morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-15
From: tent site

To: tent site
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up many times last night. The train past at least 4 times before midnight and again after 5 am a few times. It was so close that I always woke up shocked about the loud noise and the squeaking of the breaks. We also heard the geese and the raccoons. Once I realized how close the raccoons were I remembered how toasted toad had told us that they steel whatever they can get. We had left many things on the Picknick tabel. I woke marco up and we figured together out what to take into the tent. In the morning we found out that they must have stolen a carabiner on a special rope. Oh well, I guess we learned something. In the morning we went back to the canoe company. They didn't really have time and just gave us a tiny bit of information. The information was more or less that they hadn't much information about the next/last 40 miles, whether about water than about tent sites. We agreed to meet them tomorrow at 2pm. We filled all our water bottles and went back on the river. We hoped to do 25-30 miles, since we have to be there so early. We saw many "Fischreiher", 2 eagles, turtles and many colorful birds. We paddled non-stop and took only short breaks on the water. We had two portages of which was a long one. The canoe is quite heavy, marco took it for a bit on his shoulders, than I had to help him carry it. The trip is a vacation for our legs but it's not really relaxing for us. We are both a bit stressed out and just try to give our best. We plan to take a zero in Harpers ferry, even when the hotel rooms are expensive, we need time to dry and clean everything (it's so humid that everything smells of mold and it's all a bit sandy from the canoe trip) and we need time to relax. We did 25 miles on the river than we found a deserted tent site. I'm pretty sure we are on private land but there is no house or anything so I hope we can stay without being disturbed for the night.
Date: 2014-06-16
From: tent site

To: sand spring tent site
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, live is old here older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze... (John Denver)Yes, we finally made it to West Virginia, we hiked in the Blue Ridge Mountains (and still do), we canoed on the Shenandoah River, we had plenty of thunderstorms(so much for the breeze) and enjoy the beauty of this area. We paddled about 15 miles today than got off the river, repacked, had lunch and waited for the ride back to the trail. There we ran into some other hikers which told us that toasted toad was behind and wanted to stay at the hostel 1 mile south. So we decided to hike that mile south to meet him, we had tried to call him and texted him but didn't hear back. We got there fast, found him and tried to figure out what to do next. He has troubles with his phone and thinks about going into Washington DC to get it fixed/a new one. We would love to go with him to get a glimpse of DC, we'll see if it's gonna work tomorrow. We decided then to hike 4 more miles to a campsite. We probably should not have done that. We got into a thunderstorm, these just scare the hell out of me. I have learned not to be in the woods/close to a tree and definitely not to be on a mountain during a thunderstorm, but I rarely have a choice out here and never a shelter of any kind so I can just hope not to be hit by a lightning. I tried to hike as fast as possible down the mountain which was difficult due to the wet rocks. And I got completely soaked! But we crossed the 1000 miles mark! Wow, we really hiked 1609.34 kilometers!The sky cleared up just before we got to the state line Virginia/West Virginia. Shortly after we found a campsite, the ground is soaked but oh well. We will try to find a sunny place tomorrow during the day where we can dry everything.
Date: 2014-06-17
From: sand spring tent site

To: keys gap tent site
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: scattered clouds

When we got up everything was still wet. We wondered if we should hike in our fresh clothes or in the wet ones. I preferred the dry fresh, even so I knew they would be wet from my sweat within an hour or even less. We came to the Blackburn trail center, since we had heard it's a good place to stop we hiked the 0.3 miles downhill. It was deserted when we got there. On the house was a sign saying private property. There wasn't even a soda machine. Friends who stopped there later had a whole different experience. They were welcomed by the caretaker, where able to hang out in the house, got cold drinks and just had a good time. I guess it really depends on when you get there. So we hiked back up to the trail. The David lesser memorial shelter, where we had lunch, was probably the nicest I have seen so far on the trail. It had a veranda with benches, picnic tables under a roof besides the shelter. We started to dry our clothes there. Later we just hanged it outside our packs so it could finish drying. At the next road crossing we got off trail to a road side "restaurant". It serves pizza and beer, the two things you can make every hiker happy with. We stayed much longer than planned. Some of our friends got really drunk. We finally left after 7pm just before it started to get dark, knowing we had to hike 2 more miles. I hiked in the front, marco in the back, keeping our friends in the middle so we wouldn't loose them. They stumbled a lot, one of them fell a few times but (thanks to head lamps) we all made it to the tent site with just minor injuries. I'm so glad we are able to put up our tent within 5 minutes and were able to crawl into bed shortly after. Unfortunately it was so hot we couldn't sleep for a long time.
Date: 2014-06-18
From: keys gap tent site

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 17.6

We heard toad getting up early. I guess he wanted to be in Harpers ferry as the first of our group. Marco and me hiked the 4 miles to the town. It was quite moving to finally be in Harpers Ferry, it's such a big step and way point on the trail. We got to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters/visitors center. They took our picture in front of the house for their records. We are the thru-hikers number 662 & 663 in the year 2014 (who actually made it to Harpers Ferry)!After we picked up our package at the post office (which took forever since they had misplaced it and almost drove me crazy) we took the bus to the laundromat. From there toasted toad went to get a rental car while we did the laundry. Then we drove to Manassas, a suburb of D.C. where we checked in to a motel for 2 nights. Even the cheap/bad places are expensive here. We had a late lunch/appetizer before dinner at a sushi place. I had so missed good food like that! The first day we spent trying to get a phone replacement for toad and going to the REI (outdoor store). Marco got new shoes which he will mail forward. They had a pair on sale which fits him so he decided to get it since he found it so easily and less expensive than at the outfitters along the trail. I got a hat, it was expensive but it's great quality, has UV filter 50 and they have a guarantee: the first time that I loose it they replace it! I guess that's perfect for me We also got new spoons and new bottles, without a dishwasher we couldn't get them really clean and they started to smell bad. We went for dinner at a great Chinese restaurant, had drinks and went to bed late. Today the mileage isn't what we hiked, I added the miles which were missing for some reason in our calculation. The miles which we hiked are now according to the mileage in the 2014 book. That's the mileage we are actually on now!
Date: 2014-06-19
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Washington DC
Miles today: 0.0

We slept so good last night, I could definitely get used to staying in a hotel! Breakfast was decent, we got coffee and doughnuts later on the way to the battlefield of Bull Run (civil war). Now it is a nice field in a farm area, it was also one back in the 18th century before north fought south. This is actually the place of the first battle and this battle was won by the south.Downtown in DC it was almost impossible to find a parking lot, so toad let us out at the mall. Don't mix this up with a shopping center, The Mall in Washington is a long stretched park with all the memorials on. We saw the Washington Monument (it's an Obelisk), the big statue of Lincoln, the Vietnam memorial, the Korea, ww1 and ww2 memorial and so on. It was quite moving to see all the wars the US had fought in and soldiers have given their lives for. Then we walked to the white house and had our pictures taken in front of it. We walked back to the Lincoln monument, met up with toad, went back to the car, drove through city traffic to one of his most favorite restaurants to have an early dinner. After we stood in our first traffic jam since a few months, thought about how much we miss the trail and went grocery shopping for resupply. Well it's not really the trail we miss, it's the quietness and simple life of the woods. I so enjoy being in the woods, all I need is in my backpack and Marco is with me every day and every step I take. Life is simple and I don't need much, I'm excited when we have plenty of water sources, when we find a good campsite for the night, when we meet fellow thru hikers that I like or when we get a cold soda at trail magic. I'd wish we could keep our lifes that simple!
Date: 2014-06-20
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Crampton gap shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We got up early, toad wanted to leave at 9am since he have to bring the car back till noon and it's quite a drive from DC. I have really enjoyed that road trip! He dropped us off at the trail center. We had to go to the post office and do some other things and were still there when he got back. Then we hiked down to the outfitter and bought us the 2014 AT guide, written by Awol, a former thru hiker and so much better than the book from ATC which we had used so far. By now it was noon and there was this pub just a little further, well keeping the story short, we went in and had Burger and Beer (I drank water since I don't think that I can hike drunk). Once again it was difficult to leave town but we finally did. We didn't hike far, for that we had started too late, put up our tent and went to bed when it got dark. I had a headache all day and didn't feel good and just wanted to sleep.
Date: 2014-06-21
From: Crampton gap shelter

To: pogo memorial campsite
Miles today: 15.7

21st of June, summer solstice and naked hiking day!I got up and still felt sick and had a headache. I took a painkiller and we started hiking anyway. But we didn't hike naked, it's weekend and the trail was crowded with boy Scouts groups and we didn't feel like shocking them. Instead we hiked in our rain gear, it was raining on and off for the whole day. We had the feeling we were not getting anywhere, the trail was nice and in a good condition for most of the miles so this wasn't the problem. We just didn't feel like hiking. I started to feel better in the afternoon and was able to eat lunch. We have left west Virginia yesterday, but there was no sign who told us, so I just realized it. We are now for a few miles in Maryland! When we finally got to the camp site, which sounded great in the book, it was all rocky and on slopes. We were so disappointed! I really didn't want to hike any further, we just came around the next corner and heard vagabond jacks voice through the bushes calling:" is that you toad?" Vagabond has found this perfect tent site just a few yards further up the trail and had saved us all spots. The fire place had even rock chairs that were so comfortable after sitting on logs or the ground. We made our favorite dinner (thai noodles) and went to bed.
Date: 2014-06-22
From: pogo memorial campsite

To: campsite
Miles today: 15.3

When we got up I still felt sick, I actually woke up a few times during the night feeling sick. But so far my stomach seems to keep up. I have no clue what makes me feel that way. I couldn't get myself to eat breakfast so shortly after we started hiking I felt exhausted and in need of sugar and water. So we took our first break just about a mile from our last tent site. I still felt sick afterwards but now I had at least energy to hike. We caught up with wild turkey, her dog cormick and potatoes and decided that we all would try to get into town to watch USA vs. Portugal (soccer world cup). The road to Waynesboro (Pennsylvania) was only a mile before where we had planned to spend the night. We crossed the Mason-Dixon Line today. This is the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania and means the Line between the Southern States and the Northern States (civil war). Yes, we are now in the State that we heard the worst stories from. It has extremely rocky areas where you can make about 7 miles a day because it hurts the feet so bad. We will have to walk on fields of rock and crawl over hills full of boulders. We will definitely tell you about when we get to these places! Just before the road to town was a park, many families where there having big picnics, we saw it from a distance when we walked by. I had hoped somebody would invite us and just when we were hiking to the trailhead a heard a voice calling for swiss miss. Wild turkey was there and all the others, they got invited by this big family who had more than enough food and invited us too! They fed us plenty and it was just great! Thank you so much family of J.R. Scruggs! We will let you know when we make it to Maine. A section hiker was there too, he lives in Waynesboro and offered all of us rides to town. He had to drive a few times and he also drove a few to the food store and all of us out of town after the game. Thank you so much! The game was fun to watch, especially since all our hiker friends are US Americans. For the ones who didn't see it: they tied 2:2We hiked the mile to the camp site with our headlamps on. I put up the tent all by myself for the first time since marco came with the second load after resupplying at the store. And I had the tent all set up by the time he got there. We didn't have dinner since we were still full from the trail magic/family picnic and went straight to bed.
Date: 2014-06-23
From: campsite

To: rocky mountain shelter
Miles today: 13.8

Today wasn't my day, to say the least. We heard toad getting up around 6:30am and decided it was too early for us. We slept till 7am, got up had breakfast and for the first time since 3 days I didn't feel sick. We hiked up the first hill, on profile it looked like a piece of Toblerone chocolate. We were completely wet for the first time today and took a short break when the downhill started. Just going a few steps after the break I stepped on something, my right foot rolled off, twisted to the side, I couldn't catch myself, the weight of my pack threw me forward, I went down like a bag of potatoes. My left arm tried to catch me and slided on a rock. Damn, it hurt so bad I cried, I thought that was it, the end of my hike just a couple of days before halfway point. Toasted toad came running back and Marco made me sit up. Toad touched my ankle and tried to feel if anything was broken but couldn't tell for sure. After the shock the pain started to get less but the foot started to swell up. I put my shoes back on and was able to walk. It hurt a bit when I wasn't able to put it down on a flat spot but I made it down the mountain. I took 3 advil and hiked on but it just didn't feel good. I felt a cracking whenever I stepped on it. Toasted toad and Marco convinced me to see a doctor. That's when we found out there was none ahead for many miles/days and we would have to hike back 1.5 miles to a road. We said goodbye to toad but agreed on where to meet or in case I couldn't go back on the trail today to keep in touch. Hiking back to the road I realized it was good to go and have my foot checked. We hitch hiked and a man who has hiked sections of the AT gave us a ride to the ER of the hospital of Waynesboro. They took X-rays, I got lucky, no broken bones just a sprain ankle. I got a splint which I need to wear till I feel comfortable walking without and I will need to take painkillers. We were really hungry and went to subway for lunch. There another customer started talking to me, she saw that I came from the hospital and was a hiker and she offered us a ride back to the trail. We got off further down so we were able to get to the shelter to meet toad and only had to walk 2 miles. After this hike I felt the pain coming back, the painkillers wore out but I will have to wait till I can take the next ones. We put up our tent and now I try to relax my foot while Marco does the running around for me.
Date: 2014-06-24
From: rocky mountain shelter

To: Woodrow tent site
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

We made it, we crossed the 2014 midway point today! From now on we are walking out ;-)I started the day with taking ibuprofen and wrapping my ankle with an ace bandage. Toad and vagabond jack had decided to go 18 miles today, I didn't want to go that far since I didn't want to push my luck with my ankle. So we said goodbye with the plan to meet again in a few days. The first mile was extremely rocky and we had many boulder fields to cross, but after the trail became flat and soft, almost no rocks and the hike was really easy. We were faster than expected and catched up with the other two several times. When we had hiked the planned 13 miles to the shelter the two were still there and asked if we wanted to go on with them. I had just taken my second serving of ibuprofen and felt pretty good so we filled all our water bottles and went on. Soon I wasn't happy with my decision anymore, I started to feel my feet and my ankle. I just waited for the midpoint sign to come up. It wasn't where the book says it is supposed to be. We just dragged ourselves further wanting to get there. Finally it came up, we took some pictures and headed on. The moment wasn't as emotional as I thought it would be, I guess we just were too tired to realize and appreciate what we have accomplished. It looked like rain and we just wanted to find a campsite and set up our tent before the rain hit. The rain hasn't come so far but it sure looks like rain. I took my 3rd serving of ibuprofen so the swelling can go back during the night and I should be able to hike tomorrow again. Tomorrow we will get to the big midpoint sign, it's an older sign and since the trail changes every year they just put up small signs for the year and the big nice one stays where it is since it was built.
Date: 2014-06-25
From: Woodrow tent site

To: campsite
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow, another eventful day.We past the old, big midpoint sign early this morning and took the have to have pictures. Then we hiked on to the AT museum at pine grove furnace state park. At the little restaurant beside it Marco took the ice cream challenge. He had to eat a half gallon of ice cream of his choice to enter the half gallon club. He made it within 30 minutes! That's a pretty good time. I didn't do it since I'm not a big fan of ice cream. We spent almost two hours there, talking to other thru hikers, walking through the tiny museum and just enjoying the break. Finally we went on, my ankle started to hurt already on the first hill and we took a long break. I got my second serving of ibuprofen and we went on. About two miles later we took another break and marco realized he had lost his AT bandana. He told me he would walk a bit back in the hope he would find it. 30 minutes later a few other thru hikers came by telling me he went further than planned since they have seen it and told him where it was. He came back after 45 minutes! He has met a copperhead snake along the way and was lucky he didn't step on it and didn't get bitten. But he had his bandana and was happy. We heard thunderstorms around us, knew the weather forecast had predicted them and came across places where it already had rained. We hiked faster, got to the shelter and realized that toasted toad and vagabond jack had went further. We had originally planned to go to a tent site but we had thought they would stop at the shelter due to the weather. We got water and decided to go on, we felt pretty good both being on painkillers now. We got to a small tent site, thought that's where the others had wanted to go to but they weren't there. It was almost 7pm by then and the thunderstorm just behind us. We set up tent as fast as we could, marco cooked half under the tent and just when he was done the thunderstorm struck. It seemed like several ones after each other with a lot of rain. But we were once again lucky and had everything in the tent by the time it had started. We ate dinner in the tent and make an early bedtime tonight. Tomorrow morning we want an early start, heading to Boiling Springs. I had my ankle taped today, a bad decision, I have blisters now on the wrist of my foot and an allergic reaction to the tape. Hope I can walk normal tomorrow.
Date: 2014-06-26
From: campsite

To: boiling springs
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: few clouds

We found out this morning that toad and vagabond had tented just about a half mile further north than we did. But they had left early since they wanted to get to town before the game started (noon).We hiked about 3 miles, the part is called "rock maze". It would have been lots of fun with a day pack and no hurt ankle. Climbing boulders trying to find the best way through it. Unfortunately my ankle didn't like the challenge and the pack made it even harder. I was completely done after and couldn't imagine to hike much further. On our app we could see where the next road to town crosses the AT. We hiked the road for a couple of miles, then a nice guy offered us a ride and we took it happily. I know this is cheating but my feet were killing me. And then in boiling springs we had still a mile to walk to the hotel (the only one in town). We can definitely recommend this place, it's called the allenberry resort and it's a place where elderly people spend their summer, it reminds me of "dirty dancing". They have a hiker special: a room that looks like out of the 70s, but clean and with all the towels you need, for 40$. A surprisingly good price! We got a room for us and one for the other two who hiked in shortly after us. We went back into town to watch the game and have lunch at the tavern. We also went to the coffee shop since it seems to be the only place with wifi and stayed there for a while. Back in the room I tried to rest my feet, later we had dinner at the bar of the hotel and listened to live music. They played Blue Grass, Blues and Country, it sounded really good. Now we have packed and want to hike out early in the morning. We met the judge at the bar and he invited all of us to have breakfast at his house, which is a 3 miles hike north on the trail. The first possibility to spend the night will be the shelter since we will hike along private property all day long. I hope the hike will be as easy as other hikers have told us.And now I will listen to "bed of roses" and go to bed.