morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-11
From: Spring Mountain

To: Hemlock Hollow Inn
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up last night and peered out of my tent. The stars were brilliant in the night sky untainted by city lights. I smiled and drifted back to sleep. I awoke this morning to a glowing red sunrise. If I remember the saying correctly, "red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in morning sailors take warning". I was able to get enough cell reception to check the weather and it confirmed that I had the saying correct with a forecast of "scattered showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe this evening. Storms may produce large hail and strong winds". You know what? I don't care because I'll be safely tucked away in a cabin with my sweetie pie. OK, it's not entirely true that I don't care because I do care about my community of fellow hikers who are out there. I knew I didn't have far to go today but I was anxious to get on the trail. The terrain was gentle with some ups and downs but mostly down as I dropped from 3,556 ft to 2,370 ft. As I was walking through thick underbrush I saw a hand written note stuck to a tree. It's not uncommon to see notes like this and it usually is hikers communicating with other hikers that they have gone to the next shelter etc. Close to roads you will sometimes see notes of encouragement from loved ones. This note was none of these, it simply stated "Caution Snakes". For some reason it tickled me and I laughed out loud. It struck me as funny that people would stop to read a note in a snake infested area and it amused me that my life had changed so quickly from worrying about hypothermia to now worrying about snakes. I didn't linger to verify the accuracy of the message. By 11:00 I arrived at the Hemlock Hollow Inn where I will meet Anita. While I wait I have had a Gatorade, an OJ, and a delicious vanilla malt. Life on the trail is so rough:-)Since I will soon be cleaned up, today I bring you the face of a Hobo who has walked nearly 300 miles . . . scary!
Date: 2013-04-12
From: Hemlock Hollow Inn

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

It was soooo good to see Anita when she drove up yesterday! I paid to take a shower at the hostel where we met so that I wouldn't smell too bad. We found the cute little house she rented and it struck me how much I had become a thru hiker. We unpacked and I went into the bathroom and started taking my clothes off. She asked what I was doing and I said I'm going to take a shower. She said you just took a shower, why are you taking another and I said "because there's one here". We both had a big laugh. Heaven forbid that a thru hiker should ever pass a shower without taking one! I think I averaged two per day. We spent most of the rest of the day bumming around town and catching up on life. Today I bring you the new, proved version of Hobo. As we ate our way through town, Anita had the opportunity to meet some of my thru hiker friends including: Postman, Turtle Tracks, Trouble, Karma, Barbarosa, Backtracker, Outside Dog, and many, many more. Some of my friends barely even recognized me all cleaned up!After some difficulty finding a place to get my hair cut, a big thank you to Crystal who got me right in and kept us entertained with her lively personality. I'm wearing my new shoes all around town to break them in. It looks so strange to see shiny new shoes on my feet. See my pic section to see my new shoes beside my shoes with 300 miles. Not much to say . . . just enjoying being together:-)
Date: 2013-04-13
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We ran into Trouble and other hikers that I didn't know at breakfast so we joined their table. As we left other newly arrived hikers joined our table. In hiker friendly towns it's funny to watch hiker tables in restaurants. The table is constantly changing as new hikers join the table and others wander off. The waitresses just go with the flow. We spent a relaxed day as I resupplied, performed gear maintenance, and continued to eat. I forgot to mentioned that we also got massages yesterday - my favorite gear maintenance! For the third day in a row we visited a cute little store outside of town that we really like. A friendly young couple operate the store and they sell freshly made coffee, homemade ice cream and cookies, locally made art, and snacks. It's a funky little place that we fell in love with. I hope they are successful in their business venture. We had a fun dinner tonight with Quaker and his wife (she arrived yesterday), Trouble, Postman, Mark (a volunteer at a local hostel), Tigger (manager of a local hostel), and Fifteen (his shoe size). Quaker is going to zero with his wife for two more days. Trouble wants to catch up with me so she slack packed 6 miles and tomorrow we will pick her up at 5:50 a.m. and drop her off so she can slack pack for 10 more miles to catch up. A lot of hikers have become ill between here and Erwin, TN. So much so that the health department has been broadcasting warnings on the radio. It's some kind of GI bug resulting in diarrhea and vomiting - not fun on the trail! I'm going to carry a travel size of bottle of hand sanitizer and be extra careful about treating my water. If possible, I will avoid sleeping in the shelters. Hot Springs has been a great place to zero and we will miss it . . . and each other!!!
Date: 2013-04-14
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Chestnut Log Gap
Miles today: 10.1

We picked up Trouble and Melkie (her dog) before sunrise and dropped her off at the trail. Anita drove me to Hemlock Hollow Inn and I waited for Trouble to arrive. Being away from Anita is the hardest part of the trail and we were both tearful when we parted. I sat in the dark outside the Inn until Hatie came and opened up the office/store/cafe. Hatie is very motherly and when she saw that I was cold she quickly set about making me a carmel hot chocolate with whipping cream on top. She entertained me with stories of of her tomboy childhood in New Jersey. She has also lived in Brooklyn and when she found out Anita was working in Bridgeport she brought out pictures from actresses and actors at a theater her grandfather ran in Hartford, CT. The Hemlock Hollow Inn is very hiker friendly and the facilities are very nice. I highly recommend it. The only disadvantage is that it is a half mile from the trail, but they will give you a ride back to the trail. Trouble and Melkie arrived around 11:00 and we ate a large lunch. Fred, Hattie's husband was kind enough to give us a ride back to the trail. The trail was all that we expected . . . about 4 miles of uphill when we left the Inn, followed by some flat trail and gentle ups and downs. The day was warm and we saw a large King snake (see pic section). We reached the first shelter after 3 miles for me and 13 miles for Trouble and Melkie. Candy Pants showed us pictures of a bear she saw on the trail. Even though we weren't far behind we didn't see it. That's the second one she has seen and I haven't seen any. She said she wanted to push on even though it would mean a 20 mile day for her if we go to the next shelter. What we didn't realize is that the trail would become very rocky and steep as we followed a ridge for several miles. There was a whole string of PUD's (pointless ups and downs). I don't know how Trouble did it - I was hurting and I hadn't walked 20 miles. During the last approximately 4 miles one side of the trail was burned from controlled burns. It made me think of Matthew and his work with AmeriCore. The light was beginning to fade so we stopped to get out our headlights. There was a city below us to the west but I have no idea what it was. Many times I have no idea what is east or west. I only know what's in front of me and behind me. We finally arrived at the shelter just as it was getting dark. It had started to rain so we quickly set up our camps. I ate a power bar and a slice of spam and crawled into my sleeping bag. I'm drifting off to sleep with the light pitter patter of rain falling on my tent . . .
Date: 2013-04-15
From: Chestnut Log Gap

To: Big Flat Campsite
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I laid in my tent for awhile this morning listening to the water drip from the trees onto my tent. I don't like carrying a wet tent due to the extra weight but we were in the clouds so it was apparent the tent wasn't going to dry out. I didn't know who was in the vicinity because we arrived so late. It turns out that Son Driven was in the shelter and I had tented next to Turtle Tracks. He talked to us thru his tent as we were packing up. He was exhausted and thinking about zeroing right there in his tent. I continued to hike all day with Trouble and Melkie. The day would prove to be more challenging than expected. We started with a climb to Bald Ridge (4,529 ft) where I'm sure the view was beautiful but we were socked in. Next we climbed Big Butt Mtn (4,750 ft). As we began to descend into Flint Gap the sun started to pop out so we took a long lunch and I hung my tent out to dry. During the afternoon the trail really changed in character. The plants were a richer green and often there was a carpet of small white wildflowers. We came into Allen Gap and crossed a state highway, crossed a small footbridge and sat down by the stream to snack. Whiskers and Rocket, a couple from Massachusetts, caught up with us and as they were crossing the bridge Rocket looked up to talk to us and took a hard fall halfway off the bridge. She admitted it was painful but said she was ok. We began our long final climb of the day to Lick Rock (4,541 ft) and it was warm. Unfortunately Trouble struggled all day. I'm not sure if it was the 20 miler she did yesterday, the heat or a combination of factors but she was nauseated and had no appetite - a major problem on the trail. Later she told me that through all the snow, ice, freezing temperatures, thunderstorms, etc., this was the worst day of her trip thus far. I saw another small snake today. The funny thing was that Melkie walked right over it and never saw it. It's to bad Trouble was struggling so much because the area we walked through was very pretty. We climbed along a stream and then came to a cascading waterfall. At the top of the climb we came across Whiskers and Rocket's camp. Whiskers said Rocket was ok from her fall. They had a great camp site with a sunset and sunrise view. We hiked a little further and set up camp in a large flat area. There was a gorgeous sunset which the pictures don't do justice. Trouble sleeps in a hammock with Melkie. She went to sleep quickly and didn't eat much for dinner. I made mac and cheese with spam for dinner and sat in the dark and ate. It tasted so good!About 8 younger "kids" set up camp just over the hill. They laughed and had a good time until about hiker's midnight (9:00 pm) and then they quieted down. As I crawled into my tent I could see the glow from their campfire in the trees. . .
Date: 2013-04-16
From: Big Flat Campsite

To: Campsite just past summit of Big Bald Mtn
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

I got up early today and it felt good to be on the trail while it was cool. I continued to hike with Trouble and Melkie. Trouble was feeling better and definitely hikes faster in the morning. At the first shelter we came to we found Navigator. He had been throwing up and had diarrhea. I gave him some medicine for his diarrhea. In the mean time Pigpen had arrived and he filled Navigators water bottles for him. I would have felt bad leaving him but Snowman's wife (Escargots - because she's slow as a snail) had a migraine headache and they were going to zero in their tent near the shelter. The wildlife is becoming more abundant. For the 3rd day in a row I saw a snake on the trail. I also saw 4 deer. They looked so graceful with their white tails held high as they danced into the woods. We had the most amazing trail magic today. Quiet Paul (2007 thru hiker) was set up near Interstate 26 and cooked each hiker 3 scrambled eggs and then filled the rest of the plate with hash browns. He also had sodas, muffins, and oranges. We enjoyed filling our bellies while we socialized with Ursula Major and her dog Ursula, Pigpen, and Don. Quiet Paul was also kind enough make each dog a plate of eggs. He lives near Asheville and does this for 10 days every year. I'm glad I was lucky enough to be here during his ten days! Thank you Quiet Paul!Both Quiet Paul and Elmer (owner of Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs) have said that there are fewer hikers this year than years past. The speculation is that the severe weather has knocked a lot of hikers off the trail or caused them to delay their start. The trail magic is just what I needed to power me up to Bald Mtn (5,516ft). The climb was higher than yesterday but it didn't seem as hard. On the way we had a chance to sit by a stream and talk to Ursula Major. She is a fascinating young woman. She has worked in Alaska in some remote areas operating a chain saw. In some cases she would be lowered from a helicopter to cut down trees to making a landing place for the helicopter. She has also worked as a zoo keeper in Wisconsin. The summit of Bald Mtn was spectacular! There was a 360 view of mountains from a large grassy bald. Off to the west sunshine filtered through the clouds in rays of heavenly light. We lingered for a long time on the summit and debated sleeping on top. Emotionally I wanted to "cowboy camp" (no tent) and to fall asleep looking at the night sky. However, experience told me that I didn't want to be on a grassy bald in a thunderstorm and that things looked ok now, but mountain weather can change quickly. To be safe, we decided to go over the summit and camp in a small clump of trees. We decided to get up early and climb to the top of a smaller bald to watch the sunrise. . .
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Campsite just past summit of Big Bald Mtn

To: No Business Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Around 5:00 a.m. I heard the sound of light rain on my tent so I zipped the fly shut and was glad that I wasn't cowboy camping. I knew that getting up to watch the sunrise was off so I drifted back to sleep. Around 5:30 I awoke to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening and I was very glad that I had not listened to my emotional brain. I lay awake for awhile and counted the seconds between the flash and the thunder. I estimated that the storm was 10 to 12 miles away. Comforted, I drifted back to sleep. The longer I'm out here the more I realize that you don't follow all the rules for practical reasons. You are supposed to hang your food in trees to keep it away from the bears. But the trees around my campsite were only 5 to 8 feet tall so I slept with the food as my pillow. You're also not supposed to eat in your tent to keep the food smells away. However, as I laid in my tent this morning, I decided to eat my breakfast while I waited for the rain to stop. Around 7:30 the rain slowed to a sprinkle and I decided I couldn't delay the inevitable any longer so I started packing up. With everything being wet and getting up late, we had a very late start. As we hiked across the ridges it was like two different worlds looking to east and to the west. Looking to the east the sun was shining on mountains with clouds filling the gaps below us. Looking to the the west the sky was dark and the clouds obscured the view of the mountains. Occasionally you could hear the rumble of distant thunder. Our luck with good hiking days ended today. We had descended off the ridge when the rain started. At first it was a light rain and I delayed putting on my rain coat. Finally, I gave in and put on my rain coat. This continued all morning as the rain would stop and I'd get hot in my rain coat so I'd remove it and then it would start to rain again. I didn't even bother putting on my rain pants. The only other hiker we saw all day was Ursula Major and Ursula. However, we did see 3 more deer. Our plan had been to get to Erwin, TN today but when got to the shelter we realized we would get into town late so we decided to camp near the shelter and will get up early so we can do town chores and only have to spend one night in town. Also, we could hang all our wet gear in the shelter to dry. Late in the evening 5161 strolled into camp. 5161 is from Luxembourg and comes to the US every year to hike sections of the trail. His name comes from starting the trail at age 51 and his goal is to hike the whole thing by the time he is 61. He's 53 now. He found out about the AT by checking out a book at the library. He said by the time he had read the third book about it he knew he had to hike it. As I lay in my tent writing this there are two contrasting sounds.   I was startled by the sudden sound of a tree crashing to the ground somewhere in the forrest. Completely opposite that, a Whippoorwill is singing his little heart out. I love the sound of a Whippoorwill . . .
Date: 2013-04-20
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Little Rock Knob - campsite
Miles today: 7.0

I forgot to mention that yesterday another person we met was Don's Brother. His brother (Don) died last year of ALS, more commonly know as Lou Gerig's disease. Don's Brother is trying to raise awareness about ALS. We went to breakfast at the same place next to the motel and again got the delicious biscuit omelette for lunch later in the day. I had a lot of water left over after hiking yesterday. I don't think I drank much because of the cool wet weather. I was thirsty during the night. This morning I drank 2 liters of fluid before hitting the trail. We got a late start as Miss Janet had to pick up hikers from various places. It was 11:00 before we got to the trail. It was surprisingly cold compared to town and the 8 of us huddled behind the van as we put on our packs and quickly took a pic. Today's climbs are Rock Pillar (4,430 ft) and Little Rock Knob (4,918 ft). The sun was out but we could see our breath most of the day. I was feeling really good, almost giddy. We didn't see many hikers today. Most previous thru hikers recommend that you slow down and enjoy the journey rather than focusing on the destination. Today would be such a day. The climb up Little Rock Knob enjoyable. The climb was steep but I was feeling good and the views were wonderful. Trouble and I were talking about how great of a campsite it would be even though we knew that our goal was to hike much further. At the summit we found a weekend backpacker and we introduced ourselves. His name was Pete and he was friendly but obviously distracted by something and kept looking around on the ground. He explained that had throw a stock in the woods and when he did his wedding ring flew off. We immediately took off our packs and started helping him. After about 15 minutes Trouble found his ring. Pete suggested we camp there and it didn't take much convincing since he already had a fire going and it was going to be the perfect place to watch the sunset. I set up my tent near the edge of the mountain (not too close!) were I had a spectacular view. Pete said the steaks would be ready soon and we thought he was joking. While I was setting up my tent and Trouble was hanging her hammock, he brought us cheese and red wine. After setting up I grabbed my food bag and stove and headed to the fire to cook. I never opened my food bag. Pete started serving steak as son as I sat down. He had pulled up fresh wild ramps that added a wonderful flavor to the steaks. Ramps are similar to a wild onions but they have a broader green leaf and they have taste like a cross between garlic and onion. When we finished the steak Pete put kielbasa sausage and green peppers on the fire. We sat around the fire, ate, and swapped stories. As the sun began to set we took a short hike down to a rocky outcrop and watched the spectacular sunset. When we headed to bed it was I'm the 30's and I realized I was back in the higher cold country. Tomorrow we will spend all day above 5,000 and 6,000 ft. What an amazing day it has been!
Date: 2013-04-23
From: Roan Mtn, TN

To: Roan Mtn, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It was around midnight when Trouble started throwing up on the porch. She also had diarrhea and I helped her clean up the porch so she could take a shower. I awoke around 6:00 with a queasy stomach and diarrhea. At 7:30 I called up to the house to tell them we would not be able to participate in their legendary breakfast. I went back to bed feeling achy and slept until 2:00 p.m. Occasionally different hikers that I know like North Star, Peanut, and Backtracker would stick their head in and chat for awhile. I will probably not journal much today. . .
Date: 2013-04-24
From: Roan Mtn, TN

To: Campsite, Elk River
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: clear sky

I awoke around 6:30 and felt much better. It's amazing what sleeping 28 out of 36 hours will do for your body. I would estimate there were about 15 people camping or staying in the hostel and there's only one shower so it's not always easy to get. No one else was up yet so I decided a shower was just the thing to make me feel even better. I finally got to partake in Mary's famous breakfast. It was quite the spread with several kinds of quiche, potatoes fried in duck fat, french toast, real maple syrup (which I haven't had since I left Maine), biscuits, gravy, fresh tomatoes, fruit with mint infusion, homemade cinnamon rolls, and chocolate tort. There may have been other stuff that I forgot to list. I wasn't exactly hungry but neither was I nauseated. Ursa Major and Ursa came in just as we were leaving so we spent some time chatting with her. It was clear as soon as we hit the trail that neither of us had any reserve. We had to stop for frequent breaks and the least little climb would make us gasp for breath. I knew we would have to go slow as I only had 5 bites of mash potatoes and half of a milkshake all day yesterday. On a normal day we would be flying because the terrain was not that bad and we only had an 800 ft climb out of the hostel. I really wasn't hungry but I knew I had to force myself to eat. During lunch we met a nice young couple from Carey, NC who were day hiking. They seemed to be avid hikers and I enjoyed talking to them. After lunch Trouble perked up but I was still dragging. When I sat down I felt fine but as soon as I'd start hiking I'd feel tired and achy. Mid-afternoon we ran into Pigpen camped near the trail. He was happy that he now had his dog with him. His parents are coming to meet him tomorrow and his dad is going to hike with him for awhile. He had arrived at the meeting spot a day early so he was spending the day chillin. Later in the afternoon we found a really pretty waterfall. We made the decision to stop early and get a proper dinner and a good night's rest. We filled up our water bottles so we could camp and not have to worry about water. In less than a mile we found a nice campsite by a river. We had only gone 6.5 miles and it was only 4:00 but all in all I thought we had done pretty well for the first day after being sick. We got our camp chores done and Trouble made a nice campfire. Unfortunately it began to sprinkle while we were cooking our dinners. It turned into a steady rain and I ended up eating my dinner in my tent. I was glad we stopped when we did. I would have felt even worse hiking in the rain. It's 6:15 and I'm looking forward to a long night's sleep. Hopefully I'll be back to full strength tomorrow. The weather forecast for this evening is scattered thunderstorms. I hope they are done by morning . . .