morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-16
From: chestnut knob

To: pearsiburg va
Miles today: 58.0
Weather: overcast clouds

5/12 16 miles Laural Creek 5/13 8 miles-Bland Va. 5/14 20 miles5/15 16 milesTORN:Last post I was bragging about camping on the mountain side. Was amazing until things got a little ugly. A storm came out of nowhere that evening. Lightning was all around, the wind became wicked. The poles on the tent snapped and ripped through the tent walls. We made a mad scramble for shelter. Torn, beaten, and wet, not the best night.BATTERED: The trail is taking its toll now. Va is covered with rocks and sometimes progress is slow. Ran across Preacher. In the rain, he lost footing and fell down the rock bed, probably around 6 foot. The result is a hurt back and battered all over. Breathing hurts, moving kills.BLOOD COVERED STONES:I had just met Solo in the morning and again at lunch. That evening word came that there was an injured hiker that needed evacuation. He had hyper extended his knee on the rocks and went down. To make it worse, he was carrying a knife that went thru the sheath and stabbed his leg, apparently hitting an artery. Hikers and Medical team got him out. Hopefully, his dream is only postponed and not crushed.I've said before that the trail is as burtal as it is beautiful. The numbers are dwindling and I still believe that in the end, the few left standing will be there partly because of luck.But it's not all bad. The saying out here is that the trail supplies you with what you need. Is it the Trail? God? Karma? Those are substituted like the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. But, it is true, needs - even unusual ones - are usually met.TORN part 2: we're famous now. Word of our misadventure has spread and the story has grown. "Weren't you the guys hit by lightening?" We're always asked. I tell them that really only the first strike hurt, the second and third wasn't so bad. "The trees fell on you didn't they?" I answer yes, and who knew that porcupines lived in trees. OK, seriously, the trail worked out. REI shipped me a new tent and now 4 days later I'm holding my new home in my hands.BATTERED part 2: I hurt my back before leaving home and had been carrying a back brace. I haven't used it in a few weeks now and started to throw it out to save on weight. Then suddenly I decided to carry it for 2 more days. Who would have known that Preacher would need it the next day? Is now his and then hopefully somebody else's when the time is right.BLOOD COVERED STONES part 2. Trying to find out if the took Solo to the local hospital and want to drop in on him. His accident was not far from a road, and there hadn't been many roads lately. He wasn't solo at that moment and had people who could help and get him to safety. It isn't great, but things have a way of working out here.Again, forgive typos as there are usually many when doing this from my phone.
Date: 2015-05-26
From: Dalesville, VA

To: glasco
Miles today: 50.0
Weather: light rain

OK, have a quick signal on a mountain side, so I'll ramble for a minute. By now most of us have been on the trail for 2 to 3 months. That's a long time of eating dehydrated junk, pop tarts, trail mix and gallons of semi cloudy water. So when fellow backpacker Frosty posted in one of the shelter journals that his girl was coming in and they were going to do trail magic, the word spread like you wouldn't believe. The idea of a coke could only be trumped by the promise of burgers. Like one's that you don't have to add water to before you eat. People were actually night hiking so they wouldn't miss this. Was going great until the freaking swat team descended on us like in Christmas Vacation. Talk about bull. The little grill is considered a fire. ChaChing! Beer? ChaChing! On and on it went. They were able to pay for their Reno 911 uniforms before it was over. Frosty, you still the man. Thanks for trying.
Date: 2015-06-04
From: glasco

To: waynesboro
Miles today: 80.0

OK, mileage isn't for the day, instead miles since I last updated. Had some big days where we had to finish with headlights, and some not so big because of the weather.Back to big climbs. Some days climbing more than 10k feet. Of course, not at once, it's s little more heart breaking. Like climb 4k feet, immediately descend, then hit the next climb.Random thought: I want to discover a way to dehydrated water. Say reduce 16 oz to a little pill. Then when you need it, add 16 oz of water to rehydrate. Genius right? Not sure, I might be missing something. Rain just won't stop. Last 4 days have been a steady drizzle. Everything is wet, clothes, socks, shoes, tent, backpack... Views are hard to come by right now. The trail is mostly rocks or slabs in this section. I slipped a half dozen times before taking my first spill of the trip. Wish I could say it was graceful with some dignity, but I was more like a pinball bouncing off or rocks. It's widespread. I know of two who think they may have broken fingers or hands, one with a black eye and one with a broken nose. Weirdest thing I heard: somebody blowing in his hands trying to get them warm is offered genuine advice from his friend. "Don't blow in them, put then in your crotch. It's more efficient and they won't get sticky." What? We're hiking the AT, we're sweaty and dirty. The last thing I want in my crotch are my hands or anybody else's for that matter.Since there were no views in the rain, took a side trail down crabtree falls. For 1.7 miles you follow a cascading waterfall. Instead of getting down because of the rain, it turned out to be one of my favorite days.Things I can't believe that I did: I ate spam and Vienna sausages. I have no pride left. when eating Vienna, close your eyes and envision a steak. It doesn't help, just funny to do.I've gotten a lot of text, emails and people signing our journal. Thank you all.FYI, you can only pack up a wet tent for around 3 days before it's not waterproof any longer. In getting wet while writing this Going to try to get in a quick 15 miles tomorrow and then into town. A hot shower sounds so good.Strangest thing seen: the dinosaur of course. They say that a girl use to be attached to it, but somebody stole her. Date night?
Date: 2015-06-13
From: waynesboro

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 130.0
Weather: clear sky

900 mile mark. The Shenandoah's are now behind us. A great park with fantastic trails and views. Camping is a little trickier because national parks have special regulations. Most days required 18 to 20 miles. Again, that doesn't sound like much, but they're tiring days considering the terrain and weight (mostly water) that we had to carry. Most evenings we hit camp just before dark with 12 hours of backpacking behind us. Still, so worth it. One funny thing, while in the Shenandoah's, every couple days we'd hit a park grocery. A coke was $2, a 16oz beer was $1. I'm no mathematician, but I am an expert on thirst and value. Ha! We lost a few more friends recently. Old Roy (internal bleeding), Irish (hernia), and Forest (?). Irish surprised me the most since he had already completed a thru hike of the AT and PCT. Again, need some luck to go with hope.Something cool. Midway thru this section, a man chased us down and offered us a place to stay for the night. I can see my friend Joel shaking his head "no". Don't get in the truck! Don't go to his house! No worries, I have wonderful interrogating skills and felt confident that if he wasn't legit, he'd wilt under the pressure. It went something like this. Me: you say you have food?Him: yep.Me: like what?Him: Roast.Me: with carrots?Him: yep.Me: and potatoes?Him: yepHim:Beer too.Jeeze! He's legit! No need to keep up this NCIS stuff. Load up! By the end of the evening he had collected 9 hikers. 7 were good friends who I hadn't seen in a few days or weeks. Turns out that the man is called MaxFactor, a nice guy and a heck of a cook. He has 2 condos on time share and spends 2 weeks of his vacation each year helping hikers. The price? As he said, just to listen to his story which was amazingly touching. He had lost a son and hiked the AT looking for answers. What he found was God, friends and clarity. This is his way of repaying the trail. Was a great evening and the only thing more impressive than his dinner was his breakfast which included 6 lbs of bacon. Lots of bear sightings by all, and a few rattlesnakes. I only spotted 2 bears. OK, to be honest, I saw 1 bear butt as he disappeared into the bushes and one stump that kind of looked like a bear, so I'm counting it. Kindness and humanity isn't just found on the trail, there is a lot back home which makes this trip possible. Like my son, who I'm so proud of, shipping me some needed items - and keeping my dog alive (I hope). Anita - thank you so much for helping on the homefront and spreading the word about this blog. You've been wonderful.Everybody else. Much love. Enjoy your time, family and friends. Live big.
Date: 2015-06-17
From: Front Royal

To: Bear's Den
Miles today: 40.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Looks like VA will be finished tomorrow and I'll be glad to see a new state, although it'll only be West VA. VA is known for what they call the Virginia Blues. Probably because it's the longest trek thru a state. It has taken its toll. You start in what they call the green tunnel, meaning deep in the forest without many views. You end with the feared roller coaster - a series of steep up and downs that takes at least a day to complete. I love the social dynamics of the trail and this has been the hardest on my friends to date. Tribes are splintering. So many are giving up. You really do form a brotherhood/sisterhood out here. One hiker told me that his best friend who he met on the trail and hiked with since his 2nd day out here had left. "I woke up this morning and cried." He said. Strange hearing a tough, grizzled man saying that, but after being out here, I understand. Another girl, whom I consider to be a good friend seemed panicked and lost with the realization that 3 out of 4 of her group were heading home. This is the attrition that we all knew was coming and yet none of us expected to be a deeply impacted. Starting to get a little lonelier when finally reaching a town and locating fewer and fewer friends.But the remaining have set their hopes and sights on a new state. A new beginning. New friends. Good times like the old times. And all I can do is believe that it will be true. Staying at the hostel in the picture tonight. Waiting on them to open the doors at 5 and deliver on their promise of pizza, cokes and happier times. Hope I didn't sound like a downer, because this week has also had some of my favorite moments, and I have something really cool planned for next week that I'll tell you about if I can pull it off.Take care my friends
Date: 2015-06-19
From: Bear's Den

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I woke up in a bed, showered, put on clean clothes, made myself as presentable as possible and for a rare treat, attempted to blend in with the nice smelling, wide eyed tourist of the world.At sunrise, I was on a train watching another train blur by in the opposite direction and like scenes from old movies, it was art. It was my first train ride. What seems commonplace to many, fascinated me. What can i say? I've been living in the woods, so I'm probably more easily entertained than most.The real world interaction made me think back to a conversation that I had with a 13 year old kid a while back. After telling him what I was doing, he looked at me in earnest and asked. "You know that one day you have to go back don't you?" Watching all of the people in mass transit makes me wonder when and how I'll make that transition to reality.So a couple days ago, someone mentioned that there was a train station in Harpers Ferry. So I started working on the idea of seeing DC. Now, after getting up at 4 a.m. and walking to the station, Palomino, Drop Bear, and I are hoping to get inspired by the arts of the capitol.I have to go now since our train is now pulling into Union Station....Much later... What an incredible day. Sat at Lincoln's feet. Felt the air thicken with the gravity of the Vietnam Memorial. Dwarfed by the sheer mass of the Smithsonian. Awed by the space museum. Touched by the endless works of art. And stood absolutely breathless as I witnessing the power of something supreme at the Burghers of Calais sculpture. Now back on the train, people seem happier than this morning as they commute with the relief of the approaching weekend. I'm happy for them.It was great fun being a tourist for a day, yet I knew that it'd only be a brief distraction to the task at hand. We all began to feel somewhat crowded and overwhelmed by the stimuli. The moment was spectacular, yet our thoughts are back on tomorrow. Maybe my weekend is everyday, or maybe it's still a few months away.Rougarou
Date: 2015-06-20
From: Harpers Ferry

To: who knows
Miles today: 40.0
Weather: overcast clouds

My friends are morons. OK, if you must, you can say lovable morons, but that's probably over embellishing. Let's just say barely likable. So most places only accept packages the size of a shoebox. I pick up mine, it's the size of a refrigerator. The lady gave it to me with a what the heck look on her face. Every hiker around, and there were plenty since I was at the AT headquarters, gathered around and tried to act casual, but curious as heck. I was scared to open it. Really. So the contents.JagerRedBullBottlecap candy.Cups. ???Empty snicker wrappers. (Jerks)A stupid Bob Ross shirt. (They say I'm starting to look like him)And a sombrero. For real! A freaking sombrero! I have to get better friends. Ha! You guys are awesome.Down to 6% battery so I'll update later.
Date: 2015-06-24
From: who knows

To: Fayetteville Pa
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Turns out it's hard finding better friends than the likeable morons back home. After a brutal day, I decided to crash in a shelter. I woke up to giggling and knuckleheads trying to paint my toenails. I feel so pretty. Ha!Today is the big day that's been the talk of the trail lately. Side trail to Caledonia state park where it is tradition to do the half gallon challenge. Turns out it's more difficult than you'd think. Eat a half gallon of icecream within 15 minutes. Feels like one of Joel's crazy challenges, yet everybody does it for free out here. We'll see how it goes.Into our 7th state. The feared bolder fields of PA are just ahead. My boots are already coming apart and might have to complete this section with duct tape.Later friends!
Date: 2015-06-25
From: Fayetteville Pa

To: Mount Holly Pa
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

Things are going great and yesterday may have been the most perfect hiking day yet, or at least most of it was. Almost no humidity, blue skies, kind trails. Camped on the Mason/Dixon line a couple nights ago with half of the tent in Maryland and half in Pennsylvania. Both states really maintain and use the AT as a hiking trail for locals and connect many of their state parks. I know that the trails will get tougher in a few days, but enjoying it right now. We've been trying to chase down our friends, but the group is fairly spread apart right now. The pressure to cover miles has increased. I'm really worried that I'll have to finish in the snow. But miles are hard to come by with the forecast calling for 3 days of severe storms. Can still hike, but slows us down and wet feet equals new blisters. So we swore off towns in hopes of picking up the pace, but here we are in town again. Palomino has caught a virus and was sick thru the night. Really really sick. Not much that we could do except hike 8 miles to the closest road and hitch into town. Going to wait this out and hope it's not Guardia. We've had a run of busted and leaking water filter bottles lately and hoping unfiltered water didn't make it into our drinking water.As bad as she felt, and as heavy as her pack was, turns out she can fly if she happens to stumble on a rattle snake, which she did. That rattling sound sticks in your head after hearing one. And they don't believe in moving of of the trail for you either.I had happened across a snake earlier in the day and immediately let loose a string of words that aren't appropriate for this blog. Then I felt really guilty because those would be terrible last words. Now I'm going to try to memorize some great motivational quote that I can scream next time I'm faced with impending death. Ha! Maybe the speech from Breaveheart out something, I'm open to suggestions.We've officially crossed the half way point. It moves every year since there are always new switchbacks and rerouting. The pic is in front of the makeshift sign. Only 1082 miles to go.Oh, I didn't do so good on the half gallon challenge. Cross the half way mark, eat a half gallon of ice cream at one of the park's camp stores. I was too overconfident and didn't think dropping down a double bacon cheeseburger first would impact the outcome. It did. I couldn't help it, I've been craving a burger for the last week. But, 2 hikers did pull it off. One in 38 minutes and the other in 42. It's really harder than it seems.Thanks again everybody for everything. I have read and appreciate all of your notes.Lew, hate that we missed you in DC and appreciate the offer of your home.John and Margie, thanks for the constant support from the home front.Steve, your offer to send picked quail eggs, although interesting, let's hold off a bit. Peace Out! (That's lingo that the trail kids taught me)
Date: 2015-07-04
From: Mount Holly Pa

To: Hamburg
Miles today: 80.0
Weather: light rain

So much I wanted to say, but just hitched into Hamburg for a resupply and trying to get back to the trail. This may be one of the toughest parts yet. Either pointed rocks or mud, but have new boots now and they work much better than duct tape. All is well and will update soon.
Date: 2015-07-28
From: Bear Mountain, NY

To: Dalton MA
Miles today: 140.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hello All. Things are great on the trail (most of the time). Had a wonderful day of trail magic. That is what they call strangers helping you out. On 3 occasions we found water caches, which saved us from having to drink that copper colored water. One of them also had fruit, so nice. But the last was the best. Some old dude named Hike Man was just unloading 20 gallons of water as I passed by. As I helped him unload, Palomino happened along. He looked at her, told her that she looked skinny and pitiful and then told us to get in his truck. Again, is different out here. That's something that you'd never do in the city, but out here you trust more. He took us down the road to a deli and bought us fantastic sandwiches. Then to top it off he three in a handful of protein bars, donuts and a couple cokes. People are truly amazing.New York is a fading memory, as is Connecticut. One of my favorite CN memories was in Kent. There, a little clothing store on the uppity, artsy street opened their back yard for backpackers to camp in. They also included a restroom and outdoor shower, which is a shower curtain with a garden hose draped over it. Soooo cold, but so great. Crazy thing is my last 3 showers have been outdoor showers like this, just the others didn't have the nice shower curtain. Ha! Much harder up north so far. Hotels are so expensive that I've been trying to avoid them. Some laundromats ban hikers. We are scurge on their picturesque towns. And I don't blame them, we do look out of place mingling in with the weekenders.So far Massachusetts has surprised me with their swampy areas, even on top of their mountains. And I thought LA. had relentless mosquitoes. These watch you plaster yourself with deet like you're glazing a donut. Got caught up in a massive storm the other night. Felt like Lt Dan in Forrest Gump when he was on the bow of the boat. In the midst of this, I was holding the tent down and attempting to keep the wind from ripping it apart. Lightening was hitting all around us. Branches falling out of trees, then the trees themselves. I tried to count the seconds between the lightening and thunder and often it was less than one. Unlike Lt Dan asking God if that was all he had, I was much more cowardly and prepared to meet my Maker as it seemed like a reasonable chance this could happen. Of course, since I writing this, you've guessed the outcome. But the next morning on the trail, we had to bushwhack through 6 or 8 massive blowdowns until we got past the storm section. Still hopeful. Still fearful. Still pushing. Praying that there is 600 miles left in us.
Date: 2015-08-03
From: Dalton MA

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 110.0

"As the light increased I discovered around me an ocean of mist, which by chance reached up to exactly the base of the tower, and shut out every vestige of the earth, while I was left floating on this fragment of the wreck of the world, on my carved plank in cloudland; a situation which required, no aid from the imagination to render it impressive."Henry David ThoreauI must agree with Mr Thoreau. I experienced the highest mountain in Massachusetts just as the clouds swarmed. Impressive indeed.Followed that with Vermont's magesty, Stratton Mountain. Back into big climbs with the most revered Whites and Washington still ahead.The weather has turned beautiful, almost cold at times. Think I'm finally finding clarity and peace in my existence. I'll miss this trail life when it's over, but its impacts will last forever.   i hope
Date: 2015-08-04
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Killington
Miles today: 70.0
Weather: scattered clouds

All the warnings claimed that Vermont is a mud pit, and yes, muddy in sections, but absolutely stunning. Once we got past the first section, where Palomino waddled like a turtle on her back in a bog, things have been great. Back to great climbs, fewer misquotes, and spectacular views. The locals have been great and hitching to town for resupplies so easy. And the weather! Sent for our winter gear. Can't believe we'd need that in August, but the lows have in the 50s and its hard to crawl out of my sleeping bag in the mornings since I only have shorts and a super lite tee. One proud moment, had to ration food for a couple days as we were running really low. Made it into town and McDonalds where I dropped $23 on my meal, and most of that was from the $1 menu. They asked where my party was and I told them that they were looking at it. Lots going on at home and Palomino is so grateful for all her friends checking in and helping her mom during this time. You have all been great. And thanks again to William and John who has kept us from starving and hopefully freezing.