morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-14
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: light rain

And so, Steech, Able Jack, and Chainsaw descended unto Pearisburg, Home of the New River, End of the section entitled 'Southwest Virginia', Beginning of 'Central' Virginia, milepoint 622.1, and, most importantly, Home of a Bar where you can order Large Quantities of Chicken Wings and eat them. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Before the chicken wings, we descended steeply through muddy switchbacks amid may-apple and thin maple trees, and before that, we passed some of the most exquisite views yet. One had orange cows in it. At least that's what Able Jack said they were, and I'll have to take his word for it. But before that, there was one where every shade of spring was visible, from the gray at 3500' to the gray-with-oak-blossom yellow just below, melding into yellowish-green where only a few leaves are out, to deeper green in the valleys, to the green-blue of the distant hills, to the deep blue-purple of the clouds and sky. If I had a camera, I would have definitely taken a picture. And we also had two hailstorms today. Blue skies in between, you know, perfectly nice day, just two intense half-hour thunderstorms, with hail. I had just finished lunch at Doc's Knob Shelter when the second one hit, so I, and BLT, Able Jack, and Chainsaw once they caught up to me, weathered the second storm in the shelter. I was thinking of staying there for the night - no sense hiking in the rain - and so was Chainsaw, but eventually we decided to move on. A phoebe was nesting in the privy at that shelter. It was a relief, once you realized it was nestlings squeaking, rather than mice that might bite your balls off. Once we finished our chicken wings, the three of us decided to split a room at the motel. Thanks to Chainsaw's good bargaining skill with the lady behind the desk, we only had to pay $15 each, which is a good deal for a motel, if a bit pricey compared with my usual lodging. I didn't sleep too well, what with the indoor air and the too-soft bed that I wasn't used to, but it was worth it for the shower. Hitherto, all my showers have been in hostels, which are nice enough for a thru-hiker, but are sometimes lacking in key qualities like cleanliness or privacy or water pressure or hotness. This one had all of the above, well, the cleanliness may have declined a bit after I was done, but plus, not only soap but also shampoo, which I hadn't used in goodness knows how long, so like I said, it was totally worth the 15 bucks.
Date: 2006-05-15
From: Pearisburg

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: light rain

Shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon, about half a mile back into the woods, I pause on the trail for a snack, and to write these words:"May 15th - Out of Pearisburg, and grateful to be back in the woods. P-burg provided me four things I definitely needed - a hot shower, a watch battery, a pay phone, and a night & half a day off my feet - but now, I am home. No need to push myself, now, in the woods. Here, for example, I am sitting, with WAY too much food weighing me down, but whatever. For now, at least, I am home."I had so much success with buying way too much food in Marion, I decided to do the same in Pearisburg - I bought more, even, than before, including a 12-pack of cinnamon swirls to eat while I packed the other stuff. At long last, however, I decided that I could not, physically, get all that food in my pack, so I bade farewell to Able Jack and Chainsaw, who were taking a zero, and took off with a full plastic grocery bag in my hands. This grows wearying faster than you might think, and so it was that I stopped for snack, in order to devour enough provisions such that I might continue with hands unimpeded. 6.7 miles is not a long way, even with a heavy load, and so I arrived after just a few hours at Rice Field shelter, where there was a large field overlooking a gorgeous slice of West Virginia. There was not another hiker in sight, just me and the cold wind, which surprised me, as this had never happened before at a shelter. We were having a cold snap. A local Virginian had told me that "we usually have a cold spell around May 9th or 10th, but it doesn't usually last this long". I put on my long underwear and sweater and flannel and wool hat and raincoat and rainpants, and wished I hadn't sent home my jacket. I set up my tent for a little extra warmth for sleeping. I put my hands around my stove and commenced the pleasant task of consuming as many calories as I could, both for warmth and for the reduction of packweight. I hung my grocery bag with my bearbag, hoping that the plastic handles wouldn't break. Around about this time, another hiker joined me. His name was Sweet Tea, he had been ahead of me and would soon be ahead of me again, as he had some sort of deadline and was doing big miles. We talked for a long time, until after dark. I enjoyed talking with him, and it was nice to have the company, instead of just being alone with the dark, and with that animal skull that someone had put in a tree facing the shelter. Also, I feel I must remark on my cleverness in not needing to get water while at Rice Field shelter, which, from all accounts, would have added almost a full mile round-trip to my journey, a steep one, too, and yielded nothing but oozing slop.
Date: 2006-05-16
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Doe, the stuff that gets me beerRay, the guy who sells me beerMe, the guy who drinks my beerFa, shut up and get me beerSo, I think I'll have a beerLa, la la la la la beerTea, no thanks I'll have a beer...(this enlightening lyrics, from another part of civilization than ours, were found in the pine swamp branch shelter register. Along with quite a funny unrelated joke, which is, unfortunately, not appropriate for public consumption.)I saw four bears today. Well, it might have been three. I'll count it as three, just in case. The way it transpired was thus: at the base of a wee rise in the land, in a boulder-rich section of forest, I noticed a bear. I thought, 'Steech, you're getting good at this, that's the third bear in just a few days'. The bear didn't see me. It started walking in a direction that was not totally towards me, but more towards me than not. I banged my stick on the ground to alert it to my presence, as they recommend. It looked at me. I looked at it. I wondered, if I had done the right thing, alerting it to my presence.It moved off, leisurely, about twenty feet. I thought, hey, I can't sit here forever, I'm going to hike on. If this bear hasn't learned about scuttling away when it sees a human, that's his problem, not mine. When I had got so close as what you might call high time for that bear to start to skedaddle, it finally loped away...And from behind the rock came three, or again, possibly two, more bears, following the first, one of which was of such a large girth and overwhelming size that I thought even with a bear's brain it must realize that I am but a teensy morsel and not a threat, and I was truly puzzled why they bothered to scuttle away at all. In addition to being, of course, profoundly thankful, as loose animals that size make me nervous. I didn't stop for a break after that till I hit the Allegheny Trail junction some time later. Pine Swamp Branch Shelter is built in the same cozy stone style as Trimpi Shelter, and I wasn't originally thinking of stopping there, but once I heard that Banjoman would be there, I decided to stay, as I had not yet met him, and supposedly sometimes you can get him to play music. Which he did. It was me and Piper, Banjoman and a kid called Indiana at the shelter, as well as a couple from Maine who had thru-hiked before and were out for awhile before Trail Days. They gave us sodas. Banjoman played all evening, and we even sang a little with him, me and Piper, when we knew the words and were feeling brave. It was a nice evening, with good music, and good company - not to mention sodas.
Date: 2006-05-17
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

Today I forded a stream by means of a tree, and I didn't get wet.Score: Steech 2, streams 0. I know that in Maine, they don't build bridges over things, ever, so you don't have much choice, but I also know that in Maine, it's August, and so the freezing of ones toes off is no longer a concern. But on a chill early morning in May, I was very pleased to find a tree stretched pretty much almost sort of all the way across the water, by which one could, if one didn't mind being a bit acrobatic with a pack on, climb up into the branches and down the other side.There was an option to bypass the stream fording, via a mile or two of roadwalk, but as the official AT was still open, I took it. The friendly couple from last night had thru-hiked last year, and they had taken the bypass, and then when they saw the shallowness of the stream they felt silly, and it had gnawed at the back of their minds ever since that there was a mile or two they didn't actually hike down here in Virginia, so they had driven down from Maine to do it. Many have argued that the wording of the sign ("If you want to avoid the ford, you may bypass it by..." ) allows a thru-hiker to choose either route and remain a purist - and I don't necessarily disagree, as such, after all, there are alternate trail options in other places, for high water or bad weather, and even Wingfoot allows them as acceptable substitutes for the official trail in the appropriate situations, however, it seems to me that, as both routes were open, and one had white blazes and one didn't, there was no question about what I would do, especially knowing that the stream was shallow and had a tree.Stopped for an intense and extensive second breakfast at Bailey Gap Shelter. Met three college students with large backpacks near the aptly named Wind Rock. They didn't quite look like thru-hikers, but I talked to them anyway - and was rewarded with some sausage, a juice-box, some crackers and cheese, and a packet of tuna. Which just goes to show - always talk to people, there's a chance they might offer you food. Reached War Spur Shelter early afternoon, along with Indiana, Banjoman, and Piper. Banjoman and Indiana were done for the day, but Piper headed on, and, after waiting out a four-minute rainstorm and devouring a large snack, I followed suit. This final stretch included climbing from just over 2000' to 3800', to a spot where the land was wild, the vistas rocky and thick with rhododendron, and the sky purple and threatening. After a few whiles of that, a steep and rocky 1,000-foot descent led down to Laurel Creek Shelter. No one else is there except Piper, which makes now two of the past three days with only one other person at a shelter, as opposed to the first month and a half where having only four or six people was the lowest it got. I wonder if the trail will continue to be more sparsely populated, or if this is just on account of the upcoming Trail Days weekend.
Date: 2006-05-18
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: light rain

Morning dawned chilly but glorious, and warming fast, and I stripped down to short sleeves upon reaching a pastureous stretch. A farmer was out moving his cows, and he waved to me as I passed. Besides having to climb over about 30 stiles, the farmland was gorgeous. I stopped at the Keffer Oak, which is a large tree that they have here, for awhile. Wingfoot says it's an example of how the forest used to be, before it was ever logged. I think he's only partly right. The girth might be representative of old-growth tree-wideness, but this tree is wide and spreading - the way trees grow when they are in a field - and trees surrounded by other trees when they're young don't grow that way. So I think it's a little misleading to picture a forest of Keffer Oaks. Just the same, I stop for quite a while to ponder this massive and queenly arboreal specimen. The trail then re-enters the woods, and eventually re-attains the ridge heights we've been accustomed to. I avoid stopping at Sarver Hollow Shelter - wisely, I think - because not only is it far downhill off the trail, but this year it falls exactly at milepoint 666. Piper avoided stopping there too. I do stop at Niday Shelter (ha-ha, get it?) though, and then commence to follow a section of trail, that, despite ascending 1500' and then descending them back down, is one of the smoothest, easiest, and most enjoyable sections I have hiked. There are pine trees, oak leaves, and blue sky. I am hiking fast and the nine-mile section flies right by. Someone even put a bench on the trail, up near the top, before a monument to war hero Audie Murphy. At the bottom again, at a road crossing a mile before Pickle Branch, I stop for almost an hour to talk to two West Virginians. Older gentlemen, they are section-hiking the entire trail. One of them talks to me. The other one doesn't say much, just looks on and regularly spits tobacco juice, but it's just as well because his accent is so strong as to be utterly unintelligible to me anyway. The last mile to Pickle Branch is even more beautiful than the section just done, and I have the feeling that with this road crossing - VA 620 - we are entering a new section. This is the part with Dragon's Tooth and McAfee Knob in it, famous places that I've heard about. At the shelter, I meet Pi, K'ache, and Brainfreeze, as well as Gary and his dog named Pepper. (Not his real name. Pepper is his trail name. His real name might be found offensive to some people.)We think it's going to storm, but it doesn't.
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Lambert's Meadow Shelter

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Twenty miles on a resupply day!!! How cool is that!!! Yay Steech!!! I wouldn't maybe have walked the last six, but someone - a section hiker, maybe Richard was his name - said the water source - a cistern collecting rain runoff from the shelter roof - at Fullhardt Knob Shelter wasn't working. Turns out, we heard later, it was working fine, the section-hiker just didn't know how to use it, but I was glad to do the last six miles. I did them fast, with Silverfoot, to beat the twilight. Wilson Creek was a great place to spend the night. I unpacked my new food and ate scadwads of it while talking to the numerous new faces surrounding me at the shelter. Hamburglar, his girlfriend Amy, me and Silverfoot, Andy DuFresne, a guy named Jay and his girlfriend, and later Dub and Scoot, who arrive at the very brink of dusk, among others. The trail has been lacking such youthful energy recently, and now it isn't. Which is good. Spent twenty minutes with a local girl with a dog, trying to find the trail, but we eventually found it. I put a pile of sticks to block what looks like the trail and isn't, and made an arrow pointing to what looks like just a random piece of woods, but isn't, as it actually leads to Maine, unlike the one we took, which leads to nowhere, although it might have led to a warm shower and dinner at the local girl's house, if I was, like, insanely insanely lucky. No bears today. Someone said Fullhardt Knob is rather a funny name for a shelter, though I can't for the life of me figure out why.
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

The morning sun of May is full and warm, and I sit with my shoes off and soak up the light and warmth at the Montvale overlook for quite awhile. Hikers rush past. But I am in no hurry. I am on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is to be our companion off and on for the next hundred miles. We shall cross the Parkway about 10 times between here and the Shenandoahs, and five of those times are today. Montvale is the second overlook we've come to. Many folks don't think the Parkway adds much to the trail scenery, but these overlooks are convenient as openings to let the sun in, should one want to sit in it as I do, and also they have trash cans, a luxury into which I deposit several ounces of food wrappers every time I see one. At Bobblet's Gap Shelter I find water, Hamburglar and Amy, and a large enclosed privy with about 2,000 flies in it, one item of which I needed and 2,000 of which I could have done without. Someone has written the lyrics to "The Painted Desert" by the 10,000 Maniacs in the shelter register, saying it was one of their favorite songs. It's one of my favorite songs, too, and I am so heartened that there is another 10,000 Maniacs fan out there that I hike on, over Cove Mountain, and arriving finally at Cove Mountain Shelter. Everybody from last night is going 6 miles further, to Jennings Creek, because there's no water at Cove Mountain, but I don't need water, so I stay. At first it's just me, but I'm joined by a young thru-hiker named Squarl, and the section-hiker from Fullhardt Knob. He seems a bit disinclined to be social, but I talk to Squarl awhile before falling asleep. During the middle of the night, something starts making steady, heavy footsteps around the shelter. It's too dark to see anything, but it keeps it up continuously. I figure it's most likely a deer, second most likely a ghost, but I'm pretty sure it's not a bear, so I go back to sleep.
Date: 2006-05-23
From: Cove Mtn Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: clear sky

Perfect weather now for the 9th day in a row. I wake up way early, and pass the folks at Jennings Creek while they're still sleeping. I reach Bryant Ridge Shelter, 7 miles into my day, while the folks there are having breakfast. Then I ease up, joining them - an older couple named Pooh Bear and Tortoise - for an hour-long second breakfast, augmented by a bag of beef jerky and sundry other items graciously donated by the two of them to the noble cause of Steech. Then back on the trail for five miles, and another enjoyable hour-long stay for lunch at Cornelius Creek Shelter. Then up to Apple Orchard Mountain, which is above 4,000' where the leaves are still only just beginning to come out. There is a bare grassy stretch at the top of the mountain, and Scoot and Dub and Hamburglar and Amy and I all lie down and rest there for a long time. It's that feeling where there's no reason to move because the shelter's just a little ways ahead and there's plenty of daylight left. I look at the trees. Oaks, not apples, just like the book said. No leaves yet, though. There is a large FAA radar tower on the mountain, and looking down we can see the slightly more leafy ridge that we'll hike down tomorrow as we descend to cross the James River. Finally, we all walk the last 1.2 miles to the shelter. This involves walking under the 'Guillotine', a balanced rock hanging over the trail in a threatening manner. Fortunately, it doesn't fall on us. One of these days, though, it might, you never can tell.
Date: 2006-05-24
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: John's Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: broken clouds

What a day.Left Thunder Hill at 8:36, first one out (!). Saw small bear just before first Parkway crossing.Ascended up to Highcock Knob - lovely place, actually. Crossed into James River Face Wilderness.Some wild Western-type beautiful scenery.A rattlesnake was seen there yesterday. Passed by Squarl, Scoot, Dub, and Silverfoot on the long trek down. Stopped for lunch, thought about gear and boots. Depressing. Continued down to Matt's Creek Shelter. Killed 5-pound bee. Lots of bugs and spiders there. Mini sponge bath in stream, despite reported sightings of large water snake there.Crossed James River and US Rte. 501. Left Silverfoot and Bullwinkle camped by the river. Now at John's Hollow Shelter, with two section hikers camped behind.A whip-poor-will started. The section hikers started throwing stones at it, so it stopped. ("What do you them things, a Chip-poor-will"? they ask me. "Whip-poor-will", I say.) Lonely and low on food. Hope to see some friendly faces tomorrow.
Date: 2005-08-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hey everybody. This is Pat and I am starting the trail on March 1st 2006. I am hiking with Johnny Rowland. We have been planning this hike for about 6 months but we didnt really start to prepare until we were done with school. Right now I am trying to walk a lot and with some pounds on my back and read and get a general feel for the trail and gear. I would love to start hearing from people planning to hike the trail in 2006. Peace out
Date: 2005-08-14
To: Roots
Miles today: 0.0

Hey everybody. This is Pat and I am starting the trail on March 1st 2006. I am hiking with Johnny Rowland. We have been planning this hike for about 6 months but we didnt really start to prepare until we were done with school. Right now I am trying to walk a lot and with some pounds on my back and read and get a general feel for the trail and gear. I would love to start hearing from people planning to hike the trail in 2006. Peace out
Date: 2005-11-02
To: leaves are falling and mountains on my mind
Miles today: 0.0

I have been hiking with about around 20 pounds on my back about 4 miles two times a day to and from my work. That is about all the time i have to hike because i also need to earn 4000 dollars for the hike so if any body has any spare change i will gladly accept anything to help get to Katahdin!!!
Date: 2005-11-15
To: Planning the trip
Miles today: 0.0

Weve been doin alot of work lately on the trail. Weve been planning out the necessities of the trip like gear, food, shelter, water, and safety measures. Weve planned out the mail drops of our hike as well as mileage per group of days. We want to average almost 13 miles a day. That is a grueling pace that would have us finishing in 5 months. I bought my boots and have been wearing them in. just wanted to keep everybody updated and i think this is my 3rd entry so i get posted!!!!!!!! Everybody peace out and be happy!! Katahdin Bound
Date: 2005-12-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Its official two months and we are off. All kind of thoughts are running through my head. I am very excited and anxious but am also a little nervous and afraid. Mostly i am afraid of not finishing but i am trying to have a very optimistic approach. Christmas has brought both me and johnny a little closer to Katahdin. We both recieved sleeping bags and pads as well as flashlights, journals, water bottles, binoculars and tuna!!! Thank you so much everyone who has helped us out with this incredible journey. Hope everyone had a great christmas and happy new year. Peace.
Date: 2006-02-27
To: Heading off
Miles today: 0.0

Dear peoples, Well March 1st has crept up on us like a ninja wearing socks (Quote David Condo). Although we would have liked more time to prepare which would be nice we are so excited to be finally following thru with our dreams. We are off on our adventure of a lifetime. A lot has happened since I last updated my journal and i apologize about that. To start on Saturday the Rowlands hosted a party to send us off. Thanks everybody for showing us so much love and support. We have 5 million steps to take along trail and it means so much to us to have your love, support, and thoughts to push us along. We have purchased the remaining gear for our journey which includes our water filter, clothes, rain gear which includes a GoLite umbrella , and a lot of miscellanous items like soap, stuff sacks, body glide, and rope. We also purchase the first of our food. We have been preparing for the first for a long time and its finally right around the corner. We are so excited to go explore the world we live on. Thank you everybody who has contributed to help us reach Mt. Katahdin we love all ya'll so much and we'll be back before you know it. I have no idea what else to say but peace and love and everybody take care while we are gone. We'll be thinking a lot about you all when we are gone. PEACE AND LOVE   Pat