morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-23
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Abingdon Shelter
Miles today: 15.9

Big rainstorm rolled in around 5am waking everyone up. The water droplets making loud pangs against the metal roof of the shelter. I picked my head up to see the headlamps illuminating the tents of those camping in the shelter grounds. The hikers inside their tents making sure no water was getting through. The day began wet but stayed mostly dry. Only a brief rainstorm came by. It lasted maybe 10 minutes. I¢ve lost count but I think this is 10 days straight with some kind of rain. But I¢m staying dry. Another day of easy hiking. Not much elevation gain or loss. The group I¢ve been hiking with is mostly split up now. A natural progression of the trail. As I mentioned earlier, Strawberry went ahead to stick to a schedule to make it to Harpers Ferry. Rockslide is having a dental issue so he stayed back in Hampton to get it checked out. Silverback, Nameless, and Short Mile have also hiked ahead putting two 20 mile days in because the easier terrain. Short Mile also goes to church every Saturday or Sunday so his hiking schedule usually revolves around that. Mademoiselle and I have stayed on the same hiking schedule. She had been pushing herself to stay with the group leading up to Trail Days but had to cut back because she wasn¢t enjoying herself. I forget if I have mentioned this concept before, but in the hiking community and especially on thru hikes you¢ll hear the phrase ¢hike your own hike.¢ This is hiking concept of paramount importance. Hiking your own hike means making the decisions that are best for you and your enjoyment of whatever hike you are on instead of basing your decisions on what others are doing. Mademoiselle made a decision that left her with less familiar people, but she had a smile on her face these past two evenings when we were done hiking by 5:00pm and had time to relax around camp. I¢ll talk more about this concept but I¢m happy of the decision Mademoiselle made. I was happy to also teach a few of my fellow hikers the PCT method of hanging a food bag in a tree. I¢m talking about Pippie, Albie, and Buckles. I won¢t explain it here, you can look that up if you want, but it is the recommended method of hanging food so bears cannot get your food. There has been some heightened bear activity around this area the past few days so properly hanging your food is crucial to keeping yourself and the bears safe. In one of my initial posts I mentioned how the precautions used to keep food away from bears is for their safety as well. If they become accustomed to human food they may have to be relocated or euthanized. On top of that, bears that eat human food have 50% of the lifespan of bears who do not come in contact with our food. Maybe that says something about the food we eat...I tried making a fire tonight. I did not make a fire tonight. Everything was too waterlogged. But at least I made a good pile of firewood for tomorrow night¢s campers!Tomorrow I¢ll hike into Damascus. My plan...eat a calzone.
Date: 2018-05-24
From: Abingdon Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The thought of a calzone still lingering in my mind this morning was my motivation to get into town. Still easy hiking. 10 miles in 3 hours. Straight to the Damascus Bar & Grill to eat a Hawaiian calzone. Next stop was Food City for food resupply and I bought way too much food...again. I guess I¢ll just have to eat it to cut down weight. The next part of my plan was to stop by the brewery for a beer but unfortunately it didn¢t open until 6:00pm and I only wanted to hike through town, not stay here. Having spent two nights in Damascus last weekend for Trail Days I didn¢t want to stay a third. However, the brewery was also going to be where I charged my electronics so I had to make another plan. I ended up sitting on the porch of the Appalachian Trail Town Inn to charge my electronics and eat some of the food that I had too much of. Yes, I ate an entire calzone and then kept eating food. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I bought 4 of those baby food squeeze packs. Yes you read that right, baby food. They make them with fruits and veggies so I bought 4 and ate them while I sat in a rocking chair on the porch. Zucchini, Spinach, and banana blend was my favorite. They¢re packed with nutrients and are cheap so why not. Nearing 6:00pm, Tern and Kelly Still Kelly walked by, seeing me on the porch they yelled ¢Who, come to the brewery! There¢s cornhole!¢ How could I turn down that offer? I walked over to The Place, a hostel run by the Methodist Church. It¢s free but there¢s a recommended donation. Got setup there, had a shower, and then Mademoiselle and I headed to the brewery. A couple beers, a few games of cornhole, good people, and fantastic weather. I¢m not sure what else you can ask for during a Spring evening in Virginia. Shoutout to Damascus Brewery for making some darn good beer! Gosh that cherry gose was good!
Date: 2018-05-25
From: Damascus, VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Made my way out of Damascus this morning. But not before stopping at Mojo¢s for an iced coffee! It was very warm this morning, sun shining. Mademoiselle, Tern, and Kelly Still Kelly had gone there for breakfast and I already had a hearty meal of pitted dates, cold oatmeal and peanut butter but I wanted iced coffee. I¢m pretty sure that¢s the first one I¢ve had since being on this trip. The climb out of Damascus wasn¢t bad. Legs felt strong after all this easy terrain since leaving Roan Mountain on Sunday. 15 mile day planned with a shelter around mile 9. Made it there smoothly and rested while I ate lunch. Along the way I ran into a older man maybe in his 60¢s named. Nick. No trail name even though he has already triple crowned. A triple crown is if you have hiked the AT, PCT and the CDT. Now he¢s hiking the AT again. I chatted with Nick for awhile and he also reaffirmed the heightened bear bear encounters. Nothing violent, some sightings on the trail but mostly bears getting to food bags and backpacks. In talking with other hikers we are surprised with the lack of bear cables at shelters. If I haven¢t mentioned it before, bear cables are a simple levy system using a few trees to hang food bags with steel cables. Basically bear proof method of hanging food at shelters. In Georgia and early NC and also in the Smokys there were always cables but there haven¢t been any since the Smokys. So I¢m glad to get the heads up from someone on the trail. I always hang my food and seem to be pretty good at it. The tough part is being able to find a good tree and then get your cord over the right limb. Unfortunately, I have seen dozens or cords left in trees from people who have gotten theirs stuck by accident. On another note, I continue to be surprised and impressed by how quickly weather changes when you¢re in the mountains. As I had mentioned earlier in this post that is was sunny out this morning, so hot that I really wanted an ice coffee. But by 2:00pm I was stuck in another rainstorm. Pack cover, rain jacket and rain skirt all on and big rain droplets coming down. Rainstorms are loud too. So many droplets hitting so many leaves. This went on for about an hour before the skies cleared and the sun began peaking through but an hour in that kind of rain drenches everything you wear. Made it to the shelter at 4:30. Found a good spot to put up my tent and then made dinner. Ramen with salmon. A protein bar. And some sweet and salty cheezit¢s mix with M&M almonds. There¢s about 4 big flys buzzing around the underside of my rain fly of my tent as I write this post. I¢m lucky to say that¢s unusual because I haven¢t dealt with many bug around my tent. I¢m hoping that¢s because o treated it with permethrin before I left but it wears off after 6 weeks. Seems like it¢s time to reapply.
Date: 2018-05-27
From: Wise Shelter

To: A campsite 
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Another day of rain. Another day of rain! This weather is quite impressive. Mostly light showers during the day but it picked up around 2:00 in the afternoon. I¢ve gotten into another bubble of hikers for this leg of the trip so Mademoiselle and I planned on staying at a campsite a quarter mile off the trail that was only 2 miles behind a shelter. Most people will go to the shelter. Plus, this campsite had an old picnic table and a disused privy which is not typical. There was only one other person with us at the campsite. His name is Jack and he¢s from Sweden. He works at an outfitter in the mountains of Sweden giving tours and came out here to the AT so he could get time in the mountains but not for work. Since us thru hikers are constantly hungry, food becomes a popular topic. Food we imagine we could be eating. As Mademoiselle, Jack and I sat at the picnic table I asked them if they could have one meal from their home country what would it be. Mademoiselle said bread and cheese. GOOD bread and cheese. I was amused by her French answer. Jack said he wanted pickled herring. Wow, what an answer and at first I was taken back but I have heard of pickled herring being popular in Sweden so I was amused by his answer also . We chatted about that a bit. But then Jack went on about how he¢d like to have the pickled herring with roast potatoes, red onions, and sour cream. And then I got hungry. I suppose I¢m going to have to try that meal sometime after I¢m done with the trail. Luckily we were able to setup camp, eat our dinners and hang out food when it wasn¢t raining. After we climbed into our tents it poured and poured rain. Tents held up though and stayed dry.
Date: 2018-05-28
From: A campsite 

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: light rain

Easier day today to get to Partnership Shelter. The plan is to head into Marion tomorrow so no rush to get to the shelter. I slept in till 8:00amShowers on and off most of the day. No pouring rain but still wet. The good thing about today...triple trail magic!It started with Jerry from a local Baptist Church. I¢ve mentioned before they¢re very active in giving to the hiking community. I chatted with him for awhile while drinking a root beer and eating crackers. The second trail magic came when I hiked by a man named Sockeye. He hiked from Springer Mountain to Harpers Ferry back in 2009. He got sidetracked by pink blazing (chasing a girl on the trail). He actually married her but they¢re not married any more. He gave me a beer and some hostess snacks. Nothing like a surprise beer on the trail, it¢s wonderful. I was also his first customer of the day. I made it to Partnership Shelter around 3:00 and setup my sleeping gear and started to relax. Only a few people here. Cartman, CatDad and Wolfman. Fun people, good conversations. It still amazes me how much fun you can have with people you literally have just met. The third trail magic came when Sockeye left his original trail magic spot and came to the Partnership Shelter which is only a quarter mile from a visitor center of the area. More beer and hostess snacks!!! The trail always provides. The shelter was only half full and with a capacity of 16 people we all had plenty of space. We chatted and hung out, I planned out my next few days for getting into Marion and going to the Quarter Inn Hostel.
Date: 2018-05-29
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Most of us from the shelter were taking the 8:30am Marion Transit into town. A lot of them planned on getting hotel rooms so they could zero for the day. I however decided I would keep hiking. Too soon for a zero having spent two of them on the 19th and 20th for Trail Days. First was breakfast at McDonalds which I was really hungry for. I got their big breakfast which on the menu said it was 800 calories. I probably should have, and could have, gotten two of them. Walmart was next for resupply on food. It was across the street from the McDonalds. As I was leaving Walmart the Marion Transit shuttle was making its rounds so I hopped on and headed to the post office to pick up a poncho my dad sent me. The poncho is big enough to go over me and my pack so it¢s more of a complete cover compared to a rain jacket and pack cover. I sent both of those home to exchange the weight. A kind lady in the post office recommend Macodo¢s (pronounced Mack-uh-dues)for lunch so I went there. Nice sit down restaurant with some fun bar foods. I got chicken Mac n¢ cheese with a salad and a Yuengleung. After lunch I waited for the shuttle to make its round so I could get back over to the Partnership Shelter 6 miles away. Only a 7 mile hike to Chatfield Shelter. It wasn¢t too demanding except the trail was a bunch of fist sized jagged rocks. Some loose and some fixed and pointed out of the ground so you couldn¢t help but roll an ankle or step on a pointed rock every now and then. Mostly people I haven¢t met before at the shelter except a guy named Cottonwood who I met back at the Nantahala Outdoor Center around mile 135. I was getting tired so I just ate my dinner and got ready for bed. Tomorrow I¢ll hike around 15 miles to the Quarter Way Inn Hostel, a farmhouse from 1910 which Strawberry recommended. Laundry and hot shower.
Date: 2018-05-31
From: Quarter Way Inn Hostel

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: overcast clouds

At the hostel, Tina has the food system setup like Standing Bear. Honor system. If you take something like pizza, ice cream, snacks, etc you mark it down and she tallies it to add to you bill. However, when you arrive she asks if you¢d like to have the breakfast she cooks which costs $12. And hands down that¢s the best $12 I¢ve spent on the trail. In the guidebook it describes the breakfast as ¢gourmet¢ which makes you wonder what it actually is. Queche, bacon, cheese grits, freshly baked biscuits with gravy and nut & spice bread with homemade apple sauce and apple butter and honey from the bee hives that she keeps on property. There was even enough food for a second helping. To be honest, not much happened the rest of the day. Yeah I hiked my biggest day yet. Pretty sure it was, I¢d have to go back and check. I plan on meeting back up with Madamoiselle on Sunday at another hostel and this hike to the Jenkins Shelter worked best. I made it into the shelter grounds by 7:00pm and setup my tent and made my dinner. I¢m in a whole different grouping of hikers now. I¢m ahead of the larger bubble of people I had been seeing the past few weeks. The only people I know ahead of me are Strawberry, Silverback, and Nameless. Oh what¢s that I hear? It¢s raining now.
Date: 2018-06-01
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Helvey Mill Shelter
Miles today: 13.5

Relatively easy hike to begin the day. The plan for the day was to hike about 11 miles to US Scenic Highway 52 to make my way to Bland, VA. I ordered a new backpack not too long ago that I wanted to try and I think would work well. Same company, ULA, but smaller and lighter. Also very inexpensive compared to other backpacks. I also got a sleeping bag liner, basically a fleece blanket, which I¢m going to start using instead of a sleeping bag with synthetic down. Too warm, sweating while I sleep. I could buy an actual warm weather sleeping bag but it would take too much research and too expensive. Easy $50 solution. I made it to highway 52 and was able to catch a hitch pretty easily. Two locals and their pickup truck. I hopped in the back which was a lot of fun. Only a 3 mile drive and it was beautiful outside. Picked up my backpack and sleeping bag from the post office and then went over to a grill down the road. I ate a cheeseburger, fries, and chili dog with a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a cone. Started walking back to the trail and caught a ride from an older woman named Mary who is also a local. Quick trip in and out of town and only 2 more miles to the shelter where I¢ll be staying tonight. When I made it to the shelter I was the only one there. Took the opportunity to call my parents because I had cell service. Great chatting with them. More people began to show up at the shelter. A lot of new people I¢ve met at the shelter tonight. I¢m enjoying the new bubble I¢ve gotten into. Sun Dog, Spicy Jones, Curls, Cool Papa, Strider, Baby Bird, Brother Bird, and Nick. Nick is the same Nick I mentioned the day I hiked out of Damascus. He is a damn good hiker. Must be in his 60¢s but kept up with a lot of younger hikers since I met him leaving Damascus. He has a lot of experience and I¢ve seen him every few days so I¢ve gotten the opportunity to chat with him. Good sense of humor too. Cool Papa worked at Johnson and Wales University in Providence which is near where I went to school at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. We reminisced on our favorite local places to go. I love that feeling. Meeting a stranger but able to relate to a similar place. Gosh I miss Providence.
Date: 2018-06-02
From: Helvey Mill Shelter

To: Dismal Falls
Miles today: 18.0

It rained for most of the night and into the morning. Nothing heavy but a constant shower. I ate breakfast in my tent and so I could pack my backpack without getting wet. My tent goes in last to the main compartment so I can pack everything else while in my tent. The rain stopped shortly after I started hiking and it began to look like a nice day. There was a shelter 10 miles in and I planned to head there for a snack and to dry my gear. 10 miles seems far for a snack but the trail was flat, I was done in 3 hours. When I got to the shelter I met The Engineer and Oatmeal Socks. Father and son who started back on March 15th. After the shelter I made my way another 7 miles to a road crossing where a place called Trent¢s Grocery was only 0.5 mile down the road. I went down and got a chicken burger and fries with an iced tea. So amazing. Picked up a few food items to hold me ever the next day and then headed back on the trail up 2 miles to Dismall Falls. Dismal Falls is a popular swimming area with a lot of open space and cold river water to swim in. I relaxed with my feet in the water while I rehydrated as well. After I had enjoyed myself I got ready to go and started heading back up the 0.3 mile side trail up to the AT when I ran into Madamoiselle. I knew we were somewhere close on the trail but not sure where. I planned on hiking on but I said in my head if I ran into anyone I knew I¢d just call it a day. So we went back down to the falls and I snacked on some food. There was good camping around there too so we setup camp with another thru hiker named Short Legs. Tomorrow I¢ll head to Woods Hole Hostel. It¢s supposed to be really nice.
Date: 2018-06-03
From: Dismal Falls

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 13.0

This morning was interesting. Well last night and this morning. I had a tough time throwing a successful line to hang mine and Madamoiselle¢s food. Got it over one branch but the branch couldn¢t hold the weight. I tried another and with the worst luck my rock back hit the branch and wrapped around. Stuck. No way to get it down tugging on it. We found another tree and used Madamoiselle¢s cord. I didn¢t want to lose my cord so I did what what was necessary. I climbed the tree to get it down. Sorry Mom! It¢s was a thin tree, maybe 6 inches in diameter and 20 feet tall. Easy to grip and since it was thin it bent with my weight. It was actually a lot like the boulder style rock climbing I do back home. And I got my cord down! Success in the beginning of the day. Short home to get to Woods Hole Hostel. A quaint cabin only half a mile off the trail. And my parents got me a real room! So thankful. I¢ll actually be sleeping in a real bed tonight which is just amazing. The property for the hostel is beautiful. It¢s also a farm so there are vegetables and even some livestock. Madamoiselle and I shared some home baked bread and cheese for dinner. Simple but really good. I relaxed for the rest of the day swinging in a hammock on the porch of the bunkhouse while eating a pint of the homemade ice cream. Time to get a great night of sleep.
Date: 2018-06-04
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Tough getting out of bed this morning. Big warm blanket and all those pillows. I left the windows open and could hear the birds chirping and some wind outside but the sun was shining and I could tell it was going to be a nice day. Woods Hole B&B is another hostel that does a gourmet breakfast like Quarter Way Inn. Eggs with veggies from the garden, cheese grits, fresh bread with apple butter and a strawberry sauce and freshly squeezed orange juice. I left the hostel a quarter past 9:00 and walked the half mile or so up the road back to the trail only to realize I forgot the leftover bread and cheese from dinner last night. I didn¢t want it to go to waste so I walked back to get it. Ok so probably got back on the trail more like 9:45 but that¢s okay. There was a good viewpoint only a couple miles into the hike and since I¢ve been deprived on good weather and good views I decided to sit for awhile. According to my guidebook there would be a few more good scenic spots latter on the day¢s hike too. I had cell service so I called to my sister to say hi. The hike into Pearisburg was very peaceful. Slight breeze but quiet, birds chirping. When I got into town I first headed to the Post Office to pick up my bounce box. I then got rid of my bounce box. The only item I actually needed from there were my nail clippers. I got ride of my quarter torn up guidebook because I just use the one on my phone all the time. And I mailed a lot of my extra AquaTabs home because I¢ve mostly been using my filter for water. No reason to keep paying postage on gear I don¢t use. The next stops were food. First food resupply at Food Lion then meet Madamoiselle at Dairy Queen. I planned on getting only 2 days worth of food but I left with somewhere close to 5. Not the biggest problem. I was going to get more food halfway to Daleville but now I may not. After grabbing a burger from DQ I continued to hike another 7 miles to Rice Field Shelter. The shelter is on the edge of the woods with the open hillside in front it stretching out about 50 yards before coming to a cliff. Great spot for a sunset. I setup my tent on the field in front of the shelter then headed toward the front of the field to watch the sunset and chat with other hikers while I ate some of the leftover cheese and bread for dinner. It¢s getting dark now while I write this. I¢m in the big mesh of my tent but the door to the fly is open so I can see out the front of my tent. Only the slightest tint of orange on the horizon. I¢m not quite in the wilderness tonight. I can hear a train. The blinking lights on nearby towers flicker and buildings down below and off into the distance. But after being in the rain so much these past three weeks I am so thankful to have had such a beautiful day and to camping on a hilltop with an awesome view.