morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-05-06
From: Boots Off Hostel

To: TN 91 Rabbit Hole Hostel
Miles today: 20.6

I didn't have big goals today. It was sunny and I was dry so that was all that mattered. Damascus was 42 miles away and three days to get there felt about right. I started a bit on the lackadaisical side, late and mellow. The first thing I passed was the public beach on lake Watuga. I stopped to check the water temp. It reminded me of when I took swimming lessons in NH. Yup it was a bit on the cold side but you'd get used to it once you got in. Thinking of summer swims at the lake put me in a good mood. The hike today was a straight line ridge walk along the lake. While the leaves are almost full size we had glimpses of the lake below as we moved along. The hike seemed to come easily and I just kept moving. The Rabbit Hole Hostel was really too far to be realistic but I kept having little reasons nudge me to get there. Two weeks ago I had gotten trail magic from Tam and Torch who offered me a wristband for a free milkshake at the Rabbit Hole. There had been concerns of bear activity in the area and I didn't want to have to deal with Leila and bears and finally I came across some hikers I'd hiked with before (Sunshine, Nobody, Buck) who challenged me to get there with them. Their goal was pizza and beer, but while their goal didn't intrigue me somehow their challenge did. It was 4:40 and seven miles to go. The next shelter was only 3.... I found a second wind. The trail was easy and I kept moving. I would make it before nightfall. Hanging over me still was this nasty lingering head cold but I made it. When I got there and the trio was disappointed, the pizza place wouldn't deliver that far and we were now in a dry county. oopsI also want to say a few words about the Nick Grindstaff monument near the end of this leg. This monument has haunted me for 20 years because it is so sad. He is considered the South's most famous hermit. His monument has the phrase "Lived Alone, Suffered Alone, Died Alone. You can read more here  https://www.bcyesteryear.com/node/671At the Rabbit Hole I chose to tent rather than stay in the bunk room but that didn't work out. Leila found the comfy couch and moved in. When they finally tossed her out she wasn't comfortable with me. Neighboring dogs started howling and she stayed on alert ready to start her own trouble. I held on to her keeping her in my tent but she would not relax. Finally at 2 am I gave in. I grabbed my mat and bag and headed to the bunk house. We both could finally relax and sleep.
Date: 2019-05-07
From: Rabbit Hole Hostel

To: Damascus
Miles today: 21.4

After yesterday I was surely not going to do another big one and make it to Damascus. That would be silly...Again a mellow start. The day is sunny and happy. More ridgeline to walk. A guy at the trail head is doing hiker interviews for his youtube channel and is especially interested in people who have hiked the trail before. Then trail starts off in a big beautiful field with stables nearby, an AT symbol on the wall. A local man out for his morning run stops to tell me more of the Nick Grindstaff story. It feels good. I figure I'll stop a few miles out of town and then pop in in the morning. Trail magic of some fruit and drinks at low gap (mile 6.5 of the day) and things keep moving along. At about mile 8 I come across Quest, the hiker who leapfrogs his cars north as he slack packs south. I was surprised to see him as I'd fallen so far behind when I'd gotten the norovirus but I hadn't taken zeros since then and yesterday had been a big day so I reached his radius again. Once again I was issued a subtle challenge. If I made it to Damascus today he was inviting me to slack pack with him tomorrow. It was already one and I had 12 miles to go but oh the temptation! A young woman who I'd been hiking around for the past few days also gave me the impetus to take the challenge. She's a pretty fast hiker, just that little bit faster than me to pull me along. She wanted to reach town as well and was up for the partnership. We started hiking together. It was a long long day. We were both very happy to see the VA stateline but Damascus was still a few miles more. A runner came up from town and we knew we were getting close. I would stay at a hostel tonight. We would get there only a bit before dark and I wasn't going to scout around for a place to stay once there so I called ahead for a bed. Damascus has quite a few hostels but they charge a premium because it's such a popular stop. $40 would get me a bed in the living room with 6 others, breakfast and a wash of clothes whether I wanted it or not. We tumbled out of the woods and sat down in the grass to get our bearings. Feet sore. Knees sore and no willingness to move. Still had to make it to the hostel...ugh. Made it! Called Quest to let him know I was here and willing to slack in the morning. Was I really? I thought about that for a while as my feet and knees were throbbing. Perhaps in the morning I would beg off and take a zero day catching up with him the next day. Perhaps I could save this Damascus leg for the upcoming Trail Days celebration and just skip it for the time being. I was so tired I barely got washed up and a bit of soup in me before falling to sleep.
Date: 2019-05-08
From: Damascus

To: US R 58
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: broken clouds

Had Quest not made me this offer I know I would have stayed in Damascus and probably not moved on, but he had and it was time to go. I barely even knew I was there. While I wasn't whole by morning I had recovered a fair bit. My plan to zero the day melted away. I figured I could handle the distance slacking. If not I did have two opportunities to bow out onto the Virginia Creeper rail trail. It was hard but I was motivated, Quest was great company and we kept up a steady banter along the way. Up and over two peaks meeting northbounders we knew as we slacked south back into Damascus kept things interesting. The weather was still with us though a bit more cloudy than it had been. Weather reports kept promising rain but the rain kept moving back giving us another day and another day. We'd take them. I was happy to reach Damascus with some daylight left today. We'd been pretty fast and now I had a little breathing space to catch up. Food City offered the fruit bowl I was craving and an Italian place topped it off. Happy belly, happy bed, and sleep til tomorrow's adventure. Leila with me always. She too struggled with the miles but she is such the trooper. If I stop for more than a minute she is laying down and resting. She knows to drink at every water source and never wanders. It is so reassuring especially since we seem to have hit active bear country. When she knows where I'll be sleeping she is on it and asleep in seconds. She'll keep an eye on me but if she sees my pack nearby she knows I'll be back and that she can wait. She is such a reliable partner. Love her.
Date: 2019-05-09
From: US R 58

To: Massie Gap, Grayson Highlands
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: light rain

Ponies!Ponies!Ponies!Again I joined Quest for a southbound slack while leap frogging his start points north. I'm spoiled by this after only two days. Its hard to imagine picking up my full pack again and worrying about where to spend the night. Notices for bear activity are everywhere and knowing I don't have to subject myself or Leila to a chance meeting is so reassuring. Today we drove to the top of Grayson Highlands at almost 5000 ft with the plan to hike to an ending point at about 3000 ft. Mt Rogers, Virginia's highest peak, is on this stretch but it is a spur trail so we had not made the decision if we were going to hike the extra 2 miles to summit it. The sky was dark and dramatic and while it threatened rain it did not. We had a very late start thanks to a Post Office stop I had needed to make and a fairly long drive to our start point. Then of course the highlight of the area are the wild ponies that graze these peaks. It does have that look of the highlands of Scotland and the wild sky added to the feel. We moved very slowly today thanks to all the distractions and the very rocky terrain. It was difficult for both of us. It was already noon and we still had ten miles to go. Yesterday we had already completed 10 miles by noon. Sadly we agreed Mt Rogers was not on our to do list today and we followed the AT as it skirted around the summit. The terrain got a bit easier as we left the higher elevations but in the end I'd say this shorter stretch was harder than yesterday's hike. The scenery was amazing though and I definitely add this to my list of favorite sections of the trail.
Date: 2019-05-10
From: Massie Gap, Grayson Highlands

To: Rt 603
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Today promised rain. Well, it promised rain last night. but this morning the rain evaporated. Because of the expected weather Quest and I planned a short day. He also had family nearby and had dinner obligations with them as well as plans in the upcoming week. It would be our last hiking day. We again leap frogged north and hiked south to the Grayson Highlands where we had parked the car yesterday. Now we were also climbing the elevation we had lost yesterday. The terrain was good and didn't really get rocky again until the last couple miles. What did come at us were bear activity reports. Hikers at one location were up at 4AM throwing rocks at a bear in a tree going after their food bags hanging there. Then further stories of other hikers who had lost their food to a successful bear. Someone posted a facebook video of a bear trying to pull down food bags that were on bear cables near a shelter. Also supposedly a bear had gotten into a bear proof bear box. We never met the hikers who saw the bear box theft. We only had second hand reports so what actually happened where was not clear. We also came across a ridge runner who was looking into the reports. So happy my girl and I are not camping out here. We moved pretty quickly and the weather stayed quite pleasant. Multiple times we considered adding the second small loop of 8 miles to this one to add a bit more, but by the time we reached the top and Quest's car we both knew it was a good time to stop. Rain was predicted tomorrow. This time it was 100% chance for the next two days and he had family obligations coming up so we called it an early day and headed down. Massie Gap is a popular place for hikers to grab a shuttle to a nearby store for ice cream and resupply. We decided to check it out on our exit and enjoyed the stop. Sadly Quest and my paths now part for the time being. We'll see what the future brings. Tonight I catch up with Stan and we'll hide out from the rain and rest for a couple days.
Date: 2019-05-11
From: Rt 603

To: Marion
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Its my zero day but the news does not stop. This event took place only a day ahead of me on the trail and probably involved hikers I've met. With a full day yesterday I would have finished at mile 520 and this took place about mile 535, one day ahead. I have not met the attacker but seem to have been consistently behind him by only one day these last few weeks. His attacks in Unicoi TN two weeks ago were just a day ahead and he stayed at a hostel I also stayed at just the night before me. I had asked the hostel owner about the incident she'd had and she gave it a completely different spin than the hiker rumor mill. She considered him an unmedicated schizophrenic and that once some of the hikers identified him as a problem he lashed out at their aggression. It's sad and scary to see this sort of event on the trail. I'm also worried about his dog. Its not mentioned in the story but he had been hiking with his dog Felicity and seemed to be very important to him. Mental illness sucks, but as a friend pointed out whether someone stabs you in the back cuz they're mentally ill or just plain mean, you still have a knife in your back so best not to go there. Both victims are expected to recover so at least we're not talking murder as early rumors had mentioned. The AT is now closed from mile 535 through 555, but hopefully will be a short term closure for evidence gathering.https://www.wjhl.com/local/sheriff-man-in-custody-after-attacking-2-people-with-machete-on-at/1996343950
Date: 2019-05-12
From: Marion

To: VA Rt 670
Miles today: 14.3

Headed out on my own this morning. It was a bit gray but clearing throughout the day. After a few miles I ran into Sunshine (the hiker). After the news of the murder and the loss of Quest as my hiking partner I was happy to see Sunshine on the trail and asked if he would hike with me today at least. It was good to have the company and we made fast time. He can be a fast hiker and do alot in a day but he was happy to hang with me. Chow Hound was going to pick me up at the end of the day today. She was about 300 miles ahead of me now but she's had some sort of foot problem so she's rented a car and has come back to hang out with me and then we'll go to Trail Days this upcoming weekend. We had fun with cows again. Poor Leila does not know what to make of them and they scare her like crazy. In the end Sunshine figured he'd hike with me through Trail Days as well so we'll be together for the next few days.
Date: 2019-05-13
From: VA Rt 670

To: USFS 86
Miles today: 15.0

Another great day on the trail. We passed another of the nicest shelters on the tail, The Partnership Shelter. Everyone had been talking about it. I guess you can order pizza to be delivered here and take warm showers. The pizza part is true but the shower part has long since become nonfunctional. Just a few 100 yards after the shelter is a parking lot for the Mt Rogers National Recreation area. Its a big tourist welcome center with a gift shop. I peeked in but dogs weren't allowed. I did learn however that a very rare species of birch tree stands in the front lawn of the building. There are only 6 known Round Leaf birches known to exist. Not really much to look at when you see it but a fun little tidbit to know. A nice ridge hike after the visitors center and then a decent into the valley to cross the freeway. In hind sight I picked a stupid place to end the day. I chose it because I thought more than 15 would be too much. There's a great shelter nearby and some good camping beyond this road crossing but if you're asking someone to come pick you up here its not convenient. The next 1.5 miles are an easy gradual downhill and I should have pushed to there for the day. So I've not written about my plans but after I passed through Damascus and even before I learned of the murder I had decided I would leave the trail after Trail Days. Numerous factors are guiding my choice. Mainly it is clear to me that my knee performance is slowly deteriorating. It is continuously swollen and troublesome. Its just not worth risking my future ability to walk by trying to do this now. I think I just started too soon and it needs to heal more and I need more rehab. My gate is off and while in some aspects my leg has become stronger in others it has atrophied. There are other factors as well. I worry about Leila in a couple different ways. While her paws are doing great, which is often a reason dogs have to get off the trail, I'm more worried about both heat and poison ivy. I'm highly allergic to the stuff and while I can do a decent job trying to avoid it she has no concept of the problem. Given we can go days without showering and she will often rub against me after having romped in the flora, it will be impossible for me to avoid contact with it. I can predict this will not end well. A single poison ivy outbreak lasts weeks for me. As to the heat, we've now run into a few warmer days and her panting is alarming. If she's already laboring this much at these temps how will those 100 degree days go for her? I've decided that I will at least finish one quarter of the trail. That will be mile 548. It makes tomorrow my last day. I'm sad to leave my trail family but look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at Trail Days to say good bye. I have an appointment with my doc back home and will check in with him when I get there. I'm hoping perhaps I can do more later this year after my knee has had some more recovery time. We'll have to see
Date: 2019-05-14
From: USFS 86

To: Mile 548
Miles today: 6.7

So many thoughts as I wander these last few easy miles. On my own again today but I ran into a couple I recognized and hiked to the freeway with them. Every meeting of hikers is another juncture to talk about the tragedy. What did you know, when did you know it, what have you heard, and did you know anyone involved... It's a common cloud on this hike especially at this time. We bond over it and carry it's weight.On a happier note there's a really cool Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia and trail magic at mile 542.9 When you see the old school house, go in. Its a self serve trail magic stop! Very fun. A care taker came out as we passed by and told us more. From there it was off to the freeway crossing and a popular hikers restaurant. As I started along the trail on the other side of the freeway I had a huge deja vu moment. I realized this was the spot that I had taken on of my favorite pictures from my hike 20 years ago. While I knew it was VA, I had no idea where on the trail that picture had been taken. Once I saw it again I knew it immediately. Its been a wonderful trip down memory lane as well. Places I couldn't remember came back in full once revisited. I saw my parents on many stops on the trail as well. Its been a wonderful cathartic trip and I hope its not yet over.
Date: 2019-05-17
From: Mile 548

To: Damascus again!
Miles today: 0.0

We had a couple days of drizzle but we settled in nicely in Damascus to wait for Trail Days. Its fun to watch the build up of the event. We even took a day to rent bicycles and coast down the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail. The AT crosses it a couple times and parallels it a bit so it was fun to see from a different point of view. Now that its here Chow Hound, Sunshine, Stan, Leila and I are exploring all the opportunities. I joined the annual hikers parade and we held a vigil for the fatality as well as the survivor. Beyond that vendors of every stripe are offering their wares. Very cool solutions and upgrades were everywhere. Too bad most of us have already had to cobble together our solutions and don't have any more room or money for more stuff. We're having perfect weather for the event and everyone is having a great time. It was a wonderful way to end my time on the trail for the time being.Adios my friends.
Date: 2019-03-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So we have spent the weekend doing last minute packing and adjusting. David figured we should carry 5 days + 1 extra meal. After loading that into his pack and hefting it onto his back, he quickly changed his mind. He reminded me of Katz in ¢A Walk in the Woods¢, throwing out food and saying ¢We don¢t need this! This is too heavy!¢ I will be carrying the tent and assorted odds and ends - first aid kit, power bank & phone cords, etc. I have laughed with friends about maybe hiring a Sherpa to carry our packs! I will be bringing a paper journal and pen for journaling too. I¢m old-fashioned in that respect and will journal on paper and then add to this journal when I can. I will only have my phone and I¢m not crazy about typing journal entries on that little keyboard. Maybe I should hire a teenage Sherpa to type my journal entries online. :)
Date: 2019-03-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Tonight will be the final shakedown of our pack. David stopped at our local and awesome outfitters and talked to them about the logistics of carrying water and about food weight. We have packed about 4-1/2 days of food and the weight is about 16 pounds. They said that was a good weight for 2 people.We are excited and nervous!
Date: 2019-03-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So last night we did another run-through of our backpacks and re-weighed them. David was 37.2 and mine was 31.6. I was pretty shocked and upset at the weight gain. (The first time I weighed my pack I was in the low 20's.) I walked around part of the night wearing it to get used to the feel. I've decided to take my pack with me tomorrow and have a shake-down done at the local outfitters. I've also decided to embrace technology and threw out the paper journal and pen. This girl is going high-tech (if you call a smartphone high-tech.)Today at work I was called up to the front office. As I walked into the principal's office I was serenaded with the song "Happy Trails". On the desk was a beautiful cake with "Happy Trails" written on it. My job rocks!! I love my co-workers!! We spent some time talking about my upcoming adventure and whether I was brave or crazy. We laughed and laughed and laughed. I will miss them so much! I will miss everyone at school so much!Today was David's last day at work. They took him to lunch at Massaki and then had a party at work. Speeches were made, stories shared, and there were damp eyes. He was truly highly thought of and loved. He will miss the people he worked with very much and has already made plans to meet up with a group of them when we pass through Waynesboro.We leave for GA tomorrow and then the adventure really begins! Can't wait!
Date: 2019-03-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We both slept fairly well last night. The nerves are kicking in this morning. Mackenzie was up early and ready to go. (Hmm. Is she anxious to get us out of the house so she is now the boss??)I sent out an email to our neighbors to verify today was really the day. We stopped by to say a personal goodbye to one couple. Told them to stay healthy till we saw them in June. They were avoid hikers in their younger days so they are really excited for us. The drive to GA was about 8 hours and David insisted on driving the whole way. Mackenzie and Megan slept most of the way. Kenz offered to drive the last 15 minutes and we laughed about that.We had Mexican for dinner and, as always, I ate too many chips and felt bloated afterwards. Ugh!We are staying at a nice little local hotel called the Stratford Motor Inn in East Ellijay, GA.TOMORROW'S THE BIG DAY!
Date: 2019-03-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Did not sleep well. Weather is supposed to be nice today but tomorrow is rain and thunderstorms. Nothing like starting things out with a bang.Tried to eat this morning but nothing really settled. Note to self while dressing, Injinji socks have a right and left!We are leaving in a few minutes for Amicolola Falls State Park and the adventure begins!