morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-25
From: North Forks of Piney River (Campsite)

To: Harper's Creek Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: moderate rain

Happy Memorial Day! Woops.....I guess the young group changed their minds. They came into camp at about 9 pm under headlamps. I heard them come in but was too comfy in my tent so I didn't get out to greet them. Saw them all when I got up. Some of them had a "root-filled" night.First stop of the day was Spy Rock. Very huge rock at the top of a mountain with great views. Note to future thru-hikers.......plan to camp at Spy Rock! Lots of great camping space and would be a fun place to camp and hang out.Right now (as I'm writing this) we are having lunch at Cash Hollow Rock, a huge rock in the side of a mountain. A local maintainer told Mr Buffalo Man that we are some of the last hikers on the A.T. to go here as the Trail is being re-routed on Thursday.(Writing this at night) I'll get back to the hiking in a moment. It has threatened rain for 2 days now. I'm sitting in my tent and I can hear the rain coming through the forest! The big storm is still a couple of miles away based on lightning/thunder separation time. But the rain has begun....and it's going to be a really, really good test of the tent! OK....it's pouring buckets right now and I expect a good storm. We're nestled in a ravine between 2 big mountains, so I feel comfortable.OK. Back to the hike today. We took it easy today. There were several rock outcroppings with great views today. These places always invite you to stop and hang out a bit....and we did! And even a bit longer than usual.They re-routed a section of the trail last year, in 2008, right before Harper's Creek Shelter. They made it longer, but easier and took us right through some Mountain Laurel tunnels....all blooming. Still my favorite A.T. flower so far.Nice spot for camping tonight. Looking forward to turning out the headlamp and listening to the storm.....actually kinda peaceful.Nope. No complaints about the rain. We've had a wonderful stretch of sunny days, and I'm grateful for that blessing. I only get aggravated when it gets to be about 4-5 days of straight rain!! Good night! Good day on the A.T.!
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Harper's Creek Shelter

To: Humpback Mountain (Campsite)
Miles today: 15.5

I really like the gentlemen that I'm hiking with. They all have a great sense of adventure, a great attitude, and we all manage to laugh and joke even when the hike gets "painful".Sunnuke is nursing a painful knee. Goof's feet are killing him. I think some trail runners are in his future. And even Mr Buffalo Man's feet have been bothering him lately.Today was just an unpleasant day for Sunnuke.OK. It rained really, really hard last night. Everyone's tents did their job well and kept everyone dry. But the tents are a mess....a lot of mud splatter from the rain last night.So we lazily get up and get going....no one likes getting going on a wet morning. But we do, and hike uneventfully to a shelter about 6 miles away. Didn't wear rain gear but had pack covers on to protect the packs from water being blown off the trees above.We start snacking at the shelter and as soon as Sunnuke breaks out his cooking stuff (food, pots, stove), it starts to rain. So he decides he will cook lunch a little later.....there was a Blue-Ridge Parkway pull-off up the trail a couple of miles ahead. So we hike on. The sun even makes it look like it wants to make an appearance at times. We get to the pull-off and there is a picnic table as expected. We start snacking and Sunnuke gets his stove going and the contents into the pot.......about 2 minutes later, the skies open up on us and its starts pouring rain. I felt so bad for Sunnuke, but it was also so funny seeing this mac-n-cheese dinner cooking in pouring rain.....I had to laugh! Sorry Sunnuke!And it rained most of the remainder of the day. But we kept hiking and had a blast for the most part. The trail was challenging. It was rocky with a couple of stretches of bouldering at Cedar Cliffs and up Humpback Mountain. Goof fell a couple of times, and I "turtled" again today. Luckily no one got hurt and we made it to the campsite. We didn't see another hiker on the Trail after lunch. I totally loved the adventure today!!
Date: 2009-05-27
From: Humpback Mountain (Campsite)

To: Rockfish Gap (Waynesboro, VA)
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: overcast clouds

So we are all up around 6 am but still in our sleeping bags, in our tents, all warm and dry, and comfortable. We are laying there discussing what time anyone wants to get going......"never" is the unanimous answer! It's totally wet outside so no one is thrilled about getting up and out......but there is a dry hotel room only 12 miles away....enough incentive to get us up and out around 7:30 am.When it did rain today, it was light, but the Trail was sloppy and a river at times. We had a couple of tricky stream crossings and even a good 25' log crossing.....we all made it! I had the camera out and took pictures. I thought for sure one of us would fall in given the conditions.....no such luck!! I had some business to take care of in the woods off of the Trail. Well, I guess I woke up a couple of deer because they were just standing there staring at me. And then one of them did the "shake thing", like a dog, when it's wet and trying to shake the water off. I assumed it must have been laying down and got up when it heard/saw me coming. I've never seen a deer do the "shake thing" before.We hiked along pretty quickly, chatting away, or anything to make the miles go quicker. Goof and I even sang "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."We had heard about Waynesboro being a hiker friendly town, and also that there was a list of phone numbers at the Rockfish Gap Visitors Center for shuttle drivers that would take us into Waynesboro. Well, when we got there, there were several people already there ready to take us into town! So Walter drove us into town and actually gave us a tour of the town prior to dropping us off at the hotel so we would know where everything was at (Post Office, Laundry, outfitters, library, etc). Thanks Walter....that was above and beyond! He has hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), 1000 miles of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and 800 miles of the A.T. .....pretty cool!We ate, did laundry, dried tents, ate, had a couple of beers, and watched a movie. Good night!!
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Rockfish Gap (Waynesboro, VA)

To: Rockfish Gap (Waynesboro, VA)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero Day! The first order of business in the morning was the outfitters. I had ordered a new waist belt for my pack. I had a medium belt and was now out of room to tighten it up anymore. So I got there and they put a small waist belt on my pack! Holy cow. I can't remember the last time I wore anything in size "small". Way cool! By the way, I weighed myself at the outfitters.... 190.4. I started the hike at 215! Chris and Goof have each lost about 25 pounds, give or take a couple.....and Sunnuke has lost over 50 lbs!Sunnuke and Goof both switched to Trail Runners. We'll see how that goes. The outfitters there in Waynesboro is fantastic. Great store and great people.Sunnuke and I ordered pizza for lunch (delivery). We didn't want to walk the 2 blocks to Pizza Hut....besides it was raining! Goof and Mr Buffalo Man decided to take the walk.Next stop was to the Post Office and then to the library to journal. This library had their act together. When I logged on it gave me 60 minutes to do my thing.....but it kept giving me more time as long as other computers were open for new customers.Having a problem downloading last segment of photos, so I sent the disk home. And last I heard, the support team at home was having problems as well. Someday!We met a bunch of other hikers at the Ming Garden for AYCE buffet. Great food with great bunch of people. I couldn't believe the variety of foods put out at this place. Amazing.Waynesboro has been my favorite Trail Town so far.
Date: 2009-05-29
From: Rockfish Gap (Waynesboro, VA)

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We got going pretty quickly out of Waynesboro. We called a cab to take us to the Trail and were back on the Trail by 8:30. We were all pretty quiet this morning and enjoyed a nice stroll through the morning forest. It was "hiker monday". Hiker Monday is what I call the first day leaving a town (no matter what day of the week it is). The feeling is similar to going back to work after a weekend. Our packs are heaviest, carrying full food and water, and we just spent a day relaxing.We entered the Shenandoah National Park (SNP) today. They say it is a nice easy hike. We'll see. Todays hike was long in distance but not too terribly hard. It was a pretty easy 20, if there is such a thing.The shelter was packed tonight + tents with all the people coming out of Waynesboro today...and lack of shelter choices. And just like the Smokey's, there is not a lot of camping other than right at the shelter locations, so everyone will bunch up again for the next week. Just for fun...at the shelter tonight is Goof, Mr Buffalo Man, Sunnuke, me, Wendy (Shimmy), Matt, Squeegie, Miss Scarlett, Newt, Chance, Mississippi, Half Moon, Sunbeam, Bahama Dave, Zoltan, Old Goat, Check-Six, Rapunzel, Dudley + a couple of others I have not met. Wow!By the way, I got new rubber tips for my poles at the last outfitters. Definitely right for me. No more picking up leaves. And they don't make any noise! Without the tips, my poles would "click" when the tips would hit rocks. I definitely don't want to be scaring wildlife away! On the trekking pole subject, I would recommend the adjustable poles that use clamps for tightening over the type that screw tighten. Several people out here have had problems with the screw type....sometimes they don't tighten....most of the time they can get them to work after messing around a bit.We've changed the plans to spend the weekend at Bear's Den Hostel vs Harper's Ferry. First, we won't have to push as hard hiking.....we'll still have to avergae 17.5 miles a day to reach Bear's Den. Second, Harper's Ferry is pretty expensive, so it will be a cheaper option for everyone.
Date: 2009-05-30
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

Wow! Great day on the A.T.. First, this was the first lazy hiking day (low mileage) we have taken in a while. We knew we were doing only 13 miles over pretty easy terrain. So we planned to simply enjoy ourselves today! And we did.The whole slew of us hung together all day long, for the most part, at least leap-frogging each other. First stop was Blackrock Mountain.....much fun. It was a rocky summit with huge boulders and rocks everywhere. So, of course, playing on the rocks and taking photos was in order!Through the Shendaoahs, the A.T. crosses Skyline Drive a million times and comes out of the woods onto overlooks occassionally which always call for a snack break while taking in the view.We got to a huge campground on Loft Mountain called, yep, you guessed it, Loft Mountain Campground. Well there was a Wayside Bar and Grill about a mile down the road where we decided to go for lunch and maybe a beer or two.We hike down there only to find out the beer taps were down! But we hung out for 90 minutes for lunch. Then we hike back up to the campground and find out they sell beer right there at the campground campstore....so we hang out there for another hour and have a couple of beers. Man, this hiking is difficult!Every day on the A.T. should be like this one! It would just take a year to complete. So that was a nice mid-day break.After lunch we just took a relaxing hike to the shelter with a nice mid-afternoon break at Ivy Creek Overlook. We sat around there for a bit tasting each other's snack selections.....power bars, crackers, cheeses, dried fruit, fruit roll-ups, candy, etc.Good group of people at the shelter tonight with fun conversation over dinner.Totally enjoyed the easy relaxing day knowing then next 2 days are going to be long hiking days!
Date: 2009-05-31
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Nice hike today. Mr Buffalo Man and I hiked together all day today. We saw everyone in the group at some point during the day but us 2 hiked alone all day. We had a long way to go and wanted to go at our own pace. Plus save energy for an even longer day tomorrow.Our first break today was at Hightop Hut. I went to get water at the nearby spring and I guess a deer had the same idea. We were within about 20 feet of each other. I got a great look and some good photos. When I got back up to the shelter and started eating, the deer came back up the path and hung out a bit....I got some more photos.I met Alvin Dov today, a member of the Potomac A.T. Club and a local trail maintainer. He was out with the weed cutter. I really appreciate the effort these volunteers make to keep the Trail in great shape! Thanks Alvin! He said that most animals in the Shenandoahs are very used to people around and are not scared of them.We saw another deer about 15 feet from us on the way up Lewis Mountain and it politely stood there for a few minutes for our photo opportunity. It didn't move. We walked away down the trail and it was still standing where we had first seen it.There are several publications that you can use to help you down the Trail that will tell you where the shelters are located, where water sources, are located, road crossings, other points of interest, etc. I use the "Thru-Hikers Handbook" because it has little graphs at the bottom of the page that depicts terrain elevation gain/loss. Future thru-hikers beware.....on page 41, between Pinefield Hut and Hightop Hut, it shows a nice level walk at about 1300' for about 3 miles. NO SIR!! There is a nice 800' climb in the middle of that section. Definitely took us by surprise. Everyone was like "hey, where did that mountain come from?"We crossed the 900 mile mark today. We had to take photos at 900.3, because we forgot about it until taking a break at the 900.3 marker. Woops!
Date: 2009-06-01
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Byrd's Nest #3 Shelter
Miles today: 22.4

Incredible day on the Appalachian Trail! The A.T. through the Shenadoah's is very well maintained. It is much wider than the normal footpath, and the climbs and descents are gentle. It makes for simply nice walks in the woods.Goof, Mr Buffalo Man, and I start out early knowing we have a long way to go. Sunnuke's knee is not getting any better so he informs us this morning that he's going to get off the Trail for 2 weeks and rest it and then join us wherever we are at that point. We will miss him as he is a good hiking partner and great friend. But he'll enjoy the Trail much more on a healthy knee where every step doesn't bring pain.We've been waiting and watching for wildlife today and we got it all. Goof was leading and walked us into about a dozen deer this morning....some as close as 12 feet. One even came running down the Trail towards Goof, finally saw him, and walked into the woods. I got some great photos (great for an amateur like me).Everyone in the group caught up to us around lunch so we went to a Wayside restaurant and had lunch, ice cream, and anything else any of us had a craving for! Nice long break there.Back on the Trail. Miss Scarlett spots a turkey and I actually was able to get a decent picture of it. I've heard plenty of them around but this was the first one I've seen.By the way, there were simply spectacular views of the Shenandoah Valley today. Awesome hike with good views and nice forest.So we're all tired because we've hiked 16 miles and still have 6 more to go! We decide we will stop at a picnic area coming up and have dinner there so all we have to do when we reach camp is set up tents and go to bed.As I'm going up the hill, I ask Newt if what I'm seeing is a tree stump or a bear? It was a huge bear! My first bear sighting. And it just sat there in the middle of the Trail and let us take photos. We took some pictures, got closer, took some more pictures, and got within 30 feet. Then it simply climbed slowly into the woods about 20 feet and watched us all go by. Squeegie walked by the same spot about 30 minutes later and it was still there....she saw it too. I felt comfortable that close simply because there was 6 of us all there together and the bear did not seem agitated at all. Besides, I just have to outrun just one of the other hikers, right?Extra fun day on the A.T. By the way, a new distance record for us, 22.4 miles! We vowed no more 20 mile days though!
Date: 2009-06-02
From: Byrd's Nest #3 Shelter

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Another awesome day on the A.T.. We have been blessed with incredible weather for a while now. Thanks God. It makes for wonderful hiking.So Mr Buffalo Man, Goof, and I take off about 8 am and decide to take it really easy...and we do. We hike very slow until the first break point...a nice Skyline Drive pull-off with restrooms and water fountains. We took a nice long break there answering some thru-hike questions that some RV'ers had.On the way out of there, we meet up with Miss Scarlett and Newt and hike the next 3 miles with them. We had all planned on being at the lunch stop, another wayside bar and grill, at 2 pm....but it was 12:10 already and we had 6.2 miles to go. Miss Scarlet and Newt said we should go for it.....so we did. And we did! We got there at 1:55.....6.2 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was an awesome workout, a lot of fun and some good training.So we get to the wayside and spend well over 2 hours there relaxing....eating....drinking....eating....relaxing. Nice way to spend a sunny afternoon.The Trail today was beautiful....nice footpath, easy grades up and down, and beautiful woods. We had more great views of the Shenandoah Valley.We took it easy leaving the wayside heading to the shelter for the night. We got to see a couple more deer really close and my second bear!! Got a couple of photos...he was in the woods this time....so not as crisp as #1.Newt saw a little bear cub later....but I did not see it. The Shenandoah's have been amazing....beautiful forests, relatively easy hiking, lots of wildlife and flowers, and occasional wayside or camp store for fun, food, and beer!We'll leave the Shenandoah's tomorrow mid-day. We all wish Sunnuke was here....take care of that leg dude! Great fun hiking with great people.
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: few clouds

What a great stretch of days on the A.T. through the Shenandoahs. So we get up and do our last stretch of 10 miles through the SNP. It was a great area and I highly recommend it for a weekend hiking location.So we get to the end of the Shenandoahs and immediately have to climb down a rocky section for a bit. We're all saying to ourselves "Yep, out of the SNP and back to the real A.T." But it was just a small section and back to a nice walking surface.So I had a surprise for Goof today. See, he loves to swim. So there was a 4-H facility with a swimming pool less than a 1/2 mile off the trail. It supposedly opens on Memorial Day for the summer and is open from noon-6 daily. So we hike in only to find out that it is only open on the weekends early in the season....CLOSED. Ouch! And we were so excited. Bummer.A maintenance dude drives by and gives us the info about the hours of operation so we decide to hang out at the picnic table right there for lunch. Well, the maintenance guy comes back and asks us if we would like to use the showers. We're like cool, that would be nice. He tells us someone is on the way down from the office to unlock the doors to the shower rooms.That someone was Lori Lei.....best trail Angel we have met. Not only did she unlock the bathrooms, but she also called down a lifeguard, Russell.....and let us swim.....Yee-haw! Too cool! Made our day. So we're already thinking she's the greatest ever....then she opens the snack bar and we had hot dogs, ice cream, sodas....what an Angel. Thanks Lori Lei....you made our week!!It was nice to be clean, refreshed, fed, pool soaked, sun soaked, etc! Had a good workout hike afterward leading to the shelter. Met section hikers George and his Dad, Dave. Sat in the pavilion and had dinner and conversation with them. George graduates from High School next year and hopes to do like Goof and hike the Trail before college. Hope he gets the chance.Too many blessings lately! Nice weather for the pool, storm AFTER tent is set up....it quit, letting me get to the pavilion for dinner and talk....storm again.....quit, letting me get to the privy and tent for bed. Plus the blessing that the body is not just holding up but going strong. Thanks God, I do appreciate it!
Date: 2009-06-04
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

I'm having more fun every day out here. That's made possible by having no bodily pain involved in hiking. I'm a very lucky dude right now! My pack fits perfectly. The shoes are perfect....no foot problems at all...no pain. The body is in hiking shape now. All this adds up to totally enjoying the hiking day and giving 100% attention to the surrounding environment, not my own body.The A.T. today was a lot different than the last week. The A.T. through the Shenandoahs is a wide footpath and they even clear it with a weed wacker for about 2 feet on both sides. Since leaving the SNP yesterday, the path is back to the normal treadway plus no clearing on either side. Well it has rained solid from 7 pm last night and is still raining at 9 pm tonight. The A.T. vegetation is growing strong right now and a lot is hanging out into the trail. So the people ahead of others are shwacking the people behind with branches as they plow through them. Fun! It definitely feels more like a "jungle". I like it already!We had some amazing Trail Magic today at Manassas Gap. We have been hiking lately with a guy named Chance who is from Manassas. His mom, Suzie, and her friend, Lynn (forgive spelling if wrong) put out the spread of the century. They had a gazebo set up with a bunch of chairs and, wow, what a feast......BBQ sandwiches, lazagna, ham, fried chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, chocolate chip cookies, two cakes, watermelon, sodas and other stuff!!! Holy cow! Incredible. Thanks Suzie and Lynn.I have had a blast lately hiking with Miss Scarlett and Newt. They have been hiking with me because they needed to get into Harper's Ferry this weekend and knew I had a plan to get them there on time. I have adopted them as nieces...I have several nieces already through 3 sisters and their energy reminds me of my nieces. They are pleasant young women with a great sense of adventure, and a good balance of competitive spirit. While everyone is complaining of long miles and fast pace, they are always urging us to get in a good workout and enjoy flying down the trail. We took off down the trail cranking out the last 6.6 miles to the shelter today in pouring down rain and sloppy conditions....what a blast. These runs have been inspirational for me....got me thinking about getting back into running again!