morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-03
From: campsite at mile 845.5

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 12.4

I started my day in my tent and am ending it sitting out on the patio at The Tree Inn B&B in Waynesboro, VA. It's a beautiful evening, about 70 degrees, and I'm sitting in a wicker chair, relaxing after a hard day on the job, clean and fed like any other reasonable person might. It does beg the question, "Why am I abusing my body to walk 2,000 miles in the woods." I'm too tired to answer the question, but it does amaze me that I continue this journey because despite the hardship, this is what I feel compelled to do. The daily grind of hiking up and down mountains, being smelly and grungy, eating the same uninspiring and generally unhealthy food, having tired and sore muscles all the time, does make me appreciate the simple things in life. I Believe and I were on the trail just before 7:00 this morning. We had heard there was a chance of rain this afternoon, so we wanted to get into town ahead of it. There were threatening clouds and a few sprinkles as we reached town, but the rain never materialized. Part of me wanted it to rain, because it is a great feeling to be in town when it rains, and know you're not miserable in it in the woods. As I sit here, Dreamer has come in, a section hiker I'm meeting for the first time. He slipped on a wet rock crossing a stream I crossed only several hours before. He fell and dislocated his little finger. He has been to the ER and has to go for a follow up in a few days to rule out any nerve or tendon damage. It sounded like a nasty dislocation. He is not letting it deter him, but it reminds me just how quickly an injury can end a thru-hike. I hike cautiously in risky terrain, but my 10, make that 11 falls to date, attests to the ever present risks. The terrain today was relatively easy with many fewer rocky sections and little elevation change, so we made it to town by 1:30 and called the B&B for a shuttle ride. Bill, the B&B owner, pointed out all the necessary hiker points of interest (laundromat, Krogers, AYCE buffet, good restaurants, PO) as he drove us through town. After showering (always the highlight of coming into town), I Believe and I walked to the laundromat, then to dinner at the Greenleaf (had delicious mahi mahi), and dessert at Klines for home made soft serve ice cream (I had lemon gingersnap). Walking back to the B&B, we ran into Chicken and Rooster, section hikers I met at Four Pines Hostel. They have a car and offered to take us to the outfitters tomorrow. The low point today was stepping on my glasses! They are bent, but still wearable. I'm hoping Chicken and Rooster can take me to an optometrist in town who can bend them back. Just another little annoyance....
Date: 2014-06-04
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great day OFF the trail. It started with a delicious hiker breakfast prepared by Nickie. She and her husband Bill have been the innkeepers of The Tree Streets Inn B&B for 13 years. It is beautifully decorated (Nickie was an interior decorator), and I Believe and I are sharing a room with a king size bed and private bath at a very reasonable mid week hiker rate. We had the luxury of our trail angels, Chicken and Rooster, to chauffeur us around town today, but the Inn is within a reasonable walking distance (even for thru-hikers who don't want to walk on their zeros) to the Laundromat, Krogers, the PO, and restaurants. I highly recommend it. I wouldn't have wanted to walk to the outfitter or Eye One where yesterday's stepped on glasses got repaired, but Chicken and Rooster graciously took us to both. I walked into the eye care center, explained I was a thru hiker, had stepped on and bent my glasses and asked the gentleman if he could help me. Within 5 minutes my glasses were repaired, the nose pads were replaced, and the glasses fit better than they did before I stepped on them! When I asked what I owed, he said, "Nothing. Stay safe." There is kindness and generosity like this everywhere on and off the trail. This is why I am still out here. Just Paul and Tortoise got into town and they met Chicken, Rooster, I Believe and me for lunch at The Heritage. We got caught up and I had the best hamburger I've had in a trail town. Tortoise and Just Paul are zeroing tomorrow, but I'm sure will catch up to us. After much consternation (okay, flinching), I sent home my last pair of pants (poly pro) and my sleeping bag liner (again!). It's still cool enough to use my summer sleeping bag, and I'll get my liner back when it will be warm enough to just sleep in it. The postal clerk said the packaged Tyvek envelop weighed 15.4 ounces. That's a precious 1 lb I don't have to carry on my back. Hikers talk about multi use gear. I chuckled when I saw the PO envelop was made of Tyvek. It's a common material on the trail used as tent footprints and under sleeping bags in shelters. After returning to the B&B, I began organizing my food, did "my dishes" (pot, spoon, Sawyer Squeeze), and started to pack up Rosie. Then I Believe, Dreamer and I walked to The Heritage (where I had lunch) for dinner. It was another good meal. We met Chicken and Rooster back at Klines for ice cream where they offered to slack pack us tomorrow! Trail magic continues. I am going to attempt my first 20 mile day tomorrow. It just got a whole lot easier carrying a day pack. I am flinching a little. I have a soft spot on my heel that is likely a blister waiting to happen. Hopefully, I can protect it with a blister bandaid and Body Glide. I have walked 845 miles without a blister. I'd like to keep that streak going. Thank you so much Chicken and Rooster for all your help today.
Date: 2014-06-05
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: light rain

Today was a day of firsts. I saw my first bear and I did my first 20 miler. After a hearty B&B breakfast of two sausage, egg and chese breakfast sandwiches, I Believe and I said goodbye   to Dreamer who had an appointment this morning with a hand physician to determine if there is any damage from his badly dislocated finger. I hope we see him again up the trail. Then we said goodbye to Nickie, loaded our day packs in the car, and Bill drove us back to the trail. Thanks again Nickie and Bill for your hospitality. I so enjoyed my stay at The Tree Street Inn. Rooster and Chicken had picked up our packs last night, so I Believe and I were good to go this morning with just our day packs for our 19 mile slack pack. Today we entered Shenandoah National Park. We had to register as thru-hikers where the AT enters the park. We had lots of ups and downs, but they were over a few hundred feet rather than a few thousand. I Believe and I didn't start hiking until 9:00, so it was 6:30 when we met up with Chicken and Rooster on Skyline Drive at Blackrock Gap to reclaim our packs. After photos, we said our goodbyes to them. Chicken and Rooster have one more day of section hiking, then are heading back home. Thank you so much for slacking us today and for ALL your trail magic these past two days. I Believe and I had dinner in the parking lot at the gap, then hiked the .9 mile to the shelter. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when we saw a bear on the other side of the stream. He seemed disinterested in all of us, and meandered off after a couple of minutes. There is a different bear bagging system in the Sheny's. It takes brute force to raise the bags overhead to hang off hooks at the top of a high metal pole. It's a good thing I still have a little of my upper body strength left. It was still light out while I set up my tent on slanted, rocky ground. I will be sliding down my tent all night. We are here with a number of hikers that I have not met before. I am none the worse for wear for having hiked 20 miles today, but having slacked the first 19 makes a huge difference. We'll see how I do the day after tomorrow, when we will aim for 20 miles again with a full pack. Tomorrow will be a shorter day.
Date: 2014-06-06
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I Believe and I both overslept this morning. We didn't get on the trail until 8:15 which is late for us. After an uphill right out of the shelter and some rocks, the trail leveled off and we had several miles of "a walk in the woods." We both skirted and crossed Skyline Drive multiple times. We decided to take a side trail to the Loft Mountain Campground camp store to get an idea of what the camp stores in the park have for both resupply and immediate gratification. I downed a liter of Gatorade, some chips and   string cheese to fortify me until we got to the Loft Mountain Wayside for lunch. As much as thru-hikers like to eat, they dislike the added tenths of miles on side trails that are required to get to these places. I Believe and I spent an inordinate amount of time today calculating and fretting over these tenths of a mile, that by the way, always seem to go uphill. In the end, we hiked an additional mile or so, but were rewarded with hamburgers and ice cream. The blackberry shake machine is still broken, so we will have to wait until we reach another Wayside restaurant. We took a long break at both the camp store and the Wayside, so didn't get to the shelter until after 6:00. We were less then three miles from the shelter when No Name and Salty Hat came up behind us. They are back on the trail after three zeros with No Name's wife/Salty Hat's mother. They are both here at the shelter tenting with us, along with Cyclone and Shakespeare.I Believe and I are struggling trying to decide about tomorrow's miles. The next shelter is 8.2 miles and the shelter after that is 20.6. There are lots of restrictions on stealth camping and lots of bears in the park, so we are hesitant to stealth. A short day is miles not put in, but 20 miles is a very long day for the terrain. We shall see what tomorrow brings. The whipperwills and the screech owls are already at it. They make a racket at night!! Goodnight.
Date: 2014-06-07
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a banner day on the AT. I did my second 20 plus mile day (with a full pack this time), saw two bears, a dear, and a black snake, fell for the 12th time, had trail magic, and crossed the 900 mile mark! After much consternation last night about how many miles we would do today, it was a no brainer for I Believe and me this morning. The sun was shining and showers and thunderstorms are forecasted for the next several days. We needed to take advantage of the good weather and hike big miles today. We left camp at 7:00 and climbed a half dozen or so small mountains with elevation ranges of 300 to 900 feet. That is tame compared to climbs of thousands of feet I have been doing for hundreds of miles. They were interspersed with long stretches of fairly level trail. I had heard that it is easier to do bigger miles in the Shenandoah's, and I now appreciate why. The bottoms of my feet are sore at the end of long mile days, and I'm wearing three strategically placed blister band aids to ward off blisters. So far so good. Goat Momma was at one of the gaps this afternoon with trail magic, and I Believe, No Name, Salty Hat, and I were the lucky recipients. Her daughter is currently hiking the PCT. Thank you Goat Momma for the soda, chips, water, and watermelon, and chair to sit in. We stopped at the camp store at Lewis Mountain Campground a mile before the shelter. It closes at 7:00 and we got there with a 1/2 hour to spare. My dinner tonight was an ice cream sandwich, 2 string cheese, and iced tea. I bought and packed out 2 hard boiled eggs and 2 more string cheese for breakfast tomorrow. I'm very excited about having eggs in the woods. I Believe and I crossed the 900 mile mark with No Name and Salty Hat. We are tenting with them again tonight at the shelter. We have seen very few thru-hikers since Waynesboro. We must be between bubbles. I am ready for sleep.
Date: 2014-06-08
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Skyland Resort
Miles today: 15.9

Today was a mixed bag. I Believe and I were on the trail at 7:00 and made quick work of 8 miles of easy terrain to get to Big Meadows Lodge for lunch. I had a spinach salad with grilled chicken on it, sweet potato fries and blackberry cobbler. We took our time and it was a relaxing interlude in the middle of our hiking day. Back on the trail, we dealt with rocks for much of the afternoon. They are annoying because they slow me down so much and are hard on the feet. The souls of my feet, particularly my toes and the balls of my feet have been sore recently. It's not pain. Any hot spots have not developed into blisters either. It's just a feeling of enough already. My feet are tired of walking every day all day long. I can't wait to get my boots off at night, and have been trying to take them off once during the day. My feet sweat whether I'm in boots or trail runners. I alternate days wearing my two pairs of Darn Tough socks, but still the socks are not always fully dry. I rub my peppermint essential oil on them and massage them at night. I would love to roll my feet over a frozen coke bottle, but alas I'm not going to carry a coke bottle on my back, nor can I freeze it out here. Yes, soaking my feet in a cold stream would feel good, and maybe I need to start taking the time to do that. Houdini picked up berry superfeet for me and I am going to switch into my trail runners for sure when I see him next week. I think the soreness, however, is here to stay and the inevitable result of walking all these miles. I Believe is having more serious feet issues with a number of new blisters. Tomorrow, instead of hiking to the next shelter, we're going to hike to the next town to get her feet tended to. She's thinking about buying a new pair of shoes since the ones she has are crowding her feet and contributing to the blisters. We'll stay in town overnight and hopefully get back on the trail the next day. We are in a rustic cabin tonight at the Shenandoah's Skyland Resort. We are not only showered and fed, but avoiding tenting in tonight's thunderstorms. The resort is only .1 mile off the AT and is a wonderful respite after four long days of hiking in the park. I've seen lots of deer the past couple of days. They come right into the shelter area, and up close to people. There have been a lot of bear sightings too, though my bear count remains at two. If the number of deer is any indication of the number of deer ticks, the deer tick population is thriving. I check for ticks multiple times a day. I pulled a deer tick off I Believe just today. Just another day on the trail....
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Skyland Resort

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

Last night I went to Web MD for I Believe, and read up on home treatment for blisters. She was doing everything right except for stopping the activity that causes the blisters! That is not an option for I Believe. She doctored herself up as best she could with our combined blister aids and is determined to hike.   There was a coffee maker in our cabin and I started my day with a cup of coffee in bed. It was glorious. Check out time was 11:00, so we took our time getting out. We packed up and walked from our cabin up the STEEP hill to the restaurant around 9:30. Why is it that so many off trail miles seem to be uphill? Long Bow, Little Spoon, Morning Wood, and Dreamer were there having hiked in this morning from the last shelter. After a hiker breakfast, we hit the trail at 11:00 having planned to do a shorter day because of I Believe's feet. It was another day of rocks and it was brutal. It took us seven hours, walking painstakingly over mile after mile of rocky terrain. Hikers talk about the rocks in PA. VA has plenty of it's own, I can assure you. The sky looked threatening on and off all day, but the predicted thunderstorms did not materialize. It did pour durning the night last night and I felt quite smug listening to it from my cabin bed. The tent sites at this hut tonight are spread out. I Believe and I are tenting with some section hikers. Long Bow, Little Spoon, and Morning Wood are here somewhere, but not within sight. I Believe's blisters are no worse, so we will add a few more miles to our day tomorrow and hope for the best. We hear from the SOBO's, that there are more rocks in store for us tomorrow. I lost my LLBean headlamp today. Bummer. I've already called Houdini and he's going to pick one up for me and bring it to Harper's Ferry next week when he comes down. That is the advantage of living 20 minutes from LLBean and it being only a week away from Houdini's next visit. In the meantime, Little Spoon had a tiny LED flashlight that someone had given him, and he kindly gave it to me. Thanks Little Spoon. I saw another bear today. I'm getting really good at hanging our food bags on these bear poles in the Sheny's. We have two more days in the park, then it's on to Harpers Ferry.
Date: 2014-06-10
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I Believe and I were up early and were on the trail at 7:15. Long Bow stopped by our tent site and had his breakfast while we were packing up. We were all looking forward to lunch at the Elkwallow Wayside, the last restaurant right off the trail in the park. The trail was much kinder today. There were no rocks to speak of and we made quick work of the miles to the Wayside. We got there at 10:40 and the restaurant was still serving breakfast. I ordered a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and coffee and ate outside at a picnic table with Long Bow and I Believe. They were drinking coffee and waiting for the changeover to the lunch menu. My breakfast sandwich tasted really good. A 1/2 hour later I ordered a cheeseburger and a blackberry shake. It all tasted so good. I was satiated after my back to back meals, but not full. It amazes me how much food I can eat out here. I considered getting a second shake, but thought better of hiking out with so much food in me. We stayed at the picnic table for 2 hours, relishing the break from walking. I took my shoes and socks off and aired out my boots. My feet, by the way, feel much better today. I think the bigger mile days coupled with the day and a half of rocks, is what did them in. My leg muscles are much less sore at the end of the day than they used to be and it is much easier to power up hills. I definitively have my hiker legs. Now I just need to avoid overuse injuries as I hike longer days. My knees are holding their own. There is a new normal to them (tightness, "popping" in my left one, and intermittent pain on steep descents), but overall they are not getting worse and actually feel better then they did two months ago. We got to the shelter by 4:30 and I'm tenting tonight with Long Bow, Little Spoon, Morning Wood, and I Believe. I met Slim and his son Granders tonight at the shelter. Slim is a fellow Trailjournals blogger, and he has been following my journal. He started his hike in April and has been on the lookout for me. Well today he caught up with me. It is great fun to meet fellow hikers who are fans of my blog. I write so that family and friends can follow my journey, but it is as much for myself as for them. Days run together quickly, and as much as every day is the same out here, every day is a new adventure I want to remember. To inform and entertain total strangers was not what I was expecting to do. I am humbled by those who are enjoying my daily renderings. I'm glad we got to meet Slim, and I will be following your blog as well, as we both move north. Today was a great day. Tomorrow we hike out of the Shenandoah's and will take a zero in Front Royal. All the off trail eating in the park, the generally easier terrain (with the exception of the nightmarish rocks), and the bears have made for a fun week and a welcome change from the daily grind.
Date: 2014-06-11
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up to thunder at 3:00 am and frantically tried to close my tent fly door. Of course the tieback was twisted, and I was trying to see what I was doing holding the LED flashlight in my teeth since I don't have a headlamp. I managed to untangle it, pull my pack into the tent from the vestibule, and zip up the fly before it started to rain. Longbow jumped out of his tent at the same time to retrieve his clothes he had hanging on his makeshift clothes line. It rained for quite a while as I layed there wide awake. This morning I packed up a wet, muddy tent. There was condensation under my sleeping pad, but all my gear was dry. The trail had a lot of downhill as it usually does coming into a town, but was interspersed with 200 to 500 feet uphills. I didn't have much energy this morning and it was one of those days when I just didn't feel like working so hard. I got to a gap on Skyline Drive where Slim and Granders were already enjoying some trail magic. I Believe's, Longbow's and my timing were perfect and we reaped the benefit of Evelyn's lunch fixings. Thank you Slim and Evelyn. The trail magic invigorated me physically and mentally and made for a much easier afternoon hike. I Believe and I reached US 522 and proceeded to put our thumbs out for a ride into Front Royal. Within a couple of minutes a very nice gentleman in his farm and lawn maintenance truck stopped and picked us up. Jim Costello gave us some tips on where to eat, then dropped us off at the Super 8 where I had called earlier from the trail to make a reservation. Thank you so much Jim. It is the goodness in people like you that keeps me going day after day. Before taking a shower (it is normally always the first thing I do in town), I put my tent and sleeping bag out on the parking lot pavement to dry. No Name, Salty Hat, Cyclone and Sherlock are here as well tonight. I Believe and I went across the street for dinner at Spelunker's. I had a much better than average burger, delicious freshly cut french fries and a root beer float. Tonight I am relaxing on my bed as another thunderstorm rolls through. Tomorrow we will do town chores and make final plans for our push to Harpers Ferry. Oh, and I found my headlamp in the bottom of my pack this afternoon!