morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-10
From: Hiawassee Holiday Inn

To: Budget Inn Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

4/10/14 Day 8 - Zero day. Checked out of the Holiday Inn Express last night and walked down to the Budget Inn. It's about as basic as you can get, but a lot less expensive. Paul went to a local clinic today for a cough that's been bugging him for the last few days. They put him on some antibiotics and he'll be staying in town for another day or two. Mountain Man Matt is having some pretty bad knee pain so he'll be taking another day off and going to the clinic as well. He's not sure if he'll be able to continue for this trip. I'm doing pretty good aside from a little pain in my arches. Enough whining though. There are a lot of folks taking zeros here in Hiawassee. Everyone's been going steady for a week or so and its a nice break. I'm ready to hit the trail again though, the North Carolina border is just 10 miles away.
Date: 2015-04-11
From: Budget Inn Hiawassee

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 9.0

4/11/15 Day 9 - The zero day yesterday was nice and much needed to recuperate. Ate a pop tart and gas station coffee before catching the Budget Inn shuttle back to the trailhead. On the way there, the shuttle driver started leaning to the right a little, and then a lot, propping himself against the passenger seat. I was getting a bit worried when all of the sudden he pulled to the side of the road, jumped out and leaned over with his hands on his knees. He's a large man, and not in very good shape, so I thought the worst and went over the CPR steps in my head real quick. I asked him if he was alright and he said, "it's just a leg cramp". It was just me and MP for this stretch. We made the campsite we were shooting for about 9 miles in by about 3 pm. The campsite was at Bly Gap, right on the Georgia/North Carolina border. That right, into a new state! Georgia had some beautiful countryside and some good hospitable people. Gonna miss it.
Date: 2015-04-12
From: Bly Gap

To: Beech Gap Campsite
Miles today: 12.1

4/12/15 Day 10 - Both MP and I decided we were gonna do 12 miles today to make it to The Beech Gap camp site. It was a good day of hiking with a challenging uphill to start off the day. We reached the campsite by mid afternoon with plenty of time to set up, eat dinner, and build a fire to fend off the gnats. By the time I was digging into extra snacks after dinner, I had a good fire with hot coals going. It's amazing how well a good fire will draw people together. Uka-lady and Possum joined us first for dinner. Uka-lady played her Ukulele and sang for us. Hard Wear, a interesting man from Boston, joined us a little later along with Salamander, and Christine. Four young men who quit their jobs to hike the trail join us right after dark and we introduced ourselves. Two of them were named Zoltan and Keebler, but unfortunately I can't remember the other two. Keebler did his namesake justice. With his base layers, shorts, shirt, green beanie and awesome beard, he looked just like a 5' 10" Keebler elf. Later in the night when MP and I were waiting for the fire to burn down, a young man who started on the Florida Trail stopped by the fire and told us that he was doing the entire eastern trail system and wanted to do the AT in 100 days and then work his way into Canada. He was doing 25-30 mile days. That not uncommon for AT hikers later on in the trail either. Right now I'm keeping my miles down to 12 a day or so to let my body adjust. It's nice hiking with MP, she helps keep me from overdoing it and is good company. Another really good day.
Date: 2015-04-13
From: Beech Gap Campsite

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

4/13/15 Day 11 - I woke up to the drizzle of rain on my tent and really wasn't looking forward to hiking in it all day. MP and I got off to a fairly early start and kept a pretty good pace despite the muddy trail. We were pretty excited because today we would reach our 100 mile mark, and it was on top of Albert mountain to boot. The going was steady until we reached the base of the mountain and then we had to slow down and take our time. It was so steep in some place that I had to use my hands to get up the trail. We made it to the top without incident, and to our 100 mile mark! The weather was still pretty bad, and what would normally be a nice view was just a wall of white clouds and mist. Still, we were pretty thrilled to get there. We moved on another 2.5 miles to Long Branch Shelter to get out of the rain and set up for the night. It's the first night I spent in a shelter, and while it was a little crowded, it's was good to be out of the rain. Patrick, Hard Wear, Cat, Erin, and several others were there as well. We were lucky it's a big shelter. We had a couple of mice running around but they were more amusing than annoying. We were just laying down to sleep and MP all of the sudden sat up with a start and said she saw a mouse run right in front of her face. All in all, it was a good day.
Date: 2015-04-14
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

4/14/15 Day 12 - MP and I got up a little after 5 am and packed up in the dark using the red beam settings on our head lamps. We didn't want to wake anyone else in the shelter. Our goal was to make it to Winding Stair Gap by 11 am to catch the shuttle to Franklin, NC for resupply. We checked into Haven's Budget Inn which is rustic to say the least, but it was top notch to us because it had showers, beds, and laundry. We cleaned up and ordered a pizza while we were waiting for our clothes to dry. It was delicious. Later on we walked around town, got our grocery shopping done, and visited the local outfitter, Outdoor76. It was a nice place and even had a beer bar in the back. They were closing up so I asked where we get a beer and a bite to eat. I was told Mulligan's was the place to go. When we got there Cole and Patrick were already there working on a pitcher. We joined them and shortly thereafter Forest showed up as well. I bought MP a beer because it was her birthday on the following day. Happy Birthday MP!
Date: 2015-04-15
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

4/15/15 Day 13 - MP and I caught the 9 am shuttle out of Franklin and hit the trail at Winding Stair Gap in the rain. There was a lot of ups and downs today and the trail was muddy and slippery. Our goal was Wayah Shelter, about 11 miles out. Piece of cake, right? Going uphill wasn't too bad, but the downhills were scary. You really had to watch your step or you'd slip and fall. I fell after about 5 miles, but luckily fell in soft, leafy spot. Bent one of my hiking poles too, just a little. MP lasted a couple of miles more before she sat down kind of hard. We made the mistake of going to eat lunch at an intermediate shelter that was pretty far off the main trail, but it was kind of nice to get out of the rain for a little while. It took us over 7 hours of steady, and a little nerve wracking, hiking to get to Wayah shelter. It's a small shelter and there was only one spot left so I told MP she could have it because it was her birthday. It's only fair, right? I set up my tent nearby and I'm hanging in the shelter as I type. It's getting pretty cold so I'll be crawling in the sleeping bag in a few. While the day was far from pleasant, reaching our goal and getting dry makes it all ok. There's a little saying that AT thru hikers have, "no pain, no rain, no Maine". They ain't kidding.
Date: 2015-04-16
From: Wayah Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

4/16/15 Day 14 - MP and I started out from Wayah shelter a little before 8. The trail was muddy and difficult to walk on so we walked on the edge of it as best we could. After a mile or so I saw a rabbit on the trail and even though it realized I was there, it didn't move. I was maybe 3 feet away from it when it hopped away. After another couple of mile the same thing happen, another rabbit just sitting there keeping an eye on us until we approached. A little strange, but very serene. Another hiker started hiking with us, or maybe we started hiking with her, but we hiked together the rest of the way to Wesser Bald Shelter. Her trail name is Jingle Butt and she's a Medical Doctor from Maine. She's a very interesting person and well traveled, serving in the Peace Corp when she was younger. We were the first to settle in to the shelter and were soon joined by 2 gentle, William and Daniel(?). I said hello a couple of times and they didn't reply until they were pretty close to the shelter. At first I thought they were just having a bad day, but soon learned they are both deaf. Fortunately they both read lips so we learned a little a out them. It started raining pretty hard shortly after the five of us settled in and we were visited by several others who either set up tents nearby or moved on to the next shelter.Later in the day Snart joined us and filled the last spot in the small shelter. His trail name is short for snore and fart. Later that night we found that the name is well deserved. He is perhaps the louder and most consisted snorer I've ever heard. He kept MP, Jingle Butt and me up for half the night, but the other 2 were oblivious. I still got some decent sleep in the warm, dry shelter.
Date: 2015-04-17
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: The NOC
Miles today: 5.9

4/17/15 Day 15 - Out and down the trail before 8 am. MP, Jingle Butt and I only had 5.9 mile to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. It mostly a rafting, fishing and Kayak center, but they have a hostel that fills up quick with hikers. The sun came out and it was a beautiful morning for hike, even if the trail was still pretty slick. We arrived around 11 am and both Jingle Butt and I checked in and MP made a reservation for Sunday night when she returns from Gatlinburg. I had a pretty good lunch and a beer at the NOC restaurant with MP. Her mother, sister and friend arrived a little while later. They were real nice and gave me some delicious rhubarb pastry and chocolate chip cookies. I was a pretty sad to see MP go, she's a good hiking buddy who I'll miss.After cleaning up and doing laundry, I met up with Jingle Butt at dinner and we talked about the next few days of hiking. We're going to take 3 days to get to Fontana Dam where both of us will be picking up mail drops. Thanks Eric and Jared!Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2015-04-18
From: The NOC

To: Locust Cove Campsite
Miles today: 10.5

4/18/15 Day 16 - got to an early start from the NOC, leaving a little after 7 am. The weather was a little overcast and comfortably warm. Jingle Butt took the lead and has a fairly quick pace that I could handle, but a little faster than what I'm use to. Our tentative goal was Sassafras Gap shelter, 6.9 miles away and about a 2500 foot elevation gain. After just an hour or so the skies began to clear and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We made it to the shelter just before 11 am, so we stopped for lunch there. We met a couple of trail volunteers who were at the shelter to fix the steps and rotate the composting privy. They told us about the camp site we were going to hike to for the night 3.7 miles away and said the water source should be good now because of all the rain. We hiked on and stopped at Cheoah Bald, the highest peak in the area. It had a great view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. We saw Two-step and Salamander there as well enjoying the view. We made it to Locust Cove Gap around 2:30 and after some deliberation decided to camp there for the night. It was a nice spot and eventually we were joined by several other hikers. I met Rainbow from Alaska who told us a story about her close encounter with a grizzly bear years ago, and also met up with Nick, who I roomed up with at the NOC the day before. I started a fire but couldn't keep it going because all the wood was pretty damp. A good day.
Date: 2015-04-19
From: Locust Grove Campsite

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

4/19/15 Day 17 - There's no graceful way to break down your tent went it's raining. I've done it several times since starting the trail. The best way is to pack everything in your pack that you can while in your tent, especially your precious down sleeping bag, and put it in a waterproof bag in your pack. Then tear town the tent as fast as you can and pack it separate from the dry stuff. The soaked tent adds a couple of pounds to what you're carrying, but there's no avoiding it. Jingle Butt and I headed out with Cable Gap shelter as our goal, 11.6 miles away. Going uphill wasn't bad, but heading downhill in the slick mud was not fun. I was sliding a lot and fell twice, once flat on my back that I'm still sore from. Jingle Butt has begun calling me "Slider" which I think is going to stick as my trail name. To make things more difficult, we hit a hill called Jacob's Ladder, which I imagine is difficult when dry. Getting up it in while sliding in the mud was quite a challenge that plum wore me out.It was a day that I imagine a lot of people quit, or considered quitting, but I look at it as a day that makes others that much better. We did get to the small 6 person shelter in time to secure a spot and stay dry through the night. The mice kept us company but didn't chew up any of our stuff. I met a few new people to include The Wine Guy, Boomer and another young woman from North Carolina. I also met Walking Home, a man from Maine, the state everyone is walking toward. The faces are changing at the nightly campsites, but I frequently bump into people who I thought were far ahead or behind me on the trail. The shared experience seems to bring hikers together and there's a sense of camaraderie that, in my experience, is only shared by people striving for a difficult common goal. Life is good.Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2015-04-20
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Village
Miles today: 5.3

4/20/2015 Day 18 - Jingle Butt and I only had about 5.3 miles to go to make it to the marina at Fontana. It was still pretty slippery but the weather was sunny and nice. The lake made by the dam was calm and beautiful. We got to the marina and I caught a shuttle to the Fontana Lodge and Jingle Butt hike on and extra 1.3 miles to catch her ride to the Hike Inn. I was too early to check in at the hotel so Walking Home and I took our packs down to the General Store where they had the laundromat and Post Office. We did our laundry and pulled like of our wet gear out of our packs and dried it out while we waited for our laundry. There were at least 4 other hikers who had their stuff out as well, it was quite a site. Wish I would have taken a picture. The hotel was nice. Walking home and I had a good lunch and dinner at the restaurant and got our stuff ready for the next day. I got a really good mail drop at the post office from Eric and Jared. It made things a lot easier.
Date: 2015-04-21
From: Fontana Village

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 15.1

4/21/2015 Day 19 - What a great day to hike!   I caught the shuttle back to the marina with 6 other hikers, to include Walking Home. It was a little cool out, but the sun was shining and the first couple of miles was along Fontana Lake. We stopped by the Fontana Hilton, a huge shelter that holds up to 24 hikers and has a shower facility nearby. It's right on the lake and I hear there was pretty hard partying going on the last couple of nights. After another mile or so we found Fontana Dam. It was a pretty awe inspiring sight, as most dams are. Right after the dam we walked into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The hike was breathtakingly beautiful through much of the day with WH and I stopping every once in while to take it all in. The mountain views were incredible, and there were these little white flowers with purple highlights that carpeted the forest floor. It reminded me of a fairy tale with the sunshine and the little blue birds singing. It was pretty hard hike uphill with a gain of about 2500 feet over 5 miles or so. We stopped at Shuckstack fire tower where we met another thru-hiker, Lucy, and all climbed the tower together. Excellent view. We hiked on for a total of 15.1 miles for the day and finally stopped at Russell Field Shelter and spent the night. We met up with Jingle Butt again and decided to hike together the next day. There were quite a few hikers at the shelter, maybe 25 or so. I stayed up and sat by the camp fire until around 9:15, which is super late for hikers. There were only 2 other hikers up when I hit the sack. What a good day!
Date: 2015-04-22
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

4/22/2015 Day 20 - A little cold in the morning, but the sun was out and it promised to be a good day of hiking. Jingle Butt, Walking Home and I started around 8 am or so and we're going to shoot for around 17 miles today. The balds on top of the ridge line, especially Rocky Top, were spectacular. I took a few pictures, but I doubt that the pictures can capture the amazing size and beauty of the views. I was still blown away by the carpet of white flowers covering the forest floor. Simply beautiful. We took a break at Derrick Knob Shelter at around 12:30 and already feeling a bit tired. The constant ups and downs take a bit out of you. We finally decided to cut it short when it started raining and stopped short at Silers Bald Shelter for a total of 15 miles on the nose. Another good day, but I was sure tired at the end of it. That's ok though, makes you sleep better.
Date: 2015-04-23
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: few clouds

4/23/2015 Day 21 - Walking Home decided to hike with Professor today which I thought was pretty cool. He's been hiking alone and could use the company. Jingle Butt and I walked a nice 5 miles to Clingman's Dome, the tallest point on the AT. The vegetation changed from bare deciduous with the carpet of Spring Beauties to evergreen trees with a mossy undergrowth. A change that is just as beautiful but in a different way. We made it to Clingman's Dome around 10 am and climbed to the top. It was pretty cool, but really cold and windy as well. We took some pictures and decided to walk down the half to the visitor's center to see if they had some coffee or cocoa. They didn't have anything but souvenirs and some jars of honey. We hit the trail again and reached 2 milestones; going over 200 miles and crossing from North Carolina into Tennessee. We hiked a good 15 miles today and an extra 1 in search of hot beverages. We stopped at Icewater shelter for the night where there are a lot of people staying for the night, maybe around 30 to include tenters. What a beautiful day.
Date: 2015-04-24
From: Icewater Shelter

To: Tricorner Knob Shleter
Miles today: 12.6

4/24/2015 Day 22 - It was pretty cold last night, it got down to around 28 degrees with frost on the ground and hikers tents. People were reluctant to get out of their sleeping bags, to include me. The call of nature finally forced me out and up so I figured I would just stay up and make some coffee. Instant tastes pretty good when you have no other option. Walking Home is going to go 20 miles today to try and get out of the Smokies before the rain hit on Saturday. I can't say that I blame him, but that's pushing it too far for me at this point. My body's just getting used to regular 15s. Jingle Butt and I hit the trail at about 8 am and stopped by Charlie's Bunion shortly thereafter. It's an a outcrop that has a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The day warmed up quite nicely to maybe 60 degrees and the hiking was very pleasurable. We walked along narrow ridge lines most of the day and the views were stunning. We decided to stop at Tricorner Knob shelter for the night, a little over 12 miles for the day. I've hike a few consecutive days at 15 miles per day in these mountains and needed the little break. Jingle Butt did as well. Another good day.
Date: 2015-04-25
From: Tricorner Knob Shleter

To: Davenport Shelter
Miles today: 14.8

4/25/2015 Day 23 - It was raining when I woke up in the Tricorner shelter at 6:15 am. The wind was blowing and the rain was coming down fairly hard. The Ridge Runner who was staying at the shelter said it would be raining all day. Jingle Butt and I left at 8 am and it was only sprinkling a little but pretty windy. For the first few hours of hiking the wind blew pretty hard and there was a fine mist in the air that kept me fairly cool. I wore shorts, a capilene top and a rain jacket with a beanie on my head. I've found that if I keep my torso and head warm while hiking, the rest stays warm as well. Right before we stopped for lunch the sun came out and the wind died down. We at lunch at another shelter 7.6 miles in and then continued on to Davenport shelter. We ran into a group of 7 young weekend hikers who were going there as well. They asked a lot of question about thru hiking which we entertained them. We hiked a total of 15 miles today. We're just about out of the Smokies, we have another 4 miles tomorrow to Standing Bear Farm hostel where we'll take a nero. The Davenport shelter has a cage covering the front of it, supposedly to keep bears out, but I have yet to see one through the entire Smokies. I'm sitting by the fire right now enjoying the company of other hikers. Good day.
Date: 2015-04-26
From: Davenport Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

4/26/2015 Day 24 - I intended to take a nero at Standing Bear Farm Hostel, but was persuaded to do otherwise by Jingle Butt. We got up early and left Davenport Shelter and walked the   almost 4 miles to the hostel. The proprietor of the place said that everyone calls him Lumpy. He's a tall man with a greying beard in his late 50s or so and smoked a small cigar while he gave us the tour of the place. It was a pretty cool layout for a hiker but would be considered very rustic and quaint by most. I thought the place was great, but Jingle Butt thought is was "ok". I bought resupplies for 3 days from Lumpy, to include toilet paper which I just ran out of earlier that day. Talk about timing. Shopping was all on the honor system. You go into the resupply room and write down everything you get on the back of an envelope and add the total up yourself. All he asks is that before you leave, you give him the envelope and pay him what you totaled up. Jingle Butt said that she wasn't going to spend the night, that she wasn't tired and wanted to hike on. We did get there pretty early and and planned to take a zero at Hot Springs, so it kind of made sense. We got back on trail a little after 12, and don't you know, it started raining pretty steady for the rest of the day. We went about 7 more miles to Groundhog Creek Shelter where we got the last 2 spots. Getting a place in a shelter in the rain makes things much easier. Campfire and Young Guns were there, a young couple from Toronto. Campfire was making a small campfire in the rain, and was successful, hence his trail namesake. It's gonna get cold tonight. A bunk at Standing Bear sounds pretty nice right about now, but we will be getting to Hot Springs a day early, so it's all good.