morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-22
From: Davenport Gap Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Wow! It has been a day! We woke up later this morning and walked out of the Smokies and a few more miles to Standing Bear Farm. Standing Bear is a hiker hostel with quite a setup. They have everything a hiker needs, food, showers, internet, cabins, etc. Everything is set up like a village with small cabins. Berry and I arrived there mid/late morning and took some time to rest and get a cold soda, as well as grab a few more snack items and make some phone calls. We met some new hikers too..some we have heard about for a while so it was nice to put a face with the name. We had only intended to push on 7 miles further and do a shorter day today. The ascent today out of the Smokies was long and tiresome. We arrived at our first shelter around 4pm. After eating a little snack and resting we decided to press on just two miles further to a campsite called Hawks Roost. Plus, it would benefit us to get the big climb out of the way so it's one less we have to do tomorrow. Well, we never found Hawks Roost and we ended up at Brown Gap. Later we realized Hawks Nest was a small blue blaze trail that we had seen but didn't follow. Once we were at Brown Gap we committed to go to Max Patch, another 5.5 miles straight up. We knew it would be difficult but we had the added motivation of knowing that several people who stayed at Standing Bear last night were going to camp on Max Patch. Max Patch is a bald and is supposedly the best place on the AT to see the sunset and we really wanted to see it. It was tough! Up and down, up, up, up! When we were .8 miles from the patch we read a sign that said there was bad bear activity and bears WILL steal your food...Berry was also talking with another girl we had caught up to, Cas, about Max Patch and stories of bears ripping peoples tents and packs to get food. SO, we decided we wouldn't be camping there but to press on further to the next shelter, an additional 2 miles from the summit of Max Patch.Now for the best part- Max Patch was amazing! The winds were so high, I'm guessing 50-60mph..we could barely stand. Just before the summit we crouched behind two large rocks to put on additional clothing to make it through the winds. Using the rocks and our packs as a wind shield we made dinner and talked(more like yelled) with "Phantom Cupcake" who had joined us behind the rocks. The next 2 hours we stayed on Max Patch and watched the sun drop over the mountain range- 360 degree views. It was one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen, absolutely stunning! I thought of Psalm 19 as we watched the sun disappear. We took lots of pictures and we hope they turn out well, although a picture just can't capture it. Once the sun set, we trogged (trot-jog) with Phantom Cupcake to the next shelter and put up our tents in the dark. We sang loudly to scare off the bears. A long day, never expected!
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

It has been a great day of hiking. Bark and I started out slow this morning after a late night last night. By the time we had packed up and headed out from the shelter it was nearly 10am. Most hikers had probably been out for a couple of hours by that time. We definitely enjoyed the slow start and the beautiful weather that was to follow us throughout the day. We saw some familiar faces early on including Haz Mat Crew and their hiking friends Momma Lama and Juice. After a short lunch break we continued hiking with another hiker named Bones and we saw Phantom Cupcake throughout the day as well. This is the second thru hike for Bones and his guitar playing skill reputation precedes him. We all hiked together for a while and had great conversation. Bark and Bones really had a lot to talk about and a few things in common. We hope to see him again in Hot Springs. As we continued on we also had a great opportunity to hike with Houdini- a girl we met yesterday at Standing Bear and then saw again on top of Max Patch. I have to say it was pretty fun to get some hiking in with another girl. We had a lot to talk about and are now all at the shelter tonight. While Bark was making dinner, Magnum Orphan let us know that he was pretty depleted and had not had much to eat that day. We had been so blessed by Lady B and Italian's drop box (thank you!) that we picked up at Standing Bear and we had more than enough tamale mix, so we were happy to hand some over to him.A few people gathered around the campfire tonight and we joined them. Bark and Cas talked about thier similiar experiences in the military. Turns out that Cas and Bark both lived in Germany working for Uncle Sam. We are about to call it a night as the past 3 days have really been good hikes and we are tired.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 2.9
Weather: clear sky

Sorry about the photos everyone. We have taken so many! Here at Hot Springs there isn't a way to upload them all at once. We may already have too many for TJ. When we can find a store with the capabilities we'll make a picture cd and send it to our friend to upload in the next town (Erwin TN).Today we woke early and rolled into Hot Springs by 7:45am. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise over the mountians. Immediately we hit up the Smokey Mountain Diner for a greasy and delicious breakfast. We were joined by Houdini and Magma Orphan, and later by Good Spot and Early Beard. We had some trouble finding a place to stay (because of the hiker festival) but finally found a spot at the Ironhorse Inn- it's new and quite lovely. Once we got settled and cleaned up we began the chores: planning, laundry and re-supply. While doing laundry we caught up with Good Spot and Early Beard about their hike and visited a little bit with Lou. Our re-supply stop was at Dollar General, the only name brand store in Hot Springs, but we got it all. We took an ice-cream break and met up with Mockingbird and Hummingbird (two sisters from CO), it was great to see them again! We keep forgeting to mention how bad the bugs are, these biting gnats...Anyway, we bought little $3 bug nets for our faces and I've been wearing it around town all day. Tonight we went to the all you can eat spagetti dinner at the community center. The dinner was a fund raiser for adults who are developmentaly delayed. It was a wonderful dinner and we saw/visited with a lot of hikers. Had a good visit with Phantom Cupcake there while we were waiting for Good Spot and Early Beard. Once they arrived. Flatlander and Gavel walked in from the trail...then Otter came in from the trail at the last minute and managed to get some food. We were all surprised to see him! Afterwards, we joined Flatlander, Good Spot, Early Beard and Otter and walked to the local gas station to get some ice cream. Thankfully we got there right before they closed at 8pm (everything else was closed too, except some bars)-so we all sat on the sidewalk and ate our ice cream and tried not to break our plastic spoons. I think only Flatlander and Otter managed not to break them.We all went our separate ways and Otter walked back with us since we were staying at the same place. Berry was tired and went to the room early, which gave Otter and I a chance to hang out a bit. I was thankful for the opportunity to get to know his story. He's quite a fellow. It's late here, almost 11 and time to hit the sack.
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

We've taken a zero today in order to get some alone time together and heal up before heading back out tomorrow. Mostly we've been resting today, occasionally going out to the hiker festival and visiting with friends. Everyone seems to be taking a couple of days off in Hot Springs. We participated in the "world famous duck race", but our duck didn't win.We've seen a lot of hikers that we thought were way ahead of us: Daddy Longlegs, Sassy Sunshine, Torpedo, Bonsey, Matchstick. Sparky and Morning Glory stopped by to visit us and let us know that they intended to do trail magic 40 miles north and to put the word out.We're rested and ready to press on. Hard to believe, but we are only 10-12 days from VA.
Date: 2009-04-26
From: Hot Springs

To: Log Cabin Rd
Miles today: 16.3

We headed out of the charming town of Hot Springs, NC around 9:30 this morning. Our hike began with an immediate ascent and we felt fully welcomed back to the AT. This has been by far the warmest day on the trail since we have began. Bark and I are both hoping that as summer rolls in and the hot temps increase, we will adapt quickly. During our time in Hot Springs we were fortunate enough to catch up with some of our previous hiking friends, but also met several new faces as well. One of those included Lou- a girl from Dallas who we had a chance to talk and hike with most of today. She was great to talk with and we hope to see her tomorrow on the trail as well. Tonight we will be camping alongside Skywalker, also a new face we first met at Standing Bear Hostel.There were a few familiar aches and pains that returned for both Bark and me during the hike today. For me it is a cramp-like pain in my lower right calf and Bark's ankles were causing him some trouble today too. I really think it just takes a bit for our bodies to get back into the swing of things after a break. We are anticipating great views for the next couple of days as we have been told to watch for a few cliff overlooks.We are now tucked away in our tent, or should I say "home". I am sure some of you are wondering how we are fairing after almost a month on the trail. I have to be honest, for the first couple of weeks there was definitely a longing for those creature comforts we all love. Things as simple as a pillow or even just some ice cubes. But now I think I can safely speak for the both of us when I say that the feeling of "needing" those things has passed. Every night our tent, with just enough room for the two of us, feels more and more like home. Our packs are truly our security blankets now because they hold literally everything we could need. I never thought I would be so glad to see a 30+ pound backpack before now. There are still days when we talk about the upcoming zero day that holds in store a great meal and a "quaint" hotel stay, but overall we are doing very well and often times are excited for the peacefulness the trail offers after a quick re supply run in town.
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Log Cabin Rd

To: Campsite
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Tonight we are camped out beside the birds; Mocking Bird, Humming Bird and Tuftedtitmouse, who are family friends from CO. They're joined by Chachi (the only male in the group) and Lou. We've know the birds since before Franklin and they are a great crew. It's been a fun night by the campfire just hanging out. Shelters are good, but Berry and I find that sometimes the small campsites offer better chances to hang out with some hikers or get to know someone.Our day was hard. We were hiking most of the day along with George an Logan, Josh and Mad Chatter. Until the Birds showed up, it was the 6 of us running into each other all day. The miles seemed to be dragging on today...but there were definetly some good things. During the late morning the forest floor opened up with flowers everywhere. The air smelled like a florist shop. During the afternoon we walked along steep ridgeline with beautiful views, It was a rocky AT today and we had to concentrate on our footing. A couple of times we had to do some hand over hand climbing! It was hot again but not as hot as it will be. Today we both had the urge to jump in a cold spring but none were found, none that were deep enough anyway. We're hoping for another day of sunshine tomorrow and that the rain won't come early. We did run into Flatlander who was slack packing southbound. We'll probably run into him again tomorrow.Off to bed now- Berry is almost asleep.
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Campsite

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: scattered clouds

So over the past couple of days Bark and I have been hiking too long and too hard and have been missing out on the whole purpose of the trail- to slow down and enjoy the days. With that in mind, after 7 fairly difficult miles (both mentally and physically) we have called it a day here at the shelter. We arrived around 1 pm, ate our lunch of cheese and crackers, set up our bedding and took a seat. It has been a great afternoon since we stopped. We hiked in with Flatlander, got to see the Birds pass us by and several other faces pass through the shelter. Now that we have been here for a couple of hours we have been joined by Phantom Cupcake, Bonesy, T-Suds, Sassy Sunshine, Long Legs, Flatlander, Torpedo, Butter Toes and Stewball. It will be a cozy squeeze in the shelter tonight, but no doubt a lot of fun! With a nice rest today, we should be ready to move pretty far tomorrow, but not until after 10am when we are hoping for some promised trail magic at Sam's Gap.Well we are close to getting ready for bed and all of a sudden the campsite has filled up. There are numerous tents up tonight all around the shelter. We caught up with Juice and Momma Lama after their 11 hour day of hiking. Our entertainment tonight consisted of watching a little beetle find his way out of the flaming fire pit and a group of hikers started up a card game while everyone made dinner. What began as a hard day has ended very well. Bark is pretty wiped out so I think we might take a look at our diet and re vamp a few things to up the energy level. It has been fun seeing and catching up with everyone today. Tomorrow will be here soon, so it is off to bed for both of us.
Date: 2009-04-30
From: Spivey Gap

To: Erwin TN
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After a great nights sleep at Morning Glory's house Bark and I woke up and packed up all of our gear for a day on the trail. We left just after breakfast with his family and headed to Erwin where we were picking up Otter and Flatlander to head back to the trailhead. We dropped off Otter at Sam's Gap and the rest of us headed back to Spivy to finish out the 11 mile stretch into Erwin. Bark and I could not even begin to tell how thankful we were for the hospitality and generosity we were all shown by Morning Glory and his wife Shannon. Just as we got to the trailhead we immediately saw Momma Lama and Juice cross the road and head towards Erwin as well. They are always so positive and fun to run into on the trail- I am always excited to get the opportunity to catch up with them and see how they are doing. We started out and the trail was great today- the terrain was very gradual on the ups and downs and we were able to make it the full distance in a little over 4 hours. It is a beautiful time right now in the mountains; the trees are finally blooming and the further north we go the taller the trees seem to be and the landscape and foliage seem to constantly change. We made our way down the final descent into Erwin and upon arriving at Uncle Johnny's hostel we met the local pizza delivery guy (Travis) and got a hitch to the post office where we were expecting a couple of packages. After leaving the post office we walked across the street to visit with Flatlander at Sonic, where we each enjoyed a much desired slush/shake. We kept the day going by heading down the street to resupply for the next 3 days and finally made it back to the Super 8 Motel to shower and relax the rest of the afternoon. Bark got a few more pictures uploaded so we can share our travels with you all a little better. We have more to share, but will have to wait for the next download opportunity. We also had a small dream fulfilled this evening- we finally made it to a town where they have pizza delivery. As simple as it may sound, we have wanted nothing more than to sit in our hotel room, order a pizza and eat to our stomach's content. Thanks to Pizza Plus here in Erwin it all worked out! Bark and I split a pizza and settled down for some R&R. It was nice to be alone with him and not around other people. We need to d othat from time to time on the trail. Looks like storms are headed our direction for the next 8 days or so. Oh boy!
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Erwin TN

To: Erwin TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We decided on a whim to zero here in Erwin because we still had some business to catch up on and the town is pretty spread out. Plus, an added bonus was spending more quiet hours with Berry. We both feel as if the trail is strengthening our marriage. I've been with her every second for a whole month and feel closer than ever. Most of the hikers are staying at least a day in Erwin, a couple of days for some. Otter went with us to Walgreens to make a picture cd and then to the library for email. He insisted on treating us to lunch and we ate at a friendly local deli called "Pickles Deli". We met Mr. Pickle himself, quite a funny guy.. he also sang us a song! The sandwiches were very good and we were happy to give them business because they are a new restaurant in Erwin. We had an unexpected surprise tonight. A good friend of ours from college, Allison, lives in Johnson City and we got ahold of eachother. Allison and her boyfriend, Steven, came and picked Otter and us up and took us to their favorite restaurant in Johnson City. We had a blast catching up with them and hanging out. Allison is coming back tomorrow to pick us up and drive us to the trailhead. Thanks again Allison, we love ya! It didn't feel like we were thru-hikers tonight, especially when we walked out of the small Erwin movie theatre. That's right- the three of us went to see the new X-Men movie! We've had a great time and we are ready to hit the mountians once again. It will be a long stretch before we have another zero, so we are grateful for the rest.
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Erwin TN

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

Thanks to the help of Bark's college friend, Allison, we (along with Otter) left the Super 8 motel around 9am this morning and headed for the trail. We had a great time in Erwin and enjoyed staying out of the rain, but we could only avoid it for so long. Truth be told we were ready to get back out here and see everyone. We have had a great hike today. What once felt like a very long day of hiking went by very quickly even with the ups and downs of Beauty Spot (bald) and Unicoi Mountain. Otter was with us and listening to him and Bark sing through some of their favorite 90's jams was well worth the hike. The expected rainfall (for the next 8 days) was not too bad at all. Had a few showers here and there, mostly at higher altitudes, but now that our tent is set up it has stopped and we will hope for a dry night. The shelter and campsite are filled with new faces we have never seen before. One of them includes the youngest thru- hiker we have encountered so far. Her name is Free Child, but was previously called Struggles. She is hiking as far as she can until after Trail Days and then heading home for prom and graduation. She is one brave gal, thats for sure. Bark and I have been very thankful today for a great first day back on the trail after a zero. We have been used to a few good aches and pains, but have felt great today- what a blessing! It is approaching hiker midnight, that's 8:00 for us hikers, we have some planning to do for a big climb tomorrow up Roan Mountain- we'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Date: 2009-05-05
From: Carver's Gap 

To: Johnson City 
Miles today: 0.0

Just a short note today... I'm feeling much better and holding down food! We're getting our strength back and will more than likely head out to the trail tomorrow. Today we had a chance to resupply at a local walmart. We didn't get any peanut butter. In fact, I don't think either of us will have peanut butter for a long long time!Berry and I also had a good time visiting with the Jordans (Morning Glory and Shannon) and their lovely children. They have been lifesavers! We're glad we missed out on some bad weather as well. Everyone says the next section of hiking is one of the most beautiful of all the trail. Thanks for all the prayers and kind words everyone! No biggie.. we're up and at em' again!
Date: 2009-05-06
From: Johnson City 

To: Johnson City 
Miles today: 0.0

Well we are having a bit of trouble with our pocketmail device and are soon replacing it. We lost several entries so now we are brainstorming about the past several days and will attempt to catch everyone up by hitting the highlights of those days, as well as transfer the current days until we get our pocketmail situation fixed:We ended staying with Morning Glory one more night before heading back to the trail. We decided to heed his advice about the weather in the Roan Highlands. It is storming pretty bad with red and yellow cells moving through the area. We feel good and we are more than ready to be out on the trail.
Date: 2009-05-07
From: Carvers Gap 

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: few clouds

Morning Glory dropped us off at Carvers Gap around 9am. The weather was cloudy and a bit cold, we couldn't see much but after an hour or so the sun melted off the clouds and it was a beautiful sight. We took a lunch break at Over Mountain shelter, one of the most beautiful places on the trail- a large red barn converted to a shelter for hikers, sitting in a cove with a breathtaking view. While we were there Red Beard showed up. He told us that some other hikers we know also got food poisoning from Erwin...apparently from breakfast eggs at the Holiday Inn. We said goodbye to Red Beard and determined to make the best of a sunny day. Up and over we went across "Little Hump" and "Big Hump," two large balds with stunning views. The weather was perfect. A highlight of the afternoon was seeing the longhorn cattle at the crest of Big Hump. We were 20 ft away from them...it's crazy seeing cattle at 5000+ ft. Berry loved it. We pressed on from there to Applehouse shelter and took a break. We wanted to move on becasue the area is known for vandals. We decided to go as far as we could because we knew the rain was coming in the evening. We had planned to camp at a marked campsite around the 19 mile point, but when we arrived it was overgrown and uneven. We dicided to press on to the next shelter with an hour or so of daylight left. This would be our biggest day ever, hiking 22 miles. The thunder started sounding off and we made it to the shelter just as the rain started coming in. We had to tent it- setting up in the pouring rain- and we were WET! That night we met Witness and Antrack and we had a conversation about the Army through our tents yelling over the rain.