morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-04-29
From: Hog Camp Gap, mid-VA

To: Harpers Creek Shelter, mid-VA
Miles today: 21.9

7:36. It was tiring climbing the many ups on the way to the descent of The Priest. (In total today I climbed about 5,500 feet.) On one climb there was a set of steep stone steps and in my hurry to get out of the way of a descending group, I tripped, and dislocated the middle finger of my left hand. This was annoying on a number of levels, so I popped it back in place, got out of everybody's way, and kept going. And here I was just minutes before congratulating myself on having had no falls for a day and a half. It was good to roll onto the peak of The Priest where a bunch of young men from Richmond fed me granola bars as we admired the view. The 3,000-foot descent was often over rocks so progress was slower than I might have expected. At the foot of the mountain I stopped to refill water at a big river, and chatted to yet another ex-military chap. It was very warm and humid - I heard it hit 92 degrees. The last 2.8 miles to the shelter were uphill, but oddly enough I felt very strong. At the shelter I found tons of tents set up. I asked a young man, Matt, if I could use his fire to boil water, and he kindly agreed. He and his friends Nick, Sean and Brendan are down from New Jersey for the weekend. I enjoyed their company immensely, and then headed off to scout out a tent site. Tent erected, I went back down the trail a few yards to wash out my sweaty clothes, shampoo my hair (luxury!), and bathe my fetid body. I feel like a new man. This being the end of my seventh week on the AT, milestones this week were: passing the 800-mile mark; ascending the sixth of the 16 Everest equivalents you climb if you do the AT; fording streams and getting very wet; setting up tent in the rain and getting very wet; falling a record four times in one day; being buzzed by an F14; and yes, dislocating a finger. Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-30
From: Harpers Creek Shelter, mid-VA

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter, mid-VA
Miles today: 22.0

I left Harpers Creek Shelter at 6:36, intending to end my hike early just this once. I climbed up onto the ridge over the shelter and found I had good coverage, but a weasel for a phone. While I was doing battle with it, another hiker joined me. He is Fox, an auditor with E&Y in Orlando. He moved there from NY at the request of his firm, and agreed to do so on condition they allow him to take all his vacation in one chunk, which he used every year to hike a section of the AT. This year he started in Pearisburg and wants to get to Harper's Ferry. Our strengths were complementary - he's good on climbs and I'm good on descents. So we took turns leading depending on the incline. Plus I like to talk and he seemed to like to listen. We went up hill and down dale at a decent pace. At Reed's Gap, we stopped when offered trail magic by Jeff, who had set up an awning and a table and was serving pulled pork BBQ with Coke to thru-hikers. He had folding chairs for us. We chatted. Jeff has had two back surgeries and loves hiking. He's determined to get back in shape by doing beasts like The Priest. Time flew by. I had a second Coke. Eventually I realized that Fox was considering heading down the road to a brewery, so I raised my pack onto my back and went back on the trail. I soloed the remaining 14 miles to the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter, arriving at 7:14 pm. It's right by a river, like the shelter last night. I'm the only tenter - there are five others in the shelter. I climbed almost 4,600 feet today.Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-01
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter, mid-VA

To: Blackrock Hut, N. VA
Miles today: 25.7

The threatened rain held off until mid-morning. It was so nice to be able to pack a dry set of gear away. I left the lovely surroundings of Paul C. Wolfe shelter later than I'd planned, at 7:47. I was aiming to do 24 miles. The rain came along and that meant that there were no views. I had to put my phone away in my backpack. Fewer people were out. So all of that meant that I had few interruptions and just simply concentrated on hiking. As a result I was amazed to see that I reached Rockfish Gap so quickly - my average speed was 2.5 mph over five miles. A word about Rockfish Gap. This is on the Skyline Drive. On one side of the mountains is Waynesboro, the town where Jake, my father-in-law, worked for DuPont all his working life. Some distance away on the other side is Charlottesville. Countless times, Jake has driven my family to and from the airport there. Gayle and I for 13 years had a house nearby. I have cycled up the Drive past Rockfish. So it was quite emotional for me to be at this intersection of my past experiences and my walking the AT, despite the rain. Although I climbed over 4,600 feet today, there was a lot of reasonably level trail and no killer ascents or descents. I feel that I am still getting stronger. I know I'm getting lighter!  My legs felt so effective and pain-free. (I hope it all translates to biking effectiveness too, but I don't want to be greedy. I'm just so happy that I'm rockin' the AT.) After Rockfish Gap, I concentrated on smoothness of stride and speed, and decided to aim for Blackrock Hut, which would give me nearly 26 miles. I got there just after 6pm. During a brief lull in the rain, I quickly set up my tent. It felt strange being in it in daylight - I've become used to settling in just as daylight is disappearing. I was famished, and could hardly wait for my food to cook. Now the rain has stopped. The night birds are making their usual demented noises - it's almost as bad as snoring, just a little more melodic. Peace, all.Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-02
From: Blackrock Hut, N. VA

To: Stealth camping, mile 907.7, N. VA
Miles today: 25.1

Last night the whippoorwills serenaded us all to sleep. They are not quite as annoying as snorers.  I was awake early. It was relatively cold and when I got going I was wearing my $3.79 Nike rain jacket from Goodwill. I paused at one point to take it off and one of the ladies in the shelter last night, Shebeast, caught up with me. We hiked together the rest of the day. She is from North Carolina and is section hiking a chunk of the trail in Virginia. She has done all the rest bar Pennsylvania which she plans to do in August. The day warmed up and I was soon applying sunscreen. It was great having a trail companion, another victim to listen to my great stories - they truly are riveting. Noah can vouch for that after sharing a hotel room with me weeks ago. (On the subject of Noah - he has had to cool his jets in Daleville for a day or two due to foot problems - hope you make it back out soon, bud, as I still have lots of advice to give you.) Although we climbed a lot, none of the climbs was super-long. Virginia was being kind to us. We paused for a water refill and lunch at a ranger station - so nice just to turn on a tap and not have to worry about filtering. We kept up a good pace and ended up doing 25.1 miles, and stealth camping on a ridge at almost mile 908, which we reached shortly after 6pm. Once again it was nice to set up camp in daylight. I was happy to be able to eke out enough cooking time from my almost-empty gas canister to allow me to do two meals. I ate everything bar what I needed for breakfast and trail snacks tomorrow and for the first time had no food to carry in my pack tomorrow. Shebeast and her husband are hunting enthusiasts but she is the worst bear-bag hanger I've met. Our remaining food is, basically and to coin a phrase, up for grabs. Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-03
From: Stealth camping, mile 907.7, N. VA

To: Lewis Spring, Big Meadows, N. VA
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Shebeast and I were up early, and hiking by 6:51. It had been a colder night than usual but we had been warm in our respective hammock and tent. The day promised to be as forecast, sunny but quite windy. We both started off the hike with extra layers but shed them within the first half-hour as the climb out of Swift Run Gap warmed us up. After about an hour we began to notice that we were on a trail that was only blue-blazed, meaning that it wasn't the AT. I dropped my pack and backtracked to a shelter we'd passed but was unable to see where we'd gone wrong. We kept on going and rejoined the AT. After another half-hour we met a hiker coming towards us. I asked him if he was enjoying his southbound journey, and he looked puzzled and said he was a NOBO. Shebeast and I were actually heading back the way we'd already come. After two hours and twenty minutes of hiking, it turned out that we were only about half a mile from where we'd started. This was very dispiriting, as we actually had a schedule to keep to. In Shebeast's case, she was aiming to get to her truck, 22 miles away, and drive 5.5 hours home to North Carolina. In my case, I was aiming to be, by 2:30 or so, at a big campsite and recreational center 16 miles away called Big Meadows, where my wife Gayle would pick me up and drive me to Richmond, Virginia. (On Sunday, our daughter graduates from the University of Richmond.) The AT section in this area hugs the edges of the Skyline Drive and cell coverage was bad, so it wasn't until around 1pm that I managed to get a text off to Gayle warning her I'd be late. About an hour or so after we had begun hiking in the correct direction (and after spotting where we'd gone wrong at a trail intersection) Shebeast spotted a bear clawing a tree about 25 yards away from us off the trail. It eyed us for a minute, hid itself behind the tree and peeked at us, then ambled off up the ridge. Shebeast judged it to be a yearling male, about 100 pounds. My first sighting of a bear! It made the wasted loop we'd done worthwhile. We ploughed on, with the route often being relatively flat, which made a pleasant change, but with plenty of uphill to make sure we didn't lose our conditioning. We rolled into Big Meadows just before 4pm, and went into the Wayside restaurant where we had the famous blackberry milkshakes, after which I had a pulled pork sandwich. Gayle pulled up about 20 minutes later. She drove me to the shower facilities a mile away, and while I was making myself somewhat more fit to re-enter normal society, she drove Shebeast to her truck. So I'm going to take a break from trailjournals.com until I resume my hike, hopefully in four days' time, on Monday. Until then, happy trails!Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-08
From: Lewis Spring, Big Meadows, N. VA

To: Pass Mountain Hut, N. VA
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: broken clouds

I'm back! After attending my daughter's graduation in Richmond, VA on Sunday (and the events preceding and following it), I was dropped off this morning by Bryan, our son's godfather, at Short Pump outside the city and driven the rest of the way to Big Meadows by a shuttle driver, Adam. He owns hostels in Waynesboro and Glasgow. One thing I want to do is give a big shout-out to Stu and Greg at REI. I am only going to shop at REI for camping gear from now on. They took back the Osprey Exos pack that had been killing me (straps were slipping, a shoulder strap's buckle broke and the pack was the wrong size for me anyway) and substituted a somewhat heavier Osprey Atmos 50-liter (the Exos was a 58) in a medium frame, free of charge. They replaced my practically sole-less Salomon boots with Salomon trail runners, free of charge. They could not have been more professional or customer-friendly. I bought: (1) new Leki poles, and am leaving my old ones for them to rehab for my son's hike with me; (2) a smaller, lighter 45-degree down sleeping bag and am sending my 25-degree bag home; (3) okay, luxury item, a 10-liter shower bag you can fill and hang from a branch to allow some degree of cleanliness which is difficult to achieve if all you have nearby is a spring or small stream; and (4) a waterproof bag to house my chain-mail bear-proof bag (but the mesh lets rain soak the contents). While off trail, I resupplied on food and sundry items at a Walmart. I had a haircut and beard trim, and a massage. I lounged around a lot and drank a lot of wine. I weighed myself and discovered I've lost 32 pounds since I started. I found the day's hiking very hard. Mostly this was due, I suspect, to a pack that weighed 45 pounds since it had about 17 pounds of food in it. (Note the use of the past tense. I indulged any hunger pangs I experienced during the day. I prepared pad Thai this evening. Those are significant load-shedding tactics.) But also, much of the AT today was rocky, especially the last ten miles, and it gets tedious picking one's way through rocks, especially going downhill, and makes for slow going. I was very glad to see the shelter appear. I pitched my tent at almost 9pm, in the dark. (It was also quite cold. A hiker told me that she had seen snow the previous day.) While I was rummaging around, deer were grazing just a few yards from me, their eyes reflecting the light from my headlamp, unblinkingly, tranquilly, amber jewels. Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-09
From: Pass Mountain Hut, N. VA

To: Campsite near Compton Peak, N. VA
Miles today: 19.8

I treated myself to a leisurely start to the day, with the result that I didn't step on the trail until 9:31. I felt really strong and in good shape. I made good progress, especially as the path was far more walkable than the rock jambalaya we were faced with yesterday. My first goal was getting to the Elk Wallow Wayside, about seven miles away. There I had a cheeseburger with chili fries, a double-scoop blackberry ice cream cone, and a Dr Wham (local version of Dr Pepper). I continued on, as is my wont. Around 4pm, a SOBO told me he'd almost run into a big bear a few hundred yards earlier. I got to where he'd seen the bear. At first I felt a bit disappointed when I saw nothing, but just around the bend were three bear cubs. They scampered away over a hill but the trail curved around it and when I got further along I saw them again. Less than an hour later I was telling another SOBO, Glassman, about them. Seconds after I resumed hiking I saw another bear and was able to double back on the trail and catch Glassman before he had put his pack back on. The bear just looked at us and never moved. The reason was a tiny bear cub up in the tree beside her. He climbed down and they ambled off. I was very happy with my sightings. Shortly after the excitement, I passed a tent and heard someone call "Hey Tipp!" It was Smoky, with his girlfriend, Canine (why not 'The Bandit'? A missed opportunity). I ended up pitching my tent at a spot near a peak where three other hikers, Old School, Calves So Smooth, and Mustache Bandito, a fireman, were set up. I boiled water on their fire (saving precious propane) for my second pad Thai and listened to Calves' monologue about his drinking sprees in town. He is only 18 so what can you expect?Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-10
From: Campsite near Compton Peak, N. VA

To: Dick's Dome Shelter, N. VA
Miles today: 21.9

I slept well enough, as I was 20 yards or so away from the other three campers and their snoring didn't affect me. Some time during the night, in the light of the full moon, some animal came through the campsite, feet scrunching on the dead leaves. Probably deer. I got up to pee but it was with a certain reluctance and slight nervousness... I got on my way at 8:29. It was warmer than the previous day. Just beforehand, Smoky and Canine came through, he shirtless and she in a sports bra. They were chuffed because finally, just a few minutes earlier, they had seen a bear. I caught up to them later in the morning and passed them when they stopped at a shelter. They were planning on a resupply in Front Royal. As I hiked, I kept on pulling out my phone to check for cell coverage but with always the same result as for the last two days - nada. The trail here never really propels us up onto ridges where we are directly above towns and farms. When we are on ridges, we are surrounded by other ridges and forest, and any signs of civilization are too far away to drive a signal to us. It's quite frustrating for a dedicated journal-keeper like me. In the course of the morning the trail emerged from the Shenandoah National Park. Soon after, it emerged from the woods into open Meadows, and there were houses in the distance, and even right beside us with children's swing sets and other stuff we hikers don't need! Quite a few houses had distinctive ochre-colored roofs. The trail crossed a main road which led to Front Royal, and suddenly there were hikers all over the place, getting back on the trail or waiting for rides into town. I chatted to a few of them and then I ... continued on. I asked some workers closing a gate into a fenced-off area by the trail why the buildings in the area had the same style and color of roof. They said that it is because are part of a facility that runs a captive breeding program for non-US endangered species, housed on 5,000 acres and run by the Smithsonian Institute. I asked if I might expect to see elephants, and they laughed and said no, but that I might see cheetahs. Shortly after this the ankle bone on the outside of my right foot began to hurt as the low-rider top of my new shoe rubbed it. I padded the area with pages torn from a New Yorker, not to much avail. Then my knee started to ache. Then some tendon in that foot went postal on me. I was not a happy camper, to coin a phrase. It was a long day. I limped into Dick's Dome Shelter, crossing a creek right in front of the old shelter. I cooked my food in a newer shelter a few yards away from the old one, and retired to my tent. I have a headache. I am not a happy...oh, sorry, I said that already. As today marks the end of my eighth week on the trail, what milestones? Saw bear. Saw deer. Passed the 900-mile mark. Took in effect 4 zero days to see my daughter graduating from college. Got new boots, backpack, and poles. Confirmed a continued weight loss. I'm tired. Go away.Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-11
From: Dick's Dome Shelter, N. VA

To: Dick's Dome Shelter, N. VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

As I left my tent early in the morning to retrieve my food bag from the tree I'd hung it in, I noticed the humidity was quite high, and there seemed to be some very light rain or mist. Within a few minutes rain was bucketing down, and a thunderstorm erupted. Given my recent experiences with setting up tent in the rain, the prospect of taking my tent down in the rain was very unappealing. In addition, I'd been considering the wisdom of hiking after the pain I'd suffered the previous day. It took very little to persuade me that I should zero in my tent - a new and somewhat decadent experience for me. With water and a privy close by, I was well sited. I had my Rolling Stone magazine to finish, and three New Yorkers, which would help lighten my load. And, in a major development, Verizon, which for the last few days hath taken away, decided to giveth. Or give. Whatever. I was able to update my trail journals, establish reliable contact with my wife, and with Lumberjack and the D.C. PHATs (sounds like a weird outr© band, maybe playing country and western electronica?). So time passed quickly. The rain never let up for a minute, although its intensity varied. I cooked Idahoan potatoes in my tent, adding in some trailside onion or garlic (or maybe chives?) I'd harvested yesterday. I am down to just one bag of food at last - enough for about 3-4 days. Late in the day I heard from Noah. He had foot problems and decided to go to Charlottesville to visit Monticello while he rested from the trail. However he has taken the decision to end his AT journey and head home. I wish you all the best, my friend.Tipperary
Date: 2017-05-12
From: Dick's Dome Shelter, N. VA

To: Campsite near end of Roller Coaster
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: clear sky

I woke to the pitter-patter of occasional tree-rain falling on my tent. I seized the opportunity to pack up in the relatively dry conditions, although my tent and rain fly were spattered with mud from backsplash yesterday. I crossed the creek by the shelter. It was notably higher from all the rain. A rock shifted under me and I was lucky to stay upright, but at the cost of my left foot plunging in the water and getting my boot completely soaked. Before I'd even returned to the trail proper! I said words like "Oh dear" and "That's a pity". I had wadded up a few pages from a New Yorker I'd read to make a kind of collar to protect my ankle bone on my right foot. It actually worked, although I had to keep jamming it back in place in the boot. I got hiking on the trail at 6:26. The trail today was initially quite flat and I made good progress, despite the very muddy conditions (which several years of work as a child laborer slaving on an Irish farm had prepared me well for; I wished I had my old indestructible wellies on many times). I surprised several deer grazing in the mist. One came galloping around a bend in the trail, saw me and did a high jump into the bushes and was gone. I also disturbed some bird of prey perched on a fence post which took off with languorous beats of its wings. At around mile 9, I stopped in to a shelter to Leukotape a blister on my right foot and to use the privy. I met Cheap Sunglasses (see photo in photo library) on his way out. I caught up with him later on at a gap where my old buddy Lumberjack had done trail magic yesterday. He had scratched my name in the roadside gravel with an arrow pointing to a rock. Hidden under some leaves by the rock were a fresh supply of Leukotape (yes!) and a big can of draught Guinness (yes! yes!). What a guy! I hiked with Cheap Sunglasses most of the rest of the day. I occasionally let him talk. He's 60, from Florida, is a refrigeration engineer, and has hiked all his life. We talked about hiking food, sugar's bad effects, death, and other stuff. When he turned off for the Bear's Den Hostel, I was amazed to see that it was almost 5pm - the day had just flown by. When I'm on my own, I'm computing my speed, consulting my guide book, estimating when I'll arrive at my destination, checking my watch every 2.5 minutes, and time does not hurtle by like that. I had aimed to reach mile 1,007* before quitting for the day, and that was precisely what I did, after almost 13 hours of hiking. I got my tent up in light rain, before that changed to a deluge.*Yes, I passed the 1,000-mile mark today - go me!Tipperary