morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-12-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I hoped it would happen but I wondered if it would. When my thru-hike was over [July 14] would I ever see any my trail friends again?Now I know: Oh, yes!I¢ve seen Temper and Hiking Vikings STH ¢ Since The Hike -- and I¢m corresponding with other trail friends. I live in hope that I¢ll see them again, too.The Vikings, Nate and Sharon, came to visit my wife and me last weekend.   Part of me had wondered if the warm relationship we had on our hike to Maine would translate smoothly back into the real world.It did. We had a wonderful time.They were on their way back to Pennsylvania, from Georgia where Sharon had interviewed for a residency ¢ she¢s a fourth year medical student. I¢m hoping that¢s where they end up because Pennsylvania is up North, Georgia is down South, and North Carolina, where we live, is in the middle. Do you remember the ring story? [See the blog entries for April 12 and April 26.] Well, there is an addendum. The Vikings were married on July 22, 10 days after they finished their hike, and Nate is now wearing The Ring ¢ it¢s his wedding band.It was so much fun seeing Temper again, too, and meeting her boyfriend, Scott. I got to be their trail angel in October when they hiked through the Smokies en route to Springer Mountain, GA, the southern end of the Appalachian Trial. I picked them up at Fontana dam and took them to my cabin [It¢s more like a shack.] in the Snowbird Mountains, near Robbinsville, N.C. They took a zero the next day we fed them like there was no tomorrow. I had a great time and I believe they did too. I understand a lot better now why trail angels do what they do ¢ it¢s great fun. Temper finished her thru-hike on Oct. 30. But why was she hiking south?She was a flip flopper. That¢s a good thing, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy encourages hikers to start in the middle to relieve overcrowding on the trail. Temper started in Virginia and hiked north to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. I met her along the way and hiked with her off and on for six weeks ¢ we climbed Mt. Washington together. And then she came back to Harpers Ferry, W. Va., Scott joined her, and they headed south.Merry Christmas!Lucky
Date: 2015-12-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I can't send my Hiker Card to everyone so I decided to post it.The ice photo was taken back in February at Neel Gap, GA, a day or two after I almost bought the farm when I got lost coming down Blood Mountain on Feb. 16. The sunset picture was made up in Maine, a couple of days before I finished. The end-of-the-line photo on Mt. Kathadin was made July 14.The last photo, my favorite, was made in New Hampshire on June 15 by one of the Hiking Vikings, when I was descending into Fanconia Notch. What a day that was, lots of rain and high winds. It took us three hours to hike the first four miles -- that's only 1.3 mph, folks. For a video of part of the climb -- and the weather -- see the blog entry for June 15.For folks who have not seen my blog, there is a summary, including a Q. and A., on blog entry dates Sept 6, 7, and 8, that begins here.And for the Class of 2016, a list of equipment I carried --or wished I had carried-- on the July 24 blog entry.When I finished I was so tired, so beat up, I wasn't sure I'd ever hike again. Now I'm well, and looking forward to two section hikes on the AT in 2016 and a 275-mile canoe trip down the Neuse River to the Pamlico Sound.I also want to finish My Stories this year. I wrote about 400 of them before I left on my thru-hike last Feb. 15. For a video sample, see the Aug. 6 blog entry.For those of you who have read my blog, I guess this is goodbye. Thanks again to all of the angels who helped me along the way, putting me up in their homes, feeding me, riding me into town or back to the trail, and to all the folks who wrote notes of encouragement.Bless you all
Date: 2016-01-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

When I climbed Mount Katahdin last July 14 and finished my thru-hike I thought that might be it ¢ I might never backpack again. I was worn out physically, anxious to get home and get on with my life.And now?I still think about the trail every day, the good times. Memories of the hard times have faded. I want to go back.I¢ve begun hiking around my neighborhood, 10, 11 miles a day, carrying a full pack, getting back in shape. At age 73, that¢s not so easy, but I¢m getting there. Little by little and bit by bit.Later this month I¢m going to section hike the Shenandoah National Park with one of my grandsons. I¢m hoping an old friend I¢ve hiked with here and out West will join us. Last year I hiked the 105-mile Shenandoah in four days in a successful effort to overtake the Hiking Vikings. This time, what¢s the hurry?This is the first of three AT section hikes I want to do this year, all pointing toward a bigger goal ¢ the John Muir Trail in 2017.
Date: 2016-04-08
From: Waynesboro, VA - US 250/Blue Ridge Pkwy (861.7)

To: Port Royal, VA
Miles today: 18.0

I finished hiking through the Shenandoah National Park last week, my first time back on the A.T. since I finished my thru-hike on July 14.And I learned a few things:One, I¢m not in the shape now that I was then. And, truth be told, I¢ll never been in that kind of shape again. I was able to string together six 18-mile days this time, but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Keep in mind that the trail through the SNP is easy, on a par with the Tennessee Turnpike just south of Damascus and the four-state challenge trail, from the northern edge of Virginia to the southern edge of Pennsylvania ¢ mostly Maryland.Two, I don¢t enjoy hiking alone and don¢t plan to do that anymore.I hiked first half of the Shenandoah by myself and the second half with a grandson who is a sophomore at the University of Delaware. I really enjoyed the second half.   Hiking alone, for me, involves, I don¢t want to say ¢pain,¢ let me just say too much ¢discomfort¢ for too little pleasure. I hiked alone, I guess, more than 90 percent of the time on the way to Maine and, sometimes, camped or sheltered alone. I accepted that because I had to do what had to be done.   Now I have a choice -- I¢m not going to Maine. And, without that goal, the discomforts of hiking alone are a lot more acute. In the future, I¢ll hike with friends. I have two back-to-back hikes coming up soon, with friends, which I¢m looking forward to. But no more solos.Three, absent an emergency of some sort, weather or otherwise, I¢m done hiking big miles. I just don¢t need it. Again, I¢m not going to Maine. I¢m just trying to have fun, to enjoy the company of friends and get some exercise. My days of hiking from 6:30 to 5:30, or anything close to that, are over.Preparations for the new adventure, boating down the Neuse River to the coast, continue. I¢m shopping for a kayak that combines a little bit stability with a little bit of speed.It looks now like I¢ll be going down the Neuse alone. My wife told me, OK, but make sure your insurance is paid up. Darling woman.BTW, the Hiking Vikings¢ baby has arrived. They named him Asher Thomas Harrington. Nate said they were going to call him ¢Ash,¢ but he also said they just might call him ¢A.T.¢Was he kidding? I¢m not sure.
Date: 2016-06-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

After more than 40 years I got back on the horse yesterday.I had not been in a canoe, or kayak, since a cold December night when I was almost swept over a dam stretching across the Neuse River.On my thru-hike last year I made up my mind to go down the river and, last week, I bought a kayak, a Hurricane Skimmer 140. My partner, Mike Johnson, and I plan to paddle our kayaks down the Neuse from Fall¢s Lake, near Raleigh, N.C., to New Bern, N.C., and, perhaps, beyond, to Oriental, N.C., a total of 225 miles.I¢ve thought about riding a river many a times over the years, I just never did. I¢m not sure why. I didn¢t own a boat, for one thing. There never seemed to be enough time, for another.   And maybe the impact of that near miss just never went away. Anyway, on my thru-hike I made a number of resolutions and this was one: get back on the horse and go down the river.Yesterday my wife and I took a picnic to Jordan Lake and I took my new kayak for a test drive. It was fun ¢ no flashbacks -- a tad bit more unstable than I thought it would be, at least at first, but much faster. My partner and I are novices, me more than Mike, he paddled a lot when he was younger, but we¢ve gotten a lot help from the folks at Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail http://www.ncmst.org/ and from Sound Rivers http://soundrivers.org/ and one of its volunteers, Bill Hines. Mike and I now have a plan and we leave next week.I let you know how it goes.This is the story of the last time I went boating on the Neuse River. The Accident: Part IKerry Sipe, a friend and newspaper colleague, stood up in our canoe to pee and asked: "Does this make you nervous?"I said it did and then, just like that, the canoe turned over, dumping us into the Neuse River.   The water was cold -- it was December --and neither of us was wearing a life jacket.   It was nighttime too, and Kerry and I were alone. This was supposed to have been a pleasant, Sunday afternoon stroll, so to speak, down the Neuse, from U.S. 1 to U.S. 64. But we had underestimated the distance and how long it would take. The sun had gone down but the moon was full. It was a beautiful night.The canoe didn't sink and both of us grabbed hold. His camera and my glasses had gone to the bottom and I didn't want the canoe to float away. It was borrowed.I had brought a life jacket but Kerry hadn't and I didn't consider it sporting to put my mine on when he didn't have one. So I had laid it in the canoe between us and now it was floating away.I asked Kerry to grab it.He let go of the canoe, swam two or three strokes, grabbed it, clutched it to his chest, and floated away. He was caught in the current. We yelled back and forth for a few minutes as the distance between us grew. And then he went around a bend in the river and disappeared.Continued tomorrow.
Date: 2016-06-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The Accident - Part IIAfter our canoe turned over in the Neuse River my boating partner let go of the canoe to grab a life jacket and was swept away by the current. I clung to the slowly drifting canoe. We yelled back and forth for a minute or two until he disappeared around a bend and after that I could only hear the river.I was wearing cowboy boots and winter clothing, including a jacket, and I decided not to risk it trying to swim for the nearest bank. I might not make it. I figured I could hang on to the canoe for as long as I had, in spite of the cold.   It had been raining a lot and the Neuse was out of its banks in places. Here and there, the bank had given way and a tree had fallen into the water. Sooner or later the canoe had to drift into a downed tree and I'd be able to climb up through the branches to the bank.And that's what happened.When I got out of the water I started shaking like crazy. I was cold but, otherwise, OK. I took off my cowboy boots and poured out the water. I used the rope tied to the bow of the canoe to pull it to shore.I didn't have a paddle. But I decided that the canoe would still be the quickest way to find the guy who had been with me, Kerry Sipe, or, if I couldn't find him, to go for help. I turned the canoe over, dumped the water, got back in it and used and my hands to maneuver it into the current.When I went around the next bend, where I last saw Kerry, I began yelling for him. But he didn't yell back.Continued tomorrow.
Date: 2016-06-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

The Accident - Part IIII don't know how far I floated down the Neuse River, quite a ways, around several bends, before I heard the man who has been with me when our canoe turned over.Kerry Sipe was singing.He was sitting at the edge of what looked like a small island, maybe it was just a clump of trees, in the middle of the river.Kerry still had the life jacket that had almost floated away and, even better, he had held on to his paddle. My boat partner had been in river a lot longer than I had and he was not well. It was December and the water was so cold. He handed his paddle to me, got in the boat, and we lit out for the bridge at U.S. 64, for home, and warm, dry clothes.And then I heard it, the rapids, loud and getting louder. I didn't even know the Neuse had rapids. They were so loud I thought I must have hypothermia, and that it had messed up my hearing. They couldn't be that big, not like the rapids Kerry and I had run on the Chattooga River, down in South Carolina. No rapid on this river could be that big. And I was five-time veteran of Chattooga -- a river with real rapids ¢ so I decided to shoot it. The Accident - Part IVAs I lined our canoe up to shoot the rapids just ahead, Kerry Sipe and I both had a moment of clarity. He saw a light on the right bank of the Neuse and said to me, "Let's call it a night."And I said, "OK."I paddled to shore and we made our way to the light, in a trailer park next to the river. I knocked on the door of the first trailer we came to. The door open, and closed, just like that.We went to the next trailer, and knocked again. An older black woman answered and let us in.   There was a teenage boy, 14 or 15 years old inside and a girl a few years older. Bless that woman for taking a chance on two wet white guys.Kerry took off his wet clothes, and the woman put a blanket around him and set him down in front of a heater.She said she didn't have a phone but we weren't more than a mile, two miles at the most, from my house. I took off walking.As I headed up a dirt road toward U.S. 64 a car coming toward me slowed down, and then stopped beside me. The driver rolled down the window and asked, "Were you in an accident at the dam?"What dam?"Get in," he said, "your wife's looking for you."I got in, but I knew Donna wasn't looking for me. She was looking after our three small children. She looked for me when I got home.   Kerry had only been married a week or so.   Had to be his wife.The man who picked me up drove to the highway and then across the Neuse River bridge to a store on the other side. His wife saw me get out of the car, wet and alone, and began to sob. Postscript:We went back for Kerry right away.What I had heard on the river was not rapids, it was water pouring over the 16-foot high Milburnie dam onto the rocks below.I haven't been in a canoe or kayak from that day, more than 40 years ago, until now.
Date: 2016-11-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I met Asher Thomas Harrington earlier this month, son of The Hiking Vikings [NOBO-2015]. Asher was born last March. I guess you¢ve noticed his initials, ¢A.T.¢   Is that an accident? I don¢t think so, but they call him ¢Asher.¢He¢s darling, my wife would say. He smiles A LOT and is already a hiker. The Vikings take him with them in a back pack, day hikes, although they have done one overnighter with Asher.Lasting friendships are the best thing about a thru-hike.Five of us who met on the trail in 2015 had a reunion in the mountains of North Carolina, near Robbinsville: The Hiking Vikings, who are from Pennsylvania, Temper [and her boyfriend], who are from Wisconsin, and Eddy and Lucky [That's me.] who are from North Carolina. Snacks, Temper¢s boyfriend, hiked more than 1,000 miles with her when she flipped at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.So what¢s happened since we finished in 2015?Temper is studying to take the Graduate Record Examination so she can go to graduate school; the Hiking Vikings have married, had a child and are renovating their home; Eddy has returned to college.   Everyone has continued to hike.I¢ve also taken up boating and, in June, I paddled the Neuse River from my home near Raleigh, N.C., to Oriental, on the coast, about 225 miles.And I¢ve started a blog of My Stories.   I know hundreds of stories ¢ I¢ve been saving up -- and some of them are pretty good.You can see them at PatStith.Com.This really is my last post on Trail Journals.   It¢s time, past time, really, to move on. But if you just like stories, whether or not they¢re about the A.T. I¢m going to post two a week at PatStith.Com for quite a while -- years. I told you I¢ve been saving up.Goodbye. And thank you for following my hike.Lucky, AKA Pat Stith
Date: 2015-06-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Ever since I followed my friend Buddha's Colorado Trail hiking log (on this site!) in 2004, (and apparently mailed her Pop Rocks), I've daydreamed about doing a long-distance hike of my own. I did recreational hikes on the side, hiked whenever I traveled abroad, and for the past 4 years have belonged to a Sunday hiking group (shout-out to Bea, Susan, Abigail, Elaine, Barbara & Andre & Spot and the other Hikers!).But this summer, I just decided to do it. Not wanting to lose all my toenails ala Cheryl Strayed ("Wild") or subsist on Snickers and noodles ala Bill Bryson ("A Walk in the Woods"), I started to prepare.I took backcountry cooking and first aid skills courses through REI. I started carrying weight and going further on weekend hikes. I completed CPR courses along the way to becoming a Rescue Diver. I had my first disastrous camp-out behind the UCLA dorms (key word: sprinklers). I bugged Buddha ceaselessly for advice and knowledge. I bugged my friend Elaine's parents, who have also hiked sections of the AT (shout out to the MCLEMORES!). And then I did my first multi-day solo backpacking trip: the Trans-Catalina trail. I can't believe how much I've had to learn. And I know I've only scratched the surface. The plan: 2 months on the AT, starting in Georgia and ending in Virginia.And then hopefully I'll do another section next summer...if this first step works out! I guess we'll find out.
Date: 2015-06-19
From: Drop off at Big Stamp Gap, walk up to Springer

To: Stover Creek shelter
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: clear sky

Survivor Dave picked me up at the northernmost MARTA stop to shuttle me to the trailhead. He was amazing! He convinced me to ditch my bear canister and use a food bag instead. In the parking lot of the post office (where I mailed it home) he gave me food hanging lessons, decanted my hand sanitizer into a smaller container, and wrapped duct tape around my poles for emergencies. Survivor Dave is the best!His best advice: hike your own hike. Don't get caught up in comparisons with other people's mileage....enjoy it at the pace you like. Good life advice in general.I got a pretty late start and was losing daylight, so I stopped at Stover Creek shelter and pitched my tent around back.My first night on the AT...and BOOM! The heavens opened and started dumping rain. Luckily I was dry in the tent...drier than when I first tested it behind Hitch and the sprinklers flooded it!!!Between all the rain, the random scary noises in the woods, and the guys in the shelter walking around with their headlamps on, I had a rough first night! But I was dry...for the last time...
Date: 2015-06-20
From: Stover Creek shelter

To: Justus Creek campsite
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

After the stormy night, I met my comrades in the shelter. Sir Limps A Lot is a minister in the Assembly of God in Woodstock, Georgia. He was traveling with a missionary who lives in China, his son, and their friend. There was also an 18 year old boy from Georgia hiking on his own. Together we commiserated over the loud, stormy night and ate breakfast. I hiked with the ministers for the first part of the day, learning about their religion and thoughts. When it came time to say goodbye, Sir Limps A Lot said a prayer for me, that I would be safe and meet lots of good people on my journey. It was awkward at first...but really sweet.And then the rain came back with a vengeance. Good thing I had experience hiking through the rain during the Trans Catalina hike. My shoes, my clothes, my hair...everything not covered by the rain cover on my pack. Drenched. Hike, hike, squish, squish.After hiking in the rain and picking up a gallon of water hidden for me at Cooper Gap, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the shelter. So I stopped at Justus Creek - the only person there. Just me and the lightning bugs! This time I heard something run by in the middle of the night. Game of Thrones came to mind....the night is dark and full of terrors.And before I leave: a quote I overheard one of the ministers saying, while talking about copperhead snakes: "My dad cut one in half with a shotgun...and the top half came after him!"
Date: 2015-06-21
From: Justus Creek campsite

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 6.4

Food choices: Nori for my noodles: yes! Spam without a means of browning it: what was I thinking?A night without rain, lovely. I got up with the sun at 6, made coffee, walked my coffee and water bags down to the creek. Took my time breaking camp, marveled at how unbelievably bad I smell. I noticed it immediately...12 hours on the AT smelled worse than 5 days on Catalina. The rain made it worse. When do you get to the point where you can't smell yourself? Because man, I am not there yet. I didn't know I could smell this bad."What an incredible smell you've discovered!"I saw my first town was coming up, so I decided to swing by the Hiker Hostel to "re-set" myself...laundry and a shower!BTW...Hiking in a deciduous forest, especially for a Californian, is weird. Gold-green leaves all around you. No sky, no ridgeline, no way to tell where you're going. You're covered in trees. I took a photo today to show one of the brief times I could see outside the Shakepearean green world out here. I imagine when the leaves are down, the views are stunning.I keep hearing the switchbacks here are different from out west, but I haven't seen any (or they are SO different I don't recognize them!).I'm sleeping in a real bed tonight. Hope it doesn't make me soft!
Date: 2015-06-22
From: Woody Gap

To: Blood Mountain shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I'm currently on a ledge on Blood Mountain, just hanging out waiting for sunset. I will not, however, be staying in the shelter behind me. Why? Because of the hand written notes inside: "Rat and mice infested. One is huge!" In "A Walk in the Woods" Bill Bryson writes about one shelter so mouse-infested that Kaz starts smashing them with his water bottle. There's one line in particular about Kaz taking a sip from the bottle...with pink nubbins still clinging to the bottom!!! (I'm guessing that won't make it into the Robert Redford film??)Today I felt full of energy thanks to a rich breakfast at the hostel. The owner and I talked about what it's like to live surrounded by people - running a hostel for him, being a Faculty in Residence for me. And he showed me the shipping container he converted into a gorgeous apartment!The last song on the radio before he dropped me off was Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." Good for the day I hike Blood Mountain!There are a lot of families up here for the view. Favorite bits I heard:Son with GoPro: "How long should I leave my camera on for when the sun goes down and the moon comes up?"Father: "Well, first of all there's no moon, so...two weeks?"I am vastly happy with having nothing to do but write in my journal and wait for the sun to go down.