morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-22
From: Open Arms Hostel

To: Gravel Springs Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Waking up in a real bed is amazing. I wish I could sleep in but I also want to go hiking. However, rain all day on the forecast. I was shuttled back to the trail with Nameless, Silverback, Short Legs, and Stephan. Pouring rain as we got out of the van on the side of the road and hurried onto the trail under the canopy of trees for cover. We hiked around 9 miles to Eklwallow Wayside to rest and eat lunch. There was a small grill inside so I got a grilled ham and cheese. A grilled ham and cheese is a great idea when you¢ve been hiking hours in the rain. That was followed up by two cups of hot black coffee. Gravel Spring Hut was only 5 miles away from the wayside and made it there by 4:30 which was nice. So much rain though. There was a small lull which I took advantage of to setup my tent because the shelter was packed. There were enough tent sites nearby for Silverback, E Street, Nameless, and Short Legs to setup too so we could hangout. While we were eating dinner, E Street spotted a bear walking into camp. Only a few yards from a guy and his hammock/tarp who was about 30 yards from us. In that situation you want to scare the bear off. Yell, clap, throw rocks, which is what we did. We alerted the guy in the hammock who helped scare the bear off too. It came back a few times and we had to repeat the process. It was a mama bear and we could see some cubs climbing up a tree on the distance. I saw another bear earlier today too. A cub which was halfway up a tree only about 10 feet off the trail. I heard some movement and turned my head and there it was. No mama bear which was slightly concerning but I just kept moving and clacking my trekking poles. Bear density is probably highest in the Shenandoah. I¢m glad to have gotten some experience dealing with them. It has been raining for about 24 hours now. Hopefully tomorrow it will let up but I will be heading into Fort Royal, VA with Nameless and Silverback regardless. Nameless did half the AT last year going southbound. This year she did the other half northbound. Tomorrow she will have completed her section hike of the entire AT so we are going into town to celebrate. It seems like E Street and Short Legs will be joining so we¢ll have a good crew. I haven¢t heard from Madamoiselle lately but I will reach out soon. Hopefully everything is going well. The picture for this post wasn¢t from today it was from yesterday.
Date: 2018-06-23
From: Gravel Springs Shelter

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 13.4

Still raining a little this morning but not pouring. Today will b Nameless¢s last day on the trail since she will be finishing her thru-hike. She southbounded from Katahdin to Front Royal starting in July of last year and this year she northbounded from Springer up to Front Royal which we will be getting to today. So that means celebration! The successful finish of a thru hike is quite the accomplishment so Nameless, Silverback, E Street, Short Legs and myself will be heading into town for some fun. We got into town around midday and split s hotel room together. Cramped but we don¢t care. We laid out all of our completely soaked gear on the railings of the hotel. That rain last night completely drenched each one of us. After we dried our gear and took showers we headed downtown for a quick stop at the gear outfitter. I needed blister treatment stuff. The rain has done a lot of damage to my feet. Then we did a wine tasting! $5 for 6 different wines. That was great. As we were leaving the tasting we ran into AZ, Finger Lickin, Tracks, and Doc who had zeroed in town and were coming out of the movie theater. We all headed over to The PaveMint a absolutely fantastic bar and grill. Such good beer! We got a big table and continued the celebration. Tomorrow we will continue to hike but Nameless will be heading home to Georgia. Celebrating is fun but it¢s difficult seeing someone from your trail family leave. She will be heading to graduate school for speech therapy. Best of luck!
Date: 2018-06-24
From: Front Royal

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 16.4

It sure was tough getting up this morning. We had fun celebrating last night. A little too much fun. Breakfast at the hotel, disappointing as usual but I did have some yogurt which was great. I miss yogurt. Afterwards, I headed over to the Dollar General for food resupply and then chatted with my mom on the phone. Packed up all of my gear nearing lunchtime and then went to Taco Bell with Silverback, Nameless, Short Legs, and E Street. Quick lunch before Nameless had to leave for her bus and the rest of us got a Lyft back to the trail head. The trail is practically a muddy river now from all the rain. My dry socks were soon wet again. And the thunderstorm that quickly moved in didn¢t help either. This went on for 8 miles. Shortly after the rain stopped there was some trail magic which was so amazing. A big thank you to Summer Camp who thru hiked last year and drove to the trail from DC to set up the trail magic. All kinds of drinks, hot dogs, veggies, chips, and candy. A great pick-me-up after getting drenched in the rain. Another 8 miles to finish up the day. My feet not enjoying being soaking wet all day. The four of us found a good tenting site just off the trail with plenty of space for all of us to setup camp. Tonight¢s dinner: two cans of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli. Not my typical dinner but I felt like changing it up. It¢s heavy but I only had to carry it for a day. Weather is finally looking good for tomorrow. It may not rain but the trail will still be a muddy river.
Date: 2018-06-25
From: Tentsite

To: Tentsite
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: clear sky

Today started with a new challenge: slugs. It¢s always something new on the AT and this time slugs had crawled all over our tents and shoes overnight. Short Legs, E Street, Silverback and I had to pull dozens off of our gear. They left an orange slime wherever they crawled. Very pretty and calm morning. Finally no rain on the horizon. I got started hiking around 8:30 but felt myself moving slow. I hiked 8 miles by almost 12:00 and stopped for lunch at a shelter. Tortillas and tuna for lunch. I¢ve gotten more used to eating tuna which I guess is a positive. Short Legs and I ate lunch with IBTAT. He¢s another thru hiker and has a popular YouTube channel and Instagram account. You can easily find him online. We chatted for awhile before I kept hiking and entered The Roller Coaster. The Roller Coaster is a 13.5 mile section of the trail and it is named that for the ¢tightly packed ascents and descents¢ as described in the guidebook. It¢s typically described as a difficult section but I didn¢t find it that challenging. Getting energy in the morning was tougher. A big lunch helped. What also helped was trail magic!!! In the middle of The Roller Coaster was a big trail magic setup. Cheeseburgers, snacks, sodas and beers. Perfect place to take a break. Big thanks to Walkman and his family  2 miles after the trail magic I passed mile 1,000. What an amazing feeling that was. 1,000 miles of hiking, what an accomplishment. Short Legs and I hiked another 10 miles or so to a campsite by a stream where we met back up with Silverback and E Street. We didn¢t plan on meeting here it just happened like that. Not a big surprise, hikers like to camp near a water source but it¢s fun how we don¢t even plan with each other where our destination is we just end up meeting at the same place by coincidence. Easy hike into Harpers Ferry tomorrow. Looking forward to some real food!
Date: 2018-06-26
From: Tentsite

To: Harpers Ferry - Potomac River
Miles today: 18.0

Harpers Ferry! What an exciting day today! Harpers Ferry is the unofficial halfway point for the AT. Sometimes referred to as the emotional or psychological halfway point because it¢s so close to the actual halfway point by mileage and is where the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters is located. I made it into town around 2:00 and headed to the headquarters. Thru hikers stop here to have their photo taken in front of the building so their progress can be logged by the ATC. There are binders upon binders here logging all the hikers who have made it to this point on the trail. So cool! Today was also special because guess who I ran into? Strawberry! He¢s back from his week off for a wedding he had to go to. I though he was coming back tomorrow but there he was at the ATC! So happy to see him. He was excited to see me and gave me a hug without thinking of the consequences of hugging a drenched hiker who hasn¢t showered lately. Funny stuff. We went out for food shortly after. I got a huge pizza and ate most of it. My last two slices I got in a to-go box. We walked around Harpers Ferry which is a beautiful town on the Potomac River. I wish we had more time to go to more of the restaurants. As it was getting late, my current crew plus Strawberry started walking down the tow path that was parallel to the Potomac in search of a campsite which we found. Tomorrow will be an interesting day...
Date: 2018-06-27
From: Harpers Ferry - Potomac River

To: Falls Creek Campsite 
Miles today: 40.1

If you¢re wondering if that mileage for the day is correct then let me clarify. Yes, it is correct. After I starting hitting consistent 20 mile days I knew I wanted to hit 40 miles in one day. Today was that day. Silverback and I set out at 4:00am, still in the dark, for a 40 mile day to hike through the entire Maryland section of the AT. I woke up at 3:00am and ate the remaining two slices of pizza to yesterday¢s dinner and 4 packets of cold soaked oatmeal. Had to load up on calories for a big day. Overall the day went smoothly. Not the most difficult of hiking which played into our decision to hike this particular 40 miles. By 11:45am we had hiked 20 miles and were halfway done. It had started to rain pretty hard and we just made it to a shelter when it poured. We took an hour break for lunch. Loading up on a lot of food so we¢d have the energy to hike what would be normally another day of hiking on top of the mileage we¢d already hiked. The rain held off for the afternoon which was really lucky and we stayed focused on putting in the miles. It¢s strange how each day you setup your mind for how difficult the day is going to be. The more difficult you expect it to be the less you¢ll feel like you¢re suffering because it¢s what you expected. I¢ve had days where I¢ll be hiking around fifteen miles or less and my feet and muscles will be killing me because I¢d expected it to be an easy day when it turned out it wasn¢t. By 7:30pm Silverback and I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line which is the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania. I had been in Virginia for weeks and here I am passed West Virginia and Maryland entering Pennsylvania. The rejuvenating effect this has is staggering. Virginia, although beautiful and rewarding, dragged on and felt like it was impeding progress even though I was putting in miles. But now I¢m in a northern state. It¢s almost difficult to comprehend the distance I¢ve traveled north but here I am. Another 3/4 of a mile or so and we made it to the Falls Creek Campsite at 8:00pm. Just over 40 miles of hiking from where we started and 16 hours later. My feet were throbbing by the time we finished but we had succeeded. Tomorrow, Silverback¢s friend from home will be coming to pick us up a half mile from the campsite because we will be taking the day off. I think we earned it.
Date: 2018-06-30
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Pine Grove State Park
Miles today: 22.8

This was a special day. First, I made it halfway!!!  HALFWAY!!!! What?! That was really cool. The elation and joy were tremendous. Furthermore, it is AT tradition to eat a half gallon of ice cream at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park General Store. I ate mine in 50 minutes. The record is 12!
Date: 2018-07-01
From: Pine Grove State Park

To: BackpackerÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Campground
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: clear sky

I walked through some really cool farms today. Very hot though. Sun blazing. The backpacker¢s campground was a nice spot by a farm for hikers. Also just a mile outside of Boiling Springs, PA
Date: 2018-08-11
From: Greenwall Shelter

To: The Inn at Long Trail
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: light rain

Hello readers! I apologize for dropping off for awhile and not updating my trail journal. My willpower To write diminished after that 40 mile day along with the many miles a day I was hiking after that. But you may be happy to know that all is well and I am still hiking!I unfortunately do not have daily entries for the time I¢ve missed so what I plan on doing is updating the daily mileage which I have saved and then giving an entry to summarize my experience in each state to catch up. In the future I will do my best to write a post every few days. Even though I did enjoy my previous writing style it did become cumbersome to describe each day in the manner I was doing while also hiking 20+ mile days and getting into camp late at night. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read. I will be writing and posting updates soon so go back to June 28th to begin checking my daily miles and periodic posts to catch up to where I am now.
Date: 2018-04-12
To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 0.0

The original plan was to start last weekend, Saturday April 7th, however some unexpected events at home has pushed my start date to the following week. The 14th and 15th are supposed to be extremely wet, expecting 1 to 2 inches of rain. Therefore I will be officially starting on a very saturated Monday, April 16th with my first destination being Neels Gap. Ready to get this show on the road.
Date: 2018-04-22
From: Springer Mountain

To: Top of Mountain Hostel Georgia
Miles today: 70.0

Started at Springer Mountain at approximately 2pm on Monday, April 16th. It was between 20 and 30 degrees with 25-30 mph winds. I took a few pictures you can see in my photo library. Intimidating start. As we descended, the temperature began to rise, yet still had to sleep in 20 degree temperatures and 30 mph winds. I woke up to frozen water bottles and felt too cold to even move. However, since then the weather has been beautiful. Started averaging around 8.5 miles a day until Thursday. I stayed at Neels gap Hostel on Thursday night to avoid yet another blistering cold night. Friday was my first long day with 19 miles! The last 8 miles were relatively flat, making it possible. I put in another 15.5 the next day. Today (Sunday, April 22nd) I only put in 4 miles and am staying at a hostel in Hiawassee, Georgia to rest and to avoid 2 inches of rain today/tonight. This is my first real rest day. Nice to have a warm shower and bed to sleep in. My next destination will be Franklin, North Carolina. I will actually be finishing Georgia and entering North Carolina tomorrow! Excited to be home and to mark off my first state. Legs feel good and everything is going well. I have met a few cool cats that I will be leaving on Thursday when I come off the trail for a wedding. Oh yea..I have also acquired a trail name... 'Squatch...short for Sasquatch. I will take it!Favorite moments so far: the owl (see pictures)I will update once I get to Franklin on either Wednesday or Thursday. I love you all.
Date: 2018-04-25
From: Top of Mountain Hostel Georgia

To: Franklin
Miles today: 40.0

I left the hostel with a few others at around 8 am on the morning of Monday, April 23rd. This was by far the most difficult day of the trip I have yet to experience. We received over 2 inches of rain, 45 degree temperatures, and relentless wind reaching gusts of 45 mph. It was definitely a day that could break some, as I heard of multiple people quitting throughout the day. However, on this day I reached NC! I tried to take a picture of the GA/NC border sign, yet the weather was not allowing it to happen, so I had to roll past without getting a snapshot. Once past the sign, we were greeted with one of the most difficult climbs of the trip so far, as well. We ended up logging 16 miles, only stopping for a moment once all day. If you stopped for too long or too many times, the cold and wet would set in and you didn't want to move any farther. I stayed in a shelter that night with some familiar faces, and some new. One of which was a 75 year old man on his second tour of the AT. It was a very cold and damp night. My clothes from the hike were more wet in the morning than they were the day before, making putting them back on very tough. The next day, Tuesday, April 24th, we experienced just as much rain, yet without the cold and wind. I knew that I was getting off in Franklin, and the next shelter was 7 miles from that goal. So instead of staying another night in that mess, I decided to press on and push myself in order to get to Franklin. I ended up logging 24 miles that day, for a total of 40 miles over the course of the 23rd and 24th. It was definitely too much, yet I knew that I would be coming off for a few days for a wedding and had plenty of time to recover. However difficult the weather made these past few days, I will say that the last 15 miles of that section have been my favorite so far. I scaled cliffs, walked through streams, and was constantly witness to water barreling down off the mountain. The sections with a little risk definitely add to the sense of adventure. Cold, wet, and a little miserable, yet beautiful nonetheless. After the wedding, I will be continuing my journey Monday, April 30th, with a few long time buddies. They will be joining me from Franklin until Fontana Dam.I see this first 110 miles as a tremendous learning experience, revealing to me what to expect, how it all works, and with a much better understanding of my own abilities and limits. I am thankful for the people I have met and the experiences so far, as together they have helped increase my confidence in continuing this journey. I am excited to continue on Monday.
Date: 2018-07-24
From: Andreas Pennsylvania 

To: Hopewell Junction, NY
Miles today: 247.0

I returned to Pennsylvania after a family visit to complete the state, which was also the hardest part of the state.  Pennsylvania was no joke.  Imagine walking on riff raff rocks on and off for approximately 190 miles.  The last 35 miles there were no breaks in the rocks with only one water source.  My last night in Pennsylvania I laid in my tent cramping in several places due to dehydration, resulting from 90+ temperatures, terrible terrain, and no water.  Part of this trek was also completely exposed to the sun, as plants still have difficulty growing due to a zinc smelting plant that used to be in operation in this area.  Company this with another bear sighting and stumbling (literally almost falling on top of) a very large rattlesnake, I was over Pennsylvania.  Closest to breaking any section as brought me.  As I came into the Jersey/Pa border, I ran into several hikers that I knew from before.  As said before, it was like running into old friends, and was exactly the spiritual pick me up needed.  I left Pa and entered a very surprisingly beautiful New Jersey.  Dominated by its remote views and frequent lakes, New Jersey was awesome.  The weather was also perfect!  At times we just felt a little lazy and really took our time.  I even got free pancakes and twizzlers at a hiker stop, two of my favorite foods.  Thoroughly enjoyed New Jersey.  New York welcomed us with a Sou'Easter, the norths equivalent to our Nor'Easters, bringing high winds, inches of rain, and downed trees.  This coupled with rock scrambles the size of houses made for a great change in scenery and a hiker challenge.  New York has also been a pleasant surprise.  The forests are much less dense, but the trees are huge, making for a majestic landscape.  You are also walking alongside ancient farm walls and building remnants along the way.  The trail also took us through Fort Montgomery, NY which walked us through a small zoo.  It was interesting seeing the animals I have been among in the wild locked in captivity.  It was very interesting actually.  I prefer the wild ones.  Tonight I am staying in a shelter awaiting more rain tomorrow.  I am only 26 miles from the Connecticut border!  May reach it tomorrow.  I miss and love you all and think of you often.
Date: 2018-09-04
From: Gorham, NH

To: Caratunk, Maine
Miles today: 156.0

Shortly after leaving The Whites and entering Maine, our excitement was quickly replaced with disbelief in the difficulty of the terrain southern Maine had to offer, making The Whites seem like a training ground.  The first 4 days in Maine, we were physically incapable of doing more than 10 miles a day.  ¢Hiking¢ from sunrise to sunset would only yied limited miles, as the terrain required careful, tedious, and tactful maneuvering, using our upper bodies just as much as our lower bodies.  This was especially true during Mahoosuc Notch, followed immediately by Mahoosuc Arm.  The Notch is a canyon with sheer cliffs on either side.  Over time several boulders the size of cars and houses have fallen into the canyon creating the most difficult mile of the AT.  This one mile took about an hour and a half to complete.  After completing the Notch, the Arm revealed itself to be one of the steepest climbs on the AT, where rock climbing is closer to what was needed to complete this part of the trail rather than hiking.  I was asleep by 7pm after these two features and slept for 11 hours. The terrain gradually eased up and I am back to doing 15-20 mile  days.  It feels good to be able to stride out once again and roll, however I have found myself in one of the more difficult mental stretches of the hike since northern Pennsylvania.  I have been in the final state for more than a week and more than 140 miles, but have yet to make it halfway through Maine.  It feels as if the trail is taunting us, being in the ¢home stretch¢ when the stretch is SEVERAL miles and several days long.  Everywhere I go I am congratulated on being nearly done, yet at this moment I still have 150 miles left.  The evenings are nice because I can look back and see how I¢ve been picking up my mileage, yet the mornings are daunting as I know I have a lot of ground still to cover.  I have been trying to continue to stay mindful as I know the end is near.  Every waterfall or lake I pass I make sure I take at least a minute to dive in and enjoy myself or at least wash the stink off.  I believe I have about one full week left on trail.  Today I have taken my last trail shower, am making one of my final resupplies, am in my second to last town, and this is my last blog prior to finishing.  The next time I post I will have completed the longest and most difficult foot travel only path in the world, yet I continue to suppress my excitement until the end.  I STILL have challenges ahead which stand between me and the finish.  I will be entering the section known as the 100 miles of wilderness on Thursday, the final stretch before Katahdin.  This is the longest a hiker goes without seeing any trace of civilization on the entire trail.  Then we have Mt Katahdin, a 4000 foot climb in 3.5 miles that leads to the end of the AT.  I miss you all and the anticipation of seeing you continues to push me to get a little further each day.  One more week, 150 more miles.  I¢ll see you soon.  Love you all.
Date: 2018-06-04
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well, it is time to start our journal for our upcoming 5th section of the AT. The previous sections have been in ~500 mile chunks, but we are only planning to hike ~250 mile this time. The shorter distance is for two reasons: 1) We will spend most of our time on this hike in the White Mountains where miles do not come easy and 2) Spider had knee replacement last year (That's why we didn't section hike the AT last year) and not sure how the knee will handle the miles.We have our plane tickets to fly to Boston, then a commuter flight to Lebanon, NH (town just south of Hanover, NH or starting point this year). With about 7 weeks to go, it's time to start organizing the food and gear. More on that later