morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Trout Creek

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: moderate rain

Tough day. We woke this morning to the same sound we went to sleep to...pouring rain. We snuggled down in our sleeping bags and ignored it.About 8:00 Tigger announced that she was going to hike to the next shelter ten miles away. A half an hour later Soaring headed out and another half an hour and Owl, River and I were on our way.The day was a series of drizzles and downpours. As we hit the ridgeline we were pounded by a bitter cold wind. We added an extra layer of clothes quickly.As we walked along the ridgeline we came to a side trail leading to the Audie Murphy memorial. Apparently he died near here and there is a memorial on a side trail 50 yards off. We were too cold and wet to care so we moved on.We thought the day was coming to an end as we entered Craig's Creek valley. Just a mile across it and a mile up to the shelter. We crossed one bridge across the creek and thought we were through, then another bridge, surely that was it...no, still another bridge. The trail and creek wound back and forth across each other with the creek getting larger with each pass.Then we saw Tigger and Soaring off in the distance. As we approached we realized Tigger was sitting on a bridge, but there was a raging river between us and the bridge. The water was so high the entire area was flooded with swift moving water.Tigger told us to get to this bridge would be a wade up to our knees. The next bridge would probably be to our waistes. Not loving the idea of stepping into a fast moving flooded stream, I hesitated. I pulled out my map and decided to see if there was any other way.After much discussion Tigger and Soaring decided to brave the water. Owl, Roo and I decided to go bushwacking. I searched for a road on the map that looked like it would take us around.Our first bushwacking adventure and it failed. We could see the route, but it would have required climbing some fences and gates at a house that didn't look like it would welcome trespassers. So we headed back to the trail.By this time the creek had gone down some. We screwed up our nerves, hiked up our pants and headed across. By now it only came up to our knees. Boy was it cold. My feet were numb by the other side.For the next mile and a half (the last mile of any day always feels like five miles) we sloshed along in our wet shoes. It was yucky. But we made it.There were two other hikers at the shelter, so I assumed we would set up our tent. I wasn't looking forward to it since I knew it was still wet. But they said they didn't mind Roo being in the shelter. So...here we are...snuggled down in our bags, dry and trying to stay warm. The rain seems to have brought in a cold front. Great for hiking...chilly for sleeping.We've met so many NOBOs I can't remember names any more. I did meet Lil' Mak on our way up the mountian this morning. I'd read her trial journal and had corresponded with her online. I would say it's nice to put a face with the name, but we were so bundled up against the rain I'm not sure I saw her face. :O) Those kinds of encounters are nice tho.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-04-29
From: Niday Shelter

To: Rt 42
Miles today: 10.0

We crawled into our sleeping bags in the shelter around 6 PM. It was getting cold fast. There were two other hikers there with us, Tupperware and Q. About an hour later other hikers began arriving. By nightfall there was a crowd. We heard stories of water crossings much more harrowing than ours.This morning we woke to freezing temperatures. Our shoes had not dried out at all. It took awhile but we finally pulled ourselves out of the sleeping bags and into wet, cold shoes. We started walking up the hill. As we peaked out onto the ridge we were blasted with a frigid cold wind. This wasn't good.After conferring with our team we came up with an alternate plan. We gave our friend Terri a call in Blacksburg. The cell coverage was sketchy at best. I got Terri's cell and left a message asking if she could possibly pick us up this afternoon and give us a ride into Pearisburg. I left my phone on waiting to hear back. I knew when we headed down off the ridge I would lose my phone connection completely.At lunchtime we found a small place in the trail that was blocked from the wind. We sat down in the middle of the trail and pulled out the stove to make some hot chocolate.After eating we just had a short distance until we left the ridge. Just then I received a text message from Terri saying she would pick us up anytime, anywhere. Later when I got into an area with better cell reception I found I had six messages from Terri. They just hadn't been going through to my phone. I called her and we made a plan for her to pick us up at Rt 42 at 4:00.We pushed on to the bottom of the mountain and across a couple cow pastures. <> When we got to the road we didn't see Terri so we walked a short distance to a church parking lot to wait.We had barely sat down before Terri pulled up... baring gifts of Starbucks, chocolates and snacks. Wow, she got this trail angel thing down fast! She drove us into Pearisburg to the hotel, waited while we showered then took us to the laundry and to pick up some dinner.She also offered to come back tomorrow and give us a shuttle for a slackpack the next day. This would get us through the remaining flooded streams without full packs. So a plan was made.It had been a rough couple of days getting so cold and wet. And knowing the next couple of days were supposed to be just as cold, it was great to know we have good friends along the way to help us out. God continues to provide.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-04-30
From: Rt 42

To: Wind Rock
Miles today: 13.0

This was a gorgeous day to hike! We started off assuming it was going to be cold and shedded layers fast. We met a few hikers along the trail, several section hikers and some NOBOs. We had a nice conversation with a couple of ladies from Michigan.At lunch we stopped near Rocky Gap to eat. We came across a cooler left by a trail angel. We had heard about a cooler filled with sodas from the NOBOs, but we figured it would be empty with so many people talking about it. But it wasn't! I had a cold cola with my peanut butter and crackers for lunch. It was excellent.We continued down the mountain from here into John's Creeks Valley. It was a lovely place. Almost park like. At the end we came to War Spur Shelter. If we hadn't gotten behind due to the flooding we would have stayed here. I'm sorry we missed it, it's a beautiful place.From there we headed up the mountain for our last three miles of the day. The last miles of the day are always the roughest. Have I said that before? Probably, I think it everyday.By 4:30 we were at Wind Rock to meet Terri. She drove us into Blacksburg to her apartment. (She's got a great place right in town.)She had managed to find a car for us to use the next couple of days. Our plan is to just stay at the hotel and slackpack the remaining couple of days into Pearisburg before we zero over the weekend. This isn't something we will plan to do often, but it works here, so we are taking the opportunity. It's nice to be inside tonight. Tomorrow the temps are supposed to begin warming up. Hopefully the good weather will hold for a little while.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Wind Rock

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a NERO (near zero) and a slackpack day. We plan on getting some work done in town today so that when we do take our zero on Saturday we can really rest. We are finding one zero day makes it difficult to actually rest. We spend the time doing laundry, gear maintenance, and repacking our packs so very little rest actually happens.Terri was able to find some friends willing to lend us their car for a couple days. What a blessing! So today we used it to give ourselves a slackpack. First we drove to Pine Swamp Shelter and I dropped off Tigger and Soaring. They began hiking north. Then we drove to Wind Rock and parked the car. Owl, River and I began walking south. At about the half way mark we met. Tigger and I traded off the car key with Owl as a witness to the transaction. Then we gave each other the scoop on the upcoming trail. We continued on in our separate directions.Tigger and Soaring had started near the creek that we heard had it's bridge out. Owl and I were to come to it at the end of our path. We had an option of fording the creek or taking a road detour. There was a sign making the road 'official' AT milage. Soaring had opted for the road but Tigger had forded. It was about up to her knees.We had pretty much decided to ford. When we arrived at the creek though there were several cars on the side of the road. Four men with architectural drawings where standing next to the creek talking. They were the engineers planning for the new bridge. I asked them how long we would have to stand here to wait for them to get the bridge up. They said about a year. They didn't have much of a sense of humor. They told us how to take the road to go around....but if we really wanted to we could cross through the water, but we'd get awful wet. It was awkward. It was uncomfortable. Lydia and I discussed it and decided we would come to plenty of creeks to ford on this trip¢¦we could skip this one. This looked like an opportunity to do something really clumsy and stupid with an audience. So we bailed to the road.So we've made it back to the starting point. We are sitting at the pulloff for Pine Swamp Branch Shelter waiting for Soaring and Tigger to pick us up. Hope they don't have trouble with the roads. It was pretty backwoods getting up to Wind Rock. At least it's a beautiful day to sit and wait. Perfect weather again today. As always God is good!Later... after returning to the hotel we cleaned up and began sorting the food in our drop boxes. We made a reservation at The Bank restaraunt. I just have to say how amazing that meal was. A bit pricy, but well worth it. What a refreshing change from our usual fair. Owl and I both had the filet mignon¢¦superb! And we all split the wonderful chocolate desserts. Wow! Just had to add that in. God is still good... He invented chocolate!Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-05-04
From: Blacksburg

To: Blacksburg Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Sunday morning we got up and drove into Blacksburg to meet Terri at Starbucks and talk about the day's plan.First order of business was to find a place for Roo to hang out during the church service. One of the options Terri had found was for her to spend the time with her friends Joe and Shawna's Golden Retriever puppy. That sounded perfect to me so we had made arrangements to let the dogs meet at 9:30 and see how it went.We pulled up to the house and I saw this young golden puppy that looked almost exactly like Roo. Turns out Reef is only a couple weeks older. They were best friends at first sight. We watched them run and wrestle and play for awhile and decided they were going to be okay together. Shawna and Joe would leave them out on the deck if it looked like they might terrorize the house... and that's what they ended up doing. When I picked Roo up later they were contentedly sitting together. The expression on Reef's face looking out the window as we drove away was incredibly sad.After dropping Roo off we headed over to the student center of Va Tech where NCLF was meeting. Terri had to be there early to set up so we milled around awhile. Before the service started we got a chance to say hello to Chris and Rachel. Soaring got to speak with the Hoppers who are from her church in Annapolis. Chris and Rachel and the Hoppers are leading a team to plant a church in Richmond and this was to be their send off. It was a wonderful service.Afterwards Terri had meetings for the afternoon so we went off to fill our time with things we don't normally get to do. Roo and I dropped the rest of the gang at a movie theater to see Ironman. Then we went to Panera Bread Company for some lunch and a stroll around Petsmart.At some point during the morning I began to feel bad... chills at the slightest wind, but hot at the same time. We had an hour before the movie let out so we parked the car, rolled down the windows and took a nap. It didn't help much.After the movie we ran a couple errands then went back to Terri's apartment to wait for her. I tried the napping thing again... still no help. When Terri arrived we headed out to dinner for sushi (one of Owl's) regular cravings. Dinner was good but I had to excuse myself half way through to go lay down in the car.After dinner Terri treated us to Ben and Jerry's then we drove back to Pearisburg. Ben and Jerry's is great no matter how you feel.;o) As soon as we entered the hotel room I crawled straight into my sleeping bag, I was shivering all over. Eventually the shivering stopped and the sweating started. I had crawled in bed in my town clothes which are mostly cotton and they were soaked. I got up long enough to change into my hike clothes. They were soon drenched too but at lest they would dry quickly.It was a sad ending to a great day. But we felt very blessed to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with Terri and be a part of the service at NCLF.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-05-05
From: FR 199

To: Dismal Falls
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

By morning I seemed to have sweated it out and was feeling better, though drained. Our hike plan today was a fairly easy one with several camping options along the way if I began to feel bad again, so we decided to go for it.We got up this morning to head out of Pearisburg. As we waited for Terri to pick up us Tigger decided to head over to the coffee shop for one last visit. The Courthouse Cafe is definitely a highlight in Pearisburg.When Terri arrived we piled up the gear and headed over to get Tigger, which was great cause I didn't really feel like getting out of the car. As soon as she opened the door she said 'Garlic is inside'. Okay, that I had to go in for.There are a few other trail journalers that I have read and conversed with before the hike that I really hoped to meet. Garlic lives in Evergreen, just over the mountain from us in Golden. That's why I first wrote to him and we had some good conversations. He gave me some great tips on training trails in the Golden area.So I hopped out of the car and went in to say hello. I also met his hiking partner Pickle. They've been making some really big miles from day one. I fully expect them to be well past Katahdin long before we flip that way. It was nice to put a real person to the internet conversations. I wish them the best on their hike, though I can't imagine how they could do better than they already are!Later that same day....We stopped for lunch at Wepitu shelter and took a nap for about an hour. Soaring didn't show up for lunch so we were a little concerned about her. We decided to go on in hopes that she had just missed the shelter sign.It wasn't long before we met northbound hikers who reported seeing her and she was heading for Dismal Falls campground. I was a little afraid I wouldn't have made it that far, but I did and was glad I pushed for it.This is by far the most beautiful place we have camped. The water is gorgeous. We aren't quite sure why it would be called Dismal Falls. Tigger commented that this is the kind of campsite she wouldn't mind staying at for two nights. Or at least spend the morning and not rush off. Sounded good to me, I needed the rest.Around six o'clock I started getting chilled again. I thought it was getting cold until I noticed no one else was bundling up. I headed to the tent and crawled in my sleeping bag. Again...chills for awhile, then sweating. This time when the sweating ended I wasn't in a hotel room, but a tent. A tent that got colder by the minute. I spent the rest of the night adding clothes until I had on everything I have with me and finally fell asleep. This could get real old real fast.But at least I knew there was no urgency to move fast in the morning.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-05-06
From: Dismal Falls

To: Dismal Falls
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

OK, change of plans. I'm not feeling any better and we decided there couldn't be a nicer spot for an unplanned zero day. So we are chilling out by the falls. Well, except for me... I'm fluxing between chilling and hot flashes. Tracy and Lydia decided to walk the two miles down the trail to Trent store to pick up a pizza and some sodas.While they were there they gave our friend Pam call. She's been our personal medical adviser for the hike. We've called her with all kinds of questions, most related to ticks and Lyme disease. We got to thinking about how long it had been since we had that rash of ticks and my symptoms and thought we'd ask her advise. She said there is a virus going around Virginia right now with just the symptoms I have. And since I don't have joint pain, it's probably the virus. My souvenir from Pearisburg.Good news, not likely lymes and it will only last a couple days, bad news, I might be contageous. Tigger and I traded sleeping spots for tonight. I'll sleep in her tent and she'll sleep with Owl in ours. Hopefully I haven't affected any of them.So with this zero day our schedule will change some. We had done amazingly well staying with the schedule we had planned out before the hike. Leaving out of Pearisburg though we decided to make a little change. We'd come to the conclusion that we are not ready for big mile days yet. We seem to do great with 12 - 14 miles. In this section we had three days in a row of 16 mile days planned. So we decided to scrap the plan. We figured up that if we want to walk into Damascus in time for trail days we need to do at least 13 miles each day. That's doable. Then I got sick and blew this day. So we may be looking for a hitch down to Damascus. We'll see.Meanwhile it's been a lovely day here at the falls. Had a nice conversation with a young couple from Kentucky. Turns out the guy is from Versailles and knows my nephew. It's a small trail.Hopefully tonight I'll have a good fever free night and we'll be back on track heading south tomorrow morning. Roo will be disappointed, she loves this place. Earlier when we came up from the falls to cover up gear because of a looming cloud, she stood off at a distance watching us sadly. I think she was afraid we were packing to leave. She's enjoyed the reprieve as much as me.God provided a beautiful spot with His always perfect timing.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: Dismal Falls

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

I struggled to get up this morning. I took some Tylenol PM for the fever last night and in hopes it would help me sleep. No luck on that. Just made me feel drugged. But it was time to move on.When Tigger suggested we take the shortcut road to Trent store rather than going over the mountain, I was fine with that. Just meant walking a log across the creek. A little tricky still drugged from the Tylenol, but I made it.It wasn't long before a sheriff truck came along. We had been seeing pictures along the trail of a missing person. They told us they had him in custody and there had been an 'incident' and the AT was closed from Trent Store to Pearisburg. Our first reaction was 'Cool! That means we're not cheating.' And we trekked off to Trent's Grocery with a lightness of foot.When we arrived at the store it was surrounded with all sorts of law enforcement vehicles. Owl and I sat down to sort through our packs. (still dealing with carrying too much food). Soaring went to send out her pocketmail and Tigger went into the store.If you want to know what is going on, go to a small country store. Turns out this missing person had killed two hikers on the trail in the 80s. He was sentenced to sixty years but was paroled after twenty. Last night he shot two people in the area and took their car.We were asked questions about anything we had seen along the trail. A National Park official took our contact information. Then we heard the press was arriving, we decided it was time to book. I definitely don't want this to be my fifteen minutes of fame!We did take a minute to send a text out to friends and family. Didn't want them to hear this on the news. Then we were heading south. Gradually I began to feel better. The effects of the Tylenol PM wore off. We had the unfortunate job of telling the NOBOs we passed that the trail was closed. There were some disappointed and frustrated faces.What did impress me is that the ATC sent a van to shuttle the NOBOs to Pearisburg if they would like. I thought that was very cool. I might just need to upgrade my donation next year.We were the first hikers at the shelter. Tigger and Soaring headed into the shelter. Lydia and I set up the tent. We are really enjoying having the Hubba Hubba. It is SO nice to have some head room after being in the Seedhouse 2. So far we've not worked out the best way to divide the weight evenly, but we're working with it.Well, the sun is going down. Hiker's midnight. I feel like I might just sleep comfortably tonight.As I've said before God has been very good to us. The past few days He has clearly had His hand of protection around us. He is good.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Kimberly Creek
Miles today: 12.0

I was wrong. I felt so good when I lay down last night, but it changed quickly. Same as the last four nights...can't sleep, fever, sweats. I woke up disoriented. When I realized it was still just as bad or worse I decided I needed a plan.I looked at the map and found a road crossing the trail in three miles. We called Terri to see if she could pick me up again. I decided to go ahead on the trail to a hotel we had planned to stay at in a few days. I would wait there for them to arrive. I think without me holding them back they'll be able to make up some of the miles we lost.Those three miles were torture, but it was so great to see Terri again. She has been beyond amazing. She took me to the hotel, out to get something to eat and picked up some groceries. She is such a nurturer. She didn't want to leave me alone feeling this way, but I told her I would feel horrible if I got her sick. So she left me to nurse myself.As I was checking in I spoke with a NOBO who said he had had the same thing. A lot of hikers had, it's apparently moving up and down the trail. I texted the gang back on the trail to beware....and be careful.I intended to leave the Pocketmail with Owl to take over the journaling, but I forgot. And I'm sure no one is interested in a daily log of my misery, so I'm going to stop here. Owl will catch you up on how the trail adventure is going in a few days. Meanwhile, I'll be resting.Owl Checks In:This is Owl writing for the next few entries, Mom/Rabbit was feeling sick again so we called Terri to come and get her so she could spend a few days in a hotel.Terri came about the third mile into the day to get mom and after stealing all the snickers bars, frozen ice cream and a few other things out of mom's pack, Soaring, Tigger, River and I hiked for 9 more miles.Pretty uneventful day overall. We saw one snake on the way into camp, Tigger and River had almost stepped on him so he didn't seem all that happy when I found him. I think it was just a black snake, though so I guess it doesn't matter quite as much if he gets angry with us as it would if he were a copperhead or something poisonous.We stopped at a creek near a road to camp, I think its Kimberly Creek. It was beautiful, that is until it started pouring down rain all night.OwlRabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9