morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-10
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: scattered clouds

'Twas a beautiful day to leave the smokies. Milestones are nice, and this was a great one. We woke up in the crowded shelter and started off- there was only one climb to speak about, then seven miles of delicious gradual downhill. We flew like happy butterflies down the hill, dreaming of cheeseburgers. At the bottom in Davenport gap, we dropped our packs and left them in the capable hands of Knuckles and JP, and scooted down the 1.3 miles to Mountain Moma's Kuntry Store. What they lacked in spelling and vocabulary they made up for in tasty cheeseburgers.We were less than thrilled about the hike back up, but lo and behold, Samurai yogi'd a ride from some hikers, even though they were going the other way. It was marvelous to see him in action. I think I heard angels singing.After much delay (as it's hard to hike when you're that full) we walked the last two miles to Standing Bear Farm. It was a good hostel, with hot showers, a resupply shed and he even skinned a rattlesnake in the morning.After some eats, some beers, and ganging up on samurai playing cards, we headed to bed. I only wished I was on a bunk with a mattress. There was only one left and Whoa and I played rock paper scissors for it. He tried to give it to me but he had won it fair and square.moxie
Date: 2004-05-11
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 14.1

The word for today is : Slackpack!For those of you who don't know, slackpacking is when you give a very kind person your pack and they drive it up the trail for you a ways, and you fly up the trail like a happy little bird. We all contemplated getting a slack all the way into Hot Springs, but thank goodness logic prevailed and we didn't try to walk 33 miles. If ever there were a day to do it, it was today. There were lots of ups, and it was hot as heck. We got to see so much more stuff, too! Like a cool new bug, with a six inch tentacle coming from its abdomen. And a vine to swing on. I also spied a big, lazy rattlesnake lying across the trail. I don't think I could have missed that one though. We should have brought more food and water though, we were dragging a bit by the end.Curtis, our friendly hosteller, showed up with the packs at 5pm. I know I've talked about booze a lot lately (I promise that boozing has not been the point of this journey, Dad and Gracie) but I have to relate this: Curtis treated us to a cool bottle of Boone's farm strawberry wine! The very best in redneck beverages. We shared it around gleefully. Then, we donned our packs and very slowly walked up and over Max Patch. (I did a big shout out to Goggles at the top- he finished his thru-hike a few days ago. Hooray, Goggles!) We camped, everyone played cards and I slept. A deep, delicious sleep.moxie
Date: 2004-05-18
From: Allan Gap

To: Jerry's Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Up, up and away! From the little gap by the roadside, up to the misty heavens.Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves, for this is a story of SWEAT.From the moment we started the daily hike til some point in the early afternoon, the sweat was running like a hot stream down me. It was pouring out when I passed Moxie and said "I'll see you up the trail some". It was gushing like a salty spring when I passed the Spice Girls. It was flowing like water might out of your favourite household faucet when I jetted past Paparazzi, Dave and Wild Thing. And then, at the 5 mile point there was a shelter, so I pulled in for elevensies - and to take off my shirt for a while. It was just-fell-into-a-swimming-pool wet.And that's all I have to say about today.Except that the marble ridge that we crested today was awesome.And I made it to the psychadelic Jerry's Cabin Shelter just before the cloudburst happened.Far out, man.
Date: 2004-05-19
From: Jerry's Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

Today was trying...it was one of those days, that makes you really not want to be hiking. We woke up and started a bit late, and took many a break on the way to the first shelter. Samurai had suffered a bug bite on his foot and it had begun to get infected; by this morning we had talked him into having it checked out. He hitched out to Erwin at Devil Fork Gap, and we started up the hill. It was a tough, hot climb. The bugs, the heat, the long afternoon... They added up to the blahs.We rolled into the shelter finally, and played a grumpy bit of Gin Rummy. Tomorrow has lots of potential, though. For almost anything.nitey nite Moxie
Date: 2004-05-20
From: Ridge Shelter

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

Today kicked our asses again! It was like, you liked yesterday? Well, have another! I'm exaggerating a bit, though- it gave back plenty in reward. We started out sluggish, plodding up to Sam Gap, where we read there was a restaurant a couple miles off. The interstate was running through, so we weren't sure if we could get a hitch, and no way in heck we were going to walk four extra miles for breakfast. We lamented for a bit, then climbed back into the forest.After an early lunch at Low Gap (where Knuckles and JP stayed last night, the crazies) we made the climb up Big Bald. It was the main ass-kicker for today, but once we got to the top... It was a reward that I would never have expected. 360 degree view of the surrounding areas, the trees in greens and reds. The breezes blowing, the bugs flying (but I can overlook that). We stopped in at the Big Bald shelter and read through the register for some people whose journals we had followed before starting, such as Officer Taco and Pickle. What a different hike, to be moving through here in late february! I'll stick with the bugs, I think. We hiked out five more miles to the campsite we not occupy, with paparazzi manning the fire, Inchworm and Jill (Bluebird) gathered around. There are little trout swimming in the stream beside- I'd try to spear one to cook, but I'm too sleepy and town is so close now...love to you allMoxie
Date: 2004-05-21
From: Spivey Gap

To: Erwin
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: clear sky

We were motivated. Up early, off with a start. Today's hike was a long, long descent into Erwin. Whoa's leg is screaming with Shin Splints- he'll give the report on that later. We had a burger, a beer, a burrito, and watched Shrek 2 on the big screen. Much more to tell- but too much fun to be had! Hooray, town!love,moxie
Date: 2004-05-24
From: Spivey Gap

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: scattered clouds

We made our way back to the trail today, after our two lazy porch-sitting and luxurious days at Miss Janet's, waiting on Whoa's shin splints to heal up. I can't say he's completely healed, but he hiked well and we made pretty good time, on a very nice gentle downhill grade. We were hiking south, which is novel for us- this is the first trail-flipping we had done. We were just going to hike out, but MJ convinced us that it would be much smarter to do a trial day and make sure his leg is better. So, Bookworm took us up to the gap and we had a nice afternoon walk. We passed all our new friends in the other direction- Tigerlily, Aaron, and Brood X Apostle Cocksmurf Beach Bum (he was just apostle before he met the likes of the Evil Doctor Whoa) and waved goodbye- hope to see some of them later. We finally bought bug spray and I forgot it today- I'd tell you, I'd rather have brought that than water today. We were inundated with bugs like never before. It was a new type, that hovered just a centimeter in front of your eyes. They constantly tried to use your eyelid as a landing strip. After getting seemingly countless buglets in the eyes, we started scheming to defeat them. We used rhododendron branches attached to our heads to try to confuse them into thinking we were taller, and that worked for about a minute. I tried mopping all my hair into my face like Cousin It to keep them away, but the hair was poking me in the eyes too, so that didn't work. Finally I just started twirling my bandana in front of my face every two seconds and ! that worked pretty well. My mantra was, note to self- bug spray. More than a pretty bottle.We came down off the trail, and started making our way to Miss Janet's once more. We were picked up by a woman, whose name I regrettably had not gotten, who gave us a ride to the pizza place. She mentioned that her husband was a hiker, and he had planned to start a thru-hike this year, but he passed away the week before Easter. I burst into tears right in the car. I felt her loss so personally, and I realized then how much I loved and how lucky I was to be doing this. Life is so short, and so uncertain. We got another ride into town from Frank, a gentleman from the local fish & wildlife service who had just retired, who shared with us his pride in restoring Peregrine Falcons to the Big Bald, a local mountain. He got an AT re-route, which took five years to accomplish. He gave us a card and asked us contact him if we needed anything at all.And from where I sit tonight, all these bug bites seem pretty irrelevant.I should get off the pocketmail and get talking to all these people having fun tonight-Moxie
Date: 2004-05-25
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today had a funny start- Miss Janet brought us up to Indian Grave Gap where we had started yesterday's slackpak, and we had to cut the cord. I was so sad to leave this wonderful lady. We will see her again, I'm sure, if only for a visit. We stepped out of her car, donned our packs and started up the hill. I think I then had a bit of a panic attack, or too much coffee and sugar, I'm not sure. I had to sit for a while and calm down, so I could put that energy back toward hiking. We had another shorter day, and we started pretty late, so we hiked through without many stops. We found Bluebird, Silky and Stick at the shelter. They challenged us to Hearts, and we accepted. Stick won. He won last time too. I wonder if he cheats?Off to the new tent! We got rid of the Eureka in favor of the new MSR missing link- it is a whole lot bigger than the one we had and it breathes better- and it's lighter too! ~Someday I'll have to just settle for one piece of gear we have, but there is always something better and lighter. Now that I've bored you to tears, I'm going to go in my tent and dream about when we get our new summer sleeping bags that fit inside a nalgene!Ta!moxie gearhead
Date: 2004-05-26
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm sitting here in the shelter, counting my blessings as the sky has broken loose with one hell of a rainstorm. We started today, leisurely and late, knowing it would be a short one. We love our new tent so much- it was nice to spend the cool morning stretched out in it. We had a nice hike, though, as Coughdrop put it in her register entry, "Are we in Georgia again?" The notable thing about the AT in Georgia is that it tops every hill. It doesn't go around the side of anything. That's how today was. Up and down, PUD's we call them (pointless ups and downs) But it was good. Whoa's leg felt ok and we had a good pace. We rolled into the shelter at 4pm, thinking we might have it to ourselves. The rain began to fall, and just ahead of the deluge, the Ice Cream Social Club, consiting of Yogi, Shoe, Goof and Terrapin came in. We just met them a couple of nights ago at Miss Janet's, so it was good to see them again. They were like a bunch of excitable kids, joking and laughing and all talking on top of one another. They are a lot of fun- hopefully we'll get to know them more over the next bit of time.The rain deepened, and broadened, and became even more stubborn, and then at 7:30 even more folks fell in! They were seriously soaked- I'd introduce myself but I don't want to get between them and warm food right now. Feeling warm, happy and lucky,Moxie
Date: 2004-05-28
From: overmountain shelter

To: TN-91 (Roan Mountain)
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

From a message to my friend, David - a response to some news he'd sent me about a lighthouse burning down in Nova Scotia)--------now isn't that some crappy news?but... well... I guess we have what we have of the place intact in our gullivers. For what it's worth.I have some fine, fine memories of that place. Trompins about, long drives, the cold ocean breezes, the urges to get as close as posible to the water. Good convos. Good dreamings.It's been an interesting couple of days on the trail since last I wrote.Out of the last three nights, I've been awoken every night by strong strange winds... Three nights ago it was all about the trees around us shaking mightily in the late night gales. And then, the next night, a tempest of unusual strength blew up out of nowhere. Houses were being de-rooved not an hours drive away. The trees were bending in the winds like I've only seen in NS when tail ends of hurricanes were hitting. The rain was erupting so fiercely from the sky that I could see only 20 meters into the soupy grey forest.And last night we were staying in a converted barn overlooking these beautiful pastoral lands... At around three strong winds were blowing pa@cks off of their nails and nalgene containers were crashing down on the sleeping hikers.Ah, nature.Today, we let the storms in the morning subside, and then hiked up over the mile mark on these beautiful grassy rounded mountains. And it was chilly, gusty and (I must confess) exhilirating. The winds were almost knock-you-over strong as we ascended into the clouds. So surreal. The mists moving like mad specters over the grass and before the occasional rock formations (which were kinda like dilapidated easter island heads).Yes, the last couple days have been some of my favourite so far.I think part of why my spirits were lagging before was due to a sense of lack of reward. There was all the toil and bodily abuse and bugs, without that many vistas - those panoramas of nature that take your breath away.Well, that's what it's been about these last few days. Breath-taking (sometimes literally - like today climbing into the clouds with 90+ km/h winds blasting in my face) beauty.Not without its trials and exertions (for instance, the shin pain is back, full speed ahead). But that's part of the Appalachian Adventure Package, I guess. Par for the course (wait. is that golfing lingo?).------------
Date: 2004-05-29
From: TN-91 (Roan Mountain)

To: Campsite
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

So nice to wake up in a soft bed! We had a gourmet albeit small breakfast at General Wilder's B&B, went through Whoa's pack and whittled out some more stuff to send home, and walked down to the post office. We were staying with a couple who were from Harper's Ferry who offered to give us their info so we could stay with them once we got there. That would have been great, but we think that after they found out Whoa was Canadian, they rethought their generosity and left without giving us their info. And then we got kicked out of the hostel in a hurry.What is this world coming to? What's next, the French?We grabbed some burgers on the way out of town and hitched up to the trailhead. I have a theory that eating greasy burgers and then walking uphill results in indigestion- I think we've adequately proved this by now. After we made it up that first hill, the trail got nice and pretty. We took a little side trail to Jones falls, the most spectacular falls we've seen so far. We climbed up and considered taking a shower, but we wasn't exactly warm already so we just enjoyed the spray.Getting back to the trail, we were confused about which way was which- we checked the compass and went north, which turned out to be the wrong way. I felt like a doofus for not remembering but sometimes you kind of space out here. We went a little less than a mile before we figured it out. If this happened five weeks ago I would have been despondent, but it was no big deal, we just set ourselves straight and hiked on. We hiked until dark was approaching, and set up camp. Silky and Stick joined us after dark. And that's all, folks. On to Kincora tomorrow!moxie
Date: 2004-05-30
From: Campsite

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 14.0

Hiking into Kincora today was sweet. We rolled in early and had a nice day sitting on the porch. Today was harder than yesterday, but not too bad. Trail volunteers down here have been hard at work on a major trail re-route which wound us all over the place. We have become accustomed to knowing approximately where we are at a given time, but today was a different story. I had no idea what the heck was going on. We think we did about 14, but it was pretty hard to tell. Had a bit of rain in the early afternoon, but it felt so good and warm I didn't bother with the raingear. Toward the end of the hike, we came down a steep section of trail to find we were the last hikers to have hiked the old trail. They were just hiking up to black out the blazes. Pretty cool!Shoe, a gentleman we've been hiking close to for a few days, had a visit at the hostel from his buddy Seiko. Seiko is a 12-time thru-hiker whose experience on the trail is second only to his ability to spin a tale. He spent a couple of hours telling stories and relating fun facts about the trail- instead of relating them, I'll just give a rundown on the headlines:Remarkable Neel's Gap dropouts:The 200-pound crucifix draggerThe man who would have walked backwards with a truck mirror helmetPogo stick manThe dead guyalso:The pilot whose plane was stuck in a tree (he was ok, just hanging upside down)The solved mystery of the haunted shelterHow Seiko built a fire inside a treeThe thirteen deli, 50 mile challengeHe's got a wealth of trail lore in his head. He was a riot.That's about it- there was a huge thunderstorm late in the night, and I was so glad to be safe and warm in the hostel. Snug as a mouse in a foodbag.moxie
Date: 2004-06-01
From: US 321

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: few clouds

We camped last night with Miss Janet and the crew of hikers and friendly locals. We did a brief night swim to celebrate the coming of June- we were glowing in the moonlight. It was cold, but really cool also. We got to sleep late, and woke up early to the sound of a lonely dog, so we were sluggish snails in the morning. We had piles of pancakes and ears of corn, cowboy coffee, and a nice morning fire. By the time we got to hiking, we really just wanted to go back to sleep. We slowly, languidly, hiked up the hill. We spent a good hour lying on the dam road soaking up the heat with our backsides. Brother came by and remarked at the obvious similarites in the genetic structure of humans to lizards, as we were proving with our lazy behavior. We hiked some more, took some more breaks, finally arriving at the shelter. We were treated to a great valley view while we ate, and then made it to bed before the sun went out. I was pooped.mosieing moxie
Date: 2004-06-02
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Double Springs shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

Today started not with a bang but a pbbt. Boy, the first part of the hike was a ride through the emotional wringer. I try not to be negative in this journal, but to be honest with everyone and myself I have to admit I had the quitting thoughts this morning. Once they stepped in, I had a rush of stress wash over me. What would we do? Where would we go? How could I face myself? Would I forever feel a failure? Ugh, it was sending me into a depression. Some boy scouts passed me while I was snuffling along. Sometimes this feels like an insurmountable task, and even though this is the easiest terrain yet, today was so hard. We made it to the first shelter, did a bit of talking, and decided we would walk into Damascus and possibly take a couple of days off and go to the beach. And I decided I wasn't gonig to leave the trail.It was like the clouds lifted. We started hiking like the marchin-est marchers we've ever been. We hiked the last eight miles at three miles an hour and were going to go for eight miles more, but the rain swept in hard to the shelter we are in right now. So, we hiked a normal day, but went through the wringer and came out fluffy and dry on the other side. Not bad for a day's hike- but I don't want to cry in front of boy scouts every day.moxie
Date: 2004-06-03
From: Double Springs shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: broken clouds

The evening before, me and Moxie had been determined to do some high-paced night hiking under the full moon. The moon was awful hard to see under the ominous dark clouds, however. And as much as I had wished to believe that those low, echoing booms were airplanes, it was soon undeniably (as the hard cloudbursts attested) a meteorological phenomenon.But we woke up the next day with a lot of vim and vinegar coursing through us. We were ready to march.And march we did.We stopped for "elevensies" (the hobbit post-breakfast, pre-lunch meal) at Low Gap, did some calculations, and determined that we'd been bookin' it at an unprecedented 3.33 miles an hour (over 5km/h to you Canadian readers at home). And even more remarkably, we maintained that pace throughout the day.We sauntered through the countryside, over the fields, past the farmhouses, over the hills, through the forests, and nodded approvingly at the sign that marked the Virginia border (a great milestone).Then we marched into Damascus. At different times, mind you. I'd had these visions of grabbing a cold beer - a great proverbial carrot for the hot hiker - and this guided my feet into the sweaty little town of Damascus. I even knew where I'd get it. We'd gone into the Sidekick Cafe a couple times during Trail Days, and, given their 75 cent Mickey's big-mouths (the frank's wild years special), I knew I'd be set up with company should I happen to have to wait a while for Moxie to catch up.Ah, the fragile dreams of the sweaty hiker...The Sidetrack Cafe was ominously dark and closed-down looking. Peering through the windows, I saw signs of furnite moving and stock depletion.It was a sad sight.I'd told Moxie I'd meet her there, so I sat in front of the dark establishment. People passing in their trucks and cars waved. The sun was hot.When Moxie finally showed up, we lamented the closing of the Sidetrack, and figured out where we'd go. We decided to give the Mt Roger's Outfitter's hostel a try. Some friendly folks there set us up with a private room for 10 bucks. Not bad at all.We went on to get a great meal somewhere, and we had a couple beers and started to talk about taking a wee break from the trail.And as the clouds opened up that night and the rains were poundng the hostel roof, we were glad not to be out in our tent somewhere in the woods.We gabbed with some familiar faces (Reverend Yukon Jack, Belle, Postcard and more) and were soon sleeping the sleep you get when you've pushed your body like you never have before.
Date: 2004-06-04
From: Damascus, VA

To: Abingdon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

After grabbing a fantastic breakfast at the Country-something-or-another (where we met this nice older couple who invited us to stay with them onc we were in the Harper's Ferry area), we came back to the hostel to learn that "some shorter dude with glasses" had been seeking us out. - Samurai. We'd thought he was an inconceivable distance ahead of us, but there he was in Damascus, with his friend Brad. He told us that The-hiker-formerly-known-as-Disco was also in town, and it was suddenly this unexpected reunion.We all gabbed and hung out for a while, and decided to head into Abingdon. There me and Moxie could not only watch a movie (Harry Potter 3), but also get a rental car for our upcoming East Coast adventures.So all us us hung out, and ate and drank, and when the power went out (to due a particularly ominous-looking storm blowing through), we had a hearts tournament.It was a good day, which me and Moxie concluded with seeing the newest Harry Potter flick - and then a long walk back to our motel room in the lightly falling rain.