morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-06-02
To: Hello 2007!
Miles today: 0.0

Hey all, I usually try not to write this early, as i have a habit of changing my mind. With that said, i thought i would give a shout out to all 2007 would be hikers and readers. Perhaps even explain how i ended up in the 2007 hiker journals, when just a bit ago i was in 2006. I had hoped that i might finish the hike i started last year during this summer or at the very least take a jaunt down the colorado trail. My financial situation looks dismal at the moment and thats being nice. I am currently a (PPES)Product Placement Engineer Supervisor. Pretty impressive title...yes? I throw things on shelves during the night at the local market So like my previous entry hinted at i did indeed buy another Jeep for a horribly large and long payment. She sure is perdy(pic), unfortunately they are usually about as reliable as a chick. Here comes the hate mail. I didn't stop there i went out and signed a 12 month lease. Before the ink was dry i was already starting to shake and twitch. One might as well put me into a box and poked some air holes. I was working on a theory that one my age should not live at home, though this was just a theory. All this is part of a grand experiment i like to call the domestication of dave. Much to the cheers of my friends and their wives. I even went and bought live plants which screams responsibility in my world. This is not to say i can't be domesticated. I have taken great offense to some who have suggested this in the past. I happen to be stuck in a viscous circle. When i get done with a hike i am usually horribly in debt, but refuse to get a good job or buy a house for fear that i will be unable to hike somewhere in the future, sad i know. Worry not, i have yet to add a chick to the grand experiment during this obvious lack of judgement. So a hiking we will go, but where? The temptation to do something else like the PCT is great, almost more than i can bare. So i most definately can be talked into a trek out west. There is also that real big trail in the middle. Though, i have always been partial to the east coast and the AT. South would be the most desirable, economical, and lets not forget cool way to go. However, i have the paitence of a little kid when it comes to waiting for something. I do have a friend "Big Daddy" who has pondered a northbound thru-hike and is demanding my presence on ST Patties Day. I'm thinking possibly an early March northbound with hopes of making it to big K and turning around to return to Delaware Water Gap finnishing both hikes. A little ambitious i know, but why take just a bite when you can eat the whole thing then ask for seconds? OK time to put the Guinness down. Well this has probably cleared very little up. I hope to hike, probably on the AT, possibly in 2007 hmm... My gear page is sorta up to date, though i change that almost as much as my mind. With all that said good luck to one and all on their hike whether it be for a week or 7 months. Hope to see you all out there. Above all Hike Happy!
Date: 2007-01-30
To: definetly maybe?
Miles today: 0.0

Its been a while since i last posted here. i had hoped to go south on the AT this year as i hope every year. Unfortunately, i find myself out of school this semester not next. My puppy died this past weekend leaving me with a need to wander. It is probably time to retire from grocery again. Some say it is way over due. I love working there and beats a desk job any day. The people you work with are completely unstable leaving boring nights far and few between. I am not making enough money, so it is time to pack up and move to boulder colorado. I am not independantly rich, actually the opposite. My debt rivals that of several small countries. But as long as i am quitting i might as well hike for a bit before i go. The conversation with work usually goes like this: "so your quitting because you don't make enough money?..yes But you are taking 4 or 5 months off to hike?...yes We are confused!...yes!" Where to hike? I actually have friends hiking just about every major trail around big or small. Which makes deciding where and who to hike with very difficult. I would really like to hike the cdt but that would be southbound and would require more school off, along with money i dont have So for now i think i will hopefully be meeting up with Blazer who i met the 2nd day on the AT in 2005. He is hiking from pearisburg VA in april to Mt K in Maine. This best fits my needs at the moment, 4 months off and i have to finish my 2005 hike anyway. Now the only question is do i meet him and start in pearisburg or do i take off from springer in a mad dash and land in pearisburg around the time he is starting. This leaves me a month or 3 to make money out of nothing my most famous trick. Good luck to the class of 2007, hopefully i will meet some of you out there. HIKE HAPPY!-worries   www.myspace.com/worries
Date: 2007-03-24
To: A month to go
Miles today: 0.0

I talked with blazer this week and we are both excited to be getting back on the trail. We will start in Pearisburg Va. and hopefully hike to Mt K in Maine. If we have time, we may make are way back to Pearisburg and go south. I hiked with blazer in 2005 where he went from springer to fontanna dam. The next year he hiked from fontanna dam to pearisburg. I am really looking forward to hiking with blazer again. This will also be different in that it won't be a thru-hike, unless i do come back and go south. 2005 wasn't a thru-hike but the option was there. i will be finishing up my 2005 hike which stopped in delaware water gap. Our start date if all goes well will be April 23rd. If i could leave today i would. I need to find someone who has so much money that they would want to give it away so i could hike. I am out of my apartment this week if i get packed. I have given all my furniture away as i am sick of lugging it around. Hopefully 4 weeks of work left. I will be calling boulder home after i get done. I think i will post on trail journals and probably sporatically on myspace. My e-mail will be the same and haven't decided about the phone. I have got the cdt out of my head for this year. I'd like to wish Apteryx whom i hiked with in 1999 the best of luck on his try for the last piece of the triple crown. If i had the money and time i would have made him take me. If i get bored i hold the option of doing the CT this summer, but i don't think that will happen. Equipment wise i will stick with most of my 2005 stuff: msr hubba tent, mystery ranch pack, primus titanium canister stove. I do need to pick up a sleeping bag which will probably be the marmot pounder plus. I am trying to stay away from down on the AT. I completely thrashed my $300+ down bag last time...whoops. A few other tid bits. I hope to hike the PCT in '08 with the mess of hikers from '05. I look forward to seeing chubs and rabbit if get to the up to ct/mass. Hopefully, almost there, bullfoon, and big daddy will make an appearance. Has anyone heard from grey walrus and pathfinder AT'05? HIKE HAPPY!www.myspace.com/worries
Date: 2007-04-17
To: a slight delay.
Miles today: 0.0

The AT again? There are worse ways i could spend my summer. So another adventure begins on the Appalachian Trail. Talk of the flip flop, we shall see. Meeting Blazer in mid-virginia somewhere and heading north. If i get to maine, big daddy is coming to drag us back to virginia. Where we shall head south and skip happily to springer. I leave you with this quote i borrowed. Hike Happy! "One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizzly, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards!" ~~[Edward Abbey] www.myspace.com/worries
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bobblets Gap shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

I woke to a sunny but chilly morning. It of course rained all night. Blazer and i had a liesurely breakfast where we made a plan of sorts for the next couple of days. We want to stop at a campground tomorrow so we chose to do 1/2 the mileage today and half tomorrow. Blazer's feet have been bothering him and you can pick any part of my body that hurts. Blazer on top of just hopping on the trail has new boots...fun. We got on the trail at 9am and hopped along with the parkway for 7 miles or so. A bit breezy with lots of sunshine. I saw some beautiful pink lady slippers in bloom which i thought to myself thats a little early. I was going to take a picture, but thought i would hold out for a better one. That could take days. You are thinking WOW noworries part-time botonist how sexy. Sadly i must admit a tourist walking down the trail pointed them out. What exactly she was doing on the trail i do not know. I was going to tell them tourist are to stay in their cars and only if they are really quick can they hop out for a picture. They looked happy so i left them alone. I am sure they got eaten by bears, cause that is what happens when tourist leave their cars. We got to the shelter quickly. It was 2pm so we promptly took a nap in the sun. This shelter is down crazy switch back which just means a trail zig zagging way down a hill. There is almost no camping. I found a spot by the shelter. Tonight monkey and cocco both thru-hikers from Pittsburgh and dale a section hiker from roanoke i think. Dale carries a big pack and has even a bigger stove. I think i could use his fuel all the way to vermont He seems happy though. I am bundled up it is bloody cold for May. Blazer sent his fleece hat home to save wieght, i think he would like to have it back. Big Daddy you will be proud of me. I ditched the nalgene in favor of a 1 liter aquiafina bottle/ Blazer has some crazy homemade system of 1 liet bottles and hoses. I will have to take a picture, hardcore. Easy short day, my favorite.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Bobblets Gap shelter

To: middlecreek campground
Miles today: 9.6

I hate to complain, but my god it is in the 30's. I summer hike to avoid just this. We had a lively chat with monkey & cocco this morning. They told us how they came upon a control burn next to the trail. As we all know all the really good forest fires start as a result of a controlled burn gone bad. They see a bunch of firefighters standing around and ask if they can still hike on the AT. The firefighters say sure we are all done here. They go into the smoke which is everywhere. tree's are still burning, i don't know i thought it was amuzing. We left the shelter around 10am. Dale has decide to join us at the campground. A absolutely wonderful day to be hiking. Blue skies, sun, sun, sun. It is my third day out and i have found my zen. I'm not skipping down the trail, it's more of a hobble. This i think will be my most carefree hike. No expectations, no cares. If blazer says: do you want to stop hiking at 2pm i say sure. How about we go to a campground? Why not i say. My only goal is get into shape and that happens on its own. Where was i ...oh yes how great of day it is. This morning i was white and from wisconsin. I am now a lovely shade of bright red. You would think at 38 i would know enough not to get sunburnt, but no. Dale walked with us down to jenniings creek. Blazer tripped on a rock but seems no worse for ware. I would have tumbled to my death down the hillside, but he just landed on the trail. Dale led us up the longest and hottest 1 mile road walk i think i have ever been on. Middle creek campground, formally a wonderful life is under new ownership and for the better. I highly recomend it. They were very friendly and helpful. Blazer and dale told me many humorous navy stories as we ate our cheeseburgers from the snack bar. Blazers Tip of the Week: If you have to pee on a cold night you shouldn't wait, because your body is using energy to heat the pee. So in theory, though he claims its medical fact one should be warmer after you pee. He also said something about sleeping standing up. This concludes blazers tip of the week. We met 2 section hikers going south from harpers ferry to tennesse. One has a wife that tags along in an RV and picks them up at the end of the day. I asked blazer where was are RV? They fed us wine, this made blazer happy. They were cooking steaks, but didn't seem to want to share. Later we would invite ourselves back over to their fire as dale had marshmellows to be cooked. Captain Chaos! Blazer want to knopw where you are? We are also calling dale (Rocket Man) because of his stove. A beauty, i think meant for car camping. Blazer thought it was a rocket taking off. *i would like to take this space to thank Kelly, Bob, and Paul for taking me to club 10 for pinapple pizza and beers. I enjoyed it thoroughly, wish i had more time. *
Date: 2007-05-08
From: middlecreek campground

To: cornelius shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: few clouds

A horribly late morning. Today we say good-bye to our new friend rocketman. We are glad he joined us the last couple nights. Loved his stories and hope he continues section hiking the AT. We pillfered what we could out of his food bag. He offered us a ride for some food, but we declined. His wife came to pick him up and we waited in hopes that the camp people would return. Sadly they did not and at 10:30am we started to wander back to the trail. 11am we head up the trail which is absolutely brutal today. Blazer says he has never seen anything like it. The ozone must be missing above Virginia as i am a lobster. There's not a whole lot i can do but bake the next couple days. The trail was tough as climbs usually are, especially when first starting out your hike. We snack at the bryant shelter a huge 2 story thing very nice. We make our way up and over Floyd. Floyd seems to have grown since i was last here. Cornelius shelter is home and i am tenting out back. Blazer just found out his brother in law past away. It took quit some time to get a hold of him out here as we miles from no where in this section. It tough when you can't really do anything. I told him we could get him to a road and to town, but he said the funeral was the following day. It can't be easy. My grandmother died the week before i hit the trail and i only had a day after i got back from canada to catch my flight down here. My condolence's go out to him and his family.
Date: 2007-05-09
From: cornelius shelter

To: Marble Spring
Miles today: 12.2

Slept pretty good last nite, except when I woke up to Papa Hawk trying to kill mice in the shelter. Blazer thought there was a fight. Papa Hawk thinks he won, but we know better.      Woke up in a cloud and this would stay for most of the morning. The trail was nicer to us today. Moss covered rock to wild lilies growing everywhere. A pleasant walk to Thunderhill Shelter where we had lunch with Papa Hawk. Interesting guy, likes to winter in Argentina, can't blame him. He is out here with his daughter.      Blazer and I set off with one thing in our way, High Cock Knob. If you take anything away from any of my journals is that knobs are BAD! This one was particularly brutal as the sun thought it would be a splendid time to pop out. We struggled up, straight up for what seemed like a long time with sweat pouring down only to come over the edge and see the trail going up something twice the size of what you just did. I really don't like knobs!Blazer's feet are rebelling. I think swift action is needed. Chop the little toe off, the rest will fall in line.       We have met an entertaining group of people today. None more so than Young & Dumb. This kid is entertainment on feet. He's trying to get to Harper's Ferry in 10 days. I tell him he'll have to pull 20's all the way. He says 'Oh good, I was afraid I'd have to do another 50 mile day'. I'm sorry, did you say 50? It's good to be young.      OD (Over demeasional) and CC (Color Coordinated) are southbound flip floppers. They started in Harper's Ferry and are heading south to Georgia, then flipping up to Maine and heading south to Harper's. Also met Ninja, Flip, Eullah, bushwacker, lost, the goats, and Ben & Amanda from Maine.
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Marble Spring

To: Tired Feet Motel
Miles today: 7.7

Up with the sun. It was an MSR convention. We had a hubba, hubba hubba, mother hubba, twin peaks, and missing link. Oh and Blazer had a clip flashlight. There was also a tarp and hammock. We walked with Young & Dumb who is alarmingly lively at 7 am. I don't think he shut up the whole way to the road. Entertaining stories for all.      He went down to hitch and got a truck in minutes. Blazer and I knowing no shame, horn in on his success and join him. 5 minutes later we are in lovely Glascow.       The gorcery has a decent resupply, but pricey. There is a dollar store nearby where you can supplement stuff cheaply. Post office nice and friendly. Library was a 5 star, new, friendly, and helpful. Tired feet restaurant was tastey and reasonably priced. The milkshakes were good. The accomodations are a whole different story.      Blazer has it up for the worst on the trail. It was $49 for a double, but they only had one and it was dirty. You would think they would clean it, but no. So we get a single with a cot. I don't know how they rolled it in as it was made before the wheel. The air conditioner dropped onto the carpet, soaking it. No phone, but they had a TV. The shower head was duct taped onto the pipe that fed the water. Blazer said not to touch as it was cruicial to the operation of the shower. When I first got in the room, I laughed for 5 minutes straight.      Good town to resupply, grab a cheeseburger, do laundry, but then get the hell out! I didn't even get to mention the local guy who lived in the room next door.
Date: 2007-05-11
From: Tired Feet Motel

To: Rice Mtn Camp
Miles today: 13.1

Up and eating breakfast by 7 am. I would have slept better outside under a bridge. We tried to let fellow hikers Sublime and Cheese who were waiting for a friend stay in our room as we left. The lady that owned the place yapped and did a dance so they had to leave. It wasn't like it was a room at the Ritz. There was nothing to steal. We paid to get the hell out as quickly as possible.      A little old man drove us out. We hoafed the 2 mile into the shelter where we apparently left our heads as we didn't top off our water. It was then an 8 mile hike with 85 degree temps and a shining little ball of fire that we call sun in the sky. A brutally hot climb. I was a puddle. The only people we saw were some section hikers and the goats (3 thru-hikers).       After drinking the pond in front of Punchbowl Shelter we headed out for a couple more miles. It got a little hairy as a thunder storm stared to brew as we were hopping up and down little hills. We camped on the old AT that used to head by Peddler dam.       The trail the last few days, besides being hot, has been very beautiful. Between the views and wild flowers. The trail does go up quite a bit, but usually meanders along the side of a mountain.It's easy to forget this part of Virginia, with the Shenandoah's to the north and Grayson highlands to the south.
Date: 2007-05-12
From: Rice Mtn Camp

To: Cow Camp Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.5

From 11pm to 1am last night, thunder storms sat above my little orange tent and tormented me. After I got myself out of the fetal position, I managed to get a bit of sleep. The morning was overcast, damp, and humid. Unlike yesterday, water was everywhere. We go above Peddler Dam. In the old days you went across it until we became a security threat. The walk was nice for a change. We came upon a forest road where Flash and Hot Flash were supplying trail magic. I tried to get Blazer to skip it, telling we¢d never get to Maine if we stop all the time. They had sandwiches, blue berry muffins, and coconut pie. Some would say how hard can this be, all they do is eat. I say it¢s harder than it looks. Try hiking in heat, with bugs everywhere and a big piece of coconut cream pie in your stomach. Not for the novice day hiker to even attempt. Flash and Hot Flash thru-hiked in 1987 and had lots of stories. I enjoyed our time together. Great people, thanks for the food. The trail then meanders along Brown mountain creek to the shelter. The sun is peeking out and it¢s really getting hot! We head up to Route 60 for water and what? More trail magic! Someone has left chik-filet wraps on the picnic table. We are forced to eat them as I am sure they will go bad in the sun. Blazer and I head up Bald Knob, a 2000ft climb from where we are. The sun is beating down and it is bloody hot. The climb is brutal. Poison ivy is abundant just off the trail. About half way up, we start to hear a rumble or two of thunder. No good can come from this. We are left with little choice but to continue. So we try to pick up the speed but are over heating. This mountain never ends. Hill after hill. When we do reach the top there is a ridge walk. There hasn¢t been any thunder for a while, but we are walking under very dark skies. They tell you to be in a stand of small trees and to avoid tall ones. We are in luck, they are small on top. We scurry as quickly as we can. A drop or two hit us and we try to put our pack covers on. Just as I am lifting my pack up, it opens up. It was like a fire hose hitting you. The rain was coming down hard, it was freezing, and for good measure the lightning starts. We are still on top, now running for our lives. Lightning can¢t hit a moving target, right? Once we realize we might actually live, it was time to play in the puddles and enjoy ourselves. We head into Cow Camp Shelter, which is a half mile off the trail, soaking wet. Every time I step water comes out of my boots. Where¢d She Go and Ed are in the shelter. They section hiked for the last month from PA to here and are getting off the trail tomorrow. They were nice enough to give me their fuel canister as mine ran out today. I may have to switch to alcohol stoves. We enjoyed chatting with them and wish them a safe journey home. I am tenting as it can¢t possibly rain again. I think we may use my Sprint phone for a weight when we hang our food line since it has little use for anything else.