morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-27
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: broken clouds

Thur, 4-27-06 It rained most of the night for the third night in a row. Had to pack up a wet tent again, but all of my other stuff stayed nice and dry. Thunder and lightning right over the tent about 3:30am. Woke us all up by shaking the ground !!! Must have been very close where the lightning hit. Anyway, it stopped raining just as we were getting up and around this morning about 6:30am and cleared up totally by 1pm Turned out to be a really nice day. We hiked pretty fast and were at the shelter by 2pm. Lucky's car was just 100 yards away at the Mt. Rodgers Headquarters parking lot, so Lucky and I went in to town to get a few things at the store and Tim stayed at the shelter. This particular shelter has a shower and a wash tub for doing laundry. Of course Lucky and I had to stop and get a cheeseburger and we brought one back for Tim. We spent the rest of the afternoon taking showers ( almost hot ) and washing our clothes which we put out on a line to dry in the sun and lig!ht breeze. Nothing like the smell of clothes that have been dried outside ! One more cool thing about this shelter is the fact that we can order pizza and they deliver ! So guess what is for dinner. The rest of the coming weeks supplies had been stashed in Lucky's trunk, so we reorganized our food bags and are pretty much set for the next 5 days.Since Lucky's car is so close, we will also go to town in the morning for a good breakfast before we hit the trail. This is a REALLY good shelter !! Probably will gain back the weight I've lost the last 5 days.Oh well, long way down the trail yet to go.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-04-28
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Davis Path Shelter
Miles today: 14.2

Got up to use the facilities about 2:30am last night and OH MY....THE STARS....THE STARS..!!!! Clear skies, no moon and absolutly no other lights to interfere with the view. Just tremendous. You could easily see the Milky Way and the billions and billions and billions of other stars from one horizon to the other. Sooooo much better than a planaterium. I have no clue as to what any stars\constelations names are. I just know how beautiful it was and how very small and insignificant it made me feel. A very memorable experience indeed.Found about 3 pounds of Morrel mushrooms along side the trail which we picked and gave to the waitress at the place we ate dinner, where the trail crosses under I-81, 3 miles from Atkins VA. She was going to give them to her grandparents for dinner tonight. Was sunny and warm this afternoon. Got a little sunburned and suffered somewhat from the heat, high 70's, but managed to make it to camp after having at least a half gallon of icecold sweet tea at dinner to give me a little sugar\caffiene rush.My body is holding up pretty good after 7 days on the trail without taking a day off. Thinking about taking a zero day pretty soon to help my old bones recover for the weeks of hiking ahead.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-04-29
From: Davis Path Shelter

To: Knot Maul Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Sat. 4-29-06. Started today with a cool, clear morning. I tried to get a picture of the sunrise but am not sure it will show just how great it was. You'll just have to take my word for it. Normal day on the trail with nothing special happening......just beautiful Virginia countryside everywhere. It did seem like we spent a lot more time going up very steep hillsides today, but in reality it was just another typical 10 hour physical endurance test on the AT. I got a little more sunburned today. Expect in a week or so I'll be very tan on my head, arms and legs, but still very white everywhere else. We called it a ' farmer tan ' when we were kids.We expect to get into the town of Bland on Tuesday afternoon. We will take a zero day there on Wednesday to resupply, wash clothes and rest.....and eat something besides trail food. I will be able to catch up with e-mails too.Still alot of great things to see farther up the trail thru Virginia and I'm going to see it all !!RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-04-30
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Walker Gap 
Miles today: 10.3

Sunday, 4-30-06. Started the day like always, waking up when the birds start squaking about 6am, packing everything back in the pack that you had unpacked from your pack the night before and thrown into the tent, then eating a quick breakfast so as to be on the trail a little after 7am. Hike all day ( about 10 hours ), taking pictures and enjoying the surroundings, then find a shelter or camp site to stay that night, set up your tent, throw all the stuff from your pack in the tent, get water from a spring or stream for dinner, breakfast and to start the next day hiking, eat dinner, crawl into tent and write journal entry, then sleep till you hear the birds again about 6am. Repeat previous.That is basically a typical schedule of events for a long distance hiker. Of course the hiking part is where all the cool stuff happens. Today we climbed up to the high ridge line that overlooks the Burkes Garden area, which is a crater shaped valley about 10 miles across with high ridges a!ll around and only about a dozen farms in the entire valley. A very beautiful and almost perfect place hidden away in the southwest Virginia mountains. I did get pictures.We have had 3 really good days of weather, cool and sunny, and are hoping for one more !RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Walker Gap 

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: broken clouds

Mon. 5-1-06. Another typical day on the AT. Seems like the 8.3 miles today was more like twice that much.Steep ups and steep downs.....typical AT. Most of the day was running the ridgeline around the beautiful area of Burkes Garden, which has to be one of the best prettyest spots in Virginia.We stopped a little early today to set up a full day hiking tomorrow going into the little town of Bland where we will stay the night and resupply to get ready for another 4 days on the trail to our next stop at Pearisburg. The way we are making progress, we may make it all the way to Harpers Ferry before I have to quit by June 3rd.Still having a great time and meeting alot of great hikers along the way. Tim, Lucky and I are still pretty healthy with no major physical problems and with a short rest tomorrow night in the little town of Bland. RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-02
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

Tues. 5-2-06 Another perfect weather day. We cruised along with only a couple climbs of any size and enjoyed another day in Virginia. Getting more and more leaves on the trees along the trail now, so that in a couple of weeks there won't be many long distance views to see.
Date: 2006-05-03
From: Bland, VA

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Wed 5-3-06. Partly cloudy and windy today. Wish it would have been a tail wind but it was a cross wind out of the northwest. Expecting a front to move thru sometime tomorrow with a chance for rain showers in the afternoon and all day Friday. So looks like we will be walking in the rain a little bit the next couple of days, which is alright. This part of the state is still very very dry after several years of drought.We got to the shelter about 3pm, set up camp and walked a half mile down a ravene to get water. Lucky started home today. He caught a ride back to his car this morning after breakfast, then he was going to stay in the Partnership shelter tonight where his car is parked and drive back to Indiana tomorrow.We are still doing pretty good physically, although a little tired after 12 days in a row on the trail, and hope to do enough miles to get to Pearisburg by noon Saturday to get to the post office before noon to get my resupply package. Thanks go out to " Huff-n-Puff " and her husband Miron for giving us all a ride into Bland yesterday from the road crossing and hauling us around to resupply so we would be ready to get back on the trail today. Another example of the great family of A.T. people !!!RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-04
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

Thur, 5-4-06, A warm, sunny day with no wind. Think I got a little too much sun and fried my bald head a little more. Pretty soon I'll be well done !!! Cruised along pretty well this morning. Stopped at a little convenient store close to a road crossing for lunch and got one of the best cheeseburgers I've ever had. A little later we took a short side trip to Dismal Creek Falls. A very nice little water fall. Took a few pictures and then continued on.Feet are tired and looking foreward to a day off in Pearisburg.....this time we are stopping for sure !! Will be in town Saturday morning before the post office closes at noon, then take the day off on Sunday and get back on the trail again first thing Monday morning. We have been on trail 13 days in a row as of today. RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-05
From: Wapiti

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Fri. 5-5-06, The climb out of Wapiti shelter northbound up to the ridgetop was a grueling 1500 foot steep, rocky climbfirst thing in the morning. Took us almost an hour and a half to go just under 2 miles. Then the trail seemed to be extra rocky most of the day. We stopped for lunch about 12:30pm and before we were done the rain started and then continued the rest of the afternoon. We were going to stop about 4pm and camp near a spring but it was still raining and we didn't want to get everything soaked setting our tents up so we decided to keep going into Pearisburg. Our feet were already hurting from a day of rocky trail and now we were going to beat them up some more. We were at the top of Pearis mountain soon and then it was a super steep descent down the side of the mountain into town. It took us over 2 hours of steep, slippery trail to finally get down into town just before 7pm. That made it a 12 hour day ! We were totally and absolutely, physically and mentally beat. If someone would have offered me a ride home after that I would have jumped at the chance.However, after a restful night and some good food I feel much better. Making Saturday a zero miles day will do wonders for our bodies to recover. We really should have taken a zero day before this, but it just didn't work out that way. RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Pearisburg

To: Rice Field
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: moderate rain

Sunday, 5-7-06, Rainy and cold. Looking back, we should have spent another day in Pearisburg. Thought we might be lucky and miss most of the rain, but it was not to be. The climb out of town took us almost 3 hours and the rain didn't really start till we were half way up. But it was still very slippery. My hiking poles saved my butt from several nasty spills. We got to the shelter at 12:30pm, wet and cold. The temperature had dropped from 50 degrees in town when we left, to 40 degrees up on the ridgetop at the shelter. Well, that is hypothermia territory, so we decided to stop here and try to dry out a little and get warm. I put on all my clothes, crawled into my sleeping bag and shivered for an hour before I finally started to warm up. By 5pm I was comfortable enough to get up and fix some dinner, which gave my belly some warmth for the night. Would rather have a warm female body to snuggle up to for warmth, but there are none to be found out here......only in my dreams.   We will have to make up the miles we lost today, later in the week somehow. For now though the trick is to stay warm somehow tonight. Rain is supposed to clear up tomorrow some time and the temperature should rise a little too, so the rest of the week looks pretty good. The trail really knows how to test a persons resolve.      RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-08
From: Rice Field

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: light rain

Mon, 5-8-06. Still cold, and very foggy. We were pretty much walking along a ridgetop and in the clouds most of the day. Couldn't see much more than about 30ft. till after noon, then it started to clear up a little. Have been seeing bear scat the last couple days, but no actual bear sightings. Think they hear us coming and take off way before we get close enough to see them. We finished up today a little early so we could set up our stuff to try to dry things out a little. Without the sun and\or a warmer breeze, it is hard to get it all dry. Should be some sun and a little warmer the next few days so we will eventually dry out completely. No big climbs today, but we start out with a 900 foot climb first thing tomorrow morning up to another ridgetop.Feet, ankles, knees and legs are all still holding up. Clean socks for tomorrow will make it more comfortable too as my socks only last 2 days then they seem totally flat and start rubbing blisters, so changing socks every 2 days seems to work well.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-09
From: Pine Swamp Shelter

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Tue, 5-9-06, Nothing much happened today. Cool, foggy and rocks on the trail. Went from 2500ft at the shelter to 4100ft at Wind rock at the top of the ridge. Got there about noon. Lots of rocks on the trail. It was very cold, very foggy and windy. We were in the clouds again. I had to put all of my clothes on and my hands were still so numb I could hardly move them to eat lunch. Didn't think it was supposed to be so darn cold in May !! Anyway, after a couple more hours we started down into the gap where War spur shelter is at 2340ft. Did I mention there were slippery, sharp rocks on the trail !!   Much warmer down here and promises to be a comfortable night. Got the tent set up drying and will start supper soon. Looks like the sun may yet make an appearence today, which would be nice since we haven't seen it for 3 days now. Still cruising along. RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-10
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Wed, 5-10-06. Started out to be a nice day. Got sunny and warm by 10am, and stayed that way most of the day. Had not seen the sun for 3 1\2 days !!Had two really steep tough climbs today. The first was a 1700ft climb first thing out of camp this morning. I did pretty well on that one. Then the trail rolled up and down thru a pretty valley and past one of the largest old growth oak trees on the trail. This thing is estimated to be well over 300 years old and it is HUGE. Got a picture of me standing next to it. I look like a small toy doll next to this huge old oak tree.Then, a little while later came the second climb. This one was only 900ft, but it seemed like it was straight up. We had already gone over 10 miles by this point in the day and we were pretty tired. So we started up and up and up. Half way up, going across a slippery rock slide area, and exhausted, the trail got me again. I slipped on a slick rock and went down on my left side and did a half roll onto my back. Luckily I fell into the hill rather than back down the side. I'd still be rolling downhill if that happened ! Anyway, after checking to make sure nothing was broken, just my pride, I tried to get up.....but couldn't. With my pack still on, I was like a turtle turned upside down. I was pinned between the rocks, on my back almost totally helpless. Thankfully no one got a picture. After a moment to consider my options, I wedged one of my hiking poles into the rocks enough to push myself over onto my side and then finally could get up on my feet. I was a little shaken, but!physically no harm was done. So I continued up the mountain side, grunting, groaning and cussing all the way to the top.Just another typical day on the AT.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-11
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

Thur, 5-11-06 Overcast, foggy and rain most of the afternoon. As is normal for the AT, big ups, big downs, repeat. Almost busted my butt several more times today on wet slick rocks. No point I can see for where they take the trail sometimes other than to make it as difficult as possible. Did hike by the Audie Murphy Memorial this afternoon. He died in a plane crash on this ridge back in 1971. I thanked him, and all veterans, for their service to the country. Gave him my best salute. For those who don't know, Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier of World War Two.Going to his memorial was one of the most important things I wanted to do on the trail. So, mission accomplished.The sky started to clear as I was fixing supper tonight and it is getting colder. Maybe tomorrow will be a nicer day.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-12
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Catawba Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 14.9

Fri, 5-12-06, The day started and ended sunny, cool and clear. About time we had a really nice day.Got on trail about 7am, as usual, and did ups and downs all day. Tim was in heaven because on one of the ridges we were on he saw well over 100 pink lady slippers, which are a type of orchid. One plant we took a picture of had 9 blooms. He said on his 3 previous hikes he has never seen many more than a couple dozen all trip. Today, every time we turned around, there they were.Other than the lady slippers, it was just a usual 11 hour hiking day on the AT. Can say that most of the leaves are now out on all of the trees so we can't see very far anymore.RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-13
From: Catawba Mountain Campsite

To: Rucker's Knob Campsite
Miles today: 12.1

Sat, 5-13-06. The day started with the birds singing about 6am. I slept a little longer than usual today but still managed to be on trail by 7:15am. Cool and sunny today. Saw several deer and a huge black snake. Naturally Tim and I had to torment the poor thing till it coiled up and struck at us a couple times. They are not dangerous or anything but us juveniles like to play with them. Got a couple of good views off the ridge tops today and took some pictures.We set up camp a little early today to give our tired bodies a couple of extra hours rest. Good thing too, since it started to rain just after we had cleaned up after dinner and crawled into our tents about 6:30pm.Hope it isn't raining in the morning when we get up. RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-05-14
From: Rucker's Knob Campsite

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: light rain

Sun, 5-14-06 ( mothers day ). It rained ater we got into our tents last night for about 4 hours then quit. This morning when we got up it was overcast and cool, but clear. We just got camp all packed up, had breakfast and were about to start up the trail when we felt raindrops. Soooooo, we quickly put our rain jackets and pack covers on and were off up the trail, in the rain by 7:15am. We are very thankful the rain gods let us get all packed up before they started the rain.Saw some intresting rock formations along the trail but mainly just hiked along. Got to Daleville, where the trail crosses US220 about 12:30pm which was too early to check into the motel, so we ate lunch ( mexican ) and did laundry till the motel was ready for us. Sort of a short day mileage wise, but my body needs the rest bad. We have had to push extra miles the last few days to get to where we can camp with a water source. If we slow down we wouldn't have enough food to make the distance. Sort of a catch 22 situation. Anyway, we made it. In 23 days on the trail we have gone 254 miles with only one zero day. Pretty darn good for and old guy like me !! RIC   aka...Vitaman
Date: 2006-03-15
To: Whitecloud
Miles today: 0.0

We're writing this from Pennsylvania, fifteen minutes south of the 501 shelter, where the weather has been in the 70's the past few days and we're beginning to wonder how cold it's actually going to be down South. We're finallizing our preparations to begin our thru-hike. Well, we're planning on a thru-hike, but we've never hiked anywhere near this far. So we'll take it one day at a time. We're planning on starting off slow and easy. We've talked about hiking the Appalachian trail for a long time, we started getting serious about 9 months ago. We read books, watched tapes, and talked to thru-hikers. We spent a lot of time shopping for and buying gear. Now here we are; two days before starting the trail. We are planning to start on Friday, March 17. We hope the weather will be nice to us for a couple days when we start.My son, daughter, and I are going to attempt this thru-hike together. My son's 12, my daughter's 18,and I'm 47. We plan on makeing entries in here whenever we can.
Date: 2006-03-15
To: Cup of Soup
Miles today: 0.0

Introducing: the Wanderers. Hiking the Appalachian Trail has always been a dream of my Dad's. I always knew it as the trail that we hiked on sometimes that stretched all the way down to Georgia and up to somewhere in Maine. A few years ago, when we were out on a camping trip along the A.T., we met a thru-hiker called the Wizard. So there we were, my Dad carrying about a 100 pound pack, two-liter water jugs hanging off our packs, reading a trail register, about to hike back to our car when this guy strides up with this tiny pack. We start talking to him and find out that he's thru-hiking. After talking to him for about an hour, we all started to become interested in hiking the A.T. Anyway, as my highschool graduation approached I decided to take some time off to decide what I want to do in college. Before long, my Dad and I decided that now would be the perfect time to attempt the A.T. At first it was just going to be the two of us, but my brother really wanted to go along. We found out how to homeschool him and now the party numbers three. Wow, I can hardly believe that we will be hikeing in two days.
Date: 2006-03-15
To: Gear
Miles today: 0.0

Hi, Iam Gear the youngest one, I was not going to hike the AT with my dad and my sister but when they went for hikes without me I decided I wanted to go along on the AT hike. Even with my other sister and my mom I got bored. When my dad and my sister came back I said "I want to go with." After that my dad tried to find away for me to go. I was going to have to be homeschooled. It wasent too much work to get stuff for me because we had most of it. I had to get more and different boots, rain gear, pack, and sleeping bag, ect. Did I tell you how I got my trail name. Well we got the MSR Hubba Hubba, two man tent, it holds two people and gear. Well I guess I am the Gear.