morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-04-06
From: Woody Gap

To: Neel Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Besides avoiding two waves of storms getting off the trail for a day did wonders for my legs. I had asked at the Hostel if they had any bunks available for the next night as there was still rain likely today but the y did not. When I mentioned that to Caroline when I spoke to her yesterday she said "two day off after only hiking three? That's pretty sad"There was no rain on the trail as that was the forecast for the lower elevation town. I hiked up to Blood Mountain and got sleet and snow instead. Actually it was pretty light but it was the wind that was the killer. It did keep me moving though since there was no place I wanted to take a break. About five miles into the hike I caught up with Red Bull and Vapor, trail name of a couple guys that were hiking together. We talked a bit and then took turns passing each other all the way up to the top Where BloodMountain Shelter is at 8.4 miles into the day. I had been looking forward to a break at Woods Hole Shelter at 7.1 miles but when we got there I saw that is was 0.4 miles off the trail which was too much of a detour. I was so excited to see the road knowing that I could get indoors for a little bit. The Hostel was closed for remodeling their cabins were full and they were suggesting hitching into town for a hotel room for sixty bucks. I decided to brave It at the camp site. Knowing that the winds would not let me start my little stove I bought a frozen pizza that they heated for me at the outfitters and they let me sit inside their store to eat it. Putting the tent up in the heavy winds was a challenge. Later in the night the winds picked up even more. It felt like I was on an Everest expedition. I did not get much sleep that night
Date: 2017-04-07
From: Neel Gap

To: Poor Mountain
Miles today: 8.9

Winds were still blowing pretty hard and it was still very cold. I knew that the outfitter opened at 8:00 so I grabbed a pop tart for breakfast and went into the store to get a cup of coffee. I sat down on a bench in the store and had my breakfast.I was not looking forward to taking down my tent in the wind so I climbed back inside. I did not get back on the trail until almost 11:00.   Once I did I felt pretty good. There was a bit of a climb out of Neels Gap but it was gradual. I figured I must have my trail legs already. No need for ibuprofen any more. I kind of like hiking by myself now setting my own pace and stopping without having to yell to my hiking partner who was way ahead of me (so far I have not come across anyone slower than me), but when I reached the beautiful view here to stop for lunch I would have liked to share it with Sharon. Instead I shared it with Tim from Buffalo. There were a couple more scenic views where I ran into Pat from Lagrange Park again. He asked me if I had gotten sick. Apparently there was something going around that somehow I avoided. After enjoying the views for a bit there was a descent down to a parking lot. And then a big ascent back up. This one was very steep with a lot of switchbacks. By the time I got to the top I realized I am not done with the ibuprofen. I stopped at the top to relieve myself of the pack and have some lunch. A short while later an eight year old girl (later I learned her trail name is tough cookie) got to the top with no effort. I asked her who she was with and then I saw her dad (General) appear, taking a little more effort. I hiked with them for bit back down to the road where we got some water and then they went on ahead. I did not make my destination figuring it would be too late when I got there and that it would be crowded so I set up a campsite along the way and called it quits for the day.
Date: 2017-04-08
From: Poor Mountain

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night a woman from Georgia i'm guessing due to her accent was hiking past my campsite after I had everything set up. She said she was headed for Low Gap which was where I was originally trying to get to. I said that she would not have much daylight left and that the site would probably be pretty crowded but she continued on. I wondered if I would see her the next day as she seemed to be moving kind of slow. Sure enough I did see her but only because she was hiking back towards me. She said that she was too cold last night and she was hiking out to the nearest road to go find a better sleeping bag. I felt bad for her that she would have to rehike that section adding almost nine miles to her total hike.It was pretty cold last night which led me to get a late start this morning. I did stop at Low Gap shelter for lunch where I met a couple who has just day hiked in for the weekend. I wound up talking to them for too long and before I knew had stayed almost an hour.I reached Blue Mountain by 5:00 which was nice having plenty of time to set up and still have plenty of time to socialize with others. I met up with General and Tough Cookie again who had made it to Low Gap the previous night. Also met Pumpkin a woman from D.C. And a group of three who were in from N.C. for the weekend. They had built a fire and we all sat around talking for a while. Often times by sunset I am already exhausted and climbing into my tent by sunset.
Date: 2017-04-09
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

I got an early start this morning for me. I was hiking by a little after nine. I caught up to two women who had left camp a bit earlier than me. I thought that finally I was able to walk faster than someone. They each had a bad knee. We got down to Unicoi Gap where there was some trail magic. One of them was named Plunge Pool who I had met at Neel Gap a few nights earlier. He gave me some sweet tea and some cookies. Then I went over to Tippy -Toes' van and got a doughnut and Coke. Chuckles had brought some Beer, unfortunately it was only 10:30 in the morning and was not ready for a Beer yet. I wound up talking to them for about 45 minutes before starting the hike up Rock Mountain (about an 1100 ft climb) I could not keep up with the two women with bad knees on the way up but did catch them at the bottom at Indian Grave Gap where I learned their names were Meredith- a thru hiker, and Chelsey, a friend joining her to the N.C. border. Meredith was interesting, she had done a lot of traveling in Asia taking odd jobs in bartending and SCUBA instructing in various Asian countries. At the bottom of Indian Grave Gap we had wished that this is where the trail angel with beer was.From here we had a 1300 ft climb to Tray Mountain Shelter. This was a pretty big climb and this turned out to be one of those nights that right after dinner and watching the sunset I was ready to climb into my tent for the night. My back was pretty sore and after popping some Ibupropen and listening to some music I was down for the night. I had not been listening to much music to conserve my battery but I knew I would be recharging tomorrow.
Date: 2017-04-10
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dicks Creek Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Another relatively early start around 9:00. I had a longer stretch of lesser climbs in the beginning of the day stopping several times along the way for snack or lunch breaks. My need for water and need to get the backpack off seem to be in sync. I got to one point where the water source was 0.2 miles off the trail so decided that I had enough water to make it 2.7 miles to an easier source of water. Another 0.9 miles down the trail I had stopped for a snack where another hiker had also stopped. He had run out of water and there was a water source 0.5 miles off the trail. I told him I could give him half a liter to make it to the next source. I hated to see him have to make the one mile journey off the trail to get water.The next source was anther 1.8 miles one mile uphill and then another 0.8 down. This was a little less off the trail but it also led to the next Shelter where many people were spending the night but I was continuing on. So I left my pack at the turn off and walked down hill to get water. After talking to others at the water source for a while I headed back to my pack and continued on. From there it was another 3.6 miles. Most of it downhill which was good for me not so much for the two girls who I had caught up to again and the very end of the trail for the day.Along the way I came across a sign indicating a vista that was 0.2 miles off trail. Anxious to end my day I start to continue on but then decided to drop my pack (I needed relief from it any way) and head down to the view. Very glad I did. It had a beautiful view of the valley below with a large lake.I had already prepaid for my stay at the Top of Georgia Hostel, but the 3.6 mile hike beyond the shelter just did not seem to want to ever end. Had i not prepaid the thought of just finding a site along the way crossed my mind many times. Finally getting down to the road the timing was perfect as a Top of GA van had just pulled up.I got to the Hostel where they had a cold soda waiting for me and I ran into John from the Hiker Hostel earlier in the week.They had a scale on their deck where I hung my pack to see it was 45 lbs. After eating 5 days of food that means I was probably up to 50lbs at one point. I will need to send some stuff home.Later on I called Sharon to update her on my day. A woman (Trisha) was walking by and said to say hi to her. She was someone we talked to on the trail when Sharon was hiking with me. Trisha had asked me if I had gotten sick. I put Sharon on speaker and they shared their stories of contacting Norovirus. I won't go into the details.
Date: 2017-04-11
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter.
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: few clouds

Woke up for 7:00 coffee and all you can eat cereal (not as good as the French toast and eggs at Hiker Hostel). During breakfast the owner of the shelter talked about tips on hiking the trail and a talk about the Norovirus that has been going around.I did not go on the scheduled shuttle ride.I asked one of the employees to help me go through my backpack to identify excess weight. We were able to pull out six pounds of stuff to send back home.I also wanted to work on posting to the journal on a their computer rather than my iPhone. I also used the computer to get my Smokey Mountains permit (now that it's paid for I am committed to at least make it to there).People that I had seen from previous days were showing up for tonight's stay including a woman, Shannon from Boston that I had met at the last Hostel several days earlier. When I saw her at the last hostel she had not started the trail yet so I had a 20 mile lead on her. She told me that she had accidentally hiked 17 miles one day. By 1:00 I was ready to hit the trail. I went outside to gather my things to find that my trekking poles were gone. After me and the employees searched everywhere we determined that someone must have taken them hopefully by accident. By then others had been showing up so there were many sets of poles so we could not tell if any of those had been left behind by mistake. So now by 2:00 I was back on the trail with a stick. Actually it's a pretty good stick. Over the past couple of days my left elbow had been aching so I was only using one pole anyway. Hopefully my poles wind up back at the shelter where they would forward them up the trail. Otherwise maybe the stick will make it to Maine with me For the first two hours of my hike that is all that ran through my head. That and the thought that Georgia is in a drought and I'm out of water. Actually I knew that a stream would be coming up before I hit the next campsite. I filled up my water bottles and all was well again. Made into a shelter where there were only eight of us in total compared to 50 at the first place. I met a couple in their 70's, Skip and Linda, that were really interesting. They talked about their trips to Africa and Machu Pichu. They are only hiking for three months how ever far the make it. Skip said that he would be in Rosemont for a sports memorabilia show in July. But hopefully I'll still be on the trail.
Date: 2017-04-12
From: Plumorchard Gap Shelter.

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Got out of camp around 9:40 I was the last to leave. By doing so I found someone that I could walk faster than. I caught up to the 70 year old couple on the climb out of the gap. Later on stopping for water I caught up the Tom and Paula (aka Q-Tip). They had also stayed at the same camp site last night. We then took turns passing each other. At 12:35 I crossed into North Carolina. A short while later I took a snack break at a beautiful lookout point and could see way off in the distance a lake that a couple of days ago I was on the other side of. Around 2:45 it started to rain. I covered my pack and after a while I made it to a shelter for cover. There was a group there doing the same. We talked about where the good hostels were further down the trail. I did not make it to the shelter I was trying to get to. I stopped a mile short around 6:00 at a campsite where I met Joseph and Jim. I told them about my trekking poles and having to now use a walking stick. One of them made a Gandalf reference to my stick. Sorry Sharon, now I have to let the beard grow out. Shortly after that Meredith and Chelsey showed up. I had seen them last when I stayed at the Hostel. They had taken a zero day yesterday. Chelsey said she would have quit the trail had it not been for the day off. Now she should make her goal of 100 miles. Both of them with bad knees still caught up to me.
Date: 2017-04-13
From: Deep Gap

To: Betty Creek Gap 
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

As I was taking down my tent this morning I saw Plunge Pool walking towards the camp site with a pot of coffee for the four of us that were still there. Jim had already left. I have seen him at three different points along the trail now. He also gave me a cheese sandwich so I did not bother making breakfast. I hit the trail by 9:05. There was a shelter about a mile up Standing Indian Mountain that I was going to stop at. About an hour and a half later a guy named Wooly had passed me. I commented on the never ending climb. He said it's not that bad and that we should reach the overlook soon. I thought I was really moving slow up the mountain but I was two and a half miles up still waiting to come across the shelter I passed a mile and a half back. As I got to the top and started down the other side Wooly was backtracking. We had both missed the side trail to the overlook site. It was about 0.2 miles off the A.T. I took some pictures and took a granola bar break and then back to the trail. From there it was a long gradual decent to the next shelter where I was just going to stop for a break. On the way a stream cut across the trail and figured it was too beautiful to just walk by so I stopped there for lunch two pepperoni sticks wrapped in a tortilla. After getting to the shelter for a break I checked my phone and saw that I had service there. I read some encouraging comments from folks on the website (thank you all). I put my pack on and started to head down the trail and realized that I should call Sharon since I did not have service the night before when I usually call. She answered and a talked for about five minutes before I realized   She wasn't there anymore. I backtracked a little trying to pick up the signal and then figured I will check a little further down the trail. Since I had my headphones on I figured I'd listen to music. It was the first time I had done that on the trail. I did make the time go by a little faster. I don't know how often I'll do that in the future. Maybe I'll save that for the up hillsI did quite a bit of hiking through a section that had been burned by forest fire. There were a lot of downed trees but plenty still standing just scorched at the bottom a bit. I came across another overlook and stopped to enjoy the view. I was also able to get ahold of Sharon and we talked while I just stared out at the beautiful site. I finally made it to my destination around 6:00. Each of the campsites here are a bit secluded from each other. I waved to Meredith and Chelsey who had stopped at same place and were already settled in and continued down the trail until I found a spot secluded from everyone else. Today was probably the most pleasant of hiking days. The temperature was not too hot. And while there was a two and a half mile climb up the mountain it was a gradual climb and then there was a gentle decent and a lot of flat sections.
Date: 2017-04-14
From: Betty Creek Gap 

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: clear sky

I was off to a good start today. I had some level ground for a while. After I was headed uphill for a while I decided to listen to music to help me up. I saw in the guide book that there was a pretty steep climb to get up Albert Mountain. As I reached the base I saw just how steep. I had to use all fours to climb sections of it. During the climb the Blues Travelers song "The Mountains Win Again" came on. All morning I did not see another person until I hit this climb. Then I kept stepping aside to let them by. I finally made it to the top to find Plunge Pool to greet me with a cheese sandwich.I climbed the look-out tower on top and came down to see people I had been running into over the past week. Meredith and Chelsey were taking a break there. There were three guys, Brian, Josh and Gaucho that I had met at the first Hostel I stayed at (sad thing is from the Hostel they were starting from the approach trail so I had a 30 mile lead on them. I saw a couple of guys that I suffered the heavy winds with at Neel Gap. And Jaws an older Gentleman that I had passed back and forth with a few days ago.My goal was to reach Winding Stair Gap by the end of the day to get a ride into Franklin NC. As I was passing the second shelter of the day still expecting to hike three more miles a couple of hikers were coming up saying there were no good campsites at the shelter and that they were catching the 3:45 shuttle into town. I said there was no way to reach windy Gap by then. They pointed out that we could get on from Rock Gap that was just a quarter mile away. So I cut my day short. At Rock Gap there was Happy Jack to greet the three of us with a beer.We called a shuttle that brought us into town. By then there were about ten of us. Everyone else was going to a Motel. I was the only one going to a bunk house. When I got there I ran into Joseph from a couple nights ago who gave me a beer and later half his pizza.Upon arrival I showered and did my laundry. Of my clean clothes were a pair of underwear and a pair of socks. I figured there weren't too many people around and my boxers kind of looked like shorts so it was okay to walk around the corner of the building in those "shorts" to the laundry room.After I got dressed I ran into others I had seen before, Pumpkin from Blue Mountain and a couple of guys that shared a ride with Sharon and me into Suches a week earlier. After talking with friends back home who were out on a Friday night I headed out to the Lazy Hiker Brewing company. I ran into Wooly there. But mostly sat posting this, enjoying some Bluegrass music and some beers
Date: 2017-04-15
From: Rock Gap

To: Siler Bald Gap
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

Had breakfast at Kountry kitchen with Joseph. In talking with folks on the trail where they're from usually comes up. Joseph had said that he moves around a lot. It turns out that he has been working concessions with Ringling Brothers and he has been living on a train for quite a while. After breakfast we walked to the local grocery store for five days worth of food. I just need dinner stuff for the next five days. And then it was back to the hostel to catch the shuttle. The shuttle was making two stops one at Winding Stair Gap where most people got off and then to Rock Gap for me and one other. At Winding Stair I saw that there was a trail angel set up there. I would be hiking to there in about two hours. Lucking she was still there. She had supplies for me to make a ham sandwich, I had a tangerine, some peanut M&Ms and a soda. She suggested that I take some more stuff for later, she had quite a spread of stuff, but I had plenty of food I was already carrying. After a couple more hours of hiking I got to my destination. The campsite had a much smaller crowd than past sites. There were six of us in total. We sat around the table an each made our dinners and talked and then had a not so successful fire. There was an Indian guy about my age called Cowboy ( because of his cowboy camping, not a counter to him being Indian) an ex army guy Miles who is now a Chef who does those ten course sort of meals, a former military woman called Anchor, a vegan called Blood Moon who was saddened by the food pictures of that Mile's was showing especially the precooked picture of lambs brains, and a guy from South Africa, I did not get his name.
Date: 2017-04-16
From: Siler Bald Gap

To: Licklog Gap
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

Took a while to get going this morning I think I was on the AT by 9:40. Part of it was that there was a half mile steep uphill climb out of the shelter site to get back to the trail. About an hour in my right calf tightened up. I had strained it two days ago. I thought I had walked it off yesterday but I guess not. A half hour later I had just crossed a road and was heading uphill when I saw a car pull over and offer some trail magic to another hiker so I turned around and headed back down. Elena and Tom from the local Hiker club gave me a banana and an Easter Egg. More importantly they took the trash that I had hauled out of the shelter that someone had left from earlier in the day. Tom's involvement in the club is trail and shelter maintenance so they thanked me for carrying it out.I continued hiking mostly uphill and was passed by Wooly a couple hours later. I figured he would have been way ahead of me but he had taken a day off. We both had gotten to another road crossing just as Tom and Elena were driving down that road so I took another banana. Perhaps the potassium will help with my legs. I stopped later at a trail intersection where the guide book says there's a historic site. I stopped there to have lunch to decide if I want to take the half mile detour. Cowboy from the night before caught up but did not want to check out the site. I left my backpack behind a tree and took the detour to find a ranger station built in 1916. It was worth the trip. I later caught up to Cowboy at a stone lookout tower that had its roof burned down in a forest fire last year. I showed him pictures and he said he wished he had gone.While still sitting at the tower eating a snack "Duck Farts" an old guy that was in the bunkhouse with me two nights ago walked by. I know I was moving slow with the calf problem bit he had taken a day off. I got back on the trail. About 45 minutes later I heard someone come up behind me. I stepped aside, it was a 20 something girl. I said hi and said I was worried it was the old guy catching up. Knowing there was no way I would make the next shelter I stopped at the Licklog camp site where I knew Cowboy was going to camp. A while after he arrived we were joined by "Sticks" a 20 something guy.