morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-08
From: Fontana Village

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter 
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up this morning in a warm bed with clean clothes! Then I got a large breakfast at Mcdonalds which was amazing. After arriving back at Fontana Dam, I realized I had not printed my permit for the Smoky Mountains! My mom drove me back to Fontana Village Lodge where I printed one off quickly from a computer there. I felt really bad that I kept my mom there so long - she had a long drive ahead of her. I then said my goodbyes to her and Reptar, which I have to admit was really sad. I had hiked with Reptar all this way and just became so used to having him by my side! He'll be back in 2 weeks, but it felt very weird hiking without him today. I hiked and started to feel a bit homesick, which I knew would happen after seeing my mom and Reptar leaving, but I trekked on. I got headphones, and listened to music for the first time the whole hike - it was awesome, and helped me get through today. I listened to the band "Wheels", and felt totally involved in my hike. It put me in such a good mood. There was a huge firetower on top of one of the mountains where I could actually see Fontana Dam. It was so small and far away! The views were incredible and I could see so far. I kept hiking and arrived at the shelter. In the Smoky's, you have to stay in the shelters unless they are full - this one wasn't, so I am staying inside tonight. It is actually really cool though - all of my friends and a few more people who I've been running into filled up the shelter. There is a fireplace on the inside, and the open wall is tarped off, so it's very comfortable in here. It's fun hanging out with everyone, and I definitely feel at home again out here (still missing Rep, though).
Date: 2014-04-09
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter 

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night was nice. Sleeping in the shelter was so comfortable. There were actually dividers between people that allotted more space for people than other shelters because nobody could really cram in. It also started raining in the middle of the night which made a relaxing sound to sleep to. It was also great knowing that I was not going to get wet at all while sleeping inside! We woke up to very thick fog - exactly what I expected in the Smoky's! After hiking for a bit it started to clear up and made for some amazing views. It's a bummer that the trail was extremely muddy though, making it very difficult to hike in. We wanted to hike about 17-18 miles to a shelter, but actually stopped at the 12 mile one because we were so tired from misstepping in the mud so much. I'm really hoping the sun dries out the trail in the next couple of days so we can start to cover some ground. I thought it was interesting today that I was actually stopped by a ranger who asked to see my permit. It's pretty disappointing how strict the Smoky's are. I would love to be able to pitch a tent on some of these grassy balds here, but we are required to stay in the shelters. This park has so many rules! The land is beautiful though! Tomorrow we will hit Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT. We will also hit the 200 mile mark! Going to try to get some sleep in this packed, noisy shelter tonight!
Date: 2014-04-10
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was my favorite day of hiking yet. I slept well last night, and was out on the trail by 9am. The day was clear, and the hiking was nice and easy. About 6 miles in, I started hiking up a ridge that turned out to be insanely cool. The views were unbelievable - I would stop every 5 minutes just to sit and look out. On both sides of me there were drop offs with views as far as the eye can see. At one point I could actually see Clingman's Dome tower off in the distance on the peak. Another mile in, trees started filling in the trail. I felt like I was in a Nature Valley bar commercial. Tunnels of whispering pine trees that leaked small patches of sunlight made for such a neat hiking experience. Moss covered all of the rocks and logs, and snow and ice from the windy night before on the tops of the trees melted away and fell to the ground. It smelled so good, too - I wish I could have bottled it!When I finally reached Clingman's Dome (highest point (above sea level) on the trail!), it was quite a change of environment. Tourists were everywhere. I felt pretty cool coming out of the woods all sweaty with a pack on. The views at the tower were 360 all around. I could see Mt. Laconte which was pretty cool as well. I hiked up there with my family and stayed at the top when I was a kid. We walked down to the visitors center to look for some vending machines which we didn't find, so we sat down and had lunch. I found it pretty funny to hear some of the tourists down at the bottom of the hill by the visitors center. Things I would have not minded or probably would have even said before this hike, "Ugh... .5 miles to the tower? That's insane!", and, "There should be an escalator to the top". A different environment indeed!I then continued down to the shelter and was here by 4. I felt great the whole day, and can't wait to have more days like this later in my hike. 200 miles down, lessthan 2000 to go!
Date: 2014-04-11
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Tri Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up today around 6:30am. We had a big day planned at 20 miles and really wanted to head out early - We were on the trail by 7:30. The trail was beautiful in the morning as the sun rose. We were deep in the woods, and the trees all around were so thick, so only tiny bits of light came through which made for some very cool hiking. We got to newfound gap about 5 miles later to take a small break. I had cell service practically for the first time in the Smokeys, so I got to call Hannah for a quick moment which was really nice. Right as we were about to pack up and head out again, a truck rolled up and a woman named "Mountain Momma" came out and asked if we wanted some food! It was the best trail magic yet. We walked over to meet her husband, "Godspeed", and they offered us a large variety of food. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, Doritos, a Dr. Pepper, little Debbie's, nutter butters, a twix bar, and an orange. (Thanks again, guys!) They had a great life story, and were very friendly - they said they do trail magic every Friday and Saturday during hiker season! I was so happy to have caught them right before heading on another 15 miles. We kept walking and arrived at Charles Bunion trail overlook. The views were incredible. We sat on this cliff surrounded by huge drop offs in every direction. It was definitely a sight I want to go back to.We then pushed on the rest of our miles to get to our shelter. It was a long day of hiking, but full of nice surprises. One thing I did notice today - I have definitely lost some weight. My waist straps on my pack are as tight as they go and are now too loose. I'm going to have to call Gregory to see if they can replace just the straps soI don't need to buy a whole new pack. I need more calories in my diet!
Date: 2014-04-12
From: Tri Knob Shelter

To: Green Corner Rd
Miles today: 18.4

First off - I want to thank everyone who has posted in the guest book! I have been getting them, just haven't been able to respond to anybody - so thank you all for the motivational posts! They are fun to receive! Today was our last day in the Smoky Mountains. Although they were beautiful, and I had some of the best hiking of the whole trip so far, I was happy to finish them in only 5 hiking days! I no longer am required to stay in a Shelter, and can walk any distance I please to be able to camp anywhere! Reptar also comes back in less than a week! It will be so nice to have him hiking alongside me again.As we got out of the mountains, we found a stream to cool off in. It was so refreshing to go from sweaty and hot to mountain stream cold in an instant. When we got close to the highway, we ran into a couple who said they had just left a cooler of trail magic. We literally ran the rest of the way on the trail to the cooler to find candy, apples, coke, and my favorite - PBR. My, what a delight it was to have a cold one after a long warm day of hiking!We then walked just a bit further to Standing Bear hostel to resupply for the next two days before we get to Hot Springs. Tonight we pitched our tents right by a stream at the trail head. I washed my feet in the stream and relaxed the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we will hike up to Max Patch, a very popular destination on the AT. Apparently it's a grassy bald with amazing views. Night!
Date: 2014-04-13
From: Green Corner Rd

To: Roaring Fork shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a little bit of a slower start this morning even though we woke up at 6:45. It was nice to just sit by the stream and make breakfast. I had a bigger breakfast than normal because we just re-supplied some food and I got carried away. I filled up on three packets of oatmeal, poptarts, a snickers, Starbucks instant, and powdered donuts. Sounds healthy, right? We got hiking at about 8:30 and had a very large climb for somewhere around 5 miles. The day got very warm quickly, and I was warn out early. After a lunch break around 11:30, I felt very weak while hiking. I slowed down for a bit, put in some music, and then caught a second wind. I started climbing very fast, and was able to bust out the rest of the day. There is a section on the trailjournals website that allows me to write a quote to post after every journal entry - I didn't really think about it much before, but there is a saying that I really like (I actually had it tattooed to me about 5 years ago) that reads, "It's by doing whatever that one becomes whoever". This was originally said in French by a French comedian/stuntman who I found on the internet, but he's irrelevant to me - I just liked his phrase. I have found this saying to push me along in other situations, and I think it really works for the AT and why I'm hiking it. I could say that it's by hiking the AT that I become a thru-hiker, but I think it goes much deeper than that. Today when I was struggling, that phrase popped into my head over and over and I just kept pushing on. We arrived at Max Patch in the early afternoon. Max Patch is definitely the coolest sight I have seen on the trail. It was incredible. Literally 360 degree views that went on and on! We sat against our packs and soaked in the views (and sun) for a couple of hours. I was able to take a time lapse of the clouds and get some good shots of us hanging out as well, so it should make for some pretty cool video later! We were going to camp at the top, but we heard it was going to be very windy, and there wasn't really a close water source nearby. We trekked on another 2 miles to a shelter and unloaded for the night. We are planning on waking up tomorrow around 5:30 so we can be on the trail by 6:30. We have 18 miles to Hot Springs, and we'd like to get there early to have some hangout time!
Date: 2014-04-14
From: Roaring Fork shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up at 5:30 this morning to get an early start on hiking and to try to see how we felt about night-hiking (with headlamps). We were on the trail by 6:20. It was a very cool experience hiking so early, and I would love to make it more regular once the weather gets warmer in the summer.I'm not exactly sure what it was - maybe it was the idea that there was a 12oz hiker burger at the Hot Springs Diner, or maybe it was the fact that there were over 50 different varieties of beer at Spring Creek Tavern waiting for us - but somehow we managed to hike 18 miles in only 6 hours and got to Hot Springs by 12:20. I think I was practically running at one point. I was so hungry, but I just didn't want to stop. When we got into town, we quickly got a motel room because we knew places would fill up quickly due to the incoming rain. We also booked a small cabin for tomorrow so we can zero out the whole day and relax. We went to Spring Creek for dinner and some drinks. I ate a whole pizza,and actually had a pint of ice cream about an hour before, and somehow I was still hungry! I managed to grab dessert at the Iron Horse Station before bed, so I went to bed very happy and full!
Date: 2014-04-15
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

We took a nice zero day and relaxed today. We checked out of our motel by 10am, so we had some time to kill before we checked into our little cabin down the road. I had a ridiculous breakfast that a 10-year-old Alex would have really appreciated that consisted of a Snickers Ice cream bar, a pack of powdered donuts, a chocolate muffin, and a coffee. It is definitely funny how my diet has changed. I don't seem to care about what I put in my stomach anymore, as long as it has a bunch of calories and fats. I had a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream before dinner today just because I knew my body actually would use it! We resupplied at an outdoor store for the upcoming few days, and I bought a new water filter that will allow me to drink more clean water at a faster rate than mixing my chemical drops that I had before. This will also help with allowing reptar to drink clean water!We then booked our own individual spa tubs at the Hot Springs Resort - they actually pump in mineral water from the local spring, so the water is consistently warm and fresh . Because I was in a tub to myself, I obviously went nakey. It was awesome. After a small dinner of Mountain House spaghetti that I cooked at our cabin , a couple of us went to the Iron Horse for some beers. It was open mic night, so I felt inclined to get up and play some music - I do miss playing the guitar. I played a small cover of John Butler's "Ocean", which people seemed to like which was fun. Tomorrow we are only hiking 10 miles, so we are going to take it easy in the morning and maybe hang out at the local coffee shop for a bit! Goodnight!
Date: 2014-04-16
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Didn't get too much sleep last night in our cabin - I wasn't feeling too well. I think I finally reached my threshold for how much food I can consume in a single day. I also learned that while zeroing is nice, it can also be very expensive - especially when it's a small town that doesn't have a large variety of places to buy food. My friends were also not feeling too good, so we think it could also be a small stomach bug going around. I'm staying far away from the shelter tonight in fear of catching some sort of sickness.We started hiking at about 11:30am and took it very slow. The climb out of Hot Springs was very tough, but very beautiful. It overlooked the entire town, and I could see everywhere I had been. We hiked what seemed to be a very long and exhausting 11 miles. The day warmed up, and then cooled down very quickly as soon as we got to the shelter. My new water filter seemed to work great! It will be nice to have a good flow of safe drinking water whenever I need it now without having to wait 20 minutes. The drops I was using before were nice and light, but just took too long to cure my water.There are a lot of people staying here tonight. I'm just hoping it's not too loud so I can go to sleep! I'll be bundled up tight in my bag to stay warm, so I doubt I will hear anybody anyways. The next two days are going to be somewhat bigger miles at 15.3 and 17 in order for me to make it to my meeting point with My mom, Hannah, and my sisters who are bringing down Reptar. I'm getting very excited to see all of them! I just hope I can cover the miles over what looks to be some strenuous terrain coming up. It's 7:45pm now, and I'm very tired! Night!
Date: 2014-04-17
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint mountain shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It was extremely cold this morning. I got out of my warm(er) tent at 6:45 to a biting wind. So though I wanted to be fast and get hiking to warm up, it was very difficult because I would need to warm up my hands each time I started a new task.The day did warm up though, and the hiking was good. At one point there were a lot of rocks that were tough to hike over, but they made for a nice change of hiking style. Some parts of the trail were really muddy, and some parts even had snow still. I stopped at a shelter for lunch and met a guy who went by the name "Fromage". He was having lunch too, and offered me a beer. It was such a nice surprise, especially considering he had hiked with that extra weight and didn't want it all to himself! It was a nice break in the day and I really hope I run into him down the road to return the favor. I hiked until I reached my original destination goal at about 3:30. I had gone 15 some miles, and I was sort of tired already, but I realized that tomorrow would be very difficult to hike 17 some miles to the gap where I'm meeting my family and Hannah in time. It looked like there were going to be many climb ups and many climb downs, so I thought I would just knock some of it out today. I kept hiking and arrived at Flint Mountain Shelter by 5:30. I'm really glad I did the extra miles, as tomorrow I'll only have 11 to get to the gap, so I can just hang out and nap. I may hitch hike over to the resupply down the road just to hang out and wait if it get their early enough.
Date: 2014-04-18
From: Flint mountain shelter

To: Comfort Inn
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Knowing I had a shorter hiking day, and that I was going to get to see my family, I woke up very excited and ready to go. I packed up slow and enjoyed breakfast and then hit the trail. The hike was beautiful. We walked through this really cool cascade that ran for a couple of miles. The trail itself was surrounded by a lush green surface of some sort of small plant. It covered the entire forest floor. As I got closer to the highway, I became more and more excited, so I walked faster (even though it didn't make any difference whatsoever considering my family wasn't going to get there earlier than 4). When I got to Sam's gap (where my family was picking me up), I had about 3 hours to spare. Luckily, a guy named "Remix" brought his RV down from Minnesota to do trail magic! I hung out there all day and relaxed with good company. Jake and Lando showed up too, and then we all hitched a ride a little further down the road to a gas station to wait for my family. It was so nice when they showed up. Reptar jumped out of the car and freaked out and peed everywhere with excitement. Seeing Hannah and my sisters was such a nice feeling because I hadn't seen them and so long. We all drove a little further to another town where our hotel was and got some dinner at a Mexican style restaurant. I got a ribeye steak with jumbo shrimp. It was delicious! We then headed back to the hotel to hang out and relax. I had some weekly tasks I had to do like washing my dishes, doing laundry, and organizing food, but it was nice to do them around Hannah and my family. It feels so good to hang out with all of them, but I know I'll be missing them again soon enough.
Date: 2014-04-19
From: Sam's Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today was not a good day. I won't get into it, but I'm tired and not in a good "trail mood". It was a mix of homesickness, rain, and a couple of other small things that made me bummed. I suppose I'll have these days, though, and I know it will always get better. I didn't mean to do 24.7 miles, but by the end of the day I wanted to get out of the woods and relax to help kick this mood I'm in. I walked to uncle Johnny's hostel and got a cheap cabin for Reptar and I. I pushed him a little too hard, so I might take a zero tomorrow to let ourselves get back into the swing of things. I'm starting to feel better already as there is a VCR in my room with 100's of tapes to choose from. I'm watching Apollo 13 right now and eating popcorn. Things are starting to look up.
Date: 2014-04-20
From: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN

To: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Happy Easter! Taking a zero today was exactly what I needed. I was able to hang out with some friends and familiar faces while enjoying the beautiful day. Reptar was able to rest up and relax as well, while also enjoying a nice game of monkey in the middle with the frisbee. I had a large pizza for my Easter dinner which was delicious. Some friends and I crammed into my small dorm-style cabin and watched Jurassic Park after dinner. It was really nice to be able to just relax and watch a movie with good company. Tomorrow is also supposed to be a nice day - I think I'm ready to get hiking again.
Date: 2014-04-21
From: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN

To: Apple Orchard Campsite 
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: clear sky

Today was some good hikin'! The first 5 miles went by so fast while hiking on flatter ground and at lower elevation. I think I've been enjoying hiking at lower elevation more due to the fact that Spring hasn't quite hit the mountain areas. All of the trees are still bare up higher, and if gets pretty monotonous looking at plain boring trees. Down low, though, it's beautiful. We hiked all day and had a long break for lunch after about 9 miles. Jake, Lando, and I decided at lunch that we felt good enough to try to push even further than our original destination, as long as we took breaks throughout the day. This also helped Reptar tremendously. He would soak in a stream and then lay down for about 15-25 minutes and be ready to hike again. When we got to the shelter we were originally going to stay by, we just hung out for a bit and filled up on water. I also found some wild ramps! I picked a few and cleaned them in the stream to eat for dinner!We hiked about 22 miles and got to an open area campsite with a water source nearby. I cut up my wild ramps I found and put them into some couscous (healthy enough for ya Mom, Dad, Hannah?). I also packed in a nice cold coke from some trail magic about 2 miles before, so dinner was delicious! I don't typically drink coke, or any soda for that matter, but out here it is so refreshing. I feel pretty tired after a long day in the sun, and tomorrow is supposed to rain all day so in going to get some sleep! Night!Also -- for those who are curious - my knees have been giving me little-to-no problems. I think that I started to walk better and my IT bands got stronger. Thanks for all of the concern!