morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-05-03
From: Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I took a Zero at Gatlinburg to care for my wrenched right knee with RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation). I had met a Ridge Runner the day before and she recommended RICE for my knee, as did a hiker I met along the trail who had wrenched her knee and taken a double Zero to heal it.  I spent the better part of the day in bed treating my elevated knee alternately with ice packs and a compression bandage. The day outside appeared beautiful but I could only enjoy the beautiful sound of the river flowing by the TravelodgeI eventually walked some blocks around Gatlinburg to discover the peculiarities of the town. I took a number of photos to document the unbelievable and indescribable. Gatlinburg reminded me of Ocean City, MD, on steroids. I went to bed that night with my knee feeling pretty good and up for beating the trail. However, after the bravado subsided, I checked the weather and discovered that an 80 mph wind storm was forecast for the entire next day, so I elected to take another Zero for my knee at the Gatlinburg Travelodge.
Date: 2017-05-04
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke to winds howling about 45 mph in Gatlinburg, with the electricity at Travelodge flickering off and on. Eventually all electricity was lost for the better part of the city and businesses closed for the day. I continued to elevate and ice my knee throughout the day and catch up on my trail journal and Facebook entries.  I culled through my mail drop resupply box to reduce the weight and headed for the NOC Outpost to contribute the excess to the hiker box. Along the way, I ran into the young Christian hiker group I'd met several times before along the trail and to whom I'd given everything I didn't need. I once again happily gave them my excess food and supplies. They had made pretty good progress and the young lady's sprained ankle was much better.  I stopped at Walgreens to get a few items and was warned by the checkout clerk to be safe and watch out for criminals and pickpockets in Gatlinburg. It made me think I was safer in the forest with bears. I tried to pick up my speed while hobbling so as not to advertise my vulnerability. I made it back safely to the Travelodge and set about packing up my gear in preparation for an early departure for the trail the next morning. Fortunately the electricity came back on about 7 pm for a few hours so I didn't have to work in the dark.
Date: 2017-05-06
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Garenflo Gap/Hot Springs/Elmer's Sunnybank Inn
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

I awoke early to rain, planning to get an early start so I could complete the 17.9 mile hike to Hot Springs. It turned out to be a miserable day with driving freezing rain, sleet and snow, depending on the elevation. By the end of the day, I was chilled to the bone. The weather created a challenge in trying to stay warm, but not getting too warm. Once the body gets too warm and sweats the clothes, there is a higher risk of hypothermia if the ambient temperature drops.Although it snowed throughout much of the day, it didn't accumulate to any measurable extent. I videoed the snow falling at one point, which reminded me of the scene from the Wizard of Oz movie when the good witch causes the snow fall to cancel the drug-induced effects of the poppy fields. I kept hiking on, but the pain in my knees was causing me to go at such a slow pace that I wondered whether I could possibly get to Hot Springs before dark. As though the wonderful witch from the North appeared out of the Wizard of Oz, Erika, a weekend hiker who had decided against camping at the cold, snowy higher elevations, arranged to have friends pick her up at Garenflo Gap, a little used secondary road intersecting the AT, and offered me a ride to Hot Springs; thus cutting my misery by 6.6 miles.  I was never so happy to be riding in the back of a pickup weaving down and down through the ridgelets to Hot Springs. I even arrived in time for an excellent vegetarian dinner at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, my destination for the night. Elmer, owner of Sunnybank Inn and a former AT thru-hiker and Peace Corp volunteer in the early 1970's, made a delicious Brussels Sprout and mushroom soup, of which I had two bowls to take the chill out of my bones. Then he served a sumptuous green salad, of which I had four servings. Then he served one of the best vegetarian lasagnes I have ever had, with a Filo dough and slivered almond topping. AND THEN he served a delicious pecan pie with a great crust, and just the right sweetness. AND THEN he served a lovely mint tea that soothed the soul. It was magical. It didn't take much to coax me to my four poster bed with a canopy formed by my air drying hammock and my top quilt as a comforter, while contentedly falling asleep.
Date: 2017-05-07
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

I took a Zero at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn to rest my knees. I got out of bed at 11:30 and met J¶rg for lunch at Smoky Mountain Diner. It was good to see him. He told me all about his experiences after leaving Gatlinburg. Unlike me, J¶rg didn't Zero at Gatlinburg so he returned to the trail with reasonably good weather. However, on his second day out, a huge wind storm blowing up to 80 mph hit the mountains, while it was blowing about 45 mph in Gatlinburg where I was zeroing. J¶rg said the wind was so strong it pressed the trees along the trail so far over that it would heave the trail up through the root system. He thus had to pause for the wind to subside and the trail to flatten out before proceeding during those occasions. J¶rg confessed that, in being on the trail that day, he wasn't sure whether he had crossed the threshold from being brave to being stupid. Meanwhile, I was resting my knee in bed at Gatlinburg where the wind had knocked out electric power for most of the day. Unlike J¶rg, I had learned the prior night about the severe wind warning and had chosen to rest my knee another day instead of taking the risk of hiking that day. I later learned from J¶rg that a number of hikers were injured from falling trees and limbs. J¶rg had a big tree fall several hundred feet from him, which was enough to rattle him. Additionally, while hiking along a very narrow crest of the mountain, J¶rg struggled to keep the wind from throwing him over the edge to the depths below. After visiting J¶rg for lunch and making arrangements to meet for dinner, I returned to the Hostel and slept until 5 pm. I met J¶rg and a young female German hiker from Hamburg for dinner at Spring Creek Tavern on a covered deck overlooking the lovely creek. We had a lively conversation comparing the ways Germans and other Europeans raise their children. Sadly, the dinner came to an end and we sad goodbye once again, but this time knowing the likelihood of meeting again on the trail was pretty remote since J¶rg was a fast hiker and I had to nurse my knees.
Date: 2017-05-08
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

On the advise of Elmer, owner of Sunnybank Inn, I visited the Hot Springs Medical Center and had my knees examined and X-rayed by a doctor. She found no fractures or tears, but gave me a steroid shot and a week's prescription of Prednisone for the inflammation. She seemed well versed in the ways of thru-hikers and advised that I rest for three days and have mineral spring soaks and a massage at the Hot Springs Spa. I was all for that so I visited the spa and had my first mineral spring soak in a hot tub filled with mineral water from the hot springs. It was very soothing and relaxing and seemed to reduce the swelling in my right lower leg and ankle. I also moved from Sunnybank Inn to Alpine Court Motel to avoid climbing stairs and to be more centrally located within Hot Springs. Much of Hot Springs lacks cell service due to being surrounded by high mountains, so Spring Creek Tavern, with good Wi-Fi service, became a favorite hangout as I updated my trail journal and Facebook posts and responded to emails and general business.  I learned from several locals that a vexatious person had set the surrounding forests on fire last year with the intention of burning down Hot Springs. Fortunately the town was much more proactive than Gatlinburg in fighting the forest fires and apparently didn't suffer any loss of life or property, yet it was a scary situation for the residents, with the air filled with smoke and the fire encroaching the town. I was told that Gatlinburg initially didn't fight the intentionally set forest fires for several weeks, apparently thinking they would burn out of their own accord. But when a wind storm served up 80 mph winds (like the other day), the forest fires quickly spread to the city as fire balls were spewn from the burning trees as much as one-half mile away. Unlike the Gatlinburg arsonists, the Hot Springs arsonist was never caught.
Date: 2017-05-09
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I judiciously followed my Hot Springs doctor' s orders and had a marvelous massage in the morning and a healing mineral spring soak in the afternoon for my knees at the Hot Springs Spa. The hot tub, filled with healing mineral spring water from the property, had a private bucolic view of the French Broad River. As I soaked in the hot tub (aided by Prednisone and Aleve), my mind and body drifted back to an episode in my life in California-- the hot tub capital of the world. I was then a Trial Attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice representing the Internal Revenue Service in complex tax litigation, only this case wasn't so legally or factually complex. The taxpayer, a young professional who was a very active member of the Northern California Corvette Club, was also a minister ordained by Universal Life Church (ULC), a mom and pop mail order ministry operating out of Modesto, California.  The taxpayer was claiming a charitable contribution deduction for all of his professional income "donated" to his "church." In turn, his church was paying all of his living and household expenses for his "parsonage."At trial, the taxpayer admitted that his mixed-gender congregation would typically begin their worship by first driving their Corvettes around Napa Valley and then convening at his "church" to continue the religious ritual of everyone climbing into the church hot tub and fervently laying on the hands. Fortunately, the California jury, typically a wild card, didn't buy it and found in favor of my client, the IRS, which was then committing an inordinate amount of resources, naturally at taxpayer expense, to battling ULC and its pervasive tax scams. After drifting back to the present, I later learned, much to my surprise and delight, that Erika Berger, Philadelphia, PA, who, with her friends, had saved me with a ride from Garenflo Gap to Hot Springs, made a donation to Talbot Interfaith Shelter's Long Walk Home Fundraiser. I was completely overwhelmed and nearly brought to tears, realizing that a complete stranger, to whom I'd given my Long Walk Home card, felt compelled to make a donation to a homeless shelter in a community with which she will likely never have any association. The act underscored once again just how kind and generous people really can be, even when there is absolutely no likelihood of receiving something in return. It was a very special moment to end a beautiful day.
Date: 2017-05-10
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Under doctor's orders, I've been healing my knees with massages and mineral spring soaks in a hot tub at the Hot Springs Resort and Spa. The Cherokee Indians, who first inhabited this area, believed that the junction of Spring Creek and the French Broad River, where the mineral springs bubble to the surface, is a sacred healing place. After white settlers drove the Cherokee from their homeland, the white settlers also partook of the healing powers of the mineral springs. However, no less than three separate resort buildings have burned to the ground over the last several centuries. The disasters are attributed to a curse the Cherokee placed on their sacred grounds when they were driven from the area on the Trail of Tears. Today, Hot Springs Resort and Spa offers mineral spring soaks in hot tubs fed by mineral water drawn from a pipe drilled 1/2 mile down to the source. The hot tubs are perched along the banks of Spring Creek and the French Broad River and are spaced apart and surrounded by partition walls and a roof affording lots of privacy. After each use, the hot tubs are drained, cleaned, and rinsed, thus providing very sanitary conditions, unlike many hot tub operations. As the hot tub is drained, it creates a vortex from the water quickly flowing down the drain. It is said a larger vortex draws newcomers in who never leave Hot Springs once experiencing all the pleasures to be offered. The population count in Hot Springs is currently 550. It may soon become 551.
Date: 2017-05-10
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Under doctor's orders, I've been healing my knees with massages and mineral spring soaks in a hot tub at the Hot Springs Resort and Spa. The Cherokee Indians, who first inhabited this area, believed that the junction of Spring Creek and the French Broad River, where the mineral springs bubble to the surface, is a sacred healing place. After white settlers drove the Cherokee from their homeland, the white settlers also partook of the healing powers of the mineral springs. However, no less than three separate resort buildings have burned to the ground over the last several centuries. The disasters are attributed to a curse the Cherokee placed on their sacred grounds when they were driven from the area on the Trail of Tears. Today, Hot Springs Resort and Spa offers mineral spring soaks in hot tubs fed by mineral water drawn from a pipe drilled 1/2 mile down to the source. The hot tubs are perched along the banks of Spring Creek and the French Broad River and are spaced apart and surrounded by partition walls and a roof affording lots of privacy. After each use, the hot tubs are drained, cleaned, and rinsed, thus providing very sanitary conditions, unlike many hot tub operations. As the hot tub is drained, it creates a vortex from the water quickly flowing down the drain. It is said a larger vortex draws newcomers in who never leave Hot Springs once experiencing all the pleasures to be offered. The population count in Hot Springs is currently 550. It may soon become 551.
Date: 2017-05-11
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I had my follow-up doctor's visit today. Although the swelling in my knees, lower legs, and ankles has diminished, my knees are still pretty tender and walking without the support of my trekking poles is difficult. My doctor urged me not to get back on the trail until at least after completing the prednisone treatment-- Monday. That means four more days! What to do?  Certainly, I don't want to make the mistake again of exacerbating my knee problem by prematurely straining them. And I want to be capable of hiking again when my children join me at Damascus, VA. Fortunately my partner Lynda's sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Tom, graciously invited me to stay with them and convalesce at their home near Damascus. And I had the good fortune of receiving the offer of a ride from Hot Springs to Damascus with several wonderful day hikers I met in Hot Springs. It seems to make sense to accept the offers and jump ahead to Damascus, knowing that I'll return in the fall to hike the portions of the trail I have missed between Gatlinburg and Damascus. It's said the fall foliage in this area is beautiful.
Date: 2017-05-12
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I accepted an offer from several very gracious day hikers I met in Hot Springs and received a ride to Damascus. It was a two hour drive, passing from North Carolina back to Tennessee before entering Virginia. The scenery along the way was beautiful yet rustic. We passed "Mom's," a run down country store I would have concluded had been closed for decades, but which the day hikers previously found open for business. The proprietor, who was camped out smoking cigarettes on a heavily stained raggedy old couch in the middle of the store, was happy to have the day hikers leave their vehicle at the store while they hiked because it gave the appearance the store was actually conducting business. If you were so inclined, you could even purchase a hamburger cooked with who knows what ingredients. I saw a couple coon hunting dogs wondering along and zig-zagging back and forth across the back roads. One dog appeared to have a brand in its hide. I was later told by a local it was more likely scars from an old hunting accident or a tangle with a wild boar. Owners of coon hunting dogs in these parts nowadays put tracking devices on their dogs and, after days of chasing coons through the woods, are eventually tracked down by those means. It's a tough life for a coon hunting dog around here.
Date: 2017-05-13
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I am determined not to join the bulk of thru-hikers who drop out along the trail. Historically, only 10-15% of hikers become true "thru-hikers" who hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, currently 2,190 miles. Approximately 25% of hikers quickly drop out within the first three days of hiking, upon reaching Neels Gap which has a large tree unceremoniously festooned with hikers' boots. The usual excuse is that it wasn't what they expected it to be. A number of other hikers are just plain ill-prepared and ill-equipped.Another 25% of hikers typically drop out by Hot Springs, NC. By this point, the cause is more often physical injuries where the joints are overtaxed. I seem to fall perilously close to this category.Another 25% of hikers frequently drop out by Harpers Ferry, WV, the psychological half-way point. By then, hikers are suffering from the Virginia Blues, mentally exhausted from hiking an entire month just to cross Virginia, the longest state at 556 miles. Another 10-15% of hikers suffer from physical abuse along the remainder of the trail. Pennsylvania presents large rock obstacles which are particularly adept at severely spraining ankles. And then the White Mountains, which are especially steep, with perilous cliffs, provide ample opportunities for fractured limbs, and worse, from falls.  The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the administrative body for the trail, states that the completion rate by thru-hikers is about 25%. However, one board member of the ATC in Georgia informally advised me he believes that percentage is overstated since the completion rate consistently ran about 10-15% for a number of years but then jumped to about 25% around 2008 and has held there since. He attributed the higher rate to falsely reported completions, where hikers would "yellow blaze," by jumping ahead along the trail in vehicles, or even "aqua blaze," by canoeing or kayaking the Shenandoah River instead of hiking Shenandoah National Park.  Thru-hiker completions are self-reported, with no oversight or verification by the ATC, so there is no way of knowing the true completion/attrition rate.
Date: 2017-05-14
From: Damascus

To: Damascus 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity drizzle

I don't like to be a burden when visiting with friends and family. I like to contribute to getting chores done, so here at Donna and Tom's house, I'm trying to pull my share. Since I love to cook, I've taken on the responsibility of cooking dinners. Last night I served grilled ribeye steak, marinated in minced garlic, onions, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper, along with baked potatoes, sour cream and chives, and a medley of snap peas and saut©ed carrots, seasoned with ground nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and a touch of molasses. Oh, yeah, I also braised leeks in butter and chicken stock. The night before we had a shrimp boil with roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus, and concluded with strawberry rhubarb pie topped with H¤agan Dazs vanilla ice cream. Tonight we are looking at Gulf Shrimp grilled with bacon, pineapple, and barbecue sauce, Jasmine rice, and snap peas. Sometimes it's a tough life doing all those chores.
Date: 2017-05-15
From: Damascus 

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I don't like to be a burden when visiting with friends and family. I like to contribute to getting chores done, so here at Donna and Tom's house, I'm trying to pull my share. Since I love to cook, I've taken on the responsibility of cooking dinners. Last night I served grilled ribeye steak, marinated in minced garlic, onions, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper, along with baked potatoes, sour cream and chives, and a medley of snap peas and saut©ed carrots, seasoned with ground nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and a touch of molasses. Oh, yeah, I also braised leeks in butter and chicken stock. The night before we had a shrimp boil with roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus, and concluded with strawberry rhubarb pie topped with H¤agan Dazs vanilla ice cream. Tonight we are looking at Gulf Shrimp grilled with bacon, pineapple, and barbecue sauce, Jasmine rice, and snap peas. Sometimes it's a tough life doing all those chores.
Date: 2016-10-08
To: HYOH (Hike your own hike)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

HYOH Means everyone has the right to their own hiking style. Some slack pack, some spend days off the trail in bad weather, some blue blaze. My idea of a through hike is to carry my gear the entire length (no slack packing) and to spend as few days in town as possible, staying on the trail no matter the weather conditions. This will be a challenge given my early start.
Date: 2016-12-11
To: Shakedown Trip
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I took an overnight trip Friday to test everything out and for the most part, I was pleased. The overnight low was 20 and around 30 during the day.   I'm very pleased with my clothing selection, especially my new OR Incandescent down jacket.   The only problem was my Steripen UV water purifier would not work in the cold, so I will switch back to the Sawyer filter.Just a few weeks away!
Date: 2016-12-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Because of problems with hiring my replacement at work, I was asked to delay my retirement for a month.   My hope now is to begin Feb 1, if I can't make that date work I will do a SOBO this summer. There is simply no way I would ever want to be part of the mass of hikers starting in the spring.
Date: 2017-02-04
From: Home

To: Stover Creek
Miles today: 2.3
Weather: clear sky

Arrived in Atlanta at 9:30 after a 1 hour flight delay. Ron Brown was waiting for me to drive me to Springer. Anyone needing shuttle service between Atlanta and Fontana I highly recommend his service.Arrived at the Springer terminus at 1:30, hung around and talked with some day hikers out enjoying the beautiful sunny day and then I was off on my hike.   Stopped for the night at Stover Creek where I met two fellow thru hikers, No Trail Name Yet and her dog, and Crazy   Tree whose ten year old son Dawson is hiking with him for two days
Date: 2017-02-05
From: Stover Creek

To: Cooper Gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

A few rain drops overnight, just enough to get the tent wet. Got a late start at 9:15,had hoped to start at 7.Hiked most of the day with Crazy Tree and Dawson. The day started out cloudy with a few rain drops through the morning. We stopped for lunch and the temp took a noticeable drop and an additional layer was added. The big climb today was Sasafrass Mountan and as we began the climb the sky cleared and the temperature must of reached 60.After we descended Sasafras I had my first Trail magic. Crazy Tree's wife met us at Cooper Gap with a home cooked meal of ham, potatos,biscuits and sweet tea,perfect way to end the day. Thank you Mrs. Crazy Tree.Somehow my entry for yesterday did not post. I will add it soon.