morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-10
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Day 29: (D6 in the Smokies) Left camp at 8am with full sun. It was much dryer this morning as the last couple of mornings has had lots of dew. We both felt really good and set off at a fairly quick pace. By getting to Davenport Gap Shelter, this will get us only four miles from Standing Bear Hostel the next day. Our motivation is to get a shower so we are very excited. Today is the first day where I got sore while hiking. In the afternoons, my calves really started to cramp up and then my left knee was very sore going down hills. It was a really tough day and to be honest, this soreness was something new so I wasn't sure what was going on. While walking, I kept analyzing each step. I didn't do anything to make it hurt, so wasn't sure what was going on. Did I need more water? Did I start the day off too fast? We are now out of food except for some left over oatmeal...yum oatmeal for dinner. We planned this just right and are almost out of the Smokies. In just a couple of days, we will be in Hot Springs, NC where we can finally zero and have some good meals. Overall, I loved the Smokies. The only drawback is the rule that you need to sleep in the shelter unless it is full. Even once you can tent, there were not very good tenting spots especially after Clingman's Dome. Davenport Gap Shelter is the only shelter that is fully fenced in. It was horrible to be cooped up in there...oh well, it is only for one night.Salsa
Date: 2013-04-11
From: Davenport Gap Shelter 

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 3.6

Day 30: I need a shower. Most hikers stopped in the middle of the Smokies for a stay in Gatlinburg, TN. It sure would have been nice but we didn't. As you can see, we did not follow our original schedule. Instead of eight days, it only took us six plus days to go through the Smokies. Going seven days withouth washing my hair was a bit on the greasy side. The nights are getting warmer which is great for the morning as it is easier to pack when I can feel my hands. We decided to take a nero (low miles) day so we could resupply and mom can rest her legs (in which the legs are back to normal and feeling good today...whew!). So this morning we started off with us waking up around 6:30am with hiker scent filling the shelter. We can hear the water trickling through the campsite, a light breeze outside our shelter and the birds chiming a melody. I quickly packed and left with thoughts of a shower in my near future. The trail followed beside a river for about a mile. I was tempted to jump in it. By the time I got to Standing Bear Hostel, my hair was sticking on the side of my head. I felt like I should redue my hair, wipe the sweat off my face and make myself look more presentable, at least the best I could for not showering in seven days. Standing Bear Hostel was a unique set of very old cabins with bunkhouses, an outhouse, shower house, kitchen and resupply cabin. It brought my mom back 40 years ago during the hippie years. The showers were amazing. I jumped in with clothes on, washed my hair, etc. The shower was unusual with old bottles outlining the letters "A T" in the wall. The hosts Rocketman and Gator were wonderful as well as the owners Curtis and Maria. We did everything on the honor system. We were given a piece of paper and they said to write down any food we took from the resupply cabin and will pay for it all whenever we leave. It is pretty neat how trustful the hiker community is. If cities and all communities could be like this, our life would be great and filled with so much trust. We are able to leave our bags on the trail knowing no one will take anything from it. We don't have cops patroling the trail, we don't need it. A thief has more to worry about when word spreads to the thru hikers and will be immediately shunned out. I imagine the world was like this a long time ago...i.e. no need to lock doors.Well we were quite lazy today once we got to the hostel. Enoch, Twigs, Guru, Red Knees, Tumbleweed, PFC Snow, Chicago, Annie, Teddy and Oops were all there in the bunkhouse. We also made friends with several German friends who stayed in the another cabin. Since we were at times bored, we all said "lets go for a hike!" A continued topic keeps coming up is about the norovirus. For the night, we are staying in the bunkhouse. A total of eight wooden double bunks. They have a cabinet with linens so we can make our own beds. Of course, we still sleep in our sleeping bags. It was a very fun, relaxing day.Twix
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Deep Gap

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 36: it began raining around 3 am. There was lightening less than a mile away, crashes of thunder. The storm was exciting and frightening at the same time. We went in and out of sleeping to hear the rain and watch the flash of light come through our tent. It was the best thunderstorm I have ever experience. We left camp around 9. The tent was soaked but I stuffed it in its sack and took off. It had drizzled for most of the day. I had my tshirt and rain pants on. Hiking made the rain fairly warm so I decided not to put on my rain coat. The rain began to get a little harder as we got closer to our first shelter. I was drenched by the time I got there. It was nice to sit in a dry spot but no more than 5 minutes the rain completely stopped and the sun came out. Thank goodness because I was cold and wet. Once I began hiking again I warmed up. Mitch and I talked about movies for a good majority of the afternoon. We haven't been in a town with a theater yet. We finally got to the top of the ridge after climbing all day. It was very rocky. We had to climb rock after rock. On one occasion I took off my bag and another threw my poles down so I could use my hands. I thought I was handling the rocks pretty well until I slipped and fell down a big rock. Mitch saw the whole thing. I quickly sprung up then almost fell again. We both began to laugh then moved on like nothing happened. So the score for falls Salsa-2, Twix-2.The rest of the day was beautiful. We got to camp around 6 which gave me a few hours to hang the tent so it could dry. Twix
Date: 2013-04-18
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Sams Gap
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 37: our plan was to do 13 miles to Hogback Shelter but half way through the day I got a text from Salad Days strongly warning us to stay away from the shelters. Him and Risscuit are in Erwin and he said everyone is sick. So we decided to go pass the shelter hoping to find a campsite because our map doesn't show a site for another 5 miles. However, Mitch and I got the plan in our head to get close enough to Sams Gap because ther was a cafe 3 miles off the trail. Our plan was to hitch a ride and eat breakfast. Well mom added to our insanity and came up with the idea to eat dinner there, camp in the back then eat breakfast. We make it down to the road and only see three cars go by in about 1 hour. No one would pick us up. We decide to backtrack so we could try again in the morning the only problem was the las campsite was almost a mile back and uphill. We start walking and no more than .1 mile I see what looks like a flat area. I told them I would check it out. I bushed wacko the top of this hill and sure enough there was a whole flat area with nice green grass. The only problem it was next to a cemetery. We made that our home for the night. Bella ended up sneaking into our tent while we were cooking dinner so Mitch was kind enough to let her sleep with us.Twix
Date: 2013-04-19
From: Sams Gap

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 38: last night was extremely windy. I woke up several times thinking our tent fly was going to blow off. Bella slept well with us. She nestled her way in between my mom and I. I let her out in the morning and she went right over to Mitch's tent. I finally got the courage to get out of my sleeping bag. I went over to Mitch's tent and found out he threw up twice last night. He wasn't feeling too bad but didn't want to come with us incase he was sick. We told him where we were going for the day and he said he might try getting there too. Mom and I still went to the restaurant and it was delicious. We met two guys, Bob and Hobbs, who offered to take us back to the trail. They were interested about the adventure we were on. They were extremely funny and enjoyable to be around. We got a sandwich for Mitch incase we saw him. When we made it back I didn't see Mitch's tent so I figured he went ahead. We found Big Brother and Little Brother, two section hikers from Massachusetts they have completed over 1700 miles and are hoping to complete the entire AT by 2014. We talked about where we would camp tonight and took off up another big climb. No more then 20 minutes passed and it began to pour. It rained for about two hours until we got to the top of the bald. It was miserable. Everything was wet! My pants are getting big on me so I didn't realize my coat wasn't over the top of my pants so my backpack leaked water in my pants soaking my shorts and legs underneath. I also lost the trash bag I was using over my backpack to keep it dry. It must have flew off. If was a nice trash bag too. I finally caught up with mom and she was just as miserable. We decided to walk together for the rest of the day. The trail was soggy and slippery just like my hands. Also when you were going uphill, the trail was like a river with cascading falls with rocks and roots that you can not see. I fell again right on my back. I was getting really frustrated with the falls. It is now Salsa 2 and Twix 3. We got to the gap we were going to camp but decided to go another two miles that way we had less to go into Erwin tomorrow. After walking another hour we finally set up camp, jumped into some dry clothes and hung all our wet ones on our self made clothing line in our tent.Twix
Date: 2013-04-21
From: Erwin, Tn

To: Erwin, Tn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 40: We will be resting our legs today. It seems like we take a lot of zeros but I figure might as well enjoy the towns as I go through them. It'll make my trip more memorable plus it'll rest our legs. We will be moving up in life too! Mitch, Bella, Mom and I are moving from our tent to splitting a cabin for the night where there is VHS player. Twix
Date: 2013-04-24
From: Beauty Spot

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 43: I woke up around 12:30am feeling like I needed to throw up and go to the bathroom. I was praying it would go away but after a few minutes I grabbed my headlamp and went into the woods. I ended up throwing up on my way back to the tent and had to get out of the tent four more times after that. Yep, I got the Norovirus. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely weak and tired. Mom and Mitch went exploring old cabin and barn sites in the area. Also spent time collecting firewood as it was suppose to rain by 5pm that night. Actually the storm started around 3pm. I pretty much slept most of the day but managed to get up around 5pm and we all sat in the tent talking and playing a few games. Oh by the way, Mitch and Bella now has a trail name which is Bluegrass and Tagalong, respectively. Twix
Date: 2013-04-25
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Little Mountain Hump
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 44: I woke up feeling ready to hike. We packed up and headed on our way. I could tell within seconds how hard the day was going to be. We began the day with going up the first small hill. I was lagging behind. Mom came back and said we should trade bags since mine is heavier than hers. I was too stubborn to give her my bag. I thought I didn't need any help so off she went. Shortly after, I realized I could use some help but it was too late. I took one slow step at a time, knowing this was the only way to catch up with them. About every 10-20 steps I either had to stop or sit down completely. I found one awesome fallen tree that I laid my bag on, I curled up on the tree and closed my eyes. I'm sure a few people passed me until I opened my eyes and there was Even Beard. He asked were I was headed today. I wasn't quite sure. I told him my situation and said either past Roan Mountain, on the top of Roan Mountain, or I might just make this tree my home tonight. I asked him if he catches up with my mom to let her know I was far back here. I got the strength to leave right after I saw him go up the hill. This hill was much larger than I expected. I also thought I was alone so I grunted out a little pouty moan then I heard Even Beard say, "you can make it, you're almost here". Where did he come from?? No one was suppose to hear me whine. The day dragged on. I ended up seeing Even Beard resting and drying some clothes a little further down the trail. I stopped for a second then said I was going to continue on so I could beat him. I took two steps past him and said, "I'm winning!" Still trying to have a sense of humor on this hard day. About 1/2 mile later I see the tip of Bella's tail, then all of Bella! Then Bella and Mitch! I shouted with joy. He said mom just went to the top of Roan. Then sternly said to me, "give me the tent". Once again I was too stubborn to let someone help me out so we start walking up the hill and out of the blue I see Mom walking back down the hill to come find me. This time she talked me into trading packs. Wow, I didn't realize how much lighter her pack was compared to mine. Her secret has come out, we were going to redistribute the weights between our bags tonight. I still felt fatigued the rest of the day but didn't sit as much I still just put one foot in front of the other. We ended up hiking 14.5 hours that day. A total of 17 miles and 1.5 hours in the dark. We were looking for Over Mountain Shelter. This shelter is really cool and sleeps around 40 people. It is in a beautiful location. Have you ever seen the movie "Winter People?" Apparently, this movie was filmed there. Anyway, while night hiking, we went past the turn off and landed 1/2 mile up a hill onto a bald. We had a full moon out and put up our tents around 10:30pm. Another hard but perfect day. Twix
Date: 2013-04-26
From: Little Mountain Hump

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 45: I woke up this morning singing, It's a Beautiful Morning! Mom quickly hushed me for some reason. I guess it wasn't as a beautiful morning to her as it was to me. The sun was gleaming through our tent with perfectly warm weather and we were laying on a patch of soft grass. Which I forgot to mention, about a week ago my air pad got a hole in it and slowly deflates through the night. I have to blow it up almost every 4 hours or I'm sleeping on the ground. I haven't been able to find the hole yet.Anyways, It was gorgeous and I hadn't even seen outside. We set up our tent last night in the dark so the scenery was a pleasant surprise. We were on grassy bald hill. We could see the Appalachian Mountains for miles. We were excited for today because it was our first day without having to climb any massive mountains. We were hoping to do some big miles today. We began walking and when we got to the next hill there was Homebrew and Hiker Boy sitting on some rocks. They convinced us to cook breakfast and enjoy this last high elevation scenery with them. An hour goes by and we finally take off. I was still feeling weak but better than yesterday. We had no sense of urgency to get to a certain location or do high milage anymore so Mitch and I took our time resting from rock to rock, went off the trail to see some waterfalls, enjoyed breaks while looking at different plants trying to identify them. It was a fun day but the shelter never seemed near. We kept thinking it was around the next turn. Well about 20 turns later we found the shelter. We saw our hiking friends that we watched Braveheart with, they were sleeping in the shelter too. There was lots of laughing. When it became dark we all jumped in our sleeping bags in the shelter and the hikers began saying goodnight to one another. Night Sticks, Night Monk, Night Coach, Night First Floor, Night Second Floor, Night Third Floor and one hiker shouted out, Goodnight Neverland!Perfectly said. Hey we surpassed 400 miles today!!! Twix
Date: 2013-04-27
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Bear Creek Hostel
Miles today: 15.6

Day 46: We decided we were going to walk all the way to Hampton which was about a 20 mile hike. Mom left first then I left telling Mitch I needed to use the ladies room. Bella ended up following me. I found the perfect spot, so I thought. Mitch left the shelter and began whistling for Bella. I almost shouted, "she's over here" until I notice that I was squatting right by the trail. I stayed quit and watched Bella run to Mitch. When I started hiking I turned my iPod to Michael Jackson. His songs like Heal the world and Earth Song came on and suddenly listening to his music in the woods had a whole new meaning. The trail felt magical. I was getting into the music, skipping down the trail, popping my shoulders and waving my poles. Of course, my dance moves consisted of looking back to make sure no one saw me. The music only lasted an hour and then my iPod died. I had to think of something else to entertain myself which wasn't much.It began raining and I found mom. She said her stomach was hurting and she was getting a cold. She thought I should try calling Bear Resort. I immediately turned on my phone and made reservations to stay in their cabins (talk about jumping the gun). We told Mitch our plan and agreed to join us. We sent him ahead, since he's the fastest hiker, to hold the shuttle into town. We got there at 4pm, checked in and went to town right after. It was a van of hungry hikers. We each bought way to much food at the grocery store, several subs at Subway and a Big Mac for McDonalds. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. I ate about a quarter of my sub and felt full. I still don't have my full appetite back yet so Bella was able to have a delicious dessert.Tomorrow, we decided to slack pack approximately 13 miles with Temporary and Stumbles. We will leave around 9am without our backpacks and go south towards the hostel. It is suppose to thunderstorm tomorrow so this will be a good time to slack pack. Twix
Date: 2013-04-28
From: Bear Creek Hostel

To: Wilbur Dam Road
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: light rain

Day 47: Today we got up to slack pack. This is the second time we have done this. It was really pouring down rain and was planning to be a miserable day so let's go slack packing. Alex, Mitch, Bella, Stumbles and Temporary (both from Connecticut) loaded up in the van. One of the owners, Bob, drove us north and dropped us off Wilber Road Dam. The first five miles was great as the rain was letting up. We skipped, ran, and we were like the Sound of Music going over the trail. This trail followed around the Watuga Lake and Dam. Then it really started to rain which we expected. We each bought about three Subway subs yesterday, so we each grabbed one from the Bear's Den refrigerator to eat for lunch. We had one really big hill to climb which was 1800 ft in elevation. After that, the trail took you next the Little Laura river (which was huge and had lots of falls). It was really loud and beautiful. The wood's floor is beginning to green up with many flowers and umbrella plants. The leaves are finally starting to open up. It was an amazing, beautiful hike. We got back to the hostel about six hours later pretty soaked. We got into some dirty, dry clothes before we started to devour our groceries that we purchased yesterday. Then we collected some dirty clothes to start our laundry. Tomorrow's weather and the next day is suppose to be nice. We have over 50 miles to get to Damascas, Virginia. Yes I said Virginia...yeah!!! Oh I forgot to mention, that we have been meeting some really nice section hikers. Of course, we miss the Brothers (Little and Big). They finished their 14 day hike yesterday. We hoped to have caught up to them but Alex got sick. We also met two other brothers, Bill and Clay yesterday. They have been reading our journal. Well got to run and put our clothes in the washer. Big night tonight as we are heating up some spaghetti and hotdogs and finishing up our Subs. Also, Mitch is fishing right now so we may have some trout to look forward to. Talk to you all later. We are doing great!Salsa
Date: 2013-04-29
From: Wilbur Dam Road

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 48: An older fella name Bob from Black Bear Resort took us to the Wilbur Gap trailhead. He began playing some music from the soundtrack of Animal House. There were plenty of good oldies that we were bobbing our head and snapping our fingers to the beat. As we were grabbing our bags, our chauffeur looked at my mom and asked how old she was. He was impressed with her youthful beauty. That's another thing she's beating me in...I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how many times people have complemented my mom on her hair and her natural beauty. If I was to guess she is beating me 50-0. However, I feel just as thrilled when someone complements her. That's my mom! Hopefully she passed those genes to me!The hike was beautiful today. We could smell the pine in some areas (I would love to bag up the smell and send it home if it was possible), the flowers are blooming and the weather was perfect. We wanted to go around 15 miles, a little past our next shelter. We made it to Iron Mountain Shelter around 3. There were a few other hikers there eating and one, who we have not met, yet, was already in his sleeping bag. He was the first strange character we have come across. I instantly got a weird vibe from him. Every other word seemed like a curse word. I also packed some Tostitoes and Bean Dip that I took out only feet from him. He instantly got excited over my munchies to the point I felt like he would jump me for them if there weren't several other hikers around. My mom called me over to share the chips with her. I quickly grabbed my stuff and ran over to her. Finally another hiker engaged him in conversation so he wouldn't speak to all of us. We decided to walk another 6 miles to the next shelter. Mitch, Mom and I began walking and as soon as we walked away we asked each other if they got a strange feeling and we all felt the same. The day was still warm but Mom was having a very hard day because she got a cold from another hiker who didn't cover his mouth when he coughed. She felt as though the cold was in her lungs. She was constantly coughing. I took the tent back to help her with the weight. We found some trail magic from the Baptist Church. There was soda, oatmeal cream pies and a massive first aid kit. It was the perfect boost to help us the next few miles.We finally made our home at Double Springs Shelter. We set up our tent. My mom calculated the miles and it was 19.1! If we would have known before we set up our tent, we would have walked another .9 to make it our first 20. Well we have 4.5 months to try that so hopefully another day.Twix