morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-04-22
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Franklin NC
Miles today: 7.3

I woke up to the middle of the night to the sound of rain drumming, which is funny that was what woke me up and not Sweet Potato shouting ¢BEAR!¢ the night before. Awake, I stared at the roof of my tent pondering its water repellency when a bolt of lightning cracks overhead - what do I do now? I tried to Google ¢is it safe to stay in your tent during a light night storm?¢ but had no service. So¢¦ I stood in the shelter for a minute and thought ¢eh fuck it, I¢ll go back to sleep in my tent and if it hits me it hits me.¢In the morning I had to use the privy and set a new hiking record hustling to the next one, a little over 3 mph. Once I did my business, I hiked the remaining 4 more slowly now that I wasn¢t fueled by urgency.  We got picked up by Sherpa Al, with whom I bonded over being from the NYC region, and got dropped off at the Hilltop Inn which was¢¦ very 70s - although we had a suite which was quite nice.Despite it being a nero, it wasn¢t restful as i would¢ve liked as I ended up hustling around town for gear shopping, burgers and milkshakes, then all the way across town and back for a massage, supermarket run for the essentials (Epsom salts and kombucha), some crap reality TV time with the guys, and then dinner with other folks (a hard life!). I saw a lot of friends from prior days roll into the Hilltop Inn and there was many a happy reunion in the motel parking lot.
Date: 2023-04-23
From: Franklin NC

To: Franklin NC
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day! But everything¢s closed because small, rural town! I decided to do my chores - I washed my tent, sleeping pad, HMG pack, and kitchen wares - set them in the parking lot to dry while reading my book and updating my trail journal. We went to the sole Thai place in town for lunch and had pretty mediocre Thai food, and then walked to Ingles to resupply for our push to NOC. Friends I had met at Hostel Around the Bend texted asking if we had room to crash, as the weather was forecasted to be freezing that night so they somehow got a ride from where they were to meet us. As thanks they brought us a massive box of Cheez Its - perfect bribe! We ended having dinner with a large group of friends that had all rolled into Hilltop Inn independently, and got Mexican. Lovely to eat as a massive horde, staggering with our sore legs and full stomachs. After dinner I soaked my legs with S and Sweet Potato and we discussed where our headspaces were / fears coming up with the hike - always nice to have a deep meaningful convo with the homies.
Date: 2023-04-24
From: Franklin NC

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 11.0

It was hard getting out of bed, especially with my friend taking a zero and happily lazing in bed while I was packing. We got bagels at Brooklyn Bagels (I showed the guys where I was from based on the olde-timey map of  they had on the counter) and shuttled back to Winding Stair. Hike today was fine, I was bonking because I didn¢t have enough carbs. We got to sit on the grass by Wayah Bald for a while (which had a decent public bathroom with 17 rolls of TP, good use of tax dollars!) and ambled the few hundred feet over to the fire tower for a while where WGUW caught up with us!! So I got to finally catch up with her before she sprinted off into the night.We pushed to shelter and I had my Peak Refuel chicken pesto pasta (top tier along with their beef stroganoff) mixed with instant mashed potatoes and felt much better after the carb infusion. Very little calories and carbs can¢t fix on a hike!
Date: 2023-04-25
From: Wayah Shelter

To: Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 15.5

Today is my longest day mileage-wise so far! I felt good because I carboloaded yesterday, although I did not love the ridge walk and sketchy downhill. I hate heights, especially when the sides fall away without scrubby bush to obscure the drop off - of course Sweet Potato was as happy as a clam and said this was the first he was actually mentally engaged in the hike. Sorry the East Coast mountains are far more eroded than the west!The campsite is beautiful, very wooded and in the center of a bowl of trees. Dance Party, Snackpack, and Crypt were there so we had dinner with them around the campfire along with some weekend warriors (using a 3 person tent for 1 person!! Think of all that extra weight they¢re carrying¢¦ not UL of them (jokes)) Tomorrow NOC to eat food, resupply, recharge, go to outfitters. The usual!
Date: 2023-04-26
From: Rufus Morgan Shelter

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.9

It poured in the morning but we were safely under the eaves of the NOC consumer complex waiting for the restaurant to open. We had an incredibly disappointing breakfast at NOC, stared at the raging white water rapids, and contemplated the universe while stealing the toilet paper from the NOC bathroom. Today was a hard day of hiking, the shelter was stuffed to the brim and rocking with everyone hiding from the rain forecasted today and tomorrow.  Threatened to rain all day today, but didn¢t - continuing my streak of dry hiking days so far.I got christened the trail name of Cheeks after I said ¢this better give me an ass of an angel¢ while going uphill (I say this after every uphill). I also have a cheeky personality¢¦ allegedly¢¦ you¢ll never indict me!
Date: 2023-04-27
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 6.8

Today¢s hike was cut short today due to the hard rain today, which was my first actual rainy day on the trail. After slipping and sliding downhill for miles we decided to bail out early and camp at Creekside Paradise and shower. After power washing the mud off I was swaddled in a bathrobe waiting for my clothes to dry. WGUW also was staying here, and LIKE THE ANGEL THEY ARE brought me Annie¢s mac and cheese and kombucha. Dinner of champions.The B&B is very beautiful but remote, full of guests that had been staying a while, and the darkness of the lodge and tenor of conversation gave it a vibe reminiscent of an Agatha Christie dinner party prior to the murder.
Date: 2023-04-28
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana Dam Road 
Miles today: 13.7

Today was a slackpack day to catch up on the missing miles but the endless slipping in the mud, endless feet pain due to wet socks and sliding around in my shoes, the rain, humidity, fog, blah blah resupplying up down around town had me feeling UGHHHH. Today was the first day I was GRUMPY and I kept venting to Sweet Potato about people at the shelters who love to come up and start monologuing their life stories when you¢re trying to eat dinner. I was also in a mood because the internet was so nonexistent that I was unable to download Succession, which would have been a rich reward for slogging through the mud!! But it was not meant to be!! Alack.
Date: 2023-04-29
From: Fontana Dam Road 

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.4

Today was super frustrating - it was hot, I was overstimulated, cranky, it was TOO HUMID, my feet hurt. I couldn¢t even get excited looking at Fontana Dam and I love mega infrastructure. Sweet Potato was on the phone with his dad and said I ¢was in a mood¢ to which I looked up from stabbing my blisters and said ¢I¢m not in a mood¢ (dear reader, I was in fact in a mood). When I got to the shelter, WGUW was there and gave me a good pep talk off the ledge. Yet again a storm was forecasted so I decided to sleep in the shelter for the first time, as I¢ve been specifically trying to sleep in my tent only to avoid noro and mice scurrying on me while I sleep. Hopefully there¢s a good storm overnight to justify me sleeping in the shelter.
Date: 2023-04-30
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derricks Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.1

Today was so much better, it was foggy and cool aka my favorite weather. It was gorgeous hiking in the foggy meadows filled with wildflowers that looked like white fabric flowers with ragged edges - reminded me of a fairytale. I stopped for lunch at Spence Field Shelter, and saw the Aussie (n©e trail name Dotty) heading out! I hadn¢t seen her in days so it was nice to say hi. I had lunch alone, knocking my poles together to keep the bears away, and eventually S and Sweet Potato came straggling along. (Sidebar, that shelter had the nicest privy on the trail BY FAR - with a little wooden moon in the door, fresh swept floor, buckets of mulch at the ready, and clean toilet lid. Amazing!!!)I wasted a lot of time complaining to them about how wet my socks were, and then I finally squelched off into the now sunny, but still cool, afternoon. It was slower going, and tummy pains made me text Nikki to see if I had appendicitis. She kindly replied while on vacation to say no, but could be some other exciting thing - which I decided to ignore and the pain went away when my pack was off. Just probably indigestion from the thousands of snack bars I eat a day. While hiking I saw someone pass by SOBO with a kilt, and he was rocking the shit out of it. Think of all that airflow down under!Finally made it to camp, set up my tent, and lo and behold it started snowing! It¢s almost May!! This is exactly why I delayed my start a month, to avoid snow in the Smokies. But you know what they say, man plans but god laughs. Some folks had started a bonfire which was lovely and warmed me right up (although smoky just like the mountains lol). The sunset was gorgeous tonight and a lot of us came out of our tents to watch it set, I love a good collective effervescence moment. Reminds me of my last day on a surfing trip where it felt like the entire town came out to the beach to watch a fiery sunset and we just sat beholding nature showing off.
Date: 2023-05-01
From: Derricks Knob Shelter

To: Mt Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.0

Today was good, I think I was the only one who liked the weather today (cold, snowy, NOT HUMID) - nice to have a string of good days after being grumpy with the rain and humidity. We had a biome change to more alpine scenery which was far more interesting to look at and the pine needles were easier on the feet. We spent most of the day grinding uphill to Clingman¢s Dome which was lame as fuck (Lameman¢s Dome as we called it). Basically was like a parking lot ramp on top of a hill. It was BRICK out, and we saw the Aussie set up camp literally at the base of the ramp instead of pressing to camp. We shivered our way into camp where Firewalker had built a fire, but it was still freezing. I couldn¢t fall or stay asleep, and kept running out to pee. So a great hiker metric for how cold it is at night is how often you get up to pee (it¢s too much effort to keep it warm so your body would rather you flush it out) and it was maybe a 5-6 trip night? No bueno. I was probably crinkling so much with my quilt and pad, poor shelter mates.
Date: 2023-05-02
From: Mt Collins Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 8.0

Today was great! It felt awesome to have a good day the third day in a row, especially coming off my grumpy spell. We actually left early and chugged along to Newfound Gap where we were able to hero into Gatlinburg (the biggest tourist trap ever). We sprinted through NOC and supermarket shopping, and I was able to sweet talk a friend into letting us shower at his hotel room since we were very gross (it had been AGES since the last shower since we didn¢t shower at NOC) where S and Sweet Potato were reunited with this badass 70 year old who has crazy adventure stories (traversing Denali, biking from Missoula to Alaska, etc). After cleansing ourselves of our regrets, we had a delicious lunch (I had a dank corned beef Benedict and candied apples). Post devouring our huge plates we sat in silence for 2 minutes, and agreed that we weren¢t full at all - guess the hiker hunger is kicking in. I would loved to have lingered!!!!! however S was on a mission to not let us get vortexed into staying in town overnight and marched us back out into the Smokies and the snow. Back at the gap we talked to some tourists about our thruhike (we felt like a zoo attraction with the way folks were goggling), and I ~liberated~ some hand sanitizer from the bathroom pump into my purell since I forgot to buy a new one in town. Post filching supplies, we chugged back up into the Smokies and our shelter for the night, where it snowed again!! For the third day in a row!! In May! We decided to not press on due to the forecast of winds above 50 mph and rolled in where we saw some friends we hadn¢t seen in days!! As we arrived early in the day (maybe around 3:30 or 4?), we had a very leisurely time in camp and was able to hang out and make new friends - the vibe was also very festive as it was Woodstock¢s birthday the next day. So of course this meant a fire to celebrate, and to ward off the snow. In efforts to have a better sleep than the past 2 nights, I split a tent with a friend to see if the two-punch of smaller space and shared body heat would keep us warm. Especially with the wind forecast. The Smokies always keeping us on our toes!!
Date: 2023-05-03
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

Sharing a tent did make a huge difference in warmth, however sleep still eluded me as the tent poles kept falling on my face so I would have to wriggle out of the warmth of my quilt to fix it and then go back to bed and wait for my body heat to warm it up again. Curse you Zpacks, my Gossamear Gear wouldn¢t do this. Of course my friend slept like a babe through all of this. Finally dawn came, and with it S left as he was nervous about finishing before his wedding in mid-September. I of course have 3 weddings this summer and am planning on making all of them, so I was skeptical of his hurry. As it was so cold I decided to have my creamy chicken ramen for breakfast to warm up, which alas is my ¢left behind ramen¢ as every time I have it I get slowed down eating it and am left behind. It indeed foretold me getting left behind today as I was slow as fuck getting out of camp; however I got a blue blaze recommendation from Woodstock and a clementine! Sweet Potato and I rolled out, and I detoured at Charlie¢s Bunion which was a cool rock outcropping but I was too scared to climb up it so I merely peered over at the view. There were some day hikers who somehow had gotten there before me from Newfound Gap smug at getting there so early, to which I thought ¢buzz off.¢ But by the time I got back to the trail Sweet Potato was gone, and I thought to myself that I wouldn¢t see either him or S until Hot Springs. I trudged along sleepily (due to the long night wrestling the tent pole) and rolled to lunch where I saw Sweet Potato at the shelter junction! What rapture, despite the ramen I was not to be left behind. For lunch I made a dank loaded oatmeal (oatmeal packets, whey protein, coconut flakes, cashews) and while eating our friend PBJ rolled by.Much cheered now that I wasn¢t abandoned to my own devices (aka not hydrating enough), I sped along the alpine climate where surprisingly it did not snow!To make matters even better there were lots of pretty ridge walks; I didn¢t realize at the time but the ridges straddled TN and NC most of the time. We rolled into camp early and saw a lot of folks we knew, so had a nice afternoon catching up with people before huddling in for the last night in the Smokies (why is it frigid in May??). Tomorrow we allegedly hike 18 miles out of the Smokies.
Date: 2023-05-04
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Pigeon Bridge Gap
Miles today: 17.1

PBJ¢s tent did its job and a) kept me warm -in fact I woke up sweaty and b) did not collapse on me!!It was lovely hiking down the alpine biome surrounded by tall trees with that sweet sap smell filling my nose and a soft bed of pine needles lining the trail downwards. We did an extra mile blue blazing a side trail to Mt Cammer outlook, which had a beautiful walk-up and spectacular 360 views. We broke for lunch and saw fighter jets fly by doing trainings. While hiking downward PBJ texted us that he had extra room but the timing was tight to make the shuttle, so we had to hustle down making me skip swimming in beautiful pools of water (we were low enough that I was hot and sweaty again) and I wasn¢t thrilled to rush downhill especially after doing the longest day yet. One thing I hate is being rushed!! That and not being able to shower first thing when I get into a hostel. Due to the shuttle pick up, I had to get dinner first (it felt so unreal wandering through various fast food places looking like Sasquatch and I asked the Arby¢s cashier what state we were in because I genuinely didn¢t know and she looked at me as if I were insane) and then resupply at Walmart (felt even more surreal surrounded by all that *that* and the creepy blue overhead lighting), before I could even shower. My felt shredded at the end of the day and I had massive blisters on my heels from not having the injijis toe socks and sliding around in the mud for days the past week. But I was able to take a shower and then a soak in the bath, topped off with reading on the couch before bedtime which made me much cheerier. True mileage today was over 18 miles including the side trail.
Date: 2023-05-05
From: Pigeon Bridge Gap

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 8.2

Today was an easier day, and it was nice to look around and take my time today and putter around in camp. However I was unable to completely drain my blisters last night and they reformed over night¢¦ I felt the one on my left foot squelching as I walked which was just gross. I am super pumped for my zero in 2 days, which will be the first since Franklin.
Date: 2023-05-06
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1

We were bored hiking today, so played some games while walking such as 20 questions and the ¢tell a story one sentence at a time¢ game. Lots of wildflowers and mayapples dropping their balls. We passed a mysterious sombrero-shaped government facility that was ~for the FAA~ but looked like it came out of Westworld (not that I¢ve watched the show but it was what I would imagine), and sat on top of Max Patch which was beautiful. It was actually one of my favorite spots on the AT so far as it was just so peaceful and was in a bowl of mountains. I would love to go back and camp there once the restriction is lifted 6/30 to catch the sunrise. On our way down we passed people on a double date playing spikeball and we joked about darting in to smash the ball and run off into the woods. It was just a slow day, and we were in no rush. We had a very leisurely lunch at a shelter, like 90 minute lunch leisurely, and were juuuuuuussssssttt about to leave to hike some more when a guy walked up to us and said ¢you¢re not making dinner tonight, we¢re making you pot pie and peach cobbler¢ to which Sweet Potato and I made eye contact and were like ¢holy fucking shit.¢ It turns out the Hollis TN branch of Boy Scouts had brought MULTIPLE cast iron skillets with them to make us food from scratch. Not only that, they brought a) ice cream for the cobbler, b) various snack bars / ziplocs / blister care items, c) cold drinks, and d) offered to pack out our trash. It was like stumbling into paradise, and we just sat stunned as more and more riches were brought out. We chatted with the Boy Scouts about our experiences hiking, how school was going for them, but mostly we were left alone with the other hikers who had wandered by chanting ¢holy shit¢ while the Boy Scouts cooked and ran around hitting each other with sticks. Since we were waiting 3 hours for the pot pie and cobbler to bake, Sweet Potato kindly stabbed the blisters on my feet until it properly popped and drained. That¢s real friendship right there, maiming in the name of hiking. Finally the food was ready and it was like a fever dream; there was salad, the pot pie had a cornbread crust, and the cobbler was warm with scoops of ice cream melting into it. Absolute bliss. Floating on cloud 9, we thanked the troop profusely and tottered off to the shelter. We made it before dark (somehow we were hiking fast despite stuffed) and caught an incredibly pretty sunset at the top of the hill, which we stopped to watch and reflect on how awesome today turned out to be. Post collective effervescence, we quickly set up camp racing nightfall (of course we took the time to brag to PBJ about the bounty he had missed), and I heard coyotes howl for the first time! Very cool. I wanted to howl back but Sweet Potato was like ¢don¢t¢ - which LOL.
Date: 2023-05-07
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Laughing Heart Lodge
Miles today: 12.8

Today I reunited with S in the hostel, who looked so happy and at peace with the world, as well as some of our other friends / faves. Today was about EATING and of course SHOPPING. First, I had a very salty pesto pizza, then coffee ice cream and iced coffee in a cute cafe whose chai latte was sadly not up to snuff (it was concentrate versus brewed, Sweet Potato is on a quest for a good cup of chai). Afterwards I perused the outfitter which was limited in its options (not geared to thruhikers, more clothing and various knickknacks), and had a truly terrible dinner where the chicken fingers were breaded like fish and chips. Why????The town itself is very cute, reminds me of Schitts Creek with the mix of chichi and practical stores. I could smell the petrichor of the rain rolling in, which was lovely. Sadly my blister wouldn¢t stay popped despite multiple days of me draining it. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?
Date: 2023-05-09
From: Laughing Heart Lodge

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.3

Slept in until 9:42, as it was raining heavily when I woke up at 6. We got going and I got a tuna melt for breakfast, which ended up being a mistake because the first mile was a grueling uphill that had us both collapsed on the side of the trail, nauseated. After the first mile, the hike itself was fine - I was so sleepy and zoned out that it flew by. We had a very late lunch at the fire tower; as I¢m afraid of heights I elected to stay on the ground and take a nap. We rolled into camp, and shaking out my tent I saw a gross chitinous spider and gross gross. I like nature and being in nature but most of the bugs can go fuck off. Apparently a mama bear had been sighted at this camp, and someone came in saying he saw a bear on the way in - which NOOOO. I don¢t need a repeat of the last bear encounter (which I didn¢t even handle, S and Sweet Potato did). I decided to handle it like last time and go to bed and hopefully sleep through any bear drama. LOL. Important to note that yesterday during my zero I mailed home my puffy jacket, as I was gambling that the cold nights were over. Let¢s find out if that was the right move or not.