morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-04-25
From: Damascus, VA

To: Marion, VA
Miles today: 49.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It¢s been 3 days without cell service. We have found out on this journey that AT&T is very spotty in the mountains down south. Hopefully it gets better the further we go north. Monday was more of the usual ... long uphill to start then multiple ups and downs the rest of the day. Tuesday was a big day. We reached 500 miles in the morning then hiked right up to Grayson Highlands. We camped in an area that was closed last year due to aggressive bear activity. In the middle of the night we had a visitor. Something walked right next to our tent and tripped over one of the guywires of the tent. I made some noise and it ran off. Then in the morning I talked with some friends who had a bear steal there food bag out of the tree they hung it in. They were camping right down the trail from us. Wednesday was another big day. We hiked among the ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park. They¢re wild ponies that were put on the mountain top to eat the negative vegetation. They are all over the mountain and pay no attention to people. It¢s cool hiking in and around them. That night we stayed at the last shelter in the bear warning area. There was a bear box (big metal box to store food bags in) so we felt safe. Once again in the middle of the night a bear showed up trying to get into the box. He made quite a racket trying to get into the box. He was at it for about 15 minutes then finally left. 30 minutes later he was back and for the next half hour was banging and scratching the box trying to get in. We were only 50 feet away so we were thankful he was preoccupied with the box and not us. Actually we weren¢t worried. Bears are after food not humans. We had nothing in our tent that would interest him unless he liked smelly hikers. Eventually one of the other tenters had had enough and yelled at him and he ran off. I think two nights in a row of bear activity is enough for awhile. So today we hiked 10 miles then hitchhiked into Marion, VA. Besides needing a resupply I want to consult with a doctor about the pain in my heels. I¢m fine in the morning and for the first 5 or so miles, then they get sore. Not debilitating, just very annoying. I¢ve tried everything I can think of, insoles, heel pads, new shoes, stretching, even foot massages from MJ. There¢s a hospital/urgent care across the street from our hotel that I¢m going to go to tomorrow. Hopefully they have some answers.
Date: 2019-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I posted this to my Facebook page ... I have a couple of updates after my post from yesterday. I went to the local emergency room today to see what was giving me my heel pain. Turns out it is Achilles Tendonitis. Basically an over-use injury. The doctor said it could go away on its own or I may just have to live with it. She said steroids may help so she gave me a shot and a week¢s worth of pills to step down the dosage. She suggested that I zero another day to let the steroids kick in. Plus it¢d be better to be in town in case I had a reaction. I am cautiously optimistic that the roids will work. So we¢re going to stay another day and hit the trail on Sunday. Update number two is I found a local barber and got my haircut. It was the longest haircut I¢ve ever had. The guy was very meticulous and thorough. Took over an hour, which is an awful lot considering I don¢t have that much hair to begin with. Then he asked if I wanted my beard trimmed. After thinking for a second I blurted out, ¢cut it all off¢. He must of asked me 10 times if I was sure. I was, so off it came. I¢m now beardless and loving it. I saw some other hikers we know and they didn¢t recognize me. I told them this is how I look in the real world. I know it¢s just going to grow back but for now I feel normal again. So last night I posted some of the things I miss about home. Now, after being in town for a day, there are a few things I¢m missing about the trail. I miss that first hour hike on the trail in the morning. It¢s crisp and quiet. We walk in silence hiking in the solitude. It is meditative. I miss the end of the day. Getting into the tent at sunset. Laying there writing about the day while it¢s still fresh in my mind. Listening to the forest as it goes to sleep. Birds singing, rustling in the leaves, the wind. It is so peaceful. I miss hiking up a steep hill only to reach the summit and see a spectacular 360 degree view. I miss seeing a hiker friend I haven¢t seen in weeks that I thought I¢d never see again. Hmm ... I miss an awful lot from the trail. Can¢t wait til Sunday.
Date: 2019-04-28
From: Marion, VA

To: Stealth Campsite 
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

Today was pretty uneventful. I started the day still in a little bit of a funk but as the day went on my mental game improved. It¢s like that the morning after a zero day. We hiked 10.5 miles but had to cut it short because my heel pain returned pretty bad. I think it was bad because I¢ve stopped taking ibuprofen. I¢ve been taking 4 to 16 everyday for the last month. The doctor and I both agreed I have to stop. I still have 4 more days of the steroids so I¢ll see if that works. Although to be honest I¢m not too optimistic. The doctor said the best thing to do is take a few weeks rest but I¢m not ready to do that yet. I¢m going to try to take it easy. More breaks and less total miles. The coolest part of the day was hiking through an active cow pasture. The cows were very chill and didn¢t seem to mind us walking through their space. Then we met a hiker who warned us that there was going to be a controlled burn about 7 miles up the trail tomorrow. It may stop us from going forward. We¢re not going to worry about it. If we¢re stopped then we¢re stopped. It¢ll only hold us up for a day. We found a nice little campsite at the top of a hill for the night. Had dinner and hung our food bags. I¢m hoping we don¢t have any visitors tonight.
Date: 2019-04-29
From: Stealth Campsite 

To: Stealth Campsite near Atkins VA
Miles today: 16.9

Cell service two nights in a row! Amazing!  Today was a good day. Both of us woke up refreshed and ready to go. We hiked 7 miles and ran into a US Forest Ranger who told us they were doing a controlled burn on the mountain and part of the AT was closing. He said if we hurried and didn¢t stop for the next 3 miles we could go on, so we did. A couple miles down trail we came upon a one room schoolhouse. Inside a local church had left hiker supplies in boxes in the back. Food, fruit, soda, medical supplies, toiletries, there was everything. How nice of them. We got a few things and headed out. Then we got word that there was a restaurant right on the trail with burgers! So we hightailed it 5 miles to get there by dinner. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed. Closed on Mondays! Agghhh! So we went across the street to the gas station and bought a quart of ice cream and ate it outside. Another mile and a half and we¢re in camp now next to a cow pasture. The cows have been quite vocal since we got here. Hope they quiet down before dark.  Oh and one side note. I had said in an earlier post that my least favorite trail chore was filtering water ... not anymore. Hanging my bear bag is. It¢s nearly impossible to find a tree to hang from. All the trees are like telephone poles, straight with no branches. It¢s one of the first things I do when I get to camp, I search for a suitable tree. It takes forever and it¢s usually 100 yards from our tent. I hate it!And thanks Little Monster for following along. Hope to see you on the trail someday.
Date: 2019-05-01
From: Stealth Campsite near Atkins VA

To: Chestnut Knob
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We passed a pretty significant milestone on Tuesday, we are now a quarter of the way done with the trail. We¢re at the 555 mile mark. We can now look at a map of the AT and see that we¢ve actually made some progress. It¢s pretty exciting to pass milestones like this. It keeps us energized. We kept it a short day. Early on in the hike MJ took a fall. She tripped over a root and went face first into another root. She is now sporting a grade A shiner that any boxer would be proud of. We decided to only do 8.5 miles and stay at a local hostel, The Quarter Way Inn. It¢s a beautiful spot in the farmlands of Virginia.  We¢re not zeroing, we¢ll be leaving early tomorrow morning. We¢ve met a lot of hikers we¢ve never met before. We seem to get into these different ¢bubbles¢ of hikers after we take a zero. Our old group gets ahead and we pick up with the ones behind us. It¢s interesting, everyone is very friendly when you meet and you can feel a kinship right away. A lot of the hikers we¢re meeting now are younger and started way after us. Some as late as early April. They¢ve been on the trail a month, we¢ve been on the trail over 2 months. But everyone is pulling for us and very encouraging. I think they¢re impressed that we¢re doing it at our age and that we¢ve made it this far. Wednesday was a difficult day. Besides being very hot and humid. The trail was hard and steep. It was one of those days where mentally I was just not into it. It was no fun. We got to the top of a 5 mile climb at the end of the day and were greeted by a fantastic view. We¢ve setup our tent looking out over a valley and should be treated to an amazing sunrise. If the rain holds off.
Date: 2019-05-03
From: Chestnut Knob

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

We had a nice restful sleep Wednesday night and woke up to a nice sunrise on top of Chestnut Knob. We did our normal morning rituals. I sit in the tent and boil water for coffee in the vestibule while MJ gets ready for the day. It¢s one of my favorite times. We drink our coffee, eat breakfast, break camp, and hit the trail. We¢re getting better at getting out earlier. We¢ve been leaving by 8:15 - 8:30. Thursday morning was a lot of ridge walking, with a lot of rocks. The afternoon we had a very steep mile and a half climb. As we got to the top the heavens opened up and it started to rain. A downpour. I had just enough time to put my pack cover on. It was too late to get our rain jackets out so we just continued walking and got soaked. To the bone. It was in the 70s so it wasn¢t too bad. It poured for about 20 minutes then the sun came out. Luckily everything in our packs stayed dry. We got to the bottom of the mountain and setup camp by the Laurel Creek. We¢re glad we didn¢t have to setup the tent in the rain. Some other hikers arrived and it seems we were the only ones who got rained on. Friday we got up and out by 8. Even though it didn¢t rain at night everything was wet. It was a very clammy night. We hiked 7 miles to The Brushy Mountain Cafe (right on the trail) in record time. It¢s amazing how much a burger can motivate us. On the way we saw our first snake. It was a 4 or 5 foot black snake. He was curled up next to the trail.  At the cafe, I had a Brushy Mountain Burger which consists of a 1/2 pound cheeseburger with everything on it and a one inch slab of bologna on top. It was excessive but I ate the whole thing. Afterwards we got picked up by a shuttle and taken into Bland, VA. We¢re going to resupply, spend the night in town, then back on the trail Saturday morning. We think. There are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tomorrow so we¢ll see.
Date: 2019-05-04
From: Bland, VA

To: Stealth Campsite 
Miles today: 16.1

We stayed at Big Walker Motel in Bland, VA last night. A clean, little, family owned place. It was nice and cheap. We had Bubba the shuttle driver take us back to the trailhead at 6:30am. We wanted to start early to try and beat the rain. We did some power hiking this morning. We did 11.5 miles by noon and then another 5 before we set up camp. At the ninth mile we went over the 600 mile mark for the trip. The rain was supposed to start around 4 or 5 and we wanted to be done setting up before then. Success! We had the tent up, ate dinner (Mountain House Beef Stroganoff) and hung the bear bag by 5. Rain started around 5:30. We¢re just laying in our tent now, playing on our phones, listening to the rain on the tent fly. The forecast doesn¢t look bad for the next few days. It¢s going to rain all night and stop sometime tomorrow morning. Then sunny, mid-60s for Sunday and Monday. Which is good because we want to be in Pearisburg by Monday afternoon and we¢ll need to do 2 more 15 mile days. We have a care package waiting for us and I ordered a couple of things for the trail and had them sent to the PO.
Date: 2019-05-07
From: Stealth Campsite 

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: broken clouds

I haven¢t talked about my heel/Achilles pain lately because I didn¢t want that to be the focus of our hike. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened. For the last 6 weeks I¢ve been battling the soreness and pain. The first part of the day is fine then when we stopped for lunch it would begin to hurt. In the beginning it was just a dull soreness and was easily manageable. I applied ice and heat, new insoles, heel pads, more ibuprofen than I should have been taking, foot massages, got new shoes, elevated my feet whenever we stopped during the day, even lessened our miles. It seemed to work for awhile, then it stopped working. 3 weeks ago I went to see a doctor who diagnosed me with having Achilles tendinitis. She said that it was an overuse injury and I needed to rest it for 2 - 4 or more weeks. She also said that it¢s not likely but there was a chance the Achilles¢ could rupture or tear. I decided to try to keep going so she prescribed some steroids and told me to be careful. Over the last week the pain has intensified. To the point where I can barely walk when I get to camp late in the day.  Not only that but the pain is no longer just in my heels, it has begun to radiate up through my Achilles. The other day all I could think of was if the Achilles ruptured in the middle of nowhere I may not be able to make it back to civilization. So Mary Jane and I have decided to take a break, head home, and let me heal. Unfortunately this effectively ends my dream of a northbound thru-hike. We are already close to not being able to make it to Maine by the middle of October when Mt Katahdin closes, but taking 2 - 4 weeks off will make it nearly impossible. We¢d have to increase our mileage by quite a bit and we really can¢t do much more. This is all very disheartening. We had begun to hit our stride and were cranking out good mileage without pushing it. Before we started I thought of all the things that could get injured but I never thought that I¢d experience foot pain. Knee or hip pain, yes, but not foot. Depending on the healing we have some options. We can do a flip flop hike. We can go up to Maine and hike south until we get to the place we got off. We could also start again further north, hike to Maine, then go back and finish up the section we skipped in the fall. Or we could just skip a section and hike up to Maine. Of course this all depends on how I heal. Even though I am beyond disappointed and heartbroken, I am also so proud of Mary Jane and myself for what we have accomplished. The people we have met along the way and the things we have seen have been inspiring. But most importantly the support we have gotten from our friends and families have been overwhelming and humbling. Thank you all. We have felt your presence and support the entire way. We hope to continue so when we know ... you¢ll know.
Date: 2019-05-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We¢ve been home for a week now trying to heal up. I have to admit it feels odd. My brother had a good analogy, I feel like Tom Hanks in Castaway when he goes back home at the end. I know it¢s home but it feels strange, like I don¢t belong. I went to see an orthopedic doctor today and he gave me good news. I do not have Plantar Faciatis, a stress fracture, bone spurs or any serious injury. He classified it as a Repetitive Stress Injury.  An inflammation in my heal area from the hiking everyday. It is not effecting my Achilles which he said are strong. He also said that my foot looks to be in great shape, bone-wise and arch-wise. He said as far as he was concerned I could get back on trail anytime I wanted. He gave me some tips on how to manage the injury so it wouldn¢t be as painful and there is a good chance it would eventually go away. So we¢ve come up with a plan.  We¢re going to take another week or 2 off. The extra rest will help. MJ and I are both going to go up to PA and visit family, then come back home. We¢ve decided to start back up, near where we live, in Front Royal, VA (northern end of Shenandoah National Park) and head north. This will put us back on schedule to finish by early September. Then after we summit Mt. Katahdin we can go back to southern VA and finish off the section that we skipped. We¢re excited to have been medically cleared to continue and can¢t wait to be back out there. And now that I know we¢re going back maybe I can enjoy being home for another week.
Date: 2019-05-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Just wanted to give a quick update. I went for a short shakedown hike this morning and other than a little stiffness my heels feel great. Of course a couple of miles is a big difference than 15 miles but it¢s encouraging. We have decided to get back on trail on Saturday. We¢re going to jump back on in Front Royal and head north. That means the section we will have skipped is a little over 300 miles. We can swing back around after we summit Katahdin and finish that section.   We¢re excited about the next sections of the trail because they go through our home territory. I¢m originally from NJ and lived in PA for 15 years and MJ has lived in PA most of her life. We still have loads of friends and family in both states. I also have family in Mass and ME so we¢ll have plenty of support the rest of the way. The other thing we¢re looking forward to is running into people that we¢ve met along the trail that had gotten ahead of us. By jumping ahead they should be catching up with us all throughout PA. Can¢t wait.
Date: 2019-05-25
From: VA 522 - Front Royal

To: Manassas Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

We¢re back at it. We got dropped off at the Hwy 522 trailhead in Front Royal, VA at 8:30am and headed north. The terrain wasn¢t bad. Only 2 long climbs today. It was hot and humid which is something we hadn¢t really experienced yet on our trip. The other big change since we got off trail is that everything is green and the forest is in mid summer form. There were parts of the trail that were already overgrown. When we got off 2 weeks ago things were just starting to bloom. We hiked a little over 10 miles. We¢re feeling good but tired. Our legs were like jelly by the end which is to be expected after a 2 week layoff. We were on the trail for 30 minutes when we ran into West Country, a friend from the UK. We had hiked with him after we left the Smokies and then on and off afterwards. We¢ll probably camp with him until we get into Harpers Ferry on Tuesday. We also saw a couple we met at a BandB in Roan Mt over a month ago. That¢s the advantage of jumping forward on the Trail, we¢re seeing people again who we know but are faster hikers than us and have moved ahead of us on the trail.
Date: 2019-05-26
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

We¢ve been pretty close to civilization lately so the cell service has been strong. It¢s nice having service while we¢re laying in our tent waiting for it to get dark. Today was a good day. We did 13 miles and are tenting at Rod Hollow Shelter. MJ and I have figured out our hiking style. We like for her to lead and I follow. She sets a good comfortable pace when she¢s out in front. Especially in the morning after her coffee. Tomorrow we start The Roller Coaster. It¢s a 14 mile stretch with 10 or so 400 foot climbs and descents. All in succession. We hear it¢s a killer.
Date: 2019-05-28
To: Morgan Mill Rd - VA 605
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Our AT journey is officially over. After 76 days on the trail we have decided to call it an adventure. Our bodies, especially mine, were beginning to break down and we were tired of dealing with the pain. We¢re obviously disappointed but also filled with pride and accomplishment. In total we hiked 653 miles. Spent 40 nights in our tent, 10 nights in shelters, and 26 nights in hostels/hotels/cabins. We endured thunderstorms on open mountaintops, saw spectacular sunrises and sunsets, mountain views that took our breath away. We experienced what it felt like to be alone, miles from civilization, and carrying everything we needed on our backs. It is the definition of self-reliance. We met and became friends with dozens of people that we would never have otherwise known. Good, decent people who would give you the shirt off their back, or better yet a half a roll of toilet paper, if you needed it.  We now know what it¢s like to hike in a driving rainstorm for 5 straight hours with no relief. That day was also our most miles in the shortest period of time. 13 miles in 5 hours. But then there was a room and a cheeseburger waiting for us on the other end. We always hiked our fastest when we were going into town. We also now know when we look at a map and see we have a 3000 foot climb, over 5 miles, that we can do it. We experienced a lifestyle that few will ever get to experience. Im not saying everyone would like it but for us it was a once in a lifetime adventure that we wouldn¢t have traded for the world. And we¢re not done yet. We¢ve already talked about exploring the National Parks. Maybe even a shorter thru hike like the Long Trail. Either way we are inspired to do more ... see more ... experience more. We¢ve only just begun.
Date: 2019-03-03
From: Amicalola Falls State Park Visitor Center 

To: Stover Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 11.6

The day started leaving Dalton, GA traveling to Amicalola Falls State Park - Visitor Center.  I want to thank Lisa and Hannah who gave up their weekend to drive me to start my hike.  Thanks girls...I checked in with the AT Conservancy in the AFSP Visitor Center. I am hiker number 503 who started the AT this year.The Approach Trail to the starting point of the AT - Springer Mountain, is 8.8 miles long and starts out with 604 steps up the side of the falls. The climb to Springer Mountain from AFSP VC is about 2000 feet in elevation.Half the way on the Approach Trail it began to rain with lightening and thunder.  It continued to rain until I reached Springer Mountain and all the way to my final stop for the day at Stover Creek Shelter.After I hung my hammock and ate my freeze dried lasagna, I passed out in bed.All in all - a great day...
Date: 2019-03-04
From: Stover Creek Shelter 

To: Justus Creek Campsite 
Miles today: 11.5

My second day on the trail was tough.  During the night the temperature dropped to 28 degrees with a howling wind / ice storm all night.  I woke up to ice on the trees not to mention on the top of my tarp covering my hammock. Because it rained most of the day yesterday, my boots were wet when I went to sleep and they were frozen in the morning.  Talk about uncomfortable - try putting your feet in frozen boots and hike for a few miles.Once I got moving, the day turned out to be ok.  The cold temps caused ice crystals to form on all the trees - it was very pretty.  It did finally warm up to the mid 30¢s, but the sun never came out.