morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-05-02
From: Hot Springs 

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 35 on the Appalachian TrailMay 2Miles Today: 0Total Miles: 273.7Today we took a zero in Hot Springs. With all my chores done I was able to just relax and heal for the day. Bon Appetite woke up not feeling well and spent the entire day in bed until dinner time. Kinsman and I hung around, did some catching up on trail journals, went through packs and food bags and eventually walked to the store to get some burgers, hot dogs and buns. Last night we decided we wanted to cook over our fire pit for dinner instead of going out to eat. We waited a couple hours once we got back with the food to begin cooking. I got a fire started around 6 and we were able to cook once there was a good base of hot coals. Bon Appetite managed to make it out of bed to eat some food which will probably help him out a bit. He did say he was feeling a bit better but he will be staying in town tomorrow and possibly Thursday as well. I heard from Parakeet and she will be staying in town tomorrow as well. Looks like the group is splitting up for a while but I'm sure we will all see each other again. Surprise of the day was running in to Jay and Sara. They pushed some big mile days and made it to Hot Springs this afternoon. They may be hiking out tomorrow morning like Kinsman and myself so maybe we will get to do some hiking with them now. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail again.
Date: 2017-05-03
From: Hot Springs

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 36 on the Appalachian TrailMay 3Miles Today: 14.4Total Miles: 288.1Got a good night of rest in the cabin last night. When I woke up at 7, Bon Appetite was feeling much better and had left to go get breakfast at the local diner. Kinsman was just about ready to hit the trail and did so within a few minutes of me waking up. I started gathering my stuff once he left and BA came back shortly after. He told me his plan of sticking around Hot Springs for the day today and then heading out tomorrow. I shot the shit with him until 9 when I decided I should probably get on my way. The trail left Hot Springs and crossed over a river and followed along the side of it for a while. There were people stealth camping all along the edge of the river until the trail began to climb. With a full load on my back from resupplying I was struggling to make my way up the mountain. I knew right then and there it was going to be a long, hard day. I slowly worked my way up and eventually the trail flattened out a bit and allowed me to pick up my pace. A couple miles in, I came across Damned Pond. The water looked gross and I was thankful that I didn't need water at the time. I decided to take a break for a bit and I called mom to see how she was doing. We chatted for a bit and then I continued on the trail. Flat ground didn't last long and I was soon making my way up Rich Mountain. I did a bit better on my way up Rich but by the top I was not feeling too great. My pace dropped to a crawl and I was getting worried I may have picked up whatever was ailing Bon Appetite. I sent Kinsman a text telling him where I was, that I was moving pretty slow and that I might need to stop at the upcoming shelter for the night which was only a mile and a half shy of where we planned on staying. I continued to make my way down the mountain and decided to take a break at the bottom to see if it would help me feel a bit better. After 10 minutes I got back up and began chipping away at the 1.7 miles remaining to the shelter. The break I took seemed to have helped as my pace had quickened a bit and I arrived at the shelter less than an hour later. Kinsman was there hanging in his hammock. I asked how he was doing and he said he was great to which I responded "great enough to do another 4 miles?" He looked at the map and agreed to the plan. What was supposed to be a 10.7 mile day just became a 14.4 mile day. We sat and rested for a bit and then began the rest of our hike for the day. By this time I was feeling almost 100% and we quickly busted out the remaining miles. We found a campsite just shy of a road crossing and decided to set up our stuff. Less than 100ft away from us is a general store so we popped in and grabbed some cold drinks and an ice cream sandwich for each of us. We've been sitting around for a little bit now and it's just about 5:45. I like to cook dinner right at 6 so that'll be coming up shortly. The rest of the night will be spent relaxing and looking at tomorrow's hike. Today may have started out poor and slow but it turned out to be a good day with a decent amount of miles.
Date: 2017-05-04
From: Allen Gap

To: Jerry's Cabin Shelter 
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 37 on the Appalachian Trail May 4Miles Today: 12.2Total Miles: 300.3I was expecting it to be raining when I got up this morning but I was pleasantly surprised to find everything outside as dry as it had been when I went to bed. The wind had picked up quite a bit by the time I woke up and I could hear it rushing through the tree tops from inside my tent. When I crawled out I could see them swaying violently back and forth. I was on the trail by 7:30 and began making my way up the initial and biggest climb of the day. It was a several thousand foot climb but took place over the span of about 6 miles. As I made my way up, the trees continued to bend from one side to the other. I had several branches come down close to me and was actually hit by a small one as I was walking. As usual I had my headphones in while I was hiking and all of a sudden I heard some loud cracking near me. By the time I was able to look over to see what was going on there was a fairly large tree plummeting towards the ground. It landed with a loud crash and startled me quite a bit. Where it fell wasn't directly next to me but it was a little too close for comfort. I arrived at a shelter shortly after where I was able to take a short break, get water, and wait for Kinsman to catch up. The shelter was facing the wind so it didnt offer any protection or opportunity to warm up. After kinsman showed up I took off shortly after in order to warm up. The trail continued to climb after the shelter for a ways until. Once at the top it was easy walking on what was fairly level ground minus some little ups and downs.A couple miles in, I came across a split in the trail. Left was a bad weather bypass while right took you up on an open ridge. Despite the high wind, I chose to take the exposed ridge. Along it there were several rock scrambles and once at the top there were pretty good views. There were several instances where the power of the wind knocked me off balance and I had to put my hands down on the ground to brace myself. I didn't stay on the ridge long and was soon on my way down to the shelter. I arrived about an hour later. I sat in the shelter awhile and waited for Kinsman to arrive. Several section hikers were sitting in the shelter when he arrived and we were under the impression it was full for the night. We went and set up our camp nearby only to find the shelter empty once we had finished. We decided to rip our gear down and stay in the shelter to get out of the wind and any possible rain.
Date: 2017-05-05
From: Jerry's Cabin Shelter 

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter 
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: light rain

Day 38 on the Appalachian TrailMay 5Miles Today: 15.5Total Miles: 315.8It ended up being a good choice to stay in the shelter last night. It rained for most of the night and continued to be pretty windy. It also wasn't a bad night in the shelter either. We were a little cramped from fitting 8 people in a 6 person shelter but no one snored and I was able to sleep through the night for the most part. I got up at 6:30 and managed to get out of the shelter at 7:15. Leaving proved to be a bit difficult because 2 guys had started a fire in the shelter fireplace. It was warm and cozy and I would've been content with sitting there for another hour in front of it. With rain on the way I decided to get moving to get closer to the next shelter. There was a short climb to start the morning but then the trail began to drop as I neared the next shelter which was 6.7 miles forward. I made it to the shelter in exactly two hours and caught Kinsman there. We sat around for a few minutes and then continued on to finish out the day. The trail continued to drop for another 3 miles and then we had another 5 of climbing to our shelter. We decided to stop and eat some lunch after the 3 miles to get some energy for the climb out. So far it had not begun to rain but the sky was starting to turn a dark grey and I knew it wouldn't be far off. I was less than a mile from the shelter and it started. I managed to get decently wet by the time I hit the shelter and I climbed in right away to get out of the weather. Kinsman showed up shortly after and we were once again glad to be staying in a shelter for the night. Tomorrow we are planning on a short 10 mile day, followed by another 10 on Sunday in order to make it a short 4 mile day on Monday to get in to Erwin. Then we will have all day to get stuff done in town and we won't need to take an extra day off.
Date: 2017-05-07
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin
Miles today: 17.0

Day 40 on the Appalachian TrailMay 7Miles Today: 17Total Miles: 342.9We woke up to some more cool weather this morning. Expecting to only do another 10 miles or so to put us in range of Erwin we took our time getting ready this morning and didn't end up leaving the shelter until 10am. Kinsman and I left at the same time and began making our way to the next shelter about 10 miles down the trail. Most of the day was downhill travel so it made for pretty easy walking. Before we knew it we came to a Gap about 5 miles in and we're greeted by a man named Rob. He was giving out trail magic which was made up of cold sodas and sugary snacks. We talked for a bit and found out he would be in Mass in a couple months doing magic up there as well. He even takes hikers home to his cabin every night while he's there. We bid farewell and made our way the next 5 miles to the shelter where we planned on staying. We were both feeling good so we decided to push on a bit further and even considered going all the way to Erwin. Daddy Longlegs and Cole showed up as well and he was thinking the same thing. We all pushed our way up and over one last climb and made our way down the mountain and ended up walking straight in to Erwin. Turns out we did our biggest day yet of 17 miles. The 4 of us continued along the AT a short ways and found a good spot to set up shop for the night. After our gear was all set up we made our way in to town to go to Huddle House for some breakfast for dinner. Someone had mentioned having waffles and bacon earlier in the day and since then we had all been craving it. With our hunger satisfied we headed back to camp, got a fire going and relaxed around it for a couple hours. After that we all headed to bed and called it a night. Tomorrow we get to zero now instead of nearo which I'm sure my legs will appreciate.
Date: 2017-05-08
From: Erwin

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 41 on the Appalachian TrailMay 8Miles Today: 0Total Miles: 342.9Today was a zero day in Erwin, TN. We ran around town and did our typical resupply as well as laundry and any other chores that needed to be taken care of. Kinsman and I went out for lunch and got some of the best Chinese food I've had. We went back to our room at the Super 8 afterwards and got our gear ready to go. We head back out in the morning for a 12 mile day up and out of Erwin.
Date: 2016-08-19
To: WE ARE BACK!!
Miles today: 0.0

We are Mike (Sparks) and Bushy (Bushy) Hartman and we attempted to hike the Appalachian Trail in March of 2015, but quit only after one week. We plan on giving it another go March, 14th, 2017! This time with lighter / leaner bodies and packs. We learned a lot on the first go around and hopefully we can turn those lessons learned into a successful thru hike; starting over from Springer Mountain. We are retired (truly retired!) and getting older, so we figure that if we do not do it now, we will NEVER do it. My trail name is from mine and Bushy's Navy days, as a former Radiomen. The emblem for the Radioman was sparks. Bushy's trail name is a name that she received back in the day by friends because of her bushy hair plus, she cannot stand her given name...maybe given trail magic, she will reveal her real name. :-) Hiking the Appalachian Trail has always been on our "bucket lists" so here we are¢¦again! Bushy is 61 and is a native of Florida/Maryland and I am 65 and am a native of California/Arizona. We both are very excited about getting back on the trail and after much research and trail journal reading, and lessons learned from our first attempt, we will be lightening our loads considerably. Hope to see you on the trail! This will be us again, just lighter and leaner¢¦but this time to completion!!!
Date: 2016-08-21
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 21 Aug 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We let everyone know that we are going to take another shot at the Appalachian Trail! So, we are locked in! :-) We plan on starting in March of 2017. This time we plan on being leaner and lighter; we have already lost 17 pounds each and are walking between 2-5 miles a day, and just recently added carrying our packs (not fully loaded yet) :-) We learned a lot on the last hike and we know better what not to take this time so it should lighten our packs considerably! Plus, we have more time to lose the extra weight that we are carrying on our bodies. :-) An additional tool in our tool belt is that we have started Tai Cheng Tai Chi, which should help us with our focus, balance, and muscles (might gives us some...ha ha ha)!
Date: 2016-08-23
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 23 Aug 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We are now hiking 5 miles each day, and have started incorporating our backpacks, very light at first (Bushy's - 10 lbs., mine - 9 lbs.), and will build up slowly. We have a perfect lake environment with plenty of beautiful surroundings, complete with loads of rolling hills!! Oh, did I mention that the weather is in the 80's and 90's, with humidity up to 96 percent...which makes for a very hot and wet walk (even early in the mornings)!!See photos below:
Date: 2016-09-11
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 11 Sep 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Only 183 more days to go! We can hardly wait! We have lost 20 lbs. each so far, and have started hiking five miles a day with 11 to 12 pounds in our packs; tomorrow, we will add the tent to increase the load (tent in one and poles in the other pack). I got the Sawyer 3 way inline water filter for the platypus, I just need to hook it up. We have all of the bills on auto pay, so no worries there. :-) Now, we just need to purchase a few last minute items such as another sleeping bag, a platypus, some more darn tough socks, and a few food items that we can take with us the first week.We think that we can cut the number of drop boxes by half¢¦along with the load of stuff in them!We are going to rent a car with Enterprise (they come and get us), and see if we can drop it off at the Blue Ridge, GA location and get them to take us to the trail head¢¦if not, we will just coordinate a shuttle pick up.Well, class of 2017, see you on the trail soon!!!
Date: 2016-09-26
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 26 Sep 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Only 163 more days to go! We can hardly wait! We have lost another 3-5 lbs. each so far, and have added another hill to our daily walk, which also adds a little less than a half a mile more walking. Plus, we have added another couple of pounds to our packs which makes them 16.3 pounds each. Sparks at the top of the new hill! Bushy at the top of the new hill! Well, class of 2017, see you on the trail soon!!!
Date: 2016-09-27
To: Pre-Hike Workout Training 9 Oct 2016
Miles today: 0.0

Pre-Hike Workout Update 9 Oct 2016Only 150 more days to go! It seems like time is flying by now!! We have lost about 27 lbs. each so far, and we have our packs up to 20 pounds now. We are going to add to our mileage starting tomorrow, still with the 20 lb. packs, to start getting closer to our 10 mile a day goal.We volunteered for a Trail Maintenance crew on the 1st of October for about 4 miles of the Apalachicola Nation Forest (Hwy 329 ¢ FR 321) section, for the Florida Trail Association (FTA). See photo of Bushy and I with the other trail maintenance crew volunteers below: Bushy and I with the other volunteers of the trail maintenance crew Then, on the 8th, we hiked a four mile section of the High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail in Tate¢s Hell State Forest, again with the FTA, that included an interpretive guide! Awesome! See photos below: Turpentine tree in Tate¢s Hell Bushy checking out the Turpentine tree Carnivorous beauty on Tate's Hell hike Beautiful flora and butterflies in Tate¢s Hell Copper colored water on Tate's Hell hikeWell, class of 2017, see you on the trail soon!!!
Date: 2016-10-28
To: Trip to REI in Jacksonville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Bushy and I drove three and a half hours to Jacksonville, just so we could go to an REI. It was well worth it!! The backpack and shoe staff were very knowledgeable and super helpful. We learned how to adjust our packs so they would fit better, by using a Deuter ACT 50 + 10 pack they had there...it was sooooo much lighter than my existing Deuter pack! We learned that the new Deuters are at least a pound lighter than the ones we have! Needless to say, a couple of days after we got home we ordered new packs from REI (Deuter ACT 50 + 10 for me and a Deuter ACT SL 45 + 10 for Bushy). :-) We also learned about the differences in the Superfeet inserts, and the young lady there in the Shoe department helped us pick out just the ones that we both needed; I found that the Copper one had the most support for the heel (where I have been having problems) and the Berry one helped Bushy with support of her instep. She then instructed me on how to tie my shoes so that it would prevent synching up the toe box (which was bothering one of my big toes)¢¦totally worth the trip to Jacksonville! Of course, there was a Cheesecake Factory right there nearby, so we had to stop for lunch and indulged in a Macaroni Cheeseburger and a hot fudge sundae (which we shared) YUMMMY and totally worth the calories!! lol The yummy macaroni cheeseburger! We also got the new Snow Peak Giga Power and cups loaded into our packs, along with about six days of Mountain House meals that we still had from our previous hike, into our packs, so all that we have in our packs now is stuff that we plan on taking on the trail with us, except the sleeping bags and thermarest pads¢¦they will go in later when we get Bushy¢s new Enlightened Revelation down quilt. This should bring us up to about 25 pounds, including the two liters of water that we are each carrying. We think that once we get our final weight down we might be able to add back in our Helinox One chairs, as our luxury items! :-o Our Helinox Chairs Overall, a FANTASTIC day! ONLY 131 DAYS TO GO!!!
Date: 2016-11-04
To: Trail Maintenance 4 November 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Bushy and I volunteered to help with Trail Maintenance on another section of the Florida Trail. This time not only did we trim back some of the limbs and bushes, we also got to run the weed eater like trimmer and paint some new blazes. Bushy and I are on the right in the below picture with Mike T. (left) and Dawn (Team Leader). Bushy and I with the leader (Dawn) and Mike T. during trail maintenance Bushy and I painting new trail blazes Bushy and Dawn enjoying lunch break Mike T and Sparks enjoying lunch break The Grey Rat Snake that we saw on the trail We even got to see a small SCORPION! Yes, I said scorpion! However, we didn¢t get a picture of it. :-(
Date: 2016-11-06
To: New Packs going back to REI
Miles today: 0.0

Okay, last week, we tried our new Deuter ACT Lite packs and didn¢t like them, so we are taking them back and sticking to our Deuter Futura Vario¢s. New ACT Lite Packs Old Futura Vario Packs The ACT Lites are one pound lighter but the Futura¢s have the webbing and air flow for the back instead of two gigantic pads that feel like they are poking you in the back. Plus, the Futura¢s have the zipper opening on the back of the pack, light a suitcase, whereas the ACT Lite¢s only have a stretchy pocket, that is open to the elements. Needless to say, we will stick with the Futura¢s but still bring the Helinox chairs (only 1 pound each). :-) New lighter helinox chairs These chairs will be our luxury item! :-)
Date: 2016-12-09
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 9 Dec 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Only 89 more days to go! It seems like time is flying by now!! Our weight loss has slowed to a crawl, but we are still out there walking just about every day. The Thanksgiving holiday knocked us in the dirt for a week or two, but we are back on track now! Even on a 38 degree day, we walked our usual 8 miles, with at least 20 pounds in our packs¢¦.well, 21 for Bushy, because she added her Enlightened Revelation down quilt to her pack (it only weighs 1 lb.! However, we ordered it on October 6th and we didn¢t get it until December 2nd!!) Below is a photo of Bushy and I sporting our cooler weather gear: Bushy and I with our cooler weather gear on! The knit caps are from a Trail Angel from our 2015 attempt.As you can see below, Sparks is sporting his fabulous winter wear......hmmmmm Calvin Klein has nothing to worry about here. Lol Sparks also already has his AT beard going!! See photos below: Sparks sporting his fabulous winter gear and beard Next week, we are planning on going to Torreya State Park and hiking the trails there, and possibly doing a shakedown campout! We will keep you posted! :-)Well, class of 2017, see you on the trail soon!!!
Date: 2016-12-12
To: Pre-Hike Workout Update 12 Dec 2016
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Only 86 more days to go! Well Bushy and I did our first 8 mile walk with FULL packs! We put everything that we plan on taking with us on the hike into our packs, including three days¢ worth of meals/snacks (along with some Nutella cups :-p), and our packs weighed in at¢¦.drum roll please¢¦.25 lbs. (Bushy¢s) and 26 lbs. (Sparks)!!! Bushy¢s down quilt weighs one pound lighter than my REI Igneo sleeping bag. :-)We are so excited because our packs (and our bodies) are so much lighter than the last time we started hiking the AT!!The picture is of a hawk friend that we came across during our walk¢¦this place is awesome for preparing for the trail!!Well, class of 2017, see you on the trail soon!!!