morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-29
From: White oak stamp

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Didn't really sleep much last night...shouldn't have had that cup of tea...also my sleeping pad kept deflating...got a punching. Up at 7 am broke camp and started at around 9am. It wasn't long before I felt exhausted, I had had golden syrup oatmeal but it just wasn't enough so I drank some electrolyte and ate a trail bar and after an hour I felt so much more Vitali zed.We thought it would be a relatively easy day but there was no water for most of the day and it was hot and humid, we went from one dry stream to the next. We ended up walking 11 miles to the shelter where there was water, I could have done without the last 2 miles which was just walking over rocks and boulders boy oh boy it was awful!Arrived at the shelter around 6pm and it was thundering and spitting with rain so we decided to spend the night in the shelter. I hope no mice run over me in the night cos I'm told they love the shelters and often chew holes in backpacks. Hmm! Living the dream?? Next dream I'm going to have will definitely have wheels involved in it!We saw 2 snakes today one all black another black with orange stripes, the first wild snakes I've been up close and personal with a snake and they weren't so bad.
Date: 2016-05-30
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Cheese Factory campsite 
Miles today: 6.1

Slept maybe an hour last night, between worrying about mice running over me (I saw 2 before we even settled down) apparently mice chew through backpacks too so we hang them and leave the zips open so the mice can get in. What kind of dream am I living?. Only 4 of us in the shelter so plenty of room but just could not fall asleep.Saw J-neen and Trooper they were off to Helen for a mail pick up. Left camp around 9am had to fill up with water first so didn't actually get hiking until around 10am. The heat and humidity just zaps your energy...I wasn't feeling too bad cos I drank electrolyte replacement before we set off but Richard wouldn't so he was very slow and toiled all day long. We stopped early so he could rest up...he still refused to have electrolyte replacement. Oh well! At least we made it past the Boot tree at Neel's Gap where disgruntled hikers toss their boots and quit the trail.We set up camp around 3:30pm got water and ate a double ration of food. They say by the 2nd week your energy and moral plummets. I'm hoping Richard will feel better tomorrow. A father and son, Paul and Paul camped next to us and sat talking with us around the camp fire. Hit the deflating sleeping pad around 8:30...I took 2 benadryl to help me get some sleep. Can't find the leak and no water deep enough to see bubbles leaking from my pad.
Date: 2016-05-31
From: Cheese Factory campsite 

To: Addis Gap
Miles today: 7.6

Up bright and early 6am, I slept really well even though I had to blow up my pad 3 times. Walked up Tray mountain first thing...well of course we did! Some guys arriving late at the campsite last night said they saw a bear on tray mountain but it ran off, so I'm on high alert this morning.Richard gets very irritated when I mention bear so I haven't uttered the word for the last 3 days. Today while climbing Tray mountain I was ringing my bell like a crazy women- good thing there were no kids around or they would have thought I was the ice cream man. It started thundering around 2pm so we decided to spend the night at the next campsite we came across which was at around 3:30pm. We put the tent up as it was spotting with rain and walked 0.5 mile to fill up with water, we use a sawyer filter so it takes about 40mins to fill both Richard's and my containers. We usually hike with around 3 liters each but I fill 5 for camp and Richard has 4 that way we don't have to refill again in the morning.The storm passed with just a small shower and it turned out to be a lovely evening. We had a great time with Kevin, Neil, Frank and his dog chowder laughing and talking around the camp fire, you meet some lovely people. Frank had just bought a super light, super expensive tent and chowder was asleep in it when all of a sudden he just dived through the side of the tent and ripped a huge hole through the fly screen..ruined the tent. We had noodles and I had a treat..mint hot chocolate. We haven't really been hungry but eat anyway. Richard has granola which I made up with powdered milk so he just adds water...I have oat meal or breakfast bar and we have 2 cups of coffee each. I fill up with electrolyte drink about 1 litre in the morning and try to get at least 2 litres in before lunch then sip the rest of the day..that way I don't have to get up so much at night....there's always bright eyes looking back at you as you squat...daintily of course!We have 2 snacks per day tuna or summer sausage and tortillas for lunch and then noodles or I made up mashed potatoes with stuffing and Bisto (gravy powder) add hot water and a pack of spam and we have a cooked dinner yum! We eat out of plastic bags to save on weight.Went to bed around 9pm.
Date: 2016-06-01
From: Addis Gap

To: Dick's Creek 
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: few clouds

Awoke around 5:30am after a good night's sleep though pad still a problem. Broke camp at 8:08 and set off on our morning hike up a mountain...Kelly's knob greeted us this morning...I need a bigger pair of lungs. We climbed around 800 feet in 1 mile to the top at 4126 feet then had a steep decent and immediately went back up Powell mountain but that wasn't too bad ...my lungs had expanded a bit by then. I never thought I would ever utter these words....especially in Georgia but walking up is way better than walking down...down just kills the kneesame. It was a gorgeous hike- not too humid early morning. The trees seemed so tall in this area.Got to Dick's Creek gap at around 12:30pm then had to walk 0.5 miles to the Top of Georgia hostel. Oh what a great place,first did laundry, Well they did it for us. They took all our cloths and gave us scrubs to wear while they washed our cloths.The hostel shuttle took 11 of us to the small town of Hiawassee GA...which is where the Movie deliverance was filmed and the child who played one of the banjo's still lives here and works in the hardware store here.So, 11 of us went to a Mexican restaurant, we must have looked as if we were on a day pass from a local mental hospital in our mismatched hospital scrubs, but the locals must be used to it cos they never gave us a second glance. It poured down with rain around 2pm and more storms are forecast for tomorrow but we are taking a zero day and waiting for our mail drops from James.It's very hot and humid so we all sat out on the rocking chairs chatting trying to catch a breeze. Sharing a bunk room with 3 army guys one has awful blisters on his heels and then Kevin from last night's campsite. Finally repaired my sleeping pad yah! Lights out at 10pm.
Date: 2016-06-02
From: Dick's Creek 

To: Top of Georgia Hostel 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Up around 7:30pm had breakfast, all you can eat cereal...most only had one bowl though and plenty of coffee. Sorted out our smokey mountain passes and spent the rest of the day Journaling. J-Neenah and Trooper arrived this morning and Kevin, Neil, Frank and Chowder stayed for a zero day also.Thanks for all the messages guys, it's good to hear from you..nice to know there are more than just bears out there...no Mike, they haven't got me yet! Thanks for the message Kevin, glad you guys made it home ok, believe me it was a good move getting down Blood mountain was Hell.Got the shuttle into Hiawassee had lunch at Bear mountain grill, then walked around looking for odds and ends. Then the heavens opened but we were under shelter waiting for the shuttle. Got back to the hostel and our food packages arrived from James so spent a good hour sorting our backpacks then sat around chatting. Went to bed around 9pm.
Date: 2016-06-03
From: Top of Georgia Hostel 

To: Plum Orchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: moderate rain

Awake at 6:30am had a lovely hot shower, packed our backpacks and headed for breakfast. I had fresh fruit that I had bought in town yesterday..yum! The last fresh food until the next town about 5 days away.The shuttle dropped us back at Dicks Creek gap at around 9:20am. We said goodbye to Kevin and Neil who left the trail today due to Kevin's bad knees. Apparently by this stage 35% of hikers have already given up on the trail, 6500 started so far this year.Richard and I, Tobin,a German guy who is hiking around the world, J-Neen and Trooper and another guy all set off on our merry way....yes folks the usual morning lung expansion! We bumped into our old pal you-who-da who grabbed a ride with the shuttle to buy some food at the hostel.We climbed 3,679 ft up Buzzard Knob and it wasn't too bad. We must have finally found our trail legs cos with our resupply our packs were 37lbs for mine and 45lbs for Richard. The big storm yesterday cleared the air so it was less humid than usual. Around 2pm the thunderstorm started and since we were only 1 mile from a shelter we decided to stay there. It's one of the best shelters on the trail-3 stories, the top 2 have lots of mice so we are on the ground floor. A guy Tony that we first met at Neel's Gap was already there and later came you- who - da and a father and 2 sons.Then the heavens opened but only for around 30 mins. We cooked- well boiled water to rehydrate our food and got our sleeping mats ready..only Richard and I are sleeping in the shelter the rest are tenting it. Only 4.5 miles from the North Carolina border-yah! Soon to leave Georgia for much bigger mountains knowing my luck.
Date: 2016-06-04
From: Plum Orchard Gap Shelter

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The absolute worst nightmare ever for sleeping- the mice were into everything, Richard shot up a couple of times and put his flashlight on as we could hear them rustling plastic and since we were the only ones in the shelter they were obviously into our bags. We had been told to leave our bags unzipped so that the mice could get in without chewing holes through the backpacks. All the food was hung so they were out of luck. They sounded like they were walking around with hob nailed boots on...if I slept one hour I was lucky.A very good hike this morning nice Ridge walking. Made it to the NC/GA border by around 12:15 and waited for Richard who arrived around 1pm.We were not even a mile into NC and hit a mother of a mountain omg! Courthouse Bald summit 4708ft and all straight up in about 1 mile. We just made it to the shelter before a big storm of the century hit - it hammered down with rain for at least an hour. Tony was at the shelter and a little later a guy called Yak arrived soaked to the skin. About 8:30pm another guy corn arrived. We chatted some then put up our tents inside the shelter. It stormed again around 3am with wind and rain thunder and lightening.
Date: 2016-06-05
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Standing Indian Shelter 
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Wonderful nights sleep with our tent inside the shelter, I know its crazy and a tent will not stop a bear or mice for that matter but I feel so exposed and vulnerable without the tent.We slept until 7:30am though we were woken by thunder and lighting and pounding rain at 3 am. Corns hammock split apart last night so he ended up sleeping on the floor.Yak was the first to leave the shelter at around 9:20am and it was still raining. Yak is from Knoxville TN and is hiking 500 miles. His girlfriends favorite song is "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the man who walked a 1000 miles to fall down at your door". His family and girlfriend will meet him at the 500 miles marker and he's going to propose.Corn is an excellent army guy from MN- he did 3 deployments to Iraq and left the army 8mths ago and hasn't decided what to do next so is walking the trail. There are so many interesting people with all kinds of stories and you know me I talk to them all.We left camp 10:30am, it was still raining. Very good hiking, Ridge walking really and we made really good time getting to the shelter at 1:30pm. It chucked it down with rain so we were like drowned rats when we arrived. Corn walked with me the last 2 miles chatting all the way, he had lunch with us at the shelter but then hiked on since he needed to get to Franklin and get a new hammock. We had a cup of cheese and broccoli soup to warm us up and then I hung a line to dry our cloths. Threw some rope around a tree in between rain showers so we could hang our food bags before we went to bed. We are likexpecting a couple of hobos with all our cloths hanging around.This shelter is located in a bear sanctuary, can you believe that! So, I'm in a shelter which I hate staying in but it's still raining. We can see the mice nests in the eve's. So it looks like a good night's sleep will not happen for me!
Date: 2016-06-06
From: Standing Indian Shelter 

To: Carter Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Well more and more people kept arriving soaking wet at the shelter last night, 8 of us in all but 2 slept out in hammocks and one in his tent. I actually had a good night's sleep since I was feeling secure with so many people around. We were all woken from our slumber at about 3am by a big storm and rain hammering down on the tin roof of the shelter but I didn't take long to fall back asleep being lulled by the noise of the rain.We set off hiking around 8:30am and it was glorious everything smelled so fresh after the rain and the terrain was pretty easy going with no major hills. Most of the walk was through tunnels of pink rhododendron bushes and the winds last night had blown lots of petals down so it was a carpet of pink. We made very good time today getting to Carter Gap Shelter around 1:30pm. The shelter wasn't very appealing so we set up our tent on the site of the old shelter. Two guys who were at last night's shelter set up camp next to us..they were policemen from Tallahassee Florida, so I'm hoping one of them will have a gun for bear protection.I desperately need to wash my cloths but the stream only had a trickle of water, so I took water back to camp and washed my cloths in a carrier bag that I had. There was a fire pit and someone had rigged a cloths line I was hoping a fire would dry my pants but we just could not light a fire everything was so wet from the rain. Since I only have one pair of pants in need them dry forun tomorrow so I'm putting them under my sleeping pad hoping they will dry. This shelter is on top of a mountain and the mist is coming down and it's getting very cold so it's time for bed at 6:45pm.
Date: 2016-06-07
From: Carter Gap Shelter 

To: Long Branch Shelter 
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

Omg! What a day,it was so cold last night Richard slept in his coat. We tossed and turned until around 10:30pm. It was so cold this morning and no, my pants and shirt did not dry all it did was wet my sleeping pad. So, I donned wet cloths and ate breakfast. We miraculously had phone service so I called James and as I was talking to him out of the corner of my eye I see our tent tumbling over the ground. Richard had removed the tent pegs and turned to put them away when the wind sent the tent tumbling.It was a perfect hiking day, cold and windy and for the first 4 miles it was absolutely gorgeous ridge walking, mind i did fall- the trail was wet and very muddy in some areas and yes you guessed it, the sludgy mud was exactly where I fell. I slipped on a rock and my pack went over my head and I went head first into the mud...so much for clean pants. My left leg and boot was covered in sludge and there is lay, on my back, arms and legs falling like I was a dying fly! I walked my knee on the rock but nothing too bad.We walked to Mooney gap and then things got a little exciting. The path was very narrow and the drop was so steep even the trees were falling down the cliff. Even drugged and blindfolded we would never have gotten you to do that section Cammie!There is so much Mica in the rocks that it looks like the trail is made of silver when the sun caught it just right. Just as we neared the summit (or what we thought was the summit) we cleared the trees and there stood the Rangers truck...I bet you thought I was going to say a bear then didn't you? You should have heard Richard....walked all the way on the cliff and there was a road right there! Ha! Ha! Then things just got really precarious as we literally climbed bare rock...we were hanging on with fingers and the tips of our boots. Albert mountain was a 500 foot rock that we climbed in 0.3 of a mile. All I could hear behind me was"you have got to be kidding me" and "I knew I should have taken that service road. We hit a milestone when we got to the top of Albert Mountain it was our 100 mile marker. Yahoo! Only 2089 miles more ha! Ha! The views from Albert mountain were awesome and there was a huge fire tower we could have climbed but I'm not good with heights so neither of us ventured up.The walk down the mountain was easy and pleasant thankfully and we were soon at long Branch Shelter. It was a lovely shelter with no signs of mice. The stream to get water was great..what I had needed yesterday to wash my pants. We had the last of our food for diner and went to bed exhausted but what an exhilarating day.Off to Franklin NC tomorrow, we'll have to buy food there since we couldn't get in touch with James as we haven't had a signal for a while. Only 6.5 miles tomorrow and then a zero day.
Date: 2016-06-08
From: Long Branch Shelter 

To: Winding Stairs Gap
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Slept really well last night- there were 7 of us at the shelter and it was cold so we slept in our cloths. Richard was up early he got really cold, in the mountains it gets down into the 40'sun and was windy. Richard woke me with a nice hot cup of coffee it was a real treat.We were packed up and on the trail by 7:15am. Being cold and windy it was perfect for hiking and we made excellent time getting to the road by 11am. We were very lucky and got a ride from two guys who just dropped another hiker off. They took us to the Budget Inn and we got a room there hmmm! Not the best of places,dirty bathroom and smelling of mold. We nearly choked when Richard opened the fridge and had to leave the room door open to get rid of the smell.Franklin is way bigger than I thought it was going to be. It's situated in a kind of basin and mountains circle the whole town it's gorgeous. The public transportation is awesome...you call the bus depo tell them where you are and they will come and pick you up and it costs only $1 each.We were surprised to see Frank and his dog chowder here. They have been here 3 days, it turns out Frank broke 2 bones in his foot so will leave the trail tomorrow. We go to Mulligans for dinner with him and then to mixers to shoot pool.
Date: 2016-06-09
From: Winding Stairs Gap

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

This town is so pretty and so easy to get around with the shuttle service. We met Frank and went to Kuntry kitchen for breakfast then walked to the outfitters store. Bought some dehydrated curry dinners and some new socks. Called the shuttle service and went to another outfitters, got a new shirt and Richard got pants also...cloths wear out and get grubby fast. We went to sonic for lunch and then called the shuttle to go to Walmart and get our food supplies. Packed up ready to hit the trail again tomorrow then went to Bowerys for dinner, it was delish. We had the most delicious pork with boiled peanuts, Richard had trout and I had chicken but the flavors were unbelievable.
Date: 2016-06-10
From: Winding Stairs Gap

To: Wine Spring Campsite
Miles today: 8.2

Up at 7:30am, went to Kountry Kitchen for breakfast. The Budget Inn decided it was out of season for shuttles so we called the MCT bus, they took less than 10 mins to arrive and drove just Richard and I the 10 miles out of town back to winding stairs gap for just $3 each.Met a very small german lady who took our pic on the brige, gosh! her pack was bigger than her and she was planning on going 21 miles today.It was a really gorgeous day, climbed a couple of mountains but either they are not so high in NC or we are just getting used to them since i didnt feel i was gasping my last at the summit. Mind you the last 2 miles to the Wine Spring Campsite was all uphill and since we had just packed 5 days of food we were tired. The spring certainly tasted like wine to us and was lovely and cold.We have been leap frogging with 2 guys who are hiking up to the smokies they are camping across the trail from us.Lots of bugs so lit a fire then set up the tent at around 4:30pm, we are close to a spring so collected water and cooked. Bed at around 8pm.
Date: 2016-06-11
From: Wine Spring Campsite

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

Slept well last night we were up at around 6:30am, had breakfast and the usual 2 cups of coffee and set off around 8:30pm, about an hour after the two guys we met yesterday. It was hot and humid but once we started climbing the temp dropped a little, we made very good time arriving at the shelter around 2pm. The shelter was right on the trail and had a cold spring with a pipe not 6 feet away, so i got out my carrier bag and did the laundry, hung a clothes line between 2 trees and they dried in no time. A marine guy (he played and sang in the marine band)arrived at around 4:30pm and thenaround 5:30pm the 2 guys we were leap frogging arrived looking very worn out. The 3 guys and girl that we stayed with at the long branch shelter arrived shortly after but only stayed to eat and then headed to the shelter 6.4 miles away. we got a surprise at about 6:30pm when Tony from Muskrat shelter walked in- we thought he was long gone. Only the Marine Musician and Richard and I stayed in the shelter the others camped but Richard has to have flat ground to sleep on so i have to suffer the shelter.
Date: 2016-06-12
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: A Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Started out at 9am OMG! what an arduous day huh! and to think we were all talking at breakfast about how easy it looked today...mostly downhill stretches and yesterdays downhills were not bad at all oh what a difference. It was hot, hot, hot and very humid and the terrain was just brutal though the profile in the book made it look like gentle downhills.If we thought the climb up Copper Ridge was tough the decent from Wesser Bald was an absolute killer. Just after lunch something on me started creaking-yes,I know,I thought it might have been my hips, back or knees too but it was the back of my backpack-slowly but surely its falling apart, Yep! so am I ha!ha! Going up hill my heels and hips hurts and going down its my big toes and knees...can't win!The last 2 miles was just a killer as both of us were out of water. We both had 3 litres each but it was so hot and all the streams were dry. We got to the shelter at about 6pm and headed straight to the stream and gulped water for about 10mins straight. There were about 8 high school boys camping but the shelter was empty so, since it was just the 2 of us i set the tent up inside the shelter but with only the fly screen since it was so hot and humid. Richard will only tent camp if he has perfectly flat ground, so we spend more nights in shelters where I rarely get much sleep but with the tent in the shelter we are both happy. I had delish vegetable Korma for dinner and Richard had Chilli Mac, we tried out some new dehydrated food we found in Franklin. Bed by 8:30...exhausted.