morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-03-17
From: BlueMountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: clear sky

Today's hike included ascents of 1300, 1000, and 800 feet...the last one took me 40 minutes with a stride of about 10 inches...but I'm here, warm in my tent, after another amazing dehydrated meal for 2.5 people that I managed to consume myself. The weather again today was beautiful and the views limitless, but I had lunch at a shelter where a ranger informed me that it may get into the 20's by Sunday and some precipitation was forecast. Tomorrow I am taking a Near-o which is a near zero hiking day. This will allow me to pick up re-supplies, take a shower, sleep in a bed, and visit "Daniel's" in Hiawassee, GA legendary for an all you can eat buffet...but there is a catch - you can't stay for more than 5 hours apparently, so I'll have to eat fast ??.Today on the trail met "Get Weird"' an art major from Ohio, Castaway, a retired army officer who served 26 years...his dad was a submariner and served 37 years, and Bill the ranger at Tray Mntn Shelter who is officially retired but works on the trail 4 days per week. At the shelter tonight are people from New Zealand, the Netherlands, and all across the US....Louisville, Houston, Morristown, NJ..and of course, Oaland, Ca!. Just about everyone is going to Daniel's tomorrow!!!
Date: 2016-03-18
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: top of georgia hostel
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: overcast clouds

After a 3.6 mile morning walk from Deep Gap Shelter to Dick!s Creek Gap, went west on US 76 for .5 miles to the Top of Georgia Hostel. Very friendly owner's/operator's in a nicely built hostel overlloking the AT. In exchange for scrubs, I got my laundry done for me, while taking a shower, and coming out to a hot cup of coffee...life is good.Was shuttled into Hiawassee where Daniel's AYCE buffet was nearly brought to its knees by my three plates of lunch...all for $8.50...life is very good.Back at the hostel, resting my bones and getting ready for a pretty severe turn in weather...we'll see about the life is good stuff after I'm cold and wet tomorrow. There are several people here who are recent high school graduates, some who are fully retired, and many tweeners. Looking forward to a coaching and pack shakedown session tonight from triple crowner, bob "sir-packs-a lot" Gabrielson.
Date: 2016-03-19
From: top of georgia hostel

To: standing indian shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Was shuttled from the top of Georgia hostel back to the trail at 0800 this morning. The hostel was awesome but there was a guy snoring all night long in our bunk room of 6 that made sleeping very difficult. Not sure what the protocol in a hostel is - are you allowed to poke somebody in their side and grunt roll over...seems to work at home...on me of course in case Kim is reading this entry.Thre weather today turned cooler, foggy at times, and a few drizzles. Was perfect for hiking but couldn't see much. Left the Chattahoochee National Forest and am now in the Nantahala National Forest - but the big milestone today was crossing over from Ga to North Carolina - one state down, thirteen to go. Georgia was a lot like doing interval training for 8-9 hours per day - heart rate up, then down, then up, then down. Looks like I can expect some more of the same in NC and TN but the peaks will get higher and some of the climbs and descents a little longer...which is actually better on the knees.Cool characters on the trail today included "Dawn" who is just coming off of 2.5 years of Peace Corps duty, Conductor who is an ex-Navy Sr Chief and has hiked the trail before, and Spoons and Whistler, two teenagers from NYC.Some of my rookie mistakes so far include: 1) leaving my carabiner connected to a bear cable at Deep Gap Shelter after removing my food bag from the cable, 2) not remembering to look up before setting up my tent, and 3) leaving my tent in the middle of the night to pee and not taking my headlamp with me (coming back, several tents looked just like mine!). More to follow. Expecting freezing temps tonight and possibly 1/2 inch snow tomorrow. Time to bundle up and get in my tent.
Date: 2016-03-20
From: standing indian shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: clear sky

Today's walk, barring a 400 ft near vertical climb at Albert Mountain, was the easiest so far. What complicated it near the end was the first snowfall, then freezing rain I've experienced on the trail. But after the best freeze-dried spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had, I'm now in my tent warm and dry. Tomorrow I have to try to get a ride into Franklin to pick up a carabiner so I can properly hang my food bag. Expect a short day to start the week.
Date: 2016-03-21
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Nantahala Mountain Lodge
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a story more about what happened off the trail, then on. Hiked a total distance of 9.7 miles with weather sunny and in high 30's. The mountains were still dusted from last night's snow and the soft crunch under my feet quite peaceful. Many more streams crossing the trails in these first few days of NC compared to GA and so far I've only slipped once . After packing up at Rock Gap Shelter this morning, I walked 4.8 miles to Winding Stair Gap which is cut by US 64. There I saw "Roo" trying to thumb a ride 10 miles into Franklin, NC. I needed to go to Franklin to replace the carabiner lost earlier in the week and so joined the hitchhiking effort. Within minutes, Ernie pulled over and took us to town. Ernie is a retired trucker who relocated from Yuma, AZ two years ago to get away from the heat. He dropped Roo of at a motel and then offered to drive me back to the trailhead after he waited outside while I shopped. He just needed to go to the post-office, the Walmart, and the dump first but promised it wouldn't be long...and it wasn't...while he got his weekly supply of Mountain Dew at Walmart, I ordered and ate half of a Subway sandwich...we then dropped off a package and stopped at the dump and I was back on the trail less than two hours after I left it. I said thankyou and he said that he planned on picking up more hikers in the future!At the trail-head going up to Panther Gap from where Ernie dropped me off was a cooler of bud-light...this is called "trial magic" typically left by former hikers. From there hiked to Wayah Gap and was picked up by Steve aka "wiggy", a 2010 thruhiker and former special services serviceman from the UK. Steve built and operates the lodge where I'm staying, a picture of the living room shown here. Three other hikers just arrived to join "Ultaviolet" and me for the night. These guys had never known each other before but are now close friends and will probably hike the whole trail together.   Very cool.
Date: 2016-03-22
From: Wayah Gap

To: Rufus Morgan Shelter,
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Today's walk started at Wayah ( how Mainer's say "where"!,) Gap after being dropped off by Maggie from the Nantahala Lodge. At the top of Wayah Mountain, just off a fire road was more trail magic. "Kucho"', a 1979 thru-hiker and retired safety professional from DuPont has a tailgate set up that would have made a Raider's fan proud. He was just setting up a bbq, when I crossed his path so I stuck to Gatorade, some fruit, and cheese and crackers...amazing generosity! The hike today was long, just ending at 7 pm, but the weather was great and I was feeling good. I ran across a couple of newlyweds who were at another fire road wand were taking a break. Up drives a van and the young female hiker recognizes the people in the car are from the same town of 5000 people in Wisconsin, that they are! Kevin Bacon had it all wrong.The only odd thing that happened today was that at around 1:00 pm the sky turned hazy and around 2:00 pm some ashes started dropping. Thankfully, the van from Wisconsin was on top of it and said that there was a controlled burn to the west of us. Tomorrow I pick up a mail drop from home.
Date: 2016-03-23
From: Rufus Morgan Shelter,

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

After descending about 400 feet from where I camped last night, the trial went up about 3300 feet to the summit of Cheoah Bald Mntn, elevation 5062, the highest point on the journey so far. Both exhausting and exhilarating. Then made it down to Stecoah Gap and am staying at the "Cabin in the Woods." I am sharing a small cabin with Matt from Mobile Alabama, a seasoned hiker, genuinely nice man, and best of all...a Warriors basketball fan,. There are 4 other recently retired men also staying at this location. 2 started the trip together, and the others joined separately - I suspect they will stay together the whole way to Maine. This seems to be happening quite frequently on the trail.Back to Cabin in the Woods -For $15 you get a ride to/from the trail, a shower, a bed, and a bathroom! Then for another $8, we all just sat down in the owners dining room and had salad, as much chicken and potatoes as we could eat (and we could all eat a lot), bread, and ice cream. I'm in heaven! The $5 breakfast tomorrow includes eggs and biscuits and gravy...a perfect way to start what I hope is another 15 mile day. Thunderstorms are predicted, so we"ll see.The picture you hopefully see is,from The A.T. Guide, and shows the morning climb described above..
Date: 2016-03-24
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana Lodge
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

The day started wirth a Great family style breakfast at "cabin in the woods" - bacon, eggs, bagels, bisquits and gravy, applesauce, coffee...and I had two servings of each! Mathew from Mobile,AL and I were dropped off at the trailhead first and the other group we shared a meal with followed. My right knee is a bit swollen so I did something called "slack-packing"... Not to be confused with "slacker". Donna, the retired RN who ran Cabin In the Woods, gave me a "daypack" for my snacks, water, iPad, and some emergency supplies and she shuttled the rest of my pack , full of my five day food resupply, over to where I am currently staying - the Fontana Lodge. This saved my knees about 35 pounds and allowed me to cover the 14 miles in a little over 6 hours. I soaked my feet in a tub full of ice water and have had an ice pack on my knee for a few hours. It's raining outside and I feel great being here.There is big dammed lake (and a big damn lake!) nearby which has connections to WWII. The authorization to build the Fontana Dam was made by Congress on December 17th, 1941 as part of the wartime emergency program for providing power for the manufacture of equipment and munitions. The dam was completed in under 36 months for something like $70 million, providing crucial energy for aluminum production in the closing months of WWII. IT is 480 feet tall and half a mile across - at the time it was the fourth largest dam in the world and remains today the largest dam east of the Mississippi, the lake it has formed has 238 miles of shoreline covering 10000 acres. Today Fontana lake is used for recreational purposes. I hope to get a picture of it tomorrow. I only passed one person all day on the trail today, but apparently there are over 20 people at the shelter one mile away, which is called the Fontana Hilton, because of its size.
Date: 2016-03-26
From: Fontana Lodge

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 31.5
Weather: clear sky

Had no cell service yesterday but hiked from the Fontana 28 AT Crossing to Mollies Ridge Shelter. The day was largely overcast and cool (40's) which made the 3000 foot climb from the Fontana Dam a bit more enjoyable than had it been warm and sunny. From Mollies Ridge this morning, I hiked 16.7 miles to the Double Spring Gap Shelter where for the first time I am staying in the shelter instead of camping outside of it. Sleeping side by side with ten other people in a shelter that's about 15x10 - the upside is that it will be warm as temperatures may dip into the 30's tonight. The downside is that unless you snore first, it's tough getting a good night's rest. Yesterday evening a retired Chem Engineer from Houston (Davis) spent about an hour with me going over a three day course he took on hiking the AT. Had a lot of good advice, mostly on mind-set and philosophy. Hope I cross paths with him again.Tomorrow:Will hike about 11 miles to Newfound Gap where the AT crosses US 441 and get a ride into Gatlinburg, TN (15 miles west) for a meal not out of a bag and a cheap motel bed. Will get some resupplies as well as my next maildrop from home is a few days away.
Date: 2016-03-27
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a bit mentally challenging. Got up early from the shelter I slept in last night with the hope of getting to a Gatlinburg, TN hotel by 1:00 pm. It rained most of the way with gusty winds. The trail turned into little streams in some places and in others the mud was thick and slippery. Visibility at Clingman's Dove, the highest point on the AT at 6,655 feet was about 100 yards. Compounding all of this, I took a wrong turn at a trail junction costing me about an hour of wasted travel. I finally got to my destination (Newfound Gap)!about 2 hours later than hoped for, - cold, wet, and tired...and then the magic began - as soon as I stuck my thumb out for a ride into Gatlinburg, "Johnny" and his three sons pulled over. They had been doing a hike themselves and were empathetic to my situation. While they didn't plan on going all the way into town, they did so anyway, calling a few motels along the way they thought would be reasonable. Incredible! After checking in to a motel, I walked a block to Five Guys, sampled some moonshine at a retailer just a bit down the block, and an hour later was eating some good TN barbecue. Am now ready to begin week three tomorrow. The trail continues along the NC - TN border so I'm never quite sure which state I'm in but the people have just been delightful. Looking forward to the week ahead.
Date: 2016-03-30
From: Newfound Gap

To: Walnut Mntn Shelter
Miles today: 54.0
Weather: clear sky

This entry covers last 3 days as have had no cell connection. On Monday morning I hitchhiked out of Gatlinburg TN to the trailhead at Newfound Gap. I was picked up by 77 year old Dee who relocated to the Smoky's with her husband some 15'years ago from Detroit. She was going for amp short hike outside of town but drove me a additional 11 miles because she "liked to do nice things for hikers." Her husband, an ex GM EXEC has dementia and Dee gets out to rejuvenate. What a treat to ride with her as listen to how much joy she got out of the Mountains.The first day out was between 5000 and 6200 feet. The morning was a cold walk in the clouds and the afternoon a cold walk in the sunshine. Great for hiking. At night, I slept in the Tricorner knob shelter as the temperature plummeted to 25 degrees. Water bottles left outside froze and the trail Tuesday morning was iced. Most of Tuesday was an awesome walk in Pine forest with plush mossy flooring everywhere. It smelled wonderful and looked just as pleasant. Last night I slept at the Standing Bear Hostel which was like a scene out of Duck Dynasty. "Spongey" "' a former thru-hiker now helps run the place after the prior owner and his friend passed away from Pancrearic cancer last year. Squishy never took his sunglasses off, chewed on a thin cigar all evening, and offered guests some prized Crown Royal around the campfire. . His hair was long, his drawl slow, and his sense of humor enjoyable. Today was a 20 miler at lower altitude most of the day...very much walking right into spring as trees are starting to bloom and bees are starting to buzz Lat around 3000 feet. Got two doses,of trail magic along the way. The first from 2015'Thru hiker "Cookie""which included a sandwich, an apple, and Sieera Nevada! The second was an apple and a coke from a young couple from Greensboro who were camping with with their two daughters. Tomorrow I hope to get to Hot Springs NC by two-ish and rest a bit there.,Right now outside my tent the wind is gusting to about 30 mph....hope the stakes stay in!
Date: 2016-03-31
From: Walnut Mntn Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 13.1

Today was a walk largely downhill from Walnut Mntn Shelter (4262') to Hot Springs, NC (1326') which is great on the lungs but hard on the knees. My right knee is pretty swollen and painful. I'm trying to invoke the yoga teacher who tells you to notice the pain and let it go...it goes but I can't wak fast enough to get away from it and it keeps coming back.II purchased a pair of "gaiters" at Bluff Mntn Outfitters in town...not because I needed them so much but because I wanted to bring a little OAKLAND to the trail. Giving a shout out to RAIDER NATION with the skull laden beauties pictured above. Had lunch with Evan who is an anesthesiologist taking some time off to sort out next steps for himself. I told him I had recently worked at Kaiser Permanente and he asked me if I knew Bob Vandermeer, a retired MD from our GA region of KP. HE had met Bob at a conference some time ago....well I do know Bob, and I also learned that he and his wife hiked about 1100 miles of the trail last year and are finishing the rest now. "It's a small world" is not only my favorite ride at Disneyland, it's true!
Date: 2016-04-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked today from Hot Springs NC where Last night I enjoyed chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and canned green beans all smothered with gravy. Was hoping to return this morning for the diner's "skillet breakfast" special but there was a power outage in town and everything was shut down, so I stuck with beef jerky, a power bar, and a bunch of GORP...if only I'd had the gravy!Today's hike covered nearly 20 miles with more uphill then down which is better on the knees. It was humid and in the 60's all day, with rain threatening but never coming. Tomorrow,evening's forecast is: Partly cloudy, with a low around 23. Windy, with a west northwest wind 26 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph.   Aaahhh - you gotta love spring. Two nights ago the wind gusts went up to 50 mph and two tents where I was camping collapsed and another one had its tarp blow away.I am now in the Cherokee National Forest, where, just like the rest of the trip to date, you actually can see the forest through the trees because everything is leafless. The picture above I are two oak trees that I thought were striking and they stood atop an old tobacco plantation where the forest remained clear to,this day.Tonight I am in a shelter with a Vietnam Vet and a recent graduate,of Dayton University who is going to MED School in the fall. All is good!
Date: 2016-04-02
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge,Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today had two pretty significant climbs of 1000 and 1600 feet, but a large part of the day was at or near a ridge line. I started walking at 730 am and finished just before 6 pm. The temp all day was in the 40's which was great for hiking ( and not stopping!) and right now it's dipping into the high 20's which is great for...ice skating. Have heard and seen the impact of a lot of woodpeckers but today was the first day I saw one. Also saw my first Robin of the spring and two squirrels. A hiker whose trail name is Disco and who did 1100 miles of the trail last year said he only saw bear in New Jersey...so I may need to wait awhile for some excitement. I took a picture of the "privy""you see here which seems like a misnomer but there's only one other option on the trail and it is even less secluded.
Date: 2016-04-04
From: Hogback Ridge,Shelter

To: unlcle johnny's hostel nolichucky hostel
Miles today: 26.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After sleeping in 25 degree weather on Saturday night at Hogback Ridge Shelter, Sunday began with some Trail Magic at Sam's gap...Paul, a, 2007 thru-hiker,and volunteer trail custodian, greeted hikers with a breakfast that couldn't be beat and in return he asked for a small favor in assisting with some upkeep at a private cemetery -'see Facebook entry for more. Sunday's hike was long but uneventful. A highlight was finding a bag of tent poles, carrying them for 8 miles, and then finding the owner at the shelter I stayed last nite (No Business Knob Shelter). Another was enjoying one of my favorite foods - Chinese take-out (in this case AT STYLE; see picture.). The third was getting close to the Hostel where I am now staying, Uncle Johnny's on the Nolichucky River. At Uncle Johnny's on Monday: Opened up a maildrop from Kim and some knee support from Beth (sister no.1 - chronolgically of course). Thanks both!; took a shower; was,shuttled into Irwin, TN for an all you can eat pizza buffet;'and am now,enjoying some 60 degree weather as I'm reading the forecast for later this week which includes snow! I am down to,150 pounds, having started training at 174 and started the trip at 167. Besides gray hair (and now beard), skin tags, and bags under my eyes, I look like I am in highschool!
Date: 2016-04-06
From: unlcle johnny's hostel nolichucky hostel

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 41.7
Weather: clear sky

Left Uncle Johnny's on 4/4 and have covered a little more than 40 miles over the last two days. Am currently at the Overmountain Shelter at mile 384.6. It is a renovated (sort of) barn that sleeps up to 20 people, which is about what I think it will have tonight. Unlike all other shelters so far, the great thing is that it has four walls - here is the weather forecast so the four wall piece is pretty important: Tonight: Rain showers before 5am, then snow showers likely. Patchy fog after 2am. Low around 36. Breezy, with a south wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to 14 to 19 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Thursday: Rain showers likely before 7am, then snow showers likely between 7am and 8am, then rain showers likely after 8am. Some thunder is also possible. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. The last two days have been mostly going up which is good on my knees. Tuesday about 3700 feet up and today about 2100 feet. Highlights of the last two days have included a walk through a wonderful Spruce Forest atop Unaka Mountain, a $10 stay at the Greasy Creek Hostel run by CeeCee since 2002, a self-declared adult with a lot of ADHD, experiencing great trail magic by Saylor and Betty at Carvers Gap (sandwiches, beverages, fruit, homemade banana bread!), meeting two trail volunteers ((Bob and Paul), who in their mid-sixties maintain this section of the trail to "stay out of trouble" - they had a chain saw and pruning shears, and now staying in the best shelter ever with the wind howling outside.The next two days I'm going to cut my miles in half due to the weather and stay in hostels at night that my incredible wife reserved for me. Hope to be in Damascus VA late Monday night.