morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-15
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Motor Lodge
Miles today: 16.6

Hit me in the face and call me Sally. I felt like a truck ran over me this morning, in reverse, whatever that means. Cedar Moe left this morning at like 3am for Pearisburg - geez. After a 24 mile day and waking up early you have to be part human part machine. So Tank, Braveheart, and I got a bit of a late start this morning but we were in no rush, only 16 miles today. Tank, sporting his new shirt, looked a bit beat up. His feet are killing him. In fact, I think has has what Braveheart has.The hike today wasn't that bad but the anticipation of getting to town was unbelievable. It's crazy how programmed my mind is to the culture of "Give it to me now". It really is developing patients in me. It never gets easy, starring at my watch ever 5 minutes in hopes that I was able to blank out for a while and find myself 30 minutes further in my hike, only to be disappointed a minute sum of 5 or 6 minutes elapsed. It definitely can be grueling mentally. I also noticed that it is getting hard to pray. How does one continue to fervently pray for the same things without noticing any results, or having the possibility of hearing any results? It can be disheartening but I find the only resolution is to pray all the more, even though the mind is tired, the spirit is willing. I guess that method is universal: if you see a wall you push through it, tough it out in hopes that the end gain is worth the effort.One thing I have noticed is my lack of emotion or thought rather concerning my old, very old, ex-girlfriend's wedding that is coming up. I've always known that I would be completely over her, heart, soul, mind, collectively, once she got married. She gets hitched the 28th of this month and my prayer while I've been out here is that God's will be done there and that she is in His will: to stop the wedding if she isn't in His will, and to bless the marriage tremendously if she is.But the oddest this is occuring: the closer the wedding day comes, the more I feel myself letting go - finally! Instead of being an emotional mess, I feel that God is holding me strong. Something I know I couldn't have done alone. Anyways, I digress.I felt pretty good for most of the day until the final 4 miles where my hamstring somehow managed to pull itself making it relentlessly difficult to complete today's hike. But, being the ox that I am, I did finish and made it up to the "Motor Lodge" where DAd had a room ready.He was happy to see us and ended up having a great hike himself. He even made some friends out there. He took us to dinner and then we cam back to the motel and watched a hockey game. After that, I went to the pub and journaled a bit and listened to a guy rock out on the guitar - I mean he was awesome. Tomorrow we got to Johnson city for church and to pick up Dad's car. We'll be going, hopefully, to Grace Fellowship, Sam's church.maple cinnamin oatmeal with gorp---tuna salad with crackers, chicken salad with crackers, gorp---friend flounder with onion rings, coke, coffee, peanutbutter pie - Friends and Family restaurant
Date: 2006-04-16
From: Motor Lodge

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Well, 3 hours of sleep due to trailjournals is never good. So for those addicted to them, know that I sacrificed dearly for you. Today we tood off for Johnson city to get Dad's car and also hit up Easter service at Sam's church, Grace Fellowship. The service was awesome, and the praise and worship was outstanding. The Pastor's sermon was almost straight out of "More than a Carpenter." My prayers recently have been that God would help me with my unbelief and I find it no coincidence that the books that I've been reading, "More than a Carpenter" and "Mere Christianity" are the ones available to me for a purpose - and now a sermon that was very appologetic.I didn't get to see Sam today because he went to service on Saturday because the 3 services on Sunday are always packed out, which they were. After church we went over to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. We were having a fun time when the strangest thing happened to me. Our waitress came over to me and said that her friend, another waitress, a college aged African-American girl, "thinks that you are cute and wanted you to know that." I said, "Well, she's right, I am very good looking." I laughed inside about the whole thing. Here I was in trail clothes and had weed for a beard on my face and I was getting hit on - for the first time in my life. I guess they like the dirty look in Tenn. And how is one ever suppose to respond to something like that? How ridiculous.So we left, got Dad's car, said goodbye, and then Braveheart and I took off witht the rental car, a Ford Tarus, for Pearisburg to see its return.A novel thought crossed my mind as we were driving. Braveheart said "I don't mind that we helpt him", Dad, "with the car situation because he treated us so much." I quickly agreed but then realized how wrong our whole thought process was. What we basically said was "We'll be nice but people have to be nice to us first." That startled me. How sick is that? I should of had the mindset that I am helping Dad out because I love him, a choice, and not what he does for me. I need to have that mindset for everyone.So we got to Pearisburg and ate at Hardee's. While we were there, the parking lot next door just started to fill up with big trucks, loud music, and a lot of people. Apparently it was the "hang out". The funny thing is was everyone there was a redneck but all the music that was kickin' was rap. Of course I couldn't resist. We found a love song on the radio and circled the hang out area twice withe the music blarring - very funny.So we returned the car and started hiking. Getting to the shelter took forever due to some poor blazes, or lack thereof more like. When we got there there was only one person in the shelter but there were 5 packs. 4 other people were cowboy sleeping in the grass out on the bald.Oh! Someone put some Easter eggs with candy in them on the trail for some nice little trail magic on Easter.turkey bacon ranch sandwhich, roast beef sandwhich - Arby's---sirloin tips - Ruby Tuesday's---2/3 lbs steak burger, small fry - Hardee's
Date: 2006-04-17
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

So everyone that was in the field last night at one point or another came running in to the shelter because it started to rain. Feather, Scout, Firefly, Team Steve, and Silver Streak were with us. We all got a late start but no one seemed to mind because the distance wasn't far. So we packed up and took off, then the flood gates of heaven opened up. Non stop rain, all day while we hiked. Talk about misery. I quickly learned that Gore-Tex is full of crap - waterproof my butt. The rain was heavy and steady.Braveheart made it to the first shelter where he ended up staying for the night because he hates being cold and wet, but I went on. Hurricane Jeanne of 2004 destroyed some bridge on the A.T. so I had to take a blue blaze trail around it which was nice. There was even trail magic left my Captain Magic at the spot where the trail picked up again. It was soda and snack cakes - yummy.So I finally made it to the shelter and claimed my spot. I tried to dry somethings out on the fire that Scout made but it didn't help much. I've been praying recently for the strength of spirit that was in the appostals and today I felt that those prayers are being heard. Scout asked me how I got my name and I told her it was short for Messenger of God and that is what Joseph means. It all just rolled off my tongue and I said it with confidence. That is huge for me considering that deep scar I carry from 9th grade at Lakewood High.blueberry oatmeal with gorp---PB&J on tortilla---chicken ramen noodle x2
Date: 2006-04-18
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

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

I hate cold mornings. I think the worst part is having to put on the cold, damp, in today's case soaked, hiking shirt. It took a solid hour for me to warm that puppy up once I put it on, and that's with 30 minutes of having it on in my sleeping bag.Braveheart stayed at the shelter behind me yesterday because the cold really got to him. So I waited till 9am to leave so he could catch up some. I was the last to leave by about 30 minutes. Braveheart caught up to me when I took my first snack break.Today's hike was so nice and the weather was perfect. It was able to do some good singing and praying. One of the thoughts that crossed my mind is an analogy of Nilism, the world view of there is no point or purpose in anything, and how I had been feeling about a month ago when I had no motivation to go on. If people, Christian or not, sat down and really thought to themselves "What is the purpose of this life" things would change. They would either enter into a deep depression due to the realization that alone in this world there is no purpose to anthing or one would set off in search of meaning, looking for a hope due to an overwhelming sensation of living a life that is pointless. The simple minded might not care and enjoy pulling the wool over their eyes so they could enjoy "The Now" but it will catch up with them when they are 70 years of age and all they amount to is an old person telling younger fold, who could care less, all their pointless memories and stories. But the seeker, the one that truly is looking for the answer to "The Purpose" will understand how important it is to answer that question. That is the same thing I had to answer when I asked myself "What is the point of going on?" Quitting would be like dieing, but going forward would be grueling and endless. So is life. If you aren't a believer and you ask yourself "What is the point of life, or ever going on?" you will find there is no point. And that is where I believe all religions come in, trying to answer that question. And as with every question there is a right answer and many wrong answers - but the true seeker will find the right answer. I believe the answer is Christianity. Not because I grew up on it, but because it explains exactly what I've felt I've always been missing - the true purpose. Moving on.I got some trail magic today. There were a bunch of sodas in the creek about 3 miles from the shelter. I believe they were left by "Trail Magic Chase". The last 3 miles uphill to the shelter were grueling. I had to stop about every 5-10 minutes to gather my breath and muster up strength to get to the top. When I got there, I met "Uncle Bud", a section hiker from Maine, and Braveheart, Silver Streak, Scout, and Firefly showed up later. Feather stayed at the shelter behind us and Team Steve kept going so he could catch up with his group.blueberry oatmeal x2 with gorp---tuna on wheat pita---chicken and rice, creamy chicken pasta x2
Date: 2006-04-19
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Soreness. It makes sleeping very hard. All night long I would turn over and then wake up in severe pain due to laying on my inflamed side. On top of that I felt like a dump truck hit me in the face, again.Today I think I zoned out for the whole day. Although, my feet did feel like they were on fire for a time. The hiking wasn't too bad but for some reason I was feeling everything.I got to know Firefly a bit better today, I think he'll fit in quite well with Braveheart and I. Very cool guy, 24 years old. So Braveheart and I stopped at the creek that was 1 mile from the shelter and soaked our feet for about 30 minutes. We both were jsut so beat up, and then comes Scout. Laughter is all I hear. There I sat, quiet and depressed, thinking of how in the world could I feel this bad after only 15 miles, and now I have Scout laughing at me due to how pittiful I looked. So we three hung out for a bit and soaked our feet, which ended up helping out a lot. It made the next mile so much better.Silver Streak, Scout, Braveheart, and I all enjoyed conversation over dinner. Feather showed up after we all ate, and she too was beat up. We all planned to meet up Friday and share a room at the Comfort Inn. That is going to be so nice. But it should be interesting cramming 5 of us in there, 6 if Firefly joins us. He decided to camp .1 miles after the shelter for some reason. Tomorrow we get to go over some knob that is the most photographed place on the trail so we should have some fun there.Oh! Silver Streak and Scout took pictures of my oatmeal with gorp this morning, they never had seen anything like it.blueberry oatmeal with gorp---PB&J on tortilla x2---beef stroganov with noodles - mountain house
Date: 2006-04-20
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: few clouds

I got an early start this morning because I knew that I had about 24 miles to cover. I started out with one fatal mistake though, I only filled up one water bottle. This usually isn't a problem because most of the time there will be a water source along the way. Well, this time there wasn't. The first part of the day was "Dragon's Tooth", which is a narled looking peak that at some points you literally are having to use your hands and feet to climb this sucker. It was so intense and energy draining that I finished off all but a sip of my water within the first 1.5 hour. The problem with that is there wasn't another water source for another 10 miles, or 4 hours of hiking. Crap. This is when one must pray and I did just that. I was so tired and thirsty at the bottom of that climb, and that's when God blessed me through trail magic left by "South Paw" from '02 I believe it was. Oh man was I glad to see that! I threw down a sprite and coke in seconds, followed by 2 gatorades and filled my water bottle up with some bottled water that was also there. There was also some food so I had some of that. I kid you not, I don't know what I would have done without that magic. Thank you God!When I finished up there, I crossed the road and found some cans of root beer sunken on the bottom of the creek, probably old trail magic. Needless to say I fished one out. Energized, I moved on.Eventually I came across a cow pasture, and I tell ya what, I don't know what it was but when I saw almost 1,000 piles of cow dung everywhere mother nature kicked in and I had to go. So I found a spot in full view of the cows and did my business using proper LNT. 3 young cows kept inching closer and watched me the whole time - I wonder what they were thinking - "Why does he wipe his butt? Where is his tail? Man is he ugly." - just a thought.The next leg of the day was a ton of ups and downs. But finally I popped out to the road and enjoyed a long break. After catching up with everyone, we took off again, aiming for McAfee's Knob - the picture place. The view - breathtaking. By far the best part of the trip for me yet. Braveheart and I took some pictures for a while and then was soon joined by Firefly. 3 guys, 2 cameras, no one around - not a good combo. Lets just say that someone 3,500 feet below us might have seen something they didn't with to see. We actually were caught with out pants down, literally, when some dude showed up out of no where, but we were ablt to hit the bushes in time. He actually ended up taking a picture for us, it was pretty funny.So later, Braveheart and I pushed on to the next shelter and made it in by 10:30pm. Tomorrow we hit Daleville and hopefully I get my stinkin' phone. Oh! Got one more trail magic after my long break. There were some juices in a cooler. And I even randomly got to meet South Paw.tuna in sunflower oil on tortilla---PB&J, coke, sprite, gatorade x2---chicken teriyaki - mountain housechicken ramon noodles x2
Date: 2006-04-21
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Comfort Inn - Daleville
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

Run over by a truck. That is what I felt like this morning. I'm glad it rained for a bit because that let me sleep in a bit more. So we knocked off the rust and got going. It was suppose to be an easy 9 miles into town and then we would reward ourselves with the Pizza Hut buffet. Well, things didn't go as planned, like they never do.The hiking was so hard. There was this one time that I slipped on a moist rock and slid down the mountain about 7 feet. Thank God that I didn't injure myself. So we thought we finally were close to twon but the road would just never turn up. A lady we passed said the road was one .5 miles from where we asked her, well, the road ended up being 1.5 miles away.So we got the road and saw Pizza Hut - YES!!!...NOPE - you see, they didn't have the buffet, only salad bar, wonderful. So we were told to go to the Country Kitchen for a good buffet, so we headed over to that. Well, to add to our misery, it started down pouring everywhere. So we had to run, with 40 lbs on our backs, .5 miles to this place. There was a point in time that we had to go around a barbed wire fence to get to the restaurant but I was too tired to go around and the rain was pissing me off, so I, like a dumb man, busted through and over that sharp fence. Luckily unharmed.So I guess we were looking pretty miserable because a couple of ladies came up to us during our meal and offered us a ride where we needed to go. It was super nice of them and we were very thankful. They took us to our hotel and then took me to the post office where I got my new cell phone,, easter box, an dletter from Keri - she's so good to me. Then the ladies took me to the outfitter where I bought some more insoles for my boots. One problem, in order to have them mold to your feet you needed an oven to heat them up in. Well, the outfitter didn't have one but the bakery at the grocery store did.After a little charm, the lady behind the counter was baking her first pair of insoles. She was so nice. "Wrong Way" was at the grocery store too with Firefly and asked if he could join in the room tonight - the more the merier.So I hiked back to the hotel, rockin' out on my new phone talking to Keri, of course. At the hotel I did some trailjournals and then showered up. Next, Firefly, Braveheart, and I went to Taco Bell for dinner. Man I love that place. Firefly is a real cool guy and I think we all are gellin' pretty well.After dinner we headed back and I got to talk to Keri, again. Man I love this phone thing - right now anyways. Tired, I hit the hay.PB&J on tortilla---hamburger and fries, buffet - Country Kitchen---rice and bean burrito x2 - Taco Bell
Date: 2006-04-22
From: Comfort Inn - Daleville

To: Dale's House
Miles today: 13.6

When I was checking my email yesterday I noticed an email from a guy named Dale. He lives in Roanoke and told me that he had been reading our trailjournals and would love to have us over for Sunday Service at his church. Well, I gave him a jingle and sure enough everything worked out. We planned it so we would be able to do some hiking and then get picked up by him.So we packed up, at breakfast, checked out of the hotel, Comfort Inn, and then headed out for some errands and lunch. Our hitch to the Country Kitchen was a very nice lady and we were rushed to pile into her car because of our location on the street corner. In the process of cramming ourselves into her car we managed to get red clay all over the floor. Talk about feeling bad. We were so appologetic but what else could we do? No one thought of it. But she was nice about it and said don't worry.We then ate and then hopped on the trail. Our original plan was to call Dale up on the Parkway once we were done hiking but then we figured that I might not get reception up there so we decided that if he didn't hear from me then he would by default go to the designated location at 7pm. Well, coupled with our late start and crappy weather conditions, I endedup calling him and telling him to pick us up later and that I would call him when we were ready because I ended up having great cell service.The weather was bad. It hadn't rained all day but as soon as we set foot on the trail it rained and wouldn't stop. On top of that we had to ford about 5 creeks that were all flowing extremely high due to the amount of rain there was. Not so much fun. Soaking wet and sore as all get out, we finally made it to the Parkway and called Dale.About 45 minutes later he picked us up and with a little verbal warning from the man dressed in blue for accidental speeding, we were off to his house. When we got there we met his wonderful wife and their youngest son Sam. They let us take showers and fed us some amazing food. Dale talked with us a lot that night. I think he was just as excited as we were for the company. Finally we all got tired and hit the sack.This is when I noticed that my phone charger stopped working. I plugged it in to the wall and a huge spark shot out or it - not good. The thing must have blown a fuse. Wonderful. Bad things like this always happen to me. On a brighter note, I did hike and talked to Keri today for about 2 hours and it was great! I think you can tell how much you love someone by how much faster you can waslk with 45 lbs on your back when you are talking to them over a phone. I also got a surprise call from my Swedish friend Emma! I was in the middle of a river about to die when she called. Unfortunately I couldn't call her back that night because I had such a low charge on my phone.continental breakfast - Comfort Inn---lunch buffet, burger - Country Kitchen---Spaghetti, sprite, grapes, catalope - Dale's house
Date: 2006-04-23
From: Dale's House

To: Cove Mountain
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

We woke up and got read for church. I called Keri and told her about my charger situation and reminded her how bad things always happen to me. But she is a steady mind and assured me everything would be alright.So Dale had donuts and OJ ready for us this morning before church. I got to meet the rest of their kids as well. Caleb is a little guy with tons of personality and can talk paint off a wall. He liked Karate and even showed us a few moves. Phebes is their oldest child and she's in the 3rd grade. All their kids are adorable.We were able to go to the college Sunday school class before the service and it was great. A lady by the name of Mary led the class and she knew her scriptures and just had a love for teaching. Then we moved on to the service which was neat. They had a big choir and they sure could sing. The speaker was someone in a different room because we watched him on the big screen, like a big movie screen.After the service we went back to the house and ate lunch and then said goodbye to the Mrs. and then Dale took us out to do some errands. Phebes and Caleb came too. We went to Walgreens and then to Super Wal-Mart looking for a replacement for my phone charger. They didn't have it so we went to one Verizon store who then told us to go to another Verizon store, where I finally got my charger replaced, and for free too which turned out very well for me.Dale then took us back to the A.T. The kids and Dale hiked with us a bit on the trail too. The kids looked so cute using our poles. Finally they all turned back and we thanked Dale again for blessing us. I hope he gets his chance to hike the A.T., he seems real into the idea.So I took off and went about 9 miles and waited for Braveheart to catch up. Well, he didn't show up so I set up camp thinking he was going slow due to his feet. When he finally showed up 1.5 hours later he said he was just taking his time. Tonight we are camping out on top of Cove Mountain.krispy Kream donuts - Dale's house---turkey sandwich x3 - Dale's house---turkey sandwich