morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-12
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: clear sky

4/12Icewater spring shelter to Pecks corner shelter7.4 milesThe morning brought a gorgeous, perfect, sublime sunrise. I watched from my bag for a bit then got up to sit on the bench and watch. It was as pretty as I had suspected it would be. I made a cup of coffee to drink as the sun came over the horizon.My pack started out four pounds heavier today than yesterday because there are no water sources closer than half a mile from the trail today. So I am stocked up with my full three liter carrying capacity. My shoulders, back, and knees feel it right away. My feet are still blissfully unaware of the hammering they will receive today and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. (if the southbound section hikers aaron and Shaolin turn out to be wrong about the water I'll be ticked off. But I should be used to it. Information about trail conditions is so subjective as to be nearly useless. On an unrelated note, I'm so bummed about the ironmaster's mansion hostel closing. It would have been such a kick to stay there on a thruhike after all the other times I've stayed there. Plus I *just* donated money to repaint the place!I was awoken by pain in my knees last night. It is unfortunately a familiar sensation. They urgently need a chiropractic adjustment. I really hope to find a practitioner in Hot Springs.Having run out of John Deere fruit snacks (in barn, tractor, and pig shapes) I resupplied with My Little Pony fruit snacks at Food City. The come in pink, lilac, and chartreuse and don't even pretend to include real fruit in the process. I was passed around eleven by a young woman shorter than me, which is saying something. She was going three or four mph and made me feel like I was standing still.I arrived at the shelter trail at 2:15, well ahead of my cutoff time to be able to make it to the next shelter along. However I am cutting my day short and staying here. The two primary reasons are my left and right quadriceps, which are unaccountably sore today. I feel extra tired for no obvious reason. So here I am. Half a mile down a freaking access trail. I hope other hikers show up so I don't spend the night alone. There are some decent reasons to stay here, though. The next shelter is 5.2 miles away, primary uphill. It's several hundred feet higher in elevation so it'll be colder tonight. And it has been visited recently by a kleptomaniac bear who has been stealing backpacks.  In that light this shelter looks a little better. Oh and this is the only shelter i've been to where I can get onto the top bunk with no ladder. Oh jeez. I just took off my boots only to notice that the tread had come loose in the same place on both boots. And just this morning I'd been thinking how well the boots were working. Well, I have a field repair kit with some seam grip stuff. I'll apply that and let it sit overnight. If that doesn't work I'll try superglue.
Date: 2010-04-13
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

4/13Peck's Corner Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter12.9 miles (plus .5 from the shelter)I pretty much didn't think today. I just walked. A lot of the day I hiked with Carrie the ridgerunner. It was nice to hike with someone else and have conversation. At the shelter tonight a bunch of riders came in on horses and I'm just ogling. Tomorrow should find me picking up my maildrop at Standing Bear. I expect to have far too much food so some hungry hiker is going to get very lucky. I carried extra food into the park for my second section in case I needed to go slower, but it wasn't necessary. I still have nearly enough food to get to Hot Springs. Le sigh.I think today had been my longest day so far. It's been really easy terrain though. There weren't even a lot of blowdowns today. A good day to build up some mileage. Going in to Hot Springs I hope to do ten or more miles per day.  I'm happy to be reentering the land of options and personal autonomy.  No more staying in shelters for me unless I feel like it.
Date: 2010-04-14
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

4/14Cosby Knob shelter to standing bear farm10.4 milesI am definitely getting faster. This morning's 7.1 mile jaunt took just about exactly five hours and included a stop to get water from a seep.I turned a corner today and found spring. Flowers, birds, and new leaves. It was amazing and welcome after a month of walking in dormant woods.I startled a pair of turkeys this afternoon. They were some of the largest wildlife I've seen. They didn't take off, alerting me to their presence, until I tucked a hiking pole under my arm. Maybe that made it look too much like a firearm for their comfort.The long downhill into the gap today took a toll on me. I really need better knee braces. By the time I got to the hostel I had decided to stay unless it was really sketchy, rather than walk the two miles to the next campsite. The hostel turned out to be perfect. It's a series of small buildings with different purposes- bunkhouse, showers, privy, kitchen, computer room. There are several benches around a firepit, with smooth river rocks laid around to make for comfy walking. The whole place is run on the honor system and is very welcoming to hikers. I liked it a lot.
Date: 2010-04-15
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Groundhog Creek shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

4/15Standing bear farm to Groundhog Creek Shelter7.2 milesWhoever told me not to rely on the hostel's resupply was totally wrong. I sent a maildrop but didn't need to.  I made a big breakfast of three scrambled eggs in butter, two blueberry muffins,  a bottle of oj, and a coke. Then another coke. And I should be ready for a snack soon.Okay, maybe not.  After about an hour of hiking I started to feel notso hotso in a very barfy way.  I struggled up to the painter branch campsite and sat down next to Glynda the Good. She stayed with me while I had dry heaves. I couldn't get anything to come up but I wished I would. She filtered some cold water for me and waited with me while I hoped to feel better. I had already taken ranitidine and simethicone trying to help the tummy with no luck. Eventually I decided I might as well walk and feel sick rather than sit and feel sick. It didn't go that well though.  Shortly after we started I caught a stick on my foot and went down so suddenly that she thought I had passed out.  It was that kind of day. The pain from falling on my knees distracted me from the nausea for a while which was nice. Other than that I just plodded ever so slowly uphill for most of the day. Glynda stayed with me the whole time, bless her. I had intended to go 10 miles to Brown Gap but under the circumstances I feel like I was doing well to get to this shelter. For dinner I had miso soup, a tortilla, and some pretzels. I'm okay so hopefully tomorrow I can eat like normal. Hiking all day today without snacks really sucked. It left me super low on energy.Anyway, tomorrow includes Max Patch. It's beautiful and a place I'm looking forward visiting again.
Date: 2010-04-17
From: Campsite before Lemon Gap

To: Deerpark Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

4/17Some campsite to deerpark mtn shelter 11.4 milesWhen I awoke the campsite was untouched, including the bag of trash some idiot had left behind. The footsteps I heard on the night were probably deer. I won't say I slept well, but I slept. As soon as I had retrieved the food and got back in the tent, it began to rain. Looks like the weather guessers were wrong again. When I checked the weather yesterday it called for partly cloudy conditions. On my way out I see a faint blue blaze! Hah! I saw no sign of it from the AT side. How funny!Aw man. I went a few hundred more feet and found really nice, non-spooky websites. The lack of prescience gets on my nerves.I stopped to get out my real rainhat. This, of course, made it stop raining. I don't trust it. The hat stays on. I'm thinking about skipping a small section I've already done to catch up to Cody. First I need to check and make sure I can keep up with whatever mileage she's doing now or there's no point.I may have made Myron mad with the comment about the grumpiness, y'all. He's squatting on my head. But that just proves my point!Myron eventually got tired of torturing me and went away. Then the gnats came back. Tradeoffs. I'm at a shelter tonight with an entirely new bunch of hikers which is entertaining.  In the morning, town.
Date: 2010-04-19
From: Hot Springs

To: Rich Mtn campsite
Miles today: 8.0

4/19Hot springs to Rich Mtn campsite8ish milesThe shower didn't sound like a waterfall.  And they're going to have dampness problems in there.  Last night I slept diagonally across a double bed just because I could. Ha!  Take that, 20" air mattress!  (I didn't mean it, baby. Don't be like that. I was just playing. Mama still loves you best. Don't go flat on me. ) (Boy those air mattresses are temperamental. )I wake up early and achy. My right knee hurts more where I fell on it. Weird, huh? That was days ago. Many of my other parts are sore too. The headache can be attributed to the high gravity beer at the pub.  The rest, who knows. I pop a couple vitamin I and make a note to restock.  I hope if anything else goes wrong it's before I leave town. If flulike symptoms develop I'll want to get my prescription for doxycycline filled and take it right away. That's hard to do when you're miles from a road.  (That's to treat early Lyme disease symptoms btw. Had it twice, not fooling around anymore. )I can't do much other than eat breakfast until 8 or 8:30 when things open for the day.I wonder what happened to Glynda. I hope she's okay. As far as I can tell nobody has seen her since I went ahead at Brown Gap.  She told me her real name.  I'll try to find her blog to reassure myself. I'm anxious to get my supplies, mail my box, and get going. On the trail I'd be about ready to walk by now. Argh!  I guess I'm pretty set in my trail routine. Pack up, eat breakfast, go. There is no room in there for shopping. There shall be no deviation from the routine. Heil!I picked up my boxes from Mom and Phoenix Rising. Thank you! Love to you both!  After going through the boxes I don't need to buy any food, and I made a "free for hikers" box with excess. My pack now weighs 38 lb. Oof!  That's well over what the pack is designed to carry. Despite that it's carrying pretty well. My legs feel the extra weight but my back and shoulders don't. I don't know why but I feel extra excited about hiking today. Maybe it's the sugar rush from the soda at breakfast.Two hikers walked by while I was having a potty break. I thought I'd gone far enough off trail for privacy. Instead they got a grandstand view of my pasty white behind. Oops. I don't know whether to try to find them to apologize, or hope I never see them again.And, as it turns out, I'm camped with them tonight. Karma is a bitch. I'm trying to give away cookies but there aren't enough hikers around. Come back, hikers!  My pack is too heavy!
Date: 2010-04-20
From: Rich Mtn campsite

To: Hemlock Hollow
Miles today: 8.3

4/20Rich mtn campsite to hemlock hollow8.3 (8.1 plus .2 I miscounted last night. Plus .6 unofficial to the hostel) I got up during the night and saw the lights of Asheville on the horizon. ( Hi Asheville!). And realized that was why my phone was working again. ( thanks Asheville!)I got up because I couldn't sleep for four reasons, and it suddenly occurred to me that I had the means at my disposal to fix all of them. I had a full bladder, I was chilled, I hurt, and I itched. So I visited the woods, got out my down quilt, took some advil and benadryl, and quickly drifted off to a comfortable sleep. In the morning I gave cookies to Mr Fusion, then made a plan. I'm going to hike to a hostel tonight, then get a shuttle to Erwin. I'll miss three days of trail. I'll either make them up this fall or just call it good since I've done this section before. It depends on how much time I have left after I hit Katahdin. (assuming I get there)The day was full of spring rain. I kind of enjoyed it at first, but it wore on me eventually. I am not at all unhappy to be indoors this evening. I have pleasant company in the form of Buckaroo, G Hippy, Turtle, and Catcher.  G Hippy went on a beer run so I have Yuengling tonight. And I had a hot shower.Oh, HD Mama and Dryclean showed up. I feel like I'm in the presence of celebrities. I'm looking forward to my unexpected zero day tomorrow. I was dragging a little today. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe I just need rest. Either way I'm getting a day off tomorrow.  And I'm thinking naptime. Then I get to hike with Cody again! And Mountain Man, and I think Stickwalker and Belle! Yay!
Date: 2010-04-21
From: Hemlock Hollow

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

4/21Hemlock Hollow to ErwinZero dayNobody wanted to get up this morning. Watch alarms started going off at 7 but nobody moved.  Finally I got up to visit the facilities. Still nobody got up. I decided to head up to the store for breakfast so I could avoid making more noise in the bunkroom. For some reason the microwaveable foods at Hemlock Hollow are actually good. I don't know how Hattie has achieved this. It's very odd but welcome.After everybody got up and ready, Fred shuttled them to the trailhead, and then drove me to Erwin. We had a nice conversation on the way. If you are hiking the Erwin to Hot Springs section and need supplies, a bunk, or a shower, consider this hostel. I think it's pretty nice.  Fred and Hattie are welcoming and the place is pretty well set up.In Erwin I checked in at a nice motel and spent the afternoon in bed. All my parts needed it. Napping felt GREAT. I was bummed that the fast food place next door had closed though. I made do with food from the filling station but I really wanted a hot meal.This evening Cody should walk into town! I'm looking forward to seeing her and hiking with her again.News flash!  I just discovered  a pocket in my shorts that I didn't know was there. Wacky!
Date: 2010-04-23
From: Erwin

To: Deep gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: scattered clouds

4/23Erwin to Deep Gap12.1 miles (plus 1.1 unofficial from motel)I am just so damn happy today. I'm back among people I really like, the weather turned out nice today, and I feel good.  We did the 12.1 today in 9 hours, which included three good sized breaks. And trail magic!  I got a beer even. I stowed it in my pack to have with dinner.Tomorrow we go over Unaka Mtn first thing. I love that place. Then I believe we have a day full of severe weather to face. I just hope nobody gets hypothermic. That happened to me last time I was in this spot and it was awful. I believe I am better prepared to deal this time though.
Date: 2010-04-25
From: Greasy creek friendly

To: Roan high knob
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: scattered clouds

4/25Greasy creek friendly to roan high knob8.3 miles plus .6 unofficial from hostelIf you look closely you can see Roan Mtn's size 11000 bootprint on my butt. I had a real rough time today. It took me nine hours to walk eight miles. I felt like I was running on fumes.  I'm oddly proud of myself for getting it done, actually. I felt like it was a real challenge.  Even though I'm super slow and EVERYBODY passed me, I got it done. We had intended to go farther so now we have to redo the hike plan. Le sigh.
Date: 2010-04-26
From: Roan high knob

To: Mountain harbor hostel 
Miles today: 1.5

4/26Roan High Knob Shelter to hostel1.5 milesHiking plans are on hold. Cody woke up puking during the night and was sick at both ends for hours. I had my earplugs in and was blissfully unaware. However I was apprised of the situation in the morning. The rest of us stayed put, hoping she would feel well enough to walk to the road in a while. I gave her immodium from my medical kit. Then Stickwalker started feeling off. He ran out and came back later. He claimed since he had "puked like a man" he only needed to do it once.  Then I started feeling queasy. I kept looking at Mountain Man thinking he was next, but he remains healthy. I managed not to puke but kept up an amazing volley of burps all morning and afternoon. All three of us are weak, tired, achy, and having chills. Cody got the worst of it and is probably still pretty dehydrated. We are all planning to try eating tonight and see what happens.Oh! I forgot the exciting part. When Cody felt a little better we hiked out to the road. It was only 35 in the shelter. We all wanted a  warm bed and plumbing. So we staggered down the trail. I had my "hiker to town " bandana ready but there were no cars.  We had no signal to call anyone. We all looked at each other wondering what to do. Mountain Man still wasn't sick but the hike down left the rest of us feeling worse.  It was cold and raining - bad weather for standing around.  After a while a car came by - an angel in a VW. Cody flagged her down. She agreed to take as many as would fit down to the hostel we hoped to get into. Thank you so much, Mandy!  Your act of generosity made a huge difference in our lives today. Cody and I and Belle got in and got a spot at the hostel in an rv of all things. The men arrived soon after, having gotten a ride with some fellows doing work on the trails.   We might try hiking tomorrow. A shuttle back hasn't been discussed yet and we still have chills and probably fever. So likely I'll be getting very familiar with the inside of this rv tomorrow.Mountain Man went on the evening dinner run and brought us back subs. I ate all of mine and so far feel the better for it. Cody and Stickwalker still look pretty rough.Belle is bunking with me and helping keep me warm. I love having the dog here but her noxious emissions are making my eyes tear up. She is not adjusting quickly to the new food she got switched to recently. Yowza.Mountain Man has taken the tiny sofa with good cheer. It makes me laugh every time I see him on it. He's probably two feet longer than the sofa. I feel somewhat guilty in my comfy bed but he wouldn't fit in it either. For that matter I can't remember how I got the double and the others got the singles. It all made sense at the time.I would love to be able to call home tonight to hear JD's voice and let him know where I am, but alas I have no signal. Love the iPhone but wouldn't hike with AT&T again. It just doesn't work in enough places. Folks with verizon have much better success.
Date: 2010-04-27
From: Mountain harbor hostel 

To: Mountain harbor hostel
Miles today: 0.0

4/27Zero day at Mountain Harbor HostelI felt great this morning. Stickwalker and Cody, however, still felt a little rough. Mountain Man and I went up to the FANTASTIC breakfast created by Mary.  I got to chat with Mary Beth for a bit which was nice. Afterward I wandered over to the hostel. I chatted with the Canadian Geese, played solitaire, and generally wasted time. We did a little tuckerizing, on everybody's packs. I took out a few ounces worth of excess. Nothing too exciting really. That will come after Mount Rogers when I send home winter gear.  Still, I'm getting better at carrying a more appropriate amount / less food. That helps a great deal. I was quite happy to be inside when it rained all day. It hailed vigorously as well. I hear it snowed up on the balds. Whereas tomorrow it should be beautiful. In the morning we are all going to another (I expect) amazing breakfast, then getting shuttled back to Carvers Gap. Then we should have a beautiful but tough 14 mile day over some balds and nearly back to this hostel. I'm so tempted to suggest slackpacking back here but I won't. We really don't need yet another night here, and we will get away earlier in the morning from camp than from a hostel.I find that I really don't care when things happen. I'll probably care a great deal if I run out of time to get to Katahdin. But at the moment I'm going with the flow.  I try to get to town during business hours. I try to get to my planned campsite before dark. And other than that I just let it happen. It's nice. Relaxing. Entirely unlike my normal life.  I like it.
Date: 2010-04-28
From: Mountain harbor hostel

To: Apple house shelter
Miles today: 13.9

4/28Carvers Gap to Apple House Shelter13.9 milesI don't know enough words to express how beautiful this morning was. But let me start at the beginning. We had another of Mary's amazing breakfasts, settled up, and got Terry to drive us back to the gap. On the way there we saw that the tops of the mountains were white. When we got to the gap the road was so icy that it was difficult to stand. Terry got away safely and we all bundled up into our rain gear. It was below freezing and the wind was brisk.I kept laughing like a loon. It seemed ludicrous that hiking in these conditons should be done for fun, but there we were. The snow and ice coating everything made the landscape a little more beautiful, I thought. The trail was treacherous with ice so we walked quite slowly. But the extravagance of the views and the quickly twisting small white cloud overhead, against a deep blue sky, filled me with an emotion that barely fit in my chest.  I can't really name it.  But it made me shout "Wahoo!" every so often. Coming down off the first balds I fell in icy mud onto a large rock. It took the shine off the morning for me.  I grumped my way down to the first shelter and moodily decided to skip visiting Overmountain Shelter, as it is off the trail and I've seen it before. Walking along again, I was approached by two dogs out on a holiday. They made me laugh as they tore around the woods finding things to sniff. As I approached Yellow Gap they disappeared, probably to return home after their adventure.Somewhat cheered, I started up Little Hump, savoring the views. The way was steep but the trail was nice. The day got steadily warmer and soon snow remained only in shaded crevices.  I was glad to have my sunglasses. It was very bright on the balds. I spent the afternoon seeming to inch along the trail, which was visible for miles in both directions. The views stayed amazing. Hump mtn was awesome. I didn't see as many hikers as I thought I might. It felt uncrowded.  I watched birds soaring in the high winds that nearly knocked me over.Coming off the last bald, I began a long descent. It went on and on. I began to worry that I wouldn't make camp before I was exhausted. The trail didn't lend itself to fast walking in most places.  There were rockfalls, roots, and mud all over. I persevered, wanting to make my planned destination. But I kept an eye out for flat spots and even considered putting my pad down in the middle of the trail. Finally, very late, I got to the shelter. My worries about finding a place to set up were quickly resolved. Minutes later, as full dark fell, I was in my tent and munching a little food.  I should sleep very very well tonight.  Tomrrow should be a much easier day. I hope. We have 13 miles planned, trying to make it to somewhere by Friday evening so Stickwalker can get a maildrop Saturday morning.  But no giant balds are on the schedule. We will see about the rocks and roots.