morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-10-30
From: Waynesboro, VA, Tree Streets Inn

To: Waynesboro, VA, Tree Streets Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Breakfast was a quiche with sausage, fresh fruit and English muffins. We had eaten enough last night at the Asian buffet to take the edge off my hiker hunger.Burn and I renewed the DWR waterproofing in our nylon convertible pants. Then we went to the laundromat to wash his sleeping bag. Then on to the grocery store to re-supply.Sometime in the middle of all of that, we stopped at Colonel Sanders for the AYCE fried chicken buffet. Again, we got more than our money¢s worth!For dinner we went to the Green Leaf Grill again¢had only appetizers and dessert.
Date: 2015-10-31
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Burn and I are in Waynesboro, Virginia, until Monday. We're stuck here waiting for his new Merrell shoes to arrive at the Post Office.The good news is that my wife, Becky, is here until Sunday. She drove up from Maryville, TN, on Thursday. This is the first time that she and I have seen each other since the middle of last June! It's great to have some time together.
Date: 2015-11-01
From: Waynesboro, VA, Tree Streets Inn

To: Waynesboro, VA, Stanimal's 328 Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We got up and enjoyed coffee until 9:00 AM, when we went downstairs and had a great breakfast with the other guests at Tree Streets Inn.My wife, Becky, dropped me off at Stanimal¢s hostel and drove home to Tennessee today. We had a great weekend!Burn decided that he didn¢t want to slack pack today as we had previously planned, so today ended up being another zero day.Three more SOBO¢s arrived at the hostel this afternoon¢Soy Nuts, from Hungary; Naptime, from Peru; and Cheeseburglar, from New York.Burn surprised me by announcing that he was getting off the Trail for a couple of weeks. An hour later his daughter came to the hostel and picked him up. I wish him well!
Date: 2015-11-02
From: Waynesboro, VA, Stanimal's 328 Hostel

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: light rain

I had breakfast and packed up. I got a ride on the shuttle in ¢The Yellow Truck¢ with Soy Nuts, Naptime, and Hamburglar. They stopped off at WalMart to resupply and I went to the trailhead at Rockfish Gap to continue south alone. I¢m still amazed by how quickly things change here on the Trail!Today was a ¢Nero¢. I only hiked 5.1 miles to the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter. I got a late start at 9:30 AM¢that doesn¢t sound too late, but with the time change, it¢s like starting at 10:30 AM last week, as far as available day light is concerned. The next shelter is another sixteen miles. With the time change, I would have arrived there after dark. It now is dark by 5:30 PM.Dean, Travis, and Keith were at the shelter. They are section hikers from eastern North Carolina. They call themselves ¢The Three Amigos¢. They had already collected firewood by the time that I arrived. All that I had to do was light a match!The guys invited me to join them for dinner. Dean was the head chef. It was an awesome dinner!Just before we had dinner Optimistic Dreamer showed up. I hadn¢t seen him since the day before Harpers Ferry!After dark another SOBO thru hiker couple showed up¢Bud Disser and Chris, from the Nashville, Tennessee, area. They set up their tent and joined us by the fire.
Date: 2015-11-03
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

I was up at 5:00 AM (6:00 AM ¢old time¢) and on the Trail by 6:30 AM¢which is about the earliest that there is enough light to see the trail now. Gotta take advantage of the available sunlight¢it¢s dark now at 5:30 PM!Fifteen miles today to Maupin Field. We had to go up and over Humpback Mountain today¢2,000 feet. Then it was fairly level for the rest of the day. It was a good day for backpacking.I had the privilege of seeing something very unusual today. I met a gentleman who was hiking naked. Well, he was wearing a hat and sandals and carrying a long wooden walking stick.When we met on the Trail I said, ¢Nice hat!¢ I mean, what else can you say to a person who is wearing nothing but a hat? Then we talked about what a nice day it was. Then I asked him about upcoming springs/water sources because I was running low on water. Normal things that normal hikers would normally discuss. Then we went our separate ways.It was one of those things that you often hear stories about, but that I had never personally seen in all of my years/miles of hiking!
Date: 2015-11-04
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: The Priest Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

I got up at 5:00 AM and rearranged the logs in the fire ring and the fire sprang back to life. I put my pot on the fire to heat water for coffee.Bud got up and said, ¢Did you hear Optimistic Dreamer leave?¢ I looked in the shelter and sure enough, he was gone! Bud said that he packed up and left at about 2:00 AM. Strange!We fixed breakfast and packed up. We had two hills to climb today¢Three Ridges Mountain and The Priest. We knocked out Tree Ridges and stopped for lunch together at Harpers Creek Shelter. There was Optimistic Dreamer¢sound asleep.Dreamer woke up as we were eating lunch. He said that he couldn¢t sleep, so he started hiking.After lunch we descended to the Tye River and crossed the suspension bridge. Then we climbed 3,000 feet in four miles to the top of The Priest. Fortunately it was good trail.Bud arrived at the Priest Shelter first and had the fire started when I got to the shelter. We fixed dinner, but no Optimistic Dreamer. There is no telling about what he decided to do! Strange¢hiking at night in the dark, and sleeping in the day light!
Date: 2015-11-05
From: The Priest Shelter

To: Three Springs Hostel
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was a very difficult night! It was probably the worst night that I¢ve had on the Trail this year¢I had a very tough decision to make.On September 23rd I tripped on a rock in Pennsylvania and fell. That in itself is not too unusual in the backpacking community. But I sprained my right elbow, and although I didn¢t realize it at the time, got a small hernia. That was about 450 miles and six weeks ago. The elbow hurt like hell the next day, but got better in a few days. There was no pain from the hernia, but when I tripped on another rock and fell a couple of days ago the lump on my lower right groin seemed to get larger¢enough to get my attention. Perhaps God was trying to tell me something!When I was in Waynesboro, VA, last week I had a doctor at a walk in clinic confirm my initial self diagnosis. He informed me that I did in fact have an inguinal hernia, and advised me to monitor the injury closely and have the hernia repaired as soon as possible. Since I had already walked over 400 miles with it, I could continue walking, but it could be serious if it got worse. So it¢s probably time now to get it fixed! But I really don¢t want to get off the Trail. I¢ve worked hard since June 18th to create the illusion with my fellow acquaintances on the Trail that I¢m a competent backpacker. I don¢t want to push my luck too far and have all of them know that I¢m stupid!I decided that the safest course of action would be to get off the Trail for a short while and have hernia surgery and then resume the thru hike as soon as possible.When I finally got to a spot where I had a decent phone signal I called my wife and Alan Ashworth to advise them of my decision and the change in plans. Alan is my ¢boss¢ with the Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry. Fortunately they supported my decision. Once I had made my decision and made it known, the rest of the day was easy. Bud and I had lunch together at the Seeley-Woodworth Shelter. He¢s doing a 20 miler today to the next shelter. I¢m getting off the trail at Hog Pen Gap to go to the Three Springs Hostel.Oma, from the Three Springs Hostel, picked me up at the gap at about 4:00 PM. At the hostel I met Marsh and Songbird. The hostel has a great shower! I did my laundry and Oma prepared an AWESOME dinner.Alan Ashworth is picking me up at the hostel in the morning and driving me to Abingdon, VA, where Short Stop/David Smith will meet us and drive me back to Maryville, TN. Meanwhile my wife, Becky, is arranging appointments with the doctors to get the surgery done ASAP.My hope is that with current laproscopic surgery techniques my time off the Trail won¢t be too long.
Date: 2015-11-19
From: Three Springs Hostel

To: MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Alan Ashworth picked me up at the Three Springs Hostel at about 9:00 AM on Friday, November 6th. He drove me to Abingdon, VA, where we met Short Stop/David Smith at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Then Short Stop drove me home to Maryville, Tennessee.Becky was able to get an appointment for me to see my family doctor on Monday, November 9th. My doctor referred me to a surgeon and I visited him on Wednesday, November 11. Wednesday, November 18th was the earliest date that I could get for surgery. So that cost me an extra week, which I spent working at Little River Trading Company¢mostly talking about backpacking on the AT.Well, I got ¢fixed¢ yesterday! Now I¢m at home making plans to get back on the Trail ASAP. The hernia never caused me any pain¢just an annoying bulge on my lower right abdomen. The surgery to correct the hernia was a different story! I hate taking pills, but I actually finally gave in and took a couple of Hydrocodon pills for the pain. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. I¢m ready to go for a walk this morning.Right now my biggest ¢obstacle¢ is scheduling a follow up visit with the surgeon. My plans for returning to the Trail have been ¢blessed¢ by the Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry, but not yet by the doctor. It seems that we are having a major holiday¢Thanksgiving¢next week. I want to be back on the Trail at Dickey Gap on Monday, November 30th, heading south to Damascus, VA. From there I plan to ¢flip¢ to Springer Mountain, GA, and walk back north to Hog Pen Gap where I got off on November 5th.I¢m certain that this is all part of God¢s ¢Master Plan¢. He is constantly attempting to teach me important lessons in Patience, Humility, Tolerance, Acceptance, Love, and all of those other important virtues where I may be falling short of perfection.My wife, Becky, and I are planning to have Thanksgiving dinner with some of the other thru hikers and Miss Janet in Hot Springs, NC. I¢m excited about seeing the other backpackers again!Please check back here next week and I¢ll try to keep you updated on how this exciting episode in the adventures and mis-adventures of WILDCAT works out!
Date: 2015-11-24
From: MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE

To: MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I went back to see the surgeon today for a follow up visit after my hernia surgery on Wednesday, November 18th. He released me to return to the Trail!My wife and I are planning to have Thanksgiving dinner with the other AT thru hikers and Miss Janet in Hot Springs, NC, this Thursday.On Monday, November 30th, I'll get back on the Trail at Dickey Gap and walk south to Damascus. Then I'll "flip" to Springer Mountain and walk back north to Hog Pen Gap (Buena Vista, VA) where I got off on November 6th.
Date: 2015-12-01
From: DICKEY GAP/VA 16

To: OLD ORCHARD SHELTER
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: moderate rain

I spent last night with my friends, Rest Step/Bob and Joni Marsicano, in Mountain City, Tennessee, so that I would be close to Damascus, Virginia, this morning. Rest Step drove me to Damascus this morning to meet Don Abel, who is backpacking with me this week. We had arranged to meet at Mount Rogers Outfitters, in Damascus, for a shuttle to Dickey Gap.Don Abel is a good friend of mine, who I met in the livestock feed industry where I used to work prior to becoming a backpacker. Don and I hiked with his daughter, Jen, in the Smokies about fifteen years ago. Don has been planning to join me for the hike across the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area for several months. Fortunately, I was able to recover from my hernia surgery quickly enough that I didn¢t have to change his schedule. I did have to skip a few miles in Virginia to make this happen, but I plan to go back and do that section later.Rest Step had been planning to join us for this section of the AT hike, but unfortunately, his wife, Joni, had a kidney stone this past weekend. So later today he is taking her to Johnson City, Tennessee, to see a doctor about the kidney stone.We left Mount Rogers Outfitters/Damascus and drove to Dickey Gap by way of Elk Garden, where Don left his rental car. This way we could leave half of our food and fuel in the car and reduce our pack weight. Also, if the weather turns bad or we have any other problems, we have an ¢early exit¢ plan. We arrived at Dickey Gap at about 10:00 AM and were on the Trail by 10:15.It felt good to be back on the Trail again after my three week ¢medical leave of absence¢! We had good trail leaving Dickey Gap, and stopped at the Hurricane Mountain Shelter for lunch. Then we continued on to the Old Orchard Shelter. We had light rain at times during the afternoon. We would have liked to have made it to the Wise Shelter for the night, but with our late start and the shorter hours of daylight, decided to call it a day at Old Orchard. It was a fairly short day, but probably just right for Don, who just left his desk in the office last week, and me, who just had hernia surgery two weeks ago! I started a fire and got water from the spring. As I was coming back from the spring a SOBO hiker, ¢Fiddlehead¢, arrived at the shelter. Fiddlehead is from Maine, as you may have guessed by his trailname. He¢s 27 years old and tall and thin, and is doing 20 to 30 miles/day. He seemed like a ¢good kid¢! I shared some of my Little Debbie pies with him, and we all had dinner together.Then it started to rain, and rained hard all night long. My wife told me that it rained five inches in Maryville, TN, Sunday through Wednesday morning. At least we were already set up in a shelter before the hard rain began!
Date: 2015-12-02
From: OLD ORCHARD SHELTER

To: THOMAS KNOB SHELTER
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: moderate rain

Don and I had good intentions about getting up early to get started hiking, but it was still raining hard at 6:00 AM, so we just laid in our warm Western Mountaineering down sleeping bags until Fiddlehead got up to prepare his breakfast. Fiddlehead left while it was still raining but we waited until the rain let up about 8:00 AM.We had a little bit of uphill trail, then over to the Scales. While walking down to the Grayson Highlands and Wise Shelter we met the "wild¢ horses (that really aren¢t!). I brought an apple for them, but they weren¢t really in to apples, and we didn¢t ¢molest¢ them, so we didn¢t break any park regulations. But at least Don got to see the ponies.On to Wise Shelter for lunch. The water was up and Don got his boots wet. Then up to Rhodo Gap and ¢Fat Man¢s Squeeze¢. Don slipped on a wet rock and hurt his shin. We finally arrived at the Thomas Knob Shelter as the darkness was setting in. No campfires are allowed here, so I just got water from the spring. Don and I had the whole shelter to ourselves, but we stayed downstairs because it was more trouble than it was worth to carry everything upstairs to the sleeping loft area. Don went down to admire the ADA compliant privy.It rained some more during the night, but we were out of the wind and dry in the shelter.
Date: 2015-12-03
From: THOMAS KNOB SHELTER

To: ELK GARDEN
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Don said, ¢Let¢s stay in our sleeping bags until the sun comes up.¢I said, ¢Okay!¢ I pretty much knew that meant that we were getting off the Trail at his car at Elk Garden. Only four miles, so we had plenty of time. Someone had told Don that it was ¢pretty steep¢ going down off Whitetop Mountain. His knees were sore, and I had to confess that it was steeper than anything that we had done so far this week. So we decided to get off a couple of days before Damascus.We got up when the sun came up. 15 degrees¢chilly! I sat up in my sleeping bag and lit my stove to melt the ice in my cook pot so that I could make coffee. Don¢s boots were frozen solid¢I had slept with mine in the foot of my sleeping bag. Don thawed his boots and the shoe laces over his stove. We don¢t really recommend this, but he got lucky and it actually worked! I was afraid that he would have to walk down to the car with no shoe laces. The privy was pretty chilly when I had to answer the call of nature!After breakfast we packed up (slowly!). I thawed my fingers twice over the flames of his stove before I got everything packed up. Once we got moving it was okay. Cold and windy, but once his boots thawed out we did all right.The clouds were breaking up and the sun was trying to shine. I was glad that Don finally got to see a little bit of the Mount Rogers/Grayson Highlands area. As we got lower the temperature got warmer¢and the car was still where we left it. That¢s always a good sign. And he still had the car keys! The Grayson County Sheriffs Department had left a card on the window of the car. They were concerned and wanted to be sure that we made it out safely!Don¢s flight out isn¢t until Saturday afternoon, so he offered to drive me home to Maryville. In exchange I suggested that he stay with us at the WILDCAT Hiker Hostel for a couple of nights. It¢s amazing how things have a way of working out on the Trail!
Date: 2015-12-07
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

We got up and had breakfast at the Amicalola Falls Lodge. We drove down from Tennessee yesterday with Alan Ashworth (& wife), Anna Gaultney, and Bob Hayes. All are members of the Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry board.After breakfast we drove up to Springer Mountain, We hiked from the parking area to the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. It was a nice sunny day. We took a few pictures and walked back to the cars. On the way back, we met one SOBO Veggie Viking and his father.Back at the parking area, I loaded up my pack, and we said our good-byes. It was about 11:00 AM when I headed north on the AT.On the trail I met Oklahoma¢a SOBO from Oklahoma City and later another young SOBO hiker with long dreadlocks. (Maybe Knots, who hiked the PCT this spring and is running the AT¢30 miles/day.)I had lunch at the Stover Creek Shelter. It was rebuilt a year or two after my 2004 NOBO thru-hike.I arrived at the Hawk Mountain Shelter just before 4:00 PM. I would like to have gotten to the Gooch Mountain Shelter; but with my late start and the early sunset, there wasn¢t enough daylight to do another eight miles.So I unpacked my backpack and gathered firewood. I built a fire and got water from the creek. I had just finished my dinner when two SOBO hikes showed up: Harvey Wallbanger and Crocs Man. Harvey Wallbanger is from Germany. I first met him in Vernon, NJ at the church hostel. He¢s a detective in Germany. Crocs Man is from Maine and is hiking the trail wearing Crocs.So I met five SOBOs today. It was a good day.
Date: 2015-12-08
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a beautiful day today! No clouds in the sky¢warm & sunny. We got up about 6:00 AM (slightly after, because our warm sleeping bags felt so good!). Harvey Wallbanger and Croc Man were in no rush, because they only had 8 miles to go and had done 24 miles yesterday. They were very appreciative of the fire last night and said that it was the perfect way to celebrate their last night on the trail! I was the first to leave the shelter.Three miles later I met another SOBO: Catch Up, who had tented out last night. I couldn¢t keep up with Harvey in New Jersey and obviously he couldn¢t either! Then I met two older gentlemen from Etowah, TN, who were day hiking. Of course, I stopped and visited with them. They were surprised that I knew where Etowah was, until I told them that I was from Maryville, TN. (Mur-vil!)I found some trail magic at Cooper Gap. Harvey Wallbanger had told me about it. He said he had taken all that he could carry and that I might want the rest. Of course, he was kind enough to share with me last night in camp!I found a young couple enjoying their lunch at the Gooch Mountain Shelter. I said, ¢This is a nice place that ya¢ll have here!¢ I believe that her name was Beth, a SOBO who lived south of Kansas City. He was a section hiker from Pennsylvania. (That would make him a LASHER¢long ass section hiker.) They were spending tonight at Hawk Mountain Shelter. I told them that I had left them enough firewood to get their fire going and told them where to go to find more wood.Again, a short day, but not quite enough daylight to reach the next shelter before dark. So I got water from the spring¢a beautiful piped spring with good flow¢and began gathering wood for tonight¢s fire.While I was dragging wood down the mountain, Fireball arrived at the shelter. This is a different Fireball than the one that I met in Pennsylvania. This Fireball is younger and has a bushy red beard. He didn¢t go up Katahdin, but started from Abol Bridge on June 11th. He plans to do Katahdin next spring. He¢s from Boston.Nat Geo also stopped by the shelter. He saw my K-State Wildcat logo on my guidebook. He¢s from Newton, KS.So we had three Kansans at the Gooch Mountain Shelter this afternoon. That may be a new record!
Date: 2015-12-09
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

No SOBOs showed up last night. I had the whole shelter to myself. I got up, packed up, and was on the trail a little before 8:00 AM.The sky was a little hazy, but the sun was shining. It became more overcast as the day went on.The first SOBO that I met was H2 Camo. A short time later I met Flyboxer and Moosie. I had met Flyboxer in Monson, Maine. Moosie is a young lady from San Diego. When she gets to Springer, she will be a Triple Crowner.I stopped for lunch at Woody Gap. After lunch I met Lockjaw Kermit. He was at the Graymoor Friary pavilion when a trail angel brought us lots of fresh fruit for trail magic. A short time later, I met Gladiator. He climbed Katahdin on June 30th. Later in the afternoon, I met Eclipse (young lady) and Relish (young man), both from Florida. They are planning to do Springer on Friday with his parents.I got to the Woods Hole Shelter at about 3:30 PM. It seems strange that a shelter with a name like Woods Hole would be located on top of a ridge. Also, the guidebook says that the shelter is 0.2 miles off trail. If so, it took me thirty minutes to walk 0.2 miles! There are four guys from McDough and Madison, GA: Gene, Mike, Matt, and David. This is apparently their second day at this shelter. At least they had a fire going and a tarp rigged across the front of the shelter. It¢s a fairly nice six-person shelter. I¢m number five!They were very interested in my camping gear.