morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Bald Mountain Shelter 

To: No Business Shelter 
Miles today: 10.9

Because I was one of the last to arrive at the Big Bald Shelter last night, all the tent site were taken so I was on of two to sleep in the shelter. It was a dirty shelter in all respects...trash, broken floor boards, dirt and now broom to clean up. But I made due and the mice for the most part left myself and ¢Crypto¢ alone.The sun rose in my eyes this morning. My watch read 623am so I turned over for another 40 minutes of peace and quiet. No sooner had I settled down, the sky exploded in an instant downpour. Crypto and I both sat up and looked outside as it sound as though something fell on the building. The water from the rain bounced off the tin roof in literal waves and made a slightly less intrusive crash when it fell upon the ground. Within minutes there were standing pools outside the shelter and as suddenly as it started, it ended. Within 30 minutes the shelter was closed with hikers who were either camping nearby or were caught on the trail without their rain gear handy. And since they were now in a dry place, why not fix breakfast? Before long, there were 15 people in the shelter and under the overhang cooking and eating. This is likely one of the reasons this particular shelter is in such poor shape...you¢re not supposed to cook and eat in the shelters, it¢s leaves crumbs and trash and that invites animals.I was out by 900am this morning but the rail left the trail in muddy condition and the first mile was a continuation of downhill, always dangerous in the mud. The day never really cleared up and I wS caught in another sudden rainstorm that lasted for all of the late morning and early afternoon. Lunch was had on the side of a road passing through the forest but the only thing that passed were other hikers on their way north. Wouldn¢t you know that the afternoon portion of my day was accompanied by more rain; this with hail and bouts of thunder and lighting. But I hiked on and made it to my next destination and I¢m secure in the shelter while it continues to rain. I can state the obvious about the rain, everything is turning green and right before my eyes.
Date: 2018-05-11
From: No Business Shelter 

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 6.2

I have been waiting for today for a while. It was a short day, 6.5 miles into Erwin, TN where I will take a zero tomorrow and prepare for the next week. Coming into town was a challenging 3 mile descent. Challengingly in that anytime one is walking downhill, the knees and the feet are tried without rest...but I¢ll take downhill over uphill anyway. I had very nice occasional views of the sleepy little town nestled right up against the mountains and when I finally exited the trail, I was dumped right out into a famous hostel and outfitter, Uncle Johnny¢s. I did stay there, but I accept a shuttle ride part way into town and lunched at a local pizza and salad buffet with some other hikers who were guests of Uncle Johnny. Side note: Sorry Momentum, this was NOT good pizza or salad bar, perhaps I was there on an ¢off¢ day.I ended up staying in the neighboring town of Johnson City, where I was joined again by my college roommate, Craig, who has adopted the trail name of Gummy Bear. Though not a thru hiker, Gummy Bear has experienced the off trail life a number of times in the last two months by meeting me from his home in Atlanta and carting me around to do the things I need to do when in towns. He does deserve credit though for successfully hiking the entire width of the trail - way to go Gummy Bear!I will be back on Sunday. I would like to wish all of you mothers a happy Mother¢s Day!
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Erwin, TN

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 4.3

Well happy Mother¢s Day again, especially to the mothers in my life! And thanks again to Gummy Bear for helping me with my off trail activities yesterday and today. One of which is treating my clothing with a pesticide called Permetheran. Outside my hotel yesterday, I suspended my bear line, hung all clothing except undershorts and saturated with this ¢safe¢, deer free chemical. Once dry, clothes should protect against most insects, including ticks, which is a big concern out here this year. The application should be repeated every six washings.My plan was to return to the trail by noon and only come into the trail about 4 miles. I came in 4 miles but didn¢t get started until about 3:00pm due to the heat. At noon it was 90 degrees but by 3 it had cooled off to 88! Most of the hike was rather flat, 2.5 miles of gradual uphill. But the last 1.5 got steeper, rockier and exposed me more to the sun. In addition, my guidebook indicated that the water source here at the shelter at which I¢m stay is rather week, so instead of taking any chances, I filled all drinkable water bottles, 2.5 liters plus totes another 3 liters of unfiltered water the last 1.5 miles which was another 7 pounds to my pack. Good thing. The water source here is weak.Four other hikers made it into camp by 7:00pm and they all agreed that today was not a day to hike too strenuously and since the rest of the week looks to be the same, we are all rethinking our approach to hiking. However, there is also a 50-70% chance of rain every day this week and that could bring a little reprieve.Stay hydrated my friend.
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Curley Maple Gap Shelter 

To: Stealth campsite
Miles today: 8.3

It¢s 530pm and I¢m already tucked into bed! Why? Because I had no idea what time it really was when I stopped hiking for the day, I just knew how I felt and it felt like 6pm.My day was uphill and it was hot! I went just over 8 miles and still have 2 to go and another 1000¢ up before I get to the top of THIS mountain. The weather has gone from cold and rainy to HOT and humid in a matter of one week and it¢s affecting everyone out here, not just me. Every water source is surrounded with hikers like jungle animals gathering at the watering holes during the rainy season in Africa. But I¢m not complaining even though those of you that know me, know that I don¢t do heat real well; I¢m just hoping that this is a heat wave and things will get back to ¢normal¢ soon.  So I made it to a stealth campsite with a strong spring and decided enough for the day. I fixed dinner, cleaned up and hung my entire backpack from a tree rather than just my food. And the reason I¢m in my tent is because the bugs are so bad tonight it¢s hard to just sit still without smacking myself silly. So far, no one else has shown up to camp here, only to refill water before going on another 4 miles to the next site. So with the exception of the bugs, the birds I hear in the distance, wood pecker and Bard Owl (who cooks for you, who cooks for who?) and whatever creatures roam these parts of the forest at night, I¢m by myself. And since there¢s not rain in tonight¢s forecast, I¢m choosing to sleep without the rain fly on my tent which means just the screen...I¢ll be able to look out past the trees and see the stars.I have also been in touch with the Mayor, my brother-in-law who started this journey with me back in March. He¢s wanting to get back on the trail in some fashion or another, meaning day hikes or short section hikes. Hopefully he¢ll be back giving it another try.
Date: 2018-05-16
From: Clyde Smith Shelter 

To: CarverÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap
Miles today: 10.0

It hardly rained at all last night, maybe a bit, but not to speak of until 600am when the camp generally starts to stir with early risers wanting to beat rush hour and get on the trail. Having a difficult time getting motivated to get back out in this weather, I was the last one out today at 10am, meaning it had been raining for at least 4 hours already. I hiked alone for two hours and when I finally came down into a gap, there was a young couple under a tent shouting my name, inviting me for some trail magic! What a welcome sight, the first for me in a couple of weeks. It seems the others that I camped with the night before advised these angels of my pending arrival. Tank, because of his size is from Ohio and his girlfriend, Toepick, because she had difficulty adjusting hockey skates after a lifetime on figure skates, is from Allen Park, MI. They met on the trail as members of the Class of 2017 and came down on their vacations to provide trail magic. How about that? As I was about ready to leave, in rolled Short Mile from PA and a hiker I met the day before at lunch, Blue Raccoon; she was slack packing today, meaning she was carrying enough food and water to get her through the day. No tent, clothes or sleeping bag. Just a very light pack with the expectation of putting in some decent miles.Leaving the trail magic was hard. Putting that back pack back on in the rain and heading up Roan Mountain was a chore; an incline 2200¢ over a 7 mile stretch. Though the views were pure white with fog and rain clouds, the trail zig zagged through a beautiful forest of spruce trees that was littered with jagged rocks and slippery roots that acted as a temporary riverbed while the heavy rains sought lower elevations. As in the Smoky¢s, it made no sense to try and keep dry, just walk right in the middle of the trail. At least today the temps were in the 50¢s and not the 30¢s (bright spot!) Blue Racoon is named after her father¢s favorite coon dog, Blue. She caught up with me soon after leaving the gap and we had a pleasant conversation and hike through the elements. However her light pack and my pack, which continued to gain weight as the day wore on, soon separated us and I was again on my own. We did make plans to meet at the Roan Mountain Shelter (top of the mountain) and hike down together where her husband would drive me to a nearby town and I would meet my Brother-in-law, The Mayer, as he came up from Florida for his triumphant return to the AT. I checked into a budget type hotel, unpacked everything to dry out, took a long hot shower and dressed in my driest wet clothes. I should add, my back pack normally weighs around 37-43 pounds. Blue Racoon¢s husband picked it up to put it in his vehicle and commented that it was closer to 55 or 60 lbs today.I¢m happy to report that I am warm and happy tonight. Thank you Blue Racoon, her husband Papa Big Swig and The Mayor.Please visit www.TrailJournals.com/Blueracc... for more adventures from the AT.
Date: 2018-05-19
From: USFS Road 293

To: Dennis Cove Rd., Hostels
Miles today: 11.25

Another fine weather day on the trail today, sunny and warm. But as usual there was rain in the forecast.Today was a pretty nondescript day in the world of Lorax hiking. I got out of the gate a bit late this morning, roughly 1030, and like the last few days, was joined by the Mayor for the first mile of my hike before he moved on to hike other sections of the trail on his own. I was moving pretty quickly and made it to the Moreland Gap Shelter by noon where I settled in for a quick snack. Given the water source is a good distance away from the shelter AND down a steep incline, I chose to hold off on the resupply for another 2.5 miles. But wouldn¢t you know that within 10 minutes of leaving the shelter, it started to rain. Maybe an hour of a steady light rain was enough to annoy and make the trail just a bit more slippery. Now maybe I over do it a bit, but rain always seems to slow me down no matter what the terrain. Someday I hope to spend an entire day in sunshine. I¢ve heard reports of it happening and odds are that I will eventually see one.
Date: 2018-05-20
From: Dennis Cove Rd., Hostel

To: Shook Branch Recreation Area
Miles today: 8.75

I planned on a short day today, two miles that I decided not to do yesterday and then another six miles up and down Pond Mountain. The reason I wanted to do the two miles today rather than yesterday is to warm up my lungs. My asthma has been acting up early in the day causing pretty intense burning in my chest if I jump out on a trail and attack a climb right out of the gate. It¢s my least favorite part of most days. So my warm up was a very pretty walk through a wooded trail with a good number of sizable rocky cliffs lining both sides from time to time. The Lauren Fork River played a significant part in the trail¢s path and scenery as well in that it is ultimately highlighted at Lauren Falls, a nearly 30¢ roaring waterfall that I completely missed. How could I miss a waterfall like that? Remember the importance of the blaze? When a trail splits there are the ¢white blazes¢ that tell us where the main trail goes and perhaps a ¢blue blaze¢ that announces a side trail. A blue blazed trail may lead to a water source, shelter or even an alternate route. The main trail that the Mayor and I were on turned a hard left, almost hairpin, while a side trail continued on straight ahead. The Mayor found out later that the ¢straight ahead side trail¢ was blazed blue but was covered by a fallen tree so it went unnoticed. Before we knew it, we were standing in front of the Lauren Fork Shelter, one mile past and a pretty decent climb above the falls. As we made our way back to the main trail, I was in no mood to add over two miles to my day by going back to see the falls as I¢m sure I¢ll see many more over the next 1700+ miles. The Mayor on the other hand, decided to head back that way and have a look for himself and he was impressed; the attached photo is courtesy of him.So I made my way up the mountain and for the next 1.5 hours I climbed a series of switchbacks in the sun and the heat and was rewarded with only a spring of fresh cold mountain water, though I was promised views from the summit. In fact I hardly noticed the summit at all, just the spring and a gradual decline in elevation that followed the flow of the stream for a very short distance. This seemed to be one of the few times that I¢ve actually climbed one side of a mountain and gone down the other side. And wouldn¢t you know it, the sun suddenly disappeared, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and the always expected afternoon rain began to fall. So suddenly it started, that I just threw my backpack in a plastic trash bag and carried it over my shoulder for the next hour as I whistled and sang my way to the bottom. By the time I exited the trail, the rain stopped and it was once again a beautiful day; in fact the ground wasn¢t even wet.Tomorrow I¢ll be taking a zero and get back out here again on Tuesday. It always feels good to eat food that someone else prepared, take a hot shower, shave my head (!) and sleep in a bed. Life is tough on the trail.
Date: 2018-05-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A zero today. But it was a good week even though it rained a portion of every day. The Mayor returned to the trail and successfully tried out his trail legs with me and it was great to have him along. Perhaps a taste of what this adventure could have been if only...Thank you Mayor for coming all the way up here from Florida to spend time with me and cart me around.
Date: 2018-05-23
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.25
Weather: overcast clouds

A little more about last night at the Vandeventer Shelter, I saw the sun set through partly cloudy skies as the shelter opened to the west. The clouds filled the lower sky with a magnificent yellow, orange and red blend that peaked through the green of the trees. What a positive way to end a rain soaked day. In addition, the night sky was clear as a bell with a quarter moon, again signs of a nice day today.I awoke to the all too familiar sound of rain falling on the metal roof of the shelter. 5:00am until shortly after 9:00, just enough to moisten the already wet trail and keep them interesting. I had planned on doing 15 miles today but stopped for water and a snack at 11:00 and ended up staying until 12:30 because Mud Bug, whom I¢ve hiked with in the past, was coming south out of Damascus covering trail that she¢d missed due to attending Trail Days last weekend. She¢s doing well and it was good to get caught up. I hiked another 4 miles before stopping for lunch at the Iron Mountain Shelter...which is where I sit now. As I was about to eat my lunch it started to rain and that¢s all she wrote, I called it a day after 7 miles.As I settled in for the night people from my past started to show up, some passing through but a couple are staying, Freight Train is here and Blue Raccoon showed up with her originally frankly, Big Kahuna and Hugs. Within one hour 14 people showed up so the shelter is full and there are 11 tents and or hammocks are now scattered throughout the grounds. The problem with all these late show ups is that everybody cooks at the shelter building and they¢re all winding down talking about the fun of the daily adventure.The rhododendrons are beginning to bloom, be it only one variety, they¢re on there way. Unfortunately the rain beats the daylight out of them so pedals are everywhere on the ground. Other species that grow on trees are also beginning to make appearances as well.Finally, rumors are running rampant of a rouge bear that has been fake charging people. I¢ve only heard of one incident but these people are talking several. I¢m heading in that direction tomorrow morning. If I see a bear, I¢m going to fake charge him; see how he likes it!
Date: 2018-05-24
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Abington Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 16.5

I¢m going to tell you right off the bat, it did not rain today. At all. Not a drop. Should I quit while I¢m ahead? Well I¢m not ahead, I¢m way behind but I will take this day any day, all day!  So I woke up to before the sunrise to the sound of birds, a lot of them and it was beautiful. The sky was clear and it was shaping up to be a great day. However breakfast was kind of a drag in that a young man from somewhere in Europe with certainly no table etiquette  and maybe no social etiquette either, sat at the table smoking weed, hacking loudly without covering his mouth and emitting other bodily sounds while others were eating or preparing breakfast. It was noticed by several but sadly mentioned by none, including me. Fortunately he hiked past the shelter at which I¢m camping tonight so I may not see him again.I mentioned yesterday that Blue Raccoon showed up at the shelter last night with her tramily of two others, Hugs, a nurse practitioner from Nevada and Big Kahuna, retired after 40 years service with the US Air Force. I was invited to hike along with these three today and really enjoyed their company and pace. There was a lot of climbing again, most of it through plush green hardwood forests with the not so frequent (as usual) rhododendron trees that have lined much of the trail no matter where I¢ve been so far. But early on this morning we entered a meadow for perhaps a mile then climbed a fence into a cow pasture for maybe another mile. Unfortunately there were no cattle roaming about but plenty of proof that they¢d been there recently. Mud Bug whom I¢d crossed paths with yesterday mentioned that the pasture was active yesterday morning when she hiked through. ¢Keep your eyes on the bulls¢, she warned.The weather, the terrain, the company, the mileage (16.5, my biggest day yet)...everything about the day was enjoyable, including a chance to talk with my bride Cathy for a good while this afternoon. Did I mention no rain today? Clear sky and windy right now with a bright moon above. I¢ve been invited to hike with this crew again tomorrow as we go 10 miles into Damascus, VA, where I look forward to a package from home and visiting with an outfitter about some equipment issues.Good night from my last night in Tennessee!
Date: 2018-05-25
From: Abington Gap Shelter 

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 10.0

Last night was another beauty of a night and I slept like a rock. The birds interrupted a perfectly good night¢s sleep, so I was up before the dawn. Didn¢t matter. I, along with the new crew I¢m running with, wanted to hit the trail early and who am I to argue? So they hit the trail just before 8:00 and I was out by 8:10, hot on their tails. Again there were ups and downs but because we were heading into a town, Damascus, VA, they were mostly down.Today¢s trail section was again a very soft trail of sand and hardwood leaves with a few embedded rocks and tree roots to navigate, but nothing a sure footed poser like me couldn¢t handle. For the most part I hiked with Blue Raccoon again. This time we both had full packs so it was a bit harder than the last time we hiked together. I enjoy hiking with her, good pace and good conversation.Six and a half miles into our hike, we crossed out of Tennessee and into Virginia; goodbye and hello. (Virginia has both privys AND bear cables or boxes). The state line was symbolized by a line of flat football (American football) sized rocks from one side of the trail to the other. Blue Raccoon and I waited for Hugs and Big Kahuna and the four of us crossed over together. We were collectively disappointed that there was no band or fanfare to celebrate so we stepped over to the signs and forever immortalized the moment with the photo posted above. (The photo was taken by another hiker, Lost and Found, who got his name because he kept losing things and people would return them to him).The rest of the hike was all down hill and that emptied into the town of Damascus. Damascus is known as Trail Town USA and hosts an annual celebration of the AT and its hikers called Trail Days. This celebration lasts an entire weekend and this sleepy mountain town of 950 is overrun with music, vendors and hikers who either are or have hiked the trail. I didn¢t attend, I¢m here to hike but I¢m told it was quite a party.Once here, the four of us went straight to a restaurant, lined our back packs up against the wall outside the building with half a dozen other packs and went inside for some real non-trail food. I think I was expecting more and left a little disappointed. What we don¢t expect and should know better by now, was the sudden afternoon rain shower that soaked our packs and left them sitting in an inch deep puddle. After twenty minutes or so, the sun came back out and heated things up again. Is it too much to ask for two days in a row without...never mind, of course it is.Tonight we returned to the same restaurant for a couple of appetizers, an ice cold beverage and to play euchre for 2-3 hours.I received my package from home today and will ready a return package tomorrow. In the meantime, tomorrow morning we¢re to be driven 12.5 miles north of town to the middle of nowhere and hike back to town with only water and a few snacks. This should kill about 6 or 7 hours.