morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-18
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

This strange looking FAA tower was along the trail today. It must be used for airplane navigation. I had heard that the water source at tonight's shelter had dried up and was looking for an alternate spring that was near the trail about 1/3 of a mile south of the shelter. A SOBO hiker had told me where to look a few days ago but unfortunately I didn't pay close attention to his instructions. "How hard could it be to find a spring along the AT?" I recalled thinking at the time. So here I was hiking up and down a fire road looking for water in the gathering darkness. After searching for 45 minutes I went back to the section of trail where I thought the spring should have been. I was surprised to find a big note held down by a rock that was right on the trail - right where I'd walked by 45 minutes ago. Ah ha! A note that points out the spring which is just 50 yards downhill. I wondered how I managed to walk by the note when I was specifically looking for the spring. Oh well, at least I'd have water to make dinner. Turns out the spring was just a trickle and I had to use a straw like plastic tube I carry to create a mini water spout that I could use to fill up my water bottle. If it stays dry like this then the bubble of hikers headed this way is likely to have some issues finding water. There's three other hikers here tonight and we have a nice campfire going.
Date: 2016-04-19
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning I was hiking an easy section of trail and suddenly fell flat on my face. As I was getting up I recalled trying to use the escalator about two years ago when I was still using crutches. "How hard can it be?" I remembered thinking right before I fell "Splat!" right down on the rising steps. After a few minutes the pain from the impact and my injured pride receded and I continued up the hill. I felt fortunate to meet "Keeper" today who is hiking in honor of PTSD vets who have committed suicide at the rate of 22 vets per day. He started the Unified Warriors Foundation and is carrying the name tags of 44 deceased vets from Springer Mt to Katahdin. I fully agree with Keeper about the need to provide better support and care for our returning vets. I spent a lot of time thinking about this today.
Date: 2016-04-20
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I climbed 3,100 feet uphill today in the hot sun. I used to carry sun screen but don't now because I've never needed it before. My right arm was turning bright red so I stopped to improvise the solution you can see in today's photo. Yes, that's toilet paper and duct tape. My invention was short lived as fifteen minutes later I met a day hiker who let me use their sunscreen. I ordered a light weight long sleeve shirt from Amazon to replace my current hiking T-shirt.
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: US 60 near Buena Vista
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I crossed the James River a few days ago on this cool looking bridge. I don't know how much this cost or how AT hikers used to get across the river before this bridge was built. I slept fitfully last night because the pond by the punchbowl shelter was full of singing frogs. Timeout, another NOBO arrived at 10:30 pm to join me for the night. I was awake at 5 am, listening to the frogs, and decided to start early. I was hiking by 6 am, that's way early for me, and the miles went by easily on the smooth downhill trail to US 60. I caught a shuttle back to my car near Buchanan and am spending the night with my sister and her husband who live near the Tye River in Nelson County. They made me a delicious dinner and I'm enjoying my visit with them.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: US 60 near Buena Vista

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

After enjoying a great night and amazing breakfast at my sister and brother in laws house I headed North up the hill from Rt 60 near Buena Vista, VA. The cloudy day provided cooler temperatures for the 2,000 foot climb up to the ridge top. Because I had downed a large bottle of Gatorade on the way to the trail I was able to pass by the 6/10 of a mile side trail to the first shelter along with the 3/10 of a mile trail to the spring at Hog Camp Gap. After a few showers the afternoon sky looked threatening so I decided to try to make it to the next shelter, a total of 14 miles which is close to my longest day so far. I've always used a trash bag liner inside my pack to keep everything nice and dry up until 4 or 5 days ago when I decided the weather was so dry that I didn't need it.Big mistake... Around 4:30 the sky opened up and it rained... hard. My pack cover, which is allegedly waterproof, got soaked and then allowed the falling water to work its way through my entire pack. I thought of stopping a few different times to check my pack and retrieve my trash bag liner from the bottom of pack where I had stashed it the week before. Each time I convinced myself that things would just get even wetter since it was raining so hard. The rain along with the cooler temperatures provided good motivation and hiking conditions for me to scurry the entire 14 miles along a decently smooth trail in record time. I arrived at the Seeley-Woodworth shelter to join Seam, another NOBO for the night. Every single thing I was wearing and that was in my pack was wet except for my sleeping bag (luckily) which was protected by a compression dry bag. I put up a clothes line, hung everything up and went to bed wearing just a pair of rather damp shorts. This was a good lesson for me to stay with my hiking system including using my trash bag liner even on days when I don't think I may need it. I'm also going to start carrying an extra set of clothes protected by another dry bag so that I have something that I can change into after getting doused by the rain. Getting wet is a part of any thru hike and today I learned (or re-learned) how to better deal with this. The funny thing is that I used to always use my bag liner and I used to carry an extra set of clothes. The dry weather had caused me to become complacent along with my focus on being light weight ended up with another situation where I had left my common sense behind. The Roanoke Times may be writing an article next week about my adventure. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for all your comments and encouragement !
Date: 2016-04-23
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: VA Rt 56 Tye River Crossing
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I was happy to see the sun out this morning. Most everything was still damp from yesterdays dousing but the warm weather made it easy to put everything back on and within a few hours my hiking clothes had completely dried out. At 2:00 I made it up the long somewhat rocky fire roadish trail to reach The Priest Shelter. There were about a dozen other hikers there who looked half settled. I noticed a few food bags hanging from a tree and I wondered if they were getting a late start or had arrived early to spend the night. Seam, the NOBO that I had spent last night with at the Seeley-Woodworth shelter showed up along with another thru hiker and suddenly there wasn't enough room for everyone to sit down. This seemed strange to me after hiking for two and a half months and seeing only a handful of hikers each week. I sent a text with an ETA to my sister who would be picking me up at the bottom of the hill and started down the mountain. The trail was pretty steep and rocky and I moved quite slowly down as I looked for a relatively flat place to place my injured foot with each step. Several worn out looking SOBO hikers were making their way up the mountain. Each of them asked if it was much further to the top and I tried to be encouraging without saying "You're almost there".I stopped at the overlook that was 3/4 of the way down and a nice family there took the photo you see here today. I continued down and was pleased to see that the trail smoothed out a bit and also became less steep. I was wondering how much further I had to go when I was surprised to see my sister hiking up to meet me. Wow, a familiar face out here on the AT. We hiked the last half mile or so together and met my brother in law who invited me to sit down in some camp chairs that he had put up in the parking lot along Rt 56. I enjoyed a glass of wine along with a few chocolate chip cookies they had brought along to feed to the other thru hikers and myself. I met Rooster, a really cool NOBO who had served in Iraq. He works as a park ranger and is taking some time off to hike the AT. He's a bit famous because he was in the shelter at Deep Rock Gap that was hit by several falling trees earlier this year. My brother in law invited him to join us for the night and I got to know Rooster better as we both chowed down a delicious dinner and enjoyed staying at my sister and brother in laws house. Right now I'm getting ready to go to bed in a warm soft comfy bed. Tomorrow the three of us are going to hike a short day up to the next shelter and spend the night together. It will be really nice to have some friend/relatives hiking with me. I really appreciate all the support, the wonderful meals, and good wine that my sister and brother in law have provided for me this week.
Date: 2016-04-24
From: VA Rt 56 Tye River Crossing

To: Harper's Creek Shelter
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: clear sky

This morning I enjoyed another delicious breakfast at my sister Lisa's house along with her husband Chris. They live about five minutes from the Tye River crossing so I was lucky enough to be greeted by them yesterday after hiking down The Priest Mountain. Today they made good on their promise to come hike with me when I was on the trail near their house. They used to live in Jackson, WY and one summer ended up seeing at least one bear every time they went out for a day hike. Chris dug out their gear while Lisa took in the waist of my hiking long johns and put together a lunch to eat on the way to the trail. Our plan was to take it easy and hike about three miles up to the Harper's Creek Shelter so we were able to make a leisurely start at about 3:30 pm. Chris and Lisa took the lead while I pushed along at a slightly faster than normal pace to keep up with them. They've hiked here before and were able to point out various short cut trails, however they were nice enough to understand that I'm trying to hike the white blazes and we worked our way up the AT to the shelter. At first glance it appeared that all the local firewood had already been found and burned but then Lisa and I scored at a few of the nearby vacant campsites and snatched plenty of wood. Chris made an impressive looking Tee-Pee style fire as we cooked our meals. It's wonderful to be able to hang out on the AT with my own family. We've had a good time talking and now it's getting dark - time to go to sleep. There were several entries about aggressive mice in the log book including one entry from a hiker who claimed to have killed one mouse along with a warning to be on the lookout for another mouse who walks with a limp. I, of course, feel a certain kinship with the limping mouse and am happy and content to be in a nice shelter along with some of my amazingly supportive family.
Date: 2016-04-25
From: Harper's Creek Shelter

To: Reed's Gap
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: broken clouds

This morning I said goodbye to Lisa and Chris and headed up the mountain trail. The climb up to Three Ridges Mountain was fairly steep and somewhat rocky at the top. A few thru hikers went past me and I met a number of day hikers who were heading South. My plan for the day was to hike about 13 miles so that I could reach Rock Fish Gap in two days and reach the bottom of Shenandoah Park. Most of the thru hikers are concerned about the recent forest fire and having to bypass around the fire in the park. I actually hiked most of Shenandoah Park and most of the trail in Maryland during this past fall and winter. So once I reach Rock Fish Gap I plan to finish one twenty mile un-hiked stretch of trail in the North end of the park and then go home for a few days before starting in again six miles South of Pennsylvania. I was pushing along the trail trying to pick up my pace a bit since the climb up the hill had progressed at just one mile per hour. Then I got a text from Lisa..."We're doing Trail Magic for you at Reed's Gap".Wow! Really... ? That's awesome!I texted Lisa my expected ETA and scurried down the trail. I was rewarded with ice cold lemonade, hot chicken wings (I ate every single one of them) and a glass of Chardonnay. I was just starting to think about the remaining miles I had for the day when Chris said "Why don't you come back to the house with us?" "I can drop you back off right here tomorrow morning"."Sounds great!" I responded.So now I'm back at their beautiful house that has a view of the ridge line the AT runs along from the front porch. Another delicious dinner... I'm liking this part of the Appalachian Trail.
Date: 2016-04-26
From: Reed's Gap

To: Paul C Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

At 9 am this morning my brother in law dropped me off at Reeds Gap in a final gesture of what's been some amazing trail magic. I decided that I was going to enjoy hiking today rather than falling into the trap of only focusing on how far I can make it each day. The trail was decent today with a few smaller hills and some rocky sections that required me to slowly pick my way through as I looked for a flat spot to put my injured foot down. I saw a few section hikers and three SOBOs but no other NOBO hikers. It rained on and off today. I had expected this so I brought my slightly heavier Marmot raincoat which works better than the lighter frogg togg coat I've been using. I also packed a dry shirt, shorts, and socks inside a drybag along with correctly using the trash bag liner in my pack. It was nice to arrive here at the shelter and change into dry clothes. It got dark about 30 minutes ago and I'm the only one here. The rain is pouring down and there have been a few loud and close lighting strikes. I'm very glad to be warm and dry as I'm eating my lentils and mashed potatoes for dinner. I wanted to shout out to those of you who are following my journey but who haven't sent any comments to me through my guest book. No need to say anything yet... I just want you to know that I appreciate your interest even though you're trying to be somewhat anonymous : )
Date: 2016-04-27
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 5.0

I was so excited today to reach Rockfish Gap, the Southern end of Shenandoah Park. The reason is that this past fall and winter I hiked almost the entire Shenandoah Park, West Virginia, and most of Maryland. So after hiking 540 miles from Erwin, TN to here I'm going to jump up to a point on the trail that is six miles shy of Pennsylvania. This will put me at the North end of all the miles I've hiked so far.
Date: 2016-04-28
From: Timber Hollow Overlook

To: Pinacle Picnic Area 
Miles today: 6.1

I'm on my way home to see my wife for a few days then I'm going to jump up almost to Pennsylvania which is the furthest North point on the trial that I've hiked. I know that this totally makes me somewhat of a section hiker rather than the much more illustrious sounding thru hiker that I tend to think of myself as, but what the heck. I'm hiking my own hike with an injured leg and foot so what matters is that it works for me : ) I made a stop in Shenandoah Park late today to finish up a 20 mile stretch that I missed last Winter due to a snow storm that closed Skyline Drive. I didn't start hiking until 5:30 pm so I only made it 6 miles today and plan to finish up the rest tomorrow. I'm stealth camping in a picnic shelter tonight which is most likely not allowed or encouraged. Since I arrived at 9 pm and plan to leave early in the morning hopefully I won't end up having a late night conversation with any park rangers. It feels weird sleeping here even though it's close to having the three walls of a shelter around me.
Date: 2016-04-29
From: Pinacle Picnic Area 

To: Elk Wallow Wayside
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Here's one of the signs used to close trails in Shenandoah during the wildfire. I drove past this in my car and thought it was interesting to see - I'm hiking well North of the fire area. Rainy out today and I had quite a few moments when I wondered if filling in this little piece of trail I had missed previously was worth it. No views, just all rainy and foggy. I decided to get er done, put my head down and hiked along. When I got to the signpost indicating Elk Wallow Wayside was just .1 miles down a side trail I managed to turn the wrong way. I was in a hurry since I was trying to get there before the wayside closed. My thoughts were that if I go there when it was open this would make it easier for me to hitch a ride 20 miles South back to my car. I walked much further than .1 miles before deciding to turn back and look at the sign again. Ah Ha ! I went the wrong way which is actually a fitting end at this point. You see, when I first started from here last fall I left Elk Wallow Wayside and somehow walked right by this same signpost without making the turn from the side trail onto the AT. So I started out lost and ended up lost : ) So I got something to eat and then went out to the road to see if I could hitch a ride. After 20 minutes without a single car driving by in the fog I decided to call the cab company listed in AWOLs guidebook. They hit me up for $90 but I didn't want to spend the night there so I agreed to pay it (and wait an hour for them to get there)The driver had never been in the park before and had no idea where the wayside was. He was told that I would be waiting on a picnic bench out back so he was driving from one spot to the next and honking his horn each time he saw another picnic bench. After hearing various far away honks in the fog he finally pulled into the lot.While driving me he asked if I was into science and went on to explain how he's been watching "all these videos" on YouTube that explain why the world is really flat and how the government faked the moon landings... Really... ? Are we there yet?
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Annapolis MD

To: Annapolis MD
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was really special for me. My wife put together a "1000 Miles on the AT" party for me and I had a chance to celebrate with family and friends. She made sure everyone had a glass of champagne and then made an incredibly nice toast to me. She explained the story of how I was injured just over three years ago, the incredible pain I went through, and the challenges I had in getting off the oxycontin pain killers I was taking. Then she shared how I saw the movie "Wild", read a few AT books and started talking about hiking the Appalachian Trail. She explained how she thought this highly unlikely including the doubts brought up when I aborted my four mile flat ground test hike after going just over one mile because my leg was hurting me so much. She explained how I went down to Georgia and started anyway, hiking just 2.5 miles the first day. And how since then I've managed to hike a total of 1057 miles on the Appalachian Trail so far. I had tears in my eyes when she asked me to say a few words. It's been a long but absolutely amazing journey. And every step I've taken has been based on hope.Hope that I'll get better someday. Hope that I'm able to accept that I may never get completely better.Hope that I can grab on to each moment and enjoy it no matter what challenges I'm faced with. So here's what I have to say:Joanna - you are the most incredible, beautiful person I've ever met. Thank you so much for supporting my idea of hiking the AT. By the time I finish (assuming I do) I'll have been away from home for almost an entire year. That takes a very special wife and I'm blessed to be be Joanna's husband. For my kids - thank you so much. I love the plaque you got me and the texts you send while I'm hiking give me a boost each time that I get them. Last, but not least, I really do appreciate you - for reading my journal, for following along on my journey, for all of the encouragement that you give me. You see, whenever I have a tough day, or a big hill to go up, I think of you. I'm too proud (or something) to give up with you watching me. So I keep going, and I'm loving most all of it : )
Date: 2016-05-04
From: Raven Rock Rd

To: Campsite 1 Mile North of Pen Mar Park
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I started out early from the house in Annapolis today leaving at about 7 am. By the time I had stopped by to see my parents in Frederick, driven up into Pennsylvania, parked four days up the trail and shuttled down to my start point it was already past 1:30 pm. I began hiking today at Raven Rock Rd which is the furthest point North that I made it while section hiking the stretch from Shenandoah through West Virginia and most of Maryland during this past fall and winter. The trail started out with a nice up hill but before long was reasonably making it's way through the last six miles of Maryland woods that I would be seeing. While I was home I created an excel sheet that tallied up all my hiking days so far this year. Here's what I came up with:Total days hiking: 58Total days off (resting or visiting family) : 31Average miles per hiking day: 9.7 milesAverage distance traveled per day including rest days: 6.3 milesAt this pace it's going to be tight for me to get up to Maine and make it to the top of Katahdin before the mountain closes sometime in mid October. So, my plan was to get in at least 10 miles a day and preferably make it 12 miles or maybe a bit more each day. The trouble today was that with my late start I was running out of daylight and I didn't really want to be night hiking on a section that can get a bit rocky at times. When I stopped at Pen Mar park to get water to carry along with me for dinner I realized that my collapsible canteen was leaking. I've recently replaced this so it's a bit frustrating to see the new one leaking so soon. Oh well...I decided to stop at Pen Mar Park to make my dinner right there by the water spigot. A gentleman walked by and upon learning that I was a thru hiker (of sorts) cheered me on wishing me good luck. After dinner I walked another mile passing the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania and as it was getting dark out, decided to set up my tent at a site near a stream. I'm the only one here and it's nice to be close enough to be able to hear the water rushing down the creek bed. I am, however, somewhat disappointed to discover that my air mattress is no longer able to hold air.While I was home for my 1,000 miles on the AT party I had noticed our cat doing something to my thermo-rest pad but somehow optimistically convinced myself that it would be fine. It's not. In fact, it's completely flat on the ground. Now I'm trying to convince myself that it's really not that bad to sleep on the ground... didn't cowboys sleep out on the ground all the time?So I'm feeling like my happy little tent has a flat tire. I hope I'm able to sleep ok.