morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-04-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 18~15miles (don¢t know where I started but I saw the ATC was 15 miles away at some point)In a bed! With a door! (Dina¢s house)It¢s hard to really imagine, but picture silence. There is almost always the sound of a truck or lawn mower in the distance, but is 7:03 and¢¦ no. Nothing. It¢s quiet. Now, when it is too quiet, you will hear your blood pulsing in your ears or a high-pitched hum, but no. There is just enough of a breeze created by your walking to cut the air on the rim of you ear to mute those. The ground is rocky but requires only a little attention so your steps are fairly regular on the ground muted by the heavy morning dew. Mmpppm, mmpppm, mmmppppm, mmpppm¢¦ it¢s quiet, but every now and then a bird song you don¢t know will break the stillness. A woodpecker breaks a bird song. The nails of a squirrel drive into the bark of a dying tree. These sounds come and go. Three bird songs all at one and then¢¦ it¢s quiet. The mmmmmpppm, mmmmpppm of your feet continues. The distance sound of a train. You are walking into town today. Slept well. So nice to wake up not frozen. Woke up several times between 3 and 6 because I knew I needed to get an early start if I wanted to make it to Harper¢s Ferry before the ATC closed. My goal was originally something like 2 so Dina could just scoop me on her way home but¢¦ luckily the miles were normal today. Not ¢easy,¢ I don¢t know if the AT has ¢easy¢ miles, but the rocks were dry and the grade was in my favor. The only bad thing was I did run out of water during the heat of the day. There was a spring the night before and then that liter at the shelter. Basically had 2.5 liters of water over the course of 22 hrs¢¦while hiking. I could have done the side trail at Lesser Shelter (where I found a liter of water left on the porch. This dang shelter had a swing!!!) but figured I¢d be okay until I got to Key¢s Gap, but once I got to Key¢s I still had some water left and figured I¢d press on to HF and get water from the creek closer to town. Well. That creek was low and it was gonna require scooping and filtering takes time and it was already 3 soooooo. I know my body and knew we were fine but was uncomfortable. The nice lady at the Appalachian Trail Center filled my bottle and I downed a liter in a moment. West Virginia. West Virginia is only a couple miles of the trail. Still covering familiar ground. Came sooooo close to just asking Dina to pick me up at Key¢s Gap, which was closer to her home anyway, because I didn¢t think I could close those six miles in time. Well. We did it. And Judo, the woman at the ATC who gave me water, said Tye River to Harper¢s Ferry in 18 was pretty good, especially considering two of those days were zeros. Thank you, Nice Lady. It¢s been hard and I love a good head pat. Apple AirPods ended up in the washing machine. ¢¦.yay.
Date: 2022-04-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Days 19 and 200 miles¢Well, as we say in the spirit world, there's your plan and then... there's the gods' plan.¢So. It¢s hard to feel like a hiker when I¢m basically couch surfing at a friend¢s house. The tent pole Nemo, the maker of my tent, sent me was the wrong dang pole and their customer support doesn¢t work weekends. Today was a blast but I woke up the morning at 6:15 thinking about that send-off breakfast the ATC was hosting for flip-floppers. The plan was to be in Maryland tonight. Well. Plans are things that get changed. I¢m probably not going to get my Nemo tent poles tomorrow, but at least a plan can be made. I need to get some miles going. Gotta get to Boston in a few weeks. So. The plan is to get a couple things in a box and bounce it back to my dad. I wanna pop into the local outfitter and see if maybe they can help. I¢m gonna try to press Nemo to just send me a full pole system already put together and have it for me in Waynesboro. That already means I have to commit to shelters and hope there is space for four nights. They owe me a guaranteed working set of poles for the inconvenience, I figure. Hope they feel the same. Looks like, since I¢ll be arriving on a weekend, I might just need to have the poles sent to the post office in Rouzerville, PA. I dunno. No point in worrying about it tonight.
Date: 2022-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 22Got tent repaired and sent a box of stuff to my dad yesterday¢¦.Man. These were probably the easiest miles I¢ve experienced but I just didn¢t have it in me today. My backpack felt impossibly heavy and was hurting my shoulder. My right heel felt bruised. My ankle popped out of place and for a few minutes I didn¢t think I was going to be able to walk anymore and was looking for a bail-out option. It rained. Not a lot just just enough to get things damp. I stopped six miles in and just sat at a shelter for awhile. Ate lunch. Just spaced out. Decided I could go to the next shelter only 4 miles down and ended up sitting outside a bathroom in Gathland State Park as the heaviest of the rain hit. Got to this shelter around 2:30 and was like, ¢good enough.¢ Really should have been able to make it to the shelter 5 more miles down, I mean. I stopped at 2:30, but decided it just wasn¢t worth the push. Maybe we can knock of 15 tomorrow. We shall see how the terrain holds. In the meantime, I¢m in a shelter by myself with two dudes in hammocks, MacGyver and Hatchet, who are easy to converse with. There is a creek Right There so plenty of water for tonight and tomorrow. The shelter has two birds¢ nests, one actively in use so I¢ll write off any flutterings I hear as birds. My best day hiking? No. But ¢listen to your body¢ and my body was having a day.
Date: 2022-04-27
To: Annapolis Rocks tenting site
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 23 Beautiful day and knocked out nearly 15 miles. Going down to 31 again tonight. What can I remember about today?Stopped a lot. Had a protein bar at the Rocky Run shelter around 10 (second breakfast), got water and had a sit at Dehlmar campground, and had lunch at the Washington monument state park with a squad of folks doing a section together. Legs are okay but feet got kinda sassy today. I was thinking about trail magic randomly today. I don¢t know if I¢ll see any trail magic because of when I¢m hiking, but if I do, I decided today I would totally accept. I think 200+ miles with grapple and snow walks makes me at least a potential thru hiker. Never felt right last year cause I knew I wasn¢t committed to finishing. Now every time I consider quitting, like tonight when it¢s fucking freezing, I remember that quitting means making a decision about going back to work and that motivates me to keep walking. It¢s exciting because there are only 19 miles to Waynesboro and then the trail is new to me again. It¢s funny how much effort camp chores take. It took all my mental haranguing abilities to get me to just get the damned wet wipes and wipe down my skin. It¢s cold and it¢s just¢¦ everything is such a time-sucking hassle. Very cold already. Probably won¢t be a super early morning tomorrow. It¢s hard to get dressed when it¢s literally freezing. Got my battery bank, AirPods, and will have iPhone in one pocket and my water filter in the other. Protect the valuables from the cold!!!
Date: 2022-04-28
To: Raven Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

It was so dang cold this morning I woke up at 5:30 and went Nah. Instead, started my day at 7:30 and even then only cause I needed to pee.  Was still below freezing.With people today. A couple folks are finishing the Maryland section tomorrow. Three older guys are flip floppers but they are already doing 16-19 miles days having gotten in two weeks before me. Still. Today was nice seeing folks a couple times as we leapfrogged each other and had a social dinner. One day of food left. Need to make a plan there¢¦
Date: 2022-04-29
To: Tumbling Run
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

Greetings from Pennsylvania!!! I am 5.7 miles beyond where I got off trail last year and 241 miles from where my dad dropped me off. Maryland was significantly less rocky than I remember. I think it was actually rerouted a bit. Hopefully won¢t be as cold as last night. All of us were bitching about how cold it was.Good vibes at the shelter. Three of the dudes from last night are here and I met another woman flip-flopping, Bubbles. On the way to the shelter, about two hours away, I was asked if I was Beer Girl. I recalled making a joke about marrying someone for a beer the night before and suspected this had something to do with that, but this dude was heading south. Turns out, Gazelle had beaten me here and told someone the joke and it spread. So folks here are calling me Beer Girl. Also met the caretakers, Tonya and Curt. Cool people.  Last five miles were super easy. Hostel and resupply tomorrtow.
Date: 2022-04-30
To: Fayetteville churchÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¦
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 26Greetings from an air mattress in the storage room in a church that runs a hostel but all the bunks were taken. $20 dinner$40 hostel and shuttle runWent down to 32 and felt so much warmer. How freaking cold was it the night before???Made it to Fayetteville this afternoon. Had a fall (just a soft spot in the ground) and now my leg is kinda bothering me. Hopefully I can sleep it off. Did cross mile 250 today! 250 feels like a significant milestone for some reason. A bunch of us (¢Ernie,¢ ¢Bubbles,¢ ¢Root Seeker,¢ ¢Gazelle,¢ Henry, and myself) went to a buffet for dinner and then Walmart for a resupply. It¢s weird how you just bond with people you don¢t necessarily have much in common with because of a unique situation. It reminds me of friendships I would make with people in other countries. ¢Well, we don¢t see eye-to-eye on much, but we both speak English and are in Turkey soooooo. Friend?¢ From the PA state line and for the next fifty miles are supposedly some of the easiest of the whole of the AT. Most folks in the group are gonna be trying to put some miles in but¢¦. I am not comfortable pushing myself still. I still feel like everything is THIS close to breaking. Wrapping my leg from ankle to knee in a bandage and hoping compression helps.
Date: 2022-05-01
To: Birch Run shelter 
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Compression did help! Yay! Wellllllll¢¦.. left the hostel at 7:30 and had a mile highway road walk before getting to trail. Today was, again, super easy miles (comparatively to other AT miles, not normal life) and I had visions of getting some proper distance in but I got distracted a lot today stopping at one shelter to just appreciate how nice it was (Quarry Gap), talked to people as we passed, ate lunch under an umbrella-like pine tree when the rain was coming down, and just delighted with all the scenery changes today. It was rainy and misty and moody and dark, and the forest rotated between sparse to dense. It was the perfect day for listening to spooky stories and putting some miles in.  Slowly. While taking lots of pictures. Kinda funny that by 3:30 I was the last one at the shelter. By 5, everyone had finished dinner and by 6 most were asleep. Another hiker just arrived at 7:30 and seems pissed off at us for most of us being asleep. I was the only one of the five up and he was talking loud and asking the group questions like, ¢so, everyone planning on doing 20 tomorrow,¢ and, ¢I¢m Burger Fries (or something). Anyone else have a trail name yet and feels like talking?¢ Seems kinda rude to want attention when folks are sleeping. I definitely got the vibe he is assuming everyone here is just a weekender (which is rude cause weekend or year, the shelters are for backpackers whether one night or one hundred). Nope, dude, four flip floppers and a LASHer doing 600. We just got here before you and there isn¢t much else to do but sleep. I talked to him. Yep. He¢s a tool. ¢Yeah, I mean, I do a minimum of 25 a day,¢ and, ¢I mean, that¢s a $300 EE quilt so¢¦¢ He got on at Gravel Springs last week (and tried to explain to me where that is. My dude. I KNOW Shenandoah now.). Yeah. He¢s fast. That¢s cool. Make sure you stretch after all that flexing. I was thinking today about that saying folks have that ¢the trail provides.¢ I certainly felt like I got that today. Little things like needing to pee and finding myself in a state park where, right around the corner, was a bathroom with flush toilets and soap that had just been cleaned. Starting to rain but don¢t really wanna bust out all the rain gear? Well, even though it¢s been nothing but bare brown winter trees, poof. Here¢s a giant old pine that is basically an umbrella. Sit. Have lunch. Have another pee. When you are finished, the rain will stop. Oh, and the trail noticed you lost one of your trekking pole tips in Vegas. Well, here. Someone lost theirs from the same brand and using the same style you have. And, of course, the best is when the rain really got going, oh look. A shelter. Sure. You called it a day at THREE, but. Dry. And it¢s only getting into the upper 40s tonight. So, here. Here¢s a perfect sitting log by a classic babbling brook to sit on while you journal today. I¢m looking forward to getting some bigger mileage days in, but the sooner I finish, the sooner I need to figure out what to do with the next half of my life and that sounds hard.
Date: 2022-05-02
To: James Fry Shelter 
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

Omg. The dude last night snored SO LOUD. Even through my ear plugs I was impressed.What happened today¢¦? I listened to a lot of podcasts and had my biggest mileage coming in OVER 17 miles (barely but STILL!). Because I am having a ton of luck, really, the Furnace Creek store or whatever that is only open on weekends was open today! Open weekdays starting May 1st, I guess. And a volunteer there; Special K, had seen someone mention Beer Girl recently in a trail journal. Welp. That kinda settles it. Dah dah dum dah! Never fear. Beer Girl is here. Got up to 76 today. That was pretty effing sweet. So nice not to be cold. Gonna miss the chill in a few days when summer rolls in. Can¢t have nice things.
Date: 2022-06-18
To: BelterÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs tenting
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Day 66A bit of foot pain on the right and ankle pain on the left. Planned on an easier day ¢cause, you know, the choices were slim but worked out well. Cold today, and shortly after arriving wind picked up and rain began. It¢s about 55 and hiking in that in the rain with gusts of 25mph? Nah. Short entry. What can I say? It¢s cold.
Date: 2022-06-19
To: Yard in North Canaan
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 67:Right. It¢s Sunday. Post offices aren¢t open on Sunday AND tomorrow is Juneteenth. They aren¢t open then, either.Knew I needed to get food even if I decided to press on and just¢¦ I wanted a shower and laundry. Yes, I¢m still planning on zeroing for a day in Great Barrington but¢¦ for $20 I could camp in a couple¢s yard, get that shower/laundry combo I wanted, and walk over to a grocery store. Also, this gentleman said he can probably pick up my box and bring it to me in GB for $35.  It all adds up but I do wanna keep going. Today was one of those days where I remembered that this is a Scenic trail. Cool buildings, a red bridge, waterfalls, and gorgeous views. Because I didn¢t press on, I am in a cute little town called North Canaan which I would never have ended up at otherwise. Old Victorian homes and brick buildings in places I can¢t afford to linger. Shoes can¢t be picked up tomorrow because of the holiday, Juneteenth. Mail is tricky.
Date: 2022-06-20
To: Hemlocks shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 68Four climbs today. Four. 3,802 feet up and 2,859 down. And a lot of those were stupid. Just. Again, to quote the philosopher Bubbles, ¢stop putting paint on rocks and calling it a trail!!!¢ Also, Bubbles messaged me this morning. She tripped and got hurt. Ten stitches in her knee!!!Legs feel a little tired, right heel is a bit grumpy. Basically feel fine. It was a rocky day and my feet took a beating. Saw a snake, though, so no matter what, it was gonna be a good day. Beautiful trail today. Walked through a valley with a stream full of waterfalls and swimming holes. Walked along some ledges with a panoramic vista that combined with clear skies let me see a ton of Massachusetts at once. Oh, and yes, Massachusetts!!!!1/2 of Virgina, done. West Virginia, done. Maryland, done. Pennsylvania, done. New Jersey, done. New York, done. Connecticut, done. 685 miles. I¢m halfway to Katahdin from where I started!!! And then, you know, 832 south.
Date: 2022-06-21
To: Quality Inn!!!
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 69:Happy summer solstice and Naked Hiker Day. I definitely kept my clothes on. One, it was cold and two, ticks are a thing. I plugged in my stats, about 9 hours a day and 1.7 mph, with a zero every now and the , and I can expect to reach Katahdin by the end of August. Okay. Not July, but I can live with that. In Great Barrington. Super cute little town but, like everything since West Virginia, man. Expensive. Got a hitch into town and Glen, the guy whose yard I camped in the other day, was able to grab my boxes from the PO. He¢s gonna drop those off tomorrow for me
Date: 2022-06-23
From: 11.8

To: South Wilcox shelter 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 71New shoes also hurt my feet. Like every freaking pair of shoes, these are too big and too small. I¢m sliding around and crushing my toes and the side of my foot. I¢m sick of my feet hurting and I¢m sick of falling. Tripped again over GD nothing and just had a temper tantrum. Maybe I can blame it on me not sleeping well the past two nights. Again. Six miles to go at noon. Just sitting here having a proper sulk and glad no one is around to witness it. (Five hours later)Okay. So. There have been some developments. I fell again and kinda lost my shit. There may have been yelling and crying while horizontal on a collection of roots and rocks. I may have been crying while hiking for a good mile after that. I got to a road crossing and was like, ¢what¢s your plan? You just gonna hope these shoes work better tomorrow?¢ I am SORE. Toes, metatarsals, shoulder¢¦ first car that passed picked me up as I hitched BACK into town. Popped into the shoe store and settled on a pair of Oboz again. I don¢t love these. They make my feet feel like bricks, but they also kinda feel like putting my feet in casts and they are kinda happy with that. Got the new Hokas sent back to my dad and I¢ll deal with return them to REI later. Got back on trail dehydrated, grumpy, tired, and sore with only three miles to go. Dragged my ass through the woods and made it to the shelter just before six and, mostly importantly, just before the rain started. I guess today is more a W than an L?
Date: 2022-06-24
To: Shaker tent sites 
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 72Can¢t freaking wait to be able to get back to dispersed camping. Didn¢t wanna do 6.6 ambit also didn¢t wanna do 17. On schedule, though, for a late August summit. Pretty enough morning. Left late, around 8, and made it to camp around 1 with a few lazy stops along the way. (Not, like, hours and hours though. Probably could have made it here at noon.) Ended up hiking with Hot Rod cause we have similar paces. Heard from Bubbles, again, too. So while she had a fall a few days ago and needed stitches, her friend fell yesterday and got a concussion and needed to go to the hospital. Jesus! This shit is only a few days up the trail!!!Shoes worked better but I find them to be very foot fatiguing. Very firm. That¢s what I need right now cause of the past couple weeks of hiking in bad shoes but. These aren¢t It either. What else¢¦? Bird pooped on my tent. Like. I have had birds poop on it before, but it was kinda like a bird exploded out of its own bottom.  Hit mile 700 yesterday, too. I dunno. I have just been in a bit of a funk the past couple of days. The questions of whether or not I can really do this or why am I doing this keep popping up. I¢m a bit freaked out by all the injuries and how many people I know who are off trail. I wanna do this, I think, but I also wanna just hang out with my family. ¢Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler, long I stood.¢Story of my life.
Date: 2022-06-25
To: Little Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 73Today was pretty good, actually. Got an early start, on trail before 6, and the first hour was lovely. Picturesque farm on a hill, meadows, creeks, pine forests¢¦ ended the day at only 1 something at Little Goose Pond, which looks more like a lake and was fine for swimming. Swam a little but being spring-fed, it was a bit cool for me. A mile and some change into trail, there was a farm stand selling sodas, snacks, and ice cream honor system. Spent $4 on two sodas, a big of chips, and an ice cream. Getting my breakfast calories up to almost 800 (ANd having caffeine) sure made the first couple hours better. I don¢t know why more folks who live on trail don¢t sell stuff on the side. Bugs were nuts today and I ended up running out of water. Could have made do or scooped at a water source, but I decided to just ask some dude doing yard work if I could fill up a bottle from his spigot. Not only did that guy let me have some water when I needed it, later that day strangers on a boat delivered Hot Rod and I a couple beers (AND came back to take the trash), and ANOTHER guy gave us a big ol¢ block of cheese. Just. Here¢s half a pound of Vermont cheddar. Enjoy. And we did. Just sat there eating cheese and drinking our beer with our feet in the water watching sunfish. Later a group on a Beginner Backpacking trip showed up, and we all just hung out. Met a girl named Gangster (she¢s precious) and another named Snail Spider. The three of us hung out back at the campsite, they are tenting where I am, and it was just a chill evening. In What Hurts Today news, left elbow is surprisingly uncomfortable and, yeah, feet still don¢t like these shoes. Knee hyperextended twice today so. Ouch. ¢But did you die?¢
Date: 2022-06-26
To: The 2.0 Cookie LadyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs yard
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 74Excellent day. Free pancakes for breakfast, trail magic after lunch (I was soooooo thirsty), and cookies and lemonade at the Cookie Lady¢s house. Saw a ton of frogs and cool fungi, too. Socks hurt toe webbing a bit and I lost my buff. Bubbles is getting back on trail and meeting me in Bennington! Can¢t write much. It¢s late and heavy rain coming in the next couple hours. It was a lot today. Good day.
Date: 2022-06-27
To: Crystal Mt site
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 75Man, I got¢¦like¢¦ five hours of sleep. In a tent on an air mattress. Not the best quality. Was on trail a few minutes after six and had a pretty decent day. Rain came in around 10am or so and¢¦ well. You ever tried to drive a car in the rain with no windshield wipers? That was me with glasses today. Plus they fogged up. There were moments when I literally had to stop walking cause I couldn¢t see if I was supposed to go straight or turn. Super fun with rocks and roots. But. Did it. Got the nine and something miles into town down (the trail went through the town), got lunch and a bonus sandwich for later (ate half already), and then knocked out the four and something to the campsite for the night. Hopefully I¢ll pass out here in a bit and wake up with SUPER ENTHUSIASM tomorrow cause we have our first Real Climb after going though another town tomorrow and getting some resupply food purchased.