morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-14
From: Lance Creek 

To: Neel Gap
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained a lot last night. The tent kept the rain out, but the ground water seeped through under my mat. This seems to just be a problem I'll have to deal with on the trail. The only thing I have that I really need to worry about getting wet is my sleeping bag, so hopefully I'll do ok going forward. Maybe I'll look into an additional ground sheet that doesn't leak. Before leaving camp I added some new moleskin to the blister I already had,but just as I started I noticed it moving around on my heal. I had to stop every hour to apply duct tape but that would just start sliding too from my sweat. Finally at the top of Blood Mountain one of the girls gave me some padded skin tape. That made the walking so much nicer. I arrived in Neels Gap and instead of getting a cottage as planned we all got beds in the hostel. Which was just as good of an option. The bad part was that I bought an $8 frozen pizza when there were much better options for the money. It was nice sitting around hanging out with the other hikers. Mantis may have gotten a name change to Yellow Jacket.
Date: 2015-04-15
From: Neel Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night after doing laundry I realized that I had left my socks in Ben's dad's shoes when he gave me mine. As I was telling this story to Hannah, her response was "ah, toes...." with equal parts pity, compassion, and humor. That made my day. A lot of it was simply in the tone, but part of it also was the fact that my name is now "toes" and that's what people know me as.Today's hike was 12 miles. I evaluated last night and realized I need to break my 10 mile for 10 days limit a couple times to be able to meet up with my sister Kristen in Franklin on the 22nd. It was also because with the continual rainy weather it made sense to get to the shelter and there weren't any other good options. A few of the guys in the group I've been with (Mantis, Dodge, Rob) pushed on for a 20 mile day to the next shelter.Fitbit-------------Miles: 16.8Calories: 4200Stairs: 314
Date: 2015-04-16
From: Low Gap Shelter 

To: Hiawassee 
Miles today: 10.2

There wasn't much rain last night which meant that the tent stayed dry-ish. It was a bit chilly, probably in the low 40s. It was the first night I needed to zip up my sleeping bag fully.On starting my ten mile hike I realized the patchwork on my heels from the day before was moving around. I stopped and pulled the tape away from my foot to find that it was a mess. It needed air and to dry out real bad. I fixed it up to get me to town, but now there was no question I needed to fix things up.There wasn't much traffic on the road, but I managed to hitch a ride with a cute southern belle into Hiawassee. I booked a hotel room for myself hoping there'd be some hikers later that would join in on the cost. That never happened. But a quite room and some time alone wasn't a bad thing either. Nor was the all-you-can-eat buffet. Walking across town to the laundromat to find it was closing in 15 minutes did suck though.Fitbit-------------Miles: 16.8Calories: 4200Stairs: 227
Date: 2015-04-17
From: Hiawassee 

To: Sassafras Gap 
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I didn't quite get out of the hotel room as early as intended, so I waited around for the 9am shuttle to the trailhead. The overall experience at the Budget Inn was that it was a good budget hotel for hikers.The trail today was pretty challenging. There were two mountains of 1000ft and 1500ft within the first five miles. I'm definitely glad I kept to my 10 mile limit and camped at Sassafras Gap.One of the things I think about is the correlation of hiking and soccer. Part of it is the leg muscles required, but I'm usually thinking about the stepping from rock to rock, watching two steps ahead, knowing where you're feet will land. It doesn't help with exhaustion, when I'm just trudging up the hill staring at the ground. Which is probably why I didn't see the bear cubs that the hikers I passed mentioned they saw.Fitbit-------------Miles: 13.3Calories: 3400Stairs: 367
Date: 2015-04-18
From: Sassafras Gap 

To: Plumorchard Gap 
Miles today: 10.8

It was partly sunny upon waking up and I thought "I could get used to this." It was pointed out to me that I shouldn't...While walking down the muddy slopes towards Dicks Creek Gap, I slipped in the mud and while using the left pole to brace myself it snapped, and I fell. Hopefully I'll get service soon and can call Black Diamond and get this resolved.I'm camping in a shelter for the first time. Mostly cause it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow and if I'm going to be pushing through to get to Franklin, I'd rather start off dry. Fitbit-------------Miles: 15.1Calories: 4000Stairs: 319
Date: 2015-04-19
From: Plumorchard Gap 

To: Plumorchard Gap 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The rain was coming down hard upon waking up. The general consensus from everyone in the three floor shelter was to take a zero day and not hike anywhere. There were moments when the rain would stop and we'd question about pushing on, but then it'd start coming down again. At about 5pm, three of the hikers decided they'd push on the 8 miles to the next shelter (with a forecasted 40% chance of rain and the unlikely chance at a shelter spot). Taking a zero today means that tomorrow will be 20 miles in order to push through to Franklin.Most of the day was spent reading Wool and talking about food.One of the things I've been thinking about when walking is why I'm doing this. Partly because I'm walking so fast compared to others and they all point out why they're taking it slow. I realized one big reason is cause I like to walk, and I'm enjoying walking fast. But lying in the shelter, looking out at the quiet wilderness, I think that's the bigger reason why I'm here.Fitbit-------------Miles: 1.2Calories: 1700Stairs: 1
Date: 2015-04-20
From: Plumorchard Gap 

To: Carter Gap 
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

Last night, after I finished reading and then went pee, I was lying on my stomach when something under the shelter slammed into the floor so strong it went through my mattress and hit my stomach. The thud was real loud and I blurted out "what the fuck was that". Most people were already asleep and there was no response from anyone, and I realized that it was the baffling on my air mattress burst. I waited and there wasn't a quick deflation, so I just went to sleep. By morning though the air mattress was nearly flat.I woke up early and there was a thunderstorm with lightning passing through. Right as it was ending I began packing up and by the time I left there were clear blue skies. The first time seeing that since I started. Over the day there were intermittent clouds, some very threatening looking. But there wasn't any rain till the afternoon when it also started hailing on me. But after two minutes of hail and two minutes of rain, it was back to sunny skies.I called Black Diamond customer service about the broken pole (thanks to my uncle for tracking down the phone numbers), while sitting on the Georgia/NC border. The Black Diamond rep was helpful, and they'll be sending me a replacement pole to the NOC for me to pick up. He did say that the damage wasn't actually covered by warranty because I put force on the pole to cause it to break. That seems a bit strange considering that's what hiking poles are for. But either way, plus one on the customer service Black Diamond.I also called Exped about the air mattress (not while at the border because they weren't open yet). Equally helpful service and ready to send out a replacement. I just needed to email a photo of the damage and info on where to send it. One thing I didn't ask was if they have a version that isn't as crinkly. I don't mind the noise, but pretty much any who ever sleeps near me comments on how loud it is.Moral of the story seems to be that if you spend a lot on new gear to hike the AT, the manufacturers do a good job to make sure you're able to succeed.Next up, I've got an idea for a skittles ad...Fitbit Miles 24.3Calories 5400Steps 577
Date: 2015-04-21
From: Carter Gap 

To: Franklin 
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Walking 36 miles in two days is tough. I am really looking forward to going back to under 10 miles per day. I've noticed that the trail is quite different here in North Carolina compared to Georgia. When you got to a gap in Georgia and saw the next mountain that needed climbing, the trail would generally go straight to it and straight up. Whereas most of the time in NC I find myself meandering along the side of the mountains and using switchbacks to get to the top. There are exceptions in both cases, and there's still much more NC to go. And because I've had to put on so many miles since arriving in NC, I can't really say I prefer the meandering style. I was so exhausted upon arriving to Franklin, and barely able to walk, but I did head over to Outdoor 76 to grab a beer and look around the store. I've got mail there waiting for me but I'll pick that up tomorrow. After the beer I bumped into Rabbit at the hotel and met some other hikers she's with (Jeep, Thesues, Ingrid(?)), and then joined Deja Vu and Penthouse for dinner. We got margaritas and Mexican food, which wasn't bad (probably cause I was so hungry). Fitbit Miles 20.2Calories 4800Steps 286
Date: 2015-04-22
From: Wayah Gap 

To: Winding Stair 
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: few clouds

My sister Kristen drove in today to join me for a day hike. It was nice to spend time with her and also get in some easy miles. She brought her dog Saki along as well which helped fill my need of hiking with a dog.One of the interesting things about our hike was when we came across two guys walking out of a random part of the woods. One of the guys was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and they didn't seem to know where they were. It turns out they were Search and Rescue on a call from someone at the shelter. When we got to the shelter after them, everything seemed under control and it may have been a diabetic issue that the hiker was having.It was also fun walking in the opposite direction and passing other thru-hikers that I know. But I imagine most of those I haven't met yet just assumed we were both day hikers crowding their trail. It was also nice coming back into Franklin and seeing more hikers that I know hanging around. The list includes Penthouse, Dodge (who busted up his knee and needs a week of rest), Murph (who's knee is still bad but pushing through anyhow), the Aristocrats, Sebastian, Kia and Dave (no Carver in sight?). Went out to dinner with Penthouse and Sebastian for large portioned pasta dinner.Its worth noting that my achilles has been bothering me since arriving in town. After talking with the Outdoor 76 foot guys they agreed it's likely just overworked and needs rest. My next two days will be under 6 miles each I think. I'd rather not be stuck in town for a week just to heal my heel.Fitbit-------------Miles: 12.8Calories: 3900Stairs: 195
Date: 2015-04-23
From: Wayah Gap 

To: Wayah Bald Shelter 
Miles today: 5.1

After breakfast and packing and shipping all my stuff, I realized I lost my visor. I thought maybe I left it in Kristen's car but that doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe it was mixed in the blankets or trash corner in the hotel room. I don't know, but I'm definitely getting bad at this...In order to not further injure my achilles, I limited my hike today to five miles. The nice thing was that as I reached the Wayah Bald stone tower, I came across my first trail magic (except Paul Hanna bringing me my shoes and a beer, but that's probably a trail angel). There were a couple guys with a pickup truck and fruit, potato chips, rye bread, pastrami, cheese and mustard, and Gatorade. It was nice, but at the same time I also wanted to eat some of the food I was carrying.Fitbit-------------Miles: 10.4Calories: 3300Stairs: 202
Date: 2015-04-24
From: Wayah Bald Shelter 

To: NOC 
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

My goal of the morning was to make it to the shelter that is a mile from the NOC. That way I could get a burger for dinner and more importantly get my replacement air mattress, then walk back and sleep for free. In execution, the 16 miles to get there were quite tough. Almost all of them were downhill and the risk of making my achilles worse was high. But even though there was no reasonable chance to get there by 5pm, I pushed on. I even learned that there are some free camping areas so that I didn't have to walk back to the shelter. And I finally arrived to a still open store, to get the sleeping pad, and find a spot along the railroad tracks to setup camp.When getting towards the end of the hiking, when my legs and ankles wanted to stop, suddenly I looked up to find that everything was green. It was really nice to finally feel spring around me (due to the lower elevation of the valley). The smells of the flowers were probably the best part.The NOC makes for a good place to have a hiker party. You can buy beers from the restaurant in to-go cups. But it also probably had to do with a big group of hikers arriving and planning to take a zero day the next day. They also provide coin operated showers that are 25¢ per minute. That was probably the best 50¢ I've ever spent.Fitbit-------------Miles: 23.9Calories: 5700Stairs: 292
Date: 2015-04-25
From: NOC 

To: Brown Fork Gap 
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

I had an uncertain morning. I really didn't want to spend a zero day at the NOC, but if my replacement pole didn't arrive I might not have any other option. But if I couldn't arrange to slackpack, it might be better to take a zero day. So finding my pole was the most important thing, but the stores didn't open till after 9am. So I got breakfast first. And then waited. When the store opened I checked and they did have my pole. I wanted to slackpack to Stecoah Gap and stay at the hostel there since it'd be raining all day and night, but was disappointed to learn the hostel was already booked out. They did provide the option to come get my stuff and drop it off at the top for me, but it was more than twice the expected price. I took it anyway. And had a great day hiking with no weight and no rain.Fitbit-------------Miles: 21.8Calories: 5000Stairs: 622
Date: 2015-04-26
From: Brown Fork Gap 

To: Fontana Dam 
Miles today: 12.8

I had a mouse in my tent last night. I think it got in when I went out to pee during the night and left the door open. I first felt it up near my head as I was falling back to sleep, and freaked out a bit before realizing that I must be imaging it because nothing would be in my tent. Shortly after that though I felt it run over my feet then saw it crawling up the side of my tent. I grabbed my headlamp, opened the tent door, then cornered it on top of my backpack. It looked quite cute sitting there, but I swatted it out anyways and that was that.As I was coming up to one of the gaps and road crossings there was a cooler full of ice and soda. It's been a few months since I had a soda, but a cold sugary beverage looked good to me then. I'd say I drank that can of soda in less than 3 minutes (thanks Boxtop).But the really magical trail magic happened when I got to the Fontana Dam shelter (they call it the Fontana Hilton). There was a family that invited me up to the parking area where they were making burgers and hotdogs. And at the same spot there was a group of ladies (Noah's Ark Widows Ministry) with fruit, drinks, snacks and all sorts of goodies. I believe I ate three burgers, two hotdogs, a bunch of fruit, and several snack/cookie things. The group of ladies also got a few of us hikers to perform a fun dance number that included a bit of stretching.I got a ride into Fontana Village (the resort area that is also considered the town) (thanks Carey www.atforhaiti.org) so I could checkout the post office and such. That's when I met all the other hikers staying at the Hilton that night. They were all very drunk and stoned. There've been a few other groups of hikers that were all about partying, but this group was by far the loudest and most obnoxious. Maybe cause they all took a zero day and started partying early, but they were not fun to be around. And of course I made the mistake of setting up my tent near the fire so didn't really have much option other than waiting it out. The good thing was that hikers go to bed early, so everyone, including myself, was asleep by 11pm.Fitbit-------------Miles: 18.7Calories: 4800Stairs: 260
Date: 2015-04-27
From: Fontana Dam 

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter 
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: light rain

Entered the Smokies today. As I was approaching the side trail to the fire tower, there was a group of loud hikers. Turns out they were cornered by a bear while they were up the fire tower and when they managed to get down the bear went up the stairs of the fire tower. So instead of going straight up there to see the bear I waited a bit for Low Branch and we walked up the side trail about 100 yards till we saw the bear. Took a few pictures then slowly backed away.A couple days ago my big toe started getting very itchy. And then yesterday I saw a red blotch on the toe. The blotch is still there today but the itchiness is gone. I was contemplating how ironic it'd be if I had to get off the trail because of a problem with my toes.As I passed a group of hikers that were loud and chatty I found myself thinking about thinking. I thought about how walking alone and thinking is something I've been doing for many years now. It's really something that feels quite natural to me. Then a camp I was chatting with TheHiker and he was describing how he'll often spend a lot of time alone not talking to people and find that he looses the ability to communicate clearly. It was a concept that I can relate to very much.Fitbit-------------Miles: 18.7 Calories: 4700Stairs: 493
Date: 2015-04-28
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter 

To: Double Spring Gap 
Miles today: 19.5

I find that I have a lot of questions as I hike through my day. Many times they go unanswered simply because I don't remember them later. But I've also been finding that when I do ask someone who I think would know, they don't. Most of the time these are plant or animal questions.When I woke up I thought I'd keep it simple and hike a 12 mile day. But as I started walking I felt good and the day was beautiful, so ideas of walking over Clingman's Dome with good views creeped into my plans. That would be a 25 mile day. For the first 10 miles I still felt like it was obtainable. But around mile 11 the dream faded quickly. I did push on to the shelter just before the peak which was 19.5 miles. And for the most part I felt good doing it. But I suppose it'll probably be rain for me the rest of the way.I gave away some of my food. I realized that in addition to the fast pace, I also just brought too much. Some of it went to the Lone Wolf (a south bound flip-floper) and another jar of peanut butter went to MacGyver. There are actually only three of us in the shelter tonight. It's quite nice to have so much space and not have to deal with the tent.Fitbit-------------Miles: 22.5Calories: 5100Stairs: 540
Date: 2015-04-29
From: Double Spring Gap 

To: Icewater Shelter 
Miles today: 13.8

Walked over Clingman's Dome today. There was no view at all. But that's ok because this is one of my emotional AT milestones. I realized when I made it to Neels Gap a few weeks ago that being there was something that really made me feel like I was walking the AT. I've been thinking about it more and decided that there are a few other key places along the trail that I've always associated with thru-hiking, and Clingman's Dome is another one of those. Hot Springs, Damascus and Harpers Ferry are the remaining towns in that list. And besides Katahdin, the other emotional milestone location will be the highway overpass in MA that I originally saw when I was 12, and had me hooked for the past 25 years.Another great thing about this area of the Smokies is the evergreen forests. There's probably been only two other patches with pine trees that I've been through so far, and I've noticed that there's something about the evergreen ecosystem that really resonates with me. And today's walk was just amazing. The trees were either spruce or frazier fir. There were some that were blown over with their whole root system still intact.The day was almost entirely dry except the last mile and a half before reaching the shelter I got poured on and once I arrived at the shelter it stopped raining. There was a group of young lads there that had spent all day collecting firewood and even better, they kept waking up during the night to add more wood to the fire (thanks Three Dimensional Life).Fitbit-------------Miles: 18.6Calories: 4400Stairs: 336
Date: 2015-04-30
From: Icewater Shelter 

To: Cosby Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 20.3

As I started my walk this morning I decided I'd try for a 20 mile day. And for the most part it was quite easy. I'm thinking the way some people talk about trying to reach a 20 mile day is probably more akin to me reaching a 30 mile day. Once I rest up in Hot Springs I'm going to start looking into that as a goal.I also met a mother/daughter team (squirrel and spock) that are trying to complete the trail in 99 days and break the current mother/daughter record. Two days ago they walked 28 miles and today they were going for 31. I thought about how people say that you can't train for this, but I think I'm starting to disagree. Going from starting with under ten mile days to the first twenty mile day is something you could work on during the weekends before getting on the trail. That being said, I think the only reason to pre-train would be if you wanted to set a record or at least finish in a short time. Otherwise it's probably better to stick with the group you start with and get more miles as it becomes comfortable to you.Fitbit-------------Miles: 22.0Calories: 4900Stairs: 406
Date: 2015-05-01
From: Cosby Knob Shelter 

To: Standing Bear Hostel 
Miles today: 10.7

The days are already starting to become monotonous. I find I have nothing left to say at the end of the day. I walked a bunch, chatted with some people, and ate as much food as I could.I did leave the Smokies today. That's up there in the list of AT accomplishments. My thought when I got to the park border was "yay, I can camp anywhere". I also got to see my first good waterfall after leaving the park. That and crossing under the first major highway.I finally caught back up with Mantis. He was part of my Gooch Gap Group (it seems that the people at that shelter seem to form the tightest bonds - all the other groups I've been passing seem to have formed there). I had been seeing his entries in the log books and noticed that I was slowly closing the three day gap he created just after Neels Gap.Fitbit-------------Miles: 15.2Calories: 4000Stairs: 150