morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-30
From: Hanover, N.H.

To: Day 140 - Etna to Home
Miles today: 5.8

I'm trying to recall my last day on the trail. I knew early in the day that my knee was not going to get me over the Whites, but I lied to myself that I could at least get to Mt Washington. I hiked out of Hanover, but after only four miles I began to face the truth and decided to head back home.I can't say that it was a difficult decision, because I think it was the only realistic choice I had. I would have to get home , heal up and resume the hike next year. I hitchhiked from Etna, N.H. to the bus station in White River Junction. The last of my trail angels took me right to the door and made sure I could get a bus back home. Thank you so much!Reality sucks, so even after getting home and limping around for a few weeks I made one last stab at finishing the hike this year. The Administrator and I hiked up Mt. Cardigan; a six mile, pack-less, moderate hike, but my knee didn't respond very well. The thru-hike attempt was officially over for 2014.Now, after a couple of months, my knee has finally started to respond to light duty. I sent my Osprey Atmos Backpack back to the company for repair, but it was too far gone; so they shipped me out a new pack. Great service from Osprey! I only wish I could have gotten the old pack back, just for memories sake. I do intend to make some new memories with the new pack.I've told the Administrator that if I had the chance [that means money] I'd start all over again next March. Believe it or not she said she'd support me if that were to happen. More likely, I'll start over again in 2016.I can't tell you how much I miss the trail. Even though I'm an extroverted introvert, if that makes any kind of sense, I really enjoyed the people I met both on and off the trail. Especially those off. So many kind and generous people who were truly interested in us and were determined to help us succeed. I tried to thank them every time and I hope they could see how much they all meant to me.I'm sorry this has been so long in coming, I just didn't want the hike to end; and this ends it.John and Mike Take a Hike [with Natalie]
Date: 2014-04-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So I have felt increasingly compelled to start a trail journal on here. I am already blogging for a totally awesome company named Roam The Woods who made my entire journey a reality but I figured I needed something to keep a more detailed account of my life changing thru-hike. I have been attempting a paper journal but I really want to share my experiences with more than my notebook and headlamp. I figure my friends will appreciate it as well. Though, definitely keep up with my other blog as well! So for a short introduction my name is Katrina but I have been named Knaffles out here on the trail. It is short for knifeless and falls a lot. I like it- it shows I can make fun of myself and laugh about a situation. A quality that is key to staying strong in the backcountry. I started on Springer Mountain in Georgia on March 9th. I am lucky that my father was able to accompany me on the hike up to Springer and I cannot explain how much that meant to me. My goal is to make it to Mt. Katahdin in Maine this year. So far I have taken a relatively slow pace but I am okay with that. I started to have an adventure and that is what I plan to do. I can't think of a better way to explore the East Coast than to travel it by foot. I felt angry with humanity before I left for this trip. Now, my entire trip is in the hands of the kindness of others. Slowly, I am realizing there are still kind people out there. Not everyone is out to get something from you. There have been way too many stories to recap between Springer and my current location but I will try in my next log. I will then keep up with this as often as I am able. Thanks again to everyone who has made this possible and everyone who is reading this!!
Date: 2014-04-06
From: Springer Mountain, GA

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 166.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Alright! So there have been way too many stories to recap right now. You can read about the legend of SauceBoss and why you should practice good LNT techniques and be prepared for where you are going on my blog at Roam the Woods. I have been taking a slow start and zeroing whenever bad weather is expected. I have met some awesome people along the way. I have also managed to break, lose, or rip almost all of my gear in some manner. This includes but is not limited to my downy, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, Leki trekking poles, lost my knife, and so much more. I should be a professional gear tester. Hey gear manufacturers! The ultimate gear tester is right here! Hahaha, but seriously I am going to be a pro at duct tape fixes by the end of this trail.I have started at Springer and slowly made my way to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I have seen Fontana Hilton, been to the cute Bavarian town called Helen, stayed at Ron Havens Budget Inn in Franklin (WWRHD?) And a lot more. I have enjoyed everywhere I have been. Dont underestimate the power of a warm bed and a shower. The trail magic and kind people I have met along the way has been refreshing. Shout out to everyone who takes the time to maintain the trail, help out hikers in any way, Miss Janet, Tobasco, and and many many more people. You all are awesome and truly make this world go round! ---So far I have completed the trail through Georgia and I am currently weaving back and forth through North Carolina and Tennessee. I was having some arch issues but with the help of an awesome guy at the NOC in North Carolina I have a better idea of how to avoid these issues. My arch and knee issues are both slowly clearing up and I have minimal blisters. I had attempted a different pair of shoes but they destroyed my feet so I'm back to my old shoes with new inserts. So far so good. So you know I have been in good spirits! Except for the climb into North Carolina- I was pretty sure I was climbing up North Carolina's middle finger. I could have sworn it really did hate me. It proved me wrong the next day with AWESOME views from the Albert Mountain fire tower! Other than that I have been happy to be where I am at. Great company definitely helps. Champ is also in good spirits and awesome physical condition. His pads are doing just fine and he has energy.. far more energy than I do. After a run in with hot dog trail magic (in which Champ ate more hot dogs than I did) he decided to go on strike against his dog food. I can't say I blame him though. Right now he is in the good hands of a kennel as I make my way through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I'll talk about them in the next post!Thanks for keeping up! -Knaffles
Date: 2014-04-09
From: Newfound Gap

To: Icewater Shelter
Miles today: 3.0

After a double zero in Gatlinburg, TN full of free moonshine samples, food, a hot tub, and a ton of fun it was time to hit the trail again. With a full resupply of sausage, beer, moonshine, and more we decided we would only nero to the next shelter for a total of 3 miles for the day. Unfortunately the fire ring at this shelter had been removed because other hikers have cut down live trees to attempt building fires so we had to cook the sausage by stove.. but it was still a great night, despite ending up with some serious heart burn in the middle of the night! The hike out of Gatlinburg was a lot colder than expected though. While we were in town another snow/ice storm had come through. It was absolutely beautiful though! The entire world looks like it is made out of glass when the sun shines on the ice.. it's absolutely breathtaking!
Date: 2014-04-10
From: Icewater Shelter

To: Tricorner Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

The majority of ice had melted today by the time I started out and luckily it started to warm up pretty quick. I had a relatively "early" start so I took advantage of the extra time by exploring, sitting around eating, and messing around most of the day. The hike today was pretty awesome since the trail was on a ridgeline most of the day. The most awesome view of the day though had to be Charlie's Bunion, which is completely worth the detour! Tuna was here and luckily we were able to get photos of each other. I think this has to be my favorite view of the entire Smokies.Got to the shelter a little later than I would have liked and the shelter was full but Dirtbag was awesome enough to give me his space in the shelter. I don't think the shelters are as bad as everyone says.. Maybe I just don't like dealing with my tent in the morning. So today I came to the realization that I have barely been sad on the trail. Before I left for my thru-hike I was pretty bitter and very snappy at everyone. Since I have been out here I have barely felt any of that. I have been happy with where I am and the thought of quitting has never crossed my mind. I've become more honest with myself and my feelings. I've been upset with the trail, and I have definitely been angry with the trail.. but these feelings always disappear quickly. By the way, the best feeling in the world is to be able to scream as loud as you want about how much you hate the rock or branch that just tripped you.. or screaming that AWOL's elevation profile is a complete lie..
Date: 2014-04-11
From: Tricorner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today was again full of easy hiking and beautiful views on the ridge line. There was an old but small plane wreckage on the side of the trail that I explored a bit. I even started to see some horses on the trail today. Horses are allowed on the Appalachian trail in portions of the Smokies, but these were trail maintainers utilizing the horses to get rid of trees across the trail. Thank goodness for trail maintainers! The trail was so nice today I ended up getting to the shelter early in the afternoon today and was pretty excited to have shelter space. Even more exciting... some section hikers left behind some Backpacker's pantry meals! So much better than my pasta sides. We spent the nice with great company including Blackhorse, Dirtbag, Tuna, Meticulous, Superfeet and Barnicles. The guys together to get a great fire going and we spent an awesome night with great company and music. Morale was definitely high tonight!
Date: 2014-04-12
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm Hostel
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Today's trail was mainly downhill today which was a nice change. It was gradual and not too hard on the knees. At the shelter we had noticed some glasses and weren't sure if they belonged to Blackhorse so they were packed out. We figured we would catch up to Blackhorse at some point in the day. About 2.8 miles from the shelter there is the Mt Cammerer trail which leads to a lookout tower. We were told by some other hikers that it was worth the hike and we should go check out it out.. The only bummer was the tower was .6 off the trail! I still ended up deciding to ditch my pack at the bottom of the trail and take a look at the tower. The Mt Cammerer lookout tower looks like a cute little lighthouse on the side of the rock and is completely worth the 1.2 mile detour! If you are ever in the Smokies.. this is the cutest fire tower! After eating a small lunch I continued on down and made good time. I ended up rolling my ankle and decided to take a break at Davenport gap shelter. This is the only shelter left in the Smokies to still be enclosed by a fence. It's a pretty dark, depressing looking shelter to be honest. I'm glad they decided to get rid of the fence even though they are removing it because hikers were feeding animals through the fence..Finally made it to Standing Bear Farm hostel after the last, completely exhausting climb. Decided to stay the night and split a cabin with Tuna, Meticulous, Superfeet, Barnicles, and Dirtbag. The cabin was small but pretty cute. We had chicken's as our porch neighbors! No sign of Blackhorse when we had gotten to Standing Bear but I was surprised to see that Stargazer was here! She was stuck nursing an injury but would be leaving soon!
Date: 2014-04-13
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After a long night at Standing Bear we all decided to zero for the day. Standing Bear is a pretty weird, but cool hostel run by Rocket. It runs off of an honor system and you pay at the end. You get to choose the cabin (which we had), bunkhouse, or you can tent on property. There are two showers, an "indoor" and an outdoor shower. Both showers are pretty cute but I would totally recommend the outdoor shower if you have a choice! Also, Laundry is free because you have to hand wash it the old fashioned way with a washboard! Pretty exciting! I think that was the cleanest my socks have been so far on the trail!There are also several chickens roaming around on property along with some cats and a dog. Dirtbag, Rocket, and I tried to catch a chicken to throw in Meticulous' bed.. but chickens are too dang hard to catch! We had to settle for a cat instead.Champ update!!! After getting in contact with Loving Care Kennels they promptly returned him to me at Standing Bear. Champ was so excited to see me! The kennel was probably an awesome experience for Champ.. before the kennel he wouldn't play with other dogs because he had become territorial over me and our "bubble" of hikers. The kennels worked with him and he made friends pretty quickly with Duke at standing bear! Today was a good zero. I got Champ back and we both got to relax. Even lady and the tramp showed up.. and Champ decided he is in absolute love with lady! UPDATE: Today we did receive some pretty upsetting news. We found out from the hostel that Blackhorse had never shown up because he had fallen and sustained some pretty serious injuries and was in the hospital. Blackhorse, if you read this.. we miss you very much! Please heal quick!!
Date: 2014-04-14
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 10.8

Got a late start out of Standing Bear today and had an exceptionally hard hike out. I wasn't feeling very well today and it was a pretty tough climb for a good portion of the day. To make it worse it started to rain halfway up the climb and got pretty cold. I was pretty fed up with the climb so I stopped and took a decent break off the trail so that I was out of the wind. When I finally got up and started hiking I saw a large tent within FIVE minutes.. What is a tent doing in the middle of the woods..? And then there was a cooler! Trail magic! An awesome trail angel named Apple was at the top of Snowbird mountain with soda and water! After a much needed soda I was feeling a lot better. That's the way the trail works.. just when you need it the most, it will provide. You just have to remember that the bad never lasts! After it took me forever to climb to snowbird mountain the trail magic had refreshed me and I got down to Groundhog Shelter quick! I was originally going to stay here but the rest of the crew was here. The shelter was full and there weren't that many decent tent sites so we all decided to push on. I wasn't happy about that since I still wasn't feeling great but the rest of the hike wasn't bad. We ended up staying at Brown gap, where Lady and the Tramp were also tenting. After a good fire we all went to bed.
Date: 2014-04-15
From: Brown Gap

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up to the sound of rain hitting the tent pretty early so I went back to bed so I could wait out the rain. I woke up later in the morning and the rain had turned to sleet and it was starting to get pretty cold! By 12 or 1 in the afternoon none of us had gotten out of our tents.When I finally opened my tent door I saw WHITE! It was snowing! And accumulating fast! It was a pretty quick decision that none of us were going to be hiking out today. We still barely got out of our tents except to get water and our food bags. It was a cold night! Another unexpected zero!
Date: 2014-04-16
From: Brown Gap

To: Kale Gap
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

After a long zero day cooped up in my small tent with a stinky, wet dog I woke up to a white and fluffy world. It had been so cold the night before the condensation froze to the inside of the tent! It looked pretty awesome. Luckily it started to warm up quickly and after waiting most of the morning I was able to able to pack up a dry tent. All of the melting snow caused the trail to be super muddy! There were a few sketchy downhills where I think it might have been safer to just ski down the trail! So by the time I got to Max patch most of the snow had melted but Max patch was still beautiful! It was a great place to take Champ¢s pack off and let him play in the grass until it got too cold. I'm surprised by how nice Max Patch looks after the 4 wheeler vandalism last year. Slowed down the second half of the day so I made it to Kale gap with Dirtbag just before sunset. The wind was brutal!!
Date: 2014-04-17
From: Kale Gap

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up and the wind STILL hadn't let up! I normally take my time in the morning but it was way too cold. I even skipped breakfast! And would you believe that the minute we hiked about 100 feet up the trail the wind let up? It was just the gap that was windy.. we had picked such a terrible campsite!So today was a relatively easy day physically. I made good time beside having broken glasses. I had lost a screw for my lens at Standing Bear and it's not an easy screw to find. I ended up super gluing the lens in place.. but the super glue failed this morning! It was pretty interesting having to constantly check trail heads to find the trial and dodge roots or rocks. I somehow managed to only fall once though! Aside from having difficulty seeing I made such good time to the shelter before Hot Springs that it was decided to push into town. Food, beer, shower, and a real bed were beckoning me..
Date: 2014-04-20
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

After a medication / mail mix up I found out on Friday I was going to be stuck in Hot Springs, NC until Monday. Definitely wasn't a bad place to get stuck! The local Hiker's Ridge, run by a church organization, provided somewhere for hikers to hang out. The Hiker's Ridge offered wifi, showers, free pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and other awesome services for hikers. They even had nail polish where I was able to paint my toe nails! Gotta still feel like a girl out here!!So I split a motel room until Easter where Superfeet, Barnicles, Dirtbag, Hooch, and a few others finally pushed out of town. I then moved into the Hot Springs shelter- literally a town stage behind the local bar that hikers crash in. It comes equipped with a Porta potty and fire ring. Ronnie the local homeless man also stays around the shelter. Ronnie was apparently a hiker who was thru-hiking a few ago.. and just never left Hot Springs. He is an interesting character who speaks in tongues and believes he is a high priest. Easter was nice in town. I was able to hang out at the Hiker's Ridge and skype the family back at home! It was so great being able to watch everyone hunt for easter eggs! My niece is freaking adorable! When I got off skype I went back to the shelter where Meticulous and Tuna had come back from Asheville with Meticulous' father.. and they brought Easter eggs! Yum! Easter only got better. I hiked to Lovers Leap with some others in the afternoon. I spent a great afternoon with Meticulous, Tuna, Daytripper and Rock Sloth ( Who finally caught up to us!! Turtle Crew reunited!), Running Bear and more. Then Hot Springs got weirder at night. Some woman was walking by around 10 pm when some of the other hikers started to talk to her. She was collecting food for her pet MONKEYS. Yeah, I said monkeys. What happened next? We found out it was her birthday where she gave us one of her birthday cakes.. and then she told us she was going to go get one of the monkeys for us to see!! And sure enough she did! She came back with TWO monkeys! One was a few months old and the other a few weeks ago. You can't get any cuter than baby monkeys in diapers! Hot Springs was pretty awesome.
Date: 2014-04-21
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 14.8

So Meticulous' father had come to visit her this weekend and would help provide grilled cheese (his new name is Grilled Cheese) trail magic at Allen Gap today. He was nice enough to slack pack me, Meticulous, Tuna, Daytripper, Rock Sloth and RunningBear. Slack packing felt amazing!! I wish I could do it more often! I took the day slow since I had the time and energy to actually explore. At 14.8 this was my furthest day yet.. so glad I didn't have a full pack!   I did end up falling (are you surprised?) during the last 3 miles and it was probably my best, or worst, fall yet. I tore up my leggings and my knee pretty good. I have another scar trophy! I just keep adding to the collection. Pretty soon I'm going to need knee pads!The trail was absolutely beautiful. I passed a beautiful pond full of tadpoles and frogs, walked through an old tobacco farming field, and hiked up to the firetower.   I also ended up hiking through a recent controlled burn.. how weird that was!By the time I made it to Allen Gap I was exhausted! Thankfully there was still some of the trail magic left over and kool aid makes everything better. A huge thank you to Meticulous and her father , Grilled Cheese, for trail magic and slack packing me!! I definitely appreciate it!!
Date: 2014-04-22
From: Allen Gap

To: Jerry Cabin shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: light rain

Finally made it out of Hot Springs, for real... even though there was a threat of afternoon thunderstorms. Grilled Cheese was awesome enough to drop us back off at Allen Gap in the morning before heading home. It felt great getting back out knowing I was finally getting out of Hot Springs!The day was pretty eventful with on and off rain and fog that you could barely see through. Anyone who knows me well knows I HATE thunderstorms. So.. of course every time it started to rain harder I would pick up the pace... by a lot. Got to a fork in the trail with two options - a blue blaze that was for bad weather days, or the Appalachian Trail which followed an exposed ridgeline. Of course you have to stay on the AT! Fortunately I had a couple of hours before the storms were supposed to hit. Hooch was at the fork.. and we saw each other a couple of times on the ridge. We had even made fun of how "exposed" it was when the weather got worse.. and it became more exposed... that's what we get! But it was fun!Turtle Crew was reunited since they did shorter miles so we could catch up. By the way.. hit the 300 mile mark just after the shelter!!!
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Jerry Cabin shelter

To: Devil Fork Gap
Miles today: 8.7

So last night I saw Jersey Girl for the first time since the Smokies! So great to see her and see that she is going strong! (Jersey girl is the only other Jersey Girl I have met on the trail and she is a true inspiration.) Word was that her husband was going to be at Devil's Fork Gap.. with soda and other cold drinks! That means... move fast! Got to Devils Fork gap in time for some soda and it was great! Thank you again to Jersey Girl and your husband for the awesome trail magic! While at Devil's Fork Gap some of the TC wanted to go to Laurel Trading Post to resupply.. I was hoping for some hot food. When we got there we got sucked into the vortex (uh, hot breakfast? Yeah!) and ended up tenting there... The food was great! I was able to eat two bacon cheese burgers! And they were delicious! I showered! And later that night we had popcorn and watched Step Brothers. Totally worth the stay.