morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-06
From: Mountaineer Falls Shelter 

To: Shook Branch Rd
Miles today: 24.4

Day 32- Mountaineer Falls Shelter (403.6mi) to Shook Branch Rd (428mi)I thought I was in a sports arena. I could feel the wooden platform vibrating from people stomping their feet with excitement. There was roaring! Then I woke up... a fierce storm had rolled in. Instead of feet, it was a downpour of rain with 'dings' of hail as it pummeled the roof of the shelter. It was so incredibly loud. The thunder was barely discernible; the flashes of light were our only clue to try and listen for it. Broken Seal and I giggled and gasped. It was over almost as fast as it started. We cuddled up and went back to sleep.The next time we awoke, the sunlight was slanting through the forest canopy. It was beautiful; everything around was alive and refreshed. We packed up and ventured north with Wings. The elevation profile for this page was the most gradual I think we have had yet. It was never entirely flat but every climb and descent was short. We were averaging 3 mph the whole morning as we chatted about everything from sports and music to jokingly laying out the rules for our thruhiker cult. The temperature was mild with glimpse of sunlight at times and misty drizzles at others.At lunch we called the hostel where we had planned to end our day and discovered we were out of private rooms. Normally we would stay in bunks but once in awhile we have to carve out "us" time. This ended up being a great twist of fate! We were going to pass a road earlier in the day with a hostel called Big Bear Resort and they had some cabins left. It was going to be hard to feel like our day had been cut short but the amazing Stephanie had the solution: slackpacking!The rain finally started as we crushed the final miles into her resort around 2, ate lunch, and were riding in a shuttle to where we had intended to end our day. It would be 9 miles back to our warm, dry cabin. Wings had claimed the Frozen-themed pink daypack and Broken Seal sweetly carried ours with water and some snacks. It felt like he was carrying feathers.We entered the Pond Flats Wilderness area and thoroughly enjoyed it. The hiking was easier and we got to see some friends who were just ahead of us by hiking southbound for the afternoon. Plus, the sun came out!My favorite part was walking along the Laurel Fork river. On addition to its beautiful waterfall, the afternoon light down into the small canyon was so scenic. The rhododendrons were starting to bloom too! The hiking was rocky and we were glad we had trekking poles and no packs. In some ways, it was one of my top sections recently when not compared to the balds; they are just too different.We showered and reheated from sandwiches from the little store. Some other hikers zeroing had prepared bacon alfredo pasta and invited us to share it with them. We never would've imagined how this day turned out. It had a little bit of everything and it was perfect.
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Shook Branch Rd

To: Iron Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 33- Shook Branch Rd (428mi) to Iron Mountain Shelter (444mi)Egg, cheese, and sausage on a croissant. Microwave for 90 seconds. That was the start of this pleasant day.The three of us slept very well in our little creekside cabin. After the school drop off, we got into their little store to microwave breakfast and get our laundry started. I spent the morning in my puffy and a towel doing our resupply and picking through a hiker box. We took a shuttle at 10:15 after the dryer finished up back to where we had started our southbound slackpack the day before. There was no service at the resort so we videocalled Broken Seal's family from the trail. We got to give his young nephews a glimpse of what we are doing. They seem enamored by Uncle Broken Seal; you could see their gears turning trying to figure it all out. The morning on the trail was spent walking along the edge of Watauga Lake and across the dam. We saw a black snake and butterflies and lots of hikers. After the dam, we got up on this beautifully scenic ridge that allowed us to look down and across the lake for most of the day.Water crossings were spaced out today. I hiked separately from Wings and Broken Seal whose bromance is blooming rapidly and would catch up at the water sources. We had our best lunch spot today sitting on some cliffs overlooking the lake. I said goodbye to the guys and had a terrific afternoon cruising along the ridge sola. It was pleasant and I spent a lot of time contemplating my privilege in being able to take on this adventure.Even with the blue skies, we could hear thunder in the distance and took the final spots in the Iron Mountain Shelter. As usual, we were snuggled in with people all new to us along with a brave mice who made an appearance before it got dark. A lot of people we had passed through the day filed into the shelter and talked around a fire while the whole shelter turned in for the night. It made for good people-listening and gave us a glimpse into tramilies- these large groups of hikers moving together.As dusk settled in, I could barely see flashes of lightning in the distance but they were too far away to hear the thunder at this point.
Date: 2018-05-08
From: Iron Mountain Shelter 

To: Last Spring Before Damascus 
Miles today: 23.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 34- Iron Mountain Shelter (444mi) to Last Spring Before Damascus (467.4mi) The sunrise was cool from the shelter this morning with the pinks and oranges cutting through the forest outlining an array of tents.Most people in the shelter were gone by 6:30. We slept in, like always. It's a perk of knowing we could get the miles in regardless of when we get up.The elevation profile today looked flat and it was! In a twist, there were moments today when I missed the climbs and descents. They break up and create the day into separate but distinct parts. We were saved by the fact that it wasn't a full blown green tunnel. We were pretty much walking a straight,tree-covered ridge line all day. There was one cool farm meadow we walked through with views of valley we were above and tons of little birds.The three of us hiked together all day and had two lunches at each of the two shelters we passed. We discovered Broken Seal and Wings both know how to knit and we started brainstorming trail names for Wings' girlfriend who is prepping to come section hike with him.Water sources were not plentiful today and while the hiking was incredibly easy, I could sense we were getting fatigued due to dehydration. We had one way marker still pulling us ahead: the TN/VA state border! The water source we were hoping to camp near was just a mile on the VA side.After snapping some pics, we found new people already set up near the spring. They were all friendly and we joked around the fire with them while eating our Knorr Rice Sides dinners. Someone made a comment about people cooking over a fire and next thing you know, Broken Seal is making us a second course of cheese quesadillas! I also prepared some hot chocolate, our first of the trip.We are excited to make it into Damascus tomorrow. We are arriving a little over a week before Trail Days but we definitely intend to go! If you have been following us from the beginning, you may remember that both of our parents are coming to visit this week! With them in mind, we are going to skip ahead (to where we don't know yet) so that we can save the Grayson Highlands to hike it with them! It's going to throw the journal mileage off a little bit I'm sure you will still fare well! Happy trails everyone!
Date: 2018-05-10
To: Mt. Rogers NRA HQ
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 36- Zero USFS 89 (~492mi) Woke up to my most brilliant sunrise on the trip from where we were camped on the side of Whitetop Mountain. I actually took a small walk to watch the sun crest over the neighboring peak before anyone else got up.After snuggling Big Mac awake from his slumber in his car set up, Midlife parted ways with us to hike on. We had shared the parking lot with two accomplished hikers named Nomad and Jojo who gave us some great advice on trails all over!We chowed on bagels and hit the road to drop Wings off. After an almost tearful goodbye, we found ourselves in Marion, VA for lunch and planning time. We stumbled into the office of a really nice chiropractor who gave Broken Seal a good session and some advice on how to mitigate some of his back pain from a slip in the Smokies. We had some of our best food on the trail at the Wooden Pickle; they were kind enough to let us explode our maps across the table and we made reservations for the next couple of nights. Did our food resupply at an Ingles and then set camp up at the Mt Rogers Nat. Recreational Area HQ. They had a hellbender in an aquarium and dropped a bunch of minnows in when we arrived. It definitely looks like a dinosaur!We ate salad and fried chicken with cookies to wash it down behind the Partnership Shelter where we set our tents up for the night. We had a small fire and talked with Produce, Wings, and other new hikers.All of this thanks to my dad!
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Appalachian Dreamer Hiker Hostel

To: Mountain Garden Hostel
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

This Entry Is A Spaceholder!The original phone took a swim so I need to rewrite the entries for this and a few other days. This is here so the mileage at the top of all future entries are correct. Thank you for your patience!
Date: 2018-05-16
From: Lickskillet Hollow

To: VA 606 Parking Lot
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: moderate rain

Day 42 - Today was the day that Broken Seal had been waiting for for weeks! After enjoying the continental breakfast thruhiker style, he returned to his room and get all dressed up for his online interview with a prospective graduate school. Seeing him and his nice button up shirt and tie highlighted some of the ways in which his body has changed so far on the trail. I got to hang out with Big Mac, Ellen, and Benny downstairs people watching and sending Broken Seal all of the good luck fuzzies we could from downstairs. We watched the clock and waited with anticipation. After his time-slot was over, Broken Seal came into the lobby with a huge smile across his face; my heart feel all warm. We chatted for a while about the very great interview he had; he was asked some interesting questions and was able to get some of his own questions answered too. We shifted gears and prepared for a short slackpack in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the rain had not stopped yet so Ellen¢s first hike on the Appalachian Trail was going to be a wet one. Nonetheless, everyone was in high spirits and, after snapping some photos of the team at the trailhead, we started venturing into the forest. The tree cover helped with the heavy rain and Ellen was really enjoying herself. It¢s definitely much greener out here than in northern Arizona (ha ha). It was a smooth 5 miles but it included different elements of the trail we¢ve crossed so far: things like rocky, steep sections, muddy stretches, and the rain. We wrapped up the hike in a fabulous way. As we descended towards the road, we entered a very scenic field filled with cows. After sharing some laughs about the cows' antics and a moment of mindfulness, we crossed a beautiful suspended bridge over a big river with Benny waiting for us on the other side.The only stinky thing that happened was that my phone got pretty wet even in a rain jacket pocket (I hadn¢t really thought that one through). We returned to the hotel for a warm shower and relaxation time before meeting up at an amazing Mexican restaurant called El Patio Grill. After having some of the worst Mexican food in my life in Erwin, this was a huge upgrade and we were all extremely impressed with the food and we walked out with full bellies. It was hard not to fall asleep immediately after hitting the bed.
Date: 2018-05-18
From: Sugar Run Gap

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Day 43 ¢ Today¢s wake up was a bit more blissful. The Wood's Hole Hostel provides bathrobes and I spent the morning journaling and then helping to prepare breakfast all in the gloriously, fluffy, brown bathrobe. To say the least, I really like this place and it was nice waking up here. Looking down the field, we were completely socked in and the decision was unanimous to go straight to Trail Days instead of slackpacking the 11 miles to Pearisburg. Making that decision meant we were very relaxed and got to enjoy the great communal breakfast that was prepared for us. We had veggie egg scramble, homemade bread, sausage, peach crisp and home roasted coffee! We all pitched in to help out in cleaning our rooms so that the staff could get to Damascus as well. Broken Seal drove off with his parents.  Bid Mac and I headed down separately in his car chatting about how much we enjoyed the place and the people. Got one of my favorite AT Passport stamps too!  Trail Days was in full swing with gear tents and music. Almost immediately, we started recognizing people from along our whole hike from the first day to more recent encounters! It was so much cooler than I had anticipated. There was so much going on, so many raffles, so much to look at. I¢m really glad that we came! In addition to the general swag and stickers we tend to collect at these types of events, we got some T-shirts and we bought the summer quilts that we are going to be using for the next big leg of our hike. It was great being able to look at, touch, and test out the equipment from a lot of these cottage company you can normally only look at online. We ate dinner together at the Damascus Brewery and Restaurant. At that point, I said goodbye as Broken Seal and the rest of the family drove to Boone, NC where they have a timeshare right now. I wanted to stay for an amazing lecture by Jennifer Pharr Davis about the new book she just published and was so glad I did. It went until 8:30 so, after a walk around the different music venues, I crawled in the back of Big Mac¢s car and settled in for the night.
Date: 2018-05-19
To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

I had the morning to myself before the family returned to Damascus. I started with the AYCE pancake breakfast with Amazonia and Chumbawumba. Then I went to the foot washing and massage station at one of the churches. I should¢ve known what was going to happen but the massages sounded too good to pass up. There were two Baptist women working on my feet. They were really nice but asked a lot of personal questions and made me feel a little uncomfortable. When someone is touching your feet like, it can be kind of an intimate space. I was appreciative of what they were doing for us though and listened to their beliefs. I just think I could have prepared myself better mentally going into that space. I got Dad¢s tent in for repairs and cruised around Trail Days until the family came. It was great having them there for the Hiker Parade. I couldn¢t believe we were in The Hiker Parade; THE Hiker Parade that I have heard about since I was a little girl. I had a moment amidst all the festivities and water guns! We walked down the center of Damascus alongside many of our friends. Lots of dancing started when we returned to the town park. We threw down some of our moves warming up for the upcoming talent show in which we planned to compete. Broken Seal went off to find our family who was holding all of our belongings so they didn¢t get wet in the parade.The next thing you know, I am trying to find some medical help for Broken Seal. He suddenly began to experience extreme lower leg pain and could not walk. His parents had found him and he was in the back seat of their car. Ellen got him fluids and we all stood by waiting for some help to come. They (the EMT and the woman letting us park in her yard) guessed he was having muscle spasms and gave us ice packs to help him. He spent the rest of the afternoon in that backseat while we wrapped up at Trail Days. They started back to Boone before us; we wanted to try our luck at the big raffle of the weekend but we came out empty handed. Broken Seal was still in a lot of pain hours later and was understandably getting nervous as to what was going on and what the implications might be for our hike. Ellen tried to comfort him with chicken noodle soup for dinner. He could shuffle around the cabin at that point but it was minimal. We made no decisions about the coming days since we. Wanted to see how he¢d be doing in the morning. The benefit to sleeping in the pullout couch was that Broken Seal got to watch an NBA playoff game while I fell asleep
Date: 2018-05-20
To: Boone, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Day 46- Josh woke up feeling all better! It was a miraculous turn around from the night before without any lingering soreness. We still decided it would be best to rest for the day. We had plenty of little tasks to keep ourselves busy from patching holes in clothes to prepping our parents for their overnight the next day. We went out to lunch at Southwest/Caribbean restaurant with yummy results. Broken Seal and Ellen bought the team¢s food while Big Mac helped me get a new phone. We went straight to the resort¢s golf course afterwards. Other than sneaking around golf courses and hiding in the sand pits when in elementary school, I¢ve never done anything like this before. It was a 9-hole 3 par course and the five of us had so much fun. Broken Seal kept hitting his ball past the green even though he was only using a pitching wedge. Benny was the group instructor who lost a couple balls into some ponds. Big Mac had a couple of good holes and probably took home first place. Ellen and I brought up the rear but definitely had the most fun. It was a full day!
Date: 2018-05-24
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Wind Rock Campsite
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

Day 50- Best sunrise of the trail. Hands down! Overnight, the valleys below us had filled with a white carpet of clouds. The sun rose just behind a nearby knob but projected the softest light onto the delicate looking clouds. We were covered in dew but that¢s what you get when you sleep without the rainfly on your tent. The hiking was wet too just by brushing up against the tall grasses alongside the trail.On other hand, there were no water sources for most of the morning. Once we were loaded up with our water and belongings, it was a long, view-less ridge walk. At times, the footing was really rocky but it was gradual and smooth for most of the morning. We had to descend midday and we discovered our first wind had dissipated. It was hot and humid lower down and we got frustrated with the nonsensical PUDS once in awhile when we could have just walked alongside the river. Even after lunch, we were still feeling gassed. It was going to be a noteworthy climb back up the next ridge. We were crawling.Luckily for us, there was a shelter part way up the ascent. We spontaneously decided to stop in and refreshed our spirits with good conversation with the hikers there. A section hiker, Leg, threw us a Snickers bar on the way out and, at that moment, I knew our day was revived. The last 6 miles of the day didn¢t feel as hard as the last even though the terrain was more difficult. We were aiming for the Wind Rock campsite and it was the best one so far! Two great campsites in a row! This one was grassy with an equally stunning view; layers of ridges lay before without a single building in sight. Broken Seal got to play around in the trees and the bear hang was easy. We watched the colorful sunset together at this campsite we had all to ourselves and then crawled into the tent. It didn¢t take much to convince me to watch Mamma Mia with Broken Seal. It was too much fun and we didn¢t fall asleep until way past hiker midnight but it was so well worth it! If you had asked me at lunch, I would have never guessed that our day could turn around so drastically for the better.
Date: 2018-05-25
From: Wind Rock Campsite

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: few clouds

I woke up singing! ABBA is officially inside of me and I do not mind one bit. The dew fell heavily on us again but e were a bit more dry than the previous morning. Shortly after hiking, Broken Seal pulled over to talk to a man about a horse. I didn¢t think much about it until we were separated and I was the one without the toilet tools!! So what did I do? Put ABBA¢s Greatest Hits on and speed walk to the next shelter. We were feeling good today. Broken Seal had been doing all sorts of mileage math in his head and was optimistic we would be reunited with Wings in the evening if we did well. First we had to get up and over one of the steeper climbs we¢ve come across recently. Then we walked through an incredibly stunning series of pastures midday. As we ¢ooh¢ed and ¢aah¢ed, we also ¢eww¢ed because we felt like we were walking through tick heaven! I started to get a little melty exposed in the fields so we held off lunching until a very cool waymark in the trees. After crossing a cow herd, we came to Keffer Oak, the largest oak tree in the South at 18¢ around. At 300 years old, it¢s older than the USA and was a great, contemplative spot to rest and eat. Another steep climb to our final ridge walk of the day. There were rock piles along the first half of the grassy ridge; it then turned narrow and slabby. We started catching hikers and they passed their nervousness about going over Dragon Tooth¢s in the rain tomorrow. It was not something we had put much thought to so we spent some trail time making some decisions about the next day as we pushed to finish up at Niday Shelter. There was still some room in the shelter luckily and everyone who was there already was really friendly Broken Seal had a small sip of only his second hard liquor of the thruhike before joining me stretching in the shelter and then in Z-z-z land.
Date: 2018-05-26
From: Niday Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: broken clouds

The subconscious is powerful. It knew we were supposed to wake up early and therefore we kept awaking up all night. We were still feeling very energetic when we hit the trail at 5am!! I took the spider web duty first so Broken Seal could eat his honey buns in peace. The hiking was enjoyable and it was fun watching the dawn set in as we climbed! The terrain was flowy and we moved consistently as the morning hours went by. Since we knew the rain was coming, it helped motivate us up and over all of the false ridges to the overlook on Cove Mountain. It took longer than expected but was so rewarding. The Dragon Tooth¢s side trail was not too far from the summit. Being the Saturday on Memorial Day weekend, there were a lot of day hikers hanging out. It was possible to scramble to the top of the ¢tooth¢ so we waited our turn to stand at the tippy top; some guy¢s watch told him it would rain in 19 minutes. The panoramic view from the top as incredible! I didn¢t plan accordingly and had to warn the small crowd below to avert their eyes as I climbed down in my skirt. We were able to get through the tricky part of the descent before the skies opened up; we timed it perfectly! I used the opportunity to take a natural shower as we walked to the Four Pines Hostel. I looked like a cat that went for a swim by the time we walked in. We stood dripping in the garage before we decided to stay! It was just like the Dinsmore¢s on the PCT. There was one bunk left with our name on it and an all you can eat buffet down the road. We were reunited with Wings and saw U-Turn too which were both such a delight. The buffet at The Homeplace was indeed delicious with good home-cooked southern food. We got a ride with Odie from the Hiker Yearbook in his school-bus back to hostel where I laid low and enjoyed the fireflies until sleep took over.