morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-06
From: Top of Georgia hostel

To: Deep Gap shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

It was nice and warm in the hostel but got very little sleep. In 27yrs bunking with up to 12 firemen a night I have never heard such snoring in my whole life. There was a large man handing out ear plugs which was a nice gesture but it only helped a little. In the morning he asked everybody if they slept well. Nobody was saying anything so as usual I ended up saying what everyone wanted to.. " Thank u for the plugs but it sounded like you were getting murdered last night" Grunting, snorting, talking, coughing and very load snoring. The next 3 nights will be in the woods. As soon as I get through the Smokey Mountain National Forest and it warms up there will be no more hostels unless heavy rain is in the forecast. Hope I have enough food for the 40mi trek!       Today's hike out of town was once again straight up for the first mile. This will probably be the norm for the rest of the hike. After mile one I stopped at a small brook and the boots and socks came off to dunk my feet for break. At first the other hikers thought I was crazy but I have convinced a few to do the same and they are raving. You literally float for the following mile your feet feel so good. The geography mimics that of New Hampshire. Rocks, roots, steep climbs and beautiful views. Georgia is surprisingly nice.   After covering my face and neck with sunscreen this morning the next 9 miles proceeded to be in the clouds. It figures it never got over 50 degrees and the Sun never came out. The winter hat and gloves stayed on all day. I am now descending into my final destination of deep gap shelter. Its reported there is no cell service there. So until tomorrow morning, goodnight. $ Zero
Date: 2016-04-07
From: Deep Gap shelter

To: Muskrat creek shelter
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: moderate rain

Last night started off great. The campfire at sunset and the plan of going into North Carliona was exciting. Was feeling warm, dry and fit. At Midnight I woke up to a blinding flash. Right ater the second flash came the thunder, followed by 2hrs of pouring rain. My tent did not fair so well. In the morning I awoke to find a foot of mud up all 4 sides of my tent. Everything got wet except my sleeping bag because of the 2 inch pad under it. Then I proceeded to lower my food bag hanging 20 feet in the air off steel bear cables. Out of the 8 different bags hanging some super mouse got into one of them. MINE! Had eaten thru my food bag, thru the ziplock bags and had a party with my $7 bag of Cashews and some of my other food. Everything is a big mess.   New plan for the day. Seadog @ I just hiked 3.5 to the top of Georiga Hostel. Dry everthing out, buy some more food, take a couple of showers and get a big day in tomorrow. If u can't adjust to things out here, your done. I'm not really happy but am now dry, clean, and resupplying.      Had a lot of fun with about a dozen hikers in town. Most of them young but no surprise that I fit right in.
Date: 2016-04-08
From: Muskrat creek shelter

To: Standing Indian shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Got a great night's sleep last night, no one snoring. Once again that climb out of town was straight up but it was longer than the last few. The terrain is very soft no rocks or roots. I feel good and I'm going to press on because I'm really feeling guilty about only doing three and a half miles yesterday.   Once I crossed into North Carolina the trail went directly up in the air. For those of u back in N.H. I'm talking tuckerman's, Mt. Washington up. This was definitely the hardest hiking day so far. It started to snow 3 different times today. Someone tell Mother nature to turn up the thermostat. Imagine coming all the way down south to hike in the snow. I still managed to take off my shoes and socks and put my feet in a small stream for the eighth day in a row. Between doing that and going very slow up and down hills my feet look and feel better than most. This includes all the young people. We are doing the same miles over the same terrain but my feet knees and legs feel fantastic. The trails in Georgia were very similar to those back home in New Hampshire.      After 11 miles today there are fifteen of us at muskrat Creek shelter. It's windy, cold and everyone is freezing. Not looking forward to getting into my tent tonight.$Zero
Date: 2016-04-09
From: Standing Indian shelter

To: Franklin North Carolina
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Record cold with 25 mile an hour winds. Woke up last night to hamstring cramps and then the uncontrollable shivering around 5 o'clock a.m. I knew then I was getting into trouble. Have never been so cold in my entire life. When I finally exited my tent it was apparent that everyone else felt the same. After many hikers looked at the forecast for tonight which was colder and windier than last night, many are making the same decision. No way am I staying in my tent tonight.      Decided to come into town and stay at the famous Ron Havens Budget Inn. This was a very good decision. There are about 50 hikers here tonight and there's no way I could have survived another night in the Woods. I'm serious, it was the coldest I've ever been in my life. Had my picture taken with Baltimore Jack today . ***( As you will later read he passed away suddenly, a few weeks after I saw him.)*** He was a eight-time thru hiker and a lifetime trail angel. He will be missed. $$40.00
Date: 2016-04-10
From: Deep Gap

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I seriously don't remember my head hitting the pillow last night. That's right! A real pillow with a real mattress and heat in my room. Was my first bed in 10 days so at 8:45 p.m. I lay down for a little 12 hour nap.   Everyone had to wait for the noon bus out of town this morning so we could get back to the trail. The first few miles where a nice gradual incline to the top of Standing Indian. At 5420 feet the views were spectacular. I was then spoiled with seven continuous miles of smooth slightly downhill terrain. If only the entire Trail could be like that. I was hiking at a slightly faster pace then usual and managed to reach Carter gap by Five o'clock. While signing the register and looking for a place to set up my tent in a very crowded shelter the Sun broke through the clouds and I decided that was a sign to move on. With plenty of daylight left I decided to hike on another 3 and a half miles to Betty Creek Gap. It's a few rustic campground sites and there is only myself and three other women here tonight. After quickly setting up my tent and having some tuna with a hot bowl of ramen noodles it was getting dark and time for bed. I am anticipating a big day of hiking tomorrow. $Zero
Date: 2016-04-11
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Silver bald shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I was up before the sun this morning. No breakfast, just grab a drink of water and a peanut butter cracker and hit the trail. It was pretty much straight up to the top of Elbert Mountain. Unbelievable views once again and the landscape reminds me of New Hampshire. You can see forever. Small farms and Scattered log cabins up to 30 miles away. As I'm sending this I'm looking down upon large Hawks circling the area for food. This is almost a daily occurrence as I have been above 4000 feet for days   The goal is to still go 17 miles today but my left Achilles is acting up. Just dipped it in a cold stream and it seemed to make it worse. We'll see
Date: 2016-04-12
From: Silver bald shelter

To: Wesser Bald
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I made it to the shelter last night just before the rain started. Thank you Jesus. There happen to be room for one more person because all the guys were too proud to stay indoors. So it was myself and eight women. Slept very well and was the warmest night I've had in my sleeping bag.   It's now 9 o'clock a.m. and everybody is exiting the shelter. All the guys are packing up their soaking wet tents and equipment. No thank you. I am anticipating another long day of hiking on the trail. We are getting into more remote areas. So phone service is becoming difficult. If I don't Journal it's only because I'm not able to. Time to hit the trail.   As expected after the rains last night the trail is muddy this morning which makes for slow going. It's almost an equalizer with the other hikers because I go slow anyways. This is probably why I haven't fallen yet. There's a heavy mist in the air and most of the mountain tops this morning are covered in clouds.   Have seen a few hikers today scattered along the trail at stealth sites. These seem to pop up every three or four miles and are really cool. Usually a small fire ring and enough flat ground for one or two tents. I plan on using a lot of these this summer but right now I am not 100% comfortable with sleeping in the woods all alone. On cloudy nights with no moon or stars it is pitch black out. No light pollution here. At the designated shelters at least there's safety in numbers. I'm sure the Bears would save me for dessert and eat somebody else first with some meat on them. Everyone seems very concerned about the Bears when the Sun starts to go down. Also I wasn't sure if I mentioned the other cold night I had.They evacuated four thru-hikers out of the Smokies that were freezing.   It's been an awesome day of hiking, I will elaborate tomorrow when I'm in town and have better phone service. Today has been the best time out here so far. Another great day on the Appalachian Trail.$Zero
Date: 2016-04-13
From: Wesser Bald

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 8.0

I would first like to ask everybody to only send me text or email on Fridays only, unless it's very important. Everybody's batteries are dying out here and when I turn on my phone it blows up with messages, drains the battery and doesn't allow me to journal while they're all coming in. Very frustrating. The other day I stopped on top of three different mountains.Then took the phone out of the pack, try to blog only to get no service .Takes up a lot of your day. Okay back to the trail.   Yesterday was the best day I've had on the trail so far. The best views. You could literally see forever as the mountains down here are rolling. This is different than back home where they just jet stright up for thousands of feet. The best weather. 60 degrees, no bugs, no wind and no clouds. Last but not least the best attitude day. I down played the Achilles tendon the other day but was very worried. I went into the shelter and was not sure what to do. Yesterday morning when I awoke it was gone. I mean not a trace,  so did 17 miles and never felt it once. It was a little stiff this morning when leaving Wessex Bald Shelter. This was my second night sleeping in a shelter and as soon as it warms up I will stick to my tent. Between snoring and the close proximity to the person you're sleeping next to it's no wonder everyone gets sick. I am sleeping much closer to these strangers than I do to my wife back home. Sometimes you can feel them breathing on your face, Yuck.   I definitely feel like I'm getting my trail legs. I have just pulled into the NOC. Natahalo Outdoor Center. Pure Bliss. Ordering cheeseburgers and ice cream brownies. Really needed it. I don't think I've been eating quite enough the last few days so I'm going to stay here for about 6 hours and eat two or three times. Next up a large loaded meat pizza before a huge 3000ft vertical climb out of town.$40
Date: 2016-04-14
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Brown Fork Gap shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

I'm glad I decided to leave the NOC yesterday afternoon and start the long climb up sassafras Mountain. It was a killer! After about 3 miles of elevation I came to a camping spot where for the first time on the trail I felt a little out of place. The entire gang consisted of the 30 and under group. But I recognized a couple of the kids and they asked me if I wanted to join them in the middle of their "safety meeting". I declined and let them have their fun. For the most part there have been more people my age than originally thought. The picture you see above this morning is only halfway up the mountain. That was the river I was on yesterday afternoon. I made a promise to myself to start taking more pictures of the trail. You can click on the left hand side of the column just like the guest book and see every photo I have taken on the trail. Unfortunately I can only post one a day with the blog. I'm now arriving at my first shelter of the day and I'm going to have breakfast. Hopefully I have phone service tonight in my tent so I can let you know how the day went. Being the first one out of camp feels good but it also means your going to get a face full of spider webs. They call it silk blazing out here (ha,ha). Amazing how busy the forest gets after dark.    It was another hard afternoon of straight up and downs over three mountains. Around 5 o'clock this afternoon I'd realized I was completely out of water and not much food left for my day and a half Trek into next resupply. As I rounded a bend I bumped into a couple around 70 years old with their dog who are attempting to thru hike. They too were completely out of water and looked more concerned than I was. I told them there was a gap with water about a mile-and-a-half ahead that they hadn't seen in their guide. With all the trail magic I've been receiving lately I hope that there would be something in the parking lot but they were not as optimistic as I was. A while later hearing the traffic below I made out two picnic tables with bright colors on the tops of them.This did not look like your typical hiking gear. As I descended towards the tables I realized it was bananas, apples and cases of water. Perfectly timed Trail magic once again. After three of the bananas. one apple and two bottles of water Iv'e now been rejuvenated and hopefully can make it another 4.6 miles before dark. The power of positive thinking comes thru again.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. Goodnight.$Zero
Date: 2016-04-15
From: Brown Fork Gap shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: broken clouds

After I said goodnight on the blog I hadn't realized that I still had to climb Jacob's Ladder. It was so slow going and soon realized I would not make it to the next shelter for the night. So once I completed Jacob's Ladder I stopped at the top of Tekoa Mountain and quickly made camp before it got dark. Cooked a quick meal and settled in for the night. Decided to check my phone and I got the double bonus. Internet and phone service, a rarity on the trail. It was great to talk to familiar voices back home and do some maintenance on the computer.   The picture today is of me filtering water. The best source seems to be from the side of a mountain or from the ground. I was very concerned when I came out here listening to all the stories of people getting sick but my Sawyer filter has done me right. That blue bag you see contains about a half a gallon of water. I then put a cigar size filter on top of that and pour it directly into my bottles, instant clean water. Most of the hikers out here have the same system. A few others have a bladder system but I'm not crazy about carrying a half a gallon of water on my chest or back. I'm now at Fontana Village and we managed to get nine thru-hikers to split a cabin tonight. It's probably the nicest place I ever stayed on the trail. We have a TV, a full size refrigerator, internet and phone along with a fire pit. All the Comforts of home.$55
Date: 2016-04-16
From: Fontana Dam

To: Birch spring Gap
Miles today: 8.0

As everyone was waiting for the $3 shuttle into town last night. one of the younger hikers mentioned how inviting Fontana Lake looked. That's all it took for me to start stripping down to my underwear and jumping in. Just as I was about to go in the water three fishermen walking off the dock told me to hold up. I apologized and asked them if it was their town drinking water. They stated that it wasn't but it was much too cold to jump in. I let them know in New Hampshire if the water is in a liquid form and not frozen, it's not too cold to go in. They all watched as I submerged under water for a brief moment. O.K. it was pretty cold!   This is such a neat little town. The waitress at the bar and grill last night is also the mayor. Population of Fontana equals 17. We managed to squeeze 7 hikers into our Bungalow last night. In the morning went down to the General Store to resupply for the Smokies and I ate two breakfasts. The shuttle then dropped us off where we picked it up last night and once again off to hike the trail. After the first mile I found myself 30 yards from the shores of Lake Fontana, so for the second time in two days off came all the clothes for lack of anyone being around and into the lake I went.   I guess you have to be careful what you wish for. I am no longer worried about being cold. Drank twice as much water as usual and sweat a lot today. The bugs are also out in full force and most of us including myself are not carrying any spray as of yet. Only 1 mile left to the campground right now and I'm about to climb another Tower at the top of door knob. 35% of the hikers will have dropped out after next week and it seems like everyone is now concerned about the Smokies.   The tip of the day will be to always ask any shuttle driver exactly how much they're charging for the ride. This woman from Canada has been ripped off twice and charged $25 for a 15-minute ride when she tried to exit a van.The same woman this morning asked how come nobody slept with her in the Queen bed last night..Us four guys decided to let her have the bed but I'm finding out here, everybody doubles up on every bed on the trail. I would have been happy to not sleep on the floor if I knew that.$Zero
Date: 2016-04-17
From: Birch spring Gap

To: Derrick knob shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Slept well last night at the campground and once again was up with the Sun. After the first few miles of easy terrain, some movement caught my eye. There was a deer about 50 feet away right on the trail. Then I look to my left and noticed a much largher doe about 25 feet away. As the deer on the trail bound into the woods the larger one just stared at me for about a minute. He's in the upper left corner of the picture above .    For the third day in a row there's not a cloud in the sky. I'm hoping that the 1800 bears in this park can get along with the 1800 thru hikers on this beautiful day    After finishing up breakfast at the first shelter Ranger Bill asked me for my Smokies permit and I was lucky enough to have it handy. Just then a thru hiker was walking into the shelter. We started talking and decided that we have about the same hiking pace so after he quickly ate a snack we headed north together. Very interesting man with the trail name of Costa Rica. One guess where he's from. This guy's 67 years old and in better shape than me. The next 7 hours flew by as I listened to his stories of traveling around the world and I kept him amused with a few firefighter stories of my own. We were about 6 miles from Derrick knob shelter our final destination and figured we would arrive in good shape and early. As soon as we commented that the terrain was great it got hard. I mean crazy hard. So it took us over 3 hrs to go last 6 miles. Very tired, long day.$Zero
Date: 2016-04-18
From: Derrick knob shelter

To: , Clingmans Dome
Miles today: 10.2

After a very restful 10 hours of sleep I was pleased to wake up to warmer temperatures. Also was expecting to be sore from yesterday's 17 miles but instead woke up regenerated. I'm really excited about packing up my tent and backpack when it's not sub freezing outside.    I'm cutting my food supply a little too close for comfort. And after a small Breakfast & snack found myself completely out of food. I wasn't planning to carry 8 days of food through the Smokies anyway but had to do the last 9 miles this morning with an empty Food Bag. Seeing Clingmans Dome around 1 p.m. today was the best site I've seen so far. Very hungry and running out of energy so the thought of going into Gatlinburg today and getting a hotel with a few hikers was the only thing keeping me hiking up the mountain. The trail also completely changed about 1 mile from the top of Clingmans and the spruce Firs smelled exactly like home. The trail also got very shady from the dense forest which was a treat from the now hot sun. Many hikers are now getting sunburned. I thought I was fine until I looked in the mirror at the top of Clingmans Dome ( Highest Point on the AT @ 6644ft). My face looks like a tomato.   After calling for a shuttle with no luck my only option was to hitchhike down the auto road from Clingmans Dome. Many cars drove by me the first 15 minutes and I was starting to Wonder how I was going to get into town from 15 miles away. Finally a couple from Canada in their traveling van pulled over and asked if I needed a ride. Success!  My first hitch on the trail. Halfway to town the driver spotted what looked like another thru-hiker and asked him if he needed a ride. The hikers name was Strider. As you can tell the hiker bond is strong out here and tonight Terodactyle and Strider a 56 year old veteran from Alabama are sharing a Motel in Gatlinburg. This is a road trip of a lifetime. You just don't know what the next day will bring. Living  the dream on the Appalachian Trail   Sorry I couldn't get yesterday's journal until today but there's not much service out here right now.
Date: 2016-04-19
From: , Clingmans Dome

To: Town and food
Miles today: 0.0

I now fully understand the vortex when going into a trail town. This is just what the doctor ordered. The definition of a zero-day is no miles hiked on the Appalachian Trail. After looking at one of my written journals I realized 18 days in a row without rest was longer than most of the people out here. First up on the agenda was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I went for seconds and thirds and was still hungry. I know I'm losing weight but I'm doing everything I can to maintain. For the first time I really did feel homeless today as I left the major supermarket and ate my hot lunch in the parking spot with many locals walking by acknowledging that I was a thru hiker. I have to admit I wouldn't mind staying in this town for a week with my feet up eating and drinking but the mountains call.    Immediately after finishing my lunch I was dreading the wait for the Town Trolley to bring me 4 miles back to the motel. I decided to pass the time by making some phone calls which included Miss Janet. She is a trail icon that used to own a hostel in Erwin Tennessee and has spent the last three years following the herd from Georgia to Maine doing Trail magic. She answered the phone and was delighted to hear my voice and asked where I was. When I told her Gatlinburg Tennessee she said we're in Gatlinburg and I then proceeded to tell her at the supermarket and she replied that she was a quarter mile down the road. What are the odds of that? So in her own words she said " honey I'll be there in one minute". It was nice to see her and a little emotional. She couldn't believe after all these years I was finally one of the hikers instead of a trail angel. Time to get a good night's rest for a long day of hiking tomorrow. It's hard because there are about 35 thru-hikers at this Motel and a lot of them are taking zeros themselves.   Hope that all 0 days are as fun and fulfilling as this one. Goodnight.$60