morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-14
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Kincora
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: scattered clouds

ST. JANET'S: Miss Janet runs a hiker hostel. But Miss Janet's is more than just an ordinary hiker hostel. Or maybe Miss Janet's is the ideal hiker hostel and every other place we've stayed just doesn't measure up. I'd better explain.Miss Janet's house has got to be 100 years old. It's built like nothing I've ever seen. Things like solid oak doors and tiny bathrooms under stairwells tells me it was constructed by a generation of architects and builders long extinct. The house has four bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms (and one under construction). The hikers are all kept downstairs and between bunks, couches, and floors sleeps about 15. But it's more than just an over-crowded house. Miss Janet's house is run on honor and faith. There is no charge to stay there though a donation is expected. Breakfast, shower, laundry, and an extensive shuttle service are all available to hikers at any time and if one cannot afford a donation, there is always plenty of work to be done around the house. But it's more than a commune or a co-op.Miss Janet lives in her house with her three daughters and everyone shares the same kitchen and shower. Miss Janet asks that you keep the drinking and profanity to reasonable levels because this is her house and her family. This is what Miss Janet's is, a big, happy, if slightly dysfunctional, family, and DigDug and I became part of it over our five day stay.
Date: 2004-05-16
From: Kincora

To: Kincora
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Town Suck and Bad Weather Blow   There are two phenomenon that all thru-hikers become personally familiar with only a short time after beginning their hikes. These are "town suck" and "bad-weather blow". These two situations can occur independently or can combine to intensified effect.   "Town Suck" can occur when a hiker is on his way into town but mainly happens as a hiker is trying to get out of town. "Town suck" is when a hiker is one or two miles out of town and realizes that perhaps he's left his sandals at the hiker hostel or maybe remembers hearing of a free BBQ at one of the local resturants that night. It is said that about 1.5 miles outside of Hot Springs at an overlook called Lover's Leap where one is able to see the springs, the bar, and the ice creamery, "town suck" becomes so strong that it is experienced as an audible hissing sound.    "Bad-Weather Blow" occurs on rainy days or snowy days or basically at any time when the weather causes an unusually great amount of discomfort in the hiker. During a driving rain or a windy, snowy day, a hiker spends most of his time bent low, head deep inside his hard shell trudging through the trail. The hiker spends all his time staring at the ground in front of his feet picking at his footing on a sloppy trail while time passes excruciatingly slowly. However, instead of making bad time in bad weather, due to the lack of breaks and no desire to stop at all between shelters, it is not unusual for a hiker to finish his hike on a bad weather day and look at his watch to find he's been hiking 3 mph. This is what's known as "bad-weather blow" as the storms push a hiker on as they would a ship under sails.   On rare occasions, these two phenomenon can build on each other to create super "suck-blow" situations. For instance, when a hiker is on his way into town on a bad weather day, the combination of miserable surroundings juxtaposed with images of hot food and dry beds puts a carrot in front of a hiker's nose that makes superhuman progress possible.
Date: 2004-05-21
From: Damascas VA (The Place)

To: Damascus VA (Hobo Central)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Donna's Entry: I heard from Ryan today. Actually, I kind of heard from Ryan today. He called during the day while I was at school, and it was Field Day. So, I tried to hear him over the sound of children at play all the while trying my best to keep Deng, (who speaks Dinka) from leaving the area. Anyway, from what I could gather, Ryan survived Trail Days in tact. In fact, he had a great time. He was getting ready to leave Damascus and join the Kincora "hard-core 100 that was going to do some trail maintenance and then return to Atkins to resume his hike.
Date: 2004-05-27
From: Damascus, VA

To: VA 601
Miles today: 18.1

Took the Virginia Creeper Trail out of Damascus and covered 18 miles of AT while only hiking 12 miles on the day. We hiked to an abandoned house where MountainMan used to live that is now owned by the ATC. We were met there by MountainMan and WonderBoy (SoBo 2003) with some trail magic pizzas and beer. Thanks guys.
Date: 2004-06-03
From: Shenandoah South Fork

To: Shenandoah South Fork
Miles today: 20.0

Day One--Still Alive after the Night: THE MORNING AFTER AND VARIATIONS ON A FAMILIAR THEMEThat next morning as we all stumbled out of our drunkenly errected tents and shelters on the rocky terrain of an old flood plain, exactly half of the group found that they had lost thier taste for canoeing altogether. I awoke early (because I had to go dig a cat-hole) and busied myself with canoeing to fetch the missing cooler and take pictures of last nights wreckage (not to mention to get an early start draining the beer stores). By the time I had run out of things to do and could find nothing else to pack or organize (and could rationalize drinking no more beer before noon), the group had come to a new set of plans. After Trey and Wilson od'd The Overloaded and Doomed to Sink, the group was short a canoe. The problem wasn't that there were too few canoes to hikers, but that there were too few hikers willing to man the remaining canoes. Trey and Wilson were still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Wad decided to roll with his cousin and Uncle Ben and Grass decided to take the ride to Harper's Ferry instead of the river.As soon as I realized there was a problem and a compromise was needed, I realized that I was the one who was going to have to make that compromise. You see, Trey was tired of driving around all over Virginia and wasn't even sure if he could get Cotton's tempermental car to start much less attach the large aluminum canoe that needed to get back to Harper's Ferry. So instead of canoeing the rocky Shenandoah in the sturdy composite Red Rocket that DigDug and I shelled out $300.00 for, that canoe was to sit at the river and wait while DigDug and I instead paddled the aluminum Tank That Sank north up the river. So DigDug and I in the Tank That Sank, Cotton and Nuffy in The S. S. SideTrack Cafe, and WonderBoy in the HindenTanic loaded up half the beer and most of the food, said our goodbyes and paddled away up the river.The rest of the day was sunny and beautiful and all three canoes and five hikers remained bouyant and free from holes. Everyone blissfully ignored the fact that the trip's attrition rate to this point had already reached 50% and that we were sure that the pessimistic names we gave our canoes would likely soon become self-fullfilling prophecies. We wouldn't be so lucky with the weather or the constitution of our canoes again on this trip.
Date: 2004-06-04
From: Shenandoah South Fork

To: Shenandoah South Fork
Miles today: 20.0

Day 2: The weather turned nasty with cold rain and we spent hours paddling into the wind with our heads down, wrapped in our hard shells and soaked to the bone. That night, DigDug and I tried to rig our tarps together into a supershelter which worked great in that it kept us dry while we cooked our dinner but failed me when the rain picked up in the middle of the night. About midnight enough water collected in a low spot of my tarp to overload a corner and the standing water over my head dumped onto my pack and my feet (neither of which would dry out for the duration of the trip).
Date: 2004-06-05
From: Shenandoah South Fork

To: Shenandoah South Fork
Miles today: 20.0

On the third day, the rain held off but we never saw the sun, which meant that nothing we owned dried out from the night before. Add to this, the fact that none of us had found an effective system for keeping our packs dry from the perpetual standing water in the bottom of our leaky canoes and you get five hikers that were wetter and smellier than they had been thus far on thier hikes. Day 3 was also the last day in the life of the HindenTanic. Both WonderBoy and DigDug and I knew that our canoes would sink but we were all hoping that all the canoes would last a little longer than they did. WonderBoy and the HindenTanic were a constant source of comic joy. The canoe was much less a canoe than it was an open kayak and it was less of a kayak than a canoe-shaped rock. WonderBoy had to counter-balance his own weight by carrying the largest ice chest. He also had to paddle on both sides of the canoe with a single-bladed paddle and bail water from his constantly sinking ship at the same time.Around about the middle of the 3rd day, the HindenTanic hit the very last rock it could take and sank several inches to the riverbed leaving WonderBoy sitting in a canoe-shaped bathtub with his pack and ice chest floating around him like over-sized tub toys. The broken-hearted hiker did not even get the satisfaction of going down with his ship as it tipped over and spilled him out into the river. We pulled the broken hull of the HindenTanic ashore and stashed it in some tall grass for safe keeping until we could come back for it.WonderBoy, his pack, and the remaining ice chest were divided between the two canoes (WonderBoy, DigDug and I in the Tank That Sank and Cotton, Nuffy and the extra gear in the S.S. Side Track Cafe) and the rest of the day passed without further incident.
Date: 2004-06-06
From: Shenandoah South Fork

To: Shenandoah South Fork
Miles today: 20.0

Day 4 would be the day of the greatest disaster on the trip. I call it the worst not because it was the most damaging or harmful, but because it was more dangerous and frightening than anything else that occurred thus far or even later, for that matter, during the entire trip. Not long after what we were beginning to accept as our daily bridge portage, the Tank That Sank (which was usually the 1st of the 2 canoes), came upon something that completely befuddled its three paddlers. DigDug, WonderBoy and I found ourselves quickly approaching a low water bridge that sat about 9 inches off the surface of the river. So mesmerized were we by the siren-song-suck of water going under the bridge that it never occurred to us that we could be in any danger. Blame it on lack of instruction from DigDug at the helm or the fact that WonderBoy was screwing with a jury-rigged trotline, or my absolute disdain for any maneuverings more complicated than "full speed ahead." Whatever the causes, the effect was this...long after the point of no return; after the Tank That Sank was caught in the tractor-pull of the low-water bridge's current, DigDug shouts, "Paddle!", and the three hikers turned canoers paddle with all thier effort to effectively delay the collision with the low-water bridge a full three seconds. Impact does, of course, occur and the perpendicular canoe is quickly turned parallel and then sucked under the bridge, packs, cooler, and all, with a sickening noise of a giant tin can being crushed. The five of us apparently had at least the common sense of the average rat and knew to abandon a sinking ship. We did so by plastering ourselves like bugs on a windshield to the low-water bridge and managed to pull ourselves on top of it (two of us under our own power and DigDug with the help of a local fisherman) just in time to see our canoe and gear come out on the other side. WonderBoy and I took a moment to survey the scene and then with shouts of, "@!*#", we jumped in to salvage the wreckage.    After all was said and done, the group and its canoes came out of the incident relatively unscathed. Cotton and Nuffy were far enough back to learn by our mistake and paddle the S.S.Side Track Cafe to the shore a safe distance before the low-water bridge. The Tank That Sank, having finally lived up to its name, had a new leak or two but was about as river-worthy, (not very), as it was before and its three occupants were intact with the exception of me. I didn't realize that the water was less than two feet deep on the other side of the low-water bridge and jammed and cut four of five of the toes on my left foot when I jumped in after the canoe and our gear. After the incident with the low-water bridge, the bad weather, if not the bad luck, finally broke and we saw the sun for the first time in three days. The five of us went to bed that night much more humble and with a new-found respect for the river and its prowess as a force of nature.
Date: 2004-06-08
From: Front Royal, VA (Scottish Inn)

To: Shenandoah River
Miles today: 20.0

EPILOGUE:    What can I say in conclusion after such an epic journey. Now that all is done and almost all has been said, I can't help but feel the slightest sadness when I reflect back on my adventure within an adventure. It was sad to see my friends go at different points in the trip. It is a shame that not everyone could make it to the end. While it wasn't sad leaving the river, (for we were good and ready to get back to The Trail at the end of seven days), it makes me sad now to think that I'll never be back there again with those same people under those same circumstances, to relive that wonderous week on the Shenandoah. But like the good in the trip outweighed the bad, the happiness will always outweigh the sad and I'll remember the river and those of us who can now call ourselves experienced canoers with fondness.
Date: 2004-06-09
To: Donna
Miles today: 0.0

Heard from Backdraft today. He was finally through with his aqua blazing and heading back to Atkins or there abouts which is where he left the trail for his water adventure. I must say, I'm glad he's back on solid ground again. After listening to stories about the trip, I told Ryan it seemed like they had made some bad decisions, and he argued that it was more like bad timing. Let's see........putting the canoes in the water at 11:30p.m. on the first day/night and wrapping two of them around a tree in rapids, in the dark......poor timing?????? Reading a map and seeing a footbridge as being 8 inches above the water and thinking it a typo and should read 8 feet.......poor timing?????? Guess what!......not a typo. How does a canoe with two guys and gear go under a foot bridge with 8 inches clearance you might ask???????? Sucked under on its'side would be the answer. Again......poor timing??????? Of course, like any good mother I asked the question, "You do have lifejackets, right?" Backdraft's reply, "Of course we have lifejackets." Mother's intuition and from knowing the boy I can guarantee you that the lifejackets were part of the gear they were having to retrieve from the river since I'm sure they were not wearing them. Lots of people dropped out of the canoe trip that first night....and rightly so! Even decisions made by that splinter group sounded like some more poor decisions.....Massive drama that the Aqua-blazing group was completely unaware of until they got off the water in Harper's Ferry. I'll let Backdraft fill everyone in on all of that if he wants to. Sounded like lots of the trip was spent retrieving gear and people from the water, bailing water, and patching canoes. And yet, Backdraft still had an excellent time! He saw many beautiful sights along the way, was the receipent of riverside trail magic, and got to rest his feet. Said he got some great pictures, I'm surprised his camera stayed dry, and I'm sure he would do it all over again if given the chance.....this time with "better timing" I'm sure!!!!
Date: 2004-06-13
To: Donna
Miles today: 0.0

Another phone call from Backdraft. He got into Bland too late on Saturday to pick up his drop box and doesn't want to wait until Monday. Something about too many zero days so far, so he wants me to forward it to Harper's Ferry where he hopes to be by June 28th or 29th. Once there, the plan is for his college buddy and rugby teammate Twink to pick him and DigDug up and drive them to the beginning point of the aqua blazing. I don't really know exactly where that was. He hopes to be able to get into D.C. for the 4th. I had hoped to be able to meet him somewhere along the trail and take him, but things didn't work out on this end. He did mention that he had been hiking in the rain for the last two days. One of his feet got kind of banged up when the canoe was sucked under the footbridge and he said the weather wasn't helping that get healed up what with being constantly wet. Hopefully, the clouds will clear and he'll get some sunny weather to hike in. He is supposed to call again in a couple of days to see If I was able to get his dropbox forwarded. More when I hear from him again.
Date: 2004-06-16
To: Donna
Miles today: 0.0

Phone call from Backdraft. He is in Pearisburg, VA. As he had only about one minute left on his phone card, the message was brief. Still planned to be in Harpers Ferry by the 28th and 29th. I told him the very nice people from the Bland post office were extremely cooperative and had no problems forwarding his drop box. He said probably no more phone calls till he gets to Harper's Ferry since he is trying to put in the miles, and no more minutes on the phone card. Told him I would send another package with more phone minutes and his memory disc for his camera. Hopefully, he sent a package home with pictures from his aqua blazing trip. I'll post more when I get them or hear from him again.
Date: 2004-06-22
To: Donna Stimmel
Miles today: 0.0

Phonecall from Backdraft: Call from the trail has Backdraft and Digdug somewhere between Daleville and Troutdale, VA. They were trying to put in some big miles in order to meet Twink in Harper's Ferry by the 28th, but the consecutive big mile days were taking thier toll so a zero or two at the 4 Pines Hostel was in order. Also on this day I received another box of somewhat stinky clothing from Backdraft in order to lighten his load. This box also included about 20 pages of trailjournal all about the aqua-blazing trip/fiasco. You'll have to look back to the dates around June 2nd in order to read all about it. Nuffy has told some of the story, but this will be a more comprehensive if not scarier version.    Knowing that yesterday was the summer solstice and naked hiking day, I rhetorically asked Backdraft if he had participated. I say rhetorically because I already knew the answer. Of course he had! He said he was standing at a shelter reading a register when another hiker, Paparazzi, happened upon the shelter. Paparazzi exclaimed, "You're doing it?" To which Backdraft replied, "Well, I'm naked, so I guess so!" Paparazzi, as is his custom, asked if he could take Backdraft's picture and the answer was sure! So, Paparazzi said first he needed to use the privy and when he was through he would take the picture. Anyway, when Paparazzi exited the privy, he too was naked! He decided to join Backdraft in the age old tradition of the day and the two hiked on down the trail together in thier altogether. Can't wait to see if Paparazzi's picture of this day makes the "A Day on the A.T." book. Be sure to go back to read about the canoe trip. Pictures will be sent as soon as he fills up the memory disc currently in his camera.
Date: 2004-09-03
To: Bill Stimmel
Miles today: 0.0

I am just back from a great, if short, visit with Ryan on the AT (I have now picked up some of the lingo...that stands for Appalachian Trail). I flew into Boston this past Sunday and rented a car for a trip up through Mass., New Hampshire, and Vermont. I was thrilled at seeing more Bush bumper stickers than Kerry stickers!I met Ryan at "The Inn On The Long Trail" in Killington VT. He was in the process of doing his laundry, which I am ever so grateful for. He and Pat (DigDug) had checked in the day before after arriving (by foot of course) at the top of Pico Mountain Ski area a short hike from the Inn. The resort runs a chair lift and Alpine Slide during summer months and they allow thru-hikers to slide down the slide from the top, and have their packs lowered by ski lift. From there, they hiked to the Inn. I was introduced to their new companion, Trail Dog, at the Inn's Irish bar. He's a really nice kid from Georgia whose website I had seen earlier in Ryan's trip.Took the boys to a have a good steak dinner in nearby Rutland that evening. Ryan, Pat and I shared a room at the Inn Sunday night, with me demanding the bed closest to the open window and fan. It didn't help. I was awoken three different times that night, from a dead sleep, due solely to the reason for my Son's trail name (Backdraft).We had a great breakfast the next morning at the Inn ... not a crumb was left on the table. The rest of Monday was spent doing all the "zero day/ in town activities" that thru-hikers do .... Visit the local outfitter's store for equipment needs, grocery shopping, visits to the post office, to the library to check emails. We also had a Chinese all-you-can-eat, then saw a movie (Without a Paddle). Then back to the Inn to "fester" and eat a light meal at the bar while watching a little TV. The next day we did a few more errands to get the hikers ready for the home stretch through northern New Hampshire and the White Mountains in Maine.   After checking out of the Inn, they got all packed up and I saw them off to resume the march, on the trail, just behind the Inn.Watching my son disappear into the woods was emotional for this father, but I am so thankful that he has the opportunity to do this trek. And I do not worry about him. I know their are dangers on the trail, but I will trust that God will watch over them all and return them safely to us. The most physically demanding part of the trip is still ahead. They are within 450 miles of the finish line, but the going will be tough. They have great attitudes and are still enjoying their adventure. The people that they are in contact with are really good human beings. I was very impressed with the other hikers that I met at the Inn, including Trail Dog. I was very proud to sit at the dinner table with these three fine young men...all three college graduates, with great futures ahead of them, getting to experience a life adventure that they will learn from and reflect on favorably down the road. They expect to arrive at the finish line, Mt Katahdin in Maine, sometime around Oct 7-9 . GodSpeed to them all! Bill AKA Backdraft Sr AKA Hold-My-Nose
Date: 2004-09-20
To: Donna Stimmel
Miles today: 0.0

Phonecall from Backdraft: He made it through the Whites!!! Yea! Now I can breathe a little easier. He said it was harder than he expected, but great! It took him a little longer than he expected, a couple of days worth, so his ETA for Katahdin is closer to the 15th....closing day, (and my birthday)! I think he was trying to be home by then, but it's looking like that may not happen. That's o.k. I can wait a little longer to be a year older! He sounded great and ready to get home, but not so ready that he would conclude his journey shorter than the Northern Terminus. I recited the names of the recent thru-hikers that had summited and completed their hikes....Gather, Hammock-Hanger, Postcard, and he sounded really excited for them and anxious to add his name to the list. He is still traveling with DigDug and off and on with TrailDawg. He plans to stop briefly in Andover to pick up a new picture disc for his camera so he can take plenty of pictures of the final leg of his trek. That's all for now. All is going well and the trail leads on. I'll post more when I know more. Thanks for your care and prayers that have helped carry him through, and lessen my worries during this adventure.