morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-23
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Shelter
Miles today: 16.3

500 MILES!!!! YAY!!! Today I have passed the 500 mile mark on the AT.So a short story from last night before moving onto today. At the Thomas Knob Shelter there was a cat wandering around which no on claimed. While trying to make dinner the cat was all over my trying to get at my food. When I put my arms out to block the cat it would just climb up my back and try and jump down onto my food. Finally I had to just pick the cat up and throw it back in the shelter. So around 3am I am awoken by something hitting my leg. I turn on my flash light and see the cat sitting there, staring at me, but then I notice a little string hanging out of its mouth. Seconds later the cat opens its mouth and a live mouse flops onto the floor. The cat immediately chases it, bats it with its paws and stuffs it in its mouth again... this goes on for several minutes. Finally the mouse is no where to be found and the cat has curled up at the front of the shelter. Very odd... at least the mouse didn't get a chance to eat into any of my food bags.Got a late start today, some section hikers who also stayed at our shelter offered me pancakes... and I couldn't just turn them down. Finally started hiking around 10am. The scenery in this section of the trail is gorgeous and I got clear skies to view it as well. For most of my hike today I was above 5000ft and walking across open fields. The views reminded me of being out in Montana or Wyoming. Lots of boulder mountain tops followed by fields of prairie. I also saw a heard of wild ponies!!It rained a little when I stopped for lunch and the wind was ridiculous all day. Other than that I enjoyed the views and took my time in the highlands. I also walked completely by myself for the first time in a while today. It was nice, not good or bad... just nice.Just before Hurricane Shelter I ran into Ajax, Senator and Freight Train who were camped out by a stream. I talked to them for a bit and they convinced me to camp with them as opposed to walking the 500yds or so to the shelter. They also said they would wake me up in the morning so I can get an early start.Tomorrow I plan on hiking 18 miles to the Partnership Shelter. This shelter is legendary on the AT because you can order pizza from a near by payphone, plus it also has hot showers. Sounds good to me!!
Date: 2006-04-24
From: Hurricane Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: broken clouds

Last night it rained... hard. I was awoken about a half dozen times by really hard rain hitting my rain fly or by thunder. I just kept praying that I would stay perfectly dry. Luckily I did and waking up perfectly dry was a great feeling.On the trail by 9am and had a nice hike peaceful hike to my lunch spot about 9 miles up the trail. After lunch I hiked the remaining 10 miles with Dirt... and we were cruisin. 10 miles in like 3 1/2 hours... not to shabby.Made it to Partnership Shelter and am immediately offered a pepsi. It was perfect. I had been craving a soda all day. Partnership Shelter is huge, it can hold about 16 people, has a shower and within walking distance is a payphone where you can order pizza, beer, soda, etc. So I ordered myself a large pepperoni pizza and made my way back to the shelter to take a shower.After taking my shower I got the worst scare I have had on the trail. I began looking around for my digital camera and couldn't find it anywhere. I dumped out my entire bag and looked all over the shelter but still couldn't find it. At this point I get the idea that I some how left it 4 miles back down the trail. So I begin to get some stuff together so I can run down the trail to see if I can find it. About a quarter mile down the trail I have a flashback and immediately remember that I had my camera at the shelter. So I go back to my bag and dump it out... again... and out flops my camera. Whew!! I am so relieved. I have almost 450 pictures on my camera and I would have been so upset if I would have lost it.I had someone ask me in an email what keeps me going during the bad days... so I will try to answer as best I can below:In terms of what keeps me going on a daily basis; I actually haven't had too much trouble hiking the AT, I have had a blast doing it and consider it fairly enjoyable. However, the biggest key is you can't take yourself too seriously, you have to be able to laugh at all the miserable and crappy things that can happen in the woods. The other thing that keeps me going is that feeling, that feeling that I know I can only get from making it to the top of Katahdin and completing the AT. I think about it at least once a day, and just the thought gives me chills.
Date: 2006-04-27
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 30.5
Weather: broken clouds

Sometime yesterday or today I passed the 25% completed mark. Yay!!! Ok... moving on.Happy Birthday Katie! (Katie is my friend who came to visit me in Damascus.)Was on the trail by 8:15 this morning and made really good time up a very steep ridge. I got to the top of Chestnut Knob around noon and found Novocaine there attempting to dry out his clothes. I told him my plan of trying to make it into Bland tonight and he was all for it. We got back on the trail around 12:30 and began our attempt to hike the remaining 21 miles to Bland.The first part of the hike was pretty uneventful, we walked along a ridgeline for most of it and got a couple gorgeous views of Burkes Garden (A huge valley filled with brilliant green farm land). About 7 miles from the road to Bland, Novocaine and I decided to road walk as opposed to taking the trail. Our theory being that we could walk faster on the road than on the trail since it was starting to get dark fast. In the end the road was definitely faster to walk on, however, I think it was much longer than taking the trail. Oh well, we made it to Bland. We win!I had been craving a cheese burger so the first thing I did was go to the only fast food place in town... a Dairy Queen. I ordered the biggest burger they had and once I was finished I ordered a large blizzard. My favorite part about towns is eating real food.Since Bland doesn't have any place to do laundry I brought several clothing items in the shower with me and hand washed them. Odd I know, but my toxic t-shirt needed to be clean... well cleaner than it was.
Date: 2006-04-28
From: Bland, VA

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Waking up in a bed seems really strange to me. When I wake up in a bed it takes me about a min. to figure out where I am (What state? What town? What planet?). Where as when on the trail if I wake up in my tent, I know I am in my tent, or if I wake up in a shelter I immediately recognize it as a familiar place. Plus my sleeping bag feels like home, a very smelly home, but home none the less.Made a couple calls this morning including calling my boss at Ohio State, Kristyn. When I left OSU I was given 2 months unpaid leave before I had to decided if I wanted to return once I was finished with the trail. So I told Kristyn that I would love to come back and work for her and OSU, but I wasn't sure it was worth it to OSU. Since I wouldn't be done with the trail till late August and then if I did come back to OSU I couldn't guarantee how much longer I would continue to work there. So I told her I would submit my letter of resignation, but I wanted to be sure that I left the university on good terms.Novocaine's dad arrived late last night so they spent quite some time figuring out what section of the trail they would hike together. Got my gear together and we all drove to the grocery store and I resupplied for 2 days worth of food. In front of the store was a group of ladies having a bake sale, so I purchased 2 hotdogs, a pulled pork sandwich, 2 bags of cookies and a loaf of sweet bread. Thank you ladies!!!Novocaine's dad dropped me off at the trail around noon and I made it to the first shelter 30 min later. I was the only one at the shelter so I got a chance to lay on the picnic table in the sun and read a backpacker magazine that someone had left at the shelter. In there I read a really cool article about the CEO of Whole Foods who has thru-hiked both the AT and the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). Very Impressive.The rest of the days hike was pretty easy, mostly ridge walking on old logging roads. At Jenny Knob Shelter I am accompanied by a group of 3 section hikers from NC, and long distance section hiker from Boston, and Bear and Tortoise (Who I have just met for the first time today.).
Date: 2006-04-30
From: 1/2 Mile South of Doc's Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Got a great nights sleep and woke up around 8:30. The final 8 miles into town went really slow. I felt like I was walking really fast but it took me almost 4 hours to get into town (that's a 2 mph pace, I usually hike much faster than that).Once in town I got a hotel room with Bonesaw and Tricycle and then walked up the road to get some lunch. The first thing I always crave when I get to town is a huge cheeseburger. So I went to Hardees, got a burger, and then went to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Mmmmmmm. While at Dairy Queen I ran into Senator and he filled me in on what him and the rest of my old group had been up too. I would fill you in but the story is actually pretty boring.For the rest of the day Senator and I hung out in our hotel room and watched Simpsons episodes. And when those were done we watched some other crappy TV shows. TV is often a big part of a hiker being intown. It is the ultimate form of relaxing and being lazy, the TV allows you to not really think. It, in fact, thinks for you... which is a great bonus. When I am on the trail it is just me and my thoughts... so it is nice for them to go away for a while
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day!Woke up and got to lay in bed and watch TV for a couple hours. Which is much more fun than waking up and hiking. ;-) We then found out that our hotel was full for tonight so we would have to move to a new hotel. In the end this worked out great, because we moved to a hotel closer to the center of town. This made running errands much more convenient.Once getting our hotel a big group of us went over to the Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet. It only took me 620 miles, but I finally got to enjoy the PIzza Hut buffet... and I am not gonna lie, it wasn't worth the wait. Oh well, I ate my $6 worth and was really full afterward. That's all I can ask for.I then went to the library, wrote some and tried to figure out a bunch of financial stuff. Later I got a haircut, did laundry and picked up a mail drop my mom sent me. Once again my mom sent way too much junk food, but I was able to find a good home for all of it.
Date: 2006-05-02
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: light rain

Woke up at 8am and could not fall back asleep, so I woke up and began packing up my stuff. I went to the post office and mailed some old maps and my camera battery charger home. I also sent a newspaper article and a postcard to two of my coworkers. Amanda and Jordan, enjoy!I got my gear together and Senator and I started the long walk out of town. Just around the corner from our hotel a woman yells at us from her pickup truck and offers us a ride back to the trail. We eagerly accept her offer and are dropped off at the trail head in no time. Right out of Pearisburg there is a very steep long climb. After the climb the trail really levels out and we walked along a ridge with beautiful views of the country side. For most of our ridge walk we straddled the VA/WV border and then dropped down into a valley and followed a stream to our shelter.I felt pretty good most of the day today, but the pads on my feet felt really sore at times. Tomorrow, if it isn't raining in the morning, Senator and I are going to try to hike about 25 miles. This will help put me in a good position to meet up with my Uncle Tom and Cousin Evan when they come down to hike with me in about a week.
Date: 2006-05-03
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

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

Had a nice long morning in my sleeping bag before venturing out to go to the bathroom. It rained last night so my feet got pretty wet and cold in my flip flops. Returned to the shelter and began packing up my gear. Senator and I left the shelter around 10am, a late start for both of us, but the relaxing morning was nice.A bridge was out in the first couple of miles of trail so we had to road walk about 1.5 miles around. Once back on the AT we were greeted by TRAIL MAGIC, in the form of a cooler of sodas and a tupperware container filled to the brim with Little Debbie snacks. I drank a Fruit Punch soda and wolfed down a Devil Cream and a Swiss Cake Roll. Thank you Captain for the Trail Magic!Once back on the trail we almost immediately had a 1500ft climb. The Fruit Punch soda was not to happy riding in my stomach, but was able to make it to the top without my stomach getting to upset. The trail for the rest of the day was really rocky and by the time I made it to the shelter for the night my feet were killing me.There were two amazing views on my hike today. One was this place called Wind Rock, which opens up to a great view of an evergreen valley. We couldn't sit up there for too long though cuz it was really windy and cold. The next view came at Kelly Knob, where these huge white rocks jut out into the valley. The view was spectacular and a sat up there and just admired the view for about 45 min.Back at the shelter for the night Bonesaw and Tricycle showed up a little before dark. While I was lying in my sleeping bag typing my journal for today, I was startled by Bonesaw yelling. It turns out a bug flew into his ear and was flapping around. So we all started offering suggestions for removing the bastard. So we poured water in his ear, he used a q-tip and then he jumped up and down on one foot. I felt really bad for him but it was a fairly amusing situation, because earlier in the day he was talking about the same exact situation that one of his friends went though.
Date: 2006-05-04
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: clear sky

It was a very weird morning... and I don't really feel like talking about. The hike today was hot, and with the exception of a few nice views, was completely miserable. Made it to the Niday Shelter with intentions of hiking on, but Senator, Bonesaw, Tricycle and I all decided to stay for the night and relax. Tomorrow we are going to try to do 22 miles by 5pm so we can hit up this all-you-can-eat buffet in Cawtaba.I really want to get to a town where I can shower, sleep in a bed, eat a cheese burger and wash my clothes. I am not sure why I have this drive to get to town, but that's just what I am feeling right now. That will have to wait two days until Saturday evening but I am still excited and ready for it.
Date: 2006-05-05
From: Niday Shelter

To: Home Place Restaurant, Catawba, VA
Miles today: 22.5

Early start today and a great morning, much better than yesterday. We were trying to hike 22 miles by 5pm so we could go to the Home Place Restaurant in Catawba. Also Bonesaw and Tricycle needed to pick up a mail drop and the Post Office which closed at 5pm.On the trail by 6:45, the early miles flew by. By just after noon we had completed 14 miles. Not too shabby. Also I saw lots of cool things along the trail this morning. Saw quite a few Rhododendrons in bloom as well as a few Orchids, Pink Lady Slippers to be exact. (Memaw do not read the next four sentences.) I also saw my first snake, a 4ft long black King Snake, to be exact. It was laying horizontally across the trail and as I approached it slowly began to move away. Once off the trail the snake pulled it's self back into a strike position and began to shake its tail, when I walked by and put my hiking pole within 2ft of it, it struck at my pole. Very Cool!The remaining 8 miles into town seemed to go pretty slow, but we actually them completed in good time. The trail today varied from really rocky (think scrambling over boulders) to trail that was so wide and soft it felt like carpet. We made it to Catawba at 4:30 and were able to pick-up Bonesaw and Tricycle's mail drop. We then went to the Home Place for dinner. The Home Place serves all-you-can-eat family style meals and it was by far the best food I have had since starting the trail.Halfway through dinner we learned that the Home Place allows hikers to tent on their lawn once they close. So we decided to stay, let our food digest and rest for another big day tomorrow. It is a 20 mile hike from here to the I-81 interchange, with lots of great views inbetween. One of the most well known views on the entire trail, McAfee's Knob, is coming up tomorrow and I am really excited about it.
Date: 2006-05-06
From: Home Place Restaurant, Catawba, VA

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 19.6

It rained a little last night, but by 6am it had stopped. Bonesaw, Tricycle, Senator and I were on the trail at 7:45 and got to McAfee's Knob around 9. McAfee's Knob was amazing! McAfee's Knob is an outcropping of rocks at the summit of Catawba Mountain with a 180-degree view of the distant valleys and ridgelines. I must have taken about 50 pictures. It was one of those places I didn't want to leave, but after sitting up there for an hour it was time to move on.For the rest of the day we walked along a long ridgeline. The weather was spectacular, high 60's with a great breeze. There were also quite a few more great views along the way. Towards the end of the hike I came to this view where I could look back and see the entire ridgeline I had just walked along.Senator and I reached the highway interchange at 5:30 and were immediately overwhelmed by this Mecca of capitalism. To get to our hotel we had to walk a half mile along some busy roads and across several intersections. This was not an easy task since there are no sidewalks and cars were cruising by at 50 mph. No wonder America is getting so fat, our country doesn't even give you a mildly safe option to walk anywhere.After making it to our hotel we headed down to the truckstop to do our laundry. The truckstop was a very scary place, not really sure what made it seem scary, but all I know is that we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. On our way back we picked up some beer and just vegged out infront of the TV for the rest of the night.I also got a chance to really look at myself in a mirror and it is actually a pretty humorous site. My facial hair is beginning to take on this 1870's robber baron look. My mustache is starting to get kind of a handle bar look to it and it is also starting to curl a lot on the ends. I look ridiculous and I like it.
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Troutville, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hung out with: Senator, Bonesaw & TricycleZero day!Woke up surprisingly early for a zero day, and was stuffing my face at our hotel's continental breakfast by 7:15. This was really early for me since I didn't really feel that great from all the beer I drank the night before. However, breakfast some how made me feel better.For the rest of the day we mostly just lounged around the room. It was a great day to zero though because it rained all day. I tried to use the hotel's computer to upload my journal entries and pictures, but the trail journals site was down all weekend, so I didn't get a chance too.Later in the afternoon Tricycle and I taught the other guys to play Euchre. Once they got the rules down we played a game and Senator and I stomped Bonesaw and Tricycle. We were going to play a rematch but Shoney's buffet, The Simpsons and Family Guy all got in the way.
Date: 2006-05-08
From: Troutville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked With: Senator, Bonesaw, Tricycle and Sleeper.Got to once again enjoy the great Comfort Inn breakfast (I must have had 7 bowls of Cereal). Then began to pack up my gear. Senator, Bonesaw and Tricycle left to walk to the outfitters a while before I did so I walked over there by myself. Besides having to brave traffic with a guard rail blocking you on one side, the walk was good. I just watched cars and trucks go by, but it was a good distraction, I am not use to this sort of civilization while I am walking somewhere.I made it to the outfitters and some how found a way to spend $80. I got: drops for my water, Gaitors, stove fuel, a stuff sack and new tips for my hiking poles. I decided to purchase gaitors because I have been getting lots of dirt, sticks and small rocks in my shoe. And it really stinks to have to stop every 20 min or so to fish foreign objects out of my shoe. I had to get the new tips for my hiking poles because on one of them the tip had broken in half. And the other was very, very worn. Hopefully my new tips will last longer than 715 miles... we will see.I also resupplied with about 2 days of food. I will be meeting my Uncle Tom and my cousin, Evan, tomorrow afternoon, so I will be picking up some more resupply then as well. Then moved on to Wendy's and ate a big lunch.The actually hiking today was very mindless, some ups and downs, but nothing really impressive. We made it to the shelter before 6pm set up out tents and then went about gathering wood. The wood was soaked but with the help of Sleeper and his "Neosporin Cottonball" we got a great fire going. Sleeper had bought some Vodka in town so he was making Vodka Koolaids for us. For the rest of the night we all just sat around the fire, talked and told stories. It was a great time. I'll be getting to bed pretty late tonight, but I'm not to worried. I only have to do 10 tomorrow to meet up with Tom and Evan.
Date: 2006-05-09
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: clear sky

Hiked with: Senator, Bonesaw, Tricycle and Sleeper (Morning). Tom and Evan (Afternoon).Waking up after our campfire party was not easy, but I was packed up and on the trail before 10am. I only had 10 miles to hike to where I would be meeting my Uncle Tom and Cousin Evan and got to our meeting place at exactly 2pm. The trail for the first time today parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 8 miles, and it was nice to have the option to walk on the road if you wanted.Tom and Evan arrived at 3pm and they drove me down the mountain and in to Buchanan, where I got lunch and we discussed our plan for the rest of the week. I talked to my dad and got everything squared away for him to meet with us on friday. I also found out that my sister, Katie, will be coming to hike with us too, which I was very happy to hear.Once getting all the food divided up between the 3 of us, we proceed to hike the 3 miles to the first shelter. Once there we went about gathering firewood and got a really nice fire going. Evan and I then went on a mission to get water. There is no direct water source at the shelter so we had to bushwack through the woods to find some. It was about a 500ft drop and a mile walk to get it... but we found some. I also managed to fall down 3 times on my way down the hill, I had only fallen a total of 2 times before today. Oh well.When we returned from getting water Tom had already started cooking dinner. We had meatballs, potatoes, carrots and onions all in a foil pouch and then cooked right on the fire. After dinner we all sat around the fire and I talked about my trail experiences and drank a couple swigs of bourbon. We also heard this really large animal about 100ft off in the woods. Once it realized we were so close he began to snort really loudly and slowly moved away. We never saw him, but we think it was probably a fairly large mule deer.