morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-03
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up early today to beat the day's heat. Booger Bear, Spineli, and Wizard mentioned there were mice running around the shelter. I ate my usual oatmeal and coffee. Amazonian and Francis also woke up early. We hit the trail around 8 am, the earliest we've left yet. When summer rolls in we'll be leaving even earlier.  I got to the first shelter around 12:15. Booga, Spineli, and Wizard were already there hanging out. I took a long 2 hour lunch and stretched my legs. My heels have been hurting me now and it could be plantar fasciitis setting in. I'll need to make sure to stretch my hamstrings. I don't have the luxury of taking off a few months for it to heal. I'll be getting my chacos in Damascus. Hopefully that will help.  After the shelter I pushed another 3 miles to Hughes gap and had a chat with Theresa. She will try to come see me twice! Once in May then June. I'm excited to see her. I started the climb to Roan mountain. It's the last mountain that could have snow for the spring season. It was a gradual climb over 3 miles to ash gap. I met a few people camping in that area. There was a woman that used to work at Whole Foods corporate office in Austin. She showed me the back of her foot with a giant torn blister. She said she didn't feel a thing since she had her vertebrae fused years earlier. I showed her how to tie her boots so that her heel wouldn't slip and cause more blisters.  I left ash gap and pushed another 3 miles to the shelter. On the way there was a large clearing where a hotel once stood from the early 1900s. There was only a foundation left. When I reached the shelter the squad was there. I wouldn't be sleeping in the shelter tonight since I heard it was infested with rats. I only saw evidence of mice though. I cooked a late dinner and ate couscous and a sandwich.Tonight I'm sleeping in a dense spruce forest. It's quiet among the trees and great sleeping weather.
Date: 2018-05-04
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Doll Flats
Miles today: 14.1

This morning was really quiet in the spruce forest. You could only hear the wind blowing through the tree tops but nothing else. When packing up my bag I realized that I lost my toilet paper. I must have left it at the last shelter. Luckily Spineli and Wizard have extra. Otherwise I might be looking for leaves or using a back country bidet. My breakfast was a bit fancy today. I had avocado on bagel with Taco Bell hot sauce as well as oatmeal.  We set out around 9 am for the party barn shelter. It was a barn that was turned into a shelter that could fit 60 people in it. We descended Roan mountain to find trail magic! They were giving out chips, soda, homemade cookies, and hot dogs. Except they were still constructing the grill when we got there. From the parking lot we set out for the mountain balds. There were going to be several today with excellent views. Each bald had a different 360 view of the surrounding area. We could see for several miles in either direction.We pushed on and arrived at the party barn around 1 pm. Sometimes the care taker would bring beer, but sadly, not today. There were stories of beer being there a day ago. We all ate a large lunch and hung out for awhile. It was the heat of the day and we didn't plan on leaving until 4 pm. We would be hiking over little hump and big hump mountains after the party barn.  The climb out from the barn was straight up a bald. I was glad it was a little cooler. On the way up big bad there were several false summits. I always thought we were at the top but then realized we had to climb some more. The views were spectacular from big hump mountain. From there the trail fell apart with roots and large rocks. It all hurt my feet going down.  When we arrived at Doll Flats we saw Jeans and Slayer getting ready to pass out. I think they are trying to get up early tomorrow to beat the rain. Dragon and Yelp had a large fire already going. We did our camp chores then hung out by the fire. The conversation degraded into bodily functions by the end of the night. It was time to call it. Tonight I'll be listening for the rain.
Date: 2018-05-06
From: Roan town

To: Mountaineering Shelter
Miles today: 8.8

Last night I didn't sleep too well. We made camp around 10 pm in the dark. It wasn't so bad, I even got the bear hang on the first try. Around 3 am a storm rolled in and it poured. Then I heard metallic clinking noises. It was hail hitting the rain fly! It only lasted for 30 min but I thought it was going to tear through the tent. Luckily no major damage was done. In the morning I packed up and ate the leftover pizza that Kamikaze had bought.We started hiking around 9:30 then it started raining. It only rained for an hour then stopped. We've been lucky with the wet weather. The trail was pretty easy compared to the other sections. When there was an up it was only for 100 feet. When down, it was gradual. However, it still felt like a lot because we were tired.  We stopped for lunch at Jones falls it was one of larger waterfalls we've seen since Amicalola Falls. It seemed that it was everyone's idea to eat lunch there. The area was cooler from all the mist coming off the rocks. From the waterfall, it was another 4 miles to the shelter. When we arrived Wolfman was already there. Grandpa showed up and built a raging fire in 5 minutes. He's 65 and has been hiking the trail for 7 years. It seemed he had energy of a 20 year old. Using trees as leverage he was snapping branches the thickness of my legs with ease. Sketch is another character who has 6000 miles of hiking on the AT. He's in his 50s but looks older than Grandpa. He's been smoking for 35 years and has had a few strokes on the trail this year.  He was having some kind of episode today but he just needed his Coke and cigarette. His plan is to die on the trail with a beer and cigarette in hand. I feel sorry for anyone who comes apon his corpse on the trail. Plus someone will need to come and pack out his body.  On the lighter side Chuckles was climbing a laurel to hang a beer bag. The laurel started falling over. We were watching in slow motion as he hit the ground. He was ok and it was pretty funny. The talk around the fire degraded to poop talk as it always does. Someone described all the different ways you can squat when doing your business. The girls displayed the buddy system where you are back to back or you hold hands and make deep eye contact. I knew at this point it was time to go to bed.The shelter tonight is completely full but I'm happy that there's no really loud snorers.
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Mountaineering Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 15.9

I woke up in the shelter today well rested. Everyone had started packing up around 6:30. We laid around until 7 am.  I ate a chocolate pop tart for breakfast and drank cold instant coffee.  I was too lazy to heat up water. As the mothra squad headed out we saw Kamikaze, Theo, Poncho, Bandito, and Scissors.  Theo made sure to visit each one of us. We chatted for a bit then headed out. It was going to be a 16 mile day.The trail today was really easy. There were not any real hard climbs. On the side of the trail I saw dead morel mushrooms.  They must have died a few weeks ago. There were hundreds of dead ones.  I went searching for any live ones but none could be found. I eventually caught up with Spineli, Wizard, and Booger Bear at the shelter. I ate my lunch of English muffins, spam, and cheese. Peter Pan showed up in his green hat, but he was also wearing a dress. It was the same dress that Spineli wore while doing laundry at the station hostel! She said "Hey! You're wearing my dress!". He felt very emasculated after that. We started calling him Tinker Bell instead.  After lunch I headed out for the remaining 6 miles today.  It was still gradual with those dead morels. I didn't find any live ones today. Booger bear and I came to the access road to Kincora Hostel. The hostel was ran by a veteran named Bob. He had been doing it for 23 years and also maintained this section of the trail. I grabbed two mail drops from him. One was my replacement air mattress for the one that had a bubble in it. The other was a care package from my parents. They sent me wine, liquor, deer jerky, purell, and protein bars.  It was an excellent package. Too bad we can't drink the wine yet since Kincora is a dry hostel.  We'll have to wait until tomorrow.  We all hung out in the common room and chatted with everyone. Bob did a grocery store run that Booga and I missed. Everyone came back with tasty pizzas to cook. Luckily Sketch and his crew made burgers, goolash, and boiled veggies.  It we better than the pasta sides we were going to make. Two Crows busted out ice cream and I devoured a bowl. The door to the common room needed to remain closed since there were 11 cats at the hostel. There was only 1 cat allowed inside. Bob told us a story about a girl named Hyper who hiked in 1999. She was the most fit hiker he had ever seen. It turns out she was a bronze gold medalist for downhill skiing. We hung out in the common room until 10 pm. It was late.Tonight I'm sleeping in a tiny bed with my feet hanging over the edge. There is an orange cat running underneath the beds. Hopefully he doesn't claw at my feet.
Date: 2018-05-09
From: Boots Off Hostel

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up around 7 this morning.  No matter what time I go to bed I'll wake up early. I decided to take a zero day today and play on Watauga lake. The hostel provided a free breakfast of donuts, cereal, and coffee. Spineli, Wizard, and Booger Bear wanted to take a zero in Damascus. They headed out around 9 am and I hung around the hostel lounging. We learned that the hostel didn't have a morning shuttle into town. Luckily a food truck shows up at noon everyday. I got a fried green tomato blt from the truck. It wasn't bad.  They loaded up the SUV with the kayaks and paddle boards. We went out to Watauga lake and got in. I almost fell into the water trying to get into my Kayak. Luckily Chill held the kayak in place so I could get in. On the lake there was a small island with herons nesting. They had made the whole island their nesting ground. Chuckles decided to stand on his kayak and he toppled into the water. It was pretty funny since the water was freezing. We could see where we'd be hiking tomorrow from the lake. It didn't seem like that crazy of a climb. We paddled over to the beach area where we met up with Kamikaze and Poncho. It felt great to jump in the water when we got there. Chill, Chuckles, Pumpkin Spice, and Scissors all started paddle board wars on the water. Chill was really good at staying on his board. Then they got into yoga wars. Scissors tried to do a happy baby but ended up rolling right off the board into the water. While hanging out, we saw Yelp, Dragon, Amazonian, and Francis show up. Dragon busted out his frisbee and threw it around. Theo joined the game except he would carry the frisbee all the way to the other side of the beach were Kamikaze was hanging out. We eventually packed up our stuff and headed back to the hostel. We made another dinner food run and it was a lot more tame than yesterday.  I hung out in the common area eating a Subway sandwich with all the veggies and cooked a digorno pizza to pack out for tomorrow. I met Ghost and Metric who kept talking about themselves and how many miles they were doing. Lorax was there also but she seemed half heartly in the conversation. Ghost got his name because he would sneak up behind people on the trail. Metric got his name because he told someone that their pack was a metric shit ton. They were not really fun to talk to. I talked to Caveman for a bit. He and his girlfriend have been doing work for stays at different hostels in the area. I remembered him from standing bear. He was wearing the exact same clothes as last time. It was close to midnight by this time and I was ready for bed.  Tonight I'm sleeping in my tent at a downward agle. It's not so bad.
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Watauga Lake

To: Campsite past Vandeventer shelter
Miles today: 12.9

Today I woke up to find a tick crawling towards my tent. They are everywhere down here. I'm not sure what is causing them to spread. I flicked them off the rain fly. I was packing my up my sleeping bag when it started to rain. If I was 15 min earlier I could have had my tent packed up before the rain. The rain stopped but I was left with a wet rain fly. I didn't really feel hungry this morning because I ate a footlong Subway sandwich and some pizza the night before. I just had coffee and a banana for lunch.  We headed out around 10:15 to start our hike. The hike from Boots Off Hostel led directly to the lake. At the lake beach there was trail magic! I made room for a homemade donut and some capri sun. The person doing trail magic had thru hiked the previous year. From the beach the trail fallowed the lake for a few miles. People were out fishing and they didn't say anything to us. They probably didn't want us to scare the fish away. We passed the closed Watauga Lake Shelter. It has been closed due to aggressive bear activity since 2016. A few miles from there we took a break at the Watauga dam. It had a great view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. From there it was a climb up an access road then more climbing over 5 miles. Towns are always in the valleys and there's always a climb out. It worse because we always had a full bag of food and supplies. After the huge climb we stopped at Vandeventer shelter. It had a view of the valley from a cliff. I drank my packed out 20 oz beer and pizza. I also ate 3 receeses cups, Snickers, and some cheez its. I talked to Scissors about her job as a Operating room tech. She said during operations people would have conversations about anything from the weather to drama at work. The only time people would stop talking if the surgeon was having a difficult time with a procedure. Bandito also worked in a hospital as a person who records the doctors diagnosis with notes at the hospital.  After lunch, I felt super tired but we pushed another 4 miles to a campsite. It looked like it was going to rain, there was even a few drops coming down. Suddenly, the clouds opened and it was blue and sunny again. Backcountry weather is mysterious sometimes. We made it to the campsite around 6 pm. I made camp and ate a dinner of 4 cheese mashed potatoes and buffalo sauce tuna. It wasn't that bad. I shared my dad's venison jerky with the crew around the fire. The snack pack crew also had smores for dessert. Theo ate one without chocolate as well. We called it a night around hiker midnight.Tonight I'm cozy in my tent. The weather is calm and clear. It's going to be a good night.
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Damascus Virginia

To: Woodchuck hostel
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up this morning with the dew on my sleeping bag. Luckily it was going to be a clear day so I hung up my sleeping bag to dry. The hostel provided us a breakfast of eggs, blueberry waffles, potatoes, and coffee. It was the best hostel breakfast I had ever had. It really hit the spot.  We lounged lounged around the hostel for awhile then headed to Mojo's for lunch. The cafe had great coffee and sandwichs. I ran into Pippen and Honey legs there. Pippen and I talked about fixing bikes. I mentioned my volunteering at bike co-ops.Outside a woman sat down with us who had been fallowing Kamikaze though Facebook. She had issues with boyfriend Kevin and his opiate abuse. We could all relate to her since we know of someone who has gone through it or has lost someone to it. Most times an addict is trying to fill a void with drugs.  It could be from lack of love and acceptance from family members. It seems that there is a common story between people with addiction problems. The important thing though is to always show love for that person no matter what. When the love is lost it will be harder for that person to recover.We headed back to the hostel and stopped by the two outfitters on the way. I was looking for a new sleeping bag for the summer but didn't find any that fit me fine. We then headed to the hostel, picked up Rolly Pollly, and headed to the old mill for dinner. It was right on the river front. Both Kamikaze and Rolly Polly had their dogs. They wouldn't let us sit on the patio but down on the grass by the river. We didn't mind one bit! We ate fried green tomatoes, trout dip, salmon cake, and vegetables for dinner.  Stealth came over and gave us a half of bottle of wine that his group couldn't finish. Kamikaze and I gladly finished it off.  We headed back to the hostel to find Amazonian, Francis, Feathers, and Spider at the hostel. They had left earlier in the day on the trail but were back. Apparently they ran into a creeper on the Virginia Creeper trail about 4 miles out of Damascus. The man they met said he was a triple crowner and that his name was Raven. It took him a while to give his name as if he was going though an internal rolodex of names. His name was Raven because at 11 years old he did his first thru hike with a pet raven that perched on his hiking stick. The other strange thing is that he knew Feathers' name without even meeting her before. He must of found it from her YouTube channel. Raven would fallow them closely and stop when they stopped. He couldn't judge distance and kept rolling his ankles on roots. It didn't seem that his story lined up. The group got to an access road and hitched back to Damascus. They said that Raven disappeared into the woods. I hope we don't run into him tomorrow.Tonight I'm cowboy camping again under the stars. Theo is at guard between Scissors and Kamikaze on the lawn. He's going to be like that all night on the lookout for Raven.
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Woodchuck hostel

To: Luther Hassinger Campsite
Miles today: 14.4

I woke up on the lawn with my sleeping bag a little wet from the dew on the lawn. I put it up on the hammock platform to dry out. The hostel crew made another batch of blueberry waffle pancakes. I was only able to eat one plate this time though. Amazonian and Francis were getting ready to head out again. Francis blew out the front of his shoes with only 300 miles on them. They were going to stop by the outfitters in town to get some new ones. Chuckles woke up with a serious stomach ache and felt awful. Out here we always think it's noravirus, but I think this was something else. He ended up staying in the town over in a hotel to recover. Scissors, Kamikaze, and I packed our packs and headed out. We said goodbye to Chuck and Glen the two people running the hostel.We walked though town and caught up with Amazonian and Francis at the outfitters. Chuck offered them a ride back to where they got off the trail. Scissors, Kamikaze, and I stopped at Mojo's for a coffee pick up. From there we walked out of town.Usually the climb out of town is the worst but today it was a lot better. I had shaved down some winter weight and was now hiking in chacos. The chacos allowed my feet to keep cool and the thick sole helped my feet with fatigue. The new challenge is to not stub my toes on roots and rocks. The air was already hot by 9:30 am. It was only getting hotter and was supposed to be 89 today. Luckily there were more water sources than rolling into Damascus. By noon, I was pouring in sweat. We talked about getting up earlier to hike when it's cool, however, we always sleep in. I know when it hits full summer, I'll need to start waking up really early to beat the heat. Kamikaze and I ate lunch a little before the first shelter. The heat really didn't help me put down my tuna n tortilla. I kept thinking of rotting fish.  We hiked another 4 miles to a camp spot near the river. On the way we ran into Spider, Stealth, and Feathers hanging out at a natural beach in the river. Spider and Feathers had been hanging out there since 11:30 am and it was 5:30 now. The spot was open to sunlight and had a large group of yellow butterflies that stayed in the area. Feathers put out a super cube and 20 butterflies descended to them. She had some really close shots. Scissors and I decided we'd come back to this spot to swim. We caught up with Kamikaze at the bridge and told her about the beach. We setup camp then headed back for a swim. The water was a little cold but felt great after that sweltering hike. I was able to perch on a slanted rock on the other side of the river while butterflies flew all around me. Theo played fetch in the river for an hour like a kid with limitless energy. Everytime he came out of the river he made sure to shake off on us then roll in sand and shake off some more. He made shure that we all stayed just as wet and sandy as him. I cooked my dinner of mashed potatoes and tuna on the beach. We hung out until hiker midnight then walked back in the dark to our tents.Tonight I can hear the river close by and thinking about taking another dip in the morning.
Date: 2018-05-15
From: Luther Hassinger Campsite

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.1

This morning I woke up early to sounds of the river. The weather was cool and not to muggy from the day before. I put my tent together and ate an oatmeal packet that Theresa made me. It was super filling. Scissors and Kamikaze woke up a little later. Around 9 am, I heard Pumpkin Spice's voice from the bridge. The crew had camped about a half mile back. Theo was super excited to see him. He jumped on Pumpkin Spice and wined with joy. Poncho, Bandito, Chill, and Pumpkin Spice headed out. I stretched and waited for Kamikaze and Scissors.  The trail fallowed the river for sometime. After about two miles, I arrived at a shelter. A couple of section hikers informed me that there was aggressive bear activity at the place we were planning to camp tonight. They had managed to pull down 5 food bags by snapping branches. The trees in the area are only 15 feet tall and the branches are pretty short. I hiked out from there and found Scissors and Kamikaze taking a break. I told them about the bear situation. We decided to camp two miles from that area in deep gap. In another mile was the climb of the day. It was a 2000 foot climb over 3 miles. It wasn't tough at the beginning but after an hour ascent I needed a break. Spider passed me but I found him near the bald waiting for Feathers. He setup his rain fly to wait for her because it sounded like it was going to rain. You could hear thunder in the distance. Scissors and I pushed on over the bald. We had lunch on some rocks and watched the rain come in. It wasn't the best sitting place since we saw lightning then a sudden boom after it. It was really close and we were exposed on rocks. I rushed back down there trail to the tree line. A guy going south bound wanted to talk to me in the middle of the field. I just flew past him since I didn't want to get hit by lightning. This section of the trail was covered with little white flowers all over the place. Bumble bees were buzzing away as thunder pounded in the distance.  We pushed onto deep gap. The rain picked up but it wasn't pouring yet. We made it to the site. It had great bear bag trees and lots of flat area. I made camp and ate a tasty meal of pasta with powdered cheese. I made sure not to eat too much candy before hiker midnight. That didn't do too well with me last time.Tonight the wind is slightly blowing. There's thunder in the distance. We might get some rain tonight. We'll be seeing ponies tomorrow!