morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-12
From: HoJo Inn, Dalebille, VA

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: few clouds

Nice hike today. Nothing really worth noting until this afternoon. We got to Taylor's Mt Overlook and there we met Cabul & her parents. They had come out to do some trail magic for us. They brought all vegetarian & organic foods. I have never really sat down & enjoyed food like that. When I got done eating I felt so good & energized. There is something to be said for organic foods & the way they make you feel. I can see a change in my diet in the future. Her dad passed out some ice cold Bass Ales. This made me think of my family because this is my parents beer or choice. It made me really miss them. But when we were full, we hiked on to the next shelter. It was a long, steep walk down to the shelter tonight. There is a couple of people here & a fire is going. It looks like rain tonight maybe. The shelter is full with all of us in it so I hope all those tenting are pitched well. I'm tired.Hummus + sprouts + pita = G0ODBigShanty
Date: 2007-06-13
From: Bobblets Gap Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: light rain

Got moving earlyt this morning. We crossed the BRP a couple of times this morning. It ended up raining last night so all the clouds were down in the valleys. The view from Shart Top Overlook and Mills Gap Overlook were AMAZING. I got some rally good pictues of the clouds. Sidshow, Rebel, Chach, & I came to the Jennings Creek Bridge and it was like a vortex, we got sucked in immediately. The creek is of very good size and is located right on the trail There is a pretty dep hole there and we could see numerous rainbor trout rising to eat bugs on the surface of the water. We spent over 6 hours there. We caught over 100 crawfish and put them into some empty water bottles we had. It starting raining so we grabbed our gear & headed under the bridge. We had a nice flat spot under there. We collected wood & started a fire. We had us a little crawfish boil right there under the bridge. We looked liek hobos. I don't think it was really worth it though because you have to eat so many of them to get any satisfaction from them. There is hardly any meat on them. We had a blast though. We were still hungry after the crawfish so we cooked a real dinner before hiking on. We go to the Bryant Ridge Shelter I am blown away. This has to be one of the coolest shelters ever. This is the most interesting construction ever for sure. If only it had running water like Parnership Shelter. We decided to stop here for the night becuase the shelter is so nice. I'm glad I'm here too because I don't wbelieve I could have passed this one up. I got a big day tomorrow so I'm gonna hit the hay. PEACE!Rivers = Low mileage days!BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-14
From: Bryant Ridge

To: Matts Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: light rain

Got moving early this morning becuase I'm moving over 22 miles today. The weather looked trim early on but I was really hoping it wold hold off. But hope isn't enough apparently. Apple Orchard Mt was really nice even in whitout conditions. Sideshow, Rebel, and I walked under the "Guillotine" today. It's a big boulder pinned precariously between two larger rock structers. It was really cool to walk under. We stopped at Thunder Hill Shelter for lunch & spent 2 hours there for some reason. I was wet & cold and all I wanted to do was get in my sleeping bag and not move again. But we eventually hired on. It started pouring cold rain not much later. It just sprinkled enough to soak me before it poured. I was soaked and shivering, I was so cold. I sotpped at marble spring for wter & I put my rain jacket on just to trap my bopy heat. I was becoming hypotermic. The next 5 miles to the shelter seemed to drag on forever. We made it to the shelter just as it stopped raining. I pitched my tent becuase I sleep bette in it. Ate dinner & it's time for bed.RAIN + WIND + COLD = HYPOTHERMIABigshanty
Date: 2007-06-15
From: Motts Creek Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: light rain

Sideshow & I crossed the James Rivers Fout Bridge this morning. We got to the road on the other end and I tried hitching into Glasgow, VA for 45 minutes. We didn't get a ride until trail angel Ken showed up. He gave Sideshow, Rebel, Choch & I a ride into town. We stopped at the Tired Feet Cafe and had a marvelous breakfast. We dried our clothes at the laundromat before hitting the IGA for resupply. Ken gave us a ride back to the trail & arranged to pick us up at the Blue Ridge Parkway mile 51.7 & drive us to US60 so we could skip the 10 mile section we slacked not too long ago. So we made arrangements to meet him at the road at 7:30am & we were on our way. It was some steep trail coming out of Glasgow. Not only was it steep but it was a whiteout fog too. I have been walking without sunlight for days now & I'm going crazy. I never though it would effect me like this but I feel so depressed. Need sun! We passed the Ottie Cine Powell memorial marker on top of this huge mountain. He was a little kid who was found dead ther months after his disapperance from school over 7 miles away. Judging by the locaiton of his boy and the distance he traveled at only 4 years old, I believe foul play was involved. I don't know for sure but the whole thing seems fishy when you think about it. We got to Punchbowl Shelter and everything was goddie & wet as hell. SnakeCharmer & Rebel got a good fire going eventually which was nice. Since it was so wet the treefrogs were singing loudly which got annoying. I am so tired of the rain I can't stand it. I'm going to bed.I NEED SUNLIGHT!BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-16
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Trail Angel House
Miles today: 15.8

Got up early & walked the half mile down to the road so we could meet Ken just as planned. He took us around to US60 because we slacked this section on June 7. We slipped him some gas money and he was on his way. We had a really pleasant hike all day. Rebel was behind us because he had to hike the 10 mile section that we had already done. We kept thinking we would see him come up behind us today but he never did. Sideshow & I stopped at Seeley-Woodworth Shelter or a bit to let Choch catch up. As we were sitting there listening to the distant thunder & contemplating whether or not to go into Montebello, VA, this nice married couple came up & asked us some questions & one of which was about where we were going to sleep tonight. We told them we were probably going to Dutchhaus B&B to get out of the rain that was likely moving in. They invited all three of us to stay the night at their home in the Wintergreen Ski resort nearby. We hastily accepted. We got to their car not too long after and loaded up for the short ride back to their home. One the way back they stopped by a local BBQ place and bought all 3 of us a BBQ pork sandwich. That was the best sandwich of my life. They then stopped by the grocery store & got all kinds of stuff for us. We got back to their beautiful home and claimed our rooms. I am so excited to have a soft bed & clean sheets. After my much needed shower I went upstairs to do my laundry. As soon as I got there Michael took my laundry & Ann promptly poured me a glass of wine. My first of many was the best. I stood there by the window enjoying the view for quite sometime before Choch & Sideshow showed up. Ann cooked a wonderful dinner for us. Salad, grilled corn, seafood portofino. I couldn't have imagined things so good in my dreams. After dinner we sat around inside and enjoyed more wine and conversation. I have never been happier I don't think. I'm tired and full & dry so I'm going to sleep in my comfy bed.MICHAEL & ANN, YOU ARE THE BST TRAIL ANGELS SO FAR BY A LONGSHOT! THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER!BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-17
From: Trail Angel House

To: VA56 Tye River Campsite
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Got up around 7 this morning & packed my stuff before heading upstairs for a wonderul breakfast. Ann makes the best blueberry waffle on the planet. After a huge breakfast, we drove back to the trail. We got to Montebello and drove to the Dutchhaus B&B to look for Rebel. We found him there waiting on the frree hiker lunch they provide daily. We talked him into coming with us back to the trail which was good because we all enjoy his company. We had a nice hike to the Priest Shelter where we were all to meet for lunch. We got there and found a bunch of food someone had left behind. Being thru-hikers though we promptly ate it. It was so unbelieveably hot today so we hung around there for a while. When we were leaving I spotted a huge timber rattlesnake in the litter next to the shelter trail. I yelled for everyone to come see it & they did. We got some really good pictures of it before moving on. Once we summited the priest mt we had a yet unheard of 3,000 foot decent to the Tye River. I hate downhills! I cussed all the way down this monster. We got to the river eventually. We crossed a really nice suspension bridge and saw nice campsites off to our right. We knew right away that we were not going any farther today. We set up camp & relaxed in the cool wter for the rest of the day. I saw some very big rainbow trout in the river and that made me think of my dad because if he were here he would be fishin. Today is Father's Day and I miss my dad. I usually buy my dad a knife every year for Father's Day and this year I don't get to because I'm on the trail. So dad, I owe you one! Rebel got us anice fire going as usual. We sat round for a while before everyone else went off to bed. I had a little bit of whiskey left so I got that out and right there by that river I raised a toast to my dad & all the great things he is to me. I sipped for a while as every happy memory of my father played like a movie on the back of my eyelids. In that moment I felt connected somehow tohim. Almost as if he were right there on the riverbank with me.I LOVE YOU DAD.YOU'RE THE GREATEST MAN I'VE EVER KNOW.THAT RATTLESNAKE & WHISKY WERE FOR YOU.HAPPY FATHERS DAY!BigShantyGame07
Date: 2007-06-18
From: VA56 Tye River Campsite

To: Rusty's Hardtime Hollow
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

I got moving really early this morning & made it to Harpers Creek Shelter just in time to blow up the privy. Once on my way I realized I had to now climb 3,0000 feet to the summit of the Three Ridges. Wow, what a climb. Rocky, steep, and never ending it seemed. I stopped at a nice trailride overlook for about a minute to take som pictures of the view & I got more than I had bargained for. I turend to leave and almost stepped right on a coiled timber rattler. Wos, this was my second encounter in under 24 hours. I got some good video and some good pictures. This one was pissy unlike the last one that barely rattled. Sideshow came up & we picked it up & played with it for a bit. We maneuvered it into posiiton for some good shots before relasing it. Near the top of the Three Ridges I saw a bay copperhad snake that had apparently been stepped on because it head was smashed. Just pas tthe haning rock vista I encountered a dead timber rattler just 5 feet off the trail. This one was apparently beaten to death in a fit of panic by another hiker. What a waste. I can hardly believe someone could be so ignorant as to kill something to beautiful & lengendary as the Timber Rattler. I saw that it still had it's rattle on it so since it wasn't going to good use just rotting away with the samke, I took out my knife & cut the rattle off. It will make a nice necklace when I get home. We got to Maupin Field Shelter and becuase it was so retardedly hot we as a group decided to go to Rusty's Hardtime Hollow. What a good decision because he had cold drinks, food & a place to sleep, and Rusty has to be the colest man on the planet. I can't explain it and won't explain it becuase you wouldn't and shouldn't understand it. The hollow is the Area 51 for thru-hikers so if you must hike there. I'll jsut say that this is the one place I have found that I could spend the rest of my days in complete and total bliss. The Hollow will remain in my heart forever. Thank you Rusty.DO NOT FORGET TO ENTERAIN STRANGER, FOR BY SO DOING, SOME PEOPLE HAVE ENTERTAINED ANGELS WITHOUT KNOWING IT. Hebrews 13:2....Thank you Rusty.BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-19
From: Rusty's Hardtime Hollow

To: Church Hostel, Waynesville VA
Miles today: 20.8

Got up early this morning after a horrible nights sleep in Rusty's barn loft. I think I donated a pint or two of blood to the resident mosquitos. Rusty cooked a whole bunch of pancakes for us & they were good. After breakfast we loaded up the va & headed back to the trail. Rusty took Chach to Waynesboro so she could go to the doctor & get some more shoes. We are supposed to meet her in town later. The hike to Waynesboro was rocky and HOT! Despite th heat we made it to Rockfish Gap unseathed. Rebel & SnakeCharmer hiked father than Sideshow & I and were waiting for us at a nearly gas station with cold beers when we go to Rockfish Gap. Ahh, what a treat. Thanks guys! We got a ride from a local trail angel into town and checke into the Grace Lutheran Church Hostel. A nice clean place where us hikers can stay for free with some of the friendliest staff ever. We got showered & walked around looking for Chach for a while but never found her. So because we were hungry we nit the local chinese buffet & distroyed it. I ate so much I almost cried. We ended up going back to the hostel & Chach found her way there after a while. We hung around with the caretaker "Lil". She's this really cool chich who hangs out at the church for a night every once in a while & looks after us hikers. We enjoyed some really good conversation until late before we all went to bed.THANKS TO EVERYONE AT THE GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH FOR ALL THE GREAT SERVICES YOU PROVIDE TO HIKERS. IT'S A TRUE BLESSING.BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-20
From: Church Hostel, Waynesville VA

To: Calf Mt Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

Got up this morning & Lil gave Rebel, Sideshow, Chach and I a ride to the laundromat. We did our laundry and then went across the street to Weasie's Kitchen and ate an awesome breakfast. As we were walking down the street we saw a music store & went in & tinkered around for a bit. Rebel, Sideshow, and I bought harmonicas in the same key so we could learn together. We caught a ride up to the outfitter where we relaxed on the porch for a while. The outfitter had ice cream and stuff so I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. My favorite ice cream. We got a hitch back to Rockfish Gap and we filled out our permits for the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). We had a very ncie hike today. We passed the famous "Tractor Seats". Someone put some tractor seats in the ground on top of a mountain for us to enjoy. We walked through some beautiful fields too. I love field walks becuase they afford some beautiful biews. there's only one problem with fields & that's ticks. I get a tick crawling up my leg every time I walk through a field. I've never been bitten through, thank God. We had a good time at the shelter tonight. We all just sat around for a while & chatted. I'm sleepy & I've got a big day tomorrow. PEACE!BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-21
From: Calf Mt Shelter

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: clear sky

I got up early & got moving first. Well almost first. Rebel was in front of me but because he hikes so fast anyway. I don't count him really. He can start hours after any of us & pass us pretty quickly. I stopped onthe side of the trail to take a bathroom break & take a picture of the nice view. When I turne daround I was staring at yet another coiled timber rattler. I took a picture of him & left a note for the guys behind me so that they would know he was there. I ate lunch at Blackrock Hut with Sideshow & Rebel. Apparently the guys behind me got some really good pictures of the snake. There is a restaurant at Loft Mt Campgroudn that Sideshow & I thought about going to but we got to the trail that leads to it just a little too late. We wound have had to run to get there before it closed. We had plenty of food with us so we pushed on. I was walking by myself when a black bear walked out of the woods 20 yds ahead of me. It walked down the trail & I followed it. We walked for 100 yds or so before it turned around and stood on its hind leags, facing me, about 30 yds away. I go a good picture of it just as it began to stand up. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it as it was on its hind legs but the pciture I just took was still on the screen when teh bear came back down on all forus & ran off the side of the trai. It was a really cool encounter. During the shole ting I never once felt in danger. Sideshow & I got to the shelter close to dark. The shelter had over 20 people either in it or camped around it. Bigby & his dad were there. It was nice to see Bigy again. It was really nice to meet Bigby's dad too. They are definitely father & son. Bigby looks looks just like his dad. I pitched my tent and cooked dinner. But it's drizzing a little bit now & I'm sleepy. MR. KIMBLE IT WAS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU. I HOE YO ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH US THRU-HIKERS. BigShanty
Date: 2007-06-22
From: Pinefield Hut

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We got hiking today at a decent hour and immediately we were soaked because it was HOT! I walked up on Bigby and his dad a really nice rocky outercropping. We were sitting there enjoying the view and I mentioned now that often times when I come to rocky outcroppings like this one I find a rattlesnake. I jokingly said that I could find one here without looking too hard. I was sitting on a ledge with an open fissure next to my ankles. I looked between my legs and what do ya know? I was staring at a copperhead, a good sized one too, and to make things worse it was in a striking position with its head no more than 8 inches from my exposed ankle. If I was God, I would have given copperheads a rattle too because their venom is highly toxic and people need to know when they're sitting just inches from one. I got up slowly and grabbed my camera so that I could get some good pics. Rebel showed up and heard I wrangled the snake out in the open for some good photo ops. Everyone got some good pics and we then let it go. It disappeared into the leaves just feet away. AWESOME! After that I pushed on to Hightop Hut where we all relaxed for an hour or two. I got out of the shelter and hiked down to US33@Swift Run Gap. Treework was sitting there and we started talking about hitching into Elkton for food, beer, and a hotel room. Which translates into bliss. TO amke a long story short Sideshow, Chach, Keys, Treework and I hitched into town. We got some good italian food. We bought a lot of beer and a hotel room and had one damn good time drinking beer and watching T.V. all night. Rebel hiked too fast so he went on to the Beartence Mtn. Hut and missed out little detour tonight. Sorry you missed out Rebel.         Tonight RULED!
Date: 2007-06-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We got up this morning and checked out of the hotel. The owner offered u a ride into town to the McDonald's so we could eat. We barely missed breakfast so I got a Big Mac. The owner picked us up again and offered to drive us wherever we needed to go. We told him but he ended up driving us all the way to Big Meadows Wayside. We skipped like 17 miles of trail but oh well. We weren't going to risk a big ticket just to hitch back and do the miles. I'm sure we didn't miss much anything anyways. We lounged in the grass outside the campstore for over two hours. We decided to hike the eight miles to the Skyland Wayside for dinner. What a nice place that is. They had a nice restaurant and a nice Top Room. The tap room sold beer and had a more reasonably priced food so our group ate there. After dinner and some drinks we watched the sunset. What a beautiful view of the sunset. We hiked back up to the trail a quarter mile or so from the road and set up camp for the night. It's a nice spot in the morning we can go down to the restaurant for breakfast. Yeehaw!I HATE YELLOW BLAZING! BUT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.
Date: 2007-06-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We got up this morning and got packed up pretty quickly so we could hit the restaurant for breakfast. What a good breakfast it was too! We ate with Loose Bruce, Rex, and someone else whose name I've forgotten. Sorry! WE got hiking and came to some really nice cliffs. Well being guys we had to toss some big rocks off of them so we spent a half hour throwig some rocks into the forest below. We stopped at a a picnic shelter for a snack and a little break. We got to Thornton gap where US 211 crosses and after about 30 minutes we got a hitch in the back of a truck down intoo Lurey, VA only 6 miles away. We got some mexican food in town before heading to the grocery store to buy supplies for our canoe trip that is scheduled to begin tomorrow. Rebel, Sideshow, and I bought a case of beer each. Chach got a huge box of wine. We have way too much beer for a two day trip but oh well. We got a ride to a hotel and got a room for the night. We had a couple of beers and ordered some pizza from Dominoe's. We had a good time watchin television and chillaxin' with some beer and pizzas. BEER & PIZZA! FOOD OF THE GODS!
Date: 2007-06-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

WE concealed our beers inside some trashbags so that it wouldn't be a problem hitching a ride or for the people at the canoe outfitter. One of the ladies from the outfitter saw us trying to hitch so she pulled over and gave us a ride to the outfitter. We got all ready to go out on the river and boarded the bus for the short ride to the river. We got floating in no time and Sideshow and I wasted no time before we started drinking beer. Immediately I came to the conclusion that the best way to travel is by canoe as long as you have cold beer on hand. What a nice change of pace this is. I don't have to walk and I am so happy. The river is running kind of low so we got stuck on rocks pretty often which sucked but there is nothing we can do about it. We had been floating for about and hour and a half when we rounded a bend in the river and noticed a cluster of canoes ahead. As we got closer we realized it was some of our hiking buddies. Blackfoot, Jules, Rockhound, Boognish, Jake, G, Keymaster, Treework, etc. They were wasted, all of them. We found out that they had started the day before. The funny thing is that we made it farther in an hour and a half than they had in more than a day. They were one big bunch of floating drunks. I love it! we convinced them to paddle downstream with us. We found a really kick ass rope swing tied off a huge tree that hung out 30 feet or so above the river. We stopped there for a bit and of course I jumped like 5 times. We came to some rapids sometime later and Sideshow and I were the first one to run them. We made it through okay and swung our boat around in order to retrieve anyone if they capsized. Blackfoot, Boognish, and Rockhound were coming down the rapids and tipped their canoe spilling everyone and everything into the river. Sideshow and I were waiting to help. They swam to the bank with the capsized canoe and Sideshow and I retrieved almost all of their gear as it floated by. They all got their gear completely soaked and Blackfoot cut his heel really bad. They loaded their boat up and everyone headed for camp. Which was a bridge a couple of miles downstream. We all eventually made it and set up camp. I trash bagged all of my gear so it stayed dry. But a lot of peoples gear got soaked. That sucks! THANK GOD FOR TRASH BAGS!