morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-25
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Day 19 - The Fontana 'Hilton' was a zoo last night. It has two levels and holds maybe 32 people @ the absolute most. Because of rain, about 40 hikers tried to cram in. Twice during the night guys fell from the upper level, waking everyone up. About every half hour, someone needed to stumble outside to pee. In spite of that, I slept pretty well. Today is my zero day at the Hike Inn. I picked up my two packages from my lovely wife, had a nice hot shower and repacked my pack with food for the next 6-7 days. I weighed my pack after this and it came in at about 34 pounds, less than it feels like. I also weighed myself - I've lost about 17 pounds already. I really need to slow that down or I'll be a skeleton by the time I meet up with my family in June. Tomorrow I'll be climbing 2700 feet to Mollies Ridge Shelter-my first stop in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park (GSMNP). There's a 60% chance of rain, but I've just got to work through those things. The park is 67 miles long with no resupply without going into Gatlinburg - hence the 6-7 days of food. Next resupply is at Standing Bear Farm Hostel at the northern terminus of the GSMNP. Thanks to the Hike Inn shuttle, I'm having a Mexican dinner in Robbinsville, NC and I'll be sleeping on a real bed! Life is Good!!
Date: 2015-04-26
From: The Hike Inn

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: light rain

Day 20 - I was dropped off at the Fontana Visitors Center by the fine folks from The Hike Inn around 9:15 am. My plan for the day was to hike up to Mollies Ridge Shelter - all uphill about 11 miles. After taking pictures at the Shuckstack Lookout Tower, I arrived at Mollies Ridge Shelter around 4 pm & decided it was too early to stop. A group of us continued on to Russell Field Shelter - another 3 mile (70 minute) hike. Just about everyone at this shelter is a thruhiker and we all pretty much know each other. The weather today was mostly overcast with occasional drizzle and somewhat cold, but the next couple of days at least are supposed to be sunny. Yeaaa. On a different note, the hike up from Fontana was easier than I expected in spite of the 3200 foot elevation gain, so I must be getting my trail legs.
Date: 2015-04-27
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 21 - It was foggy when I awoke this morning. The sun quickly burned it off and it was bright sun for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the bright sun didn't bring much heat with it. I had to wear a jacket most of the day. I crossed Rocky Top (yes, the Rocky Top of country music fame) early in the morning and took some pictures. Originally I was planning on stopping at Derrick Knob Shelter (about 9 miles), but I got there about 1:30 pm- way too early to stop. I continued on another 6 miles to Silers Bald Shelter. The rest of the hiker bubble arrived a little later. Judy was here when I got here, but she was moving on to the next shelter 1.7 miles ahead. Tomorrow I'll pass Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the AT. Today marks the end of week 3 of this adventure - the only concern I have is how cold it is here in the Smokies. I expect it to get down below 30 degrees tonight. There's been no cell service for ATT for the past couple days - hopefully tomorrow I can reconnect with my wife.
Date: 2015-04-28
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 8.0

Day 22 - Happy birthday to my son!!!! 26 years old today - remember to change the oil in your car! I hope this next year will be a great one for you!! Today also is the start of week 4 and the day that I cross the 200 mile point. Yeah! Another sunny day, but that will change tomorrow - 100% chance of rain according to the tourists at Clingmans Dome. Today was a relatively short hike, only about 8 miles. Tomorrow I'll head to Newfound Gap where I'll hitch a ride into Gatlinburg, TN.. for the night to visit the outfitter there, resupply (you cannot believe how sick I am of crackers), and most importantly, touch base with my wife. It has been over 3 days since I've had cell coverage. Tonight at this shelter are Dutchy (from Holland), Kate, Beth, Prana, Hanna (who's my daughter's age), Pale Rider, and 4 other thruhikers just back from Gatlinburg.
Date: 2015-04-29
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 4.5

Day 23 - A nero day today. I spent last night at Mt. Collins Shelter. I got an early start in the morning and hiked 4.5 miles to Newfound Gap before the forecasted rain started. I hitched a ride into Gatlinburg, TN to resupply, get a shower, do laundry, and eat some fattening restaurant food! I'm trying to eat as many calories as possible. Gatlinburg is a tourist town-home to "Dollywood", lots of hotels, restaurants, and garish tourist traps. There is a good supermarket here though, where the trick is to get their 'savers card', which does save you about 30% off their list price. The tourists seldom get or have the card and pay inflated prices. I stayed at the Grand Prix Motel, a favorite of hikers. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it about 1.5. They did have a warm shower and a coin laundry, so the minimums were met.
Date: 2015-04-30
From: Gatlinburg Tn

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6

Day 24 - I got up early and easily got a ride back to Newfound Gap. I was lucky since some hikers had to pay $40 to get a ride. My goal was to get to Pecks Corner Shelter-about 10 miles. I wanted to get there before the forecasted afternoon rain started. I made it by 1:30 pm and since there was no rain, I decided to continue on to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter-another 6 miles up the trail. About 1 mile into it, the sleet started, which turned into an on-off drizzle. About 400 yards from the shelter, it started raining & just as I got to the shelter, it turned into a downpour. As I write this at 7:00 pm, the rain has not slacked off, but I'm warm and dry in the shelter. For the next several days, the weather is supposed to be good, even warming up on the weekend. I'm tired of being cold. Tomorrow will be another 15 mile day and I'll be leaving the GSMNP. Some things I have learned so far - I have been tying my shoelaces wrong all my life! I now know how to do it so that they won't loosen up. If a shelter has a privy, you're in North Carolina. If it doesn't, you're in Tennessee.
Date: 2015-05-01
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 20.0

Day 25 - It was very cold last night at the shelter. Inside my sleeping bag, I was wearing 2 pairs of wool socks, my camp pants, two long sleeve shirts, my down jacket, my rain jacket, my buff, and a cap. When I awoke, there was a coating of snow on everything. After a breakfast of 4 oatmeal packets, I started hiking still wearing all those clothes. Usually the layers come off pretty quickly while hiking, but this morning the first layer didn't come off for about 2 hours. About every hour after that, another layer came off. By noon, I was down to my regular hiking outfit. The snow didn't melt off the ground for several hours. I wanted to get to Davenport Gap Shelter today, about 15 miles. I reached that shelter around 4:30 pm and it just looked like an unpleasant place. I decided to go another 5 miles to Standing Bear Hostel - hence my first 20 mile day. This is a great place. I encourage any hikers to check this place out (see it on my photos page). There was great cell phone coverage near the I-40 underpass, so I took the opportunity to give my wife a call. Tomorrow may be only a 10 mile day - but who knows. My Fitbit says I have walked 55,519 steps today, a new record for me!
Date: 2015-05-02
From: Standing Bear Hostel

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 12.8

Day 26 - I slept well tenting at the Standing Bear Hostel. I was just about the last one to leave in the morning, but I finally got packed up and headed on up the trail. The first 5 miles were all uphill, about 2600 feet. It was a struggle. Two hours and 45 minutes later, I reached the top-a place called Snowbird Mountain. It had a bald on top. I wanted to get to Brown Gap, about 10 miles from the hostel. After a series of ups and downs, each about 1000 feet, I arrived @ Brown Gap around 3:30 pm. It was just too early to stop, so Trail Chef, Buckle, and I pushed on to Max Patch, a huge bald about 1100 foot higher and almost 3 miles further. Max Patch is just incredible - about 100 hikers and another 60 day visitors were there. It was one huge hiking/camping party and one that even I could get into. The views from there are amazing and there was music too. It was hard to stop taking pictures of the views, the sunset, and the people there. Most camped on top, but it was too breezy there for me. I pitched my tent a couple hundred yards down from the peak, ate dinner, then went back up and rejoined the party. I'm only about 20 miles from Hot Springs, so I'll probably roll into there soon. Monday will mark the end of my 4th week on the trail. By then, I will have cornered about 276 miles. I'm getting my trail legs. The daily miles are increasing - 13+ mile days are becoming more the norm now.
Date: 2015-05-03
From: Max Patch

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 20.0

Day 27 - Before I start this journal entry, I'd like to tell my friend from home, Alex K. something. While camping at Max Patch, I had some UNFLAVORED vodka. You were right!!! I think I'm now converted to drinking vodka this way! I'd also like to thank my friend, Steve S., for helping my wife with some of the tasks I usually undertake at home. You are helping me make this journey possible. I was planning on stopping today at Deer Mountain Park Shelter, just a few miles before Hot Springs, but I made it to that shelter by 3:50 pm. I hiked some today with Pole Dancer-formerly known as Judy. I was a bit annoyed by a women hiker at one of the shelters I passed. She said something like "doesn't that defeat the purpose of the hike" when I mentioned doing a long day to get to Hot Springs. There are a million reasons people do this hike - who is she to say that this long day defeats my purpose. Kind of judgmental on her part, I think, but I'm working on tuning out that sort of person.   I decided to keep going another 3.2 miles to Hot Springs so I could get a large restaurant meal, a bed to sleep on, my laundry done, take a shower, and get a connection to home. Thus another high miles day. I'm now at the Laughing Heart Hostel in Hot Springs. I had a large Mexican meal with a 32 oz. beer, so now I'm feeling pretty mellow. Check out my pictures of Max Patch on my photos page. It is an amazing place and I had a great time there. A lot of hikers take a zero in Hot Springs, but I expect to head out in the morning to take full advantage of this great weather.
Date: 2015-05-04
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 11.0

Day 28 - Trail towns are seductive: They are like Homer's beautiful sirens that tried to lure ships onto the rocks. Trail towns (Hot Springs in particular) have restaurants, micro-breweries, beds, comfortable or historic hostels, laundries, showers, and outfitters, all singing to the hiker "take a zero; take 2 zeros". And almost all hikers give in to the lure. Not intrepid hiker Pockets, but I was sorely tempted. Laughing Heart Hostel was a great place to stay and I highly recommend it to all hikers. I got a late start today because I needed to resupply and the stores were all closed Sunday evening when I got to town. After a double breakfast on Monday (got to get that calorie intake up), I hit the Dollar General and the outfitter and took the goods back to Laughing Heart and started packing up. The result is that I didn't get out of there until about 11:00 AM. Then I began the most difficult 11 miles of the hike so far - 11 miles of mostly steep up, in 80 degree temps, with a pack holding 6 days of food, and not a lot of water sources because of how dry it has been. I hiked a while with Cookie. She was out of water on the climb out of Hot Springs and was pretty dehydrated so I gave her most of the water I had. She needed it more than I did. I had made a point of drinking a lot of water before leaving Hot Springs. Luckily, we came to a spring shortly after that and all water worries ended. I reached Spring Mt. Shelter around 5:30 pm, set up camp, and ate. Surprisingly, I have cell coverage here and so was able to connect with home - always a highlight of the day. Tomorrow will be a 15 mile day that will get me to about mile 300 on this adventure. Today marks the end of week 4.
Date: 2015-05-05
From: Spring Mt. Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

Day 29 - Happy Cinco de Mayo! FYI to Cotton and Spyder - I have learned how to conquer the beast - 3 capsules of Metamucil at every meal! I got an early start this morning, on the move by 8:00 AM. Today's 15 mile hike was divided into 3 five mile sections - the first fairly easy, the second a long 2200 ft. climb, and the last a fairly strenuous rock scramble. It started raining during the last section around 0.5 miles from Jerry Cabin Shelter. I pretty much set a speed hiking record to the shelter as I didn't have my pack cover on and my rain jacket was buried somewhere deep in my pack. The rain stopped just as I got there. After setting up the tent, I had a good meal of broccoli & cheese rice with tuna (olive oil added in too). Jupiter & IO, Karaoke, Traveler, and some section hikers are here for the night. I crossed the 300 mile point just about the time it started to rain. As I type in my tent, the rain has started up again in earnest and will lull me to sleep-the sound of it beating against my tent. The only thing that could make it better is if some thunder and lightening would make an appearance!
Date: 2015-05-06
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 30 - One month into this adventure. The AT is far less crowded now than it was back in April. There are only 8 hikers here at Hogback Ridge Shelter. Back in Georgia, it was common to have 40 or more hikers at a shelter, including the tenters. Today was another 15 mile day - the last 2 miles were done in record time. It is impressive how nearby thunder can energize an otherwise tired hiker. Not much out of the ordinary today; everyone has their sights set on Erwin, Tennessee - about a day and a half away. If I stick to traveling to the next shelter, tomorrow would only be a 10 mile day. So I'll pass that shelter and stop at one of the campsites 5 or 6 miles beyond. I need to average about 16 miles a day if I want to get to Damascus, VA for their Trail Days celebration by Saturday, May 15th.
Date: 2015-05-07
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 31 - It's no great secret how to have high mileage days. On average, I hike about 2 mph, so if I want to hike 20 miles, I count on 10 hours of hiking. In addition, I need to keep fueling my engine during those 10 hours. This is all fine and good until I suffer a mechanical breakdown - then all bets are off. I was planning a high mileage day today so that I would arrive @ Erwin early tomorrow. About 2 miles into the hike, I got a sudden, sharp pain on the top right side of my right foot - the kind of pain that made it difficult to walk. I think it's a shin - splint type of injury but located in the tendons and muscles that allow me to lift my small toes. Fortunately, I have compression socks with me (I almost sent them home earlier) and lots of vitamin I (Ibuprofen). Between the two of them, they fixed me up enough that I easily made the next shelter about 10 miles up the path. I was planning to go a considerable distance further, but prudence suggests I give my foot some rest. What this means, though, is that tomorrow will be a 16 mile day to get to Erwin instead of the 11 miles I had planned. But it's mostly downhill so if the foot holds up, it will be doable. Depending on how I feel in Erwin, I may or not take a zero for some general rehabilitation. I mentioned 'Damascus Trail Days' yesterday. By way of explanation, think of Rio during Mardi Gras except it's Damascus, not Rio, and Trail Days, not Mardi Gras. A more apt comparison might be when the bikers swarm into Sturgis. The town of Damascus (population 800) is overrun with about 10,000 past and present AT hikers.
Date: 2015-05-08
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel-Erwin, Tn.
Miles today: 16.45

Day 32 - If the weather is good, an AT hiker walks. Yesterday a thunderstorm arrived just as I walked up to the Big Bald Shelter - at about 2 in the afternoon. These things often pop up and an hour or 2 later the weather is fine again. But in this case, the group I was hiking with and I decided at 2:15 that we were done for the day. We set up our sleeping gear in the shelter and took a nap. About an hour and a half later, I awoke to find the sun shining. I should have packed up and moved on but it is mentally difficult to change your mind once the decision has been made to settle in. The thing is, lots of other hikers stopped to eat or to check the shelter register, then continued on. At 3:30, there is still about 5 hours of daylight left - good for at least 6 miles of walking. I was a little worried about my foot, but I still felt a little like a slacker for just laying around for those 5 hours. AT hikers spend far more time sleeping than the average person, typically falling asleep around 8:30 pm and awaking around 6:30 am - about 10 hours of sleep. We really don't need to quit hiking before 6:30 or 7 pm. The compression sock and ibuprofen seem to be working their magic on my foot. Today I rarely thought about it as I completed the 16+ miles from Big Bald Shelter to Uncle Johnny's in Erwin. What bothered me more was the heat, especially during the climbs. Johnny's shuttled us to restaurants for dinner (I had another huge Mexican meal and then to Walmart for resupply). I don't think I'm going to take a zero tomorrow - not sure what the point of it would be. Thanks for all of your comments on Trailjournals; I read them whenever I have wifi available. They are encouraging!!
Date: 2015-05-09
From: Uncle Johnny's Hostel-Erwin, Tn.

To: Stealth camping @ mile 355.2 
Miles today: 12.2

Day 33 - The decision to not take a zero at Johnny's was a good one. I would have gone stir-crazy sitting around Erwin for a whole day. I caught the 9:00 am shuttle into town for breakfast and had a large order of eggs and lots of coffee at the Huddle House and finally got back into the woods around 11:30. It was a relief to be back walking again: town is now an alien place and the woods are the normal environment. I planned on having a low miles day thinking that the climb out of Erwin in the mid-day heat would be difficult. But the climb wasn't that hard and the woods were cool from the previous day's rain. I ended up going further than planned - 12.2 miles to a camping spot with a water supply - an essential for cooking dinner. Spyder and Cotton - check out the 'Knorr Sides' @ a grocery store along with single tuna packs by Starkist or Bumblebee. Mixing these together in boiling water with some olive oil makes a great, easy to fix meal with lots of variety and a lot lower cost than that Mountain House stuff. I'm also eating soft tortillas with peanut butter or cheese for lunch - the combo provides lots of calories and is a good change-up from candy or protein type bars. Brother Tom (an actual Catholic brother) provided some trail magic at one of the gaps - he's been doing that for 7 weeks straight. My foot continues to improve and at this point is no longer an impediment to hiking. Tomorrow might be another 20 mile day since the terrain looks fairly easy and we (Zipper and I) are trying to make Trail Days in Damascus by the 15th or 16th. Many thanks to my buddy Steve for fixing my LEAF (electric car) - that is one less thing to worry about. Until tomorrow......
Date: 2015-05-10
From: Stealth camping @ mile 355.2 

To: Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel
Miles today: 12.2

Day 34 - The small camping spot I stayed at last night was right beside a gravel road that provides access to Beauty Spot. Being that last night was a weekend night and Beauty Spot is evidently a major make-out location, there were music blasting pickup trucks filled with intoxicated young folks driving up and down the gravel road until well after midnight. So sleep was hard to come by. Note to self: pick a camping spot far from roads in the future. We (Sonny, Zipper aka Zippy, and I) had ambitious plans for today - a 20 mile day ending at a camping spot halfway up Roan Mountain. We got a good start on it, covering 9 miles by noon, but there was word about a hostel 3 miles ahead that had pizza and cold drinks! Given that it was a hot day with the threat of thunderstorms - spontaneous and easily tempted hikers that we are - decided a change in plans was in order and that a 12.2 mile day was certainly respectable enough. Thus we ended up at the Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel run by Connie, an eccentric but endearing woman who has rules posted all around the hostel. Example - Rule number 8: "Do not pee in the shower - if you do you will make me cry". After showering, Connie drove us into Erwin to the same restaurant we had just eaten at 2 days ago! Anyway, it turned out to be a very interesting stay at a very unusual place that we will long remember. My sister NSC stayed here recently and gave the place a 'thumbs down'. I guess that's just an indication of how different people can have a different perception of a place. There's pics of Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel on my photos page. Tomorrow - Roan Mountain!!
Date: 2015-05-11
From: Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 35 - How to lose your man card or how Zipper became Zippy-last night Connie took us back to Erwin to eat dinner as I mentioned yesterday. Zipper ordered a medium calzone after a lengthy discussion with our waitress about just how big a medium calzone would be. When it came, it was huge. Although Zipper made a valiant attempt, he could eat only about a third of it - even with hiker hunger and all. The waitress kidded him about it; saying she had seen 12 year olds eat more than that. It was at that point Zipper was, with great fanfare there in the restaurant, renamed Zippy. He will need to perform some amazing feat of hiking to regain his manhood. On a more serious note though, he seems to have come down with some type of stomach thing, a norovirus or giardia or something, which forced him to remain behind at the Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel today. Ah, a new text update - it appears it was just the 1/2 gal of chocolate milk he drank this morning that caused his distress! He's back on the trail! The big task today was to get up and over Roan Mountain, a 2200 ft. climb up to 6200 feet. The climb turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic as the high temp for today was 67 and there was a cooling breeze all the way up. The big excitement was the thunderstorm that chased me down the mountain and finally caught me. I was already wearing my rain gear and was not too concerned about getting wet, but the path exited the woods to a parking lot and then onto a bald. I would be the tallest thing around - not a good thing in a thunderstorm! Just as I hunkered down in the woods, another hiker said there was a shelter at the parking lot. The shelter turned out to be a public bathroom! And that's how I ended up in a bathroom with 7 other hikers waiting out a storm. I didn't make it to Overmountain Shelter (a converted barn) as planned because of the thunderstorm. Instead I spent the night at Stan Murray Shelter with 2 other hikers - Gordon Gekko and Squirrel.