morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-04-11
To: Franklin
Miles today: 0.0

Hi y¢all,     I¢m back heading south with the greyhound. Not my favorite mode of travel but it is cheap :/ hoping to be on the trail by tomorrow afternoon.    My swelling on the Achilles has gone down, yes still a bit sore but it¢ll all work out. Just do what I can till they strengthen.      Update on Danny: he met a friend (Chris) of mine from Kidron in Franklin NC and hiked with him and Remedy, who we had met previously. Danny is now at Woods Hole Hostel for a day, eating pizza n resting sore muscles. GO DANNY YOU CAN DO IT.
Date: 2018-04-12
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Siler bald
Miles today: 4.3

Hi y¢all, finally back on the trail this afternoon. Took forever for the shuttle to pick me up in Asheville, NC. I got started around 4 in the afternoon and hiked 4 plus miles to get on Siler Bald. Awesome sunset and views.    A bald is like a peak of a mountain n I guess they don¢t really understand why trees don¢t grow there. That¢s why they call them Balds  I guess.      Feels kinda different being all by yourself hiking. I¢m adding whey protein to my diet for muscle recovery and faster muscle build.      Met a couple on top Drew and Jess. They were trying to get away from the crowds and then I show up :/  Told then sorry and pitched my tent. I wasn¢t walking back down. Gnite everyone
Date: 2018-04-13
From: Siler bald

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Hello everybody! Had a beautiful sunrise this morning on top of Siler Bald. Hiked 11.2 miles to Cold Spring Shelter. Want to hike another 11 plus miles tomorrow to Nantahala Outdoor Center Hostel. Want to stay there for the night as they are calling for serious thunderstorms and 3" of rah Sat nite and Sunday.Just met 2 guys from Harrisonburg, VA and they are carrying 85 lb packs on a training mission to carry bibles in at some Asian country next year. One of the guys name was Justin Bowers and he informed me that Robbie trained his sister in gymnastics. SMALL WORLD!! C'yall later!!!
Date: 2018-04-14
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nanthala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.9

Good Evening,     I¢m sitting at the Nanthala Outdoor Center with a full stomach. They had an all you can eat for thru hikers that are staying there tnite. I¢m staying here and many other hikers too as they¢re calling for severe thunderstorms and 3 ¢ of rain.    Had a WOW trail today. First climbed up 700¢ and then 6.7 miles down and lost about 3000¢ in altitude. Well someone said it was an easy trail, well let me tell you, they lied! It was Brutal with some 3¢ and 4¢ step downs, I just laid down my poles and crawled down backwards. :/ someplaces we descended 20¢ and the other person behind you was still 10¢ higher than you. Definitely was one of the bigger challenges yet. Burning calves and my knee got fired up, so back to the ice!     Anyway gonna sit out the rain and see what tomorrow brings. Made more new friends last 2 days. Good night     Deuteronomy 2:3 you have compassed this mountain long enough turn northward.
Date: 2018-04-15
To: Nowhere
Miles today: 0.0

Stayed at the NOC all day. Rained all day. Ate food all day. Met new ppl. Finally got to meet Springbok and Dandelion from Capetown, South Africa, Razorback from Arkansas, F-word from Philadelphia, Handstand, Beats, Mossy Breath, he got his name when he lost his tooth brush while hiking the Long trail in Vermont, so he didn¢t brush his teeth for almost 270 mile. Lol! I did meet others but can¢t remeber all the names. Otherwise it was a boring day.  Gnite all
Date: 2018-04-16
From: Nanthala Outdoor Center

To: Locust Grove Gap
Miles today: 11.5

Hi everyone,I got started off on the wrong foot with my fellow hikers this morning by turning the lights on in the hostel at 7 am. That got a few choice words voiced my way! Ooooppps!!The rest of the morning was basically uphill for 7.5 miles from Nanathala Center. It was definitely a workout. Went up over 5000' and also was the most miserable day yet. We had temps around 32 degrees and snow on the top with snow blowing.I am now camped at Locust Grove Gap. It's gonna be a cold one tonight with a temperature around 20 degrees. Hiked 11.5 miles . Dinner is done and I am inside my sleeping bag. That's all for today.
Date: 2018-04-17
From: Locust Grove Gap

To: Cold Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5

Well I survived the most miserable day so far. I just didn¢t want to crawl out of my sleeping bag this morning. Kept waking up trying to change positions to keep warm. It was beautiful morning with the sun rising bright and clear. After a few miles and a few great views, it was hard to believe it was so miserable the day before.    Heading for Cold Gap Shelter 11.5 miles. Had trail magic at Stecoah Gap, someone left a box of donuts, cookies and bananas. I haven¢t had a banana in yrs and this one was the best banana I¢ve ever had. SLURP! If anyone ever travels thru the area where the AT crosses a road do trail magic, some fruit, or donuts, cookies or if you got time grill done burgers n hotdogs n drinks. Hang around and see what happens. ITS AMAZING!
Date: 2018-04-18
From: Cold Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam 
Miles today: 3.1

Good morning, heading in for a Nero day and resupply box I send to myself at Fontana Dam Resort. A Nero day is basically a low mileage day to get resupplied and do laundry and rest some leg muscles.     Tomorrow I enter the Smoky National Park in Tennessee. Going to start pushing mileage, aiming for for 13 plus miles. Legs are doing better, downhills still hurt, like the 1.5 miles this morn. Good breakfast helps. Which I sometimes just  kinda skimp over. During hiking long distance I need to eat about every 4 miles or 2 hrs. That¢s all for today folks.
Date: 2018-04-19
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollie Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.4

Hey,  I'm back! Had no service to post yesterday. Anyway I'm sitting on Rocky Top as I'm writing this. I was depressed when I got to Rocky Top there's no place to grow corn up there!!! LOL!!!! They need to rewrite the song. Anyway, I started off from Fontana Dam and hiked 13.4 miles to Mollie Ridge Shelter. Oh by the way, I entered Tennessee and the great Smokey Mountain Park. Nope no bears yet though I did miss a momma and 2 cubs after I left. I did see a rabbit on top of Rocky Top today.
Date: 2018-04-20
From: Mollie Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

Hi again,    Finally back in service area again, now I can catch up on the journal. I got one message out on the 20th, but took 15 mins. AARRGH!    It was a tough day with a lot of ups and downs. Ended up on Rocky Top. Oh, by the way I did get a few private comments about rewriting the song Rocky Top. I guess they thought I was referring to the corn growing up there,haha. Well I did mention that but the part they need to rewrite is the corn in jar, couldn¢t find that. So there that should take care of those comments,lol.   Being in the Smokies requires you to have a permit and you have to camp at the shelters. It does create rather a large group of hikers in one place. I counted 27 tents and there were 12 ppl in the shelter. That¢s all for today.
Date: 2018-04-21
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mt Collins shelter
Miles today: 13.4

Hello again, cold this morning, didn¢t want to crawl out of bed er, sleeping bag. Finally just crawled out packed things up this morning and hiked 3 miles to a nice lil gap with sunshine and no wind. Started my breakfast and here comes another hiker and joins me for breakfast. Then it¢s onto Clingmans Dome. Put on another cupla miles and here comes a local with a bunch of snickers, handing them out to hikers. Thank you! It was quite a climb up, he knew why he was handing out snickers. When we got up there about 25 of us hikers sat there in a semi circle taking shoes n socks off to dry. It was a decent stench I believe from the comments we overheard if somebody came to close. Some ppl stopped and talked with us, curious as to what was going on. Some wanted to pose with thru hikers. Rested for hour or more and onto Mt Collins shelter for the night. Good night.
Date: 2018-04-22
From: Mt Collins shelter

To: Newfound Gap 
Miles today: 4.6

Hi y¢all again looks like rain moving in, so we hiked out to Newfound Gap parking lot and got the free shuttle into Gatlinburg for the night. When we got out and got the weather forecast we thought it might be a great idea to just hang tight tomorrow for a bit as they¢re calling for rain tonite and tomorrow with 35-40 mph winds and the big thing is 60-70 mph gusts up on the higher elevations where we¢re hiking. No thanks.    Got into town for breakfast and as I was waiting and doing things with my backpack a guy asks me if everything was ok. Think he thought I was homeless perhaps :).  Started chatting with a couple from Mississippi and they invited me to eat breakfast with them and paid for it as well. Thank you very much David and Mimi Bradshaw, that was greatly appreciated and your company was a pleasure. SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY!    Well it¢s time to sign off and go find me some BBQ. I miss my green eggs among other things.   It¢s not the beginning or the end of a journey that is important but what is done in between that is important.
Date: 2018-04-24
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter 
Miles today: 11.0

Hello again, Started at Newfound Gap at 9 am and started raining about an hour into the hike. Hiked 9 miles in the rain. WOW!! That was an experience. Camped at Pecks Corner Shelter. Basically hiked 11 miles.
Date: 2018-04-26
From: Cosby's Knob Shelter 

To: Standing Bear Hostel 
Miles today: 10.0

Hiked from Cosby's Knob Shelter to Standing Bear Hostel. 10 plus miles and 5 of those were in the rain again. I developed a blister due to wet socks and shoes. Oh well guess that goes with the territory. HaStanding Bear Hostel is a quaint lil hostel for hikers. You can sleep in the chicken house, the shed, or the tree house. The resupply store is on an honor system with pen and paper, you settle up before you leave. I did my laundry tonight and yes I did it with a washboard!! Ha ha!!! Still trying to dry my shoes tonite. I'll be posting pics of this place.Also took a side trail to Mt. Cammerer this morn to a fire tower before it started raining. Amazing views. Was worth the extra 1.2 miles.
Date: 2018-04-27
From: Standing Bear Hostel 

To: Max patch
Miles today: 13.5

Hi y¢all I¢m back,    Finally got decent service again in Hot Springs, NC.    I started off from Standung Bear Hostel in the morning, aiming to do 15-16 miles. Well, that didn¢t happen as blisters and hotspots developed on my feet at 12 miles. I pulled my shoes off and did an evaluation of my feet. To many days of wet feet. Well it so happens that duct tape is the best thing for blisters and hot spots on your foot. Got it all taped up and did 2 more miles and set up a stealth camp.    A stealth camp is when you set up camp somewhere there is no camp site. You spread leaves and twigs back across to make it look like no one was there.    Sun is shining again!
Date: 2018-04-28
From: Max patch

To: Hot Springs NC
Miles today: 20.1

Hello again,     It was hard to crawl out of sleeping bag this morning as it was the warmest night yet. Finally made it out and yes blisters still hurt. Oh well the journey must proceed and pain must be endured.    I decided to do more mileage and see how my body responds. I aimed for a shelter at 17 miles see how everything feels. You learn to listen to your body a lot out here. If you get hungry you stop and eat, if it gets tired stop for a lil break. By the time I got to the shelter I was tired but decided  to press on. It took a bit longer for the last 3 miles but I got my first 20 miler in. Aiyiyi was I tired and feet were so sore. This morning I felt like hitting the trail again, so I¢m happy the way it went. Guess I¢ll push for bigger miles now, 15-20 miles a day.    Hot Springs is a little town that is very hiker friendly. So long everybody.
Date: 2018-04-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

hi y¢all,    Just taking a zero mileage day after yesterday. I feel pretty good after that and am ready to try that 2-3 days in a row.    I attended Hot Springs 1st Baptist Church on Sunday. I was so hungry to listen to the word of god. It¢s really amazing what your body and soul desires out here. Had a great time and am joining them this evening to go to Mars Hill at the Calvary Baptist Church for an evening of gospel sing they called it.   Well I¢m gonna take a nap now and will be hitting the trail really early tomorrow morn.   Today¢s bible study was 1st Corinthians chapter 13.
Date: 2018-04-30
From: Hot Springs

To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.4

Hi y'all, Finally got out of Hot Springs at 1:30 with a new pair of shoes. One of the guys from the church took me into Asheville for nothing to buy shoes. RJ was his name and he's a messianic Jew. I told him it takes a smart Amish business man to make money buying from a Jew and selling to a Mennonite and make a profit. Haha! I did 8.4 miles and am camping with Ben n Jerry n f-word.    We were in the midst of eating breakfast at the smoky mountain diner when 2 guys walked in and reported a forest fire 3 miles south of town along the Appalachian Trail. They had a helicopter there by lunchtime with a big bucket and would fly down to the river n fill it n back to the fire to dump it. All the hikers had to go back several miles to other trails to get around it. They said it was only like 200 yards wide when they saw it and as I climbed up the mountain on the other side of the river it was quite sizable as I viewed it across the valley.
Date: 2018-05-01
From: Tenting site

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Good morning,     I¢m sitting at Erwin, TN right now catching up with journals. I missed May 1st¢s journal.     Hiked 11.4 miles today to Little Laurel Shelter. It was in the 80¢s and just took the moisture right out of you.      My ankle started hurting after 5 miles and took me 5 hrs to limp into camp doing 6.4 miles in that time. Hope it¢s better tomorrow.     Met Turtle for the first time tnite, kinda ornery 60¢ish guy. Both of us are usually hiking by 6-6:30 and everybody is usually still sleeping. Anyway that¢s it for today.
Date: 2018-05-02
To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

We hiked 14 miles to Flint Ridge Shelter. We also did a mile and half rock scramble that was quite fun. In one place went thru a notch that for a minute I thought my pack and I wouldn't go through. I just can't get that mileage up, to many mountains to climb even though some younger guys are doing 18-20 miles aday. My ankle seems to be doing better but still have to be careful. You just don't take your eyes off the trail like yesterday I stepped on pointy rock that put enough pressure on between my middle toes that made them tingle for several hours. Just sore now. Had a nice spring at The Shelter with a 6 ft wading pool to put your feet in. TALK ABOUT COLD!!! You could only do it for a minute or 2 at a time, but it does help.
Date: 2018-05-03
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Low Gap tentsite 
Miles today: 14.9

Hi y¢all,     Hiked 14.9 miles today to Low Gap. Wow, so hot and not used to the heat yet. Hard to keep hydrated, using my Ripstiks and Gatorade to keep the electrolytes flowing in.    My toes are still tingling from the pointy rock I stepped on. Must have bruised my nerves a bit but it is bearable.   I stopped at a Hogback Ridge Shelter for lunch and a nap. As did a lot of other hikers. That¢s all for today,nothing exciting.
Date: 2018-05-04
From: Low Gap tentsite 

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 9.4

Good morning,     Sitting at the Super 8 this morning writing yesterday¢s journal, one of the worst so far.    Was planning on hiking 15 miles to shelter but that didn¢t happen as my feet took a turn for the worst. The pointy rock I stepped on must have hit my nerves as they are swelling on the on the bottom of my toe pads. So I tried compensating more on my other foot and that fired up the ankle that I was trying to be careful with. Advil not helping. Took 9 hrs to hike 10 miles. GEEZ!    Ben and Jerry caught up with us around 2 in the afternoon and informed us that they are taking a shuttle into Erwin from Spivey Gap. I decided to go in with them and ice down my feet. As I walked into motel, Will walks into the lobby as well. He asks me if I want split a room. Yes of course I do. $25 bucks a night.    Will is a guy I met a few weeks ago at a hostel and he does BBQ competitions. Lol, so we did a lot of talking about BBQ. I just call him BBQ.   Well I iced my feet down for several hours and took some pain meds so I could sleep, feels better this morning but still swollen on right foot, so more ice today. Well that¢s it for The swollen feet, it goes with the territory. Taking care of feet is probably the top priority out here.     Well that¢s it for today, just meeting a lot of new hikers and other hikers I¢ve met in the past several weeks.    An update on the forest fire in hot springs. Talked with a couple of hikers I knew said they woke up with the fire burning just on the other side of the trail they were camped on. Guess they scrambled to get packed up and hiked alongside the fire to get out. Ended up burning a 100 acres  before they got it put out with water and backburns. They were fortunate.     That¢s all for yesterday¢s woes :/ tomorrow will be better! The life of a hiker!
Date: 2018-05-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

howdy howdy,    Well after yesterday¢s miserable day I¢m still icing down feet and just trying to trying to power thru the pain.    Ok enough of the feet story, as I have another story to tell haha. I¢ve been hiking with Mary (kudzu), Joe (guiness), Rick (Ragnar), mission dan who lost his wife in January, and Ben & Jerry. Now this story concerns the  one named guiness. To start the story guiness has been struggling with the heat all week, so he¢s been rolling into camp pretty late. Well that one evening he decided to hang his food bag in a y of a tree instead of limb. I still think a bear  could have climbed the tree with consequences as we found out the next morning. It was early morning still kinda dark and I was sitting in my tent thinking about where we were going to camp next. All of sudden I hear this thrashing and crashing sound thru the brush, my first thought was it¢s a BEAR! Then it got quiet then some more thrashing n crashing and all of a sudden I hear this big crack and stuff breaking and thud then it got quiet. I asked if everyone ok? No one answered. Later as we found out his rope got stuck in the y when he tried to let his food bag down, to no avail. So he used another tactic by pushing the tree over, LOL! He got his food bag. Guiness my foot, more like Paul Bunyan. Y¢all are awesome guys n gals. Hope to meet you on the trail again someday.    We all went to Mexican restaurant for dinner in eve. Just had a great time.
Date: 2018-05-06
From: Spivey Gap

To: River rd, unaka springs rd
Miles today: 11.1

hi y¢all,     Decided to do a slack pack which means hiking with no backpack. Decided to hike 11 miles and assess my feet to see how they respond. I found out the other evening I have a heel spur which is causing some of my pain in the Achilles when hiking downhill. Well, as I found out today there¢s a combination of things happening: 1 my right knee is still a bit swollen which I can deal with a knee brace: 2 swollen achilles due to the heel spur: 3 my bruised tendons/nerves (3 middle toes) due to the sharp stone I stepped on, as I favor the right leg I use my left more and is putting more pressure on that ankle. I¢m cutting back the mileage to see if it heals up in a week or so. See what happens.     So tomorrow morn I¢m on the trail again though at a slower pace I guess. We will see how it goes next cupla days.
Date: 2018-05-07
To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hi y'all, I'm sitting out by Iron Mountain Gap waiting on friends to hike with. So decided to do the journal for the 7th. Hiked 17 miles to Cherry Gap Shelter, was a nice hike, especially up Unaka Mountain and through the pine forest. Looked like an enchanted forest with moss growing on trees and no underbrush. Stopped for a break on Beauty Spot awesome views all around. Met Fallen Leaves my age and 39er, Cottonwood with his dog Cricket. Hiked with String Bean and Snacks for awhile. Ragnar and Guiness if your reading this I enjoyed your company, miss y'all. Hope to see Guiness on the southbound somewhere. I don't think I made a mention of Mike and Twila in the journal and I can't check do to service
Date: 2018-05-08
To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: broken clouds

Hi everyone, looking forward to meet Fence Ed and his son Leroy for a 2 day hike today. I hiked out 3.5 miles to Iron Mountain Gap to wait on them. Visited with Commander and Ozzie who are also doing an online journal while I waited and Wonder Woman is hiking with them. Met numerous other hikers coming thru. Then Ed and Leroy showed up and brought me this huge juicy cheeseburger, oh my word. DELICIOUS! So we got rolling and hiked 6 miles into Clyde Smith Shelter and the last mile n half it started raining. The best show of the day was Ed and Leroy using a tarp walking down the trail to keep dry. It was quite a sight. Well the shelter was full so we crammed in till it was done raining and set up tent for me and they did the hammock thing. They didn't fall out that I heard of but I guess it was a bit chilly from what they told me. I was snug as a bug in my tent and sleeping bag. Anyway that was it for the day. I just need you all to imagine people walking around the mountains with tarps wrapped around them it was a good one. So long.
Date: 2018-05-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.0

Hi, well we were up before the sun and started hiking. Wow it was beautiful! Started with a climb up Rocky Knob and it was a bit rocky too. Did about 3 miles and stopped at a spring for breakfast. Then down to Hughes Gap and started a 4.5 mile climbing 2172' to top of Roan Mountain 6199' high. Yep we took quite a few breathers on the way up. Finally made it up and looked around a bit at the views and took a lil snooze. Sun was out and it felt really good. Then another 2 miles to the road to meet their shuttle to take them back to their vehicle. We had a great time, thanks Ed and Leroy. Hope you can walk on Thursday as you might be a bit sore, yodela di do as Ed would sound off as we walked lol. I hiked a couple of more miles to tentsite. Met pirate there from Steubenville area. That's all for now folks.
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Tenting site

To: Mountain Harbour Hostel
Miles today: 11.9

hi.    I¢m sitting at Mountain Harbour Hostel in Tennessee as I¢m writing today¢s journal. It¢s a beautiful place with a food truck on site. Every bunk is full so I guess I¢ll tent tnite, but I got a hot shower, oh the glory of a hot shower! Did my laundry so I should smell better for at least one day. I had to pick up my resupply box Ed dropped off here on his way home. The backpack should way about 7# heavier but should have enough to get me to Damascus Va next week. 77 miles from here. Hope to do it in 5 days if my feet let me.    Trail days start next Fri in Damascus. All the hiker suppliers will be there to take care of gear and etc. They expect approximately 10,000 hikers with this yrs plus former thru hikers. I¢ll probaly browse Friday on the first day. It¢s gonna be a big party I figure. So I¢m gonna skedkaddle outta there because I¢ll probaly have the trail and shelters to myself.    I hiked the Roan Highlands today, they¢re big balds and the 360 degree views are incredible, some of the best views yet. Also walked out of NC today and am in Tennessee. I¢ve been following the Tennessee and Nc border for awhile as the trail goes back and forth, you never knew which state you¢re in. Ok that¢s it I¢m gonna soak my feet in the creek.