morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: light rain

No alarm this morning. Everyone in the shelter had walked almost 20 miles yesterday (including us!) - there wasn't any rush to rise early. Shortly after we began to hike the trail became littered with rocks. We walked for an hour and fifteen minutes over the rocks. It was tough, slow walking. But for every down there is an up. The up was the beautiful forest with a carpet of knee-high ferns. As we drew closer to tonight's shelter the trail was surrounded by mountain laurel trees. The blossoms perfumed the air. The greenness of the forest was broken up by the striking bright orange flowers of the azaleas.There was quite a mixture of people at the shelter: a young German couple, a couple with a young golden lab, and at least half a dozen other hikers. The sunniest of them all was a young hiker named Polly. She was determined to end the day with a night hike to the next shelter. Some of the hikers began to tell bear stories. Guardian talked about a television report he'd seen where the black bears of Yosemite who were breaking into cars were chased away by Bernese Mountain dogs. Soon more hikers began drifting into camp. Polly would ask them, "Hey, would you like to go for a night hike?" Then she would look at us with a twinkle in her eye and ask each hiker, "Say, can you bark like a Bernese Mountain dog?" She didn't get any takers. The hikers were more interested in cooking and eating their suppers and setting up camp. Her strategy was to play her harmonica badly, sing loudly, and flick her taser on and off occasionally. She demonstrated her taser for us. The zapping noise sounded like a condenser of a gazillion volts on steroids! She left the camp alone at 8:30. About 40 minutes later she rushed back into camp telling us that she had seen five bears. The first was a sow with her three cubs. The bears did not turn around to get away from her singing or harmonica-playing and she forgot all about her taser! She told us, "They looked at me as if to say, 'You get out of here - we live here!' and they're right, I'm just passing through their home." She turned around, but before she got to the shelter she saw a large male black bear. That's when she ran all the way back. She told us that her desire to night-hike was over. "Never again." she declared!
Date: 2013-06-06
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: moderate rain

We woke up at 4am to rain on the roof of the shelter. We got up quite early but waited until 9am for the rain to slow down a bit. Still, we left in a pretty good rain. The creeks were running high and were quite muddy. In the early going we got wet but after our lunch stop the heavy rain turned to a steady drizzle.For a full hour we walked through pastures. We climbed up and down at least six stiles to get over the fences. The views from the pastures were lovely - small acreages and farms. Some of the pastures that we could see were on the sides of steep hills. Again we wondered, "How can those cows not lose their balance and roll down the hill?"We passed by the Keiffer Oak which is the largest oak tree on the southern Appalachian Trail, over 18 feet around. It's over 300 years old.This shelter is about 700 feet below the trail and is .4 miles from the trail. It will be a long, steep climb out in the morning. When we arrived, there were two hikers, Yodi and Uke, who had spent a zero day here. Uke asked, "Hey, do you want to see something weird?" Then he lifted up his shorts to reveal what appeared to be two insect bites on his upper thigh. The upper bite was surrounded by a huge dark red, swollen circle of inflammation. Guardian thought they appeared to be spider bites. Uke was certainly having an allergic reaction to them. During that time ten more hikers came into the shelter - all of them were given a view of what were now being described as Uke's spider bites. Polly stated, "That thing is going to burst and out from it will emerge thousands of baby spiders!" Guardian added that the baby spiders would imprint on Uke and think of him as their Dad. "I can see it now. Uke walking down the Appalachian Trail followed closely by an army of spiders!" After supper one of the hikers asked, "Has anyone heard a weather report for tomorrow?" Another hiker answered, "It's supposed to be 85% worse than today." (So what does that mean?)As we snuggled down into our sleeping bags we were serenaded by Yodi playing his small travel-size guitar.
Date: 2013-06-07
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: moderate rain

Looking at the map profile for today and listening to other hikers' predictions we expected a downhill walk this morning. We started out in the rain but pretty soon the rain stopped and we were just two hikers hiking in the mist. Our guidebook indicated that there would be several viewpoints this morning. The clouds were thick and we could not see beyond the trees below us. When we reached the ridge we found that we were walking along big rocks. Some of the rocks were very slanted and slimy so it was an exciting walk and it was not downhill.We passed a sign for the Eastern Continental Divide - 1920 miles to the Gulf of Mexico and 405 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. In the afternoon we came upon the Audie Murphy Memorial. Audie Murphy was an infantryman in WWII. He was the most decorated U.S. soldier in war. He was best known for singlehandedly capturing a large number of German soldiers. The memorial was very touching. People had built a wall around the memorial with rocks picked up from around the trail. Messages were written on the rocks. There were small American flags, coloured bracelets, and embroidered patches from fire stations. In 1971 Audie Murphy died in a plane crash near the memorial site.At supper tonight Angel was eating her dessert, a package of M&Ms, when she dropped a bright red M&M on the ground. She said, "Oh darn" and continued eating. Polly, who was sitting next to her said, "Is she really just going to leave that on the ground? Should I ask if I can have it, or should I just take it? Don't mind me, I'm just thinking out loud." Angel said, "Go for it." Polly snatched it up off the ground and ate it!As entertainment before we went to bed, Uke, whose spider bites continued to swell, read to us with great southern vernacular from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer.
Date: 2013-06-08
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: light rain

After supper last night the skies cleared a bit and we could see blue sky. Unfortunately by early morning a heavy rain began to fall. By 8am everyone in the shelter was awake and preparing to head out in the rain. but what's this?! Blue sky! When we started to hike we knew it was going to be a lovely day. It is so-o-o nice to hike without a rain jacket and bonus - to have dry feet.According to the guidebook we were going to pass by a monolith named Dragon's Tooth. We climbed and descended several times and then began to pick our way through large rocks again. We felt like we were walking along the dragon's spiny back from the tail to towards the head! The Dragon's Tooth was definitely a landmark. Since it was Saturday there were many, many day hikers on the trail. We didn't climb all the way to the narrow top; that would have been terrifying - but we got up high enough to take in a great view of the valley below. After so many days of rain where we could not see any views at all it was a real treat to enjoy the sunny view of the valley below and the mountains layered in the distance .Now came the exciting part - going down from the top. There were metal ladder rungs in the rock and a lot of rock scrambling involved. It was slow going. We were glad we are of average height because some of the drops from ledge to ledge would be challenging with short legs!Tonight we are camped in a grassy area at Four Pines Hostel. The owner, Joe, drove us to The Homeplace in Catawba. This is a beautiful home on acreage that is actually a restaurant. It's an AYCE (All You Can Eat) restaurant. The rooms of the house have tables of different sizes. Depending on the size of your dinner group you are taken to a table in a room on the first or second floor. There was a group of at least 40 people who were dining together, a family Grad party, and several birthday celebrations as well. Our waitress told us that when the restaurant is fully occupied they can serve 300 people. We noticed that every waitress wore athletic shoes - good thing because they were really moving around and carried huge trays over one shoulder. The food was served home style i.e. serving bowls of vegetables. Every once in a while the waitress would come by to check which serving bowls needed refilling. What a feast! We're not going to bed hungry tonight.Back at the hostel we met up with Uke. He had made his way to the hostel and was in obvious discomfort. High Tide, a retired nurse, examined his leg and told him that he should see a doctor immediately. Our host, Joe, drove Uke to a hospital. They didn't return to the hostel until 4am.
Date: 2013-06-09
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Daleville
Miles today: 0.0

The Four Pines Hostel was a good place to stay except...our tarp tent was pitched right next to the chicken coop. At 3am the first of many loud 'cock-a-doodle-dos' awoke us. Every 15 to 20 minutes, till we finally got up at 6am, we were both thinking the same thing - a little rooster stew might be in order! When Angel saw High Tide taking down their tent, High Tide told her, "I feel like I've been run over by the same truck several times!" Later the rooster emerged from the chicken coop. It was just a little bit of a thing! Angel remarked, "How can a little thing like that make so much noise?" Guardian replied, "Maybe he crows so often and so loudly to compensate for being so small."The hostel is actually a three bay garage that is filled with easy chairs, sofas, a stove, and tables. After eating outside we went inside to wash our breakfast things. Uke was awake and called out to us to come over and told us about his late night visit to Urgent Care. He had convinced one of the nurses to video the procedure that the doctor undertook to drain his two abscesses. He gave us his phone and warned us, "Hope you don't have weak stomachs." The doctor used a scalpel to incise a deep cut about two inches long to empty and clean the abscess. Uke is sure that his video will be a YouTube hit!We headed off down the road to walk the .3 miles to the trailhead. For the last several days Guardian has been bothered by a corn between his toes. When we were walking through all the rocks a few days ago he found that with the uneven ground his shoes were twisting and the corn was causing a lot of pain. He began clenching his toes to stabilize his foot movement. This created abrasions on the pads of his other toes that became open wounds. As he limped down the road we both thought about what we had just watched on Uke's phone. Chances of more rain were imminent. Opportunities to stay clean were nill. How wise was it to be heading off with the possibility of worsening the condition of his foot or, worse case scenario - flirting with infection? We decided to take some time off the trail in Daleville to allow for healing.We continued walking down the road to hitch hike into town. A gentleman stopped and asked us where we were headed. When we told him Daleville he said that he was going to go the other way on the interstate. Then he said, "Oh I've got time. Get in and I'll take you there." He drove 18 miles out of his way and dropped us in front of the motel in Daleville!
Date: 2013-06-12
From: Daleville

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

During our stay in Daleville we both replaced our worn out, stinky shoes. Today the tread of the trail felt delightful on our feet! It just so happens that Angel's new hiking shoes and new flip flops are both red in colour. To quote Elvis Costello, "And I won't get any older, 'cause the angels want to wear my red shoes." Guardian's shoes were replaced on warranty so Angel said that made her shoes half price - what a smart shopper!It's only 5pm but already there are five tents set up. We're all moving in slow motion because of the heat and humidity of the day. Many alarms will be set to get up early in the morning to beat the heat.At supper time a hiker named Midway stopped by the shelter, ate a quick snack, and then headed out to hike on for a few more hours. We last saw Midway at Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel way back on May 10th. On that day Midway had just returned from a visit to Emergency to get her foot checked out. She learned that she had a really bad infection and was going to be off the trail taking antibiotics for at least a week. Tonight she told us that she had actually been off the trail for 11 days. She's an amazing hiker - she's caught up to us and has moved on; we won't see her again.
Date: 2013-06-13
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Within 3 miles of the shelter we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first time. At one of the overlooks there was an information sign about the Appalachian Trail. It is maintained by volunteers. Hiking clubs take on the responsibility for maintaining long sections of the trail. Each year older portions of the trail that once went up and over mountain tops and ridges now have switchbacks. Every time switchbacks are added, the trail grows in length. At the lookout we learned from the posted sign..."Begun in 1922. The trail traverses 14 states, including 541 miles in Virginia and over 200 miles in North Carolina. Hikers who complete the trek visit eight national forests and five national park areas." The sign said that the trail length is 2050 miles but it's grown to 2185.9 miles since the sign was posted!Towards the end of our hiking day we were going to hike over Cove Mountain before dropping down to Cove Mountain Shelter. We had heard that there was a thunderstorm predicted for the late afternoon. Tennessee said that he hoped the sounds of thunder were jet airplanes. High Tide and Angel were pretty sure it was the sound of thunder drawing closer. On top of the mountain we met up with Tennessee. He had stopped to put on his rain jacket. We thought that maybe we had another 15 minutes before the rain would start and hiked on past him...we only got about 3 minutes further! Right after we donned our rain gear the storm started. Within minutes the storm was right above us. The lightening flashed and immediately there was a boom of thunder. Later Tennessee told us that it was at that moment he began to run to the shelter. Not being as young and nimble as Tennessee we quickened our steps but we were caught at the top of the mountain in the middle of the storm. There was a second flash and boom and then, thank goodness, the the flashing and booming of the storm moved away. The wind and rain lashed us all the way to the shelter. There were already at least 15 hikers in the 6 person shelter, but we managed to fit in, as did the hikers who came in after us. For an hour and a half we all huddled inside until the rain quit. Then some hikers went on, others set up tents, and 8 of us slept in the shelter. At a road crossing the next morning we met Groan, the husband of Grin. He assists his wife so that she can hike the trail carrying a daypack. He held up a newspaper from Roanoke with a headline about the storm, "70mph winds hit Roanoke. Thousands Without Power". The photo accompanying the article showed a huge downed tree that had fallen on a house, crushing the roof.
Date: 2013-06-14
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: scattered clouds

During the night several more hikers had come to the shelter. When we got up we could see an additional three tents set up, one person was cowboy camping, and one hiker was asleep on top of the picnic table. Thank goodness everyone had weathered the storm.The elevation chart for the trail today showed a lot of uphill - we were dreading it. Happily the switchbacks were well-engineered. For a time the trail followed alongside a cascading stream. Again we hiked through lots of ferns. The Bryant Ridge Shelter was a beautiful structure with a large covered area. This two story shelter could sleep 20!Along the way we met a Ridge Runner. This hiker was walking a section of the trail for her hiking club. We stopped to chat. She asked us if we had concerns or suggestions for parts of the trail that we had just hiked. She was out for four days and was carrying a handsaw to remove small downfall from the trail. Then she makes note of sections requiring crews and more equipment to maintain the trail. Our thanks to all the volunteers and hiking clubs - great job, wonderful trail!Tonight there are only three of us in the shelter: Guardian, Angel, and Tennessee. Out behind the shelter there are three tents. High Tide and Blockade Runner are here too. High Tide was cold and was determined to build a fire. We all watched her get smokier and smokier. Finally Tennessee gave her a tea light to get the kindling going. She survived the smoke and got a pretty good fire burning. Blockade Runner suggested a new trail name for her - Firebug!
Date: 2013-06-15
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

Tennessee has been putting in big mileage days in order to meet up with his family in Waynesboro. It's been awhile since any of us have happened upon any trail magic. Tennessee was fantasizing that today would be the day when we would cross the Blue Ridge Parkway and there would be trail magic - hot dogs, hamburgers...then he got a faraway look in his eyes and he said, "...a turkey sandwich would be nice...with slices of provolone...spicy mustard...honey sesame seed bread... " We all started laughing. Tennessee remarked, "Hey, it just takes one family!"As we walked along the trail we met up with Grin. She had looked up some of the history of this area. She told us that in the late 1800s people found that the soil was perfect for growing tomatoes. Soon there were 19 canneries to handle all the tomatoes being grown locally. Not long after that a tomato blight hit the crops and that was the end of the tomato business.When we reached the top of Apple Orchard Mountain there was a large soccer ball shaped structure put up by the FAA. We learned that this peak at 4225 feet is the tallest on the Appalachian Trail until up in New Hampshire. The trail took us beneath a large rock that is wedged between two even larger rocks. It is named 'The Guillotine' and indeed one did feel a little queasy walking beneath it! When we arrived at Matts Creek Shelter we were greeted by a small group of Boy Scouts and their two leaders. Another hiker named Wings had arrived just before us and was invited to join them for supper. She was giddy with her good fortune - a foil packet of potatoes, carrots, hamburger, onion, seasonings, and cheese. When Wings left to hike a few more miles we sat down to cook our supper. The Boy Scouts had prepared a chocolate brownie cake in a Dutch Oven on the campfire. We were offered some - it was an offer we couldn't refuse! Then one of the Scout leaders helped Guardian start a fire with flint and steel.
Date: 2013-06-16
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: overcast clouds

The walk out of the shelter along Matts Creek was beautiful. The exposed rocks in this area are over 500 million years old. Matts Creek empties into the James River. The bridge over this wide river is the longest footbridge on the Appalachian Trail.After crossing the the footbridge we began a long climb up and away from the river. We were on the trail early when it was not yet so hot and humid as it would be later in the day.We met up with High Tide, Blockade Runner, and Tennessee on the trail. Guardian told Tennessee about meeting the Boy Scouts at the last shelter and said, "It was a lot of fun spending time with the Boy Scouts. They showed us some of the skills they had learned on this outdoor trip. Talking with them reminded me of when I was their age in Boy Scouts. But the real treat was when they made us each a turkey sandwich." Well, Tennessee shot his head forward, his mouth dropped open, and he opened his eyes wide...then he realized he'd been had - gosh, we all laughed ourselves silly.Our intention was to stop at 17.2 miles to camp for the night but we could not find the camp area. Our amended plan was to hike just a few miles further to a camp area noted in our guidebook. Unfortunately that campsite, and the next campsite, had bright yellow signs posted, 'No Camping Here'. Our only choice left was to hike onto the next shelter. Along the way we passed by interpretive signs indicating that this area was once inhabited by a group of freed slaves. The signs talked about ruins of cabins and other artifacts just off the trail. People lived in this community in the Brown Mountain Creek Valley from just after the Civil War until 1918.We hiked all the way to the last shelter before Buena Vista. At 22.2 miles it was our longest day on the trail...so far. Tomorrow we have only 1.8 miles to the road that will take us into town for resupply.
Date: 2013-06-17
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Buena Vista
Miles today: 1.8

We walked through beautiful, moist greenery alongside a stream on our way out to the road. There were red mushrooms and tiny orange newts by the trail. We stood by the road for only a few minutes before being picked up and driven the nine miles into town. We stood outside the car as the driver took article after article from the backseat and moved them to the front passenger seat to make room for us. We sat in the backseat with our packs. After introductions she apologized for all the 'stuff' inside her car. She explained that she is a home care nurse. She travels to and from each patient's residence in her car. Her vehicle is like a second home for her. Over the past four years she has averaged driving 50,000 miles each year. We asked her questions about her job. She told us that she feels good taking care of her patients and helping families deal with the stress of the illness of their family member. In fact, a lot of the 'stuff' she had moved into her front seat was trash from the homes of her patients that she was taking to a dumpster. It's always inspiring to meet someone who likes what she is doing - this lady has found her niche - she is good at what she does and she enjoys what she is doing.Our arrival in Buena Vista was so early that the front desk of the motel office was not yet open. We decided to go next door to the Subway for a second breakfast. At home we enjoy a vegetarian diet. On the trail we don't say no to any food we are offered whether meat or vegetable. We couldn't help ourselves - we ordered a 'Tennessee Special' i.e. a sandwich with turkey breast, provolone, spicy mustard on honey sesame seed bread.Usually when we get into town we spend our time cleaning up, doing laundry, communicating with friends and family, and having a little down time. Today was a little different. The grocery store is a mile away and we could not safely walk to the store. Luckily there is a transit bus you can take for .50 a trip. This sounded great but the bus route took us on a tour of the downtown and residential areas of Buena Vista before heading out to the community college and the grocery store. On the way back the bus headed several miles further from Buena Vista to connect up with the bus serving the neighbouring community, Lexington. Then we returned to the food store and finally back to the motel. Our grocery shopping trip started at 1 p.m. and finished up at 4 p.m.! On the positive side it was relaxing ride through the community and countryside.