morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-05
From: Dalesville, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 54- May 5, Daleville, VA, 0 milesA correction from yesterday's journal entry: we are in Daleville not Dalesville, VA. A zero day means that there is no trail news. We slept in, had a casual breakfast at the motel, planned our miles and food resupplies for the next week or so, went shopping, ate lunch, mostly laid around in the afternoon and just came back from dinner. Sounds like fun, huh?!We shopped at a nice outfitter store in the nearby plaza where there were about 15 other thru-hikers. Some were looking to get new hiking sticks, shoes or socks. Some were opening resupply boxes and sharing treats from home. We bought some lemonade-flavored tablets to put in our water to replenish our electrolytes and some spray to apply to our clothes to repel ticks. From the outfitters we went to a good-sized Kroger's grocery store, which proved to be poor timing because we were hungry and everything looked good! We bought food for 3 days of hiking and some snacks to eat today. We carried all this food back to the motel and immediately walked across the street for lunch at Pizza Hut. We chatted with a couple of section hikers we saw on the trail about a week ago so it was good to catch up with them. We've managed to share our surplus of snacks with other hikers as they walked by our room. There was a bit of rain this morning which made us glad we had a roof over our head but the sun ducked in and out later in the morning. We are now starting to worry about ticks, the wildlife we most fear. So we purchase some spray to treat our clothes which is supposed to repel ticks. We laid out our socks, low gaiters, long sleeved shirts and shorts in the parking lot and gave them a good spray. They needed to dry outside for two hours so we found a place to string a line and hung them up. An hour and half later the skies darkened and serious rain threatened so Jim gathered up the clothes. The storm moved around us with no more than a few sprinkles so the clothes went back on the line to complete their drying cycle. Now we need to incorporate a tick check on our legs each day when we get to camp and keep track of when it is time to treat our clothes again. Yesterday we had a bit of excitement when I was giving Jim a haircut. It is kind of a funny story! Corey brought hair clippers so I could trim up Jim's hair. I did this before we left home and I used the #3 attachment so Jim was left with hair about 3/16th of an inch long. Well, I started clipping, making one swipe from Jim's neck up to the crown of his head when he asked if I had the #3 attachment on and my hand froze as I said, "No!" I quickly got the #3 on and finished the job. When we showed Corey he quickly and correctly identified my mistake as a white blaze on the back of Jim's head! We all had a good laugh and those good laughs have continued when we show the clip job to other hikers!! The forecast is for a day or so more with the potential for rain but we'll be back on the trail tomorrow morning. All is well.
Date: 2014-05-06
From: Daleville, VA

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 55- May 6, Daleville to Cove Mountain Shelter, 25 miles. We had a couple of notable things to celebrate today. First, shortly after leaving Daleville this morning we passed the one-third mark! 729.3 miles! We also got a new PR for daily mileage by one-tenth of a mile - 25 miles! The trail conditions today made for mostly comfortable walking, not too rocky. The ups and downs were gentle and the ridge line walking actually had some flat sections! Our plan was to hike 18.5 miles to the Bobblets Gap Shelter. We arrived at the turn off for the shelter before 2:30 and took the .2 mile downhill trail to the shelter. The guidebook indicated that there was no tent camping sites at this shelter and this time the guide was right. There were already 5 guys and a dog staying the night and the shelter seemed to be in a dark hole! So we looked again at the map and decided to push on 6.5 miles to the next shelter. Our guidebook lists all the water sources along the trail and after we left the shelter where we planned to stay we realize we might need some water along the way. That's when we discovered that our destination shelter had no water! Yikes! The guidebook listed a provisional water source meaning that the water might be flowing in the springtime or after a heavy rain. We were counting on there being water in this stream and we were not disappointed. Water has been readily available on the trail up until this point and we will now be more vigilant about checking the guide and planning our water stops accordingly, especially as the weather is warming up and we are drinking more water. Today the trail started paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway. We actually crossed it several times so that the trail could pass some of the more famous overlooks (e.g. Peaks of Otter). There wasn't much traffic on the BRP which made crossing it quite easy. I imagine summer traffic presents a few problems for the hikers. The BRP will be near us until we enter Shenandoah National Park, when the road becomes the Skyline Drive. The threat of afternoon thunderstorms never materialized where we're at, but the forecast indicates that we may get a storm overnight and maybe some rain in the morning. The wildflowers continue to emerge from the dry leaves on the forest floor. Columbine, lady slippers, dwarf iris and flame azaleas are some of the flowers I was able to identify today. Some butterflies have also emerged and frequently are our escorts down the trail. Time to go to bed! All is well.
Date: 2014-05-07
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Harrison Ground Spring Campsite
Miles today: 20.4

Day 56-May 7, Cove Mountain Shelter to Harris Ground Spring campsite, 20.4 miles. Today was the day of the trillium! It seems we are now in the peak season for this beautiful and delicate flower in this area. Our day started with a steady climb up Fork Mountain which was a warm-up for a climb up Floyd and Apple Orchard Mountains. We climbed over 5,000 feet up in our 20 miles of hiking. For the most part the trails were in good condition which made the climbs more manageable. Shortly after starting up Floyd Mtn. we started to see trilliums and they were with us the rest of the day. For the last 2 or 3 miles there were hillsides and mountain slopes of these beauties. It was a glorious distraction! We saw mostly pink trilliums with some white ones making an occasional appearance. This certainly was the highlight of the day. On top of Apple Orchard Mountain we saw another FAA radar tower. You may remember that we hiked by another one of these near Max Patch Bald in TN (or is it in NC?). Today we stopped for a snack break at the Bryant Ridge Shelter which was a fairly new shelter. It slept 20 people and had a covered picnic table and seating area. Apparently it was built in memory of someone and it is a first class tribute to that person. We are camped by a small stream tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if we had this place to ourselves, but we never know who will show up. Last night as we were finishing our dinner Good Company arrived, who we met for the first time in Daleville. A bit later Twizzler showed up and that was the first time we met him. Tomorrow is a resupply day. We will hike 11 miles to a road crossing where we will try to hitch the 5 miles into Glasgow. Once there we'll eat lunch in a restaurant, buy three more days worth of food and then hitch back to the trail. There is a shelter about 2 miles up the trail from that point which will be our goal for the night. It will be a shorter mileage day, but we have no idea how long it will take us to get rides to and from town. Yesterday I forgot to include birthday wishes to my daughter-in-law, Alison and my sister-in-law, Joanie. Hope you both had terrific days!All is well.
Date: 2014-05-09
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

Day 58-May 9, Johns Hollow Shelter to Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, 18.3 miles. As usual we started our day with a big climb to a couple of ridge lines and finally to the top of Bluff Mountain. On the top of Bluff Mountain there is a small memorial set up marking the spot where little Ollie Powell's body was found in 1891. At almost 5 years of age she had wandered away from the Tower School yard and was found here, 7 miles from the school. We were glad to make our biggest climb of the day during the coolest part of the day, but I don't think it ever got as hot as yesterday. There was a high cloud cover which I think helped keep the temps from getting too high (low 80's). Today we hiked by the 800 mile mark!!!! This came just before this shelter because our guide says we are at 800.8 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia! Some of the wildflowers we saw today were those spectacular rhododendrons, azaleas and lady slippers. There are so many I don't know! Maybe someday when we are in a town I will find a local wildflower book or will have time to do an internet search so I can identify more of what we are seeing. We are camped along Brown Mountain Creek and I have my feet and legs in a lovely, cool jacuzzi-like pool! What a treat after a day of hiking. Earlier on this creek, our guide said we'd find a swimming hole so we were looking for it as the trail paralleled the creek for a half mile. When we came to a foot bridge we saw a small waterfall tumbling into a good swimming spot! So we dropped our packs, changed from our boots to our Crocs and stripped down to our skivvies and in we went! Boy, was it cold, but very refreshing! It felt so good to rinse off a day of sweat and have cleaned undies! We re-dressed and walked the last mile to camp, trying not to break a sweat! Brown Mountain Creek has a rich history as a small farm community of freed, black slaves in the early 1900's. We saw remnants of well-constructed stone walls and have been trying to envision life along this creek. It certainly is a pretty place. We spent some time this afternoon talking to a Ridgerunner named Regina. She is an experienced hiker and did the AT in 2007, southbound. She was full of good information and we enjoyed our time with her.Localized thunderstorms are in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully the creek won't rise more than 6 feet or our tent will get wet! All is well.
Date: 2014-05-10
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Day 59- May 10, Brown Mountain Creek Shelter to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter, 15.8 miles. So it is not all sunshine and lollipops out here. Some rain moved in last night as we were making dinner, forcing us to eat our Pasta Sides with tuna under the vestibule of our tent. That rain did not last long and we were back outside, washing dishes and socializing with the other hikers. We packed up this morning under cool and dry overcast skies. We had a big climb right out of camp-almost 2,700 feet in 4.5 miles. After a fairly easy 1.5 miles we crossed a road and there was a cooler of trail magic waiting for us! So at 7:30 AM we were chugging a ginger ale which powered us the rest of the way up Bald Knob. Once on top we found enough cell service to post yesterday's journal and text our Trail Jeannie. The rain started shortly after our big climb and continued the rest of the 10+ miles we had for today. We crossed several balds and were glad that the rain did not come with thunder and lightening! Even with our umbrellas we got pretty wet and started to get cold. When it got to be our usual lunch time, there was no dry place to stop and make our peanut butter sandwiches so we ate up the snacks in our pack pockets and pushed on. I was so cold when the trail went down hill that I was almost jogging to keep warm and I looked forward to the uphill sections for the warmth they generated! Jim says I covered the last 4 miles in just over an hour! We arrived at this shelter and found 2 guys who had camped with us last night but got out ahead of us this morning. My first order of business was to get out of my wet clothes and into some dry ones. Jim then made hot soup to go with our sandwiches and I was finally getting warm! All the hikers that arrived while we ate have moved on to the next shelter and we are now sharing the shelter with 3 women who are out for a few days but have completed their own thru-hikes in the late '90's. There may be a few other hikers arriving here but they may have hunkered down at the previous shelter. The rain has taken a break here now and we've put up our tent. The rain is forecasted until early tomorrow morning. We have 11 miles to hike tomorrow to meet up with our Trail Jeannie!!! We 3 will then spend the night in Lexington, VA, drying out all of our stuff. Wildflower update: Today we saw our first mayapple in bloom. We've been watching them sprout up from the earth, grow their umbrella-like leaves and now showing their delicate white blooms. There was also one jack-in-the-pulpit along the side of the trail and a good number of trilliums again. Reset just walked into the shelter and we haven't seen him for a few days so it will be nice to catch up with him. Who else may show up??!!All is well.
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Tye River, Mile 828, Lexington, VA
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Day 60-May 11, Seeley-Woodworth Shelter to Mile 828.0-Tye River, 11.4 miles.Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there and especially to my Mom and my mother-in-law!!!After some overnight rain we crawled out of the tent to a clear day! We slept in 15 extra minutes because of the time we planned to meet our Trail Jeannie! Our 11+ miles today consisted of lots of small ups and downs and one huge down to the Tye River. The trails were in good shape and we moved along nicely. About 3 miles from where we spent the night there was a short spur trail to Spy Rock so we took that and left our packs by a tree when it became apparent that we would need to do some rock climbing/scrambling to get to the top of Spy Rock. The scramble, scary in a couple of places, was well-worth it as the top afforded us a great view. We "saddled up" our packs and continued on to the top of Priest Mountain. There we found strong enough cell service for me to post yesterday's journal. There were no views from the actual summit but our guidebook had warned us of that so we began the long descent. The trail went down just over 3,000 feet in just over 4 miles. It was quite manageable and we stopped to enjoy a lovely view at an overlook half way down. I am writing this as I sit by VA 56 waiting for Jeannie to arrive. We haven't seen her since we were in Hot Springs, NC in early April. We will all go into Lexington, VA where we'll eat and stay the night. Jeannie has some resupply food for us as well as our summer-weight sleeping bags and another pair of boots for me. Jeannie will return us to this spot on the AT tomorrow morning and then she will continue her trip north to Rochester. Later, 9:15 PM, what are we doing up at this late hour! Jeannie picked us up right on time at 1:00 PM. We had a drive of almost an hour to get to our hotel in Lexington, VA. Once checked in, Jim and I took showers and then we 3 went to a very nice restaurant for a Mother's Day late lunch. Our youngest son, Corey, was driving with friends from Alabama back to his home in DC and we realized that they would be coming right by us on I-81. We texted backed and forth and made a plan to meet them at gas station by an I-81 exit here in Lexington. And it all worked out so we had a 20 minute reunion in the gas station parking lot before they needed to get back on the road. What a nice Mother's Day treat! We got our laundry and grocery shopping done before heading back to the hotel. The rest of our evening has been spent with packing up our food and supplies and talking with family. Our Trail Jeannie will return us to the trail in the morning and we will continue hiking north and she will continue driving north. We'll see her again on Saturday when she does her drive south. All is well.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Tye River, Mile 828, Lexington, VA

To: Campsite 845.5
Miles today: 17.5

Day 61- May 12, Tye River to Campsite 845.5, 17.5 miles. Our day started at 6 AM as we finished packing up and had a big breakfast at the Hampton Inn in Lexington (nice place, yummy breakfast). We loaded up our car which our Trail Jeannie is driving and headed back to the Tye River, where Jeannie picked us up yesterday. We were hiking and she was driving by 8:10 AM. Our first order of the day was to climb up out of the Tye River valley to Three Ridges Mountain. The trail up this side of the valley was much rockier than yesterday's descent but we just kept plugging along. Partway up we met up with Regina the Ridgerunner again. You may remember I journaled about her after we spent a lot of time talking to her as she was passing by Brown Mountain Creek campsite when we arrived there a few days ago. Today she was talking to 3 young women who were hiking to see if they wanted to do the AT someday. We were so excited to see Regina again because two of the loyal readers of this journal saw her name and remembered meeting her in Rock Fish Gap two years ago on their cross-country bike ride! When I shared this info and their biking names, Dos Ediots, she quickly remembered them! I love these kinds of "Small World" happenstances! Regina informed us that once we got to the top of Three Ridges Mountain there wouldn't be another 4,000 foot peak until we got to Vermont! It was hot today and I drank 32 ounces of Gatorade just going up the mountain! The trail was just ups and downs the rest of the day, sometimes rocky, sometimes not. We lunched at Maupin Field Shelter and as we ate Ranger, Hiccup and Sharp Knife stopped in to do the same thing. We crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway 3 times today but had no luck with trail magic. Mondays are not good magic days! We are camped by a rocky ridge, a campsite with no water. We stopped at a Spring 2 miles from this camp, drank lots of water (camelled up!) and then Jim purified enough to fill our 4 bottles and then he filled another plastic jug that holds 3 liters. He carried this 10 pounds of water uphill for two miles to this site! Ranger and Raven just arrived to camp for the night so we will have company. We heard distant thunder most of the afternoon and got sprinkled on as we were doing the water collection. The rain and thunder has moved on for the time being, but there is still a 30% chance of storms blowing through tonight. Tomorrow we enter Shenandoah National Park and we have to register for a back country camping pass but it is free. There are fewer regulations regarding camping in Shenandoah than there were in Great Smoky Mountain Park. Thanks to our Trail Jeannie for making a detour on her trip north to see us and do a major resupply. We are already looking forward to seeing her again on Saturday! All is well.
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Campsite 845.5

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: light rain

Day 62- May 13, Campsite 845.5 to Calf Mountain Shelter, 20 miles. Happy Two-Month Trail Anniversary to us! Wow, where has the time gone?!For the first time ever most people left our campsite before we did! The 5 other people who were camped with us were all going into Waynesboro for a night or two and they were anxious to get there and make the most of their town day. I understand that feeling completely!It was a very hot hiking day with temps approaching 90, plus my feet hurt so I was very glad to get to this shelter and call it a day. We did have a couple of highlights which I will gladly share. We saw on the guide that Mill Creek flowed right by the front of the next shelter, 7.3 miles away. The guide also said there was a swimming hole right by the shelter, so that became our first goal of the day. When we arrived we found a good sized creek with some small waterfalls and a dammed up shallow swimming hole. In we went! We wore our shorts and shirts so they would get a rinse and then keep us cool as they dried! It felt great! Our second goal was to get to the Waynesboro crossing and shortly after that the start of Shenandoah National Park. We hadn't planned on stopping at the Waynesboro road crossing but a sign on the other side of the road for hot dogs caught our attention! We crossed the road to discover King's Gourmet Popcorn trailer ( the only gourmet popcorn trail in Virginia!) which in addition to popcorn, King sold hot dogs and cold drinks! We couldn't resist! Jim had 2 hot dogs and I had a bag of caramel corn and we both had a cold drink! Life was good!A mile up the trail we came to a kiosk where we had to register as backcountry campers. We both now have our permits attached to the back of our packs. The last 7 miles were hot and long. We crossed Skyline Drive twice, both times involving steep descents to get to the road and then good climbs to get back to the ridge line. We have lots of crossings of Skyline Drive and I'm hoping they all aren't so dramatic. I thought I would enjoy knowing that we were close to that famous road, but today every time I heard a car on the road I knew that the air-conditioning was on inside and the occupants probably had cold drinks in their cup holders! I've developed a blister on a new spot on one of my toes. I have lots of training miles on these boots so I'm not sure why this is happening. Jim thinks my old boots may have slowly stretched out over the course of 800 miles and these new ones need to do the same thing. I have a pair of lighter-weight socks I may wear tomorrow to see if that gives my feet a bit more wiggle room. Once again we heard thunder as we were hiking our last miles but we didn't get any rain until after we had our tent all set up. This shelter is nice because the roof overhangs enough to cover the picnic table, where we are currently sitting. All is well.