morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-26
From: lamberts meadow shelter

To: daleville, va
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

day 62 wed may 26   9.4 mi 713.4 totaldaleville, va   right after getting a motel room, i meet papabear (from chicago) who is looking for a room as well. we split the cost. i go on recon, locating pizza, ice cream and a haircut. share dinner with pilot, polar, hotrock, bbb, and good time. it pours buckets outside.
Date: 2004-05-27
From: daleville, va

To: bobbletts gap shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

day 63 thu may 27   18.5 mi 731.9 totalbobbletts gap shelter   papabear, bob (caveman), charlie and i have breakfast at waffle house. i have double everything.   hiking out, i start crossing the blue ridge parkway. i pull into a shelter about 8 pm; it's full--there's gaiter girl (sue from vermont), palmtree, pilot, polar, hotrock, epiphanias, and strider 60. i put up my hammock. in comes bbb and good time, who tent nearby.
Date: 2004-05-28
From: bobbletts gap shelter

To: bryant ridge shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: light rain

day 64 fri may 28   13.3 mi 745.2 totalbryant ridge shelter   it's raining. i'm hiking alone, when some man calls my name from behind. i don't recognize him, then i try to imagine him with a hat. of course, it's bumpo, from nyc. i haven't seen him since late march. we hike together a few hours. he tells me how he witnessed an assassination (russian mafia) on a sidewalk on the edge of the diamond district on the avenue of the americas. the hitman then walked in front of the cab bumpo was in; then an undercover cop followed. this was less than a week ago.   bumpo works with heads of corporate empires, helping them thru this or that transition. he's section-hiking a week here and there, and then goes home to work for a while. we stop at a shelter for a break and mountain do tells me he'll be getting a ride back (he and woolly) to pennsylvania for his high school graduation june 7.   we meet pegasus, a young lady from chevy chase, md. later bumpo, pegasus and i take a swim in jennings creek. it's full of big trout and tadpoles.   the shelter is the nicest one yet, room for more than 20, with decks, shelves, pegs, and a loft. we share it with bbb, good time and others.   bumpo guides us thru a magical mystery boatride around manhattan.
Date: 2004-05-29
From: bryant ridge shelter

To: marble spring campsite
Miles today: 17.2

day 65 sat may 29   17.2 mi 762.4 totalmarble spring campsite   on top of apple orchard mountain, right in broad daylight, there's an alien pod refueling station, disguised as a federal weather facility. and you and i both know those sentries are really carpathian warlocks. but we play along. why?
Date: 2004-05-30
From: marble spring campsite

To: wildwood campground
Miles today: 7.7

day 66 sun may 30   7.7 mi 770.1 totalwildwood campground   early in the morning (well, okay, 7:30) breaking camp, bbb tells me some loud hikers came thru about 4 am, and made a ruckus over by my hammock and some other tents nearby. she got upset and almost went over to tell them to quiet down. as she's telling me this, jabberwocky overhears and tells us, no, those weren't hikers, that was a bear. i had slept right thru it.   at the james river footbridge, local guy ken treats us to sodas and a ride to ww campground where we rejoin poler, hotrock, and jack. we are welcomed to a campground potluck dinner.to leslie, and nancy, and sharon and dick and suzi: thank you so much for your notes and hope you are all well.to lisa green: i thought for sure you would not bother visiting my webpage. that was great fun talking with you. i must admit i'm going to have to actually watch an ashley judd movie or two, before inquiring whether she will play your part. you have magic, too.to nick rosato: yes it's me. and i will try to reach you in pa. thank you.
Date: 2004-05-31
From: wildwood campground

To: glasgow
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

day 67 mon may 31   zeroglasgow, va   in the morning i find a near-life-size wooden black bear silhouette just outside my hammock. goodtime suggests that he may have had a hand in placing it there. i consider transporting it up to his lawn in connecticut. but then again, it does weigh 20 pounds.   around 8 am, from under a pavilion roof, we watch an impressive torrential downpour. the weather people mention there were 177 tornados across the midwest yesterday.   ken shuttles me to glasgow with its dinosaurs, where i catch up on this journal. the dinosaurs all seem stiff and paralytic. i ask quest, who's a vet, if he can do anything for them. he says they will wake up again, in their own good time.   lumber and skibum stop by for lunch. skibum mentions a small mudslide (registering 3.4 on the mudslide scale) slid thru his tent at about 8 am. bigstick asks me if i know what the large insect with the red eyes he's just found is. our first cicada encounter. skibum pours it some beer.
Date: 2004-06-01
From: glasgow

To: punchbowl shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: scattered clouds

day 68 tues jun1   10.5 mi 780.6punchbowl shelter   goodness, round about last thursday someone (stephen fay) gave me a memo day holiday heads-up, so i zeroed yesterday in glasgow, so as to pick up a maildrop food package (no canine interception this time) at the post office. then it's to the library around ten am for webpage catch-up, then lunch, and i'm on the road with bigstick and skibum. a kindly fellow coming off his shift at a factory gives us a ride to the trailhead. we're hiking again, onward, upward, thru sunshine and wonderful breezes. hans from texas passes by.   punchbowl shelter has a meadow nearby, and a frogpond with a chorus line. attending the show are epiph., krispy critter, bigstick, skibum, and others. a freak wind and rain blow thru at twilight. in the morning i count seven tents by the shelter.
Date: 2004-06-02
From: punchbowl shelter

To: tar jacket ridge
Miles today: 18.2

day 69 wed jun 2   18.1 mi 798.7 totaltar jacket ridgewhen the moon on a cloud cast nighthung above the treetops' heightyou sang me of some distant pastthat made my heart beat strong and fastnow i know i'm home at last                           -loreena mckennitt   around midday, high on bald knob, i meet claire bunker from pittsburg, who for 20 years owned spruce valley campground on mdi with her husband. she graciously chats with me for 20 minutes about people we know in common (good things, earl brechlin, only good things).   a notion comes to me to spend the night high up in the open so as to enjoy the stars. just past cold mountain, 4 young ladies sunning themselves in a field direct me to a good spring nearby, and to a small bald up ahead on tar jacket ridge. i load up with enough water for dinner and breakfast and head up. after dinner, i decide to set up tarp and hammock just inside the trees, close by. coming back out (20 feet) to catch the sunset, i'm surprised to find a beautiful auburn-haired woman sitting quietly on the rocks where i'd just had dinner. her name is alex(andra?), she lives in a tent a few miles away, and she's here to catch the full moon. there's a full moon tonight! it's amazing to consider that even though the conscious part of me did not know of the full moon tonight, (or last month's: see entry for may 5) some part of my subconscious somehow knew.   the thought of it sends shivers through me. i attribute it in part to spending the better part of ten weeks outdoors.   alex turns out to be a wondrous, vibrant, free spirit, a gypsy migrant with a degree in art history, and a determination to spend the rest of her life outdoors. she has travelled a lot, and hopes to journey across the world, by working at farms all the way 'round. we trade stories: i tell her about great snowy owls in maine, the caddoo's farm in surry, and xuan tsang's history; she tells me about working for elmer hall (a trail legend in hot springs), building her own home in vermont, and the chinese wilderness poets.   a great long cloud passes over and sprinkles us with virga; two rainbows appear to the south, then the sun sets, painting the clouds fiery. two minutes later, alex points to a glow appearing above a mountain off to the east. the moon rises and splinters through a venetian curtain of long, thin clouds. it rises further: clear, clean, intact, majestic, powerful. i might have missed it, if it weren't for alex.   all through the night, the wind blows with a surprising intensity.namaste,
Date: 2004-06-03
From: tar jacket ridge

To: montibello, va
Miles today: 9.1

day 70 thu jun 3   9.1 mi 807.8 totaldutch haus, montibelloon and on the rain will falllike tears from a starlike tears from a staron and on the rain will sayhow fragile we arehow fragile we are                  -sting   the way the wind blew i thought sure the weather woud be wet and stormy in the morning, but it turned out nice. i rise with the sun and watch as its light turns great oceans of clouds iridescent. the brilliant green, open fields on top of cold mountain, two miles south, look like a bit of eden. it's breathtaking and i am reminded to try to be up and awake for more sunrises.   yesterday afternoon a shinsplint comes to visit me in my right leg. it actually came on 2 weeks ago, then left for a stretch, and now it's back again. the buzz on the trail has been about the good food and fairly cheap lodging at the dutch haus b and b up ahead in montebello. earl, lois, and friend bonnie actually offer free lunches to thru-hikers. it's excellent food and there's a lot of it. i've decided to stay for a few days to heal and to gain back some of the 6 pounds i've lost.   attending dinner are papabear, badger, scholar, slowpoke!, spiderweb, cuppajoe, and others. there's good cheer and chess, gossip and laughter, fresh laundry, showers, shampoo, and cold lemonade. the word is the postmaster here will open the post office on sunday if you have a package waiting there. it's that kind of town.
Date: 2004-06-04
From: montibello, va

To: dutch haus, va
Miles today: 0.0

day 71 fri jun 4 zerodutch hausdid you sign your name in the guest book here?so when the law comes looking for you,we can say, why yes officer, he was here?                           -lois arnold   lois arnold, the hostess here, is an amazing cook, turning out wonderful meals for 12 to 16 hikers at a time. but she won't do pies, so her husband earl makes pumpkin pie yesterday (okay, maybe it wuz storebought...no, this report just in...earl did in fact make the pie) after shuttling assorted hikers in several different directions and dealing with 2 flat tires. lois hopes to hike across england next summer with her friend bonnie and stay at other people's b and b's for a spell.   lunches (most meals actually) are in 2 shifts. tucked away upstairs, resting, reading, writing, i miss the first lunch shift, but not the second, which i share with 2 young ladies just in off the trail, and who shyly allow me to guess who they are, as we start in on fresh asparagus soup. hmmm... they look to be about 25, with mid-length dark brown hair, and they also look a bit like each other, quite a bit actually, well heck and full-blown hellfire, they look very much like each other, to the point of bona fide identical twin-sister resemblance, and exhibiting certain quiet, smiling, je ne sais quoi demeanors. dare i go out, way out on a limb and guess they are in fact, the inimitable, now trail-famous hobbit twins? does this qualify me for a chance to appear on jeopardy? but then bonnie, who is serving us, goes 3 for 3, guessing the flavor of the tea i'm drinking, and my 2 best movie actor impressions. i relinquish my chance at game show fame and defer to bonnie's greater talents.   the hobbit twins are also known as holly hobbit and river otter (heidi) and grew up in montpelier, vermont. ro went to stirling college, holly went to school near brattleboro. holly actually spent summer 02 as an intern at holbrook island sanctuary on the maine coast, close to where i call home. though they both spoke in low tones, they were full of smiles and laughter. too soon, we finish lunch and they hit the trail again. i thought the hobbits were wonderful.   at dinner hawk and lonesome dove had us roaring with tales of trail misadventures. and then hostess lois entertained us with an account of trail subterfuge and intrigue involving a hiker trying to yogi free dinners here and a little woodstock in washington dc in summer 02, when security was extremely high. like the energy here. four stars.
Date: 2004-06-05
From: dutch haus, va

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

day 72 sat jun 5 zerodutch haus   lonesome goes out and slackpacks 20 miles; scholar does 16. jabberwocky, yippy, bearbreath, hoover, and wrangler (a cattle rancher from florida) joins us for dinner. i ask hostess lois if i could pay my 3-day tab with my phone card. she is highly amused by the suggestion. when she returns my visa card, she tells me i still have 1600 minutes on it. later she asks if i would write something to them. very nice people. and oooohhh the food.
Date: 2004-06-06
From: fish hatchery road

To: harper's creek shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

day 73 sun jun 6   12.0 mi 819.0 totalharper's creek shelter   lois drives us up a steep gravel road, back to the trailhead. roosting directly above us in a great, dead tree are almost 20 turkey vultures. they take flight at the sight and sound of us. hmm...great, full, dead...no, never mind.   bearbreath and i chat as we hike up the priest (mtn). he says he's hiking without a toothbrush; that's why wrangler named him 'bearbreath'. so bearbreath returns the favor and gives him a new name: cowchip (he's a cattle rancher). he says wrangler/cowchip doesn't like the new name. i say it seems like a fair trade. then he says wrangler/cowchip is up ahead, telling southbounders to watch for and to say hi to bearbreath. bearbreath beams this great grin as he tells me this story. i laugh all the way up to priest summit.
Date: 2004-06-07
From: harper's creek shelter

To: glass hollow cliff
Miles today: 20.0

day 74 mon jun 7   20.0 mi 839.8 totalglass hollow cliff   shared a great conversation with jabberwocky, yippy and (j's dad) bearbreath 'round their campfire last night. seems an indian shaman woman out in wickenburg, az helped bearbreath through a difficult time. it was fascinating to hear his account.   catdog gave me a tip about an unmarked campsite 14 miles ahead today. so what do i do but miss it and go for 20. i cowboy out in the open under the stars on a cliff above a wild looking valley with the far-off roar of a small river cascading away below.
Date: 2004-06-08
From: glass hollow cliff

To: waynesboro, va
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

day 75 tue jun 8   7.3 mi 847.1 totalwaynesboro, vaman, it's a hot onelike 7 inches from the mid-day sun                                 -carlos santana   it's 4 highway miles to town, late morning; what little shade there is, is fading fast, and i'm on the verge on turning to face the traffic and then putting my thumb out. but lo, an suv pulls over, the man gets out, makes room for my pack in the back, and hands me a bottle of cold water. it's booboo's dad, up from florida to visit his son and hike with him for a bit. he takes me to the chamber office where my food box is waiting, and tells me a lot of hikers are camping for free in a park across from the ymca.   dave at the shoe repair shop says he can patch my boot; the sole's coming loose on one. i start off to the park, in my rubber crocs, with almost 20 extra pounds (my food and bounce boxes) and shinsplints in my right leg. and si, carlos, hombre, it's a hot one.   shuttle man len fills me in on trail and town gossip as i set up my hammock in the shade. then i get a shower at the y and go for ayce chinese buffet at the ming palace, then bananas and a pint of coffee ice cream at kroger's. hawk, his wife peggy, and catdog drive up. i ask for a ride (with my gear from the park) to the motel they are staying at. i walk to get my boots back and then we go with lonesome dove, scholar, hoover, and his wife to gavid's steakhouse. good food, good company.
Date: 2004-06-09
From: waynesboro, va

To: waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

day 76 wed jun 9   zerowaynesboro   catdog and i walk to weazie's for breakfast, then to the laundry. peggy gives us a ride to the outfitter. i catch a fluke ride back to town with a guy heading home from college in utah. slowpoke and i split the cost of a room.   at kroger's i strike up a conversation with alain, 17 days out of montreal, on a year and a half bicycle trip to southern chile. almost 15,000 miles. he was a lifeguard back in montreal, and mentions he hiked the 48 4000-footers in new hampshire. we talk about canadian movies. then he mentions he spent $500 on shots, including $300 for rabies. and that he attended a lecture given by goran kropp, the fellow who bicycled from sweden to katmandu and back again. he says gk wrote a book. good luck, alain.
Date: 2004-06-10
From: waynesboro

To: calf mtn shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: few clouds

day 77 thu jun 10   7.0 854.1 totalcalf mtn shelter   my shinsplint seems gone, so i head out. on a back street to the supermarket, jim donovan from boston and waynesboro, offers me a ride to the store and the trailhead. what i thought might take 2 hours, jim trims to 25 minutes. you were a great help, jim, thank you.   i thought waynesboro was terrific.   we read in a register that jabberwocky has poison ivy rash all over his feet. mountain break gives me a poison ivy id lesson. as we enter the shenadoahs, it's everywhere we look.   coyote and i cross paths and chat for 5 minutes. i get to meet saltlick, a fellow she hikes with some. at the shelter, booboo is passing out his mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies; beatbox and i trade meals. they head on. slowpoke shows up, bringing me a map, courtesy of catdog, a half day ahead.
Date: 2004-06-11
From: calf mtn shelter

To: blackrock hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

day 78 fri jun 11   13.0 mi 867.12 totalblackrock hut   in the registers are several accounts of bear sightings in this area. this morning i pass by a doe and fawn all of 5 feet away.   critter and i pull into this shelter about 1:30, have lunch, and are joined by beartracks, booboo, arms, rooster, and k-less. booboo takes center stage and gets everyone laughing. the fivesome are heading on; critter and i seriously consider it and then decide to stay put. about 3:30 it pours buckets.   critter notices a spider on the shelter ceiling the size of your hand. oozer reads in the register that there are no mice at this shelter. critter and i quietly surmise that giant spiders have eaten all the mice. we don't have the heart to tell oozer.
Date: 2004-06-12
From: blackrock hut

To: elkton, va
Miles today: 24.8

day 79 sat jun 12   24.8 mi 891.9 totalelkton, vayou take huge steps, trying to feel the earth's roundness arc beneath your feet. -annie dillard   i set my sights on my next food maildrop box, at a small motel. my guidebook suggests that elkton is one of those tiny towns that time forgot, and there may not be much in the way of good town food. but at the big bear store and deli, bezhou (bay zoo', mandarin for floating boat) and his dad cook me up a great tasting pizza, and there's ice cream and beer. bezhou is 14, from northern china, funny, well-mannered, and extremely intelligent. he's thinking of going to harvard, to study to be a doctor. i think he would make a good doctor.   in the morning, the motel owner, carol, offers to drive me 2 miles to get a hot, hearty breakfast, and then 5 miles to the trailhead.   the good people in elkton prove my guidebook wrong.
Date: 2004-06-13
From: elkton, va

To: rock spring hut
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: broken clouds

day 80 sun jun 13   20.5 mi 912.4 totalrock spring hut   at the lewis mtn campground store, i take a break with high octane, strange love, 2 cents, and nameless, who has just received bounty in the form of copious amounts of free trail food from 2 women section hikers going home. then a woman passing by, a tourist, compliments him on his gaiters. i'm a witness; what can i say; the man exudes charm.   two hours later i find some cold trail magic beer in a small cooler at a trail crossroad. i'm sitting on a rock facing the trail south, with the open beer behind my foot. hi octane approaches, strides right past the cooler; pauses in front of me. i ask, "so you don't drink beer?" he misunderstands me and answers, referring to something back at the store. i patiently wait and finally, quietly, ask, "do you know you just walked by some beer?" his eyes get real wide, he quickly pivots 180 degrees, and races back to the cooler. he comes back with a beer and a big grin. his expression was priceless. i laughed a full minute. i laugh now at the memory of it. we both wait with our beers, hoping one of our friends will show up soon, to possibly repeat the process.   an hour later, i meet a mennonite couple on a high cliff overlook. we talk for 20 minutes. they have a farm, somewhere out there in front of us, with 70 cattle and 25,000 turkeys. he looks about 50. his dad started teaching him when he was six. she asks me about how i prepared for this trip. when i mention i've lived {in the past} without tv or vehicle, she says i could qualify to become old order mennonite (they are mennonite, but not old order). we all laugh. but secretly i'm flattered.   a little later, i stop for a very nice dinner at a wonderful restaurant at the big meadows lodge. it's a large room with eighty diners and beautiful rafter work and windows and a milky sunset filtering through it all. it feels surreal, after so much hiking. the hostess, an older woman, shows remarkable panache, and quickly offers to move me to a different table where i can keep an eye on my backpack just outside. she treats me with great respect, in spite of how smelly and dirty i am. she reminds me of the concierge played by hector elizondo in the movie pretty woman. oh, to attain that level of respect for all.   later still, i hike with caterpillar, a big, strapping fellow from baltimore, who had covered sports for a weekly paper there. we're hiking in the dark; he gets a few minutes ahead of me. i come round a corner and find him standing, waiting for me at a small trail crossroads. he had stopped out of concern for me, that i might not be able to read the tiny signs in the dark here.
Date: 2004-06-14
From: rock spring hut

To: pass mtn hut
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

day 81 mon jun 14   15.2 mi 927.6 totalpass mtn hut   saltlick mentions he's seen 37 deer in 2 days. we've all seen at least 20.   as i stop into skyland for lunch, halfmoon and norma tell me i can get a shower at the cabin they rented last night, nearby. crash!bang! and i have lunch together. he tells me about his job back in indiana, doing the assisted living thing for handicapped folks.   a little later i meet gaia (with coyote), a charming woman who says she's heard i criticized her on the web. not true! i declaim. she graciously believes me. nameless and i hike together for half the afternoon, we talk about music, history, anthropology, new zealand, chapel hill. seems a friend of his thru-hiked a few years ago and made a movie of it. trek-something-or-other. sounded pretty good.   at the shelter there's 19 of us; it's a raucous reunion for some. there's bucket (from whitefield, maine) and beast, dolphin, poco, two cents, strange love, nameless. hermes' done 99 miles in 3 days to catch up to his friends. lint has scored 2 six-packs of perfectly good beer by dumpster diving. there's some powerful energy here. and the night air is full of fireflies.