morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Plaza Motel, Pearisburg,VA
Miles today: 16.2

DAY 65: May 23,2005Last night we decided that we would hike into Pearisburg tomorrow. It was suppose to rain & we had planned on camping so we just decided to hike all the way to town. We had a leisurely mourning around camp. Piker made yummy oatmeal & mochas while I packed up our stuff. Last night while going to bed I heard all kinds of rustling outside.I sat up & saw 4 beady eyes staring at me. I yelled out & Piker,Moose, Spruce & Squid J all sat up(we had the shelter to ourselves!). They were all looking with their headlamps to see what it was. My heart was pounding. I thought I saw red eyes which would mean BEAR but no, it was just a couple deer. We jumped up & took pictures & settled back in for the night. After breakfast we headed out a 9:15. Right as we rejoined the AT I looked left & my heart jumped in my throat, there stood a cute deer just staring at me. Piker grabbed the camera and look some pictures of me with the deer. It was a great start to our day. We had a 1200 ft. climb to start our day. We just took it slow & steady. The morning was wonderful. We ended up seeing 4 deer, our very first snake, and a big fat ugly toad. All of the wildlife today was sweet, we felt that we hadn't seen that much & then we have a day like this. We really are in the wilderness. After 8.4 miles we arrived at Doe's Knob Shelter for water and a yummy hot lunch to give us the energy to push to town. We had a nice lunch with Moose & Hopper & headed out about 2:00. We cruised the last 7.8 miles. I listened to the radio the entire walk. I found my "bubble gum" pop station & it put me in a zone. The time flew & before I knew it the hellish downhill was over & we were hiking the mile long blue blaze into P-Burg. We arrived and went to meet Spruce & Squid J at the hotel. They had found a cheaper deal than the place we had originally planned on staying;we found out after waiting around 40 minutes but were happy to find them when Piker went to check the Plaza Motel. We plopped our stuff down & headed to Pizza Hut for dinner. Piker & I split a large pizza & each had an ice cold Bud Light. Spruce bought us all breadsticks to start with, very cool! It was a very enjoyable dinner! We headed back to the motel to shower and do our laundry. We found some great things in the hiker box,score! The rest of the night was spent making phone calls home & vegging out in front of the tube. Oh, it was so nice to be clean and in a comfy bed. We were asleep way past our normal bedtime...it was quiet around midnight after a disturbing episode of "I Want a Famous Face".
Date: 2005-05-24
From: Plaza Motel, Pearisburg,VA

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

Day 66: May 24, 2005Today we had a nice relaxing morning at the motel. Moose & I headed to the post office to get our maildrop packages & then we went to get some coffee for Piker & me. Moose bought us the coffee which was very nice! We went back to the motel & checked out my wonderful maildrop from my mom. Awesome trailmix, granola bars, chapstick, new socks & a cute tank. Once again Moms are the best. I took a shower & started packing up. The sky looked dark & we were certain it was going to rain. Just after 11 we walked out of the motel & it immediately began raining on us. Typical. We headed to Hardee's for a little lunch before hitting the trail and hopefully to wait out the rain. As we finished our lunch many locals came over to chat with us about the trail & give us advice. It was a very friendly community. As we sat & chatted we noticed how the rain had actually picked up, it was officially a downpour. Talk of a zeor floated through the group but we had to go on. No more zeros for our crew. I watched the rain get worse & worse & knew that we just had to go. We got all bundled up & headed out. The mile long road walk was the worst part of the day because we were totally exposed to the rain. We were soaked in 2 minutes and I got used to the rain when we hit the woods. The climb was tough but we just took it slow & steady. The rain began to die down a bit and there was a nice mist surrounding the mountain. When we finished the climb we had a really nice ridge walk. The rain makes me cold & tired very quickly so I was excited to get to the shelter. When we arrived the shelter was basically at capacity, which we thought it would be, so we decided to wait for Moose and then decide what to do. It was already 4 o'clock and it had stopped raining. We noticed that there were some realy nice camp spots so we decided to stay. Piker & I quickly set up the tent before the rain started again. Piker & Moose went to work making a fire. It took them a while because all they had to work with was wet leaves & wood. I had faith & about 15 munutes later we had a wonderul fire. Piker had hiked in some hot dogs so we all grabbed sticks and began roasting some dogs. Eventually everyone came out of the shelter to the fire . We had the best fire of our AT hike so far. Everyone went & grabbed bundles of sticks and we just piled it all on. It was a really fun night around the fire in good company. The tent was ultra comfortable & we stayed dry!
Date: 2005-05-25
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Bailey's Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 67: May 25,2005This morning we slept in, it was hard to get going because it was really cold out. We got motivated about 9 o'clock. I began breaking down the tent whilePiker made oatmeal. We packed up all our damp gear & began hiking at 10 o'clock. The hiking was really nice. Of course not as easy as people had told us it would be but it never is. We stopped at Pine Swamp Branch Shelter for a hot lunch and a rest. We headed out to conquer the last 3.9 miles & 1,000 ft. climb at 4:00. We came to a sign that said that the bridge at Stony Creek had been ripped down by hurricanes in '04 so if you did not want to forge the rushing river to take the road. We wanted to take the trail & forge the water. When we got there it was a bit more rushing than I thought but I was psyched. We changed into our crocs & began walking across the chilly water. Forging was one of my favorite parts of the trail so far! It was so much fun. On the other side we put our shoes back on & continued the last 1.5 miles to the shelter. When we arrived at the shelter everyone was already there. They had all taken the road & had gotten trail magic. Bummer, but we were so happy that we had been tough & forged right thru. We are serious purists & we didn't want to miss the trail! Socks had grabbed some extra candy@the magic & she gave it to us...so we did get trail magic. Thanks Socks!!!! We chatted around the fire which Moose had going when we got here which was really nice. We roasted turkey dogs that Moose carried in & Piker made Burritos for dinner. Everyone is in the shelter & I am sitting by the dying fire. Off to brush my teeth & hop in my warm sleeping bag. I hope the weather is nice tomorrow!
Date: 2005-05-26
From: Bailey's Gap Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 68: May 26,2005Last night while talking at the shelter we found out that the hostel in Catawba was closed. I had just talked to my sister & she was sending us a maildrop there. We assumed that they would hold all the packages at the Post Office but our dilemma was that it was Memorial Day Weekend so the Post Office would be closed on Monday. To avoid being stuck in Catawba & wait for our package we had to get there by 10:30 Saturday morning. It would be close....unless"Death March #2" went down. It was 50 miles to Catawba & we wanted to take a big chunk out of that today. We decided early on that we would do some night hiking today, so it would definitely be a long day. Virginia has been tough on us so far & it did not get any easier today. A lot of ridge line walking between mountains & valleys. Up 1000's of feet & down 1000's of feet = very tiring. We stopped at War Spur Shelter, 8.8 miles in for a lunch break. We finished off our yummy trail mix & Piker had a tortilla with peanut butter & I had one with tuna. Feeling energized we began our 1500 foot climb. We knew that we had a long way to go, so we got in a groove & just walked along steadily. The terrain is very demanding in this section. A lot of ups & down. Our next break came at Laurel Creek Shelter. Piker had some red beans & rice but I passed because I was still stuffed from all the peanut butter I had eaten at lunch. We also had walked up upon a cooler with ice cold sodas, which gave us a nice sugar boost.I love trail magic. Our next meeting point was the Keefer Oak, which is a large white oak that is 18+ feet around. It reminded us so much of Oregon. Old Growth is just beautiful and very rare on the East Coast. We had an awesome dinner that we got out of a hiker box, KungFu Chicken. After dinner we took some pictures & started our climb about 8:30. We had 2.7 miles to go before the next shelter, so we decided to meet there & regroup for our night hike. The hiking was pretty easy going. When we got to the summit of Sinking Creek Mtn. it was basically a rocky ridge walk from there on out. Huge rock slabs(like NJ) covered the ridge line. It was difficult at some points but we kept up a nice pace. I was bringing up the caboose, which I was a bit worried about in the beginning but Piker stayed right with me so I knew I was safe. We stopped for a break at a beautiful overlook. The sky was clear and hundreds of stars lit up the sky. It was a manificent view. We all shut off our headlanmps and sat staring at the sky for a while. As we were star gazing we all saw a shooting star, just beautiful. It was 10:30 so we decided to get moving. We kept hiking pretty quickly and arrived at the shelter about 12:30AM. We expected the shelter to be full but when we walked up there was only one guy. We really freaked him out. We were so loud coming thru the woods on the still night. I felt really bad,but I was also happy that I didn't need to set the tent up. We got our beds set up, hung our packs & layed down. Exhausted.....I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
Date: 2005-05-27
From: Niday Shelter

To: Scott & Mandy's Home
Miles today: 16.6

Day 69: May 27,2005We got a taste of what it must have been like for that lone guy when we rolled in last night. He woke up about 5AM & was banging around and shining his headlamp in our faces. Well I guess that we are even now! Piker was up early and ready to go but I didn't roll our of bed until 9:30, When I stood up my body was screaming at me. I definitely did not feel ready to hike 23 miles into Catawba but we had to make it to the Post Office. Piker went to get water & then made me oatmeal and coffee. We packed up & were ready to hit the trail.We hiked out at 10:40, just as Moose was crawling back in his sleeping bag. We had a pretty serious 1500 foot climb in front of us. We decided to not take a break until we were at the top. When we arrived at the Audie Murphy Memorial we flung our packs off & fell to the ground. I was exhausted, that climb had taken all of my energy. We were low on food, which was another reason we needed to make it to town. The day before we had put a huge dent in our food supply. Those big mile days you really need to eat a lot more. We each ate a snickers for an energy boost to get us to Trout Creek for a hot lunch. The hiking was slow going, no energy and exhausted. This is what I thought it would be like all of the time.
Date: 2005-05-28
From: Scott & Mandy's Home

To: Scott & Mandy's Home
Miles today: 5.9

Day 70: May 28,2005Today we did the easy section from VA624 to VA 311. We walked the mile walk back into Catawba so that we could have dinner at The Homeplace Restaurant. We were there very early so we resupplied at the little general store and sat in a sunny grassy field and waited for the rest of our crew to arrive. Spruce, Moose, and Squid J pulled up (they got a hitch, unlike us) and they told us that Mandy had invited us to spend another night with them at their home. SO generous. We were so excited to know that we would not have to hike after stuffing ourselves at the AYCE dinner. The Homeplace opened at 3:00, we were waiting outside at 2:30. There was a large group of 13 hikers. Piker, Spruce, Moose, Squid J, Tiny Dancer, Domino, Sunshine, Hopper, Spike, Fido, Buzz, Hammer and I. Right at 3:00 they called our name and ushered us to a long table. We ordered 3 meats, Roast Beef, Fried Chicken, and Ham, then all of the food started arriving. There was little talking as we all began stuffing our faces with biscuits, green beans, coleslaw (my favorite), mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and tomatoes and all the meat. Delicious! As soon as a bowl was empty the server would grab it and be back in a jiffy with it full once again. It was a thru-hikers dream. There was pitchers of sweet tea and lemonade on the table. About an hour in we all began slowing down. Next was dessert, blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and coffee. When the waitress offered me a second dessert I couldn't refuse even though my stomach was so full and bloated. I love dessert!!! It was painful to leave the table because it hurt to stand up straight..after a meal like that you usually want a bed and a TV remote!! I asked Hopper and Spike if they would not mind giving us a ride out to Mandy and Scott's and they said yes. They are just so nice. When we arrived Scott and Mandy were as always so hospitable and made us feel at home once again. I watched Cold Mountain with Sunshine and cried my eyes out once more. I just love that movie..I am a sucker for a romantic love story. Piker and I had our own room once again. We better not get to used to this!!! Thanks for everything Ms. Mandy and Scott!! YOU ROCK!!!
Date: 2005-05-29
From: Scott & Mandy's Home

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 71: May 29,2005After a lazy day at Ms. Mandy's watching Dave Chappelle and contemplating a zero we finally left at 2:00. We took our time climbing up to McAfee Knob because we wanted to watch the sunset. We hung out up there for about 3 hours. Piker, Moose, and Spruce played some chess after we took tons of pictures. The sky became a bit cloudy and our stomachs were rumbling so we decided to head to the shelter and start a fire so that we could roast the hot dogs that we had carried in. Piker started the fire while I went to get the water. This was one of the most disgusting water sources that I have seen yet. Yucky stagnant water. But we were so thirsty. After 4 hot dogs and toasted buttery buns (thanks to Spruce) we enjoyed marshmellows from the Ridge Runner for this section of the trail. After a few nights in town it was nice to be back in the woods again.
Date: 2005-05-30
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Comfort Inn- Troutville
Miles today: 15.4

Day 72: May 30,2005Today was a rough day for me. A lot of aches and pains. Spruce had left camp early and was trying to catch up with Squid J. Throughout the day we found notes from him along the trail telling us the plan. It is really fun to walk up upon notes on the trail. The plan was the Comfort Inn. It was the cheapest deal in town and we were there. We could hear the road and thought that we were almost there and I was so happy. All of a sudden Piker jumped back and I stopped and hesitantly looked around him and there in the middle of the trail was a HUGE snake. AAHHHH!!! I took about 6 steps back before reaching for my camera. The snake looked like a boa constrictor and was as thick as a cola can. Piker got closer than I would ever dare to and he began taking a video of the snake. He began poking the snake with his trekking pole and tried to get it to strike at him. The snake coiled back but ultimately did not want to waste his venom on something that he wouldn't be eating. I would not move an inch until that snake was across the trail so Piker tried to move it along. As he harrassed the snake more we discovered that it was a Rattlesnake because it was furious and rattling away at us. About the last for inches of his tail was jet black and the rattler was a brownnish tan. Two day hikers walked up South as the snake moved off into the woods and the women looked at her husband/boyfriend and said, "I think we should turn around." I was also ready to run out of the woods!! The rest of the walk into town my eyes were scanning the brush on the side of the trail. No more snake sitings this day though, thank goodness. There were a lot of thru-hikers at the Comfort Inn and we got to see a lot of people who we hadn't seen in a while. Squid J met up with his friend who was coming out to hike with us and we all split a room. Taco Bell was the menu for dinnner and lounging and having a few beers was the extent of our evening. Showered and clean in an air conditioned room...we were lovin'it!!!
Date: 2005-05-31
From: Comfort Inn- Troutville

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 73: May 31,2005We woke up bright and early because Scott was coming to pick us up and give us a ride back to Catawba to check on our maildrop. We were two of the first peoplle at the continental breakfast which meant that we had tons of choices. We went to Catawba and I got a wonderful care package from my sister. She sent Piker and I each a new t-shirt along with Sponge Bob Square Pants animal crackers, gatorade mix, a new journal, and a few other cute things. It was definitely one of my favorite packages yet!! Oh I miss my Sissy!! Scott drove us back to Daleville and we hit up the Kroger's Supermarket for our resupply. How nice of Scott to go out of his way like that for us, the generosity out on the trail still amazes me!!! We were waiting for the Outfitter to open so that we could get some Aqua Mira. They opened at 10 and we were there. They were out of Aqua Mira, OH NO!! But it was supposedly coming in on a truck today so we decided to wait it out. We also wanted to wait on the Bruces because they had not made it down there yet. While we were waiting we went a bit crazy and I bought a new fleece and Piker bought a new pair of shorts. We have little control in Outfitters. We bought some croissants, turkey, cheese, and lettuce and Piker made some yummy sandwiches while we waited on the Aqua Mira. We were so bored we were going town crazy. The UPS truck arrived at 12:40 and they did NOT have the Aqua Mira. Bummer, we feel like we wasted so much time sitting around but onward we go. Wonderful camping tonight, I love our tent.
Date: 2005-06-01
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Terry Scott's Home
Miles today: 16.9

Day 74: June 1,2005We were planning on camping right by the road and Piker, Moose, and I got our tents all set up. Squid J, Russ and Spruce scored a ride to the store to get beer and Terry offered to let us stay at her house so that we could get out of the rain for the night. We didn't know what to do because our tents were up already and it had started raining and Moose had even started a fire but we decided to go. Another experience that we would never have unless we were walking this crazy trail. Terry came back to get the three of us because we had to break our gear down. When we arrived at her home in Buchanan VA she told the boys about the cabin in the back and told me to wait and grab some things for the night, like a heater and some ice for the beer. As soon as the boys turned the corner she told me that I could take a shower if I wanted to, she didn't want the smelly boys in her house...to funny. She even let me do a load of laundry. Terry and I made dinner for everyone, spaghetti and garlic bread. The boys seemed a little ticked off that I got a shower but I let them throw some of their clothes in the laundry so they didn't stay mad long. They were happy that I was clean and so was I. The rain continued to pour down and we were happy to have shelter for the night. Another strange experience out here...check out Spruces journal for more details about our night at Terry's.
Date: 2005-06-02
From: Terry Scott's Home

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: moderate rain

Day 75: June 2,2005Lazy, Rainy Day!!!! It was hard to get motivated to hike in the rain. Terry made us breakfast; eggs with toast and jam. We headed back to the trail about 11 and started climbing. When we arrived at Bryant Ridge Shelter the rain had not let up and staying for the night was absolutley on our minds. The shelter was beautiful and held 20+ people. It had a wonderful huge porch that we hung out on all day. We had a chess tournament throughout the day and I spent a lot of time in my sleeping bag ready my book. Piker started a fire as the rain slowed to a sprinkle. We were in bed relatively early because we knew that we had to put some serious miles in the next few days.
Date: 2005-06-03
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Matt's Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 76: June 3, 2005A long wonderful day of hiking followed by an hour of night hiking. Whenever we do long days we take a lot of breaks which makes the day much more enjoyable. There was a lot of climbing today, but whats new, we're in Virginia and it is not even close to being flat. We set up our tent about 10pm and Piker made himself some Beef Lo Mein for dinner. I wasn't all that hungry because of the heat. We set ourselves up for a short walk into town tomorrow. We will sleep in tomorrow morning and take it slow into Glascow.
Date: 2005-06-04
From: Matt's Creek Shelter

To: Mom & Pop's Motel- Glascow
Miles today: 2.2

Day 77: June 4, 2005Once again the vortex of town pulled us in. Piker, The Bruces and I split a lovely room at Mom & Pops and enjoyed the lunch buffet. The heat of VA has hit us pretty hard and the reality of hiking long days during the summmer has become too much. I love the summer when I am sitting by the pool sipping on pink lemonade. I am not a fan of summer when I am hiking over mountains with a 30 lb pack on my back sweating my butt off. Hot and Buggy!!! Oh..I hope I can deal with all these bug bites. I guess that I am just super sweet because all the bugs want to bite me. Gypsy Lulu wanted to play connect the dots with my bug bites...that game could go on for hours. We resupplied and did our laundry. Once again we hung out in our Air conditioned room, had some beers and watched the Pistons wip Shaq and the Heat. Boom Shaka!!! Go Pistons!!!
Date: 2005-06-05
From: Mom & Pop's Motel- Glascow

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

Day 78: June 5, 2005We took our time getting out of Glascow and enjoyed (?) a chilly breakfast buffet at Mom and Pop's Restaurant. Domino and Debra gave us a ride back to the trail and we took off about 11:30 just as the heat of the day hit. Not so smart. I felt that I was suffocating as I walked up the hills. We had a lot of huge climbs today. I thought that the climb out of Glascow was tougher than the climb out of P-burg. ROUGH!! We stopped at the shelter and decided to camp because there were some beautiful spots!! The shelter was by a pond and as soon as we walked up we heard the chorus of bullfrogs. It was so loud. We saw a deer walk into the pond for a sip of water, not shy at all. The sound of the frogs put me to sleep and then when I woke up in the middle of the night they kept me up. In the morning I was happy to get out of there and to have the silence of the woods and never hear a "ribbit" the rest of the day!!!!