morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-08-12
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Campsite mm 652.3
Miles today: 15.4

Ugh. Today was tough. I left Pearisburg carrying five days of food -- enough to make it to Daleville, VA -- and three liters of water. Oh, what a big heavy pack. Ho, ho, ho! And, naturally, there was a significant climb heading out of town and back upon the ridge. Ah, well. The ridge was long, hot and dry, so I am glad I brought that extra water. And I'm now down to four days of food, so that issue will work itself out soon.I saw no hikers today but I did see a cute little roly-poly bear cub. As soon as it heard me it turned tail and scampered away deep into the woods as fast and clumsily as it could go. No sign of momma or any siblings. Once again I'm camped high up on the ridge. This run of pleasant weather has been so enjoyable. Alas, the forecast for tomorrow calls for evening storms, so my string of ridge top campsites might have to come to an end. But not before I get to see some meteors tonight!
Date: 2019-08-13
From: Campsite mm 652.3

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a rainy day. I got packed up in dry weather, but the rain started about a half hour later. For awhile there was a lot of thunder and lightning, and then there was a good solid downpour. It rained on and off all day, mostly on. But, it was fairly cool, at least.Because of the weather I stopped at three shelters, something I very rarely do. I ducked into Pine Swamp Branch Shelter and Bailey Gap Shelter, and I'm now at War Spur Shelter for the night. While at Bailey Gap Shelter I met SOBO Flip-Flopper Skinny Kid, and we had a good talk waiting for the rain to let up. He passed 1500 miles yesterday. Awesome!All my gear stayed dry, which is wonderful, but I hiked all day with wet feet and I know there will be blisters coming. This is one of the occupational hazards of section hiking -- your feet get citified and soft in between section hikes. It just kinda goes with the territory.
Date: 2019-08-14
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Campsite mm 684.6
Miles today: 15.6

Ouch! Well, they're here. Five shiny new blisters. One on the underside of each toe on my right foot. My shoes were still wet this morning, so I hiked until about noon with wet feet. By then my shoes were mostly dry, so I changed socks. That helped a lot, but some damage was done.  It was otherwise a really good day for a walk -- a bit hot maybe but that's to be expected in August. I saw five SOBOs today, including Flip-Flopper Flipswitch who had just passed the 1500 mile mark. Way to go, brother!Today was another three-liter water carry day. Ugh. It's dry and dusty out here. Clean water sources are few and overtaxed. Yesterday's rain seems forgotten. There's water in the creeks flowing through the cow pastures, but nobody wants to drink that! I feel like I should be drinking much more, but then I'd have to carry it.  After one night in a shelter I'm camped right back up on the ridge, which I love. I'm at the point where the AT crosses the Eastern Continental Divide. It's coolish, the bugs are few and the moon is bright. This is a great place to be.
Date: 2019-08-15
From: Campsite mm 684.6

To: Campsite mm 699.0
Miles today: 14.4

Today was a struggle. My goal was to get myself in position for maximum enjoyment of tomorrow, and I did that. But I didn't enjoy today as much as I should have. I saw no other hikers, I had to carry three liters of water again, it was fiery hot out, my blisters hurt, and I had two significant climbs which really sapped my strength.  This is all part of the deal, I know. I'm so fortunate to get to be out here doing this. I'm not sure why I fought with the trail today. But it happened. Once again I'm camped up on the ridge where it is waterless but otherwise oh so pleasant. I'm about three miles trail south of Dragon's Tooth, the first of tomorrow's three outstanding geological features. Gonna be one fine day, tomorrow is.
Date: 2019-01-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

In about 80 days I'll be starting my thru-hike of the AT.This hike represents a lot of things to me. Its the fulfillment of a dream that I inherited from my father. I grew up hiking the White Mountains with him and my brother. The Appalachian Trail was something he always talked about wanting to do. It was something that had called to him since his youth, and while he has explored stretches of it through New Hampshire he has never gotten the opportunity to hike its length.When I moved from New Hampshire to Virginia to begin my career I was delighted to find the trail just a short drive from my front door. I've spent an enormous amount of time walking along its length from Big Meadows to Harpers Ferry as well as up and down the blue blazes that intersect it throughout the region. It has become an old friend and place I retreat to when I need to shed stress and get in touch with my thoughts.At this point in my life, the trail represents a path out of the life I've been living to the life I want to live. I started gender transition about three years ago. Ive had wonderful support from friends and coworkers and some family in that effort. I've successfully held onto my career through this and have kept my life from falling apart, but I've reached a place where I feel stagnant and unable to move forward in any meaningful way. I feel stuck, trying to fulfill the expectations of people who knew me before starting this journey. I need a clean break. To go out into the world and re-introduce myself to it as the person I am now. The trail has been a significant source of peace and comfort to me through my transition so it seems like the right place to go to begin this final phase. I hope to emerge on the other side of this experience, wholly and unapologetically myself, having accomplished something big as the person I am now.Finally, the trail represents an opportunity to show my parents that for all the frightening change that I've been undergoing, deep down at my core I'm still the person they raised with the same dreams and aspirations. That the choices that I have been making along this path have not been in an attempt to throw away everything that we have in common and destroy the person they know. I want to show them that I'm still their outdoorsy, determined kid in spite of how I present myself to the world now. I hope that through this accomplishment we can find some healing.When this is over I am looking forward to picking up and moving to begin a new life somewhere else, but right now my focus is fully on the challenge before me. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences as I go.Thanks!- Heather J.
Date: 2019-01-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Got two good training events in this weekend. I try to mix up my routine as much as possible, but due to a bruised bone in my foot I've had to stop running again. That's frustrating to me. I love running. I'm not built for it and its always, always hard, but the sense of accomplishment is unmatched.Saturday I spent about 3 hours hiking around Great Falls park with my pack loaded with all my gear, partially for the sake of having weight on my back and partially for giving my pack-loading skills a good test. My REI Ridgeline, while being the heaviest single item in my kit, is comfortable and easy to carry. I've had it for about six years now and it's become a good friend. I'm having a hard time deciding if I'm going to upgrade it before I leave. I'm torn on how necessary it is. Upgrading would get my cold-weather base weight to 15 lbs and my summer base weight down to about 12 lbs.Sunday I broke out the snowshoes thanks to a fresh 6-7 inches of snow. I trudged all the way across town to get coffee, getting first tracks across the golf course and the nature trails at 5am in the morning. I took my time getting back, going around one of the two lakes in my neighborhood, up through the nature center, into the woods, and eventually looping back home. Final mileage was about 7.5 miles for the morning. Unfortunately, I went too hard and now have very painful blisters on the backs of my heels.I feel foot care is going to be a problem for me on the trail. I tend to push past the point of discomfort and do real damage to myself.76 days to go...
Date: 2019-01-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Part of the deciding factor for making this the year I ditch everything and go hiking was the belief that I had most everything I would need in terms of gear. I've done plenty of 2-3 day backpacking trips and thought I could easily scale up to a thru hike without a huge financial investment.And then I become weight obsessed. When you start talking to the hiking community online you quickly learn that "Ultralight" is the new thing that everyone aspires to and the way people talk about gear you might come away with the impression that if you're not targeting a sub-20lb pack weight and spending $100s of dollars to shed ounces then you're in for a really bad time on the trail. I've always been fairly comfortable hiking with my kit. I have my $60 REI Garage Sale Special Backpack which weighs in close to 5lbs, but has been with me through eight or nine seasons and has never let me down. I have my 3lb Big Agnes 15o sleeping bag. And I have my 3lb Big Agnes MtnGlo tent with the fancy little USB battery pack and LEDs sewn into the seams. These have been the staples of my outdoor adventures for years now. Also, since I'm still a fairly big person, all of my gear tends to be the largest version available in its category.So when I sat down and started building out my LighterPack and started comparing my projected weights against other people's kits I felt that sting of inadequacy. I now have a pile of gear that will not be coming with me because it got upgraded. I've spent more money then I ever intended to on upgrades, sidegrades, and things I wouldn't have thought to bring in the first place. And I've spent several nights every week packing, weighing, unpacking, re-packing, re-weighing, and tallying up weights. I've had custom items made and sold off things to generate cash to fund further upgrades. Its become a bit of an obsession.But I'm finally done. At some point I decided that I wasn't willing to make any more trades on comfort and convenience for the sake of a few more ounces. My starting base weight will be around 20lbs. That will drop to about 17lbs when I shed my winter gear. The ultralight-ers would scoff and point out items in my kit that I could do without, but I'm at ease with every item that is in there. As an example, I have a little 5-ounce travel electric shaver in my pack. I haven't finished my laser hair removal treatments and keeping those pesky hairs at bay is important for my mental health.So with the last of my gear purchased, I'm turning my attention to the details of properly closing out the life I've been living in Northern VA. 73 days to go and still so much to do.Here's my lighterpack link if you're curious.https://lighterpack.com/r/bi71...
Date: 2019-01-26
To: Lake Fairfax - Vienna Loop
Miles today: 0.0

I got up early to have coffee with the neighbors before hitting the trail for an 11 mile loop. The goal was to find an out of the way place to set up my shelter. I've hung the hammock a few times, but my custom hex tarp from UGQ came in a couple weeks ago and Ive been itching to find the time to test it. I got off the main trail onto an old mountain bike trail that had been closed down and found two perfectly spaced tree and went about trying to figure everything out. My hammock is hung with an Eno strap system I got for my old non-backpacking hammock. But what I was really excites to try out was the hanging system for the tarp witch uses two Dutchware Wasps and four tarpworms on shock cords. It all went up really easily and Im really pleased by how easy it is to adjust it.I continued my hike across the county park and on to the Cross County Trail which was a mess of frozen mud as usual. I had to ford one unexpected marsh and one flooded stream crossing. My feet got wet but thankfully it had warmed up from 22 degrees to about 37 by that point in the day.By about mile 8 my hips started to complain. This is one of the "joys" that hormone therapy has brought me. My hips are sensitive to longer distance hikes in a way that they never were before. I was able to finish out the loop, but I will be sore tomorrow. Ive been walking 5-6 miles 4-5 days a week, but Im going to have to get some more of these longer distance hikes in over the next few weeks if I dont want to be suffering right out of the gate. Thankfully my pace was decent and I did the whole loop and shelter test in almost exactly 3.5 hours.
Date: 2019-02-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I've decided to try swapping out my trusty REI Ridgeline for a more ultralight pack. I picked up a Granite Gear Crown X60 from Massdrop for a really reasonable price. The pack showed up yesterday and I was eager to do a shakedown hike with it.A good friend of mine and mentor of mine met up with me this morning to go through my kit. I really appreciate his insight as he's done more of these kinds of trips then I have. He's lending me his trekking poles, a dry bag, and a Kindle for the trail. I also got some free advice on supplements and some overall encouragement which is very appreciated.I moved everything over to the new pack and headed over to Great Falls for some hiking. It was perfect out. About 32 degrees and all the trails were still snow covered. My favorite hiking conditions. I wandered through the woods for about 7 miles, crossing the ridge a few times to get some uphills in.I had some reservations about the Granite Gear pack because I'm used to my much more substantially constructed REI pack. The straps are thinner, there is less padding, and the frame sheet is not comparable to an internal metal aluminum frame. But once I got everything adjusted it seemed to ride just fine. The body of the pack seems have more lateral movement then I'm used to, but this wasn't something you really felt when in motion. It did seem as though it was pressing on my lower back more then I'd like, but I'm going to adjust it some more for my next hike. Its shaves almost 2.5 lbs off my base weight so Im going to try to make it work.I've also decided to move up my start date to avoid being in the busiest part of the bubble. I can't leave any sooner then the third week of March, but that still puts me slightly ahead of peak traffic.
Date: 2019-02-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I resigned from my job yesterday. This was difficult. I love a lot about my job and I've had many wonderful experiences over the past 6 and a half years. In spite of all the stress and long hours and lackluster pay, the work has remained rewarding. I never woke up with a sinking feeling that I had to go to the office. I am also eternally grateful to the ownership and staff for their support during my coming out and first steps of transition.I've felt personally stuck for a while now, and restlessness to me signals that it's time for a major change. The next four weeks will be about cleaning up things at the office so my responsibilities can be passed off to someone else. At the same time I still have a ton of work to do to wind down my life in VA.My gear prep is mostly done, but there is still some tweaking im doing. I switched out my hammock suspension for amsteel whoopie slings last night. My Eno Helios whoopies were fraying badly and were too short so I upgraded them.Im down with a cold this weekend so no training today.
Date: 2019-02-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

21 days til I hit the trail!I am equal parts excited and terrified. I made a preparation check-list that I've been slowly marking items off of as I close down my life in Virginia. There's a lot to it. Things like...what do you do when you're keeping your vehicle, but moving it to another state to store, but not the state that you intend to be living in when you return which is also not the state the car is registered in currently?Plane ticket is booked and next week I change my mailing address to Arvada, CO! Next week is all about my resupply boxes.Im struggling with the new pack. While I really like the philosophy and weight savings of the Granite Gear pack, I feel its putting strange pressure on my lower back that has left me in a great deal of pain after short training hikes. My old reliable REI pack is bigger, heavier but so much more comfortable. Its got a thicker hip belt and has longer shoulder straps. It also has better air circulation between my back and the pack body.Im trying one last series of adjustments to the Granite Gear before biting the base-weight bullet reverting to the old pack. That will put my base weight above 22lbs, which is not what I was hoping for. I am comforted only by the fact that once I drop my winter gear I will be back down around 17lbs base weight.
Date: 2019-03-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

This is the last post before I leave for Georgia. I left Virginia today after 11 years of living and be working in and around the DC metro area. I had never intended to stay there as long as I did, but life tends to just happen. But now it's time for a new adventure.Everything is now in storage. My townhouse is emptied out of my stuff. I did the long drive to New Hampshire today to drop my car at my parents' house where it will stay while I'm gone. I ate way too much dinner tonight and am now just relaxing and waiting for the next stage of this journey. No turning back now. I fly to ATL on Wednesday. Here. We. Go.
Date: 2019-03-22
From: Black Wood Gap Shelter

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 9.6

Well friends, I am on the trail and it is difficult. Yesterday I got dropped off at Amicalola Falls State Park and started walking around 2. Made it to my first stop at Black Wood Gap Shelter where I made camp for the night just short of Springer Mtn. The wind came in around 5 and howled all night long. I did not sleep well. I got up early and hiked the final 1.5 miles to the top of Springer to officially start the AT itself. Today was a lovely hike through rhododendron groves and along Mtn streams. Only one major climb but it still kicked my ass. I fear my level of physical fitness is lacking. I'm also having some trouble with my right leg. I've called it quits at mile 8.1 at Hawk My Shelter. I intend to rest, get sleep, and take some Advil to see if it helps the leg.I unfortunately was unable to get a fuel canister before leaving Atlanta. I could really go for some meat or some soup right now but all I have is dry food until I get to Neel's Gap.I hope I can stick this out.
Date: 2019-03-23
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Gooch Gap
Miles today: 8.9

9ish miles today. Left the shelter first and got a good lead on the crew from the shelter. Climbed Sassafrass mountain and met some people from the local Baptist Church who gave me an apple. I had already planned to go to Gooch Gap for the day's hike and apparently that's where they had some trail magic setup. A kitchen churning out dinner and breakfast for hikers.  So that's where I am now. Sitting in a chair, feeling pretty good after a fast and better day then the one before. And I get it food tonight! Bless!
Date: 2019-03-24
From: Gooch Gap

To: Neal's Gap
Miles today: 14.2

With rain and severe thunderstorms in the forecast I decided to try to push hard today. It was 14.2 miles from Gooch Gap to Neal's Gap with Blood Mountain, the first 4000 footer of the AT at the northern end of the stretch. After hitting Woods Gap at 3.5 miles in I started pacing this guy "Josef from Jersey". We ended up doing almost the whole need 11.7 miles together. The weather was amazing, the views from Blood Mountain amazing, and I feel extremely accomplished. Coming over that mountain in the rain would have been a nightmare.Tonight I am holed up in a hotel in Blairsville, GA to wait out the rain. Splitting the room with Josef. I'm going to have to give away some of my resupply. I have 2 days of food still in the bag. It's been hard to eat the first few days.
Date: 2019-03-26
From: Neal's Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: fog

First off, I want to say that I do read my guest book and I absolutely appreciate the words of encouragement and the fact that people are following along. Thank you!But here's the report....I'm back on the trail after two nights in lovely Blairsville, GA. Josef and I were joined by Hot Sauce, Nick, & Keagan for our second night. We got laundry done, resupplied. I changer out a lot of my food because I realized the stuff I had brought was too difficult for me to eat. I gave away what I could and dropped off the rest in the hiker box at Mountain Crossing this morning before starting. We were in the clouds all morning. I climbed out of Neal's Gap with Josef. I'm not sure when I lost him, but I ended up alone for at least an hour. Other hikers would emerge from the mist periodically but I was mostly alone. At one point I stepped out on a ledge and took out my camera to take a picture of most drifting across the rock and as I did the clouds parted and revealed the whole range spread before me. It was great. I was in amazing spirits today and kept on rolling until about 2, ending my day at Low Gap Shelter.My new knee brace is doing an amazing job and I'm just really pleased with how I felt today. No one from my group arrived for almost an hour and forty-five minutes.
Date: 2019-03-27
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

Last night the rain came in just after I finished my journal post. It turned the whole area around the Low Gap Shelter to mud. Seeing it wouldn't let up, I curled up in the hammock and read until I fell asleep.In the morning I had to deal with wet gear for the first time. That wasn't pleasant. I got everything packed up and hit the trail, abandoning my tramily with a plan of walking a short day to Blue Mountain Shelter and drying everything out.The terrain was easy for the first 5 miles but the last two we're rocky and rooty and narrow. Still, I covered the ground quickly and made the shelter by 1230. Tonight I'm sleeping in the shelter because it's gonna be cold. Tomorrow will be a really difficult day. Rocky and Tray mountains await.
Date: 2019-03-28
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: clear sky

Longest day yet...I set out from Blue Mountain Shelter this morning after a glorious sunrise. Had to leave the tramily behind today. Josef and Keagan were both heading to town to nurse their injuries. Nick and Hot Sauce were going to keep going but didn't have a destination in mind. We all agreed to meet up at Dick's Creek Gap in 2 days one way or another.I descended to Unicoi Gap after crossing the summit of Blue Mountain and began to climb Rocky Mountain. Ran into a trail worker near the summit and chatted with her while she dug out a waterbar. Continued on over the summit and entered the rhododendron tunnels from Indian Grave Gap to Tray Gap before the final ascent of Tray Mountain for the highest elevation of the day. I stopped at a very empty Tray Mountain Shelter for lunch and decided to push on. I thought I might attempt to get to Deep Gap Shelter, but figured if I didn't make it that would be okay too. The trail after Tray Mountain was pretty featureless...wandering from gap to gap along the ridge. I ran into a couple hikers and at some point decided I might as well go all the way to Deep Gap. I stopped before the final ascent at Adis Gap to check on a blister and take stock of the situation. With just 1.9 miles to go I was out of water, and the final climb was up yet another 4000 foot peak, the 4th of the day. But I decided to go for it.That turned out to be the worst climb of them all. It felt like it was going straight up the mountainside. It didn't help that I was already footsore and stumbling. Still, I dragged myself over the top and rolled the .9 miles down to the shelter, stopping at the water source to drink my fill and fill up for camp.Dinne was Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki and Vegetables and Rice. It was delicious. And now I'm bundled in my hammock anticipating an easy day to Dick's Creek Gap and the Top of Georgia Hostel. Only 10 miles til I'm done with this state.