morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-02-04
To: I Had To Delete a Guestbook Entry Today!
Miles today: 0.0

Wow, I woke up and did my things around the house and then checked my email, and found I had a guestbook entry. Someone decided that they didn't like my comment about Bill Clinton. Supposedly the fact that I teach history and actually worked as a lobbyist during the Clinton years hasn't taught me anything about the Clinton presidency.   Whatever, this is my journal, and if you don't like it...then don't read it. I didn't even insult Bill, I just said...nothing really happened during his presidency. Look compare him to other twentieth century presidents.Roosevelt-Depression and WW2Truman-WW2 and Korean WarEisenhower-Not much happenedKennedy-Cuban Missile Crisis and VietnamJohnson-Vietnam, Civil Rights, Great SocietyNixon-Soviets, China, VietnamFord-Not much happenedCarter-Iran HostagesReagan-Cold War and RecessionBush-First Gulf WarClinton-Pretty peaceful at home! .Com Boom, doesn't bust until Bush #2, this is by no means a shot, but I just wanna know what did he do that was sooo great?(Rhetorical, no one needs to tell me, I opened the politics can and I am closing it with this journal entry.) Times were good, so we give him credit...but history often doesn't remember presidents that way. Let's wait and see what is said 30 years from now.Sorry for the little history lesson, but I can't stand people who feel the need to make a negative comment when it isn't necessary. I thought it was a friend at first busting me, but he/she didn't leave a name or email. That being said I'm getting an itch for the trail so hopefully I'll get out for a day or overnight somewhere soon. Other than that, not much going on, I'm suffering from Insomnia right now, and it has been 7 full 24hour days since my last cigarette...Woohoo!!! Song of the Day!!!Just in my head but still a great Classic Metal song.Patience by Guns and Roses:Shed a tear 'cause I'm missin' youI'm still alright to smileGirl, I think about you every day nowWas a time when I wasn't sureBut you set my mind at easeThere is no doubtYou're in my heart nowSaid, woman, take it slowIt'll work itself out fineAll we need is just a little patienceSaid, sugar, make it slowAnd we come together fineAll we need is just a little patience(patience)Mm, yeahI sit here on the stairs'Cause I'd rather be aloneIf I can't have you right nowI'll wait, dearSometimes I get so tenseBut I can't speed up the timeBut you know, loveThere's one more thing to considerSaid, woman, take it slowAnd things will be just fineYou and I'll just use a little patienceSaid, sugar, take the time'Cause the lights are shining brightYou and I've got what it takesTo make it, We won't fake it,I'll never break it'cause I can't take itI BEEN WALKIN' THE STREETS AT NIGHTJUST TRYIN' TO GET IT RIGHTHARD TO SEE WITH SO MANY AROUNDYOU KNOW I DON'T LIKEBEING STUCK IN THE CROWDAND THE STREETS DON'T CHANGEBUT BABY THE NAMEI AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THE GAME'CAUSE I NEED YOUYEAH, YEAH, BUT I NEED YOUOO, I NEED YOUWHOA, I NEED YOUOO, ALL THIS TIME **
Date: 2008-02-10
To: Gettin' Worse Before I Get Better
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I find it funny that my lungs are getting worse before they get better. I met up with Survivor Dave yesterday as he lives about 20 minutes from my house and we hiked a little trail in the Atlanta metro area followed by a good lunch. What I found funny was here was this guy 12 years older than me, who smokes still and was handling the uphill much better than I, what the...? Then I realized it was my lungs healing that was causing me problems. Just remembering from the last two times that I tried to quit how bad my lungs seemed to be about two weeks after quitting. It seemed like anything that gets my lungs burning results in my sinuses being messed up for the rest of the day, but I figure it's gonna get better...hopefully soon. But anyways, I digress, Survivor Dave, he's a good guy, so if any of you run into him, say hi for me! I'll hook up with him for a sendoff beer before he leaves for his thru.So I'm sitting here watching "5 Million Steps", it's not the greatest of trail movies, but it's kinda cool as it's from the mid eighties and it's neat to watch the evolution or changes from hikers then to now.   I've been thinking about a post on WB about Hiker Trash and what makes a person one...makes me laugh in that thru hiking has absolutely nothing to do with it, but many assume it does. It has to do with an attitude, and it's not something that is easily explained, so just stop by Lone Wolf's house in Damascus and ask him if you fit the mold, if he don't dub you, then you ain't it...He's gonna love me for sending people to his home!   On another note, I better start curbing what I am eating as I keep gaining weight, but my waist has shrunk...it's the weight lifting, my body always puts on weight at first...but I still would like to lose 20-30lbs before June...can I do it? We'll see.Watched an excellent movie tonight, an Indy film called "Once", lead actor is Glen Hansard, lead singer of the Irish Rock Group, "The Frames". The soundtrack is awesome, and I highly recommend checking it out. My song for the day is from the soundtrack, but is also on the newest album by The Frames. Falling Slowly by Glen HansardI don't know youBut I want youAll the more for thatWords fall through meAnd always fool meAnd I can't reactAnd games that never amountTo more than they're meantWill play themselves outTake this sinking boat and point it homeWe've still got timeRaise your hopeful voice you have a choiceYou've made it nowFalling slowly, eyes that know meAnd I can't go backMoods that take me and erase meAnd I'm painted blackYou have suffered enoughAnd warred with yourselfIt's time that you wonTake this sinking boat and point it homeWe've still got timeRaise your hopeful voice you had a choiceYou've made it nowTake this sinking boat and point it homeWe've still got timeRaise your hopeful voice you had a choiceYou've made it nowFalling slowly sing your melodyI'll sing along
Date: 2008-02-24
To: Then and Now
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I was on the phone with Survivor Dave the other day and we got to talking about Newb hikers starting their thru-hikes. It wasn't anything bad, just the realization about how much I have changed since 2005, three years, not that long, but almost 500 miles later on the AT. It's refreshing and brings a smile to my face when I read someone's journal that hasn't really done any hiking on the AT, they seem to have this excitement about everything they do in preparation.   I went back and read my journal form 2005 the other day, and yes...I was the same way, and I wasn't even doing a thru-hike. However, now that I have become lazy hiker trash, I don't get excited by all the little things anymore. My excitement comes in when I head off to hit the trail, but as far as getting gear together, and food,etc. It's the pain in the ass part of hiking that I try to get thru as fast as possible. Now don't get me wrong, I like to talk gear as much as the next person, but not in my journals anymore.On another note looking towards the summer I am seriously considering shipping my pack up to Maine before my hike as the airline has already changed itinerary 3 times...and there is still 3.5 months before I hike.   I got time to think about that one though, so we'll see. Anyways, I'm getting tired, so I think it's time to hit the hay!Song for the Day:Feelin' Trippy, so picked one of the trippiest songs out there, another oldie, but still awesome!!! When lyrics still meant something!White Rabbit-Jefferson AirplaneOne pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallAnd if you go chasing rabbitsAnd you know you're going to fallTell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillarHas given you the callCall AliceWhen she was just smallWhen men on the chessboardGet up and tell you where to goAnd you've just had some kind of mushroomAnd your mind is moving lowGo ask AliceI think she'll knowWhen logic and proportionHave fallen sloppy deadAnd the White Knight is talking backwardsAnd the Red Queen's "off with her head!"Remember what the dormouse said:"Feed your headFeed your headFeed your head"
Date: 2008-03-09
To: A Little Party.
Miles today: 0.0

Well I am about 4 weeks away from officially hitting the trail this year as it doesn't count unless I am adding new miles to my total. Hopefully Creamsicle will be joining me on the trail for my Virginia shakedown hike.   Anyhoo, went up to Mountain Crossings yesterday to help out as Winton was throwing a party for his Bday and for the hikers that were present. Survivor Dave grilled while I played serving boy down in the hostel. It was a great time as all ate and drank well. Ron Haven even came down and brought some hikers. Finally got to meet Kirby, a young man (16yrs) from Maine who did double the work in the fall so he could hike the AT this year, if only my students were as responsible as this young man is. It's been about 6 weeks since I quit smoking and it does get easier, I have been working out regularly and that goes well, but I haven't started losing weight yet...just changed up my workouts today as I have been getting bulk, just not slimming, my hope is this new workout will aid in that as I don't need to be huge for my summer hike, but I would like to trim some weight. That being said, I feel much better than I have in years, so I'm still happy with where my body is going. As for my summer hike, it is official and Orangebug will be joining me, I've sent the reservations in for Katahdin Stream, should know soon if I got it, if not then there should be space at the Birches, as I don't think we'll see too many people that early in the season, especially with the heavy snow up in Maine still.   Anyways, don't got much else to say today, but I guess I gotta give a song of the day...so the song of the day is:Against the Wind-Bob Seger   Why? Because it's a great song! That and I was watching Forest Gump today and can't get it out of my head!It seems like yesterdayBut it was long agoJaney was lovely, she was the queen of my nightsThere in the darkness with the radio playlng lowAnd the secrets that we sharedThe mountains that we movedCaught like a wildfire out of controlTill there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to proveAnd I remember what she said to meHow she swore that it never would endI remember how she held me oh so tightWish I didnt know now what I didnt know thenAgainst the windWe were runnin against the windWe were young and strong, we were runninAgainst the windAnd the years rolled slowly pastAnd I found myself aloneSurrounded bv stranners I thought were my friendsI found myself further and further from my homeAnd I guess I lost my wayThere were oh so many roadsI was living to run and running to liveNever worried about paying or even how much I owedMoving eight miles a minute for months at a timeBreaking all of the rules that would bendI began to find myself searchinSearching for shelter again and againAgainst the windA little something against the windI found myself seeking shelter against the windWell those drifters days are past me nowIve got so much more to think aboutDeadlines and commitmentsWhat to leave in, what to leave outAgainst the windIm still runnin against the windWell Im older now and stillAgainst the wind
Date: 2008-03-20
From: Home

To: Tye River
Miles today: 429.2
Weather: clear sky

Two weeks till I set off to do about 55 miles in Va. Before I set off I will add in some mileage that I did when I went to visit a friend in February, it's only day hiking and it took two days from the Tye River to Rockfish Gap, not a real big deal, but all the same it's mileage that I get to add to my total, it's been several weeks since I quit smoking and it has gotten much easier to stay away from it.   I am in better shape than I have been in, in quite some time, I haven't really lost any weight, but I am thinner and even stronger than I was before, so I'll just keep working out and see where it goes, but I am looking forward to seeing how much easier it is to hike with a stronger, smoke-free body.   Should be heading out around April 5th to hike for a few days. Watching "Across the Universe" right now, great music and a pretty trippy movie at times. Went to a great concert the other night, Josh Radin, Cary Brothers, AM, and Ingrid Michaelson, for the most part very mellow music.   Anyways, thought it was time to update some mileage and get the official year's totals going, so without further ado...the song of the day is!   Just a great song I can't get out of my head!Glass Parade-Cary BrothersJust a voice inside your headWhispering all the hope is deadAll the time you had to proveThat no one really loves youI found you in a reflectionYou didn't want me to seeI will give you all i haveJust look up, break down and believeThis is a glass paradeA fragile stateAnd i am not trying to breakAnd the stars are shiningThe moon is rightAnd i would kill to be with you tonightWish you told me all the truthSo afraid to face an absoluteAll the fights you had to loseAll the fear was put upon youI found you when you were brokenToo many cracks of deceitI will give you all i haveJust look up, break down and believeThis is the feeling, fallingSo much i want to sayShow me the same emotionShow me what's at stakeHow much can you takeWhen you realise your fate?Hold me now as the car lights fadeAnd we are dancing in the glass paradeIt's just a voice inside your head
Date: 2008-03-21
From: Tye River

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 29.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Not much to say about this, took the Mau-Har trail up and walked a bit of the way down the Parkway, views weren't bad, but seeing as I did it in February, it was COLD!!! My buddy picked me up on the Parkway and dropped me off the next morning, nice and easy walk down to the Gap where I waited and chilled until he picked me up and we hung out and had a great meal that night and the next day before I headed back down to Atlanta.   Yep, I day hiked...shhh.....don't tell anyone! Next post will be in two weeks before I head off for the Sinking Creek Valley to Troutville hike.
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Home

To: Va 42, Sinking Creek Valley
Miles today: 0.0

Well, went to the Annual Hiker's Fool Day Bash at Ron Haven's Sapphire Inn in Franklin, NC. It was a great time as usual even though the weather was kinda rainy. Saw some great friends, great food, and great drink. Anyhoo, headin' out with Creamsicle tomorrow for Virginia, it's about time too. Been cooped up too long at home, finally it's hiking season!!! Got the pack packed, foods ready to go, and as of 3pm tomorrow we'll be on the road.   I'll post when I get back! Song of the Day: Just an awesome tune from my younger days.Somethings Always Wrong-Toad the Wet SprocketAnother day I call and never speakAnd you would say nothing's changed at allAnd I can't feel much hope for anythingIf I won't be there to catch you if you fallAgainIt seems we meetIn the spacesIn betweenWe always sayIt won't be longBut something's always wrongAnother game of putting things asideAs if we'll come back to them some timeA brace of hope a pride of innocenceAnd you would say something has gone wrongAgainIt seems we meetIn the spacesIn betweenWe always sayIt won't be longBut something's always wrong"Again we fail to meet and mendThe spaces safe between intentsWe say too much and long been gone,Oh but something's always wrong.""Again we fail to make amendsAnd wend our way between intentsAnd looking back, not moving onOh but something's always wrong.""Again we fail to meet and mendThe spaces safe between intentsWe say too much, too long been goneOh but something's always wrong.
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Va 42, Sinking Creek Valley

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, today started with Brenda forgetting she was picking us up, but she finally made it and we were on our way to 42. Brenda runs the Rendezous Motel in Pearisburg and is a great lady on the trail, look her up if you're in Pearisburg. Anyhoo, we finally started hiking around 11:30. We hiked all day with the expectation of rain but saw none. Climbed up to the ridge and decided to sit on a log to eat as dropping down to the shelter was a .25 mile hike...and that wasn't gonna happen. The views of the valley were awesome with much hawk activity. Creamsicle's feet started to bother him around 6pm. Got the tent set up and went to make dinner when the skies started to open up. We sat in the shelter and ate dinner then talked and listened to music, before running for the tents. It's about ten now and time for bed. May have used the song before but song of the day is:Appalachian Rain by Johnsmith.
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Niday Shelter

To: Catawba Shelter
Miles today: 24.7

Woke up to overcast skies once again...and low forties, didn't seem like it was gonna get to the mid sixties today....and it didn't.   We hiked the little over a mile down to the gap and road where we ran into some fellas from S. Georgia waiting for a thru hiker.   He came along shortly after us as we heard them as we started a road walk in the valley. We had decided that we were gonna get to the Homeplace for dinner...no matter what!!! It was cool seeing all the small farms and the valley was a great walk, would be nice if there were still some of these walks as the official route on the AT. Upon reaching 311 we walked down two miles to the grocery store where we reupped and then started to walk down to the Homeplace for dinner, traffic was rough and a girl stopped and offered us a ride, who were we to refuse as we piled in and were shortly at the Homeplace where we dined on Fried Chicken and Roast Beef followed by Cherry Cobbler for desert before hiking the two miles up hill out of town followed by two more miles to Catawba shelter, my foot started hurting today, trying to figure out why, but I think it was from the road walk, I think one of the tendons in my foot is tight. Anyways, there is a couple out from V. Tech camping here tonight and they offered us cheddarwursts that they had left over, which we of course ate.   Haven't seen any other hikers on the trail yet, other than one guy dayhiking with a dog. Rain started falling again tonight but we were comfortably in our bags int he shelter, no mice, awesome day again on the trail.Song of the Day:Sweet Baby James-James Taylor
Date: 2008-04-07
From: Catawba Shelter

To: Troutville
Miles today: 17.8

The day started out with thick fog that didn't seem to go away for half the day. We were originally hoping for views from McAfee, but there were none to be had, continuing on the fog bank began to lift but the skies were still very overcast and the temps were again much cooler than predicted. We decided to eat lunch up on Tinker Cliffs, and the climb up sucks if you're only on your third day out, no switchbacks and about a 45 degree slope heading up, saw some deer on the way up and sat down to eat around 2pm. My foot was really bothering me today as it kept tightening up every time I sat down.   We reached Lambert Meadow Shelter around 3:30pm and decided that we would go all the way to town as it was too early to stop. We made the final push up the final ridge and came to an overlook with a view of Troutville, thinking we were close we began to haul ass up and over sever ridges and past power line towers, before realizing we had farther to go than we thought as the trail takes you about a mile past where you'll end up down in the valley along the ridge. Spent the last half hour hiking with headlamp on and it wasn't bad as I made the best time of the day hiking into town. Bunked down in the HoJo tonight and we head out towards home tomorrow.   Ordered Dominoes and with a full belly I'm going to sleep, my foot is really screwed up and I am guessing it's gonna take a week or two to heal.   I'm pretty sure the cause is uneven pavement walking, it's alright. Pretty good mileage over three days, and I gotta think, if my foot wasn't bad that I could have gotten into town today much faster.Song of the Day:Overload-Colin Hay
Date: 2008-05-04
From: Home

To: Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well, it's been about a month since I've posted and I figured it was time to catch up with all of my faithful readers(the 5-10 of you!)...and I also had some thoughts that I wanted to get out there. The foot feels much better, but I still have issues with it feeling like it has been tightening up in my arch...I'm thinking I need to start working it out again, pretty sure it isn't a bone issue although it's weird how within a week of getting off of the trail and having a foot problem myself I end up seeing that two other hikers, one, a friend, both got off with stress fractures in their feet.   Totally sucks! All that being said, I don't know how far I am actually going this summer, I have a plane ticket that allows me 28 days to hike, but I might decided to hike less than that, or Erin may come up at the end for a mini vacation before heading home, so much is up in the air with about a month to go, unfortunately my foot has rendered my training impossible and so I am in poorer shape than I would like at the moment, hopefully I can get some semblance of shape back before June 9, but I am not sure on this so we shall see.Orangebug and I have also been talking about starting further down the trail, maybe at Monson due to the snowfalls we have some concerns about Katahdin being open or safe by June 10th, but we'll see, if I do start from Monson then I'll go all the way to Hanover, but we'll wait and see on this one.I am so ready to head out to hike this summer, there has been so much krap that I have dealt with this past year that I just need to get out and completely reboot the system. Anyhoo, peace out and all that stuff.Song of the Day: Because it fits my mood and how I'm feeling lately.Let it Be-The BeatlesWhen I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. let it be. Let it be, let it be, ..... And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, .....