morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-01
From: Erwin, TN

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: light rain

Happy April Fools Day. Still at Miss Janet's House. Dharma, Lars, Maize and I hiked an easy 8 miles south from Indian Grave Gap. when we were dropped off, the snow was about 1.5 ft. deep. after we hiked for about an hour the snow dissapeared. got back pretty early. Everybodie's here. I mean this house is packed. Traillite made it in and i got to see Quincy Girl. It was really great to see her again. People keep pilling in to town because of the snow storm. Miss Janet's even had to turn people away and take them to the Holiday Inn. We all went and ate at Pizza hut tonight. Baltimore Jack is here too. He's going to cook dinner tomorrow night for everyone.
Date: 2004-04-02
From: Miss Janet's House

To: Miss Janet's House
Miles today: 0.0

did my first zero day today, and my fifth day at Miss Janet's. i got a fairly good bit of stuff accomplished today. Took a long shower and walked over to the town library. it was really nasty today as far as weather. really cold and constant rain. at the library i finally posted myself on Trailjournals. i went ahead and entered in about 10 entries. No photos though, i'll have to get Dad back at home to do that. I then walked around town in the freezing cold trying to find a working ATM. Went to the local gas station for provisions for tomorrow's slackpack and when i got back to the house there a ton of hikers there. the whole house smelled delicious. Baltimore Jack had been cooking lasagna all day. there were even thru-hikers here from the hotel and 2 thru-hikers from 03 (Stumpknocker and Jan Lightshoe). a bunch of us watched movies until dinner was ready. That lasagna was probably the best i've ever had. Amazingly there was enough food to fill the bellies of 24 hungry thru-hikers. i cleaned a bunch of dishes, then most of us retired to the den to watch Tombstone. Drank five Natty's and got to bed around 1.
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

checked the weather this morning and decided not to push on. Dharma, Eats and Hippie Long Stockings were going to slack from Iron Mt. Gap to Indian Grave Gap so i joined them. Jan Lightshoe and Stumpknocker gave us the shuttle out. We hiked in the deepest snow i've ever seen. the Drifts were up to waist level in some places. The only footprints we saw were about a day old. We actually had a lot of fun. we goofed off a lot. When we made it to the shelter for a break, i made a pretty good snowman with Eat's Dr. Suess hat, trecking poles and a Natty Light can. Eats climed on the roof and made a miny snowman who was very well endowed. i can't believe that Eats hiked all day in the snow and ice in his Chaco Sandals. It was really slwo hiking today in that mess. On top of Unaca Mt. the snow ladened trees were beginning to melt and it really seemed as though it was pouring rain on us. we passed Quincy Girl and her friend from NH, Silver Fox. I'll probably catch her in a few days. We finished at around 5:30. Eat's and I got to the road first and he got a hitch right off the bat, but i waited for Dharma and Hippie to show up. when we finally got a ride, we got dropped off at Little Ceasers. Dharma has the worst luck when ordering from pizza joints. just like at Pizza hut the other day, the forgot his order. we then got a hitch from little ceasers back to Miss Janet's.
Date: 2004-04-11
From: Watauga Lake/U.S. 321

To: Damascus
Miles today: 41.7
Weather: light rain

Happy Easter. We wanted to wake up at 3, but instead got up around 6. our goal today was to do the 40 miles to Damascus. Joe, Hippie Longstocking's boyfriend had driven down the night before and he was going to slack us today. We left Kincora and drove down into town and ate at a gasstation mcdonalds. we finally hit the trail at 7:30. Joe let me use his small gregory daypack instead of my big heavy one. nothing else can describe the day other than we walked. we had boiled and made easter eggs the night before, so we hid those on the trail all day as we hiked. it was clear in the morning but towards the end of the day it got really misty and started raining. we hiked at a really fast pace all day. i got a second wind at around 5:30, but it wore off by 7. we passed a bunch of people at the shelters. at the last road crossing we met up with Jan Liteshoe, Stumpknocker and Joe who hiked the remaining 15 miles with us. nightfall came at 8:15. with the deep fog it was nearly impossible to see. you had to hold your headlamp in your hand pointed at the ground. Joe and Eats hiked up front and i'll never figure out how they found our way in all that mess. i just staired at Hippie's feet and the only way i could figure out up hill from down was by the strain on my legs. we finally made it to Damascus at around 10:20. i was about ready to collapse. my body felt so fatigued. we all got a photo in front of the Damascus sign then hopped in Joe's suburban. he dropped Eat's Poptart and me off at the church hostel The Place. i'm about to pass out right now i'm so tired. i think i will pass out.
Date: 2004-04-20
From: Crawfish Valley

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

We (gentle ben, traillite and boo'sgoose) all woke up pretty late today. i froze in my hammock last night. It wasn't even a cold night, but that lack of insolation on my back really left me chilly. By the time we hit the trail, everyone we passed yesterday (30-30, giggles, feather, wing, boxtop, packrat and the mad german) had already passed us today. it was a very pretty hike this morning. we walked through some of the most beautiful green pastureland that i've ever seen. it was a real hot day too. we stopped for a quick lunch at a pavilion and everyone caught up and ate lunch too. After lunch we experienced some pretty difficult climbs. especially with that sun grilling us. the backs of my legs are bright red with sunburn. the first mile in the climb up chestnut ridge was terrible. whoever told us that virginia is flat was playing a mean joke. it was about a 1000 ft climb in less than a mile. when we got to the ridgeline, we saw some awesome views. i've started to notice that virginia's mostly ridgelines. in the other states, when you get a good view, you see mountains piled upon mountains. in virginia it's just ridgelines as far as the eye can see. we stopped for water at a small spring-fed pong near the top. that's when we realized all our shirts were crusted over with sweat deposits. the shelter on top is really nice. it's stone masonry with windows. everyone we've been hiking with in the past two days are here tonight. we got to see a great sunset. from the top here you can see God's Thumbprint. it's an enormous natural crater with farmland in the bottom surrounded by jagged ridgeline. we're waking up early tomorrow to do the 21 miles to Bland before the post office closes. guess i should get some sleep.
Date: 2004-04-27
From: 4 Pines Hostel

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up this morning, ate some left over pizza then went back to bed for an hour. the 3 of us (me, traillite and Boo'sGoose) slept in this morning; it was really nice. we finally got on the trail at 10. the weather was uncooperative today. it would be blue skies then turn into rain clouds. we hiked through some very pretty pastureland then over a hilly ridgeline. i was constantly amazed at the beauty of how green everything was. flowers were bluming everywhere and everything was that new green that you can only see in the first weeks of spring. the hike up McAfee's knob was very easy. the view from the top was amazing too. we ate lunch and took a bunch of pictures. I finally got to take my photo of Al where i'm holding my "congratulations Kim and Al" sign since for their first born. the wind was ferocious on top. after lunch the three of us hiked at different speed to enjoy some alone time. traillite hiked the slowest because he was feeling sick again. boo's goose stopped and watched a view for a while. i kept hiking but slowed down to enjoy how beautiful everything was today. even the song "it's a wonderful world" was stuck in my head. after a while i noticed a huge storm cloud headed my way, so i started bookin it to get over the last mountain. when i got to the top of Tinker Cliffs i noticed the storm had blown the other way. i sat for a while loving the view and waited for the other two guys. when they showed up it started to rain a little and we hiked a little faster. when we got to the shelter the sun came out, then it started raining, then snowing, then sun again. crazy weather today. Seeker and FirstLight are also in the shelter tonight. i'm definatley coming back and doing this great section of trail again one day.
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Black Rock Shelter
Miles today: 25.0

I was cold last night, but not freezing so things are improving. First Light was already gone by the time i woke, of course. I usually sleep in now, becuase the mornings are when i get my best sleep with the sun rising and warming everything up. I made pretty good time this morning. It was really windy today. People had told me the Shenandoah's were easy, but that was an understatement. right when you enter the park your greeted with easy grades and smooth trails. I started flying when i got to the park. I passes probably 11 hikers today headed the same direction i was. I found out that Boo'sGoose and Red Dog were only 12 miles ahead of me. i felt so good hiking today i actually contemplated catching up to them by doing some night-hiking. only problem was that i have to resupply tomorrow. The campstore would definatly be closed by the time i reached it tonight. so i would have to camp at the campground store and wait for it to open in the morning. that would put me only 6 miles behind Red Dog. I got to the Black Rock Shelter at 5. I was about to eat dinner and push on until a section hiker informed me that the campground store wasn't open yet for the summer. the resteraunt was open but didn't open until 9 the next morning. so i decided to stay the night at black rock and hike the 7 miles tomorrow to eat breakfast and try and resupply with what the gift shop has. The shelter is packed tonight. Captain Hook, Curious George, Flying Brian, Silvergirl, Drifter, Ed, Colorado Dave, Numbskull, Quincy Girl, Hans, Marro and 4 section hikers are all here tonight. This is the most packed shelter i've ever stayed in. I may do the 34 miles tomorrow just to get ahead of the group.
Date: 2004-05-07
From: Hightop Hut 

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 20.4

Like usual, i didn't want to get out of my bag this morning. finally hit the trail and did the 10 miles to Lewis Mountain Campground by lunch. the selection at the campstore was terrible. for lunch i ate two tv dinner chilly dogs. they were pretty nasty. there was a line for the payphone and everyone made humerous remarks in the background when someone was on the phone with their significan other, so i opted to call Tracy when i got to big meadows. It wsa another 8.5 miles to big meadows and the trail was pretty easy so i made good time. the lodge here is a big expensive tourist haven. i defiantly don't fit in. they had payphones downstairs where i called Tracy. when i came back upstairs i discovered that a huge thunderstorm had blown in. the lights blinked several times. i asked the desk if any hikers had come in and found out quincy girl had gotten a room here. i sent a messege up to her that i was in the lobby and when she came down captain hook showed up. quincy had missed the storm by minutes but poor captain hook got caught in it. he had actually gotten a ride to the lodge by a park ranger who found him huddled in a phone booth. the three of us had dinner downstairs in the taproom. the food was really expensive and i had to eat two dinners just to fill me up. when we went back upstairs we discovered colorado dave, numbskull, and hans having dinner in the dinningroom. they had all gone in together and gotten a tentsite. captain hook and i had made up our minds to hike the three more miles to the next shelter and stay there for the night. everyone kept trying to convince us to stay but at 9:30 we headed out anyways. we probably only walked for about 15 minutes before we completely lost the trail. deciding it was hopeless we hiked back towards the lights of the campground and found our way back to the lodge. earlier in the evening quincy girl had offered to let us sleep on her hotel room floor. her mistake because that's just what we did. the rest of the night was really fun. it was reminescent of a jr. high slumber party as we kept talking and laughing while hopelessly trying to fall asleep. quincy girl went off on how bad my feet stunk and made me wash them in the tub. they did smell pretty bad. it's been a long day.
Date: 2004-05-08
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

slept in real late this morning. i tried to make coffee in the hotel room but the plug didn't match to socket so i had to hold the coffee maker and stand in the bathroom for it to work in a compatible socket. quincy girl really got jipped on her hotel room. it cost $80 and most people's bathrooms are bigger than the hotel room they gave her. no tv or phone either. i went downstairs and got a good but expensive breakfast. i drank way too much coffee. finally got my lazy butt on the trail by 11. I stopped at the first shelter for a privy break and captain hook and suprisingly sunshine showed up. sunshine and i then started bookin it to make it to the skyland campground resteraunt before they stopped serving lunch. we make it ther with 5 minutes to spare. both of us got the same meal; chicken pot pie and clam chowder. it always feels so weird to be all dirty and stinky and be served in a nice resteraunt. after lunch i called my buddy Allen who lives in Front Royal. he and i used to play ultimate frisbee together a few years back. now he's a teacher in front royal and said he'd let me crash at his place for a night. i had thought i had calculated the miles to front royal as being 22. later i found out it was more like 27. long day tomorrow i guess. when i left the campground it was already 4 and i still had 10 miles to do. this racing the sunset thing has become a daily event. I really took off and even passed captain hook and sunshine. when i got to the shelter i discovered i had finally caught the elusive Red Dog. i ate a tasty dinner of another philly cheese steak i had bought at the resteraunt. red dog attempted to make jiffy pop but most of it burned. the shelter is crawling with mice and we even saw one run in and out of someone's shoes. i went ahead and put my trap down and literally seconds after i sat it down the mouse popped out and went for it. everyone was watching but i had to turn my head as i heard the "SNAP". it had only caught the poor thing by the nose. out of pitty i undid the trap and thought about what to do with it as it sat there stunned. while i was thinking a section hiker took matters into his own hands and proceeded to bash the mouse with a brick as it flopped around like a fish out of water. it was a pretty greusome scene. after a while it started getting pretty dark and quincy girl hadn't shown up. i went out to go find her and discovered her going the wrong way on the trail down to the shelter. her flashlight had gone dead. i'm glad i found her when i did; i'm sure that gave her a good scare.
Date: 2004-05-09
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 26.5
Weather: few clouds

What a long day. i hit the trail pretty early this morning. i hiked behind sunshine for a while then i started trailing behind until i turned a corner and stading there were red dog, hans and sunshine. as i walked closer i heard something rattling. coiled up in the middle of the trail was a fat timber rattlesnake. this thing wouldn't move either. we tried to scare it away by tossing sticks and rocks at it. eventually i had to pick up a long tree limb and used it to lift the snake off the trail and tossed it in the woods. after a little more hiking we made it to the Elkwallow Wayside Grill and everyone ordered breakfast, except sunshine who ate 5 klondike bars. a park ranger was hanging around the wayside and came over and started chatting with us. he was all friendly at first, then in a complete mood reversal asked to see our permits. everyone had theirs except for red dog. it was a funny situation, but not for red dog. the ranger took red dog's license and went back to his car to run the card. we joked that red dog had better enjoy his biscuit because it would be the last real food he would eat before going to jail. it turned out well in that all the ranger gave was a written warning instead of a fine. i left the guys at the wayside because i still had a lot of miles to do today. i finally got to see a black bear. we saw each other at the same time. he took off running and i dropped my pack, grabbed my camera and followed chase. he was a lot faster than me and i lost him as he scampered over a road. i never got a picture. the rest of the day i hiked pretty fast and made good time. a family at an overlook gave me a huge peanut butter cookie. i stopped for a break and devoured the cookie. then i ate a huge portion of some cheese i had bought 3 days back. bad move; that oily warm cheese churned my stomach the rest of the afternoon. i made it to the road into front royal at 6:15 and started holding my thumb out. that was the hardes hitch i've ever had on such a busy road. i probably waited for 30 minutes. i finally got a ride into town and called Allen who came and picked me up from the food lion. back at his place i got a much needed shower and got my clothes washed. Allen had two of his buddies over and they grilled out chicken for fajitas. they were real good but that cheese was still messing my stomach up. i was so tired that i just zoned out sitting at the table. i convinced myself that tomorrow i would take a zero since i hadn't had one since pearisburg. it'll be nice to sleep in tomorrow for a change.
Date: 2004-05-13
From: The Blackburn Trail Center

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

I was on the trail by 7:00 and still the last one out. Red Dog and Sunshine were supposed to meet me and Captain Hook at 12 at the ATC Headquarters to go tubeing. i tried to hike fast this morning but the rocks on the trail were terrible. I passed Quincy Girl and Mauro then later Hans. I pulled into the ATC building at 11:30. I got my photo taken for the ATC photo album and i would have been the 71st thru-hiker on my 71st day on the trail, but Captain Hook insisted that he arrived at the building before me and insisted on being the 71st hiker instead. Gentle Ben, Firstlight and i got a hotel room at the Hilltop Hotel. I told the tubeing guys i would meet them at the outfitters. After getting the room, Ben and I went down to the outfitters but didn't see Red Dog and the guys so we went to a Tavern across the street. Untrue to its name, the Tavern had no beer, so we went to a pub down the way. The beer was very expensive and a foreign family sat down at the table next to us. Their children were so loud that they actually drove customers out. We headed back up to the ATC building, no Red Dog so then we walked the really long stretch across town to the post office. My maildrop and package from Tracy hadn't arrived so i was hoping maybe the post office had them. Nope, they didn't either. We headed over to the libray for a while then on our way back, got a hitch back to the hotel from a 2001 thru-hiker. Upon arrival we got a note that tubeing wasn't open yet for the season. That was a downer. I wandered around the historic part of town for a while. I met up with Firslight and Ben for an AYCE buffet at the hotel then i got to call Tracy and Mom and Dad. We're talking about going into D.C. tomorrow.
Date: 2004-05-21
From: Boiling Springs

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning to the sound of thunder. Once again Mr. Hale had prepared a wonderfull breakfast for us. He hd to go to work this morning and there was a storm coming so the best he could do was let us out at the ATC building were we waited on the storm to pass. It was a good storm too. We all hit up the post office then had coffee at a coffee house as it rained. Around 10 it cleared up and the sun came out so we hit the trail. It was 15 miles of flat farmland and coming off that storm we got soaked because of all the tall wet grass. There was plenty of mud too. We ate lunch at the only dry, non-muddy spot we could find- a trail overpass over a busy highway. We got plenty of honks as we sat and enjoyed lunch. The rest of the day wasn't too bad as far as terrain, just two big ups. When we got to the first shelter, Red Dog and i took a long break. Gentle Ben showed up in a little while and wasn't feeling too good today and was trailing a little behind. I walked .2 down a steep side trail at the shelter to discover the spring had run dry. that really ticked me off. back at the shelter, Red Dog and I had numerous contest to see who could spit pistachio shells the farthest. The 7.2 to the next shelter wasn't that bad but for some reason i started developing a strong allergic reactin to some plant that we were hiking in today. I don't think i've ever sneezed so much in my life. We made it to the shelter and my sneezing continued. Also at the shelter are a father and duaghter team section hiking to Maine. They're sleeping in a tent in the shelter? go figure. the mosquitos are really starting to show themselves now. they're eating me alive right now. goodnight.