morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-11
From: just after Dickle Branch Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: moderate rain

We got up early and walked past Dragon¢s Tooth (a really awesome rock climbing spot) to a wonderful hostel. TJ, Josh, and Caddy moved on, but Fremont decided to stay. The 3 of us took a ride from the hostel owner, Joe, into town for an AYCE Mother¢s Day meal at the Homeplace in Catawba, VA. We had to wait 2 hours to get in, but when we got in we ate and ate and ate roast beef, fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy, pinto beans, green beans, baked apples, cole slaw, biscuits, peach cobbler, ice cream, tea, and lemonade. They just kept giving us more. We came back, did laundry, and I played with 4 year old Josh on the swings in a nearby tree. He is a very smart4 year old who is teaching himself to tie every knot in the world. I played a game of darts w/ Fremont, and got smashed. Also here are Itchy Foot, Just Do It, Recycle, Grandma Turtle, and Grandma Bear. Ned is hurting for a dirt bike after watching 15 year old Joseph ride his around the field doing wheelies. Joseph came in 3rd in a race where the closest person to his age was 21! This hostel is simply a 3 bay garage, and we love it!                                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-12
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Lambert's Meadow Campsite
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

No sooner than we left the Magnificent 4 Pines Hostel and hit the trail, I FELL FLAT ON MY FACE. I managed to hook both my feet under the same root and fell as though I were a nice straight, stiff tree. I ripped open a scab I had on my leg and bruised my left boob, but other than that, I was fine. Ned was better than fine. My fall made his day. All day long I would hear bursts of giggling behind me and when I asked what was so funny, the answer was always the same. Ha Ha. Very funny.        Anyway, it was a beautiful, though windy day. The wind started last night as we lay on our cots outside the hostel (Fremont¢s idea). We just about got blown away, but the moonset at about 4 a.m. was well worth it. The wind did not quit all day. It blew us through a lovely pasture, it blew as we met Al and Sugardog at VA311, it almost blew our ear over the edge at McAfer Knob as we lunched with Fremont, and if it had been blowing the other way, we would have all gone splat as we passed over Tinker Cliffs. And during the night, as we camped at Lambert¢s Meadow, it blew over a tree.                                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-15
From: Ned's House

To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

TRAIL DAYS! We picked up Puff Puff, Snappy, and Fremont and headed to Damascus. It was a happy reunion with many old trail buddies, including Georgia Boy who got a new trail name at Trail Days. He is now named after the bicycle he was borrowing from the hostel: White Heat. All-in-all Trail Days was fun, but it was rather wet and we got the impression the locals wanted the hikers to go away so they could have their own, sweet-smelling, town fair. Understandable, I suppose.                                                             Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-19
From: BlueRidge Parkway - SharpTop Overlook

To: Button Hill VA714
Miles today: 12.7

Our first slack pack! My dad dropped us off at Sharp Top Overlook around 9. I had a nice light load and Chickenfeet had none. We met a section hiker ¢Oolaroo. When we stopped for our first break at Cove Mt. Shelter, we discovered our hard boiled eggs for lunch weren¢t so hard boiled. Chickenfeet egged the fire pit, and we ate what we had left. We finished around 3, 2 miles an hour including breaks. We drove home to a great home cooked meal and cozy bed.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-05-20
From: Button Hill VA714

To: Petites Gap
Miles today: 14.9

Another slack pack day. We started off the day with a big climb ¢ Floyd Mt. ¢ 2500 feet in 4.5 miles. It was a gorgeous day for hiking ¢ especially without a full load. Then we climbed Apple Orchard Mt., which has a FAA radar dome on top. Then we hiked under the Guillotine, a boulder suspended above the trail. We bumped into DejaVu, Song Bird, and Dag and Mag at Black Rock after our lunch. We were flying again today. We were up and over Thunder Ridge, and we made it to Petites Gap in time to buy new raingear at Goodwill -much lighter and much, much cheaper.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-05-21
From: Petites Gap

To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: moderate rain

We went back to full loads today. Our pace wasn¢t bad, but there wasn¢t the same bounce in our step. The forecast is calling for about a week of rain, which is spoiling our parents¢ plans to join us for a couple of days. We didn¢t get started until 2 because we were trying to organize all of our gear all over the house. Luckily, we had a short day planned. We met Mighty Mouse, Gonzo, and Butcher at Petites Gap. Luke ( my family¢s lab pup) went over to speak to them and then started barking his head off. It rained the whoe way to the shelter. Fortunately, it¢s warm enough (and not raining so hard) that we didn¢t need our rain gear. We got to an empty shelter and started eating before Mighty Mouse, Gonzo, and Butcher showed up. We have an early start tomorrow so we can meet my parents for a day hike. Hopefully, it won¢t rain too much.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-05-22
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Blue Ridge Parkway beyond Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up a little early and got ready quietly so as not to wake up the other 3 in the shelter. We walked down Matts Creek, which had many great swimming holes. We were meeting my parents at the James River toot bridge, and because we were 12 hour early and they were 12 hr. late, we played a made-up rock game. They brought our border collie, Scot. He enjoyed swimming in the creeks that we passed. He was also very obsessive about constantly running ahead to check on the upcoming trail and then running to the back of the line to make sure everybody was okay. He weaved in and out of us all day. The sky was cloudy and threatening all day. We weren¢t able to see any views. We decided to eat lunch part of the way up the huge climb of Bluff Mt. Within minutes of sitting down, it started to rain. It stopped five minutes after we finished eating. The climb up Bluff was pretty hard for us, not to mention how hard it was for my parents who haven¢t hiked in a while. The hike back down past Punchbowl Shelter to our car was rough on their joints. The best part of all was how much they taught us about the flowers and trees we passed ¢ we learned more that day than we had since we¢ve been out. We decided to go home with them to a dry bed. Also, Chicken Feet¢s momo was coming to my house to hike the next day.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-05-23
From: Blue Ridge Parkway beyond Punchbowl Shelter

To: Brown Mt. Creek Shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Ned¢s parents, my mother, Ned, Scott and I left Ned¢s house in the morning, dropped Ned¢s sister, Katie off at school, and headed for the trail. Everybody (except Scott) had a pack to carry up and down, up and down. There were rhododendrons and mountain laurel in bloom all over and we oohed and ahhed (and sometimes OWWED) our way to Pedlar Dam.        We ate lunch on a creek on a rather steep slope and when we were finished my mother had her second wind and zoomed of in the lead. The rainy day made for muddy trail and we all slogged through orange mud for quite a while.        When we got to the shelter we relaxed for a little while and then set up tents down by the creek before cooking dinner at the shelter. Ned¢s parents had precooked chicken which we reheated and they made mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn to go with it. It was quite yummy and a special treat to have a meal where everything was not cooked in the same pot all together. My mother brought s¢more supplies, but we had to eat them uncooked because all the wood was soaking wet from all the rain.        We stayed up a while longer and met a southbound hiker and I played fetch with Scott until he couldn¢t play anymore. My mother and I blew up her raft for a sleeping pad and we went to bed.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-24
From: Brown Mt. Creek Shelter

To: North Fork of Piney River
Miles today: 12.9

Luckily, for our last day walking with guests, the rain cleared out and the sun tried a little to come out.We had a major climb out of the valley up to Bald Knob and we were quite proud of our guests and their positive attitudes despite there fatigue and pain.We ate lunch near the summit of Bald Knob (not actually bald) and had lots of fun climbing Cold Mt, which really is bald. We got some beautiful views and I think the parents enjoyed themselves. We certainly did, as did Scottie. We were sorry to see them go home at Hog Camp Gap.After we waved good-bye we enjoyed a beautiful, lively, deliciously scented walk to our campsite near a creek. We were in such a good mood thanks to our parents that we nearly ran out of water and missed our spring. Luckily, someone before us had left a note with directions to water, and that reminded us.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-25
From: North Fork of Piney River

To: Tye River
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We packed up camp in the rain which ended before we got to the Seely-Woodworth Shelter an hour later. We ate breakfast in the shelter because it was easier than eating in our tarp in the rain. We decided to slow down and ¢experience¢ the trail instead of pushing hard. At Fish Hatchery Road we walked down a forest road to await a shuttle to the Dutch Hans B&B. While we were waiting we met 4 cool hikers who just graduated from Dickenson. The shuttle never showed, so we walked the 2 miles to Montebello. The wonderful lady at the Dutch Hans gave us a free lunch (that¢s why we went there) of firehouse BBQ chicken, green beans, pasta salad, oranges, and cookies. YUM!! We hung out for a while ¢ I played guitar. Then they shuttled us back to the trail. We climbed up and over The Priest. The sky was constantly changing from cloudy to clear. We set up the tarp in time to cook two dinners. On a side note, we passed lots and lots of people out hiking on Memorial Day weekend.                                                        Flanders
Date: 2003-05-26
From: Tye River

To: unnamed hostel
Miles today: 8.8

It poured last night. They were calling for an 80% chance, so we were expecting rain, but not that much. I had a nightmare that the Tye River flooded our tarp. We woke up several times to water sneaking in. We may need to replace our Tyvek groundcloth as it doesn¢t seem to be keeping the water out as well as it did. We started off climbing Three Ridges ¢ 2973 feet in 6.3 miles. It actually wasn¢t nearly as bad as we expected. The mountain is Chicken Feet¢s favorite non-bald. It was covered in azaleas and smelled wonderful. We got great views of the Priest, too. Again, we passed lots of hikers out enjoying Memorial Day. The day was gorgeous. We ate lunch on Hanging Rock and had a chance to dry out our stuff. 2.5 miles later we got to Maupin Field Shelter. This section has brought back great memories of when we hiked this section back in college. Then we hiked 2.5 miles to a hostel off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The place is very rustic, but very awesome. Definitely on the list of great AT hostels. We had hamburgers and played Mancala and cards with Josh, Cave, Worms. Old Goat and Willy Nilly are here too. Low Rider is helping out at the hostel for a few weeks ¢ a great guy. Tomorrow we have a big day so we can get to C¢ville and see some friends.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-05-27
From: unnamed hostel

To: St. Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: moderate rain

We got up early after a fantastic night¢s sleep on cushy pads in the loft of the barn. It was pouring rain and we got a ride about a quarter of the way back to the trail, but we still had to walk almost 2 miles before we got to start our official miles for the day.It was pouring rain and cold nearly all day. The trail was rocky (Humpback Rocks section) and the rocks were slippery and generally had poison ivy growing all around and in between them And where there weren¢t rocks, there were mud bogs and stream crossings through deeper than normal, fast flowing water. And did I mention it was pouring rain? The only shelter was 16 miles down the trail, so we didn¢t eat until 3:20 when we finally made it there ¢ it was too cold and wet to stop in the rain.So, though the first 16 miles were rather miserable, the rain let off after ¢lunch¢ and our full bellies made the last 5 miles a breeze.When we got to Rockfish Gap we called Katie and in no time at all we were clean and sweet smelling and hanging out on the terrace of her new apartment. The wonderful evening made our daytime hike worth the misery.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Calf Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

So, if you got the idea that our hike into Waynesboro was the most miserable hike possible, well, it wasn¢t. Yes, there was mud. Yes, there was poison ivy. Yes, the rocks were slippery. Yes, it rained nearly all day. However, TODAY was worse. We didn¢t think worse was possible, but we were wrong. There was more mud, more puddles, bigger meaner & more rocks, steeper ascents and descents, and IT WAS RAINING HARDER. We felt like big wussies for finding the other day miserable, as we experienced the true misery today.   The only neat part of the hike was when we encountered a mamma doe and her little eensy weensy fawn. The fawn couldn¢t have been more than a few days old ¢ it could barely walk an=d seemed to be no bigger than an adult cat. Mamma seemed very worried about her baby and hustled it away from us, but they went slowlt and kept stopping to look at us, so we forgot abu=out the rain for a good 2-3 minutes.   Now we¢re in the top bunk of Calf Mountain Shelter. Fremont, Cobra & Splash are here. We haven¢t seen familiar hiker faces in a while. Other than them, the shelter is packed with new faces. Now Fremont is jabbering so I will listen to him & quit writing journal. Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Calf Mt. Shelter

To: Loft Mt. Camp Ground
Miles today: 20.4

After a very poor night¢s sleep (We were freezing cold all night because we switched our sleeping bags for a summer quilt), we arose late and had fun doing morning business with Fremont and all the new faces. Zoolander and Moogatu are becoming our new buddies- They just finished their first year at UVA where they lived in Webb, the same dorm I lived in! Also, there was a south bounder, Wonderlust, who loves math and we had fun being dorky together. We were sad to see him turn the other way at the end of the path to the shelter.         We entered Shenandoah National Park after 1 mile and we immediately noticed smoother trail and an abundance of dog poop. With the dog poop came swarms of flies and gnats, and with those came welts all over our legs, arms, and faces. Also, the park has 5000 inbred deer (they are all related to the original 14 deer when the park opened, rumor has it) which are not afraid of humans at all, so that¢s fun.        After a break with Moogatu, Zoolander, and the trail¢s most disgusting privy at Black Rock Hut, we continued to Blackrock¢s summit for lunch. There we met Molly and Bruce nd reveled in this small, small world as we learned that Molly¢s doctor as a child was Ned¢s grandfather¢s partner AND she now works with my mother¢s boyfriend!        We made it 20 miles to Loft Mt. Campground where we cooked dinner (with some wild puff ball mushrooms I found) and met two extremely nice rangers. Then we hobbled a little farther to make camp near Moogatu, Zoolander, and Dan. We drank some beer with them, pigged out and then retired.Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-05-31
From: Loft Mt. Camp Ground

To: Hightop Hut Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

I don¢t believe I¢ve written about my terrible heel problems yet. For the last 5 days I have been rubbing holes in my heels. They are very painful, but somehow I managed to do two 20 mile days. After each break I hobble, wincing at the intense pain with every step, but after awhile my brain seemed to shut off the pain and I could walk fast again. Still, I could feel the rubbing the whole time. This morning I was no longer able to get my brain to shut off the pain, so we stopped and I piled moleskin on top of blister bandaid on top of the 2nd skin I had put on last night. The rest of the day my heels felt fine!        Because of ¢severe storm¢ forecast calling for 80 mph winds, and hail (not to mention the dreaded wet socks responsible for the state of my heels) we decided to go only 14 miles. Now we are here with Dan, Fremont, Zoolander, Mugato, and Greg. And it is NOT raining. Here we are, safe in the shelter, but nothing to be safe from. Now it is time for a tick check. We¢ve feach found a deer tick stuck to us today and that is scary.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Hightop Hut Shelter

To: Bearfence Hut
Miles today: 12.4

This is Chicken Feet¢s brother, Uncle Jesse (an official trail name given to me by Mugato and Zoolander). Flanders and Chicken Feet hiked 3 miles to meet me at 9 a.m. which ended up being 11 a.m. Then we went to Elkton and had lunch and went through food and first aid stuff that we had brought. Then we hit the trail. We had a good hike about 9 miles where we re-enacted whole scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Then we went down to the shelter where Fremont, Mugato, and Zoolander and some other dudes were having dinner. Flanders, Chicken Feet, and I made mashed potatoes. Afterwards I tried to get some deer to eat my leftover potatoes. I got pretty close but all they ate was grass. Hopefully I¢ll see a bear tomorrow. Well, now we are hanging out at the shelter and talking. It was a pretty nice and warm day. Good Night.                                                                Uncle Jesse
Date: 2003-06-02
From: Bearfence Hut

To: Skyland Road North
Miles today: 16.1

Brrrr¢¦.last night felt, quite possibly, like the coldest night we¢ve had since we ditched our sleeping bags for a poncho liner. Uncle Jesse came knocking on the tarp around 7, complaining his feet were cold during the night. Luckily, other than that, he slept fine.        Let me explain a bit about the Shenandoah bear poles. In the park, at shelters, there are big steel poles with hooks at the top. Using a separate metal hook, you hoist food bags at night so the bears can¢t reach them. Because these poles are recommended, we used them for the first time. Upon pulling the food bags down in the morning, we discovered a mouse had chewed a hole in one of our bags. Not only did Lydia work very hard making the bags, we¢d hiked over 900 miles with nary a hole. Needless to say, I was livid. I left the maintaining club a nasty gram in the register.        The rest of the day was fantastic, especially the weather. It was a perfect day for hiking. We ate a delicious breakfast of bacon and rolls that Lydia¢s mom brought for us when she dropped off Uncle jesse. We had a pretty big climb early on. We took a break at a great outlook. We could see Massanutten Mountain, Stanley, and Luray. We passed up the Big Meadow Wayside ( a restaurant and lodge) and ate a delicious lunch. After we filled up water at David Spring, we decided to push hard to Skyland Road to buy hot dogs before the store clased (5:30). An hour later, we decided to check the book only to find out there is no store at Skyland. So, we slowed down. Uncle Jesse was tired and Chicken Feet hurt, so we took a couple of long breaks. We got to Skyland a little after 5. We hunted off trail for a good spot to tarp. Then we came down to the restaurant and had a couple of beers and listened to some great music.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Skyland Road North

To: Jeremy's Run Trail
Miles today: 17.5

We woke up earlier that usual, mostly because we were cold ¢ yet again. We ate some all-natural energy cakes and we were out at 7:30. As we packed up, it started sprinkling. Early on, Buckeye passed us. He was on his 34th day from Springer. He jogged without a pack and used his wife for assistance. He told us about his 100 mile trail races, too. Then it really started to rain, and the wind blew strongly. Uncle Jesse really wasn¢t having fun. Every quarter mile he asked, ¢How much longer?¢ and every up climb he moaned and at every overlook, he whined. At one point we heard a noise very similar to a new born calf. It turned out to be a fawn right beside the trail ¢ without its mother. The 9.5 miles went by rather quickly and by the time we gotten to Jesse¢s car we knew we wanted pizza. We all went to Luray¢s Pizza Hut lunch buffet where we had pizza, breadsticks, and dessert pizza for $3.99 a piece. Then we went to the Laundromat and dried our stinky clothes for a quarter. We met Zoolander and Mugato back at Panorama where Jesse dropped us off. We hung out for a while and then headed to the shelter 1.5 miles away. When we got there it stopped raining so we pushed on to avoid a 23 mile day the next day. We had to set up the tarp in the rain, which we did like butter. We finally feel confident tarping in the rain. For dinner, we ate smacks to avoid cooking in the rain.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Jeremy's Run Trail

To: Terrapin Station Hostel
Miles today: 15.9

We packed up our wet stuff and cruised 0.5 miles to the Elkwallow Wayside. It was sausage and egg muffins and blackberry shake for breakfast ¢ Delicious! Zoolander and Mugato arrived as we were leaving. They¢d already done over 7 miles. We climbed Hogback as the sun started poking through the clouds ¢ a much easier climb than we had expected. We ate lunch at Gravel Spring Hut and met a nice ranger on his day off. We pretty much booked the rest of the afternoon to get to the filling-up hostel. The hostel was a madhouse. We got the last two spots. Mike Evans, the owner, was great. We cooked dinner and ate snacks. We played euchre with Zoolander and Mugato while we listened to Mike¢s collection of Dylan and the Dead.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We were still packing up when Healer left, and he thanked us for a ¢beautiful evening.¢ We ate Cheerios and strawberry Instant Breakfast (GROSS) and his the trail at 9. Today was EUCHRE day. We only had 13.4 miles to do so we took the day slowly, playing euchre for an hour and a half at midday. Zoolander and I lost twice more and we are bitter and angry about it. We will play more after dinner.        Happily, the weather has been beautiful for the past 2 days. Happy Birthday, Mugato!       Now we must put up the tarp so we can play euchre until dark.   Chicken Feet