morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-31
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Chestnut Knot Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up to a splitting headache courtesy of the 'Moonshine'. I got up to cook breakfast in the hope that it might take the edge of the hangover. The three guys at the shelter where out buying supplies for the hunting season. They gave me all sorts of trail food and some scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. They where really nice guys and tried to help me out as best as possible. After a while I headed back to the trail at around 12.30pm. There was a long uphill section to start off with. The 'Moonshine' was really hurting me and I hoped I could sweat it out. I hiked with a guy called 'George' for about 2 miles or so until the road crossing where he had his car.. It was nice for a change to talk to someone whilist hiking. The 'Moonshine' was wearing off, slowly, but I still felt a little hungover and as it was raining hard and I was soaked I decided to call it a day at 'Chestnut Knob Shelter'. It is a stone shelter, fully enclosed and on top of a bald mountain over looking 'Berks Garden', a fully enclosed valley some 2,500 ft below. I imagine the views would be quite breath taking on a clear day, but it was very cloudy and misty from all the rain so I couldn't see much. I felt alot better after dinner and put my head down for an early night.
Date: 2003-09-01
From: Chestnut Knot Shelter

To: Atkins
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: clear sky

I made the right choice to stay at the shelter. The rain got heavier and heavier and persisted for most of the night. I left the shelter later (as usual) than I had wanted to but decided to head for the 'Partnership Shelter', it was a long way off and the elevation charts suggested I would have a tough day, but hey the rewards of a hot shower and pizza delivery to the shelter would make it all worthwhile. There was definately no shortage of water on the trail this morning. The mountains where oozing water from under evey rock.. I passed over alot of 'farm land' during the day which was a real pleasant break from the dreaded 'Green Tunnel', Soon enough I was at 'Davis Path Shelter', I read some of the entries in the log book. So there is a Dairy Queen in Atkins.... and a cheap Motel...... mmmmm interesting. I spent the next 2 1/2 miles walking down the mountain making up excuses why I should cut the day short and stay in Atkins. I was outside the Exxon Station in town and a lady approached me and asked "if I was a thru-hiker", I said, "I was", and she went and got her son from the car who had thru-hiked in 2001. His trail name was 'Mellow Yellow'. He was telling me about the trail up ahead and all the nice things I would see. At the same time a really fine looking young lady was making her way towards us, so I said "Here comes one now", It only turned out to be his girlfriend, talk about putting my foot in it. His mum had come back and asked if she could do anything for me or take me anywhere. I said sure, how aobut the Hilton in New York !!! It got a laugh. (I was being serious.) She wanted to buy me Dairy Queen, but I don't like taking advantage of peoples kindness. She was leaving without helping me and gave me $10 to get a pizza with at the 'Partnership Shelter'. I was taken back by her kindness and thanked her so much. By this time the excuses had won the day and I ended up getting a room for the night. It was an evening of more ice-cream eating and watching T.V. Ah well its a tough life being a thru-hiker!!!!
Date: 2003-09-02
From: Atkins

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 36.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I ended up leaving town at 1pm but was still determined to make up some good ground. I was at the 'Partnership Shelter' in no-time at all and started to regret not making it to here last night. The shelter was better than the Motel room !!!! (It wasn't really , but it was one hell of a shelter). I wanted to stay but I was getting fed up with all the short days I had been doing recently so I pushed on. I was toying with the idea of hiking straight to 'Damascus'. It would be a 75 mile straight hike and would take me about 24 hours. It sounded like fun and I make up my mind to go for it. It was soon dark and the beginning of a long night hike. I was still making really good time and still feeling frisky by the time I had got half way at 'Old Orchard Shelter'. I realised that if I continued to hike to 'Damascus' I would have to hike through the 'Grayson Highlands' at night time. I had heard so much about them and had really looked forward to them for a long time., so I decided to call it a day, I just hoped I would have a nice day for the views tomorrow. I will just have to wait until the 'Smokies' for the 70 + day hike.
Date: 2003-09-03
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 36.5
Weather: broken clouds

I was up and ready to get stuck into the day and really looking forward to the 'Grayson Highlands' , even though if I had carried on hiking last night I would be kicking back in 'Damascus' by now. All thoughts of 'Damascus' and 'pizza' where banished when I got up into the 'Highlands'. It is so beautiful up there, It almost looks like the wild west. Some parts of the trail where quite rocky and I was half expecting to see some 'Rattle Snakes' , but maybe it was to high for them. I was so happy today, walking along singing and enjoying the scenary. It was late by the time I got to 'Lost Mountain Shelter', I was tempted to stay as there was 4 other hikers there. They where very friendly and asked if they could make me coffee, food etc. I had nothing to give in return so I turned them down. I hate taking with-out being able to give something back. I headed off into the fading light to try and cut as many miles as possible off tomorrow.I hiked to with-in about 2-3 miles of 'Damascus' and found a nice flat spot on the side of the trail to pitch my tent and get some sleep.
Date: 2003-09-04
From: Tentsite

To: Damascus
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: moderate rain

I was up at around 9 and hiked down into 'Damascus' to 'Cowboys Diner' just in time to miss the down pour. So I sat down and made a pig of my-self by which time the rain had passed. I stopped of at 'Mount Rogers Outfitters' to get some new shoes and a drinking tube for my Platypus. I got chatting to Dave and Jeff who own the store, they where really friendly and ready to help with anything. I wasn't planning on staying in town, but Dave sort of talked me into staying and gave me a discount on a room. He had also just given me some 'Micropur' , water purifying tablets for free as well. After sorting out some groceries and a couple of other odds and ends I headed over for some pizza. The food was great and the waitress fancied me! Alls good!!!!! She told me to come back and visit when I had finished. I might just do that, and give her a 'Meat Feast' not to forget !!! After dinner I went and relaxed back at the hostel and got an early night.
Date: 2003-09-05
From: Damascus

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

I was up and ready to leave at 9am. I only went over to the Outfitters to drop the keys off. I didn't end up leaving until 2pm. I was chatting to Jeff for ages and he kept buying soda's and giving me stuff for free. He fixed up my hiking poles, changed my sternam strap on my rucksack for and elasticated one and gave me a new pair of supported insoles woth $20. S*** if I had have stayed there any longer he would have ended up giving me new rucksacks, sleeping bags and so on. I got quite sucked in by 'Damascus', which is so easy to do, especially as the trail runs through the town. I thanked Jeff for all his kindness and headed off to the trail. After a short climb the trail stayed on a ridge for quite a long way. It was nice hiking trail apart from some area's which where over-grown with stinging nettles. Just before dark I met 2 guys out 'Gin-Senging', I didn't realise it grew in this country. I thought the Chinese grew it and sold it, but it is the other way around. I was really amazed at what they had told me and even more amazed to fing out that it is worth $500 per pound!!! I must have walked by millions of dollars worth of it by now!!! I got to the shelter just after dark and decided to stay for the night.
Date: 2003-09-06
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Dennis Cove Road
Miles today: 32.1

Same old thing, I rolled out of bed at 10, but was still determined to make it to 'Bob Peoples' house. There where a few small ups and downs on the trail but in all it was quite easy to keep up a good pace. At the back of 'Vandeventer Shelter' there was some great views over 'Watauga Lake' and the surrounding mountains. I bet these views where breath taking with snow on the ground. The trail followed around the Lake for a while and brought me out on to the road where I had heard that Subway, MacDonalds and Pizza Hut where a mere mile away...... must ignore.. the ... temptation. I managed to resist the urge and made my way up the mountain, All was going well until a 'Hornet' decided to sting me on the back of my heel, 'F*** me' did that hurt or what!!!! I took some 'Benedryl' straight away and carried on. I decided to start running and made my way to 'Laurel Falls' quite quick. I could see the Falls from the trail, but it was getting late so it was a shame I didn't get the time to take the side trail over and relax for a while. About 100 yards before the road I met a group of locals out camping and drinking the night away. They invited me over for a beer, then one led too two and two led too drinking shots of J.D. and drinking shots of J.D. led to me getting quite pissed. One of the guys took me to MacDonalds and we got some more beer. We had a real good laugh and all of us totally trashed!!! My foot had swollen up quite bad by this point from the Hornet Sting..... I wonder if more beer will help it any ????
Date: 2003-09-07
From: Dennis Cove Road

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: broken clouds

AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! My head was pounding and my foot was up like a balloon. I guess more beer didn't help it out after all !!! One by one everyone crawled out of their tents and some wasted no time in polishing off the rest of the beer. Back to MacDonalds for breakfast where I ordered everything on the dollar menu twice !!! It tasted bad, but thats what make MacDonalds so good !!! After chilling out for a while back at the camp everyone left one by one to head on home. They where a great bunch of guys and I have been told to stop by anytime I am in the area.. Its really cool to make new friends in far off places as you never know when you will meet up again, but you know it will be messy for sure. They told me I would score big time with my accent in Bristol, maybe I might head back when I finish !!!! I finally made it over to 'Bob Peoples'. We sat down and chatted for a while and he asked about the 'Flying Scotsman' and told me about a good book that he sent him. I laughed out loud and said, "Don't tell me, How Scotland Invented the Modern World". He never shut up about that book the whole time we where in Connecticutt. It was about 3.30 pm and I needed all the time I could get to make the shelter by dark as I could hardly walk on my foot, it had swollen up beyond belief and half my leg had swollen up aswell. I said good-bye to Bob and hobbled off to the trail.. Some of the views where simply amazing from the Vestas', so it was nice to take a welcome break to admire the scenary. It took about 4 hours to hike the 6 miles to the shelter and I was glad to rest up my foot for the night. As there was no beer around I decided to try some Benedryl to see if that would help, had my dinner and went to bed.
Date: 2003-09-08
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: U.S. 19E
Miles today: 17.3

My foot was still swollen, and although it had come down a little over night I did not want to hike too far on it today. I saw a note in the shelter for 'free shuttle services' to 'Shady Lawn Motel' and decided that would be a good destination for the night. Bob had given me a data sheet for the new section he had cut in the winter which had not made the publication times for the trail data books. Hikers owe alot of gratitude to volunteers like Bob Peoples for their hard work and dedication to the trail. But as Bob says "What would the hikers do with-out volunteers, but what would the volunteers do with-out the hikers", hats off to you Bob that new section is great hiking and passes some scenic water falls. I hope to be back in the states next year to help build the new shelter planned for that section. I came out onto 19E and arranged the shuttle to the Motel. Herb who runs the Motel turned out to be very friendly and ready to help out with anything. After a shower I headed out to the restaurant next door and did my usual, 'make a pig out of my-self routine'. I spent the rest of the night relaxing watching 'Happy Gillmore', great movie !!!!
Date: 2003-09-09
From: U.S. 19E

To: Roan High Knot Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Had quite a long lie in again after staying up watching the T.V. until the early hours. After a shower to waken me up a little I headed out for breakfast and to the library. On the way back to the Motel I stumbled across some 'Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice-Cream' that I hadn't had for a long time. Herb gave me a ride back to the trail around 12pm. It was quite cool today and great weather for hiking. I was looking forward to the views I had heard so much about from the mountains I was climbing today, so I wasted no-time liking up the first, Hump Mountain, from which the views where breathtaking. There was also supposed to be some 'Long Horn Cows' about on the grassy balds, but I didn't get to see any. As usual it was back to the green tunnel all to soon. After a couple more miles I came out onto another grassy bald, 'Round Top', from which the views where even better of countless mountains disappearing into the horizon. I got up to 'Roan High Knob Shelter' and decided to stay the night, hoping to get up for sunrise in the morning.
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Roan High Knot Shelter

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: light rain

Is sunrise at 10am??? Damn I must have missed it. I thought I would have been alot colder last night . The shelter is at 6,285 ft, it is four sided though which did help. I looked at the data book and figured that the trail was going to be quite hilly today. The altitudes where saying, down 2,000 , up 1,000, down 1,000 and so on. I decided to get to 'Irwin' in 2 short days rather than rushing all day to get there in the evening. The views from the rock out crops where again amazing. It was nice to see all the mountains out onto the horizon knowing that the trail was leading me too them. It was not quite clear enough to get my first look at the 'Smokies' though. Surprisingly I didn't see a soul until late in the evening. I planned on camping near or on 'Beauty Spot', a grassy bald over looking the now lit up towns below, but out to the east some dark clouds where rolling in quite low and had me worried about thunder, so I watched the bright red sun disappear behind the mountains and headed off to fine a place to camp for the night. Hunting Season has just come in, and I saw a few 'Bow Hunters' out in there head to toe camoflauge, I hope I dont't look like a Deer !!!   I eventually found a spot to camp, cooked up some dinner and rested up for the night.
Date: 2003-09-11
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Irwin
Miles today: 8.3

I had heard so much about 'Miss Janet's' Hostel in Irwin and couldn't wait to get down to town and check it out. I covered the miles in about 2 hours and wasted no time in getting to the road for a hitch. A section hiker named Tom came over and we got chatting about the trail, he also gave me the rest of his ice cold beer which went down a treat. He gave me a ride into town. Once in town I asked for directions to 'Miss Janets' and got chatting to two old local guys. One of which told me about seeing a black wild cat up in the woods, a big one aswell. F*** running into a Panther!!! I made it over to 'Miss Janets' where the welcome was as warm as I had heard about. Straight away I was made to feel at home. After checking out 'The Flying Scotsmans' dodgy paint job that he had done earlier in the year, Miss Janet told me about the Pizza Hut buffet...... take me there now !!!! She dropped me off and I made my way in to the all you can eat pizza for $4.99, this could get messy!!! The pizza is never as good on the buffet cart as when you order, but hey its cheap!!! I left that place holding my stomach having eaten far too much pizza. I spent the rest of the day relaxing at Miss Janets house, sipping on a beer or six. We watched a few movies and before I knew it, it was 1am and time for bed if I was to be getting up at a reasonable time.
Date: 2003-09-30
To: SPRINGER MOUNTAIN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Just a quick note to let you know that I have now finished the A.T.I will be writing up the rest of my journal in a few days.Alot has happened in the last few weeks from hiking the 72 miles of the smokies in 22 hours to having my parents waitng at Springer as a suprise!!! 11/11/03 I promise I shall write up the end of my journal soon and would just like to thank anyone who sat down and took the time to read up on my adventure.I plan on hiking the PCT and CDT next year as part of preparation hikes for a world record endurance hike I am in the begining of planing.I plan on hiking the PCT CDT AT and the American Discovery Trail in one calendar year and I am currently looking for anyone who is serious in helping or would know of any backpacking companies who would be serious in helping out in any way. The 4 trails are over 13,000 miles in total and i would almost certainly need a road crew to carry supplies,equipment and for transport between trails.I hope to start on 01/05 and need to get the ball rolling asap,so any advice or help no matter how small would be very much appreciated,thanks again, "SQUEAKY"
Date: 2003-10-30
To: The Beginning of the AT Dream
Miles today: 0.0

My dream of hiking the AT started in 1958 when I learned of the trail while hiking with a high school friend, Dana Cowhig. Dana was active in scouting and had camping and hiking skills I knew nothing about. But I had a car. Dana persuaded me to go to New Hampshire for some camping and hiking during our summer vacation from school. We each had large newspaper delivery routes that needed to be serviced while we were away and my route was so big (over 300 papers) that I had to split it up amongst 3 different people.   We headed north to Crawford Notch and camped in the Dry River Camp Ground which is a state run camp ground. We had a large canvas wall tent that we borrowed from Dana's scout troop. We put a ground cloth inside the tent and trenched the outside of the tent to help keep out the rain. We used wood and canvas cots for beds. I had a cotton sleeping bag and my pack was an old army packboard with a canvas poncho wrapped around my belongings. We set off along the Dry River Trail with our packs and gear to do a multiple day hike up Mount Washington. Eventually the Dry River Trail joins other trails in the Presidential Range including the AT which I had never heard of but Dana told me it ran from Georgia to Maine. I asked him if anyone had ever hiked the entire trail. He didn't know the answer to that question. "Well, Dana, someday I'm going to do it." That was 45 years ago. I'll tell you more on another entry.
Date: 2003-11-10
To: An Education
Miles today: 0.0

I went Salem State College in Massachusetts studying to become a mathematics teacher. Before graduation I decided that I should know more mathematics than was offered at SSC so I applied to and was accepted into a Master's Degree program at the University of Connecticut. I needed to complete many undergraduate mathematics courses before I could begin my graduate work. Therefore, it took 2.5 years before I finished my work at UCONN. In the mean time I married my high school sweet heart, Sue Frost. She had a teaching a position in Ledyard, CT so when I finished my studies so I looked for a high school position nearby but ended up at South Windsor High School an hour and a half away. I was there less than 3 months when I got my draft notice. So, from June of 1967 to July of 1969 I served in the US Army as a computer programmer. My job entailed software development and instruction so once software was modified I would go into the field to train troops in the use of the programs. I was stationed in Arlington VA. While in Virginia I met Bruce Patton, an avid hiker and skier. We explored hiking trails in the area and spent some time on the slopes. Among our adventures we visited Skyline Drive where I rediscovered the AT. After my tour of duty, I returned to my teaching position at South Windsor. Ron Rioux, a science teacher at the high school, invited me to work with him as an advisor to the Outing Club. At that time the club did mostly ski trips but we managed to work in a few hiking trips. One was to Mount Greylock in Massachusetts and guess what I discovered on Mount Greylock? There it was again, the AT. Remembering my time with Dana Cowhig in New Hampshire, I was now convinced that I would do a Thru Hike some day.
Date: 2003-11-20
To: Training for Thru Hike
Miles today: 0.0

Ron Rioux is 7 years older than I am. Once he retired from teaching I knew I had 7 more years before I could do a thru hike. That fact put me into full hiking mode. I joined ALDHA and attended Gatherings. I applied for membership in ATC and got busy on AT mailing lists. I hiked the Hundred Mile Wilderness with John Salcius who was the father of some of my students. I brought the Outing Club to Shenandoah National Park to hike the AT during an April Vacation. I made tentative plans to complete a Thru Hike with the class of 2003. I even set a day of March 1 and hoped to be part of Pack31. When I retired from teaching in June of 2002 my wife, Sue and I sold our house in Connecticut to our older daughter, Darcy, and her husband, David. We moved to New Hampshire where we lived in a summer cottage while we built a new house for retirement.   Well, like most constuction projects, it took longer than we planned. I was the first person to drop off the trail from Pack31 and I hadn't even started. I decided to hike for a month in March because most of the work around the house that I needed to do was out door work. There was 2 feet of snow on the ground when I left home on March 6 and the temperature was -20 degrees. I stopped in CT to pick up John Salcius who took his vacation time to hike with me and we stopped in Trumbull CT to pick up Regan Wendell, a member of the AT class of 2003. John and I hiked from Springer Mountain with Regan for 5 days before we got separated from her. We enjoyed 85 degree weather followed by 8 days of rain. Then we had a spell of perfect 50 degree weather.   We started into the Smokeys on a delightful sunny Friday morning. Saturday it rained a cold drizzle. Next morning the rain had changed to snow. and we were wading through hip high drifts wearing sneakers. We met a ridge runner who said we must know what we are doing because we just crossed Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountains in a blizzard. We hiked for two more days in sunny skies but cold temps and beautiful white snow. After a night in Gattlinburg we headed north again on the trail getting off in Davenport Gap where Sly and Cheryl picked us up.