morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-25
From: Russell shelter

To: Derrick knob shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

There was a bear in our camp last night! Both Great Gramps and I slept through it so we didn't see him but the girl in the next tent (about 15 feet away) had her vestibule open and saw it when it came sniffing for food. So glad we are hanging our food bags every night!Today was a long day. Being that we are required to stay at shelters our the immediate surrounding tent area, we decided to do the 9.1 miles to the Derrick Knob Shelter. Nine miles isn't an outrageous distance...unless it is over mountains! Then it is really long! It started with a nicely graded and not too steep of a climb. Then came the downhill which I believe they purposely completely covered with rocks. Next, the climb became steep with no switch backs and with a few boulders thrown in. Then the water supply evaporated and the sun came out. Nothing comes easy out here. The trail went on and on and I thought we would never get to the Shelter. But we did, filtered water, set up the tent and now it is nine o'clock, way past bedtime.
Date: 2016-04-26
From: Derrick knob shelter

To: Double Spring gap shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: clear sky

Heard some animals howling in the night, in the distance, but didn't see anything. I am not sure if that is good or bad!Cool day for hiking and lots of clouds in the sky. Had our rain gear on but fortunately, no showers. Lots of ups and downs today with the ups going straight up. Great Gramps has a lot of stamina but I struggle. I keep hoping every day will show a little improvement but the climbs take it all out of me. I know I am not alone in this but every body else still manages to put on more miles every day. I shouldn't be discouraged, all my parts are still intact and moving which is more than many can say.Got to the Shelter and set up our tent, had dinner and then it started to rain. Good timing! Tucked in for the night and hopefully ready for tomorrow - Clingmans Dome!
Date: 2016-04-27
From: Double Spring gap shelter

To: Mt Collins Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Set out from the shelter with very overcast weather but no rain...yet. The trail to Clingmans was straight up. As always, I huffed and puffed my way up the mountain. It is always interesting when the scenery changes so dramatically from place to place or day to day. We entered a forest which was old with a lot of downed trees covered with moss. Very little light and very damp feeling. I thought of Hansel and Gretel as the forest took on a foreboding feel to it. Almost like a haunted place. Clingmans Dome (highest point on the AT) afforded views in all directions. One could see the rain clouds in the distance. We walked a half mile downhill to the parking lot which was where the gift shop was hoping for some snack items but unfortunately they had none. The half mile back to the Top was easier without the pack on but I was still sweating by the time I finished. Plus we added a whole unnecessary mile to the day! Met some lovely people who were interested in our hike and asked a lot of questions, it is really fun to share information and hopefully inspire others to think about this kind of adventure.Continued another four mostly downhill miles to the Shelter (which was .5 miles off trail and water was another .1 , none of which gets counted) all the while wondering who would arrive first, us or the rain! We won! Got our tent set up in a flat place under a group of pine trees and had dinner before the downpour really started. Lots of thunder and heavy rain but hopefully the rain will not last all night. Great Gramps is already asleep (8 pm) but I am not sure I can sleep through it all.
Date: 2016-04-28
From: Mt Collins Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Rain stopped just before dawn and needles to say everything was very wet. All of the hikers had left the shelter by about 7:30 and so once again we were alone and the last ones out. That turned out to be a good thing because we hung all of our wet gear in the shelter to dry while we had breakfast. Great Gramps was out of breakfast food so I made him spaghetti with bacon bits! He said it was a good way to start the day. We had a short, four and a half mile hike to Newfound Gap and ultimately Gatlinburg (15 miles off trail). The trail was really lovely without a lot of obstacles and we made good time. Arrived at Newfound Gap and Tennasee border in early afternoon and met a great family that coincidentally had just dropped off a hiker and offered to take us into Gatlinburg. We are so blessed to have met this family and hear about their plans to follow their hiker all summer and create an adventure for their whole family. Trail angels all the way!We were dropped off at the outfitter store where we were able to pick up our resupply packages from home...what a store! I ended up buying a new sleeping bag (45 degree) and new shoes and socks. And to top it all off, they mail the old equipment home! We are really so lucky that everything had been falling in place for us cause there is not a lot of extra energy to take care of .We found a motel to check into right away, took our showers and had a great dinner at the Park Grill right across the street. They had the best salad bar I have ever seen along with the biggest desserts!It is very strange but I have difficultysleeping in a bed now. The bed never seems level and I wrestle with the covers, tossing and turning most of the night until they end up on the floor! Great Gramps never seems to have a problem sleeping and I am very jealous!
Date: 2016-04-29
From: Newfound Gap

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Gatlinburg is quite the tourist town! There are literally restaurants, shops and entertainment sites lining both sides of the street which seem to go on forever. We walked through it all looking for the coin laundry, following the directions of the lady at the motel. Another lesson learned! Know where you are going before you head out. We walked about two miles out of our way but we finally got that chore done and it is always great to have clean clothes! At least I got a chance to break in my new shoes but we put in a lot more miles than we wanted to for a zero day. Oh well.We had a late lunch so no need for dinner. We packed our things up tonight and will head out in the morning. The trail is calling!
Date: 2016-04-30
From: Gatlinburg

To: Ice water spring shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Goodby Gatlinburg!We loaded our packs and went out to the main road to hitchhike the 15 miles back to Newfound Gap where we had gotten off the trail two days ago. After a few moments a shuttle van stopped (with another hiker already inside) and the driver told us it would be $10 pp to take us to our destination. We hopped right in and of we went. Arrived at Newfound Gap and officially entered Tennessee!It was cool and we only had about three miles to do, so what if it was uphill! Actually, it was fairly nicely graded and not an unpleasant hike despite the rocks...We knew the rain was coming but we made it to the Shelter and got our tent up before the torrential downpour started, complete with lightening and thunder! Wow! It was impressive. I tried to record it but am not certain I was successful. We waited for the rain to let up and then did our cooking out the back of the tent as we didn't get the vestibule up in time. It worked out well and the spaghetti was delicious. There were a lot of day hikers out today all headed to a popular view point. It was pretty obvious that rain was coming but most of them seemed unprepared for adverse weather. I know they all did not make it back to the parking lot before the skies opened and at six thousand feet, it is chilly! I hope they are safe!Tonight I try out my new sleeping bag! The new shoes are great and my feet are not throbbing tonight. Life is good!
Date: 2016-05-01
From: Ice water spring shelter

To: Pecks corner shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

It was a terrible night! There was torrential rainfall all night long! The raindrops are huge and they make a lot of noise on the tent. Great Gramps slept through a lot of it but I could not. Woke with a headache and diarrhea which is not a good way to start the day in the woods! Packed up a wet tent and off we went.The weather cleared a little. The views were so beautiful today and the trees so green. What was fascinating was to admire the view one moment and then look up and not be able to see anything because of the fog! It would change that drastically in just a couple of minutes. We met as trail runner who warned us of bear activity in the area of the shelter we were headed for. We are tenting as usual and hung all of our food and trash on the bear cables so there shouldn't be a problem. Will let you know in the morning!
Date: 2016-05-02
From: Pecks corner shelter

To: Tricorner knob shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Much to the disappointment of the hikers and campers, there were no bears too be seen. But what was apparent was an awful lot of bear poop!!! The bears must be hiking the Appalachian trail!Got a late start today. Just couldn't quite get things going but we were able to dry the tent a little so that was a good thing. We had three big hills to climb before the next shelter and again, the trail was littered with rocks. My new hiking shoes are handling it well (yay for Hoka) so that was a good decision. I am still trying to get a rhythm for the uphill climbs and I think this will be a work in progress for a long time but there wouldn't be a shortage of hills so I have plenty of time to practice.Just made it to camp when it started to rain again. Tucked in, nice and cozy in our tent now. We have been very lucky that the rain has stopped by morning every day. I hope I didn't just jinx us.
Date: 2016-05-03
From: Tricorner knob shelter

To: Cosby knob shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: moderate rain

I jinxed us. It was still raining and foggy this morning when we woke so we ate our breakfast bars in the tent and settled for water instead of coffee. Packed up a wet and muddy tent and off we went with our rain gear on.We only hiked to the next shelter about 7.7 miles away and were lucky to have about 5 minutes of sunlight all day. Great Gramps said it was the worst hiking day ever. He described it as 7 miles of slop! There was running water on the trail with runoffs everywhere, lots of mud and muck and of course, rocks. We got set up for the evening and so far, no rain. One night without a storm would be nice. The rain makes everything that much harder!
Date: 2016-05-04
From: Cosby knob shelter

To: Davenport gap shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

The rain held off until the early morning and then of course it continued for the first part of the morning. We both put on all of our jackets, I had four layers on because it was so cold. This is all my fault cause I bought a sun visor and a lighter weight sleeping bag in Gatlinburg, neither of which is appropriate now. Hopefully the weather will clear soon and we will have a little sun. And warmth.The Appalachian River, as we call it now, was running strong this morning. Unfortunately, no rocks were washed away!We met three gentlemen hiking out from a campground. They informed us that their tradition was to eat bbq and ribs after each of their camping trips. Great Gramps stomach was growling and he was salivating for the next mile (we all know how he feels about ribs!) The men waited for us at their turnoff to say farewell and to offer us some moonshine. I passed since I am clumsy enough on the mucky trail but great gramps did not pass it up. And he loved it! Just another day on the trail!We stopped at the last shelter in the Smokies because the weather is supposed to be bad and once again found that was a mistake. We arrived early but there are no tenting sites so we are in the shelter and have a little corner to ourselves (which is great) but it is noisy and crowded. There is a wire fence across the front of the shelter supposedly to keep out the bears but I feel like we humans are the caged animals and on display for the benefit of the bears, just like in the zoo! Everyone else has seen bears today except us and that is ok.We will be out of the Smokies in the morning and I am very glad to be able to camp wherever we want instead of the shelter sites. There are so many rules in this park which makes it less enjoyable.
Date: 2016-05-05
From: Davenport gap shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

We left the shelter/cage after most of the other hikers departed. It was only our second time staying in a shelter and it was interesting to watch and listen to all the folk getting ready for their day on the trail. It makes me concerned for the youth of our country and how much trivia consumes their day and mind. There was an early morning storm which brought sleet and light snow and it was cold starting off. We left the Smokies and I was hoping that life would suddenly change but it did not. More rain!We hiked to Standing Bear Farm where we were scheduled to pick up our resupply packages. The farm was not as described in the book and we could not stay there as we didn't feel it was very safe. The washing machine was broken and hikers were putting their wet and dirty clothes in the dryer just to dry them out. All of the postal boxes were in a small shack and we had to go through them all to find ours which we did, finally. In one of the bunk houses, they were trying to light the gas fireplace but it wasn't working right and we were concerned there was a leak. We sat on a porch out of the pouring rain and divided up the food from the resupply box, and took off in the rain for another two miles north to a campsite that was listed in the book. Our backpacks were heavy but the rain finally let up as we found the camp and set up our tent. We attached the vestibule as I knew I would have to cook in it and it gave us extra room to store our equipment. The rain started again shortly after we settled in but at least we were set up for the night.The down side to not staying at the Farm as originally planned was that I did not have the ability to recharge my phone/equipment as planned. The previous night at the shelter, I had let another hiker use almost the last of my battery recharger to charge his phone so that he could set up a ride that he needed for the next day. What little charge I had left was used to charge my gps which allowed emergency help if needed and that is all we have until we reach Hot Springs which is about 5 days out.
Date: 2016-05-06
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Ground Hog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Rained all night again. This is really getting discouraging. When we woke we discovered that it had trained so hard that water had leaked into the vestibule.My rain jacket was hanging over my backpack and it was wet. To make matters worse, my down whisperlite jacket had gotten wet yesterday when we hiked in the pouring rain. Water leaked in through the collar, cuffs and hem and now it was flat as a pancake! We both recognized that this was a very serious and potentially dangerous situation as it was in the low 40s and all I had to put on was a short sleeved and a long sleeved shirt...Not enough to keep me warm and prevent hypothermia. The skies were cloudy and it had not started raining yet so since I knew my rain jacket would dry quickly, we took the chance on starting to hike. If it started raining or I started shivering, we would stop and immediately pitch the tent somewhere and I would get into my sleeping bag. Gotta have a plan! The beginning of the hike was uphill and I was so hot in a very short time that when combined with a little breeze, my jacket was dry in no time at all. I was so relieved! We hiked a short day to the next shelter and when we got there in the late afternoon, we had glimpses of sunlight. We hung our tent and clothes on tree branches hoping that everything would dry quickly and they did! Including my puffy down jacket! I was so happy and so relieved that it had worked out so well.I believe the worst of the weather is over!
Date: 2016-05-07
From: Ground Hog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke to no rain! Slightly overcast this morning and my prediction is coming true, the worst of the weather is over. After a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, we headed out. After a few hours we came to a country road which we crossed to head up the trail on the other side, and there were two garbage bags sitting at the side of the road and we initially thought someone had littered but lo and behold it was trail magic! The first bag had sodas and the second bag was for recycling! We choose a mountain dew (Jay would be proud!) And off we went.The trail was quiet, no other hikers today which was kinda weird. Great Gramps said no one passed us today but I distinctly saw at least one ant that passed me on the uphill.We got to Max Patch and the wind was blowing hard! I was having trouble just trying to stand up straight with my backpack on and felt like I would be blown over any time. And to top it off, there was trail magic!!! "Chimp" and his family provided pizza and beer and the best cookies made by his mom! I had my second mountain dew of the day and couldn't believe how lucky we were. "Chimp" met his sweetheart on the PCT two years ago and they were married two weeks ago. The family provides the trail magic every year and we were so fortunate to be there at the right time! This particular trail magic is all the hikers talked about for days! Thank you trail Angel " chimp"!We hiked onto the next shelter where we meet a lovely family camping for the weekend. Jpower (?) Unfortunately sprained his ankle so it was slow going for him but we were able to enjoy good conversion with some great people!
Date: 2016-05-08
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Happy Mother's Day! My phone is useless even for pictures and my fitbit is no longer able to tell time nevermind miles.It is crazy How dependent we have become on technology!The weather was beautiful and sunny and the flowers are in full bloom. It is"greening up the mountain" Now and it is beautiful! I have to keep stopping to look at this scenery, smell the flowers and breath the air. Wonderful!Again, not too many hikers on the trail and at the end of the day, found a nice campsite on an old dirt road and settled in.
Date: 2016-05-09
From: Dirt road

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up early, anxious to get moving to town. We had packed up most of our stuff and was having coffee when two hikers came down the trail and when I looked up, I realized it was Maya! I knew she was close and the timing was perfect or we could have missed each other easily. We chatted for a bit and then made plans to meet in town. We checked in at the Iron Horse Hotel and Maya is staying across the street. The town is about 6 blocks long so everything is very convenient and within walking distance. Showers were the first order of business followed by laundry which was desperately needed after being on the trail for 10 days. Then we met Maya and "Rest Stop" for dinner and were able to ask their advice since they are professional hikers. Maya is working on becoming a 'triple crown' (hiking the PCT and the CDT already) and"Rest Stop" is working on finishing a double triple crown! They provided a lot of information over dinner and finishing up at the tavern across the street. Good times! Good advice! Maybe we will survive!
Date: 2016-05-10
From: Hot Springs

To: View Entry
Miles today: 52.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Took a zero day here in Hot Springs. We spotted at the Outfitters store, replaced a few pieces of equipment and did some grocery shopping since we were not able to get a resupply box here. Kept meeting Maya and Rest Stop which is not surprising in a town if about 6 blocks. The train runs right through the heart of town (and right next to the hotel) carrying coal and ash to some other location, day and night.Had a great dinner at the hotel here with a local guitarist/singer who was quite talented. Very enjoyable.We have a few small errands to run in the morning and then it is back on the trail!
Date: 2016-05-11
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0

Great Gramps here. With the Smoky Mountains behind us, here are a few observations and opinions. For anyone who knows me, they will understand that at some point I will express what may be considered as somewhat controversial "political" comments. For those who don't know me, well, here goes. First, the Park is certainly spectacular with stunning views when the weather permits. It is truly a remarkable national treasure. Despite many reports of sightings and activity, we did not see a single bear. A ridge runner we met went on and on about bears and seemed to be trying to instill a bit of fear about bears which I felt was inappropriate. Respect yes, safety yes, but fear is the wrong attitude to carry into bear country. From my experience, people tend to make very poor decisions when fear is present.Posters throughout the Park warn people of the norovirus which is very contagious. Despite this, hikers are told they must stay in shelters which are usually jammed with everyone literally sleeping next to each other. Although I understand the desire to keep the Park in it's natural state without tents set up everywhere, warning people about a contagious virus and then requiring everyone to be confined in close quarters is absurd.Finally, the "leave no trace" practice for hikers, whether thru or section, certainly makes sense. Here is what I find contradictory about all the repeated attempts to hammer home the"leave no trace" to individuals hiking the Park. A handful of corporations have done more damage to the Appalachians than all the hikers/campers have or will ever do. It would be a wonderful thing if logging, coal, gas and other corporations were held to the same "leave no trace" standard. As I write this in Hot Springs, North Carolina, I am staying at a lovely old hotel next to the railroad tracks. Numerous times throughout the day and night, freight trains haul loads of coal, coal ash and molten sulfur back and forth to their destinations. "Leave no trace" doesn't apply at all. There is something fundamentally broken in a society that allows such a double standard.