morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-29
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

   - The Coldest Day of the Year - Steech, Webwalker, leaves Clyde Smith Shelter's top bunk at the utter butt-crack of dawn, and hits the trail before any of his three companions have started stirring. He sees the sun rise over Little Rock Knob, and removes the first of his 5 upper and 2 lower body layers. It is very cold. Steech climbs Roan Mountain, a very tall mountain, and visits the shelter he would have stayed at last night but is glad he didn't because of the loud, 40-person all-night beer party that supposedly went on. After Roan Mountain is the Roan Highlands, which consist of five balds, and after the first three, Steech stops for the night at the famous Overmountain Shelter. It's famous not only for being a barn, but for being, in many people's opinion, the most beautiful shelter on the trail, with a large lawn area for tents, and a breathtaking open view in front. And a privy. Which is unusual for Tennessee, I think it's the only one between Erwin and Virginia. "Privies are like ocean-front property", wrote one hiker recently, "you won't find either in Tennessee". I used it, just for the novelty of the thing. 'It's nice to have one handy', I write, 'when all your decent lunches are used up, and you have to subsist on less-than-stabilizing sustenance'. I saw the stars last night, very bright, Jupiter maybe in Virgo, Ursa Minor in the 3 0'Clock position. Cold, last night, and this night. 3 cold nights in a row. 'I should get groceries soon', I write. 'Could take up lots of time. It's okay, though, everything's okay.' I still have blisters. They don't hurt, today, but they look ugly. "I surrender my cares to the sky, and embrace the night", I write.
Date: 2006-04-30
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Falls tentsite
Miles today: 17.1

"Nothing is so monumentally under-appreciated, or so universally taken for granted, as the immense joy, comfort, pleasure, and sense of well-being that the presence of another human being creates". I. Morning dawned chilly. To say the least. In addition my polypropylene long underwear, convertible pants and under-armor t-shirt, I put on flannel long sleeves, wool sweater, wool hat, and the jacket that I almost - but not quite - foolishly sent home in Erwin. Okay, but here's the thing. I kept all that stuff on for about 7 miles of hard hiking, much of it uphill, up and over the last two balds of the Roan Highlands. I've never hiked in that many layers for that long, even in January in New England. I added my raincoat and rainpants to the mix when the sleet started. Of course, it was mostly the wind. My walking stick held loosely floated at a 45-degree angle, and birds would try to go forward and be blown backwards. And that made the sleet horizontal. Catskill Eagle caught up to me around Doll Flats. We both agreed it was the most intense weather we'd seen yet. He gave me a delicious energy bar. Which was nice of him, as I was running low on food. Part II of today consisted of a FANTASTIC Sunday dinner at the Country House Restaurant on Rte. 19E with Just Gene and Only Steve, who had caught up to me and were staying at the Mountain Harbor B&B, and a quick stop for resupply. The sun was out by this time, and cumulus clouds were floating in the air, and as I hiked onwards, I discovered that the section north of 19E, hitherto only known for disgruntled locals, is actually the most beautiful section of trail so far. Idyllic pastureland, handsome sugar maples by babbling meadow brooks, flowers in the grass, picturesque hillsides... it was "Silent Noon" country: "...The pasture gleams and glooms 'neath billowing skies that scatter and amass! All round our nest, far as the eye can see, are golden king-cup fields with silver edge/ as the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn hedge/ tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass....(and the music builds...)"So this wing'd hour is dropt to us from above.... O Clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dow'r, this close-companion'd inarticulate hour, where two-fold silence was the song, the song of love".Well, except it was one-fold silence, not two-fold, but I guess you can't have everything.Twilight came, and I raced past a river and a wild cow in search of my campsite. I reached the solitary spot just in time to eat and pitch camp before it got pitch black. It was dark and lonely, a bit, in that forest, but it had been a singularly transcendent April day, and I knew also - if a bear didn't get me first - that when I woke up, it would be May. It doesn't get much more exciting than that.
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Mountaineer Falls tentsite

To: Laurel Fork Campground
Miles today: 15.4

"May, like a stream becoming a river, tells us to slow down - but only in the sense that a river is slower that a babbling brook. It is time to mature from the fresh youthful zeal of eager April and head towards the power, grandeur, majesty, and enormity of the river of summer. A river is stronger than a stream. Let May take you and refresh and infuse you with its power". But May is not June. May is not the climax, not the fullness of the solstice. May is more like the teenager. It can be difficult at times. Such were my thoughts as I crawled out of my tent in the rhododendron thicket to greet the strong sun in the new day. A vireo was singing, and once again, no bears or coons had stolen my bear-bag, so I ate breakfast. and then I started hiking. I was looking forward to seeing the 'old' moonshine still listed in the guidebook, but either I missed it, or it wasn't there, or both. I met a hiker named Heart Fire at one of the streams. Another stream had a wooden bridge, all of probably four feet long and one foot off the ground, on which someone had written 'NO DIVING OFF BRIDGE'. So I didn't dive off it. Cooked lunch at Moreland Gap Shelter. I normally never cook for lunch, cause I hate to be interrupted for so long in the middle of hiking, but I was out of food that could be eaten raw.All that anybody had written all year in the shelter register was 'Off to Kincora'. About 17 hikers had written that very sentence today, ahead of me. I wasn't in the mood for a crowd, so I hiked the extra 20 feet or so to Laurel Fork Campground. I showered, laundered, and called home, ate three toasted bagels with cream cheese at the camp store, and a pizza. I resupplied there, too, which was well worth the marked up prices, as I otherwise would have had to go into town. It was a nice place, stars out over the Tennessee grass, and I set up my tent in the back and went to sleep.
Date: 2006-05-02
From: Laurel Fork Campground

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

After hiking about 9 miles, I came upon a lakeshore. At this point I am on my 29th consecutive day of hiking, no zeros, no time in towns other than a few quick grocery runs, no non-essential non-hiking activities. On the lakeshore, there is a picnic table, a water spigot, and soft grass. It is early afternoon. I take my shoes off and walk barefoot on the soft grass. The sun is out. The hikers at the picnic table invite me to join them. Good Times Charlie and Outlaw are there, and Michelle and Giggles, and a girl named Aloha, who started April 8th from Springer and is the first person I've met that started later than me that I know of. Also a guy named No Plans, and Merlin is there for awhile. Other folks come and go, during the course of the afternoon. Michelle and Giggles have a kite, and I fly it, which is the first time I've ever flown a kite in my life. We play whiffle-ball for awhile, with muscles I had not used in at least a month. Probably more like a year. The sun is still shining. Someone offers to go on a beer run, and we all chip in a few bucks. Everyone is talking and laughing and drinking. I become aware of how long it's been since I've had this type of fun. After awhile someone begins to cook dinner, and we all follow suit. Folks start to head up to the shelter. Charlie and Outlaw and I are the last to leave, and soon I fall behind. I had six beers, and I figured I was pretty stable, despite having lost weight and not having had any alcohol in awhile, but after I started hiking, I got to thinking things like man this trail is narrow I don't see how I'm supposed to keep on it without walking into the poison ivy, and when in about maybe half a mile we came to a open flat space by the lakeside, I figured there was no sense looking for space near a crowded dark shelter in the woods another mile in, when I had all the space in the world right here and now, so I set up my tent, threw up my bearbag, and fell sound asleep. And this was one time when I was camping alone I didn't give one thought to worrying about bears prowling around, or anything else. I just fell straight sound asleep, if you know what I mean.
Date: 2006-05-03
From: Watauga Lake

To: Campsite 4 miles past Vandeventer
Miles today: 12.1

Awoke this morning on the shore of Watauga Lake, a lovely, billowy May morning in Tennessee. There were catbirds, goldfinches, robins, kingbirds, and a great crested flycatcher calling in the woods - a different mix from in the higher elevations. Walked barefoot without my gear all the way back to the picnic area for some water, had breakfast for awhile, then carried on. Crossed Watauga Dam, almost as big as Fontana Dam, and in many ways more striking. A tree with large tropical-looking flowers blooms on one side of the dam, striking mountainsides and rocky canyon-like ravine line the downstream side. Almost western, it looks. The Trail circles back around and follows a ridge looking down for most of the day on the long, many-fingered Watauga Lake. I stop for a brief break at Vandeventer Shelter, which is famous for a lovely view out back, as well as being a great place for anyone who likes a stiff breeze and doesn't mind walking 0.6 miles straight downhill for water. Needless to say, I don't get water here. Also, some people walk the 32+ miles from here to Damascus in one day, the 'Vandeventer Challenge', a lighter version of the 50-mile Kincora to Damascus challenge. I am in no hurry to get to Damascus, in fact, I plan to be well-rested when I get to Damascus, so I can get groceries, see the town, and get out, my usual town strategy. It hasn't been too crowded on the trail recently, but still, the thought of not zeroing in Damascus, and catching up to more new faces, which that would undoubtedly mean, is attractive. I saw a BEAR. I tented in a small hollow four miles past Vandeventer. There were two other guys tenting there, can't think of their names. At twilight, as I made to get into my tent, I saw the unmistakable form of a bear about maybe 150 yards up the hill. He was just nosing around, then he saw me and bolted, fast, like a cheetah or something. It was the first bear I ever saw. I figured, this is the real thing, now, seeing an actual bear and all. I looked at my bearbag. I had hung it, more or less, directly over my tent. It looked hard to get, though. I put on some warmer clothes and went to sleep. I had been hiking now one full month. And in four more miles, I will have covered exactly 1/5 of the Trail.
Date: 2006-05-05
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: The Place, Damascus
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Rain, soft. Damascus, The Place. Full, thanks to 'cafe baja'. Resupplied. Ready to go, tomorrow morning. Someone threw a gigantic spider in the sink. One of the local thieves took my walking stick. A (very) partial list of hikers in town tonight includes Catskill Eagle, Kutsa, Michelle, Giggles, Sam-I-am and Origami, Kegger (those three having done the 50-mile challenge two days prior to Mystic), Mystic, Snickers, Ghost, Silverfoot, Bama, Paul and Wes, Good Times Charlie, and Outlaw.Fourth state - Virginia!
Date: 2006-05-06
From: The Place, Damascus

To: Lost Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

I sit on a bench on Main St. in Damascus, in the warm morning sun, waiting for the post office to open. I contemplate the telephone wires, the houses, the sparrow on the wires - things out of the ordinary, a very complex view compared to the usual trees and mountains, and yet simple and idyllic just the same. I mail home 3 1/2 pounds of excess gear. I drink a couple sodas, even if it is morning, since I have the chance. The song "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen" (on a shining summer morning) by Schumann starts playing in my head. Maybe - just maybe - the days of warmth are here at last. I say goodbye to Paul and Wes on the way out of town. Catskill Eagle is hiking out now, too. I pass Heartfire shortly after the trail re-enters the woods. I pick up a new hiking stick upon seeing, yes, a second bear on the trail ahead of me. It ran off, but I like to have a weapon, just in case. I stop at Saunders Shelter for water, and meet E-Rock. I cross a most impressive Gandalf vs. the Balrog style bridge when the AT coincides with the Virginia Creeper Trail for a bit. There are Flame Azaleas out now, occasionally, brilliant bright orange, one of the few bright orange flowers. I glean some water from a rock-face, climb up a couple more hills, and arrive at Lost Mtn Shelter. There are several new faces there, including Windtalker and Mom, an older couple whom I've seen a lot in the registers. Someone has written most of the text to 'The Lorax' on the privy walls, and a pair of very tall mountains that look like bosoms is in view, so I would say it's a pretty good shelter. Over the bosoms comes in the night some rain-clouds, though, and I lie in my bag and enjoy the thrill of being dry in a rainstorm, which is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to be.
Date: 2006-05-08
From: Wise Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I wake up around daybreak to the daily six o'clock section-hiker gear discussion. ("Oh, is that a stove? I have a stove, too. Wow. Do you cook with it?" etc.) These people have obviously only just gotten on the trail. I leave shortly. The day dawns foggy and sunless - but without the rain, it is pleasant enough. I can see about 30 feet in the fog, which is as thick as cheese and makes for an eerie effect crossing the open areas, watching the wild ponies, and listening to the field sparrows in the grass. It's supposed to look like Montana here, but, like I said, the fog was as thick as cheese, so it was hard to tell. Shortly, however, we are done with the Grayson Highlands area and are back in the woods. I reach Old Orchard Shelter just as the last folks from last night are leaving it, which always makes one feel industrious. At Hurricane Mountain Shelter I meet a whole slew of new faces, which including three Australian girls, Bluey, Vegemite, and Waltzing Matilda, and about 8 others who all seem to be travelling with them, most of whom's names I cannot remember. This must be the Aussie group I've heard about. I leave them, and continue on. The trail is smooth and flat. I am hiking fast and feeling good, after all that ridiculous cold and wet Mt. Rogers nonsense yesterday. This is good hiking. I finish the 20 miles to Trimpi shelter feeling like it was more like 17. I'm low on food, and in fact at Dickey Gap I stuck out my thumb half-heartedly for a few minutes, with an eye towards resupplying in Troutdale even though there's only snack foods for sale they say, but no one stopped, so I didn't. Trimpi Shelter was of the stone fireplace variety, and occupied by a quiet thru-hiking couple named Buford and Fleur-de-lys, who thoughtfully built a fire, to keep the cold and damp away a bit. Catskill Eagle showed up shortly thereafter, and after placing my damp boots and socks near the fire, and putting on my long underwear, I had two dinners, since the first was only ramen, and it didn't quite take.
Date: 2006-05-10
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

May 10th, Knot Maul Branch Shelter (tent). "Everything is perfect. It is warm enough, that I am in only one layer of longs, unlike the last 3 or 4 or 5 nights where I wore all my clothes. The privacy of a tent - first time in VA - is an overwhelming luxury. Overwhelming. It's raining, but, so far I'm dry. I'll sort it out in the light, but I saw about 45 species of birds today, world record for Steech. Also, the cow pastures and scenery today was exquisite. Also, I passed the 1/4 mark. Tomorrow might be a day to sleep in."Nobody ever mentions Southwest Virginia as being one of the most beautiful sections of the Trail, but it really is. Today, especially, the number of times I had to stop and say I can't believe I'm really looking at such a beautiful landscape, was more than I've done all trip. The farmland is the most idyllic you could imagine - faded country roads traverse the valleys, with scattered farmhouses and hayfields and pastureland, scattered among the endless wooded ridges which the Trail spends most of its time on, and which give a sense of seclusion and isolation and of stepping back in time a hundred fifty years or so. The fields yield meadowlarks and indigo buntings, neither of which I've seen yet this trip, and swallows and blackbirds and field sparrows, the forest our usual assortment of phoebes, woodpeckers, thrushes, and warblers, including, today, the black-and-white warbler, common yellowthroat, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warber, ovenbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, northern parula, and hooded warbler, and most notably today, some white-eyed vireos near a swampy area. And about 30 more species. As soon as we got to the indigo buntings, I knew I'd better count species today, because there was going to be a slew. It reminds me of nothing so much as West Virginia, which I spent a week in one time. And after all, we are very close to that state.
Date: 2006-05-11
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

May 11th - Jenkins Shelter (tent)"Surrounded by deer and full moon skies, several hours into dark time, I look back on a day filled with joy (The SUN came out!!!!), relief (I found the shelter before twilight ended!), Cold and Wet morning on Chestnut Knob (will warmth and summer ever arrive?) cozy and dry Chestnut Knob Shelter, where I dried out, had an enormous lunch (people were impressed with the size of my food bags) and considered staying. (I even set up my sleeping bag and changed into dry clothes - but then the sun came out.) I left Feng Shui, the aptly named Too Much and her husband Enough, Brawn and Brains, 42 and Lush, Fish and Minnow, in the shelter. Catskill Eagle hiked out for a zero with his wife, and Mudflap and Daisy camped nearby. Pokey, Baldylocks, and Biz are presumably at this shelter. Darkness, now, 'cause it's night, and I'm going to sleep."Oh, and by the way, when that sun came out, I gave her a cheer like a wildcat that must've echoed from here to Mt. Rogers and back. Good ol' sun. You show them rainclouds who's boss. YEAH!.
Date: 2006-05-12
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

May 12th -A.M., tent."Again a late morning after a late night. Late; but from the sound of things no one else is up yet. 13.8 is the plan today. My food bag is still there. The world is beautiful. Wood thrushes, fast song, have replaced phoebes here at dawn."These low wooded mountain ridges and narrow valleys have been going on for a long time now, but in one of them, today, someone has built a highway. (I-77). You can't help but admire the engineering of it all, as you can see exactly how the land was shaped underneath it before they built it, and the cruising torrent of automotive velocity on the smooth asphalt is more impressive than intrusive - after all, we've been in the woods for quite some miles now, and as this is only our third or fourth highway we've crossed, you can't help but wonder at the speed and the magnitude of the thing as you look down on it from above. Country roads, maybe. But this - this took some serious work to have this happen.Shortly thereafter, as I sit on a stump by Kimberling Creek to refresh my feet and partake of a wee snack, I meet two lively-looking hikers just having returned from town, and, much to my surprise, they introduce themselves as Chainsaw and Able Jack.They, along with Mystic, BLT, and myself, are all staying at Helveys Mill Shelter, and, in a stroke of both genius and generosity, they have brought hot dogs and buns out of town, and they shared them with the rest of us over a roaring fire. Not only that, but Mystic gave me some delicious dessert pastries, and I munch on them contentedly as I sit close to the fire for warmth.
Date: 2006-05-13
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I saw a deer, a shrew, a rabbit, a salamander, a cuckoo, and two large attack snakes. By attack snakes, I mean large, 5-foot-long black snakes sitting by the trail coiled up in attack position. Mystic was waiting for me by the first one, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it till I was right on it.I heard some music coming through the woods, and some barbecue smoke, and thought there might be a chance to yogi a burger, if I was clever enough, but I decided against it. About this time I met Minnesota Smith. I'd seen him in the registers - once when he took a page and a half to list the things that were wrong with Davis Path shelter, and then recently, trading vicious insults with a girl named Jody Foster. I was to learn more about this entertaining exchange at the campfire later on.I walked barefoot most of the last mile to the shelter. Everyone from last night - Able Jack, Chainsaw, BLT, and Mystic - has also done the 24 miles today, and we are joined as well by Minnesota Smith and a quiet girl named Piper. Able Jack gets another one of his blazing fires going. I take what is only my second Tylenol of the trip - even with the easy Virginia terrain, today was a long day.