morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-19
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: light rain

Today had both goods and bads. Started out pretty warm leaving the 4-walled cabin in the morning. Had a nice walk down the backside of Roan. But as soon as we got out of the woods, the wind went crazy. We had to cross Round Bald, Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge in the rain and howling (honest 50 mph sustained) wind. This is supposed to be one of the prettiest sections of the trail. But all Felton and I could think about was getting across and back into the safety of the trees. My winter hat was ripped right off my head, pack cover almost got donated to the mountain, but I did manage a couple videos of Felton walking sideways. I felt like a weatherman covering a hurricane in Greenland. Nuts.         So due to this situation, we decided to only go to the Big Red Barn to sleep. It is actually a place I have looked forward to staying in. So that is the good for the day. Also, the clouds are lifting a bit, so tomorrow may be good.Note: My mood is inversely correlated to the average wind speed for the day. More on this later.
Date: 2008-03-20
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Falls Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

Man oh man...where to start. Last night, the winds changed. All of a sudden at around 1:30 in the morning, it started snowing on us in the top part of the barn. The tarp that blocked the window was up, but snow was still getting in (see pictures). So Felton moved to the other side of the barn, as did I. I also threw my tarp over my sleeping bag to keep from getting snowed on (back to this in a second). The winds picked up increasing the average for the day, and down went my mood. I honestly contemplated escape routes in case the barn started to collapse. Its shook wildly.        On top of that, the wind would fill the tarp on the window like a sail, and then it would change and blow the other way. Imagine trying to sleep and having someone open and slam your bedroom door as hard as they could every 10 minutes or so. It was impossible.        The sun finally came up, but the winds never died. The place was covered in snow¢¦ and it was freezing. The tarp did keep my bag dry from the snow, but moisture would rise out of my bag and not be able to evaporate. So I had a giant, wet, frozen shell on my bag. Not good. Hands so cold I couldn¢t remove the ice. Drinking water all frozen. This was a horrible night and a terrible morning. I thought I was going to be trapped in Overmountain Shelter frozen for days. I¢ll also say this (although slightly embarrassing)... There is a movie called Winter People that used the barn for a backdrop. And although I haven¢t seen it, I hear it is a horror flick. So when unexpected winter weather slammed us, my mind went wild.        So, for the rest of the day it ended up being really nice. Great view from Hump Mountain and great trails all the way to the nearly new (2006) triple-decker Mountaineer Falls shelter. Warmed up, sun came out, wind calmed (very important). I hear it may officially be spring. Can¢t wait until it warms up a little more.Note: In trying to derive a true mathematical formula for overall hiking mood, I have decided to include a few more factors in addition to the wind -- they are: ambient temperature, light intensity, weight of pack, dampness of feet, and slope of terrain. But wind is honestly surprisingly influential.
Date: 2008-03-21
From: Mountaineer Falls Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 15.6

I actually got an early start today. Out of my bag at 7:10. Doesn¢t seem early for some, but when it¢s 33F, it takes a little longer to get up. And today I figured out what I hate most about the mornings. It¢s having cold hands. Especially putting my damp, really cold sleeping bag in the stuff sack. Just hate it.        Because we got up early, we (Felton and me) got to witness a sunrise. Very nice. But also the miles were nice. I did 9.5 by 11:05. Had lunch and cruised into Kincora by 2:15 or so. Not a bad day. Sun was shining, great temp. Got a little pink under the eyes. But today I felt proud and happy to be a hiker.        Kincora is run by Bob and Pat Peoples. The thing I will remember most about this place is Bob¢s dedication and passion for the trail. He told stories of spreading gravel on Round Bald at ¢25F to not harm the grass, carrying 5-gallon buckets of gravel up Roan, and carrying the concrete and lumber by hand to build Mountaineer Shelter in 2 days (with 137 people helping). It is just truly amazing to see how much he has done for the trail. He gave me a patch for plotting blow-downs to indicate I have volunteered. I was totally honored. I was just doing it to make life easier for him. But it¢s wild how good I felt helping out. (I¢m going to keep noting them through Damascus and mail him the damage report). But he is so inspiring and makes me want to give back to the trail. Maybe I¢ll be able to come back and volunteer more in the future.        Not planning anything huge for tomorrow, it's a 17.4-mile setup day for our 32.7-mile assault on Damascus on Sunday. Hoping for good weather and maybe we¢ll find some Easter Eggs along the way. Note: we left North Carolina for good yesterday¢¦ two down, many to go.
Date: 2008-03-22
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

Leaving Kincora was not easy, but Felton and I managed to get up before 7:00. Felton was motivated by his leftover pizza and a quart of chocolate milk. I ate something more suitable (apple strudels), but the hiking this morning really felt good. The trail went down through a gorge, by a waterfall and followed a stream. Such a nice change from being on top of every rolling knoll. Have to finish later¢¦ wind and chill are coming. Have to finish, but doing as a series of notes:- Got to the top of a massive mountain and finally had cell service. Made calls and continued only to find another massive mountain to climb. I was only half way.- Followed Watauga Lake, hung out on the beach- Tried to get water at source recommended prior to Vandeventer. It was mud. Had to ¢walk the extra mile¢ for water when we got there I got fueled up for the marathon tomorrow
Date: 2008-03-23
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 32.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a tough test, but I actually feel pretty good. We started hiking at 6:00, about an hour or so before daylight. Of course, 8 minutes into hiking, I realized the moon (covered by clouds) is brighter than me headlamp. New batteries. Cruising. Make 14 miles by 11:00AM. I got so excited I started doing 3.5 mph. With a mini-break every 12 -hour, it was 20 min/mile.        I ran into Auto (a man I had met mountaineering the trail a few days earlier) and his 13 year old dog, Raven. This dog has over 7000 AT miles. Almost unbelievable. Then made the final assault to a shutdown Damascus (Easter) by 6:00... 12 hours, 33 miles with breaks. Moving.        As I was walking down a quiet street, I hear my name. Chuck and Leslie were having dinner at the only open place in town. I joined them.        I ate a big salad, sausage roll (it was a pizza place) and leftovers of Chuck and Leslie¢s pizza. Then Felton came. After a short walk around town (he wanted Subway... closed), back to Sicily¢s and I ordered a pepperoni roll and bread sticks with cheese. Spent $27 there, but totally worth it.
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I am planning 2 Zeros in Damascus. This is for a couple reasons. 1)This is a major milestone. The 14 point mentally so I need to adjust my trip plan. 2)After sweating profusely every night since Springer, it¢s time to swap for a new sleeping bag.I will say that I am totally surprised at the size. Damascus is tiny. Nothing is open. Nothing is here. The people I have come across have been extremely nice. Everyone asks if we are coming back for Trail Days (the week long backpackers Woodstock), which we are not, at least not this year.We are staying at The Place, which is an empty house that the Methodist Church owns and left available for hikers since the 1970¢s. It is neat, but in a house with room for 50+, it seems strange to have 3 people staying.The gear I have decided to swap are my shoes and sleeping bag. My TrailRunners have over 600 miles on them so they are shot. I picked up some mean black SuperLight shoes to get me my next 500. The sleeping bag I got was a 30F western mountaineering bag. I think I¢ll sleep much better not drenched every night. Got everything else done. Shower, laundry, mail. Even got to make phone calls from ¢the wanderers only¢ porch. An awesome man invited us over for dinner. This was probably the highlight of the stay here.
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Damascus

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Finally made it back on the trail to start the second quarter of the trip. Today I faced two temptations: 1) Spencer was having same pack problems so he and Hurricane slacked back to Damascus. I have this idea of carrying my pack, walking north all the way to Maine. So no slacking, yet. 2) The Virginia Creeper trail closely follows along a river, goes thru a small town where you can grab a snack and meets back up with the AT. Meanwhile, the AT goes up and over a pointless mountain. So out of Damascus, half of the hikers go either way. I followed the white blazed proudly.         I was surprised to find Trailfoot at the shelter when I got there. There is a chance I may start running big miles with him. Start stringing twenties.
Date: 2008-03-27
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a wonderful day. Got up early. Made it up to the Grayson Highlands. Here I just had huge balds to cross and enjoy the sun and cool breeze. I walked most of the day with Trailfoot. I really enjoyed talking and hanging out with him. But he has to be in Harper¢s Ferry on April 19th, which is cruising. So I may or may not try to keep up. Virginia terrain has been good. A lot more rocks than expected¢¦ but much more fun too. We also ran into 4 feral ponies today that live on the highlands. We walked within a few feet of them. Pretty cool. Tomorrow we¢re trying for 24.7 to Partnership where there is a shelter and they deliver pizza to the AT. Both of which will make for an excellent evening. Had perfect weather, rain possible tomorrow, but a lot to look forward to. We are just getting started on the routine and grind. So the next batch of journals may not be that good. But as in anything, things start to feel the same. Fun, but tough to write interesting things about. Ill still try to keep writing though. Note: slept at 500.1 miles.
Date: 2008-03-28
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: light rain

Up at dawn, hit the trail. We raced the rain and made 14.1 miles to Trimpi Shelter for lunch. Something I haven¢t mentioned, yet, is the privy situation. Some shelters have them, some don¢t. Some have roofs and walls, some don¢t. At Trimpi privy, something interesting occurred. During a slight drizzle, I decided to go check it out. One wall, no roof¢¦ oh well. Doing my thing. Buckets of rain come. Nowhere to go. I finished up and am totally soaked. It took about half an hour to warm back up.         I was flying today. Really burning miles. Probably even ran a few. At a random turn during the day, I came upon the abandoned school bus. Awesome. I knew it was out here, but was totally surprised to see it. Also, we made it to the Partnership Shelter. Hot shower (unfortunately not ¢til April 1st) but you can order pizza, so we ate like kings.         Speaking of eating, my appetite hasn¢t been big, as in I don¢t feel hungry, but I can really put away food. For example, today for lunch I had a pepperoni and cheese tortilla wrap, actually 2 of those; a peanut butter and jelly wrap, totally caked with both (most people don¢t carry jelly¢¦ I have 20 oz.); string cheese, 2 Cheerios breakfast bars; Craisins; 2 Reese¢s peanut butter cups, maybe more. Dinner. We ordered 5 medium pizzas and 3 2-liters for 3 people. I had 13 slices and a liter of soda. I was never hungry or full. It has been a wild day.Note: 1) New shoes are ok. Need some superfeet.        2) New sleeping bag is incredible.
Date: 2008-03-29
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Knot Maul Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Keeping up with Trailfoot has been no easy task. This, our 3rd 20+ mile day in a row, was really a tester. I always thought the miles get big during this stretch because the terrain was easy¢¦ not true. I think you are finally able to handle such miles day after day. We swung through an old school where a history lesson almost knocked us off schedule. Also, got to re-supply gas station style (however, I only bought crackers because I¢m still carrying food from my Fontana drop) and grabbed lunch at a place call The Barn.Upon getting to the shelter, we realized we had a problem. Seven people (5 zeroes) and a dog were already there. We added 3, totaling 10 + dog. They made room for us in a shelter that slept 8. I nearly freaked out at around 12:00 and very stealthily snuck out to set up my tarp. Then it started to rain. I was so worried about getting wet, I could hardly sleep anyway, but made it through the night.
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to an unpleasant 30F and sheets of ice. Good news¢¦ my sleeping bag (30F rating) was incredibly warm. I also found out that my tarp is rain-worthy. Bad news¢¦ after several thousand feet of climbing, things changed for the worst.We had an exposed ridge to walk for miles to the top of Chestnut Ridge. Winds howling and ran/ice totally freezing on us. In shorts, the legs were covered in ice, had it in my beard. It was cold. For lunch we met up with Allgood and his friends out for the weekend and having a dueling mandolin session. I couldn¢t really enjoy it due to my excessively cold hands. Eventually, back on the trail I warmed up and listened to an entire NASCAR race on the radio. My new best friend is an old MP3 player I¢ve had for a while. Just discovering the FM function. Pulled into the shelter, fell asleep at 7:00 then up at 10:00 to finish journals and such. I have needed a good sleep and will get one tonight.
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: HelveyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Mill Shelter 
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Forth day in a row with the pack cover and rain gear on. Not much precipitation but the cloudy gloomy days still continue.   The miles today were not bad. Even had several miles of road walking. A few important things happened today.1)        Hitched into and out of Bland. Both times were with very nice people who live in the area and love to pick up hikers. Got my tax forms signed and sent. Had a feast at the Dairy Queen. After the large (actually medium but still 32 oz.) strawberry shake, I was not feeling well. Bland was a quick, easy stop.2)        So long Trailfoot. I can¢t remember if I have described him or not. He has 19 days to get to Harpers Ferry 400 miles away. So after about 6 days keeping pace with him, Felton¢s and my full stomachs put us at the shelter outside Bland and Trailfoot pressed on.3)        Met Faithful. He is a 2007 ¢southbounder¢ who had to get off the trail due to seizures. He has epilepsy and is now back trying to finish his thru hike. Truly an amazing story and I wish him the best for his remaining miles.      (New journal entry and photos for 3/24 posted today)
Date: 2008-04-01
From: HelveyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Mill Shelter 

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Had some miles to do so got a good early start. Did 6.7 in under 2 hours. 16.3 by 1:10 and did the final 7.7 in 2 hours 8 minutes. Got to the shelter by 4:20 and had an hour of day left. Felton and I decided to do a mile road walk to a small grocery for a snack. The trail is being nice and either following the ridge or valley, not climbing up and down. We are getting used to doing bigger miles. Another milestone, hit the 600 miles today. 147 in the past 7 days. So we are starting to put some distance between Springer and us. It feels good to actually move. Note: 1)        On a ridge after lunch a tornado-like wind picked up about 50 leaves around me and spun along the ridge. It was really wild. 2)        30 minutes after the tornado incident, I had another tree fall that was close. The top 20 feet of a tree cracked, I froze and spun around, it fell along the trail about 10 feet off. Not so fun.
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was probably one of my favorite days on the trail. We got up and had a nice climb to the ridge. On the ridge the trees cleared and there was an amazing view of the sun coming up over the valley. I took a ton of pictures. Walking was fairly nice, a bunch of rocks. But no crazy elevation changes. Then I realized at about 1:00 it was only 1 hour to town. Found another wonderful vista and just sat on top for over an hour. It was great to relax, not push for miles and not worry about moving. Getting into town was a good experience. First shower in 8 days. Also, the woman here at the motel did our laundry. I have never seen or felt salt deposits like the ones on my shirt and socks. My laundry came back wonderfully clean and soft. However, I was a little disappointed with our food consumption. We hit a Hardee¢s and only had a couple of bacon cheddar melts. A few hours later, we hit a Chinese Buffet and couldn¢t do any damage. We were just too full and tired I guess. This town is finally of decent size, but again, terrible cell service so no mass phone calls going out.
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

This is the first zero I¢ve taken where it is pouring outside. Weather looks like it¢s going to be bad for a while, so I¢m not looking forward to getting out in it tomorrow. At least I¢m dry and warm now.Got things done today, mail, Internet, re-supply, nap. Not in that order. Actually there were several naps and also fattening up. I am already sick of fast food. Just makes me feel terrible. I would almost rather take a bite of a burger, bask in its deliciousness, and then eat out of my pack. A really funny scene occurred when coming out of Food Lion. I found Felton helping a woman put 8-9 bushy, blooming trees in her Jeep Cherokee. I told her we could tie them on top easy, but she insisted Felton smash 3 of them inside. Took about 10 minutes and was quite funny.
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Pearisburg

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: light rain

It¢s never easy leaving town. Especially when it¢s cold and wet. But I can¢t really explain it. After a Zero in a town, it¢s tough to get back in the hiking rhythm. You don¢t really want to walk, or stay in town. I just feel weird, but we made it out at a decent hour and had fairly nice miles. Today Felton¢s dad has been trying to catch up with us. He¢s around for the weekend so we¢ll catch him eventually.We were going to stay at the shelter before this one, but a tree fell and destroyed it last year. Pretty much this whole section has been in disarray. Not that it has to be perfect, but there were so many branches and blow downs. It was just a mess. Also, we had to take a 1.5 mile road walk today. A bridge was washed away in 2004. The only option was to ford, or road walk. I actually felt bad about missing the blazes until I realized it was a pretty fast moving river and has been raining for a couple days. Also it's probably 45ish and dumping over on accident actually would have been dangerous being cold overnight. We did walk through ice this morning.Happy to be on the move once again. Oh yes, Felton found Trailfoots phone on the trail. I¢m sure he¢s upset. There¢s no service on any of our phones to call his home and let them know. I think we¢ll probably end up mailing it ahead of him. But props to Felton for finding a red cell phone in red and brown leaves on the trail. I sure walked right by it.
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a tough 21 miles today. Not sure why but my right knee started aching, also had some ankle tendon problems. I¢m sure they¢re both just trail daily discomfort. There were some tough climbs and descents. It was raining when we woke up. Again. So it was kind of a late start. All of these things combined to make a tough day. A few interesting things to remember. We haven¢t had any cell contact the past couple days. Bummer for Felton trying to contact with his dad. Bummer for Trailfoot because we can¢t tell his wife we have his phone and will send it ahead. There were a couple rock hops/fords today that were nearly impossible to not get wet. I actually dunked a foot, or both, but my shoes and socks dried in a couple hours. We came across an abandoned house. Pretty spooky, very Blair Witch-esk. And also there are some crazy coyotes howling. Sounds like choir practice for them. It actually is extremely neat to hear. And for some reason this afternoon, I walked through a ton of spider webs. Web walking it¢s called. But I felt like a parade float with hundreds of streamers flying behind me. The shelter is awesome. Nails everywhere. Kind of like looking at a home with a walk-in closet. Plenty of hanging space for stuff. Only problem is that we seem to keep staying at the shelters way off the trail. This one, an extra 0.4 miles off. It¢s raining again. Probably will be in the morning too.
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter 
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Rained all night last night. Woke up. Rain. But I will say that I feel fortunate about the weather for the past few days, it¢s threatened, and sprinkled, showered a bit, but hasn¢t really rained on us. But then again, we have only seen the sun 1 of the last 7 days or so.We finally got, or I guess, Felton, finally got a hold of his dad. He met us at a road crossing this morning. This was our greatest trail magic yet. He and a couple family friends met us with chicken biscuits. They also had some left over beer and beef jerky which we quickly made our lunch. But it really was exciting seeing Carl, Max and Langdon. In fact, we actually had our first trail magic cooler. But there wasn¢t anything we could use. It just didn¢t compare to the visit. Something I don¢t really want to remember, but will mention. We had a wet ridge walk this morning. Trouble was, you had the choice of a bolder face AT at a 45* angle. You will fall taking this path. Or walk along the bottom side and fight with the briers. You will bleed taking this path. I chose the briers to the broken bones and got a few leg scratches. I thought for sure my rain jacket was going to be a short sleeve at the end. That was a testing walk.Note: Felton tried to walk the rocks. He fell and swore he broke his hip. He then joined me in the flesh mangling briers. Only did 16 miles. Feels like a half day. In by 3ish. Hanging out here all day. Packed shelter tonight. Surprisingly. Met Mr. Magoo and a couple week walkers. Anyway, fun talking to people. Hope we have views tomorrow. Passing several milestones.