morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-21
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: scattered clouds

The first task of the day was to climb Roan mountain, a two thousand foot climb. It took all morning but it was very cool on top. You can see where a hotel used to be in the late 19th century, the Cloudland hotel. Tyler and I had lunch on the top but it was really cold. Next were 3 really amazing balds. I took my time walking over them, taking in all the views. We're staying in a huge red barn in a 70 acre vally that's been converted into a shelter. It very well may be the sweetest shelter on the trail.
Date: 2009-05-22
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

We've been looking forward to today for a while calling it "flat day" because the elevation profile looked pretty flat. Before any of that though, we had to climb over little hump and hump mountains. Both are impressive balds and Hump mountain had some horses grazing on it. One particular came right up to us obviously hoping for some food. We took some pics and as we walked away, the horse followed. I have a funny video of this. We had heard there was a steak house not too far from the trail but then found out it wasn't open for lunch, when we'd be walking by. Bummer. I spent the second half of the day walking slowly, listening to music and enjoying the scenery. The shelter we're at tonight is pretty new and has 3 "levels." It's also next to a waterfall. Not too shabby. Today, we are also officially done with state number two, North Carolina!
Date: 2009-05-23
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 15.6

Today's trail was easy, but also kind of boring. This, combined with the fact that we were headed to one of the most famous hostels on the trail, helped us move pretty quickly, knocking out a lot of 20 minute miles. The now famous Bob Peoples retired and decided leave Boston to start a hostel. He built it himself and it even has a treehouse you can sleep in. Shower, laundry and a ride to town all by donation only. We caught the ride into Elizabethton and went to a Fatz restaurant where I ate an absurd amount of food. The Fatz sampler. Next we walked to the grocery store and then Bob picked us up outside. There's a small but great crowd hanging out at the hostel tonight. Bandammit, Buttchinz, Fire, Youngblood, and Brown Bag. Oh, Tyler had the best idea for a post-AT commerative tattoo. It's so amazing I can't even tell you for fear of it being stolen.
Date: 2009-05-24
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Laurel Fork Shelter
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: light rain

Woke up today with no plans. I love that. I found a book and grabbed a cup of coffee and read for a couple of hours. Brown Bag (class of 08) took the morning shuttle and bought a huge breakfast foe everyone! Bacon, eggs, hash browns, biscuits. It was amazing. After breakfast I read as people slowly came in from off the trail. At one point, Tyler and I decided to walk to another hostel to see if they had a fuel canister for him. We decided, since the Kincora was so busy, to hike to the next shelter. It was close and went by the awesome Laurel Falls. I have decided that Picante chicken Ramen is by far the best flavor. You can mix it with many things!
Date: 2009-05-25
From: Laurel Fork Shelter

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: light rain

Today's hike started with going up and over pond mountain, which was really quite silly because you go right back down with nothing interesting on top. Kind of pointless. At the bottom was a lakeside recreation area which we were worried would be full of people due to the holiday weekend but the weather was kind of dreary, raining off and on. We ate lunch by the lake before making the climb up to the shelter. The area around the lake was easily the worst section of the trail yet, littered and polluted. Some people should just not be allowed in the outdoors. At the shelter I was making the long trek to get water when I heard some violent flapping and saw a large bird charging at me. It then turned and slowly walked away sounding almost like a whining puppy. The grouse must have been guarding its young or something because usually they spook. Once I got back to the shelter there was a HUGE rainbow over the lake, of which there was a nice view. Trail days kind of bunched up the hikers so I'm meeting some more hikers. There's a girl named Rocky, Luke and Ryan, Don't Panic and Wing It who are also famously known as Team Bad Wizard because they are carrying a 4 and a quarter pound bronze statue of a wizard. The wizard hiked the PCT last year and is shooting for the tripple crown.
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 34.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Lot's of unexpected things today! I got an early start, about 7:45 since we had planned on doing a 22 miles to the shelter closest to the state line. The trail was easy but boring. Because of that I made it to the first shelter much faster than I had expected. Sometime later, I came to these really wide meadows with wheat growing. I decided to check my phone to see if I had service and I got a text from my mom saying my parents were thinking about coming up to visit in Damascus where I was planning on arriving tomorrow. I told them to come on up. I later got another text saying they rented a house and were coming tonight. Since I was moving so quickly I thought, although crazy, it may be possible for me to do 34 miles and make it to Damascus tonight. I didn't stop for lunch and only took a few short breaks and finally rolled into town at 7:30. I had a little while before my parents would arrive so I went to Quincy's pizza and ate a whole pizza while I watched some of the national spelling bee on TV. I waited outside on main street until they picked me up! It was really great to see them and really cool how everything just worked out perfectly. We drove out to the house and are now just hanging out. I'm exhausted so I'm definitely taking a zero tomorrow!
Date: 2009-05-27
From: Damascus VA

To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today was a really relaxing zero day. My parents and I had breakfast at a local place and then found Tyler nearby and invited him to dinner. I hung around town with other hikers while my parents rode bikes down the creeper trail. Baltimore Jack, a guy who's thru-hiked like 8 times was telling us all kinds of stuff about the trail. Later in the evening, my parents picked Tyler and I up and we went back to the house and grilled a steak dinner complete with some sales pale ale I had my parents bring up from Atlanta. After dinner Tyler and I sat in the hot tub. It was pretty much the perfect zero day.
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Damascus VA

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

My parents made a really large breakfast this morning which we ate and then began to pack. They took us to Food City to buy food and then started to head back to atlanta. I swung by the post office to mail a postcard and then by the library to try and upload some pictures but was unsuccessful. On the way out of town we stopped at a restaurant called "Fatties" and had lunch. Then on to the next shelter. The shelter is in a really cool spot under a tall spruce thicket. Several deer walked right by the shelter as we cooked inside. Now it's beginning to rain and I can hear a storm in the distance.
Date: 2009-05-29
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: light rain

The first half of the day was pretty uneventful.. just a lot of walking through the woods. Later in the day, I came to a road crossing before a bald. Off in the sky I could see some really dark clouds and it looked like a storm was definitely on the way. I began to move quickly trying to avoid being exposed on a bald during a storm. It started to pour about half way up. I ran to some cover under a tree and put my rain jacket on and began to hike in the rain. It rained hard the next 7 or so miles until I was near Mt. Rogers. Just after it stopped, I saw a pony on the trail just ahead. It, and a couple of others walked right up to me hoping I would offer them some food. I took a couple of pictures and moved on to find an almost full shelter. The rain had stopped but it was still very windy and getting really cold. This shelter has two levels and thankfully, I'm in the upper one out of the wind. I cooked and then laughed as Tyler tried to get the ponies to lick his pot clean. Journaling and reading before sleep.
Date: 2009-05-30
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

This morning was still very cold and we were, more or less, in a cloud. I knew that the hike today was supposed to be over some really beautiful terrain with awesome views so I decided to hang around the shelter until around 11 to start hoping it would clear up, which was a great decision because that's exactly what happened. It turned into a really beautiful day to walk through the Grayson Highlands which had many impressive balds with wild ponies everywhere. We also passed the 500 mile mark! It's just a few more days and we'll be 1/4 of the way done! Crazy.. We're with some thru-hikers we haven't yet stayed with: Carolina, Nano, Scree Freak, and walking home. We were just all sitting by the fire hanging out and around 9:30, Don't Panic and Wing It walk up to announce they had just hiked in a case of beer. That, along with the bad wizard, must make for a heavy pack. It's all thru-hikers here now that the weekend is over and we're looking forward to Partnership shelter tomorrow night because it has showers and we've heard that it's close enough to a road that you can actually order pizza and have it delivered right to the shelter!
Date: 2009-05-31
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: light rain

There was a pretty impressive storm at sometime during the night which is always really cool to experience from a shelter. The lightning seemed to flash constantly. We hiked a long 19.7 miles today but the terrain wasn't too strenuous. We're staying in the huge Partnership shelter which has some bonus ammenities including a shower, sink, bathroom and a phone from which you can order pizza, which is exactly what we did. Almost everyone ate a whole pizza and drank an entire 2 liter of soda. A few people I haven't met are here: S&P, Tattoo, Saphire and Rambler. After we ate, we all had that disgusting feeling of being weighed down with all kinds of greasy food. We call this feeling having a "food baby." I've also been working hard on the perfect northern accent. It's inspired mostly by Bob Peoples of the Kincora hostel. He's from Medford Massachusetts which has a really nice Boston-esque sounding accent. Most of us have starting talking in it regularly. People must think we're crazy.
Date: 2009-06-01
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: clear sky

We decided to find a ride into Marion to resupply which ended up being much easier than expected. We found a number for the Marion public transit and gave them a call. They said someone would come get us and that it's only 50 cents for a ride. We bought groceries and then Bandammit and I threw down at KFC. Then the laundry. At the laundry, a woman named Mary heard me talking about finding a library to upload some pictures and she offered to take me. Unfortunately, I was unable to upload any. Most of the computers at libraries are really locked down and lack the necessary plugins to upload. Sorry everyone! I'll get some more up as soon as I can. We called the transit again and they picked us up and took us back to the trail. The 7ish miles was one of the most boring yet. It felt like we passed the same thing 50 times. Oh well. I had wanted to tent tonight but there aren't any places near the shelter.
Date: 2009-06-02
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Crawfish Valley Campsite
Miles today: 10.8

I really liked today because I passed a lot of different, interesting things. The first of which was a Settler's museum. It was basically a restored/preserved 18th century settlement. We saw the old farm house, barns, equipment and carriages. Unfortunately, the museum was closed, which was strange because, according to their posted hours, it should have been open. There was still a one room schoolhouse which was open for us to explore. It even had water for thru-hikers. Later in the day we passed an interstate and there was an Exxon station that seems to like hikers. I hung out there a while and then moved on. After the interstate, the trail crossed several hay fields and meadows. In one of the fields. There was actually a guy driving a tractor right next to the trail harvesting the hay. He waved to me. Today was cool because it was one of those days where you really feel like you're walking across the country. We decided to camp in crawfish valley because it's almost exactly the 1/4 mark for the trail. We've been saying that we become sophmore hikers today having completed a quarter of it. No longer freshmen!
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Crawfish Valley Campsite

To: Chesnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was another day of lots of fields and meadows. There were signs on the trail that said the trail in this section has a very narrow corridor of about 25 feet with private property on either side so we walked past many farms. Lots of barns and silos. It was really sunny and hot the first half of the day but as we began to climb up the Chesnut Ridge, it became cloudy and looked like it would thunderstorm. It rained diligently but didn't soak me. The shelter up on chesnut bald is a 4 walled structure that used to be a cabin. It's nice to be completely out of the wet and cold. In the shelter tonight it's myself, Bandammit, Buttchinz, Seeker, Saphire, Rambler, and Union.
Date: 2009-06-04
From: Chesnut Knob Shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: light rain

Most of everything that happened today revolved around our dumb idea to hike 22 miles, hitch in and out of Bland and then hike 2 more. During the first section, I heard thunder several times but it never got too close. We made pretty good time on the 22 and got to the road by 5:30. We stood for a while trying to get a ride and started walking when we weren't having any luck. About halfway down it started raining. We finally got picked up when we had almost made it all the way into town. We went to Dairy Queen and then to the dollar general to buy groceries. Having to walk into town put us behind schedule but we figured we probably had just enough time to get to the shelter before it was dark. Then we couldn't get a ride again and it started raining pretty hard. We again walked almost the whole way back to the trail and finally caught a ride and started the last 2 miles about 8:30.. almost dark. I was trudging along in the rain and dark wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea. I finally made it to the shelter right as it was just too dark to see. It was full so I'm tarping nearby.
Date: 2009-06-05
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Trent's Grocery
Miles today: 16.3

It was still raining when I woke up and once some people cleared out of the shelter, I moved my things inside to wait out the rain. There was another guy named I'll Try hanging out there who is doing a flip-flop thru going southbound. He works for the ATC and talks a lot about how much he's not having any fun and planned to stay in the shelter because he "doesn't hike in that stuff." I thought he should probably find a different job if he doesn't even like the AT. Eventually, around 11:45 the rain let up and I started walking. I made it to a store (really a gas station) called Trent's Grocery that let's you camp out back. The $6 also includes a shower in the most disgusting shower you've ever seen in your life and laundry in an equally atrocious facility. Instead of cleaning my clothes, it effectively and evenly spread the wet sock funk across all included articles of clothing. At least things are dry.. Camping here is myself, Bandammit, Rocky, Pete, Jungli and her friend Tessa who is visiting for a couple of days. I'm tempted to go and ask for my $6 back..
Date: 2009-06-06
From: Trent's Grocery

To: Wood's Hole Hostel
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: mist

It was kind of a wet morning but as I started hiking, it cleared up and became really nice and sunny. The hike was pretty typical, nothing really to mention other than that it was 13.9 miles. Oh and i also ate lunch at the shelter where some peoplr were shot and killed, in 80s i think. Bandammit and I made it to Woods Hole hostel and there are all kinds of people here that I haven't met. Several guys were working on building a barn. I took a shower in the solar shower which was a cool experience. I signed up for the $12 community dinner and relaxed until it was time enjoying many a soda. Sweet liquid junk food. There were a LOT of people for dinner, probably about 20 and they said it was the most they'd crammed into their 19th century cabin. Before eating we all held hands and went arounf the circle and said something we were thankful for. I said i was thankful for hearing Penny and Tron's penny whistle duet of Scarborough Fair which i had heard earlier. The multiple course dinner was amazing and I ate tons of homemade bread. There was a family from GA that had come up and they were sitting near me. They had brought a bottle of wine and offered a glass. This day just keeps getting better and better. Sleeping in the loft of the barn tonight.
Date: 2009-06-07
From: Wood's Hole Hostel

To: Holy Family Hostel
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up early because the mattress I was on was not ideal. I also think it's possible that I have fleas. I've felt like this since Kincora and I'm not the only one. Anyway I planned on relaxing most of the day before hiking the 10ish miles to Pearisburg. At one point in the afternoon I was lying INS hammock reading and Jungli decided to cut her hair which was really long. Her friend Tessa, who was visiting for a few days cut it and it was really entertaining for some reason. Soon after, we had a brilliant idea: to get Tessa, who was leaving that day to drop off our packs in town where we'd be staying that night so we could hike without all the weight. This is known on the trail as "slack-packing." it's a beautiful thing. Bandammit, Jungli and I set off about 3. It was really nice to hike without a pack and there were several places along the trail with great views. I heard from someone that Buttchinz was ahead of us so I called her when we got to a road and she had a motel room in town and Bandammit has already made it there. I told her Jungli and I were on the way. Somehow though, we passed the place to get off trail and ended up doing a couple of bonus miles. I blame this on the bad map in the book. Once we realized we were two miles past town, we decided to get to the road and hitch the 2 back. The first car that passed stopped. It was a young couple and they had been hiking a section of the AT and were heading back to town but first had to go 15 miles into West Virginia to pick up their other vehicle. We hopped in. It took about an hour but they were really cool and even invited us to stay at their house but since our gear was at the hostel where Tessa dropped it off, we had to go back. By the time we finally made it to the hostel, we were starving. I ordered myself a whole pizza and waited for it. There's a girl here named Goucha and she's carrying a ukulele which I'm playing while I enjoy my dinner. A long but awesome day!
Date: 2009-06-08
From: Holy Family Hostel

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

This morning seemed like any other morning until there was all kinds of commotion going on in the hostel. Turns out there was a big black snake that lives in the hostel and had come out into the common room. One guy tried to capture it and put it outside but the snake was able to slip away and hide out under the fridge. Looks like it won't be evicted anytime soon. After this, and getting packed up, Bandammit and I took a side trail that leads to the Wal-Mart to resupply and then ate some Wendy's with Goucha and David. Pearisburg is a nice town because it has everything a hiker needs but unfortunately, it's all pretty spread out which means long walks between services. I walked to the library and uploaded some pictures, then the PO before starting to hike. The trail out of Pearisburg climbs up on a ridge and then walks it for miles which makes for some really nice hiking. There are also deer everywhere. Here, they seem to be way more tame then we've seen as of yet. Instead of just bolting, they linger around until you're almost close enough to touch them, then they slowly walk away. The shelter is in some trees just off an open bald and I'm tenting nearby. There was a really nice sunset tonight!
Date: 2009-06-09
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was some more great ridge walking with lots of deer. The weather was also very nice, although a little hot. After hiking 12 miles to get to the next shelter, where I stopped for lunch, I decided to rest a while since the next shelter was only 4 miles after that. I hung around until 5:20 and started to hike. Just as I started to hike, I hear thunder in the distance. I think about heading back but decided to keep going as it gets darker and darker. Soon it starts to rain slightly and before long, I'm in the heaviest downpour yet. It's funny, at first you try and keep dry, avoiding puddles, but it's inevitable that you get soaked through. After that you can just hike steadily and the rain doesn't really slow you down anymore. I call this the "freedom." Today, I got the freedom very quickly. The storm didn't last long and soon afterward it was sunny again. In the shelter tonight, it's myself, bandammit, buttchinz, danger muffin, and brown chicken and brown cow.
Date: 2009-06-10
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was mostly uneventful. I walked through the woods all day. Once at the shelter, it started to rain again so I thought I would sleep in the shelter instead of tenting. Neil from scotland showed up and then a guy I've never seen who was carrying a HUGE pack. He pulls out a full size coffee pot that could probably make 20 cups of coffee and then a large hatchet. He gets in the shelter to dry off. He sets up next to me and pulls out one of those aluminum emergency blankets and covers himself with it which struck me as strange. He then tells us that he uses that instead of a sleeping bag. So in what was probably 90 pounds of gear, he has a huge coffee pot, a hatchet, and NO sleeping bag. Some people are better at backpacking than others. Every time he would move, his emergency blanket would make a loud crinkling noise. I knew I would never get any sleep with that going on all night so I gathered my things and set up my tent. I hereby give him the new trail name "Crinkles McHatchet." He didn't even make everyone coffee in the morning..
Date: 2009-06-11
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning was really misty as I walked through some local farmland. I went over several stiles and saw lots of animals including donkeys. There was also this HUGE oak tree known as the Keffer Oak. It's a shame the entire Appalachian mountains were cut down 100 years ago and there are only a handful of trees this big. I can't imagine how a whole forrest of them would be! While I stopped to eat lunch at a shelter, there was yet another thunderstorm but I was glad to be sitting that one out. The sun came out afterward and the next half of the day was another ridge walk which was really rocky. At one point I came across 2 very large timber rattlers that looked like they had just had a hearty meal. They weren't too intimidated by me and I left them alone. Later in the evening there was yet another thunderstorm so I'm sleeping in the shelter. Today was a long day so I'm hoping for some restful sleep.