morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-03-24
From: Amicalola Falls Visitors Center

To: Springer Mt shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

March 24 (Day 1): Got going about 6:30am to get over to the 7:00am breakfast. I couldn't eat. I was sick to my stomach with nerves. Went to the bathroom about 3 times in an hour (probably more info than you wanted). The drive to Amicalola State Park was 19 miles.We got there and registered and got our AT tags. I am 1395. David is 1396. Bob weighed our packs. Mine was 32 lbs and David's was 40. Splinter gave us a 15-minute talk on trail do and don't. They said the registration was slow today. They had only had about 20 hikers register so far that day.We had our pictures taken under the arch. Some with the girls too. Then the tears began. We all cried and cried. I had made copy of a picture of all the girls. David pulled the picture out of his pack and showed it to them. They said ¢Great, dad. Now you're going to die!¢ We always joke when we see a movie and some character pulls out a family picture to show everyone. We say ¢Well, that guy is going to die.¢ And it never fails. That character always dies. Hopefully we will make it through. :)We finally got on our way and headed up the hill. The girls called out ¢The sign says the Approach Trail is to the left.¢ Great! We start our hike by taking the wrong path! We came back and walked towards the falls. It's the tallest falls east of the Mississippi. 604 steps up the side of the falls! I met our first Trail Angel, Jeremy. He gave me a filter and a Tornado Tube to go on our Sawyer filtration system. Woo hoo. Thanks, Jeremy! I also saw some trail magic on the steps up. A box of Kleenex. My nose runs all the time so I was happy to see it. The box was the Wonder Woman symbol.I won't lie, the Approach Trail was brutal. Alot of uphill climbing¢¦ and that was after the 604 stairs!We met a bunch of hikers: Shaun, Grey Fox, Whitey (James from Ireland) to name a few. Most don't have their trail names yet, but some do. (Grey Fox named himself because he heard of one hiker getting the trail name Two Poops and he didn't want to get a name like that. Haha)We finally got to the Southern Terminus about 5:30pm. We signed the log and headed to the Springer Mt shelter. We were told that by shelter standards it was a palace and it was. Two privy's, fresh water, and a big shelter with an upper floor.David went to the stream to get water and I set up the stove and tent. Walking past the tent David noticed a couple small holes in the rain tarp of our tent. (We think it happened when I was waterproofing the tent on the back deck at home and the wind grabbed the tent and threw it.) Tomorrow calls for rain and thunderstorms. I searched everywhere and could not find the repair kit I brought. Luckily our neighbor, Michael, had a kit and we were able to repair a number of holes. He is just section hiking while trying out a new pack. He brought his beautiful German Shepherd, Apollo,with him.We cooked a quick dinner of pasta with Lipton soup to flavor. I only ate a little. I just don't have an appetite right now. Hit the privy and then the sleeping bag. I'm done for the day.
Date: 2019-03-25
From: Springer Mt shelter

To: Stover Creek shelter
Miles today: 2.6
Weather: overcast clouds

March 25 (Day 2): Last night was a bad night for David. He felt sick and couldn't sleep. He got up 3 times in the middle of the night. Everytime one of us would move the sleeping pad made, what seemed to me, a really loud noise. I was concerned about disturbing the neighbors, but poor David. He really had a bad night. I slept on and off.Not sure what time we got up but if David hadn't been sick I would have strangled him. The alarm on his phone went off at 6:15am!We tried to make breakfast and I thought I had lit the fire on the little propane can because I could hear the hissing. After about 5 minutes we realized we were just listening to the propane escaping. Crap! Ended up having poptarts for breakfast.We left the Springer Mt shelter about 10:30am and got to the Stover Creek shelter about 12:00. That was only 2.6 miles. I'm told that's called a ¢nero day¢ which stands for ¢near zero¢ day. The rain is due about 3:00pm with thunderstorms. Since we found holes in the rain tarp, we decided to stop here for the night. That way we will stay dry tonight AND won't have to pack up a wet tent in the morning.Lots of hikers have come and many decided to push on. But the rain started shortly after. It has not stopped and the shelter is filling up but the conversation is wonderful! Folks from NC, CT, Arkansas. Amy is a veterinarian and is here with her standard poodle, Nash. Tyler is a hoot and has really kept the conversation lively. :) We're also bunking with Emma, Emmy (Sundrop), Chatham, Compte (his real name, not a trail name), Colt, Sloth, and Diana.The thunderstorms rolled in a few minutes ago (7pm) and then hail. The ground is sprinkled with white hailstones. In March! Wow! So glad we stayed even though we didn't make many miles.
Date: 2019-03-27
From: Hawk mountain

To: Gooch Mountain
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

March 27 (Day 4): Today was cold, cold, cold and the wind just cut right through you. Someone said the temp was in the low 30s. The rain finally stopped during the night. The sunrise was beautiful.David made breakfast while I packed us up. I had hot tea to warm me up. We improved our time and got on the trail by 9:50.There was alot of elevation change today. Some of it pretty brutal, but we know that NC/Tennessee hike is going to be really tough. So far we have have only hiked as high as 3782¢ (Springer Mt). The NC/Tennessee hike will go up in the high 6000¢s. As Scarlett O'Hara would say ¢I'll worry about that tomorrow.¢The weather turned out beautiful. Sunshine! I was able to shed my fleece jacket and puffy jacket.We came down the side of Cooper Gap and saw several hikers in the gravel parking lot. Cuddles had slipped on her way down the mountain and fell back and tried to catch herself on her right hand and when she took her pack off at the bottom she was in terrible pain. Thank God that Amy was nearby. She stabilized Cuddles right arm. She said it looked like a rotator cuff injury because Cuddles couldn't lift her arm. Cuddles had some phone numbers of friends so she called them and they were on their way. We got her situated on a seat cushion with food and water. Another hiker, Paul, said he was going stay with her and ride into town because he needed to go into town anyways. Poor Cuddles broke down and cried for a bit. She had been training for this hike since November and was so upset that she had gotten hurt 3 days in. We told her that it could just be a strain and a few days off trail to rest could be all she needed. We said we would see her on Katahdin! I also gave her our phone number and told her to call us when she got to Waynesboro and we would come get her. We would lhave a soft bed, shower, and washing machine waiting for her. She thanked us and told us to get back on the trail.We took off and continued on. I said a prayer for Cuddles.We stopped for a quick lunch of crackers, peant butter, and a Snickers bar about 12:30.We came to a fairly wide stream and decided to follow Fireweed's advice and soaked and washed our feet. That ice water felt so good!!We finally got to Gooch shelter about 5pm. It's always great to walk into a campsite or shelter. Everyone says hello and congratulates you for making it. We set up camp and then went up to the shelter to cook dinner and chat with everyone. The conversations are always fun and entertaining.Well it's 8pm. Way past ¢hiker midnight¢ time. Time to get some sleep. Tomorrow is an 8.3 mile day. Then Friday is Blood Mountain.
Date: 2019-03-28
From: Lance Creek campsite

To: Lance Creek campsite
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

March 28 (Day 5): We were able to camp in our tent last night and that was nice. We shared a tent site with Moe, who is also a thru-hiker. I slept fairly well, but sometimes David and Moe would start snoring in stero.I've noticed that we definitely have the hiker funk now. Good thing I like myself or I wouldn't be able to stand the smell! :)Each day we are getting better with our time. We got up at 7:30 and were hiking out by 9:13. The hike today was fairly level a good chunk of the time. Hiking up to Preacher's Rock was tough but the view was incredible. You could see mountain ridges for miles.We experienced more Trail Magic today. Came down into a parking area of the Chestatee Wildlife area and a couple was there with bottled water and Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes. A steak dinner couldn't have tasted better! We wolfed it down like we were starving. There was also a privy (no TP unfortunately) and trash cans! It was great to finally be able to throw away all the trash we have been packing.We leap frogged with Amy, Nash and Lexie all day. We all ended up at Lance Creek campsite. There aren't many sites here and alot of hikers ended up setting up their tent on the trail. We were lucky enough to find a flat spot in the campsite. There is no privy so we had to dig our first cathole. We also had to hang all food and anything with a scent up on the bear wires. No bear boxes here.After setting up our tent, we went down to the stream and soaked our feet. I also ¢iced down¢ my knees. Boy, that felt good.Since this is a dry campsite we had a dry dinner - tuna fish in flour tortillas and water to drink. We took our dinner up to the upper campsite, where Lexie and Amy are staying and sat and ate. More and more hikers joined us and we had a great time.The campsite is not dry. There is a great stream, but back at the parking lot a Ridge Runner said to pass the word that the water at Lance Creek was questionable because several people had gotten sick after drinking it. We made sure to water up before getting here.Once the sun goes down it gets really cool but tonight is only supposed to go down into the 40s. Yay.Got a text from from Cuddles and she had a rotator tear. She got 2 cortisone shots and was told to take 2 days rest and then she could slack pack (where you carry only what you would need for a day trip.)Time to hit the sack. Tomorrow is the climb over Blood Mountain and it's mostly a straight up climb but down the other side is Neels Gap and resupply. Amy asked if we wanted to share a cabin with her, Lexie, and Katie (who is from Luxombourg). We had been talking about asking them the same thing so we jumped at it. Can't wait! A bed, a shower, and washing machine. I also hope to get cell service so I can upload my journals.
Date: 2019-04-01
From: Blairsville, GA

To: Chattahoochee Gap campsite
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

April 1 (Day 9): Best night sleep we've had since we started! Between nerves and weather and basically learning a new way of living, a solid night's sleep has evaded us. We all felt really good this morning.We packed up and headed to the office for breakfast and checkout. (Almost forgot our trekking poles in the room!)Jeff, the shuttle driver, took us back to Hogpen Gap. We started out and within a couple hours ran into Sarah and then Amy and Katie!The sky was a beautiful blue, a slight wind, and some ice along the sides of the trail. There were muddy, slippery parts to the trail too at times, but for the most part the it was a pretty easy hiking day. Not too many strenuous ups and downs. Lots of level areas. Really enjoyable! Several of the trails were like long tunnels with wild rhododendronsl on either side. Their big green leaves are out but no blooms. It will be really pretty in a few weeks when the flowers bloom.Today was our longest day in miles, 9.6 miles. We decided to stop at the Chattahoochee campsite. We watered up at a stream shortly before getting there. The wind is steady and we know that once the sun goes down it is going to be cold, so we plan to be snuggled into our sleeping bags, wearing all the clothes we have with us, by 6:30 or 7.Hanging our bear bags was a real pain tonight. Couldn't find a strong enough tree. They would bend over when you would try to pull the bag up. Took us 45 minutes to get them up and ended up having to put one of our bags on Amy's rope. Arghh! We need to get a stronger rope.
Date: 2019-04-03
From: .5 miles from Rocky Mtn summit

To: 1.7 miles past Trey Mtn shelter (Steeltrap Gap)
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: clear sky

April 3 (Day 11): We cowboy camped at a campsite about .5 from the summit of Rocky Mountain. The site was slanted so I rolled against the door of the tent all night but we woke up to nice weather and no wind.One thing about getting to a summit, you see mountain ridges for as far as you can see. It's really stunning. You'll have to excuse me if I repeat myself but it really can be breathtaking at times. No pun intended because when you get to the top a lot of times your breath is gone. ;)The day was beautiful. Blue sky and warm temps. We met up with part of our tramily (Sunshine, Sarah, and Katie) and hiked with them until Trey Mountain shelter. We decided to go past Trey Mountain shelter because we were feeling good and there was still time to put in a few more miles.We hiked a total of 6.9 miles and ended up at a nice campsite with 6 other hikers. The only problem was the water source was .5 mile downhill. My right foot has been a little painful so I wanted to soak it. (And the bruise on my knee is almost gone!) We set up camp and then hiked down to fill our platypuses (water bags) and I soaked my feet until they were numb. Then we had to hike back up the hill. I say that adds another mile for the day!That's the thing about hiking the AT. The trail is 2,191 miles but it doesn't include all the miles you put in hiking to water sources and shelters and campsites and into town. I bet by the end you have hiked at least another 300-400 miles.The temperature at bedtime was just a little cool so I only slept in 2 layers and David in 3 (I am a warm sleeper while he is cold.) I didn't have to put my hat on until early morning either. First time!I usually keep a hat or buff on all the time because I have constant hathead. My hair is literally flat to my head and all swirled around. Ask me if I care. :) I think I am going to have Mackenzie shave my head when I get to Waynesboro because I am tired of messing with it.
Date: 2019-04-04
From: Campsite

To: Top of Georgia hostel (Dick's Creek Gap)
Miles today: 0.0

April 4 (Day 12): We slept warmer than we have this trip. We woke at 6:40am and we were on the trail by 8:21 (a new record). We said goodbye to a fellow hiker we had met last night named Irish (his last name is Irish and he left for his thru-hike on St. Patrick's Day). There was also another married couple there, but they were doing a section hike. (We would ended up leap frogging with them all day).The first mountain we went up I asked David the name of the mountain. He said he didn't know but from here on he would name tough mountains ¢Bitch Mountain¢ if he didn't know the name. I suspect there are going to be a lot of those mountains between here and Maine. :)The next mountain (Kelly Knob) went straight up, no switchbacks. It was over 3800 feet, so you can imagine how hard that was to walk straight up with 30 pounds on your back. The walk down the other side was fairly nice. Lots of level areas, but it seemed to go on FOREVER.We finally came down to Dick's Creek Gap. Down the road .56 miles is the Top of Georgia hostel. We decide to spend the night since another bad storm was due in. We were lucky enough to be able to snag 2 bunks before they were full. They're pretty strict on rules. All packs, poles and boots were to stay outside while you registered. The. You could take your pack into the bunkhouse but boots and pokes stayed out. It made for a clean place so that was nice. We were put in the Yolala cabin with 18 other hikers. I think we got the party cabin because we had some lively folks and they were a lot of fun. One hiker, named Boorah, had a mini disco ball that he could hook into his charger. He said he found it at a dollar store. So we had disco lights playing in the common area! David bought a pizza at the little store and we baked it in the kitchen area. They also gave you a scrub set so you could take a shower and have all your clothes washed, if you wanted.I think they bunked all the old codgers in the same room. I was in with David and 4 other guys. David and I had top bunks. Boy, could those guys snore! When the guy below me would start, I would roll over in my sleeping bag and it would jiggle the bed enough to make him stop. It was a nice warm sleep.
Date: 2019-04-05
From: Top of Georgia hostel (Dick's Creek Gap)

To: Bly Gap (in NC!)
Miles today: 9.0

April 5 (Day 13): We took the 9:00am shuttle from the hostel back to Dick's Creek Gap. It was pouring rain, but we had our rain gear on (rain coat, rain skirt that ties around the waist and hangs below the knees, and rain cover over backpack) so we were good to go. We headed to Plumorchard shelter in the hopes of meeting up with Sunshine and Katie. We had only been there a short while and were having a great conversation with Dayglo and Trail Daddy when Katie came rushing up. She said she had literally been running to catch up with us because they were afraid we would move on because there was still so much time left in the day. Sunshine had stopped at Top of Georgia to pick up a pkg she had mailed there and was coming. We found out that they had been standing in the office when they called the 9sm shuttle and we were out in tbe parking lot getting into the shuttle! We JUST missed each other!We ate lunch at Plumorchard, Sunshine showed up and then we took off for Bly Gap. Katie said that she had gotten her trail name from Sarah. Her name is Pebbles. She got it because she had forgotten to remove the rocks ftom her bear bag and had carried them down the mountain and into town! And Sunshine had her name changed to Funshine. So that's what they will be referred to from here on. Sarah was named T-REX because she eats oatmeal with dinosaur eggs and is always talking about dinosaurs.The hike wasn't too bad and there by a little stream in the middle of the the trail was a tree with a wooden sign nailed to it that said ¢GA/NC¢. We took pictures and then headed on to Bly, which wasn't much farther.We hit the water source first and then had to hike up some steps to the campsite. We set up camp, watered up, and had dinner. Dayglo and Trail Daddy were there with a bunch of their tramily. They built a campfire but we were too tired to join in. It was a 9 mile day for us. Even more for Pebbles and Funshine.
Date: 2019-04-06
From: Bly Gap

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 0.0

April 6 (Day 14): Today did not start off well. Last night we had dinner and went to bed and then about 3:30am I threw up. I continued throwing up until morning. I also ruined a pair of pants. I was not doing well. I got up early morning and there was a group of hikers outside our tent asking if there was anything they could do for me. One offered to go get more water. Another gave me an electrolyte tablet. All kinds of offers. These AT hikers are really a protective bunch.My wonderful tramily said that we would take a zero day so I could recuperate and they could dry out their tent and equipment. (Pebbles and Funshine had camped in the rain the night before so their tent and rain tarps were soaked.)The day was nice, warm temps and blue sky. I slept all day. About late morning Funshine said that she was not feeling well. Next thing we know she is throwing up.By late that night David was sick too. He got up in the middle of the night and made the comment ¢The only thing that could make this worse is for it to start raining.¢ Be careful what you wish for¢¦ Several hours later the rain began pouring down.
Date: 2019-04-07
From: Bly Gap

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 0.0

April 7 (Day  15): Another sick day. Ugh! Funshine threw up during the night but was feeling better part way through the day. David was nauseous and weak and suffered a little diarrhea. Pebbles began throwing up early morning and kept on during the day. We reminded her to drink water but at times she was throwing that up too. I made her a cup of tea but she couldn't keep it down. She and David both slept in naps all day.The day is warm and we could see blue sky with some white clouds.The Bly Gap campsite is right on the trail. You walk through the trail to continue on. Laying in our tents resting we could hear hikers pass by. I could hear Funshine in her tent whispering ¢Save yourselves!¢ It made me laugh.As the day went on we could see dark clouds move in but then they seemed to move on. We could hear thunder in the distance but it kept on moving. Yay! Maybe a rainfree night?? Could we be that lucky?There is a tree right in the middle of the campsite that is famous on the AT. It is large and really gnarly looking. We have to make sure we take a picture before/if :(  we ever leave Bly!
Date: 2019-04-11
From: Coleman Gap

To: Glassmine Gap
Miles today: 11.0

April 11 (Day 19): We started the day at Coleman Gap. Woke up to a dewy tent and dense fog. Walked across a good number of streams as we hiked toward our destination of Albert Mountain, the 100 mile mark for NoBo thru-hikers.Albert Mtn is known for having a ¢rock scramble ¢ that you have to go through to the top. I guess our idea of a rock scramble is different. We were able to climb it with our poles. (When we¢ve hiked in Maine, the rock scrambles required you to have to use both hands and feet to climb up. Poles wouldn¢t help.)Once past the rocks, the summit wasn¢t very far. There was a tall fire tower there that gave amazing views for miles and, yes!, even with my fear of heights, I climbed that tower! I just hiked 100 miles! No fear of heights was going to stop me now!The hike down was very nice. As we walked I noticed that the trail literally glittered. It¢s due to the mica in the rock. NC is the nation¢s leading producer of this mineral.We got to the next shelter, called the Long branch. Rain was due in that night and the tent sites were all downhill. I didn¢t want to camp where the water would be running into my tent all night, so we pressed on to the next gap. So far we have been fortunate to find campsites at the gaps. (Is you¢ve heard of the old tv show ¢Gunsmoke¢, I thought it would have been funny if we had stayed at that shelter. Miss Kitty staying at the Long Branch.)We stopped at Glassmine Gap and found our first gap with really no flat sites. There was Funshine, Pebbles, David and I, and 2 other section hikers named Jack and Cap¢n. It took a while to find enough spaces and we ended up sleeping with part of our tent on the trail.We did 11 miles today, so that was good. We¢re starting to pick up the pace a bit now that we¢re healthy and feeling good.
Date: 2019-04-12
From: Glassmine Gap

To: Silar Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

April 12 (Day 20): We woke up to POURING rain. It was quite the challenge to try to pack up the tent and keep it as dry as we could. We decided we would hike to the next shelter (Rock Gap) to make breakfast. It was 2.6 miles. The trail was not much more than thick, sucking mud and even a steam of running water at times. We tried to dry out the rain tarp in the shelter, but the air was just too full of moisture.Diesel was returning to the trail today! Yay! We met her at Winding Stair Gap. She brought us all trail magic! Arby¢s! There was a guy there with a decked out conversion van and he offered chairs to sit on and something to drink.Diesel, Pebbles, and Funshine had been waiting quite a while for us so we told them to go on and we would meet them at the next shelter after we enjoyed our lunch.The rest of the hike was not too bad. We got into Silar Bald shelter about 4:30. It¢s a really nice shelter with large grassy areas. Someone had tarred 2 of the sides so it was really protected. They say the shelter is .6 miles in, but it sure seemed longer. We set up down from the shelter and David went to soak his feet in the stream. I went up to the shelter and chatted with the girls.Dinner was finishing up a block of cheese and some crackers. I still felt full from the Arby¢s. Good day!