morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-05-04
From: Damascus 

To: Lost mountain shelter 
Miles today: 16.0

Day 41I left Damascus by 7:30am. All the hikers whom I talked to yesterday and this morning have decided to stay in town for a zero day. For a long time till mid afternoon, I felt I was the only NoBo on the trail. After 3:00pm, some NoBos caught up and passed me. I felt better that I would not be the only one in the shelter by myself.The trail was full of rhododendron blooms now. Mostly are pink colored. There was one tree with orange and one with white flowers. Seeing them blooming reminded me our upstate New York house that had a sunroom surrounded by pink rhododendrons. In spring time, our backyard facing woods with oak and maple trees would turn green gradually from fresh light new growth new leaves to darker green mature leaves later. Staying in that sunroom either reading a book, drinking tea, or playing with my young boys were the best memory I had for the 6 years we lived there. Often I would stop doing whatever I was doing, and just stared outside on the young leaves of spring, holding that beautiful image in my mind. For the past 2-3 weeks, I have been reliving in that memory again, and still couldn¢t get enough of it. Part of today¢s trail intersected with creeper biking trail. That trail was converted from abundant railroad tracks. Since it was a Saturday, many bikers were on the trail. Their energy filled in the air.Just as forecasted, the thunderstorm started at 4:00pm. I walked in the shower for about 1.5 hours before got to the shelter, partially wet, but not too bad. It turned out there were about 8 people were here, in shelter or in their own tents. The shower stopped after 7:00pm. Many birds sang their evening songs till it¢s almost dark.
Date: 2019-05-05
From: Lost mountain shelter 

To: Thomas Knob shelter 
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Day 42It¢s raining all day today with very little breaks for a few minutes couple of times. My plan was to hike 17 miles, but I only made it to 13 miles. Because I was in Mt. Rogers Area, and I want to see the wild ponies. By the time I reached the Thomas Knob shelter, I still haven¢t seen any of them. And I was wet, cold and hungry by the time I got there. So a change of plan for today. I¢ll see if I can see ponies tomorrow morning. They were right by the shelter 20min before I reach here. Other hikers showed me the video, there was even a baby pony! However disappointing with the ponies, I still have a great find this morning: at an edge of a pine grove, there were so many pretty fairy slippers- a pink flower with cute bubble shape. This was the first time I saw a fairy slipper flower. I never knew they are so big. All of them are size of chicken eggs. They made my day! For the rest of the day, I was in the foggy and mist of rain. So the magical forest feeling was back again.The trail today also went through White Mountain - where it has annual ramp cooking/eating contest the weekend after Memorial Day. I did see many ramps on the trail. Picked 3 for dinner.
Date: 2019-05-06
From: Thomas Knob shelter 

To: Hurricane mountain shelter 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 43It was a right decision to stay in Thomas Knob shelter last night. By 7:00pm, the wind was howling and the rain slapped vigorously. The roof shook with heavy wind again and again. It lasted almost to dawn. When the daylight came, it was so cold. But the wild ponies also came to the shelter. They licked everything lick-able. From hikers boots to our backpacks. Anything that possibly has salt. When I took a video of a pony mom and baby, another pony started to lick my pants!The sun was bright today. Shortly after a little more than a mile, I came to a junction with trail signs and big boulders. In front of the boulder, a stone marked 500 indicated the 500th mile from the Springer Mountain! Yes, today I reached 500 miles milestone! Continuously, I hiked through the Rogers mountain Wilderness and Greyson Highlands state park. More ponies were out to enjoy the Sun and tasty green grasses. AT&T cellphone signal almost nonexistent in VA mountains. I didn¢t have any connection yesterday. In early morning not from the shelter, I got a little signal. Before I could finish one sentence with my sister asking about my father¢s health, the connection was lost. Throughout the day, I checked on every hill and ridge without luck. I was only able to get connection until late afternoon at 6:00pm on the final ridge before my night camping place. All hikers have AT&T service complained about it. I may have to rely more on my InReach.
Date: 2019-05-07
From: Hurricane mountain shelter 

To: Partnership shelter 
Miles today: 19.0

D44Everyone planed to get to Partnership shelter tonight, which is 19 miles away. The big reason? Some restaurants in a town 6 miles from the shelter do food delivery! I was also aiming for the same shelter, only for the mileage, not the town¢s food. It was a long way, but for my seasoned legs and mellow trails it was not that hard. I took many rest stops and still managed to finish the hike under 11 hours. There was a minor problem. With wet socks and boots yesterday, I had a couple of hot spots on my feet. So it was not a painless day. Also one of my trekking pole was broken yesterday. So I hiked with one pole and one stick. Kind of funny.Along the trail, I passed a pretty little waterfall - Comers Creek Falls. Next to the Falls, there is a bridge with a note posted by US forest services. It says the bridge is unsafe. Hikers should either fold the creek or walk around using another trail, which adds about 1.3 miles. I looked at the fast moving, big boulder filled creek, and looked at the bridge carefully. I decided using the bridge is the safest option! So I crossed the bridge slowly and enjoyed the waterfalls from the safe end.In the afternoon, when I was tired and slowed pace, I noticed lots of cool patterns with different leaves. Also there were so many shades of green in the forest. I started feeling being set free in this world.Partnership shelter is the most beautiful one so far I have seen on A.T. . It assembled a log house with two level of sleeping floors and a big picnic table in its front porch. The privy is also the best one, more like the one you¢ll see on road side trailhead restrooms than the basic rustic plywood construction of privy near other A.T. shelters. In fact, this shelter is next to the Rogers Mountains Recreation Area visitor center and next to its big parking lot. That¢s why it is so nice and can call for food deliveries! Hikers tonight ordered larger pizza, huge calzone, foot long sandwiches, burgers, large fries. I believed everyone was over eating. On hiker had a huge bottle of Mountain Dew, must be 1.5 liter size, and he finished the whole bottle! I wonder if he can sleep tonight.
Date: 2019-05-08
From: Partnership shelter 

To: Relax Inn near hwy 81
Miles today: 11.6

VA continuously amazed me. Every day there was new discoveries. Today I saw many lily-of-the-valley producing flowering strings. Then on the trail approaching Glade Mountain, along the A.T. Line, it was an area of controlled burns. While I was climbing, on my left was green spring plants, on my right was blackened soil with nothing but large trees. I smelled the ashes all the way to the top of the mountain. All the birds stayed on the green side. The black side was a quiet zone.By noontime, someone told me there is trail magic in the historical one room school house next to the Settlers Museum. When I got there, I discovered 4 large wooden trunks of goods in the school house. There were two coolers full of iced soda cans, one trunk of snacks and fresh fruits, and one trunk of supplies including medicines, sanitary items, sewing kits, etc. all provided by local church. Thanks for the thoughtful trail magic!At the end of my hike in the afternoon before reaching highway 81, there was a swampy area with boardwalk. The plants in the swamp were all huge, must be about 20 times of the size of the same plants I saw on the hills. As I was studying the plants, a large rock caught my eye. And then I noticed the rock was studying me! It was actually a big old turtle! Its small eyes opened to stared back at me. I was amazed by the size of this turtle. Just its shell is the length of my lower arm.Tonight I checked into a small motel, and kept thinking about that big turtle. Could it be over 100 years old? Did he already in this world when that one room school house was built in 1894? It¢s very possible! WOW, that¢s all I can say.
Date: 2019-05-09
From: Relax Inn near hwy 81

To: Lynn camp creek 
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

D46As soon as I crossed the highway and got on trail, a rabbit was 20 feet ahead of me. I smiled - turtle yesterday, rabbit today!When I climbed on Little Brushy Mountain, before I was able to catch my breath, two sticks caught my eyes that were standing vertical. Next to them, stones marked 1/4 in a square of wood sticks. After a couple of seconds mind blank, I realized this marker means now I have reached a quarter of the total distance of A.T.! Great! Now I only have 75% to go.From there, I was walking through a tunnel of rhododendrons for miles. This little mountain behaves as the most responsible child of Mother Nature. When mom says ¢Wake up, kids. It¢s time for school play.¢ This one would be the first to respond ¢Yes, mom.¢ And he would be the first one to get out of bed, finish breakfast, and get ready for the show in school. His show would be always the best of the class. He might be mom¢s favorite, but not so among his siblings. Maybe that¢s why he got a not very respectful name: ¢Little Brushy¢. The trees were covered with buds and blossoms. The buds are deep magenta, hot and energetic. They can burst with high energy at any given moment. The blossoms are light pink, partially transparent, so delicate that look like made of very thin glass. With a little touch, they might shatter. As I walked through this tunnel, my camera clicked constantly. Finally I had to force myself not stopping so frequently for I still need to cover about 16 miles today.Many miles of today¢s trail went through the easement of private properties. It passed ranches with black cows in grassy meadows. I like the way that the cows in American don¢t wear bells. As the cows in Europe do (as I saw them in the Alps last year). It¢s more peaceful for both the hikers and the cows. Passing through private properties also means the hikers had to climb many ladders over their wired fences. As first I was climbing the ladder with my backpack. It was hard to keep balance on top of the ladder when I had to turn 180 degrees on cross the wire. So in most cases, I took the backpack off, push it to the other side below the wire, carefully making sure the sticking part of the wire didn¢t tear my backpack. Also push my hiking poles to the other side. Then climb up and down the ladders. I wish there was an easier way to do this!In the evening a hiker walked into the camping area and told me he just saw a bear cub 300ft from here. So we better to make sure the food bags hang properly tonight. I have not seen any bear so far. I saw a huge black rat snake today as long as 3 feet, crossed trail from high grasses area. Also many dragonflies were out in the meadows.
Date: 2019-05-10
From: Lynn camp creek 

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

D47No bear came to visit us last night. I had a peaceful sleep of almost 9 hours. I had almost the same dream for the last 3 nights, and it was about the same food, my favorite desert. They were made of sweet rice flour. Four layers of sweet rice cake, layered with sugared paste of four flavors: black sesame powder, red bean paste, green tea powder, and sweet pea paste. Some also have walnuts and peanuts inside. They were soft, cool, sweet and chewy. Similar to Japanese desert of mochi, but replace in filling with layered sweets. People says hikers hunger would come to all thru-hikers. I maybe just get into that stage. I have seen other hikers, especially young ones, ate a lot of food, on trail and in restaurants. I am still just eat a fraction of theirs. But I also noticed that I need more lunch snacks in the past a few days. It was one energy bar + one serving of trail mix + a couple pieces of candy before. Now I need to add two servings of trail mix. And add a few more solid stuff in addition to oatmeal for breakfast. But in restaurant I still can only finish one cheese burger plus vegetable, forget about fries.The rain didn¢t come today even though the report said it had 30% chance. And it was good for the hike. I did 19 miles with lots of climbing in order to make it to a shelter. Almost 11.5 hours of walk. My knees have completed recovered, hot spots on my feet were gone, too. But I still keep the pace slow to avoid any new injury. At the end of the day, still very tired with sore muscles. Today¢s first highlight was the view on Chestnut Ridge, with blackened clouds threatening for rain. The Chestnut Knob shelter is a stone building with a door and bunk beds in there. Could be rated as the best equipped shelter so far I have seen. The second highlight was a patch of lily-of-the-valley right after the rocky cropping on the Knob. They were in full blooming. Each string of flower looked like a string of pearls. And they have a very nice sweet smell. The ridge was very rocky. It has great views. But I put most of my attention to footing and flowers, so the views didn¢t leave a clear impression in my mind.
Date: 2019-05-11
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter 
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day 48Instead of the original plan to do resupply in Bland, VA, I continued to next shelter. I still have enough food for 3 more days, just one day shy to reach next resupply town. And there will be two hostels on the way for next 3 days. This way, I will save one day time and the logistics to find a ride to the town. The walk was in the rain since 8:30 am for all day. Wet boots and socks, but dryish shirt and pants from knee up. The forest in the rain was very fresh and clean looking. The Laurel Creek under foot bridge was so happy jumping multiple steps of flat rock beds down its course, making small cascades along the way. The orange flowering trees, which I learned was fire azalea showed off nicely in darkened forest. When I reached VA road 52, out of the forest, I saw white steams rising and dancing all over the mountains. The green hills looked just like a landscape in a dream. At that place, a really nice food cooking smell led me into the little mountain outpost store. I had a cheese burger with Texas toast. Total satisfied my hunger. On trail today, I almost stepped on a cute little newt. I moved it to the side of the trail to prevent other hikers accidentally hurt it later. The little cute newt has orange colored skin with green shining circles on its back. Back in CA, people says newt can represent the overall health of the environment they live in. So I hope I will see more newt in the coming days. For A.T. Thru-Hikers, most of them are responsible and decent people. Many are well educated and care a lot of the environment. But in the past a few days, I have met two young men kept talking about drugs they have taken, and bragging about how they cheated and stole goods from their previous employers. I felt so sorry for them and their family. How can someone so stupid to do all these things! I hope they can hike faster so that I won¢t always in the same shelter with them.
Date: 2019-05-12
From: Helveys Mill Shelter 

To: TrentÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Grocery 
Miles today: 15.2

Day 49A narrow path far and long,It¢s curvy, winding, up and down.I walk on the little path,Following the northern stars.How many more days will you walk in the rain?How many more times will you search the path under snow?I really have no way to know,Just walk on the path,Following the northern stars.How many more days will you go?How many more months will you endure?I really have no way to know.Just walk on the path,Following the northern stars.Till the day I see Katahdin Mountain,Till the day a path no more.It¢ll be the date my dream comes true,Walking on the little path,Following the northern stars.I left the shelter in rain. The wet socks and boots don¢t bother me anymore. The rain washed forest was refreshing to look and to smell. Over the day, it rained, then sun shined, then rained, sun shined, and rained again. The rain kept the air cool, which added comfort to the hike, also kept bugs at low level. In late morning, I passed the 600 miles marker, made of sticks, half mile from road VA611. After I crossed that road, a familiar figure came from the opposite direction. It was Mo ¢Lucky¢, a trail friend whom I haven¢t seen since the day I left Hot Springs. He was hiking at about same pace as mine before. So we had seen each other for many days and get acquainted. But since Hot Springs, he had been on different schedule, meeting other people off trail. I was glad to see him again. In fact I didn¢t see any NoBo thru-hiker today in the 17 miles hike. Only Mo who¢s walking to south, one day hiker, and another slakepacking NoBo at the end of day. So I was having the whole forest to myself almost entirely. To celebrate Mother¢s Day, I mode a greeting out of two maple leaves and another leaf in the form of a heart. It spelled M¢¤M.I passed long sections of the trail full of sassafras. Have you smelled their broken leaves? It is so sweet that I felt I was smelling a kind of flavored honey. The roots of this plant are used for making the root beer. The shape of their leaves looks like cartoon drawing of a dinosaur¢s footprint. I also saw more orange newts as I wished yesterday. When the rain got heavier, the newts were trying very hard to walk (run) away from the rain drops to somewhere with cover. It¢s hard not to laugh at them when they ¢run¢ really hard but couldn¢t get going fast! A big drab green toad also jumped under a bush near my foot, quite surprised me. A really big surprise was a grand land turtle, a size of two hands, ¢standing¢ right in the middle of the trail, looking directly at me with its head tilted up. As if to say ¢who are you? Do you have my permission to pass this trail?¢ I bent down to talk to it. It didn¢t bother to move even 1mm. Its shell was very colorful, with bright yellow and orange patterns. I talked to it for a few minutes before moved on, leaving the turtle still guarding its position.By 5:00 pm I walked into Trent¢s Grocery, booked a room for the night. I also got a really tasty strawberry milkshake, the first milkshake since I started the hike.
Date: 2019-05-13
From: TrentÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Grocery 

To: Woods Hole Hostel 
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

Day 50It was very sad that a fetal attack happened on A.T. on 5/11 night. Our hikers had been talking about how dangerous that person was, and felt very sad that the cops cannot do anything better to prevent this happening. While A.T. is safer statistically, it still cannot immune of crimes. Now everyone is thinking how to stay safer. The rain was light today, only a few drizzles and short showers. But the temperature had dropped quite a bit. Even going up hill for 1200ft, I didn¢t sweat. There were mud everywhere. Some places were so muddy that you would need a gymnastics balancing skill plus some luck to get through it without have your boots submerged in the mud. It was also a pretty section, lots of creeks, bridges and a peaceful pond along the trail. Mushrooms were everywhere, some were dedicatedly growing on top of very thin branches.At the end of the day, I was glad to be in Woods Hole hostel - one of the best hostel with legendary history, organic food from its own garden and farm, and got to meet many thru-hikers. Some of them have stayed for multiple days. It was nice to reconnect with hikers, even though I haven¢t met any of them before.
Date: 2019-05-14
From: Woods Hole Hostel 

To: Angels rest hikersÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ haven
Miles today: 15.0

D51I can see why many people do not want to leave Woods Hole hostel once they checked in there. Last night I met many who stayed multiple days already. It was just too cozy. The bed and beddings were soft and comfortable. The room was warm while I could hear the strong wind blew hard outside. The dinner and breakfast were very delicious, and everyone felt they belong to here. So I swallowed hard, and said goodbye to everyone right after breakfast, walked out of the house, and didn¢t look back. It was cold all day long. It kept in the high 40s to low 50s, with wind making the trees swing constantly. I had my fleece jacket on all the time. While I walked in the forest, I listened to the talks among trees and rocks. The wind made their conversation more alive and full of energy. I felt as an intruder to their private world, didn¢t dare to interrupt them, and didn¢t dare to linger long at any location. But I did find interesting patterns in the trees, stones, and plants. A deer also looked at me with alert. I didn¢t stop for 9 miles until about 1:00pm when I reached a view point from where I can see some houses down the mountain. And soon after that the view point for Angels Rest. At that location, the town of Pearisburg, VA was in clear view. For the night, I checked into Angels Rest Hostel with a bunk bed after I bought a new pole and send my broken trekking pole back home.
Date: 2019-05-15
From: Angels rest hikersÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ haven

To: Pine swamp shelter 
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: clear sky

D52>span class="s1">Today was one of those perfect hiking days - not too cold, not too hot, breeze and low humidity. In little Godilack¢s words: ¢it is just right.¢ Even with near 3000ft elevation gains, the trail just passed smoothly under my feet. Yes, some sections were rocky, I just went a little slower on those parts. There was a 12-mile section without water. But since it was cool, I didn¢t need much water for the whole day.For many miles, the vegetation on both sides of the trail were thigh high. If you were not on the trail already, it¢d be hard to see it. With many curves, the trail just disappeared into a sea of greens. But once you were on it, it was not hard to follow the brown ribbon naturally. Many wild flowers in the color of pink, white and yellow decorated the trail. The fresh new growth light green are turning deeper to more mature green now. I even saw a few red wild strawberries hidden in their leaves. Summer is approaching.
Date: 2019-05-16
To: Laurel Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: clear sky

Day53I heard people talked about Virginia blues on A.T. before. Basically the long stretch of VA mountains are very long(about 1/4 of the whole trail) and similar (you hike up to a Knob, then following the rocky ridge for some time, then you come down, and then repeat again and again.  Could it be that I have hit the Virginia blue today? The rocky section consumed all my strength and the ability to concentrate. The going was very slow in the morning. So when trail got flatter, I increased my pace. And before I enjoyed this power for long, I tripped on a branch and fell. Then near the end of day, I slipped and fell again 5 minutes before I reached the shelter. Nothing seriously broken, but I can only take shallow breath. Definitely start ibuprofen tonight!In the mid afternoon, I met a few mothers taking their kids for a hike in the woods. That was very cute. Then at about 5:30 pm, a young man was running towards his parked cars. I still can hike more than 2 hours in the beautiful late evening lights. That¢s the benefit of backpacking.