morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up to snow. Vapor was up so we both decided to go to town and resupply, and take care of some other business. We tried to hitch a ride and for a half hour with no luck. Vapor went back and got his backpack to see if that would make any difference. Still no luck. Finally a car stopped and we had our ride. The driver was a thru hiker and was friends with the Tennessee Walkers and was on his way to pick then up. They weren't there yet so he left a note and drove us back to Marion. We took care of our chores, Vapor decided to go back to the trail and hike to the next shelter, I went to the KFC and had the buffet. I also got a pair of gloves to hike in tomorrow.It¢s another one of these really great nights in the shelter. Heal, Porter, Just Carolyn, Gregory, Biscuit, English Bob, and Bam-Bam are here. It¢s been one laugh after another as everyone is telling stories of the happenings on the trail. English Bob trying to start his gas stove and they all gave him a hard time about burning down the shelter. He proceeded to explain that he has never had a problem with the stove, and not to worry. As he started the stove it flared up and he soon was trying to blow out the fire. He has a great sense of humor and just keep coming up with one liners.Now when you get pizza here at the Partnership you have to go to the ranger¢s station and call. English Bob wanted pizza and said he would go call so everyone immediately added to the order. The Pizza Hut guy first asked EB what the address was, which he didn¢t know, next they wanted the phone number, and it wasn¢t on the phone. It¢s still snowing and cold and they tell him to wait there so they know where to deliver the pizza. The park is closed, and there isn¢t a person in sight except for EB. The pizza delivery man arrives and asked if he was the one who order the pizza. His comment was who else would be standing out at the ranger station in the cold and snow just so the pizza delivery could find him.Again you just have to be here but I hope the jest of it comes through in the storyWhen I got my hitch back to the shelter I was picked up by a fellow by the name of James Scott. He said he picked me up because it was just to cold to be out there hitch hiking. He also said the latest it¢s ever snowed here was April 28th, and I thought it would be nice to see a little snow, but not any more.
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Crawfish Valley Campsite
Miles today: 17.8

Started out in what I should hope is my last day of snow. It was cold and I had on my jacket, gloves, shorts, tights and rain pants. It was just enough to keep me warm. I would have been real miserable without the gloves. The snow was not real deep and two other hikers were ahead of me so I just followed their steps.Once I got past the first shelter it was starting to get warmer and the snow was pretty much gone. As I made my way towards Atkins I came to an old school house from the 1800's. Porter showed up just after I got there and wanted to know if I went to school there. Ha Ha. I told him I wasn't that old. I took a couple of pictures for Yvonne.When you get to Atkins the trail goes by a Dairy Queen. I stopped and had hamburgers with Porter, Biscuit, English Bob and Heal.As I walked down to Atkins from the shelter it looked like spring, with green fields, apple trees blooming, and small flowers showing up every where. Yet, earlier I had been in snow in the higher elevation. I took one shot of a small patch of snow hoping it was the last. Now if it would just get a little warmer. Time to get some sleep so I'll be rested for my daily walk tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Crawfish Valley Campsite

To: Stealth shelter
Miles today: 0.0

There was a lot of action today on the trail. A farm has it¢s roosters to wake you up, on the trail we have turkeys. At day light some turkeys started gobbling and calling each other. It sounded just like they were 100 feet away. It went on until Biscuit started hiking and they must have seen her and stopped. And there weren¢t any hunters seeing we were miles from any roads.Rain was forecasted for late afternoon. It started out cold again and I would have put on my gloves but they were packed away, like you haven't heard that before. I had many nice views even though it was cloudy and overcast.May original goal was to stay at the Chestnut Knob Shelter. Heal pointed out that he knew of an old building off the trail that was abandoned. He also said it had a large fire place and plenty of wood. It was a long hard hike and everyone had passed me except Porter. I reached Chestnut around 5:30 after a hard 4.7 miles trying to beat the rain. I hiked as hard as I could not only to beat the rain but I was on top of an exposed bald and the temperature was falling fast. I beat the rain and. Porter then showed up and found a map Heal had drawn to the stealth shelter. We both agreed to try for it since it was only 1.3 miles away. We hiked as hard as we could but the rain caught us. We did make it to the shelter though. They had a warm fire going with all the same people that camped last night. It¢s a treat having a warm fire and no wind blowing on you.I was a little sorry that I did not get to stay at the Chestnut Shelter. There are two shelters built by the Trimpi family in honor of their son who was killed in Vietnam. I did pay my respect to him and said a little prayer for him. It¢s always sad for me when I think about the young people that were killed while in VN. As a veteran of the war you feel a connection to the families who lost their loved ones over there. Tomorrow calls for a long 21 mile hike to Bland so I can resupply. I'll see what tomorrow bring weather wise and trail wise. At least I am sleeping in a warm room tonight.
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Stealth shelter

To: Bland
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: light rain

The weather out here is crazy. Woke up to a chilly room, but it wasn¢t too cold. Shawn and Bam-Bam soon had a fire going and the room warmed up. I left wearing my shorts and short sleeve shirt. However, once the door was opened I could tell I would need a jacket and my tights. When I started the sky was clear, but within an hour it started to get cloudy and colder. Then it cleared up again and I hiked without my jacket. I stopped at Jenkins Shelter for lunch. Porter, BB and Shawn were already there. While we were eating Private Joker showed up. Before anyone was done it started raining so on went the rain gear before leaving. Later the sun came back out and I removed the rain gear. This went on for about two hours.I was hiking along Little Wolf Creek and the trail crosses the creek 12 times in two miles. Well as the rain came down the creek was rising, and rose enough that it covered the stones used to get across it. Off went the shoes and I waded across. Every crossing did not require me to wade but I think I did have to wade about six times. The cold water felt good on my feet.I went across the road from the bridge and back on the trail. This is a point where Heal pointed out that a local church puts an ice chest out with trail magic. I came to the ice chest and opened it but all it had was lots of ice with no drinks. Those ahead of me must have had them. I'll just have to hike faster. Oh, yes the sun was back out but it was getting colder. I finally made it to US 21/52 to hitch into Bland to get supplies. As I waited for a ride it started raining again. In 20 minutes only two cars came by. While I was waiting I see Heal coming back from the direction of the next shelter. He had left his radio and some other gear in Bland where he used the phone.While we waited a truck pulled up going the other direction and stopped. He asked if we knew a fellow, but he used his real name and not the trail name and we said we did not know him. We said there were a lot of hikers staying at the hotel in town so he offered to drive us there and take Heal where his gear had been left.I¢m now here at the hotel sharing a room with Heal, who did not find his radio and other gear.From here I should take three days to get to Pearisburg to resupply, take a zero day and forward my bounce box I mailed in Damascus.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Bland

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 26.3
Weather: scattered clouds

A marathon for the day plus .1 for good measure. I'll tell you right now that I will not be doing that much mileage again. Today was the easiest hiking by far. It was the closest there may be to flat trail. The trail had very few rocks and was pretty much down hill or flat. I actually did not know that it was going to be that long of a hike. I thought it was 24 miles. It was such easy hiking that I just planned on camping once it got late and go from there the next day. I wanted to cover some ground in hopes of getting into town within the next two days if I could. Once it got late I checked the guide which said the next shelter was close enough to get to. It was barely sprinkling so I headed to the shelter. I got there just after 8:00 PM. The whole group of hikers that started out ahead me, were not there. There was a hostel about six miles before the shelter and they must have gone there. The only person at the shelter was Doc. I had met him at the stealth shelter two days earlier.I cooked a quick dinner and headed to bed. It was a long 11.5 hr day.
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Wapiti Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

April 29Start Wapiti ShelterDestination Pearisburg, 16.2 milesWoke up to the rain that the weatherman promised. I started out and knew it wasn't going to be like the day before. It started with a climb and a scramble over rocks. I got to Doc's Knob shelter where I was going to eat lunch. The rain started to let up and stopped while I ate lunch. It took me over five hours to do just 8.8 miles to the shelter. I was being extra careful trying not to slip on the rocks, roots and trail mud. As much as I tried I was slipping and sliding constantly. I ended up taking two spills, one was a hard fall.I made it to town, around 6:30pm, wet and cold. I opted to stay at the Rendezvous Motel and take a zero day to let my shoulder recover from the fall. I also needed to resupply and see if I can get my glasses fixed. The screw holding the lens fell out in Bland. I used dental floss to put the frame back together so I could read my trail guide. The next section will be a six or seven day hike to Catawba and I needed to get everything done before I headed back out on the trail. One surprise Old Yeller is here with his wife Susan. He is in the room right next to me. Steady Step stopped here but staying in a different town with his wife.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Zero Day at Pearisburg, VA

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

The shelter spacing for this section has not been very good. You either have to do a short day or a very long day. I opted for the later because the first shelter was 8.3 miles from town. The rock fields started about a third of the way up on the climbs. The trail went over all sizes of rocks. Small, large, pointed, flat, round rocks, rocks that rolled, rocks that rocked, and rocks that I moved and ones that did not move. When you walk in the rocks you have to watch every step. Because of all that I did not get to the shelter until just before eight, which made for a long day.I did have some great views from around the first shelter (Rice Field Shelter) and took some nice pictures. When I reached the shelter it had a new group of hikers that I hadn't met. The new people were Stealth, Ninja and Buzz. It was not a big shelter and the only open spots were two upper bunk slots with about two feet of head room. I went ahead and tented.The highlight of the day happened when I was sitting at the marker for the Groundhog Trail. As I was sitting there I heard a soft whistling sound. I looked up to see a glider flying along in the ridge lift. Ridge lift is when the wind hits the ridge at a right angle or close to it. As the wind moves up over the ridge it creates lift and some great flying, or ridge running as its called.Now if your asking how I know that, I¢m lucky enough to be a glider pilot too. I've never flown in ridge lift but read about it. Once my hike is done I plan on becoming active in the Tampa bay Soaring Society. This is a club that three of us started back in the early eighties and is now the largest in Florida.
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

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

Another day just like yesterday with plenty of rocks slow moving. Yesterdays journal pretty well told the story, so I won't repeat it.The highlight of the day, or in this case the lowlight, was SNOW. Yes it snowed on May 2nd. It was threatening to rain again and I had a few sprinkles down low so I put on the rain gear. Everyone at the shelter is wondering when it¢s going to get warm.The real highlight was more trail magic. At the VA601 road crossing, a previous thru hiker named Super Dave had a ice chest full of cokes and candy. I had two and they couldn't have been more appreciated. I signed the register he left and told him how it restores my faith in people.Thanks Super Dave!
Date: 2005-05-03
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: broken clouds

Normally you hike out of a shelter and have to start a climb. That's because most shelter are in gaps.We started out of Laurel going down hill. We had to walk from one range of mountains to the next via the valley between them. I got some great views again. I did miss one important shot the Keffer Oak. It¢s a large white oak 18 plus feet around. It is estimated to be 300 years old. It seems strange that a tree that size were once common in our country. I'm sorry I missed it. I didn't miss seeing my first snake along this route though. I saw about a four foot black snake right next to the path.I had a great view for my lunch. I was sitting on top of a ridge line, at the very top looking down on the valley and the next ridge line over.This ridge line had a long climb to the top, fortunately it did not have any big rock fields to cross. This section also had the Audie Murphy Memorial. The memorial is erected near where he was killed in a plane crash. He was one of the most decorated heroes from WWII. The rest of the time was spent hiking to the shelter.Tomorrow will be a short day. I am going into Catawba to resupply
Date: 2005-05-04
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Johns Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today had some more great views. I almost spent too much time taking it all in and not making it to the post office to bounce my boxes. The trail went over Cove Mountain which has a spot called Dragon's Tooth. I thought about going there but it was off the trail a good ways. The views I had were so good I opted to leave it at that. The second part of the day was the actual climb down from Cove Mountain. It was the hardest yet and some places had steel rungs drilled in the rocks so you could get down. Needless to say I didn¢t get into town around the time I expected to. To top it off they had road construction going on and traffic was stopped right at the trail head. When I got there they were letting traffic go in the direction of the town. I started walking and trying to hitch but no luck. The traffic was all bunched up and the first group of cars passed me by. As close as they were to each other it could have caused an accident if one had stopped. I had almost walked the one mile to town when the next group of cars came by. I got picked up by a previous thru hiker. I told him I was trying to get to the post office so he dropped me off there with one hour to spare before closing. Mission accomplished.A quick trip to the local gas station/grocery store where I had a hamburger and pizza and got what I could to resupply. They did not have much and I'll have to get more long term supplies in two days in Daleville or Troutville.Spending tonight in the shelter. I had enough time after getting here to dry out my tent from the condensation build up. Rza and Method Man showed up just before dark as usual. They are two hikers that like to sleep in and hike into the night some times. They are both getting out of college and are doing the hike before getting a job or going to grad school.There was more trail magic again today. A previous thru hiker named Southpaw had a ice chest on the trail at VA 624 with cokes, snacks and sandwiches. I had a coke and a snack. Thanks Southpaw, it was great!Every days walk in the woods brings something new. Sometimes funny, challenging, or surprising. I can't wait to see what each day brings. It¢s the best of times.
Date: 2005-05-05
From: Johns Spring Shelter

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I crossed the seven hundred mile mark today! It was an interesting day. The trail goes over McAfee Knob which is the most photographed place on the trail. It¢s a rock that hangs out over a ledge. You can walk out and have a view of the valley below. No one was there to take my picture but I did take some shots of the view. The next spot was Tinker¢s Cliff which is the cliff line that McAfee Knob is located on. The trail follows right along the cliff line, it seemed like ever 50 feet you had another view. I was constantly watching the view and had to remind myself to watch the trail. There were sections where you could see Daleville and Troutville in the valley below. It looked like a story book picture as you saw the town below and all houses laid out.About 2 miles before the road leading to town Rza caught up with me and we agreed to split a room along with Method Man who is traveling with him. They both went to college together.We got the cheapest room we could but to do that we had to walk a extra 3/4 of a mile to get there. Just what I needed after hiking all day. Surprisingly it was a very nice room, nicer than some I stayed in while traveling with my job.We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant. As I am catching up with the journal they are still asleep in the room, probably until 10am or so from what they tell me. I'll be gone shortly to resupply, stop at the outfitters and get a pair of shorts and bandana. I lost my last bandana yesterday some place.The next big stop will be Waynesboro. I will have to make a couple of quick resupplies in between since its 130 plus miles to get there. I just saw the weather report. It¢s still going to be cold at night with the chance of rain today. Fun on the trail.
Date: 2005-05-06
From: Daleville, VA

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Leaving Daleville will eventually bring me to the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail crosses many of the overlooks that all the tourist stop, look at, then drive away. Not only did I get the view at the overlooks but a whole lot more as I was walking the trail. For most of the day the trail paralleled the parkway. Again I took some pictures along the way.The highlight for the day happened when I was sitting at the shelter with Bones, Doc and El Jafe. Bones said he could hear voices. Since I don't really have great hearing, I didn't hear a thing. I started to wonder what kind of voices he was hearing. He then said I hope it¢s not scouts. I looked at my watch and saw that it was Friday and wondered too. I looked up the approach trail to the shelter and started to count the people passing by. I got to 13 scouts and stopped counting. They were even carrying an ice chest. The leader a Dr. Smith (no relation) apologized for the interruption and said he hoped it wouldn't be a problem. I said no as long as they brought extra food. He said they always do since there are usually hikers sharing the area with them.It was fun watching the young kids run about claiming camping spots, running thru the poison ivy, getting water and the different work crews trying to get things started. We looked after the cooking crew for obvious reasons. Some of the scouts were new at it as more than one started the table on fire. They did get it right with Dr. Smith's help and the hot dogs and beans were soon ready.Doc told us we could have one hot dog after all the kids and adults had there share. Once they were done he said we could have one so Doc, Bones, El Jafe, Geronimo and Flip all helped ourselves. Dr. Smith asked if any of the kids or adults wanted any more and some of the troop got more. Once they were done he said we could have some more, so the five of us headed back for seconds. Dr. Smith then checked again and said there were still hot dogs and beans left if anyone wanted them. The five of us went back for thirds. And we polished off the remainder of the hot dogs and beans. On top of that, the scouts offered us cokes and cake for desert. Thanks to Troop 10 from Lynchburg, VA for the trail magic and entertainment. It was nice to see you all having fun like that. It reminded me of the fun times I had doing the same growing up.
Date: 2005-05-07
From: Bobblets Gap Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was a hard day and I didn't really want to do the mileage but I had to. I need to resupply again tomorrow and did not want to have to do 20 plus miles to get to the road to town. So I hiked hard. The day may have been the hottest yet, a sign of things to come. I hiked most of the afternoon with Buzz. He tented a mile or so from the shelter last night after he saw all the scouts. Buzz said there was a slight chance of rain today but with the clear skies we had he didn't think there would be any. Buzz had a full pack with enough food to reach Waynesboro so he planned to tent pass the Cornelius Creek shelter. We passed the shelter and were looking for the camp site when we realized we missed it. Buzz checked the guide for the next place that had water and we stopped there. I continued on, and soon after we parted, the rain began. Before I could reach the shelter I was hearing thunder and the rain was coming down pretty hard. I still had to pass under the Guillotine. This is a large bolder suspended between two larger boulders. The trail passes right underneath but I made it through without it falling on me. I made it to the shelter and found Bones, Stealth, Ninja and Red Rover who I hadn't seen since she gave me my jacket back just out of Erwin.That¢s where I am at tonight. The rain stopped almost as soon as I got to the shelter. Wouldn't you know.