morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-11-03
From: Rod Hollow Shelter 

To: Tom Floyd Shelter 
Miles today: 26.5
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I concede that Nutella can't be packed anymore and get my first lift in the back of a pickup) -Currently sitting in the shelter after dark-Today was going to be a long one so I pulled the early gig again. I surprised myself and was hiking by 6:15. It's not warm at 6:15 in the morning anymore and I hope I don't need to do that very often in the future. I just looked at the forecast and it looks like it'll be at or below freezing for the next few nights. Thankfully I'll get a slightly later start tomorrow.The day went smoothly except for one minor hiccup: my spork broke. I'm not happy about this. It's Nutella's fault. Or it's the cold weather's fault, I'm not sure. Either way, Nutella is too viscous in these temperatures and either I invest in a rock hammer to get it out of its jar, or I start packing something else - hershey bars maybe.I made the 23 miles to US 522 by 3:20 - cruizin'! I've been told that getting rides in the south is much easier than in the north and if getting in and and out of Front Royal is any indication of that, then what I've been told is true. The second pickup truck that passed pulled over for me. The really exciting part is that once you leave Pennsylvania, there's no law against riding in the back of a pickup... so I jumped into the bed of the truck and we sped off. It's only 3.1 miles, but they were exhilarating! I've never ridden in a flat bed - what a rush. Looking backwards while you're going 45 miles an hour is just not something you do very often. In town I stopped at the Food Lion to pick up 4 days of food. I don't want to carry 4 days worth of food, but resupply in the Shenandoahs is tough and most of the small wayside stops that northbounders can take advantage of are closed this time of year. Four days of food will get me to Waynesboro. After Food Lion I stood between an Italian restaurant and the KFC feeling torn. Normally this is a no brainer, but for some reason chicken sounded good... and I was in a hurry. So KFC it was, and it worked out well since I found an outlet there to charge the phone. Getting a ride back to the trail was as easy as getting a ride from the trail. A few people in Food Lion even asked me if I wanted a ride - I had to turn them down since I hadn't eaten yet. After KFC I just walked over to the road and a fella in an SUV stopped, entirely unprovoked by me, to ask if I wanted a ride to the trail. Dan got me back to the trailhead by 5:15. An hour later I was at the shelter. Twelve hours, 26.5 miles and I still had daylight. Couldn't have worked out better.Today's post was brought to you by flatbeds, because the best way to travel just might be in the back of a pickup truck.
Date: 2012-11-04
From: Tom Floyd Shelter 

To: Pass Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 23.6

(In which I enter the Shenandoahs and hike through my first real snow of the year) -Once again I'm sitting in the shelter after dark-I decided to get up with the sun today because it was a relatively short day. I'm glad I made good time because it was a long, short day.About 1 mile into the day I entered SNP - Shenandoah National Park. There's a self-registration kiosk in the middle of the woods so I filled out my form and tucked it into the hip belt of my pack. It's free to enter the park, but apparently there's a fine if you don't have this self-registration note on you. I'm legal now and strolling through the park.A few miles later I hit snow. Not a dusting either. It wasn't knee deep, but even after others had crushed it down it was still slow going. You get spoiled when you can stride out and your rear foot doesn't slip out from under you. Matt - sorry, I mean Lotus, had sent me a text a few days ago to tell me the snow was 6"-12" deep depending where you were at. There has been considerable melt, but there were still plenty of areas where the snow was 8" deep. I'll have to send Lotus a text thanking him for packing the show down for me. The snow was only a problem for about 3 or 4 miles today. The rest of the time the trail was wonderfully smooth - a great change of pace from PA.The real exciting event today (besides the bear print in the snow) was that Elkwallow Wayside was open when I though it would be closed. It's their last day open. I got a cliff bar and a coffee and I sat in the sun for a glorious 30 minute break. Tomorrow will be another long one, so I'll pull another early start. I'm cold just thinking about it... well, really I'm just cold sitting here. Into the sleeping bag!Today's post was brought to you by bear prints in the snow, because a bear print in the snow means a bear was there (very exciting), but that it is no longer there (very relieving).
Date: 2012-11-05
From: Pass Mountain Shelter 

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut 
Miles today: 26.8
Weather: clear sky

(In which the cold really sets in and I meet 4 more southbounders) -Currently sitting in the shelter after dark-This morning was COLD. I still managed an early rise, but I spent a whole lot of time shivering which slowed me down. Once you get moving you warm up fast. This was the dilemma of the day - temperature control. It was the hardest day to stay comfortably warm without sweating. I had to stop every 15 minutes to peel off one piece of clothing or add on another. At one point my left ear was annoyingly hot and exposed to full sunlight while my right ear was so cold from wind coming over the ridge I could barely feel it. All in all it didn't slow me down too much.Most of today was a winter wonderland, pretty but slippery. There were only a few miles where there wasn't considerable snow cover. A northbounder is here tonight (Flash) finishing a section he missed earlier this year and tells me it's only snowy for another 8 miles or so. Relief is in sight!Today was also a busy day to meet southbounders. I met Piper, Hacksaw, Scooter and Glacier. It's the most southbounders I've ever met in a day. Piper is the only one who seems to go about my pace (really she hikes faster), but she seems to take zeros every week. With all the exchange of information that went on today I learned that Lotus is only about 30 miles ahead and plans to zero in Waynesboro. I just might catch him.My hands are cold, so this post is done...Today's post is brought to you by sunny days while walking through the snow, because they could be rainy days walking through the snow.
Date: 2012-11-06
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut 

To: Pinefield Hut 
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I take a leasurely 20 mile day and have a rare fire) -Currently sitting in front of a great fire at the shelter-This morning was a little rough. Plenty of snow still and nothing came easily. My clothes, with all the layers on, bunched up and the pack didn't sit right (my ad-hock frame broke again this morning). I couldn't seem to get water when I needed it and I was always too hot or too cold. Of course, after a few hours my mood came around and I decided that it was a great day despite the little glitches - the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was a planned 20 mile day so even with the slow morning I made it to the shelter by 4:30. This gave me time to fix the pack frame, have a cup of tea, make an outstanding fire (if I do say so myself) and eat dinner all before 7. Piper pulled the same mileage today but met up with a friend mid-day to hike High Top. She rolled in about an hour after me and we've been scheming about resupply plans for Waynesboro. She's low on food so she needs to pull a long day tomorrow to get there faster. I have extra food though, and a strategic half-day tomorrow (about 13 miles) means I can stay overnight in Waynesboro (tent at the YMCA) and ultimately loose only 5 miles over the next 3 days. That all assumes that I make use of the shelters. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but a well-planned short day on a rainy-day forecast that gives me the chance to hit the chinese buffet in the afternoon in Waynesboro and the pancake buffet in the morning is really tempting...Today's post is brought to you by cold, grumpy mornings, because everybody has them - even when you walk in the woods.
Date: 2012-11-07
From: Pinefield Hut 

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I pull a long day instead of a short one, see an 8-point buck and hear some great election news.) -Currently sitting in the shelter after dark-This morning I sat up and immediately dreaded a short day. It would have been a good day to pull one, but sitting for half the day in a shelter thinking about how I could be hiking sounded painful. There's a pull to the trail that's difficult to explain - the body might groan at the prospect of a 26 mile day, but the mind would have none of a 13 mile day. With that thought, I got going at 7:45 am with plans to go long. I realized that a long day would give me lots of time in town and I could still make the shelter 5 miles south of town - or even camp in front of the YMCA like I was scheaming about yesterday. Whatever the case, I'm happy to be 8 miles from Waynesboro. Tonight I'll be dreaming about the AYCE pancake challenge and the wonderful Chinese buffet. In the middle of the day, just after lunch, I looked up in mid-stride (you can do this far more often with the smooth trails of VA) and was startled by an 8-point buck about 20 feet in front of me in the middle of the trail. He was staring right at me. Neither of us moved for a few seconds so I clicked my hiking poles together - this always seems to spook the others, but it did nothing in this case. Since he was just standing there I decided I'd try to get a picture (phone was off). By the time the phone booted up though, the buck got bored of me and slowly strolled away into the woods. In the moment I was less excited than I was thinking about the ensuing series of events. My first reaction was to count points... weird because I don't even hunt. Then I decided I should try to spook it - or least see if I could spook it. I've seen some YouTube videos of "when bucks attack!" and thought I should find out this guys intentions. In the end it occured to me to go for the camera... No buck picture, so I'll leave you with a nice-view picture.A few minutes after my buck encounter, Piper caught up with me and told me she had chatted with some day hikers who had great news... Obama is the projected winner of the election. This made me incredibly happy and when my phone finally got a few bars of service I got texts confirming. I felt like I skipped the rest of the way to the shelter. I'm not an overly political person, but spending a few years in Madison, WI will pull anybody into politics. I spent most of the day feeling very happy with my fellow Americans. On a side note, I applied for an absentee ballot (well really Kelly filled out the paperwork for me) and it never showed up. No worries though, I'm told WI went blue without me...Today's post is brought to you by deer without fear, because walking into Bambi's dad makes the day more interesting.
Date: 2012-11-09
From: Paul C. Wolf Shelter 

To: Harpers Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

(In which I get an introduction to Virginia style switchbacks) -Currently sitting at the picnic table at the shelter just after sundown-This morning I got up slow because a 22 mile day seems routine enough that I don't need to rush. The only real memorable parts of the day were an hour long break after my first climb to make use of cell phone coverage, and switchbacks... a whole lot of em'. The day began and ended with considerable climbs and both were a study in switchback design. I'm not complaining at all, but I'm guessing that 2/3 of the 500 or 600 miles of the AT in Virginia are probably tied up in switchbacks. They're great when you have a heavy load, but the 3.5 mile decent to the shelter today would have taken 1/3 the time in Maine. The AT is a patchwork of trail designs and I think that's most obvious where switchbacks are involved. In Maine and New Hampshire the trail blazers obviously didn't believe in switchbacks - painful. In Vermont, Mass, Conn and New York you don't really need them. In Pennsylvania you don't even change elevation so no need for them there. In Virginia you can spend half the day coming down a 3,000 ft mountin with all these trail-ramps. The only other notable trail feature today was the presence of lot of rhododendron groves. They're really taking over now and I'm looking forward to more of them - a good lookin' plant.Today's post was brought to you by switchbacks, because this isn't Maine, and we'd rather not forge straight up the mountain.
Date: 2012-11-10
From: Harpers Creek Shelter 

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 30.0
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I recount last night's bear encounter and pull a true 30 mile day) -Currently sitting at the shelter picnic table after dark-Last night got interesting after I finished my journal entry. I cooked dinner, got my sleeping gear set up and was about to lie down when I saw a headlamp in the distance. Piper rolled into the shelter a few minutes later having night-hiked the last few miles. Amost immediately she started to cook and we chatted about how bad that last descent was for night hiking (very rocky). It was about this time when we heard what sounded like a hiker striding up to the shelter slowly. It came from behind the shelter and to the right as you look out of it. Both of our headlamps looked up at the same time to illuminate a massive black bear. It positioned itself between the picnic table and the shelter - which made it all of about 10 feet away from us. This is roughly how things progressed over the next 15 seconds:Piper: "Uh, is that a bear?"Reese: "...THATS a bear."The next 1.5 seconds involved bear and humans staring dumbly at one another. After our 1.5 second bear moment, Piper and I realized simultaneously what we should probably do, and we both started yelling. I went with the tex-style "Git-bear!" and she used a more professional sounding "keep it wild bear!" I hate lound noises and so does this bear because it took off like a bat outta hell. It went about 30 yards before stopping and hugging the nearest tree. Meanwhile I jumped out of the shelter, picked up a rock and hurled it in the bear's general direction. When it landed in the creek a few feet away from the bear the big fella spooked again and took off into the night. And that was it. That's the story of my first thru-hike bear encounter. I've hiked up behind other bear and this one is definitely the biggest. It was probably 75% of the length of the picnic table and just about as wide. Big bear, big coward...After very good sleep (better than you might expect with a late-night bear appearance) I got up early and tentaively planned to hike 30 miles. The most difficult part of the day was climbing The Priest in the morning - a 2 hour job. On the way up I crossed Cripple Creek. Though there are many Cripple Creeks on the trail, being "up on" this one made me sad that I don't have The Band on my mp3 player. Carrie, that's all you - I could use that new-music mail drop. The rest of the day was a relatively easy set of ups and downs and I only had to night hike for about 40 minutes to make it to the shelter. A productive day.Today's post was brought to you by big, healthy bears, becuase it's much better to have big, healthy bears in camp than big, scrawny, starving bears in camp...
Date: 2012-11-11
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter 

To: Glasgow Hiker's Shelter 
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

(In which I feel yesterday's 30 mile day and decide to stay at the shelter in Glasgow) -Currently sitting at the picnic table in front of the shelter after dark-The morning came too soon today. I felt the 30 miles as soon as I woke. My feet were sore and the legs didn't loosen up until I was 5 miles into the day. The climb up Rice Mountain felt like I was climbing Mt. Avery again. At the top I stopped for a second breakfast and I heated water for coffee. As the day wore on I felt better and I made it to the road crossing by 3:30. Dante, one of the two southbounders I met a few days ago (Dogger is the other) hiked with me off and on all day and I convinced him that getting to Glasgow would be easy. So rather than hike another 2 miles to the shelter, we got a ride from a fella at the trail head who was pulling his canoe in from the James River. One of the appealing parts of Glasgow is that there's a shelter in the town. The thing is, it's a relatively unknown shelter - so much so that AWOL's guide doesn't even have it listed by name. My plan was to visit the shelter in town and decide at that point whether to make use of it or find a ride back to the trail. It turns out that this in-town shelter (across the street from the grocery store) is an official AT shelter - at least according to the new article pasted into the shelter register. It has an outhouse in the form of a porta potty and a shower with a propane heater. Fantastic! Dante and I decided to stay and what a great decision it is. There are about 7 of us here tonight including a woman who is long-distance cycling (started in North Carolina). We've been reminiscing about great trail magic and telling stories about bear encounters around an amazing fire (town supplied fire wood). The best part of all of this... there's a grocery store and a convenience store 100 yards away.I called my buddy Kevin in Blacksburg today and we're planning to meet up Thurday to visit Homeplace (AYCE glory) in Catawba Valley and he'll overnight with me at John Spring Shelter. I feel like the next 150 miles are home base and I'm excited about it. Homeplace here I come!Today's post was brought to you by Glasgow, because this tiny town makes a mighty bid for friendliest trail town...
Date: 2012-11-13
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter 

To: Wilson Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 25.7
Weather: clear sky

(In which I set myself up for a short day into Daleville and convince Dante to split the hotel room with me) -Currently sitting in the shelter after dark-Today felt routine. Dante and I leapfrogged most of the day and at any one time weren't more than 10 minutes apart. On breaks we talked about Daleville and I told him that he's welcome to split the hotel room with me. Since we're roughly on the same schedule, and he has been pulling some long days, he jumped at the chance. I think that made the day better for the both of us. We made it to the shelter at about 5:15. The only other memorable thing about the today was that I realized my knees could use a break. I think I've done roughly 200 miles in 8 or 9 days and my knees felt it today. It wasn't pain, but in the last 3 hours of hiking, they were getting sore. I'm sure I've done somewhere near the same mileage while I was in Pennsylvania, but there's a world of difference between 200 miles of hiking in Pennsylvania and 200 miles of hiking in VIrginia. Tomorrow will be a glorious half-day that I'll use to contact friends and family, make full use of my bounce box and resupply. Good timing for sore knees. Leaving from Daleville early Thursday morning sets me up for a series of 20 mile days in shelters for at least 4 days. A good plan!Today's post was brought to you by 25-mile days that seem routine, because only in Virginia can you roll through 25 miles and not have much to say about it...
Date: 2012-11-14
From: Wilson Creek Shelter 

To: Daleville, VA 
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

(In which I regroup in Daleville and see my plan for Homeplace become a group affair) -Currently sitting in the hotel room watching a news conference from President Obama-This morning I awoke to a familiar voice that was in a conversation with Dante. While lying there I realized it was Piper's voice. I was a little confused at first, because Piper wasn't around when we all went to sleep. It turns out that she rolled into the shelter at 10:30 last night after night hiking for 5 hours. She was originally planning to meet a friend in Daleville on Tuesday, but had to push the meeting back until this morning. In order to meet the deadline though, she had to haul. She pulled 37 miles yesterday! On top of that, she was awake before me. Must be a hell of a good friend she's meeting up with. Only hiking ten miles in a day would bother me if I didn't need the break time. Good thing I need the break time. The hike today was short and sweet and as I approached Daleville it reminded me of short backpacking trips from the past. I loaded up bluegrass on the mp3 player and strolled into town in the sunshine under blue skies.After picking up my mail at the front desk I headed straight to Bella Pizza where there's a lunch buffet. I left the joint thinking I'd never have to eat again. Back at the hotel I bumped into a familiar face. Dogger met up with his wife and coincidentally they have the room next door to Dante and me. I met Dogger's wife and she unloaded bags and bags of cookies on us. Apparently she wanted to do some trail magic, but we're the only southbounders around. Despite the pizza buffet, I'm more than happy to be the cookie beneficiary. The rest of the day was a familiar resupply routine with stops at the coffee shop, UPS Store and Kroger. The hotel has laundry machines so I got to that task finally - its been a while. Tonight I made some calls to friends and family and now, at 9:40 pm, I can barely keep my eyes open. I think I'll be fast asleep while Dante revels in a Harry Potter marathon all night on abc Family. He tells me Harry Potter is his generation's series... you can guess his age pretty accurately from that.Today's post is brought to you by good friends. The kind worth hiking 37 miles a day for.
Date: 2012-11-15
From: Daleville, VA 

To: Campsite 0.4 south of VA311 
Miles today: 20.2

(In which I meet up with kevin and a group of us go to Homeplace)This morning I got up at 6 to take full advantage of the continental breakfast. Even with the 6 am wake up call I still didn't manage to get hiking until 8:30. I had to meet Kevin at 4 pm so the late departure meant quick hiking on the day. I rolled passed Tinker Cliffs, passed Piper and her friend having lunch, hiked quickly accross the ridge to McAfee's Knob and immediately asked the first day-hiker I saw up there if she could take my picture. I had to get the classic legs-over-the-edge shot... it came out perfect. In the roughly dozen times I've climbed McAfee's in the past, I've never hung my legs off the edge like that - it was definitely a rush.I made it to the parking lot at 4:02 pm and Kevin's car rolled up at 4:03. I'm getting good at this! Dogger and his wife had planned to meet Dante and me this afternoon for the Homeplace visit and they were already waiting in the lot when I showed up. We waited about 30 minutes and Dante walked out of the woods. The five of us rode down to the Homeplace and ate to oblivion. It's AYCE, but it's home cooking and they bring the food to you. We got there early and by the time we left, the parking lot was full to the brim and there was standing room only in the waiting room. Most everyone had some Virginia Tech clothing on which made me incredibly happy.After dinner we decided that rather than hike back north a mile to the shelter, we'd hike 0.4 miles south to a campsite. After a short walk, we sat around a great little fire drinking beers and telling stories. It's good to see good friends and it's even better after a full stomach. A great day.Today's post was brought to you by Kevin, becuase he's definitely worth a 37 mile day, but thankfully I only needed to hike 20...