morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-27
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: light rain

Got up early - about 6:30- since we have a big day to go today. Had a Pop-Tart and got going. The morning was not too bad, there were some good views of Big Bald and the long climb to the top that was to come. I saw Highlander coming back towards me with no pack, and it turns out that he had left his pots from breakfast at the shelter. It was a pretty long climb up Big Bald, but the climbs are starting to not bother me much anymore. Fortunately there was some great Trail Magic just before the steepest part. There was a tupperware box filled with brownies, cookies, carrots, and coffee. On top of Big Bald there were some great views, and 3 dayhiking ladies gave me an apple, but unfortunately it looks like bad weather might be moving in, so I headed on down to the shelter. I finished off the jar of Peanut Butter and sat around and talked for a while. Conductor and Tailgunner showed up and then I met Triforce on the way out. Still looks like rain, but of course the sun came out as soon as I put on my pack cover. The afternoon seemed to last forever and I finally made it to the shelter exhausted. Some day hiker was washing his clothes in the water source, which is okay if its a fast moving stream, but this was a stagnant pool of water. We were not happy about this. Had some Ramen for dinner, and we were all astonished to see Ringold walk into camp. Apparently he had just done a 29.5 mile day over some pretty tough terrain. That guy is a machine. But sadly he's getting off in Erwin tomorrow. We sat around for a while enjoying watching Conductor unsuccesfully try to thrown his bear line. Pretty excited that we're going into Erwin tomorrow, which means I get to see Indiana Jones!
Date: 2008-05-29
From: Erwin, TN

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up about 7:30, I guess just out of habit. Triforce got up about the same time. We had a breakfast of Lucky Charms (with real milk!) and Oreos with Peanut Butter. Reminds me of the Little Chocolate Donuts commercial with John Belushi from SNL. We didn't realize that there was a breakfast shuttle, so naturally we took that into town and ate a real breakfast also. From there we walked to the grocery store and Dollar General to pick up some food supplies. Dollar General actually had Dunkaroos, so I stocked up on those. Went back to the hostel and didn't take the lunch schedule because I expected to be on the trail before it got back. But as soon as it left, Planet of the Apes talked me into staying to go see Prince Caspian that night, and then night hiking to the first shelter. It was tough, but I decided to stay. It was pretty nice because I got to read all afternoon, update my journal, and write some postcards. We got a guy at the hostel named CB to take us into town early so that we could eat and then go see the movie. We ate dinner at a place called Granny's Diner, which was really good. I had a Pimento Cheese sandwich and some great fries. They were very nice, and even gave us some free potato salad and mac salad. People have told me this before, but us hikers really do get treated very well on the trail. I guess its because we are the best advertising for most places, since our word of mouth recommendations to other hikers can really influence where most of us eat. So its pretty nice to get that kind of treatment. After dinner, we went to see Prince Caspian which was pretty good, glad I got to see it in theaters. We started walking back towards Uncle Johnny's and it didn't take too long to get a hitch. We always offer the driver a little money to offset the gas, but I have yet to have anyone actually take it. Its amazing how nice most of the people in these towns are to us. They really go out of their way to give us rides, always refusing the money and just telling us to have a good hike. Back at the hostel I met Smiley and Le(not sure if thats spelled right). Smiley is a structural engineer from Chicago, and Le is from South Korea and speaks hardly any English. Apparently he is having people donate money for every mile he walks to a charity in South Korea. Tailgunner told me that at dinner, Le just said "Same" when the waitress asked him for his order. So I guess every night he just eats whatever the person next to him is having. He is a really nice guy though, and I saw him open a beer bottle using nothing but a empty beer can.At about 10:45, we finally left to get back on the trail for some night hiking. It feels great outside, and not one cloud in the sky which makes for a beautiful starry night. We played the 20 questions variation game that Erick and Jeremy taught me. That made the time go by pretty quickly. We made it to the shelter about 1 am, set up the hammock, and went straight to sleep.
Date: 2008-05-30
From: Curley Maple Gap Shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: broken clouds

Slept in to about 9:30 today since we were so late getting in last night. Slow getting up and had some Pop Tarts. Smiley, Homeward, and Lee passed through camp while we were eating breakfast. Got going pretty easy as we're only doing 12 miles today. Stopped at Beauty Spot, another pretty bald, and there were some old locals up there talking about searching for buried treasure in the area. Sat down and had some PB&J and honey on a tortilla. Most of the trail has been on old logging roads, so the grades are pretty easy. I'm pretty glad that we went ahead and knocked out those 1,000 vertical feet of climbing last night. Much better to do it when it's cool than in the heat of the day. After lunch, it was a tough climb up Unaka Mountain, but it was very pretty on top. There weren't any views, but it was dark and covered with pine trees, which made for some different but pretty sights. It also made the trail a little hard to follow since the ground was covered in pine needles. From there it was an easy descent to the shelter, arrived about 5:30. Smiley and Notary were already there getting water. It was a really good source, and very close to the shelter which is always nice. Cornelius, Dr. Z, and I brought up hot dogs and s'mores from Erwin, so I went about collecting firewood to be ready when they arrived. And I was also ready to get rid of the pound of chocolate that I was carrying in my pack for the s'mores. Cornelius and Dr. Z arrived and we cooked 3 packages of hot dogs and ate all of them. Then we passed around the s'mores ingredients, which made us pretty popular at the shelter. We had a good time passing around the "Alert Bulletin" that was given to Cornelius and Dr. Z from their crazy hitch in Erwin. After that, I got in my bag and read a while then went to sleep. It was a tight squeeze in the shelter tonight, I think we fit about 8 people in a 6 person shelter. And it rained most of the night.
Date: 2008-05-31
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up and had the usual Pop Tart for breakfast. I hope I never get tired of these. They're so much easier than having to break out the stove and cook oatmeal and then do dishes. Most of us are going to stop at the Greasy Creek Friendly for lunch, so that always makes the morning brighter. I was the first one there at about 11:45 and met CeCe, the owner. She can be a little out there, but she was a very nice lady. She is a Meseonic Jew (I'm not sure of the spelling), so she could not serve us any food. But she agreed to supervise us cooking our own food, and telling us what to do. She has the art of making a microwave hamburger down to an art. First, you open the package and remove the cheese, sticking the meat and bread into the microwave on defrost. Next you remove the bread and place it into the toaster, put the cheese on the meat and stick the meat and cheese into the microwave. Then just put it all together. After eating plenty of microwave meals on the trail, this was definitely the best. Triforce and Mule showed up shortly after I did and had the same lunches. I also added a pint of Ben and Jerry's to my tab. Before this trip, a pint of Ben and Jerry's would take me several days to finish. Now, it takes about 25 minutes. We ended up sitting around talking for about 3 and a half hours. Cornelius, Dr. Z, Tailgunner, and TEG (the english guy) would eventually show up and join us. She happened to have a clarinet, which Highlander happens to play, so he broke that out and tried to play for us, but the instrument was a little too old and did not want to cooperate. CeCe told us all about her crazy neighbor who for some reason absolutely hates hikers. We saw the evidence as soon as we arrived, and he cranked up his lawnmower and rode it up and down the border of their properties. We finally were able to pry ourselves away from the hostel. There was a huge climb immediately out of the hostel, and after climbing 1,000 feet then descending 1,000 feet we stood at looking up at the towering Roan Mountain. 2,200 vertical feet of climbing in 2 miles on some of the rockiest terrain. This 2 miles also decided to go straight up the side of the mountain. No switchbacks. To top that off, the sky was starting to get dark, and looked like it might rain any minute. I finally made it to the top a little before 8. Of course at the top is a visitors center with bathrooms and a road. But I guess it makes you appreciate all the climbing you did to get up there, when you see people getting out of their cars and walking around on the same summit. The shelter was about another mile, so I made it there about 8. Its starting to get really windy and cold. I didn't really feel like cooking, so I just made some Ramen since its always really easy. The fire would never really catch either so we didn't sit out around it too much. Luckily the shelter is an old cabin with four walls and a door, which made it really comfy. But no one shut the door. I was still warm though and didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag, so I went straight to sleep.
Date: 2008-06-02
From: Apple House Shelter

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: few clouds

Woke up at 6 this morning because we are going to Mountain Harbor B&B because it is rumored to have the best breakfast on the trial. It definitely lived up to its reputation: egg casserole, fresh melon and blackberries, hash brown casserole, biscuits with gravy and blackberry jam, cinnamon cake, breakfast shortbread cake, ham, coffee, and OJ. I had two full plates. Highlander had 4 or 5, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. After that breakfast we could hardly move, so we migrated over to the bunkhouse to let the food digest. It was a very nice bunkhouse situated over an old barn. I had a Dr. Pepper and then we raided the hiker box food. We sat around for a while and found it very hard to get motivated for leaving. We probably should have just stayed here last night as well. I finally left around 12 or so, and I was the first to leave. There was one tough uphill to begin, but it was pretty easy going after that. However, 18.7 miles is rough to do after starting at noon. I made it to Mountaineer Shelter, which was a very new place, around 3:30 and stopped for lunch. I'm kind of surprised that Triforce has not caught up with me yet. I have a hot spot starting to form on my right 4th toe. I think its from my sock seam, so I changed the way my sock is sitting on my foot. This only caused the skin to start rubbing raw on another part of my foot. This was starting to put me in a bad mood, especially with a lot of miles left to do for the day. I put on my last episode of Car Talk on my iPod to try to cheer myself up a bit. Now I can't seem to find a sock position that feels good on either of my hot spots. I'm also starting to get a shin splint coming on. I stopped and rested and tried to stretch it out a bit before moving on. With about 2.5 miles left, I finally took my shoes off and hiked in my Crocs to take the pressure off of the hot spots. I made it to the shelter about 8 or so and in considerable pain. Dave and Beckie from Mountain Harbor were already tented, and Tailgunner was there getting water. No sign of anyone else yet. I filtered some water (which was .2 miles away - you really learn to appreciate running water when you have to pump through a filter every ounce you consume every day) and then ate dinner. Just as I was finishing up dishes and throwing my bear bag, I see a headlamp coming down the trail. Mule walks in, and everyone else slowly filters into camp over the next half hour. The people that left the B&B after I did, didn't leave until around 1:30, and had stopped to cook dinner at the Mountaineer Shelter. So they did not get in until about 10. We're squeezing 8 into a 6 man shelter, so its a little cozy, luckily its cold. I'm really hoping this shin splints will go away after a good nights sleep. We have two 23 mile days ahead.
Date: 2008-06-06
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up fairly leisurely again today. Sat out in front of the hostel, iced my leg, and read for a little while. At 11, I moved to the library to get on the internet and update my journal. There was a time limit on computer use, so after my time was up I decided to move to Mojoe's and get some coffee and start uploading all my pictures. Triforce, Mule, Smiley, and Homeward showed up shortly thereafter. They started a game of Monopoly, and I worked on my journal a bit. It's so nice to be able to drink an iced coffee. I'm going to drink it every day when I get done with this trip. We sat in that coffee shop for about 5 hours. Air conditioning and coffee transform us into moths dancing around a light bulb. Even after 5 hours I was only able to upload about 80% of my pictures. Remy dominated the Monopoly game. After leaving Mojoe's, I went back to the Inn to finally get around to sorting out my food drop and performing the usual gear maintenance. We all met at Dave's Place Hostel about 6 to walk to Pizza Plus for the AYCE buffet. They have great dessert pizza, but they just can never seem to keep making the pizzas fast enough for us. After dinner, I walked across the street to Food City (to me it was like a Food Universe) and got a pint of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. I went back to the Inn to grab Monopoly and head over to the place to have another game of Monopoly. Homeward's friend that was in town brought a circus in a bag, filled with all sorts of juggling equipment. I watched Remy and Socrates juggle flaming sticks (quite the talented family), and then Cornelius destroyed the second half of my pint of Ben and Jerry's in about 10 seconds. Remy, Smiley, Cornelius, and Long Man then went inside to start the Monopoly game. Cornelius had obviously not played the game in a while because he let Remy acquire a monopoly on like his second turn. By the way, Remy and Socrates told me that their mother, whom I will refer to as Mrs. Triforce, frequently reads my journal to keep updated on their trip. Mrs. Triforce, when Remy returns to school, he needs to change his major to business -preferably some sort of hostile business takeovers- as I'm not sure that even Donald Trump could assail him in a game of Monopoly. And also thank you for your concern regarding my shin splints on your voicemail to Socrates. So, after the game of Monopoly, I headed back to the Inn for bed. My leg is feeling a lot better, so hopefully, I'll be able to leave with everyone tomorrow. I've had a really good time in Damascus though, and we will all miss leaving Conductor and Needles off the trail.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Woke up about 5:45 and couldn't get back to sleep. The shelter was down in a hollow, so the bugs were terrible all night. Had some breakfast, packed up, and hit the trail about 7:30. Nice hiking this early in the morning, almost makes it look like its night. We passed through a large field with a yellow schoolbus rusting away and also a herd of cattle. The trail has stairs that take us up and over the property fences, and it seemed as if one of the calves was about to try following me over them. The rest of the morning was pretty boring scenery, up and down over and over, like Georgia except now I can crank out miles. Made it to Partnership and the visitor's center (10.6 miles in almost 3 and a half hours-not bad). Triforce was already there debating whether to order a pizza or try to get a ride into town to eat and resupply. We finally decided to call a shuttle to go into town. Partnership Shelter also has a shower, which we were extemely glad to see. However, the water was piped in direct from Antarctica forcing you keep your body out of the direct flow wash each limb individually to avoid hypothermia. Luckily the sun was out, so I stood on the blacktop to warm up. So Mule, Rewind, Triforce, and I caught the shuttle into town. The shuttle only ran at 1 and Cornelius and Dr. Z were nowhere to be found. When we got to town we went straight to Pizza Hut for the Lunch Buffet. As usual they were not able to cook pizzas fast enough for our appetites. Rewind picked up the tab for all of us which was real nice of him. We walked over to the Ingles grocery store to resupply. We are all still in awe every time we enter a grocery store. I walked down every aisle just to look. A lot of the day on the trail is spent talking about food, and when you're not talking about it you're thinking about it. None of us had probably been this awestruck since we were kids on Christmas morning. We caught some cabs back to the shelter after resupplying. We had originally planned to move on to the next shelter after lunch, but we were way too full for that. But it was nice to get an afternoon off at a nice shelter to relax. Apparently Cornelius and Z had gone on to the next shelter, hoping to beat us there. For the first time in a while I could barely finish my dinner as I was still full from pizza. Remy usually cooks dinner for Triforce, but since he wasn't hungry and since Highlander is always hungry he had to cook his own dinner. However, he had never used the stove before, so it was quite comical to watch him and Socrates try to figure it out. They would both starve without Remy. Looked like bad rain but only sprinkled which cooled it off a bit and made for some nice sleeping weather.
Date: 2008-06-11
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Crawfish Valley
Miles today: 17.9

Let me preface this story with an introduction to Breezy and Firefly, who are at the shelter with us. They're both very nice and funny and we've enjoyed their company. Breezy hikes a lot, so I was amazed when she started telling us about all of the things that she is terrified of in the wilderness. She even carries a can of bear mace with her that she keeps right next to her as she sleeps, and jumps at about everything. So at 3 a.m. I find myself having to use the restroom. I get up and walk about 20 yards in front of the shelter when all of a sudden I hear Breezy. "What's that noise? There's something out there, is it a bear" Usually when you get up in the night, you worry about running into a bear on your walk from the shelter, but now I think - o crap, I'm about to get maced. Luckily Rewind happened to be getting up also, and told Breezy it was just me, so thankfully I avoided that possibly painful incident. After getting up and getting going, I was enjoying the scenery a little more. Maybe its because its only 11 milles to a town. I caught up with Triforce at the first shelter and we debated at length which Zelda is the best (Ocarina of Time). The rest of the hiking into town was really pretty hiking through farmlands. We passed an old schoolhouse from the 1800s as well. In town we went to the Relax Inn to throw some laundry in and then I went to the Barn Restaurant with Rewind. We ran into Cornelius and Z there. They had picked a pot full of cherries from an orchard that we had passed, and they were suprisingly good. I left town about 4 and climbed yet another viewless behemoth. Triforce passed me at the summit and said they are going to try to make it another 5 miles to a river to camp. Coming down the mountain I started to feel my other shin now starting to tighten up. Its definitely starting again. At the bottom of the mountain I met Breezy and Firefly, who had set up camp there with Chris and Casey and their dog Lucy. With my shin starting to hurt and some bad looking clouds rolling in, I decided just to stay there. Breezy told me about her sons problems with shin splints, she said he was stubborn and continued to run on them eventually resulting in stress fracture. The weather then started looking really bad with thunder and lightning and high winds. We threw out bear bags just as it started to rain and then I crawled into my hammock, made rain preparations and read some of Bryson's book before falling asleep.
Date: 2008-06-14
From: Bland, VA

To: Roanoke, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up at about 7:30 (nice to be able to sleep in) and walked over to DQ forbreakfast. I packed up and waited for Brenda (a local woman who runs shuttles)to pick me up. Said goodbye for real to Dr. Z and Cornelius this time. Brendawas very talkative and had tons of trail stories to tell. She owns theRendevous Motel in Pearisburg, and we stopped off there so that I could pick upmy bounce box to take to Roanoke with me. We stopped back at her hotel, andDavid and Beckie (two AT hikers from CO) were there, so I went with them to getsome lunch. After lunch, Brenda and I started the drive to Roanoke. It is abouta $75 shuttle from Bland to Roanoke, so Brenda offered to take me theBlacksburg where I could catch a bus to Roanoke. She would only charge me $25for this shorter trip, and bus fare was $3. I had nothing else to do, andfigured this would be more of an adventure than her dropping me off at myhotel's front door. So I got to hang out at the VA Tech Student Center forabout an hour (it is much nicer than our Mississippi schools). They had pooltables, video games, and a bowling alley. I grabbed the bus, and it dropped meoff in downtown Roanoke. From there I had to get on a public transit bus tomake it to the section of town where my hotel was. I got off the bus when thedriver took his mid-route break, as he told me it was only about half a milefurther to my hotel. The walk took me through a large mall parking lot, and youcan imagine the looks I got as I walked on the sidewalk in front of Dillards,Macy's, etc. (I was wearing all of hiking gear, carrying a full pack) It tookme a few minutes, but I found the hotel. I got a shower and headed across thestreet to Buffalo Wild Wings. I consumed wings and appetizers for severalhours, and also had several too many Sierra Nevadas. I talked to an old mansitting next to me for a while about NASCAR. (I pretty much just repeatedeverything that Wayne says when we watch NASCAR at home - and I was proud tosay that I held my own) I had forgotten that the U.S. Open was going on, so Iwatched Tiger hit some absolutely amazing shots to come back. I'm convincedthat strictly Hollywood writers are coaching him now. I had some other peoplesit down next to me and ask about hiking the trail, as its pretty easy to spotus thru-hikers. One guy was reading The Week (one of my favorite magazines) andlet me give it a quick glance over since I hadn't seen one in a while. He was areally nice guy and he was an ER doctor so he started telling me about that,then started telling me about all of his invention ideas when I told him that Iwas interested in Intellectual Property Law. So at about 12:30 (way past my bedtime), I tabbed out and went home to sleep. It's even an adventure off thetrail.