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

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

Thursday, May 3, 2007 Day 48 We got a good start and the trail was easy. Not quite flat, but no big climbs like the previous two days. It was also cloudy and cooler. By noon we had reached Highway 91, where I left the trail last year. I did a little jig in the middle of the road, and got run over by a dump truck. No, strike that. Gus thought I had stumbled, so I went back into the road, and did the jig again. There was no trail magic or trash can there, like there had been last year, but it was more satisfying to continue hiking. We walked through a big open pasture and back into the woods. At the next campsite, we filled up our water bottles and headed on. We stopped at the Double Springs shelter for a lunch break and met Hangman. At the next highway crossing at Low Gap, we took a break and Hangman passed, along with another hiker, Two Dogs. About a half hour later the thunder we had been hearing erupted into rain. It was still raining when we reached the campsite I had been hoping to stay at, but neither of us cared to pitch a tent in the rain and mud, so we kept going. We passed a tiny, emergency shelter, only big enough for two people, and there was Two Dogs. We kept going, and reached the Abingdon Gap shelter about 5:30. With seven people in a six person shelter, and with the rain easing off, we pitched our tent. We had done 15.9 miles, our biggest day ever on the trail, it was still early, and we weren't wiped out. I hung out on the edge of the shelter while it continued to rain. I didn't bother to cook, so we ate tortillas and Dove bars for dinner, and about 8:00 we crawled into the tent and crashed for the night.
Date: 2007-05-04
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: The Place, Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Friday, May 4, 2007 Day 49 I woke up early to see Blue Meanie and Hiker Chic packing up, well before 6. Up by 6:20, I hung out waiting for space on the shelter floor to pack up. We ate and I got water from a great spring a long way from the shelter--about 800 feet, says the book, and 200 vertical feet down the hill. The spring erupted from the ground in three places, and by the time it was 30 feet from the first source, it was a full-blown creek. Everyone was gone and Two Dogs and Foot Machine, who had also stayed in the emergency shelter, had caught up. We took off close behind Foot Machine, and stayed near him down to the Tennessee-Virginia state line, where we took each other's pictures. One more stop to change into her damp clothes because of the threat of rain, and a campsite two miles from town for some lunch (both with showy lady slippers making their first appearance), and we rolled into Damascus by two. The first car past us was a small truck with Fishin' Fred, who stopped and chatted briefly before allowing us to get to the post office. We met Fred at trail magic near the foot of Albert Mountain last year. Some of the best trail magic we've had. He was in town to help a friend out while killing time before Trail Days. We picked up a parcel from home. Gus now has her camera back, and we have our little bug tent which goes under our tarp. Not too many bugs yet, but they'll be out soon. We dropped our gear at The Place, a church-sponsored hostel in town, and headed for the library, where I worked on this thang until closing. We showered, went for pizza at Sicily's, then to the laundromat to close it down. Tomorrow we take it easy, send some stuff home, finish the journal, and do some shopping and get ready to HIKE VIRGINIA!!!!!
Date: 2007-05-05
From: The Place, Damascus, Virginia

To: The Place, Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Saturday, May 5, 2007 Day 50I went through my stuff this morning, and put mittens, old maps, exposed film (I still shoot slides--I know, Cro-Magnon), and some other stuff in the box Tina sent us. Gus went through her stuff and did the same, then we trundled off to the post office and shipped it all home. I spent the next bit of time at the library, catching up on email, trail journal, etc., then, too late for breakfast, headed to the Damascus greasy spoon, Dairy King. No omelets, so we settled for burgers. We wandered over to Sundog Outfitters, then back across town to check out the groceries at Dollar General. We ended up at Food King (lots of kings in Damascus) where we did the majority of our resupply.We headed back to town in a light rain, stopping at Mount Rogers Outfitters for some totally unnecessary gear, Clif Bars, a new Platypus water bag, and a few other things, to replace the weight we had sent home. We went to Baja (a restaurant) for burritos and Dos Equis, then I went over to another hostel to hang out with Foot Machine. He told us his toes were infected, and he was waiting for his wife to come down from Maryland to take him home. Boy, do I know what THAT feels like.After Foot Machine left town, I headed back to Dollar General (fast becoming one of my favorite chain stores) and bought some toilet paper, soap and shampoo for the hostel we were staying at, The Place. They only ask four bucks a night, and their amenities are accordingly slim. After lapping the entire town, we began our rest day about 6 pm.
Date: 2007-05-06
From: The Place, Damascus, Virginia

To: Past Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Sunday, May 6, 2007 Day 51I was ready to go by 8 or so, but circumstances prevented our leaving until about 9:30. We finally got going, and on the way out of town got our omelets at Dairy King. Then we used the pay phone by the laundromat to call home, and finally, really, got going about 11:30. The trail heads out the highway to the Virginia Creeper bike trail, then crosses the highway and climbs about a thousand feet before dropping about 950 and crossing the highway again. (That's how a lot of the AT goes.) The upside was that it was a perfect day for hiking. Cool, breezy, and sunny. After a second 1,000 foot climb during which we saw our first cardinal flowers, we reached the turnoff for Saunders shelter. We passed, since we had done less than 10 miles and it was only 5. We hiked on for a couple more miles until we came to a pond in the deep, dark woods, with a spring feeding the pond, spring peepers peeping, and a reasonably level place to pitch a tent. And that's just what we did.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Past Saunders Shelter

To: Elk Garden
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: broken clouds

Monday, May 7, 2007 Day 52We spent the first part of the day hiking through the woods. What else do you do on the Appalachian Trail? We took a break at the Lost Mountain shelter, then dropped back down to Highway 58. (Remember Damascus? This is the same highway.) Then we began a serious climb. It took us from 3,200 feet to about 5,400. One long traverse up along Beech Mountain, and on to the base of Whitetop Mountain. Along the way the phacelia (a small, white flower) carpeted the forest floor like the spring beauties had done earlier in our trip.We made it over Buzzard Rock and along the edge of Whitetop and down to a place called Elk Garden. Along the way we began to run low on water, and since it takes a while to pump water, I'm very picky about where to stop. I thought I waited too long, as we were approaching Elk Garden (no water or camping indicated in the AT Data Book), but finally came upon a stream. We stopped, I scrambled down to filter enough for the night, then as I was preparing to scramble back up, Gus hollered, "there's a pipe!". Sure enough, 20 feet past where she dropped her pack, a piece of pvc was sticking out of the hillside with spring water pouring out. Oh, well. We set up on the edge of Elk Garden, with sufficient traffic on the nearby highway (not 58, this time) to remind us we were still on Planet United States. The bonus here was a buried trash can, looking for all the world like a small missle silo, into which I dumped the accumulated wrappers and trash from two days of hiking. The other bonus for the day (other than not having to go to work) was lots of flowers. I saw what I think might be the first true Solomon's Seal I've ever seen in the wild, along with red columbine and lots of trout lilies, phacelias, and more.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Elk Garden

To: The Scales
Miles today: 12.2

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 Day 53We got a late start, but luckily, the first climb of the day was just across the road. We headed up through Elk Garden (no elk, just the garden) and into the woods. We hadn't been on the trail for more than an hour when we saw a hiker approaching. It turned out to be Spaghetti-Oh!, who we had hiked with for quite a time between Springer Mountain and Erwin last year. We spent 20 minutes catching up, then continued our climb. It was a long climb, but the end was a spur trail to Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia. Gus had climbed it last year in the solo part of her hike, and I climbed it shortly after I picked her up in Bland last year, so we continued to Thomas Knob shelter to get water.The highlight of any hike through this area are the feral ponies living in Grayson Highlands State Park. We saw a few a ways off, then I pushed ahead until I found a female with her newborn foal. I stopped for a snack, and when Gus arrived, she stopped, and we both took pictures. Eventually, we headed on through the romantically named Fatman Squeeze Tunnel and out of the park. We took a circuitous route south and east several miles, avoiding the Pine Mountain Trail which gets from point A to point B in a fraction of the miles. It also avoids water and shelters, which may be why the AT does what it does, but who knows why the AT does what it does. Only the AT knows why. We stopped for a break at the Wise shelter late in the afternoon, then pushed on to a place called the Scales. Apparently they used to weigh horses, or cattle, or something. I was hoping someone would still be there, 'cause I wanted to know how much I've lost, so far. On the way we saw some more wild ponies. Lots of baby ponies. We watered up, as the book was mum on the subject of water and camping, and reached the Scales about 7:15. There was a trailer, a van, and a pickup truck, but no one was around. There was also a world-class Forest Service outhouse, complete with vent stacks and trash cans. Trail Magic!!! The dew was laying heavy on the grass as we cooked and set up for the night. With no nearby trees, we hung our bear bag at the world-class outhouse.
Date: 2007-05-09
From: The Scales

To: Troutdale, VA
Miles today: 13.2

Wednesday, May 9, 2007 Day 54The sky was clear when we settled in last night, but it clouded over and had been misting, to add to the dewy evening. We were up before dawn, and set a new all-time early start time--gone at 7:35. The low clouds gave way to a partly cloudy day that ultimately turned into a really nice day. We had set a lofty goal--Troutdale by dusk, so beyond a couple of breaks--at the Old Orchard shelter, then on our big climb of the day, we kept going, and reached the highway to Troutdale by four. I stuck out my thumb, and pulled in the first vehicle going by, and got a ride to the Troutdale Trading Post, now known as Jerry's. We got out and Jerry came out, gave us a ride to the post office, then to the hostel, then back to his place where we ate dinner then bought a couple days of supplies to get us to Atkins. He's also got internet, so after eating, I ended up back here to do this. And now it's done. Come back in a few days and see if there's any more.
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Troutdale, VA

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

Thursday, May 10, 2007 Day 55We walked down to Jerry's Kitchen for some breakfast. The day dawned damp and cloudy, but the clouds and dew burned off pretty quickly. The pancakes I had were a bit dry and almost hard to finish, but I persevered and the carb load burned well through the day. Jerry had given us a ride up to the trail from his place, so we were on the trail by 9, and made it to Trimpi shelter, four miles in, in good time. We took a break there, then hiked on, reaching Partnership Shelter about 5. The shelter is just behind the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area Visitor Center. The center had closed before we got there, but there's a phone on the back wall, and hikers can call down to Marion, VA to Pizza Hut or another Italian restaurant and order pizza, pasta, salad, drinks, etc. Blue Meanie, Hiker Chic, Troll, Double Bird and Nat were already there, eating, so I called down to Pizza Hut and they delivered pizza and salad. Gus and I enjoyed our pizza and headed back to the shelter where a full house of hikers were hanging out.
Date: 2007-05-11
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Relax Inn, Atkins, VA
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

Friday, May 11, 2007 Day 56One of the features of Partnership Shelter is a solar-heated shower. After showering and packing, we went back to the visitor center, checked out the candy and post cards and hit the trail by 8:30. Before we left, I called the Relax Inn in Atkins and made a reservation for that night. Relax Inn is just off the trail, and it had a laundry room, so we could get our clothes clean for the next big push north.We had three climbs, crossed a couple of roads, under a very noisy power line that gave us headaches, then past the Settlers Museum, a Virginia version of Old World Wisconsin, featuring living history in old restored farm buildings. We reached the visitors center and stopped for a break, checking out the 1890 schoolhouse. Two young kids were running the place, and they offered us tea and Pepsi. Who can refuse two young kids? We sat and visited for awhile, then took off through the fields toward Atkins.We could hear the interstate, but it took forever to get there. We passed a huge patch of poison ivy, covering the ground and climbing into the trees. I carried my poles to avoid getting them full of ivy oil. This section of the trail had more switchbacks than we had seen for the previous three weeks, but we finally crossed the Holston River, the railroad tracks, and reached the highway to find the Relax Inn across the road. Several hikers were clustered on benches in front of the hotel, including Birdlegs, Lala, Blue Meanie, Hiker Chic, Butch and about ten others. A bunch were just hanging out, drinking beer from the nearby convenience store. They planned to get back on the trail just as soon as they reached their legal liquor limit--of which, as it turned out, there is none. We put our clothes in the washer, and I went for a soak in the tub in our room. The room smelled funky, and the walls of the tub were sagging, a good sign for the carpenters of Atkins, but not for thru-hikers. The tub sagged a bit, too. The restaurant in front of the motel was burned out. Not a high-class joint, I thought to myself. But under new ownership, so hope springs eternal.We went to The Barn for dinner. Butch, Blue Meanie, Hiker Chic and several others were already there. We joined them and had a decent dinner, then tried to resupply at the very limited convenience store, and went back to the room for the night.
Date: 2007-05-12
From: Relax Inn, Atkins, VA

To: Knot Maul Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Saturday, May 12, 2007 Day 57If the Relax Inn hadn't been so shabby and smelly, I might have stayed for a zero. We were both lethargic after a hot Friday, but packed up, stopped at the store, then back to The Barn for a big breakfast, and finally, a late start. We worked our way through old fields, then back into the woods, stopping for a break at the Davis Path Shelter. We climbed over Gullion Mountain, then down to Crawfish Creek, where a couple of hikers were catching crawdads. They eventually cooked them up for lunch, but we were long gone. I saw a couple of deer, and the azaleas and rhododendrons were blooming.Late in the afternoon we got down to a stretch that went through private lands. We were warned to stay on the trail, which we did, climbing over several stiles--V-shaped ladders over fences--as we passed from field to road, road to field. There were three miles of these fields, then another crossing of a branch of the Holston River. At one point, we met a herd of cattle at the edge of the woods. Curious, they approached me, until I moved, then they moved. After Gus got pictures, they followed her, at one point starting to run, which was interesting for her, as she was the lead animal of the herd at that point, and didn't have much experience at the job.Near sunset we crossed a road, passed a picnic area, then a small campsite with two of our dinner companions from the previous evening set up for the night. We reached a full house at the Knot Maul Branch Shelter near sunset, and opted for a cold dinner after a long day, pitched our tent, and settled in.
Date: 2007-05-13
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Past Walker Gap
Miles today: 13.0

Sunday, May 13, 2007 Day 58I have a First Need Water Purifier. It takes out everything, from Giardia to viruses. It is supposed to purify up to 125 gallons of water, but my experience is somewhat less successful. I'm lucky to get 60. It must be that I'm taking straight from the water source without filling a pot and letting sediment settle. I'm going to have to change my approach, because after changing out filters just south of Erwin about three weeks ago, the filter is clogging up, making it very hard to draw water. The filter began to slow up today, and we're nearly a week away from Pearisburg, where my next canister will be waiting in the mail.We got water a couple of times this morning, then began a serious (2,000 foot) climb up Chestnut Ridge. We passed a pond where the Texas gang was lazing about, and after passing through an impressive purple patch of poison ivy, reached the Chestnut Knob Shelter in mid-afternoon. Last year's log was still there, so we got to read Weeks' comments about the 120, no, 130 degree heat, and the helicopter that he waved at and got to land. Weeks made it here on May 31 last year, Harley on June 1 ("If my man could smell me now"), so we're making good time. We climbed down to Walker Gap, found the spring, filled up, and climbed up the ridge on Garden Mountain until we spotted a campsite in the woods about an hour later and pitched our tent.
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Past Walker Gap

To: Trailside near Bland, VA
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Monday, May 14, 2007 Day 59It was 45 degrees and windy when we got up. We took off over Garden Mountain, then dropped 1,500 feet to the Jenkins Shelter. We stopped for lunch with some other hikers. I went down for water, then back on the trail. Last year the trail went down to Little Wolf Creek, but a bridge had been washed out, and the trail was now blazed on a former high-water route along an old forest road. The trail was fabulous, and we made good time down to a gravel road, but then had to backtrack about a half mile to the connection with the old trail. We crossed Little Wolf Creek, filled up our water bags and used iodine to purify. I hate iodine. It discolored the Platypus bags, and it tastes like, well, iodine. Yuck! Back in the woods, just off the road, was a cooler with several bottles of Gatorade in icy water. Yum! Happy again, we climbed up, running into Chocolate Bandito on her way down. She had been a few days ahead of us until getting off, then started again southbound on a section further north. We had met her at Winding Stair Gap near Franklin around the end of March doing trail magic, and it was fun to see her again.With full water bags, we hiked until we found a small spot for a tent along the trail about three miles out of Bland late in the day, set up and camped for the night.
Date: 2007-05-15
From: Trailside near Bland, VA

To: Past Helvey's Mill Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Day 60By nine we had reached the highway between Bland and Bastian. We walked down the road for about an hour, and had gotten to the edge of Bland when a man stopped and drove us over to the Subway on the other edge of Bland. We ate a late breakfast and walked over to Dollar General (the best resupply in town). Gus bought a couple of cotton T-shirts, I got a bunch of food, then we walked back into downtown? Bland. Bland is so bland. And small. The shelves at the IGA were nearly bare. No tortillas. Two pound blocks of Velveeta. Ritz crackers. We got what we could, then went to the post office where Gus got her summer boots. We shipped off her winter boots and a few other items including my fleece pants, then tried to find more iodine. No luck. Back at the IGA we bought some Chlorox and a small juice bottle. After drinking the juice we filled the bottle with Chlorox and gave the rest to the store clerk.After calling home we stopped at the other two stores in town, found a better bottle for the Chlorox, and before we could put our packs on, got asked if we needed a ride to the trail. Heck, yes. Back on the trail at 3:50, we hiked past Helvey's Mill Shelter and camped along the trail a couple hours later.
Date: 2007-05-16
From: Past Helvey's Mill Shelter

To: Trent's Country Store
Miles today: 12.1

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Day 61We had met Slim and Bogie in Bland the day before, and by the time we reached the first road crossing today, they caught up. There was dried-up trail magic in the woods. The bottled water was gone, and Gus cleaned up the debris from hikers leaving their critter-attractive trash with the trail magic trash. A church in Pearisburg was leaving clothes hampers full of bottled water with a trash bag. We saw several, but most were all gone by the time we got there. There's hope for the future, though.We caught up with Slim, Bogie and JD at Jenny Knob Shelter. I went down to the spring, looking for water. The trail went down to a dry stream bed. Then another. Then I found a seep, a place much like a mud hole, without the traffic. Finally, a spring. Laboriously, I drew about five liters of water out of my pot from the spring and got lost climbing back out. I intersected the blue-blazed trail to the water source and finally got back to the shelter. Gus was not there. She was on the trail looking for me. She had heard me lumbering through the woods, so to speak, and eventually we got going again.Approaching Lick Skillet Hollow, we had to crawl under a tree, suspended about five feet over the ground, covered with a poison ivy vine. Gus made it under, but I scraped it. Good thing I had my pack towel on the back of my pack. I reached Kimberling Creek, about 75 feet wide, with a spiffy suspension bridge, just as it started to rain. I covered my pack after carefully folding and stuffing the pack towel into a zip-lock bag. Gus arrived and we turned down the road to Trent's Grocery in the rain.At Trent's, Bogie, Slim and JD were just finished eating and making arrangement to camp there that night. We followed suit, had two big burgers and paid twelve bucks to camp. There was a shower and a laudromat (of sorts), so I threw the pack towel in with hot water and washed out the poison ivy. We pitched our tent near a big, old tree with poison ivy at its base, and hung out with the others until dark.