morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-15
From: Pond Campsite

To: NC 208/Allen Gap
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: moderate rain

Well, I thought it was going to be a big day until it dropped 30 degrees in a few hours and started to sleet, snow, and ice. I got to Allen Gap around 11am and it was only about 10 miles from the campsite where I stayed last night. A lady was there with beer and coffee. I think she felt pretty bad for the hikers coming through today. She said a lot of people had hitched into Greenville, TN already. I was looking in my guide to find the closest hostel or something of the sort. I called Miss Janet and asked how the closest hostel was and if it was open. She said it was a great place but she had to pick up a few people close by. She also said if I wanted her to pick me up to just let her know. She is going to be slack packing a pretty big group for the next few days. I told her I would take her up on that tomorrow and decided to stay warm where I was. I'm going to slack pack into Erwin, TN in sections over the next few days. I will be doing the sections out of order, but still hiking North. Therefore, if my journal entries over the next few days seem confusing, this is why. It is a easy way to knock out big miles and make it to Erwin, TN days before I thought I would be there. My plan is to do Sams Gap over Big Bald into Erwin tomorrow. Then, I will do Allen Gap to Devil Fork Gap on Thursday. Friday, I will end the section hiking with an easy hike from Devil Fork Gap to Sams Gap. It will be fun and easy with a light pack. There are a few other hikers that will be doing this with me such as B Man, Jo Cool, Cavey, Uncle Fool, Nomad, and Mountain Man. Bring on the warmer weather! This cold weather is for the birds....
Date: 2014-04-16
From: NC 208/Allen Gap

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 24.1
Weather: clear sky

Today started my few days of slack packing, in sections, out of order, but still hiking North. So, today I did from Sams Gap to Erwin, TN. It was a long but awesome day that is for sure. It was a cold night last night and I will be glad to be sleeping inside tonight. It was still really cold this morning when I started the slack pack from Sams Gap. Everything was frozen from the ground to the top of the trees. Miss Janet gave us all a ride to Sams Gap around 8am. There were also 6 other guys she picked up who are heading out of Sams Gap today since they hitched into Erwin last night to be out of the bad weather. We all marched out of the gap in the cold weather. The trail was slippery earlier in the day but once it started to warm up and thaw out, it was great. I did not stop hiking until I hit the top of Big Bald. It was awesome beautiful but cold and windy so I did not stay long. I had an apple that someone had left for trail magic up there. It was cool to see how the ice was frozen sideways on the trees. I hike the one mile or so to the shelter where I had a snack and took a break. I ran into Tittie Cakes there and talked with him for a bit. I flew the 5.8 miles to Spivy Gap and got there around 4pm. The trail was a cake walk after that into Erwin. The terrain was beyond perfect. It was an awesome slack pack today! Miss Janet picked us up and brought us back to her house. Uncle Fool made a killer lasagna and we had a feast. I did not move off the cot I was sleeping on the rest of the evening. I big day tomorrow to add to my slack pack sections. This is a great opportunity so I definitely wanted to take advantage of it.
Date: 2014-04-17
From: Erwin, TN

To: Devil Fork Gap
Miles today: 20.3

Talk about another great slack pack! Absolutely perfect weather, blue skies, warm air, and awesome people on the trail. There was a massive group of us today. Everyone had fun knocking out miles. The terrain felt easy again but it could be because I had a 6lb pack on my back. My body is still pretty sore after a few big days. Miss Janet dropped us all off and did trail magic at the gap for a while. It has been such a good few days. Hiking big miles, with great people, and eating real food...a lot of it! My favorite part about slack packing is enjoying everything around and being able to fly down the trail. That means more break because of the fast hiking. Everyone is talking about going back to my mom's garage tomorrow since Miss Janet is going to Asheville for the Earth Day festival. I have a feeling a pretty big crowd will end up at my place this weekend but I love it! I absolutely love the group I am with. Tomorrow is Flinch's 62nd birthday. My mom has a few things lined up for which will be fun for them. I plan to hike out of Erwin on Sunday and head to Damascus. Hopefully I'll be there in a week or so. I LOVE SLACK PACKING!
Date: 2014-04-18
From: Devil Fork Gap

To: Sams Gap
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: clear sky

The weather has been great the last few days since the cold, ice, snow, and wind on Tuesday. It was cloudy this morning and they are calling for rain tonight and tomorrow morning, so it is a perfect time to go back to "blue's mom's garage one last time." It was a quick few hour slack pack from Devil's Fork Gap to Sams Gap this morning. This finished up my few days of doing big mile slack packs into Erwin, TN. We all ended back up at my house of course. My garage is packed full of hikers. My mom is off work for the weekend so she will get to hang out with everyone. I also get to see Tahlor which is great! Flinch's birthday is today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLINCH! We all pitched in and got $205 worth of BBQ from 12 Bone's in Asheville for a total of 18lbs of meet. This included: pulled pork, BBQ chicken, brisket, and dry ribs. It was a feast of at least 16 people. At my house currently it is myself, B Man, Jo Cool, two of their friends from Pittsburgh, Miss Janet, Uncle Fool, Flinch, my mom, Nomad, Mountain Man, Safety, Denali, Swamp Donkey, the Rock, Bouche, and two large dogs. It is an awesome group of fun people. The Earth Day festival is downtown Asheville tomorrow so at least 3/4th of them are going to do volunteer work and check it out with Miss Janet and Not Bad. I plan to just stay at the house and hang out. My mom is taking Flinch to the Biltmore and a few other places for her birthday so that will be great. She also got to slack pack for the first time yesterday and loved it! Uncle Fool's wife sent up a resupply box that I thought was only going to be jerky. Well, I got about 15 packs of his jerky, at least 6 homemade, 5 star chef dehydrated meals that put Mountain House and any other company to shame. I also got a bunch of candy and snacks. Therefore, when I hike out of Erwin on Sunday, my food bag now weighs 10.2lbs...the heaviest it has been yet. But, I do have enough food to make it to Damascus which is great so that is my next stop. It has been a great week on the AT!!!
Date: 2014-04-19
From: Sams GAp

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

It was a very easy-going day today. I slept in until 9am. Tahlor dropped me off at my house around 11am. Everyone was showering and getting ready for the Earth Day festival downtown Asheville today. By 1pm, Uncle Fool and I were the only ones at the house. My mom and flinch are out doing stuff for her 62nd birthday and checking out Asheville. I cleaned up the house, washed all the dishes from last nights feast and this morning breakfast, and washed all the dirty towels and some of my cloths....literally every towel in my bathroom was used since there are so many people here. It is great! My guess is they will not return back here until late this evening and they will probably be heavily intoxicated since they get free beer for volunteer work. I plan to hang out with Tahlor and enjoy my afternoon not doing a thing. Tomorrow we all go back to Erwin in three car loads and get dropped off at the river where we came off the trail. We plan to hike the 11 or so miles to Beauty Spot and have a 4/20 (Easter) hang out. There will be a good 20-30 of us camping up there tomorrow night as I'm sure we'll collect a few more. Then the race to Damascus starts. I hope to be there by Monday at the latest but we will see how this week goes. I'm packed up, loaded, and ready to go. The weather looks great so that is a plus. I'm hoping for no more cold nights especially not on top of Roan Mountain. I will not be able to update my journal again until Damascus. Thanks for reading about my hike! It sure is a blast!
Date: 2014-04-20
From: Asheville

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

It has been one of my favorite days on the trail, that is for sure. Tahlor dropped me off at my house around 8am. I said good bye for a few weeks. It has been great being able to see her weekly for the most part while I hiked around Asheville. I showered and got my stuff ready to go. My mom drive Flinch, Uncle Fool, and I to Erwin, TN. Flinch and Uncle Fool hiked out around 10am. I walked over to my friend Daniel's house. He had cold PBRs and steaks ready to go for lunch. It was awesome and made the day that much better. I walked over to Uncle Johny's and checked out the hostel. I talked to Bear Bate for a bit as well. I also ran into McGyver and Forest. B Man showed up a few hours later with his friends. He let me use his pack to slack pack up to Beauty Spot. The trail was so awesome today. It offered all kinds of different terrain. It was hot today and I only had one liter of water all day so I was a little dehydrated and has a headache when I arrived. My mom is the best! I found out he had loaded their car full of all kinds of stuff! I had 3 Gatorades she had bought and I felt new again. The sun set was amazing and I took a bunch of pictures. We had pizza and hot dogs for dinner. I set my tent up so I could sleep in it without the rain fly for the first time ever. I was in my sleeping bag pretty early since it cooked off after the sun went down. The sky is littered with stars tonight. This is a perfect night on Beauty Spot! Heading to sleep early and probably hiking out early tomorrow morning. Looks like it is going to be a very nice day tomorrow. I am fried from the sun today. It was a dream day on the AT today!
Date: 2014-04-21
From: Beauty Spot

To: Greasy Creek Friendly
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I was up around 5am after a pretty good nights sleep. I wanted to catch the sunrise. The wind picked up and it was rather cold outside. I watched the sun come up from my tent since my rain fly was off. I fell back asleep until 8am or so. I woke up to McGyver and Uncle Fool cooking all kinds of random stuff for breakfast including hot dogs, pancakes, and muffins. I packed up all my stuff and almost hiked off until I heard B Man say he was slack packing people 9 miles up the trail to Iron Mountain Gap. I quickly tossed all my gear into the Explorer and left Beauty Spot. I stopped about .5 miles down the hill and filled up on water for the day. I then took on Unarka Mountain which was beautiful just as I remembered it. I flew down the 3.5 or so miles to Iron Mountain Gap where B Man was waiting. There was almost a man named Rob there doing trail magic. I had ran out of water about 2 miles back so the soda and snacks made my day. I arrived there around 3pm making the slack pack a 3 hour, 9 mile hike. I got all my gear and head out around 4pm. I planned to go 6 miles to the next shelter but I was cooked. I got water at the Apple Ochard and did the 2.8 miles to Greasy Creek Gap. Long Bow and B Man's friends were already camped there. I showed up at 6:30pm. Young Gun and I decided to call Greasy Creek Friendly and see if they had room in the bunk house. We walked the .5 miles (more mile a mile) down the old dirt road to the friendly. We showed up after she had already taken the dinner run. She was so nice and made another run down the local grill just so we could get dinner. A had a foot long philly and a double bacon cheeseburger. Young Gun had two...we watched Grease on VHS with everyone, ate dinner, and called it a night after taking a hot shower around 10pm. This is by far the best $10 I have spent on the trail. I hope to do at least 16 miles to Overmountain Shelter tomorrow.
Date: 2014-04-22
From: Greasy Creek Friendly

To: Greasy Creek Friendly
Miles today: 0.0

I was awaken by the sound of the neighbors ATV revving up outside the bunkhouse at 5am just like I was warned would happen. I fell back asleep and woke back up to the same thing at 6am, 6:30am, and 7am to the same exact thing. This guy is a nut! Apparently he hates hikers and thinks we are a bunch of homeless people coming out of the woods. He has been doing this for over 12 years which is the crazy part! I decided to take a zero day here and just hang out. Cee Cee along with 3 other hikers went to Johnson City for the day. I showered and before I knew it, I was running a hostel. The rain came in fast and so did over 20 hikers within a few hours. I had them read the house rules, take showers, claim a spot in the bunkhouse, and made a spreadsheet so hikers could write down what way owed Cee Cee for what they consumed while she was gone. I also made a 12-15 order list for dinner at the local grill and had to call that in. I watched movies all afternoon and just hung out by the phone so I could answer it when it rang. I had another massive dinner and was in bed by 10pm. When I get the second ATV wake up all around 6am tomorrow morning I plan to head out. I'm trying for Overmountain Shelter but we will see what happens. Five big days and I can be in Damascus. That hopefully is my next zero day. The bunkhouse is full but I'm still hoping for a great nights sleep.
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Greasy Creek Friendly

To: US 19E
Miles today: 25.6

Today was a very long but fun and fast day. I was woken up by the neighbor at at 5am, and then 6am; just as I expected. I packed up all my stuff outside the bunk house so I didn't wake anyone up. I ate my left overs (half a steak and cheese along with half a pint of ice cream) for breakfast. I left the friendly soon after that. Cee Cee had just go up by the time I was heading out the door so I was able to give her a hug and say thank you! I pretty much flew to Hughes Gap and rested there for a few minutes. I then went over Roan Mountain to Carver's Gap. There was a man at the gap who I talked to for a bit about the Christmas trees he grows. He then gave me a ride to the gas station for a snack and a cold drink. B Man pulled up in his friends Explorer and was slacking them from Carver's Gap to 19E. They had left about a hour before me. He gave me a ride back to the gap, took all my gear, and I set out for a slack pack to 19E. I cruises over the balds and humps. I finally made it down to 19E around 6pm. There are a bunch of us here and I ended up going 9 miles further then I thought I would go. We have an awesome camp site just before the road which is fun. We all went into Roan Mountain, TN and had the "Holy Cow Burger" at Bob's Dairy Land. It was $10 abs the biggest burger I have ever had. It consisted of 3 beef patties that weighed over 1lb. At least 8 piece of bacon, 8 pieces of cheese, onion rings, along with chili on the top and bottom. I was beyond full...almost sick after. We had a nice fire after we got back to the camp site and I got to talk to Tahlor for a bit before bed since I charged my phone at Bob's Dairy Land. I plan to sleep in for a bit tomorrow morning before heading out. I hope to get close to Kincora tomorrow and check it out on Friday. I'll then only have 50 miles to Damascus. I also cross over the 400 mile marker tomorrow!!
Date: 2014-04-24
From: US 19E

To: USFS 293
Miles today: 14.1

I have now hiked over 400 miles since I left Springer Mountain, GA. I woke up pretty early to B Man walking around as he gets up early almost every morning. I rode with him and Ted down to the as station to get some coffee. Trail magic arrived shorty after we got back. McGyver is very, very sick. I packed up my stuff and slack packed the 14 miles to USFS 293 where B Man picked me up. We then took McGyver to the hospital in Asheville, NC. It took him the whole time I was hiking to get his stuff packed and loaded into the car. He will be a the hospital all night. I got to see my mom and Tahlor which was great! I had an awesome home cooked meal and we got ice cream after. I also decided to get rid of my longer hair so Tahlor buzzed my head for me. I did not touch the beard though! It's going all the way to Maine! I could not do the long hair anymore since it is starting to get so hot. Tomorrow B Man and Jo Cool head to Damascus so they can hike south through the Grayson Highlands into Trail Days. I plan to get back on by early afternoon and at least make it to Kincora but possibly passed it more towards the lake. It should take me about two days to make it to Damascus from this point. Possibly 3 days. I'm looking forward to getting there! It's a great little town!
Date: 2014-04-25
From: USFS 293

To: Wilbur Dam Rd Campsite
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: moderate rain

Whoever keeps saying it is flat after Kincora is insane, because it is not. The terrain is nice though, but there is nothing flat about it. McGyver had to stay in Asheville until the hospital calls him back with his test results. He is going to stay at my mom's house until he is better. I stayed the night with Tahlor and went home around 9am. I took a hot shower and my mom took me back to the trail. We stopped at Hardee's on the way. She had a bunch of food and drinks she wanted to get rid of so we handed those out at the trail crossing. She hates driving up the back road to say the least, but she did it just to get me back where I needed to be. I have to say, I have a pretty awesome mom! There were a few rain showers later in the afternoon. I did not stop at Kincora like I thought I would. I just kept going to get in some good mileage. The lake was beautiful but the water was freezing. I love lakes in the middle of the mountains. They look magical. It is very warm and feels good outside. Forest and Denali are sick at Kincora. A few others are there and planning to do trail work with Bob Peoples tomorrow. There are not many people around me tonight. I plan to get as close to Damascus as possible tomorrow. I may be able to push it all the way there but I highly doubt that will happen. I'm going to hang out there for a few days and wait for the group to catch me. Sunny and 80 degrees tomorrow!
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Wilbur Dam Rd Campsite

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 26.7
Weather: clear sky

I did not make it all the way to Damascus, VA which would've been an almost 37 mile day. I was worn out and decided to stop at this shelter. Not to mention the bottom of my foot is pretty swollen. While I was going to pee for the last time before I fell asleep last night, I stepped on a yellow jacket not once, but twice in bare feet directly in the middle/bottom of my right foot. So, it was a little painful to get strated this morning. It would throb every time I stopped hiking and took pressure off of it. I was so mad after it happened last night I just fell asleep. I was up rather early this morning and I knew I had a big day ahead of me so I hit the trail. I was nervous that my foot was going to hurt so bad I could not hike but it ended up not being that bad. I hit trail magic twice today! I got it at the 91 road crossing by a church that leaves stuff in an ice chest for hikers just before the road. I also got trail magic at 421 by a man who is retired military. There was also another man there that just pulled up and loaded me up with all kinds of goodies. Today's miles flew by but I was tired after it was over. The trail magic really helped today! I hiked right until dark when I arrived at the shelter. I'm 10 miles from Damascus. I set up my tent close to Hi C whom I met early today. Three of us have the exact same tent all camped right next to each other. The water is .2 miles behind the shelter and straight down a damn hill. I ran down there and flew back up right before it got too dark to see. I retired to my tent soon after eating dinner and just hung out. There is no cell phone service here avd everyone was in their tents and off to bed by 9pm which is a little different compared to the group I had been hiking with. I'm going to get up early and head into Damascus to beat the rain hopefully. I should be there before noon or so.
Date: 2014-04-27
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 10.4

I heard Hi C and a few others packing up their stuff fairly early so once on was up, I jumped into fast mode. I packed everything up and hit the trail barely eating breakfast. It was already so hot I was soaked before 8am. I actually slept on top of my sleeping bag last night. I hiked the 6.5 or so miles to the TN/VA line. I took a few "selfies" with the sign before Hi C walked up and took a few pictures for me. I called my mom and Tahlor. My mom told me that she was picking up Uncle Fool tomorrow and he was heading back to Florida to hopefully rest up and get better. Apparently McGyver is still really sick as well. That's two sick hikers my mom is taking care of at get house. She helps a LOT! I arrived in Damascus around 11am. I waited for Hi C at the welcome sign. He took a few pictures for me and I did the same for him. I ate lunch with them at the Blue Blaze Cafe. It was great. About a hand hour after I got done eating, Rock, Denali, Bouche, and Swamp Donkey popped up. We tried Crazy Larry's but had too many people. Then we tried Woodchuck but didn't want to pay $10 to tent in their yard. So we settled on The Place. It is an old house with a care taker and a bunch of bunks. It is owned by a local church. $6 donation which is cheap for a dry bunk. We hung out at the park all evening and ate dun be at Blue Blaze again. Figgit and .com called is over while we were climbing trees and said "we have the best tree in Damascus!" They do! We hung out with them in their yard all night. We got back to the hostel around midnight and I was out.
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Damascus, VA

To: The Place
Miles today: 0.0

I thought I slept in only to find out it was 6:45am when I got up. I took a shower while it was open and went to Cowboy's for breakfast with a older local man that used to own it. He also has massive amounts of real estate all over Damascus and literally knows everyone in this small own of 900-1000. He told me to try the blueberry pancakes or biscuit and gravy...so I tried both. It was very good and extremely cheap. I went back to the hostel and watched a big storm pass by. We all went to lunch at Blue Blaze again before hanging out in Figgit and .com's yard all afternoon. I talked to Tahlor for a bit on the phone tonight which was great. Another massive storm came through this evening which was cool. I had leftovers for dinner before I finally went to be around 11pm. My stomach is hurting so that's the last of Blue Blaze Cafe for me. I plan to hike out tomorrow but we will see what the weather does.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: The Place

To: Dancing Bear B&B
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Absolutely no sleep for me last night. I could hear people throwing up in the toilet all night along with may people violently popping. I slept maybe 2 hours and was up by 6am packing my stuff. I had a cup of coffee, packed the rest of my gear, and walked directly across the street to the Dancing Bear B&B. It is a great place and Hi C has been staying here since Sunday. I was out of it this morning. Melissa let me put my stuff in the room then walk to the ATM. $90 for my own private room with a nice bathroom a on the top floor. I don't plan on leaving here much. It also comes with a big breakfast. I took a shower, hung some wet clothes out to dry, then took a nap. I walked to Subway for lunch. I also ran into Flinch and her husband Carl whom I have not seen in years. It was great to see him and also to see Flinch is doing so well. They are staying just a block away from me at another B&B. I grabbed a few drinks at the Dollar General and told everyone to call me before dinner. I just hung out in my room all night and watched the storms roll by. I got all my journals caught up with is great. Check out at 11am tomorrow then I head out. Grayson Highlands in a few days!