morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-07
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Big Wilson Creek
Miles today: 17.5

Snotrocket writes: Today was a great hiking day. We got to climb Whitetop Mountain, Mt. Rogers and go through Grayson Highlands, see LOTS of Ferrell ponies and grazing cows, and only got rained on a tiny bit. We did have a bit of a scar today though. We stopped four our ¢first lunch¢ on some really cool boulders with a great view of Whitetop Mountain. I think they were called Buzzard Rocks. Anyway, we sat and ate and Dingleberry decided to explore on the rocks. Shifty and I stayed put, still snacking. Usually I worry wehen Dingles does much climbing on rocks, but otday for some reason, I didn¢t. Until I heard¢¦ "Ugh¢¦ thump¢¦ oof".I immediately called ¢Jonathan¢ a couple of times and got no response. Shifty and I looked at each other as several scenarios ran through my head. As we started to scramble down to where we heard the noise, we heard a little voice from (way) below, ¢I fell¢. I told him not to get up but he had fallen in some briars and was very uncomfortable. By the time we reached him he was up and walking with nothing but a bruise and some scratches on his face, a ripped knee in his favorite pants, and a bit of blood near that knee. He had been trying to sneak back to where Shifty and I were, lost his grip and fell about 20 feet onto some rocks on his back and slid into the briars. Yikes!Scared us all quite a bit, and we were amazed at the fact that he was barely hurt! Dingleberry says that, other than that, this has been one of his favorite days so far.
Date: 2003-05-08
From: Big Wilson Creek

To: Fox Creek
Miles today: 7.3

Snotrocket writes: We hit a road block today. Today was the day we were going to cross the 500 mile mark. But¢¦ one half mile before this milestone, we were approaching a road crossing and heard horns honking and people ¢yahooing¢. Shifty, Dingles, and I thought ¢Oh great, some drunk local yahoos,¢ and as we approached the road we saw about 15-20 thru-hikers hanging out and a parade of hikers coming from the parking lot with boxes of pizza, beer, fried chicken, and more! Guess who was behind the festivities. You guessed it¢¦ Apple Chillin¢! I can¢t remember if I wrote about the fact that he had gone home to Chapel Hill when his family left Ewrin, TN. Well¢¦ 9 days later and he¢s back! He ahd showed up the day before and wasn¢t letting people pass without some pizza, chicken, beer, or all three! So, although we had planned on hiking 10 more miles, we decided to stay. Crazy, silly trail magic!
Date: 2003-05-09
From: Fox Creek

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today is my Grandma¢s 100th Birthday! So we had to make it to a phone. So.. to make up for yesterday, we decided to hike 23 miles. This is the longest hike we¢ve done yet and we sure feel it. But we had 3 motivating factors:the phonethe shelter we¢d be staying at has a showeryou can order pizza from the shelter!So we formed a group called ¢Team 23¢ consisting of Shifty, Dingles, me, Strappy, and Hover. This als helped morivating us, because Strappy and Hover left us notes along the way cheering us on (by the way¢¦ Strappy and Hover are our 2 new hiking buddies, 2 girls, environmental educators from PA and MD). We swam in the Holstan River (brrrr!). When we dragged our sore feet and tired legs into the shelter we were rejuvenated with friends, pizza, soda and wishing Grandma a happy 100th!
Date: 2003-05-14
From: Laurel Creek

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

Interesting day today. We got up and hiked 7 miles to US 21/52. Shifty had a mail drop in Bland, so he and Dingleberry walked/hitched into town and I hiked 2 more miles to Helveys mill shelter. While I read and ¢sunbathed¢ (trying to get ready for Trent and Sara¢s wedding), they went and got food, drinks, went to the post office, etc. I had a nice 4 hour, relaxing time, while they had trouble hitching to and from town. I¢m sure the hitch would have been easier if I had gone with them! Anyway, they got to the shelter around 4 and we played cards, ate and relaxed. Started hiking again at 7 pm, the start of our first official ¢nigh hike¢. We did 10 miles from 7 pm to 11 pm. It was awesome! We had an almost full moon, and got to see some deer, hear some owls, and freak ourselves out a little here and there. Shifty fell once, but the rest of us were a little more careful (me, Dingles, Colby, and Steppenwolf). Good experience, and I¢ll do it again. Just not every night!
Date: 2003-05-15
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: TrentÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Grocery
Miles today: 6.5

It was hard to get up and out this morning after not getting to bed till midnight. We had a nice big breakfast (grits, hash browns, and strawberry carnation instant breakfast!) and hit the trail by 11 am. We did 6.5 miles, by 1 pm and took a nice lunch break by a creek with a neat suspension bridge (see pictures). Someone mentioned there was a grocery store .8 miles off the trail. That was a mistake. Shifty and Colby decided they NEEDED sodas. So Dingles and stayed with all the gear while they ran to the store. While they were gone it started storming. Huge amounts of rain, thunder, and lightening. So when they got back we all were waiting it out under the bridge getting soaking wet and cold. So.. thoughts of comfort prevailed and we (me, Dingles, Shifty, Colby, Steppenwolf, and Pete from Vermont) went to Trent¢s Grocery (like the name Trent?) and got campsites with hot showers for $3. Ate some good food, dried out our stuff and then weathered out the second batch of thunderstorms in the bathhouse. All in all a funday, but¢¦ we really deed to get back on our ¢normal¢ hiking schedule of hitting the trail at 8 am, doing 15 miles, and being done by 4 pm. We¢ll see what tomorrow brings!
Date: 2003-05-16
From: TrentÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Grocery

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

¢No one can choose your mountain or tell you when to climb.. It¢s yours alone to challenge at your won pace and time¢ ¢ Patricia J. Hacker-HarberHad a good hike today. Almost got caught in a thunderstorm, but got to a shelter a few minutes after it began and took a long lunch break. Got to a really nice hostel around 7 pm. Woods Hole Hostel is run by an older lady, Tillie Wood. It¢s an old 1880¢s log cabin and bunkhouse she lets hikers stay in for free! The upstairs loft was filled with mattresses and we had a great nights sleep!
Date: 2003-05-17
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Holy Family Church Hostel
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: moderate rain

Got up super early today to make it to the post office in Pearisburg by noon. We hike fast and made it in plenty of time. Got a fun birthday package from Ma and Pa Snot-Rocket and a little something from Deni-poo. Thanks!Went to Pizza Hut for lunch and then did laundry. Now we are at the Holy Family Church Hostel, another really cool bunkhouse with loft and mattresses. It also has a kitchen, wood stove, shower, and neat reading area. Dingles, Shifty, and I are sitting here reading and planning our next week. We¢re getting visits from both Shifty and Dingleberry¢s families next weekend! Fun! We are looking out toward the mountains from the comfort of the hostel, watching yet another thunderstorm!Supposedly we¢ll have scattered showers for the next 5 days! Last time that was forecasted we had beautiful weather, so¢¦ we¢ll see.
Date: 2003-05-18
From: Holy Family Church Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well¢¦ we didn¢t hike today! Went to sleep to rain, woke up to rain, and it rained all day. It was so nice and cozy in the hostel that we didn¢t want to leave. So.. we didn¢t.   We walked to the WalMart for provisions and ate, read, played cards, and watched the rain from the warm dry comfort of the bunkhouse. We¢re going to bed now so we can get up bright and early and to a BIG day tomorrow-at least 19 miles. Gotta make up some lost time!
Date: 2003-05-20
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a looooong day! But the sun came out, so it was ok. We are at the shelter watching a group of 12 boys and their 3 leaders start a fire, cook, get water, saw wood, dig pits, and etc. They are from some crazy school in MD where they live in tents and cook their meals every night. They are out on a 12 day trip. The first 5 days were in the rain, and these boys are all wearing jeans and cotton t-shirts. The leaders said a couple were near hypothermic the other night. I wonder why?! Anyway... it's good entertainment to watch. Better than TV!
Date: 2003-05-21
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Woke to lots of rain, but we were dry and cozy in the shelter. Made grits for breakfast and had a Pepsi that Jonathan had saved for me from some trail magic yesterday for a special birthday treat! I also got a birthday back rub. It stopped raining and we got to hike a couple hours before it started raining again. We had tuna salad and cheese in tortillas for lunch and a TWIX (my favorite candy bar!). Later on the trail, I came upon a birthday message that Shifty had written on the trail in flower petals! When we got to the shelter, I found a birthday card that Snort, Clover, and OFF had left for me! Jonathan did all the chores (got water, cooked, cleaned, etc.) and all the shelter residents sang me happy birthday. After dinner, Healer gave me some chiropractic work for my birthday, but I wasn't a very good patient. I FREAKED out when he "adjusted" my neck. I didn't know he was going to crack my neck, and I DO NOT like to crack! AFter that, I let him work on my hip a little bit, but no more cracking! All in all a pretty darn good birthday. Now to read a little by candlelight and go to bed.
Date: 2003-05-22
From: Niday Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

The Four Pines Hostel is a neat place. It is a 3 bay garage that this guy has turned into a free hostel with cots and mattresses, a wood burning stove, a fridge, a bathroom and shower, etc. We stayed warm and cozy and got a ride into town for dinner. There were probably about 20 people there, happy to get out of the rain for awhile. A lot of peoples spirits are very low due to all of the rain. For some reason it's not really bothering me. Maybe it's because I know we'll be getting off the trail in a few days for a little R & R.
Date: 2003-05-27
From: Daleville

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

(written by Dingleberry, believe it or not!)Today, our 3-day weekend/vacation ended. It all started Sat. morning when Shifty's dad met us at 10am (we had gotten up at 5:30am to hike 10 miles!). He took us out to lunch and then to the Terrell home in Mosley. We showered, chilled, drank beer, chilled, washed clothes, listened to music, chilled, watched movies, played with dogs, slid down fireman's poles, etc... What a great time we had and what great hosts the Terrells are! We stayed until Monday morning until we met my Dad and Caleb (and later to find out a surprise visit by my moms). We ate chinese, drank beer, snacked, watched tv, and talked. It was grand!It was great to spend quality time with our folks and soon we'll be seeing the Thompson fam (Snotrocket's parents and siblings). Finally to today...We started by walkin in the rain, again. The sun came out around 3:30 and stayed out until we made it to the shelter to set up our tent, then the deluge came again. We met up with Snack Attack, Cuss, Burn, and a few others whose names I didn't catch. Now I'm writing. Well thanks Terrell family and my family for spoilin us dirty folk with good times. Much love, JAH
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Bryant's Ridge Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: light rain

It was pouring rain (no big surprise) this morning, so we had a long lazy breakfast, read in our sleeping bags, and were contemplating taking a zero day. The shelter we were at was HUGE. It looked like a cool hostel or a ski lodge (Dingles took some pictures). It was a multi-level structure on a mountainside, over-looking a stream. I guess it won some design contest in some architecture class (or so we heard). Anyway... we had just decided to stay for the day. My ankle hurt, and Shifty and Dingleberry's bellies didn't feel so great. I got out my stove to cook some soup, and- low and behold- it was Cuss's stove! Snack attack had taken my stove and left theirs! We keep our stoves in the smae kind of bag, but his won't work with our fuel bottle and vice versa. And... to make matters worse, they were planning to do 23 miles today! Long story short, we hiked 10 miles this afternoon, in the rain, so that hopefully we'll catch them tomorrow when they realize they have our stove!
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: John's Creek
Miles today: 15.4

Beautiful day because it didn't rain! (well, not much!) And... the terrain was easy, and... we found Cuss, Snack Attack, and our stove! They waited for us at the road to Glasgow. Also, Ken, the trail angel, was waiting with a cooler filled with 24 ounce bottles of Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and Mt. Dew and Snickers, Almond Joy, Kit Kats, Reese's Cups, and Butterfingers! And... he drove us to Glasgow to resupply. We also got hot dogs and beer and met up with Cuss, Snack Attack, Burn, Sweet Ass, and Slow Ride at a campsite a mile from the road for a little cookout. Good times had by all!
Date: 2003-06-01
From: Little Irish Creek

To: Seeley- Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: broken clouds

First of June and it is FREEZING! Tonight is supposed to get in the upper 30s! Today was pretty beautiful though. Blue skies, sun, and LOTS of wind (which made it darn cold!). The walk was pretty darn long and hard. We are going to try to do 2 more 20 mile days and get to Waynesboro Tuesday night. We'll see. Goodnight!
Date: 2003-06-02
From: Seeley- Woodworth Shelter

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Night hiked again today! It was definately worth it though. We went to a free lunch at a bed and breakfast in Montebello, VA. Earl picked us up from the trail and drove us to their home (the Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast, beautiful place!). Earl and Lo uise fed us hamburgers and veggie burgers, potatoe salad, green bean casserole, watermelon, and pink lemonade! All for free! Then Earl drove us back to the trail (stopping by a store for us to get ice cream). The only problem was that we had to hike 18 miles after 1pm! That makes for a long day and a night hike! We got to climb Spy Rock that Shifty remembered hiking to on one of his first boyscout trips. We also saw where he first camped overnight with the boyscouts and where he first pooped in the woods! We were able to make it to the top of the Three Ridges (pretty hard hike) by the time it got pitch dark. So from 9-11pm we walked with our headlamps, nice and slowly, because it was pretty rocky terrain. We stopped for about 20 minutes at an overlook which looked over the valley and all of the city lights below. Pretty cool! We were exhausted by the time we got to the shelter and pitched our tents.h
Date: 2003-06-03
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: moderate rain

Today was a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day. But it had a happy ending.Believe it or not, today was the wetest, coldest, miserablest (is that a word Dad?), day yet! And it is the third of June. We were colder and closer to hypothermic tha n we were even in the Smokies. That is probably why we were all so confused.The day started out o.k. It was raining, of course, but we hiked a couple hours without being too miserable. But then it got very cold, and windy, and the rain was almost l ike hail. The three of us were all hiking apart from each other, and were going to meet up for lunch, but we didn't make any solid plans. We each got a little confused as to where we were in the "line". I was pretty sure Shifty was ahead of me and Di ng leberry behind. I stopped and waited for Dingleberry, but got very cold and couldn't wait for very long. When he didn't catch up, I got a bit worried and started hiking back to find him. Then I started worrying that he was actually ahead of me, so I kept hiking. By the time I got to the next shelter (16 miles from where we started, and having not stopped for lunch) I was VERY worried about Jonathan. I thought something was wrong. Shifty was at the shelter. He had stopped and waited for us too, a nd thought maybe we had passed him at some point, so got worried and moved on. I told him about my worries about Jonathan and we decided to try not to worry for awhile. An hour passed. Plus the time that we had both waited while we were on the trail (a t l east a half hour). We started planning a rescue mission. Pippi, Baby Steps, Wanderer, and Gazer helped us plan. We had cell phones ready to call the authorities and were about to repack our back packs with only the essentials for the hike back up the mountain to find Dingleberry. Neither of us talked about the visions of broken bones and bloody heads we were imagining. Very scary stuff. As we were about to put the plan into action... here comes Dingleberry!!!!! And he wasn't bloody, or limping, or anything!!! Hug him or hit him???? I hugged him! And then I hugged Shifty! We were so releaved. Ends up that he was confused too and thought somehow we were behind him. He had curled up in a garbage bag to wait for us. When we didn't come he st arte d planning a rescue mission to find us! He thought maybe we had been kidnapped. He was planning on going to the shelter and leaving the digital camera so that the authorities could see our pictures and know who to look for. Then he was going to hi ke back up the mountain to look for us! Yikes. What a day! We will plan lunch breaks better from now on, and... hopefully it will warm up soon so that we don't get so cold and confused!!!!Got into Waynesboro around 7pm and got showers at the YMCA and a ride to an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was so nice to be warm, dry, full, and comfortable! I am writing this from the public library in Waynesboro. By the way.. so far we have gone something like 846 miles! The journal calculator doesn't work if you skip days in the journal! I will try to fix that while we are in town:)
Date: 2003-06-11
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Black Rock Gap
Miles today: 19.3

Today was our first day back on the trail in a full week! Let me briefly fill you in on our hiatus. We spent Wednesday and Thursday in our new favorite trail town, Waynesboro. We ate lots, shopped, did laundry, checked email, had another campground par ty with the three of us, Snack Attack, and Cuss. The boys hitched into Staunton to see a movie, and I laid out by the pool to even out my farmer's tan. Thursday evening, Kirsten and Paul (sister and brother-in-law) met us at the hotel and we headed to Ohio Friday morning. Rehearsal dinner was wonderful, the wedding was beautiful, and the reception was tons of fun. My little brother and the new Mrs. Thompson made a gorgeous couple and planned a fantastic weekend. Now they are in the Behamas relaxing--lucky! We spent Sunday and Monday nights at my parents and got to hang out a bit with my bestest buddy friend, Lisa Lisa. Tuesday was spent driving back to Waynesboro with ma and pa Thompson. SnotRocketWhich brings us to today......We hiked 20 miles on legs that hadn't been used in a week. Just about did us in! The parents picked us up and took us back to Waynesboro for the night. Ate at an excellent Mexican restaurant and stayed at the Quality Inn. Dingleberry's knee started hurting him today. Hope that goes away! We've been glad to be in hotels at night so we can keep in touch with Dingleberry's parents. His father, Larry, had heart surgery the other day, so he has been occupying our thoughts and prayers.
Date: 2003-06-12
From: Black Rock Gap

To: Loft Mtn. Campground
Miles today: 7.4

Today ended up being a short day! We got to the Loft Mountain. camp store just before the first of two severe thunderstorms hit. We waited out the first, and just as we were leaving the second rolled in! So...we waited it out and then walked to the way side and hitched up to Simmon¢s Gap to meet my parents who had been at Monticello all day. Oh, by the way ma and pa Snotrocket hiked up Black Rock Mountain with us this morning! Anyway... the wonderful parentals took us to Elkton, VA for the night and w e took them out to dinner for an early Father¢s Day gift. It was a lovely evening!
Date: 2003-06-13
From: Loft Mtn. Campground

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was sad to say goodbye to the parentals this morning. They were so very good to us, and we had a wonderful time with them! Pretty easy day today. Got to the shelter just before the afternoon/evening thunderstorms we love so much rolled in. We¢ll tr y for a big day tomorrow.
Date: 2003-06-14
From: Hightop Hut

To: Big Meadows
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

Today was a long, fun day. The weather was beautiful (for most of the day) and...we saw a bear! It was about 5 p.m. and the bear was off the trail about 50 feet eating leaves and minding it¢s business. Jonathan got a couple pictures before it ran off. A thunderstorm got us a couple miles before our destination, the Big Meadows Lodge, where we had a couple drinks and dinner with Odyssey and Nothin Decent. We hung out and listened to music in the lounge until 10:30 or so before hiking on a half mile or so to find a campsite. Good Day!
Date: 2003-06-15
From: Big Meadows

To: Pass Mtn.Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: moderate rain

Another long, fun day. Although it rained all morning and the fog blocked all of our morning and afternoon views. We took lots of breaks...lunch at Skyland Lodge, second lunch at a picnic area where we played frisbee for an hour, and hiked our last 6 miles in the evening. The sky cleared up and we had amazing views the last few hours. Got to camp just as it got dark.
Date: 2003-06-16
From: Pass Mtn.Hut

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 7 a.m. to Jack and Mr. Spencer bringing ice cold cokes to us in our tent! A hiker had left them in a stream for thru-hikers. A few hours later we found more sodas at a road crossing. Went to a ¢wayside¢ for lunch. The Shenandoahs are spoili ng us! We¢re going to forget what ¢real¢ hiking is all about. The one reality check was that it rained all day! It stopped long enough for us to set up camp and cook the fancy backpacking meal that some section hikers gave us. Now we are in our tent and it is POURING rain again. I washed our laundry in my frisbee and hung it to dry. Looks like wet clothes again in the morning. At least they¢ll be (relatively) clean!?
Date: 2003-06-17
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: light rain

Cold rain all day long. We were supposed to meet Shifty at noon at Compton Gap. We got there a bit early and they got there a bit late, so by the time they arrived, we were COLD. Luckily, Shifty¢s dad was kind enough to help us get warm and dry in Fron t Royal. Unfortunately, he ended up having car trouble and stayed with us in the town for the night. We had some good pizza from ¢Pirates of Pizza.¢r
Date: 2003-06-19
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Sam Moore Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: light rain

Got to go over the ¢roller coaster¢ today during a thunderstorm. Fun fun! (a 13 mile section with 10 big ups and downs.) The rain stopped as we got to camp, so we got to cook, set up tent, and fall asleep before the rain came again.t