morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-02
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: campsite past Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We awoke to heavy fog after a very windy night. When the mountains are clouded like this it sounds like rain because the moisture condenses into water drops.   No one slept in the shelter because there was little chance of precipitation, but it wasn't too bad. The tents were a little wet, but not soaked with moisture like a true rain would produce.   We went to the shelter to have breakfast and I asked Thistle why she didn't have a fire ready since she was there ahead of us (I was just messing with her). Her reply was "There's no wood". That was priceless.   I said "There's no wood? In these WOODS?". We all had a good laugh about that one. I just couldn't let it go. It was hilarious. I went to the woods and gathered wood for the fire. I didn't mean to embarrass her, but we have fun kidding around and she knows that. It will be a while before she lives that one down.   We broke camp and set off for Flint Mountain Shelter, a hike of 12.7 miles. Indie felt strong and hiked ahead after we said we'd find him if he decided to go beyond the shelter. The hike was difficult because it was long with some hills, but mostly due to a really long and steep downhill hike.   When we arrived at the shelter we were out of water and exhausted, but there was no sign of Indie. We filled our water supply and grudgingly moved on past the shelter to find Indie. Just when we decided to stop at the next campsite we found him, tent up on an old logging road. It was almost dark as we had just hiked 13.6 miles, our second longest hike yet. It felt great to get that far, but we were tired. We pitched our tents, made dinner and hung our bags from the bears, and it was dark. We were really deep in the woods that night so I was more aware of wildlife than ever. Maybe because of that I heard some critter walking around my tent. I think it was probably a mouse and I didn't want it to chew through my tent so I clapped my hands and yelled, waking everyone up. "What was that?", Indie asked. I admitted what I did and everyone went back to sleep. My sleep was very light that night even though I was exhausted. It's easy to forget where you are when surrounded by people, but can get a bit nerve racking when you realize you are surrounded by bears.
Date: 2013-05-03
From: campsite past Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Just as we'd planned the day before, we decided to let Indie lead and find him if he passed the next shelter, Hogback Ridge Shelter.   We met G2 on the way, which he explained means "Giant" in Swaheely. He was a big guy and a strong hiker who was hiking 20 miles per day. We were low on water so stopped at a stream to resupply.   There was a note on a tree that stated someone had contracted the NORO virus from the stream.   Though we knew of the virus, it just didn't make sense that the virus would be in a moving stream. We decided to be safe and treat the water with Aquamira, which kills everything, in addition to filtering the water. We hiked on to the shelter and saw Free Mason, who we hadn't seen since Gatlinburg. He followed us up to the meadow on top of the mountain past Sam's Gap. It was a nice camp spot and we wouldn't have to start the next day climbing a large mountain.   Once again we hiked further than planned, so our attempt to catch up was coming to fruition. We hiked 11.2 miles including scaling a large mountain. If we keep this up we'll be in Damascus on time for the Trail days Festival.
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Hogback Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: clear sky

Saturday, May 4th to Monday, May 6th - Meadow past Hogback Ridge Shelter to Erwin, TNWhen I woke up Saturday, I didn't feel so good. My stomach was sour and I was extremely nauseated. I saw Indie and he saw the look on my face and asked what was wrong. I told him I was sick and just then, Thistle walked up with a terrible look on her face and said she was also sick. We saw G2 and he felt fine, as did Indie and Free Mason. Thistle and I went separate ways to the woods to throw up, and came back to decide what to do. We were both very sick, so we decided to get a room and get over our illness. She, Indie and I made our way to a hotel to recover. As with the other trail towns during bad weather, the hotels were full of hikers. I saw many familiar faces and reconnected with several hiker friends of the past. The weather report was full of thunderstorms and heavy rain for the next three days, so we decided to wait it out and recover at the same time. And if it wasn't bad enough, I'd stepped on a rock awkwardly and turned my ankle. It wasn't too serious, but painful enough. I spent the next couple of days feeling like dirt. We had done enough trail to get north to Erwin. Erwin, TN is a depressing place to be, especially when sickly. They hung an elephant here in the early 1900's because it killed a handler. This was after shooting it and electrocuting it in failed attempts to execute it. It's a disgusting story and a bad history of a town that looks like it hasn't changed since. We are ready to leave as soon as the sun comes up with no urge to return.
Date: 2013-05-09
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: camp area before Roan Mountain
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

After battling mice all night, I surveyed my stuff to see if the mice had done any damage. Luckily, the only evidence the mice got into anything was a hole in my trash bag. I knew I'd removed all food from my pack, but there were some peanut parts in the trash baggie. No harm done. I had a wonderful breakfast of Reeses Peanut Butter cereal and powdered milk, one of my recent and greatest discoveries. It's so flavorful and refreshing, everyone comments on how good it looks. Once breakfast was done, I wrote a birthday wish to Brittany, my 27 year old daughter, with flowers, leaves, rocks and sticks. Though I'd sent her a birthday card while in Erwin, TN, I sent her the picture of "Happy B-Day Britt". I figured a natural birthday wish was more appropriate since I am living in the woods walking the trail.We met a hiker named Dirty Rice who was tent camping at the shelter. When asked how he got his name, he explained that after Neels Gap a bear tore down his food bag that was hanging from a tree. He called the bear a "professional bear" because it knew what it was doing and made a living doing it. Anyway, the bear tore his bag all apart as evidenced by streams of duct tape, and ate everything in the bag except his dirty rice. He's been called Dirty Rice ever since. As we were about to leave we were joined by Mountain Man, Nomad and The Family, so we had a large posse including Chuckles, Indie, Thistle and myself. We had planned to skip the first shelter and get as far as possible, maybe even to the top of Roan Mountain. During the hike I was having foot problems so I stopped to doctor my feet. While stopped, several hikers passed me, but two stopped by and talked to me. I met U-Turn and Sling Shot and kept seeing them all along the trail. The hike wasn't supposed to be overly strenuous, and wasn't too bad until we came upon these cliffs of large rocks which was more climbing than hiking. It was a tough climb, but had some incredible views of the mountains. Me, Thistle, Indie, Mountain Man and Nomad took a long break and ate lunch overlooking the cliffs. It was a nice place to be. We eventually marched on and decided to forego any attempt to climb the mountain, one of the AT's highest, until morning since we were running out of daylight. We found a nice place to camp and were later joined by The Family. We went to bed early knowing we had a big day in front of us the next day.
Date: 2013-05-10
From: camp area before Roan Mountain

To: Overmountain Shelter (The Barn)
Miles today: 12.7

The hike up Roan Mountain seemed like a great hike at first. The trails were smooth with few rocks and a gradual incline. However, when we got nearer to the top, it got steeper and rockier. It was a beautiful hike, but it ended up being pretty tough. We went through more spruce forests which really added to the scenery. When we finally got to the top after several hours of climbing, we arrived at Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. We met Steps while we were on our hike there. While at the shelter the weather started to change for the worst. It started raining on and off with periods of thunder. While we contemplated what to do, Mountain Man built a fire in the rain. Recall he's the hiker who showed me how to build a fire using Birch Bark. Eventually, the drive to hike miles won over our desire to stay dry. We are trying to walk into Trail Days Hikers Festival by May 16 or 17, so we need to increase our daily average. We set off for Overmountain Shelter which is a large barn that can accommodate up to 27 hikers. The weather held up until we were about halfway into the hike and then the skies opened up. We had to walk about 7 miles in the rain and were quite soaked by the time we arrived at the shelter. I passed a hiker named Mamasita on the way to the shelter and she met us there when she arrived. Also on the way we met a shuttle driver named Rock Ocean who was moving up the trail giving rides for donations to hikers. In this case he was taking hikers to Damascus. It seems like a lot of hikers are doing an awful lot of yellow blazing, which means riding in cars as noted from the yellow lines on the roads. I'm not a purist, but it's disturbing thinking these folks may get credit for hiking 2,184 miles when they really aren't doing it. It's supposed to be let every hiker hike their own hike, bur it doesn't really seem fair to those who are hiking every mile, like me. When we got to the van, I saw Piper who I last saw at Gatlinburg I believe. It seems I'm always bumping into hikers from the past. This is a good thing because a lot of hikers have passed me. We arrived at the shelter and sure enough, it was a big barn. I was told it was built to make a movie, but never got the name of it. There we ran into Tutu and Rerun, the two hikers I'd said looked too clean and neat to be thru hikers. However, the further up the trail I see them the more they look the part. There's nothing wrong with looking good on the trail. In fact, I envy that they can do it. I couldn't be neat and clean if I tried.
Date: 2013-05-12
From: Roan, NC

To: Creekside Camp past Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning we had our newly celebrated morning beer, something Thistle and I started whenever we stay in a town that sells it, and then got a ride back to the trail. I was surprised to see U-Turn and Roger, a guy with a beard as long as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top who I'd I met in Erwin. I last saw U-Turn on top of Roan Mountain when we hiked another 7 miles.Anyway, we hit the trail and it was very muddy. I slipped and went down within the first 20 minutes. That was my fourth fall on the AT and I hope it's my last. As with the last couple of days, we ended up hiking in the rain again. I'm so tired of being wet!This day was a special milestone as well. We hit 400 miles today, which is almost 1/5 of the trail. Though there is still a lot of trail to go, it's finally starting to feel like progress is being made.During the hike we stopped to check out Jones' Falls, a really cool waterfall that cascaded over smooth rocks. We met up with Scavenger and Hawaii, two young hikers we've seen and hiked with since early on the trail.We hiked until we found a decent camp site, only this campsite was more than decent. It was right on a really nice creek about 6 feet wide, larger than most. We set up camp and a large hiker named Mammoth came by and asked if he could join us. We said yes and he turned out to be a great guy. He set up his tent nearby and joined us for supper. It turned out he was from near Long Beach, NY where Thistle is from. We put on some good music with my new speaker and Thistle and I drank the wine we hiked in. Although it was just some cheap wine in a box, we agreed it was the best wine either of us had ever tasted.Everything just tastes better on the trail. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we do this.
Date: 2013-05-13
From: Creekside Camp past Mountaineer Shelter

To: Black Bear Resort Cabins
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: few clouds

Since we got to our campsite late and stayed up a while, we decided to sleep in a bit. However, Mammoth said he was getting up early to get a jump on the trail. I couldn't sleep in because I awoke on my deflated air mattress on the hard, cold ground. Apparently something cut a piece of my air inflate valve, causing a leak. I was up before 7:00 AM, but didn't want to interrupt anyone else's sleep, so I built a fire and had breakfast. The first thing I noticed was that Mammoth was still asleep and didn't "get up and out early". I had a great fire waiting on everyone when they woke up. Camping is the most fun of all when hiking. In fact, we have this running joke that "camping is fun and hiking sucks" which is basically true. There is no great enjoyment in carrying a 40+ pound pack on your back while climbing steep mountains! We didn't break camp until almost noon. Not a good start when we knew we had about 13 miles to do. The hike wasn't too bad, but there was still plenty of mud to contend with. For that reason I wore my boots, which I now call my "cruel shoes" because they cause blisters on my feet. After about 5 miles or so I had to change into my tennis shoes to spare my feet. On the way in Thistle reserved a cabin at the Black Bear Resort for $40, or $10 each, so we were excited. I was glad I wouldn't have to end up on the cold ground again. When we arrived we got some food and beer and mostly hung out for the night enjoying a few more beers and company. Tomorrow will be a big day to hike over Pond Flats Mountain, a very large mountain. We are still on target to get to Damascus by Friday, but it's getting harder on us hiking these long difficult hikes continuously.During the hike, Indie was really hurting where he had turned his ankle a few days before. However, there was really nothing we could do to help. I was worried he wasn't going to make it. If that happened he was basically on his own. I couldn't carry him or his pack, so if he couldn't walk it's either camp where you are at the time or call 911 and be rescued. There is a price for rescue. I don't believe they do that for free. As it turned out he was able to make it in, but I doubt he will be able to continue hiking for a few days at least.The cabins turned out to be a great find. Four of us splitting the bill came to a little more than $10 each. The resort had microwavable food and beer, so we indulged. They also sold these packets of freeze dried beef meats, perfect to add to instant potatoes I already had. We had a good stay with a shower and a good nights rest on a mattress, something quite special for me considering my sleep on the cold, hard ground the night before. I bought some bubble gum to try to plug my sleeping pad valve since they didn't sell plumbing putty. We'll see if my McGuyver fix works tomorrow.
Date: 2013-05-14
From: Black Bear Resort Cabins

To: .3 shy of Watuga Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

We said goodbye to the Black Bear Resort cabins. It was difficult not taking a zero day there because it was so nice and we are so tired from hiking long and difficult hikes. We are really trying to make it to Damascus so we don't have to come back. Indie made a call to Miss Janet, a trail angel who provides shuttle service (among other assistance) to hikers for donations. He is getting a ride to Damascus and will remain there for Trail Days while he lets his ankle heal. After having our routine after hotel/cabin morning beers, Mammoth, Thistle and I took off on our hike without Indie. Not far from the resort was Laurel Falls. We stopped by and saw Ody, who Thistle hiked with early before he "Pink Blazed" and got off the trail for a while before getting back on. Pink Blazing means meeting and following a woman on the trail. Apparently he fell in love, then fell out and lost time on the trail because of it. Anyway, Ody, Hawaii and their friend Quinoa jumped in the freezing water below the falls on a pretty brisk day. They were all shivering so I chose not to join in on the fun. The hike from there was beautiful as the trail followed the river for quite some time. Then it turned upward to the dreaded Pond Flats Mountain. It took us more than 3 hours to climb the mountain. It was everything we expected and more. We were exhausted by the time we got off the other side. When we came out of the woods, we came to Lake Watauga, a large lake that was flooded so bad barbecue pits were underwater and the trail had to be rerouted where it ran beside the lake. We stopped short of the shelter at a wonderful campsite on the lake. We cooked our new meat and potatoes and had a great dinner before retiring our tired selves.
Date: 2013-05-15
From: Watauga Lake Campsite

To: Mountaintop Camp past Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

This morning we woke up by the lake, which was extra nice. We saw a Momma duck with six ducklings and a large group of butterflies, signs of Spring. However, the weather was more like summer. After a couple of unseasonably cold days, the temperature reversed into the mid 80's. After the cold, the heat felt extreme. I was so hot I drank about 5 liters of water on the hike. Despite the heat, the hike was mostly beside the lake and up into the mountains. Today's hike seemed almost as bad as yesterday, probably because the guidebook I'm using made it seem much easier than it actually turned out to be. On the trail I saw The Bard and Jimbo, the mother daughter team that camped with us the day we took a zero in the woods. We also hiked with two groups of college kids, one from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and one from Northern Virginia who were taking a class on hiking the Appalachian Trail. On the way up we passed a group of 29 hikers who were hiking 21 miles South. They were part of the Warren Doyle expedition. They had to practice hiking and are scheduled to thru hike the AT in 2015. I'll have to find out more about this group. With 40 miles to go to get to Damascus, we will have to either hike it in 3 days or get a ride. Due to our late as usual start and tough hike, we decided to call Miss Janet to see if she would pick us up from Hwy 91, a little short of Damascus, meaning we'll have to come back after trail days instead of starting from there after it's over. We haven't heard back, so it's still up in the air as to when we will actually arrive. We will continue hiking and see how it goes. We found a nice camp area on top of the mountain overlooking the lake, just short of our intended destination, so we have a little more trail to do to get to Damascus. The sunset was really pretty from here. I would expect the sunrise to be special too. Can I get up for it? Don't hold your breath.
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Home Day 1 

To: Home Day 1
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I wanted to say a couple of things about coming home. First of all, it was strange. I hadn't been home for more than two months now. Home seemed like a foreign place to me when I walked in the door. I have spent the last two months and two days in the woods, with some hotel and hostel stays excluded, with minimal possessions I carry on my back. This lifestyle gave me an appreciation for living with minimal possessions. When I came home I see this strange house that now looks like a mansion, with two nice cars in the driveway, a 65 inch TV on the wall, and all these nice things that now seem excessive and wasteful. It's not that I don't appreciate it all, because I do and I know that I bought it all with my hard earned money. But living with nothing for a while gives you a deep appreciation for life without possessions. I have learned to live with only trees and animals in a small tent with all my possessions weighing less than 50 pounds, which is too heavy by the way. I think we get used to a lifestyle and forget what is important. Friends are most important of all. When I was working and commuting 14-15 hours a day to earn the money for all this, I wasn't out with friends. I wasn't experiencing nature. I didn't have time on my hands to think about life and living. I believe the trail has already changed me, and will continue to change me as I continue. This is the best thing I've ever done. I have something to reflect on for the remainder of my life and have no regrets. If you can ever do this, even for a little while, I highly recommend it. When I came home and went to bed, the same bed I've slept on for years, it was very comfortable. However, I dreamed of the trail all night, about stopping along the trail and sleeping in my tent. I woke up in a sweat several times and my sinuses are draining. My body is already trying to adjust to new conditions and circumstances. I'm sure in a couple of days I'll be comfortable again, but it takes some adjustments, just like it did for me to get used to sleeping on the trail.   Also, I would like to report that I have lost 25 pounds and am in better physical condition than I have been for a real long time. That makes it worth it alone. Now it's time to get to work preparing for a wedding...   I shall return.
Date: 2013-06-24
From: Sarver Hollow Shelter

To: one mile past Audie Murphy monument
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Well, we didn't exactly get up at 6:00 AM. We did manage to get up an hour later but didn't get going until 9:30. We were tortured all night by a singing bird, which I believe was a Whipperwill. It was loud and obnoxious and literally went on all night long, keeping us all awake or with interrupted sleep. We set out for our 16 mile hike starting with the dreaded climb out. Once we got started good it was apparent that we didn't miss anything with our spoiled night hike. We hiked high on top of mountain ridges, hiking on large slabs of rock tilted at steep angles that were no fun to walk on. I can only imagine how much more difficult that would be with a large part if your vision removed. It would have been down right dangerous, so I'm glad we didn't try it after all. After the slabs of rock we had to climb a gigantic mountain. It was clear to me once we were in the middle of the climb that 16 miles with these extreme climbs might be asking too much once I started developing some pretty bad blisters on my feet. I hadn't hiked in a solid month, so my feet were tender and i am out of shape, but improving every day. I truly believe I could have done the whole 16 miles, mountain and all, but hurting feet can really spoil the party. I could do it physically, though admittedly I was pooped.   I taped over my blisters with that miracle solution to almost every problem, and a hiker staple, duct tape. It helped for a while but the blisters won with a 2nd round knock-out. I figured it wouldn't be smart to go too far on my blisters and put future hikes in jeopardy. We did manage to get to the top eventually and added another mile or so looking for a good place to stealth camp. Even twelve miles at this stage of me coming back is pretty good, but I'm feeling stronger every day.It's 13.5 miles from the shelter we were headed to the next, so we'll have to either do 17+ miles or find somewhere in between to camp. The main reason we try to camp near shelters is that there is always water near, plus you can stay in the shelters in bad weather if needed. Hopefully my feet will be OK for hiking tomorrow.Happy Trails