morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-03-30
From: Painter Branch campsite

To: Bluff Mountain summit
Miles today: 20.3

After possibly my best night's sleep in weeks, I was almost reluctant to leave Painter Branch campsite. By 8:39 I was on my way, although not without yet another fall as I crossed the Branch (stream) and my foot slid on a tree-root and I slid down the bank. No harm to anything but ego, especially since I hadn't even made it the fifty yards back onto the AT. The day was overcast and windy. There was a short climb out of camp, then miles of relatively flat going. The main event today was Max Patch, a 'bald' that extends quite a distance and attracts local hikers and strolling couples as there is road access not far down. The 360-degree views were spectacular and photos just don't do them justice. The sight of serried ranks of mountain ridges, each a slightly paler shade of blue than the one in front of it, reminded me of the faded Japanese paintings in my erstwhile colleague James Bodi's office. Delicate, almost fragile colors. A natural watercolor. Sigh. I guess you had to be there. I stopped at the shelter below Max for a long foot-break (change socks), eat, top up water, use privy. I was the only one there until Kaleidoscope, she of the super-white teeth, arrived with her dog, whom she had picked up after being separated from her for the Smokies (no pets allowed because of the bears). Back on the trail, I met Geezer again, at roughly the same time as yesterday. He took off and stealth-camped along the trail. I wanted to hit my 20 so climbed up Walnut Mountain; I stopped briefly at the shelter at the top and ran into Noah, who did a short (13-mile) hike today. I continued on down the other side and then back up the last 1,000-foot climb of the day, Bluff Mountain. Here I am, at 4,686 feet, stealth camping by myself. I've had my dinner of noodles and tuna, a vanilla protein smoothie, with a Snickers bar for dessert. I've hung my bear bag after about fifteen gazillion attempts, spoken by phone to Gayle, and now here I am doing my blog. Such a rut I am in. Hey, what's wrong with that? I like ruts.Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-01
From: Campsite a few miles beyond Hot Springs

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Okay, so today didn't go so well. It did start well, though. I didn't even wake until after 7. I felt rested and energized. I finished off the last of my muesli by cooking it as a sort of muesli porridge. I had an apple. All was right with the world. The day was overcast and cool, just the best weather for hiking. I broke camp at a leisurely pace, not getting hiking until 9:12. My feet and Achilles and knees all felt great, like new. Then at about 200 yards into the hike, I stepped on some leaves at the edge of the path, which turned out to be covering a tree branch rather than the path, and I fell. Really fell. I tumbled down the slope, rolling from side to side like kids rolling down a hill. I stopped after a couple of rolls. Nothing seemed broken or twisted, but I was a bit shaken. I resumed my hike. Soon I came across a retaining wall about 20 feet high with water flowing from a pipe near its base, so I stopped to replenish my water supply. I climbed up the path beside the wall to discover that it had been built to create a large pond for wildlife. Soon after there were open fields and remnants of a building, and a sign saying that the former tobacco and hay farm had been bought in 1970 by the Forest Service for use as a turkey and grouse brooding area. All went well until about three hours into the hike. Whereas yesterday it had been my left knee troubling me, today it was my right knee, only more so. Going uphill was fine, but downhills were painful. I stopped at a shelter to swap my knee brace back onto my right knee. It didn't help much. I abandoned my plans to reach a campsite about 19 miles from my starting point. I took a long break in the sun on the Tennessee/ North Carolina border, at Mom's Store, a quaint ramshackle shop run by Wayne, where I had two ice creams, refilled my water reservoir with Powerade, and bought 2 Snickers bars, since on a hike you can never have too many Snickers bars. (No, I didn't eat them; they're for later.) I sat in a rocking chair and chatted to Wayne. In 40 minutes I was his only customer. I pressed on the four miles to the shelter. Luckily it was mostly uphill. On two downhill stretches, I walked backwards at times. My poles were in heavy use. I actually made good time, and came charging into the Shelter area, rather than crawling. I cooked a quick Knorr rice-and-vegetables meal, eating a hot sausage while it was simmering. Now I'm back in my tent, eating dessert of chocolate malt balls. I'm hoping a good restful night will sort out my knee.Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-02
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Laurel Hostel
Miles today: 17.0

So I woke up pleased at how pain-free my knee was. It was a beautiful morning, clear sky, no wind. I broke camp and by 8:31 I was rolling. (I love that 'broke camp' terminology. So reminiscent of those John Wayne Westerns and military stuff, much better than 'took down my tent and stuffed it in my backpack'. Move 'em on out!). The profile for the day's hike was pleasantly easy - gentle undulations, no truly massive ascents or descents. I caught up with Ho Chi Minh, a Canadian chef, and we hiked together for about six miles, including one gorgeous rocky ridge line section where we were looking to the west at flat farmland and towns and roads, and to the east at more familiar mountain vistas. At about mile six my knee began bothering me again, and I took a lunch and foot break at a shelter at mile 7. It didn't help. It was seven more miles to the next shelter, and by then I was back to snail pace, dreading the downhills, contemplating quitting the AT. At the 14-mile mark of the next shelter, I watered up, and decided to hike past the shelter for a more secluded camping spot, limping along. A random rock tripped me up for my first forward fall, almost onto my face. It was a new low for me. I stood up, checked for damage, and at a stream a few paces on, washed off the mud I'd acquired from my left leg. And then I noticed something amazing. The pain in my right knee was gone. I was able to hike pretty much as before. I ended up doing another 3 miles, enough to get me to the Laurel Hostel, a small 6-bed bunkroom that had two free spots left, and I said heck, here we go. New experience. Might as well try it. My knee pain had resurfaced on the last half-mile, so I was glad to sit down, have a few beers and pizza (prepared by Tim, the young proprietor), and chat with the other 4 hikers there. They listened to my moaning and unanimously upbraided me for not resting my knee sooner. So I am taking a zero tomorrow.Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-03
From: Laurel Hostel

To: Laurel Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Although there were five of us in the small bunk room, the room was incredibly quiet last night, with nobody snoring or tossing and turning. I had had a shower, some beers and a pizza, was relaxed, but I just could not sleep. I finally gave in, took sleeping pills, and got to sleep around 2am. One reason is that the hours of hiking, 50% of it on average being fairly strenuous climbing, leave me with a heart rate that stays elevated above normal for hours afterwards. People started to move around 8am, but everybody was taking a zero day. Around 10am, Tim the owner took 7 of us off to Erwin for lunch at the Clarence Diner. I had a pulled pork sandwich with mushrooms. Then we were ferried to Walmart where I bought a second knee brace, some tortillas and oranges, and a baking tray. It was pouring rain most of the middle of the day. I spent most of the rest of the day in my bunk, making a windshield for my propane stove. Everybody was impressed with the engineering. Candy Cane, one of my bunk mates, was lightening her pack and passed me various trail mix, stuffing and other delicacies. She also passed on to me a pair of compression socks she hadn't used, which I put straight on under my two knee braces. Ho Chi Minh played me an excerpt from an audio book, Dubliners by James Joyce, the piece in which a character recites a poem about Parnell. I FaceTimed Gayle and we made plans for Atkins. Tim had taken a bunch of hikers to Erwin for an evening meal, and when he came back I had him cook up another pizza for me. I sang my AT trail song. Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-04
From: Laurel Hostel

To: Campsite after Bald Mountain shelter
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: moderate rain

After I'd done my journal last night, a few things happened. Tim, the hostel owner, retuned from town with several hikers he'd shuttled in for a meal. They came back loaded down with beer. Goat, one of my bunk mates, asked to hear me sing the song I've been writing in my head about the AT as I walk it, and I sang it for all. Oh So (Santos Ponce), another bunk mate, posted a video of my song to Facebook! I also sang the one verse I know of 'Avondale', the song about Parnell, and 'Danny Boy' on request from Ho Chi Minh. Then the bunk mates all went to bed, leaving the others drinking beer on the patio. A Swiss guy threw up eventually and was hustled into the shower in just his underwear to wash off. Ho Chi Minh and other fans watched a basketball game on his iPhone for hours on the patio. Around 11pm I got up and went outside to get them to turn off the light and quieten down. Oh So thanked me- said she really didn't need to know that one of them had brought a supply of Viagra on the trail. I hDnt heard that as I'd had my earplugs in; I did manage to get to sleep soon after. We were all up around 7 and I got on the trail by 7:43am. I took it easy to be nice to my knee - there was a lot of climbing to do. It held up well for the first half of the day, about eleven miles. At that point I heard a cheery "Hey Tipp!!" and looked around to see Noah bounding up the trail to me. We took a long lunch break together and were joined by Thread, a young hiker I'd not met before. I did my usual foot care routine, changing into fresh socks, airing my boots, etc. Noah headed off after 30 minutes; I rested 30 more. But my knee started to act up. From one mountain-top bald we could look six miles ahead to another bald way, way up there. It looked an impossible distance away. I got there around 5:30; there was a shelter soon after the crest and Noah was already ensconced in the shelter. I opted to keep going to add a few more miles and get a quiet spot. I found one, set up my tent, cooked dehydrated potatoes with sour cream, chives and stuffing- yum! I tried out my new toy that I made yesterday, a windshield for my stove. It looks fabulous but was a total practical disaster. Another $3 totally wasted. So today was 18.1 miles; I'm guesstimating about 4,500 feet of climbing. I'm perched at about 5,000 feet right now. Cool. Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-05
From: Campsite after Bald Mountain shelter

To: Campsite after Curley Maple Gap shelter
Miles today: 22.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Many people who quit the AT give as the reason that "it wasn't what I expected". Which of course begs the question, what were they expecting? Maybe they were thinking every day would be like the one I had today. I hit the trail at exactly 8am, in fear and trepidation at how my bum knee would behave. I dropped down the mountainside from where I'd camped, and then hit miles and miles of generally level trail, with gentle undulations up and down. My knee rejoiced, and gave me no trouble. The weather was mild, a bit humid, and overcast. Around 12:30 a big breeze sprang up and a tree limb cracked in the forest near me; it started to rain. Then 15 minutes later came a long peal of thunder. Stop. Deploy backpack cover. Deploy poncho. Lightning, four miles away roughly. Arrive at the town of Erwin soaked because of wearing stupid poncho; would have been drier just letting the intermittent rain hit me. As I approached the hostel at Uncle Johnny's, Noah came out to say hi. Of course, he'd been there for hours, having cheated by getting there on his secret flying carpet. I stopped to buy some high-priced trail food, recharge my phone, and post my journal for yesterday. About an hour later I headed off again. There were the usual hugs and tears as Noah and I said goodbye yet again. I climbed for four solid hours and 7.5 miles, topping out at 3,516 feet where I pitched my tent at 8pm. In total I'd done 22.1 miles today, a new distance record for me. And this with a knee that only yesterday had me thinking my AT was over. Unbelievable. Up on the mountainside, I cooked fettuccine with broccoli and "chicken flavor", and made myself some tuna wraps while it was simmering away. I'm not feeling hungry. Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-06
From: Campsite after Curley Maple Gap shelter

To: Greasy Creek Hostel
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I hit the trail at 7:30 precisely. It was cool and overcast. My intent was to try to do 23 miles. As I climbed Unaka Mt to over 5,000 feet, it began to sleet, with strong winds, and eventually to snow. I was in a t-shirt, and had to put on my jacket when I reached a shelter where I topped up on water. I ploughed on. At the top of Unaka was a dense spruce forest. I was feeling great. The miles flowed by. At 12:39, after about 11 miles, my left knee suddenly destabilized. It was back to powering uphill and limping downhill in the increasing cold. I knew I could go on indefinitely, but when I reached mile 17, and saw the sign for Greasy Creek Hostel, 0.6 miles off the trail, I headed for warmth. The hostel was indeed warm, with a roaring wood fire, and a warm welcome from the owner and her partner, Ce Ce and Gadget, respectively. There were six other hikers there, variously spread between a three-person bedroom in the house, and the rest of us out in the (unheated) bunk room. We ordered food from a local diner, and several of us piled into Ce Ce's car to collect it. It vanished in record time back at the hostel. I had a pint of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food as well. We watched "Passengers". I weighed myself in my clothes and I'm guessing that I've lost about 14 pounds. Now to log this and head across to the bunk room. Brrrr. My sleeping bag better work. More snow expected tomorrow.Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-08
From: Doll Flats

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: clear sky

Today completes Week 4 of my AT. Last night I had the coldest night in my tent so far. It took ages to get my hands and feet warm. I should have gotten up and put on more clothes but I couldn't face the prospect of unzipping my bag and letting all that cold air at me. I had my beanie pulled down to my nose so that all that was exposed to the night air was from my nose to my chin. I went on to have a really good night's sleep. I woke around 7 to the sound of the Ryans chatting in their tent. It was 29 degrees. I packed up and was on the trail by 8:17. While it was cold, there was no wind, and I was comfortable. The ground was frozen so all that mud from yesterday was no longer a problem, and my boots began to dry out. I dropped downhill for three miles into Tennessee. There was a bit of everything today - freezing cold, sunshine (from midday on), pine forests with that carpet of pine needles on the path, 100-foot high trees, rhododendron tunnels, a big river where I washed my feet and rinsed out my t-shirt (it was too cold for me to swim in), umpteen small and big streams, gentle climbs and forgiving descents. I aimed for at least 20 miles, and it was such easy terrain that I did 21.4 with no difficulty. In part I am sure the reason it's becoming easier is that my food supply is dwindling (and I may even eat it all before my likely next resupply, in Damascus, VA, which I should reach on Tuesday). Plus my body is lighter. So my muscles and joints are having to deal with at least 20 fewer pounds to lug uphill or to shock-absorb coming downhill. I ended the day by arriving at Moreland Gap shelter at about 7pm. I found a spot on the trail a hundred yards after the shelter where I was able to pitch my tent, create a chair out of a tree stump and a big flat rock, cook my ramen noodles and create a couple of sausage wraps, and hang my much lighter bear bag without drama nearby. Poles: I love my Leki trekking poles. I would probably not be able to hike without them. I use them as extra engines going uphill, and I lean heavily on them when descending to save my legs. Of course, my shoulders have had to toughen up, and my poor hands have taken a beating, so much so that for the first two weeks I wore gloves to prevent my blisters from worsening. Milestones this last week: well, I finally left North Carolina for good; passed the 400-mile mark; did my longest day's mileage; hiked through deep snow; experienced my boots getting wet; stayed in two hostels.Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-10
From: Stealth camping after Watauga

To: Stealth camping, last time in Tennessee
Miles today: 21.1

On a normal day, I mutter "you idiot" to myself about, oh, 16 discrete times. Today promised to be sunny, and I searched high and low for the bandana I wear to protect my neck, only to find it after several minutes - around my neck. That was the first instance of "you idiot". There were others. I hit the trail at 8:10 am. It was cloudy and a bit humid. But by midday it was hot and sunny. The day's hiking sauntered from a starting low of 3,000 to a high of 4,095. I'm now at 3,506. It was the easiest 21 miles I've done so far. Around midday a small brown snake scuttled out of my way on the path where he was sunning himself. He didn't appear at all frightened by me and let me get up close for photos. He was about 15" long but very slender. He seemed to be just the kind of snake you'd want for a pet, or to bring home to introduce to your mother, if your mother wasn't the type to say "Jesus Mary and Joseph don't be bringing that thing in here". I also was teased many times by these black and blue butterflies that just will not sit still for a photo, quite unlike Snakey. I think they are a type of swallowtail, either pipevine or spicebush. So my day just rolled by with walking. And more walking. And then some more walking. I saw not one NOBO apart from a chap called Redleg who was sitting alone in the last shelter I passed by, at 5pm. He said I was the first NOBO he'd seen in two days. I did meet about 9 hikers heading south, but they don't count. I am now less than 12 miles from the border of good ol' Virginia. I will be on the road to Damascus tomorrow. Tipperary
Date: 2017-04-12
From: Campsite about 5 miles beyond Damascus, S. Virgini

To: Deep Gap, VA
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained fairly heavily last night from about midnight until maybe 3am. Being under trees means that the 'rain' continues for hours after the actual shower is over. And it sounds loud in the tent. It's always unpleasant the morning afterwards rolling up a wet tarp and trying to seal it off in my backpack from precious dry cargo such as my sleeping bag. My hiking day extended from 8:10am to 7:10pm. The sun popped out fairly quickly, and it was a bit humid for a while. Two NOBOs, a young couple, powered past me mid-morning. I met two AT volunteers maintaining the trail - one, Hot Rock, had a very impressive-looking machete-saw. He offered me a Snickers bar, which I gladly accepted. Both of them are EMTs. Hot Rock has done both a NOBO and a SOBO; despite this, he looks remarkably sane. I also scored some trail magic - a can of Dr Pepper - right after crossing the Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge, the longest footbridge I've seen on the trail to date and part of the apparently famous Virginia Creeper Trail, created out of the route of a former railway line. The big event of the day was the 1,900 foot ascent over 4.3 miles to Buzzard Rock at 5,080. In the middle of it, Redleg overtook me. He'd started his hike about 90 minutes after me, and about 5 miles further back, and still managed to close the gap. He stopped for a breather on Buzzard. I kept going to reach my target of at least 20 miles and stopped for the day at a spot called Deep Gap. It's a confluence point of two or three trails at 5,015 feet, it has big boulders that work well as seats and table, has lots of level spots, and I and an owl have it all to ourselves. The only downside is that the water source is unusually far away down a side trail - not appreciated after a hard day on the AT. Had I known, I'd have filled up my water supply earlier on the trail - but it is nice to hike the last few miles with no water weight. Can't always get it perfectly worked out. And I enjoyed my can of Dr Pepper with my pad Thai. No Chateau Lafitte ever tasted as goodTipperary
Date: 2017-04-13
From: Deep Gap, VA

To: Dickey Gap, VA
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: few clouds

Today was awesome. I awoke from a terrific sleep. I had a big breakfast of cooked oatmeal, tortillas with kippered snacks, and a big slug of veggie smoothie. I was on trail by 7:40. Things mostly went downhill after that - literally. I dropped from 5,000 feet to where I am now, at 3,300. Of course there were the occasional ascents, including one of 840 feet, but most of the going was flat or descending. Eight miles of the trail was exhilaratingly different from what I've seen before - open terrain full of rocks and boulders, and climbs up to rocky outcroppings. There were many supposedly wild ponies present under a wildlife management program that uses them to graze and control certain plants and shrubs that would otherwise overrun the grasslands. Most of the day I was hiking alone, although I met a lot of families and couples out hiking for the day and enjoying the parks. Several times I passed and was overtaken by Jedi and Bubbles, a young couple I've run into over the last two or three days. We ended up stopping at the same campsite at a place by a paved road called Dickey Gap. They opted to camp on the grass verge up by the road despite the traffic noise. I stayed down by the trail and the stream that runs alongside. Around 8:40, a thru-hiker named Pudge arrived. She's a friend of Bottles.Tipperary