morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-10-09
To: Katahdin
Miles today: 2179.0
Weather: overcast clouds

WOW !!!!!   This amazing journey has come to an end, or is it really just the beginning of a new journey in my life? I am sure it is the latter. I am resting and getting ready to continue "living life". I want to thank all of my family and friends for supporting me along my trek, without you and your support this incredible pilgrimage would never have become a reality.For those of you that also supported me in raising donations and awareness for Florida Voices for Animals. Thank You!! I completed all 2,179 miles of the Appalachian Trail and if you decided to pledge per mile please make contact with (FVA), Florida Voices for Animals directly. If you have not made a pledge I encourage you to make a donation today. Consider my journey, consider the great deeds of FVA and consider every dollar helps. http://www.floridavoicesforanimals.org What's next for me seems to be the question of the week. The answer my friends, is blowing in the wind (Ha-ha). I am relishing my experience and am looking forward to a new chapter in my life. I have a few thoughts of my own but am open to anyones ideas or leads.My final thoughts for you are this. I encourage everyone to enjoy every moment of their lives. Take chances and challenge yourself, do what seems impossible. You will feel great, having no regrets on what you have always wanted to do but couldn't find the time, etc."Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more". ~ Brother David Steindl-Rast
Date: 2010-01-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We took our first training hike in the rain. We're talking tropical rain forest here in Florida. This was excellent because we've heard it may rain sometime during our hike of the AT.We learned some interesting things: First frog-toggs do not keep you dry in 2hrs of pouring rain, although they do keep you warm. I know some water came in through the sleeve when I raised my arms. Second, a pack even with a pack cover does not keep your stuff dry. We're not sure but we think it leaked in from the side against your back. It may have also spread from the padding and shoulder straps. The end result was a soaking wet sleeping bag in the bottom of our pack. I'm guessing this would not be fun to sleep in. At this point, we plan to put anything inside our pack that needs to stay dry in a plastic trash bag. Third, gators are great! The only dry thing was my socks and boots. Yipee! I'm not sure that would happen with 8hrs of rain, but it's a great sign.
Date: 2010-01-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Only 99 days to go. Yippee! Still seems a long time, I'd rather just call it 14 weeks. I'm getting a growing sense of excitement from all the hiker journals. It's so hard to wait for such a monumental event.We've been training by walking 8-12 miles on the weekend on flat Florida ground. Obviously not ideal conditions. Well, this week is different. My wife and I are at Massanutten in Virginia, only 10 miles from the AT. We've been skiing all week and let me tell you, the first 3 days our bodies were sore from head to toe. Today, after 4 days, I finally feel normal. I'm hoping it will be much like that on the AT. I expect a week or so of pain. After that, I'm hoping 15 miles a day walking up and down mountains becomes tolerable. We will see.
Date: 2010-01-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Food has been on our mind lately. My wife is packin up the 27 drop boxes. She's gotten some terrific deals.We've evaluated cost, weight, and calories. I'm shooting for about 4000 calories per day. Meat products are expensive. I suppose you can dehydrate your own meat, but why go through all the trouble. I can buy meals with meat when I hit the towns every 5 days or so.Breakfast is pretty much what I each every day now minus the honey and blueberries.1. Oatmeal with2. Walnuts3. Cranberries4. Raisons5. CinnaminLunch1. Ramon noodles (3 varieties)2. Idahoan instant mash potatoes (6 varieties)Dinner1. Knorr rice meals (8 varieties)Snacks1. Ritz crackers and peanut butter.2. Peanuts3. Almonds4. Walnuts5. Raisons6. Nature Valley trail bars
Date: 2010-01-27
To: What are the odds?
Miles today: 0.0

My wife, daughter, and I were practice hiking on a back road near our home. A police officer pulls over and flips on his flashing lights. I'm thinking at first why he's pulling over. Is there some law against walking around with backpacks. No!!!So I ask him what's up and he asks if we're practice hiking for the A.T. Why yes, we are and he informs us that he intends to hike the A.T. in April. We might even run into him on the trail. Now keep in mind that Jacksonville is about 50 miles across. It's the biggest land mass city in the USA. We have over 1 million people. The odds of two people meeting out of the 1,500 or so through hikers are statistically impossibility. How crazy is this?
Date: 2010-01-30
To: Fully Loaded
Miles today: 0.0

I finally got around to it. I've been practice hiking with 35-38lbs. Most of that weight has been water bottles wrapped in towels.This morning we loaded it up with all our gear, 3 liters of water, and all our food for 5 days. The total damage is 41 pounds. Not too bad since that is my heaviest day. With any luck, I can go with 1-2 liters of water after a food pickup day.I've found that 35lbs is a reasonable weight, the 38-41 pound range is significantly more uncomfortable. Strange how a few pounds makes such a difference.
Date: 2010-04-18
To: Good to Go
Miles today: 0.0

We're ready to hit the trail. Our daughter shaved our heads to reduce personal maintenance. I hear there aren't many showers on the trail. We are planning to practice hike every day this week with full packs. Maybe we can fool our bodies into thinking this is a normal thing.It¢s only 6 days until we hit the trail. My last day at Landstar is Thursday, April 22nd. I was wondering for a while which I was more looking forward to, retiring or walking the trail. It's definitely walking the trail which I'm now describing as our grand adventure. Retiring is bittersweet since I won't get to work with my fellow coworkers. I've been able to work on some pretty cool stuff over the last 3 years and work with some wonderful people. The upside is I get to spend much more time with my sweetie pie. I hope she can handle the extra time with me.
Date: 2010-04-23
To: Final Day at Home
Miles today: 0.0

I completed my last day at Landstar yesterday. It took me over an hour to say goodbye to everyone. I don't think you realize how many friends you've made until you say goodbye to them all. There are so many helpful and friendly people at Landstar.My wife and I made our final repack. (yea right) Our final conclusion is that our packs are too heavy. Surpise surpise. About 5 pounds more than we anticipated. Ugh!My strategies:1. Try to keep only 1 liter in my pack when water sources are plentiful. Water is a dreadful 2 pounds per liter.2. Eat half my food each day. Day 1 12lbs (possible stomach ache), Day 2 6lbs, Day 3 3lbs, Day 4 1.5lbs, Day 5 I may be hungry.3. Throw away some food the first day. Eat my wifes food on day 4 & 5.Well, out plans changed and we're leaving today to stay in a hotel close by Springer Mountain. That way my daughter can break up the long drive into 2 days and we can start earlier on Saturday. Yippee!
Date: 2010-04-24
From: Final Day at Home

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: moderate rain

We started out our first day in the rain around 11:00am. It wasn't really too bad at first. After about 5 miles, we were feeling weary carrying overloaded packs and getting only about 6 hours sleep the night before.Around 3:00pm, we reached a point that should have had signs indicated distances to shelters and telling us where we were. The signs were missing. Hmmm, not sure what happened. We continue on another 2.8 miles in the rain which was now turning into a very cold rain. It was one of the longest 2.8 miles I've ever walked. I think they should recheck this distance. Finally, we see the blue blaze trail to the shelter and we are so relieved.We arrive to the words "The shelter is full". Now this is very disappointing since we're totally wet and it's pouring down rain at this point. There are 4 thru hikers setup in the bottom area and 3 guys standing around because they just arrived before we did. They have one tent setup and are planning to setup another tent in the rain. We work our way into the shelter so at least we can rest a minute and plan what to do now.Oh, did I mention we're out of water. I shiver my way down to the water source and almost run back becuase I think I was freezing to death at this point. Luckily the .1 miles back up warmed me a bit.Once the 3 guys got their tents set and moved their gear, we're able to setup our tent in the bottom portion of the shelter and walk it out to the camp site. Thankfully one of the guys helps us with this procedure. Our tent is open mesh. There is a fly that keeps the rain out. Very difficult to setup in the pouring rain without getting the inside totally wet. We painfully blow up our air mattresses so that we can keep our sleeping bags and clothes dry. We then pull off our sopping wet clothes and put on dry clothes. This is very difficult when you're shivering constantly and in a very small 2 person tent. Once done, we do not want to go out into the pouring rain again, so we attempt to stay warm and sleep. My wife shivered for over 2 hours.Then the thunderstorms kick in. Every five seconds another bolt of lighting appears. The rain comes down so hard our tent is compressed due to the weight of the water. It's a miracle we survived the night. We're lucky if we slept 2 hours. It was a long night considering we didn't eat dinner and went in our tent around 6:00pm.Thank God the rain stopped around 6:00am the next morning. We got out and ate breakfest. The 3 guys from last night were very friendly and we would meet them again.We later find out that the shelter sleeps 12! 6 on bottom and 6 on top. In addition, it's a thru hiker tradition that there's always room in the shelter for thru hikers. Shame on the 4 thru hikers that let us freeze in the pouring rain without offering any help whatsoever.
Date: 2010-04-25
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: few clouds

What a wonderful day. We're now dry and warm. We chat with the guys that tented beside us all night. What a night.We begin the process of trying to dry everything out. Our tent and tarp dry quickly. Our boots and clothes do not. By 10:30am, we figure we will just need to go. I put on some dry socks and slide into my wet boots. We attach all the wet clothes to the back of my pack and head out. Oh, did I mention the wet clothes weight at least 5 pounds extra. Ugh! I start off lugging at least 45lbs. Way more than I have ever had.It is a painful and grueling day. Sasafrass Mountain kicks my ***. It's the steepest mountain we've crossed. By the end of the day, my back behind one of my shoulder blades is hurting and very sore. We setup our tent, ate dinner, then quickly went to bed. I fell asleep in 15 seconds. It was our best nights sleep in at least 2 days. Only one problem.I hear this scraping noise, then feel something run up my leg around my head then down my leg. What the heck! I put on my flashlight and determine we have a mouse in our tent. He's making circles around us at a high rate of speed. I'm not happy about this. With advice from the tent next door (he apparently heard our ruckus) I open the front tent flap and beat the bottom area of our tent. Luckily, he quickly runs out the front. Unfortunately, he decides to hang around in our packs in the front vestibule all night. I try to scare him many times without success and eventualy give up.P.S. I don't actually know the mouse was male
Date: 2010-04-26
From: Gooch Mtn Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

We started off late again, around 10:30am. We are very slow at packing up.Our biggest milage day. We were feeling pretty good from a decent nights sleep and although I wouldn't call this easy, it wasn't that bad.The last 2 miles, the air turned much colder and the wind gust had picked up to about 30mph. It was around 7:00pm and we were running out of daylight, so we really wanted to find the shelter. We didn't realize until we saw the blue blaze that the shelter was another .5 mile. This 6 person shelter had 4 sleeping in it and a young man quickly moved over and offered 2 spots for us. Now that's hospitality!We quickly cooked dinner, hung our bear bag, and got in our sleeping bags. We made a huge mistake of not setting our tarp under our sleeping matts. Not thinking about it because we never slept in a shelter, the boards you're sleeping on have 1/2 inch gaps where the wind blows through. Needless to say, we froze our butts off all night. I should have put on my frog tog coat, but I was reluctant to get out of my sleeping bag. Instead, I suffered all night. This was a very bad nights sleep.P.S. There were 3 bear hoists. The first one had reminants of a food bag that had been eaten by a bear. A note in the shelter suggested that someone cut down the tree near the bags.
Date: 2010-04-27
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: light rain

As we were walking the 1/2 mile back to the trail, I asked my wife if she was having any fun as we both left the shelter. The answer was no, none at all. We decided to regroup and consider what we need to change. We called our daughter to pick us up.Lessons:1. It's very cold at night in the mountains. Because of this, we are not getting enough sleep.2. We had way to much food.3. Our packs were 10 pounds too heavy.4. We can't really cook lunch since we were leaving too late in the day.We plan to head out from Neels Gap on May 8th.
Date: 2010-05-05
From: Neels Gap

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Yes, it's true, we came home to regroup after another sleepness night and my wifes water blatter broke. We learned too late that you should not put your water blader in the sleeve provied by the pack. You should just lay it on top of your pack where it won't get pinched or smashed. Plus you can refill it without unpacking half your stuff.We've purchased some nice under clothes to keep us warm at night, removed a few nonessentials, changed out our camp/river shoes, sleeping mats, and stove.We've also repacked all our 25 remaining food boxes. Essentianly we've cut our food supplies in half and we're using protein bars instead of cooking something for lunch. It just wasn't practical to stop and cook for lunch. There just wasn't enough time in the day. The suggested 4-5 thousand calories per day isn't practical for me when I have to carry an extra 5lbs around. I'd rather just be hungry.My pack is now down to 35lbs with water and 9 days worth of food. It was 45lbs with 5 days of food. Way too heavy. particuarly on days when you're carrying wet clothing.We will begin again at Neels gap on May 8th. I think we will do much better this time.
Date: 2010-05-08
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: few clouds

Back on the trail again. We were feeling good today. My back is about 38lbs instead of 45. We were carrying 9 days of food.It was a good day except we missed the first watering hole, then the 2nd one was dry, and that was it until we hit camp. We hiked the last 1-2 miles just chewing gum.The camp site was great. It has a nice bubbling brook right there. There was a really nice man, (Spanish word for Owl) and his son (Spanish word for deer).It was very cold this night. My wife had every stitch of clothing on.
Date: 2010-05-09
From: Low Gap

To: Blue Mountain
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: few clouds

This was a very short day. Looking at the terrain, it would have been way too difficult to make it to the next shelter. We only met one person the entire day, Razor the ridge runner.We stayed in the shelter alone this night. We arrived very early around 2:00pm. We made a great fire and it was our entertainment for a few hours.Again, the night was cold. Shouldn't it be getting warmer yet.
Date: 2010-05-10
From: Blue Mountain

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise at blue mountain Shelter. We hit the trail by 8:45, a new record. It was taking us forever to pack up.We got to our intended Tray Mountain shelter around 2pm but didn't want to sit around a fire all day again. We felt good and decided we could tackle the next 8 miles which supposedly were easier then the 7.8 miles we just covered. Not Good! It started to sprinkle at 3pm, then drizzle at 4pm, then downright rain at 5pm. We got to the shelter around 6:30 soaking wet. 3 section hikers (Sam, Kathryn and Austin) were up in the top part so we took half of the bottom.We got a bit of trail magic in that someone left a nice sleeping bag in the shelter. My wife was freezing even after she changed out of her wet clothes and got into her sleeping bag. I decided we could put her sleeping bag inside the other one. That did the trick. She finally got warm. Yeah! When I was ready to start dinner, I turned on our new 3.8oz gas stove. We were carrying one that weighed about a pound. Surprise surprise, nothing. The stove failed after 2 days of camping. Ugh! We can't cook anything.
Date: 2010-05-11
From: Deep Gap

To: Dicks Creek Cap/Hiawassee
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to a rainy cold morning. Very foggy. Decided to walk to Dicks Creek gap and get a shuttle to Hiawassee to get a replacement camp stove. We got to Dicks Creek, only to find that we couldn't call the shuttle. No phone reception. Darn! After a while a nice man, Bill, stopped for a break in his driving and gave us a ride to Hiawassee. Thanks Bill.Unfortunately, They don't carry small camp stoves in Hiawassee. We will be going with protein bars and no coffee for the next four days. Ugh!We're staying at the a small inn for the night. Warm bed and showers. Yeah!
Date: 2010-05-12
From: Dicks Creek Cap/Hiawassee

To: Muskrat Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

Sally Smith gave us a ride to Dicks Creek Gap. She was super nice. We crossed paths with Josh and Matt all day. They also got a ride with Sally.At our lunch break we met Sherpa Dave & Golden Berry. They have helped many hikers and know alot about plants. They told us the bright orange flower trees were Flaming Aalias. Very pretty when you're seeing green for a long period of time, then all of a sudden, bam bright orange.We got to the shelter to find many hikers. The shelter was full and it was a tent city. We hung our food bags from a tree and got it right the first time. Didn't expect that.We set up our tent only to find that all the blood was rushing to our heads when we laid down. We just rotated the tent and tried from sliding through the bottom all night. Funny, it didn't seem that slanty when looking at it.
Date: 2010-05-13
From: Muskrat Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

Not feeling suer great today. Guess I was tired from yesterday. After getting to the Standing Indian Campground, we were headed the wrong way. Luckily a truck came by and straightend us out. They gave us a ride back to the trail.We walked for several miles today along a small creek. It was very nice with water falls every once in a while.At the shelter, we met Johnny, Giggles, and John Boy. I couldn't start a fire because our water proof matches were damp. Yes, that's right. Johnny had some vaseline soaked cotten balls and a lighter that got us going.
Date: 2010-05-14
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

We hiked a long way today and my dogs are barking. After about 8 miles we had something special happen. A trail Angel left a cooler full of cool drinks & Snicker Bars. Yahoo! Thank you whoever left that at Wahah Gap.   The excitement of trail magic and the goodies gave us the energy to make it the next 7 miles.Oh, did I mention we climed our first mountain that was over a mile high. Boy that was hard.We arrived at an empty shelter. All to ourselves. It was a good night with plenty of room.
Date: 2010-05-15
From: Wayah Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

A hard day. It stormed when we got to the sheltr. We met 2 Dogs who's going south. He wouldn't tell my wife the story of his "2 dogs" name. We think it's because he snores louder than 2 barking dogs. Matt came in late, but setup a tent problably because of the snoring.
Date: 2010-05-16
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We thought it was all down hill today based on my elevation maps. Not So! There were many short steep uphills. We had a spectacular view of the clouds today. We were actually above the loulds and could look out and see some other mountain peaks poke through the cloud layer. We got a new stove at the NOC. I can't wait to have hot meals again and coffee in the morning.It was very cool.We met "Nice Guy" at the NOC. He did the A.T. in 2006 and decided to move into the area. He handed me 2 Snicker bars and we talked for a while. We met several other hikers that we've met before. Venado and Tecolate, Matt, Josh.My big toe was infected today. I appear to have an ingrown toenail that's giving me trouble. I cleaned it out the best I can.
Date: 2010-05-17
From: NOC

To: Sassafas Shelter
Miles today: 6.9

Late start around 9:15 out of the NOC for a long 7 mile slog up hill all the way. The first three miles wasn't too bad, but the next three were killer. We stopped for lunch at a splectacular view. We could see many mountains & the whole valley. I used my new MSR pocket rocket stove to cook a hot lunch.We stayed at the shelter with Matt and a guy without a tril name. Cooked red beans & rice for dinner. Hot and Yummy.
Date: 2010-05-19
From: Brown Fork Gap

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: broken clouds

Happy Anniversery on the trail. Very chilly this morning. We met the Jolly Green Giant who gave me a beer. Now since it was like 9:00am, I took the beer but didn't drink it. After about a mile we passed the 4 guys we camped with the previous night. I left the cold beer in clear site on a log. I'm sure they would drink it since they've been living off other people's leftover food for weeks.We got to Fontana Dam & too a shuttle to the village where we ate a terrific dinner. It was the best food & beer ever. The onion rings were amazing.Got back to the Fontana Dam shelter and had a wonderful warm shower. This shelter sleeps 24.
Date: 2010-05-20
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: scattered clouds

We begin the Smokies. We climbed up shuckstack tower. Very rickety and many of the bolts were missing on the ladder rungs. Even a handrail was missing. Very scary, but a beautiful view of the dam and the lakes.The story of the 3 bears. We saw our 1st bear withing the 1st hour. It walked away after seeing us. The second bear watched me walk by the trail and get water, then walk back. I talked out loud the whole time hoping he wouldn't eat me. The 3rd bear was a whopper. Probably 400-500lbs. Twice the size of the other bears. We saw him down the hill as he walked toward us. We snapped several pictures and quickly decided to move on before he noticed us.Animal Tally:3 Bears