morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Backcountry Campsite

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: moderate rain

Day 70: Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does. Today pushed me to my absolute limit. It poured all day and everything I have is completely soaked including my sleeping bag. Rain is forecasted for the next three days and there is no way to get dry. We are still 2 days away from town. The terrain was also horrible today, we had two long, steep, rocky and extremely muddy climbs. I was literally on my hands and knees climbing in three-inch deep mud. I heard that during the month of May, this area had more consecutive days of rain than ever before in recorded history!! Now it looks like it will happen in June too! I'm in my tent because the shelter is totally packed and even the inside of my tent is wet.We are all starting to feel the pressure to start moving faster. We know we need to make it to Harpers Ferry by July 1st to be on schedule to get to Katahdin on time. The rain is really slowing everybody down though. Many of the people at this shelter just stayed here all day and took a zero because they just couldn¢t bare to go out in this weather anymore. It totally sucks because we can't afford to let the rain slow us down anymore than it already has.Today we pushed out the mileage we had planned but it took a lot out of us and I don't know if I can do it again tomorrow. The skin on my feet is starting to peel off because it has been inside my wet clammy shoes for so long. I have a blister on my right foot but I can't even dress it because I tried and the dressing just slips off in my drenched shoes. Oh and the best part, I almost forgot was when Pipes and I were crossing some cow pastures with Two Dog Night and her two dogs. The dogs starting barking at the cows, who were only a few feet off the trail. The cows charged us!!! I was so scared I thought I was going to die. Two of the cows literally starting running at us but we ran away and luckily they didn't follow us far. I'm NEVER crossing cow pastures with dogs again.There was actually one cool part of the day, we saw the Keffer Oak. Its an oak tree that is 300 years old! I've never seen a tree so big in my life. It was cool to imagine what the forests used to look like when all of the trees were that old.
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Stealth Site on Ridge Near Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 71: It rained in the morning today but cleared up for the afternoon. It was not fun to put on wet clothes and less fun to start hiking in them. We hiked across a ridgeline that would have been hell to cross in the rain so I'm so thankful it cleared up for that. It was basically large slabs of slippery rock slanted at a 45 degree angle. There was nothing to grip onto so sometimes I had to get down on my hands and knees.After the rain let up I was finally able to enjoy my hike for the first time in a while. We planned to go to the shelter tonight but then we all realized it was 0.5 miles off the trail. That¢s too far to walk because we are just going to tent there anyways, so we decided to stealth camp near a river just before the shelter. Actually, you aren't allowed to camp right near the river and road area so we climbed up switchbacks and we are camped on the side of a beautiful ridge.Tonight it is Moonshadow, Hot Rod, Two Dog, Pipes, Steamboat, Singalot and myself. Pipes and I are trying to figure out what kind of mileage we need to pull to get to Harpers Ferry by June 27th. Pipes' friend, Bethany will be coming to hike the 2nd half of the trail with her starting at Harpers Ferry and that¢s when she'll be arriving. I also want to get there to be on schedule to make it to Katahdin. I saw my first Rattlesnake today. It was just a baby, only a few inches long sitting right on the trail.I actually saw the article in the newspaper saying that this May was the wettest May in recorded history and the wettest month since the 1800's!!
Date: 2003-06-05
From: Stealth Site on Ridge Near Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

Day 72: Today, we finally got a break and it was wonderful. I was reminded why I came out here. We climbed up the ridge to Dragons Tooth and it was amazing. Pine needles covered the trail and the Mountain Laurels were blooming. We made it to the Hostel around 3PM just in time for a quick shower before heading over The Homeplace Restaurant - the infamous best All You Can Eat place on the trail. Mmmmm...fried chicken, home made mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, warm biscuits, bbq pork, roast beef, coleslaw, fresh squeezed lemonade, baked beans, and warm peach cobbler with ice cream for dessert. I was in heaven! Unfortunately, food coma prevented us from hiking any further tonight but we hope to make it over McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs tomorrow before the rain starts up again. I'm tented outside the Four Pines Hostel right now and the cicadas are singing me to sleep.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 73: Awesome day! It was sunny all day and we crossed the 700 mile mark. We saw McAfee Knob in beautiful weather and I finally got the long-awaited photo of me sitting on the ledge of McAfee Knob with my feet hanging down. We also saw Tinker Cliffs today. From the cliffs we looked out to see the ridge we just walked to get there and McAfee Knob way far out in the distance. It was amazing to think I just walked all the way from the knob to the cliffs.I'm trying really hard to stay hydrated in the hotter weather. Today I drank 5 liters of water during my hike and used another liter during dinner! Even with the five liters I still felt like I wasn't drinking enough. The sun just beats down and we had several big climbs. I love the sun though so I would take this any day over rain. Speaking of rain, its supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. I knew it was all too good to be true!! Today Sunshine finally!!! Today was awesome, I love sun!!
Date: 2003-06-08
From: Troutville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 75: I woke up to rain this morning. It rained all day yesterday and last night. We hiked in 10 miles to Troutville yesterday morning in a downpour. I've completely given up on my rain jacket. Its useless, you get just as wet from your own sweat as you do from the rain and that¢s worse. When we got to the hotel, the forecast said there would be no more rain for a few days so we were really excited. Then we woke up and the forecast completely changed to thunderstorms today, two partly cloudy days, then thunderstorms the next 4 days!!! When will it ever end?!?It was almost impossible to leave town in the rain. The rain is really starting to wear hard on peoples spirits. Many of my friends have talked about quitting, the constant rain is absolutely no fun anymore. Today we saw Moxy after a few miles just sitting on the side of the trail. She couldn't think of any reason to keep going so we talked to her for a while and she eventually kept hiking with us, but its really difficult to keep going when the rain never stops.Right now I'm in my tent outside the shelter and there is lighting and thunder but no rain for the moment. I think it's about to start. Hopefully tomorrow will be nice and we can get in some good mileage, maybe a 20 mile day.I retired my Montrail train runners and went back my boots today. The balls of my feet are hurting because the boots are so much harder than the soft soled trail runners. I do feel a lot more support for my ankle though so I'm hoping I'll just get used to the boots again. No blister yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Date: 2003-06-09
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Campsite Near Jennings Creek
Miles today: 16.9

Day 76: We were going to try and pull 20 miles today, but we decided to stop at this amazing campsite near Jennings Creek. We came across Capt'n Ben and Auntie Em, who are slackpacking because they live in Blacksburg and they drove us to this little campground store that had ice cream and hamburgers! It happened to be a few miles short of our 20 mile goal but it was so awesome to get the ice cream and the campsite was really nice next to the river so we just decided to stop for the day.The sun finally came out today and it was beautiful, but hot so I was hiking really slow. The balls of my feet feel like they are on fire because I'm still getting used to the switch back to boots. We got a late start this morning, so that also made it hard to fit in 20 miles.There was a little incident involving a dying baby fawn, believe it or not! All night we heard this crying noise from our campsite and it turns out that the night before Lone Wolf scared a deer while he was hiking and a baby fawn just tumbled down on to the trail. He wasn't sure if the mother deer accidentally kicked it when it got startled or if it just fell on its own, but the mother deer ran off and left the fawn. This is where it gets ugly. He should have just left the fawn so the mother could come back for it, but he waited and obviously the mother wasn't going to come back while he was still there. After a long time, for some reason he decided to pick up the baby and take it back to where it fell from. That was where the problem started because I guess its a really bad idea to touch the fawn because the mother might not accept it back with human scent. Anyways, the fawn was just crying all night and Moxie found it in the morning. It was extremely small and very young, maybe only a few days or a week old. She wanted to do something like call the forest service or somewhere else that could take the fawn because otherwise it was probably going to die. We all told her to just leave it alone and let nature take its course. The fawn ended up dying right there in her arms so she was really upset. This didn't really get the morning off to a cheery start.
Date: 2003-06-10
From: Campsite Near Jennings Creek

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 77: We did the climb from hell today! We started at 950' (this is the lowest elevation we have been at so far) and climbed up to 4225'! It was in the high 80's with absolutely no breeze and it was very humid. I'm not complaining though because there was no rain!! We rain into Flip Flop who was an ultralighter and he made me sick as he just strolled up the mountain without even breaking a sweat. Meanwhile, Moxy, Crazy Talk and I were practically dying lugging out heavy packs. Flip Flop started from Springer Mtn. on May 10th!!!! He has been hiking 20-30 mile days without any zeros since the beginning and he¢s only been eating 2500 calories per day because he refuses to carry the weight of the food he really needs. He will waste away to nothing soon if he keeps it up, he probably needs at least 6000 calories a day.When we got to the shelter tonight I was extremely surprised to see Dimple Rock and Wrong Way Brown who have been behind us for a while. They were waiting with sodas and cookies which was like an oasis from heaven after the nasty climb that lasted all day. They rented a car and drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked in to the shelter to do some trail magic. It was bittersweet however, because we found out that they have decided to leave the trail! They said that it just isn't fun for them anymore.The rain has been awful and seemingly never-ending and I think that is bringing everybody down. Actually, nobody who has ever hiked the AT in the past has dealt with as much rain as we have so far. There were also two other people at the shelter who were leaving the trail today. I hadn't met them before but they were getting a ride off the trail with D-Rock and Wrong Way. Anyways, D-Rock and Wrong Way-- you hiked 700 miles over 3 months and that is amazing in my book! I wish you all the best and I had an awesome time hiking with you!
Date: 2003-06-11
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 78: We woke up before 6AM this morning because last night D-Rock and Wrong Way said they would pick us up at US501 and drive us into town so we didn't have to hitch. We had to meet them around 1:30PM and it was a 15 miles hike so we had to get an early start. I barely stopped the whole way and the balls of my feet were killing me by the end.I had my second close encounter with a large black snake during my hike. I was hiking up High Cock Mtn. (yes, that¢s the real name of the mountain) and I almost stepped right on the head of this huge snake. It was lying directly down the middle of the trail with its head facing south. It was about 5 feet long and inch in diameter. I don't think it was a King Snake this time because it was pitch black all the way around. I also saw a fairly large lizard and three salamanders today.D-rock and Wrong Way were there waiting when we arrived with sodas and food and it was a sight for sore eyes! We decided to resupply in Lynchburg instead of Glasgow as planned because it is a little bigger and has an outfitter. We were all running out of Aqua Mira (our water treatment) so we needed to get more and an outfitter is the only place you can get it.We had a great time in town and ate at Subway just before heading back to the trail. There was a huge thunderstorm while we were eating but it started to let up before we left to come back. We hiked about 2 more miles in to the shelter I'm at right now to stay for the night. This was the first time we ever managed to hike in to a town, resupply, and get back on the trail all on the same day without staying overnight in town!!! I'm so proud that we resisted the temptation to stay even though it was raining! Thanks D-Rock and Wrong Way for all of your help today!!! Note from transciber: I've posted a bunch of Windtalker's pictures in the last few days so check them out!
Date: 2003-06-12
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: light rain

Day 79: I just want to get the hell out of Virginia...now! I've never been so exhausted in my life and now I'm soaking wet too. I hate rain, bugs, humidity, and my feet feel like somebody took a meat pounder to them.For some reason, my "seam sealed" tent has completely failed and there are puddles of water in each corner of my tent. I didn¢t think that Silnet wore off so I don't know why this never happened before. There is also water coming straight up through the floor of my "waterproof silnylon" tent.This is really starting to get ridiculous. Everyone has a serious case of the Virginia Blues, including me. Today we were talking with two other hikers in the shelter and they were saying jokingly that they will take up a collection for us so we can get a million dollars when we get to Katahdin like they do on Survivor or something. Then Moxy said she would do it for $500,000, and someone else said they would do it for $10K. It actually occurred to me at that point that $10K wasn't enough to keep enduring this terrible weather and pain for 3 more months. It¢s just so wrong that I could think that I wouldn't even continue for 10 grand when I'm actually spending money to do this!!! Its going to take all I've got to get up tomorrow morning and do this again...
Date: 2003-06-14
From: North of Piney River

To: Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast
Miles today: 13.6

Day 81: Yesterday we crossed the 800 mile mark. It might have been fun, if it wasn't 9:00pm, dark, raining, and my feet didn't feel like they were being stabbed with daggers with every step.We were so disgusting and dirty because we hadn't showered in 7 days and it has been 100 percent humidity and in the high 80's and 90's for the past few days. We were really desperate so we attempted to hitch into Buena Vista to at least do laundry and we actually got a ride! we had to walk a ways to the Laundromat but it was worth it. We took pseudo showers in the bathroom, which by the way was REALLY nasty and dirty. We hitched again to this deli-ice cream place and ate before we headed back on the trail. The only down side was that we still had to do the same amount of miles but we were in town from 10AM to 3PM! Plus we were in a total food coma and starting out in the hottest part of the day. Did I mention that the first thing we did after we ate was a massive 3000 foot climb then 1000 foot descent, only to climb up 1000 more feet! Needless to say, it was not fun.So enough about yesterday, now about today. We heard about this lady, Lois, from the Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast who picks up hikers at the Fish Hatchery Road and takes them for free lunch at and then drives them back. We heard we had to be there by 10:30AM to get the ride so we hauled for 5 miles in the morning and got there just in time. When we got to the B and B it was so beautiful we decided we had to stay. It was $25 dollars and you get breakfast (plus the free lunch we ate).After lunch we still needed to get some miles in so we kept hiking over the Priest (that¢s a mountain, a terrible climb for Southbounders and a nasty descent for us) and we made it to the Tye River, where Lois picked us up and brought us back here. I feel like I'm in heaven! I took my first shower in 8 days and it was the absolute best shower I've ever taken! The only problem was that it hurts so bad just to stand up because the balls of my feet are in so much pain that I couldn't really take a very long shower. The thought of having to wear my boots until Waynesboro (our next stop) is almost nauseating. I need to change my footwear because I have to take 6 Motrin every night just so I can sleep through the pain. Only 30 miles... 2 days... I can do this...
Date: 2003-06-15
From: Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast

To: Campsite on Cedar Cliffs
Miles today: 14.9

Day 82: Right now Pipes and I are camped out on Cedar Cliffs. Camping is not permitted here, but we walked for four miles and there was no place to camp and it was getting dark so we decided to camp here anyways. Its a really cool rocky area with vistas but you can't see much because of the fog. It rained almost all day today and we just got drenched as we climbed up to the Maupin Field Shelter and the Three Ridges area. We had an awesome breakfast at the Dutch Haus this morning so it was tough to do the climb on a full stomach.A few miles in, there was a blue-blazed trail called the Mau-Har Trail that took you straight to the Maupin Shelter but it was only 3 miles long and only a 700 foot climb. The AT route took you over 7 miles and up 2100 feet!!! We totally wanted to take the blue blaze, it would have been so much easier but we resisted the temptation! I was so proud! The climb definitely sucked in the rain but I'm glad we stuck with the AT.Tomorrow its an easy 15 miles into Waynesboro and the on to the long awaited Shenandoahs!
Date: 2003-06-16
From: Campsite on Cedar Cliffs

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 83: Never mind an easy 15 miles into town, I should know by now that no mile on the AT is ever easy. Today it poured all day and the hike completely sucked. I am so sick of this rain!!! Rain is forecasted for the next 3 days. I never want to hike in the rain again. I'm so tired and wet I just want to live a normal life again...
Date: 2003-06-17
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 84: Today was rainy and full of all the usual town chores. I got new Garmont hiking shoes because I was having way too much pain in my boots. I've only heard great things about the Garmonts and Two Dog has been wearing them for a while and loves them. I also got a new summer bag, the Mountain Hardwear Fairview (40 degree down bag, 1 lb 13 oz!) This is going to save me over 1 and a half pounds of pack weight and I'm really excited about it. I also saw my first movie since I got on the trail today! Sherri (a true trail angel!!) drove Two Dog, Crazy Talk, Pipes and I to see a movie in Staunton, VA about 15 miles away. We also took her daughter Sierra with us and we saw "Bruce Almighty" It was actually surprisingly funny and I was so happy to get to see any movie, it didn't even matter which one.When we got back to the hotel, we found out that Sleepy Floyd is going home! He said he needs a break from the trail (especially this terrible weather) but he plans to get back on the trail in a few weeks. I hope you makes it back, we will miss you Sleepy!!
Date: 2003-06-18
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Stealth Campsite near Turk Gap
Miles today: 12.4

Day 85: We got a late start (as usual) getting out of town this morning. I was actually feeling really good and was planning to do a 20 mile day but Pipes and Two Dog were not feeling 100% They were just feeling really exhausted, probably just from lack of sleep in town. I waited for them at the first shelter (about 7 miles in) and they both took a long nap before we continued. The water situation was a little annoying because there are no water sources between the first and second shelter, a distance of 13 miles. Pipes and Two Dog didn't want to do the full 20 to the second shelter so we had to carry enough to drink and cook with for 13 miles and one night. That¢s a lot of water and a lot of weight!The weather looked a little threatening this morning but seemed to clear up quite a bit during the day. It is supposed to thunderstorm tonight and tomorrow though and I couldn't seam seal my tent in town because they were out of Sil-net (the seam sealer you need for sil-nylon). This might make for a wet few days!!Pipes saw her first bear on the trail today. She saw a cub up in a tree only about a tenth of a mile from where I was waiting for her up the trail. We've heard of a lot of bear sightings in the Shenandoah area recently and we heard what we thought was a bear while we were taking a break at the first shelter. We hung our food tonight so hopefully we'll be ok where we are camping. We also saw a rattlesnake earlier in the day curled up in some rocks along the trail.
Date: 2003-06-19
From: Stealth Campsite near Turk Gap

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: broken clouds

Day 86: So the Shenandoahs have actually lived up to the rumors and they are a little easier so far. I made good time today and my feet are feeling much better in my new Garmont shoes. So far, no ankle sprains and the pain in the balls of my feet is mostly gone. We stopped at the Loft Mountain campground store after about 17 miles and I had a Ben and Jerry¢s Cookie Dough Bar. It was amazing and had 410 calories and 24 grams of fat, not bad! I also had a soda and bag of combos and then Two Thirds was nice enough to drive us to the Wayside snack bar. I only had onion rings because the food was WAY overpriced because of the tourists.While we were there we ran into Spitz and Karma who rolled in on bikes! They said they were "chrome blazing" the Shenandoahs by biking Skyline Drive which was the original AT route. I was so jealous because I miss biking and I could have finished the whole 100 mile park in a day or two.After we ate we still had about 6 miles left so we booked it to get in before it started to rain. Of course, just as I was starting to pitch my tent it started to pour. I got the tent up anyway. I got in and started to settle in when I realized that the seam sealer failure was going to be a bigger issue than I thought. I have been stuffing the corners with paper towels but there was just too much water. SO I decided to crash in the hut and packed my stuff. I took my tent (which is now soaked and weighs about twice as much as it normally does) down when there was a break in the rain. I'm hoping for a good nights sleep because everyone in the shelter tonight claims they don't snore...