morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-08-30
From: dicks dome shelter

To: jenkins gap
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: light rain

We were on the trail by 6:30 bc we wanted to eat bf at the apple house in linden,Va. We first hiked to Va. 55 and tried hitching but no luck. So we hiked another 1.9 to Va. 638 and saw two guys coming off the AT in the other direction and get in there car. So, we ran to the road and threw our thumb out and guess what they gave us the ride we needed. We ate bf at the apple barn and if u are on I-66 and near linden go eat there it is great. We had hiked 9 miles to here on good trail with only one climb. The only problem is all the spiders and webs I'm eating all today so tumbler don't have to try them. I told her I was going to try them with Skippy peanut butter,dark chocolate or ketchup. We then tried hitching back and caught a ride in the back of a mail delivery truck. That means we have had rides in an ambulance,police car and a mail truck who would ever believe it. We then hiked to the road crossing at Front Royal and headed into the shenandoahs. We has hiked 1 mile in the park and saw our first bear. We then hiked about 4 miles and put a tent up bc we were wore out. We only have 961 miles to go. God Bless.
Date: 2015-08-31
From: jenkins gap

To: marys rock
Miles today: 21.9

We had to use our headlamps this morning bc we were on the trail at 6:15 with overcast skies.We first passed thru Hogwallow Gap before climbing North Marshall Mtn. We then crossed skyline drive mp. 17.7. We then climbed up Little Hogback mtn. Then we climbed Hogback first peak,second peak and third peak before reaching Elkwallow Gap,Elkwallow wayside where we had lunch. We met some section hikers and a few familys visiting the park. We took time to talk to them and tell them about our hike. We then continued on with the trail being pretty easy. We met a hiker who told us he seen four bears on Pas Mtn. so be on the lookout. We climbed Pass mountain and we ended up seeing 6 bears and 5 deer with one buck being a 10 pointer. We then crossed the road going into Luray,Va and hiked 2 miles up to Mary's rock where we are sitting right now. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-01
From: marys rock

To: milam gap
Miles today: 18.3

We woke up to a great Sunrise at Mary's rock. We were hiking by 6:15 on easy trail with few rocks. We hiked 1.3 to a shelter where we met a couple from Florida. We then pushed on 6 more miles to skyland restuarant where we had a good bf. We saw a mama and two cubs as we were walking over to skyland. We then started hiking again and met a couple ladies, one actually was from where Ratman was born in Cleveland but now lives in Florida. We then hiked about 4 more miles and ran into her daughter and her friend. We then hiked about 7 more miles on relatively easy trail with not much up and down. We seen 19 deer and 8 bears today. That brings the bear total to 22. The bears are feeding on the fruit that is in the trees that looks like little berries and u can see that in their scat. We made it to the gap and hitched back to big meadows where we put up a tent and took a much needed shower. We are meeting our new found friends later this evening they are staying at the lodge. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-02
From: milam gap

To: near simmons gap
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We caught a ride back to the trail from a nice guy from Boston. He went out of his way to take us back and we greatly appreciate his kindness. We started hiking by 8 and the day was sunny and slightly muggy. We climbed up to Hazeltop at 3,812ft before going down to Bootens Gap. We then made it to Lewis Mountain campground and store for lunch and to re-supply. Met this couple from Vermont who has a grandson hiking the trail NOBO. We also met two sweet ladies from NY who were hiking NOBO to Front Royal. They have invited us to come to NY and stay with them whenever we get a chance. We wish them the best and pray for a safe hike. We then made it to the South River Picnic Grounds where we took a break and met a family from New Jersey who gave us some cold grapes which were also greatly appreciated. We then hiked passed the road into Elkton off the parkway and climbed up Hightop Mtn. We then made our way up and down Little Roundtop Mtn. We then made camp between there and Simmons Gap. We had a good day and met many great people who we truly believe God has put in our path on this journey. Thanks to everyone who has showed us so much kindness and humanity on the trail. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-03
From: near simmons gap

To: skyline drive mp92.4
Miles today: 24.8

We were on the trail by 6:15 had to use headlamps for about 20 minutes. Had a great night camping where we could watch the sunset and Sunrise. We first hiked 6 miles to Pinefield Hut where we met a lady from Abingdon Va. which is less than an hr from where we live. She was hiking from Springer to PA. We then hiked up Loft Mountain at 3200ft and made our way to the camp store. In the shannys u can hike from camp store to camp store and wayside to wayside, which helps to keep the pack weight down. After eating we hiked to Doyle's River Parking Lot then made our way to Browns Gap. We then went to Dundo Group Campground which was just .1 off trail to get water. Then we hiked up to Blackrock, which is a boulder field with pretty good views. We then made our way down to Skyline Drive mp 87.2. We met some NOBO section hikers who told us water was no where to be found until Calf Mountain. This meant 11 miles with no water. We then made it to Blackrock Gap where we met this group of 3rd or 4th graders with their teachers out for a 3 day hike and camping trip. There were about 25 kids and 3 supervisors. The head teacher told us she does this every year to kick start the school yr off. They then gave us enough water so that we didn't have to hike 32 miles in all to reach the next water source. We then hiked 4 more miles and called it a night after almost 25 miles. We seen 2 more bears which brings the total to 25. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-04
From: skyline drive mp92.4

To: waynesboro, rockfish gap
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

We knew we had 14 miles to go until town and we were excited. We had been hiking for 8 days since harpers ferry, we were ready for rest,laundry and shower. The morning was perfect with sunny skies and a cool breeze. We had a few up and downs with mostly smooth trail. We crossed skyline drive about 3 times before climbing up to Calf Mountain and then down to Beagle Gap where a couple from NC gave us some water to make the last 5.5 miles to town. We then hiked over to McCormick Gap and then hiked 2.9 until we came to the kiosk that lets u know u have left SNP. We hiked .7 down to Rockfish Gap and hitched a ride into Waynesboro to the YMCA where they let hikers take a free shower. We then caught a ride with a friend we met in 2010 to Wal-Mart and Starbucks before going to the motel. We have 861 miles to go until Springer Mtn. We have hiked a total of 1619.60 miles so far and we have reached a milestone, we hiked our 7000th mile together since we took up hiking in 2010. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-05
From: waynesboro, rockfish gap

To: brp9.6
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

We were up and on our way to the trail at 7 and when we left the parking lot at Rockfish Gap it started raining. We stood under the kiosk until 7:30 then started hiking after the rain stopped. We had noticed a bad storm from town last night and as we hiked we seen downed trees,leaves and twigs everywhere. We hiked the first 5 miles to the shelter in a thick blanket of fog. When we arrived we met a couple from Annapolis who said it hailed and had strong winds at the shelter. We then started our climb up to Humpback Rocks then up to Humpback Mountain. As the day progresses the skies cleared and the sun came out. We then hiked down to BRP 9.6 where our friends from Charlotte surprised us and brought us back to Waynesboro for the evening. I knew they were coming but tumbler didn't. It was a big surprise and she was ready to kill me bc I had her hiking at a faster pace to cover the 14 miles by 1:30. We reached them at 1:35. We have 42 days and 847 miles to go. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-06
From: brp9.6

To: priest
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: broken clouds

After a great day spending time with dear friends, and being driven around by Dale Earnhardt Jenkins we had to get back to the trail. But, first a stop at Starbucks. We were back on the trail at 8:30 after saying our goodbyes to our friends Doris and Jerry and our very very special friend gunner. We first made our way to Maupin Shelter after hiking on a very rocky trail for 6 miles. After a break we started climbing Three Ridges which is at 3970ft. We reached the top and had lunch with spectacular views of the Va. Mtns. We then hiked down to the Tye River before climbing our first 4000ft Mtn since Mass. When we made it to the crossing a guy who had finished his thru -hike was doing trail magic in the parking lot. We had cokes,water watermelon and chocolate chip cookies. Thank u so much it really helped us to reach the summit of the Priest. We met a father and daughter there as well who were out on a test hike. It was ggreat to talk to them about our experiences on the trail and even gave them some helpful ideas. They were very nice people, which we told them anytime u want to hike the smokies we will hike with u. We then started our climb after sitting there an hr and a half. We made the 4.3 mile and 3100ft climb by 7:15 and when we got to the top set up camp. It was great to be surprised by our friends from Charlotte NC thank u again for coming up. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-07
From: priest

To: buena vista
Miles today: 21.1

We woke to a beautiful Sunrise after a great night sleeping on top of the priest. We first hiked about 5 miles up to Spy Rock which is a huge boulder u climb up on and have a 360 degree view of the Va. Mtns. We then hiked 3 miles to the shelter where we filled our water bottles from a piped spring. We then made our way to Salt Log Gap where we had lunch. Tumblers lunch was shrimp/beef flavor with cream cheese and jalapeno Cheetos mixed in the ramen. I had shrimp/beef ramen with mustard,relish,cream cheese and Honey mixture in mine. Yes, it was so good when ur hiking u will eat any combination of food bc u get tired of the same thing. We then started hiking again and met several NOBO hikers out for the day. We then climbed Cole Mtn before descending to Cow Camp Gap Shelter then climbing back up to Bald Knob. We then descended down to U.S. 60. Today we had 4 500ft climbs two over 4000ft. The weather was great with a cool breeze all day. When we made it to the road we tried hitching for 45 minutes with no luck. A couple with their two dogs emerged from the woods and the man stayed at the road while his wife gave us a ride to Buena Vista. We had planned on staying at the campground but it was off the beaten path so we are staying in a motel. We will be in Daleville Friday. We have 806 miles to go. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-08
From: buena vista

To: johns hollow shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: light rain

This morning we has bf at Hardee's then had togo to the P.O. to pickup the yummy cchocolate chip cookies Brandi sent us, they were very good. We then re-supplied at the dollar store. We then hitched a ride with a nice man from the area and were back hiking at 10:30. The first thing we encountered was a 3 to 4 ft copperhead stretched on the trail. We then hiked most of the day on easy terrain with 2 1000ft climbs. Today's hike was fun bc of the history we hiked thru today. First, we hiked in the Brown Mountain Creek Valley where a community of freed sslaves lived here from the Civil War until about 1918. There are still remains of the cabins and interpretive signs that tell of life in this valley then. We then hiked up to the top of Bluff Mtn which is the site of a monument to 4 yr old boy named Ottie Cline Powell. In the fall of 1890 Ottie went into the woods to gather firewood for his schoolhouse and never returned. His body was found 5 months later on top of this Mtn. They say he haunts the Mtn and the shelter below it. We then descended to the shelter arriving at 7:30 and getting set up just before dark. Only 786.3 miles to go and 39 more days. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-09
From: johns hollow shelter

To: cornelius creek shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We started hiking by 6:15 and had to use our headlamps again. We first hiked down U.S. 501 which takes u into Big Island or Glasgow Va. We then walked across the James River Foot Bridge before hiking up to Matts Creek Shelter for a break and water. Water has become hard to get so when we find it we fill up. We then climbed up to Big Cove Branch which was the first of 4 big climbs today. We then climbed up to 2650ft from 835 ft when we were at the shelter. We then made our way up to Highcock Knob at 3054ft. We then were hiking next to and crossing the BRP between MP71 and 74.7 at Thunder Hill Overlook. We then hiked 1 mile to Thunder Hill Shelter where there was a boxed spring with ice cold water. We met a guy from NY who was hiking from Springer to NY. We also met driver and wayfarer on the way up who are friends of Easy and Gravity who we met on our hike in 2012. They are all from Michigan. We then hiked under the Guillotine which is two boulders apart from each other with a smaller boulder wedged in between them just above u head as u go under the boulder. We then hiked thru Apple Orchard Mtn where u can see the FAA radar dome. We then hiked 4.1 down to the shelter where we called it a day. We have 36.9 miles to go to daleville and our looking forward to town food. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-10
From: cornelius creek shelter

To: stealth on the brp
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: light rain

We were on the trail by 6:45 after a night at the shelter all alone. We first climbed Floyd Mtn at 3560ft in the fog then made our way down 4.3 miles to the Bryant Ridge Shelter where we took a break and filled back up with water. We then climbed Fork Mtn before descending down to Jennings Creek where we again got water. Jennings Creek is where we camped both times on our NOBO thru hikes. We then climbed up to Cove Mtn Shelter but just before reaching the shelter we met a couple from PA out for a section hike. We talked for probably 20 minutes before heading to the shelter for lunch. We then climbed up to Cove Mtn before descending again down to Va. 43 where we again filled up with water. We then crossed the BRP between mile MP 91.8 and 97 5 times. At the crossing where Harveys Knob Overlook is we met a couple from Nashville who gave us some cold water and Mountain dew. We talked with them for probably 15 minutes about our hike and the Lord. We then made our way to where we are stealth camping with dreams of daleville and town food tomorrow. We have 14 miles to run in the morning I mean hike. God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-11
From: stealth on the brp

To: daleville
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

We were up and hiking at 6 with headlamps in a heavy fog. We hiked 2.8 in an hr and made it to Wilson Creek Shelter. We then hiked down to Curry Creek before climbing up to USFS 191. The day actually turned out great with blue skies and alot of sunshine. It was breezy with that fall feeling. We then hiked up to Fullhardt Shelter at 2676ft and knew we had 5 miles to go to get to daleville. The first 3 miles were easy but the last 2 we could barely go. We had eaten the last of our food last night, we had saved two honey buns and coffee for bf to make it to town. So we started feeling weak at the end. We finally made the road at 11:30 and went directly to the store and grabbed some food. We checked into the motel and showered before going out for Mexican. This is the stats I've been keeping up with. We have passed 57 SOBOs,175 Lean-Tos,and climbed 144 mtns that are named in our book. We have seen 141 deer,26 bear,22 grouse,23 turkey,39 garter snakes, 2 moose, 1 raccoon, 1 rattler, 8 blacksnakes,1 copperhead, 1 coyote. We have found 4.08 cents on the trail. We have had 106 trail magics and have slackpacked 3 times for 59 miles. The people we have met and where they are from, Va 28,TX 20,Penn 19,Ga 16,Fla 13,NY 12,Ohio 11,Mass 11,NC 10,mich 10,Canada 10,Tenn 9,Vermont 9,NJ 8,Maryland 6,Illinois 5,SC 5,Wva 4,Alabama 4,Maine 4,Germany 4,Wisconsin 4,RI 4,Colorado 3,Missouri 3,Kansas 3,Louisiana 2,Conn 2,Cal 2,nh 2,Oregon 2,Norway 1,minn 1,ark 1,Arizona 1,del 1,ind 1,Kentucky 1,wash 1,Mississippi 1. We have hiked 1758.60 so far since starting on the BMT May 17. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-12
From: daleville

To: catawba
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

Today we slackpacked from Daleville to Catawba. They were giving 80 percent chance of rain all day but we hardly got a drop on us. It was overcast and windy but just a few Sprinkles. We had met this great guy when we hiked the BMT who said he lived in the Salem area and when we reached this area to call him. So we called and this morning he came to Daleville and picked up our gear so we could hike this section with no packs. We first climbed up to tinker ridge then hiked over to Angels Gap. There were many huge rock formations along the Ridgeline. We then made our way up to tinker Cliffs where we had leftover pizza from last night. While we were there we met a nice couple who were out for the day and had a nice talk with them. Tinker Cliffs our a rock outcropping on top of a Ridgeline with scenic views. We then had 9.9 miles left so we had to get moving to meet Kevin by 4. We made our way to McAfees which is the most photographed spot on the AT. Its the rock outcropping that u see on the picture promoting walk in the woods. We stayed up there for 15 minutes taking photos before beginning our 3.7 mile hike down to the parking lot. We made it to the road at 4:20 and felt good hiking 20 miles in 8hrs. We then came to our friends house to get cleaned up and go to walmart to re-supply. We then watched his team Va blow their game with Notre Dame and then watched my team Tennessee blow their game. We will be on our way to pearisburg tomorrow. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-13
From: catawba

To: niday shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: broken clouds

After a good nights rest at Kevin's place we left and headed for the trail at 7. First, we had to stop at Starbucks and mcds for coffee and bf. We made it back to the trail at 8:15. We want to thank u Kevin for taking us in for the night and feeding us awesome Angus burgers, we will definitely stay n touch. We first hiked 8.6 miles up to Dragons Tooth in very cool weather. On the way up we met two groups of college kids coming down in groups of 25 or 30. We talked to them about our hike before moving on. After Dragons Tooth we did alot of Ridgeline hiking in blustery weather. It was very cool hiking on the Ridgeline. We stopped at Pickle Branch Shelter for lunch but didn't sit around long due to the cool weather. We then made our way down to Va. 620 before climbing up Brushy Mtn at 2600ft then on up to the Audie Murphy Monument, this is where he crashed his plane and lost his life. We then hiked 3.4 down to Va. 621 before hiking 1.3 up to the shelter where we hurried and set the tent up. We then climbed into our sleeping bags bc it was getting very cold with high winds. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-14
From: niday shelter

To: campsite past War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 21.9

After a cool night we were up and on the trail by 7. We could see the sun already coming up over the mountain and we couldn't wait to feel its warmth. We first had to climb up to Sinking Creek Mtn at 3490ft before hiking Ridgeline for about 5 miles. We then hiked down thru a field where we reached the Keffer Oak which is the second largest oak tree on the trail. We then hiked over to Va. 42 where we had lunch. We then field hiked for about a mile before climbing up to Rocky Gap at 3250ft. We then made our way up the campsite at 4000ft where we camped for the evening. We are probably meeting 6 to 8 people a day on the trail all going the opposite direction. It surprises us when we do see a hiker now that there are not many on the trail. God Bless
Date: 2015-09-15
From: campsite past War Spur Shelter

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We were on the trail by 7 again after another cool night. We first hiked up to Wind Rock where we had a great view of the sunrise. We then Ridgeline and side of Mountain hiking for the next 3 miles before making our way down to the Bailey Gap Shelter. We then hiked 2 miles to the captains place where we got two cold sodas each. We then started climbing up to Peters Mtn at 3850ft. Today was much warmer and the sun sure felt good. We then made our way down to Dickerson Gap and on the way met two guys from SC NOBO hiking. We then met two ladies doing a thing where they hike 10 miles 12 differant days in 12 differant national forest. We then made our way to Symms Gap Meadow before hiking to the shelter. Today's hiking was great with perfect weather and many fields to hike thru along with Ridgeline walking. Everything is going well with only 642 miles to go.
Date: 2015-09-16
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: stealth camp 
Miles today: 22.0

We were on the trail at 6, we used our headlamps for the first :45 minutes. They have rerouted the trail from the shelter to town. The trail added .1 to what the guide book said so it was 7 miles to pearisburg. The trail was great and smooth compared to the trail we hiked up to the shelter in 2010 and 2012 bc it was real rocky and steep. They had to reroute it due to a power plant. We made town at 8:45 and had to walk .5 up to dairy queen for bf. We then resupplied and were back on the trail by 11:30. We had to climb up to Angels Rest first where we met a couple from Iowa who had started in the shannys and hiked to Katahadin then came back to hike from the shannys to Springer. They shared leftover pizza with us. We then had Ridgeline hiking for most of the day. It was perfect with blue skies and a breeze to keep us cool. We stopped for lunch around 2:30 bc we had such a late bf. We then hiked for 3 straight hrs on good trail with less rocks and level trail before arriving at our camp for the night. We met 6 people hiking NOBO and 3 SOBO. It was a great day of hiking with two more days until our friends come out and spend two days with us. Only 619 to go God Bless.
Date: 2015-09-17
From: stealth camp 

To: stealth camping near bland 
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: clear sky

Today's entry is not going to talk much about our hike bc today is a very special day for us. We did get on the trail at 6:30 and had to hike thru dismall falls area which is pretty but if u ever read murder on the Appalachian trail then hike this area it can be creapy. We hiked 11 to the road and went to Trent's store to eat, they are very hiker friendly. We then hiked 15 more miles on some easy terrain with a few ups and downs. Just before camp we seen our 27th bear. But, today is our 4yr wedding anniversary and I want to say I have the best wife who is caring,understanding,always there for me,trusting,God loving and the greatest hiking partner u could ever ask for. We were married on Springer Mtn 4 yrs ago and submitted Katahadin on Sept 17 of 2012 to complete our second thru hike and celebrate our 1yr anniversary back then. I think God daily for her and am proud of her on her 3 thru hikes and prouder to call her my wife and true friend. God Bless.