morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-03-30
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Alpine Court Hotel
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

How miserable. Again I barely slept and woke up encased in an igloo. But as luck would have it, I fared the best. After Mumbles, Mariposa and Chef showed up and stayed in the crawl space too. They had the worst of it. Freezing and blowing snow. I hear they just got up and hiked around five. Those in the shelter had snow on them in the morning and their toes were frozen as it had rained, then snowed, then froze so it was rotten. I was ok but didn't really sleep. My plan was to hike to the nearest shelter to Hot Springs then hike in the next morning for a Nero and spend the night. We all had the same thought - get us out of here! The snow was almost as heavy as up in the Smokies and the trees were so laden you had to push your way through whole tunnels where each branch would catch on your pack and either stop you there, drop snow on you and down your back, or slap back at you and scratch your face. Before that, at the shelter our breakfast was interrupted by a huge pine tree snapping and falling across the trail just twenty yards in front of us. You had to climb over it to get out. I'm over snow. Over over over. When will it be nice again? When will I be able to eat as planned instead of giving up on it because it's too cold or the water is too far away? There isn't a part of me that doesn't ache. And I've finally developed blisters on my toes. My back hurts because I've been stuffing my frozen water bottle and bag in my shirt to thaw it. My knees and calf are better, but all this snow and slush makes you slip and slide constantly and every time you catch yourself it jolts everything. I have pulled the muscles in both forearms. I need a break. So forget that shelter. I'm hiking into town. I don't care how much it's costing I need a break. Turns out so does everyone else. Didn't matter who you were everyone headed into town. Canadiaah and I split a room at the Alpine Court. Weird place with ceramic bunnies and pictures of kittens on the walls. No matter, it was a bed and there was a restaurant and we all ate like pigs and drank like fish and caught up and I slept better than I have in three weeks. And again I don't care but tomorrow I'm zeroing and letting everything rest.
Date: 2014-03-31
From: Alpine Court Hotel

To: Iron Horse Station
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Here it is...ZERO day! Had breakfast at the only place open. Did laundry (I can still smell the funk!) then I checked in to the Iron Horse. Debbie if you're reading, it's like the Strater in Durango. Too much money, but the beds are so soft and the room is mine alone. So much to do. Apart from catching up on this journal, I have to dry out all the parts of my tent, clean everything, get everything working properly again, resupply, fix a big hole in my jacket, and stitch up my pants. And of course it's perfect hiking weather. Barely a cloud and in the sixties. Down in town it is definitely spring - a thousand feet up still winter. I'm going to finish this stuff up then head back to the tavern for dinner and hanging out with everyone who stayed. Many moved on today, including Canadiahh, so a partially new crowd. I'm rejuvenated! And I pee clear! Not much to say so I'll just post a pic of Ranger's frostbitten finger. And yes I do realize what that pic first looks like.
Date: 2014-04-01
From: Iron Horse Station

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

There are a few disadvantages to leaving towns and heading back into the mountains - besides the warm comfy beds and real food of course. The first is that to get to town you usually have a day going all downhill, which means you're likely starting going all uphill. You also have a full pack. And with this longer hike to Erwin a full five days of food. That's heavy. But, you set out refreshed and clean and feel good. Hot Springs was no different. I spent way too much money for that hotel but man did I need it. Left early, clean and fresh, and as expected it's all uphill. I'm not feeling 100% today. Just tired. Nothing serious. I wasn't really paying attention and I somehow missed a switchback, went off trail and found myself tangled in greenbrier. That stuff is sharp! I turned around and slid off the side of the hill with the briar cutting my leg all up and scraping my thigh. Ugh. Clean no more. The rest of the day was a slog uphill but at least it's now dry if not a little hot. Intended to do 18 today but I just can't. Got to the first shelter and there's Scorch taking a nap on the picnic table. He's done too. So I'm not alone. I'll make it up tomorrow.
Date: 2014-04-02
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: few clouds

What a difference a day makes. Really rejuvenated after yesterday's disaster of a day. I woke up refreshed and ready to go. Although mighty mouse was running back and forth across the shelter all night. Even with earplugs in I could hear him. I had to (ick) brush him off my sleeping bag once, but really when you've been pooping in the woods the past month what's a mouse? Anyway had a good very long day hiking with Scorch. Hot day but just kept going. I think we both just wanted to move out of where we were. The day looked easy apart from one hill but once you got out there - holy moley! One section for about a mile was nothing but a rock scramble on a ridge line. Amazing views but a real struggle. You had to get rid of your poles occasionally so you could pull up with your hands. Well worth the view! You could see where the mountains stopped and into Tennessee. Then over a nice bald and into a serious downhill into Flint Mountain. Happy to be done today! My feet are screaming. Got in right before dark and met a couple of cool guys from Kentucky doing a section. Decided it was a night to tent as the weather was warm. Almost thought to leave off the rainfly and let the breeze through. Glad I didn't....
Date: 2014-04-03
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: light rain

Glad I put on the rain fly! About 6:30 our first real thunderstorm rolled through. Lots of lightening and rumbling. Packed what I could and moved into the shelter. So did the Kentucky guys and Mariposa. Yay Mariposa! She's fun. Met her a few weeks ago. She decided to hike with us today which has worked out great. All about the same pace. We left late waiting for the rain to move on, but wow what a day! I'd really say it was the toughest I've had so far. On and on and on. But the end was so worth it. Hiked up to Bald Mountain - this is a huge bald you can see for miles. The uphill is practically vertical at points but the view was the best I've seen. 360 of layer upon layer of soft mountains. My dad used to scare us with the story of Bald Mountain from Fantasia so I had the music in my head the whole evening. The hike to the shelter was actually spooky. Slogging through mud past these old gnarled oak trees. Then there was a dog at the shelter. Something I had not seen before - with a southbound hiker for the weekend. At first I was happy to have protection from bears, but the reality was he growled or barked at every noise so it was a restless night.
Date: 2014-04-04
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Uncle Johnnys Hostel
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

You get to a point where you're just ready to not be hiking. Usually when somebody suggests we hike out and stay at a hostel and enjoy Mexican food. That's all it took. The original plan was a ten mile day to the last shelter before town, then a short hike and Nero the next. I think this worked out better. Had a couple of rough climbs but overall it was endless hours on end of downhill that shoves your toes into your shoes and causes your feet to ache and your knees to bark. But...Made it! Oh it also rained a good deal in the morning so spent most of the day in my really steamy hot stinky gross rain gear. Made it to the hostel about 3:30 so plenty of time to shower and head into town for dinner and beer! Met Grasshopper yesterday and he joined our crew for now. Were all splitting a small bunk cabin for four. Looks like we'll leave him though. He saw something about a pig roast so is going to hang out here tomorrow. He's on a pretty free schedule for the hike. Tomorrow is resupply then five days to Hampton with the threat again of snow. Gheez please stop with the cold weather. After that is an easy hike to Damascus and my fourth state! It was wet much of today so no pics. But enjoy the one at the restaurant of Ranger's healing frostbite.
Date: 2014-04-05
From: Uncle Johnnys Hostel

To: Beauty Spot Gap
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Makes a big difference just sleeping in a bed and not the ground. Stayed at Uncle Johnny's last night in Erwin and had a great time. This time the mattresses had fitted sheets but still had to use your sleeping bag. Scorch, Mariposa, Grasshopper and I shared a room. Tiny little cabin with two bunk beds. Had a small fridge....just enough for two twelve packs and an old school TV with VCR. Yes VCR. We watched some crazy movie called Rabid Grannies from the Eighties and ate Little Debbie's. Well worth it. Today we went for a shorter day uphill to a place called the Beauty Spot. It's up high on a knob. Grasshopper was slack packing southbound so we met him at lunch and he took out our trash. Every little ounce helps! Found a great little campsite that was just us. Warm fire than off to bed. Unfortunately it was near an out of the way road and drag racing seems to be the theme.
Date: 2014-04-06
From: Beauty Spot Gap

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: clear sky

I'll say it now. Today was tough! Took it easy yesterday to account for today, but these highlands can be torture. Most of the Appalachians are lower but every week or so you go up into the highlands and all bets are off. The climb is tough, the weather is all over the place, but the rewards are long views and a more rugged version of what's lower. We left early and went up and over Unaka Mountain. Guide book said there was a dense spruce forest on top. Very cool. Feels like the Sierra Nevadas when you're in them. This was an up and over then a loooong slog up into the Roan Highlands. After this one there's only one more left in southern Virginia then we can finally even out a little. Always up and down, up and down. While I've gotten my trail legs for sure this uphill was one of the toughest. End of a twenty mile day, way up high, very steep and rocky. This is the type where you can't walk your normal pace but have to constantly adjust to avoid tree roots and rocks. And now even some remaining snow and ice. The last climb was without a doubt for masochists. But it takes you all the way up to the highest shelter on the trail which is unlike the others in that it's four sided with an actual door and an attic space. We got there late and had to fit up In the attic. The downstairs was already full and some persnickety hiker kept yelling at us to CLOSE THE DOOR when we weren't even all the way in yet! For the most part everyone is very pleasant and tolerant. You get a few inconsiderate people but everyone knows we're all tired, we've all had long days, and we all are stinky. This guy not so much. It wasn't even dark yet, but glad we got up there as it was us and four others and quiet. The forecast was for rain (of course) and it poured hard all night. Under a metal roof it's kind of deafening. Earplugs again.
Date: 2014-04-08
From: Mountain Crossings Hostel

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: light rain

I'm telling you what, the heavy mileage is getting easier and easier. Doesn't hurt when the terrain is comparatively flat. Had a pleasant day. No tough climbs. Passed the nicest shelter I've seen that had two levels and a loft. We considered staying even though it was only one thirty. Mariposa and I noticed that three shelters away was exactly 26.2 miles (a marathon) and considered taking a nap, then trying to do it with some night hiking. But instead we stuck with the plan and headed to Moreland Gap shelter. Kind of an uneventful day. Moreland is up on a ridge. Stayed with Pintsize in the shelter and we used Mariposa's tarp as the fourth wall. It was going to be a cold night. Hopefully one of the last.Tired of the cold! The only thing I can really say is woke in the morning to see Mariposa lying face up with her purple sleeping bag wrapped around her head and it looked like a giant purple afro. Pintsize thought it sounded like a character in Fat Albert of which I of course said "hey, hey, hey" in my best Bill Cosby to which she said "it's Mariposa" in her best. Oh, and we crossed 400 miles today. Wow!
Date: 2014-04-09
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: scattered clouds

While my body seems to be getting tougher and tougher my gear is falling apart! This is the money I really hadn't counted on. So far my pants are torn - in the butt of course - so I have a piece of duct tape there, lost my rain cover in the windstorm, my filter bag popped a hole, a mouse ate through my jet boil lid, a branch tore my tent cover, and I have my first hole in my shoe. Up top. But it seems everyone is on the same page. Most shoes are worse than mine. And 400 miles which incidentally is when you're suppose to change out your running shoes, but I'm giving these until about 700 so I can have an even three pairs over the hike. Have a chance today to walk off-trail to a hostel that has resupply. Need a new filter bag and have been using the tablets from Scorch and Mariposa. First off...got to a lower elevation and it's spring! Finally. It's beautiful. Leaves are just pushing out and there are flowers everywhere - daffodils. Too bad up top where we mostly are it's still winter. Got to the hostel and they didn't have what I needed so I grabbed some sodas and snacks for us to share. Simple things like a coke really change everything out here. I'll have to add a post on what were eating. At our snack stop, ran into Ranger who was slack packing. We're about a day behind the group we had been with previously. He's going off trail here to vacation with his family then back to here. Speaking of seems everyone takes a vacation from the trail. Mine will be in New York.This is WORK people. So oddly enough you kinda of need a break. We moved on to a beautiful huge waterfall called Laurel Falls and generally had a really pleasant day. The weather was awesome and the views really pretty. Apart from stopping at a shelter where it seems someone was living, we hiked all the way to a shelter near a big lake. Company was pleasant but someone left food on the table and you'll hear about that tomorrow.... Speaking of I'm in Damascus right now having a nero and will zero tomorrow and finish these posts. The weather is amazing and I want to just enjoy it.
Date: 2014-04-10
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

It finally happened. Bear in camp! I didn't see it so unconfirmed but woke up to a guy in a hammock shining his light out. He had left honey and some snacks on the table and saw the bear come and take off with it. Found it out in the woods and brought it back. Nice enough guy but not the most considerate with bear etiquette. He left the food and his trash in the firepit. Another no no. Overall today was uneventful. No big climbs, just nice weather so I'm going to talk about food. The hunger has really hit hard. Just like they said it would. I eat three packs of oatmeal, a pack of pop tarts, and a tortilla wrap of peanut butter and honey for breakfast and about half an hour into the hike your stomach starts growling. To maintain myself I just fill my pocket with snacks - crackers, granola bars, candy bars, sometimes sausage and cheese, but you always run out before dinner, especially on a long day. Dinner is some sort of Pasta Sides or ramen with a protein like tuna or Vienna sausages. I could eat ten. It's also getting really really boring. You fantasize about real food all day long and the conversation always turns to it at some point. Usually about regional foods from where you're from - like how BBQ in Texas is beef but in the south seems to be pork - btw it's excellent! Or maybe the type of pizza or hamburger you're going to have when we get to town. It's all about calories. Nice to not care but I'm sure I will when I'm done and trying to stay thin! The biggest problem really is the camp food is so boring! Mariposa had a great idea to make quesadillas at a hostel, and then just cut them up and bring them. We all pretty much ignore rules about refrigeration. Sausage and cheese and even opened packets of tuna are consumed days later and were all fine. I've seen people bring bagels and I've decided to make it part of the next round of meals. I'm in Damascus now so from here to Atkins I'm having bagels with peanut butter and honey for breakfast as well as the pop tarts then making pizza bagels with a sun dried tomato pesto sauce. Goat turned me on to bringing fresh veggies which I'm pre-chopping and storing in a little container. Dinner, get this, is Pad Thai! You basically take a packet of ramen, add a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter and some fresh veggies and done! Will let you know how this turns out.
Date: 2014-04-11
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite outside of Damascus
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

Damascus is calling. It's kind of like a chapter two to this story of a hike. Once you get there, you have essentially finished the "tough" part of the hike and things start leveling out. You've also gotten serious trail legs and a ton of confidence. You've also sort of left the South. Virginia is still the South but not the Deep South I guess. Psychologically it's a huge shift in your head to get there. Still two days away but were going to put some miles in and get as close as we can so we can take a nero and zero. I think everyone on the trail is doing the same! Started off with a smile. Sun is shining and the elevation map looks relatively sedate. As is typical we head off in a group and we usually just kind of drift into our own thoughts. I was bored and Mariposa was right behind me so I turned and said "tell me what you're thinking about right now". She giggled and said "if only you'd asked me ten minutes ago I would have told you some deep thoughts about life but the truth is I've moved to thinking about honeybuns". Ha! Wouldn't you know it thirty minutes later we found trail magic. Something I'd kind of forgotten about. Hadn't seen any in days. It was a big bear box put out by a local church. Inside was a cooler of soft drinks (snagged a Dr Pepper) and a box of snack cakes and...honeybuns! She was happy. I can't tell you how much the magic means. You're entire day is lifted. Just happy happy happy. Trail magic is usually near a road so we came out and crossed over into what is now my favorite part of the trail. This huge rolling grassy farm. Very rural Appalachia and beautiful. We all remarked about how it's finally spring and the birds are out. It really was uplifting. Such a good day we just hiked and hiked. All the way past two shelters and past a small town and then crossed into Virginia and eventually made it to a small campsite two miles from Damascus. Our new longest day - 24 miles on the dot. And I felt great!
Date: 2014-04-12
From: Campsite outside of Damascus

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

Ahh.....time to rest my blistered feet and keep my pack off and eat! Last night we ate every last thing in our food bags. Not because we ran out but because we were HUNGRY! Decided the first one up would just wake the rest and we'd just pack our stuff and go! In exchange we'd get into town for a nice big breakfast. It's crazy how quick the transition is from wild unmanicured rough nature to green beyond green grass you want to walk barefoot in and flowering trees and cars and concrete. We pretty much ran here! Through the welcome arch and stopped to take pictures but all of our cameras went dead! That's timing. I don't think we really cared, we just wanted food! Got to the Blue Blaze Cafe and parked it. They're well used to stinky hikers and welcomed us right in and had us drop our pack right at the front door. We all got pancakes with sides of bacon and sausage. When you've been deprived it tasted sooo good. Mariposa and I both noticed they had a pancake challenge - the current champion ate 16 which seems paltry so we both upped our order to the challenge. Sad to say we made it through six each and I had to dare her with a dollar to finish. Always hungry but our stomachs do have limits. Scorch seems to be the only reasonable one. He's hungry but he knows when not to be fooled! Few doors down is the outfitters that also runs a hostel so Scorch and I split a room for ten bucks each. You get what you pay for but all we really want is to take off our packs and have a good few days. I'm about to drop a fortune again as I have so much gear to replace and a lot of beer to drink. Mariposa's parents are meeting her here so she gets the luxury of a B and B somewhere. What she should be concerned about though is she convinced her mom, who is Mexican American, to do some trail magic and had been posting about this "Taco Feast" in all the journals - there's one in every shelter and it's how you keep up with friends who are ahead of you. Somehow the word got well ahead of her and when we checked into the hostel the hikers out front were already talking about it. I think the thirty people they're expecting is going to be more like 90. I love the journals. You always see people signed in who are obviously ahead of you yet you've never met. Bean Dip and Dinosaur are here and they're two. Bean Dip is Australian and Dinosaur German. They, with another hiker, have been hiking together for a while. Eventually we all end up at Blue Blaze around two and pretty much parked it there until nine. Wings, a salad, a burger, brownie, a few games of pool, lots of trail talk - like what's the best method for pooping, lots of beer and then I crashed. I'm having a great time and looking forward to the actual zero tomorrow but already ready to move forward on the trail.
Date: 2014-04-13
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

A zero day. What a luxury. But so much to do - laundry, groceries, resupply, stitching my pants. I'm completely annoyed that there's no cell service but getting stuff done. I imagine there will be drinking later but right now it's about 73 and I'm sitting in a papasan on the hostel porch typing this and watching the world go by.