morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-10-28
From: Stanimals 328 Hostel

To: Mountain Home Cabbin
Miles today: 0.0

Fall Hike Day 10Today started out early.  Up at 5, caught shuttle ride at 6 and arrived at hostel in Front Royal at 8am.  After a quick visit with hostel personnel , took off to drive down Skyland Drive.  Stopped in the SNP Visitors Center to get data on hikes.  There are 10 listed hikes within SNP that go to waterfalls.  Due to it being a very dry season only 2 of them have flowing water.  So I hiked to all active waterfalls today.  They were Whiteoak Canyon (4.6 mile hike) and Dark Hallow(1.4 miles).  Both were impressive at 90 &70 feet tall even with small flows of water going over them.  Sure was nice to be carrying a bottle of water vs a 30+ pound backpack.  Both falls had lots of tourists visiting them.  To get to them I traveled just about half way down Skyland Drive(50 miles)  which I retraced back up to Front Royal to the hostel. But not before a big lunch at Skyland Resort.  Was really full from Broccoli soup, Turkey Pot Pie, Cole Slaw and a huge serving of Blackberry Ice Cream Pie(how was I to know it was meant for sharing?)Spent this evening investigating more day hikes.  Have a few identified for tomorrow.  Will probably tent in a campground tomorrow night or possibly rent a small cabin since Wednesday is a possible rainout day.  At this point just planning day to day until I decide to go home.Now for lights out in northern VA.
Date: 2019-10-29
From: Mountain Home Cabbin

To: Motel- Lynchburg,VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Fall Hike Day 11Left Mountain Home B&B,hostel after breakfast this morning.  A nice morning starting out.  I had a few planned short hikes to explore while driving southward in SNP.  First one was about 30 miles down the road.  On the way to it, I was thoroughly enhanced with the quality of vivid autumn trees.  Yesterday and today were right at peak season and purely lovely to behold.  I had talked with the hostel owners at breakfast about how much better the viewing is while driving down Skyland Drive vs hiking in the woods.  We all agreed about that.  First of all you cover about 30 miles per hour in the car and the sun has the clearing along the road to filter sunlight down along the way.  While hiking you are below the leaf canopies seeing mostly the shaded undersides of the leaves.  And you only cover 2 to 3 miles per hour.Anyway after about half an hour of beautiful scenic driving, suddenly ran into a fog bank.  For about half an hour after that was lucky to see taillights in front of you- no less any trees.  Then suddenly again it was bright and sunny.  Stayed that way the rest of the day.  Did about a 2.6 mile round trip up to Mary¢s Rock.  Fantastic panoramic views with fog banks in low lying valleys.  A good portion of the walk was on the AT with the final quarter mile or so on an uphill side trail.  In 2016 and again this year I passed by that side trail on days I was pushing for AT miles.  So glad I went back to it today.The 2nd hike was also about 2 miles round trip, little more of a climb.  It was up to Hawksbill Summit.  Again lots of people.  At the top was a day use pavilion and a observation deck.  It was several hours later; but, still were some fog banks in lower areas.Decided not to do the slow going bottom third of Skyland Drive(max speed limit of 35mph).  Got out of the park and made it to Lynchburg, VA for the night in a motel.  So after getting cleaned up I convert from a hiker back to a normal civilian.  Why Lynchburg?  That¢s a discussion for tomorrow¢s journal.  That¢s what¢s known as a teaser.Today¢s picture is just after driving out of the foggy conditions at the one and only tunnel on Skyland Drive.  The 2 guys in vests were from the Virginia Tourism Dept.  probably taking pictures and videos for promotional purposes.
Date: 2019-10-30
To: Rockingham, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Fall Hike Day 12No hiking today, continued on my trek home.  But first, all morning was spent in Lynchburg, VA.  I¢m on a mission of goodwill for a fellow hiker.  As you may recall in my last shelter stay before getting to Waynesboro, I shared a shelter for a 2nd night with two doctors.  I saw them a again during that day on the trail before they reached their cars to head home.  Apparently unknown to all of us at that time, the one from Lynchburg accidentally left his watch in the shelter.  I became aware of this later at the hostel when another hiker(the last one to depart that morning) found the watch on the floor of the shelter.  From where it was located I am surmising it was the Lynchburg doctors.  Not knowing his last name at all...and not sure of his first name, I am still attempting to locate him as it seems to be an expensive watch.  I am now in possession of it, hopefully on only a temporary basis.All I know for sure is that he is a Primary Care physician in Lynchburg.  And of course his approximate age and physical characteristics.  So I¢ve done lots of google searches, review of web sites and review of doctors photo¢s that I could find.  No matches found there.  So this morning I drove to the administration offices of the largest physician association in the area.  They were not helpful at all and showed little interest in helping.  Next I went to the one large hospital in the city.  Started at their Human Resources Dept hoping to review a book/file of primary care doctors pictures associated with the hospital.  No such luck; although they were genuinely interested in helping.  They referred me to the Security Force back at the hospital it self.  There I also found helpful people.  A computer resource did a query and found 800+ doctors associated with the hospital.  Too many to review.  So, they suggested I give them my contact info and they would send a broadcast message to all those doctors asking if any had lost a watch in SNP recently.  If they get a hit, they will put us in touch with each other.Separately, I emailed the maker of the watch since I found what appears to be a serial number it.  Another possibility of finding the owner.  On their site they encourage new owners to register their purchase.Not thinking I could do anything else here other than make random, needle in a hay stack cold calls,I left town this afternoon.  Drove part way home in rainy conditions.  Decided not to go all the way tonight.  So in another motel in Rockingham, NC. Did not make good time due to taking non-interstate highways.  Will make it home sometime tomorrow.  Will be doing one more journal entry as a recap after I get home.
Date: 2019-10-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Fall Hike Day 14 - Final PostMade it home about 10am on the final leg of my adventure.  I am pleased with my fall hiking experience.  Was strong and energetic in putting in a little over 100 miles on the AT through out the length of the Shenandoah National Park.  I averaged slightly more than 12 miles per hiking day.Other than 3 days when it rained, it was very nice hiking weather and saw some of the best scenery possible.  As always on my hikes, met many quite nice people sharing the woods with me...and even ran into an old hiking friend(Quill).  As always Wendy was supportive of me having my time away from home and keeping everything on the up and up here.  It is good to be home again and I am eager to get back into the normal routines once again.Nothing new today on finding the owner of the found watch.  Will give it a little time and possibly try making a few more contacts.So, I sign out for this year and share one last photo of cherished fall scenery from SNP.Happy Trails y¢all.
Date: 2019-04-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

One week till I start my travels. Plan is to fly to Atlanta on Wed, take the metro up to the Peremiter Mall and stay there for the night. I¢ll head to REI in the morning to do some last minute shopping and catch the shuttle to Springer Mountain to start the journey. Next few days will be packing and finalizing the gear. Weighing in at 33 lbs - bit heavier than I want but I have some extra food and nonessential items that I may leave behind or swap out. I¢ll include a gear list one I¢m done
Date: 2019-04-18
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk mountain
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: broken clouds

Started the day repacking. And the 1st I¢m sure of what will be many FUBAR situations happened. I can¢t seem to find my stove and cup. I had thought about doing the hike without a stove, guess I¢ll try that out now. Don¢t need to cook much of the food I have so not a huge issue....yet.... pack is heavier than I like, but I have too much food, which I¢ll eat thru, and already have some things that I think I can ahead along the way - like a stove for instance.Hike today was great. Averaged a little over 2 miles an hour which is where I want to be right now. Weighed the pack again up to 40 lbs now, but will get that down over the next few days and only have to do a small re-supply in Neel Gap about 23 miles from here Shuttle driver was a wealth of knowledge. He¢s going to be working as a ridge runner south of Harpers Ferry this summer so I¢ll look him up when I get there.Predicting heavy storms tonight. Looking forward to testing my wet weather gear!!!
Date: 2019-04-19
From: Hawk mountain

To: Big Cedar Mountain
Miles today: 13.2

Storms last night with lots of rain. Not much sleep but the tent held up great. Was the last one to leave camp this morning- wanted the rain to die down a bit. Regardless it was a wet day today. Rain gear worked well but the trail was really a stream. Pushed a little extra today since the weather is going to be cold again. Have about 10 miles to get to Neel Gap
Date: 2019-04-20
From: Big Cedar Mountain

To: NeelÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap
Miles today: 9.4

Started the day not in rain, but snow. No big accumulation, just a reminder of how cold today was. Started early today -too cold to do anything else, and my great view from last night was gone. Not many people on the trail in the morning. I was going to stay the the Blood mountain shelter, but it was snowy and cold, and I only had a few dry clothes left. I figured it would be better to keep going to Neel¢s Gap and dry things out/ see what I need for re-supply. Met a few thru hikers on the way down the mountain. Most were planning to get a room vs continuing on up the other side of the gap. I chose to get a cabin vs the hostel. I haven¢t slept well the last 2 night, cabin seemed like a better option for sleep.Whitley Gap shelter is my next stop tomorrow see how I feel if I want to go farther
Date: 2019-04-21
From: NeelÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great day. Almost 19 miles, and I felt good. The cabin stay was fantastic. I picked up some chocolate donuts and a water bottle in the hiker box. I looked for a stove, but nothing was there. Oh well. Making it out of Neel¢s gap wasn¢t as bad as I thought it would be. Great viewing spots on the trail down. Meet several day hikers out for the view. Cow pens lived up to their name,. I had my first trail magic experience. Several women were handing out candy and oranges. Gave me the extra energy to get through that section. Many thanks to them!!I was originally going to stop at low gap shelter, but it looked like there were several people already there, and about a dozen people that I figured would be showing up later in the afternoon. The cold/rainy weather created a log jam at Neels Gap and was hoping to get ahead of it. Hoping for another good day tomorrow 15 miles will put me at Deep Gap shelter. By Tuesday then I should be crossing in to NC!!Happy Easter everyone!!
Date: 2019-04-22
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Weather today was great.  Could almost say it was too hot.refreshing since last night was so coldToday is one of those day you wish the AT went thru one of those really flat states. No sugar coating this - The ups and  downs kicked my butt!! If I walked 1 mile today on flat ground I would be overstating things. A couple of good views. Tomorrow is a little better, but I have to think re-supply. I don¢t need much but there¢s a long stretch coming up that only crosses dirt roads and not near many towns. Don¢t think I¢ll make it to the NC border tomorrow I never made it to Deep Gap Shelter either by the way. I made it as far as Addis Gap..Thanks Dave and Dave!!  it¢s about 2 miles away, from Deep Gap but there¢s a 700 foot climb up and an equally painful 600 foot decline. Save that till I¢m better rested.I officially smell like a hiker. So does everyone else. Except the day hikers. They smell like fresh flowers and they don¢t want to talk much :)
Date: 2019-04-23
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: DickÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Creek Gap
Miles today: 6.3

Today was a short day to resupply and try to get my body ready for the next series of climbs. Trail has been at 2 to 3000 ft but going up to 4700 feet in the first miles of NC. Meet up again with several of the folks from day one. Good to see familiar faces. Hostel is nice. Hot shower, bunk, shuttle to the trail and into town was all included. Enjoying the sunset now!NC border is about 10 miles away. It will be a tuff day. Suppose to be in the 80¢s and lots of uphill. One of the guys here just checked out for an ACL issue with his knee. Hyper paranoid now.Sort of funny story. Had a dream I woke up and started my hike going the wrong direction. Didn¢t realize it till I got to the start point and saw the driver who dropped me off. That wasn¢t the funny part. Funny part was when I was hiking and meet a guy on the trail. We started talking and he said he was going to Muskrat Creek. I must have gave him a look cause he realized he was hiking in the wrong direction. Fortunately it was less than 1/4 of a mile so not a big distance.Goal tomorrow is to get to the boarder before 1:30 then I will have meet my initial goals and make some new ones.Also need to get my pack weight down. Killing me on these up hill climbs
Date: 2019-04-24
From: DickÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Creek Gap

To: Muskrat Creek
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Good sleeping last night. COCO puffs for break fast with whole milk, 2 yogurts and 2 banana¢s. Been getting wicked cramps - hope the banana¢s help. Big news of the day - crossed the GA/ NC border today. I have now hiked all 78.1 miles of the AT in GA. Very anticlimactic almost missed the sign. Continued hiking to the next shelter, 1st one in NC. Big climb coming in - NC way of saying ¢Welcome¢. Ran out of water on the way up so was happy to finally get to the shelter. Twisted my knee on the way up. Hurts a bit, have to watch that tomorrow.Place was almost empty when I arrived except for 2 section hikers, Dave and Dave who left, bad Frodo ( he lost his wedding ring), and Alice. I was going to stay in the shelter, but there were some nice tent spots and no rain was forecast. Probably one of the best decisions I made this trip. There must have been 15 more people who strolled into the shelter after I settled in. One of them was a serious snorer. Woke me up and I was over 150 yards away from the shelter. One of the section hiker guys got upset, started a ruckus about 2 in the morning. Ah life camping with 30 people you never met before!!
Date: 2019-04-25
From: Muskrat Creek

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I like the hills in NC a lot better so far. Had an 1100 foot climb up Standing Indian Mountain, breezed right thru it. Nicely graded, and no steps. I hate steps. Knee is feeling okay. Tight, and the no steps today helped. Cloudy at the top of the mountain. They have been calling for rain today/ tonight so I¢de like to get to the Sheryl¢s and spend the night under cover vs in a tent in the rain. Good hike today. This is the highest peak yet this trip (5435 ft). There will be higher ones to come.Made it to the shelter to grab the last spot. My first time in the shelter. Met most of the folks Already.  Bad Frodo. Alice, catchup, Kurt, and PepeIt¢s cold and they are calling for rain.
Date: 2019-04-26
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 12.1

Had to go back and check what day this was. Sleeping in a shelter - new experience. To summarize - put seven or so strangers together sleeping shoulder to shoulder.... and then throw in a couple of mice and a nice thunderstorm to make things interesting. Sounds horrible -  subs reality TV???, but it actually wasn¢t too bad. It was a good decision with the storms last night (cold is bad wet is bad, cold and wet is just horrible). Plus you have to sleep in the shelters in the smokies which are coming up pretty fast. Hiked up the fire tower on Albert Mountain. The clouds from the storm just moved out so had some good views. Windy and cold though. Didn¢t stay long, still had 5.5 miles to hike in 3 hours to catch the shuttle in to town. Suppose to get down to 35 tonight. Would rather not freeze, plus need to resupply a couple of things.Next stop will be the NOC in about 30 miles where I have to get a pass to hike in the Smokies.Met up with a couple of other folks from day one. We are all sharing 2 hotel rooms. Only Kurt and I plan to go out on the trail tomorrow. The others are going to take a ¢zero day¢ and stay in town. I¢m sure we¢ll all meet up again at some point on the trail.Learned a tip today on how to get a good weather forecasts for where I¢m going -.atweather. Org has a forecast for every shelter site on the trail. Just have to type the trail, state, and it lists each shelter in order. It¢s pretty neat.Passed the 100 mile mark. This is now the longest hike I¢ve taken ever. Body is holding up, but everything still hurts. Knee feels better today. Stiff, but no shooting pain.  As soon as I get my blisters and shoulder worked out I should be able to increase my mileage - maybe in a couple of days.
Date: 2019-04-27
From: Rock Gap

To: Wine Spring Campsite
Miles today: 11.9

started the day waiting for the shuttle. Found an ace bandage and some other stuff in the hiker box. Met Rain and her owner waiting for the shuttle. They are hiking all over the US. Also sawTim and Kurt waiting for the shuttle. Everyone else is staying in town. I would love to but it¢s too nice of a day to hike.  Shuttle driver made 2 stops. We were the 2nd stop and there was an extra hiking pole in the van. I figured it was Rains so I took it hoping I would catch up with them at some point. Hiked 3 miles and Tadah trail magic. Kendal drove 3 hours from Atlanta to give us all kinds of food and drinks. It takes a special person to be a trail angel and do this.Found Rain and her owner sleeping in a field at about mile 11 of the hike. He did leave the hiking pole in the van and was happy to see it. I was kinda¢ getting use to it.Final climb to the campsite was a bugger. Ended up camping and eating with Sarah ( she didn¢t go to town), and a couple of section hikers. They were real nice. He has hiked several miles on the trail and had some good information. You really do meet some great people out hiking. Another big push tomorrow, and then the NOC is less than 1/2 day hike.
Date: 2019-04-28
From: Wine Spring Campsite

To: Weser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: moderate rain

Miles include the side trips for views.Was up and out by 8am. Another ciold night last night. It was good to get up and moving to keep warm. Knee and feet were hurting this morning. 1st stop was Wayah Bald tower. Great views of the valley, and some good examples of how they are restoring the forest. Some big down hills and was feeling it in my knee. I look up , and there wrapped around the tree is a knee brace. I am not kidding. And yes I put it on. Definitely helped.The rest of the day was filled with stops to soak up the incredible views. Rocky Bald. Side trail. Finally got a signal so made some calls sitting on the bald. Then had what seemed like a never ending climb up to Wesser Bald and the observation tower. Incredible views of the mountains in every direction. Nothing but mountains and forest for miles. Climb down to the shelter was quick. Now with a new group of people. 2 guys from Huntsville with an interesting story, and several folks from outside the US. A bunch of folks were down at the shelter too, but I didn¢t meet them. This site is pretty crowded.NOC is about 5 miles away. All down hill. Unfortunately we have to climb out of the gap. 3,000+ feet up over 7 miles. Not sure I¢m doing that tomorrow!
Date: 2019-04-29
From: Weser Bald Shelter

To: Sassafras Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

Well I really only expected to go to the NOC today and relax/ resupply. The day had other plans. Got up early and made it to the NOC by 11. Printed my permit to hike in the Smokies. Soaked my feat in the river (NOC is pretty amazing. If your ever in the area I would suggest checking it out), but resupply became a problem. They have a great selection of dried meals, but not much in the way of cook less food. Problem is Fontana Dam may not be much better for resupply. That would mean I¢m heading into a 6 day trip with 4 maybe 5 days of food.Hmmm don¢t even need to takeoff my shoes to see the problem here. Quick change of plane. After lunch by the river I¢m going to climb the 3,000 plus feet out of the gap. Fantastic right at the high temps of the day too ! Actually the climb wasn¢t too bad. Shelter and camp sites were all full so I had to push on about a mile farther to find a site to pitch my tent. Tomorrow will be a short day to Stecoach Gap where I¢ll stay in the hostel and resupply/ shower and wash my clothes. Rain is predicted in the coming days here, if I take a day off it will probably be when the rain rolls in.
Date: 2019-04-30
From: Sassafras Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 6.8

Light mileage day today. Called Lonnie at the Stecoach Gsp hostel to stay for the night. Nice place. It¢s a 4 bedroom house he uses as a hostel. I have my own room, and 3 guys up here to do a little fishing will be staying here as well. The hike was done by 10:30 so I have a good chunk of the day to just relax and get things together. I¢m going to try to make it into Fontana Dam Shelter tomorrow. 14 miles, and 2 uphills, including the famed Jacobs Ladder. We¢ll see how the body feels tomorrow, but right now I¢m feeling good.There¢s a scale here. Looks like I¢ve already lost a few lbs . The AT should advertise the hike as a weight loss program. Eat anything you want and in 2 weeks you can still loose weight