morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.2

12.2 Miles.....Each day on the trail is not created equal. There are easy days and hard days, good days and bad days. I have started to think about home more and more the past few days, and all of the comforts that I am lacking by being out here. Some call this the wall that you hit when you begin to question your reasons for being out on this journey. I have not begun to question myself, just felt a little down today. Now that I am at the shelter, I feel a little better. There is a sporatic rain that fades in and out, and I am just happy that I found a shelter to crash at for the night. It's funny, my camera hasn't been working since a little after Hot Springs, but when I got a new battery for it, I haven't even thought about taking any pictures. Made it to the top of Beauty Spot today, and got an overhead view of Erwin, sometimes you just know the picture won't turn out the same, and you just soak up the view instead. I'm soo full right now! Ate Ramen as an early dinner/late lunch and we've got couscous for dinner. Going to have to shove it down the 'ole hatch. But I'll appreciate it tomorrow when I need the energy. Well, back to the ramdom rays of sunshine! Skylark is here, Doc Gnarly and Greybeard are here now...
Date: 2005-04-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.2

15.2 Miles.....Happy Birthday Rawhide! Wow, today was a tough day! Straight up and straight down mountains all day. We gained 2300 feet the last 3 miles, about put me on the sidelines! We're also at the highest shelter on the A.T. at just above 6,200 feet. Looks like there's a good bit of up and down tomorrow. It's me, Radio, Yappy, and Dead Aminal here right now. Me and Radio have this huge shelter to ourselves. Looks more like a house than a shelter, which is what the sign says. There used to be a fire tower here, and the ranger lived in what is now the shelter. We've got a fire going now, so I'm just sitting here staring at the flames...Really relaxing! Going to go peel my shoes and socks off and slip my crocs on!
Date: 2005-04-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.7

14.7 Miles.....We're at the Apple House shelter, just 1/2 mile shy of Elk Park, (mail drop #3). Tomorrow we may cross the 400 mile mark! It seems like the miles just keep getting higher and higher! Lost about 3200 feet from the Roan High Knob shelter last night and my feet are feeling every step. We got sprinkled on going up Hump Mountain, but it has cleared out now. Rumors of a really bad storm coming through in the next day or so... Heard that higher elevations may get snow... Not sure about that, but I'm not going to be in any higher elevations for a few days. I think Radio has hit his second "Trail Spurt" on the trail. Hopefully mine will come in the next few days or so. (By Trail Sprut I mean the ability to leave your hiking partner at the bottom of the hill with a dumb look on their face wondering how in the world you're ever going to catch up.) Well, sitting by the fire now, going to enjoy it while I can.
Date: 2005-04-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.2

18.2 A.T. Miles...+ 5 Road Miles...= 23.2 Miles..........Wow, what a day... What a long long day! If you don't count the 2.5 mile to Elk Park, then we tied our longest day... But since 5 is a significant number, not to be overlooked, I am counting it into my daily milege. No major (or mimor) incidents in Elk Park. Got in, ate saucer sized biscuits (one of the few things this book has been correct about lately), before hitting the trail. There was a huge thunderstorm that passed right over us. Not sure why I carry rain gear if I never wear it in the rain... Oh yeah, it's for laundry days! The rain stopped when we were about 4 miles shy of the shelter, so that was nice! Houdini, Trip, KT, No Worries, and Blue Eyes are here tonight. Many of us are planning on going to the Kinkora hostel tomorrow. Heard rumors of a "winter mix" on Sunday. First zero day? Oh, passed another milestone today. We are now over 400 miles from Springer! To celebrate, I carried up some instant pudding mix and we put some of Radio's Mom's granola in it. (Thanks Radio's Mom, it was great!) Well, I'm whipped! Only 6.6 tomorrow though!!!
Date: 2005-04-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.1

6.1 Miles.....Early morning right now, most people are still sleeping. We had a bad storm come through at about 11 last night. No time delay between lightning and thunder, so it must have been on top of us. Glad I was in the shelter! My feet are killing me this morning. Good sign not to push longer days for a while. Does anyone know how to turn off an internal alarm clock???I wake up at 6:30 every morning, and no matter how tired I am, I'm not able to get back to sleep! (Grrrr!) Oh well, I'm going to lay here and listen to the birds for a while. At Kinkola now, this place is great! Bob is a really cool guy! For $4, you get a bunk, kitchen, showers, and a free shuttle to town! Of course, you end up giving more than $4, but it's just incredible! Met a ton of new people, and saw lots of old faces too! Rodeo is here. Saw Rabbit for the first time since Fontana Dam. MacGyver and Just Passin' Thru are here too! Played Jenga with Jax and B$, only lost once! Lots of funny conversations here. Packed into Bob's truck for the evening town shuttle. Must have been about 11 in back (Radio included...Ha Ha) and 7 people in the cab! I am pretty short, so I was designated as the middle seat rider because of short legs, so I didn't get the "sardine" feeling. Well, it's after nine o'clock, way past bedtime!
Date: 2005-04-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

0.0 Miles...goose egg!.....First zero day! Wasn't planning on it, but when I looked out the window and saw snow, I decided 409 miles was a good run! Ate biscuits for breakfast...Yum! Radio went into town with Bob and got some junk food to get us through this strenuous day! B$ (B Crocker?) made a cake for Bob to display our appreciation... It was soooo good! Pathfinder, Walrus, Rocky, and Hareball came in as well as Greybeard and Doc Gnarley. They stayed at the shelter about 6 miles out and got hammered with snow. Sent out a rescue party (Trip, MacGuyver, Ninja and Jukebox) to help a few section hikers get out of the cold a little faster. Played (and lost) a bunch of solitaire games today on the game I found in the hiker box...I swear that thing is rigged! Well, once again, it's after nine...time for bed.
Date: 2005-04-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.9

10.9 Miles.....Beautiful day today! Left Kincora (sadly) at about 10 or so. That place was incredible! Got to check out Laurel Creek Falls, which was kinda in a gorge. It was really pretty through there. Tons of rock steps, and the trail was really well maintained. We made it to the Watauga Lake shelter, but we decided to go past it and find a place to camp. Right now we're camped facing a small cove of the lake. For some reason I felt lethargic today. Maybe that's how it is coming off of a zero day. Well, we should be in Damacus on Thursday or Friday: I'm really excited for another state border! Time for sleep!
Date: 2005-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.5

13.5 Miles.....Made it to the Iron Mountain just in time to miss the rain. Double Healer, Greybeard, Mr. Clean and Elf are here, and more people just walked up. Looks like we're going to be sardines tonight. Radio was awesome and hung the bear bag. (I was being lazy and didn't want to go out into the rain.) Got kinda cold after eating dinner, so I'm in my bag all bundled up. Got a great view of Watauga Lake for a majority of the day. The dam was really weird because the river didn't come out on the other side of the dam. It was about 1/2 mile down and just came out of the side of the mountain. Wow... I think we're going to try and fit 9 or 10 people in this shelter made for 6 or 7. Going to sink down in my bag for the night.
Date: 2005-04-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.9

15.9 Miles.....Easy miles today! (Easy for 15.9 that is). Damascus is 10 miles away! Wahoo! Chuck and Jake were feeling the Damascus vortex, so they headed in tonight. Our plan is to get into and out of town tomorrow. Mostly clouded with some rain and hail today, so we didn't make any stops for views. Supposed to clear up tomorrow and Friday. Hiked across a big open field today. It was really pretty. Hiked with Greybeard for most of the day. Damascus is definitely calling us, of maybe it's just the Mexican restaurant and the beer! Saw some wildflowers today, not quite in full bloom though. Well, it's getting kinda chilly, good night!
Date: 2005-04-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.0

10 Miles.....Short day, but well worth it! Got to town and got new parts for my Leki's. Hopefully they won't stick anymore. Saw a "free lasagna dinner for A.T. hikers" flyer, so we had to stay. After all, isn't Damascus the friendliest hiker town? Got 2 jars of Nutrella... One just wasn't enough! And we hit the bar too, great bar, great people, great deal! Looks like rain all week, but at least we're in a new state! Yup, yup. Finally in Virignia! (500 miles later I'll be slapping myself!) Well, good night to all!
Date: 2005-04-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

0.0 Miles.....'Nother goose egg..... Not much to today, it was raining, we happened to be in a town, so we did what we thought was best and decided to stay dry. Yup, that's right, zero day #2, in less than a week, ahhhh...it's great! We walked around Damascus (takes all of about 20 minutes) and checked out the internet at the library for most of the rest of the day. Hit up happy hour at the Mill and had Subway for dinner. Greybeard strung up the guitar here and played a tune or two. Then back to the Mill for a few more beers and to watch the Pistons lose. Maybe this vortex known as Damascus will lose its pull long enough for us to get back on the trail tomorrow. (If not, there's a great blue grass band playing at the Mill!)... Time will tell.....
Date: 2005-04-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.7

11.7 Miles.....Privy, sweet privy, how i had missed you so! Best welcoming to come into a state that has privies! (Tennessee had none!) At the Saunders Shelter right now about to push on a little further to a campsite. Felt like I was in one of Escher's (sp?) paintings...kept going up and up, but getting nowhere. Time to push on...Well, we made it to the campsite, less than 30 minutes later the rain started. Thought it was going to blow over..... thought wrong. I cooked dinner since I've got rain pants, and I ended up burning Radio's pot (the bottom of it) so I had to start over using my pot.... I'm such an idiot. Thankfully I hadn't put the pasta in yet. Other than dinner, today was a great day. Pretty cloudy and overcast, but the rain held out. Supposed to clear tomorrow, but I've learned that it's always "looking better tomorrow" according to the weathermen. Radio is hanging the bear bag now, he just got back from filtering some water. Says the filter is really screwed up now. We'll have to call MSR when we get to Troutdale and see if they can help us out. My mood the past few days has been weird... one minute I'll love it out here, and the next minute I'll miss home and ask why I'm out here. I walk through it and look forward to seeing things I haven't seen and just hike north. I wouldn't trade hiking with Radio for hiking solo, there's just too many times that we've picked each other up (or he's picked me up) and that makes this hike so much more enjoyable. Well, It's getting late, crickets going crazy! Crossing my fingers for sun tomorrow.
Date: 2005-05-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.3

16.3 Miles.....Good miles today! Woke up and felt great! (Could be partially attributed to the lack of rain and presence of sunshine). Crossed Mt. Rogers... heard that I can send my winter gear back, but I think I 'll hold onto it longer because it is still pretty chilly out here. Grayson Highlands tomorrow, supposed to be beautiful. I hope the good weather holds out. Saw some wild ponies today! It was really cool! Even saw a little foal! (Don't worry To and Terry, I got pictures!) Hiked with Graybeard most of the day today. He's really cool. Going to hit our 500 mile mark tomorrow, that's a huge milestone for me! But for now, it's cold, I'm exhausted!.....P.S. Forgot to mention that our filter sucks! Finally crapped out entirely, so we're drinking straight from the springs 'til we can fix the problem (aka get a new filter). Hope the water's clean!!!
Date: 2005-05-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.9

15.9? Miles.....Wow...We're past Mt. Rogers, it's May, and it snowed! Definitely keeping the winter gear a little longer. Saw tons of ponies today, and got my picture taken with a couple! Great views today! Exposed for a majority of the day which would've been awesome, but the winds (and snow) were howling and made most of it miserable. Still beautiful though. Finally got a good trail spurt going over Iron Mountain! Didn't leave Radio at the bottom of the hill though, so I've still got work to do. Made it to the Hurricane Mountain shelter from Thomas Knob shelter. Decided to bypass Troutdale and push 20 miles to the Partnership shelter (ordering some pizza when we get there!) Then we're going to resupply in Marion (and it has a McDonalds!!!) Well, it's cold, it's 6:30, it's bedtime! (Hit the 500 mile mark today!)
Date: 2005-05-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.8

19.8 Miles.....Chilly start this morning, but within an hour I was in shorts and a T-shirt. (Although there were points in the day that I wished I still had everything on.) Graybeard pulled off yesterday, so we lost our hiking buddy. Did long miles today to get to the Partnership shelter. (Pizza!) Radio polished off a medium pizza and I knocked out a little over half a large pizza...It was soooo good! Well worth the extra miles today. Also drank some Dr. Pepper...Yum! Going into town tomorrow morning to resupply to get to Bland, hoping to push enough miles to get there Saturday morning so we won't have to zero. We'll see how that goes. Oh, this shelter also has a shower with hot water! Partnership, aka Taj Mahal, (at least that's what the postcard says.) Saw some wild turkeys and some cows today! Not much else going on. G'nite!
Date: 2005-05-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.3

14.3 Miles.....Wow, 78 miles in the last 5 days! Sweet! Made a town stop in Marion today. Hitched early morning (thanks to a kind lady, Mrs. Pugh.) and ate McDonalds for breakfast...Yummm! Got some cheap shorts at Wally World to sleep in (if it ever gets warm enough!) Met many many nice folks in Marion that questioned us about the A.T., felt proud to say that we'd hiked over 500 miles. Got back to the trail by an incredibly nice gentleman that went past his house to drop us off. It's amazing how a little kindness and friendly conversation can make your day brighter! Hiked to a road crossing and a truck stop and ate a couple of ice creams, only to discover a Dairy Queen next door. We had to take advantage! (Besides, what's another ice cream?) Then pushed on a little further to the Davis Path shelter where we are surprised to be completely alone. Also talked to my good friends at REI Buford, who are sending me a new filter to Pearisburg. Thanks Ya'll! Well, it's almost 9 0'clock, where does the time go?... Night!
Date: 2005-05-05
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

20.2 Miles.....First offical 20-miler today! Set out early and made the first shelter by 1:00...I felt so cashed after that 11 miles that I didn't think we'd make it here,(Chestnut Knob shelter), but after eating some PB/Nutella/tortilla wrap, I felt good again. I am beginning to think that my body is getting adjusted to the abuse, and it's taking it quite well! Here with Smilin' Joe Finn, Neighbor Dave and Chickety. Discovered that bleach water tastes like garbage; I can't wait to get to Pearisburg to get our filter! Radio does awesome out here..I'm still slowing him down a bit on the up hills, but I think I'm getting faster. Well, it looks like we're going to make it to Bland by Saturday. WAHOO! Well, I'm cashed out...Exhausted!
Date: 2005-05-06
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.7

14.7 Miles.....The days are getting longer and it's becoming harder to write everything down from the day! Started slow today and snacked all day long. PB and Nutella on a tortilla is such a good energy burst. Saw some deer at our lunch stop at Jenkins shelter. First privy I've seen that had no walls....none! Really weird! Had to do some stream crossings too. Thought we had done them all, but we were counting the small creek. Crossed 2 of the larger stream crossings before getting my shoes soaked, so all of the crossings after that I just walked through. Got to the campsite and discovered a cooler with apple juice and orange juice. It was awesome! Now we're camped, and we're about 7 miles shy of Bland. We're going to get up extra early yo get there on time. So much to write, but so little energy to do so...Off to sleepland!!
Date: 2005-05-07
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.1

9.1 Miles.... Not a bad day today! Made it 6.8 miles to Bland in 2.5 hours! We loaded up from our mail drop boxes (Thanks for the cookies Mom!) and headed out of town. Bit of an odd experience today... While in the grocery store, I asked where the restroom was, the lady looked me up and down with a disgusted look and told me there wasn't a public restroom with a rude tone. For some reason, this really got to me. I mean, I know I 'm dirty, I know I smell, but she didn't have to treat me like a piece of trash. Oh well... though, everyone else in that town was incredibly nice. Had a burger and fries at the Bland Corner Diner, it was fantastic! :-) We decided to pull a short day today to rest up a bit. I gotta admit, it feels nice to just sit in the sun without shoes on and soak it up! Radio went down to the water source to see if he could find the hole in his sleeping pad. I hope he can find the hole and patch it. Haven't written about the wildflowers lately, but they are still out, just not as fragrant. Some pretty violet flowers are up, as well as some white flowers that I have not seen before. Oh yeah, got an awesome hitch into and out of town today! Not much more to write now. Maybe I'll add on later. OH, on thing I forgot to mention (& kinda funny)... As we were watching the car disappear that gave us a ride out of town, Radio realized that he only had one water bottle. (Meaning the other was qucikly disappearing along with the car) I threw up my arms in a weak attempt to catch the view of the fading vehicle. We looked at each other with a disappointing sigh and started up the trail only to be stopped by the great people that gave us the ride. The driver said she saw me put my arms up, so I guess they stopped and looked in the trunk & found the water bottle. They were kind enough to bring it back to us! WHat great people! It's awesome that we've got it because it's kinda of a dry section and working off 3 liters instead of 4 would have been hard. Wahooo! Sun's out again, going to enjoy it!
Date: 2005-05-08
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.3

16.3 miles.... AHHHHH... Just got a shower and got all the salt off of me, what a wonderful feeling!! :-) Today, although great now, started out really tough for me. For some reason all I could think about was home and how much I miss everyone. My pack was really bugging me too, keeps loosening up. It's amazing how such little things can become so aggrevating! Well, I got the pack figured out. I still miss home, but not as bad. (Could it be the double cheeseburger, potato wedges & Dr. Pepper that eased it... You bet!) Some days are just harder than others. The terrain is getting a lot easier. There aren't really any big mountains anymore, but rather long stretches of ridgeline. We crossed Brush Mtn. for the millionth (and hopefully the last) time today. I guess that the whole ridge is considered the mountain... Either way, I'm glad to be done with that one! We were planning on camping near the river, but decided against it when there wasnt a good tent spot. At an awesome campground/Gas station right now. $5 for tent spot, shower and laundry! :-) Clean for the next 12 hours anyways! Oh, passed a little gila type lizard and a tiny baby turtle today. It was so cute! Well, wnough for now, beer is on it's way!!!! :-)
Date: 2005-05-09
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.1

16.1 miles.... Started a little late again today. Radio's sleeping pad sprung another leak so we hung around and sealed it up. I called my Mom and talk to her for a while. It was great to hear encouragement from home! Today got super hot outside. The stretch to the first shelter was really easy, but right after it, we gained about 1,300 ft during the hottest part of the day. I think I drank at least 3 liters of water today. Now we are at Doc's Knob Shelter, just shy of Pearisburg. Today was a tough stretch. My legs didn't want to move at all. Glad that I'm crashed out in my bag right now. Town day tomorrow to resupply then back out. No McDonald's though! :-( Well, It's 8:30, past bedtime...
Date: 2005-05-10
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 7.8

7.8 miles.... Lowest milage in a while, but worth it. Decided to stay in Pearisburg for the night to rest up & fill up. Ate some Wendy's and Subway... Yummy! Checkded out the pictures from the trip so far online (Thanks Omar and Tricia!) Free long distance here at the motel so I've talked to a few people back home. But for now it's 11:00... WOW, G'nite!
Date: 2005-05-11
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 7.3

Short day after lounging around Pearisburg for as long as possible. Weird how every town has it's own vortex type pull to it. Got interviewed by the Roanoke Times. Pretty cool! The story might not run for a couple weeks though. We're at the Rice Field Shelter now. Sort of baldish on the top. Watching a beatiful sunset right now. Glad we didn't zero today! :-) The temp got hot today! Sure let's us know that the coming months aren't going to be easy. Radio found a tick on his leg today... It's been removed :-) Met Hardcore Hiker yesterday, she took off and is now ahead of us. A lot of people were going back for trail days this weekend. So we may be in with a new group next week. It's weird how great my body's felt somedays and how on other days it's hard to get motivated. Well, can't miss the best part of the sunset...
Date: 2005-05-12
From: PICTURES

To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.9

Beautiful Day! Not bad considering the local weatherman was calling for t-storms! :-) Saw a couple of military planes go by today. It was so loud! You could see the plane way before the noise! Also crossed a stream where the bridge had been washed out by hurrican Jeanne last year. We'd been hearing rumors that it was really bad, but I didn't think it was bad at all! :-) Got to the last shelter at about 5 and decided we could push 5 more miles to make it a 21 mile day... But... About 1.4 short of our campsite destination we hit trail majic! Salisbury steaks, green beans, corn bread and cokes! :-) What a day! Renegade (sometimes known as the "Milege Assassin") offered cokes then twisted our arms to stay for dinner... What a tough decision! (HAHA... RIGHT!) Says he'll cook bacon & eggs for breakfast... YUMMY! Well, almost 10 (YIKES!) Better get some rest!