morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-05
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 15.9

Awoke at 7 but went back to sleep til 8 just to get more sleepy time hours in. By the time I actually got out of my tent it was already hot outside! Didn't leave camp til 10am after talking to some other guys lagging it as well. They found a dead mouse inside the shelter and said the place was crawling with them last night.Got my first real good look at a black bear a quarter mile north of the shelter though. That was a treat. It was about 200lbs and so startled that it wheeled around right into a tree breaking it while trying to run away in the opposite direction.Not much else to talk about during the day, but I did have an important question come up... Does pooping dehydrated you? It must. I mean, my poops were massive today and I typically only drop one deuce in the morning at poo thirty AM. Today I had 2 turdy appointments and I was quite surprised. I had made the day harder than it had to be by pushing it without a midday break. I also conserved water instead of drinking it and hiking far off trail to replenish. Didn't realize how dehydrated I was until after a really late lunch and started feeling horrible when I started hiking again. The question of dehydration and pooping naturally came around that time. Uhh yeah. Like I said, not much to to reflect on today haha.Kincora hostel has thru hikers written all over it. I liked it. Around 1am I started feeling particularly crappy again just like at late lunch time. My 1am poo thirty appointment made me really think about needing to increase my calories and water intake to not feel so crappy. Reason being... (Another bad pun) - I couldn't give another shit!
Date: 2014-05-06
From: Kincora Hostel (the peoples hostel)

To: Braemer Castle Hostel
Miles today: 8.6

Turning today into a Nero (near zero miles on the trail)Currently in Hampton, TN and scored a mountain bike to explore town. Haven't ridden a bike in many years and its a sweet day to bike ride around a southern town. Yeeeeah buddy!Will be in Damascus in 3 days I think and that's where I'll update everything as best I can. When it comes to writing anything it is always rushed and by iPhone. A lot of thoughts get pondered over while moving but it's never easy to go back over the thoughts when you're finally stopped and about to call it a day. Getting your journal out is a whole other ordeal which means digging through your pack.Today started as any other day. Woke up kinda achy and limped my way around for a couple minutes. After the typical oatmeal breakfast infused with coconut oil, craisins, dehydrated strawberries, chia seeds and granola you tend to turn into a badass. Naturally I stood up around my peers, politely put down my spork, and announced "... I'm ready to RAAAAAGE!"Yes yes. That is how you get big miles in as you slowly leave at a snail peace with a 40lb pack (I finally weighed my pack for the first time in Erwin).All is excellent. Can you smell what Bob Peoples is cooking?
Date: 2014-05-07
From: Braemer Castle Hostel

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

Not a whole lot of traffic on the AT today. Least amount of hikers I've seen in a day if you don't include the massive group of Christian section hikers on a spiritual retreat. That was a little bit of an awkward encounter... Nice people though haha.Today was uneventful other than that. I took a wrong turn at an unmarked road crossing though. It's kind of cool to suddenly get a feeling you're not on the right path without knowing why exactly. Maybe without realizing you are paying more attention to the white blazes than you think. Somehow you just know you're going the wrong way after a certain amount of steps. To make up for the lost quarter mile and time I just stopped and picked two handfuls of 4-leaf clovers so it wasn't all a lost cause. I give them away and sometimes leave one in the shelter registers. Second reason for stopping to smell some flowers and eagle eyeing clovers was that if there were more hikers right behind me, it would have given me another clue about whether or not it was the right path instead of walking the wrong way/wasting more precious calories.Yep. Today was a bit boring. I should read more but than that would take away hiking time... Which means less mileage or sleep. That's not negotiable. Sorry brain. You're just gonna have to deal with eat, sleep, and hike only.
Date: 2014-05-08
From: Iron Mountain

To: edge of Damascus
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Camped right outside Damascus so I can stroll right into town first thing in the morning. Didn't realize til a couple a days ago I'd be so close to trail days. Might be a little difficult to find a bunk even though I'm not sticking around for the festivities.Hello Virginia! Goodbye steep mountains! (for now) Oh yeah almost forgot - emergency vodka. It's a good invention and if I were to compile an alcoholic's guide to the AT, that would be a staple combo considering the pun and ease of creation. The contents are simple. Vodka and Emergen-C (that sugary and flavored supplement packet thing) the other night a section hiker named shaggy basically took one look at a shelter that he set his goal as and was told someone was sick in there not too long ago based on the register entries. He dropped his pack right there on the trail and decided it was time for an emergency vodka. I broke out my apple pie moonshine and another thru hiker passing by had some whiskey. That could had escalated quickly... but we were all in bed by hiker midnight haha.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Beech Grove Gap

To: Whitetop Mountain
Miles today: 16.3

By the time I reached the peak of Whitetop I had missed the best part of sunset by 20 minutes. Would have camped there for sunrise but I was out of water so I had I push farther. *tip to those looking for them - always account for how guides and maps could be wrong and take everything that anyone says with a grain of salt. If I based my plans by the book and what other people say, I would have been screwed many times over by now.* Anyways, Whitetop is a sweet place to catch the start or end of the day. Was reluctant to leave it. By the time I did find a spring, it was obvious there was some storm clouds blockin the moon. As I crossed a forest service road in a meadow there was a flash of lightening that surprised me. After a bit of momentary blindness since I was hiking in the dark, I was obviously motivated to double time to a suitable spot to pitch a tent. Was all settled in my tent by 10:20 which is right when the rain started coming down. Another bonus is that I only got 4 spider webs to the face instead of the typical 457 that accumulates on every solo night hike.Overall today was a solidly awesome day. Visited an old mental mind state I haven't had the pleasure of indulging in for years. Lots of deep personal thoughts and self analysis occurred which is always terrifyingly good to have. Did have a peculiar dream that I had to note about - dreamt of completing the AT to discover I developed cancer. Wasn't a terrifying kind of dream... I've had many dreams in the past where I have actually died. There is a very liberating vibe I tend to pull from such dreams. Kind of like how I felt when tossing everything aside to hike the AT. Death is an inevitable end point which I believe everyone should confront as early as they can. Helps you sort out priorities and make less mindless decisions.
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Whitetop Mountain

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: few clouds

WOOOO! Had to put in some real effort as I finished the day by pushing to my final destination. Just barely beat the start of another storm that was starting to press down as I hauled ass for the last few miles. I did not see that thunderstorm coming. Though, today was exactly like yesterday weather-wise so maybe I should have... Just 10 minutes away from the campsite I was shooting for was where a lightening strike came down way too close for comfort. The impact of that flash of power is literally stunning but, I wasn't going to let anything slow me down. With a head full of stars and body tingling, I hustled on as fast as I safely could down the mountain. The rumbling in the sky had already been building up for 20 minutes before that first strike. It was obvious the rain was about to come down. When I came flying into camp, there was no one in the shelter - which was unusual. I never bothered to find out why. There was a tent city nearby and I always opt for tenting instead of the shelter anyway. Everyone there was already set up and they looked at me like I just jumping into a bomb shelter at the last second as the bombs were about to explode. Sprinkles started coming down which meant I had seconds before the sky started pouring. Stripping down my pack, I was cheered on as everyone watched to see if I could make it. I might have set a record! For sure that was the fastest I had ever set up my tent! The only thing that got wet was basically my already sweaty shirt. Between finding a flat spot, throwing down a tarp as my ground sheet, flinging out my tent, snatching my rain poncho to toss over my pack, and skipping a few steps to pop in the tent poles, I'd say that's nothing but winning.My days have become more about avoiding the hottest part of the day or general bad weather which means my mileage is not nearly as high as it could be. I'll spare you the boring details of what my mind is mostly fixated on as a thru hiker nowadays. But you know what? Today I went through the Grayson highlands. A ton of wild ponies everywhere. This may be my favorite stretch so far just because of the scenery. Got to talk to a lot of cool people today and defend unattended packs from the ponies as if I was Keanu Reeves in the matrix. While everyone is dropping their packs and running around in circles trying to take awesome photos of the wildlife, packs of ponies flank around their distracted admirers and target the vulnerable packs full of food and saturated with precious salt. They like to lick the salt off your body as well...
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Marion, VA
Miles today: 25.8
Weather: broken clouds

Wet morning. Well most mornings are wet in a really muggy way. But the thunderstorm dumped a bit of water on us. I got up extra early and confirmed that not a single person used the shelter. So I ate breakfast there with all the space to myself. Of course it would have been much easier to just have used the shelter and it would save a lot of packing time. But I like to make specific things harder than it has to be so I tent every night even if its dumping rain.Today felt like an accomplishment because I went harder than I usually do. I don't like to go fast and hard so I can breeze along at a gentle pace but I wanted to push myself today. Plus I was going to be sweating a lot anyway due to the mountains and my stuff is already saturated with stank which means its time to get some washing done in town. Plan was to spend the night at Partnership shelter then shuttle in first thing in the morning. Well I ended up catching a ride from the Mt Rogers visitor center. Took it and don't regret it! Except for the Chinese buffet part. I seriously regretted that... I was sharing a room with Ms. America and it turned out Wild Turkey was across the street for a couple of days. She ripped her toe open in Damascus and it got infected by untreated river water. She was on antibiotics and feeling really nauseous so we sat in our comfy motel room watching a Sex In The City marathon feeling terrible together. Irony hit me because a previous thru hiker named Gangsta talked about that show a lot in her Trail journal. It's okay to temporarily grow a pair of ovaries once in awhile. When I was at the Mt Rogers visitor center I found a scale. I've lost over 12lbs! Since my pants still fit just fine and I didn't have much fat to begin with, it's obvious that I have lost a lot of upper body already. I feel it and can physical see myself dwindling down from up top.
Date: 2014-05-15
To: Marion, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Ugh. This is the worst I have felt since I started hiking the AT.I hit the trail hard and didn't slow down or stop until I got closer to Marion. Caught the last shuttle run to town which is where I found myself at a Chinese buffet. I ate 4 full plates, than fruit and desert. I only made it to the bench right outside the restaurant before I had to take a 40 minute breather. Than I struggled with light grocery shopping - mostly picking up drinks with dem electrolytes.Barely made it back to the motel. I can't move anymore. What makes it worse is that I'm dehydrated and really thirsty. I'm just too full to get up and find some water. I had some cold pineapple juice within grasping distance and it was dam deliciousness but I don't think j can handle even liquids right now.Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh
Date: 2014-05-16
From: Marion, VA

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

My kind of weather! A bit on the chilly side side, no higher than 55 degrees all day. I'm jealous about that now that I'm transcribing my handwritten journal and reflecting about this day nearly a month later. It was great for hiking, but I decided to make it a short day so I can hit a restaurant right off the trail in Atkins the next day. That meant I had time to hit the post office, the library (where I probably was transcribing even older journal days to upload), and explore the other side of town. The 50cent shuttle rides here are awesome!By the time I got to the trail it was raining again and I couldn't have cared less. When you're feeling good and centered a little bit of rain isn't going to dampen your mood. Especially when you've been living outside with just a rucksack. The 7 mile hike was nice and went by unbelievably fast with the fast food calories in me. My mind wandered off though. What snapped me back to attention was seeing an owl silently take off. That thing didn't make a sound! It sounds kind of dumb to write about it but I was really surprised by how such a simple moment like that made an impact on me. I caught the movement from the corner of my eye and watched in awe because of how graceful and silent that predator was. It was perched just a couple yards next to the trail and I almost passed right by it. Who knows what other majestic moments of wildlife has happened around me while hiking and I didn't notice.
Date: 2014-05-17
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: south of Chestnut Shelter
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I love cold mornings like this. Wake up so comfortably in a snug sleeping bag with a tent protecting you from any breeze that may pass by. There's no schedule or place I have to be so there's no rush for anything. Of course I indulged in the warmth for a bit before getting up well before I had to. Took my sweet time and found myself leaving the campsite at 8am. I was the last one. I guess everyone was in a rush to get to Atkins and eat at The Barn restaurant. When the hiker hunger grabs ahold of you, it's like lighting a fire under your butt and nothing will slow you down. Some reason I have yet to really get the hiker hunger. I also have not had a single specific food craving. Which is odd because everyone always seems to be talking about food and everything they really wish they had. My only explanation for not having such cravings would be how I diversify my food bag pretty well and I'm all about having self discipline on the trail. Although I do bring my titanium spork with me to the grocery store so I can immediately enjoy a pint of ice cream right outside those whooshing automatic glass doors. Anyways. Should have delayed even longer before passing trough Atkins. The breakfast platter was nice but I think lunch would have been worth the wait. There's a 1lb hiker burger that I missed out on. Whatever, that's not how the day worked out. What did work out well was my timing for te weather. This Virginia hiking had been pretty sweet. Today brought me up and around some green grassy hills and through tree corridors flanked by private property on both sides. Later in the evening I got the idea of pushing on for a 30 mile day which would require some more night hiking. By 9pm I said screw it when I came across an convenient flat spot right off the trail. Didn't feel like climbing 2000ft up in the dark.
Date: 2014-05-18
From: south of Chestnut Shelter

To: Laurel Creek (VA 615)
Miles today: 18.5

Nature's way of saying you're being a lazy punk: mice eating your shirt that you left out to dry overnight. The day before this incident I was just talking to Bearjuice about not having any mice problems (ironic foreshadowing of what happens inside my boot in June?). Well I had not had any mouse problems up until this moment because I don't use the shelters I stop at and I'm mindful about trash/food.For some reason last night I was hiking in my merino wool Icebreaker shirt which I shouldn't have been doing anyway since it will make you sweat more. Well I guess I figured I'd be cold with all the night hiking I intended to do (which is still wrong because you don't get cold when you're moving). I mostly wear this shirt overnight and typically don't get sweaty in it and soooo that happened. Left it on top of my pack too lazy to do anything else and partially woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like something gnawing on hard plastic. Must have been some gnarly mouse teeth? My reflex/reaction was to slap my pack a few times which was right next to my head through the mesh in the vestibule of my tent. When I laid my head back down I woke up a bit and remembered mice love merino wool so I took my shirt inside. Didn't discover the multiple small holes in my shirt til the morning. I suddenly remembered Gangsta's trail journal where she had "$30 dollars of merino wool" missing from her shirt after a peculiar night in a shelter haha. Chestnut Shelter was pretty sweet and the shelter after that had an awesome campsite. The day went by pretty well and it was relatively easier hiking compared to the first month. Of course I made it harder than it had to be by not eating enough throughout most of the day. Got along just fine though and made it to my intended destination. The last 5.5 miles flew by in 100 minutes flat! (After I had dinner of course) the bonus part was that a nearby local church had been shuttling hikers from the next road crossing every Monday to give trail magic breakfasts. And you know what day it is tomorrow? Monday. But where's the road crossing? At the creek where I'm camped tonight Everyone at the shelter was going to stay and do the 5.5 miles first thing in the morning. Me? I was sleeping peacefully next to the calming creek - there's nothing like sleeping next to moving water which aids in the deepest most pleasantest sleep you can ever get. Plus I can sleep in since the trail magic shuttle doesn't come until 9:30am
Date: 2014-05-19
From: Laurel Creek (VA 615)

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Best trail magic ever. More to come. Pearisburg in a few days. Maybe a quick update if I still have 3G service at tonight's camp site.Thank you, New Hope Union Church!Update: more about this wonderful trail magic. We were picked up at 9:30am. I forget how many total we were but we crammed 2 cars. I was in a truck bed with 4 others (I love how in the south there's no law for wearing a seatbelt in the back which means riding in the bed of pickup trucks is okay)Once we got there we made an assembly line for efficient hand washing. Then we were whisked inside where the overwhelming wall of odor smelling of home cooked food swallow you up instantly. Before you can process the sensation of dying and walking into heaven, they handed to each of us yogurt and homemade granola. It was undeniably the best granola I have ever eaten and usually granola is nothing to rave about. While I was trying to deal with that, a platter appeared before me. Pancakes, hash browns, some sort of egg creation with stuff in it I didn't bother investigating (I don't know what it was, I just ate it), sausages, and biscuits. This was no ihop platter or mediocre diner food... This was GREAT food. Juice somehow appeared among the mix. Lot's of it. There was grape juice, orange juice, apple juice, and I don't know. If you haven't caught on about how overstimulating in a good way this was, I can't really put into words how wonderful this was. Coffee was offered to anyone who wanted it. Then I noticed the syrup. Then butter. AND THEN THE JAMS. Apple butter, strawberry, and who knows what kind of other homemade jams there was. Every other minute produced a batch of something else. Fresh homemade apple pie appeared. Cobbler pie right behind it! Apple sauce, coffee cake, and more! This was serious. They literally tried to get you to eat as much as you humanely could. Wow.At some point I hiked on and made another 19 miles of progress. I didn't journal about those 19 miles at all apparently. Upon flipping back to this day all I saw was notes about the food. So I have no idea what happened to the rest of that day. I was probably abducted by aliens and this was the happy memory implanted into my brain.
Date: 2014-05-20
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

So yesterday is really hard to beat. It's probably going to be my favorite day on the AT. With that in mind... today in comparison was like rolling around in a bed of silk made for infants destined to be kings of very wealthy monarchs. I don't know? Didn't leave camp until 9am again. I've been having a lot of fun with the current hiker bubble I'm in. After a long breakfast and messing with Bliss about the privvy, I set out for my ambitious destination: 6 miles forward. From there I'll take a 1/2 mile detour off trail to Trent's grocery.Update: I spent 3 hours there.Started by purchasing a 64oz Gatorade. Downed half of it immediately. Then a pitbull leapt out of a car to chase a cat. So I put my gatorade down and somehow caught the pitbull. I must be a beast. The owner was very grateful, but this resulted in me getting stuck in a long conversation. By conversation I mean the guy just talked and I politely listened to his life story while thinking about my cold gatorade sitting in the sun 10 meters away. When my fellow hikers arrived, we feasted together. I got a hamburger with onion rings. Then a cheeseburger with curly fries. Then a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar. Topped all of that off with a pint of cherry vanilla ice cream. I guess that counts as hiker hunger but really I was taking advantage of filling my arteries with gold. Some well deserved fatness.Didn't have to go far today because I intended to Nero towards Woods Hole Hostel - "a little slice of heaven". The rest of the day was the flattest 7 mile stretch I have gotten to enjoy so far opposed to going up and down at least one whole mountain in less miles. Spent the hottest part of the day detouring off trail to the Dismal Falls. Really awesome place to swim, camp, and relax. Ended up spending 2 hours chilling out there and jumping into the falls. Memorable moment in the evening when I eventually made it to my final destination: I offered to hang other people's food bag with mine since I already had my rope up and the pickings for viable bear hangs were slim. Duff, Mocha Pot, and Astroman jumped at the offer. But when Astroman saw what I was hanging the bags off of (like I said, bear hang spots were sparse here) he took a second to assess the situation.Astroman: is this gonna hold?Me: ah, it'll be fine. (while yanking on the cord to pull up the combined weight of 4 foodbags)Astroman: you sure? Me: No.There was a loud crack on my next heave and it felt like the entire woods waited in silence to hear the tree snap and fall. It didn't, so I continued pulling and tied it. Success! Suck it, science!