morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-04-26
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a wet morning, but in the shelter we were dry. We were packed shoulder to shoulder, six people in a five person shelter. All night long we had to contend with a loud symphony of snoring and farting to which I contributed generously. (Blame the trail food) The mice were exceptionally active throughout the course of the night and made for entertaining conversation in the morning as we each speculated what the little critters were up to. My vote went to dragging carcasses across the roof of the shelter. I had a difficult day today. I felt a lot like a middle aged, overweight, out of shape woman with bad feet trying to haul herself up and down mountains. Oh wait! That is exactly what I am. The rain made a reappearance in the early afternoon. We stopped at Little Laurel Shelter for a late lunch, but as we sat there getting colder and colder and watching the rain fall, we began to contemplate stopping for the day. Many other hikers paused at the shelter to contemplate the exact same question. The next shelter was another seven miles away. Our original intent was to find a flat place to set up the tent somewhere in another four miles. After examining the guide book, we decided that we would probably have a hard time finding a place to camp. I was not confident I could make it to the next shelter and Cole didn¢t want to set up the tent in the rain. It was settled. We would stay. I was feeling very guilty for doing such a short day and concerned about having enough food to get to Erwin. However, once I was fed and bundled up and warm in my bedding, the worry diminished. We will try to do more miles for the next few days to make it up.
Date: 2018-04-27
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Mile 309
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

The day started off wet. Again! We were dry in the shelter and happy for that, but I was feeling determined to make up for having hiked such a short distance the day before. It was raining as we set out and I asked Cole to stay with me. ¢Do you think it is too cold for me to be waiting for you in the rain?¢ He asked. ¢No,¢ I replied, ¢I just want to hike with my son.¢He rolled his eyes a bit, but didn¢t verbally complain. When I¢m struggling to have a positive outlook, it helps to have company while hiking. (Unless he is in a bad mood too!)The trail was wet and slippery from mud and sometimes difficult to navigate.The scenery began to change as we started to climb.We came upon a sign warning us that there was an exposed ridgline ahead. There was also a blue blazed ¢bad weather trail¢ that we could take around it. The rain was petering out, and although it was chilly, there was little to no wind. We chose the ridgeline.What they didn¢t warn us about on the sign was that the ridgeline was mostly a rock scramble. I was grateful that the rain had stopped, but the rocks were still slippery. Slow and steady were our steps. Clouds stole any possibility of a view, but I still thoroughly enjoyed hiking the ridgeline. It lifted my spirits and added excitement to the day.Not long after we came down off the ridge, the clouds cleared and the sun appeared. We stopped at Jerry Cabin Shelter for lunch. Not long after we arrived, a cat appeared. It had a stub for a tail and one of his ears had a bite out of it. In the shelter log we read that someone had named him Jerry after the shelter.  He meowed and purred and rubbed up against us looking for food. He was so cute and made me miss my own kittys at home. We had no extra food to feed him, but when more people arrived, he moved on to begging from them. Poor little guy!After a good rest, we continued on.One strange thing that I had decided I wanted to see on the A.T. was someone painting blazes. Well, after over 300 miles of hiking, I got my wish. Poor ¢Booonie Man¢ must have thought I was a little crazy when I got so excited to see him. He posed for me so I could get a picture of him painting. ¢It¢s not my best work¢ he said. I couldn¢t stop smiling for at least a mile after that. We had originally intended to stop at Flint Mountain Shelter, however someone on the trail told us that there had been sickness there. We didn¢t know if this was true or just a rumour, but we decided not to chance it. We hiked almost one mile past the shelter and then set up the tent. It was a warm sunny evening and a nice night to be in the tent. However, there is one thing besides rain that turns me off of sleeping in the tent. Cole¢s feet. Oh boy do they stink! Once inside the tent, the fumes from his feet and socks overtake the small enclosed space. Since it was such a lovely evening, I pulled out my small collapsible water bucket, filled it with water and washed Cole¢s feet with Dr. bronners soap. Then I pulled out two of his three pairs of sox, washed them and hung them to dry. The tent would be smelling fresh for the night!
Date: 2018-04-28
From: Mile 309

To: Low Gap Campsite
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

All night last night we listened to dogs barking in the distance. It made Cole nervous at first, but the sounds never got closer or further away so we decided that they must be penned up somewhere, not running loose. The moon was so bright that it felt like we were sleeping under a street light. I can¢t say that I had a great sleep last night, but I can say that the day was beautiful. We climbed a lot. It seems like that is a redundant statement that by now should just be taken for granted. On the AT, we climb. I am not particularly fond of climbing. The scenery was varied and that made it enjoyable.By noon we had put in eight miles. We were pushing for another 15 mile day. Somehow I didn¢t do well on our Resupply and we were going to run short if we didn¢t push through to Erwin by Monday. We stopped for a nice long lunch break and chatted with a few people who passed by us. Some of them talked about the long stretch of rainy days that we¢d had and how ¢bad thoughts¢ had been creeping in. I¢ve  had those ¢bad thoughts¢ too. The ¢This sucks, why am I doing this?¢ thoughts. But then there are the ¢wow¢ moments, like up on the ridgeline, when you see clearly exactly why you are doing it. It is encouraging to know that I am not the only person who has doubts on those miserable days. Sometimes when I look at how other people seem to be rocking it out here, I feel like I must be the only one with those ¢bad thoughts¢One of the people who passed by us while we were resting told us that there was trail magic at Sam¢s Gap. The word ¢pizza¢ snuck into the conversation. Yes we had just eaten lunch, but Sam¢s Gap was still three miles away. If we high tailed it down the trail fast enough we could easily burn off our lunch. So high tail it we did. Cole went ahead. He is so much faster! As I descended into the Gap, a lady passed by me and told me to hurry because the trail magic was starting to pack it. Despite the complaints from my feet, I picked it up a notch. When I arrived at the gap, there was still a lot of food spread out across the table and Cole was indulging. I should have reminded myself that climbing mountains on a full stomach is a bad idea, but I didn¢t. Two slices of pizza, a banana and a cookie later, the wisdom resurfaced. By then it was too late and I was already hauling my butt up a mountain. We found ourselves a nice spot at Lowgap campsite that evening. Neither of us had any desire for dinner. Going to bed on a full stomach is a good feeling indeed.
Date: 2018-04-30
From: Spivey Gap

To: River Road Erwin
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: clear sky

Last night Miss Janet told us that she would like to help us slack pack today. Slack packing is hiking with only what you need for the day. At 8am Miss Janet set out with a van full of hikers to take them to a different trail head. She then returned for us and three other hikers who all needed to start at Spivey Gap, and a third group that had a yet another starting point. She does a lot of shuttling for hikers and she asks nothing in return. When she sees hikers in town, she pulls over and asks them if they are doing ok and if they need anything. She is so generous to the hiking community. For our day of slack packing Cole¢s had his water bottle, the filter, our stove and our lunch in his backpack. We hadn¢t been to the grocery store yet and all we had to bring for lunch was kraft dinner. In my backpack I had my water bottle, my sheet of tyvec to sit on, my rain gear, my fleece in case I got cold and my puffy in case I got really cold. I didn¢t need any of those layers! It was a beautiful warm and sunny day. Before we headed out, Miss Janet gave Cole a good long sizing up while he stood there awkwardly. Finally she said, ¢Is your pack comfortable?¢He shrugged and grunted an affirmative reply.¢Your hip belt is around your stomach and that really isn¢t good for your digestion.¢ She told him. She then loosened all of his straps and showed him how to get his backpack sitting properly on his hips and adjusted right. Now, my husband Mark has tried to do this for Cole half a dozen times. Each time Cole has put up a fuss and argued about why it is comfortable the way he has it. Then he readjusts it right back. So, when we headed up the trail I half expected him to silently shift his pack back to the way he¢d had it. Instead he said, ¢Wasn¢t that so nice of Miss Janet to show me how to adjust my pack!¢My shoulders and back rejoiced for the whole eleven miles of our slack packing adventure. I wish I could say the same for my feet. You see, I am slower than everyone, and because I am Canadian and obnoxiously polite, I don¢t like to keep people waiting. I knew that Miss Janet would be waiting for us. I also knew that she would wait patiently if I didn¢t arrive with the others. Still, I felt I needed to keep up. I tried, and failed of course, wearing myself out and putting strain on my feet in the process. Maybe slack packing isn¢t for me.Miss Janet drove us to Walmart in the evening to stock up on groceries and then we returned to her house for another sleepover. It was a much quieter night with only five hikers at the house.
Date: 2018-05-01
From: River Road Erwin

To: Christmas Tree Campsite
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

At 8am we loaded up into Miss Janet¢s van one last time and she drove us back to where we had hiked to yesterday on River Road. We exchanged hugs, took pictures and absorbed some more of her wisdom, then we were off. Hiking out of a town with backpacks laden with food resupply, you can guess exactly which direction we were headed. Up!! It was a difficult day for me. Things pained that had not pained before and I was moving very slowly.In the morning we crossed numerous streams and the water was plentiful. In the afternoon it was dry and the water sources were far apart. It was also hot and we were drinking a lot. At Indian Grave Gap we came upon trail magic. Lemonade to drink and water to fill our bottles was a welcome blessing.The information in my guide book and the information on my Guthooks app were not lining up. Where I thought we were headed was not where we ended up. The campsite we ended up at was at mile 356.5 (according to Guthooks). The one we had been looking for was at mile 356.1, (according to the guide book) but it was nowhere to be found. The difference between the two campsites? The one we ended up at had no water and we were all out! Thankfully the user added comments in Guthooks told us that there was a poor flowing stream .8 of a mile back in the direction we had come. Cole headed that way with the water bags while I set up the tent. He was successful and soon we had dinner cooking. At this campsite there was a tree decorated with Christmas ornaments! It was a quiet night and no other hikers appeared at the campsite.
Date: 2018-05-02
From: Christmas Tree Campsite

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

Miss Janet had offered suggestions of different ways Cole and I could manage our drastically different hiking speeds. One suggestion was that I go ahead while Cole stays back at camp. He could sleep in and pack up on his own while I hike on ahead not having to worry about ¢catching up¢. We were both up and packing, but Cole agreed to finish packing the tent on his own and head out about 30 minutes after me. When he caught up to me an hour later he was rather grumpy. I am often confused about what exactly makes him grumpy. Is it a teenage thing?His waist belt was high on his stomach. I pointed it out to him. ¢It¢s more comfortable like this.¢ he grunted. It looks like Miss Janet¢s charms had worn off. It was a beautiful day for hiking. Sometimes Cole went ahead and waited for me and sometimes he stayed behind for a bit and socialized with other hikers while I hiked on. When we were a couple of miles from the shelter, he went on ahead with instructions to set up the tent. The last few miles are usually the hardest for me. I took my time, rested in the sunshine as often as I pleased, and even stopped to chat with my husband on Facebook. I never know if I will have a signal at camp, so if I get a connection on the trail then  I like to let him know we have made it through the day. When I arrived at the shelter, Cole was hanging out with a couple of other hikers that we have interacted with a few times on the trail. He wanted to sleep in the shelter with them and I said that was fine. After that, his interpretation and my interpretation of what transpired are rather different. From my perspective, the adult hikers decided to entertain themselves by first teasing me, and when I ignored them they took to mocking a 13 year old instead. The 13 year old, either oblivious or else just wanting to fit in, accepted the treatment. From Cole¢s perspective, they were just trying to have fun and, he commented, how is it any different from his friends at home mocking him in jest? I later tried to explain. These are not your peers. These are grown men picking on a kid. I had already given him permission to stay the night in the shelter. What could I do? I knew he wouldn¢t see my side and jumping in would just embarrass him and make him angry at me. So, as bad as it felt, I held my tongue, went to the tent and left him to them. What an incredibly hard thing that was to do!
Date: 2018-05-04
To: US19E
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was the day. After 40 days away from family, today was the day we got to see Mark (my husband) and Evan (Cole¢s twin brother) Again, the guide book and Guthooks didn¢t agree on the distance, but we had come to trust in the app as the more reliable source. We had 11.1 miles between us and our loved ones and we were anxious to cross that distance as quickly as possible. We took the blue blaze to Overmountain Shelter so that I could snap a few photos, then we continued on. The terrain was challenging in places. There was a long windy climb up and across an extensive Bald, and a long rocky section. We came to a sign indicating we had finally left North Carolina for the very last time. (We had been jumping back and forth over the Tennessee/ North Carolina state line. )We didn¢t stop for lunch. We barely even stopped for breaks ( except for when Cole was waiting for me. ) Finally I just told Cole to go on ahead to the road where Mark and Evan were waiting and I would get there as soon as I could. About a mile from the road I saw Cole in the distance coming back towards me without his backpack on and with his brother Evan at his side. Shortly thereafter we reached Mark at the roadside. He had been shuttling hikers into town all morning as he waited for us. It was a wonderful reunion and I was ready to spend some time with my family and give my feet a break. Tomorrow is my husband¢s birthday. Sunday is mine. I think I¢m ready for birthday cake too!
Date: 2018-05-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 2.6
Weather: light rain

I¢ll start with a couple of ¢housekeeping¢ items.  I have read and greatly appreciate all of the comments you have added. I just can¢t, for the life of me, figure out how to reply to them individually.Second, I have noticed that my guide book and my Guthooks app do not always line up. Our miles to date are 394.8. I don¢t know if I calculated a distance incorrectly or if one of my resources is to blame. At any rate, I will have to ¢fudge¢ some numbers to get the total back on track. (Update; I have added mileage to this entry,even though we didn¢t hike, in order to correct the distance total)Now, what have we been up to?We took two zeros to rest and spend time with our family. Mark brought me everything I needed for a pedicure and I soaked (a lot!) in a warm epsom salt bath. I sure hope you can¢t overdose on Epsom salts!! Hubby gave me more than one foot massage, and he also brought me a new pair of boots and and a three man tent to replace our two man tent. Our sleeping space just got a third bigger!We went to the movies (How could they end the movie that way!!) and we shopped for our Resupply. The guide book said that there would be a festival with vendors, so we returned to Roan Mountain (we stayed in Bristol) to check it out. It was a bust! Not one single vendor was there. We ate cake, lazed around and overdosed on cuddles.  Oh, and I also turned 47!!Then....back to the trail!
Date: 2018-05-09
To: Spring at mile 435.5
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

We started off the day with more pink flowers and a flat easy stroll alongside the river. It didn¢t last though and very soon we began to climb. And climb. After taking two zeros on the weekend, we began running in to people who we hadn¢t seen for a while. We also encountered many new faces. When we arrived at a road that led to Boots Off hostel we decided to drop in for a soda. There we found even more hikers that we knew, ones we had assumed were far up the trail ahead of us. A food truck arrived and that delayed us longer. We joked that it definitely wasn¢t a ¢fast food¢ truck because there was a long wait. However, it was good to have a rest and when the food eventually came, it was delicious. We set out again with full bellies! The trail brought us around a lake, through a closed off area of forest, (closed due to bear activity. Only AT hikers were allowed through. I guess that we smell so bad that the bears don¢t bother us), over a dam, and then up a mountain (of course). At times the water was plentiful, but as we began to climb that mountain in the afternoon heat, the water disappeared fast, both in our bottles and in the availability of resupply sources. By the time we reached a spring at mile 435.5 we were both dehydrated. With a decent water source at hand, a flat(ish) spot for the tent and the company of a handful of other parched souls who had also stopped there, what more did we need? We decided to call it a day.
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Spring at mile 435.5

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

16.1 miles!! That is a record for us. I really hadn¢t intended to go that far. Cole really wanted to get to the shelter. I know that he has his own motives and they have nothing to do with concern for his mother¢s energy level or sore feet.¢I want to see if I can make it 16 Miles¢ he said. Well of course he can. We both know it, and I am not pushing myself beyond what I feel comfortable with just so you can prove something we both already know. We both already knew the real reason he wanted to get there too...to socialize with the other people we knew would be there. I wasn¢t pushing myself for that purpose either...but we did end up going the distance.The day was overcast and drizzly, but it kept the temperature down and thirst at bay. The terrain levelled off a lot by lunch time, and although my feet did their usual complaining, the miles were a bit easier.During one pause for rest, Cole said to me, ¢I feel much better when I drink a lot of water and take time to rest.¢Wait! What? Can you repeat that please? Has it only taken 47 days and over 400 miles for this self realization? Have I not been telling you this exact thing? Sigh!This is what I have discovered about parenting a teen. You can tell him something over and over until you are blue in the face, but until he comes to the realization of it on his own, it just won¢t sink in. Sometimes the scenery on the AT stays the same for long periods of time. But, at other times the AT surprises and delights you by taking you someplace different. Today it took us straight through a farmer¢s field. Through one section we had to unlatch the gate to enter. It felt a little bit like trespassing. Through another section, occupied by grazing cows, there was actually a step in place so that we could climb over the fence. What an amazing thing for a landowner to do, to allow AT hikers to traverse his field, especially when it is occupied by cows! This is what I love about the AT! The variety in the landscapes and the community of people who love and support it. What I don¢t like at all are those who abuse it...and sadly, there are a lot of them!
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: TN-VA Border
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

It was warm today and the water sources were few and far between. We stopped at Abington Gap Shelter for lunch along with a few other hikers (Dunk, Egg, Amazonian, Francis and Matt). We rested for a long time during the hottest part of the day. Both of our sawyer water collection bags have holes in them now. Duct tape isn¢t cutting it but we are making them do. We are also down a water bottle. One got left behind in the van when Mark dropped us off on Monday. The next water source was eight miles away which would put us at another sixteen mile day. Ugh. I just didn¢t think I could do it. After our rest, I started out from the shelter before everyone else. I am slow and was certain that they would all pass me. And they did. It is really nice being ahead of Cole for a change. I like it a lot! He must have stayed resting at the shelter for a long time because it took two hours for him to catch up to me. By that time my energy was almost spent. Clouds were moving in and the air had cooled a lot so we were not going through our water as quickly. Cole really wanted to get to the campsite at the next water source. His motive was predictable. Everyone was going there. I noticed on Guthooks that there was a small campsite by the Virginia border and so I let him know that I really needed to stop there.Cole tried everything. If it is a small campsite, our tent probably won¢t fit.-What about water. Don¢t we need some? It is ONLY going to be another mile or two. None of these attempts succeeded in increasing my energy level or soothing my feet. So, when we reached the border, we stopped for the night. A short flash downpour had soaked us just before we had arrived. In the lull we rushed to get the tent up, but another downpour hit before we had it completely erected. Once inside the tent, Cole just wanted to go to bed without eating. I waited for the rain to stop then went outside, strung a clothesline and hung our wet things. I fixed a wrap for Cole and convinced him to eat it.  I am trying to remember being 13. It was difficult. I was difficult. I was moody. My life at 13 was very different from my son¢s. Still, why should I think he should be less moody or difficult than I was? Some days the AT is very hard. Some days being a mom to a moody teen on the AT is very very hard!