morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-22
From: Yellow Mtn. Gap/Overmountain Shelter

To: U.S. 19E/Mountain Harbour Hostel
Miles today: 8.7

 I wish I could have had more updates but while zigzagging throughTennessee and North Carolina this past week I had no cell phone service.So here goes: We stayed at Uncle Johnny's after getting to Erwin on 4/17 and slackpacked 11 miles the next day south of Erwin back to Uncle Johnny's.Stayed there again on 4/18 and ate eggs, bacon, and hash browns courtesy ofme - although it took 3 hours to make with a pocket rocket. Highfives to Boat Drinks, Finn and Donny for not complaining. Ha-ha. Alsomet up with Triple A again who gave us ice cream. Yum! The next daywe hiked 16ish miles to Cherry Gap Shelter which was all in the rain.I learned several things about rain this day: 1. If it is raining on the side of the trail but not on the trail it'snot really raining, it¢s dew drops from the trees.2. If it is raining only on the trail and not off of the trail it isactually raining.3. If you only feel a few rain drops it is likely not raining but morelikely that you were peed on by a bird or an animal from a treeabove laughing at you.4. If the sunset is red it won't rain the next day.5. If the sunrise is red it is going to rain.6. If the rhododendrons hang low to the ground it needs to rain.7. If the tent poles go into the ground easy then it has already rained.8. If your socks get wet while raining expect them and your shoes tosmell like bum when you next take them off.9. It is pointless to wear glasses while raining and most importantly...10. When it is or has recently rained do not step on roots on thetrail because you WILL fall on your ass. Oh yes, rain is so fun. The next day, 4/20, we hiked to the Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel. It was fun because the neighbor hates hikers and played loud country music and beat his lawn mower the whole night. Strange fellow. But Cee Cee, the owner, was very cool andcooked us good food. Next day we conquered Roan Mountain which was a good3 hour climb up. We stayed that night, 4/21, at a really neatshelter called Overmountain. It was an old barn and it had agreat view. Did 8ish hard miles today 6 of which were down hill andkiller on the knees so we stopped at 19E at a hostel called Mountain HarbourB&B. Finn and I are planning on waking up at 5 in the morning so wecan pull 25 miles tomorrow. Ekk! If we can pull this off we'll be inDennis Cove tomorrow to stay at Peoples Hostel. I'll write ya then!
Date: 2007-04-23
From: U.S. 19E/Mountain Harbour Hostel

To: Dennis Cove
Miles today: 23.8

I can't believe I did it!! 23.8 miles today - the most I have everhiked before. Almost a marathon hike but close enough. My body andfeet are like, "why did you do that?!" but mentally I feel great. Thehike was pretty easy despite it being really long. We even ran into afew water falls which was a hiking treat. Finnegan, Boat Drinks and Iall pulled the 23.8 mile day from 19E to Dennis Cove and are allstaying at Laurel Falls Hostel tonight. Donny Keyhote is withMatterhorn at the Peoples Hostel. We are also with NOBO HOBO. We werelucky to have a lady working here drive us in her jeep down to thenearest town, Hamilton, to pick up beers and junk food to gorgeourselves in after our triumph today. Finn and I splurged on Spaghetti O'sand I am so excited to eat them. On the way back the lady told us thestory of the farm across the road and how they used to have a pig as apet but someone ran over it and the owner tried to kill the pig killerwith a shot gun. Oh, I love Tennessee. Ha-ha. Tomorrow we are takinga zero day because we want to sleep in and my body will be sore I¢msure! Hope everything is good back home!
Date: 2007-04-26
From: Dennis Cove

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Donny Keyhote, Finnegan, and I all hiked together today from DennisCove today to Watauga Lake. The views this morning were very pretty.They were up and down sandstone gullies and waterfalls. We stoppedwith Billy Goat and Shasta for a snack at Laurel Fork Falls and thencontinued up Pond Mountain and then down to the lake. We stopped at thebeach before traveling on thru the rain to the next shelter. Thebest part of the day was when Donny went the wrong way for about amile and ended up in a town. Ha-ha. Boat Drinks couldn't join usbecause of a college reunion but will catch up with us in Damascus.Donny is leaving this morning to do a 40 miler and Finn and I willcatch up, also in Damascus. Tonight we're camping on the lakelistening to midnight fishermen.   G'night!
Date: 2007-04-29
From: Damascus VA

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

Finally hit the "most hiker friendly town on the trail" Damascus, VA.That's right ¢ I made it past 3 states and I'm in Virginia now! Can'tsay I could tell the difference between NC and TN but VA really isgreener and smells sweeter. Finn and hiked 14 miles from the lake toIron Mountain Shelter two days ago and then woke up early yesterday tomake it in to Damascus - another 20+ mile day. Donny did a 40 milerday so he was already here when we arrived last night. Finn and Istopped in Shady Valley where Mountain Squid gave us a hitch. Weate lunch at a restaurant called "the Raceway" which was a NASCARthemed eatery. Oh yeah. Totally worth the stop. Damascus is a smalltown but very much a hiker and biker town. Last night we stayed atThe Place which is a hiker hostel owned by a church. There is nodrinking or smoking allowed so we - NOBO HOBO, Finn, Donny and I -walked to the nearest bar to quench our thirst after our long hikes.We ended up at the 'Old Mill Inn' where we ran into none other then the famous Lone Wolf! He shared with me the good news that he has saved 5 lbs of bottle caps for me! He made my night. That and at the bar there is a patio and they give you bread to feed the ducks. That was a lot of fun - especially after a few beers. Ha-ha. Today we are taking a zero to wait for Boat Drinks who is on his way back. I took the time off to hit the local Dollar General for some laughs with Finn - we had way too much fun in the toy section and I also went to theoutfitters because I needed to buy a belt. My pants are too big! Wewill either be headed out again tomorrow or the next day.   Until thenit's time to be lazy.
Date: 2007-04-30
From: zero day

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

Today we got up too late, ate a hearty breakfast at the Country Inn and then after Boat Drinks and I got our bounce boxes we decided that we better stay another day to not rush and sort our food out. So, we are here again for another zero day in Damascus. Last night Boat Drinks rejoined us and his friend Brian also stayed the night. Finn, Brian and Boat Drinks ate dinner at a local hikers house were they were given apparently really good free food and aluminum crosses (light, so you can hike with them) - I didn't go but organized and cleaned out my pack. There are a lot of people at The Place now including K.T.R., Song & Harmony, Tabasco, and someone I ran into today... Kris! He skipped part of the section to meet a friend here but I was completely shocked to see him walking up the stairs today. Apparently Duct Tape, Wrong Way and Meghan are not too far behind either. Running into him was a pleasant surprise. Well, besides all that we are headed off bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to this week of hiking because I got a new skillet to cook with and we will have pancakes sometime this week which will be fun (thanks mom!). I also managed to buy too many snacks at the Dollar General which is never a bad thing. Also, I have a brand new pair of socks which is like gold to a hiker. Ha-ha. If I have service I'll write again at the next shelter. PS - While many on the trail have been confused by my name... Bobcat? Bottle Neck? Bottle? Cappers? Many have also questioned the meaning behind me collecting them so here is my website that I had before the trail with my cap collection: http://web.mac.com/laniamore/iWeb/Danielle%27s%20Crown%20Collection/hello.html - enjoy!
Date: 2007-05-01
From: Damascus VA

To: Whitetop Laurel Creek
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early from The Place to get a head start on the boys, who are much faster then me, and also because we had a 16 miler and I wanted to get to camp at a decent time. So, I said farewell to Damascus and headed on the Virginia Creeper trail into the woods for the long day ahead. Helloooooo May! Turns out it was the hottest day I have yet to hike. I was in the sun for most of the day and quickly running out of water so when the first shelter came along I stopped for a nice lunch break. The boys still hadn't caught up to me so I stayed there for a good hour in hopes that Finn would walk around the corner. No luck. However, the shelter was a really neat one - it was right in the middle of this small pine forest in the shade and looked relatively new. It also had a good water source and privy - which is always a plus. Then I continued on to Bear Tree Gap and stopped at a small pond to read a few pages in a book I had found at the last shelter - Spider Man 3 - the book that's based off the movie, that's based off the script, that's based off the comic... how odd. In any case I ran into three south bound hikers as I was leaving. Turns out Finn was right behind me because when he ran into them and asked about me they said I was 5 minutes ahead. So, Finn caught up to me with some bad news that right after they had started to hike Boat Drinks had a metal rod on the side of his pack snap in half and he and Donny had to hitch a ride back to Damascus. Without knowing if they would have time to continue their hike that day or if the outfitter in town would have to overnight a new pack for him, Finn and I ninja camped along the river after this very pretty bridge by the Virginia Creeper trail about 1.5 miles before Lost Mountain Shelter. We had a relaxing night by the river reading and making a campfire. Staying at shelters is nice, but when given the opportunity to camp near water I've found it's totally worth it.
Date: 2007-05-02
From: Whitetop Laurel Creek

To: back to Damascus
Miles today: 1.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Finn and I had another relaxing morning by the river which included more reading with the lulling background noise of the river and yummy blue berry pancakes. About two hours after getting up we heard Boat Drinks and Donny Keyhote trudging up the trail. Boat Drinks was at the outfitter for three hours getting a new pack and talking to Osprey about his broken one before they could get back to the trail so he and Donny camped at the pond four miles behind us. We all decided to try and do a 13 mile day to Thomas Knob up the ever so scary Whitetop and Mt. Rogers - a hard climb we hear - and stop for lunch at Lost Mountain shelter 1.5 up the trail. While hiking there it suddenly became wicked hot and I was thinking to myself if this is a precursor to the summer - I'm not looking forward to it at all. It is said that Virginia is a bad state for hikers because it's so long - 500 miles - and it seems like you aren't getting anywhere. I had the same thoughts today. While hiking 3 states and almost 400 miles has been an amazing experience, I have been bored with hiking recently. It seems like I've seen the same trees and trail since I've started and a mountain is something I know longer yearn to conquer but dread. This isn't to say that I'm not having fun, because I am. Camping next to the river yesterday was an awesome experience and the people I have been meeting is something I will always be grateful for. Call it the Hiker Blues. I'm told most hikers have a period where they wonder if they should keep going and I guess this is mine. Maine seems so unreachable at this point it's almost disheartening. However, I will go at least until Harper's Ferry and go on if the trail calls me further or finish the other half later in life. Well - these were my thoughts on the way to Lost Mountain shelter and also on Lost Mountain and I started to pretend I was on the show Lost and that I was Kate trying to find Jack - yeah it was awesome. Maybe it was my negative thinking (the dark side) but come to find out at Lost Mountain Shelter there was no Jack but an injured Finn. Apparently, right before the shelter his knee gave out and he took a nasty fall. Luckily there was a SOBO hiker eating at the shelter who was a physician that checked him out. He strongly suggested not going up to Mt. Rogers until he felt better because he said it was the hardest downhill he's done since Pennsylvania. With that advice, Finn and I decided to hitch back to Damascus to go to an urgent care while Boat Drinks and Donny moved on. So, Lone Wolf picked us up and here we are in Damascus again staying at the Lazy Fox Bed and Breakfast. Tomorrow he will go to the clinic and if he is feeling better we will hitch to Troutdale to meet up with the gang again. Hope things aren't too serious... PS. On a lighter note, while in the Dollar General the day before we left Damascus I bought the gang each a tiny Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure. Yeah, we are the coolest now. I'm Donatello, Finn is Leonardo, Boat Drinks is Michelangelo and Donny is Raphael. Go Ninja, go Ninja, go!
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Konnarock VA

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

 So, Finn and I had a great cultural experience before meeting up withBoat Drinks and Donny again in the small town of Konnarock, VA.Fishin' Fred had told us about a small bluegrass jam there and a pastthru-hiker, Sparkle, had offered to take us. So to Konnarock we wentthrough the mountains outside of Damascus with Finn and Fishin' Fredin the back and me carsick in the front with Sparkle. We made it andit turned out the blue grass jam was at an old gas station that nolonger sells gas. Apparently every Saturday night the locals gatherand play while food is cooked up on the grill. Finn and I were theyoungest people there by about 50 years, but what agreat experience. Finn was invited to play with both blue grass bandsand the older ladies loved him. Someone even yelled after one of hissolos, "put some brown suga' on them honey buns!" ha-ha! After listeningto music untill late in the evening Sparkle offered to drive us to thehostel in Troutdale to pick up a box of food left for us and drive us to the Partnership Shelter for the night. Only...she drove past Troutdale, went all the way to Partnership, and had to stop and ask where we were, then drove all the way back. Once in Troutdalethe hostel was hard to find too. But we found it and ended up wakingup Rio and Hemlock in the process. Got the food went back toPartnership and reunited with Boat Drinks and Donny. It was pastmidnight when we got there, so to sleep it was.
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Partnership Shelter

To: I-81 - Relax Inn
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

We started the day at Partnership Shelter which is a pretty sweetshelter. It had a solar shower, faucet, two stories and a shelter cat!The cat apparently swallowed a mouse whole the night before. I thinkmore shelters need a cat. Ha! After that we left for the Relax Inn12ish miles ahead near Atkins, VA. Got to walk through some reallypretty wetlands on the way there toward the end and despite thenot-so-nice motel rooms it was still nice to take a shower.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: I-81 - Relax Inn

To: Crawfish Valley along Reed Creek
Miles today: 6.2

Today was a rough day for Finn because his knee started to hurt againthis morning and yesterday his hip belt on his pack busted off. Hedecided however to keep going on to the next city Bland, another 3 to4 days ahead. Thank goodness for REI who offered to ship him a brandnew pack free of charge, however, he won't get it until Bland - anotherreason to keep hiking. So we left Atkins and decided early in theday to do low miles because of his knee and meet Donny and Boat Drinksin Bland. We met Donny for lunch at a shelter though, and thedecision was made to meet at Trail Days back down in Damascus because Finn and I and Boat Drinks and Donny have such different hiking styles. It was arather sad farewell but knowing we would see them in a few weekshelped. So, Finn and I stopped at Crawfish Valley near a stream withRio and camped for the night. It was peaceful and we made a wonderfulshrimp meal courtesy of my trail chef - my maw.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Crawfish Valley along Reed Creek

To: Route 42
Miles today: 6.0

Well, last night Finn woke up several times with horrible pain in hisknee and it appears he pushed himself too far too soon after hisinjury. Looking at the map it seemed like we could hitch a ride intoBland from road 42 about 6ish miles from Crawfish Valley north on theAT. So that is where we hiked too today. We took it easy with lots ofbreaks. We ran into our first Southbound Thru-Hiker, Colorado. Hehas been hiking from Maine since Oct! He plans on doing the IAT allthe way to Key West. CRAZY! Besides meeting him we had a pretty low-key hike. Most of it today was through private lands and cow pastures.Finn stepped in more then one cow pie... gross. We made it to 42 andcamped at a picnic area under some big pine trees. Tomorrow we willtry our best at hitching!
Date: 2007-05-09
From: Route 42

To: Bland VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hitching is at times like the lotto. We walked for several hours thismorning before someone offered us a ride and it wasn't a guy with apick up truck, as it often is, but an older couple in an Oldsmobile.They were delighted to take us to Bland which they did. We stopped atthe post office and picked up my bounce box and birthday box from mymom that had boat drinks for Boat Drinks¢ and my birthday celebrationtonight. We then got lunch and waited for Donny and Boat Drinks toarrive. We got to see them sooner then expected because the injuredknee delayed us. So, now we are all sharing a room at the Big WalkerMotel. Donny and Boat Drinks are headed back to the trail tomorrowand Finn and I are going to wait for his pack, hopefully hitch back toDamascus, get a temporary job for a week until Trail Days, which willgive him time to rest, and then after Trail Days hit the trail again.Yea for adventures!
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Bland VA

To: Damascus VA via Bristol TN 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

spoke too soon... Finn and I definitely had some adventures today. To basically sum it up it was a lot like the movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We woke up early in Bland and waited at the Kangaroo gas station for a taxi to take us to the Greyhound station 22 miles away in Wytheville. While waiting there, a biker came up to us and told Finn he needed to carry a gun with him on the trail because he was with a lady. We thought the comment was kinda weird but we had to quickly leave because the taxi arrived. It turns out the taxi driver was full of his own strange comments like asking us if we wanted to smell his motor oil. Strange... we got to Wytheville though and luckily there was room on the Greyhound headed for Bristol, TN -supposedly a short hitch away from Damascus, VA. At the first stop in Marion, VA, the police were waiting with an arrest warrant for a teenager riding on our bus. Needless to stay the Greyhound ride was entertaining. We finally got to Bristol where we learned it would be harder to hitch then we realized. We also realized that we must attract strange people because a woman followed us around Bristol telling us about 10 times that a shuttle would take us to the nearest Wal-Mart. Finn and I thought from Bristol, TN we would hitch to Abingdon, VA and then hitch from there to Damascus and the Wal-Mart was on the way so we went for it. Then we got stuck at the Wal-Mart for several hours because it was in an even more inconvenient hitching spot. I was getting frustrated because we had asked everyone we had seen for a ride and no one was willing to help so we finally called another cab. This taxi quoted me at $30.00 and then when Finn called back quoted him at $45.00. It must have been my sweet voice that lowered the price. Ha-ha. The driver was originally going to just drive us to Abingdon but upon getting there and realizing we would have been stuck hitching there all night the thought of shelling out a few more bucks just to get to Damascus within minutes sounded better to Finn so we struck a deal with the driver. However, we then got stuck behind a tracker and probably got there no quicker then had we walked. Ha-ha. We are here now though - never thought I'd be this happy to be back in Damascus. The town is bustling with hikers and people preparing for Trail Days which starts soon and there is even a carnival set up with rides and games. I think Finn and I will enjoy being back here tonight and celebrate with some fair food! Love,
Date: 2007-05-12
From: zero

To: zero
Miles today: 0.0

I have achieved my secret goal in life: to become a Carnie. That's right; Finnegan and I got jobs the local Carnival last night to support our extended stay here in Damascus. What an experience. Yesterday started out fine, Finnegan brought me breakfast for my birthday and we chilled for most of the day. At five we went over and started our jobs with a few other hikers, Doodle, Yogi, Dirtnap, Lumpy, and Caveman. I was stationed at the Giant Willy the Whale slide with Doodle. Finnegan was stationed at the Kiddie Dragon Coaster. The whole carnival isn't that big but includes a giant swing ride, The Flashback (which broke down yesterday), Bumper Boats, Scrambler, Canoe Rides, and a few prize winning games too. My favorite exhibit there is a trailer with a "Giant Rat" in it named Rufus, viewing pleasures for only $1.00! This trailer also had a Confederate flag on the top of it. The Giant Willy the Whale slide was by far the favorite with little kids though. My job was to tell them "One at a time please!" and make sure they got off before someone else comes down. The best part of the night was 1) seeing Yogi go down the slide and 2) getting hit on by a seven year old red head. Ha-ha. Finnegan, as they said last night, 'slayed the dragon' because by 9:30PM his ride broke down. But - not before some kid peed his pants in it. Oh, it was priceless. They wanted us to come back today from 10:00AM to midnight and we decided 14 hours of work getting paid less then $5 an hour was not worth it. We also decided that we will never trust carnival rides again. There was a 1 inch gap in Finnegan¢s roller coaster and everything seemed to be breaking down. We weren't really given any training on these rides - it just seemed really shady. Finnegan found a sign on the side of his rollercoaster that said, "If you see this ride being operated or maintained poorly or in a substandard way call this number --- --- ----" and he was tempted to write it down except in small print it said, "Only in Indiana" Well, that's helpful. Ha! So, we got to live our dreams and on my 22 birthday I became a Carnie for a day - and then quit. After we were relieved from our jobs we celebrated my birthday at Baja with some Yeugling. It was a good day. :D