morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-22
From: Cosby Knob

To: Groundhog Creek
Miles today: 17.6

My breakfast tends to look big. Instant oatmeal tends to be a staple food in a backpackers diet because it's light, cheap, and easy. Why stop there though? People are always asking what's in my oatmeal because I have half my food bag put into it.Well it's oatmeal, water, coconut oil, salt, dehydrated strawberries, cranberries, chia seeds, flax seeds, cocoa flakes, granola, and probably more things that I'm forgetting. Delicious.As for my day, it was excellent as usual thank you very much.It never poured or thundered. Just rained a little. Trail magic at Davenport Gap occurred as promised and I was speechless when I saw sloppy joes, loads of snacks, oatmeal, coolers of goodies, AND THAN I WAS GIVEN A BLUE MOON! Who are these trail angels that surprise you with beer when you're already floored by a platter of vegetables and ranch sauce?Randy and Connie Payne. That's who.The AT got weird after Davenport Gap as you scamper across and under some highways. It was really muggy at this point. So the Tennessee mountains proceeded to kick my ass and demand loads of sweat tribulations as soon as I popped back into the woods. Ironic how I didn't have any fog throughout all of the Smokies and the first mountain out was engulfed. Couldn't see 5 feet in front of me. But guess what... More trail magic at the top of the mountain. Thought I was hallucinating when I saw a stand up tarp appear out of the fog. That's how I ended up with a cup of coffee at 4:30 in the afternoon. Can't have a better excuse to sit back and relax for a moment as the clouds are spitting down at you.Afterwards, I walked with Ireland for a few moments. I didn't know that was his trail name at the time. I thought he was Scottish (That had a funny turn of events later on down the trail.) Anyways, Ireland was telling a story. A historical kind of one which enlightened me about hillbillys. As I caught up from behind, I overheard him talking about a famine that the Scotts and Irish were enduring along with other hardships such as English rule. It was a fitting talk for the hike as Ireland explained the tough history behind having to fight for a homeland. There's nothing like walking through some moody weather on a rough trail listening to an Irishman tell a story. The history lesson led to how such kinds of people ended up in America, pioneering lands like the mountains we were hiking. Some of these people became America's first hillbillys making that Tennessee moonshine. This was the place to settle where no one could tell you what you can or can't do.
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Groundhog Creek

To: Deer Park Mtn
Miles today: 23.0

Put in a 12 hour day of trekking including all breaks, lunch, and dinner. Not much to note about today besides taking a wrong turn off trail after Roaring Creek. Except even the wrong turn was an uneventful story. I realized I was lost, turned around and found the trail. The end.What stood out about today was leaving the Groundhog creek shelter. The privy at the groundhog creek shelter was right in the middle of camp. Diana from Germany was having none of that and opted to dig a cathole past her tent. The privvy is like a platform where you're on center stage. You can see everywhere and everyone could see you which obviously seemed to be a horrifying idea to some trying to conduct some nature business. Thought the quirkiness of it was kind of neat. Since I'm a morning bomber, I went in with some morning green tea, an American Spirit cigarette, and good morning cheer. Had a nice conversation with people cooking breakfast about 10 yards away from me, waved goodbye to people leaving camp, and said good morning to the Germans crawling out their tents all while dropping a nice deuce. Backpacking multitasking skills 101. There's 4 walls and a hinged door of course but they rise only up to your chest when your sitting.Something else worth mentioning about groundhog creek shelter is the shelter table there. It's a freaking teeter totter. Disguised as a normal looking sturdy table with benches. Be warned. This is an example of why you should ALWAYS check the shelter registers for warnings. That table is the devils playground of deceptive flat surfaces that entice you to place dangerous cooking apparatus on top. The kind of questionable stoves that backpackers use that typical involves open containers with ignited liquids that can easily be spilled. This is the kind of nightmare Smoky the Bear gets PTSD from. You see, what happens is that here in America we have fatass pride and slam our butts into seated positions with authority. We don't ease into our seated positions with finesse. We body slam that seat with confidence, ownership, and dominance. We use our butts with the righteous presumption that our choice of seating is subject to such abuse.Well there's a bolt or two missing from the foundations of this table. A table that's not built on level ground (surprise we're in the mountains.) Anytime someone got up or sat down, it sent the opposite side flying. It was terrifyingly comical.
Date: 2014-04-24
From: Deer Park Mtn

To: Hot Springs, TN
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

Well today was easy. Trail goes right through Hot Springs so naturally I worked out my mileage so I'd hike just a few miles and spend the majority of day enjoying town.Had some intimate and personal talks with some veterans and when that was over with, I walked into the laundromat where there was more war talk with other hikers. Never an optimistic and soul lifting kind of conversation. Hearing about PTSD and having close friends commit suicide out of nowhere will somber you up.Speaking of which - there's an excellent podcast series I keep on my phone called Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. If you rarely have these sorts of reality checks by coming across people with a few things to say about certain aspects of life we tend to be shielded from, Dan Carlin will blow your mind. My favorite series by that podcast is Wrath of the Khans, but one of his most recent episodes is about WWI. Gave me a few perspectives about PTSD that never occurred to me. Will be taking a zero mile day tomorrow to further indulge in relaxation. Staying at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. I got room #4 where Earl Shaffer stayed. Shaffer was the pioneer thru hiker of the AT before it even become totally official. Reference the article Cindy Ross wrote about him...
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Hot Springs

To: Lover's Leap Rock
Miles today: 2.7

Still in Hot Springs. Looking into finding a hitch to Asheville to visit. Checking out couchsurfing to see if it'll work out!I'll try to update trail journals later...update: did not end up even trying to hitch to Asheville. Don't think it would have been hard at all, just didn't get to it somehow. I'll check it out some other time I guess. Hot Springs is just a really convenient place to take a break.A band playing at the Spring Creek Tavern also made staying in town well worth it all by itself.Ended my stay in town by night hiking out of town. Cowboy camped halfway up the first mountain. Halfway because I was a bit dehydrated after all those beers in town. And/or Hot Springs was making me soft. Beer never stopped me from hiking a mountain before. The fact that I had everything on my back for a nice comfy nap certainly may have been a factor. Regardless, I cowboy camped under the stars overlooking the town and the river. Was really nice to gaze at the stars while falling asleep. Zero regrets
Date: 2014-04-27
From: Lover's Leap Rock

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

So you know how I night hiked out just a little bit up the mountain? Well I only brought about 20oz of water for the night. Downed it all before falling asleep - good habit to have after a few drinks before bed. Unfortunately that meant there was no water remaining for the morning. Woke up feeling dehydrated but hiking a couple miles a little thirsty is not a big deal. That is unless you want to get injured. The first step I took to get back on the trail, which happened to be halfway up a steep mountain, pulled my calf muscle. Not the end of the world but it sure made hiking less enjoyable. It was also hot.The fire tower was sweet. Some girl made me feel bad because of her cigarette addiction. Scared another girl by climbing up stuff I shouldn't be climbing... Yadda yadda yadda I can't read what I wrote about the rest of this day because I was scribbling jibberish in the dark.And I have goldfish memory. So that was my day. Made today short because of my strained muscle. Also spent a large part of today actually hiking with someone. She's been struggling and you could say slowing down was not a bad idea in both of our conditions. More to come.
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Brutal day. It rained overnight but my luck is still holding up amazingly well - it stopped raining right when I was waking up. Despite the clouds looking particularly unfriendly, the sun started to shine through around 9am. Except the hot and muggy climate that came with it was very unwelcome. At least my leg wasn't bothering me much for the start of the day. It eventually degraded as the terrain got rougher and continued to climb higher. This section of the AT takes you across an exposed ridge line but, there's an alternative "bad weather trail". Of course I took the traditional route and came across some rocks you gotta scramble up and down over. Don't know how people with dogs or with zero climbing ability would be able to get through here.If you do have a dog, you'll probably need at least one hiking partner to help lift, carry, and pass your dog over to in order to get past.When I broke through, the rain came back and I felt sorry for all the people stuck on the ridge behind me. I took the opportunity for a nature poo because it was not fun scrambling through that ridge section with a backseat passenger if you know what I mean. The rain actually felt fantastic while taking an exposed dump in the woods. Sweating hard in muggy weather really makes you feel grimy after a couple days in the woods. So it was one of those moments where rain became more like a free shower. Why bother with the rain gear? I did that embrace the freedom thing from Shawshank Redemption once I released the beast and buried it. You know that scene? After crawling out the poo tunnel to freedom and standing in the rain? I did that in combination with Titanic - "I'm the king of the world!". It was sweet.Eventually all the climbing and trekking through sludge did do a number on me. I thought about Bruce Willis in Die Hard at that point: it's not the age, it's the mileage.Damage assessment: right big toe numb since Franklin.Both big toes bruised from excessive rocks/roots.Couple of negligible blisters that I didn't even know I had.Loads of bug bites.Left foot aching - could use better insole support.Strained right calf that does not like uphills.Shelter talk about food becoming ever more pornographic.Can't wait to have mouth orgasms in the next town.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Big Bald mtn shelter
Miles today: 18.9

Today was humbling. I did not pack enough calories for this trek from Hot Springs to Erwin. Had to dig deep to get the miles in. So I hope I'm not burning myself out by pushing hard. My calf muscle didn't degrade by the end of the day but really I was always at the mercy of what nature provides. The day was hell with the muggy heat so all the windy parts were a great remedy as you climb higher.Last night stormed pretty well which was neat to watch from inside my tent. I could see the lightening flash across my rain cover while the rain pounded down against my tent. At times the wind whipped hard against my thin barrier but, my confidence for my tent has already been established after having nearly a month on the trail. It's windy in my current spot for tonight as well. It has officially been established that I'm sticking to only 2/7 stakes. I mean, if I wasn't sitting in my tent, I think it would fly away. That's not problem since I'm either in the tent or it's in my pack. I was hesitant to climb over Big Bald mtn because of how fast the clouds were moving and I knew a thunder storm was coming. Didn't take long for me to say screw it and charge over. I had to lean so hard into the wind just to stay upright. It was scary to look up and watch the clouds fly by - they looked ridiculously close and some of them were getting ripped apart right in front of me. That's how fast they were getting pushed and that's how close I was to see it. One good rift of wind caught me perfectly like a car slamming into me in a t-bone intersection. Sent me sailing sideways off trail into a trail marker. Sorry to say the AT is now down one white blaze.Sunset was beyond epic up there. Unfortunately, I literally could not hang around and watch. Those moments are one of the main benefits of solo hiking. You're the only one making the decisions at your own convenience. Most people are done with hiking before 6pm but I love seeing the sunset and sunrise. That means less sleep, more hiking hours, and less time hanging around sprung up hiker tent cities.
Date: 2014-04-30
From: Big Bald mtn shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.4

Overcast and windy day. That kept the humidity at bay. Solved my calorie crisis by mixing oatmeal, peanut butter and olive oil together for lunch. I will call it combat oatmeal. Reason being that I didn't bother cooking it. Just ate it raw and let all that stuff glob up in my stomach and cook there. If I didn't have these extra "bottom of the sack" ingredients, I would have put Bear Grylls tactics to use from Man vs Wild. Just got to keep an eye out for bear poop and remember to drink my own pee to recycle some vitamins...I had trouble staying asleep last night for some reason. It was extremely windy again but that usually does not bother me. Sometimes I stay on edge sleeping lightly in case I need to spring up but last night was an anomaly. Oh well. Most of the day was spent entirely solo which can be hard to do sometimes. Not mentally speaking since I am a classic solitude seeker. That's just hard to do at this time of the year because there's so many people hiking these parts. Today worked out with the fastest hikers in front of me and slower hikers behind me. That meant there wasn't another human being around for miles most of the time. Plus the hiking was much easier compared to yesterday. By the time the sun burned through the clouds, I was already descending into town before it got hot. Then it didn't start raining until I was inside of a restaurant pizza. On top of that, this pizza place was BYOB. What a bunch of happy hikers we were.
Date: 2014-05-01
From: Erwin, Tn

To: Erwin, Tn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Here's what has made me laugh the hardest while resting off the trail - A potential hiker (or some hobo) ordered ice cream in a diner. It was served in a cup with a straw and I guess the man had no spoon. He must have given it a solid attempt for a couple minutes before standing up and yelling, "Excuse me miss, but I'd have to be a whore to suck this!"I'm at mile 340 or something like that which means Erwin, TN. If you have not noticed, I finally have some aches and pains that I'm going to rehab before hitting the trail hard again. The first thing I did out of Hot Springs was pull a calf muscle. I night hiked out of Hot Springs a little buzzed and didn't bring enough water. The trail between Hot Springs and Erwin is roughly 70 miles so I set my intent to do three 20 miler days in a row which is why I onlypacked 3.5 days of food. It sure did suck to start a 70 mile commitment like that so hopefully I have learned a few lessons so far. Well, I made it and now I'm also looking at getting some superfeet insoles for my boots because my left foot is hurting. It started hurting after Fontana Dam and I eventually realized I needed some better foot support. Since I was out in the woods, I had no choice but to walk it off... which doesn't really help the problem. What helped alleviate some of the pain was paying attention to every single step by focusing on putting weight down on my heel first and rolling towards the toes. Not particularly easy to do on these trails that literally keep you on your toes. Especially when your opposite leg has a strained core muscle. No promises I'll update my previous days anytime soon.Cheers.Oh, I actually have a little cell service here. Wahoo!Edit/Update: Zeroed.Noro virus scare. Way to terrify a bunch of resting hikers. Supposedly 1 of 2 brothers hiking together started showing symptoms of noro. Found out about it when we were getting shuttled to town. Tonight everyone is on edge. High fives, hand shakes, and other general bodily contacts are temporarily banned. Some people are walking around equipped with dish detergent and bottles of water. To kill some time, some hikers and I set up water detergent pong. Basically beer pong but all the cups are filled with soap water and all drinks are glued to a hand.Other boring news: I scored some Superfeet insoles from another hiker who wasn't liking them. The outfitter in town didn't have any my size and it takes months for them to get a restock. Something to do with a contract with the manufacturer that sends a set amount every so often. Huh? Well it worked out for the better I guess. Excuse me while I sanitize my bunk with fire.
Date: 2014-05-02
From: Erwin, TN

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I really feel like a dog. Everyday on the trail is awesome. I get to explore and exercise all day long. Just about everyone you meet is ridiculously nice to you which might as well be the equivalent of people scratching dog butt. You know that spot. Right above the tail. Feeeeels soooo good. Nice to meet you too! May I scratch your butt as well?Could do without the rubber stamp questions and typical conversation etiquette though. It gets really old.Hello!Good day!Amazing weather!How are you?How are you doing?Have a good one!Sometimes I break out of those routine conversations from the get go by doing or saying something weird. But I'm already weird as it is so I guess it is for the better by not hiding anything.Uhhh. Thoughts on the trail? I really assumed I would be getting more sleep than I do. I mean the time I spend in my sleeping bag ranges from 6 to 11 hours a night. Not all of that bag time means being asleep but it also is not like I'm being severely sleep deprived. This is a thousand times better than working a full time graveyard shift even if I have the best bed in the world designed by the world's leading sleep researchers if there's such a thing. I just have made the choice to sacrifice sleep to prepare for the next day, journal, and maybe mess around for an extra hour or two.Another thing I hate to admit: the best part of today was spending $4.37 at McDonalds so I can get approximately 1200 calories to start my day with. 1000 calories in the morning makes a hell of a difference. It's hard to throw 2000 calories at your mouth sometimes. I could actually use over 6000 calories a day and I don't think I'm even coming close to that.After I burned through the crackdonalds boost, I carried on by eating cliff bars until dinner. There was a noticeable drop in energy but, eating a crap breakfast could have contributed to the late afternoon weariness. Unfortunately my dinner choice for the night was ramen since I did not find the most ideal resupply groceries in town. Being a semi-hippy Californian, I have to say that this area is a food desert and I'm sure I will run into many more. Since I don't exactly have a dehydrator at home or anyone looking out for my best nutritional interests, I kind of have to just take what I can get. There was no heavy planning or preparing before starting this trip because not knowing what's going to happen is part of the adventure. Ramen is something I will only go to as a last resort since its widely available and so cheap. Got to pick your battles and have a strategy for the upcoming days though. The Appalachian Trail is only as hard you make it on yourself. The ease of it depends on how well you adapt to what's available. You can say food is a huge part.
Date: 2014-05-03
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night's camp only consisted of myself, Maddog, EKG, and Groundscore. Was kind of surprised there were so few people. This was a first! I did see someone set up Christmas lights at their camp 100 yards north. Never found out who it was but I take that as another sign I am currently in between hiker bubbles. If someone is carrying christmas lights, they probably set it up often and usually that would be like a trademark description. Catching up to new people means learning about other people aroundFor example, I wanted to make today a 25+ mile day but I came across someone I didn't want to be around. This person does not have a good reputation based on what I've heard up and down the trail from other hikers. He was exactly how everyone described him as. Thinking I was not going to run into him, I did not recognize him at first glance. It was when he basically walked right past me and eyed my pack from behind for a few minutes that made me realize who he is. Nothing like a red flag that makes you piece everything together.So, later on I knew I was going to run into them again at Roan High Knob. Their MO is night hiking into camp and stealing stuff such as bear bags that have been hung up for the night. After delicately finding out their hiking plans through casual conversation, I obviously adjusted my intentions accordingly. I waited for he and his friend to caffeine up and night hike ahead to the next shelter. I let my reputation as a solo night hiker play out as if I was probably going to end up there later as well. Obviously my plans were adjusted to just taking the rest of the day easy and hanging back. The thought may have crossed my mind to follow and intervene... but that's not kosher is it? If there are rules to absolutely have while thru hiking, one of the core ones would be taking everything you hear with a grain of salt. Even if everyone says one thing is so, that still may not be completely true and believing it could mean trouble for you. With the extra time I had on my hands, I ventured out a bit to find the best place to watch the sunset from Roan High Knob. It was awesome. The temperature sure did plummet as soon as the sun went down though. Tomorrow I will go hard and leave those guys in my dust. Tonight it is just Groundscore and I. Apparently this is the highest shelter on the Appalachian Trail. So that's kind of cool.
Date: 2014-05-04
From: Roan High Knob

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 25.1

Last night I went back to the Roan High Knob bald to watch the sunset once the alleged not-so-good hikers to be around left. That was fantastic but this is where the highest shelter on the entire AT is located. The winds were howling and the temperature plummeted as the sun went down.Other general news: officially done with North Carolina.Finished my day at 11pm. My night hikes could be better utilized by not really having a set objective. You tend to constantly return to checking your progress which makes you want to start wishing the end was near so you can finally stop and pitch a tent. Not nearly as fun as going hard and enjoying the hiker until you finally just decide you're done. I seem to go farther under that mentality and enjoy the whole experience better. Both ways result in hurrying with writing a journal entry for the day so you can wake up somewhat early to take advantage of the cooler weather. This needs to change so I can get back to rising at 5am again.Yep. Nothing exciting or particularly interesting. Get up, eat, and go hard.