morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-09-04
From: John's Hollow Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: few clouds

While trekking along yesterday, I decided that today should be a little shorter than the previous couple of days had been. My knees have bothered me off an on throughout my time out here, and twinges of pain yesterday made me think better of pushing hard today. I ended up walking at a leisurely pace and arriving at the shelter around 2:45 - plenty of time to hang out and relax before the sun went down.Early this morning, I came to a bridge that crossed the James River. Apparently the bridge is the longest foot-use-only bridge on the Appalachian Trail, and I believe it! It was long! Before crossing, there was a sign that said we were over 1400 miles from Katahdin. I had become so caught up in counting down the miles recently (900 left... now 800 left!) that I neglected to look at the forward progress I've been making! Either way, the miles are flying by!While crossing the bridge, I talked to Righteous and his dad. He told me that thru hikers have been known to jump off the bridge for fun, but that there is a special place you have to go because otherwise you might hit rocks. The bridge was a good 35 feet off the water, and the river was wide - swimming to the edge from the middle would have been a workout! I had absolutely no intention of jumping off this bridge into the James River, but it was fun to imagine other hikers doing so.In the last stretch of miles before the shelter, I met a northbound hiker named "Poet." He was an older man with lots of spirit! I wondered why he was called Poet, but found out when I read the next shelter log. He had left a very witty poem that makes me smile even as I'm writing this.When I got into camp, I set up my hammock near the shelter because I wanted to be near other hikers but the no-see-ums had been vicious the night before and I spent much of the night brushing them away instead of sleeping. Righteous and his dad were the only other hikers that came to the shelter, and they arrived shortly after I did. I spent much of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine, drying out my clothes, and cooking an early dinner - a concoction of garlic noodles, lemon pepper tuna, cheddar cheese, and Cheese-Its. It was a poor excuse for tuna noodle casserole, but was tasty none the less. Bedtime came shortly after dinner and I ended up getting - outrageously - 12 hours of sleep!
Date: 2013-09-05
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: overcast clouds

The first ten miles of trail flew by today! Most of it was flat or very gradual downhill which meant easy walking - I was lost in my thoughts and couldn't quite believe it when I came to the shelter where I had planned to eat lunch.I met some great people out on the trail today! First I came upon Nancy, a volunteer from the Natural Bridge Outing Club who was maintaining a section of trail. She knew all of the trails in the area well and we spent quite a bit of time talking about the great sections to come. At the next shelter, I stopped in to check the shelter log and met Old Gray Mare, a woman who had been section hiking the trail for 30 years! Currently she only has about 270 miles left before she becomes a 2,000-miler!I met some more people while hitching in and out of Buchanan for dinner. The hitch in was a little tough because there wasn't a whole lot of traffic heading in the direction I wanted to go, but the fifth car that eventually drove by picked me up. It was a guy who had thru hiked in 2008 after graduating high school, then went on to be an Outward Bound instructor. I had been on Outward Bound when I was younger, so we had quite a bit to talk about on the ride in. After dinner, the first car that passed me picked me up, another nice guy who took me back to the trail.I had planned to camp near the road and do a big day into Daleville the next day, but I was feeling great after dinner and town was calling, so I decided to get a couple more miles in tonight. When I got to the shelter just as the sun was setting, Righteous was the only other hiker there. Tired from hiking one of my farthest days on the trail, I could only stay up and talk for a little bit before hitting the hay for the night. As they say, the trail never gets easier because when it does, you just end up walking farther.
Date: 2013-09-06
From: Bobblets Gap Shelter

To: Daleville
Miles today: 18.5

The walk into Daleville was mostly flat or downhill, and I was thankful because the Cracker Barrel was calling my name! Daleville was spread out, and the intersection in the middle of town was busy with a lot of transfer trucks and people getting off and on the interstate, so it seemed the safest way around town was to hitch. Of course, when I hit the road, the first errand I had to run was answering the Cracker Barrel's call. It was an easy hitch and a delicious meal, one I've actually been thinking about since before I started the trail (the last time I had the opportunity to go to a CB, it was derailed in favor of a restaurant that served beer - it made it taste all that much better today!).After the CB, I made my way to the Howard Johnson's, where Righteous' dad had gotten him a hotel room that he offered to share with me. The room was really nice! Along the trail, I've become accustomed to some seedy motels, but this one was fancy! The pool was clean and blue, so I went out and sat by it for a couple hours. Sometimes the hiking life isn't as difficult as we make it out to be...By the time we finished laundry, we were both hungry, so we headed to the Mexican restaurant across the street that advertised "live DJ!" I don't know what I was expecting, but no, there was no live DJ, just really awesome fajitas and Micheladas (they were new to me too, try one next time you're in a Mexican restaurant, it was really good!).
Date: 2013-09-07
From: Daleville

To: McAfee Knob
Miles today: 16.1

The hitching continued in the morning! The first place I hitched to was the Waffle House - after a breakfast of two strawberry and chocolate chip waffles, I hitched to the Kroger for a quick resupply. The final stop was the outfitter for some Body Glide. Around 11:30, with all of my errands complete, I headed to the trail.The trail climbed out of Daleville and, after a couple of hours, I came to Tinker Cliffs, which stuck out of the woods far enough to look very far into the valley. It was amazing to look at the mountains from the outcroppings because the mountain ridges were super well defined - I could look down the valley and see exactly where I was heading. I had never considered why they might be called the "Blue Ridge Mountains," but today it made sense to me and I thought they were beautiful.Along the trail today, there were quite a few patches of fine, white sand, like you might find at a beach. After Tinker Cliffs, I happened upon a man who told me this was due to the fact that the Blue Ridge Mountains were under water at one point. Something else I had never considered, but definitely interesting.Finally, I got to the campsite and shelter below the landmark I had been waiting all day to see - McAfee's Knob. At the shelter, a man told me "Get ready to see one of the most beautiful sights on the whole trail!" I nearly bounded up the rest of the 0.6 mile incline and when I got to the top, I had a spectacular view of... Roanoke? I swear, I was looking directly at a city... This wasn't the view I had heard about from so many northbounders! I walked along the edge of the cliffs until I came to a point - Ohhhh, I thought to myself, now THIS is McAfee Knob! It was a large rock outcropping where you could sit and take in the valley and mountains both near and far. When Righteous and I arrived, there was only one other man up there. We cooked dinner with our legs hanging off the edge (I was very cautious, mostly so I didn't accidentally knock my food bag over the edge!) and waited for the sun to set. When it did, another couple arrived to enjoy it with us, and all anyone could talk about was how lucky we were to be in such a place!
Date: 2013-09-09
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Mile 1509.7
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was the day to climb "Dragon's Tooth," a stone that is peculiar down here in Virginia but would be pretty typical in Maine. Aside from that, the day was fairly uneventful. The weather held out, even though there was a fair chance of storms today, though the weather looks like we might not be so lucky later this week. I couldn't seem to get my pace to where it normally is, which may have been due to the increase in the number of rocks on the trail, and so the miles went by more slowly than usual. I considered stopping at the shelter after about 17 miles because the next shelter (and only water source!) was 0.4 off the trail. I ended up cooking dinner at the first shelter so I wouldn't have to carry water for that, and then bringing enough water for tomorrow morning so I won't have to take the 0.4 side trail. Stealthing tonight
Date: 2013-09-10
From: Mile 1509.7

To: The Captain's
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up this morning to the smell of skunk, and as I became more aware, I could hear it rustling around in the flowers outside of my hammock. I was glad I had hung my food bag, and figured it was just passing through. I laid very still until I couldn't hear it anymore, then decided it was time to get up. These days, the sun is rising noticeably later every day and setting earlier and earlier - in fact, the guy I caught a hitch with into Buena Vista told me that, as of then, the sun wouldn't rise after 8:00 pm until next April! I'm not a huge fan of walking in the dark, so I'm sure to get up and out when the time comes in the morning.The first landmark I came to today was the Keiffer Oak, the largest tree on the southern part of the AT. After admiring the tree (ok, I snapped a photo and kept walking), I walked through some fields with tall grass. It didn't rain last night, but my legs and shoes were wet from the dew. I thought that was going to be the worst of it, but then I came to a really flooded section of trail next to a creek - there was no way around it! My boots were wet for the rest of the day. The field walks also meant that there were a number of fence stiles, which are fun the first or second time you climb over them, then they start to feel like a workout!The water situation has started to make me nervous. A couple of times, I have been banking on a spring that is listed in the guide, only to find it dried up! No major issues so far, but a couple of close calls. I'll need to be more diligent still!The section of trail today included a couple of dense mountain laurel forests, which are fascinating to walk through. The canopy is really low and so it feels like walking through a tunnel. I hear there is more of this to come! Today's section of trail was also a bit rocky at times, and I started to have flashbacks to Pennsylvania!The last section of trail I did today was a footpath next to a stream, which meant that it was flat! I thought that was fantastic, but I didn't realize the treat I had coming! I arrived at "The Captain's," the house of a man who lets hikers camp in his yard. The only problem was that his house was on the other side of the creek. He solved this issue by creating a zip line for hikers to slide across the river, and he even had a special attachment for packs! When he came outside to greet me, he offered me a soda - all of this was a fantastic way to finish up my longest day yet on the trail!
Date: 2013-09-11
From: The Captain's

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Town day!! I was up early because I had a full day of miles ahead of me and wanted to have as much time in town as possible. After a climb, the hiking was mostly along the ridge and was not too strenuous. The Captain had told me the night before that when I got on this ridge, I would be walking along the WV state line - what?! I left West Virginia 350 miles ago! My geography obviously needs a little refreshing. The trail crossed a couple of overgrown meadows and I found that many were full of stinging nettles and thorns. The cuts on my legs from the thorns quickly began to swell and itch, and there also seemed to be biting bugs in the tall weeds - I was happy when the trail made its way back into the woods! I generally hike in shorts but today was the first time I considered the need to switch to pants.Just last night, The Captain had asked me if I had seen any bears recently, and he told me they were all over this region. I hadn't seen one for a couple days, but along the way this morning, I saw a black bear crossing the ridge. There wasn't any underbrush and the trees were far apart, so I watched him lope along for quite a ways.I stopped for a quick lunch at Rice Field Shelter, but between the swollen cuts on my legs, my allergies that were acting up, and a pretty horrifying case of chaffing, I was ready to be in town! When I arrived, I made my way to the library before it closed, which was on the far side of town. My next stop was the post office, on the near side of town. I sent home a number of items in an attempt to lighten my pack a bit - The Captain had commented on the size of my pack, and I'll admit, it was getting a little out of hand! I had ordered a product from Amazon that I sent general delivery to the post office, only to find it wasn't there. This is the second time this has happened, and the post master explained that post offices can NOT accept FedEx packages - lesson (finally) learned!! Thankfully, the delivery man had given my package to a nearby hotel that hikers often stay at instead of sending it back to the sender.I arrived at the hotel and retrieved my package. Up until that point, I had very good intentions of making my way back to the far side of town to stay at the hiker hostel, but the hotel had a very good rate for hikers and, between the cuts, chafe and allergies, I felt like the trail had thrown a fairly tough day at me - I took the room.
Date: 2013-09-12
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I woke up this morning to rain. I also woke up to find a number of other hikers in town! Righteous, Moby, Chip and Rooster were all around, and LostNFound arrived in town early this morning. I hiked with LostNFound on my NOBO leg and summited Katahdin the same day she did; we have been trying to meet up ever since! Given that she was staying in town and the rain, I decided today was a good day for my first zero since starting my SOBO leg.I ran a couple of errands, which included a quick trip back to the post office to pick up a card from my best friend from home. Today's picture is a photo of the front of the card, which was so perfect in so many ways; what was written inside was even better! She truly made my day!I was surprised on my walk back to the hotel that the rain had cleared up and suddenly the day was beautiful! I was fairly committed to zeroing today, so I took the opportunity to sit by the pool and read for the afternoon - even thru hikers need a day off once in a while!
Date: 2013-09-13
From: Pearisburg

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

After a leisurely breakfast in town, I hit the trail for another easy day - 10 miles into Woods Hole Hostel, about which I had heard fantastic things. I should correct myself here - it was supposed to be an easy day! It started off with a climb out of Pearisburg up to Angels Rest that was 3 miles long and gained 2000 feet! I hadn't seen anything like that since Maine! Just as I was beginning to think how lucky all the NOBOs had been to take this section down, it was over, and the rest of the day was an awesome ridge walk through tunnels of mountain laurel.When I arrived at Woods Hole, Righteous, Moby and Chip, who all hiked out yesterday, were still here! They considered staying another night, but ultimately ended up moving on. In addition to those three, I was met by an assortment of ducks, geese, chickens, dogs and cats! Woods Hole is very focused on sustainability, and Righteous mentioned that one of those chickens was going to be my dinner! He wasn't kidding, that was the original plan, but the dinner menu changed and I didn't end up eating a member of the welcoming committee.In addition to myself, there are three section hikers staying here tonight. We all pitched in to help make a beautiful, family style meal using mostly food grown and raised right here on the farm. During dinner, it began raining and there was a noise in the front hall - the goose had decided to come inside instead of staying out in the rain! Neville, the owner, was very brave and caught the goose, then gave us all the opportunity to pet it.The sustainability aspect of the hostel was really interesting, and it was great to see a working model of a sustainable lifestyle. The house and hostel were surrounded by animals and gardens, and Neville spent much of the afternoon canning vegetables for use this winter. I spent a lot of time thinking about how some of the things she is doing could be incorporated into my lifestyle when I am finished hiking the trail.
Date: 2013-09-14
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: few clouds

Because the bunk room at Woods Hole had blankets, packing up this morning was really quick and I made the 0.5 mile walk back to the trail shorty after 7 this morning. The trail was super quick this morning, mostly flat with some downhills. I loved it!I had planned to camp at Trent's Grocery, a small grocery store 0.5 off the trail that offered showers, laundry and camping, but I arrived shortly after noon and still felt great so decided it would just be a pit stop instead. When I got there, I was surprised to find Moby and Chip, who had left Woods Hole yesterday! They are fast hikers, so they can start a little later and still make it to camp before dark. They headed out and I stayed behind to order lunch. While sitting out front finishing my cheeseburger and fries, the milk delivery man arrived and brought me a chocolate milk - trail magic! Another man offered to take me back to the trail, which I would have accepted 15 minutes later, but I was still enjoying my chocolate milk so I ended up walking back to the trail.I arrived at Jenny Knob Shelter at 4:45 and found I was the only person. I made a fire and dried out all of my clothes - how nice it will be tomorrow morning when I wake up and put on dry (!!) clothes! It's the simple things these days...This shelter marks less than 600 miles left in my journey - how can it seem like so many and not enough, all at the same time?
Date: 2013-09-15
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Brrr!! I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag because it was so cold! I stared at my food bag hanging across the shelter, wishing I didn't have to get up to get it. At last, I willed myself to grab it and hurry back into my bag. I probably sat around for an hour, doing all of the camp chores that I possibly could from my bag, then I quickly put on my clothes and hit the trail.I never really warmed up this morning, and eventually had to get out my rain coat to keep warm. This was the second time this week I considered the need for long pants!After about 12 miles, finishing with a mile road walk, I arrived at the intersection that would take me to Bland. I had decided I would go in to grab lunch and to break up the day a bit, but when I saw the traffic situation, I thought I might have to reconsider. After about 25 minutes, 4 cars had gone by heading in the direction I needed to go; about 20 had passed in the other direction! Just as I was considering going to the town in the more popular direction, a car heading in that direction turned around and took me into Bland! The driver and his daughter were from Georgia - I told them that was where I was heading!I arrived in town around 1 and went to the Bland Corner Grill for lunch, then sat around enjoying my chocolate milk and the sunshine - the bank across the street said the temperature was up to 72 degrees. I could have sat there all afternoon, but knew I had more miles to make, so I headed to the road to hitch out on Route 52, a straight 3 miles back to the trail. It wasn't long before a man picked me up, but instead of going straight, he made a turn! I thought he must have misunderstood me when I explained I was going back to the trail; he thought I wanted to pick the trail up at Trent's Grocery, where I had eaten lunch yesterday and about 20 miles in the wrong direction!! We cleared up the misunderstanding, and I told him I could hitch back from where we were, but he insisted on not only taking me back to where I had started, but to where I was originally heading!After the excitement of Bland, I still had about 11.5 miles to go. The trail had been easy and quick this morning, and it was similar this afternoon; only 4 hours after I started, I found myself at Jenkins Shelter. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice how many deer had been out all day! I probably passed 25-35 of them today.At the shelter, there were 2 northbound section hikers and a dog with two radios strapped to its neck. I thought the dog belonged to one of them, but they said no, it had followed them there. I'm not sure why it had all of the radios on its neck, but it was injured and limping - hopefully the radios allow the owner to find it quickly.I went to check out the privy and was pleasantly surprised to find my new favorite design - a privy, on a raised platform, with no walls whatsoever. Rice Field Shelter had a similar set up, and I'm hoping for more as we continue south! How liberating!Today marked four months and 1600 miles on the trail!
Date: 2013-09-16
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: light rain

Another very cold morning! Again I found myself sitting around, trying to motivate myself to get out in the cold!The last couple of days I have been spoiled with towns and stops along the trail; today, I didn't have any. I don't know if it was because of this or because the terrain was a little more difficult than it has been, but the miles seemed to drag by so slowly today!I reached my first water source around noon and decided I would cook for lunch - a warm meal sounded nice, and I knew if I cooked I would take a nice long break. After lunch, I was feeling better and hit my second climb of the day. At the top was a shelter enclosed by four walls and a door. Given how cold the last couple of mornings had been, I considered staying just to avoid waking up chilled! However, it was only about 2 and the weather was nice, so I headed on.The walk this afternoon went much better than this morning. I had a long walk through a meadow of wild flowers, and someone had come through and mowed down the AT, so the walk was quite enjoyable. The last 3 miles or so dragged on, but I just kept thinking every mile (or half mile, or tenth of a mile... I was desperate!) brought me that much closer to my goal.Finally, I arrived at the shelter. About 3/4 mile before the shelter, there were a number of people camped; they didn't want to stay at the shelter for lack of water. I had just filled up, so I headed on. I found I had the shelter to myself - the second time this week and on the trail that this had happened. I made a fire to dry out clothes and enjoyed a massive pack explosion, with no fears of mixing my stuff up with someone else's, and no worries of being in someone else's way!