morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-26
From: Deer Park Shelter

To: Spring Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 14.2

Had a nice 3.2 miles into Hot Springs. Got an early start. Made it to town just in time to meet Mr. Mull and Vanilla Shake. Mr Mull knew exactly who I was as I got into the parking lot. Mr. Mull reads my journal. That was kind of exciting for me to meet someone who reads my journals. And he seemed a little excited about meeting me. That was really cool.   It was funny to talk with a man I have never met and he knew so much about me. He even asked about shitty Bartender and if I had found that t-shirt yet. In town I quickly resupplied. Also made a couple quick phone calls to Tripod and shitty Bartender. Then I was off to hit that campground store at the end of town for a cheese burger. My stop by the outfitters just pissed me off. $2.60 for 12oz of fuel. I can buy at least 3 bottles of heet at Walmart for those kind of prices. And he is the only place in town to get fuel. I finally got out of town about 12:30. I passed Mr. Mull and Vanilla Shake about an hour later. Then about 2:00 I took a break and they got to catch up agian. We talked for a while. I still think it's funny that Mr. Mull knew so much about my stories. I loved it. I was thinking about camping up at Rich Mtn Firetower with Mr. Mull and Vanilla shake but I pushed on to the shelter instead. It was a beautiful afternoon to get some miles done. Blue skies and 77*F. So warm I got to see another snake and my first dragonfly this season. Can't wait to see how the weekend is.
Date: 2004-03-27
From: Spring Mtn. Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

Day #46Another beautiful day on the trail.   I saw another snake. This one didn't move when I almost stepped on it.   The trail went over some nice rocky ridges this afternoon. Got some sun while walking that section. Tonight I'm sheltering it with Devil Weed, Stats and Lucky Dog. I'm feeling a little more tired at night. Not feeling like writing much in my journal. It's that or nothing all that exciting is happening during the day to write about.   I'm feeling pretty good. The knees are holding up.   Not as hungry as I thought I would be at this point. That will change soon. Just enjoying life and taking it one step at a time.
Date: 2004-03-28
From: Jerry's Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback ridge shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Strange to sleep in such a short shelter. Even me at 5'3" hit my feet against the back of the shelter all night. Another warm night. I slept with my arms outside of my bag all night. I think the low was supposed to be 50*F.After leaving the shelter I made it 2 miles to cross Big Butts. As I just started down Big Butts the song "Fat Bottom Girls" came on the radio. I got a good laugh out of that one. Can't wait to see what Uncle John has to say about that! Don't worry Uncle John I don't mind being the butt of your jokes. I think you are funny and I don't mind if I can get a good laugh out of it.Well it looks like I won't be going into town today. That breaks my every other day in town plan. I won't even make town tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll try a 20 miler tomorrow. That will put me 6 miles into Erwin the next day. I'm really looking forward to a shower and shampoo. I haven't brushed my hair in a week. I can't wait! I dreamed of showers all day.
Date: 2004-03-29
From: Hogback ridge shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Day # 48First Twenty mile day of the year! Yeah it kicked my butt!   I was tired at mile 15. I had to put my feet in the creek to freeze them so they wouldn't hurt so much. But I made it to camp.I left Hogback Ridge Shelter at 8:05. I actually was able to jog a little during the first couple of miles. That felt good. Especially running uphill. Maybe I'll be back to my old ways before long. I won't mind some higher mileage days through southern Virginia.Looking at the mileage and the weather I'm looking at taking my time to Kincora Hostel. Looks like 5 days from Erwin. I don't want to climb up to Roan Mtn. in the snow and rain. That section is way too pretty not to do in nice weather. So maybe a little extra food when heading out of Erwin. Can't wait for town food. It has been too long!!!!!!!!
Date: 2004-03-30
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Erwin
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

Just got into town. It's been 5 days since I was last in town. I passed through Hot Springs on Friday.   It rained on my new rain jacket today. So much for that wish that my rain jacket would never see rain.   I checked my mail for my package I'm waiting on. It wasn't there.   Not sure what I will do now. I have to wait until Kincora Hostel for more traveler's checks. I think I'll be hiking over Roan highlands broke. Tis ok. Don't need money in the woods!I'm trying to update my journal today. I have a lot to get done. I'm working on the middle of March right now. I'll get everything in before I leave town. I hope.   I haven't felt much like writting these last few days. I've been tired when I get into camp. Kind of takes all the fun out of my journal. I'm off to get some food. I'm hungry!   Hey Stumpknocker most people like that picture of you bending over with the lion the most!   But they love all of them!
Date: 2004-03-31
From: Erwin

To: Not sure just yet
Miles today: 0.0

So it's like 6:30 in the morning. I had to wake up at 5:00 to try and type all these journal entries into the computer. The entire hostel is sound asleep. I feel like a mouse creeping around looking for little crumbs to eat. I sound like one tapping away at the keyboard. I didn't get my mail drop yesterday but looks like it should be here this morning some time.   I'm not planning on leaving town early. I want to take my time today. I'm thinking that I'll just hike the 4 miles to that first shelter out of town and camp there. It doesn't look all that nice outside today. It was raining just about 15 mintues ago. Not looking forward to hiking out of town in the rain. My food bag is about 10lbs. I don't know what I bought. I know I got a few of those little cheesecakes snacks. I just love Cheesecake!!!! Well it looks like other hikers are finally started to get up. I guess I will get off this computer and chat for a while. Looks like it won't be until Damascus, VA until I will be able to update my journal again. I am checking my mail in Damascus in case someone wants to send me a letter or maybe some goodies. Enjoy your day. I know I will!
Date: 2004-03-31
From: Erwin

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After I woke up at 5:00 am to update my journal I ended up taking a zero due to the weather. I'm doing work for stay at Miss Janet's House.   Me and Eats spent the morning cleaning the hostel.   Everyone got out of the house around 9:30 and then we started. It was great. Make a pot of tea and watch us go. After a little while Eats kind of lost himself in his own project.   I walked into the kitchen to find him in this tall hat for St. Patrick's Day. Then he was making a sign to wear around his neck. The sign said "Kiss me I'm Irish!"   I changed the sign to say "Irish kisses $1.00" Hey if he's willing to wear it then I want to make some money off of it.   We spent the entire day alone in the hostel. About 3:00 Miss Janet's daughters arrived home from school to keep us company.   Then slowly the hikers all started coming back in from there slack packs. Lucky Dog called for a ride back to Erwin. He pulled out this morning to keep going towards Roan Mtn. When he called he said it was too cold and snowy so he was heading back. See all of us had the right idea just took some of us longer to come up with it. So now we are looking at another night of a full house. Tis ok the more hikers the better breakfast will be!   Today Miss Janet made everyone Green Eggs and Ham, fruit salads and biscuits.   Thought the green eggs and ham made for an interesting touch!   It was a great day to be out here.   Can't wait to see what tomorrow will be like.
Date: 2004-04-11
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 41.7
Weather: light rain

The plan was to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to start hiking the 42 miles into Damascus.   We woke up more like 6:30, just a little later then we wanted to. We finally started our hike at 7:30 after a McDonalds breakfast.   That was a good idea to eat some fatty foods first.   We didn't have a great pace at first. We stopped a few times for pictures and to leave easter eggs on the trail. Mouse Trap and Eats colored eggs the night before at the hostel.   They were leaving them along the trail all day long. We finally got a good 3 mph pace going and we just went.   I kept telling them that 40 miles is a lot to walk in one day, but unless you do it you just don't understand. My hips got tired after just a short time but I just kept walking. Tripod met us about 20 miles into the hike with soda and our food bags. We sat in the truck and ate our lunch out of the rain. I didn't carry much just a couple of dounuts, 2 slices of pizza, 32 oz of water and some toilet paper.   It was a nice light pack. After a quick lunch we were off again.With only 14.8 miles left to our day Tripod got shuttled out to the trail by Stumpknocker and Jan Liteshoe.   Stumpknocker had a lot to say to me about dragging these guys into my insane ideas of high mileage. I didn't have to drag them, they loved the idea. Besides now they have a better idea of what kind of hiker they are. They know they can do a 40 mile day. That's a great feeling.   So anyway, Tripod joined us at 5:30.   That last section of trail I stayed in the back of the line. I didn't have the energy to talk.   I just had to keep my mind on moving at that pace. When we hit the last shelter before town at 7:00pm. Only another hour and half until dark. Our pace had to pick up for that last hour and half. Hiking in the dark would not be fun after all those miles.   And it was foggy, real foggy.   Not fun to hike in fog in the dark. A headlamp doesn't do much in the fog besides show you the inside of that cloud.   Our pace picked up to 4mph and we took off.   By the time we crossed the VA/TN state line it was dark. It felt great to have made it this far. What a day. Another state finished.   And Finally I am in Virginia. I LOVE hiking this state!   We arrived into town at 10:00!   The last hour and a half was difficult. We were tired and just wanted be out of the dark.   The lights in town were a beautiful thing. I could have walked another few miles but I wouldn't have wanted to. I was done. We all were done. But we made it and that felt great.   I was planning on taking a number of zero days while in Damascus. That's what I could use a few days off after a very long day. 41.7 miles and still smiling!
Date: 2004-04-13
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The morning after my forty miler and I feel great.   I still didn't want to hike but I felt good.   Everyone else felt pretty good too. They all slept great that night.   I spent the day running around town doing laundry and post office runs.   I still haven't received a couple of mail drops that were sent to me. Yuppie chic sent me a mail drop. I love her drops they are always filled with some great stuff. She said she sent me a razor. I decide I'll meet her half way and only shave one arm. hey at least it's something.   I'm hoping to get those drops in todays mail. I have to check for my mail after the post office opens again after lunch.Not doing much while in town. Spent today (the 13th) bleaching my water bags, Fixing my rain pants, washing my therma rest and I even bleached my pot, spoon and fork. I just don't want to do anything the rest of today. I just want to lay down and relax.   Maybe have a couple of Yuenglings and some pizze and watch some movies.   I had a great idea this morning. No not another forty mile day. Not for a while at least.   I figured a 17 mile slack pack would be cool. So I have all the guys going with Tripod up to Rt 58 and hiking south. Then I will park the truck in town and hike northbound with the girls up to RT 58.   This way we can get a lot more people to slack.   Helps everyone out.   So that is our plan tomorrow. I'm staying in town again tomorrow night.   After all of this I'm planning on staying in one of my favorite campsites. I have a number of sunrise pictures on my journal from that site. I stayed there the first time on the eve of my Mother's birthday in 2000. It's just above Grayson Highlands and it's beautiful. I'm just waiting on the nice weather before camping there. I can't cross that section of trail in bad weather. It's too nice to miss.**Mr. Mull thank you for the goodie package you want to send.   I have a great picture of the 2 of us near Hot SPrings. Mouse Trap says hello and thank you too.
Date: 2004-04-16
From: Whitetop Mtn. Road

To: Wilburn Ridge
Miles today: 6.1

Yesterday we finally left Damascus. We took 2 zero days then slacked 2 days. Tirpod was a big help. We had 2 truck loads of hikers slack packing. I took Tripods truck and dropped off Tripod, Eats, Mousetrap, Poptart (Aka Cupcake), Giggles, 30-30, slips and fitz. Then I hiked northbound with WIng and Feather. Wing and Feather had a hour and 40 minute head start. I caught up to them back at RT 58 where we were picked up. I arrived 15 minutes after them. We also picked up Slim and Biscuit and brought them back into town.The next day we had 2 more truck loads of hikers and packs going back to the trail at RT 58. Once the second group found out we were only walking 4 1/2 miles into camp near a road decided they wanted to slack. So we all headed back to the Sidetrack Cafe for lunch and some beers. It was an easy afternoon. We finally left town around 4:30. Tripod took the packs up to Whitetop Mtn. Road where Slim and Biscuit had already made camp. We all began our climb up Buzzard Rocks. It took about a mile before we ran into Dharma, who had left town yesterday morning.   Poptart helped Dharma push another 3 miles by carrying his pack for him. Poptart got a gold star for being such a good buddy!We arrived in camp around 6:30. Slim and Biscuit made camp close to the spring. Awesome spot right out on the bald. Everyone just threw down their pads and slept out under the stars. Great night to be out under the stars. Not one cloud in the sky and almost a new moon. Complete darkness for star gazing.I woke up before sunrise but quickly went back to sleep until 7;30. Eats and me had to go into Damascus to check on our mail drops that have yet to arrive. I was beginning to worry that I wasn't going to get my maildrop. Tripod drove us back into town where we both got our drops. We were on our way. We got up to the trail about 11:30. Eats picked up a box of wine while in town. Tripod and me packed out another 10 Yuenglings. We were ready for my favorite campspot. We only had to hike 6.1 miles. After a quick break to get water at Thomas Knob Shelter our packs must have weighed 40lbs. It was only 2 more miles into camp we could do it!We finally made it into camp at Wilburn Ridge about 3:30. This is my favorite campsite. I'm glad we are camping here tonight. It looks like it's only going to be Dharma, Eats, Tripod and me in camp tonight. Lucky Dog, Biscuit and slim came through around 5:30/6:00 and all are planning on pushing on. But not us we are staying put. I hope we get great sunset and sunrise.
Date: 2004-04-17
From: Wilburn Ridge

To: VA 16
Miles today: 19.1

We woke up in tome to take a picture of the sunrise. It was perfect. What a great night under the stars. I must have woken up around 3:30/4:00 and just stared at the sky for almost an hour. I just love that campsite. We took our times leaving camp that morning. Actually we all fell back to sleep after the sunrise and woke up later. When we started to pack up camp a family of wild ponies wandered into camp. Everyone loved it. 4 ponies just walkling all around us. And all over us and our stuff. They must have stayed in camp for about an hour. This is such a great campsite. The sunset, the sunrise, the view and wild ponies make it my favorite. I;m glad everyone got to enjoy it.Little by little we all left camp and then met back up at Wise shelter. There were tons of people on the trail today. Big groups at every cross road. I was happy we were getting out of Grayson Highlands today. Tripod met us all at RT 603, 11 miles north of camp. He took us into Troutdale for burgers and soda. We decided to slack the last 8.5 miles to a road. Then maybe camp up at Partnership Shelter.   We hiked that last 8.5 in 2 hours and 15 minutes. We were flying. It was just another great day in Virginia.
Date: 2004-04-18
From: VA 16

To: VA 16- Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today plan was to slack 14.5 miles. Half of us go north the other half hike south. Fitz, Eats and Tripod went south from Partnership shelter. Cupcake (Poptart), Slips, Dharma and me drove the truck up to VA 16 trail crossing and hiked north. We handed the keys to the truck over when we all crossed paths. Slack packing allows us to fly through the mileage. Makes it easier to enjoy the rest of the day. And enjoy it we did. Tripod, slips and me all were camping closer to Troutdale so we could get a mail drop in the morning. So we drove into Marion for a all you can eat KFC buffet before camp.   It was great.   Everyone else stayed at Partnership shelter and order pizza to be delivered. Another great day!
Date: 2004-04-19
From: VA 16- Partnership Shelter

To: Atkins
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Todays plan: wake up early pick up slips package at the post office. Drive to the shelter to pick up everyone's backpacks and then we were going to slack again.   Tripod was going to meet Dharma, Fitz and Eats down in atkins to let them watch all the packs. Then SLips, Cupcake and me were going to hike fast to catch up to everyone in Atkins road crossing. I didn't have a great pace today. Not sure why I'm starting to drag ass. It's not like I have a heavy pack weighing me down. I did have KCF on my brain all day. I just couldn't stop thinking about food. This was bad. By the time we got to the road and met up to eveyrone I was ready for some town food. We all loaded up and went to KFC for another all you can eat buffet.   I just love to eat. Thank god I hike or I would be huge. After eatting a ton of food none of us were in the mood to hike. So we got a hotel room for all 7 of us. That was interesting. That's a lot of bad smells in one little room. We had to make slips leave his socks outside. No one feet should smell that bad. I wasn't sure when Tripod was planning on returning home. Now of us were sure what would be our last slack pack. We just kind of enjoyed the time we had without the packs.
Date: 2004-04-20
From: Atkins

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: broken clouds

Day # 67Today it was Tripod, Eats, Fitz and cupcake that I dropped off at Atkins going north bound. Dharma, slips and me took the truck up to RT 42 and headed south. It never takes more then a hour and half for the other guys to cross path's with us. No matter what the mileage is! So we met up and handed over the keys. This was getting to be fun.Everyone that hiked north went to the Post Office before picking us up. We all talked slips into sending a lot of his stuff home. He really did need to lgihten his pack. After getting picked up we went back to Rt 42 and hiked 2 miles into the shelter. It was a full house with all of us and Sugar Daddy. Sleeping that close makes it easier to beat Eats when he snores. And we all get a shot during the night. But swinging your clothing bag at his head does nothing! Wet willies do wake him up! he he heANother great day!
Date: 2004-04-21
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Tripod was leaving today. No more slack packing. It was great but I was happy to carry my pack again.   I had left the shelter alone but Fitz quickly caught up and passed me. I hiked with him up to Chestnut Knob Shelter. I think this was the first I actually got to hike with him. He was always in the group hiking the oppsite way. I couldn't wait to get up top the shelter. This was an awesome place. AN old fire warden cabin fully enclosed on top of a bald. All over looking God's Thumbprint.   I thought about staying behind and camping up there. Then I decided just to take a big break and move on to Jenkins Shelter with the rest of the group. It didn't take long for Tripod to show up. He decided to stay another night. I decided to hike down to the truck and stay there for the night. I was worried the shelter was going to be full. It was supposed to rain over night and I hate packing up a wet tent. Besides sleeping in the truck meant I would slack again tomorrow. When we got to the truck Eats and Fitz were standing there waiting. They knew they would get to slack if they stayed near the truck. So they made camp there along with Slips. And we all got to go into town for some McDonalds for dinner.
Date: 2004-04-21
From: 15.2

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I have to journal entries for this date. I'm not sure why but I'm just going to go with it.We've made camp on 623. I'm sleeping in the truck with Tripod. Eats, Slips and Fitz are tenting just outside. We were supposed to be 4 miles north at JEnkins Shelter. We never made it. So now we're slacking 15.3 miles to the road into Bland tomorrow. ALl happy to be slacking again.Today was not fun with the weight of a full pack. It looks like saturday will be my next full day hiking with a pack. I;m tring to loose weight before then. I'm thinking about dropping the fleece jacket. I hope I don't regret that. I got 4 more days until my other sleeping bag arrives. That's another pound and five ounces and some bulk I loose. I really want to make some equipmnet chagnes. I've heard there is a new therma rest that has a full lenght pad that is the same weight as a 3/4 length pad. There isn't much more I can do except maybe loose the top cap and change my tent to save weight. I don't have the money for a new tent.I guess everything will work itself out before long. With any luck I'll lower my pack weight soon. IO want to enjoy Virignia. It's too beautiful to be weighed down by a heavy pack.