morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Maupin Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 20.9

It rained all night last night but started to slack up a bit around 6 this morning. Around 7:30 I was on the trail and heading to Waynesboro. The trail was easy for the most part on one climb that was an easy 1000 feet. The last few rain days I have had really close encounters with deer. When the trail is wet I have to look down a lot more so I don't slip. So I was looking down and I heard something to my left, it was a doe less than 10 feet away. The last shelter was about 5 miles from town and I met two other "hikers" who said they were thru hiking north but they started yesterday and they wanted to walk south for a bit. Their stories were really strange so I ended up not stopping for lunch, I just grabbed a few bars out of my bag and pressed on into town. As I was walking where the trail met the Blue Ridge Parkway a car pulled over and asked if I needed a ride. Perfect timing and I didn't even have to hitch. He was a nice guy and he ended up taking me to this multi-million dollar property that is built of all marble. It was really cool. The original owner was a physicist named Walter Russell. The property was not maintained but everything was still there. A prayer tower was on the property and apparently he brought all sorts of religious people from all religions in I see if they could agree on a common theory....interesting. So after that the guy dropped me off at the outfitter and I hung out there for a bit as I waited for Adam to pick me up, he is the owner of the hostel I am staying in tonight. It has been a relaxing day and this is my favorite hostel I have been in. There are two other hikers here and it has been fun getting to know them. We are going to take it slow in the morning and then head to the trail around 11 or so. The SNP is supposed to have easy trail and bears! Hoping to see a bear or two. Also I am hoping this weather would clear up. I like the rain most when it stops (a songs lyrics that I like to listen to while I hike in the rain). Oh the other hikers and I had a conversation tonight about when we noticed that the woods were making us weird. It was a funny conversation but it has truth....around mile 700 I realized I was having conversations with myself..... Yea I'm losing it so what.
Date: 2013-05-20
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Blackrock shelter 
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: light rain

It was a great stay at stanimals hostel. I slept in this morning until 8:30 and it was so nice to get that extra rest. Stanimal was a great host and really helped us out a lot. We all took a while to get ready this morning and finally made it back to the trail around 11 or 12...I don't remember which. I have really been looking forward to the Shenandoahs and the easy trail through it. Once on the trail I started to see more people than I have been seeing the last few days. I was able to cover miles fairly fast and cruised all the way to BlackRock shelter. Along the way there weren't to many views but the ones I did have were really cool. I also came across trail magic at Turks gap. When I first saw it I was so filled with joy that I just started yelling. There is nothing better than seeing an ice chest on the side of the trail with cold drinks in it. It is a nice change of pace to have something other than water, especially when you are drinking 7 liters a day. I've met some cool people at the shelter tonight one is from Texas and the other Alabama. I am pointing them out because I have not met many people from the south. As I am typing this we have already seen 4 mice roaming the shelter. I hate mice so much. I'm going to call it a night. Pray no mice run across my head. I don't know why I'm not in my tent...
Date: 2013-05-21
From: Blackrock shelter 

To: south river picnic area
Miles today: 27.9
Weather: scattered clouds

The mice stayed away from me and my stuff. I did hear one during the night munching on something but it was nothing of mine. We had a whiperwill (spelling) sit in a tree right by the shelter all night and make its noise. I don't understand how it can make so much noise for so long of a period of time....when do those things breath?? Anyway after managing to tune the bird and mice out I managed to get some quality shut eye. I got a good start this morning and I was treated to some really good views. Mack and I were the first ones out of camp and I passed him shortly into the hike, so I was now the leader of the pack. There are some cons to being the first one out....you get the pleasure of breaking down hundreds of spider webs, usually with your face. About four miles into my hike I took a short side trail to a picnic area in hopes of finding trash cans. It was a success and I also ran into Blast's mom and dog copper. I recognized copper and made the connection of who the lady was. She was super nice and she also gave me some food! Then it was back to hiking. I hiked with Trucker for a short while, but I spent the rest of the day by myself. I have been thinking a lot about the past hikers I have met and wondering if they are still on the trail and if so where. I was keeping up with a hiker in the shelter logs and I haven't seen him write anything in weeks, not sure if he is still out here or not. The physical aspect of the hike has faded, I think my fitness has plateaued and most of the hike is just mental now, although I know the whites and other sections in New England will be physically challenging. The reason I have been thinking about this today is because a lady asked me today what has been the hardest part of my hike so far.....I didn't have an answer for her, I just told her I've been having too much fun to focus on what has been hard. I am camped in a spot I am not supposed to camp in tonight, but it had running water picnic tables and flush toilets.....I couldn't pass it up. I don't think I have seen a flush toilet on the trail since before the Smokies. While I was cooking dinner tonight I heard something behind me and I looked back to see 6 deer just looking at me from 20 yards away. They quickly ran when I spotted them but they were cool to see. Also no bears today just a bunch of bear poop. I also got to pass the spot in the park that I visited back on October 2012 and when I visited I was still dreaming of hiking the trail. I remember looking north on the At and saying wow that goes all the way to Maine and looking south and saying all the way to Georgia....well I have now walked that southern section that I was dreaming about...on to the northern section. Oh and I am counting down to the 1000 mark. Pretty excited about that. Also excited to see my family!!I better drink a lot of sweet tea before I get too far north. Goodnight
Date: 2013-05-22
From: south river picnic area

To: stealth camp
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: few clouds

An absolutely perfect day on the trail. The weather was great, I met some great people, I got trail magic, and I got a burger during the day. Oh and I met a guy that knew where bunkie is and he was a super nice guy. I started hiking a bit before 8 and the trail was going to be pretty easy all day so I just relaxed and enjoyed it. The trail changed a lot today which was nice. Around 12:30 I was about a mile from where I was going to have lunch and I saw several deer and my first AT bear! The bear was just as I pictured it...black fur and four legs. Pretty cool I know! I was able to get a few good pictures of him before I moved on. I relaxed at the big meadows wayside for about two hour while I had lunch. After lunch I met a hiker that said he was dealing with dehydration. He said he was thru hiking and he has been out here for four weeks....I asked him when he started and he said April 22. I then asked him how many miles he was hiking a day and he said he is trying to do 35 everyday....all I could say back to that is that sucks. I could not imagine how terrible that must be. He has to be back at work July 10th. I can't even comprehend trying to hike that fast for one I couldn't and that would suck having to pound out that many miles day after day. Makes me tired thinking about it. After that I hiked another 3 miles and the trail passed by a campground. A few people were setup with trail magic right by the trail. It was great and they had a lot of good food! I hung out with them for another hour so it was a slow afternoon of just relaxing with people. After I left them I hiked along a ridge and I could see thunderstorms moving in from the west so I tired to hurry to the resort to get out of the weather and to get some water to cook with. When I got there it began to rain and lightening really bad so I hung out inside and ordered some more food. It was a really nice restaurant and the people were dressed up for the occasion. I figured I'd do everyone a favor and get my food to go. While I was sitting in the lobby I noticed several people in the restaurant kept looking at me. I assumed they were wondering why a dirty homeless guy was hanging out in the lobby. After I got my food I went outside to eat. I ended up hanging out for a few hours waiting for the weather to pass and finally around 9 it cleared up enough to make it back to the trail to find a campsite. I had a pretty hard time setting up my tent, the soil here is really loose and my tent stakes aren't doing well in it. It is holding for now but we will see. It isn't raining right now but I think there are supposed to be thunder storms all tonight and tomorrow.Oh and about a mile before my campsite I saw another bear. He was pretty far away...no picture. I also left my bear bag line at my last campsite so I don't have a line to hang my food tonight. So my food bag is hung on a limb about 8 feet off the ground....might not have food in the morning. Great day on the AT
Date: 2013-05-23
From: stealth camp

To: Rattlesnake Gap
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

The weather held off all night and my food was still there when I woke up. I left camp around 8:15 and I only covered 5 miles by 11. I was just moving really slow in the morning and I couldn't get in my usual rhythm. So I took a break, got some food, and read for a bit. It was the trick and I was able to knock out 15 more miles by 4:30 when I met my family. The terrain was great for most of the day and I had several views. The highlight of my day was a stand off with a momma bear. I was hiking downhill, moving fairly quick, and I noticed a small bear cub about 10 yards to my right, I stopped instantly and looked around. I noticed the cub started scurrying up a tree with 2 cubs following. I then noticed the momma bear next to them crouched and staring at me. I shouldve continued north but my first reaction was to slowly back up and to talk to the bear. I was trying to just get out of the way of the bears. The cubs were extremely tiny and it was super cool to see them climb the tree. I ended up backing away about 50 yards and making more noise but the momma bear started growling so I decided to back up more and to not make anymore noise. I was about a 125 yards from them and I was watching the area of where I thought they were to see movement. I hoped that me being quiet the cubs would come down out of the tree and the momma bear would lead them away. I waited for about twenty minutes and I finally spotted the cubs on the ground and they were now about 30 yards west of the trail...not enough room to make me feel comfortable hiking by on the trail so I decided to climb up the mountain a bit to my west and the proceed north. I climbed about 70 yards up so I had enough space to at least make me feel comfortable. It all went according to plan and once I knew I was past them I descended back to the trail. Then it was on to rattlesnake gap to meet the family. It was great to see them and we are now at a cabin that is in the middle of no where. It is a cool place. We had a great dinner and a fun night relaxing. I got to share all of my pictures with them. Excited to relax and enjoy my first zero day since Johnson City, TN! The legs are tired! Goodnight world
Date: 2013-05-24
From: Rattlesnake Gap

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today has been a great zero day! Before my family headed up here i asked them to bring some of my clothes from home so i could wear something different. It was extremely refreshing to wear a different shirt, shorts and to put on deodorant for the first time in two months! It is the little things in life. We did not have many plans for the day so we spent the majority of the morning relaxing. I woke up around 7:30 and went to the porch to crawl into the hot tub. It was great therapy for my body and super relaxing. We then went into front royal so i could run a few errands and resupply. After that we headed to where the trail crosses hwy 55 and put out some trail magic for thru hikers. We plan to leave the ice chest there for a few days and tomorrow I plan on doing 25 miles from rattlesnake gap to hwy 55 so i will indulge in my own trail magic! We then headed to the Manassas Battlefield and toured it. It was really interesting and a lot of fun. Since i have been out here i have been thinking about the civil war a good bit, so i was excited to visit one of the battlefields. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn¢t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark TwainI am hiking tomorrow and then staying the night with the family, i will say bye to them the next morning. It will be sad to say bye but I am excited to get to this next section of trail. Mentally I am at a big point in my hike, I cannot wait to get to the Harper Ferry and the half way point to begin the northern section of my hike!
Date: 2013-05-25
From: Zero Day

To: Manassas Gap
Miles today: 25.5

I forgot how fresh I feel after a zero day! It is a great feeling. We took our time getting to the trail this morning. We had to take care of the priority of getting a good breakfast...or at least that was my priority! We got back to the trail a bit after 9 and I got to hike the first mile of the trail with my family. It was great to share that experience with them. We took our time and took a lot of pictures. I planned on leaving them for the day once we got to the parking area at hogback overlook. So we hiked the first mile and hung out for a bit then it was on to the next 24.5 by myself. I left them a bit after 10 and began the day. My legs felt super fresh and the terrain was pretty easy. I covered miles really quick and I was out of the park by 2:30. I was excited to have the park behind me but i really enjoyed my time in it. The SNP had tons of wildlife, i saw tons of deer and a total of 7 bears, 3 of them were cubs! It was an incredible experience that will always be a special part to this journey. After leaving the park I ran into a huge group of day hikers that had a lot of questions for me. They couldnt believe that they were getting to meet a thru hiker...haha. It is weird because that has been the reaction of several people I have met lately. Before i started the idea of hiking more than 2000 miles was something that i couldnt even comprehend but now it is just one day at a time and the numbers begin to add up. I had the same impression of thru hikers before I started but since i have been out here i dont have that view of myself at all...im just out here enjoying this incredible opportunity. Just feel blessed to be out here. Anyway I was in a great rhythm all day today and I cruised all the way to the HWY. About a mile before my destination, where we put trail magic out the day before, a couple heading south was excited to tell me that there was trail magic at the HWY. I played along and got excited then just smiled as i walked off. I was happy with my strategy of ending my day at my trail magic ha. When we got back to the cabin I jumped in the hot tub....what a great way to end the day. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the family. Tomorrow I will go over 1000 miles, super excited about that! So thankful for this experience. Enjoying the journey!
Date: 2013-05-26
From: Manassas Gap

To: 1000 mile mark
Miles today: 26.9

Today was a tough day. I had breakfast with the family and they brought me to the trail around 9:30. In the first few miles of hiking I saw another bear but he ran away from me. It was the first time I have ever had a bear run away from me. After that the woods were pretty quite for the next 10 miles. I hiked through sky meadows state park and I saw a lot of day hikers. A bit after lunch I met a guy that wants to thru hike next year and we talked for about an hour or so. It was a lot of fun to talk to him and to see his excitement about potentially making the decision to go for it. After our talk the miles got tougher. I entered a section if the AT known as the roller coaster. The climbs weren't bad but they just wore on me a bit. It was up and down for miles and it was also pretty rocky so I had to travel slow. I finally got to snickers gap and Va 7. Which meant I was close to my family. I met them by the road where they were setup cooking some food for other hikers. It was a great way to end the day! Oh and right by where they were setup there was a baby fawn, it was only days old. Super cool to see! After I said a final goodbye to my family I continued another mile north. I crossed the 1000 mile mark today. I am camped at mile 1000.2 or so. It was a great feeling and made me feel a lot better after a tough goodbye. I was just sad to see them go, I am super close to my family. Tonight is my last night in Virginia and I will be in Harper Ferry tomorrow! I am excited to be there! Oh and I'm not going to do the Four state challenge.. If anyone was wondering.
Date: 2013-05-27
From: 1000 mile mark

To: just south of harpers ferry
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I got a late start this morning. The last few nights I spent with my family I was staying up until 11 or 12 at night as opposed to going to bed by 8:30. So when I woke up this morning it caught up with me and I slept until 9. I didn't get moving until 10....so it was not the typical morning. I enjoy getting out of camp early but it didn't happen this morning. Since I was only going 19 miles into harpers ferry, wv I was not worried about the late start. A few miles into the morning I got to the raven rock cliffs where locals were setup enjoying the day. There were also a few guys climbing. I also exited the roller coaster portion of the trail and it flattened out soon after. Today I saw more deer than I probably have on the entire trip. Every 30 minutes or so I would jump up a deer or two. I would bet that I saw at least 15 deer. For the second day in a row a saw a fawn. This one was walking around with its mother and ran away when it saw me. It was cool to see. Once I arrived in harpers ferry t was after 5 and the headquarters was closed. So I decided to camp a bit south of town. I am going to visit the ATC head quarts in the morning, resupply and head out of town.
Date: 2013-05-28
From: just south of harpers ferry

To: Dahlgren Backpacker Campground
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained all night last night and finally stopped around sunrise. I took my time getting ready this morning since the ATC didn't open until 9 and I was about .3 from the building. Once I got there I ran into trucker a guy I met in SNP and a few other people I recognized. While I was there they took my picture and registered me as the 227 hiker to pass through this year. I looked around there gift shop or a while and flipped through several cool picture books of the AT. While I was there a congresswoman and her entourage were visiting the place. A few hours later I saw a picture on Facebook of the congresswoman posing for a picture with my trekking poles and pack to the side....I hope she washed her hands because the handles on those things were pretty gross. Anyway I left there around 11 and headed into the historic downtown of Harpers ferry. I resupplied at the outfitter and grabbed lunch at the cannonball deli. Once I went to pay for my meal the guy told me the total price and I told him that he was a lot lower than what it should be. He said don't worry about it, consider it trail magic...so I got my meal and ice cream for half price. Super thankful for their generosity! So if you are ever in Harpers ferry go eat there! After I ate I hung around and read while I waited for my phone to charge. I finally got out of town by 1 and I knew my original goal of 22 miles didn't seem likely. As I hiked out of town and out of West Virginia into Maryland I walked for about a mile and I noticed the trail had a few blue blazes....meaning it wasn't the AT...a terrible feeling. So I backtracked to .25 of a mile to the last white blaze I saw and realized it was indeed the AT someone was just being dumb and decided to paint blue blazes to confuse hikers. Not funny.... Once out of town I climbed onto a ridge and hiked past a lot of historic civil war sites. I took my time and read all about them and that made my goal of 22 even more ridiculous so I picked another spot. I am camped at the dahlgren backpacker campground. It is right on the trail and is an extremely nice setup. Showers, picnic tables, grills (I have nothing to grill, but still nice), and electric plugs. It is all for free! Super grateful to have such a nice place right on the trail! Tomorrow I am hiking through the Washington monument state park and then into Pennsylvania! One thing I have noticed the last few days is that I always hear planes now. In the south I would hear a jet occasionally but now it is rare that I don't hear one every few minutes. By the time hikers get to Maine they are in a hurry to just finish. Someone message me if I do not slow down and enjoy the last few weeks. I know that's a long way off but I have been preparing myself to make time for Maine, I just pray I continue to be healthy to get there. Reason I say that is because it was advice I received yesterday from a lady that is finishing her section hike this year.Goodnight
Date: 2013-05-29
From: Dahlgren Backpacker Campground

To: PA 16
Miles today: 26.0

I got a fairly early start this morning which I enjoyed. I was all packed up by 7 but I didn't leave until 7:45. Looking back now the morning seemed so long ago. The first stop of the morning was the Washington monument. From the top I was able to spot the Antietam battle field which was cool to see. The union used the spot I was standing on to watch the battle below. After that the trail was flat for a while. It was a nice break but that all ended in the last 10 miles if the day. As I neared the Maryland and Pennsylvania border the trail was really rocky and pretty tough. It is hard to descend down a rocky trail. I got to the mason Dixon and pen mar road around 5 so I got a quick hitch into town to get a few supplies and then I got a ride back to the trail. I was only planning to go another half mile to a stream and a campsite but when I got there it was already claimed by a large group of people. So I hiked on which meant up and over a small mountain to the first flat spot that I could find. It didn't take to long and I was able to setup by 7:30. Today is the first time since I started that I am aching. The rocks kind of banged up my left knee. I am hoping the soreness will be less tomorrow. I am meeting the my family tomorrow evening. I am excited to see them and to get to go to Gettysburg! Excited to be in PA, it is refreshing to be here for the next few weeks!