morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-11-06
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: deer park shelter
Miles today: 3.0

I got to endulge myself into a all vegitarian breakfast that had tons of fresh fruit for us all to enjoy, along with a soft bed with real sheets last night. I did laundry this morning, walked arounf town, and visted the outfitter. It turns out that Elmer has a large music room with a number of instruments to I decided to take a look and to my surprise he had a clainet with a nice reed on it and he allowed me to play it! It has been a while since playing the clarinet but i'm happy to say I didn't forget it! I found the perfect shirt for myself today while in the outfitter, it said "Sweet Tea's Nutririon facts" on the front then on one side had differnt southern saying and the other side a percentage. The shirt cracked me up in the store and everyone in there looked at me like i'm crazy has they didn't realize that my name is Sweet Tea and this shirt was made just for me. Natedog and me resupplied at Dollor General, he bought potted me to eat before hiking out for lunch. When we got back to the hostel he opened the can and I informed him that it smelled and looked like cat food. "It does not. it's potted meat, basically viana sausages but not in sausage form." He said...the next thing you know cats are coming out of the wood work to try to get his potted meat. :P ^_^ We finally hiked out of town at who knows what time up to the first shelter. When we got there we realized that the water was not the best and that it would be best to pump it. So after the water pumping chore was down we strolled up to the shelter where I found BOO hanging. I was so surprised to see him there, after looking over BOO noticed that he is missing a hand for some reason? The shelter had mice running in every which direction so I decided to tent instead. The moon was bright and shinning down on me today lighting up all in sight. "Don't set your mind on one thing but also have plan B, C, and D."
Date: 2011-11-07
From: deer park shelter

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 20.0

I woke up to birds singing all around me today! Which made me realize that today is the day that God has made, and it is going to be a great one. I did however spent the morning in a off mood debating how i'm going to hike the third part of mt hike. But like always my mind then wonders to something else and the off mood goes away. I got to conquere Bluff mountain today and hike over Max Patch today. I here that I got to walk over max patch at the perfect time as it wasn't windy, raining, nor cold. I actully sat on top talking to Buscets and gravy who hiked last year and one of there parents, for awhile hearing there stories and telling some of ours. I realized that we were up there talking for a long period of time and the sun was getting low in the sky and that we needed to move to make it to a place to sleep. I heard a varity of animals calling when I was heading to bed, some I knew what it was but others I had no clue and wish I did. "Listen you may never know what you hear."
Date: 2011-11-08
From: Brown Gap

To: Davenport Gap 
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Natedog and me were on perfect time with each other today, we were packed up, and ready to go at the same time and walking out of camp. He was the faster hiker today, as for some reason I couldn't get myself to ascend the mountain like I normally could. I informed natedog how I was feeling and after discussing it with him we realized that I haven't been having much protain as I should and need to change my diet. Natedog and me were talking about morning glory this morning about how we were in his section if anything would go wrong. Then not knowing when I turned on mu phone I has a voice mail from morning glory inviting us over to his house in a couple of days! We decided to head over to Standing bear hostel to check the place out and to pick up a package. The place was never woods like this differnt types of old gear was on the walls. We decided to much on to the next shelter 3 miles away were we found it having a chain leak fence on front and a great piped spring righ outside. This is the only shelter left in the park that has a fence on it as people were feeding the bear through the fence. "Life is never ment to be simple and easy; take the challenge and play the game of Life."
Date: 2011-11-09
From: Davenport Gap 

To: Tri-corner
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain has stopped and it is just cloudy now, which makes me really happy as I dislike hiking in the rain these days. When we started up the major climb to the top of the ridge in the smokies I noticed that it was starting to get colder the higher we climb. We were doing the clothes hokie pokie...is it to cold to be only in a t-shirt or am I sweating and getting to hot to were I need to be in my pull over. I soon realized that we gained enough elivation that it was not rain on the ground but instead everything was covered in a layer of ice. The sound of the ice knocking against each other in the wind kinda put goosebumps on your arms. I never climb a mountain into ice line (excluding Katahdin) before and thought it was coolest thing ever. The clouds finally cleared out and we got a view from the top and we were struck by the site before our eyes. The ridge over from us (which I expect we just climb) was shinning in the sun through all the ice making it look like ti was on fire. I tried to get a nice picture of it but like always who knows if it actully turned out well. When we got to the shelter there was already a group of section hiker guys there enjoying there day so we hanged out with them for early of the night and headed to bed. I was the last one to head to sleep as I stayed up and did a puzzle as I felt like 7:30pm was to early to try to sleep. I did end up having to put my down jacket on last night and my rain pants because my bag wasn't warming me up as quickly as I thought it would. It turns out that it got down to 15 or so degrees making it my coldest night yet on the trail. I was happy that I was not to cold though "Do what you have to, but do to much of what you don't have to."
Date: 2011-11-10
From: Tri-corner

To: Gatlinburg,tn
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night wAs my coldest night yet on the trail as. I was sitting around 15 degrees with snow on the ground. When I got up this morning I found my water botles half frozen where I hAd to break the ice from the top of my bottle. The trail was completly frozen, some parts had thick Ice where you had to slow Down and dance from rock to rock. We took a short side trail out to chArles bunion where we socialized to a number of tourist out for a day hike. Like always you get people asking the same old questions of where you from, you walked from where, you sleep in whAt?We were sitting at new found gap waiting for Hopeful when this kind man wlked over and invited us to his cAmper for coffee, snacks and a hot place to wait. How can u say no? It turns out their son wants to hike next year so gave a few tips and my number if he wants some advice just as I did when stArting out. They mAde me coffee and put two packets of suger in it for me to drink which I enjoyed to the fullest, but poor Hopeful wanted some so I gave him mine. Let's just say I once again heard the famous SWEET TEA what is this stuff you put all the sugar fro tenn is this cup of coffee. Love ya hopefulwe went over to morning glories house for the night where I got put into food coma with some amazing chilly. Yup yup
Date: 2011-11-11
From: Gatlinburg,tn

To: Double spring shelter 
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

My breakfast constited of amazing coffee cAke and apple juice...yum yumwe got a lAter stArt on trail than orginally planned as we were stuck in traffic by car then by slow fruit shaped people. I got a great laugh when I saw a man pushing is son in a stroller but the kid was bigger than the dad....possiable? When finally making it to the trail I found myself climbing the highest peak on the trail. The only bad things about mountains like climans dome is that other tourest can drive up it to. Up at the top I had two people ask me if I was skiing, let's just say there wasn't a drop of snow on the ground. It cracked me up. I got to see a great sunset from the top of the bald.
Date: 2011-11-12
From: Double spring shelter 

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I would like to say sorry for the lack of updates...if you haven't guessed by the I am way past where it says I am. I am now sitting a week away from Springer mountain Georgia! I will be updating my journals after my summit, through out this winter. I am planning on waiting for the spring to finish hiking Virginia and hopefully hike South into trail days so I can have all of my fellow 2011 hiker friends cheer me on at the finish line. Happy Holidays everyone <3
Date: 2011-11-13
From: Double spring shelter 

To: Russell Feild 
Miles today: 18.0

SoBo overload!!! I had 10 other south bounders catch up to me since we did two low mile days, One of the south bounders I remember meeting up north when I was heading the other way, we had lunch at the same shelter. The big group of them luckily didn't hike single file down the trail but instead planned on a meeting place at the end of the day to meet and sleep. We decided to cut the day short and not go to the shelter we planned for but instead meet and greet these south bounders. We got to hike over a few balds today which blessed me with views as far as my eyes can see, up until the next big ridge got in the way. The balds had a nice cool breeze blowing over them, which sometimes impeded my walking ability. I have found that being small and carrying a big pack doesn't work while hiking in the wind as the pack acts like a sail and my body weight doesn't compensate it very well, luckily my leg muscles do Natedog and me passed all the south bounders today and ended up at the shelter first with plenty of time to spare to go on but we already decided not so we can get to know the others. When you get multiple people working on collecting fire wood you get a large pill very quickly, so we enjoyed a nice large fire tonight in the shelters chimney place. I didn't get a great night sleep last night as some of the hikers stayed up way past hiker mid-night thus keeping me awake with their talking. "Compromise, one of the best skills you can have."
Date: 2011-11-14
From: Russell Feild 

To: Fontana Hilton 
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Who ever thought it would be a great idea to wake up at 4:30 in the morning just to hike? It s still going to be dark for 3 hours!!!! One of the south bounders decided it was a good idea *rolls eyes* as he was out of food and was hungry. Could he have not just asked for some food from any of the other 11 people in the shelter? I would have given him my whole food bag if it means me not waking up at an unimaginable hour of the morning. It is extremely hard to pack up your stuff quietly, thus him packing his stuff woke everyone else up, thus making it a chain reaction of all the other hikers slowly getting up shortly after. After finding out what shelter they were going to that night, I made a made sure not to end up at the same place. After being extremely tiered and moody from the lack of sleep we decided to take an easy day and stay at the Hilton where we got hot showers. Well I got a hot shower, Natedog didn't get the same luck as I didn't realize it had a lacking supply of hot water (Sorry Natedog.) We got in around 2 or so and just took the afternoon off to rest and relax. "Celebrate all the small things in life."
Date: 2011-11-15
From: Fontana Hilton 

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: light rain

What happened to all of my hiking spirit? For some reason I feel like this hike turned into a job where you just have to wake up and do it. The weather today was very gloomy and spitting rain at me all day making the day seem worse than what it really was. It did truly start to let a nice cold rain fall on me and chilling me to the bone late in the afternoon. After the long switchback hike out of Fontana we ridge floated, from ridge to ridge. We caught back up to the 10 Sobo's s some of them took went into town and had too much to drink. They were talking about doing 32 miles to catch back up to the rest of their group but ended up pulling up short and staying at the same shelter us. I found my legs wanting to crumble beneath me today when I was hiking up and over Checotah Bald. The hike up the bald had long switchbacks in the beginning then went straight up in the end. I guess they figured if the switchbacks weren¢t going to kill them then the straight up will, and if they still survive that then at the top we won¢t mark anything and have tons of other side trails everywhere so they can get lost. Thank You trail maintainers, I luckily made it through all the obstacles and arrived at the shelter before dark. I was standing at the shelter just talking when I realized I was cold and wasn't being productive to fix it so, I made the commit "why am I standing here cold when I can change and get warm." One of the other SoBo's said back "True I should put on more close." Please note that we all are soaked from head to toe in freezing cold rain water. "No, I mean I¢m changing out of everything in dry close." I said... He just looked at me and went "OOO, I don't have enough close to do that." Why would you not carry enough close with you so you can put something dry on at night to stay warm? I also surprised them when I made my normally commit "Changing, if you don't want a view don't look." Most thru hikers are polite enough to just look away until you are done, I guess they women in their group just go out in the rain to change. It was easier to interact with the SoBo's tonight as there were fewer of them and closer corridors. They also didn't stay up late nor woke up to early!!!"When you don't want to hike, put your head down and walk."
Date: 2011-11-16
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: NOC!
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: moderate rain

Well...it's pouring down rain, I used to like hiking in the rain as it was refreshing and different. I can say though right now I¢m feeling that same love as it is cold, on the bright side though is that I will be getting off at the NOC and meeting Hopeful who will be taking us back to his house for the night. I decided to wear my pj's out in the rain today while hiking as I knew that I was getting out and it didn't matter if it got wet. The hike out today was pretty nice; we walked the ridge all the way over to the NOC center then had a steep drop down to it and across the river. Right when we emerged from to woods to cross the river I heard the well known MARCO echo through the wind. It is always great to hear a team Yardsale member¢s voice! When we got to the store the large group of SoBo's looked at us in amazement/ confuse-ment from our team call. I guess that is one thing different between NoBo's and SoBo's, but like always hike your own hike.
Date: 2011-11-29
From: NOC!

To: Wesser Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: light snow

I enjoyed my time off at home for the wedding and Thanksgiving. When I was home I went out and did a day and a half hike, I was stupid enough to not put a cap on my miles nor speed of the miles when hiking these 2 days. I ended up doing 28 miles in 9 hours; I ended up over using the mussels and ligaments that connects my leg to the hip. In the morning I found myself in extreme pain and barely able to walk but like always my stubbornness got in the way and I still like 15 miles before 1pm. We started back off from the NOC in rain once again...fun fun¢¦ but half way up the climb I found myself hiking in snow! By the time the hike was over there was 3 inches of snow on the ground The hike today was a little bit dangerous today was there was drop offs with bad erosion, I felt like if I stepped on the wrong spot I would be sliding down hill with very little stuff to stop myself on. With the snow on the ground I knew it was going to be a cold night, great for sleep but bad when you have to wake up in the morning. When I went to unpack my backpack in the shelter I found a pack of Idaho mash potatoes in my pack. THANKS HOPEFUL! He sneaked it in my pack right before he brought I headed out to the trail. "When you don't want to hike, put your head down and walk...music also helps."
Date: 2011-11-30
From: Wesser Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Gotta love sleeping in on a cold morning. I had a very unpleasant experience walking to the privy this morning as I was wearing my flip-flops in 3 inches of snow...talk about COLD! I had some great views today, and got to climb two towers today for 360 views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The trail today had a lot of deadfall today which allowed me to do some trail dances over under and through some of the trees. It provided a real difficulty with the stress injury in my mussel and ligament, as I get a stabbing pain when I try to bend my knee in a 90 degree. I got to entertain myself with animal tracks in the snow. I got to see coyote, fox, grouse, deer and bird tracks in the snow. Natedog informed me that there was a coyote following me until I crossed the road out of his territory. He could tell by the tracks over my tracks and its marking the territory.
Date: 2011-12-01
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Ok, I admit it...although I hate hiking in the snow with non waterproof boots; I do love the quietness of it all. You can hear the random echoing noise of the trains¢ miles away or the sound of a handy worker using a saw at the bottom of the mountain. In the winter all the noise you normally would never hear in the other seasons you could hear as there are no leaves on the trees to muffle the sound and the snow allows it to echo for miles. The snow on the ground also entertains the mind from just taking on step at a time but instead you get to see what was there before you. I luckily there was no other hikers in front of me and I was the first person to make human prints. It was pretty cool that the snow has been on the ground for three days now and I was the first human to walk there, thinking I¢m hiking on the east coast which is the most populated part of the United States. I got to the road that headed into Franklin, NC and just ended up sitting there for an hour debating in my head if I really wanted to hike the trail or just say I¢m done and head home. The view from the road was also gorgeous as there were rocks cliffs on both sides on the road 30ft from where I was sitting and they were covered in ice and snow. The sun was shining between it making the ice shimmer upon all the cars driving past. I had a UPS Truck drive up the road and pulled over to where I was sitting to let cars pass him. I figured after the cars pass he would drive again but he ended up chilling there for awhile. He walked over to his door and made the comment on how I must be really cold; I just said that I had enough layers on that I was warm. It kind of creeper me out that he was still sitting there for one reason or another so I decided that I should get up and keep hiking. I started up the other side of the mountain but just couldn't find motivation to go and ended up taking a seat in the snow. I could say the only thing that kept me from turning around and heading for town would be the fact that I was only 2 days away from my last trail town and that I had care packages there waiting for me. So on the pack went, in went the music, and on I persevered. "There is always going to be good days, bad days, funny days, and sad days. The question is can you preserver through them?"
Date: 2011-12-02
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Plumorchard shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: few clouds

I had a productive day today which made it a really good day! I spent the morning thinking about the next step/ steps in my life and realized that I am eventually going to need a collage degree to get anywhere in my life. I have to collages floating around in my mind; the number one choice is Montreat Collage in North Carolina. Montreat has the second best outdoor education degree in the United States; it is a four year program with very few indoor classes. The only problem is that I will not be able to afford it unless I get scholarships and grants (don't want to do loans as my career choice wouldn't pay them off in a timely manner.) To actually get accepted and get the money I need to attend this collage is all up to God. (I did apply and recently.) The other Collage is Colorado Mountain Collage which has the number 1 outdoor education degree and is a 2 year program and you would already liberal arts degree (2 year of community college.) This collage is half the price of Montreat which makes it more in my ball game; I just don't feel the same call to it as I do Montreat. But God always has a plan and all I can do is trust him and ride the roller coaster. I turned on my radio later in the morning and was jamming out to country music and a little bit of Christmas music while hiking down the trail. For some reason music always brightens my day even if I don't know the song. I got to see one guy this morning that was out doing a loop trail day hike. It kind of through me for a loop to see someone at all (decided Natedog) but I stopped for a short bit and talked but he didn't seem as excited to see other people in the woods as me so I moved on. When you haven't seen anyone for 5 days besides the person your hiking with it kind of gets exciting...but freaks them out. The other thing that brightened my day today was that I entered into my last state on the trail...GEORGIA!!! Everyone always told the Georgia is hard and pointless; let¢s see what the big fuss is all about. At the shelter I got to talk to Hopeful on the phone for a little bit, which is always nice But even better was that when I was talking on the phone with another one of my friends I heard a pack of Coyotes making calling from the ridge over. I also heard a barn owl...WHO COOKS FOR YOU....WHO COOKS FOR YOU...Is all you hear, if you ever hear one. "Listen, as you may never know what you hear."