morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-03-21
From: Cody Gap

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 9.8

Once again my alarm snoozed itself until half an hour after I had set it. I'm still not at the point yet where I can wake up at 5:30 on my own. I think it must be the position I end up contorted into with my wrist bent at a strange angle holding the snooze button. Ah well, I'll get it right eventually.I was surprised to find that The Herd does indeed rise early and pack out fast even with a rekindled morning fire. I was the last one out of camp and didn't catch up until mid morning. They have a decent spread of paces among them and although different groups end up hiking spread out they always regroup every hour or two.This was another downhill-heavy day and the knee brace is definitely helping on the descents. We grouped up a mile before the shelter as the trail crossed over a main road with a marina. The stop didn't last long though as we knew Fresh Ground was waiting set up at the shelter. As the shelter came into view around the last bend of the day we were queried by Fresh Ground from above, "is this The Herd showing up?" - they had been warned.As he does so well, Fresh Ground began pushing an assortment of fresh cooked dishes on us before packs had even hit the dirt. Spaghetti, hot dogs, french fries, cookies, and of course the signature fresh ground coffee.The rest of the afternoon was spent eating, relaxing, and picking up packages in town. Chef and I decided to walk into to town via a route derived from an aerial infographic at the Fontana Dam visitors center. After walking across the dam, attempting to follow a few trails, and ending up at dead end of upended trash cans and rusted out farming equipment from the 80's we decided that the main road was probably a better choice. Back across the dam and two miles of uphill later we arrived at the Fontana Dam Resort which is most of what town is. I was greeted with a flat rate box full of goodies, and after some confusion Chef determined that his package was waiting about 7 miles outside of town. We hitched a ride back to the shelter and he volunteered to go with Fresh Ground on a supplies run in return for a quick stop to pick up the package.Also around that evening was Aquaman and his mother. He is a section hiker who did Maine last year but had to stop due an injury. He's done Georgia so far this year and wanted to be a larger part of trail magic. The more the merrier (or more importantly: the more, the faster the food arrives).Most of the group settled on camping out either in the camp area or just right there in front of the fire pit. I opted for the shelter primarily out of laziness, but it didn't take long to remind me why I prefer the privacy and separation of my own tent. In the shelters you're always worrying about disturbing the people who have either gone to sleep earlier, or haven't woken up yet - and symmetrically you always have to worry about someone else on a different sleep schedule interrupting your rest with any number of noise sources. None of that really matters though on a full stomach and I drifted off with no problem at all.
Date: 2014-03-22
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Chef and I had planned for an early morning, but The Leadfrog Cafe didn't want us to leave so soon and we stuck around for breakfast and then some. Poor weather was expected for the day and it certainly looked threatening as we finally crossed over the dam and headed towards the Smokies.The climb up was long and relatively steep, especially with a stomach heavy with French toast and it was slow going. We stopped for a trail beer around 3pm and kept going as the sky got darker. The rain never arrived though and it was sunny as we made it in to the first shelter to find Reset and Zacksquatch. We were joined shortly by Adam, Justin, Tennessee, and a few spring breakers.Chef and I decided to tent it and try to sweet talk the ranger if we had problems. We were set up and in bed by dark - an unusual occurence. As we drifted off Chef and I could hear the others still up talking with the spring break crowd. They were concerned about a few headlamps down the trail that wouldn't return greetings and weren't moving at all - just a little creepy. Content with my pocket-knife blade as protection I rolled over. I awoke later to hear Sloth and two others roll in around 10 after crossing paths with two bears a bit up the trail. Turns out they were standing there waiting for the bears to move for quite a while apparently. I haven't seen any bear myself yet, which I'm certainly okay with on nights I'm sleeping with my food.
Date: 2014-03-23
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: light snow

I awoke to a light rain and Chef asking if I was down to get going before it picked up. No sooner had I confirmed that that sounded good it became a heavy rain. We packed up pretty fast and headed out.I experienced the reason behind the name of the Smokies: heavy fog all day obscuring everything like a cloud of smoke. It cleared up late afternoon and we got some nice sun for a few hours although it was still cold. The combinsation of the sun and temperature made the ice on the trees light up quite nicely, however.The sun began to drop in the last two miles before Silers Bald Shelter and it was quite chilly by the time we got around to dinner and setting up tents. It was another early night with the chill though that aligned with our intent to pack out early and make it into town mid afternoon.
Date: 2014-03-24
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 12.5

Chef and I awoke to a film of ice on our tent flies. The marvel of needing to crack the film off as we packed up wore off quickly as our hands began to freeze as well. We packed out pretty fast surprisingly given that we had to stop every 30 seconds to warm our hands back up. My headlamp went out partway through our pre-daylight section causing some doubts about the reliability of batteries in the cold. It was just beginning to get light as we reached Double Spring Shelter. Chef and I split up here, no longer needing to share his light. The ascent up to Clingmans Dome was incredible. The trees were just beginning to shed the ice on their branches and the gentle chiming was the prefect accompaniment to the spectacles surrounding me. As the sun crested it lit up the crystal-covered branches - a bright twinkling set before the country spreading out on either side of the ride. It reminded me of the last illustration in the childrens' book The Christmas Wreath. The low angle of the sun highlighted the features of every peak and the valleys too as the morning mist rolled out.Chef and I arrived at the peak just after sunrise. We spent as long as the chill would let us at the highest point on the trail admiring the amazing visibility to all sides. We had breakfast there before moving on to Mt. Collins Shelter for lunch. Lunch was quite the affair involving a fight with dehydrated eggs that I think I lost. We almost witnessed a new privy being airlifted in, but decided it wasn't worth the wait sticking around.Down at Newfound Gap we met Chef's long-time family friend Dick and Dick's friend Brian. Just as we were packing into the car to head for civilization Tennessee arrived and joined our merry brigade. Traffic was moving slow out of the park, but we finally reached the edge of town. There was no way you could mistake it - the woods stop so suddenly and the absurdity of Gatlinburg begins full force along a clearly defined line.We dropped Tennessee off and continued on through Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and finally Sevierville to Dick's house. It was the first of I'm sure many culture shock moments. We hadn't even been on the trail for that long and already society seemed like a strange circus - although that might just have been Gatlinburg. Back at Dick's we were treated with a lovely home-cooked meal prepared by Dick's wife, Pat. The rest of the evening was showers and Trail Journals updates. Oh, and an air mattress - amazing technology those things.
Date: 2014-03-25
From: Newfound Gap

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Dick and his wife Pat both had business to attend to in the morning so Chef and I took care of laundry and continued trying to catch up on journal entries. When Dick got back in he took us into town to check out two moonshine distilleries where we sampled the full lineup at each. We enjoyed the buzz and some excellent live bluegrass as the forecast snow began to fall.Perhaps still a tad buzzed we met Pat, Brian, and Brian's wife at a bar for another great dinner and discussed the trail. The booze had it's way, however, and we headed back for an early night.
Date: 2014-03-26
From: Newfound Gap

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We started the morning off heading to Dollywood where Dick got us in for free. It was a little chilly so rides weren't going quite yet but we checkout out the bald eagle rescue center and a Festival of Nations show, Mother Africa, which was pretty amazing.It was warm enough at that point that rides had begun to open up. After a hearty lunch we began our pilgrimage and managed to hit almost all of them before calling it a day. It was very strange riding adrenaline waves up and down knowing that not that far behind us our friends were hiking their way through the snow up in the Smokies.Up next was a local brewery for a drink or two and then on to Walmart for a resupply before heading to The Dixie Stampede dinner show. The evening began with banjo legend Biscuit at the preshow. The show itself offered quite a filling meal on top of quite the horse showmanship. With the next day being a trail day we passed on further live music and opted for bed.
Date: 2014-03-27
From: Newfound Gap

To: Tri-corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Just a blitz-post for now due to limited computer time and a lot to catch up on - I'll be filling in more later.Dick and Brian joined us for the first part of the trail after a filling breakfast of waffles. After they turned around we met met up with Zacksquatch, Reset, and Cactus. We leapfrogged with them for a bit before they stopped a shelter earlier than us. Got in a little on the late side to Tri-corner Knob Shleter but still got space in the bunks as there was nowhere to tent.
Date: 2014-03-28
From: Tri-corner Knob Shelter

To: Green Corner Rd
Miles today: 18.4

Just a blitz-post for now due to limited computer time and a lot to catch up on - I'll be filling in more later.Up and out pretty early I hiked most of the day alone finishing up at the Standing Bear Hostel along with the entire crew from Tri-corner Knob Shelter. Felt a little weird to be staying at a hostel just two days after our extravagant stay with Dick and Pat in Sevierville, but it we did anyway.We officially left the Smokies late afternoon which felt good as that's supposed to be one of the hardest sections, primarily due to weather.
Date: 2014-03-29
From: Green Corner Rd

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: light rain

Left the hostel later than planned. I hiked almost all day with Teach, Birdman, and Canadia. Man, they stick to a brisk pace with very few stops! We hit Max Patch, but unfortunately the view was blocked in by rolling fog and dark clouds.They stopped for dinner shortly after that around 3, a little early for me so I kept on making it to the next shelter, the original goal for the day. It was only 4 and I was feeling good so I kept going. Five minutes after I left the rain started coming down. Hard and the next five miles were pretty miserable. The wind had picked up significantly and even with rain gear I was totally drenched. Every so often I would hear a startling crack and turn sharply in time to see a tree falling, seemingly in slow motion. It was a very surreal experience.I finally made it to Walnut Mountain Shelter, regretting the decision to push on. The shelter was quite small and very full, so tenting up the hill it was. Gentle Spirit and Moose were in the shelter and I recognized a few other of The Herd's tents, but no one was much for talking in the miserable conditions. I don't think my tent has ever gone up as quickly as it did right then. First priority was changing into dry clothes followed immediately by cooking. There was no way I was going back outside so, throwing caution to the wind, I cooked right in the tent and skipped the bear bag.
Date: 2014-03-30
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

I woke up with my tent collapsing around me and quickly put it together that the rain had turned to snow. I was able to push off enough of the drifts for the frame to pop back up before heading back to another few hours of very broken sleep. The volume of the wind eventually proved too much and I set about packing up and getting out. Chef had made a 4am push from the last shelter and had arrived while I was packing up. After a quick exchange about the sudden change in weather I hit what the trail hard to warm up.Apparently a few members of The Herd had cleared out around 2:00 am because during the rain the shelter leaked and their sleeping bags had gotten soaked. Once the temperature began dropping they had no choice but to start moving or freeze. The rest had left about an hour before me, although how they managed to follow the trail with headlamps in the near-whiteout conditions is still a mystery to me. I'm glad they were able to, however, and I followed their footsteps until the trail appeared again after a drop in elevation.I met up with Flipper, West, and Bright Side and we made it into Hot Springs a bit before two. First order of business was shaking off the snow and drying out my gear on the lawn of Laughing Heart Lodge. The rest of the afternoon was spent checking out the town and restocking.Chef and I ended up splitting a cabin with members of the Whiskey Gang and WCWK: Cactus, G, Safari, and Gadget. They had all met hiking the PCT and I took quite a few mental notes on gear and food setups.
Date: 2014-03-31
From: Hot Springs

To: Mountain Lookout Tower
Miles today: 8.3

The day began with a solid diner breakfast followed by much needed laundry and the rest of the resupply. I met up with Listen, Squirrel, and Chef at Laughing Heart Lodge for some afternoon drinks and relaxing. Trix joined us mid-afternoon and the two of us had a long talk about our hikes and whether we would be continuing the journey together. She's staying an extra night in town for her first full zero day but will be catching up by Erwin, TN after which we'll continue on together. Since the last time we saw each other I think we've each settled into our own groove on the trail and that will alleviate a lot of the previous tension.Actually hitting the trail turned out to be harder than expected. Our group meandered its through town only to be waylaid at the tavern for more drinks and food. We didn't end up actually hitting the trail until 6:30 pm, and certainly not sober. To our credit we still logged a solid 8 miles with only a bit of night hiking.It feels like spring may actually be arriving after the late snow storms and night hiking has developed another layer of flavor as creatures begin to wake up make their rounds; while scoping out the far side of a pond, Listen and Chef got quite the scare from something jumping in. The two of them began running back, causing Squirrel and I to freak out as well, all four of us hitting the trail hard and putting considerable distance between the pond and us. We made it the lookout tower, camped just beyond it, and ended the night with a trail beer each before calling it a night.
Date: 2014-04-01
From: Mountain Lookout Tower

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 17.1

We had a relatively early start after the late night but ended up spending a lot of time hanging out at shelters along the way. Lots of mud from the melting snow and lots of downhill today meant that it felt like alpine skiing some of the time.The last 2 miles of the day were also a constant up and down rock scramble which slowed us down quite a bit. We did get some amazing night views of a city to our west (still not sure which one). We were hoping to make it to a shelter for the night, but stopped short at a stealth site a mile or so before it.
Date: 2014-04-02
From: Stealth Site

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

Another relatively late start with a lot of time spent at the shelter for breakfast. The day didn't really start until around noon. Then another big break late afternoon for lunch, and finally a late arrival at Hogback Ridge Shelter. We did finally catch up with Teach, Birdman, Canadia, Mumbles, Money Maker, Ranger, Bismark, Hopper, and a few others I'm blanking on.The water was a quarter mile down from the shelter - quite an inconvenience - and my SteriPEN died as soon as I got down there. I returned to the tent to charge it up for a bit while I set up camp only to find that my headlamp had died as well. Fortunately, I had enough charge on the battery pack to revive the SteriPEN and get some clean water.I neglected to charge things up in Hot Springs and don't really know why I expected everything to last until Erwin. As much as I'm loving distancing myself from tech-dependence I will certainly not be so bullheaded about passing up opportunities to charge up.
Date: 2014-04-03
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: No-business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: overcast clouds

The morning started with a thunderstorm - more than enough motivation to get up and head toward lower elevation. After getting all packed up I hung out for a bit by the shelter until the lightning had moved away. Shortly after deciding it was safe to move on, round two caught me by surprise with driving rain and more lightning overhead.Made it down to the highway crossing and met up with Hawk, Ranger, and Canadia. We all hiked loosely together for the next 9 miles to the first shelter. By that time the skies had cleared and temperature had risen. I cooked and then relaxed for four hours as the other groups from last night came through before Listen, Squirrel, and Chef arrived having taken a nice break on Big Bald a mile before.With 10.7 left for the day I hit the trail again at 4:20 and hiked solo to No-Business Knob Shelter getting in right before dark. Setup and dinner were short and to the point and I hit the hay around 9:00 with the intention of beating tomorrow's rain getting into town.
Date: 2014-04-11
From: Shook Branch Recreation Area

To: Stealth Site (~Vandeventer Shelter)
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Knowing that maintenance would be around at dawn to unlock the facilities we started packing up at 5:30. Trix was not onboard with that plan and just dragged her sleeping pad and bag over to one of the picnic tables and headed back to sleep. While packing his bag, Rabbit discovered that his stove was missing - a setback that did not sit well with his budget. Bags were checked a few times each before it was given up for lost and we didn't actually leave camp until a little before 8:00The only millage we had for the morning was a flat four miles around the lake, over the dam, and up the road a little bit. The dam wasn't as impressive as the Fontana Dam on a civil engineering level, although there was a strange pit structure (pictured below) that was too high above water level to make sense as an overflow. There were no nice info-graphics as there had been at Fontana Dam either.At the next road crossing Noodle was waiting for us and gave us a ride down to their campsite where we were greeted like royalty ourselves with fresh off the griddle blueberry pancakes! Hot showers with real shampoo and homemade soap were also in our immediate futures and by 11:00 we were squeaky clean.The ladies departed for a town trip after that. Trix would be getting real shoes and laundry would be done - both highly anticipated events. Rabbit and I help down the fort at the campsite. He showed me the episodic poetry series he had been working on chronicling the trail. I wouldn't say that I really knew Rabbit well at that point so I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but they were well written, balanced, and engaging. It turns out he's been talking to a poetry publisher in New York and we talked about poetry readings and slams for a while before the afternoon sun got the better of us and we both drifted off - he on top of the rainfly he was supposed to be drying, and me next to the fire despite the heat.The plan had been to hit the trail again around 4:00, but the quick town trip had turned into a ladies day out and it was 6:30 before the Princess Tour with honorary princess Trix arrived. Rabbit and I were ready to get moving at that point having exhausted the possibilities provided by a small campground to two men in skivvies and rain skirts. Trix opted to spend the night with the ladies and would catch up with us in Damascus so Rabbit and I hit the trail alone just after 8:00 with the intent of putting in a bigger millage night. His ankle did not agree with that plan, however, and we camped just before the first shelter only four miles in. That evening I learned Rabbit's actual name - a very strange revelation given that I had been hiking with him, albeit on and off, for almost a month. With plans to catch the sunrise from the highly reviewed views behind the shelter we called it a night.
Date: 2014-04-13
From: Backbone Rock Trail

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Our plan for an early arrival into town didn't come to fruition. Knowing we only had 6 miles into town, it was all too easy to hit the mental snooze button every time we thought about getting up. After the third group of hikers headed in passed our campsite we finally got up and I hit the trail around 9:00. Trix left a bit before me and the morning passed in relative silence. It was a beautiful morning and I took my time on the entirely downhill four miles to the edge of town. Three miles from the edge of town I left Tennessee for the last time and stepped into Virginia where I will be spending the next month or so of the trail.Our only plans for the day consisted of breakfast and then the Taco Feast. Breakfast was an easy enough find at the Blue Blaze Cafe and we ran into most of The Herd there. From them we picked up some tips on where to stay in town as well as where and when the Taco Feast was happening. Gentle Spirit, West, and Bright Side were anxious to hit the trail having been in town for a few days already but it was nice to see them after a few weeks of being either just behind or just ahead.The rest of the afternoon was split between wandering around town relatively aimlessly and then hanging out at Woodchuck Hostel where we were tenting. I got my first workout of the trail in on the lawn in the back and immediately regretted it, not having left enough time between lunch. The sun was so nice though that I quickly recovered by falling asleep on the lawn until it was time for tacos. The Princess Tour shuttled people up to The Place and when we arrived it was already in full swing. Mariposa and her family did an amazing job putting together a delicious meal and every hiker in Damascus was there giving it the feel of a long-overdue family reunion.After the food we headed back down to the hostel to find Moose, Safari, and Rabbit taking advantage of the neighbors trampoline (with permission). As the most qualified gymnast, Noodle quickly joined in the game of horse and I took a few shots before Flash called it a night. The tour was over though and it was the last time we would be seeing them. I got a picture of the three of them and thanked them once again for all their help and kindness along the way. They will certainly be getting a Katahdin postcard!I called Kingston to check in and was notified that I had people I needed to connect with in town! There had been a misunderstanding about just how early in Virginia Damascus is and they hadn't sent me contact information for Peg and Bill - childhood friends of my dad and my aunt. It was a little late to call that night, but it was high on my list for the next day