morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-09
From: O'Lystery Pavilion

To: Davis Farm Campsite
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: light rain

Happy Birthday, Scotty! Preacher, Eric, and I woke up with the sun, at 6:15am. We were very happy to see that the rain had finally stopped, and we packed our stuff up to head out early, since we weren't really supposed to be sleeping at the pavilion because it was private property. We hiked 2 miles to the nearest shelter and were happy to find Mango and Canuck there, still sleeping. We were afraid they might have been much further ahead, but they, too, had hiked a fairly low-mile day yesterday. We hung around while they packed up their stuff, and then we all set off. We had a big, 2,000-ft climb over the course of about 5 miles that took us up to a beautiful ridge. We cooked an early dinner at the shelter on top of the ridge, so we could hike until dark and not have to worry about cooking later. We were aiming for the next shelter, which was 10 miles away, but by about 8:30, when it was starting to get dark, we had only gone 7 miles, and we came to a sign indicating a side trail to a campsite a half a mile away. We took the trail way down the mountain in the dark and finally arrived at a tent platform sticking out of the side of the mountain, overlooking farmland below. We set up our tents and then Mango and I went down to the stream a little ways away to get water, while the guys hung our bear bags. We barely got everything set up and got into our tents when a big thunderstorm rolled in. Canuck just called over from his tent and asked what time we are planning on getting up in the morning. I said it depends on whether or not it's still raining. So we'll have to wait and see what tomorrow holds.
Date: 2008-05-10
From: Davis Farm Campsite

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained off and on throughout the night and the wind blew like crazy. We finally rolled out of bag around 8:45 am, to a cold, sunny morning. We packed up our stuff and headed a half a mile back up the side of the mountain to where we left the AT last night. We hiked 3 miles to the closest shelter, where we stopped for a lunch break and saw a deer off to the side. After 5 more miles, the AT came out and followed a gravel road for a bit, and we stopped at a stream on the side and soaked our feet in the water. Just beyond the road crossing, a Methodist church had left a cooler full of trail magic-- ice cold bottles of apple and orange juice! There was also a garbage can there, left by the church, for us to leave our empty bottles in and to discard our trash. Thanks, trail angels!Seven easy miles and another deer sighting later, we came to another road crossing, which leads to the town of Bland, Virginia. The first truck that drove by stopped and offered us a ride, so Eric and I hopped in the back for a pleasant 2.5-mile ride into town. We got dropped off at the grocery store and did our shopping, and then while we were sitting out front organizing our food, Mango and Canuck showed up, having just arrived in town. They did their grocery shopping, and then we all got a ride to Dairy Queen, where we ate dinner. Across the street from the DQ is the town's only motel and the 4 of us decided to get a room for several reasons: One, we need to go to a drug store, or possibly the Dollar General, but we got into town so late that everything was closed. Two, it was already 9 as we were eating dinner, and the town is so small, we thought it might be hard to get a ride for all 4 of us back up to the trail, and even if we did, it would be close to 11 by the time we arrived at the shelter. And three, Mango and Canuck did not get a room the other night when Eric and I did, so they REALLY needed to shower and wash their clothes. Now it's just after 11pm, and we're lounging around watching TV and taking turns showering. But we must not get too comfortable; it's back to the trail again tomorrow morning.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: Bland, VA

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

We slept in until 10, when Mango's mom called and woke us all up, which was good because it was getting so late. I ran across the street to grab breakfast at Dairy Queen for all of us, and while I was there, I ran into Stumpknocker, who had just arrived in town. He walked back over to the motel with me and checked into a room for the night. While I was gone, Mango had called the front desk to see if we could arrange for a late checkout, which they said was fine. So instead of having to leave at 11, we had until 2. Stumpknocker came to our room and hung out with us for about an hour. And then we decided we would actually take a zero day today, because there were severe thunderstorms in the area.We walked down to the Dollar General and got everything we needed, and we otherwise just hung around in the room all day, watching movies on TV, making phone calls, having pizza delivered, and sleeping.Stumpknocker put a photo of me and Eric up on his trail journal from the other day. I think you can access his journal at www.trailjournals.com/stumpknockerIf that doesn't work, then go to the trailjournals home page and search for his name. Our picture is on his entry from 5/7/08. I'm sorry that we haven't gotten any pictures of our own put up yet. Eric sent his camera memory card to his dad, who is trying to get the pictures sent to my dad, who can then put them on my journal. Hopefully some will be up soon. Well, it's after midnight now, so I'm off to bed. Also here at the motel are many hikers we don't know, and some that we do, including: V8 & Auntie Mame, Stumpknocker, Yazzie, and Mike.
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Bland, VA

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We slept in until 9:30 this morning and finally dragged ourselves out of bed to pack up so we would be ready for our 11am checkout. It was cold, misting, and extremely windy as we walked down the road in the direction of the trail. Eric and I stopped at the Dollar General because I thought it would be easier to find a ride back to the trail by politely asking someone in the parking lot. Mango and Canuck decided to just keep walking and stick their thumbs out. Eric and I were in luck; the first woman I approached offered to give us a ride to the trail, even though she wasn't actually going that way. (Thanks, Elaine!) On the way up to the trail we passed Mango and Canuck, still walking and still trying to get a ride.Eric and I got to the trail around 11:45, hiked about 2 miles up to the first shelter, and stopped to eat lunch. Mango and Canuck finally got a ride, too, but didn't stop at the shelter, so they got ahead of us on the trail. A guy named Mike was at the shelter, cooking up some smoked sausage in a frying pan, and he shared two pieces with Eric for lunch. After about an hour break, we continued on and hiked another 9.8 super-windy (as in full of wind, not as in winding back and forth, although it did a little of that, too) miles to the next shelter, where we decided to stop for the night.The shelter is packed and has 8 tents nearby. We cooked dinner and hung around the campfire, making s'mores, which Canuck kindly shared with everybody. Also here are: Mango & Canuck, V8 & Auntie Mame, Bus Driver, Brad & Aggie, Raggedy Andy, Pickle, Snackies, Preacher, Briar, Zach, and several other people.
Date: 2008-05-13
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

I put my earplugs in at 6am this morning when I heard the first person at the shelter get up. For some reason, when hikers get up they always think it's okay to talk in a normal volume, even when other people are still obviously trying to sleep. I slept so well with my earplugs in that I didn't wake up again until 9am. When we looked outside the tent, almost everyone was gone already. There was only one other tent still standing, and only about 4 other people still there, packing up. We took a side trail down to a beautiful waterfall this afternoon for a break. We soaked our feet in the creek and hung around, sitting in the sun for about an hour. It was so nice I didn't want to leave, and I considered just tenting there for the night and cutting our day short by about 5 miles. Also there enjoying the falls were Brad & Aggie, Bus Driver, Snackies, Zach, and Stubs & Mr. Bones. Reluctantly, I continued on and we hiked the rest of the way to our destination, crossing little streams about 10 times on the way. Now we're tenting by Wapiti Shelter, and it's crowded here again tonight, with at least 6 tents and several hammockers. Also here are: Mango & Canuck, V8 & Auntie Mame, Mike, Snackies, Zach, Yazzie, Alien, Preacher, Forest Gimp, and others. Tomorrow night we're hoping to be in Pearisburg, so we can try to find a ride back to Damascus for Trail Days this weekend. We've got 16.6 miles to go. Not too bad. Oh! As of this afternoon, we've now hiked over 600 miles! Woo-hoo!
Date: 2008-05-14
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

There were so many people at and around the shelter last night that I slept with my earplugs in the whole night. They helped me get to sleep right away and tune out the guys who were up late talking and laughing around the campfire. However, by about 6:30 this morning, I could hear shouting and singing drifting in through the plugs, and as much as I tried to tune it out, I couldn't stay asleep any longer. Around 7 we rolled out of bag and we hit the trail by 8:15.We hiked a long 8.4 miles to the next shelter, which felt like they would never end. We met up with Mango and Canuck, who had left earlier than we did, along the way, and we all stopped and took a lunch break together. From there it was another 8.2 miles to go until Pearisburg! We had a very long and steep descent into town and unfortunately it was one of those descents when we could see the town and the roads miles before we got there and they just kept teasing us from afar. We finally made it into town and called around until we found a motel with rooms available. (There are about 50 hikers in Pearisburg right now because everyone is trying to catch a ride back to Damascus this weekend.) We had to walk about a mile up the road to get to our motel, which we didn't want to do, but we couldn't find anyone who would give us a ride. I know it sounds silly, but after having hiked hundreds of miles on the trail, hikers generally hate having to walk on streets through towns. Pavement is a lot harder on our feet, so we pretty much always try to get rides around towns, when we can. We checked into our room, showered, went to eat across the street at a Chinese buffet, and watched the American Idol results show on TV. We're going to try to find a ride down to Damascus tomorrow, but if we can't, there's a shuttle picking hikers up at 5:30am on Friday that we can take. It should be a great weekend. I can't wait!
Date: 2008-05-15
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

At 9:50 this morning, Mango, Canuck, Eric, and I were all soundly asleep inbed in our motel room, when we heard a loud knocking at our door. It was thecleaning lady, wanting to know if we'd be checking out today. Checkout wasat 1pm. Am I crazy for getting very annoyed by this? We had paid for theroom and had the right to be in it until 1pm. How dare they wake us up onour day off, when we're all finally getting a good night's (morning's?)sleep? Shouldn't we be allowed to sleep in? Okay, sorry about the rant, I just really like my sleep. Anyway...I walked over to Hardees¢s and picked up some breakfast sandwiches for us,and then we went on the computer in the motel lobby, and later we walked tothe store and the laundromat. We checked out of our room at 1:00 and we hadto kill time, because we had 2 possible rides to Trail Days, both of whichwould be arriving in the evening, but we had no motel room to hang out in.So we just sort of roamed around Pearisburg. In the rain. Around 6pm, Trillium, the woman giving Mango and Canuck a ride to TrailDays, showed up in town. She had seats for the two of us in her car as well,but her trunk was completely full. The only way we could fit was if all 4 ofus held our backpacks in our laps the entire hour and a half ride there. Sowe decided to pass and hope for the best with our second possible ride.And we were in luck! Auntie Mame's husband, Uncle Tom, who thru-hiked thetrail last year, flew down from Maine for Trail Days and rented a car. Theyoffered to give us a ride down to Damascus and their trunk was empty tobegin with. It was a bit of a squeeze, trying to get 5 backpacks into thetrunk, but in the end it all worked out, and we rode down to Damascus withAuntie Mame, Uncle Tom, and V8. Auntie Mame and V8 are twin sisters in their50s and they both have their own journal on trailjournals.com, if you'reinterested.Uncle Tom dropped us off at tent city, the huge area where everyone camps atTrail Days. It was after 9 by the time we got here, so we walked our wayback in the dark past dozens of tents already setup, with people congregatedall around the campfires that are scattered throughout the woods. Mango andCanuck arrived right when we did and pitched their tent right next to ours.It should be such an exciting weekend! I'm so glad we made it here!
Date: 2008-05-17
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We met up with Bahama Dave this morning and he drove us over to the vendors,which otherwise would've been a 20 minute walk. We walked around, looking atmore gear and talking to lots of people on the way. A little while later wewalked across town to where the Baptist church was holding free showers andmedical screenings. I took a shower, and Eric and I both stepped on a scaleand had our body fat percentage calculated. Neither Eric nor I have lost anyweight so far, which kind of surprised me. Everyone always says it'simpossible to get enough calories on the trail, but apparently I've beendoing just fine, with all the junk I've been eating.Next we stopped at the library briefly and went on the internet to check ouremail, and when we came out, everybody was getting ready for the big hikerparade, in which all of the hikers and townspeople squirt water guns andthrow water balloons at each other. Since it was fairly cool outside, wedidn't want to get soaking wet, so we decided to skip the parade and headback over to the vendors. Just as we were arriving at the vendors, we walked down a grassy hill and atthe very bottom were some old cinderblocks just barely sticking up from theground that I didn't see and I tripped over. I landed on my hands and kneeson this gravelly/asphalt area and skidded a little bit, scraping my lefthand and right knee. There was some blood involved, so we headed over to thefirst aid station, which just happened to be an ambulance. These 2 EMTs cameout and cleaned and bandaged up my knee, which wasn't even hurt very badly,so it was kind of funny. It's also kind of funny that I can hike 624 milesin the mountains and not get hurt, and then I come into a town and see myfirst blood of the trip. Everyone assumes I must have been drinking at thetime, but no. I was completely sober and in fact I don't even drink, really,although everyone else seemed to have been drunk at some point during theweekend. I can't decide if the fact that I was sober makes it more or lessembarrassing though. The worst part of my fall was that I bruised my knee and sort of landed all on one bone, so now it hurts a lot when I bend it and walk,and I've been limping around all day. Silly towns; I need to get back to thetrail!   Around dinnertime we borrowed Mango's car and went to Subway and then thegrocery store to get breakfasts and lunches to bring with us to Hard Core. Idon't know how much trail maintenance I'm going to be able to do since Ican't walk so well. Hopefully there'll be something I can help with. We're sleeping in our new hammocks tonight! Cannibal, Genuine Draft, andYazzie, some of our fellow hammocking friends, helped us set them up for thefirst time. I have high hopes that it'll be all I ever thought it would be.I can't wait to go to sleep!
Date: 2008-05-18
From: Damascus, VA

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Sleeping in hammocks is amazing! You don't have to worry about slantedground, rocks, or roots. You get to just float, ever so gently, rocking inthe wind. Heaven! I highly recommend hammocking, if you've never tried it.After just one night, I'm definitely hooked.Eric and I met up with everybody going to Hard Core at 9:30 this morning. Weloaded our packs into the back of a trailer and got a ride to the side ofthe mountain where we were going to be working. Everybody was split intogroups of 10, grabbed some tools, and headed up the side of the mountain. Because of my sore knee, I was assigned to stay behind with a couple ofother injured people to guard the cars and the extra tools, and to sign inany latecomers. Many times cars left at trailheads experience vandalism andtheft, so every year a few people stay back to guard. One of the women doingtrail maintenance asked me to keep her dog for the day, while she went outto do work. So I ended up dog sitting for a 12-year old Beagle whose ownergave me the keys to her car, which I sat in for a couple of hours when itrained. I also hung out with another girl with an injured knee-- Two Beers.She's about 150 miles behind me on the trail, so we didn't know any of thesame people, but it was fun sharing stories. Around 4:30 all of the trail crew started coming back. They made acompletely new section of trail about 2,000-feet long to replace an oldsection that had eroded. They dug up roots, cleared plants, and moved rocksand logs around, and by the time they were done, they opened the new sectionof trail for official use and closed off the other one. We loaded everybody back up into the cars and drove to a nearby picnic area,where we were served an all you can eat dinner of BBQ pork sandwiches withcole slaw, baked beans, salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It wasdelicious! After dinner we drove to the hostels we are staying at for thenight. Most people are staying at Kincora Hostel, with Bob Peoples, but afew are staying at another hostel a little further away. When we got to Kincora, all of the bunks and a lot of the floor space wasalready taken, but we finally found a spot to squeeze in. Unfortunately, thismeans we're not going to be using our hammocks tonight, but we will againsoon. Just one more day of Hard Core, and then it's back to the trail andour hammocks!
Date: 2008-05-19
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

We left Kincora around 8:30 this morning for Carter Gap, the place oftoday's trail maintenance. Once again, I helped guard the cars and extratools, and I dog sat, while Eric and all of the other volunteers went up themountain to work. Also staying behind with me were Mad Hatter and GreySquirrel. Around 4:30pm, everyone started coming back. Eric had a great time. Heshowed me a couple of pictures of him painting a white blaze on a tree,which I was jealous of. The new section of trail they finished, which wasabout 1,800 feet, was opened up for use.Afterwards, we all went back to Kincora and had a delicious pasta dinnerwith salad, garlic bread, and dessert. Several very large tents were set upin the backyard of Kincora for people to sleep in since there wasn't enoughspace inside. Each slept about 6 or 8 people and we discovered that one ofthem was empty. So instead of sleeping on the crowded floor with peoplewalking by and keeping us up all night, Eric and I, along with a guy namedNest, decided to move out to the tent for the night. Hopefully it'll be amore peaceful sleep than last night. Tomorrow we're heading back toPearisburg. I'm really glad we did Hard Core, even though I wasn't able tocontribute much. I think it's important to give back to the trail, and I'dlove to volunteer again in the future.
Date: 2008-05-20
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We said goodbye to Bob and left Kincora around 8:30 this morning. We got aride back to Pearisburg with Shadow Cast, the guy I met at Cloud 9 Hostel inHiawassee, GA who lives in my neighborhood. It was about an hour and a halfride, and when we got there, Eric and I decided to stay the night in towninstead of getting right back to the trail. We had a bunch of things weneeded to ship home (like some winter clothes and Hard Core souvenirs) andship ahead to ourselves on the trail (like our tent, for the unlikely eventthat we're unhappy with our hammocks). We also needed to resupply still,plus, we figured it wouldn't hurt my knee to rest it for one more day.   We checked into the motel, ate lunch, took naps, did some errands, and wewere lucky enough to be in a town on a Tuesday night, so we watched thefirst half of the American Idol season finale. Unfortunately, we won't be ina town tomorrow night to find out who wins, but that's what cell phones arefor. It's back to the trail for us tomorrow after a wonderful 6 days off. I'mlooking forward to it.
Date: 2008-05-21
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: few clouds

We checked out of our motel at 11, went to the post office, grabbed a biteto eat, and finally started hiking again around 1:30 this afternoon. Unfortunately, Mango and Canuck are no longer with us. Remember when Mangowent home a few weeks ago for a regatta, and then drove her car back and metus in Damascus? Well, since she was back in Damascus already for Trail Days,she decided to go back and hike the 60 or so miles leading up to Damascusthat she had missed. When Canuck was at Trail Days, he went to the freemedical screening and a doctor told him he should take about 5 days off torest his sore knee. So they decided he would use her car to slackpack herthe 60 miles that she missed, and he would drive around and camp with her atnight. Once she finishes the section, they'll drive her car up toPearisburg, and pick up where they left off. They got a head start on us,because they didn't do Hard Core. So probably in just a couple more days,they'll be back up to Pearisburg, and then only a little ways behind us. Ihope we see them again soon!We hiked what seemed like a very long and steep 6 or so miles up to ashelter for the evening, where we hung our hammocks! There are 8 otherpeople here, and the only one we've ever met before is Brush Strokes, who Islept next to in a shelter that night it was snowing really hard. We took somany days off that now we're around a whole new group of people, which isboth nice and a little bit sad. I want Mango and Canuck to catch back up!Also here are: Mary Poppins & Professor Long Johns, Blaze, K1, and PawnPower.
Date: 2008-05-22
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: few clouds

We slept in until almost 9 this morning (our hammocks were so comfy, we justcouldn't get out), and hit the trail around 10. We were up on a ridgelinefor most of the day, so the trail was relatively flat, but unfortunately itwas very rocky, which slowed us down a lot. My knee is still a little bitsore, which slowed us down even more. So by the time we got to the first shelter 12.6 miles away, it was already after 5pm,and we decided to call it a day. I'm getting better at hanging my hammock; tonight it only took me about 20minutes, compared to about 45 minutes last night. Now I'm laying in it,listening to the birds chirping, daydreaming about Twix ice-cream bars, andfeeling sleepy. It's 8:30pm and I am off to bed. Also here are: Brush Strokes, Pawn Power, and K1.