morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-30
From: Sams Gap

To: Whistling Gap
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

No sick as of yet!!!! I'm going with the boys had food poisoning!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! We headed back out today. Miss Janet once again brought us up to the trail head... She dropped Bon Air and Jolly Rancher off at Devils Fork, they will catch up with us tomorrow back in Erwin... And then she dropped Nighten Gale and I off at Sams Gap... The hike was pretty good today. Nighten Gale had a little while where she wasn't feeling it and then I ended the day just kind of feeling it in my legs more then normal... But we met up with Amazon at camp, so things are pretty good for the day... The guys are only about 6 miles behind us tonight so the family will be back together tomorrow and we will be on our way north after a quick stop in Erwin to resupply... Soon we will be north of this hot noro zone and into Virginia!!!
Date: 2013-05-01
From: Whistling Gap

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great day... Finally!!! We only got a few miles before the first great thing of the day happened. We were taking a little break at Spivey Gap when a van rolled up and announced that they had food... So we left our packs by the side of the trail and headed down. Napalm, a 2011 thru hiker, and Rob were setting up to make burgers and hotdogs!!! Yay!!! They were both incredibly great guys to talk to!!! Thank you so much for the trial magic guys, It was awesome! After a burger, 2 hotdogs, a banana, a homemade cupcake, and 2 hours later we finally started back on the trail. We have officially hiked into Erwin!! It only took a week but we are finally here!! We weren't really sure where we were going to stay but we needed to hit the grocery store so once again Miss Janet picked us up and took us. Little did we know at that time that we would end up at her house for dinner and a get together of hikers. It's been a great night meeting new people and having a good time!Tomorrow we head north! Only a few more days and we shall leave this state behind and come face to face with Virginia, the longest state on the AT...
Date: 2013-05-02
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Well today didn't go as expected. We were all sitting around waiting for Miss Janet to come back from her first shuttle and the idea of going to a movie came up... So no hiking was done today! Instead we waited for Miss Janet and headed into Johnson City, the funny thing is we didn't even go to a movie! Instead we went to an all you can eat Chinese buffet, Starbucks, and the liquor store. Not the day we were planning but all in all a good day. The funny thing is that when I was asked my name at Starbucks I replied with Cinderella instead of my real name. I guess when you are use to be called one name and introducing yourself as that name you don't think about being in public places that aren't in the hiking community and going by your real name...my trail name is just a part of me now!We are currently camped out down by the river... It brings back the Chris Farley skit, in a van down by the river, but we are in a tent down by the river! I really love camping near running water... The downside today is that there are also train tracks very close by and the trains that go by are super loud!!!! I fear that no sleep will be had tonight!
Date: 2013-05-03
From: Erwin, TN

To: Beauty Spot Gap
Miles today: 11.1

We have once again left Erwin!!! Today was a pretty normal day out on the trail. We did however get some great trail magic by Rob Bird, he was one if the guys who gave us trail magic at Spivey Gap the other day, Bon Air had been talking about and wanting trail magic at Indian Grave Gap... So we hike into the gap, sit down, and start to eat lunch when Rob pulls up with soda and pizza!!! Bon Air got his wish and we were able to spend some time with Rob, he truly is a great guy that cares about the hiking community! Tonight we are at Beauty Spot Gap and joined by Lucky, a guy from Dublin, and Dutchie, a guy from Holland, and Gandalf, from Texas... An odd trio of people but all great guys. We also had the biggest fire ever tonight! It's been fun but its getting cold. It's the first night in a long time that I've had to put all my layers on... Hopefully this cold doesn't last long I'm pretty much over it!
Date: 2013-05-04
From: Beauty Spot Gap

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

It was cold, wet, and gross this morning! It took us a little while to get going but we managed to make it a few miles. We got into the gap and were trying to figure out what to do, the weather is suppose to be cold and nasty tomorrow. There is a hostel 4 miles from the gap so we figured we would head there when Miss Janet pulled up. Needless to say she has kidnapped us back to Erwin! It seems that we are never going to leave this town!! I guess it's ok, the weather has turned nasty, we got some good Mexican food for an early Cinco de Mayo, and tomorrow we will hole up and wait out yet another storm! We can't ever seem to get a break with this weather!! One day I'm sure we will look back and wish for thus weather but right now I'm sick of the rain and wish it would stay dry for a week or 2 at a time!!!
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Apple Orchard
Miles today: 1.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Well yesterday was pretty uneventful.... We watched movies and listened to the rain come down. A good zero day but I'm ready to be hiking! Today was pretty much the same... We had to wait for our ride up to Iron Mtn so we just hung out and then finally hit the trail around 330.... Well after hiking about a mile we came across an old apple orchard and the sun was shining so we decided to set up camp. I guess the upside is that we are out of Erwin and will hopefully stay out of Erwin come rain or shine we are hiking!!!!
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Apple Orchard

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Tonight we are sleeping in the highest shelter along the AT... Roan High Knob shelter at 6200 ft in elevation.... It's cold and foggy up here and I'm pretty sure it's going to rain! But that's not a big surprise as rain seems to be our normal weather...Today was a pretty normal day of hiking, nothing out of the ordinary. The weather was a little overcast and it sprinkled on us for a minute before our last huge climb of the day but other then that nothing real exciting. Right before the shelter however there is a big chimney with nothing else around. I'm sure at one point there must have been something but now it's just a random chimney... It's pretty cool that we get to see things like thus but it always makes me wonder what use to be there before it was a walking path for crazy hikers!
Date: 2013-05-08
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: 19E
Miles today: 16.3

Today was a long day through hard terrain and crummy weather!! It rained all of last night and we woke up to cold, foggy, windy, wet conditions at the shelter. I had high hopes that it would clear up once we got down the mountain but that was not what Mother Nature had in store for us. We started the hike walking down a river, well ok maybe a small creek but running water down the middle of the trail none the less! And it wouldn't get much better for the rest of the day! We hiked across the Roan Highlands and it was so foggy that you couldn't see 10ft in front of your face! The downfall to this is that the highlands are a series of grassy balds so there is nothing to protect you from the wind and the rain. Not so much fun!The highlight of today was the Overmountain shelter. It's an old barn that's been converted into a shelter. We had a nice lunch there and the fog actually lifted enough so that you could look out onto the valley. It would have been a great shelter to stay at on a warm sunny day.Days like today are days that you realize things that use to matter don't really matter anymore. Manly things like blowing your nose or looking pretty. When it's cold and wet snot literally just drips down your face and you don't do anything about it, sad to say, but it's true... If you were to stop and blow your nose every time it started to drip you would never get anywhere and your nose would be so raw. So instead you just let it drip or if you're lucky the wind blows it off... It sounds gross and it really kind of is but there are just times out here that you really just don't care!After a day like today we needed a little bit of good luck and we got it... Ground Hog and Gandalf, a couple of guys that we have been leap frogging with for the last couple of weeks had called a hotel and were getting a shuttle when Jolly Rancher and Bon Air got into the gap of 19E. After talking to the owner Brittney she was totally cool with 7 of us sharing one hotel room! So the boys took off and left us a message to call for a shuttle when we got in.Let me just tell you the Shady Lawn Lodge in Newland, NC is hands down one if the best places that we have stayed while out on the trail!! Super friendly people, it's a family owned and operated place, and super comfortable!!! Plus they don't nickle and dime you for everything and they pick you up at the trail head and take you back!! They are just straight up awesome!!!! Any future hikers out there give them a call!!!
Date: 2013-05-09
From: 19E

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 9.6

Today was a pretty good day. It was finally sunny, humid, but sunny so you can't really complain to much. We have decided that we are only hiking about 10 miles a day so that we can make it to Damascus on time for trail days. The terrain today was pretty easy and we had some cool things to see. We first came across a graveyard and then Jones waterfall! That was really cool. It's our first really big waterfall that we have come across. After the waterfall it was smooth sailing to our campsite just past the shelter which put us just over the 400 mile mark!!! Woot woot!!!
Date: 2013-05-10
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: light rain

Nothing too exciting happened to, I guess some days out here are just that way. We hiked past Hardcore Cascades which were pretty, had lunch on the side of a forest service road and I'm now at a shelter with bunch of people all huddled under the eaves as its decided to rain! At least with a bunch of people there's lots of conversation!
Date: 2013-05-11
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Black Bear Resort/ Dennis Cove Rd
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: light rain

Got up today with some not so great weather so we have decided to make it an easy day and hike the 6 miles into a place that has cabins! Black Bear is a pretty cool place. Little cabins on the river with showers, laundry, a small tv room, a beer...what more could a hiker ask for?They also do shuttles into Hampton, TN for resupply. So I took the shuttle in and bought some chicken and BBQ sauce to grill! Dinner was super yummy!! We followed dinner with a movie... Dumb and Dumber, I haven't seen that movie in forever, it was hilarious!! The weather wasn't so bad today but it was a good short day. Tomorrow we will hike out and hit Laurel Fork Falls, the Lonely Mtn ( actually called pond flats but its he only actual mtn in the area so I call it the lonely mtn!) and the we will camp near Watuga lake. Lets hope the weather holds out for us!
Date: 2013-05-12
From: Black Bear Resort/ Dennis Cove Rd

To: Griffith Branch Campsite
Miles today: 10.0

Wow! Such a gorgeous day! The weather was pretty good and this last section was one of the prettiest sections that we've had so far. Walking down to Laurel Fork Falls you pass through these big rock walls where an old lumber train use to pass through on its way to the mill in Hampton. And the falls were gorgeous! We hung our there for a little while and then continued on our way, just past the falls you have to walk out on this rock ledge along the river. Just gorgeous! The lonely mountain was not as bad as it could have been. Once we got up to the top the boys had a beer that they packed out and we tossed a frisbee around and then it was down to lake. It was sunny and warm when we hit the rec area of the lake so we stretched out in the sun and took a little siesta. We were joined by our normal group, Destry, Buckeye, and his dog Pryor who took it upon himself to sit in my lap.... Good thing he was a really cute dog, cause he is a solid boxer! Jolly Rancher, Amazon, and Bon Air hiked on ahead to find a camp site while Ground Hog, Gandalf, and myself decided to hitch into Hampton to grab dinner for everyone at McDonalds. Nighten Gale had a friend come pick her up so she'll meet back up with us later tonight. The hitch was successful and we walked back into the woods with McDonald's strapped to the outside of our packs. We thought we would have to walk a lot further then we actually did, but we came upon the boys and they had an awesome spot by the lake! So dinner and a fire by the lake, not a bad way to end the night!
Date: 2013-05-13
From: Griffith Branch Campsite

To: Griffith Branch Campsite
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Watuga day 2- Our day began very slowly... We all slept in and then sat around the lake for awhile trying to decide if we were going to hitch back into Hampton for McDonald's breakfast or just hike on... Well breakfast won Icarus took orders for McDonald's and I took orders for subway... So off we went to get breakfast. We had decided that as long as we left by one that we could still put in some good miles so we were back by 12:30, everyone ate and still we sat. Eventually Jessie and his dog Cooper came down the hill from another camp site and we all decided that it was a perfectly good day to grab some beer and hang out by the lake... And so our zero by the lake begun. A group of people hitched back into town to get drinks and the rest of us stayed at camp and would be the beginning to an ultimate speed bump at the lake. By the time the guys got back from town we had gained about 5 new people and by the end of the night, with another town run thrown in, we had a group of about 30 hikers hanging out by our lake speed bump! It was a ton of fun and a lot of new friends were made.
Date: 2013-05-14
From: Griffith Branch Campsite

To: Spring and Campsite
Miles today: 11.0

We finally left the lake today! It was a very sad parting as we all loved it there but Trail Days awaits and we needed to get moving... We had another great day of weather and some great views of the lake as we climbed out! We all got to Vandeventer shelter for lunch and sat on some rocks and enjoyed the weather and the views, it was gorgeous! The guys headed out first and we soon followed only to find the guys a couple miles later deciding if we should camp! We decided to stay and were soon joined by Nemma, Mamma Goose and Ruby (her dog), Jessie and Copper (his dog), Rambles and Yoti, all of who were at the speed bump yesterday! So we had become yet another smaller speed bump! All of us wanted to hike more miles but we were all to tired to go on! It ended up being a very nice day!Oh I totally forgot, I almost kicked a snake! I was walking just before the shelter and saw thus black thing recoil right as I almost kicked it... I jumped he went back under his rock and I turned and watched as I wanted to see what kind he was. He eventually came out, crossed the trail and went about his merry way! Turns out he was a harmless black rat snake and I'm pretty sure I scared him just as much as he scared me!!
Date: 2013-05-15
From: Spring and Campsite

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Holy speed bumps! This section just seems to be riddled with them. Today started out like any other day, we got up and hiked. Well we hit a road crossing and the guts had ran into a guy that we had met in Erwin that said there was beer and burgers a little further north, so we hiked on. A short time later we came to camp Riff-Raff, the be all of all speed bumps! This camp is set up by former thru hikers the week before trail days and they pretty much provide ultimate trail magic and suck you in. They set up in a big pasture, cows and everything, and just suck you in. We hung out for awhile, Nighten Gale took off, then Bon Air and Amazon, then GroundHog and Jolly Rancher, and finally me. I got a phone call about a job today and really just needed some time to think so it was pretty great being the last one to leave and just be able to think!I made it into camp around 10pm, hiked a good part of the section in the dark, everyone was still up so we chatted a bit and the headed to bed. Tomorrow Miss Janet is picking up our packs so that we can slack pack the last 14 miles into Damascus!! We will finally be there!!
Date: 2013-05-16
From: Low Gap

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We have finally made it into Damascus!!! And more importantly Virginia!!! We have left behind another state and will be in this state for a very long time! The hike today was great, easy terrain and super light pack... I got into town last and finally found everyone, got set up in Tent City for Trail Days! I'm camped out by Ground Hog, Gandalf, Lucky, Dutchie, Buckeye, Destry, and Pryor... It's a good group to be by!Nighten Gale abandoned us tonight so she could hang out with her best friend who is driving through town, pretty sure she will be back sometime tomorrow, so it's just me and the guys. Amazon is also with us. Bon Air and Jolly Rancher will be spending the weekend with Bon Air's family in Abingdon so our little wagon wheelies breaking up! But today and tonight were fun. We walked around town and then sat by our little camp fire and became a stopping point for others as they made their way to other spots in tent city ... It was a blast! I can't wait to see what the rest if the weekend brings!
Date: 2013-05-20
From: Damascus, VA

To: Dennis Cove Road/ Hard Core
Miles today: 0.0

What an amazing experience that last two days has been! I joined a group called Hard Core, it's a group of 50 current thru hikers and 50 past thru hikers that go out with a local hiking club and give back to the trail by doing trail building/ maintenance. They say that they will do to your upper body in two days what it's taken the last however long of hiking to do to your lower body. And let me just tell you that is so true! I'm sore in places that I haven't been sore in for a long time!!! But it was all worth it.We met yesterday morning at 8 am, loaded up all of our stuff into various people's cars and headed to where we would be doing the work. I ended up riding with Mt. Dew and his wife Honey Dew, Lumber, and Cool Whip. Mt. Dew thru hiked a couple years ago and Lumber and Coolwhip are both current hikers. We swung by Kincora hostel and claimed bunks and then headed back to Dennis Cove Rd and hiked up 2.5 miles to where we would be doing the work. I ended up in Section 4 of the 8 sections that we would be working on. Mountain Squid was our section leader and he gave us the run down on what we would be doing. And so we got to it. By that first afternoon you could actually see where the new trail would be and our section had built almost all of the steps needed for our switchback. But in true 2013 style the skies opened up and started to rain on us!!! So we packed up and headed back to the hostel. By the time I rolled in I really didn't need a shower or to do laundry to get the dirt and mud out of my cloths, the rain had taken care of that for me!! In glad that we had stopped earlier because the hostel was jam packed with soaking wet hikers!! We finished out day one with a BBQ dinner and some great conversation within the upstairs bunk house, I even made a new friend and had Bella, one if the house kitties, sleep withe for most of the night. It was a pretty great first day! It's crazy to see the whole thing come together. The old trail went straight down and by the end of today we had created a section of trail that had 15 switchbacks and so much nicer to walk. My section had one of those switchbacks and it was what I personally worked on. We moved a ton of rocks to make a switchback with 7 new rock steps! They are even steps for little legs!!! It was a ton of hard work but so worth it. At the end of today I even got to paint a new white blaze on the section that I worked. It was such a great feeling! I'm now part of this amazing trail with my Cinderella white blaze! After we were finished we headed back to the hostel for an amazing spaghetti dinner!! The last couple of days has been great, I'm excited to come back to this area in the future and see how our new trail looks once its been trampled on by the new class of thru hikers!
Date: 2013-05-21
From: Dennis Cove Road/ Hard Core

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Today we said our good byes to the 2013 Hard Core crew and all headed back to our respective spots along the trail. I headed back into Damascus and was going to be on my own for the first time since starting this trail. But as the trail works in crazy was I met up with Neema and we starting to get ready to head back into the woods. As we were sitting there neither one of us was all to thrilled to leave. I was tired from the weekend and her heart just wasn't into it since she had just said goodbye to her daughter who had come to visit for trail days. So we both looked at each other and decided that it wasn't going to be a hiking day after all. We picked up our packs and walked back into town to find somewhere to stay. We found a place at the Hikers Inn. What a great place this turned out to be! It's run by Skink of the 2010 class and his wife Lee. They are so nice and have a really great place! I highly recommend staying with them if you get the chance. We spent the day sitting in the front porch and chatting with a few of the other hikers staying here tonight. It was a pretty good day and allowed both Neema and I to get back into a good frame of for hiking and it's also currently raining!! We we avoided be out in the funk one more time!!
Date: 2013-05-22
From: Damascus, VA

To: Virginia Creeper Trail Campsite
Miles today: 12.4

We said goodbye to Damascus and headed back out into the big wide world of the AT again this morning. As we haven't hiked in a week we decided to ease ourselves into the trail and so today we walked the Virginia Creeper trail. We actually just saved ourselves the trouble of getting on the AT and then getting diverted back down to the creeper as some of the foot bridges along the AT are flooded and we wouldn't have been able to go very far anyways! So the creeper became our AT today. The Virginia Creeper trail is an old railway line that runs 35 miles from Whitetop to Abingdon. It's mainly a biking path but today it was a hiking path as well. It's a nice easy flat incline up and it even has a cafe!We stopped by the cafe and grabbed some icecream and sat out to enjoy the sun. Once we were finished and had made it across the bridge when a loud crack of thunder stretched across the sky. Neema and I took one look at each other and headed back to the cafe patio to wait the storm out. I'm so glad be did. About 10 minutes later the skies opened up and a deluge of water rained down and then the hail came! It was crazy. The storm lasted about 40 minutes and after a little while longer we hit the trail.I'm currently holed up in my tent listening to the rain once again as it pelts my tent. We are camped tonight with the Warrior Hikers, a group of military vets that are out here for various reasons walking the war off. We've bounced along the trail with them for awhile so it's fun to finally camp with all of them. Aside from the fact that we were all enjoying a fire and dinner when it started to rain and we all scrambled to our tents. One of these days we are going to get some nicer weather, I just know it!!!