morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-13
From: Low Gap Tentsite

To: Low Gap Tentsite
Miles today: 14.9

I went to sleep last night watching the flames flicker out of our campfire, and turn to glowing embers. This morning I awoke to to the sun rising, birds singing, and water cascading through the nearby stream....ahhh. Today was gorgeous, cool, and sunny. Was a long walk, but the trail was good. The butterflies were out today en masse. It's a delight to watch them flit about. One time there were three dancing a butterfly ballet right in front of me. I stopped to watch for a few moments. The rain as we know, makes the forest grown and glow. Too many shades and hues of green to count, wildflowers blossoming on every hill side. Trilliums of every color, violets in purple, white and yellow, orchids in many varieties, mountain laurel, buttercups, amd more. Janneha and I made our 15 miles, but whew, we were both tired. My body is used to the 10s and 12s, throwing a few more miles on is adding another hour or two walk. It's like adding weight to your bench press, the only way to train up to it is to add it on and go for it. My knee's been feeling real good, I'm ready to push my body a bit harder and farther. We'll have to shuttle up to Trail Days in Damascus, it's still too far to walk in from here. We were stopped by a day hiking couple today. "Are ya'll thru hikers?" "Yes," we replied. "Well no, not really, there's still all summer to get to Natahdin." We saw 15 hikers in a run out here three weekd ago." I explained that by leaving when we did, we avoided the huge crowds fighting for shelter space, tent pads, and hostel beds. We get to experience spring in the south, not smow in the Smokies, and I'll catch fall colors in New England. Response..."Sure gonna be cold in Maine come October." Oh well, I'm happy.Found our way to the tentsite at 6:00. Nice spring here. First things first, fire to drive away the bugs, find a decent tent spot, string up a bear rope, eat. We had a nice fire through dinner, and dried our sweaty shoes and wet bandanas on the stove fire ring. At 1:11AM, the rain began again. Figures, we'll be packing wet tents for the next couple days. Slept good, even thought I had to climb up to the top of the tent every couple hours. Big climb in the AM, First, Big Bald, then Little Bald. I bet they both seem plenty big. Peace.
Date: 2006-05-14
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

Yeah, I know there's a joke in the shelter name, but you'll have to make your own up. I've seen so many gaps and knobs by now, I'm immune to it. Nice trail today, cool and dry. The views from Big Bald were awesome 360 degree panorama. The only thing that screwed it up was the ski/golf resort and the vacation homes carved into the hillsides. Way to ruin a perfectly good mountain. I doubt many of those homes are occupied by the natives. More likely rich folk from far away, come here to drive the property taxes up. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong, hope so.When I crested Big Bald, the sun was whining brightly, although some low hanging clouds were off the the west. I took my camera out, and was able to get pics and video of the clouds rolling to to evelope the Bald. How totally cooly to get sucked into the sky. And then...it was clear. At lunchtime, we met a section hiker, for record keeping purposes, we'll name him Mr. Virus. As we were talking, he mentioned he doesn't sleep in shelter. I asked why. Oops. Brown Recluse spiders or the flesh eating virus bites. (As if Janneha wasn't frightened enough by every little eight legged beast). Virus from mice, viruses from people's dogs, etc. I guess I should be a little less inquisitive, eh. As we were settling into No Business Knob, we met Skywalker. Nice guy, we'd heard about him from Crazy Bear. Skywalter worked for NASA. Seems he was almost fired (he quit) because of some disparaging letter he wrote about the current Commander-in-Chief. I like Skywalker, LOL. Well, almost bed time, the owls are beginning to hoot and the embers are glowing fainter and fainter. Erwin tomorrow, Miss Janet's House, and burritos, salda, and pizza...yeah for trail towns.
Date: 2006-05-17
From: Miss Janets House

To: Miss Janet's House
Miles today: 0.0

Ok wow....things are building up for Trail Days. I'm sure glad I have a bunk here for a while! I can't even pretend I'm doing this in a timely fashion. It's quarter after 11 Thursday. I won't have timoe for prose today or tomorrow. I'm laying it down in some sort of order, here goes:--breakfast question worse day, best day of hiking-breakfast with Janet, Nokia, Diesel, Pacer, Livin, Beamis, southpaw--doing laundry and dishes-working on the boat with the aforementioned crew--answering the phone "Miss Janets House"-Big and Bedbuy (not since Franklin)--Wild Doodle (not since Mollies Ridge)-Captain Nemo (not since Silverbald Shelter)--heading to Erwin burrito and finding Steve Earle and the Bluegrass Dukes playing on the CD-Miss Janets just getting crazy full-of course, it was only 12 of us, wink!--Hiker peace throughout the house-bringing in the freshly painted ship sides just before it rained, barely--weenie roast/fire-Bonzo and his dog, Rio--Trouble, the cute puppy-safety meetings--hanging out, meeting new people-digging Miss Janet--laughing with Beamis and Southpaw about HHTs-getting emails from friendsOk, Ive been at this for half an hour. There's so much more but so little time right now. I'll tell you about today--tomorrow night.
Date: 2006-05-18
From: Miss Janet's House

To: Miss Janet's House
Miles today: 0.0

Breakfast outisde, 30 people - breakfast question, what would you be?--ride up with the Pirate Shio, Ashtray, Nokia and Trouble-Hitting huge rain and watching the Pirate Ship get soaked, yes it was tarped.--Trouble freaking out after first car ride and the rain drops hitting the windshield at 70 mph.-Trouble climing in back with me and chillin' out.--Did I mention Trouble is the cutest 4 1/2 month old black and tan hound dog pup--Unloading the pirate ship and realizing it would dry out - ok.-free hot dogs (4) and salad at the Baptist church--Seeing Old Spice, last time was 2 days out of Dahlonga-Cabin Man and Woodchicken--Walking back to camp, loking back over my shoulder to see a huge black cloud heading straight for us-Hearing someone shout, "It's the wrath of God" at the stormcloud.--Making it back in the nick of time to move my pack from Ashtray's pickup to the dry of my tent.-Waring my rain pants-they were, up until that point, crisp, clean, and shiny white--finding out from Diesel she was at Miss Janets tent, all alone, when the first blasts from the "WOG" storm blew in. Ten got soaked, completely.-Dumping all the now dry, adn relatively unharmed ship sides into a pile, along with the waves, peoples' packs, clothes, and bar into a huge pile, covering it with flat refrigerator boxes and a tarp in the futile attempt to keep it dry...again.--Receiving random acts of kindness from passersby during this mad wet dash - helping with the tent-having a beer with Diesel under the crashed tent during the storm--getting the tent back on its feet after the rain subsitded, so Nokie and Livin could sleep under a shelter.-first day for me of the 20th Annaul Trail Days, celetration on Damascus, VA
Date: 2006-05-19
From: Tent city, Damascus

To: Tent city, Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

--sleeping late-chattin with Hatrack at coffee--chowing on pancakes at Damascus Eats - Ashtray, Nokie, Compost, Acceptance, Diesel, and Livin-walking through town and checking things out--Paul (Old Man)-Lois and Misha--Rocky and Swampfox-pirate ship coming together. Hey how can it be a pirate shit if it hasn't been crashed and trashed a couple times--finishing the ship which Baltimore Jack dubbed "The Quivering Thigh" and properly and promptly christened it with whiskey-where's Miss Janet? where's Miss Janet?--Beer....beer....Absolute Citron with coke...mmmm......beer-fire pit flaming up into the black night sky--drumming.....dancing.......rain-the oohs and aahs as passersby oohed "The Quivering Thigh"--If you've been to trail days, you know what I'm talking about
Date: 2006-05-20
From: Trail Days 20th Anniversary

To: Trail Days 20th Anniversary
Miles today: 0.0

It started raining around 1:00am. "The Quivering Thigh" took a soaking, but remained structurally sound. It was fantastic while it lasted! Today was the Hiker Paraed. I didn't know it, but as it turns out, it a soaking in itsown right. Water cannons, soakers, water balloons, buckets, tubs of water, water everywhere! I signed and walked behind the clas of '06 banner. We willed about twon both before and after the parade. I got myself a free haircut. I am pretty bald right now. I can't pinch any hair between my fingertips or nails. It's a bit after 5:00 and the sun is shining bright. The barmeter is steady and skies are clear. Tonight should be even crazier than last night. Talk to you tomorrow.
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Trail Days and Miss Janets

To: Trail Days and Miss Janets
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up kinda late today. We all pitched in to clean up our spot. I packed up my own gear, I had a really great spot on the edge of Tent City. Even through all the rain, my tent stayed dry inside. Kinda weird to have been hiking for five or six weeks, yet this was the first time I spent three consecutive nights in a tent. Trail Days was spectacular. I'm so happy I was able to spend this week this way. I hate to leave Erwin, but hey, I know I'll be back. This place is crazy full again, 12 people, wink! Miss Janet is magic.We got a ride back with Shell No-E Y, a friend of Janets. Diesel, Big, and Bedbug, Captain Nemo, and me. Piled the back of her van full and then shipped our packs on top. Ashtray ahd to return the truck and trailer to Mass, I think Livin took off with him. I said by to Trouble, and Nokia, be sure to sign my register. We stopped at the Golden Corral buffet and were met by Kaitlyn, one of Janet's girls, and Icebreak, who magically appeared with a trailer. Stuff works out. Diesel was awed by the spread of food. We all ate hearily, ha! Back to Miss Janets and scored bunks again, yeah. Spent some time chatting with Shelly, and then I headed to do laundry, returned and put my pack and food in order. There's going to be a wild mad scene here tomorrow after breakfast, eveyone packing all at once. Diesel and I are planning a short hike tomorrow from Iron Mountain Gap. Anna will be coming into Kincora on Friday, same as us. I'm looking forward to meeting him, probably a zero again. I had som many great moments at Trail Days that I'm going to dole them out slowly over the next little while......night night.
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: light rain

Well, it had to be done, even though it was awfully tough. You guessed it, leaving Miss Janets House. I slept like a rock last night, felt good to rest my body. There were 28 at breakfast today, all family. It was nice sitting by Shelly and talking to her some more. The breakfast question was, what was your favorite snapshot moment of Trail Days. At the breakfast table, I was thinking of all the reunions, meeting up with Zamboni, running into Loic (Shine) and Miska (Scooter) and three minutes after that, Rocky and Swampfox. I saw Cathy during the parade on Saturday. I told her I'd find her. But then I lose her. After we got back on the trail, I kept thinking of snapshots. Baltimore Jack christening the "Quivering Thigh" as her sails filled in the breeze. Journey presenting Miss Janet with a bouquet of flowers. She quieries "Did you yogi these?"...a pause, and response, "UM, sort of!" That was hysterically funny, Dogwood stopping the person he was hitching with to give me a ride back to the campground. Your camera is never close by at picture time. You just have to hold them in your heart. Miss Janet took us back up to Iron Mountain Gap where we resumed our northbound hike. Diesel forgot her poles back at Janets. She grabbed a couple tree limbs to use as poles for the day. 100 yards past picking them up, shd found a length of rope, 2 feet long, perfect for making hand loops. Weird how the trail gives you what you need. Peace.
Date: 2006-05-28
From: Kincora!!

To: Kincora!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Kincora is Celtic for "kinship of the heart" - quite fitting. Bob and Peg Peoples have an awesome place here on the trail. This hostel is a log cabin bunkhouse with showers, laundry, kitchen, and a grill. On the grounds are some trails (small), a couple of streams, a roughed in treehouse, and a stone sauna building powered by an old wood burning stove. It's hard to believe it's Memorial Day weekend. It's wonderful being out here without any real concept of what's going on in the outside world. I'm so happy I'm not following news or caring to listen to the current state of policial ads.There's a full house here; we all made a mid-afternoon grocery run. The grill was put to good use tonight. Pork chops, chicken, steak, veggies, and salad all around. It's wonderful to eat a home cooked meal, not trail food or town food. I made a mixed greens salad with marinated chicken strips on top, side of grilled asparagus, and some bread. Yummy!There were eight guys stuffed on the back of the pickup truck today on the way to town. (Plus five gals and Bob driving up in the cab). Quite a sight to behold. After dinner, everyone pitched in to help clean up. Hikers are a great bunch, I'm so happy to be out here. Diesel and Cargo (Anne) did a nine mile slack today, Cargo has his first white blazes today! Tomorrow, they have been asked by Bob to help put finishing touches on a new shelter that was put up by the hardcore crew. Bob and Pat Peoples own and run this wonderful establishment. They are true trail people. Every year, after Trail Days, they have a mega trail meintenance project called Hardcore. This year, there were 135 people that showed up and went to work. Pretty impressive. Well, I'm feeling great, if a little overstuffed right now, and will return to hiking tomorrow. On to the next hostel.
Date: 2006-05-29
From: Watuga Lake Shelter

To: Watuga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

It's noon Monday and I'm partway up Pond Flats. From what I am learning, it's not flat, and there's supposedly no pond either. I said goodbye to Diesel and Cargo, thanked Bob for his generosity, and said bye to my friends. I found a rock out napping, directly off the trail, bathed in sunshine. I've enough room to spread out, eat, sunbathe, and write, perfect. Down in town, a church organ begina playing a Memorial Day service. I can as much feel it as heart from my perch. The skies are baby blue with some lumpy clouds. The forest is green and full of life. I saw my second snake today, didn't shriek and run this time, a garter snake, eight inches long, no biggie ya know!My paths had crossed all day with Rhyme n Reason, 46'er and Storyteller. We all wound up at Watuga Lake - Monday, Memorial Day. Families picnicking, kids posing and preening, water craft buzzing, kids swimming and screaming. Quite a contrast to trail life, it was a bit of sensory overload. Hung out there for an hour or so, then knew it was time to more on to the shelter. As I was almost out of the park, an old man asked me if I was an "An Appalachian Trail hiker." I said sure, he then offered a beer, which I politely declined, he invited me into his RV, where I got a coke and some crackers. Finally, some magic! We chatted for a bit, and he called his buddy. The old man's trail name is Vango, he does trail support. His buddy's name was Scott, who's done the AT, PCT, and more. As it turned out, Scott and I lived within 2 miles of each other, back in Schaumburg, IL...small world. They're looking at buying a hostel property. So I became their test market subject. An hour or so of questions later, I had to get going. Two nice guys, I know they know what hikers need. I'm sure their hostel will work out great, wherever it may be. Peace.
Date: 2006-05-30
From: Tent spot

To: Tent spot
Miles today: 17.6

Met Deisel at Sassafrass Gap Shelter, coming out of NOC on 4/25. She and I parted after the Moutaineer Falls on 5/25. 253 miles. She was a great hiking partner and good friend. Anne (Ah-nah) is a great guy, I'm glad they're both on the trail. Kincora must have been an awesome start, hanging out with hikers, slacking, opening the shelter. Very cool. I've been on my own for 2 days now. Not long at all. Today I tried something different. I left a little later, 9:00. Hiked until 2pm and took a two hour break. Hiked until 7pm, took a 30 minute break, then pressed on into night. Worked good, had a big hot lunch, quick dinner. I'll try redistributing my time and tasks for a bit. I'll do the same schedule tomorrow. A group of Boy Scouts passed me on the trail, two spoke out and asked if I was going to Maine. Yes, my reply. "I admire you." My reply "Do it yourself, and do it young in life." A bit later I'm sitting on the roadside and my friend John Peterson, from Muskrat Creek Shelter, pulls up, gets out of a car, about to resume his walk. Cool dude. We chatted a while, then he took off. I caught him at Vandeventer Shelter. That's where I took my long lunch break. There was a stone formation behind the shelter. The view overlooded Watuga Lake and valley. Peaceful and beautiful. Pressed on from there at 4:30 to Iron Mountain Shelter. Got there at 7:15 and took a 30 minute break, moved on again. Right around 9:15, I found a nice flat tent spot. Pitched camp, and feeling fine. All afternoon it alternately thundered and sun shone. Pack cover on, never needed it. Nice. Peace.
Date: 2006-05-31
From: Virginia

To: Virginia
Miles today: 20.0

Whew! First 20 miler, next state. Yes Virginia, there is a Pacer and he's walking in this time. The rains showed up today. Funny story - I had taken a roadside break, near a spring. As I was loading up, 46'er and Storyteller showed up. I said by, and as I walked across the road, it began to sprinkle. I experienced a nice soothing, cooling shower. Later, I found out I must have walked right out of the worst of it. As Storyteller put it, they were in a deluge. I had just enough rain to quell the insects, and bring out the frogs and salamanders. And now, since it's Wednesday afternoon drive time, how about some Animal Stories?On sunday, after the magnificant hiker cook out, Bob Peoples took my straw and stretch over to the pasture where we feed Hope, the chestnut horse, carrots from our open hands. Later that night, we learned that Porkchop's golden retriever Jackson, had been separated from him halfway up Iron Mountain. They were reunited 16 hours later, fortunately. Jackson has subsequently been o his leash. On MOnday, Rhyme N Reason and myself saw a doe near the spring we were resting at. I left a few minutes later and apparently flushed said doe, with nursing fawn, back into Rhyme n Reason's field of view. On Tuesday, I found another one of those big black snakes sunning himself on the trail. No shrieking this time, but I did double step it past him, to a safe picture taking distance. On Wednesday, (today), I flushed a wild turkey out othe brush as I climbed a hill. I learned I missed a rattlesnake and a bear by thirty minutes each occasion. We'll see enough bears and snakes...soon. I'm at mile 460 and in Virginia. Yeah!!
Date: 2006-06-01
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I made it to Damascus! I've had snippets of a Glen Phillips song, Courage, in my head. Here's a sample:Bring my courage back now, bring it back to meTired of being afraid of what I can't changeand I want to be living free.I don't want to be a prisonerBound in these chainsA slave to my fears.Just want to be living free.Some take the road to DamascusSome take the road to HellI'll follow the white blazes to KatahdinAnd everything will turn out well.Damascus is quiet, nowhere near the bustle that was buzzing at Trail Days. The town is right on the trail, and most things are very close, laundry, food, beer. Did my chores, including the purchase of new bugshield/sunglasses. Wound up at Dots Inn, then wound up there again at nightfall until they booted the hiker trash out. We were rockin' the juke joint, belting out Merle, The Allman Brothers, Skynrd, Marshal Tucker Band, etc. Let's see if I can remember everybody: Pacer, Porkchop, Stretch, Straw, JP, Cud, Storyteller, 46'er, Elvis, Miss Direction, Hi-tech, Memphis, Diesel, Cargo, Rhyme n Reason, Danny...I think that's it. As the bar closed, we grabbed some package goods and moved our party to the bridge on the Virginia Creeper Trail. We sat down, spread out, and continued on. All I know is that it was late when I got back to my bunk. Peace.
Date: 2006-06-03
From: tent site

To: tent site
Miles today: 11.7

Well, it was tough leaving Damascus. My friends, new and old, were encouraging me to stay one more day. There'd be a mass exodus tomorrow, dozen or so hikers. But, my chores were done, and my head was into walking. I stopped by the the outfitters to say bye to Rhyme n Reason. We chatted, then I left, and had to come back in to check something, can't recall. I announced that I was staying to hike with them. I was taken seriously, oops. Cause when I said I was actually going, some smiles got turned upside down. No worries, we'll all meet again. Some of these friendships won't ever disappear. As I was hitting the trail out of town, a couple of young boys, 12-13, asked me if I was hiking the AT. Yes, I am. Wow, cool! Where did you start? Georgia. No way, and you're going to Maine? That's my plan. We talked a bit more. I'm very happy to answer questions about my trip. You'll never know if you inspire someone to do this for themselves. I can only hope so. The funniest thing they asked is if I was "first." Huge belly laugh, no, I'm pretty much near the end of this season's crowd. Onward and out of town. It's always fun leaving town, not. Fully loaded, and uphill is the norm. Lots of people were changing packs and gear to get lighter. My base weight, everything except food and water, is 26 lbs. That's with 2 pounds of books and paper. I can live with that. But with 5 days food and 2 liters of water, that turns ou to be 45 lmbs. I was planning to stop at the first shelter, but it was pretty busy. There's a bunch of high school girls out doing 'wilderness' training. Probably 15 girls and a few adult supervisors. They had staged and left from the hostel parking lot the day before, and I had talked with a few of them. They recognized me, and I them. We all got to talking again as I made and ate dinner. All the typical thru hiker questions, but the best one was "How do you stay motivated?" The night before, Diesel told me that it was my indomitable spirit that helped keep her going many times. The easy answers is that I'm self-motivated, but that's only part of it. I've motivated myself to do some bad things in my life. Better answers would be: I'm pursuing a childhood dream. I realize that in spite of everything, I am blessed with this window of opportunity, and I don't want to waste it. Reaching Katahdin has a mystical, mythical feel to me. I want that feeling of accomplishment when I stand on that rock tower in Maine. I don't want to start and not finish another thing. I'm learning about myself and others. I'm changing for the better, and I'm feeling better about myself. And there's the intangibles of the experience. I pressed on from dinner and walked a few more miles. I found a perfect tent spot near a pond with a stream. The chorus of crickets and bull frogs wa too much to resist. I'm in my tent, hiker midnight (9pm) and trying to not be lulled to sleep by the sounds of the forest. It's not going to work for much longer. Good night!