morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-13
From: Hightop Hut

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

Saw my first bear of the trip this morning! I was walking along and heard some noise to my right. It was a bear climbing down a tree. He didnt notice me, so i creeped up on him and laid in wait with my camera aimed. He walked by and i took the picture. The flash got his attention and he looked at me thinking 'what the hell?' Then he took flight. I was estatic, finally saw a bear...my adrenlin was pumping real good. I reckon if i had not taken the picture i could of observed him for a while longer. I went into the Lewis campground to get icecream and other treats. They didnt have any pints so i settled on a butterfinger icecream. I rang rees up, he is fine but not meeting any of the goals i set him to achieve before i return. Everyone was laying around or eating. Pogo bought a beer and i could clearly see he was happy with that. The days seem to pass by so quickly now, i dont care what day of the week it is anymore, it has no meaning. I have problems separating events from the past and when they took place which makes writing my journal harder. From Bearfence shelter onwards the terrain was easy, the shenandoahs have been great for making miles. I met a couple called Carol and Scott at Milam gap. They were out chilling for a week from work. Good old work, ha ha. they were excited that i had a trailjournal and so i expect to see them signing my register soon. I was tired again today, my body is fine but my head is sleepy, must be the heat. The big meadows campground was $19!!! even at home thats pricey. I decided I would cook etc on their picnic tables and then camp just outside the grounds. I fumbled around the woods looking for spots to setup but everyhting was rocky. I decided to night hike to the next shelter but 3 minutes later a perfect spot appeared. I then tried to throw up a line to hang my good but there were no good trees and i was falling around etc. I got fustrated and just stuck my foodbag on top of a tree stump. I shouted into the darkness 'if you want it, you can have it, i want to go to sleep'. I was edgey in the night worried about park rangers becasue I was camped 2 ft from the trail.dandylion
Date: 2005-06-14
From: Big meadows

To: Pass mtn Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Up at 5:40am and away before anyone could bust me. I went to Rock Spring hut after seeing my second bear of the trip. There i met princess and hiker X05. X05 came across as a very odd man. I went to shake his hand and he pulled away saying 'lets not pass around giardia or anything'. The trail is a strange place for a hygiene freak to be. Princess was the first person ive seen using a UC\V light filter to treat her water. Its meant to kill more bacteria's than filters or chemicals. The trail was good, especially along where it followed the stony man trail. I met Cranky and NA,they lived near the smokys and usually hike with their daughter but she bailed on them!I took a break later on and met Teach and leave it behind. I met them at the church hostel in waynesboro before. They were finishing their sectionhike at Front Royal. We all had a long break at the Pinnacles picnic area. They were alot of fun to talk too. After setting off i started to think about how big this hike is, its a incredible challenge, i am nearly halfway and still have the heat and rocks of Pennslyvania, high ridges in the whites and the river crossings in Maine still to come. An exciting and daunting prospect. when i have so much time to think, i can dwell on negative vibes. So a social interruption can be a good thing. This women was asking me about the trail and she was super sweet but then she completely puzzled me by saying 'I guess its safer for you to hike over here''what do you mean' i inquired'well,with all those problems with your iraqi neighbours' she replied.I was dumbfounded. How can you politely correct someone on such a matter. I get the feeling that in geography classes over here they teach you 'here's america, and thats the rest of the world'. After my mind returned to dwelling. I guess i had my first real dose of homesickness. I managed to convince myself this was a good thing! Its great to be in a position where i have some great friends and supportive family at hime to miss. You cant wait to get out here when your at home but as time progresses you learn to appreciate what you do have at home.I now know what i love at home and can identify what i want to change about it. I was treat to some awesome views today but from up there i could see how the road really did have the better route. I talked with the two girls some more and said to them how i never find the last mile the hardest, well i had to eat those words as the last mile today dragged on so much. I came into the shelter and saw apickup truck parked. I first was annoyed as i thought that meant the shelter would be full but it was beautiful trail magic. We got chicken, fruit salads and cake. I voice beckoned 'if you go hungry, its your own fault'. i love it. I consumed 4 pieces of chicken, 3 fruit salads and at least 10 slices of cake rinsed down by 4 sodas. I didnt sleep well however...it could be due to all that soda or the 2 snoring men either side of me in the shelter?dandylion
Date: 2005-06-15
From: Pass mtn Hut

To: Tom Floyd wayside
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: scattered clouds

When X05 woke up this morning I said 'hi, morning'. He had no idea I was plotting ways to murder him with my silk liner last night. I guess if i use the shelters i run the risk of having snorers in there.Once i woke up properly i could see the funny side of losing my sleep due to the noise generator beside me. I ran into Cranky and NA and they said i should join them for lunch at Elkwallow wayside. I met more section hikers called Dreamcatcher and granma la la. Dreamcatcher works sundays in the ATC office in Boiling springs. I started telling them about my trip to D.C and Granma lala offered to help me out. I asked her about where things are and from what she said it sounds like i could walk most things easily. Would like to go to Arlington cemetary but its a little ways out of town. It might be cool to try the metro to compare it to the london subway. The i mentioned i thought about going to the Hersheys factory and Dream catcher made me a generous offer of picking me up to take me or just getting me for a rest day. I think people feel sorry for me or admire me for being a young foreigner out here,maybe both. I guess i trigger the mother instinct in the ladies out here. I aint complaining.The wayside was expensive but it was nice to eat. Some German bikers pulled in and they may of rented the bikes over here but they certainly brought their own outfits from home. The poor lady in the wayside suddenly had to take orders and cook food for a bunch of bikers and hikers. Pogo came along as i was leaving, we spoke a little in regards to when we both intend to reach Harpers ferry. I went down to Gravel Springs hut for a break and to then see if i had it in me to get out the park today. I made a deal with myself, make the next shelter today and then take a short day tomorrow. IT was a deal. The evening was cool which was a bonus but i saw 2 people in the last 10.5 miles and they were just waiting to get picked up. I was in the mood for company but none was available. I took my last picture on my film of a some heavenly light shining down on some distant hillside. I made tom floyd wayside by 7.30pm and it was empty!! Only the Bee hive in the roof for company. This was my biggest day and still i couldnt get to sleep. dandylion
Date: 2005-06-16
From: Tom Floyd wayside

To: Molly Denton shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: scattered clouds

The three miles into town were not all down as i had hoped but when i got to Chester Gap i got a ride into town quickly. Nothing more satisfying than when you get a ride. I went to the food lion to resupply and got my B and J's. I miss having cowboy Tal here to knock around with in town. I will have to start hiking with someone again. Hopefully pogo or wilderness bob will catch up. I got lunch at a 60's/70's theme diner before leaving town. Could not get hold of dad on the phone. This guy called mark in a little civic picked me up and took me back to the trailhead. I really was looking forward to the short day, i just feel so sleepy and tired all the time. The 5 miles to the next shelter were easy and uneventful but i did talk to jack a roo. He carries a laptop so that he can email reports back to his magazine in Japan. I think he is pretty well known there. He said people in Japan like to bag peaks and he's trying to introduce the idea of hiking from destination to destination. The A.T is not widely known over there but i get the feeling it will be when jack a roo's finished. I was soon at the shelter and it felt bizzarre to stop hiking this early. I think i am going to incorporate short days in the woods into my weeks. I slept a good hour before writing my journal and chilling out. The couple with the dog ive seen a little recently came along and we had a good talk. They were interested in coming to England to do the B&B hiking. I gave them my email and told them to contact me for help and infomation. I have tried my best to boost our tourism industry by telling people they have to come over. Met another hiker called Doc narley. He gave me some tea to drink. Its been great to relax in the woods, they aint just for hiking in! The couple, riteaid and ..........(it will come to me) gave me some drowsy drugs to help me to sleep and they worked really good. dandylion
Date: 2005-06-17
From: Molly Denton shelter

To: Rod Hollow shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I think i will get a little side pad to record peoples names like wilderness bob does, because i meet so many people i cant recall names sometimes. I slept so good last night and can feel the difference. I am looking forward to the change in scenery as i move north.The section from since the Shenandoahs has been lame. I wonder if Tal managed to visit the girls before getting ready to leave. I looked forward to that visit if they will still take me in. I am pushing to convince Sarah and Mel to come over to visit and maybe join me on my next travels in Europe. It all depends on their finances and calender i guess but it would be alot of fun to host them. Stopped into Manassas Gap shelter for a break, there were bee's at this shelter too! they were bothering me quite alot. The trail was quick and i found myself at the turning for Dicks Dome shelter where i just laid out on a rock. I could of napped very easily. Met Skillet, bottle and eagle foot. We talked about how morale on the trail can change so quickly. One minute you high and then low. There was a nice section in open fields with tall grass. I dropped down into Ashby gap and took a break with some more hikers I didnt know. Lojack and chef Boynarde. We talked about Roman history of all things. Then out of the haze came Wilderness Bob. We hiked to Rod hollow shelter discussing the up and coming halfway mark. At the shelter lojack,skillet and bottle came along. Lojack got his name because his mum made him start out with a locator beacon. It was the sort that if activated everyone would rush to his rescue with helicopters. In the middle of the night i was awoken by Skillet cursing and banging around. He had fell asleep on top of his platapus tube and thus soaked his sleeping bag. I felt sorry for him and understood his anger but then a headlamp came on the other side of me. Lojacks voice spoke 'Seen as your awake,can i get your address?'. I nearly burst out with 'hey,im trying to sleep'. I guess if iwas not lazy i would set up my tent. I aint having luck with the shelters lately.Dandylion
Date: 2005-06-18
From: Rod Hollow shelter

To: Blackburn A.T center
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Off before 7am. Me and Bob came to a sign that said 'welcome to the rollercoaster'. I remembered that there was about 8 hills in succession to climb. after a couple of climbs we passed a out of place looking guy. He was using 2 suitcases to carry his stuff...SUITCASES. I later heard that he would hike with one up a hill, then go back down to get the other one!!! We talked to him a little, bob told him some basics about the blazes and closest water sources. He avoided eye contact in the whole conversation. Bob afterwards said ' Our few words there may keep him from committing suicide today'. Bob seemed convinced he was out here to top himself. I intially thought he had bodies in the suitcases, maybe he's just wierd. Suitcases!!!!! whats the world coming too. We had to fight the tide of bananas walking against us. On second lookings i think they were boy scouts in herrific yellow t-shirts. We decided to check out Bears den and were promptly greeted by Queen Diva. She was an energetic women and i could see she took great pride in being a good host. Mi casa, su casa. She gave us Pork,rice and beans to heat up and we purchased some B&J's,naturally. I checked my internet and did my laudry. I threw everything in except my trusty pair of underwear. We stayed for a few hours and it took real grit to leave. The rollercoaster was nothing that it had been made out to be. We were going to go to the shelter but Bob said 'you made me leave that beautiful place, im not going to miss out on a spag dinner at the Blackburn center'. Queen Diva had tried to get us to stay with descriptions of the lasagne she was going to make that evening, bob was so close to staying but i inspired him to leave. Leaving Virginia was a special moment, we felt a great sense of achievement to have done the longest state on the trail. At the center we were greeted by a fellow brit. He was from Somerset but it sounded like he's been here since the 60's and he was active in the Potomac A.T club. They fed us well and we crashed in the hiker hostel. I was a little displeased with some of the conversation that night at the dinner table. A lady was a telling me i should go to college or face a life of being out of work everytime theres a recession. I do have some plans ive thought about out here but i really didnt feel like discussing with strangers. One of the reasons im out here is to think of my next projects when i get home whether that means travelling or education. I dont get hasseled at home about my future plans, so i dont expect some stranger who knows nothing about me to give me grieve over here. They were all great people but she also annoyed bob by going on a non-sense splurge about the military. Bob gave many years to defending his nation, so i imagine that was why he went to bed very early. Dandylion
Date: 2005-06-19
From: Blackburn A.T center

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Held a good pace in the morning. No views to report but hitting the 1000 mile mark was cool. We came to a road which had a cafe down the way. Bob went down and i carried on the trail. I said catch me at the ATC office as we planned to get a room together. I was pleased to arrive into Harper Ferry. Its a big marker on the trail but even more important, it was a charming town. It had history and characther. During the Civil war it had changed hands several times and is famous for the John brown raid. Two rivers met at this town. Beautiful rocky cliffs falling down steeply into the flowing waters. It took me forever to reach the ATC office. I got my picture took by the building, i was like hiker 421 to pass through. I got some useful leaflets on D.C. Bob came along and we got a room at the hill top hotel. Very fair price and great views from the hill. We got some good pizza and ran into Pogo. He said he was going to pass up on the D.C trip. I was so excited about the trip i told him not to worry. He thought i would be annoyed. We went down to the outfitters and i tried on some kilts. The hardgear kilts were very comfortable but my heart was won by a checkered patterned kilt that was laying on the stair rail. It had no brand on it and only cost $31. I feel so free and cooler in this kilt. I said to pogo that I couldnt understand why girls dont wear skirts all the time. To buy a burger in this town your required to take out a mortgage, its more expensive than the honey pot towns at home. In the outfitters a lady told us that a group of 4 guys perfected a hitching dance routine. It apparently worked well for them. I told Bob and pogo my D.C plans over diner and pogo said' arrghh, i cant let you go alone, im coming'. Be fun to have a partner in crime. We ended up back at the hotel when bob realised buying another beer would break his budget. I did some writing in my journal on the outlook before coming inside. I ended up talking to the reception guy late into the night. He got me some root beer and a chair. I realised i was once again in for a fascinating life story. He had a home and savings and lost it all. He was dating a young foreign lady and i wont include the amusing details but basically she was on the run for attempted murder and she stole loads of his account documents and screwed him over. Now he's starting all over again and this was this third day working here. I enjoyed our exchange but i needed to go to bed, early start tomorrow.dandylion
Date: 2005-06-20
From: Harpers Ferry

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We caught the train into D.C at 6am. Bob was heading out today so Pogo came into my room to share it tonight. We are leaving our stuff in the room so we dont have to carry around D.C. The train took over an hour and we were in the capitol of the U.S. I wanted to tour the monuments on the bus but pogo gave me the 'if we can walk 1000 miles we can walk around the monuments'.It was the cheaper option so i didnt argue. I wanted to make the photo's interesting so we used the bear in some of the pictures and i pretended to flash some of them. The city didnt have the buzz London has, it all felt too planned out, not like a real city center. The monuments were cool thou, the veitnam wall being the most moving. With it being fathers day yesterday, there were lots of personel messages along the wall, it was sad to read them. The names were arranged by date of death. If they had done it alphabetically there would of been 25 john smiths a column. Each name had either a cross for KIA, cross for MIA and if it had both it meant the remains were eventually identified. We got around the lincoln memorial where the reflecting pool was. The famous civil right protests took place in this very spot. I didnt like the building site atmosphere around the washington memorial, i believe it was due to anti-tourist measures. The Museums were the best part of the trip. A real asset to the city and all free!You could spend days exploring them. We managed to get around air and space, 2 art and the history musuem. The history and art were my favourite. My favourite sculpture was 'the last conversation'. Ironically the artist died unexpectedly before veiwing his work on show hence it becoming his last piece of work. The Americans at war exhibit was awesome, i really brushed up on my american history from revolutionary war to vietnam. On the way up to the 3rd floor in the history building in the lift this girl started talking to me. As i walked out she shouted 'i like your kilt'. I might of been in there but i was to busy trying to see everything to bother with ladies! The reason this story was funny is because i had generated a theory about the origins of my kilt. I told pogo girls would love my kilt because it was made of love rag in Salem by the most powerful of witches many years ago, the kilt has attractive powers. He was not convinced but it was odd how the kilt was the only one of its kind in the store and had no labels on it. very strange dont you think?We came back to harpers ferry completely beat. the city life was too much for us wood folk. Everything was shut as there were no tourists in town but i was hungry for pizza. Nevermind, i will have to go without. I was so glad i went to D.C. Its great to be out here seeing so many wonderful things and experiencing another nations history and pride. It was a very educating trip on what the U.S was founded on.dandylion
Date: 2005-06-21
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Dahlgren campground
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I went down for breakfast which was meant to be open for 7.30am. It was shut and i asked the receptionist about it and she was clueless. This was her first week here, everyone here seems to be new here. Thats 3 people ive talked to who work here that have less than a months experience. It turned out the chef was running late. These guys couldnt organise a piss up in a brewery. As a sign of good will they gave me a continental breakfast for free. Pogo headed off early as he had laudry still to do. Before i left town i hit the outfitters to get some Aqua mira. Got talking with the girl behind the counter, again i had to pull myself away from a pretty face. I firmly believe now that my kilt is magical. I left town on the canal road. After a while i started to wonder if i was going the wrong way as there were no blazes for about 2 miles of it. When i got to the end i read a sign informing me that the last section was sparsley blazed due to the road being part of the historic national park. I understand how damaging a blaze can be to a national park!What i enjoyed most about todays hike into Maryland was all the plaques informing you about the battles that took place in the area. A walking history lesson. Lots of monuments to fallen Generals such as Reno. Only one notable climb today and a few rocks. I ended the day at the only federal provided campsite for thru hikers on the trail. It had showers and toilets, pure luxury. You appreciate out here what a luxury is. In everyday mordern living luxuries quickly become essentials. Met Nimblefoot today, very funny old man. He told me he was meant to grow to 6'8 ft but didnt because he was scared of heights. Settled into my tent by 10pm.dandylion
Date: 2005-06-22
From: Dahlgren campground

To: Pen-mar state park
Miles today: 23.4

Rained this morning but i managed to get on the road first. The washington monument was cool. On the way up to it there were signposts telling you a fact about his life. The Tower overlooked the Antietam battlefield and was used by the confederates as a signal tower during the battle. The trail went through the someones garden near I-70 and i walked in slow motion just to maximise the chance of being seen and invited in for tea and biscuits. Failed.First rain we've had in days! I got to the pogo memorial campsite, i was hoping to catch pogo and get his picture under the sign but no luck. I checked the register and Bob made it to the Annapolis rocks on his first day out from Harpers Ferry. He is one very motivated man, trying to get home for July holiday. If he keeps up those big miles it will be hard to catch him up. I decided not to stop at my planned destination of Devils racecourse as it was too far off the trail. As I approached Pen-mar park the heavens opened on me. The kilt worked wonders again today when a day hiker complimented me on my kilt, when i told pogo he was mythed because he had his kilt on today and the same women passed him without a mention of his kilt. I simply said to him 'thats because your kilt isnt made of love rag'. Pogo still wants more evidence on my love rag kilt theory, he is a tough nut to crack. Princess was there and she said we could stay here. I was a bit cautious as my book said a fine of $500 could be issued for sleeping here. I went and talked to the ranger and he said we wouldnt be bothered. I saw a sign today saying that if you are caught hunting around campsites or hikers there is a $50 fine, but if you squat in a park for a night there is a $500 fine....that seem balanced to you?There was a veiwing platform in the park overlooking the lowlands to the west. This was the perfect place to do some writing as the sunset. We are a stones throw from the PA border line. I am looking forward to getting started on that state. Pogo lives in this state and like bob is looking forward to going home for a bit. I think he misses his bar more than his family and friends.dandylion