morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-09
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Stealth Camp, just over the Tennesee/Virginia Stat
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I crossed the border into Virginia. I have hiked a total of 465 miles. I have finished the part of the AT that goes through Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Virginia covers more of the AT than any other state at 550 miles, which is 25% of the entire AT. There are two states in the US that are named after prominent Americans. One of them is Washington (state) which is named after our first president. The other state is Virginia, which is named after my wife. (My wife (Virginia) reads every one of my trail journal entries, and if this doesn't get me brownie points with her, nothing will.) My wife and I have a mutual friend who has hiked a great deal of the AT. His trail name is "Double Ax Murderer." (My wife and I go to great length to remain on good terms with Double Ax Murderer, no matter what it takes. If you cross Double Ax Murderer, he may have cause to change his trail name to Triple Ax Murderer) There is a forum called White Blaze where people who are contemplating a hike on the AT can go to pick up tips and advice. Some of that advice is excellent. Some of the things you read on White Blaze is hilariously wrong. Here is an example of that. I recently met a homeless man (I'll call him Bob) who decided to hike the AT because he was told 1) The AT is paved the entire way 2) The AT is on level/flat ground the entire way. Bob says that when he gets to Oz, he's going to ask the wizard for some brains. Bob, I think that's a very wise decision on your part.
Date: 2016-05-10
From: Stealth Camp, just over the Tennesee/Virginia Stat

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I reached the most famous Trail Town (Damascus, Virginia) on the entire AT, just in time for the most famous event on the At (Trail Days.) I will discuss Trail Days more on my next journal entry. For several days now, I have had severe back pain, that was getting worse and worse every day. I tried everything I could think of to fix the problem, (taking frequent breaks, lightening the amount of weight I carried in my pack, doing yoga back stretching exercises,) but nothing seemed to help. I noticed that the lowest strap on my backpack, my waist belt, seemed to be very low, but I figured that wearing my waist belt around my knees made me "hip", just like the kids who wear their belts around their knees. I figured I was a gangsta hiker. When the pain in my back got nearly unbearable, I did the unthinkable: I asked a young twenty something kid if my backpack was adjusted properly. "Well no, you are wearing your backpack much too low and loosely," he diplomatically stated. He then spent about 10 seconds adjusting the straps on my backpack. It was like somebody threw a light switch. The pain in my back miraculously disappeared. A few minutes later, my back gave a contented sigh. A few more minutes later, I heard some happy snoring, as my back went to sleep, where it will hopefully remain for the rest of my hike. Who knew!! Yep, like Bob, when I get to Oz, I'm going to ask the wizard for some brains.
Date: 2016-05-11
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Route 859, Grassy Creek Road
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: clear sky

Trail Days will be a three day event, beginning two days from now. As I have two days to wait in town for this event to begin, I will slack pack both today, and tomorrow. Today's hike involved being dropped off with three friends at VA 859/Grassy Creek Road, and walking back to Damascus. An interesting thing happened at the end of our hike. The four of us were relaxing on the outskirts of town, having just completed our day of hiking.As hikers, we don't often get a chance to shower, so we smell bad. We also don't get a chance to shave, or visit a laundry, so we look like homeless people. Suddenly, a truck pulled up beside us, and a man wearing a very large gun in his belt got out of his truck, and walked quickly towards us. We were very worried, but it turns out, we were not the people he was looking for. He thrust a flyer into our hands with a picture of a 9 year old girl who had been kidnapped by her 57 year old uncle, who was also pictured on the flyer and listed as a possible sexual predator. The man asked if we had seen the suspect, who had recently been spotted in the area. There was a HUGE search for this man, as the authorities feared she was in very great danger. The story has a happy ending, as some locals found both the girl and the suspect, and held the suspect at gunpoint until the police arrived. I have to say, seeing that man striding hurriedly towards us with a huge gun in his belt sure got my attention!
Date: 2016-05-12
From: Route 859, Grassy Creek Road

To: Va 600/Elk Garden
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today, myself and three friends slack packed to VA 600. Near the end of our hike, by the side of the road, in a gallon sized sealable plastic storage bag, were several copies of a three page letter that all AT hikers were invited to take a copy of and read. The author said she was with a group called Children of Light, (a local religious cult). The author said she has remarkable supernatural powers, and is in constant communication with Jesus. She cautioned us that a group of evil people called the Illuminati had infiltrated all levels of government, business, and education and that the final battle between good and evil was fast approaching, and that AT hikers need to join the good guys. She then said that AT hikers would know who she is, because she will be handing out green apples to AT hikers. Her story just got weirder and weirder. Yep, those folks are out there.
Date: 2016-05-13
From: Va 600/Elk Garden

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The next three days are Trail Days, here in the tiny town of Damascus. The BEST part of Trail Days is that my wife, Ginny is driving up from Miami (900 miles one way) to join me here. For three days, it's goodbye tent, hello hotel (incredible luxury) Also, we will celebrate our 21'st wedding anniversary, with a bottle of champagne. For three days, it's goodbye to dehydrated camp stove cooked food, and hello to restaurant food, and for three days, I won't be carrying a 35 pound backpack through the woods. On Monday morning, when Ginny leaves and I resume my hike through the woods, I will be glum, but reliving happy memories. Ginny keeps dropping hints that she would have no objections to me abandoning the hike and driving back to Miami with her. I do not think this is going to happen.
Date: 2016-05-14
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Damascus. Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Wow, today was an incredibly interesting day. We started out listening to a presentation by Warren Doyle, a man who has hiked the entire AT 18 times! The more times a person hikes the AT, the more feral a person becomes. Warren is a self described anarchist. Warren believes that as long as he is not hurting anyone, he should be allowed to do as he pleases. As an example, he cited violating a rule that forbade people from camping overnight on a certain mountaintop. Warren said that while he was fully sympathetic to the reasons this law had been passed, (people were spray painting the rocks/trees, getting drunk and breaking bottles in the campsite), Warren had no intention of doing any of those things, therefore, the prohibition against overnight camping at that spot did not apply to him. We also attended a very moving talk by a 69 year old Viet Nam vet who is walking the AT to combat the PTSD he has been suffering since 1970. There was an 83 year old Vietnam War vet there in the audience who also said he is still suffering from PTSD. The 69 year old Vietnam vet said that hiking the entire AT will not end his PTSD, but it will help to diminish the intensity of his PTSD.
Date: 2016-05-15
From: Damascus. Virginia

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

One of the highlights of Trail Days is the parade through town by all of the hikers. It is a fun event, with a not so hidden agenda by both parade marchers and parade watchers. Both groups sport HUGE water cannons that they use to soak each other. At one point in the parade, I passed a group of kids about 7 years of age. The water cannons they cradled in their arms were almost as big as the kids were. The kids had a panicked look on their faces. I could tell that they desperately wanted to soak the adults marching past them, but they had also been taught to be respectful to adults. I decided to see if I could solve their moral dilemna. I paused in front of the children, stuck my tongue out, stuck my thumbs into my ears and began waving my fingers at them, and making funny sounds. The kids began giggling. They showed me no mercy, emptying their water cannons on me. Apparently, when an adult makes funny faces at a kid, he forfeits his claim to be treated as a dignified adult. Who knew!
Date: 2016-05-16
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Today, I had to make a gut wrenching decision. My choice was to either go out and resume my hike in 40 degree, rainy weather (the coldest temperature in the lower 48 states that day) or to spend one more day with my wife Ginny,and for one more day having a flush toilet, a hotel bed, all you can eat buffets in restaurants, and the pleasure of my wife's company (who I have sorely missed while on this hike) for one more day. I thought very, very carefully for a full ten seconds, and then decided to be totally decadent and take my fourth consecutive zero day. I do NOT regret my choice.
Date: 2016-05-17
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

My wife and I were at Trail Days, and Ginny told me that there was a fellow wearing a skirt. Yes, I said. Those are called hiker skirts, and they are becoming more and more popular with hikers. I dont think this fellow was wearing a hiker skirt, Ginny replied. A few minutes later I saw the gentleman in question. He was wearing a very feminine black skirt (with spaghetti straps). His face was painted white, with whiteface. He had flowers painted on his forehead. He was wearing bright red lipstick, and he had a full beard. He had a very feminine walk, and he was carrying a champagne glass with him, that he kept filling with a beverage he had hidden in a brown paper bag. I conceeded the fact that the skirt was probably not used for hiking purposes. There is a saying among AT hikers. That saying is:" hike your own hike," which means you are not supposed to judge other people who choose to do their hike in a different way. I suppose that rule also applies to gentlemen who choose to wear skirts that are probably not being worn for hiking purposes. I am not judging this man. I am telling this story merely to illustrate that AT hikers are a highly eclectic crowd. As champagne is my FAVORITE alcoholic beverage, I would like to add that should I encounter this gentleman on the AT,and should he happen to be carrying a bottle of champagne with him, and an extra champagne glass, and should he happen to notice that I have a particularly thirsty/parched look on my face, my hope is that kindness and generosity will be the order of the day. Actually, if the truth be told, I have more in common with this gentleman than I care to admit. You see. every day, I put on a pair of women's knee length nylon stockings. The excuse I give is that nylon stockings, plus a pair of socks tend to prevent blisters from forming on my feet. Yeah, that's my excuse, but I think the readers of this blog are smart enough to know the REAL reason I wear nylon stockings (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Date: 2016-05-18
From: Wise Shelter

To: Hurricane Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

A few months ago, a movie came out about 2 guys who walked part of the AT. During their hike, a very unpleasant woman named Mary Ellen invited herself to begin hiking with these two guys. She had several significant personality shortcomings, and she enjoyed belittling her two captive hiking companions. I thought Mary Ellen was a fictional character, but then I met her male equivalent. This young man did one tour of military service and the military asked him not to reenlist. One night, while several hikers sat around a campfire, this young man, who was very drunk began to tell all of us his life story, even though none of us particularly wanted to hear it. He said he considered himself to be a complete failure, and as I listened to his life story, I had to agree with him. He said he was so verbally abusive to his wife that she divorced him.However, he seemed to be very proud of the fact that he was abusive to her. He was grossly overweight, he said he drank far too much alcohol, and he frequently takes a drug called LSD. I made the mistake of telling this man that I have slack packed a few times, at which point he became very verbally abusive to me, telling me I was a complete loser for slack packing (I later found out that he has also slack packed, when he was too high on drugs or booze to hike.) I have not seen this man for a few days, but if I have the misfortune of meeting him again, I am going to do what the two guys did in the movie, which is to ditch him. I feel sorry for the guy, but I am not his daddy.
Date: 2016-05-19
From: Hurricane Shelter

To: Troutville, Va
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

In my mind, the most powerful word in the English language is the word "free" (as in at no cost) The second most powerful word in the English language is the word\ "food." Put those two words together, and you have a force multiplier. So when I heard that a church in Troutdale Va was going to put on a free picnic supper for hikers, guess who showed up to dinner? My attitude is shared by a man I met who has kind of dropped out of society, and has spent the last 12 years hiking. He has done both the AT and the PCT hike three times for each hike. He describes himself as a freegan and an opportunivore. Here is a story to show what these two terms mean.At every hiker hostel there are 2 boxes. One box contains free food (usually the selection is very poor) and the second hiking box contains free hiking gear. One day, while pawing through the hiking gear, he discovered a very expensive tent, missing only the tent poles. This tent was so expensive that it was guaranteed for life. So this man called the tent company at their toll free number and complained that while camping on a mountaintop, a severe wind storm blew in, snapping his tent poles, and could they please send him new tent poles, which they gladly did, even picking up the cost of postage. I am not condoning this man's behavior, I am merely explaining what a freegan/opportunivore is.
Date: 2016-05-20
From: Troutville, Va

To: Partnership Shelter 
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: mist

A few random observations are in order here. I have already confessed to wearing both swimming trunks and women's nylon stockings while hiking the AT. With attire like that, you might assume I stick out like a sore thumb. This assumption is not correct. If awards were to be given for the weirdest attire worn on the AT, I would not even get an honorable mention. If you think I am wearing weird stuff, you ought to see what some of the other hikers are wearing.Some of these guys have not had a job in years, so their clothes come from the Goodwill box. My second observation is that after hiking 525 miles, and crossing many slippery, moss covered rocks/logs without mishap, my good luck came to an end today, and I fell on my behind, after attempting to step over a run pf the mill log that was laying over the hiking trail. To make matters worse, although I can hike for miles without seeing another hiker, a group of 4 hikers observed my graceless fall. First they asked if I was ok. When I said I was not hurt, I heard LOTS of very loud laughter. (sigh) MY third observation is that Partnership Shelter is one of the most luxurious shelters on the AT, in that it has a cold water shower, and a nearby phone, where you can call a pizza hut in the nearby town of Marion, Va, and have it delivered right to the shelter, so that's what I had for my supper.
Date: 2016-05-21
From: Partnership Shelter 

To: Marion, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I took an involuntary zero day in Marion, Va, due to the fact that I stepped on several sharp rocks the wrong way, (Virginia and Pennsylvania have LOTS of sharp rocks on the AT) and now the bottom of my left foot is so badly bruised that I cannot walk on it. While having dinner in Marion, Va with a British hiker who is about my age and with who I have hiked with on and off many times, he told me an amazing story. The British man wanted to mail a $600 tent back home to England. He had many things to do that day. Spotting another friend, my British friend asked this other fellow if he would be willing to do the British man a favor and go to the post office and mail the tent back to England. The other fellow, who is also a friend of mine, agreed to do so, even though he also had a great many chores to do that day. My British friend gave my other friend $40, and his English mailing address, and went off to do other chores. My other friend, having many of his own chores to do, spotted a third friend, a not very reliable guy, and subcontracted the chore out to the not very reliable guy. So at dinner, my British friend was lamenting the fact that he may possibly be out of both a $600 tent, plus $40 worth of postage. While I was sympathetic, I was silently wondering how you get to be over 50 years of age, and still doing things like asking other people to do chores that you need to be doing for yourself
Date: 2016-05-22
From: Marion, Va

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Today, I attended yet another free church picnic for hikers. There is a saying that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and this applies even to free church hiker feeds. The price of the free picnic meal is listening to the pastor preach, but the sermon is short, and no pressure is applied, and today I heard an amazing story. This pastor went to Cambodia, which in the 1970's had one of the most brutal dictatorships in history, called the Khymer Rouge. In just a few short years, the Cambodian Holocaust had claimed over 2 million lives. One of the men this pastor was preaching to was a former Khymer Rouge prison guard who had brutally murdered many, many people. The pastor told this man that God can forgive anything no matter how horrible it is. The man shook his head and said that his crimes were so horrible that they were beyond forgiveness. The pastor was able to convince this man that nothing is beyond forgiveness, and now this man is providing humanitarian relief in the country of Laos. While it is my belief that all people who make holocausts possible need to be held accountable for their crimes, given the fact that this man is providing relief in one of the poorest countries in the world, perhaps his sentence should be to continue to provide health services to the people of Laos instead of serving his sentence in prison.
Date: 2016-05-23
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Stealth Camp AT Mile Marker 550.6
Miles today: 11.4

Today I stealth camped at mile marker 550.4 I shared my camp with a 52 year old man whose trail name is "Free." Free is a very large man, and he gave off vibes of being a very different kind of guy. He was in no way threatening or menacing, just very independent, and marching to his own drummer. Around the campfire we began to chat and Free said he is a heavy equipment mover at construction sites. He says he only works 6 months a year and hikes/travels the other6 months. He is able to do this because he is very frugal, saving every penny he earns while working. Before he left on his latest jaunt, his co workers threw a going away party for him in a bar, and they all said they were jealous of him and wished they could afford to travel every year for 6 months like he does. Free pointed out to them that if they didn't blow $200 a week in a bar after work, they could also travel like he does. Free said that in the construction business, you get foremen (bosses) whose whole identity is being the boss, and bullying the people they are in charge of. One day, a foreman was screaming at Free. Free said he would be happy to do anything the foreman wanted him to do, but Free did not allow people to scream at him. When the foreman continued to scream at him, Free put the foreman up against the wall. The next morning, Free expected to be fired, but from that day forward, the foreman was very cordial to him, although he continued to scream at all the other construction workers. I retired from the teaching profession. While most of the principals/assistant principals I have worked for were professionals, I have also worked for a principal and assistant principal whose only objective seemed to be to bully and humiliate their employees and scream at them. This abuse would have been easier to handle if these administrators had cared (even a little bit) about the welfare of the students in their school.
Date: 2016-05-24
From: Stealth Camp AT Mile Marker 550.6

To: St. Luke's Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: clear sky

My sister said that in reading my journal entries, it sounded like I was really struggling. This is both true and untrue. As an example, a few days ago, I was hiking through Mt. Rogers. At 5700 feet it is the highest point in Virginia.It was cold, rainy, foggy, and miserable. The rocks were horrendous, and I wished I was anywhere else on earth except the AT. A few miles later, I was in Grayson Highlands State Park. The rain had stopped, and I was greeted by 2 wild horses that inhabit the park. I stared at them, they stared at me, and then one of the horses began to nuzzle me. I thought he/she wanted to be petted, but when I did so, he/she moved away from me. A friend told me the horse wanted to be hand fed, but that made no sense to me, as grass I pull up, hold in my hand, and then feed to the horse tastes exactly like the grass the horse can get for itself, but maybe in the horses mind grass from a person's hand tastes better than the grass it can get for itself (which makes me think that horse sense is vastly overrated.) However, my point is that in the space of a few miles I went from being completely miserable to being very happy and contented. I am both thoroughly enjoying myself and struggling with this hike
Date: 2016-05-25
From: St. Luke's Hiker Hostel

To: Stealth Camp,mIle 583
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

I spent the night at St. Lukes Hiker Hostel, which will open in 1-2 years. It will be operated by Mark, a physician who was born in Kenya. Mark has just begun to renovate his farm (103 acres) to accommodate hikers. He is relying on help from hikers who want to get off the trail for a few days to a few weeks who will work for free room and board, and possibly a negotiable salary. His foreman is a wild and crazy guy named Gary, whose profession for 10 years was hiker. Gary has an 18 year old dog named Pepper who has hiked 18,000 miles with Gary. At dinner, Pepper sat right next to me, hoping for a handout. When I finished my last bite, and Pepper realized there was no food for him, he began to howl! When it came time for me to pay my bill (I tented, had 2 meals, a shower, 2 glasses of wine, and I used the computer for a couple of hours,) I was told I owed $10. I protested because I felt this was an unreasonable price. ( I thought it was far too low.) We settled on me paying $20, a price I still considered a bit on the low side