morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-11-02
From: Woods Hole hostel

To: Virginia
Miles today: 96.0

It has only been a few days since my last entry, but that¢s ok. I have Internet at the place I am staying. I am spending the night at the Woods Hole hostel in Virginia, and it¢s one of the coolest hostels on the trail! I think I will be back here one day because of the wonderful woodsy atmosphere this place has to offer. Not much has happened in the last few days. I saw the sun for the first time last night, which was amazing! That was one of the best sunsets I have seen out here in a while. Definitely in my top 3! The big recent news is that I am trying to catch up with Lightweight and Tex. They were 6 days ahead of me about a month ago, and I have really made a hard push the last five days to close the gap. They are 2 days ahead of me now. I have done 143 miles in the past 5 days, and it is making me tired. There is only so much daylight, and I prefer not to hike past dark. I get up before the sunrise, so I can get in bigger miles. I have been alone the past 4 nights, and I would much rather catch up and be with other hikers. Other than that I don¢t have really much else to tell. I have had several opportunities to hang off some cool cliffs and give my mom a possible heart attack, but once she realizes that I have already uploaded the photos, it is in the past. I did take a bad fall yesterday. The autumn leaves are falling, and it makes things really slick. I was coming down this mountain, lost my footing, and bit the dust pretty hard. I laughed it off although it wasn¢t funny, and kept going. In a few days my Mom and Jess are coming up to visit for my birthday, and I am pretty excited about that. Maybe I will see a movie! I still want to see Star Trek and Transformers 2, but I think those might be on DVD already. Things are good on the trail, and I am starting to realize that in about 40 days, my adventure will be winding down. It is a true adventure, and it¢s not about the destination. It¢s about the journey.
Date: 2009-12-05
From: Franklin, NC

To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 158.0
Weather: scattered clouds

A lot has happened since Hot Springs. I wasn¢t planning on updating my website until the end, but I have had a lot happen! Tex, Lightweight, and I have been pulling over 20 miles a day for the past week, and we are exhausted. We are trying to make it to Springer by a certain date, and to do so, we are putting in big miles. The one thing that has made things a lot more difficult recently is the weather.We made it through the Smokies, and it really put our thru-hiker skills to the test. It snowed a few days in the mountains, and the ice made it really tricky. We were up over 6,000 feet a few times, and the temperatures up there are so cold! Every night is below freezing now, but we have managed to stay warm. A few mornings I have had to put on frozen clothing, which is not fun at all. My socks were literally rock hard, and I am now somewhat accomplished at eating certain frozen food items. Unfortunately, we only saw 7 animals through the Smokies, and to be honest, if I were a bear, I would be hiding too. We did see a lot of section hikers in the shelters that were waiting out the weather, but we had to keep moving to stay warm. It was so cold!We only have about a week of hiking left before Springer, and it is going to be a challenge. We crossed the 2,000 mile mark a few days ago which was very exciting, but there is still a little bit to go. I think more snow is on its way, but we are ready. A big thanks to my awesome girlfriend Jess for helping us slackpack today. It helped us so much, especially in the snow! Instead of writing a lot in this entry, I have chosen to post more pictures and videos. If you are a mouse lover, don¢t watch the mouse video. Otherwise, it¢s just a normal thing out here on the trail. I can¢t wait to finish the dream that I have had for so long, and it will be nice to reunite with my family and friends. The trail continues to be the adventure that I had wanted, and this last stretch is going to be great.
Date: 2009-01-31
To: What? Where? When?
Miles today: 0.0

The Appalachian Trail (AT) runs from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katadyn, Maine. It crosses 14 glorious states. It's roughly 2,175 miles long, but the mileage changes every year with the alteration of sections of the trail. On average, it takes roughly 6 months to thru-hike (that means hike the entire thing in one hiking season). Most people hike from Georgia to Maine--that's called Northbounding (NOBO)**, while others hike from Maine to Georgia, southbounding or SOBO. Still others flip-flop--they start in the middle and hike one direction, catch a plane, train or automobile back to the middle and hike the other way. Folks who are really diggin their adventure sometimes yo-yo--that means they hike the entire length of the trail and when they get to the end, they turn around and hike back. Wooooah. Other people section hike. That means every year they hike parts of the trail in hopes of eventually completing it. And I'm sure there are approximately 32.7 million other ways of doing it. Each way is equally valid. But successfully thru-hiking qualifies you as a badass. The rest just make you kinda cool.Part of the philosophy of the trail is something I really hope to embrace A LOT more in my own life, both on and off the trail. And that is, "Hike your own hike." Everyone has opinions and judgements and beliefs about what's right and wrong. I am by no means any different. However, I think we'd all be a lot better off if we could slow our roll on judging others. But then again, that's only my opinion. Ah, a hike-22. Yeah, we've still got 2,175 more miles of my love of puns and corny jokes. To get back to the point, good trail etiquette is basically to keep your trap shut regarding other people's hiking styles, preferences, gear, b.o., etc etc. Unless they make ya mad, then you should just b-slap 'em.So I think I've covered the what and where. Now for the when. March 14th. A little more than 40 days away. Yesssssssssssss.**Yeah, there's lots of trail lingo, and I ususally schoff (literally) when somebody shortens a phrase (i.e. chard for chardonney), but I'll hypocritically claim that the acronyms are the most-commonly used versions.
Date: 2009-02-04
To: Why?
Miles today: 0.0

Like many other hikers, I'm sure, I sometimes get funny looks when I answer their question, "So, what do you have planned now that you've graduated" with "Oh, I just figured I'd hoof it to Maine." Others respond with more articulate concerns: "Is that safe?" "What about bears?" "Are you going to carry a gun?" I am by no means trying to invalidate these concerns. I know they're coming from a person who truly cares about me, and they have legitimate questions. The thing is, though, I can't live my life afraid. I can't not do something because of what dangers I might incur. If I, or anyone else for that matter, went about life that way I basically couldn't even sit in my own house because a tree might fall and smash my head in. So why does hiking from Georgia to Maine outweigh the the potential dangers of injury, fighting off a rabid black bear, cold weather, crazy mountain folks with banjos? Like ol' MLK said, "I have a dream..." I've been dreaming about thru-hiking for a few years now -- it's not some whim that I'll get tired of in a matter of days (hopefully!). Will it be hard? Yes. Will I miss my friends, family, brand-new hubby and puppsters? Definitely. Will I think about quitting? Maybe. Will I be glad to sit on top of Mt. Katadyn after getting myself there on my own two feet? Hells yeah! Will it help me to see people in a more positive light? I REALLY hope so.Folks all around the world are compelled to do things. This is just something I am compelled to do. So the answer to the question, "Why??" is "Just because I want to." That, and Nostradamus says the world's gonna end in 2012, so I figure I better get on it.
Date: 2009-02-15
To: "It's not hte dog in the fight...
Miles today: 0.0

"...it's the fight in the dog, Nev." That's what old Boss told me the other day.   Boss's real name is Travis, and he's my brother from another mother along with his real brother, Adam (we're not really related at all). Boss is going to be joining me and a couple of my girlfriends in 3.5 weeks when I hit the trail. That's right, I'm lucky enough to live close to the trail and have a support team start out with me. I've got some great friends. Anyway, he gave me those wise words of wisdom the other day when I told him I was nervous that either 1) my knee/hip would bug me too much and/or 2) I'd quit before I got to Katahdin. Now, I understand that everyone's hike is different and even if you don't finish, you've still accomplished a huge feat. Blah blah blah. I WANT to finish. I want that to know what it feels like to complete such an amazing goal. This isn't directed at any other hiker but myself - I pride myself in not flaking out. I don't like to make excuses for myself. I like to do what I set out to do. I think a big problem with our culture/society these days is that we have waaaaay too many choices, and sometimes what's better for the individual is to put off making a decision because something better might come along. But I guess only time will tell if I actually make it or not.
Date: 2009-02-16
To: Love Birds
Miles today: 0.0

Me and James tied the knot on November 1st. Yep, we've been married for 3.5 months. And in a few weeks, I'm gonna leave him behind and head out into the great unknown for 5-6 months. Not exactly your typical newlywed move. This is how I figure it--most folks say the first year is pretty rocky. I'm cutting out the middle-man, so to speak. We're getting along great right now, why push it?In all seriousness, though, we had a lovely wedding. I'm not a fan of weddings and honestly avoid going unless it's someone who I'm really close to. That might not be a kosher thing to say, but I've been known for my candidness before. Anyway, it was friggin gorgeous. See, me and James (I know it should be 'James and I' and my dad's probably squirming in his seat, but let 'em squirm!) are bird nerds. Nah dude, we don't have a spotting scope. Probably won't ever own one. I like to casually watch birds. To the novice, I probably would appear to know a lot about birds here in Georgia. Yeah, I can ID a lot of the common birds, tell you trivial facts about birds (especially now, thanks to Josh for giving me the 10,001 trivial facts about birds book!!), and I apparently notice birds/birds calling more than the average person. I have a thing for birds. But like most other aspects of my life, I'm a jack of all trades and master of none. Anyway, James is also a bird nerd. He's a little more invested than me, though. He's been at UGA since 2003 working on his PhD in Wildlife Management, specifically Quail (aka Northern Bobwhite). Since we met in 2004 he has spent 8 months of every year in south Florida doing field work, other than this year. He finished up last August. Because of his field work, we've done the long distance thing from day 1. Will it suck to be away from him for 6 months? Definitely. Have I done it before? Many times. But it'll be ok. We enjoy being together and usually are these days, but we can also rock it out on our own, too.Anyway, get back to the wedding. I don't do "wedding colors" or "candelabras," and I got my 3 bridesmaids t-shirts that said, "I was a bridesmaid and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." But we did have a theme--birds. We had birds on our cake, feather decorations, bird name cards, feathers in my bouquet, etc etc. Ok, I'm done being the bride now. I really need to let it go....
Date: 2009-02-17
To: Georgia's a temperamental biatch
Miles today: 0.0

So I've been rockin it out in Georgia since I was 2 years old. Long story short: I was born in Osijek, Croatia to a Serbian mother and a British father, we moved to Alabama when I was 1 and then to Georgia a year later. I grew up in Rome, Georgia--that's in the ridge and valley, northwestern part of the state. 20 minutes east of Alabama, an hour south of Tennessee. Like many southerners, I have a lot of state-pride. I love Georgia. That's why I'm rockin some Georgia crocs right now. Ok, to be totally honest I don't usually get into all those silly fashion fads, and I think Uggs are totally friggin ridiculous, especially when paired with shorts, but I needed some camp shoes. Some comfortable, lightweight camp shoes. When I saw that they make Crocs in bright red with a beautiful black G on them, I was sold. So now I'm officially a sell-out.Anyway, so about 2 weeks ago it was freezing cold here. Literally. It stayed in the 20s all day for 2 days straight. I know, any northern would think that's great golfing weather. That's not the point. Four days later, yeah it was in the 70s. Beautiful sunny weather, folks wearing t-shirts and shorts, etc., etc. Georgia is temperamental. I'm not a fan of cold weather. In fact, I hate being cold. My friend Crystal (Weaver, not meth) probably hates the cold more than I do. She hiked on the AT for 3-4 months a few years ago, and said you really do get acclimated to the weather. So I'm banking on her story. I mean, the daffodils are blooming and the trees are growing their buds. Spring is in the air. Maybe you want to talk about the snow storm of '93. Yeah, thanks. We got about 26 inches of snow in 12 hours in the middle of March, 1993. The town was shut down for a week. That's not gonna happen this year. Nope, it surely won't.
Date: 2009-02-17
To: I had a dream the other night...
Miles today: 0.0

I have really vivid dreams, and one I had the other night was no different. Me and the girls got a late start on our first day out, and so we got to camp late. There were approximately 70 people camping at that shelter (is that anything close to reality??). As I unpacked my stuff, I lifted up my sleeping bag and noticed a half-drunk 2 liter of Pepsi wedged into the bottom of my pack. That would be wrong for numerous reasons: #1. I'm a Georgia girl. We drink Coke, not Pepsi. #2. Why would it be half-drunk?? #3. Why would I carry a 2 liter of coke? #4. The trail name, 2 liter, is not one I'd like to keep--somebody gave it to me in my dream and I promptly decided I didn't like him/her. Maybe tomorrow night I'll dream about carrying some rum with me, and then everything will make sense. Hmmm....
Date: 2009-02-26
To: Substitute much?
Miles today: 0.0

As a recent graduate, I was searching for a job back in January. I applied for random, hourly jobs but didn't get hired. Then, my beautiful bestest friend in the whole wide world (Rebecca..we went to pre-school together and have been buddies ever since) suggested I look into substitute teaching. I think it was actually her hubby's idea (thanks John!). So now, after putting 3 days in, I am gonna officially consider myself a substitute teacher. Until next Friday, that is.I really like kids a lot. They have a lot of energy, and challenge me in ways that most other jobs don't. I worked as an environmental educator (EE) at a 4-H center in Georgia for 9 months where I met some really awesome folks. A lot of the girls I met there I would definitely consider to be some of my closest friends. But they're from different parts of the country, and have moved away. We still stay in contact though, and they might even be reading this journal. Anyway, back to EE. I loved the combination of spending almost every day outside, and working with kids (along with being a Shed Fairy with Mandy, and building challenge course elements). I liked teaching Stream Ecology and seeing the looks on the kids faces when they'd pull out some other-wordly looking creature (usually a dragonfly larva) out of a creek that they thought had nothing in it but water. And of course, I LOVED teaching ornithology. It was so exciting to combine those two passions. I've never been a person who knows what I want to "do" with my life. When folks ask for specifics about what I plan on doing with wildlife degrees, I say, "I want to raise vegetables, puppies, and kids." Glamorous? No. Fulfilling? Maybe. I've got a good thinker on my shoulders, and I believe you shouldn't waste any God-given talents, but I worry that if I put most of my energy into a career that it would suck me up and turn me into a frenzied maniac who cares about window treatments, memos, and office politics (don't even get me started on the fact that it costs money to die). To me, there's more to life than having lots of money and lots of showy things, having a well-decorated household and kids in Gap clothes. I want to experience the life God created for us, not the ones we create for ourselves.
Date: 2009-03-03
To: What'd I tell you bout bringin up the storm of '93
Miles today: 0.0

Sunday it started snowing when I was in the shower. I heard James hollering something that sounded like "It's snowing! It's snowing!" but since I was in the middle of seranading him, I couldn't quite make it out. Ok, so people tell me I look like Anne Hathaway, but I definitely am not as vocally talented as she is. Anyway, when I finally looked out the window I was amazed. I did a little rendition of Aunt Pittypat's amazement in Gone with the Wind when Sherman's troops get close to Atlanta: "Oh, dear, snow in Georgia! How did they ever get in?" (I have a strange love of movies that I'll talk about one day). Snow was falling. And although it'd only been falling for 30 minutes or so, it was sticking. To the ground. That was what shocked me the most. And it kept snowing for 10 hours. Athens got about 10 inches of snow. The power went out. Schools were closed for two days. We had a snowball fight. Cash saw snow for the first time, and the poor buddy was scared for a minute or so, and then the started galavanting around in it. We even built a snow man...ok, Grey built it while I took pictures. I took tons of pictures of all the snow. And then, last night, my lack of technological skills messed that all up--apparently when you accidentally reformat your memory card, it deletes all the pictures on your camera. Does it warn you beforehand? Nope, that's something you're suppose to know all on you own. Thanks. Moving on..Basically everything you hear about southerners and snow is true, at least in Georgia. We don't know how to drive in it, and even though we don't a lot of dumbasses attempt to and end up in ditches. We buy everything off the shelves of the grocery store if the weather channel even mentions the word "snow." And usually the school board declares a snowday on the eve of a snow storm, and we wake up to 60 degree weather and sunshine. It was definitely the talk of the town.When I first came up with a date to start my thru-hike, it was March 1st. Coincidentally, that's when the snow storm occurred. Sure am glad I pushed it back a few weeks.
Date: 2009-03-04
To: Gotta give props
Miles today: 0.0

My mom is Eastern Orthodox, which, from what I understand, is fairly similar to Catholosism. The Orthodox calendar is a little different from our "regular" calendar--basically, Orthodox Christmas is January 7th and Easter is a few weeks apart from "American" Easter. Yeah, I was a lucky kid--I got 2 Christmas's and 2 Easter's. Sweet. Anyway, I was really nervous about telling my mom about my thru-hike. So Jellybean hatched up a plot: we broke the news to her on her Christmas by giving her an ATC calendar. And then I found out one more advantage of being married--somebody else has to take the fall for your decisions sometimes. James got grilled about how, what, where, when and why. After a few months of pondering, and some sleepless nights, my mom has come around to my hike. I'm really proud of her acceptance of this very unusual step in my life "plan." She's even going to be at Amicalola State Park to see me and my posse (that's right, MY posse) off. And that'll be the weekend after this coming one. OMIGAW! Ahhhh.
Date: 2009-03-06
To: Jack of all trades
Miles today: 0.0

I grew up with some badass females who have amazing talents in a variety of things. Jellybean, for one, is insanely intelligent and her CV must be approximately 23.2 million pages long. I had a typical younger sibling "shadow" issue in high school, but got to spread my wings once I got to college and am now fairly comfortable with who I am. But it's always bugged me that I don't have a "thing." I'm pretty good, decent, and sucky at a variety of things, but I'm not a shooting star at anything, regardless of what that cheesey song says. Or so I thought, until Wednesday. I couldn't find a substitute job for the day, so I spent a good part of it watching Will&Grace with the pups and cleaning (you would not believe how often you have to clean if you live in a single-wide..it's unreal). Around lunch time I figured I should cook something. So I opened the pantry to try to get an idea. Nada. Then I took a look in the refridgerator. I stared. And I scratched my head. And I told June to get her nosey nose out of the way. Eureka! I saw a leftover chicken breast that I had sliced and put in a ziplock. "I'll make soup," I thought. And soup I made. The Best Damn Soup I've Ever Made. That's the name of that recipe. I made it up as I went. And there, in that single-wide kitchen, I discovered my hidden talent: soup making. Never again will I feel like less of a person.
Date: 2009-03-08
To: My precious
Miles today: 0.0

My last Sunday at home before the big departure date. I made crepes (YUUUUMM)and we're going to see a UGA baseball game in a couple of hours. The pups are asleep next to me. I have this weird mixture of feeling excited and nervous, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm nervous about. Sometimes I think I'm kinda nutty to be leaving home when I'm so happy here, and things are finally settling down. I get the impression that a lot of people who thru-hike do it during some transitory stage of their life--a divorce, graduation, retirement, etc. And when I get back (if I'm successful), things in Athens will be a lot different--the bummer about living in a college town is that your friends graduate and move away. At the same time, I'm not gonna fight it when I've been given the perfect opportunity right now. I think it's just that I've been thinkin about this for so long, and it's finally here, and I kinda just need it to start already so I can get into the swing of things. So to help me finish prepping, me and Grey purused the shops of downtown Athens yesterday. And I got my "Katahdin Token." One of the many thru-hiking traditions is to carry some sort of token for the entirety of your hike and leave it on the summit of Katahdin. I picked a coin-like thing. On one side, there's an engraving of a pileated woodpecker (think Woody Woodpecker) and on the other, it says: "Follow your own unique rythms for the greatest success." Yeah, a fancy way of saying "Hike your own hike." I take it as a reminder to not worry about how other people hike, live their lives, how much their gear weighs (am I right???), but to live my life the best way possible. To steal from Emerson and to be completely cheesey: "Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air's salubrity." And that's what I hope to do.
Date: 2009-03-13
To: Looming Pie Day
Miles today: 0.0

Tomorrow is 3/14: D-day and pie-day rolled into one. My bags are packed. I'm ready to go. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. Ok, sorry I detoured. So the necessary arrangements are taken care of: shuttle to Amicalola, food purchased for mail drop, and I got my eyebrows waxed. Yup, I can handle smelling bad. I can handle no make-up. I can handle the same outfit 4 days in a row. But I frown upon unkept eyebrows. Usually I'm a plucker, but I figured hiking wouldn't really be conducive to mirrors and what not...I went for the long term solution. I feel kinda like I did on the night before my wedding: tomorrow I'm embarking on something amazing and adventurous, but right now I'm sitting in jeans in front of a computer typing. It's kinda surreal.I'm ready to rock this biatch.