morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-09-01
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: broken clouds

Atkins, VA13.9 MilesWhat a day! What a fast day, a rainy day, a family day, a hungry day. Just as I warned the section hiker who shared the shelter with us last night, we were up early and hiking via headlamps before sunrise. Today is Hush's youngest grandson's birthday. For weeks she's been trying to figure out how to be a part of his party. One of the reasons for our long days this week was to be somewhere with wifi at 1:00 this afternoon. Early in the hiking day it looked like reaching town in time was a no go. Wet and rocky mountains, long walks through cow pastures, fence stiles and finally pouring rain all stood in our way. Something got into us though. We covered the last three miles in 45 minutes. That has never, ever happened before. That little, itty bitty woman had me scared of missing the deadline so it was pretty much "feets, do your stuff" for me. As a reward, I suppose, after the birthday messages, we went to a country buffet where this North Carolina boy tore up some fried chicken, ham, potato salad, corn bread and, well, you get the idea. The waitress set a two quart pitcher of Pepsi on the table. I killed it. It took an hour to catch up on email and other messages. My friend, Richard Kirby, the famous bike racer, hails from these parts and with his help his very kind mother is taking us to town tomorrow to resupply. We received an email from a potential trail angel who offered to put us up for a night and then sweetened the offer with some potentialslack packing. Our just off the trail hiker hotel, the Relax Inn has bed bugs so we're in our sleeping bags but we don't really mind. Despite all the challenges this week, we covered a lot of ground. Next Sunday we should be in Tennessee.
Date: 2013-09-02
From: Atkins, VA

To: SW Virginia Settlers Museum
Miles today: 2.7

Today, we finally got some grits, finally. Hush, who lived in VA as a child, told me wouldn't be able to find grits here and for almost 500 miles she's been right. As promised, Janet Kirby, mother of the famous bike racer, Richard picked us up this morning at the bedbug ranch so that we could resupply in Marion, VA. We managed to get almost everything we wanted between Walmart and Ingles. Gluten free bagels were as elusive as ever but Hush scored some corn tortillas instead. After shopping, Janet treated us to sushi, definitely not something we pull out of our food bags. We are going to be in such karmic debt when this hike is through. Janet, who'd never met us, not only went out of her way to help us but several times said she wished she could do more. I hope I can always keep this type of selfless kindness in mind should I ever start to feel put upon by the world. After Janet dropped us off at the trailhead, we managed to hike all of 2.7 miles to meet Lori our amazing benefactor for the rest of VA. She greeted us with a cooler full of cold drinks and a dish of fresh strawberries, for real. She then drove us to a home she shares in Piney Grove, NC. Yep, we are in our home state tonight. We have a private bath, a king sized bed, AC, clean clothes and a ton of other creature comforts. Better yet though, we have the company of an engaging and interested potential thruhiker. We love nothing more than sharing our passion for the things we love. This is our first chance to do it with a person who may walk every piece of ground we've covered. Tomorrow we climb Mt. Rogers. Not only are we slack packing, we are also climbing it going North, the easy side, if there is such a thing for a 5000 ft mountain.
Date: 2013-09-03
From: SW Virginia Settlers Museum

To: Teas Road
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Carol ate some of her favorite breakfast food this morning, Greek yogurt. We both had plenty of hot brewed coffee, not instant. Trail Angel Lori also had eggs and sausage plus strawberries. It took about 45 minutes to get to the trailhead. Lori hiked the first couple of miles with us, even though we went in the wrong direction for a few hundred yards to start the day. We laughed that off, reversed course and immediately hit a stretch of trail so smooth and level that I was embarrassed. It's a good thing Lori is a smart woman or she might have disbelieved all our stories of difficult hiking. Hush and I breezed through the day. We stopped at the Partnership Shelter for lunch but didn't order pizza. We've done that at the two other AT shelters where delivery is available but today we were more interested in getting done so we could hang out with Lori. She met us at the second trailhead with a cooler full of drinks, fruit, yogurt, chicken, brownies and more. We sat in the picnic area for a long time talking trail talk. The past two days have been so special. I wish we could stay through the end of the week but we have another chance to see family this weekend in Damascus. To do that we have to end our slack packing and luxury life tomorrow. Lori is bringing our packs to us about 15 miles into the hike. We've enjoyed Her kindness and generosity so much. Hopefully we can help her out next year on her hike.
Date: 2013-09-04
From: Teas Road

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

After our second and last night in the king sized bed at Lori's we both agreed we'd had the best sleep ever since we started hiking. We gathered our stuff and went downstairs where Lori's breakfast buffet awaited us. After yesterday, it again was apparent to me how much of a difference a good breakfast makes in a day. I usually have a honeybun and two cups of instant coffee. Eating eggs, fruit, bread and drinking my fill early in the morning just supercharged me. The mountains we hiked today looked intimidating on the map but turned out to be pretty mild. Just as in the past week, we made great time. About 14 miles into the day, there came Lori, walking towards us with Gatorade in her day pack. Unbelievable!We hiked down to where she parked her car. Sadly, our backpacks were there to greet us. But before we hiked on, Lori had a meal for us, chicken, potato salad, slaw, pinto beans, watermelon and especially for Hush, Chobani yogurt.  All of this kindness was provided to us by someone we'd never met, who knew us only through this journal. We hiked another couple of miles, halfway up Pine Mountain. We debated going further but the big meal has us sleepy. We are going to bed early and hope to  push big miles tomorrow.
Date: 2013-09-05
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: overcast clouds

From the great in the dark start, to the sunrise, to the gorgeous scenery, to the ponies (ponies!), to the trail magic near the end of the day and finally to the good legs fueled by two nights of great rest and great food, today was one of the best and most memorable days on the trail. An early morning start had us at the top of Pine Mountain at daybreak. From there we moved into the open meadows of Grayson Highlands and the ponies. Next was the climb of Mt. Rogers, Virginia's highest peak. Finally was an easier than expected climb of Whitecap Mountain followed by a really long downhill. During the day, at Buzzard Rock, we ran into a group having a picnic on the open bald. They invited us to join them. We helped ourselves to such trail delicacies as avocado, chocolate, cheeses and other treats. Water was plentiful all day. We even found some blueberries to eat. I'm exhausted, happy and looking forward to Damascus and a visit from my Dad. Hush's entry: today was a long day. Since we lost our tent fly (a new one is waiting for us in Damascus), we have had to use the shelters or risk getting wet if it rained at night. Our choices for shelters today was.12 or 22 miles. We may have chosen 12 miles and slowed down through Grayson Highlands. But since Lefty's father is coming to see us in Damascus, we chose to push a long day so we can get there on Friday afternoon. We rushed through most of the day. But we did paused a bit for the wild ponies. They walked right up to us and let me pet them. It was cool.
Date: 2013-09-06
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I admit to waking up extra early to hit the trail today just because of my excitement about seeing my Dad. Hush, the great person she is, went right along with the plan. We need to do a better job  the evening before of identifying the southbound trail so that I don't have to wander around in the dark trying to find it in the morning though. Ahem. Once again the elevation profile on the map cleverly disguised a scale model of the Swiss Alps as just a few small bumps. I don't understand how we can lose 1000 feet of elevation yet seemingly climb all the way to town.  Luckily, the trail was smooth and wide. We made excellent time anyway, especially when the AT and the Virginia Creeper trail overlapped. That trail follows the course of an old railroad. It's wide, smooth and covered in gravel. If the AT we're like that, we'd be done already. Once into town we got our mail drop at Mt. Rogers Outfitters. We also got our replacement tent fly even though LL Bean never sent a letter saying they'd shipped it. That was just one more thing for me to worry about all day. Then Dad arrived. We checked into the B&B he got for us. The rest of the afternoon we spent with tacos, BBQ, a trip back to Grayson Highlands and just good old fashioned visiting. It was more than wonderful.
Date: 2013-09-07
From: Damascus, VA

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: scattered clouds

My Dad left this morning after treating us to a big country breakfast and running us around so we could do our town chores. Even though I have grown children who've given me four wonderful grandchildren, it still feels good to have my father tell me he's proud of us and what we've done on the trail. After he left, we hiked here. Welcome to the Abingdon Gap Shelter, a few miles south of the Virginia line. No one is here tonight other than Hush and I. Entries in the log book repeatedly complain about the noisy shelter mice so i suppose we do have some company. All of our food is hanging from the home made mice proof food bag hangers. So are our packs. We're deep enough into the woods to hear nothing but nature, bird calls, wind in the trees, the buzz of flies and the whine of stinging noseeums. There's no creek here, just a spring at the bottom of the hill, the long steep hill. This shelter, like many in TN I'm told, has no privy, just lots of mysterious trails into the surrounding woods. We ate our standard dinners, tuna and peanut butter on (separate) tortillas, salty snacks (gluten free pretzels, Chili Cheese Fritos) and candy (Milk Duds and Whoppers). We had some hot tea as well. Since its our first night out, we went over our plans for the next few days. Thankfully there aren't any long days coming up. That's good. I'm tired, footsore and just don't have as much energy as usual. After a few mild days, ill be ready to do something crazy, although I think our record for our longest day will stand. But, you never know.
Date: 2013-09-08
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Iron Mountain Shelter15.9 MilesSince 1972 Warren Doyle has hiked the Appalachian Trail 17 times, more than anyone ever. His training courses are well attended by potential thruhikers. He operates the Appalachian Folk School in nearby Bristol, TN where he lets hikers who have a spiritual or poetic connection to the trail stay for a night in exchange for 2-3 hours of work. We have our fingers crossed that we can connect with him tomorrow. If not, we plan to stay at a hostel in Hampton. The shelters we've encountered so far in Tennessee were all built by the US Forest Service more than 50 years ago. The mice love them, us, not so much. The south has so many more hostels than the north that we plan on hitting the ones close to the trail when we can. Unfortunately one we will miss is run by the legendary Bob Peoples. When he climbs a mountain, the mountain sweats. His hostel, Kincora, is having a few problems and we've been advised to bypass it. We may still go by there just to meet him. Tomorrow we hike by Wautauga Dam and Lake. The trail in that area is closed to everyone except thruhikers because of excessive aggressive bear activity. I guess we are expendable. We saw another bear today but it climbed down from a tree and ran off as soon as it saw us. One of today's interesting moments was our trip down a .7 mile section of handicap accessible trail. In true AT fashion, the path was in an active cow pasture. There just are no easy parts -- for anyone.
Date: 2013-09-09
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Braemar, TN
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Our lack of hiker company ended tonight. While buying our supplies in a little grocery store in Braemar, TN, I saw a guy with long distance written all over him. I ran out the door, probably scaring him but in the end convinced him to join us at the Castle Hostel. Figure Eight, a Hungarian economist, started at Springer Mountain on August 18, covering 440 miles in three weeks. He won't make it to Katahdin this year but I bet he will make it to his goal, the Hudson River. Hush and I spent about two hours trading stories with him. We also let him pump us for info about the trail ahead while doing the same to him. It was such a delight. Don't get me wrong, the short section hikers and weekenders on the trail are cool, but there is a connection between people out here for months that can't be made with anyone else. I made a rookie mistake today. We were climbing away from Wautauga Lake when my legs turned to cement and I could not catch my breath. I didn't think I was going to make it to the road, our next goal. That was not good news since we were in the section of trail closed to all but thruhikers because of bear problems. As I sat at the top of a small ridge, I guiltily admitted to being dehydrated, very dehydrated. In 14 miles on a humid Indian Summer day, Lefty the super hiker drank only one liter of water. Way to go champ. Since we got to town I've had over 3 quarts of liquid, plus a liter I drank on the trail after my woozy spell. Never again. I get in such a hurry to get to our next goal that I won't stop to drink. That's just stupid. So we get to an empty shelter 15 minutes later. So what?In order to connect with a special trail angel, tomorrow we NERO at Black Bear Resort, a campground despite its lofty name. I'm going to rest, drink, eat and rest. They have WIFI so i can get an Internet fix. The beautiful Roan Highlands are coming up, and maybe some really cool trail magic.
Date: 2013-09-10
From: Braemar, TN

To: Dennis Cove Rd. 
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Dennis Cove Road8.5 milesHush, Figure Eight and I walked down what passes as Main Street this morning to a diner for some hot coffee and a real breakfast. Once back on the trail it was a short day hiking along Laurel Fork. We finished hiking by noon and checked in at the Black Bear Resort and Campground. Looking back on the past 10 days, we' experienced great hospitality from Lori the trail angel and been treated  to. a great time in Damascus by my Dad. If it were earlier in the hike we probably wouldn't have needed today to rest. At this point though, we are trying to hold things together for the last month. Taking a short day to let blisters heal, sore feet rest and to mentally escape from the step, step, step monotony feels great. We watched two movies (with popcorn) and took a nap. We got new books for our Kindles. We talked to people other than hikers. I'd like to say we had a good meal but unfortunately all we had to eat was the same old junk we usually eat. Can't have everything. It's good to have the rest. We're going above 6,000 feet for the first time since Mt Washington. I'm looking forward to all the balds in the Roan Highlands. The well known sections of the trail in the south are hitting almost every day. This is what the Appalachian Trail is all about.
Date: 2013-09-11
From: Dennis Cove Rd. 

To: Vango Memorial Hostel
Miles today: 12.2

Waking up to brewed coffee was nice this morning. It kind of made up for the peanut butter tortilla I ate for lunch sitting on a foot bridge over a no name stream somewhere in East Tennessee. While sitting there, I idly started going through the trail guide and discovered we were less than a mile from a hostel run by a 3x thruhiker. We made our way to the blue blazed trail, beside North Laurel Fork. I didn't even know if the place would be open this time of year. Some aren't but the trail looked fairly well traveled and I could see footprints in the mud. We pressed on. Not long after arriving, Scottie (as in the engineer on Star Trek) arrived, quickly offering us a cold Coke.He showed us the bunkroom and the one private room available above it. We took the private room even though there was no one else here. It has a computer, TV and a queen sized bed - we paid $15 each. Scottie explained that a trail angel, Vango, pronounced like the painter, left money in his will to build the hostel Scottie runs it on a non-profit basis, quickly evident when we bought some food from the canteen and paid the exact same thing we would pay at the grocery store - no markup.Some fast hiking this morning (12 miles before 1:00 P.M.) made it a relatively decent day. We'll just add a few miles onto tomorrow and we will be right back on schedule. In the meantime, we got to enjoy a nice afternoon without worrying about the thunderstorm that eventually rolled through.
Date: 2013-09-12
From: Vango Memorial Hostel

To: Mountain Harbor
Miles today: 12.6

Three days from today we plan to meet a friend of mine at Indian Grave Gap. This goal allowed us to put in shorter days this week since we can't overshoot the time and place for the meeting. Even though we feel so close to the end of the trip, 400 miles of hiking lies ahead of us.  Recently I wrote of the need for some physical and mental relief. Continuing in that vein, we decided today in the midst of a mountain thunderstorm to head for an affordable hostel near the town of Roan Mountain, TN. It's nice enough except for the noisy bulldozer right outside the building but it's not like we can just drive somewhere else. We need to buy some trail food but more importantly, especially for Hush, we need some real food. Most of the time when we are in town there are no places with gluten free bread for sandwiches or gluten free pizza crust. She ends up with french fries or at best iceberg lettuce with a few token vegetables. These trail side hostels serve a purpose but they don't have anything to offer in the way of nourishment. From our own experience as well as that of other hikers, eating junk food and hiking all day can go hand in hand. Recently though, despite our hunger we've had to force ourselves to follow our trail diet, instant oatmeal, honeybuns, cheese sticks, Snickers bars and the like. This hostel, Mountain Harbor, makes a dinner run. We looked at the menus of local place. Hush will get real food, finally. The saga of the missing mail drop and care package continues. The postmaster in Pearisburg, VA refused to forward the boxes. The hostel owner wouldn't pay to mail them. We hope the PO will return them to the original sender. I feel powerless and embarrassed. A friend went to the trouble and expense to get the care package to us and uncaring people and an uncaring bureaucracy just killed the process. Other friends want to send packages but I'm too gun shy now. Sorry for being such a downer today. The hiking is still good, nicely graded trails and plenty of switchbacks allow us to continue to make excellent time on most days. We hit each day's goal quickly. That's something to celebrate.
Date: 2013-09-13
From: Mountain Harbor

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Hard day. Very hard day. We had a late night. A hiker came into the hostel severely dehydrated. He had not  been able to eat or drink for 24 hours without throwing up. A 74-year old man in otherwise great health, he eventually had to call 911 to get to the hospital 15 miles away after the Mountain Harbor Hostel owners would not give him a ride. He returned in the early AM having had three bags of saline, feeling much better but $1500 poorer. Gotta love our health care system. With temps in the 40s we set out to hike.  Hump Mountain came first, With 2500 feet of continuos climbing over five miles, it took nearly three hours. The top was bald but unfortunately the conditions were foggy and very windy, as bad as Mt. Washington. We both got blown off the trail numerous times. All we could see was the narrow little trench of a trail in front of us. By the time we got to Little Hump Mountain the clouds were gone. We got to enjoy the rest of the Roan Highlands in all their glory. Approaching Carvers Gap we met nearly two dozen Northbound hikers. On the final climb, up to Roan High Knob shelter, at 6200 feet the highest on the AT, we wondered aloud if there would be room for us amongst all the weekenders. Not to worry. We were the only ones there. Thankfully the shelter turned out to be a log cabin with a door because it was cold. I mean put on all your clothes and get in your sleeping bag cold. So much for getting by without cold weather gear.
Date: 2013-09-14
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

We just took a long day and made it longer. After spending 12 hours in our sleeping bags, we had breakfast and quickly started the descent from Roan Mountain. The temps were in the 30s. We don't have long pants or jackets, just shorts and windbreakers. Not to worry. Hiking has a way of warming us up. Our original plan was to hike 16.8 miles to a shelter but during lunch we decided to alter that plan so we could stay at the Greasy Creek Friendly, a hostel recommend by many, many people. The only catch - we needed to contact my friend in order to change our meeting time tomorrow. So, we hiked down a long and rocky side trail to get to the hostel. Greeted by the famous Miss Connie we were captured by her very energetic and loquacious manner. Alas she had neither a computer nor a telephone nor any cell coverage. Up the steep rocky hill we went but only after a complementary meal of barbecued chicken, slaw and fresh pineapple. Back on the trail we had seven miles to go at 3:00. We managed to text my friend to move our meeting time back. Our new plan was to shave miles from today, adding them to tomorrow. Well, that didn't work either because we couldn't find a suitable campsite with water. In the end we beat the darkness, ending up at our original destination. For folks who know me, I'm not real big on changing my plans. Inflexible is the word that gets thrown around. So, the stress from all this has made me tired and hungry. I'm going to eat and get in my sleeping bag. See y'all tomorrow.