morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-19
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap, Franklin, NC
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Broke camp in the rain and was the first out of camp this morning. My joints were a little sore so I took some Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and I was soon sailing down the trail. No Rush and I passed each other a few times in the morning. There was a section of the trail where there was some steep exposure dropping down hundreds of feet beyond some small trees. I carefully made my way past and then hiked up the steep Albert Mountain, which required some hand to hand climbing. There is a fire tower up on top, but today there would be no views as the area was completely obscured by clouds. The north side of Albert Mountain was a smooth and easy descent and I quickly covered the remaining miles and called for a shuttle ride into Franklin so that I could resupply. The shuttle did not show up for several hours and I was a little disappointed as I could have easily hiked several miles to the next pick up point at Winding Stair Gap.
Date: 2014-04-20
From: Rock Gap, NC

To: Burningtown Gap, Aquone Lodge, NC
Miles today: 18.47
Weather: clear sky

We had a nice evening in Franklin as several of us, including Randy, No Rush, Unsure and others were shuttled in the rain to a pizza restaurant by the owner, where we enjoyed a nice dinner. I left the Budget Inn after resupply at 9:00 am and was shuttled back to Rock Gap where I had left the trail yesterday. On the shuttle, I was reunited with Crews from Little Rock, who had previously been hiking with Shea, Mouse, and Delaware. As I suspected, he grew tired of their lower miles and ended up hiking with AZ Cruiser, who is 53 years old and from the Phoenix area. AZ Cruiser and I had been corresponding with each other and had met at a road gap a few days earlier and had planned to try to hike together at some point. Now, as it happens, he and Crews had hit it off, and now all 3 of us were together and at the same spot on the trail. They had already plotted to do a big day so that we could reach the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the following day.These two guys are fast hikers. I'm not slow, but I will slow down to watch a butterfly float by, stop to try and identify a warbler in the canopy, or even sit to listen to the music of a fast running brook. When I reached the first road crossing at the Winding Stair Gap, there was a 12 pack of sodas and some chocolate eggs just off the trail. Happy Easter! My heart filled with emotion at this random gesture. The day was beautiful, but long and the trail went through a large blow down area where most of the trees had been been reduced to broken fragments. At the Wayah Bald Monument, I met Squirrel, who is section hiking to Damascus. I ended up taking the wrong trail just before reaching the Wayah Bald Shelter in an obvious conspiracy. I only hiked about 0.1 miles before I realized something was wrong and then backtracked. After hiking 18.4 miles for the day and reaching the Burningtown Gap Road, I called for a ride to the Aquone Hiker Lodge to meet Crews and AZ Cruiser. The lodge is a beautiful log cabin in a small community and is run by Maggie and Steve, who are originally from England. Steve showed me around and said "we'll put your boots in the drying room Bro". Here's the shower, put your dirty clothes in the bag and Maggie will come round and wash them for you Bro, and here's some clean clothes you can wear for now Bro" I told Steve about the wrong turn I made and he said it has happened to many people and he ended up picking up one hiker who had ended up many miles off of the trail. He said he was aware of the confusing spot and he was going to put up a sign for clarification. There were 7 of us in all and it was a fantastic place that I highly recommend. .
Date: 2014-04-21
To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

Another beautiful day. Said goodbye to Randy, a retired Game Warden from Wisconsin, who hiked with us for a few days.   He was bummed about leaving the trail because he had to teach a leadership seminar. Spring has been popping out all over especially in the lower elevations.   Dropping down to 1,700 feet to reach the Nantahala Outdoor Center, there were beautiful flowering Dogwoods everywhere. On the way down, I passed Jackal, Unsure, and Pocket Fire, who were all hiking together as a group. Trail Scat: Spotted a Black-faced Green Warbler.
Date: 2014-04-22
From: NOC Cabins

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: moderate rain

Had a great start to the day with a great breakfast with my trail friends overlooking the Nantahala River, all the while listening to some great music. It had been about 10 days since I had had listened to any music and I really did miss it. The forecast was rain all day, so I got my rain gear ready. The problem with dropping down to an elevation of 1,700 feet like we were at, meant that we would have to gain it all back with a climb. The climb was steady up all day and then the rain came. After about 8 miles in, I made it to a shelter where other hikers had called it a day and had built a fire inside and out of the rain. I stopped in long enough to rest and dry off a little and then started back out in to the rain for another 7.8 mile to the planned destination for the evening. Made it down to a road crossing, where someone had left bananas and apples on a picnic table. I quickly ate one of each and pushed on to the hardest steepest climb of the day. I literally cursed out loud at the absurdity of the trail builders, who for some reason take you up the steepest hill and then back to the bottom, only to take you back up another steep hill. the rain had finally stopped for the evening and I finally rolled into camp around 7:30 with enough time to set up my tent on the one of the last spots available; an uneven surface that made for an uncomfortable sleep. Definitely my toughest day on the trail.Trail Scat: Saw a flock of Goldfinches near the NOC cabins.
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Village Resort
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a relatively short 11 mile day as we needed to get in early to get our permits to enter Smoky Mountain National Park and pick up any needed supplies to get us through a portion of the park. The sun was shining and it was nice to dry out some of our gear. On top of the mountain, we caught our first glimpse of Fontana lake and the Fontana Dam, which we will cross over the top before entering the Smokies.Caught a shuttle into the Fontana Village Resort and got a room in the nice lodge and then rested out front of the general store on rocking chairs while we waited for our laundry to finish.Trail Scat: Saw a few more Black and White Warblers. I really do love their sense of harmonic diversity.Trail Scat: I am really glad that I selected my trail name as Abear. For all my life, my good friends have called me Abear, and it is comforting to hear others call me that. I love the way the tall German on the trail, "Pocket Fire" says it "Abar" with a roll of the r.
Date: 2014-04-24
From: Fontana Village Resort

To: Russelfield Shelter
Miles today: 14.9

Left the comfort of the Fontana Village Resort and walked across the Fontana Dam, the levelest portion of the trail we will ever encounter. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning.We then entered Smoky National Park and started climbing. The scenery and terrain were very similar to what we had been through over the last several days, basically dormant hardwoods still in the process of awakening from Winter. Later in the day, reached a point where the trail represents the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. So basically my left foot was landing in Tennessee and my right foot was coming down in North Carolina. By request, I will describe the basic geology that I have a been walking through. As most people with a basic understanding of geology know, the Appalachian Mountains are ancient. They have been worked and reworked; they have been tilted, warped, overturned, buried, upthrust, and buckled over millions of years. With that understanding, it stands to reason that most of the rocks that I have encountered so far consist of Metamorphic rocks. There have been very few exposed outcrops along the trail and much of the rocks are covered with vegetation. What little geology I have seen has been at my feet in the rocks that I walk over. Early on the trail in Georgia, much of what I was seeing consisted of quartzites, with few pieces of muscovite mica scattered across the trail. Quartzite is a metamorphosed sandstone in which the sand grains have fused togethor. Very fine sand was present that had eroded from the quartzite.The rocks that I have encountered in North Carolina have consisted mostly of black and green slate, which is the metamorphosed version of shale. Hopefully as I make my way further north, more interesting forms of geology will present itself to me.In Smoky Mountain National Park, you are required to sleep in a shelter, unless they are full and in that circumstance you can pitch a tent. I got to the shelter late in the afternoon and there was plenty of space, so tonight would be my first night in a shelter. For the most part, most of the people you meet at the shelters are very nice. Tonight was no exception, except for one individual. This person did not fit in. He was not one of us. I had a sense that this trail troll, as I call him was just not right. I first saw him sitting on the trail before reaching the shelter and I asked him as I passed if he was heading north or south, hoping his answer would be in the opposite direction of me. "Same direction as you", he said in a deep, back woods accent. He showed up at the shelter later and luckily ended up pitching a tent. But not before everyone had grown tired of listening to his expletive filled rants into the early evening.Trail Scat: on a bird sighting, I misidentified a bird which should have been called a Black Faced Green Warbler
Date: 2014-04-25
From: Russelfield Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

I woke up from a decent nights sleep to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof of the shelter. Rain was in the forcast and this would be the sixth day of rain in 15 days on the trail. I packed up and as I was leaving, the troll asked me if AZ Cruiser, who had just left, was my brother. "No, I said" and walked away. I think most of us were relieved to find out that he was going to spend the day hanging out in the shelter.Crossed over the top of Rocky Top Tennessee, but didn't see anything but rain and howling wind. Today I mostly slogged and slipped my way across the muddy trail. My spirit was low and my level of ennui had waxed to it's highest point since starting this trip. I reached the shelter late in the day and it was already full, overflowing in fact. The listed occupancy of the shelter was 12, but as many as 18 had filled the inside. Being that it was Friday, there were a lot of section hikers out. I met Scout and Chinook, two young guys from New Jersey. At least the rain had stopped by this time and so I set up my tent and crawled in to keep warm as it was going to be a cold night.
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: clear sky

I awoke from my best night of sleep since starting this trip. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning. Today, we would be reaching Clingman's Dome, the highest elevation on the Appalachian Trail at 6,655 feet. As we climbed, we were entering for the first time, evergreen forest consisting of spruce and fir. The air smelled clean and fresh with pine. My spirit had done a complete shift from yesterday. As I was coming down off of Clingman's Dome, I ran into Marty and her husband Kim, who were hiking on the trail and handing out apples and orange slices to thru hikers. I was touched by this and started to say what a beautiful thing it was and just as I said "beautiful", my voice cracked and for the third time on this trip my emotions spilled out, but this time it was in front of other people. I didn't really care at this point. Sometimes when your heart is overflowing, it just has to spill out. Later in the day, as I reached a grassy clearing, I smelled cooking meat and arrived at a hiker cookout being put on by the parents of "Persistant", a thru hiker, who had driven 2 1/2 hours to cook burgers and hot dogs for hikers. I didn't think this day could get any better but it did. Godspeed, who had thru hiked several years ago came walking over from the other parking area 1.7 miles away to figure out why no one was showing up at his trail magic event. He offered us a free ride into Gatlinburg, which was our planned destination for the day. Seven of us hopped into he and his wife's truck and on the way got caught in a "bear jam" on the road as two black bears had been spotted near the road. As we drove past, I got my first glimpse of a bear on this trip.
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Gatlinburg, Tennessee

To: Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6

Nice day in the Smoky Mountains. Spent much of the day hiking a high narrow ridge line at the very top of the smokies. At times, the ridge was not much wider than the width of the trail, dropping steeply on both sides. Stopped and snapped pictures on top of Charlie's Bunyon, a nice exposed outcrop. The trail, at times was directly on nearly vertical beds of thin dark gray and light blue slaty rock.At three times during the day, I heard the helicopter-like drumming sound that Ruffed Grouse make as part of a mating call, but I never caught a glimpse of one. Late in the day, as I was getting very tired and ready to reach the shelter for the night, I came across an unopened bag of veggie sticks sitting right in the middle of the trail. I did exactly what anyone who has been in the woods for several weeks would do. I threw off my pack, sat in the trail and ripped open the bag and ate every last one right on the spot.There was ample space at the shelter, and I was able to sleep inside and shared a quiet night with Sherpa Mom, Birch and Tinder, a young couple from New Jersey, Class Act, a retired physician from Upstate New York and AZ Criuser. Three brothers from Florida, out for the weekend came in later. As the rain fell on the tin roof later in the night, it was nice to be inside for a change. Trail Scat: Saw a White Eyed Vireo and Black-Capped Chickadee. The most prominant bird on the trail by far is the Dark Eyed Junco, which is present at all elevations.
Date: 2014-04-28
To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 18.3

It was a blustery morning with a definite threat of rain. Started out hiking in the mist and at one point, I saw what appeared to be a white flag waving in front of me moving quickly down the trail. When I was able to focus, I realized it was a White Tailed Deer. it must have heard me coming because it climbed up the bank of the trail and went into the woods. When I reached the point that it departed the trail, I looked up and as our eyes met, we acknowledged each other and then both went on our way.Today was full of spectacular views at every turn and is the exact reason that I do not climb rickety fir towers to get a view. The weather reamined partly cloudy, but it did not rain all day. I crossed under Interstate 40 and may my way to Standing Bear Farm, which is like a hiker commune. The bunkhouse was full, so I ended up pitching my tent out on the lawn. The caretakers for the Farm, Rocket and Lumpy, were characters in their own right, and add to that copius amounts of moonshine, and it was a very entertaining evening.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: moderate rain

It rained off an on during the night, but it had stopped by the time morning came. I did awaken at Midnight with a slight stomach disorder and made my way to the outhouse, but was ok slightly after. Several people were planning to zero at the farm due to the threat of severe weather, but I had plans to hike my first 20 mile day. The hike was for the most part uninteresting and the weather held with no rain. However, it was much more humid than days past. It appears there might be a shift from winter-like conditions to more spring-summer. Trillium flowers are blooming all over the hillsides with the majority consisting of white, with a few pink, yellow, and even burgundy varieties in the mix. The most interesting part of the hike was climbing to the top of Max Patch, a large grassy hill with excetional views. I watched a few Ravens floating over the area and a Kestrel flying just ahead of me landing on each post marking the trail.I reached the shelter after 7:00 pm and didn't know anyone there. It was cold and most of the hikers in the shelter were already hunkered down for the night. One of the problems of hiking longer miles is that you hike out of your hiker community and into another. The night was interesting as the shelter location was on top of the mountain and the winds were howling all night long. I was awakened at 2:00 AM to winds that were as loud as a jet engine and I definitely had a fear of falling limbs.
Date: 2014-04-30
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs North Carolina 
Miles today: 13.1

Got up early and pushed hard to get into town early. The trail runs right through the middle of the town right down mainstreet. I checked into the hotel and went straight to the library to get to a computer and as it turns out, the library closes at 1:00 on Wednesday's, just as I got there. Next was laundry, had a burger while I waited and then walked over to the Hot Springs resort. I reserved a private outdoor hot tub and soaked for a solid hour while looking out over a tributary of the French Broad River. While I sat there, I watched Robins, two brilliant Baltimore Orioles, and Blue jays in the trees overhead. This was definitely a nice break. Again, I did not know any of the hikers I was seeing, but as I was talking on the phone, Crews popped his head out of the Outfitter store and hollered "Abear", just as I saw Chinook and Scout, two young guys from New Jersey we had been seeing a lot of and another kid that goes by the trail name "Bear Juice". It ended up being great day.
Date: 2014-05-01
From: Hot Springs North Carolina 

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Spent the morning in Hot Springs trying to tie up loose ends. Had a nice breakfast and then went to the outfitter as soon as they opened to get my pack adjusted as my shoulder has been hurting. On the street, I met Chadwick, a local historian who filled me in on the history of Hot Springs. He informed me of a time when there was a German Internment Camp just up the hill and how the interns were eventually accepted into the community, teaching music to the locals. Then we started talking baseball and music. Chadwick is a Mariners fan and also plays in a Blue-grass band. I snapped his picture and then we parted ways. AZ and I ended up having lunch with Wired who is a serious hiker going for the Triple Crown, which completing the PCT, Continental Divide Trail and the AT. She is currently averaging about 20 miles per day, and certainly lives up to her moniker. I can't remember ever eating lunch so fast. I spent a few hours at the library trying to get some pictures squared away, so that I can start posting the higher quality photos I have been taking to justify carrying the 3 pounds of camera on my back. Hopefully in a few days, I will be able to do that. I ended up leaving town after 2:00 and hiked 11 miles into the early evening to get to the designated camp stop. It was definitely tough walking out of this this picturesque little town. The problem with going into towns at lower elevations is that have to climb back out of those towns at some point.During my hike, I had been spotting strips of bright blue flagging on small trees. As I was nearing my camp for the evening, I spotted what appeared to be blue flagging, but this time the flagging flew off. it turned out to be two beautiful Indigo Buntings.
Date: 2014-05-02
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: clear sky

We have been spoiled by the great weather and today we were shooting to complete over 21 miles of trail. In the morning, we started seeing signs posted on trees talking about free hamburgers and hot dogs to all hikers at a gap that just happened to be on our sights for early afternoon after BOUT 11 miles. We definitely quickened our pace as there is nothing better than free food on the trail. The hiker feed was exceptional. It was sponsored by a local hiking club, and there were cakes, cookies, sodas, and all other kinds of food in addition to hamburgers and hot dogs. It was tough to get started again with a full belly and knowing there were still 10 miles to go.We climbed a cool exposed section of ridgeline with excellent views on both sides. At times, the climb was hand over hand and very strenuous. The rocks appeared to be bedded quartzite with thin seams of quartz "boudinage" pressed between the layers. I assume the term is analogous with sausage as those familiar with the Southern Louisiana "Boudin" would recognize the origin of the term. It was another late evening getting into camp, which just enough time to make dinner, set up the tent, and then crawl in for the night.Trail Scat: Saw two Rose Breasted Grosbeaks during the day.