morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-27
From: Daleville

To: Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Argh! More rain. It was good we were nice and dry at Jim and Michelle's. Unfortunately, the tent was outside. We took our chances and threw it in the dryer. Seems to be fine.  Michelle drove us to Catawba to pick up a couple of boxes we hadn't been able to get over the long weekend. (Thanks, Sara, for the treats. What a thoughtful daughter/niece!) It was pouring and we could see the streams were rising.   We said our good byes to Michelle at the grocery store. We spent at least an hour going through our boxes, buying supplies and repacking our bags. It was still raining. Many town folks offered kind words of sympathy for us. A couple even offered us rides to hotels. We saw several other hikers who decided to zero rather than face the wet and dangerously slippery trail. That was it. We decided to play it safe and stay in town for the day. Call us soft, but it was nice to be safe and dry at the Econo Lodge. We were able to catch up with some folks, too. Zach's Dad is back on again after an injury, two of the three Grayhounds are back after a visit home (Goat has a fractured vertebrate), Stripe (formerly one of the Petes) is taking it easy on the trail while he nurses a bum leg, SeanO (from Sedgewick ME) is hanging out with him. It was good to see folks we thought were way ahead.   The day was not a total loss.
Date: 2003-05-28
To: Campsite north of Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke to a nice morning! What a pleasant surprise. Since we planned on a long day to make up for the zero day we were up and out early.  The Trail was fairly gentle leaving town--another nice surprise. It was slippery going for a while, but began to dry out quickly. It was a lovely day. The rhododendrons are fading fast and are dropping their blossoms making a purple carpet for us to walk on. But it looks like we'll be enjoying the mountain laurels for a while.   The stream crossings were challenging. Sassafras decided to take off her shoes and waded through one of the tougher ones. We were glad we didn't risk them yesterday.  The highlight of the day was hitting the 1/3 point on the Trail. The Wilson Creek shelter is exactly one third of the way from Springer to Katahdin--724.2 miles (using Wingfoot's Handbook). We made the customary marker out of stones and Cricket did a special dance to commemorate the occasion. We feel good about our acomplishment so far.  The Trail joined up with the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's exciting to be here knowing we are making good progress. The shelter was full tonight and there were no campsites. After nearly 19 miles we couldn't go much further. We are "stealth" camping in a non-designated campsite. What's a tired hiker to do? Hope this isn't a sign of things to come in this popular part of the Trail.
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Campsite after Bobblets Gap Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: light rain

Well, once again we woke to...RAIN! It was very discouraging; makes you just want to stay in the tent all day. So, we had breakfast in our sleeping bags at least, thanks to Sean-O, who was kind enough to fetch our bear bags this morning. We finally got moving and hit the trail at 10:00. The trail today was truly beautiful and well maintained. The rain stopped for a little while and the sun came out for about 5 minutes. Then the thunder started rolling again. Oh well. We did see a deer and a sweet little orange salamander (or newt-I don't know the difference). Then as we were walking along staring at the path as usual, Sass noticed the ground moving right in front of her feet. It must have been a mole or some other little creature buroughing its way under the trail. When we laughed, it stopped moving, so we left it to its work. Tonight we are enjoying a stay in the shelter and hopefully the tent will dry out a little. Cricket carries an extra couple of pounds when it is soaking wet like today. This is one of the best shelters we've seen--2 sleeping levels, a picnic table under the roof, benches to sit on, and a stream right here! We are also enjoying the company of Stripe, Oopala, Cakalaki, Sean-O, Sherlock and Circuit Rider. All in all, a good day. Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. We need all the help we can get :)
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Marble Spring campsite
Miles today: 17.2

The sun was out when we got up this morning--woohoo! So we set our sights on a big day and headed out. The trail turned out to be almost all uphill. Imagine if you will: Hi, honey, I'm home. Hi, sweetie. How was your day? Well, my boss made me get on the treadmill with it set at a 45 degree incline. Then he strapped his 3 year old son on my back and said "walk this kid for 9.5 hours for me, will ya?" Oh, by the way,the air conditioner broke down and the humidity was 80%. After awhile, my boss opened the curtains and let the sun shine in on me while I walked (still with the kid on my back). Every once in while he threw a shovel full of mud on my feet to see if I would fall. Then he tried rocks. He offered me water, but only after I carried it (on my back with the 30 lb. kid) for an hour or 2. Finally, he changed the incline to a decline and said, "Just do one more mile and then you can go home and eat and sleep on the floor. Oh, and don't bother to shower or change your sweaty, dirty clothes 'cause tomorrow I want you to do it all over again So, how was your day?
Date: 2003-05-31
From: Marble Spring campsite

To: James River
Miles today: 7.7

We tried to beat the rain this morning, but no luck. We realized we couldn't get packed up before the eluge, so we did the next best thing. We unpacked our sleeping bags and got a couple more hours sleep. Works for us. Once the rain subsided we quickly packed and hit the Trail. We finally caught our first glimpse of the James River. And a mighty river it is. It's one of the four major rivers of Virginia if I remember correctly. We followed Matts Creek for a while. It's one of the prettiest we've seen so far (and we've seen LOTS of creeks). It had falls, cascades, deep pools big enough to do laps in. If we were on a more leisurely trip, we might have taken a dip. Finally, Matts spilled into the James. And we spilled back into civilization. A big ol' coal train was passing by on the railroad bridge. People were fishing from boats and from the river bank. And, by gosh and by golly, there was an honest to goodness Trail Angel waiting for us at the end of the footbridge. Ken, a section hiker, gave us candy bars, a soda, and a ride to a nearby campground. Nice guy. Thanks, Ken. By the time we had our showers, laundry, and shopping done it was 4:30...and a storm was brewing. Oh well, might as well crash here. We were only planning to do a couple more miles anyhow. We have five high-mileage days ahead of us, so we may as well rest up.
Date: 2003-06-01
From: James River

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: scattered clouds

After a warm, dry night at the campground, we woke to a strange yellow orb in the sky. Could it be? Why, yes, it was the sun! And just in the nick of time, we were starting to get moldy. We headed out with our sights set on a big day if the terrain would allow. It did, we met our mileage goal, and had a great walk today. We climbed Bluff Mountain and found a memorial to a little boy who died there in 1891. Ottie was 4 years and 11 months old when he wandered away from the school house. Somehow, he climbed that mountain (there would have been no AT then) and had wandered 7 miles from where he got lost. It was very sad. The marker is on the spot where he was found. Someone had left a teddy bear and a toy car on the marker. You just never know what you will find/learn on this trail. This evening, as we were approaching the shelter, we came across a sign with a bench next to the creek. The sign told us about a small farming community along the creek in the early 1900's. The area was settled by a group of freed slaves. We didn't see much in the way of remains of the homesteads, just a stone wall running along the creek. Maybe tomorrow. Again, you can just picture life as it must have been. It feels like such a priviledge to be walking through this land.
Date: 2003-06-02
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

It was another beautiful weather day. Two in a row! We may be going for a record here. Another day of this and we'll be spoiled. We started the day following the creek we had camped by. There was another sign talking about the community that had been there 80 years ago. Must have been hard to make a go of it. There wasn't much flat land, and for all the stone walls they built, the ground was still very rocky. The residents sold the land to the government in the 1920s. Eventually the Trail turned away from the creek and headed up Bald Knob. Quite a climb for two tired girls. Nonetheless, we persevered and were rewarded with some nice views. We also saw our first yellow lady slippers--so pretty. We half expected to see a bear today. A section hiker had told us how the bears like to dig for squaw root. Today there were a lot of holes dug. Even if we didn't see a bear, the bears were probably watching us! We got to pass over a bald today. It was the first one in quite a while. Although it's called Cold Mountain, it was nice and sunny and warm. We found some nice sweet wild strawberries. What a treat! Somewhere along the way we passed the 800 mile mark. Another milestone. They are passing quickly now. We have a great campsite tonight. We reassembled an old fire circle and had a fire (and marshmallows) for the first time in a long time. The only thing missing was a good log to sit on. No problem for us industrious girls...we just hauled a big, old tree over. My we're getting strong!
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: moderate rain

It was up and on the trail early this morning because...it was starting to rain again :( We got the tent packed up in record time and managed to do so before any raindrops even hit it. The rest of the day was spent slogging through pouring down rain. We did, however, have some nice highlights. We met up with O.F.F. again, whom we hadn't seen since before Trail Days. He shared some tortillas with us at lunchtime. Thanks, OFF! Then, as we crossed the road to do our last climb, we saw a man standing by a huge motorcycle complete with trailer. We thought he was waiting out the rain, but as we approached him, he asked if we were Sassafras and Cricket! It turns out he is Grumpy (AT-01) and was out doing Trail Magic! He had Cokes, Twix, apples and banana Moon Pies! We SCORED!!! He knew who we were because Oopala and Cakalaki had come through before us and told him we were on the way!    So, despite the rain, we had a pretty good day. Tonight, we are in the shelter with our good buds Oopala and Stripe, Wizard, and Humble Harmon--who we haven't seen since Newfound Gap way back in the Smokies. There's a great stream running right by the shelter and there is a bird singing in the trees. It's a good thing, as Martha would say :) Just for fun: How to tell the difference between a day hiker, a section hiker and a thru-hiker. If there is a peanut M&M on th ground, a day hiker will walk right by it; a section hiker will pick it up, brush it off and eat it; a thru-hiker will pick it up, eat it, and crawl around looking for more! :)
Date: 2003-06-05
From: Humpback Mountain

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: broken clouds

The wind howled most of the night and blew the clouds away. Hooray! We woke up to a pretty morning and were surprised to see we had a great view of a ski resort complete with lots of high-rise condos. Nice place.   We had a nice walk to town with fairly easy terrain. The Paul C. Wolfe shelter is noted not only for being situated on a very nice creek, but also for having a resident goat. Too bad Mr. Goat didn't come by to say hello while we stopped for a sort break. Just to make things interesting, Sassafras and Sean-O decided to play a little joke on Cricket. She'd stopped to purify some water (Sass was out) and said she'd catch up. Sean-O was a bit perturbed at her presumption that they were so slow that she'd be able to catch them in the 2.5 remaining miles. They schemed to pick up the pace to give her a run for her money. To no avail! Much to their chagrine, with about 200 yards remaining, they heard the click of poles and Cricket panting. She'd figured out the dirty scheme and met their challenge! She beat them to the road by a minute. It was quite a workout, but the looks on their faces was well worth it! Our Dad made it in to town to join us for a week of hiking. We reduced his pack weight about 50% (jeans, heavy cotton shorts, several cotton shirts, towels...) and sent the excess home with our cousin, Mike. Laundry and a bit of shopping to complete Dad's gear and we hope to head out early afternoon--before the rain.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It's always hard getting out of town when you have so many errands to do in such a short amount of time. Town days are as tiring (sometimes more) as hiking days. That said, Cricket was up at the crack of dawn after an almost sleepless night to round up the wet, dirty clothes and head to the laundromat. Sassafras and Dad snoozed a little later, then finally got moving! After packing, phone calls, organizing Dad's gear, stops at a department store, CVS, and a grocery and checking out of the room by noon, we grabbed lunch to go before the trail angel shuttle was due. We were on the trail at 2:45 and had 7 miles to the shelter.   Dad seemed to enjoy his first official day on the trail. There were a couple of good climbs, but we did very well. Wizard caught up with us and walked with us to the shelter. Good company always makes the walking more fun :) We saw some deer tracks along the way and finally saw one at a road crossing.   The shelter is pretty full tonight so we are camped just before it off the trail. There was some magic waiting for us there--apples and granola bars, such a nice surprise! And did I mention that the sun was out today? What more could we ask for!?! All in all, a good day.
Date: 2003-06-07
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Black Rock Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

While Dad enjoyed the nice weather yesterday, it wasn't a good representation of what most of our trip has been like. Not to worry, he knows now. We had some good, hard rain last night and into the morning. It made for good sleeping weather--which some of us appreciated very much. It finally stopped raining around 8:00 and we poked our heads out of the tent. Everyone was off to a slow start. It's hard to pack up wet tents. We finally made it out at 11:00. Yet another new record.   The Trail was nice today and it was cool and rainy. Dad appreciated the flat parts of the Trail, although there were some pretty good ups, too. We were cautiously optimistic about making the 13 miles to the next shelter. That's quite a haul for only the second day of hiking. But Dad was up to it! He was a regular trooper--even leaving us in the dust once. We got into the shelter at 5:15, so we were moving along.   Some of our favorite folks are here tonight. We were glad we had time for Dad to get to talk to Circuit Rider and Sherlock, Finch, Scrounger and Gimp, Sean-O, Oopala, Wizard. We had a good time swapping stories and addresses. The group is really starting to thin out as many people are increasing their daily miles.   We have a whipporwill in the neighborhood tonight. Hopefully he won't sing to us in the middle of the night again. The other day we had to yell at him to make him quiet down. They have a cool call, but sometimes it's VERY loud and VERY long.   Word is there are bears in the area, too. They have tall metal posts in the shelter area with hooks on them for us to hang our food bags from. We use a long, heavy metal bar to hoist the bags up. They worked quite nicely tonight. It was funny last night watching people trying to figure the post out...it was a defective pole--no hooks! Must be a dirty trick!    Dad opted to sleep in the shelter tonight. Last night his tent was pitched on a slope. He found out how slippery nylon sleeping bags are on Thermarest pads. He figured he'd sleep better on a horizontal surface. By the way, Dad is going by the Trailname of Handy Andy. It's a good, descriptive name...and much safer than letting someone else come up with one for him!
Date: 2003-06-08
From: Black Rock Hut

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

Today was an interesting and busy day! Dad enjoyed his night in the shelter--no slipping and sliding in the tent. We managed to be the last ones out of the shelter and as we were packing up to go, we met the resident mouse "on steriods". This thing was huge!   Our plan was to go 7.4 miles to Loft Mtn Campground, do laundry, pick up a few things at the store, and have lunch at the Wayside. All seemed to be going well--we made good time to Loft Mtn and got our ice cream fix in the store. Cricket and I did laundry and shopping while Dad somehow scrounged time on the phone at the ranger station and made up some miles on a loop he skipped while looking for the store. We ended up taking far longer than we expected waiting for our heavy socks to dry. Then we headed back down the trail to find the Wayside restaurant. It was a 1/2 mile straight down (which translates into a 1/2 mile straight up on the return), the food was mediocre and the phone sign we were looking for ended up being an emergency phone at the ranger station, NOT a pay phone for public use. Oh well, no calls to loved ones for us :(   We finally got back to the trail and arrived at the shelter around 7:00. Thank goodness we didn't need to cook, just hot drinks and a snack. Lots of section hikers here and Oopala and Sean-O, whom we thought had moved ahead of us. We were so happy to see them! We are all set up in our tents and the thunder is rolling in. Another rainy night on the trail.
Date: 2003-06-09
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Saddleback Mountain
Miles today: 14.1

We woke to a beautiful morning after a stormy night. We hit the Trail with another ambitious day planned. Handy Andy said he was up to the challenge of another long day. The first shelter was only eight miles away, so we set our sights on a stealth campsite near a spring 14 miles up the Trail.   Going was a bit slower today. Because of the wet shoes and socks, Handy Andy and Flying Cricket are dealing with a couple of blisters. Dad now understands how our feet hurt at the end of the day. Some vitamins I think will help him sleep better.   We did have a couple of nice views from rocky overlooks. The weather was perfect. Besides a couple of grown deer, we got to see a brand new baby fawn. He was right next to the Trail and was too young to stand, although he tried. Mom was no where to be seen.   Our campsite is at an old shelter that has been converted into a maintenance building. It's on a seldom used side trail. Dad opted to sleep on top of a picnic table rather than set up the tent on a rocky slope. As tired as he is, he should sleep well!
Date: 2003-06-10
From: Saddleback Mountain

To: Big Meadows
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

What a fun night! It was exciting to be "stealth camping" with Oopala and Sean-O. Handy Andy and Sean-O enjoyed sleeping under the stars on the picnic tables, listening to the owls. We got off to a nice early start for us--8:20! We made great time to Lewis Moutaintn Campground where we gobbled up ice cream for lunch (some of us a little more than others) and got some great resupply goodies from some ladies who had finished their section hike :). When it was time to hit the trail for Big Meadows, Dad led the charge and lost us girls in his dust! Try as we might, we just couldn't catch up with him! We passed an older couple at one point who asked if we were the girls hiking with our dad. Much to our chagrine, when we said yes, they told us he had passed them on their way UP the trail. He was about a half hour ahead of us at that point.   In our defense, I will mention that Flying Cricket was having some foot pain and we were moving a little slower than usual. She actually tried walking in her Waldies for a little while. Waldies are these great lightweight camp shoes we have, like plastic clogs.   Sassafras tried to shoot ahead to catch Dad and let him know we hadn't tried to hitchhike out of the park. By the time I caught him and explained that Cricket was hobbling along behind, up the mountain she came! Either I'm even slower than I thought or she really IS a power hiker! Oh well :)   This evening we are comfortable in a room at the lodge and full from a delicious dinner compliments of Sean-O. Good food, good company, good beds....Good night to all.
Date: 2003-06-11
From: Big Meadows

To: Skyland Lodge
Miles today: 8.1

Oh, how we miss the simple pleasures of home! We woke up in our nice dry room, in our nice soft beds and had a nice hot breakfast in the dining room. Then it was off to do laundry and hit the trail by 11:30. Don't laugh, we actually planned it that way. We knew we had a short day of hiking ahead. We wanted to let Cricket and Handy Andy rest their sore, tired feet and we wanted to get to Skyland and then back on the shelter route without doing any long hard days of hiking.   It was a great day with beautiful trails. There were several gorgeous vistas and overlooks as well as some pretty little waterfalls. We saw several wild turkeys and of course, lots of deer. They are very tame around the campground areas.   As we approached Skyland Lodge, there was a line of cars coming up the road. I jokingly told Cricket she better run if she wanted to get a room. Well, it turned out it was no joke after all. The cars were pulling up to the curb and people were jumping out and booking it to the registration desk. Cricket was not to be out done. She ran across the road, threw down her pack and got in the door before anyone else! Whew! We got a lovely room with a view. Hot showers for everyone and a real meal for dinner--now this is hiking!
Date: 2003-06-12
From: Skyland Lodge

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

With another fairly short day ahead, we were able to enjoy another nice breakfast before hitting the Trail. We noticed several other hikers in the dining room. They'd hiked in from the last shelter five miles back down the Trail. Lapped before we even got done eating!   The weather was lovely, but the Trail was rocky. We were glad we weren't in a hurry. That is until the thunder started. Then the rain. Try as we did, there was no out running it. Within seconds we were drenched again and slogging thru water. The lightning and thunder were close by. It followed us down the mountain. Just as quickly as it started, it ended.   We stopped at one of the National Park stores to dry out and eat some junk food. Sure made us feel better. This roughing it is tough.    With the threat of more rain we pressed on to the shelter. Handy Andy is staying in the dry (but mouse-infested) shelter while we girls are enjoying hearing the pitter patter of the rain on our tent. Hopefully it'll stop soon. With any luck, a breeze will come through and dry out the tent before morning. We can hope!  We met Disco and Glide; Montana, Theat, and daughter Laura; and Mr. Magoo. Boat is here, too.