morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-09
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Big Meadows
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: few clouds

I love sleeping with the rain-fly off because you get to fall asleep gazing up at the stars. And if you happen to wake up during the night there is a beautiful night sky to stare at instead of just darkness. It¢s perfect.We get up and out pretty early and we take a side trail down to Lewis Falls. It¢s a steep one mile-ish hike down but it is totally worth it. The falls are around 80 feet and drop straight down. You can¢t actually get to the falls, as they are virtually on the side of a cliff, but you see them from an observation spot and they are amazing!We then head up to Big Meadows Lodge where the rest of the gang is. We eat lunch at the Lodge and it¢s wicked good. Then we hung out a picnic area there, relaxing in the shade. Brad and I, along with Kyanite decided to hike down to Dark Hollow Falls, which was maybe 2 miles away, not on the AT. We had only hiked 8 miles today and we were in a National Park¢¦c¢mon, we had to take advantage of seeing the wonders we were surrounded by! I think I would have been upset with myself if I had stayed and been lazy. And so we went. On our way down though, we pass a wayside store so we stop and get ice-cream, finally! (The store we had been at yesterday had lost all their freezer food from a storm that had knocked the power out.) The hike down to the falls isn¢t bad, the worst park is walking a stretch on the road. It is soooo hot out, and the pavement just magnifies it. The falls are actually a series of falls, cascading down the mountainside. You can actually get into some of their pools, as the trail follows right along the edge of the falls. We stop and put our heads under one of the smaller, rushing falls and it is incredibly refreshing. We walk back to the picnic area and gather our things and head to the group campsite that we had reserved. Yup, we decided to stay. I was okay with this lazy part! We set up camp and it looks like tent city at a festival: Brad and I, Kyanite, Sunkist, Busdriver, Sunbeam, Brown Bag, Snackies, Zach, Barakus and Duncan. Quite the group we have going on.We take a much needed cold shower and do some much needed laundry. Brad and I eat dinner with Sunbeam and Brown Bag at the Lodge again. Then the gang goes to the Tap Room to enjoy some booze, and Brad and I head to our tent to enjoy some quiet.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: Big Meadows

To: Pinnacles Picnic Area
Miles today: 12.3

We pack up our gear and head for breakfast at the Lodge one last time. Man, the food there is good and actually not that bad price wise. We buy a newspaper and sit at the picnic area reading it. The Celtics are up 2-0 in the NBA finals. Woo-hoo! We finally head out at about 10:30am. We start out kind of just poking along be we then get up to our normal speed. We go to Skyland, yet another place in Shenandoah to stop and eat. And so we do. We hang out on the grass with our boots off, just relaxing. Sunbeam stops by to chat. We stay here for a bit, avoiding the blazing sun. We hit the Trail again at about 5:30pm. About a mile into our hike we see a deer whose back half of her body is totally white, while the front half is brown! She has two fawns with her and they are absolutely adorable with their white spots and unsteady legs. It¢s crazy that we see them because we heard one of the workers at the Lodge talking about the 12 white deer giving birth just a week or two ago. I can¢t believe we get to meet the famous deer and her family! A short while later we see a bear crashing through the woods and he was moving fast! We just watched in awe. And upward we went to Stony Man, which is the highest point in Shenandoah on the Trail. We hike over Little Stony Man Cliffs and it is great! There are great views of the ridges behind us and the land below us; it¢s beautiful. We have an up and down hike to Pinnacles Picnic Area. Nick and Chase are there and enjoying some Trail magic they had gotten from a family having a picnic there. We were just 10 minutes too late! They do share their hotdogs and hamburgers with Brad and Busdriver. Sadly, there are no veggie burgers! We decide to stay here, under the pavilion cause it looks like it¢s gonna storm. Busdriver wanders around and is given Trail magic from another family that was hanging around at the pavilion. He comes back with nearly 5 pounds of home-made potato salad and s¢more fixing¢s! Jackpot! Oh-earlier in the day as we were leaving the Lodge, a man who thru-hiked in 2005 gave Brad, Busdriver and I all a bottle of Gatorade and assured us we were in good shape to make it to Katahdin. In fact, he was here on this exact date back in ¢05! So, I have potato salad, s¢mores and Gatorade for dinner¢¦and it¢s good!It¢s great having a fire again. Because of the heat, we haven¢t had one in a long time. It¢s been thundering for quite a while and the sky is getting darker. It eventually rains, but only for about 12 hour. It cools off a whole though and it feels so much more comfortable out. Brown Bag and Duncan join our party, as do Professor Long Johns and Mary Poppins. We have a fire and hang out. We sleep right on the floor of the pavilion. We were thinking of sleeping on top the picnic table, but thought better of it just in case we rolled off. It¢s great weather for sleeping - nice and cool - and I¢d hate to ruin it with falling off the table in the middle of my slumber¢¦
Date: 2008-06-11
From: Pinnacles Picnic Area

To: Gravel Spring Huts
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I actually got a slight chill last night, but it was really nice to sleep that way compared to the blistering heat. We heard other people rustling around, but we slept until about 6:30am and were hiking an hour later. We had to put on long sleeved shirts because the temperature and winds made it pretty chilly out. What a difference a day makes! I guess the heat wave has passed, thankfully. For awhile, I was beginning to doubt it would.   We moved right along in the morning weather. We took a snack break at Byrds Nest #3. It¢s weird cause all these ¢Byrds Nests¢ are day shelters, or picnic areas and your not allowed to camp overnight in or around them. This one was made of pretty stone-work and had a fireplace and picnic table inside. It would be a lovely place to stay.We take a short side trail to Mary¢s Rock as some day hikers told us it was the most beautiful view in the Park. Well, it¢s a view of the town below, nothing special at all, we think. It is however, pretty amazing to be that high up looking down on a whole ¢nother world. You sure do feel small¢¦There are some downhills that just kill my poor feet. By the time we get to Elkwallow Wayside my feet are way past needing a break. We get lunch and ice cream and let our feet take a break. Sunbeam has pushed on ahead of us. And the rest of the Snackpackers are moving at their own speed too. We have a 1,000 foot climb but it is gradual is the weather is comfortable so I feel good hiking. As soon as we start the descent, though, my feet throb and go numb. It is painful. On the way to the shelter we talk with Bear Puncher who is a section hiker we met a couple of days ago. We arrive at Gravel Spring Hut after a steep, rocky downhill. The camping here is very poor, as it has been at most of the Hut site in Shenandoah. But, we are able to find a spot and make it work for us. We eat dinner, clean up, hang our bear bag and then we are in our tent before it¢s even dark. It was a long day both physically and mentally for us.
Date: 2008-06-12
From: Gravel Spring Huts

To: Front Royal, Virginia
Miles today: 13.4

We had set Brad¢s watch alarm for 4am with the intentions of getting out early and doing a big day. Well, it went off at 4 and I pretended to not hear anything. Brad must have done the same cause he shut it off real quick. At 5:30am he told me time and asked if I wanted to get up. Again, I pretended that I didn¢t hear a thing. This must have been pleasing to him because he was back to snoring in a matter of seconds. We ended up laying in bed until about 7:30am. We decided we¢d let everyone else pack up and go, and then we¢d start moving. When all was said and done, we were on the Trail at about 9:30am. Brad is not doing well at all. He had the chills and sweats and a burning fever last night and didn¢t sleep well. He is achy and nauseous, too. He took some cold medicine that we had left over, but I don¢t think it is quite what he needed. It is really slow moving as we need to stop and take a break after going just a short distance. We eventually find some groove and Brad starts to hike with a little more ease. We are certainly in no hurry, though. As we have every day in the Park, we see a lot of deer today. One is actually running down the Trail toward us and Brad yells ¢is he gonna charge me?!¢ It was like they were playing a game of chicken and at the last moment the deer runs off into the woods. It was actually kind of scary, and we were both in shock a little bit. The deer in the Park are definitely NOT like the deer in New Hampshire! They are far less afraid of humans.Our last miles in the Park are much like the ones before, real gradual climbs that are quite enjoyable. There seems to be way more downhills though and my feet are screaming. I try loosening the laces around my toe area and that helps, but I am definitely in need of new footwear. The end of Shenandoah National Park is really anti-climactic. No big sign saying goodbye, thanks for coming. There is just a permit registration booth. It¢s kind of sad to me that it just ends in the middle of the woods. But alas, it must end somewhere¢¦We stop by Tom Floyd Wayside, which is actually a shelter. Some were quite disappointed by this as they were expecting a burger joint. Haha! Today is our three month anniversary on the Trail and we decided to head into Front Royal for the night to just regroup. We need to mentally and physically re-charge. At the road crossing we try for about 15 minutes to get a hitch and we don¢t have any luck. Brad is feeling more and more sick so he just calls a cab. It seems to take forever and in the meantime two groups of hikers get hitches in no time. And so I try my luck again, and sure enough I get us a ride in seconds! We head to the Quality Inn where we get a room, shower and then head to McDonalds for a huge feast. I know, off all the choices¢¦we are disgusting!As we head to bed for the night Brad is getting sicker and sicker. This will dictate what happens tomorrow for us¢¦
Date: 2008-06-13
From: Front Royal, Virginia

To: Front Royal, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Friday the 13th. How appropriate. Brad wakes up feeling worse than when he went to bed. He takes some advil and lays back down. I head for the continental breakfast at the hotel. I see Sunkist and Kyanite heading for the Trail. They wish us well, and are keeping their fingers crossed that Brad feels better soon. I also hear that Hi-Lo and Steadfast are heading out today, too. Sunbeam and Busdriver are already gone. And so Brad and I are alone. Our people are gone¢¦I talk to Stumpknocker about Brad and he informs me that the symptoms sound exactly like his when he had Lyme Disease back in 2002. Shit. I run back to the room, we call a cab and head to the ER. I wait while the doctors and nurses poke and prod Brad, all the while praying that it¢s not what we are already sure it is. After a couple hours he comes out. He said they took gallons of blood and urine to run tests on and searched his body for ticks. They didn¢t find any ticks, but that doesn¢t really mean anything. People often don¢t ever find the dirty little demon tick that infected them, or have a bulls eye for that matter. The doctor gave him a prescription for the antibiotic that is used to treat Lyme Disease. It sounds like it is, so no sense waiting days for the test results, may as well start the process now. We drop his script off at the pharmacy, then grab a bite to eat. But, Brad really can¢t stomach anything. We go to a book store and Brad picks out a book to carry on the Trail for a little added entertainment. We stop back at the pharmacy to pick up the goods then back to the hotel to get better. We hope.
Date: 2008-06-14
From: Front Royal, Virginia

To: Front Royal, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a rough, rough night for Brad. He was in and out of bed, throwing up, burning up despite having cold chills and in and out of a cold shower to try to make it all go away. Nothing really works at all though, and he is just feeling awful. We go to the continental breakfast so he can get a little something in his belly. Then we return to the room so he can lay in bed. We are definitely not hiking today. I head to the library to do a little updating on our trail journal. We are so far behind that I don¢t put much of a dent in it at all. It takes so long to do, but that¢s okay, it¢s worth it. Plus I refuse to scimp on it!Back at the hotel I find Brad in virtually the exact spot that I left him. I take a shower then sit down to make a phone call. My parents have a friend that has family down in this area and he let them know we were hiking the AT. They were quite excited about it and wanted to put us up for a little break when we got around. I called to find out what the deal was. This may have been a mistake. When I explain our situation (Brad being sick) this lady insists she should pick us up, put us on a plane and send us home right away. She is quite passionate about Lyme Disease! She even gets her husband on the phone! It¢s a regular old party! Either she¢s yelling at me about the severity of this Disease, or they are arguing with each other! Brad is watching this unravel with a look of utter amusement, and I am struggling to get this odd couple off the phone. In the end, which is 15 minutes later, I say I will call them in a couple days and let them know what we decide. Woo-wee! Then I call my parents who get a kick out of it and choose NOW to tell me that she is the crazy aunt of this family friend! Thanks, but I figured that one out all by myself!I need to get out of this hotel room, and as Brad is feeling a little better we decide to walk down town to get some dinner. We go to Soul Mountain and have one of our best meals yet. Brad is actually able to eat. It starts to rain while we are eating and it continues when we leave so we have to run back to the hotel in torrential downpours. At least we had somewhere solid and dry to go to! That, along with a full belly was a good way to end the day.
Date: 2008-06-15
From: Front Royal, Virginia

To: Front Royal, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy Father¢s Day, Dad!Another icky night for Brad. We wake up and get breakfast at the hotel then lounge around. We get Sherlock¢s phone number as he has a car in Harpers Ferry and is willing to help us out if we need it. He is getting off to go to his brother¢s wedding, so at least we will have one friend around that we might still be able to hike with. Well, that may be dramatic. We may still be able to catch the Snackpackers. Stumpknocker pointed out that the year he got sick and had to stop for a bit was the year that he made the most friends. He started with folks, then got behind, then made a whole new group of friends. It¢s just a waiting game to see what happens. I talk to my family on the phone and then do some laundry here at the hotel. We go and get some lunch then return to the hotel for more lounging around watching television. I get some ice cream, soda and chips and salsa in preparation of the Celtics game tonight. Sunbeam calls to check in; she¢s in Harpers Ferry with the rest of the gang. It was really nice to talk with her. I watch the Celtics game. No luck. Game 6 in Boston. Fingers are crossed.
Date: 2008-06-16
From: Front Royal, Virginia

To: Front Royal, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Brad¢s evenings have slowly been getting better, thankfully. We eat breakfast then watch cheesy TV while we lay in bed. Brad calls the hospital but they won¢t have the results for another 24 hours. We decide to just stay another day and wait and see. It feels like we¢ve had a pretty un-productive last couple days, and I¢ve been going stir crazy! We decide to rent a car and drive to the Outfitter at Harpers Ferry; that way we can get the pocketmail from our mail drop and start using it and I can get new shoes and try to break them in. Brad showers and goes to get the car. It takes about an hour for them to pick him up. He eventually returns with a big white dodge truck, not by choice, it was the only thing they had left. We drive about an hour to Harpers Ferry and hit the Outfitter. I am surprised by how small it is as I had been expecting something bigger. I don¢t find a pair of shoes, but we did pick up the pocketmail and head right back to Front Royal. I immediately try it out and it works like a charm! It is pretty easy to figure out so I get to typing then send it all to my Mom. I call her and walk her through our trailjournal account and she is able to post it without a problem! Woo-hoo! We are so lucky to have her help! I had typed five entries on the hotel computer yesterday and the internet was down, so I couldn¢t post them. Instead I saved them in a word document. Today I printed them out and faxed them to my Mom. She is going to type them and post them for us. Lucky is an understatement!!!We leave the hotel to grab a bite to eat for dinner. When we return I got to put the camera battery away (it had been charging) and I realize the camera is missing. I panic and Brad and I both destroy the room looking everywhere possible. We go to the front desk and report it. There is no manager on duty and the girl working is not so helpful. We go back to our room and call the police. Officer Courtney listens to our story, takes down our information, and promises to do what he can. He suggests checking the pawn shops tomorrow. He is going to find the cleaning lady that did our room yesterday and chat with her. She was the only person who had been in our room in the entire duration of our stay, and it happened to be at the rare moment that both of us were gone¢¦I cry a lot tonight. I am angry and sad and heartbroken. We probably had a couple hundred photographs of our trip on that SD card. And now they¢re gone. Photographs are so personal, so special and so beautiful; they are an incredibly important part of documenting not only trips, but of dreams coming true. I am really sad, really, really sad tonight. This is the most horrible day on the Trail¢¦
Date: 2008-06-19
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: David Lessar Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

I slept terrible last night. I kept tossing and turning and thinking there were huge, nasty spiders crawling above me. It was not a restful sleep at all. I was out of bed and packing up before Brad was even out of his sleeping bag. But even so, when all was said and done, I was not actually ready before him!Our day starts off with the remainder of the ¢rollercoaster¢. After only 3 miles we detour the 0.1 miles to Bears Den Hostel. It is a beautiful stone mansion built back in the 1930¢s as a summer get-sway for some rich Washingtonians. Former thru-hikers live there and act as managers, while the ATC owns it. We stop in for cold sodas and devour a pint of Ben & Jerry¢s. Nothing beats ice cream for breakfast!We hike on, bellies full of soda and ice cream. We cross the Virginia-West Virginia state line. Woo-hoo! It¢s a very rocky day and my feet take a beating. I get a nasty blister on my right heel. Well it¢s not really a blister, more like a chunk of skin the size of a quarter came off; it hurts. My left heel has a raw spot but not as bad. Brad is feeling better though, each day getting his strength back more and more.After the rollercoaster the Trail really mellows out. We hit the 1,000 mile mark! Funny, its on day 100. This is simply amazing! That¢s a lot of miles!We go to David Lesser Memorial shelter for the night. It looks pretty new. It has a big porch with an Adirondack style bench. There are lots of individual campsites, complete with a bench for sitting and a fire pit! It also has the picnic table under it¢s own separate overhang. And the best part ¢ it has a swing! A lovely, three seated, wooden one! This is where I write the majority of my journal tonight. As I look out through the woods I see a ton of gypsy moth damage here in this area. It is absolutely terrible. We eat an early dinner, as we¢re here early and we didn¢t eat lunch. We stopped and ate a lot of snacks, though. There are quite a few hikers here tonight.   We meet Cool Breeze and his dog Miss Jenny. He is an older guy who is on his 4th thru hike; he does it every ten years. All the rest here tonight are section hikers, or southbounders. It¢s kind of weird being around so many strangers; it feels like it did when we first started our hike.We stay in the shelter tonight because we¢re supposed to have some heavy rain. It was great hiking weather today, but now that we¢ve stopped it is actually pretty chilly. I¢m off to snuggle in my sleeping bag and write some pocketmail to send home to Mom!
Date: 2007-11-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 1040.4

Hello to all and Happy Holidays!I can't belive the year is almost over.Let me start off by giving you a little background info on me.I attempted a Thru Hike in 06 with my husband Old School GA-ME 06 & one of our many children B-rad GA-ME 06!I'm so proud of them.We started on Springer on March 3 and my hike came to an end on May 23rd in Daleville,Va.After 81 days and 714 miles on the trail I had to go home.Due to a circumstance I had to control (a teenager trying to loose control) I went home and found us a house pulled our lives out of storage and the troubled one joined Old School in Harpers Ferry and hiked to Conn.He is known as Youngblood and he will join me in Conn.where he got off trail.Thats gonna make the first 400+ miles hard cause Youngblood was with me from Daleville to Harpers Ferry so now I'm alone!Wow I'll have to be totaly self reliant!I don't Know I'm not really outdoorsie you know LOL!But trust it will be a challenge and I am not one to sugar coat things.So check me out as I Finish What I Started!
Date: 2007-11-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well I was going to upload some pics of my hike from Daleville to Harpers Ferry But will have to do that another day,so we put up my gear list.I'm trying to get as light as possible.I've also made some changes.I got better & lighter rain gear.I used it on my last 2 sections and it worked Great!I'll be wearing my boots through PA.I love them They have over 750 miles on them and have been good to my feet.No blisters and my socks stayed dry!When it gets real warm I'll switch to my GoLites.My pack is my baby and has more AT miles than I do.I had a small hole that Osprey patched up nice and they also straightened the suspension bar.Youngblood carried her from Harpers Ferry to Conn. and had a bad habbit of sitting on her.I did retire the cover and got a super light one.I lost a pound or more on my sleeping bag but my Thermarest I must keep.I slept a many night on roots or rocks I didn't feel!There is other stuff that may be replaced before or during my hike but we will see.Still so much work to do and May will be here before we know it.please send encouraging words as you see me Finish What I Started!
Date: 2007-12-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It is so hard to belive Christmas is almost here.It is only 17 days away!I've mailed the Christmas cards,put up the tree,done the shopping for the gifts that go out of town,and we have finalized our Christmas vacation(I think a little day hike is planned)looking forward to the time off of work.Now I'm thinking of the time I'll be taking off in May.I'm thinking how fast this year went by and how close May really is right around the corner!So now I have butterflies cause it's exciting thinking of hiking and being back in the woods.Meeting new people,and just having time to myself.Then I think...Can I realy do this?I suppose we'll see.So watch me as I Finish what I Started!