morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-10
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: light rain

Woohoo, we FINALLY got up when the alarm went off at 5am. We were out and walking by 6.15am. It started raining about 7.30am but it wasn't very heavy even though the sky seemed thick with storm clouds. The walk up Whitetop Mtn was slow and a gradual incline on the switchbacks. It seemed to go on and on forever, and NO view at the top - hate that!!!! Worse was to come. The climb up Mt Rogers began and so did the rocks, for the next 6 miles!!!!! Gosh they are hard to clamber over with a pack on, and they cane our ankles.The highlight of course were the wild minature ponies, they are so, so cute. One of them was licking our arms getting the salt and when I tried to leave he put his rump in the way. I walked behind Walkabout Roo and around the other side of the pony. Now Walkabout Roo was stuck with the pony licking his arm and being determined not to let him escape. After several attemps at trying to pass (the pony just kept blocking him with its rump) Walkabout Roo gave the pony a nudge on the bum - result - pony kicked out with his back leg. Fortunately the pony missed and hit the trekking pole instead. It was very amusing hearing Walkabout Roo going from calling it a cute little thing to a 'stupid wanker'!!!!! There were several little foals with their Mum's who were very cute.The walk over Grayson Highlands seemed to include some incredibly stupit rock scrambles over hills that could have gone around! We got to Wise shelter and got the tent up just moments before it poured down.
Date: 2011-05-11
From: Wise Shelter

To: Camp in the woods
Miles today: 16.0

When the alarm went off at 5am it was to the sound of thunder, pelting rain and flashes of lightening. No guesses? We stayed right where we were until the storm passed over. The storms here in USA seem so violent compared to home! It was 8.15am when we left and very humid.The trail was very rocky still, and with all the streams in full flow it was like wading down a river bed at times. It was quite a slow walk as we both have developed big splits in our boots and we were rock hopping trying to keep our feet dry.We enjoyed the walk accross the bald, especially the lovely breeze up there. The views were beautiful and it makes you realise just how many mountains there are out here. We had lunch at Old Orchard shelter and a good rest. There weren't as many wildflowers today but there is a beautiful peachy orange flower on one of the small trees that is gorgeous, no idea what it is though.A tortoise/turtle was staring at us and he obligingly posed for his photo.I forgot to mention that yesterday whilst we were clambering over the boulders this skinny little snake slithered on the rock right next to where I had my hand. They probably heard my shriek in Maine!We have found a delightful camping spot under some trees and near a small stream. It is always nice to find a good place to pitch the tent if there is water close by, saves walking for it or having to carry extra. There is some rumbling in the sky again, hope it passes us by.
Date: 2011-05-12
From: Camp in the woods

To: Partnership shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

We left camp at 6.15am and it was a beautiful crisp morning. The trees were dripping from the overnight rain and all the plants were shining with their wet leaves in the early morning sun.Walkabout Roo has developed an incredibly painful shin splint, his very first one. He is finding the downhills very difficult. He has also developed a new uphill stlye since walking with Cog. He now goes much slower but without stopping. It is so much easier for me than him bolting up and expecting me to keep up. He says Cog showed him that it was better to conserve his energy and he would feel better at the top - ooooooh I love you Cog!!!!By mid morning the humidity was really high and we were soaked with sweat. But, it was a fantastic walk, easy gradients all day. A few rocks on the ridgetops but nothing to difficult today. When we reached Partnership Shelter we were overjoyed to discover it had a shower - a real shower with hot water. Ooh the joy of jumping under that water after a hot sweaty walk, and I washed my clothes under there too. We even got soft drinks and snickers bars at the visitor center up the road. AND, the ultimate luxury, a phone at the visitors center where we ordered from the pizza shop and they delivered it to the shelter. I wanna stay here for days and days and days!!!And tomorrow we will go through Atkins and get more greasy take away food, yum.My trail hunger has kicked in and my body is demanding more calories than I can supply it. I am eating every two hours and still losing weight, best diet I ever found.Disaster, the wooden tree stump that is being used for a step into the shelter has slid out under my foot and I have either pulled/sprained/snapped my left calf muscle. It felt like a hammer blow and now I can't put any weight on my leg. Bugger.
Date: 2011-05-13
From: Partnership shelter

To: Atkins
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

I limped around leaning heavily on my poles this morning, it is still incredibly sore to put any weight on my leg, but I have decided to give it a go. If it is too painful we can always put the tent up.Well we did 11.4 miles to Atkins and it took us 7.5hours! But as I walked my calf muscle definitely freed up a lot. We are staying at the motel, very basic.Ate dinner at the Barn and the waitress is a three times thru hiker and very knowledgeable. She told Walkabout Roo to get leaves and wet them in a cold stream and put on his shinplints. He is going to give it a go.
Date: 2011-05-14
From: Atkins

To: Lick Creek
Miles today: 17.4

puds, Puds, PUds, PUDs, PUDS all day - pointless ups and downs. Where oh where are all the rolling hills of Virginia everyone told us about. The only nice green hills we had, one eye was kept on the lookout for the sloppy cow patties, and the other one for any cow bent on investigating our presence!It was also the day of 'stiles', up and over countless numbers of them!We did have our best lunch ever though - we ordered take away beef and salad sandwiches at the Barn and they were smashing.We had to set the tent up in the rain so everything got soggy, including us. Keeping our feet dry is impossible now as our boots splits are getting bigger every day.There was trail magic at the bottom of one of the mountains today, soda's and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yummy.We are very light on food as Atkins was hopeless to resupply in. If it hadn't been for denob having a spare gas cannister we wouldn't have been cooking either!
Date: 2011-05-15
From: Lick Creek

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

HILLS - HILLS - HILLS - UP-DOWN-UP - DOWN - RAIN - ROCKS - SLIPPERY TRACKS - RAIN - RAIN - LONG WET GRASS -RAIN - RAIN - UP - DOWN - ROCKS - RAIN. What an awful day we had today. Walkabout Roo said it was his worst day on the trail. Neither of us enjoyed it and were both thinking longingly of home and a warm fire. Thank goodness tomorrow is a brand new day.Heading for a cold night and everything we have is drenched. Oh, did I mention it rained?
Date: 2011-05-16
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Bland
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

How fantastic to wake up to NO rain today. I was sitting drinking my morning coffee (Walkabout Roo was still huddled in his sleeping bag) when two beautiful deer walked into the campsite. I got a couple of great photos, it seemed so surreal to be holding a mug of coffee in the woods, in America, watching deer feed!I loved the walk down to Laurel Creek this morning but poor Walkabout Roo was in agony on the steep downhills with his shin spints. He also has the symptoms of a kidney infection so it was important that we get into Bland so that he can see a doctor.Answer to prayer was waiting on the road! A trail angel was waiting to take hikers to the local church and feed them. He took us to the church where we joined two other hikers in being fed an absoloute feast of food. We ate so much that I wasn't sure I would ever move again. This wonderful trail angel then drove us to Bland.Walkabout Roo went to the medical clinic where the doctor confirmed he has a kidney infection. Possibly caused by not drinking enough water. He has been put on antibiotics. The doctor gave the keys to her car to her receptionist who drove us the 5 miles to the pharmacy to get his prescription!!!!! That is amazing, that would never happen in Australia! The kindness of people here never ceases to amaze us. The doctor also told him he needed to rest so that his shin splints could heal up. So we are staying here until Thursday.We have reassessed our plans and decided that we most likely won't reach Kathadin before our Visa runs out. After lots of discussion we have decided not to extend it, by the time we pay application fees, changing airline dates, extending travel insurance, etc, we would be up for over $1000 and we don't really have that sort of money to spend. So we are going to slow down, and just enjoy the journey instead of racing for 12 hrs a day and then falling exhausted in to bed worrying if we will make the deadline.At least staying here for 3 days, we might meet up with Cog and Hopeful again. We have missed them each night as they went back to Damascus for trail days.Our daughter just rang from Australia. It was so lovely to hear her voice, we hadn't spoken to her since we arrived in March. Text messages are never the same as a real conversation.I cannot thank Dan Paradis enough for all his work on our journals. I send him my scribbled notes whenever we get to a town and he transcribes them for me. The only reason I have done them this time is that I have three days with nothing to do!!!! Thankyou Dan - next lot should be sent from Pearisdale I think.And we can never thank Lou and Martha enough, our lovely trail angels continue to post things on to us and recieve all our excess gear back at their place.We feel so blessed on this journey.   Tas
Date: 2011-05-19
From: Bland

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Left the Motel this morning and had a ride back out to the trail. It was hard for us to motivate ourselves after laying around for 2 1/2 days.   The terrain was the easiest we have had to date. Walked up to the ridgetops and the trail stayed up there. We took a very easy pace and both enjoyed it. We got to the shelter at 2:15pm. Cold, and although it is very damp it isn't raining. There is a full shelter tonight and a few tents up as well. We met Vegemite, he is from Tasmania although lives in Canada now. We had an early dinner and we are in our sleeping bags by 6:30am. We haven't seen any of our friends names in the books so hopefully they arn't lots of miles away and we will meet up again soon.   We have decided to take our trail angels, Cast Iron and Iron 6's advice. When we get to Harpers Ferry we are going to Flip Flop to Kathadin and walk South until we run out of time. It least then we will see Maine and the Whites.
Date: 2011-05-20
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Waipiti
Miles today: 14.0

A lazy start to the morning for us. 8:15 before we left. It was another delightful walk, almost all ridgewalking. It was crisp and cool to start off with, which always makes for good walking.   At the six mile mark we made a detour to Trents grocery store where we each got a Buffalo Burger, it was yummy. Walkabout Roo got another one for his night time meal and I got a Chicken salad for mine. This afternoons walk was another enjoyable stretch, alough we did notice the lack of flowers in this section.   I often look at our milage and think it isn't much but then I convert 14 miles to km and it is 22.4km which isn't too bad when you consider that Walkabout Roo is nursing a strained calf muscle.   We saw Sherlock and Circuit Rider in the back of a truck heading to Trents grocery so we will probably meet up with them on Monday when we all walk out of Pearisberg.   We heard from Oompa that Cog is 2days behind us so he will probably catch us in Pearisburg. Snake #6 a 5' black one, who posed for a photo.
Date: 2011-05-21
From: Waipiti

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Oh my gosh, just who put that 1500' hill there? First up in the morning too! My calf muscle was is protest at having to push off so hard. However, the sun was shining for the first time all week, the birds were singing and we had a nice short walk to Woods Hole Hostel.   The Azaleas were stunningly beautiful on the ridge, so many different shades of orange and of pink. The perfume from them was lovely today. And the find of the day was three exquisite yellow lady slipper orchids. I do so wish that my parents were younger, they couldn't hike but oh how they would love these wildflowers here. I wouldn't have missed this opportunity for anything.   Woods Hole Hostel is a very unique place. It was built in 1886 and is made of logs and mortar, it is set on 100 acres in the woods, The hostel part is mattresses in the loft. We have a communal dinner, $12 and all the produce is either grown locally of purchased from the Amish community.   Neville and her husband Michael are both qualified masseurs and she has worked wonders on my calf muscle. In fact my entire body feels like it has been renewed. Neville has very strong hands and a great technique. I should be flying down the trail tomorrow, ha ha!   There are lots of hikers coming in now, Very Mary has arrived, she is one of the few women my age on the trail and was at Damascus when I was resting there.   We had fresh salad and home made bread, rice, sweet @ sour lentils, spicy vegetables and coconut cream curry sauce, followed by Peach icecream for dinner, it was beautiful.
Date: 2011-05-22
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Perisburg
Miles today: 10.0

The day started with coffee at 7:15am. Breakfast was eggs and hash browns and home made bread, again devine. It was 9:30 when we started walking and already warm. The walk was lovely today. It was on top of the ridge with a lovely breeze.    We had snake #7 today, a 5' black snake who needed to be persuaded to leave the trail with a prod from my pole. We stopped to chat to a couple of guys doing a day walk when there was loads of crashing in trees and a fairly large female deer came to a skidding halt and gave us a startled look. She then proceeded to scratch herself with her back leg, stared at us again and bolted off up the hill. It was a gorgeous encounter.   Downhill into Pearisburg was steep, steep, steep and we both ran out of water 1 mile before the end. We are staying at an Inn about 6 miles from Pearisburg.I had to buy new shoes as mine not only have big splits and holes in them but the lining has all come apart and is rubbing my heels. I haven't had any blisters so I really am not looking forward to breaking in new shoes.   The outfitters only carried Columbia, definitely not a good hiking shoe. I ended up with a pair of mens trail runners for $160. I doubt they will last long but it was all I could get and it is 100 miles before there is another outfitters.   We went with Very Mary to the resturant over the road for an "all U can eat" buffet. It was fairly ordinary but filled us up.
Date: 2011-05-24
From: Perisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

When the alarm went off, Walkabout Roo decided he didn't fancy walking tat day. It didn't take any persuasion for me to snuggle back under the covers.We relaxed all day, I read heaps and Walkabout Roo watched tv. We also wandered to Dairy Queen for ice creams. Cog called in to see if we had left as they had also stayed in town. Planned to meet at the campsite tomorrow. We feel much better for the extra days rest, we are both really tired, and unfortunately my left calf is driving me crazy!
Date: 2011-05-25
From: Bland

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We are shuttling from Pearisberg to Waynsboro today. We are pulling off the trail once we do the Shenondoahs to Harpers Ferry. We have truly loved this amazing experience and we wouldnt have missed it for the world. The people we have met, and in particular, Cog and Hopeful, have touched our lives in such meaningful ways. Good luck to all of you continuing on, we admire you.
Date: 2011-05-25
From: Pearisburg

To: Waynsboro
Miles today: 0.0

Happy 12th birthday to our lovely grandson, Lochie.Today we decided that we are totally exhausted and we have hit a brick wall and don't want to continue. This hasn't happened before, we have been bored and quit the Bibbulmun Track once, but never this total exhaustion. I am so fed up of my left calf muscle cramping and burning whenever it starts going up even the tiniest hill. Walkabout Roo hates the rocks with a passion, they cane his skinny little ankles. The hills don't bother him at all.We looked at lots of options, and one thing was clear, I didn't want to miss doing the Shenandoahs. So we organised a shuttle with Dan, he picked us up at 1.30pm and drove us to Waynsboro. It cost us $180 but there is no over way to get there. I guess we are now Yellow Blazers, I didn't think we would ever skip sections like this and I feel a bit sad about it.We went to a beautifully restored 97 year old home, 'The Tree Inn' which is a B&B run by Bill and Nikki. This was the first time we had done the upmarket option and it was a good boost to our spirits. We had a lovely room on the 3rd floor with ensuite bathroom. On the 2nd floor there is a snack room with complimentary tea and coffee and soda's available. Breakfast was really special, homemade Granola, apricot yogurt, fresh fruit salad, blueberry pancakes and coffee. It was a beautiful break in our usual routine.
Date: 2011-05-26
From: Waynsboro

To: Calf Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

Bill drove us to the trail at rockfish gap where we started our walk again.For the first time on the trail we met a rather rude and abrupt female hiker. We were reading the notice board and working out how to fill in the registration form when she pointed at the board and let us know in no to uncertain terms to follow the instructions. I do hope she isn't at the same shelter as us tonight or she might discover that the Aussie's arent always polite!The first of many shocks, uphill, uphill and uphill!!! Thought the Shenandoah's were meant to be a walk in the park!!! And there were rocks! But there was also a lovely breeze and lots of shade.I have been looking forward to the Shenandoahs for 3months, easier hiking, lots of deer and bear and flowers! And of course it is in the song 'country roads' by John Denver which is one of favourites.We actually caught up with, and passed two hikers - this is unheard of for us, everyone passes us! Santa's Helper and Hiker Nutt are only out for a week so are not yet track fit and are taking the hills slowly. A young male hiker, Guitar, came the other way slack packing. He was really spooked, he had just had an encounter with a rattlesnake and a bear. He decided to hitch down the road back into Waynsboro.Some of the trail was very overgrown today, the first we have had. Some of the fields we had to walk through had knee high grass, a bit hard to look out for rattlesnakes!The fruit canes, either blueberry or blackberry are all in flower so they should be fruit on them very soon.We got to the shelter at 1.35pm. Lovely shelter, very shady. There was a full snake skin hanging up on the guttering. Everytime I walked into it I jumped out of my skin! Walkabout Roo wasn't any better, he also jumped everytime it blew in the breeze.The privy is perhaps the worst smelling one we have come accross, think I will stick to the woods.Good Foot was already her, Hiker Nutt and Santa's Helper arrived and then three more hikers later in the day.There is a bear pole here instead of the cables, it is the first one I have see, and the first bear hanging place that has been provided in a long time.This will be the first night in our summer sleeping bags and Walkabout Roo has decided we will sleep in the shelter tonight, so I hope we aren't cold.
Date: 2011-05-27
From: Calf Mtn Shelter

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a warm night with lots of mosquitos. There were six of us in the shelter but only one of them slept, the rest of us tried everything possible to protect ourselves from the overpowering snoring and snorting.   Our tent will be going up tonight!We left the shelter at 6.35am and the first few hours were beautiful, fresh and crisp. By 10am we were dripping in perspiration from the humidity.We sat down about 10.30am after crossing Skyline Drive, for a break and I scoffed a bag of cheeto's. When we got up some motorcyclist riders roared past and the pillion passenger was pointing behind her. When I looked where she was pointing I saw a black bear behind a tree over the road. How EXCITING!!! I got out the camera and started taking photos, I went onto the road to get a better view, it was only about 15 ft away from me and was quite happy to oblige and give me a couple of good poses for the camera. I felt very brave until he decided to come a little closer and even cross the road. Lots of banging of sticks together above our heads and telling him loudly, 'go away bear'. He couldn't have cared less about us, wandered over the road and off into the woods. It was the highlight of my journey to date!The slightest incline is causing my calf muscle to tighten,it is really frustrating as it is slowing us down, and I am worried it is going to affect my Achilles Heel. Walkabout Roo had an almost rock free day today, much to his delight.The mountain laurels were in abundance toady and in full flower, really spectacular. My best friend would have been going nuts with her camera if she was here. There were hardly any rhododendrums or azaleas today though. I am not sure that I like the change in vegetation at the south end of the Shanandoahs, it is very dense and you really can't see an awful lot.We got into camp at 1.45pm, much to early to stop but the humidity was affecting both of us and the long stretches in between water deterred us.The tent is up - peacefull sleep tonight. I just hung out some washing of socks and undies when the skies opened and there was a quick violent thunderstorm.Third Life Crisis, Apolstle John, Good Foot, Santa's Helper, Hiker Nutt and another hiker all in the hut tonight.
Date: 2011-05-28
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: light rain

We left at 7am in overcast conditions. Beautiful weather for walking and the trail was definitely much gentler gradients for the day.We went to Loft Mountain campstore and finally got some more cannisters for the stove. We also bought some extra crackers and cheeses.We then made our way to the Wayside on Skyline Dve where we had burgers and Blackberry milkshakes - delicious. We also bought Bacon, lettuce and tomato rolls for dinner tonight.The humidity was really high in the afternoon and the skies were very dark and threatening.We walked straight past the shelter sign and continued on for another mile and a half. It was only when we stopped to chat to the ridgerunner that we realised our mistake and had to backtrack. Of course, smarter hikers would just have walked the other 6miles to the next shelter!There are lots of hikers in the camp tonight. It is Memorial Day weekend so many of them are just out for the long weekend. The ridgerunner is staying here, Midnight, he through hiked a few years back and gave us lots of good information.Two parkrangers came by and I was totally shocked to see that they carried guns and lazer guns on their belts. I am so lucky to live in a country where park rangers don't need to carry guns. They were more than happy to let me take their photos. They are looking for witnesses to a brutal and cowardly assault on Nature Boy three nights ago. Nature Boy is going for the record for the quickest hike on the AT and two guys called him by name and started throwing things at his tent. When he put his head out of the tent they kicked and beat him up. Despicable senseless act, and the first time I have heard of nastiness here.