morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-20
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Lewis Mountain Campground
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: moderate rain

Day 87: So we all woke up this morning to a downpour and worse yet, they changed the forecast to rain all day today and rain tomorrow and the following day! They have been promising sun for four days now and everyday we wake up and the forecast has magically changed back to rain. It has rained the past 15 days in a row!!We planned to do another 20 mile day but we couldn't bare to leave the shelter until 11AM! Moonshadow decided to only do 8 miles to the next shelter but we knew we needed to do more than that to stay on schedule. The problem was that my tent is completely worthless in the rain now because its not seam sealed anymore so we pretty much had to either go 8 mi. to the first shelter or 20 miles to the second shelter. We decided to do the 20 but with a change of scenery. We walked the Skyline Drive instead! I'm so glad we did because it was beautiful, much better than the AT and the same walking distance. There are views all along the drive but on the AT you are just in the woods and you miss all of the good vistas and viewpoints. The sun actually peeked out for a few hours so we really got some beautiful scenery. We were still walking the same distance but we could cover ground much faster on the road. We made it to Lewis Mountain Campground soaking wet and Carolina Cruiser (he's filming the AT documentary) reserved a site for us. I'm staying in Pipes' tent tonight which is a tight squeeze but its great for staying warm. Its only in the 40's right now and its the middle of June! What is with this weather?????
Date: 2003-06-21
From: Lewis Mountain Campground

To: Budget Inn, Luray, VA
Miles today: 16.0

Day 88: So, this is the first day of summer huh? Yeah, it was in the 30's last night and it was rainy and in the 40's during the day. It was windy and nasty and freezing and the weather gods are apparently trying to thwart our every effort to get to Katahdin. I basically just tried to zone out and forget the misery of walking in the terrible weather. None of us have our winter gear so that didn't help the situation.O.K., so we actually did get a couple of awesome views of the valley. It was dark where we were and the valley was sunny part of the day, so it made for some really great vistas. Also, the best part of he day ¢ we saw Mr. Magoo!! We hadn't seen him in forever and he just happened to be driving down Skyline Drive with his wife when we were on the road. He stopped and it turns out he made it all the way to Pennsylvania!!! He was doing huge miles and got way ahead of us. It was so great to see him again and we were all so happy he made it all the way past Harpers Ferry. We¢ll miss you Magoo!We are also the lucky recipients of such trail magic courtesy of the Budget Inn in Luray, VA. They came to pick us up at Skyland and take us to the motel for the night! We needed to get out of the rain, there were no shelters close enough to hike to today past Skyland and I can't use my tent again in the rain until I seam seal it. Our tents are all soaked and growing mildew because we can never dry them. At least this way we can get somewhat dry before heading back out in the rain again tomorrow morning.Note from transcriber: I've posted all the pictures that Windtalker has sent me to date, so make sure and check them out.
Date: 2003-06-22
From: Budget Inn, Luray, VA

To: Stealth Campsite near The Pinnacle
Miles today: 5.1

Day 89: Sunshine for the first time in almost a month!!! The AT has a way of bringing you to the most unexpected places. Last night we went to Luray, VA to get out of the 40 degree rainy weather. This morning we decided to go to the Luray Caverns because they were only a ten minute walk from our motel. We were planning to be picked up right after the tour around 11am or noon and still put in some good mileage but Bobby Jenkins (the only person who would shuttle us back) couldn't come get us until 4PM. We basically just hung out near the caverns because there was live music outside the entrance. We ate a huge breakfast, almost making ourselves sick, and then later we had ice cream at the "Tastee Freez" and then ice cream again later at the caverns! We finally got back on the trail around 5:30pm but it was all worth it to go see something I may never have otherwise seen. The trail was beautiful today! We spent a lot of time at the Little Stony Man Cliffs because the view of the valley was amazing.We are ¢sorta¢ breaking the park rules right now with our stealth site because we are a little too close to the trail and also pretty close to Skyline Drive. The trail is constantly running really close to the road though so it is hard to find a place that is actually far enough away.We just saw an amazing sunset because we are on this great rocky ridge. I'm thinking to myself, wow - what if we actually had normal weather for this whole trip, we could enjoy ourselves like this all the time! We would probably see beautiful sunsets often. Instead, there have been many foggy, cloudy, rainy nights on ridges where we might have seen amazing views. Today reminded me why I am out here. Now if I can only be reminded more than once every two months it will be much easier to stay out here!
Date: 2003-06-23
From: Stealth Campsite near The Pinnacle

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 90: Another day of sunshine so I'm happy. Somehow though, they managed to change the forecast from "It looks like summer may finally be here, we will have sunny skies until the weekend" to "Thunderstorms tomorrow evening and continuing through the weekend" I guess two days of sun is our monthly allowance because that is all we seem to get each month!Long day today, but we stopped and had a great time at the Panorama and at the Elkwallow Wayside. A big group of us were hanging out eating at the Wayside and a Park Ranger came up and actually checked our permits. He thru-hiked several years ago so he knew a lot of the trail. He was really a great ranger and explained a little about the permit system and a few other things about the park.I'm exhausted so I'm going to try and get some sleep. I hardly have time to fit in Journaling anymore because we usually don't get into camp until just before dark and we are usually so tired we eat, hang out bear bags, and go to sleep. We've also been waking up early, around 6AM because the sun is out even before then so it is becoming hard to fit in enough hours of sleep each night.
Date: 2003-06-24
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 91: 19 miles, resupply, trail magic, and I saw my first bear! Today was hot and exhausting but full of adventure. We finished Shenandoah National Park, so its on to Harpers Ferry now!
Date: 2003-06-25
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 92: I've never been so exhausted in my entire life. It was about 95 degrees today and an "red ozone alert" according to the radio stations I was listening to. They said to stay inside if possible due to high humidity, heat and ozone. I laughed as I was backpacking 19 miles with a heavy pack. I thought I actually had heat stroke at one point because I almost passed out. I have to force myself to eat because even thinking about eating or drinking in this heat is nauseating. I drank 8 liters of water today and I know I'm still not totally hydrated. It is supposed to be 99 degrees with a hundred percent humidity tomorrow and we are going over "the roller coaster", a 13 mile section of trail with 10 full ascents and descents. Carolina Crusier is here to film hikers suffering over the roller coaster tomorrow for his documentary. I'm sure I'll be a good example of someone nearly dying!
Date: 2003-06-27
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: Hilltop House Hotel, Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Day 94: So I survived the roller coaster yesterday but just barely! I was so tired when I got the AT Blackburn Center I couldn't even really talk I just stumbled in and put my head down. I was seriously almost delerious and I definitely didn't have the energy to write in my journal. It wasn't really that the roller coaster was even all that bad, we've definitely had tougher days but the heat and humidity were intense and I've hardly gotten any sleep in the past few days.We stopped in at the Bears Den Hostel which was like an oasis! We spent the hottest hours of the afternoon there taking a little break inside from the heat but we still had 11 more miles to hike after we left. We hiked to the AT Blackburn Center and it was amazing. When we got there the caretakers had cooked us a huge spaghetti dinner and it was waiting on the table! I stayed in the little bunkhouse and some people stayed on the porch. It was a great place but I didn't get any sleep at all because the no-see-ums were awful! I was eaten alive all night and I finally couldn't take it anymore around 5AM so I just woke up and started packing. This was the third night in a row that I didn't get more than a few hours of sleep and it totally caught up with me today. I just wanted to get into town as quick as I could to finally rest but after the first few miles I started to get so tired I was tripping over rocks every few steps.Today I crossed the 1000 mile mark and that was really cool. T-bird, Hot Rod, Orbit and Retro were waiting there when I crossed and they cheered me on as I stepped over the '1000' written in acorns on the trail. Then we all took a short break and Orbit and Retro re-made the 1000 marker out of stones to make it clearer. We all took pictures and then started to move on. It was funny because a little ways down the trail someone had written 1000.1 in stones! A few miles after 1000 I really started to get extremely tired so I laid down to rest for an hour or so on the side of the trail. Usually I practically run into towns, especially if its only 12 miles because I can usually get there before noon. This time I was just so exhausted I needed to take it slow. After my nap I stumbled the rest of the way in and crossed the Shenandoah river and hiked up to the Appalachian Trail Conference Headquarters in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.I still can't believe I've made it this far! I got my picture taken on the steps of the ATC (its a tradition and they keep albums and records of all hikers who pass through) and I was hiker number 500 to pass through Harpers Ferry this year. I tried to check into my hotel to take a nap but they wouldn't let me check in until after 4PM! I was stuck lugging around my backpack until then and I had to go the post office to pick up my packages too. I finally got into my room around 4 only to find out there is no tv in this cheap 'hiker rate' room. Harpers Ferry is a beautiful historic town and I'm looking forward to exploring it a little more tomorrow on my much needed zero day.
Date: 2003-06-28
From: Hilltop House Hotel, Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Hilltop House Hotel, Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 95: Today was a great zero day, we had dinner at the Anvil Restaurant courtesy of my friend Tom (thank you so much Tom!!!!) It was awesome to sit in a nice restaurant and just relax after a tiring few weeks on the trail. I finally got to meet Bethany, Pipes' friend who will be joining our hike starting tommorow. Two Dog, Moxy, Crazy Talk, and I went tubing down the Potomac in the afternoon. The company was called "Butts Tubes", 'Don't put your butt anywhere else' was their slogan! It was tons of fun!    O.k, so I also have some big news, I found out last night that I recieved my Peace Corps assignment. It is for Environmental and Water Resources Management and Education in Fiji!! I can't beleive how awesome the assignment is, Fiji!! I'm very excited but there is one catch... I leave for Fiji on September 18th so I won't have time to make it to Katahdin!! I'm so sadthat I won't stand on top of Katahdin this year with all of my great friends, but this is an opportunity I absolutely cannot pass up. It is very bittersweet, but I know I'm making the right decisio. I will finish the second half of the trail another year, and I won't get another chance to do the Peace Corps in Fiji if I pass this up. I am going to continue hiking until July 7th and then I need to fly home to begin making arrangemnts for my visa, passport, and other peace corps paperwork. I'm so excited!!!!!!!
Date: 2003-06-29
From: Hilltop House Hotel, Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Inn 230 Hostel, Knoxville, MD
Miles today: 3.5

Day 96: Today we crossed into Maryland when we walked over the Potomac River. I spent the morning and most of the afternoon finishing up some town chores and hanging out downtown at the outfitters and ice cream parlor. Superman?, Torch, and Viking caught back up with us and they aren't taking a zero in Harpers Ferry so they will be hiking with us again! I'm really excited that most of the group will be together for my last week or so on the trail. I only walked a few miles to the hostel today becuase I need to be near a phone to call the Peace Corps during business hours tommorrow morning and then I'll need to get to a computer to arrange for a flight home if possible. I just need to call and make sure it is ok that I don't get back and start the paperwork until the 7th because there are several things you need to do within two weeks of recieving your invitation. Tonight I met Tipparary, a Catholic priest from Ireland who is on sobatical and currently hiking the AT. He was a really neat guy, I guess Superman? and Torch have been hiking with him forthe past few days.
Date: 2003-06-30
From: Inn 230 Hostel, Knoxville, MD

To: Dahlgren Backpack Campground
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 97: Today I was so lucky becuase the Inn 230 was kind enough to drive me to nearby Brunswick, MD to use the phone and go to a nearby library to arrange my flight. I got a flight and also spoke to my friend Greg, who is flying out from California to hike with me from July 3rd to the 7th. Talk about logistics!! I still need to set up a shuttle to take Greg and I back to his rental car from wherever we end up stopping on the 7th. Too many phone calls, too little time! I guess this is my welcome back to the real world! Moxy, Crazy Talk and I hiked 15 miles to catch up with Pipes, Bethany, and Two Dog, who left yesterday. We are officially calling this week, "Smiles not Miles" week and we are all doing small mileage and taking every possible opportunity for fun. We are going to swim at every lake and go to every campstore for ice cream and sodas. We really pushed it for a few weeks before Harpers Ferry and we need to rest. Besides, its perfect timing becuase Bethany needs to start out slow and I'm about to leave so we all want to have fun during my last few days on the trail. We had a fire for the first time in a long time tonight and thats one thing I know I will miss. I love the smell of campfires!
Date: 2003-07-01
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Pogo Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 98: Today was day 2 in the "Smiles not Miles" week! It was awesome, we hung out at the orignial Washington Memorial and then went to Greenbrier State Park to swim. We had sodas, ice cream and hot dogs too! It was extremely hot so I was really tired despite our low mileage. I also got really sunburned on my back so putting on my pack for the last 3 miles wasn't much fun.       I made a really nice campfire (on my first try!!) to smoke out the bugs at our campsite. We all sat around the campfire and had a great time talking, we even went around the circle and told a story! I recorded each person telling alittle about themselves on my MP3 player so I can use the audio clip in a slide show later. Sitting around the campfire is the absolute best part about the AT!
Date: 2003-07-02
From: Pogo Memorial Campsite

To: Stealth site near High Rock
Miles today: 11.2

Day 99: Another great day with plenty of smiles! This morning we hitched in to Smithsburg, MD to eat at the Dixie Eatery and reupply. The hitch in was really easy, we got a ride on our first try. The hitch out was another story... it took forever!!! We tried for over a half an hour and even tried asking people at the nearby shopping plaza. I've never had to hitch for longer than 15 minutes before so it seemed like forever. Plus it was raining so that didn't help! The Dixie Eatery was awesome and really cheap. I had a huge sundae and a great meal. Somehow we managed to spend from noon until 5pm in town (imagine that!) so we didn't actually start hiking again until around 6pm. We planned to get to Pen-Mar park tonight and camp neat the Mason Dixon line (which is also the Maryland Pennsylvania border) but we didn't quite make it that far. INstead, we made it to this side trail to "High Rock", which turned out to have an amazing view and beautiful sunset. It was drizzling and a little cloudy but that seemed to make the sunset a little better. We found a place a little ways back into the woods on the AT to camp and set up our tents in light rain. The only downside to this site is that there are no go bear bagging branches! My first limb broke under the weight of only one food bag and it took me over a half an hour to find another branch that was halfway decent. Everyone else gave up and is sleeping with their food in their tents but I finally rigged something up after about an hour. Tonight I will find out if my seam sealing job helped with my leaking tent problem. If not, I'marmed with my packtowel...
Date: 2003-07-03
From: Stealth site near High Rock

To: Stealth site on Chimney Rocks
Miles today: 12.7

Day 100: Tonight we had an amazing campfire and Crazy Talk surprised us with marshmallows he packed in! The Chimney Rocks were great so most of us cooked out on the rocks. I met Bearable this morning at Pen-Mar park and I hiked across the Mason-Dixon line (also the Maryland-Pennsylvania border) with Moxy, Crazy Talk and Bearable. We all hitched into Waynesboro, PA to pick up Greg and then we ate at the Golden Corral all you can eat for lunch (against our better judgement since we knew we still had to put in miles after we ate!) The hike up to Chimney Rocks was steep but it was all worth it when we got to see the beautiful views!
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Kristen and Geoff's House, Gettysburg, PA

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 102: Wow, the AT has definately restored my faith in humanity! YEsterday we planned to hitch into Gettysburg to see what was going on for the 4th of July. When we got to the road, we heard that there was a free BBQ for thru-hikers about 0.4 miles ahead at Caledonia State Park so we headed there first. The BBQ was awesome, I had pepsi, pasta salad, hamburgers, oreos, and cookies! There was a beautiful creek nearby so I also took a quick swim.    We decided to still try and hitch to town so we broke up into two groups and hit the road. We split up becuase its really hard to get a ride with 7 people because no single car would have enough room. Pipes, Bethany, and BEarable got a ride first and it took us about 15 more mintues. We planned to meet at the Post Office, but they weren'T there when we arrived so we just headed down to the main square to check out the town. As it turns out, there is no hostel in Gettysburg like the handbook says and every hotel and campground in the area was booked. We had nowhere to stay!! It was a 15 mile hitch back so we were pretty much stuck there if we wanted to actually see anything and hitching at night is way too dangerous. We were trying to figure out what to do when we saw Pipes, Bethany, and Bearable in the window fo the Blue Parrot (a restaurant/bar). We went in and decided to have a few drinks while and talk over our dilema. After abour 15 minutes of talking to the bartender, he offered us a vacant apartment that he happened to own right upstairs in downtown Gettysburg! He said he just had to double check with his wife and that we should check back a little later. Before we left another lady at the bar actually offered to let us camp in her backyard, but she lived a few miles away so that would be a little hard. We had two places to stay before the even left the bar. Then, as we were walking down the street two people on the porch of one of the houses said hello and wanted to hear about our hike. By the time we were finished talking, they offered to let us stay in their house and take showers and everything! They were about our age so we decided to take them up on their offer and we ended up having an awesome time! They showed us around town and we stayed the night and made some great friends. I'm constantly surprised by the friendliness of strangers out here! We didn't get back on the trail until about noon today and we stopped back in at Caledonia State Park to hang out and swim a little bit. The walk to the shelter today was nice and the shelter is brand new! It has bunks and everything so I'm going to sleep in it tonight since it is my last shelter on the trip (snif snif!)
Date: 2003-07-06
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Iron Masters Mansion Hostel
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 103: What an amazing last day on the AT! I was totally surprised when all of my trail friends made it here today to hang out on my last day. Moo and 42 and Iron Chef hiked big mileage to catch up and we all stayed at the Iron Masters Mansion. Pipes talked to the guy in charge of the Hostel and he let us all stay for $10 (instead of the usual $17) if we all put in a half hour of work in the morning. It was raining so it was a nice place to hang out without getting soaked.         I decided to go for the half gallon challenge and I did it! 58 minutes of torture, but I represented for the women=) I would NOT recommend the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, but there was a serious shortage of flavor choices so I had to make the best of it!          We all had great time hanging out at the hostel and I got a big group shot of everyone together on my last night.
Date: 2003-07-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The trail is a strange place. There were times when I wanted nothing more than to get off but now that I have, the trail has become a magical place that I can't wait to get back to! I stumbled upon Radar's (GA->ME 2002) videos at his AT website and the Katahdin video actually brought me to tears. I think I really underestimated how badly I want be there. I've decided that my favorite thing about the trail was the fact that when it was freezing cold, raining, and windy (most of the time, come to think of it=))it was incredibly uncomfortable, but at the same time I felt so incredibly alive. I can remember walking down Skyline Drive in the Shenandoahs and feeling the cold rain and wind on my face, and the burning nip of the cold raindrops against the skin on my legs. For some strange reason it was so miserable but so invigorating at the same time. I've become completely addicted to that feeling now. So many people sit at home or in a cubicle and they are so comfortable all the time. It seems like a good thing, but its almost like you don't feel anything, good or bad. When you are on the trail you are alive. The feelings may not always be the most comfortable, but they are real and I'm so glad I got to spend so much time feeling every drop of rain and sweat, and every brush of the wind. I can't wait to get out there again when I return and finish what I've started!For now, I'm excited about my next adventure and I've started a website so I can keep my friends and family updated during my Peace Corps service. Please visit my website and say hello, www.angelfire.com/trek/peace2goI promise I will also finish posting the rest of my AT pictures here at my journal soon, so keep an eye out. Thank you so much to everyone in the AT community who helped my the first half of my journey so wonderful!