morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-30
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Jennings Creek Campsite
Miles today: 16.9

There's a regular old-fashioned swimmin' hole here on Jennings Creek (held in by a partial dam of baseball- and basketball-sized rocks), complete with barbecuing locals. We probably could have yogied some stuff, maybe even a ride into town, but I wasn't really feeling sociable, or like answering 100,000 questions. Also, I'm not a beggar.We were supposed to do 21 today but I insisted we quit here at the creek and camp under these nice healthy pines, though it is right next to the road (again). It was just too hot today. Around 5 was the worst, and we probably got here about 6:30. At that point I felt like I just couldn't go another step, especially after a swim. This trail really makes you appreciate the little things, like lying down for example. I REALLY enjoy lying down.Saw lots of frogs today, all shapes and sizes and speeds. One new salamander ¢ red head with brown body. Double-zip and Homecookin' saw a bear! I'm a little jealous.The weather is so dry right now ¢ locals say no rain for a month here. The haze on the BRP overlooks is pretty awful, too. Even the closest farms in the valleys look like they're behind steamed-up glass, and the farthest mountains we can make out are perhaps 30 miles away. Depressing indeed. Walking along the road is a little nagging in itself ¢ why are we here on the trail if it just follows a road anyway? What happened to my "wilderness experience?" Benton MacKaye was right to stick by his ideals and oppose the Parkway in the 1930's, even at the risk of losing federal support for the AT. From where I stand today, it's a damn shame he lost the battle -- assuming this trail would be here at all if he'd won!
Date: 2006-05-31
From: Jennings Creek Campsite

To: Thunder Hill Campsite
Miles today: 16.6

Again, supposed to do 21 today but I couldn't make it. My feet ache like crazy (I'm getting used to new Superfeet inserts, which should help in the long run). Lots of climbing today, feel like I've been going up and up and up forever. Extreme heavy millipede activity in the area. These are serious, big black and orange bugs. Am I the only one who feels that a bugs' disgustingness is directly proportional to its number of legs? I mean, ants barely register. Spiders are kind of cool. Silverfish really freak me out. And I hate millipedes! They're attacking from all sides. I swear, you can't sit anywhere without crushing four of them. And whatever you do, don't put your shoes on without shaking them out first.
Date: 2006-06-02
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Hog Camp Gap Campsite
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Irony on the trail today: Cold Mountain is bald, and Bald Knob is cold. Brown Mountain is made of a pleasant mixed-age forest, but Cold and Bald were rather weedy. We caught some maintainers in action, re-roofing and painting Brown Mountain Shelter. Like a lot of our compatriots out here, we're constantly greatful for the vast amount of volunteer work that goes into the AT, and often inwardly promising to get out and do some maintenance next spring.
Date: 2006-06-03
From: Hog Camp Gap Campsite

To: The Priest Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Some days the AT just looks like a fairytale, timeless and ethereal. Last night's rain left just such a picture for us this morning: a subtle fog settling on dewy ferns. And as princesses in castles are to knights in fairy tales, so are free lunches to hikers on the AT. So we charged through dense storybook air, determined to sweep heroically into Montebello in time for lunch. Earl and Lois of the DutchHaus B&B offer a great meal, with no obligation or pressure to spend the night. All you have to do is be willing to hike a mile down (and back up) a steep and bumpy gravel road. This turned out to be the hardest part of today's hike. The morning dew didn't last, unfortunately, and after lunch the dust of a dry trail was again rising to fill our mouths and noses. We managed to sputter our way up Spy Rock and were rewarded with one of our most excellent views. Self-discovery seems to be a theme for many long-distance hikers, and we're no exceptions. Marc, for example, has come to the conclusion (after months of grueling research) that his absolute favorite food is pig.
Date: 2006-06-04
From: The Priest Shelter

To: Cedar Cliffs
Miles today: 19.7

Hey y'all: there's no place to camp in the 6 miles or so between Maupin Field and Cedar Cliffs. Oh, and you're not supposed to camp on Cedar Cliffs, which is a day-use area with many nice campsites. Well, here we are anyway, because by the time I got here I really didn't care what the rules were. It's not really a proud moment, but the rocks on this part of the trail have hurt my feet and clouded my judgment.
Date: 2006-06-08
From: Waynesboro, VA (Hostel)

To: Blackrock Gap Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Welcome to Shenandoah National Park, where the trail is flat, the air is hazy, and the tourists are plentiful. The wildlife here acts like it's in a zoo - we watched a doe and a buck with velvet antlers calmly having dinner about 10 feet from us today. Most everyone seems to have seen bears, as well. And finally, finally I've seen the fantastic luna moth in all its huge, leafy, cotton-ball glory. This thing is the size of a hummingbird, but it's got the body of a bat and Tinkerbell's wings. Skyline Drive (formerly the Blue Ridge Parkway) crosses the trail at regular intervals now, and I'm wondering if this is related to the amount of invasives I've been seeing today.
Date: 2006-06-09
From: Blackrock Gap Hut

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We were hanging around the shelter with maybe 6 other hikers when word arrived that a bear cub was hanging around the water source, seemingly unattended. What would you do in this situation? Well, if you're like most hikers, you would apparently grab your camera and see how close you could get to the hapless creature before it finally decides hydration is not worth all the continual molestation. No wonder the animals in this park are so "tame": the hikers treat this place like a freakin' petting zoo. So no, I still haven't seen a bear, because I continue to harbor a healthy fear of wild animals -- for their sake as much as mine.Speaking of "healthy fear", we ran into our first poisonous snake today: a copperhead. Marc, who has more respect for bears, I guess, insisted on poking at it with his trekking pole so he could get a better look. Rhododendrons are all gone now, but mountain laurel remains as pretty as ever. SNP is a bit weedy in spots, but there are also some (relatively) huge trees: tulip poplars, oaks, and maples. The biggest problem with 20+ mile days here is not exhaustion but creeping boredom. You'd expect a National Park to be one of the more exciting portions of this trail, but so far it hasn't been -- unless you count the various car/RV campgrounds and burger stands.
Date: 2006-06-10
From: Hightop Hut

To: Lewis Mountain Campground
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I suppose it was next to inevitable that one of us develop an illness on this trip, and I'm feeling real crappy. Not sure what it is exactly, just a general sort of respiratory malaise, so we're going to take it easy for a few days.Tonight we ended up staying in the kind of car campground I was making fun of yesterday, so I could get a shower and rest. The other campers look at us oddly for awhile and then eventually stop over to ask us where our car is. This is not, apparently, a popular stop for backpackers! We tried to fit in by making a fire and roasting hot dogs, though, just like we would if we'd had a car.
Date: 2006-06-11
From: Lewis Mountain Campground

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

This is great. I highly recommend "taking it easy" once in awhile, though I'm still not feeling great. We had a five-hour lunch break at Big Meadows with Chainsaw and Able Jack, living it up like the middle-class-Americans-on-vacation we truly are. The trail is getting prettier and prettier, and also (if this is conceivable) easier and easier. Many hikers are doing 20s and 25s consistently through the park. This deer would absolutely NOT get off the trail. It was in my way and I thought it was staring me down like it was going to charge -- turns out he had his eye on some of the choice vegetatation behind me.
Date: 2006-06-12
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Relief! Finally, in the form of sweet liquid from the sky, came down in droves while we were abed in the shelter last night and put some moisture into the dry, dry ground. Nice to have another foggy, damp morning, and to be treated to the glory of raindrops on leaves poking up through the rocks. Now THIS part of SNP is more like it: Stony Man, Little Stony Man, Mary's Rock... excellent views and a diverse, maturing woodland. Today we were even able to feel a little bit alone. Only the sounds of our own footsteps in the dirt and the occasional late afternoon warbler. Only the smells of late spring's vegetation ripening into summer's. Only the sights of green & brown plants highlighted by the occasional hint of poison-ivy red or sunshine yellow. And then, inevitably, an airplane cruises overhead, bound for Atlanta or Richmond, or a dayhiker walks by, choking you with his cologne, or you suddenly arrive at the shelter to human voices and a dizzying rainbow of hiker-clothes and equipment. Then you'll hear no more birds, smell no more plants, and see no more woods. Most AT hikers will tell you that the people they meet are the "best part of the journey". Now, I sure like these folks, but I'm going to have to give "best part" honors to the trees.
Date: 2006-06-13
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Hogwallow Spring 
Miles today: 16.5

Seems like everyone is sick. It appears to be some kind of stomach virus, making its way round through all the northbounders group by group. This virus, the "hiker bug" as it's popularly known, began striking hikers in Erwin, TN, apparently taking advantage of the crowded conditions at Miss Janet's. But this is the first time it's really seemed epidemic. We're trying to stay away from everybody, and you couldn't pay me enough to use a privy these days. It's disgusting, because some hikers apparently don't realize they ought to vomit in the woods, not in the privies. Shenandoah NP has become to us a festering prison, and we're just trying to escape the miasma. At Elk Wallow Wayside we came across two sweet little old ladies, picking their lunch out of McDonald's to-go bags. We talked a bit, and their disbelief of our situation culminated in this query: "So... you don't have a car anywhere in the vicinity?" We replied in the negative and the incredulity of one of the women gave way to pure, unadulterated pity: "Oh, you POOR dears!" she crowed. I thought for a moment they were going to insist on driving us somewhere more civilized and calling our parents to come pick us up, but they finally just wished us luck and became our ultimate favorite dayhikers.
Date: 2006-06-19
From: US 522 (Front Royal, VA)

To: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Mother Nature commemorated our return to the trail this afternoon with a sincere but brief downpour. I'm feeling basically clumsy, as if my stiff legs don't know where to put my feet down (that goes double for arms and poles). Slippery rocks frighten me in a way they haven't since Georgia. And I've only been gone four days!As usual, we walked a weedy path out of town, seeing gradual improvements until we reached fine young forest that seems to have been released from its tenure as farmland about 100 years ago. I love turtles. No other animal looks so sagely sardonic. This one's wrinkly neck and the wizened intelligence in his eyes belied the foolishness of his nesting spot directly on the trail. And the little orange salamanders with the red spots? They are so freakin' cute, I swear...There's a fine nest of fur and feathers right here in the shelter, along with a sparrow who seems rather upset to be sharing space with all us hikers. It's kind of sad to watch her fly nervous, tortured laps around the place -- does she think she can frighten us away? If we're really quiet, though, she comes back to her nest in spite of us.
Date: 2006-06-20
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

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

Today was the day we've been waiting for for weeks: the day we finally met a man named Minnesota Smith. Everybody's heard of him -- see, he's quite famous on the trail, because he is rather odd and sometimes says offensive things. We actually pictured him a little bigger and scarier than he is. In fact, he seems pretty okay.Lots of tulip trees in this forest, which I believe was farmed up until the 1920's. Saw some fields with giant thistles, more deer, more salamanders. We're here at Rod Hollow with Jukebox, Chainsaw, Minnesota Smith, a few weekenders and a Southbounder. We have a fire, and it's a really cozy, pleasant night.
Date: 2006-06-21
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Blackburn Trail Center
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked the "Roller-coaster" today, which consists of 11 ups, 10 downs, and 13 miles total. This was exhausting, but somehow fun. It did get me thinking of real roller-coasters, and how much more fun it would be to be riding them instead. Jukebox hiked with us for awhile on the way to Blackburn; nice to talk to someone other than each other occasionally. Got a spaghetti dinner at Blackburn, and are sleeping on the porch. Redwing, one of the caretakers, told us about garlic mustard and how it's invading the whole area. Didn't seem too hopeful that there was much anyone could do about it.
Date: 2006-06-22
From: Blackburn Trail Center

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

Ah, the Four-State Challenge. This consists of the 43 miles that traverse parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Some hikers like to complete it in one day for fun. These hikers include Marc but not me, so I'm on my own for the next few entries while he's off challenging himself. We split up at Harper's Ferry, where I kept hiking and he hiked back to Virginia to begin his Challenge tomorrow. Harper's Ferry is a really boring town, though we did stop to have our pictures taken for the 2006 yearbook at the ATC Center.I'm not used to hiking alone, so I'm a little more paranoid than usual about staying on the trail, having enough water, etc. Willow has suggested that I should travel without my boyfriend more often, I guess so I don't slump into utter co-dependent hopelessness. But I'm really doing okay. I mean, we've walked 1000 miles already! And I have a balloon to prove it!
Date: 2006-06-23
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Pine Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: clear sky

Met a hiker yesterday who was out with his puppy, trying to kick some bad habits and hoping the AT would provide a temptation-free environment. His goal, being so different from most others', got me thinking: a lot of us out here are all about the miles, about hiking "the whole thing", and maybe we forget sometimes what we really need out here. This guy didn't even care whether he was going north or south, he was simply focused on being in the woods. I hope everything works out for him. I ran into Pillbox and Dancer at Gathland State Park and we enjoyed a civilized little break around the vending machines. Managed to have lunch all by myself for the first time on this entire trip at Rocky Run Shelter, and it was great. That shelter reminds me of a park, or an English garden. There were day lilies, and even a porch swing.I'm in love with Maryland. It's 30 miles long, it's flat, it's full of parks diversions (like the "Washington Monument", which is of course not THE Washington Monument, but is older and has the same name), and the woods are pretty. Maybe I like the woods because they are now beginning to look familiar, like the PA woods I've hiked in my whole life.
Date: 2006-06-24
From: Pine Knob Shelter

To: Mason-Dixon Line
Miles today: 17.9

Marc and I were reunited at Pen-Mar Park, where we ordered pizza, ate giant pink-frosted cookies from Wal-Mart, and had a jubilant celebration with many other hikers. We're all just ecstatic to be done with Virginia, and to be almost officially halfway. Today the trail took me through a great field, full of awesome flowers and a herd of longhorn cows. Our dry-spell is over; it's been storming like crazy for the last few nights. Many of the stately, cooling hemlock trees in the area have been decimated the hemlock wooley adelgid (relative of the already-hated balsam wooley adelgid). This makes me particularly sad, since I've always identified hemlocks with hiking, with Pennsylvania, and with healthy woods. Around Ensign Cowell Shelter there's an experiment going on, designed to improve the viability of the hemlocks, with a soil-treatment. Also, young hemlocks will continue to thrive, since the adelgid only attacks older trees. So there's no reason to despair, really (I tell myself).
Date: 2006-06-25
From: Mason-Dixon Line

To: Rocky Mountain Shelters
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

Pennsylvania, the oft-maligned, ugly-stepchild-state of the AT, is extremely civil in many ways. Its shelters, for example, are often two separate, smaller shelters -- for snorers and non-snorers. Between Marc and Stumbles, I seem have found my way into the "snoring" section.It poured rain through half of our hike today, and poor Marc has a cold. I didn't see much but woods and rain, my boots are soaked through, and everything is wet. The trail is like a canal, and there is no avoiding the puddles -- you just walk through them. I like that the rain cools everything off and hurries me up a bit, but I don't like that you can't sit down on the trail and have lunch.
Date: 2006-06-26
From: Rocky Mountain Shelters

To: Birch Run Shlter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Everyone complains about Pennsylvania. Too many rocks, they say. Too many roads. Too many farms and fields. Maybe it's just my home-state pride talking but so far I really like PA. Of course, it's been two days and we haven't hit the rocks yet.It is flooding, though the sun was out briefly this morning. We had to detour around the trail in Caladonia State Park because the creek had risen up and spilled over onto the trail. The water is muddy and rushes by in way that's actually quite alarming, since it is raining again and doesn't seem like it's going to stop. Route 30, which we crossed today, is almost underwater. But the things I love about PA: Indian Pipe (the ghostly white flower that looks like a pipe and succeeds despite its lack of chlorophyll) is out; pine trees above and pine needles below; nice shelters; mountain laurel; flat trail.
Date: 2006-06-27
From: Birch Run Shlter

To: Tagg Run Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: light rain

Rain came down hard and fast all day, flooding the trail three or four inches in some places. The streams are like rivers, straining at the tops of their banks, while new streams appear where there were none before. The trail itself is full of fast, muddy water -- I can hardly imagine the erosion-damage being inflicted on this trail and its surrounding drainage areas only from this event. A turtle swims up the trail next to me, making feel a bit like Alice on the other side of the looking glass, floating down a surreal river of tears.Blueberries are out!! I adore them, all fresh off the bush, but Marc thinks they taste like "mush." I try to tell him "mush" is a texture, not a flavor, but he insists.Pine Grove Furnace marks the unofficial halfway point of the AT, and tradition dictates that thru-hikers attempt to ingest a 1/2 gallon of ice cream at the campstore there. Marc finished in a decent 26 minutes, and I know better than to try. It was cold and rainy anyway, an afternoon better suited to hot coffee than ice cream. We continued up to Tagg Run shelter as the flood situation continued to deteriorate on lower ground. The Wanderers arrived late to the shelter and told a tale of a somewhat harrowing experience they had trying to escape Pine Grove in the rising water, which was up to the waist of the smallest member of their crew. We are all happy to have a roof over our heads tonight.
Date: 2006-06-28
From: Tagg Run Shelter

To: US 11 (Super 8)
Miles today: 20.2

Thought we'd never get to the motel. Luckily there happens to be one right off the trail on US 11, directly across from the Middlesex Diner, which is (as far as diners go) pretty awesome. This isn't really a town though, just an outlying arm of Carlisle, PA, peppered with trucking companies and cheap hotels. We found Ork, Bean, Rip, Treehugger, Fiddlehead, and Able Jack all having a 0-day here at the Super 8 -- seems an odd place for a vacation, but I guess when you don't feel like hiking, you just stay put. I know how that feels.We almost got through the whole day without rain, but the sky let us down for the last few miles. We're at the Super 8 because we're simply too dirty and wet to go on without a shower and some dry clothes, and because there's no place to camp around here. In fact, we crossed eight roads today -- that's a record, I'm sure. We've been through the town of Boiling Springs, past wheat fields (where I learned to chew wheat kernels like gum), corn fields, and many houses. The PA-haters do have a point here: it hardly feels like wilderness, though we have seen many rabbits and woodchucks.We learned in Boiling Springs that the Conodoguinet Creek has flooded out the AT a few miles north of us -- I guess we'll find out how badly tomorrow morning.
Date: 2006-06-29
From: US 11 (Super 8)

To: Duncannon, PA (The Doyle)
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

First a disclaimer: We yellow-blazed about 2 miles today. I know, shame on us. But the trail was flooded, so our choices were to walk the road, or let this nice guy give us a ride up the road. So sue us, we took the van. First thing we found today was a tree, covered in ripe cherries, blown down right across the trail! We ate our way around it, and it was so delicious... The rest of the day consisted of rocks and a short but powerful thunderstorm, complete with heavy winds and hail. Now, the Doyle... What can I say that hasn't been said before? It looks like a French Quarter rooming house that's somehow slipped through the fabric of space-time and been plunked down in a small, dreary PA town. It was built in 1916 by Anheuser Busch, when Duncannon was still being referred to (in a non-sarcastic way) as the "Jewel of the Susquehanna". Today it's a cross between a hostel, a boarding house, and a frat house. Oh, and there's a bar downstairs. The decor is not plain, but hopelessly tacky, with a rather defiant and plucky attitude. It says, "What? This place is NOT falling apart!" The plumbing shows through the missing floorboards, the wiring shows through the missing ceiling-tiles, and the duct-taped windows say "open at your own risk" (we don't). The curtains are so old portions of them have actually disintegrated, and the walls are covered in yards of spackle which are either covering actual cracks or attempting some kind of artful pattern. The nature of the place is, you really can't tell. Still, the room is clean, the quilt is warm, the bed is soft, and the beer is cheap.The bar downstairs is in somewhat better shape than the rooms, and no one could find fault with the food or with the staff. There are about 10 hikers here, having a wonderful time drinking and listening to the live music -- one Sue Grace who plays guitar and sings old tunes. She takes requests, too, but has had to turn down a few of questionable taste. There is nothing quite like a barroom full of local drunks, bar owners, and hikers from all over joining together in a rousing chorus of "Take Me Home, Country Road." Sue claims it's the only John Denver song she'll play.