morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-10-01
From: Baily Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

I got up early and so did John and Paul. As we were getting breakfast Canyon Voice got up too. John took pictures of everyone and so did Canyon Voice. They have my email address so I may get a copy in the mail. It is very frustrating not to have a working camera!I was the first one out and probably will not see John and Paul again in the trail. The trail was very rocky for a couple of miles. Hey! This isn't Pennsylvania! (PA is noted for its rocky trail but Virginia seems to have its share too.After a few miles though there were three miles of smooth mountain top past Wind Rock. Buddha Jim passed me (long SOBO section hiker) and after him ET (SOBO thru-hiker) passed me. The view was nice from Wind Rock but you will have to take my word for it as I have no picture. I really appreciated the smooth trail. Even I could zoom right along.As I started to descend I started meeting a whole bunch of hikers: German Tourist, Something Else, Nobodies: No Name and She Doesn't have one either, Team Starch: Silver Potato and Cracker, Hungarian and later, Six Toes and Fjord. All except the Nobodies were SOBO thru-hikers. It was pretty fun to meet them all.I had lunch at War Spur Shelter with a piteous white cat. It did not look healthy at all. Even though I am allergic to cats I was sad for it and fed it a couple crackers bite by bite. Just as I was about to leave, Canyon Voice arrived. I think he fed the kitty too.I headed out to climb the next mountain and hooked up the MP3 to listen to music as I went. It helped me get up the mountain.It was getting dark and I just barely made it to Laurel Creek Shelter. It was too dark to find the water source so dinner was a bit meager. I had enough water to make split pea soup but not the spaghetti dinner I was going to have with it. So, after soup and crackers and a bit of GORP I fell into bed - or bag as the case may be.MP3 and long climb and descendArrived at 7:15, no water, too dark.
Date: 2008-10-02
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

I had the shelter to myself last night. I did not get moving very fast this morning. I had to get water and then I cooked the spaghetti dinner I missed last night for breakfast. It was almost 9:00 before I left. Not good.I headed out downhill then passed two roads with pastureland and a number of styles to cross over fences. Once, looking back there were lots of red leafed trees on the hillside above the meadows. Again I wished I had my camera working. It was beautiful.After the second road there was a little creek and I stopped long enough to take a quick half bath and also washed some socks and underwear and a shirt. I did not have the time since I got such a late start but I also am going to need clean socks.Refreshed and with laundry hanging from pack, I attacked the mountain of the day, Sinking Creek Mountain. Again I used the MP3 and Bach helped me get up the mountain.I got cold hiking in just my sports bra but I sweat so much going uphill that there is little point to wearing a shirt. A cold front seems to be here today but the sun felt warm on my skin in the clearings of the forest.I was wishing for a nice rock with a view and in the sun for lunch but finally settled for a log at the sign for Sarver Hollow Shelter. I got chilled eating. And then found, not 50 yeards farther the perfect rock in the sun. But by that time I was hiking again.But my, what a rock! What a view! It was breathtaking. I could see the whole valley before me and at least 5 mountain ranges. Mostly everything was forested. There were farms and meadows through looking like they had been scouped out of the forest. It was really quite a view.As I went along the ridge though, it was rock after rock, after rock. These were slanted rocks the size of cars and trucks and the trail went over and sometimes between them. It was pretty challenging terrain for a gimpy old lady with a bad knee and an infected toe. It also slowed me down considerably.Finally the trail became more like a trail and less like a rock scramble. And again I was trying to get to a shelter before dark. On the way down I was treated to one last beautiful view of valley and mountains with the evening shadows highlighting the hills. I had to stop and admire it even though I was fighting coming darkness.Finally I was at the shelter at 7:00. I had just time enough to get water before the darkness settled. I did get my full dinner tonight.I saw no one all day and again had the shelter to myself. I do need to stop earlier though. Which means I need to get up earlieer too. All of which is difficult due to shortened daylight hours. And now my headlamp battery is going out so I will go to sleep.
Date: 2008-10-03
From: Niday Shelter

To: Ridge on the way to Dragon's Tooth
Miles today: 13.4

I got off in the morning to tackle a mountain named Brush. It was just a nice steady uphill on nicely graded trail. At the top there was a nice bench on top so I just had to sit on it. Then a bit more down an old woods road and I came to the Audie Murphy Memorial. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII. He died in a plane crash near here and this monument was errected by people from Christiansburg. There was another bench there so I decided to have lunch there.Just before the memorial I met William, a long section hiker, looked to be barely 20 and did not look like he was having much fun. He did not say much.While having lunch I looked at the map and discovred that I had miscalculated the distance for tomorrow and had 11-12 miles to go, not 10.6. Oops. I will definitely try to go farther than Pickle Branch Shelter tonight.A little past the memorial I ran into Chase, one of the volunteers who maintain the trail. He was placing cameras on the trail to take pictures of wildlife for a Smithsonian project. He was very nice and even offered me part of a tuna sub. But I was more interested in putting miles and I had just eaten.I saw 7 deer today and several others scampered through the leaves but I only heard them. One jumped up to run away only 10 feet from me and I don't know who was the more startled, the deer or me.I got water at Trout Creek and started up the next mountain. At 6:00, a mile and a half or so after the turn off for Pickle Brance Shelter I found a place for my tent.It was good to stop before it was getting dark. I even got to catch up a bit on the jornaling. And the ground is much softer than the boards of a shelter.
Date: 2008-10-05
From: Trail after John's Spring Shelter

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: clear sky

I woke up as it began to get light. The first hikers, two men, came up the trail as I was sitting in my sleeping bag. I apologized for taking up the trail, explaining about my dead battery and asked them to go around. With a comiserating chuckle, they did. And I packed up.I really had no idea where I was but after hiking nearly a mile and finding the Catawba Mountain Shelter I deduced that I had gone past the John's Spring Shelter without seeing it in the dark last night. No matter. I watered up, had breakfast and went onward.The trail was nice and even for the climb to McAfee Knob. The view was breathtaking. This is supposed to be the most photographed place on the whole AT. It is a large shelf of rock that sticks out over a drop of several hundred feet. Now, thanks to day hiker, Teresa, I will have a picture of me sitting on that ledge of rock.It was a beautiful day! I sat on the rock in the sunshine eating an apple (thanks, Bobbie!) and chatted with Teresa and later a group of weekend hiking boys. Teresa is Chinese, was born in Hong Kong but has lived in the US now for 30 years. It was such a pleasant morning I could have stayed there for hours. Beautiful views and good company.Instead, after a while there and a couple phone calls on my now working cell phone (I charged it up at The Home Place.) I set out again on the trail.A few hours more and I ran into a man and a boy, locals out for a hike who had run out of water. I had extra so I gave them half a bottle's worth to make it home.Not too long before Tinker Cliffs I ran into a couple doing trail maintenance and thanked them for their work.Tinker Cliffs again are large sections of rock high above trees with fantastic views. The pictures were kind of into the sun though so not as nice as those from McAfee Knob. It would have been a great place to watch a sunset, though. For daytime pictures it would have been better to catch Tinker Cliffs in the morning and McAfee Knob in the afternoon.Linda, I think you said Tinker Cliffs was terrifying to one of your friends. I found nothing terrifing there. The trail was always sufficiently wide even if the drop was great. The Dragon's Tooth trail was much more challenging and potentially dangerous. However, I do not think people with a fear of heights would have enjoyed Tinker Cliffs, McAfee Knob or Drangon's Tooth. I enjoyed them all and felt the trail all day today was not all that challenging.I got to Lambert's Meadow Shelter and decided to stay at the shelter instead of proceeding to the meadow and the tents sites. I was lured by the picnic table and the privy. Small comforts are a big thing to a gimpy old lady.The water was a trickle but enough. I even took a bath from my pot. I had the shelter to myself again. It is Sunday night and the weekend campers have gone home.
Date: 2008-10-07
From: Daleville (actually Catawba)

To: Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I thoroughly enjoyed doing next to nothing all day. Thank heavens for zeros.I started the day by making a big breakfast: two slices of bacon, three eggs, three pieces of toast, a large glass of orange juice and a large glass of milk. Yum! Hikers eat a lot when they get to town. In fact hikers eat a lot on the trail if they can carry it.I caught up on my journals. I was getting behind due to short days and shortage of batteries. Essential things like eating and getting ready for bed come first in the priorities when using scarce daylight.I did a little repair job on my coat. The last night on the trail I reached across my stove right after I turned it off and melted a hole in my coat sleeve on the burner. Bad move. I did a quick repair on the trail to keep the down in but it needed a touch up here.I tended to my wounds. My brace has made blisters on my shin. Not good. The blisters have popped and I put antibiotic cream on them. Tomorrow I will put Spenco second skin on them and hope that works as well on my shin as it once did on my heels. I really need to wear the brace to get as good function as I can from the knee. Funny thing was, I never felt those blisters coming. They were just suddenly there.I also treated my infected toe which looks a little better and enjoyed not being in a shoe for most of the day. Other than my shin blisters, my infected toe and (always) my knee, I am in excellent health.I thought yesterday about getting a flu shot today but didn't think about it again all day. Prehaps in Buena Vista.I charged up all my electronics too. And cleaned up a lot of dumb advertisements from my email, answering a couple too. I made a few phone calls too.But mainly I just rested and that felt really good.Tonight Mike and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then to Baskin Robbins for desert. Hikers think a lot about and talk a lot about food. Can you tell?It is very dark outside, which does not seem as important with electricity as when in the woods. But I had better get to sleep as Mike will wake me at 5:30 tomorrow so I can be on the trail at 7:30.
Date: 2008-10-08
From: Daleville

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

I got up early so I could have a shower and make myself a big breakfast as I had yesterday. Then Mike (Sugar Daddy) took me to the AT trail head. Thank you, Sugar Daddy!!!It took a mile or two to convince my legs that they wanted to walk. After they were sufficiently warmed up I headed uphill. The trail was really nice all day, pretty gently graded, no large rocks except appropriately on switchbacks.I saw a couple deer early on but that was the extent of the wildlife today.I met SOBO thru-hikers Pocket and Mothball, King Charles (from London), Yearbook and Two Liter.When I got to Fulhart Knob Shelter (I was lured .1 mile off trail by the promise of a privy and shelter for an early lunch.) I was having lunch when Canyon Voice walked up saying, "Hello, dear friend." That is how it is on the trail. When you run into someone again after a few days it is like meeting an old friend.We hiked most of the rest of the way together chatting. The leaves of the forest understory were beautiful today and we took each other's pictures with the leaves as background. Eventually Canyon Voice went on ahead and a mile or two later I got water and then walked up the last uphill to the shelter. How nice to arrive early (4:30) with water and a pleasant companion.Oh yes, it started sprinkling about 2:00 and started really raining while I got water. But we are snug and dry in the shelter with even time in daylight before dinner to write the journal. Cool!While sitting here 3 thru-hikers passed by but did not stop. And Lemur and Nubbins, a young couple arrived but say they may set up a tarp. We will see.I am through for now with this journal and will now make my dinner as the rain pelts the shelter. It is nice to be here and be dry.
Date: 2008-10-09
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bearwallow Gap
Miles today: 10.5

It was an interesting evening in the shelter. Lemur and Nubbins are from Michigan and just completed, well maybe a year or two ago, degrees in Social Work. Lemur has been working in Alaska. They and Canyon Voice talked wilderness therapy work experiences. I found it very interesting. I had no idea there was so much going on in that field.It rained hard during the night. It was good to be in the shelter and listen to the pelting rain.In the morning Lemur and Nubbins got up shortly after 6:00. Yeah! It was good to get up and have an early start to the day. I need people like them since my alarms do not seem to work.If the day I went over Dragon's Tooth was a Virginia tough trail, today was a Virginia easy trail. I set off and made 2 miles an hour for the first couple miles. It did start to rain but I chose to just stow my shirts and everything else in the pack under the pack cover and hiked in my sports bra. I stayed relatively cool that way. I was certainly warm enough even with the rain and the pack actually shelters me a bit when walking as I lean forward some.The woods are getting more and more beautiful with leaf change. It is very enjoyable walking. Today I crisscrossed the Blueridge Parkway a number of times and also took some interesting pictures looking out over seas of clouds to other mountain tops.Canyon Voice eventually caught up with me before lunch. The rain had stopped and the hiking was nice. We dropped down to Bobblet's Gap shelter for lunch. I was lured by the promise of privy and Canyon Voice needed to get water at the spring there. We had a nice lunch and it was good to talk with each other.The privy was the nicest one I have seen on the trail. It was new and had a plexiglass roof so it was very light and it even had handicap grab bars. I am becoming a conoisier of privies.After lunch I only had 3 miles to go. Canyon Voice went on ahead. I will miss him. He is a good trail companion. But he will be putting in more miles per day and not take zeros so he will now be ahead of me.I waited at the trailhead and journalled until Ken showed up to take me to Buchanan. There I checked in to the motel, showered and washed out my socks and undies and a sports bra. Might as well take advantage of the hot water and soap.Then I walked down to the resturant and ate a big meal. Southern cooking kind of cooks everything to death. But any shortcomings in the meal were made up for in the huge piece of apple pie I had for desert. Yum!I also bought a cinnamon roll to supplement my oatmeal for breakfast as the restuarant will not be open when I leave.I was in bed by 8:00. I am getting 10 hours sleep every night on the trail due to vanishing daylight and I saw no reason to change for my night in the motel.
Date: 2008-10-17
From: Dutch Haus

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I must try to describe the Dutch Haus. Lois and Earl have this very beautiful house in the woods. They are of Dutch background and that is reflected in Dutch memorabilia throught the house.It is a beautiful home with many, many personal touches in nic nacs, tapestry/quilts, tiffany style lamps and a general atmosphere of comfort and coziness. Thru-hikers don't want to leave here but Lois has a rule that unless you are physically ill in some very definable way the stay limit is 3 nights.Smelly hikers are immdiately removed from their smelliness by their practice of immediately washing your clothes and sending you to the showers. Lounging, clean in a warm and snuggly bathrobe, makes you feel you are in a different country. And their bathroom towels have 10 times the fluff of the Budget Inn, where I last stayed.Dinner last night included appetizers of nachos and tobouli salad. Then the plates came out loaded with three huge slices of meatloaf, and big portions of homemade Macaroni and cheese and greaenbean casserole. Oh, and there was also applesauce and the plates were refilled again if you could eat it all. And chocolate cake and ice cream for desert.Breakfast had orange juice, biscuits and apple butter, biscuits and gavy, scrambled eggs with spinach, bacon and cantaloupe. Of course coffee too. And both meals had vegetarian forms for the two vegtarians amoung us. Breakfast included in the price and dinner just $15. No wonder thru-hikers want to stay.They also will shuttle so you can slackpack and stay another night. Those hikers who miss the Dutch Haus have missed a wonderful part of the trail. It is well worth the mile off the trail one has to walk to get here.So, today I have had a lazy day. I caught up on my journals and my emails. I soaked my toe in Epson salts and have been very lazy. Outside it has been rainy and cold.I will be ready to go onward tomorrow and I will like the cold while hiking and I will carry the warmth of hospitality of the Dutch Haus with me.Thank you, Earl and Lois!!After lounging around all afternoon I chatted for quite a while with Lightning Bolt and Song Bird after they got back from their 16 mile slak pack.Then dinner was a wonderful salad, perfect lasagna with meatballs added for the carnivores, fresh bread and topped off with huge bowls of apple cobbler and ice cream.If I lost any weight hiking so far I think I have put it all back on over the last two days.But tonight I am not staying up late talking. I must get some sleep to get up and get going in the morning.
Date: 2008-10-21
From: Zero Day in Waynesboro

To: Zero Day in Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0

My, today has certainly been my busiest zero day ever but it also was a lot of fun.I woke up and went downstairs for a delicious breakfast. B&Bs are nice. I chatted with Paul and Kathy, an English couple in their 60s, who had been on a motorcycle tour until it went down and hurt the woman's arm. They were delightful.Then the B&B owner came in and offered to drive me to a medical clinic so someone could look at my toe. But I really needed to do my laundry. So I took my laundry down to the laundromat. While it was washing I took my camera chip across the street and had the pictures put on a CD. Then the B&B owner (I never got his name in my head.) picked me up and took me to the walk-in clinic and took my clean clothes I was not wearing back to the B&B.It was quite a wait for the Doc. He gave me a choice between pulling half my toenail out by the roots or getting antibiotics. Though choice huh? I got some antibiotics and I hope the wait was worth it.Rockett and John picked me up from the clinic and took me to lunch and then drove me around for errands. What jewels they are!! Lunch was good and the company superb. We had a lot of fun talking hiking stuff. They were very interested in my equipment and might do the John Muir Trail next year. What neat people!They drove me all over Waynesboro looking for a cell phone battery for my phone. Alas, we were unsuccessful in that mission. The good news is the cell phone appears to be working agin. I have no idea for how long but it is working now.We also went to a grocery store for cheese and salami and then to the outfitter. The outfitter had no 6 volt batteries for my headlamp. I was forced to buy another light weight headlamp that uses flat, somewhat more easy to find batteries. I was just not willing to go into the Shenadoahs for 9 days with one already used battery.Rockett and John, my wonderful trail angels, delivered me back to the B&B and went back to their RV to prepare for a bicycle trip. They are wonderful examples of staying active in elderly years.I tried to get a flu shot at Krogers but they did not recommend it while I have this toe infection. Well, I tried.I ate at Ming's all you can eat Chinese buffet. It was very good and quite rasonable in price. Then I came back to the room and got organized and one last shower and it is now after 9 and I need to be asleep.
Date: 2008-10-24
From: Loft Campground

To: High Top Hut
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I got a late start today. I woke to fog and wind and that is pretty much how the day went. It was cold to start. I was dressed up like Nanook of the North. Of course 15 minutes down the trail I started shedding coats.It was hard to find the right apparel combination as when the trail was sheltered I was hot, especially going up hill. And then I would come to a viewpoint or the windy side of a hill and an icy wind would chill me.Just as I left the camping area I saw No Pliers. He and Sarah and Dafnah were going to the Wayside for breakfast.Even though it was cold and foggy it was an interesting day. There were some pretty Maples and Sassafras trees to admire and some sort of bright orange berry with a yellow-orange husk around the berry. The berries were in clusters and quite pretty.There were viewpoints but the views were mainly of fog. Oh well.I stopped for lunch at Pine Field Shelter. It was in a pretty little nook of the forest and had nice yellow and orange foliage around it.While I was there, Sarah and her dog, Toby came up. She was interesting to talk too. After I left she quickly passed me as I was talking with Ben, who works at a Catholic retreat Center. He sections hikes every October. I also met a variety of day hikers or overnighters.I saw about 8 deer today but again, no bears.I made it to High Top Hut before 6:15, time enough to get water and somewhat organized and dinner started before dark.There are 9 peope in the shelter, the most I have seen on this trip. No Pliers, Sarah and Dafnah and I are NOBO section hikers. (and dog Toby, a very nice, well mannered dog)Limonade was a SOBO thru-hiker and 5 guys were weekend hikers. Sorry but I forgot their names.It was a good night to be in a shelter as it finally started raining in earnest. They had a nice fire in the firepit facing the shelter and the rain mostly waited until I (the last one) was finished with dinner.I am snuggled in now, listening to the rain and the wind but toasty and dry. Life is good.