morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-07-27
From: Stehekin, WA

To: Pacific Crest Trail in Washington
Miles today: 0.0

On June 30th we finished our section hike on the Appalachian Trail. Since then we enjoyed visiting Washington, DC, spending time with our hiking friends Bookworm and Duffer, and visiting with Angel's brother's family in North Carolina. We travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a 10 day family reunion and celebration of Angel's Mother's 85th birthday and then onto Whitefish, MT for a visit with our good friend Marge.On July 30th we will begin a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington with our friends Carl and Fran from Tucson, AZ. It doesn't seem possible that it has been exactly one month since we finished our hike on the Appalachian Trail ... hopefully we'll still remember how to hike!The last two days the four of us packed and mailed away our resupply boxes for the next 37 days. When we reach the Columbia River Carl and Fran will leave the trail and the two of us will continue to hike for another two weeks into Oregon. It is not looking like it would be easy to keep up our journal on this portion of the Pacific Crest Trail so we've decided to not continue our online journal. Thank you for reading our Arizona Trail and Appalachian Trail journals this year. We've enjoyed reading your comments.
Date: 2013-04-01
To: 2 weeks!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Ah, a new journal...The first entry in any journal I've ever begun always feels like a sacred event. I always hesitate, wondering what first words I ought to write on these crisp, unmarked "pages." ...I guess I'll just tell you what this journal is all about...I am keeping an online journal of my Appalachian Trail (AT) Thru-hike, open for the world to read. I've always disdained the idea of having a blog, as it seemed that it would only be a way to increase my already overly self-centered perspective on life...So why this journal? Well, for one, it's a practical way for my family and friends to know that I'm still alive! =) ...But don't go assuming that I'm dead if you haven't heard from me in a few days! I'll try to write as I'm able but I don't want to be shackled to the computer either--after all, I'm out there to HIKE! ...I also hope that whatever I write somehow encourages and motivates whomever reads it. Considering my back history alone, not to mention the statistics that only about 10-20% of hikers actually finish the trail, I know that if I make it to Mt Katahdin (the northern terminus of the trail) it will *truly* be a miracle. I hope that that happens, because I would love to give God the glory for helping me finish!!! But--for now--the focus is NOT Katahdin (it never really should be, as that's too far-reaching a goal, IMHO), but Springer Mountain.Two weeks from today, on April 15, I hope to begin my thru-hike, starting from Springer Mountain, Georgia. On Saturday, April 13, I fly to Atlanta and will take the Megabus to Chattanooga (for only $3!) where I will stay with my trail mentors, Maw-ee and Paw-ee. They have promised to give me a pep talk, look over my gear, and shuttle me to the trail head. (And if it weren't for them I probably wouldn't be doing this hike right now, so thanks!) I have so much to do between now and then! It feels a little overwhelming right now, but I'm so excited too. I'll be moving to my brother's tomorrow so that I have space to plan and pack...and get some more time with my nephews before I leave. If you pray, please pray for wisdom for all the million decisions I have to make as I continue to plan and pack, for healing in my back, and that I will be a "lion-hearted" girl as I continue to face my fears about this hike. Much love!
Date: 2013-04-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

I'm soaking my feet in a basin of black tea as I write this. Supposedly it toughens the skin and keeps your feet drier on the trail. It's probably a waste of perfectly good tea, but I'm curious enough to try it to see if it might help. Two days ago I moved from my parents' house to the basement of my brother and sister-in-law's house, where I can spread my gear out and not bother anyone while I'm packing. Plus, I get to spend time with my nephews (2.5 and 1 year) and take the dogs with me when I go on walks. It's perfect, actually. But I've not been feeling well, I have a cold or something, and haven't been getting much done...All four of my brother's family have the flu or some stomach virus so I'm wondering what the chances are I can escape it, too. Yesterday my goal was to weigh what gear I do have on my digital kitchen scale and put the info into an Excel spreadsheet. It's a geeky thing to do, but it's all in the name of cutting pack weight, so I do it. Looking at the pile that is growing on the floor, I'm not sure how it's all going to fit in my new 50L GoLite pack (which I still don't know if I'm bringing...I try not to beat myself up about not having it figured out yet since I DO have a pack I really like that will work if I can't find another lighter one that fits). I had a nice chat on Tuesday with a friend, Becky, who hiked half the Superior Hiking Trail with me and also lead trips at the same camp with me years ago. When I told her I was feeling overwhelmed about the packing, she reminded me that I have done this many times before. So I'm trying to remember that...and tell myself, I can totally do this! I think the hardest part is that I've never done a trip this long and I've never re-supplied from the trail. But I'm sure I'm stressing out over nothing and it'll be easy once I get used to it. I have three days left of work, then 5 days off before I fly down to Georgia!! Lots to do!!
Date: 2013-04-11
To: 2 days!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It is snowing today in Minneapolis. Go figure. I'm glad I'm heading to Georgia, but I think my body will be in shock in that 80 degree weather I heard they're having. I'm hoping it won't be quite that hot in the mountains. I was going to spray my clothes with Permethrin (it's a mosquito repellant) today but I think that'll have to wait til I go down south.Last week I got a really bad cold and am still not over it. I have also not been sleeping well. I was hoping to get some good exercise in during the last week but that definitely hasn't happened, so I wonder how I'll do on the trail next week. I keep joking (half seriously) that I might take a zero day (a day when you hike zero miles) the second day, which is always the hardest day anyway. We shall see!It's been so great staying here with my brother's family. I feel like my youngest nephew, who is 12 months old, actually knows me now. And having the space here has been so helpful. I don't know what I would have done otherwise. Somehow I have managed to get a lot of gear and other items nailed down this week. I just made a cozy for my cooking pot. It's my first MYOG (make your own gear) project and I'm happy with how it turned out...I'm not going to bother with a photo but here's how I made it if you're curious: http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/6582/ultralight-backpacking-pot-cozy/ On Tuesday my friends Kelsey and Phil hosted a small send-off party for me. It was good to say goodbye to some close friends. I will miss you all! Thanks again for your support and love!!! Today I need to go to Costco (thanks again to my friend Jo for setting me up with that!) and Trader Joe's to get some more trip food and pack that up into a few resupply boxes. I also need to hit Midwest Mountaineering one last time (I hope...I'm becoming a familiar face there) for a couple of items. Thankfully, I'm not feeling stressed or anxious this week...probably answer to prayer and the fact that I keep telling myself, "You're only going out for a 3-7 day trip" (which I will do over and over again) :-)
Date: 2013-04-14
To: Lookout Mountain, GA!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I arrived in Atlanta yesterday and boy is it nice to be here finally! It was sunny and gorgeous yesterday and is rainy and overcast today here in Chattanooga/Lookout Mountain, but it sure beats the terrible weather in Minneapolis! It has been SO GOOD to *finally* meet Maw-ee and Paw-ee, my trail mentors/hosts...They are lovely people and they're taking real good care of me, showing me some phenomenal southern hospitality. As Anne Shirley would say, they are kindred spirits. Thanks again to Alisa for connecting us! I don't know what I would have done without them, because I'm really not feeling well...This cold I've had for almost 2 weeks now is making my head feel like it's in a vice grip. Last night I was coughing so bad, Maw-ee made me a hot toddy made from George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey, lemon juice, and honey. That helped a lot!! I'm also taking some Airborne...hopefully it helps. Today we went through all my gear, made some final decisions, and got some last-minute supplies. I'm ready to go, but I've decided to postpone my start day to Tuesday in hopes that I can recover a bit...Tomorrow should be pretty relaxing and I'm hoping to get a nap in. In the room where I'm staying is this map of the AT...I keep looking at it, wondering what on earth have I gotten myself into? Just kidding, but it does look rather impossible/overwhelming! I just added the first location to my Mail Drops page (just click the link on the left there), if you want to mail me something...Maybe let me know if you do so I can be sure to ask for it...Just remember, whatever you send I have to carry :-) I'll try to add more as I figure out my next few stops so keep checking back....Okay, time for bed! love you all!
Date: 2013-04-15
To: Goodbye Maw-ee and Paw-ee!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Staying with Maw-ee and Paw-ee has been an incredible blessing this weekend. I really needed some time to recuperate and catch my breath before starting my trip, and they have been such kind and generous hosts. I truly cannot thank them enough. I just have to pay their kindness forward...I have really enjoyed getting to know Maw-ee...God seems to continually bring wise, thoughtful, mentoring-type women such as Maw-ee into my life at just the right time. We have had some great conversations this weekend, not only about the trail but also about solitude, relationships, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, wildflowers, God...Today she took me to a beautiful state park where I took this photo of her in front of the gorge...We went on a gentle hike so I could ease back into exercising. While I'm excited about starting the AT tomorrow, I am really sad to be leaving my friends...I think I might cry! But I know that they are only the first of many wonderful, kind people whose paths I will cross.
Date: 2013-04-16
To: Springer Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Maw and I had a nice, long conversation over breakfast in the morning, so we got a later start as we headed to Amicalola State Park, but that was okay. When we got to the Visitor Center, I weighed my pack (it weighed 30 lbs--Maw said that was pretty good!) and signed the register...#999! Then she drove me up to the top of the stairs so I wouldn't have to bother with them (she affirmed that it was NOT necessary!), and after taking photos, I reluctantly said goodbye, wondering when/if I would ever see Maw again. With Maw's *huge* chocolate chip pecan cookie in hand, I headed up the approach trail, which leads 8 miles to the actual start of the AT on Springer Mountain. My hike up the approach trail was *gorgeous*...I think I got sunburned a little! It was sunny and warm with a lovely breeze...The trail did not seem as difficult as people told me it would be. I felt great! As I hiked, I thought about the verse in Psalm 32..."the Lord is My Shepherd, I don't need a thing" (The Message) and reflected back on the previous few months of preparation and about how much work it was to get ready, but how it all came together...And here I am, hiking the AT! It didn't quite seem real...At Springer Mountain I took my photo with the plaque...It says "Appalachian Trail...a footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness"...That would describe me for sure! I arrived at Springer Shelter around 8pm and only found one other person there, which seemed strange, a thru-hiker named Adam. Then a couple of older section hikers named Dogwood and Slo-go'en showed up, names that I recognized from all the time I spent on whiteblaze.net over the winter. I found out they both have hiked the trail multiple times...Dogwood arrived as I was putting up my tarp, and he started asking me about my gear...I guess I impressed him, because he gave me an awesome compliment/insult: "Not only are you a gear-head, you're a girl gear-head!" :-) He also gave some great advice:1. be flexible2. don't go too fast too soon (!!!!!!)3. laugh often4. you don't have to know everything at the beginning, you'll learn as you go and find what works for you5. enjoy every step, whatever the situation.He also gave me some kale and leftover food, as he was leaving the trail the next morning. I cooked my dinner on my homemade fancy-feast cat can alcohol stove, which was only the second time I had used it, and it worked pretty well! I was relieved, since it's generally not a good idea to try out new equipment on the trail.
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Springer Mountain Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: overcast clouds

great day...BUT my left knee started bothering me...not good this early...praying often...rained all night but I didn't get too wet thanks to my umbrella! Very foggy morning but it cleared up enough that I was really glad to have my hiking skirt and tank top! (I *love* hiking in a skirt!!!!!)At the shelter, I met some real nice folks...a middle-aged section hiker named Paul who gave me a pair of compression leggings to see if they might help my shin splints, a middle-aged section hiker named Rain Dancer who had hiked 900 miles (!) last year, an 87 year old German thru-hiker named Harry who barely spoke English (amazing!!), and a middle-age section hiker named Harry who was out for a few days. Adam was also there. We had a real nice time.
Date: 2013-04-18
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: few clouds

My walk felt like it went through the jungle today---lots of rhododendrons, I guess! Birds are chirping constantly...Everyone is so nice...I couldn't be happier to be out here.My left knee is really bothering me on the downhills (uphills/flat is great)...Paul, Hank, Adam, and Harry were all at the shelter...I met a thru-hiker girl around my age named Alana (hiker #1000 who signed into Amicalola just after me, #999) who generously provided me with a knee brace...God seems to be Shepherding me...please pray for healing in my knee! and thank God with me that my back feels *awesome* :-)
Date: 2013-04-19
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woody Gap/Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: moderate rain

Hank, Paul and I stayed at Gooch Mountain Shelter til 1:30pm to wait out the rainstorm and then we headed to Woody Gap for a shuttle to a hostel, so I could have some space and time to figure out what to do about my knee, and to possibly go to a clinic...Rain with lows in the low 30's made going to a hostel a good idea overall, not just to rest my knee! Hiker Hostel is a lovely place! I was able to fully resupply out of their hiker boxes. Hank is leaving the trail and he gave me his knee brace...so kind of him. I'm not sure if it'll help but it can't hurt!didn't sleep well because of all the guys snoring...can't wait to sleep under the stars! By myself! :-)
Date: 2013-04-20
From: Woody Gap/Hiker Hostel

To: Bull Gap
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

Yesterday I called my PT friend Seth about my knee and he said that it most likely was a typical "hiker's knee" and that over time, the pain would go away, which was great news. He said not to bother going to a clinic, but to just go slow and stretch often. So I headed back to the trail in the morning. It was a sunny, WINDY, cold day today...but GORGEOUS!!! knee was still hurtin'...HUGE climb up Blood Mountain but you couldn't ask for a better day to see the top! The hike DOWN was way worse for me than the climb up, but Rain Dancer kept me company....at the bottom, at Neel Gap, I got to go to Mountain Crossings (got a shakedown but there wasn't much to send home so I didn't send anything!) where I met Baltimore Jack---friendly guy. Cold windy campsite on Bull Gap!
Date: 2013-04-21
From: Bull Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

So grateful to have my hiker friends Paul, Alana, and Rain Dancer to hike with me, even when I am moving suuuper slowly on the downhills, even having to go down them BACKWARDS!...Paul has been looking out for me kinda like I'm his daughter (he has 3) and I am glad for his company...It was another stunningly beautiful day today. Highs in the low-60s, sunny with a nice breeze. Seriously the best kind of weather for hiking. Low Gap is a beautiful little hollow and obviously very popular since the shelter was full and about 20 tents were set up. I am staying warm in my Enlightened Equipment 20 degree down quilt but I have both my balaclava and my Smartwool hat on at night! Brrr!
Date: 2013-04-22
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Cheese Factory site
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

No, I am probably not doing my knee a favor by hiking 13.4 miles with a LOT of elevation change...BUT I find I can still cover a lot of miles even when I'm moving slowly...and you know how much I love to hike. I talked with my PT friend Seth and have been doing some stretches...Still wearing Hank's knee brace. This place, the Cheese Factory site, makes zero sense--a factory up high in the mountains?? well, there's nothing left to let you know that something like that was ever up there...now it's just a flat space to camp...pretty nice camping with Alana in the rhododendron bushes.
Date: 2013-04-24
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: clear sky

Hiking down to Dicks Creek Gap brought us a surprise!--our first TRAIL MAGIC!! Some nice guys drove 40 miles from South Carolina just to bring us the joy of moon pies and Yoo-Hoo (a first for me--the hikers from the south must have wondered what planet I was from to never have heard of either treat!). We were already pretty pumped to be going into town, and this was just icing on the cake. I stayed at the Blueberry Patch with Rain Dancer, Alana, and Easy Ryder, with whom I had been hiking since around the 2nd or 3rd night on the trail. Paul and Adam stayed at a motel. The Blueberry Patch is a small Christian ministry hostel run by a really nice couple, Gary and Lennie. They did our laundry for us!! Paul rented a car so we could all go into town for dinner and grocery shopping. It was a lot of fun to hang out with this group--totally different ages and experiences but we get along so well...That's what the AT does--unites people who in ordinary life would never interact. It's the "great equalizer." It's pretty amazing, really. Back at the hostel, I met--of all people--some YWAMers from Salem, Oregon! (I did YWAM in '99) Next year they're planning an AT outreach...pretty sweet. Nice folks.
Date: 2013-04-25
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 0.0

Today was my first zero day (trail lingo for zero-mile days....nero days: nearly zero miles). After a *wonderful* breakfast at the hostel I said goodbye to Alana, Easy Ryder and Rain Dancer who were headed back to the trail. Paul came in the rental car and we went and got massages...Was one of the best massages I have ever had! The therapist was a woman who looked and sounded just like Paula Deen! She kept saying, "Gosh, you are knotty!" (but of course my mind kept thinking "naughty"!) My knee and leg felt a lot better after that but I still went and bought a new knee brace that fit better. Paul spent 30 years in the Army and you can tell just by looking at him. He also thinks like guy who was in the military. Today he came up with a *brilliant* idea: placing a cache of food at a road that we would cross in 3 days near Franklin so we wouldn't have to carry all that food with us the whole time. While he went off to do that I went to the library to use the computer. When he came back, he had another good idea--to take drive to Dahlonega to get a calzone...It was a beautiful evening for a drive (I think Paul just misses driving) and we got to go pass Neel Gap where Mountain Crossings is, to retrace our steps in about 40 minutes! The calzone was delicious...This sure wasn't at all how I thought "hiking the AT" would be but I'm enjoying myself still :-)When I came back to the Blueberry Patch I discovered I had it all to myself! (and a few mice!) Strange but nice!
Date: 2013-04-26
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Had a lovely breakfast with Gary and Lennie (by myself, in their kitchen!--special!) Heard the full story of how they came to run the Blueberry Patch. Sure sounded like a God-thing to me.Today we hiked into North Carolina! 1 down, 13 to go! 78 miles completed!It felt like a guys club at the shelter when we arrived. I was the only woman among maybe 8 guys. It felt strange after the nice mixed group I'd been hiking with. I can certainly hold my own among men, don't get me wrong ;-) but I missed my lady friends....Women are a bit rare on the AT...only 1 out of 4 thru-hikers are women so I treasure the women I meet like Rain Dancer, Alana, and Paisley (with her dog Eyre, as in Jane Eyre!).Paul's trail name now is Weatherman. It's because he's constantly looking at the weather forecast on his iPhone. Which was good because a big storm was headed our way Friday night. We did get a lot of rain but I managed to stay dry for the most part...Still, I kinda wished for a real tent...Right now I'm using an Integral Designs 8x10' silnylon tarp (weighs <16oz) that my brother lent me...I also have a bug net that weighs <3oz but haven't needed to use it yet as there aren't any bugs out. Strangely, I haven't seen anyone else on the trail using a tarp.