morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-08-22
From: Hermann South B&B, Just north of Drake, MO

To: Quarry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: scattered clouds

¢Click, click, click,¢ I am back on trail. But that¢s not the sound my trekking poles make. At least not anymore. Each plant of a tip, even when it strikes rock, sounds more like a soft ¢thud.¢Rocksylvania was the final insult to the case-hardened steel trekking pole tips. They were down to a nubbin for a while, but they¢ve been completely gone now for at least a week.I¢m glad the same doesn¢t happen to parts of my body. How easy and how hard it was today. On the one hand it felt like falling down the rabbit hole again, entering my Appalachian Trail Wonderland as easily as Alice entered hers. On the other hand¢¦Our alarm woke us at 4:30 am. We are almost two hours west and south of the St. Louis Airport. Outside is all rain, thunder and lightning flashes. On the road at 5:00 am. Frodo is so grateful when the blind curves of the country lane give way to freeway. (Frodo: I¢m always the driver. Scout hasn¢t driven since he started this hike, I think. And the driving conditions I hate are when I¢m on unfamiliar roads, in the dark, in the driving rain. Like this morning.) At the airport I think there were more people in the security line than the entire total of AT Northbounders, the lines seeming to be at double the normal capacity but still moving well.Rental car, airport, plane, airport, rental car, our daughter¢s house in North Bethesda, then Frodo driving freeway and country lanes again, all to deposit me at 3:30 back at the AT where I left off on Saturday.My feet remember what to do. It¢s 8.6 miles later and I¢m at a double shelter with covered picnic tables and I¢ve come full circle because as I write this it has started to rain. Hard. But I am okay and dinner awaits.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I can feel the two days of rest. I must make sure I don¢t squander its good effects.I owe you an apology. About a week ago I teased about another surprise. It turns out I jumped the gun - I don¢t have permission to spread the word on social media. So let me give you two things. First, Reuben ¢Scout¢ sent a photo of himself in his first Scout uniform: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  And his dad shared that Reuben, age 6, had never folded a single piece of clothing. They found Reuben in his room, carefully folding his shirt, one quarter fold and then another. He must have felt it was so special that he needed to fold it. Second, and finally, I have direct word from Dot and Franky.  At the end of the day Saturday they were 50 miles behind the spot where I got off, and this morning they passed that spot and are now about ten miles ahead of me. On Friday evening the three of us and Frodo will all be staying at the home of a ¢trail community¢ friend just outside Harper¢s Ferry. A reunion is in store.Time to eat more dinner. The rain is still pounding on the roof. Dry. Happy.
Date: 2017-08-23
To: Pen-Mar County Park
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: broken clouds

Let¢s begin today with earnestness and hope. A thru-hiker has to have these aplenty, but I¢m not talking about me. I¢m talking about the dozen freshmen from Franklin & Marshall College I passed on the trail this afternoon. They were so earnest, full of life, eyes alert for discovery on this pre-college trip. They were so full of hope and good things. And they were out here. They¢d met a thru-hiker who started ¢in Maine?¢ One more great possibility, an open door in front of them. What will these kids do? Who among them will save thousands? Which will be the good husbands and wives? But most important, they are spending five days in the woods. You may have heard of the book with the provocative title, Last Child in the Woods. These kids, these treks, ensure that will never happen.Last night two northbound section hikers were in the second of the side-by-side shelters and they said there was a local flash flood warning until midnight. The rain pounded on and off till the wee hours. Every time I woke I thought, ¢Let those clouds squeeze it all out now.¢ And though it was still spitting when I hiked out at 6:45 am, umbrella in one hand and hiking pole in the other, it soon stopped.The sun came out, but the temperature is clearly 5 to 10 degrees cooler than yesterday¢s near-ninety.  Nice.The trail was pleasant http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  and I made good time. Pennsylvania tried to throw some last rocks my way, but it felt half-hearted as I neared the border. Dot and Franky gave me good reasons to be looking down at my feet, a bit of yin and yang. On the happy side, the two wrote ¢Hi, Scout!¢ in still-damp soil. http://www.trailjournals.com/j... On the other hand, they also texted, ¢Scout, watch out for a baby copperhead snake.¢I¢ve seen many examples of ¢green tunnel.¢ The AT has them in more flavors than Baskin-Robbins has of ice cream. But today¢s seemed near perfect, a full overlapping, encircling canopy, like a green-encased Bridal Bower:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Maybe today I ran in to the last true northbounder. He had his t-shirt with the AT white blaze, still had the Katahdin mindset, volunteering right away that he needed to make 20 miles a day. Every day. I saw in the next shelter I passed that he¢d written a long paragraph about it in the register. No zeroes. And he¢d have to maintain his pace in The Whites and through Maine. I wished him luck. What else could I do?I¢ve heard from little Jessica of the Princesses. She liked the short video of me crossing the mid-point. Of course she did. So, Princesses, what sort of video would you have made if it was you? (Yes, that¢s a dare.)I¢ve just crossed into Maryland, my ninth state. And here¢s the photo to prove it:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I¢ll see Frodo again early tomorrow. And with that, good night.
Date: 2017-08-26
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Campsite just before Raven Rocks
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: broken clouds

The three of us are back on trail together again ¢ Scout, Dot, and Franky. No telling how long it will last.We climb out of Harpers Ferry, nearly a thousand-foot climb, but it doesn¢t feel like it. Good trail tread, flat stretches between climbs. And at mile 6 even more antidote for any trail loneliness. Our daughter Nicky and her boyfriend James are waiting at the next trailhead. And not only do they have sandwiches for us for lunch, they have backpacks that are full and ready for two days of AT adventure. Nicky is an experienced backpacker, but this is James¢ first-ever overnight. (Frodo: When Scout hiked the CDT, Nicky and I joined him for a few days in northern Montana, when they were having a heat wave, it was in the high 90s, and there were so many flies and mosquitos that they would cover your bare arm if you stopped moving it. Pretty miserable. Glad it didn¢t make her swear off backpacking for good.)So how was James doing in the mid-afternoon? You can¢t see their faces in this ¢view¢ photo, but I guarantee they were both smiling.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...At a shelter we found a swing, so Dot and Franky put it to good use.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...But just before we reached our campsite, we passed an ominous sign. ¢Rollercoaster Ahead.¢ For the next 13.5 miles. I¢ll give you a full report tomorrow, but here¢s me registering my reaction to the sign.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-08-27
From: Campsite just before Raven Rocks

To: Liberty Hill Lane, Ashby Gap
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Was my stomach queasy? Did I hold both hands up high and scream? After all, we were on the Roller Coaster.No. But the trail was wedded to ups and downs; the longish flat sections we¢ve been hiking just off the Appalachian crest had fled like lambs before a wolf. I¢m told that the wolf was a road, that grasped the crest with teeth and claws, ¢Mine!¢Actually, it¢s amazing that we¢ve had such a long string of miles along the very crest of the Appalachian Mountains, a trail in a wide swath of greenbelt. It¢s amazing that there aren¢t more roads, more homes, resorts, more civilization that have pushed this footpath off the crest. So, so many people have contributed to this miracle that is the Appalachian Trail. Friday night we stayed at the home of two, Rita and Sean, and tonight, after only one night in the woods, we are staying at the home of two more trail champions, Don and Amy.After 3 miles on the ¢coaster, Nicky and James step off. On James¢ first backpack trip he jumped on for 12 miles with three thru-hikers. Pretty brave. Except for the booming chorus of cicadas that kept him awake last night, I think James had a good time. (Frodo: I can attest to the fact that those critters are just cacophonous!) At just past noon I see ahead the swing of a shrub cutter. Trail maintainers! We love ¢em! And there¢s a familiar face: Sean, our host from Friday night. He¢s been hoping he would see us, and we¢d been looking for him. Here he is, carrying not one serious trail tool, but three:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  And for the next two miles, to the next trailhead, the side shrubbery was groomed back, clippings on the ground, as if the trail had been lovingly given a close shave. Thanks, Sean!Frodo brought us lunch ¢ Whole Foods¢ best. Are we three spoiled? Do we thank her enough? And for the last 8 miles we slackpack, the three of us, officially leaving the roller coaster. See the relief on my face?  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...At day¢s end, Frodo whisks us to Don and Amy¢s house. Don and I both serve on the Continental Divide Trail Coalition Board. And, boy, did they feed us well! Corn picked this morning. Pasta. Caesar salad. Peach cobbler. And apple pie. It was the first time Amy had baked with apples grown on their own property. And I bet it won¢t be the last. (Frodo: Do you think maybe there¢s an unhealthy obsession with food here?)  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Clean and pleasantly stuffed, we head to bed, gear all ready to head out early. No slackpacking. No lunch brought to us. For a couple of days we are back to trail norm.¢Night.
Date: 2017-08-28
From: Liberty Hill Lane, Ashby Gap

To: Tom Floyd Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Tomorrow we enter Shenandoah National Park and this morning I had a rare treat. Almost a mile of trail went through wide, cleared ridge top. It wasn¢t a powerline cut. The edges curved and our trail wound gracefully through leaves, then foot-high grasses. It felt like it was only for us. It felt like a Sierra Meadow. An unexpected delight.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...¢Tomorrow is going to be rough,¢ Dot commented at lunch while looking at her smartphone. We¢d covered over 14 miles and were eating a bit late, but the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter was billed as a three-star one, so we had aimed for it as a lunch spot. The solar shower and horseshoe pit with horseshoes fit the bill.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  Dot¢s ¢rough¢ comment wasn¢t about the upcoming terrain, it was about rain. It¢s been a while; at least a week. I know how to do this. But I can¢t say that I look forward to it. Also tomorrow, Dot & Franky and I will part ways. After 4 days together, I am going in to D.C. for a zero after 8 days of hiking, and the two of them are hiking on.We did 23 miles. Didn¢t start till 7:30 am and finished by 7:00 pm. There were two long climbs, but down here they know what switchbacks are and they know how to use them. Liberally, I was asked a question at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Office last Friday. It surprised me how hard it was to answer. ¢What was your worst moment? What was your best moment?¢ You know me, I like to tell stories. But the morning I fell 14 times on steep terrain in Maine was also the day the sun burst out and I was hiking out to meet Frodo. And hiking the crazy Mahoosuc Notch I was with Sean, my son. Maybe the one time I fell straight forward, ripping my pants open and tearing skin. But none felt ¢worst.¢ And among so many stellar moments, no one felt ¢best.¢I will miss D&F. But I feel our paths will cross again. From the Blue Ridge Mountains, from John Denver country, good night.
Date: 2017-08-30
From: Elkwallow Wayside

To: Zero Day in Bethesda
Miles today: 0.0

This was a day with no hiking miles, but Scout was quite busy nonetheless. Jordie had the day off today, since she was on call yesterday and last night. She¢s an anesthesiologist. Her husband Trevor was our gracious host last night, but he left today at noon on a business trip.1)  Scout caught up on his trail journal and discovered that when he types it directly onto a computer rather than writing it out on paper ¢ yesterday was no conditions to be trying to write during the day ¢ he actually writes longer entries.  2)  Scout prepared for and participated in a telephonic meeting about marketing for the coffee table book he has been contracted to write about the Continental Divide Trail. This will be a ¢partner¢ book for the Rizzoli Press books on the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail (the latter of which Scout co-authored). One of the reasons I don¢t want Scout to dilly-dally too much as he hikes this trail is because he needs to get to work on the CDT book as soon as possible. 3)  Scout planned out his next few days on the trail. Then, with his brain already full of all that information, he spent time with me looking at what¢s ahead for the next month. There¢s only so much logistics you can process at a time, so that was a challenge.4)  Scout put his food for the next several days ¢ until two days after I leave on the 5th ¢ into bags, one bag for each day. That way I knew what food that I had brought and had bought was excess and could be offered to Dot and Franky. That was very helpful to me, so I was grateful he spent that time.Jordie asked her dad this afternoon if he would like to go with her to get a special treat and spoil his appetite. Of course he jumped at the chance to spend some one-on-one time with her. They shared this very decadent ice-cream-in-a-curled-waffle-with-sprinkles concoction that has a funny name I¢ve forgotten, see the photo above.Sean and Nicky & James joined us for dinner, which was excellent wood-fired pizzas from one of Jordie¢s favorite reataurants, appetizers that I had bought, salad that Sean brought, and s¢mores. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  and  http://www.trailjournals.com/j... Jordie has a very nice house with an amazing yard. We toasted marshmallows over her new fire bowl and had some lovely family time. We were especially pleased that Nicky and James could join us, as they left from Jordie¢s to catch an overnight flight to Milan, Italy. It¢s always stressful packing for an overseas trip so I know they were up late last night so they could spend time with all of us this evening.Dot & Franky hung out with us, too. I took them to REI and the supermarket and to a barber so Franky could get his beard trimmed. (The barber told him, ¢You don¢t need a beard trim, you need a HAIRCUT!¢) I binged some on Game of Thrones and Dot got some napping in.Altogether, a pretty great off-trail day.
Date: 2017-09-03
From: Doyle's River Trailhead

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was the kind of day it¢s wonderful to be a backpacker. Starting out at sunrise I have the trail to myself. The last two days of rain have left glistening jewels studding leaves under today¢s bright sun. For the first hour and a half I have the trail to myself, views of dark-green Shenandoah-like paintings competing and crying, ¢Take out your camera for me!¢ (Frodo: In spite of his sentence construction claiming that he was looking at paintings, he was actually looking at the real thing ¢ the Shenandoah Valley and banks of Blue Ridge Mountains.)And just like the views have come out, the people have, too. In droves ¢ day hikers, backpackers ¢ I feel like I¢m in an amusement park and I¢m the park host. Welcome! I¢m glad you¢re here. Brian, age 12, lights up when I pass him one of my custom gold AT tattoos. His dad prompts him to say thank-you, but that glow from his eyes and upturn at the corners of his mouth are all the thanks I need. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  I feel like Mickey Mouse in my own Disneyland. Some I tell I hiked from Maine, some not. The trailhead parking lots are full, while yesterday they were deserted. The forest seems to sparkle in the filtered sunlight. Lunch provides no break in my hosting, as I choose a patch of sunlight near the trail. Two young women backpackers engage in conversation with me and then, as they come over at the offer of my small AT token, I say, ¢Isn¢t there some warning somewhere about young girls accepting gifts from an old man in the woods?¢ All three of us laugh.This feels like the perfect day. It¢s now 2:30, 17 miles done and I¢m waiting at a trailhead for Frodo to show up with a new hiking companion, Not-A-Moose. I lie on my groundsheet on a grassy patch alongside Skyline Drive. Two cars with hikers I met today happen to drive by. Windows come down, they call out ¢Scout!¢ as they pass. A guy on a bicycle does the same.Can you imagine if each of us had our own small token we gave out when meeting each other, out in the regular world? Something chosen to prompt a smile. What a world that would be.I am at Calf Mountain Shelter and now this is what I thought a Labor Day Weekend night would be like. One group has put a red-and-white-checked tablecloth on the picnic table, they¢re cooking steaks on the fire, have songs playing from a canister speaker, and are cooking hot dogs¢¦. THAT THEY FEED TO THEIR DOG! But the music is from the 70s, there are ten more camping here, and from the animated talk the wine must have been flowing for a while.And Frodo is here to share it with me. She hiked in a bit over 2 miles and tonight she will sleep inside an AT shelter for the first time.I know up ahead, as Fall arrives and more darkness than light overruns me before I can finish this trail, there will be rough days. But I will cling to memories of this one, cleave to it like I do to memories of Frodo¢s hugs.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-09-05
From: Dripping Rock Trailhead, then DB Brewery

To: The Priest Shelter
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: clear sky

Just imagine all the things that can go wrong. We have plenty of time to think out here. If you were going to imagine such things you could have a field day, thinking of all the ways you could get hurt. Such as, what if I were eating a Little Debbie apple tart. And what if a bee landed on that sweet apple filling. And what if I took a bite right then. Nah, that¢s dumb. Never happen.¢Little Debbie¢ pastries and cakes are a traditional AT trail food. The outside of the package brags, ¢Natural and Artificial Flavors.¢ Love those artificial flavors.OUCH! My hand darts to my mouth. I pull out a bee!! It hurts like the dickens, like two dentists just hit the tip of my tongue with hot needles. I next pull out the stinger. Did that little bugger just make my tongue swell? The right half of my tongue is twice its usual size an hour later. What fun! Here¢s a photo:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...We have two big climbs today; nearly 5,000 feet elevation gain before we lay down our heads tonight. Here's NAM tanking up:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...All morning it looks like rain must be days away as we climb Three Ridge Mountain. But you can¢t fool us; we know that rain is on the way.It¢s due to start around 3:00. With 7 miles left and all the climb up The Priest ahead, a thunderstorm roars in, more like this is Maine and not Virginia. Big wind gusts signaled that we had two minutes to cover our packs, unfurl our umbrellas, and button down the latches. Lots of lightning fireworks. One made us jump ¢ light and crash at the same time.Ascending The Priest gave me a lot of time to think about the AT tradition here ¢ confess your ¢trail sins¢ on the shelter register. I¢m still thinking about what to write.(Frodo: Sorry to interject, but there are two photos from last night at the brewery that Scout gave me to post, too late to be included in yesterday's entry.  Here they are:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  and  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...A mouse just ran over my toes. At least I hope it was a mouse.It¢s well past 10:00 and I listen to Buck lightly snoring and the long-asleep even breathing of Dot, Franky, NAM, and another SOBO, Aloha. Time for me to join them. IMF (You knew I¢d end that way).
Date: 2017-09-07
From: Highway 60 and Stanimal's Hostel

To: Stanimal's Hostel in Glasgow
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

(Frodo: I just got this from Scout this morning, Sunday. It would have been more amusing if I could have posted it a couple of days ago.  I posted the first part while waiting for the rest.  It's all here now.)Irma. She may visit me in dark of night. In my tent. Or in a shelter. Sorry, Frodo, but Irma won¢t take no for an answer.What gives? Read this Guestbook entry from William (Thanks, William, and thanks to all who send me notes.)   ¢Scout, don't tell Frodo, but there is a lady who may be planning to pay you a visit in about a week (Tues-Wed the 12-13th of September). Her name is Irma and she may be in a foul mood. Suggest you keep an eye peeled on the forecast track by Sat-Sun since that will be the first time that her Tue-Wed position/track can be well bracketed. Tropical weather systems are typically much weakened by the time they reach the Blue Ridge Mountains, but not always. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo still packed 80-90 mph winds and wreaked havoc in the Mount Rogers area with hundreds of thousands of trees blown down. In 1972 Hurricane Camille dropped 30" of rain around Buena Vista on the west side of the AT and in Nelson County just SOBO of Rockfish Gap on the east side of the AT, with predictable catastrophic flooding. Be thinking about a "hunker down" plan well away from rising water and falling trees!¢William¢s should have had a title:  WARNING!We had a lazy day here at the hostel.  Sure there was laundry, trips to two stores for food resupply, phone calls and email.  I made grilled cheese sandwiches for the two of us since we have a kitchen, slicing slivers of green pepper to put inside.  Part o the cheese I used was a cheddar-jack stick I carried for 100 miles.  Not-A-Moose made a salad from the only two vegetables at the Glasgow store - iceberg lettuce and that green pepper.Lazy.  there's a concept.  Do I remember how to do it?  NAM has it down pat, as you can see above."Danger, Will Robinson!  Danger!"  Everyone wants to warn me about That Woman.  Even my mother today.  Don Owen warned me about her older sister, "We were out in an AT shelter during Katrina."  He described the view from the shelter's mouth, trees whipping and then snapping like matchsticks.  It was like viewing a disaster movie with 3-D glasses with Surround Sound on a Jumbo-tron screen 5 feet from your nose.  "We all slept on the bottom bunks for the most protection."  The next day they abandoned their AT hike, beating a retreat on a 5-mile side trail.  Nine hours; there were that many downed trees.Switching to the mundane.  I did something for the first time today.  I'd never been inside a Dollar General store before.  (Frodo: They're not in San Diego.)  You can resupply pretty darn well in one.  Here I am, no longer a Dollar General Store virgin.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Maybe a week ago Dot said, "It doesn't rain much here in September and October."  Hmmm...  I'm waiting.  But the next our days before Irma look pretty nice.  I think I'll stretch out my arms, lie down, and take a nap.