morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-23
From: Bearfence Mountain Trail VA

To: Bearfence Mountain Trail VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

May 23 - May 28, 2013 During this time I took a wonderful vacation off the trail  with my wife at Front Royal. It felt really good to eat and not have to walk the next 6 to 10 hours. At the beginning of my stay my pants would not stay up without a belt. Now I've got my stomach back and I feel 100 percent.On Friday we toured the Shenandoah National Park.  When we stopped to eat at Skyline I heard a "HeyPilgrim" shouted out from one of the tables. It was Doc and Boone with BP and Laura. It was a real pleasure to introduce my wife to these friends of mine.We also went over to Luray and I bought a new lighter backpack. It is the Osprey, Exos 46 liter pack. It weighs only 2 pounds 4 ounces a savings of over 2 pounds from old 85 liter pack. And I  am sending home about 9 pounds of winter gear. But I am adding 8 ounces per day of GNC Mass Weight Gain (I'll drink in the morning, so for a 4 day resupply walk I'll start off with 1 and half pounds of powder). My wife will send me more powder at each of my resupply towns.Well vacation is over, time to get back to work. I'll be back on the trail Tuesday, May 28.
Date: 2013-05-28
From: Bearfence Mountain Trail VA

To: Rock Spring Hut, VA 
Miles today: 11.5

My wife dropped me off at Bearfence Hut last night. There at the hut were BMan, Calamity Jane, and 2 others. Got on the trail by 8:00. It was a nice morning to hike and the trail was so nice it kept calling for me to walk on it. During this time I saw my first bear sitting by a tree off in the distance. He was watching us back and seemed very cool about us walking through his turf. I stopped at Big Meadow and bought lunch and rested for about an hour. I shared a table with BMan. Then headed for the next hut on a 2 hour walk. My legs got real tired during this section but not so much I couldn't keep trying to work past the feeling. Then when I was about a half hour out from the hut it started to rain. I put on my rain gear and finished my trek. When I got there Doodles was sitting out the storm. Soon as I sat down it started to thunder and lightning and the rain became heavy. Doodles is a young kid from Iowa who is an engineer working at John Deere. They let him have this time off to hike the trail and his job is waiting for him. Later that night BMan and ET (English Tony) came in. As they talked I found out that BMan was a beekeeper by trade and his trail name was spelled Bee Man. I found out a lot about bees that night.
Date: 2013-05-29
From: Rock Spring Hut, VA 

To: Pass Mountain Hut, VA
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

Today I started off early but stopping by the Skyland wayside for breakfast made me lose an hour of cool hiking. After the wayside I started hiking with a day hiker named Turner. He is from Virginia Beach where he owns a farm and has a landscaping business. His girlfriend decided to not hike anymore and he was hiking my way and we got along together real well. We were both sucking up the water all afternoon and were happy to finally reach our destination. Turner was so tired he couldn't move to set up his tent. But I did in a nice green spot across the creek from the hut. There are 3 tenting areas around the hut. Mine was the biggest with just me there. Then a family, wanting to experience the trail, hiked into the hut area looking for a tent site for their one big tent. They checked out all the sites and chose the one right next to mine. Now I have a family of 10 kids and 2 parents as neighbors for the night. They are mostly well behaved and I think I'll get my sleep.
Date: 2013-05-30
From: Pass Mountain Hut, VA

To: Gravel Spring Hut, VA 
Miles today: 13.1

Slept good last night. The baby only woke up once crying and they quieted it down fast. When I awoke I saw that Turner was already packed up and gone. I left by 6:30 and I caught up with him about 3 hours later. We went to the Wayside together and had breakfast. He was trying to reach his girlfriend but the phone had no service. He decided to walk out by Skyline Drive to see if the service was better when his girlfriend drove by and saw him. They reunited and she convinced him to leave the trail. So they gave me a bag of grapes and some power bars and we parted ways. I'll always remember Turner and the things he pulled out of his army surplus pack: the huge bottle of rum, the propane torch, the eggs in his pocket, and walking in sandals. He was one of the nicest friends I have made on the trail and I'll miss him. So I headed out from the Wayside and I actually felt like I had a little hop in my step. I hope this isn't temporary because it felt so good to be moving so easily again. I passed the marathon walkers from Ohio that I met at the last hut. I shared some of my grapes with them. They stayed at the next hut. Then along came Paul Bunion. He this old guy that's thru hiked the AT before and was just section hiking now. He was a story teller and the 3 of us listened to him for about 2 or 3 hours as we ate dinner and watched the fire he built. It was dark when we said our good nights and hit our tents.
Date: 2013-05-31
From: Gravel Spring Hut, VA 

To: Compton Gap Trail VA 
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was only 10 miles and I made it in 3.5 hours. I called Osprey about what to do when your hip belt gets too big. They told me to widen the belt with a cut up sock. I'm going to use a t shirt from the hiker box at the hostel. All is well, ready to resupply and head out tomorrow. I did lose a little around the waist during those 4 days, but I feel good. Now, it¢s onward to Harpers Ferry.   Later in the afternoon another hiker came into the hostel. His name is Don's Brother. He is on trailjournals.com. His brother died last year of ALS and he's doing a hike in honor of his brother. But he is doing it a little bit differently than I am. Since he doesn't like to camp but likes to hike, he hikes from highway to highway. He usually plans his next 4 days setting up shuttle rides from those highways to a hostel. So all his dinners and sleeping are in towns. He hasn't lost any weight doing it this way. Since the start of the hike he has only spent 11 days in shelters. So he doesn't have to carry a tent or a stove. His way could be an option if I can't retain weight.
Date: 2013-06-01
From: Compton Gap Trail VA 

To: Manassas Gap Shelter VA 
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up at 6:00 in the Terrapin Station Hostel. Bought a pizza for breakfast to go with my banana and cliff bar. Said goodbye to Dan's Brother and we agreed we would try to see each other at Harpers Ferry. After 2 hours of hiking I came up on 2 women giving out trail magic. Ate an orange they cut up for me. So now I'm out of the Shenandoah National Park. The trail is dense with greenery. And when you go over some of the ridges you walk through shoulder high grass. Also there is an invasion of the cicada insect. It¢s like a locust. They come up out of the ground every 17 years. They are all over the place and make a racket of noises all day and night. Shortly after the trail magic, Steady caught up with me and we walked together. He's already walked the PCT and CDT. He is actually walking from somewhere in Florida to Halifax. The AT is just part of his walk. His wife is following this time in an RV. We parted at Jim and Molly Denton shelter where I stayed to eat lunch. There I met again Paul Bunion. After lunch I headed out again. It was really hot and muggy in the afternoon. When I got to within 2 miles of my destination I came upon a grassy area next to a stream. It was too good to pass and I napped there for about 30 minutes. Then I headed up the 2 mile climb to my shelter destination. As I was sitting there relaxing a section hiker, named George, came in to just look at the shelter and go on. We got to talking about what's ahead and I learned to my surprise that Bears Den only opens at 5 PM. I moaned and said that was a surprise because I was going to resupply my snacks there. He quickly pulled out his snack bag and gave it me and said his wife was picking him up 4 miles down the trail and I could have his. I thanked him a lot for helping me out of my stupid error of not reading the hours on the guide book.Then around 6:00 a Boy Scout troop walked into camp. They slept in tents away from the shelter but did come to the common area to cook and eat their dinners.
Date: 2013-06-02
From: Manassas Gap Shelter VA 

To: Bears Den Hostel, VA 
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up early to avoid the scouts breakfast. So I was walking at 6:00. Right off the bat, the weather threatened with a mini shower. So I stopped put my pack rain cover on and put my rain jacket under my pack lid for easy access. I felt good and made good time. I made it to the Rod Hollow Shelter by 12:30. There I saw Gator and he said he was going to Bears Den Hostel to get a pizza, soda, and ice cream as part of the hostel fee. So I decided to go for it. Since I was going to get a dinner at Bears Den, I decided to eat tonight's dinner then. Looking ahead at the 10 mile walk coming up, I saw that it was the famous roller coaster section. It's a bunch of hills real close together and they are all pretty steep on both the ups and downs. Plus I found out when walking it that there were no switch backs, just a path straight up and down. But worst of all, the trail was packed with rocks. I had just started the first climb when the sky started to turn dark in the middle of the day. Then I started hearing thunder coming my way. Then around mile 5 it started to rain heavily with thunder booming away all over the place. I put on my rain jacket and was pretty comfortable. But after a while, because my pants were so short, water soaked my shoes and socks. I walked for about 2.5 hours in the rain, climbing and descending on slick rocks and mud. The rivers at the bottoms mostly overflowed the rocks I was supposed to walk on to cross them but were still usable. My pace slowed down considerably and I didn't arrive at Bears Den until about 7:00. I took the 30:00 special and got my pizza, coke, and ice cream. At the hostel was another Boy Scout group, Gator, and Do'ns Brother. The weather report for tomorrow says there may be hail. I accidentally put my watch in with my laundry. It went through both wash and dry and it still works. Thanks again to my son and his wife for getting me a good timex.
Date: 2013-06-03
From: Bears Den Hostel, VA 

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

Since I went the big miles yesterday I decided to use the same strategy again today. Started by finishing the roller coaster. Then went to the Blackburn Center to eat one of my dinners. The trail had a lot of rocks today so it made it slow going. My heels also hurt. So I think I'll cut my mileage back tomorrow. Got into Harpers Ferry to sign in and get my picture taken at the AT Headquarters. At the hostel were Gator, ET, and Professor
Date: 2013-06-04
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Crampton Gap Shelter, MD
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

For breakfast the hostel served waffles, orange juice, bananas and cantaloupe. After breakfast a guy named Peter Pan said he was driving to the market. I needed to resupply so I went with him. He thru hiked the AT twice and is now a volunteer worker at AT headquarters. He also gave me a ride to AT headquarters. There he registered me as the number 314 to go north bound. Took my picture and entered everything in the 2013 log, along with Dan from California from the hostel. He is going to start hiking from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin then return to Harpers Ferry and hike south to Springer. I left AT headquarters around 9:00 to hike. After crossing the river on a bridge I hiked around 2 miles on the tow path alongside the river. (Boats used to be towed up river by mule). Since I was only going 10 miles today, I took one break on a rock on the side of the river which was very peaceful. Oh yeah, after crossing the river I left West Virginia and now I'm in Maryland. It was an easy climb up to the ridge. And once on the ridge the trail became wide and smooth for the whole day. I have to say so far, Maryland has the best walking surface trails of all. I stopped at the 1st shelter to take a rest. There I met four older gentlemen who asked me a lot about my experiences on the trail. Then Spacey came in. He also was at the hostel last night. He remembered Trekker and me from back in Tennessee. Then Fatty came in. I don't know how she got that name as she¢s a beautiful blonde in her twenties from Canada. She had walked 28 straight days of over 20 miles each day. But she had shin splints and had to stop for 3 days in Harpers Ferry. She said she had thought she was ok to hike again but with the pack on the pain has returned and she is only going 6 miles today. Then Dan came in just as I was getting ready to leave. He was going only the 6 miles today so he starts nice and easy. I walked the next 4 miles and am now tenting it just short of the next shelter
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Crampton Gap Shelter, MD

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter, M
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 91 Today Maryland had mostly good trails but there were some sections that were total rocks. At noon I had lunch with Gator and Spacey. I guess I'm in some sort of gap between hikers because there just aren¢t any other thru hikers around. I went by the Washington Monument. Some section hikers there were impressed that I was a thru hiker and asked if they could take a picture standing next me. Then I met a group of hikers from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. They, too, asked me a lot about the hike. Continuing on, I heard the sound of a helicopter hovering. When I came up to it, it had a long arm extended down with saw blades. It was trimming the trees on one side of a power line. When I reached my destination it was still early, so seeing that my new destination didn't have water I went down to a spring. While there an old gent came up with a new backpack on. He asked if I was a thru hiker. When I said yes he came over and shook my hand and said his name was Easy Ed. He had hiked twice before; I think the last time was in 1988. He told me he was 73 and he was trying out a new pack and that he was intending to hike the AT again next year. He sat down next to me by the spring while we ate some snacks and talked about life, getting old and the need to keep moving or you might as well die. We talked around 30 minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed his company. He had a real positive attitude. I said goodbye and he said he hoped to see again someday on the trail. I left there at 4:30 and had 5 miles to go until the next camp site. I made it by 6:50, set up my tent, cooked dinner, and was in my tent for the night by 8:30. So now I only have 10 miles for tomorrow going in for resupply in Waynesboro. Ill have lunch and dinner on the town, then breakfast at the Bed and Breakfast inn.
Date: 2013-06-06
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter, MD

To: Pen Mar County Park PA
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Easy walk of about 10 miles today. It started sprinkling during the last 2 hours of the hike. I did see Spacey and some section hikers. The Bed and Breakfast picked me up at the park. After my arrival the rain started to come down hard. Friday, Saturday, and Monday are all forecast to have rain. But at least I'm out of it today. The BB is doing my laundry. I had a cheese burger for lunch and am relaxing. Breakfast is at 7:00 tomorrow. Then I will get a ride to the market and then back to the trail.
Date: 2013-06-07
From: Pen Mar County Park PA

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter PA
Miles today: 15.2

Had a hearty breakfast of eggs, ham, strawberries, muffin, hot chocolate and orange juice. The BB had me back on the trail by 8:30. Not much to say: it rained steady all day. I walked in the rain. I did meet 2 thru hikers at one of the shelters I passed by. They were Mountain Goat and TK (Tiny Klutz). Saw Spacey at another shelter. The trail was very walkable. I arrived at my destination at 3:30. 2 section hikers occupied one of the two shelters, since they had clothes drying all over the place. I opted to sleep solo in the other shelter. Today I have been hiking for 3 months. Soon I¢ll reach the half-way point. Well it's going rain all night; it'll be nice listening to it from inside the shelter all cozy in my sleeping bag.
Date: 2013-06-08
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter PA

To: Birch Run shelter PA 
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

Today the trail was perfect. It was soft and spongy from the rain and had a covering of pine straw. I didn't see any thru hikers today until they started coming in to the shelter. In came the Professor, then Spacey who continued on, then ET and Blazer. Also staying at the shelter are a couple hiking from Delaware to Georgia and a family with 3 kids staying one night before going home. The couple hiking south just came thru the rocks between the New Jersey border and Port Clinton and told us the horror stories. Their shoes were pretty much trashed from that experience. Later that evening the family sent their kids over to the shelter with some quesadillas. (Chicken, corn, and cheese) Yum! That was good! Then, when it was almost dark, the kids returned. This time they came with marshmallows and chocolate. What a nice family that was.
Date: 2013-06-09
From: Birch Run shelter PA 

To: James Fry Shelter, PA 
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday ended on a good note with getting trail magic. This morning the trail magic continued. Just as I was hiking out of the shelter a man came in from the north and was carrying 4 boxes of donuts for those at the shelter. He stopped and broke open a box and gave me one. We talked about packs for a while before we went our own ways. Then at 9:00 I arrived at the midpoint of the AT. Luckily Spacey was there to take my picture for the momentous occasion. Then I hiked on to Pine Grove Furnace State Park- Home of the half gallon ice cream challenge. Seeing as most of the hikers there were feeling ill after doing their duty, I decided to have a cheese burger, chips, coke, a pint of ice cream, and cookies instead. That was good. ET and Blaze with Professor looking on, partook in the challenge and I recorded it with a photo. I left after resting my stomach and talking with the guys. Walking through the park I met a young couple going on a day hike. They were Liz and John. They walked with me for about 10 minutes as they wanted to take a 2 week hike sometime and they wanted to quiz me about gear. I let them know all the things I have learned while on the trail and they seemed grateful to hear my comments. I took a picture of them for my journal. After reaching the shelter, Vagabond came in to spend the night. She is an elderly lady who is thru hiking. She did skip sections south of here because she had completed them in prior years, but plans to hike to Maine from here.
Date: 2013-06-10
From: James Fry Shelter, PA 

To: Boiling Spring, PA
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: moderate rain

It rained all last night. 2 thru hikers came in about 10:00 PM but I was out of there by 7:00 and they were still asleep as I left. It rained soft and it rained hard all through today's hike. I just put on my rain jacket and let my pants wet out. Of course my shoes and socks got flooded. I stopped at ET¢s stealth tent site and said hello. But I didn't see him or any other hiker the rest of my hike. I reached Boiling Springs about 2:00. Stopped at the post office to pick the mail drop my wife sent me and went .4 miles off the trail as it goes through town to get to Allenberry playhouse. They had a room there for $40 plus dinner and breakfast charges. I met Lentil and Fable who had a room across the hall from me. Lentil gave me a jar of peanut butter because he had two. Hope it stops raining sometime tonight.
Date: 2013-06-11
From: Boiling Spring, PA

To: Cove Mountain Shelter, PA
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: light rain

Last night it stormed with very heavy rain all night. There was even a tornado watch on the tv for some parts of the state. Since I didn't know what county I was in I don't know if I was in danger or not. I was on the trail by 6:00. Unlike the ridge lines I've been hiking for some time now, the trail started going beside farm fields. The grass was knee high in some places and everything was soaked from last night¢s rain. Today I had to add a new routine to my hiking. Every so often, when my socks got so soaked they seemed to be floating in my boots, I would then sit down and take my boots and socks off. Then I would wring out the soaks. That worked pretty well, since my boots don't let out the water. The trail also went into little stands of trees that separated farms. Here my boots walked on mud but that they could handle that without getting further wetted out. The worst point of walking through the woods is the spider webs that continually wrapped into my face as I walked next to a tree or vine. I solved that by always having one trekking pole pointed up in front me. I didn't see a single thru hiker today. At the shelter are 2 section hikers. It just happens that I picked the one shelter that had porcupine problems. They removed the stairs to the shelter and put flashing on the lip of the platform hoping the porcupines won't climb up here. I¢ll let you know if they cause any problems.
Date: 2013-06-12
From: Cove Mountain Shelter, PA

To: Peters Mountain Shelter, PA
Miles today: 15.3

As I sat there last night preparing my dinner, I got to know the guy who was section hiking. (Forget his name). He has an 8 acre farm around Harpers Ferry and he has finished many sections of the AT. He was the president of the Potomac AT Club and actually was in charge when many of the shelters were built. The one named after an Ensign Cowall was built because he was in the Navy when he died in a motorcycle accident and his parents gave $10,000 to have a shelter built in his name. That was way more than was needed for one shelter, so another was built with the rest of the money. He asked my opinion on a lot of gear and took notes when I gave him my answer. Well we didn't have any porcupines come visit last night but some mice did run around. And when I started up the trail in the morning within ten minutes I met a porcupine on the trail. I asked him to move but he turned his rump towards me and spread out his quills. I got the picture, and decided to go way around him because he wasn't budging. I hiked into the town on Duncannon, Pa around 8:00 and stopped at a cafe for breakfast. Then I walked through town and crossed the Susquehanna River and climbed up on the ridge. For a while there were so many mosquitoes that I had to put on my head net. But, as I got higher, they stopped being a pest and I was able to take off the net. The trail was very rocky for many miles and the going was slow. When I crossed the last highway on my way to my shelter, a woman and three boys went hiking by. She asked if I was a through hiker, and listened while some trail maintenance workers said I was pretty thin. She asked me about that and I said I had gotten sick twice and it was hard to gain weight while hiking. She took the cookies she and the kids were going to eat during their hike and gave them to me. Very nice lady. I finally arrived at my destination shelter at 4:00. I didn't see a hiker all day. I understand its going to storm tonight and all day tomorrow. I haven't decided what to do yet about that.