morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-21
To: THE STREAM
Miles today: 0.0

THE STREAM        April 21, 2005                Not a daily entryThis is it, right here on this very rock, by some stream that hopefully I can find a name for. You can find when, where and why I am here in my regular entry. It¢s all about purpose.   My struggle is what is my specific purpose I came to this stream where I wanted to take off my shoes dip my feet in the water and take another break, but I don¢t need a break and I am way behind schedule today. I want to get home as close to May 1st as possible, (raining must stop writing for now)¢¦. Continued¢¦. But I also want to enjoy this pretty little creek. Now of the few successful thruhikers I talked to before the trip one of them said they wished that they had taken more time to enjoy the trail. Now up to this point I believe I have been well balanced between the hiking and the enjoyment of the trail.   This stream brought a challenge, there was no middle ground, I either stopped at the stream to enjoy its beauty or I pursued my goal of returning home.This all might seem entirely too simple but I¢m trying to use this to illustrate the confusion in my own life at this point. I can no longer take the middle road, unfortunately I am unable to accomplish in this life everything I wish to do, there is simply not enough time. I must find my specific purpose and accomplish specific goatls or else I will stretch in all directions and be unable to reach any of them.So I did stop and put my feet in the water, what that means about myself I do not know. This is just a taste of what happened down by the stream.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter, VA, MP 746.3
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Someone is definitely looking out for me, this is the 2nd night in a row, just after I decide to not go on and spend the night here at this beautiful double decker it starts to rain.   Checked the weather before I left it wasn¢t supposed to rain, but I¢ve been in a shelter just in time before it started both times. I hiked this morning through a fog along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a lot of views but I couldn¢t see anything. I saw an orange salamander and two large birds (I think they were pheasants). The hiking was almost all gravy today and I put in 20 miles without a hitch. I¢m all alone in a large shelter tonight. I¢ve basically been hiking alone for a week now spending each night with someone different. Hopefully I will catch someone or someone will catch me soon. I fear it would be terribly hard for me to do this trek all alone, hey maybe someone could send me a volleyball or something. WILSON! Haha, Tom Hanks, great actor.Sleep tight, don¢t let the bed bugs bite.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter, VA, MP 746.3

To: Matts Creek Shelter, VA, MP 769
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I started hiking at 9:00 a.m. it took me till 3:00 p.m. to hike the first 10 miles, I was done the next 12 by 7:30p.m. It was another sort of cool overcast day, but mostly clear views and a lot of wind in the afternoon. I took a 2 mile detour to see some falls, they were neat but not worth the time and energy involved in hiking down to see them, maybe if it had been a warmer day.My headlamp is flickering and its ticking me off. I lost a gaiter 2 days ago, I was hoping I had mistakenly stashed it in my pack, but that doesn¢t seem to be the case, so I walk around al day with one gaiter on.I met new thruhikers at the last shelter, that¢s probably how I got here so fast, not wanting them to pass me. There¢s apparently 3 or 4 of them. I only met 2, Frank and Bassmaster? They stared about a week after me around the 4th or the 5th of March. Alan is still just ahead by little more that a day, we¢re going the same pace just a day apart. I¢m focusing a lot on getting to Harpers Ferry and being home and seeing my family & friends, it is my driving force of the hike at the moment.Exhausted must stop writing and sleep
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Matts Creek Shelter, VA, MP 769

To: Brown Mtn. Ridge Shelter, MP 746.3
Miles today: 20.6

I feel good, but am too lazy/tired to cook. Writing in this journal is a chore. I found my missing gaiter this morning in my clothes bag. I hiked to the first shelter and ran into Scarecrow, and I was like what? You are behind me, he had some crazy story about yellow-blazing unwillingly. I chatted with him for a while, then moved on , he was taking a zero waiting for some package.Brisk is the word for today or downright chilly, I saw white precipitation today, stopped by the haunted punchbowl shelter. While hiking I tripped on a rock and crashed on the ground hitting myself with my poles multiple times on the way down. I have been falling at least once a day, somehow or another for the past week, not cool, you would think I would have mastered the art of walking by now.Alright, I¢m tired maybe I¢ll eat a breakfast instead of making dinner, I¢m all alone again tonight ¢ -        home soon ¢
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Brown Mtn. Ridge Shelter, MP 746.3

To: Dutch Haus Hostel
Miles today: 18.1

AHHH!!! Dutch HausI woke up early and got moving by 7. I hiked al day with a push to get to this B&B. I ran into a couple of people, but did not chat. I made it here early afternoon. Great Place, they¢re washing all my clothes and I¢ve been walking around in a robe all clean and showered. My legs are tired today. I¢ve been physically pushing harder, especially today I tried to hike fast. There was snow on the ground today and it was windy and chilly, but it warmed up this afternoon. I¢ve been reading in the registers of other thruhikers who already sent their winter gear home and are freezing at night, good thing I still have my winter gear.I¢m at mile 808 on my trip, exactly 200 miles till I get home, I am attempting to be home in 10-12 days. Well I gotta rest up and try to get out of here early tomorrow morning, after breakfast of course.?
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Dutch Haus Hostel

To: Maupen Field Shelter, MP827.1
Miles today: 18.2

Had a nice breakfast at the B&B and got a ride back to the trail in the back of their truck, they had bean bags in the back, I laughed.Utterly unexciting day, nothing good, nothing bad, up and down hills, a few views here and there, no people, spending the night with another hiker, forgot his name, he¢s completed the A.T. before and is out section hiking.It¢s raining now hopefully it will be gone by morning. I am still one day behind Alan. So I have lots of dinners with me, like 4, I¢m probably going into town to resupply tomorrow, bad planning on my part. Oh yeah, my Aqua Mira died on me today. I opened one of the bottles and it was like all the liquid came spraying out, I think I left it by the window at the B&B yesterday and it might have gotten superheated and under pressure or something. So I¢m living on the ¢wild side¢ tomorrow with untreated water, dangerous stuff, haha. Alright the piter pater of the rain is making my eyes heavy.9:22 p.m
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Maupen Field Shelter, MP827.1

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

Quality Inn, WaynesboroI got up and got rolling early this morning but was unable to keep a respectable hiking pace, but luckily I had plenty of food so I had lunch at 9:00 and some snacks. Then I immediately saw a hiker, Plodder coming south, I had shared a shelter with him a few nights back. So after eating lots of food I eventually picked up the pace. So I hiked and hiked and ate and saw some views and yelled at Wingfoot for a little while because his guidebook was mixed up and had me thinking I was in places I wasn¢t. So again I hiked all day alone, I listened to my MP3 player a lot. I got to Rockfish gap and went to the Tourist center where they had a list of people to call a ¢trail angel¢ list of people who would give me a ride into town. A nice older gentleman came and picked me up and stopped by the outfitter for me so I could buy some Polar Pure, they didn¢t have aqua mira. He then dropped me off at the Quality Inn. I had to pay a pretty penny to get a room, because I had no one to split the room with. I called home and talked to my parents, told them that I planned to take the next 10 days to get 200 miles to Harpers Ferry, and then go home for probable a week. I resupplied at the Kroger and then made my way towards the steakhouse, but I didn¢t make it that far. I stopped at the Pizza Hut. All you can eat salad bar, which I took full advantage of and a large meat lovers pizza, only got 34 of it eaten, saving the rest for breakfast tomorrow.I¢m sick of towns, I get weird looks carrying my pack around and always have to answer the same questions over and over again.Soft bed
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Waynesboro

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

MP 868.2Woke up to a continental breakfast, made a couple of trips to get food and ran into Helmet & Catapult. I packed up and headed out of town. I walked for awhile, till eventually a former thruhiker gave me a ride back to the trail. I got started about 9 or 10. As I hiked I finally entered the Shenandoah National Park. I met some more thruhikers, Mailar & Disney. When I arrived at the shelter, there was another hiker; he at first appeared to be a starving hiker who was out of food. I gave him some lipton¢s noodles that I had extra, then quickly learned he was a walking beggar and might have had more food than he let on.It¢s good to meet new thruhikers.Getting closer to home.
Date: 2005-05-04
To: Ross
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Hey Guys Im at Bears Den Hostel tonight and am only 20 miles outside of Harpers Ferry. Im getting picked up aty Harpers Ferry tomorrow and will be sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night. I will be home for at least a week, resting and taking care of some things, and visiting everybody i havent seen in a while. TOMORROW ILL BE HOME, CRAZY STUFF
Date: 2005-05-07
From: ATC Headquarters

To: HarpEr's Ferry Hostel
Miles today: 2.2

BIG MILES TODAY, roughly 1/10 of one percent of the trail today. I hooked up with my former scout troop today and we went on a short day hike so they could be a part of my thru-hike. We started right where I left the trail on thursday at the ATC headquarters and hiked north mostly along the C&O canal. A good time was had by all and I was very happy that I was able to share my hike with the troop that introduced me to backpacking, a full circle of sorts. I also was got to start breaking in my NEW SHOES, yep, I've got a shiny new pair of Vasque trail runners, just like the ones I first bought, except without the Gore-Tex. I wore my last pair for 1,000 miles, hopefully this pair will hold just as well. All in all, it was the most Stressful day I've had in the last 2 months. The stress mainly came from having to drive again. Driving was okay where I live (in the country); but having to drive around in frederick is more of a stressful experience, people are all racing around me and weaving in and out, not cool. Its so weird in frederick driving because some roads everything is all calm and cool, but the second you get on any roads like I-270 that are headed to DC than everybody starts driving all crazy and its no fun. Sorry for the tangent, anyways since coming off the trail for this break it seems that I no longer have the ability to handle some of the normal everyday stresses that I was once accustomed to. I am glad to be home and catching up with friends and family. I will be returning to the trail most likely next thursday or friday and I hope to section hike the rest of Maryland while I am home. Life is good, I am eating good and resting, or trying to at least.
Date: 2005-05-15
To: Back on Trail in PA
Miles today: 0.0

Editorial Update:                                Mile Point: 1050.5Shorts is back on the trail after taking a week more or less off at home. Today I dropped him off at Pen-Mar Park and he left hiking north into Pennsylvania. While he was home he visited with family and friends, hiked through Maryland on day hikes and found time to study for and pass his real estate license exam so he is now a licensed realtor. He should meet up with a whole new group of hikers now that he has taken a week off. He may meet up with some of his old hiking buddies as well as many of them took time off to go to ¢trail days¢ in Damascus Va. It is a little different for us now thinking about him hiking. Up till now he has been hiking towards home, now he is hiking away from home. Short¢s Mom and transcriber
Date: 2005-05-15
From: Pen-Mar

To: Tumbling Run Shelters MP1059 PA
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: scattered clouds

There are two shelters here right next to each one another, its weird. So I am officially back on the trail, why I¢m not sure. Today has gotten progressively better, but it started out pretty bad, I said goodbye to my dad this morning, and then mom took me to the trail and we had our farewells. Then I started hiking, Whoops!! Why am I hiking again? I just did 1,000 miles, wasn¢t that enough? So must of the day was filled with self-doubt and trying to remember why I got back on the trail. Was it just to protect my pride because everyone I have ever known knows I am trying to hike the entire trail and are probably reading this journal right now. Well hiking 1,000 more miles to protect my pride isn¢t going to happen.A lot of my focus during the first half was about hiking home, now I am hiking away from home. So I needed to revert to a former frame of mind, so in a sense to return to when I first began and remember why I started this trip. I wish I could read those first couple of entries right now, too bad they¢re sitting at home.Well I do remember it had to do with growth; physical, mental and spiritual and life purpose. As far as I¢m concerned I¢ve taken care of the physical growth, and have grown some spiritually, so the focus for the second half will be more on the life purpose and spirituality and how they are intertwined. Gosh it feels good to write this stuff down, journaling is definitely a habit I am going to try and keep once I¢m off the trail. Guess who is here tonight? A section hiker, David, whom I met during my slack pack through Maryland and Paladin, yes Paladin, we started in Georgia on the same day and stayed in the shelters together the first four nights on the trail, it is good to see him and know he is doing well. A lot of the thruhikers are at traildays in Damascus, VA right now, but they will be back on the trail soon. I am very excited there are a bunch of thruhikers who passed me while I was at home, most of them I have never met and it will be neat to meet new thruhikers.Oh yeah, I got a new gadget, its called a steripen, it uses UV light to purify water for drinking, cool stuff.Oh yeah my first day back on the trail and I only hike 8 some miles, not a good showing for my first day back.- Cheers
Date: 2005-05-16
From: Tumbling Run Shelters MP1059 PA

To: Birch Run
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

18 miles fartherLots of thruhikers here, KB & SB, Snowdog, Paladin, Helmet & Catapult and myself. Got here relatively early and had a good time, had a campfire and what not.
Date: 2005-05-17
From: Birch Run

To: Alex Kennedy Shleter MP 1104
Miles today: 25.4

26 miles fartherI passed the halfway point today, incredibly anticlimactic; I was with Paladin and another thruhiker J.R. at the time. I mentioned how quiet and unexcited we were and Paladin said something like ¢I didn¢t start this thing to go halfway¢, very true. So your supposed to do the half gallon ice cream thing at the store in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, but it was closed, so we went to the nearest convenience store a couple of miles up the trail, I bought myself 12 gallon of Ice Cream (chocolate Chip Cookie Dough) and then proceeded to eat the whole thing and then hike 7 more miles without difficulty, no one else I was with seemed to be able to handle the 12 gallon challenge, wimps.Rolled into the shelter just about dark and met more thruhikers, Gunther, Pig Pen and Choochoo. I was the 17th thruhiker into Harpers Ferry and I¢ve roughly estimated 25 ¢ 30 thrus passed me while I was home for a week, so it¢s really cool meeting all these new people.
Date: 2005-05-18
To: HALF WAY
Miles today: 0.0

Mile Point 1107.9Just got a phone call from Shorts, he is in Boiling Springs PA, with SB,KB and Snowdog. Yesterday they reached the HALF WAY point of their hike. It is a tradition with thru hikers to celebrate by eating a half gallon of icecream. Shorts ate the entire 1/2 gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough.PS, he is considering a side trip to Hershey Park and is looking for a friend from home to meet him and his hiking friends at the trail and drive to the park for the day, anyone interested give him a call on his cell and leave a message.
Date: 2005-05-18
From: Alex Kennedy Shleter MP 1104

To: Darlington Shelter (Tent)
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: clear sky

The Darlington Shelter gone.I¢m actually using my tent tonight, they tore down the shelter here. I hiked with Snowdog and the B¢s today, through the flat Cumberland valley. Food day, we stopped in Boiling Springs at a Caf© for breakfast and then walked down this highway we crossed to a diner for lunch/dinner, it was a nice relaxed day with lots of food.
Date: 2005-05-19
From: Darlington Shelter (Tent)

To: THE DOYLE
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: broken clouds

Spending the night at the Doyle, a 4 story Hotel that¢s over 100 years old and it¢s glory days were at least 80-90 years ago, a great place with lots of character, very accustomed to hikers, the owners are very nice and doing what they can t fix the place up some.I¢m sharing a room with this guy Doc, he¢s doing the second half of the AT he did the first half last year. I got my new sleeping bag, it looks sweet, and I¢m sending some more clothes home, hopefully I won¢t need them anymore, oh well.Oh yeah and I caught up with Scarecrow, he took an extra day in town.
Date: 2005-05-20
From: THE DOYLE

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter, PA
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up this morning at the Doyle and started getting ready to leave, had breakfast (French toast) with the B¢s & Helmet & Catapult. Then ¢Trailangel Mary¢ drove a bunch of us around to the local towns for food and gear resupply. It was a drizzly day and everyone else was taking zeros, but I was determined to get out of town. I left about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. There were a # of older gentlemen with a warm fire at the first shelter I made it to, so I decided to stay. It turns out 2 of them had thruhiked 15 years ago and one of them had the chance to hike with Bill Erwin (blind thruhiker) for a few days during his hike, how cool.
Date: 2005-05-21
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter, PA

To: Somewhere in the woods, PA
Miles today: 11.0

I burned my finger on my pot, it hurts. I hate staring at food packages they always have ¢meal ideas¢ and they look so tasty; but I can¢t make them while I¢m here in the woods, bummer.The old men snored last night, couldn¢t sleep. So I slept all morning and started hiking at noon. I ran into a lot of day hikers today. My MP3 player ran out of batteries I forgot to get new batteries in town yesterday. So I¢m camped out today, probably only did 10 ¢ 12 miles, there were no shelters at good mileage today, they were either too close or too far.I¢m also feeling sick, a sore throat and just starting to get a small headache, well at least it was sunny today, the weather man had predicted rain. I saw 2 snakes today and a half a dozen wild turkey, but I was too slow with my camera t get any pictures, so sad.Resting time
Date: 2005-05-22
From: Somewhere in the woods, PA

To: PA Woods
Miles today: 11.7

Some things should never be mixed, like being sick and young enough to continue hiking anyway. I definitely have the flu or something, headache, body ache, sore throat and a runny nose.   So obviously I didn¢t get very far today. We got some old hikers here a 73 & 79 year old man who did roughly 20 miles today, WOW. KB & SB are here also. Hiking sick is rough stuff, maybe I¢ll be better tomorrow
Date: 2005-05-23
From: PA Woods

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Ordered pizza to the 501, awesome, gotta love it.I woke up this morning in relatively better health; all that is left is a runny nose and low energy levels. KB & SB are here, Helmet & Catapult are here and I met another thruhiker today, Pilot. I hiked a lot with the B¢s today.Feeling better, good stuff, Port Clinton Tomorrow..
Date: 2005-05-24
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton Pavilion, PA 
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Mile Point 1203.7I hiked a lot with Helmet & Catapult today, it was their last day on the trail, they are out of time and money and have to return home, sad stuff.The rocks of Pennsylvania are starting and my feet don¢t appreciate it. Helmet had me really excited today; he thought there was a movie theater in Port Clinton, so we cold see Star Wars III, there isn¢t. Port Clinton is a dead little town, but we can stay in the town Pavilion for FREE so is al good.We went to the only restaurant open in town, and were immediately told if we wished to sit in the dining room we must shower first, bah we didn¢t smell, just some dumb rule they had, we ate in the bar area instead of the dining room, the food was not great and the pricey too.Oh Well, I want to see EPISODE III
Date: 2005-05-25
From: Port Clinton Pavilion, PA 

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter, PA, Mp 1209.6
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: light rain

Some days you just don¢t want to hike, today was one of those. I was unable to resupply in lame Port Clinton and tried to hitch with Helmet & Catapult into Hamburg, hitching was unsuccessful; we walked the full 3 miles. We had breakfast at a diner and then tried to occupy ourselves, Helmet and I wanted to see STAR WARS, but the theater was closed and wasn¢t even playing STAR WARS anyways, so we went to the grocery store, and I resupplied. We then went to the bowling alley, closed on Wednesdays, (apparently today is a Wednesday) Bummer so I resigned myself to continue with my regular daily entertainment, backpacking. Did I mention I got French Toast at the Diner and a huge plate of sausage biscuits. So I wished Helmet & Catapult good luck (they were going home today) Farewell.I walked back to Port Clinton and started hiking, I actually got a hitch after I had walked halfway back. I sauntered up to the next shelter, oh yeah, it was gloomy and rainy today, and apparently the rocks were wet and slippery, I fell hard & fast, got scraped up a little. I got to the shelter and met a new hiker, Glue. Glue started as a thruhiker, but is running out of time & money, so he skipped ahead 400 miles to save time and money, he¢s from Maine and is now just walking the AT home, basically, he says he¢s gonna try and start again next year and thruhike.Sleepy time.
Date: 2005-05-26
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter, PA, Mp 1209.6

To: Tent behind B&B, MP 1230.2
Miles today: 20.6

I hiked with Glue today; these Pennsylvania rocks are tough on the feet. We arrived at the shelter and there was an older lady who wouldn¢t stop talking, so we hiked on another 3 miles to a Bed & Breakfast/Restaurant, bought dinner and then got permission to camp out back, the road is close by and it is very noisy and very odd to be camped out back here but the rooms were $100 a night.
Date: 2005-05-27
From: Tent behind B&B, MP 1230.2

To: MP 1256.5, PA 
Miles today: 26.3

Glue said he likes o try a 30 miler about once a week, so we gave it a try today, probably not the smartest idea over the rocks. So we hiked and hiked, we went over a dead ridge, no plant life, apparently the effects of a Zinc Smelting operation. There wasn¢t much water today, not cool. So we had hiked 27 miles and decided to take a 1 mile detour to a hiker friendly house and get some water and maybe a free night¢s stay. We got our water but no one was home, so we had to hike back to the trail, we went down the trail a little and ran into 2 other campers and set up with them, at first I was just going to sleep under the stars, but then it started raining so I had to set up my tent.