morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-10-02
From: Pearisburg VA

To: VA 606
Miles today: 24.8

Oh my goodness, what a day. I always dread leaving a hostel or trail town, especially after a zero; its so lonely that first night back on the trail. That¢s how the mood started. Anyways, got a late start out of town (nothing unusual so far), but made good time until, ¢¦ GEAR ISSUES! That set the mood.I thought I was done with this crap! First, I stop for a quick break only to discover that the compression strap that I clip my crocs to has come undone, and my crocs have been left somewhere between Pearisburg and Wapiti Shelter. Damn, I liked those shoes, especially in towns, but it¢s a little late in the trip to start buying new gear and I¢d been thinking about bouncing them ahead anyways. I¢ll see how it goes for a few days and if I¢m not desperate without them, then I¢ll forego buying a new pair. OK, that¢s not so bad. But it certainly did not help to improve the mood.Just as I settled down from the croc-tastrophe, the next poop storm hit: my f@#king pack broke AGAIN! Arrrgggh. I¢m soooo glad no one was around to hear the stream of four-letter words flowing from me. A stream certainly much stronger than any of the dried-up water sources around here. The major problem this time (strike two for Osprey) is that the hip belt is now useless, thus ALL the weight is focused on my shoulders. Not only that, but the pack weight is forever moving from side to side as I maneuver around obstacles or rock hop, which increases the stress on my shoulders.I had no cell reception, and Osprey was surely shut down for the night anyways, but it will not be a pretty conversation when it happens. I¢m struggling to reserve my judgment of Osprey until the issue is resolved (good or bad). What really sucks is that I had planned some big days ahead, so I¢ll just have to see if I can still make that happen.The Osprey story is unfinished, and unfortunately it¢ll have to wait until the phone works again. Worst case scenario though, I¢m NOT slowing down. If I have to, I¢ll start calling shuttles and slack my way down to an outfitter in Damascus. Bright-side-positive-thinking, this may be really good excuse to slackpack a bit.What a miserable, miserable day.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   ¢¦ if only it was ONLY a croc-tastrophe
Date: 2007-10-03
From: VA 606

To: VA 615 (Laurel Creek)
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 1 of the historic epic off-trail adventure!Sooo, the pack¢s busted, I¢m hurting bad (all right-side weight on my shoulder, plus stab-wound (healing nicely though)) and I contacted everyone in the world that will answer from the first mountain top I reached with a cell signal. Don¢t think I mentioned this yesterday, but I managed to puncture myself rather deeply from the pack¢s metal stay which had popped out of position while I was rock hopping. All part of yesterday¢s frustrations. However, the cavalry is on the horizon. Mom will be up here on Saturday, so if I can just get to Atkins tomorrow (Thurs), then Troutdale Friday, with her help I could potentially slack myself all the way to Damascus. Maybe.Talked to Osprey. Different person, different day. Last time I had a problem with their pack back in the Whites, they were super, superior in fact. This time they were totally useless and actually treated me pretty poorly. By their reckoning they figure 1500 miles is all that pack is designed for and I¢m already way pass the limit. So, I¢m stuck out in the woods with a broken pack that¢s out of warrantee. Lets leave it at that. Good grief.Now a ray of sunshine, ¢¦ I connected with Jeff at Mt Rogers Outfitters (MRO) who was VERY helpful. Obviously, he¢s someone who¢s been there, done it, and fully understands the thru-hiker¢s situation. Not that he¢s promising to give me something for nothing, but he¢s doing his best to keep me moving. He said he would have a pack sent to me in Atkins, which I could use to get to Damascus, then sort everything out with Osprey after I arrive. Hooray!Now I just have to get to Atkins.I mushed onward to just past I-77, the turnoff for Bland, but decided to push farther which would give me a better shot at getting to Atkins tomorrow. Of course, I lost the trail, and ended up doing about 8-9 miles (if my map skills are correct) off-trail. Arrrrrggghh.Interesting discovery though, is that road-walking (although worse on the feet) was much smoother and easier on my ailing shoulder, which made the road-walk both fun AND gave me ideas about tomorrow. Well, I eventually ended up on VA 615 of all places, which intersects the AT at Laurel Creek. I hiked to the trailhead, then took the trail NOBO to I-77, and finally caught a ride back into Bland. In other words, I did some kind of grand circle to get back to where I had gotten messed up earlier. What to do next. Since I have had absolutely no luck in locating a shuttler on such short notice in this area, the new option is that if the shoulder situation does not improve by morning, then most likely I¢m going to be doing a considerable amount of road-walking tomorrow. Somehow by the grace of God I will end up in Atkins even if it kills me. HA!Tomorrow is a new day.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   Actually saw some very nice country-side views during the road-walk. Southwest VA is quite rural and picturesque
Date: 2007-10-05
From: Atkins VA (Relax Inn)

To: Dickey Gap (Troutdale)
Miles today: 26.1

What¢s that annoying noise? Oh yeah, the alarm. Sooo, got another LATE start today (11:15 AM) which is becoming a frequent occurrence.The new pack loaner from MRO is nice. I do however miss the Aether 70¢s suspension system (when it¢s not broke). The best part about using the 60 is that I was carrying very little weight ¢ one day¢s supply of food, no supper, no sleeping bag or pad, no long underwear. The light pack was superb on my shoulder though, and I am anticipating being back to 100% by Damascus.The hike itself was great, though wet, and the miles flew by. I had a bit of trouble getting into Troutdale ¢ the shuttler forgot about me and I could not get a phone signal to remind him. I waited an hour then decided to hitch into town. Once here at the hostel, everyone has been supernice.Can¢t wait to see mom tomorrow, another strong reminder that I¢m getting closer to home. Seems like a dream that I¢ve actually been on the trail 3 months now, and I can¢t stop thinking about the end. By noon tomorrow I¢ll have less than 500 miles to go. HA! The trees are cooperating with the Fall theme by changing color ever so slowly ¢ the last half of October is going to be absolutely incredible! This should make for a fantastic backdrop during the final weeks of this journey.It was nice to hike on trail all day once again. I cannot believe how psychotic (chaotic ?) the trip from Pearisburg was! I finally met up with Brit, Stoker, and Smokey this morning, and found out that I passed the entire group I was trying to catch at Pearisburg. I had been looking forward to meeting Sweet Tea, Lady and the Tramp, Yellowbird (again), Quasi, and whomever else I forgot. All good people to know. It seems now that with the exception of weekenders, it¢s gonna be reeeeeeaaal quiet out here until the end. Whatever. Pulling out all the stops, TN/NC here I come! Hope you guys get a chance to check out some of the Fall colors and cooler mountain air.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   It was nice to socialize with the other SOBOs, ¢¦ but need to keep moving
Date: 2007-10-06
From: Dickey Gap (Troutdale)

To: Stone Mountain (The Scales)
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: light rain

How¢s that go, ¢¦ the best laid plans of mice and men, ¢¦ something along those lines. Anyways, although it wasn¢t entirely easy, finally hooked up with mom.The original plan was to meet at the trailhead at Elk Garden on VA 600. Funny thing is, we both had cell phones, and occasionally each had signals, but NOT at the same time. It started with me having severe chaffing problems and making the decision to stop short at ¢the scales¢. When I got a signal, I could not reach mom to tell her, but somehow managed to leave a message for my dad in central Georgia, saying that I¢m back in Troutdale. Meanwhile, mom is sitting at the trailhead and likewise, for some reason cannot reach me but also leaves a message for dad 500+ miles away, indicating that she made it ok, but is a little concerned that I am running late. Also understand that she¢s not totally convinced that she¢s at the correct trailhead.Now enters dad. He comes home from work, hears the two messages, and KNOWS that we (mom and I) are roughly ten miles apart and NOT closing the gap. Well, long story short, he leaves messages on both of our phones to advise us of our positions. Eventually, we both get a strong enough signal and sort things out. Just an interesting moment or three.When the dust clears, mom picks me up in Troutdale and we return to the Relax Inn in Atkins to retrieve my broken down backpack. We decided to stay there for the night and get back to the trail tomorrow morning at ¢the scales¢ so that I can resume my southbound journey.Yeah, the afternoon was a bit confusing for a while, but that¢s kinda normal, and everything turned out ok in the end. Hope your day turned out ok in the end, and thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   good to see family again
Date: 2007-10-07
From: Stone Mountain (The Scales)

To: VA 600 (Elk Garden)
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

Today was excellent!After meeting mom yesterday back in Troutdale, we retrieved my busted pack in Atkins and wasted the rest of the day there. This morning, I hiked about 4 miles on a dirt road back to the scales, then an easy (and beautiful) 12 miles to Elk Garden. Rather than keep hiking all day, I decided to get off trail, run errands and relax with mom the rest of the day.It¢s somewhat interesting how my perception of visitors has changed. Earlier in the trip, I would¢ve taken advantage of having a vehicle and slackpacked all over the place, getting in a huge day. However, now that the trip is finishing up (and all I¢m carrying now is essentially a slackpack and a sleeping bag anyways!) I wanted to do a shorter day on purpose. I can hike a big mileage day anytime, but I can¢t sit around and hang out nearly as well without company.Coincidentally, my boozing on the trail has slowed down significantly since there have been almost no people around. That can¢t be all bad.Ha! Speaking of people, it was amazing how many people were on the trail today. I guess since it¢s a weekend, a popular spot (Mt Rogers), combined with a cloudless bright blue sky, everybody in the world has come out. The only problem in my mind is that now I am carrying a daypack instead of the full-size overnight pack. It is quite amusing to me that if someone sees a guy jogging down the trail with a tiny pack on, it MUST be just another weekender. But, if the guy¢s got on a full pack, then it¢s ¢oh, wow, a thru-hiker; man, you¢re moving fast, good luck, hey, you want a beer?¢Ha. The one day when you want to be carrying more weight, just to look hardcore, and I might as well be wearing purple and handing out daylilies at the trailhead.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   downloaded (uploaded?) a whole covey of pictures of the last two days in this area. Enjoy.
Date: 2007-10-08
From: VA 600 (Elk Garden)

To: Damascus
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: clear sky

WALLY-World. Ok, this is the story about the world according to WALLY. The story starts out innocently enough this morning when mom and I went to Mt Rogers Outfitters (MRO) to get the pack fixed and return the loaner. They were great! It took 3 guys an hour and a half to get the new rods into the pack. It was the classic battle of man vs Osprey. MRO won hands down. Can¢t say enough good things about Jeff and the others at MRO, and everybody else we came across in Damascus.Anyways, with the pack crisis settled, mom dropped me off at Elk Garden to hike back into Damascus, but we left a bunch of my gear (sleeping bag, clothes, food, etc) at the hostel across from the outfitter. No one was there (at the hostel) at the time. But the guys at MRO were the coolest, most laid-back, willing-to-help-you people I have run into in quite some time, so I assumed everything was fine.Enter WALLY.When I arrived later tonight, my gear was missing from the hostel. Damn. Of course, the outfitters were closed and there was no help to be found. The only other guy staying in the hostel directed me to the caretaker, some guy living in a van behind the hostel. Great. I really don¢t want to badmouth anyone, but WHAT A HASSLE!! WALLY had moved my belongings to the store before they locked up thinking that, ... well, actually thinking is a bit of a stretch.Ok, maybe he thought he was protecting my stuff (of course, no one in their right mind was going to steal my worthless, horrible-smelling patched-up gear, not to mention that there were only 50 people in Damascus anyway). And no doubt he did not connect the dots which implied that I was slacking back to the hostel and would be late arriving. The fact remains, all my stuff had been moved to the locked-up store, and I now had no clothes or bedding or food tonight.I was wet (sweaty), cold, and hungry. I checked around, and finally got a room at a B&B. Hurray! Cost a bunch more, but didn¢t matter at that point.   The folks there were most accommodating to my situation and even offered me some hospital slip-ons (?) to wear while my hiking clothes were being laundered. Once I settled down, I went nearby to get something to eat and immediately ran into Jeff of MRO fame. He graciously offered to open up the shop to get my gear. What irony.Oh well, what¢s done is done. A good night¢s sleep, a fixed pack, a full belly, and I¢m southward bound tomorrow. One more trail story to tell.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   Tennessee look out, ¢cause here I come
Date: 2007-10-09
From: Damascus

To: Double Springs Shelter, Tenn
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Well, the rain came in as part of a cold front moving south, sooo it must be time to get back in the woods. Not much else to brag about today except, ¢¦ made it to TENN!I must say that I have been lucky in that the weather (although dry) the last few weeks has been outstanding all through Virginia, allowing me to enjoy all the excellent trail scenery and views this state has to offer. It has truly been a pleasure. Stopped early after an hour in a fairly substantial storm. There were several other hikers sharing the shelter, doing as well as they could to dry off. No other SOBOs around me right now. Guess I¢m back in the ¢void¢, so to speak.Hope you¢re having a great day.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   VA really is an exceptionally beautiful mountain state
Date: 2007-10-10
From: Double Springs Shelter, Tenn

To: US 321 (The Castle)
Miles today: 23.0

A good day today, but nothing amazing (which in itself is amazing).Solid hiking, decent enough weather, and a cool place to stay in Hampton. Looks like I¢ll be staying in a lot of hostels around this area, which is fine by me.Word out is that my dad is heading this way and one way or another we¢ll hook up somewhere around Erwin this weekend. It¢s really working out well that as a Southerner heading South, I can expect more and more supporting visits from family and friends the closer I get to Springer. This is an unanticipated benefit for me to have decided to do a SOBO trek. It¢s such a morale boost just when you¢re in the final drive to be finished.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   starting to feel more like home is just around the corner
Date: 2007-10-11
From: US 321 (The Castle)

To: Laurel Fork
Miles today: 20.3

Another coooooool day of hiking.The waterfall was neat (Laurel Creek), but the coolest part of the day for me was walking on the old road through the ridgeline. There are even a few places where the rocks have been blasted through to make the road, and to me it just looked really neat. I could almost see the history of the region, and it was easy to imagine people working on the road long ago. In my mind¢s eye I can envision horse drawn carts, being led by their owners, slowly making their way along this forest highway to get to some as yet unknown destination. The roadway must have been important for the population to have labored as they did to build it. It¢s a privilege to share it with the memories of past travelers.I¢m staying tonight at Abby¢s hostel. Though it¢s nice to get off the trail, there¢s no heat and it¢s essentially an upscale shelter. On the positive side, it was only $5, so for the price it¢s a good deal. Whatever, you just don¢t sweat the small stuff.Besides, it¢s less than 3 weeks to go!Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   ¢¦ and it¢s ALL small stuff ¢¦
Date: 2007-10-12
From: Laurel Fork

To: US 19E
Miles today: 12.4

I had an exceptionally short day today, because ¢¦ well, for one thing, there¢s a really good hostel at 19E, plus the weather has been quite nasty of late, plus I am in NO rush anymore, and if that weren¢t enough, I¢m pansying out of tackling Roan Mountain today. And it¢s great!Tomorrow I¢ll mush over the Roan Massif -- but today, today I¢m sitting on my bum, wrapped in blankets, drinking beer, and watching movies. Definitely great.Tomorrow I¢ll climb mountains ¢ not today.There are FAR worse ways to spend an afternoon. Hope your afternoon is going as well as mine.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   tomorrow -- Roan
Date: 2007-10-13
From: US 19E

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 23.5

Redemption!Today I had my ego restored from slackpacking around Mr Rogers (see TJ 10-07-07). You may recall that I ran into scores of people that afternoon, but I was only carrying a ¢day-pack¢ and missed the opportunity to impress everyone with the mighty thru-hiker all the way from Maine carrying the super-sized pack image, and well, you know how that story goes. Anyways, I must¢ve seen 150 people on this day; again we had the perfect combination of a weekend, drop-dead glorious weather, and an extremely accessible (paved road to the top) popular mountain. So here I go feeling strong and literally jogging up and over Roan Mountain with a full pack. At least it looked like a full size pack; these days my pack weighs next to nothing. But the crucial point here is that I caught many a ¢dude-must-be-crazy¢ glance (you gotta be pleased with whatever pleasure you can get this far into the journey). Sweeeeet redemption.While Roan was cool, the Humps were by far more impressive, and I thoroughly understand why this entire area is so popular. Good move on the AT¢s part to make this relocation from the original path. I had a lot of fun and some great views. However, I ran into trouble toward the end of the day. I managed to take a wrong turn at Greasy Creek Gap and walked about 3 miles total off trail before returning to the gap. I eventually found the right path and arrived at the hostel. Unfortunately, there were other hikers but no caretaker. After waiting around a few hours, we ended up stealth-hostelling in the unheated bunkhouse without the famed homecooking. Really was looking forward to that famed homecooking.As it turns out the owner, CC, had a car troubles with an eventual breakdown in Erwin and returned late in the evening via a lift from a friend. Regardless, it was a nice place; I hung out with one section hiker and three guys from Atlanta who were on their first trip on the AT.All in all, today was a smashing success and I¢m primed and ready to rock and roll to Erwin tomorrow. Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   With any luck, I¢ll hook up with dad ¢¦ somewhere ¢¦ south of here
Date: 2007-10-14
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 12.7

Beauty Spot.The panoramic views just absolutely positively don¢t get any better than what we experienced on this day in this location. Period.Got off to a late morning start from the Greasy Creek hostel. But the day was perfect, and the trail relatively tame, so once on the trail, I was moving at quite a clip until ¢¦ that old nemesis returned called chaffing. It¢s difficult to describe just how painful that can be unless you try to imagine two totally raw parcels of flesh constantly rubbing against one another with salty sweat and dirt and who knows what else continuously introduced into the nerve center of the open wounds. It hurts.Soooo, when my dad surprised me by showing up at Beauty Spot rather than Indian Grave Gap as we had planned, it was time to bail out. As before (when mom met me a week or so back) I had already decided to take it easy and enjoy the company rather than try to squeeze out every possible mile. Didn¢t take long to find our way to the Holiday Inn in Erwin.Did I mention that dad had brought goodies (gator aide, power bars, etc) to do a little trail magic in case we ran into other hikers? Well among the goodies were FOUR double cheeseburgers. Those little grease-bombs didn¢t stand a chance. I finished the last one off as we were unpacking and setting up in the hotel room. THEN (after a hot shower) we went out to dinner.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   check out the new pics ¢ some of the views are outstanding
Date: 2007-10-15
From: Beauty Spot

To: US 19W Spivey Gap
Miles today: 21.8

What a neat day.Started off back at Beauty Spot, where I actually found the spot called ¢beauty¢. How lucky is that? Then it was off to today¢s hike ¢ over moderately easy terrain of a little more than 21 miles. No biggy at this stage.Nothing terribly unusual other than running into dad at Beauty Spot, USFS 230, then Indian Grave Gap, Nolichucky River, and finally at Spivey Gap. Enough already. Certainly didn¢t realize that the trail crossed the road that many times in this section. It sort of became a game for him to see how many times he could intercept me during the day. Helps to pass the time for the shuttler I guess.Anyways, all went reasonably well and back at the hotel we began to make plans for the final sendoff tomorrow morning. What time to check out, mailing the bounce box, leaving a liquid cache at Sam¢s Gap, etc.More and more often these days the thought occurs to me that I¢m only a few weeks away from this journey¢s end.   Bittersweet.Thanks for reading. ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   Yep, it¢s slowly starting to sink in.
Date: 2007-10-16
From: US 19W Spivey Gap

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Beginning of the ¢lasts¢, ¢¦Ok, so dad went home (understand that it¢s a work thing ¢ nothing I did or said). One of the chores that he helped me with before we parted ways was to take me and my bounce box to the Post Office. And then it hit me, ¢¦ this would be the ¢last¢ time that I would mail a silly box to myself somewhere south of where I currently stand. Silly sometimes because the concept is to send stuff downstream that I probably need, but not for the next few days (or weeks); so the gamble is that I¢ll get whatever it is just in time. Now this strategy backfired early on (Maine) when I bounced my ¢upper body bug net¢ ahead. Primarily because the bugs weren¢t so bad at the time, and besides I¢d certainly save what, three or four ounces? Well, that¢s all the black flies were waiting for. Yes sirree, the winged devils came out in such force that the skies would darken and grown mountain men would quiver when they looked up at the hoards of ravaging swarming beasts descending. In any event, the resulting burning bites were so numerous and painful that when I finally got to where my bouncer had been mailed, I ripped open the cardboard box on the spot and put on the bug net right then and there in the PO¢s lobby, ¢¦ caused quite the scene. Not withstanding, today I made it over Big Bald, pass Sam¢s Gap, and narrowly beat out a vicious storm by minutes, making it to the safety of a three sided shelter. Won¢t be too awful long before I¢ll be staying at the ¢last¢ shelter. (Sigh)Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)PS:   Yep, the beginning of the ¢lasts¢ has begun.