morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-29
From: Brown Gap

To: 1 mile shy of Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The lure of food has kept my mileage down and it looked like today wasn't going to be drastically different.  I woke up at 7am for breakfast with the Brown Gap Trail Angels.  Eggs, sausage, juices of many varieties including my favorite (grapefruit), doughnuts, bananas, strawberries, oranges, cereal with real milk, it was a dream come true.  I proceeded to nap.  A bunch of hikers left the night before to catch Max Patch for the sunset.  Yes, they missed dinner.  Fools.  A bunch of other hikers left right after breakfast.  Did they not understand that lunch was right around the corner?  Anyway, I hit the privy and found that all the TP had been stolen.  This is one of the rules.  You just don't steal toilet paper.  It is generally punishable by death.  Aside from this, the morning went smoothly and I packed up leaving at 11:30.  My bag has never felt, uh.. better.  Let's just leave it at that.  It was a steep uphill and Houdini and I hiked for a bit commiserating on our terrific/terrible luck on running across this event.  I finally hit my stride a few miles in a sweated out the salty and sugary foods I put into my body.  The heat set in.  I haven't sweated more in a long time.  Max Patch finally came into view.  This is one of those special places I have heard of and was finally getting to experience.  There were so many normal people there.  Kite flying, photography, sitting, it was like being back in the south bay or Marin on a weekend.  The breeze was nice and I spent a few moments up there soaking in the majestic views.  It was cleared in 1850 by locals for goat pasture and after hiking through the green tunnel of the AT for 250 miles, the sheer expanse is breathtaking.  I climbed huge mountains today and descended them as well.  All up and down.  I was feeling great and I got to Garenflo Gap at 7:40 as the sun was fading out.  It was a really nice campsite and as I was settling in, another hiker showed up and got chatty.  I was desiring some solitude and packed up to move on.  I caught an amazing sunset through the trees and ran across a nice little site for my hammock about forty minutes later.  The land surrounding the site was covered with dried oak and maple leaves and there were thousands of nocturnal beetles out there crawling around making an unsettling sound all around me.  Beetles are more favorable than poison ivy in my book so I stayed put, cooked dinner with my headlamp on, hung the bear bag, and played some Uke until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.  There was a nutty bird (sounds like a car alarm) calling out continously all night but I was too tired to care.  I was tired and sleep was unavoidable.
Date: 2012-05-02
From: Hemlock Hollow Farm

To: Devil's Fork Gap
Miles today: 18.8

Johnny Walker talked me into slack-packing with him.  This is where you hike without your main pack and just carry a day pack for a section of trail that you have arranged a ride for.  Lighter weight is generally a good thing all around.  I didn't have a spare pack (Johnny uses a small backpack for his food bag so that it can do double-duty on slack-pack days) so I took the heavy things out of my normal pack and called it done.  I had a big, delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast (rye and sourdough, mmmmm) prepared by Hattie and  met Johnny and Frank for the ride out to Devil's Fork.  The idea was to drive ~20 miles out (north) and then walk back to the hostel (south) to stay the night.  It started off nice enough, a cool morning in amongst the still air of tall trees.  But it just didn't feel right.  I was having a tough time mentally too but everything about the day seemed off.  The sun was on the wrong side and my body seemed to know I was going the wrong direction.  I was getting farther from Maine by the mile and I hated it.  It was a long day with some spectacular views along a rugged, rocky ridgeline but I was in a weird head-space and didn't enjoy it.  I tried sitting on a log by a stream to relax.  I sat out in a big open field on a wide bald in the shade.  I remarked how amazing the rock work was and how monumental the task of building this particular stretch of trail must have been.  Nothing helped.  My mood was foul and every step got me closer to Georgia and farther from Maine.  I just wanted the day to be done.  To top things off, I missed supper by twenty minutes.  Hattie offered to make me a sandwich but I declined.  It was very thoughtful of her but I wanted a shower and partially felt like punishing myself for the rotten hiking day.  No more slack-packing for me.  The hostel was much more full tonight.  I promised myself that the next day would be different.
Date: 2012-05-03
From: Devil's Fork Gap

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Ok, so another delicious Hattie breakfast and I squared up before heading back up to Devil's Fork.  This time, we managed to squeeze six people in a four-passenger vehicle.  There were a few points where I didn't think that little car was going to make it up the grade.  Besides that, the air was pretty stale with five well-seasoned hikers all contributing to the stank.  I was pretty nauseated upon arrival and started the hike off slow.  I took a bunch of interesting photos of this spider web filled with hundreds of tiny spiders.  Several hikers passed me by and I had to keep moving my pack off the singletrack so they could continue on up the hill.  There was a lot of up today and it took awhile before everything was moving good.  I got it all together a few miles in and was having a great time in sharp contrast to yesterday.  Every turn brought something new and I was delighted by the surprises.  A big highlight was Big Bald.  I was in the green tunnel for many hours.  Up and up.  I finally reached a clearing and my eyes got wide.  The whole world opened up in all directions.  Big threatening clouds loomed across the huge sky and I could see forest for miles with a remarkable clarity.  I took a lot of photos from the top but am sure none came close to capturing the essence of the moment.  I thought about camping up there but trees were completely absent and it looked like rain.  I moved on back into the trees on the way down off the bald.  The forest seemed ancient and I was in a trance of sorts, transported back to a time when people lived here and actually used the old remains of the rock fireplaces strewn about.  I wondered what their lives were like up here.  What did they grow?  Did they have to go far to find a mill?  What sorts of animals did they raise?  All of a sudden, the biggest rabbit I have ever seen leaps out from under an old wooden table and zig zags about haphazardly, racing to avoid me.  It heads off for a large rock pile.  I can only imagine how fast his or her little heart must be beating because mine was through the roof.  I decided there probably weren't any other predators around and decided to continue exploring.  I eventually rejoined the trail and continued on finding Flash Gordon and Johnny Walker at the next shelter.  There was a fire going and probably another hour of daylight but I called it quits early and my feet thanked me.  I hung my hammock nearby and made a little dinner.  Eventually, Bare Boots rolled in and  made himself at home in the shelter.  It looked even more like rain so I unfurled my rainfly halfway just in case and then risked everything by opening up my storm shield fully.  Surprisingly, I have never slept in it like that and enjoyed the extra fresh air watching the waxing moon illuminate the ghostly clouds ripping across the big night sky.
Date: 2012-05-06
From: Cherry Gap Shelter 

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

The sun woke me up bright and early as it came over the horizon and lit up the inside of the shelter.  The birds were singing and the sky was clear.  A breeze picked up and twirled my things hanging on the mice hooks.  Breakfast in bed.. pop tarts and cereal bars!  Oh yeah.  I lazed around, did a little yoga in the shelter, played some ukulele, and massaged my feet.  They have been doing some great things lately and I wanted to say thank you.  I was out sitting at the picnic bench reading the register in the sunshine when Josh walked up.  I had seen him a day earlier but we didn't converse much.  We talked about our mornings and I told him I was playing a bit and he immediately asked me if I wanted jam.  He pulled out a little travel guitar, tuned up, and we went to town.  I played rhythm and he soloed over top and then we switched it up for a few minutes until Simple C walked up.  I got dressed, filtered water, and packed up.  While I was packing, Gummy Bear and Poppa Bear roll up.  We all talked for a bit and then I took off with Josh.  We cruised through the hills and talked a lot about energy, international politics and America's interest, food, psychology, music, and nature.  The miles flew by and it was 2:30 in the afternoon when we reached the next shelter.  I had decided to give my arches a break and stop here for the night.  We collected firewood, which was wet, and spent a good thirty minutes getting a fire going.  Gummy Bear, Poppa Bear, and Tail Dragger showed up a bit later.  Dinner was initiated on the small wooden railing at the front of the shelter and Josh and I played some real nice tunes.  Eventually, Gigline arrived and looked more worn out from his flight in from Florida than the hiking.  Hotshot got in just as the sun was setting with Downhill and Patches arriving a half hour later.  The shelter was full so they set their tent up out in the rainy evening.  Lots of conversation ensued through the dark night and people started to nod off one by one as the breeze picked up sending the thunder east.  It was a fun group but tomorrow will probably rearrange things.
Date: 2012-05-13
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Hiker Inn Hostel
Miles today: 19.8

I got up at 7am and was flying down the trail by 8.  The shelter had cleared out early too and those guys had a two-hour headstart on town amenities.  It didn't rain last night but if I had a clear weather window, you know I was going to make the most of it.  It was fairly level trail along the ridge in the morning and I sent my Mom an email.  It was much too early to call and we had chatted a bit the day before as I walked along this same ridgeline.  Josh and I walked as fast as possible, at times approaching 4mph.  We stopped 8 miles in to get water at Abingdon Gap Shelter and eat lunch.  The 0.3-mile hill down to the water source was the steepest trail we saw all day.  Everything was nicely graded and we put the hammer down.  The weather got mean for a moment and then retreated as I approached the state line.  New state!  Virginia!  Josh caught up and we took some photos to commemorate the event.  It was 3.5 more miles to Damascus and we heard rumors they may have food there.  We high-tailed it a few thousand feet down the mountain and found the town crawling with hikers.  We stopped in to Quincy's for some food and drink.  I ordered a half chef salad and a giant calzone with mushrooms, olives, and more mozzarella and ricotta cheese than should be legal for individual consumption.  I tried the Depot St. IPA and it was cold and wet but nothing to buy two of.  Next up was shelter.  We looked all over town and everything was booked.  I found a vacancy at the Hiker Inn and Josh chose to stealth camp down by the big river that flows through town.  Chatterbox, Simple-see, Serena, Metric, Sticks, and Poky are all here tonight and Paul, the owner, dropped in with some Belgian chocolate croissants he baked.  I got cleaned up, trimmed the 'stache again, did laundry, resupplied food, and am officially exhausted.  I am going to check out a new pack in the morning and am definitely replacing my pot that got destroyed in the fire the other day.  Going to bed.
Date: 2012-05-26
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I watched Amish leave at 6:30am as I walked down through the dew-glossed grass to the outdoor shower. I will certainly have an outdoor shower in my future! I have heard stories about the breakfasts here and was eagerly anticipating it. Coffee beans are roasted on-site here and the coffee smelled delicious as I walked up to the main house but it was sort of weak in the body. I am not a complainer but Michael explained to me that they had a slight coffee mishap that morning and it was normally better. It was the best coffee I had enjoyed on the trip so far so this boded well for the future. They seemed pretty serious about their coffee. They had some folksy music playing in the front room and when I inquired, it turned out it was friends of theirs. We ate breakfast in the sunshine on the porch after another ring of thanks. Cinnamon rolls, eggs, spinach, fresh fruit, homemade bread with blackberry and apricot preserves. Just delicious. I was thinking about how to convince the girls to zero here and it turned out to be a very easy thing to do. We hung out after breakfast taking turns in the hammock and soaking up the clean air, chirping birds, and sunshine. My feet have been in pretty bad shape and I signed up for a massage in the afternoon. I had a wonderful conversation with Golden, a thru-hiker who got pulled off the trail for a bit to work at the hostel. I hope she will catch me one of these days. It sounds like she is pretty fast. The afternoon transitioned into a warm one and I started to clear my mind in preparation for the massage. When the time came, I told Nevel about how my feet were doing and how I keep most of my tension in my shoulders. This was of course what I knew from my old life. She went and figured out what needed work in my new hiker life and I was thankful she was so connected to my energy. It was incredible to feel the last 600 miles work themselves out in such a short amount of time. I was heavily blissing out afterward and felt really open. It was as if she had gone in and figured out all of my secrets; I had nothing to hide. I have met some really great healers but never anything like this and was very grateful for the experience. I spent the rest of the afternoon alone in my head feeling the changes in my body. A new crew rolled in for dinner and the atmosphere was different than the night before. We had Mexican lasagna, greens from the garden, some homemade dressings, freshly-baked bread, and Amish-made ice cream cones. PMo, Anna, and I made another fire without being asked and enjoyed the heat and light talking late into the night with EZ Nomad, Milton, Redcoat, Josh and Corrine.
Date: 2012-05-30
From: The Captain's Place

To: Wind Rock Campsite
Miles today: 6.6

Oh man, one of the Captain's dogs is nuts. He woke us up early and we were pretty darn exhausted from yesterday. I did everything I could, including building a barricade of furniture, fencing, backpacks, papasan chairs, etc. to keep this little energetic guy from bothering us. To no avail. I was up. We were up. And all that dog wanted us to do was throw him sticks. He had just had surgery and we were given the no-stick-throwing warning. He didn't like it. Anyway, we ate some breakfast and drank a soda in the sunshine. It was going to be a gorgeous day. PMo, Jumanji and I took off together down the road but I realized quickly that I was going to be packing an aluminum can for days if I didn't take it back to the Captain's for recycling. I told the girls I would catch back up to them, turned around, and went back. I placed the can in the recycle and then tried to leave the Captain's yard but his dog blocked me. I tried left, tried right, but this dog was making it so I couldn't leave. I thought now was the time to throw a stick! But I didn't have any sticks. And he was getting kind of aggressive. The teeth were out but his mouth was closed. I zig-zagged forward but had to retreat. I tried talking nice. No dice. So I stood my ground. Neither of us moved for five minutes or so. I know this sounds like an exaggeration. But it was a long time. I probably watched the river drop a few inches in the process. He eventually lost interest in me and I walked past him back to the road. But the girls were gone. I ran down the road with a full pack wondering if they knew the way back to the trail. I caught up with them and we cruised along. We were all dragging and it was barely lunch time. We decided to take a break at Bailey Gap Shelter. It started out as a break but once my sleeping bag got pulled out, I was a goner. We woke up to Knoxville eating at the picnic table outside the shelter and engaged in some fun conversations. He made it through the storm just fine.We got to walking and looked at our lofty goal for the day and some serious discussion ensued. We were coming up on some gorgeous stuff but just didn't feel like moving. Jumanji and I lounged about on a big rock in a parking lot off a gravel road while talking to PMo about how far we really wanted to go today. Nobody was motivated but I wasn't helping much. I just wanted to stop. So we walked out to Wind Rock and set up camp amongst ferns, old crumbly granite, and tall yellow buckeye. We made a fire and cooked dinner as the golden light danced through the leaves. Semplesee and EZnomad cruised up a bit later and moved on to enjoy the sunset. PMo and I did a little light-hearted acroyoga in the ferns after dinner. Semplesee came back to our little camp and set up his tent. The girls and I cowboy camped near the fire despite already setting up shelters. It was so inviting and ultimately rewarding. I definitely feel some sort of connection to the glow and warmth of fire, even just a little glimpse is enough to feel that all is right in the world as I drift off to sleep.
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Curry Creek

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: broken clouds

I woke up in a pretty lazy mood today. Spread thin by the clouds and blocked by the tall canyon walls, the sunshine didn't make it down to dry things off for many hours while I spent the time lounging in my hammock next to the rushing stream. I ate breakfast in my hammock, watching the leaves swirling about in the passing eddies and finally got to moving in the humid morning air, eventually walking off around 10am. I passed Beast Mode. He was still packing up after getting in late last night as well. I dropped in and paid a visit to the Wilson Creek Shelter a half hour later. Beast Mode caught up to me and we walked on together chatting about brewing, access to fresh produce, skiing.. this guy is truly knowledgable about a lot of varied topics but maintains the innocent humility of scholarship. I feel like my favorite people out here are those who don't claim to know it all but seem to know more than most and want to know even more; a breath of fresh, curious, passionate air. We came to some big overlooks along the parkway and paused to listen to the sounds of the big valley off in the distance. As we walked, the sounds of the forest were masked by something that didn't belong. It took us a mile and a bunch of guesses until we discovered a team operating lawnmowers and weed whippers - fire safety and whatnot, carving out narrow little swaths of organization and control. It was an interesting parallel to see what we have done to this place. First the trail. That wasn't really good enough so we build a road. I imagined the size of the efforts required to build these originally and wondered how long it took the animals to return to their homes. Now we have to maintain these intrusions since nature wants them back. She will probably get them back someday too when we stop paying attention for long enough. We met Mimi, Figit, and Jiffy Pop down a big hill while eating lunch at Bobblets Gap Shelter and had a conversation where I felt like there were a lot of different perspectives represented. Everybody listened but nobody would budge and there wasn't a bit of agreement - socially awkward but unwaveringly honest We continued north but Beast Mode was faster than I and I figured I would see him later.It was cloudy all day but the view from Mills Gap was long with many blue-green ridgelines visible but fading off in the distance. I cruised down the final hill to Cove Mountain for the night.
Date: 2012-06-15
From: Blackrock Mountain summit

To: Ivy Creek Peak
Miles today: 11.0

Semplesee left the mound early while PMo and I lazed around in our spectacular little hidden camp. The sun filled up the trees with dancing light and we soaked in the relationships at play here. EZnomad found us on the mound and we packed up to hike out together. We talked to Old Time Ed for a bit too and he was really unhappy with how the trail swerves around through this park. There is always the road I suppose as we parted ways.We saw a baby ringneck snake on the way to the campstore. It was maybe only five or six inches long. If you can't like a snake like this, there is probably very little hope you will ever like snakes. It was adorable, even having a little smile like you would see in a Disney film. At the campstore, we picked up snacks, drinks, and sandwiches to enjoy out on the sunny lawn. There we watched a man mowing the hillside with a weed whipper. This was going to take multiple days to finish. Things are different out here.PMo, EZnomad, and I got showered up (I took two showers) and said goodbye to EZ, he was hiking on. PMo and I proceeded to drink beer out in the sunshine while the laundry finished up. There wasn't a rush today. I drank a Starr Hill Amber and a can of Busch while laying on one of the park benches beside the brick building. We got packed up and headed out toward the trail. There was another Wayside up ahead and we wanted to time it just right so that we could eat dinner there. We got to Loft Mountain Wayside and made a plan for double meals. Grilled cheese, grilled chicken sandwich, pulled pork tacos, and a grilled sausage came to our table and promptly disappeared inside of us. We also split a blackberry shake. We had heard good things but the hype and cost were considerably disproportionate to the actual experience. PMo packed out the remainder of the french fries but faced a big problem as they didn't have ketchup packets, just the big gallon pump bottle. She found a creative way to pack out the necessary ketchup in a Junior Ranger pencil sharpener she bought from the store, so awesome!We rolled our bodies outside to get some miles in. I walked over to a sign that described the deer in the park. It starts off with the sentence, "Look! There's a deer! As I read the words in my mind, I heard them being shouted verbatim by a six year old girl with her Mom. I looked up and chuckled as a deer wandered through the mostly-empty parking lot.We took the Frazier Discovery Trail back up to the AT and hiked up the ridgeline through the gorgeous wooded afternoon. We found an old campsite on the peak, surely abandoned after camping rules changed in the park. No worries. So we made a fire and hung the hammocks. PMo had packed out a surprise she found in one of the stores: green fire! She threw in the magic pixie dust for us to behold as the evening set in. We talked about the changes quickly approaching us, laughing loudly well into the night from our hammocks.
Date: 2012-07-16
To: Honest Abe
Miles today: 0.0

Hi hi hi everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that I am still alive and hiking strong. I am up in NY and painfully aware of my lack of updates. It's a perfect storm of ridiculous mileage, great times, incredible people, injury/recovery, and my desire to stay present here in this very special place for the short time it exists. The stories coming your way are fantastic and I wanted to be able to do them justice. Stay tuned.. I think I can catch you up in time for the summit. Be well!