morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-02
From: Bailey's Gap shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

I was up before light and enjoyed oatmeal with crunched up Butterfinger bars and praline pecans which was a great combination. I got packed up while drinking my morning coffee and was soon on the trail. It was a wet day on the trail as it drizzled on and off all day. I found some Tea berries along the way which I have not seen since living with my Aunt Tina. (I lived a year with my aunt and cousins in Alexandria, ME near Calais on the Canadian border when I was 18. They make a great gum of the berries that I haven't seen since leaving Maine.) After leaving the shelter I finished the climb that the trail had started the day before and stopped for a snack and a breather for the view at Wind Rock where there was a campsite. Then it was up to the Lone Pine Peak and a steep descent down to the War Spur Shelter where I saw two day hikers and a large red Doberman hanging out. I was going to stop and visit but something about them made me very uncomfortable and my "spidey senses" started going off so I kept hiking.(I always pay attention to my instincts, or that little voice as it has saved me so many times over the years. Once I was riding my motorcycle and was getting ready to open the throttle for a long straightaway when I got the urge to wait. I did and seconds later a whole herd of Axis deer crossed the road right where I would have been if I would have blasted of as I had been planning! It's times like that, that I know that God is watching over me and so I pay attention to my instincts.) There were a number of bridges to cross as I entered the Mountain Lake Wilderness of the Jefferson National Forrest. Then it was up to the Kelly Knob where there was a great view so I rested briefly before pressing on to the Laurel Creek Shelter. I got set up in the shelter and then went down the trail to the stream where I cleaned up an got water. It was so peaceful that I had my nightly safety meeting right there and just relaxed by the happy brook. Then I went and visited awhile at the shelter before calling it a day. Soon I was in bed listening as the rain started to tap on the roof before I put my headphones in and was soon asleep.
Date: 2015-06-04
From: Pickle Branch shelter

To: Catawba Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

Because of the pain I didn't sleep very well until about midnight where I had to take another safety meeting to deal with the pain. Soon it kicked in and I was able to sleep for the rest of the night. I felt like I'd been in a cage match and came out the worse for it that morning. I ate 4 packages of oatmeal, thinking that the extra calories would help stimulate the healing process. I took my time getting ready and had another safety meeting to keep the pain at bay as I drank my morning coffee and packed up. The day started with a climb with a number of good views of clouds while climbing up Cove Mountain where I reached the Dragon's tooth. Well, I thought that yesterday was bad until I attacked the Dragon's Tooth where, surprise! It was raining and overcast. There were delightful view of clouds. Then came hours of torture as I had to use both hands to climb down the rocks to get off of that mountain. I often had to retrace my steps numerous times as there were so many trails and few markings. I have gotten lost more in Virginia than the other states combined due to a lack of clear trail blazes. I could see that this would have been a great deal of fun if I didn't have my shoulder injury to contend with and done on a clear sunny day to enjoy it and the views. I was so glad to get to the bottom at Lost Spectacles Gap where I saw I had reached the 700 mile mark where I celebrated with a safety meeting to manage the pain. Walking across a cow pasture, I saw a sad cow with an eyeball hanging out of its socket and felt sorry for him. I offered him snacks and it took awhile for him to feel safe enough to approach me as he was scared. Finally he approached and I fed him 2 granola bars which he carefully ate from my hand. I passed by the Johns Spring Shelter in the rain, stopping briefly for a breather and a snack. It was just a little further to the next shelter but I had time to make it there as I wanted to get closer for the festival. I was exhausted mentality and physically when I saw the shelter across the ravine as I arrived at a spring at the corner of the trail where I filled up. Soon I arrived at the empty Catawba shelter late in the evening darkness arrived with me. I had wanted to go further so I wouldn't have so far to go the next day to Troutville for the hiker festival but I looked at the profile on Guthook's AT app and was too tired to go further as rain came down. I made a hot dinner, cooking while I had my safety meeting while listened to some Thousand Foot Crutch. I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted as I lay down to the Bible on audio books before going to sleep. It was another time that I was the only person at a shelter. I fell asleep to the drumbeat of rain on the roof.
Date: 2015-06-06
From: Troutdale City Park

To: Troutville City Park
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Sleeping through the night, I woke up early, while it was still dark and took a safety meeting for my shoulder which helped almost immediately. I was more than ready when it was time to head to the Boy Scout lodge for the free Bacon and pancakes breakfast. It was free for the thru hikers and $5.00 for the cyclists and it was all you can eat! Also served were orange juice and coffee! The Scouts were awesome and really were excited to be helping the thru-hiker community. I was told that all day long that they would be serving sodas, hot dogs and chips, all for .50 each! I knew what I was having for lunch! I asked one of the church vendors if I could put my pack by her stall and she allowed me. I wandered around the vendors and tallked to the ATC representative and let them know what had happened to me at the shelter. I tried some balm for my shoulder for the pain, but since the injury was so deep, it didn't help. I enjoyed the live music all day and played some of the games, like the AT game with its giant dice. Because of my shoulder injury I declined the invitation to go tubing on the river for free, although I would have loved to go. Several times during the day I'd hit up the scouts for a couple of hot dogs, a bag of chips and a soda whenever I'd get hungry. I hung out around the fire department for awhile as they had free wifi so I could get online. It was a fun time and I had fun while watching another band play in the pavilion. The pavilion was pretty much a shelter like you'd see on the trail, except with power! I bought something to eat at the grocery store for supper. As night arrived I was going to sleep in the same spot but at around 10:00 the party crowd, who had arrived that day, came over and was making such noise at the picnic pavilion that I picked up my stuff and moved over to the stage pavilion for the quiet and was soon joined by another hiker looking for sleep. The shelter even gave some noise protection from the trains that frequently passed right behind the park. Having power I plugged in my devices to charge overnight. I sat for awhile and was making plans to get to Roanoke to go home the next day. After a safety meeting I got in bed and actually got to sleep quickly.
Date: 2015-06-08
From: Wilson Creek shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a beautiful hike to the Bryant Creek Shelter. I saw plenty of newts and a saucer sized tortoise that I had to help across the Blue Ridge Skyway so it wouldn't be run over. Lots of beautiful views along the trail today starting with the Taylor Mountain and Harvey's Knob Overlooks. I stopped briefly at the Bobblets Gap Shelter for a snack and a break. There was a plaque with a poem called "Tapestry" dedicated to his brother Nelson, who passed away by Phillis Garnet.It was very touching and I was glad, being a poet myself to have stopped and read it. Then it was off to the Otter Peaks and the Mills Gap overlooks. Cove Mountain shelter which is of an interesting design. I still had energy and time so I pressed on forward towards the next shelter. Fork Mountain was a bit tougher but I was making good time and soon I was on a long walk along a stream to the shelter where I had to cross a footbridge to arrive. I had hiked 20.8 miles from the last shelter and felt pretty good. The shelter is pretty fancy with 3 layers and a large porch. I am going to try to up my mileage to 20+ miles per day in order to make it as far as I can with the money I have and hope for some help along the way. I arrived at the shelter to see a couple come down from the loft where he proudly proclaimed that they had "christened" another shelter, meaning that they had sex in the loft. WTMI for me. The shelter was a really cool log cabin type shelter with a large porch and 3 levels to sleep on. I set up on the first floor by the ladder as I couldn't climb at all with my shoulder the way it was. I went down to the river and took a good bath in a concealed area in a bend of the river, cleaned up my clothes (Changing into my camp clothes) and filled up my water containers. The cold water helped numb all of my aches and pains. Back at the shelter I hung my clothes out to dry before sponsoring a safety meeting at the campfire, and getting a beer in return. I then made dinner and climbed into bed, slipping on my headphones as it was already getting dark.
Date: 2015-06-09
From: Bryand Ridge Shelter

To: Matts Creek shelter
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: broken clouds

It was a tough hike today with a thousands of feet of elevation changes over the day's hike from the Bryant Creek Shelter to the Matts Creek Shelter.I took a break at the Cornelius Creek Shelter for a snack break before pressing on to the Black Rock Overlook. I took the Apple Orchard trail to the, very impressive, 200' waterfall and then up Apple Orchard Mountain to the FAA tower with limited, but beautiful views. I paused for effect under the Guillotine, and luckily the blade didn't fall upon me! I had cellphone service so I stopped and called my wife to see how she was doing. She hadn't been able to get away to join me as we just didn't have the money and the mother she was helping really needed her help. I was very disappointed as I wanted her to be a part of and share this adventure with me. That had been a great disappointment to us both and added a note of sadness to the hike, making me want to finish quickly. Passing Thunder Hill shelter, I took a snack break at the Thunder Ridge Overlook with the stone platform, admiring its views. The trail was mainly down hill with a few peaks to break up the monotony. I had a 15" black snake slither across the trail right in front of me, stopping to pose for pictures before moving on off the trail. This happened right before I entered the James River Face Wilderness of the Jefferson National Forrest. It was a long, hot 23.6 miles to the beautiful shelter across a cheerful stream. I got settled in and took a bath in the stream and rinsed out my clothing before cooking dinner. I heard from my brother Clay that my father, who suffers from dementia, wasn't doing well. He had moved in with my brother as his mental condition had worsened and now he was taking a physical downturn as well as he refused to take his diabetes medicine. There was a crazy, but harmless drunk old codger who rambled on about his crazy hiker adventures, while periodically sponsoring safety meetings of which I partook in a few. Soon he quieted down and retreated to his tent. Doc, who I hadn't seen in a long time also stopped in before dark and we got caught up well after dark. I wrote in the shelter log but forgot to take a picture. Then it was off to bed for my nightly routine before sleep. Tonight I listened to Jennifer Knap before going to sleep.
Date: 2015-06-10
From: Matts Creek shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a steep decent from the shelter to the James River Bridge and there was a lot of things along the way to mention. One thing was I crossed the 800 mile marker and had finally left the Jefferson National Forrest and entered the George Washington National Forrest. There were a lot of scenic views on the way down and the river played peek a boo along the way. The trail comes down from the mountain and follows the James River for a mile before you get to the bridge. There's supposed to be no camping, but there are sites aplenty with firepits in a number of them. The bridge across the James River is the longest footbridge on the AT and is a pretty impressive structure. It parallels a railroad trestle across the river which used to be the original AT crossing. Then it was back up into the mountains again starting with the Big Rocky Row with its beautiful view. Then followed Bluff Mountain with its sad Ottie Cline Memorial. Its a very sad child's memorial about a 4 year old child who wandered away from school while gathering firewood and was found dead 7 miles away in the mountains. Rice Mountain was soon behind me as was the Pedlar River Bridge. I passed the oldest and largest chestnut tree on the trail and the remains of a community of freed slaves and a plaque about the history of the area in a stretch of trail that followed the river for a long while. I crossed a number of foot bridges including the final footbridge which I crossed and arrived at the Brown Mountain shelter around 5:00. After getting set up I took a bath and cleaned my clothes in the stream by the shelter. I found, much to my dismay that I had misplaced my spare clothing bag! It did double duty as my pillow. It must have fallen under the table while I was packing up to leave while it was still dark. That really sucked. I hung out my wet clothes on the branches around the shelter and wore my rain pants in the meantime. I sponsored a safety meeting while I cooked dinner and socialized around the camp fire. Someone pulled out a wand and a bottle of bubble making liquid and soon there were bubbles floating all around the picnic table and antics abounded as hikers tried to pop or avoid the bubbles. It was good silly fun! Then I popped in my headphones and got ready for bed, tired from the 22.2 miles hiked that day.
Date: 2015-06-11
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I had a good nights sleep and woke up feeling good. My clothes had dried overnight so I slipped behind the shelter and changed up. I made coffee and breakfast before starting to pack up and get ready to go. One of the first things I see was a sign posted warning that there is "Problem Bear Activity between Dripping Rock and the Paul Wolfe shelter and we were informed that camping was prohibited in that area. The flowers along the trail added beauty to the days hike. It was a grueling day of climbing Starting with a 3,000' ascent up to Bald Knob and took a break to take in the scenic views. Then the trail descends to Cow Gap to the shelter which has a Chess/checker board drawn on the floor with what looks to be black sharpie. I had a snack and rested briefly before hitting the trail again. I took a snack break at the summit of Cold Mountain for the views and another at the Tar Jacket Ridge for the views there. At Hog Gap I ran out of water and it took me awhile to find the spring that was about 1/2 a mile down the road, left going north, where the spring water was icy cold. I saw a tiny black salamander swimming in one of the little streams along the river. There were a lot of neat looking stone formations. One of which looked like a huge couch, complete with seat cushions and back! I was seeing more and more stone walls the further we moved north. On one large domed rock there were two hikers sunning themselves on the top, head to head draping down the sides, which made a good picture. There was a tree bent over in the shape of an arch that you had to pass under to get to the shelter. It was bent and not broken and was still alive and a very curious sight indeed. Before the shelter I crossed the north fork of the Piney River and then the Branch of Elk Pond. I wanted to hike 23 miles but the body refused and so I stopped at the Seeley-Woodward Shelter and I was exhausted and had to take many breaks during the day to keep going the 15.8 miles at a much slower pace than normal. I was so happy and relieved to finally arrive at the shelter. I claimed a spot and set up my sleeping before going for water at a nice, ice cold, piped spring to fill my platypus and my Jet boil pot to cook with far from the shelter from a piped spring. A German hiker with his friend at the shelter described how they had watched a bear tear down and casually eat their food bag right in front of them. They tried to scare it off but it just looked at them balefully and ate unhurriedly. So we all hung our food bags (this was the first time on the trail that I had bear bagged from a tree with my para-cord and I almost lost my string in the tree due to a snag) and they swapped bear stories, I, having none to share, listened with great interest. Soon it was time for me to get some sleep so off I went with my iPod.
Date: 2015-06-12
From: Seeley-Woodworth

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: few clouds

I decided to use both hiking poles as my shoulder was feeling better and I felt more stable with the extra pole. I had been using only one since my injury and had the other tucked in the strapping on the side of my pack. Entering the Priest Mountain Wilderness of the George Washington National Forrest a thunder storm was making its approach with thunder making the announcement. I met a group of one man and two lady hikers at the beginning of the Mau-Har trail and asked about its condion as I would rather take it than summit in a lightning storm. They told me what to expect and so I took off on a blue blazed side trail adventure. It was a very challenging climb to the Mau-Har trail which I took to avoid a rapidly approaching thunderstorm which looked dark, intense and foreboding. I didn't want to be on an exposed ridge line during an electrical storm after re-injuring my shoulder due to a fall on exposed and wet rock. The bad weather trail was brutal but so beautiful as it followed some streams with picturesque waterfalls and pools that were so tempting to jump in, which I did briefly before pressing on. I recommend the trail, as hard as it was just for the sheer beauty of it. I picked up my water at the stream before the end of the trail which ends at the the Maupin Field shelter, my destination for the day. I claimed a spot and set up my sleeping spot before cooking dinner and starting a fire. A giant wolf spider was on the piece of wood that I was going to put on the fire. I showed several people as it was huge - about 3" in diameter. I tried to shake it off to no avail so I gave up and threw the log in, spider and all. The giant spider was roasted in the fire as it clung to the log and wouldn't get off. The storm blew over and all I received on the side trail was a light sprinkle while I heard that on the 3 peak trail there was heavy rain and an abundance of rattlesnakes on the trail around the rocks. It was a good day of hiking and I was looking forward to getting into Waynesboro tomorrow. I quizzed two hikers who were slack packing the opposite direction how the trail was to town and was told that it is a lot of ups and downs with plenty of rocks on the trail. Only a little over 20 miles to go. There was a bear pole and hooks to hang our food on which is the first that I've seen thus far. I needed help to get my food bag up due to my shoulder, but I did manage to take it down in the morning. I cooked dinner and shared a safety meeting and received a beer from one of the south bound hikers. I played some Howard Shore's LOTR soundtracks after asking permission from those present and we enjoyed it for several songs before I put in my headphones, crawled into my sleeping bag and went to sleep.
Date: 2015-06-13
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Grace Lutheran Church Hostel
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: broken clouds

I was up and ready to go soon after breakfast. I was looking forward to going into Waynesboro to the Church Hostel where I could clean up, do laundry and rest. There was a good climb right out of the shelter over to the Reeds Gap. A short climb followed to the Three Ridges Overlook where I stopped for a snack attack before putting boots down the trail. It was good hiking to the views at Rock Point Overlook and Cedar Cliffs where the views were outstanding. There were so many colorful mushrooms and toadstools along the way and many of the trees look pregnant and about to give birth with their giant deformed growths. I enjoyed hiking over Humpback Mountain and down to the sweet view at The Rocks. The descent continued for 2,000 feet to Mill Creek, passing Glass Hollow with a great overlook and the side trail to the Humpback Visitor Center. The visitor center is an interesting place with a lot of cool information to check out about the area. The trail passed by the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter where I snacked before blazing forth down the trail. Along the way my Astral Aquanauts are slowly breathing their last gap as they are ripping down the sides. I pray that they last into town so I can find replacements. There's a cemetery on the trail and then the trail passes the ruins of a cabin/shelter(?) where pretty much all that remains is the stone chimney. There are a number of springs and streams to pass on the way to US250-The Blue Ridge Parkway that leads to Waynesboro, my destination! I quickly catch a ride to the Rockfish Gap Outfitter which was closed, but luckily, I found a pair of shoes my size in the hiker box! Then it was off to the church where I was dropped off. I walked up to the door, only to find that the hostel opened up at 5:00 and I'm early being only 4:00, so I wander over to the Library so I can hop on the internet for awhile and sit down. Soon it's time to head back to the hostel and they're just opening up. I had my picture taken for their book and given an orientation to the hostel rules. Then we were shown the auditorium where we would be sleeping and the cots were demonstrated as to how to set them up. Then we went to the common room where the kitchen, living and dining room was. There was food to be had and computers connected to the internet. We were shown the donation box where the funds collected help keep the place open and were encouraged to make a donation. I made dinner and a group of us went for a walk down the street to arrange a safety meeting at the park. We then returned and I visited for awhile before turning in for the nigh. I found the cot to be very hard to get comfortable on and it took awhile to get to sleep.