morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-04-18
From: Rich Mountain camping area

To:  Jones Meadow camping area
Miles today: 13.5

Got going much earlier than normal. Not sure if I'm getting more efficient or just getting up earlier. "Thimble" and I have been adding butter to many of our dishes to get the extra calories. The shorts that I wear while hiking were slightly tight when I started but now a belt is required to prevent embarrassing moments. So I'm trying to increase my calorie intake to keep up with the demands of hiking. If my sisters worried about my weight when I was a competitive cyclist, they'll really worry after I finish the trail! So the prescription is butter as often as possible. BTW, it also makes everything taste great.After that breakfast, we took off down the trail toward a road crossing called Allen Gap. This is a significant milestone because this is where I get into the part of the trail that I have never done before. Up to that point, I could tell my fellow hikers what was good and bad about trail. Now, my only knowledge of the trail comes from the guidebook.When we got to Allen Gap, we saw a note about trail magic at a house not far from the trail. It was a short trip down the road with a bit of a climb up the driveway. When we arrived, their were 5 other hikers there already enjoying all sorts of tasty treats. The house is owned by a fellow hiker named Hercules and his wife. They open their door to hikers and fed them. First item was a Belgium waffle, followed by a bowl of soup and topped off with a dessert of our choice. "Thimble" and I both latched on to the banana split. After spending some time with them, we headed down the trail with a gait that resembled more of a waddle than a walk. The rest of the hike was more mundane than normal except for the wildlife that we saw. The groundhog was pretty much the same as what we see around home. I had to chuckle at it because it tried to climb a tree to avoid us. The new wildlife, for us, was a snake. I'm not sure what it was. It had a dark gray body with yellow stripes.We got to the camping area around 5 feeling pretty good. After doing all of the normal camp setup, eating dinner and cleaning up, we played cards to pass the time. Reflecting back on today, I realized how blessed we were. Temperatures were in the low to mid 70's, Hercules and his wife fed us and we got to see wildlife that we haven't seen before. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Date: 2011-04-19
From:  Jones Meadow camping area

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Well this was an interesting day to day the least. We got up, did the usual morning routine and got going. The first big event was the overlook called Firescald Knob. From this overlook, one can see Greenville, TN. This was a relatively short hike from where we camped the night before so we got up there while the air was still clear. From there, we hiked down to the next shelter where we came across "Captain Planet", "Mojo" and "Red Stripe" getting ready to take off to their next destination. We spent a little time at the shelter talking to them then moved on. Tomorrow, I'll start hiking solo for a couple of reasons. One to give "Thimble" some time to herself and secondly, to get home a little early to take care of some things there. I believe that I'm at the point where I can do more miles than we've begin doing. The knee feels great and seems to hold up when pushed. So my plans are to get my average milage back up to 12 miles a day like I had originally planned. It has been an absolute joy to hike with "Thimble". It is my hope that we can hike together again. Currently, sitting at a very full Flint Mountain Shelter. There are many people that I've met on the trail in the past here including "Chili" and "Pepper". "Chili" is an 11 year old boy who thru-hiked the trail last year with his dad, "Pepper". To me, this is a fantastic feat because of his age. Off to bed because I've got a big day tomorrow.
Date: 2011-04-20
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up early because I saw lighting flashes over the ridge. My thought was to get packed up before the rain started so everything was dry. By the time I got a mile down the trail, it started raining. What a way to start my solo hiking. I decided to try to get home a little earlier so that I could get a few things done before going to see Dawn's family for Easter. That meant hiking for 18.9 miles to put me close to Erwin. A very long day that put a little extra stress on the knee. So far, it has done very well. The real test will be how it feels in the morning. There were a couple of great views among the way but mostly it was just hiking with the head down because of the rain. After lunch time, the rain subsided and the sun tried to emerge. The greatest view was that on top of Bald Mountain. Like Max Patch, one could see a lot of the surrounding area including buildings at the nearby resort. It was very windy up on top like the day I was on Max Patch. Got to chat with "Sweet beard" and "Sunshine" a little bit while we worked our way up the mountain. They ended up going past the Big Bald Shelter to Whistling Gap for the night. At the shelter, "Buffalo", Scott and June, and a guy from Virgina were already settled in. I decided to stay in the shelter because of the chance of rain. I've be en having trouble with rain getting inside the tent when it is also windy. Besides, it was late and I wanted to eat right away.
Date: 2011-04-22
From: Erwin

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

At home taking a zero. Resupply, gear upgrades and taking care of a few issues around the house. A lot of running around earlier in the day. Glad to get rod of a few unneeded items that I accumulated during the first month. Gave "Bat" a ride to the hospital so he could have his sore leg examined. Nice to know it wasn't anything serious. Had a very enjoyable dinner with "Thimble".
Date: 2011-04-24
From: Erwin - Charleston

To: Erwin - back home
Miles today: 0.0

Had a great time in Charleston area with Dawn's family. Ben and I went to church early this morning then we all sat down for a fantastic Easter meal. Afterwards, my sister-in-law pulled out helium balloons, one for each of us, so that we can write a message to Dawn on out respective balloon. We then went outside and released them. Special moment for all of us. Currently driving back home. It will be pack up and get ready to continue the hike. I'll be hiking solo unless I can hook up with someone.
Date: 2011-04-25
From: Erwin - back home

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: clear sky

Started at Uncle Johnny's about a quarter til 8. Morning Glory gave me a ride from my house to the trail head. At the start, I could hear the roar of the Nolichucky as I moved down the trail. Once I got close to the campground, the roar of the Nolichucky was replaced by the sounds of a nearby stream. After a little while, the trail started up a hill getting me further from the stream. Eventually, the sound of the stream was replace by tne quieter sound of a smaller spring fed stream. Today's hike was full of sounds. Birds, streams, rivers, water rushing over rocks and small rodents running through the leaves. Normally we are amazed by spectacular views but the sounds that I heard today are a reminder that the creation is much more than views. Morning Glory, his oldest son and a couple of others are planning to join me on Wednesday. So I decided to hike a longer distance today so that I can meet them at Carver's Gap in the morning on Wednesday. Because I've been off the trail for 3 days, I had a lot more energy than normal. I was also hiking solo again so I could hike any pace I wanted. The first part of the trail didn't have a whole lot of interesting things to see. The view for the day is definitely the Beauty Spot. I decided that I would just book it up the mountain and get to Beauty Spot and take a break up there while soaking up the view. I made it there right at noon. Given the distance, that was a pretty stout pace. There's no doubt that I've got my trail legs. Even more awesome is that the knee handle it without any problems. After spending a little time up there, I continued toward the shelter. I knew that I was running low on water so I started looking for the next water source. Just before I got to water source, I ran out of water. One must filter water at every opportunity because there may not be another source of water for a while. This becomes even more of a problem as it gets hotter because of the increase in water consumption. Finally rolled into the shelter to find "Bald Eagle" and "Black Beard" both of whom I haven't seen in a while. Also got caught up on where everyone else both in terms of where they are and how they're doing. "Bearcat" ended up getting off the trail because of family issues. There are several folks I haven't seen in a while that are ahead of me by one day. I'd love to catch up to them just to see them again. This is the nature of the trail. People that you've met in the past either pull ahead or fall behind. After losing contact for a while, you eventually catch them again and share stories about what has gone on. I may do another big day tomorrow to see if I can meet up with them. I'll see how I feel in the morning.
Date: 2011-04-26
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

Slept very well last night for the first time in a while. I guess my body is finally getting used to the physical stress of hiking. Woke up to light rain that stopped before I decided to get up. I quickly packed while it wasn't raining just in case it decided to start up again. Not only was I rested, I had no problems with soreness after yesterday's long hike. That was encouraging enough to convince me to put in another long day today. The first part of the hike was pretty uneventful and easy. I got to Iron Mountain Gap in about an hour. A couple of guys who had slack packed the day before who had been dropped off were busy getting their stuff in order before starting the day's hike. Quickly caught up with "Firestarter" and "Rainbow" who I haven't seen since Low Gap in Georgia. We ended up passing each other a couple of times throughout the day. Got to the next shelter and decided to have lunch there. The next part of the hike was the more difficult so getting some calories in me was necessary. The first major climb took me to the top of little rock knob. The view was that of the Roan valley. It was one of those views where one could see mountain ranges behind mountain ranges with houses, farms and other buildings tucked away in the valleys. After that climb, there was a descent to Hughes Gap then the infamous climb up Roan Mountain. The shelter that I stayed at is the highest shelter on the AT - 6285 feet. There wasn't that many of us that stayed here. Many continued on to the shelters beyond Carver's Gap. I elected to stay here because Morning Glory, his oldest son and a couple of others are planning on hiking with me tomorrow. I'll be able to quickly hike the 1.5 miles down to the gap and meet them there. At the time that I wrote this entry, I didn't have cell service so I hope the plans haven't changed. Such is the problem with meeting people on the trail. Had a lot of time this afternoon because I got to the shelter at 2:30. Mostly chatted with "Crop Duster" and "Kenyan" throughout the afternoon. Both had been in the Peace Corps. It was interesting to learn about what they did in their respective assignments. It's a quarter to 8 and nobody wants to go to bed yet but there isn't much to do either. I guess I'll do some reading before turning in.
Date: 2011-04-27
From: Roan High Shelter

To: Doll Flats Camping area
Miles today: 13.5

The wind howled all night making it a little difficult to sleep. In fact, it was so windy that my Jetboil flame kept getting extinguished. Needless to say, cooking breakfast was tricky. Packing up was a little easier because I stayed in the shelter. Thus I was quickly on my way. Morning Glory, his oldest son and a friend and his son decided to hike with me to the camping area. This is always tricky because I'm in great shape after hiking for several weeks. After waiting for them for about an hour they finally made it. They quickly got their packs on and we were off down the trail. I ended up pulling away from everyone after I got warmed up. I decided to just hike to the next shelter and wait for them while having a snack. Once everyone got there, we decided to go to the famous shelter called Overmountain. It is an old barn that was converted to a shelter. Most significant was the view from shelter itself. The shelter overlooks a valley. Up to the left one can see other hikers north of the shelter on the trail. The view cannot be described. It must be experienced. Some have called it the crown jewel of the AT. After eating a real lunch, we took off for the two major climbs of the day, Little Hump and Hump Mountain. Both have some of the best views on the trail. From Hump Mountain, one can see 360 degrees. The town of Roan Mountain can be seen from one side of the mountain. On the other side, North Carolina can be seen. The big bummer for the day was the wind. The gusts were as high as 60mph. I really wanted to stay up there and enjoy the view but the wind made it difficult. The entire hike had the wind coming from the right. The hair on the right side of my head now covers the bald area on top of my head and the right side is bald. We came off the mountain and made our way to the camping area. I did my usual routine of tent up, air mattress filled, sleeping bag layed out and bear cable set up before dinner. This is gotten to be such a habit that I almost don't think about out anymore. That's what 5 or so weeks of repetition will do. Morning Glory really out did himself once again. He brought Italian sausage. Mmmmmm. Roasted over a fire. Mmmmmm. I made a batch of red beans and rice as the side dish. Mmmmmm. I'm still thinking about dinner. Mmmmmm. The wind of still pretty fierce. We are under a tornado watch until later on in the evening. I guess that will mean this continues for a while longer. Rather than try to sleep, I'll get the journal up to date. Got cell signal and battery - good time to do it.
Date: 2011-04-28
From: Doll Flats Camping area

To: Camping area near Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We all did pretty well with the storm last night. There were only a couple of mishaps with tent stakes being pulled up but nothing serious. Everyone stayed dry and there was nothing to extreme weatherwise. I got up at 5;30 with is starting to be a me habit. Hopefully, out will settle out to a more reasonable time but for now, I'm happy that my sleep pattern has settled down. I headed down the mountain to the hostel to get another canister of fuel. "Thimble" was walking up the road as I was heading down it toward the hostel. It was great to see her again. She told me that they were out of fuel canisters so I headed back toward the trail crossing with her. She was gracious enough to wait with me for Morning Glory to get there to open up the van so I could get my resupply taken care of. After saying goodby to Morning Glory and crew, we headed down the trail. The first stop was Jones Falls. Given out was lunchtime when we arrived, we decided to make it our lunch stop for the day. After being there awhile, a big group of slack packets arrived. Some folks that I hadn't met yet and others that I've seen before. "Two Per" was the first to arrive followed by "Rainbow" then several older folks. "Firestarter" and "Rainbow", the female massage therapist, also showed up. The crazy thing is that there are 3 people going by "Rainbow" that are all hiking within 10 miles of each other. I had expected "Firestarter" and "Rainbow" to show up at Roan High Shelter the other night but they said that they completely missed the side trail and ended up near Carver's gap. They went on to the next shelter rather than head back up the mountain. We decided to make it a short day today. I really needed to because I've been really hiking some long distances the last couple of days. My goal is to try to stay close to the group that I was with a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I'll be able to catch right away but if I can stay close, maybe there's a chance to catch them ny trail days. For now, stopping at the coming area just beyond Mountaineer Shelter will provide some much needed rest. Great spot with a small stream nearby. Eric and the third "Rainbow" were already set up so we grabbed the last 2 tent spots and set everything up. "Rainbow" has been hiking with 2 dogs who are quite active and fun to play with. Both her and Eric are section hiking to Damascus. Great day, great weather and great company for today's hike. There were many things to rejoice over today of which I won't write about here.
Date: 2011-04-29
From: Camping area near Mountaineer Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 14.9

Slept well last night and thus got up refreshed. Made breakfast, got packed up and took off down the trail. "Thimble" and I were considering making this a short day of hiking to allow us some recovery time. I've been recovering from the long miles from earlier in the week so I liked the idea. We thought we'd make the final decision once we arrived at the next shelter. The hike was pleasant with cooler temperatures than earlier in the week. There were a couple of cascading like waterfalls as well as some great views. At one point, we had a view of Hump Mountain where we were a couple of days ago. It was interesting to think about what we had experienced hiking over that mountain with the high winds. Once we got to the shelter, we decided to just push on to Kincora. It was early in the afternoon making it sort of ridiculous to stop. We ate lunch then took off. We got to Kincora too late to get inside the bunkhouse. The only option was to camp out back which both of us sort of preferred. We set up and went back into the kitchen and made dinner. "Thimble" and I both had a serving of red beans and rice so we combined them into one pot and cook them. "Thimble" came up with the idea to make quesadillas with the tortillas she had and the cheese that I had been carrying. It was a great dinner for sure.
Date: 2011-04-30
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Griffith Branch camping area
Miles today: 9.9

"Thimble" needed to resupply this morning since we missed the shuttle into town the night before. That delayed our start a few hours aa result. We then took off from Kincora and headed for Laurel Falls. Spent time just chilling out at the falls and talking to others who were there. "Guinness" and "Velvet" came by and we ended up continuing the hike with them. The big climb for the day was the mountain known as Pond Flats. As we climbed, "Velvet" started us on an alphabet game. Each person took a turn coming up with an item that used the current letter after reciting all of the previous items in alphabetic order. It was a lot of fun and a great way to pass the time as we climbed the mountain. After refilling our water containers at the to of the mountain, we headed down toward Watagua Lake. Just for fun, we decided to order pizzas and have them delivered at the Shook Branch recreation area. While waiting on the pizzas, we took off our boots and waded into the water. Given the temperature that day, it was very refreshing. Eventually, the pizza guy showed up and we sat at a picnic table and ate our pizzas. That was a great break from the normal trail food. Everyone had leftovers except me so they had breakfast and, in some cases, lunch for the next day. We packed up, put our shoes on and headed for the camping area. Wonderful day that was full of fun. The battery on the phone went completely dead so I had to wait for a recharge before being able to update the journal.
Date: 2011-05-01
From: Griffith Branch camping area

To: Camping area before Iron Mountain
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

Today was the first day of hiking with a completely dead cell phone battery. Given that pictures, journal entries and any communication is done with the cell phone, I felt like everything was shutdown. There were some good picture taking opportunities that I couldn't take advantage of as a result. The strategy of carrying an extra battery fell apart when I left the spare back at the last hostel. The hike was one of those quiet hikes where there wasn't a lot said but just enjoyed the time together. The previous day was full of silliness so I guess it made today's hike seem more low key. We stopped for lunch at the Vandventer shelter, catching up with a large group that was already there. Lunch was longer than usual but the socializing was fun. We stopped at a camping area just before the next shelter because we were tired and didn't want to risk having to go further if there wasn't enough space at the shelter. Today's water supply on the trail was tricky. It was a reminder that during the summer months, one has to be sure to carry sufficient water so that there is enough to get to the next water source.
Date: 2011-05-02
From: Camping area before Iron Mountain

To: Double Springs Gap camping
Miles today: 13.2

We got up, packed and headed toward our next stop. "Guinness" and "Velvet" were at the shelter when we arrived and the four of us hiked together for most of the day. "Cubby"s mom was at the next highway crossing with a little bit of trail magic. After taking a short break there, we continued on. The next shelter was Double Springs where met up with a larger group. After spending a little time with them, we continued on to meet Morning Glory at the 421 road crossing. He had brought brats and drinks for the four of us. We made a fire and cooked the brats over it. Boy was that great. The four of us really appreciated him bringing those. "Guinness" took off for the shelter while "Velvet" stayed back to ice a sore leg. We decided to stop at the camping area because of the time of the day. Pushing on to the shelter would have had us hiking too late. Damascus was still very reachable from where we were so there was no motivation to push harder.
Date: 2011-05-03
From: Double Springs Gap camping

To:  Damascus
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

I got up fairly early and started making breakfast. Got packed up first and waited until "Thimble"was ready to go. We took off for Damascus at a decent time hoping to get there early. The interesting event for the day was the tree that fell as we approached the Abington Gap shelter. It was leaning on another tree which by itself isn't unusual but it was making a lot groaning noises. I decided to stop about 10 feet from it and just watch it. Right after we stopped, it came crashing to the ground! Had we not waited, one of us would have been hit by it. Made it to town, did laundry, and headed to restaurant where we met "Bald Eagle" and "No Problem". Had a great dinner with them.
Date: 2011-05-04
From:  Damascus

To:  Damascus day 2
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Spent the day doing resupply related things. "Guinness" had a friend come over to hike with her. Since she brought a vehicle, we all piled in and headed to Abington to watch a movie and eat dinner. It was a great diversion from the trail we all enjoyed. Only issue was that we got back a little too late.
Date: 2011-05-05
From:  Damascus day 2

To: Luther Hassinger Bridge
Miles today: 14.3

We got going down the trail toward the other side of Damascus to meet "Morning Glory", "Circuit Rider", "Sherlock" and others for breakfast. After eating breakfast, "Morning Glory", "Thimble" and I took off down the trail. My plans were to get off at the bridge to head to Texas for Joseph's graduation. "Thimble" continued with her hike.
Date: 2011-05-08
From: Joseph's graduation

To: Back home after Texas
Miles today: 0.0

We spent some time talking with Marshall's before heading back home. We got in so late last night, we didn't spend much time with them before going to bed. We finally arrived home but much later than we wanted to. After repairing the lawnmower, I got packed up to head back out to the trail the next morning.