morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-10-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0

I woke up and layed in bed, waiting for the sun to peak through the window of the hostel. I ended up getting up before this happened. The boys went out for breakfast and Scout left early, so I was the only thru-hiker for breakfast at Elmers. There were a few other guests as well. It was a lovely breakfast and I enjoyed being around some new faces. I hit the trail a little after 9 am. It was uphill almost all day today. Luckily I had myself in the right state of mind, and I powered myself right up the elevation gain. I hiked by myself most of the day, and that was nice. It was a warm and damp day with the smell of fall thick in the air. There are so many smells involved with fall. The shelter tonight is really nice and quite large. it's supposed to rain tonight, so I'm happy for a shelter. I think I've only spent 3 nights in my own tent in the rain. Tents and rain aren't the greatest duo. Feeling strong and ready for bed tonight.
Date: 2017-10-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.0

Woke up to rain. it took awhile before Aloha Franky Scout or I to move. I love sleeping in on rainy mornings. Plus we only planned 15 miles into standing bear hostel today. We went over max patch when the weather was behaving, and that was an incredible mountain top. I think that it's the last bald on the trail for me. Tomorrow I will be in the Smoky Mountains. Standing Bear Hostel isn't too bad, but it's not the nicest. There are no flushing toilets which you think I wouldn't mind since I live in the woods, but if I'm paying for a place to stay, I want a toilet. I played some guitar with Scout and a guy working here. That was a good time. I may get in a chess game tonight as well, which I am looking forward to. In the last town, I looked up some beginner chess strategies that I'm anxious to try. Tomorrow is another all day uphill, so wish me luck. I'm getting so close to the end. P.S. I saw my first rattlesnake today on the trail.
Date: 2017-10-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0

Today we left standing bear and the weather was nice thankfully. TOday is another one of those uphill all days, but this is my very last uphill all day so, I don't know how I feel about that. I'm now in the Smoky Mountains and they are beautiful. The smell of sweet pine is thick with every breath up here. The shelter has section hikers and Scout and Franky and I are here. The first five miles were pretty tough. They were uphill and long with no break, but after that it wasn't bad. I started a new audiobook today called A Dangerous Talent. It's about art forgery, but I'm not very far in so, I'm not quite sure what is going to happen, but I'm excited to have a new book to listen to. So I know what day I'm finishing, it's the 17th of October, and that's pretty crazy. Right now I feel so ready to end, but I don't know if I will feel ready to end when it happens. I have a few days left of full hiking, none of which will be very difficult, The hard part is over, I'm going to finish this thru-hike.
Date: 2017-10-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.0

So my blogs have been a bit of a mess since I spilled coconut all over them in my pack a few days ago so...I've been voice recording them the last few days, I've given up on the writing. My blog has been a mess since the beginning, but I've never missed a day. We woke up the usual, 7, 7:15 and hiked fifteen miles into where we were supposed to go into Gatlinburg. My morning was really nice, not that many people on the trail. It was a really beautiful morning, and then all the sudden about 5 miles from being done, we started seeing all of these people. It was pretty crazy. We were passing them, they were coming at us, they were just everywhere. So that was quite bizarre because that usually doesn't happen on the trail. Scout had arranged a shuttle that was prepaid to pick him up, and he invited Franky and I to come in with him. The guy was kind of an ass and charged franky and I $20 each for a fifteen minute car ride downhill that he wasn't expecting to even have join the shuttle, so that was just frustrating. Franky and I were annoyed because we could have hitched so easily with how many people were around, but oh well. Gatlinburg Tennessee is insane. There's like, its a tourist town and...it's crazy, it's like being at a theme park or something. So, we had quite a bit of fun there checking everything out, did some moonshine tasting, etc. We did the touristy thing and that was pretty fun, and we went to bed at 10 pm, which is super late for a hiker.
Date: 2017-10-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

0 day. We all woke up at 8 and I felt great, I felt like I was not a thru hiker, I felt kind of like a normal person, I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I wasn't thinking about hiking, nor did I feel like I had a hikers body when I woke up. I just felt like how I used to before the trail. Usually I feel sore and stiff from hiking. We got up and got rolling, went to dunkin doughnuts and this girl got herself some doughnuts, because I love doughnuts, however I'm going to have to cut myself off soon. About four more days of eating garbage, and then I have to cut back because I won't be hiking all day long everyday. So, we hit the town pretty hard today. We went to the aquarium and Ripley's believe it or not museum. We went to the arcade, and we won a Kavu bag in a claw machine which was pretty fun. We just had a great day. Did some wine tasting, the town has a lot going on and I wasn't really expecting it, but it ended up being a great zero day, my last zero day, and tomorrow we will be back on the trail.
Date: 2017-10-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.0

The truth is that I never blogged for the last four days of my journey. I¢m not sure why I did this. I was probably not coming to terms with it ending. So here I am, over a month later, finishing my last for days on the Appalachian Trail. On October 14, I summited the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. Clingmans dome. The Smokey Mountains were wonderful, especially this time of year. There were hikers and tourists everywhere. I ran into two female thru-hikers today. Mona and Stumbalina. I actually met Stumbalina before way back in Massachusetts. She was going north at the time. I almost didn¢t recognize her at the shelter tonight. She looks Great! Mona is also a flip flopper. She¢s pretty cool. It was nice for me to be around some girls on the last leg of my trip.
Date: 2017-10-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.0

Oh I remember this day very clearly. It was already a big day to get into town and I ended up getting lost for a solid mile. I hiked so hard all day, trying to catch up to Scout and his son, which I eventually did! We stayed in a hotel in Fontana Dam. It was Scout, his son, Mona, Franky, and me. Fontana Dam is a funny little place. We crossed over the huge dam today right after exiting the Smokey mountains. I saw two black bears today while hiking. Only two more days to go.
Date: 2017-10-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

A few climbs today. Nothing crazy. There¢s nothing crazy left on this whole trip for me. It¢s all smooth sailing. There were a few sharp uphills, but it was no big deal. I camped with Franky and Scout in my tent. As I¢m getting close to the end of finishing this thru-hike, I feel like I have this big exciting secret that other hikers don¢t know when they pass me. I feel like blurting out that I only have one day left, but I don¢t. I usually don¢t say anything other than hello. I just hike. I¢m good at hiking. It¢s so easy. Uphill will always be challenging and downhill will always be annoying and flat will always be boring, but there¢s nothing hard about hiking when it¢s truly boiled down to footsteps. Yeah you have to make sure you have food and water and shelter, but that is all second nature. It¢s nothing to worry about. Humans are meant to live like animals. We¢re just extremely spoiled in our furnished homes and luxuries¢¦well, some humans anyway. Not all are as fortunate to have nice homes and food and clean water. I am extremely lucky to be able to take time out of m life for a thru-hike. Not only do I have luxuries in my life, I can afford to walk away from them to experience a different kind of living while I walk with nature.
Date: 2017-10-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.0

When something this big ends¢¦It just ends.When I reached the sign at Nantahala Outdoor Center that I stood at crying a little under five months ago, I didn¢t know what to feel. I have walked everyday for almost half a year and now I guess I¢m done. There¢s no more for me to hike, at least not on the Appalachian Trail. I can go home now.  The hike into NOC was lovely this morning. I was emotional packing up this morning since it would be the last time. On top of me finishing my thru-hike today, it¢s also Scout¢s Birthday. I have been hiking with a card for the past few days. I gave it to him early this morning. It¢s weird to be ending before all of my other friends. I don¢t want to redo miles to Springer however; I¢ve already done them. This is my journey, they just happen to be a part of it.At an overlook, we ran into a big group of weekend backpackers. We talked and laughed and stayed up there for quite some time before I made my descent down to the river. Finishing felt quite anticlimactic. I just stopped walking and that was the end. I love the NOC. It was awake and lively when I walked over the bridge. There were tourists and water enthusiasts everywhere. People could tell that I was glowing about something, but they had no idea that I just finished hiking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. I felt sort of empty. I don¢t know how else to describe it. Empty emotionally as well as I was hungry! The three of us made our way to a restaurant and eventually Aloha, Funk Duck, and Mona joined us for evening celebrations. We had cake and drinks. It was a big celebration night for all of us. But even the celebrating didn¢t keep me from thinking about what I was going to do next. I have not planned out the next steps of my life, but for now, that¢s ok. I just need to be right here, wherever I am and no matter what I am doing, I just need to be right where I am. There¢s no rush on anything because I can never put myself into the future or the past. If I find myself lost, all I need to do is open my eyes because I am where I am. As it turns out, putting one foot in front of the other is a successful tactic in finishing a thru-hike. So if you are looking for advice on your own journey, that is what I¢ll tell you. It¢s just one foot and then the other.
Date: 2017-10-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hi Friends! It's Dot. Yes, I have finally finished getting all of my blogs up to date! I hope you enjoy them. Also, please visit my YouTube channel for more trail videos! I love getting new subscribers. So what am I doing now? It took about a month, but I finally have made my way back to Idaho, but let me go back to the beginning of my post-trail experience. Since my car was conveniently waiting for me (thanks Red!) at the NOC, I didn't have to worry about getting home. I ended up slack packing my hiking friends for a few days as they continued. This was a fun way to slowly ease out of trail life. I brought them everything they needed and I was either hiking or running a few miles on the trail everyday. I didn't want to leave the AT. Eventually after a few days, I started to feel anxious and I said my final goodbyes to my hiking friends and started to head for Virginia. It took me two days to do the drive because I kept stopping in trail towns and I was even continuing to sleep in my tent. I wasn't very excited about seeing my friends in Virginia because I felt sort of like an animal. I couldn't remember how to do the civilization thing. I had arranged to stay with a good friend who worked at Sweet Briar College, where I went to school. I drove up the beautiful driveway to the school and I felt out of place. This had been my home for three years, but I no longer felt like I belonged there. I scampered up to my friend's office to get the keys, carefully avoiding as many people as I could. I woke up in a tent that morning and I looked like hell. I ended up running into a handful of people I knew. I nodded through the "you're so skinny!" comments and, "wow, your all done!" and "was it life changing?" questions. First off, I am the same weight as when I started, obviously I'm done, and of course it was life changing, but not in the way you think. Finally I made it to the office and my friend gave me her keys. She instructed me to go home, shower, and clean up. She has a beautiful house that is close to the AT and out of town. It was exactly what I needed. I stayed outside for a bit, playing with her dog and taking in the grassy fields and the mountains beyond. I feel like a piece of me now belonged to these mountains, and it is no small piece. I avoided my phone completely as I made my way inside. That night I ate dinner with my friend and we watched the new Wonder Woman movie...at least I think it was new. Time was moving slowly, everything about my life felt unfamiliar except for the woods. I woke up the next morning and I pulled weeds almost all day. The monotony felt very familiar and it felt good. That night, I took a big step towards reintegrating into the world, I shaved. I carefully bundled the hair of each stroke of the razor blade on the side of the tub. It took about three times around each leg to do the job. By the time I finished, my legs looked naked. I didn't like it at all.
Date: 2017-10-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

What better way to become a normal person again than a job fair? Yay...fun...uhuh. Why do I have to look nice for a job fair again? This was my initial thoughts to being encouraged by my Career Services Counselor at Sweet Briar to attend a job fair happening at UVA. She even tried to give me nice clothes to wear, I politely refused...at least I think I was being polite. She went to the length of printing off twenty copies of my resume on resume paper. I wasn't even a week off trail and I felt like a monkey in a zoo headed off to try to find a job. I wasn't ready to see girls from School, but the van headed to Charlottesville was chuck full of girls that I knew. I was overwhelmed. I tried my best to be nice. All I wanted was to change into comfortable clothes and go galloping into the woods. I was completely off my game at the Job Fair. I don't even know what I want to do as a career next. I ended up talking to all of the education tables. I walked up and introduced myself, following with the line, "and I just finished thru-hiking the AT." The rest of the conversations were easy after that point. I made jokes about just shaving my legs for the first time and feeling overdressed and out of place. I would get asked a lot of questions about my experience, and then I would hand over my resume and go to the next table. Several people followed up with me, I even went and toured a school. But nothing excited me. I dreamed of a job that allowed me to hermit in the woods.
Date: 2017-10-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I spent a good while with my friend who lived out of town. It was such a lovely place to decompress, but I didn't want to overstay my welcome. A friend of mine is driving home with me to Idaho, but we don't leave until November 15. I have arranged to do a bit of couch hopping so that none of my friends have to deal with me for too long. Next, I went to stay with my great friend, Jessi. This is who has been sending my food resupplies and storing my stuff at her house. She is an angel. She still lives close to the Appalachian Trail, so I could escape whenever I needed. Her roommate, Caroline, works nights and is also an amazing human being. I loved staying with these two. I also started some serious Netflix binging while staying there. Stranger Things 2 and The Good Place I finished in just a few days. Next, I headed to my friend's house who is driving home with me. This is the girl who has been in charge of my trail journals. She is living in Richmond. There are no mountains in Richmond, and I felt withdrawals right away. The city does have the James River flowing through the downtown area, however. I found myself going for runs along the river to ease my aching soul. I loved knowing that this river flows under the Appalachian Trail many miles west. This same water has touched the same places that have touched my heart.
Date: 2017-11-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I am no longer feeling an identity to the trail. Chelsea and I packed up my car and headed for Idaho, we would drive more miles than the Appalachian Trail and it would take about four days. When we drove under an Appalachian Trail footbridge, I felt a serge of happiness. I remembered clearly crossing over that bridge a few months ago. We stayed with a friend of ours in Indiana, and when we got to Montana, we stayed with my brother, whom I haven't seen for a hot second. My brother is who started posting my blogs for me...but he failed miserably. We had a good time staying with him! He lives in Helena, and I was most excited about stopping there so that I could step on the CDT. Yes, I have trail fever. I don't want to do another long thru-hike, at least not for awhile, but I want to be outside all of the time. Eventually we got back to Idaho. I'm back in the pine trees and mountains, and I feel at home. I live in Northern Idaho. I took my horse out for a spin as soon as I could. She is nice, fat, old, and happy. I also chopped twelve inches off of my hair as soon as I got home. It's currently in a plastic bag waiting to be sent off to a hair donation center. Chopping my hair was a big step towards reinventing myself. It's a new start. I have applied for jobs and am also applying to some masters programs. I'm not sure what I will do next, but that's ok. Right now I'm mostly just thinking about Thanksgiving tomorrow. I am doing better with my eating...I was eating like a monster the first few weeks off trail, but now that I've gained a few pounds and haven't been exercising as much, I'm getting in control of my diet. However, I am a little aggressive towards food. I eat really quickly, and I get kind of possessive. I'm working on it, turns out five months in the woods eating as much as you can all the time can really affect your eating habits. That's all for now. Post-trail life is even more confusing than trail life, but that's what the trail is supposed to do. It makes you see things in a whole new perspective.
Date: 2017-02-13
To: Amicalola Falls State Park
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We got to the lodge - it was a long drive from the trailhead, but the lodge was super nice. Dinner was an all-you-can-eat buffet. It was expensive and not great, but that was probably because we came in right before closing time. We were so hungry that we were grateful for it anyway. Tommy and Michael fought over who got to sleep in the loft in the room. The view was spectacular, and the room was gorgeous. --Malinda
Date: 2017-02-14
From: Big Stamp Gap

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: overcast clouds

2/14Today was a decent hike. I was glad to finally get on trail, even if it was later than I had hoped. The roast beef from Arby's was a big plus, though. I think I'll save my extra sauces for later on the trail. Planning to hike to Gooch tomorrow.
Date: 2017-02-15
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Shelter
Miles today: 8.7

2/15Last night was AWFUL! I got little sleep. As I was getting ready for bed, I saw MICE in the shelter, so I said, "Nope. Nope. Nope," and set up my hammock. It looked a little clearer than it had to that point, so I figured that I wouldn't need my tarp, just my bivy sack. Boy, was I wrong. It rained basically all night. I got about 3 hours of sleep all night, and my sleeping bag got SOAKED. I made it to Gooch, and my stuff had time to dry out, but then I realized, after opening the package, that my meal needed MILK. Guess what I didn't get, liquid or otherwise. That's right. Milk. Also, my pot was too small to cook it all at once, so I made two batches. The first was awful, super tiny and liquidy, so the second batch I tried to make with less water. It was worse. Much worse. I'll save the rest of those until I get to Neels Gap and can get some dried milk.
Date: 2017-02-16
From: Gooch Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

2/16Today started out alright, but I didn't get quite as much sleep as I wished and it was kind of cold. Then it went to s***. I had a hiking buddy I met on the trail, Tyler, who filtered some water for me with his Sawyer filter just before lunch (I am getting a full size Sawyer at Neels, period), but I didn't get enough then. As I came to Jarrad's Gap, I was trying to decide if I should filter there or push on to Woods Hole Shelter and filter there. I figured that shelters always had water, so I should be good to push on with my 2/3 liter of water. WORST IDEA EVER. I'm not sure how I'll make it to Maine if this keeps up. I think I'll take the wimpy way out tomorrow rather than go up Blood. I'm so depressed. If things don't look better in the morning, I'm not sure what I'll do.
Date: 2017-02-17
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap Hostel
Miles today: 3.5

2/17Today was a very good day. I woke up hopeful, bright, and ready to go. I decided to just do Blood, which was the right choice, because it was actually pretty easy. I actually made it all the way up without stopping once. The hard part was actually coming down. One of the blazes was way off to the side and hidden, so I ended up walking like a half mile out of the way. Apparently, this is so common that they have had multiple people get lost on the way down, and one of the workers here at Neels was going up to put up a sign that says, basically, "AT this way," which would have helped a lot. Missing the trail wasn't fun, but the nice man on the ACTUAL trail was a saint. I'm not entirely sure he wasn't LITERALLY a godsend. He gave me some water, because I was out. Bone dry. That was great. But I have to say, the first glimpse of Neels Gap was the most welcome of the day. I needed this day to decompress, reorganize, and reevaluate my gear. I am planning to be in Hiawassee by Monday, so that'll be good. That's where my first bounce box is, so I should be able to finish up with my gear overhaul. I'm feeling much better about tomorrow. I'm planning to leave here with ALL 6 liters of water, so I shouldn't have to filter until dinner. That's going to be nice.
Date: 2017-02-18
From: Neels Gap Hostel

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

I only made a little over 10 miles today. I was thinking about making some more, especially since I made it to the shelter by only 1:30, but I was wet, and cold, and it was still raining and dreary, so I stopped. Today was alright, hiking wise, but my hips were hurting me earlier-I forgot my lesson about having things in my hip belt pockets. I should be getting pretty close to Hiawassee tomorrow (and my bounce box-yay!), only about a day or so out. I'll probably catch a ride into town, though I'm not sure if I'll take a zero or just a nero, with a long, hot bath waiting for me at the end, and getting moving the next day, which sounds like the best plan. I'll know for sure tomorrow.Signing off, Nemo.