morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-07-17
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 7.3

In the night a barred owl was in a tree nearby and woke me with its call. I was still cold sleeping, but I had put on my compression socks, so it wasn't as bad as the previous night.The morning was a big haze with no views. We, again, took our time getting up and out. We hiked to Charlie's Bunion with the same views of nothing. We stayed there for at least 20 minutes with only a hint of the view a couple of times. I was bummed for Count. We went on and it seemed to be clearing up, so we went back up to the Bunion and only saw a slight view from the loop trail. We left there around 10:45.The clouds did burn off a bit and we got a few spectacular views! The hiking wasn't bad either. The best part is that it only rained for about 30 seconds and none of it reached us! YAY!! We did hear a rumble of thunder once, but that didn't come near us.We are now at Peck's Corner Shelter - a half mile hike down from the AT. Blech. Tomorrow morning won't be the easiest start. It is a cute shelter - similar to Icewater. The same four girls from yesterday are here plus two women from Quebec, and a father-son team. We think one of the guys we met the other day will be here, too.There are black flies here, much to my dismay. I rinsed off a bit in the frigid water source and they have stopped bugging me so much. I have to admit that I'm slightly bored with these shorter hiking days, but my body is happy. I'd much rather be bored than injured! I could only eat about half of my Ramen tonight. I felt sick! Count ate the rest. Later I had a few honey mustard pretzels, but I think that tomorrow may be a physically hard day for me. It is 8:10 and the sun hasn't set. Most people are curled up for the night. I really like the women from Quebec. They keep making snorting noises for wild hogs. Haha! Speaking of hogs, it is yellow pigs day! Happy YPD, everyone!
Date: 2018-07-18
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.5

Last night, maybe around 9:30, the hogs came! At first I thought they were horses from the "clip clop" of hooves, but as they came closer I knew better! They were munching on leaves or something and at one point one let out a very piggy squeal. The Michigan Girls had been scared - one of them went up to use the latrine and she heard them coming and ran back down to the shelter. They were't sure what animal it was, and were having discussions that it might be elk. After the pig squeal, I leaned over the upper deck and whispered to them "Definitely not an elk!" hahahaToday's hike was simply gorgeous. Mostly sunny skies, nice trails and nothing too steep for too long. We walked through a small meadow with an amazing view and tons of butterflies. It was breeze and just lovely. A piece of heaven.Now we are at Cosby Knob shelter at 4,766 feet, so it is warmer here. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better tonight. We are here with the Quebec ladies (Elysse and MP) and a team from "leave no trace," Bryce and Erin. We are feeling like we have to be on our best behavior because of them, but we always have good behavior as far as leave no trace goes. We cooked our food at the bench at the shelter - like most people do - but they went far away from the shelter as did Elysse and MP. We ran into two other guys that are setting up a tent somewhere nearby.It is so beautiful here. The only problem: tons of black flies. :( I have a bite on my leg from last night and it is about 1/2 inch in diameter - pink and hot to the touch. I'm hoping I don't get another bite, so I put on my long socks & sleeves. I've killed at least 10 since we got here... maybe 20. It is crazy. The temperature is dropping now and it is getting breezy. Boo hoo - maybe I won't sleep as well as I thought.
Date: 2018-07-19
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 8.0

I slept horribly last night. I couldn't get comfortable and I got congested. Again. I really think my pillow is the culpret. I'll wash my sleeping bag, too, when we get home. I also had to pee most of the night, but it was nearly impossible to get out, so I didn't.I got up around 6:30 and watched the sunrise through the trees while I sat almost next to the privy. Ha! Our hike started out with downhill and then up to the Mt. Cammerer Trail which we decided to take. SO GLAD we did. It was totally worth it. The view were incredible despite the haze.Then we hiked down, down, down - about 3,000 feet. My dogs were barkin'! We stopped at Davenport Gap Shelter for lunch and then had another mile to the road and then 1.3 to the car on the road itself. While on the road, we sat two pit bulls that looked like they may have been "dumped." They barked when they saw us, but seemed like nice dogs. The female had obvsiouly had a litter recently. These situations always break my heart.Luckily, not too far down the road, we met some NPS rangers in a truck. I told them about the dogs and suggested they call animal control or another appropriate official. That was the best I could do, and I hope it worked. I prayed that the dogs would be okay. When we got to the car, we decided to rinse off in the creek - it was AWESOME - especially when I poured water over my head. We packed up the car and were driving out of the lot when Count realized he didn't have his glasses!!!! He went back to the creek after looking quickly in the car. They were on a rock. Phew!We drove nearly 2 hours to Fontana Dam, taking a stop at "The Fabled Bryson City" to get Hostess orange cupcakes, snoballs, and two sodas... and banana chips. The teller called me more terms of endearment during our transaction than Count has in our whole relationship. I think the top picks were "honey doll" and "sweetie cakes." LOL!At Fontana Dam we took showers at the visitor center - on the recommendation of a nice looking woman who was working there. She was older, but definitely a lady. The "Fontana Hilton" is pretty sweet! It sleeps at least 24, has a big picnic area, and has an awesome view of Fontana Lake. It is pretty windy, though. It seems the sun has set...I'm kind of dreading tomorrow. It looks like we go up about 2,000 feet in about 2 miles. Then we go up even more and end our day at 4,586 feet. Right now we're at 1,853. So much for our showers. HA! Good night!
Date: 2018-07-20
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollie's Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0

That was the best sleep I've had since we've been in the woods. Katydids and crickets with the occasional bull frog sang us to sleep. It was warm enough that I didn't need my cocoon and I had taken a benadryl for my fly bite which is still warm, but the pink has spread. Ugh The sun is rising over a hill beyond the lake, and I'm going to eat breakfast.Well, we made it safely to Mollie's Ridge Shelter by 3:40. We did run across two rattlesnakes! The first one rattled at us! The second one was already dealing with 5 people passing it and was angry. We skirted around that one, going through the brush. It was a fairly nice trail, despite my fatigue from the elevation gain. I only cried once. We took the short side trail to the Shuckstack firetower. It was really windy, but there were great views!I put my socks and headband on a rock to dry and a woman here chose to use that rock as a foot rest. I moved my stuff, but what the heck? Of all the places... Also, the shelter is pretty dusty/dirty. We were going to sleep on the lower level, but all I could smell was dust. I knelt down there and my legs are filthy. Sad times. There are black flies here, unfortunately, but it seems fairly warm and I'm happy about that! I put on my long socks and sweatpants to keep the flies away, but I still have my tank top on. It is a really pretty area - just wish there were a stream. Then it'd be just about perfect.We've been lucky again with amazing weather! Last night we thought we were going to get rained/thundered on, but we didn't. I'm hoping that the weather holds out for tomorrow. We had Ramen and fish and veggies for dinner and then I had a Snickers bar. The wind is picking up here and I want to make sure I'm warm enough tonight. The father-son team is here. They got here around 7:30. I was a little worried about them, and was glad to see them arrive. One of the guys says it may thunderstorm here tonight. The term was "big thunderstorm." Yikes! Whoa! Two more guys just showed up! That makes 12 at this shelter.I'm so nervous about tomorrow's hike. I know I can do it. I know it. But I'm still nervous. It is 17.7 according to our book. A full pack vs. a day pack makes all the difference in the world.
Date: 2018-07-22
From: Siler's Bald Shelter

To: Clingman's Dome
Miles today: 4.6

I cannot explain in words how truly awful it is to have a sleeping pad that isn't long enough for your body and also a sleeping bag that isn't warm enough for the cool nights in higher elevations. I was dumb not to bring my warm bag. I also will probably invest in a nice thermarest blow up pad. Not being able to sleep after a full day of hiking is unfortunate. Especially when your pillow makes you congested. We stayed up until nearly 10 PM last night reading our deliciously awful book. I "woke up" around 6:45. It is very wet from last night's torrential downpour. It was so loud on this corrugated tin roof that it sounded like a Mack truck was in here! Now every time the wind blows, it rains down a little from the leaves. It has rained a little bit this morning and I think it just got darker. We may have to hike in the rain. My favorite. There are two robins here... there were, but Count just woke up and turned around. It's getting too dark to see to write. Well, it was definitely a wet hike. We got to Double Spring Shelter and it started to rain. We stayed there for a while until the rain abated, but it was still fairly wet. My legs were so tired from yesterday's hike that I went really slowly today. It was kind of steep and I was struggling. By the time we got to Clingman's Dome it was 55 F, windy, and rainy. Brr! We stopped in the little store there, but didn't get anything. We also stopped in at the Mingus Mill and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. There I purchased two patches, cornmeal made at the mill, and two Christmas presents. Then we went to Bryson City and had an awesome lunch at Guyabitos. It was an excellent Mexican restaurant. Their salsa was SO good. I had fajitas and Count had chimichangas.We plowed on to Fontana Dam and "hiked" the 0.4 from the picnic area to the Dam in the rain. We sat in the car while a giant thunderstorm came through and read our silly book until it stopped.At the shelter we met Nobody. He's a big talker. Then Billy Goat came along and he's a talker also. There was no silence to be heard in the shelter until about 9:30. We didn't get to finish our chapter. Bummer. It is supposed to thunder tonight which might be kind of scary on the water down here, but at least it won't echo for 30 seconds. Nobody is talking again. I guess I have to turn of my light ...
Date: 2018-07-23
From: Davenport Gap

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 16.0

I guess sleep is overrated. Maybe I'll never sleep again. Last night Nobody caught FOUR mice in his mouse trap. He would let them struggle, so that was kind of agonizing. The noise of the last trap was keeping me awake and I told him to get up because the mouse wasn't dying - it had been about 20 minutes. The trap had caught the mouse's back legs. So awful. I told him earlier that I didn't mind having the mouse trap because I didn't think there were mice there. We didn't have any issues last time. Poor little mice. Poor owls who won't eat those mice.Anyway, we left Fontana Dam and drove to Davenport Gap and then to Max Patch. It is really late so I'm going to write almost nothing. We didn't start hiking until after noon! We saw a fox, we met two hikers at a shelter. Count found a tick on him, we practically ran down a mountain, I'm sore now. It rained on us four (or more) times today.We are at Laughing Heart Hostel in Hot Springs. Had dinner around 10 PM and now going to sleep. Rough day. Hope tomorrow is better. We met Cloud & his dong, Rain. And the cute puppy here, "Hiker." Cloud said he sold a blurry cell phone picture of a red eft to a Japanese man for $30. He's a character, for sure.
Date: 2018-07-24
From: Max Patch

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 19.8

Best night's sleep I've had in a while, though not perfect. Today's hike began at 7:50 AM. It started with an immediate 1,000 foot climb out of Hot Springs. It was super humid and we were both sweaty very early on. After about 8 miles I was feeling a bit tired, but had an over 2,000 foot climb to "Bluff Mountain." It was possibly the most disappointing and pointless summit we've had on the AT. So much work for not a single view. Plus we had to walk through head-high brush and prickers to get there. I have to give a shout out to Meghan Trainor for getting me up that hill. I sang some of her songs in my head as we climbed the relentless mountain.I was pretty much done hiking after we reached Lemon Gap - about 15 miles in. Of course, we couldn't stop and turn around! We hiked to the Roaring Fork Shelter where we heard dogs barking and also thunder. Boo! So we left and ventured out for our last 2 miles to Max Patch. Everything was fine until we came out to the open Max Patch. There we could see the thunderstorm, but couldn't tell if it was headed in our direction or not. We determined that we were going to not get stormed on, but walked quickly anyway. Then thunder was closer and Count calculated that we had about 4 minutes until the storm reached us!! Friends, we made it to the car just before the storm fully hit Max Patch summit! What a close call!Our drive back to the Laughing Heart Hostel was very winding. I had to pull over at one point because I was getting car sick. Yes. I was driving. We made it back and "our room" was untouched. I left a note to not wash the linens since we'd be coming back. We both took showers and put on real clothes! Then we went to eat dinner at the Iron Horse Station. I ate probably twice what I'd normally eat! It was a really nice place and there was live music. Also, our waitress has been to Look Park and is dating a guy from Leeds!! HA!! Small world. We are back in our room and will read and go to sleep soon. YAY! SLEEEEEEEEEEP! 107.44 AT miles so far this trip.
Date: 2018-07-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.8

I had odd and vivid dreams last night of me being in a secret society and very close friends with Gillian Anderson and Marilyn Lightstone. I had gone to an auction where a guy had tampered with a food processor by sharpening some oval discs that would shoot out of the foot processor when it was turned on and kill the operator. The food processor auctioned at $50,000 and I had to help stop the killing with my secret society. Unfortunately Marilyn was ill in bed. I went with Gillian to visit her. I woke up soon after that, very thirsty.Anyway, what a difference a day makes! We started off at Devil Fork Gap following a girl who was a fairly fast hiker. I let her set the pace. The trail was mostly gentle and not rocky. About 20 or 30 minutes in, we crossed paths with Elise/Elysse and MP! That was fun and spirit lifting. After that I kid of "zenned out" thinking about my dream. The trail was one of the nicest sections we've hiked yet! Pretty much until lunch the trail was awesome - the first 9 miles.We took a long and leisurely lunch at the Jerry Cabin Shelter. We took off our shoes & socks to dry them in the sun. They got soaked when we walked through an extensive field earlier in the day. The long lunch could have been a mistake had we not hiked rather quickly in the morning.After lunch the trail became rocky and rooty. That slowed us down considerably. And then came the Firescald section of the trail for 1.5 miles. We slowed down even more traversing rocks and mud, but mostly rocks. It was like being transported to a section of Maine or New Hampshire! There were some fairly epic views. We also took a side trail to Blackstack Cliffs and Whiterock Cliff. Out by Whiterock, we found a freshly shed rattlesnake skin! it was kind of rubbery. It pulled on it to see the size of the snake and there were eyes in the skin! Not the actual eyes, but the shape of them. I didn't know that happened. Cool and creepy.We still had 7 miles to go after that so I tried to pick up the pace. We took a 30 minute break at Little Laurel Shelter because my feet were starting to ache pretty badly and my calves felt weird. The last 3.3 was all downhill. We made it to the car at about 6:30. YAY!!! We drove the 0.7 mile to the Hemlock Hollow Hostel, where we spent last night as well. I got a Fanta and then we both jumped into the creek before going back to the cafe to eat a frozen pizza. I had a nice chat with Diane, who is the current care-taker until her son & his girlfriend come in August. We ate our pizza with Sadie, the dog, lying next to our table, and very hopefully. There were also at least three hummingbirds. They were not all willing to share the feeders, so we got to watch some hummingbird competition action. Neat!Anyway, I'm so happy we had a perfect weather day today and that we completed our section goal of the year. We should be able to finish NEXT YEAR!!!!!
Date: 2019-05-12
From: Fontana Dam

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 15.2

Well, we are at Fontana Dam shelter with SO MANY people. We met Jukebox earlier - he approached us as we were eating lunch. As he walked along, he was singing. I couldn't tell at first if he was a radio a hiker was carrying or not. He is very talented. It really wasn't a bad hike. I just wasn't ready for it. I haven't been training at all, so that's my fault. My excuse is that the weather has been very wet and cold... and I really don't want to go out in that. My knees were hurting pretty early on and by the halfway point I was ready to call it a day. Too bad, Applejack! We took a break at a shelter and it started to rain. Boo hoo! It wasn't raining hard, so we left anyway. After about an hour, it really opened up and started to rain in erneset. I was already wet, so I didn't put my raincoat on. Count put his on, though. The rain was relentless, though never torrential. My clothes are soaked. The good thing was that the rain kept my mind on not slipping and stepping in puddles instead of my aching knees.I hope I don't have much pain tomorrow... the knee pain doesn't bode well. I did bring knee braces, but they're in the other car. I have an ace bandage if I need it. It is getting too dark to see, so goodnight! I hope to sleep well.
Date: 2019-05-14
From: NOC

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 0.0

I didn't get a chance to write last night because of a variety of reasons. That 13.4 was a hard-ass second day. My muscles were screaming on our ascent from the NOC to Cheoah Bald. We started around 9:30 and finished around 6ish, I think. I also had an... accident. At Locus Cove Gap I figured I should pee since I had been feeling the urge for a while. I got my PStyle and headed off into the "toilet area" in the woods. Well, no matter how hard I tried, my bladder wouldn't release - I must have been holding it for too long, plus it isn't always easy for me to stand up and pee. I figured I'd just squat instead and then I'd be able to go. I took away the PStyle and wouldn't you know, pee started coming out of me!! WHAT THE ACTUAL??? I quickly stopped the flow, squatted and let the rest out (which was a lot), but the damage had been done. I peed myself, readers. And not only that, but I had to hike for 3 miles in pee pants. Not my finest move. I was very self-conscious of course. Count said that it was dissipating in my wicking clothes, but yuck!!We met a woman at Stecoah Gap from MN who was a trail angel. She was handing out sandwiches and water and all sorts of goodies! Count and I each had a banana. We drove to Wayah Bald (I sat on a towel - because there wasn't anywhere to change!) where we decided we would sleep. We found a little "hidden" area to set up our tent. We had dinner, but ran out of gas for the 2nd bowl of Ramen. :( It was the first time I had EVER served myself first, so Count got luke-warm Ramen. I felt so bad, but not bad enough to give him mine. hahaha! The evening got REALLY cold!! My teeth were chattering, but I knew that once I got in the tent it would be okay. My legs couldn't warm up and after about 15 minutes or so I couldn't stop shivering - even with a fleece and wool shirt on in my awesome sleeping bag and cocoon! I got up and slept in the car. It was not the best night of sleep, but it was better than freezing.Sunrise was beautiful from the bald! I found my denim jacket & gloves to wear and that helped a lot. I also put on my warmer hiking tights and put my pajama pants back on over them. So, guess what - the tent had frost on it in the morning!! Crazy!! I was not joking about it being cold. I'm not built for that - that's the main reason why we ended our attempted thru-hike early.My ankle was hurting quite a bit, so I decided to wrap it. While I did that, Count started wiping off the tent. I went over to help, but I didn't get too far before my hands were all red and numb! The cold is no joke (#redhead).I still haven't even written about today, but it is SO LATE (10:00 PM) that it can wait until tomorrow. Good night, faithful readers!
Date: 2019-05-16
From: Albert Mountain

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 14.9

This morning, after a warmer night's sleep, we got up a bit later than we have been. We left the campsite a little after 8 AM and reached Deep Gap about 35 minutes later. Our hike began by climbing up Standing Indian Mountain out of Deep Gap. We met a woman going south saying she had to get off the trail because a bear ate all of her food in the night. Bummer!! We saw Cayenne (or Ken or K-N) with his dog, Scout, tenting near the shelter. Scout protected the food from the bear. :) Good dog, Scout! Then we met another guy also hiking south who had to get off the trail. He didn't give a reason, but I felt bad for him. We encountered a NOBO who we talked to for a short while as well. We decided to go to the summit of Standing Indian since we're staying in the campsite. It was pretty cloudy, but nice anyway. The sun was trying to peek out, but the clouds said, "No!"As the day progressed the sun came out fully and it was quite warm. I regretted my black capri leggings and knee socks. We had lunch at a lovely shelter - maybe Carter Gap. It looked relatively new and was quite nice. I had my first ever (in my memory) peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was pretty good!I really enjoyed the weather, the bird song, the smell of the earth warming under the sun's rays. I didn't as much enjoy all the loose rocks and roots that we had to walk on today. At one point, I stumbled over a rock and thought I injured my knee, but I was okay after a minute or two. The not good thing was the blister I could feel getting larger on my pinkie toe. Every year I get the same blister. I'm sure it's the way I have my feet in my shoes. I think tomorrow I'll try toe socks.We finished the day out with a tough but seriously satisfying scramble up Albert Mountain. We both climbed as high up the fire tower as is allowed. Then back to camp! Our first evening back before 7:30! We both took showers... really rinses because we don't have soap (I forgot). It still felt awesome. We had dinner and were invited to join a man, Rich, at his fire. We did and hung out with him until about 8:30. He's an interesting guy and even gave me a book to read. Now I'm tired. 9:30. Brontosaurus out!