morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-21
From: Pearisburg for the night

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning with a little soreness in the front of my right lower leg. The tendons that are used to pull the foot up were irritated, probably from the long descent into Pearisburg the day before. I ended up having to hike with ibuprofen all day which I have never liked to do. Sometimes, there isn't a choice. I got all my gear together, said goodby and took off to get some breakfast before getting on the trail. I basically ate at Dairy Queen the entire time I was there. That part of town didn't have a lot of good options and the DQ was very good. The tough part of the day was climbing out of Pearisburg. The rest of the hike was fairly flat and easy. I stopped Rice Field Shelter to sign the register and to get a quick snack. This shelter had a great setting with a meadow out front and a view of the valley beyond that. I continued for a couple more hours and sat down for a lunch break. As I was getting up to leave, Thomas and Iris were coming down the trail. I hadn't seen then since Trail Days and wasn't sure where they were. It was great to see them again. We hiked together until we caught up to "Half Man" and "Spring" who were relaxing in a camping area. The problem with socializing with them is that I'm the only one who doesn't speak German. I was constantly asking them to translate. Even though, we had a great time. The crisis for the day was that I ran out of water. It was a hot day so I either drank more than normal or I didn't start off with enough. Either way, I need to get into the habit of getting water when it's available. Summer will be very unforgiving if I don't get water on a regular basis. I did make to the stream just before the shelter and refilled all the water bladder and my emergency water bottle. I got to the shelter, pitched the tent made dinner and socialized a little at the shelter. It was then off to the tent to get caught up on the journals. Oh, I did squeeze in a much needed nap in the afternoon schedule. I guess getting to sleep early in the evening would be a wise choice for someone trying to hike big miles. Maybe next time, I'll remember to do such things.
Date: 2011-05-22
From: Pine Swamp Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: clear sky

Took off this morning at about the usual time. The soreness in the shin was present at the beginning of the hike but went away after a few miles of hiking. The good news was that it never hurt again even after a big day of hiking. I guess that the long downhill going into Pearisburg was really the cause because long distances like yesterday and today didn't seem to irritate it further. Made a quick stop at Bailey Gap Shelter to sign the registry and have a mid morning snack. For these longer hikes, I found it to be important to constantly eat to keep my energy level up. Today's hike had 2 big climbs so it was especially important. On the way to the first shelter, I stopped at the crossing for "The Captains". It is basically someone's backyard that can be used for tenting. There's no charge. It just someone who has opened up their backyard to hikers. What's cool about it is that a zipline is used to cross the creek to get to the tenting area. "Dash", "Shuffle" and I met up at the zipline. Only "Dash" tried it out. It was a sit down zipline and required the user to pull themselves across the creek. I ended up eating lunch at a place called Wind Rock. It offered a great view of a valley which provided a great backdrop while eating lunch. Took off for the next shelter where I caught up with "Half Man" and "Spring". After a little nap, we headed to our destination. The weather for the hike was fairly warm with no rain. It was one of those days where one had to drink a lot of water. Nice thing about this section was that there were plenty of streams and springs from which to replenish.
Date: 2011-05-23
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: light rain

Breakfast and packing up is beginning to be fairly efficient and almost mindless. I often worry that I've left something important behind because it does seem to be so mindless but I always make a quick scan of the tenting area before taking off. The big event of the day was the largest oak on the southern section of the AT. It is 18 feet around and is over 300 years old. My trekking poles are in the foreground to provide some sort of reference point. There were some great views along the way but the hike was fairly routine otherwise. Met up with the crew at the Niday Shelter where the decision was made to hike all the way to the next shelter, making it my longest hike so far. Basically, I have covered a little over 60 miles in three days. Needless to say, I was tired. I had expected that we would end up tenting before the shelter when I started the day. On the bright side, it was good to know that I was capable of hiking that distance and not have any problems other than fatigue. Definitely need to go shorter tomorrow to give the body a rest. The last part of the hike was one of those stretches where there are no water sources. This required one to fill up on water at the shelter before heading out. I now carry an extra bottle of emergency water that I drink from when the hydration bladder runs out. This gives me about 20 ounces (0.6 liters) of water to get me to the next water source. So when I fill up, I have 2.6 liters of treated water to get me to the next water source. If necessary, I can also carry an additional liter of untreated water. Normally, I don't because of the weight. For this hike, I filled up again at a water source just before the destination shelter because the water source at the shelter was difficult to get to. In that case, not only did I have the normal 2.6 liters of treated water but I also carried a liter of untreated water. It was a relatively short distance from that water source to the shelter area. That saved me the effort of having to climb down a step hill to get water once at the shelter. That was enough for cooking dinner that evening. Breakfast was simply food bars and beef sticks instead of oatmeal so no water was needed for cooking the next morning. That way, I can start the hike in the morning with enough water to get me to the next water source. By carefully planning water stops, one can reduce the number of water stops and the reduce the difficulty of getting to those sources and still have enough to hike and cook with. The nights have been warm enough where the sleeping bag is more than adequate. I have had to start opening the zipper at the foot area of the bag because my legs are getting too warm at night. It's amazing to think that just a week ago, I was too cold at night.
Date: 2011-05-24
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Catawba Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: thunderstorm with light rain

The crew woke up this morning and decided that 60 miles in 3 days of a bit much. Everyone was tired. So the decision was to go about 15 miles to give the body a little but of a rest. For today's hike there were a couple of things that were considered must do. First was a rock formation called Dragon's Tooth. It is a stone monolith that is shaped like a tooth (see picture I'm my photo album). The second thing was the grocery store in Catawba. Not only could we get our snacks but lunch was available. Pizzas, cheeseburgers, ice cream were some of the things on the menu. "Spring" took off early as usual and told us that she would meet is at the store. "Half Man" then left and.said she would be there also. I packed up, had breakfast and headed to Dragon's Tooth. I spend a little time there eating a snack and just enjoying the scenery. The part of the hike I did not expect was the climb down from Dragon's Tooth. For good mile, there were rocks that required careful down climbing. I found myself applying my rock climbing skills just to get down off the mountain. Given the fatigue from the previous 3 days, it was a tough of the trail. I made to the first road crossing around lunch time which was prefect because that was the road to the store. Once I got there, I discovered that neither "Spring" nor "Half Man" were at the store. "Spring" showed up about 30 minutes later. She had missed the return in the trail and ended up going through the woods to get to the road that goes by the store but much further down the road. She walked to a hostel, took a shower then made her way to the store. "Half Man" thought that the road crossing for the store was further down the trail and ended up never making it there. The crew that did make it was quite large. "Dash", "Shuffle", "Socks", "A1", "Knarly", "Jingles", "Spring" and several others were all spread out on the sidewalk on front of the store enjoying pizza and ice cream. "A1" and "Knarly" split a half gallon of strawberry ice cream. They had open the box and were just eating it as it sat on the sidewalk. After getting snacks, I took off back down the road, refilled my water supply and headed for the shelter. Once there, I saw "Half Man" who expressed regrets for getting road crossings mixed up. We set up our tents, had dinner and chatted with a group of section hikers for the rest of the evening. Thunderstorms possible all evening so we didn't know what to expect for weather that evening. We just hoped that we didn't have to pack up wet tents in the morning.
Date: 2011-05-25
From: Catawba Mountain Shelter

To: Camping area near Daleville
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: few clouds

A little more about an earlier entry. On the 21st, I posted a picture of a turtle on the trail. It appears that no one clicked on the picture to see it full size. There is a funny caption that I thought everyone would enjoy and maybe comment on. We were somehow spared the thunderstorm that was expected to occur the night before. That was a nice break since the tent was dry when it came time to pack it up. Had a quick breakfast then filled up on water and took off for McAfee knob, the famous rock outcropping with a fantastic view. The picture is that of me standing on the edge looking at the valley below. I think what makes this spot famous is just the vastness of the valley below. One can see many farms scattered throughout the valley, roads and other forms of civilization. All of this is surrounded by the wilderness of the mountains which the hikers experience each year on their thru-hikes. Off to the right, the ridge where the trail continues northward is visible. It is a preview of the hike away from the knob. I met up with "Half Man" and after spending a little time enjoying the view together, we continued on and stopped at the next shelter for a quick snack. The next point of interest for the day was a series of cliffs called Tinker Cliffs. It is a half mile stretch of rock outcroppings that provide a view of the same valley that can be seen McAfee Knob but from the north instead of the east. McAfee Knob itself is visible from these cliffs. The cool part about these cliffs is that as we walked northward, we got to see more of the valley and at a slightly different angle. I made a video of these cliffs that I will try to upload. Look for it in the video section. We continued the hike down to Lamberts Meadow Shelter were we ate lunch. We decided to camp just outside of Daleville so that the morning we went to Daleville, we would have plenty of time to do our resupply. Also, by keeping the distance short, we would be able to rest and allow our bodies to recover from the long days of hiking earlier. Given that plan, it was important to fill up on water because there was no water until we got to Daleville. What we had to carry also had to provide enough to cook dinner, keep us hydrated during the night and provide water for the hike into Daleville. We got packed up and took off to look for a camping spot. There wasn't anything shown in the guide book so it was possible that we would have to hike into Daleville tonight. Fortunately, we found something that was about 3.8 miles from town. That distance would be perfect for the hike into town the next morning. Despite being careful with water consumption, I still ended up bring a little lowet on water than I wanted to be. It wasn't critical, it just meant that I would be a little thirsty when I got to town.
Date: 2011-05-26
From: Camping area near Daleville

To: Daleville
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: clear sky

Daleville. 5/26. Total distance 3.8 miles. "Half Man" and I got up, had light breakfast and took off for Daleville. I ended up just eating the food bars that I had because I knew that I was low on water. Oatmeal or cream of wheat was not an option. In fact, I didn't get too far down the trail before I was completely out of water. We found "Spring" about a mile or so down the trail at a different camping area. From there, we took off got town. The first thing we did was head over to Shoney's for a full breakfast. We green picked out a hotel, took showers and then proceeded to get our resupply taken care of as well as gear purchases. I have lost so much weight that        I had to go to smaller hip belt for my pack. Also, a mouse decided to chew 3 small holes in my tent so I had to get a repair kit for that. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant in front of the hotel and        some of the best BBQ I' ve had at the 3 pigs restaurant. It was a great town stop in that we were able to do short miles, get all the stuff we needed and still enjoy a day on the town.
Date: 2011-05-27
From: Daleville

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Wilson Creek Shelter. 5/27. Total distance 11.3 miles. We decided to just take it easy today to give ourselves a little more time to recover. I didn't sleep well last night so I was really glad we kept the distance short. Compared to what we're enjoyed over the last couple of days, today's hike was really uneventful. I have modified how I am doing lunches so as to reduce the amount of fuel that I use. Today, I took pepperoni and cheddar cheese slices and put them inside pita bread. The only thing I need to add is mustard! It was still a great way to have lunch. The temperature was cooler than it had been thanks to the storm that came through the night before. "Half Man" and I hiked together for most of the day. We talked about various different things such as our families, life on our respective countries and relationships between men and women. She has been a great help to me as I have tried to sort out the recent events of my life. As we approached our destination, we could hear another thunderstorm building up. So we picked up the pace so that we could get to the shelter area in time to set up our tents before the rain hit. I got everything setup climbed into the tent and took a much needed 2 hour nap. The storm hit while I was napping. The sound of the rain hitting the trees and the tent was very soothing. I decided I needed to get up and eat dinner before it got too late. The rain had stopped and with the unpredictable nature of the weather, I had additional motivation to chok and eat dinner at that point. Afterwards, we all hung out at the shelter and just chatted with each other. It was a very enjoyable evening.
Date: 2011-05-29
From: Jennings Creek

To: Harrison Ground Spring
Miles today: 17.3

I got up a little earlier than normal, ate a breakfast of food bars and cheese then packed up and took off. I stopped at a steam very close to the next shelter and filled up on water. While I was putting everything away, "Half Man" caught up with me and said that she ssw her first bear. Apparently, it was coming down the hill as she was hiking down the trail. Of course her presence scared it away since they are fearful of humans. I missed it by just a few minutes. At some point on this trip, I'll get to see one. I got to the Bryant Ridge Shelter where some of the crew stayed. They said that the bugs were biting all night. I'm so glad that I stay near the creek. The bugs were not a problem there. From that shelter, we climbed to the top of Floyd Mountain, a long 3.1 mile climb. We stopped at Cornelius Creek Shelter for lunch then continued on toward the Blue Ridge Parkway crossing where the hiker feed was setup. The menu at this feed was incredible. Lasagna, meatloaf, veggies, fresh fruit, drinks and more. This was the highlight of the day. On of the ladies running it had been watching my trail journal, figured out that I would be able to make it if I planned my days properly. She sent me an email telling me the menu and encouraging me to tell everyone around me about it. I got there about 2:30 and stayed until around 6:30 primarily because I was too full to hike. There were about 15 of us there sitting around, eating and socializing. It was a great time for everyone. We all took off, some stopping at the shelter just a couple tenths of a mile away, most going to the camping area near Harrison Ground Spring. When I did the distance calculation, it came up to a surprising 17.6 miles. It certainly didn't feel like I hiked that distance. The humorous thought for the day was that we did cross the 760 mile mark which I thought to be the magical 1/3 point of the trip when in reality, it was the 727 mile mark. I had done the division in my head and didn't realize that I did it wrong. So the 1/3 of the way point was passed by without any celebration at all.
Date: 2011-06-02
From: Seeley-Woolworth Shelter

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

The plan for today was to stop at the Dutch Haus Hostel for the free lunch and to do a light resupply to bridge to Waynesboro. Because lunch was served between 11am and 1pm and the distance was 2.4 miles, it didn't make sense to get up early. Given that we all just made it a leisurely morning and got on the trail at around 9 or so. We made it to the road fairly quickly and just waited before heading down. After a short while, there was a group of about 6 that were ready to hike down from the trail head to a parking area where the shuttle would pick us up. A guy in a pickup truck came by and offered us a ride down to the parking area. We all piled in to the back, packs and all, and were on our way. We were joined by a couple of others who hiked down the rode since they arrived too late for the pickup truck. Eventually, the shuttle came by to take us to the hostel. The setting for the hostel was very peaceful. One felt that they were away in a special place far from the hustle of everyday life. The bunkhouse and the main house had a great country atmosphere because of the log cabin construction. After a short delay, lunch was served. There was a variety of items served including chicken sandwich, corn and bean, macaroni and cheese as well as potato salad. For desert, there was our choice of red velvet cake, peach cobbler and one other that I can't remember. For our drink, lemonade was served. It was very good. Their hospitality was one of the best I've seen. This is a must visit place for anyone hiking that part of the trail. After lunch, we were taken to a small store to purchase food then taken back to the parking area. It was a 1.5 mile hike back up to the trail. "Half Man", "A1", "Knarly" and I then stopped at Spy Rock and were treated to a spectacular 360 degree view. We were told by "Zipper", a 2009 thru-hiker, the night before to take the time to go to the top of Spy Rock. It was definitely worth the time and effort. We then headed down the trail stopping at the Priest Shelter for a quick break. I had to make a telephone call while at the shelter so everyone got ahead of me. I took off down the trail after getting water. I eventually caught up with "Half Man" at the suspension bridge over the Tye River. We took off got the shelter knowing that we were going to arrive late. We got to the camping area first but could not find the shelter. After about 20 minutes of hunting around, we decided that the shelter had to be further down the trail. It was a little frustrating because we were tired and it was 8:30. Neither of us had eaten dinner either so hunger was also contributing to the frustration. We found the shelter, set up the tents, cooked dinner and were in our tents. Sleep came quickly for me got obvious reasons. It was a fun day but it was long and tiring.
Date: 2011-06-03
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: broken clouds

We got up and going because today was a long day. The idea was to make tomorrow a short day so that we could get to Waynesboro early in the morning and do all of the things we needed to do. There was a big climb to start the journey. As it turned out, it was the last big climb for the next 700 miles. "Half Man" and I made it up over the top in a reasonable amount of time stopping at Chimney Rock along the way to take in the view. Once over the top, we decided to hike to the next overlook to stop and have a snack. We found Hanging Rock and enjoyed a view that one would get while in an airplane. Imagine looking out and seeing all the way to the horizon with perfectly clear air. Such was the view that we had while snacking. I wish there were words, pictures or even videos that could portray the beauty that we witnessed. But, it is something that just has to be experienced. It may be that the sense of accomplishment that comes from climbing to the top that makes the view all the better. It's hard to say. The rest of the hike was fairly normal except for all of the rocks that we had to hike over. It makes the hike slower because one has to be careful about foot placement lest an ankle get twisted. Not only is it slower but it is also more tiring. When "Knarly" finally caught up to us, he expressed his aggravation with all of the rocks in the trail. We all pressed on, trying to make the best of it. It was funny that toward the end of the hike, we would come to another overlook and simply skip it because we had seen many before it and we were tired from the hike. We eventually made it to the shelter, later than normal, but earlier than the day before. As always, tents were set up first then dinner cooked. Afterwards, there was a great discussion on the topics of religion and philosophy that was very civil especially given the subject matter. Everyone learned something and I don't think anyone felt insulted. It got to be late so it was off to our respective tents for a good night's sleep. There was a creek with a swimming hole that we didn't get to take advantage of because of our long discussion. It didn't seem that anyone minded. There's always more down the trail.