morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-02-02
From: Lisa Gap

To: Neel gap
Miles today: 13.0

2/2-Stayed pretty dry but everything is damp packing up this morning. Rain all day. Just walked with our heads down. Wilson doesn¢t like being wet. Temps in 40s I bet, Thought about stopping at Woods hole but decided to head up Blood mt. Arrived at the shelter about 2:45 and it was too nasty to stop up there so called for a cabin at Misty mts. Passed Kayainne while bombing down to neel gap. He ended up sharing the dragon fly cabin with us and it was a needed warm up, dry out and get clean&  sleep in a real bed stop! Thanks Angie for setting it u p when I lost service ce. Great to see Bill Walsh again! Finished day at mile 31.3 so 13 1/2 mile day
Date: 2023-02-03
From: Neel gap

To: Blue mt Shelter
Miles today: 18.7

2/3-Ditched about 11 lbs. at Mt Crossings. Mailed to Abe¢s houseGot on trail about 11. Wilson spotted an armadillo! Caught up with RT around 1. Planned to sleep at/ near low gap but got cell service and Abe said he¢d be swinging by around 9:30 am tomorrow after getting Prius from AFSP, so we booked it to next shelter , last mile or so in the dark. Met another thru hiker, Churchill. While setting up the Hammock in the shelter, a section hiker, Chris strolled up from Unicoi gap. Good convo. Supposed to be 16 degrees tonight! At mile 60.1 so a 18.8 mile day! I¢m awake catching up with this journaling at 2 bc it¢s too cold to sleep! Held my bladder till after midnight cuz I didn¢t want to crawl out of this warm s. bag. Wilson is curled up on my left side and Chris is softly snoring. It¢s a good night to be on the trail
Date: 2023-02-04
From: Blue mt Shelter

To: Tray mt 
Miles today: 9.2

2/4, seeing Abe and Cay! Hit the trail about 7:30 after a gorgeous sunrise . Made good time coming down the hill to Unicoi gap. Met an older gentleman that had planned to thru hike the AT in the 80¢s but backpacked Europe instead. His gave me hot cocoa which was much appreciated cuz it was only about 25 degrees! Abe and Cay picked us up and provided snacks while we drove to Ami Falls SP to get the car, Wilson and Reggie had fun seeing each other again. Abe went hiking there so Cay drove us back to continue. There were about 5 cars at the pull off when we left at 9:30 and about 30 when we got dropped off around 1, the trail was packed with ppl. Did about another 7 miles but all up/down ! Tent camping it tonite somewhere near Wolfpen gap. We get our first resupply box at the hostel tomorrow!
Date: 2023-02-05
From: Tray mt 

To: DickÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Creek agap
Miles today: 10.1

2/5, sun Wind woke us up around 3am, tent was shaking but held! Hard to sleep after that. Still windy at daybreak. Up about 8. On trail at 9. Saw no one on the trail all day. Nice day but cold and windyDid about 6 miles and ate lunch near Deep gap shelter. 2 quick miles and called the Hostel around the bend for a ride but when we got to Dicks Creek gap a guy offered a ride. Super nice hosts and other guests . Met thru hikers Mike and Fran, a sweet Georgia couple. Also talked with a last year flip flopper who is working here. Had dinner then went to town and got groceries and had dinner again! Now it¢s time to fit all of this new grub in the pack so in the morning Snoops and I will be ready to hike on out of GA!
Date: 2023-02-06
From: DickÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Creek agap

To: Standing indian
Miles today: 16.7

Started at DC gap-mile 69.2, ended at Standing Indian Shelter, m 85.9 so 16.7.  Wx was the best day yet, clear, cool, just enough wind to keep most of the sweat from my eyes. Snoopy and I were both in good shape after a restful afternoon at the hostel. It was awesome having fresh fruit and a lively conversation over bfsst.  Got dropped off around 8. Pack is overfilled from 1st resupply box. Pbly packing too much dog and human food. Weighed it at #45! Passed Mike and Fran a couples hours into hiking as they had been shuttled to do a quick 5.8 mile SB slack. Then while taking a break was passed by my first nobo th, a crazy guy called ineeda (pronounced Anita) Trail name. At the state line (goodby GA!) caught up with him and DaVinci, a flip -flopper almost finishing his hike , he¢s on the last state and we just finished our first! only 12 more state lines to cross! Later was able to talk ineeda into taking some of my food, seemed to be a blessing for both of us! All onlone rn at the shelter. Supposed to just get to about freezing tonight. We are warm enuf. I have been cold soaking my dinner but tonight had a warm meal tonight. Tomorrow we¢ll start with about a 1000 ft elevation gain in the first 1.5 miles then mostly downhill!
Date: 2023-02-07
From: Standing indian

To: Long branch shelter
Miles today: 17.3

2/7 tues We went from standing Indian to Long Branch Shelter 17+ miles, a good day, especially with the Albert MT climb, that last push to the summit was killer! Tomorrow we have the option of a short 11.5 day or an 18+¢¦ guess we¢ll see what the weather has in store for us. Had a nice phone conversation with Angie too. I miss talking and just spending time together. Only saw one other hiker today, it was while we were having lunch at Carter gap shelter. Snoopy barked at him and the dude just turned around so I never even got to yak at him.  I think he was a SOBO. In the shelter journals are more entries from Southbounders (SOBOs) than NOBOs. Oh yeah, we passed the 100 mile mark on the trail!
Date: 2023-02-08
From: Long branch shelter

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 18.2

We¢d, 2/8Since breaking camp we passed a SB hiker w dog (the dog was not too friendly so we didn¢t chat) then met a trail maintenance crew rebuilding Rock gap shltr. Talked with them for a few mins, one guy asked if we were Snoopy and CB ?!? How did he know who we are?  I guess there is another dude hiking with his dog a day or two ahead of us that are Shaggy and Scooby! Big push up hill, then mostly downhill for the rest of the day. Passed a really pretty Waterfall near winding stair gap Passed thru a prescribed burn area . Glad for the mist and drizzle to keep the dust and ash down. Thought about stopping at a shelter there but made the push to the next one. A big climb brought us to the top of Wayah Bald mountain but no view b/c of the mist and clouds/fog. Couple hundred foot descent to the shelter tho, and the fog lifted a bit and had good cell service. Was able to call and chat with family. I thought we¢d have this shelter to ourselves but right at dusk a solo NB hiker gal, Piniata, rolls in. She just came from a resupply day in Franklin, N.C. It¢s nice to talk about adventures and experiences so far with another hiker. NOC and another resupply box awaits for us tomorrow!
Date: 2023-02-09
From: Wayah Bald

To: NOC
Miles today: 16.5

Early morning start, on the trail just as the sun was rising. Misty and light rain most of the morning, cleared up in the afternoon. 3rd day in a row of climbing up to either an old fire or observation tower. Todays was Wesser Bald. Too rainy to enjoy much of a view but after another mile or two the trail ride the top of this really skinny ridge line with the mountain just failing away on both sides, it was pretty neat. But I was grateful that the wind wasn¢t blowing any stronger! I thought Wilson would be nervous but he did fine. Then a big long descent ( went from 4600ft to 1700ft elevation) to get down to Nantahala Outdoor Center. I couldn¢t believe who was sitting in front of the general store when we got down here¢¦ Anita (ineeda) ! He got pulled off trail when they closed it to do the burn area we walked thru a couple of days ago. He was in good spirits about it though, and was gearing up to go do about 10 miles, and this was at about 4pm! Snoops and I just wanted to shower and sleep. We got a little bunk room and slept for about 10 hours! I¢m packing stuff up now and we¢ll hit the trail in a couple of hours. I gotta wait for the outfitters to open so I can print of my Smokies permit.
Date: 2023-02-10
From: NOC

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 14.1

Fri 2/10We had a lazy morning (and another shower for me!) hot breakfast and talked to a few locals before packing up and heading back down to the river to print out the Smokies Permit. About 10:15 on the trail now making up for all of the elevation loss we experienced yesterday. Passed some day hikers, a sobo, whose name I didn¢t get and a bit later, a legally blind hiker, Crockett and Piniata again! Great to chat with them all for a bit. After about 8 hard miles we are currently sitting on top of Cheoah Bald. Snoops is sleeping in the sunshine! It¢s a perfect early afternoon, sunshine and views for miles. Oh, Had my first full on face plant today. I was attempting to hop over a large tree that had toppled over the trail (called a dead fall) when my foot, instead of finding a grip on the trunk, just slid, and my weight took me face first to the trail. When yr wearing such a heavy pack, there is a point when yr powerless to stop gravity and the best you can do is try to land in a way that will cause the least harm. Luckily for me, the trail was relatively soft and no stones or roots to slam into. Scooby just looked at me like, ¢man, how have you made it this far in life being such a klutz!?!¢ That dog is so sure footed, I¢ve only seen him slip once since we¢ve started hiking, and that was on a Shet of ice that was covering a large rock/boulder. Stopping to stealth camp just north of NC 143. We can hear the traffic on the hwy below us. Good night!
Date: 2023-02-11
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana dam
Miles today: 15.4

Sat, 2/11Woke up early, took down camp and hit the trail. After an aggressive ascent on a section of trail called Jacobs Ladder (like the exercise equipment) we popped into Brown Fork Gap shelter and another Nobo thru hiker with his dog was there, Merlin and Wade. We met them at NOC and would end up leap frogging them all day and shared the Fontana Dam shelter with them for the nite. Snoopy and Wade hit it off and it¢s nice for him to have a pal. Merlin is a very experienced hiker, he did 3/4 of the AT a few yrs ago and has done the CDT. We stopped for Lunch at Cable gap shelterMet 3 SOBOs through out the day, No Bed,Prometheus and Slug . So happy for them all to be almost done! Great advice about getting ice cleats from Abe and upcoming trail conditions. Got some nice pics when Lake Fontana came into view and then we descended and walked along the lake for a mile or two. Rain in the late afternoon and thru the night but we are dry and warm, thankful for that!
Date: 2023-02-12
From: Fontana dam

To: Asheville 
Miles today: 0.0

Sun 2/12Raining when we went to bed & still raining when we Woke up at Fontana Dam shelter.  Actually, there was a severe wx advisory for all of the Smokies for the day. So instead of starting the Smokies wet and cold, made the decision to take a zero and head into Asheville. While hanging in shelter talked with a dude that finished his flip flop back on Dec. (White socks) . Now he is helping support a gal ( Diesel) as she is finishing u her sobo. Cay picked us (and Merlin and Wade) and drove us the 2 hrs into town. We dropped M/w off at a buddies and then we went on to Abe¢s place to get a shower and clean up, do laundry, etc. Had a nice pizza dinner with Abe and Cay, even caught some of the Superbowl. And then went back and played board games. It was so nice to sleep in a comfy bed.
Date: 2023-02-13
From: Fontana dam

To: MollieÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ridge
Miles today: 11.8

Mon 2/13Kinda lazy morning, I took the dogs for a walk and caught up on some reading. About 10am heard fromMerlin that a buddy of his could drive us back up to the dam so Aaron took me over and around 1 we found ourselves back on the trail (but without Snoopy¢¦ he¢ll be hanging out with Reggie till I¢m thru the GSMNP. Did about 12 miles to the first shelter in the Smokies with a short side trail to the Shuckstack fire tower for a beautiful 360 degree lookout. On the way up passed a couple of SB hikers that had tried to get to Clingman Dome But the snow had driven them back. Around the 4000¢ mark the trail was still under a couple of inches of slushy snow. We made the correct call to postpone a day. Sharing this shelter with a recently retired Coastie! It was cool to ¢talk shop¢ with him. FDam shelter to Mollies Ridge Shelter 11.8 P.s. I left my trekking poles at Abe¢s place but a stout stick is making a nice walking cane :)
Date: 2023-02-14
From: MollieÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ridge

To: Double spring gap
Miles today: 19.7

Ties 2/14Left MRS at about 8:45. Stopped for lunch at About 1:45 at Derrick Knob shelter. Having done about 12 already today. Shooting for another 7.4 miles before we call it. Met a NBer, Linus at Silers Bald shelter. We pushed on 1.7 miles to double spring gap shelter. Got in a bit after 5:30. Made a fire. Around 7:30 a sobo, the Mayer came rolling in and it¢s nice to talk about the upcoming trail. had a nice fire at the shelter. I think this was my highest mileage day yet and I feel ok
Date: 2023-02-15
From: Double spring gap

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.6

Weds 2/15Linus stopped by the shelter at about 6:30am, that guy is an early riser! I hit the trail about 8. Made good time to Clingman¢s Dome. Got some pics of the fog! Also made good time the Newfoundland Gap parking area. It was kinda odd to pop out of the woods and be surrounded by cars and tourists. It was nice to use a real restroom! The small joys, right? Had lunch there then just three miles to Icewater Spring Shelter. Got a good fire going, dry socks on, life is good. Just over 13 miles today but tomorrow I¢m planning on doing 20+, which will set me up for just an 11 mile day on Friday to get out of the Smokies and get cleaned up at Standing Bear Farm hostel. Sounds like Abe will be able to bring Snoopy there for our reunion, too!
Date: 2023-02-16
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.3

Thursday, 2/16 Early start to this long day. The mist and fog had been rolling into the shelter so everything was pretty damp packing it up. Trail is in decent shape except Lots of blown down trees. Another day of hiking in the blowing mist. Passed zero ppl. Just leapfrogging the other two hikers that I¢m with, Merlin and Topo. Topo joined us in the shelter last night and he¢s a fast hiker. He¢s excited b/c his family is meeting him on Friday at the hostel & it sounds like he will spend the weekend with them before hopping back on trail. Finally, a little after 1pm the weather finally lifted. At that point I had less than 5 miles to go to get to the shelter so I just slowed down to enjoy hiking in the peek-a-boo sun. It felt great . Got to the shelter and have dry clothes  (especially socks!) on. Just finished a tuna fish pouch for dinner. My food bag is getting pretty light but I¢ll be able to restock tomorrow! Supposed to start raining again around 8 pm and tomorrow will be wet. All good and happy to be leaving the GSMNP!
Date: 2023-02-17
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Stand Bear Farm
Miles today: 11.0

The shelter we (Merlin and Wade, Topo and I) slept at was great. A beautiful bubbly spring only about 10 steps to the right & a working privy (outhouse) ! These are rare in the Smokies. We were also blessed with a valley view and dry firewood. We let the fire burn out around 7pm when we crawled into our sleeping bags. About 8 the rain started. It rained all night and the pounding on the tin roof of the shelter would drown out anyone¢s snoring. It would let up for a few minutes then cascade down again. Crash, crash ¢¦ like an overworked cymbal in a punk song! I loved it. I woke up around 6am to find Topo packing up his gear. I said goodbye and wished him well then went back to sleep. An hour later I was up as the first bit of daylight pushed thru the rain and fog (or smoke, as they call it in these mountains). M & W packed up and hit the trail before I did. I just didn¢t want to step out of the shelter into all that rain especially knowing that I had a relatively easy 11 miles to the hostel. But about 8:30 I finally ran out of excuses and put on all my rain gear (first day of the hike starting out in rain pants) , strapped on my pack on shoved off . The trail was basically a cascading stream. The ground was already saturated and all this new water needed a place to go, and the trail is often the lowest and most convenient place for the water to channel into. On the uphills I was walking against the flow and on the downhills it was trying to take away my footing on the slick rocks. And the wind driven rain just kept falling! Around 10, it finally let up but the temperature was continuing to drop. The rain turned into light snow. But about 9 of the 11 miles were down hill so I made good time. The trail crossed the first major interstate (I-40) and immediately began climbing again . I crossed a small dirt road and a car pulled over and Topo rolls down the back window. His folks had just picked him up at the hostel. He passed me a big handful of gummy worms and encouraged me that I¢m almost there. Ahhhh, Standing Bear Farm is great. I checked in and stripped off all of my soaking rain gear on the covered porch of the bunk room. Pulled all of my dirty laundry out of my pack and went to the laundry room.  It¢s hand wash yr clothes in a sink bit they do have an electric dryer. So I get my washing done, throw the mess into the dryer and go find a hot shower¢¦ so nice. I then go claim a bunk and explore the rest of the property. There seems to be a handful of folks who are staying here (work for stay) and some, like me that are just passing through. I run into Merlin, Wade and Linus . I also meet Ed and his little dog, Bailey. They have a little store here with a handful of gf options. It¢s chicken stew and tortilla chips for dinner. It¢s nice to be done walking so early in the day,  especially since the weather continues to be miserable, alternating from rain to snow to sleet. Having a warm stove and a place to fully dry out all my gear is perfect. And the best news is that Abe¢s bringing Wilson in the morning! Good conversation with good people and a good night to all!
Date: 2023-02-18
From: Stand Bear Farm

To: Roaring Fork
Miles today: 15.5

Sat. 2/18After a nice long night in a comfy bunk at Standing bear farm hostel , got up and made coffee! It had been over a week, I think since I¢d had a cup of joe. Went for a walk and got in touch with Abe, who was just waking up to come drive my way. Yakked with some of the other people staying there and eventually (when it was late enough West coast time) called Angie. Abe got in around 10 after I got all of Snoopy¢s gear out of the car he helped me finish packing up, but first I had to eat some of the food he¢d brought! We hit the trail about 11 and made it to a shelter about 6 miles north where we had lunch , then Abe turned around to hike back to the car while Snoops and I pushed on. A couple more miles later and we found ourselves in Max Patch Bald, a beautiful open spot with views in all directions for miles and miles. It was a nice afternoon/almost evening and lots of folks had hiked up to enjoy the scenery. It¢s an odd feeling to be walking for many and only seeing a few people and then all of a sudden you¢re in a spot where you are surrounded by folks. After I left the bald I passed an area where some families were camping. Ended up talking with some of them for about 1/2 hour about our hike so far and what to expect ahead. Good trail magic! A couple quick miles down into a cold cold slushy gully and we are now stretched out in our sleeping gear at Roaring fork shelter. Merlin and Wade and another Nobo that I just met, Switchback, were already posted up here. It was about a 15.5 mile day today. It feels like it¢s gonna be a cold night but just 18 miles tomorrow and we¢ll be in Hot Springs! Good night, At around 10:30, I wake up to Snoopy barking. There are 3 ppl with headlamps and flashlights coming down the trail. They identified themselves as with something something volunteer fire department and they are out looking for a hiker that hasn¢t checked in for a while, Earl. Well, it turns out Switchback is Earl! His family hadn¢t heard from him, and he had some excuse about the communication device account not being set up correctly. Everyone was nice about the whole situation and he seemed embarrassed. Any way, my lesson learned is to check in regularly (which I believe I do)!
Date: 2023-02-19
From: Roaring Fork

To: Hot Springs, Laughing Heart
Miles today: 18.2

I was up before the sun and packing up in the predawn light. I knew we had a long mileage day and wanted to get into town and look around before dark. Snoopy and I made some of our best time yet the first couple of hours, probably doing 3ish miles/hr. It was the 2nd day in a row of beautiful weather, before too long I had shed my morning layers and was hiking in shorts and a tee shirt. After we stopped for lunch around noon, we finally slowed down some and started to enjoy the hike. We got to the hostel before 3pm, showered and went into town to check out the sights and get groceries. It¢s a sleepy little hiking/tubing/soaking in the hot springs place. The downtown is about 3 full blocks. The visitor center was nice and we popped into the outfitters, but we are not really lacking or needing to upgrade any gear. So we just came back and chatted with the other hikers here while I made us breakfast for dinner (eggs and pancakes). Now we are windong down in bed and planning our stops/miles for the next week or so (weather permitting). People have asked me how I¢m or we (snoopy and I ) are doing physically. Well, at the end of each day, I think that both of us are just sore all over. I haven¢t noticed Wilson limping or favoring any limb/paw and I look him all over and kinda generally give him a rub down each evening . And every morning he¢s ready to go. As for me, my right calf muscle has been sore for a few days in a row and today I noticed my left shoulder is ¢talking to me¢ a bit louder than other parts but overall, I think we are both holding up well. I¢m planning on between 12-15 mile days for a bit, just so we are not pushing too hard. Now that I¢m a couple of days out of the Smokies, here is my reflection:entered the National Park section (around 70 miles of the AT is in the park) of the trail on a Monday pm, following a storm that left a couple inches of slushy snow on about 1/2 of the trail pros:Nice shelters , good blazes, fireplaces, great views (for the 2 afternoons it was clear), trail not unnecessary routed to the top of every peak (allowed some respite from wind) Never met a RangerCons: cost $ to get permit ( or risk fine), no dogs allowed, lots of felled trees, no privy¢s at most shelters, all of the rules are negatively worded, AT seems an afterthought to other park activities , permit box on S entry was packed full (no real accountability) Never met a Ranger