morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-19
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Old Mill Inn, Room 205
Miles today: 4.6

Major trail magic today, though I¢m writing about it three days later. After an extremely cold night and a foggy morning. I hiked five miles to where the AT crosses Tenn. 91. At the parking lot there was a hiker by the name of ¢Wingman¢ who had gotten off the trail awhile back and now was up for Trail Days in Damascus. He offered me ride into Damascus, and since I was still so far away I accepted.I set my tent up in Tent city since the chances of getting a room in Damascus during Trail Days is extremely slim. Then I walked down to the post office to get my packages. On the door of the post office was a sign that said the Old Mill Inn had one free room due to a cancellation. I immediately walked over there and suddenly I had a room for the night. Trail Magic of the best sort!This was especially important because my cell phone doesn¢t work around here, it seems, and it would have been difficult for Joe to find me in the morning.
Date: 2006-05-20
From: Old Mill Inn, Room 205

To: Bristol Motel6, Room #304
Miles today: 0.0

It stormed heavily all night last night and this morning, so my two bits of Trail Magic last night became doubly important. Without the ride into town, I would have been still hiking when it started pouring. Without the lucky room, I would have been in the mud pit that was Tent City.Joe arrived at around ten, having easily located me because I had an actual address to give him. We drove down to Bristol for breakfast and then checked into the Motel 6 there.Since he¢d been awake for a long time, Joe took a nap while I went back to Damascus to participate in the hiker parade. The parade was a blast, being largely an excuse for the hikers and the locals to engage each other in a protracted water battle. Water balloons flew everywhere and everyone got good and wet.After this I went back to the Motel 6 and hung out with Joe until dinner time. For dinner we ventured into the hills of Tennessee to visit a restaurant that Joe¢s family used to stop at during trips through the south. It¢s called the Ridgewood and they serve the best BBQ ever. Going there is the entire reason we went to Bristol in the first place.After dinner we retired to our room and I drank a bottle of port while Joe drank beer and we both watched boxing. Truly a day well-spent!
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Bristol Motel6, Room #304

To: Old Mill Inn, Room 202
Miles today: 21.3

Big mile slack-pack today! Joe and I got up early because he had to get back to Manassas. I ditched my pack at the Old Mill Inn again and Joe drove me back to the trailhead. I then proceeded to hike the entire 21 miles back to Damascus in about ten hours. It was definitely some of the best hiking I¢ve done since I started. The trail was well-graded with no major climbs, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.There¢s not a whole lot to report about the day other than that I¢m finally in Virginia, which is great, and am getting closes enough to home that family and friends can come visit more frequently. I doubt I¢ll be getting the ¢Virginia Blues¢ like many hikers do. I¢ll probably be sad to see the state pass.
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Old Mill Inn, Room 202

To: Old Mill Inn, room 203
Miles today: 0.0

Another zero day today here in Damascus. The original plan was to do huge miles on Friday, zero on Sat-Sun and then move out on Tuesday. But since I did short miles on Friday, zero¢d on Saturday, then did the big miles on Sunday, Monday became the day to take my second zero.        In the morning I¢ll be off, heading deeper into Virginia with every step. I don¢t plan to take another zero until I get into Northern Virginia, which will help make up some time that I¢ve lost making so many stops down here. Given that it¢ll take over a month to get up there, I imagine a zero or two might work their way into things, but my intent is to hike straight on with only taking short days on resupply days.
Date: 2006-05-23
From: Old Mill Inn, room 203

To: Lost Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

We¢ve been doing this long enough that I¢m sure you know what¢s coming. Yes, I got a late start today. I always have such a hard time leaving towns and hostels. I didn¢t hit the trail until at least 11:30 a.m., but I still made great time, getting to my intended location an hour before dark. I had plenty time to get everything set up before the light was gone.        The weather today was awesome. Sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky and a nice cool breeze whenever one was needed. The trails were so much better as well.   We¢re in another club¢s section now, and the difference is stupendous. This club definitely takes much better care of their trails and has laid them out more sensibly.        The weather tomorrow is supposed to be the same as today. Two sunny days in a row is almost too good to be true. It¢s hard to believe that I went nearly three weeks without any rain at the beginning of this hike. There¢s scattered showers called for on Thursday and Friday, but that¢s okay. ¢Scattered¢ and ¢Isolated¢ usually mean there won¢t be any rain, or if there is, it¢ll be brief.        The trail tomorrow pretty much begins with a huge series of climbs totaling around 3000 feet. This includes Mt. Rogers and Whitetop Mt., the first and second highest peaks in the state. After that I¢ll be in the Grayson Highlands, which offers a little more in the way of level hiking.        There are a huge number of people at the shelter tonight. Apparently they¢re all from a college philosophy class and they get course credits for being out here. They¢re an okay bunch, so I don¢t mind the crowded area. They greatly enjoyed the story of Daniel and I and the bear on Old Ray, which continues to be a favorite story around the campfire.
Date: 2006-05-24
From: Lost Mt. Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Today¢s hike was pretty freaking crazy. Almost entirely uphill. Fortunately the grade was pretty good, so I didn¢t have any times when I was on all fours trying to get up a super-steep trail. I had been planning to do eighteen miles today, but I had when I got to the shelter, I was worn out. Tomorrow I¢ll be trying for Hurricane Shelter, which is 16 miles away. The trail is mostly through the Grayson Highlands, so there¢s not much in the way of climbing ahead of me.        Some of the college students I mentioned yesterday came to talk to me at my lunch break on Buzzard Rock. Apparently they saw in the trail registers that I am from Manassas. They are as well. They gave me their contact info and said to call them when I finish, and they¢ll buy me a beer. It was pretty unexpected to find people from home out here, so that was pretty cool.        The loneliness is back a bit today. I¢m not sure why. It¢s been great weather and plenty of good company on the trail. Maybe it¢s because Jen¢s birthday is in a week. I bought a card to send her, but I haven¢t sent it yet. It¢s waiting in my bounce box at my next mail drop in Atkins, Va. I¢ll probably be there on Sunday or Monday. I¢ll decide then whether or not to send it.        Right now I¢m laying in the upper story of the Thomas Knob Shelter. Definitely one of the nicer shelters that I¢ve stayed at. I¢m listening to my radio. I pick up, clear as day, a rock station from Charlotte, N.C. That¢s pretty nice given that the only thing I¢ve been able to pick up until now were country stations.        The mountains today included a number of open balds, so the views were amazing. Tomorrow promises more balds, and also the feral ponies of the highlands. The park service maintains a couple herds of feral ponies in order to keep the balds clear. That should be interesting.
Date: 2006-05-26
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Troutdale Baptist Church
Miles today: 10.2

Last night was pretty freaky. Severe thunderstorms all night. It would come in waves, one rolling in after another. It was pretty hairy. The wind was blowing so hard I was afraid it was going to pull out my tent stakes and blow my rainfly off. Fortunately the stakes held and I stayed dry.        By the time it was time to pack up, the thunderstorms had moved on for the time being, so I managed to dry off my tent for a bit. I had caught a weather report on NPR last night so I knew it was supposed to rain off and on all day. Part of my schedule revision yesterday included stopping at this hostel in T Troutdale so I double-timed it to cover the miles quickly.        The rain held off for the entire time I was hiking. In fact it was bright and sunny. I covered the en miles in about five hours and got to the gap just in time to catch a ride with a couple section hikers who shared the camping area with me last night.        A few hours after I got to the hostel it started raining in a steady downpour. It¢s been doing that off and on ever since, often in the form of strong thunderstorms. It¢s so nice to be able to watch it from the inside of a dry building.        The only problem is that this hostel is pretty bare-bones. No phone, no laundry, not even bunks in the bunkhouse. It¢s also pretty tiny and a ton of people has shown up to use it. We¢re going to be crammed in there pretty tight tonight. There¢s a Bed and Breakfast here, but it¢s closed for a few weeks. Ah, well.        Fortunately, the next three days are supposed to be bright and sunny.
Date: 2006-05-27
From: Troutdale Baptist Church

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

So today didn¢t start out very well. I woke up after a great night¢s sleep, but because everyone was packed together, I had to wait for them to wake up before I could go. That wasn¢t too much of a problem, though, since the guy next to me woke up a few minutes later and we went to breakfast. By the time I got back, everyone was up.        The real problem this morning was that I couldn¢t get a ride out of town. Nobody would stop at all. I ended up having to hike the entire 2.7 miles back to the trail on the road. Not a good start to my day.        Fortunately that was the only bad thing about today. The trail was simply excellent. Well-graded, well-maintained, the miles just flew by. Everyone at the shelter tonight couldn¢t stop talking about how nice today¢s hiking was.        I rolled into the Partnership Shelter at around 5:30, which is great for the miles covered. Given that this shelter is fondly know as the ¢Pizzaship shelter¢ may have had something to do with it. The shelter is right next to the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ, and it has a shower and a phone nearby. You can use the phone to have pizza delivered to the HQ, which is only a few hundred yards away from the shelter.        Needless to say, we¢re having a grand time here tonight. I¢ve eaten way too much pizza and drank too much soda. It¢s great. Tomorrow is Atkins and the Relax Inn where my forwarded mail drops await!
Date: 2006-05-28
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Relax Inn Room #110
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Not a whole lot to say about today, really. The trails were okay and the weather was nice. The big focus of the day was the descent into the Great Valley of Appalachia to cross I-81 to get to a ridge on the other side of the valley.        There¢s no trail bridge over 81 or anything, so the trail runs down to an exit underpass, and an exit on 81 means truck stop and motel. It¢s a rare treat to find such things right on the trail, so pulling up a little short is in the cards.
Date: 2006-05-29
From: Relax Inn Room #110

To: Knot Maul Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I¢m really tired tonight, so this is likely to be another short one.        Today¢s hike was unpleasant, for a number of reasons. There was a ton of climbing today, though most of it was on decent grades. There were tons of hikes through cow pastures, which is usually not the greatest of experiences. The water sources were far apart and not that good. But the primary reason that today was unpleasant is because it was super-hot and humid all day, and there was no wind for relief. Even now it¢s hot enough to start you sweating bad.        Tomorrow I have a 19-mile hike planned, which will put me in Bland on the day after. There are plans for Daniel and Alana to meet me in Pearisburg. At my current rate I¢ll be there on Saturday.
Date: 2006-05-30
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: few clouds

Big mile day! Also big climb day, big heat day, and big humidity day. Despite the earl section of today¢s hike containing a 2,100-foot ascent of Chestnut Knob, I decided that the subsequent ridge walk along what appeared to be the nearly flat crest of Garden Mountain lent itself to being a big mile day. I won¢t go so far as to say this was a mistake or anything, but it was definitely more than I bargained for.        For starters it was incredibly hot and humid all day, and Chestnut Knob is a bald mountain. No shade plus really hot equals very tiring hiking. The water sources were far apart as well, but I dealt with that easily enough by making sure I drank as much as I could hold every time I had a source available. Finally the ¢nearly flat¢ section was actually almost entirely uphill. There was just enough downhill mixed in that it showed flat on the profile maps.        Because of the heat and unexpectedly tough terrain, it took me a lot longer to hike the miles today. I didn¢t get to the shelter until 9 p.m. Fortunately, everyone was still up and talking, so I didn¢t¢ disturb anyone by arriving late. Now I¢m really tired, so we¢re going to end this entry right here.
Date: 2006-05-31
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Big Walker Motel, Room 16
Miles today: 11.5

Today was a pretty good day all around. Got an early start after a good night¢s sleep and got five miles of easy hiking in by around ten or so. When I reached Va-615, a gravel mountain road, I found people form the local Methodist Church at the crossing. They were giving rides to the church for hikers where they served a huge breakfast.After breakfast they brought me here to Bland so I could get a hotel room, then after I had dropped my pack in my room, brought me back to the trail. I slackpacked the rest of the way in. A nice easy day of hiking.        Eleven miles is pretty easy for me these days, and I would have gone further except that I had business in Bland. I had to grab my bounce box and forward it along. I also had to call home to talk about the plans for the weekend. Alana and Daniel (sister and brother) are coming down to Pearisburg on Saturday to hang out and I needed to confirm the plans. We¢ll be meeting at the Rendezvous Inn right near the trail. It¢ll be nice to see them.        Next week I¢ll be seeing the entire family. There¢s a family picnic in the planning and Mom will be coming down to where I¢m at and bringing me up to home for a day. Currently it appears that I¢ll be in Catawba at that time. If I start on Monday morning, I¢ll need to do 14.5 miles a day to make it to Catawba in time for Mom to pick me up on Friday. Certainly not an insurmountable goal, though the terrain looks a trifle rough.        Tomorrow promises to be a touch unpleasant. It¢s supposed to rain, though it¢s unclear how much or how frequent. It¢s supposed to rain on Friday as well. I guess I¢ll be nice and wet when I get to Pearisburg.
Date: 2006-06-01
From: Big Walker Motel, Room 16

To: Trent's Grocery
Miles today: 18.6

So, yeah, it rained today. Pretty freaking hard, too. I didn¢t bother with rain gear, as it was too warm. I¢d just get soaked by sweat instead of rain. I just put m pack cover on, put the parade cover on my hat, and got really wet. Hiking in a summer thunderstorm is marginally more pleasant than in spring showers. At least I¢m not cold and wet. Just wet. It¢s still raining now, and is supposed to rain all day tomorrow as well. The real kicker is all the locals saying, ¢Thank God, it¢s raining, it was bone dry all last month.¢ I think the rain is following me!Despite the rain I put in big miles today. Seeing Daniel and Alana in Pearisburg is a good incentive to hike more miles. Plus the terrain is fairly good for hiking. One long climb followed by a long ridge walk. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. The terrain for tomorrow is much the same. Ridge walk in the morning, HUGE climb at around noon, then a long, long ridge walk all the way into Pearisburg. It¢s 24.3 miles into the city. I doubt I¢ll manage to pull that kind of mileage tomorrow, though. I¢ve done a 24+ day once, and that time it was only because there was a 24-hour hotel waiting at the end. There¢s no such convenience this time. Plus it¢ll be raining, and I highly doubt I can do a 24 before dark. Dark and rain is bad.        The plan for tomorrow, then, is to do a 14 miler to Woodshole Hostel, apparently a ¢don¢t miss¢ AT location, then double-time the 10-mile ridge walk on Saturday morning. It would¢ve been nice to get in on Friday, spend an entire Saturday with family, and then move on on Sunday. It would¢ve made getting into place for Mom to pick me up easier. Alas, it was not to be!        By the way, I¢m currently tented out behind Trent¢s Grocery, a little country store. They offer a nice ten space, showers and laundry for $5. Can¢t beat it!
Date: 2006-06-02
From: Trent's Grocery

To: Woodshole Hostel
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: haze

Last night it rained for a bit and then stopped at around midnight. After that it didn¢t rain the rest of the night. By the time it was time to get up, my body hat had dried the tent out. Dry tent in my pack. Definite bonus.        I had started this morning with the intention of going all the way into Pearisburg, a 24.4 mile hike. The going was pretty good, even the monster climb went by in a flash. I was looking at being in town by around 9 p.m., doing about half an hour of night-hiking.        Then it started to rain, and has been doing so off and on the rest of the day. That put an end to plans of Pearisburg. That¢s fine, Woodshole Hostel is amazing. It¢s an old homestead in the middle of a National Forest. It¢s been owned b Tillie Wood since the 1940¢s. I dunno how it became a hostel, but being here is like walking into a piece of history.        There are four other hikers here, two of whom are tenting, so there¢s plenty of space in the bunkroom. One of the hikers, ¢Trail Magic¢ actually set up his tent upon hearing stories of my snoring. Ordinarily I¢d set up my tent out of courtesy, but it¢s raining. Also I rarely snore when I¢ve got a real mattress anyway as I sleep on my stomach.        Only ten miles into Pearisburg tomorrow, and I¢ve got someone taking m pack into the hotel by car. Slackpack Attack!
Date: 2006-06-03
From: Woodshole Hostel

To: Rendezvous Motel
Miles today: 10.4

Today was a great day all around. I had an excellent night¢s sleep at the Woodshole bunkhouse, as they had some nice soft mattresses in there. They woke us up at 7 a.m. for breakfast featuring biscuits and delicious homemade apple butter. Then they took my pack down into town and I slacked the rest of the way in.        The views along the way were great, and for the most part the trails were nice and easy. The down slopes were muddy, though, which slowed me down a bit. I got into town at around 2 p.m. to find Daniel, Alana, Lindsay and Kayleigh waiting for me. The rest of the day was just running around doing things with my family. It was a much-needed break.        First we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Alana had brought my car, so I drove. Driving again after two months was a seriously bizarre experience. After lunch we drove out to Blacksburg to hit a few of the outfitters there to resupply. I couldn¢t find a summer sleeping bag that I thought was worth the price, but I did pick up a water filter/pump, as the water sources have been a bit iffy lately. I went to two different outfitters and a sports equipment store, but I could not find a ¢trail runner¢ shoe in my size. It looks like I¢ll be stuck in boots for the duration of the hike.        After visiting the outfitters we took a side-trip to Mountain Lake Resort, which is apparently where the movie ¢Dirty Dancing¢ was filmed. Lindsay and Alana were excited to visit the place, and I had nothing better to do. It was a nice place, to be sure. I¢m sure if I was crazy about the movie, I¢d be more enthused about visiting it.        The rest of the day was just lying around drinking beer and watching T.V. An altogether agreeable day.
Date: 2006-06-05
From: Rendezvous Motel

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

Some pretty easy hiking today, despite it being cold and drizzly. I got a late start, which is hardly surprising for me when leaving a town. I got on the trail at around 10 a.m.        The first part of the trail was in and around Pearisburg and was pretty miserable. You go into any moderately sized city and walk through whatever small wooded area you find and you¢ll see what I mean. It was full of trash, overgrown, and unmaintained. The trail builders were so desperate to avoid roads at all costs that they chose this bizarre roundabout route that kept me going through people¢s back yards and other such nonsense. After picking my way through it for half a mile, I came back out of the woods to find that I¢d come all of about two hundred yards down the street. Just give up and route the trail down the street so we can get to the real hiking faster.        Once out of town though, it was great hiking. The big climb up onto Peters Mountain was long and steep, but no bad as such things go. Once up on the mountain, it was just a great big ridgewalk. Big flat sections with negligible ups and downs, and only one other significant climb for the entire day. I was able to put big miles in today. Easy terrain plus the promise of a visit home on Friday are great motivators.        The terrain for the rest of the week doesn¢t look nearly so easy as today, but there are a bunch of ridgewalks in there. I should be able to put in enough miles that I won¢t feel guilty about zeroing on Saturday, and probably only getting in a short day on Sunday. Time will tell.
Date: 2006-06-06
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Another big mile day today, though the terrain was not quite as suited to it as it was yesterday. Don¢t get me wrong; there were plenty of the nice ridgewalks that make doing big miles easy. However there were also a 1,300 and a 1,700-foot climb, both of them fairly steep and the bigger of the two happening at the end of the day. Still, as a long day it was easier than many shorter days I¢ve had.        I doubt I¢ll push for the big miles tomorrow. The choices seem pretty limited. The shelters are at 12 and 23 miles (and at 3 and 6, but those are too short to care about). The 23 actually has a little less overall climbing than today did, but the addition of four additional miles really makes a huge difference. Still I¢ve done harder and longer miles. The main reason I¢m not looking for a big mile day tomorrow is because it would commit me to go for Cloverdale instead of Catawba. If I go 23 tomorrow, I¢ll be in Catawba on Thursday, a day early, but Cloverdale is 20 miles away. So by going 23 tomorrow, I get the choice of sitting around for a day or for making two more long days. I¢m not sure pulling a full week of 18-20 miles days is really in my best interests at this point. Therefore, I think I¢ll 12-10-13 over the next three days. A nice easy sequence, but not short enough that I¢ll feel like I¢m slacking off.        On the company front, I believe I¢m ahead of just about everyone I know. ¢Pepper¢ and ¢Play-doh¢ were still in Damascus when I left. ¢Crisis¢ got off the trail in Damascus. ¢Librarian¢ took a few short days to meet her boyfriend. George and Gail I think I passed in Pearisburg. They had been a day ahead of me until Pearisburg, but I don¢t see them in the shelter logs anymore, so I guess I left town before they did. Here¢s hoping a few of them catch up while I zero on Saturday. I miss my trail friends.