morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-20
From: Campsite

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

More easy walking today. Well, the climb up Whitetop Mountain was something, but still a far cry from the straight ups-and-downs of Georgia. The top of it was made white courtesy of great swaths or Claytonia Virginica.Ramp season is in full swing, so we picked a bunch of ramps to cook into our potato soup later (which was a great idea). But by far the most exciting thing today--WILD PONIES!!!About 15 adults and 5-6 foals up on Mount Rogers. I felt like a kid getting just what she wanted for her birthday. They were all different colors--dark brown, black and white, butterscotch--in all different combinations. The foals were working hard to keep up with the herd, and we saw one suckling on his mom's teat Never thought I'd see that in real life! Neat, wild ponies.
Date: 2006-04-22
From: Campsite

To: Troutdale--Camp
Miles today: 7.3

Today was a very mixed resupply day. Two easy miles to the road--put the poles away, which was a very nice change. Holding poles all the time sometimes seems like the tactile equivalent of earplugs. I held on to soggy trees and mossy rocks for support when I needed it, and when I didn't I was free to move my arms wherever they wanted to go. I didn't realize how confining poles can be. Helpful at times, but as long as my pack is sub-20 pounds and the terrain is as flat as it is, they're superfluous.An easy hitch into town with some weekend hikers, but our luck ran out at the Troutdale Trading Post. We thought it was going to be a gear store, but it was some weird combo diner/minimart with boxes and bags full of sheets and comforters all over some tables and junk scattered all around. The ladies who worked there, except for one, were rude and extremely unhelpful. We got too much food in our drop that we had to send ahead along with our cooking food since the Trading Post didn't have DNA or HEET and there wasn't a hardware store or gas station or anything like it aound. We didn't get our envelope with the Companion sections for the rest of Virginia, so we don't really know where we are. Either the envelopes didn't get there, or more likely, somebody didn't look hard enough. Oh, and half our stuff went to the P.O. rather than the Post, eventhough it was addressed to the Post--so if we had gotten there an hour later and the P.O. was closed, we'd be missing way more than a guidebook.But, we were rescued by the wife of Pastor Ken Riggins of the Troutdale Baptist Church, who agreed to mail our boxes and take us back to the trail, she was really nice about it.And we switched out lots of gear for lighter stuff. Oh, our packs are so wonderfully LITE. Must be under 20 even after a 3.5 day resupply. And, we got a letter from Julia, Renee and Kathleen! Which was extremely exciting.Now we are camped under Casey's 1-person GoLite Hut, with 1 bag and the expander (LITE!). 20 feet past a cow pasture in a sunny valley. I love those pleasant bucolic scenes, they're so relaxing.
Date: 2006-04-23
From: Troutdale--Camp

To: Davis Path Shelter
Miles today: 23.4

Great 23 mile day--saw some animals, enjoyed the weather. Didn't get moving until 7:30...1 1/2 hour break with calls home at Partnership Shelter...1 1/2 hour 5 day resupply and dinner at the 24 hour I-81 Truck Stop, and my first night hiking. Fun.I'm looking forward to a solid block of sleep to begin with in the next 10 minutes...
Date: 2006-04-26
From: camp by Little Wolf Creek

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today began excitingly due to a decision made yesterday. There had been signs posted at a couple shelters that the Laurel Creek bridge was closed, and it would be advisable to take the high water trail, which was a blue-blazed section that by-passed the creek entirely.When we got to it we dutifully turned and followed the blue blazes. Then we started to fret about our decision, stopping frequently to look back at where we came from, wondering if we should have stayed on the AT--what would we be missing by passing the creek? If we didn't go, we would forever be haunted by what could have been...plus it might be a good adventure. About 20 minutes down the trail and still casting backwards glances, we decided to farkle--Cassey was blue blaze, I was white blaze. Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT--2 rocks. Again, rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT--Casey's paper and I am rock. Dang. We both groaned and looked disappointed, so it was settled--I said 'let's go back' and we were on our way. "Hey" said Casey. "WWLD--What would the Lambs do." (Of Quest for the Lost City Fame).We walked until it got dark and rainy. During the night Casey's sleeping back became hopping grounds for a giant bullfrog.In the morning we packed up and headed towards Laurel Creek. We began by hopping over small Springs. No big deal. The springs got wider...and deeper...until rock-hopping was no longer a choice. We came to a creek about 10 feet wide, and ankle deep. With rolled-up trousers and still-dry sneakers, we gritted our teeth and steeled our nerves and successfully forded our first stream. It was chilly, but the novelty and excitement allowed us to ignore that...About 20 feet later, the trail snaked around to have us cross the same creek again. And then again. Deeper, wider, and stronger currents every time. The novelty wore off and it became annoying. Then, surprise, we crossed again...about 10 times total. But the water was never more than knee deep. After the 10th time, we came to what was unmistakeably the closed bridge--3 stone pillars in the water with nothing at all connecting them. The Grand Finale! This last ford was the only one that made me a little nervous--much wider, much deeper, and faster looking. At the middle my legs were fully submerged, and I had to glide my feet along the bottom to find spots with good traction and so one leg wouldn't get swept downstream.We made it out, and just as we were high-fiving and being rowdy, some blue-blazing folks strolled up the road--they said the highwater trail was very easy, very boring road walking.We ended up with soaking shoes but satisfied minds. I suppose neither of us could ever be real hiker trash...
Date: 2006-04-29
From: Pearisburg

To: campsite
Miles today: 0.0

Today is the end of the first week of our new plan. We¢re going to try doing about 110 miles per week, with one day being a smaller day into and out of town for resupply and chores, and the next day being a 0 day in the woods.So far, so good¢we definitely needed the 0 since this is the most miles we¢ve done in a week. Yesterday we went to the Pearisburg Food Lion and bought 5 days of hiking food and a bunch of really heavy fresh food for today. Which made the climb out of town harder than usual, but worth it¢we each had a box of strawberries, an everything bagel with Nutella (plus a bunch of Nutella by itself), 3 smoked brats in hot dog buns, half a sweet potato, a bunch of crackers, and we split one of those ready made salads with the dressing included in the pack. We got a fire going and heated ourselves some nice snacks.Stretched, napped, sat around. It¢s been wonderful, and it will be nice to have this again at the end of another week of 20s¢¦
Date: 2006-04-30
From: Pearisburg--campsite

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.0

Last day in April already! As the miles get bigger the days go by faster¢I remember time dragging so slowly at the beginning. Oh I guess I have a confession concerning the beginning¢I wasn¢t as happy and excited as I made myself sound, that was just a coping mechanism while I was adjusting to the new lifestyle mentally and physically. I actually almost puked the night before leaving.But, that¢s all long past. Hmmm¢¦not too much exciting has happened¢¦we met C.W., a triple-crowner who¢s done the AT twice and has 15,000 miles (so maybe he¢s a double triple-crowner?), and is a professional photographer. He does mostly big landscapes for the ATC, sells some prints at shows, and does some corporate art. Casey is envious of his lifestyle.What else¢¦some good news on the forest floor¢I found a huge patch of morels. Unfortunately we didn¢t have anything to cook them with, so we just had to look at them longingly. These were a different kind than the first one¢the first was a dark smoky grey-brown on the inside. These were solid beige, outside and in.At lower elevations, we¢re starting to see the bright yellow-green new leaves on trees, and tons of great new flowers¢some that I¢m familiar with¢wild geranium, cutleaf toothwort, buttercups, and sweet-smelling phlox; and some new/newish ones¢bright red and yellow wild columbines, deep purple larkspur, sessik bellwort, and miterwort. I only saw 2 little miterworts on the side of the trail, but it was really exciting¢I¢d only seen the picture in a flower guidebook and liked the look of them so much, I¢d always go back to their picture. It has the tiniest white flowers that look exactly like snowflakes.Some unusual flowers¢blue cohosh and mayapple are both in bloom.And the wintergreen berries are ripe for eating! Yum. I can¢t wait for the strawberries¢¦they¢re everywhere, but are only just beginning to flower where we are.Hopefully I will now go to sleep and dream of lush strawberry-filled fields...
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Sarver's Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: scattered clouds

A mad lib for the evilest shelter on the trail (mile 666.0 from Springer):¢Appalachian Inferno¢Once upon a time, many _____ (noun, pl.) ago, there was a(n) _____ (adj.) AT thruhiker named _____ (trailname, possibly ¢Virgil¢). This unfortunate _____ (noun) hiked down to this here shelter hoping to find some rest and _____ (noun). But instead what he found was a den of pure _____ (noun). Before even entering, he stubbed his _____ (body part) on the steps. He realized, _____ (adv.), that the steps led down rather than up and that from the bottom came the _____ (adj.) stench of _____ (noun). Now _____ (some trailname) was no _____ (noun). After a quick survey, he saw that he was not at the shelter, but at the _____ (strong adj.) privy! Whereupon he _____ (verb) to himself, ¢I¢ve got to get the _____ (swear word) out of here!¢ And so he did.The End.
Date: 2006-05-03
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Lamberts Meadow
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: light rain

We finally had a day to rival the absolute goodness of Albert Mountain day. First, while I was eating breakfast I saw a big toad, which is always fun. Once we started walking (at 6:20 a.m.), the first awesome geological feature we traversed was Dragon¢s Tooth¢a big jagged climb up to a spectacular view of the valley with rays of sunshine sifting down through the clouds. The way down was really rocky and scrambley¢some rocks had metal bars pounded into them to climb down like a ladder.We were making our way down to the road crossing that goes to Catawba, Minorly sad that we weren¢t crossing Thurs-Sat, when the (apparently) best AYCE on the trail is open. We saw fog sitting by a blue box¢¦looked like a cooler¢I didn¢t want to get my hopes up, since we¢d already seen about 5 or 6 completely empty coolers with notes scrawled on in Sharpie¢¢hey thanks for the ice cold sodas,¢ ¢those Little Debbies sure hit the spot,¢ ¢you made my day,¢ that sort of thing. But this one was full!!! It had a beautiful painting and a note that said to take our fill, they come and refill the box every day. I took pb & j, a Powerade, a Snickers bar, and a homemade peanut butter-chocolate fudge bar. That was some wonderful trail magic. Mmmm¢¦.Next were some more wildlife encounters¢Casey found a 4 or 5 foot black snake, some kind of constrictor¢a rat snake? Dunno¢it was lying really still until Casey touched it and it folded itself up a couple times and reared up to make itself look bigger, and shook its rattle-less tail in the dry leaves to make itself sound like a rattler. Casey took a video on his camera of me prodding it with my hiking pole until it struck. It was a bluff¢didn¢t really hit the pole and looked pretty scared. So we left it alone to head to McAfee Knob. On the way up we saw a good-sized turtle with neon green and orange spots¢kind of the colors of those Trapper keeper binders some of the kids had in elementary school.The climb up McAfee Knob went really fast¢I was really excited to go up and get my own McAfee Knob picture! Fog was up there when we got up and took our pictures for us. I was experiencing a major adrenaline rush going down from being excited to get up and swinging my legs over the edge¢it really is a drop-off too, it doesn¢t just look that way in the pictures. We had a celebratory late lunch at the shelter past the peak, and on to the final stretch of the day.The 3rd and final fantastic geological feature of the day was Tinker Cliffs¢we walked along the edge of the cliffs at peak alperglow time and got to see the sun go down over yet another fabulous view.The last few miles to the shelter were sleepy, but successful. 4 people were already there and they had saved a spot for us, very nice.And not surprisingly, I went straight to bed and slept like a stone all night.
Date: 2006-05-04
From: Lamberts Meadow

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Tonight we are staying in the Howard Johnson in Daleville thanks to some ridiculously huge and great trail magic. We ate good food and shared a pitcher with Bushwhacker and Bandit at a Mexican restaurant while live band played¢nice murals on the walls.Some calls home, and now it is past midnight¢way, way past my bedtime. Time for some sleep---
Date: 2006-05-05
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Nice, short day out of town--I felt very refreshed after sleeping in (and in a real bed!), showers and laundry. We saw another turtle and another of the same kind of black snake--only this one was more like 5 feet long and seemed much more reactive and alarmed. We walked for a while with a guy named 10-speed who started on April 1st. He's from Seattle, has done the PCT and wants to triple-crown. He doesn't seem to think much of the AT--sort of wants to get it over with because he's going to bike home, and that's what he's really looking forward to. Tonight we are going to try just sleeping under my brother's Marmot Trails bag as a quilt--hopefully we'll be warm enough. If not, we've still got Casey's Ultralite..
Date: 2006-05-06
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Neither of us slept well last night--cold, and a bear was making nonise rustling around in the leaves nearby all night.But once we got going, it was a beautiful hiking day--perfect weather, easy walking. Towards the end of the day we saw a big creek and were deciding whether to go a few miles past the shelter and camp of stop at the shelter. Fortunately I convinced Casey that 20 miles was sufficient for the day, which allowed us an hour to play in the creek. We took off our shoes and waded around, saw enormous tadpoles and an orange bullfrog, and saw tons of crawdads, managed to catch a couple. Then we skipped rocks while our feet dried.The last few miles were a satisfying climb and a ramble through some huge trees that we marvelled at. Some 100 ft. pines and tulip trees and white oaks, and some smaller trees with head-sized leaves.This shelter is big too. Hopefully tonight's z's will be bigger than last night's.
Date: 2006-05-24
From: Pine Grove Furnace SP

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 20.0

The trail in the last few days/week or so has been great. We've been doing more miles than we're used to so we can catch the bus, but finding that we're ready for it, it feels good to be doing more big miles. I think maybe when people told us that VA is flat what they meant was WV, MD, and the beginning of PA. VA was flat for a couple days but then would do a funny thing where the trail would shoot down, back up, then ridgerun for a few miles, and do it again. I mean it was definately easier than GA, but don't believe people who tell you it's flat--we saw a few people get pretty discouraged there because it wasn't what they had expected. I really liked VA, I liked the long stretch. It feels funny now to have crossed 3 state lines in just a couple of days! Harper's Ferry is really cute, lots of interesting informational signs, and it was fun to have my picture taken at the ATC headquarters. I forgot to look for people I know from other years though. Oh and the marking the Mason-Dixon line was torn down, so we had to guess where it was to shout hooray.The midpoint was exciting to behold, and so far I love PA. The forests are beautiful and lush and healthy. There have been some scrambly bits over big bouldery hilltops--I hope there are lots more of those coming, it's a fun and refreshing change to have to use my hands and arms. The sun has become nice and shiny, and tonight Casey and I board the Greyhound red-eye for a mid-way intermission to visit friends and family. Casey's going to see one of his younger brothers graduate from high school and I'm going to Ohio to see my wonderful Oberlin friends become college graduates. I can't wait to see them, especially before everyone scatters. Hopefully Casey will get a chance (as the official thru-hike photographer) to put up some pictures at home. Back to the trial next week!
Date: 2006-05-31
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Camp
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Back from the break! It was great to see everyone again after a year.The Greyhound was not particularly restful, so I took a nap on a green square in Harrisburg when we got there. Andrew, Anne, and Anne's mom picked us up and drove us back to Boiling Springs, very nice of them. They hiked with us for a little while, and we found out that Anne's mom is a botanist so we got to hear answers to botanical queries that had been haunting us for hundreds of miles--heard about various types of oak galls, oriental bittersweet, striped maple (acer pennsylvanica) and other stuff. We kept on for another couple of hours after they left, past some beautifully lit farms. Don't know where we are now but it feels good to be back on the trail.
Date: 2006-06-01
From: Camp

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: few clouds

The first day back on the trail was pretty mixed. The first half of the day took us through unshaded farmland and tick-ridden tall grasses, and the rest of the day was the poison ivy jungle that tends to go along with highly developed areas (Casey tells me that new studies found that global warming increases poison ivy grown and itchiness).Some time in the morning we heard leaves rustling and bleating that sounded like a little baby sheep, and out came a baby deer. It was about a foot and a half long and not more in height, all full of white spots. It froze and looked really confused and terrified. Casey got some pictures of it, and finally it made up its mind to retreat. Someone told us that if a deer has triplets it abandons one so that it can take care of the other 2--there was no adult deer around and it looked really skinny, so maybe that's the case.Later in the day it got very very hot and humid, and I guess I didn't stop enough to rest and didn't drink enough water, because it made me pretty sick. I sat down feeling really hot and dizzy and queasy, and came perilously close to losing my lunch. Nothing came out though, and I was happy not to have lost any calories--gosh, I think some weird things out here! But after a nice long break, I took it real easy the rest of the day, with a couple more hour-long breaks, snail paced walking, and lots of H20 ingestion, and all was well.We ran into C-Ram and M.O.A.T., it was good to see some familiar faces--we weren't sure we'd see anyone again, figured they'd all be up ahead. But Tex is still behind, and so are Jon and Lily. Craig and Cathy are back there too, but since we took off a week there's a chance we'll see all of them again.C-Ram and Moat were headed to the Doyle in Duncannon, which is where we ended up. It's a pretty neat place--sort of a hostel-motel in a 101-year-old building that looks like it used to be a brothel. There's a pub downstairs where a woman was playing some tunes. We had a little dinner and bought each other a drink. Met Fast Lane and Superman, chatted a while, and ended the day.
Date: 2006-06-02
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Nice hike out of town this afternoon. After leaving the Doyle, which was lovely, there was a short stretch of crummy road-walking, then we got shot right up to the very top of a laurel studded ridge. We hurried along the ridge since it was thundering and raining, and we weren't feeling much like toast. By the first shelter out, we were a little lower and the rain had slowed and the thunder had become distant. It was really nice to be walking in the cool rain and fog, especially after yesterday. Very refreshing. And Casey was happy to try out his new windshirt--word it it performed admirably.The best thing today was a new little animial. I saw a black furball in a tree, moving around just a little. Casey came up and I pointed it out--we stared at it for a while trying to figure out what it was. It looked a lot like a monkey--little human-like hands grasping a chewed up leaf. Maybe someone's escaped pet monkey? Maybe a tiny baby bear...we looked around nervously for signs of Mama--but hey, bears don't have those human-hands. I walked closer and saw that it was a baby porcupine! It peered at us around the branch with it's tiny face, its hands gripping the twigs around it. We didn't manage to get any good pictures of it since it was coming down at the time (the rain). But if you're trying to imagine it and in your head it's all spiny and mean looking, please revise. It was adorable and looked deceptively soft.Now we are back in the shelter circuit, sadly among loud snorers. Hopefully the harsh sound of snores will be tempered by the sound of gentle rain on the shelter roof.
Date: 2006-06-03
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: camp
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: scattered clouds

We're taking it easy, trying to work our way back up to the miles we were doing before the break. I'm surprised how much a week off took away--we were feeling tired at 14 miles today, but before the break 25 miles was very reasonable.It was real nice walking today--there was one climb up Stormy Mountain that I enjoyed very much--1200 feet up in 3 miles, all gently and evenly graded so that it was like 3 consecutive 400 foot climbs. The trail was wide and even, and the mountain itself was gorgeous--expansive fields of big rocks stretching in every direction, with striped maples and laurels and other tall skinny trees poking up through cracks. The weather was great too, with a consistent cool breeze.We realized today that we only have about 12 1/2 days left until NY! I can't believe we're still 10 days ahead--if we hadn't left the trail we'd be 18 days ahead--we'd be in NY right now! Moving right along. Thru-hiking is awesome.