morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-17
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

This morning we woke up in a cloud on top of the mountain and it was cold. We were slow to get out of our packs and did not get on the trail till 9:00am. We headed down off of Roan Mountain and arrived at a picnic area and we had the luxury of using a real bathroom...well it was a pit pot but it had four walls and a door so it was luxurious.  From there the trail went up two mountains that were both balds so we had some great views of Roan Mountain and all the surounding mountains. We headed down off of the mountain into a really green area with lots of long green grass and wild flowers.  We ran into two bird watchers and they said that we were in the area at a good time because there was alot of different birds that migrate to this area this time of year and they pointed out a few of them. Some of the birds were blue, green, yellow and they said to look for a pinkish orange bird that is very rare to see. We continued on to the next shelter and got there at around noon so we ate our lunch. By then the clouds started to roll in so we decided to hurry up and go two miles to the next shelter and see if the storms would pass or not. I hurried ahead of the group to beat the rain and got there in 25 minutes and once I saw the views from the Overmountain Shelter I knew I was staying there rain or shine. The shelter is an old barn and the hay loft was converted into a sleeping area and the downstairs was like a common area to cook and eat. From the front you could see down the valley for miles, two of the mountains had balds, there was a few old feilds, an old apple orchard and it was just beautiful.  Once the others arived they we also very impressed with the view but did not stay because it was only 2:00pm. I pleaded my case with them that the thunder was getting closer and it was 18 miles to the next shelter so we would have to spend the night out in the rain if we left. I convinced them to stay a bit longer and sure enough 15 minutes later it started to rain. It was decided that we would stay and we will do 18 miles tomorrow to get back on schedule to get to town ontime to resupply. We wanted a fire so we had something to do before dark so Hare and I quickly gathered some dry wood to make a fire before the rain really started to come down. We started a fire in the fire place inside and watched the lightning down the valley till more people started running in out of the rain. Slim arived first and told us that the shelter that he was at last night was full and that most of them were planning on coming here. The shelter can hold more than 20 people but we quickly claimed our spots in the loft and soon the shelter was packed with wet hikers. All the other hikers were very greatful of the fire we started and we sat around it listening to GQ playing his ucalaly until it got dark out and we all went to bed at around 7:30. Now the rain is really coming down and the lightning is lighting up the skys...I am very happy to be under a roof tonight and not in my tent...good night all!
Date: 2012-04-18
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Last night the wind was really blowing and it poured most of the night but we all stayed dry inside the barn. By morning it was steady rain, foggy and the tempurature had dropped down to the low 40s. Most of the hikers were up early because they wanted to make sure they got a spot at the hiker hostel ten miles down the trail. Once we finally decided to get out of our bags there was only four other hikers left in the shelter not including us four. We knew that it would be a slim chance that there would be room for us in the hostel and we did not want to pay $8.00 to tent outside the hostel plus it was still raining and blowing so we decided to wait and see if it would let up.Rial, Maxus and GQ decided to take a chance on there being room at the hostel and took off into the fog. By then it was 9:00am and it did not look like the weather was going to get any better so Slim, Tortoise, Hare, Big Sky and I decided to stay at the shelter and take a zero day in the woods. We climbed back into our sleeping bags and fell back asleep because the it was still cold and the wind was blowing right through the walls of the barn. We woke up at noon and the rain had let up some but the fog was really thick, it was even filling up inside the barn making our gear a little damp. We all huddled togeather and i tought them how to play a few card games I play back home, progressive gin and 64. At around 3:00pm the rain finally let up so we went out and gathered some more firewood and started up the fire because we knew that in a few hours there would be some wet and cold hikers coming in. Sure enough at around 3:30 the hikers started rolling in one by one and soon the shelter was filled and there were wet clothes and gear hanging everywhere. The hikers were very happy to see a warm fire and they told us about their cold and miserable day and after hearing all of them we were glad that we stayed inside all day.Tomorrow we are planning on leaving early so we can get to town to resupply and hopefully still have time to do a big day. We want to get to the next shelter which is 18 miles up the trail but we might do more because the trail is fairly level after two big climbs in the morning. Its 8:30pm and time for bed now, good night all.
Date: 2012-04-23
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: "The Place" in Damascus VA
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

This morning we woke up to about a quarter inch of snow...oh and it was still freezing cold! I, along with Dundee was very excited to see snow; Dundee is from Australia and had never seen snow before. He went out into the snow with a huge grin of his face and started making designs in the snow on the table. We all joked with him and said he was acting like a puppy that saw snow for the first time. We were very slow to getting up and moving but were out by 7:30am. I did not have any dry cloths left because it rained on Sunday and it was foggy all day yesterday so I decided to hike in my warm and dry sleeping/camp cloths because we were heading to town today anyway. We were on the trail and heading to town at around 8:00am and about ten steps up the trail it started to snow once again. Once we were back up on the ridge line, the wind really started to blow so it was like a blizzard. We were soon hiking in about two inches of snow and it showed no sign of letting up. The wind was wiping the snow around in all directions and stinging us in our faces and my beard was covered in snow and ice...I personally was loving every second of this but Big Sky and Slim really hated it. We were slowly losing elevation as we got closer to town so the snow slowly faded away and soon we could once again see the trail beneath our feet. With all the crazy weather we had forgotten that today we were finishing TN and heading into VA and we were surprised when we saw the sign for VA. We were very happy to be in VA and we all took turns taking pictures next to the sign. From the border, we only had 3.5 miles to go until we got to town and before we knew it we were walking down Main Street in Damascus VA. We went to a hiker hostel that is run by a church call "The Place" and took three of the few remaining bunks inside. First thing first we got out of our wet boots and rain coats and headed to the pizza place to eat. At the pizza place we meet up with everyone that was at the shelter last night along with a bunch of other hikers. The town was packed with thru hikers because no one wanted to go out in the cold snowy weather so they all just stayed in town. After we had our fill of food, we went to the post office to get our mail drops and then went back to the hostel to get a little more settled in. I had my mom mail my summer gear and new boots to Damascus but I am going to have to mail the summer gear forward due to this crazy weather, so unfortunately, I have to carry my heavy winter gear a little longer. For the rest of the night we just did what hikers do...sit around and talk about our past hiking experiences, gear and most importantly food. There is no heat in this hostel so everyone was in their sleeping bags by around 9:00pm. At least this night is not as cold as last night, I did not write as much yesterday because my thumbs were too numb to use my phone so tonight I did some more...good night all! ((Note from Diesel¢s sister ¢ Diesel sent many pictures to me the past few days ¢ I¢m going to work on posting some of them for everyone tonight!))
Date: 2012-04-24
To: "The Place" in Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today we decided to take a zero in town. We all needed the break and plus this morning a ton of hikers left town to we wanted to stay away from the crowd. Big Sky and I went up to the Cowboy Diner which was just a small trucker diner at a gas station but the food was great and the all the people there was super friendly. After breakfast we went into the Sundog Outfiters and looked around for a little. We were looking at the packs and we both found one we really liked and the owner said he could cut us a good deal on them. We went back to the hostel and thought about what to do about our packs. Big Skys pack is way too big for her and it is super uncomfortable and my pack is old, heavy, too big and starting to fall apart already so we decided to take all our gear back to Sundogs to see if our gear would fit into the smaller packs and how they felt. We both tried out the packs and they were both very comfortable and all our gear fit. Big Sky's pack only weighs 24 pounds fully loaded without her winter gear and mine only weighs 32 pounds. We were both sold on the packs but we both needed a medeium and they only had one medium so I let Big Sky have the one they had and I had them order one for me and mail it ahead the trail for me. We went back to the hostel and Big Sky packed her pack a few diferent times and soon found the perfect way to pack her new pack. Soon new hikers started showing up, coming to town from the trail so we had to collect our gear back to our beds to make room for them. There were three open bunks in our room and Blue Fox, Muck and Juice took them. Soon we all settled into our bags and called it a night...night all.
Date: 2012-04-27
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night apparently it poured really hard and the thunder was really loud but I slept right through it. Slim decided to do a big mile day today so he left before us and we stayed in our bags a little more longer because it was still cold and foggy out. We did not get on the trail until 8:30am but soon the fog lifted and the sun came out. This morning we were going to hike through the Greyson Highlands which it a 3 mile continuous bald on top of the mountains. That is also where the wild ponies are so we were really hoping we would see them.For the first time in three days, we saw blue skys and the sun! The views on the balds were great. It was really windy on the balds but the sun was out enough to keep us warm and it helped to dry us out. We finally saw the ponies but they were way down on one the balds and that was all we saw. Everyone else who started later than us saw a lot of them up close...the ponies must not be morning ponies. We were soon out of the Highlands and back into the woods and we were soon at the first shelter of the day. While we were at the shelter, Juice and Teflon also showed up and we all took a break and headed up the trail together.The trail soon turned into flowing rivers again and there were alot of rocks. We had to slow down so the six miles to the next shelter took forever. At the next shelter there was a guy there with four dogs doing trail magic; he had drinks, fruit and snacks. We all had some snacks and headed to the next shelter which was another five miles up the trail. We crossed a road and found out that we had just missed some more trail magic so we were bummed about that and moved on. The trail then went up a mountain and back down to the shelter and we found that Runner and Yard Stick was already there. We were happy that there was space for us in the shelter so we set up. Soon the rest of the gang from last night showed up...in the shelter tonight is Juice, Runner, Medicine Man, Bird Man, Mr. Wrong, Fire Pants, Big Sky and I. Tomorrow we are all planning on doing a 20 mile day to get to Partnership Shelter because that shelter holds 16 people, has a shower and a local delivery pizza shop delivers to the shelter. So its time for bed...night all!
Date: 2012-04-28
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night I did not sleep too well. I kept tossing and rolling all night and a few times apparently I rolled onto Juice a few times! He would just give me a little punch and I would roll back over but I do not remember any of it. We wanted to get an early start because we were doing a high mile day and were on the trail by 7:30am. The day started out sunny then soon became overcast but it only drizzled now and then. Todays terrain was not too bad; the biggest climb was in the morning and the rest of the day went slowly up and down. Big Sky is doing alot better with her new pack and is going a lot faster up the mountains so we are maintaning a faster pace. We got to the first shelter which was 9.1 miles up the trail in just under three hours and everyone from last night somehow all showed up at the same time. We all left at different times...how did that work out??? We took our lunch break and continued on to the next shelter 10.6 miles up the trail. About 1.5 miles up the trail, we came to a road crossing and there was two coolers sitting along the trail. One had cold soads and orange juice and the other had every type of food a hiker could desire. It was put togeather by a local church youth group. They had a register there to sign and it looked like they had been doing this for a few weeks.We all sat around on the grass by the creek and had a few snacks and continued on up the trail. As we started up the next mountain, we all realized we had eaten too much of the trail magic and we were going very slow because of it. We finally got to the top and headed back down to another dirt road. We ran into Juice who was there taking a break so we joined him in the shade and soon Bird Man, Medicine Man and Yard Stick also showed up and joined us. From there the shelter we were going to stay at was ony 3.8 miles away and it was only 2:00pm so we stayed there for about an hour until we moved on.We got to a foot bridge that crossed a small streem and from there my guide book said that the shelter was only .6 miles up the trail. Big Sky and I kept walking and walking but did not see the shelter. It seemed like over a mile but we finally got to the shelter at around 4:30. At that shelter, there was a shower with hot water, running water, a bathroom and even a phone that we could call Pizza Hut. We all ordered our food on one order so they only had to run up once and we waited for what seemed forever for it to arive. Finally after over an hour the pizza showed up and we all dove into it and ate until we were all stuffed to capacity. We all sat around in pain from eating too much for awhile and then all hit the sack around 9:00pm. Tomorrow we will be stopping in Atkins VA for the night to resupply and to pick up my pack. I think Big Sky, Bird Man, Medicine Man, Runner and I will split a room at the only motel in town. So now its time for bed...night all.
Date: 2012-05-03
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Trents Grocery
Miles today: 16.3

This morning we left at around 8:30am with plans to go to Trents Grocery for the night. The trail in the morning followed an old logging road so we made good time to the first shelter. We stopped there for lunch and waited for Birdman and Medicine Man to catch up then we headed out to finish the last six miles for the day. Birdman's mom, who is know as Bird Feeder, was going to pick him up at one of the road crossings to take him home for three days. We ran into her hiking southbound and we all hiked to the road together. Bird Feeder offered to take us to Natures Way for lunch and we took her up on her offer. We arrived at Natures Way and it turned out to be an Amish store...it was just like back home. Medicine Man and I were very surprised to find Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer, Lebanon Sweet Bologna and a bunch of other foods that we have been craving. I got a bologna sandwich, birch beer and some home made ice cream. We went out on the porch to eat lunch and saw that some bad thunder storms were heading our way. It started to storm as we were leaving and hoped that by the time we got back to the trail it would pass by. As we were heading back to the trail, we decided to drop our packs off at Trents Grocery and slack pack the reamaining 5 miles back to Trents. Bird Feeder took us to Trents to drop off our packs and then took us back to the trail. Luckily by then the storm had passed and the skies were clearing. We said goodbye to Birdman and Bird Feeder and headed up the trail. The trail went up and back down a mountain and soon we were back at Trents. When we got there, we ran into Runner, Yard Stick, and a few other hikers, they were also staying the night and already had their tents up so we quickly did the same. Then we went to eat at Trents for supper. I was still full from lunch but I somehow managed to get down a double cheese burger, fries, a salad and a milkshake. Once we were all filled up we hobbled back to our tents and called it a night.
Date: 2012-05-04
From: Trents Grocery

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: clear sky

This morning we all woke up to damp tents and gear; it was really humid last night and my tent condensates really bad and dripped on me all night. I hung up all my damp gear and opened up my tent so it would dry out. We all then went back to Trents for breakfast and once again stuffed ourselves and by the time we got back everything was dry. We packed up and headed back to the trail at around 11:00am. We went two miles and arrived at a side trail that went down to Dismal Falls; Big Sky and Medicine Man went down to see it and I stayed up with the packs. Today I was not in the mood for hiking. I was too full from food and it was already in the 80s and very humid. We had planned to do 16 miles today and 8 tomorrow into town but I wanted to do 8 today and 16 tomorrow. I decided to suggest it to the others. When they came back up they said that it was really cool and that there was a deep swimming hole under the falls. Before I could say anything to them about doing only 8 miles today, they both said that they did not feel like hiking either and that we should stay and swim for awhile. We decided to all go back down and just hang out and swim for a few hours before we did the remaining 6 miles. The water was really cold so Big Sky decided not to get in but Medicine Man and I took the plunge and it felt great. We then laid out on the rocks and dried off until we got too hot again and then we would take another dip. We were there for about three hours and soon Fatherman also showed up to take a swim and we all got in one more time. After being there for almost four hours, we headed back up to the trail. The last six miles were really flat and we pounded them out in and hour and a half. There were only two other hikers at the shelter: Spice Man and Rhino. Medicine Man, Big Sky and I took three spots in the shelter. Soon the shelter filled up more and it ended up being a full hour; Fatherman, Ghato, Biscuts, DK, Risky and Big E were the other hikers at the shelter. We made a good fire and sat around and talked until late...now I can hear thunder and see lightning so it looks like its going to rain...night all.
Date: 2012-05-05
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

Last night I was right about the thunder; it rained off and on all night. We planned to leave as early as we could so we could get to town early but because of the rain we did not get going until 9:30am. The rain did stop when we started up the big climb of the day but half way up the climb it started to mist and it looked like it was going to be that way all day long. The trail got really rocky and all the rocks were slippery so we were going really slow. We finally got to the next shelter and we took a break there for lunch. The wind started to blow and Big Sky and I were getting cold so we continued on and left a note for the group behind that we headed on and that we would meet them in town. The second half of the day was easier and followed the ridge more but it was still rocky. We made it to Angel's Rest, a big rock outcropping with good views but it was still foggy, so we saw nothing. From there it was all downhill into town so we made good time and we were soon down to the road that would take us to town. We started walking, in what we thought was the right direction and we flagged down a truck going the other direction and we asked the driver if we were going in the right direction to get to town. He said that we were and we continued on...soon that same truck came back down the road and stopped once again and we saw that Risky was in the back and the driver offered to take us to town so we hoped in and was soon in town.We went to all the motels in town and booked the one and only remaining room in the whole town! Apparently everyone decided to zero in town to stay out of the weather. We got into our room and all took showers and went to one of the other motels where almost all the hikers were...it was like a mini trail days. It was getting late so we went to Dairy Queen to eat supper then went back to our room and watched tv until we went to bed. Tomorrow we are taking a zero in town so that means we can sleep in for once...that is if we can...good night all.
Date: 2012-05-07
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Rice Field Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning we slept in until 10:00am which was odd because usually I can't sleep past 7:00am anymore. Medicine Man and I went to the post office to mail some gear home and I had to check to see if I could figure out where my summer gear was. The postmaster called the post office in Atkins VA and they said that my box just arrived this morning. I told them to mail it ahead to Daleville VA because I should be there in a week or so and that is plenty of time for it to get there. We packed up our gear and headed to Dairy Queen for lunch before we got back on the trail. We finished our lunch and started walking back to the trail up the road. We only went 100 yards before I was able to flag down a truck and they took us a mile up the road to the trail we said thanks to the driver and were on the trail by 1:30pm. The trail went downhill back into another part of town, it then went through some peoples yards, back onto another road, back into the woods, back onto another road that crossed over a river, then finally back into the woods...it was confusing and covered in poison. Now that we were back in the woods, we had to climb back up to the ridge line of the mountain. Our packs were weighed down with food and we also ate too much earlier so it took us forever to get to the top of the climb. Once on top, the trail followed the ridge line the next 2 miles to the shelter where we planned to stay. There were only three other hikers and a dog at that shelter so Medicine Man, Big Sky and I took the last three remaining spots in the shelter. On top of the mountain the wind was blowing and we were all a little chilled so we made a fire. Luckily the shelter is facing away from the wind but sometimes a gust will blow in but its not bad. Tomorrow the trail continues out the ridge line all day but one time where it goes down to a creek and back up so we are planning on doing a 21 mile day so its time to rest up...night all.