morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-28
From: Hog Camp Gap 

To: Tye River 
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: broken clouds

We all got up early and ran the first 10 miles to a road crossing in order to make it for the 11 AM shuttle into "the Dutch Haus" for a free lunch. It was great! Pizza and Mac and Cheese with vegetables. Plus I got to see my friend "Jim from Maine". It was a very nice town, lots of horses and farms. Then came more miles. I saw a trail maintenance crew in action. They were rerouting a section of trail to make it shorter and easier. Luckily we were the last people to go over the longer and harder current section. We also went up on Spy Rock, where the Confederates had people stationed to monitor the Union's movements during the Civil War. Fig is hiking with us now, giving us bits of info and identifying all the birds and plants that we come across. We went into the Priest Wilderness and up to the Priest Shelter, where traditionally the register is filled with confessions. Unfortunately a gigantic thunderstorm must have been part of someone's penance, because we had just arrived when it rolled in. More and more people showed up until it became ridiculous. There were about 15 of us in that shelter as it was getting blasted by pouring rain and hail. The lightning was striking very close too. Funk and his dad Spiritwalker showed up as well. After the storm ended, there were way too many people planning on staying in the shelter, along with 2 locals who were too stupid to bring tents. Funk, Brooklyn, and I ran down the Priest (4.8 miles) and made it to the Tye River (3000' downhill) before dark. They set up their tents as it started pour again, but I saw a flat boulder on the edge of the river which was covered by an overhanging boulder above it, creating space for a person to lay down underneath. So I spent the night in a little cave down by the river. It was a great idea at first; a little salamander came up and sat next to me for a little bit. But then I went to sleep and woke up to find some hideous monstrosity had crawled out of some pit and was right next to my face. It was some disgusting 4-5 inch pinchered squishy leggey thing. They probably heard some of my screaming way up on the Priest. I took a couple pictures of "The Thing" and then flung it into the water, where it began swimming back towards me. I think I fish might've eaten it. It it ate the fish. Either way, it was distracted enough to not come back. I later looked it up, it was a "Hellgrammite." It may have eaten the salamander too, because he was gone when I looked again.
Date: 2010-05-29
From: Tye River 

To: Cedar Cliffs 
Miles today: 14.9

Today I hiked a well-graded 3000' uphill section called Three Ridges. There were lots of Boy Scouts and other day hikers out for the Memorial Day weekend. I saw a box turtle on the side of the trail. It hissed at me when I picked it up for a picture. We also summitted Bee Mountain. We all camped out at Cedar Cliffs, hidden way into the bushes because camping is prohibited along the trail there. This section is also starting to get very rocky and very poison ivy-y. Brooklyn, Funk, and I camped out under the stars by the ledges/cliffs so we could see the vista and look out into the view all night. Unfortunately there were thousands of tiny biting black flies which made us suicidal. I may get a bug net because I really liked camping without the tent. We were all going to do the Dollar Menu Challenge when we got to Waynesboro the next day (eat everything on the McDonald's dollar menu: between 9 and 11 items), but Funk issued me a special challenge: He bet that if I could eat 10 McDoubles and an apple pie, I would get the food paid for and also $20. Fail and I have to pay for his food and also likely get a bad new trail name, something like "Mc____" (the space represents any derogatory word, several were tossed around). So we'll see tomorrow.
Date: 2010-05-30
From: Cedar Cliffs 

To: Waynesboro, VA 
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The 3 of us guys woke up late and started running to the first shelter (9.3 miles). We saw a coiled rattlesnake sitting on a big pile of rocks that we'd just walked past without noticing it. It was in the early 7 AM range, so the snake was pretty lethargic, just soaking up the morning sun. It didn't care about us at all. We continued on and ended up beating everyone to the shelter except for Stitch and Supermax. A lot of trash talk was entered in the register about the McDonald's challenge, and we all decided to go straight there to settle the issue. After getting water, we took off to Rockfish Gap, the closest point on the AT to Waynesboro and immediately preceeding the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. We finished the 5.0 miles in an hour and 14 minutes, a minute faster than a 4 minute/mile pace. This is ridiculous because there was some uphill in there too. It wasn't just all flat or downhill. Anyway, we were going to have Funk and Spiritwalker drive us in (they'd left a car there), but some guy with a van showed up at the last minute offering to drive us to town. We were all going to camp outside the YMCA where they allow hikers to camp and use their facilities for free! At McDonald's, everyone ordered absurd amounts of food. I had my 10 McDoubles and apple pie arranged in a reverse bowling pin setup; 4, 3, 2, 1, pie. The first 7 were easy. The 8th, 9th and pie were really pushing it. The last McDouble was incredibly difficult to stomach. At that point I was sweating heavily and breathing shallow gulps of air to stay alive. Eventually I finished and won the $20, a net gain of $33 when you count the free 11 dollars of McDonald's food. I had also officially earned the name "Landfill" for myself. All it cost me was about 6 hours of laying on the grass, praying for death.
Date: 2010-05-31
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today was my third zero day of the hike. I slept in and then had breakfast at Weaslies. This diner has an awesome all-you-can-eat pancake challenge. I did not participate, but the record for males is 34 while females is 31, two numbers which are way tooclose together. Afterwards, Brooklyn, Stitch and I hitched into Stauton to see a movie. We saw Robin Hood, but more importantly, were able to hang around in a mall for the first time in months. Everything seems so different and unimportant now. Pop culture and commercial campaigns seem utterly ridiculous to consider even for a minute. I also found out about the oil spewing unstoppably into the ocean. I can't believe that it has not been contained yet. What a giant devastating embarassment. After that the three of us had Papa John pizza. The girls and Fig all stayed at the Quality Inn. Brooklyn and I went to the Grace Lutheran church hostel. It was a wonderful donation-based experience! They had the cleanest showers so far.   Also internet, movies, kitchen, and snacks. Great people work there and provide useful hiker services. I caught up with some other people I hadn't seen in a while, including Jibitz and Jeff from Exeter.
Date: 2010-06-01
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I left Waynesboro this morning. Fig got his hair cut and the rest of us used the Post Office. I sent my rain pants home along with some post cards. We all hitched back to Rockfish Gap to resume the hike. Funk and Spirit Walker have gone ahead. They've both been slack packing through the Shenandoahsand didn't take a day off in Waynesboro. Yet we still keep running into Funk and his trail magic everywhere. Example: At the 3 mile mark we crossed Skyline drive. Supermax got there first, just in time for Funk to drive by and throw a beer to her. A mile from the first shelter it began to downpour in a tropical monsoon fashion. We all booked it and dried off except for Fig who never showed up. A debate ensued over the moral implications of abandoning an old man in the bushes for dead. Ultimately we decided that he'd probably just skipped the shelter. The storm was brief. I saw "Skippy" soon after it cleared up. He draws great pictures in the registers. Immediately after the shelter marked my official entrance into Shenandoah National Park. I had to fill out a permit and attach it to my pack. The park is my best chance to see a bear now that I'm past the Smokies, since it has the highest density of black bears in the US. At about the 10 mile mark, a great overlook opened up on the trail. Like most of the spectatular park views, the AT joined up with Skyline Drive for the feature. I lingered for a long time and let my stuff dry out on the pavement. Everyone left except for Skippy, who pulled out his sleeping pad and took a nap right there. I noticed that the vast majority of the drivers would pull up and read the overlook sign and description, then pause a second to see the view through their vehicle window, and then quickly drive off to see the next thing. No time to even get out of their cars. Not enough energy to walk up to the edge and enjoy the sun. Occasionally they'd snap a picture through their passenger side window. I bet if McDonald's was getting rid of their day-old burgers they could've managed the 10 foot walk. I abandoned Skippy and struck out on my own. Encountered my first bear in over 862 miles! He was on the side of the trail and crashed through the bushes to get away from me. Then he climbed a small height into a tree to look at me. Finally, he ran away. I didn't get a picture and so went in after him. Unfortunately, unlike deer, bears will keep running away once they've made up their minds to skedaddle. Deer will run a few feet and then forget you're there. About 10 miles later I ran into another 2 together and took a couple pretty bad pictures.   I chased them too but they were determined to get away. At a road crossing 3 miles from the shelter, I came across 3 cold yuenglings. Funk again! I showed up at the shelter after dark. Most everyone had seen their first bear. There was also a rattlesnake sighting.
Date: 2010-06-02
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

No rain today! 100% humidity though. I experienced my first Shenandoah "Wayside" (Fast Food/Giftshop) and had a blackberry milkshake. The Wayside was 1.1 miles off the trail, but I was able to secure a ride back. We also purchased hot dogs, post cards, s'mores, and soda from the camp store for later. Shenandoah National Park is completely filled with poison ivy, deer, rocks, and bears. It's a great spot to view and/or avoid things. After our short day, we retired to the shelter where I read a register entry from a few days previous. It was some girl who saw her boyfriend beat a copperhead to death and described it as "exhilerating." They said they were against killing snakes but were forced to for "camp safety." I totally agree. It's up to us to kill everything as a preventative measure before parading around its habitat. Logic dictates that virtually no copperhead or rattlesnake you see in the wild has ever bitten anyone before. It's up to us as the more intelligent species to come up with a solution when we cross paths with poisonous snakes. Almost everyone out here has treking poles. Use them to fling the snake aside!   I'm sick of all the BS, such as: "The snake wouldn't move out of the trail so I had to hurl a rock at it. I don't know if it died or not" or "If you see any copperheads, please kill them! They bite the deer and ruin hunting." Killing poisonous snakes on sight is such an idiotic practice,I can't understand how someone can honestly say it's "for safety". You're in the woods! It's where the snakes belong, not you. Leave them alone.
Date: 2010-06-03
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

This was a pretty interesting day, weather-wise. Brooklyn and I hiked together for most of the day. All the girls and Fig left early. All the guys made it to Hightop Hut (8.2 miles) at the same time. Lots of people were there at once. It was the busiest midday shelter I'd seen in a long time. There was Michigan, Krickett, BooBoo, Skippy, Southpaw, Brooklyn, myself. Also "Thin Mint" showed up so I guess it wasn't all guys. Anyway, there was a Men's Health magazine there; Fig had written on the cover for me to turn to page 43. I looked and he had circled an article titled: "How to Talk to a Naked Woman" In preparation, I assume, for Naked Hiking Day (June 21). Despite a 65 year old guy making fun of me, I summoned the strength to continue the hike. Brooklyn and I met a couple out for the day, then saw a bear shimmy down a tree and out of sight. With about 5 miles left, it became very dark and windy. Then we both were completely destroyed by a thunderstorm. I ran up Baldface Mountain with lightning striking everywhere, along with constant soaking rain. After about 45 minutes the event subsided, and I made it to the camp store. Fig was there waiting for the new delivery of ice cream. Brooklyn and I split sandwich stuff so we could make them for dinner. All the young people showed up at the hut tonight, it was a fun crowd. Our ham and cheese sandwiches really hit the spot
Date: 2010-06-04
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

Wicked short day today. But it was either the 11.5 or the 22.4 mile day. Also we needed to allot some time for burgers at Big Meadows restaurant/visitors center/museum/camp store. I purchased a quality Shenandoah frisbee for 2.99 and played with a bunch of hikers. I met a not-current hiker "Kentucky Fried" who bought me a trail magic Blackberry milkshake. Random people took my picture. Fig and the girls left way before I did. We've been trying to get Stitch to change her name to "Belch", and it's finally starting to catch on. After leaving Big Meadows, I ran and barely made it to the shelter before it began to pour. I also met "Hiker Bill", "Eddie" (Older German guy), and some new southbounders. We'd planned ahead and purchased hot dogs and s'more stuff for tonight. Everyone fit in the shelter tonight. There is a deer who lurks around the area and won't move away unless you get within a couple feet of it. I tried to pet it but couldn't quite get close enough.I've been taking note about the tourists who drive up in their cars to check out viewing areas. 90% of them will peer out their car windows and perhaps take a picture before driving away. I don't understand paying 15$ to get into the park and then not even bothering to haul your keister out of the seat for a few seconds.
Date: 2010-06-05
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

Breakfast at Skyland Dining Hall! It reminded me of the old cafeteria in college. Then came lots of great views and tourists. No trail magic. Cheese and I saw a big bear right after the parking lot. Brooklyn and I played frisbee at a campground pavillion. It got stuck on the roof and a bunch of old people laughed and then gave ridiculous suggestions about how to get it down. I believe "stand on each other's shoulders" was the most impossible idea that they had. The two of us also saved a big woman who'd fallen about 7 feet down a cliff into a huge batch of pricker bushes. We lowered down my rope and hauled her back up so she could rejoin her tour bus friends. They'd been quick about summoning us to help but didn't really seem to know what else to do. Maybe we look like official "trail persons of note." Further up the trail, we climbed up a sharp stone "The Pinnacle" and later on a gigantic rock outcropping "Mary's Rock". There are tons of domestic deer everywhere. They'll just walk up to you when you're looking for forest privacy. 2 miles from the shelter we heard a noise and saw two bears up in the trees; one was eating the new leaves and the other was basically tightroping across a branch. Lots of people showed up at the shelter tonight. Besides the regulars, there was Eddie, Kricket, Michigan, Booboo, Skippy, Thin Mint, and South Paw. More people makes the shelter environment livelier. Otherwise it'd just be Fig going to bed at 6 PM.
Date: 2010-06-06
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Hogswallow Flat
Miles today: 16.6

Today everyone was going to do a big 24 mile day. We would've definitely done it too, except for the girls and Fig who departed wicked early and left us to our own devices. I ran into a guy who I started with, "Limestone". He'd been chasing me for about 900 miles. Limestone thinks that out of the 11 or so people that were dropped off together on April 2nd; only me, Maple, and himself are still on. That's pretty good. Anyway, all the guys coincidentally showed up simultaneously at the Wayside (6.4 miles, the last Wayside going Northward) and got breakfast. The girls had already come and gone. It looked like rain so we stayed to write postcards. Someone discovered that they had $1 beer so we had a couple. Then Eddie went and bought a 6 pack for us. So we had to buy one for him, and it quickly became ridiculous. There was also a blue grass band showing up at 2PM, so we had a few hours to kill. To make a long story short, Limestone, "Trog", Skippy, Eddie, Kricket, BooBoo, Michigan, Southpaw, Brooklyn, and I spent all day there. The Wayside was trying to sell us chicken for $9.75 (to go with the concert). Incredbly, everyone banded together into an impromptu union.   No one could afford their price, so we told their Event Manager "Rebecca" that we wanted to negotiate and were willing to go as high as $7. We held out for quite a long time, but they wouldn't budge. No hiker actually purchased any chicken, so I count that as a victory. Way past an appropriate time to leave, we left. Everyone went to the next shelter. Brooklyn and I went 3.4 miles further than that and caught the sunset, then stealth camped. However, after the first of those 3.4, we came to a road crossing where Funk and Spiritwalker were in a parking lot. They gave us each a beer and shot of whiskey. Also a beer for later. The Shenandoahs are pretty rocky, so my sleeping pad had tons of jagged bumps. We also hung our bear bags directly over the AT. So to sum it up, we wasted about 7 hours and are only 7.3 miles behind the girls and Fig.
Date: 2010-06-07
From: Hogswallow Flat

To: Manassas Gap Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We set out to catch the girls this morning. Skippy showed up at our campsite before we'd even left. I gave him my beer from last night and he was very happy. After 9 up and down miles North I found a mulberry tree on the trail and had some berries. They were my first trail-provided food. Another mile further put us at US522, which is the easiest route into Front Royal, VA. Brooklyn and I got a ride from someone in the parking lot and headed to the Burger King for lunch and then the Kmart to resupply. We also discovered a liquor store and got some provisions for later (the 1000 mile mark was on the near horizon!). When we came out, BooBoo, Michigan, Kricket, and Skippy were all drinking and loafing around outside. We played frisbee for a long time, and then switched to a hacky sack type game with a tennis ball that I'd carried for over 100 miles. It was a lot of fun until Skippy kicked it onto the roof. Michigan had bought speakers for his Ipod and we were able to listen to music for the first time. Sometime later we all retired to our various fast food establishments for dinner (KFC family meal)and then got rides back up to the trailhead. Trail magic was occurring as Brooklyn and I arrived, and we enjoyed sodas. Then came the next 10 miles of hiking, 7 of which were in the dark. We arrived at the shelter at about midnight, finally catching Fig and the girls after wasting approximately two entire days.
Date: 2010-06-08
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Sam Moore Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was a bit challenging. I woke up late and hurried to get the miles done. It would've been an earlier start but apparently the KFC family meal is a bad choice if you don't want to spent the first 2 hours in the privy. The first stop was at "Dick's Dome Shelter", which is a hexagonal yurt-like structure down by a beautiful stream. Someone had drawn an inappropriate picture on the inside wall and dated it on "6/7/10". Perusal of the register indicated that Fig had slept there that very night. Hmmmmm. At the next break (Rod Hollow Shelter), there was a good-sized black snake living up in the rafters. I thought it'd be cool to sleep with a big snake lurking around and eating mice, but a couple old guys in there didn't like the idea. So I climbed up and got it down, then carried it about 0.2 miles away. I hope it goes back though. Right after the snake incident, I came across a sign which read: "Hiker Notice, WARNING! You are about to enter The Roller Coaster built and maintained by the ¢Trailboss¢ and his merry crew of volunteers. Have a great ride and we will see you at the Blackburn Trail Center (if you survive)." The Roller Coaster actually was a miserable piece of trail, way too many steep ups and downs for such a short section. It is about 13.5 miles long, but I only had to complete the first 7 or so before I reached the final stop for the night, immediately following "Buzzard Hill"
Date: 2010-06-09
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: moderate rain

Today we slept in and then drank lots of rum before starting out. It was going to be a very short day and celebrations were in order for the thousand mile point. We arrived at the Blackburn AT Center pretty early. I broke the tip off one of my hiking poles. The Roller Coaster finale was easier than the first half. Met "Captain Slick", "Colonel Mustard", "Fuzzy", and "Red Hat". The caretakers had a nice heated bunkhouse. BooBoo, Skippy, Michigan, and Kricket showed up as well. It sounds like they won't be doing the 4-State Challenge with us. The caretakers served us a giant spaghetti dinner, it was great! Also brownies for dessert. Brooklyn, Cheese, Belch, and I played Mao (card game). I made up a rule incorporating a deer jaw that I'd found. Fig and Supermax are still ahead. Tomorrow we'll be in Harpers Ferry, WV.