morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-06
From: US 19 Newland, NC

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up to Mackie whining and trying to lick my face. Was this really my new hiking partner? Hope I don't regret this...We waited around all morning for this brunch buffet that was happening next to the hotel at 11:30. Everyone said it was delicious home cooking so we were pretty excited. We walked around town (Alex forgot his toothbrush) and saw signs encouraging people to vote for "traditional marraige". I didn't realize until a few days later that there was a major gay marraige vote coming up in North Carolina. When the buffet opened, we were right on it! But something terrible happened and there was no breakfast food. What good is that!? But I wasn't deterred. I ate and ate and ate, until I could eat no more. We drove out to the trail head with me holding my food baby and moaning in pain. We said our goodbyes and Mack and I were off! The trail was marked with signs everywhere saying that this area has a high occurence of vandalism and theft so use caution. Great. The trail gets dangerous just as I trade in my human hiking partners for a canine. It was a beautiful section though. We saw 3 waterfalls total, one was right near the shelter. There was a beautiful field and a river, where Mack swam and chased sticks. I got to the shelter around 6 and timed my evening chores to see how much time I would need now, since I was doing everything alone. It took almost 2 hours to clean water, set up my tent, eat dinner and journal. Mack didn't contribute at all so thats not cool. Getting water was easy, since the water source was a waterfall. I didn't have to wait for a spring to drip into my gravity bag. Mack barked at everyone at the shelter, itw as super annoying. So I tented away from everyone else. He also wouldn't eat any of his dog food, which infuriates me since I was carrying a 5 pound bag all day. I learned that Mack is not good to have around when hanging a bear bag, since he things the stick I'm throwing in a tree is for him. he would chase it and when I got it over the branch, he would run with it, pulling the rope out of the tree completely. He also doesn't let me go to the bathroom alone. He sits and stares at me while I'm squatting or he brings me sticks. It's pouring rain tonight so I'm glad we're in the bigger tent. I keep checking every piece of the tent to see if rains coming through, but we're holding up okay. Other then Mack barking at the thunder, should be a good night.
Date: 2012-05-07
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: few clouds

Rain pounded down on the tent all night. Mack slept like a baby while I was up like a lunatic making sure we stayed dry. I used sticks to hold the rain cover off the tent and piles of leaves to cover any exposed area. We stayed perfectly dry. Took about an hour and a half to get ready in the morning. Mack still refuses to eat. We hiked all morning and came up to a random bench on the trail, looking out into a beautiful valley. We sat there and I ate lunch. A few other hikers joined us and Mack barked at them like crazy, always fun. When I got up and started walking again I passed the 400 mile mark!!! Pretty freaking cool! I also passed a trail to a hostel where the owner has hiked 14,000 miles. A few people went down to pick his brain and all he would say was, "Sorry, I hit my head and now I'm on pain killers". Glad I skipped that stop! Apparently, the hostel is nudist as well. Makes me wonder when this guy got the head injury, seemingly before he agreed to do all that walking. My pack was seriously killing me all day with the added weight. I'd guess its now up to 45 pounds. I started to get new pains in my lower back, radiating down to my legs. Decided to take a short day to see if I can get rid of some of this dog food, since Macks on some sort of a hunger strike. The shelter got crazy full, theres about 30 people sleeping in or around it tonight. Lots of people for Mack to bark at. Most of them have discovered that all you need to do is toss him a stick and he'll leave you alone. Tons of hikers gave him people food, so I'm glad he's eating but again, pissed that he's not eating the food I carry all day.
Date: 2012-05-09
From: Black Bear Hostel

To: Black Bear Hostel?
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up to rain, rain and rain. Enjoyed drinking a cup of brewed coffee, alone, sitting on the porch watching the rain. That's the stuff of life! Then there was a hiker explosion, complete with Moonshine and the morning took a turn for the crazy. We were all sitting on the porch chatting when a car pulled up and man got out, wearing a completely camoflauge outfit. He stepped onto the porch and said, "Are there any Yankees present?!". I tried my damndest to avoid eye contact, but alas, he saw me. "You there, where were you raised?" I nervousely replied, "South Jersey". To my shock, he looked delighted. He told me a story about how he grew up in the mountains and moved to South Jersey where he got a job delivering pizza. Only he had never before seen pizza until his first day of work. He didn't even know what pizza was! He gave me some kind of religious paperwork, talked some more to all the hikers and left. As the rain fell, hiking looked less and less attractive. Only problem was, I had no cell service and Nick was coming to pick me up that day. I got on the computer and was able to talk to him that way. He agreed to get me from the hostel and I had myself a zero day! It was exactly what I needed. I met a hiker named Diving Rod and we talked for a while. I discovered that she was experiencing some of the same things I was. She didn't want to drink all the time and she loves her life at home. This was her one big adventure too. That conversation helped me more that she will ever know. It was good to know that I'm not the only thru hiker running away from something. I spent the day just hanging out and talking to people. The owners of the hostel were incredbly nice. They let me use their phone to call Nick long distance and gave me a great discount on a cabin for the night. I kept their collar on Mack all day. The Twisted Sisters came to the hostel too and I always love hanging out with them. Then came Fire Starter and Bushwaker, all my favorite hikers were there. It was the perfect day for a goodbye to the trail. Train grilled burgers that night and even made one for Mack. Nick came in after dinner and we played Cranium with some of the other hikers. I laughed a lot and had a good time. At night, I took some time to look at the moon and just enjoy the placee that I was in.
Date: 2012-05-10
From: Black Bear Hostel

To: Civilization
Miles today: 0.0

Nick and I left first thing in the morning. The road from the hostel to town was only 4 miles but it took soooo long. It wound around the mountain, weaving right and left and up and down. I started to feel sick in no time at all. We got on 81 and I watched as all the mountains faded away in the rear view mirror. At the half way point I vomitted from motion sickness. I do not like moving so fast! An hour later, I noticed that my right foot was covered in vomit, which to my understanding is not okay in the real world. You know, the world where people take showers and wear deodorant. I quickly wiped it up before Nick noticed. The drive took forever! We eventually got onto 70 and I started to feel really weird. I felt like I couldn't comprehend all that was going on around me. By the time we hit 695 I felt like my head was going to explode. In the woods, it's like you can really focus on what is happening around you. If a caterpillar is walking across the trail, you can sit down and give it all of your attention. But here, in this world, things are happening in every direction and you have to give each of them a small piece of your focus. How is that even possible?? When we saw the Baltimore skyline I was terrified. It didn't even look like a real thing. And so many houses. What was going on in all of those houses with all of those people? And so many car. Why are they all going in the same direction, yet traveling seperately. Going into the apartment was strange. It smelled funny, and why do I have so much stuff? All of my plants were dead. Nick said he tried, but they all just died. I basically went right to the bed and watched teevee until I zone out and became a shell of a person. Nick got sushi and cupcakes. I ate like 10 sushi rolls. Oh my god it was so freaking good!!! I really missed sushi! And I had 2 cupcakes! Sleeping in my bed felt good.
Date: 2012-05-11
From: Civilization

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I forgot to explain why I left the trail and came home, it is temporary. A good family friend is getting married and I planned to come home for a few days to celebrate. This morning Nick went to the gym and I was left to my own devices. I walked to the little neighborhood coffee shop with Mackie. The 10 minute walk was terrifying! Cars whized by, people walked past and didn't say goodmorning and worst of all, helicopters buzzed through the air above me. Then there was a long line at the coffee shop. Where do all these people come from?? How have I lived here for so long?? I came back to the apartment and called Montrails about my shoes. The seem in the side of them is splitting and it looks like it gets worse every day so I wanted to come up with a solution before going back to the trail. They were super helpful and tried to connect me with a shoe store that would swap them out for a new pair. But they stopped making that model and would only be able to give me a new shoe. They said the seems split because the shoe wasn't made to carry 30 pouunds every day, and I said, "Well neither was I". I decided to just stick with the split seem because getting a brand new model could mean more blisters and more pain. I'll just wear them until they bust. I also went to REI and got a new tube for my gravity bag, I had thrown the tube away that connects the filter to the clean water bag, thinking I could just hold them together, which I can... but it's really annoying. It'll be exciting to not have to stand there holding the bag and filter together anymore. In the evening, Nick and I went out for crabs and beer with Christina and Lorena, my besties from home. They filled me in on stories from work. Everything has changed so much in just 2 short months. The crabs were tasty, but didn't meet my hiker appetite requirements. From there, we went out to a bar with some other friends, Sean, Phins, Hank and other Nick. I had a blast talking hiking with them, since they are all into hiking. Phins and Hank plan to walk with me sometime soon so that should be fun. Of course, I drank too much and ended up wandering to the grocery store where I got two things of ice cream and some plastic spoons. I sat on the curb and ate my hiker heart out.
Date: 2012-05-12
From: Baltimore

To: New Jersey
Miles today: 0.0

So weird to travel so far in such a short time period. Nick and I drove to NJ, or should I say Nick drove to NJ since I still refuse to drive stick shift. Now today was the day of the wedding and we both refuse to wear much more than jeans and t-shirt most days so we were clueless about wedding attire. Nick had to borrow a suit from a friend that he tried on approximately one hour before said nuptuals. I went to my sister's closet (again with one hour to spare) and tried to find something comfy, so I could get my groove on on the dance floor. Then of course, Nick's walking around in flip flops and a suit, so my Mom had to take him to get dress shoes at the last minute. The whole thing was insanity. Then DO IT comes home and we have another vagabond who doesn't know how to get dressed up. Mrs. DO IT was a little angry at all of us for being so uncivilized. We miraculously arrive at the church on time. The procession started and DO IT leans over and whispers, "That's about your pace on the trail". Ha. Ha. Ha. The ceremony was beautiful and enjoyable. The priest was funny, which made it more comfortable and relaxed then most church weddings. Nick and I looked stunning of course, in our borrowed attire. My hiker appetite kicked in when I went up for communion, and I wondered if I could get a second round on the body of christ. Instead, we hit Wawa after the ceremony to house some hoagies before the reception. We tore up that dance floor all night. DO IT was insane out there! The whole night was really fun, good food, good music and good people. I've never seen a dance floor fill up before the salad was served! After the ceremony (and about 15 rum and cokes) I started to do some pretty serious planking. I got a good wedding table plank on and then we decided to go see the ocean. It was about a 10 minute drive, escorted safely by Frank. We put our feet in the ocean and felt the sand. Des did some tricks in her bridesmaid gown and Frank cautioned me not to plank on the thin railing above the water. We went back to the hotel room where I planked on a microwave and then did my final plank in bed.
Date: 2012-05-13
From: New Jersey

To: Baltimore
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up to Des wondering why she was covered in sand...We drove back to my parent's house where we would all then drive to Pennsylvannia to pick up my brother from a sleep over and see my Grandmother. So. Much. Driving. And driving's not fun. I get car sick everytime I get in the damn car, except for the Jeep with the top down. There's no flowing air in cars and you're just bouncing around back there. But we survived. We had Mother's Day brunch at a chinese food place. They actually served food on plates, no square cartons while laying down and watching teevee. Then we had Cold Stone for dessert, which I was in a pretty serious relationship with before the trail. Our reunion was delightful- Love it! All Lovin No Oven! We got back to my parent's house and I was standing outside playing with the dog when my whole world changed. A bug flew into my ear. And I could feel it moving around in there, which is the most awful sensation in the freaking world. I started screaming and crying. My little brother came over and I yelled for him to get Nick. Nick came out and took one look at my hysetrics and shut me down. "You need to calm down or I can't help you." This really set me off, "Stop trying to manage my emotions and get this bug out of my god damn ear!!" I realized he wasn't going to give me what I wanted to I ran inside, "Sister! Sister". Des came out and put on her nurse face immediately. She sat me down and started barking orders, "Bulb syringe, hydrogen peroxide". I think she may have said STAT. Who knows, I couldn't hear anything since Mr.Bug was doing some sort of dance routine in my freaking ear canal. Des did a few shots of hydrogen peroxide and water into my ear and nothing was happening. They all started to think I was making things up. Then she announces, "Ya know, I've never actually done this before". Fan-freaking-tastic. Then Nick declares he's done it a million times at concerts. What!? Do bugs charge into ears at concerts regularly? And since when does he go to all these concerts?? He gives it a try and nothing comes out. Then Des announces that it's all in my head. Literally. Nick gives it one more squeeze and they all gasp as a gnat flows straight out of my ear. Tears of relief flooded my eyes and we all just started cracking up laughing. After that fiasco, Nick and I drove south to Baltimore. It was a long drive with traffic. We made it home and passed out. I had dreams of bugs filling my ears and head.
Date: 2012-05-19
To: The Beach!
Miles today: 0.0

Totally planned on going back to the trail today, I swear. But first I needed to get a green tea from Panera and from there I seem to have gotten distracted. We all wanted to go to the beach but Steve had some yard work to do first so we all decided to pitch in. I got on the tractor to cut the grass and was shocked to find that there were no rules! No one made me wear hearing protection! When we were kids we had to wear these giant red headphones that Dad had for work and we were so embarrassed of them all the time. Then we had to cut in straight lines and not run over anything. When I was mowing and ran over sticks and a tennis ball, I looked over at Steve, waiting to get in trouble, but he didn't say anything. This was odd... From there we went to REI and got Mackie a pack. They only had one his size so I hope it's comfortable for him. After that, we started driving East. We didn't quite make it to the shore. We went to Red Eye Dock Bar for some beers and snacks. Then we went to Oxford and let the dogs play on the beach. Mack went swimming a lot and played with other dogs. After the dog's swim, we went out for crabs. Had a long drive home and slept like a baby.
Date: 2012-05-20
From: The Beach!

To: The Hospital... 
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up and packed my gear, put on my old smelly clothes and started driving South, thinking I would start at Shenandoah and go SOBO since my ankle still hurts like crazy. I figured going to such easy terrain would be ideal so that it can heal. As we were driving, we say a sign, calling out to me, "Brunch Buffet". There's nothing better then a brunch buffet. Nick obviously pulled over immediately and we sat down to stuff our fat faces. Something great happened and they had breakfast food AND lunch food. So I obviously settled in for the long haul to have both meals. I talked to my sister while we were there and told her about my ankle, she started to say scary things like 'stress fracture'. Nick and I started to consider that I should maybe go to the doctor's before going all the way to Shenandoah. Considering that it had been 5 days of pain and I hadn't hiked in three I started to think it was a good idea. Problem is, my insurance only covers emergency room visits unless I'm in South Jersey. We put it to fate and picked a number, if Nick guessed the number that corresponded with the doctor, we'd go to the ER. Of course he did, ugh. We went out to the car and the police were waiting for us. Apparently, you shouldn't leave your dog in the car for both breakfast annnd lunch. Some a-hole actually called 911 and went into our car to give Mack a cup of water. The cop said Mack did not appear distressed so he wasn't concerned. Yikes, already an eventful day. Drove to the emergency room where I felt ridiculous walking in like a perfectly healthy person. They called me back almost right away and were super nice the whole time. One of the nurses was familiar with the AT and said it's on her bucket list! They made me get x-rays which came back fine. They could see that it was swollen though and said it could be a stress fracture that didn't show up, or a ligament issue. They told me to go to an Orthapedist and use crutches, yeah right. The trail nurse came back and got back to reality. She said to wrap my ankle while hiking and gave me two ace bandages. She said to rinse one in a stream when I can and hang it off my pack to dry. She said to rest, ice, compress and elevate and then chuckled to herself that maybe I could do one of those on the trail, compress. We concluded that 25% was good enough and I was on my way. At that point, there was no time to drive to Shenandoah so we went back to Steve and Lauries. I just can't escape!! Trail tomorrow, I swear.
Date: 2012-05-21
From: Penmar Park

To: Deer Lick Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: very heavy rain

Woke up at 5 am this morning just feeling crappy. I had this feeling of disappointment and worthlessness for not being on the trail. I've gotten so sucked in to creature comforts, its been easy for me to make excuses not to go back. But I ended up stuck in a fantasy world where everything is wonderful, staying with the Hornbergers and not engaging in real life... Not taking on any of the responsibilities that come with being off trail. And avoiding the city made it even less realistic. So I did what anyone would do and I got Netflix on and watched back to back episodes of Army Wives to distract myself from reality. Got up at some point to let Mack out and decided that I needed to just rip the bandaid off and force myself back to the trail. If it ends up not being fun then at least I'll have given it a fair shot. So Laurie drove Mack and I up to Penmar and we decided to just hike North and see what happens. Of course it was pouring rain and will continue to rain for the next two days but whatever, nothing I can't handle. I put Macks pack on and he looked like he was afraid to move. He took a few slow, careful steps and then sat down and cried. Laurie looked like she wanted to scoop him up and love him all the way back to their house. But I remembered how I felt this morning and said goodbye. I walked about 10 steps, then slid on a rock, bad ankle first and fell to the ground. I thought about how Laurie was still in the parking lot if I wanted to go back to creature comforts, but no, I got myself up and kept walking. I walked for about 10 minutes and a feeling of relief washed over me. I am a thru hiker. Again. I'm back where I belong. And this time I'm going to remember how lucky I am. Forget hiking Virginia, I'll figure it out later. Spent the entire day walking in the rain. I had to carry a wet Mackie and his pack across 2 busy roads. The trail was easy. Few rocks, no real elevation changes. Only went 5 miles since we started walking at 2:00 and I didn't wanna overwork Mack with his new pack. Lucky thing is, there are 2 shelters here so I don't have to tent. If anyone has a problem with my wet, smelly dog, they can go to the other shelter. Not much else going on, crossed the Mason Dixon Line today and Mack peed on it. I'm upset bc I forgot to bring toilet paper, I only have a little bit of it. Also forgot a dog leash, but his pack has a handle so we'll make do.
Date: 2012-06-07
To: Jackassery
Miles today: 0.0

I've been waiting to do this last journal entry until my life is normal and makes sense. I keep waiting for it to fit in this little box, thats easily explained and looks good on paper. But I'm realizing that that will never happen. My life is messy, it always has been. Since I got off the trail, I spent a week at the shore with my family. We got a random, last minute shore house since we had planned a hiking trip and my ankle was still jacked up. The week was full of the usual jackassery. There were turtles in the tub, jet ski shenanigans and beach boot camp sessions. When I left the shore, I tried to make some money by selling garbage at an outdoor flea market near my parents house. I had some minor success, sold a used bathing suit for $3! Now I'm back in the city and trying to get used to it. The beach was a perfect transition point, it was so clam and mellow. There was no traffic and people were generally happy. Nick and I are passively looking for a new place to live but as usual we have no idea when our lease is up. I do have to get one of those job things so I don't blow through all of my road trip money. No movement on the blogosphere yet since I need to come up with a catchy name. Ideas?
Date: 2012-06-20
To: New Blog!
Miles today: 0.0

I finally did it! Check out my new blog at:http://justjackassery.blogspot.com/Also wanted to mention that I got trail magic today, in the form of a package addressed to DO IT and Blisters from Franklin, NC. Remember our friend Marilyn who we met at the Hampton Inne and drove us around on a tour of the town? She sent us a wonderful letter and t-shirts from Franklin. Awesome!!!! Just another reminder of how wonderful everyone on and around the trail was. Thank you Marilyn!!!