morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-04-24
From: Max Patch Road

To: Pigeon River Bridge
Miles today: 13.8

Today we slack-packed with Josh. We got a later start, but we still crushed it!! I¢m impressed with how well Josh is doing!! When I first started trail, I was so slow!Josh taught me a lot about mushroom foraging, and different types of mushrooms. As I walked today, I kept looking for mushrooms. The downfall of that was I didn¢t pay close attention to where I was walking, so I tripped a lot! However near the end, Josh found two large oyster mushrooms!! He picked them, and his wife, Tiffany, cooked them up into a delicious gravy on rice. During lunch we met Woobie and 40. When I told 40 I was looking for mushrooms, he said he knew a guy. I told him not that kind of mushroom. HA!Later, we met a guy making an arrow head out of trash (bottles) he had found with a deer antler, and he gave me one! Said he specifically made it for me. He said he didn¢t know it until I arrived. That could have been the weed talking. But it was sweet, nonetheless. Tiffany picked us up to take us back to their place. When we were on our way to get Josh¢s truck, we saw a black bear with four cubs!!! They were so cute!! I was so happy to see them!! Apparently, a mama bear having four cubs is super rare! Then as we kept driving, we saw a ton of elk! Over five just on one side. There were a lot more on the other side of the road. I couldn¢t believe my eyes!! What luck!!When we got back to Josh¢s we ate a delicious meal that Tiffany prepared along with some homemade strawberry rhubarb pie!! Everything was scrumptious!!It was a glorious day!
Date: 2023-04-25
From: Max Patch Road

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 11.4

Mood: °We got a late start today, however, this morning was great because I threw a frisbee with Max the dog, and got to pet the ponies. Because the guest bedroom bed was so cozy, it was hard to leave!After eating some food, packing our bags, we headed to Max patch and arrived at 1pm. We met a couple from Tucson, Arizona that were road tripping. They said Mt. Lemmon grows similar mushrooms to this area! Max Patch was gorgeous. Incredible views all around. We saw Woobie, a chain smoking vet who had a wonderful philosophy on trail and life. He sat on his backpack like a chair and Nicholas commented that that was a great idea. Woobie informed him that he had a chair but was too lazy to get it out of his backpack. Woobie told me to eat more protein. Balds with lots of views turned into rhododendron tunnels that were extremely green. However, they weren¢t blooming yet. Still beautiful!As we were going to stop at lemon gap for a rest, there was trail magic!! Midnight Rider (hiked the PCT) was making homemade Apple fritters as hikers arrived!! His little business was called the flyin¢ fritter! They were DELICIOUS!!! The PCT changed his life. He moved from D.C. to NC and is looking for some land to start a business. He came out today and yesterday to offer up some trail magic. It sure was magical! We loved the vibe, and could not thank him enough!!The fritter gave us a boost to tackle the next mountain. We eventually made it to a Tentsite that was an old logging road. Josh, Nicholas, and I ate dinner together and watched the sunset. It was so peaceful! What a wonderful day!!
Date: 2023-04-26
From: Tentsite

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 9.3

We woke up this morning, and packed up our tent before it started raining. Poptarts were for breakfast, and I¢m sick of pop tarts. HA! We needed to make it into Hot Springs before the post office closed, so once we started walking at 10:15, we were moving! We hiked over 9 miles before 2:45! It was raining slightly the entire walk. We made it to the post office in time to get Nicholas¢s new mat!! Sea to Summit was kind enough to send a replacement mat! Afterwards, we killed some time in the outfitter until Tiffany met up with us. We had an early dinner at the Tavern across the street. Josh and Tiffany have been gracious hosts! We are so thankful for our friendship. We hope Josh hiked the trail next year. It¢s been a lifelong dream of his! After the tavern we hung out in our hotel room to plan the next section of trail. It went quickly. We will resupply on the morning. It was a good day.
Date: 2023-04-27
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.9

Town was great!!! We had a great breakfast at Smoky Mountain Diner: chicken and waffles, pancakes with strawberries, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. After breakfast we went and got our resupply for the next five and a half days to Erwin, TN. We even made a resupply box and mailed it forward to ourselves to a hostel 120 miles ahead. The gentleman at the post office was so kind to me! He even gave me a free propel drink!! Probably from running all of my back and forth (I accidentally put the wrong address on the box at first). He helped me out! As we were checking out of our hotel room we rant into Comfort, Lego Man, and Truffle¢s group. We were so pumped to be reunited!!As we were about to leave town, we passed an ice cream shop and I had to stop by! I had a waffle cone with maple bacon ice cream! It was DELICIOUS!!The uphill out of Hot Springs was tough. And of course, and hour in it started raining. And then it rained the entire time Lego Man, Nicholas, Comfort, and I walked to the shelter. Nicholas asked me how I was doing mid-hike, and I said, ¢I¢m suffering gracefully.¢ It was tough. Lego Man called me, Chili Pepper the Fierce. I liked that. He said that because I was in the front and I kept trekking on. We all got soaked, and when we arrived to the shelter, it was full and the tent spaces were limited. Thankfully we found one, and then we got out of our wet clothes. However, I knew that they would not be dry by the morning. After Nicholas and I ate dinner in the tent we fell asleep. Then in the middle of the night we woke up and ate a snickers that Nicholas still had in his Fanny pack. It was great!! All in all. Today was rough. Not the worst day on trail, but we tried to embrace the suck.
Date: 2023-04-28
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 8.6

Another day of rain, and today¢s Haiku:Rain, rain, rain, more rain. Rain, rain, rain, pouring down rain. Slip and fall, more rain. We planned on hiking 16 miles today, but we just couldn¢t. We needed to get our gear and tent dry. It¢s more important to be dry than it is to make ourselves miserable. Plus, there was a part of trail coming up that¢s treacherous when it¢s rainy. So, tomorrow, we plan on putting in 17/18 miles. It should be a good day.  Comfort, Lego Man, Nicholas, and I started hiking around 11. It¢s hard to get moving when the clothes you have to wear are soaked and it¢s still raining. Before we left camp we met Iron Mike, another veteran hiking the AT. At Allen gap, Lego Man left trail go have dinner with his friend. Comfort, Nicholas, and I hiked on to the Southern Cookie Lady¢s house where we got a free, freshly baked, peanut butter cookie. It was sooooo good, that we got another one. From there we walked to shelter, and of course it was raining. Then it would stop for five minutes. All day long the rain just teased us. During part of our hike to the shelter we sang ¢99 bottles of beer on the wall¢ all the way down to zero. When we got to the shelter we found a Tentsite and set up our tent. We also set up some line to hang our clothes. It rained briefly while we set up our tent, but thankfully it held off the rest of the evening for the inside of our tent to dry, and for us to have a wonderful fire. This fire had been the highlight of today. So relaxing, and I hope it¢s a great start for tomorrow. Comfort - ¢Campfires are called Hiker TV. I can watch that all night long.¢
Date: 2023-04-29
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.0

Today was meh. We walked 14 miles today, which was an accomplishment, but I (chili pepper) was exhausted and just not feeling myself. It was the first time on trail that I just didn¢t feel like walking. But we all did a good job! There was a rock scramble to some gorgeous views!! The rolling mountains were glorious! AND WE HIT 300 MILES!Once we got to shelter, everything was better. We met White Rabbit and Phoenix at the shelter along with a couple of others. White Rabbit, Comfort, and I made a roaring fire. Campfires make me happy, and the smell of campfire on my clothes is better than sweat!!
Date: 2023-04-30
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Stealth Site - Piped Spring
Miles today: 14.8

Today was alright. If had high highs, and just some lows (the constant cold and drizzle... Like it has for about a week now). We waited until the rain died town to pack up our tent. Then we got on the trail around 10:45. Another late start, and of course we were last out of camp again. I¢m not sure how everyone leaves so early. Especially when it¢s raining. Comfort, Lego Man, Nicholas, and I were hiking together. About 3 miles later, we stopped at a hostel and bought hotdogs, chips, and candy to eat while charging our phones. From there we hiked another 5.5 miles to the next shelter. Lego Man went slower, so he said he would meet up with us. Inside the shelter was a bag full of trail magic!! We got some cheerwine and chips! We also got a new canister of fuel, which was great because I was worried we were going to run out of fuel. At this point we new we had to book it another 6.1 miles to get to our final destination. We had heard it¢s supposed to sleet tonight (and it did).At Sam¢s gap we received trail magic again!! A couple who had hiked the PCT together was giving out pizza, soda, and chips!! It was a good dinner before we had to books it 3.6 miles to our final destination. It was a cold and windy walk, and a lot of the walk was uphill. We were tired. We got to camp, and the wind would not die down. Not long after we sent up our tent, it started sleeting. That¢s when we knew we were done for the night. Today was a good day, but I¢m over the rain.
Date: 2023-05-01
From: Stealth Site - Piped Spring

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 20.9

We got up after a night of sleet, hail, and rain, but Chili had her earplugs in so she slept soundly while her poor husband rolled around on the incline. We packed up camp while it was windy and very cold. Trail magic on the incline: brownies, clementines, apples etc. nutty-bars. We walked with Trip-wire, LILO (last-in, last-out), Comfort and Legoman to the top of big bald. There was snow on the ground. LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT CHILI PEPPER HIKED WITH SNOW ON THE GROUND. It was very cold. It was very windy. But the views were 10 out of 10.After that we had lunch at the next shelter about 4 miles in. It was still cold. Highs were in the mid 40s. After eating some couscous, Parmesan, and ramen, we walked 15 miles to the next shelter.Before we arrived to the shelter, we saw Miss Janet at Spivey gap and she gave us an oatmeal cream pie and Gatorade. It gave us the energy we needed to keep going. We then hiked past some waterfalls, and we filtered some water at the top. Alas at 6:30pm, we arrived at the shelter, however, to hit the 0900 shuttle, we decided to stealth camp. As we neared the stealth camp. We decided, heck, we¢ll just get to town! So we hiked in the rest arriving in town at 8:45 pm. So that means we walked the remaining 6.2 miles in 2hrs 15 minutes. As we arrived at uncle Johnny¢s it was late and we spent 45 minutes trying to get an Uber/lift/shuttle. But nothing worked. Chili pepper then flagged down people driving by until a guy in a pickup truck we couldn¢t understand offered to take us to the super 8 motel. He said yes, so we hopped in the bed of his truck. The highway wind was so cold on our sweaty bodies, but we made it safely to the super 8 and showered. It was wonderful! What a crazy, awesome day!!
Date: 2023-05-03
From: Erwin, TN

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 9.4

We woke up at 0730 at Uncle Johnnys hostel. Zoe (Cosmic Squirrel) was on the couch. We let her stay with us since she had nowhere else to go. We packed up our things and caught the 0900 shuttle to town. We got some tea and coffee while eating some fresh fruit we purchased from the store. We also got a delicious breakfast sandwich at Steel Rails Coffee Shop. Lots of other hikers were there too! Low-key, Billy Goat, Sunray, Fizz, Squirrel, and Lego-man. We then walked to Food City to get back to the hostel / trail. But when we arrived we got an offer from some other hiker to hitch a ride back in their RV instead. It was wild! 13 hikers with packs fit into this vehicle!We planned some slack-packing and then left the hostel at 1300. Comfort hiked with us. We hiked in and met Lantana (cool fat guy who lost a lot of weight on trail, from Florida). He told us a story how he pooped his pants, because he trusted a fart. I felt so bad for him. This is why we never trust farts while on trail!! We then made a campfire with s¢mores once we made it to camp. When attempting a bear hang, the branch of the tree broke and fell on the road because our food bags were so heavy.
Date: 2023-05-04
From: Stealth Site

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 15.8

Today was a good day. We started late this morning, a trending theme, but had some magnificent s¢mores at our little camp spot out of the wind last night. We received some trail magic (vegetable soup and sodas) around 5:00 from a generous couple who had a king German shepherd named Izzy. She loved Chili P. We walked to a tentsite  where we had another fire and another round of s¢mores. Fizz joined us and camped around us. It was a long day, but a good one.
Date: 2023-05-05
From: Tentsite

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 14.1

Today was a mixed day for Chili P. Although we received some awesome trail magic for Cinco de Mayo from a class of 2022 thru-hikers (the Solid Crew) of tacos, beer, snacks, etc. ¢¦ it was just one of those days where Chili was hurting and exhausted. It was a long day of incline. Moose Jaw had much more energy and felt great! It¢s good that we have good and bad days on different days than each other. Finally, we got to camp, took some Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and snuggled into our sleeping bags. Tomorrow will be better. Funny story of the day:We made it to camp and there was a hiker in a tent. Nicholas asked, ¢Hey, who¢s in the tent.¢The gentleman replied back, ¢It¢s Richard,¢¦ (long pause) I fart a lot.¢Nicholas started laughing. In the morning Nicholas said, ¢Richard wasn¢t lying. I heard him playing his butt trumpet all night long.¢ HA!Now we call this man that we have no idea what he looks like, ¢Sir Richard Farts A Lot.¢
Date: 2023-05-06
From: Tentsite

To: Mountain Harbour Hostel
Miles today: 11.8

Mood: °Today was a great day! Moose Jaw woke Chili P up in the morning and got out of camp by 9:15 am. The views were beautiful today. We hiked over 2 balds, where you could see mountains upon mountains. Windy, but gorgeous!! As we got off trail, hiking towards Mountain Harbour Hostel, a gentleman who had finished morning trail magic offered us a ride to pick up some paninis two miles down the road before he would drop us off at the hostel. We purchased turkey and cheese paninis with pesto and they were scrumptious!! We also got some blueberry cobbler ice cream!! After getting a hitch back to the hostel we hung out with Trip Wire and Lilo. They are a lot of fun!! As time went by, more hikers trickled in and there was a group of us eating dinner: Trip Wire, Charmer, Lilo, White Rabbit, the Professor, Comfort, and then Moose Jaw and Chili Pepper. We had a great time chatting!! Not long later, Phoenix showed up. We love her. And she especially loves Moose Jaw. He reminds her of her eldest son (same age). She said Moose Jaw is just so full of life and Charismatic. Many people agreed that he just makes everyone happy. As Moose Jaw and I (Chili Pepper) were getting dinner, we joked with Trail Magic, that if you ordered Jason Mamoa on wish, Moose Jaw would show up. She said she wouldn¢t be mad about that! ¢Moose Jaw has nice soft features.¢ HA!!All in all. Today was wonderful. I really like the crew we have been hanging out with today!
Date: 2023-05-07
From: Mountain Harbour Hostel

To: Dennis Cove
Miles today: 24.8

Today was wild. We decided to slack pack 24.8 miles. It was daunting! I couldn¢t sleep the night before because I was a little worried. The following group slack packed today:White RabbitProfessorComfortLILOTrip WireMoose JawChili PepperWe started at 9:45 am and we trickled in back to the hostel between 6 and 8 in the evening. Before we left, the Bed & Breakfast made a HUGE breakfast (enough to serve 35 people) for everyone. There was sausage, quiche, French toast, cinnamon rolls, hard boiled eggs, biscuits and gravy, etc. The breakfast was the best!!!Walking felt good until we had 4.7 miles left. That¢s when we all started to feel the exhaustion. It was at this point we took a side trail to see a gorgeous waterfall! It was majestic. I¢m so happy we (LILO, Trip Wire, Moose Jaw, Chili Pepper) took this side trail. That¢s something hikers need to remember, this isn¢t a death March. Stop and smell the flowers. Take the side trails (blue blazing) to see the views. This is six months of your life. Enjoy the journey otherwise you will spend six months looking at your feet not enjoying each day. Halfway through trail, the weather decided to dump a ton of rain on us and we were soaked. Due to the inclement weather, we didn¢t stop for lunch. We just ate some snacks and stopped to filter water multiple times. Every time we see water, the first thing we comment is whether or not the water source has nice enough flow good for filtering water. LILO and Chili Pepper were walking and they saw a cute snake. We got close to it (6¢ away) and started taking pictures. We told the boys to come take a look,¢¦ apparently it wasn¢t a gardener snake¢¦ it was a baby rattler. The most dangerous of them all, because they can¢t control their venom. I¢m relieved that this snake was so chill and didn¢t bother us!! That would have been terrible, but hey, we have a cool picture now! We also saw a large snake that was all black (apparently a rat snake).When Lilo and Chili Pepper arrived back to the hostel, they ordered chicken tenders for Moose Jaw and Trip Wire (they arrived 20 minutes later) along with some ciders. The food was delicious. Of course we ate our chicken tenders with ranch. Ranch is the way to go!Comfort was the last to stroll in, and Rabbit was the first done. We all ate a big dinner. Then, Moose Jaw and I went into the house to shower and crawl into a warm bed. We were limping. Every day we wake up limping. I asked some previous thru-hikers if it gets better, and it doesn¢t. I even heard you¢ll still be hurting up to a month after you¢re done. I hope the pain subsides. All in all, great day!! Loved hanging out with Lilo and her dad, Trip Wire. PLUS WE PASSED 400 MILES!!
Date: 2023-05-08
From: Dennis Cove

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 2.0

Mood: °We had another wonderful breakfast! I (Chili Pepper) woke up early and started our laundry before breakfast was ready. After breakfast, we finished up our laundry and got a shuttle ride back to trail. We were dropped off around 12:50 in the afternoon. We took an easy stroll today. 2 miles!! We walked and spent almost an hour at the waterfall today. It was gorgeous. We wished it was nice enough out to go swimming in the water. It sprinkled for 2 minutes, and that was all. I hate rain on trail. Especially when I¢m tearing down and setting up our tent. I need a dry space. So does Moose Jaw. The Professor joined us after the waterfall at a wonderful campsite right next to the flowing river. As they started a fire, I took a nap. I haven¢t been sleeping well the past two nights, and it finally took its toll today. After I woke up we ate dinner and hung out around the fire. Tomorrow will be another easy day, so that LILO and Trip Wire can catch up. We plan on aqua boxing Wednesday when the weather is gorgeous (sunny and not rainy). Today was a great day!! :) The Professor: ¢Buy a beater house in a good neighborhood.¢
Date: 2023-05-09
From: Tentsite

To: BootÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Off Hostel
Miles today: 6.4

Mood: °Today was nice! We just casually walked today, stopping to take photos of the lake and many flowers. It was so nice. We arrived to Boots Off Hostel and got a campsite for the evening. It included a picnic table and a fire pit. We stayed here so we could go aqua blazing in the morning. Lucky Moon checked us in and she was extremely kind.The best shower I have had while on trail was here. The water was steaming hot, and the shower head was a giant metal bowl with holes. This outdoor shower was amazing!!! We met Voodoo along with a bunch of other hikers. Voodoo is a thru-hiked but took time off to help out at the hostel. He was cracking us all up!! At 6, the hostel took 12 of us to the grocery store to resupply and McDonalds. I didn¢t get any McDonalds. I didn¢t want another Wendy¢s incident¢¦.When we got back to the hostel, a bunch of us hikers hung out until late at night. We had a grand time. Trip Wire promised he would take me gator hunting in Florida. All in all. It¢s been a great day!
Date: 2023-05-10
From: BootÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Off Hostel

To: Piped Spring
Miles today: 22.7

Today was a great day! We woke up and ate breakfast (Chili Pepper had two maple donuts with a banana and a monster to drink) by the fire. Then after packing up our things, Boots Off Hostel picked 14 of us up and dropped us off at Watauga Lake to go aqua blazing. Aqua blazing is when you kayak part of the trail instead of walking. It was a beautiful day!! Mid-70s and sunny! It hasn¢t been this sunny in days! It was so wonderful. LILO and Trip Wire joined us. Other kayakers included: Goat, Fizz, Grams, TT, Oz, the Texas Couple, Hikey Dikey (aka Hiking Viking - Christopher of the German Group), and Jose. We had a wonderful time kayaking!! The water was cold but felt glorious!! After a full day of kayaking, we walked to a restaurant and had sandwiches, wings, and ice cream. It was delicious. Voodoo was our shuttle driver for the day. He¢s hilarious!!! He was cracking us up! We will see him at Trail Days in a little over a week. Once we were dropped off at trail, we walked two miles to a Stealth Site and made camp with Lilo and Trip Wire for the evening. Moose Jaw, Lilo, and I got sunburnt. We will get aloe when we get into town on Friday. It was buggy at our camp site, so we made a fire and hung out for the evening. Today was wonderful!!!
Date: 2023-05-11
From: Piped Spring

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 13.2

Today was rough. Moose Jaw had so much energy, but I had none. I honestly cannot believe that I hiked 13+ miles today, because every bit of it was painful and exhausting. I was dragging butt in the back with Trip Wire. For some reason we were beat. Everyone kept asking if I was okay, when I really wanted to nap and go to sleep. The aqua blazing must have taken it out of me. I was 5 steps into the day, when I told LILO that I was exhausted. Finally we got to camp, and we had a little snafu with another hiker who couldn¢t properly hang a bear bag and decided it was best to improperly hang a bear bag, in an area with aggressive bears (there were signs posted), in the middle of a Tentsite. Emotions were high for a little while. At camp it was Lilo, Trip Wire, Moose Jaw, myself, the Professor, Toaster, and another hiker named Ron (the bear bag culprit). Also, Ron thought wearing only little tiny underwear was appropriate around camp,¢¦ we all had to look away when he got out of his sleeping bag (he didn¢t have a tent). I¢m glad today is over. We all need sleep. Hopefully tomorrow is better.