morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-30
To: Piker & Ms. Mileage
Miles today: 0.0

Just another entry to update you on our situation out here in the wilderness. There is never enough time for us to enter our journal entries so I will be sending those off to transcriber Mom Steady today and they will be entered within the next few weeks. I am also sending our first picture card so get ready for some pictures, well maybe, we all know that those things take time!! We have made it to Laurel Fork Campground and Hostel, a beautiful spot right on a rushing stream. We are at the 409.3 mile point, 1/5 of the way there, the miles just keep adding up. We walked in yesterday in the pouring rain and were met by Burn who told us about the great cabins here at Laurel Fork. The Bruces, Captain Chaos, Squid Jerky, Eagle Eye, Maineiac, and others were all here. It will never be easy to get used to hiking and camping in the rain. Piker is still sleeping and the rain is lightly falling outside, maybe breakfast in town and then we will hit the trail later on in the afternoon when the rain slows down. But you know: NO RAIN, NO MAINE!!! We'll be walking in many more storms!! Thank you, as always, for all our wonderful guest book entries!! Sissy- We are so happy for you and now we know that we always have a place to stay in Burlington :-) Mommy Rhoda- we think about you often as well and I am so happy to hear that Casey is being nice to her cousin Charlzie. It sounds like she is loving her new home and Piker and I could not be happier about it. We can not wait to see you this summer as well!!! Trampas- We hope to see you out on the trail again soon!!! Brian- Glad to hear that all is going well in ST. J and we hope that you will get some time off soon to come and hike with us for a while!! We are expecting to be in Damascus on Tuesday. That will mean 3 states down and we are into the 500 mile beauty of Virginia. Life is great and Piker and I are having a wonderful time being together. We have met some really great new friends and the trail has been treating us very well. My appetite is raging and no Mom my butt is not huge...I am burning off that Hungry Man's Breakfast. Don't worry about us, we are taking good care of eachother. Can't wait to see our families soon. On to Damascus....With Love
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Laurel Fork Campground & Hostel

To: Laurel Fork
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 42: April 30,2005Today as a result of the rainy weather we decided to take a zero & wait for tomorrow to go thru the gorge and Laurel Falls. Moose made french toast for breakfast, it was delicious. We played a couple rounds of around the world, which was fun. I made some brownies that I bought for a dollar. What a deal! We lounged around most of the day. For dinner we had corn, potatoes & sausages cooked on a great fire that Dave and Moose got going. We went to bed and were excited about getting back into the woods in the morning & hiking. The past week had been too much of a party. It made me forget my goals & reasons for being out here. Also I realized how difficult it is for couples to be out here & also how important it is for Dave and I to have our own time. We were packed and ready for the morning.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Laurel Fork

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

Day 43: May 1, 2005We woke up, it was partly cloudy and we got ready to go. A few last minute details: mailing boots, camera card & journals to Mom, checking out pictures on Spruces website & having breakfast (poptarts). We walked back to the AT @ 10:30 and were on our way. The trail started out just beautiful and FLAT, looping around streams & waterfalls. There were some really nice spots where we had to walk right along the water & scale rocks. It was a great day & we were so happy to be back on the trail. Today we went by Watauga Lake. At the road crossing we sat by the water with our old buddies Eagle Eye & Maineiac. We wanted to camp tonight so when we got to the shelter we left a note for the Bruces & kept moving and looking for a campsite. As the day went on I became more and more tired. Coming out of town I am always more tired & need to get my trail legs back. We kept walking after a short break at a beautiful vista overlooking the lake. When we got to Iron Mountain Gap we saw a couple of tents. There was Restless, Okie, & TDS (totally different subject). Restless told us that from here it is a big climb so we decided to stay. A little later the Bruces walked up & we had a really nice night in great company.
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Campsite (2 Miles from Damascus)
Miles today: 35.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 44: May 2, 2005Today was not an ordinary day for us out here, a challenge was put on the table, as a joke at first and then the rest of the day was an adventure. Woke up to Okie's fire and Dave walked half a mile to get us some water for coffee. We began joking about the "37 mile challenge" into Damascus. Piker and Spruce were enthusiastic while Moose and I were hesitant. A leisurely morning, hiked out at 9:30. After a pretty nice climb we took our first break at Vandventer shelter where we had snacks and a beautiful view of the lake from boulders out back. The weather was ok, a little cold and windy but clear skies. We headed to the next shelter (Iron Mtn.) where we had hot lunch, wonderfull black bean and rice burritos made by chef Piker! At this shelter we also lost Moose. He decided to bow out of the challenge. I was however very enthuised myself at this point, so Piker, Spruce and I headed out. Moose told us he would catch us tomorrow in Damascus. The hiking was very enjoyable, we leapfrogged with Restless, Okie, and TDS before hiking over a beautiful valley with old farm buildings and equipment. We went into one abandoned building and took pictures. It was tough to give up this nice camp area but we had to move onward. Next stop was double springs shelter where we took our boots off and had tuna tortillas for dinner. Rested up and feeling good we were off to try and get a little more sunlight. A beautiful sunset, burning orange, as we walked on. As it grew dark we donned our head lamps and stayed closer together. We got to our last pit stop of the day (Abingdon gap shelter) at 10 thirty. Everyone was asleep at camp and we were feeling pretty exhausted. We were 27 miles into our challenge. We didn't want to wake anyone up so we walked down the trail a bit, found a log and had a snack. We pushed on....pretty low energy. My feet began to hurt....damn blisters. It was very difficult to see with barely any moon to help guide our way. At 2 am we stopped and Piker rebandaged my feet. We made a group decision to move on because we really wanted to hit the TN/VA border tonight. We moved on through stumbles, falls, and sapplings to Pikers midsection which then entailed a five minute sappling beatdown. There were smiles all around when we got to the border and then I felt a bit delirious. At this point we began looking for camp sites, utter exaustion had hit us. At 3 am we found a spot. Through little talking we set up our tents, crawled in, vowed to sleep in and then walk into Damascus for breakfast. All night I dreamed about hiking and looking for a camp spot. Not a great night sleep but a wonderful first night hike. We killed the "35 Mile Challenge"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2005-05-03
From: Campsite (2 Miles from Damascus)

To: Damascus
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 45:May3,2005It was light before we knew it, I tried to hide under my sleeping bag & block out the dawning day but it did not work. We were up at 8:00 & began breaking down camp. We had made it further than we had thought the night before & we were in Damascus before we knew it. At the welcome sign we saw Cuppa Joe & he took some pictures of us. We were pretty tired from the hike & the 5 hours of sleep the night before. We walked along the river, walked over the bridge & walked down main street of Damascus. Our first mission was food. We hit up Dairy King for breakfast. Pancakes, Gotta love it! After we walked back to The Place, a hostel run by the Methodist Church in town. It reminded me of a frat house & it smelled like one too but it was perfect for us @ $4 a night. It was time to relax. I layed in the sun & jounaled a litte before I fell asleep & took a nice nap. For lunch we met up with Eagle Eye & Maineia & went to Sicily's for pizza. For the rest of the day we resupplied at Dollar General & checked out the outfitters while we waited for Moose. Piker's allergies were at an all time bad. He spent a lot of the day in bed & the other @ the pharmacy trying to figure out how to deal with them. Poor Boy! Moose arrived at 7:00 & was wanting dinner. We headed up to Dot's Inn for beers & burgers. Budweisers & new friends. It was a nice night hanging out with the Bruces,TDS,Normad,Maineiac & Silent Bob. I got to catch some of the Celtics playoff game as well, that was cool! We headed back to The Place. I had a great nights sleep. I don't think I moved an inch after I fell asleep. The mice running around was not fun but I was able to block it out. Wow,I really am getting used to life out here!!
Date: 2005-05-04
From: Damascus

To: Damascus campsite
Miles today: 0.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 46: May 4,2005We didn't want to zero in Damascus since we are planning on going back for Trail Days so we decided to take a short day out of town & carry some goodies with us. We woke up leisurely & headed to Dairy King for breakfast. All you can eat pancakes were on my mind & Spruce & I decided to have a competition. The lady told us the record was 8 pancakes. Spruce stopped at 6. I ate 9, ordered a 10th & could not even look at it when it arrived. I think that was enough pancakes for me for a while. We did laundry, showered & did some last minute town business. Piker had a burrito for lunch while I worked online. Piker & I went to Food City & bought 36 hot dogs,a bag of marshmellows & some beer. We got lucky & caught a ride back to town. We packed up our loaded packs & waited for the crew. While we waited Squid Jerky went & bought a Hacky Sack. We spent the afternoon Hacking, our new favorite game and left town at 5:00pm. We heard about a campsite right up the trail & we were hoping it was close because our packs felt EXTRA heavy. Piker with beer strapped under his brain, too funny. We crawled up the trail & Spruce yelled that he had found a spot. We set up our tents, built a fire & hacked the day away. Spruce, Moose,Squid J, TDS,Piker & I enjoyed plenty of hot dogs & marshmellows by the fire at this great camp spot. It was a fun fire campout in the woods. It felt like we were car camping. Out like a light! Nights in the tent are the best. Your own clean area. Gotta love it!!
Date: 2005-05-05
From: Damascus campsite

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: light rain

Day 47: May 5,2005Welcome to Virginia. I feel that passing Damascus was a huge milestone for me. I always told myself that if I made it to Damascus I could make it all the way to Maine. I am truly overjoyed to be in Virginia. This morning we spent a leisurely hour packing up. We had a short day planned for a few reasons: one we are meeting Spruce's dad in Atkins on Wednesday & two, our bodies are still feeling our "35 mile challenge"! We are moseying through Virginia & enjoying the wonderful weather that we have been blessed with the past few days. The walk was very easy going with one climb up straight mountain. Whoever said that Virginia was flat definitely lied. However VA has a very gradual grade & nice switchback that make the hiking so much more enjoyable! We arrived at the shelter by 12:30 & immdiately started playing hacky sack. We had some hot dogs & marshmellows left over from the night before so we started a fire & had some lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the fire. People rolled in & out. Eagle Eye & Maineiac stopped by to say hello. The relaxing days & easy going lifestyle is a nice part of being on the trail. Our bodies also seem to be loving the rest. Short days this week mean a lot of time enjoying the beauty around us! Life is Great.
Date: 2005-05-06
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 48: May 6,2005I forgot to mention that yesterday was Cinco DeMio & Coppa Joe packed in some Jim Beam & passed the bottle around so we could toast & celebrate the holiday. Very cool. This morning we really slept in waking up at 9:00. We slowly got ready, had coffee & breakfast & headed out. The hiking was so easy going. Dave's knee is really bothering him so it was perfect to take it slow on the nice terrain. We stopped for a hot lunch @ Lost Mtn. Shelter after we had spent about an hour attempting to fish(for our first time ever) at a pond with Spruce & Moose. We made a rod with my pole & it is still attached, hook & all, so that at any point all I need is bait & we can go fishing. After ramen casserole we moved on. We were walking over a beautiful valley & came up over a hill and standing there was a big ol' cow. Our first real animal experience out here. Dave chased the cow around trying to get in a good position for a photo op. As we moved on there were plenty more cows & the calves were so cute running through the fields. At this point we approached a road & a brick house. As we got closer we realized that the house was abandoned. So naturally all of the boys wanted to go & check it out. I waited outside while Spruce, Piker,& Squid Jerky had a blast walking through the empty house. Too Blair Witch for me. I did however go over to the porch & get my picture taken with everyone. Dave had the biggest smile on his face, he is so intrigued by scary abandoned property. As we hiked up the .2 miles to the campsite we couldn't stop thinking about the house & whether it is for sale. We thought that it would make the best hostel. When we walked up on the site TDS already had a fire going. We found a great campsite next to a huge boulder. We were nestled in a nice pine forest. We had awesome rice burritos for dinner & then watched the most amazing sunset I think that we have seen on our trip. We took a lot of pictures as the forest became encased with a red hue. Beautiful! Moose & Piker had a quick wrestling match which I held my breath for the entire time. I'm always afraid that Dave will get hurt, especially since he is already injured. Thank God it didn't last long & they seemed to get it out of their systems. Of course Spruce got footage of the entire match. The rest of the night we chilled out by the fire & went down to our tent & read before falling asleep.We have a tentative plan to wake up @ 5AM so that we can hike to Buzzard Rock for Sunrise. My alarm is set. We'll see what happens but this group has been enjoying sleeping in.
Date: 2005-05-07
From: Campsite

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Day 49: May 7,2005Today we had planned to get up for sunrise on Buzzard Rock however we love to sleep in. When we did make it to Buzzard Rock mid-morning it was absolutely beautiful. We had planned w/our crew to hitch into Konnarock Community for a quick resupply & restaurant stop. We arrived by Mount Rogers & started looking pathetic for a ride. We chatted w/some ladies about flowers & I saw a truck about to pull out of the parking lot. I ran over & asked if they would mind giving some thru-hikers a ride. They said yes & I grabbed Piker, Spruce, Moose, Squid J & TDS. We piled into the back of the truck & we were on our way. We pulled up to a tiny convenient store/restaurant, we were so happy. We walked in & ordered burgers then checked out the resupply(which was great & relatively reasonably priced). I made phone calls home. Yummy food made us very happy & we went outside to look for a hitch back, in other words a truck. While on the phone with my sister a nice couple from Myrtle Beach told us they were going the other way & they were sorry. But then they chatted in the car for a while & I think that they felt bad b/c they jumped out & offered us a ride. I quickly said goodbye to my sister & we all jupmped in the back of the truck! Score!! It was a nice climb up Mt. Rogers! Cows gallore, we had to slowly make our way around one mean looking cow that was blocking the trail. When we got to the shelter there were ponies all around the water source. So the water was gross but the ponies were adorable. We had a great night @ the shelter & had a strange occurrence in the middle of the night when water started streaming down from the second floor. We blamed the two kids who were sleeping upstairs but the would not admit to anything. I guess that we will never know. We also had a fire so that we could roast marshmellows. You do whatevere it takes to have toasted marshmellows! A group of hikers made sushi for dinner & put crazy ideas in our heads about what kind of gourmet meals we could be eating out on the trail!
Date: 2005-05-20
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Big Walker Motel, Bland,VA
Miles today: 11.5

Day 62: May 20,2005We had to go to Bland for a maildrop. Sat & chatted with TDS for a while before getting lucky & getting a ride into town. Dairy Queen filled us up for lunch. We hung out with Spruce, Squid Jerky & Stilts. Later on Moose, Domino & JP cruised in. We had a "delicious" dinner at Subway, resupplied at Dollar General & hung out the rest of the night drinking beers & watching movies! The crew is back together again. Happy to be back on the trail & feeling strong.
Date: 2005-05-21
From: Big Walker Motel, Bland,VA

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 63: May 21,2005Today was one of my favorite days on the trail so far. Beautiful weather, cool temperatures, and the trail was a magnificent soft path with few rocks. Todays trail felt like a rollercoaster. We woke up around 9 o'clock, I immediately called my mom to say goodbey before heading out. We took our time packing up & taking showers. When we walked down to see the boys there was a lady who had offered to give them a ride to town so we quickly threw our packs in the trunk & piled in. Our first stop was the post office where we sent home some clothes. Getting rid of weight is so much fun! We walked down to the Citgo & grabbed some coffee & danish & went outside & piled back in the car. We were going to have breakfast but we couldn't give up the chance on a ride. We did not want to walk the 2.5 miles uphill back to the trail. We got dropped off & chilled for a while and ate breakfast then started our road walk back to the woods. The hike was sweet! Easy going. We stopped for lunch w/Squid J at the road with 2.9 miles left to go. One more big climb(which really was not very bad) & some forest park style u-turns & we were at the shelter by 4:00. We did the last 2.9 miles in just under an hour. We decided to crash in the shelter. Met some nice hikers, Jammer,Dirty Harry & Raj. We had breakfast for dinner. Yummy peaches n'cream oatmeal. Then I had a Peanut Butter Tortilla and I was done. Piker built me a wonderful fire & we are just sitting here chatting. Tomorrow we have what looks like a chill day ahead of us, with a stop at a restaurant for some lunch. Hoping for a good nights sleep in the shelter.
Date: 2005-05-22
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 64: May 22,2005Today was another one of those days that makes me so happy to be out here. Beautiful day with cool temperatures, a perfect hiking day. After a pretty miserable nights sleep for Piker & me, we woke up leisurely around 8 o'clock & started breaking down. Piker made strawberries n'cream oatmeal(my new favorite) with mocha latte's. How exotic for the trail!! We got on the trail at 9:20 & started our 6.5 mile hike into Trent's Grocery for lunch. The hike was really easy & enjoyable especially because we hiked with Moose. We laughed & chatted about poison oak & poison ivy the entire way. I think that soon we will know very well what they both look like! We did the 6.5 miles in just over 2 hours. Pretty sweet. We met Spruce at the bridge and Squid J was not far behind. We walked the .4 miles to the "ghetto" grocery store. We ordered burgers & looked around the store. They had taxidermed animals all over and it kind of freaked me out a little bit. About an hour later we got our microwaved burgers & fries. I think that their kitchen was the microwave. Sketchy!! We met so some pretty crazy locals. One guy who was pushing around a walker told us that while in the woods he accidentally shot himself in the thigh & then fell & broke his ankle. He shot himself with a 357 magnum, pretty hardcore stuff. CRAZY! We bought some beer, hot dogs & buns for the road & headed out. This nice guy offered us a ride back to the trail head & told us how 2 people were killed at the shelter that we were staying at tonight. Too much information for me. FREAKY!! The 7.7 miles to the shelter was basically flat. Really nice, peaceful hiking. We were here in just under 3 hours. We sat with Squid J & had some beers & chatted. Moose & Spruce rolled in a bit later becasue they had stopped at the falls for some swimming. Piker built a great fire & there was a grill over the fire perfect for cooking our dogs. We all had hotdogs for dinner. Piker is wearing his mardigras beads in full party mode. He looks cute. The group is hacking, Piker is playing chess with Paul & I am writing & staring at the hiker tube(the fire) which I am also keeping a flame all by myself!I am pretty darn good at keeping the fire going just not so good at getting it going. Hee Hee!! We have quite a climb in front of us tomorrow but it will be a piece of cake if we just take it slow. Squid J just found a huge spider in the privy & I have been in there 3 times. Nasty,scary,gross!! I despise spiders. A quiet night at the shelter. The chess game is still going down. I am going to set up my sleeing bag & read a bit. Dreaming about clear skies in the morning b/c it looks a bit threatening right now.