morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-20
From: Neel's Gap

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 4. Got a later start today. Slept in until 7 and was pretty much ready to go, but waited for some of my friends. I was waiting for Mike to buy some stuff, but then we also waited for Kelsey, formerly Blue Eyes. She sent back 30 pounds out of her pack. Her pack weight went from 50 to 20! That is an Appalachian Trail record for 2016. I sent back my camp chair, and my extra shorts, shirt, and hiking socks. It saved me two pounds. I have resigned myself to smelling bad. However, my pack weight actually went up. People were giving up tasty granola and candy bars along with peanut butter and Nutella packets to lighten their loads. Yum! I fit in as many as my food bag would allow after keeping all of my new stuff. We rolled out about 11 am hoping to make it 11 miles to Low Gap. We had a really fun group! Matt Damon, Mike, Dustin now Braveheart, Kelsey, Andrea now Trailblazer, and Naomi now Lobster. Naomi and her husband are moving to Moscow, ID. She is going to go to the UI Law Program. He is finishing as an Army Medic and will work on a degree in a related field. We had a nice visit. He gave Naomi lessons on how to help us in case we were impaled or had sucking chest wounds. OK. Moving on. The terrain was not quite as steep as yesterday so we were able to make good time. My right ankle got a little sore about 7 miles in. I plowed through and it is not a serious issue, but I am keeping a close eye on it. Otherwise, my feet are a little tired, but all else is well. We rolled into camp before 5 and ran into Caitlyn from the hostel - now Teddy as she is carrying her teddy with her, Skittles, a young 23 year old sub teacher who died her hair the primary colors, Mobly, Brandon, Baltimore and Oriole. B&O hate those names and retaliated by calling me tater. I love potatoes in pretty much all forms and to me a tater is tasty! So I had no issue with it. A guy named Mustard Seed and his dog Rose were here. He hiked the Florida Trail this winter en route to the AT. He told us about all the gators and such that they dogged enroute to Georgia. At one point the trail was so flooded, he hooked empty water bottles to Rose to float her through the mangroves while he waded and pushed her through. Rose is a very sweet dog! I think that is too much even for me!So today is 4/20. To me it is the day my Leave of Absence went active. To others on the trail, it was cause for "Safety Meetings". I will honestly admit this is the first time I have been even close to folks smoking. It is not my thing as I am fine without it. I also value my job!! It certainly made for interesting conversation after it was confirmed all were appropriately safe. I don't really care as long as nobody tries to pet a bear or some silly thing like that. Trying to get an early start. Good night!
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Low Gap

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 5. Low Gap to Tray Mountain Shelter. Set my alarm and got up at 6 AM. Slept pretty well last night all in all. It still took me an hour and 25 minutes to get out of camp. For some reason, I am in slow motion first thing in the morning. Getting out of camp at 7:25 in the morning was still 50 minutes earlier than my previous best! I have to look at the positive side of things.Mike left first. After an hour, Matt Damon and I caught up to him. We were able to make it 11 miles to Unicoi Gap by noon. There, Matt Damon decided to head into town with two hikers from Florida that we caught up to name Matt and Brynn. We were also the recipients of trail magic! Someone left jugs of spring water at the AT sign at U. Gap. Mike and I decided to press on to Tray Mountain shelter. The next 5 miles where the toughest so far. A lot of up and down. The forecast was for thunderstorms and showers at 4 o'clock. We made it to the shelter at 3:30. We were whooped! We got the last two spots in the shelter so everyone that arrived after had to tent.The shelter became a pretty lively place as everyone else had the same idea that we did. Also, it is a natural break point for folks heading to Dick's gap and then Hiawassee Georgia tomorrow. I took pictures of most of the folks here at the shelter. One of the folks I missed was Bosephus(Bo). He had never been camping before and came out with his Green Beret buddy. Unfortunately, the buddy got sick he came on his own. So, his pack weighed 70 pounds to start with including his computer. At Neels gap, he trimmed it down to 50 pounds and is ecstatic! He still has the computer...... My ankle was sore this morning, and then got better. However the last 5 miles it really hurt! Tomorrow will be a much easier day. Just 11 miles and easier terrain. I plan to split a hotel room with Mike or Braveheart and rest my ankle, take a shower, wash my clothes, have a pizza, and a beer! Supposed to rain all night, so we shall see what the weather really turns out to be.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dicks Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Day 6 Tray Mountain Shelter to Hiawasse, GA. A big storm came through last night. Despite being in the shelter, we all got wet as the wind blew the rain straight in. In the process of trying to get everything back from the entrance, I lost track of my ear plugs. I wrapped my rain jacket around the bottom of my quilt and that worked well enough. As everyone else fell asleep, there was some serious snoring going on. At one point I actually recorded it. Bo was loudest, but stopped after a while. However, for hours, Baltimore and Oriole snored like a well rehearsed band. As tired as I was, it was impressive. I got up at 0130 to take a break. It was so foggy that I had a difficult time finding my way back from the outhouse. The good news is that my earplugs were in my puffy coat jacket. I could sleep after that! Got up about 6 and Mike and I departed at 7:18. Everything is harder in the rain. It is a struggle to pack everything up and keep gear dry. The rained did green everything up and it was beautiful. We caught up to Bo after an hour and had a great visit with him. Harold "Bosephus" Moore is quite a good athlete for a guy I'm guessing to be around 50. Carrying 50 lbs, he was really moving well. We talked about expectations at one point. He noted the key to a lot of things in life is low expectations. So true. Unmet Expectations are future resentments. Bo was tapping out at Dicks Creek and a friend was to pick him up at 1pm.We made great time despite the weather and made it to Dicks Creek Gap at 11:45. Mike and tried to hitch into town for 45 minutes. Finally, Bo's friend showed up and Bo was nice enough to give us a ride into Hiawasse in his Mercedes. The heated rear seats were so nice and we were so thankful for a ride into town. Matt Damon had already made into town and had a room for us at the Budget Inn. It is a hotel mostly dedicated to hikers. We chatted with a few other hikers and grabbed some barbecue. I bought a compression thing for my ankle and iced it. I showered, did laundry, and cleaned my gear. The shower felt so good! We then went to All U Can eat pizza. That was good. The day went so fast! Tomorrow, I am going to go to the grocery store to get a few little things for the next three days. Then I am going to hit the trail.
Date: 2016-04-23
From: Dicks Gap

To: Muscrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Last night I slept the best that I had since Idaho. The guys I split the room with said I snored louder than they thought humanly possible and then I quieted down for the rest of the night. When I stopped snoring, they were a little worried I had expired. We got a good laugh about that. After 10 hours of glorious sleep, I took another shower. Two days in a row and commenced packing. When the other guys were ready, we headed up to the local grocery which had an indoor Starbucks. I ordered a nice coffee and bought the guys bagels and cream cheese. The deli lady was super nice and toasted them for us. We each ordered deli sandwiches as well. I saved mine for dinner tonight and it was so, so good! They also had homemade honey roasted peanut butter. I had to have some. As it was heavy, the guys asked if I was going to carry it. I told them, "Heck Yeah!" The grocery was a huge success. We headed back to the Budget and packed up the rest of our stuff. We made the 11 van to the trail. I went to put on my seat belt and not one was installed. A far cry from the Mercedes on the way to town!! On the van was Mike, Matt Damon, Altman, Lost Hiker and his dog, Wild Man Dan, Benji, and a strange guy from Switzerland. When we got to the trailhead, a Church group was serving hot dogs. As I had already eaten and was fresh from the hotel, I decided to get going with my walk. Today was mostly up. Over four thousand feet of elevation gain. I thought Sassafras Mountain was the toughest hill yet due to the grade. The big news is we passed from Georgia into North Carolina! One State down, 12 to go. We made it to Muscrat Creek about 5:30 doing 12 miles in 6 hours. Not bad. We decided to tent and got dandy spots by the stream. It sounds very nice. We watched the sunset and it was magnificent. My ankle is doing better. A couple of easy days combined with icing in town and cold soaking has helped. I think the compression bandage helped as well. Perhaps the biggest key has been better stretching my calf muscles with were very tight and burdening the ankles. After a week on the trail, this has been one of better days. Really enjoyed it. Tomorrow will be longer, but not as challenging vertically. Hope to be in Franklin on Monday evening.
Date: 2016-04-25
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So Day 9, I don't like sleeping in the shelter. There is always all kinds of hustle and bustle, both in the morning and in the evening. This morning, I got up about 630 and left about eight. I hiked the first couple of miles with Derrick, my fellow Idahoan. His family is from Eagle. He is hoping to work for Google for a year, and then go to Purdue. I wished him the best of luck!Derek, and some other folks at the shelter the previous night were heading to Rockgap to get into town. I decided to continue to Winding Staircase Gap. It was a good decision for me. I got there at 1040 and met Dusty, Sunshine, and Maria. The van from the Budget Inn pulled up and we all piled in. The drive to town was very picturesque. Franklin is a pretty mountain town. It has a cute Main Street And the folks are very nice. I met Energizer, and we hiked down to the food truck to get a bite to eat. I got a burger with fresh cut fries and it was delicious! I went back to hotel and ice my ankle. It is feeling better. I tried to get an appointment with the doctor, but he was at another county today. So, Mike, Matt Damon, and Kelsi arrived and we decided to go to the grocery store instead.   We learned that Matt Damon was quitting the trail. I was very sad as he was a very fun guy to hike with. Good luck Kevin on your journey to San Diego. After the grocery store, Mike wanted to go to Mulligan's for dinner. He really wanted a big burger. I told him I thought the food truck would be a better bet. Unfortunately, he was not to be persuaded.   So, you ordered a hamburger steak. Out came a block of meat that look like a meatloaf. The poor guy has been dreaming of and striking out everywhere with his quest for a juicy hamburger. After dinner, we changed into our rain gear and put in a load of laundry. Nobody wanted to put their clothes in first, because they saw what the last budget inn washer did to my shirt. I could be a priest my shirt is so holy. Eventually, somebody gave in and we all sat out in front of our rooms waiting for something, anything, to happen. there were probably 8 or so hikers out and we just told funny stories about folks we had seen. For example, Kelsi relayed a story of Baker16. He had an extended safety meeting and becalme paranoid of the bears. He hung his bear bag 300 yards out of camp and then pitched his tent under someone else's bear bag. Then he wandered incoherently in the rain storm. Baker16 was just a little too safe. The laundry finished and to my relief, my clothes escaped unscathed. Unfortunately for Mike, he is now a member of the cloth. Then it was time for bed. Around 9pm, hikers all head to bed and last night was no exception. It was a good day.
Date: 2016-04-27
From: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)

To: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a good day! I had breakfast at the Country Kitchen with Alex and Maggie. Then Spoon Man was nice enough to drive me to the doctor to get my ankle checked out. They had two people look at it. The good news is I do not have a stress fracture! They also said that it was good news that it was healing before I came in to see them. My ankle showed the symptoms of a mild, high ankle sprain. They gave me a band, exercises and stretches, and sent me on my way. Very happy!I then went back and told the folks at the Budget Inn. They were happy for me. Then I set about to do errands around town. I bought more food to send to Fontana Dam. I also decided to change my cook method. I am now going for foods that I do not have to cook at all. I bought a little bigger stand alone pot and am changing to a different water filtration system. I bought some new shoes that should provide better support to my ankle. Hope they work. So, I walked to Mexican food with Benji, Hoot and Pad Foot, and Big Teddy. We saw some other folks there and joined up. It was pretty good. The place got packed! I was amazed.When I got back everyone was on their porches. Grits, from Georgia, was all happy as Benji had bought him a nice cigar that that he had been jonesing. Atman was there, Focus, Rest Stop, and Hot Pants - eccentric Swiss dude who wears jeans. We all visited for a few minutes. Turns out Focus and Rest Stop are hiking the AT together. They have both finished the PCT and the CDT. Wow! I had to take care of my room explosion and headed in for the night. A good, happy, day all in all.One other thing. Hanging out in town and not hiking is referred to by hikers as taking a "zero" because you are not hiking any AT miles. The comforts of civilization can be really nice and it is easy to get sucked in. However, as nice as the hotel bed and shower are, I am ready to get back on the trail!
Date: 2016-04-28
From: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)

To: Wyah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 12. Today was a good day all in all. I woke up and had breakfast at the Country Kitchen. It was great as usual. Then I made my way back to the Budget Inn to try and get my gear back into my pack. As I returned, the regular gang was sitting out on the porch. Normalcy. I was successful at getting my stuff back in the pack, but it was a struggle. I could not figure out how I got all that stuff into my pack like before.....I walked up to mail my old shoes and stove home and mail food forward to Fontana Dam. My food forward weighed 13 pounds. Yikes! They had to get a bigger box. The guy at the desk said that is a lot of food. It may be, but I am so happy with all that I bought and there is no way I would consider parting with my Nutter Butters - the heaviest item. Pretty soon it was time to head out to the trail. The van ride out was exceedingly pretty. It was a little hard getting back into the swing of hiking. It was like my body forgot what it was supposed to do. I walked with Derrick from Idaho and Cody from Oregon until lunch. We had lunch on Siler Bald. It was quite a view. I decided to strike out on my own and was overtaken by Karl and Elisha. They were both just out of college and full of energy. Elisha is from Taos, NM, and went to Vasser. Very cool. It is kind of strange walking with youngen's who could be my kids. So Elisha asked if one of the flowering trees was a dogwood. I said it was and you could tell by its bark. I finally said haha and they finally got it. Kids these days! I took a break to let them get ahead and then made it to the top of Wyah Bald. What a view from up there. Of course it was a clear day and the NC Mountains are so pretty in the spring. There I caught up with Atman, Benji, Grits, and Rook. We headed down to the shelter and made camp, had dinner and exchanged some laughs. Teddy Bear and Teddy and her hubby were at the shelter. So was Skittles. They decided I needed to get a dog and name it Jay. That way I could be PB & Jay. We all got a good laugh out of that! Not a laughing matter is Hoot hurt his knee and it won't bend. We all offered him what medicine we had and hope something works. He is a super nice guy and of course Pad Foot is a bit worried. As for me, my feet are a little sore in the new shoes, but all body parts are getting back to normal, knee included. So that's it for an eventful day 12.
Date: 2016-04-29
From: Wyah Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 13. Some Days on the AT are easier than others. Today, I had amazing views to keep me going. Some of the best so far. However, I also walked the wrong way for a 1/4 mile before figuring out I went the wrong way. Rook and Atman said they also almost went the wrong way, but were saved by folks at the camp site. Good lesson. Much worse is that my new shoes gave me a big blister on my left ankle. I was a little ticked as that is the first blister I have had hiking in years. I put on Moleskin to try and stem the blister, but it was to no effect. If the shoes do not improve, I may have my folks FedEx my old shoes back to me down the road. The good news is my ankle is doing great. I called in a fire when I climbed to the top of Rocky Bald. I had reception for a few minutes and saw the fire. I called 911 and they had a tough time figuring out where I was calling from and where I was trying to tell them the fire was located. Hopefully, it was a controlled burn or previously reported. Walked with Atman, Rook, and Skittles for just a few minutes. I also met Storm. We were the lucky recipients of trail magic today! Someone left little Cokes and hostess donuts in a cooler. I had one of each. They were so, so, good!I am going to turn in early and get going earlier tomorrow.
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Sassafrass Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 15. Sassafras Shelter to Cable Gap Shelter. Today was an interesting day. I got up fairly early. 6:45. I ate a quick breakfast and visited with everyone until 0815. It was a little foggy as it had stormed quite a bit the last night. For some reason in my mind, I thought the trail would go down to start. Sadly it started with a big climb. It took a little bit for my legs to get going. I think it had to do with chatting and laughing at some pretty funny stories till late the night before. It was worth it. The trail had some serious ups and downs today. More than an airline pilot One hill was especially difficult. It was named Jacob's ladder. In the Coast Guard, a Jacob's Ladder is a ladder a crew drops over the side of a ship so people can climb aboard. I am not going to say it was that steep, but it was one of the steepest hills to date. It was the first time in a long time I actually had to stop for a break. Today, I pretty much walked alone. I ran into Yep, Yep, for the first time in over a week. He had passed me when I took my zeroes in Franklin. He has also been writing Yep Yep on almost all signs for miles. It is like approaching Wall Drug in South Dakota. You watch for the signs as they are mildly entertaining and do give you something to do. Same here. I ran into Yep Yep at Stecoa Gap where trail magic happened. Someone brought water and apples. My apple was delicious! As it had rained all night, the trail was a little slick. I wiped out and fortunately fell straight over to the uphill side. Falling over to the downhill side would have been a doozy! I had a big mud stripe all the way up and down my side. I talked with several guys at the end of the day, and almost everyone had slipped and fallen somewhere. The good thing about the rain is that everything was so green today. I walked through several areas where the trees must have been tremendously old with beautiful fern and flower undergrowth. It was very nice walking. Tomorrow, I head to Fontana Dam to resupply. It is an easy 7 miles from the shelter. Supposedly the shelter even has showers! We shall see soon enough.
Date: 2016-05-02
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Day 16 Cable Gap Shelter to Fontana Dam Shelter - Aka the Fontana Hilton. I woke up around 7:00 this morning and had a lazy morning around camp. I got a good stretch in and was on the trail by 0840. I was ready for the uphill at the start this time. I powered right up and had my jacket off half way up the hill. Because it was a shorter distance, it seamed to take longer. Strange. I also took time to stop ands see quite a few pretty flowers. What I thought was really neat was hiking above the clouds in the valley below. I do it all the time at work, but it has been rare for me while hiking.I made it to the Fontana Dam Shelter and it is a large shelter. It sleeps 24 people on two levels. It also has a hand pump for water and a real bathroom up the way with a shower. I unpacked my stuff and took a shower first thing. It felt glorious as it was the first one after 5 days of hard hiking. After my cleanup, I put on my rain gear, put stinky clothes in a bag, and I caught the shuttle downtown. Downtown consisted of a lodge, store, laundry, and restaurant. I got my clothes clean and all was good. There was a big bunch of us hanging out and telling stories at the store. That is also the only place that I could check e-mail, etc. through wifi. ATT is not a good company for hikers! Interesting, Fontana Dam was created entirely to build the dam during WWII. It is the tallest of the Tennessee Valley Authority Dams and has prevented a lot of property damage to towns downstream as they were completely flooded out every few years. After buying a few more things, I picked up my box of food I sent myself from Franklin. Big mistake! Between what I had left and what I sent myself, I had much more than I needed. And worse, some things I was not hungry for. I traded some things out, but ended up giving a lot away. We all caught the last shuttle back to the shelter at 6:00 pm. As soon as we got to the shelter, the heavens opened and it poured for 3 straight hours. This made for a lot of cooped up people! A younger crowd tonight. A lot of kids just out of college or a year or two out. We visited about a lot of different things and had a nice time. 5 people played cards. I mostly worked on pairing down my food bag! Difficult.Finally, it got to be 9pm and Hiker Midnight. All in all a very good day! So I enter the Great Smokey Mountains National Park on Tuesday Morning. There will not be connectivity, but do not despair, I will be fine when I pop out on the other side.