morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-24
From: Gorham, NH

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I was awake by 6:00 a.m. and packed up what gear I had left. Dan and I are riding the same bus out of town, I am changing buses at Concord, NH, and he is going on to Boston. A couple of other hikers leaving the trail were waiting for the bus also. It was right on time at 8:00 a.m. Within a half-hour, it stopped at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center near the base of Mt. Washington to pick up riders. The bus was never very full, we picked up a couple of riders at about 10 stops along the way.I enjoyed the ride, it was beautiful as we traveled out of the mountains and past the lakes. Every now and then I would see an old covered wooden bridge. The bus was on time as it reached Concord, NH at 11:00 a.m. I said goodbye to Dan Moore and changed to another bus that left a few minutes later. By 11:30 a.m., we were at the Transportation Center in Manchester, NH. I asked at the information desk what was the quickest way to get to the airport and they told me that a bus to the airport would be out front in five minutes. Several people on the bus from Concord were going to the airport too.I was at the airport before 12:00 noon. Got lunch at the airport and only had to wait a couple of hours to catch my flight home. On the plane flying back to Norfolk, VA, I started thinking about going back and finishing Maine. It is strange how this narrow path through the woods called the Appalachian Trail that goes through 14 states has this power to pull hikers to it year after year.The trip home had been fun and easy, three buses and one airplane and I was home in less than 12 hours. Nadine was waiting for me with a ¢Welcome Home¢ balloon and a hug. It is good to be home. It is also time to start getting ready for our next great adventure ¢ a three-week trip to see our son in Japan, if we are lucky we might get a chance to climb part of Mt. Fuji.I hate to admit that writing these journal pages are a pain sometimes, but they have been worth the effort. When I start to forget about all the neat things I have seen and done on the A.T., I can always come back and look at the pictures and read the pages and all the memories will come back. With luck, I hope I will be back next year to finish the final chapter to this wonderful journey on the A.T.
Date: 2007-02-25
To: Getting ready!
Miles today: 0.0

With roughly 2 months to go, Whiskey Jo and Lark are heavy into preparation for the trail. Yesterday we hiked 3 miles with 16 lbs on WJ's back and 21 lbs on Lark's and it went well. I like buying the gear, but Colin made me promise to do all the walking with weight, so I did. Now I can buy more gear today!
Date: 2007-04-30
To: 2 weeks to go!
Miles today: 0.0

With only 2 weeks to go before we start walking we're excited and swamped with much to do: fix radon problem, get Joe and his friend Dan out the door with a U-haul to Boston, pack stuff from my house in a POD, house closing, dry food, package dried food, repeat, map out hike, and on and on. The plan is to walk from outside Roanoke heading south down to Damascus, VA. Roughly 240 miles. Start date: Sunday May 13th. Wish us luck and thanks to all of you for the support.
Date: 2007-05-11
To: Bed at home
Miles today: 0.0

...not quite yet on the trail, but very soon. We leave Sunday May 13th from outside Roanoke where Rt. 311 crosses the A.T. Greg and Cara are driving us there and maybe hiking a bit with us. Then we're on our own. That first day we'll climb the McAfee Knob for some wonderful views. The next trail journal entry won't be until we hit Pearisburg, somewhere around May 24th or 25th. Mom, if you don't see a journal entry by the 26th you're allowed to send out the troops, otherwise, everyone, please keep us in your thoughts and we'll keep you in ours. with love and thanks for all the support, Whiskey Jo and Lark.
Date: 2007-05-11
To: Bed at home
Miles today: 0.0

Today is Whiskey Jo's last day of work. I'm getting last minute things together like reserving a b-n-b for the last two nights, uploading the photo that you can now look at, packaging the last food, talking to Keenan, my housesitter, calling my Mom, doing some cleaning, and I should be working on my will, but just can't bring myself to. I can't believe that in two days we'll be hiking!! So much still to do. This last week has been crazy what with preparations and with Whiskey having just sold her house and had a million problems like a tree on her property falling over, radon levels being too high, somebody bending her fender (it's been taken care of), her mortgage co. not getting the numbers to her closing company, and not paying some mortgage company insurance, and a million seven other things. My house is on the market and there is finally some interest. I have to call my realator as soon as we get to Pearisburg, as well as a Merrill Lynch person about the final transfer of my dad's assets to me since his passing two and a half years ago. She said I might need to sign some papers! I just want to be out in the woods!!M'Lark E.
Date: 2007-05-13
From: Bed at home

To: McAfee Knob - Hog Farm Campsite
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: scattered clouds

This is mostly written by Lark. When Whiskey Jo adds stuff, she'll put WJ by it so you'll know who's writing. Left C-ville before 10:00 with Greg and Cara. Northbound, we all walked 2/10th of a mile in and had a nice little lunch with chocolate cake even, and two sandwiches left over. It seemed like a long way before we got to the second shelter (Catawba - 2 miles in). Finally the Knob at 4:30. SPECTACULAR. We could see for miles in many directions including Roanoke. 1/2 mile down a steep trail and we camped. It took all evening just to do stuff we needed to do. Nice water source not far away. We visited the privy after 9 and when we came back our solitude was interuppted by two other people putting up tents. Boohoo! I didn't sleep hardly at all - don't know why. It was a very hard day! (It was amazing to walk through a half mile of blooming mountain laurel and then WOW, at the top of the knob this exquisite, broad, deep and far view with the sun starting to go low in the sky and endless magnificent mountains. we took the requisite photos of being out on the knob - hope they come out...wj)
Date: 2007-05-14
To: McAfee Knob - John's Spring Shelter
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: clear sky

I didn't sleep hardly at all. Up at 8, left camp and headed south at 10 - as fast as we could get ready. Back up at the knob we met Leftfielder who pointed out Tinker cliffs and the ridges where the trail goes and described how, heading south we'll go up to a ridgetop, go awhile, go down and the up another ridge, and then go along that awhile, then over to the next ridge, etc. About 1-1/2 hours down the trail from the knob, Whiskey Jo tripped on some rocks going downhill and landed on her right knee & her left hand on the walking pole. I thought her knee would be worst hurt, but it was her left palm under her thumb. She had breaks in her skin on her right leg and bruises on her right leg and left arm. Later she realized that her ankle and wrist hurt some, too. We sat for 20 min. and then started up again. Whiskey notices a footlong snake catching a centimeter long frog. We stopped and watched it eat it. Got a photo! We arrived at the John's Spring Shelter. Whisky Jo walked to the spring - a quarter mile away! and found barely any water and a dead chipmunk. (wj here...unfortunately, I didn't bring the camera, because the poor little chipmunk was so sweetly dead nestled in the mucky green slime that was where water was supposed to be! Lovely wild irises on the way.) An oldtimer, Loner Bohner, arrived and pointed out a closer water trail, but it had no water either. I got our bottles and bladders and headed back one mile to Catawba Shelter to get the life-giving liquid. LB talked to Whiskey for awhile. Seems he'd fallen earlier today at Dragon's Tooth, the next mountain we were climbing. I ran into him just as I was leaving the spring. I felt so light walking without my 54 pound pack on! Got there and back in less than an hour. Chico was there & soon went on. We filtered a lot. Rice with spinach and nutmeg. Yum. Had trouble finding a bear-proof branch to hang our food from. It took about an hour for me to find it and get the rope over the branch. Just after dark (8:30?) we got in the tent. After 20 minutes of leg massages when Whiskey was going to go out for the last time, we heard an unidentifiable animal. It sounded like rapid exhaling every 3 seconds or so. We turned off the light. It was scary! We were about to be killed by a wild animal!!! It went away after 5 min. (wj here...was that really 5 minutes, it felt like 20!) It was warmer than the night before and 1,500 ft. lower. This was an even harder day! I still didn't sleep too well. (I think I fell into a deep sleep after I realized we weren't going to be eaten...wj)
Date: 2007-05-15
From: McAfee Knob - John's Spring Shelter

To: Lost Spectacles Gap
Miles today: 7.4

I didn't sleep too well. It seems to take us a long time to get going even though we're busy getting things done the whole time. We left by 9, crossed Rt 311 where we parked when we arrived and headed up the next ridge. Lots of up and down, with LOTS of up! Saw lots of columbine leaves and one bloom. There has been lots of mountain laurel the whole way. (Lark spotted a snake in the path this time and had to use his hiking pole to get it off the path so we could pass. It wasn't so big, but it did it's best to look fierce and hiss a bit at him...wj) At the far end of the ridge we came down into a field and met an Amish man named Slider and we talked awhile. We went through fields to get over to the next ridge. It was fairly hot. I bathed in a stream before our last up and down to a road that we walked on to get to a small convenience store around 5. Civilization? Lots of big pickup trucks. We got soda and chips and met Castinets, who had taken a fall on Dragon's Tooth and gotten lost as well. One local he asked about camping, Ron, brought us to the Dragon Tooth parking lot. I had a rash and treated it there. We did 1 1/2 more tired miles for our hardest day yet and camped at Lost Spectacles Gap at 8:00. It was our hardest day yet. On our way up we passed about 25 girls from an "wilderness theraputic school." We also got some water from the stream half way up. We ran out of water anyway the next day. It seems to take us so long to get ready: put up tent, put out mats and sleeping bags, make food, eat, clean up, brush, hang bear-proof bag, get in tent, etc. The wind was very loud! There were rumors of rain for tomorrow Weds. Whiskey didn't hardly sleep. It was my first night of fairly good sleep although I still woke up a lot. (I think this was when we also met a young woman through-hiker who ALSO fell and got lost on the Dragon Tooth section. Yikes, now I as getting frightened. everyone was scratched up and telling us about huge smooth rocks on steep inclines that you have to use hands to negotiate and poorly marked white blazes. Did Lark mention that THIS was our hardest day yet? wj)
Date: 2007-05-16
From: Lost Spectacles Gap

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Clear skies, but it got cloudier as the day went on. Whiskey didn't hardly sleep. It was my first night of fairly good sleep although I still woke up a lot. Whiskey's stomach felt sick. She treated my rash before we left. Dragon's Tooth was difficult. Whiskey hadn't eaten much. My rash was hurting. We had to put the poles away and climb in places. Met Chito and Silver - in their 60s I think. Chico gave us water, which we really needed. Once past the top (after an hour or more) we still had lots of rocks for miles. We ran out of water. It sprinkled on us every so often. Did 5 miles total to Pickle Branch Shelter. It was our hardest day yet. It started raining soon after we arrived, but didn't rain long. At PB Shelter there were many large trees that were leaning or fallen (many across the path). Very curious. I quickly got water and Whiskey filtered it. We talked to Easy Does It, Slinky and Dog, a married couple, and later Magic Horse showed up. MH just made his dinner in the bag he bought it in which saves cleaning up afterwards. We like that idea! Got the scoop on the next bit of trail. My rash wasn't hurting much any more. Our curried cous cous was pretty good. I finally had time to goof off and write in my journal! We're always so busy that there's hardly any time to do anything beside what we need to do. We slept in the shelter. Everybody else was going to sleep as soon as it got dark so we got in bed, too. Whiskey didn't sleep because she was listening to the "symphony" of five people snoring. (Ha. This was no small wind ensemble; we're talking symphony meaning all orchestral sections represented, and that was with ear plugs in! This may be a good place for me to say that Lark, being a man, has now lost about 4 lbs of fat and quickly and neatly converted it to muscle and he is now my official hero and helping me often as I have lost some of the little fat I had but, being a woman, have not quite manufactured the necessary muscle and I'm starved for more fat - fantasizing about pizza, french fries, potato chips, candy bars and on and on as I take step after hard step. Our meals are for the most part delicious - again thanks to Lark - but where's the FAT?...wj)
Date: 2007-05-17
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: The side of Audie Murphy's mountain
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

Whiskey didn't sleep too well. I was one of the snorers that kept her awake. I slept my best yet. All the others were gone by like 7. I got up soon after and started filtering water and getting things ready for breakfast. Whiskey slept now. Had some cocoa after granola. Whiskey Jo heated some water to wash with and cleaned up. We had a little conflict because I was raring to go and she wanted us to take our time. By the time we left, 11:00, I was already losing energy. We got lost for 5 min. because we turned when we shouldn't have. We stopped by Trout Creek a mile away and had food and filtered water and took pictures. Headed uphill for the next 4 hours. Passed Peter Pan and his dog Mickey. Also Rio. Saw the Audie Murphy monument. He was the most decorated soldier in WWII and died in a plane crash here in 1971 at the age of 46. He also acted in over 40 movies. I then realized that I had dropped my pedometer and went back about a half mile to find it. It is really only good for knowing the time. The distance is way unreliable. Here it was a grass covered road. At the end we met Beershake, Hemlock, and Blue Ninja. Turning off the road we went down, down, down for a mile to a nice little camping spot under some gnarley little trees. Passed by Sopera and Achilles. The mashed potatoe meal was Terrible. We will not eat that one again! Whiskey says I've lost weight already. (We're meeting a lot of baby boomers on the trail; more than I expected as through-hikers, meaning they are going all 2100 miles from Georgia to Maine in one 5-month period. Of course, there are tons of young men in their 20's basically jogging through the trail carrying less weight than either of us since they don't seem to need warm clothing or food :>) We also see loads of purple and pink rhododendron in the understory of the forest and where ever there are views there seem to be mountain ridges that go on forever. we usually can figure out "That's where we started today or that's where we're headed"; it's fun...wj)
Date: 2007-05-18
From: The side of Audie Murphy's mountain

To: Sarver Mills Shelter
Miles today: 8.5

On the way down the mountain in the morning we met Ziplock, who had a guitar, and Nitro who had the same pack and boots as Whiskey Jo. We wished we had stayed at the same shelter the night before so we could have gotten to know them. They, of course, like everybody else, were heading north. After going down we crossed some elaborate pedestrian bridges and then went up, up, up. We arrived at Niday Shelter without having to wonder too much How much farther? Got water. It looked like rain and sprinkled some. Three guys showed up as we were leaving. We headed up, up, up looking for Cabin Branch (water and camping), but never saw it. We were going to stop and decide if we really wanted to go another 5 miles over hard rocks or stay there. We never found it. Met Castaway and Parttime. After a long time of searching for it, we arrived at the top! where we met Sheephead (a card game) and Dealer Dan, brothers. We took a couple of pix in front of the Eastern Continental divide sign. Water on one side of the mountain goes to the Gulf of Mexico. Water on the other goes to the Atlantic Ocean. It was Very windy and cold, but we had to go on. Soon we started over the big, slanted rocks. I nimbly trod over them like a mountain goat, but Whiskey had more trouble. There was sunshine and no wind and was quite a bit warmer. There were some very spectacular views as well, but it was hard going. Met a guy who sounded like Dan Ackroyd who had only recently started and was having a hard time. After two or so miles of this we were back in the forest with less rocks to deal with, but it was windy and cold again. On and on we went. Met a strange guy named David who was just in shorts and a tee and said he'd done the AT twice and the PCT twice and sleeps in a hammock and that it was going to get down to 30 tonight with possible percipication. We worried about him a bit, but went on. Finally we arrived at the blue blaze marking the trail to Sarver Mills Shelter. We had to go down for what seemed like a half mile. I hurried on ahead and came back for Whiskey's pack. She had made it most of the way down, but her knees were hurting a lot. This was our hardest day yet!! Poots and Slow Roller were standing by a fire. Very nice! We set up the tent and made dinner. We heated up water and put it in a bottle to put in our sleeping bags. Later a woman who had just arrived from Ohio, named Inchworm arrived. I heard the scary monster again - like we heard on our second night and Poots said that deer make that noise when startled. I'm glad we weren't eaten by a deer!
Date: 2007-05-19
From: Sarver Mills Shelter

To: Blacksburg
Miles today: 4.3

We took our time a little. The climb out was not as bad as we thought it would be. It only took 15 min. Met CC & OD (Color Coordinated & Over Dimentional), early 50s maybe, going Harper's Ferry to Springer, then Khatadin to Harper's Ferry (Flip floping). We started following them and after about one minute couldn't see them anymore. Flat for a mile with lots of erie rock stacks. We wondered why someone would stack 50 piles 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide cylinders. Then down, down, down. Our knees are hurting. Tried to call Jeff by a power line clearing. Met Stelth the farmer who started the k=hike with a cattle prod as a walking pole. Somebody gave him their sticks. Thru pastures and fields. Got to hwy 42 at 3:40 & the cell worked. Jeff was to come and deliver our mailed food box. We then asked him if he could take us to a hotel and he said No problem, he was going in the direction of Blacksburg anyway. I sat and wrote notes for this and, voila, 45 minutes later Jeff (Southpaw) and Sue picked us up and gave us Gatoraid. We ended up at the Hawthorne Suites hotel where we stayed for two nights. We showered and put on our cleanest clothes (it was dinner time - no time for laundry). After waiting for a taxi for almost an hour very hungry, the hoteless called Hooptie Ride who arrived pronto. Hudson drove us to a family pizza place in a zebra striped jeep/truck-like thing. He was very cool and we had a nice connection. He knew three people who were killed 4-16. After dinner we walked to a grocery and saw an ABC where we got a little bottle of whiskey, which we'd think about every time Whiskey Jo introduced herself. Got a ride back from Hooptie Ride driver Shawn in a van with a velvet interior. He told us where to hitch from. Whiskey didn't sleep too well.
Date: 2007-05-20
From: Blacksburg

To: Blacksburg
Miles today: 0.0

Whiskey didn't sleep too well. Breakfast at the hotel, laundry, journal update (up to the 18th), a tiny little bit of TV. Ordered indian food that the hoteless kindly went and picked up for us. Watched the 400th episode of the Simpsons! I made signs for our hitch hiking after Whiskey fell asleep.
Date: 2007-05-21
From: Blacksburg

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 1.0
Weather: clear sky

Breakfast at the hotel. Walked a quarter mile to the highway enterance, where, after about 25 minutes of thumbing it, Harold, 75, picked us up. He delivers dental stuff around the area. He seemed dangerously close to driving off the road a couple of times. He said the jets flew around once a day to protect the armory. He took us 20 miles down 460 to 635. After we got out he told me I had a pretty girlfriend! We stood there for about 15 minutes before a woman picked us up and brought us the 10 miles to the AT, which was about 9 3/4 miles past her house. When we got out of the car we met CC and OD, the flip-floppers we met when we left Sarver's Mill Shelter. We walked about a half mile or less and arrived at Pine Swamp Shelter where there were lots of catipillars. The shelter had been partially crushed by a tree a few months earlier with 5 people inside. None of them were hurt. There were a bunch of hikers in for lunch. Most of them disappeared around 2 pm. One couple that arrived had photos they'd just taken of a rattler, so Whiskey Jo and I headed up the trail to try and see it too, but were unsuccessful. We set up the tent near the shelter on a nice flat spot and just goofed off all day. About ten other hikers arrived to sleep there. Four of them were young men who seemed more intent on drinking than being healthy hikers. There were not very loud so we fell asleep during their party.
Date: 2007-05-22
From: Pine Swamp Shelter

To: Simms Gap
Miles today: 7.4

Out by 9:45. Four guys still there. Ones that had been drinking the night before. Four gone before us. Up, up, up. Humid and no views. Passed Dash, J-beard, and Mangrove, who had asked, 'What did Scotty say to Captain Kirk at the end of the Tribble episode of the original Star Trek?' 'No tribble at all sir.' Passed Star and Hemlock (a different one). He seemed to want to go a lot farther and she seemed to want to stop soon. We entered fields and finally had a view. That is where the camping spots were. Ate some string cheese. Met The Usual Suspect and Grambo, a woman in her 60s. There was no spring like we were told, but a little froggie pond. We put our tent in a field. It was nice, but there was a lot of wind by the place with rocks and logs to sit on where we made our dinner and breakfast. Dinner had too much rice without enough flavor. Whiskey went to sleep before I got back from a 15 minute walk to ward off RLS (Restless Leg Syndrom). I fell asleep without RLS for the first time on this adventure and slept well.