morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-12
From: Waynesboro

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 2.0

Ahhhh... to be clean and fed! There was no bathtub in the motel so I took a long, hot shower and so enjoyed sleeping in a bed. Today I woke up to rain and more rain. I called the local Radio Shack to see if they might have a replacement cord for my battery charger but they didn't. I still have about half of the battery so with a fully charged phone I should be okay till I meet up with Barbara, Joan and Craig. Barbara is bringing my back up cord as well as some peanut butter protein powder given to her by Barb Davis. I can just mix it with water and it will turn back into low fat peanut butter. Sounds perfect for the trail. I checked out of the motel and was starting to call a Trail Angel to take me to the YMCA campground when I ran into my own Trail Angels - a couple also checking out who were heading to a Notre Dame/Virginia Tech football game. They offered to drive me to the camp so I didn't have to walk in the rain. The rain let up just long enough for me to set up my tent. There are showers here so I went to pick up a towel and soap for later on. There is also a covered pavilion. When I cut my toenails today I noticed that three of them were black. They feel much better now, though.  I walked in my Frog Tog rain gear to Kroger's Grocery Store about a half mile away and resupplied - more Knorr Sides, Blueberry portraits, Protein Bars and mac and cheese. I ran back to the tent before the next hard rain and put all my supplies in ziplock bags. The original packaging weighs too much, and as my daughter-in-law Nicole says, "It's not the pounds, but the ounces." The definitive highlight of my day was walking to the Ming Restaurant. I must confess I ate enough for three people at the $10 all-you-can-eat buffet. I ate slowly, sipped on green tea and finished my meal off with a glass of ice water and some ice cream. My trail guide says there is no water between here and the next shelter, some 7.6 miles from here- so I am carrying 4 liters again with a full pack. The trail head is 4.5 miles from this campground so I will call a Trail Angel in the morning to see if I can get a ride. At the campground they gave me a list of 20 people who were willing to drive you! Tonight I hope to get another good rest. I'll top off my phone battery before I leave. All in all it has been a great zero day!
Date: 2015-09-13
From: Waynesboro

To: Calf Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 7.9

The weather, she's a changin'... I was lucky to be taking a zero day when it rained most of the time. Last night Canadian geese were flying by in droves all night long. There must have been thousands because I could hear them squawking every hour. Each time I woke up I felt colder so put on another piece of clothing. By morning I had on everything I own! I left my tent and fly up to dry while I waited to connect with a Trail Angel. As it is a Sunday, they all seem to have been at church. I headed over to the pavilion to do a final charge on my cell phone and noticed that a long black charging cord was still hanging in the outlet. I picked it up, looked at the end and realized it was exactly what I needed to charge my RAV battery charger. Yippee! How's that for another serendipitous happening! While I waited to connect with a Trail Angel I plugged in my battery charger and was able to add some more reserve power to it. I finally did make contact with a former hiker, YELLOW PICKUP, who gave me a ride in his, yup, yellow pickup, to the trail head about 4 1/2 miles away. It is brisk and breezy this morning so I need my nano puff and extra clothing to keep warm as I hike. I entered the Shenandoah National Park and picked up a hiking permit, which is needed if you plan on spending a night (or nights) within the park. In the early afternoon I found myself in between peaks looking at at least 8 different towers - microwave, cell, and TV- all bunched together. The winds kept up all day so I am sure glad I brought warmer clothing. I am at the Calf Mountain Shelter and freezing. I have not been this cold since I left the trail the last time. I ate a dry supper and am in my sleeping bag trying to warm up!
Date: 2015-09-14
From: Calf Mountain Shelter 

To: near Black Rock Gap
Miles today: 11.0

I decided to spend the night in the Calf Mountain Shelter because it was so cold and windy. My Reynaud's was acting up so the fingers in both hands were white by the time I got inside my sleeping bag at 5:30 PM. I was wearing every article of clothing I have in addition to my gloves and was curled up in a corner of the shelter trying to get a little more warmth. No cooking tonight. I just had a dry supper and was hoping to get warm. After a bit I heard the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle of small bells. A middle-aged hiking couple wearing "bear bells" joined me for the night. I never did get really warm but passed the night in relative comfort. Morning brought a new day and moderating temperatures. I found more wild apples from a tree, ate a few and picked a few more to eat on the trail. These wild apples have been a boon - nature's trail magic. It's a beautiful day for hiking today. The temperature is just right. I have been near the Skyline Drive three times already so can see the road from the trail. I saw three hikers today. One of them was a kid totally out of water. He had ten more miles to go before any chance of getting more. I had a liter left so I gave him half. He was so thirsty he drank it all right there on the spot. Hiking was easier today as the path is much friendlier with no loose rocks to step over and around. My knee has been bothering me since the steep descent down Priest Mountain a few days ago so I have been wearing a knee brace since. My toes are no longer hurting so that is a plus. I was hoping to make it to Blackrock Hut but I ended up stealth camping in my tent at 11 miles. I know there will be water at Blackrock so I will be able to get more after a 2 mile hike in the morning.
Date: 2015-09-15
From: near Black Rock Gap

To: Loft Mtn. Campground
Miles today: 9.6

Today was another beautiful day with nice temperatures for hiking. I hiked the two miles to Black Rock hut and resupplied all my water. Then I summited Black Rock Mtn ( 3120 ft.) and enjoyed some gorgeous views (see photo). I was able to get a call through to Barbara for the first time in a couple days. She, Joan and Craig will be coming tomorrow and as luck would have it we will be able to meet up at Loft Mountain Campground where I should be tenting tonight. We'll spend another night at the campground, then we will all be hiking together. I passed the 100 mile mark today for this section hike!
Date: 2015-09-16
From: Loft Mtn. Campground

To: around Loft Mountain
Miles today: 5.0

Walked to the Wayside restaurant about 1.5 miles each way from campground and had a real breakfast with the bear bell couple and another biker we met at the campground. Walked back to the campground by myself as the others headed back to the AT heading north. The couple is going to Front Royal and the other hiker has only two more days on the trail. Then I took a hot shower and washed my clothes while waiting for Barbara, Joan and. Craig. There was real toilet paper, hot water and soap - Wow! The bathrooms are very close to my campsite, but the showers are about half a mile each way. My bear bag is strung high up a tree. Forgot to mention yesterday on the way to the campground two near cubs came crashing down the side of the mountain, headed right for me. I stepped behind a tree and they passed by me, one on either side still crashing down the mountain. I hoped the mother was not following them. Enough excitement for one day!. At about 5:30 pm everyone showed up bearing fried chicken and a bottle of wine. No Knorr sides tonight! And my wife is with me! Yay!
Date: 2015-09-17
From: around Loft Mountain

To: Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 14.2

This is the first morning Peter has had coffee since being on the trail. Craig and Joan brewed some up so he was a happy guy, as was I! We hiked some on the AT, then blue blazed on Frazier Discovery trail to the Wayside Restaurant and had a hearty breakfast before our 14 mile hike. We followed the Doyle River Trail and also the Jones River Trail which made a big loop around the campground so we were able to leave our tents up. The trails led by three waterfalls. In the Spring they all must be a sight to behold but in September the water flowing over was greatly reduced. We had lunch by the first falls and hiked gradually downward till we reached Jones Falls where there was no water flowing over this huge chasm. From there on it was a moderately strenuous uphill hike for 1007 ft. We were "slack packing" ( carrying light day packs). Hiking up that elevation with a full pack would have been a huge challenge for me. Back at our tents we enjoyed some Knorr's Sides with pepperoni and cheddar cheese slices. To finish off the day we walked to another campsite to watch a serene sunset.
Date: 2015-09-20
To: Last entry
Miles today: 0.0

Once again I got off the trail before I planned. This year my pack was too heavy with extra food and water and the trail beat me up. Unfortunately in two weeks I will be 71 years old, not 21. I now have spent 3 1/2 months total on the trail but I think it's enough for me, probably the end. I've experienced many things on the trail- hard days and easy days, many different kinds of terrain and many interesting people along the way. Town food was always good, especially the fried chicken in Hiawassee at the Georgia Mountain Restaurant and the all- you- can - eat Chinese food at the Ming Garden in Waynesboro. Often people ask me what my favorite view or part of the trail is. I have to say that every view was my favorite view. Every time I stopped and looked around it was beautiful in its own way. Hiking about 900 miles on the Appalachian Trail is an experience I'll never forget but I am happy to be headed home.
Date: 2011-12-13
To: Reno, NV
Miles today: 0.0

We are continuing to hike in our hometown (Reno) carrying our packs. Today we hiked about 6 miles with about 1000 feet elevation gain. We wore the daypack versions of our backpack. I have been doing my hikes and walks carrying about the weight that I'll carry on our thru hike (about 16 pounds.) The hike seemed easy. I've finally gotten to the point that I don't feel the weight of the pack. This has taken several months. At lunch we quipped that on the AT we'll be doing this distance and elevation gain/loss about 3 times every day. I walked again later on this afternoon, same distance and altitude gain/loss, with the pack. I think the biggest challenge on the AT will be to hike day after day.
Date: 2012-02-26
From: Reno, NV

To: Reno, NV
Miles today: 0.0

The experiment: Is our equipment adequate to keep us warm enough, wearing all our clothes inside our 30 degree bags in low to mid 20 degree temperaturesLast evening it was predicted to be in to be in the mid to low 20s, about as low as we expect to find on the Appalachian Trail in March, so we decided to test our sleeping bags, etc. outdoors in our back yard. Since we had run/walked about 15-16 miles on trails, we thought we would be approximately as tired as we would after a day of hiking. During the run I mentioned that I was concerned because most recently my fully loaded backpack had weighed in at 17 pounds. Somehow I needed to lose a pound, but not from my body. But how to do it? If I left out my down vest (4.0 oz), long john bottoms (3.1 oz) and top (4 oz), and wind jacket (about 2 oz.) I could save 13 oz.! Then Gary volunteered to carry the Appalachian Trail Companion 2012 (10.6 oz.) Great! There was my pound. Gary thought he might save 11 ounces by leaving out his down vest with bag and long john bottom. We needed to find out whether we'd suffer without those items, though. At bedtime we lay our foam pads and sleeping bags on our back patio. We climbed in with our long pants, fleece tops, sleep socks, balaclavas, and down jackets. I wore my gloves as well. How did we sleep? Well...warm torso, cool legs, cool feet. I woke up cold sometime in the wee hours, and by 6:45 in the morning was ready to get warm. I asked Gary how he fared. He'd been a bit cool as well. Now, the question was: what could be added back with maximum warmth, and at a minimum weight penalty? We decided to exchange our sleep socks for warmer ones, and add back the long john bottoms. We had planned to try these out tonight, but it is overcast, so this experiment will have to wait a few days, until the night time low temperature drops. So, until that time...we'll continue our preparation for next week's start!
Date: 2012-03-09
From: Amicalola State park 

To: Len Foote Hike Inn 
Miles today: 0.0

We started the day off right, with breakfast out in Senoia, Georgia, with our wonderful college friends, the Moores, who welcomed us into their lovely home last night, and our equally wonderful friend, Tuna, who not only picked us up from the Tampa Bay, Florida airport a few days ago, but drove us north to the Atlanta area, and then to the start of the trail. Thanks so much to all of you! (Random note: I met Tuna 12 years ago on my first cross country bike trip, and we've been getting together at least once a year ever since for hiking, biking and kayaking, so she wanted to be involved in our AT adventure.) We checked in as thru hikers at the visitor's center, then weighed our packs. My pack weighed 15 pounds, Expeditor's (Gary's) 27 pounds, including three days' food, and water for the day. We were thru hikers 206 and 207 (I think )Excited to start the thru hike at last, after planning it for the last eight years, we started up the relatively smooth trail to the Len Foote Hike Inn with Tuna, on this cool,cloudy and breezy, but dry day. Little did we know that this would be some of the easiest trail on the AT. Once we checked in at the Hike Inn, we made up our beds and showered since it would be several days before we could shower again. I enjoyed some yummy gluten free pumpkin bread. Gary had chocolate chip cookies and coffee. (Random note: I have been gluten free for the last eight years. This made food resupply on the trail extra challenging. Fortunately, I'm not a picky eater.) We walked to the outdoor seating area to eat, and to see the view, and could smell the smoke from the fireplace, reminding us it was still winter in the southern mountains. We took a tour of the grounds with some other guests. We noted the solar panels on the roof supply some of the electricity for the inn, composting toilets, and worm bins, used to compost food waste from the inn, to minimize the carbon footprint. Before long it was dinnertime, with turkey, green salad, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn muffins, and baked apples. Yummers. It was fun to stuff ourselves without the usual guilt, since we'd be looking for calories once we were actually hiking fifteen miles a day! After dinner, pictures were shown of the staff trip to Cumberland Island, a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. (Random note: We enjoyed the pictures and talk, but, to be honest, we were too excited about starting our thru hike to remember much about the talk.)Staying at the Hike Inn was a nice way to start our thru hike. We were amazed that people treated us like celebrities, just because we were headed for Maine, even though we hadn't even reached the official start point of the trail! I hoped we would feel this excited six months and 2200 miles from today! Life is great on the Appalachian Trail, especially feeling the anticipation of starting our thru hike!
Date: 2012-03-10
From: Len Foote Hike Inn 0.0

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter 8.1
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

We had no difficulty getting up this morning. I don't really think either of us slept much last night anyway. We went outside for a view of the sunrise at about 6:45, then went back inside for tea and coffee before breakfast. I found a book on kudzu, an opportunistic plant which was imported many years ago, and was TOO successful. Now it grows everywhere in the southern US, and is a real pest. We had a sumptuous breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, whole grain grits, and peach cobbler. The cook made delicious gluten free blueberry muffins for me. We said goodbye to the other guests, then, with Tuna, started up the approach trail towards Springer in the sunshine at 9:00. It felt SO good to finally be hiking on the trail, even if it was the approach trail, and not the actual AT. After 4.6 miles, we arrived at the official southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail (mile 0.0) at about noon. We had lunch, and I had my leftover muffin for dessert. John "Many Miles", the Springer Mountain caretaker, greeted us. We took the requisite pictures, then said our tearful goodbyes to Tuna. I wish she was continuing with us, but it was our dream, not hers. We met "Sir Packs Alot" (class of'03), and Regina the ridge runner, who we hope to see again in Virginia. (Random note: Ridgerunners are people, usually former thruhikers, who are paid a minimal stipend, to hike sections of the trail, helping hikers and spreading the "Leave no trace" ethic.) We stopped to chat with Bongo and Birdie, future thru hikers. They are "waiting for their elderly dogs to die before thruhiking the trail." We stopped at 3:40 for dinner, at the Hawk Mountain shelter, and, after 15 minutes, decided to spend the night. Since there were many other thru hikers there, we cowboy camped under the stars. Life is good on the Appalachian Trail, especially on the first day of living my dream!
Date: 2012-03-11
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Ramrock Mountain mile 19.6
Miles today: 11.5

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise. It was predicted to be mostly clear today with rain at night, which turned out to be accurate. There were a few clouds, but it was mostly clear, sunny, and cool, so we started out wearing all our hiking clothes. Soon after we started hiking, we started shedding clothes as it warmed up quickly. After two miles, we stopped at Horse Gap for breakfast.We stopped for lunch at Gooch Mountain Shelter, and enjoyed visiting with April Showers and Rob, Freefall, Capt Guts, Gus, and Squatch Watch. Water was from a pipe out of a spring. I was feeling super...Gary less so. After lunch, our big meal of the day, we left the shelter and continued hiking for another two hours. We wondered to each other how many of these folks we would see again on the trail, and how many would finish their thruhike. Only time would tell. We set up the tent on Ramrock Mountain, about 1.5 miles short of Woody Gap, then ate a cold dinner of beef jerky, cheese, energy bars, and nuts. (Random thought: since we aren't pros at setting up and taking down the tent, we really don't feel like tackling it in the rain yet. Actually, this was only the second time we had set up the tent at all. The first time we set it up it was in a park in Reno.) After our dinner, Gary hung the food bags, and we climbed into the tent for our second night on the trail. Life is great on the AT, especially when you get to meet and share a meal with new friends and thruhikers.
Date: 2012-03-12
From: Ramrock Mountain 19.6

To: Walasi-Yi Center 31.7
Miles today: 12.1

The predictions of rain for last night turned out to be correct. We stayed dry in our tent, but had to put away a wet tent. We woke up to a misty, but not too cold morning, and at least it had stopped raining... for the moment. We broke camp and started hiking the 1.5 miles to Woody Gap, and breakfast. We stopped for thirty minutes, and changed into shorts and rain pants, jackets, and over mitts, as it had started to rain. We were glad we did, because it rained the rest of the hiking day. We crossed up and over Blood Mountain in the mist, so we guessed we'd have to look at the video to see what we missed, once we got home. The shelter on top of Blood Mountain was picturesque, but looked COLD! (Random note: Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the AT in Georgia, and the shelter has no water or firewood. Besides, there is no camping there without a bear canister, and we didn't bring one.) We arrived at the Walasi-Yi Center at 3:00, and got some of the last bunks available. Mine even came with the resident cat! (Random note: The Walasi-Yi Center has an outfitter with stove fuel and short term resupply, showers, and laundry as well as bunks. They also accept mail drops. Traditionally, the owners traditionally offer hikers advice on how to lighten their packs. Interestingly, they took one look at our packs and said they couldn't help us. We appeared to be traveling light, I guess!) Once we were settled in, we hung up our clothes to dry, and met some more thru hikers: Lefty and Philly Ben, Snail and Blue, and Misplaced Moose. At 6:30, dinner was served: a feast of burgers, salmon, veggies, fruit, pudding, and sweet tea. I think I ate more than Gary, even though he's half again my size. Lucky me! My thru appetite had already kicked in. After dinner, we were ready to sleep. Life is great on the AT, especially when you can stay at an inexpensive hostel after hiking most of the day in the rain!
Date: 2012-03-13
From: Walasi-Yi Center 31.7

To: Chattahoochee Gap 48.2
Miles today: 16.5

We were up and out early, after a wonderful breakfast, then buying a bit of food for the next few days at the Walasi-Yi Center outfitter. Early in the day we encountered our first act of "trail magic". King Tut and Lang gave us sodas, Powerade, peanuts, and other goodies! Thanks! We continued on in sunny skies alternating with a few clouds. Terrain was pretty easy so the miles flew by. (Random note: We saw beautiful flowers, daffodils among others, and some blue butterflies along the way.) Along the way, Lefty passed us quickly, heading for the Low Gap shelter, where he planned to have dinner. He was really moving, but not as quickly as he was moving yesterday afternoon, when he had passed us on the downhill off of Blood Mountain, rushing to get a bunk at the Walasi-Yi Center. We stopped at Low Gap shelter for dinner, meeting Lefty, Blue and his girlfriend Snail, and others, who were spending the night there. We continued after dinner for another five easy miles to Chattahoochee Gap, arriving at 7:30-too late, as it was pretty dark by the time we had our tent set up. Also, it was our first longish day, and I was REALLY tired as we finally climbed into our sleeping bags, but not before checking out the city lights below. As we were setting up camp, Lefty passed us again, aiming for the shelter two miles further along the trail. (Random note: When we saw him the next day he said he did make the shelter, but it was dark by the time he arrived. We were glad we hadn't tried to go for it, with our one ounce headlamps.) We were happy we'd at least already eaten dinner! Life is great on the AT when you find a beautiful, flat place, with a beautiful view as well, to camp before dark!