morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-23
From: VA56, Tye River, VA

To: VA56, Tye River, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Cell goodOG notesWe're off trail right now and back in the real world. I've taken a number of showers and even had my hair cut. The clothes I'm wearing are made of cotton which would be a poor choice to hike in. We have one more off trail weekend next month and then onward to Maine.Most shelters have a notebook for hikers to leave comments in. We use these books for information and to see who is ahead of us. I've been writing the signature ONWARD TO FORT RELIEF after every entry I make. I've only been asked by one person about it. The only thing I tell them is somewhere down the trail they'll have an "Ah-ha!" moment. I'm not going to give it away here either, I'll explain after the hike. For those of you who know what it is please help keep the suspense until the moment comes. C6 notesWe celebrated birthdays today and spent the day with my family. It was a nice day, but very hot. It's been a few years since we all were together at the same place at the same time, so this weekend is very special. We washed clothes and did some things that we need to do to be ready to get back on the trail Monday. We have more we need to do, so we'll finish our chores tomorrow and Monday. One of the things we are doing this weekend is to trade our winter gear for summer gear, which worries me with the cold weather we've had in the past two weeks. Rosy Eagle - I apologize for offending you with my comments about section hikers (on May 18). The next day I tried to claify my thoughts a little more, but we were between towns and couldn't download our entries for a few days, so the next entry didn't get entered right away. Let me add another observation (at the risk of causing more angst...I hope not). Hiking the AT by sections is a very difficult way to do it, and I admire those who persevere and complete the AT that way. The coordination is extremely difficult each time you go out on the trail, and not every section hiker is in top shape, so when you hike you hurt nearly all the time and start over every time you do a section. I applaud those of you who hike the AT by sections. I wouldn't want to hike the AT that way. My comments on May 18 were triggered by a person with an attitude who was hiking a section for the first time.
Date: 2009-05-24
From: VA56, Tye River, VA

To: VA56, Tye River, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Cell goodOG notesAnother day in the real world, showers, bed, cooked meals, etc. I can see the mountains of the Shenandoah Mountains from the window at my in-law's. We'll be in that area in a few days.Off trail time gets us anxious. It breaks the rythem of our daily routine. We both have issues that work on us and we sometimes snap at each other. We're swapping gear and clothes this time. We're switching to our summer weight items. There is anxiety over this, are we forgetting something, will this be warm enough, etc. I'm particularly bad because in my mind this is time we should be shedding a lot of weight so we can hike farther each day. We both have different expectations of what should be happening here and that sometimes causes stress between us. Once we hit the trail this evening everything will straighten itself out and we'll be fine. If we forget something or made a wrong choice, we'll correct it and move on.Life on the trail is so much easier.   C6 notesWe spent some time today sorting out our gear and food. We're ready to go tomorrow with our summer gear. We refreshed all our zip lock bags and prepared more instant puddin desserts (yum!) for our daughter to put in future drop boxes. We also put whey protein in zip lock bags so we can fortify ourselves with extra potein in the morning and soon after we stop hiking each day. We also picked some more meals to get us to our next supply box (7 days from now). Our packs will be lighter with gear, but very heavy with food. At least the food gets lighter with each day we hike (as we eat it)!Some of our family left today; most leave tomorrow. It's been nice to have this time with family. Tomorrow we meet with Red Leg in Charlottesville in the mid-afternoon and his wife will take us all back to the trail...back to what's reality for now as we continue our hike.Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-05-25
From: VA56, Tye River, VA

To: Harpers Creek Shelter, VA
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: moderate rain

Cell noneOG noteOur R&R is over and we're back on the trail. It was fantastic seeing our family and playing with the grandchildren. I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked being in a bed, I don't know why that happens either.We got back on the trail late today and only hiked about 2.5 miles to the first shelter. Our real hiking will resume tomorrow.I now have lighter hiking boots that are very sneaker like. I stuck with high tops because my ankles need the support. I also have my summer sleeping back which is lighter. Hopefully these changes will help the hiking get better. We're now lean mean hiking machines.C6 notesI get so anxious every time we spend a couple nights in a bed and then head out to the trail. Today was no exception. I have some additional anxiety today, however, because we traded our winter gear for summer gear. I'm worried, again, about being cold. I hope my worry is unfounded!When Mrs. Red Leg dropped us off (Thank you so much!!!!!) at the trailhead, Bison, Goof, Sun Nuke, and Mr. Buffalo Man came out of the woods. We haven't seen them in a long time because we had gotten ahead of them. When we arrived at the shelter, Glow Worm was here. We haven't seen him in a week or so either. We wondered who we might run into when we got back on after the weekend off. It's nice to see familiar folks.Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Harpers Creek Shelter, VA

To: Maupin Field Shelter, VA
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: moderate rain

Cell noneOG notesI just woke up from a nap to find everything wet outside. It started raining when I layed down so I wasn't surprised. It looks like the folks that were cooking lunch when I fell asleep decided to stay. A couple of them are also in their sleeping bags taking naps. This weather today wasn't a surprise to us as we had heard on the radio yesterday.We may be hiking shorter miles but they are smarter miles. The next shelter is 15.8 miles from here, if we had decided to hike to it we would have had to walk in the rain a long time. We'll hike it tomorrow even if it is raining.The weekend with family was great, but unfortunately I caught a cold from someone. I was told all 4 of my grandchildren had colds so maybe that is where I got it. It was worth it, I enjoyed seeing everyone. C6 notesWe didn't hike big miles today, but they were difficult miles. It poured rain last night so everything is wet and muddy. We hiked the "three ridges" today, which have a lot of steep uphill climbs. It was hard, and even more so since we are carrying 7 days of food, and that much food is quite heavy. OG and I are very tired from the weekend and there are predictions for rain this afternoon, so we decided to hike less miles today, stop early, and take a nap this afternoon. Red Leg is with us, too, so he welcomes more time without his boots on to help his toes continue to heal.Hikers who went to Trail Days are showing up now. Our weekend off equaled the number of days they were at Trail Days. Hellbender, Leon, and Glow Worm are here eating lunch right now. They plan to move on and camp somewhere. They tell us we might see the twins (Newt and Miss Scarlett) and Squeegie later today.It just started raining, so we're happy to be in the shelter and dry. The guys cooking lunch just moved into the shelter to be dry. If the rain continues for quite a while, they'll probably hang out in the dry shelter for while before they move on. It' nice to see these folks again and not be in a completely new group after taking the weekend off.It's 7:10pm now. The guys who were cooking lunch decided to stay here this afternoon and tonight. It poured on and off all afternoon (when it rained it poured, and it rained often all afternoon and so far this evening). Everyone was very quiet here this afternoon. I think most of us (maybe all of us took naps. It felt good to rest. When we all started stirring other folks started arriving. Those who hiked all afternoon are soaked, of course. One more person squeezed into the shelter, others are tenting, and others have moved on to tent somewhere else or try to go to a hostel that we hear isn't too far away. Because of how crowded this shelter ended up being, we're glas we stopped early enough to get spaces in it.OG's listening to the radio now and just said the weather calls for rain like today all through tonight and tomorrow. Ugh.Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-05-30
From: Blackrock Hut, VA

To: Hightop Hut, VA 
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: few clouds

Cell okOG notesWe had two opportunities to eat food we are not carrying. The first came at the Loft Mountain Camp Store. We did buy food there but they didn't have ice cream so we left a little disappointed. Our second opportunity was trail magic done by a 2007 thru-hiker, Blissful, and her husband, Skipper. Trail magic is always appreciated.I developed blisters on my feet today, one on each foot. My feet are sweating and that is making my socks get wet. I will have to take my boots off periodically during the day to let them air dry. That means we'll have to take longer breaks. We are planning an 12.4 mile day tomorrow for each of us to heal something. It doesn't pay to hike hurt. That is the best way to end a hike early.I realized we use the Dead Reconing method when we hike. This method is used in boating and I think avation. That is you travel so far at a known speed and expect to be in a certain location. We use it a little differently in that we know the location and distance but need to estimate the time. Using this method we are now hiking at a speed closer to 2.5 mph. The terrain has helped as it is more gradual. The terrain will remain more gradual for the next few states. We won't see big mountains until we enter Vermont and New Hampshire. This is a relief, it will give us time to relax before the final few states.      C6 notesLong miles and trail magic today. Mostly nice terrain, and sunshine! Thanks, "Blissful" and "Skipper" for dinner! We appreciate your spending your day doing trail magic for thru-hikers, and we are so happy we were able to partake of your kindness and generosity! It was so nice to meet you and hear of your (Blissful) 2007 thru-hike with your son, "Paul Bunyon.The sunshine is wonderful, and it was nice to have sunshine with a cool breeze. Tenting tonight because of the bugs again. They're out in droves now. I found another tick on my leg today. It came off easily. I just pray the ticks we encounter don't carry any diseases. We are reading lots of tick stories in the shelter logs. Someone with a dog wrote about picking off 40 ticks from the dog. Yikes!People are seeing bears here in the Shenandoah National Park. Red Leg said he saw a cub earlier today, but no adult bear. The cub ran away from him. We haven't seen one yet. I was surprised to come up on a deer within about 5 ft of me today. Neither of us saw each other until the last minute. Of course the deer ran away immediately.We're seeing an overabundance of caterpillars. They're everywhere! We came upon a team of 3 guys doing trail maintenance today. They were weed-eating the trail...a nice wide path about 4 ft wide. We enjoyed the clear, wide path for a long time before we came upon the team. When we reached them we had to wait for the lead guy to run out of weed eater string and stop before we could go by him because he didn't know >we were behind him. (He had on all the safety gear, including ear protectors, so he couldn't hear us.) We like being able to thank the trail maintenence volunteers for doing what they do.Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-06-01
From: Bearfence Mtn Hut, VA

To: Big Meadows Lodge, VA
Miles today: 8.0

Cell goodOG notesTodays weather was perfect for hiking, the temperature was probably in the 70s. We were able to hike in shorts and t-shirt without being cold or working up a sweat.We passed a park employee who was leading a group of people on a walk, she had an NPS uniform (Smoky Bear hat and all). We stopped and talked to them, they had lots of questions about hiking the AT. C6 said she was glad to finally have an oportunity like that.C6 saw her first bear today. She and Red Leg were walking to the store to buy supplies while I watched the laundry when it happened. I'm sure we'll have opportunities to see more.C6 notesYay! We did get a room at the Big Meadows Lodge. The hike was lovely today...sunny, cool, and nice terrain. We got to the lodge early enough to have lunch, get cleaned up, wash clothes, and get supplies. This place is laid out such that the lodge and store are a mile apart. I'm glad it was a good day to hike because it would have been miserable to have to carry the supplies back that far in the rain. Without our backpacks on we looked like everyone else who was out walking for the exercise, so of course no rides were offered. Getting supplies (food) in the park store is expensive, so I'm glad we don't have to do this often. We'll be out of the Shenandoah National Park soon and now we have all we need for the next few days.We were pleasantly surprised to see Hal and Ruth Washington (Flash and Hot Flash) here. They are the couple who gave us lunch and lots of dessert on Day 70 (trail magic). They do a lot of hiking and are here tonight to do some hiking over the next couple of days. It was nice to see them again.We had dinner with Red Leg and Tord this evening. Tord (his real name, he doesn't have a trail name) is another thru-hiker that we met two days ago at the trail magic just before Hightop Hut. It was nice to have dinner with him and get to know him a litle. Tord has been drawing cartoons as his shelter log entries. He comes up with ideas as he hikes, then draws a cartoon and tapes the cartoon into the shelter log. We had started seeing the cartoons a few days back, but thought someone found cartoons that happened to fit the situation and had cut them out to tape into the logs. We didn't realize a hiker was drawing them. They look professional, and they are delightful! I started taking pictures of them. I only have photos of two though and he's not going as far as we plan to tommorrow, so I'm sure how many we'll see. Bummer! I'd like to see them all!Red Leg is a bee keeper and some of our dinner conversation was about bees. We also enjoyed hearing a lot about bees last week when we were hiking together. What a fascinating topic! He knows so much about bees, and I learned so much about them from Red Leg. It's amazing how much he knows about them, and what he does with his hives. I found the topic so interesting.Enough for now. A comfortable bed awaits! Good night.Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-06-02
From: Big Meadows Lodge, VA

To: Pass Mtn Hut, VA 
Miles today: 18.8

Cell goodOG notesToday was a hot hard day of hiking that really kicked our butts. I'm afraid I don't have much to report.   C6 notesSome days are so hard, but very satisfying when they're done. Today is one of those days. The temperature probably was in the high 80's, and some areas where we hiked had no shade, so it was extremely hot. It washard hiking, but I love knowing we hiked 18.8 miles. A long time ago OG pointed out that when we started we were cold so much of the time so the lack of shade (no leaves on the trees and bushes) was welcome because it let any sun there was shine through. Now that the temperatures have risen, we are very happy that the trees and bushes have leaves and provide shade because we need it.Posey, I thought of your comment to try and remember the cold days when we are cursing the heat. I had a hard time with the heat today.At one point today we had a two mile downhill that was very rocky. Everyone at the shelter this evening talked about how hard that was, also, because pounding downhill on the rocks hurts your feet something awful!We were so happy to see "Stretch" (Dan) and "Tinman" (Brian) today. We met them at The Hiker Hostel in Georgia the day before we started hiking, and we really like Dan and Brian. They are faster, so they pulled ahead of us a long time ago. We kept track of them through their shelter log entries and were so happy to see how well they are doing. Then we didn't see entries from them for a while, and got concerned bout them. We just learned they had taken some days off to tour Washington, DC, go to Trail Days, and attend a Bruce Springstein concert. They are back on now and trying to hike big miles to catch up with some of the folks they had been hiking with. It was good to see them today and catch up with how they're doing. They just stopped in to get water and say hi; they've moved on to camp further up the trail.Some folks here tonight we haven't met before..."Mr. Ed," "Lightweight," "Ice Fingers," and "Simple Man." And a couple guys we haven't seen in a few day..."Chance" and "Leon" (and Leon's dog, Rufus). Nice group of folks.We saw "Flash" and "Hot Flash" again today (Hal and Ruth Washington who I wrote about yesterday). They hiked from Big Meadows to Skyland and we passed them along the way. We ate our lunch on the patio at Skyland and they arrived as we were finishing. We visited with them a few minutes and then moved on. They are spending the night at Skyland Lodge tonight, and then hiking back to Big Meadows tomorrow. That's a nice way to get their exercise.We chose to tent tonight, hoping the predicted rain doesn't start until we are hiking tomorrow so we can pack a dry tent in the morning. We have a nice tent site tonight...nice and level. Some nights we're on a slant that's awful. Two nights ago we both felt as if we were falling sideways down a hill all night; the night before that we slid to the foot of the tent all night. So the level site tonight is wonderful!Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Pass Mtn Hut, VA 

To: Gravel Springs Hut, VA
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

Cell GoodOG notesI finally saw my first bear today. Our day was winding down and we had just crossed Skyline drive for the last time before the shelter. The trail was wide because it had been weedwhacked recently and it was very smooth. I saw this baby cub on our left but no other bear. A bear that small is usually hovered over by its mother and has siblings, too. That made me very nervous because momma is usually very protective of her young. We looked at the bear and kept moving and never saw momma. We would have loved to take a picture but decided it would be safer not to.We treated ourselves to a real world lunch. We reached a park snackbar at 11:30 am. They're called Waysides here. We had hamburgers, fries, and soda for starters. We topped off our lunch with ice cream. Now that's living.Tomorrow we will be leaving the park. That is another milestone for a thru-hike. Wahoo! C6 notesThe heat and humidity is so hard to hike in. We kept up our average pace okay, but I feel drained as we're hiking. We hiked 13.1 miles today, which is decent; but we reached the shelter around 2:45pm, which is so early. We hoped to get here before an expected thunderstorm hit, and we're happy that we were successful at that. It started raining within an hour after we got here, and we've heard thunder for a while now.My emotions are raw again. I think the heat and humidity are wearing on me. This morning I felt as if I was back in week 6 again for how I was feeling. My pack was bothering me. About 4 hours into hiking I discovered I had forgotten to adjust the shoulder straps. Once I fixed that, my emotions settled down. The morning after the night time thunderstorm I found myself very anxious when we were getting ready to start hiking. I have no idea why. After everyone else had left the shelter area, I started crying and just cried for quite a while as we were hiking. I think the fact that I'm not sleeping well is probably a large factor with my emotional state. Early in our hike I had ONE night when I woke up thinking I was in our bed at home. I don't know how to get good sleep out here without an artificial sleep aid (sleeping pill). I'll take one if I seem to be awake most of the night, but I prefer to not take anything if I can avoid it. One would think a person would sleep very well after hours of hiking...not so for me. Reading a book helps me. Listening to a radio helps when I feel I'll keep others awake with my headlamp reading a book. Maybe I'll figure out how to sleep better by the time we finish our hike.Factors that don't help with sleeping are tenting on surfaces that aren't level, being too hot or too cold, and snoring shelter mates. (Ear plugs and radios help for the snoring problem.)Old Goat & Check Six
Date: 2009-06-04
From: Gravel Springs Hut, VA

To: Front Royal, VA 
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: light rain

Cell goodOG notesWe hit a wall today and made a decision to get some well needed rest. We stopped about 5 miles before the shelter we had planned. The deciding factor was the predicted rain. It rained most of the night and it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow.I've been feeling stressed for a while now. I have not had any time to decompress. I have felt like all the planning was on my shoulders and when the hiking was difficult it was my fault. This is not really the case but I kept feeling responsible anyway. Also I need a day to just do nothing. Sitting in a heated room while the rain falls seems like a perfect time to do that. This stop is unlike the town stops we had earlier in our hike. We seemed to have the nicest weather when we were in town. We didn't have Front Royal scheduled as a rest town but being flexible can have its advantages.Tomorrow we rest, eat, watch TV, and rest. C6 notesAs I was listening to the news on my radio early today (around 5:15am or so), I heard the weather report for today and tomorrow. Intermittent rain today, with some of the rain showers dropping up to 1/2" of rain an hour (which we did see for the last hour of our hiking today). And much more rain tomorrow...up to 2" of rain throughout the day. We intended to hike over 18 miles today and 19 miles tomorrow, but as we were hiking this morning we decided to change our plans. I was being very emotional as we started hiking this morning. As we talked about it, we realized it would be a good idea to take a day off. We decided to hitch a ride into Front Royal and get a motel room. We got to the motel around 2 pm and took care of some business. Now we're enjoying doing nothing, and we plan to do as little as possible tomorrow. We'll get back on the trail Saturday morning. For now, we watch mindless TV, check the internet from time to time in the motel lobby, and relax.We have been hiking with Red Leg for a few weeks now and have really enjoyed hiking with him. When we made the decision to go into Front Royal, Red Leg wasn't where we were. He goes uphills faster than we do, so he usually pulls ahead and we catch up at various stops during the day, or at the shelter we planned to stop at for the night. We didn't want to leave the trail without letting Red Leg know of our change in plans (in case he decided he'd like to go to Front Royal, too). Luckily, there was a long downhill and we caught up with him before it was too late to let him know. When we last saw Red Leg today he hadn't decided if he would continue on or go into town. Since he wasn't at the next shelter where we stopped to eat lunch, nor at the road where we hitched into town, we assume Red Leg decided to continue hiking. I thoroughly enjoyed Red Leg's company and will miss him. We'll meet up again at some point along the trail, I hope. Old Goat & Check Six