morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-09-17
From: ME 15, Monson, ME

To: Wilber Brook
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Entering the 100 mile Wilderness after getting dropped off by Poet from Shaw's, my pack has about as much food as I'm willing to carry. Luckily the terrain is relatively level for the first day. As I approached our intended campsite for the night, I saw a sign for trail magic 0.2 miles down a dirt road. I followed it and found a cabin which was owned by a man who's son had died some years ago. The son was a former thru-hiker and he does this in memory of him. He offered a hamburger and hot dog plus soda and beer. There were several other hikers here as well but not the guys I have been hiking with. After I ate and thanked him for his kindness, I made my way to camp to find the rest of the guys who were waiting for me. They explained that their plan was to set up their tents and then walk back to the trail magic, which of course I didn't know until I got there. In any case, they walked back and I went to bed.
Date: 2017-09-22
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Golden Road, mile 2174.4
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

Getting really close now, with Katahdin in plain view from Rainbow Ledges. We camped at Abol Bridge Campground, right on the river. We enjoyed dinner and breakfast with fellow hikers at the restaurant next to the camp store. Everyone seems to be in good spirits knowing that all our hard work is nearly done. Got supplies to get us to the end of the trail, in just two days!
Date: 2017-09-23
From: Golden Road, mile 2174.4

To: The Birches Lean-to
Miles today: 10.2

A really easy day today with only 10 miles of almost level trail to get us in position for climbing Katahdin tomorrow. I took my time, enjoying the trail and waterfalls along the way, and arrived at camp by late afternoon. Had something to eat, took a nap, then had dinner and went to bed.
Date: 2017-09-24
From: The Birches Lean-to

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2

The final day of a six month and ten day journey. The climb up Katahdin on the Hunt Trail is steep and challenging with tricky sections that require both hands and feet. Carolee met us at Katahdin Stream Campground and relieved us of the items we won't need today, including tents, sleeping bags, etc. so our backpacks were lighter than usual. I was excited to get to the summit, knowing that my journey will be complete today but also that my son and daughter are hiking up to join in the celebration. They hiked up the Abol Trail and the fog near the summit made it hard to see, but I spotted them right after they saw me. They wanted to wait until I had gone by so I could summit before them and soak in the moment.  After a time of celebration and photos at the summit, we (Tyler, Emma, Persistent and I) hiked down via the Knife Edge and Helon Taylor Trail to Roaring Brook Campground, where Carolee was waiting for us with cold beer and warm hugs for all.I am very grateful to all who have supported me on this trek. Hiking the AT was a long time dream of mine and I could not have done it without you.
Date: 2016-12-29
To: I'm hiking the AT!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, here we are! Plane tickets are purchased and bus routes arranged for my arrival in GA where I plan to start my hike on the Appalachian Trail.It's been almost exactly six years ago since the idea to hike some 2,200 miles was planted in my mind. And just about every year since then, family and friends have heard me say "This year is the year!" until something inevitably came up and pushed my plans back. Not this year. I created a severe budget (and stuck with it), I started collecting the gear, and I struck the plans in stone. March 23rd I will be heading to Amicalola Falls for the southern terminus of the trail! For as long as my feet will carry me, I will head North with the hope of reaching the end of the trail at Mt. Katahdin, Maine. I'll be hiking with thousands of others who share the same aspiration with a backpack, a tent, and a small assortment of essential pieces of equipment. I will walk through all kinds of weather, in 14 different states, hundreds of peaks, through rivers, quaint little towns, and I'm sure with a few surprises along the way. In all, it should take 4-6 months to complete. I don't have a great track record of keeping a journal with my previous travels, but I hope to have a little something for each day on the trail. The plan is to update when I reach town every once or twice a week. I'll write a couple more blogs before I head out too. I hope you all follow along with me!
Date: 2017-02-06
To: No Worries
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I can't go on this trip without mentioning the man who planted the idea in my head several years ago. His name is "No Worries" and I want to talk about how he lead me here, and maybe even say a few nice things about him.No Worries became my boss when I switched to the third-shift at the grocery store I was working at. I don't think you could put together a more interesting group of characters. I played the fresh college dropout ready for a career in bottom of the barrel jobs. There was the janitor who was moonlighting as a DJ at a strip-club, the mad-scientist cashier who would mix any chemicals he could get his hands on in the name of a clean (if made unusable by mixing bleach and ammonia) bathroom, the career shelf-stocker who took gossip magazines in the bathroom for lord-knows-why and who-knows-how-long each night, the registered sex offender who pissed himself in order to get out of work, and finally No Worries their charismatic leader. Whether he saw great potential in my work ethic or wanted to ease me into the insane world of graveyard-shift grocery stores, No Worries took me under his wing. It didn't take long to figure out that he was a rare kind of guy. He had this knack for breathing life into everything, even a dead-end job like switching out the old cans of cat food with the new ones. I started hearing all about stories of the Appalachian Trail; his brushes with lightning on mountaintops, the strange community it brought together, and how it changed his life. He had hiked it 3 times, once a complete thru. I had never heard of the trail let alone someone who would have their life revolve around it. For a young guy like me it, in introduced a complete paradigm shift in what I thought life was supposed to be like. NoWorries didn't just share some interesting stories, he brought with them a fire for life, a genuine optimism to my cheap cynicism. It didn't take long before I shared the desire to go for a good walk myself. To figure out what life might be really about, to live for more than the status quo. I have my friend, NW, to thank for that. Though he would never admit it, he's one of the good guys, and I'm glad our paths crossed.
Date: 2017-03-22
To: Day Zero
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Here we are! I'm headed to Chicago in a few hours for my flight tomorrow. I'll land in Atlanta and take a Greyhound from there to Gainesville, GA. I've heard nothing but... great things about Greyhounds in America. I have friends in Gainesville so I'll be staying with them an extra day or two before I actually hit the trail. In honor of No Worries, I will start my trip off with a zero day. Saturday I should hit the trail in earnest. Some final thoughts before I finally start... I'm neither very nervous or excited as of right now. Last night I slept the sleep of death and it was great. Maybe having traveled a lot up to this point I'm used to it? One thing I know as I've reflected on what's to come is that whether this trip ends up as a great success or great failure (i'll consider anything less than 1,000 miles that) I'm very glad to having tried and chased after one of my dreams. I've done a lot of things in my life because I'm supposed to do them. It feels nice to do something that's a little bit more out there, something that I know was meant for me. A few more hours and I will be on my way. See ya
Date: 2017-03-25
From: Amicalola Falls

To: Springer Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I learned some humility today. Started at Amicalola Falls around 11 A.M. (thanks Andrea for the ride!). Checked in and had a gear "shakedown." ATC workers Rachel and Bob critiqued the amount of food I brought, but the gear looked good which gave me a hearty confidence boost. That was short-lived.The approach trail to the AT starts flat. Feeling good I started with a brisk pace. Then, I learned of the infamous approach staircase. There are 604 stairs leading to the top of a beautiful waterfall that forms a kind of switchback structure. It took me only 100 steps, this is a under a mile of my journey mind you, to become completely winded. I took a 5 minute break on a bridge overlooking the falls and pretended I was enjoying the view when in reality I was trying to keep my heart from beating itself to death against my ribcage. After my little break I walked another 5 minutes or so before I had to stop again. This time I found a bench and met my first thru-hiker Hampton! We took a another break and pushed on together. This time I made it all of 2 minutes before I had to break. Our partnership was short lived.In dramatic fashion I bid Hampton "Go on without me!" or something to that effect. He began to press on the 400 stairs or so we had left while my body finally got the best of me and violently expelled my breakfast 30 ft over the railing. It was a sight to see I'm sure, and I have a feeling I stopped a few people from ever dreaming of doing the AT again. That being said, that's what my body wanted to do and I felt much better after all that!I took a few more minutes of rest and then powered through the stairs. I met back up with Hampton and with hiked the rest of the day together. It was real nice to have a conversation buddy, and he swapped some pretty good stories with me. I'm glad to have met him!We made it to Springer Mtn Shelter with about 20 other hikers there as well. Met 4 other Wisconsinites which is pretty neat!. I also met Gavin (now two-times on account of having doubled back on the approach), Lydia (Radagast) a ridge-runner I'm madly in love with, and several other thru-hikers whose name I can't remember. They were all really great!Rumor is that a big storm is coming through after tomorrow. Looks like I'll be hiking in the rain! I have plenty of photos but they'll have to come later when I find a computer to upload them. It's beautiful here.
Date: 2017-03-26
From: Springer Mountain Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Mud everywhere. It wasn't the storm that was predicted last night, but did rain heavily through the night. Woke up and the rain had died off leaving Springer in mist. I woke up sometime near sunrise and it was gorgeous. Started the day walking alone to try and get used to early starts on my days. Caught up with Sean who's from Texas and walked 4-5 miles with him. We split up at and long creek falls where I stopped to take in the view for a while. Met up with Two Times again and talked for a little while but I was stopping often to take photos so I lost him pretty quickly. The rain had left a sheen on everything in the woods. I couldn't resist stopping every few minutes to take in each postcard view.Set up camp early in the hopes of getting my body ready for a big day of mileage tomorrow. Risked washing my clothes despite on again and off again rain. The sun was making a comeback for a little while, but so far the risk is not paying off. May be hiking in some wet pants tomorrow. Weather was about 95% cloudy and rainy in the morning. More rain expected through the night and day tomorrow.
Date: 2017-03-27
From: Hawk Mountain Campsite

To: Lance Creek
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: snow

It's amazing that so much seems to happen when all you're really doing is hiking! I'm too lazy to do the math but I must have done 3,000 ft in uphill elevation alone. Woke around 7 again to get going on my long day. I hiked alone but was leap-frogging with another thru-hiker Bags and his dog Sibbie. It was another cloudy and rainy morning. Early on I crossed over the crest of a ridge and mistook the roaring sound of a water crashing for a waterfall. In reality it was a downpour that was kind enough to give me some warning before it hit me, but I did not heed it. It was only 30 seconds, but it was enough to be pretty well soaked. I was bummed to be all wet, but it worked out for the good as I had some tough climbing. It was really nice to have rain cooling me off, so I kept my rain jacket off all day. Stopped at Gooch Gap where I met Larry and Frank. They were some genuine guys I enjoyed talking to. I hope we meet again! After lunch, I pressed on through some more beautiful scenery. Here I started to see the first few signs of life breaking through the ground.Feeling pretty tired having gone through some difficult elevation I was uplifted with my first run-in with trail magic at Woody Gap. Doc and Sacajawea, who had set up a table full of beer, candy, and my favorite: pizza. They had thru-hiked last year and wanted to show their love to this years hikers. It was glorious! I also ran into a group of folks shooting a commercial. They gave me chocolate. Aw yea. Met up with Bags and Sibbie again here. Sibbie's hatred for me continued as she threatened to end my journey with a good nip at my calf. She's half German-Shepard and half timberwolf, and could have done some damage if she wanted to, but I was fine. I'll win her love yet.Made it to Lance creek somewhere around 7 PM. There were tons of people camping here on account of the next 10 miles having camping restrictions due to bear activity. I was pooped so I set up camp and went right to bed after dinner. This is definitely the most I've ever hiked in one go. I feel pretty good about it! I'll take it easier tomorrow. The rainy streak is expected to continue tomorrow.
Date: 2017-03-28
From: Lance Creek

To: Swaim Gap
Miles today: 10.1

Todays major events were Blood Mountain and Neels Gap. Last night was a strong storm with constant lightning and a good downpour, but I stayed relatively dry. Especially compared to some of the other hikers who got a little drenched.I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, a first for my trip with all the rain. I knew I had Blood Mountain ahead of me and at 1,500 ft elevation uphill I was a little intimidated. I expected a rough hike for the day. What I did not expect was the hike up to be not-so-difficult, but the descent to be brutal.I made it to the top of Blood Mtn and was kind of shocked to have made it there pretty easily. I hiked up with Aaron, Dan, and Peter and had some good conversation with them. They're fellow geeks. Now the downhill was something fierce. It was 50% boulders and slick from the past few days of rain. It was difficult to navigate and slippery. It was the hardest hiking I've done so far. However, I heard rumor of pizza in Neel, and that helped me push through to the bottom.Neel's gap was practically paradise. There was an outfitter there, but more important there was frozen pizza and doritos. I ate pizza until I felt sick and then chatted with all the other hikers stopped there. They were mostly new faces. I haven't seen too many folks from my day 1 stop anymore. I met Jellybeans, Tator-Tot, Stone Cold, Chelsea, Avalanche and Rodrick. Met up with Bags again in our typical leap-frog fashion. Sibbie still does not like me. She has a week or so left on the trail before Bags has some one pick her up to take care of her while he hikes on. Neels gap was a great time! Loved eating some non-trail food and meeting some interesting people.I hiked on a few more miles past Neels where Bags caught up with me at watersource. There was a nice spot so we both decided to camp there for the night. There was reports of active bears snooping around, so I was certainly happy to have Sibbie around. Bags shared some of his goodies with me which was really nice!Tomorrow will be another longer day, but with some easier territory. My first blister has shown up on the back of my left heel. It's not painful. I didn't notice it until I took my socks off. I'll be keeping my eye on it. I plan on stopping in Hiawasee in 2 days for my first town stop!
Date: 2017-03-29
From: Swaim Gap

To: Blue Moutain Shelter
Miles today: 15.9

Another longer day! Our first night without rain which is really nice! I did kind of miss the sound of it, though. Woke up to absolutely clear skies and a stunner of a mountain sunrise. Stayed around camp a little longer today to enjoy coffee, breakfast and the weather and left around 9. Bags was just waking up as I was leaving, hopefully we'll cross paths again!The plan was to get to Blue mountain shelter about 16 miles away, so I can get into Hiawassee early tomorrow morning. There were a couple rough uphills and downhills with some brutal switchbacks to Hog Pen Gap, but it evened out nicely after that. There are reports of Norovirus in some of the water so I went a good 8 miles before I filled up. I was running pretty dry before I found a good spot to get some water. Was leap-frogging with Ryan a little ways, but his pace ended up being much faster than mine.Stopped for lunch at Low-Gap shelter. Caught up with Ryan there and had lunch with him. Another great guy. Also found Joey, the only guy I've seen from my day 1 crew. Also met up with Yak who I would hike with for the rest of the day. The trail from Low Gap was all very gradual and easy-hiking. Loved it! Joey, Ryan, and Trudy set up camp a couple miles down while Yak and I pressed on. Yak's another good one. Seems to be a running theme on the trail.We hit Blue Mountain Shelter around 6 PM. Talked with some of the funniest people I have ever met. They had my stomach hurting from laughing so hard. We talked about trail horror stories, were-bears, and the best sell for a Japanese Godzilla movie I've ever heard. Boston is a real character. Everyone should meet him. Will hit Hiawassee Tomorrow morning.
Date: 2017-03-30
From: Blue Moutain Shelter

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 2.4
Weather: clear sky

It's my first town stop! Went into to town with Yak and was lucky enough to meet Jeff who was looking to fill up his room at the Budget Inn. Everything seems to be pretty well booked on account of the Hiker Bash happening tomorrow. It's got hot water and a bed. I'm very happy about that. Took my first shower in 5 days. I don't even recognize myself!I'll be in town taking care of chores for the rest of the day. Finishing up updating my journal. Doing my laundry right now. I'm wearing a rain jacket and some long underwear leggings with my boots. I'm making quite the fashion statement in the name of personal hygiene. I'll buy some more food for my next week on the trail and enjoy my day tomorrow which will be my birthday. See you on the trail!
Date: 2017-03-31
From: Hiawassee

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Taking my first real zero on the trail. Going to enjoy my birthday, rest up, then move on tomorrow. Planning on hitting Franklin in the next 4-5 days after this. We moved from the Budget Inn, due to it being completely full, to staying with the girls at Mull's Inn. The gang had a good time last night, looking forward to tonight.We went to a local diner where one of the patrons had a holstered gun out for everyone to see. We talked really loudly about gun control issues. May have gotten more than a few glances. I may have made inappropriate finger-gun gestures. There is a Hiker Bash that starts tonight. Looking forward to saying hello to all the people I've met on the trail so far. The festivities will start in earnest tomorrow but I'm itchin to be back on the trail so tonight will have to do. Will be crossing the GA/NC border soon!
Date: 2017-04-01
From: Hiawassee

To: Sassafras Gap
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Back on the trail and it feels real good! Hiker Bash wasn't too much to talk about; hikers getting drunk around a campfire. Sounded like it was going to be more fun today, but it's the trail for me. Getting on the shuttle taking me back to Unicoi Gap was like a scene from Benny Hill. Jeff tried to jump into our completely packed bus while the driver told him he couldn't. Driver gets out to tell him while Jeff walks around the other side and hops in. It was a whole ordeal and maybe I was a little rude to be laughing so much. Ultimately Jeff got off and had to catch the next shuttle. See ya Jeff!Unicoi Gap is where I've hiked in the past and I recognized it right away. Shaped up to be a real beautiful day. There was one particularly beautiful passage I remember. Right now in Spring you are walking mostly through bare tree and brush, which is beautiful in its own right. Today I was treated to a green passage that seemingly popped out of nowhere into being around the currently sedated forest. The trail led into a corridor-like section of brush that lined on either side of the tree. The branches arched over the trail and met in the middle with the green leaves forming a thick canopy. Early morning sunlight ran off the leaves and dripped onto the bright green-gold moss that trimmed the trail edge. It all gave the impression of the approach to some royal throne or court. The fragrance in the air was thick with the sweetness of new blossoms mixed with last years autumn floam. The birds heralded each step along the path. I'm very lucky to be out here !After walking through some amazing woods, I received the best of trail magic at Trey Gap from some boy scouts. They gave us eggs, pancakes, sausage, oj, burgers, coffee, fresh water, a fire and even let me play their guitar. I could not have asked for more. It was awesome, thanks guys!Hike continued on beautifully. Swag of the Blue Mountain was a memorable uphill hike. I'm camping in the same spot as I did the last time I was here with the Men of the World Race. Neat!
Date: 2017-04-02
From: Sassafras Gap

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Pushed all the way past the GA/NC border today. Let me tell you, they make you work for it on the AT. Did something like 3.5-4k in uphill elevation some of it fairly steep. The border may have been something of a siren song as I am pretty exhausted. Bit off more than I can chew, I think.Skys were all clear today and the weather was once again beautiful. Definitely sweat a lot in the sun. Rumor is that nice weather streak will end tomorrow with a big storm. Chance of hail. Bring it on!Hiked with Yak again today. Joined up with Gumby and Backtrack too. They move super fast, I'm not sure I'll keep up with them for long. Captain is sharing camp with us again as well along with a few other familiar faces. Bly Gap is very busy today!