morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: clear sky

Didn't get much sleep last night - it was really rough and creepy. I never want to be alone in a shelter overnight again. Especially in the middle of a snowstorm on top of a 5100' mountain. When I finally decided to crawl out of the sleeping bag at 7:30, I think all the blood in every vein and artery in my system froze briefly. I ate a frozen bagel with frozen cream cheese and then ate a frozen Snickers bar. Packing seemed to take forever, but I got it done quickly. My boots were frozen solid, and it was painful to get into them.I was on the trail by 8:04. My water was frozen solid. I couldn't feel my hands and toes, was insanely tired and there were drifts of snow with which to contend. But somehow I slugged through it, warmed up and got the blood flowing after 45 minutes, and by 10:24 I reached Spivey Gap. I called up Miss Janet and 25 minutes later a crappy old Dodge Van rattled its way up to the gap. Miss Janet rolled down the window and said, "Sorry, we have no more room, we'll come back later." NO! It was fucking cold outside.Oh wait, she's turning around and slowing down. The side door opened and Cedar and the Flower Lady greeted me with a smile. "They all pressured me to play that mean joke on you, Katter Pilllar," Miss Janet said, and everyone laughed. I hopped inside the wonderful van with a billion and 4 bumper stickers and we set off for Erwin, TN, a large, friendly town situated along the Nolichucky River for several miles.Miss Janet's House is almost too wonderful to behold - never have I been to a place with so much character as the outside and so much love on the inside.The Easter Feast was across the street at the Church Fellowship Hall, and I met many hikers I had only read about in the registries, and remet several hikers I hadn't seen for a while. Ice Man is here, it's good to see him again. So is Widowmaker and Plod and Hermes. Hermes hikes so fast but he took 3 zero days in Erwin so I caught up to him again. This keeps happening - probably will until he leaves the trail in May to hike the PCT.I have no idea who paid for all the food, but it easily fed about 60 hungry hikers and some loved ones. Whatever the case was, Miss Janet organizes it and it was absolutely terrific. She truly is the Mother of All Trail Angels.Spent the good portion of the afternoon watching movies and eating snacks and basically relaxing to my heart's content. Tomorrow I'm slackpacking the 11 miles from Spivey Gap to the Nolichucky Bridge with Widowmaker and Twiglet, a hiker I just met personally today, but whose registry entries I've been reading for a while. Miss Janet's dog is coming with us, so it should be a fun, short day.It feels so nice to be finally sleeping in a real bed in a building with 4 insulated walls. I think I'm going to fall asleep any second.
Date: 2007-04-09
From: Spivey Gap

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 11.2

So... yeah. I know I promised myself I'd take a zero day to-day in Erwin, but I kinda really really wanted to complete those last 11 miles from Spivey Gap to the Nolichucky, especially since they were really easy. Miss Janet offers slackpacking shuttles to and from the trailheads, so I left my regular beast of a pack in the hostel, grabbed a small pack she had stores in the house, filled it with some food, my camera, water and some extra clothes, and got shuttled to Spivey Gap with Twiglet and Widowmaker.We totally pwned those 11 miles. At some points we literally broke out into a run and were galloping up and down the mountains - it was a real thrill. Slackpacking makes hiking so much easier. We completed those 11 miles in some absurdly short time like less than 3.5 hours. Widowmaker fell once, and I fell too like five minutes later, but Twiglet, the only one without trekking poles, he didn't fall once. Bastard.Twiglet and I are doing work-for-stay at Miss Janet's for to-night; she has us burning brush and tilling dirt in the backyard to make room for a mulch heap. I'm heading out tomorrow, sometime after I complete my work-for-stay, and will hopefully get 10-15 miles in. It's about 70 miles to Kincora, the $4 hostel on Dennis Cove Rd., and I hope to take a zero there (a real zero) and do trail maintenance with the owner, who's the trail maintainer for the area. But we'll see.Leaving Miss Janet's House will be bittersweet - it's a great little place, but like all thru-hikers, I must move onward and not be bothered to be caught by the trap that is the real world - I'm finding that freedom from security is the most precious belonging a hiker has, because once that is gone, all hope for reaching Maine is dashed to pieces.
Date: 2007-04-13
From: Apple House Shelter

To: Kincora Hiker's Hostel
Miles today: 24.3

Woke up early this morning after cowboy camping outside the shelter next to the trail. Poked my eye out of the sleeping bag just in time to see Mr. Ed slinging on his massive pack and heading out. That guy treats the trail like it's his job - as do a bunch of crazy sixty-something year old men. They all dash down the trail, doing 20+ mile days, and then BOOM! injury, and they're off for the season, only to try some routine again next years. Let's see... Rattler is off, so is Montana Steve.I put in my longest day to-day, 24 miles, and it sucked the whole way. No views, and I was hemmed in by rhododendrons the entire time. I hiked alone, but Widowmaker caught up with me soon after I reached the last shelter before Dennis Cove Road, and we hiked with a guy named "White Crow" to there. White Crow is the fastest hiker I have ever met - even Widowmaker couldn't keep up with him. He hikes with his hands in his coat pockets, uses no poles, carries a 40+ pound pack on his back, and basically runs up and down the mountains. It's crazy.Widowmaker and I finally reached Kincora, a log cabin that is quite pleasant, a little before 8:30. I met the owners, Bob and Pat Peoples - Bob is the area trail maintainer - covering from Spivey Gap up to Damascus - a huge area. They're really nice - Bob has a charisma that is undeniable, and he, Widowmaker, a hiker named Em and I sat in the main room talking about, well, hiking - and skiing - he used to trail maintain in Vermont - for hours. A great guy.As Widowmaker and I were upstairs, looking at backpacking magazines, a sixty-something year old with no beard and almost no hair came lumbering up the stairs."What's your name?" asked Widowmaker."Wirenut."I had been following Wirenut for some time now, as had Widowmaker. He started only 2 days before me, had taken 4 days off to visit with his wife (whereas I had only taken 1), but it still took me till now to finally catch up with him, and I had to hike my longest day yet in order to do so. In other words, he MOVES. I just hope he doesn't end up with the same fate as other old guys.As it turns out, Wirenut is a retired electrician from Cincinnati - hence the name - and he's quite friendly. We all rummaged around the hostel's kitchen, and ate and ate until we were full - quite a challenge for a hiker!Anyway, it's late, the weather's supposed to be bad for to-morrow, and I need a zero day. Not a nero or a slackpack day - a real, honest-to-Jeebus Christmas ZERO day. That's to-morrow. And three days later in Damascus.
Date: 2007-04-15
From: Braemer Castle

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: moderate rain

Did a whopping 8.6 miles to-day from Hampton to the Vandeventer Shelter. So much for making Virginia in 2 days from Kincora. Sutton dropped Widowmaker and I off at the trailhead with a warning that the weather wasn't supposed to be nice to-day and to-morrow. White Crow was staying at the hostel, taking a zero with a hiker named Mean Joe, who gave me some of his denatured alcohol, and those 3 hikers without trail names. White Crow said he didn't trust the weather, and was just gonna drink all day.It was raining when Sutton dropped us off, and it rained all the way to the shelter, which we reached at 1:20. Two thru-hikers named Stoneage and Clay, who I met a few days ago, came by a few minutes later. The four of us ate lunch and crawled into our sleeping bags to get warm and wait out the rain.Well, the rain did eventually stop... sorta. First it turned into sleet, then hail, then snow. Next thing I know there's several inches on the ground and we're all preparing our tarps to block the wind from entering the shelter.A little while later, Mr. Ed showed up, and now the 5 of us are laying here - it's 8:30 now, making friends with the shelter mice, laughing our asses off at the stupidest things, and basically having the times of our lives. Half my shit is buried in the snow, but that's all right. It'll dry off eventually, someday. And then get wet again.Widowmaker and I really want to make it to Damscus to-morrow, but that would be a 30+ mile day. It would be nice if I could get my article in on time, but if it has to wait another week, so be it.This trip is the craziest fucking thing. I'm glad I'm here. A cold day on the mountain beats a warm night on Long Island any day.
Date: 2007-04-17
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Wirenut was up and moving around by 6:30 this morning, and although last night was significantly more mild than the night before, the cold still kept me tucked in my sleeping bag for a good 20 minutes.Didn't want to be left at the shelter alone, and wanted to get to Damascus as soon as I could, so I too got up and was out of the shelter by 7:45. The hike was easy, and I arrived in Damascus by 11:30. Still, I was exhausted when I arrived. I had no energy to-day. Usually I use my trekking pole to vault myself over the blowdowns and run down them mountains, but I felt so weak - I took a couple of breaks and walked rather slowly. It's a good thing the terrain was so mild.Anyway, Damascus is a nice little town. It's small, but not Hot Springs small, and it has all the services we hikers need - bar, grocery, outfitters... bar.I'm currently staying at "The Place," a hostel run by a Methodist Church that charges a whopping $4 a night with a 2 night limit. The hiker box here has a crapful of good stuff, including a perfectly good pair of Crocs. Now I'm glad I resisted paying $30 for those plastic pieces of crap, but they were are more comfortable than those SCUBA shoes I've been using for camp shoes. The pair I found is about 3 sizes too large, but who cares? My feet will be a lot happier with me now. A good piece of trail magic indeed.Ate at Sicily's Pizza in towne to-day after submitting my article to the Suffolk News at the Damascus Library - the smallest library I've ever seen. Good computer access, though. Wirenut, Widowmaker, Stoneage and Triple Deuce went to the local bar, Dot's Inn, for dinner and beer. As Wirenut said, "We're going to get hammered!" I'll be joining them later to kick back a few and celebrate our progress. I'm taking a much needed zero day to-morrow for the first time since Hiawassee, so I'm pretty happy. Life is good.
Date: 2007-04-18
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Damascus, Virigina
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Ah, a zero day - no better place to take one than in the "friendliest town on the Trail." Damascus, VA. Everyone here really is nice, the locals that is. They keep on reminding us to hitch on down to Trail Days in May - they sure do love hikers'... money. Meh, it's not a prosperous town, so the business is good for their economy.I got horribly, horribly sick last night. AFter returning from the bar and talking to Chad for maybe half and hour on the cell, I lay down on my bunk, and next thing I knew I have to go to the bathroom. I go to the bathroom, do my thing, and next thing I know, I'm going to hurl.Did I ever. Emptied my entire stomach, and then some. I fucking HATE the taste of bile. I took a shower, but it just made me more miserable, and eventually I found my way back to my bunk, and after listening to Wirenut snore for about half an hour, drifted off into unconsciousness.At Sicily's yesterday I had ordered a lasagna, not knowing it was meat lasagna. I ate it anyway, because I need the protein and I'm trying to ween my body into being able to eat some meat again for the few months I'm out here. Well, I guess I just ate too much of it, and the enzymes in my stomach couldn't take it, and when you mix it with several glasses of Amber Bock, you get what I got. Not fun.Anyway, today has been good. Most of the hikers last night were all about going on to-day, but I think the most of them decided to zero here with me - the only one who left was Wirenut. At 8:15. Crazy old man.I bought a new sleeping bag for the summer months; I'll be bumping it up to P.O.'s in Virginia until I need it, and then sent my current 25 degree bag here, along with a bunch of my winter gear. When summer finally hits, I think the base weight in my pack will be under 10 pounds. Looking forward to it.I'll be taking it easy for the next few weeks, doing no more than 15 mile days. I hope some of the other guys catch up. Barry Manilow is still in Hot Springs, working for Elmer as his house boy and sleeping in the greenhouse. The Owl got off the trail to visit his aunt for a week. Foot pump, who I haven't seen since before Kincora, should be rolling in soon. After I learned about that massacre at Virginia Tech yesterday, I was worried about him - he just graduated from there in December, and his girlfriend goes to school there. I have a feeeling I may not see him for a while; he may have had friends that were killed... or he may not.Take care, now.
Date: 2007-04-19
From: Damascus

To: Lost Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

Last night I went to the Pub at the Old Mill. Widowmaker was there, as was Paul Bunyon, White Crow, Stoneage and Triple Deuce, Otto, Noodles and Sardine, and a few others. Everyone is wonderful.Two local hiker bums, Lone Wolf and Pirate (the latter whom I first saw in Neels Gap doing work-for-stay at Walasi-Yi) were also hanging out there, and we were all chatting it up and getting drunk, and good times were being had by all. I bought Widowmaker a round, and the both of us were beginning to get pretty tipsy at the bar. Suddenly a couple of hands slap both mine and Widowmaker¢s shoulders. Foot pump! He pulled a 33-mile day to catch up with us, the crazy bastard. I was glad to see him, and hear his girlfriend was okay. Apparently he didn¢t know anyone who was killed, but a few of his friends were shot.At any rate, it took me a while to get packed up. Even though yesterday was my first ¢zero¢ day since Hiawassee, I still had to walk half a mile back and forth to the supermarket, which is a ways out of town along a busy road. So it goes.My pack is so freakin heavy. I gave some honey buns and oranges to Ross and Tim to lose some of the weight, and they began worshipping the very ground I stood on. Ha! Good kids, them two is.Foot pump is zeroing to-day, and Widowmaker and I finally left around 10 or so. As it always is with towns, we had a little bit of a climb out of the valley after some road walking on the Virginia Creeper trail, but it wasn¢t bad by any means. A heavy pack didn¢t make life easy, though. Stupid food.The weather forecast called for rain, and it did rain just as I was leaving the Saunders shelter at lunchtime. Some of the miles between Saunders and the next shelter were spent on a ridge, and, well, let¢s just say thunderstorms and ridges and Katter-pillars don¢t jive so well. I was happy to reach Lost Mtn and call it a day.Widowmaker is here, as is Stoneage and Triple Deuce, Gulester, Fenceman and KZ and a couple of section hikers, which make the small shelter very crowded, even though Gulester is tenting out back. But the section hikers are telling Garrison Keillor jokes and Stoneage and Triple Deuce are singing excerpts from ¢Big Rock Candy Mountain¢ a strange and hilarious song.Life can¢t get much better than this.
Date: 2007-04-20
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: broken clouds

A deliberately short day. I have a package waiting for me in Bland, and in order to get to it before Sunday I¢ll have to do bigger mileage than I care to do, so I¢m going to take it easy until then, at least. Plus, this section is one of the loveliest parts of the entire trail, the Grayson Highlands and Mt. Rogers area, so I want to savor it a little.Widowmaker was up and out early. I lingered for a little bit longer, but finally made my way out. It was a beautiful day, and the Mt. Rogers area is beautiful. But I felt sluggish for most of it. After only about 6 miles of walking, I came across Stoneage and Triple Deuce just lying right on the middle of the trail, eating lunch and napping. I joined them for a spell, but after about an hour I was antsy to get moving again, and so I left them there. I passed by the Elk Garden parking area and huffed up the bluff. Still feeling lousy, I laid down again on the grass and just fell asleep.After another hour or so I woke up, walked around Mt. Rogers (the trail doesn¢t go over it for a change) and arrived at the most scenic shelter ever, Thomas Knob. What a view. Wild ponies were hanging about near the corral where the water source was, and, well, I think it would just be an injustice to put the gorgeous scene into something as banal as human words. See it for yourself.After a while at the shelter, Stoneage and Triple Deuce arrived at the shelter. I couldn¢t believe they were behind me the entire time! They definitely like taking their time, those two. They had climbed the side trail leading to the wooded summit of Mt. Rogers to smoke a bowl, that way they could say they were literally the ¢highest¢ people in the state of Virginia on 4/20.They were only here for a few minutes though, and they moved on a ways to camp somewheres. Ice Man showed up a little while ago, and he said he plans on doing the same mileage as me for the next week or so, which is cool. It feels good to hike with one of my first friends on the trail once more.It¢s a beautiful, if not a tad chilly, night, the mice are only a little wary, there are a few snorers up in the loft, but otherwise, all is well.
Date: 2007-04-22
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Dickey Gap
Miles today: 5.4

To-day was an infuriatingly lazy day. It¢s Sunday, which means the Troutdale post office is closed. And I have a maildrop. So I woke up late, walked the 5.5 miles to Dickey Gap, and just chilled there at the grassy knoll next to the road crossing for the rest of the day. If I didn¢t need food, I would have probably gone 20 miles to Partnership. A shower¢s beginning to sound pretty all right at this point.Earlier I was just chillin out eating some food and a truck pulled into the gap. A couple got out. They didn¢t see me. The girl got behind the bed of the truck and began undressing. The guy began feeling her up. They were making lovely Southern white-trash noises, but they didn¢t do anything too revealing. But it was still hilarious. Then they drove off, never noticing I was about 50 feet away, and did a burn out as they pulled onto the main drag. I think the guy was drunk.This evening that kid Fidel caught up to me. He¢s been a day or two behind me since leaving Erwin, but since I slowed down upon entering Virginia, well, it wasn¢t hard to catch up. We talked for a spell, and then he took off to the next shelter, which was only about 4 miles away. I¢ll probably catch up to him to-morrow, and it seems as if we¢ll be hiking together for a while now. New friends come quickly on the trail.
Date: 2007-04-23
From: Dickey Gap

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

I¢ve said it before, and I¢ll say it again: Trail people are the best people. That includes town folk too. I woke up this morning ready to get to Troutdale and get out. Except there were no cars on the road, because it¢s Sunday. Yesterday the gap was busy as a beaver in heat, but this morning, it¢s completely dead. After standing by the gap with my thumb out for about half an hour, I said fuck it and just started huffing it the two miles to town. Several cars passed me, none of them gave me a lift. Just as I was getting fed up with my situation, the breaking point, as you will, I reached town.Town is not much, by any means. Troutdale is basically a general store, a bank and a post office. Yet, it is enough. This is a simple, local town, unfamiliar to the hustle and bustle of commerce-driven society. The owner of the trading post, Jerry, was a very warm soul. "I was looking at property online," he told me. "And I saw this place, and I just fell in love with it."The store, really, is not that great-- certainly not the kind of place anyone from my home town would "fall in love with". But Jerry so very eager to please, his breffikst omelet is pretty good, and his small store has everything I need and more. Jerry had just bought it in March and was looking to cater to the thru-hiker crowd, which he was apparently ignorant of before he purchased the establishment. After breffikst I gave Jerry a few pointers on what kind of things hikers need. No, they don¢t need nor want to buy a solar shower, nor do they need the 16 oz pocket knife. Some bug spray, sunscreen, throw in some liptons, ramen noodles, pita bread, cheese, and some junk food and we¢re all set. At least he had denatured alcohol.Jerry was kind enough to drive me back to the gap, whereupon we saw Ranger, who I first saw in Damascus, trying to hitch into town. So I said good-bye to the two of them, and began finally hiking for the day.Around 4 o¢clock or so I finally arrived at the famed Partnership Shelter, famous for its shower, lack of mice (it has a resident cuddly cat), proximity to the Mt. Rogers Recreational Center headquarters, which makes it possible to order pizza! I met a whole bunch of people at this shelter, the majority of whom passed me while I was in Troutdale that morning. Fidel is here, as is 357 Magnum, a retired Air Force Colonel, and Duckwalk, an Alaskan halibut fisherman originally from Alabama whose registry entries I¢ve been following for a while. After a few hours, even more thru-hikers caught up. Sticks, an older guy from Indiana who walks very slowly but puts in very long days, and Speedo, the latter of whom was also named by Boo-Boo. Speedo began on the 21st of March or some ridiculously late time, hence the name I guess. Everyone is cool, of course.The shower was hot, not warm or cold, but the usual pizza place is closed on Mondays, so we ordered from Pizza Hut. So it goes. It seems like I¢ll be hiking with these folks for at least a few days, and I really couldn¢t ask for a better crowd.