morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Luray - Quality Inn

To: Piney Ridge 
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: moderate rain

AT - 5/10Oh hail! - Two hail storms in one day.The hotel had a nice little restaurant attached, so we got up early and had a good breakfast before trying to pack everything up. We still had all the food we had sent, plus all the food we bought, to divide up. Life on the trail seemed easier when we didn¢t have 5-8 days of food to carry.All packed and we call the man who offered to take us back to the trail. Just as he pulled up it started to rain. It rained all the way to the trailhead. As soon as we got our water bottles filled, the rain stopped. Nice! We were considering just hiking to the first shelter and if it still looked like rain, we would stay there for the day. After all, yesterday wasn¢t even like a relaxing day in town. At the shelter we met a young man who was doing some research work. He wasn¢t from a university and I didn¢t understand who was funding him, but he was a wealth of information on all sorts of birds, plants, insects, animals. We also traded him information on long distance backpacking. He said his next project was to help build/plan a long distance hiking trail in Costa Rica.The next interesting person we met was a woman out for a day hike and taking pictures of medicinal herbs. She teaches classes on the subject and also does consultations on your property.Next interesting group was 6 Chinese backpackers. Well the weather looked fine so we decided to not take an easy day, so we hit the trail. About an hour and a half before reaching the Wayside we were hiking a ridge between two mountains. You could see both East and West. The thunder started and you could see the rain working it¢s way up the side of the mountain. Then the hail started. It was all over in 15 minutes. In spite of putting our raincoats on, our pants and shoes were drenched. We continued to hike through it all to get to the Wayside. It was going to be our dinner tonight and we were worried it would close before we got there. We made it in time and enjoyed the cheeseburgers and fries. We researched a stealth camping spot which was only a mile away. Upon getting up the hill to the camp spot we heard more thunder. We managed to get my tarp up before the skies opened up a second time today. We were in such a hurry we put my tarp up inside out. Oh well, it¢s staying that way for tonight.~Desert RoseAscent 2,366Descent 1,674
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Piney Ridge 

To: Compton Spring 
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

AT - 5/11 Day 10 - 100.6 Trail Miles Today was exhausting for both of us. The assent elevation today was 2500 ft and decent was 1900. The trail wasn¢t even rocky today. However, the temperature and sun were factors to deal with. For whatever reason, we both felt tired all day. Hope we both sleep good tonight.As for interesting people we met on trail today, we really only talked with one couple out for a day hike. For several miles, we kept trading places on the trail, when one of us would take a break. They were hiking with their dog that was being carried in a front pack. Lucky dog! The woman is 5 months pregnant and going to have a girl. Her name is Shauna So of course I had to tell her about the Shauna in my life.Since there wasn¢t interesting people to tell you about, I will tell you about the wild turkey and the second black snake we saw. We surprised the wild turkey when we hiked up to a cabin close to where we camped last night. Rumor has it the cabin is locked but there is a privy. Well that was locked too. But I¢m glad we hiked up there or else we would not have seen the turkey. The snake was at a shelter we stopped at for lunch. We ate our entire lunch and just as we were packing up to leave the snake came slithering out of the corner of the shelter. He had to have been there the whole time we were there. It looked just like the snake we saw on day 2~Desert Rose Ascent 2,402Descent 2,399
Date: 2018-05-12
From: Compton Spring- stealth 

To: Jim & Molly Denton Shelter 
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

AT - 5/12 - Day 11 Say Goodbye to Shenandoah National Park We finished up the 3 miles or so of SNP early in the day. I was wondering what the rest of the AT would look like once we left a National Park. In some ways I like the trail better outside the park. I will miss the Waysides and crossing Skyline Drive several times a day. There were several occasions where you would come up on a campground, Waysides or overlook and could take advantage of the amenities. But so far we have passed 2 shelters outside the park that are in better shape than the ones in the park.Tonight we are hammocking at the Jim and Molly Denton shelter. We have been staying away from shelters because they can be very noisy. We prefer the stealth sites between shelters. We made an exception tonight because this shelter has a great reputation. There is a solar shower, picnic pavilion, horseshoes and chairs on the deck. Just had to see this place. Some interesting people are staying the night. There is a couple from Germany, a man from Canada and a family of six. This family lives a mile from where the AT crosses 522. The mother and the three youngest kids showed up first. In all there are four boys. They range in age from about 5 - 11. That mother hiked the kids about 6 miles up this mountain and none of the kids were complaining. The Dad and oldest son arrived later. Dad needed to fix the car. Anyhow it is Mother¢s Day tomorrow so I guess this kind of free entertainment works for them.The only other interesting thing that happened was when we stopped at hostel in Front Royal. The name of the hostel is Mountain Cabbin (yes 2 b¢s). The hostel is located on a beautiful property right where the AT crosses 522. There is a B&B sign out there but that is not the building the hostel is in. It is in a little red brick building as you enter the property. We went in to see what kind of snacks they had for sale that we could use as resupply. The house was two story with four beds upstairs and four beds downstairs, a small but remodeled kitchen and one bathroom upstairs. We bought a pint of Ben & Jerry¢s banana split ice cream and made it our lunch. Just as we were leaving, the owner came over to the hostel. I asked him how he acquired the property. I thought it was probably in the family forever. He said he was doing a thru hike on the AT in 2012 and saw the house for sale. He put a bid in for it and completed the purchase six weeks after he completed the trail. The house was not in good shape at all and they have been working to restore it for the last six years. They are finally close to opening the B&B part of the big house. The big house was built in the late 1800¢s. The little red brick building was built earlier than that and housed the servants. All in all a pretty interesting day.Ascent 1883 ftDescent 3144 ft~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Jim & Molly Denton Shelter 

To: Whisky Hollow Shelter 
Miles today: 10.0

AT - 5/13 Day 12 Rain DelayIt is Mother¢s Day and I am dedicating today¢s trail miles to my mother, who passed away February 2. I know she was with me encouraging me through all the tough parts of the day. Love you mom!I am so glad we decided to use tarps last night. David wanted to string them up but not deploy them because he didn¢t think it was going to rain. I said I¢m not getting up in the middle of the night to deploy and stake out a tarp in the rain. Well it rained good-thunder and lightning. The rain continued through sun up so we didn¢t get up all that early. When we did get up we took our time making breakfast. There was no hurry to pack up. Well we did finally get on the trail by 9:30. Before we hit the trail I used the privy. This privy rocked. First off it was clean. It had a farmers door so if it was stuffy in there you could open the top door. This privy even had a sky light and a mailbox full of toilet paper. Not cheap toilet paper; the good stuff. I know that was a lot about a privy but you can¢t take things for granted while on the trail.It is Sunday, Mother¢s Day and we saw a lot of day hikers. The most unusual group was a dog obedience class out for a hike in the woods. We seem to be traveling in a little bubble of people. Several of the people at last nights shelter is at this one tonight, Whiskey Hollow. This shelter is located on a creek. I don¢t mean to scare anyone but as we crossed the creek on a bridge, we saw a timber rattler sunning himself on a log in the creek. That snake was in the same place an hour later. Someone else said they saw another kind of snake in the water.Enough of snakes. Early in the day we saw two box turtles in the middle of the path. You don¢t often see them in the wild.Hiking was difficult today, because the rain caused high humidity. But we managed to make the miles we planned on. To end the day, fog rolled in the last 30 minutes of hiking. It is fun hiking in the fog, not to mention not as hot and humid That¢s all for tonight ~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Whisky Hollow Shelter 

To: Ashby Hollow Creek
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

AT - 5/14 Day 13Rain, rain and more rain. It rained all night but stopped early enough in the morning that we were able to pack up and hit the trail by 8:30. At times we had fog to hike through, but most of the day was sunny. That means high humidity. Still the hiking was pretty good.We entered what they call ¢The Roller Coaster¢ after lunch. It is 13.5 miles of up and down smaller hills. Up until now we have been climbing pretty big mountains- maybe 1,000 - 1,500 ft. ascents at a time.  And usually only 2 of those a day. The Roller Coaster is like 200 - 300 ft. ascents and descents. They just come one after another. Maybe 10 of them over the 13 miles. From what we saw today, we are going to have a hard day tomorrow. We only completed 2 of them today. About 30 minutes before the end of our day, the thunder started rolling in. Just as we got to our camp spot the skies opened up in a down pour. We got David¢s tarp up and threw our packs under it with us. The rain didn¢t let up for quite awhile. Once it slowed enough, we got my tarp up and we both were able to string up our hammocks. Tonight we chose to have a no-cook dinner of granola bars with PB&J, Spam and pecans. Anyhow we are both dry in our hammocks.We smell like wet dogs; but at least we are dry.I know David is going to post his own story of the night.  It should be an interesting read Ascent 2251 ftDescent 2977 ft~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-15
From: Ashby Hollow Creek

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 6.6

We were hiking along a ridge line about 3 miles into the ¢Roller Coaster¢ when the thunder started to pick up. I checked the weather app and saw a storm was approaching with 50 mile an hour winds and pretty heavy rain. We needed to go about two more miles to get to a creek since we were running low on water, so we kept on hiking. As we came up to the creek the storm started to dump on us, so we quickly set up one tarp so we could sit under it and wait it out before we could set up a second tarp and our hammocks. There was another gentleman at the site who was standing under a poncho in the pouring rain, leaning over his pack trying to find a tarp, swearing and cursing at himself because he couldn¢t find it. We asked him to come over and sit under our tarp for a while to wait out the rain. His trail name was ¢K-bar¢. When the rain let up K-bar went off to set up his tent and Rose and I set up the other tarp and hammocks. We were cold and soaking wet so we just decided to eat some cold snack bars for dinner and crawl into our hammocks. At about 12:30 in the morning it started lightning and thunder and raining really heavy, and the next thing I know Rose is sitting under my tarp saying she¢s afraid the creek that we¢re camped along is going to rise and wash us out in a flash flood. All she could think about was an incident last year in Arizona where a family of 10 was swept away when a flash flood hit.  After about 30 minutes I asked her to go back and look at the creek and see how high it was, and she thought it was good enough to go back into her hammock. Later that night I woke up from a sound sleep and felt something pushing against the side of me. Fearing a bear was coming at me I instinctively rolled over and away from it and fell right out of my hammock onto the ground! It wasn¢t a bear, it was Rose. She was back under my tarp worried that the creek was rising even further. After about 30 minutes of torrential rain I decided I¢d go down and look at the creek to see just how high it was. It looked like it wasn¢t going to come up to the hammocks so I yelled over to her to sleep in my hammock and I would sleep in her¢s. This was all at 3:30 in the morning. Amazingly we did get some sleep before we had to get up and do it all again.I think the worst part, besides the wet clothes, wet muddy shoes and socks, and rocky, muddy trail, is putting on your same stinky clothes each morning. Our last laundry was 6 days ago in Luray VA, and we smell ripe! Rose describes it as smelling like vomit, but I think it¢s more like a mix of spoiled milk, mold and mildew, with strong overtones of ammonia. It really takes courage to put those cold, stinky, wet clothes on each morning!  But tonight we hit Bears Den Hostel and were able to get showers and do some laundry, so we¢re feeling fresh once again. The forecast for the next few days is more of the same - sunny, humid days with heavy thunder/rainstorms in the evening.Dave
Date: 2018-05-15
From: Ashby Hollow 

To: Bears Den - Desert Rose report
Miles today: 0.0

AT - 5/15. Day 14 Roller Coaster Video Game We were in the Roller Coaster all day and didn¢t even complete it. I thought we could but we could only go as far as The Bear¢s Den Hostel. Frankly the Roller Coaster was as difficult as people have said. Actually, there are two camps on the subject. Either you hear it isn¢t as bad as you think; or it is horrible and you want out of it as soon as possible. What made it difficult for me was the wet ground and all the rocks. You wear yourself out planning your course through the slippery rocks and tree roots.Because of the rain the previous night, the trail was like a running creek. It didn¢t matter if you were going up hill or going down hill, the water just ran and ran. Creeks were three times wider than normal which made it hard to cross.I imagined I was in a video game, dodging one hazard after another. Temperatures were in the high 80s, so up hill was slow going. I think I have earned some scout badges:Entire body glistening with sweat badgeWet shoes all day badgePooping in the woods badgeNo ticks yet badgeNo poison ivy yet badge I know some of you are jealous and probably want these badges for yourself. Let me know and I will get you some directions.Checking into the Bear¢s Den Hostel was just the ticket for me. I definitely needed some pampering.Ascent 2,238 ftDescent 1,767~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-16
From: Bears Den Hostel 

To: David Lesser Shelter 
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

AT - 5/16 Day 15. Trees blown down like matchsticks  Time flies on the trail. It¢s funny how you can be dead tired each night, but in the morning you get up and your feet don¢t hurt anymore, so you hit the trail again for 9 or 10 hours. Before you know it 2 weeks have passed and you are beginning the 3rd week of the trail.We headed out with some foggy skies but it didn¢t rain all that much last night. The temperature is much cooler today and is a welcomed relief. Hiking was good for the most part, early in the day. We stopped to eat lunch and met a couple of young men by the trail names of Irish and Beach Bum. They were very nice young men. They are taking a year off between high school and college to hike the trail. They did start in GA and have made it this far, so I give them a lot of credit. Irish was carrying a recorder and played us a tune - Rocky Road to Dublin. You just don¢t find people willing to entertain you like that unless you¢re out on the trail. Irish is from MA but he has plans to attend the University of AZ in the fall. Another AZ connection for you.The day was growing long and some light rain began to fall. This section of the trail isn¢t known for many water sources (except for the water running on the trail). We were stopping for the night at the next shelter but the water report said the spring was a quarter of a mile down a steep hill. Get water before the shelter if you can. We stopped about 3 miles before the shelter to get water at the Blackburn Center. Well this place was a quarter of a mile off trail and downhill too. At least it was switchbacks to get you down and back up. The time spent off the trail put us a bit behind schedule. We proceeded to the shelter wearing raincoats for the first time we set foot on the trail.About a mile before the shelter we began seeing some real devastation from the storm the night before. David has posted some of those photos. Trees were toppled over like matchsticks. The soil was saturated everywhere. There was green leaf blow down from what I now know was hail. Green leaves everywhere on the ground.We arrive at the shelter and our good friend K Bar was there. Two other people were there already too. The shelter holds 6, but David was determined to sleep in his hammock even though the ground everywhere was saturated and there were creeks running where there really weren¢t creeks. The rain was coming steadily. I decided I was safer staying in the shelter with people I didn¢t even know. David set up his hammock far enough away I couldn¢t even see him. I went down there later to give him his dinner and he was still struggling with his set up. He is a determined person. Anyhow my sleep in the shelter wasn¢t so bad. The next day, David said he heard a big tree fall near him. The exact reason I didn¢t want to sleep outside of the shelter.Rain fell pretty hard all night long. If we thought there was a lot of water on the ground today, wait for tomorrow.Ascent 2,409 ftDescent 2,180 ft~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-17
From: David Lesser Shelter 

To: Harpers Ferry 
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

AT - 5/17 Day 16 Heading to Harpers Ferry on liquid trailsThe hike into Harpers Ferry should have been an easy hike. There wasn¢t much elevation change and we were told the trail pass the Roller Coaster had fewer rocks. Well I sure hiked over a lot of rocks. I¢m beginning to see a pattern develop. Well you probably already know from David¢s posts, the entire trail turned liquid. We only had 8 or 9 miles of level trail, so we made it into Harpers Ferry about 1:00. That is early for us. I have to admit when it became impossible to avoid the water it was fun hiking in ankle deep water. I felt like it was a way to rinse the bad smell out of my shoes.I have to say I felt exhilarated to come hiking out of the forest onto the bridge that crosses the Shenandoah River. Watching people driving their vehicles while I have been carrying my backpack for 150 miles, made me smile.First stop was the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to fully register our through hike and to have our picture taken for the year book. Oh my, that was a terrible picture as we were fresh off the trail and pretty much soaking wet. We quickly learned the news that they were shutting down a portion of the trail. There is a foot bridge and train track that crosses the Potomac River and crosses over into MD. It was the railroad that was calling the shots on the closure. It was expected that the Potomac was going to rise to 20 feet and that would make train travel unsafe.Second, we settled into the Tea Horse hostel. Just 2 doors down was a little restaurant called the Anvil. We got a meal there and had a few beers. They were so good.The Hostel filled up tonight and we had lots of people trying to decide what to do about the closure. Conversations went on late into the night. Fortunately we were planning on taking a Zero day and just exploring this historic town tomorrow.~ Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-18
From: Harpers Ferry 

To: Harpers Ferry 
Miles today: 0.0

AT - 5/18 Day 17 Zero in Harpers Ferry We got up early and went down the street to the historic part of Harpers Ferry. This place is so neat. Lots of displays of Civil War history, Lewis and Clark and history of channels and locks where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet. We even walked through a cemetery here. I know Mom would have liked that.Later in the day we had to get busy with our shopping for resupply and figure out what we were going to do to get out of here. We found out the hostel is full tomorrow night so we decided to get a ride to the point where the trail is open in Maryland. It is only about 5 miles away. We made arrangements with 2 men who are at the hostel and are doing section hiking. They both have cars and have agreed to shuttle us to where we can get back on the trail. The forecast is for rain, but the rain has been light, so we are taking our chances it won¢t be a big issue for us tomorrow.~ Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-20
From: Rocky Run Shelter 

To: Pogo Memorial Campsite 
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: mist

AT - 5/20 Day 19 Sunshine and birds return Rocky Run Shelter to Pogo Memorial Campsite 11 Miles How nice to wake up without the sound of rain. Our shoes and socks were still wet from the day before. We washed the mud out in the creek the night before. Wet shoes have become the new normal. We set out knowing we probably wouldn¢t see rain today. No rain coat or rain pants needed. The sun made it a bit humid but I think the temperature only got to about 80 today. By 10 am we reached The Washington Monument State Park. There is actually the original Washington Monument there. Lots of displays of Revolutionary times all about the park. There was even a group of people practicing for a Civil War re-enactment. While eating our snack, they fired the cannon. What a startle that was. It is so neat walking through all these historic places.  The rest of the afternoon hiking was pretty good. It is Sunday and with the sun out there were lots of day hikers on the trail. We hiked along with a mother and her son for awhile. They showed us these flowers called Pink Lady Slipper Orchids. They said they were rare because they only grow where there is a certain fungus. These flowers are becoming extinct because the fungus is not as prevalent as it used to be. That agrees with what a young man told us about some orchids growing in Shenandoah. Anyhow there are a lot of people on the trails in the past couple of weeks due to these flowers being in bloom. They don¢t look great now due to the rain. In fact we have noticed a lot fewer wildflowers and birds singing throughout the day because of the rain. But today the birds were back.We hear no rain for Monday but the possibility returns for Tuesday. I¢ll take it one day at a time.Ascent 2,213Descent 1,679~Desert Rose