morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-03-29
From: Winespring Road

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

I woke up this morning and my water was frozen. I slept in my sleeping bag of 5 degree Fahrenheit with all my clothes on and was comfy. The sun came up and out the wind it was even warm. It was the coldest night solar. Others didn't sleep so well.
Date: 2015-04-01
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Birch Spring Gap
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Today we entered the great Smoky Mountains national park. You need a 20 dollar permit to enter and you have to sleep in shelters or, when there is no room in the shelter, camp next to it. Of course hang your food high on steel cables to prevent bears getting it. Of my group I was the only one to push trough and made 12miles. The others stopped at Fontana shelter. There are showers. So called Fontana Hilton.
Date: 2015-04-03
From: Spence Field Shelter 

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Some bald mountain we passed and some nice views,but did not see anything, because of fog. When I arrived at the shelter there were 2places left. The rest of my trailfamily had to sleep outside. The weather was cold and wet that night. I was lucky. In the shelter I met treearms and twoshoes. Twoshoes is a German girl and I spoke German with her. Her English was not that good.
Date: 2015-04-04
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter 

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8

Early in the morning still a bit foggy later a beautiful warm day. The route went downhill into Gatlinburg a well known and touristic town to visit the Great Smoky Mountains. I hooked up with tensed, a Swiss guy 38 years of age and we booked a double bed room in the Grand Prix Hotel. A rundown place but cheap.At Newfound Gap there were two families who had everything thing a hiker meeds..They took us downtown. Tenspeed and I resupply at Woolworth and had a fine meal at Park Grill Steakhouse and had a good night sleep.
Date: 2015-04-05
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter 
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

We had breakfast in a all you can eat Bennett's Pit.Back to the hotel,pack your thingdand at the exit was the same family, who brought us back at Newfound Gap and back on the trail.In the shelter we met south paw. She broke her left wrist ten days ago and was back on the trail. Though girl!
Date: 2015-04-06
From: Pecks Corner Shelter 

To: Cosby Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

Slept not very good in the shelter. Sleeping is generally a problem.you wake up 3 to 4 times of snoring,people peeing and other sounds. It was windy with cloudscape a bit of rain. Tenspeed missed a blaze and had to return.75 miles. Poor him.
Date: 2015-04-07
From: Cosby Knob Shelter 

To: Spanish Oak Gap 
Miles today: 13.7

All the way down to go underneath I 40. Just before a thunderstorm broke loose. I passed trail magic by I believe. They were already packing to take shelter. I got soaked,but when I arrived at Spanish Oak I dried up again. Ferris(Olivia)left us early in the morning. South Paw stayed with us.
Date: 2015-04-09
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter 

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 13.1

The walk to a trail town goes faster, because your pack is light, you have eaten all theropod and you looking forward to a cool beer. My trailfamily decided to take a zero, I decided to continue to Erwin and take a zero there.I enjoyed the stay,slept in a bunkhouse at Hot Springs campground.
Date: 2015-04-12
From: Chestnut Log Cap Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Trail magic on the trail and at trailhead by cover girl and card shark. At the trail head a local gentleman stopped his car and said that he lived here his whole life and pointed backwards and saying I go to church there and what I was doing.I told him about the At. Had never heard of.
Date: 2015-04-15
From: Erwin,TN 

To: Erwin,TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday went to eat at the Mexican with the shuttle. The roof above me was leaking, because of the constant rain. It dropped on the top bunk and leaked in my things, I put out to dry. Now I am sleeping in another bunk.This morning 9 o'clock shuttle into town. Breakfast, doctor and post-office. An hour later back to the hostel. Tonight again some dinner and tomorrow I continue
Date: 2015-04-16
From: Erwin,TN

To: Unaka Mountain
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: moderate rain

16 aprilThis morning I left early. Cold and windy, but the sun was shining and it had not been raining the last couple of hours. After 4 miles I past the shelter, where std, south paw and squabbler stayed. I spoke to a couple,who just left the shelter and they said: Just left.I'm not trying to catch up. They are doing 15 miles. To much for me,now.At Indian Grave Cap was trail magic performed by an olderly person, who sit there at least 5 times a week. Brownies,bananabread,coffee,tea and fruits. Thank you very much! At 3:30 I arrived at the campsite,where I planned to stay,but I was not tired and pushed on till 4:30pm. I found a little spot. Set up my tent, cooked macaroni write my journal and go to sleep. Goodnight.
Date: 2015-04-17
From: Unaka Mountain

To: Clyde Smith Shelter 
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Friday 17 April 6:30 I woke up. Everything was damp. It was hazy, from the trees it dropped down, my tent was wet outside and inside from condensation. I got out of my sleeping bag, put it in the compacter bag, folded my matrass, got my food bag from the tree and had breakfast. I put my wet tent and all the rest in my back and went on the trail at 8:00. Encountered some weekend hikers. You make some small talk and wish them a good hike.Trailmagic was at Iron Mountain Gap. Footwalker, who waited for his wife to come off the trail. He gave me water. Suddenly we heard thenoise of a pig in danger. Two guys tied the legs of the hangbuik zwijn and trowed it in the back of the pick-up. Strange. It didn't went well today. I stopped moving and my legs looked like concrete blocks. 16:30 I was at the shelter named Clyde Smith.In the shelter were Terry and Ted section hikers. They did 100miles and tomorrow the last 9. Monday they are working again.
Date: 2015-04-18
From: Clyde Smith Shelter 

To: Overmountain Shelter 
Miles today: 15.0

18 April Last night, it was already dark, I was listening to some music. I heard a noise of a helicopter very low flying over. I looked outside my tent. The helicopter had a light on and switched it off when he flew above my tent. Was he looking for something or saw he my reflectors on my tent? Normal time for breakfast and 8:15 on the trail. A slowly 4 hour climb to High Bluff. From there down to two shelters, 3 and 5. I stopped at the first one and met Overdue. She, cleverly stayed, because it started raining a bit. I decided to go to the next shelter in an old barn.Underway it started raining a bit harder, but I thought I would be in the barn before it would start raining harder.Unfortunately I missed a sign and took the wrong way and now I was already was soaked and had to go the way back.Finally I reached the barn,took my wet clothes off, made noodles and wrote the journal.
Date: 2015-04-20
From: Overmountain Shelter 

To: US 19E
Miles today: 8.7

20 aprilToday I left the Overmountain Shelter barn. This time I waited till the rain stopped. Around9:45 I left the building. Later the sun came out and everything looked much friendlier. Together with Chad we repaired the pole and is working fine. Around two pm I was at the highway again. I decided to go to the harbour hostel. I could only tent there, the hostel was full, but I could yake a shower and do my laundry. No wfi and no cellphone reception.Tomorrow I have breakfast. Mmmm
Date: 2015-04-21
From: US 19E

To: USFS 293
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

21 aprilThe breakfast was at eight. I had to resuply. So it was 9:45. I calculated an average of 2 miles per hour in easy terrain, difficult 1.5 miles per hour. I wanted to do 15 miles, 8 hours walking without stopping. I stopped at 18:00. Found me a little place, close to water. Set up my tent, make dinner, write my log and go to sleep. Goodnight
Date: 2015-04-22
From: USFS 293

To: Pond Flats 
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: broken clouds

22 april Left my little campsite early. My ribs are hurting from the fall. So I took a painkiller. The morning was windy and there was a drop of rain. Ealked through an oak forest with rhododendron undergrow. Around 14:00 I went a stone stair to a beautiful waterfall. From there a difficult to find path along the river. After that along climb and on the top I camped. It is a cold night again.
Date: 2015-04-23
From: Pond Flats 

To: Campsite 438.3
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

23 april It was very cold this morning. Windy, but clear. I stood up at 6:40. My ribs were hurting,so it took longer to pack. The two brothers were quicker and left earlier. I didn't see them today again. My plan was to hike passed the Vandeventer Shelter, but when I was at the shelter, I thought to stay, but I didn't, because to get water I had to go 0.3 mile up and down. Better to continue. At the campsite I found squabbler, his father, south paw and std. Nice to see them again. We were talking about what happened since we saw eachother. Later in the evening two German and later a Norwegian walked in. A nice evening with a campfire.
Date: 2015-04-24
From: Campsite 438.3

To: Double Spring Gap 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

24 april It was very cold this morning, when I got up. I didn't make breakfast. I wanted to move to get warm. It was a easy walk,not too many ups and downs. Ideal day for hiking, so I made good progress. I decidedto go farther than the shelter. I was lucky,because at the crossing of the AT and a road was trail magic. I was a bit low om food. I ate 2 hamburgers and a hotdog and drank gatorade. They gave also some water. I was low on that too. The trail magic was performed by 5 through hikers 2014. My tummy was full and I hiked to the first camping I came across and pitched up my tent. I was at the trail magic and there came squabbler, std and south paw. The father of S. Went off the trail and took their backpacks to Damascus. They were going to slackpack to Damascus today. Another 15 miles more without their backpacks. Well, well...My ribs are not hurting while walking, but undressing and sleeping it hurts.
Date: 2015-04-25
From: Double Spring Gap 

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

The last day towards Damascus. I met some boyscouts, which I saw yesterday as well. The rest was uneventful. When I arrived there was a fellow hiker Doc, who suggested to me to go to the Woodchuck Hostel. There was a bed free, upstairs with Clemk and Koc. I hope I write those names correctly. Chuck was not there so I decided to walk through town and see some other hikers. Soon I met South Paw.Squabbler and Std, Good Man. Iron Will. Mammoth and others.In the evening hang around the hostel ate some trail magic from the people at Low Gap,who finished their magic and stayed also at the hostel this night. At around 10pm my daughter called from Holland via Skype,that my wife, her mother was taken to the hospital. She had suffered from a heart failure. First I thought it is not serious, but very soon she called,that the situation was serious and life threatening. I decided to leave early in the morning. Everybody was very, very understanding., prepared to offer support. Chuck had a shuttle to do,but Looper and his wife, part of the trail magic group, offered immediately to help me to get a plane. The end of the story was that they took me to two airports, helped me enormously and I thank them for all their help.
Date: 2013-11-25
To: Pre-prepping
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I am planning to walk solo and SOBO from Maine to Georgia on the AT (and perhaps on to my familiar Pinhoti Trail in AL) starting in late June of 2014 and ending early December, should the Smokies weather gods permit it, during part of my first sabbatical from my university teaching job in over 15 years! It will be a dream come true, if and when I finish. My main goal is to clear my head, and calm my drunken-monkey mind.I've only done a week on the Pinhoti continuously before, but have climbed Katahdin, Mt Washington, Mt Greylock and day-hiked around Franconia Notch and the Whites, as well as the Pisgahs prior to this. I have also managed wknd sections of the AT in PA and VA, and of my beloved FL Trail in the Panhandle (which I help maintain). Still, I expect to be challenged physically and psychologically; I am a people-person, and am around students and colleagues daily, and so the loneliness of the Long Green Tunnel will be a change.My gear is old and cheap, as are my knees, but I'm researching manically, and appreciate all that Trailjournalists and whiteblazers have shared. I hope to someday give something back.Feel free to contact me at npower44@gmail.comAll the best for now.Nick
Date: 2013-11-29
To: Starting Points
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

There are so many pre-walk questions to be settled in the next 6 months that I actually get anxious...as if my AT trek wasn't, ultimately, just a walk in the woods.There are a hundred gear decisions to be made, balancing (mostly) weight vs. cost, and I am relying on the testimonies of the experts and experienced to help sort these out. (My fully loaded pack weighs 27 lbs, and I weigh 165, so even though that includes 5 lbs of food and water, I need a proper shakedown to shed some gear weight.) Many of these decisions turn on "externalities" which are beyond my control, such as weather--should staying dry or staying warm be my first concern?--and the trail conditions it determines for me. It's comforting, however, that the externals occupying my mind heutzutage are fundamental and basic ones as opposed to derivative and "conventional" ones such as whether my bosses are satisfied with the assessment measures I use in my classrooms. It's also a consolation to remember that no amount of experience can prepare one for a particular day on a particular trail, which after all is a completely contingent series of events, some fortunate and some unfortunate. A slight mis-step on a wet log in the Smokies earlier this year nearly bollocksed my knee, and an old girlfriend's turned ankle meant that I had to carry her off Katahdin in the dark (some quarter-of-a-century ago).Are my cheap and old pack, tent, bag and sleeping pad--the so-called "big four"--likely to last six months? Do I need hiking boots as opposed to my trail-runners; a down jacket as opposed to my lined wind-breaker? Do I really need hiking poles, a headnet for black-flies, crocs?Unlike my old roomie, I'm trying to keep mail drops to a minimum, if not avoid them for all but a pair of shoes and winter gear. I don't want to pre-buy gear and food that I may not need, and don't want to commit myself to a mailbox. I hope to buy any winter gear I may need for the Smokies in November in Damascus, e.g. This may include a heavier sleeping bag and coat, but that's about it.Check out my gear list for yourself, and let me know if I'm cray-cray.None of these decisions really matter, alongside the one I've already made to do this, and that wouldn't have been possible without the support of my family (thanks Dad!), friends (thanks Nancy, Karyssa) and colleagues. Above all other sine qua nons is the unsolicited approval from my daughters Molly (who will have to endure without my bland meals for six whole months) and Hannah (who will have to change majors without me). Thank you all.
Date: 2013-12-03
To: My motivation
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I've wanted to walk the AT since a college roommate thru-hiked it way back in 1990 (or so). I remember him mail-dropping broke-in shoes ahead and thinking: "What the shit? A hike that outlasts your shoes!"This was in Westchester PA, and over the next few years I managed to section hike most portions of the trail from the Delaware Gap through the Shenandoah. I used a dissertation-completion fellowship to move Baby Hannah and my ex-wife and her Momma, Nancy to the mountains in Williamsport, where I grew a beard and tried to fish for trout and (the point being) walked more of the AT around Harrisburg. My brother and I had some nice hikes in VA. I had several trips to Northern New England, and once dated a girl who had a family farm near Skowhegan, ME; she and I had a close call on the knife edge of Baxter peak in gail force winds and sneakers. I loved, more than all, the desolation of the tops of the White Mountains and Presidential range. (My friend Sarah once refused to summit Mt Washington...IN A CAR! It was scary-steep and half way up we had to turn back...IN A CAR! She would later do 110 miles of the Pinhoti with me, in seven days, redeeming herself completely.)Since moving to Pensacola 15 years ago, I've learned to love the FL Trail and bottom land, even if it took a few years. The occasional trips I have managed all involved some world-class hikes, like on the Big Island of Hawaii and (gobsmacking) Yosemite Valley.Now, my main motive for thru-hiking the AT is not nostalgia, however, but to de-stress from my job and clear my mind. My mind is a mess, and therefore so is my life, at least in some areas. Fifteen years of dedicated teaching (teaching philosophy mind you) in a public university in da dirty South (where anti-intellectualism reigns), and not much else, has led to a sort of accretion of narrow-minded reasoning skills and habitual thinking that has cost me dearly. One bankruptcy, two divorces, and some fairly typical chemical dependencies is all I will say of the debits here. I once took a ten-day course in Vipassanna meditation and came out of it with a retooled mind, and hope to achieve the same sort of clarity somewhere in between Maine and Georgia. We will all know by this time next year if I was at all successful.
Date: 2013-12-06
To: Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 0.0

I have to "chunk" the walk into manageable pieces in order to get my head around it. Here's a first attempt at that. A caveat: this is very tentative, and feedback welcomed. I didn't factor in "zero days" but the average SOBO has 16 of 'em. (Might I spend X-mas in the woods?) On June 25, I¢ll fly US Airways to Bangor, ME ($400), ride Cyr bus lines to Millinocket/Medway (for $12) and stay in the AT Lodge ($70) who will feed me breckers and shuttle me to Baxter State Park the next day. On my birthday, I will summit Katahdin (Mile 2178 on the AT, from which we can count down), and camp in Katahdin Stream Campground, Baxter State Park (a walk of 10 miles duration), before camping and re-supply at Abol Bridge (another 10 miles).By July 4th I should be exiting the 100 Mile Wilderness, after a re-supply in Munson, ME. Mid-July: Stratton, ME (Mile 1990).The end of July will find me in the White Mountains and NH, already 300 miles from Katahdin.Mid-August: Hanover, NH (Mile 1736) Rutland, VT (1690) and re-visit Mt Greylock in Adams, MA (1580)By Labor Day, and 60 days in, I should be around Kent, CT (1456).Starting in September, the average SOBO covers 15 miles per day, so I expect to traverse NY and NJ in around 12 days, so by mid-September I can return to the Delaware Water Gap, PA (1283).At least two weeks on Pennsylvania¢s rocks, but by early October, and 90 days in, I should have walked through MD and be in Harpers Ferry, WV (1012) which is roughly half-way home.A week in Shenandoah National Park (960-872) begins some 40 days spent in VA, but I should be in Waynesboro (852) by Columbus Day in mid-October and Pearisburg (625) for Halloween. Daylight savings and the first half of November find me perhaps the Grayson Highlands (500) or even Damascus (463) and exiting VA.I¢ll be straddling the NC and TN border for most of November, but should be around Hampton, TN (421) and the highest elevation of the trail, Roan Mountain (380), by mid-November. By late-November, including about 4 days in Smoky Mts National Park, I will be around 200 miles from Springer Mt and the end of the trail. 141.4 days on the trail, for the mean ME>GA thru-hiker, means Fontana Dam (164) and Thanksgiving for me. Early December, therefore, means Franklin, NC (108) and I can make it to Hiawassee, GA (68) in the first week of December, and Springer Mt., GA (0) by the middle of December, I think.
Date: 2014-06-26
From: Final Preps and Worries

To: Baxter State Park
Miles today: 0.0

Stuck in Millinocket ME, 23 miles of so from Mt. Katahdin, due to heavy weather, plus a flight delay getting to Bangor. I was supposed to summit and camp in Baxter State Park's KSC today, but took the advice of Paul "Ole Man" at the AT Lodge to hold off until the a.m. shuttle. I needed time to buy Heet fuel and shake out my pack one last time, in any case, as well as to watch the USA-Germany game in the WC.There are two early NOBO finishers here: "G" or "G-man" and "Crush." They crushed some mileage, finishing in three months or so. G told me he would alternate running and walking for 15-minute stretches. They will finish on Katahdin tomorrow. Another guest, a fellow SOBO-er is back, off the trail to recover from a foot infection. There are a couple of more who will start south tomorrow, though I haven't met them yet. I'm kinda-sorta relieved to not have to face the HMW ("Hundred Mile Wilderness") alone. I feel barely adequate to the task before me, to be honest. I felt alone and sad while traveling yesterday. My daughter Molly cried (which made me cry, only later, in the contemplation of it as Hume would say) as did my g-friend Karyssa in the airport. My man friends just shook hands and patted backs. Flying up the entire Eastern US, from FL to ME, in one-half of one day, and thinking of the fact that it will take me roughly 168 days to walk back to GA, I considered myself an ant on your patio; while you stride across it in seconds, the ant endures hours scouring its surface. I'm still obsessed with the scale of this hike.The topography and weather here in Central Maine remind me of Ireland, and I feel happier as the hours here pass. I saw the mighty Penobscot river for the first time, as well as a deer. (My cabbie Steve was freaking me out with moose-tales in the ride from Bangor.)I have no idea when my next entry will be, but perhaps Munson in 8-10 days.