morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-20
From: Double Springs Gap

To: Woodchuck Hostel
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: few clouds

Today was awesome! Every day into town is, isn't it? (Yes it is, the question was rhetorical, why are we even having this conversation?) But I will say, 2 new things are happening. Bugs. And heat. It seems like mosquitoes and gnats and blackflies are out. So is the 80 degree weather and direct sunlight. Thusly upping my water intake by roughly double. Adapt and overcome! Passed into Virginia today, which was a pretty huge boost. I know I'll be in Virginia for another 500 miles, a quarter of the trail, but I'm ready for the rolling farmland. Very excited! Almost to 500 miles. I actually feel like my steps are beginning to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. It's going well! I actually feel like I can do this!Descending into Damascus today I could smell the sweet fragrance of flowers, even with a cold. Look! Blooming things! Color! Life! Beauty! Ahh! I hiked into town and to I Hikers (??) but it was full, so I referenced my book for the other hostel with laundry and I called. The woodchuck. I ended up getting the upstairs (6 empty beds) to myself. But I had to backtrack through town again. Eh, I've done over 450 miles, what's another .5? Ran into Bright Bags again, real cool dude and I also met Criss-Cross and Sunray. They are an extraordinarily nice Swiss couple. Sunray doesn't speak english very well yet, so Criss-Cross sort of translates for her. Her drawings are the really extravagant, happy ones I've seen in shelter logs. Bright Bags gave me a pear (?) and the swiss couple gave us all apple pie that they made. Lovely! I also met Feral and Human. Apparently there is literally only one restaurant open in town tonight after 5pm. Soo..I went there! Hey Joe's served tacos and burritos and beer. Pretty much all I could ask for. After 3 catfish tacos, one chicken taco, chips and salsa and 2 beers, I didn't ask for more. I ran into Savage there, who had been there since 1pm. She had planned on hiking but the towns can be like whirlpools. They pull you back. I also met Owl, a nice guy. I paid some of the charity I have received out here forward by buying them beers. Highway was there, and I met Brawnee, the spaniard, secret agent, and a few others I just can't recall. Walked with Savage back to my hostel (hers was past it) and I think she appreciated it. She had some weird encounters in town earlier. I found out she did a 33 mile day, whaaat? People are great. Teh trail is great. I'm very thankful for this opportunity. I do miss my smokies family though. But life must go on! Shout out to Fob, Elle, Nesquick, Master Bruce, Conductor, Stitch, Orbit & mom, Rocky and Book N Boot.
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Woodchuck Hostel

To: Comfort Inn Abingdon
Miles today: 0.9
Weather: overcast clouds

So so so good to see my lovely wife again. Today wasn't technically a zero day as I walked across Damascus. Ha! Jamie met me at Sundog Outfitter, one of 3 outfitters in town. It's surreal after spending a month apart, but it's mostly amazing. She brought me a big box of food and snacks, and an early birthday present, a new phone! It has a better camera and battery life. I got podcasts and audiobooks set up, and I'm ready to roll again. I snacked all day, ate ice cream, and napped in a soft bed. We went to a nice restaurant called Rain for dinner. It was a really nice restaurant in downtown Abingdon. It's huge what a little R&R can do for the body and mind. Perfect, uneventful day.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: Comfort Inn Abingdon

To: Comfort Inn Abingdon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Days without noteworthy events are not necessarily bad days. Lots of sleep, rest, overeating, a little resupply and shuttle planning, and here we are. Also I'm finding out that Hot Springs was almost evacuated due to fires, and several other areas I recently passed through are burning. This is the problem with nice weather. Ironically it thunderstormed here in Abingdon. I hope these areas in question will benefit from the rain, like I have benefited from rest. Next up, the Virginia Highlands. I've been out there a few times and it's gorgeous. Today was a great day. Jamie cut my hair. She put the # 4 guard on the clippers and went to town. Now I'm aerodynamic again.
Date: 2016-04-23
From: Comfort Inn Abingdon

To: Pond, campsite
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: moderate rain

So today Jamie and I hiked around 11 miles, and she did very well. The trail follows the Virginia Creeper trail for awhile, and after we walked almost half a mile, she extended her trekking poles and they fell apart. I tried to fix them, but I'm no German pole engineer. Jamie took it upon herself to jog back to the car and get my old poles (I had purchased new ones in Damascus). Oh what timing! Thanks Jamie for that jog! That was me returning the room key a few weeks ago with my buddy Erik. We hiked a fair bit of uphill through the drizzle, and at one point Jamie was inspecting some lichen. She turned it over and an inch from her hand was an enormous spider. "Who dares disturb my slumberrr?" it asked through gritted fangs. "We do not" as we ran away.We took a lunch break and socket caught up to us. He is always reading local information about towns and areas and was telling us about a group of people who, all until recently, had blue skin and lived in the Appalachians. He was saying that they were interbred and it was passed through genetics. Jamie exclaimed "the blue genes!" Ha!We had to take a short detour because a bridge had been washed out. It brought us around to the very bicycle-crowded Virginia creeper trail once again. We then climbed a bit more, took several breaks, and eventually made it to this interesting pond campsite. Henceforth dubbed Peeper Pond because of the peeper frogs that wouldn't shut up. There were enormous tadpoles the size of fish in there. A thru-hiker named Ryan stopped by for a break, and ate a block of cheese. He had many many more blocks of cheese in his pack. Now it's a little chilly so it's time to snuggle up in this tiny tent. Update: Jamie's pad has a leak in it, just like Erik's did. These ex-peds are really not durable in the least. But, we found the leak. Good eye, Jamie. We used the patch kit, and now fingers are crossed. Also, the peepers are really noisy and active at this pond. Decibel frogs, great band name.Update: Patch kit did not hold.
Date: 2016-04-24
From: Pond, campsite

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

Gear failures. Inevitable. Heartbreaking. But it happens. To Jamie. All at once. Let's do a list. Her camera sensor died, so only black screen. Her trekking poles fell apart. Her sleeping pad had a hole in it, which we patched but it still leaked. (I let her sleep on mine) She had Deet leak and start eating through the dry sack. I think there were other things too, but that's the bulk of it. Poor wife! But she did great. The shuttle came today a little past 12, picked her up and took her back to her life away from me. *Long breath* I will savor and hold on to how I feel with her for as long as I can. Can't wait to see her in another month. So today I hiked with Socket. He's a really interesting, thrifty guy with a lot of unique knowledge. Fun to be around. Today we hiked up Whitetop MOuntain followed by Mt. Rogers. We're in the Virginia Highlands and tomorrow we break 500 miles! We saw some ponies grazing in a bald. Very beautiful. Also passed some maple trees that were being tapped. Pretty cool. I could chug a gallon of syrup now. Ha! Long day today, but very cool. Oh, right after the shuttle picked up Jamie, I was about to walk into the woods when a van honked and pulled up. A lady got out and gave me an apple, 2 tangerines, and crackers. I have incredible luck! I shared the trail magic with Socket. Pay it forward any time you can. Gorgeous campsite today. Ponies, expansive fields, distant mountains and sunset.
Date: 2016-04-25
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Fence stiles, Pine Mountain trail to the west
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

What an awesome, albeit short day. A little slow to start this morning. I did my best to keep the sun out of my eyes so I could sleep in. Still shaking this cold. Took off strong this morning after that, and the skies where blue and weather was perfect. Hiked until I saw some ponies, took some photos a selfie with one of them and moved on. Absolutely incredible landscape and views. I went through a tight rock tunnel called fatman's squeeze, which was probably a taste of Maine. Can't wait. Entered Grayson Highlands and stepped over a log which was supposed to block an old trail. I probably went half a mile before the trail died and I realized I hadn't seen a white blaze in a good while. Doubled back and came upon Wise Shelter. Met up with Socket again. And saw Ptarmagen (??), Orion, and Tetris. Hiked to "the scales" which occasionally acts as a livestock corral, and got a free beer from a guy named Willie. He called himself a trail devil. Socket also found a bag of trail mix and 2 Alpine Aire meals. We split that and I shared my mix with Ptarmagen, Tetris, and Orion. Socket and I hiked a little further and I recognized the area where I took Jamie to camp many moons ago. An amazing campsite. Even though it was a short day, we set up here because of the beauty. Socket found us water, I found the site. Amazing sunset, great success!
Date: 2016-04-26
From: Fence stiles, Pine Mountain trail to the west

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow. I did it! I wanted to see what kind of mileage I was capable of. I did 25.5 miles today! It's a huge accomplishment. I knew Partnership Shelter was one where you can order pizza, and I'm extremely motivated by food, like many rats. I had a windy night last night, so I was awake a lot. Flapping tent meant I was ready to go when the sun came up. I headed out very early. I passed old Orchard trail, which I remembered from my Jamie hike 8ish years ago. I pushed hard today, took a few breaks, and stayed focused. I passed Trimpi Shelter and got water there. That stone beauty of a shelter kept me, Zach, Robert, Erik Roethlinger, and a few others warm in a November hike many years ago. Very cool. Met a 2012 thruhiker there named Gunrumor. Nice guy. Just a sidenote, but I don't really know how to tie proper knots when I bear bag. Not sure why I didn't learn a few, but they say if you can't tie a knot, tie a lot. And that's what I do. Hey, it works. Passed 2 guys named Messiah and Shitting Bull today. Their dog's name was Licki Minaj, like Nicki Minaj. Ha! Passed another beautiful, green, sweet smelling meadow today. I love them. I passed Poptart today and asked him if he wanted to go in on a pizza. He surely did! Oh and Poptart sounds EXACTLY like Bill Nye when he's excited, ha! Met some folks at Partnership: Justice, Ahab, Professor, and a few others, poptart, Ptarmagan, and I got 3 large pizzas delivered. I ate my entire pizza. What a day. Nice to hang with poptart again.
Date: 2016-04-27
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Crawfish Trail to campsites and stream
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was another full day! Started out the morning by hiking with a 66 year old section hiker named Twinkletoes. I went faster than her, but she caught up at lunch at Chatfield shelter. Very nice lady from Chatanooga TN. She had section hiked about 100 miles. Today I saw my first snake. A big black one about 2.5-3 ft long. He was on the edge of the trail. I saw him, he saw me. I went around him, he went on his merry way. Animals are really coming out now. I'm starting to believe they exist again. Wood ticks are also out! Medicine man pulled a few off his cute 11 month old Golden Retriever. Today I hit boxes of trail magic left by a church group in the old settlers museum. Well, specifically, the old, tiny school boxes of fruit, snacks, soda, etc. So very thoughtful! There's so much more green now! And beautiful rolling meadows and farmland that the AT cuts through. It's like stepping into the shire. It's gorgeous and I love Virginia! I resupplied at 2 gas stations today, ha! Have to get a little creative, but it's mostly doable. I chugged a chocolate milk (the body wants what it wants) and had lunch at "the barn." Got a big burger with bacon and fries, and topped it off with a peach cobbler and iced tea. Ran into Owl, Justice, and Polar Bear there, and met Rosy Eagle, an older southbounder who started last July and skipped winter I believe. Cheena and Conundrum showed up as I was leaving. Didn't have an appetite tonight, and I'm hoping that's more to do with a huge lunch rather than a parasite I got from drinking the cow watering hole water before Old Orchard. Why didn't I use Iodine? Why oh why?! I crossed under I-81 and went another five or 6 miles. This is my first night camping alone. It definitely is a different vibe, but there is a stream here that I hope will lull me to sleep. However if I do die, I Love you Jamie, and I had a good run, yeah?
Date: 2016-04-28
From: Crawfish Trail to campsites and stream

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

You know, people say everything in moderation. But to be totally great at something, you have to do it all the time. Screw moderation! Apply yourself! Just don't apply this to negatives like drinking! Moderation has its place, sure. Fine, you win. But my point is, I finally feel pretty strong at hiking. But I still labor, and hurt, and have to stop to catch my breath. But I'm still getting stronger. You can always be better. It rained all night last night, but I've finally figured out how to guyline my tent properly and I stayed dry. But packing up a soggy tent in the morning is no fun. It felt like all I did today was uphill. A misty, quiet morning that gave way to a hot, humid day. I'm sweating all day, every day now. Had lunch at Knot Maul Branch Shelter, and laid out my tent components to dry. Cheena and Conundrum strolled up, followed by 2 brothers from New Brunswick, named Off the Grid, and Under the Radar. They were with Young Cogswell from New York. Kept hiking uphill, listened to an audio book and rinsed off a little in a cold stream. Finally got to Chestnut Knob shelter, a super cool, fully enclosed bunkhouse type shelter. Sleeping in here tonight due to incoming rain. Met Zebra, Miyagi, Trips, Portuguese, Wonder (who I let charge his phone with my power block), and Willie the trail devil from the other day! Apparently he's writing a fantasy novel and uses trailnames as goblin and orc names. Ha! Portuguese is from Portugal (yep!) and is enjoying learning new words like "delicious" and "fantastic".
Date: 2016-04-29
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Campsite
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Good day today. No rain, blue skies and the elevation gain wasn't too bad. The trail itself wasn't incredibly overwhelming, but not every section can be. I was listening to a TED talk and heard something that resonated with me. There is an ancient philosophy called Basic Trust. It says, more or less, that whatever happens is exactly what needs to happen to make you the person you need to become. That you can grow, learn, and become stronger through hardship. You can grow through adversity. 2000 years ago, stoic philosopher Epictetus said, and I paraphrase, "People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them."Today I saw 2 does cross the trail. More proof that animals are real! Mid-day today, I got trail magic from Wonder's wife. He is zeroing a few days with her (she came from Wisconsin) and she gave me cookies, a beer, and took my trash. Awesome.Today I leapfrogged with Cheena and Conundrum and Portuguese several times. Portuguese always has a huge smile on his face. Really nice, loud guy, ha. I saw him keeping his journal (he writes with a ruler to stay straight) and asked him about it. He's a writer in Portugal and will likely make a book out of this journey. So now I know I have to behave around him or I could be immortalized in humiliation. Today I also met Blackbear (who saw a cub yesterday!), Shaggy, Jacks, and Clementine. And at camp tonight, Owl showed me how to wrap up my bearbag paracord using a climbing rope technique. This means I shouldn't have to untangle it every day.No signal tonight. I was hoping to talk to Jamie some, or at least say goodnight, but you can't always do that out here, if it isn't super obvious. Tomorrow I've got a short 7 into Bland to get my food drop and clean up. It will be my first attempt at hitchhiking! Woo! Now to fall asleep to the sound of the river.
Date: 2016-04-30
From: Laurel Creek Campsite

To: Big Walker Motel
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Some days you wake up, break camp, start walking, eat, keep walking and then you're at your destination. You follow the routine and occasionally no curveballs come your way, good or bad. Today, that was the case. But upon hitting US 52, there was a table set up with tons of food and 2 guys, Steve and Fulltime (a 2011 thruhiker) grilling burgers and dogs. I sat with Blackbear, Spongebob, Medicine Man, and Owl and enjoyed their generosity. Steve was shuttling people into town, so he took me and Medicine Man the 4 miles into town. Took me to the Post office but they closed an hour prior. Tomorrow is Sunday so they are closed. So I'm zeroing at this motel tomorrow and picking up the resupply Monday. It'll be raining tomorrow and I feel like I need a zero anyway. Poptart and Feral Dad are here and we all went to dinner at the Dairy Queen. Let's just say I've had my share of ice cream. We browsed the attached convenience store and there I saw Shoe! I haven't seen him since the early smokies. Good stuff! I hear another smokies friend, Elle, is close behind too.So I did my laundry in a metal wash tub in the back of the motel. Then hung them to dry on a line. That's when it started to rain. Ha! Next up, another shower, uploading pictures and watching bad reality tv.
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Big Walker Motel

To: Big Walker Motel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It's May! Which I've always considered more of a summer month. Pretty hot these days. My birthday month. Coming up on the 2 month mark. What a long, weird, surreal ride this is.Today I had breakfast at Dairy Queen (yes, they have breakfast) with Shoe. A trucker butted in our conversation and proceeded to talk at us about the weird world of trucking for about 30 minutes. As we got up to leave, we then explained that we were thru-hikers and what that means. He stared at me for about 10 seconds, said "that's too far to walk," and walked off. Ha! Strange interactions every day. Walked to Dollar General and grabbed a sub for lunch and dinner form Subway on my way back. Did some shoe repair with some epoxy glue and as the rain cleared off and the sun came out, I took off my shirt and drank a yuengling on the front deck with Feral Dad. We were shortly joined by Hopscotch and Poptart. Just watching the interstate and being hiker trash, ha. After getting a little sunburn, I video called with Jamie, had dinner and have been totally vegging out. And it's glorious. The body needs vegetables and vedge time. Back on the trail tomorrow. Pearisburg in 3 days. Harper's Ferry, here I come.
Date: 2016-05-02
From: Big Walker Motel

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

Today felt short, despite the days getting longer. Checked out of the motel, walked to the post office for my resupply and started walking the 4 miles back to US 52 where I'd continue on the trail, but a guy in a black truck picked me up. He asked if I wanted breakfast too. I answered as any thru-hiker would. This was Steve with New Hope Methodist Church and they were incredibly generous. They do trail magic every Monday for hikers. A delicious breakfast with homemade maple syrup. It takes 40 gallons to boil down to one gallon of final product! Snacks to take on the trail and even cards to send home to mom for mother's day. Very thoughtful. At breakfast I saw some familiar faces: Spartan, Notabear, Morning Glory, California Chrome and...Brief Thief! He had almost caught up to me! They picked him up one road prior to where I was continuing. It was cool seeing him again. Back on the trail again, the day went fast even as I went slow. Full resupply and extra water due to a lack of streams for 10 miles made heavy, slow progress. I finished a 3rd audiobook and found myself going against thunder. Finally made it and it almost seemed like Poptart and Feral Dad saved me a spot. Woot! Rain incoming.
Date: 2016-05-03
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 14.43
Weather: moderate rain

Last night was an experience. The guy named Willard, who slept in the shelter, snored louder than anyone I've ever heard. There was some major apnea happening. He was moaning, wheezing, snoring like a dragon, squeaking, and making terrible noises. Poptart compared it to a pod of orcas during mating season. Tetris got up and pitched his tent in the middle of the night. I had the slight benefit of earplugs, but I could hear him even still.It rained off and on for a few hours and the trail was very muddy. Some folks just stampede down the center, but I'm a careful stepper, so I follow edges and cross logs and burn more calories. Precious calories! I caught up with Feral Dad and Gummibear and we crossed a suspension bridge and then hit a road. .5 miles down this road was Trent's Grocery Store. So we all started hiking just before a red truck pulled up and told us to hop in. We did and zoomed down the road, 25 seconds - what would have taken 15 minutes by foot. Trent's was awesome! I had a BLT with egg, hotdog with chili, waffle fries, a snickers ice cream bar, a fudge round and a gatorade. That was lunch. Breakfast was a danish, 2 poptarts, some beef jerky. Then I snacked on some crackers, a slim jim, trail mix, a tortilla with nutella. Dinner was a chicken teriyaki mountain house meal and an oatmeal cream pie. And I'm hungry again before dark.When I came out of Trent's I overheard a local monologuing to a section hiker about how "the world is going to shit" and talking about "people texting" and how "it's all buttons these days" and how "nobody knows how to cut wood anymore." As he said this, I'm looking past him at a timber mill, ha. First off, everyone throughout history has always thought "the world is going to shit" but it keeps turning. Think about how much better quality of life is here rather than medieval times or dark ages. This is a great time to be alive in this country. Also, I don't think alternative communication is an issue. You gotta pick better battles, man. Oh well. Shut up!Hiked back to the trail, got dumped on by rain for about 30 minutes and finally reached Wapiti Shelter. 2 women were murdered here in the 80s. I heard they rebuilt the shelter since then, but it's still sad. Here we have Feral Dad, Poptart, Goldrush, Tetris, Sojo, Red Bear (sick from a bad trout? Ha!), Queen & Dotcom, Viking & his group of younger boys: Wildcard hasn't shown up, but we've already filled the shelter to capacity :-). Feral Dad had a tick crawling on his leg and then the rest of us did a communal tick check. Shirts off, pasty white bodies. Yikes. But no ticks.