morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-29
From: Jenkins Shelter 

To: Jenny Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: light rain

After a quick and easy five miles to the Laural Creek crossing there was the best kind of surprise. Folks from the Appalachian Trail Outreach Mission were inviting hikers to breakfast, as they have Monday mornings during thru hiking season for ten years. Home cooked food (even homemade maple syrup), fresh fruit, cookies and treats for the trail. I looked for my twin in their album from 2004, she apparently did not pass through on a Monday but I did recognize some of her companions. Thank you ATOM! Even the rain afterword did not take away the trail magic sparkle.As is often how things work out, today was a choice between stopping too soon and too late. I opted for the latter, promising Feet a surprise if they did what they are told for a couple of days. Happily, the trail was smooth and I reached the shelter well before dusk.When I arrived I was surprised to find an empty shelter - they have been running beyond full the last few days. A few more folks showed up after dark, but still unusual
Date: 2013-04-30
From: Jenny Creek Shelter 

To: Woods Hole Hostel 
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I got an early start and did not linger at Trent's Market (where I had a package from home waiting) in hopes of arriving at the hostel at a reasonable hour. The trail was a bit rougher and a bit steeper than yesterday but no rain and moderate temperatures helped. The last couple of miles went through a week-old controlled burn. They managed to keep the trail itself from burning which was nice, it is no fun hiking through a burn and ending up soot from toes to nose.I reached the hostel later than I hoped but earlier than I feared. Even after a shower (my seventh of the trip) I was only a bit late for dinner, which was well worth the long day.
Date: 2013-05-01
From: Woods Hole Hostel 

To: Woods Hole Hostel 
Miles today: 0.0

There, Feet. A whole day off and two nights in the same bed for the first time since leaving Oregon six weeks ago. Other than the normal hostel tasks (laundry and eating everything not nailed down - did I mention that this particular hostel does food exceptionally well?). It was even guilt free, after breakfast it rained (I'd hate to take a day off in good hiking weather). I spent most of the day splicing the WPB fabric from home I picked up at Trent's yesterday onto my rain gaiters. They are now breathable, wide enough to pull on over my boots, and (most important) long enough to stop the rain from pouring off my poncho sraight down into my boots.Breakfast was at the hostel but more than a dozen of us packed into cars and went to dinner at a Korean restaraunt in town, where the proprietor did her best to impress us. The food was super (and plentiful enough for hikers to leave some on the table, which is remarkable). Tomorrow bright and early, back to the trail.
Date: 2013-05-02
From: Woods Hole Hostel 

To: Rice Field Shelter 
Miles today: 17.2

Back to business, ten miles to Pearisburg and then town chores. To the Post Office to mail home odds and ends I don't need with the new cell phone, and Food Lion to buy real food to eat for the next five or six days. And just for completeness, the 6.99 Chinese buffet at Lucky Star. My first AYCE experience of the hike, the food was nothing like the caliber of the Korean feast last night, but quantity has a quality all its own. I probably do not have to worry about a calorie deficit today.I really felt like finding a good spot to stretch out for a nap, but did manage a few more miles. The Rice Field Shelter is just off a clearing on top of the ridge west of town, great views in both directions, it is one of the nicest locales on the trail so far.Low this morning was 47, it is not quite summer yet.
Date: 2013-05-03
From: Rice Field Shelter 

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Another nice hiking day. The morning flew by, followed by a short break at The Captain's. He offers free camping (and cold drinks) to hikers, across a river spanned by a steel cable and bosun's chair.I've been admiring the tiny wild iris for a couple weeks but none have been particularly photogenic. Today they were in clumps all over the trail. Once again, the shelter of choice was a bit far, but just doable by daylight. There was even one spot left (the most crowded shelter I've seen in a week or so). Even better, rumor has it the rain forecast for the weekend is now unlikely.Hi yesterday 82, low 42
Date: 2013-05-04
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Not the most mellow five miles out of the box, but there was trail magic in a cooler near the top, courtesy of Special K and Super Dave. At Laurel Creek Shelter was cake, left by a hiker celebrating five hundred miles, and in the early afternoon more cold drinks, courtesy of who was maintaining trails. On the climb out I met a pair of his fellow trail maintainers, and the sawyer was Super Dave, so I had the rare opportunity to thank him in person for the morning's cached trail magic.The afternoon was interesting, along a ridgetop form by bedrock lifted and tilted. For a mile or more the trail was a slab of rock tilted not quite steep enough to be dangerous. The view from all along the ridge were remarkable. Good hiking, but probably no fun when wet and definitely a bad spot to be when the lightning starts. It turns out the ridge is a stretch were the trail follows the eastern divide, between the Atlantic and Gulf watersheds.Although there is some disagreement about starting time, forecasts are uniformly bad. I opted to stop a bit short at a shelter, if it rains by morning having a dry tent outweighs the two or three extra miles I'd have gotten.Hi yesterday 76, low 47
Date: 2013-05-05
From: Niday Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Contrary to forecast, it was the first bright sunny morning in a while. Even better, although things started with a stiff climb, the treadway was awesome, smooth and deeply padded with pine needles and leaf mold.Actually, two climbs for the day - to the Audey Murphy memorial and then Cove Mountain and the Dragon's Tooth. The ridge on Cove was rugged, the broken backside of a nearly vertical slab of rock. The highlight was the descent from Dragon's Tooth. Very steep, and big rock. Not a lot of exposure, but it felt like bouldering for a full mile.The clouds closed in mid-day and coincidentally when the rain began a hostel was near at hand. Although it was only 3pm and not quite seventeen miles and I'm not long out of Wood's Hole, doing another six to eight in the rain was less and less appealing. Two tie breakers -an opportunity to charge everything for real, and a Virginia icon, the Homeplace restauraunt. I checked off the "have a nice meal" twice just a few days ago, the alternative involves rain . . . . Up the road it is. Dinner was awesome, all my batteries are happy, and my stuff remains dry. There are much worse ways to end a day.Hi 78 low 45
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

A very Rainy Day. I like hiking in the rain, so long as it is not too cold or too hard. It is certainly bringing out the leaves, the green tunnel is finally taking shape.This is actually one of the busier parts of the trail, with more than the usual number of landmarks. Yesterday it was the Kieffer Oak (largest tree on the southern half of the trail) and the Dragon's Tooth. Today's icon was McAfee's Knob, probably the fourth most popular portrait spot on the trail (after Springer, Katahdin, and the ATC headquarters). The rain stopped just long enough to oblige, but the thirty second timer on the camera was not nearly long enough to move across the wet rock and get into the classic, feet dangling over the edge pose. The backdrop was a bit plain, the knob was well into the cloud deck.No view from Tinker's Cliffs either, and the trail had a lake here and there.I called it a day at Lamberts Meadow, with nearly ten miles into town and no camping permitted between here and there. A dry shelter in the rain trumps almost anything else.Hi 66 low 45
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Daleville Howard Johnsons
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: moderate rain

So about the time I admitted it was morning and was up and about, the rain began in earnest. Oh, and lightning now and then. I sat and watched the rain, packed, and eventually set out when it slacked some at 8:30.It would have been a nicer trip in good weather. There were a number of what had to be good overlooks. As it was, it seemed every time the trail found its way to a knife edge of rock at the top of the ridge, cue the lightning. To be fair, it was pretty infrequent and likely all cloud to cloud - I wasn't super concerned to be on high rock. The eeriest thing was passing under the high tension power lines crackling in the rain.On the way down the ridge the trail was a stream as often as not but the climax was just before town. The trail literally was a river, a couple feet deep and dozens across. My boots were damp, but after much care over two days of rain, still not really wet. OK, now they were REALLY wet. The first thing by the trail in town is HoJo's, and I stopped under an awning to pour out my boots, wring my socks, and consider my options. A, get town chores done fast and get seven miles to the next shelter, or B, get a room, shower, get everything washed and dry, and do town chores impersonating a human rather than a fragrent, feral throwback. B it is.Cleaning out Pizza Hut's AYCE salad bar, mailing my winter quilt home, and getting a week's worth of food at Kroger took me into the evening.
Date: 2013-05-08
From: Daleville

To: Bobletts Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5

Day 48 Daleville to Bobblets Gap Shelter 18.5miThe breakfast at HoJo's wasn't great but the price was right (free) and available at 6am. The eggs tasted real, biscuits and gravy, and waffles to get through the morning on. It rained of course, but mostly drizzle. The streams were beyond full, most well above the stepping stones.Mid afternoon the trail met up with the Blue Ridge Parkway (which, along with Skyline Drive is sort of the AT for cars). For many hikers this is a non-descript section with awkward resupply, but for me it is like seeing one of my oldest friends. Somewhere I have a photo of the Taylor Mountain Overlook from 1979, when I was a newly graduated Machinist's Mate driving to my first permanent duty station in Orlando. I'd been to most of the mountains in the northern half of the west (which are, to be fair, very cool) but they have nothing quite like these two roads, which let you drive sedately from one end of the mountains to the other, watching nature unfold. I drove the route five years later as a newly commisioned Ensign and have been through several times since. I never tire of these mountains, and my drives through them have often marked watershed moments in my life. The idea of walking the route is very appealing, and probably the biggest reason I am walking the trail.Anyhow, enough reflecting, the sun is out, and time to get on with the evening routine.
Date: 2013-05-09
From: Bobletts Gap Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: scattered clouds

What a nice morning, for a change. Not a particularly fast start because so many things needed their picture taken. To the west the James River valley was filled with low clouds, the hills sticking through like islands on a white sea.My last avocado went for lunch, along with an apple from a section hiker and trail maintainer "I carry fruit because I know I should, but I never eat it." Technically I am carrying a lot of fruit also, but it is all dried and fresh is always a treat.The day wrapped up with a climb above 4200 feet, it turns out that no matter how far the leaves have come in the valleys, it is still winter on the ridgetops.Tomorrow I cross the James River, hopefully it is no longer flooded.Hi 66 low 57
Date: 2013-05-10
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Once again, cool cloud views early in the morning, and once again the thunderstorms did not get organized. A big descent from 3900 to 600ish, so it is springtime again. The rhododendrons are just beginning to bloom and the butterflies are out in gangs, which is very, very cool.The trail crosses the James in the boonies, no trail town here. Quite the bridge though.Once again, shelters are too soon and too late. I opted for too soon, I have mending and the weekend is here. From the look of trail parking lots, the next shelter may well be full of locals. Sixty percent odds of thunderstorms tonight, and I'd rather sleep inside. With luck, even if rain comes tomorrow, it should mean the end of the wet spell and harbinger of good weather for a few days. Here's hoping.I should note that along with the leaves and flowers, the bugs are now out in force. Someone in the shelter tonight pulled a deer tick . . .Hi 86 low 51
Date: 2013-05-11
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Cow Camp Gap
Miles today: 23.9
Weather: light rain

Nice morning, and nice 2500 foot climb to great views. Oddly, this side of the ridge had zip for flowers. Enough sprinkles mid morning to get out the poncho, then good weather, broken clouds and temps good for hiking.Nice enough that I went long, with mixed results. You see, about 200 feet from the top of 4000 foot Bald Knob, the thunder began. A small but busy cell working its way up the next ridge west. When the wind hit, sitting on a log (well away from any fragile looking trees) until the worst passed seemed the polite thing to do. Unfortunately, as I approached the summit, another cell working its way up my ridge reached critical mass. Oops. Night on Bald Mountain. I got across the summit before things got too energetic, and called it a day in the next gap.
Date: 2013-05-12
From: Cow Camp Gap

To: Harpers Creek Shelter
Miles today: 24.4
Weather: clear sky

The weather today was like you would look for if you were flying a kite in the midwest in March - clear, cool, breezy, sunny, and dry. Superb hiking weather. The highlight today was the view east from the Priest. That side of the mountain is a cliff that drops three thousand feet to the piedmont. It is the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge, everything beyond looks flat and it is as though you can see to Raleigh. There actually are things out there they call mountains, but they might be a few hundred feet rather than a few thousand. After so long if the middle of the mountains, it is odd to see anything else.Rumor has it the forecast is for 30 tonight. Oops. If it is that cold, I may sleep late . . .Hi 77, low 42
Date: 2013-05-13
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well it turned out to be 45 this morning rather than 30, which did not bother me a bit. Lots of viewpoints and overlooks today, but they were not gained for free. There were also lots of stiff, rocky climbs and descents. It was a more typical morming than yesterday (which was very dry). Lately the fog has barely lifted at dawn and so an early climb is sweaty, clammy work even in cool morning air.After taking an awfully long time getting up and down the first mountain (especially when shooting for a shelter 22 miles away) I reached a BRP overlook and stopped to dump trash and put hummus in a tortilla. As I was leaving a passing driver asked if I was thru hiking, and would I like some trail magic? Would I! A bottle of Gatorade and some chocolate later, the day looked much brighter. The magician was a trail maintainer and PCT and AT thru hiker on her way to check her section and leave a cooler of hiker goodies out.This trail magic stuff is powerful. Before it was breezy, damp, and cold but next thing you know, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and it was a great hiking day.I got 3G near the shelter and NOAA says frost and 34 degrees. Awkward, since I've sent my winter stuff home (later than most) I get iffy below 40. Although the shelter is large and more r than half empty, the tent buys me five or six degrees so up it goes. Worse, my trusty balaclava somehow slipped its leash yesterday. I had enough daylight to get to work with the needle and thread, to cobble together a replacement out of powerdry I brought to replicate dirty girls if I could not find any. So long as it stays above 30 I should be comfortable. Hi 85 low 45
Date: 2013-05-14
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: clear sky

The thermometer bottomed at 36, 42 inside the tent so I slept well.A very nice walk to Rockfish Gap, the last half mile punctuated by the aroma of kettle corn. Very good Kettle Corn. Mama's appears to be no more (alas, no hot dogs or hamburgers) but an enterprising soul has set up a trailer, with everything needed for kettle corn artistry and darn good fresh pork rinds. With pop and ice cream, enough to get me through to dinner.The park is as I remember it, high meadows and scrub and wooded slopes. The next shelter is about a thousand miles on, so Feet get a break.I am alone in a shelter for ten, there was a note in the register about a return of the Plague, the Hot Springs norovirus outbreak and everyone else opted to tent. I am being careful, but the shelter looks low risk. Oh, and there is bear sign about.High 76 low 36
Date: 2013-05-15
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: clear sky

OK, that was a bit of a haul. It is possible to camp between shelters in the park, but good sites are rare and the rules manifold.It seems all I talk about is weather and trail conditions. How about food? I am 165 miles out of my last resupply and have at least three more days in the can, which borders on absurd. It Kroger's fault, back in Daleville. They had mini carts instead of hand baskets, and when you aren't actually carrying your stuff its harder to tell how much you have. The first sign I may have gone a bit overboard was when the bill came to $60. Oops. Of course since I mailed home my winter quilt, I not only had room for everything but had a drybag to put it in.For me, there are actually three kinds of food. Real food, that I eat in the morning and evening, actual thought out, nutritious meals. I actually have enough real food to just make Harpers Ferry. Next is the high calorie junk food that gets you thru the hiking day. One reason for the excess in Daleville is that I bought a lot of reasonably healthy stuff. In a pinch though, whatever snack cakes and candy bars the convenience store or gas station or whatever will do. Things may tend to sketchy for a bit, I'm not sure I want to take the time to go down into town to a real store just to cover a few days.The last kind of food is of course town food. AYCE buffets and pizza rank high, but anything with calories you can't take on the trail will do.Hi 92 low 57
Date: 2013-05-16
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

With only twenty miles between today's huts, it was a pretty mellow day. Clouds in the morning, haze/smog in the valleys, and very light rain in the afternoon made pictures a bust, but some days it is OK just to go from point A to B. I spent a lot more time than usual chatting, lots of hikers and picnickers to talk to. I only Yogi'd a handful of baby carrots, it is hard to be good when someone asks "would you like some food?"Picnic areas are great, not only did I get to offload trash, but could get water with no filtering required. Eight or nine days from the last town, you start to appreciate the little things.Hi 92 low 57
Date: 2013-05-17
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 26.8
Weather: overcast clouds

A bit of a stretch today - everything north of the park is out of synch with the shelter sequence I've used, since I took the lazy approach to the problem at th south end, I am pushing a bit to make ends meet up here.I think today was probably the best part of the park. After breakfast at the Big Meadow Wayside (well, technically two breakfasts, but who's counting?) the trail north was carved by the CCC into the cliffs overlooking the Shenandoah valley. Franklin Cliffs, Hawkbill, Skyland, the Pinnacle, and so on. Tough hiking but worth it.I have the shelter to myself. The only occupant of the last shelter was one of the victims of the revived stomach virus, more incentive to push a bit. If all goes well, tomorrow is the Front Royal Hostel.Hi 85 low 57
Date: 2013-05-18
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Front Royal Hostel
Miles today: 22.7

Serious fog in the morning, and the rain began at 7:30. I ran across a young bear just before the Elkwallow wayside, and got video this time. The rest of the day was fine, but largely just putting in the miles.The Front Royal Hostel is great; my stuff and I are clean and dry, and after much pizza and ice cream, no longer at risk of wasting away. Even my batteries are happy. Tomorrow is another (rainy) day.Hi 65, low 59
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Front Royal Hostel

To: Dick's Dome Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

Another damp, foggy day. The actual rain stopped about 8:30 but every tree has gallons of water on its leaves, and each breath of wind rearranged it all to a hiker's detriment.It wasn't bad, really, cool and not wet enough to be ugly. Its great for the plants, I saw the first wild berries of the trip, a clutch of wild strawberries. For reasons I will leave at rest, this may be the last I speak of berries this hike.I ran across (literally, she was sprawled across the trail) a botany afficianado sketching a tiny orchid - her opinion is this is the prettiest time for the Virginia woods.I did not notice when I aimed for this shelter that it only holds four, one of the smallest on the trail. Fortunately, there were only two people (and a border collie) here before me.Tomorrow, hopefully, is another hostel, full of pizza and ice cream. There was a scale at last night's digs - the concensus was it read five pounds low. I hope that is true, in any event I can pretty much eat pizza and ice cream ad infinitum until I either finish or drastically cut my mileage.Hi 64, low 59
Date: 2013-05-20
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: light rain

There is a certain joy in being the first on the trail, in an inch or two of new snow early on a clear crisp morning. When the trail is lined with tall grass heavy with dew, and festooned with the night's crop of spider webs, not so much. Its great to meet the first person coming south, so I can stop brushing dew away and gathering cobwebs with my staff.The afternoon was the first three quarters of the Roller Coaster, thirteen miles of closely packed hills. Not bad, but enough work I resisted hiking beyond the hostel. The scale here agrees with the last one - this ATC operated hostel includes pizza and ice cream, and I can use all of those I can get.Hi 73 today 72 low 64