morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-02-15
To: ONE BIG CHANGE
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hello Eveyone,I know I said there wouldn't be anymore updates, but dovetail and I have a sudden change of plans... Due to Dovetail's mother working as a nurse in an understaffed hospital, she was unable to take off for the 2nd and 3rd of march. We decided that its pretty important for our parents to see us off. Its going to be the first time leaving home for extended time.WERE Lucky because Dovetail's mom has off the weekend before. That's right were starting 7 days earlier. Our start date will be 2/24 now. 7 Days from today!Caribou
Date: 2013-02-23
To: dalton georgia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Hey everyone! Today is the day! Turns out this phone will work for now, so I may be able to post before March 1st. I'm here in the hotel getting all my stuff together. Were going to get breakfast soon, then make our way to Springer mountain. We have an hour and a half of driving left. The drive down was good and our last night together was good. I feel ready, Im nervous some what but overall I feel very good and am ready. Today an adventure starts, my dream is now a reality. It feels good. I'm going to get some coffee and continue getting ready. Ill post again soon once things are more under way! Good days everyone!Dovetail
Date: 2013-02-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Before we are off and walking I want to say thank you to everyone that has been there for me. I wouldn't be able to do this with out my mom and dad for making me who I am today. I love you both with all of my heart. Thank you. Johnny Kt and Maddie you have always been there for me through everything, I love you guys. Morgan, thank you for being an amazing friend and being there for me in times of doubt and makin sure I kept my shit in check. I love you. Aaron I love you brother thanks for being there for me and helping me out all the time, your a good dood. Good luck with your job. Lily an Cassidy, you two are great people and I thank you for your friendship, it means a lot. And to everyone else thank you for being good people I am happy I have the people I do in my life. To everyone good luck with these next 5 months if you have a dream make it happen!Dovetail
Date: 2013-02-23
From: approach trail

To: Stover Creek Shelter
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last update. Service down here is more patchy so I will update when I can. The first day was great. We got to the top of Springer with ease hiked on the approch trail (8 miles). Then 2 miles to were we set up hammocks, ate, and went to bed. Great amounts of energy today for sure.
Date: 2013-02-24
From: Stover Creek

To: Gooch Gap
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

Hey! Today was great! We woke up kinda late but dikes for our first full day. We hiked another 15 miles to the hooch gap camp site. Such beautiful wilderness out here in Georgia. We set up camp and went to bed. We wanted an earlier start. Thats it for today! Talk to ya soon!!
Date: 2013-02-25
From: Gooch Gap

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Hey again! Another 15 mile day! Feeling good. Started around 9, got here at 3! Burnin. We got a resupply for 3 days a bunk, shower, laundry, and pasta! So awesome! We met some more hikers which is cool. Our new community starts! . It rained last night so today will be muddy. Sweet. Anyway got to go pack up! Ill update next time I can! May be in a day or two but keep reading!   Have a great day!...UpdateThe care taker at Neels Gap goes by the name of Pirate. Cool dood.. made us a great dinner of lassanga. Really started to feel the hiker family as all 6 thru hikers ate dinner together.
Date: 2013-02-26
From: neels gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: snow

Hey everyone! Today was nuts, it rained last night so today was wet windy and cold. It was fun though to experience that. More up and down mountains Were taking it easy for the rest of the day cause tomorrow will be tough. But we ate good again. Mac an cheese with sausage and spices from my sisters amazing spice kit, thank you Kt! Anyway that's all for tonight. I will see if I can post before our next town. Have a good night everyone! Dovetail
Date: 2013-02-27
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mountain
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Today was Was A great day. We started off with about 7 miles of flat before hitting some big mountains. First it was a 1000 ft vertical down hill, then a thousand up hill, then a 1000 back down again before hitting tray mountain with a 1500 ft vertical climb. It was a great day though. Even with a snowy start it felt like spring by the end of the hike. We ended at Tray Mountain Shelter and bathed in the sun on some rocks in just a t shirt. It was great to feel the warmth. It didn't last long however. We woke to about half an inch of snow. We both feel great physically. Oh yea sausage in noodles makes a great meal.
Date: 2013-02-28
From: Tray Mountain

To: Hawassii
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Hiked 10 miles before grabing a ride in town.Great to be in town resuppling. Laundry has never been so much fun... Eating real food is one of the best feelings... also bought a new pad for colder nights (Caribou) and a stuff sack to compress a sleeping bag (Dovetail). Back to the trail tmr. Good times in the cold and snow is the theme for this week.
Date: 2013-03-01
From: Hawassii

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a great time pigginng out in Hawassii, but now it's time to move on. We started with a great climb. Then a few down hills, however we ended up being 2000 ft above were we started. Also great news... Were in NORTH CAROLINA. Meet World Wide at the shelter. He is a intense hiker, completeing all three big trails (the at, pct, cdt.). Cool guy to meet. Cold night woke up to 2 inches of snow as well. Spirts still high and bodies feeling good. No BLISTERS so far.Caribou
Date: 2013-03-02
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: light snow

Will im going to summerize this up pretty fast bc im running out of computer time here in Franklin. LONG day. Woke up to the cold at 5 for a 6 o'clock start. Beautiful day. The wind blown snow set up an amazing winter wonder land... First time we stopped for lunch in a long time. Took a whole hour at Cater Gap Shelter (12.5 miles in)... At the Long Branch shelter (10 miles futher) we saw world wide again, a few other thru hikers, sam (A 18 year old Thru Hiker from Maine that has been with us every night since Neels Gap.), and three very cold guys from Florida... Cold got down to 12 degrees... At that point I decided to buy a warmer sleeping bag (Caribou)... We also decided to go into Franklin (3/3/13) to get out of the warm... First 20 plus mile day! AND We cross the 100 mile marker!!!!!!Caribou
Date: 2013-03-03
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: light rain

hey everyone! we woke up today with freezin cold temperatures ,it was down to about 12 degrees in the early morning. kind of a rough morning to wake up with your shoes frozen stiff and needing to sit on them for half an hour just to get your feet in em. we packed up and headed to a road crossing to catch a shuttle into town. we decided to stay the night to be smart and get out of the cold. caribou had only a 35 degree bag so it was a rather misserable night for him but we figured it out and got him warm. when we got to town he got a new sleeping bag to keep warmer at night. our buddy moxy who we have been hiking with wsnt planning to stay there but he came in to get some food. when he got here he realized he lost his whole wallet, money i.d. everything. we let him spend the night in our room and bought him food and fuel for his stove. luckly he figured everything out with his parents and is able to keep hiking. we got a nice meat lovers pizza and breadsticks for dinner, got a shower, did wash, and slept in warmth and comfort again. we plan to head out tomorrow for an easy 8 mile day to siler bald shelter. thats it for today, keep on readin. "it aint about the miles, its all about the smiles"Dovetail
Date: 2013-03-04
From: Franklin, NC

To: Siler Bald
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

I'd like to start out by saying how much I wish we could put photos up. We already have 128 pictures and they are all amazing. As soon as we find a fast computer we will be sure to put them up. Also at the end of the trip we plan on putting up all the pictures in a photo journal. All the veiws on this trip have blown my mind. There is beauty around every corner .... on the day of of 3/4 we made a climb up to Siler Bald this was by far one of the best veiws on the trip so far. It was a complete 360 degree veiw with mountains as far as the eye could see. After hanging out up there for awhile we headed back to siler bald shelter. There wasn't much room in the shelter so we set up our hammocks. We also made plans to go to the bald in the morning and see the sun rise but our plans were ruined by mess of a snow storm. I'll leave it to Dovetail to explain that to you in the next entry...................Caribou
Date: 2013-03-05
From: Siler Bald

To: back to Franklin, NC
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: snow

hello everyone! yes it may be odd to see that we are back in Franklin. today was the worst day of the trip thus far. we started out the day with the yearn to drink hot cocoa and watch the sunrise on siler bald mountain. it started off beautifully, i woke up around 4 AM to pack up my hammock and gear to get ready to see the snrise. About 5 minuets after i wake up it starts to sleet. it was mild but i wanted to get my gear out of the wet so i packed up anyway. it started to get worse, we figured there was no sunrise this morning to we waited under the shelters roof for the weather to clear a little bit. we werent expecting bad weather. it cleared up a little bit so we started our hike. already off to kind of a bad start, my gloves were wet so my hands were rather cold all day. we stopped to shed some layers because sweating was something we did not want to happen. the weather decided to keep on and turned into freezing rain. we got to a spot where there had been a lot of snow on the trail, the rain turned this snow pretty much into a sheet of ice and slush. this was dangerous because the chance to fall was much higher and injury was more prone, also with our layering because we had to work so hard to make any progress, we were sweating, when we would stop to cool off the sweat would freeze and we continued to get wet. we got about 4 miles in, looked at eachother and decided the smartest thing we could do would be to find a way back into town. at this point we were dealing with potential injury, sickness, and staying in a shelter would have frozen all of our soaking wet gear, and the weather was only getting worse. we luckly got a ride from the dood at the outdoor 76 outfitter in Franklin. he was working and made a 40 mile round trip just to pick us up. we were incredibly thankful, you doods are awesome, thank yu so much! we eventually got back into the room we had the other night, ordered another tasty pizza dinner and got out of the situation we were in. we have heard that there is snow up to peoples shins today so we are very happy we decided to make this move. it set us back a little bit but like i said, it aint about the miles, its all about the smiles. and let me tell you. frozen gear and sickness do not bring smiles to my somewhat hairy face. we took our first "0" day after,( no journal for 3/6/13). a good day to you all.Dovetail
Date: 2013-03-07
From: Franklin, NC

To: wesser gap shelter
Miles today: 15.8

Hey everyone! Free from fralklin! The stay was nice and good to get out of the bad weather but it feels good to be back on the trail. We started out hitching a ride in the bed of a pick up truck which was cold but fun. The snow was deep though. Knee high in some places but it was a beautiful day and the snow cleared for the most part as the day went on. We got to watch a beautiful sunset on a watch tower, and got back in our hammocks. Tomorrow the noc for chilli burgers! Have a good day everyone! We will post again when we get to Fontana dam.
Date: 2013-03-08
From: wesser gap shelter

To: Sassafras Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

Today was by far the best day we have had since Neel's gap. We woke to the sun peaking over a ridge line, warming our hammocks. Its probaly been the first day since Neel's gap that I have felt warm in the morning. If that wasn't good enough, I had perfectly dry shoes to put on due to the hot fire we had last night.... Looking back quickly we had learned that the decision to stay in Franklin was a good thing. That night after we got off the trail the wind chill came down to below -10 degrees ont the ridge line. and the negitve sign wasn't a mistake it was -10 degrees. Some kids at the camp fire last night told us they stayed out in it. However they had to take a 0 day in a shelter in their tent, in all their clothes, and in 0 degree sleeping bags... Back to our morning. We continued down the side of a mountain for 5 miles. Nothing too hard. At the bottom we came across of colledge kids doing work on the trail. And it was nice to see some smiles on faces as we told them we were heading to Maine. As we continued down the last little bit of down hill we layed eyes upon the NOC and the river next to it. One thing was in our mines at this point. Burgers and the Riverside Restraunt. After we ate our fill and enjoyed the sun by the river (in t shirts and shorts!) we started our climb up the other side of the valley. It wasn't very steep, but it was 7 miles. In our heads the top of the mountain was always right over this ridge line, but sure enough there would be another uphill and another ridge line to get over. Finally it was starting to be a little annoying (even as fun of a challenge it was). At that point of "ok we had enough of this" there was another steep up hill right in front of us. Crap! and some other profanities were thrown around in my mind. BUT no the shelter was tucked right there, in the side of the mountain... Short ending to a long day. made dinner. met zoey a friendly dog who spent the night. and saw Passin Thru a guy we had hike with for a few days.PeaceCaribouFor the first time in my life im doing exactly what I need to be doing. Freedom is the theme for this week
Date: 2013-03-09
From: Sassafras Shelter

To: Fontana Hilton
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: clear sky

Wow what a day! Woke up to clear skys and no clouds. By the time we started hiking it was already above 35 degrees (thats a guess). We shead layers real fast and went to shorts and t shirts right away. Also we both listen to our Ipods (and that continued the whole day). We both were feelin great. We saw some amazing veiws of our next destination the Smokies. We cruised the whole day only taking breaks every 6 miles. There was only 3 challenges for today. 2 of them were big uphills including Jaccobs Latter. This thing is straight up for .5 Mi. It was so steep it was harder then the whole 7 miles up hill we had the previous day. Then when we came to the 15.5 mile mark at Cable Gap Shelter. We decided to go for 2 more challenges, one going on to do a 21.8 mile day and the other going up 500 plus feet in one mile and going down 1800 feet in 3 miles. We felt great though and it wasn't terrible. We were pretty tired though just from the distance. At the Fonatna Hilton (name well deserved) we came across a guy handing out sweet potato pies. So good! thanks for the Trail magic peak seeker. Tomarrow going to the Fontana lodge to celebarate birthdays, early wait out a storm thats suppous to drop 2 in of rain, and wait for mail to come because its the weekend.CaribouAll who Yonder are not LoSt
Date: 2013-03-10
From: Fontana Hilton

To: Fontana lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

hello there everyone! we have recently been in the smokey mountains and without computer access for the past week, i will catch you back up on our stay at the Fontana lodge. it was a beautiful place, it was not so much in season so there were not too many people other than hikers there. we got to get our laundry done, take nice hot showers, and got to eat some rather expensive but very tasty meals.I(dovetail) decided i wanted to see who has the best pulled pork samich through the trail, so i make sure to get one where ever we stay. count and popgun got in shortly after us so we hung out with them for a while and got some dinner together. the next morning we woke up to no power in the resort, which was kind of a drag but i didnt need electricity all too much. eventually it came back on and we had a nice relaxing day out of the rain. we got our mail drop for food and birthday treats so that was exciting. the next day we start our smokey mountain adventure which we had been looking forward to. we hope all is well with everyone at home! have a good daydovetail
Date: 2013-03-12
From: Fontana Hilton

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

Alright so its time to talk about our adventure in the Smokies. We won't have the Mileages quite right until we update again in Erwin. Sorry for the delay.... Our day started out sunny and nice. We grabbed a shuttle to the last part of the trail we left off of. We walked across the Fontana Dam then. It was a cool experience just from the height of the dam. After that we started our long accent into the mountains. The uphill like the Uphill right after the NOC was easy, but very long. However in the beginning of the smokies there are no big downhills. It felt like we were climbing all day. After awhile the sky became overcast and we would walk in and out of fog. Eventually after a long day of passing spring breakers and getting use to a constant 6,000 feet elevation we came to Spence Field. This is the first open patch of grass on top of a mountain that we came to. The shelter was very cool. Two floors and a fireplace built right in the side. This was a good thing because the temperatures went below freezing before the sun went down. An alright start to a long trek.CaribouSeek and thou shall find.
Date: 2013-03-13
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: few clouds

hello again!, day two of the smokies. we had decided to try to do three 20 mile days to get us out of the smokies in a total of 4 days. we woke up at the shelter, cooked breakfast, packed up and got our hike underway. as we started we walked into some snow that was laying on the ground. it didnt seem to be too bad so we walked on not really thinking about it. after we started going down hill, the snow had somewhat frozen over and was again very slippery. it was a bit aggravating because we had just spent the last few days in the snow and things seemed to be clearing up. when we started our hike we did not expect much snow at all, we figured it may get cold but snow was not so much in the picture, nor was ice. having yak-tracks or crampons would have made the hiking much more convenient. i fell about 5 times that day. it was not getting any better and we were curious to see what weather was on the way, the skies didnt look too promising. we came across a weekend hiker and asked if he knew the weather to come. he said it was going to rain and be 38 degress the next day. all the way back to dangerous conditions. we were not very happy and did not think 20 miles could happen. it was taking too long to hike through the snow and ice. eventually we decided it would be best to only go 13 miles and if it were raining the next day we would just wait it out in the shelter. we got there around 4 and set up our spots. i walked out of the shelter and about 6 feet away from me was a deer! the first animal i have really seen this trip, then i saw about 4 other scattered about the area, it was very neat. after a little while a group of spring breakers had come to the shelter. this guy named Mule had a bad ass collapsible bow saw that weighed only 2 oz.! we chopped down some dead trees and made a roarin fire. then we went to bed, expecting terrible weather for the next day. dovetail
Date: 2013-03-14
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

This was a very interesting day. After waking up we decided to have a full out breakfast and make oatmeal and coffee with a poptart. We started off with our headphones in. The trail continued uphill very gradually along the top of the ridge line. We hap amazing views on either side of us. The Smokies are HUGE. Up and up we went to the Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the trail! 6,643 Feet! Third Highest mountain east of the Mississippi River. Up there about 2 inches of fresh snow was on top an already 3 to 8 inches of snow from nights before. We climb the tower at clingmans. On top it was probably some of the windiest conditions I've ever been in. I'm just thankful for the clear conditions. It was one of the best views so far. On top the mountains were in a frozen winter landscape, but in the valleys it looked like spring had arrived. So cool. After Clingmans the Great Smoky Mountains started to become not so great. We had our first down hill in a long time. The trail however had melted refroze at this point on the trail. So under that fresh two inches was a solid inch of Ice. Imagine if you will two drunks walking down a steep hill. Thats what we looked like. Slipping, sliding, falling. Profanities flew and frustration grew. We both fell over 10 ten times. uhhhhhh that SUCKED.... Okay to make a long day short (literally) we walked 7 miles less then we wanted to. Stayed at Icewater. The Temps went up. We meet Rock and Roll a 34 year old from the army. Funny guy. Watch a beautiful sunset and ate pasta sides.CaribouA smart man will change what he can, and try to understand his best the things he can't.
Date: 2013-03-15
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Cosby Shelter
Miles today: 20.0

today was a great day! when i woke up, i found i had some how lost my gloves, that was not so great but i got to see the first beautiful sunrise of the trip so far so that made me happy and forget about my gloves. caribou being the pal he is lent me his extras in the morning. the day started off a little bit icy but we knew it was looking up because we were getting closer to the end of the smokies, meaning we were only dropping elevation. the end of the ice was in my mind today. the snow and ice on the way down was not that bad, it had softened up a little so it was more slushy, not so much slipping and sliding. we were making really good time too. we stopped at the tri corner shelter to eat a quick lunch, sweet and spicy tuna fish. yummy. after that we had about 10 more miles, the next three miles was when things started looking up, the snow was now patchy and we were finally walking on trail again. we got to the marker telling us 7 more miles, we walked out of the snowy mountains into almost summer like temperatures! oh my, i have never smiled so big. i threw my ipod in and felt happier than i have in a long time. finally getting to walk on the softer ground and not ice, and knowing that we wont be in that high of elevations for a little while was only better, because warm weather is on it way! we finished out the 7 miles, i hiked it all with my big smile. we got to the shelter and man was it warm, i was walking around with my shirt off! we cooked up a tasty dinner, or caribou did. and went to bed, happy to know that tomorrow we will be getting out of the smokey mountains. i hope you all have a very wonderful day! much love. dovetaila thought. it has been very beautiful all theese three weeks from the views, hiking, and experiences i have had. but one thing that is also very nice about these past few weeks is what have been learning,from life skills and being independent to personal things i have started overcoming since i have left. the things i had been thinking about in the year prior to starting. i feel i have been thinking more clearly than i have ever before, and i feel much happier with myself and the ideas for my future to come, also as a person. i feel good.