morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-29
From: Thornton Gap Virginia. 

To: Skyland Resort
Miles today: 9.5

Our day started with our friends Amanda and Robert picking us up at 8:30 and we they drove us 4:30 minutes to the start of the trail at Thornton Gap Virginia. This is in the beginning of the Shenandoah mountains. We are so grateful to have friends like them who would do this for us. We got to the park entrance and filled out our Backcountry permits. We then said our good byes and we hit the trail. Of course the trail starts off with a huge mountain that we had to climb. It took us 1:15 just to get to the peek. We had a great view at Mary¢s Rock. We started hearing stories of a bear hanging on the trail. We continued up and down and finally came to a pretty flat trail. I was looking at my camera while Sidewinder was strolling along in her cool sunglasses. She can¢t see anything with them. Most times when we see a tree stump we think it¢s a bear. Well this time we thought it was a tree stump and it WAS a bear. We were probably 15-20 feet from it. The bear could have cared less about us as it was rooting around in a tree stump. We hurried to get pictures before we pissed off the bear. It was pretty cool. Then just a little further we startled another bear who ran off the trail. Meanwhile another hiker was coming towards us videoing the bear. Thank goodness he ran off the trail and didn¢t get trapped between us. So I was trying to explain to the hiker where the other bear was. The conversation went like this.... after the 2 bear scat the bear will be on your left. We managed to hike on to see to more nice views at Little Stony man cliffs & Stony man mountain. We weren¢t sure we wanted to go .3 miles off the trail but it was worth the view. Besides we had less than a mile and we were done hiking. After that we planned to eat at Skyland Resort. It is a really nice place but hiker friendly and has a pub too. So we tucked in the woods and set up our hammocks and hung our bear bag. The went and ate. I had a really good cheese steak. It was 1200 calories. I needed it after those mountains. While we were there we got to see this amazing sunset. It¢s just about 10 pm and we are cozy in our hammocks. It¢s a pleasant night so we are going to try with out our fly¢s tonight. Hopefully the bears don¢t visit us tonight.
Date: 2018-06-30
From: Skyland Resort

To: Bearfence Mountain hut
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I tossed and turned a few times last night in my hammock. I am still trying to perfect my hang. My underquit kept shifting and I was getting cold. Not awful but noticeable. As I layed in my hammock deciding if I should get up I could see the mosquitos on the outside of the net. I decided to stay put a while longer. The day stated off with breakfast at sky top lodge. It was an all you can eat buffet. It was so good. Then we started off hiking. It was pretty uneventful all day with a few views and not too many mountains or elevation changes. We eventually got to Big Meadows Wayside. We have heard so much talk about there blackberry shakes we had to try one. The question was, is it worth the .3 mike up hill to the wayside. At this point we had 8 miles in and needed a rest. So we had our blackberry shakes and lunch. It was very busy and lost of chatter inside the wayside. I almost couldn¢t wait to get back on the trail for some peacefulness. So this is part of why we are supporting Hike For Mental Health. At this time in my life I do not have a lot of stress to deal with but I really do appreciate the quietness of the trail,the aromas of the trail,the nature and the kindness of others. So please consider this organization if you would like to donate or lead a hike. As the day continued we had some really nice trail to hike. We were supposed to finish in 13 miles but decided to push on. We were both doing well after another break so we started hiking again of out of nowhere there is this bear just watching us as we passed. It was kinda worrisome that she watched us so closely. Well just up the trail another bear who was smaller came on the trail. It was so scared and scurried away. Probably the baby bear of mama watching us. We also saw a nice buck under a tree just sitting there. We had one last mountain to climb. But there was an alternate route that had a rock scramble.  So what do these 2 girls do that are from ¢Rocksylvania¢? We do the rock scramble. It was tough but so are we. We concurred it. There was only a short distance more to the Bearfence Moutain Hut. When we arrived it was full with hikers old and new. I even ran into Snow White who I met last year in PA on the trail. We eat,chatted and are comfy in our hammocks. Oh and we did 16 miles today
Date: 2018-07-01
From: Bearfence Mountain hut

To: High top mountain hut
Miles today: 13.3

The day started off at 5 o¢clock in the morning with an owl screeching and then something that sounded like a woman yelling. It ended up it was just the owls talking back-and-forth. I did fall back asleep for a little while until I heard the morning birds chirping. With that I got up and found the privy and started my morning coffee. The night before I prepared my oatmeal with a cold soak overnight so that was waiting for me as well. With that the rest of the crew at the shelter started getting up. There was a hiking group from Washington in with the lead guy who has hiked the Triple Crown which is the PCT the continental divide and the Appalachian Trail He was young fella no more than 30 years old. They were car camping and going to a Falls so he had all his supplies with them and was generous with sharing even giving out bacon to everyone. We packed up and hit the trail about nine and the day was pretty on eventful other than some small climbs. They were long so it was still tiring. We have not seen much in the way of wildlife so far and we have about half a day and as I started writing this. I am sitting here with our bags as sidewinder truck the .3 mile down to the water. We¢re leery to leave our bags alone not so much for someone stealing them, because were in the middle of the woods but for the Bears to come and take them for food. As the day went on we did get a glimpse of a bear. We continued hiking over Saddleback Mountain and High top mountain. These 2 were piggybacked to each other and was about a 3 mile climb. It wasn¢t the steepest climb but with it so long and the heat of the day I was really lagging.  It was relief to get to the shelter and just take our shoes off. At this point I am trying to prevent 2 possible blisters and my calves are killing me from the hills. We are the only 2 at hut(shelter). It is quiet peaceful as the sun is setting and I lay in my hammock
Date: 2018-07-02
From: High top mountain hut

To: Loft Mountain
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Again the last was serenade us early in the morning. I was so tired that I was able to fall back to sleep. I slept till 7:15 that is late for me. I really needed it after the grueling day before. We were slow moving this morning and hit the trail around 9. It was quiet hot out today which made for a hard day. We climbed 4 mountains today again not all that steep but very long. On the 3rd mountain we were so annoyed. We had enough of the mountains, the gnats were so annoying and then the black flies were getting us. Even though we used Sawyers Picardin which usually works well. On the last climb there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We had another Wayside waiting for us. We had made it there by 4:00 The food was so good the water was so cold and the BlackBerry milk shake was just what I needed we met a few other hikers there and chatted about the days adventures. With only 1 more mile to do after the wayside we were able to enjoy our time. Then her trecked to Loft Mountain campground for a shower and laundry. It never felt so good to be clean. We decided to forgo the camping at the campground because the walk back and forth to the site from showers and laundry were too far apart. So we went back on the trail and tucked in the woods. We didn¢t see too much wildlife other than the deer that almost ran Sidewinder over. Today was again quiet grueling for me. Sidewinder seems to be pulling ahead of me more often. Why is that?  Am I getting old or is she just in better shape this year. None the less we are still hiking together.
Date: 2018-07-03
From: Loft Mountain

To: Turks gap
Miles today: 15.5

Holy Shit!! We were awaken at 11:30 with branches breaking near us. Thankfully I have been sleeping with my headlamp around my neck. I threw open my hammock and fly and not to far away i see 2 eyes staring at me. It was pitch black so I couldn¢t tell for sure if it was a bear, but it certainly was at the level of a bear. I yelled and it circled around and stopped. I yelled and clanked my hiking poles and it moved again and stopped. This time I just kept yelling and it finally scurried off. I am certain it was a bear. A deer would have bolted. We later found out at the camp store that there has been a nuisance bear around. It was very unsettling and hard to fall back to sleep. In the Moring we grabbed coffee to go in our water bottles and eat as we hiked. The first few miles were pretty easy. We were just settling into our grove when next thing there were triplet cubs and a mama bear. We hurried past as mamma watched us and her cubs as they ran up the tree. We got a few quick pictures and hurried along. Then on the other side was another bear. Papa maybe? We continued as the heat got worse the mountains got worse. We had to go to Black Rock hut which is down a steep hill, because it will be the only water for the next 12 miles. We cold soaked our dinner and breakfast for later so that we wouldn¢t need so much water when we got to camp later. We passed over 4 mountains again. We both struggled but Sidewinder was having symptoms of heat exhaustion. So we rested for a while and slowed down our pace, which I was thankful for. We did much better. We just have to listen to our bodies. Finally we crested the last mountain and pressed on to get to Turks gap. As we were coming down the last mile of course we see another bear. We made it almost to the gap where we found a nice campsite. Hopefully our campsite is far enough away from him. The only problem is all the trees are so tall without limbs to hang out food. We did find one eventually farther away so hopefully if the bear comes it will go to that. It is 7:30 we¢ve had dinner which was my cold soaked cheese risotto and tuna. It was terrible it didn¢t hydrate well at all. We are sitting in our hammocks relaxing checking in with family and writing our journals. 15.5 miles today
Date: 2018-07-04
From: Turks gap

To: Rockfish gap 
Miles today: 12.6

Once again while we were sleeping in our hammocks we had intruders in our camp. But this time it was a friendlier bunch. We had a deer or a few deer that came very close to us. When we shined our light on them they didn¢t even care. This continued thru the night. Normally we wouldn¢t be on high alert but since the bear came in the night before we were on edge. I finally was able to fall asleep and woke up around 6:30 to a beautiful sunrise. I went to get our bear bag we hung and there were flies swarming around it. So the day before we did a cold soak of or dinner we mine leaked in my food bag. Note to self to double bag when we do this. Thankfully we we be able to do laundry later. Today¢s hike seemed long and grueling once again. Although looking at the elevations didn¢t seem bad, it was much harder in real life. We didn¢t see much wildlife this time. A few bunnies and a neat moth. The pushed hard today because we had a shuttle driver waiting to pick us up and take us to the hostel. We hiked from 8:30-3:45 with some time fir breaks and lunch. Not too bad considering it was 100% humidity. We were able to complete the Shenandoah National Ark today. It sure felt like an accomplishment. We made it to Rockfish gap where our shuttle driver came to get us and take us to Stanimals hostel. The hostel can accommodate 25 people. It was a full house with even a person on the sofa. We showered and did laundry. We were also greeted with Hamburgers, hotdogs, beer and soda. All because of the Forth of July. It was nice just sitting and talking to all the hikers. There were so many hikers here from different countries. Australia, Germany, France, and England. We are settled in on our bunks kinda like a college dorm. 6 beds in my room. Hopefully no one snores. We hope to be out the door at 7:15 tomorrow. We are going to take advantage of slackpacking. Where we only take a few essentials and leave the rest at the hostel. We are going to try and do 19 miles tomorrow since we will have less weight to carry. Then the shuttle will pick us up again.
Date: 2018-07-05
From: Reeds Gap

To: Rockfish gap
Miles today: 19.1

I set my alarm for 6am.  This hostel doesn¢t surve breakfast.  So I either had to run to get breakfast or make something from what was ¢shared¢ hiker food.  I was the first one up in the hostel so I made coffee. I decided to make pancakes for me and sidewinder. I smeared peanut butter on mine then syrup.  I figured the extra protein would help for our long day. We were shuttled to Reeds Gap and we are hiking north this time per suggestion from all the hikers. It was a little easier. We are slackpacking which means we will have a daypack with just essentials, food and water.  Probably about 5 lbs. with the lighter weight we are going to try a longer hike.  We hit the trail at 8:12.  It was going fairly well even though it was still warm out with lots of  humidity. We had some nice climbs and some good descents. The one was 12 long switchbacks going down. We finally made it to Paul c Wolfe shelter. Such a nice shelter with a big stream in front. I just had to take my shoes and socks off and soak my feet. It rejuvenated me. We hiked up the other side of switchbacks. It wasn¢t so bad with the lighter packs. Finally coming off the trail st 5:08.  Great timing considering our breaks and lunch.  I was starving by this point. We got back to Stanimls and showered and did laundry. The we each ate a whole Tony¢s pizza by ourselves. We relaxed a little then got our packs together for tomorrow.  We Tony have such a good day ahead of us.  It is going to Rain a lot tomorrow. Let¢s see how this goes. If all else fails we have Dee who will be in town to pick us up.
Date: 2018-07-06
From: Reeds Gap

To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.5

I woke up early before the alarm. I was happy to see it didn¢t start to rain yet. The forecast was predicting rain around 10 am. I went to the kitchen and coffee was already made. The hostel was bustling at 6 am. I think everyone was trying to beat the rain. I decided to start makeup my pancakes till Sidewinder woke up. As I am cooking a few hikers were coming around wanting to know how to get in on the pancakes. I didn¢t want to be rude but also wanted to make sure Sidewinder and I got ours first. After ours were done I guarded our plates from the drooling hikers and made the rest of the pancakes. Only a few hikers got them. I sat down at the table with 2 plates waiting for Sidewinder. I smeared plenty butter and syrup on mine. Yummy. So I took sidewinders and put hers in the microwave to guard it and went to find her. Luckily they were still there for her. I had to get moving our shuttle to take us back to the trail was leaving at 7:30. I hurried to wash my dishes and get ready. Minutes before we leave and I can not find my little camera. It is a Nikon KeyMission 80. It is similar to a go pro but the pictures sync to my phone. It is 3¢X2¢. As it turned out I left it on the one chair. But I had the whole hostel looking for it. We started our hike off with a bang today climbing a small mountain. Little sis we know that was a warm up for what was to come. Soon 3 ridges Mountain was to follow. It was a pretty intense climb of 3.5 miles. Climbing down the mountain was almost as hard. It was very rocky with lots of switchbacks. We were fatigued as well so we had to be extra careful. We had lunch at the shelter at the bottom before trekking on. We had a nice few miles of fairly easy hiking until we hit The Preist. It is a 4 mile climb with with over 3000 feet elevation change. This was going to be the hardest climb we had this section. We started out and it wasn¢t too bad but quickly we got into the switchbacks. We rounded the corner and there was a nice deer standing looking at us. We had some pretty sharp slopes that were just exhausting. We finally made it 1.5 miles to cripple creek where we were able to chug some water, refill and relax a while. Then we got into a bunch of switchbacks. We finally came to a view at 3000 feet just as it started to rain. As we neared the top of the mountain it for steeper and steeper. We were so happy when we finally hit the top. There was a nice flat section. For a while. The we started don¢t the other side where there was a shelter. We were just praying that the shelter wasn¢t full. Even though we were hammocking we wanted to stay dry so we were planning on sleeping in the shelter. Thankfully there was only one other hiker so we are in the shelter for the night. Ahhhh I am so happy. Now as long as the bugs don¢t eat us alive.
Date: 2018-07-07
From: The Preist shelter

To: Hog Camp Gap
Miles today: 14.3

I woke up around 12:30 the temperature had dropped with the rain. I was so cold. As I was getting up Sidewinder asked to use my down underquilt because she was cold as well. I was trying to use it as a sleeping pad. But I stretched it over both of us and it kept us pretty warm. I t was very uncomfortable sleeping on the hard shelter floor but at least we were dry. If I had to guess it probably was 55 degrees when we woke up. Thankfully I did bring one long sleeve shirt. I gave Sidewinder my rain jacket since she only had tank tops. Our hike today consisted of a few smaller mountains along with a few gaps. We saw several hikers today. We stopped at Spy Rock. There was this amazing rock scramble with 360 view. I am glad I stopped and took the time to climb. Even though it was so cold,soon enough we were in a full sweat again. Our legs are still fatigued from the previous days so it was still a hard hiking day. We had one final last climb which seemed like it would never end. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. Our friend Dee was waiting for us at the bottom. Thankfully we have her an estimate yesterday of a time because cell phone service has been really patchy. We were right on schedule. As we were coming down the mountain into Hog Camp Gap it was a pleasant wandering down hill with little flowers everywhere. So we started picking our friend a Bouquet of flowers. Not sure this is leave no trace. It was so good to see Dee walking towards us. We presented her with the flowers and had a good laugh. Of course Dee was stocked up with water and snacks for us as we drove back to the hotel in Waynesboro. We showered and the went to this amazing dinner at Devils Backbone brewery. This place is huge. I had no idea. A lot of hikers hitch a 6 mile ride from the trail to eat and camp here but we missed it do to shuttling to Stanimals. So we had to go check it out. We had drinks while we waited for a table the with hiker hunger I ordered these amazing nachos with brisket on the top and wings. Yummmy. Then we drive back to Waynesboro and stopped at Cookout and got the best milkshake ever. I got heath-bar malt. In total this hike we hiked 128.5 miles. We had lots of grueling mountains to climb, gnats, black flies, wildlife, new friends, laughs, and many amazing views and memories. What an adventure. Thanks to our friends and family and mostly to our amazing shuttle drivers Robert, Amanda, and Dee. We couldn¢t done it without you.
Date: 2019-05-25
From: Elk pen

To: Wildcat shelter 
Miles today: 10.1

Section NYWe started out our day leaving at 7am to drive to NY to do a 2 day section hike SOBO.  My hiking partners are Sidewinder and Silverfox. We parked at the trail parking at Arden road and planned to hike  13.8 to Fitzgerald falls. As we were hiking talking to other hikers and looking at Guthook we realized there are 2 parking area¢s for Arden road.  As it turns out we parked at the south Arden Road.  So in the end we only did 10 miles.  We were disappointed.  As we continued hiking there were quite a bit of smaller climbs and rock sections.  We didn¢t expect that when we looked at our guides.  Either that or we are just out of shape.   I think we¢re out of shape since it kicked our butts. Part way in we came to a road with trail magic.  It was a very nice set up by a thruhiker from 2018.  His name is Pacecar.  He cooked us burgers or hotdogs and had soda and other snacks. It was a welcome treat. We continued on and saw Fitzgerald falls and other than the climb before Wildcat shelter it was uneventful.  Just tiring.  It felt like such a long day. At the shelter there were quite a few section hikers and a few overnighters.  There was another crew of thru hikers in the back. If I had to guess maybe 15-20 people. We hurried to set up before it got too late the retrieved water from the low creek and cooked our dinner. Sidewinder and I had our dehydrated meal I made.  It wasn¢t too bad. It consisted of dried black beans, deer hamburger, corn,rice and taco seasoning. I need to make more for our big hike coming up. I also packed in a cupcake for Silverfox for her birthday.  She was surprised even though it was in pretty rough shape.  We had one opportunity to tell hikers about our fundraising hike we have coming up in 3 weeks.  Now we are all comfy in our hammocks and Silverfox in her new tent. Now we wait for the rain.  Night.
Date: 2019-05-26
From: Wildcat shelter 

To: NJ/NY border 
Miles today: 7.9

I woke up earl today after a restless sleep. I just don¢t get a sound sleep.  I had my coffee as I waited for the other 2 to get up.  Chatted with a few of the hikers. Eventually sidewinder and Silverfox got moving and we hit the trail by 9:30.  Today¢s hike was a lot of rock scrambling that just seem to never end and we were out in the open in the heat of the day at a good bit. Although it was fun and challenging it was rather tiring after a while. We did enjoy the latter although we were going Sobo we had to go down the ladder. That wasn¢t too bad. We saw quite a few hikers again today. And then took state line trail down to the marina where we parked. We met up with friends and  had drinks and something to eat.  It was Her birthday.  She also shuttled us back to the car so Silverfox could head out.  We actually hiked more than a 7.9 miles because we went to Stateline Trail and down the trail but I didn¢t count that since I previously counted that middle section before