morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-04
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter Barn
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

I was motivated for today. I have heard wonderful things of the Roan Highlands. It is a ridge of mountain peaks over 6,000' in elevation, most of which are balds. Balds were most likely made by native americans and/or early settlers. They cleared the top of the mountain for grazing animals. Now they serve as spectacular picturesque viewing areas. The Roan highlands also marks a start of new terrain on the trail. A day's worth of steep hiking repetitive ups and downs slowly opens up to lesser grades and fewer extreme elevation changes. This was exciting for me. More so than a state line. Crossing into a new state has a very short mental effect of progress but fades quickly, within minutes as the trail and terrain does not change. The real sense of renewal comes when you hike your 10-12 hours a day through new views, grades, material, scents, sights and sounds. After the Roan Highlands, this is what is in store. It being a weekend, my day was filled with passing nods and formalities with day hikers. Day hikers who park at 5,500' and walk in sweaters and denim to 5,800' for a picnic. I enjoy seeing day hikers. It is refreshing to see people out to enjoy what nature is left while it lasts. Inside us all still in our ancestral instinct to be wild. Saturdays are not for grocery shopping or shingling the roof. It is important to leave. It is important to wander. I see day hikers with the wild flame inside trying to break free but still caged in the rat race we call life. I smile and hope one day they will break free. For we all were wild once.
Date: 2014-05-05
From: Overmountain Shelter Barn

To: Laurel Fork
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: clear sky

Today was saturated with wonder. I wish the things that I have experienced today would be strung out along the days where I strive to keep climbing. I rose today earlier than I have on the trail this far. I was packed and on the trail before 7am. I gathered my gear under the remaining stars as the moon drifted over the mountainside and was replaced with deep purples, blues followed by pinks and oranges. I summited my first peak as the sun raced me to the top. I was greeted instantly with a glowing warm flood of sunlight and brisk stingingly refreshing wind. I hiked for hours on gusty balds and the waves of grass moistened my shins and the sun provided warmth against the biting wind. Hours later as I descended into the thriving green forest once again I was stopped by a sole sign in the middle of a small grass field informing me that I had completed my second state. I had said goodbye to North Carolina. The day grew very warm and as the wind quieted it grew stale, dusty and humid. I fell into trail vision and zoned out staring at my feet as my sweat poured away with the miles. My stare was broken with a grouping of sticks organized in no specific monument on the trail that simply drew out "400". The next 5 miles had passed under my feet in a flash as my newly lifted sprit had carried me the distance to my campsite next to the cascades of a large stream flowing between two peaks as the sun descended directly over the water.
Date: 2014-05-06
From: Laurel Fork

To: Hampton
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

It has been 5 days since I left Erwin and my food bag was extremely light. I had planned to hike into the next town and resupply, Hampton, TN. I descended quickly as I passed from rocky peak to stony path and leafless trees, to leafy trail into dirt and green, through meadow onto gravel trail and finally into town. I had followed a gorgeous, crystal clear river for the last few miles. Its cooling clear waters saving me from the heat as my head entered its churning pools every hour. I had finally reunited with former hiking companions at the Breamar Castle Hostel in Hampton that evening. It was filled with stories and food for the majority of the night and big plans for the upcoming days.
Date: 2014-05-07
From: Hampton

To: Stealth Camp 
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiking with company today was a saving grace. I had spent the last 5 days seeing only a few new faces and speaking only a few passing words. Today was filled with bellowing laughter, deep conversation and yearning aspirations between friends. The heat forces us to take a long lunch break in the shade and hike past sundown. I am thankful for the heat today and our breaks today for our walk on top or the ridge as the setting setting cast its pink sea of waves crashing over the Earth was an image I will not easily forget.
Date: 2014-05-08
From: Stealth Camp 

To: Damascus
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

Damascus, VA is a hiker's unofficial milestone. I yearned for it. I had done three 20 mile days in a row and planned on a fourth in order to feel the welcoming embrace of this thriving hiking community. As with many other trail towns, the AT follows down the main street. The name of every business is a hiking pun with every location serving food claiming their famous eating challenge was the hardest to beat, and majority of hikers would attempt, including myself. As the toll of the last 5 days and 100 miles had taken a toll on my body, I limped into Damascus with a rumbling stomach and aching feet. My planned day off tomorrow was well deserved and would be filled with much rest and many calories.
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Damascus

To: Partnership Shelter Area
Miles today: 11.8

It was a last minute decision as I was leaving Damascus hiking North, that I joined my friends who had secured a ride 75 trail miles North and were to hike back South into Damascus. We had all planned on attending "Trail Days" in Damascus, VA in 5 days. We were concerned, however, about how we would fair hitchhiking an hour by car if we continued hiking North. With this plan, we need not worry any longer.Trail Days is a festival that Damascus holds every year honoring the hiking community and the Appalachian Trail. The sleepy town of just over 800 people, split quite literally by the AT hosts over 30,000 people for this three day festival. Needless to say, we are excited. Yes, there will be the usual shenanigans and debauchery, but I think it is about time to partake in some good hearted fun.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Partnership Shelter Area

To: Hurricane Creek
Miles today: 19.7

The day started extremely humid and stayed that way. Sweat came as freely as steps all day long as the miles dripped away. Around 1pm, This Guy, Obsidian, Golly and I came across the most inviting stream. Without a second thought or a single word muttered between us, as if it were expected we took off our shoes and socks, bypassed the beautiful wooden bridge and forded the stream. We reached the other side about 15' across and 45 minutes later. There, in the pines, on a blanket of grass we ate lunch, drank liter upon liter of water and fell asleep. Hours later we began again and hiked well into the night, until we reached the next tenting area. Another successful day. We passed our 500 mile mark and saw our first bear and took only a few minutes to celebrate. Was it the high mileage that made it a successful day?
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Hurricane Creek

To: Wise Shelter area
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

Our day started later than normal in response to our setting up camp around midnight the night prior. The sun barreled down behind already threatening thunderstorm clouds. If we thought yesterday was humid, it was nothing like today. It was before 9am and already in the 80's it felt like with every possession we owned saturated and sticky. Our late start, rocky terrain, aching feet and the heavy air today caused us to take many breaks and slow our pace. Tomorrow we would walk through the Grayson Highlands, home to the famous "wild ponies". The day after we would make our excited and most likely far too hasty descent into Damascus and our time at Trail Days.
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Wise Shelter area

To: Lost Mountain
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

The "Wild" Ponies of the Grayson Highlands were introduced in the 1960's to help graze the top of the ridge. They were hardy enough to survive on their own throughout the year. They reproduce naturally and need no assistance from man to survive. I was fortunate enough to pass through two herds today. They paid me no mind as I silently paused for several minutes and sat to watch, amidst the family. I saw foals stand uneasily at my presence still on their fresh legs not more than a day old wobble under the protection of their mother's belly. The herd peacefully grazing, welcoming spring as they basked in the warm sun. It was a good day of hiking that passed quickly. Too quickly.
Date: 2014-05-15
From: Lost Mountain

To: Damascus
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

The rain finally caught up to me. My tent rumbled awake at 3am. The pounding only increased with the hours of the morning. I have been very lucky with the weather thus far in my journey and for that I am more than grateful for a wet minute is a miserable minute for this hiker. I packed up in the rain this morning which of course means the entirety of my possessions were now saturated and weighing more than double of that than their dry counterparts. The promise of food, music and warm people kept my morale high and dry today however. Hiking at more than 3 mph today and an early start had my belly full of BBQ and beer by 2pm. The unfortunate fact however of not hiking in the rain is that the cold sets in. The town was full and no indoor room was available. We had planned on tenting in the designated "Tent City" on the town's ball park for the weekend but had not planned on starting off with soaked gear. I obtained a quick hitch to the dollar store from a wonderful trail angel that blasted the heat for me no matter how foggy his windows got and cared not an ounce about the leather seats in his Jeep, for they are in fact only leather seats, and our conversations mattered much more. A few $3 tarps that were strung up with pruned, shivering fingers over a puddle that we called a campsite, and a smokey, wet fire had us miserably content with our sticky skin in our synthetic, damp sleeping bags for the night and ready for some actual civilization and socialization for an entire weekend.
Date: 2014-05-19
From: Atkins

To: Knot Maul Branch
Miles today: 13.9

I am sure you all can imagine what kind of trouble thousands of homeless hippy hikers can get themselves into at a three day festival, so I will spare you a description. For those of you interested in attending at a future time, I highly recommend it. There is much information on past years' and events and attractions during the festival, however one cannot begin to describe a sense of feeling, atmosphere, belonging and connection you will experience in a pamphlet. It was moderately easy to hitch North 75 miles, to my surprise. The group I was with made it all intact and we were excited to push out early in the morning. The trail was welcoming. Soft dirt and meadows for most of the day out of Atkins and it was food to be back.
Date: 2014-05-20
From: Knot Maul Branch

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: broken clouds

It was a slow day, starting late, still in the Trail Day's modus operandi. Uffda, Toceans, Chispa and I were soaking up the sights of the day, there were many. Streams, sunny meadows, ponds and windy balds drew us in all day. We snacked and rested often until late afternoon when we had decided we had procrastinated far too much for one day. We decided a short night hike was imperative for our self worth as hikers. We hiked more in the last 5 hours of our day than the first 10 and strolled into our camping area out of water and ready for bed. We did 19 miles the hard way, but squeezed all the juice out of the day that we could.
Date: 2014-05-22
From: Bland

To: Kimberling Creek
Miles today: 18.4

My paternal grandmother now joins my maternal grandmother, my two uncles and my aunt by my side on the trail. I spent the day hiking alone, in silence as I thought about all of them; memories, feelings, beliefs and prayers consumed me today. They are all the breeze cooling me, the birds' songs urging me, the leaves' whispers surrounding me, the streams' rippling quenching me. They are a part of the trail, a part of the Earth, a part of the universe and a part of me now. I was at peace so very close to her today.
Date: 2014-05-23
From: Kimberling Creek

To: Dismal Falls
Miles today: 1.8

After 1.8 miles this morning, we stumbled upon an amazing waterfall, swimming hole and camping area. We had decided the ones to get to Maine first lose, for the real victory was in the experience that we shared today. In the water laughing, joking and belly flopping. We set up camp and enjoyed what we had discovered.
Date: 2014-05-24
From: Dismal Falls

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 23.1

To make up for our short day yesterday, naturally we had planned on stretching ourselves too thin today. Waking up before 6am and hitting the trail hard, we made easy work of the day. With aching feet we waddled into Pearisburg where we had a motel room waiting for us, classic movies on tv to watch, bathtubs to dirty and a Chinese buffet in town to embarrass. We did just that.
Date: 2014-05-27
From: Pearisburg

To: Rice Field
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

The town vortex is real. Real food and a very easy hitch into the next town for a movie(s) kept us stuck in the town's tractor beam. It was a fun few days with much needed calories and prepared real food until we finally broke out and hit the trail... directly into a thunderstorm. The deep pink burning sun shown through just as it was setting at 8:30 and broke up the clouds as we dried our gear over a smokey fire and retired for the night.
Date: 2014-05-28
From: Rice Field

To: Captain's
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

The green tunnel refers to the vegetation at the top of the Virginia ridges. The trail is 10" wide and the ground covered in hundreds of different species of 1' tall green plants. When they are wet in the morning, the green tunnel loses its "awe factor" and shifts to a muttering, incoherent mumbling about my feet being soaked so early in the day. An easy day of hiking brought me to the Captain's place. An older gentleman who owns property on the trail invites hikers to camp for free in his yard and invites them to raid his soda/freshly caught trout fridge with a sign saying "Hippies use the back porch" and greets you with a warm smile.
Date: 2014-01-31
To: Setting up the journal
Miles today: 0.0

Having finally decided that this is the year we start our hike, the first step is to set up our Trail Journals page. We've been reading these journals since 2005, and have learned a lot about what it's like to hike. But there's more to setting up the journal than I expected. Lots of choices to pick from...that's not so tough. They can be changed later if we change our mind.         Picking trail names was harder. Woofie has had her nickname her whole life, so that was easy. Been working on mine since we started reading trail journals and found out about trail names. I've never had a nick name, and wasn't sure I'd be comfortable with being labeled by a stranger. Finally settled on Wooly Booly (WB) recently. We'll see how that goes.The first entry...that blank page with infinite possibilities. That's more daunting than the thought of hiking 2000 miles. Especially for someone my age who has never done anything on social media before. So now with the first entry done and the possibilities reduced, I have ideas for more entries. Step one taken. The rest should be easier.
Date: 2014-02-02
To: Woofie & her knees
Miles today: 0.0

This entry is Woofie's. I've always liked walking in the woods. It was over 20 years ago that I decided on a life's goal of hiking the Appalachian Trail. But around 2003 arthritis became a big problem for my knees. By 2007 my knee hurt so bad I thought I'd never be able enjoy even short walks. But in 2008 I found a wonderful doctor, and he replaced my left knee, including the knee cap. It had gotten that bad. By late that summer my knee had healed and it was pain free. But by 2010 my right knee began to give out. Dr Ferrero was reluctant at first because I had had polio as a child, and I was his first polio patient. When I was two years old, polio completely paralyzed my right side. Thanks to a year spent in a rehab hospital and then two older brothers that I had to keep up with, I regained full use of my right arm and leg. But since then, my right leg has always been a bit smaller and weaker than the left one. I use a small lift inside my right shoe to even things out. In early 2011 he replaced that knee also. By late summer both of my knees were pain free, but my left foot was really bothering me. I had a huge bunion and a cross-over toe that made walking on that foot painful. I knew I had to get that fixed, too. People with normal, healthy feet suffer from foot pain while hiking on the trail. I couldn't hike with a foot that hurt before I started. So I had that foot operated on in early 2013. Now the bunion is gone, the toe is fixed, and I have pins in the foot to keep everything in place. My husband suggested my trail name should be New Knees, but I still feel like I'm Woofie. So now I'm ready, willing, and very able to start hiking. I've waited long enough.
Date: 2014-02-03
To: Our hiking schedule
Miles today: 0.0

We plan to start from Springer Mountain in the beginning of May. At this point the 1 May start date on this journal is still flexible, but it might be a few days later if necessary. We won't be doing any mail drops, but just resupplying in the towns we come to. This will avoid having to hurry to reach a post office before closing time on a certain day, or having to wait a day or a weekend for it to reopen.Once we set off from Springer Mountain, our schedule will be determined only by the sun and the weather. We will be carrying hammocks so that we can pretty much stop anywhere along the trail for the night (except in those places where staying at shelters is required). We also won't be hiking set distances based on the locations of the shelters. The shelters are known to be home to mice & squirrels, so we prefer to use our hammocks or a tent. We will visit the shelters, though, since they are convenient places to fix and eat meals, get water, and meet other hikers.Our only constraint for this year's hike is how long we can be on the trail. We have cats. And Woofie loves her cats so much she can't be away longer than three months. So we're starting later in the season with warmer weather and hope to get as far as Harper's Ferry. It's the nearest point on the AT to our home in Maryland, and we'll need to get back home to the cats that are missing us.Over the past few years we've read many hikers' journals to learn what to expect and what to avoid if possible. Carrying too much can ruin a hike. But hiking too fast or too far each day can be just as bad. So we won't be hiking as fast or as far as we can. This is a one-time adventure--a journey of 1012 miles. It starts with a single step, and we want to enjoy every step as much as possible.
Date: 2014-02-04
To: How we prepared
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We've been thinking about the hike for 20 years. We've read dozens of journals on Trail Journals; bought and watched six videos about hiking the AT; and read three books and the Thru Hiker's Companion. We've even talked to Winton Porter at Walasi Yi.We've bought all our gear, hiked with our poles, slept in hammocks and tent, and packed our backpacks.We've traveled to many well-known places along the trail: Mt Washington, Clingman's Dome, Blood Mountain, Roan Moantain, and the James River Foot Bridge. Originally from NY state, we've hiked from Mt Peter to Wildcat shelter, up the mountain from Rt 17 near Vernon, NJ, and along the ridge of Prospect Rock near Greenwood Lake.Are we ready? Yes! Are we prepared? We don't know, and we won't find out for sure until we start. But we're ready...because of the excitement of the unknown.
Date: 2014-02-05
To: Getting more gear
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday we went to REI to get all the small items we'll need on the hike. We got stuff bags, a water filter, fleece jackets to wear under our rain jackets, platypus water bags, and socks. The bad news was that the bill came to over $900. But the good news was that all those things only weighed 7 pounds, and we can split that between the two of us.For today's post, I'm testing out my iPhone to see how that goes. Uploading the photo went well after I installed the extra app needed for mobile devices. Typing the text is kind of tedious with using one finger on the iPhone virtual keyboard. But it seems to be doable. Later I will install a voice to text converter see how that works.WB
Date: 2014-02-09
To: Trying iPhone Apps
Miles today: 0.0

Today I downloaded a couple apps to my iPhone that convert voice input to text. That should make journaling much easier on the trail. So far I've installed Voice Texting Pro and Write. Both were free apps. Both seemed to work well and were easy to use. There were big differences between them, though. With Write, you hold the button push-to-talk-style while talking and release when ready to convert to text. With Voice Texting Pro you press the button once and start talking. It stops recording when you pause or after a length of time. I don't have real control over when it stops, so I have to push the button to start recording again. I like Write better for that aspect, but that's the only thing I can do with it for free. It has many other features that are disabled until I pay for an upgraded version, and then to escape the ads I have to pay for another upgrade. I think the free copy & paste only version is all I need, though. Both apps let me select and copy text and paste it into another app...probably into a notepad or email for editing before copying and pasting into a new journal page. The big problem, though, is that neither work without Internet access, so I'll have to rely on typing when I'm out of data signal range.The most fun I've had so far was sending emails to everyone with our Trail Journals link over the last couple of days. We've been telling everyone for the last few years about our intentions, so now it's official. This spring we're doing it. And the best part about Trail Journals is the pictures. Being retired military, we have friends around the country who haven't seen us for many years, (and have never seen me with long hair). It's great that they will be able to follow us on our hike.WB
Date: 2014-02-19
To: The Great Escape
Miles today: 0.0

This past week has had some of the worst winter weather. The whole east coast from Georgia to Maine got socked with everything from freezing rain, sleet, ice, and snow. At our home in Southern Maryland, we had 11 inches of snow over two days. Southern states suffered worse with thick ice forming on everything, bring down trees that blocked roads and cut off power. As bad as it was for us folks in civilization, I can't even imagine what it must have been like for hikers already on the trail. Snow is to be expected this time of year in the mountains, but an ice storm is too dangerous because if the chance of hikers either falling or having a tree fall on them.We've had enough winter weather and sitting in doors. On Monday we traveled to Florida for the rest of the winter, where we can hike and bike and kayak. We have to stay as active as possible to be in shape to hike. In April we'll head back home to finish getting ready to hike in May. In the meantime, we plan to shop at dollar and convenience stores for foods from that might be right for the trail.