morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-06-09
From: Erwin, TN

To: Beauty Spot Gap
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

And now it¢s time to start hiking again. On the way back to the trailhead, stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch. I was a little apprehensive about getting Mexican in rural Tennessee, but this place was pretty good. Back to the trail. Climbing with a heavy food bag. Getting used to new shoes. 2 hours in, it started raining. I get soaked. My new shoes get soaked. Sigh. I look up info on the next shelter, I like to know when the next privy is, especially after eating spicy Mexican food. Turns out the next shelter doesn¢t have a privy. None of them do. For the next hundred miles. Oh well; I have a shovel. Climbed up Beauty Spot, another bald, with the sound of thunder behind me. Race up and over the exposed summit to the safety of the trees on the other side. It starts to rain again, so I set up camp in a gap between two mountains. Just as it¢s getting dark, a couple shows up and starts setting up camp thirty feet from me. They¢re fairly loud. Sigh. I fall asleep but keep waking up to the sound of them talking in their tent. Finally, around 11, I get out of my tent (wet shoes), go to their tent, and ask if they¢re planning on going to sleep tonight. They¢re real quiet after that. Tomorrow will be a better day. Happiness is new shoes that don¢t slip on rocks.
Date: 2021-06-10
To: Cloudland Hotel Site
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiking northward. Reach the summit of Unaka Mountain, a beautiful flat spot filled with moss-covered pine trees. This is where I would have camped last night if they¢re hadn¢t been a threat of thunderstorms. It drizzles on and off. Much of my time is spent watching the ground in front of me, so I don¢t step on the salamanders on the trail. Some days I must see several hundred of them. Their defense mechanism seems to be to freeze when they sense a predator coming. Not a great strategy when you¢re bright red on a brown background. Check off another thing on the must-do thruhiker list, I finally had Spam on this trip. It wasn¢t bad; a nice change from tuna fish. Started climbing Cloudland Mountain, the first peak in the Roan Mountain Highlands. A more than 2000 foot climb, up to a summit of 6200 feet. It starts raining again as I climb. Hard. And the wind picks up. It gets chilly as I get higher. Finally the rain let¢s up as I enter an area of conifers, ferns, and moss. At the summit is the remains of a hotel that once stood here. No views, just thick fog in every direction. Also, a state park. Which has bathrooms. With functional plumbing! I set up camp near the bathrooms, which I make use of.Happiness is being able to brush your teeth at a sink.
Date: 2021-06-11
From: Cloudland Hotel Site

To: Elk River
Miles today: 22.75
Weather: overcast clouds

There¢s a saying thru-hikers have, ¢Never quit on a bad day¢. When walking 2000 miles over the course of several months, there are going to be days that are just miserable. Endless uphills, knee-destroying downhills, hot and humid days, cold blustery days, bugs, aches and pains, tiredness, hunger. The day started out well enough. It was chilly being so high up, but pleasantly so. It drizzled a little bit, then stopped, then a fog persisted. Hiked down off the summit, across a gap, then up Round Bald. Then it started to rain. A lot. And the wind kicked up. No protection from the elements on a bald. Visibility fifty feet. Off Round Bald, then over Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald. Raining the whole time. The trail became a stream. Clothes soaked. Rain eased up as I got back in the forest. Then the climb up Hump Mountain, the largest bald yet. And the rain came again. The rain halted right before I left the bald, and the fog rose, giving me a peak of the view these mountains are known for. All this time, my feet are soaked. All my socks are wet. I started looking for a place to set up camp. I had been warned that drunken ATVers would sometimes harass hikers in this next section. Sure enough, every campsite I came to had signs of four-wheelers having driven through. It took several hours before I found an isolated campsite that looked quiet. I managed to get my tent set up and inside just as it started raining again. I don¢t think I have ever had such an unpleasant day hiking. And tomorrow is forecast to rain all day. Sigh. Never quit on a bad day.Happiness is finding that your sleeping bag and spare clothes are still dry after a day of rain.
Date: 2021-06-12
From: Elk River

To: unnamed mountain
Miles today: 16.25
Weather: drizzle

¢Embrace the suck¢ It rained all night. I woke up at ¢sunrise¢ and decided to wait until the rain stopped before heading out. Bad enough to set out in wet socks and shoes, striking camp in the rain is extra miserable. It took about 4 hours before the rain stopped. Put on wet socks (eww) and wet shoes (eww) and headed north. The trail was mostly through lowlands, sometimes paralleling a river, so there many stream crossings. Fine under normal conditions, but tricky crossings with all the rainfall. The weather today went like this: 30 to 45 minutes of cloudiness, maybe with the sun peeking out for 5 minutes; then a downpour for 10-15 minutes, so heavy you could usually hear it a good 30 seconds before it hit you; then 15 minutes of drizzle. This repeated at least half a dozen times over the course of the day. I don¢t think I¢d ever experienced weather like this before. The wetness took a toll on my body. I got tired earlier. Several toes got bandaged due to chafing. The back of my left heel got rubbed raw, I was still limping with it taped up. Set up camp early, after what was forecast to be the end of the rain. Of course, half way through dinner, another storm came through and I had to finish dinner in the tent. Everything I had left outside to dry got soaked. On the bright side, no rain in the forecast for the next week. Happiness is knowing that things will finally start drying out.
Date: 2021-06-13
From: unnamed mountain

To: near Lake Watauga
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: fog

The day started with several miles downhill to the Laurel Fork River. The trail followed the river for several miles, passing the Laurel Fork Falls, the best waterfall I¢ve seen so far. Got off trail and walked two miles into Hampton, Tn. Had lunch at McDonald¢s, charged my phone, and bought some snacks from a gas station. The trail climbed 2000 feet up a mountain, no view at the top, then went back down 2000 feet. Stupid trail. Went around the west end of Lake Watauga, which was very crowded with people swimming, sunbathing, and riding watercraft. Weirdly, there were no services near the lake; no restaurant or store, not even a vendor selling drinks or snacks. Climbed up the mountain on the north side of the lake and set up camp. Saw a bear! It ran away. Around sunset, I heard something moving through the woods below; either the same near, or another bear, or a squirrel with delusions of grandeur. Happiness is seeing a bear.
Date: 2021-06-14
From: near Lake Watauga

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I was dozing off last night, heard the sound of thunder. Originally it was just going to be partly cloudy. I checked the weather forecast, now severe thunderstorms in the area. Great. It quickly started raining. Thunder kept getting louder and louder. At its closest, lightning was about a mile and a half away. At that distance, the thunder was loud enough to make my air mattress thrum. Overall, not an experience I would recommend. I had planned on doing big mileage today, so that tomorrow would be a short day into Damascus, but I read an update that said that a 13 mile stretch of the trail was closed to camping due to ¢aggressive bear activity¢. So I could either hike up to 18 miles, or at least 31. I chose to do 18, which meant doing 18 tomorrow to get into Damascus. I took it easy today, knowing it was a shorter day. I took more breaks, and longer. At a watering hole I ran into Humble Pie. Humble Pie is a section hiker I had met before getting off at Erwin. When not hiking, he teaches physics, astronomy, and backpacking, so we got along pretty well. We chatted for a bit, and then I continued on, planning to meet up later at the last shelter before the no camping zone, where we both planned on camping. I passed a monument that someone had erected in honor of their uncle. The uncle had lived a hermit life in a cabin at that spot. The epithet: ¢Lived alone, suffered alone, died alone¢. Oof. That¢s dark. Humble Pie and I got to the shelter around 5:30. No one there. Weird. Had dinner, set up our tents, prepared for bed, still no one else showed up. Usually there are plenty of people at shelters. Given that the next 13 miles were closed to camping, I had expected the shelter to be extra crowded. Maybe the bears ate everyone at the shelter before we got there. And then hid their gear. Bears are crafty that way. Happiness is not camping alone on the edge of aggressive bear town.
Date: 2021-06-15
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: moderate rain

Got up, had breakfast. I tend to start earlier in the day than Humble Pie, so I set out first, into the land of unusually uncouth ursines. Sibearia? Claw-zud-dum, hone of the dreaded Bear-rog? Didn¢t encounter any bears in the no-camp zone, but did see lots of bear scat. Made really good time, and made it into Damascus by 2:30. The trail goes right through town, down Main Street, past a pretty park and past most of the restaurants and shops. Damascus is probably the most hiker-friendly town I¢ve been to so far. Had lunch at the Damascus Diner. Black Angus burger and fries. So tasty. Picked up my bounce box at the post office and met Humble Pie as he was coming into town. We went to Crazy Larry¢s Hostel, where we had booked a shared room. Crazy Larry. Imagine Seth Rogen in his sixties, with the same laugh and marijuana enthusiasm. That¢s Larry. He was a nonstop talker and the very definition of a ¢character¢. The room was nice, the bathroom was very clean, and Larry was a gracious host. I took a shower, first time in a week. There was a scale in the bathroom, so I weighed myself for the first time since before started the trail. 178! I think I was at least 215 when I started. Larry bought us pizza for dinner. Good thing, I hadn¢t eaten in nearly three hours. Resupplied at the Dollar General, relaxed for a while, and went to bed. In a bed! Happiness is really good water pressure
Date: 2021-06-16
From: Damascus, VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Sometimes it¢s really nice to sleep in a bed, in a bug-free, air conditioned room. Got up and we headed to the Diner for breakfast. Get there to find the owner telling people that he won¢t open till 11, as a plumber is coming to clear out a drain. All of the other restaurants in town either didn¢t open until lunch, or were closed on Wednesdays (my theory is that many of the original Damascus settlers were Norse, and preferred to keep Orin¢s day sacred). So weird. That meant the only place in town to get breakfast was the gas station. Hope I don¢t get brain worms. Turns out the mini-restaurant in the gas station was pretty good. I got a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, a couple of orders of hash browns, and biscuits with sausage gravy (best part of eating in the South is the sausage gravy). Then on to the outfitters to buy gear. I got a couple of new stuff sacks, a butter knife (my Swiss Army knife wasn¢t great with peanut butter), and a sleeping bag liner (partially to have something light to sleep in, partially to have something I could easily clean and keep my sleeping bag from getting nasty (er). Now it¢s past 11, so it¢s time to get lunch from the diner (come on, I hadn¢t eaten in over 2 hours). I had another burger and fries. This was the end of Humble Pie¢s section hike, so we said goodbye. I headed back on the trail, while he waited for his daughter to pick him up. Back on the trail. A couple hours in, I got off at a bike trail, as I had heard there was a cafe that sold ice cream and soda. Got to the cafe, and you guessed it, closed on Wednesdays. Fudge. Finished my day at a shelter (I like to stay close to a privy after a day of greasy food). There were 2 dozen people camped around the shelter, so I camped a few hundred feet away.Happiness is sleeping in clean bed linen.
Date: 2021-06-17
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Pine Mountain Trail
Miles today: 22.0

Horses and Cows! Today I hiked through the Grayson Highlands. This is a mile high area of meadows and fields where wild ponies roam free. Also, cattle; male and female. Walking through pastures with cows with udders aren¢t terribly intimidating, cows with long horns, much more so. Definitely one of the more memorable days of my hike.Happiness is seeing ponies.
Date: 2021-06-19
From: near Mt Rogers HQ

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up early since I was going into town today. Always excited to eat food that didn¢t come out of my backpack. I went to take out my earbuds so I could listen to some podcasts. I had the wire, but the buds were missing. The wires just ended, like they had been cut. I usually keep my earbuds in a mesh pocket on the side of my tent. I figured out later that some critter had chewed a hole in the mesh side of my tent, bitten off the buds, and left the rest. Oh well, no podcasts today. I¢m walking along a ridge when a bear cub jumps out of the undergrowth maybe 20 feet to my right and heads downhill. If the bear was a dog, I¢d say it was 40-50 pounds, to give you an idea of how small it was. I got video of what I think is the same bear. It was hard to tell with the distance and the angle. Either the video has the same cub in it (which means mama is nearby glaring at me), or the video has mama bear, and the cub is hiding. Either way, really cool. Got to the road that led to town. Stopped at a roadside restaurant and had a pulled pork sandwich. Yummy! Then three miles down a highway in the hot sun. The town itself was pretty sad, one motel, two gas stations, and a Dollar General half a mile away. Good enough for this tired, hungry hiker. Got a shower and then went to the Dollar General to resupply, but new earbuds, and get food for the night. Back at Erwin, I had decided to try and eat as many different flavors of Ben & Jerry¢s as I could on the Trail, as calorie counting was something I did not have to worry about. Since then, though, in Hampton, Damascus, and now Atkins, no Ben & Jerry¢s! Boo. Carried my food back to the motel, ate myself into a stupor while watching reruns of The Office, and fell asleep.Happiness is a box of Cheez-its.
Date: 2021-06-20
From: Atkins, VA

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 14.75
Weather: clear sky

Got up, ate a lot of food at the motel¢s complementary breakfast, took a lot of food for later. Got back on the trail. It was hot today. It didn¢t help that the trail went through several meadows and pastures.Happiness is finding a stream that is still flowing in an increasingly dry landscape
Date: 2021-06-21
To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: broken clouds

Had to ford a stream today, as the bridge had been washed out. I didn¢t want to get my shoes wet, and I don¢t carry spare shoes (some hikers carry Crocs or sandals as camp shoes), and barefoot is dangerous as river rocks are slippery, so I walked across in socks. It¢s was only ankle deep, maybe 50 feet across, so not too bad. Good practice for Maine (I will definitely get flip flops or something similar for stream crossings up north).Happiness is beating the thunderstorm to your campsite
Date: 2021-06-22
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Bland, Va
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning to heavy rain. No thank you. Stayed in my tent until 10, when the rain finally tapered off. Packed up and headed north. My water bag had started leaking, my new earbuds had such bad sound quality that they were nearly unusable, and one of my toes had been hurting a lot, so I decided to take a short day and go into the town of Bland. Despite the name, this town was fairly pleasant. Got a room at the only motel in town and spent the rest of the day resting. And eating.
Date: 2021-06-23
To: Dismal Creek
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Bland didn¢t have any water bags, so I bought a couple of large water bottles to tode me over until the next town. Also, still no Ben & Jerry¢s. Got back on the trail and made good time, as this section was fairly flat (for the AT) and rock free. The trail was so easy, I hiked until past sunset. Stopped at a section of trail with thick stands of rhododendron along a stream. Very spooky in the dusk. Happiness is a babbling brook.
Date: 2021-06-24
From: Dismal Creek

To: Pearisburg, Va
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: clear sky

Got up at 5 this morning so I could get into Pearisburg, Va at a decent hour. Had dozens of bites on me this morning. I don¢t know if some bugs got in my tent last night and went to town, or if I got bit while setting up my tent. They itch like crazy. About an hour out of town, I hear a crash in the woods in front of me. Then I just make out a bear barreling through the underbrush away from me. Bear sighting number three! I get a room at the only decent motel in town (the other motel looks like a shooting location for Breaking Bad). It¢s basic, no fridge or microwave, but the shower works and its much more comfortable than a tent. Then, food. They have Ben & Jerry¢s! Hooray! A shower, then it¢s time for bed. Happiness is ice cream.
Date: 2021-06-26
To: Peter's Mountain
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Time to start hiking again. Got up, had breakfast, packed my stuff, took my bounce box to the post office to forward to Waynesboro, and headed back to the trail. It¢s finally starting to get hot in Virginia, I was soaked in sweat as I climbed back up to the ridge line. Up on top of the ridge the tree cover was sporadic, so I was often in the sun, and there was a lot of dense undergrowth. At one point, there was an explosion in the brush maybe five feet in front of me. A giant startled bird (grouse? turkey?) came flying out and away from me. I could hear it for the next few minutes, clucking angrily at me. Dinner was cheese and sausage bagels, then I set up camp in an open forest known for bear visitors. Happiness is a water source that hasn¢t dried up yet
Date: 2021-06-27
From: Peter's Mountain

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up at 6 and was on the trail by 630. Since it¢s been getting so hot out, it¢s nice to hike early in the day, while it¢s cool. By 10 am I was soaked in sweat. The trail has fallen into a pattern in Central Virginia. First a long climb up to a ridge, usually 1500-2000 feet of elevation gain. Then several miles on the ridge, difficult going with lots of rocks and dense underbrush. Then a long descent off the ridge. Finally, several miles crossing a valley, with large sections in sun exposed pastures and meadows. Then it repeats. It¢s difficult going. Near the end of the day, about half a mile before camp, I run into Frodo, another thru-hiker. He had just run into a mama bear and two bear cubs. The Cubs had climbed a tree next to the trail and the mama bear had snorted at him when he started to approach the becubbed tree. He then backed away from the bears, going back up the trail until they were out of sight. We decided to go down the trail together, to see if the bears had moved away. We quickly spotted mama, to whom I gave a loud greeting (don¢t want to accidentally sneak up on and startle a mama bear). No sign of the cubs, so we slowly walked past mama, until she turned and ran. Shortly after, we saw a bear cub run off in her direction. Fourth near encounter in two weeks!Happiness is a cool breeze at the end of a hot day.
Date: 2021-06-29
From: Brush Mountain

To: Pig Farm Campsite
Miles today: 20.25
Weather: clear sky

Found ripe blueberries on the trail this morning! I ate some, Leave No Trace be damned. Reached Dragon¢s Tooth this morning, a popular hiking destination in central Virginia. I was underwhelmed. So much so, that I did not bother to even take a picture of the ¢tooth¢. The hike down was much more memorable. Very steep with multiple rock scrambles, extra challenging with my worn out shoes. At the bottom of the climb, there was a gas station where I had pizza and soda. Felt good to sit in the shade and drink cold beverages on such a hot day. Reached Mcafee Knob near the end of the day. Fantastic views to the north and the east, including of Roanoke, the first city I have seen on a month and a half. Happiness is seeing the stars from your bed.
Date: 2021-06-30
To: Daleville, Va
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up at dawn this morning and struck camp quickly, as I was starting in town this evening. It quickly got very hot and muggy. This may be the hottest day yet for me. My midday it felt like I was in an oven. I reached Daleville around 2:30. One minute Im in the woods, the next I¢m standing on the side of a US route, with gas stations and motels and restaurants around me. I had booked a room at the Super 8, which was only a couple hundred feet from the trailhead. I got a shower and laundered my clothes, and Humble Pie showed up to take me to dinner in nearby Roanoke, where he lives. We are at a Mexican restaurant, where I had the largest burrito I¢ve ever eaten, and salsa so hot it gave me heartburn. It was great to see Humble Pie again, we had last seen each other only two weeks ago, it felt like much more time had passed. Afterwards, I went to the grocery store and got Ben & Jerry¢s (Chocolate Fudge Brownie).Happiness is a pint of ice cream.
Date: 2021-07-01
From: Daleville, Va

To: Daleville, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a relaxing day. I resupplied for the next leg to Waynesboro, which may take eight days. This will be the most food than I¢ve carried yet. I got new shoes (fourth pair so far). Dinner was 8 pieces of fried chicken and Ben & Jerry¢s (Chocolate Therapy). As it turns out, this was too much to eat in one sitting. Oof.Happiness is a second pint of ice cream.
Date: 2021-07-02
From: Daleville, Va

To: Blue Knob
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: light rain

Got up and had breakfast at a diner. A breakfast skillet, covered in sausage gravy. Mmm! Left the motel around eleven, got pizza and soda at a gas station, and went back into the woods. I had really needed a day off, my legs felt much better today. I took it easy today, as my pack was so heavy with food that my knees protested with every step. Also, new shoes. As I lie in my tent in the dim light of dusk, I can hear the sound of a train in the distance. I feel very content.Happiness is not feeling rocks through the soles of worn out shoes.
Date: 2021-07-04
To: John's Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: clear sky

It¢s starting to get hot again. I¢m getting tired of being covered in sweat. Just a few days until Waynesboro, and then I can jump back up to New York, where I had gotten off before hiking the southern section. Happiness is a good pair of shoes, that break in quickly.
Date: 2021-07-05
To: Bald Knob
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: scattered clouds

AT thruhikers have the acronym PUDS - pointless ups and downs - to describe large portions of the trail. Twice today there have been climbs of more than 2000 feet, followed by an almost immediate descent, with no views on top at all. There have been very few people on the trail the past couple of days. I didn¢t see anyone after 2 today. I don¢t know if it¢s the heat keeping people away, or if this just isn¢t a popular section. Finished the day at the summit of Bald Knob, hoping there would be some great views from my campsite. Totally covered in trees. Least bald knob I¢ve ever seen. Happiness is dunking my feet in a stream.