morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-16
From: Waynesboro

To: stealth camp near Flip Flop Trail
Miles today: 16.8

I got up early and walked down to the laundromat, put in the clothes, and walked across the street to Weasie¢s for breakfast. I finished the laundry, went to the post office and the library for my food drop and email. I read and replied to Sheila¢s email ¢ lots of food for thought but in a positive way. I called a shuttle angel, got a ride to the trail, and started hiking around 12:30 ¢ way too late for the 20 miles I was hoping to do. It was drizzling for most of the afternoon ¢ poor views but not enough rain even for the umbrella. (it was actually pleasantly atmospheric as shreds of fog blew across the summit of Bear Den Mtn and clouds filled the gap beyond it.) It dawned on me after a while that Blackrock hut is 20 miles from Rockfish Gap, not from the previous shelter, and that it would take until 9 or 10PM to get there. Instead, I decided to stealth camp around 8PM near the Flip Flop Trail junction. I found a flat but somewhat rocky site on top of the ridge as the fog rolled in. I messed around with a bear bag, being careful not to lose either the location of the bear bag, or, worse, the way back to my tarp, which was getting hard to see in the failing light. It all worked out, but there was no time to cook so I had a cold dinner, which tasted fine. I put the few items of food wrapping in a small baggie in the crotch of a tree, and it was undisturbed the next morning. I pitched the tarp high, but as it got colder I lowered it to the ground and put on my spare clothes to stay warm. However, I lowered it too much and awoke with droplets of condensation spattering onto my face every time a raindrop hit the tarp. I got up and raised it enough to get some ventilation (which I should have done in the first place) and was fine after that. I had finally sent home my sleeping bag from Waynesboro, substituting a light quilt that I received in my mail drop. However, even fully dressed, I was cold, and the rocky site didn¢t make for a good night¢s sleep.
Date: 2003-06-17
From: stealth camp near Flip Flop Trail

To: Hightop hut
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: moderate rain

Got up, packed up, and hit the trail in raingear. Not much to say about the day¢s hike, except that it was an endurance run in the rain, which continued all day. The rain, wind, and cool temperatures (high around 50, I¢d guess), all made for potential hypothermia in the second half of June in Virginia, and I¢m not kidding. I walked a half-mile off the trail and down 450¢ of elevation to get lunch at Loft mountain Wayside, only to find it closed due to a power failure. I returned, grumbling, to the trail and soldiered on. Around 6PM, I found myself getting mildly hypothermic, even though I was hiking steadily with full raingear, so I stopped, added an insulating layer, and ate a Snickers. I finally reached Hightop shelter, 24.5 miles from last night¢s campsite.There actually were some highlights today. I saw two wild turkeys, one of which stayed just ahead of me on the trail for perhaps 200 yards. I also heard a crash and looked up just in time to see a small bear that had jumped out of a tree 20 feet ahead of me disappear into the underbrush.When I got to the shelter, there were several thru-hikers, including Morph, Blink-Blink, Sea Eagle, and Odwalla, all trying to stay warm. I cooked and ate quickly and went up to the loft space where I removed wet shirt, shorts, undies, and socks and put on dry clothes. When it was clear that this wasn¢t going to be enough to stay warm, I added a damp fleece sweater and raingear. The sleeping quilt (which is the zip-off extra top from my Golite bag) was simply inadequate for the cold night, which must have gotten into at least the mid-40s. I tried to huddle in a fetal position and keep my behind from sticking out from under the quilt, which is basically impossible to do. Finally, at 3AM I got the idea of crawling halfway into a large trash bag, which sort of worked, in a damp way.
Date: 2003-06-18
From: Hightop hut

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 20.4

Happy 56th birthday to me (the Beatles¢ ¢Birthday¢ was playing in my head). I got up at 5:15, pretty damp from the condensation inside my trash bag but no longer chilled to the bone. I packed and started hiking at 6:10. I had lost my warm hat somewhere in the shelter and didn¢t want to fuss around too much and wake up the others. The weather at the start of the day was overcast, but it began to brighten, and I got a glimpse of the sun by 9AM. It was up-and-down today, and I felt as though I had walked a marathon the day before, which in fact I had come close to doing. Odwalla and Blink-Blink overtook me, and we chatted about hammocks and other gear while walking together for a while. O, BB and I pulled into Lewis Campground around 11:30 and bought lunch at the camp store. We were joined by Supastar and Treebeard (a great name borrowed from Lord of the Rings, based on his size, beard, and interest in forestry). I went on ahead and made good time up the various little hills. The partly cloudy skies cheered me along. I made Big Meadows Lodge by 3PM. (I motored 2.4 miles in 45 min from Laurel Prong Trail to Milam¢s Gap.) I checked into BM Lodge with no problems; (I¢m one of those people that always expects my reservation to be lost, although it never happens). I did laundry, ate a pretty good dinner in the restaurant, and recovered my hat, which Morph was kind enough to bring with him when it turned up in the shelter after I left. The oddity today was a large, pointed, pink egg, maybe 2¢ in diameter, just lying on the trail near a parkway crossing. Wild turkey egg? I also saw a large (5¢ long) Luna moth on the side of the lodge.In the evening I went to the tap room to hear a very good musician sing and play folk and pop tunes on guitar and harmonica. The bartender also joined him, and she did a very passable version of ¢Me and Bobby McGee¢. And who should walk in but Nemo, who had gotten off the trail a few days ago to skip over a long section she had previously done and continue hiking from Lee MA. I had a nice chat with her and her boyfriend.
Date: 2003-06-19
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 0.0

The day began with a slightly hazy view of the valley below, but the clouds below us soon returned. Above, it was partly sunny. This was a zero day for me. I had breakfast in the dining room with Morph and Double Dare and then bought a great book, Geology Along the Skyline Drive by Robert L. Badger, which I¢ll leave behind tomorrow. I had lunch and dinner in the lodge as well. It wasn¢t worth walking the short distance to Blackrock to see the non-existent views. I wrote postcards to friends and family and talked to my business partner Skip and made plans to meet him in Front Royal.
Date: 2003-06-20
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Pass Mtn hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: moderate rain

I ate breakfast in the lodge with Martha Graham (a trail name which also belongs to a Triumph motorcycle she once owned), Gazelle, Hopeful, and Sketch. It started raining so hard during breakfast that I had to borrow an umbrella to fetch mine from my room. I decided to leave by 10AM anyway; the rain had become more moderate, and it stopped within the hour. I took off my raingear after lunch at Skyland, where I watched a deer eating the leaves of a mountain laurel bush through the dining room window. I ran into a guy and his 13-year-old daughter who had been staying at Big Meadows and chatted for a while at a picnic table near the Pinnacles. I saw a small bear climb down a tree maybe 100 feet from the trail and run away. I later stopped at the outlook near Mary¢s Rock, where the view of the sunlit valley below opened up for a while, the first view I had had in Shenandoah this week. Leaving this spot I came within 30 feet of a medium-sized bear who seemed to be indifferent to my presence, or maybe he was waiting to see if I¢d offer a handout. I didn¢t, but I took his picture. I made it to Pass Mtn shelter at 7:15PM and share the shelter with Shannon and Blue, section hikers from Seattle, Beav and Blaze, and some Boy Scouts. These huts use a system of bear poles to keep food out of their greedy paws. The trick is to raise your food bag on the end of a long pole to one of the hooks at the top of the upright bear pole, which is perhaps 12 feet tall, and transfer it to the hook; it would make a great birthday party game for children.
Date: 2003-06-21
From: Pass Mtn hut

To: Gravel Spring hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

Naked Hiking Day, but no one was likely to bare any skin on this cold day with morning showers, which started an hour or so out of camp. I had slept well in dry clothes. The day on the trail was pretty boring ¢ I saw a few white-clustered lily-like flowers and some red columbines. There were no views, but I walked though some nice shady green areas of mature trees and bright short-leaved grass. I had a BBQ pork sandwich and the trademark blackberry milkshake at Elkwallow Wayside. Several motorcycle riders were there trying to get warm. The rain stopped after lunch, but I hiked in my fleece top and open rain jacket because of the cold. I reached Gravel Spring shelter at 3PM and had a nice chat with a couple from DC who were day hiking. I took a nap after they left. They returned while I was making dinner, and I also had a visit from a trail angel named Craig, whose son, Scubaman, is thru-hiking. We talked baseball and football while drinking a can of Budweiser.   He left as it started to rain again, and thru-hiker Scott showed up after having done mega-miles from Big Meadows.
Date: 2003-06-22
From: Gravel Spring hut

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

I left Gravel Springs hut early. There were early glimpses of the sun, then increasing clouds, becoming partly cloudy again when I got to Front Royal around 12:15. I got a hitch from a guy who told me about some strange animals they¢re keeping at the Smithsonian farm just outside town (it was behind a high fence covered with dense poison ivy on the last leg before the trail reached the highway. I checked into the Quality Inn, did laundry, and had a cheeseburger at the restaurant across the street in an old grain mill. Back at the motel I took a nap and then sat in the sun by the swimming pool ¢ had summer finally arrived? Skip showed up around 6:30. We went back to the restaurant where I ate lunch and had a really wonderful dinner. Our architecture office is breaking up, (Skip is an urban designer and I¢m a land use planner), strengthening my tentative decision not to return after my hike is done. After Skip left, I watched the Mets blow a lead to the Yankees and fell asleep.
Date: 2003-06-23
From: Front Royal

To: Dick's Dome shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

I was up by 6. I ate breakfast at a little restaurant on Main Street, went to the post office, and packed up. I thumbed for a half-hour before the father of a former thru-hiker picked me up. I took the advice pinned onto the trail crossing and followed the highway to the next gate, bypassing the half-mile-long water-filled trench that the trail had become in the recent rains. Getting back on the trail at the next gate, I crossed a mowed meadow to the woods. Sunny, sunny, sunny! I found trail magic Coke at Manassas Gap shelter after having had lunch at the beautiful Jim and Molly Denton shelter. The privy there was also pristine, except for a wolf spider that was so big I first thought it was one of those rubber joke spiders ¢ until it moved! I gently coaxed it out the door but no longer felt like sitting on that seat. I got pretty tired climbing hills in the heat, but I¢ll take the sun in preference to the rain for a while. I made it 15 miles to Dick¢s Dome, where I met Green Turtle, Seabee, Mothman, Stonehenge, and a local kid named Sam who just wanted to see what it was like. Had a nice dinner chat with Green Turtle and Seabee, while GT made a Pepsi-can stove.Sweating up the hillThen        One of earth¢s great wonders-A cool summer breeze.
Date: 2003-06-24
From: Dick's Dome shelter

To: Bear's Den Rocks hostel
Miles today: 18.9

Woke up at 5:20, on the trail at 6. It was warm, with clear skies. I made it to US50 and detoured 0.8 mile to Doc¢s BBQ for a good breakfast made by a lady that reminded me of my late grandmother. I stopped at a couple of shelters for water. The big challenge today was the seven ridges of the ¢roller coaster¢. It had an intro sign from the ¢Merry Trail Crew¢ saying they hoped we¢d enjoy the ride. Someone wrote in ¢Does this mean the mudbowl ride is over?¢ It was hard work in the heat and humidity but I was determined not to complain. Actually, it was only 82 degrees at 5PM at the shelter, but it felt worse. We¢ve been lucky in one respect ¢ the temps have been cool and apart from the rain, comfortable for hiking, whereas in most years the temps would be regularly in the 90s in VA in June. I dunked my head in one of the streams and sat down in a pool to cool my posterior. The trail had had many muddy stretches since Front Royal, but as I went on this gave way to more rock. I stopped for the day at bear¢s Den hostel, a beautiful stone mansion now run by Potomac ATC. At the hostel I met Granite (from NH, naturally), Journey, and Scubaman (whose father had given me a trail magic beer a few days before). Seabee was also there.
Date: 2003-06-25
From: Bear's Den Rocks hostel

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: clear sky

I got up at 6:30 in the bunk room at Bear¢s Den. I packed up, trying to not disturb the people still sleeping, and was out the door by 7. There was a nice view to the west from the nearby Bear¢s Den Rocks. The trail went over two more humps in the roller coaster. I crossed Route 7 in Snickers Gap, where I had to wait for a minute or more for a big enough gap to cross the morning commuter traffic. I climbed up the ridge on the opposite side on a decent rolling trail. I stopped for a rest at the PATC¢s beautiful Blackburn Center, where I was offered a blackberry soda by the caretaker and her little girl. I chatted with them and Chris the trail manager for PATC. Moving on again, I had a long ridge walk through pretty woods, with some rocky sections and moderate slopes. I crossed WV Rte 9 and headed up the rocky slopes of Loudon Heights, getting very tired now. Someone had marked the 1000-mile mark with large numerals made from stones. The payoff was a steep descent to the wide, beautiful Shenandoah River with its many big staircase rapids. I soon was crossing the bridge carrying US 340. Ahead, I could see only a wooded hillside with a house or two peeking out.I climbed up more wooded trail on the steep hillside, first on the AT and then on the blue-blazed side trail, which emerged on the campus of a former African American college, now serving as the campus for the National Park Service. It was another block to the ATC headquarters, a major milestone that I had been looking forward to for a long time. I encountered Moose Munch there, had my picture taken, and talked to Carolina Cruiser, who is making a film about hiking the trail. He took some footage of my boots.I walked up the street to the Hilltop Hotel, registered, and then walked a mile or so to the library in nearby Bolivar WV to read and reply to Sheila¢s email. There were many beautiful old houses along the way, including one which Stonewall Jackson had used as his headquarters after capturing Harpers Ferry. I walked down to the lower town at the other end of Harpers Ferry, only to find that they roll up the sidewalks at 5PM. However, the keeper of a local pub took pity and let me in for a glass of wine. I crawled back to the hotel (tired, not drunk) and had dinner at the buffet in their dining room with Seabee and a hiker named Tom Grandstaff. I chatted with them for a while in my room and went to bed at 11.
Date: 2003-06-26
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It was very warm this morning and turned into a hot day. I picked up my mail drop at the post office and stopped at the ATC office to look at the photo albums. I found a picture of my friend Debbie (Medusa GA-ME ¢96). I weighed myself on the scale and weighed 154.5 in my undies ¢ a loss of only 6 pounds, which surprised me. Among the hikers there that morning were Thermo, Journey, Granite, Double Dare, and Scubaman. I walked around the historic area of the lower town and visited the excellent ¢Black Voices¢ exhibit, where I ran into Treebeard and Supastar. Later, I walked back to the ATC office to participate in a visit by a group of kids 11-16 from an environmental camp whom Laurie was hosting. I had lunch in the lower town, and dinner at the Anvil Restaurant, and then picked up some things at the 7/11.
Date: 2003-06-27
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Dahlgren campsite
Miles today: 17.9

I checked out and started hiking at 9AM. On the way out, I stopped at Jefferson¢s Rock, then followed the trail through the lower town and across the footbridge into Maryland. It was a warm, sunny, humid morning as I walked along the pretty Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath along the Potomac shore. The river was moving a huge amount of water past me. The trail climbed the steep end of the ridge, but up on top it was soft, wide, and easy, and the weather got cooler, drier and breezy by lunch, which I ate by the side of the trail. There were interesting Civil War exhibits in Fox gap and Crampton gap, where important skirmishes were fought on the day before the battle of Antietam. There was also a huge and slightly bizarre-looking monument dedicated to Civil War newspaper correspondents, a sort of asymmetrical triumphal arch. I camped at Dahlgren campground with Blink Blink, Face & Blaze, Seabee, Tom Grandstaff, Mountain Jack, Double Dare, Supastar& Treebeard. I met for the first time a guy named Stripe who hails from Southey and Hyde Park, two neighborhoods of Boston. I also met a guy just starting a flip flop thru hike, whom we named Fizz after his can of soda overflowed. Dahlgren has a bathroom with free hot showers, courtesy of the state of Maryland. Mountain Jack got us all to come over and look at the beautiful big moths- Cecropia and others I don¢t know- that had gathered on the window screens of the building.
Date: 2003-06-28
From: Dahlgren campsite

To: Devil's Racecourse shelter
Miles today: 18.4

I got up , showered, packed, and started hiking at 7:20. Mountain Jack¢s moth exhibit was still on the bathroom window. There was no dew on my tarp. I caught up with Blink Blink at the (original) Washington Monument, a sort of stone beehive on top of a hill. I went on alone and soon crossed I-70, where Sheila and I and the kids drove on a vacation several years ago. It was a lovely day ¢ no clouds except some high cirrus. I had a great view of the plains of Maryland from Black Rock. Later I had a nice conversation with three folks on a PATC trail crew, and I hiked for a while with Stripe. I had lunch at an east-facing overlook. Fizz came up behind us as we came to Warner Gap, where Hoops and his girlfriend were dispensing trail magic. I had a beer and a candy bar and went on up the last hill of the day with Fizz, discussing Boston sports teams, then walked down to Devils Racecourse shelter. Met thru-hiker Ace (from Cleveland and Columbus), Lightbright from VT, and sectioner Patti (from Toledo).
Date: 2003-06-29
From: Devil's Racecourse shelter

To: Quarry Gap shelter
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: light rain

I was second last to get up but still got on the trail by 7AM. I met a fellow at High Rock who took my picture against the panoramic view of Maryland farms and sprawl. Soon, I entered PA with a whoop and a chorus of ¢Pennsylvania¢ to the tune of ¢Oklahoma¢. It was a pleasant day with sunshine and not too much humidity. The trail passed through dry woods over rolling hills, with a few rocky sections and some neat rock outcrops on Rocky Mountain. I ate lunch at Antietam shelter with Ace and two PATC trail maintainers. Jim Stauch, the overseer of the section north of Route 30 talked me into going to Caledonia State Park for a swim and on to Quarry Gap shelter for the night. It was a long push to Caledonia, but the plunge into a real swimming pool was well worth it. I ate at the snack bar, called Matt and Sheila, and went on to the shelter much refreshed. Quarry gap is a beautiful, newly reconstructed shelter with a breezeway dining area between sleeping pavilions (one reserved for snorers, I guess), a landscaped stream flowing out front, hanging plants, and solar path lights. I was surprised to see Jim Stauch turn up around dinnertime to chat with me and Thermo, and watch the lights come on. I soon learned that he was the designer of the rebuilt shelter and the head of the construction crew and that the shelter is his pride and joy. A man and his two sons showed up around 9PM.
Date: 2003-06-30
From: Quarry Gap shelter

To: Tom's Run shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I was up and out of Quarry Gap shelter by 8. The sky was white with a high, thin overcast, though the sun shone through gaps in the clouds and was bright enough to make shadows for most of the day. It was an easy day of ridge walking on good trail with just a few rocky sections. All this and the long day yesterday made for a leisurely pace and several long rest stops. I spent an hour before lunch at Birch Run shelter shooting the breeze with Thermo and Fizz. I got going just as two slackers came by ¢ it was Chris and Meredith, whom I had last seen in Georgia. I had a nice chat with them and got some news about other hikers, including Tipperary, Michael from CA, and Dale & Emily. I later ate lunch sitting on the trail. There were lots of mountain laurel and ripening blueberries. Fizz and I walked together in the afternoon. We made it into Tom¢s Run shelter at 3PM. Took a nap before dinner. Stripe, Ace, Mountain Jack, and Lightbright (from VT) stopped for short or long rest breaks and then went on. I stayed, as did Thermo and Fizz.
Date: 2003-07-01
From: Tom's Run shelter

To: Boiling Springs PA
Miles today: 22.8

Up early and on the trail by 7. It was another lovely day, not too humid, with a bright blue sky. I walked to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, passing the historic Iron Masters¢ hostel and the furnace for which the park is named. I went on past the lake and up the trail to Piney Mtn ridge. There it was: the halfway sign ¢ only 1086 miles to go. I met a fellow in his 60s who told me that the hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico wasn¢t expected to reach us. He also told me that they had closed the trails on Mt Katahdin due to excess heat, after a hiker had died, apparently from heat stroke. I made it to the Green Mtn General Store, where Thermo and I both ate the foolish half gallon of ice cream and felt overloaded for the rest of the afternoon. (This store is a competitor for the half-way honors with the one in the state park.) Going on, we hiked over a mini-roller-coaster with a neat rock maze on top of the first hill. We passed Alec Kennedy shelter and hiked down through farm fields to Boiling Springs. I camped on the mowed grass campsite just outside town with Thermo, Fizz, and Lightbright. It was great to walk through those planted fields, a totally different kind of landscape from the woods and even the cow pastures we had seen in Virginia. There were also nice moments to catch the breeze, the view, and blue sky on the ridge above town. Boiling Springs is a beautiful town with a row of historic houses and a clear pond supplied by the (cool) water ¢boiling¢ up from the spring. Fizz and I had dinner at the local tavern. We walked back to the campsite, where we were serenaded by trains that passed within 25 feet of our tents; it was fun, though, to hear their whistles miles away and then hear the train approach and go roaring by. Luckily there was no crossing next to the campsite or they would have blown their whistles right next to us.