morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-15
From:  Pearisburg, VA

To:  Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today Priss & I had a much needed zero day. It has been 162 miles and 11 days since our last zero mileage day (Damascus). But unlike the name would suggest, our zero days are usually quite busy. Most of our day is spent running errands, resupplying with fuel & food, and taking care of laundry. Many times the hotel/motel/hostel that we choose is based on proximity from laundromats, restaurants, or grocery stores. Today was no exception to the rule. We were able to sleep late which was wonderful, but we needed to get to Blacksburg, VA to visit the outfitters. With no car at our disposal, it makes taking care of our chores more difficult. Its one of the many things we often take for granted back home. One person we spoke with offered us a shuttle there and back for $80. This seemed a bit ridiculous, and we were able to find a shuttle for half that.Blacksburg is over 20 miles away and is home to the Virginia Tech Hokies. It seems to be a small typical college town where the population doubles during the school semesters. At the outfitters, Priss was able to try on a few new backpacks. Her current pack doesn't fit comfortably after 600 miles of use. She was fitted by a former thru-hiker at REI, but he failed to consider that she would possibly lose weight along the way. Even when we started in March, she had practically cinched the straps until they couldn't be cinched further. She was carrying vs. wearing the pack. She called REI when we got into town, and they were extremely helpful. They agreed to take back the pack and give her a refund. We also were able to get new lightweight summer bags. Our down bags are wonderful and are rated to 20 degrees. They have been too warm with spring weather and would be unbearable in the summer heat. I also got a new pair of lighterweight boots. Hopefully, these will spare my heavier boots for the more taxing sections and will give my feet a break from blisters.Before leaving Blacksburg, we went to dinner at the Cellar. Our friends Train & Raindrop had recommended it highly. We each had footlong subs, meatball and chicken cordon bleu. The meal was outstanding...the best sub I have eaten in a very long time.Exhausted physically & financially from our resupplying trip, we are ready for bed. Tomorrow we will be hitting the trail again in the afternoon.
Date: 2005-05-16
From:  Pearisburg, VA

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We called our moms and dads last night, and I (Ms. Priss) didn't get off the phone with Mom until 1:30am. We had intended to get up early this morning, but as you can probably imagine, we slept late (but it was nice). We savored our last showers for the next several days, and started to pack up. I got familiar with my new pack; it is an Osprey "atmos 50" and weighs 2 lbs. 11 ozs. I am really liking this pack from the standpoint of it having multiple pockets that I know where to find things in, and it also has an aluminum internal frame that holds the pack away from the back to prevent you from getting so hot! This is a nice concept, but we shall soon find out if it is actually practical.Bug went to the laundry to wash our stinky clothes, and I finished getting things together around the motel room and uploaded some pictures to the journal. I picked up some breakfast and met him at the laundromat. After the clothes were done, we made a run to the grocery for resupply, and made a trip to the post office to mail a TON of stuff! We mailed our winter gear home, bounced some items forward to our next stop, mailed my pack to REI, and sent some cards and other mail.Once we had eaten a nice big lunch, we hit the trail again. We didn't start back until 4pm, but we only had a short hike up to Rice Field Shelter. We had heard that this was a beautiful place to camp on a clear night, and you could see for miles. Supposedly, you can't tell the city lights from the stars, there are so many. Out of town, we crossed the New River on US 460. It is believed from all kinds of tests run on the rocks and things around the river, that although named the "New" River, it is actually the second oldest river in the world next to the Nile.We spotted a really pretty pink flower alongside the trail, and have no clue as to what it was. We are hoping to see one again, because we failed to get a picture of it. It was pink and looked almost like a human heart.We picked up some water at the spring, since there is no source here at the shelter. We crested the ridge and walked under some powerlines on up to the shelter. Bug and I were not disappointed...we arrived just in time to set up tent and catch the sunset. We decided not to sleep under the stars as the temperature has begun to drop significantly (ought to be interesting with our summer bags). We met Chuckles and Gotta Go, whom we had been reading their register entries. I just spoke with my sister and they will be coming up to see us next week! So excited about that...it is always good to see homefolk! Well, the fingers are getting too cold to type, more tomorrow.
Date: 2005-05-17
From: Rice Field Shelter

To:  Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: broken clouds

It was soooo cold this morning, and all night! We didn't sleep all that well, but we did see some large wildlife walk by our tent in the middle of the night. Needless to say, even though the alarm went off bright and early, we slept in. Bug and I got on trail by 9am, and it started off a beautiful day. It was actually a very pretty day, but we had a hard time wanting to hike today. NOTE: we have no intentions of leaving the trail or quitting our hike, just motivational issues on occassion. Bug's new shoes aren't working out quite as well as planned. He has a quarter sized blister on his right-heel. One of his feet we found out is one whole size smaller than the other. We believe the problem lies in the fact that Vasque made this cute little logo on the back of the boot, but in order to do so, they had to cut into the heel cup. Having done this, the shoe now cuts into his heel, thus causing a monster blister. He has been miserable today, and as soon as we recieve signal, we plan to call Vasque to let them know about these problems.We didn't anticipate doing our planned mileage today since we got up late, took many breaks and hiked slow. When we reached Va. 635 at Stony Creek, we saw a sign posted saying the bridge was out. Since Bug may try to switch his boots out, we didn't think it wise to ford the creek and get the boots wet. Instead, we blue-blazed up the road, and found trail magic! Mike DeHart, invited us in back of his house for a cold soda and candy. We hada nice chat with him and had a blast playing with his puppy, a 5 month old border collie. He and Bug discussed cameras and camera techniques, and he informed us on some of the flowers that we would see along the way. On our way out, he pointed out some yellow lady slippers (a type of wild orchid), which are aparently pretty rare.After saying goodbye, we hiked up the road a ways until the trail crossed. It was about a mile up to the shelter, and I mean straight up! When we arrived at 8:45, everyone was nice enough to make room for us in the shelter. Our sheltermates for the night were Hot-n-sweaty, Mongral, and Chuckles & Gotta Go. I apologize for not writing much today, but it has been hard enough just putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe the blisters will ease up tomorrow, the trail magic helped tremendously today.
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Rucker Knob

To: Troutville, VA (Comfort Inn)
Miles today: 7.9

Today was a short hiking day, but it was very warm out, which made the hike into Troutville seem longer than it was. We passed by Hay Rock overlook, a nice rock outcropping with boulders 30 feet high. It would have been a nice place to stop for a rest had there not been graffiti all over it. This didn't surprise me quite so much, considering our close proximity to town.That is one thing that has saddened us out here. People have a tendency to want to see their names permanently placed. I find it so sad, because so many come out here to find solitude and appreciate nature's beauty, only to find someone has come along to deface it. It is bad enough to find this defacement on shelter walls, but it is especially disappointing to see it on natural creations. I mean really, who cares one iota if "JLK loves CMR 4-evah". Odds are, they aren't even a couple anymore.We hiked on closer to Troutville and passed under powerlines humming, and we continued to pass under them as the trail switchbacked for 1/4 of a mile (a little unnerving).Finally, by 11 o'clock we arrived. We soon met Del Schneckety, local trail angel, who was kind enough to take us to the post office and then to Comfort Inn, which we would call home for the night. After getting checked in and settled, we ate some goodies that had been sent from home (yummy peanut butter fudge, peppermint fudge, no-bake cookies, and apple peanut butter cookies...thanks Mom and Christy).We both took showers, which made us feel much better and then walked over to Country Cookin' for some lunch. Neither one of us ate our typical amount, I think because we tanked up on sweets.My sister and brother-in-law called when we got back to the hotel to let us know that they would be in town in just a matter of hours, and we soon heard from Mr. Clean Jr., who called to let us know that he had just walked into town. Bug and I took the opportunity to nap before everyone arrived.It wasn't long before the front desk called to let us know that they had arrived. We walked downstairs and boy, was it good to see family! We got big hugs from everyone. After catching up on how everybody was doing, we headed out to go get some dinner. Once we got into the truck, it was a constant barrage of, "Buff, Buff, Bryan, Buff, Bryan, Bryan...." from our 3 nephews, Taylor, Samuel, and Caleb. It was a little overwhelming, but it made us feel great just the same! They were kind enough to take us into Roanake, VA to Outback Steakhouse, which we had been craving for a few days. I think we went a little overboard with the food...it was all delicious, but the spices were overwhelming after months of Lipton meals. We all headed back to the hotel and decided to call it a night and pick up where we left off in the morning. They have been on the road non-stop since 6am, and we are pretty pooped as well. I think we will probably take a zero day to do some sight-seeing with them tomorrow.
Date: 2005-05-24
From: Troutville, VA (Comfort Inn)

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Nice, nice sleep! We had a wonderful continental breakfast early this morning. Bug couldn't sleep so he was up at 5am. After doing some errands on the computer, we rendevoused with Nathan, Christy, and the boys.We all decided to go to see the Natural Bridge. It was really cool! It is a bridge formed from rock, and the Native Americans referred to it as the bridge of God. Supposedly, George Washington carved his initials in the bridge, though we never saw them. We had such a great time visiting with everyone and seeing the wonder in the boys' eyes as they discovered new things. It started to sprinkle as we were heading back to the parking lot and we were glad we had chosen to see the Natural Bridge first. Next, it was time to visit the wax museum, where we saw George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, General Robert E. Lee, and many other historical figures. Once we had toured the museum, they allowed us into the basement where they actually make the wax figures. With it being Taylor's birthday and all, he got to choose where we would eat. His choices were limited in Troutville. I really think he wanted Burger King, but he settled for the AYCE buffet at Country Cookin'. We all ate pretty healthy portions, and I believe both of the older boys had all they could eat of ice cream. They were nice enough to shuttle us to the local outfitters where I bought a new pair of Salomon trail running shoes. Salomon shoes have a great reputation out here on the trail. My boots are fine, and to be honest, I LOVE my Vasque Sundowners...they fit my feet like gloves. I am, however, pretty tough on my shoes. I am switching to trail runners because of the smoother terrain throughout the mid-atlantic states and because I'd rather not chance blowing my boots out before the crazy rocks in northern Pennsylvania. Of all places on the trail, you want good ankle support there, and you certainly wouldn't want to be breaking in new boots on that kind of terrain. Lastly, they drove us to the truck stop where we still had laundry to do. We had had so much fun visiting the last 24 hours, that none of us thought to get a group picture. So before they headed out, we took a group shot in the truck stop (woohoo)!They headed on, as they were trying to get close in to D.C. where they planned to do sight-seeing the next day. We spent the next hour or so doing laundry and watching Comedy Central with about 5 or 6 truck drivers there.It had been raining when we arrived, but luckily it had stopped when we left. We arrived back at the hotel and were a bit hungry, but neither of us felt up to going out. We have ordered a pizza. Bug is on the phone with his mom and when he finishes up, I'll give my mom and dad a call. It'll have to be soon though, I am pretty much pooped after such a busy day.
Date: 2005-05-25
From: Troutville, VA

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

After molling the idea around between us, Bug and I decided we would zero today since his toe is hurt and all. Today has been a big zero day, truly a zero day. We have done a whole lot of nothing. We toyed around with the idea of doing a 15-20 mile slack-pack, but our trusty trail angel was unavailable. So we rested, a novel concept, since we haven't done much of that since starting our hike.On a different and surprising note...Bug broke his 6 year boycott against McDonald's. Not only did he just break it, he broke it in a big way, with a BigMac Value meal, an extra double cheeseburger, then he topped it off with a caramel sundae.After we finished lunch, we headed across the street to the beauty salon. Bug felt it was time to tame his unruly locks. He got all of his curls cut off, but between the stylist and myself, we managed to convince him not to take it down to a G.I. cut. He also had her trim up his beard a bit, so he doesn't look quite so much like the mountain man he is. Not much else to tell for today, that is all the big news. Until tomorrow...
Date: 2005-05-26
From: US 220 (Daleville, VA)

To: US 11(Troutville, VA)
Miles today: 1.5

Bug and I had grand intentions of getting back out on the trail again today. However, by the time we got everything together, placed it in Mr. Clean Jr.'s room temporarily, and checked out it was already after noon. Since it was time for lunch we walked over to Bella pizza with Clean and Eric. We had their lunch buffet, talked to Not Guilty who was also there, and weighed our options.The conclusion was that since the day was half gone, we still hadn't gone to the post office, and still needed to get a couple of things from the grocery, we would just stay.We also, figured that one more day's rest might be good for Bug's toe.The day was not wasted though, since we decided to call Del, the trail angel. He shuttled us up to the post office, where we mailed some things home, and bounced other packages ahead. (A bounce box is one that contains things you may or may not need further up the trail; if you get to the destination and still don't need it, you just continue to "bounce" the box ahead.) In this case, I needed to bounce my boots to Waynesboro, VA in case my trail running shoes don't work out.Once we had finished up at the post office, Del drove us to the trailhead up the road. Bug and I hiked the mile and a half section from US 11 to VA 220, Troutville to Daleville. We had missed this section when we arrived the other day. It was a fairly uneventful hike, and we hiked it in 30 minutes.At the road we walked down to the shopping center and went to Kroger's to purchase some tortillas for the trail, and stopped in at the outfitters once more to make sure we didn't need anything else.The upside to us taking so many days here in Troutville is that it has allowed some of our friends that had gotten behind to catch up. As we were walking towards the shopping center, we saw what looked to be Train and Raindrop about 20 yards ahead. They had gotten off the trail last Thursday to go home and visit family. It was them, and we stood on the side of the road talking with them for about 15 minutes. As we talked, some maniac leans out of a car and starts hollering at us. As it turns out, that maniac was Hairball; he and Snowbunny had just gotten into town.Bug and I headed back towards the motel to decide what we would have for dinner. His mouth was watering for the AYCE BBQ dinner at Shoney's. You must understand, the further north we travel, the harder it is to find barbeque at all, let alone good barbeque. Being from Memphis, I am a little wary of trying BBQ anywhere but the mid-south for fear of being disappointed.I ate a sandwich and Bug ordered the BBQ buffet, and was very quickly disappointed. What made it so much worse, was that he had been anticipating this for the better part of 2 days.When we arrived at the motel, I took a looooong bubble bath before bed, and oh man, did it feel good! Now we are about to go to bed after watching the Tonight Show. It is easy to get spoiled in these towns!
Date: 2005-05-27
From: US 11(Troutville, VA)

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We took our time this morning getting out of town, but we finaly left Troutville! Chef Boyardee, a fellow hiker, has blown out his knee and is taking time off in Troutville. He rented a car, was shuttling folks around and was nice enough to drop us at the trailhead.I have said it before and I will say it again, but leaving a town is always hard. You get so sucked in by real food, amenities like tv, showers, fresh linens, and soft pillows. Today was especially tough getting back into our hiking groove, because we've been here since Monday afternoon.We hiked the three and a half miles into Fullhardt Knob shelter, where we took lunch. Since we didn't get started until 11, we decided to only hike 6.2 more miles to Wilson Creek Shelter. Shortly before reaching Salt Pond road, I was scared out of my wits when a Momma Turkey thought I was too close to her babies. I glanced to see a small bird running away from the trail into the woods, but little did I know I would be chased down by a killer turkey!Bug and Mr. Clean didn't know what had gotten into me, when I turned and began running towards them, south on the trail. The turkey ran at me full force, flapping her wings, acting as if she was injured to lure me away from the babies. That was the biggest excitement of the day!We continued on, and before long we a had arrived at our day's destination. The shelter is busy busy, as many people left town today. We caught up to Snowbunny and Hairball here, and found out all that had been going on with them since last seeing them in Erwin, TN. Bug and I are tucked away in our tent, and I really need to get up and go to the bathroom, but I keep hearing a noise outside. I'm not sure what it is, but it is stomping around about 10 yards from the tent, and snorting and grunting something fierce. I need to go, but I think I will hold it until the noises stop.One note: I did get out and go take care of business, and made it back to the tent in one piece. Bug told me to take a trekking pole with me just in case, and that if he heard me holler, he would come running. Whatever it was, ran when it saw my headlamp.
Date: 2005-05-28
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Jennings Creek
Miles today: 16.9

We didn't get attacked by a wild beast last night. So, that being said, we packed up and headed out. Today we passed over the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first of many times. Once we reached Bobblets Gap shelter, Bug and Mr. Clean Jr. felt the need to stop for water since there was none listed for the next several miles. The only problem with this was that the shelter is 1/4 mile off the trail....downhill. I agreed though, it did seem like the sensible thing to do, and they let me rest while we were there. We took the opportunity to fix up some lunch and use the privy. What a privy it was!!! Brand new, cedar paneling inside, with a plexiglass sunroof, and a ventilation pipe...it doesn't get much better. I think it's a toss up even still with the privy at Thomas Knob shelter.We continued to hike, and crossed beautiful trail over the course of 6.4 miles, with open mountainsides of rhododendron, mountain laurel, and wild blueberry bushes lining the trail. Down the way, we arrived at Cove Mountain shelter where we rested our weary feet momentarily. There we met a gentleman hiker (southbound) who looked as if he had been on the trail, a little too long. He has been hiking since November from New Hampshire.We quickly continued on, and had a very long descent to Jennings Creek (975' to be exact). My knees were beginning to ache quite a bit. For those of you praying for us out there, my knees could use a quick prayer. Bug and I both haven't been stretching like we should.We arrived at the creek, and set up camp amongst 2 or 3 families out for Memorial Day weekend, Slow and Steady was there too. We had just enough time to set up camp, cook dinner, eat, and start a camp fire before dark set in. Bug, Mr. Clean, Jr., and I sat amidst the fire and shared stories until it died down. Bug spread the ashes around (as any good camper should), and now we have decided to call it a night. I believe Mr. Clean is going to take a couple of days off trail to heal his feet, but will make up the next 30 miles later, and will just meet us in Glasgow.