morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-05
From: Deep Gap

To: Mooney gap
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night was preaty cold and extremely windy. I did manage to get some decent sleep through it though. I had to put my ear plugs in at 3:00 am because the wind was so loud. It was freezing at 7:30am when I got up. The first thing I had to do was dress up my blisters so I could get my socks on. After that I pulled down my bear bag and ate a hunny bun for a quick breakfast. It was too cold for anything else. I then started disassembling my camp and then I filtered some water and got headed up Standing Indian Mountain. It stands at 5435 feet tall. It was a very moderate climb though with a lot of switchbacks. The views from the top were nice. Once I got up there I was glad to feel the sun as I had camped on the side of the mountain with no morning sun. It turned out to be another fantastic day. Probably around 70 degrees and full sunshine. It was a great day. I was slowed a bit by the blisters on my feet and made several stops to adjust my wraps. I finally got it so it felt pretty good. The decent off Standing Indian was also very gradual and not difficult. I passed by several shelters and said hi so other hikers, but most of the day I hiked solo as I have for the last few days. People are starting to get more spread out. I ran into a few hikers near the end of the day where I thought I would camp. That place was Betty Creek Gap. In the AWOL book it has it as a marked camping spot, but upon arrival there were four other tired folks there wanting to camp as well. The problem was it has been marked as a no camping area. So we all headed on down the trail. I ended up a mile or so up the trail at Mooney Gap with a few other people. The women right next to me named V, took in a stray dog while hiking a few days back on Tray mountain. She names him Tray and brought him to the vet in town and is having it brought back to her home in NH. Her mother is coming here to get the dog in two days. It is pretty cool. So I am very tired and in my hammock. It is supposed to be cold again tonight, but this weekend it is really suppose to get super cold. They are saying low 20's. I am thinking about going to visit my sister and her family in Holly Spings for a few days and then get back in the trail after this cold snap. I will be in Fraklin tomorrow and will figure it out then.
Date: 2016-04-12
From: Rock Gap

To: Silver Bald summit
Miles today: 8.3

I am back on the trail today after spending 5 awesome days with Doug, Leslie, Jordan, and Abby. I can not thank them all enough for there hospitality. I had a great time and was able to let my blisters heal and also avoid the major cold front that moved through the mountains. I brought the car I rented back to Enterprise in Franklin after a five hour drive. I then took a shuttle back to where I left off the trail at Rock Gap. I have some more cold weather gear and some different footwear. I also plan on taking it a bit slower. I do not think I will be doing 18 and 19 mile days for a while. I would like to stay between 10-15 miles per day for the time being. So I got dropped off at Rock Gap at 12:30pm. The weather was awesome. Sixty degrees and partly sunny. The fresh rain from the night before seemed to clear all the junk out of the air. It was so refreshing. I made the almost four mile hike to Winding Stair Gap in a couple of hours. I took a break there and filtered some water. There was some other hikers there headed into town. I talked with them a bit before I moved on up the trail. I did not run into a lot of people today. The hiking was not too hard, but it was beautiful with views everywhere because the leaves still are not on the trees at this elevation. I hiked around 4000 feet and higher today. I reached Silver Bald mountain at 5:00pm. The summit was off the trail and straight up for several tenths of a mile. You could tell the views would be awesome from up there so up I went and as expected it was awesome. The best views so far. I stayed at the top until 6:00pm then decided to make and have my dinner up there. Silver Bald summit is over 5200 feet tall. All you can see in every direction just mountains upon mountains. I finally finished up with my dinner and got packed back up. I had to figure out where to camp. On my way down I noticed a spot over to the side of the trail that looked perfect for my hammock set up. As I was checking it out a group of hikers were coming up to check out the summit. I asked them about the shelter down below and they said it was all buggy and not very appealing. They were going to spend the night on top of Silver Bald. So I decided to stay up here as well. I set up my camp and then headed back up to the summit to watch the sun set. There were about a dozen of us there, notably Chuckles and Thin Mint. It was awesome. Everyone was nice as usual. After sunset I headed back to my camp area and called it a night. It's good to be back on the trail.
Date: 2016-04-14
From: Rocky Bald on the ridge

To: Swim Bald summit
Miles today: 16.5

Started the day with another sunrise. I took my time getting up and doing what is becoming the daily morning chores. Get hanging food bag, clean up, get dressed, make breakfast, breakdown came, brush and floss my teeth and taking in where I am while doing it all. I am getting better everyday at camp and that is making things even better. I started today hiking from somewhere on Rocky Bald ridge. The day started with a never ending set up small ups and downs. I knew I had a big down at some point. Right before the big decent happened I came to Wesser Bald and it had an observation tower you could go up. So up I went. I have been checking out all the views even if they are off the trail a bit. I just can not get enough of these mountains. The views were phenomenal from a top the tower. I met a few nice hikers there and then and finally I got headed down to the NOC. I dropped down about 2500 feet to get onto the NOC at 2:30pm. It was kind of crazy. People everywhere, cars everywhere, noise everywhere. Very commercialized. It was also very warm down there. I would say at least seventy five degrees and on the humid side. There were options to stay there but I was not feeling it. I needed two days of food, which I bought and then I headed back up into the wilderness and when I say up, I mean up and up and up and up. I left the NOC at 3:00pm without a real plan other then to get out of that craziness. I ended up going another 6.7 miles all up hill and some of the steepest and longest uphills by far so far. I finally stopped and camped at the very top of Swim Bald. It ended up being about a 3000 foot accent and boy did it kick my butt. I ended up doing 16.5 miles total today. I set up camp around 7:00pm and started the evening routine. Set up hang bag, set up hammock and tarp, make dinner, organize food for the next day, brush and floss teeth, clean myself, hang bear bag, get in my hammock, write my journal entry, pray, and then go to sleep. I know I will sleep good tonight.
Date: 2016-04-15
From: Swim Bald summit

To: Cody Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

I had a great night sleep on top of swim bald. Woke up to another sunrise. I took my time getting up. I went and got my food and then got back in my sleeping bag and proceeded to make coffee and a hot breakfest from inside my hammock. Had everything next to me outside. It was sweet. Hot coffee in my hammock as I watched the sun rising. My most common saying while I have been on this trip is "you have got to be kidding me" because there is so much beauty everywhere. I really spent a lot of time in camp before I started packing up. I have been spending 15 minutes or so just getting my feet ready. Your feet are everything out here. I stopped 3 or 4 times in the morning to address some hot spots. No more ignoring potential blisters. I was pretty sluggish once I did get going. I do not even know what time it was because my battery is very low on my phone so I kept it off much of the day. I would guess it was around 10:00am. I over did it the day before and was feeling it. I hiked a mile to Sassafras Shelter. I needed water, but the first thing I did was stretch out then I got my water. I have been carrying only a half liter of water and drinking a liter when I am at the water source. My pack is too heavy and there is water everywhere. I do not see the need to carry it if I do not have too. It has been working good so far. Moose told me he has had good luck using this method so that is where I got this idea, so thanks Moose. He is probably through the Smokies by now. So back to todays hike. I ran into some beautiful views at Cheoah Bald, another "you've got to be kidding me" moment. I did not make very good time though the first 4 hours of the day. At about 2:30pm I stopped and ate lunch and my feet were feeling tired. I took a couple of aleeve and after that I felt a lot better. I also had been eating quite a bit through the day and I think that helped my afternoon hiking. I made much better time later in the day. There was one really hard steep climb. It was called "Jacobs Ladder" It was tough. The hiking the last few days is more what I am use to in the northeast. It is much more difficult then Georgia. I feel like I am really hiking now. The trails in Georgia were 3-4 feet wide, now they are closer to a foot wide. You could really see the leaves starting to come out in places today and the temps were warm. I drank 4 1/2 liters of water today. I messed up my mileage yesterday. I gave myself an extra .9 miles. I will subtract that from todays total so It will be accurate. I stopped hiking around 6:00pm at Cody Gap after 11.9 miles. There are a bunch of other nice people camping here also. Tomorrow I will be in Fontana. It should be another good night.
Date: 2016-04-17
From: Fonatan Shelter (The Fontana Hilton)

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I very reluctantly took a zero day today. I made a reservation at this lodge a few days ago. I ended up getting here yesterday, which was a day early. I had a great night at the Fontana Shelter last night. Best night of sleep in years. I was up a daylight as usual. I hung out with T-Rex as he got ready to hike out. I am done making reservations. I guess I had to learn the hard way as people have said do not make definitive plans because things change very fast out here. I never seem to be where I think I will be. I am either a day early or a day late. I took the shuttle to the lodge at 9:00am. I did my laundry at the laundry area. I found an open outlet so I started to charge my phone while my laundry was going. It is a picture perfect day today and it is killing me to be here. At one point I thought I would just get my laundry done, charge all my devices, get my resupply of food, pack everything up and get back on the trail today. I was being very impatient and had to tell myself to stop and relax. I have other things I need to do also, so I finally decide to stay and head out first thing in the morning. I am now at the grill having lunch. I just had a delicious chicken taco salad loaded with black beans! It was so good. I am also watching the nascar race at Bristol. I added a few photos. It is kind of a pain to put photos on here. You have to first download them to a different site and then upload them to my page, but I will try to add some as I go. The other thing is pictures really do what I am seeing a total injustice. To see this with your own eyes is the only true way to see this in all its beauty. Just a little note on the day to day ups and downs. I do have both. I am still a little slowed with minor feet issues. I can not wait until they are all resolved. I like to do big days and I am definitely not going full speed yet. My eating habits obviously has changed. I miss my food and my body is adjusting to all the changes. So it is into the Smoky Mountains tomorrow. My pack will be about 40lbs with 5 days worth of food. It way more then I have been carrying. Before I sign off for today I just want to give a big thank you to Patches who has thru hiked both the AT and PCT in the last few years. She has given me valuable advice on all aspects of doing this thru hike. Patches father Ken also directed me to hiking in the White Mountains when I first got serious with my hiking. He said go to Franconia Notch and do the loop trail up to Mount Lafayette and walk the ridge. After that I was hooked and have been hiking regularly ever since. It just happens the ridge part of that hike is part of the AT. I am looking forward to that and all of the Whites. So anyways thank you Patches and Ken. I am just going to head to my room now and rest and relax until tomorrow. Life is good. God is great..
Date: 2016-04-18
From: Fonatan Shelter (The Fontana Hilton)

To: Spence Field Shelter 
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: clear sky

I was up at 5:30am at the Fontana lodge. I am not a big fan of the place and I will just leave it like that. I could not sleep as I was excited to get back on the trail and into the Smokies. The Shuttle was packed and I got dropped off at the Fontana Shelter. I got to cross the famous Fontana Dam just before 9:00am. It was a drop dead gourgous morning. After the dam crossing it was into the Smoky Mountains. It was a long 4 plus mile uphill hike with my pack that weighed around 40 pounds as it was loaded with 5 days of food and 2 liters of water. I am going to try to only carry 2-3 days worth of food from now on. It is just too heavy. The uphill climb was uneventful and I finally reached the fire tower. I was excited to go up and see the 360 degree view. It was around 11:00am. and the views did not disappoint. I was surprised that other hikers were bypassing it. Several people who I was hiking near all passed on it. It was a little more uphill and just off the AT, but no more then a tenth of a mile. I still can not get enough of that stuff. After that I pushed on past the first campground. Then as in continued the forest became covered in these small white ground cover flowers. It was a neat contrast to the forest. There was lots of moss covering the trees and green grass starting to come through along with the brown leaves. The whole thing was pretty cool and it went on for a long time. I then stopped at the first shelter for lunch. I talked with some other hikers about where they were headed. It seems everyone was headed for the third shelter. I then continued up the trail and the second shelter was just a 3 mile hike. I stopped for a break there again before pushing on for the final 3 miles to the shelter I am at now. It's the Spence Field Shelter. We are sitting at 4916 feet. In the smokies you have to stay at the shelters and unless the shelter is full and you are required to stay in them. Tonight there are a lot of people here so I was able to set up my hammock thankfully. Today was a really hot day around 85 degrees and tonight is suppose to stay around 50 with calm winds. I am not setting up my tarp over my hammock and right now as I right this I am looking straight up into the stars and moon. It is pretty cool. My right leg started bothering me on my shin this afternoon. Hope it feels better in the morning as my left one is finally 100 percent. It seems as soon as I get one thing under control something else pops up. The saying on the trail is "no pain, no Maine" I am learning all to well that this is the truth, but I am grateful to have this opportunity and happy to be here and it is gorgeous night. I am so lucky...
Date: 2016-04-19
From: Spence Field Shelter 

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

Today started out with me waking up at 5:30am staring at a million stars above me. When I fell asleep last night the moon was out and bright. It was amazing to wake up with all those stars right above. I took my time getting up as I knew I would be taking it easier today. I was a little worried when I went to bed because my shin was hurting. When I got up I put a KT tape wrap on it and then put a compression tube on it as well just for good measure I then put a thin piece of duck tape around the top and bottom of where the pain was. I left the shelter at 8:30 am and was one of the last to leave. I went very slowly and was very happy that my shin felt pretty good. As the day went on it was not an issue at all and caused me no discomfort. I feel like a dodged a bullet. I am pretty sure I was just was carrying too much weight the day before and it was a long hard hike up into the Smokies. Today I did not carry much water. I also ate a lot of food so my pack was a good 5 pounds lighter today. I think my limit is about 35 pounds, with 30 being optimal. Today I took a break every 2 hours and made myself sit down and eat. The landscape was nice with more of the white flowers covering the ground. There were also purple Violets and small yellow flowers mixed in as well. I got into Double Spring Gap Shelter around 5:00pm. There were quite a few people here so I set up my hammock and made dinner, cleaned up and got in my hammock a little early. It feels good. It is loud here tonight because there are so many people. I will be glad to be out of the Smokies so I can camp where I want. The shelters here are nice and the hiking is beautiful, but everyone is packed together. Tomorrow I will go over 200 miles and make it to Clingermans Dome, which at 6667 feet is the highest point on the AT. It is supposed to be a cloudy day, which stinks, but no rain. My feet are still hurting. I am going to have to try some different footwear. I am not sure if I will go into Gatlinburg or wait until Hot Springs. Today was a good day and I am thankful for that.
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Pigeon River Bridge
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke this morning before sunrise. I got up and started breaking down my camp area. I was feeling the effects of hiking over 21 miles the day before. My right foot was pretty sore and both of my little toes are sore. I got out of camp just before 8:00am. The morning hike was slow and sluggish. I hiked with Chuckles and Chicken Fry for a while but they quickly got ahead of me. I do not think I am eating enough. I only hiked 5 miles in the the first three hours of the day, which is a very slow pace. I just was not feeling that great. The weather was nice again, but the forecast for tonight and tomorrow is for rain and thunderstorms. Around 11:00am Jen from Norway caught up to me and we chatted a bit and then she took off. I picked up my pace and kept up with her until noon when she stopped for her lunch. I continued on from there with a much better pace, but I was focused on my feet and how uncomfortable I was. It was just kind of a bad day. I stopped at the second shelter of the day for a water refill and quick break. It was 2:30pm and I had done 12 miles, so my pace was clearly better then when I started. I moved on up the trail towards the next shelter which was about 7 miles ahead and 2000 feet lower. My right leg started hurting in the back calf area. This was a new pain and was very discouraging. I slowed down for a bit and then I hiked with another hiker from Utah. I forget his name. We hiked together for 3-4 miles and then I stopped for a break and he went on his way. I reached the last shelter in the Smokies at 5:20pm. I had done 19 miles to this point and was actually feeling better. I decided to hike 3.5 more miles to the hostal so I would not have to camp in the rain. I whipped through the next few miles and when I came to a road crossing which was less then a mile from the hostal a man in a truck was just pulling up and saw me and asked if I needed a ride. I asked him if there were any motels around and he told me yes and he would bring me. I was psyched. He took me to Newport TN. Which is about 15 miles away. Turns out this guys son is also hiking the trail and is only a few days behind me. His sons trail name is Machete. I checked into the Quality Inn, then took a shower, which felt awesome. Then I walked across the street and got some fried chicken at the Crackle Barrel. I am in my room now and not sure if I will hit the trail tomorrow or take a zero. I made it through the Smokies in 4 days which is pretty quick. It was beautiful, but I'm glad I am through them so now I can camp where I want and there should be much more water on the trail. All of us hikers will get spread back out again too. I just hope I wake up tomorrow and feel ok. I hiked over 43 miles in the last 2 days. That's kind of over doing it.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: Pigeon River Bridge

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

Today started with all my leg muscles very tight. I iced both my feet and calfs the night before and that felt great. Taking a shower and getting a good night sleep was also much needed. I slowly got up and made my way to the free breakfast and took full advantage of it. I ate with a couple of ladies who were doing some section hiking and they gave me the number of a shuttle they were using. I made my way back to my room and went through my pack and debated whether to take the whole day off or get back out the trail today. Rain was in the forecast and my feet and legs could use the rest. After my bag was set I went back for more breakfast. It feels good to eat different food then what I eat on the trail. My legs were feeling alright and my attitude was much better then the prior day. I decided to get back on the trail today. I checked out at 11:00am and it was pouring. I put my rain gear on and went access the street and had lunch at the Crackle Barrel. The rain let up and I walked to the Family Dollar store and got a few resupply items. Then I made my up the road where I would unsuccessfully try to hitchhike for about an hour. It was a tough spot because it was the entrance to a highway. I ended up calling the shuttle that the ladies told me about. I got back to the trail around 2:00pm and met another female hiker who name I can not remember, but I have seen her quite a bit for the last week. We hiked a mile to the hostal where there were a ton of hikers. I got my mail drop that my brother sent me with a few days of food. I talked with some other hikers, including Vino from Austraila, Loud mouth, who is the nicest guy ever and has anything but a loud mouth, and Badger was there too. I gave some of them my oversupply items, which always makes other hikers happy and that is a good thing. I left the hostal right before 3:00pm and headed up a big accent. It was a 2475 foot climb over 4.5 miles. It was really nice going up. The rain had stopped and the sun even came out a little. I was taking it easy and did not really have a destination in mind. That was until I got about 3/4 of the way to the top and it started pouring rain and then the thunder and lightning came. So here I am at the top of this mountain in the rain for the first time and it is thunderstorming. I booked it as fast as I could down the other side of the mountain to the Groundhog Creek Shelter. There are a zillion people here, including Jenn from Norway and Loudmouth. When I got here I found a spot to set up my hammock and put my tarp up first. Then I put all my stuff under it. Then I hung my hammock. It worked pretty well. I managed to keep everything dry. I then ate and talked to Jenn for a bit and now am in my hammock all nice and dry and comfortable. It was not too bad hiking in the rain, but now that I have experienced hiking on the top of a mountain during a thunderstorm I can cross that off the list of things I have done and I will try not to do that again.