morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-23
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA Holiday Motor Lodge
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: scattered clouds

The meal warning bell rang at 7:00 and the meal bell rang 30 minutes later. The bell was a big metal triangle that was rung with a metal bar just like you always see in the movies. It was a cheerful sound. The coffee was ready at 7:15 and I was there waiting for it when it was ready. Of the six guests there, only Ben and I opted for the breakfast. It was huge. We started with a glass of fresh squeezed orange and mashed raspberry juice that was fantastic. Each plate had four thich slices of French Toast, two eggs, four slices of sausage, several slices of bacon, and toast. On the table was cut fresh fruit, biscuts and gravy, and an assortment of jellies and honey from the local area. It was more than I could eat by one egg.We got a ride to the trailhead after breakfast and it was slow going due to full tummys. It threatened rain all day and I stopped at the first shelter along the way and put on my pack cover, which ensured the rain held off. This was a very pretty streatch with lots of rocky outcropping allowing us great views over the valley. Ben was nervous about heights and the rocks. He didn't even like it when I went out on the rocks which, of course, meant I went way out onto the rocks. Eventually, he got a crazy burst of courage and ventured onto one rock outcropping. He didn't stay any longer than it took me to get a picture of him on the rock. It was a long downhill into town and another 40 minute walk on the road to the motel.Ben had lost his phone charger so I went with him to Wal Mart to see if they had chargers. It was three miles and I foolishly wore my Crocs without socks so I got a new set of blisters as a reward for being dumb. No charger either. Mexican for dinner and walked back to the motel. Planned out the next section and went to bed. Will get food tomorrow during our planned zero.See you on the trail.Nice Lenses
Date: 2009-05-24
From: Pearisburg, VA Holiday Motor Lodge

To: Pearisburg, VA Holiday Motor Lodge
Miles today: 0.5
Weather: light rain

From Pearisburg to Troutville/Daleville was a 7-8 day haul and not a good resupply point along the way. I found a shuttle driver who would take us to route 42 which was about half way. The plan was to hike from there back south to Pearisburg resupply and then go back to route 42 and hike north to Daleville. Hay, I was having enough pain in my ribs without adding 10-15 more pounds to my pack. 3-4 days supply was enough right now. Hiking into Pearisburg you cross two major roads each leading to the center of town. We had exited at the first road coming from the south and I knew I would be getting off on the first road we hit coming from the north. This created a half mile gap that I would be missing on the trail so I went and walked that half mile section between the two roads so if I made it all the way, I would have made it all the way. I didn't want to be a half mile shy of completing the trail.Went to Food Lion and bought supplies, went and did laundry, really needed to do laundry, got a money order and sent Neville the money I owed her for the hostel stay and massage. Thanks for trusting me guys. I had received a drop box from Grey Squirrel and had to work on my pack to accomodate the stuff she sent. The post office was closed until Tuesday due to Memorial Day so I couldn't send my extra stuff home.Worked on the pack, had dinner, a little television and went to bed, later than I wanted to. Ribs were more sore than usual for some reason.See you on the trail.Nice Lenses
Date: 2009-05-27
From: VA 613 Salt Sulpher Turnpike

To: Daleville Howard Johnsons
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREY SQUIRREL.I woke up in less pain and a better mood. Actually got a better nights sleep than I had been getting. Still, I was aiming to go back to Colorado if it came to that. I did my laundry and paid for another night at the motel. Was not going home today.Went to the outfitter and bought a couple pairs of socks and another good wicking t shirt in case I continued hiking. I could always use these items at home too. I got a box from the outfitter that my collapsed trekking poles would fit into along with the other items the airlines and transportation security people don't allow on planes. Got a shipping label from the UPS store (same mall) to fill out in case I went that route. I seem to be a little confused as to exactly which direction I was going. Hope I heel and continue hiking on one level but the realistic thought was that was not going to happen.Wicked Wahine had checked into the motel and it was good to see a familiar face, especially a smiling face. She was having knee problems and one knee was definitely swollen. We went to lunch and I watched her eat since I had already eaten. While at the Pizza Hut, I got a call from the TAG Team, Tagless and Tagalong. They were a couple hours out and heading to the same motel. I was talking to Tagless but Tagalong was yelling something about having a cold beer waiting when they arrived. Sounded like a distress call to me. Went and got some beer and stuck it in my in room fridge. Eventually they got checked in and we had a little party in my room. Wicked Wahine, TAG Team, and myself. We went to dinner at the Mexican place across the street. We picked up a fella named Hip along the way. He was a section hiker that was knocking off a section a year eventually leading to a complete hike of the AT.At bill paying time Hip explained that for the past many years he had bought some through hikers dinner at the end of his section hike for that year. He picked up the tab for the whole table. Four plus himself. Thanks Hip. Cool tradition. Hip had been reading both my and TAG Teams journal and enjoyed both. He was the only person I had met that Nice Lenses didn't ring a bell but he recognized John Unwin from the journal. I found that interesting.Went back to the motel and said good night to everyone and went to bed. Same pills and painkiller as last night first.
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Daleville Howard Johnsons

To: Daleville Howard Johnsons Motel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I didn't sleep well and was more sore than yesterday. Not just my ribs, everywhere but especially my feet. Some blisters had gone deeper than I at first realized. I knew it was time to go home and get myself healed. Seeing Grey Squirrel again will be a definite bonus.Once I decided that, I busied myself with getting ready to go home, both mentally and gear wise. I called Flash and asked him to make arline reservation for me which he did while we were on the phone. A 7:30 AM flight tomorrow morning. Packed up the ship box for UPS ground. Once I got the non flyable items in I kept adding more stuff to keep everything from bouncing around inside the box. Turned out to be 18 pounds worth. Only had sleeping bag tent, and clothes plus toothbrush and toothpaste in its normal ziplock which would keep transportation security people happy. Carried the box to UPS and got it sent on its way. Went back to the motel and found Wicked Wahine and the Tag Team and informed them of my decision. Spent the rest of the day consoling them about being sad for me. I was really ok about going because I knew there were things I couldn't fix by myself and I couldn't afford the motel for as long as I thought it was going to take. Besides, I was harboring thoughts of coming back to the trail later this year and starting in Maine and going SOBO. Stopping for a good chat with NOBO friends I had made along the way as I passed them going SOBO.Walked back to the outfitter, and grocery with the others while they did their hiking town chores. We had lunch at the BBQ place. I had all my exit chores done so I just rested for the afternoon. We went to Mexican again for dinner because none of us wanted to go far for the evening. We said our good bys because I had a 5:30 pick up with a taxi to get to the airport in a timely manner. Usual painkillers and went to bed.
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Daleville Howard Johnsons Motel

To: Home in Colorado
Miles today: 0.0

Things have sped up since my last entry. Everything went well on the trip home and I got in on time. Have been resting and going to doctor appointments since. I really wanted to let everyone know how I was doing and whether I would be returning to the trail I went to the Podiatrist on Tuesday to have my feet looked at since they were my biggest long term concern. Three x-rays on each foot. I have a problem with each foot. My right foot will require surgery for hammer toe. One toe crossing over on another. Lucky me, the doctor has never seen this with the two middle toes, usually it is with the big and second toes. I am so special. The problem was that with each step one toe would slide down on the one next to it gouging the side out of the middle toe. I had a decent sized blister on the second toe from that same interaction. I was using blister band aids but I was chewing through two of those in a couple days. I didn;t think this situation was going to rectify itself on its own. On my left foot I have a stress fracture in one of the bones at the base of the middle toe. I am wearing a walking boot cast to facilitate the healing of the stress fracture. This is a 4-6 week healing period if all goes well. Once that is healed I have the surgery. Seems they want you to have a good foot to walk on when they operate on one of your feet. Anyway, I wear a foam contraption on the toes of the right foot to make sure my toes play nicely together until the surgery. Who knows, maybe this foam thingy will straighten everything out and I won't have to have surgery. Recovery time from the surgery is again, 4-6 weeks.I went to my primary care physian today and everything else is minor aches and pains. Probably no long term problems including my ribs, which are slowly feeling a little better each day. I had blood drawn to make sure my prescriptions were still good. I had lost 25 pounds since they were prescribed. Losing 25 pounds is a good byproduct from hiking. Many of you had expressed a concern about Lyme Desease so we drew an extra vial to make sure that is not a factor.Regarding that little glimmer of hope for getting back on the trail, we have to put that on the back burner for now. If everything went perfectly I could concievably hike again in September. What could go wrong? For now I am off the trail and am not going back this year. But, if I do I would have to go to Maine and begin hiking South. I do want to take a moment to thank all who encouraged me along the way. Offered solid advice, reveled in the same minutia that I discovered and wrote about. Lets face it, I have a different slant on life and nature than most. You should be commended for continuing to read about how I saw the trail. You can not imagine how surprised and thrilled I was that not only were you reading but you were responding. Thank you all.Nice Lenses is reverting back to JohnMaybe I will see you on the trail.John
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Home in Colorado

To: Colorado
Miles today: 0.0

Well my hope of continuing the trail this year ended Thursday July 30th when I had surgery on my right foot. The stress fractures in each foot were not healing as quickly as I had originally hoped. We decided that the stress fractures could heal at the same time as the hammer toe surgery, probably faster since I would not be mobile for several weeks. Since I had been wearing a walking boot cast on each foot I assumed that I could walk in them. It turnes out that hiking in the Rockies on, mostly, groomed trails and fishing in lakes, and a stream or two...yes it was a bit tricky following the stream bank, is not doctor recommended. Also had to sidestep up and down a few banks and trails. A little steep here and there. I don't know why my feet didn't heal quickly.So now I hope to continue the trail next year from where I got off at the end of May. If things work out I will begin hiking at the end of February or the beginning of March.As for right now, I'm in a recliner with both feet elevated and in a cast.Many of you have been very supportive of my hiking and journaling and I want to thank all of you again. I will attempt to resume my journal just prior to hiking next year.See you on the trail.John
Date: 2010-02-15
From: Colorado

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

In two weeks I will be back on the trail in Daleville, Virginia where I had to get off last year. I know....the weather has me concerned too!It has been a long recovery from the four stress fractures, two in each foot, and I think I will be ok foot wise but I won't know for sure until I actually get out there. Sure I've walked and hiked but not every day. I just can't replicate the trail conditions.I will be shipping a box to myself tomorrow or the next day with all the stuff the security people won't let me take on the plane. Once I do that I will do a proper update to the journal including all the changes to my gear.I had to get new glasses so I will be using a new trail name this year. I just don't know what it will be yet. There just was not any way to duplicate the orange/rose/amber color of my old pair. It was a mistake in the color but I kept them anyway.See you on the trail real soon.John
Date: 2010-02-26
From: Troutville, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 1.5
Weather: broken clouds

It was a long day. I took the redeye out of Denver at 1:00AM and got to Roanoke at 10:30 as scheduled. I never sleep well on these flights. Doug from Outdoor Trails Outfitter met me and drove me to the outfitters and then to the Travel Lodge where they have a hikers special, $35.00 including a full breakfast. Room a tad run down but plenty of heat and hot water.I walked the mile and a half section from Troutville to Daleville this afternoon. Snow flurries and wind. I was really casual and didn't even take a pack, just a bottle of water carried in my hand. Immediately wished I had my camera. Shortly after getting on the trail, I startled a small raccoon foraging in a shallow brook. I stood on the bank watching him for a few seconds before he noticed me and scampered accross the brook and up a tree to a level about equal to mine. From there he glowered at me. But I could tell he was embarrased by not seeing me sooner.Soon I was back to Daleville by the Howard Johnsons Motor Lodge and of course the Mexican restaurant. I ate there about three times last year, but I really didn't think the food was very good this time.Left the restaurant and tiptoed-along the very busy road and under I-81 and back to the Travel Lodge to work on organizing my pack.Decided to try slackpacking with the outfitter to try to ease back into trail life. We'll see how it goes.See you on the trailJohn
Date: 2010-02-28
From: Troutville

To: Troutville
Miles today: 0.0

This was mostly a logistics day. I called my friend, Bill, to let him know what was going on because he will be hiking with me beginning about March 13. He lives in Virginia but was at the Christmas tree farm in Massachusetts. He offered his house in Virginia to me to use until we could begin hiking. Sort of a Trail Angel, hiker package deal. I would have to get back to him on that.Checked into airfare. $211.00 to fly back to Colorado. $418 to fly to Washington DC area. I thought this was strange pricing considering how close Roanoke is to DC. Even more strange considering the connection to Colorado was Washington. It cost twice as much to fly to DC as it did to fly through DC continung on to Colorado.I decided to come back to Colorado as there were still some honey do items unfinished, oh and my wife is there. I made my reservations and gave my flight information to my wife and to Bill with thanks for the offer to stay at his house.Bill's wife, my wife, Bill and I all went to college together and are still hanging out together after 40 plus years. I think that is great.Packed up my trekking poles and other items the TSA considers unflyable. Eventually I put almost my whole pack into the box as I was shipping it to Bill's Virginia address. When it was time to return, I would fly into Washington to meet him and UPS Ground is cheaper than the cost for checked baggage. Since it was Sunday I wouldn't be able to mail the box until Monday. I made my airline reservation for Tuesday so I could get last minute things done if any arose.Once I got the logistical things done I went to the lobby and got on trail journals to see what others were experiencing on the trail. I was a little surprised to see how many hikers were off the trail or delaying their start primarily due to the weather. I was thinking I may be the biggest wimp hiker out there for getting off for a while. I was finding out that my decision was making better sense with each journal that I read. In addition the emails that I received were all supportive of my decision to get off the trail for a while. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to write and supporting my decision. Also, thanks to all of you in the area that offered me help while I was working through the decision process.Pretty much just watched the closing events of the olympics the rest of the day.See you on the trail,John
Date: 2010-03-13
From: Troutville

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday (March 12) I flew back to Virginia (Washington DC airport) and was picked up by my long time friend Bill. I wondered if the fact that it was raining was a bad omen. Not that I haven't hiked in the rain before, but still.Bill took me back to his home and brightened my mood with several adult beverages. Yowza! Thanks Bill. Seeing Jane again after a couple of years also helped. Actually I wasn't in a bad mood, just didn't need to be seeing the rain. It could have been snow I suppose. I spent the evening talking and putting my pack together for the trip back to Pearisburg tomorrow. Cheeeeze! am I ever going to get out of Pearisburg. I've been there several times but somehow keep winding up back there. Today it was overcast in Northern Virginia but not raining. We left about 9:30 AM and it was a five hour ride. We kept looking at the ridgelines for snow since we were driving fairly close to the route we would be hiking back north. We were encouraged as the ridges seemed to be free of snow. The ride went quickly as we somehow managed to talk the whole way.Naturally, it was raining for the last hour into Pearisburg but the forecast was for clearing skies for tomorrow when we would begin hiking. Since I had never been here with a car we toured around a little bit and it turned out that, although having only been here on foot, I had seen most of the town. We ate at the cafe across the street from Wal Mart, wish I could remember the name, sorry, and it was pretty good.Got to the motel and we went our seperate ways to do final preparations for tomorrows hike. Still Raining.See you on the trailJohn and BillTogether again. Be afraid world.
Date: 2010-03-16
From: Pearisburg

To: Northern Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

We had an okay night except for the occasional need to get Privy Lizard up. He figured out how to use the top end of the crutch to support his foot and leg when getting out of bed. If he looped it around his foot and pulled it tight it was enough to support the leg and he was, with considerable effort, able to get up. I told him I didn't mind the occasional sleep disruption.How can it aways be raining in Pearisburg!? Walked through a light drizzle and got us takeout breakfast and we ate it in the motel room. Passed the morning time watching television and I took a short walk on the stretch of trail from the Rondezvous Motel (we were at a different motel) and the bridge. There is an old cemetary just off the AT with a new pea stone walkway leading to it, and I wanted to visit it. The old cemetary was being reclaimed from the forest and restored. The stones were predominately from people born in the early-mid 1800s. Every stone and plot was numbered. Some stones were completely smooth and unreadable. I spent a little time looking around and then went back to the room.Jane arrived on schedule. I was a little worried about seeing her again, so soon, because the last thing she said was bring him back in one piece. Technically he was still in one piece looking from the outside. I mentioned it to her and said that except for getting the water, we were never more than 50-100 feet apart. She said she didn't expect me to hold his hand at the privy. Glad she still had her sense of humor. She had overcome her initial shock and was in the nurse/patient mode. It was a little early for a blizzard so we loaded the Lizard into the back seat and I loaded all our gear into the back of their SUV.The drive back home was similar to the drive down two days earlier and except for the injury everything was pretty normal. We got to their house about 6:00 PM and ordered Chinese takeout for dinner. Cocktails were definitely in order.See you on the trailJohn
Date: 2010-03-11
To: thoughts on living authentically
Miles today: 0.0

From "walking the appalachian"Wanda "the breeze" Kurdziel sees backpackers as a breed apart. "There's something poetic about them. They're more sensitive than most people. Even the ones who joke around, deep down they're poetic. We're all searching for something. Some of us are striving for what Thoreau called living authentically."That seems pretty dead on I'd say. That's all one could really ask for out of life, is to live it authentically. That's a broad statement to most, but for me it has a different meaning. It takes effort to take nothing for granted.
Date: 2010-06-08
To: Busy, busy.....
Miles today: 0.0

Well, almost ready to go. The only major snafu of the day is that I couldn't find my Swiss army knife even though I KNOW I had it a couple days ago. So I had a last minute trip to EMS and couldn't find one without a nail file (useless), but I did get one that is HOT pink.Mailed off 3 resupply boxes, including one for Harper's Ferry with cotton town clothes, flip flops, and a bathing suit which I know I will appreciate when I finish. Tried to fix my tent but it fit together perfectly even though I couldn't get it to wok in Bryce or Zion this spring. Made a new windscreen for my stove,got my hair cut, found lots of odd and ends, and FedEx delivered my visa for China (going in July).Just weighed my food bag - 5.0 pounds. Pack without food or water is 16.2 pounds. Just got to get the photos from Zion off my camera and sew the runs in my shirt!
Date: 2010-06-09
From: Wilmington, DE

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm here at a motel in Waynesboro just outside Shenandoah National Park (about a mile from the AT). Much to the surprise of my mom, who thought I was hiking in North Carolina. I'm a little geographically confused myself, because I didn't understand how I would end up here if the train I got on in Wilmington, Delaware said it was bound for Chicago. Anyway, it all worked out.After a pleasant train ride, I got picked up by Rodney from Mountain & Valley Shuttle. He said they're super busy with the thru-hikers just now. Also, he says they get calls from the AT hikers from Thornton Gap "Can you, like, bring me some food?" which the shuttle service will do. Will keep it in mind.Into the park tomorrow...