morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Buck's Place Diner (TN)

To: Moreland Gap Shelter (TN)
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

Day 324/13Start: Buck's Unused CouchFinish: Moreland Gap ShelterMiles: 17.7Weather: rainWe got a pretty late start this morning after eating breakfast at Buck's Place. Buck dropped us off at the trailhead and warned us about the hillbillies in the nearby mountains and their general disregard for human life. So all morning I had Deliverence-like scenes runnung through my head. I chose to hike with the group rather than push ahead.The hiking went by pretty easy for me and we only recieved about thirty minutes of hard rain. El Jeffe, Geranimo, Flip and I ate lunch at this nice waterfall which we backtracked on the AT to get to since we missed the blue blaze the first time. I seem to always feel the pain of every step more acutely while backtracking and even blue-blazing, realizing that the steps don't count toward the estimated five million needed to get from Georgia to Maine. Nevertheless, every side trail I've taken so far has been well worth it.We reached Moreland Gap Shelter to find a full house. DuBious was very angry because the people in the shelter (particularly The Muppets) were not hospitable to him and had a dog that was taking up valuable space in the shelter. I went over to introduce myself and they did seem a bit standoff-ish until they realized that I wasn't interesed in shelter space. I suppose a nice cold rain can bring that out in people. However, once the shelter folk warmed up they were quite nice. I don't mind the rain tonight since we will be doing an easy six miles into Kincora Hostel tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-14
From: Moreland Gap Shelter (TN)

To: Kincora Hiker Hostel (TN)
Miles today: 6.1

Day 334/14Start: Moreland Gap ShelterFinish: Kincora Hiker HostelMiles: 6.1Weather: sunny and warmDespite the fairly heavy rain last night, I woke up this morning to completely clear skies. Knowing that we planned to only do a few miles that day, El Jeffe, Geranimo, Flip and I took our time getting moving. DuBious left relatively early and we bit him farewell until Damascus. Others trickled out throughout the morning and our crew was among the last to leave.The hiking was nice today and I took plenty of time to enjoy the allotted miles. I fell back from our group to look at boulders on the side of the trail and never caught up since there were quite a few boulders to look at. I took a long side trail to Coon Den Falls and hung out there for a while, looking at the falls and catching crawdads. I spent some more time at a pond located shortly before Dennis Cove that contained a large number of newts that all jumped from the shore as I approached.I reached Kincora Hostel just in time to catch the shuttle into town. A plethora of people were at the hostel, many of whom I haven't met. We decided to coordinate a pot luck dinner, so everyone bought lots of food and the dinner turned out really well. This hostel is really cool and I can see why people would want to spend some time here. But, as it is, I am planning to meet a group of friends from church tomorrow, so I must meet my destination. Onward.
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Kincora Hiker Hostel (TN)

To: Vandeventer Shelter (TN)
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 344/15Start: Kincora HostelFinish: Vandeventer ShelterMiles: 17.5Weather: warm, sunnyToday was excellent! I had a very large breakfast, primarily because I kept eating people's food that they otherwise were going to put in the hiker box. I left the hostel sometime later in the morningand began hiking in amazing weather. Shortly into the hike, I came to Laurel Falls. This waterfall is by far the largest I have come to so far and, despite the cool temperature, I couldn't resist going for a swim. The water was colder than I had imagined and my anticipated swim turned into a dash to a particular point in the pool and then back out again. The trail ran beside the river for another mile or two, weaving a narrow passage between the water and the cliffs of the river gorge.I reached Watauga Lake somewhat early in the afternoon to find Seth (formerly Hot to Trot), Manuel and Lone Star eating lunch by the shore. After lunch we followed the trail around the lake to a rope swing where I went for my second swim of the day. This water wasn't nearly as cold and the swim was very refreshing.Seth and I took off from the rest of the crowd and made the next eight miles in very good time. Vanderventer shelter provides a gorgeous view overlooking Watauga Lake and I am pleased to be staying here. It¢s hard to believe that I am almost to Damascus. I feel that many of the well-known hiker hostels and towns and such are in the south due to the number of hikers present to support such services. Thus, I feel like, having previously learned of these places, the majority of the trail experience has already occurred even though there is a lot more trail to cover. Yet, I am kind of excited about not having many expectations beyond Damascus, since expectations often go unfulfilled. I would rather learn to appreciate my trail experience without hearing about the places I "need" to stay or whatever the case may be. Bring on the unknown.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Vandeventer Shelter (TN)

To: Double Springs Shelter (TN)
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 354/16Start: Vanderventer ShelterFinish: Double Springs Shelter Miles: 14.4Weather: sunny & warmYesterday's clear skies stimulated a particularly cold night that carried on into the morning. So when I awoke to watch the sunrise from the view behind Vanderventer Shelter, I decided it would be most logical to watch it from the comfort of my sleeping bag. I hopped up onto the large rocks and sat down to witness the event while still inside my sleeping bag. This proved to be quite a chore and I almost fel over a couple of times. However, the beautiful sunrise more than accounted for the effort and helped me start the day off right.The hiking today was pretty easy and I took my time to enjoy the views. I was actually sort of forced to take my time in this respect as I had a stiff neck from a rope swing-related mishap the day before and was unable to turn my neck very quickly.My primary goal for the day was to meet friends of mine from church, Mark and Ben (Tinka!), at TN 91 so that we could hike together a bit. I arrived at the highway fairly earlier and waited in the sun until they showed up. We hiked a few miles to the next shelter, passing through a very beautiful section of fields, and then stopped for the afternoon.Several groups of people stopped by the shelter that afternoon, but most of them were hungry for Damascus and, thus, pushed on. At dinner time, a couple of unfamiliar hikers approached the shelter and asked if we knew the Tennessee Walkers. The hikers turned out to be friends of the TNW's (one of them, Squirrel Meat, an '03 SOBO) who had come to hang out and provide food and drink to their friends and, as the case may be, to us. The TNW's showed up soon afterward and we hung out around the fire pretty late into the evening talking about the pros, cons and misconceptions of tribal and nomadic societies. Mark, Tinka! and I all cowboy camped under a blanket of beautiful stars.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Double Springs Shelter (TN)

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 364/17Start: Double Springs ShelterFinish: Damascus, VAMiles: 18.3Warm: warm, sunnyWe got a somewhat late start in the morning (which I did not mind at all). Tinka! and I walked north while Mark backtracked to retrieve his car and meet us at US 441. When we met Mark at the road, Tinka! took several bags of goodies out of the car and dropped them on the trail for happy hikers to find. Along with Private Joker, we drove into Shady Valley and ate lunch at the Racecar Diner. We all ordered the restaurant¢s specialty, the Big Shady Burger. What a name! Despite the various possibilities of non-FDA approved connotations, the burger was great and I went back on the trail full of intestinal confidence. Mark prayed for me as we parted, which I appreciated very much and I went back to it.The rest of the afternoon was very nice, but my right shin began to bother me as I approached Damascus. Ten miles short of Damascus I met Pilot, a really neat guy from NJ. Pilot has been moving at a consistently fast pace as he needs to finish the trail by July 21st at the latest. However, I was able to hang with him for the rest of the afternoon and we had a good time talking about a variety of subjects. We reached Damascus about an hour before sundown and made our way to The Place, a very nice hostel run by the local Methodist Church. Arriving at the place was like a big reunion since there were many hikers all around, several who I haven't seen in a while (the Crazy Canoks). Pilot and I dropped our stuff off and went to eat pizza. I ate a 14" super supreme pizza and everything after that is kinda a blur.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day: 374/18Start: Damascus, VAFinish: Damascus, VAMiles: 0.0Weather: warm, sunnyDamascus is a pretty fun place to be, so I was in no hurry to leave. Besides, my right shin was bugging me a bit (shin splint?) from all of yesterday's descending. So I took my time going to the post office, making phone calls, resupplying, and all those other chores that usually cause me to abhor town stops. I didn't even do laundry today simply because I didn't want to.It¢s hard for me to believe that I'm already in Damascus. I feel like I've covered a lot of the trail already. But when I look at a map of the entire AT (which I try not to do too often), my progress seems more accurately depicted. I believe that I feel like I'm further along than I actually am because I heard so much more about the southern AT during my planning, since more prospective thru-hikers cover this portion. Likewise, since more hikers come through this section, there are more businesses catering to these hikers, which causes for more publicity, which causes for more hikers, which causes for more businesses, which... you get the picture.Despite the relative lack of publicized sights and sounds beyond Damascus, I look forward to stepping out into the great unknown. First of all, many of the places and events that have been heavily touted to this point have fallen short of the mental image I've created for them simply because they have been so universally praised. Similarly, many of the greatest experiences I've had to this point on the trail have come as complete surprises.One such experience occurred this afternoon. I called a woman from the 1st Baptist Church of Damascus who had signed my trailjournals.com guest book, telling me I had a place to stay when I got to Damascus. Soon thereafter, Sonshine (her trail name) picked me up in her new Mustang and took me out to eat, along with her friend Deb, at Cracker Barrel. After dinner, Sonshine dropped me off at the house of two other 1st Baptist members who provided me with a big bowl of ice cream and the best night of sleep I've had on the trail (even though I was not technically "on the trail").
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Damascus, VA

To: Saunders Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

Day 384/19Start: Damascus, VAFinish: Saunders ShelterMiles: 9.4Weather: hot, sunnyThe next morning, Blanch drove me into town and dropped me off at a nice little diner, paying for my meal in advance and leaving me in the company of two other gentlemen. After talking with the men a bit, one of them identified himself as the mayor of Damascus. The mayor even drove me to the post office after breakfast. What a treat.I received some upsetting news from my Dad when I called home before leaving town. Apparently, a friend of mine who I haven't spoken with in a while had a stroke at the age of twenty-one. By God's grace, she has supposedly experienced no tissue damage from the event. I was pretty upset to hear about this and tried persistently to contact either her or her parents, but to no avail. I couldn't remember Paige's phone number and received no answer when calling her parents' house. However, I know that Paige is in good hands and that God will be glorified through this situation. So, I began hiking.I had originally planned on going to the second shelter out of Damascus, but the heat and a pristine frog pond got the best of me. I sat by this pond for a break and immediately caused about ten frogs to hop into the water. After my planned break, I stood up and inadvertently frightened a large water snake that also made its way for the pond. So for the next hour or so I waited for the snake to devour one of the frogs. Although several frogs swam directly in front of the snake's nose, it never made a single move. So I resolved that the snake must not be a thru-hiker and moved on with my day.Saunders shelter set a high standard for the quality of Virginia shelters, but I realize that it is a big state. The crowd consisted of 1/2 of Team GB (Ian and Kiri), Spoony Love, and me. I slept out under the stars once again and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Sauders Shelter (VA)

To: Thomas Knob Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 394/20Start: Saunders ShelterFinish: Thomas Knob ShelterMiles: 18.6Weather: warm, sunnyToday we climbed what is supposed to be the biggest hill for quite a while and it wasn't very bad all. Approaching Whitetop Mountain made it look very daunting, but it was easily graded and there were lots of boulders to distract me on the way up. I picked several ramps (a type of wild onion) on the way up the climb that were significantly smaller and more pungent than the ones I had in my dinner the other night. Further up the hill, I found some ramps that were identical to the ones I had the other day. But after picking them, a woman going south told me that the bigger plats in my hands were not ramps but that the smaller plants were. So I don't know what I ate the other night, but it didn't hurt me.Just before I reached Thomas Knob Shelter, I spotted my first two deer of the trip. I was starting to feel left out since everyone else had seemed to have already seen deer. But I've seen plenty of them before and these two were nothing special except for their jumping over a five-foot barbed-wire fence so as to escape my odious presence.The shelter was filled with the likes of Kitty Litter, Skeeter Feeder, Spoony Love, Ian and Kiri. The ramps in my mac and cheese tasted great, much better than those fake (and possibly poisonous) ramps from the other night. The highlight of the evening was definitely the absence of a shelter register since this meant that I could leave the register I've been carrying since Kincora. When I section hiked in this area four years ago, I stayed with thru-hikers at this shelter and a girl was able to leave her register that night as well. I look forward to receiving the filled register in the mail some day, but I wish I were ahead of more of the people I've been hiking with so that they could have signed it as well. This is my first night in a shelter in a while, but I decided it might be a good idea since rain is threatening.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Thomas Knob Shelter (VA)

To: Wise Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: few clouds

Day:404/21start: Thomas Knob Shelterfinish: Wise Sheltermiles: 5.1weather: warm, cloudy, rain at nightWell, it didn't rain last night which was good since Private Joker walkedmost of the night from Damascus and pulled into camp at 3 a.m. He said hecut off part of the AT by taking the Creeper Trail out of town, but it wouldstill be quite a hike.I had initially planned to take a zero day today and just hike around theGrayson Highlands area and back to Thomas Knob Shelter, but I decided itwould make more sense to hike north for the extra distance at the end of theday. So I took most of the day to hike five miles. It was great; I spent agood bit of time doing some easy bouldering, looking at scenery, thankingGod for the opportunity to be in such a beautiful place, a playing withponies.Grayson Highlands State Park is known for the ponies found within itsboundries. Some might even refer to these ponies as wild. Thisclassification would be somewhat inaccurate as these ponies are in no wayafraid of humans. In fact, the ponies are at best apathetic toward hikersand at worst aggressive in their desire turn a sweaty hiker into a humansaltlick. I was licked no less than one-hundred fifty-three times today bythree different ponies. After licking one of them back and finding itsuprisingly unenjoyable, I decided it was time to move on.Not many people showed up to the shelter tonight - Dad's Grin, Carolyn,Andrew (section hiker) and me. We got a decent fire going despite a generallack of wood and I ate the most disgusting meal I've had on the trail (hikerbox mystery meal). The rain started soon after dark and provided anexcellent sleeping backdrop on the tin roof..
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Wise Shelter (VA)

To: Hurricane Mt. Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 9.8

Day: 41Start: Wise ShelterFinish: Hurricane Mt. ShelterMiles: 9.8Weather: am clouds, pm rainI began the day indecisive as to whether I wanted to do a twenty mile daytoday or put it off until tomorrow. Once I began hiking, I felt really goodand was excited about cranking out miles. I was having a great time movingquickly and spent a good bit of the day entertaining the idea of hiking backto Springer once I get to Kathadin. Do I have the money? Can I afford thetime? I certainly have the desire.Despite my zeal for hiking, I stopped short for the day after the skysopened up and dropped a lot of rain. I made it to the shelter about tenminutes before the rain began, but Dad's Grin and Carolyn were not sofortunate.The rain quit after about three hours and I thought about going on foranother ten miles or so. But I was already in my sleeping bag and knew thatthe rain could start up again at any time. Also, since I plan on orderingpizza from Partnership Shelter, I determined that it would taste much betterafter a long day. So here I am for the night.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Hurricane Mt. Shelter (VA)

To: Partnership Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: light rain

Day: 42Start: Hurricane Mt. ShelterFinish: Partnership ShelterMiles: 20.8Weather: am clouds, rainy; pm freezing rain, snowToday's initial stats can be very decieving; it was actually a very plesantday. The miles were the easist to date and the weather wasn't as bad as itsounds. At one point, I was very comfortable hiking shirtless in the fortydegree temperture. The freezing rain was probably the worst part as I wason a ridge and it was coming down at a forty-five degree angle. But thefreezing rain only lasted for about twenty minutes and I had my shirt on.Shortly after lunch, I entered a field that contained an abandoned bus andwhat appeared to be an old stump with several limbs sticking up (like a bigblack piece of driftwood). Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the buswas gutted out for living with a stove, table, chair and couch, and thestump was a recently deceased cow, stiff from rigamortis.I arrived at Partnership shlter to find a good croud of hikers includingDuBius, Team GB, Private Joker, Matt, Heald and Skeeter Feeder. Some ofthem have been hanging out for a couple of days and I was glad to have thecompany. This shelter is very nice and very close to the road, but is mostfamous for the availability of pizza delivery. We took full advantage ofthis service and I had my fill of pizza.Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to get to a church service in Marion andthen resupply before I move on.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Partnership Shelter (VA)

To: Davis Path Shelter (VA)
Miles today: 14.3

Day: 43 Start: Partnership Shelter (VA)finish: Davis Path Shelter (VA)mileage: 14.3weather: snowI woke up in the morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground and a lot more falling from the sky. I called my parents from outside the ranger station, but had to cut the conversation short because I was getting too cold. After some more time in my sleeping bag I decided it was time to get moving.Dad's Grin and I had the hardest time hitching into town, despite everyone's previous assurance that doing so was incredibly easy. Finally, a car pulled over and picked us up. The driver of the car was no other than Squirrel Meat, the TN Walkers friend I met south of Damascus last week. Squirrel Meat ended up being the patron trail saint of the day as he dropped us off in Marion, picked up the TN Walkers and the Muppets (five people, two dogs total in a five-seater), dropped them off and then took me back to the trail after I was done receiving culture shock from the Marion Wal-Mart. He probably did tons of great stuff afterwards that I don't even know about.I was finally able to get in contact with Paige today, which was nice although a bit sad for me. Because of her stroke, Paige has been experiencing lifestyle changes that are difficult and painful; and it is just upsetting to see someone have their world turned upside-down in that way. But Paige is confident that God has a purpose behind all of this and she seemed eager to seek out that purpose.So I missed church because we didn't get into town soon enough and I didn't begin hiking until 2:45 pm. Regardless, the afternoon hike was beautiful and it was a wonderful blessing to be able to hike in a substantial amount of snow once again. I passed through some beautiful fields and some silent-with-snow wooded areas, but, as I approached Atkins, I was unable to hear myself think because of the noise from I-81. I don't see how any animal (most having more sensitive ears than me) could stand to live within several miles of such a monstrosity.I arrived at the shelter to find the Crazy Canoks, who I haven't seen for quite a while. They were waiting for a stove to arrive in Atkins (two miles back) and had been sitting in the shelter for three days. We caught up on all that has been going on and then went to sleep.
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Davis Path Shelter (VA)

To: Spring-fed Pond (VA)
Miles today: 18.4

Day: 44start: Davis Path Shelter (VA)finish: Spring-fed Pond (VA)mileage: 18.4weather: cool, sunnyI slept in a bit this morning and laid in my sleeping bag reading old shelter register entries for a while. It seems that late-seasonSouth-bounders write so much sometimes, most likely because the trail is practically deserted that time of year. But, despite my probable ability to lie there all morning, I decided to get up when Sunset Screamer and Bones rolled in after already having hiked three miles that morning. Such encounters make me feel lazy and, thus, stimulate action.By the time I got packed up, DuBois came by and we proceeded to hike together for the entire day. We passed through some amazing country today and it made me feel very happy to be on the trail. The farmland encapsulated and fortified by mountain ranges seemed to exist as its own microcosm, entirely independent from the rest of the world.Toward the end of the day, DuBois started to lose steam and we camped next to a spring-fed pond rather than our original destination a couple miles ahead. Stopping at this campsite turned out to be the best decision of the day as we were serenaded all night long to the sound of several species of frogs living along the pond. The audio display was amazing and it sung me right to sleep.