morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-02
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Whistler's Gap
Miles today: 13.5

Most of the usual suspects are here camping around us including EZDoesit, L.B. Dutch, Barfight, and Fishbone. We lost Bama due to an ankle injury. This was another perfect day with a nice morning stroll, a challenging climb up Big Bald Mt, with the most amazing views yet from a huge open mountaintop, trail magic in the form of cupcakes and coffee left in the woods for us, and a nice afternoon downhill. The wind is constantly whistling through this gap and it is a very peaceful evening. We spent a long time on the bald for lunch and really enjoyed lying out in the sun. The views were about 300 degrees of mountains and 60 degrees of condominiums and cabins from Wolf Laurel and I think English Mt.
Date: 2008-05-03
From: Whistler's Gap

To: Nolichucky Hostel
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Nice day with only a small climb out of Spivey Gap and with wonderful river views.We also added white azaleas blooming. We have a great cabin with a soft bed and had a good hot shower. We went into town for a really good Mexican meal including T-Bone steak and fajitas. Today's walk included going through a forest fire with some parts still burning. It was a controlled burn by the Forest Service, but eerie to walk through with the forest floor all black around us and small fires still going.Later, not a good night. A bunch of ____'s (20 something kids)stayed up outside our cabin partying until 3am. A polite request about midnight for them to hold it down was totally ignored. Bacall would not let me do the ex-marine's way by busting beer bottles over heads. Maybe next time.
Date: 2008-05-04
From: Nolichucky Hostel

To: Iron Mt Gap
Miles today: 19.2

Slackpacked and loved it. Another beautiful day over Unaka Mt and Beauty Spot. Really good views of layers of mountains and the Nolichucky River and Erwin. The top of Unaka Mt is thickly covered with really nice fir trees which makes for a cool, shady walk. Beauty spot is wide open fields on top but they have burned off a lot of undergrowth right now so a lot of it is black.We are back at the cabin now after a big pizza and hot shower. Hopefully a better night's sleep tonight.
Date: 2008-05-05
From: Iron Mt Gap

To: Roan Mt
Miles today: 11.8

Hardest climb yet! We are camping atop Roan Mt where the Cloudland Hotel used to be in the late 1800's. This morning's trail was a gradual climb after a WONDERFUL, peaceful night's sleep. We climbed almost the whole day and are tenting on a beautiful open grassy mountaintop with just the right amount of fir trees to block the wind. This is supposed to be the coldest spot in the southern Appalachains. The sun feels great for now.
Date: 2008-05-06
From: Roan Mt

To: Overmountain Shelter (The Barn)
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

Last night's camping was peaceful with a lovely orange sunset. This morning when we got up, there was ice on the tent, but we slept like babies.Short day today to our favorite shelter on the whole AT.We come to the barn at least once a year just for the peace and quiet and gorgeous valley.we had one good climb through the balds at Carver's Gap and were here by lunchtime. We spent a lot of the afternoon just lazing about in the sunny fields. nothing has changed since we first started coming here about a dozen years ago. There's several other hikers here including Daisy, from Australia.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: Overmountain Shelter (The Barn)

To: Elk River
Miles today: 15.0

We are camping in a gorgeous spot right beside the Elk River.Today, hard to believe, has to have been the most beautiful day yet! We left the barn at sunrise and climbed the balds of Little Hump and Hump mountains. on top it was like looking out over a sea of mountains as far as the eye could see in every direction with only a few little islands of communities.After that magnificient view we walked through miles of woods that were regenerating around abandoned apple orchards and the hundreds of apple trees are all in bloom - beautiful and scintillating to the nose, the down to the river to tent. It's clear, cold water and feels great to soak the feet in. Ahhh! Bliss.
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Elk River

To: Laurel Fork Lodge
Miles today: 18.0

In our own cabin again!!! Yea!! Woods walk all day - up and down, up and down, up and down - very tiring with very few views. It started raining as soon as we got here and is pouring now. We are thrilled to have a good warm cabin with a soft bed. We have already had a hot shower, washed clothes, and ate pizza, ice cream, coke, more ice cream, and more coke. In fact, they ran out of both and threatened to kick us out if we didn't quit eating! (Not really, but it sure feels good to have a full belly again with something besides rice and noodle variations.)
Date: 2008-05-09
From: Laurel Fork Lodge

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

After sleeping in late and eating a hot breakfast, we started an easy creekside walk along Laurel Fork. The falls were magnificient with more water going over than we have seen in past visits. The large creek was rushing along until the beaver dams blocked it, where it became placid deep pools of serenity. When we left the creekside we climbed for a couple of miles through Pond Mountain Wilderness. This was a gentle 1700 ft climb except for a few steep sectionms. The descent was easy all the way through to Watauga Lake, which is pretty with islands all around. There's quite a bit of trash on the shore, though. Today's walk included lots of pink and lavender rhododendren.We are at the shelter after a good hot supper of steak soup (substituting little sausages) with lots of veggies.
Date: 2008-05-10
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mt Shelter
Miles today: 13.6

We started out under thickly overcast and ominous looking skies, but it never did rain and by lunchtime the day was clear and bright. We walked along the shore of Watauga Lake and crossed the world's ugliest dam - dam ugly. It looks like they just shoved one mountain between two others and left the bare rock wall. The lake itself is beautiful blue water with lots of islands and wooded shoreline. About 7 or 8 miles of today's walk was along ridgeline within sight of the lake. The rest of the day was easy woods walk. A doe stood and posed for pictures beside the trail until we decided to go on. She never acted the least bit scared of us. We had a few more pink lady's slippers and blackberries starting to bloom along with some fabulous apple trees along the trail.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: Iron Mt Shelter

To: Hwy 421 - Damascus
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

While the trail was really easy, we spent the biggest part of the hike fighting off wild, raging wind, cold, and rain - including lightning and thunder and sleet all around. When we got to Hwy 421 we called the outfitters in Damascus and had them pick us up and bring us to the hostel - Daves's Place. They are going to take us back there tomorrow for a slackpack. What trail we could see between the rain was open woods walk with a lot of it previously burnt off and the undergrowth consisting of mile after mile of Mayapples. After getting here we resupplied and had a big lunch of home cooking and later a good Italian supper. It's pouring rain again now and we are soooooo thankful to be in where it is warm and dry. Part of today's walk was through open farm fields with old barns and sheds. We also went by Nick Grindstaff's monument. He was robbed and turned against other people to become a hermit, living alone on the mountain. Born in 1850, he died in 1923. His marker reads, "Lived alone, suffered alone, died alone".
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Hwy 421 - Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

WOW!!! we made a good decision to come on into town yesterday. Lots of the hikers on the trail had a terrible night losing tents to the wind and suffering the cold driving rain. We slackpacked (one of my favorite words!) today. Nothing today but extremely thick fog, strong winds and easy trail. At one point Bacall was even jogging down the trail!!! That's something I thought I'd never see! We are really roughing it at the Apple Tree Bed & Breakfast for tonight. Only a kingsize bed, private bath with great hot shower, private couch in front of a private TV with a multitude of movies to select from, beautiful hardwood floors and soft rugs and freestanding gas fireplace. I believe I could get used to this type of shelter. Ahhhh! The things one must endure on the trail.
Date: 2008-05-13
From: Damascus

To: Summit Cut Hwy 58
Miles today: 16.9

Great slackpack from Damascus after a very nice breakfast with lots of fruit here at the B&B.We spent a lot of this beautiful day hiking alongside water of all sorts, but especially Whitetop Laurel Creek. It was a raging river today after all of the rain over the past couple of days. There were lots of small waterfalls, springs, and branches scattered everywhere. This stretch of trail coincided with the Virginia Creeper bike trail for a ways, so that was flat and easy walking. We saw several deep purple rhododendren blooming today. We passed a lot of our hiker friends headed out of Damascus. Our snack break was beside Lost Pond and we watched the fish nibble on pieces of pretzel. The privy at Lost Mt shelter has two walls covered in Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax". It seems there are Onceler's everywhere and very few Loraxes.Oh, sad to say, but my old pack finally bit the dust. After messing with several zipper problems and losing stitches, I decided to bite the bullet and got a new one. The old one had a few thousand miles on it over the last 15 to 20 years so its like saying bye to an old friend, but I gave it to the outfitter to donate to the Boy Scouts.
Date: 2008-05-14
From: Summit Cut Hwy 58

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Long climb to Buzzard Rock and Whitetop Mt. Wonderful open balds with great views of many, many mountains and many beautiful farms. We then had an easy climb on the side of Mt. Rogers, through the cow pasture with inquisitive cows and on to the mountaintop with the wild ponies. They're gorgeous and all around the shelter. One stallion let us pet him, but snorted and kept us away from his mares. This shelter is totally full right now and the wind is blowing cold and hard and steady.
Date: 2008-05-15
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

We started the day walking among about 30 wild ponies and saw 3 babies. All were friendly and let us pet them. The trail went along huge boulders and even went through "Fat Man's Squeeze" with boulders above and on both sides. Pretty neat place. Later we crossed from Mt Rogers into Grayson Highlands and walked over several miles from bald to bald to bald. At one point I was convinced that the trail had led us over my brother-in-law's head! This was another cold, windy and slightly rainy day. The views were gorgeous with lots of water all through the section. We are here now with EZDoesit and no one else. It's really quiet and peaceful on the trail today.
Date: 2008-05-17
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Easy walking today through open woods and cow pastures. We saw 3 deer today and some baby calves. No views today. The weather early morning was quite cold and windy. It felt like winter again, but at least there has been no rain so far. It is 3 o'clock and we had a large pizza and Pepsi delivered. That's how close to the road this shelter sits.We are now relaxing in the sun and taking the afternoon off. Every day is like an extended vacation.
Date: 2008-05-18
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Groseclose Va - Relax Inn
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

The early morning warm sun quickly turned to cold, wet windy rain once again. This was an easy walk over rolling ridges and through open fields.The one viewpoint was socked in with clouds. As soon as we got here we had a good hot shower, washed clothes and ate a big home cooked meal at the Barn Restaurant. AHHH!, then a great nap in a real soft bed.
Date: 2008-05-19
From: Groseclose Va - Relax Inn

To: Va 42
Miles today: 11.8

Another slackpack day! And what a beautiful day it was! Finally - no rain all day! The trail went through several cow pastures complete with plenty of cows and accompanying patties. The views were absolutely wonderful and the cows pretty. We crossed the North Fork of the Holston river at an ancient broken-down millhouse beside a truly beautiful farmhouse. The river was rushing under the bridge barely below flood stage. Then, even more pastures and more cows in a valley that rivals the beauty of Overmountain Shelter valley.We climbed through 3 or 4 easy mountains among a vast array of blooming rhododendren and flame azaleas and back down to the tiny creek that begins the middle fork of the Holston. It's amazing that you can literally step across this mighty river at that point. It is also at that point that Davis Fancy Settlement was established in 1748.One possible problem - I may have to have Bacall checked by the EPA for sulphur emissions. All day I could hear her turbocharger kicking in with a Fttt - Fttt and the pink rhododendrens turned black and fell off as she went by!
Date: 2008-05-20
From: Va 42

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

Terrific day including 2000 ft climb up Chestnut ridge. We saw one deer, but a couple of hikers just ahead of us saw a bear in the trail about .2 mile from the shelter. This has been a really pretty day, mostly clear with just a few threatening clouds and a lot of wind. The climb went well maybe due to Bacall using the MP3 player and me using the radio. Sometimes it helps keep your mind off the hard work of climbing. The top of the mountain is a big grassy bald and the shelter sits in a beautiful field overlooking Burk's Garden. It is a wide, green valley with big farms with silos. Can't wait for the stars tonight from this open mountaintop.
Date: 2008-05-21
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Laurel Creek
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Camping beside beautiful Laurel Creek. Today started out really nasty, cold and rainy and windy. Shortly after we started hiking the sky cleared and most of the day was beautiful. We had a long ridgewalk on Jenkins Ridge with a few nice views and a deer posed for her portrait. A lot of the trail today was rocky and rough on the feet. We are camped across the road from the creek but spent some time sitting beside the water on a real nice swing. Its starting to get cold again so it will be another early bedtime. We did see several bright orange flame azaleas, that's about all.
Date: 2008-05-22
From: Laurel Creek

To: Brushy Mt.
Miles today: 21.7

Wow! Wow! Wow! 21.7 miles today! We are camping on top of Brushy Mt. on a very narrow ridgetop. This is Bacall's first 20+ day and she was an awesome hiker - couldn't be stopped! This whole day was beautiful, clear and calm. The trail was mostly woods walking - up and down with 3 or 4 decent climbs and only a few views, most of which were blocked by the greening up of the foliage. You'd think after nearly 600 miles together 24 hours day after day we would have reached the limits of our intellectual conversation - not so! True we have delved into all aspects of existentionalism, we have ruminated on quarks and quantam physics, we have argued the merits and errors inherent in Darwin's Origin of the Species, but today - ahh today - drove our debating to a new high. Yes, while meandering along a viewless ridgeline we found ourselves discussing the following situation: In a fair fight, would you pick Olive Oyl or Betty Boop to win and why? Well, certainly, we spent at least a half hour discussing the pugilistic prowess of each combatant before coming to the agreed upon premise that while Olive Oyl has the benefit of extended reach with those long skinny arms, and the explosive temper, Betty Boop would probably win due to her higher intelligence and weight differential. Plus the fact that she's just a whole lot cuter! Especially on her Harley, wearing her leathers.After a mile or so of near silence, Bacall astounded me with yet another thought provoker, i.e - In a fair fight, who would win - Rambo or Richard Simmons?
Date: 2008-05-23
From: Brushy Mt.

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Awesome - nearly another 20 mile day. We started the day with a big breakfast when we came down to the road at Trent's grocery with a huge omelet, bacon, toast, OJ, coffee - the whole works. That and the deli sandwiches we carried for lunch saw us through a big climb and over mile after mile of rocks in the trail. One terrific view today and the wonderful waterfalls at Dismal Creek. This was another gorgeous, fun day, including petting a tiny baby bunny in the trail.
Date: 2008-05-24
From: Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg Va.
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: few clouds

Easy milage to the Holiday Motor Lodge in Pearisburg Va. Pearis Mt was nice and flat on top with terrific views of the farms and mountains at first and then of Pearisburg itself. The view from Angel's Rest overlook is really a good overview of the town in the valley. We got to hear the band from their Memorial Day parade way up on the mountain. There were lots of nice boulders and rock formations all along the top of the mountain. We saw a big rabbit and two deer. Well, Bacall saw them as a beautiful part of nature. I saw them as rolled in flour and fried! We have had a good cheeseburger, hot shower and have washed clothes. just chillin' now.
Date: 2008-05-25
From: Pearisburg Va.

To: Pearisburg Va.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero Day! Great goof-off day. Slept in a little while and had a big breakfast. We went to the Giles Co. museum and spent a couple of hours around some Civil War reinactors and saw a whole lot of historical items from their past 200 years that they are celebrating this year. The people were dressed in Civil War era clothing including soldiers with plenty of rifles and equipment. The doctor was extremely knowledgeable about the practices and medicines of the time. There was bluegrass music and terrific barbeque. Back to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2008-05-26
From: Pearisburg Va.

To: Symms Gap Meadow
Miles today: 11.9

Out of Pearisburg we had a long climb up Peters Mt. with some pretty good views into West Va from our campsite and earlier from Rice Field. It has been a warm clear day almost all day. We are camping along with about 10 other tents in a nice grassy, soft meadow. Our water source is a small pond that is absolutely inundated with tadpoles. I told one of the guys that we were having good tadpole soup, and he said that tomorrow we would all be crapping frogs! We are sitting here just before sundown listening to the spring peepers and the radio.
Date: 2008-05-27
From: Symms Gap Meadow

To: Woods past Windrock
Miles today: 16.4

Rough trail on the feet due to all of the rocks. No views today but we hiked alongside and crossed beautiful Stoney Creek. We are again camping with Lake and Shamrock beside a nice blazing campfire. Nothing special today, but Bacall continues to be an inspiration. In fact, today Mattel Corp. contacted us to say she had inspired them to come out with a new "Backpacker Barbie." She's constantly sweaty, nasty, smelly, cusses like a Marine Corps drill sargeant, scratches her butt and farts every 200 steps. Come to think of it, my granddaughter would love a doll like that!
Date: 2008-05-28
From: Woods past Windrock

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

Drippy, wet, cold day. we came through some pretty pastures, one of which had a big barn with 5 cute donkeys standing out of the rain, hee-hawing at us fools out walking in the rain. We saw the huge old Keffer oak tree - it's estimated to be over 300 years old and is absolutely gorgeous. Not much to the rest of today but a couple of climbs and woods walk on rocks. We are now just trying to get warm.
Date: 2008-05-29
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: few clouds

We are camping in a nice grassy field just above the shelter. Today was a complete turnaround from yesterday's weather. It has been hot and dry all day. we came over Sinking Creek Mt. and down to a highway with several branches of really pretty Craig Creek. We had trail magic! Fanta Orange and cookies in the woods. It was really delicious and came at a much needed spot thanks to trail angels Josh, Dee, and Bob. Then we climbed up Brushy Mt (#43 ?) to the Audie Murphy monument. This country could use a hero like him now. We crossed beautiful Trout Creek (yes, we saw some fish in it) and then on to here.Just sitting here watching the white wispy clouds float by.
Date: 2008-05-30
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Johns Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Hot, hot day with fantastic scenery. After camping under a beautiful sky, brilliant with stars, including a shooting star - we traversed Cove Mt. with many fun boulder climbs, and came to Dragon's tooth and had a blast climbing all over that huge stone monolith. The vista from the top was amazing with at least 40 to 50 clear miles of mountains and farms. We also saw a mama grouse doing the broken wing bit to give her babies time to get away from us. We got off the trail this afternoon and walked a mile down the road to the Homeplace Family Restaurant. It was just like being a mother's house for Sunday dinner (except for the smelly hikers) with fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, pinto beans, slaw, biscuits, and blueberry cobbler with ice cream. I'm stuffed!
Date: 2008-05-31
From: Johns Spring Shelter

To: Daleville Howard Johnson's
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: broken clouds

Magnificient, hot sunny day with some of the best views on the trail from McAfee Knob and Tinker's cliffs. We sat on the edge of the thousand foot clifss in awe of the beauty below in the valley. There are still big farms with silos and red barns with rusty tin roofs and big white farmhouses. There are also still ridges of mountains that appear untouched by roads and houses. It's really a beautiful sight. The boulder formations along the ridgeline are a lot of fun to climb around and over. The last 6 miles or so were really rough on our feet and legs due to the rocks. We are totaled, but have had a good hot shower and a pizza. While filtering water from a creek today, I watched a salamander giving birth to a really ugly little bugger. Yes, right in the water we drink from. Doesn't that sound tasty? Gotta rest now.
Date: 2008-06-01
From: Daleville Howard Johnson's

To: HoJo's
Miles today: 0.0

Love the zero days. Eat, sleep, sit by the pool.Hey! We took a cab with Uluru and Slayer to Roanoke to see the new Indiana Jones movie! It's great - just like the old ones. Gotta grab some action when we can. There are not many opportunities to get into a big town along the way.
Date: 2008-06-02
From: HoJo's

To: Harvey's Knob overlook
Miles today: 16.1

Slackpacking again today! Love it! Easy miles with just a few views from the crossings of the Blue Ridge Parkway and only a couple of climbs. We saw one deer and 39 hikers today! We have gone for weeks in previous trips without seeing that many people. It's really crowded on the trail right now. We went over the 1/3 mark today. It's flying by and having a great time.