morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-11
From: Watauga Dam Rd

To: Iron Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 11.1

Well, we are still alive...thats what we have been saying these past few days. We started out well this morning...5 Alive, Mr. CrankyPants,Cire, and Denmark...had a good mile climb and then ridgeline hiking most of the day. As we got to higher elevations the snow was still on the ground from yesterday-so we spent a couple of miles slipping and sliding in slush...but by 3 this afternoon the rain started again and the temperature is dropping...but not enough for snow. We get to the shelter and it is filled with weekend hikers - SO we get to put our tents up and freeze in the process. We are still alive and I can still feel my feet(so I know they hurt) and we have been making each other laugh for the past hour-discussing how miserable we are and why we chose to do this. Snow in April...will it happen for a third time? I hope not. :-)song: "O Happy Day" from Sister Actblessings,
Date: 2003-04-12
From: Iron Mtn. Shelter

To: Low gap
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

Sitting in the Damascus, VA Laundrymat...listening to a jukebox, waiting for our laundry to finish. Good Saturday night entertainment for hikers...We woke up today and for the first day in six days - the sun was shining. YEAH! I think all of us really needed that. Especially since it was still cold and we were very, very wet. We hiked 11 miles in about 4 hours to meet up with Paul(Slickrocks boyfriend) and Cire's friends...so we could get a ride into Damascus. So we are staying at "The Place" - a Methodist Church sponsored hostel for $4.00...for the night and will go to the 11:00 Service in the morning and hike more in the afternoon. Going to sit at a Pub and listen to live music now!!!song: "You said" - Rita SpringerBlessings,
Date: 2003-04-13
From: Low gap

To: Damascus
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

"The Lord is my strength. And He has made my feet like hinds feet. And makes me walk on my high places." Habakkuk 3:19What a great day!!! Woke up early and met some other hikers for breakfast at the Sidetrack Cafe-they have HUGE pancakes(of which I partook of two). But they also have a competition that some of the guys out here were going to try for...they had to eat 6 of the pancakes in a 3 hour time period and they could get them for free. So I sat with Gung-ho Rider (of the Yellow Submarines-three guys from Nashville that shared a 2 man yellow tent for the first month) and encouraged him as he ate not only 6 but 7 pancakes. Can you feel the excitement out here? Really I wanted to try it too cause I like to do stupid things like that but I tried to be satisfied with watching the others. Sigh. Then four of 5 Alive went to the 11:00 am Palm Sunday Service at the Methodist Church and Denmark went with us. Pretty cool.This afternoon we hiked our 14.5 into Damascus, and it was an incredible hike. Gorgeous day, Ridgeline hiking, and we are in our 4th State now! Virginia...we will be here for approximately 500 miles...whew going to be a while.So glad to have a good day!!!song: "The Wonderful Cross" - Chris TomlinBlessings,
Date: 2003-04-14
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Breakfast good...got our food drop -very good...spent most of the morning organizing and buying what I needed. Then had time to go to the river and journal, write postcards and rest. Damascus is a great place for a zero day- everything is within walking distance- Love it!Just a great relaxing day after such a hard week. Thank you Bumpkin for 5 Alive's surprise package - we didn't expect that at all! Thank you Sandi for "Leggo my Eggo" Package-we will all share the Toffifay and the Summer sausage. You are the best!song: "Come, Come my Lady..." Don't know...who sings it.Blessings,
Date: 2003-04-15
From: Damascus

To: 2.6 miles past lost mountain shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Oh yeah, we have hiked 18.6 miles today. I have a splitting headache and have for most the day-the sun really affects me. I tried to drink a lot of H2O but I don't think that I got enough...anyways...still a great day. Huge thanks to First UMC of Damascus for "The Place" hostel. And a special thanks to the Sidetrack Cafe for feeding 5 Alive while we were there. Anyone who goes to Damascus MUST try on of the Sidetrack cafe's Pancakes...so yummy.It was about 80 degrees today, but there was a consistent breeze so I haven't melted yet. The hike was pretty, most of the trail runs by a river...cept when we were climbing mountains. We got to the shelter we had been aiming for: about 15.8 miles around 7:50 p.m. We ate dinner there and talked with everyone till 9:00 pm and then started our beautiful night hike. It is a clear night with a full moon- we didnt even need to use our headlamps! We have set up camp on a meadow with an incredible view of the moon AND we watched some deer run across the meadow too. It couldn't be more breathtaking. Thank you Heavenly Father for all that you continue to bless me with.song: a medley of songsblessings,
Date: 2003-04-16
From: 2.6 miles past lost mountain shelter

To: 1.5 miles before wise shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

Man, I woke up soooo tired today! We left our amazing campsite and started to do about an hour and a half climb up to Buzzard Rock. But it was worth it! We got up there took some pictures and then came to a clearing and a whole bunch of people that we hike with were taking a long break up there. So 5 Alive joined them. We talked, snoozed, sang and ate. It was beautiful! I still like Max Patch in NC the best but this is a close second. Then we were on our way to Mt. Rogers which is supposed to be our highest climb in VA- about 5500 feet. But it wasnt too bad because we had already climbed the previous mtn. and didnt go too far down after it. Slickrock and I saw 3 ponies - they let us walk right up to them! It was a hard day for me because I am so tired, if I were home I would have tried to leave work early to go be lazy around my house...but it was still an amazing one.We also had a great view of the sunset-I had climbed up a HUGE rock and had the best view so the rest of 5 Alive came up there too. All in all a day to be thankful for.song: "Great are You"
Date: 2003-04-17
From: 1.5 miles before wise shelter

To: VA-16 Dickey Gap
Miles today: 17.6

Woke up at 6:15 am to catch an incredible sunrise this morning. I loved the hike today-we crossed a HUGE meadow and it was beautiful! By 2:00pm we got some clouds and rain...so...we pushed on to get to the shelter. But then we were tempted by Mr. CrankyPants, Cire, Early Riser, and Denmark to go 2.5 miles to Troutdale for dinner. SO we hitched and ate and then 5 Alive had to have a big discussion about staying in the local hostel. We havent budgeted to go to every town along the trail to eat and stay, so when one of us wanted to stay we had to discuss whether we should or how often we should...but as we were discussing this it started to rain pretty hard and the temp dropped to 40 degrees...SO we did stay. The Baptist Church hostel is FREE! With shower, laundry and a restaurant near by...if you get a chance go there. Slick, Ketchup(formerly known as Frigid Air) and I did chores around the hostel to "pay" for our stay.MOM-the hashbrowns ROCK!!! Slick and I think that you should start a dehydrating business...cause you are good. Thank you!song: I wrote one about God's grace so I sang it all day.blessings,
Date: 2003-04-18
From: VA-16 Dickey Gap

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: moderate rain

After a really slow start this morning(none of us wanted to leave the warm hostel)...we got on the trail at 10:30 am. We were hiking in the rain so we just went. The weather finally cleared up but it is still cold-45 degrees. 5 Alive, Cire and Crankypants are at the Partnership Shelter...which has a pay phone...so a lot of hikers order pizza here. And we have. We are about to eat hot pizza in a cold shelter. Yeah!!!I will now entertain you with a short story:There once was a girl named Kceps who decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. She had one problem - bunions (magical creatures of small stature, well trained in the darkarts of pitchforkery- who delight in causing a multitude of aches) on both of her feet.(Enter dramatic music here) She started the hike with a pinched nerve in her right foot because of the bunion (a particularly maliscious bunion named juicious maximus) and she knew that it might cause her some problems but didn't realize what else could happen.(enter a big "oh no!") By week three the left foot felt as bad as the right foot...by week four the left big toe was numb. Why? For the first time Kceps had an actual pain in the bunions - not just the pinched nerve. But she just keeps hiking, with a break every hour or so to "Wiggle"(wiggle her toes) as she calls it.By the sixth week, the second toes on both feet felt like they had a rubber band at their base - which causes them to fill with blood and feel like they are going to burst.(its like a party in her boots) Week number seven...April 19th...Kceps starts hiking - her 6th day in Virginia and it is 11:17 am and she notices that her two second toes are filling with blood and it is time to "wiggle". She stops and wiggles...but oh no!!! Her right toe has exploded off! What will she do? Wait, her left toe is constricting...is it going to blow? It does!!! She falls to the ground and cries out: "But its Easter Sunday tomorrow!!!" The End
Date: 2003-04-19
From: Partnership shelter

To: Davis Path Shelter-
Miles today: 14.3

We saw a lot of trail maintainers this morning~ there were at least 30 people out here volunteering to keep the trail passable. Thank you to all of you that volunteer!!!We got to Rural Retreat, VA by 2:30...its an interesting location. Basically has a hotel, restaurant, Dairy Queen and two gas stations and the trail goes right by it. So of course we ate dinner, got our next 6 days of food and washed up and then kept on going to the shelter. Cire is hiking with us today because Mr. Crank Pants is going to push on to get to Pearisburg by Wednesday~ so we are a group of six again. Yeah!!! After we ate, we continued on the 2 and half miles to the shelter~ hiking after 5:00 pm is my favorite time to hike...the sun is going down and it is so beautiful. We hiked through fields and the combination of the bold greens and yellows against the different shades of blue sky were so beautiful!Its pretty cold tonight...so hopefully we will get to sleep. I also just got interrupted by Ketchup because she saw an animal on her way to the privy...so I went out there to walk with her. We saw two wide set eyes and a pretty big body. Could have been a bear(probably not)or deer or anything. Kind of spooky!!! Going to try to go to sleep now...hahaha...Oh yeah, thank you to Mr. Cranky Pants for the two descriptions he added to my short story yesterday. Blessings,
Date: 2003-04-20
From: Davis Path Shelter

To: .8 mile past USFS 222
Miles today: 16.4

Happy Easter and a huge Happy 1st Anniversary to Candi and Jim!!!! I miss you two! 5 Alive started out with hopes of completing a 20 mile day, but we didnt realize that we picked the day in VA that the mountains are HUGE and we would go over all of them. So we decided to stop at the bottom of the last mountain...now we have something to look forward to in the morning. Slickrock and I saw a bat today, it almost flew into her head...she was pretty excited. Glad it wasnt me. This was definitely a different way to spend Easter. We did eat lunch in a meadow under a tree with little wild flowers around us...so it looked a little like Easter. I am so thankful to be out here living my life because of my Heavenly Fathers grace and Mercy!!! Incredible!!song: "Blow 'em Away" - David Wilcox...hahaha...great Easter songBlessings,
Date: 2003-04-21
From: .8 mile past USFS 222

To: .2 mile from Trail Boss TraIL
Miles today: 20.3

Thats right- 5 Alive has had its first 20 mile day. I know over all it was a pretty bad day for most of 5 Alive but I had a good day. Some of the terrain was hard~ a lot of rocks, which hurts anyone with knee or ankle problems and my feet hate rocks...BUT I feel good. It has rained most of the day, but its warmer so I dry up when the rain takes a break and we had to walk through a river 12 times which means our boots are soaked. Slickrock and I hiked our last 1.4 miles tonight in sandals(Slick) and rubber shoes(me)...my rubber shoes are pretty amazing! We even got our first trail magic in about a month!!! Slick and I had just mentioned today that we got spoiled in GA by all the amazing trail angels. Someone left a cooler full of different fruit and fruit juices by the trail...so we all got some. Thank you!!!Now the only part of today that I could have done without is when we got to our camp site...it started raining again. So most of our stuff that dried in the past 2 hours is wet...and so are our tents. Mmmmm...wet boots, socks, clothes and tents...going to make getting up tomorrow really fun! But all in all I am proud of us for getting 20 mile day...probably wont happen too often...but thats not why we are out here. Please pray for Slickrocks knees. She is really hurting and isnt sure what to try to do to help them. Huge thanks to all of you that sign my guest book-such an encouragement!!!song: "Monday, Monday" - cant remember and "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down"-Carpentersblessings,
Date: 2003-04-22
From: .2 mile from Trail Boss TraIL

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

"Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone." Colossians 4:5-6Wow, what a crazy day! It is sooooo cold and we started off sooo wet. It has rained on us so much today-I was tempted to not leave the Helvyls Mill Shelter...even though we had only hiked 7.3 miles at that point. But then we did the fastest 9.8 miles ever...in under 3 hours WITH a half hour break. Pretty awesome... I am fine once we are hiking but during our breaks I get so cold and since its wet too, its easy to want to just climb in my sleeping bag. But we are doing well-Slickrock may take a couple of days off to rest her knee so 5 Alive is going to have to figure out whether we hike on without her or wait. Stay tuned...song: "I'll cover you" and "Take me for what I am" from RENTblessings,
Date: 2003-04-23
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: USFS Rd. 103
Miles today: 18.8

Woke up to a really, really cold morning BUT NO RAIN!!! Yippie!We started hiking about 9:00 am and had one of our easiest terrains yet. I loved today! The sun is out and it stayed all day...wow. Spent a lot of time by myself, just realizing that my God is so HUGE and He cares so much for (as MAWee put it in one of the shelter register) "a little speck of dust" like me. It is amazing to realize over and over, especially while walking out here surrounded by all the beauty that is out here. Mmmmm...so blessed.song: It's show tune day!!!   Grease, My fair Lady, Rent, and many more!blessings,
Date: 2003-04-24
From: USFS Rd. 103

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Cold again this morning. But we were up and moving by 7:30 am to get to Pearisburg, VA as soon as possible! Another zero day tomorrow and it is time! We have pushed soooo hard to get to Pearisburg in 5 days...more miles than we have ever done before and with yucky weather no less. Of course we still had 12 miles to hike before we stop...and 2 1/2 miles were 2000 feet down hill...whew!Diesel's mom and dad are here to bless us with food, and precious family time. Yeah! Good times...song: "We built this city on Rock and Roll"blessings,
Date: 2003-04-25
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow, what a crazy day. We have eaten soooo much food! Diesel's mom brought enchilada's, chips and salsa from La Paz, Barbecue Pork, fruit, angel food cake, banana nut bread, brownies, more chips, and crazy amounts more. We ate enchiladas for lunch and barbecue for dinner yesterday...and then ate banana nut bread for breakfast, and ate out for lunch and steak for dinner. I am stuffed! It's amazing the amounts of food we eat. His parents also drove us to Blacksburg so we could go to the outfitter there and then back here for Super Walmart! We havent really stopped all day. So 5 Alive just had a talk about taking another zero day...which is sooooo hard for me. I told all of them when we first started hiking that I would struggle with giving up my independence and being a part of a group, but that I was determined to make the group my first priority. Which means that I get to compromise (we all do)a lot. So tonight we decided to take another zero day, after weighing all the pros and cons. Don't get me wrong - who doesnt want to lay around all day, but I just dont want to waste any days that I am out here. Also, Slickrock is thinking about taking a few days off to rest her knee and leg and I dont want her to leave(shes my hiking partner!!!). But I do want her to rest if she needs it, so it looks like she is going home tomorrow and going to come back next thursday.So I am pretty emotionally and physically tired and am going to sleep now and rest big time tomorrow.Lord, I thank you that everything doesn't go my way so that I remember that You are in control and I am just a speck.Blessings,
Date: 2003-04-26
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Big breakfast at the "Friends and Family" Restaurant with Cire and his mom too. We went to the library to check our email and then had to say good bye to Slickrock for a couple of days. I have such mixed emotions about her leaving because she gets to go home and be blessed by our Parents. I know it will be amazing and I want to go too! But I also am going to miss her-all of 5 Alive misses her...its weird here...but its only a couple of days. Get back here soon girl!!!I layed around most of the afternoon and talked on the phone or hung out with Diesels family. We did some singing and talking and a lot of laughing. Thank you Robin and Mike for everything you two have done for all of us!!! It has been wonderful and I am sooo full! :-)We are heading out in the morning and will hopefully have pretty good weather!Blessings,
Date: 2003-04-27
From: Pearisburg

To: .1 mile before Symms gap
Miles today: 12.5

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in a triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance tht come from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who are perishing". 2nd Corinthians 2:14-15We are on the trail again!!! Yeah!!I talked to Slickrock this morning and she is resting and looking at how to lighten her pack-its weird for all of us without her...It was a pretty hard hike for the first 4 miles...up, up, up and over many rocks. But since then we have been ridge hiking and it has been incredibly beautiful and easy. I have taken a lot of pics today already..we even got a great sunset about an hour ago! Ketchup saw about 7 white tail deer and I saw four of them...There isnt a lot of water in this area so we tried to find a stream near the trail and didnt...so when Ketchup and I got to our campsite we noticed a pond that had a lot of algae and frogs/tadpoles...so I spent about 20 minutes scooping up disgusting sludge stuff out of the pond right where the water was flowing out - I had to get a hole deep enough so our water filter wouldnt get clogged. Can I tell you I will appreciate my water tomorrow-I worked hard for it. :)AND my water bladder no longer leaks on my rear end (as it has for the past 2 1/2 weeks- I was worried people were going to start calling me soggy bottom girl) because Diesel's step dad fixed it yesterday!!!! Thank you again Mike!! What a relief!song: Be Near, Oh God- Shane and Shane
Date: 2003-04-28
From: .1 mile before Symms gap

To: 1.8 mile past Wing Rock 
Miles today: 16.1

1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."It is getting hotter out here!!! I have to make sure I drink enough water because I am getting a headache every day! We had a great 7 mile morning hike- I spent the entire time talking with Cire about faith. He isnt a Christian so I was asking him what he does believe and the journey that brought to his beliefs. Pretty amazing conversations!!! God keeps opening doors for me to just share who I am and what He has done in my life. This afternoon was a much harder hike, lots of ups and downs and too many rocks. But we made it. We went to a place called Wind Rock for the view - and there were four guys there from Virginia Tech Campus Crusade and they packed out our trash AND fed us hot dogs. Thanks Aaron Osborne and friends!!!We are actually ahead of schedule...cause we cant get to Daleville before Saturday because that is where we are meeting Slickrock. So we only have to hike about 12 miles for each of the next 3 days...not too shabby!Song: "Waffle House" - David Wilcox
Date: 2003-04-29
From: 1.8 mile past Wing Rock 

To: Sarver Hollow shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Ouch...my feet want off this crazy ride. It was raining this morning...just a little though, then it cleared up to a pretty nice day! I even took time to wash my hair and face in one of the springs that we crossed. Can I just tell you all that I sweat so stinking much!!! If there is anyone out there that wants to do a sweat experiment - I have plenty! Just let me know! We did two 4000 foot climbs today...one over 3 miles and one in 1.3 miles. Yikes! In between those we hiked through cow pastures...if I closed my eyes..it was almost like being in Germany. We also saw one of the oldest trees(Keffer Oak) out here-it was HUGE!I was pretty excited when I finally got to the shelter...song: Inspector Gadget theme song
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Sarver Hollow shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Beautiful morning...it was sort of foggy, so all of our views were through a mist. We ate lunch at Craig Creek and all of us played around and laughed for about 2 hours. Then we started our 1500 foot climb over 2 miles...then the fun really began. As we were hiking...we could here thunder in the distance...as soon as we got to the top the rain began. Ketchup and I spent about 30 minutes hiking fast and talking...till you couldnt hear over the thunder. It was kind of scary...to be on a ridge and have thunder and lightning all around you. We hiked 5 miles pretty quickly...to the shelter. But of course there were already 6 people with 3 dogs at the shelter and it only holds 6 people. So 6 of us are crammed into a 3 person area..thank you to Mr. Cranky Pants, Cire, G.I. Jane, Truck, Coffee, and 2x4 for sharing the shelter with us!!! Going to Four Pines Hostel in the morning for a shower and hopefully laundry...oh yea. Slickrock-hope you are doing well...we miss you!song: Rocky Theme song.
Date: 2003-05-01
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: VA 311
Miles today: 11.9

MAY DAY!!! I slept surprisingly well even with a dog on me for part of the night. Todays weather was MUCH better than yesterday...we got to climb Dragons Tooth-which is a huge rock formation-so we spent time climbing all the rocks. Pretty fun!Then we climbed down 2 miles to take a shower at 4 Pines Hostel...we were tempted to stop after 6 miles but we pushed on another 6 miles to the next road crossing. It was a beautiful 6 miles!We had heard about a restaurant that serves great food right off the trail...so met other hikers there for dinner. For those of you in Pensacola, its a lot like Hopkins House...YUM! Diesel ran into Jim who owns the 4 Pines Hostel and Jim asked him if we were going to stay the night at the hostel...so we are. We have to get up at 5:40 am tomorrow morning because Jim is giving us a ride back to the trail before he goes to work. It should be good for us to get an early start. Going to bed!!!song: Amazing Grace- to the Alleluia tune- I learned this from a good friend of mine in 1994 and it has been one of my favorite ways to sing Amazing Grace since.