morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-27
From: Catawba Mountain Shelter

To: Lambert's Meadow Campsite
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

Thursday, June 27th, Catawba Mountain Shelter @ 705.7 to Lamberts Meadow Campsite @ 714.4 6.3 MilesIt didn't rain during the night, but once we broke camp and had all of our gear packed...it started to rain. Luckily the tarp was still up so we just waited it out. When the rain stopped, after a few minutes we folded the tarp and moved on down the trail. My irrigation system got some use after all. Not far up the trail we ran into two different families, both taking their broods to McAfee Knob which is a large shelf of solid rock cliffs with spectacular overlooks. The coolest thing about McAfee Knob is taking your picture with legs dangling off a cliff overhang as high off the ground as your imagination can take you. Indy sent us a picture of himself and we all were psyched to get there and make our own. When we got to the cliffs I was the first to get mine taken. It was easy for me. I knew that as long as I took care of myself the cliffs wouldn't move around and attack me like the lightning did the other day.Next it was Thistle's turn. She had to conjure up courage from deep inside, but in the end she was a trooper and sat on the cliff edge with legs dangling underneath. She was psyched after that and couldn't stop smiling. She was so excited she forgot the bottle of wine, of which we downed the sweet contents the night before.We had heard that the walk up to McAfee was brutal, but it turned out to be one of the easiest I've seen in relation to what the guidebook indicates as a small mountain. After McAfee Knob, the next interesting sight was the Tinker Cliffs. It was really cool to behold. A giant cliff face spanning what looked like more than 100 feet high in places with a length of maybe a half mile or more. The cliffs were breathtaking. They had caves and crevaces all over, showing the giant movements of the earth rock over long expanses of time.We hiked to Lamberts Meadow Shelter where no inhabitants were found and continued up the trail .3 miles to the campground conveniently located next to a creek. I made a fire with wet wood again using hand sanitizer and listened to some Allman Brothers using my mini speaker, one of my finest purchases for trail entertainment.The trail was tough once again for me. I had to wear my boots (now I call them my cruel shoes) since my trail runners (like canvas tennis shoes) were still wet from the rain. I'm still having pretty bad blister problems limiting me to shorter hikes, but I'll be getting new shoes (again) shortly. Tomorrow we hike to Daleville, VA. Maybe I can pick up some shoes and another pair of hiker shorts. When mine got wet in the rain I had no change of clothes. Lesson learned.
Date: 2013-06-28
From: Lambert's Meadow Campsite

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 9.1

Friday, June 28thLamberts Meadow Campsite @ 714.4To Daleville, VA @ 723.59.1 milesWe woke up at 6:30 to get an early start in order to get to Daleville in time to get to the Post Office before closing. I had a mail drop box waiting on me with food and meds. We awoke to the most beautiful bird calls I'd ever heard. It was a complicated song with several different sounds. It made me wonder what the dinosaurs sounded like millions of years ago since the newest evidence favors that birds were probably descended from them... avian dinosaurs. My trail runners (tennis shoes) were still wet so I had no choice but wear my cruel shoes. I used moleskin by cutting it out around my blisters and it felt better than it had in days. Wish I'd tried this a long time ago.The trail was pretty good for most of the hike and the scenery a continuation of the Tinker Cliffs type large rocks, so it was another beautiful hike. We saw a spotted skunk running through the woods. We've seen lots of deer, lizards, squirrels and snakes, but rarely any raccoons, skunks, bears or coyotes, so it was a rare treat to see the skunk.At one point as I was hiking, I slipped on some loose dirt and fell into a briar patch. My arm was bleeding pretty bad but it was only superficial skin scratches. We arrived at Daleville by about 3:00 PM with plenty of time to get to the post office, so we checked in to the Howard Johnson hotel first to unload our heavy back packs. The Post Office was 1.2 miles away, so I added another 2.4 miles to the trail distance.   With my blister issues I decided to take a zero. This will give me a chance to care for my feet, take a break and finally clean my nasty, stinking clothes...whew.
Date: 2013-06-29
From: Daleville, VA

To: Zero Day at Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Saturday, June 29, Daleville Zero DayI went to the Outfitter to look at shoes and shorts. They didn't have the Oboz shoes I sought, so that was disappointing. Before making my final decision, I went to the Goodwill store in case they had some shorts. I didn't want to pay the $65 for shorts at the outfitter if I could avoid it. I found a pair of swimming trunks that looked a lot like my other hiking shorts for only $3, so I saved about $62 with that move.. When I went back to the outfitter I decided to purchase a pair of Chacos hiking sandals. Though overpriced, I've seen hikers who swear by them. This should give me an option to hike without so much blister pain.I ran into Slow Poke today at the hotel. He recognized me as a hiker, we tend to stand out to those familiar. He announced to me that he was done with trail. It seems that we're losing a lot of thru-hikers lately. I'd heard Virginia is a place where a lot of hikers opt out. Whether it's because of the long state, almost a third of the trail, or that it's about how long everyone has been on the trail, I don't know, but a lot of hikers seem to be leaving the trail in Virginia. I'm still hanging on.
Date: 2013-06-30
From: Zero Day at Daleville

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Sunday, June 30thDalesville @ 723.5 to Wilson Creek Shelter @ 734.711.2 milesThe day started hot and muggy, which is not good for hiking long distances. I had one thing going for me however. The sandals, called Chacos, that I bought Saturday are allowing me to hike pain free! My blisters aren't touching anything so this is great. We stopped for lunch at the shelter along the way and talked to Spooky for about an hour. I met him on naked hiker day when he flew right past us. He had been waiting around four days for something, meaning he was already four days ahead of me. He's almost 29, I'm almost 59. Advantage Spooky.Along the trail we met Lady and Canon. They got a late start out of Dalesville, as did we. We talked a bit and picked blueberries along the trail. They said they were going to the same shelter as we were, so I knew we would see them again tonight. As we approached our destination it started raining lightly, but I knew it would pick up by the thunder in the background. Once we arrived at the shelter we decided to stay there out of the rain. I hate sleeping in shelters, but I also hate camping in the rain. We did sleep in the shelter with Lady and Canon, and a young man, named Lightweight. I hardly slept as usual when I'm in shelters. It rained and thundered all night, so it was a good call despite my little discomfort.
Date: 2013-07-01
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Monday, July 1stWilson Creek Shelter @ 734.7 toBobblets Gap Shelter @ 742.07.3 milesOn the way up the trail we crossed a road near an overlook and saw a familiar site. It was a white cooler left by a trail angel. We had stumbled upon trail magic!I looked inside the cooler and low and behold, the ice was fresh and there were refreshment drinks, good and cold. I was hoping for a diet coke, but for some reason they never seem to make it in trail magic. This is probably because they know that hikers like calories. Anyway, the second best thing was there, a light beer which is most hiker's beverage of choice. That is, any kind of beer, especially cold and free. As we were drinking our gifts I saw three people walking toward us down the trail we were about to hike. I suspected they might be the trail angels and I was right. The ice was so fresh they probably just set it down a few minutes earlier. They introduced themselves as Low (I believe), Be Fearless and Jitterbug. Low had hiked the AT and the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). We talked for about a half hour until their questions were all answered and they took a picture of us. I think Jitterbug really got a kick out of meeting us. She hadn't done any hiking yet, so this was all new to her. Be Fearless was probably only 10 or 12 years old, but the beer was his idea. Way to go kid! We said our goodbyes and were offered another drink, which we gladly accepted. We moved on down ithe trail a little happier than before, but after at least two tall beers our motivation to hike wained somewhat, and that slowed us down. In addition, my new sandals were starting to rub blisters on my left foot. How depressing. I just can't win. When we arrived at Bobblets Gap Shelter, no one was there. My feet were hurting, and so were Thistles from her new sandals. We immediately soaked our aching feet in the creek. The cold water was soothing. When we came back to the shelter, Lightweight was coming down the trail. He decided to stay at the shelter as well even though it was only 7.3 miles from our previous shelter. I went over to the shelter to get something from my bag and saw a four foot black snake climbing up the wall. I was thinking this would be good to keep the mice away, while Thistle was thinking there was no way in hell she was sleeping in the same shelter as that snake!We set our tents up. I hate sleeping in shelters anyway, unless we have a thunderstorm.
Date: 2013-07-04
From: Zero Day back at Daleville

To: Zero Day at Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Thursday, July 4thIndependence Day0.0 milesI woke up at about 6:40 when I heard Indy and Derrick trying to quietly go to breakfast. My ankle was throbbing. Though we had our week planned it came out that Ducky and Derrick had never been to McAfee's Knob, and we were in the area. In addition, indy, Derrick and Ducky had never seen the Dragon's Tooth. These are two of the coolest places on the AT, so they decided to hike to both hotspots today. The plan was to drop me off at the trail, then everyone else could hike these two great trails and come get me somewhere up the trail. Thistle volunteered to join me, but I knew she wanted to go so I declined her kind offer. I overheard that they had a problem getting the car in place because Ducky wanted to hike too. With my swollen ankle hurting and my cut up and blistered feet, it didn't take long for me to volunteer to drive them. It would be good to rest my feet and ankle. It's just no fun hiking in pain. Besides, if I hurt myself more it would slow me down even further.We first drove to the Dragon's Tooth parking lot. I had thought's of hiking as far as I could, but then decided it would be best to just rest and let my foot heal itself as much as possible in a day. I basically sat in the car, took a nap, listened to the radio and played Sodoku on my phone. I kept busy while my friends hiked the cool ass Dragon's Tooth. I felt like the kid with Chicken Pox who couldn't come out to play.
Date: 2013-07-05
From: Zero Day at Daleville

To: Zero day in Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity drizzle

Friday, July 5thZero day in Waynesboro, VAMy ankle is still pretty sore, so I opted to stay off of it at least another day. To add to my misery I woke up with a hurting back as well. I have no idea if I picked something up wrong, slept wrong or what, but it actually has me more concerned than my ankle because of my history of pretty severe back trouble. We picked up Indy and Derrick this morning below McAfees Knob. He told us that he was one of only four people who watched the fireworks from McAfees Knob, a perfect place to watch the show from several towns, especially Roanoke. Thistle and Ducky were disappointed they didn't go and missed it, but I knew I couldn't make the hike anyway. We had heard that Mountain Man, Nomad, Sunshine and Cannibal Curious would soon be in Waynesboro, VA. Since I can't hike because of my ankle, and people are taking zeroes with me, I'm sort of holding everyone else up. We decided instead of hanging around doing nothing to go ahead to Waynesboro where we could at least get on the river and get that done. Not only is everyone excited to get going, but my ankle (and back) could be resting while we're floating down the river. We drove to Waynesboro, got a room, ate some dinner and took in a movie. Thistle has been wanting to go to the movies since I met her, but none of the small towns we've hiked through have had a theater. Tomorrow we will go to the shelter. I will try the short route from the parking lot, a distance of 2 1/2 miles or so to see how my ankle responds.   Hopefully it will be OK after resting it a couple of days. I'm ready to get going again and so is everyone else.Time to move forward,
Date: 2013-07-06
From: parking lot

To: Paul C Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: moderate rain

Saturday, July 6thParking lot to Camp at Paul C Wolfe Shelter2.5 milesSometimes it's not how much you drink, but when. I popped a cold one just after waking. It was refreshing. Who needs breakfast anyway? I do. But a kick start is fun sometimes as long as it doesn't become routine. When I woke up the sun was finally shining, warming up the moist landscape. I checked my tent in my backpack and found it was still wet from our extended stay at Bobblet's Shelter. I unrolled it and dried it in the blazing sun. Maybe the wetness will end soon, but then the heat would take over. At least it kept me cool. I debated about what to do. My ankle was not going to allow me to hike far, so instead of sitting around watching it heal we decided to drive on up to Waynesboro. Maybe if I could start to aqua blaze (travel the trail by boat up the river) at least I would be doing something.We drove to Waynesboro and stopped at the Visitor Information Center where Indy, Mountain Man and Nomad were waiting on us. When a lady sitting next to us on the bench outside heard us talking, she started asking us questions about walking the AT. " Where did you start? You're going all the way to Maine? When did you start? Have you seen any bears? Does that book show the entire trail?" and so on. I'm honored to answer interested people's questions. Makes me proud of what I'm doing. Also gIves a feeling of accomplishment.We took a light gear load to our camp at the Paul C Wolfe Shelter where Indy and gang were already set up about 2 1/2 miles up the trail. It's a cool place with a nice wide stream and swimming holes and a waterfall nearby. I set up my tent and Mountain Man made a nice fire to keep the bugs at bay. Indy and Thistle decided to slack about 10 miles of trail including Humpback Mountain while we went to the camp. As it started to get dark we became concerned. We'd heard they didn't take a headlamp, which we found later not to be true. I wondered why two experienced hikers would take a 10 mile hike without a headlamp, hiking 101. You never know when you might get delayed by injury or whatever, or just run out of daylight. It's always a good idea to have a headlamp, plenty of water, a lighter and phone for common emergencies. Mountain Man, Nomad and I walked to camp, collecting firewood because the wood in the camp is picked over. On one of the switchbacks, I stepped on a slippery rock and fell. My feet came right out from under me and I came crashing down knee first onto a rock. It hurt like hell. At first I wasn't sure if I was really hurt bad. I laid there for a few minutes in pain with my two friends hovering over me with concern. I got up slow but OK and it appeared I hadn't done too much harm other than skinning my knee pretty badly. When I got to camp I cleaned my wound with alcohol and put a dressing on it. Talk about burn, ouch! I was really more concerned about my aching back from my fall than my skinned knee. It was already hurting and this little fall didn't help. Time will tell.
Date: 2013-07-07
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Humpback Mountain and back to Paul C Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

Sunday, July 7thCamped at Paul C. Wolfe ShelterHiked 7 mile round trip to Humpback MountainGot up fairly early at 6:30, took care of mother nature and laid back down for another 45 minutes or so before getting up for good. Went to the store with Ducky and Indy and bought some real coffee.   When we returned to the parking lot, we waited for Mountain Man and Nomad who met us to hike to Humpback Mountain.The hike up was pretty steep, but a wide path. It was much harder on me coming back down. The whole hike was well worth the effort, however. Humpback Mountain is a system of large rocks which has two main rocks to climb. Since it was Sunday there were a lot of locals and tourists. I didn't mind though. It gave me new people to talk to.   The maze of rock stood about maybe 60-70 feet off the ground from the trail, but much higher from the forest. We took a lot of pictures and climbed the rocks for a while before heading back to camp. It was a good day and I got some exercise for the first time in a few days. Hopefully I can build on that and get going again soon. On the way back to camp however, Mountain Man accidentally disturbed a nest of yellow jackets. He was stung about a dozen times. I quietly walked by and they didn't get me. Then as I was talking to Nomad and Mountain Man we heard cussing from Indy. We forgot to warn him and they started stinging him. He was lucky and only got stung four times. So these guys got it in front and in back of me, but I didn't get it at all. It was a good day. :-)
Date: 2013-07-09
From: Humpback Mountain and back to Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tuesday/Wednesday, July 8th/9thPaul C. Wolfe ShelterHiked to Waynesboro 7.5 milesYesterday I hiked a total of 5 miles just to go to Ducky's car and back in the parking lot. We went to Ming's, the best Chinese buffet I think I've ever been to. It had everything including Mongolian barbecue where you choose the ingredients and sauces and they cook it in front of you.   But the best part, it was only $7 a plate, and Ducky's treat. It was simply awesome.My ankle and back were hurting yesterday, but I felt good that I could hike nonetheless.We decided to hike today toward Waynesboro which is North on trail we haven't hiked, so we would at least be accomplishing something. My ankle was bad though. I started out hurting in my back more than anything, but in time my ankle took center stage. It started out OK, but after about 3 miles into a five mile hike, it began hurting. It got worse as the day progressed, so by the time I got back to camp it was killing me. I wasn't myself, i was down and everyone noticed. When your body doesn't feel good, your mood sometimes follows. That was the case today. I'm frustrated because I'm behind and need to burn trail, but now I couldn't if I wanted to. I know I came here to Aquablaze so my ankle/foot can rest, but we've been here going on four days waiting on Cannibal and Sunshine to join us. They may have boats we can use but nobody knows for sure. It's not like I could be hiking, but I could at least be on the river. Anyway, they are expected tomorrow so we'll see if they get here. If something doesn't happen soon, I will need to go or I'll go nuts. Today we went to the YMCA to get a shower and do our laundry. Unfortunately, we were pulled over by the police when they saw Nomad in Mountain Mans lap in the front seat without a seatbelt. They let us off and gave us a warning, so it turned out OK. We loaded our five passengers in the car to ride less than a mile to the laundromat.   Anyway, it felt good to be clean and have clean clothes. So we hiked about five miles to a place close to Waynesboro. When we got to the trail head, we noticed a list of trail angels.   We called and a guy picked us up to take us the rest of the way. On the way he told a story about a bench that is located near our camp overlooking the stream. He said it was dedicated to a guy from the local trail association who hiked the PCT but never returned from a snowstorm. A couple had gotten lost on a short hike from a parked tour bus with no supplies. They came upon this guys backpack and used his matches to light the woods on fire and were rescued. This story alerted me because it is a story on "I Shouldn't Be Alive".   What an incredible story. I went to bed early to put my foot up. Think I'll rest it from here on out. I thought I was ready to test my ankle. Maybe things will be better tomorrow.
Date: 2013-07-12
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Friday,July 12thPaul C. Wolfe Shelter to Waynesboro2.5 milesIt poured rain all night long. I was thinking about the river, about how swollen it probably is. I keep hearing how dangerous the river is, that there are flood watches all up and down. This could put a real damper on our plans. We finally left camp where we'd been for way too long. It was so difficult to gather evrrything because we were more spread out than usual. We hiked the 2 1/2 miles to the vehicles and drove to Waynesboro.Thistle's mother made some phone calls to the supervisor of the Post Office in the area and found a solution to them charging an outrageous fee for handling our UPS delivery. If UPS picked up the boxes and delivered them to their facility 10 minutes away it would cost us nothing. But we couldn't just pick them up, they had ro be delivered again. It's so ridiculous, but that's what we had to do. The lady at the Post Office didn't give us that option, either because she didn't know or didn't want to tell us. Like I said before, she displayed an attitude anyway. Indy's friend Brow (which is short for Brother of the Wind) joined us for the aquablaze. He did the entire trail in 2011, so he brings a lot of experience with him. We picked up our boats and everything was accounted for. We're ready to go...except we checked on the river and found that it was the highest anyone had ever seen it, too dangerous to get on. In fact, the guy at Aquablaze Solutions where we were initially going to rent canoes said it would be at flood stage for about four more days, it was dangerous, and they were not putting anyone on the river. We decided to be smart. No one is dying today. We decided to get a hotel room for the night so we could all take showers. Cannibal and Sunshine slept in the truck and the other 7 of us slept in the room.It's always nice to take a shower... especially from an inside facility. I've had my fill of the other kind.