morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-10
From: Clingman's Dome

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

So, yes, Gatlinburg was fun...however, in retrospect, it kinda wreaked havoc on my everything.My senses were going crazy from all the different ways Gatlinburg was trying to get my attention: the smells, the sounds, the bustling people, the wacky everything! It was far, far different from the calm beauty of the wilderness. Then I ate a lot! I had a big dinner (though mostly healthy--a big yummy salad) and ice cream for dessert. We had a big breakfast then we were kinda stuck in Gatlinburg because of shuttle/taxi mis-haps (AKA no one picked up, they were all booked, or they were rude and hung up on me) so we had a big yummy lunch as well (mostly healthy too--hummus and veggies with an amazing veggie goat cheese quesadilla...maybe a few fries too...) But all the extra everything made my body feel horrible (and I had stayed up way too late so I didn't get enough sleep--though the bed and pillows were beyond amazing!!) I just felt so bad. It was accentuated when we finally got driven to Clingman's Dome because the ride is so windy and disgusting and we could barely make conversation with the lovely lady who was driving us. Ug. We didn't get started hiking until 3pm! We supposedly were going to try for 10 miles, but Anna was feeling horrible too. We stopped for a pause at the shelter 4 miles in, but we decided we were starting to feel better by being in the woods again and we would only continue to feel better if we kept hiking. So on we went even though it was 5 pm and we had 7.5 more miles to go. We kicked up our speed (had a short dinner break of some nuts) and got to the (full) shelter just after dark to set up our tent.Beautiful mountain sunset, wet muddy feet, a little freaked out by night-hiking, super thirsty, all is right with the world again. High praise to my body for all it has been through and continues to conquer.P.s. My trail name is now officially "Legs" (More on that later; I'm tired)
Date: 2016-04-11
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tricorner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

A couple miles in and BAM--Charlie's Bunion. A huge highlight of the trail for me and Verge. It was breath-takingly beautiful, a little scary, and so fun. Verge was climbing all over it, but that freaked me out because of the sheer drop! Then Jingle came and joined us and we all climbed up a different part. It was SO fun! I love climbing things if it's not like above a 5,000 ft drop to my death. It was such a beautiful day (though still cold and slippery from the ice, mud, and melting snow). There were some sunny lathes with beautiful views. We kept running into Jingle all day which was pleasant (he's named Jingle because he collects change on the trail). The whole way reminded me of Mt Moosilauke in New Hampshire. It was piney and mossy and smelled wonderful and was full of rocks and roots and slush. It was GREAT! Just like home! Today was by far my favorite section of the trail (so far).We got to the shelter and met lil Santa, lucky, wook, old drum, crispy, Daniel, Trevor, Rachel, and a few others. Wook had a speaker and played some Green Sky bluegrass music for us. It was, again, utterly pleasant. So my new trail name is Legs because Beast heard Verge calling me Legs (what she always calls me) so it kind of just caught on. I decided the trail had spoken--also your legs are super freakin important for hiking the Appalachian trail. I think it fits well. I like it. So Loon may have started the trail, but Legs is going to finish it! Also, I saw in my guest book that a woman from California is playing a game with her husband, and they're each betting on someone to finish the trail, and she picked me! That is a huge confidence boost! It feels great that people out there are believing in me even though they don't know me. Thanks Rebecca!
Date: 2016-04-12
From: Tricorner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rain. Rain ALL day.Jingle, Verge, and I kept a great pace. We did 15 miles in a little under 5 and a half hours (averaging about 3mph!) Although we were wet and cold all day, it was actually pretty fun! We took the "freedom step" pretty early on in the day--when you submerge your whole foot in water so you don't really try to avoid the water or mud anymore because who cares you're already soaked--so we just splashed up and down the mountains all day. Awesome!We got to the shelter around 2pm (it was caged in...kinda freaky), and tried to make a fire so that we could attempt to dry some of our stuff. Sadly all the wood everywhere was soaked...but we managed! It gave a new meaning to hanging your "stockings" over the fireplace.Lucky, Lil Santa, Daniel, and Wook were all there again too. It was fun. It seems most hiker conversations these days are centered around food...can't wait to get to Hot Springs on Friday! (There's supposedly going to be a hiker fest going on too!) Happy birthday Bridget! I love you, and you're awesome!
Date: 2016-04-13
From: Davenport Gap Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Finally out of the smokies! Wahoo! It feels great to pass this milestone. A huge percentage of people attempting to thru-hike the trail have dropped out by this point, so...go us!It was like Mother Nature was pushing us especially hard in the smokies. She was like, "Here, have snow, high winds, sleet, hail, rain, and low temperatures while hiking one of the hardest sections of trail!" Now that we're out I feel like she was like, "Okay, awesome job, you deserve spring sunshine, flowers, and waterfalls now!" It was so freaking beautiful out today. Jingle, Verge, and I were practically skipping along the trail with smiles on our faces. We ran into Lil Santa and Lucky just as we happened upon a Magic Moonpie Mailbox (a duct taped mailbox with trail magic moon pies and candy inside--yum) Then the five of us all went to Standing Bear hosts to drop in for some pizza and snacks. Our parents said that their friend had sent them something but they missed it so we could have it! Expecting cookies or something of the sort, we were quite surprised to open a bag of small teddy bears. I took one for my pack and handed out the rest. Kinda weird because the note in it made no sense to me because it was meant for my parents but...sweet all the same I suppose! Jingles definitely burnt the pizza (not his fault--the dinger got stuck) but we were all so happy and hungry that we didn't care and it tasted good anyway!We spent a few hours there and were finally about to leave when Sweets walked in! (She'd been sick so we thought she was a day behind us). What a happy surprise. She had already done 10ish miles but decided she missed us and wanted to join us for our final 7 mile trek to camp. Big day for her! Elated to have her company. Tons of people at the shelter, so we tented and made our own little fire. Lovely dinner together. Life is great.
Date: 2016-04-14
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Catpen Gap
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

Today was great, and there was lovely downhill terrain but some parts I felt wilty; I was probably dehydrated. Jingle and Sweets are a lot of fun to hike with. We got to Max patch (a popular, beautiful bald that everyone had been talking about being excited for), and it was super pretty! We relaxed in the sun for a while; I had my Snickers and peanut butter lunch (heck yeah), and we took an awesome picture (above: me and Sweets). My hiker hunger has definitely hit. Every conversation we had today was about food.Happy birthday Kate I love you!!!!
Date: 2016-04-15
From: Catpen Gap

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

Beautiful sunny day, lots of singing and downhills towards town. Hiked with Jingle and Sweets, talking about music and rock climbing and food (as usual). Town is magical, went right for lunch at the tavern (I had a delicious black bean burger and fries), we met Mama Sweets, Jingle ate the "AT burger" ( ridiculously huge burger--3 patties, bacon, onion rings, etc.), and we ran into Miss Janet trail magic twice! We dasher in the tavern and told us she bought tent sites at the campground and we could tent there for a small donation! Then we were in town going to do laundry and she drove by and gave us detergent! She is truly an angel.Hot springs is such a cute town. After showers and laundry, we got to explore a little, then we ran into lil Santa and Lucky who were sharing their care packages and having fun. Jingles, Verge, and I met up with Sweets and her mom for a tavern dinner where there was a bar full of hikers, live music, and fun! Sundance, Tarzan, and Daniel were there; I met the hiking Viking (SOBO trail celebrity), lil Santa, Wook, and Lucky were there too, and I met princess peach who had some drunken shenanigans. Zero tomorrow!
Date: 2016-04-16
From: Hot Springs

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Hiker Fest in Hot Springs!What a full day of fun! Started the morning with apple and peanut butter breakfast and community yoga (awesome).Elevensies butternut squash smoothie (awesome).Trip to dollar general for resupply and sunscreen.Played on the kid bungee thing with Chef and Jingle (so awesome).Played with hula hoops with Scarecrow (awesome).Climbed the climbing wall a couple times (awesome).Watched the ice cream eating contest and talent show (also awesome). Oh and ran into Matt from our first night at Hawk Mountain! (He goes by Skinny Talls now)Free hiker dinner at the hostel (only had hot dogs so I had a hot dog bun with relish and chips and guacamole...not so awesome...but it was free so...awesome I guess).Hung out with Foot, Colonel, Sassy, Jingle, Big Bad Wolf, and Songbird (awesome).Finished the night prancing around a field and singing with Verge and Songbird (super awesome).Oh and a fire and marshmallows.Then bedtime. What a full day of fun!(Pictured above: the next morning before leaving Hot Springs, we had a free hiker breakfast of pancakes, did more yoga on the lawn, then went swimming in the creek and danced around the field to dry off! That's Jingle with me--he's the bomb for coming in with me--no one else would--fantastic morning)
Date: 2016-04-17
From: Hot Springs

To: Rich Fire Tower
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

So ya know that great day I had? I was freakin sore the next day from all my fantastic shenanigans! Oops! So much for a zero day!All out of hot springs was...HOT. And uphill. And tiring.Camped at a tentsite by a fire tower and watched the sunset with Jingle, Sweets, Lil Santa, and Lucky. Also met Commando and Packrat.Lovely evening.
Date: 2016-04-18
From: Rich Fire Tower

To: Jones Meadow
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Sunrise at the fire tower--beautiful! Took a time-lapse. Pretty cool. Jingle went up in his sleeping bag. Uphill. Tired. SO HOT. All day.Came across a sketchy little place called "Mom's store" but it was great! I had a Klondike ice cream bar and an apple. We had multiple breaks but we (me, Verge, Jingle, Sweets) made it all the way up the mountain, found a grassy area with a spring and tented. Lil Santa, lucky, commando, and pack rat all caught up with us and tented there as well.Nice dinner; nice company. Beast had carried trout jerky from Gatlinburg for me because he remembered I had tasted it and loved it--SO sweet of him!!! I shared a little of it and ate the rest in one sitting. So yummy. Thank you Beast!
Date: 2016-04-19
From: Jones Meadow

To: Lick Rock
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Cloudy, warm, nice. Long day! It went well! Hit the 300 mile mark today! Hiked with Jingle and Sweets again. They're great.Mostly lovely terrain, some fields, ended with big hill. Pretty view. Oh, flowers! So many lovely floral scents!Didn't take a single picture today! (Trying to conserve memory...)Just know it was pretty, as usual. I'm a happy camper.
Date: 2016-04-20
From: Lick Rock

To: Whistling Gap
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Verge was sick this morning, so we took it easy.The flowers were amazing. In your periferal vision, it looked like snow! Happened across jingle, sweets, commando, pack rat, ken, Great P (formerly skinny talls aka Matt); met big bird, ham fists, husker, and Wally. Amazing trail magic from Dina and Wane at Sam's gap. I ate SO freaking much. Got to Big bald--super pretty. We knew we were meandering all day, so we didn't stay long. We felt like we wouldn't get to camp until like 9!Didn't think I'd be hungry after that trail magic, but by the time we got to camp (6ish...not 9) I was! Sweets shared some chamomile in the hopes that I'll sleep better tonight. She's the "sweetest" ha. Good company to share a campsite with. Goodnight!
Date: 2016-04-21
From: Whistling Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

ONE MONTH on the trail!!!I cannot believe it's already been a month. Wow. 342 miles in. Wow!Today was full of sunshine and beautiful scenery and lovely people and delicious food.Amazingly gentle hike today getting into Erwin. (Verge in a funky tree). Listened to music and ran down the last two gradual miles. Got there and found Jingle and Sweets. We had booked a cabin for the four of us but apparently there was a mix up and he accidentally gave the four person cabin away, so they split us up. That's definitely not ideal for us because we want to save money and the only reason we were more okay spending money for the four person cabin was because we could all hang out together and celebrate a month on the trail! Instead...we are stuck in a dilapidated room that cost us $60...when we could have shared just about as much space for a $20 tentsite there...at least we get a fridge! Oh well. Luckily, I like to keep on the positive outlook, so although we spent WAY more than we wanted, we are still clean and get to hang out with friends. We ran into Great P, Chef (hadn't seen him since Hot Springs), and Commando and Pack Rat. Also saw again/met Training Wheels (another girl on the trail!), Bunkie (also female), Old Drum, Hamwise, Big Stick, White Owl, and a few others.For dinner, we all got a shuttle to a choice of Mexican or Italian. We chose Mexican and MAN I ate a lot. I had a huge, delicious, vegetarian fajita. I ate the whole thing. After our Walmart trip, I also ate half a pint of "the Tonight Dough's" Ben and jerrys. YUM. I definitely had a food baby. We got back and they played the new Star Wars on screen for everyone, and I convinced Jingle, Sweets, and Verge to go on a short digestive walk with me. Makes sense right? Walk 13 miles, stuff your face, force yourself to walk more? Maybe? Before bed I hung out with Commando and Packrat and chatted by the light of the full moon and pet a very cute kitty that felt like keeping us company.
Date: 2016-04-22
From: Uncle Johnny's

To: Curly Maple Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

4.5 miles. "Near-O."Took another shower. (Pictured above: Walmart creation of a pita with banana and peanut butter and just a nice little smear of chocolate fudge from the Ben and Jerrys--heavenly breakfast)Rainy. Met jingle's friend Asa. Ate at hawg n dog and had a salad and Mac n chz. Learned about murderous Mary--a sad legend about a circus elephant that killed people so the town decided to hang it from a crane to kill it--crazy! Saw beast and Longstride and Moonshine and Foot and Colonel and Sundance and Qtip and met Pony. Left at around 2:30 to go up the hill. Somehow missed the rain completely. We've been ridiculously lucky (don't want to jinx it though). Thought the shelter would be full but it was just us! Hamwise joined us. We played M.A.S.H and taught jingle and sweets how to play hearts. We only played until 60 because we got tired (typically a game goes to 100). But it was super fun!
Date: 2016-04-23
From: Curly Maple Shelter

To: Apple Orchard
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up, packed up, and we were on our way this morning through the fog (which was supposed to clear off by 8pm but decided to chill until around 2pm).Up and over a hill and four miles in we ran into some trail magic from Brother Tom (an awesome guy from a church who has been doing trail magic at the same gap just about every day!). He made me hot chocolate and gave me banana bread. Yum!The four of us (still hiking with Jingle and Sweets) continued on and up over another hill to "Beauty Spot." Unfortunately for us, it was complete fog and pretty harsh wind. Down and up again! We paused for a short snack break before getting ready to go up Unaka Mountain. I was a little worried about this one because it was quite a big lump on the map, but Sweets and I pushed right up and the scenery was pretty gradual and pretty! It was foggy and had lots of spruce and roots and rocks and reminded me of New Hampshire hiking (except NH would have had more rocks and would've been a little steeper). But it smelled lovely and reminded me of home. Sometimes I really like the "dreary" weather. In fact, we all realized that the fog helped us just blow through everything because we couldn't seen looming peaks in the distance and also it didn't feel like much time was passing. It was pretty cool!We got to the 12.5 mile shelter and took another food break before continuing on our 4.5 more miles and two more hills. We were about to ascend our second hill with only 1.5 miles left when we saw gatorade trail magic that had been left! Yum! We were debating whether to chug them or pack them out when a lady came over and brought us a bag of bananas, oranges, taffy, and donuts (her daughter is on the trail somewhere and she just likes to help). Wow! Trail magic times three today! I seem to miss most of the trail magic people talk about so I guess today the trail felt like catching me up! Thank you trail! We divvied it up and shared with another hiker (Pony) who we met at our campsite for the night (a very cute Apple Orchard with a water source).Later a couple other hikers joined for the night (hamwise, Shiv, and Liz). Liz is an organic farmer and they have (hands down) the best food ever. Fresh veggies! They SAUTED their freakin veggies! Then they added spices, cooked pasta, added pesto and cheese and sundries tomatoes and holy crap o was in AWE! She later showed me how to find some wild onions that grow all over the trail and told me I could eat violets. So cool. I love her. So cool!!! Cold night. Early sleeping bag time.
Date: 2016-04-24
From: Apple Orchard

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Beautiful happy morning full of sunshine. Fantasized with Verge a bunch about food and what adventures we might want to do after the trail. Then, BAM! Best trail magic yet. Met Kansas who thru hiked last year. Super dooper nice. She had gotten trail magic at that spot from her friends when she hiked, so she wanted to do the same for hikers! Carrots, hummus, zesty Pringles, cheese, pickle, amazing cupcake, deviled eggs, and root beer! So happy to eat such delicious food and have great company. I packed out a brownie, candy, drink mix, and tuna! They were so friendly and extremely generous. I can't wait to do trail magic of my own.Roan mountain. Super lovely hike. I was mostly alone and listened to music, and at one point I chatted a bit with tumbleweed (Liz) and shiv towards the top. Accidentally went a half mile past the turnoff and had to hike a half mile back to shelter. Highest shelter on the AT! Met two pains, jingles (as opposed to jingle) and her dog ziva, and ETA. Wally camped nearby. Doc Koolaid dropped by and I found out he knows Bombadil and Goldberry! Woo! First people we met who know them! He's actually up in Hampton, but was back slack packing with a friend. So cool.Played hearts in the creepy shelter with verge, jingle and sweets! I lost (tried to shoot the moon) jingle won (did shoot the moon). Such fun!Excited for tomorrow to see all the pretty balds. Hopefully it's as perfect weather as today.
Date: 2016-04-25
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Doll Flats
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Perfect weather. Again. Sunny and warm and beautiful. Walked on high elevation ridges and balds and through birch forests with butterflies fluttering and birds singing. Now that Tumbleweed taught us how to identify ramps (a type of spicy wild onion) we have been seeing them everywhere! We decided to eat some...then decided to pick some (conservatively) and put it in a tuna wrap! It was awesome! We had that delicious lunch at Overmountain shelter, a huge red barn that was converted into a shelter. Saw a note from Bombadil and Goldberry in the log! Hello back, parents! Miss you!On another note, communication is so important. When you're spending everyday with someone and you are going to be constantly making decisions together, it is absolutely essential that you communicate. Verge and I know each other very very well. Like freaky well. Sadly, when we're sunburnt and dehydrated and overtired and hormonal, we can get a little fiesty. Like when one doesn't leave the other any peanut butter...there is NO messing around when it comes to peanut butter. Or when one is quick to get offended by the other misinterpreting what they said. Thankfully, these are small things that can be talked through and explained and understood. However, in order to have a totally healthy, functional, happy, relationship, communication is key. Whether you know each other backwards and forwards or not, you can't read minds (or at least I can't). Anyway, today Verge and I talked about some really productive things (feelings, strategies, comforts/discomforts, food, budget, and basically everything that involves making this trip the best it can be) and it felt really good to get it in the open and be totally understood ithout ripping each other's heads off.Windy campsite for the night with Jingle, Sweets, Jingles and Ziva, and Verge. Had my cheddar broccoli rice side for dinner and cocoa for dessert--such treats! As I cozied into my tent, I got to watch the sunset and Jingle play with his kite. I'm a little sunburnt on my legs, but I am so loving it out here.