morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-17
From: Katahdin Stream Campground, them hostrl

To: Camp, awaiting family to join summit next Saturday
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I few weeks ago I published some stats that were developed by Steve Shuman. The intro to that post is copied below. I then posted my stats next to the averages Steve produced:"The following information is taken from some work done by Steve Shuman, aka, "map man." I condensed it down considerably, but if you want to see the whole thing, go to the whiteblazes website. Steve used data 240 thru-hikers who had kept journals over the period of 2001 - 2010. His study is limited to north bound thru-hikers (NOBOs) who completed their hike in one hiking season."1. The mean number of days for these thruhikers was 168.18 days while the median number was 171.   Mine - Counting next Saturday's hike up Mount Katahdin, my trip lasted 126 days. Counting my five zero's, I averaged 17.37 miles per day. Taking the zero's out, I averaged 18.09 miles per day. Not bad on a tank of 5000 calories per day.2. Here's the distribution of hikers grouped by the month they left Springer mountain in Georgia and the month they reached Mount Katahdin: 2 hikers in this study left Springer in January 30 in February144 in March (60%)57 in April7 in May Me - I left March 143. Steve looked at the journals for the hikers in his study to see if He could determine how old each hiker was. In the end, here is what he estimated:45% were under 3026% were age 30-4929% were 50 and olderMe - I am 55 (ssshhhhh!)4. Here are the average (mean) times, and number of mean zero days, it took these various age groups to finish their thru-hikes:Under 30 -- 167 days to complete and 20 zero days30-49 -- 170 days to complete and 21 zero days50 and over -- 174 days to complete and 21 zero daysMe - I took 5 zero days, three to watch Alex graduate and see Kim for Mother's Day which involved driving to Boston from VA and back, one on Memorial Day as I had bad heat rash, and one on Father's Day with Kim in Hanover, NH5. Fewer than 10 percent of the hikers in his study completed the traiI in under 130 days. Here are how the numbers for "quick" hikers in the study broke down:52% were in the younger age group (under 30)29% were in the middle age group (30-49)19% were in the older age group (50 and over)Me - No one has ever called me quick before, especially on the basketball court..6. The mean number of nights that hikers in the study spent in various places broke down like this:Shelters: 62 nightsTents or Hammocks: 53 nightsMotels: 23 nightsHostels: 21 nightsPrivate Homes: 9 nightsMine looks like this - Shelters and tents: 67 nights or 53 percent Motels: 18 nights or 14 percent (I included B&B's here)Hostels:   31 nights or 25 percentPrivate Homes: 10 nights or 8 percent
Date: 2016-07-18
From: Camp, awaiting family to join summit next Saturday

To: Camp...
Miles today: 0.0

Twelve step program. Twelve things I'll need to stop doing now that I'm no longer in the Woods with the hiking community:1. Stop Sleeping with complete strangers. I'm talking about the shelters and bunk rooms in hostels of course!2. Stop pooping and peeing just about anywhere I want to, anytime I need to. 3. Stop Drinking water from ponds, lakes, streams, and springs. 4. Stop Wearing the same clothes for 3-4 days at a time and thinking that's pretty darn good.5. Stop being so excited about showering once or twice per week6. Stop Hitchhiking7. Stop "yogi-ing" for just about anything - food, rides, a bagel...anything8. Stop Staying so long at AYCE food buffets that they ask you to leave9. Stop Putting beef jerky in couscous and calling that a delicious meal10. Stop doing laundry in the sinks and tubs of hotel rooms and drying them on the room's wall-mounted air conditioner.11. Stop combining my laundry with those of other stinky hikers at hostels and being happy to save a few bucks. 12. Stop feeling so comfortable about not looking at myself in a mirror for up to six days at a time (believe me, the end product is not pretty!).
Date: 2016-07-23
From: Millinocket Lake Area

To: Mount Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: clear sky

Hiked the remaining 5.2 miles of the Appalachian Trail today with my family, reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin at 10:30 am. That concludes the 2189 mile journey. Time to put the feet up!Thanks for following on Facebook and sharing the hike with me. From Mr. Dylan and myself - May You Stay Forever Young: May God bless and keep you alwaysMay your wishes all come trueMay you always do for othersAnd let others do for youMay you build a ladder to the starsAnd climb on every rungMay you stay forever youngMay you grow up to be righteousMay you grow up to be trueMay you always know the truthAnd see the lights surrounding youMay you always be courageousStand upright and be strongMay you stay forever young.May your hands always be busyMay your feet always be swiftMay you have a strong foundationWhen the winds of changes shiftMay your heart always be joyfulAnd may your song always be sungMay you stay forever young...(Bob Dylan)Hiked the remaining 5.2 miles of the Appalachian Trail today with my family, reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin at 10:30 am. That concludes the 2189 mile journey. Time to put the feet up!Thanks for following on Facebook and sharing the hike with me. From Mr. Dylan and myself - May You Stay Forever Young: May God bless and keep you alwaysMay your wishes all come trueMay you always do for othersAnd let others do for youMay you build a ladder to the starsAnd climb on every rungMay you stay forever youngMay you grow up to be righteousMay you grow up to be trueMay you always know the truthAnd see the lights surrounding youMay you always be courageousStand upright and be strongMay you stay forever young.May your hands always be busyMay your feet always be swiftMay you have a strong foundationWhen the winds of changes shiftMay your heart always be joyfulAnd may your song always be sungMay you stay forever young...(Bob Dylan)Hiked the remaining 5.2 miles of the Appalachian Trail today with my family, reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin at 10:30 am. That concludes the 2189 mile journey. Time to put the feet up!Thanks for following on Facebook and sharing the hike with me. From Mr. Dylan and myself - May You Stay Forever Young: May God bless and keep you alwaysMay your wishes all come trueMay you always do for othersAnd let others do for youMay you build a ladder to the starsAnd climb on every rungMay you stay forever youngMay you grow up to be righteousMay you grow up to be trueMay you always know the truthAnd see the lights surrounding youMay you always be courageousStand upright and be strongMay you stay forever young.May your hands always be busyMay your feet always be swiftMay you have a strong foundationWhen the winds of changes shiftMay your heart always be joyfulAnd may your song always be sungMay you stay forever young (bob Dylan)
Date: 2016-03-17
To: Katahdin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Two summers ago in 2014 my daughter Kelly and I decided to hike the 100 mile wilderness in Maine, which is where we live. I suppose that's what gave us the idea to thru hike the AT together. I've dreamed of doing it since I was in high school but that was 39 years ago and it seemed like it would always remain a dream and nothing else. In the months after the 100 mile wilderness, with the encouragement of my wife and my two daughters we decided it was time for me to quit my job of three decades as a truck driver, and to pursue my dream. It wasn't quite that simple, as my wife would attest. There were plenty of times when I was on the fence about it, right up to the end. But in the end,I did quit my job and today I'm sitting at Amicalola Falls State Park on day one writing this first journal entry. All the preparation is about to be put to the test. I'm about to be put to the test. Over the past months this usually seemed like a pretty good idea. Today it feels like a great idea. We got off the train this morning in Gainesville and got a ride to Amicalola with one of the hiker shuttles, a fine gentleman named Ron Brown. I highly recommend him if you're ever in need of a similar service. When we got to Amicalola my daughter checked in as thru hiker #735 and I checked in as # 736 starting from Amicalola. Very friendly and helpful l folks here at the state park. We're taking the day off today to rest as we didn't get much sleep on the train last night and tomorrow we'll head up the approach trail to Springer, doing short days for a while until we get our "trail legs"
Date: 2016-03-18
From: Amicalola Falls State Park

To: Springer Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up this morning at 0630 to a clear starry sky which was very nice as I was expecting a cloudy day today. After a delicious breakfast of pop tarts we set out from Amicalola on the approach trail to Springer. On the way out of the campground we met 2011 thru hiker Tick-Tock who is now doing trail work. He gave us lots of tips about the section of trail we're headed into which is much appreciated. He also told us that there are a lot of trail angels out there now doing their magic and that we probably wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for the next several days! I hope we run into some of that trail magic. We met "Black Bear" from Bangor today, a young man just graduated from college, who was out on his first day too. Also met Andy who just flew in from England to start the trail today. I expect we'll see them somewhere further up the trail. And now, after dining on Ramen noodles for supper, and it's starting to get a little dark under the table, it's about time to turn in. I guess it's going to rain tomorrow and turn a little colder so we'll see how that goes. I
Date: 2016-03-20
From: Springer Mtn. Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain campsite
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We were greeted by fog and a little bit of rain this morning near the summit of Springer Mtn. with a temperature of around 45 degrees. It's now almost 1600 and we're set up for the night at Hawk Mtn. campsite. Fortunately the rain held off for most of the day, but right now it has started raining a little bit more seriously! The trail today was pretty easy going with a lot of down hill (I guess we'll pay for that eventually). We did a lot of walking through Rhododendron "tunnels". They aren't in bloom yet but it's still nice. Not like anything I've hiked in before at home. We experienced our first trail magic today near Hickory Flats cemetery. Some folks from Full Moon Adventures had a couple of shelters set up and were giving out lots of snacks and hot cider and cold water to any thru hikers who cared to stop. It was very much appreciated and we got to meet Scott, Amy, Dale, Stephen and Ariane who were there doing their magic. Thanks guys! A little bit more on Hawk Mtn. campsite. There are 30 tent pads stretched out along what seems to be a new side trail to the AT. There's been a lot of work put into this campground very recently. I think it was built to take some of the pressure off Hawk Mtn. shelter, another .7 miles north on the AT. The caretaker told us that some people from the University of New Hampshire had just put some finishing touches on the campground. Thank you to them and whoever else put in some of their time working on this campground.
Date: 2016-03-21
From: Gooch Mountain shelter

To: Lance Creek
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

3/20-3/21/16 The walk from Hawk Mountain campsite to Gooch Mountain shelter yesterday was pretty uneventful. The trail hasn't been bad so far but we've got some bigger mountains coming up fairly soon. The weather yesterday turned cold and windy late in the day. We had a campsite with a fire ring so I started a fire and some people from neighboring sites came over and shared the warmth. Today's hike from Gooch to Lance creek was quite quick...probably because we wanted to keep moving to stay warm! When we got up this morning there was snow on the ground and ice in our water bottles. We had three occasions of trail magic today. At the first one I was gifted with a shot of Jim Beam. At the second we met some folks who were out on the trail with their packs full of little bags full of candy bars and other assorted treats and were handing them out to the thru hikers they met. The third one was some ladies set up at Woody Gap (I think) and they were handing out hot food and treats and cold orange juice. I think that was the best orange juice I've ever tasted. Kelly said she hoped we'd run into someone who was giving out hot coffee, but that didn't happen today, anyways. Tomorrow we hike to Neel Gap and our first resupply day. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.
Date: 2016-03-22
From: Lance Creek

To: somewhere past Neel Gap
Miles today: 9.4

3/22/16We made it to Neel Gap today and our first resupply stop. The outfitter is called Mountain Crossings and it sits beside a busy east-west two lane road. We got our food for the next four days which it turns out we don't need that much...more on that in a minute. So we sat there and had a pizza and watched the steady stream of thru hikers come through. We were going to spend the night at the Mountain Crossings hostel, take showers and do our laundry, but after we got a look around we changed our minds. This is when our first case of major indecision set in. What to do instead? We could either set up our tents out behind the place, which would have amounted to sleeping on rocks, or we could keep going up the trail in hopes of finding a better place to set up further on. The problem with that is that it was getting late and the campsites have been filling up every day as the day gets late. Eventually we decided to move on and we found a pretty good spot a couple of miles later. It's in a gap, which tend to be windy and this one is no exception but it's not quite as cold tonight so it won't be bad. Anyways, back to having too much food to carry. So there's this nice-sounding hostel at Dicks Creek Gap which is near our next resupply, Hiawassee, GA. I was giving us four days to get there from Neel Gap. I called the hostel in Dicks Creek Gap to make a reservation for next Saturday night and guess what...all booked up already. So I made a reservation for Friday night instead. Now we have to cover four days worth of distance in three days. Hence the result of having four days worth of food to carry over a distance that will only take us three days. It's all about weight, and now we have too much. Oh well, resupply will be cheaper in Hiawassee. Oh, I was walking along today feeling so good that I decided to sing for Kelly...a Mark Knopfler song. Not sure she enjoyed it as much as l did but there was no one else around so I don't think she was too embarassed!   You win some   You might get lucky now and then   Yeah, you win some.      MK
Date: 2016-03-23
From: somewhere past Neel Gap

To: Top of Georgia Hostel
Miles today: 36.8
Weather: overcast clouds

3/23/16-3/25/16 We left Neel Gap yesterday and found a site at the top of an unnamed gap where John from Phoenix was already setting up. Being the nice guy he is he welcomed us to join him. It was very windy up there and the moon was shining brightly all night. I think I may have gotten two hours of sleep but it was all good...I still had plenty of energy for our 12 mile day on Wednesday. On Wednesday we got going and in about 4 miles came to a place called Tesnatee Gap where a church group had trail magic set up where they were giving out snacks and sodas and small medical supplies and hand knit hats and Snickers bars (very important). These are all such nice people and it's all done out of the kindness of their hearts. Some of them travel some pretty long distances to do this every year. You have no idea how we look forward to these breaks. Thank you King Tut and friends at Tesnatee! We made it as far as Poplar Stamp Gap on Wednesday and had a nice, flat site with a fire ring. We were joined by Raudier from Belgium and by John and all sat around a campfire and cooked our supper. Another bright night but without the howling wind. Thursday we went from Poplar Stamp to Tray Mountain shelter. Now, it's funny the things you tend to think about an talk about with your hiking partner on a long hike. A lot of the time it's food, other than the normal macaroni, rice, water and salt based things we usually eat. On Thursday it happened to be cheeseburgers and sodas. So we're walking along and come to the road at Unicoi Gap. Well, there across the road is a big trail magic setup and what do you suppose they were serving? That's right, big giant juicy cheeseburgers along with sodas, chips and of course Snickers bars! It was a dream come true. Didn't have to make our own lunch yesterday! After that we set off for Tray Mountain shelter, hoping to beat the predicted thundershowers. We decided to sleep in the shelter to keep our stuff dry. The shelter was a full house with six of us on the floor and two guys suspended above in hammocks, and one or two mice who I think are permanent residents. Oh, and one guy had his dog with him. Yeah, I didn't sleep much last night either. And it did rain but the predicted thunderstorms never materialized. That brings us to today and our relatively short but kind of strenuous day which brought us to the Top of Georgia Hiker Hostel in Dicks Creek Gap. Very nice place. We got our first showers and they're doing our laundry for us. There's lots of thru hikers here. I think everyone's outlook improves significantly when they get a shower. We got a shuttle into Hiawassee to do our grocery shopping and to have a little restaurant food ( okay, it's a stretch to call McDonald's a restaurant). Now it's way past my bedtime. Tomorrow we finish our first state an enter North Carolina.
Date: 2016-03-26
From: Top of Georgia Hostel

To: Deep Gap NC
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

3/26/16. Dicks Creek Gap GA to Deep Gap NC   We left Top Of Georgia Hostel after breakfast this morning refreshed and clean (that doesn't last too long) with a van ride the 1/2 mile back to the trail. It wasn't long on the trail before we met with our first trail angels of the day, Encourager and Linda at Blue Ridge Gap. The food was greatly appreciated and Encourager said a thru-hiker prayer for everyone who was gathered there. A few miles later we hit a bit of a milestone for us, we crossed the state line into North Carolina. One down, thirteen more to go. We were aiming to get to Standing Indian Shelter today when we came to Deep Gap, about a mile before the shelter. There, strung across the trail was a banner reading "25th Annual Easter Feast". Deciding that it was something we might want to check out we proceeded off the trail to the left and came to four parked vehicles, behind which was set up at least four E-Z Up shelters with tables and chairs and a barbecue. These folks were cooking up pulled pork, some kind of bean stew, they had Coke slaw, potato salad, several different desserts, all kinds of soda and iced tea, and they would not let anyone go away hungry. As if that weren't enough, after supper they told us all to come back in the morning so they could feed us made-to-order omelets for breakfast and then send us on our way with made-to-order sandwiches on homemade bread for lunch! They even gave us menus so we could check off our choices! Not to mention they had a nice big campfire going for everyone to sit around the whole time. Let me just say that they had so much stuff in there, all for thru hikers they never met before, that they needed a dump truck to haul it all in. I think everyone who was there was impressed an thankful for this great show of kindness. I would like to thank everyone by name or trail name: Tarheel (1979 thru), Cook, Raven (2013 thru), Repeat, Di, Weatherman, Black Hawk, Donald, Emory, Janice, Judy, Ron, Tom and Jae. Thank you all so very much for your hospitality. It will be long remembered. So, end of today's story. Needless to say we never made it to Standing Indian Shelter on Saturday but left Deep Gap NC after our delicious Easter breakfast on Sunday. (Tarheel, I apologize but I didn't have the wild leeks on my omelet...I'm not much of an onion man)
Date: 2016-03-27
From: Deep Gap NC

To: Mooney Gap
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: moderate rain

3/27/16      Deep Gap to Mooney Gap                                                Some days, well, just some days. We've had pretty good luck with the weather so far but this morning we took our tents down in the rain so everything was pretty much soaked by the time we got packed up. I still need to figure out a better system for packing up in the rain. Raudir's tent leaked so he gave it away and plans to buy a new one in Franklin. Then the best part of the day, we had our made-to-order breakfast which was very good and under shelters. After breakfast we said reluctant goodbyes to our hosts and set off on the trail. We hiked in the rain all day, which is no big deal, then when we went to find tent sites late in the day at a couple of places recommended by another hiker we met, we found that both of them had signs posted saying "no camping". Guess you have to be careful who you listen to! Anyways, we went a little further and found a spot big enough for two tents and set up our pre-wet stuff in the rain. Guess it won't be the last time. Kelly has been having some problems with her knee, but she keeps on going. I haven't even had a blister yet (knock on wood). We're going to be stopping in Franklin NC tomorrow for a night in town.
Date: 2016-03-28
From: Mooney Gap

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

3/28-3/29/16 Mooney Gap to Winding Stair Gap NC Packed up this morning in cool but dry weather and headed for Winding Stair Gap and a bus ride into Franklin NC. The bus is provided by the town and it comes 11 miles up into the mountains just to pick up AT thru hikers and take them back to town to partake in the services the town offers, and it only costs three bucks a ride. Good deal, I thought. We spent the night at a place called "Haven's Budget Inn", and it was definitely the budget alternative. But it had a shower and real beds with clean sheets, I think. And the people who ran the place were real nice. Plus they didn't care if we hung our wet tents and sleeping bags out in front of the room. After a quick walk around town and a Domino's pizza in the room we got a night's sleep. We got up and out of the room just in time on Tuesday to be picked up by the church van of the local Baptist church and taken to their church for a free all-you-can-eat hiker breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, oj, coffee and cookies. It was great! Had we been staying another day they assured us we'd be welcome back for another breakfast the next day. Such nice people. We decided to head back to the trail on Tuesday after riding around town on the really cheap local bus and doing some shopping and having lunch at Hazel P's restaurant (good lunch). It was almost 5:00 pm when we got back to the trailhead so we did a short 4.6 miles to Siler Bald where we set up camp just before a beautiful sunset and a nice star show.