morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-04-22
To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 12.2

Day 18- Overcast skies and wind makes it challenging to get out of bed. I was tiiight too! Luckily we had things to look forward too.The AWOL guide showed a steady climb to Clingman's Dome but it didn't take long to tell it would be totally socked in. We still flew, partly in an effort to stay warm, and suddenly we started to be surrounded by fir trees. The summit came up sooner than anticipated. We still walked up the observation ramp to read the informational signs. Due to the weather, it was underwhelming honestly. Soon, we were back in the tree cover. The footing was slick so I went really slow for lots of it because my knees were mad at me for yesterday. We would have made it Newfound Gap sooner but Josh and I got into our first tiff... over the BBQ potato chips! It was minimal but feelings were hurt and we ended up taking some time to hike apart to the road. We don't really fight but I have a habit of getting really mopey afterwards and I always just need a little bit of space or sleep.It started raining when we reunited at the road but Josh was quick to sweet talk a couple into a ride. They were chatty and sweet ended up dropping us at big outdoor gear outfitters in town also called the NOC (they are connected). We had some time to kill and really smelled so we took them up on their offer of free showers in the staff area. I had to use my dirty hiking shirt to dry off but I didn't care- we were warm.Gatlinburg is a foreign land as we were soon to discover. A short walk to a Dunkin Donuts revealed a tourist mecca with arcades, mini golf, souvenir shops, moonshine tasting, and more! It was a little Las Vegas without the casinos and instead surrounded by the national park. This is where we were picked up by our friend, Oceana. We had met her backpacking in Peru the year before and would not pass up the opportunity to reconnect.Boy, did she give us the royal treatment!!! First off, she hooked us up with great lodging at the Westgate Resort where she works. This is the kind of place that has cookies when you check in. The room had a washer that also dried your clothes! Then, she and her roommate Kate, gave us the locals tour of Gatlinburg and neighboring Pigeon Forge. We sampled some moonshine at Ole Smokies and then had a terrific meal at a restaurant called the Local Goat. I felt a little underdressed in our long underwear but they made us feel so welcome and comfortable. After having a rough morning, all of those feelings were washed away and replaced with pure happiness and joy to be with Oceana and Kate. It felt like a whirlwind of a day but we were still home by 10 and immediately passed out!
Date: 2018-04-23
From: Newfound Gap

To: Icewater Spring Shelter 
Miles today: 3.1
Weather: moderate rain

Day 19- We were in an amazing apartment thanks to Oceana and we chose to lounge around instead of hitting up the indoor water park. As much as we wanted to, it would mean getting our undergarments wet right before hiking out into the rain for a couple of days. Plus, Waterworld was on TV :)With our late checkout, we packed up at noon and used Oceana's car to get to a grocery store to resupply. It was across the street from an IHOP and we indulged before returning the car to Westgate. The 50 cent trolley took us back downtown to start hitchhiking back to Newfound Gap. The people watching was good and I know that we made for good people watching too in this touristy town.Considering that our longest hitch so far took three cars to get a ride, this felt a bit longer. I don't hike with a watch but it was 30-45min of standing there with our thumbs out before a young couple picked us up. I don't think they had any idea what the AT was or that we were hikers but just wanted to do a good deed for the day- at least that's the vibe we got.Will and Asshole were there when we pulled up. Wet and cranky, they encouraged us to hike fast to get room in the shelter. They also let us know Sloppy Baggins was on his 4th zero due to a knee injury. It was only three miles and it took us less than an hour to pull into an almost full Icewater Spring Shelter. There was one wide spot left. With some food bribery, the guys slid a little closer and Josh and I both filled the final nook against the wall. It seemed many other hikers had come from Newfound Gap and they were a bit of a friendly yet rowdy bunch. Most everyone was new to us but very engaging; it was fun overhearing new trail names and stories about other people's hike. Most hikers seem very eager to get out of the Smokies. We are looking forward to having more freedom for camping and therefore less clustering. A sunny day soon would be cool too!
Date: 2018-04-24
To: Cosby Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: light rain

Day 20- Our biggest day was not too bad! The shelter was surprisingly quiet and we got the best sleep on trail yet!! The terrain for today looks steady with no major climbs or descents so we are going for it! The Smokies force mileage since we are required to stay at the shelters. We could've done 12 or 20 miles but the farther shelter was 1000ft lower in elevation and therefore warmer. We got our butts out at about 8am before most people. Many hikers were wet from the days before and there was a lot of dread about putting on their cold, wet socks.The forecast is calling for more rain today though and we soon found our feet soaked through from the small rivers running down the trail. Instead of thunderstorms, we actually got some brightness through the fog. It actually created some really beautiful scenes with cool haziness through the trees. Everything was slick and there were some close calls to ending up in the mud. All the rain has helped make the forest smell. Josh had some really powerful moments of dejavo to running in the backcountry. We missed the plane wreckage noted in the guidebook but we were happy hikers all day.We definitely felt some pressure to move fast today; the last 8 miles was a shelter dash. The ground is saturated and we really wanted space in the shelter to stay as dry for as long as possible. Slowly, we were passing people who had stayed one shelter closer and we knew it would be close.Euphoria! There was space in the shelter! We immediately through our pads down and got settled in. I was feeling energetic and made the water run, made tea and dinner fetched some items for Josh who was relaxing after feeling some back pain. He's taken great care of me when I'm not on my A-game and it felt nice to return the favor to my best hiking buddy. We are so glad to be here tonight!
Date: 2018-04-25
From: Cosby Knob Shelter 

To: Painter Branch
Miles today: 12.8

Day 21- Leisurely would be the best adjective to describe this morning. With short mileage ahead (and mostly downhill at that), there was no need to rush out into the drizzly morning. Josh downloaded a Netflix series onto his phone at the IHOP that he has gotten wrapped into and I am finishing my second book.We were almost the last ones out of the shelter. We gave each other thorough rundowns on the respective plots we are following as we started the long descent out of the Smokies. The forest quickly lost the mossy, evergreen feel in exchange for the leafy rhododendrons we have been used to so far. The day started a little overcast; it grew warmer and sunnier as we hiked on. The trail was extremely muddy from all this rain but it was still improvement! The trail was no longer a river and we didn't get the sopping wet effect in the shoes.Today we got our lowest elevation so far to get under Interstate 40: 1372 ft. Even without trees, there were blazes guiding the way. They were painted along the bridge, the sidewalk, the Interstate signs and more. From there it was only a mile to the Standing Bear Hostel.It was so coool there that it must be spelled with 3 "o"s! It is a true oasis for hikers in such a perfect location. I could write so much about how great this place is but I will refrain. Josh and I resupplied there after enjoying some reheated pizza, corn dogs, and quesadillas. We indulged in some soda around the fire with other hikers before continuing on the trail. We only needed to go two miles to the first campsite. We got settled in before dark. I finished my book and Josh watched Lost in Space on his phone before we conked out for the night.
Date: 2018-04-26
From: Painter Branch

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 22- Today we had bigger plans but called it early due to the cold rain. We stayed up late last night and slept in this morning. It had rained over night making the tent wet but it was gone by the time we woke up. We indulged in bagels and cream cheese from the Standing Bear Hostel the afternoon before and hit the trail. Many hikers who stayed at the hostel had started their hiking day earlier than ours and we were already in the thick of them. Our first climb was to Snowbird Mountain where we got our best views of the day. This was the first mountain that seemed like a true bald-every other peak has had at least some tree cover. Up there, we met up with Midlife, Bilbo, Help Desk, and Mad Lib and hiked with the later two for most of the afternoon.The terrain was not too steep and conversations with new people made the miles past. As the day wore on, the grade of the inclines increased. The trail was muddy and you could feel your feet slide back in the steeper sections. Then the rain started again. From a drizzle to fat drops, we all adorned our rain jackets and kept moving. As we began the last stretch onto Max's Patch, the wind picked up. On the summit is where we lost Mad Lib. Even in the rain, he wanted to camp there to have an opportunity to see the sunset and sunrise. In exchange for Mad Lib, we picked up Midlife and the four of us moved together as the mud became more treacherous and slowed our pace. I was laughing out loud as Midlife and I slid down the side of Max's Patch. It got cold pretty quick and my knees tightened before we even reached the tree line again. The next 1.9 miles were quiet into the Roaring Fork Shelter as we tried to concentrate on not wiping out.The book says it fits 10 but we are really tight at 9 people. We had intended to push to the next shelter in 5 miles but we chose to get out of the rain and grab a slice of floor space instead. It was only 2:30 but we feel it's the right decision. We will still hit Hot Springs, NC tomorrow but it will now be an 18 mile day instead of a 13.Today is the 5th day in a row of rain. We don't care what it does tomorrow because we know it will end in a warm, dry room!
Date: 2018-04-27
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs,NC
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 23- We smelled the barn hardcore today!! aka our urge to make it into Hot Springs was through the roof!!The rain had stopped overnight but it was still a drippy, foggy mess. We dressed and zoomed out of the shelter with hopes of flying into town. But the mud had other plans!Ahh the mud! I think we have yet to be as frustrated as we were today. Not only does it slow you down, but the fast micro adjustments you make as you slip and slide everywhere kind of hurt. For me, it was my knees. For Josh, it was his back that he had tweaked a couple days before. Last night, I had been thinking to myself, "Maybe we don't need a zero". After today, we need a zero!Making it to Hot Springs, NC was great! We stayed at the Hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge. I knew I would like this place because they had spare town clothes for us to wear while doing laundry etc. There is something about being able to put on a normal cotton T-shirt that just feels good!Immediately after checking in, we departed to feast at the local diner (yum!). Then we wandered back to hostel for showers, laundry, and a beer with our new buddy Midlife and section hiker Corporate.My energy was slowly fading but Josh rallied. He put on a teddy bear sweater from the town clothes and jaunted down to the Spring Creek Tavern where he had an impressively spicy buffalo chicken sandwich.
Date: 2018-04-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 24- Zero in Hot Springs Sleep inTown clothesEating Hillbilly Market breakfast sandwiches on the side of the roadResupply at Dollar GeneralNapWalk to local outfitter and look at French Broad RiverNap #2Beers and dinner with large crew at Iron Horse StationMore sleep
Date: 2018-04-29
From: Hot Springs,NC

To: Log Cabin Road campsite
Miles today: 16.3

Day 25- It was so so nice to get out of town today! We woke up naturally and started packing our bags. Some buddies had already hit the trail and others were spending the day in Hot Springs. The breakfast biscuit sandwiches at the Hillbilly Market required a Round 2 so we stopped in on our way out of town. We passed some other hikers who invited us to soak with them at the hot springs but I knew I would not want to climb out of town after a relaxing session. It's easy to see how people get stuck in cool towns like this.Begrudgingly, we hiked up and out of town. Early on, there were gear issues today: a falling sock and a snapped trekking pole. With it being Sunday morning and us already atop the main ascent out of town, I decided to push on with a single pole- we could get creative at camp tonight.I felt lethargic today. My pack was its heaviest of the trip and, for whatever other reasons, I did not fly uphill today. Straight sunshine and the best partner helped the miles fly. The climb culminated with a cool side trail to see the Rich Mountain Lookout Tower. Every other stair had been removed and the floor boards weren't completely intact but it was cool nonetheless. Only a few miles later was the Spring Mountain Shelter where we caught up to two hikers named Big Bear and Corporate. They were to become our hiking buddies for the rest of the day. We would mainly hike with Big Bear and then stop every so often to wait for Corporate to catch up as she is injured but hobbling well. Towards the end of hiking day, Big Bear put on Siberian throat singing and that was unexpectedly perfect to get those last miles into Log Cabin Road.Our campsite was on the ridge nearby and we were able to watch the full moon rise from there. The weather felt perfect and we didn't put the rain fly on the tent. We chatted for hours and had too much fun. It's nice hiking with other people sometime!
Date: 2018-04-30
From: Log Cabin Road campsite

To: Roadbed (north end) Mi 310.2
Miles today: 19.4

Day 26- We woke up later than usual; the sun had already begun to hit us. We still started walking at around 8:45. It was a long uphill that I had been kind of dreading since the night before so Josh and I decided to hike separately and at our own paces. I put a podcast on and he played his tunes (for only the third time this whole trip) and the climb was over before we knew it.We reconvened at the next water source and also started our full day leap frog with Big Bear and Corporate. There was not a cloud in the sky and we were all smiles. After this main climb, the rest of the day was pretty much a long ridge walk that eventually turned into a gradual descent. The first highlight of the day came at White Rock and Blackstack Cliffs that gave full views of either side of the ridge. We explored these with the hilarious pair, Bo and Willet, whom we have also been leapfrogging with for a couple of days. From there, we read about a "strenuous and rocky" section of trail that brought us to Big Firescald Knob. It took a little bit of time to make it into the meat and potatoes of it but it was actually kind of fun even though it was slow going. Little scrambles here and there with natural seeming steps.The section only lasted a mile but was a good send off for the 200-miles as our next way point was passing 300 miles!!! Whoohoo!Lunch was at Jerry Cabin Shelter around 2pm where we met some guys who had night hiked over that last ridge under the full moon- that sounded really cool. Also Josh got trailnamed Broken Seal- more on that in a separate post. After some really cool fields along the trail and summiting the underwhelming named Big Butt Mountain, the descent started and we flew. We covered 9 miles in a little over 3 hours before setting up camp for evening at the end of an old road bed. We were unsure if Corporate and Big Bear were going to push this late into the day but we were glad they did. We all struggled with our bear hangs but at least we were together.
Date: 2018-05-01
From: Roadbed (north end) Mi 310.2

To: Bald Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 27- Today was the best day so far!Woke up with the sun. Lots of climbing in the trail forecast for today but was feeling frisky fresh!Pretty quickly we passed a thruhiker giving trail magic in the form of cold beers he'd left in the river overnight. It was not even 9am.Up and up we go. Josh says that today was the first day it felt like Spring! The ground was super lush with tons of flowers and the sky was blue! Our first peak today was Lick Rock with a clear view of the day ahead. Sometimes it is exciting and enticing to see where you are going to be hiking next. In this case, it was daunting. Big Bald lay ahead (and above us) which is where we were planning on ending the day.I was still feeling good when we approached Hogback Ridge Shelter for water and privy time. The cell service was great there and I discovered that one of our original and favorite thruhiker buds, Data, had left the trail. That took the wind out of my sails. He left for love, to spend time with his wife, which is completely understandable but we will miss him and we're bummed we didn't get to say goodbye.We caught up to Corporate and Big Bear for lunch. It was a hot one today and everyone was fatigued or hurting in one way or another. Corporate was getting low on food and discussed how lucky we would be if there was trail magic at Sam's Pass in 0.8miles where we crossed under I-26. But it's Tuesday and I was pessimistic.I was also wrong, thankfully! We passed some older gentlemen near the pavement letting us know that they had lunch for us!!! Burgers, hotdogs, multiple salads and slaws, cookies, fruit, cold soda, chairs, a hand washing station and more. Every year this group of guys sets up this shindig on May 1st; this is at least their 12th year doing it.It was a true gift that made me cry a little and put all the wind back in my sails. The only downside was a very full belly after two lunches. So after an hour of gorging and chatting, we moaned and groaned our way back up. It was hot and I was not feeling good! Josh was a sweetheart and put my buff under some cold water and let me wear it. That made a huge difference. It took us awhile to make it the next 5-6 miles to the summit of Big Bald with our food babies. It was stunning and offered the best views of the whole trip! 360 degrees panorama and we indulged up there until sunset. We had all bundled up and relaxed and nibbled while we waited for the glorious sun to fall. It turned a fiery red before diving behind the mountains which was our cue to turn the headlamps on and go about 1 mile to Big Bald Shelter. We creeped in silently to not wake anyone but there was no one to be woken!! I saw a food bag hanging by the bear cables but almost immediately a woman named Gouda Girl yelled "Welcome" from her tent behind the shelter. I think she was glad to have company. Josh and I lay in the empty shelter after this terrific day by 9:30.
Date: 2018-05-03
From: Erwin, TN

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 20.2

Day 29- Erwin, TN (343.8mi) to Iron Mountain Gap (364mi) (total 20.2mi)Up, up and away! Leaving a town is always a little hard and today was no different. We woke up to a dew covered tent and used that as an excuse to make oatmeal from the hiker box and eat a freeze-dried ice cream sandwich a buddy, Handstand, gave us. Then someone came and dropped off trail magic fruit for hikers! Needless to say, we got spoiled.We said goodbye to Corporate who ended her section hike here in Erwin and finally started hiking at 10. Today was going to be all uphill and I chose a pace to reflect that. We started at 1,662 feet of elevation and would top out at 5,180 feet. To add to the uphill, it was hot. I had to try really hard to not become fondue!!Right before Indian Grave Gap, my tummy needed to evacuate!! I ran into the woods and had, by far, my worst poo of the trail!! While I was moping down the trail to catch up to Broken Seal, I saw trail magic at the road. Brother Tom was there with cold lemonade, water, and brownies. We lunched there and listened to other hikers chat. The hiking past that point was brutal due to no shade and barely any breeze. A steady pace and teamwork helped the miles go by. Just before Beauty Spot Gap, there are terrific views and there were many hikers lounging at the top. It was there that we met Wings and we proceeded to hike with him for the rest of the day. He's a sweet guy about our age from New Brunswick, Canada. He and Broken Seal have a lot in common and chatted all down the trail. Once in a while, I would hang back and hike alone thinking about life and admiring the surroundings. With our slower pace, we decided to dinner at Cherry Gap Shelter and then hike on a little more. While everyone was really kind, it took no time at all to tell it was an interesting crew of people hanging out there and we were glad to keep moving.As the sun got lower in the sky, the forest changed completely. Different sounds, different colors. We called it at the first campsite after Iron Mountain Gap. We struggled to get our bear hang up, which has been happening recently, and snuggled up after saying goodnight to Wings
Date: 2018-05-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After 300 miles I have gotten a Trail name. It all started the day before as we were leaving Hot Springs. During my first steps out of the hostel towards breakfast I started to feel my calf cramping up. I instantly thought, I must be dehydrated from the adult beverages and salty town food so I grabbed a couple bananas and a big thing of water. I put all this down quicker than goose poop sliding down a hot tin roof, and began to hike. I was feeling ok but was concerned of getting more cramps so I continued to pound fluids like I was at a frat party. Because of all this I was having to use the restroom...ALOT, and String Cheese, Bear, and Corporate found it very comical. The day finally ended and I was able to fight off the cramps successfully, whew.The next day we started hiking and Bear and Corporate were laughing about my absurd amount of pee breaks and said it was like I didn¢t have any sort of seal. Then like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself my trail name was born. Broken Seal. I chuckled and thought, I¢ll take it. I mean, if someone can go to the bathroom a Trail name worthy amount of times they are at least not gonna die of dehydration.