morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-12-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy Holidays to everyone! Got a call from City Slicker, who is spending the today (Christmas) and tomorrow with Rob Bird at his new place, along with one or two other hikers. Rob picked him up near Erwin and they stopped at a grocery store so City could get fixins for a home cooked meal, which according to Rob was the first one he'd had for Christmas in a bit. Ham, potatoes, casserole and green vegetables! Hooray for real food in a real oven at a real house! Rob always goes above and beyond, and City Slicker is a pretty good cook to boot, so I know they are having a blast. Talked with both for a few minutes, let them know how I was recovering and hearing the latest in trail news - rain, windy and cold - though City Slicker wants MORE in the way of snow. Silly crazy man from Boston that he is, he wants some "real" weather for the Smokies. Sending him a nice big package of cookies, sweets and treats for Hot Springs tomorrow, because he's still hiking and I'm not. Hearing about the fun going on out there makes me wish I was still going (easy to say from the heated room I'm in currently I know).In the last 48 hours I've gained more support from my family and friends for going back out than I ever thought possible. The people who were naysayers and doubters the first time around seem to be throwing more support to me than many of those who were in cahoots for the first hike. This turnabout I think stems from the fact that I'm not nearly solvent enough to do this again so soon. It's not that I don't care about the money, I do, but I've learned that money only gets you so much. If you wait for some imaginary moment in your life to go out and do amazing things, see places and be with people, you may wake up one morning and find that you have missed all kinds of things. After coming back in November I decided I wasn't going to let that happen to me, in any shape because up to my hike I'd followed "the plan" (with a few bumps) and never really found any fulfillment in it. Well here are my achievements, my aspirations and my sense of adventure. I'm going back to not only finish, but go north again. After that, who knows where I'll end up at, what I'll end up doing or being. But whatever it'll be, it will be mine.So in the meantime, I heal, I dream and I search for a new pack courtesy of the EMS gift money I recieved. Light packs equals happy hikers!
Date: 2013-01-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Welcome to 2013! WheeeeeeeThat wheeee? That was me falling down the stairs. Whoops.Came back from a job today, kicked my shoes off and was making my way to the shower when all of a sudden; foot cramp AND a leg cramp, all at the same time! Connected? Perhaps. What resulted was me going straight down the last 6 stairs. WheeeeeeeeIn reality there was a little more in the way of terrible language, yelling and about 5 minutes of laying on my back on the floor going "ow". But nothing appears to be broken, just bruised, like my ego, but this is the first time in about 2 weeks where I felt any major pain/cramp in my legs. I was doing so well! In other news, went out to REI a few days ago, looked at some new packs, none of which I liked. Of course there wasn't a single granite gear there, pretty much all Osprey, Gregory and REI brand. I had a great talk with a future AT hiker for 2013 who was there looking at packs though, and gave him personal "I can't stand the osprey" moments, along with the worthwhile "As light as possible" advice. City Slicker hit Hot Springs yesterday and called me, he's crawling along but should be done soon, which is good. It still amazes me that he flip flopped this year and went south from Hanover, and I got to see him again in NY. Almost as amazing as how long he's been out there hiking every summer(9 years is a little insane). I wish I could get up to Springer when he starts this year, but I figure I'll catch him for Trail Days.That being said, look for the crazy guy cooking Irish dinner on St. Pattys on top of Springer! Because that's City Slicker
Date: 2013-01-12
To: Shenandoah
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

So on the advice of a few people I looked into several local hiking groups in order to get out on the Trail with others. Having other people to hike with is a good thing right now, just in case I fall and bust myself up. It's also nice to talk to people who kinda get it. Anyway, went out with the group to Shenandoah and did a nice 16 mile loop. Beautiful day, warm (60s) sunny and there was even still snow and ice on the ground in places! Wait what? It was surprising how warm it was actually, I quickly went down to t-shirt and debated shorts for awhile. Got to see a real interesting Columnar Jointing on the hike which I'd never even know was there. Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in the hike that we don't notice the things a little off the trail. A Nobo I met in Maine said he refused to go more then .2 off the trail for anything anymore. It meant he missed out on some interesting sights and views. The take away I think is that sometimes you need to stop worrying about miles and look up from your shoes to see the beauty passing you by.Now I'm going to go rub some biofreeze onto my right leg which feels awful.
Date: 2013-01-16
To: On rain, Trail Names and carving
Miles today: 0.0

I wasn't really planning on writing today, since it seems silly to update constantly before I'm back on the trail, but since I got a call from City Slicka last night it seemed appropriate. If you're on the East Coast then you know just by looking out your window that it's been WET. Rain takes on a whole different meaning on the trail; when you're home you can just go and change your clothes, but your wet stuff in a dryer etc. When you're hiking no matter what you do, your wet stuff stays wet."Oh but Doc, I'll just hang it up in the shelter at night, it'll dry out!" Ha! Good luck - the air has just as much moisture as your clothes do, depending on where you are it might even have more. You could try sleeping with your wet clothes in your bag, but then you'll end up with wet bag too! The solution? There isn't one - just slap your wet stuff back on in the morning and hike through the river that was the trail, because baby, that's the easiest way to do it. Next on my rambling mind is the "uproar" that poor Rifle received for carving his name into a shelter (and then posting it on TJ). One of the ubiquitous items on the trail is people's names - grafiti inside of shelters and the like. Sometimes it's hikers (both thru and day), boy scouts, drunks etc. You'll hear arguements from both sides about the how, why and why shouldn't. People tend to make a big deal about this because they see it as disrespectful of those who worked on the shelters.Have no fear, Dr. Spice is here with a solution! I think that if you want to carve your name on the walls, write on them etc, then you are required to donate two hours worth of trail maintenance time for every tag. Think of all the bog bridging we could get done! But in all seriousness, it is illegal and I know that in 2012 there were three people that got a nice hefty fine from the Park Service for graffiti in shelters (hint - you're giving them your name!)Lastly today - Trail NamesI know everyone is anxious to get a trail name and 'belong' to the club, and many people come up with their own - but don't. Any trail name you give yourself now isn't going to be worth it later. Your name becomes you, and as "in touch" as you think you are with yourself, you don't really know what you're like on the trail yet. Trail names arise from situations, from personality and from experiences. You'll get one very quickly at the start, so don't rush it. A trail name is something you should be able to look back on later and say "yes, they did know me". Not everyone agrees with that sentiment, nor will they agree with me, and that's fine. HYOH is the most important part of the AT.Stay dry!
Date: 2013-02-08
To: It's good to be loved
Miles today: 0.0

It always amazes me how people will find you on Trailjournals, intentionally or unintentionally, as well as the people you'll meet and learn so much about before you even leave.It's February which means It's time to nail down my actual departure date and commit to this. It's weird for me this time because it feels like I'm doing both more and less planning for this hike then the last one, and my feelings for it are different. Trying to put it in words is hard because I'm not even sure what I'm feeling. I guess this is escapism at it's finest - walk away from everything in order to be the person you want to be. In this case - dirty hiker trash for awhile longer.Luckily, with valentines day around the corner, southwest and jetblue both have/had airline ticket sales and I found that I can snag a $60 flight from Richmond, VA to Atlanta, GA. So it looks like I get to see all my Richmond crew before I leave again which makes me absurdly happy.My leg and knee feels 100%, which is good news. It's weird though because my dad and his girlfriend both keep saying they are seeing me limp when I walk - I don't feel any pain and/or don't notice the limp, but it's sparked the push for me to go see another doctor. Who knows. I'm looking forward to reading the journals of those people who are heading out soon/out now, I get to live all kinds of vicariously through them before I leave again.Shout out to Lighthouse! Amazing to hear from you and good luck this year!
Date: 2013-02-26
To: Rule #7
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Rule #7: Ignore anyone's negativity unless they are giving away free food.Exciting times in the world of hikers. More and more are starting out on their hike, even though it is still cold down there in Georgia. More power to them, but I'll wait another month and a half until it gets warmer.In other news, sent my pack's belt for an exchange - I am neither a woman nor a size large, so I should see a new belt (male, medium) from Granite Gear sometime in the next few weeks. Granite Gear makes wonderful packs and I'm extraordinarily happy with my AC Blaze.Got a new pair of trail runners last week thanks to a gift card to the local running store from a friend. They only carried Brooks Cascadias (and of course, only in bright blue) but they did have my hiking size and they are wonderfully comfortable. Brooks is another company I happen to love, I wore their shoes for years when I ran Cross Country and Track when I was younger, and have always found them to be very cushy and tough. Hopefully these trail runners will stand up to the rigors of the trail. Who knows, maybe I'll finally become a convert to trail runners. I think I'll probably start out with the boots I have now and go as far as I can on them and then swap out for the trail runners once the boots die a terrible death. A friend of mine asked me over the weekend if I had any sponsors for this hike and I replied in the negative. He suggested I contact Google and see if they wanted to sponsor someone to do a street-view of the Appalachian Trail for Google Maps. As amazing as that sounds, I don't know if I'd want to carry around that much expensive (and heavy) camera equipment while hiking.But wouldn't it be nice to be able to drag the little yellow guy onto the Appalachian Trail?
Date: 2013-03-11
To: Rule #23
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rule #23: Check in with home often. They like to send you goodies.50 TrailJournal hikers starting this week! The numbers in March always blow my mind a little. For me, it's still a little to cold to willingly start - why would I want to go out and freeze for two weeks when I can not freeze and still make good time. Oh April, you can't get here fast enough.Went out on this beautiful weekend in VA, did a nice 8 mile stroll in the neighborhood. Ended up going off the trails here and wandered in the woods which was a nice change of pace. It's amusing to see the faces of people walking their dogs when you suddenly emerge out of the woods and back on to the path. It's almost as if they can't believe anyone would deviate from the path. That is what thruhikers do I think - we deviate from the path. We go out on an adventure that is so far removed from the everyday that most people just can't comprehend it fully. Sometimes I feel that when I'm talking about why I'm out hiking, it would be easier to describe a sunrise to a blind man.I'm ready to go. Can it be April yet?
Date: 2013-03-22
To: Rule #11
Miles today: 0.0

Rule #11 - When hitching, stick your thumb out and smile. Make people want to pick you up. Maybe do a little dance, unless you're terrible at dancingGetting down to the wire! Yesterday I got the final piece of the puzzle nailed down, my ride to the trail head at Amicalola. A friend from college who I didn't know lived in Atlanta and I talked, and he said he'd be thrilled to take me up there when I get into town. First trail magic of the year thanks to Cody. I love when things like this happen - it helps to reaffirm my faith in humanity.So all that's really left is a ride down there. I talked to another friend who offered to take me with her when she leaves April 6-7th to Augusta, and I could pickup a bus/train into Atlanta from there. Or I could wait another week or so and hope for a Craigslist Rideshare into Atlanta. Luckily I'm pretty flexible about the actual ride, so I'm not too worried, not like I was about getting to the trail head.I've been getting everything else together though; my pack is set, equipment is ready to go, I've started putting the rest of my life back into boxes this week as well. It still amazes me how we as people can accumulate so much stuff. Things still left to do:3-4 food drops for places in the South with expensive stuffShop for food for the first few daysPack everything up at home before I leaveFigure out what spices I'm taking with me this time (and a new spice container)It's getting so close I can smell it. Actually what I'm smelling is the double bacon cheeseburger I'm cooking. Seems only fitting to eat something like that while I watch my College go to town during March Madness!
Date: 2013-04-04
To: Rule #6
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Rule #6 - Never turn free things downIn this episode, Doc Spice gets his ride nailed down to Atlanta, freaks out a little bit regarding his prep and realizes that it's all gravy.No seriously though. I got a response about an hour ago from my Craigslist Rideshare posting from a wonderful person who is willing to take me to Atlanta. Sunday April 7th is a little closer than I expected, but hey! I'll take it! Free and cheap are the best prices all around. In between here and Sunday though I've gotta get the rest of my life together. That means packing everything up into my pack and cleaning/packing in the area where I've been living. Finishing the last minute projects and getting a maildrop or two together before I ship out. Since the ride is leaving from Richmond, I'm going to ride with another friend of mine down there, see the last of the folks in RVA before I head out on Sunday. Maybe I'll even convince someone to mohawk my hair on saturday! Excited! Ready! Thrilled! (Spring hurry up and make it warm in GA already!)
Date: 2013-04-11
From: Amicalola state park

To: stover creek shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Rolled out of Atlanta and made it to the falls at around noon. Cody saw me off and I thanked him for the wonderful stay. Its so good to have good friends. Beautiful day out. 75 80 or so. The park was beautiful and the falls magnificent. I'll tell you what though. Stairs suck. Each and every one was screaming "you're out of shape you moron'. But once I hit the top it got easier. Georgia is a nice state so far. Great trails with nice wide cleared paths. A lot easier than Maine was. Passed the section that had the controlled burn from last year. New growth already popping its head up.On top of Springer I signed my name and then spent a time looking through the finishes of Sobos from '12. So many names and people I remember. I teared up reading their last entries. They all did it and did it well. It means something. Sometimes it means even more later on, accomplishing something this grandiose.It made me happy to see them all having finished. More than almost anything else before
Date: 2013-04-12
From: stover creek shelter

To: woody gap
Miles today: 18.0

Great storm last night. It rolled in around 2am and really shook the place up. Got a great start and banged out 10 miles by 1pm. It felt so great to be moving. Hit hawk mountain for 2nd lunch and found some yeehaw shooting a BB gun that someone had left. It would have been great fun but he'd decided to shoot it down the blue blaze trail that lead to the shelter. "Oh I saw you and stopped" shooting. Well what if you hadnt.... these noble haven't been impressing me much yet. Maybe me standards are too high because I'm comparing them to Sobos that I knew.Speaking of Sobos! I met the last two! Uhaul and his buddy whose name I can't remember to save the life of me were eating dinner at woody gap when in hit in. They were going to night hike 10 miles or so in order to make springer and meet their folks tomorrow. They started august 14 and took 64 zero days and were thrilled to be finishing. We reminisced a bit about the places up north we missed and how there was no way we ere as bad starting out as this years noble. Call us elitist bit Sobos are a different breed. Wonderful day though. It felt good to be moving as fast as I was and even more so to still have light at the end of the day. I just looked up at the stars and remebres again why I love this all so very very much. Its a freeing and wonderful experience. You get to be yourself and love and hate you for only you. Your decisions have an instantaneous impact for better or worse and its your fault. Responsibility and its finest and most basic.Somehow thoughb I have 4g wireless in the middle of the woods. Oh the modern world
Date: 2013-04-13
From: woody gap

To: swaim gap
Miles today: 13.4

Windy windy night. Had my hammock pitched the wrong way and spent half the night swinging away. Its a good thing I don't get sea sick... once I got up though it was time for blood mountain and then neels gap. Blood was an interesting climb and a wonderful view. Plenty of people up there because it was the weekend. I do wish it had been above the tree line but I guess you cant have everything. Made it down and off into neels gap and rewarded myself with a pair of hotdogs and two Oreo ice cream bars. Yummy. Met some other noble who told me they were camping at swain that night. After sending home the nonfunctional camera I set off at a moseying pace. When I made it into camp I found not only the group of nobos: chuckles, spoon, shanks, sprouts and a few others. There was also a group of weekenders there. At some point in the night one of the weekenders food bag got swipped by a bear. Poor uncle melty had his breakfast food taken. Luckily his group had enough extra food for him.
Date: 2013-04-14
From: swaim gap

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The whole crowd got up and rolled out pretty well from Swaim. Nice and relaxed set of miles up to the Blue Mountain Shelter.When we did get there, the wind started to kick up and the weather started to move in. The shelter was completely full (10) and I managed to wedge myself in between two others. The large group that was there already included Trillium, who had found my trail journal earlier in the year. It's always interesting when you meet up with people who you only know through the internet. The night was passed with dueling snorers and people getting up every 30 minutes to pee. In rotation. Thru-hiker's bladders must shrink sometime between the approach trail and the first shelter.
Date: 2013-04-15
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Rule #18 Never trust the elevation guideWe woke up to the one of my favorite things - a cloud that surrounded the shelter and campsite. You couldn't see more then a few dozen feet before the world disappeared into mist. Chuckles and Spoon decided that they were going to make it into Unicoi Gap to go into Hiawasee and stay in the Budget Inn. Sprouts and I decided to push on up to blue Mountain, and then hit Hiawasee the day after.It was a pretty middling day, but around noon the heat amped up as the sun finally burned off the clouds. This happened to be right around the time we had to climb Kelly Knob."Where did this mountain come from anyway? It didn't look nearly this bad on the map!"For some reason, whether it be from the incline, the heat or the water we were running low on, everyone was dragging going up the mountain. I can't even call it a hill because it tired me out more than Blood Mountain did. Hardly seems fair does it?But the crest brought a wonderful shelter in the form of Deep Gap, which had wonderful water. It also was a very very full shelter, with at least 2 dozen people camped out in the area around it. Which was a positive in it's own right, as it netted me an extra dinner, as a weekender decided she didn't want to eat. Yummy Chilli Mac!I also met Razor, the ridgerunner for this area. He told me he'd pulled almost 60 pounds of garbage out of the area last week, which blows my mind. How can people leave that much junk lying around and despoiling the wonderful views of nature we have out here. Pack it in, pack it out! Love yall!
Date: 2013-04-16
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: broken clouds

Rule #23 Going to town means you get real foodI don't like spending a lot of time in town if I'm not going to be there overnight. For me getting into and out of town while snagging a real mealI ended up picking up a great Reuben and some fresh fruit at the ingles. Made it a short day out of town and got a great hitch from a wonderful man visiting his son.
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Plumorchard Gap Shelter

To: Carter gap shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Rule #9 When appropriate sing. When not. Sing anyway.Big day! Was ready to rock and roll and moved out early. The first thing I got to do was cross into NC!So! North Carolina! Put your hands up. Fake your shirt off! Twist it round your head like a helicopter!The trail into NC was beautiful. Well maintained and easy to walk. I knocked out 13 miles and then found myself looking at a thunderstorm building up over the next mountain. I decided to push on in and over. About half way over the mountain the heavens started thundering. When you are standing at treetop height and the world starts shaking at you, you start to worry a little bit.About 5 minutes after that it started the slow drizzle which was followed by the pouring pelting rain. I hiked the last 5 miles on a torrential downpour that just soaked me to the bone.I made it into shelter and found the place packed. I was able to strip and put on my wonderfully clean and warm thermals. I met Genie and Brick here along with Brick's dog Mica. They would play a part in my next few days.
Date: 2013-04-18
From: Carter gap shelter

To: Franklin NC
Miles today: 15.9

Good day that ended with a split hotel room. Genie and Brick both said they'd split in on a room. Ended up making power miles into town. Beautiful terrain and even more beautiful people. Mica the dog just loved hiking up and down this section.Once we'd made it into town we showered and hit the Mexican joint. One huge serving of fajitas later we were all stuffed. it was a wonderfully delicious day all around.