morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-02-23
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: US 19 near Mt Harbor Hostel
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: light rain

I was the last to leave this morning, stopping on the way out to take both a selfie and regular photo of the red barn. My oldest daughter called and it was nice to be able to send her a real time photo showing her where Dad was on the trail.During the night a mouse ran over my head and for some reason it didn¢t bother me. I must be getting used to being a thru-hiker. The morning is spent climbing Little Hump Mt and Hump Mt, along with maybe one other Bald. It¢s hard to remember at the moment. Balds are mountains that don¢t have any trees on them. This makes for incredibly views on a clear day. It¢s unclear wether the balds occurred naturally somehow or if the American Indians kept them clear. At this point the Forest Service mows them to keep trees from taking over. Due to the thick fog which persisted throughout the first half of the day, instead of clear views all I could see was the next 50 yards of trail - usually going straight up hill before evaporating into the fog. The wind was cold and persistent off my right shoulder. It seemed to wear at me as the morning went on. ¢Are we having fun yet?¢ I asked myself as I moved ever so slowly up the hill. Somehow even the - not fun parts - of hiking like this add to the adventure and the thrill of hiking the trail. I try to think of how good it¢s going to feel once I¢m at the top of Hump Mt.After making it over Hump Mt. the trail this afternoon varied to include rock hopping, root avoidance, some nicer easy sections, and plenty of mud slogging. The melted snow and rain has eroded the dirt off the trail and carried it downhill often depositing it in mucky sections that can be up to 6¢ deep. I do my best to avoid the mud although I¢m limited to where I can step by the poor balance my wobbly left ankle provides. It¢s about 4:30 when I make it to US 19 and I walk slowly down the side of the paved road covering the last half mile of the day to reach Harbor Mt Hostel where I¢ve left my car. I¢m going to take the next two days off to give my foot a rest, plus there¢s a bit of snow expected that I don¢t mind hiking ON but want to avoid hiking IN it as it comes down. The room I rented in a house near Lake Holston is working out great. The owner is friendly, interested in hiking, and enjoyable to hang out with. Tomorrow I think I¢ll drive up to Damascus so I can get some new Super Feet liners for my boots. Thanks for reading my journal - I appreciate the feedback I¢m getting, so please sign my guest book and let me know your thoughts.
Date: 2016-02-25
From: Room in House on Lake Holston

To: Room in House on Lake Holston
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was another rest day. It's snowing a bit and somewhat cold so I decide to take another zero. I did drive up to Damascus to take a peak at the famous trail town and to stop by Mt Rogers Outfitters to get a new set of Superfeet boot inserts. I've put over 500 miles on the current pair and my right foot (on my "good" leg) has been hurting some in the middle of the arch. We'll see if this helps or not. I also stopped by a Walgreens and printed out some of my AT photos to send to friends and family as postcardsWhen the AT comes to a place with a fence to cross you'll find either a "V" shaped walkway that is too tight for cows to walk through or something called a stile. This allows you to hike up and over the fence without having to open gates or crawl under barbed wire. There's some that look like two sets of steps on opposite sides of the fence. Today's photo shows you a stile that has a ramp design. I just finished getting all my food sorted into little snack bags and I'm looking forward to hiking tomorrow.Thanks for following my adventure.BTW - I've been making daily trailside update videos if you are interested. I'll have to upload them to youtube whenever I take another zero. I'll keep you posted.
Date: 2016-02-27
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Vango Abby Memorial Hostel
Miles today: 3.9

I did hike back down to see Mountain Falls this morning. What a nice way to get the day going¢¦I had to find my way around 8 or 10 ¢blow downs¢ this morning. These are trees that have fallen across the trail blocking the trail. In most cases I¢m able to step over the tree trunk or through the branches. Several situations required hiking out around the tree, something that¢s hard to do if the trail is cutting across a steep hillside. At the top of today¢s big hill I stopped to rest on a bench by the side of the trail. There¢s a great view of Big Hump Mt and Little Hump Mt. I thought that I was looking at Roan Mt but once I got down to the Vango Abby Memorial Hostel, Scottie the owner let me know what I was looking at. I took a photo of the nice view and while looking at my iPhone to check out the picture I noticed a strange sign post of some type on the lower left side of the photo. Most signs are right on the trail and this one was about 40 or 50 feet off in the undergrowth. ¢Happy¢ June 5 2015 - is what I found inscribed on the sign. The ground below could have been a burial site from the looks of it. Turns out that Happy was a beloved German Shepard that belonged to the owner of the nearby hostel. He said it was about time to take the sign down since it had been up for a year. Speaking of the hostel, I had a heck of a time finding it for two reasons. First off, no one had gone there since the last snow so the side trail didn¢t have any tracks on it. The second reason I had a hard time is that I didn¢t read Awol¢s guide carefully to see that the side trail starts right at the Laurel Fork footbridge. After hiking up and down the small valley and reconsulting the guidebook I finally found a pink ribbon tied to a tree with some clues written on it. I added directions to the comments in Guthooks App to make it easier for other hikers in the future who might frustratingly stomp up and down the valley like I did rather than take the time to read the guidebook.So now I¢m here - And there really is a porch piano!I played it some (I¢m pretty rusty) and then listened in to Scottie as he tickled the ivories until the sun dropped behind the mountain and the temperature began to drop. I downed a tombstone pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry¢s chuncky monkey ice cream for dinner. As I walked across the large grassy yard over to the bunkhouse I soaked in the massive view of the stars. The Vango Abby Hostel is out in the middle of nowhere so it¢s dark enough for the stars to really shine. There¢s a meteor shower coming next month. I¢ve got the dates marked on my calendar and hope to see some cool falling stars. Ok, it¢s just me here. I¢ve said hi to the hiker journal on the desk and now I¢m going to sleep.
Date: 2016-02-28
From: Vango Abby Memorial Hostel

To: Kinkora Hostel
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

Nice day today, I got out on the trail at 8:05 which is earlier than normal for me. The trail was a mix of some snow and many parts with no snow at all, especially later in the day as I dropped down in elevation. 12 miles is a long day for me so I took my time and enjoyed the nice views of the valleys off both sides of the ridge as I hiked along it. I almost side tracked down to see Coons Den Falls but thought better of adding any extra miles since my foot was already bothering me some. I arrived at Kinkora Hostel around 4:30 and couldn¢t find anyone. The hostel was open so I went in, picked a bunk to drop my pack on and started to figure out how to light the wood stove to warm the place up a bit. It wasn¢t long before I was joined by Tin Man and Ice Breaker, a couple of young NOBOs who are hiking together. Next the owner, Bob Peoples, arrived and came into the hostel to get to know us. Bob is a legend on the trail having been involved running Kinkora, maintaining the AT, and hiking all over the world.Bob drove us down to Subway where we loaded up on dinner, cookies, and chips. Bob told us that he¢s had 22,000 hikers come by over the years. The walls and ceiling are covered everywhere with Katahdin victory photos. He loves talking with and helping hikers¢¦ a super nice guy! Ice Breaker pulled out the Trivial Pursuit game and I was in last place until we decided the next correct question wins¢¦ and I got lucky with an easy question. Now I¢m laying on the bunk here wondering how many years it¢s been since this place was cleaned. It¢s only $5 to stay here and the hikers do the cleaning. Or maybe not. Despite this ick factor I really enjoyed my stay at Kinkora and especially meeting Bob Peoples.
Date: 2016-02-29
From: Kinkora Hostel

To: Shook Branch
Miles today: 8.6

Bob helped me to slack pack today by shuttling me from my end point back to my car on US 19. Slack packing is where you leave most all your gear behind and hike along with just your water, a raincoat and lunch. It was a gorgeous day with no snow at all on the trail. Whoo Hooo!!Several miles in I stopped to adore Laurel Falls. The guidebook mentions a dangerous whirlpool at the base of the falls and a small sign was on a tree that mentioned the death of a father and son here in 2012. Bob Peoples told me later that he went on the rescue that sad day. He said that 8 or 10 people have died here over the past 10 years. Beauty and sadness together. Up the almost 2,000 ft climb up Little Pond Mountain I go today, using some breathing I learned while training with a ¢super kick your butt¢ workout guy named Mac Newton in Phoenix, AZ. If you ever want to get pushed way beyond your limits to where you¢re almost dead, go see Mr Newton. I¢m not kidding. That¢s where the breathing comes in. Mr Newton used to work us so hard (this was before my injury) that you knew you were going to fail at some point, you just didn¢t know when. And we paid him for this : ) While working out at Mac¢s I discovered that if I was starving for oxygen I could breath in and out rapidly but this didn¢t give my lungs time to soak up the oxygen out of the air. The trick was to draw a deep breath in slowly and hold it for a moment even though your lungs were screaming to get more air. Basically you breath deep and relaxed even though it seems your mind is telling you to tighten up and freak out. For hiking, I tell myself ¢It¢s not a hill unless I¢m breathing hard¢. Then I go up the mountain trying to maintain deep, slow, relaxed breathing. Don¢t get me wrong. With my disabled leg I¢m maxing out at 1.5 or 1.6 mph. So I¢m not breaking any records. But for today I¢m able to climb everything except a few steep parts while trying to trick myself that I¢m not going uphill. I found a surprise at the top of Little Pond Mountain that I¢ll share with you in my journal tomorrow. Stay tuned : ) Before long I¢ve covered the 8 plus miles and it seemed like a lot less because my pack was so light. Bob was waiting there to shuttle me back to my car on US 19 where I left it 4 days ago. Good food on the way home to my room on Lake Holston. I¢m going to rest my leg with a zero tomorrow and maybe the next day. Thanks for allowing me to share my journey with you.
Date: 2016-03-01
From: Shook Branch

To: Room in House on Lake Holston
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I"m resting up today. My foot is a bit sore but I'm getting around ok. I drove up to Virginia with the owner of the house I'm staying at to help him look at some land he's putting up for sale. He's a very nice guy and I appreciate his willingness to rent me a room for a month as my home base away from home while I'm hiking the AT in Tennessee. Looks what¢s on top of Little Pond Mountain.. ?A little pond. This must have been here quite a while for the mountain to be named after it. One more rest day tomorrow and then I¢ll be setting out on a 5 day stretch that will hopefully take me into Damascus, VA.
Date: 2016-03-02
From: Room in House on Lake Holston

To: Room in House on Lake Holston
Miles today: 0.0

Tomorrow is a big day for me. March 3rd is three years from the day of my dirt bike racing accident where I shattered my hip and damaged the nerve in my leg.Life as I knew it changed in an instant. I was doing triathlons and had run two marathons. I¢d been training for months for my 3rd marathon which was just two weeks away. It¢s taken me three years to accept the fact that I¢ll likely never be able to run again - ever. And I¢m ok with that. I¢ve decided that I¢d rather focus on what I CAN do rather than focus on what I CAN¢T do.And I can hike. I am hiking the Appalachian Trail. If I wasn¢t injured it¢s likely that I¢d never have decided to hike the trail. It¢s not what happens to you, it¢s what you do about it. So tomorrow is a day to celebrate. (Thanks Jamie for reminding me)And I wanted to get your ideas on how I could celebrate 3 years of healing. If I was better at planning I would have asked you this a couple of weeks ago. Because I¢ll be out hiking tomorrow I¢ll just move my celebration back by five days or so. This will give me time to hike to Damascus and sort through your ideas and hopefully come up with a fun way to celebrate my three years of healing. Any and all ideas are on the table. Nothing will be considered too outrageous. Sometimes the craziest ideas can lead to something that¢s just perfect. Also - your identity will not be revealed here even if I congratulate you on coming up with the awesome celebration idea that I end up choosing. No matter what, thanks for reading my journal and especially for signing my guestbook (on the left side of this page) and sending me your amazing, awesome, super fun idea on how I can celebrate my 3 years and one week of healing once I get to Damascus. Ciao for now.
Date: 2016-03-03
From: Shook Branch 

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

Off to a good start today¢¦ I got my food and pack ready yesterday during my zero day instead of doing it early in the morning like I normally do. This is my day to celebrate 3 years since the day I shattered my hip and damaged the nerve in my leg. I haven¢t decided on a formal celebration which I may do another day - for today just being out hiking the AT is where I want to be. Today¢s photo is from one year ago when I initially started my thru-hike. If you¢ve been reading along you probably know that I got off the trail last year near Erwin, TN after having some issues with my leg and the Noro virus. I then restarted my thru hike almost a month ago in the same location where I stopped last year. I purposely started my thru hike 2 years after my injury as a way of reclaiming my life. (even though I was in worse shape a year ago than I am now) I made a video 2 miles into the AT which explains why I decided to hike. I also pay tribute to my thru hiker friend Brian Hart who passed away recently. Cut and paste this link if you¢d like to see the video:https://youtu.be/Dlz8rIvLUTUThis morning I passed the Watauga Lake Shelter which was closed last year due to bear activity. Bears that are able to get food which is not put away correctly can become habituated to looking for more food. This causes the bears to become less cautious of humans which means they may come to the shelter at night to see what they can find to eat. This is what happened here so the shelter was closed for a period of time to encourage the bears to look elsewhere. I¢m at Vandeventer Shelter with two other NOBOs, Tyler and Ox who are talking about doing a whopping 32 miles all the way into Damascus tomorrow. At my pace of 6 to 9 miles a day it will take me four days to go the same distance. The snow is coming down outside but I¢m warm inside my sleeping bag with only my nose peeking out into the fresh nighttime air.
Date: 2016-03-05
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: scattered clouds

The snow from two nights ago came down in fine particles, almost like a frozen fog. It was cold and cloudy yesterday but this morning the sun came out and began to loosen up the snow/ice crystals from the tree branches enough so that they began to fall to the ground in hundreds of little thunks. After a few hours of this the trail was covered in another inch or so of semi crunchy snow chunks. This had the effect of making the trail less slippery and thus easier to walk along. I crossed TN 91 and found the first gate I¢ve found on the AT that required opening. Normally there¢s a stile of some sort to climb over when the AT crosses over a fence but this was the beginning of a half mile section created with handicapped access. The trail climbed gently up through a meadow with the handicapped portion ending at a nice bench with a beautiful 270 degree view of the surrounding countryside and mountains. I arrived here at Double Spring shelter at 2:15 and sat down to ponder the idea of hiking 8 more miles to the next shelter. ¢Let¢s see, at my 1.25 mph pace that would get me in at 8 pm, I¢d have to use my headlamp.¢ I thought to myself.I went to get water while I considered making this a long day. I noticed that there really were two springs at Double Spring shelter.. how about that?I remembered telling my father before I left on this five day stretch that my next goal was to get to Damascus but my main goal was to keep from getting worn out physically or mentally. Based on this I decided to be content with my seven plus miles for the day. I gathered up some wood looking for the more combustable smaller sticks because of the dampness caused by the recently melted snow. I was able to occupy several hours by nurturing a small smokey campfire along. Two day hikers stopped by to say hi and (I hate this) stuck their hands out to shake mine. Because of the risk of getting something like the noro virus most thru hikers will either skip the handshake completely or use the more hygienic fist bump method. But what do you do when someone sticks their hand out toward you? You probably shake their hand which is what I did with both of them. After they left I washed my hands and thought about the best way to avoid shaking hands with someone on the trail ideally without offending them in the process. The best I¢ve come up with is to tuck both hands together (away from them) up to the chest accompanied by a slight bowing motion. Sort of like the clueless hand grabber meets the Dalai Lama. I¢ll try this out and let you know how it goes, or if you have any other ideas please post them using my guestbook on the left side of this journal so that I can field test the best ideas you and I have created together : ) Right now it¢s warmer than it¢s been lately, 41 degrees AND it¢s just started to snow. I¢m sure glad I¢m not still out on the trail trying to make the next shelter. I¢m feeling better today. I¢m doing OK on this five day stretch so far.
Date: 2016-03-06
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Abington Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I crossed the road at Low Gap which was only 5 miles away from the room I rented near Lake Holston. I considered calling the home owner who would have gladly come to pick me up to rest for a day. Luckily I was feeling good. The weather was warm, the trail was dry (no more snow.??) and my foot was doing ok. So I kept going.I¢m proud of that. If I¢m ever going to get to Maine it may be patting myself on the back for little decisions like this that help me along the way. I must have been occupied thinking about this because after crossing the road I hiked right up the hill without stopping at my planned mid-day water point which was right by the road. Drats! By the time I realized this I was .3 miles up the hill and decided to keep going rather than make the hike back. When I did stop for water about 4 miles later, in addition to my camelback bladder, I also filled up the extra foldable Nalgene bottle that I carry. This would allow me to avoid the .2 steep downhill trail to get water at the shelter tonight. I was able to get a signal on my phone and catch up with my wonderful wife while slowly walking along the ridge this afternoon. I¢ve made another fire and having my usual lentils with mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. I promise to respond to any comments, suggestions or encouragement you can send me thru my guestbook.
Date: 2016-03-07
From: Abington Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 9.9

Today was mostly all downhill AND¢¦ I finally made it to Virginia!This meant a lot to me so I took this video so I can share with you in person exactly what this was like today:https://youtu.be/3PiK9Z7PclURest day tomorrow, then back out on the trail for another five days.
Date: 2016-03-08
From: Damascus

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

I¢m resting today but a few days ago I met some friendly members of the Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club who were out working on maintaining the trail. In the photo from left to right are Bob, Joe, Greg, Mountain Squid, and Kevin. Not shown are three others working down the hill - Pat, Carl, and George. I¢m so thankful for all of the volunteers and organizations who¢ve helped to create, improve, and keep up the AT over the years.Without all of you and your efforts I wouldn¢t be able to enjoy one of the nicest stretches of wilderness in our Country. Thank you very much.Here¢s a list of the affiliated trail maintenance clubs from South to North:Georgia Appalachian Trail ClubNantahala Hiking ClubSmoky Mountains Hiking ClubCarolina Mountain ClubTennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing ClubMt. Rogers Appalachian Trail ClubPiedmont Appalachian Trail HikersOutdoor Club of Virginia TechRoanoke Appalachian Trail ClubNatural Bridge Appalachian Trail ClubTidewater Appalachian Trail ClubOld Dominion Appalachian Trail ClubPotomac Appalachian Trail ClubMountain Club of MarylandCumberland Valley Appalachian Trail ClubYork Hiking ClubSusquehanna Appalachian Trail ClubBlue Mountain Eagle Climbing ClubAllentown Hiking ClubPhiladelphia Trail ClubAMC-Delaware Valley ChapterBatona Hiking ClubWilmington Trail ClubNew York - New Jersey Trail ConferenceAMC-Connecticut ChapterAMC-Berkshire ChapterGreen Mountain ClubDartmouth Outing ClubRandolph Mountain ClubAppalachian Mountain Club (AMC)Maine Appalachian Trail ClubThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) reports that for fiscal year 2015, a record-breaking 6,827 volunteers reported approximately 272,477 hours to maintaining and protecting the AT. Since the ATC began collecting reports in 1983, individuals have contributed more than 5 million hours to the AT. That¢s amazing.
Date: 2016-03-09
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: broken clouds

Heading North today by walking thru town after leaving my car at WoodChuck Hostel. The owner there (who's name is Chuck) is very friendly and helpful.I stopped at the coffee shop to enjoy a Rueben sandwich for lunch. I saved the 2nd half to eat at a 3 pm trail break today. I somehow left my leaves of soap behind so I had to ask a few other hikers to share with me : ) Sleep should be nice here.. the shelter is big, clean, and has a privy!Two other section hikers are here. One of them is going to thru hike in 2017 and it's fun to be able to answer questions. It wasn't that long ago that I was the one asking all the questions.
Date: 2016-03-10
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Camping along the trail
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: clear sky

Good day today.. Towards the end of the day I went through a nice open pasture and then ended up camping here in the woods.There was tons of nice dry branches all within 50 feet of the fire pit. I'm used to the wood being mostly wet so I was a bit surprised when the fire grew really fast. The wind was coming towards me pushing the flames right at me. I jumped up and over the big log I was sitting on, forgetting for the moment about my leg that doesn't remember how to jump. It's nice to be here camping in the woods.