morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-21
From: Thunderhill Shelter

To: James River
Miles today: 14.6

What a day! Big miles for us and man does my body feel tired. We slept in until 8:30 because I woke up at 12:30 AM because I heard an animal walking around the shelter. I thought it might be a bear going for the smell of the Vidalia onions. After an hour of listening, I woke up Wrong Way Brown and then we woke up Honey Pie and Knee who had their tents close to ours. We all shined our headlamps and couldn¢t see anything but we could hear it. As it turns out, it was a deer. I finally caught a glimpse of it with my headlamp. Our hike was great today. It was so hot and humid from 1 ¢ 3 PM, I thought I was going to pass out. And thank God a big thunderstorm rolled in as we were walking a ridgeline and it felt like someone turned on the air conditioning. It felt great.We crossed the James River and I thought my feet were going to fall off. My Dad picked up me, Wrong Way Brown and Castro and we went into Buena Vista and had dinner. And of course then me and Wrong Way wanted a hotel, so now we are in a hotel and clean. We¢ll resupply tomorrow and do some laundry and then hit the trail again in the evening. There was a huge thunderstorm that hit this evening around 9 PM, so we were driving all over Virginia trying to find a hotel. Castro summed it up, ¢we will never speak of this night again¢. After hiking 14 miles and driving all over in a rainstorm can make you feel a little nutty.
Date: 2004-05-22
From: James River

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 1.7
Weather: few clouds

We are so proud of ourselves for not taking a zero day. Last year we definitely would¢ve made today a zero. We¢ve got it all figured out this year. We did laundry today and re-supplied, and now we¢re back on the trail. Wahoo!!The weather is so different this year compared to last year. It is hot and humid and it¢s only May. I¢m going to send for my summer sleeping bag because this winter one is way too hot. I remember Foxie and 42 said that last year they kept their winter bags because it never really warmed up. 42 even got a warmer one up North. Even though I dislike humidity, I will gladly take it over constant rain like we had last year. Lately it rains anywhere from 3 ¢ 8 PM. Just a quick thunderstorm and then it passes. We¢ve both agreed we¢d rather get up early and hike in the morning when it¢s cool and then take a longer break during the hottest part of the day. Today the temp was 90 degrees. Oh yes, Wrong Way Brown and I have become awesome fire makers. We have made 3 campfires now. A feat we never accomplished last year. We met 3 new hikers this evening in the shelter, Mad Lib, Toe Break and Home Boy. That¢s all for tonight.
Date: 2004-05-23
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Little Irish Creek
Miles today: 13.2

We have only been out a day and a half and man do we stink! The high humidity does not help the smells at all. Everyone¢s back and butt are always damp with sweat. It¢s a glamorous job.We have concluded it doesn¢t matter where you start hiking on the AT, it¢s hard, even in Virginia. Getting our bodies back in shape is happening. We can see progress, but those mountains still kick our butts. Today¢s 13.2 miles didn¢t feel as bad as the 14 miles we did the other day. So our stamina is improving.Still meeting thru-hikers here and there. Definitely seems like there¢s not as many on the trail this year. And not too many hikers hiking together. A lot of hikers hiking alone or they¢ve buddied up with another hiker. Perhaps we¢re ahead of the herd? Who knows. Good thing we haven¢t met hikers we¢ve clicked with because we probably wouldn¢t be able to keep up. Everyone is blowing past us. It¢s actually nice and probably good for us to establish our own rhythm.Our summer bags are coming in Waynesboro. I spoke to my Mom today. Thank God because we seat at night with our winter bags touching us. I don¢t think I¢ll even bust mine out tonight.Oh yes, we had another deer or two visit us last night at 1 AM. They were making weird noised and running all over the place. We¢ve decided we¢ll save ourselves the adrenaline rush and if we hear a noise at night, we¢ll just conclude it¢s a deer. Or else just sleep with ear plugs in.
Date: 2004-05-24
From: Little Irish Creek

To: US 60, Long Mountain Wayside
Miles today: 6.2

Today was a very interesting day. Wrong Way Brown and I had a good conversation as we were hiking this morning. We both agreed on what¢s important to us on our hike. Our priorities are to have fun, go with the flow, and be true to ourselves. So we are going to hike this trail the way that¢s best for us and not compare ourselves to others. We aren¢t going to follow any rules except our own. We¢ve spent our lives coloring inside the lines and this experience is not about that. It¢s about flying and feeling free.So with that in mind, we hiked to the road and got a ride into Buena Vista. This is where it gets interesting. A nice woman named Lindy picked us up and as we are driving along we discovered she is the person that is giving my Dad a massage today at 3:00. My Dad is still in town ¢ the van needs air conditioning. So he¢s been waiting for the part to come in. So Lindy takes us into Buena Vista to see if my Dad was at the Ford dealership. He wasn¢t but we got him on the phone and decided we¢d meet him at Lindy¢s. So we got Hardee¢s and headed to her house. Her and her boyfriend Peter live in a 200 year old house on 75 acres. It was beautiful. They had 2 gardens one in front and one in the back. The house had a breezeway in the center and a stream flowing right beside the house. Then Peter¢s Blacksmith workshop was out back. It was so peaceful and tranquil. We even got showers! That was so much better than food because we seriously stank!This afternoon was what the AT experience is all about. Keeping your heart open and see what comes. It¢s all about going with the flow and not controlling the outcome. We got to meet two extraordinary people by doing so. Today was magical.
Date: 2004-05-26
From: US 60, Long Mountain Wayside

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a nice zero day yesterday. We stayed at the Wingate Hotel in Lexington, VA. It was a nice hotel with an indoor pool, hot tub and a computer with internet connection. Internet is the best! Our bodies felt happy and ready to hit the trail.We had a tough climb today up the Three Ridges. I swear we weren¢t making any progress but finally we made it. It was another race to the shelter before the evening thunderstorm. The Rain Goddess was watching out for us because we arrived at the shelter at 6 PM and it starting raining at 6:05. We were so happy because it rained for 2 hours! We were going to put up the tent but not with these weather conditions. So we met some new hikers tonight. The Brat Pack which includes Ward, Big Foot, Junior and Dart. And there¢s also Star Gaze with her dog Sadie.We¢ll actually be able to sleep well since it¢s cool tonight.
Date: 2004-05-27
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

First off, I¢d like to send a big shout out to Foxie and Moxy ¢ Happy Birthday! I can remember vividly last year celebrating their birthday in Bland, VA with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. We hope you both had a great day.We had a nice hike today. Beautiful weather ¢ cool (high 70¢s) and low humidity. We pushed ourselves a bit today. Sixteen miles is the most we¢ve hiked in one day so far this year. Very tired tonight but feel good. My cousin Michele is coming to meet us in Waynesboro on Saturday, so that will be nice to see her. Plus, we¢ll take two zero days to rest up.Well, I¢m going to keep this short because I don¢t think I¢m making much sense. Good night. Oh yeah, I believe my Dad actually headed home yesterday. We¢ll know for sure tomorrow.
Date: 2004-05-28
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Wrong Way Brown and I woke up around 2 AM to the rain falling on our tent. I had a hard time sleeping anyway because my body was aching (from the long day) and I was hot. As I lay there, I felt a bump on my stomach and realized a tick had implanted itself on me. Ahhh! So I told Wrong Way Brown and she performed a mini-surgery on me. I didn¢t realize the whole relationship of Lyme disease and ticks until recently and so since then it just freaks me out. Plus it¢s just disgusting that they¢re sucking your blood. I also think this is the first or second tick I¢ve had in my entire life. So it¢s not a common occurrence for me.We woke up around 8 AM and all the other 7 hikers have already left for town. We casually got ready and have an easy and fast 5 miles into town.We check into the Quality Inn and meet Big Red, a thru-hiker from ¢02. We introduce ourselves and he says, ¢You must be Pencil¢s daughter¢. My Dad¢s trail name is Pencil because he was a C.P.A. So Big Red had seen my Dad at Reed¢s Gap that morning doing trail magic. I haven¢t been able to track him down, so maybe he did head back?
Date: 2004-06-01
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

We slept like poop last night. We switched over to our summer sleeping bags and of course the weather has gotten cooler. We weren¢t freezing, but chilly. I got cold enough to where it woke me up a lot.The Shenandoah¢s are definitely groomed nicely, which makes for some fast and easy hiking. The 13 miles just flew by today. It was a gorgeous day, 75 and a nice breeze. We are sleeping in the shelter tonight, so it will be an early start tomorrow since everyone gets up at the crack of dawn. That¢s all for now.
Date: 2004-06-02
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

I guess I should clarify what our summer sleeping bags are. Mine is a thin silk liner and Wrong Way Brown¢s is a fleece liner. Neither one very warm, so yet again we had a cold and miserable nights sleep. We ended up putting on our raingear in the middle of the night in hopes to improve our situation. It didn¢t seem to help too much. Despite the poor nights sleep, we had a wonderful day.We were the last ones at the shelter this morning and about 8:30 in walks Little Chicken. We hadn¢t seen her since Partnership Shelter when we were doing some trail magic with my Dad. We had a nice conversation with her and we made arrangements to meet her and her friend (who is coming in tomorrow night) at 5 PM tomorrow. They are giving us a ride back into Waynesboro so we can go to the outfitter and get some proper summer sleeping bags. How nice!Today was an exciting day because it was our first time we passed a Wayside. That translates into FOOD! We covered 7.4 miles in 2.5 hours. That¢s really fast for us. We took a long lunch and it was great. We ate chicken tenders, fries, and a milkshake. I felt like I had a brick in my belly afterwards, but it was so worth it. Can you tell food is a big motivator?We are sleeping in our tent tonight, which should be warmer than the shelter. I pray for good sleep.
Date: 2004-06-03
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Swift Run Gap
Miles today: 11.6

Life on the AT is such and adventure. We started our morning at Pinefield Hut on the trail and now we are at a campground by Lurray, VA. Little Chicken has a friend that came to visit her, so they were kind enough to drive us back to Waynesboro and we made it to the Outfitters right before they closed. We now have proper summer sleeping bags. Yeah!After the Outfitters, we headed to Gavid¢s for an all you can eat buffet plus a steak. I couldn¢t shovel the food in fast enough. It¢s amazing how hungry you can get. Food tastes so much better after a hard days hike or should I say after several hard days of hiking.Another great day of hiking and beautiful weather. We even got to shower in the cabin Little Chicken and Mellieare are staying in. Showers are almost as good as food, perhaps better.We¢ll return to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2004-06-05
From: Swift Run Gap

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 17.0

As it turns out, we didn¢t return to the trail yesterday. We ate breakfast at a diner and then went to the grocery store and the post office. By the time we got to the trail, it was 2:30 and it had been raining all day and was continuing to rain. Plus it was chilly. So the four of us (me, Wrong Way Brown, Little Chicken, and Mellie) decided it best to go get a room at a motel in Eckton. It was a wise choice because it rained all night. And although we are seasoned veterans in the rain, momma didn¢t raise no fool!Our hike today was great despite the dripping trees, mist and cool temperature. We covered 17 miles ¢ our biggest day yet this year. Plus we passed the 900 mile marker! So far this year we¢ve covered 200 miles¢¦very exciting. The good news is that we feel better (physically) this year after going 200 miles than we did last year after 200 miles.The trail was gorgeous today, dressed up in the mist and rain. It was a nice contrast to all the sunny days we¢ve had. On the one hand, the cool temperature makes for nice hiking but not so great for taking breaks. You get too cold when you stop and sit. So we only stopped once for lunch at Lewis Mtn. Campstore. Our plan was to camp at Big Meadows campground, but as we walked the last mile around 4:30 PM, the temperature took a dive and we began to get cold even as we hiked. So we go to the Lodge because it¢s closer than the campsite. They are completely full except for an extra nice room that has wet carpet in one small area in the room due to all the rain. It normally cost $123 a night, but they¢d go down to $87. We debated for awhile and even looked at the room, which looked awesome to two wet, smelly hikers. We told the lady we couldn¢t afford it and that we had to go camp when she said, ¢Oh, the big boss just came in. I¢ll see if he¢ll lower the price more.¢ So they gave us the room for $80, which is only $5 more than a regular room! We couldn¢t be happier because we are clean and warm. Plus we had dinner at the restaurant here. Wrong Way Brown just checked the current temperature and it¢s 41 degrees!! I¢m having flashbacks to last year. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the fog is so thick you could only see 20 yards ahead. It feels like we are in the clouds.Tomorrow we plan to go 18.8 miles, another big day. We are on a plan to get us to Harpers Ferry by next Sunday to meet my cousin Michele. She¢s going to show us around Washington, DC. Wrong Way has never been there and last time I was there was when I was 5-years-old.Weather is suppose to warm up to 70 degrees tomorrow and no rain. We¢ll be ready!
Date: 2004-06-06
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

Oh man, we rock! We hiked almost 19 miles today and we are still intact to talk about it. We got a late start this morning because we wanted to do laundry. We got on the trail about 10:45 AM. Which means we got into the shelter at 9 PM. It was officially dark as we walked in. Nothing like getting in right under the wire.        I definitely had my doubts as to whether or not we¢d make it that far today. The trail has switched back to it¢s old self with lot¢s of rocks. The southern end of the Shenandoah¢s is much easier than the northern end in my opinion. We thought about camping illegally four miles back at the Byrd¢s Nest #3 picnic shelter, but it was kinda spooky, so we pushed on. After we left that spot our only choice was to make the shelter because there¢s no places to pitch a tent or at least not many good places. It was a good day. We still haven¢t seen any bears. We¢ve seen tons of deer, so now when we see a deer we say it¢s a bear dressed up as a deer.Well, it¢s off to sleep for me. We are going 13 miles tomorrow, so we¢ll definitely sleep in.
Date: 2004-06-07
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

We had an exciting visit to the wayside for lunch. A wayside in the Shenandoah¢s is a fast food restaurant. So we come up to the wayside and what do you know, an adult black bear is trotting through the parking lot! It was so cool. Our first bear in the Shenandoah¢s. Turns out the bear had been walking around the wayside for a couple of hours. The Rangers ended up coming out and tranquilizing the bear to relocate it in the park. I guess the bear had been doing this for a couple of weeks and it come to a pint that the Rangers needed to intervene. The sad thing is that someone had fed it, so now it associates food with people. Never a good combo. Wrong Way Brown got to get close to the bear as they brought it up on the stretcher. She got some good pictures. I was to busy eating to venture a look.Another gorgeous day. We both felt a little tired so the 9 miles to the hostel tomorrow will be a nice short day. Tomorrow is our last day in the Shenandoah¢s. It¢s been great.
Date: 2004-06-08
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Terrapin Station Hostel
Miles today: 9.6

Today was our shortest day in a while, but it didn¢t go by as fast as I would¢ve liked. My body was feeling a bit tired, my feet were achy and that made me grouchy. So I was glad it was a short day and that a visit to a hostel was the prize at the end of the day. We got in around 2:30 PM, so we had the afternoon and evening to shower, do laundry, and relax. Mike Evans is the owner and he welcomed us into his year-old hostel. It¢s a great place and very clean. Turned out we are the only hikers here tonight. I highly recommend staying here. He¢s got a great setup and he¢s very friendly. He¢s hiked the AT and PCT, so he knows what hikers need.He¢ll run us into town tomorrow to re-supply and hit the Post Office. Then we¢ll return to the trail after that. Our goal is Harper¢s Ferry by Sunday. From there, my cousin will pick us up and we¢ll go into D.C for a few days.
Date: 2004-06-09
From: Terrapin Station Hostel

To: Chester Gap
Miles today: 4.0

We ended up staying another night at Terrapin Hostel. Last night Wrong Way's back was hurting her really bad, so we thought it would be best to go into town to see a chiropractor and take an easy day. She got an appt. this morning and she feels much better. The chiropractor said it wasn't anything serious, so that eases our minds. We went ahead and did a 4 mile slackpack back to the Hostel. It was the perfect amount and Wrong Way tore that hill up! I felt like I had to run to keep up with her. She's starting to love the uphills as much as me. It was a hot and humid day and tomorrow will be the same, but then they say it will cool back down---thank God. We are getting on the trail at 7 a.m. tomorrow in order to beat the heat. We'll get the miles in before 2 or 3 p.m. and it'll make our lives easier.Harper's Ferry here we come!
Date: 2004-06-10
From: Chester Gap

To: Dick's Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

A year ago today was our last day on the AT. Back then it was crazy to imagine we'd be out here again in less than a year. I'm so glad we chose to return. It has been a much better experience this time around.Today we were on the trail by 6:50 a.m. We were so happy to get the early start because it was a hot and humid day. Plus it's nice to be done at 4:00 p.m. and still have put in some decent miles. We are shooting for an early start tomorrow and hopefully make it more of our routine. A cold front is moving through right now, so they say it will be in the mid-seventies tomorrow. A relief from the 95 degree heat we've had. It's raining lightly now and we welcome it with open arms.Dick's Dome Shelter that we are camped by tonight, literally looks like a dome or an eskimo hut. It's small and only holds 3-4 people. We also stopped at the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter this morning. It was nice. It had a big deck with a reclining chair that holds 3 people. There was also a shower that would only be good to use on a hot day because the water is cold. Well, it's off to a good nights sleep.
Date: 2004-06-11
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Sam Moore Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

We got on the trail at 7:30 a.m., and it's a good thing we did because we arrived at the next shelter 9 miles away just before the rain started. We stayed at that shelter for four hours hoping the rain would stop. We ate a hot lunch and took a nap. But the rain continued. At 3:45 we decide to hike on to the shelter 7 miles away. At first the rain felt refreshing, a nice contrast to all the hot and humid days we've had. But after 3 1/2 hours of hiking in the rain with no breaks; the rain sucked.We did safely arrive and we were soaked. The rain continues to pound on the tent. It's supposed to rain until morning and if that's the case it will be a late start for us. It feels good to be dry and warm. Good-night.
Date: 2004-06-12
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: Blackburn A.T. Center
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was simply awesome! So many amazing things happened. The weather was sunny and gorgeous first of all. Absolutely stunning weather. We hiked 3 miles to the road and got a ride .3 miles to the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant where we ate a cheeseburger and fries. We weren't going to stop, but since today was such a special day we thought why not! And the reason why today was so special is because we crossed the Virginia/West Virginia border! We have finally finished Virginia! We have carried these small bottles of red wine since Front Royal, so we could celebrate at the border, but we were so full from lunch we couldn't fit another thing in our stomachs. So we'll drink them sometime tomorrow. Another great thing that happened today is that we are staying at the Blackburn A.T. Center. It's this beautiful 100-year-old house that has a big screened in porch wrapped around it with a hiker bunk house nearby. Bill and Sara (the caretakers) fixed this awesome spagetti dinner with green beans, bread, and warm brownies with fudge and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. It was so good! There were about 15 of us at this long picnic table. It was very cool. We are so glad Moo and 42 told us to stop here, and we're so glad it worked out with our schedule since we are meeting my cousin tomorrow.   We even got to see the trail register from last year (that they keep here at the Blackburn Center) and we got to see all of our friends entries from last year. It was so sweet yet kinda sad because we miss them so much! The best was Two-Speeds entry with his classic handwriting. We also saw Moo & 42, Foxie, Carnethy Bob, Verity, Pipes, Windtalker, Moxy, Torch & Superman, Moose, Hot Rod, T-bird, Hiker Biker Babe, and many more. We miss you all so much!So tomorrow it's off to Harper's Ferry the mental half-way point on the AT, as well as the headquarters for the trail. Plus we'll pass the 1000 mile marker. 300 miles for this year! Life is good.