morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-15
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Relax Inn (near Atkins, VA)
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 43 Beautiful day for a hike today. After some thunder last night, we woke up to clear sunny skies and a warm breeze. Didn't sleep well last night because it was so warm! Had a fairly easy ~12 miles today. Got the couple climbs out of the way early on in the morning and then had an easy downhill section almost the whole way here. Ran into our trail angels from yesterday again this morning, and this time we got their names. Andrew and Laura were out doing maintenance when we passed through. Great couple and great to see them again! Had nice views of the blue ridge mountains and got a couple peeks of the valley below as we walked along the ridge. Got to Chatfield Shelter and stopped to check out the register before heading down the mountain. Enjoyed walking next to a pretty little creek for a couple miles after the shelter. Eventually walked out of the woods and into a field where we went under some really huge and really noisy powerlines. Decided to skip the Settlers Museum (just off the AT) and continued on. Crossed over the middle fork of the Holston River and some railroad tracks as we finished up our hike for the day. Blooming trees and bushes welcomed us as we walked into the valley. I love spring! Birds calling to each other, flowers blooming, butterflies and new life everywhere you look. It's my favorite time of year. I'll definitely enjoy following spring up the trail. Walked through a section today that had so many flowers that we could actually smell them!Got here to the hotel around 1pm and got our room. Met Helium who is staying another night before heading on in the morning. Good to see him again after chasing behind all week! Resupplied at the Shell station, did some laundry and watched tv before heading to a little restaurant up the street for dinner. Think we'll go to bed early tonight as Swiftcreek isn't feeling too well. Hope he'll feel better after a good night's sleep. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Love to family and friends!
Date: 2006-04-16
From: Relax Inn (near Atkins, VA)

To: Bristol, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Day 44 Happy Easter! And welcome back to Bristol. Taking an unexpected but much needed couple of zero days back with Aunt T and Uncle Ralph. Swiftcreek ended up getting really sick last night. We think it was either a flu bug or food poisoning, but we'll never know for sure. Called Bristol this morning and Uncle Ralph drove the ~50 miles up I81 to pick us up right after church. Got to see Compass, meet Windtalker, and see Casino and his mom this morning before we were picked up. Good to see those guys again. Also spotted Treefingers and Ramble On up at the Shell station. Swiftcreek has just been sleeping and resting all day. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow and ready to hike on Tuesday, but we'll take as much time as he needs to recover. Hadn't planned on doing anything but hiking on Easter, but it's been great to spend the day with family. Shawn grilled steak and shrimp for dinner, and Uncle Ralph looked at me and said, "We sure do eat well when you're here!" We'll sleep good tonight back in Brett's bed, and enjoy a day of rest tomorrow. Also got to watch some hilarious old home videos. Love the one with Chef Krohn and his associate Adam Miller from Nova Scotia!Hope you have a wonderful holiday spending time with family and remembering the significance of this day. I've had the hymn "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" in my head for about four days now. (It replaced last Sunday's "All Glory Laud and Honor" around Wednesday.) Too bad those and the "Alleluia's" are the only words I know! "Christ the Lord is risen to-da-ay, A-a-a-a-a-le-e-lu-u-ia. La la la la la la la la, A-a-a-a-a-le-e-lu-u-ia" over and over in my head. Love and Easter blessings to all!"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" -Luke 24:5-6
Date: 2006-04-17
From: Bristol, VA

To: Bristol, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Day 45 Not too much to say about today. Swiftcreek woke up feeling much better (Thank goodness! We're so thankful it wasn't giardia!) and thinks he's ready to hike tomorrow. We ventured out this morning to try and get some more fuel and Aqua Mira (my first time driving a car since March!) but struck out on both accounts. Mountain Sports here in Bristol doesn't carry Snow Peak fuel and was out of Aqua Mira. Came back here for lunch and will just hang out the rest of the day. Not sure how we're getting back to the trail yet but will work something out. Good to talk to Mom, Dad, does 2 and 3 and Grama and Grampa this weekend! Can't wait to get to PA and SEE you guys!Another HUGE thank you to Aunt T and Uncle Ralph for saving us this weekend! Can't tell you guys how much we appreciate it! Swiftcreek is thankful for a comfortable place to recover and family to take care of him. Thanks for everything! As Shawn said yesterday before he headed back to his apartment, "Well, it was great to see you, but I hope I don't see you again, at least under these circumstances!" Love you guys!Back to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2006-04-19
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 47 Cloudy and rainy this morning as we headed out around 7:30. Walked just in front of the thunder until about 9:30 and then got poured on for about 30 minutes. Tough climb up to the ridgeline where we turned right and the rain and thunder turned left. Went through a nice bald section all the way up to the first shelter - an enclosed structure (the first enclosed shelter we've seen) on the top of the ridge. From there we had 10 miles to go to get here. Had a snack at the shelter, signed the register and continued north. Went down to a gap where we passed a big group of high school kids out hiking over spring break. Made our way back up to the ridge and proceeded to do almost an entire circle around Burk's garden, a community up in what almost looks like a basin in the mountains. Uncle Ralph told us all about it before he dropped us off the other day. Really cool place up there - a lot bigger than I expected. Uncle Ralph, we looked for the house with the white fence but couldn't see it. Had a great view from Garden Mtn on a big rock that juts out over the trees. Took a little break up there but soon had to move on because we were being swarmed by bugs! Don't know what it was about today, but they were everywhere! From the top of Garden we had 4 miles to the shelter. Those 4 miles took FOREVER! Had a couple small climbs but mostly steep downhill. And tons of rocks. The last 1.5 miles before the shelter we had to lose over 1000' of elevation - our knees and feet are definitely hurting tonight! Thought maybe we were just being wimpy after our two days off but when we got here to the shelter Restless and Two Shoes said the same thing. We're glad to be here and done for the day. Didn't see too much more spring today since we spent most of the time up around 4000'. Down here at the shelter there's some more green around. Good day of hiking overall (especially when the sun came out around 2), but not as nice as yesterday.At the shelter tonight we have Restless, Two Shoes and two southbound section hikers, Dinosaur, and Nighthawk. Camping around the shelter are Buree and Bravefoot who's with his son, overnight. Down the hill are Brian and Don Johnson, Katelyn and Stogie and Sidewinder.Looks like it'll be a pretty nice night. We slept good last night because it cooled down some. Hope you sleep well in your bed tonight! Oh! I almost forgot. We were talking to Dinosaur, Nighthawk and Restless earlier (all retired gentlemen), and they joked with us saying, "You young people better go home and get to work so we can get our Social Security!" Haha! Sorry guys, we've still got a ways to go. Anyway, hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Love to family and friends.!
Date: 2006-04-20
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 48 Long day today, but it wasn't all that tough. Woke up to a cold but clear morning and got moving pretty quickly. Headed out around 7:05 and had to take a blue blaze highwater trail because the Laurel Creek bridge was out. We were a little worried that we weren't walking on the "actual" trail but found out from Restless (GA-2ME'01) that if part of the trail is closed, the blue blaze becomes the official AT. Saw 6 deer this morning as we walked along just below the ridge. Made it to the first shelter 13 miles away by 12:30 and stopped for lunch. From there we ridgewalked almost the entire way to this shelter. Not too many views today but did see the valley once or twice and had a quick shot of the ridge in the distance. Had some trail magic today. Right after the blue blaze trail, as we headed back onto the AT there was a cooler of juice by a camping area. As we walked up to it we met one of the guys who keeps it stocked, Allen. Talked to him for a minute and moved on. Came up to a jug of water later on that had been left in memory of another hiker. Nice to get some extra drinks on this dry section of trail.Here with us tonight are Restless, Two Shoes, Buree, Jason and Jessica, Matthewski, Brett and Blisterbutt. Should be an interesting night.It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but we hope not since we want to see a waterfall that's down the trail a little ways. Hope all is well where you are! Love you family!
Date: 2006-04-21
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: light rain

Day 49 Happy 600 miles! Moving right along! Another long day for us today, but like yesterday, it wasn't too bad. We had planned to do smaller miles today and then 16 into Pearisburg, but since our package at the P.O. has to be picked up by noon we tacked 8 onto today. So it's a quick 8 in tomorrow. Only one big climb today, but we made it up pretty fast because of the rain that poured down on us. But I guess I should start from the beginning.I slept great last night for whatever reason - only woke up once at 4:55 am before we got up for real around 6:15. Swiftcreek didn't sleep as well- said it was too warm. Packed up and got out by 6:50. Walked the first 6 in good time, enjoying the couple views of the valley and the beautiful green tunnel that we walked about 0.5 miles through. Saw a turtle walking down the trail and got a picture of him. Just before a road we crossed a really neat suspension bridge and got Two Shoes to snap a quick picture. At the road we decided to make the 0.4 walk down to Trent's Grocery where we enjoyed a morning snack: pizza and juice! Two Shoes ate a double cheeseburger. Got back on the trail and 2 miles later took a 0.3 mile blue blaze down to Dismal Creek Falls. Really pretty little waterfall with a couple people fishing. Kept hiking and about 2 miles before the first shelter the rain started to come down. Got pretty wet but dried out at the shelter while we ate lunch. Had the one big climb next and got completely soaked ont he way up, but it was still pretty warm then so it felt pretty good. Oh, and just before the shelter we saw our first black snake! He was about 3 ft. long and sitting right on the trail. Threw a couple sticks at it to try and get it to move, but no luck. So we had to walk (quickly!) around. Swiftcreek and I HATE snakes! Yes, we know that they do have their place in this world, and we respect them for that. But we still don't like them. So where was I . . . ok, after the climb, Just some rolling hills and around 5 woods roads crossings before one last climb to the shelter. Really rocky section up to a nice view from a rock crop. The rain had stopped by then and the fog had lifted enough that we had a really beautiful view of the ridge and valley below. After a quick picture, we headed on the last 0.8 to here. Found Restless and Two Shoes waiting and also trail magic! Bugs, another thruhiker, was doing a stackpack southbound from Pearisburg and left a bag of apples and oranges, and also an apple pie and fudge! So Restless and Two Shoes told us to cook dinner, and then we could have dessert together. Sounded good to us! So we had our rice and then a big piece of pie, fudge and an apple and orange. Great end to a long couple of days. Buree showed up here to so she will finish the pie and fudge. Tomorrow we're all headed to Pearisburg for a resupply, shower (and believe me, we smell bad) laundry and for us, one last night in a bed before a big push to Waynesboro. Should be a good day. It's cold out here tonight! We'll sleep well for sure. Love you family!
Date: 2006-04-22
From: Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Rendezvous Motel, Pearisburg
Miles today: 7.8

Day 50 From my sleeping bag in the shelter last night, I watched the trees dance with the wind in the fading light. What a great way to fall asleep . . . . but I didn't stay asleep despite the nice scenery. I at least had something interesting to listen to while I was awake. First I heard an owl really close to the shelter, and later in the night the rain came down hard for a bit, then slower and slower until it was just dripping off the trees.Got up early this morning cause all the cool kids were doing it. That, and we had to get our package by noon at the P.O. Got up and out by 6:30. On the menu for today was rain with a side of rocks. Got completely soaked during the first part of the morning before the rain let up around 8:30. Tons of rocks through this section which was really hard on our already sore feet. Not much to say about the hike. Since it was so foggy we couldn't see much at all. We did walk up the steepest (small) section of trail today though- that was something. And we did end up having a nice view of the town and valley below from "Angel's Rest", a rock crop on the side of Pearis Mountain. The green continues to spread up through the woods a little more each day.Got to town around 9 and got a room to share with Restless and Two Shoes. Took a nice hot shower, got our package, had lunch, resupplied at Walmart(not my favorite place, but prices were pretty good) and will have dinner tonight before heading to bed. Good day in town, but I almost wish we were heading back out today. I'm starting to want to spend less time in towns and more in the woods. Anyway, not much else to say today. We'll enjoy some phone calls with the free long-distance that this hotel offers. Hope all is well where you are! Love you family.
Date: 2006-04-24
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Laural Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 52 Another beautiful day for hiking. Got up and out around 7:00 and did a quick 2 miles to the Laurel Creek bridge . . . but there was no bridge. Had to ford the freezing cold creek with Swiftcreek and Helium, who actually had to go over and back twice because his dog, Freckles, wouldn't swim across. Crawled across on some big trees, got to the other side and found trail magic! Someone had left a cooler of soda and a box of Little Debbie snacks. Great way to celebrate getting across the creek! About a mile later (and a steep climb) we made it to the first shelter. Took a quick break and got some water before heading on to Wind Rock about 5 miles from the shelter. Not too bad of a climb and, as always, a beautiful view. It's great to be back in Hokie country again! Continued on after enjoying the view for about 20 minutes. Had a pretty big section of downhill to the next shelter where we took a break for lunch. Headed out an hour later and had a nice easy walk until we got to the next big climb. Really long uphill section to a nice view at Kelly Knob. Think we could see Blacksburg from our spot on the rocks. From there we only had about a mile (1000' downhill)to the shelter. Basically our day went like this: bridge out, up, across the ridge, down, through the valley, up, across the ridge, down. Two tough climbs, scenic view from the tops. Lots of people here tonight with us. A SOBO, Boy Floyd, two section hikers, Jigsaw and Jaybird, and the rest NOBO thruhikers, Two Shoes, Restless, Buree, Chestnut, Windtalker, Compass, Red B, Homebrew and Clothespin. Tent city here tonight! Big day tomorrow, better get some sleep tonight! Love you family!
Date: 2006-04-25
From: Laural Creek Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 22.3
Weather: light rain

Day 53 Whew! What a day. Two big climbs, but amazing views from the top. Started the day by walking through some fields where we saw a rabbit, some cows and actually walked through the donkey pen. Crossed over several fences on stiles, one that was right beside the Keffer Oak, a tree estimated to be over 300 years old! Really big tree! After that we walked right by a HUGE cow. And I mean huge. A little scary huge. Anyway, continued on and UP! Big climb up to the first shelter where we stopped for a snack and a drink. Oh! Almost forgot to mention the really scary house we saw in the woods before the fields. This thing was right out of a scary movie. Snapped a quick picture and got away fast. So where was I . . . the shelter, ok. Got past the shelter and headed down down down the mountain. Lost about 1500' to the next shelter where we took a break for lunch. Met 3 section hikers from Florida who came in as we were eating and talked to them for a bit before moving on. Had a nice easy walk and trail magic (sodas in a stream) before another big climb. After dropping 1500' to the shelter, we climbed back up 1500' to the Audie Murphy Memorial. Beautiful views of the newly green Blue Ridge Mountains as we walked. Went up to see the memorial and take a break on the bench that was up there (also stopped at another random bench on an old woods road). After the memorial we did a little more ridge walking before heading back down another 1500'! Crazy. Got to a road and took another break (Wow, lots of breaks today) to rest our feet before making the last mile uphill to the shelter. I was thankful to get here, no doubt about that. Aunt Jan,think this must be the section you and Nena did when we picked you up in Catawba a couple years ago. Swiftcreek and I agreed that this would be a tough section to spend a week on. We struggled up the hills, and we've been out almost 2 months! Do you remember the nice rocky ridge with the beautiful view of the valley and mountains beyond? Think that was my favorite part of the day. So tough day, but amazing vistas to enjoy along the way. Not as many here tonight. The three section hikers, Helium and Freckles, Two Shoes, REstless, Chestnut, Windtalker and Buree.Oh! Almost forgot again! Got scared by a black snake earlier. I walked almost all the way by it before it moved. Swiftcreek screamed, I jumped, and I'm pretty sure Helium just laughed. Pretty funny after all was said and done.Big day tomorrow. Dragon's Tooth, Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob. Also a little store to stop at for a soda. Looking forward to it! Hope all is well where you are! Love you family!
Date: 2006-04-26
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: mist

Day 54 Happy 700 miles! Had a really big day today - lots of views to see from Dragon's Tooth, McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs. Unfortunately, we didn't see much of anything besides fog. The weather definitely didn't cooperate today, but iT was still a pretty nice hike. Got up pretty early since we had a ways to go. Hit a really rocky ridgeline early and did a pretty slow 4 miles to Dragon's Tooth. Took a few foggy pictures and kept moving. Got to VA624 where we hid our packs in the woods and walked down to a little store. Just missed breakfast (by 2 minutes), so we had cheeseburgers at 10am! Had lots of energy after that and made it to the first shelter in good time. Decided to bypass that one for the one only 1 mile later where we took a break for lunch. We had wanted to eat lunch at McAfee's Knob, but it was raining so we opted for the shelter. Acutally started to get cold so had to keep moving. Next we hit McAfee Knob, a really nice overlook from a rock. Got the classic picture up there and moved on since the only view we had was of the clouds. Hit another shelter a mile later but kept moving the last 6 to our home for the night. On the way we hit Tinker Cliffs where we did get a few pictures of the view under the clouds. Also had some pretty steep hills to go up along the way. Made it to the shelter and met 2 section hikers (actually from Mechanicsburg, Pa!, and members of the Susquehanna ATC). Restless, Two Shoes, Helium and Freckles. Actually spent most of the day hiking with Helium which was fun. Saw a couple deer today, along with a big fat bull cow. Came around the corner at one point and saw Two Shoes staring down this huge cow. Said maybe the bull thought Two Shoes was trying to steal his ladies! They (there were other cows around, too) eventually all took off and we were able to pass on through. Also saw lots of blooming things today. White mountain laurel, pink azaleas, our first blooming rhododendron and best of all, Lady Slippers! Beautiful! So a good day of enjoying what the mountain soil had to offer.Heading to town tomorrow where we decided to stay the night after all (think I said before we would continue on). We really need a shower. Really. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! I'm signing off to enjoy the company. Love you family!Oh! We also crossed Blacksburg Road - GO HOKIES!
Date: 2006-04-27
From: Lambert's Meadow Shelter

To: Howard Johnson, Daleville, Va US 220
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 55 Town Day! Got up at 5:45 this morning, ate a quick breakfast and headed to Daleville. Had some steep ups and downs as we followed the ridge south back to I81. Had some nice views of Carvin Cove Reservoir as we made our way slowly over the rocks. Also passed under a buzzing powerline which made us a little nervous. Finally made it down off the ridge and walked through a field before one last descent to 220 a really busy road connecting I81 and 460. LOUD ws the first thing I thought as we walked out of the woods and onto the road. Headed over to the Howard Johnson where we met Restless and Two Shoes, our roomates for the night. Took nice long showers, walked down to the Outfitter and Kroger to get our resupplying done and had lunch at Pizza Hut before relaxing in out room for the afternoon. Got all our stuff aired out and packed back up, too. Swiftcreek was able to get ahold of a friend of ours from Camp Alto Mons who lives in Roanoke. Jennie was able to come pick us up, and we all had dinner together at Cracker Barrel. Thanks so much, Jennie and Brian, for meeting us! It was great to see you and catch up!After dinner we made sure everything was ready to go, and now we're ready for bed. Big mile day tomorrow - have to make up one of the "sick days" in Bristol. Looking forward to escaping the noise of all these busy roads! Love you family!