morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-18
From: Gatlinburg

To: Peck's Corner
Miles today: 10.4

Got up, ate breakfast, then went to resupply at the Dollar General with my parents. They dropped me off at Newfound Gap at 11:30 where I promptly twisted my ankle for the third time on this hike. It was kind of embarrising because my dad was there and he was pretty concerned. I told him it was no big deal it happens all the time although I was trying to hide the excrutiating pain that I was in. I had great weather again today. It wasn't hot and there was a good breeze all day. This is pretty rare for the Smokies as this area typically gets a lot of rain so I feel pretty lucky. Great views all day long today. I got a really cool picture of myself standing on Charlies Bunion. Lots of really cool ridge-walks where the trail falls off steeply to both sides. I stayed at Peck's Corner shelter tonight with 20-25 other people.
Date: 2010-04-19
From: Peck's Corner

To: Cosby Knob
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Cold night, cold day but made for great hiking weather. I hiked mostly with Katie and Christine today. The trail is through predominantly evergreen forest as we are at a pretty high elevation. We saw an old crash site where an Army jet had flew into the side of the mountain a few years ago. I stayed at Cosby Knob shelter with about 15 other hikers. I could have went a little farther today but you have to stay at the shelters in the Smokies and the next shelter was just too far away.
Date: 2010-04-20
From: Cosby Knob

To: Green Corner Road
Miles today: 10.4

Today was mostly downhill. I took the side trail to the Mount Cammerer fire tower. You could see Snowbird Mt and Max Patch which I will climb tomorrow. It started to sprinkle rain but never got heavy enough for rain gear until about 2 miles from my destination for the day. Today was also my last day in the Smokies. I am starting to feel like I am making some progress now.Our destination for the day is Standing Bear Farm which is just 200 yards off the trail. It is run by a really cool guy named Curtis who took good care of us. We found out when we got there that they were having a bluegrass band and lots of food that night. Me and Babalou(formerly Rob) got the last two bunks. I can't believe the good luck I've been having. It rained a little that night but we all had a great time. We enjoyed the music and the food and I got to meet a lot of new people that night also. I would guess that there were probably 30 hikers there plus a lot of locals and some of Curtis' family.
Date: 2010-04-21
From: Green Corner Road

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 13.6

Camped on Max Patch tonight with a bunch of others from Standing Bear. It looked like tent city. Max Patch is a grassy mountain with a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. It is like standing on top of the world. Superman, who is a former thru-hiker with a bleach-blonde mullet, drove up to the parking lot and brought everybody beer and had an I-Pod with speakers. We had a bonfire and stayed up to 10:00 which is really late in hiker land. I saw Sticks, Hollywood, and Hedgehog again today who I haven't seen since Gatlinburg. They went on to the next shelter. Me and Barley watched the sunset from the summit and got some pretty cool pictures before heading back down to the campsite.
Date: 2010-04-22
From: Max Patch

To: Deer Park Shelter
Miles today: 16.6

After a phenomenal sunrise from Max Patch, I got started hiking and made it to the next shelter before anybody else was stirring. I waited for Sticks, Hollywood, Hedgehog, Katie, and Christine to get ready then we started hiking together. We had another excellent weather day. There were a couple of tough climbs today over Walnut and Bluff Mountain but I'm getting where the climbs don't phase me that much. Sticks, Hollywood, and Hedgehog opted to go into Hot Springs but I was just going to wait until tomorrow and take a nero day there. Katie and Christine will be going back home to the real world after a day in Hot Springs and we will all miss their sense of humor and laid-back attitudes.
Date: 2010-04-23
From: Deer Park Shelter

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: few clouds

Had a brief rain shower during the night which caused me to have to get up and put on my tent's rain fly. Me, Katie, and Christine got up early and did the 3.2 miles into town today. First thing we did was stop at the local diner and have breakfast. We all had a little too much to eat. There is a festival in town tonight which will be a nice send-off for the girls. Going to get back to hiking tomorrow. I have the longest stretch without resupply coming up and it looks like a few days of rain too. I can't complain though because I'm having the time of my life. I'll update from Erwin, TN in 4-5 days.
Date: 2010-04-24
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Didn't plan on taking a zero day but since it was Katie and Christine's last day on the trail I decided to stay in town. So us and Chilli and Pepper split a hotel room and hung out at Trailfest and watched movies. I got to meet Katie's parents who payed for our room and eat a lot of food. Also met a guy I know from Huntsville at the library.
Date: 2010-04-25
From: Hot Springs

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was kind of hard because I won't be seeing Katie and Christine anymore. It was probably the most difficult day on the trail so far but I made the best of it. They're the only people that I've met so far who aren't on the trail anymore. I got to Spring Mountain Shelter too early to stop and kept on hiking. I went off the trail 0.7 miles to Hemlock Hollow Hostel and ended up buying a Sunkist and the owner drove me back to the trail. I got to the shelter about 15 minutes after dark and tented outside of the shelter. At the shelter was Rider, Wildman, Logos, Rhymenocerous(sp?), Earthling, and Rock & Roll. I left Sticks, Hollywood, Hedgehog, Chilli & Pepper, and Bismark behind but hope they will catch up to me at Erwin.
Date: 2010-04-26
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: moderate rain

It started raining last night and rained off and on throughout the day. It was much cooler and windier today also. There was a tricky section at Firescald Ridge then the trail got much easier. I took a long break at Jerry Cabin Shelter and thought about staying there to let all my friends catch up but decided to push on. I ended up staying in Flint Mountain Shelter due to the rain. I'm here with Trog, Rhymenocerous, Logos, Earthling, Catfish, Squeeze Cheese, and Rider.
Date: 2010-04-27
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Low Gap Campsite
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

Rain, sleet, wind, and cold. The sun even came out for a couple of hours then it was back to stormy conditions. I hiked with Trog today who is 70 years old and is on his second thru-hike and is in phenomenal condition. He is my hero. We camped out at Low Gap. Superman, Rider, and Ziggy came by but went on to the next shelter.
Date: 2010-04-28
From: Low Gap Campsite

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: clear sky

Freezing cold and windy night and I didn't have my tent set up on a level spot so I didn't sleep well. Everything was frozen when I woke up and I didn't get to hiking until 8:00 which is late for me. The big climb of the day was Big Bald right off the bat. There was 1/2 - 1 inch of snow on the top and it was hard to see because of the sun's reflection. Me and Trog took a few pictures then got off the mountain ASAP because it was freezing cold. It turned out to be a perfect day in the end with temperatures in the 60's. I'm at No Business Knob with Trog, Squeeze Cheese, and some guy who is getting off the trail tomorow.
Date: 2010-04-29
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Uncle Johnny's
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: clear sky

Squeeze Cheese woke me up at 4:00 AM to see if I wanted to night hike into Erwin. I said yes because there is nothing I won't do for real food. Saw the sunrise over Erwin as we were walking into town. Made it to Uncle Johnny's at 7:00 and plan to hike out tomorrow. I'm a little uncertain as to whether I'll resupply at Kincora or the place at Roan Mountain. Have a really tough section coming up so I'll probably do Roan Mountain so I won't have to carry as much food. There's even talk of slackpacking from Iron Mountain Gap back to Erwin which would be southbound.
Date: 2010-04-30
From: Uncle Johnny's

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 10.6

Erwin hasn't been kind to me. I got a haircut yesterday and realized today that the barber missed a huge chunk of hair in the back. Luckily Sticker offered to trim it up with a pair of scissors that were in the hiker box. Then I couldn't find my rain pants. I thought that maybe Squeeze Cheese had them because they were hanging out to dry outside of our cabin and he was in a hurry to catch a shuttle for a 20 mile slackpack back into town, but when he returned he didn't have them. So somebody has a nice pair of rainpants now. I bought a new pair from the outfitters at Uncle Johnny's and Sticker decided it would be funny to hide them from me. I wasn't amused.I waited around until 6:30 pm to actually get started hiking. A local church group had a cookout right by the trail-head, so we had cheeseburgers and all kinds of other food before we got started. Me, Hedgehog, and Hollywood hiked up to what we thought was Beauty Spot(I'll explain later) and didn't get there until almost midnight. There wasn't anywhere to set up tents except for right on the trail because we were in a blackberry thicket. About 4:00 in the morning I started to hear a loud muffler off in the distance. I started realizing that it was getting closer and closer until it occured to me that we were camped out on somebody's racetrack. There was an anxious moment where I thought that we were going to get run over but whoever was driving the truck saw us and drove around. They did a few doughnuts on the trail, then yelled something at us and drove off.
Date: 2010-05-01
From: Beauty Spot

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: broken clouds

We realized when we woke up that we were actually camped out right below Beauty Spot. As we were packing up, 2 teenagers came up and asked us if we had seen a cell phone laying around. Hollywood mentioned that maybe it was in the area that they were doing doughnuts . They looked around for a little while but never found it. The day started with an excellent view from Beauty Spot, then we made our way to Clyde Smith Shelter. My pack was really hurting my shoulders today because I have way too much food and I started getting a shin splint in my right shin. We had a tough little climb over Unaka Mountain but were rewarded with an evergreen forest on top which we haven't seen since the Smokies.A couple of miles from the shelter we started hearing thunder so I picked up my hiking pace and caused further aggravaion of my shin splint, but we never got rained on. Lots of people at the shelter tonight and many new faces. While talking to some of the other hikers, somebody asked us if we could hear a cell phone ringing all night last night. Turns out that the missing cell phone was a couple of miles North of where we were camping at. We got a pretty good laugh out of that.
Date: 2010-05-02
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: light rain

Roan Mountain kicked my butt today and the shin splint is getting worse. There was a lot of wind today and we got blown all over the place going over the two balds before the shelter. We made it to Overmountain Shelter which is a barn that has been converted into a shelter. It has a really nice view and has room for 40 people. Again, there are too many people here to name. We have set up our tents inside of the barn because there is rain expected tonight and the roof looks leaky.
Date: 2010-05-03
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: US 19E-Mountain Harbor Hostel
Miles today: 9.2

I had to do a short day today because of my shin. I was limping the last 4 or 5 miles down Hump Mountain. Today probably would have been my favorite day on the trail so far if I weren't in so much agony. We ended up getting lots of rain and wind last night in the shelter. Good thing I set up my rain fly because the roof was leaking right over my head. It rained a little while in the morning while going over Little Hump Mountain but I still had views. My favorite part of the hike today was after climbing Hump Mountain you start down Houston Ridge which is a grassy ridge with 360 degree views.After limping off the mountain, I walked the 0.3 miles down US 19E to the Mountain Harbor Hostel. The Hostel was full but there were some tenting areas still available. There are lots of people here tonight and the owners gave us a ride to town so we could eat and buy supplies.
Date: 2010-05-04
From: US 19E-Mountain Harbor Hostel

To: Campsite at Laurel Fork
Miles today: 12.6

Had quite possibly the best breakfast I've ever had this morning. I'd say what was all included but it would take too long. Very nice weather day and easy terrain today. Too bad my shin is still killing me. Everybody was flying through this section except me. It was all I could do just to make it to Laurel Fork. It's a really nice camping spot though so I'm not too bummed out. I'm camped out tonight with Babalou. We saw a couple of ducks in the stream by the campsite which we thought was strange because we are in the middle of the woods. Again, I saw a lot of hikers on the trail today. It has been really bunched up with hikers ever since starting the Smokies.
Date: 2010-05-05
From: Campsite at Laurel Fork

To: Dennis Cove Road-Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 11.8

Woke up early and hiked to Dennis Cove Road and went to Kincora to stay the night. The first 6 miles of hiking today weren't too bad, but my shin started hurting once I started going downhill. I think that it is getting better but I can't say for sure. Bob Peoples runs Kincora Hostel and is a great guy who does a lot of trail maintenance. He has many funny stories from the trail. I'm either going to take tommorow off or do a short slackpack to give my shin a rest. Bob runs a shuttle into Elizabethton, TN where we ate at Arby's and resupplied.
Date: 2010-05-06
From: Dennis Cove Road-Kincora Hostel

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

I actually slackpacked this section southbound and stayed another night at Kincora. A slackpack is where someone gives you a ride to a point on the trail and you hike back to where you started with only a daypack on. This way I could still get some miles in while taking it easy on my shin. I'm doing much better today and believe I will be back to 100% by Damascus. One good thing about slowing down is you get to meet new people. Today I met Popcorn, Ohibro, Eric the Red, Corp-girl, and Not Yet. I also saw Troll, Bismark, and Gonzo who I haven't seen since Erwin. Stix, Hedgehog, and Hollywood are probably a day ahead of me now but they will be taking 2 days off in Damascus. The highlight of today's hike was Laurel Fork Gorge. You hike next to a river for a couple of miles then you end up at Laurel Falls which is by far the best falls on the trail so far.
Date: 2010-05-07
From: Watauga Lake

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

The shin felt much better today. Bob gave me a ride to Watauga Lake and I started hiking at 9:00 am. It was super hot today and I didn't want to try to push the mileage yet because of the shin. I had wanted to try to do a 20-miler but I don't want to do anything stupid. I didn't see many people on the trail today. I stayed at Iron Mountain Shelter with 2 section hikers and a thruhiker named Cooper.
Date: 2010-05-08
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite at Backbone Rock
Miles today: 21.3

It rained during the night and Cooper's dog wouldn't stop barking. About 5 minutes after I woke up, it stopped raining so I didn't have to pack up in the rain. The temps were much cooler today and there was a fair amount of wind. The hiking was really easy today, though I can still feel a little shin pain especially when I kick a rock or root, which unfortunately happens quite often. Between Watauga Lake and Damascus is known as the Tennessee Turnpike because of the easy terrain. It doesn't mean that it is flat but it is much easier than what we've been hiking through. I camped out solo for the first time on this hike tonight at Backbone Rock.
Date: 2010-05-09
From: Campsite at Backbone Rock

To: Damascus
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up at 4:00 am with breakfast and coffee on my mind. Packed up really quick and walked into town. I love hiking at night, especially going into town because you can see the city lights and you get to see a sunrise. Made it to Cowboy's at 7:00 for breakfast. Sticker was there and he bought my breakfast. Guess he felt bad about my rain pants. Took it easy in town today, the shin didn't bother me at all hiking into town. Maybe the shin-drama is over.I had all my chores done before noon so I have the rest of the day to relax. I met up with Hedgehog, Stix, and Hollywood. Hollywood and Hedgehog got a ride to Atkins, VA and are going to hike South to be back into Damascus for Traildays. Stix is just going to hike North tomorrow and doesn't know if he's going to go to Traildays. He says he's too old. I'm going to take a zero tomorrow then I'm going to hike out early on Tuesday. I'm going to try to make it to the Mount Rogers NRA Headquarters and get a ride back to Damascus for Traildays this weekend.Of course I called the best Mom in the world today to wish her a happy Mother's Day. Being away from my family is the toughest part of this hike. Damascus is a big milestone on the trail. Besides being a cool town, it is about a quarter of the way to Katahdin. It's starting to sink in that I'm getting somewhere. I've known since the second day on the trail that I was going to finish and now I have a big milestone out of the way. I'm really excited about the next section of the trail. We go through an area called the Grayson Highlands which many people who have thru-hiked before say is one of the best spots on the trail. After Traildays, I can send some of my extra clothes and exchange my 20-degree sleeping bag for my 40-degree bag. I will have a much lighter load and be able to hike some longer miles.
Date: 2010-05-10
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I was supposed to take today off but I got stir-crazy in the afternoon. So I just decided to hike out since I've had over 24-hours of rest anyways. It was the first time I could say that a hike out of town was easy. Usually you have a really big climb coming out of town. Since I didn't get started hiking until about 3:00 I was only able to make it to Saunders Shelter. I'm camped here with Babalou and a group of section hikers.
Date: 2010-05-11
From: Saunders Shelter

To: VA 600 - Elk Garden Campsite
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: moderate rain

Really tough hike today. There was a 4-mile climb over Whitetop Mountain but the views were worth it. The weather today was cool and windy which makes for pleasant hiking. You just can't stop long or you get cold. I made it to VA 600 where there is a really big camping spot. Only problem is it's right by a road. I'm camped with Babalou, Coyote, Patience, Disney, and the 5 section hikers from last night. Tomorrow we start the Grayson Highlands.
Date: 2010-05-12
From: VA 600 - Elk Garden Campsite

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Slept in a little bit this morning to give the clouds a little time to move out of the area so that I would have unobstructed views from the Highlands. The hiking was pretty tricky due to the rockiness of the terrain. There are lots of rock outcrops on this section of trail and wild ponies that the State Park uses to graze the pastures. It's really a beautiful area. I saw Hollywood and Hedgehog hiking southbound back towards Damascus. Had a few minutes of rain today but no big deal. I was really worn out by the time I got to the shelter from walking on rocks all day. I caught back up with Stix at the shelter. He isn't feeling well today and was only able to do 6 miles. Also camped here are Babalou, HD Mama, and a bunch of section hikers going south for Trail Days.
Date: 2010-05-13
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Troutdale, VA
Miles today: 10.2

Got up early to hike to the road crossing that takes you into Troutdale, VA. Couldn't get a hitch from the road so I walked the 2.5 miles into "town" There's nothing there except a general store/restaurant and a church with a hostel. Took a shower at the hostel then got something to eat with Babalou at the general store then we stood by the road and proceeded to try to hitch into Damascus. We had a guy pull over and he gave us a ride about 15 miles up the road, then we stuck out our thumbs again and got a ride in the back of a pickup into Damascus. The pickup didn't have a tailgate so it was a little unnerving to ride in the back. All together, it was 30 miles into Damascus and only took us a couple of hours. Much better than walking there.I'm now at The Place and am going to relax for the next couple of days while Trail Days is going on. I have a lot of things to get done and people to catch up with.
Date: 2010-05-15
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Had the hiker parade today. All the past and present thru-hikers walk down the main street and there is an enormous water balloon fight. Me, Hollywood, and Hedgehog teamed up and filled my backpack up with water balloons. I carried the backpack, Hollywood had an umbrella which served as our shield, and Hedgehog was responsible for taking the balloons out of my backpack to give out to us. We were a force to be reckoned with. Some guy hit one of the beauty queens directly in the face with a water balloon. Not sure if that was cool or not.I also got my Leki poles worked on. They gave me new tips and cleaned them real good. There are lots of gear vendors here who do modifications and repairs for free. Citizen Kane was the band that night. I watched their first set then went down to tent city to hang out with some people that I hiked with in Georgia.
Date: 2010-05-16
From: Troutdale, VA

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

I got a ride with Babalou and Redstick up to Troutdale. We got started hiking at 10:00. Dealt with a little rain today but nothing major. Heard thunder all day but never got hit by a storm. I got to Partnership Shelter at 6:00 where you can have a pizza delivered. There were already people there with pizza and they had too much so they shared with me. Partnership is a really nice shelter with a solar shower but it is too cold to take advantage of the shower. Redstick braved it out, don't know how he did it. Met some new people today including Timber, Boundless, Pilgrim, and Shag-man. I'm going to do a quick resupply in Atkins, VA tommorow and then hike out to a camp site. I've got a mail-drop planned for Bland, VA which will be 3 days from Atkins.
Date: 2010-05-17
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Crawfish Valley Campsite
Miles today: 17.9

It rained lightly on and off all day. I fell crossing a bridge going into Atkins and banged up my knee a little bit. It was the first time I have fallen since starting the hike. The trail doesn't really go into Atkins but it instead goes by the Interstate interchange that takes you into Atkins. Me and Timber ate at the restaurant there then did a 1-day resupply at the gas station which had everything a hiker could ask for. Then we hung out for about 3 hours before hiking out. We passed the Settler's Museum today but unfortunately it was closed. I ended up camping at Crawfish Valley with Babalou, Timber, Red Stick, Coon Cat, and a few others that I didn't catch their names.