morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-03
From: Bly Gap Campsite

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

What a day, I got going early, feeling great and a bit concerned about the thunderheads around. I just flew in the morning hoping the bottom was not going to fall out on me. It started storming around me with lots of lightening strikes about noon. Lightening really gets your attention when you're walking on the trail and I've gotta admit I was more than a little scared on my assent of Standing Indian mountain. I was half way up when a lightening strike hit really close and I straight up turned around and ran down the hill back to the shelter. I only got a little bit wet from the rain, not too bad at all and totally missed the pea sized hail that came down for about 10 minutes during the storm. I wanted to keep going but I'm gonna stay here tonight since I don't wanna get hit by lightening and all. Honeybadger, Al, Firefox, Redbull and Slayer are here.
Date: 2011-10-04
To: White Blaze Fever
Miles today: 0.0

¢It¢s called ¢White Blaze Fever¢ and although you will not find the fever mentioned in any medical journal, have no doubt in your mind- it does exist and no one is immune.¢ (Bill Schuette)Where or when I contracted this ¢fever¢ is hard to tell. It lay dormant over the years and only occasionally could I get any relief: a long walk in the woods with my dogs, a section hike in Maryland with my husband, insatiable reading of other hiker¢s thru-hike journals. In 2009, I saw my first 2¢ x 6¢ white painted blaze on a tree in Maryland and I was completely won over. That¢s when I knew I had it bad. Other¢s would talk of dream vacations to Paris (no thank you), Hawaii, (nope), Cancun (wrong again). All I dreamed of doing was lacing up my boots, strapping a 30-pound pack on my back and walking.The desire to walk 2,175 miles from Georgia to Maine has always been something I wanted to accomplish. My husband and I planned to hike it together in 10 years when he retired. But, I could not wait. The circumstances in my life created a window of opportunity for me to hike the Appalachian Trail in 2012. I dare not miss this chance!
Date: 2011-10-09
To: Trail Support
Miles today: 0.0

Tomorrow, my husband Tom and I celebrate 31 years of marriage. My heart is torn, knowing that in just five months I will leave for the trail and he will stay behind. I am thankful that he is a generous man; he encourages me to follow my dream. When I am through hiking, my steps will lead me back to him.Tom (trail name ¢Patriot¢) will hike several sections of the trail with me as his work schedule allows. He will also make sure that my supplies reach me through multiple ¢mail drops¢. These are boxes sent ahead to post offices along the trail, so that I can pick up fresh supplies of food and equipment. He will also take care of the home front.
Date: 2011-10-16
To: Preparation
Miles today: 0.0

I¢ve started to tell the news of my planned thru-hike to my family, church family, friends and neighbors. Over and over again, I¢m asked the same questions. Is it safe? Where will you sleep? Will you carry a gun? How will you get your food? In the next few trail journal entries I plan to explain just what a thru-hike is and how I am preparing for it.I realize that many who may read this trail journal are hikers. have already completed their thru-hike. If that is the case, then skip ahead; you already know what I¢m about to say. But for those who have never walked in the woods, have never slept in a tent, have never stood on top of a mountain, read on! I hope you will learn a little.The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest footpaths in the world. Measuring roughly 2,180 miles in length, it goes through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. The ¢AT¢ follows the mountains and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. It is not a walk in the park. The total elevation gain of hiking the entire A.T. is equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest 16 times. Wikipedia has a nice article on the trail, describing state by state highlights.¢Thru-hikers¢ hike the AT in one continuous journey. There are NOBO¢s (North bounders), SOBO¢s (South bounders), ¢Section Hikers¢ who hike sections of the trail and piece them together over several years, ¢Flip-floppers¢ who hike North to South, then go further up the trail and hike back South to North (or vice versa). I plan to be a NOBO starting in Georgia in the spring and finishing in Maine in the fall. In hiker jargon it looks like this: GA>ME (Georgia to Maine)Every year approximately 1,800-2,000 hikers begin their thru-hike. Only 15%-25% finish the entire 2,180 miles. It is a monumental undertaking, and one I do not take lightly. I plan to be one of the finishers. I am planning my thru-hike by considering these components: gear & clothing, food & nutrition, logistics & transportation, cost, mental attitude, physical fitness, and safety. In the following journal entries I will expand on each.
Date: 2011-10-18
To: Physical Training
Miles today: 0.0

Today I returned to the gym after an absence of one year. In October 2010, Tom and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary by crossing the finish line of the Portland Marathon. Granted, we walked the entire 26.2 miles, but we finished. Since then I¢ve had a few medical issues. Today, I find myself 11 pounds heavier. I really don¢t know why it took me so long to get back to the gym. I like the way I feel after a good workout. I like getting stronger. But it sure is EASY to be lazy. On a thru-hike, the laziness of not working out could get me injured and cost me the goal of finishing all 2,180 miles. A thru-hike is an endurance event. Every day for six to ten hours a day I will be pushing my body to walk, climb, descend, step over, post-hole, and repeat. I have made up my mind that there will not be a separate ¢training period¢ and a ¢hike¢. My training has started out slowly and I will continue to build physical endurance until the day I leave Katahdin.So for now, my physical preparation includes strength training (weights at the gym) and endurance (building up daily hiking/ walking mileage). In a few months I will add flexibility and aerobic exercises. I know I have a long way to go to be ready for Springer in five months.Pictured are Bella and Libby, my training partners. They greet the morning with a hearty tail wagging and are eager for a five mile walk every day! Who can resist?
Date: 2011-11-10
To: Food Preparation 1
Miles today: 0.0

¢What will you eat?¢ ¢Will you have to hunt for your food?¢ ¢Do you have to carry all of your food for six months?¢ These are several of the questions that I¢ve had put to me over the last month. In this journal entry, I hope to explain this part of my hiking preparation. According to the hiking website WhiteBlaze, estimates about the number of calories burned while hiking are generally 4,000-5,000 per day for males and 3,500-4,000 per day for females. This will mean that I will need to eat twice as much as normal! Great, when do I start?But, I will have to carry all those calories on my back, up and down mountains. The challenge is to find nutrient dense foods that pack the calories needed while being low weight. For me, as well, the additional challenge is balancing my food choices with diabetes. Not easy on a normal day; going to be work on a thru-hike.I am developing a meal plan and supper recipes based on a 4 week rotating menu. Soon I will have the ingredients to play around with different meal combinations. Variety, taste, nutrition, and the all important weight are what I look for. My cooking method narrows down my meal choices as well (more on that later). I have confidence that there is enough info on the internet and enough wholesome nutritious food available, that I will be able to come up with what I need.   We have trail tested some recipes already in past hikes.Last week my local big-name grocery store had a sale on holiday baking items: nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, cereals, canned fruit, etc. I walked out with a full cart! I have been dehydrating ever since. I have made several kinds of granola: banana nut, caramel apple, peanut butter & chocolate, cherry almond, and pumpkin spice. They are bagged in serving-size bags and in the freezer. The more I think about granola flavors, the more my imagination comes up with yummy combinations. Or, maybe I¢m just hungry. I plan to eat granola daily, so I want to have something delicious and different each day.When hiking, I don¢t like to cook breakfast or lunch. If it¢s really cold, I¢ll heat up water for a hot beverage in the morning and eat a hot lunch. Otherwise, a protein-packed shake of 2 instant breakfast packets, protein powder and instant milk powder (NIDO) will do fine for me. Like many hikers, I prefer a grazing approach to eating during the day. Lunch consists of granola, jerky, summer sausage, cheese, crackers, fruit bread, dried fruit, nuts, etc. Supper is the big, hot meal of the day and includes dessert. To drink, of course, there¢s plenty of fresh, filtered water mixed with a variety of powdered drink mixes, tea mixes, hot chocolate and hot apple cider. I¢ve read where some hikers like to drink hot water mixed with jello. That is something I¢ll try at home
Date: 2011-11-14
To: Hiker Card
Miles today: 0.0

I'm really excited about the hiker card/ business card that I rec'd from PublishAbroad.com He custom designed for me and even added the QR code. Now I can add the hiker card to Christmas cards for friends and family. They can put the card by their computer so they have my trail journal address and can follow my journey. And it's blue!Falling behind in my physical training due to added volunteer workload and massive head cold. Still waiting for my custom-sewn sleep quilt. I have most all of the other gear, or it's on Christmas Wish List.
Date: 2011-11-16
To: Food Prep 2
Miles today: 0.0

One thing I need to think about with my food preparation is packaging. There are no trashcans on the AT. Whatever I bring to the trail needs to be packed out as well. I¢ll have a Ziploc bag for trash that I can throw away when I get to a town or hostel. Consider the packaging for a product I really enjoy: instant hot apple cider mix. There are 10 packets per box. You know the size: about the same size as a hot chocolate mix packet (3.5¢ x 4.25¢). While making my hot apple cider drink tonight before bed, I decided to measure just how much mix was in one of those packets. One teaspoon! That¢s an awful lot of paper to make the packet, and the box as well. In the photo you can see on the right the pkg. that I will take on the trail with me. It has 10 teaspoons of mix in it-- the amount in the whole box. For the ultra-lighters reading this, the weight of 10 pkts was 2.0 oz and the weight of my pkt. is 1.3 oz. A difference of 0.7 oz is not really significant in itself. But, remember that I¢ll be carrying breakfast, lunch, supper, dessert, 2 or 3 snacks, plus hot drink mix for each day. If I carry an extra 0.7 oz. per item for every meal for 3 days, that¢s a total of 16.8 oz. One and a half extra pounds lugged up and down mountains for no reason. It¢s one thing to carry food weight because I will consume it. But to carry extra paper and plastic packaging? No thanks.
Date: 2011-12-16
To: 79 Days and a Wake Up
Miles today: 0.0

It¢s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Just a week away, and I feel I¢m (almost) ready to celebrate with family and friends. Presents, check. Decorations, check. Food for Christmas Dinner, check. Christmas cookies, um, no. Normally, I have a freezer full of Christmas goodies waiting to be boxed up and given to neighbors, coworkers, friends, and relatives. But not this year. This year, I have a freezer full of granola, nuts, candy and ingredients for trail mix. I have a tupperware tote full of individual bags of backpacker¢s breakfast shakes. I have another tote of dehydrated beans, grains, and meats. I have bags of freeze dried fruits and veggies. I have Ziploc bags. In addition to dehydrating food like a maniac, I¢ve been doing research online. I bought a Frio cold case for my diabetic supplies, and a new, smaller glucose monitor. I¢m trying to decide now on a battery pack for my iPhone: New Trent or Mophie? Also researching and trying out apps to load audio books on my phone. Christmas cards went out this week, and I included my Trail Journal address. I am bracing for the next wave of ¢Are you CRAZY?¢ comments. Once they are over the initial shock, I hope that my friends and family will encourage me along the trail.I have found that hikers are extremely generous. I emailed total strangers and was rewarded with helpful advice. Thanks to Mark Verber, The Canadian Geese who referred me to a great website for lightweight meals, Tagless & Tagalong who sent me a dvd of their 2010 thru hike and answered many questions, and especially William Goodman who spent an hour on the phone during his work day giving me pointers on hiking with diabetes. ULA-Equipment, Judy & Mark from LightHeart Gear, and Tom from Nunatak all gave 500% customer service. My emotional state varies from being extremely excited to being extremely nervous, and vacillates hourly, depending on the weather outside. LOL. Some days I feel like I¢m on a fast moving train and I can¢t stop the momentum; wait! I¢m not ready yet! Other days, I feel like time is going so slowly and I will never get on the trail. 79 days and a wake-up.
Date: 2012-01-24
To: Joe's Request
Miles today: 0.0

24 January 2012It¢s been over a month since my last entry and Joe insists I post another update. It¢s 3:38 a.m. I can¢t sleep. Forty (40!) days until I leave and still so much to do. While the rest of the house sleeps, I am reading. My latest find is Bill G.¢s website www.laughingdog.com Bill will be starting the AT 2 weeks after me, but will pass me, no doubt, somewhere in NC. I hope that I am able to meet him. He is funnier than I am, smarter than I am and certainly more web-savvy than I could ever hope to be. We had a fun family gathering at my house last week. Ate a nice meal, played games, sat by the fire and laughed. For dessert, I pulled out my bags of dehydrated Trail Cake and demonstrated the magic that is Freezer Bag Cooking. Joe and Aaron were my willing assistants as they each poured boiling water into a ziploc bag filled with what looked like graham cracker crumbs. Stir gently, and smell. MMMmmm! We passed out samples to everyone and they were pleasantly surprised at the great flavor of the now warm, moist cake-desserts. It was unanimous that Pumpkin Spice Trail Cake was the favorite. Coming in second place was Caramel Apple Trail Cake, followed by Pineapple Upside Down Trail Cake and Chocolate Trail Cake. I found the recipe on trailcooking.com. Thanks, Sarah! I did modify the recipe by using a boxed cake mix. (on sale 10 for $10) The trick is to not use any fat in the cake, so I used egg whites instead of whole eggs, unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, and juice instead of water. Using organic pineapple juice with a yellow cake mix was the stroke of genius needed to make the Pineapple Upside Down Trail Cake extra, extra, flavorful. I added brown sugar and dried pineapple to the bag.Organic apple juice was used in the Apple Trail Cake. Added to the bag was a tablespoon of butterscotch chips, ground small.In the Pumpkin Spice Trail Cake, I included pumpkin, lots of spice and apple juice. A very small bag of powdered sugar was put in the bag: add a few drops of water and knead until smooth. Cut off a corner of the bag and squeeze the glaze onto the warm cake. WOW.Each box of cake mix made 10 servings (1/3c. dry) For you ounce counters, each 1/3 c. bag of dry cake mix weighs 1.3 oz. Truthfully, I¢ll probably eat two at a time.
Date: 2012-02-20
To: Twelve Days
Miles today: 0.0

Twelve days and a wake up. The dining room has been turned into Trail Headquarters. We moved a 6-foot table in and piled food, gear, maps, meds, clothing, and mailing supplies in and around it. It¢s all in one place for Tom to box up and send my mail drops. I¢ve been taking care of last minute chores: dental appt., taxes, carpet cleaning, renewing my library card etc. Going over details for Tom for the hundredth time: ¢now, remember to....¢ and ¢don¢t forget to....¢ He has to have a LOT of patience right now. So much is going through my mind. I bought a new Osprey Aura backpack at Great Miami Outfitters. Andrew spent so much time with me fitting the pack and showing me best how to pack it. I am very happy to shave off another 1 lb. 5 oz. The only drawback is that it is green, not blue. But, for the weight savings, I don¢t mind so much.I spent a night outside in my tent to ¢ops check¢ my sleeping system. It was 25 degrees, so a good night to test the warmth value of my tent, pad, sleeping quilt and clothes. I stayed toasty warm. However, I had a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep because of a pillow and hat (beanie) issue that never did get resolved. I¢m a side sleeper, so every time I would turn over, my hat would move on my head. My head would get cold, I¢d adjust the hat, lose the comfortable position of my 7¢ pillow, and have to wriggle around to get everything just right. I will need to find a bigger beanie so that I can sleep.
Date: 2012-02-29
To: Final Prep
Miles today: 0.0

Less than a handful of days left at home before we head off for Springer Mountain. I am feeling a wide range of emotions: fear, excitement, apprehension, anticipation, sadness and joy. I am in the final stages of gear tweaking. I loved this photo, so am using it by permission from Tagless and Tagalong. My pack will look smaller than this hiker's and much, much, lighter! Sending out my first mail drop boxes today. So strange to see them addressed with my name and "Thru- Hiker"!I'd like to pass on a website to those who would like to follow my progress on a map.http://www.sophiaknows.com/atdb/index.html You can customize the google map (link on the right of the page) to show the shelters and/or towns. You can click on the shelter name as well and find out the current weather. Sometimes you can really zoom in and see the shelter. Fun!Thanks to all friends and family for signing my guest book and sending encouragement. I will need your thoughts and prayers! Love to all!
Date: 2012-03-03
From: Home

To: Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Left home yesterday driving to Hiker Hostel near Daholonega, GA. We dodged severe thunderstorms and tornados Friday through northern KY. Thank the Lord for keeping us safe. If we had not stopped to shop for a warmer hat, we would have been right in the middle of the tornados. We did drive through a lot of heavy rain and wind. In KY, we saw a lot of damage to the trees and one semi blown over on its side. We had sunny driving weather today. Stopped in Blairsville for KFC buffet and picked up sandwiches for supper. Josh picked us up at Mountain Crossings and brought us to the hostel. Maggie the dog welcomed us warmly. Weighed my pack and was happy to see it came in at 30 lbs. with food. We look forward to a comfortable night in this beautiful mountain cabin. Breakfast at 7:30, then on to Springer Mt. and the start of our journey. Weather tomorrow is forecasted as sunny/ partly cloudy with temps in the high 30's to mid 40's. Sounds like perfect hiking weather!
Date: 2012-03-04
From: Hiker Hostel

To: Hawk Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 9.1

Tom's alarm rang at 6:30 a.m. for 7:30 breakfast. I don't know why he thought it would take an hour to shower and dress. Our packs were already packed. We were 25 min. early for breakfast. Josh and Leigh serve a hearty breakfast: scrambled eggs, french toast, grits, oatmeal, coffee, tea and juice. We ate family style with several other hikers. Since we were all strangers, conversation was amiable but stunted: Where are you from? What is your trail name? where are you hiking today? How many miles are you doing?After breakfast, the table was cleared, boots laced up and packs loaded into the shuttle vans. With everyone giving Maggie the dog a last farewell, we were on our way.FS42 trailhead is 0.9 miles from the southern terminus of the AT on Springer Mountain. Another way to get to the starting point is to take the approach trail from Amicolola State Park. Niether trail counts in the official mileage. On the trail to Springer, we met a family of four- The A Team- whose trailjournal I have followed. It was a nice surprise to meet Valerie, husband Troy, son AT and father "The Hiking Viking". AT took our picture on top of Springer after we signed the register. 24 degrees and very windy. We were happy.We ate lunch at Stover Creek Shelter, joined by the A Team, Caveman and Cookie Monster and Avatar. Some stayed for the night, but we moved on down the trail to Hawk Mountain shelter. Put in 9 miles today. Felt good and tired, although my stomach has been queasy for a few days. We were in the tent by 7:30 and Tom was asleep by 8. I tossed and turned, never getting comfortable enough to sleep. I was shivering from the cold, despite having on two layers of everything, a hat, gloves and 900-fill down sleeping bag. I had leg cramps during the night and 4 instances of vomitting.
Date: 2012-03-05
From: Hawk Mt. Shelter

To: Horse Gap 
Miles today: 2.5

I must have fallen asleep eventually because when I awoke, it felt as if morning came too soon. It took us 1 1/2 hrs. to break camp, eat breakfast and use the privy. That's really a long time to break camp, and I hope to get better organized as I get more experience. Possibly, the nausea was one contributing factor.I felt excited to be starting the day on the AT! It was cold and windy, but sunny. Cold is not such a bad thing, really, as your body heats up from the exertion of hiking and you get warm within a half hour. I had to stop and take off my hat, then a few minutes later remove my gloves. Then a few minutes later take off my fleece layer. Can't stop for long, though, 'cause then you get cold. Need to keep moving.The trail was pleasant. Of course the usage of the word "pleasant" here is subjective. If going straight up and straight down a mountain of rocky, tree-root laden terrain is pleasant, then that's what it was. No switchbacks in Georgia- real hikers go straight up! LOL.Tom let me lead and matched his pace to mine. It must have been a frustrating morning for him because I stopped every 15 min. for one reason or another: adjusting my pack straps, taking off my hat, eating a snack, resting on an uphill climb. My pace slowed considerably as the morning wore on. I felt increasingly weak and nauseated and experienced several bouts of diarrhea. My feet became heavy, thus I wasn't picking them up enough. I kept hitting my toes on the rocks. My steps were short and I felt like I was shuffling rather and walking or hiking. Tom was very encouraging, trying to keep my spirits up. I did snap at him once, and it was then that we knew that it was not the trail I was battling. I really was sick. I must have caught the stomach virus that was going around several of my friends and brought it to the trail with me. We decided to call for a shuttle at the next road. Thankfully, it was only about a mile of hiking until the Horse Gap trailhead. I cried. I was discouraged.At the hotel, I was still shivering and took a warm shower to get my body temperature up, then immediately into bed. Only then did Tom admit that he had been nauseated all morning as well. He was burning up. We slept, ate, slept, ate, slept, ate. Thanks to all for the prayers. I believe the Lord is doing a quick work in our healing. We hope to be back on the trail tomorrow.