morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-28
From: Abingdon Gap

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I always hike faster the day I'm heading into town, it seems. No brainer! The anticipation of real food, a bed, a shower, maildrops, and (hopefully) seeing people I know always makes me pick up my pace...Today, with the nice terrain, I hiked 10.4 miles in 3 hours. I had the added satisfaction of stepping into Virginia! I took a lot of "selfies" with the sign. I was pretty excited! I actually wasn't planning on staying in Damascus, since I had been there during Trail Days, but even after 10 miles my feet hurt and I realized I had too much to do. I wanted to try on a pack, resupply, and finish Jennifer Pharr Davis' book. I immediately went to the post office to get Weatherman's care package #2 which contained nice new black and white compression leggings to replace the pair I had that was unraveling. Now almost all I wear is black, so I think I kinda look like a ninja...Then I went to the the Dairy King where I read some more of Jen's book while I enjoyed my lunch. Harry and I got a room in the hostel that is right across the street from Mt. Rogers Outfitters. I went to the outfitters to try on packs and found one that actually seemed doable. Question is--is it worth buying if my current pack is fine? On the other hand, I might really love it. Or hate it. Hard to say.Went to the bar for dinner with Harry and SIS, and I saw Piper and Mad Dog there! Harry bought me a beer. He's awesome.
Date: 2013-05-30
From: Damascus, VA

To: Whitetop Mountain
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: few clouds

Slo-go'en and I went out for breakfast in the morning...yummy biscuits and gravy. Then I went to the outfitter to get a refund on the pack that I returned, and Jeff fixed my umbrella which had a broken spoke. He also encouraged me to ditch my watch, which I did. Then I went to the post office to mail some things home. So I got a late start, leaving Damascus around noon. As I hiked, I thought about the church I went to last night, and it made me miss my church back home so much. So now you know, Emmanuelites, that I do think of you a lot and miss you! (so good to hear from many of you!)Without the watch, I felt liberated from the norms of when to hike and when to stop...free to walk as long as I want. So I walked until I got to the top of Whitetop Mountain, just as darkness was approaching at 9pm (Ufda.) I was grateful to arrive and find a bunch of other hikers there gathered around a fire. I made dinner and decided that since it was a clear night, and I was exhausted, I would cowboy camp under the stars.
Date: 2013-05-31
From: Whitetop Mountain

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

I slept under the stars last night with no rain and I am planning the same tonight as I hear it's supposed to be clear. I went to sleep at 11:30 last night and woke up when the sun rose at 6am, so I felt pretty sluggish leaving camp. I am thinking of buying coffee next resupply.So the going was slow today, but it was beautiful...I feel like I write that every day. And though I don't specifically say this here, I also hope you'll sense that every day I am happy to be on the trail. Every day that I get to hike is a gift, it is pure grace. I am so thankful--I can't believe how blessed I am--that I get to hike the Appalachian Trail.Today I got to hike through Grayson Highlands State Park, which is known for it's PONIES!! The ponies were cute, and I was excited to get to pet one and take photos of them, but I did not anticipate how beautiful the landscape would be. It had lots of rocks and small trees and shrubs. It actually reminded me vaguely of Tanzania. I loved it. However, my knees and feet did not. They hurt. Oh well.I took a rest break at at the shelter that marks the 500 mile point of the trail, at which point I got that song in my head, "But I would walk 500 miles..." In the trail log at that shelter, someone had written, "But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 1,685.9 more, just to be the man who walked 2,185.9 miles to fall down at your door." Isn't that awesome!Today I met a thru-hiker in his 50s named Oak who recognized me from my trail journal, and we hiked a bit together. He's got a pace similar to mine. At night Oak and this guy Railsplitter, who I had met at Trail Days and at that point was trying to get a hitch to his girlfriend's graduation, showed up. Railsplitter had just gotten back on the trail after a few weeks away.
Date: 2013-06-01
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Oak, Railsplitter, and I all planned on a long day to Partnership shelter, which has a shower in it AND has a phone where you can have pizza delivered to the trail. Though we didn't hike together, we met up enough throughout the day to realize we were hiking the same pace. The terrain was nice and (relatively) flat, but it was still my longest day yet. My feet hurt so bad. Thankfully, I will be picking up my new pair of Cascadia's tomorrow. I met and talked with a number of folks along the trail during the day, including 3 college professors who asked me if I had taken a semester off from school and a mom who asked me my age and was surprised to hear that I'm actually 32...It seems like *everyone* I meet asks me my age and is shocked when they hear it. Do I actually look 22?? or even 19? really? I also came across more trail magic! A church youth group had a trunk filled with food and supplies set up along the trail. Railsplitter, Oak and I got to the shelter around the same time, and after taking cold showers, we ordered pizza. A bunch of drunks were taking over the shelter and being obnoxious, so Oak called a hiking buddy named Randy, who lives nearby in Atkins, to see if he would let the three of us stay with him, and he did. Randy even took us to Walmart to get resupplied (BTW--I have never shopped so much at Walmart as I have on this trip!!). Awesome.
Date: 2013-06-02
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: few clouds

After a delicious breakfast, Randy drove us back to Partnership Shelter and Owl, Railsplitter and I slackpacked (hiked without our packs!) into Atkins. It rained, but we had a great time chatting and hiking fast, 12 miles in about 4 hours. Along the way I almost stepped on the biggest frog I'd ever seen...it was as big as my hand when it's opened all the way, the kind you dissect in biology class. It was sitting on the trail, motionless. After nudging it quite a bit it finally leaped away, huge bounding jumps. Pretty cool.Randy met us in Atkins and we all ate lunch at the Barn Restaurant, which is right on the trail as it goes through town. Since they all had the buffet and *somebody* had to order the 16oz hiker burger (that's what the Barn is known for), that's what I got. I think I had it finished in less than 10 minutes, and I wasn't even that full afterwards. I put on my new shoes, which I had delivered to the restaurant, and said goodbye to the guys who were going to stay again that night at Randy's, and headed off. I did not actually WANT to keep hiking in the rain another 13.5 miles to get to the next shelter, but I had a deadline to get to Pearisburg by Thursday so I could get my lab draw on Friday, and I knew I needed to get some more miles in, so I plotted on in the rain, under the protection of my umbrella. My pack didn't feel good after going without it in the morning, especially not now that it was loaded down with 5 days of food. I probably stopped 20 times to try to adjust the shoulder straps and just never quite felt comfortable. Even with my new shoes, my feet hurt so bad after the huge miles from the previous three days. And since I had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep, I felt very tired. So it was a long afternoon. BUT I did have a highlight: crossing mile 546, which is the 1/4-way point on the trail. That was a happy moment. Boy, has the time flown by!!I arrived at the shelter around 9pm and thankfully I found a spot, as I just wanted to crash and not deal with the tarp. After a cold dinner, I got ready for bed, only to realize the kids in the shelter were going to smoke pot--yes, at 10:30 at night. I normally don't care that much--I can tolerate the smell okay--but they weren't quiet. I could sense myself getting angry inside, but I knew they wouldn't respond to anything I would say even if I did get up the courage to say something, since they ignored another hiker's request to go smoke outside, so I left with my stuff and found a place to tent. It was after 11 when I went to bed...I think in the future I had better stay in my tent more if I want to get good sleep.
Date: 2013-06-03
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: few clouds

My feet HURT. And it's not the new shoes. It's from hiking--let's see--108 miles in the last 5 days. Unreal. I am so tired. I haven't gotten more than 6 1/2 hours of sleep since before Damascus. I keep waking up at 6am, literally at the crack of dawn. I spent much of the day thinking about the lessons learned from the first quarter of the trip. Nothing major or significant but they would include: --learning to stop pleasing others (doing what they might want me to do even if that is not what is good for me), to HYOH (Hike Your Own Hike), and the importance of going my own pace--trusting my own wisdom--God is taking care of me--Worrying about the future whether on the trail or in real life (such as worrying about how I'm going to get over certain mountains or deal with rocks in Pennsylvania) is useless. Since:--our expectations never match reality--I have what it takes to hike the AT, if that is what I want to do and feel called to do...It certainly won't be easy...and I might not feel that I have what it takes to hike the whole trail right here right now...but I will be given the strength in time.--Tents > Shelters.
Date: 2013-06-04
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

I "only" went 14 miles today. I needed to give my body a break, lest I give myself shin splints or a stress fracture. So I woke up knowing that I didn't have to rush out of camp, which is a great feeling--"Why don't I do this more often??" I wondered. I had my tarp set up with three sides down, and the open side faced away from the shelter. There were a lot of people in camp but I felt like I had some privacy, since I could only see the forest of beautiful hardwoods and pines from my viewpoint. It's was another gorgeous morning. I ate breakfast under the tarp, enjoying a cup of coffee while I stayed cozy under the quilt...How great! I read Psalm 5--"For Thou, O Lord, dost bless the righteous; as with a shield Thou dost surround him with favor" (as this version goes). I really do feel that this has been true for me on this trip, being surrounded with favor. Maybe it's not actually true, but I interpret all that has happened to me this way-- meeting and befriending Paul/Weatherman, all the times there was a space for me in the shelter when it was raining, slackpacking with Randy, having the guy at Sassafras Gap Shelter give me his bear bag when mine ripped, rides into Dahlonega for a calzone, a brace from Hank, work-for-stays, a ride to Trail Days, Jeff fixing my umbrella, people buying me beer, all the people who have offered me a place to stay in their homes or to meet me on the trail like Slo-go'en and Rain Dancer, food offered, not to mention all the Trail Magic and last but certainly not least, Maw, my trail mentor. I really do feel God has shown me favor. Not that I deserve it any more than the rest. It's just grace. Pennies, as Annie Dillard would say. And I am not too proud to bend down, stoop down, and pick them up.The hiking was easy, shockingly flat, today. What a nice change. I sang Taize songs as I hiked. And then I got this awesome idea: to hitch into Bland for Dairy Queen! The hitch was easy; some sections hikers gave me a ride. Seems like everyone was at DQ, too. The blizzard (and burger, fries, and root beer, all for $6!) was delicious. After a relaxing morning in camp, ice cream, and only 14 miles, it turned out to be a fantastic day. And, to top it off, my feet felt better. I gotta do this more often!!!I am crazy to even consider it, but I may try for Woods Hole Hostel tomorrow, which is 31 miles away. I figure if I did 25 miles on Sat over 10 hours, I could do 5 more if given 2 more hours, right???
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, I didn't make it to Woods Hole. The terrain was easier, flatter, and smoother, with fewer roots and rocks. I made great time in the morning, hiking almost 3 mph. At mile 16, I was still on schedule to *barely* make it to Woods Hole before dark, but then I thought about it some more and didn't really see the point of pushing on hard and paying for a night of camping/shower/laundry when I would be staying with my friend Bmac's parents in Blacksburg, outside of Pearisburg, the next night. Besides, my feet hurt badly enough, I was tired, and it looked like it would rain in the evening. And I wanted to stop at Dismal Falls to wash up since I was pretty sure I brushed up against some poison ivy along the trail. So I stopped after 24 miles at Wapiti shelter. The next day I could stop by Woods Hole for a snack, pick up my mail, and push on to Pearisburg. At the shelter I met a mother and daughter from Milwaukee, both of whom had a heavy accents. They were wearing cotton sweatshirts and said they were only hiking 12 miles a day. It didn't make sense to me but at least they said they were enjoying themselves! Amazing the kind of people you see out here...
Date: 2013-06-06
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg/Blacksburg
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: light rain

Today was a hard day for me, mentally, though it should've been an easy one since I got to look forward to a stop at Woods Hole and then Blacksburg. I was not in upbeat spirits. It was raining pretty hard and I felt beat down, physically. I had to stop at nearly every hill, sometimes multiple times. That's what hiking 168 miles in 8 days (by the end of the day) will do.Woods Hole is a "Don't miss!" stop on the AT. It's a "slice of heaven," a great hostel known for its 1880's chesnut-log cabin, sustainable living, a big garden, free-range chickens, good food, and the wonderful couple that runs the place. In so many ways it's exactly what I want to do, as I think about the idea of running my own hostel. So I was so excited to get there, but I didn't feel very welcomed by the "bouncer"--who I have since come to find out was just a work-for-stay guest. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that I think my expectations were too high. Also, my self-pity level was running pretty high at that point, as I was tired, hungry, wet, and cold--and this is where I had no one to blame but myself--I had been hoping for a warm "Patti"-style welcome (my potter-friend from back home who is the most wonderful host) and maybe even an offer of a cup of tea, which is how I would want my hiker hostel to be. I really do like Woods Hole a lot, and while it's no one's fault but my own that my expectations were not met, I did learn a lot that day about how I would want my theoretical hostel-of-the-future to be like. Visiting all these hostels has been a good experience in that regard.I finally got my package from my parents who sent me beef jerky from Ingebretsen's, a Scandinavian butcher shop from back home that I love, along with some other things I requested like replacement socks. (Behind every successful thru-hiker is a hard-working loved one back home--thanks Mom and Dad!) I left later than expected and at 6pm I arrived, soaked and muddy, in Pearisburg, where I met my friend Bmac's mom, Carolyn, who wisely thought to bring trash bags and towels to protect her new car from all the mud! We drove home to Blacksburg where we enjoyed her favorite meal: BBQ pork, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw, fruit salad, and local ice cream for dessert (peanut butter and mocha chocolate chip--awesome!). It was *delicious*. What a TREAT. Then I took a bubble bath, did laundry and watched the French Open.
Date: 2013-06-07
From: Pearisburg/Blacksburg

To: Pearisburg/Blacksburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Although I went to bed after 11, I woke up at 4:45 am and was unable to fall asleep again. Carolyn took me to get the lab draw, which took a long time but otherwise went just fine. Then we went to the outfitter for Superfeet, a new spoon (my lexan spoon broke!), more AquaMira, and some Down wash so I could wash my down quilt. Then we went to the post office and then the grocery store, where I was happy to find a natural foods section. I miss the co-ops in the Twin Cities...not that I can afford to buy organic all the time, but sometimes the organic is the same price as the regular food! Doing errands burned up the whole morning. In the afternoon, I caught up on email and at 4:30 pm we left for The Homeplace Restaurant, an AYCE (All You Can Eat) place that is another "Don't Miss!" among hikers. It is a big farmhouse-turned-restaurant in the middle of a field, very close to the AT, that is only open on Thur-Sun. I had mentioned I wanted to make it fit in my hiking schedule, but realized I would arrive there on a Wednesday. So Carolyn and her husband offered to take me there, as they had been talking about going there themselves sometime, and they invited two couples they know to join us. So we all ate, family-style, while they asked me a lot of questions about the AT. I enjoyed answering their questions, all the while trying to eat as much as I could! It was great!
Date: 2013-06-08
From: Pearisburg/Blacksburg

To: Pearisburg/Blacksburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I really did plan on hiking out today! But when I looked out the window Saturday morning, my heart sank when I saw that it was raining--hard. Of course, the forecast was for sunshine, but you can never depend on the forecast in Appalachia. And while it's one thing to get caught in the rain, it's another thing to willingly go out in it, knowing you'll just get soaked. So I decided to wait and see, always a good option on the trail when it comes to the weather. Carolyn kindly suggested I think about staying another night but I insisted that I wanted to try to hike out in the afternoon.While I waited out the rain, I went on the computer for the morning to update my trail journal, and amazingly by 10 am the clouds lifted. But as I finally had unrestricted computer access and was really making progress (this takes me a long time to write!), I decided to keep going for another couple of hours. At lunchtime, as I was heating up leftovers, Carolyn asked me how she could pray for me, and of course that led to a long, wonderful, deep conversation, the kind I crave more of on the trail where the talk seems to be centered mostly on food, the trail, and other hikers. Fun, but a bit superficial. It is nice to have older women with very different life experiences speak into MY life and share from all the wisdom they've gained. One thing she said to think about is to not let finishing the AT become so important that it becomes like an idol. I appreciate that. I told her that I really do think God wants this as much as I do, but I have already decided that if God were to make it very, very clear to me that I am not supposed to finish the trail, I could trust God enough to leave it, but that I would not easily abandon my goal. In mid-afternoon, it was obvious that I was not in fact going to return to the trail, which Wayne thought was probably good for me as I was still quite tired and couldn't walk down the stairs like a normal person! I had a truly relaxing evening reading, editing my journal (I edited all the entries as many of them did not seem clear to me), and watching golf and tennis (Wayne and Carolyn's favorite sports) while eating outstanding locally made ice cream. I am so glad I got to stay with Bmac's parents, who treated me like their daughter and were so easy-going and generous...and cute--Wayne brought me mints and Werther's for the trail :-)! Thank you, Carolyn and Wayne, for your *wonderful* hospitality!
Date: 2013-06-09
From: Pearisburg/Blacksburg

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

One benefit of not going back on the trail on Saturday was that I could go to church on Sunday, for the first time since I started the trail. Not that I like visiting new churches, but I just thought it would be good for me. And it was. The sermon was on the Lord's Prayer, pretty fitting since I pray a lot while I hike, and though I would not call it revolutionary, it offered some good reminders: it's not about HOW you pray that makes God hear you; God does not get irritated by your persistence; and sometimes you can ask for what you want and-- you never know--you just might get it (or not). And sometimes a prayer can simply be "God!" or "Help!" After lunch, Carolyn and Wayne dropped me off at the trail and off I went--slowly on the muddy trails and trying hard not to touch the poison ivy that was all over. The trail went through a short residential section, then over a bridge, around an industrial plant, and then into the woods. There was a big uphill and I was tired so I stopped a lot. At one point, I read a note that Carolyn had slipped in my pack for me to read on the trail. Another time I read Paul's book. As I hiked, I prayed and cried a lot about this whole idea to open a hiker hostel, and about Africa, and about how to best nurture hiker's souls--how to help them know that they are loved. Sometimes nothing happens in my soul while I hike and sometimes the tears and anger and not-quite-epiphanies come. Not sure why that happens.I got into Rice Field Shelter late and fixed dinner: burritos with TVP taco "meat," kale, tomatoes, and--get this--Organic Valley Raw Milk Cheddar from Wisconsin! Definitely a "keeper" meal. The shelter was empty, so I decided to go ahead and sleep there...so glad I did! A huge thunderstorm blew in and the rain pounded on the metal roof, and I slept like a baby, as that is one of my favorite sounds from the time I was a camper at HoneyRock.
Date: 2013-06-10
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: moderate rain

It rained the whole night. Poured. At 7 am I woke up, used the bathroom, and--amazingly--fell back asleep again. I haven't been able to do that yet on this trip. At 9am I woke up again and it was still raining, so I just hung out in the shelter til the rain subsided a little, heading out after 11am.It pretty much rained all day, with short breaks long enough so I could eat. By the afternoon, the many intermittent streams in the area were small rivers, as much as knee-high at times. (Way worse than the day I had to climb up Albert Mountain). I pushed on to the second shelter, assuming it wouldn't be full since I passed the first shelter and "The Captains" (pretty much a free back-porch crash-pad, at some guy's place) to get there and figured that anyone who had stayed at those two places the night before would have gone more than 3 or 4 miles to get to Bailey Gap, but I was wrong. Ten people were already crammed in the shelter, smoking weed. There weren't any tenting spots around the shelter, so they offered to make space for me, but I went off into the woods and found a flat spot up on a knoll. Thankfully it stopped raining long enough to eat, set up my tarp and hang my bear bag, which always takes me a while. I went to bed, grateful to have dry, warm gear, particularly my quilt (one hiker I know just sent home his sleeping bag and was just using an emergency blanket!).