morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-09-06
From: Dicks Creek Gap, Top of Georgia Hostel

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

9/6 Tray Mountain Shelter 11.0Today couldn't have started much better. I woke at 6:15 and walked into the bunkhouse kitchen where my phone was plugged into the charger and my groceries were sitting on the table where I had left them the night before. You see, I was the only person in a 16 bed bunkhouse. I heated some water on the stove for coffee and began packing my food bag with 3+ days worth of food. I put away my fully charged phone and ipod and was just about to make another cup of coffee, when Bob opened the door and said breakfast is on the table. I followed him back to the other building and saw the table set and a pot of coffee on. There was also; eggs, sausage, grits, toast, butter and jam, a wonderful mixed fruit salad and orange juice. We ate and talked a while and then I went back and finished packing all my things into my pack. Bob drove me the half mile back to the trail and I was once again, southbound. It wasn't an early start but it was worth it and about 8:30. Like any other gap, I had to climb uphill for an hour or so before heading back down. This would be the theme of the day. Up, then back down over and over. I passed a couple in the morning and 3 guys right around noon. They ask about Dicks Gap and I told them of the great experience I had at Top of Georgia Hostel and convinced them to go there. I think. I had run out of water and for the third straight day, I was finding most of the springs dry. It has rained 12 of the last 15 days. How could all the springs be dry? About 1:00 it began to thunder. I was 2 miles from the closest shelter so just kept going. It continued to thunder louder and the sky darkened. I saw the sign to Tray Mountain Shelter and turned in there. It was 2 and I hadn't eaten lunch either. I dropped my pack and removed my water bags and then hoisted my pack up with the bear cables. I walked the 500 ft to the spring to find it flowing cool, clear water. I filled my bags while swatting mosquitos. They have gotten worse every day over the past week. At least the rain is helping them. I made some lunch and drank a liter of water. The mosquitos are worse here than any place since Maine. The Thunder continued for 2 hours but it hadn't rained yet. I had planned on going farther but with it raining every afternoon, I prefer to stay at the shelters and the next one is 8 miles south. 11 miles is a short day for me, but the log book is 6 moths old and will be excellent reading and I am dry here. I already know my tent won't keep me dry. Also, this my last chance to camp over 4,000 ft on my journey south. I'll try for 15 miles tomorrow by starting earlier. Today I am grateful for cool, clear, mountain spring water.
Date: 2014-09-10
To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I Know, I know. I am a slacker. I got home..... yes I am home, and I dropped the ball. I met these three cool guys at Gooch and we spent my last day on the AT hiking together. Well, kind of. I mainly hiked with Brandon. The other two were Fidel and Marcelo. Anyway, I got up early because?? Why did I get early on my last day? So, I had a 15.8+ 1 mile day planned. The weather cooperated for the most part. We left.... What time did we leave? Early, I think. I do know we were at Springer around 3. Brandon and I met a guy working on the trail between the parking lot and Springer who was doing maintenance. I am sorry dude, I can't remember your name. Bob? Anyway, he does an amazing job maintaining that section. He told me that he had just replaced the journal/log for Springer and that I would be the first to sign it. REALLY? Not much else to say.   I am finished.. The story how I got home would take hours, so....I want to thank everyone that helped me with their support. Honestly, I couldn't have done it without you and Tamara. It was harder than I thought it would be. I guess if you are a stubborn S.O.B., it can be done. Even for an old man like me. Ha! you youngins. See ya on the PCT. Finally, I am grateful for all the support that you gave me and kept me from quitting. Thank You.
Date: 2016-02-15
From: Campo, CA

To: North
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It's been 17 months now since I completed my AT thru-hike. I spent much of last year getting caught up on the things I left unfinished in '14. I did, however, manage to spend some quality time in Idaho on the Salmon River with my whitewater family and another trip to Zion for some canyoneering. I had similar plans for this year but we was unsuccessful in acquiring a river permit for the Selway or the Main Salmon this year. Our group put in a total of 112 combinations for permits and got nothing. Looks like the AT isn't the only outdoor adventure that is gaining in popularity. The weighted lottery that is used by the NPS may be in the near future for some trails soon as well.Since I Don't have a any other adventures coming this year, I have decided to bite off a hunk of the PCT. The final permits will be issued tomorrow and I will decide on a starting date then, but I am thinking May since late March and all of April are so popular. I stayed a couple weeks in front of the bubble on the AT, so I will stay behind the bubble on the PCT. My plan is to doo the first 1,000 miles or so. If things are going really well and I don't want to leave, I may go to Chester which is about half way. I would try to complete the remainder in '17. I know this is kind of a late decision, but I already have most of the gear. I need a bear canister, but not too much else. I guess I need to start a new journal in the 2016 PCT section ;-).
Date: 2016-02-16
From: Campo, CA

To: North
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It's been 17 months now since I completed my AT thru-hike. I spent much of last year getting caught up on the things I left unfinished in '14. I did, however, manage to spend some quality time in Idaho on the Salmon River with my whitewater family and another trip to Zion for some canyoneering. I had similar plans for this year but we was unsuccessful in acquiring a river permit for the Selway or the Main Salmon this year. Our group put in a total of 112 combinations for permits and got nothing. Looks like the AT isn't the only outdoor adventure that is gaining in popularity. The weighted lottery that is used by the NPS may be in the near future for some trails soon as well.Since I Don't have a any other adventures coming this year, I have decided to bite off a hunk of the PCT. The final permits will be issued tomorrow and I will decide on a starting date then, but I am thinking May since late March and all of April are so popular. I stayed a couple weeks in front of the bubble on the AT, so I will stay behind the bubble on the PCT. My plan is to doo the first 1,000 miles or so. If things are going really well and I don't want to leave, I may go to Chester which is about half way. I would try to complete the remainder in '17. I know this is kind of a late decision, but I already have most of the gear. I need a bear canister, but not too much else. I guess I need to start a new journal in the 2016 PCT section ;-).
Date: 2014-04-12
To: Big Sur
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Spent the week camping and hiking in Big Sur. Tried out the esbit tablet stove and decided not to take it. It coats everything with black crud, and the fuel is stinky. I'm not planning to do a lot of cooking, so I thought it would be a good option, but I am going with the alcohol stove.I leave tonight for Philadelphia, and then fly down to Atlanta a couple of days later.
Date: 2014-04-17
From: stover creek

To: almost woody gap
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Got up early after a chilly night and hiked along a pretty creek before getting to 3 forks and going up Hawk mtn. Passed Sassafrass and a couple of other hills. Hit Gouch shelter about 2, so we kept going. Went further than I wanted, but had a stellar camp on a ridge over a beautiful valley and a small town with cell service.
Date: 2014-04-22
From: dicks creek gap

To: standing Indian shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: moderate rain

Rained today. The poncho works great. Had a nice time walking in it. Learned about ramps, and left a trail of stems all the way to the shelter. Some how missed the junction and walked half way up the mountain before I noticed, and turned back. It was a chilly night, but we had a small fire and the clouds broke as the sun went down.
Date: 2014-04-24
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: clear sky

Got to the highway by 9am. Waited around for a while and got the shuttle into Franklin. Checked into the Sapphire Motel and rented a wreck to get to a Chase Bank and drive Sean to Springer. The Wreck turned out to be a wreck, and we are waiting around in a UPS store for the rental guy to get us. Sean will have to try for Springer again tomorrow. My knee thinks driving around for another day will be more fun than hiking too!BTW: the total is off by about 10 miles. We hit 100 on Albert Mountain and are up to about 106!
Date: 2014-04-27
From: noc

To: Cody Gap
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a real ear popper. Lots of ups and downs. Mostly ups. The terrain is quite steep and the little camp spots along the trail are dissapearing. It is warmer, but with this come the bugs. Saw another snake today. There is a front moving in tonight, but I am past most of the steep technical bits leading into Fontana. I need to pick up a bit more food, then into the Smokies I go! Fun to have 3g in the tent.
Date: 2014-01-02
To: 2014-The Year We Hike
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

2014-The Year We Hike is the title of this journal entry because we were all set to hike last year, when less than 2 months before our starting date, Jim was offered an opportunity to relocate to Melbourne, Australia for work for 6 months. This was too good to pass up so we put our AT plans on hold, knowing that the trail would be here this year, but a chance to live in Australia was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our time in Australia was amazing and if you are curious about what we did (and we did a lot!) I kept a blog of our time down under and that can be found at this address: southerncrossings2013.wordpress.comWe started a journal for our hike last year and our preparations seem to be about the same this year. Although our freezer is full of 80-some dehydrated, vacuum-sealed meals, so I don't have to be doing that this year. That journal may be listed in the column to the left of this entry. I know it takes 3 entries before anything appears on Trail Journals, so I will introduce us in a future entry.Happy Hiking!
Date: 2014-01-03
To: Prep #2
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Winter made itself known in the past few days and in the past 24 hours we've cleared about 20 inches of snow out of our driveway. We live in western New York and now that the snow has moved on, we are experiencing bitter cold temperatures. We went for a walk after dinner tonight and it was 3 degrees! Hope not to see temps like that on the AT because we are not taking clothes to be prepared for that!Here's a bit of info about us. We do not have trail names yet so Marji and Jim will have to do for now. We have given some thought to appropriate trail names while on other hikes, but nothing has stuck so far. We are both fairly recently retired, me (Marji) from teaching and Jim from a software engineering career. We have 2 grown sons and a daughter-in-law, who, if we are lucky, we will get to see at some point during our hike. Having lived in Australia for 6 months of the past year has hopefully prepared us to be away from friends and family for a long stretch of time. Although getting to the AT is much easier than getting to Australia for a visit!We are actively training for our hike with lots of long walks and hikes. I also do some cross-training with yoga, pickleball and kickboxing. We are slowing adding weight to our packs which we carry when we go for longer hikes. We plan to start the trail with shorter days and slowly build our stamina and trail legs. I'm sure Jim will be ready for longer days before I am, but we will make it work!We look forward to meeting other Class of 2014 AT hikers and are counting the days until our journey begins (69).
Date: 2014-01-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

More walking and cross-country skiing today as the temperatures soared up towards the freezing mark! We'll enjoy these "balmy" temps for one more day and then the arctic blast returns! Our local newspaper includes some of the USA Today in each day's edition and today the results of a survey of senior citizens was shown. One thousand seniors were polled about what was on their bucket list and the top vote getter was "travel the world", the second vote getter was "go back to school" and number three was "walk the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail"!!! 44% of the seniors said they wanted to do the AT! This really surprises me because when we tell our friends or people we meet about our hiking plans they either don't know where or what the trail is, or they think we are insane! Is anyone else surprised about that percentage or are we just hanging out with the wrong crowd??!!The national weather map shows very cold temps in northern Georgia so we hope any early season hikers are keeping warm! Happy Trails.
Date: 2014-01-06
To: Polar Vortex
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are experiencing the polar vortex which is impacting a huge swatch of the country. We went for a training walk/ hike this morning before the temperatures started to drop, but we had to deal with ferocious winds. We went out for our evening walk and it had dropped to 8 degrees and the wind is still blowing and bands of lake effect snow move through occasionally. We are not experiencing the lowest of the temperatures that other parts of the country are and we wish the best to those who are experiencing this bitter blast who are not used to such weather. Hope everyone is keeping warm.As we think about our final selection of clothes to take on our hike, it is hard not to want to pack an extra warm layer, especially when it is this cold. I have a nice Patagonia down jacket with a hood that will be my warm in-camp layer. And I guess if I get too cold, I'll just get in my sleeping bag in the tent. Our plan is to make sure we keep one set of clothes dry at all costs. I believe that I can generate enough heat while hiking to stay warm on the trail, so I will focus on the best layering for staying warm once we stop walking for the day. I've read that people carry their fears when hiking the trail and I will probably be carrying an extra layer!66 days!
Date: 2014-01-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a beautiful day for a hike so we threw our packs in the car and drove a few miles to a nearby park where we had a delightful 5 mile walk. We were glad we had our Yaktrax on as the trail was quite icy in places. Now the question is: do we carry our Yaktrax until we are through the Smokies or not? As Jim says that will be a game day decision. Jim has a sister, Jeannie, who lives outside of Knoxville, TN and will probably be the one who drives us to the trail after we drive to her house from Rochester, NY. She has also agreed to be our Trail Master and send us resupply boxes when we request them. Jeannie is highly qualified to do this job as she did it for her son, Metric, when he hiked in 2004 (I think). We are excited that she has agreed to do this and we know that we are in good hands. We are enjoying reading the journals of other 2014 hikers as they prepare for their adventure. And we look forward to meeting them and sharing the trail experience. Happy Trails! 63 days.
Date: 2014-01-14
To: 2 Months from Now!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

WOW~we just realized that the 14th of March is just 2 months away! We continue to think of big and little things we need to do to get ready to be away from our home for 6 months. I did contract with a guy to mow our lawn while we are gone but there are several bills which still need to be paid in advance and we need to secure a house-sitter. It's a good thing I am a list maker!We took a good 11 mile hike in the hilliest local park in our area and it went really well. About 3 miles of the trail was quite icy which slowed our progress, but we were glad to finally get out on this trail because the conditions were no longer conducive to XC skiing. We hope to be able to get back to this park a few more times in the next couple of months to get some hill work in because most of our local hiking/walking is on flat terrain. As an older retired couple, we are hoping to meet other older, retired couples who are hiking the AT. Over the last 4 or 5 years I have enjoyed reading the trail journals of some of these twosomes and seeing how they deal with hiking with the same person every day, sharing of camp responsibilities, different hiking paces, etc. Jim and I have done other extended hikes, but not for 6 months, so we do have some experience of dealing with our differences out in the wild!Happy Hiking!
Date: 2014-01-20
To: Here Comes the Cold Again
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The training and preparations continue. We did 8.26 miles along the Erie Canal Trail this morning in the snow with our packs. The canal trail is a delightful place to walk unless one is trying to get ready to hike in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina! Oh well, we're doing the best that we can with what we have to work with. Tomorrow the bitter cold temperatures return to western New York and many other areas. We'll get out to walk but will add a few more layers. I don't really look forward to hiking on the AT in the snow and very cold weather, but at least I will have had some practice in those conditions. Many of our friends and people we meet are interested in our hike and ask if we are keeping an on-line blog or journal. I guess it is time to make up some business cards with this journal address on them. I did this for our Australian blog and people seemed to enjoy getting the card when they asked about our adventure Down Under. We didn't get much training done this past weekend as we went to Michigan to hear the Michigan All-State Choirs perform. My brother was one of the directors and the performances were excellent. This was a time I wished I had business cards with our trail journal address because some of my brother's friends were very interested in our hike. I hope this entry is readable and that the photo shows up because I am using my phone to make the entry. Happy Trails!
Date: 2014-01-27
To: Cold, Cold, and More Cold
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I feel like a broken record, writing about the cold temperatures, but they are relentless and therefore newsworthy. Today it actually warmed up a bit, mid-20's, but the ferocious winds brought the wind chills right down to near zero. None of this stopped us from getting in a 10 mile flat walk with our packs. A bunch of years ago I bought a neoprene face mask from the deep-discount table at a local sporting goods store, and until this year it hasn't gotten much use. I was most grateful for it when our walking route took us south or west this morning because I'm sure it keep my face from getting frostbite. I'll need it again tomorrow.This afternoon Jim and I seriously did a practice pack-up with our packs. We stuffed our sleeping bags into small, waterproof bags and gave careful consideration to each article of clothing and piece of gear we planned to take. I've read that hikers carry their fears on their backs and my fear is that I will be cold at camp after we have stopped walking for the day. So I probably have at least one extra layer that I don't need to be carrying. I may decide to give up my Kindle at the start in exchange for an extra wool layer. My Kindle was going to be my luxury item, but it may need to wait until I don't need so many warm layers. Plus, I will probably be too tired to read or there will be lots of people in the early going who I will want to talk with, so who needs a Kindle anyway??!! This afternoon I made a batch of Hudson Bay Bread, from Lip Smackin' Backpackin' by Tim and Christine Conners. Calling this a bread is really a misnomer because it is more like a granola bar. The ingredients are oats, butter, sugar, honey, nuts and raisins and the bars are delicious. I've wrapped each bar in plastic wrap and will have our Trail Master, Jeannie, include a few when she sends us some of our dehydrated dinners. 45 days and counting. . .
Date: 2014-01-30
To: Hills. Not Mountains, Just Hills
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I was lamenting the fact that most of our training walks have been on flat terrain, because that is what we have when we walk out our front door so yesterday Jim suggested we go to Cobbs Hill Park in downtown Rochester. Cobbs Hill is the home of the resevoir that supplies the city with water and a bunch of cell towers, so you know that it is the highest point around. Let me be clear, it is not a mountain, but it is the best we can do without driving quite a ways. So we bundled up because even though the sun was shining, the temps were in the single digits and the wind continued to try to blow us over and headed out for some hill work. I was glad we were on the hill on a school day because the snow on this hill was packed solid from all the sledders that used the hill on the weekend. After 5 loops on the hill we walked a couple of miles on the trails in the woods before returning to the hill for 5 more loops. We quit after 7 miles, in 7 degrees, feeling like we'd had a workout. We will include this park in our park rotation.Years ago I read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods and found it a very frustrating read, mostly because of how ill-prepared he was to go into the woods. On our recent road trip to Michigan, we borrowed an audio copy from our library to listen to as we drove and thoroughly enjoyed the story this time! I must be mellowing in my old age! We laughed out loud and enjoyed the research he did for the side stories that accompanied the chronicle of his hike. I'm hoping that our preparations will allow us to find more joy in our adventure than he seemed to have in his. Warmer temps are on the way here for a few days so maybe I can leave my face mask home when we go walking! Happy Hiking!
Date: 2014-02-07
To: Snow, Ice, Cold
Miles today: 0.0

One more winter storm blew through here earlier this week and left us with 10 new inches of snow. The temps have tumbled too so we've had to once again bundle up when we head out for a training walk. The up side to this winter weather that once the snow clouds move out we've had a couple of beautiful sunny mornings. Our Yaktrax are proving to be a good investment this year!A couple of weeks ago we practiced packing our clothes and gear into our backpacks and that went well. This weekend we plan on gathering 4-5 days worth of food to see how much that actually weighs and how to divide it up between our packs. I don't mind carrying food because my pack gets lighter each time we eat! A couple of our friends are planning a going away party for us in a couple of weeks. It makes us happy to know that our friends wish us well on this adventure even though most of our friends have no desire to hike the AT! The friend that is organizing the party is calling it the Second Annual Robinson Farewell Party, reminding us that this time last year we were postponing our hiking plans to move to Australia for 6 months. Hmmmm, I wonder if there will be a Third Annual Farewell party in 2015!!!We are big Olympics fans and are looking forward to following the games over the next couple of weeks. Go Team USA!!!