morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-17
From: Woodshole Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.7

It quit raining shortly after daybreak and we all quickly broke camp. Around 7 we headed across the creek and up the road to the trail. It was a cool, foggy, breezy morning as we hiked toward the town of Pearisburg. Flame had 3 friends, from back home in Texas, fly in last night to spend a few days with her. They had agreed to hike up the trail from town and meet us. We really had our doubts as we saw how awful the weather was and knew the ladies faced at least a 2000 foot elevation gain. After hiking roughly 7 or 8 miles around 11 am we decided to stop for a short snack break. At the same moment we looked down the trail through the fog, wind and rain and saw 3 women hiking toward us. We were amazed that Flame's friends had made the hike up to meet us. We really would not have blamed them if they would have waited in a warm car down below for us. After hiking down to town with us, they shuttled us to a nice Mexican restaurant and we all had a nice lunch together. We then were shuttled to a beautiful log home they had rented a few miles from town. We enjoyed a warm comfortable afternoon and evening together that included: hot showers, comfortable bed in the loft, supper (grilled burgers, veggies, avocado dip, desert, etc.) and a great breakfast in the morning. Thimbleberry and I were then driven to town to pick up our rental car for the trip back to Michigan for our niece Karen's wedding. Congrats to Karen and Sawyer!! We surely have been blessed by "Trail Magic" from Flame's wonderful friends. Thank you, Maytag, Raytag and Jaytay! (trail names they came up with for themselves)
Date: 2011-05-23
From: Mason, Michigan

To: Symm's Meadow
Miles today: 11.7

We stayed in Beckjey, WV last night and enjoyed Outback for supper, which was right across the street. We returned the rental car at 9 this morning and headed out of town on the AT shortly after. Seemed to be hard to get back in the rhythm again as it took forever to do the miles. The climb out of town was slow and my feet are getting used toy new Siperfeet insoles. Early on we met Circiut Rider & Sherlock on the trail. They live in the UP off season and hike the AT every year as trail missionaries. It was a lot of fun getting to meet them briefly, We have a mutual friend, Pat Schlehuber, from back home that I worked with for several years. It took until 5 pm to get to Symm's meadow our campsite for tonight and we are bushed. That's all for now.
Date: 2011-05-24
From: Symm's Meadow

To: Wind Rock
Miles today: 15.4

Today we were up early and on the trail by 6:20. Today was quite pleasant with a nice breeze blowing most of the time. Five miles into our day it started to rain just as we reached the Pine Swamp shelter for a snack and rest. It continued to rain for at least an hour as we headed out. Eventually we saw the sun again. This afternoon was trying due to the very rocky trail. Boy our feet are really sore after the rocks beat them up. We did 15.4 miles today and are camped at Wind Rock that you see in the attached photo. We ate supper on the rocks as a thunder storm approached. We are currently comfortably in our Tarptent listening to the rain.
Date: 2011-05-25
From: Symm's Meadow

To: VA 630
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

Today was a tough one for us. It was hot and humid with temps in the mid 80's. My feet were still hurting some so we stopped at Laurel Creek and soaked them for a while. This helped a lot along with cooling down our bodies.We received trail magic at VA 42 at a fence stile. Someone had just left apples, bananas and Krispie Cream doughnuts. I quickly ate 2 KC's while T had an apple. We brought bananas for breakfast. We are camped just north of VA 630 tonight by a nice stream.
Date: 2011-05-26
From: VA 630

To: Stealth site
Miles today: 11.6

We were up and on the trail this morning by 6:30 as we knew it would be another hot and humid day. Within the first 30 minutes we went by the Keiffer Oak tree, the largest oak tree on the AT in the south which is over 18' around and more than 300 years old. The day was very hot so we took a long break by a stream in the early afternoon. We continued on with climb up Brush Mtn. and found a nice stealth site about 2/3rds of the way up and settled in around 4:30. We had nice views out to the valleys from the campsite. About an hour before dark thunder storms moved in and we had a front row seat with the rain, lightning and wind over most of the night. Needless to say we didn't wake up very rested in the morning.Also we encountered a stubborn black snake today that didn't want to get out of the trail!
Date: 2011-05-27
From: Stealth site

To: 4 Pines Hostel
Miles today: 14.1

We awoke to a cloudy morning. The storms had ended and the wind had pretty much dried the tent. We headed on up Brush Mtn. and came to the Audie Murphy Monument. He was the most decorated WWII veteran. The trail continued along the crest of the mountain with only minor elevation changes for the next several miles. Ten miles or so after the monument we came to Dragons Tooth a large stone monolith with great views of the valley below. Over the course of the day we hiked through continuous Mountain Laurels that were in full bloom. This day had provided one of the most beautiful sections of the AT that we have walked. Late in the afternoon we arrived at VA 624 and looking for a place to camp for the night when we noticed a sign for 4 Pines Hostel. There was a note attached that said the the hostel had hot showers and that the owner would drive you to the Homeplace restaurant for supper. About this time up pulled a white pick-up truck (the hostel owner) and offered us a ride. Needless to say we accepted and were soon at 4 Pines where we met up with Lucky a friend of ours from the trail. Lucky is from Utah and will be starting law school in August. She recently returned from Africa where she spent the last couple of years in the Peace Corps. We showered and headed to the Homeplace with Lucky for dinner. The Homeplace is family style meal: fried chicken, ham, roast beef, coleslaw, mac&cheese, green beans, pinto beans, biscuits, mashed potatoes & gravy along with warm peach cobbler w/ ice cream. All this for $14...what a deal. We slept comfortably in our Tarptent behind the hostel. Joe was great host and we would highly recommend the 4 Pines to anyone hiking the AT.
Date: 2011-05-28
From: Pines Hostel

To: Pig Farm CS
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: broken clouds

We had rain overnight and had to pack the tent away wet. We walked from the hostel to a small store about a half mile from the trail to resupply for the next couple of days. We were on the trail again by 8 and around 11 we hit VA 311 which meant we have hiked 700 miles so far. The parking lot at 311 was full (probably 30 vehicles) and the trail busy with day hikers headed to & from McAfee Knob as it is the Memorial Day weekend. We stopped at Johns Spring Shelter on the way up for lunch and loaded up on water a mile or so later at a nice spring. (water has not been available for several miles at times lately) Around 2:30 we finished the 1200 foot ascent to McAfee Knob and were treated to an outstanding 180 degree view. It was quite crowded with lots of others who had made the 3.5 mile hike. We relaxed and stayed for an hour or 2 longer and gradually things thinned down to a handful of people. We headed on along the trail a bit after 4 and after a mile or so stopped for the night behind the Campbell shelter. We got see Bumblebee tonight. It has been a few weeks and it was great to see her again. My feet continue to be sore, making a painful and hot hike again today. Even so, this section of the AT has been some of the most scenic that we have hiked. The views have been great and the blooming Mountain Laurels have been abundant along most of the trail.
Date: 2011-05-29
From: Pig Farm CS

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We got up early this morning and hiked the 4.5 miles to Tinker Cliffs by 8:30. The views along this half mile of cliffs were great. It reminded us a little of hiking the cliffs along the Pictured Rocks back home, except instead of seeing the blue waters of Lake Superior below you enjoy the green valley's and mountains. It was another hot and humid day with temps in the upper 80's. We hiked at a slow pace trying to take it easy on my sore feet. We stopped to load up on water at a spring mid-day. We kept hearing a noise up the mountain while at the spring and discovered it was a whitetail deer about 50 yards away snorting at us. She wasn't very happy with us apparently. Eventually we found a fairly nice place to camp for the night about 3 or 4 miles from Daleville. We slept fairly well after it finally cooled down...although it was around 70 still when we got up at sunrise.
Date: 2011-05-30
From: Stealth Site

To: Howard Johnson in Daleville, VA
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We were up and on the trail by 6:40 this morning as the temperature was already 70. We hiked in to Daleville and checked in to the Howard Johnsons Express. We had to wait for our room to be cleaned so we walked to the Country Cooking restaurant for their breakfast buffet. ($5.99 all you can eat) We got our room around 10:30 or so. Lucky had shown up to get a room too while we were gone to breakfast. It seems she probably stopped to stealth camp less than a 1/4 mile before we did. We showered and enjoyed the day relaxing in the air conditioning. We went across the road to Pizza Hut around 4 for supper.
Date: 2011-06-01
From: Howard Johnson in Daleville, VA

To: Michigan
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

This is the TJ that we were hoping we would not have to write. Today Thimbleberry & I have left the trail at Daleville and are flying back to Michigan. After hiking 720 miles of the AT the decision to leave the trail was a very difficult one. In recent weeks my (Greenstone) feet have become very painful as we walked the trail. I had thought the pain was from the old shoes being worn out. I changed to some Montrail Hardrocks that I had broken in previously along with new Superfeet insoles. We lowered our mileages, rested 5 days while off to a family wedding, and changed shoes all with no improvement noticed. Added to the foot pain, which has been pretty much an all day affair, is the high heat and humidity we have been experiencing in VA lately. It seems to zap my energy and makes the hike much less enjoyable. We have had a great adventure over these past 80 days or so, and are very sad to leave the trail behind along with the many wonderful people we have met on the trail. Flame, Pigeon and Skidmark will be especially missed as we had spent many days and nights together moving up the trail. We would like to thank all the "Trail Angels" that we have met and/or received trail magic from along the way: Skid's wife Pat, Gary & Lennie, King Tut, Joe from 4 Pines, Steve @ the Grand Prix in Gatlinburg, Chad Chapman at Bland, Steve & Leanne, Linda & Pigeon, Lumberjack & Lab Rat, and too many others to mention. We also want to thank our friends Steve and Leanne whom came to hike and spend time with us the first week of May. They also have been checking on our house and mowing the lawn (several acres). Also, thank you to all who have signed our TJ guestbook with words of encouragement. Most of all we wish to say a big thank you to our daughter Jenni who has been our Trail Boss: paying our bills , sending out mail drops, etc. There are some positives to our departure: wonderful memories, getting to be home for our new grandson's birth in early September, enjoying summer visits from family and friends this summer, the pleasant weather in our beautiful UP. Yesterday Thimbleberry's mother was put in the hospital with an infection that has gotten into her bloodstream, so we are especially thankful to be home to help her and Dad out during recovery. We have decided we are now section hikers and look forward to doing the remainder of the trail in sections. We hope to do them during more pleasant weather in the future. The trail has been a wonderful experience and we will surely miss it!
Date: 2011-06-02
From: Michigan

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We are home and I am thankful that my feet are doing much better. We are headed out camping (in our trailer) for the next couple of weeks here in the UP and will be doing some biking, hiking along with some canoeing. I have recently added some more pictures to our journal for you to check out.We also are planning to do a couple of section hikes next spring and fall. We are hoping to go out for 5 or 6 weeks at a time and do 4 to 5 hundred miles of the trail each time.As stated previously, we met a lot of fantastic people along the trail. Some times we only met a few times, while others many times as we were hiking similar paces and schedules. Todays picture is of Spud and Snake HIps that we have only met a few times later in our hike but really enjoyed them a lot. They are still moving north and we are excited about their progress. All the best to you folks!In the near future we will try to review some of the gear we used and hostels or motels we stayed at duringour journey north.
Date: 2011-12-04
To: Reviews Continued
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

In this entry I will list some of the better eating establishments we ate at while on the AT and make comments:Daniel¢s Steakhouse - Hiawassee GA ¢ a very reasonably priced AYCE place with very good food and selection.Rana Rinata Italian Grill ¢ Franklin NC ¢ one of the best Italian meals we have ever eaten, good portions, fair prices.Smokey Mountain Diner ¢ Hot Springs NC ¢ good food, service, prices and selections for all meals ¢ great cobblers too!Kentucky Fried Chicken ¢ Erwin TN, probably the nicest KFC we¢ve eaten at. Great AYCE buffet.Bob¢s Dairyland ¢ Roan Mtn. TN ¢ good portions, fast service, fair prices, good food ¢ milk shakes, biscuits great.Woodshole Hostel ¢ Neville and Michael served us a wonderful supper with enjoyable conversation and atmosphere as well.The Barn Restaurant ¢ Atkins VA ¢ right near the trail and the food is outstanding, good prices and selections. We took some breakfast sandwiches to enjoy later on the trail.The Homeplace ¢ Catawba VA - for $14 we enjoyed a family style all you can eat meal in a beautiful old farmhouse. Chicken, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, corn, green beans, homemade bread, peach cobbler. They were still lined up at 8pm to get in to eat. Don¢t miss this place.The Northern Outdoors Resort ¢ Carratuk ME ¢ good food and fair priced in a log lodge. Very nice place.The AT Caf© ¢ Millinocket ME ¢ the food was good, prices fair and service fine. Lots of nice hiker items to look at including ceiling tiles signed by hikers who have completed the ATGreenstone & Thimbleberry
Date: 2011-12-06
To: Outfitters
Miles today: 0.0

While hiking the AT it is very helpful to have outfitter stores available along the way in various towns and areas nearby or on the trail. They were often helpful with gear repairs or replacements along with receiving mail drops. All in all we were very pleased with the treatment we received at the various outfitters we visited:Mountain Crossings ¢ Neels Gap ¢ great location on the trail, good mail drop, Trail Magic during March (local churches grill burgers for hikers) store is well stocked and the help very helpful. Outdoor 76 ¢ Franklin NC ¢ new operation with young owners that were very hospitable (offered ride back to motel). Clean, organized and well stocked store that offered many training events for the community.NOC Great Outpost ¢ Gatlinburg TN ¢ huge store with excellent supply of products, especially clothing. Nice place to visit.Bluff Mountain Outfitters ¢ Hot Springs NC ¢ mail drops, well stocked store with helpful staff. Very nice store.Mt. Rogers Outfitters - Damascus VA ¢ store is well stocked for the AT hiker, very helpful staff, excellent place to replace shoes. They were helpful in arranging shuttles as well.Sundog Outfitters ¢ Damascus VA ¢ nice store that is geared more toward bicyclist. We replaced a leaking Big Agnes sleeping pad there. There is limited supply for backpackers but worth the stop.
Date: 2012-04-02
To: Winter Travels
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

We are currently on our way home from enjoying winter in warmer locations down in the southwest. We spent most of January and February in Arizona camping much of the time on Roosevelt Lake out in Tonto NF. We were able to spend time with my parents and sister in the Phoenix area off and on as well. We tried to go for a hike in the mountains most days and enjoyed Arizonas's abundant sunshine.
Date: 2012-04-03
To: Winter Volunteer Work
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We belong to ¢Nomads¢ which is an organization of retired Christians that travel to Methodist projects around the country in their personal RV¢s doing volunteer work. Each project lasts 3 weeks and is usually at a camp, church, community outreach center, college, children¢s home, etc. The work often consists of plumbing, electrical, painting and general carpentry projects or repairs. We spent 3 weeks in February in Tucson with 5 other couples at Hope UMC doing painting both outside and inside the church. We did another 3 week project in Southwest Louisiana at Uskichitto Retreat Center, a beautiful camp in the woods. On the way to the Louisiana project we stopped in Texas to visit friends, Simon & Susan who we workcamped with a couple of years ago at a Jellystone campground in northern Michigan. We also stopped to stay with Flame and her husband Tom for a few days. We met Flame on the AT last year and hiked together several weeks in April and May. I will tell more about our visit in the next TJ installment.
Date: 2012-04-04
To: Visiting Flame & Pyro
Miles today: 0.0

We had a great time visiting our wonderful friend, Flame, who thru-hiked the complete AT last year. She is an amazing lady. Flame gave us a nice tour of the area she lives at and arranged a couple of reunions while we were there. First we met Joan and Jen, 2 of Flame¢s friends that flew out to Virginia and provided us wonderful trail magic last May. It was fun to see them again and enjoy lunch together. The second reunion came when we met Jerryatric at Dinosaur SP and hiked trails and then went out for lunch together. We met Jerryatric up in Maine last fall when we were hiking with Flame as she was completing her hike. Thank you Flame and Tom for the wonderful hospitality you provided. We are anxious to get back on the AT later this month and complete another section.
Date: 2012-04-14
To: Special Trail Angel
Miles today: 0.0

Among the most enjoyable and amazing things we remember about last years 700 + mile hike on the AT is the wonderful friends we made along the way. Many were fellow hikers, some were hostel owners, others were the ¢Trail Angels¢ we met that surprised us with a special treat or meal, rides to and around town, etc. Some will be our friends for life, while the others will be etched in our memories for the ages. We have recently been blessed by one of our trail friends, Zig Zag, who has offered to support our hike this spring. She now is a ¢Special Trail Angel¢ in addition to trail friend. Her generosity is beyond what words can describe. Thank you so much Zig Zag! Like I said, the trail is a special place where you can meet some very special people.
Date: 2012-04-20
From: Daleville

To: Currey Creek
Miles today: 7.0

Hi to all! Well we had made it to Maryland, to ZigZag's home by the middle of the afternoon. She and her husband graciously offer for us to park our car in their driveway for the length of our section hike. They also fed us and bedded us down for the night and if that wasn't enough trail magic, ZigZag drove us to our trailhead in Daleville, four hours from their home! Wow! Thank you ZigZag and Mike! We had a beautiful hike today, spring flowers, four pink lady slippers and beautiful views. Yes, we are tired but just getting camp set up and shoes off makes you feel 100% better. We are camped tonight at Currey Creek, love that sound. We saw one hiker today and he just came through when we were setting up camp. His name Sticks and he is one of those fast young hikers. We hiked seven miles today!
Date: 2012-04-21
From: Currey Creek

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 10.0

It has turned out to be a beautiful day for hiking! We found a large patch of wild Lily of the Valley, smelled so good! Many other wild flowers. We are crossing the Blueridge Parkway, today. Many people are out enjoying the parkway. We met section hikers Weaver and Sarge today. We hear that the rain and storms are to start this afternoon and they did! We got our tent up and started to cook dinner then had to take it to the tent. It stormed till about 7:30pm then we got enough of a break to brush our teeth and hang the food bags. Then it really stormed and I went to sleep. 10 miles today
Date: 2012-04-22
From: Stealth Site

To: Cove Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 6.5

Well it has been a wet, cold and windy day. We hiked about 6.5 miles and were soaked by 1:00pm. Just a reminder as to how quickly weather changes in the mountains. We decided to end our day at Cove Mtn Shelter today just getting to cold and we need to get in dry clothes and get some warm food in us. We did not get the miles in today that we wanted but maybe tomorrow will better. 6.5 miles today.
Date: 2012-04-23
From: Cove Mtn Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

We had a nice surprise last evening, Checker, a young man we met at Blueberry Hostel last year, is back on the trail this year.The rain stopped sometime the night last night. We took our time getting around this morning, still trying to dry the tent out. We hit the trail about 9:00 am. I know that is late!We spent the night in the shelter with Kermit. She is a section hiker going from Pearisburg to Harper's Ferry, hopes to do that in one month. We really enjoyed talking with her.As we started out hiking it was still spitting rain then quit until we got going up Fork Mtn then it started snowing. Big fat flakes! Very cold, windy and wet again!!We are at Bryant Ridge shelter tonight because we and the tent are too wet to tent out tonight. Kermit is here tonight and thru hiker "Tommy Lee Jones" said when he came over Fork Mtn the snow was up to 3 to 4 inches! He said he was tempted to make a snow angel, but didn't want to get wetter. Guess where he is from, Florida! No wonder he was enjoying the snow!Flame, we miss you out here with us. Pigeon we are seeing beautiful spring flowers, although today they were shivering down to their roots.We hope tomorrow is warmer, we have a big climb up to Apple Orchard Mtn. I guess we will stay warm one way or the other! Have I said that we are having fun! ). Good night !
Date: 2012-04-24
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Thunderhill Shelter - campsite
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

4-24-12. 10.4 milesWe left the shelter at 7:30 am, all the "young guns" as Greenstone calls them, passed us with in two hours. As Kermit passed by she told us that when she went to pack up she found a mousey nest with three baby mice in her pack! Those crazy shelter mice!Well, I guess Mother Nature knew Greenstone was back on the trail and wants to keep him cooled off. Cold, cold wind! I am freezing!Long hike today up, up, up to 4225 ft. Crossed by the FAA Radar tower and a weird rock formation called the "Guillotine ". Fun day but we are pooped! After we ate supper Greenstone went down to the near by shelter and found out there was a Trail Angel, John, cooking up eggs, sausage and pancakes! We, Tommy Lee Jones and Socrates really enjoyed that! Then John gave us M&M's to go and you know I loved that.!Flame and Pigeon, Adaleana wonders where BooBoo and TooToo are??? Got to go to sleep!