morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-11-11
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Unicoi Gap
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a tough day. Summited Powell Mountain, Kelly Knob, Tray Mountain and Rocky Mountain. They were steep but short climbs, usually only a mile or so. But I was tired and ready to be done by the end of the day. Saw quite a few section hikers today and only two thru hikers. The thru hikers are getting few and far between. Makes me feel bad like I¢m slacking :-p. A 1/4 a mile before I got to the trailhead I passed a guy resting on a rock. He looked really tired and ask how much longer to the road. When I got to the road I found that his brother was there waiting for him. They had gotten separated the other day and his brother had camped out at the road waiting for him. Matt had let him warm up in the car and charge his phone while he waited for me. I assured him his brother was close. This guy was even a Lucero fan!!
Date: 2018-11-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The weather forecast today is for low 40s, high winds and almost 3 inches of rain. I decided to take a zero day. I didn¢t want to cause I¢m so ready to finish but it looked miserable out there. Matt and I laid low most of the day. I did laundry, updated my trail journal, took a nice long bath and a nap :). That night there was an national emergency alert for flash flooding in the area. Guess the zero was a good idea...
Date: 2018-11-13
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Tesnatee Gap
Miles today: 15.0

Today is supposed to be chilly and rainy again but not nearly as much rain as yesterday. I put on a bunch of layers and my new poncho. I summited Blue Mountain first thing then the rest of the day was pretty easy. There was a lot of water on the trail. Water sources that are usually a trickle were rushing water. I got to the trailhead earlier then I¢d anticipated. I can¢t believe I only have a few days left!! I know Matt is going to be happy to not have to drive on these windy two track roads everyday to drop me off and pick me up :).
Date: 2018-11-14
From: Tesnatee Gap

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: overcast clouds

On the drive to the trailhead this morning Matt spotted a large barred owl. We pulled over at the side of the road to watch it perched in the tree. I don¢t think it appreciated the headlights in its face so we moved on. It was rainy again today but a bit warmer. I had a few steep but short climbs in the morning. Then I got to Neels Gap where Mountain Crossing Outfitter is. I bought a few things for lunch and keep moving. I then had a climb up the dreded Blood Mountain. Half way up I stopped and ate my lunch. The climb up was not a cake walk but it wasn¢t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. At the top there was a cool old stone shelter. The rest of the way to Woody Gap was nearly all downhill. I saw two other thru hikers today. Two guys, in shorts in 40 degree rainy weather that literally ran up Blood Mountain past me with full packs. Not good for my confidence :). Matt and I drove to Dahlonega, GA to check into our next hotel. One more day to go!!!
Date: 2018-11-15
From: Woody Gap

To: Springer Mountain 
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: light rain

Today is the day, my final day on trail. I had 21 miles to do today so I needed to start early. Matt dropped me off at about 6 am. So it was still dark when I started hiking. It was also cold, in the upper 20s and raining. Not a fun start. It rained all day. And stayed cold and windy. There were a few stream crossing that because of the heavy rain I had to step in the water soaking my shoes. My feet were so cold I was actually praying for some uphill climbs to warm up. The majority of the day was flatish or downhill. I didn¢t see any other thru hikers but I passed a group of section hikers. I stopped and talked to one of them. He had met a couple thru hikers I knew the other day. He was super excited for me. It was a very long day.  Matt parked at the trailhead a mile north of Springer Mountain. He hiked up to the top to wait for me. I was so happy to get to the car. I dropped off my day pack and headed up to the top. The climb up was not as steep as I thought it would be. The temperature had dropped and the wind picked up. There was even ice crystals on my poncho! I finally got to the top and to see Matt there waiting for me was a beautiful thing!!! He is so amazing he had a bottle of wine there and two wine glasses. We realized that I didn¢t have my jack knife with the corkscrew on me though. But it was ok because I was so cold and ready to get to the car to warm up :). We had a nice moment up there though. We hiked the mile back down to the car and I ate the chocolate covered pretzel he¢d also bought me :-D. When we got to the car I changed into dry clothes. He had a Two Hearted beer, my favorite for me too. So I had that and enjoyed the car heater. There is an 8 mile approach trail to Springer Mountain that is not officially a part of the AT and I decided to skip it. I wanted to see the start of it though to see the iconic stone archway there. So Matt plugged in the coordinates there in the gps and we headed off to try and get there before dark. The gps took us some strange way and we were soon on a very rough two track. It was getting dark and foggy. Then we came around a corner and a tree was down blocking the road. I said well I don¢t need to see it that bad, let¢s head home. So we started our trek back home to Michigan. This has been an insane, awesome, challenging, amazing journey. I surprised myself at what I was able to do. I¢m excited to get home but I¢m definitely gonna miss this!
Date: 2017-02-08
To: AT 2018
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Rose and I have been planning for an AT thru hike (Northbound) for several months now, upgrading and lightening our gear and taking more frequent day hikes and short backpack trips. Still unsure of our start date, but early March 2018 is the most likely. I'm currently retired, and Rose will be retiring in several months, at which point we can start taking longer trips to prepare. Approximately 13 months to go!!!
Date: 2018-04-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Family and Friends, I am just setting up a way to keep everyone informed on our progress on the trail. Our first day on the trail isn¢t until May 2, but I wanted to try out what we have decided will be the preferred method of communication to everyone. Not everyone we know uses Facebook, so we have decided to use this website to chronicle our trip. We can make daily posts with pictures and also track miles hiked,etc.I will post a FB notice and text non-FB users when updates are available. Before we leave, try navigating around the website and get in touch with me if you have questions. There are a few entries from other days, so use the menu on left to view the previous entries.  Or if you are using a mobile device you can use the previous and next buttons. You can also navigate to full menu options using the 3 bars on the top right
Date: 2018-04-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So why are we attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?When I was 16 years old I went on a one week backpack trip on the AT with two of my best friends, Rob and Tim. Rob's parents dropped us off and we hiked north into Harpers Ferry West Virginia where they picked us up. None of us had tents, and I was the only one that prepared for any rain by sewing up a slip-cover for my sleeping bag out of a large sheet of painters plastic. Luckily for us we didn't see any rain on that trip! I don't recall what our pack weights were, but I'm guessing 50+ pounds since we mostly took canned goods and other off the shelf items. Aluminum canteen, aluminum mess kit, cotton sleeping bags, all the lightweight gear of the time. I recall one night spent at a campground where we met a large youth group of girls backpacking in the opposite direction. We spent the evening with them, and each of us fell in love with a girl we had only known for a few hours. Oh to be a teenager again!I had always enjoyed playing in the woods and hiking and camping with my parents and the Boy Scouts, but that trip was different. What I came away from that trip with was the feeling of relaxation. We didn't have all of the electronics we have today (GPS, computers, cell phones, 1000 channels on the TV), but the feeling of being away from the city (traffic, the hum of electric transformers, street lights, showers, flush toilets) for a full week was a transformative experience. It's a feeling that I think only comes after about a week of getting away from it all. I've always wanted to get back to the AT and hike that same section, or maybe the entire trail if I could swing it.When Rose and I married we spent our honeymoon backpacking out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were totally unprepared for ruggedness of the trail (and carrying way too much weight!) and ended up cutting it short. Throughout our working careers we've done a lot of camping and short backpack trips, but nothing longer than a few days. But when I mentioned wanting to thru-hike the AT after retiring, Rose jumped on it. She has done most of the planning and food preparation, and I doubt I would be attempting it without her. But with her help I think we have a good chance at completing the almost 2200 mile trip. We make a good team! Even if we don't make it, I'm sure we're going to have a blast trying!
Date: 2018-05-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Before I get into the details of planning, I wanted to go on this trip because it is David¢s dream to make an honest effort at completing an AT thru hike. And where David goes; I go.As many of you know David and gluten are not friends. That was going to make this trip more difficult, so I agreed to take on food planning. It started last November by scouring the internet for backpacking recipes that could be modified to be gluten-free. I would make several at a time to try out and if we liked it we worked to make the recipes GF and in portions that would satisfy a very hungry hiker. We probably tried 50 recipes to get 20 that we liked. Being mindful of caloric requirements, I created four different 5 day menus and figured if we rotated these menus six times we would have enough to complete about 2,200 miles of trail. The spreadsheets began.Next, how many ingredients do you need to make all those recipes?  We began seriously dehydrating ingredients in January. The dehydrator was turned off on April 12. Lots of other ingredients came from Amazon and Costco. Assembling 6 weeks of a recipe really speeded up the process.Assembling the boxes and vacuum sealing a days worth of food at a time took more time than I thought. Luckily a week ¢s worth of food fits in a large priority mail box. And where do you want these boxes sent?  David and I worked together to detail out the entire trail, figuring out where the post offices or mail drop locations are and what grocery store options we have to supplement our mailed boxes. Can you say more spreadsheets?  In the end I underestimated the number of weeks it would take us, so we had to throw 2 more boxes together last week. We finished the last box on 4/29. Attached are some photos of our funAnyhow, I thought you would like to read this while we start our first day of hiking on 5/2.
Date: 2018-05-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We flew from Phoenix to Charlottesville overnight and got picked up by a shuttler that brought us to Stanimals 328 hostel in Waynesboro.  We¢ve met a lot of hikers since we¢ve been here - some section hikers and some thru hikers. I think there¢s about 12 people staying here tonight - they had 22 staying here a few days ago.  We¢re ahead of the bubble, so the thru hikers that are here either started early in February or have been hauling ass since they started.  Stories of walking thru waist deep snow make us glad we decided to do a flip-flop hike instead of the typical northbound. When we hit the trail tomorrow we won¢t be able to keep up with their 20+ miles per day pace.Everyone¢s been great! ¢Wolf Clan¢ from New Hampshire pointed us to an all u can eat buffet within walking distance that was really good. And ¢Happy Feet¢ was hitchhiking across town to an outfitter and offered to pick us up some fuel. We rewarded her with a cold beer!  Tomorrow we expect to hit the trail at 8 am and get this party started!
Date: 2018-05-02
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Calf Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

AT - 5/2Day 1 of the trail is done. What a day. We started with a ride to the trailhead from the owner of the hostel we stayed at. Shoes hit the trail at 7:15. We made our planned stop at Calf Mountain Shelter, which is off the trail a bit. So we hiked an even 8 miles today. We reached camp at 2:30 and we had a leisurely afternoon to set up our hammocks, get water and make dinner. We really wanted to get to bed early so we could get up and hit the trail at by 6 am. Tomorrow is a 12.4 mile day and with rest breaks we hiked a remarkable 1 mile an hour today. At that pace we will take 12.5 hours to make camp. And we don¢t have water available until we reach camp. Well it is 8:30 and the sun just set so bedtime for us. Don¢t think camp was boring. There are 11 people camping here. At least 6 of them were at the hostel we stayed at last night. They all have strange trail names like Tarzan, Hungry Cat, Pee Wee, and Happy Feet. They all started in GA and are still in for the long haul. Everyone says it is not usual for this many people to be at the shelter. The weather is nice tonight so we are not using tarps. No rain in the forecast. We hope the stars give us a good show. Although I hope we both sleep like babies. We have a big day tomorrow The picture is of all the food bags hanging on the bear poleElevation gain: 1976 ftElevation loss: 1224 ft
Date: 2018-05-03
From: Calf Mountain Shelter 

To: Black Rock Hut
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

AT - 5/3Start 6:48 amFinish 5:45 pmCalf Mtn to Blackrock hut. 12.4 miles We saw a black snake on the trail today. We¢re not sure but we think it is a rat snake. It definitely was not a timber rattle snake. Some other people at our shelter did see a rattler on the trail though.Our Hut was full tonight. Not sure how many were camping - at least 15.It was a long hot day. Temperature got up to 88 degrees and it was sunny. Normally the trees are so full of foliage that you would have a good bit of shade. But Spring has just arrived here in the Shenandoah National Park. It is great for the views, but not so good for shade. We were so tired it was hard to eat dinner. In bed by 8:00.~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-04
From: Black Rock Hut

To: Loft Mountain Campground 
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

AT - 5/4 From Blackrock Hut to Loft Mountain Campground 6.3 Miles8:05 to 2:00After such a big day yesterday, we made it a shorter day today - only 6.3 miles. We stopped short of our goal to camp at Loft Mountain campground. There are many advantages to campgrounds over primitive huts or shelters. The nice thing about this campground is they have showers. Day 3 and I got a shower. My fingernails are clean once again. They have running water you don¢t have to filter. Trash dumpster so don¢t have to carry around 3 days of trash. There is a camp store where we picked up some light resupply items but their computers were down so they had to add everything up manually, and we had to pay in cash with the exact amount.  We expect rain on the trail tomorrow, so we will see how hiking in the rain goes. There is light rain and strong winds right now as I type today¢s report. But I am warm, dry and comfortable laying in my hammock.First hitch hike from the Way Side to the camp storeElevation gains:  1488Elevation loss: 762~Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-05
From: Loft Mountain Campground 

To: View east to Powell Gap Hollow
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

AT - 5/4 From Blackrock Hut to Loft Mountain Campground 6.3 Miles8:05 to 2:00After such a big day yesterday, we made it a shorter day today - only 6.3 miles. We stopped short of our goal to camp at Loft Mountain campground. There are many advantages to campgrounds over primitive huts or shelters. The nice thing about this campground is they have showers. Day 3 and I got a shower. My fingernails are clean once again. They have running water you don¢t have to filter. Trash dumpster so don¢t have to carry around 3 days of trash. There is a camp store where we picked up some light resupply items but their computers were down so they had to add everything up manually, and we had to pay in cash with the exact amount.  We expect rain on the trail tomorrow, so we will see how hiking in the rain goes. There is light rain and strong winds right now as I type today¢s report. But I am warm, dry and comfortable laying in my hammock.First hitch hike from the Way Side to the camp storeElevation gain: 2200Elevation loss: 2713~ Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-06
From: View east to Powell Gap Hollow

To: Pocosin Cabin 
Miles today: 13.4

AT - 5/6We made good miles again today. The hiking was easy due to the cloud cover. At one point we stopped for water and a snack at a shelter and in 15 minutes time the fog rolled in. We ended the day the same way with fog creeping in while we were making dinner. We had to move under David¢s tarp quickly to finish dinner. It wasn¢t like being in the rain but the water particles accumulate on you quickly.Met a family on the trail with a Phoenix connection, again. Later in the day we met a small group of people on the trail with a SNP Ranger. They were on a wildflower hike. They told us the three petal flowers we were seeing are called Trillium and the high pitched birds we were hearing are oven birds. I have to say it is the serenade of the birds all day long and looking at all the different wildflowers that makes the day pass quickly. These aren¢t your backyard birds and the dandelions even are prettier out here.Elevation gain: 3277Elevation loss:  2852~ Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Pocosin Cabin 

To: Franklin Cliffs
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: mist

AT - 5/7It¢s official- the longest backpacking trip I¢ve ever been on.Wow, the trail was much easier today, with not as much elevation change, so we made great progress today. We started the day by passing the Lewis Campground. The plan was to get fresh brewed coffee at the camp store and use whatever amenities we could for free - water refill, restrooms with flush toilets and hot water, and trash service. I even washed my hair in the bathroom with hot water. Such luxury While there, we got a history lesson on the Campgrounds in SNP. This particular campground was built by the CCC and was a segregated campground just for the colored. For a late lunch/early dinner we made our way to the Big Meadow Wayside for a delicious meal. Waysides are little restaurants on the Skyline Drive that are situated near these campgrounds we have been passing. They usually have a camp store/gift shop associated with them. At the last campground the guy at the store said to get the fried chicken. It was the best you¢ll get anywhere. So I did and it lived up to it¢s reputation. Elevation gain: 2118 Elevation loss: 2459~ Desert Rose
Date: 2018-05-08
From: Franklin Cliffs

To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: few clouds

AT - 5/8Begin 7:47 amEnd 6:15 pmWell we should be in Luray, VA tonight for some R & R but we cut short our third day and never made up the 3.5 miles. We are camping at trip Byrd¢s Nest shelter which is exactly 3.5 miles from the trailhead to Luray. So what that means is we will get up in the morning and hike an easy trail, mostly downhill to start our R & R.The trail was hard today- lots of rocks to slow you down. But we kept at it and made over 12 miles. Along the way we saw two guys who work for USGS surveying salamanders. We passed the Skyland Resort. We went in for some snacks and a break. Very swanky place for a couple of people who smelled like us.We also passed by a picnic area that was vacant so we took the liberty of washing up at the water spigot. That fool bath was just the thing to help me make the rest of the way to the shelter.Can¢t wait to have some down time tomorrow ~Desert RoseAssent 2,645Descent 2,441
Date: 2018-05-09
From: ByrdÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Nest #3

To: Luray - Quality Inn
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

AT - 5/9Today we made it to Luray by about 10 a.m. To get started we only had the 3.5 miles that was mostly downhill. Easy, right? That was a torturous, rocky downhill. I was probably just wanting some comforts of home a little too much.On the way down we passed under an overlook called Mary¢s Rock. We didn¢t go to the pinnacle but as we passed under it, we could hear Native Americans chanting up above. It was very calming.Down at the bottom is Thornton Gap Parking lot. Most everyone parking there looked like they were there to hike for the day. But I saw a pickup truck turn in and the man who got out didn¢t look like he was there to hike. He looked like he was just there to use the facilities. So I asked him if he was going to Luray (9 miles West)  At first he said no, but then he said he was going there later in the day. Maybe he could rearrange his day and give us a lift. My second ¢yogi¢ (getting a ride just for asking). Come to find out he is a Ridge Runner on the AT (SNP area). His job is to hike sections of the AT and assist hikers, as well as make sure people are following the rules. Lucky us.So we arrive in town and he shows us some of the places we will need on Main St., then drops us off at the post office to retrieve Box #1. Success, it was there. We decided to get a room at the Quality Inn, a 9 minute walk from the PO. Too early to check in, so they stored our packs and off we go to get our errands done in the next 4 hours. Laundry, lunch, grocery shopping. The little town was cute; everyone was so nice. While walking to the hotel another man pulled over and asked if we were thru hiking and offered to take us shopping or back to the trail. He gave us a card with his phone number and told us to call anytime. We did take him up on the offer the next morning to get back to the trail. We offered him money but he wouldn¢t take any. He said consider it his trail magic. See how nice people are in Luray.Once we got the room after 2:00 we had showers and then more errands. We needed to mail a couple of packages, so back to the P.O.  Then we stopped in at the Outfitters store to purchase some new insoles for my shoes. Still more work that evening in the hotel room. So much stuff needed washed - water bottles, cookware, the clothes we wore while doing laundry, hiking pole handles. Had to check in with family, so there¢s phone time. I even got to FaceTime with Bennett. He knew who we were on the phone. I really enjoyed my time with him. Ireally didn¢t have time to do any posts. Having a day off the trail is work.We got a good nights sleep though.~Desert Rose