Another three hour drive from Boone to get to Durham. Long day. I'm beat.
Date: 2015-05-14
From: Low Gap

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Lots of hikers passed by while breaking down camp. Everyone hiking into Damascus for trail days. Terrain today was pretty easy. Finished NC early this afternoon. 3 states down. Only 11 to go. Got to Damascus around 2:30pm. There was a welcome table with water, maps, info and meal tickets for free dinner this evening. Even though Trail Days is starting today "tent city" is already pretty full. Tents are everywhere. We found a spot near "Trash Camp." Trash Camp is a bunch of guys taking everyone's trash and recycling so it isn't left in the woods. Dinner was penne pasta with alfredo sauce, salad, tea, and a variety of desserts. Pretty tasty. Took a walk around tent city after dark to check it out. Definitely some partying going on. Found a giant fire pit with a drum circle going down. Didn't stay there too long. Headed back to the tent to sleep.
Date: 2015-05-15
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Well, setting up next to trash camp was a mistake. All night every 10-15 minutes they screamed "Camp Trash!" or "Team No Sleep!" Then starting at 5:00am they started screaming "Wake up, time to hike 30 miles!" Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Pretty productive day. Went to the coffee shop for breakfast, got my pack and pack cover fixed for free at the Osprey tent, resupplied, signed up for hardcore, and entered some raffles which I didn't win. Apple Butter, one of Rambo's friends that hiked the PCT with her last year, showed up today. He came to hike for a week with us before heading to New Mexico to work at a scout camp. Met a lot of new hikers; Song Bird, Hollywood, Zissou, Doc, Pockets and My Best Friend to name a few. My Best Friend tore his ACL a couple weeks ago but has still been hiking. Says it isn't hurting at the moment so he is going to try to go as far as he can. Made some angel hair pasta with sauce for dinner and having some Dollar General wine. Hoping Trash Camp isn't as loud tonight.
Date: 2015-05-16
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Camp Trash was pretty quiet last night. Slept fairly well. Went to the library and updated journal for a couple hours before it closed. Honey Badger, a hiker that has been using a sharpie to tag everything including; rocks, shelters, national forest signs, street signs, fences, and just about everything else one can write on, was stopped by police today much to the delight of every hiker I've talked to. It will be really nice not to see his stupid tag on everything anymore. Today was the Hiker Parade and Hiker Talent Show. The parade was ok. It started raining during the talent show so we went back to camp to make sure everything was out of the rain. Going to bed early tonight. Have to be up early for hardcore tomorrow.
Date: 2015-05-17
From: Damascus, VA

To: Kincora, Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

My tent was still wet from the rain yesterday when I packed it up this morning. I hate having to pack up wet gear. Met at the bingo hall at 8:00am for hardcore. They supplied day packs with some snacks and shuttled us pack to the NC/TN border for hardcore trail maintenance. Apple Butter, Rambo and I were on rock crew the first part of the day. We evened out a really rocky section. Then put in some stone steps. Hard work but pretty fun. After hardcore they brought us to the park for a BBQ Pork dinner. We were given a patch and shirt for helping and headed back to Kincora Hostel for the evening. No room in the hostel so we had to camp out back. We signed up for showers once we got in so we were pretty high on the list. Crashing out early tonight. Another long day tomorrow.
Date: 2015-05-18
From: Kincora, Hostel

To: Kincora, Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

More trail maintenance today. Moved some trail, made new trail and put in some steps. Definitely nice to give back to the trail. Soup, spaghetti, garlic bread and salad for dinner with ice cream for dessert. Again signed up for shower once we got back. Also did laundry. My clothes were filthy. Found out Boo Boo will be giving us a ride back to Damascus in the morning. Worn out.
Date: 2015-05-19
From: Kincora, Hostel

To: US 58
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

Up early. Had breakfast and on the road back to Damascus by 9:00am. Once in Damascus we went to "The Place" hostel. Bayou, the caretaker, said we could dry out our gear on the back porch. It didn't take long for gear to dry out. Rambo's rain fly was burned with some hot embers during trail days so we hit the outfitter to pick up a new shelter. Went to Pizza Plus for lunch and then stopped at the grocer for resupply. Started pouring this afternoon. Thankfully we were inside and it was just a passing shower. Hiked out mid afternoon. Only went about 4.5 miles before finding a nice camping spot. My legs aren't feeling as fresh as I was hoping they would after 4 days without hiking. Hopefully feel better tomorrow.
Date: 2015-05-21
From: White Top Mt Road

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Heard something rustling around the tent last night. I think maybe a deer. Last day hiking with Apple Butter. Rained pretty much all day. Mt Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, is only a half mile off trail so we hiked up. It's all wooded on top so no views but it was so cloudy there wouldn't have been a view anyway. With the rain and it being super cloudy we decided to make it a short day and see if the rain stops. I hear the views in the Grayson Highlands are amazing. It would be nice to hike through on a clear day. Hopefully it will be clear tomorrow. Lots of wild ponies in the area. While in my tent doing a crossword puzzle some guy yelled "Hey there are ponies out here!" He started clapping and yelling "heeyah, heeyah!" That's when I heard a whole lot of stampeding ponies running around the tent. I'm not sure how many were out there but it sounded like a lot. I'm glad they didn't decide to trample my tent. It's not raining anymore but looks like it could at any moment.
Date: 2015-05-22
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mt Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

Definitely worth waiting out the rain! Views were amazing! Probably one of the best scenery days. Saw tons of ponies. Crossed mile 500 today. Trail magic of gatorade and snacks leaving the Grayson Highlands. Found a campsite that appears like it hasn't been used at all this year. Nothing is disturbed and the fire pit hasn't been used. Crazy to think that with all the hikers no one has camped here. 4 miles to Troutdale and a shower tomorrow. Looking forward to that.
Date: 2015-05-23
From: Hurricane Mt Shelter

To: VA 670
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Short mileage today. Hiked the 4 miles to VA 605 and got a quick hitch to the Troutdale Church Hostel. Showered and hand washed some of my clothes. Water pressure was an issue but it picked up enough to rinse off so all is well. The hostel also had some food for resupply so bought some mac and cheese and a pop tart to get to Marion and our next resupply. Left the hostel around 2:00pm with an easy hitch back to the trail. A few miles up trail we ran into some trail magic of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cakes and assorted salads and beverages. Really nice people. We hung out there about an hour before continuing on. Only hiked a few miles before deciding to find a camp site. Didn't cook any dinner. I'm still full from the trail magic. Just over six miles to Marion tomorrow for resupply.
Date: 2015-05-24
From: VA 670

To: Glade Mt Road
Miles today: 10.1

Pretty easy 6 miles to the road to get to Marion. Lots of people trying to hitch into town. We waited about 30 minutes then started walking the 5.9 miles to town hoping to catch a ride on the way. About 30 minutes later a truck with all the other hikers picked us up and took us to town. Ate a salad from the grocer then went to Charlies Philly Steak for a sandwich. Back to the grocer for resupply and did some town chores before hitching a ride back to the trail. We weren't even trying to hitch when a pastor pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride. Definitely didn't turn it down. Hiked about 4 miles. Pack feels super heavy with the new resupply of food.
Date: 2015-05-25
From: Glade Mt Road

To: VA 742
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Decent hiking today. Packed up and on the trail by 8:30am. Climbed Glade Mt first thing. Not as bad as I was expecting. Stopped at the Lindamood School and Settlers Museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed but the school house was open and had drinks, snacks and toiletries available as trail magic. Drank a soda and ate some crackers before moving on.Made it to Atkins, VA around noon and decided to eat at The Barn restaurant since it is right on the trail. Had a couple of hot dogs and some sweet tea. Had to climb Little Brushy Mt and Walker Mt after leaving Atkins. Neither were very enjoyable. The Appalachian Trail is on private property for a number miles with no camping allowed so we had to go further than we wanted to before camping. Found a less than desirable camp spot near a muddy creek with a whole lot of cow pies around. I'm too tired to care.
Date: 2015-05-27
From: Walker Gap

To: Laurel Creek
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Poured last night. On the trail by 9:00am. Legs still a little sluggish this morning. First few miles were slow going. Water pretty scarce today. 10 miles to the first source, then another 5 to the next. 10 more miles to the next source. Not really feeling a 25 mile day today so decided to stay here at Laurel Creek. As we were coming down the the last hill we saw a ~2 foot diameter tree fall over in front of us. We heard snapping then just fell right over. Pretty crazy. Great water source. Soaked my feet in the stream for a bit. Currently about 8 miles from Bland, VA. Thinking about staying in Bland for a shower. Feeling pretty grimy.
Date: 2015-05-28
From: Laurel Creek

To: VA 611
Miles today: 16.7

Didn't sleep the greatest last night. Out of camp by 8:00am, earliest in quite some time. Easy 8 miles to Bland. A shuttle driver was dropping off some hikers at the trail and offered us a free ride to town which we graciously accepted. He let us know the only hotel in town was booked with a biker group. So much for staying in Bland. I was really looking forward to a shower and laundry. I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and haven't showered in 5 days. I'm am quite offensive and feel sorry for non-hiker I happen to encounter. Went to DQ for a chicken sandwich and a blizzard. We chose a table in the corner. Hopefully we didn't stink up the place too much. Resupplied at the Dollar General and got a ride back to the trail from Iwi, a section hiker who was finishing his section in bland. Thanks Iwi! Looks like 3 more days without a shower. Kept thundering and looking like it was going to rain this afternoon but rain never came.
Date: 2015-05-29
From: VA 611

To: Docs Knob Shelter
Miles today: 27.1
Weather: broken clouds

Not a very good day today. My phone died, my Ipod died and it started pouring 1 mile from the shelter. I'm soaked. Didn't cook. Ate a poptart. Less than 9 miles to Pearisburg and a shower. Thank goodness.
Date: 2015-05-30
From: Docs Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 8.4

Didn't sleep well. Up and on the trail by 6:45am. Got to Pearisburg by 10:00am. Still wet from yesterday. Saw a couple day hikers on the way but no thru hikers. Showered and felt great! Went to grocer, pharmacy, and DQ. Nice to be in town.
Date: 2015-05-31
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Zero day today. Did some town chores. Rambo made me a "cake" with mega stuff golden oreos and an assortment of berries. Thanks Rambo!! JP, Hollywood, Reptar, Pocket Spider, Soggy Dirt and Delilah showed up to the hotel today. Nice to see everyone. Today is Reptar's birthday as well. Happy birthday Reptar!
Date: 2015-06-02
From: Pearisburg

To: Symms Gap
Miles today: 12.4

Bit of a late start leaving town. 7 mile uphill out of town. Knee hurting on the step ups which is new. Hope it doesn't last. Rambo still having foot issues as well. Hiked just over 12 miles but felt like a lot more than that. Found a camp spot that looks like it was newly made right on the trail. Works for me. Getting dark.
Date: 2015-06-03
From: Symms Gap

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rained most of the night. Bit of a late start today. Super rocky trail today. Stopped by the "Captain's" today. Some guy that lets hikers camp in his yard for free. There is a zip line crossing the river to get to his house. Pretty fun. Drank a soda and hung out about half hour there. Stopped at a shelter for some water and saw Gorp Gobbler there. Haven't seen him since trail days. Nice to see him again. He is having some leg problems. Hope he doesn't have to leave the trail. Made it to War Spur shelter and no camp spots were available. Then we found out only one person is actually in the shelter. Guess I'm staying in the shelter tonight. Sounds good to me. Planning 18 miles tomorrow then 17 the next day to 4 Pines Hostel.
Date: 2015-06-04
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Rained all night. Seemed like it was going to rain all day but the rain held off. Cooked lunch at first shelter we came to. Some big uphills then ridgeline walk with lots of rocks and boulders. Definitely difficult trail today. Waters sources were pretty scarce today so my pack was pretty heavy having to carry more water than I usually do. Cooked up some tasty Asian noodles for dinner. Planning 17 miles tomorrow to Four Pines Hostel.
Date: 2015-06-05
From: Niday Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

Most of the crew at Niday Shelter were planning to stay at Four Pines as well to take advantage of the all you can eat family style dinner at Homeplace Restaurant. It is pretty well known on the trail. $15 for 3 meats and lots of sides. Big climb to start the day. Then down and up to Dragon's tooth. Not a bad climb but coming down from Dragon's Tooth was the most difficult descent yet. It was all boulders and rock faces. Some areas had rebar handles mounted into the rock to be able to get down. Very slow going. Also rained briefly once we got to Dragon's Tooth so all the rocks were wet and slippery. Made it to the hostel ~3:30pm. Pitched my tent in the yard and went to dinner at Homeplace. Coming back from dinner the hostel had filled up. Must have been 30 hikers all staying there. With only one bathroom some hikers were getting impatient. One hiker commented about someone taking an especially long time in the bathroom. Overhearing the conversation the "Dragon's Tooth Slayer" drew his mighty foam sword from his paracord sheath and exclaimed in his best Scottish accent "You can't rush mother nature! You can't rush mother nature!" He then returned his foam sword to his hip and continued his game of pool. With the hostel getting a little rowdy and tired from the long day I think it's time for some sleep.
Date: 2015-06-06
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Zero day today. Took a shuttle to Troutville for their trail festival with Zissou, Hollywood and Rambo. Zissou and I were looking for a new pack and Hollywood and Rambo were in the market for some new shoes. No luck for me but Zissou found a new pack and Hollywood and Rambo both found some new footwear. The fire station in Troutville offers free showers and laundry to hikers so we swung in there to do laundry and took the shuttle back to the hostel. Having a couple beers relaxing tonight.
Date: 2015-06-07
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Lambert Meadows Shelter
Miles today: 16.3

Bit of a late start today. Once we got to the trailhead Rambo realized she left her MP3 player at the hostel so we went back to get it. Thankfully we found it. We heard a lot of horror stories about how awful the 6 miles after Four Pines Hostel are and were told about half the hikers skip the section. I'm a bit of purist and don't want to skip any sections so I decided to hike it. It wasn't any worse than any other section I've hiked. Really glad I hiked it. Today we also hiked up McAfee Knob, the most photographed spot on the AT, and Tinker Cliffs, a half mile cliff walk. Both had some amazing views. We got to the shelter shortly before dark and not a single person was staying in the shelter so we decided to stay in the shelter and hopefully get an early start in the morning. Within a half hour about a dozen more hikers showed up. I haven't seen any of them before. The few that decided to stay in the shelter, Hot Wheels and Day Hiker, seem pretty cool.
Date: 2015-06-08
From: Lambert Meadows Shelter

To: Daleville
Miles today: 9.4

Pretty easy hike into Daleville today. Ate at Pizza Hut, resupplied at the grocer then decided to stay in town instead of hiking out. Just about every one from the hostel is at the hotel. Bit of a hiker reunion. JP told us he is leaving the trail due to financial reasons. Quite a bummer. We've been hiking with JP for a while now. He is really good at bringing everyone together. He'll be missed. He invited us all down to Key West after the trail to visit. Hopefully I'll be able to get down there. Cooked up some shrimp scampi in the room and relaxing the rest of the evening.
Date: 2015-06-09
From: Daleville

To: Curry Creek
Miles today: 8.4

Short hiking day today. Hung out at the hotel until check out at 11:00am then went to the UPS store so Rambo could send her boots home. There were a bunch of hikers still at the hotel so I talked with them a while. The news came to interview "The Bionic Woman" who is an amputee hiking the trail. She lost her leg in a repelling accident just over a year ago. Sad but moving story. We chatted a bit with the news crew off camera answering questions. They were pretty interested in hiker culture. We got back on the trail about 2:00pm and have a nice camp spot by Curry Creek. Making burritos tonight.
Date: 2015-06-10
From: Curry Creek

To: Jennings Creek
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Back on the trail by 9:00am this morning. Zissou's girlfriend is coming to hike with him and had some trail magic a few miles up from Curry Creek so we stopped there and had some breakfast. Yummy eggs with mushrooms, cheese and hot sauce. The trail kept crossing the highway today and was within earshot of it most of the day. Stopped at Jenning's Creek for the evening. Again most of crew we've been seeing is staying here as well. I'm pretty wore out from the long day. Don't think I'll be up to late tonight.
Date: 2015-06-11
From: Jennings Creek

To: Harrison Ground Spring
Miles today: 17.2

Looooong day today. 13 mile uphill leaving Jenning's Creek was not fun. Roughly 7000 feet of elevation change today. We stopped at Thunder Hill Shelter for a break and saw a ridgerunner posting signs about bear activity there. There have been nightly bear sightings at the shelter for the past week. We continued on 3 miles to the next water source and hopefully less bear activity. Planning 11.4 miles to Glasgow tomorrow for resupply. There is free camping and showers at the town park. I'm looking forward to a shower.
Date: 2015-06-12
From: Harrison Ground Spring

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Not a bad hiking day today. Pretty hot but mostly downhill. Made it to Glasgow by early afternoon. Took some time to hitch a ride but a truck finally pulled over and gave 5 of us a ride. It started raining on the way to Glasgow. The rain felt pretty refreshing. Scott Jurek, author of Born to Run, is trying to set the record for fastest assisted hike of the AT and passed by Glasgow just after we hitched the ride. Some other hikers in town met him and said he is doing 50 mile days, pretty impressive. Showered and did laundry. Some hikers made a big pot of chili for everyone at camp. Really nice of them and pretty tasty.
Date: 2015-06-13
From: Glasgow, VA

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

Unintentional zero today. Spent about 4 hours at the library updating my journal and still about a week behind. It's been a long time since I had access to a computer so it was definitely nice to get some stuff done. Saw Pocket Spider at the library and heard she got dehydrated yesterday and had EMS called on her. She is feeling a little better but still not a hundred percent. She was planning a few days off trail to visit friends here anyway so hopefully that will be enough time to recover. Resupplied at Dollar General and the grocer and as we were leaving the grocer it started pouring rain. We tried waiting it out but by the time it stopped it was 5:30pm. Too late to start hiking we decided to stay another night. Mack Daddy, Hollywood, and Soggy Dirt just showed up as well. Should be a fun evening. Hope to get out early tomorrow.
Date: 2015-06-14
From: Glasgow, VA

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Everything still wet from the rain yesterday and dew overnight when I packed up camp. I hate packing up a wet tent. Easy hitch back to the trail. Hot and humid today with two big climbs out of Glasgow. Ran out of water when one of the sources listed in the guidebook is not actually there. Some other hikers were trying to find it as well. With no luck we all had to go another miles uphill to the shelter which was the next water source. It started raining when we got here so probably going to stay the night.
Date: 2015-06-15
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Hog Camp Gap
Miles today: 17.6

On the trail by 6:30am this morning trying to beat the heat. The first 10 miles went pretty quickly. Big 6 mile climb after that. Mack Daddy's grandparents hosted some trail magic today. Water, gatorade, fried chicken, shrimp, pasta salad, black eyed pea salad, bread and cookies. Some of the best trail magic yet. Made it to Hog Camp Gap ~4:00pm. We found an awesome campsite with a swing. Good spot to call it a day.
Date: 2015-06-16
From: Hog Camp Gap

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Long day today. Woke up early today, packed up camp and had a last swing before heading back out on the trail. A lot of small ups and downs then a bigger climb up The Priest. Ran into some previous thru hikers handing out PB and J sandwiches as trail magic. Thanks Aviator and Firebird! Saw a bear on our way down The Priest. The bear head us before we saw it so we just saw it running away but was still cool. Stopped at Spy Rock for a bit. Spy Rock had a great 360 degree view. It was super windy up there so we didn't stay too long. One of the water sources today was Cripple Creek so Up on Cripple Creek by The Band has been stuck in my head all day. After dark now. Ready for bed.
Date: 2015-06-17
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Paul C Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Another long day. The first 6 miles seemed to take forever. Running out of food. Had to stop and cook some rice and tuna for lunch. Good thing we will be hitting town tomorrow. Ran into an Adventure Cycling Group doing the Blue Ridge Highway. They had a waystop and gave us some snacks. Also found a can of sardines at a shelter. Delicious snack. My feet aren't feeling too good since stopping. Pretty sore. Short 5.1 mile day tomorrow to town will be nice.