morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-03-22
From: Neels Gap

To: No Where
Miles today: 0.0

Who knew I'd need a zero day this soon!! We decided to relax since these cabins at Blood Mountain are awesome and so that I could do something about my feet. Its really been a great day, I love having no responsibilities! I got new shoes at Mountain Crossings today, they're Keen Trail Runners and the girl who fitted me for them wore them on her thru hike. She said her feet grew one whole size and never went back. I also got some Super Feet insoles. To honor tradition, I tossed my old shoes in the tree out front of the store, not inside with the 500 mile shoes. Other than that, I've just been resting to ice and elevate my foot. DO IT got a ride into town to get some steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. We're doing a little trail magic tonight and have another thru hiker sleeping in the cabin and joining us for dinner. Her name is Mouse and she's been a delight to talk to. She also refuses to play Battleship with DO IT so that's funny.
Date: 2012-03-23
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

You've gotta go through the rain and the pain if you wanna get to Maine. Literally through the rain. I left Neels Gap just before sunrise this morning. I could only see about 10 feet in front of me. The air was wet and heavy. The hike was nice and easy for most of the day, not a lot of up and downs. I was surrounded by clouds and alone all morning. I ran into 3 thru hikers trying to hitch because a bear had eaten their entire food bag the night before. I gave them a granola bar and wished them well. I saw them later down the trail, they said they couldn't catch a ride and decided to just go hard without food to Hiawassee. They plan to do 2 15 mile days. They had the slashed up bear bag as a prize. I charged on through the rain, at one point the rain was just pounding on me and I started to run. I don't know where I thought I was going exactly, but once I got my wits about me I tried to throw on my poncho and realized it wouldn't fit over my pack. So by the time I took my pack off and got it together I was drenched down to my underoos. Oh well. I decided that if I was cold, then I wasn't walking fast enough. I got to low gap shelter, dropped my stuff and ran back to the trailhead so DO IT! Would know where to find me. I hadn't seen him since I left in the morning and was growing worried. But sure enough, here comes DO IT! I could hear him well before I saw him. He was zig-zaging down the trail at a full sprint. Weirdo. He agreed to socialize in the shelter tonight so I'm sandwiched between him and Mouse.
Date: 2012-03-24
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: The Cheese Factory
Miles today: 13.0

Last night was just a perfect trail night. We had great company and I got great sleep. I named a thru hiker who sleeps in a hammock. He had been in his hammock the night before and said a bear was sniffing all around him. I dubbed him bear bag. Thunderstorms rocked the shelter all night and I felt so sorry for everyone in tents. We all woke up around dawn and the first words spoken were from Plus Two, "Well, another 180 days of this". I was just so grateful to have a privy. The hike started so smooth, over 5 miles with no elevation changes. I took a snack break after the firt 5 and ate my new favorite hiking food, cheese and tortillas. The next 5 miles were pure hell, pointless up and downs and rocky ledges that I started to slide down more than once. I caught up with the 3 guys who lost all their food to a bear (let's call them the bear trap). I discovered that DO IT had given them our dinner. I cautioned them that he's only trying to lighten his load and gave them oatmeal and granola. After 10 miles my feet started to get sore and I realized we wouldn't make our goal of 15. That's when I found DO IT. He had been possesed by two evil spirits, CAN'T and WON'T. I introduced him to this crazy little thing called electrolyte replacement and he sprung back to life, dissapearing down the trail. After 13 miles I was really feeling it so we set up camp at the cheese factory site. I haven't found where they kept the cheese yet. Just as I opened my pack, the skies opened up and dumped rain all over me. We got our tents set up and DO IT cooked another disgusting meal while I filtered water. We ate crunchy, salty dehydrated horse crap in DO ITs tent while water flowed straight into the tent to pool up at my my feet and soak through my last pair of dry socks. I thanked DO IT for his hospitality and vacated his flooded tent to get back to my craw space to lay still for the next few hours. Another good day on the trail.
Date: 2012-03-26
From: Hiawassee

To: The Hot Tub!
Miles today: 0.0

I LOVE ZERO DAYS! I love beds, I love showers and I love hot tubs. The Dixie Wanderer was so right about this! We had the complimentary hotel breakfast this morning and then went to the grocery store to resupply. They had very limited options for healthy foods. I ended up with a lot of protein bars, a jar of peanut butter, tortillas, cheese and ramen noodles. We plan to go about 60 or 70 miles before the next stop. I'm going to up my caloric intake so I have more energy and got a knee brace and thicker moleskin so my body will cooperate. I picked up a package from the post office that Nick had sent a few days ago. It had a change of clothes and my little camping pillow in it. I know it seems silly, but wearing the exact same shirt and shorts day and night has been getting to me. And I tpok all the stuffing out of the pillow and put all my clothes in it so it has dual purposes. this hotel is full of thru hikers and we all want the same things. We want the hot tub open and time on the computer. The hot tub finally got fixed around 5:00 and filled up with hikers almost immediately. They're on the drinking and smoking kind of hike though so after one small lecture on loving your body and showing it gratitude instead of chemicals, I exited the hot tub. I came back to the hotel room where DO IT and I decided it would be a good idea to buy a trail dog. There was an ad in the paper for a dog that needed to be adopted so we called and told them we'd like to take the dog on the trail and didn't have a car, but could they please bring it by asap since we're leaving the next day. I guess that sounded a little insane because they wouldn't give us the dog. But I did get a complimentary lecture on how young women shouldn't be out in these woods alone. Women get KILL'T that way, doncha know? Anyway, we had another $5 southern meal for dinner and now we're back at the hotel, where DO ITs watching boring documentaries at an ear splitting volume. I'm all packed up for tomorrow and noticed that even my empty pack smells awful!! When I walked into this hotel room, I choked on the stench!
Date: 2012-03-27
From: The Hot Tub!

To: Muscrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Had a rough night's sleep despite my queen sized bed a fluffy pillows. DO IT kept turning the bathroom light on, "in case something happens". In the morning I asked the inevitable question, is DO IT afraid of the dark?We got a ride into town with a woman who drives hikers back and forth. She dropped us off at Dick's Gap and we were off. Back in the woods. I was in a really bad mood all day. I don't know why, but I just felt angry. I tried to come out of it, but I was pretty unsuccesful. I did smile for a minute when I crossed the state line. One whole state done!!! And it didn't come easy! I crossed over into North Carolina and got right back to grumbling. I saw a day hiker about a mile in, who pleasantly asked what I thought of North Carolina. I actually said, "I think she's a real BLEEP". Poor day hiker.I was super excited though that DO IT had agreed to sleep near a shelter, but when I got to camp, he was set up way past the shelter. I let him know that iwas not fit for human contact and set up camp. I read my new book, its a children's book which is perfect because my attention span is so limited out here. PS- Does anyone know the name of the Gary Paulsen book where the plane crashes and he has to survive on his own in the woods?? Please send me a copy!!
Date: 2012-03-28
From: Muscrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Had the best night's sleep even though I accidentally had the top of my tent unzipped. I realized my sleeping bag was damp at some point but ignored it. DO IT had wrapped his tent in plastic after cutting the floor open (couldn't find a tent in Hiawassee). We kept joking about it being greenhouse plastic and creating a greenhouse effect. But as soon as he got in the tent he was sweating! And the tent stayed moist all night. Bad idea #1,480. We switched over to instant coffee which was surprisingly good. Oh, I would like to apologize to the entire AT hiking community for the noise pollution that occured all day. When DO IT asked to borrow my "noise machine" I had no idea he'd be singing along. Oh and he had it set to repeat the same 10 songs for the better part of the day. This was about the easiest terrain that we've seen since we started. We finally climbed a mile high. Something gross is happening to my right foot. Apparently, the toes were getting a little crowded, so a blister moved to the heel. But its a blood blister and it looks sick. I drained some of the blood out but it didn't do much. Had chicken ramen for dinner that was delicious!
Date: 2012-03-31
From: Emergency Room??

To: Bed
Miles today: 0.0

Spent the day hanging out in Franklin, NC. Very cool town with some very cool people. It was trail days so there was a lot of activity downtown. I came down for breakfast in the morning and DO IT was sitting down eating with the breakfast hostess at the hotel. Does he EVER stop talking to people? Gol-ly! I sat down and was introduced to Marilyn who has always dreamed of hiking the trail. She is a 5th generation Franklin-ite, but moved around for 20 years when she was in the service. DO IT had already made arrangements for her to take us into town when she was done work at noon. I ate my usually oversized breakfast and went back to bed to allow the calories to fully set in to my crucial areas. I did enjoy the luxury of a shower and DO IT got me a present... a RAZER!!! He said he was concerned about my gender noncompliance. Have you ever gone two weeks without shaving your armpits??? Crazy things happen! After the shaving frienzy, we rode into town with Marilyn. She dropped us off near the local outfitters, where I was looking to find some new socks. I told someone who worked there about my blisters and he asked to see my shoes, I was barefoot at the time and didn't have my shoes with me so he arranged for someone to drive me back to the hotel and get my shoes so he could see how I was wearing down the tread. So I'm back in another car, with another stranger in an unfamiliar town, but that's the way this whole trip has been! So I spent 3 hours in the outfitters where they measure every part of my feet and watch me walk and do all kindsa crazy shoe freak things. So $200 later, I'm convinced that the shoes from Neel's Gap were all wrong and I'm walking around in hot shoes because they baked the insoles so my feet would mold around them as I walk. They also informed me that I roll my feet in when I walk so thru hiking is going to be harder on my feet than most people and I'm going to blow through these overpriced shoes. Yay. At this point, DO IT's been all over town and knows everyone. We walked around and saw so many familiar faces from the trail. We saw Kevin, buying another pair of boots, one size bigger than his original boots because one of his feet is bigger than the other, so he's going to hike out in one of each! We saw little Hobo Joe and Ragweed, DO IT gave them a very parental lecture since their adult chaperone (Show and Tell) has gone off trail. We saw Gooch, one of my favorites, who went off trail to spend some time with his son. The list goes on and on, I never knew we had so many friends. It felt so good to see so many familiar faces. We walked around and checked out the trail days vendors who all recognized that we were hikers immediately. I attribute it to my crocs and butch haircut, but who knows. A reporter even came up and interviewed us for the Macon County Times, she took our picture, which she assured us will be on the front page of Thursday's issue (since we're so good lookin'). That was about it for the day, I did go to Walmart to get a new raincoat so I can ditch my coat and poncho to cut down my pack weight. We watched a movie and went to bed.
Date: 2012-04-01
From: Bed

To: dont know
Miles today: 0.0

hey people   well, we are about to leave the hotel   ,weve been livin high on the hog for   4   days lettin   angelas feet heel.   well take it easy today   see   what happens with her feet. we are starting at standing indian camp ground, about 10 miles from franklin nc. this nice lady from the hotel is giving us a ride,marylin.   she also gave us a tour yesterday we drove on these winndy mountain roads for hour and we both got sick ( flat landers)   the hotel has made us soft and   weak......also   we sound like an old married couple with   quotes like   i feel sorry for   youre   wife or boy freind...............it should be good to   get on the trail.............
Date: 2012-04-02
From: Standing Indian Campground

To: Silar Bald
Miles today: 7.0

DO IT drove me crazy in the hotel room last night! He kept turning on the damn light to see what time it was when I told him I had set an alarm! Ahhhh! I feel so sorry for his wife! Marilyn picked us up and drove us to the post office where I mailed some stuff home. We headed out of town on some more winding mountain roads. I got carsick again and started the hike nautious. I enjoyed the hike today, it felt really good to be back in the woods. The air was crisp and clean. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. DO IT on the other hand was grumpy! He packed out a bag of nectarines that he was really excited to eat. As he was walking, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and realized it was all of his nectarines rolling down a steep hill. Then there was trail magic fruit that he didn't notice. The final straw was when his honey leaked all over his pack, leaving everything sticky! I walked past him and got honey all over my feet, which made my sovks get stuck. He was feeling sorry for himself all day! We came across a beautiful bald on top of a mountain with the grassy meadow I've been dreaming of tenting on so we decided to stop prematurely and just enjoy camp. I'm pretty excited to read my new book, The Witch of Blackburn Pond- I must have read it a hundred times as a kid. We're in a new pack of hikers, except for Kevin, or Loops and he'll go a lopt farther than us today. It should be fun to meet new people and get Groucho away from the Wolves.
Date: 2012-04-03
From: Silar Bald

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up in the beautiful meadow at Silar Bald. I must have been the firt hiker out on the trail this morning because I kept walking into spider webs. I saw 2 woodpeckers and a grouse. We hiked up to Wayah Bald and climbed the tower. We had great views of storms rolling in. Once the rain started, we decided to stay in the shelter, making it a really short day. But I had a feeling the rain would continue and didnt want to get stuck in it. We shared the shelter with another interesting crew. There was a punkster looking kid, who read Watership Down all night and chain smoked Marlboros. Ther was a guy from Maine who was super annoying. Any time anyone said anything bad about the trail, he would go on and on about how its so easy compared to the AT in Maine. Next, there was an older couple who came into the shelter and immediately fell asleep cuddled up. They were super cute! When they woke up, they said that they were walking to the PA line. The man was hiking because he met Benton Mackay when he was a kid. Benton told him that one day there would be a trail that would connect the south to the north and one could follow white blazes the whole way. He said he promised Benton that one day he would walk that trail. So here he is today, keeping his promise. And dragging his poor wife along with him. So that was the shelter crew. Left out in the rain was this girl about my age called Cackles. She sat in the shelter for about 4 hours and stared at the rain without speaking. I was starting to get concerned about her mental state when she finally got up to set up her tent. Then this group came running in, a Dad and two teenage boys. They were soaking wet and muddy. They didn't have any rain gear, not even a pack cover. I felt so bad for them, but not bad enough to give them my shelter spot! DO IT and I killed some Benadryl in hopes for sound sleep but it didn't work. I was up all night crammed into a little corner since DO IT was next to me, smeeling fierce.
Date: 2012-04-04
From: Wayah Bald

To: The NOC
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning in time to see the sun rising over the foggy hills. The fog hung low, so the mountain tops peaked out above clouds. It was truly beautiful. The girl Cackles who was in a vegitative state last night came over and gave me a morning shot of whiskey. I don't normally treat my body like that but I just loved the randomness of it, so I endulged. The morning was delightful, I felt like I had the woods all to myself for a while. Spring flowers are really starting to bloom. I saw a bulb that sprung up and still had a patch of leaves on top of it, about 6 inches off the ground. I couldn't believe how the leaves stayed right on top. They fit into the other leaves on the ground like a puzzle. I hiked for 4 miles and came across a giant tent with a bunch of thru hikers hanging out. A guy behind a grill called over to me to join them. He yelled,"How would you like pancakes for breakfast?". I replied, "Am I hallucinating?". His name was Grits and he's my new favorite trail angel. He fed me blueberry pancakes, a soda and offered to slack pack us to the NOC. We had planned to take 2 days to get to the NOC, but Grits felt confident that we could make it in 5 to 6 hours if he drove our packs to the end. DO IT brought only his water and water filter. I, like a true jackass, brought just a protein bar. We thought that would take us 12 miles. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Without the pack we felt so free!! To add to our jackassery for the day, we both ran down the trail, hard and fast. Sorry knees, don't worry. It won't happen again. At some point, I started to feel drained. I gave DO IT half my protein bar in exchange for some clean water. The hike was really difficult. It went downhill for over 6 miles, but we did it. Our packs were waiting at the NOC as planned. We had giant hamburgers for dinner and got a ride to a motel. We've been staying at pretty decent places so when I walked into this room I said, "Dad, are we out of money?". Its a little run down in contrast to our last hotel, but it'll do. Not sure what tomorrow will bnring. We pushed it too far today.
Date: 2012-04-05
From: The NOC

To: The NOC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I'm having a really good day in Bryson City. We're staying about a mile outside of town. I'm sure that doesn't seem like a lot, but if its not an AT mile, I'm not walking it! So we hitched a ride into town this morning to eat and get our resupply. We had breakfast at a local place and I stuffed myself with sausage gravt, grits and eggs. It was delicous! We walked around town and found almost all of our food at local places. We got fresh, homemade bread and lunch meat for lunches. I am really looking forward to that! Oh and we got Indian fry bread to cook for breakfast with homemade jelly from this guys blackberry bush behind his house. Dinners going to be the usual muck for the next few days... Ramen noodles with tuna fish. Vomit. So we still needed some small things like alcohol for cooking fuel, and DO IT says, "do you think we can get it from Dollar General?", then he's shocked to see that they sell food there. I've survived years in college on food from Dollar General alone!So we hitched back out of town and a 2010 thru hiker picked us up so thatt was cool. At some point in the day we looked at our map of the Smokeys and realized that there are rivers that feed into Fontana Lake, our next resupply. We then realized one of those rivers is right behind this hotel. And so, AQUA BLAZING is in our near future! We called a few outfitters and they were into the idea but couldn't get their insurance companies on board. Now, I know what you all are thinking. I have been water rescued before. But my swimming skills have really improved since then! And I wasn't the one who needed the helicopter! So we found someone on Craigslist selling a canoe and made an offer, but told him we'd be selling it in Fontana Village, 30 miles downstream. He offered to rent it to us for way less than an outfitter. So now we're wAiting for him to drop off our new wheels and we'll carry the canoe down this steep decline and put her in the river in the morning. We'll be canoing between the Great Smokey Nat'l Forrest and the Nanhalana Nat'l Park so we should be surrounded by wildlife. I hoping for bears!!Also a funny bit. We wanted to go to town for Mexican food for dinner and I decided that since weird things happen every day now, I called the restaraunt and asked them to come pick us up. And they did! No ride home, but wow! People do the strangest things to help us thru hikers!
Date: 2012-04-06
From: The NOC

To: Campsite #72
Miles today: 10.0

I knew today would be nuts before I even opened my eyes this morning. Storms rocked the motel all night and lightening struck really close by, it even sparked our teevee and made the picture fuzzy. DO IT got up about 15,000 times to go outside and look at the canoe. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. So this morning when I heard him stirring, I gave myself a little moment of peace before letting him know I too, was awake. Just as I predicted, he pounced on me. Are you ready to go?! We had planned to carry the canoe to the river and I was not looking forward to that, especially since I would need to wear my pack while carrying it. The motel owner offered to drive us down with the canoe and I have never been so grateful! While DO IT was tying our stuff up I walked to the grocery store and got us each a giant coffee, which I then dropped shortly after leaving the grocery store. We put the canoe in and there were crazy rapids right away. I was so anxious from the last canoe experience that I was really freaked out. We took on a ton of water and had to stop to bail the water out. While we were on land, we walked downstream and decided to walk the canoe out of the worst of it. The water was moving so fast! It tore up my feet and my legs, slamming me into rocks. But we got it out of the rapids and into a more peaceful part of the river. The water level is controlled by a dam here and they keep it low in the winter so there are cliffs and rock faces all around us. It looks like the southwest. We're camped on a beautiful penninsula in the Smokys. It is full of conifers and has a lovely soft pine floor. We're having chili for dinner!