morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-06
From: Pond Flats

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: clear sky

We got up and out of Pond Flats at about 8:30am today. We wanted to get a jump on the heat. As we cruised down from Pond Mountain I swear I was catching every single spider web. I then rounded one switch-back and stopped in my tracks because a turtle the size of a large cereal bowl was starring wide-eyed at me from the middle of the trail. He was frozen in mid-step. I think I scared the be-jesus out of it. It was weird to see since we were so high up and away from water. We moved him off trail to bar any misfortunate accidents and continued on. We were soon joined by Limestone who came zooming up the trail behind us. This is Limestone¢s fourth attempt at an AT thru-hike. He¢s made it 1,000 miles at his furthest attempt. He is retired and lives in Washington.        Once we all hit Watauga Lake at the bottom of Pond Mountain, we were joined by D©j -thru (who thru-hiked in 1998), Krispy Kritter (another repeat thru-hiker), Truth, Draggin¢ Tail and Sherpa. It was a nice morning to spend a little time on the lake and talk with the fast and experienced crew of repeat thru-hikers.        The rest of the day was supposed to be easy terrain, but took us a lot longer than expected. We finally pulled into Iron Mountain Shelter at twilight, cooked dinner and hit the sack.Weather: REALLY HOT!
Date: 2010-05-07
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Spring outside Damascus
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early today since we had 24 miles to hike today. The terrain is really mellow right before you hit Damascus and gives you the opportunity to cover some serious ground.        Right after we hit the trail, I noticed that there was a leak in my bite valve on my water bladder. I thought ¢Oh no!¢ since I just gave my spare to Opus. Then I noticed a leaf or something sticking out of the bite piece. I thought this was normal since I use Aqua Mira to treat my water so some small leaves and floaties get into my water. Then I spilled a little bit more out of the bite piece to clear it and out popped half of a spider¢s body. I freaked out! Somehow a spider had crawled into my water hose overnight. I was freaked out every time I drank water today.        About four miles down the trail, at highway 91, we spied a big metal box where some hikers were standing around. This could only mean one thing: TRAIL MAGIC! Sure enough, there were cold sodas and Little Debbie snack pies in the box. It was a good way to start a 24 mile day, but slowed us down a bit.        We pretty much walked a treed-in ridgeline all day today for 12 hours. We finally reached camp at 7pm shortly after crossing the Virginia State Line. New state! It will now be almost another 500 miles until I reach another state.        We are camped by a spring just 2 miles outside of the town of Damascus to save money. We are looking forward to a break tomorrow.Weather: VERY HOT¢¦Again.
Date: 2010-05-08
From: Spring outside Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 2.1
Weather: few clouds

Last night we got hit with a totally weird rainstorm out of nowhere. It was a crystal clear night sky last night and then at 3am we woke up to rain pouring into the tent. We both jumped up and put the rain fly on in quick order.        This morning was a little grey, but by the time we hiked the 2 miles into Damascus, it was bright and sunny. I was expecting a sleepy little town but the second we started walking into town we were hit with busy streets, crowded with people. All the houses had garage sale type setups in their front yards and vendors were out selling food. A big annual event called ¢Trail Days¢ is supposed to happen next weekend where all the gear vendors come out to fix and replace gear, and there are all-you-can-eat eating competitions for thru-hikers, shows, talks and much more. It¢s THE EVENT for Appalachian Trail hikers every year and hikers past and current come out from all parts of the trail and US. We are planning to catch a ride with Funky Monkey back for it on Friday.        But here we are, a week beforehand and it¢s madness on the streets now. It¢s a little shocking when you spend your days in the woods seeing just a few other people.        We made it to the post office just as they opened up at 9am. There we saw Funky Monkey and Hedgehog who had just pulled the same high mileage days as us to get here; and they got up this morning to run a 5K for shits and giggles. Ha, ha. Wish I could have been there for that.        Well, my dear friends, family and followers, thank you so much again for making hiker Christmas (aka drop box day) awesome for me. Big thanks to Angel for sending my drop box and a nice letter with it. And to Irene for the letter and PEZ! You may just change my trail name after all. And to my step-mom, Judy, for the fresh homemade cookies. It was so considerate of you. Thanks you also to Kelly for the ¢Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States¢ so that I can identify birds and plants. You Rock, Dude! Also to Lauren for the letter; I¢ll be sending one back dude. And lastly, to Opus¢ parents for the letter and goodies. Thanks for sending us stuff at mail drops; it¢s good to feel cared for. Oh! And thanks for VIA!        After the post office, we grabbed some breakfast and coffee at Mojoe¢s Coffee Shop. It is a great little place to chill out and their food and coffee is great! There we met trail angel Jill who after talking with us a bit, offered to give us a ride to Abingdon, 10 miles away, so that we could stay in a motel as opposed to a Bed & Breakfast. As much as rustic cabins and B & B¢s are great, I think we¢ve had our share. We just wanted a room with a bathtub, cable and junk food. Its hiker crack for the weary hiker. Ha, ha. So thank you Jill for making that possible. You Rock!        We spent the rest of the day zoned out in a room at the Days Inn in Abingdon. It was just what I needed. My body is starting to show signs of intolerance for what I¢m putting it through and I¢m hoping the rest will help my feet, ankles and knees to get on the mend.Weather: Sunny and cool.
Date: 2010-05-09
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Slept in ¢til 8am this morning. Ha, ha. Stayed up late last night watching movies though. After packing up and grabbing free breakfast from the lobby, I made a few phone calls and got to catch up with family and wish a Happy Mother¢s Day to my mom, step-mom and friend, Racheal.        We got picked up by a shuttle service at 11am and dropped off at the Food City, just a mile outside of Damascus, so that we could re-supply for the nest five days. It was nice to shop out of a real grocery store for a change and get a little variety on our Lipton Dinner and Little Debbie diet. We took the Virginia Creeper Trail back to town and met up with Funky Monkey at a burger and pizza place to eagerly await the arrival of Gonzo. We lost Gonzo for four days back in Erwin, TN and he¢s been hiking like mad to catch up with everyone.        It was a great reunion over burgers and beer. Gonzo was hoping to take a day off, but Funky Monkey, who¢d already pulled two days off trail, did his re-supply and laundry while he showered and convince him to do 9 more miles with us up to the next shelter out of town. Now that¢s devotion!         On the way out of town, I picked up a new pair of Super-Feet insoles for my shoes to help with my foot, ankle, and knee problems; and despite our 3pm departure, we made it to the shelter just after 7pm. There we found Bear Blaze (formerly H2), The Professor, and Mad Mike. It was a good reunion.Weather: Sunny and cool.
Date: 2010-05-10
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We slept in a bit this morning, knowing that Gonzo would probably want the rest. We were only planning on hiking 14 miles today, so we figured the late start would be nice. I think we surprised Funky Monkey and Gonzo who are used to us taking off before 9am. It was a short 7 miles to the next shelter and there we all cooked lunch and enjoyed the VIA Opus¢ parents had sent. It was a real treat. Then HD Mama and Sabbath Keeper rolled by on a slackpack and said they¢d leave sodas for us in the river 1.5 miles away. Score! Cold soda is about the best thing to have out here. So when we got to the creek, we took off our shoes and put them in the creek and drank cold sodas. It was heaven.        We did the last 7 miles in short order, but the climb up to Buzzard Rocks was pretty tedious.        We were planning on stopping at Whitetop Mountain Road but Funky Monkey convinced us to keep going in hopes that we could catch up with Lowrod who was a day ahead. We only made it as far as Deep Gap because we were all tired and Gonzo had been pulling 6 days straight of high mileage without a break.        The end of the day was a walk up from the Elk Garden parking lot up through the wildflower meadows before Mount Rogers, which is the highest peak in Virginia. There were bluits and golden ragwort everywhere and the sunlight was fading into golden hues. It was beautiful. I had been out here 6 years ago with my family and it was weird to be hiking along the AT for so long and then pop out somewhere I had been before. It also made me miss my family.        We all stayed up late around a campfire listening to Mitch Hedgeburg on Gonzo¢s phone and cracking up. It was a good day hiking with good people.Weather: Cool and sunny, turning overcast towards evening.
Date: 2010-05-11
From: Deep Gap

To: Big Wilson Creek
Miles today: 7.6

It rained most of the morning so we stayed in the tent until about 11:30am before packing up and heading out. It was nice to sleep in and then spend the morning writing and reading letters from friends.        Once we set out, it was still foggy and cool out. It was just another one and half miles up to the side trail to the top of Mt. Rodgers. We dropped our packs and jogged up to tag the viewless summit of the top of Virginia. It was cool to be back at another state high point nearly six years later.        We then walked the 12 miles to Thomas Knob Shelter where we met up with Gonzo and Funky Monkey. We made very slow progress across the high terrain of the Grayson Highlands. This is supposed to be a gorgeous place to walk through with great views and wild ponies running everywhere. But alas, we were fogged in with no ponies to be seen. It was still beautiful in an eerie way though.        We goofed off way too much today and only made it 7 miles before setting up camp at Big Wilson Creek with fellow thru-hiker, Hedgehog.        Oh! I forgot to include that I took a really nasty fall on the Grayson Highlands and fell full force on my knee. It is now a golf ball sized lump on my kneecap. Hopefully, it doesn¢t swell up anymore overnight and I can still walk on it tomorrow.Weather: Foggy and cool.
Date: 2010-05-12
From: Big Wilson Creek

To: Hurricane Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Woke up to blueberry pancakes, compliments of Funky Monkey. We topped it off with Hazelnut coffee. We took off from camp at about 10am and again made slow progress. It seems that since we all started hiking together, we spend more time goofing off and less time hiking. We need to cover nearly 20 miles tomorrow to catch up with our schedule.        We got into the shelter early tonight and have been spending the time relaxing.Weather: Overcast and rainy, cool.
Date: 2010-05-13
From: Hurricane Mt. Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Thought there was going to be a big storm last night but it turned out to be just a big lightning storm in the distance. Me, Opus, Gonzo, Funky Monkey and Bear Blaze all had the shelter to ourselves. It was a nice benefit of everyone being off trail and on their way to Trail Days Festival in Damascus, VA.        We got up and out of the shelter by 8:30am with the help of a strong pot of coffee for everyone and we were able to cover 20 miles before 5:30pm as a group. This is a feat in itself. Once we got to the shelter, we ordered pizza and sodas from Pizza Plus in Marion and were able to take cold showers at the shelter. It was the best shelter yet.Weather: Hot. Took a dip in a waterfall today.
Date: 2010-05-14
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Settlers Museum
Miles today: 8.9

I slept out on the grass in front of the shelter last night and watched the bats fly overhead with the starry night sky as the backdrop. It was awesome to cowboy camp. Funky Monkey is inspiring me to pack lighter to go with the flow. She¢s a good person to hike with. She cowboy camps quite a lot as well and is making it look so nice.        We got up and out of camp by 8:30am so that we could meet up with our ride at the settlers museum by 1pm. Our group is Funky Monkey, Bear Blaze (or just B), Gonzo, Opus and me. We made a 2 mph pace and settled at the picnic pavilion at the Settlers Museum at 12:30pm. There we were met by Funky Monkey¢s boyfriend, Cosmic Jackpot with subway sandwiches, sodas and beer. It was a cosmic jackpot indeed. Cosmic then gave us all a ride into Damascus, 65 miles south so that we could all go to Trail Days.        Cosmic, if you¢re reading this, thank you so much for all the awesome trail magic; the subs, sodas, beer, ride, showers, re-supply shuttle, BBQ and putting up with a bunch of smelly hikers. You rock, man, and I wish I could find some way to repay you.        Once in Damascus, Gonzo, B, Opus and I set up tents outside of The Place Hostel and then descended onto the town in search of showers, food and laundry. We got to see a lot of faces from the trail, which was a nice treat.Weather: Hot! Random thunderstorms at night.
Date: 2010-05-15
From: Settlers Museum

To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

This morning we all met we all met up at Mojoe¢s Coffee Shop for breakfast and then hit the post office to mail more stuff home. I replaced my Z-lite with a Thermarest Prolite since the Z-lite wasn¢t really cutting it on the hard shelter floors. I also sent my convertible pants home and replaced them with a North Face hiking skirt.        We then hit the manufacturer tents and got some of our gear fixed. I had my MSR trekking poles fixed by Leki. Thanks, Leki! We then watched the hiker parade and attended a BBQ at Cosmic Jackpot and Funky Monkey¢s cabin. All in all, Trail Days was a blast, and worth the lost time on trail.Weather: Hot with thunderstorms at night. Both B and I got sunburnt. :~
Date: 2010-05-16
From: Trail Days

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: light rain

Well, the day started out with good intentions of leaving early and getting some miles today. Funky Monkey and Cosmic Jackpot picked us up from The Place Hostel at 9:30am and we got back to the trail, 65 miles north of Damascus, by 11am. But then we dawdled ¢til about 1pm and then it started raining. We finally got on trail at 2pm and hiked 3 miles to the road crossing at Atkins, VA where we were met with sodas from thru-hiker HDmama and we sat drinking pop and chatting by the gas station. This is where we realized that the bad sunburn that Bear Blaze had sustained was now blistered and oozing. The burn is on her shoulders and wearing her pack was not an option anymore. So we all booked a room at the Relax Inn to give BB some rest and to wait out the storm coming in tonight. We have to get moving soon.
Date: 2010-05-17
From: Atkins, VA

To: VA 42
Miles today: 11.8

Well, HDmama offered us a 12 mile slackpack yesterday and after much discussion amongst the group, we decided to take her up on it. We took off north on the AT from Atkins with HDmama at 9:30am. It was a drizzly day through moderate terrain; perfect for a slackpack.        The trail took us through rolling meadows filled with wildflowers and wild grass, alongside winding streams and through cow-filled pastures. I must have stepped a few inches deep in cow patties at least half a dozen times today. My shoes totally reek now. We had the chance to walk with Laidback for awhile and chat while we hiked. We were a train of seven hikers headed north. I couldn¢t believe that Laidback kept pace with us even though we were going so fast.        At VA 42, HDmama¢s husband picked us all up and drove us back to Atkins to the Relax Inn where we were staying for our second night. Yes, we crammed 5 smelly hikers into one tiny hotel room.        I got a chance to upload some pictures at the gas station next door and then call my brother. It was a good day for a slackpack. Back to the miles tomorrow.Weather: Cool and drizzly.P.S. Big thanks goes to HDmama and Rick for the slackpack and sodas. You two are awesome!
Date: 2010-05-18
From: VA 42

To: Campsite at mile 565
Miles today: 14.4

We got picked up by HDmama and Rick at 9:30am and dropped off at VA 42 at 10:30am. We all had a hard time hiking today since our packs were so heavy with a five day re-supply. We did a total of 5,000 ft in elevation gain over 15 miles with heavy packs before calling it quits at a random campsite on the trail around 7pm. Funky Monkey had to squeeze in with Opus and I since the new Hennessey Hammock she had just purchased at Trail Days was packed up without the tarp. It¢s a cozy night in the tent tonight.Weather: Cool and rainy.
Date: 2010-05-19
From: Campsite at mile 565

To: VA 615, Laurel Creek
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

I got out of the tent this morning to go pee and found a morel mushroom. First one that I have seen this year! Funky cut it to cook up and showed us some interesting features of the shroom. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to mushrooms and various plants. She is definitely a great person to be hiking with.        We all got a late start again at 10:30am and made it to Jenkins Shelter by 1pm. I have lost a lot of mileage from my original schedule the last week and a half and it is starting to make me antsy. During our lunch break, Funky told us she wasn¢t feeling very well and that she was going to stay there for the night. It was a hard call to either stay there after only hiking 7 miles for the day or to push on and try to get some more mileage. Besides me getting behind my schedule, Opus also needs to be to Pearisburg by Saturday since he flies out of Roanoke on Sunday morning. So I made the tough call for Opus and I and decided to push on and leave Funky there. Gonzo told her he¢d hike five more miles and camp.        So B, Opus, Gonzo and I bid farewell to Funk and pushed on to the Laurel Creek campsite five miles ahead. This still puts me and Opus behind our schedule to be in Pearisburg by Saturday so we are going to have to pull two 22 mile days in a row in order to be in good shape to make Pearisburg before the Post Office closes at noon and before Opus¢ bus leaves. We¢ll see if we can pull it off.Weather: Cool and cloudy.
Date: 2010-05-20
From: VA 615, Laurel Creek

To: Brushy Mountain
Miles today: 23.4

Me, Opus and B all got up and out of camp at 8am this morning in hopes that we could cover some high mileage today. We all seemed to be well paced with each other. We crossed over another large interstate today (I-77). It¢s interesting to cross so much varying terrain while walking from Georgia to Maine. Walking the Appalachian Trail isn¢t really ¢a walk in the woods¢ as Bill Bryson puts it. I¢m really enjoying all the different places I find and people I meet. I think that walking alone for over 2,000 miles would be awful. But that¢s just me.        Well, we hiked 19 miles by 4:30pm and stopped at Jenny Knob Shelter to cook dinner and then move on. I thought we had successfully talked Bear Blaze into hiking further with us until Gonzo miraculously showed up. We had left him hours ago and somehow he pulled the miles and caught up with us.        B and Gonzo hiked only one more mile past the shelter before camping; while Opus and I continued another 4 miles past the shelter. We are camped on top of Bushy Mountain tonight at the 600 mile mark. It¢s crazy to think that we walked 600 miles. Impossible almost¢¦but here we are. ?Weather: Sunny and cool. No bugs! Perfect hiker weather!
Date: 2010-05-21
From: Brushy Mountain

To: Campsite at mile 622
Miles today: 22.0

I felt like hell when I woke up this morning. I guess that¢s what I get for hiking 24 miles. URG! Once I pulled my lazy caboose out of camp at 9am, I was feeling much better.        Our first 10 miles went smoothly and we hit Wapiti Shelter by 1pm for lunch. It was only after we left and met some section hikers down trail that we found out that the Wapiti Shelter was where a double homicide had occurred a while back. And that the same man that killed a couple there and gone to jail had shot a couple more people last year after getting out of jail. He died in his jail cell the second time, but it still lends an eerie feeling to this area. I¢m glad I have Opus here with me one more night.        We walked until nearly 9pm tonight before I got afraid of the dark and made us stop. We are currently camped under a powerline on a windy ridge above Pearisburg tonight. We are headed into town Burt and Ernie tomorrow morning. I can¢t wait for a shower and some down time.Weather: Overcast and cool. Drizzly at night.
Date: 2010-05-22
From: Campsite at mile 622

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: moderate rain

We woke up to fog this morning. It was beautiful. We got packed up and out of camp by 8:30am and made it to the road into Pearisburg by 10:30am. We got a bit of rain on our hike in but by the time we hit town the rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting like smoke from the green Virginia hills in the distance.        We grabbed a room at the Plaza Motel and then hit the Post Office. You never realize just how smelly you really are after spending five unshowered days in the woods until you step inside of a closed in space. We grabbed our boxes and headed back to the motel for very long, much needed showers. Big shout-out to Paul and Dorothy for the awesome trail snacks and VIA! Thanks, guys!        I also got my solo tent and light-weight summer sleeping bag. I¢m happy to have new gear since I¢m pretty sure everything I¢m carrying has poison ivy all over it. I got re-exposed to it somehow and now it¢s all over me¢¦again.        After showers and laundry, Opus and I headed over to the Mexican restaurant across the street for lunch and margaritas to celebrate 625 miles. I am sad that Opus is leaving and I can tell that he doesn¢t want to leave. It¢s a hard thing for both of us, I think.        Later in the day we reconciled with Gonzo, Funky and Bear Blaze and are all sharing a motel room tonight.Weather: Rainy and humid.
Date: 2010-05-23
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We slept in for a bit today before getting up and starting our busy day of just laying around. Opus, Gonzo, Funky Monkey, Bear Blaze and I all just lounged around watching TV and eating. At about noon, Opus and I decided to walk to the Wal-Mart about 2 miles away so that I could resupply. I am utterly astonished at how good I feel. I don¢t feel sore or stiff at all. It¢s weird.        It was nice to re-supply at a real grocery store and I made a few new choices for meals to break up the mundane Lipton dinner routine. I also got a jar of Nutella since Funky Monkey got me hooked on that stuff.        I think Opus was a bit sad watching me re-supply and he wasn¢t, because he leaves tomorrow. It is hard to watch him be so sad. I know he really doesn¢t want to get off of the trail, but he has to get back to work.        The rest of the day was spent chatting with other hikers and Opus and I trying to spend some time together.Weather: Hot, humid with evening showers.