morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-25
From: Near Bland, Virginia

To: Bland, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

I broke camp early and hiked to the road and hitched a ride into Bland, Virginia. I ate a large meal at the Square Grille consisting of biscuits, gravy and pancakes. I sat around doing paperwork and charging my phone while I drank cup after cup of coffee.I have decided to take a two day break because I am worn down and have been having some blood pressure issues. I expected my blood pressure to be low, but it actually it is high. This is quite confusing to me, so I¢m going to take some time off to rest, clean up, eat, and decide what to do about this medical issue. I was able to get in a few miles of hiking, then I cleaned up and pigged out at a Shoney¢s buffet. The rest today has done me good.
Date: 2012-05-26
From: Bland, Virginia

To: Bland, Virginia
Miles today: 12.1

I continued to rest, eat and get things cleaned up. I also resupplied things, and went through my gear and sorted things out. I did a few miles slack packing today to Jenny Knob Shelter. I saw Badger and Semple See, who were making their way toward Pearisburg, where I hope to be in a few days. It was good to hike without a pack and in dry weather. The Trail today was fairly easy. I can¢t believe we have had no rain now for two days!
Date: 2012-05-27
From:  Bland, Virginia b

To:  Bland, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a zero day and I went to church, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I filled up at Cracker Barrel, then returned to my room where I had a beer and sorted through my gear. I pitched some stuff and repackaged some food and basically dried out my bag and clothes. I had thoroughly washed all my clothes and even my sleeping bag yesterday, so they certainly look and smell much better. I watched the Indy 500 in the comfort of air conditioning while drinking a beer and reading and working on my journal. I also wrote the following limericks¢¦Life on the Trail can be cruel; no water, no food no fuel.Solitude all day long. Surely something is wrong!Who wants to live like a mule?Then comes a blessed moment, the peace, the calm¢¦you own it!When your thinking turns good, then you know that you shouldBe seeing the Trail¢s atonement.
Date: 2012-05-28
From:  Bland, Virginia

To: Wapati Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Today is Memorial Day and I hiked for 10 hours. It was a fairly easy hike, being perhaps the flattest part of the Trail I have traveled since beginning in Georgia, but I was very tired by the end of the day. I did take a diversion off the Trail of about one-third mile to Dismal Falls, a very pretty, popular area. There wear 15-20 people sitting, fishing and swimming. I pulled off as many clothes as I could/should and went swimming in the falls too. It felt really great to get cleaned off. Someone offered me a beer and of course, I did not refuse! I had a great time at the falls, but soon packed up and headed to Wapati Shelter, where I again caught up with Missouri Mule. He is about my age and we have crossed paths off and on for a few weeks.   I hadn¢t seen him for a week or two and it was nice to hear what had been going on in his life and to tell him what had been going on with me.   I also met a young lady named Kleenex from South Dakota and a gentleman from Buffalo, New York. They are both doing very well with their hike. About 10-12 people spent the night in the shelter.
Date: 2012-05-29
From: Wapati Shelter

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: few clouds

Today started out as beautiful day, a good day for hiking. I was able to go down to Woods Hole Hostel where I had been last December when I did a five day practice hike with a couple of friends. There I had met Neville, the young lady who runs the hostel, and her husband Michael. Michael wasn¢t there today as he was out running shuttles, but it was good to see Neville again. I spent some time rocking in a chair on the porch and Neville fixed me a big, wonderful milkshake.   There were a number of hikers there, including Sandy of PA. I hadn¢t seen her for about a week because she took some time off due to some foot pain. I bought some fuel for my stove and although I hated to leave, I did. If you get the chance, go to Woods Hole Hostel. It is an amazing place and no doubt the best hostel on the whole TrailI got to Doc¢s Knob Shelter and intended to take a brief break, but it started to rain, so I decided to stay. It was fairly crowded, six people in a six person shelter, so we were fitted in pretty snug. There were three other thru-hikers and two section hikers, Heart Song and Walla Girl. They were very entertaining and I enjoyed talking with them. There was also some Trail Magic from someone who placed 15-20 cans of beer in a nearby spring, free to whoever found them. They were nice and cold and greatly appreciated.My visit to Woods Hole Hostel and reluctance to leave there, along with the routine rain storm kept me from putting in too many miles again today.
Date: 2012-05-30
From: Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg, Virginia
Miles today: 8.2

Today¢s hike was slow because the Trail was so sloppy from all the rain we had last night. In many places it was just one long, skinny puddle. I was glad to finally reach Pearisburg and find a room at the Plaza Hotel. The lady who runs the Plaza Hotel also includes doing your laundry in the price of the room, which was awesome. An Australian, Walk About, who is also hiking the Trail, gave her all of his clothes and went around wearing only a bath towel. I got cleaned up and restocked. I made it to the Dairy Queen where I ate a lot of food and drank sweet tea as I did paperwork and recharged my phone. I was able to catch up on correspondence including some dictation and phone calls. I have decided to use the 50+ miles I did last December when I hiked the AT with two friends. It is okay to do that, as a thru-hike means you have to hike the Trail within a 12-month period, not necessarily a calendar year. In any case, I called Don Raines, the man who drove us last year, and he will pick me up tomorrow a.m. and take me ahead to where I got off the Trail last year. I did some cleaning in preparation for tomorrow and then just kicked back and relaxed the rest of the day.
Date: 2012-05-31
From: Pearisburg, Virginia

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 78.2
Weather: few clouds

Today I caught the shuttle and went to the point where I had gotten off the Trail about 6 months ago. I immediately headed to McAfee¢s Knob, 9-10 miles away. It is the most photographed area on the whole Trail and it is a highly sought after place to visit. I hurried as quickly as I could because, of course, rain was forecasted for the evening and I didn¢t want to get there and have no view. The hike went through several pastures, one of which had a cherry tree with ripe cherries. I took some time to eat as many as I could reach. There were also a number of stiles along the way. These are small bridges you climb up one side and down the other in order to go over a fence in a pasture. There were many critters on the Trail today. I saw several snakes including a rhythm snake, a skink, lizards, squirrels, crows and songbirds.I made it to McAfee¢s Knob and reaching there made the strenuous day of effort worthwhile. I passed several day hikers coming down. When I got to the top I was the only one there and had the knob all to myself. A knob is simply a large pointed rock projection that overlooks several valleys. McAfee¢s Knob has unlimited views for 180-degrees and overlooks a large town with a large airport. It was a large, flat, stony area so I sat down and relaxed, reminiscing about my hike and the many examples of Trail magic and kindness I have encountered. I even drank a cup of coffee. While there I also found out that my step-sons, Brian and Derek Arrowood, and their families are coming to visit me in a week, which will be just AWESOME! I am very much looking forward to seeing them and it is so generous of them to drive 8-9 hours just to visit me for a short weekend.And of course, as I was sitting there feeling great about my day, about the view, about some of my family coming to visit, the clouds thickened and I could hear the thunder and then see the rain coming. I got packed up and made it to Campbell Shelter just as the heavy ran cut loose. Others showed up afterward, including Gus, Rocky and Spice. Rocky and Spice were just married last August and are doing the Trail now before they get jobs, buy a house and settle down. They talked about their plans to drive around the western part of the US just to see what might appeal to them with regard to a location to live. They are very nice young people and I was happy to have met them. Gus had been a homeless street person, living in big cities all around the country, and had great stories to share.For the evening we were entertained by a mouse that had absolutely no fear of people. He would run back and forth across the shelter floor, get in my shoe and sniff around for any little thing to eat, and then finally disappeared.
Date: 2012-06-01
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Daleville, Virginia
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

Today started with a heavy fog and a mist, so the views from Tinker Cliffs were nonexistent. I walked along the bottom of the cliffs because I got lost and missed the turn off. The view at the bottom of the cliffs was great however, but since it wasn¢t an actual trail I had to go very slow and bushwhack (meaning walking in an area where you aren¢t supposed to be walking). I finally found a crevice in the huge rock face where I could climb through. I climbed to the top, getting back on the Trail. I still don¢t know how I missed the turn on the Trail, but nevertheless, the side hike was also enjoyable. I took a lunch break at Lambert¢s Meadow Shelter with Rocky, Spice, and Gus. As I was leaving, Gus saw a 3-foot long Copperhead around the base of the shelter. The snake found a hole and went under the shelter, likely to find mice. We walked another few feet and there, sunning itself on a log was a 2-foot long Copperhead which had apparently recently shed its skin. It was very colorful and beautiful and not the least bit interested in getting away as we looked at it. I got a good picture, and that¢s enough poisonous snakes for me. I really don¢t need to see any more.I hiked as fast as I could throughout the day, as the rain had threatened all day and I knew I had a lot of miles to do before reaching town. The cicadas were very abundant and almost deafening in this remote area of woods. They must be part of the 10 or 15 year cicadas, as they have bright red eyes, gold veins in their wings and their wings are very thick.About 5:30, while walking along the ridgeline at the top of a mountain (a narrow area from one mountain to another), I could see the storm coming in the distance, about 10-12 miles away. It appeared to be quite heavy rain and the mountains were disappearing as it approached. When it did hit, the wind was fierce. Here I was on this ridgeline on top of a mountain with very little cover and the temperature dropped immediately by about 20-degrees. The rain was quite cold and furious. Soon the Trail became a sloppy river. The lightning was all around and I was going under some high voltage power lines that were snapping and crackling. That, coupled with the hard rain, made it seem like a good idea to keep moving as I felt I was in quite a precarious situation. On the way down the mountain I fell into a dirty puddle, but since I was already soaked to the bone, it really didn¢t matter.When I got to a lower level I did have a surprise treat of a mulberry tree full of ripe fruit. These were very tasty and I was quite hungry. I also found another cherry tree with big, black, juice cherries. All of the fruit was tasty and had been cleaned by the rain. After a full day with 11 12 hours of fast hiking, I finally made it to Daleville where I got a room at Howard Johnson¢s. I took a shower, had dinner at Pizza Hut, did laundry, and then communicated with friends via text messages, phone and e-mail, which brought a beautiful, eventful, hard, and rewarding day to a close.
Date: 2012-06-02
From: Daleville, Virginia

To: North of Daleville, Virginia
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I took forever getting out of Daleville because I was busy getting my blog entries all up to date and cleaning my gear. I even hand-washed my tennis shoes and then dried them in the dryer. There has been so much rain that everything was wet and muddy.I went down to breakfast at the HoJo¢s where I had stayed. It was billed as a full hot breakfast, but it was very much misrepresented in that the only hot items were coffee and waffles that you could make in their one little waffle machine.   Otherwise there were donuts, etc. The facility was somewhat dirty and I was disappointed with the hotel in general and I was very happy to leave there. I hiked into town from the HoJo¢s just to get my blood pressure checked, but the CVS had been boarded up and there was no place for that. I went across the street and had McDonald¢s food and sweet tea for lunch before heading back to the Trail.It was a perfect day for hiking as far as weather was concerned and I walked past several day hikers out in the great hiking weather. Best of all there was no rain today! I did fall again, whacking my right knee. It has been sore and has been popping a little ever since. The more I walk, the better it feels, however. I saw a large black snake crossing the Trail. He quickly lost interest in me and continued into the woods. Because I got a slow start, I didn¢t get in very many miles.
Date: 2012-06-03
From: North of Daleville, Virginia

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I got a late start today because I slept so well. I think I sleep better now in a tent with my air mattress than in a real bed. It was a great day again for hiking. I stopped at Wilson Creek Shelter for a break where I met a friendly group of hikers who were sitting around talking and drinking Morning Loca, a chocolate drink with whiskey in it. And yes, I drank my share. Several hikers I knew showed up including Pops, Dam, Mr. Bojangles, Dirt Farmer, Ambassador, and Dream Walker, as well as three others I did not know.   I enjoyed the rest, but needed to keep moving because it was such a nice hiking day and I didn¢t want to waste it. At one point I heard cars which seemed fairly close. This surprised me because I usually feel like I¢m in a pretty remote area. As I walked further, I saw the Blue Ridge Parkway which runs along the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of the major mountain ranges on the AT. At one point the highway actually crosses the Trail. I hitched a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway with a very nice couple, Amanda and Peter (I think). They took me to the Peaks of Otter Lodge restaurant where I had an awesome buffet. I met a couple from Indiana who were also eating there. They live near Bloomington and had worked at IU for many years. They are traveling the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway just for fun. They graciously gave me a ride back to the Trail where stuffed from eating at the wonderful buffet, I only hiked 3 more miles before calling it a day at Cove Mountain Shelter. It looks like I¢m going to be the only one here tonight as it is getting late.
Date: 2012-06-04
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: clear sky

Just before dark last night a recently married couple arrived to spend the night at the shelter. I had met them previously, Rocky and Spicy, from southeastern Michigan. During the night Rocky saws something very large moving outside the shelter. Vision was limited to his headlight, but some very large four-legged animal went by. It was either a bear or very large wild pig. There were no tracks to be seen this morning, but judging from the noise it made, it was likely a large wild pig. Today was a good hiking day. At one point there was a swimming hole and although the water was freezing cold, Rocky and Spicy did get wet. I replenished my water supply, but chose not to swim. In the afternoon I had a big up hike. It took about 4 hours to climb all the way to the top. On the way up I stopped at Bryant Ridge Shelter for lunch. This was one of the biggest and most attractive shelters I have seen so far. It had multiple levels and enough room for 15 or 16 campers. There was a large amount of seating and a large picnic table with water nearby. It was a great location.I encountered an angry deer today. It was grunting and making coughing sounds as it tried to scare me away. I walked for 3-4 minutes while it stared and threatened me. It then disappeared, only to return about 5 minutes later, still apparently angry that I was invading its space. There was apparently a young one nearby that I could not see and the deer was just being protective.I am staying at Cornelius Creek Shelter tonight with several people, including a nice lady called Poetry in Motion. She was a thru hiker 10 years ago and is now just hiking for a month or so for the fun of it. She made the campfire and it was the best I have ever seen! Rhino and Johnny Walker Red are also spending the night here.
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Comments
Miles today: 0.0

I hiked a portion of the Trail in early December with two friends. I am not repeating that portion of the Trail now, but want to comment on the things that I remember most from that five day hike.One memorable site was Mountain Lake. It is a very pretty setting where some scenes from the movie Dirty Dancing were filmed. Unfortunately some rare occurrence caused the water to drain out of the lake. It is now only 2-3 feet deep, whereas at one time it had been 50 feet deep. It is basically an empty lake, which seemed very odd.Another site was Dragon¢s Tooth. This is a series of rocks up on a mountain that stick straight up in the air. It is a very scenic spot and you can climb up on the Tooth for a great view. Going down it is so steep you have to hold onto metal rungs which the Trail maintainers have drilled into the rock. You have to get down on all fours and be very careful that your pack weight doesn't cause you to tip backward. And then there was the very nice memorial to Audie Murphy, the most decorated solider of WWII who later became an actor. The memorial is placed near the site where he unfortunately died in a plane crash. The memorial was decorated with American flags and there was a comfortable place to sit and contemplate this gentleman¢s illustrious life and career as a soldier and then actor.
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Near Big Island
Miles today: 17.7

I got an early start today, the weather was great (when I started) and there were some relatively easy sections of Trail. After several hours of hiking I was able to catch a ride into the small town of Big Island. There were a number of bicyclists going down the Blue Ridge Parkway, riding from the tallest point on the parkway to the lower point. They were racing downhill at what appeared to be crazy fast speeds, but they were skilled cyclists, a part of a group cycling a large portion of the parkway. It looked like a lot of fun!A gentleman named Morris from Queens, NY stopped and wanted to walk with me a while as he was interested in my efforts to hike the AT. He was very nice and was good company. Greg, a man driving one of the support vans for the cyclists, stopped and asked if I needed a ride to the bottom of the hill. Of course I said yes and he gave me a lift to the crossroads that led into Big Island. At the crossroads was a gentleman adjusting some straps on his semi that was carrying mulch to a nearby paper mill. He gave me a ride into town. That is the first time I¢ve ridden in a semi.In town I got a cheeseburger with bacon, fries and two sundaes, which made me quite full. There was a filling station outside the diner where I asked several people if they might be going the direction I needed to go to get back to the Trail. A young man in a pickup truck graciously gave me a ride back to the Trail. In general, men alone in trucks are the most likely to be willing to give you a ride.As soon as I got out of the truck it started raining like crazy. I was able to get on my rain gear just before it turned into a real gully washer! I finally got to the shelter after walking in the very hard rain. Johnny Walker Red, Briskit, a gentleman from Texas, and a young section hiker named Sassafras were there. Sassafras was a typical section hiker in that he was wearing cotton clothes, was carrying heavy metal utensils, and had no sleeping bag. He basically just slept on the floor of the shelters. He was a very nice young man and had only another 3-4 days remaining to complete his 2-3 week hike.
Date: 2012-06-06
From: Near Big Island

To: Punch Bowl Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: light rain

It threatened rain all day today, but never did rain. I stayed at the Punch Bowl Shelter, which was nice. There was a nearby pond, hence the name Punch Bowl. I haven¢t been doing as many miles lately as I am slowing down so I can meet my family that is coming to visit me in 2 days. I need to meet them not far from here. At the shelter was Lasagna and Fizz, two very nice people. I got up at a reasonable time this morning, but was not in a big hurry to leave. I did a very casual hike today. One interesting thing was that I saw some flowers I had not previously seen on the Trail, including columbine and lily of the valley.
Date: 2012-06-07
From: Punch Bowl Shelter

To: Lynchburg Reservoir
Miles today: 9.5

Today was another short day as I am positioning myself to be picked up tomorrow by my family who is coming from central Indiana to get me off the Trail for a couple of days. I am very much looking forward to seeing them and spending some time with them off the Trail. Today¢s hike was primarily around Lynchburg Reservoir, which is a very large reservoir. It was a pretty day and I thought it was a shame that nobody was out there fishing. I met 3 Trail maintainers who were working hard, including 73-year-old Robert who had an ax, chain saw and limb trimmers. The other 2 maintainers were about the same age, perhaps a little younger, and were carrying power weed trimmers.The people who maintain this Trail are very important and do a lot of good work. They are good examples of Trail Angels in that they take care of the Trail, keeping it as safe as possible. There are times they have to do very heavy work, including moving very large rocks. I just want to say thanks to all the various Trail maintainers. You rarely see them, but one is very aware of the good work they do.My son, Marc, turned 40 today. I was able to get a signal when the Trail went near the Blue Ridge Parkway and I was able to call and sing Happy Birthday to him. (I¢m sure he was thrilled about that!)There is a nice crowd of people at the shelter tonight including Walking Pol (he¢s from Poland), Spicy and Rocky, Briskit, Whiffle Ball, Chicken and Tex, and the conversation was lively. There were others, including Claudia, a young lady from Denmark. There were a number of people camping, as the weather was good. There was a young man named Mercury and another named Belch who were camping in the area. Mercury is in a hurry to finish his hike as he has to return to college on Aug. 10. He is concerned about cranking out as many miles as possible each day.