morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Big Meadows Campground

To: Pass Mtn Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We got up and out of the tent at 6:30am and went to use the nice "facilities." We walked up to Big Meadows Lodge to use the internet/computer before breakfast. The Brits and Shadow joined us for breakfast at the Lodge Restaurant. Cubby and Boston had large O.J.'s and waffles topped with strawberries and whipping cream. That wasn't enough, so we followed it up with bowls of hot oatmeal. The Brits say that American breakfast food is good, but at first they struggled to find what they liked. They still think our bacon is "crap" and our eggs are "crap", but they seem to have found what they like and order 2 full breakfasts for each of them for breakfast.We went back to the campsite and packed up our tent and packs. We were on the trail at 9:30am heading for Skyland Lodge Restaurant for lunch. We hiked in sunshine in the morning.We arrived at Skyland Lodge for lunch still dry but stinky. We hoped that we weren't too stinky to be sitting in the fine dining establishment. Boston had a pineapple pizza and Cubby had a trout fish sandwiched with fried potato chips. Of course, we followed it up with...you guessed it...blackberry cobbler with blackberry ice-cream.We headed out on the trail after lunch to do the last 10 miles. It started clouding up and then started to sprinkle. We put on our rain gear. It then poured rain hard for about an hour. We took our rain gear off and hiked in good weather to within .4 miles of Pass Mtn Hut. We wanted to get to the Hut before it rained again, so we put it into high gear. We got to the Hut 10 minutes before the BIG RAIN came.We cooked dinner. It was the only dinner we have actually had to make ourselves the whole time we have been in Shenandoah National Park. The Brits showed up 3 hours later. They got hit with ALL the rain. There were lots of people at the Hut. There were two large groups from Princeton doing outdoor leadership training, but they were camping under tarps. We had section hikers sharing the Hut with us, The Brits, and a thru-hiker named "Batman" showed up later (8:30pm).The Hut maintainer showed up to check on the Hut and pack out any trash left behind by other hikers. He brought trail magic. He had strawberries that were cleaned, cut up, and sugar on them. All in individual servings in ziploc bags. He even had plastic spoons for us to eat them with, and then he packed out the trash. The strawberries were great and it was very nice of him to do that for us all. The Hut maintainer said there were a lot of mice in this shelter and one has been spotted already. We would rather be in the tent tonight, but just too much rain.It's 8:30pm. It is late, a little chilly and we need to go to bed.
Date: 2005-05-24
From: Pass Mtn Hut

To: US 522 / Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 26.5
Weather: light rain

We woke up to happily report that there were no mice in the Hut last night. We slept well.This was our BIGGEST mileage day so far. It is nice to get the big miles done, but our feet may disagree.We got up to rain and 46 degrees. It rained off and on all night last night. It was sprinkling when we got up. We started hiking with our rain jackets only, but within 30 minutes we had to put on our rain pants. It rained ALL day. All 26.5 miles of it!We had a late breakfast at Elkwallow Wayside. We had hot egg and bacon muffins with orange juice. We spent and hour in the restaurant/store eating and talking to other hikers. It was nice to be in there for a while out of the rain and cold. The Brits did not arrive before we left. We tried to order blackberry ice-cream, but the restaurant was out and was not expecting another delivery until tomorrow. That was sad news for us and we are sure The Brits were just as sad to hear the news. It was the last food in Shenandoah National Park.We had decided while at the Restaurant to try to make it all the way to US 522 and the town of Front Royal, VA. We figured since it was rainy all day and we were somewhat soggy, there was no reason to prolong our time in it. When it is a rainy day, snacks and breaks are few to none. You just hike until you get someplace dry. We decided a dry room and hot showers were the best motivaters to get us through this long rainy day.At US 522 we hitched a ride to Front Royal. US 522 is a busy highway, hard for traffic to stop. It took a few minutes for us to get a ride. We finally got a ride from a guy in a Subaru Baja. When we saw the Subaru Baja coming down the highway, we both got the impression that that would be the guy that would stop to give us a ride, and he did.At the hotel, Boston generously offerred to do the laundry right away and headed for the Laudromat. Cubby took a hot shower right away, which felt great after a long rainy day. While Boston was at the Laudromat, Cubby washed up the rain pants and gaitors, VERY MUDDY!We needed to be off our feet for a while, after the 26.5 miles today, they are dog-tired. Too tired to go to dinner so we ordered pizza to be delivered. We stayed up until 10:30pm and drifted off to a well earned sleep.
Date: 2005-05-25
From: US 522 / Front Royal, VA

To: Wooden Park Bench / Sky Meadow State Park Trail
Miles today: 17.4

We have now officially completed our goal of "eating our way through the Shenandoah's." We ate at every place in the park that served food: Loft Mountain Wayside, Lewis Campstore, Big Meadows Wayside, Big Meadows Lodge, Skyland Lodge, and Elkwallow Wayside. We even had a steak and potato dinner at South River Picnic Area with a couple of "adventure travellers." We had blackberry cobbler and blackberry ice-cream every chance we got. We really enjoyed the park, good food, and terrific trail maintenance by the Potomac ATC.We woke up at the hotel in Front Royal. We slept until 7am. We went down for the continental breakfast, not the best, but hey, we didn't have to carry it or cook it. We had lots of toast, english muffins and OJ. The hotel had a nice computer in the lobby, so we were able to update our journal and check email without having to go the the library.We went to the grocery store to supply for the next 3 or 4 days to Harpers Ferry, WV. The weather forecast is for rain tonight, sun tomorrow and rain, rain, rain after that. We are trying to stay optimistic about staying dry to Harpers Ferry, but we might be dodging rain drops for days.We went to Weasel Creek Outfitters to find a ride to the trail head. Cubby asked a customer for a ride back to the trail. The man was happy to give us a ride. He was from Spain here on a work visa, working in Washington, D.C.. He dropped us off at the trail at 12:50pm.When we started hiking, it was cloudy and threatening to rain. We got about 6 miles in before the rain started. We put our rain gear on at the stone pillared iron gate at the road crossing of VA638.We stopped in at Manassas Gap Shelter and saw Batman. We also met "Merry Turtle" and "Sundance." We moved on after snacking and visiting. They told us that the Pennsylvania-Pods were ahead of us. They are a group of 4 guys that always sleep in their tent-hammocks hanging from trees. So we weren't concerned about the next shelter being full. When we got to Dick's Dome Shelter, we discovered it was small and octagonal. Technically it only sleeps 4. We met "Skeeterfeeder" there. Unfortunately the P-Pods were not in their Pods! They were in the shelter. The four of them, plus Skeeterfeeder equalled a full shelter. After consulting Wingfoot and the map, we decided to move on and tent somewhere up the trail. We hiked another 2.4 miles and tented at the trail to Sky Meadows State Park.We pitched our tent in front of the Wooden Park Bench. Due to the late hour and it being almost dark, we skipped dinner and had a snack instead. We immediately hung up our food bags, pitched the tent, and settled in for the night. We got to camp at 8:20pm and in bed at 8:50pm.
Date: 2005-05-26
From: Wooden Park Bench / Sky Meadow State Park Trail

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: clear sky

We got up this morning at 6:45am. It was a little bit chilly out, so we waited for a little sun to warm things up. We were not looking forward to putting on our SOAKING WET socks and their matching SOAKING WET shoes. Skeeterfeeder went by on the trail just as we were finishing packing up camp. We hit the trail at 7:50am, no rain to start the day and plenty of blue sky with some sunshine.Today we started "The Rollercoaster", it is a section of trail with 13 ascents and descents in 13.5 miles. We went up and down 7 of them today and then went up the 8th to Bears Den Hostel.While hiking today, we saw a fox running along the hillside. We watched it run in full view for 50 yards. It passed within 25 feet of us. It was quite impressive. Other wildlife we saw today included numerous deer, a snake (not sure what kind, but not a rattler or a black), some toads and frogs.We stopped for lunch at a spring near old cabin/cellar ruins. It was a nice spot at the spring.We continued on up the next 3 peaks. We came across "Old-Yeller" at the trail leading to Bears Den Hostel. It was nice to see him again. All three of us headed up to the "castle". It is a beautiful stone home (see photo below). It was built in 1933 by Doctor Lawson and his wife using local stone masons. The castle like look was added after they had returned from a European vacation and wanted to model the property after what they had seen in Europe. It is a very nice place and clean. We did up our laundry and took hot showers.The woman running it is named Lorie, but her trail name is "Queen Diva". She is cooking us dinner and has plenty of Ben & Jerry's for us. Looking forward to it.
Date: 2005-05-27
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: broken clouds

We spent last night at the Bears Den Hostel. Queen Diva (Lorie) served a wonderful baked chicken dinner with cheesey hash brown casserole and green beans. We all sat around her kitchen table and enjoyed her telling her stories of the trail. We talked for a few hours and then made our way to our bunks. It was 11pm when the lights finally went out.In the morning we had cream cheese and bagels for breakfast and talked with other hikers. We started back on the trail at 7:45am with Old Yeller. On the trail, we only stopped for two snack breaks and made it into Harpers Ferry and the ATC Headquarters for the "official" photo and register. We were "North Bound Hikers #122 and #123" on the season to come through.While on the trail today, when we first came to the West Virginia state line we took a picture. On the trail we saw a rattle snake sunbathing (see photo below). It was a big one, about 3 1/2 feet long. Cubby saw it as she stepped within 10 inches of it, and adjusted her steps to avoid it. She warned Boston, and then Boston took a picture of it. Just after the rattler, we reached the 1,000 mile mark (see photo below). No, there is not actually a "mark" on the trail, but we took some small sticks and made some numbers with them on the trail and took a picture.When we got to the ATC Headquarters, they told us that places to stay in Harpers Ferry were few and far between, if any. Sure enough, other hikers called around and there were no rooms. We got in a day early, so did not have reservations. The ATC volunteer suggested The Harpers Ferry AYH Hostel. In luck, they came and got us at the ATC and shuttled us back to the Hostel. We showered, did laundry and cooked a pizza for dinner. The owners also made us a delicious bowl of meatball and vegetable soup. It was really good. We then had some Ben & Jerry's Ice-cream for dessert.After showering, we each weighed in on the bathroom scale. We had weighed ourselves last night at the Bears Den Hostel, but did not believe the reading to be accurate. Since this scale was within 1 pound of last nights scale, we figure it may be close to being accurate. It looks like Boston has lost 15 pounds, and Cubby has lost 11 pounds. We don't feel like we have lost any weight.At The Harpers Ferry AYH Hostel, we caught up with "Hellboy", we had hiked with him about 1 week ago when we were climbing The Priest and Three Ridges. He hikes about 30 miles a day and is very fast. He is still here in Harpers Ferry is because he is waiting for his brother to arrive and start hiking with him. We learned from him that Hiker Tom "got off the trail" in Harpers Ferry earlier in the week.Good night - tired and need to rest.
Date: 2005-05-28
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

ZERO DAY!The Hostel was nice and the all you can eat pancakes at the hostel were great! They were berry pancakes with berry syrup. The owner then shuttled us to the Post Office in town and we picked up our boxes. We should have had three, but one did not show up. Isn't it amazing how you can ship two boxes at the same time, from the same Post Office, sending it to be delivered to the same Post Office, and one arrives and one does not? One has to wonder what country it is in now, since it was mailed over two weeks ago.At the Post Office, we opened our box, plugged in the cell phone to be charged and organized and resupplied our essentials. We then planned our next section to Duncannon, PA. Then we retaped the box after the phone was charged and mailed it ahead. We got a lot done without ever leaving the Post Office.While we were at the Post Office, a "trail angel" invited us for dinner. In keeping with our philosophy of "never turn down free food", we accepted.We then went off to see Historic Harpers Ferry. We went in all the museums, listened to a 19th Century Band re-enact music with appropriate clothing and instruments, ate lunch and of course, we had ice-cream for dessert. It did rain for about 30-45 minutes, but it was sunny the rest of the day.We went back to the Hotel and checked in for the night. We are planning on going on a "Ghost Tour" of Harpers Ferry tonight after dinner.
Date: 2005-05-29
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Enjoyed the "Ghost Tour" last night of Harpers Ferry. It was fun and well worth the $4.00. The Ghost Tour ended and we walked back to the Hotel. This morning we had breakfast at the Hotel and then planned our hike into Duncannon, PA. We just need to pick up a few items of food this morning and we will be set.We are going to enjoy the nice weather today and relax. We plan on eating at King's Italian Restaurant for lunch. We are starting to get antsy about getting back on the trail. Been in town too long, but Harpers Ferry was a must see and a great place to zero.
Date: 2005-05-30
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Dahlgren Backpack Campground
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: scattered clouds

We got up and had breakfast at the Hilltop House Restaurant with Old Yeller and Skeeterfeeder. The Brits came in later. We finally left town and were on the trail by 8:45am. The hike was nice today. We saw geese with babies and ducks with baby ducks in the canal on the C&O Towpath. We also saw many turtles in the canal. On the trail we also saw an Eastern Box turtle. The only reason we know the name is because Old Yeller saw it also and told us the type of turtle it was. We would have just said it was a good sized turtle with yellow on it.We got to the Dahlgren Backpack Campground and met up with a family of 4 that we had met at the Harpers Ferry Hostel Friday night. It is interesting how you can meet someone doing a totally different thing, and then meet up with them by coincidence days later. Old Yeller hiked into the camp an hour later and set up next to us.There were bathrooms and showers at Dahlgren, but we decided not to take showers because it was just the first day out of town and the hike was not very strenuous. In other words, minimal sweat/stink.We cooked dinner, stuffing and chicken, and then went to bed.
Date: 2005-06-04
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We wanted to get up and going early because we had a 25 mile day ahead of us, however the proprietor was trying to avoid serving us breakfast by telling us that it would be served late and that if we wanted to have it early, there are plenty of places in town to get breakfast. Is this or isn't this a Bed and BREAKFAST?! You add that together with the price we were paying and you can be darned sure that we were going to eat breakfast there even if it was going to be served at noon. And oh, there were STILL no other guests. So, breafast was served at 8am. We are still not certain if it was actually breakfast or a SNACK. It consisted of a small amount of fruit followed by ONE muffin each. It was only after we snarffed the ONE muffin so fast that we created a vacuum that the proprietor thought to offer us ONE more muffin each. Wow, what more could a hiker ask for to start a 25 mile day?!We finally left the B&B at 9am. We checked out the street vendors for the Foundry Day for about 15 minutes and then got to walking. We walked in Cumberland Valley for most of the day. This was mostly flat farmlands, still wet grass from the rainy day yesterday and last night. It did not today, but was overcast.We had lunch on a bridge watching the large creek flow under us. We still had a lot of miles left so on we went. A few miles before Darlington Shelter the trail turned steeper and rocky. Basically it was rocks from here to Duncannon, PA. The last 6 miles were REALLY rocky and time consuming. We were happy to finally see some pavement. It was the road to Duncannon, also the trail. We hiked to The Doyle Hotel and got us a $25 room. Now, you don't expect much for $25, but the people running the place are very hiker friendly. The room wasn't much, but the hotel has everything a hiker needs: a room, a bed, bathroom, shower, laundry, a hot meal, and beer if you want it.The Doyle Hotel is 100 years old this year and although it shows signs of age, it has a lot of character. We are staying in the "turret" room. We don't know what you actually call it, but it is the round room on the corner of an old hotel. Even the glass in the windows are curved.We stayed up late eating dinner and talking to other hikers in the restaurant-bar. We finally went to bed at 10:30pm.We forgot to mention one interesting thing that happened today to us on our hike. We came across a woodchuck laying in the middle of the trail, at first glance it appeared to be dead. Upon second glance, it was definately alive. It lifted it's head up and looked at us groggily before putting it's head back down. OldYeller then said, "That answers the age-old question. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" The answer was in front of us, "that much." And here he was laying in the trail as a result.
Date: 2005-06-05
From: Duncannon, PA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We are at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA. We got up at 7am. It is nice not be hiking today. The 25 miles yesterday over rock and down steep hills made for a long day.We had breakfast with OldYeller at Goodies. We then went to the laudromat to do our laundry and plan the next 6 days. We charged the camera battery and phone at the laundromat since there were no outlets anywhere at the Doyle Hotel. Yes, you read correctly, there are no outlets in any of the rooms or in any of the common bathrooms.We went to Mary and Greg's (Trailangel Mary and PeaceFrog). We spent three using their computer to update our journal.We ate lunch at "The Pub" and Cubby got to watch about 20 laps of NASCAR during lunch.PeaceFrog took us to the grocery store to finish our resupply, we then packed up our backpacks. We headed back to Mary and PeaceFrog's with a bunch of other hikers. Mary cooked us all a great dinner. It was nice to have home cooking with real veggies. There were about 10 other hikers at their place for dinner. Thank you to Trailangel Mary and PeaceFrog.We got back to the room at about 9:30pm to shower and go to bed. It seemed to be a busy day for what was supposed to be a "zero" day.Have you ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds"? We had our own version when we got back to our room at 9:30pm. The Doyle is a 100 year old Hotel and it has not been renovated since the day it opened. There are no screens on any windows and no airconditioning. We had left the windows open and our shoes on the sill to dry out while we were at dinner. When we came back, every flying insect in PA was having a party in our room. Insects were flying everywhere. It was just like "The Birds", but our version was called "The Bugs". We were swinging at them with our trekking poles, pulling them out of our hair, picking them off the bedspread with tissue, and swatting at them with our hands. There are even a few extra "dots" on the ceiling when a few of them were caught between the ceiling and the tips of our trekking poles. All in all, it was just like a B-movie.Boston went outside to the ATM to get some cash and it was like the movie all over again but ten times worse. The bugs were swarming any source of light and the area around the ATM was especially concentrated with bugs. If somebody had been watching her from a distance get the money from the ATM they would have thought she was having some type of physical/mental freakout.We finally did get to bed around 10pm.
Date: 2005-06-06
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Clarks Creeks
Miles today: 17.2

We got up at 6am and went to Goodies for breakfast again with OldYeller. We then went to the Post Office for the 8am opening and sent off our bounce box.We were on the trail at 8:30am and hiked through Duncannon, PA and along the Juniata River and crossed over the Sesquehanna River on the Clarks Ferry highway bridge.When we walked through the town of Duncannon, OldYeller told us that he had learned about an old building in Duncannon. He pointed it out to us. It was the place where more snow sleds were made than in any other operation in the world. It operated from 1905 to 1980.When we hiked over the Clarks Ferry Bridge, there must have been a hatch going on, because we were continuously attacked by small moths as we crossed the bridge. It was hot on the bridge and the traffic was fast and noisy. It was good to get off the concrete and back into the woods, although it was uphill as it always is when you leave a town.We saw a black snake poking it's head out onto the trail before our first break.We heard thunder for about an hour. .9m from Peters Mtn Shelter it started to really thunder more and get closer. We picked up the pace to get to the shelter.   Boston and Cubby ran down the 800 feet and 276 rock steps to get water before the rain. Just as we got back to the shelter the sky let loose and it poured. We stayed in the shelter with Cap'n Crunch and Col. Forbin and waited out the rain. After the storm passed we all headed out towards Clarks Creek and the spring beyond it.As we reached the creek, the thunder and skies became threatening. The sky got really dark. We made it to Clarks Creek and quickly scouted for a tent site to try to beat the rain. We found one, hurriedly pitched the tent and got in just as the heavy rains started. The rains lasted about 2 hours. We were fortunate to have gotten to the campsite when we did. It is all about the timing.After the 2 hour delay we got out of the tent and cooked dinner, cleaned up a little at the creek and hung our food.We were back in the tent at 9pm, we journaled for a while before going to sleep around 9:45pm.