morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-28
From: US 220 near Daleville VA

To: Cove Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: light rain

Left the Comfort Inn at 7:45 after a nice breakfast in the motel (hot food). I got on the AT at 7:58 and made it to the Cove Mtn Shelter by 6 PM...24.9 miles. The first few hours of the day were wet and muddy from the hard rains yesterday. I hiked through pastureland and watched a cow eating blackberry bushes. I saw a cottontail and many crows and I believe a raven.A local lady who was jogging on the trail told me the Forest Service bulldozed the trail here a few years ago to control a wildfire during a severe drought. They did a good job rehabilitating the fireline where the trail now is located. It was smooth enough to jog on and was replanted to eliminate weeds and erosion.I crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway 6 times today. It sure would have been easier to walk on the road since there would have been less ups and downs. I'll leave that smooth stuff to the autos and motorcycles. A sign said the Appalachian Trail would be following the Parkway for the next 100 miles and then it will parallel it through the Shenandoah National Park. Here's an oxymoron for you: why do we park in our driveways and drive on the Parkway? Who makes up these names anyway? So go ahead, park in your driveway and drive on the parkway and make my day!
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Cove Mtn Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: light rain

I left the shelter around 6 AM and it started to rain around 6:30 and rained all day. Around 7 AM I got to within 20 yards of a tom turkey before he flew up into a tree. I was looking forward to the view from Apple Orchard Mtn (4225'), but I was in a cloud and could barely see the FAA radar dome. There were some workers at the site, but I continued on the trail through the Guillotine (a boulder suspended over the AT) to the Thunder Hill Shelter. It stopped raining for a bit, but then continued into the evening. It was good to be in a shelter for the night. I met Jugs (PCT thru-hiker in 1999 from Santa Cruz, CA), Mud (NC), and Joe (Ohio) at the Cove Mtn Shelter last night and they stayed at Thunder Hill tonight also.
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 25.1
Weather: broken clouds

Finally a sunny day after some cold, high winds in the early morning. Leaving the shelter a little after 6, I jumped a deer early in the day and encountered a five foot long blacksnake just above Matts Creek Shelter. I stopped there to wash the mud from my rainpants in the creek. Then I let the wet pants hang off the back of my pack to dry while I continued my hike.The trail descends to the James River at 710 feet elevation where it follows the river for a mile or so before doubling back on itself to cross the river on a foot bridge about 600 feet long. While I was walking along the James River I was thinking I wouldn't see much wildlife since a thru-hiker I just met had passed me while I was washing my pants. Just then I heard a commotion down by my right foot. A small (15") copperhead (poisonous snake) was striking at my shoe. It struck 3 times in rapid sucession before I jumped away and then twice more when I bent down to get a closer look at it since it was camoflaged in the leaves on the trail. Sure enough, it was a copperhead and it was coiled and ready to strike again. I took its picture and continued on towards the bridge. After crossing the bridge, there was a parking lot where two thru-hikers were waiting for a guy to pick them up and take them to Glascow, a nearby town to buy groceries and get a hot meal. The car arrived as I was leaving. I had not planned to stop and had a lot more hiking to do today.I arrived at punchbowl shelter around 5 PM and got some water immediately as I had been hiking for the last 5 miles without any. The other thru-hikers, Mud and Jugs, had also miscalculated and ran out of water as well. The climb up Bluff Mtn was hot and exposed to the sun. We all were so used to hiking in the rain and clouds that we didn't carry enough water for hot, dry conditions. The rhododendrons were in full bloom and beautiful. I explored a little around the shelter since it was in a picturesque setting with a pond and a field on the far side. I found some wild strawberries growing in the field and ate some of them. We heard raccoons in the nearby trees. About 3 AM a couple of section hikers that did not have a rain fly for their tent squeezed into the shelter since it started raining again. Lots of fun.
Date: 2003-05-31
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Seely-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I got started around 6:25 and it was cold and rainy all day. I jumped a reluctant deer who ran off through the downpouring rain. While climbing over Bald Knob (4059') in a cloud with mud and rain, I met Katie, a ridgerunner who was maintaining this section of the trail for the ATC. She is a senior in Natural Resource Recreation at Virginia Tech.With the cold, wet weather I was pretty much out of trail snacks and had no lunch by the time I went by Cow Camp Shelter. This shelter is 0.6 miles off the trail so I wasn't going to go that far off the trail to cook a lunch. Near the bottom of the mountain I started to smell a wood fire. Across Hog Camp Gap (Forest Service Road 48) I could see a huge tarp and lots of people. I thought it must be a scout group. But as I was hiking past them, I heard several of them calling out my name, "Dirty Harry, come over here". I recognized some of them as thru-hikers and walked over to find Angus, Arrowhead, and other 1999 thru-hikers were cooking food and giving drinks to this year's thru-hikers. It was trail magic! Boy was that a good time and place for me. I was feeling very weak and tired and wasn't sure I would make it the rest of the day. I ate three hot dogs, had two cans of iced tea, and some chips and carrots. After a half hour break, I practically flew up the next hill (Cold Mtn, 4022')and on to the Seely-Woodworth Shelter, 24.6 miles for the day. It was still very cold and windy and remained so through the night since the shelter is at 3770' elevation. There was a phoebe nest under the roof eve of the shelter. The mother bird was busy catching insects like mosquitoes which pleased all of us thru-hikers immensely.
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Seely-Woodworth Shelter

To: 832 miles from Springer GA
Miles today: 27.2

I left the shelter around 6:05 and it was cold and windy until noon. After noon the sun came out and it warmed up considerably. Juggs, Joe, and Mud all decided to follow my daily schedule into Waynesboro. I had planned to stop at Maupin Field Shelter for the night doing 20.5 miles and leaving 21.1 miles for the next day into Waynesboro. But when the day turned out so nice weatherwise, we met at the shelter and decided to go on and tent camp for the nigh leaving us less miles to go into Waynesboro tomorrow. Joe, who arrived before us decided on his own to do the same. We talked to Katie who was cleaning up around the shelter and she said Joe had started down the wrong trail and had gone a half mile or so before someone pointed out his error. He also missed the foot bridge two days ago at the James River and got lost for a bit.After taking a break for about an hour and a half since I cooked dinner, I got enough water to get me through the night and the next day and hiked on. We had planned to hike another 4.4 miles to a stream and tent there. But when we got to the stream, there was no place to pitch a tent on the steep, rocky hillside. So we hiked on. I finally found Joe a tenth of a mile beyond the Blue Ridge Parkway at about mile 832 from Springer. He had set up his tent and was done for the day. I asked him where Jugs and Mud were. He said they were crazy and were going to hike into the night to the next shelter which was 9.4 miles away. I decided to tent camp with Joe. We hung our food bags and got to sleep around 8:30 PM.
Date: 2003-06-02
From: 832 miles from Springer GA

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

I got up at 5 AM and packed up my tent, which had no condensation, and was on the trail by 5:35. I woke Joe just before I left since he wanted to get an early start also. I got some good early morning photos from Humpback Mtn and noticed many confederate stone walls and piles of rocks strategically placed to prevent enemy soldiers from getting the high ground. These were all along the trail in this part of Virginia. Many battles were fought near here during the Civil War. There was also an old cemetary and cabin with the chimney left standing.I passed a group of scouts heavily loaded with backbreaking external frame packs. Why don't they teach scouts how to make ultralite packs, stoves, and other gear to use so they won't have to endure the agony of the heavy packs and other gear they seem to prefer. If I were a boyscout today, I would not have a good first impression of backpacking if I had to carry those heavy loads. I also would probably have some joint or foot problems from the extra weight. Someone left some moon pies hanging over the trail in a plastic bag as trail magic. I had never eaten one, so I tried one. It was all right but I don't think I'll buy any myself. Thanks for letting me try one.I got to the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter around 9:13 and found Jugs and Mud still there. They hiked the 9.4 miles until 11:20 PM last night; I hiked it this morning. We both got about 8 hours of sleep. We started hiking at 9:20 and made it to Rockfish Gap by 10:50, only 1.5 hours to do 5 miles. That's 3.3 miles per hour, pretty good for all the ups and downs.We stopped at the visitor center and soon a volunteer came and gave us a ride to Waynesboro. We ate at Weasie's Restaurant and checked into the Quality Inn.
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Waynesboro

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

I took a zero day to update my journal but found that the local librarian was adament about the 1-hour per day use of the computers even though no one else was using them. I did stop by Graham's Shoe Service where Dave Young, who likes hikers, gave me a used tube of shoe goo to repair my Adidas trail runners which were coming apart along the sides due to too much water from hiking through the mud and rain. He asked me to drop a dollar into the SPCA box to help unwanted animals by the door as I left which I gladly did. He told me how to dry the shoes and apply the goo so it would hold up and not come apart again. He told me most people aren't patient enough to prepare and apply the goo properly, so it usually doesn't work. In my case, after carefully following his instructions, the goo job seems to be doing fine. It's people like this who make my hike possible. It was a joy to meet Dave. He told me a recent thru-hiker got mad at him because he couldn't repair his boots. Thru-hikers that demand impossible tasks from others and then get mad when they can't help, do a disservice to the hiking community.
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Waynesboro

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: mist

I ate breakfast at the Quality Inn with Ez-Does-It and got a ride to Rockfish Gap by Tom Reider, a retired Hershey's Foods plant manager. I started hiking on an overcast, wet day which turned to rain showers in the afternoon and started pouring after dinner when I went to bed in my tent at Blackrock Hut. After I started hiking the trail at 7:20 I paused to fill out a permit to hike through the Shenandoah NP. In about 7 miles I passed the Calf Mtn Shelter and soon descended towards Jarman Gap. At the gap I saw a cooler which usually means trail magic in the form of a cold drink. I opened the cooler to find only one cold can left, and it was a Millers High Life beer. I've never tasted any American beer, so I grabbed it and gussled it down. It was kind of weak tasting compared to dark German beers. But I needed the calories and it seemed to do the job of getting me down the trail. I saw 5 deer including one buck just getting his antlers. I took his photo as he looked curiously at me.Blackrock Hut was full of thru-hikers and several day-hikers and section hikers joined us. I found a tent site and had a good conversation with two guys from Manhattan. At least they were working there this summer. One guy was from Eugene, Oregon and was going to climb Aconcagua, a 23,840' mountain in Argentina, this December. He said it's cheap to go to Argentina now that their economy has crashed. That's something I've always wanted to do; climb Aconcagua.
Date: 2003-06-05
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: broken clouds

Finally, a sunny day! I left the Blackrock Hut area and got on the trail at 6:50 AM. In a few miles I passed a display on the Skyline Drive which showed the Applachian Trail and noted that this was the 40% point where if you started in Georgia, you would have walked 2 million steps and would have 3 million to go to get to Katadin in Maine. Just before the Ivy Creek Overlook, I startled a mama beer with a very small cub. I think she may have had two cubs because she ran to the right and left the small cub up a dead snag. He frantically made his way down the snag and fell on his head. Then he looked a little dazed, and wandered around a while before madly dashing off to the right after his mom. I think a second cub was with the mama bear, but I never saw it. I also got a photo of a deer this morning.I stopped at the Loft Mtn Campground to dry out my tent and eat some lunch. I spent about an hour and ten minutes just relaxing in the sun and holding my tent up for the wind to dry it. The tent dried in ten minutes; I relaxed for an hour! I decided to stay in the shelter tonight since I got there before anyone else and it was empty. Zero, Dred, and a three other hikers joined me after YoYo left to hike a few more miles before hanging his hammock. Before the other thru-hikers arrived, six Canadian army guys hiked in and decided to tent nearby since it was not supposed to rain tonight. They were office types who were on a ten day field training session which was really a camp trip disguised as a teamwork, morale-building exercise. They were doing about ten miles a day and were really hurting since they spent their days office bound and were obviously out of shape. They were stationed in Camp Meade, Maryland.Zero gave some of the guys back massages. She is very intuitive and uses karate type chops to loosen tight muscles. She's from Maine and hiked about 2,000 miles of the AT in 2001, I believe. Now she's doing it all over again and wants to complete it all in one season.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Hightop Hut

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 23.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I started hiking at 6:05 on another sunny day. I saw an orange variation of the scarlet tanager again today. I'd seen one previously in North Carolina, but wasn't sure what it was. I took photos of deer and a bear today. I was looking at a Vireo through my binocs and when I put them down I noticed something to my left about 20 yards away. A large black bear was standing there looking at me! I slowly pulled my camera out of its pouch and hit the on button and the zoom button to get it to its maximum telephoto length. The whirring noise freaked the bear out and he retreated about 20 yards and stopped to look at me again. I took the photo, but he was too far away by then. All I'll see will be a black dot in the bushes. Hopefully I'll get a closer opportunity sometime.I stopped at the Lewis Mtn Campground to phone my wife and get something to eat. I talked to Liz before she went to work and bought a pint of chocolate ice cream which gave me about 1,000 calories to get me to Big Meadows Wayside Cafe where I had a big spaghetti dinner with a Mountain Blackberry Milkshake, one of the best milkshakes I've ever had. I also ordered a salad to go with the dinner. I seem to crave salads and milkshakes more than anything else right now. I called Liz and Laura, my daughter, again at Big Meadows Campground. It's kind of nice to be able to hike a few hours then stop in and make a phone call and have something to eat as well. This is really roughing it out here in the wilderness!
Date: 2003-06-07
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Pass Mtn Hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: light rain

It started to rain about 2 AM and continued all day. I know it was 2 AM since the wind and rain woke me up then. I got on the trail at 6:23 and made it to the Skyland stables at 7:49. I hiked from there up the paved road 0.3 miles to the Skyland dining room. Later I found out I could have hiked up the AT which goes right by the dining room. When I got the the parking lot I noticed a doe with a new-born fawn which was nursing. I tried to get a photo in the pouring rain, but I don't think it will turn out very well. In the parking lot there was a white Lincoln Continental which had its trunk wide open, and it was a big trunk, allowing the heavy rain to pour into it and soak all the luggage. When I unloaded my pack and rain coat and went into the dining room, I told the dining room hostess about the open trunk and asked her to announce it to the dining guests. She did and shortly an agitated, rotund man came hustling out of the dining room headed for the parking lot.I was seated next to the window with a beautiful view of a cloud filled with pouring rain. Nothing else was visible. I ordered a ham, mushroom, and cheese omelete with orange juice. The elderly waitress brought me a glass of water as well. She said she knew I was a hiker and that I needed water if I were hiking. After the good breakfast, I bought a Washington Post newspaper and headed back out into the rainstorm. The white continental was gone. I got back onto the trail by 9 AM.I hurried to Thornton Gap expecting some free food (trail magic) from YoYo's parents who were driving down from Delware to give free sandwiches and drinks to thru-hikers. They were supposed to set up a tarp at Thornton Gap in the Panorama Diner parking lot which has been closed for two years now. I got there by 1 PM, but no YoYo. I waited around for awhile, tried to make some phone calls,(no one was home), and finally went on in the mud and rain up to Pass Mtn Hut where I passed two lady hikers and then hiked with them to the shelter. One of the ladies was Leif's mother, who runs this website. She is 2 days from completing the entire AT when she gets to Front Royal. She has been seriously hiking the AT in sections for the past ten years. We arrived at the shelter at 1:47 PM and decided to call it a day. The rest of the afternoon hikers came straggling in until the shelter was full. Brother Ron, from Texas, told us to make sure we hung our food on the bear pole since the ranger was going to come by and check our permits tonight. Sure enough, the ranger came, and we all had our food where it belonged. One section hiker, Breeze, who thru-hiked in 1994, lost his permit. The ranger made him fill out another one and warned him that he would get a citation if the carbon copies of the original permit were not found. The ranger was antagonistic, cocky, and gave the impression that we were not to be trusted. He said he was attacked physically less than 4 months ago. I can believe that. There are better ways of doing law enforcement.
Date: 2003-06-08
From: Pass Mtn Hut

To: Compton Gap Trail
Miles today: 22.7

I started hiking at 6 AM in the fog. I took some photos from viewpoints with mostly clouds and some scenery breaking through here and there. I saw ten deer and another mama beer with a single cub. She was 0.6 miles from Elkwallow Gap and just stood there looking at me as I approached her. I stayed on the trail until I got as close as the trail came to her. I pulled out my camera, zoomed it to maximum, and took a photo. The flash went off, she didn't blink an eye, but kept staring at me. I just kept walking slowing away from her and her tiny cub on the trail.I arrived at Elkwallow Wayside at 8:30, but the store and cafe didn't open until 9. So I ate a snack and continued to hike since I had to do 22.7 miles today. I heard a wild turkey just north of Elkwallow Gap and took a photo of the radio antennaes on Hogback Mountain's second peak. I saw another buck deer with developing antlers. I heard and saw several doves as well.I arrived at the Terrapin Station Hostel at 2:15.
Date: 2003-06-09
From: Compton Gap Trail

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Entered journal data at the Front Royal library. I spent the whole day in Front Royal, looked at lots of Civil War monuments, museums, and historic sites, and ate at a mexican restaraunt, taco bell, and had a good Bar-B-Q pork sandwich at the Royal Dairy. I also did my grocery shopping. It was sunny and warm.
Date: 2003-06-11
From: Compton Gap Trail

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: clear sky

Got going at 6:23 on an overcast day. The sun did finally come out around 10:50 and it got hot and humid. The temperature was in the high 80's. One thing not mentioned in the Thru-hikers handbook was the "Rollercoaster", a 13 mile stretch of the AT constructed lovingly by the Potomac ATC to wear out hikers before they get to the Blackburn Center. It consists of 14 climbs and descents over the 13 mile area which started yesterday 6.5 miles before Snickers Gap and lasts about 6.5 miles after Snickers Gap. It made for a tough ending yesterday and a tough beginning today. But after I got off the rollercoaster, it was smooth sailing into Harper's Ferry.Harper's Ferry is a milestone point along the trail, the psychological half way mark. I arrived at 3:45 pushing hard to beat the close of the post office. I did get my package at 3:55 and then went back to the Applachian Trail Center to get my photo taken and get info on the bus schedule, a camping coupon, and directions to the outfitters.The Outfitter at Harper's Ferry was very friendly and helpful. They immediately gave me a new Therm-a-rest, no questions asked, and admired my home-made pack. In fact everyone was so friendly and helpful in Harper's Ferry and Charles Town. West Virginia has to be the most friendly state I've seen. Every one waves, talks, and wants to help you. Those good at "yogi-ing" could probably get free food, transportation, and lodging here. I mentioned I was waiting for the bus, and a guy offered to drive me to Charles Town. I met Jug, Mud, and some other thru-hikers that also arrived in Harper's Ferry today. The Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers are both swelled from all the rain and are pretty impressive.
Date: 2003-06-12
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Got a ride to Charles Town and tried to get my photos developed and put on CD-Rom. The SuperWalmart here does not do CD-Roms so I will wait to get the rolls developed where I can get them put on CD-Rom, perhaps in PA. I re-supplied groceries and fuel and got some good food. I'm updating my journal again since the Charles Town library does not get the hiker use like trail towns do. I had the same experience in Marion VA where I had all the library computers to use all day long.I'm feeling good and looking forward to getting into PA in two days.