morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-10
From: Bobblet's Gap Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 595/10start: Bobblet's Gap Shelterfinish: Bryant Ridge Sheltermileage: 13.3weather: hot, sunnyI was drenched in sweat all day for the third day in a row. But today I didn't really mind because the hiking was so pretty. I saw a good bit of wildlife today, especially in the area of reptiles. I saw tons of lizards, two snakes (Black Snake and Common Water Snake) and three turkeys. I arrived at the Jennings Creek swimming hole around lunch time and had a lovely dip in the creek. Then, Biscuit, Heald and I hitched a ride into A Wonderful Life Campground to check out the camp store. I was hoping for some ice cream but the freezer was empty. So I settled for a cheeseburger that was small but fair for two dollars. The owner of the campground drove us back to the trailhead after we had eaten.The afternoon was still hot but the last few miles went by quickly and I arrived at a very nice shelter (in close competition with Partnership for the nicest yet).   We hung out a bit, but most everyone went to bed pretty early.
Date: 2005-05-11
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Petites Gap
Miles today: 15.0

Day 605/11start: Bryant Ridge Shelterfinish: Petites Gap... Damascus, VAmileage: 15.0weather: sunny, hotToday was a nice easy day of hiking that led our crew gradually downhill toward our ride to Trail Days. Since we didn't have to reach the gap by 6pm, it was a very relaxing day of hiking.Although the hiking was relaxing, the temperature was higher than it has been so far. Thus, I spent at least an hour in a shelter to escape the heat. I drank two and a half liters of water while sitting in the shelter.Thunderstorms threatened to move in during the afternoon, but they fortunately just missed us. The temperature dropped, causing the afternoon to be very nice. The trail magic left at Petites Gap made the afternoon even better as I was craving some fruit.We all sat at the gap for quite a while waiting for our ride. There was quite a bit of drama between a few members of the group, so I was glad to finally get in the car. Raz's wife flew in from Arizona to Roanoke and rented a Ford Expedition. We crammed eleven people and three dogs into the car with all our packs on top. The car ride was long and uncomfortable, but it was certainly easier than hitching. Great praises go to Raz's wife for being able to put up with the smell of ten hikers in a closed environment for several hours. We arrived in Damascus between one and two in the morning and went directly to sleep.
Date: 2005-05-12
From: Petites Gap

To: Damascus, VA (Trail Days)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Days 61-635/12-14Start: Damascus, VAFinish: Damascus, VAMiles: 0.0Weather: sun, rain, sun, rain...Trail Days - what an event! The whole weekend kinda got lumped together in my mind, so I'll treat it in one entry. Early on in the weekend, I went to some of the scheduled events but later found out that just spending time with friends was lots more fun. The Damascus community really opens their arms to hikers during this time; the First Baptist Church in particular proactively seeks to share the love of Jesus Christ with the many visitors by offering free dinner, free medical examinations, a free shuttle back to the trail along with other services. I was very impressed with the community's receptiveness to such a large hoard of stinky people.It has been easy for me to believe that the group of people with whom I've been hiking encompass the entirety of those on the trail. However, I really got to see how many similar microcosms exist on the trail. It blew my mind to see that there were still people in the Smokies.My Dad came down for the weekend, so I got to spend a good bit of time with him. This was particularly nice since the party at Tent City lasted late into the evening each night and I had the luxury of retreating to a hotel room.All in all, it was just nice to rest. But the crowd of people was a bit over stimulating and I was ready to get back to the trail.
Date: 2005-05-15
From: Petites Gap

To: Marble Spring (VA)
Miles today: 2.2

Day 645/15Start: Petites GapFinish: Marble SpringMiles: 2.2Weather: warm, cloudyI slept in this morning after a long night talking with my father. By the time we made it into town, all of the crewmembers had found rides except Matt, Porter and me. So to make things simple, my Dad drove the three of us to Blacksburg where we met up with Matt's parents who drove us the rest of the way.We arrived at the trailhead around six o'clock to find Biscuit, English Bob and Mountain Dew about to take off. We hiked just a couple of miles to a nice campsite and called it a day. I was overwhelmingly happy to be back on the trail today; the beauty of God's creation was filling my senses and I was unable to remove the smile from my face. The plants and flowers and dirt all smelled wonderful and the clouds moving into the valley below me simultaneously revealed and concealed the mystery and wonder of this place.I surprisingly set up my hammock with relative ease (I've only set it up once before - over two months ago) and settled in for a somewhat cold and windy night. While I was sleeping on my pad the entire night, the sides of the hammock pressed against my arms, compressing the down and causing me to be cold. Oh well, I've got a lot to learn about that.
Date: 2005-05-16
From: Marble Spring (VA)

To: Little Irish Creek (VA)
Miles today: 22.6

Day 655/16Start: Marble SpringFinish: Little Irish CreekMiles: 22.6Weather: warm, sunnyThe group wanted to take a couple short days to let Bam Bam and Shawn catch up, but I knew Yardsale was up ahead by himself as well. So I bid them farewell, knowing that we would probably meet again soon.Just before we all left camp in the morning, this guy comes down the trail laughing while he is walking. His name was Smilin' Joe and he literally laughed after everything he said and always smiled. He seemed to be moving right along, so I was suprised to catch up with him later that morning just before Matts Creek Shelter. I stopped in at the shelter for a while to check out the numerous high-quality swimming holes and the supposedly 500 million-year old rocks. Joe moved on, eager to get into town.So I walked on alone for most of the afternoon, feeling the discomfort associated with my new shoes. The James River was nice and the bridge was certainly long (longest footbridge on the AT). The view of the James River valley from atop the next climp was spectacular.I'd heard throughout the day that Punchbowl Shelter was haunted by a kid named Ottie who froze to death in that area after running away from school. Thus, as I approached the shelter singing I was trying to calm my own nerves rather than scare Yardsale, which I ended up doing. He was reading about suspected Ottie encounters in the shelter register and I caused him to jump out of his seat as I approached.We decided that between the bugs and possible ghosts present at this shelter we'd be best to move along. So we went down to Little Irish Creek and camped out. I set up my hammock between two posts on the swinging bridge and, pulling the sidelines out further than last night, slept much more comfortably.
Date: 2005-05-17
From: Little Irish Creek (VA)

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 665/17Start: Little Irish CreekFinish: Seeley-Woodworth ShelterMiles: 20.5Weather: warm, cloudyThe hiking today was pretty uneventful and our main objective was to set ourselves up in a position to receive the advertised free lunch at the Dutch Haus tomorrow afternoon.We almost stopped for the day at Hog Camp Gap, an incredibly beautiful field with two swings hanging from trees. We took advantage of the swings for quite a while and talked with Jus' Mike, a hiker who started in Pearisburg and plans to flip-flop back to Springer after reaching Katahdin. He pushed on after a while and this other new guy, August, showed up. August seemed like a really nice guy and he was interested in getting to the Dutch Haus as well. Oftentimes, when we were further south, I thought to myself "Man, some of these townspeople give me the meanest looks because I'm different than them. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a black guy hiking the trail." Being African-American, August could probably let me know about this a little bit more, but I didn't feel close enough to ask him something like that yet. I do, however, give him my respect for breaking down the white male stereotype of hikers who are on this trail.So we all decided to push on eight more miles to the shelter, but August ended up dropping off early and camping. Yardsale and I reached the shelter shortly before dark to find quite a crew of folks, most of whom had tented. We went to sleep dreaming of free lunch.
Date: 2005-05-18
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter (VA)

To: Harpers Creek Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 675/18Start: Seeley-Woodworth ShelterFinish: Harpers Creek ShelterMiles: 14.3Weather: warm, cloudy, pm rainWe got into Montebello just in time for lunch. The town was tiny and the Dutch Haus was a very nice. Lois, the woman of the house, is an incredibly nice woman who is very welcoming to hikers. She served us a very nice meal, so nice that August and Jus' Mike decided to stay along with Pedestrian, a flip-flopper who had been there a while. Yardsale and I pushed on and caught up with Smilin' Joe while descending The Priest. He stayed at the Tye River and Yardsale and I moved on to the next shelter. I am glad we went to the shelter because it rained horrendously that night. Harpers Creek Shelter was an average shelter but in a great location, fortified like a castle by Harpers Creek. I slept like a rock.
Date: 2005-05-19
From: Harpers Creek Shelter (VA)

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 22.3
Weather: light rain

Day 685/19Start: Harpers Creek ShelterFinish: Paul C. Wolfe ShelterMiles: 22.3Weather: cloudy, pm rainToday was long and my feet hurt at the end of the day. Most of the day was cloudy and, thus, the numerous views we passed were obsolete. We surmounted the majority of the elevation change within the first seven miles of hiking, but much of the flat stuff was extremely rocky and, thus, slow going.Yardsale and I initially planned to stop for the day at Bear Spring, but after hearing from Bedhead (doing a southbound section since he had to get shoes in Waynesboro) that there was no camping there and hardly a spring, we decided to push on to the shelter. Once again, it is a good thing we decided to so so since it rained cats and dogs throughout the night.The real reason that it was a good idea to make it to the shelter was so that I could go swimming. For the past few days I have been swimming (swimming = whole body under water at once) every day and have been seeing how many days in a row I can make it. While swimming holes have been abundant over the past several days, they were non-existent today until we reached the shelter. Even though it was cold and drizzling by the time we made it to the shelter, I could not let my streak die so soon. Four days in a row and counting.
Date: 2005-05-20
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter (VA)

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Day: 695/20Start: Paul C. Wolfe ShelterFinish: Waynesboro, VAMileage: 5.0Weather: am rain, pm sunThe day began with quite a bit of rain and since we only had a few miles into town, Yardsale and I hung around the shelter for a good bit of the morning. Yardsale slept and I caught up on this journal.By the time we did leave the shelter, the rain had significantly subsided and the lush forest blocked most of the rain that was still falling. In fact, I didn't even get terribly wet until we stepped out of the woods and into an open field one hundred yards from our destination.We arrived at the Rockfish Gap information center around noon to find Smilin' Joe and a couple of section hikers. A woman had Joe and I pose with her and a statue of Robert E. Lee for a quick photo and we spent some time studying the ginormous relief map of the Shanendoah Valley.Trail angel Bill picked us up from the info. center (this town has the best trail angel system thus far) and we were off to Weezie's for all you can eat pancakes (AYCE 'Cakes for short). The record for number of pancakes eaten is like 24 and was set by some guy named Twinkletoes. Twinkletoes must be a misnomer (like the guy in prison named Tiny) because these were some serious pancakes. When it was all said and done, neither Yardsale nor I were able to finish six of these monsters. It was a rather shameful experience. Since it was raining, we decided to spend the night in the Quality Inn. Due to the Fishburne Military School graduation and the soapbox derby championship, rooms were scarce and we happened to pick up the last one at this establishment. This was much to the dismay of Method Man and Rza who were denied entry immediately after Yardsale and I checked in. So we, of course, squeezed them in.The rest of the day included your average resupply chores along with some aimless walking around town. We did run into DuBois who was camped out at the YMCA waiting for some familiar faces to arrive. It was good to catch back up to him and we spent most of the afternoon together.
Date: 2005-05-21
From: Waynesboro, VA

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

Day: 705/21Start: Waynesboro, VAFinish: Waynesboro, VAMileage: 0.0Weather: sunnyAt the continental breakfast, Yardsale and I saw tons of hikers we've never seen before. I don't know where they all came from. We got all of our stuff together and planned to do twenty miles to the second shelter.Yardsale got a ride to the trail and I got a ride to the grocery store. I didn't know if DuBois was going to get back onto the trail so I decided to find him and see what was going on. He said that he was going to get back on but that he was going to zero today. I decided to stick around as well; this way I could finish making some phone calls, hang out with DuBois, let Yardsale get ahead so he can catch up quicker after he gets back from his sister's wedding and, of course, watch the soapbox derby.We spent a good bit of the morning and early afternoon watching excited children and proud fathers racing their carts. Afterward, I went to the Y and set up my stuff in the camping area. I talked with my father on the phone for a while and spent some time at the library. In the evening, we all grilled out the Y and I ate three cheeseburgers and two hotdogs. I didn't get enough water today and ended up waking up at three in the morning incredibly thirsty. I walked several blocks down the road to try and find some water to no avail. So I went back to sleep, dreaming of water.
Date: 2005-05-22
From: Waynesboro, BA

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day: 715/22Start: Waynesboro, VAFinish: Blackrock HutMileage: 20.0Weather: overcastI woke up thirsty for the second time and went to get some water. The Texaco station was still closed so I went quite a while before I could find water. I went to Kroger and bought some fruit, yogurt and tomato juice, all of which was very good (best orange in years). I went to Sunday school and then to the worship service at the First Baptist Church. The Sunday school was perhaps the best I've attended on the trail.I finally made it out to the trail at about one-thirty in the afternoon and bumped into DuBois and Bedhead within five minutes. We hiked to the first shelter and decided to go to go to the next water source (the last for 12 miles) and camp shortly thereafter. However, we inadvertently bypassed that water source by several miles. So we decided to push on to the next shelter, making it a twenty mile day. DuBois and I walked and talked together the whole day. The hiking was easy and we got in just before dark, did our thing and went to sleep.
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Blackrock Hut

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

Day: 725/23Start: Blackrock HutFinish: Pinefield HutMileage: 13.2Weather: sun, thunderstorms w/ hailWe sat around the shelter for a good bit of the morning doing nothing in particular. When we finally did leave, DuBois, Bedhead and I decided to reunite at the Loft Mountain Campground.Nothing of particular interest happened between the shelter and the campground except for a lot of deer sightings. The deer in this park are not very scared of humans and most of them will not run unless you try to approach them. This is pretty neat and I spent a good bit of time observing their habits.The campground was pretty interesting as it was filled with RVs that must have each been worth one hundred thousand dollars. It was a nice day but it must have been nicer in the RVs because we didn't really see anyone outside. But that didn't matter because we had our minds set on the campstore and its potential food assortment. I ended up getting a pint of ice cream that, although it was Pet, certainly hit the spot.Just as we were about to leave the campstore, we noticed a very large cloud coming our way. We stayed under the roof of the store breezeway and, within ten minutes, the sky opened up and dumped a massive amount of rain along with a good bit of hail. It was quite a show from our perspective, but Biscuit, English Bob and Mountain Dew didn't seem to think so as they arrived at the store soaked by the storm that had now past and left the air ten degrees cooler.I hiked the rest of the day by myself and actually got rained on by a much less severe storm later in the afternoon. I arrived at the shelter to find August and section hiker Matt, and DuBois, Bedhead and Steadystep came in later. We played several games of chess and went to sleep.
Date: 2005-05-24
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut (VA)
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: moderate rain

Day 735/24Start: Pinefield HutFinish: Bearfence Mtn HutMileage: 20.6Weather: am rain, pm cloudyDuBois, Bedhead and I were slow getting out of the shelter in the morning...again. Sitting in my sleeping bag in the morning, I watched two deer walk right in front of the shelter. A fog moved in shortly before we left the shelter and it started to drizzle soon afterward. A great start to another day.Shortly before the first shelter, I meta guy walking south. He asked me if my name was Vapor and he ended up being Jim, a very nice guy who had emailed me concerning meeting up at some point in or around SNP. Jim took me to lunch in a nearby town and we talked about the trail. It was pretty neat that we were able to meet since we had only been playing email tag beforehand and today was the only day he could meet me. So he just guessed where I might be on the trail and drove to that point. Not only did he find me but he did so exactly at lunch time. Perfect.The hiking this afternoon was very nice and I saw a total of seventeen deer for the day. I also found a large colony of Sulfer Shelf (aka Chicken of the Woods), an edible mushroom that tastes like chicken. I spotted all of these objects because I was looking for bears. According to the shelter registers, everyone who has ever walked through this park has seen a bear except me and some claim to have seen more than is believable. At the end of the day my bearsite-o-meter was still at zero. Oh well, I wonder how many bear saw me.Approaching the shelter, I heard some familiar voices that I recognized to be the TN Walkers. I'd seen their names in the registers over the past couple of days and was looking forward to catching up to them. They lost their dog, Chaya, who ended up being shot with Birdshot. But fortunately they found Chaya and are now hiking some select sections of the trail before they have to go back to work. It was great to met up with them and to catch up.
Date: 2005-05-25
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut (VA)

To: Rock Spring Hut (VA)
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

Day 745/25Start: Bearfence Mtn HutFinish: Rock Spring HutMileage: 11.5Weather: cold and rainyThe TN Walkers said they heard it was supposed to be cold and rainy today, but the day started off just kind of cold. It wasn't until we started hiking that it got rainy.We were all debating where we wanted to hike to that day, but we were able to agree that a hearty lunch was in order at one of SNP's luxuriously-priced waysides. So we made it to Big Meadows by lunchtime and Biscuit, Mountain Dew and I got a bit lost before we actually found the place (mostly my fault). The lunch was pretty good but pretty expensive with small portions, but the blackberry cobbler with ice cream was amazing. At this point, some of us decided to move on to the next shelter (only about four more miles) for the night while Biscuit, Mountain Dew and English Bob decided to stay at Big Meadows campground. I enjoyed the rest of the hiking this afternoon even though it was cold and I moved pretty slow to prolong the next four miles and to increase my chances of seeing a bear. I didn't see a bear but I did hike for quite a while before reaching the shelter. The place was pretty packed with section hikers when I arrived, or so it seemed since a few of them had their stuff spread out all over the shelter. In reality, there was plenty of room and we fit three more people in after I arrived.I sat in my sleeping bag the rest of the afternoon feeling warm and watching the circus that was going on in front of me. We slept like a snoring can of sardines throughout the unseasonably cold night.