morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-10
From: Licklog Gap

To: The NOC
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

This morning we woke up in lick log gap. It was cold (in the 20s) but we stayed warm and cozy in our sleeping bag. Too cozy! Got off after 9:00... We have been trying to get going faster in the mornings.   This morning it took us 35 minutes to tear down camp. Still seems too long but it's a new record for us. We had breakfast on the trail at the first nice viewpoint we came to. Our goal for the day was to make it to the NOC where we will pick up our first mail drop in the morning. We need enough food to get across the Smokies because there are no resupply places for about 70 miles. Food is actually a double edged sword. If you carry to much, the weight really gets to you. We actually still have 2 dehydrated meals that we started with along with unused breakfasts and snacks. That's probably about 5 lbs extra we have carried for the last 3 weeks! We saw in a guest book somewhere a hiker wrote "every bite is a victory!" We really understand what hey meant. NOC stands for nantahala outdoor center. It is an outfitter for white water rafting right on the trail. If the water wasn't so cold, we'd probably take a day off for some river fun... We had an ulterior motive in getting there tonight- they have hamburgers! Along the way, We climbed a big mountain, climbed up a pretty observation tower (and made a wonderful hot lunch), climbed another mountain, descended forever, yada yada yada hamburger! The suspense really made the burger. For about an hour we walked with a man named Jeff Davis. We made the mistake of asking how he got his trail name- it wasn't a trail name. He was very proud to be both from the North and bear that name. He talked a long time about how many calories you burn hiking and how scrawny you get. It was his second hike so he remembers eating all kinds of weird things (mussels from streams, frogs he caught, etc.). We both feel a little thinner after the last 3 weeks. Imagine 6 months? After arriving, we splurged and got the brownie with ice cream. Not bad going on an all you can eat diet right after your wedding and still losing weight. Tonight we are camping along the beautiful Nantahala river about a 5 minute walk from the NOC. There are some really wild partier type hikers in the area so we setup camp on the other side of the hill. Now all we can hear is the peaceful river. Enough about food until tomorrow when we get breakfast at the same place. Our friend El Tejano ate here a few weeks ago and we have been looking forward to it ever since.
Date: 2016-04-11
From: The NOC

To: Locust Cove Gap
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we hiked about 7 miles uphill, followed by several very steep downhill miles. The terrain was by far the most difficult we had come upon. We started out with breakfast at the NOC. French toast, eggs, hash browns, coffee, yum! Afterwards we picked up a package at the outfitter. Thanks Abe for sending it to us! Now his pack is very heavy. We took his pack in to have it adjusted and found out that he is actually a large size but is hiking with a medium pack! To make matters worse, the last guy who looked at it made it as small as possible. Perhaps that was a joke? In any case, the weight is now at least on his hips instead of his shoulders. For those of you entertaining going on a hike yourself, get fitted, and then get a second opinion. But don't expect any two outfitters to tell you the same thing. We don't think that they are intentionally being like politicians, but the behavior is similar. After leaving, as mentioned, it was very difficult and mostly uphill. We had a late lunch on top of a bald spot on a mountain and then headed down into a gap for the night. Thankfully, other hikers had arrived there and taken up all of the good campsites. Well, they started a nice warm fire in their defense and invited us to join them.   A very friendly bunch. It was a group of about 8 friendly hikers, including one single girl with her dog, several younger guys, and several older guys. Over dinner around the fire we learned that where we camped last night was called "hobo island." Allegedly there is a $250 fine if you camp there. Oh well. The most interesting one didn't stay though. His name was giggles. We met him at the NOC and hoped we would run into him again because he had a good vibe. He is from Kansas City, and worked at a good restaurant called "Room 39" which apparently serves farm to table food. We will check it out if we pass through there. He passed us a few miles into the climb. We joked he had jet packs. Later we found out he was fueled by alcohol. We saw him pull a six pack out of his pack. And we are trying to cut weight... We passed him unknowingly because he had stopped to visit at a shelter that we passed up. He showed up again at the campsite, visited awhile, and then decided when it was already dark out that he didn't feel like setting up his tent (it's raining) so he attached an umbrella oto his pack, put on his headlamp, and walked off into the darkness. We hope we cross paths again.
Date: 2016-04-12
From: Locust Cove Gap

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 17.1

We got a bit of a late start today because of the rain. With it being wet outside, we had trouble leaving our tent. However when we finally mustered up the willpower to pack up, we were sure glad for one of the features of our tent...the "dry pitch" feature. We can pitch the rain fly and the footprint without the tent so we can be dry and set up the tent. We used it in reverse and took everything down inside the rain fly and then took that down last and we stayed very dry! Our goal this morning was Fontana Dam or bust! We knew it was a lot of miles to attempt in one day (17+), but we were determined to get there for a hot meal and laundry! Never underestimate the power of thru hikers looking forward to a nice hot shower and clean clothes! About 5 miles in, we still felt reasonably sure we could continue to Fontana Dam. Mid afternoon however, when we realized we still needed to hike about 10 miles to make Fontana Dam, it began to seem like an impossible task. One of us shed a few tears at the thought of not doing laundry for another week. Instead zig giving up, we decided to hike really fast! We passed the last shelter before Fontana Dam at 4:45 PM. We knew we needed to go about 5.5 miles. There was a really tall mountain that had to be climbed, and we did it. Got to the top and saw some great views of the dam. We called the hotel and found out that there was a shuttle if we finished by 8:00. We practically jogged down the mountain and made it by 7:45! Too bad, there was no cell service to call for the shuttle. Heart brake. We had to walk two more miles uphill to get to the hotel! And to add insult to injury, we later found out that there was a phone box at the base of the mountain.Whew...is all we can say after today! What a day for us! It was our longest day yet with tough terrain and we finished up with a two mile "off trail" for a total of over 19 miles! The quote of the day was from a guy who stopped his car at a road crossing called Stecoah gap to visit with thru hikers while we were eating lunch. He gave us celery (random, but we used it to convey peanut butter into our bellies) and then told us that he thru hiked in 2013. His quote was "80% of people who quit hiking do it between the NOC (where we started yesterday) and Fontana dam (where we ended today) because of how difficult the terrain is." Most people take 3 days to cover it, but we were highly motivated to get to the laundry mat at the Fontana lodge and finished in two days. He most difficult section of terrain is a section of the trail which is reportedly one of the steepest sections of the entire trail according to some hikers we spoke to earlier. It is called "Jacob's Ladder". We were nervous about that section all day until we passed some hikers who informed us that we had already hiked it. Lol...it really wasn't that steep to us. Long day and a hotel bed well deserved.
Date: 2016-04-13
From: Fontana Dam

To: Off Trail
Miles today: 0.0

Our second zero day. After 125 miles since our last off day and 10 days on the trail, it was time for a day off. We decided to give our legs a rest and enjoy the resort lifestyle for a day. The Fontana Dam Resort is gorgeous and we couldn't resist! Plus they offered us a hiker rate We caught up on laundry, played some mini golf (he won for those who are curious), ate ate ate, and had a nice day at the foot of the Smokies! Tried to catch up on our memorizing some too. Yikes we are behind! Speaking of laundry, we are learning from our mistakes. For instance, when you wash your stinky clothes with your even stickier socks, none of them really come out that fresh... Next time, we will do some prewashing of the dirtier stuff in a sink before doing our load of laundry. While at the lodge today we met someone named "popeye" who started on March 27. What a character! Hopefully we cross paths on the trail.
Date: 2016-04-17
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

We got off to a slow start because we were chilled at night. It was odd because it was not an especially cold night. We had gotten to the camping area late and had to camp where we could, which ended up being a moist area. We think it was just damp and cold. Regardless, we moved slowly. The hike down from Clingmans dome to Newfound gap and beyond was our favorite. We could see coming back to do a day hike or weekend backpacking trip here some day. The forest was spectacular, with large conifers and lots of moss. It almost felt like hiking through the Pacific Northwest. When we got to Newfound Gap, we saw Sue and Ron again (they aren't hiking, just vacationing). They took pictures of us and told us to go back to work and invest in 401k's so we could buy an RV like they did and travel all the time. Also while at the gap, his wifey, who is a trained nurse, attended to his heel, which had a rather spectacular blister. Her secret? A small patch of "moleskin" held on by a lot of blue duct tape.After Newfound Gap, the terrain changed. Instead of walking down a mountain through a forest, we began to walk along narrow ridge lines that had drop offs of several hundred feet on either side. These walks provides some of the most spectacular views we have seen yet. At he end of the day, we stopped at mile 217.3 which is about 10% of the total trail! Not bad for less than three weeks on some of the most difficult terrain! The reward at the end of he night wasn't the statistic, though. It was the awesome campfire that some fellow hikers stoked from coals left warm the day before. We are hearing of reports of wild fires shutting down sections of the trail. Disappointing that we would find coals still burning from other campers. But it was a really nice fire.
Date: 2016-04-25
From: State line Branch

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Today we got back to the trail, but we forgot to bring one really important thing- our trail legs! We were sure sluggish today... In our defense, we were still feeling lagged from only getting 3 hours of sleep Saturday night and we really didn't drink enough water yesterday. Also, it was about 8 miles of uphill terrain. We decided to take it easy so we started around 10:15am. We passed a beautiful waterfall before our climb back into the high altitude area where there are almost no rivers, streams, or waterfalls. In fact, the last time we saw a waterfall was leaving Franklin and the only other time was our first day hiking in Georgia! Shortly after, we passed under I40 and began our ascent back up into the mountains (the interstate was built in a low elevation pass just outside of the Smokie Mountain National Park). The climb started out steep and eventually flattened to a comfortable uphill hike. Returning to the trail after a week away was kind of like visiting an old friend you hadn't seen for awhile. They look the same, yet different. The forest now has new types of flowers, greenery is about a foot tall on the floor of the forest, trees mostly have leaves, and it was probably our warmest day yet (in the 80's F). We met several hikers today. Since we have been off the trail for a while, there were mostly new faces, with a few folks we left in the dust weeks ago who were starting to find their groove. One lady who was new to us yesterday had met up with her husband for a week. When we saw her yesterday, she was walking her dog, wearing a service animal vest, out of the national park. Today, the dog wasn't wearing the device animal vest, but instead was bugging us for food. A ranger told us that lots of people lie about their pets being service animals so they can bring them with in places they are not allowed. We also met some world class people, one named skooch who we had heard about from moose and were hoping to meet. She got her name because she skooches her way down rocky parts of the trail to be safe and doesn't mind wearing out her pants in the process. We also met several Canadians about our age. We decided to stealth camp tonight. That just means we found a place down the trail away from the shelters and designated camp sites. This meant we had to pack enough water for the night, morning, and into the following day. We found by accident a special place according to a sign that was well off the trail called Hawks Roost just before brown gap.
Date: 2016-04-26
From: Brown Gap

To: Big Rock Spring
Miles today: 14.2

Today we got started at 0915...after nearly 11 hours of sleep! We must have needed to catch up! We knew the day held a pretty good climb and we started with a lot of energy! We walked for a while and didn't see anyone...but then we heard some hikers who were starting to get close to us. We slowed down to let them by and one of them was Giggles! We thought he would have been long gone by now! He said Gatlinburg sucked him in. It was so good to see familiar faces! As we chatted with Giggles and Sneaky Pete, we learned that three hikers died while in Gatlinburg. One from a heart attack and the other two were a couple who died in a hot tub. We later found out the couple who died in the hot tub were not hikers and that rumors can certainly spread on the trail. Our prayers are with those who lost their loved ones. We continued our climb to Max Patch. The view from the top is definitely worth the climb! We enjoyed our lunch with a view! We saw a lot of people who came up for the afternoon and parked at the parking lot on top and don't have to climb all the way up. We also saw a lot of fun day hikers in the area. We did not however see many thru hikers today. We only saw Tonto and Brewha that we met yesterday in addition to Giggles and Sneaky Pete. After lunch we began our trek down. Boy were we exhausted! We just couldn't seem to get in our groove. We took far too many breaks and felt like we were making very little progress. We tried eating snacks but nothing helped. Finally around 5 PM we decided to bust out our cookware and make a hot dinner. That certainly did the trick, we both had renewed energy after that. In fact, we kept hiking later than usual. We ended up running out of daylight before we ran out of energy. We hiked down to Big Rock Spring and camped nearby. As we were eating dinner we noticed some orange light atop several mountains in the distance. We realized it was the fire that's burning just beyond Hot Springs. It was a somber feeling going to sleep surrounded by forest fires. We prayed that we would be safe from the fires and prayed for those who are working to contain them.
Date: 2016-04-27
From: Big Rock Spring

To: Hot Springs, North Carolina
Miles today: 9.1

We headed out in the morning with one thing on our minds...lunch in Hot Springs! We scurried on our way know that we had less than 10 miles to hike. The trail was empty on the way! We ran in to two men who were heading opposite of us to do some trail and shelter maintenance and that was it. The hike was fairly easy and we made our way into Hot Springs around 1 PM. We could smell the wild fires for quite some time before we got into town. Our first order of business once in town was to find somewhere to eat lunch. We settled on the Spring Creek Tavern. On the window they had advertised the "AT Burger". He was up for a challenge so he ordered it. It was huge! Even with a hungry hiker appetite, he couldn't finish it. After lunch we needed to find somewhere to stay...apparently we weren't the only ones. The first few places we stopped at were full. After a lot of walking, we finally found a motel that had a room available. We were thankful for a hot shower (especially her!). The town of Hot Springs is very small, you can walk the entire town in less than 20 minutes. While were waiting for our laundry we walked to get ice cream. Then we walked to resupply at the local Dollar General. Just before we got there we ran into Giggles and a hiker we had never met before names JT. We assumed that was his real name and commented that he didn't have a trail name yet. He explained that JT was in fact his trail name. His name is Jim and when he would introduce himself people couldn't tell if he was saying Jim or Tim so they would ask "J or T?" So now he goes by JT. As we chatted with him he offered us ice cream. Of course we couldn't say no, so we each had our second ice cream of the day. Talk about a sugar overload! We explained to JT that we needed to get on our way to go get our laundry switched and his response was "I don't think it's worth it to do laundry, I'm just going to get dirty again." For now, we are appreciating clean clothes while we can! After laundry we finished our resupply at The Hillbilly Market. They had ice cream and milkshakes, so naturally we got a strawberry milkshake to share. We don't need dessert for at least a week! Once we weren't too full from our afternoon desserts we went to find some dinner. We settled on the Smoky Mountain Diner. The menu looked very tasty! Not too long after we sat down, we found out that they were out of a lot of different menu items and we only had a few things to choose from. We were a little disappointed but still found things to order from the menu. After dinner we ran into Scooch. She was on her way to the river where there was a big hiker party happening. She invited us to come along. We politely declined and went to our motel. We were so tired! We stayed awake until 9:30...at least we stayed awake past "hiker midnight"!
Date: 2016-04-29
From: Big Butt

To: Devil Fork Gap, Off Trail
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we woke up to two wonderful months of marriage! Time sure flies when you are having fun. With thunderstorms rolling in for the weekend and an anniversary to celebrate, we decided to get off the trail for a few days. We plan to hit the Biltmore in Asheville and go to church for the first time in over a month! As of today, we have only slept in our own bed in Texas 21 nights together. Compare that with 1 night apart (due to our friends wedding), 5 nights at friends houses, 17 nights in a tent, and by the end of this weekend, 19 nights in hotels! On the trail, we hiked most of the way with Dancing Moose (the third moose we have met on the trail). He is a quick hiker, very friendly, seems to have done lots of research, etc. He has lots of knowledge, for example, he told us that ritz crackers have more calories per oz then tortillas, and he explained the pitfalls of poptart breakfasts. We enjoyed walking with him. It was an easy downhill walk to a gap where a shuttle was waiting for us. We shared a shuttle with "Detained", a Canadian hiker who initially was detained by our wonderful immigration system because they thought she was trying to immigrate to the United States. Her son, "Denied", also had similar issues trying to enter the country. Lots of foreign hikers have difficulties. They ultimately were granted a four month visa which really isnt long enough to complete the trail. Her son is speeding along and she is using shuttles to stay close to him. Our shuttle took us to Johnson City, where credit points allowed us to stay free in a beautiful Marriott. We celebrated 2 months of bliss over milkshakes at Fuddruckers... (Don't judge us! We had a late lunch and it was the only thing in walking distance.)
Date: 2016-05-07
From: Big Bald

To: Spivey Gap, Off trail
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: broken clouds

Today after a hearty breakfast made by Mother Marian, we set out for an ambitious day. We planned on going all the way to the area of Uncle Johhny's. About 18 miles in total. We started off with a really great pace! There was mud everywhere and we were very careful about where we stepped so we wouldn't fall. It was a beautiful hike! We even ran into a large group of day hikers from the local hiking club. We enjoyed chatting with a few of them. On our way down from Little Bald somewhere between mile 327 and 328 we had little accident. She took a good spill and heard a loud pop from her left ankle (she was quick to point out that at least it wasn't her driving foot). To make matters worse, there was no mud to blame her clumsiness on. She was even wearing high top supportive boots as she has a history of breaking her ankle during a similar incident on Mt. Rainer. She was thankful also that she didn't injure the weak ankle as well. Full of ambition...and Aleve...she decided to hop all the way to Spivey Gap. Thankfully hopping was unnecessary as she was able to put slight pressure on her foot and hobble down to the gap. She of course has the most Amazing Husband who carried her pack four miles to make the trek more manageable for her. He has earned the trail name "Sherpa". This is not the first time he's carried her pack either...he also carried the last of the way to Neel Gap as well. Again, she has the Best Husband ever! Once they had cell service they contacted the Hiker Shuttles to ask for their assistance. They advised that Spivey Gap was the closest place for a pickup. When we reached the gap, we unfortunately did not have cell service so we weren't able to call Hiker Shuttles for a ride. Stuck at a gap, we prayed that God would provide a ride. Shortly after, a man that was walking his dog offered us a ride into Erwin! God is so good and we are so thankful! He dropped us off at the Super 8 where she was able to get some ice on her ankle and elevate it. The purple color had already set in and she was well on her way to having a cankle.