morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-07-14
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Mahoosue Notch
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: few clouds

It was back to the logging road and Blue Blaze trail to the AT near Gentian Pond Shelter. Heading NOBO this time, heading toward Full Goose Shelter and stopping short of Mahoosue Notch and Arm. The full packs were a little tough, but felt good. I'm excited about doing Notch tomorrow.
Date: 2021-07-15
To: Mahoosue
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: few clouds

I got into Mahoosue Notch and was immediately excited. A huge boulder field in a canyon was ahead! Over the years, the wall of the cliff have collapsed into the canyon. It was a completely different terrain than anything we've experienced on the AT. Orange and I loved every minute of this experience. The rest of the the tramily--not so much. Orange and I would choose the most exciting and challenging routes we could--crawling through caves, squeezing through crevices and scrambling over, under or around boulders. Unfortunately Wiki (74 years young) really didn't enjoy himself. Both shins were bumped, bruised and bleeding. Once he called for help and when I backtracked, I found him on his back, spread eagle over a crevasse. He couldn't get up without dropping his pack, but he didn't know how deep the crevasse was. It was only 4" deep. I got him up and all was good. Then we hiked up Mahoosue Arm and up and over Old Speck Mountain. It took us 11 hours to do only 9.7 miles. A challenging, but rewarding day!
Date: 2021-07-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 33.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We decided to skip around and do NOBO and SOBO to go over the steepest parts of the trail early. Brent, Cathy's husband, flew out from Tulsa to slack us for a week. This has apparently been the wettest July in New England in history, so there have been very few views and few pictures. We are pretty much just putting our heads down and walking.
Date: 2021-04-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

¢The Trail will always be there¢¢There¢s no time like the present¢¢Patience is a virtue¢¢Don¢t put everything off until retirement¢¢Don¢t risk your security¢¢Nothing ventured, nothing gained¢So, which voice in your head do you listen to?  I¢ve spent a lot of time over the last 10 years reading many (hundreds?) trail journals on this site and walking vicariously with those hikers who got on the trail with the goal of thru-hiking the AT, always wondering if I would ever join their ranks. Well, this year, I am. I made the decision to hike this year relatively late - near the end of January. As this journal progresses, I will touch on some of the reasons that influenced my decision but will begin by saying that without the support of my awesome wife, none of this would be possible. I¢ve spent the last two months scrambling and assembling gear from a starting point of near zero. As I write this it is April 4th, Easter Sunday, and I just received my last piece of gear yesterday. If nothing else, this should be an entertaining venture!
Date: 2021-04-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So this is where I will define a few terms common to the AT (Appalachian Trail) hiking community. Thru-hiking: completing all the trail miles in one 12 month period Section Hiking: hiking...well, a section of the trail. LASH: Long Ass Section Hike - just what is says - a long section hike.HYOH - Hike Your Own Hike - a.k.a ¢I thoroughly appreciate and honor your unsolicited advice, I know my sox aren¢t the preferred brand and may retain 9% more moisture, but can I please go back to eating my cold oatmeal?¢NOBO - a northbound hiker. NOBO hikes are by far the most common with thru hikers starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia. SOBO - southbound hikers who start in Maine at Mt Katahdin and move south to GeorgiaFlip Flopper - starting the AT somewhere in the middle and hiking one direction, then flipping back to your starting point and hiking the other direction. Flip flop hikes can be very convoluted, flipping and flopping in multiple directions with the goal to finish all the trail miles. Gram Wienie: a hiker that will do almost anything to cut grams off of their pack weight. Cutting off 1/2 inch of excess strap. Drilling holes in their shortened toothbrush. I swear this isn¢t me, though I¢m not judging anyone.  Ok, I may have cut my toothbrush handle in half. Trail Magic: an unexpected boon received along the way. A ride to town, a cooler of Gatorade, a bag of m&m¢s from a day hiker. Anything, really, where your fellow humans show a kindness with no expectation of return. Trail Angel: someone providing trail magic. There are some truly incredible and even legendary Trail Angels on the AT who support hikers who are out putting in miles.
Date: 2021-04-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hoo boy, do I have theories.Theories have a hilarious way of interacting with reality. My theories about long distance hiking are likely akin to my theories about parenting - before I actually had kids. Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Dwight Eisenhower said that: ¢In preparing for battle I have found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable¢I¢ve done the planning and I¢ve got my theories about what a thru hike is like,  but I think I¢m thinking rationally and know that my plans will change and I¢m telling myself I¢m ok with that.When the decision was made to do a thru hike, I then had to decide how and when to start. The ¢when¢ was mostly easy as I wanted to give my employers plenty of notice of my leaving and given that I didn¢t decide on this hike until the end of January, an April start was the call. My theory being that an April start will give me the best weather and hiking months to complete a thru. (And I also had no gear, so I needed time to make decisions and purchases)As to the where, I¢m in no hiking shape to do a Southbound hike from Maine- so that was out. The traditional NOBO start from Springer had some appeal, but the amount of hikers starting on the trail in Georgia in April puts a lot of stress of trail resources and I wanted to avoid the ¢bubble¢. My theory is that avoiding the large crowds will make for a happier hike.By doing a flip-flop hike I ¢plan¢ to start on a quieter section of trail with maybe warmer temps and perhaps a less-steep learning curve.  The theory here is that I can use the first few week as an on-trail ¢shakedown¢ as I get use to my gear and sleeping in a hammock.Some potential theory disruptors: thru hikers I will be meeting will be putting in bigger miles as they¢ve got their trail legs, so I won¢t be able to keep that pace.  I won¢t have other newbies to lean on as I get use to trail life.  Also, when getting to Maine nearly everyone will be finishing their hikes while I¢ll still have 1/3rd of the trail to go - without the hikers I will have been hiking around for months.  So there is some potential for mental game issues as my trip south will probably be a lot more isolated.Theory will meet reality on April 12.But, as hikers have always said and written: ¢hike your own hike¢As always, we shall see!
Date: 2021-04-12
From: Troutville RR crossing

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

After spending 5 days in Tennessee with friends from college, I was dropped off at noon in Troutville, Va at mile 731.8 and I started my flip flop hike going north on the AT. I didn¢t have a specific plan in mind other than not to go too far, too fast. The trail had great views of central Virginia as a lot of it ran along a Ridgeline. I stopped for a break at the Fullhardt Knob shelter and decided to heat some water for a dehydrated meal. Naturally, I managed to burn my hand lighting my alcohol stove, but the resulting Buffalo Ranch Chicken was good. Hiked in and did not see any other hikers until I got to the Wilson Creek shelter at 6 pm, where I met three other hikers: Reset - who started in January at Springer Mt (Reset began with a 60lb pack!) LAF who is a flip flopper as well - he started back in Damascus. Trail mix came in about 7:30 and he is a flipping too, he started at mile 250. And Special Ed who is section hiking the few parts of the trail he hasn¢t yet done. Got my hammock set up pretty quickly but skipped any dinner - still recovering from those 5 days of overindulging with my friends. Turned in at 8 to spend my second ever night sleeping strung between two trees.
Date: 2021-04-13
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Had a leisurely start to the day as I had planned to go 10 miles to a tent site. Got packed and in the trail just before 9. The trail followed the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the day and the views were incredible, with vistas from both sides of the ridge. Found some patches of wild strawberries that were sadly not ripe yet. Came across Special Ed (a section hiker who was at the shelter last night) when stopping for water and he encouraged me to consider going to Cove Mountain Shelter. I told him I¢d see how I felt when I hit my planned camping spot for the day. The afternoon had a few more good climbs and I got slightly concerned when a half dozen turkey vultures kept circling around me. What are they seeing? Do I look like I¢m that close to being their food?Hit my target camping site at 3:15pm and checked the terrain map and it showed it was mostly downhill for the next 2.8 miles to Cove Mountain. So, onward!My left shoulder was starting to bother me quite a bit, which is a worry just two days in  I adjusted my chest strap on my pack to move the shoulder strap to a new spot but it was still getting very sore. When I got to the shelter I looked at my pack and the right side external frame post had popped out of the pocket where it clips in. I got it fixed, but will really have to keep an eye on it.Met a section hiker named Not Sunshine who is out for a few days and also met Roo who started at Springer in February and has the stories to prove it.Had a Whipperwill start up at 8:30 and he went aaallllllll night.  Didn¢t bother me much, but opinions varied!Planning for a short day Wednesday to Middle Creek Campground as I have a resupply box there and there is rain coming for the afternoon and evening.
Date: 2021-04-14
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Cross Jennings Creek
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

So my plan to start the trail was to do roughly 8 miles a day over three days to get to the Middle Creek Campground, which is 1.2 miles from the Cross Jennings Creek intersection with the AT. I ended up hiking more the first two days so I had a short hike on the docket for today. Had fun at the shelter last night listening to Roo¢s stories about starting the AT in February with the frozen knots and stiff-as-a-board frozen pants. Reset also started the trail earlier in January and had to post-hole his way through the snow storms in the Smokies. My mini hike down to the road crossing did involve getting passed twice by twenty-something hikers who were both jogging down hill as they went by me.  As if their knees will never grow old.  I secretly vowed to hate them both. What good is it getting old if you can¢t begrudge the youth their youth?I had sent ahead a drop box to the campground and it was there when I got here. I was kinda hoping it was lost, as I haven¢t been very hungry the first three days and still had half my food left. Now I have 5 or 6 days of grub for the next three day stretch. Ah well, I¢ll carry the pounds as punishment. I¢m now sitting in the bunkhouse at the Campground, just chilling. I did use my cork massage ball to work over my muscles. Also took a shower and did laundry. I¢m currently the only one here and don¢t know yet if anyone else will check in for the night, the bunkhouse sleeps 5, but I wouldn¢t be sad either way. Well, I said that I haven¢t been hungry, but I did have a double bacon cheeseburger (pic at the top) here at the campground. I rationalized that this will probably be my only chance to have a burger here, so, I did.  I loooooove rationalizations that let me do what I want to do!I will be heading out early tomorrow to get to the trail by way of that 1.2 mile road walk. Then I plan on hiking until I don¢t feel like hiking anymore. Might stealth camp between shelters.I saw that they also have ice cream and milkshakes here, I wonder if I can whip up another rationalization...
Date: 2021-04-15
From: Jennings Creek

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 16.18
Weather: mist

Started early this morning as I had a road walk from the campground back down to Jennings Creek where I left the trail the day before. Had to fuss with my Zpacks backpack again as the frame support popped out once I loaded my pack. Left the one-man bunkhouse at 6:15 and got back to the trail 1.2 miles away at 6:30. Side note: only miles actually hiked on the trail itself ¢count¢ as miles walked. All the side trails and town walking only wear your shoes out without contributing to your mile total. Today promised to be a lot more up than my previous 2.3 days on the trail and right from the road it went up. Early morning found me walking through a pine forest with moss and ferns all around. It smelled like your finest bathroom air freshener. Near the top of my second climb I met a turkey hunter who was taking a break from trying to find his quarry. He told me he doesn¢t bag many, but enjoys the pursuit through the mountains. I took a side trail to Black Rock Lookout (picture of the sign above) and was blown away by the view - and the wind. It¢s one of the most dramatic overlooks I¢ve had the pleasure to be at, as you can¢t see anything as you walk up due to the rock formation and then BAM! Killer view for miles and miles and miles. I¢ll try and attach a video link in the sidebar when I get to the next town. Last major climb was a biggun¢ - Apple Orchard Mountain. I realized just before I started the climb around 1:45 that I had neglected to eat anything today. So I found a big rock sitting quietly in the sun, took my shoes off, and had a 650 calorie Greenbelly Cashew/mango/coconut bar. Good enough!Getting to the top was a slog, but well worth the awesome views to both sides of the trail. It was fairly cold and windy up at 4224 feet (my first 4000 footer) so I did not tarry. On the way down I passed beneath the famed ¢Guillotine¢ rock formation where a large Boulder is suspended overhead between two rock formations. Pretty cool. I had intended to make camp for the night at a shelter, but it looked very sketch and there were A LOT of dead trees around. With high winds tonight and the fact that it was at 3900 feet, I decided to take my chances and find a stealth site further down the mountain. Which I have. So I¢m sitting on a decaying log and typing this.  Next move will be to set up my hammock and tarp, hang my food bag a good 200 feet from my camp, and crawl into the insulated goodness. As my hands are getting cold. Hope all is well with everyone who reads this.
Date: 2021-04-16
From: Stealth Campsite

To: StanimalÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Hiker Hostel Glasgow, Va
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: clear sky

I got a little cocky last night and consequently, a little cold. The temps dropped to the mid 30¢s and the wind HOWLED all night. Luckily, I picked a stealth site on the other side of the ridge so I heard more wind than I felt. By the time I realized that I was going to be sleeping cold, I was too warm to get out of my hammock and get my extra clothes out of my pack. So I just rode it out. The toesies suffered the brunt of the chill, but we¢re still on speaking terms. Started packing up at 6:15 and was bushwhacking back to the trail an hour later. Nice uphill to start helped me warm up and the trail was awesome. Lots of flowers and bees and birds even in the chill. Encountered a large Doe coming down into a meadow and she seemed completely unconcerned with my presence. You should know one thing about me: I think deer are awesome. They¢re like cows, only without all the attitude and stuffy manners. So I had a nice conversation with her as she moseyed on in front of me to join her cohort in the woods. As I hiked thru the morning I had nice views of what I hiked yesterday and the trail continues to be mostly smooth. I decided to hike to the James River and stay the night at Stanimal¢s Hiker Hostel where I also had two packages waiting for me. I had to wait about 90 minutes at the parking lot by the River for my shuttle, but I occupied myself by trying remember movie lines. The one that stuck with me was this: ¢If ever I meet one of you Texas waddies who ain't drunk from a hoofprint, I think I'll¢¦ I'll shake their hand, or buy them a Daniel Webster cigar!¢  Know the movie?I¢m now at the hostel and it is full for the night. I¢ll be in a 12x10 bedroom with three bunk beds and 5 other hikers. Should be a hoot. Plan tomorrow will depend on whether I can can get someone here to mail two packages for me. If not, I¢m heading out after my postal visit is done. If the mail drop gets handled for me, I will slack pack from 15 miles up the trail and stay one more night here. Slack packing involves hiking with a light pack or no pack and getting dropped off to hike either back to where you left off or forward to where your gear will be dropped off. Either way, this is fine.
Date: 2021-04-17
From: Reservoir Road

To: James River Crossing
Miles today: 13.66
Weather: broken clouds

So the snorers (including yours truly) were outnumbered in the bunk room last night but we held our own. I actually feel poorly about this, but allergy season here in Virginia is hitting me hard and the congestion is real. Charlie the hostel caretaker organized everyone¢s departure plans last night and made pancakes for everyone this morning. I didn¢t eat, because breakfast is for nerds. True story, look it up.I leaned into the slack packing idea for today. Three of us who were at the hostel took a 50 minute shuttle ride north to a point where the trail crossed a back country road. I borrowed a day pack from the hostel and left most of my gear behind, so I was only carrying about 8 pounds (2 liters of water included). We had 15.0 miles to hike southbound on the trail back to where I left the trail yesterday at the James River in Glasgow. I hiked the first two hours with/around Grinder and Storm (should be a tag team duo name in professional wrestling.  Interesting sidebar: hiker trail names seem to fall into two categories, either fierce WWE names like the aforementioned Grinder and Storm and Ice Bear or muppet names like Grumpy Cat, Sweet Corn and Slippers. Side note ended) but hiked on ahead when they broke for an early lunch. They were going to take a side trail to a shelter .2 miles down the hill. That was no bueno in my book. Just more terrific views today as I climbed to Bluff Mountain where there are concrete footings from a now-gone watchtower. Right next to the summit was a memorial for a young boy who wandered away from his school house in the 1950¢s and climbed seven miles up the mountain, only to perish from exposure. Quite sad. He was one month shy of 5 years old. Met a few of my fellow hostel inmates as they hiked north while I passed hiking south. Will maybe/probably see a few of them in the next few days as I go back to northbound tomorrow. Took my break at 2pm at the Cliffs overlook (picture at the top). Actually ate a blueberry probar and a keto bar, though I¢m still not what you would call hungry.The hike down from the cliffs had scenic views of the James River and I still can¢t say enough about how gorgeous this part of Virginia is. Hiked from 8:15 this morning until 5:15 when we were met by the shuttle driver Strings. (Probably goes in the muppet category, don¢t ya¢ think?)Contemplating dinner but nothing sounds good, maybe another probar and some peanut butter.So I¢m going to be bunked up in the hostel for one more night (put your money on the Snorers, giving 6 1/2) then get dropped back tomorrow morning where I got dropped off today. Have to say, I really like the hiking part of hiking, just putting one foot in front of the other and eating up the trail, one stride at a time.
Date: 2021-04-19
From: Forest Service Road 286 - stealth site

To: Tye River
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

Started raining about 2:30 then got heavier around 4:30 this morning. I had wanted to get any early start, but didn¢t want to pack in the rain. Finally at 7 I went ahead and got dressed. It¢s possible to change your clothes lying in a hammock, but it ain¢t easy. I was wishing there were two orderlies and a nurses assistant to help out. After getting my rain jacket on is swung my feet out into my shoes, which I had apparently left juuuust a half inch too far out side of my tarp and they were consequently swimming in water. Ah well, this is fine. I did manage to pack everything dry in such a way that it stayed dry. I then hiked off into a slight drizzle. The first 5 or so miles was through undulating terrain with many rocks, boulders, streams and bogs. Really put me in mind of the Trollshalls in LOTRO. (For those 3 of you dear readers who know the reference, you¢ll understand. Everyone one doesn¢t share our refined taste in recreational online games. And they¢re the poorer for it.)Based on the recommendation of Charlie from Stanimal¢s hostel, I did take a side trail (promised you I would, Jessica) to Spy Rock and was once more blown away by the 360 degree views. The sun even made an appearance as I arrived. There was also standing water on top of the rock that was lousy with tadpoles. I was amazed frogs could live up there, let alone...well, you know...I continued up the the Priest shelter were by tradition hikers confess their sins in the log book. I had a ton of them that were quite scandalous and concerned everyone reading this, but you¢ll have to climb up there and read them for yourselves if you want to know the deets. Although I¢ll give you one freebie - I didn¢t vote for Ruth Messenger when she ran for Mayor against Rudy Giuliani. I¢m a trail noob, but coming down the Priest (there¢s a Catholic joke in there somewhere - HEY-O!) was five miles of sliding rocks, roots, boulders and post cars views of Virginia farmland 3000 feet below. It was brutal, only thing worse might be to climb it. Didn¢t see any other NOBO hikers today, just a few SOBO section hikers. I¢ve avoided taking any vitamin I so far (ibuprofen) but my knees are singing tonight so I¢m going to pop a couple before bed. I¢ve set up camp next to the Tye River at Virginia Rt 56. Planning to ease back a bit in mileage tomorrow as I have a 3200 ft climb in 5 miles to the top of Three Ridges, which will be my last 4000 ft mountain until Vermont, I believe. Keeping my eye on the cold front Canada is gifting us, do not want to be caught high up somewhere if temps go below freezing.