morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-19
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Swift Run Gap -- US 33
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: moderate rain

The dog kept moving around all night, thumping all 4 feet on the resonant shelter floor. Its owner was totally oblivious, snoring away. The dog seem to be most comfortable when she was lying next to me, but I'd forget she was there, turn over & bump her; & off she would go again. At one point, it sounded like maybe she was chasing a shelter mouse or something -- I'm not sure.I set my alarm for 5:30, since it gets light enough to hike a little before 6:00; so I was able to get all my stuff together and my breakfast pretty quickly, trying to do it as quietly as possible with so many people in the shelter (something I'll have to get used to from now on). Of course, this had to be one of those times when the alarm wouldn't shut off. I couldn't get the button to work; so I had to just turn the phone off. Last time I had that problem, the power was down so low the screen wouldn't illuminate; so how do you power it down then? Wild!When I got up to the trail I had to be very careful to turn right rather than left, so that I would be going south. My strong memory from the last time I was here is that this shelter is on the East side of the mountain -- this time it was on the West side.K.T., Santiago, Pork Roll, Patawon, Kid, Rhino are NOBO hikers I met early in the day. Some of them had been shuttled a few miles over the fire area and been able to go on, but that must have been before the fire got bigger.I stopped at Big Meadows ranger station & was told that no one was allowed to hike South of US 33. No idea when it will reopen because the fire is really not contained at all yet. That means I'll have to jump down to Woodshole now, complete my hike, & come back for the 45 miles I'm skipping. Some hikers say they're coming back for 8 miles! Alison, the dog-owner from the shelter, had hitched a ride down to the ranger station, trying to get permission to go get her car , parked somewhere South near the fire.So I ate breakfast at the restaurant (good buckwheat pancakes) & made a bunch of phone calls to make arrangements for shuttle & hostel for tomorrow. During the course of the day, I decided I'd try to get as close as possible to RT 33 tonight & hitch a ride into Charlottesville in the morning to get the bus to Roanoke. I had dinner at Bearfence Hut & talked with Simon & Bookworm, 2 more who had made a jump past the fire area. Then I stopped at Lewis Mtn campground. I was offered a free bunk (which I later offered to a NOBO couple). From there, I was able to book a bus ticket for tomorrow [or so I thought]. The two breaks in late afternoon made doing another 8 miles more palatable. I stopped for a snack at Hazeltop, highest point in today's travels -- not nearly as high as the ones yesterday. From there I saw some smoke to the South, probably all that I'll see of the fire. After getting just about to the Highway, I went back up to where it seemed legal & level enough to camp. One concern: Are some of those dead stalks poison ivy?In bed shortly after 10:00 -- disappointed that the moon didn't break thru the clouds very much till later than that.
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Sugar Run Gap -- Woodshole

To: Near Dismal Falls
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

Woodshole Hostel is a nice place to loaf. I worked on the computer while they fixed breakfast. The computer was donated to the Hostel, but it's old & has a lot of unfamiliar features, making it slow for me to work on. Just as I was finishing, it deleted everything! After breakfast, got my package ready to send on, settled up, & then went back & re-did yesterday's entry. Then I couldn't find my wooden hiking pole, until someone remembered that they had used it last night to herd the ducks. On the Trail at 11:11.In the course of the day, I met Obie, O2, Red Squirrel, Dimples[Wis], Ginger Snap, Lays & Tenderfoot [Maine], Manchild, Captain, Bubbles, Chase, Stretch, Bang-Bang, Doubtfire, Moonshine (all 3 from northern Va), Mulligan, Czech-Mate, Big Fudge, Nova, among others. All NOBO. Although it seemed all the trees in the valley had leaves yesterday, today, on the mtns, there are none, nor many wild flowers. I stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Wapiti Shelter. Continuing down from there, I came to a pond with signs: "Do not go beyond this point." No further instructions, other than it was a restoration area. There were horse trails to right & left ¢ I tried them & found no blazes. So I decided it just meant "Stay on the Trail" & continued on. After the Trail went down off the dike, I spotted a blaze (not visible from the intersection) that looked like some kind of flat, greyish or off-white paint rather than the gloss white I'd expect. No warnings at all to NOBOs.After several miles of rhododendron tunnels & stream crossings, I passed 3 or 4 people camped by a stream. Some time after, I met a hiker who said he had passed up a campsite because no one else was there. Since my philosophy is almost opposite to that, I told him where the others had camped & went on to find a site just before the bridge near the falls. Never did find the bridge, but I found a place to camp just before dark. One quarter hour of trail work.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: Near Dismal Falls

To: On top of Brushy Mtn. 
Miles today: 13.2

Soon after I got going, I took the side trail to the Falls of Dismal. It's a pretty place, & there were already some people here, plus one tent along the way. Then across Hwy 606, electing not to go to Trent's Grocery, 12-mile off the Trail. I didn't need any more weight.Brushy Mtn. begins here & goes on for several days. As I went up [It's not very high], I observed more & more flowers, including many flowering trees. I stopped at Jenny Knob Shelter to cook lunch & use the privy, meeting several hikers coming & going. This Mtn. is not difficult, just a lot of minor ups & downs along the ridge, with some views of the valleys on one side or the other. I don't know why I couldn't seem to cover more miles. Since I obviously wasn't going to get to Bland before the Post office closed on Saturday, I called & asked them to forward my package to Damascus. There were one or two items I might have wanted, but it wasn't worth the effort. As it started to get dark, I was looking for relatively flat places to camp. The ridge wasn't cooperating, but eventually I found a place with only a slight slope, but still a bit sheltered from the wind, which had been increasing all afternoon.
Date: 2016-04-23
From: On top of Brushy Mtn. 

To: I-77, Bland
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

I had thought I was closer to the road to Bland, but it was probably just as well I hadn't gone farther yesterday. Soon after I started packing up, I discovered my wallet was missing. The hole in my pocket that I thought was just big enough for quarters to fall thru turned out to be the whole side of the pocket. It could have fallen out any time in the past 2 days! As I thought about it, I may have noticed I wasn't sitting on it when I stopped at Jenny Knob Shelter, but it didn't really get thru to my consciousness. Then I wondered the same thing about my stop at Wapiti Shelter the day before. So many places it could have been lost in the course of 2 days & 26 miles!I checked the several places where I had gone out to poop during the night. Then I decided to walk back [without my pack] to see if I could spot it along the Trail somewhere. I ended up going 7 miles, all the way back to Hwy 608, stopping at Jenny Knob Shelter & even checking the privy. No luck. Coming back, I told all the NOBOs I saw to turn it in to Woods Hole Hostel if they spotted it. Hikers will generally help if they can.It was afternoon by the time I got back to where I had camped. Then it was more than 6 miles to the road to Bland. When I got to the bridge over I-77, there were 3 hikers sitting there. Two of them were going on, but Shaggy was calling a shuttle to go into town to the motel. It wasn't exactly where I wanted to stop hiking, but I wanted to go to the motel too, & we could split the shuttle cost; so I waited there with him. Bubba, the shuttle driver, said this was the 9th hiker he'd met this year using the name "Shaggy".I had a little bit of cash in my pack, but for the motel I needed to call Susan & get a credit card number [different from the ones I'd just lost]. They had a wash tub outside to wash clothes ¢ so I did, but I doubted anything would dry on the clothesline overnight. Main trick is to remember to bring them along when I leave. About 12 mile across the highway, there were a Dollar General & Subway; so I got some stuff for supper & breakfast: the restaurant in town is reputed to have good breakfasts, but it's not open on Sundays.
Date: 2016-04-24
From: I-77, Bland

To: More of Brushy Mtn.
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: clear sky

I got a ride into town, but nothing was open yet. I knew where the Lutheran Church is, across from the courthouse, & found the Methodist church up the hill. The people there were very friendly, but I'm a Lutheran. There I got to join a well-led Bible study & then attend the worship service. It turns out that it's a combined Lutheran-Presbyterian congregation. The preacher was obviously Presbyterian & had a good sermon. Always good to get together with other Christians.Last time I was here, I found there was no grocery store in this small, county-seat town [Allegedly, the Family Dollar had put the IGA out of business]. Appeared to be a rural "food desert". I was happy to see that a grocery had re-opened. I only bought a couple of items because I didn't need much.A couple from the church was willing to take me out to the Dismal Falls area, so I could do a bit more looking for my wallet. I searched the place where I had camped & even located a spot along the side trail where I had stopped to poop in the woods. No luck. Along this section, I met Tinker, another older hiker whom I had met yesterday a ways down the Trail.I then walked down to Hwy 42, to try to hitch a ride back to Bland [about 15 miles, I guess]. No luck. So I called Bubba, who would take me all the way back to where he'd picked me up yesterday. While waiting for him, I called the sheriff's departments of two counties, just in case someone turned in the wallet to them.It was almost 5:00 when I started making forward progress again; so I didn't get very far. Once I got off the steep road walk, it was some easy trail on a hot evening, I found a flat point of land jutting out from the mtn. & set up my tent.
Date: 2016-04-26
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Quarter-Point Hostel
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up earlier than most & tried to get a photo of the sun rising over Burke's Garden. It sure moves fast when you're watching it. The first couple of miles are on a bald, then into the woods for the rest of the day, with just about everything leafing out now. Only one of the hikers at the shelter was Southbound. We met at the spring; then I didn't see him again. I started to meet NOBOS early on & pretty much all day, maybe as many as yesterday, but my phone lost all the names; so I have no count. I stopped to eat at Knot Maul Shelter. As I was leaving, the first hikers arrived who planned to stay. I met at least 30 after that who also hoped to stay there.Lots of fairly easy ups & downs today; I'm not sure why I didn't make more miles. As I came down the hill toward the old mill & the crossing of North Fork Holston River, hikers were telling me about the man with a truck providing drinks to hikers down at the road [Va 742]. About 200 yards from the road, I looked down & watched the truck drive away! It was just a few minutes after 5:00 but it must have been quitting time. A few miles later, at Va 610, I decide to stay the night at Quarter Way Inn, a new hostel [They're still working on it]. When I called, I was told they didn't do pickups; so I ended up walking almost a mile. It's a nice place, I could cook my supper on a stove, & they took my credit card number [still don't have an actual card].   There were 5-6 other hikers there, mostly slack-packing, tho one was getting off the trail for physical reasons & another was staying several days to recuperate.It disturbed me a bit to hear, from the slack-packers who came in late, that when they had crossed Va 742 the man was back with trail magic. I'd missed again!
Date: 2016-04-28
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Before Dickey Gap
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

Finally, a little more mileage in the day!I got a fairly early start & stopped only to do some trail work on Glade Mtn. By the time I got from there to Brushy Mtn., I must have met 40 hikers. Very crowded at Partnership shelter last night, I guess! Unfortunately, I've lost all the names, but I remember couple of guys from Wittenberg University [I used to live near there], 2 young women with Greek Trail names, & a middle-aged woman who said she'd been following my Trail Journals & would see me at Trail Days [didn't happen]. When I got to the ranger station, I stopped to get some pop [but not pizza] & charge up my phone a bit. They had some interesting nature displays. Then a few hundred feet to the shelter, where I had lunch & met 5 more hikers. They informed me that the shower had only cold water, so I didn't try it. Next came almost 10 miles of easy Trail , including crossing the South Fork Holston River. I stopped briefly at Trimpi Shelter, but decided to go a few more miles, up "High Point" [I think I've heard that name before!]. Not so many NOBOs this afternoon, except for a bunch around the shelter.Just past the top, there was supposed to be a trail to a campsite, but I didn't find it & ended up making my own spot on a pretty rocky hillside.
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Lost Mtn. Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

May Day! It should finally be OK for those May Apples to bloom . . . but I didn't see any yet.On my previous hike, I got into Damascus on the 30th & had 1 May as a zero day -- this time, it will be one day later [in the opposite direction].It was raining pretty hard off & on all night [lots of noise on the metal roof, but] not so much in the morning. I got down the first road and part-way on the highway without getting very wet. My plan was to go to the service at St Matthew Lutheran Church in Konnarock, in the valley alongside the Mtns. the trail is on. I guess I walked about 2.5 miles on a very nice gravel road & along the highway. It started raining again just before I got to the church; so I got all wet anyway. There were only about 10 people in church, counting me; but they sang well, & I enjoyed using the old liturgy. The lay preacher led the service well & had a good sermon. In a few weeks, they are getting a new pastor to share with 2 other small churches. I found a couple from the congregation who were willing to drive me back up to the trail.Along the way today, I met Doc, Slinger, Roadrunner, Roo & Birkie, Catfish, RC, Just David, Sage, Pooky, Pock, Calamity, Quizats, Hammer, Willow, Nature Boy, Powder, another Nature Boy [About 20 minutes apart, but they haven't met!], Puma, Rusty Bridges, Dream, Don, Dr Kool Aid & My Shadow, Dreamwalker, Time-Warp, The Scavenger. There were a lot more thru-hikers up on the Trail late this afternoon than this morning -- those hardy souls all stayed in Damascus because of possible rain, while the week-end hikers were out anyway.After visiting there again, I have concluded that of the two equal-length entrances to Saunders Shelter, the South one is more levelAfter Saunders, there are lots of switch-backs on the way down. There I started seeing poison ivy for the first time in several days -- also fire pinks & wild iris, plus some flowers I had seen before & others I hadn't seen. Lots of poison ivy right in the trail.I did about 1/4 hour of trail work on the last slope down to Damascus.It was a nice sunny afternoon after a somewhat rainy morning, with bigger ups & downs than I remembered. Also some rough rocky side-hill trail along the creek that I didn't remember & a new detour because a bridge washed out. I decided to stay at Woodchuck Hostel, which seemed quite crowded but had a space for me, since most of the guests were camped in the yard. I even had a 4-bed room to myself for a few hours, till 3 hikers came in at the end of a 30+ mile day. They were tired but keyed up [as I was 3 years ago after doing 26 miles into Damascus].
Date: 2016-05-02
From: Damascus

To: Woodchuck Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

At the Hostel, I roomed with Jumaji, Mola, & Miguel, & met: Lupine, Pokey, Verge, Turtle, Sweets, Legs, Firecracker, Columbus, Fritz, & many others, coming & going all day. I got a chance for brief visits with most of them.I spent the day walking around town, on the computer in the library, buying a few things, & doing lots of sorting. I sent some things home, others ahead, & still ended up with my usual heavy pack.One of the outfitters had an Inertia X-Frame air mattress for half price; so I bought it. I had good success with one for my whole 2013 thru-hike. I've been using a Neo-Air mattress since last Summer, & I was ready for a 12-pound reduction in weight & decreasing from 30 puffs to 10 for inflation.[a squeeze bulb pumps it up the rest of the way]. I had a nice, leisurely [more fancy than usual] dinner at the Old Mill Inn, altho I was cold in the air-conditioned space..
Date: 2016-05-03
From: Woodchuck Hostel

To: Past Rt. 421
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

At hostel: too many coming and going to keep track I did talk for a while with Bonnie and Clyde.Leaving town: Amanda & Brandon, Bugjuice, Little Kiss, Carefree, Paradox, Pharmacist, Little Brother, Admiral, Gamel, Stardust, Flannel, Lou & Julie, Limey, Easy, NN, Gently & Brian (Aust), Tailspin, A.J., Wander, Professor, Sunshine, Blazer (Ger), 4 day-hiker Trail maintainers from Rockfish Gap, Firestarter, Long Cloud, Pocahontas, Bear Claw, Splinter, Redirect, Chef Boyardee, Kemo-Sabi, Dulcey, Down-Under, Little Sister, Dorie, Slow Lane, Easy Tiger, Papa Bear, Fuzzy and Jess, Nomad, Peaches, Robi-Dobi, Hey Girl, Patriot, (2 women at the shelter, one a Youper), Right Lane, Earnhart, Gatherer, Crumb Cakes, Kaleidoscope, One Step, Sushi, Rain Dance, the Optimistic Dictator, Flash, Wolverine, All Star, Frosty. [60 apparent thru-hikers]I had no particular excuse. But took a long time getting going. Then that easy Trail I'd done so quickly 3 years ago turned into a long, long, long uphill. Pretty much all the trees have leafed out down here & especially [of course] the poison ivy. Damascus has lots of it, both in town & on the Trail in & outSunny day with off-and-on sprinkles of rain -- sometimes just dripping from the trees but sometimes actual rain.This is the first day I've seen moccasin flowers [a.k.a. lady slippers] and also the first day of seeing may-apples blooming, now that it is May! They all seem to have waited. I stopped for dinner at Abingdon Gap Shelter, but I wanted to get at least a few more miles in. Just up the hill from Rt. 421, I found a likely spot. It took a long time to get my Bear bag hung; so it was dark before I was in bed.
Date: 2016-05-04
From: Past Rt. 421

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I got going fairly early & started meeting hikers from Double Springs Shelter almost right away. From Damascus, the trail has been following the ridge of Holston Mtn., North of Shady Valley. After the shelter it turns South & follows Cross Mtn. over to Iron Mtn., turning West again several miles before Iron Mtn. Shelter. Nothing very steep in this area, but I had the feeling of going more uphill than down. In the middle of the cross-over, Hikers cross a stile & a cow pasture. Pretty soon, that leads to a 34-mile handicap accessible trail. I guess that means that people in wheelchairs could start at the road crossing & go North for a while, only to find themselves among the cows!I stopped for late lunch at Iron Mtn. Shelter. When I arrived, there were only a couple of hikers; by the time I left, there were about 10, including one named Giant, who had done the trail numerous times. I made sure to get water at the spring, so that I wouldn't have to go way down the hill at the next shelter. It was steady uphill to Vandeventer shelter. Shortly before getting there, I began to see my first rhododendrons blooming. After off-&-on sprinkles all afternoon, rain began that continued till after dark.There was a fire going [feeding smoke into the shelter], on which someone was trying to cook. There were tents using up all the space in front & behind the shelter, so I was content to take the one space remaining in the shelter. I tried to hang a bear bag, but I couldn't get the only suitable branch to work & felt lucky to get my rope back down. I buried my food in my pack & hung it up in the shelter. I had trouble sleeping & got up a number of times in the night, but I managed to avoid going out in any heavy rain. [This is one of those days for which my notes & list of names were deleted by my phone.]
Date: 2016-05-05
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Dennis Cove Road -- Kincora
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: few clouds

Vandeventer Shelter is supposed to have a great view of the Watauga Lake. I got there a little too late for the view last night, & awoke to a cloudy morning. SO no views. Most other places along the ridge, there are now too many leaves on the trees to see much, or at least to get good pictures. Well, I shouldn't have sent my warm sleeping bag home yet, but I did it again. The 40-degree bag doesn't quite do it when the temperature gets below 40, even with all my clothes on & the poncho over my sleeping bag as well. This shelter is fairly exposed, but I still thought it would be better with predicted snow or thunderstorm than being in the tent. I'm not crazy about packing up a wet tent in the morning, but this time the tent would have been a little warmer, I think.I thought if I got up at 5:45 I could be out at 6:15 if I didn't have breakfast, and yet by the time I did, I wasn't leaving till 7. I really would like to start earlier, but this wasn't a very inviting day to do it: dark and cloudy and everything dripping. I shouldn't have sent my gloves home either, for these cold mornings.The spring for Vandeventer Shelter is way down the hill. I didn't try it since I had enough water. There is a nice spring a mile or so South on the trail -- NOBO hikers could have filled up on the way upToo cloudy for any of those great views of Watauga Lake; then as I got down where the clouds disperse the trees were blocking most of the view. I could tell it was there but not take decent pictures.I started meeting hikers almost right away as I started down: Sylvan, Hot Rod, Talon, Fat Hen, Night Whisperer, Crooked-Foot (Bergland, Mi), Quasi-Bird, Poppy, Hawaii, Popeye, (No name), Big Bird, Gucci, Casper, Peanut & Neil. Later, Scorpion, Bigfoot, The Chinaman, Jukebox, Neon (med stud-- hitched into Hampton with her), Jewel, Pitch-It (slack-packing; we met last week), Endless, Fun-Time, Jake & Jacob.I went into Hampton hoping to get my driver's license application printed (to replace the one I lost with my wallet). No luck. It sure would have been easier if I had thought to take care of that in Damascus! So I bought some snacks & went on as quickly as I could.The hike up Pond Mountain [didn't see any pond] was pretty easy & so was 2/3 of the way down. Then it got rocky & didn't improve much when I got to the flatter part along Laurel Creek. So that was slow going [with a little rain too]. Laurel Creek Falls is impressive, as are the 300 stone steps coming up out of there. At Dennis Cove Road, it was just a 1/4-mile road walk to Kincora Hostel, an old-time, fairly primitive place [owned by Bob Peoples, legendary AT maintainer] that still operates on a "donation" basis. Toilets, showers, & laundry are outside, so I got a bit cold using them; but it was good to be there on a nasty night. At the hostel were Pirate, Safety Pin, Rooster, Liverpool, Chicken-Fried, Heisenberg, Pebbles, Endless, Norway.