morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Fulhardt shelter

To: Jennings Creek
Miles today: 23.2

In which I get an unplanned shower, burger and milkshake.My goal for the day was to hike 13 miles possibly 20 all depending upon how my feet felt and how I felt after doing 20 miles yesterday. I slept poorly in the shelter last night so I was up and out by 0730 after a lovely breakfast of peanut butter pop tarts with a protein shake. The walk was uneventful except for the 6 foot black snack which slithered on by me very quickly into the shrubbery. No wonderful views or creeks in which to soak my feet, just a forest full of greenery. I did however see my first blooming rhododendron! It was a gorgeous shade of reddish purple. Beautiful. There was only one babbling creek then water became an issue and it was a hot day!The AT leap frogs the Blue Ridge Parkway and at several points offers some wonderful views of clouds building for an afternoon shower. I got water at the second shelter because there was no water source at the next shelter. I hiked on and off with DFI and Hoss who said there were cheeseburgers at Jenny's Creek so we hustled thereafter. It was really hot today and I was not feeling too well at one point. The heat was sapping me of all my energy and I think I really hadn't had enough water to drink. I felt heavy, lethargic and nauseated. I didn't think I'd make it to Jenny's Creek I felt so bad at one point, but I did finally. The payoff was a shuttle to Middle Creek Campground for a cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake with DFI and Hoss. Fantastic. Good food and company. We got there around 6pm and after eating decided to tent there for the night. Who could pass up a shower!We also learned that there was a neighborhood bear and if we hear the dogs barking at 0400 it was because the bear was walking through. So after a few attempts to hang the food bags we gave up and just closed up the food bags in the laundry room overnight. good deal. So far we've dodged the rain and I'm now listening to the bugs and birds.
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Middle Creek Campground

To: Thunderhill
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

In which I had 4 big climbs and outran the thunder clouds for now.We expected to be on the trail much earlier this morning than we actually were. Therefore we didn't begin the first climb until 1030 and it was a good one. It's hot again and I'm dripping with sweat already. So much for washing clothes last night. The next climb followed shortly thereafter. A 2500 foot climb in a stair step fashion of three increments. The first one was long but okay. The second shorter. The third steep and short then a break at the shelter. Storms were predicted again and there was a little rumbling going on already. Thunder in the distance and a few gray, angry looking clouds. I ate a snack and stalled for a bit debating whether to push on to the next shelter. Eventually I did head out anxious all the way!There was one last climb of the day and that was up Apple orchard mountain. I walked through the famous Guillotine then up the ridge to an open area that housed the FAA tower on top. I even was treated to a view of lush green trees with a hint of sun on the one mountain side. The other side was obscured by clouds, just a sheet of white clouds moving through. I made it to the shelter before the rain came in and set my tent up. That was motivated by the black flies who still were feasting on my legs. They should be fat and happy at this point. There were actually people here tonight. I'm not alone! Got to catch up with Turtur for a while and met some new folks. It's starting to pour so I'm headed off to bed!
Date: 2014-05-16
From: Matt's creek shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: light rain

In which water was plentiful as rivers and streams were raging after yesterday's rain.I got quite a surprise last night. I was nestled in to my quilt watching the rain drip off the eaves when DFI and Hoss roll in to the shelter and stayed for the night. Hoss packed out a few burgers and gave me one. Yum. So cool and delicious. Thanks!At some point during the wee hours of the morning the rain stopped falling. The drops falling from the trees did not stop and the rivers continued to rage. The creek in front of the shelter was roaring and that sound crescendoed during the night! This morning the water was so high the creek was impassable where I crossed over the rocks yesterday. That continued to be the theme for the day. All the dried up streams and creeks are now swollen and raging.One mile from the shelter I had a lovely, muddy walk along the James River. The river was a flowing body of brown turbulent water. No jumping off this footbridge today. Likewise, when I arrived at the Pedlar River after a very long and steep climb, it too was swollen and roaring. Another time the entire trail was under water. The rocks on which to step across the river were entirely immersed under water. My dilemma was where to cross! After much deliberation I decided to walk upstream to a fallen log across the river. I climbed up onto the log and gingerly walked across the log to the other side of the creek. My gymnastic skills of walking across a balance beam have come in hand once again! A risky decision in light of my recent fall from walking on a wet log. I am happy to report however, that I successfully made it to the other side without incident and bush wacked my way back to the AT. That was my excitement for the day.The other highlight was being able to soak my feet in another roaring creek at the end of my day. I really enjoyed my walk today. It was rather beautiful with overflowing creeks. Much better than dodging the rain and thunder clouds of the past day. Less stress today because of the nice weather. I could just walk and enjoy the surroundings which included the sweet aroma from the flowers and shrubs, the musky smell of wet earth, the warmth from the sun and the cool breeze blowing. The not so fragrant aroma from my 6 day wet clothing was a tad overpowering today too! Good thing I am hiking alone....or maybe that is the reason I'm hiking alone. I've set up camp a little ways up from the creek. I get the pleasure of listening to the waters flow to lull me to sleep again. There is something very soothing and peaceful about that. Late Start and Sky are just arriving and staying in for the night. I also passed the 800 mile marker today!
Date: 2014-05-17
From: Brown Mountain Creek

To: Porters field
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

In which I receive trail magic of food and friends.My debate with myself this morning as I walked to the road crossing before a huge ascent was whether or not to go into Buena Vista, VA to the hostel for the night and resupply or press on to Waynesboro. Just as I was coming to the road crossing a section hiker was beginning his hike. He asked me "Are you hungry"? I'm a thru hiker, of course I'm hungry, so I answered, "I stay hungry". He pulls out a still warm Hardees biscuit from his pocket and hands it to me. In real life I would never eat anything a stranger has given me, but out here on the trail there are very few strangers. This is just another example of the trail providing and of the genuine kindness of other fellow hikers. So I was grateful. As I came to the parking area by the road another man was getting out of his truck. He was providing trail magic and asked if I'd like a pepsi, chocolate cakes and a banana. Who was I to refuse? So again I kindly and graciously accepted. Awesome! I needed the extra calories for the climb I was about to make, long and steep! This trail magic also reaffirmed my decision to continue into Waynesboro. I was low on food and snacks to tide me over and trail magic just solved that problem.I took my time ascending the mountain and meandering my way through the day taking plenty of pictures, talking with other day hikers and making a few phone calls. I still remain in this stretch of no thru hikers. It's been a day of seeing no one else. Then I check my phone and have a text message awaiting. It's Murphy! She's wondering where I am so I tell her where I am going and keep walking on. I get to my destination and there are many boy scouts getting ready to hike on. There are also 3 weekend hikers getting ready to hike out SOBO. I sat at the shelter and cooked dinner while I waited for Murphy. I figured I'd wait to set up until she arrived. So I ate my last mac and cheese and tuna pack and had a cup of hot chocolate since it's been a rather cool day in the 60s, 40s last night. I look up from my food to see Dirty Harry and Fran walking down the trail to the shelter. People! Yay! I'm so happy to see them, it's been quite a while since I had. So great! Better yet they tell me Murphy is right behind them. Wow. This is just getting better. When Murphy arrives we decide to hike on a bit longer to a camping area. We collect water, do our chores, cook, eat and enjoy a fire Dirty Harry made. Big Gulp and Early Bird show up too. It's so nice to have the company of friends after being in a long stretch of very few people. So I've had the pleasure of trail magic in the form of food and friends showing up. What a great day!
Date: 2014-05-18
From: Porters field

To: Maupin field shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: broken clouds

In which I had a wonderful day hiking with friends.It was another cold morning. 36 degrees according to my thermometer. We were up and packed ready to roll by 0830. I ate my other banana, fiber bar and protein shake. Onward to the Priest shelter for a snack in which I receive trail magic in the form of food left behind. Then up the Priest and down the mountain we went. Besides our foursome we saw no other thru hikers again today. We all enjoyed lunch at the Tye River Suspension Bridge. There was a warm, sunny rock just begging us to come sit and have lunch so we did. Murphy and I on the rock with Dirty Harry and Fran behind and above on another rock. Thank heavens for the food from trail magic. I really would not have had very much food at all this last day. I once again got more food provided to get me to town, this time it was 2 packages of pop tarts and one Knorr pasta side. I believe my trail appetite has really kicked in. I'm so hungry! All we talked about today was food. What we are going to eat in town and what we are going to buy. Cookie dough also overtook our thoughts and sparked a new craving. Hot fudge sundaes sound amazing, as well as spinach salad, pizza and more ice cream. I can't wait to eat town food and buy food for the trail. So much food, so little time!The climb up three ridges turned out to be quite a challenge. It's a series of 3 ridges of mountains in a line each ridge becoming larger than the last. We eventually got a spectacular view of the ridges we walked from a side angle. What an accomplishment! Many miles too for this tough day.We got to the shelter to find a section hiker there. We set up in the shelter for the night expecting an early departure in the morning. Twenty more miles to Waynesboro for a shuttle, food and chores! It's another cold night but we have the luxury of bear poles in which to hang our food which by the way were incredibly tall. I had to ask for help hanging mine because I couldn't reach.Had a really inspired conversation with Murphy today and am grateful for her company. It sure makes hiking go by very quickly and it was very nice not to be alone all day for once. Now to get some sleep and do it all over again.
Date: 2014-05-20
From: Waynesboro

To: Calf mountain shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

In which we enter the Shennys.On a whim last nite we made the decision not to do laundry this morning so we could sleep and watch the Today show. It's all about priorities! Therefore we would do laundry at the campsite in Loft Mtn. I got my coffee this morning and climbed back into bed to watch TV. How decadent and wonderfully fun for a change. It's my guilty pleasure to watch the Today's show and Kelly Ripa and Michael Strayhan. I love them! Next came breakfast where I did a good number on the breakfast bar. Gotta tank up before the hike back. Afterwards we packed up, checked out at 1100 and ate our leftover sandwiches from the night before. We were still so full we couldn't even put a dent in the cookie dough. So disappointed with myself for that. What I'm learning is that I need a full zero day to be able to eat the food I want and need to eat. Getting to town late and leaving early doesn't leave much time for food since I can only eat smaller amounts more often. I'll get this food thing figured out yet to maximize my calorie consumption! The next stop was the outfitter. Since no one was around the hotel to bum a ride we started walking the 1.5 mile down the road to the outfitter with the hope that someone might ask if we needed a ride. No such luck today. That might not seem far but add all the bonus miles we walk a day and they add up quickly. We made it to the outfitter, got our chores done there and were blessed with a ride back to the trail. Two offers for a ride in fact. Go figure. We sat at the Kettle Korn food truck and ran into Solo who had just returned from trail days. We eventually got walking again around 1330. I've never hiked through the southern part of the Shenandoah's. It's much more remote and quiet than the northern part. Pine forests alternated with greenery and the green tunnel everywhere. Flat ridges held communication towers. Not what I was expecting either. There was even an open field area we walked through. Eventually we got to the shelter around 5pm to find a bunch of kids from Connecticut who had taken over the place. We found tenting pads and set up shop, ate dinner, got water and chatted with another female hiker who was meeting up with some friends. I have to say I had the best dinner tonight. I packed out a bag of spinach salad and an avocado. It was so worth the weight to carry. I think I will start this as a new tradition when leaving town. Planning on a 20mi. day tomorrow to Loft Mtn. which has a camp store and you know what that means...ice cream! I am so glad I'm not hiking this park alone. It wouldn't be half as much fun!
Date: 2014-05-22
From: Loft Mountain camp ground

To: High top hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

In which we had a lazy morning all about trail magic.Food is amazing. It is so important in our day to day trail lives. Without it or a quantity sufficient to fuel my body I feel terrible. I feel heavy, lethargic and generally not right. With proper fueling my body feels alive, energetic and ready to power up the next mountain. I can't believe that after hiking for 900 miles that fact still amazes me.Today I had a terrific start to my day only after a frustrating misadventure. Instead of walking through the camp we walked on the AT to the camp store eliminating the need to go backtrack after laundry was complete. Our guidebook said there was a side trail to the camp store. That evaded us. We thought we had passed the side trail so we indeed backtracked to a trail the cut through the camp site. We walked through the camping area again to the store and then noticed the cement post which is the marker for trails. It was right by a path leading into the woods from which we came, right after where we turned around to go back. Man! That was frustrating, but the better news was that we could return to the trail via this trail and walk the section backwards that we missed, which as it turned out was only a small distance.Our misadventure only made the food taste even better! I changed into laundry attire aka rain gear and started a load, took a shower and sat outside on the picnic table by the laundry room door. This is where I began my feasting. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet so I pulled out my food bag. Round one was two Nature Valley granola bars dipped in a single serve peanut butter cup, followed by a few cheese and crackers. Then I moved on to our trail magic, a whole grapefruit so messy, juicy and delicious. That was followed by strawberries and carrots and a mozzarella cheese stick. It was all so good!While we were waiting for a laundry to now dry a guy walks by. He asks if we were thru hikers and we said yes. End of conversation and we didn't think anything more about that. The next thing we knew he comes back with a brown bag. In it was 2 cokes and 2 clif bars! What awesome trail magic! Thank you! I packed out the coke and a clif bar for snack number one later on. I also had a hot chocolate pack and a coffee pack mixed in my water bottle. I hiked like a pro after all that great food and felt really good too unlike yesterday. What a difference food makes and now I am making the point to stop every two hours and eat a snack.We made it to the hut and set up camp. Many people are here tonight most of which are weekenders though we actually ran into thru hikers today! Finally! Nothing else too eventful happened. No snake or bear sitings and a few views. I had a knorr pasta side with tuna and real cheese for dinner. Then two fudge brownies for dessert. I think I am finally full but my stomach will be growling at midnight. Today I felt much better hiking after fueling well. I did great hanging the food bags on the bear poles and could even reach them! It's been another great day on the trail!
Date: 2014-05-23
From: High top hut

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: broken clouds

In which I met Blissful, scared a bear and stayed up past hiker midnight.The morning was uneventful. I got up, packed up, ate and walked. The trail was once again very quiet. No hikers anywhere. Then we ran into a Ridge Runner and stopped to chat. Come to find out her name is Blissful. I have read about her and communicated with her on forums, so cool to have met her. She's celebrity status in my mind. This time out she is walking the southern part of the park which definitely will be the quieter part as Memorial day is soon. At lunch time we hit the camp store at Lewis Mtn. This is one of the luxuries of the Shennys. My plan was to not carry much food throughout the park as stores and waysides are plentiful hence less weight to carry and real food to eat. The camp site was already full and a buzz with campers arriving for the holiday weekend. I got a coke to go with my lunch and sat on the bench outside of the store. In years passed I would have been the gawker watching the thru hikers on the bench dreaming of the day when I could hike. Today I get to be the thru hiker who passed the 900 mile marker and I'm enjoying watching the people walk by me.After lunch we hiked on and scared a bear on the other side of Bear Fence Mtn. or should I say it scared us. Murphy hollered "bear". I turned back just in time to see the bear jumping up on all four in mid air. It promptly scampered down the hill and we walked up the hill. No time for a picture here.We got to the road leading to Big Meadows wayside and walked it there. Plan A was to get dinner, a blackberry shake and resupply before leaving to stealth camp somewhere along the way. Plan B was to get a ride to the lodge and see if rooms were available for the night as it was once again getting late to keep walking and my motivation was dwindling. Plan B won out and we ended up paying way too much money for a room but it was delightful and I enjoyed a wonderful, hot shower. It always feels so good to be clean.Another bonus was that we caught up with Dirty Harry and Fran, now Bug Bear. I thought they were far ahead. We all went to the Pub for dinner and had a relaxing evening listening to music, singing and eating too much food. My burger and sweet potato fries were very good. I topped that off with ice cream and blackberry cobbler. Three people ordered cobbler, however, six where brought to the table. Can't turn that away! So we ate cobbler with blackberry ice cream until we were stuffed to the gills. My stomach actually hurt!The stars were bright as we walked back to our room, deer were grazing and the breeze was chilly. The parking lot was full of cars! I don't think I have seen the park so busy. We also met a couple today who helped us identify some of the birds we've seen. I'm always learning something new out here. What an adventure this is! I'm loving every minute!
Date: 2014-05-24
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Bird's Nest #3
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

In which I hike the AT with a cup of coffee and skyline drive was a freeway.It's the holiday weekend and people are out in full force! The shelter were I am actually sits up on a ridge overlooking Skyline Drive through the trees. Traffic is rather impressive. No chance for bears sightings today. Too many people around everywhere!We had a leisurely morning as we hiked the one mile stretch SOBO from Big Meadows lodge to the point we left the trail for the wayside yesterday. I even carried a cup of coffee with me as I hiked. That was kind of fun and something I haven't done yet. When I got to the wayside I had a breakfast sandwich, did a quick resupply then walked back to the lodge and checked out at 1100. We met Dirty Harry and Fran outside the lodge and coordinated a plan finally hiking out about 1145.Nothing eventful happened today other than there being people everywhere! They are interrupting my "wilderness" hiking experience in the Shenandoah's. People just starred at us as we hiked by or stopped to take our packs off and rest. I felt like I was the animal on display. The bears where smart by hiding until the evening when the crowds dissipated. There are just three of us as the shelter tonight. It's pretty quiet except for the traffic below. I'm tired after a short day of hiking. It's funny how I now have a blister that is acting up on my heels. I'm ready to be off my feet again.