morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-03
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: US11/I-81 - Relax Inn
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: light rain

I got up a little after 6:00 this morning, but didn't hit the trail until 8:00. I was a little disorganized this morning. I think the consecutive long days are catching up with me. Castenets left a little before me, while Silver and Ziola were still packing up when I left. I reached Partnership Shelter around 2:00. I ordered a large pizza and waited 45 minutes for it to arrive. I ate about half of it, packed one piece for an afternoon snack, and gave the rest away to other hikers. I decided to skip the shower. I had taken one only 3 days ago. Actually it had been raining in the morning and the temperatures had just dropped about 20 degrees, which meant I would be hiking in my rain suit and sweating all afternoon. Everyone seemed to want to shower and hang out at the shelter, but it was early and I wanted to keep hiking. Ziola and I started hiking in the rain. Castenets changed his mind and caught up to us in 30 minutes. We were going up hill at the time. I let him pass and a few minutes later they were both out of site. My sore shin is slowing me down a bit, but they both are probaby faster hikers than me even when I'm healthy.We all made it to Adkins for the night. A hot shower and clean laundry were the reward, but my feet and shin are sore. Tomorrow I am planning about 15 miles. I need to allow my shin to heal some. I have to plan out the next section up to Pearisburg now.Life is wunderful on the AT even in hours of cold rain.
Date: 2007-05-04
From: US11/I-81 - Relax Inn

To: Campsite before Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

I started the day walking up the hill to the Barn Restaurant with Castanets. We saw two backpacks on the front porch and then found Bicycle Barb and Aussie inside the restaurant. I think Hot Springs was the last time I saw them. We sat down to eat and Ziola showed up a little later. I ordered the breakfast special: 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and a biscuit. After eating it, I ordered another.I went back to the Relax Inn to pack up my gear and sort out my food. Then I went over to the Shell truck stop to get some more food items for my hike. It was 11:00 before I finally started hiking. I was planning to hike at a slow pace today to try to minimize the pain in my shin. I left two hours before Castanets, but he caught up to me after about 7 miles. I was frustrated with how slow I was having to go trying to protect my leg. A couple times I did cause some sharp pains. It was sort of a series of pains instead of the drop to your knees pain I had with my other shin. This was probably the second toughest day I have had on the trail, next to the Big Butt to Hogback Ridge hike. Later in the day the pain seemed to decrease considerably. Tonight my shin is swollen and warm. I hope this is part of the healing process I went through before. I had planned to hike 13.9 miles today, but since I had been going so slow I stopped after 11 miles and set up my tent. It rained most of the day and is suppose to rain tomorrow also. It isn't raining now and I hope it stays dry until I pack up in the morning. The high today was in the mid 50s. By Thursday it is suppose to be 90 degrees. Well I hope my leg feels better tomorrow. I need to hike a lot of miles so I don't run out of food before my next resupply point.Feeling a little pain hiking in the rain on my way to Maine.
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Campsite before Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

I was happy to find out my left shin was not hurting as much as yesterday. It seems to be starting to heal. I was able to hike a lot faster today. I had to take it easy on the downhill, but I was able to climb without any pain. Fortunately most of the day was climbing. I saw a flower on a Rhodedendrum bush for the first time today. I think I will see thousands of them in the next couple weeks.Ziola passed me about an hour after I started. I was able to keep up with her going uphill, but she quickly disappeared on the downhill slope. It was overcast for the third day in a row. It was misting/raining for much of the day. I reached Chestnut Knob Shelter at about 3:30 and decided to take a break. It started to rain harder while I was there and I decided to stay for the night. This shelter is fully enclosed. It appears to be an old house built with rock walls. There is a new roof and it has windows and a door. This is my fifth night staying in a shelter. It is actually nicer than some of the hostels except there isn't a shower. I only hiked 11 miles today. I am hoping the short day will be good for my legs. I looked at the map and the terrain looks easier for the next couple days, so hopefully I will be able to get more miles. The weather is suppose to clear up also. The trails have been less rocky the past two days and with healthy legs the miles should go by easily.I am looking forward to getting to Pearisburg in a few days. I will be getting my summer sleeping bag which is over 2 lbs. lighter than my current one. I will also be trying to find some shoes that fit better again. My current boots are really loose when the leather gets wet.Today was much better than yesterday. There is a large group here tonight. Rambo Ron, Chico, Hyde, Ziola, Hartly Hound Dog, and 4 others I don't know.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter - campsite
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: clear sky

The temperatures dropped below 30 degrees last night. I was glad to still have my winter sleeping bag. In a couple days I will be switching to my summer sleeping bag rated for 50 degress. I will keep two sleeping bag liners for a while that should be good down to about 30 degrees.I was on the trail at 8 AM and hiked alone all day. I saw Bicycle Barb and Aussie a couple times. They were leaving Jenkins Shelter as I arrived for lunch and then they were leaving Trent's Grocery Store as I arrived. I also saw one south bound hiker.I took an hour an a half lunch break today and cooked ramen with peas and carrots. I took my boots off and changed to dry socks. It was about 70 degrees and sunny so I just relaxed for a while. I reached VA606 road about 5 PM and walked 0.4 miles off the trail down to Trent's Grocery Store. It was a gas station type convenience store with extra stuff like fishing gear and hardware. They had a grill. I ordered a double cheeseburger and fries with a root beer. While I was eating Gator Gump arrived. He ordered food and we talked about how things were going since we last saw each other in Damascus. A little before 6, I got up and headed back up the road towards the trail. I had hiked 16 miles already, but wanted to get to the next shelter.I hiked until a little after dark. The shelter was suppose to be 7.7 miles further, but I never found it. The Wingfoot Handbook said it was 0.1 miles to the right of the trail. I saw a blue blaze trail to the left about where the shelter should have been. I didn't see a sign and didn't want to go on a wrong trail as it was getting dark. After a while I knew I had to have passed it, so I just looked for a flat spot to put up my tent. My legs didn't bother me much today, but they feel very tired now. I think I hiked over 25 miles today. I will have to try to figure out where I am in the morning. For now, I just want to go to sleep.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Wapiti Shelter - campsite

To: Pearisburg, VA - Plaza Motel
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: clear sky

I awoke to another cold morning. The condensation on the tent was turning to ice. The forcast for the next couple days is highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s.I was hiking by 7 PM and hoping to make it to Pearisburg before the post office closed at 4:30. I was not very energetic in the cold weather and about a half hour into the hike I reached Wapiti Shelter. This meant Pearisburg was farther away than I had thought. Shortly after I decided to forget about getting to the post office and enjoy the days hike. I saw a couple hikers leaving Doc's Knob Shelter when I got there for lunch. Spice Cadet was still hanging around. I set up my tent to dry and took my boots off. I had been wearing the Thorlo socks and my toes were hurting, I changed to my Bridgedale Trekker socks and my feet felt better in the afternoon. I will look for more Bridgedales in Pearisburg along with some new shoes.When I introduced myself to Spice Cadet, he said "Your the guy who makes biodiesel." Soon everyone on the trail will get the biodiesel story.There were some great views on the afternoon section of the trail walking the ridge before Pearisburg. I stopped 5 or 6 times to enjoy it. The views were some of the best I have seen. The sky was clear, the ridge dropped off sharply to the valley of farms below, and you could see additional mountain ridges 10 to 30 miles away. Today was a great day and I was so glad to be getting to experience this day out here.I reached Pearisburg at 7 PM. Ziola caught up to me just as I got here. I had not seen here in ~ couple days. I had dinner with her at a Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow I have to go to the post office and outfitter which is over a mile away from the motel. I hope to get out of town by early afternoon and hike 5 to 10 miles.
Date: 2007-05-09
From: Pearisburg, VA - Plaza Motel

To: Campsite - 4 miles north of Pearisburg
Miles today: 3.9

This morning I woke up and went for a walk around town while I was waiting for the post office to open. I had breakfast at Marsha's Restaurant. When the post office opened at 8:30 I picked up my food box and the box with my Marmot Trails sleeping bag and Thermax sleeping bag liner. I hope they keep me warm. I also got my inflatable Thermarest mat to replace the thinner closed cell foam pad I had been using.I sorted through my food and threw the Ramen noodles in the hiker box at the hotel. I need a break from Ramen for a while. Then I went to the grocery store to get some other lunch food.I went to the local outfitter and discovered it is a canoe guide service that doesn't sell gear. The shoe store in town is closed on Wednesdays. No new shoes for me in this town. I had lunch at Pizza Hut and then went to the library to access the internet. The library was open, but the internet service was not working. I waited for about 30 minutes, but they couldn't get it to work.I bought some foam insoles to try in my boots. I finally started to hike out of town around 4 PM. The hill was steep leaving town. The foam insoles were making my toes cramped, so I stopped and removed them. I hiked about 4 miles up the mountain to a campsite for the night. I hiked with Ziola today. Most of the hikers that were in town when I got there were staying in town again tonight.Tomorrow I will be trying to get in about 20 miles if my legs hold up. I called the outfitter in Daleville, VA. He has hiking boots and Bridgedale socks! I will be there in about 5 days and have planned a zero day there. Hopefully I will find some shoes or boots that will work well for me.Now its time to enjoy a nights sleep on my new air cushioned pad!
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Campsite - 4 miles north of Pearisburg

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

Last night was my first night sleeping with my inflatable mattress pad and my Marmot Trails 50 degree sleeping bag. The comfort of the mat was great. I decided to try the sleeping bag without using my Thermax sleeping bag liner. It seemed OK when I went to sleep, but I woke up some time in the middle of the night and needed to add the liner. A little while later I added wool socks and my hat. Overall it was a good night. I just need to learn which layers to use at various temperatures.I was awake a little after 6 AM, but I didn't get out of my tent until 7:30 and wasn't hiking until 9:00. Gator Gump and AAA passed my campsite in the morning while I was packing up. I hiked with Ziola most of the day. We took lots of breaks today. There were some good views from Rice Field. We had lunch near Symms Gap Meadow. I made it to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter by about 5:30 and ate dinner there. I left there at 7:15 and hiked 3.9 miles to Bailey Gap Shelter. I thought the evening hike would be good with cooler weather. The first couple miles were enjoyable. Then the trail led 1100 feet up a steep hill. I started sweating again and it got dark before I reached the shelter. It looks like it might rain tonight. I am in my tent and ready for some sleep.
Date: 2007-05-11
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up about 6:30 this morning, but didn't get up until almost 8:00. It was after 9 by time I got on the trail. It was hard to get started after hiking so late yesterday. It was another hot day on the trail. It was probably about 80 degrees, but it felt like 90 degrees hiking up hill with a pack and no breeze. I stopped several times for breaks and finally stopped at Laurel Creek Shelter around 6 PM. I hope to get an earlier start tomorrow and get over 20 miles in.With the warm weather the flying insects have returned. There were gnats flying in my eyes all day and I have been bitten by a couple of mosquitoes this evening.I have been experimenting with my boots some more. My latest change is to not run the shoe strings through the last set of eyelets near my toes. This has eased the cramping of my toes and seems to be holding the center part of my foot in place better. This seems to be working pretty well and feels better than anything else I have tried. I have a couple more days before I reach Daleville to evaluate this. I will also check at the Outfitter in Daleville for other shoes that may fit better. I have already called them to confirm they sell shoes and Bridgedale socks. I have one pair of Bridgedale Trekker socks and they are much better than any of the other socks I have tried. I wouldn't think socks would make much difference, but they do. I plan to get two more pair so I can rotate them to keep dry socks.It didn't rain last night, but it is clouding up again tonight. I will be in my tent. The only bad part about it raining at night is having to roll up the tent when it is wet.Tonight Slow Moe, Driftwood, Chill Out, and Ziola are at this shelter. I will be taking a zero day at Daleville, so maybe some of the other hikers will catch up to me there.
Date: 2007-05-12
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: VA620 - Trout Creek - Campsite
Miles today: 21.3

It didn't rain last night. I was on the trail in the morning by 7:30. The morning trail started in the woods and then led through several pastures with stiles to cross the barbed wire fences. I passed Keffer Oak, which is estimated to be over 300 years old.I hiked with the same group of hikers all day. We would separate through the day and join back up at various spots along the trail. Driftwood, Chill Out, Slow Moe, and Ziola are all camping at this same spot tonight.I saw a lot of Azaleas or something similar today that have lots of flowers on them now. I saw a rattlesnake along the trail today. I came up over a hill and it started rattling. I thought it would move on, but it just sat a foot off the trail coiled up and rattling. I took some pictures and decided to circle around him about 10 feet away from the trail. Later Ziola saw another rattlesnake. I met Owl and Lil Cubit this afternoon. Everyone was talking about seeing the rattlesnake at a resting spot at the top of a long climb. Owl said he would kill and eat a rattlesnake if he saw one. Later when I reached the camping spot, Owl had killed and skinned a rattlesnake and was building a fire to cook it. I also met Dr. Doom and his son, AT, on the trail today. They are hiking the trail in sections. They are also camping here tonight. It was a long day today and my legs were really feeling tired and sore by the end of the day. Tomorrow I will be getting off the trail for a little bit to visit a restaurant and/or grocery store for a few more food supplies to make it to Daleville on Monday. I will be taking a zero in Daleville and am looking forward to relaxing and letting thongs heal up for a day. My shoes are working much better with the new lacing method. My shin is still sore, but not affecting my hiking too much.
Date: 2007-05-13
From: VA620 - Trout Creek - Campsite

To: Pig Farm Campsite
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning I was the second one to break camp. Chill Out left before me. This morning I climbed up Dragons Tooth. It wasn't too bad of a climb. There was a lot of rocky area at the top. On the way down, I missed a turn and went down a very steep path. About a 1/2 mile down I realized I was no longer on the AT and I had to climb back up the steep incline. Once back on the AT the trail was still difficult going down requiring the use of hands and feet to maneuver down the rocky mountain. The weather was a bit cooler today and there was a nice breeze, which made the hiking much more enjoyable compared to the past couple days.A little ways down the mountain I reached Lost Spectacles Gap. There were hundreds of Rhodedendrum flowers. I took some pictures and hope to get a chance to upload them when I get to Daleville tomorrow.There were a lot of day hikers on the trails today. I probably saw 40 or so day hikers. I got off the trail at VA624 and walked a half mile down the road to a convenience store. I ordered a pizza and bought some additional food for tomorrow. I was sitting on the curb in front of the store eating my pizza, when Dr. Doom and AT walked up. They went inside for some snacks and then joined me on the curb. While we were talking Owl and Lil Cubit arrived and then Ziola. I ate half my pizza and packed the other half for later. Then I went back in the store and got some ice cream. I spent about 2 hours at that store.By 7 PM I was getting tired. I stopped at Catawba Mtn Shelter and signed the journal. I saw Driftwood had signed and said he was going up to McAfee Knob to watch the sunset. I thought I was probably too late for that and too tired. I ate my pizza, drank a liter of Gatorade, and ate a Snickers candy bar. Then I decided I would try to move on. It was 7:35 and I had 1.5 miles to go to McAfee Knob before sunset, so I hiked as fast as I could without stopping. I reached McAfee Knob just in time for sunset. I took some pictures and hung out with Driftwood and Ziola for about 20 minutes and then moved on to Pig Farm Campsite. On the way there I startled a deer near the trail. When she moved a little baby deer tumbled a few feet down the hill. The mother stayed nearby, about 10 feet from the trail, until we passed. The baby deer was only about a foot from the trail. It was only about a foot long. I have never seen such a small baby deer before. I think it was OK. We moved on so the mother deer could take care of it.Tomorrow I'm heading for Daleville, VA. Time for a much needed shower!
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Pig Farm Campsite

To: Daleville, VA - Howard Johnson's Express
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: clear sky

Tinker Cliffs was great. Stopped there for about 30 minutes today. The rest of the day was hot and filled with little ups and downs that seemed to never end. The trail was not marked well in a couple areas and I ended up off the trail and back tracking.Reached Daleville at about 4 PM. Good to shower and wash clothes!
Date: 2007-05-15
From: Daleville, VA - Howard Johnson's Express

To: Daleville, VA - Howard Johnson's Express
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

My first zero day after hiking 14 days in a row. The day was hectic trying to get everything done. Planned next section of hiking. I needed to buy 4 days of food to carry out of here and 3 days to ship to a B&B about 90 miles up the trail. The post office was about a mile away. Replaced my leaking platypus water container at the outfitter. Lifetime guarantee so they just swapped it for a new one. Tried on shoes, but wasn't sure about any of them. Decided to keep my old ones and try some Superfeet insoles. I will carry the other insoles also in case the new ones cause problens.It is 8:30 AM and I want to hike at least 18 miles today so I need to get going.
Date: 2007-05-16
From: Daleville, VA - Howard Johnson's Express

To: Cove Mtn
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: overcast clouds

It feels good to be back out in the woods tonight. There is no need to rush around getting things done. All I need to do is hike, eat, and sleep. I have already completed two of those tasks for today.I started the day with the continental breakfast at Howard Johnson's Express. Then did a couple quick journal entries and prepared to leave. It was 8:45 when I finally got on the trail. I had hoped to get started earlier, since the forecast was for scattered afternoon showers.I hiked alone all day today. I saw three southbound hikers in the morning and two more south bound hikers in the afternoon. I took my first break at Fullhardt Knob Shelter. There are no natural water sources near this shelter. I was excited to see there was a rain water collection system installed at this shelter. The rain off the roof flows into a gutter and then into an underground cistern. There is a pipe and ball valve down the hill to dispense the water. A sign in the shelter said it is the last remaining rain water system on the AT. It was originally installed to support a people manning a firetower that is no longer there.I stopped at Wilson Creek Shelter for lunch and it started to sprinkle and the morning breeze had turned to gusty winds. I put on my pack cover and headed out in the rain. I made it to Bobblets Gap Shelter by 6:30 and it was still raining. Old Yellow and The Singe were camped in the shelter reading books. The shelter was 0.2 miles off the AT down hill. I wouldn't have gone down there, except the Wingfoot guide didn't list any water sources for the next 10 miles. I had originally planned to stay at this shelter, but it was raining and I still felt like hiking some more. I filtered 2 liters of water and put them in my pack for dinner later. My pack had felt pretty good today, but these additional 4 lbs, pushed it out of the comfort zone. I hiked until almost dark and found a place to camp on Cove Mtn. I passed another stream less than a mile back, so I didn't need to carry all that water the last 5 miles! I fixed stove top stuffing for dinner and climbed in my tent. Some people are now heading back to Damascus, VA for trail days this weekend. I am behind my planned progress on the trail, so I will not be going to Trail Days this year. I may go next year.I have taken a lot of pictures, but getting to a computer to upload them on the journal is proving difficult. The computers were down at the library in Pearisburg, the motels in Daleville didn't have a guest computer.I am getting very sleepy......