morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Little Paint Creek Trail

To: JerryÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin Shelter 
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: broken clouds

We had one of the quietest nights on the trail last night; it¢s amazing how peaceful the woods can be when you aren¢t at a shelter. We prefer to ¢dry camp¢, which means we stop at a place that can be rented on, but doesn¢t have a water source. It¢s up to you to pack in water...it¢s s great way to keep things quiet, because most people don¢t like to camp where there isn¢t water. We prefer it, so no problem.We got on the trail with a forecast of rain and much to our surprise, there was sunshine! And it stayed with us all day long. Our goal was to get at least as far as Jerry¢s Cabin Shelter, about 14 plus miles up the road, and hopefully a little further. It was a weird hiking day, because the hiking was hard, but it wasn¢t extreme. Rather, it wore us down because we were constantly going up with little relief. At least for the morning portion. By the time we stopped for lunch, we had about seven miles under our belt and were feeling pretty good.In the afternoon we had a completely different turn of events and found ourselves above tree line scrambling over rocks. It was our first significant exposure to large rocks, and it requires a lot of focused thought and attention to detail. It was a lot of fun, even though it was exhausting. Curly loved it which made me glad as she typically gets scared at stuff like that.The weather began to turn as we wrapped up this portion of today¢s hike and we pushed harder to come off the ridge line and attempt to outrun the thunder and lightning. It never came, at least not as I write this, but it gave us an excuse to call it a day earlier than planned. But not before we passed the 300 mile point of this trip. We set up camp and had a delicious Mountain House Meal and are now tucked into our tent for the night. Tomorrow if terrain and weather permit, we will attempt our biggest mile of this thru hike yet!!
Date: 2018-05-08
From: JerryÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin Shelter 

To: Stealth spot .5 from Sams Gap
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The first 5 hours of our hike was like a dream. It was as if we were floating along this easy, comfortable trail. The sun was out just enough to warm us up, the green was exploding in its spring time hues, and streams were everywhere, singing their morning song of welcome. We really moved down the trail in short order, having completed over 9 miles before lunch.  But of course if something is too good to be true, it probably is, and at mile marker 310, the party was over. The remainder of the afternoon was ¢make up¢ emphasis on the ¢up¢ for the easy part of the day. So we went up, and up, and up some more. I will say though that both of us are getting stronger and while these ups are difficult, it¢s simply a matter of one foot in front of the other. Take your time, take breaks, and eventually you get to your destination... which we did. Hiking for us didn¢t end till 630pm, but we ended up hiking over 17 miles and are poised for a big day tomorrow which sets us up for an easy Thursday into Erwin. And, tomorrow is Big Bald, one of our favorite places on the AT...I¢m thinking early lunch at the top!
Date: 2018-05-09
From: Stealth site .5 from Sams Gap

To: No Business Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

We woke up excited to be hiking over Big Bald today. This was our third visit over the past 5 years, and I would say was the place that really planted in us a seed for a future thru hike. To be back here again was very sentimental!Funny thing though about memories...they are usually quite selective, and for some reason, all the pain and agony is somehow repressed for the memories of joy and satisfaction! Honest to goodness, virtually none of our hike this morning bore any resemblance to the previous hikes. It was just plain hard! From our first step until we collapsed at the top of the Bald 4 hours after beginning, I swore up and down they rerouted the trail since we last hiked that section! We ascended to over 5600 feet in elevation and it was all brand new to us! But when we arrived, oh how glorious it was. The views were spectacular, the sky clear as a bell, and we lingered over a long lunch, hating to give up what we had worked so hard for.We hiked north after lunch, hoping to hike another 8 or 9 miles which would put us in striking distance of Erwin on Thursday. The day went on and the miles piled up, but there were no tent spots to call it a day. So we continued on until close to 7pm, when we drug ourselves into the shelter tenting area. The place is slammed with hikers who have the same intentions we have for tomorrow.We slammed down a dehydrated meal and some pretzels and raisenets and are now in the tent for the night. Overall it was a very good day, and our biggest mileage day of this trip. Tomorrow is an easy 6 miles to town and a shower, resupply, and town food! Oh yeah gonna crush some Mexican food tomorrow...watch out chorri  burritos!
Date: 2018-05-10
From: No Business Knob Shelter 

To: Uncle JohnnyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs in Erwin
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

High: the town of Franklin, NC - spending the night on Max Patch - last weekend with grands in Hot Springs - getting to know some very interesting people on the trail - the SmokiesLow: the Smokies (yes they are in both categories) - Curly says cold, wet, wind going uphill and I agreeAs you can see the highs outnumber the lows and that¢s because this trip has been one constant high for the most part. In our one month on the trail, we¢ve hiked 340 miles, visited 6 towns or hostels, been rained on, snowed on, slept with mice, gotten to know people from all over the world, and have seen some of Gods most incredible creation...in one month! We can¢t wait to see what month two will bring, but are certain it will be amazing!Our next leg takes us to Roan Mountain and then to Damascus!
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Erwin-Uncle JohnnyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs 

To: Cherry Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It was an interesting day on a couple of different levels, the first of which was the trail angels we met. Coming into Indian Grave Gap we met Brother Tom and his canine companion Moses. During the hiker season they are at the same location every day Monday-Thursday and he gives out cold drinks, homemade bread or brownies, fruit, and chairs to relax in. He is a Catholic ¢brother¢ who has been on the mission field for 37 years. Great guy and I¢m thankful he is out there loving on the hikers with the love of Jesus; it was a pleasure to spend some time with him.After that we began our climb up to Beauty Rest, which is another bald that took our breath away...first because of the climb and second because it truly was beautiful! Curly wanted to pitch a tent and stay overnite but it was only 2pm...just a bit too early! Crazy thing tho, when we got to the top, the place was as remote and isolated as any place we have been to yet...and still there was an RV parked at the top and a sign ¢Free Ice Cream¢. Never one to pass up free ice cream we moseyed on over and had the pleasure of meeting ¢Onesimus¢, a Jesus loving, Hiker loving guy out following the hiker bubble with free ice cream and drinks. He is a thirty year retired Army vet, who lives in his RV and will drive from Georgia to Maine this year serving the hikers. We had a great talk with him and blessed him as we left.For me tho, the highlight of the day was reaching the top of Unaka Mountain. It was spectacular...the top covered in a dense forest of Spruce trees. We hadn¢t seen anything like this since the Smokies, and this stand of evergreens were magnificent. They must have been 40-50 feet tall and their needles blanketed the floor. The smell was overpowering with a fresh pine scent and the coverage of the branches was so thick that the temperature must have been 15 degrees cooler in that stand than anywhere else. Our biggest mistake was that we didn¢t pitch our tent and make that our home for the night. We decided to walk a little further and see if we could find a site that had water...no luck. We ended up hiking 4 more miles to the shelter area we are now at, but totally regret not stopping then.It was a great day and we got in some good miles, met some neat people and look forward to getting on the trail in the morning!
Date: 2018-05-12
From: Cherry Gap Shelter 

To: Round Bald
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: moderate rain

So we got our usual early start at 730am, and by noon had covered almost half of the distance. We were feeling pretty good, and even with the sun heating up we were covering good ground. After lunch the terrain started getting more difficult, we could see Roan Mtn looming just ahead of us and were anticipating a very difficult climb. Around 230pm, we hit Hughes Gap, which is at the base of Roan...and much to our joy and surprise, Trail Magic! Slug and Luigi, two thru hikers in 2016 had returned to do some trail magic, and it was crazy good! Hot dogs, cold drinks, fruit, candy even toothpaste and batteries! It was exactly what we needed to power up over 2,000 feet in elevation over the next five miles. With satisfied tummies, we started climbing at 3pm, and for the next 3 hours that was all we did...climb! Fortunately, the trail was laid out nicely, with lots of switchbacks and places to regain your breath after difficult climbs. It was hard make no mistake about that, but it was a fun ascent for once, and we really enjoyed the trail.With daylight burning and our desire to be at the Bald by sunset, we hiked hard and going down was much quicker and shorter than going up. We hit Carvers Gap at 645pm and had our tent set up exactly where we wanted it by 730pm. With dinner complete and us in our bags, my flap is open and we have a clear, starry night to sleep by. Tomorrow it¢s 13 miles to Mountain Harbour BnB, then Monday it¢s 5 hiking days to Damascus and trail days!
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Grassy Bald

To: US 19E, Mtn Harbour Hostel
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

We slept last night with our vestibule flaps opened all the way up, and it was like sleeping under the stars but better...no bugs! The night was crystal clear and the stars shone brightly all through the night. It was a magnificent evening for a brisk and cool sleep. We awoke at six just as day was breaking over the eastern mountains, and we ate our breakfast as the sun rose up to greet us. I recognize that every morning will not be just as this one was, so I¢ll savor this one as a special memory.The end of our day found us at Mountain Harbour hostel, a very cool place alongside a beautiful creek where we have pitched our tent tonight. They have a food truck on site as well as laundry services with brand new machines! I thought it was Christmas morning! You want to make a thru hiker cry with delight? Simply have all your washers and dryers in working order at the same time! In addition to all that, we are clean and smell almost human, at least for tonight.  Now...for everything in between the start and finish to this day, all I can say is ¢my hump¢! We climbed two significant mountains today, Little Hump and Big Hump. These were not bumps or lumps or even humps. These were huge, straight up, to the top mountains. The cool part was that they were bald, so no trees or forests; you could see the trail as it wound up and zig zagged across and up the mountain from start to finish. Sadly, the cool factor ended the moment you took your eyes off the trail to see how far you had to go and instantly became dejected because you hadn¢t even put a dent in the trail! Curly and I simply plodded up Little Hump and took a pack off break when we summited. Same with Big Hump, except that this mountain at least three additional levels where you thought you were making progress only to find there was still a lot more mountain to hike! We did eventually reach the top, took our pack off break, and lingered for a while. We knew we had to keep moving but it was hard not to enjoy the spectacular views. And we were just pooped out! I think that today was the first day that I was just ¢over¢ hiking about noon. I wanted the day to be finished and I wanted to just plop. I got that wish...but not until 4pm when we staggered into Mountain Harbour. Once again, like every day, a difficult one. At the same time, like every day, a glorious one. Such is the life of a thru hiker (at least for us).Tomorrow begins our push to make Damascus by Friday noon. It will be motivation for us to put up some big miles in order to have some extra time to enjoy Trail Days. Only time will tell if the sacrifice was worth it!
Date: 2018-05-14
From: US19-Mtn Harbour

To: Upper Laurel Forks
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday, pretty much all the hikers were telling us that staying for breakfast was a must do event. But it also meant a later start than normal. Stomach won out and we delayed our hike out time from the normal 730ish time to 915am! But, it was so worth the time and money! Fresh coffee, home made pastries, eggs, meats, breakfast tacos, There was French toast casserole that was so delicious. Potatoes, there must have been ten or twelve items to choose from and it was ALL YOU CAN EAT! Hello...anybody home? So we and probably another 20 hikers who came out of the woodwork ate and ate. A hiker came out of the woods, running down the road just to get breakfast.So we waddled out of there with intentions of hiking 16-18 miles today. I just gotta give up making plans. Two hours into the hike we came to Jones falls so took a side trip and snack break for that...totally worth it. Then coming into a Gap we came to a river whose name I don¢t know, but we stopped to cool down and wade in it. Totally worth it. Then later in the day we came to Mountaineer Falls and of course had to stop for that. Totally worth it. By 430 we were at Upper Laurel Fork River and had only gotten 12.7 miles up the trail on a very easy day of gentle grade. But there were these incredible camp sites that were calling our name. Totally worth it.In life, with every decision we make, there are trade offs and sacrifices. For today, the miles we need to make to get to Damascus for trail days was the sacrifice. We did cross the 400 mile mark today, and yesterday we wrapped up hiking in North Carolina. 2 states down and 12 to go. All I can say about this day is that as I lay in my tent listening to the gurgling of the stream not ten feet from me, Curly is also next to me very happy. Not a bad trade off.
Date: 2018-05-15
From: Upper Laurel Fork

To: Pond Flat
Miles today: 17.7

At our first break at a shelter, all by ourselves, a young lady comes up and we begin a conversation. Her trail name is ¢early bird¢ and she is from Vermont. Turns out she is hiking the AT to complete the triple crown! Meaning, she has already thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trails! I was eating gorp with hiking royalty! We had a great conversation and she was so sweet, a very classy young lady and role model for others.We continued on and the rain held off just about the same time we hit a road crossing leading to Black Bear Resort, advertising hot food and cold drinks, someone pinch me, yes please. We walked in just as the rain started and I ate a pizza and had a coke. CT had a cheeseburger and nestles quik. We couldn¢t wait out the rain any longer as we still had 6 miles to go and it was after 3pm already.The rest of our day was spent hiking up one final mountain in the rain; however it did let up long enough for us to pitch camp (at 745pm) and eat some soup before hitting the hay. We are now in our tent as the deluge rains down upon us. Here¢s to praying we don¢t float away tonight!!
Date: 2018-05-16
From: Pond Flat

To: Tent site mm 441.1
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: moderate rain

We woke up and it was raining, so did our best contortionist impression and got everything packed up inside the tent then put up our soaking wet tent and hiked on. I agree with Curly, it¢s hard hiking in non stop rain. Funny thing is, you are always wet, it¢s just an issue of whether it¢s your sweat or Rain, but either way you are always wet. I think the sogginess of rain is what¢s tough. Hands and feet prune up, you walk in rivers that used to be trail, your feet slosh, but the reality is that the miles don¢t get done unless you walk. So you hike on. Which we did, all day long.Finally at 3pm we caught a rain reprieve break. We stopped and cooked dinner early, and with fuel in our system, hiked out the last 4 miles of our day, giving us 15.9 for the day. We are now 28.5 miles from Damascus so the plan is to try and get 18-20 tomorrow (weather permitting with all day rain forecasted) which sets us up for a short day Friday into Damascus. We shall see.In the meantime, we are buttoned up inside our little, 38 square foot tent and are going to say good night. Thanks again for following along with us, we truly appreciate your interest in our adventure!
Date: 2018-05-17
From: Tent site at mm 441.1

To: Tent site at mm 461.1
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

We woke up expecting rain this morning and instead woke up to nothing. Absolutely nothing!! I was giddy with excitement because the forecast calls for rain every day through Saturday. So we got around and hit the trail and the second amazing thing happened...no mountains to hike over! Say what? Yeah, no mountains for us today. Now that doesn¢t mean we didn¢t go up and down all day, it just means elevation and grade was like a dream today.  Then the third cool thing happened...the sun came out just as we hit a meadow and so we pulled everything out of our packs that was wet (which was everything) and laid it out for the sun to dry while we snacked on chip crumbs, cause that¢s all we got left to eat!And it keeps getting better. We get to hiking and come into a Gap and guess what? Trail magic! I had a huge turkey and cheese sandwich and a banana. Then, as if it couldn¢t get any better, it does. At the next Gap, more trail magic! This time pulled pork sandwich covered in slaw and ice cold pink lemonade...I mean, who needs to carry food?At this point ya gotta figure SOMETHING is gonna give, and indeed it did. The rain came back, but we were full and didn¢t care. So we hiked on and eventually ended up at a little site exactly 20 miles from where we began today-our first 20 mile day! With only 8.5 miles to go before hiking into Damascus tomorrow, we look forward to town food, showers, laundry and who knows what else? If yesterday was hard, slow and wet, then today was Easy, Fast and Dry (mostly)
Date: 2018-05-18
From: Tent Site mm 461.1

To: Tent City Damascus 
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

For those who may be unfamiliar with the thru hiker community, ¢Trail Days¢ in Damascus is the largest hiker festival/weekend of the year. Current and former thru hikers and many others gather for a reunion weekend with lots of food and fun. The big gun vendors are all there pitching their wares and selling hikers all the latest and greatest gear. They get the attention of folks, and it¢s a great atmosphere.But the true rock stars of Trail Days are the churches that come from all over the south to partner with local churches and offer tangible and practice ministries that the hikers truly need like showers, laundry, and haircuts...all for free! After 4 days of rain I can¢t express how amazing and wonderful these folks were. They bring in disaster trailers that have showers in them or washers and dryers and they set them up for us to use. Drop off laundry and several hours later it¢s finished! And they do this because they love God and love people. Many, many thanks to ¢One Way¢ ministries, the real rock stars of Damascus!So we are resupplied, well fed (Curly Turtle ate a whole pizza!) and we will head out in the morning. Next stop for us is the Quarterway Inn located in Ceres, VA which means we have traveled a quarter way of this trail, which we will reach on Wednesday.
Date: 2018-05-19
From: Damascus 

To: Tentsite at mm 485
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

As much as we enjoyed Trail Days, we were ready to get out of town and back on the trail this morning. First, we needed to mail some gear home and the post office didn¢t open until 9am; then Curly Turtle needed a gluten free breakfast which meant we didn¢t actually leave a Damascus until 1015am.Today was also our fifth straight day of rain (yay) and it¢s starting to get a bit annoying. We did buy pack covers yesterday and they make a huge difference in keeping things dry for which we are really grateful for. It rained off and on all day, and in spite of packing up a soaking wet tent this morning, we had a brief interlude of sunshine and so I pulled out all of our wet gear and dried it out. Made a huge difference when we pitched a dry tent this evening.The miles accumulated and we are now about 16 miles from Grayson Highlands State Park, which is where the wild ponies are. I hear they like to lick the sweat off dirty hikers, of which I have plenty of both! This will be a highlight of the trip for sure,especially if the weather improves. Right now the forecast is for more rain through Tuesday...ugh.Today was overall a good day, and we are thankful every day for the blessing of being on this trip!
Date: 2018-05-20
From: mm 485

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: light rain

We woke up to cloudy skies but no rain! Not knowing how long that would last, we hustled out of camp and headed north. Unfortunately, we just couldn¢t seem to find a rhythm in our step and so walking got increasingly difficult. This was very weird because normally morning hours are our best time for putting up miles. We were struggling, so much that by noon, after almost 5 hours of hiking, we had only gone six miles. We knew we needed to do better to make our reservation on Wednesday at the Quarterway Inn but couldn¢t get into s groove, which frustrated me to know end.We finally stopped for an extended break and ate som tuna on a tortilla with mustard...it was like someone turned on a switch! We both found our mojo and were able to make up some ground that we were behind on. While we were catching up to ourselves, two things significant happened. First, we surpassed 500 miles on the AT! Second, we hiked through Grayson Highlands and were entertained by the wild ponies there! Both milestones a big boost in encouraging us to keep pressing on.The rain held off all day and now we are in snug little tent listening to the incoming thunderstorms.
Date: 2018-05-21
From: Wise Shelter 

To: Trimpi Shelter 
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: clear sky

Overall today was an excellent day. Miles were great, we got some unexpected trail magic from Greybeard (thanks so much), and even though we got crushed with rain most of the day, we woke up to no rain (didn¢t start till 10am), and we ended the day to no rain, which means we are warm and dry tonite. It¢s the little things that really make a difference. Like when rain begins and when it ends.Most folks really don¢t think about stuff like that, but thru hikers do for sure. Rain dictates whether people hike or stay put. It can determine where you pitch a tent or whether they stay in a shelter. We met a guy who only hiked on non-rain days; I doubt he will get to Maine.For us, it¢s irrelevant whether it rains or not because we are going to Maine, and to get there requires you getting wet. Fortunately we have great rain gear and good thing because it¢s supposed to keep right on raining all the rest of this week!