morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-11-27
To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

11/27Wayah Bald Shelter10.5 milesMy foot ached abominably during the night, especially when my other foot touched it. I had no idea how often my feet touched. Turns out it's ALL THE TIME. Other than that I slept well. My empty shelter issues have seriously dwindled. When I pried myself out of bed this morning, I was just grateful not to have others to contend with. I pushed my sleeping pad up against the back wall of the shelter and propped my clothes bag behind my back so that I could sit in comfort. The disgustingly healthy breakfast I got at the outfitter was $5 granola. It had pumpkin seeds in it, for goodness sake. It tasted fine and all, but l missed my $1 honeybun. I skipped the Wesser fire tower. It was cold enough at ground level without adding elevation and wind. The morning was very cold. I wore multiple layers of insulation. I wasn't able to ditch the gloves and windbreaker except for a period of maybe an hour at the warmest part of the day. Ribbons of ice pushed out of the ground were visible in shady spots the whole day. I considered the trees. When leaves were changing, I thought I might find bare trees depressing. But I like the light that comes through. I like being able to see the mountains around me without the leaves blocking my view. Rhododendrons are still green, as are some grasses and other ground hugging plants. So things aren't all just brown and grey. My foot was fairly painful today. Not sure why. I took a moment to ponder how difficult it would be to get rescued if I weren't able to put weight on my foot. So far it hasn't come to that, and I hope it never does. I'm frustrated that I never know when or why my foot is going to hurt more. Sometimes it barely hurts at all, but sometimes it brings tears to my eyes and curse words to my lips. My nose kind of hurts too. It's been pretty runny from the cold. Constant wiping has left it feeling chapped. The insides of my head feel raw too. I desperately hope that I'm not getting a cold. I had the raw head thing going on for a couple of days early in the hike, and it passed without blooming into a full fledged cold. I hope the same thing happens this time. I only have a about ten days left. I'm crossing my fingers that everything holds together for that long. Not *every* thing, though.. the hook disappeared off my other gaiter today. I looked down and it was flapping in the wind. I guess both of them will get tucked under shoelaces now. It looks stupid but works pretty well. I stopped a little early today, between the foot and the head. The shelter is empty but Dan showed up near dark and is tented nearby. This is the best of both worlds. I have company, but I don't have to worry about disturbing him in the morning. He's a musician and says he won't be getting up early. I think he's far enough away that unless I have some sort of stove flinging fit, he shouldn't hear my morning antics. I was especially grateful to see him since I'd seen no other humans today. Barely any vertebrates for that matter.
Date: 2017-11-28
To: Franklin
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

11/28Franklin - Gooder Grove Hostel11 milesI got up at 5:30, but I had some technical difficulties with breakfast. Actual hiking didn't commence until 7:20. I couldn't see the sun yet, but I could see it illuminating nearby mountains. In the red light of dawn they looked like dunes in the Sahara. It was still early when I reached the Wayah fire tower, which ironically burned last year. The summit had the worst fire damage I've seen anywhere on the trail. It made me a little sad to see all the blackened skeletons of the trees. But new plants have been started. In a few years it'll look great. Today I did actually see two hikers, briefly. They passed as I was filtering water while sitting in a sunny spot. Today, as it has been for a while, it was icy in the shade but warm in the sun. I was a little concerned about my water filter but I don't think its actually cold enough in the cold spots to cause problems, as long as I keep moving. At Newfound Gap I texted Zen of Gooder Grove, then sat to wait. A man drove up with his old dog, for the express purpose of letting her out to sniff around up there. I can't even tell you how much I loved this. Old dogs deserve this level of care, but not all of them get it. I mean all the dogs at my house do! But all dogs everywhere should, in my opinion. Zen picked me up and we headed back to the hostel, with a quick stop to pick up an afternoon snack. I got an egg roll and a couple of crab rangoons and I was very happy. I realize that a normal thruhiker would have gotten several entrees as their snack, but the normal ship sailed long ago. I grabbed a ride to the store with Rogue. She bought the makings of lasagna while I bought supplies for the next few days. When we got back I handed off my laundry and took a shower. I'm now wearing extremely fuzzy and soft hostel clothes, and I don't really want my regular clothes back. Once I was clean, I helped assemble the lasagna. Then we found out that the pan didn't actually fit into the oven. Oh my. Through extremely professional activities we managed to move the assembled lasagna into two smaller pans and slid them into the oven. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself.  I tried to contribute some money but Rogue said this was magic for me! I'm so touched. It means so much to me, especially magnified by how I've been wandering alone in the wilderness. Being showered by this kindness really stands out.
Date: 2017-11-30
To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: few clouds

11/30Muskrat Creek Shelter12.5 milesSherpa informed me this morning that I had a funny snore. He didn't record it and his description was inadequate so I couldn't fully grasp it, but now I'm pretty curious. He also described petting a manatee (the manatee pretty much made him do it) and now I have a new life goal. My Jetboil was on a new canister this morning and it sounded like a freight train. I'm dubious about the whole "they come from the same factory and just have different labels" spiel. It sure sounded different, and the flame looked different too. More spread out. Ghost Hiker left before me. I forgot to say happy birthday, so if you read this, Ghost Hiker, "Happy Birthday!"After I started walking today it became clear that I had a little more damage from yesterday's fall. My right knee has been hyperextended. I put some tape on it but it didn't particularly help. It slowed me down and of course it hurt. It usually takes a few weeks to recover after I hyperextend it. I expect it'll hurt for the rest of the trip. With luck it won't hurt quite as much. I saw two gentlemen wearing safety vests today. One carried a walkie talkie. I didn't see any water bottles or other gear. I have no idea where they came from. I didn't see any cars at the road crossing. It will remain a mystery I suppose. It got cloudy and cold this afternoon. I bundled up and deployed my pack cover. It didn't really pour until I got to the shelter. I considered this excellent timing on my part. I got a little wet while fetching water, but it was still better than walking in pouring rain for an hour. I was here by myself for a couple of hours and was laughing at being solo yet again, but two section hikers arrived shortly before it got pitch black. It sure is nice to have company. I'm a little surprised that people section hike this time of year. When I go out in November and December closer to home, hikers are thin on the ground. But whatever the reason, I'm happy to have company two nights in a row. I might even see Ghost Hiker at the hostel tomorrow! We shall see. I had minimal cell signal today. I really wanted to a) get permission to send the picture of me in the back of the SUV at Newfound Gap to the Hiker Yearbook, and b) actually do so. I managed A but not B. Nor much else. Maybe tomorrow? Tomorrow is the deadline so it's then or never.
Date: 2017-12-01
To: Hiawassee 
Miles today: 11.8

12/1Hiawassee- Top of Georgia Hostel11.8 milesThe fog was thick in the shelter last night. I was distracted by the droplets moving in constantly changing shapes in my headlamp's beam. I'd blow my breath out to watch it whiten in a cloud in front of me. I'm easily amused. Today it was beautiful up in the mountains. At six the sky was clear and starry. The sun came up as I started walking. I could see the pillowy white tops of clouds settled down below me, as far as I could see. Clearly it was hella foggy down there. I saw lots of hikers today. They picked a nice day to get out there. I just chugged along, heading for town and hot food. Hot, delicious, cooked by someone else food. I got to the road at 3 and walked the half mile down to the hostel. Ghost Hiker was there! Bob got me a cola and showed me around. I took a quick shower and then headed into town in the hostel van. I wore scrubs since my clothes were in the laundry. We all went to a tavern for dinner. I wasn't too crazy about the recommended beer, but the burger was good. Then we walked over to the Ingles. I finally got my baguette and Brie! I'm very happy. I'm not sure if I want to zero here tomorrow or not. I guess I'll see. There isn't much point in rushing, since I have to meet JD on a specific day. I think I'll leave the decision for the morning.
Date: 2017-12-02
To: Hiawassee 
Miles today: 0.0

12/2Hiawassee 0 milesWhen I put my shoes on this morning it hurt like a SOB. I hissed and pulled my shoe off my bad foot. Detour, standing next to me, gave me a sympathetic grimace. I stood there on one foot for a bit, waiting for the pain to die down. That decided me on today's plan. I went and paid for another night. Everyone else drifted out eventually. I spent a pleasant day doing not very much. Crossword puzzles, reading, and Facebook. At lunchtime I made a hiker box meal. Knorr's Dirty Rice with some butter from the hiker fridge tasted pretty good. I ate the whole pot. Then I made a pancake the size of my head. It was an all carb meal, but it tasted good and I was pleasantly full. Ghost Hiker returned from her slack at 2 and decided to ask for a shuttle back out so she could sleep in the woods. The hostel was crowded last night and neither of us slept well. I think she would have been fine tonight but there was no way to know in advance. She offered me some food she had bought to eat for dinner tonight but wouldn't be using after all. I gratefully accepted, and was the happy consumer of pork and veggie egg rolls as well as an orange soda and a root beer. Then I remembered that I had Tate's Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies and so I had dessert as well. Joe arrived in late afternoon. He ate his dinner while I ate mine. We chatted, of course. He turned out to be a car guy. Sadly I couldn't give him many details of my own car guy's vehicles, but I showed him pictures and he could tell what they were. Joe was nursing a pissed off Achilles' tendon. I told him about kinesiotape and taped it up for him. He thinks it feels a bit better, but the proof will be in the walking tomorrow. I hope it feels good enough to let him complete his hike. My own hike will be complete shortly as well. The weather is supposed to turn, with temperatures plummeting. I expect to be a Joysicle the last day or two. I might be bundled up and looking like the Michelin Tire Man, but I'm going to do it!
Date: 2017-12-03
To: Tray Mtn Shelter 
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

12/3Tray Mtn Shelter11 milesI had a heck of a time falling asleep. I think maybe I accidentally dosed myself with caffeine. I assumed the orange and root beer sodas were safe but maybe not. When I woke up I felt like pan fried hell. A day of rest was called for, but my back sure didn't appreciate it. Also? Severe bed head. Joe and I packed up and waited for it to be 7, when Bob opened up the breakfast. All you can eat sugar cereals is like a blast from the past for me. I still can't bring myself to eat Cocoa Crisps, but I enjoyed Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I had a whole lot of caffeinated beverage to help me deal with life. Bob dropped us off at Dick's Creek Gap and I headed off into the mist. It took an hour or so to hike above the clouds. The terrain is almost completely unfamiliar to me, hiked from this direction. Since I didn't remember it, it was like hiking new miles. Which is novel and cool. I saw a fair number of day hikers. They were all doing the 17 mile Unicoi to Dick's Creek section. More power to them. I sat on a log in the sun around noon at Addis Gap. With great happiness I finally ate the baguette and Brie I've been wanting for a while. Actually I ate a quarter of it. Baguettes are big. I enjoyed both the food and the act of lightening my pack. Not that it's that heavy. Most of the time, when it's correctly adjusted, I forget it's there. Even with all my additional winter gear. Have I told you about that? I can't remember. Summer gear: long sleeve pants and shirt, thin socks (2 pair), 40 degree bag, down jacket mostly used as pillow. Wool socks for sleeping. Also wool top and bottom for sleeping. Fleece hat. Alcohol stove. Fleece top. Windbreaker. Unused gloves. Winter gear: same daily outfit, but also a pair of thin wool socks, a pair of liner socks, and a pair of waterproof socks in case of snow or cold rain. I wear the windbreaker most of the time. I use the gloves much of the day. Still have the wool sleep gear, plus a second pair of synthetic tights. I wear my hiking shirt to bed, in addition to the wool layer and the fleece top. I layer the tights with the wool bottoms. I wear a down skirt in camp and in the sleeping bag. The sleeping bag is actually 2 - my summer quilt is layered inside my winter bag. I wear down booties over my socks. I have a down hood on over my wool buff and fleece hat. The down jacket is placed wherever I'm coldest. My fleece serape is my easy on, easy off layer during the day and my neck baffle at night to prevent drafts at my shoulders. I'm carrying my heavy, bulky Jetboil for quick, reliable hot water production. About 3/4 of my backpack is taken up with insulation. Totally worth it. I sleep super cold, so carrying enough gear to stay quite warm is a no brainer. I got to this shelter at about 3 and debated moving on to the cheese factory site as planned. But the advantages of bear cables and a privy drew me. I'll do a 15 mile day tomorrow to get to Low Gap. 11 miles sufficient unto today.
Date: 2017-12-04
To: Low Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

12/4Low Gap Shelter15.4 milesMy neighbors, Caroline and Julian, invited me to join them by their fire for a bit. I did, and had a nice time chatting and staring into the flames. Turns out they also plan to move to Colorado. Small world!The moon was brilliant, clearly lighting the area so I could see easily. It made the night a little odd. Since it wasn't really dark, it didn't feel late. And when I woke up and checked my watch, I thought it would be 1 AM, but it was 5:30. Time to get up. So disappointing. I watched a beautiful sunrise as I packed up. I started walking with my headlamp but didn't really need it. The sunrise seemed to go on for a long time. I kept stopping to gawp. I don't know why I'm surprised that the cold weather sunrises and sunsets are so good. They seem like they should be a warm weather thing I guess. It was chilly all day, and windy. I spent much of the day bundled up. Really only in sun and out of wind was it comfortable in shirtsleeves, and I found precious little of that. That's all right. I can't expect a lot of warmth in December. I like it when I find it, but I don't expect much of it. I managed to get to Low Gap about half an hour before dark, so I had time to fetch water and make dinner before it got too dark. I found Wildflower and Gunn in residence along with their massive dog, Lillian. Lillian is currently snoring. Snoring dogs crack me up every time. My dinner was chicken tortilla soup flavor ramen. I'm not sure I would have guessed chicken tortilla flavor, but it tasted good. I must be pretty far gone if I'm digging the ramen. Next I'll find out that I like packets of tuna.No, wait. That will never happen. Tomorrow looks fairly awful, with showers and thunderstorms all day. I'm glad I'll be heading somewhere dry at night. A hot shower goes a long way toward improving a cold, wet day.
Date: 2017-12-05
To: Neel Gap
Miles today: 11.5

12/5Neel Gap11.5 milesWell that was unpleasant. I checked my watch at 6 and was disappointed to see that it was time to get up. I could have happily slept another 3 hours. I got up and fetched my food bag. It wasn't raining, but it was misting hard enough to dampen my down coat. Dammit. I wiped it down as well as I could when I got back in the shelter. As quietly as I could I made breakfast - which means the shelter briefly roared as my Jetboil heated water for coffee. Wildflower, Gunn, and Lillian slept through it as well as they could. Right around sunrise I got underway. My outfit was a compromise. I could be comfortable uphill or downhill. I chose uphill, as overheating on uphills sucks and would mean an extra layer of wet garments to deal with. Wet garments that I couldn't later put on for warmth. So I wore my pants, wicking shirt, rain skirt, rain jacket, pole covers, and pack cover hoodie. As expected I was warm enough going uphill, but chilled on the flats and downhills. Shortly after I started, I walked toward what looked like my reflection: another woman with a blaze orange pack cover and hat, dark raincoat, and skirt. She stepped aside for me to pass. As I walked by I said "We have a twin thing going on" and she agreed. I wonder where she stayed last night. She must have tented somewhere, or started walking while it was still very dark out. Very quickly the fog turned to pea soup and stayed that way. I was on the ridgeline most of the day, which meant I was in the wind. The rain blew sideways. I was wet and cold. It was too cold to consider stopping for longer than a breath. I was miserable and spent my day wishing for it to end. Except for when the wind picked up enough that I was too scared of dead trees falling to be aware of the cold. But after that I was cold and miserable again. The wind was the kind that inflates your clothing so you look like one of those waving tube figures outside of a business. All that air inside my clothes accelerated the cooling process. Feh. When I finally arrived at Neel Gap, I was super happy to find the Outfitter open. I had more than half convinced myself that they would be closed, as they are listed as having unspecified different winter hours. Instead I walked in and had a hot drink right away, bought some food, and checked into the blessedly warm hostel. My day took a turn for the better. I ate my sandwich, took a hot shower, and then went back up to the store with the other hikers to buy pizza. We waited in front of the heater while the pizzas cooked, then adjourned to the hostel for our impromptu pizza party. It was nice to sit around and eat pizza. It was companionable. Also, pizza. My gear is mostly dried out, I have food and toilet paper, and there are 30 miles of trail left. Two 15 mile days and I'm done! Plus hiking out to a road, of course. The weather is supposed to be cold and windy but mostly clear. That's a vast improvement over today, so I expect I'll enjoy my final two days of thruhiking. And my half day of.. post-thruhiking? Day hiking? I don't know. Whatever it is, it'll be short and then I hope I will be somewhere warm.
Date: 2017-12-06
To: Gooch Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 15.6

12/6Gooch Mtn Shelter15.6 milesI didn't get a ton of sleep at the hostel, but I woke up feeling rested at 5 AM. I took my breakfast out to the common area. Joe came out to pack up for his ride to Atlanta. Hey Joe, if you read this I could not find your profile. Find me, my name is more unusual and should be easier to find. I waited around until it was light enough to see a little and then headed out. It was cold. My phone said it was 32 at Neel Gap, with a windchill of 20. I believe it. My fingers were going numb inside my gloves and pole covers. As I came around the corner and could get a good look at Blood Mountain, I saw fog rising up the mountain. I decided right then to take the Freeman Trail, which is the bad weather trail around the mountain. Yesterday's experience was too fresh in my mind to deliberately walk into bad weather, given another option. As it turned out, my hike on the Freeman Trail was the only time I really felt warm today so I was good with my decision. I regretted not wearing tights under my pants all day. It was too cold to stop for anything but the most urgent call of nature. The cold dulled my thirst and appetite, so that at the end of the day I found that I had barely drunk anything. Bad hiker! I know better, and I did sip occasionally, but not enough. I made a big hot dinner to get a bunch of fluids into me tonight. The land surrounding the trail was very pretty. I would have liked to linger and gaze, but I would have chilled too easily so I only snatched a few glances. I was forced to stop a moment and gaze in awe at some of the trees that were shredded by this year's hurricane. You think of trees being very solid and sturdy, but apparently healthy trees were ripped apart like it was child's play. Of course, many turned out to have been hollow inside. No surprise that those didn't survive a hurricane. Izzy and Detour showed up at the shelter tonight. They were pretty surprised to see me. I think it's funny that we'll summit the same day. Given how many times I've run into them, maybe it was inevitable. I feel like I should have some strong emotion about finishing. Maybe I will tomorrow. Right now I just feel glad to be almost done, and I'm looking forward to being warm.
Date: 2017-03-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Last year I hiked southern portions of the Appalachian Trail. One notable hike I still remember was waking up one morning in the Icewater Spring shelter of the Smokies National Park. All of my water bottles had frozen solid. It was either beg other hikers for their water, who had the insight to sleep with their water bottles inside their sleeping bags, or get off the trail. I wasn't about to hike another 28 miles to Standing Bear with ice in my pack. So back down South to where the tourist park their cars and gawk at the views of Newfound Gap. Amazing how easy it is getting a hitch, with stinky wet clothes, just by leaning on my hiking poles and sticking out my finger. The big thumb finder, not the middle one. I actually asked the couple why they picked me up. The nice couple said, they felt sorry for me, as i looked like i was almost frozen to death. I actually was, but that is another matter. I just filed away in my grey matter of my brain, that the more pathetic and helpless i looked, that it would increase my chances of a pickup, at last for next time i need a hitch into town. After being thawed out in a Gatlinburg hotel, started back my hike which got me as far as Uncle Johnny's Hostel. It was here that an epiphany struck me like Thor's hammer out of Asgard, family was more important to me that this silly life long dream of hiking to Maine. I made it a point from then on, to include my family on as many of these hikes as possible. I will attempt this thru hike in 2017. In segments, that is. Lets call it a LASH, or bunch of Long A** Section Hikes, strewn together. Are a bunch of LASHes equal to a THRU? Hmmm lets see ... LASH + LASH + LASH + LASH = THRU Yup, it may just be so.