morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-20
From: Abol Bridge

To: Katahdin Springs Campground
Miles today: 9.9

Well , we finally got some rain - last night as yours truly was snug in his bed at the Big Moose cabins. By 9 am the skies were starting to clear and Rebecca had me back at Abol Bridge. Back on the trail and shortly later into Baxter State Park. Another beautiful walk, forded Upper Fork of Nesowadnehunk Stream with one croc on. I debated whether to take off boots at all. Most folks could probably rock hop across whole stream but there was one step I wasn't sure of. Better safe than sprawling in the stream hence one croc/ one foot in stream to ensure safe crossing. Crossing Upper Fork was no problem (even for me!!). Got to Big Niagara Falls which was pretty impressive and met Rebecca and Charlie. We walked up to Daicey Pond and plopped into a sunny grass spot and chatted the afternoon away. Finally got up and walked the final couple miles to Katahdin Springs campground. Charlie, No Pants (whose been doing trail magic today) and I are camping at Lean-to # 11. It's quite chilly tonight with lows maybe dipping into the 40's. In other words, typical Maine weather for this time of year. I'm tucked into my sleeping bag for the last time this journey. Looking forward to tomorrow!!
Date: 2015-09-21
From: Katahdin Springs Campground

To: Mt Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

WOW!! What a fantastic finish to a great journey. Weather today was great- low humidity, deep blue skies, highs in upper 60's? On trail and headed up mountain by 7:15am with No Pants and Charlie. Katahdin is such a great mountain! Trail is fairly tame for first couple miles, gets steep, and then the hand over hand climbing starts. It's quite a workout to reach the Tablelands but the views were fantastic. The trail levels out on the Tablelands and then the relatively short climb to Baxter Peak. Quite a crowd already there, combination of day hikers and thru hikers (Cleancut,Splitter, Five, Neon, and Pilgrim were among the thrus summiting today.). Got multiple pictures by the summit sign (hey, I hiked nearly 2,200 miles - I wasn't just getting one!). Weather was great. We had lunch near the summit and could have stayed there longer but there was still hiking to do. Came down Katahdin via the Knife edge - one of the most impressive views in the east. Rebecca, Charlie and I did it back in 1984. I remember it as spectacular and it was again - I was however much slower going across 31 years later!! Down to the Roaring Stream campground by 4:30 pm where Rebecca picked us up. The journey is over!! I'll post some final thoughts in a few days. Thanks for your support! It has really helped!!
Date: 2015-01-23
To: Guess I'll Blog
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Between Family, friends, folks at the shop and everyone else it seems like there's some interest in following me along online as I take off on my long walk in the woods. I figured I'd put a little journal together so everyone can follow along with me. In just over a month I'll be writing from the trail on my first night out I'm getting a little nervous as the date approaches but it's an excited nervous! A lot people look at me with a face of hesitation, asking what I'm thinking but I couldn't think of any better way to spend the next few months deciding what I want to do as I transition between colleges trying to figure out what degree I want to pursue. I've always loved the outdoors, camping, and hiking with the thought of hiking the A.T. as the pinnacle of all three. When I was boy scout I couldn't think of anything cooler to do as I was backpacking through Philmont and now a young adult I've got the time and means to begin this epic multi-month journey walking with spring from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. I'll also post all the info about my gear there had been a good bit of curiosity from folks at the shop about what all I'd be taking with me. If anybody has any questions or anything feel free to ask!"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-01
To: Jitters to excitment
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So one month till I leave and I'm dying of anticipation. The feelings of nervousness and trepidation has turned to excitement. I'm on the final count down to take off and can't wait to get out on the trail to start this journey. Mom asked the other day if I wanted to push back the date or anything, all I could do was laugh and shake my head. I don't think there's much in this world that can stop me now I've got my plan and I'm sticking to it this has been a year in the works so now I'm more than ready to take off...tick tock tick tock"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-08
To: Gears all in!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

So I think I've got all my gear all plugged into the gear sheet on here so feel free to take a look and ask any questions ya may have about why how or what it'll do for me. For those you graduated through hikers I'd love to get some feed back and thoughts from you all I've found the best way to learn is through experience and I figure you all ought to have plenty. I'll be running with a base weight of about 18 pounds before food and water, when maxed out I think the most weight I'll have to carry is about 30 some pounds on my longest gap between towns. I'm pretty impressed with my own weight I wasn't trying to get so low but working at an outdoor retail store like Mountain Trails has given me the chance to vastly improve my gear. Now to my fellow thru-hikers I can't wait to meet you all along the trail this year and wish you all the best of luck as you take off on your own hikes!"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-11
To: Got a Jerky Sponsor!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So got home from the shop today and mom had some awesome news, she got me a beef jerky sponsor! One of the guys she works with Mike has been making his own Jerky for a while now and I've taken it out on a few multi day trips and the stuff is great! Mom was joking with him the other day that he should sponsor my trip and they both had a little laugh. Well he came back today and actually wants to do it!! I'll be posting a little more info about his jerky tomorrow and hopefully a link for you all to check out. Also in the next few days I'll start to upload picks of all my gear and maybe even a little gear video, but we'll see about that one...any way 16 days to go but not like anyone's counting..."Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-13
To: Total Figures
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So went ahead and put together the budget for gear and it looks like I spent $ 3,514.54 it most likely came out under this price because I got the MSRP prices all the gear. Luckily I was able to get most of it either on sale or through EP programs. I'm still working on pulling together all of my food costs but I've purchased over a quarter of my food and so far that's cost about 250.00 bucks. The next few days I'll be gathering the rest of my food and preparing them for my mail drops so all my folks will have to do is seal them up and drop them off at the post office. I've noticed a lot of people say that mailing the food isn't worth it, but I'd have to disagree with flat rate boxes and stores like Costco I can save tons on food costs and get exactly what I want and huge price savings. I estimate when it's all said and done I'll spend around 750.00 on food. The other thing I've noticed complaining about is the logistics of hiking with mail drops but with flat rate boxes the post office has to hold your box for at least a month so if you send a box a couple weeks out of when you expect to hit town you should have no problem with hiking too fast or too slow. But I'll let you all know my final thoughts comes the end of my hike and if I'd recommend it to others. And as for my Jerky Sponsor I'm still waiting for all the details but I'll keep you guys updated!"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-20
To: One Week Left
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Only one week left till I'll be down in Georgia and the anticipation is killer, I've lost like all motivation for anything not related to the trail. Monday will be my last day over at Mountain Trails which will give me the rest of the week to spend with friends and get all the last minute stuff together before I'm gone for 4-5 months. I've been trying to stay on top of weather conditions and looks like they're calling for cold rainy conditions for the first couple of days but I won't let it stop me or hold me up. This is part of it and I've just gotta push through it, rain is an old nemesis of mine, but I won't let it dampen my spirits or attitude about my hike. Gear wise I've decided to add a 15 degree sleeping bag liner from sea to summit, a little extra weight but I know I won't mind it on cold nights. In other news I ran into EVAC a 2014 Thru Hiker that I gave some beer to as he and a fellow hiker were half way through the roller coaster, he happened to come into the shop a couple months later and I've seen him a few times now! He wished me well and offered some last minute advice before I take off, it's pretty awesome to run into folks you've met out on the trail back in the real world! And a quick shout out to Ice Cream, T-Square, Dirt Time, Oliver and Gordon I hope to see you guys all out on the trail, I'm not going for a land speed record or anything so I may run into ya all, but best of luck on your hikes guys! Last But not least to Nan and anyone else that might be curious I'm using a Jet Boil Flash, I haven't gotten to use or even see a mini yet.Probably gonna be my last post until next Friday night when I'm anxiously in bed unable to sleep with excitement thinking about the journey I'm about to begin!"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"
Date: 2015-02-28
From: Amicalola Falls Visitor Center

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

DISCLAIMER: The following Journal has been approved for children of all ages from 5 to 85! Bear with me as I get all my thoughts put together and work my way up the coast. Since I'll be in the woods most of the time realize that I won't be posting everyday or every week but whenever I can. It may be long gaps in when I can get to a computer to jot everything down for you guys but I'm gonna do my best so be patient. I hope ya enjoy the read and if you've got any questions feel free to ask away in the guest book! Wow looking back I can't believe I did that to myself 17 miles is way to much for the first day. I had only planned to hike about 8 or 10 miles today but I took off early and felt great as I rolled by Stover Creek Shelter.Part of the reason I went so quick was because I crossed paths with a future thru hiker Maria who I chatted with the whole way up Springer. I hope you make it out onto the trail this Summer I know you'll do great and have a blast!We parted ways ontop of Springer and she bolted up the trail to finish her day hike. The view from the top of Springer was gorgeous and we got lucky it cleared up for a while and were able to snap a picture. Then I snapped a selfie on the first blaze of the AT to commemorate my official first steps on the Trail. I had followed a pair of foot prints up from Springer that looked like they had no tread on them. Finally ran into the owners and they belonged to a pair of Kentucky boys named Marlboro man and I can't remember the friends name but I wanted to call him no tread since his boots were smooth on the bottoms, no idea how he made it. They said he slipped and slide the whole way and I don't doubt it pretty impressive since they've got about 68 lbs packs.On the way down Springer I was in awe of the snow covered trees and trail it was beautiful walking through it all with a blanket of snow. It felt almost like a jungle covered with snow and the the low trees banking the streams it was a gorgeous site. I figured I'd push on to hawk since I still had so much daylight and was feeling great. Met some great folks that night at the shelter; Ramblin Man, Loner Boner, Taters, Eggs and Bacon, Luna, Tom, Ryan, The Kentucky Boys, and a couple of section hikers out on their annual pilgrimage.
Date: 2015-03-01
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Boy oh boy were my knees feeling it today those 17 miles yesterday were a total mistake should have just stayed put and made a hard push today instead of yesterday. Heading out of the shelter we were told it was only 2 steady climbs to gooch mountain but really it's 3 there's a pretty solid climb before you even get to Sasafrass Mtn which is 1000 ft elevation change itself and then you climb Justus Mtn. The hike though was amazing I hiked in solitude almost all day through the fog which me made it feel so mystical I absolutely loved it I got into a great head space. I was pretty tired and had expected an easy day but that really wasn't the case and as I neared the end of the hike I was ready for a rest. The shelter is off to the left as you round a mountain top, it was funny cause I had been thinking this damn shelter better be close and I look to the left and there's loner boners Orange pack cover. I'd never been so happy to see a wooden shack and my knees felt about done by the time I sat down too.Some of the folks up top wanted to make a fire to dry everything off and I was tasked with starting one. Unfortunately most of the wood I found was mountain laurel which acts like poison ivy when burned. Thank god rambling man informed me of my error before I light a fire since it'd become everyone's problem which would have been a nasty mistake. I was finally able to get one going with some other sticks I'd found around camp. Those of us close to the fire were able to dry out our boots a bit luckily at least. The clothes we hung up in the shelter all got soaked as the fog rolled in but oh well that's how she goes sometimes. Shelter was filled again with pretty much the same folks as last night with the addition of Matt and Banjoo and Kazooie a father son combo out through hiking and the kids only 11! What a lucky little guy and hope he makes it to Maine, but I gotta admit I have the most admiration for the older folks out here some are as old as 74!
Date: 2015-03-02
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: moderate rain

I've been getting off to some late starts I've usually been one of the last to leave but it didn't matter today we all got a little held up by trail magic from Fresh Ground. I'd read about him on trail journals before but didn't turkey understand the blessing this man is on the trail after a couple days banana pancakes have never been more appealing and you can ask anyone that knows me how much I hate bananas. Scooped some cookies and some Cheetos into a bag and off I went a full and happy hiker.After that I hiked with Matt for pretty much the whole day he's a pretty cool dude from up in Massachusetts he has a pretty impressive knowledge of flora and fauna along the trail it was cool to hear him list out stuff as we hiked along. We also had a pretty funny talk about the difference in how northerners and southerners pronounce words. We just kinda meandered really not killing ourselves and just BSing the whole way which really made time fly. I could feel my knee all day it's pretty sore towards the inside, think it's a swollen MCL which should heal in a couple days if I don't over do it. As we pulled into the shelter we discovered there was only one space left in the shelter and someone would have to camp out on the picnic table. The only reasonable option was to play rock paper scissors for the spot haha I said best of 3 and only one the first round should have just kept my mouth shut!Wasn't bad on the picnic table though I was able to avoid the snoring from taters and was very impressed with my sleep set up I was getting hit by wind all night and had no problems. We lost a couple folks to one of the hiker hostels but they were replaced with Erica and Jared a couple out thru hiking the trail and a fella named Karaoke, he was a little unusual but hey we all are! Sounds like everyone but karaoke is gonna head to neels gap tomorrow for a little R&R and a nice bunk
Date: 2015-03-03
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Everyone got up at about 7 and start to get ready to hit the trail, again I was one of the last ones out but didn't matter since we should have been some of the first folks to Neels today and we were. Don't wanna get anyone in trouble but ran into Matt as I was pulling out of the shelter and he was looking for Ethan who had shot ahead on the trail while dad went back for something at camp. Apparently Mowgli ran int him pretty early on and they summit-ed the mountain together. Hiked alone again today and through the fog which I loved; put some tunes on maybe half way up the mountain and spotify was playing the perfect songs. Passed up over blood mountain and got a picture up on top next to the hut then pushed on a bit further to the high point which was getting blown over by fog. Couldn't see a thing but had the best feeling come over me like I was really on top of the world it all kinda clicked at that moment what i was doing it was an awesome moment that Ill never forget. I felt so free and alive as the clouds literally blew by me, it was a surreal moment. Thought about snapping a picture but that moment was mine and I know it's kinda greedy but I want to keep it that way. I'll be sharing plenty with you all but that one was mine and I hope all of you get to experience the same kind of feeling at some point in your life. We pulled into the Mountaincrossing hostel at neels gap around 1030 got rooms and started to just kinda hang out. I got myself a knee brace which has made my knee feel 1000 times better already hopefully I'll be rocking and rolling come tomorrow. Pretty much hung out all day at the hostel and iced my knee and just shot the shit with everyone. I got a trail name today, Romeo, since I always try to call my girlfriend when I get in every night and then when I take off in the mornings. I don't mind it a bit there's way worse names to have out there. Tonight at the hostel was filled to the brim all the bunks got taken up pretty quick I don't think too many folks wanted to be out in that rain. I got to meet Baltimore Jack a trail legend whose completed the AT 9 times now and he was giving out advice to anyone that wanted listen or had a question. The list of hikers I met today is too long to list but any repeats will get a shout out for sure. Gonna shoot for low gap shelter tomorrow but may not be any spaces by the time I pull in almost everyone here is shooting for it but time will tell!
Date: 2015-03-05
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

Took off at the crack of dawn again and we all kind of trickled out slowly in about 15 minute intervals, but I wasn't going very fast this morning since Ryan caught up to me pretty quickly. We were hoping to beat everyone who camped out up ahead of us to the next shelter since we knew weather was coming in. We also agreed last night to give Erica the trail name Veto since she always try to veto her trail name or change it, we thought it was perfect she didn't agree and tried to veto it. Me and Ryan stuck together for probably about the first 7 or 8 miles through the rain and chatted about our girlfriends and life back home, he's actually form the town where the American Sniper guy Chris Kyle was shot and killed with the trail in his home town. Was interesting to hear about the madness that ensued form the national media coverage to such a small Texas town. The rain started to pick up and i started moving a bit quicker and eventually Ryan needed to stop fr water but I didn't wanna stop in the rain and turned my music on and start trucking. My neck has started to get sore from the back pulling down harder on the left side but unfortunately I don't think that's something you can train for. I only stopped once though and that was to get a picture of the fog rolling into the mountains but it's kinda hard to tell what's going on in the picture. The wind was really whipping up as I crossed some of the ridges and had been hoping that if I didn't stop I could get a spot in the shelter, but unfortunately that wasn't the case they had stuffed probably 14 people into the 7 person shelter, to bad I wasn't one of them.Fixed up dinner and everything then walked back down the trail a little ways to set up my tarp and hammock the wind was blowing so hard it really made it difficult to set everything up. Mowgli came over eventually and offered to give me a hand which was nice and we finally got it all squared away after a few minutes. My knees still been barking and I'm thinking about a zero day but I'll see how everything feels come morning, sometimes a full nights rest is all ya really need to recover. I can take a zero but need to get to Fontana in 10 days to see Marry so I may zero or take a couple neros instead. I really prefer them since I still feel like I'm making some forward movement.
Date: 2015-03-07
From: Top of Georgia Hostel

To: Plum Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 4.5

Woke up with a killer headache this morning around 530, fell back asleep for another couple hours till everyone in the hostel woke up but my head was still killing me so I grabbed another shower. The shower didn¢t seem to help much at all and I still felt sluggish but the shower definitely made things better. I was moving pretty slow through the whole morning and missed the first shuttle which Mowgli caught and ended up on the second one at 9. Started slow since it was so cold and my body felt about as stiff as the dirt which felt like concert from how cold it was. Felt pretty crappy all morning and decided to Nero at Plumorchard which is a huge 14 person shelter with 3 levels. Came in and ate some lunch with the hope maybe I¢d feel a little better and since it was sunny it killed me not to be out hiking, but not even lunch helped and found myself taking a nap by 1 and didn¢t wake back up till about 4.Ended up being the only person to stay in the shelter that night and only saw 2 guys around lunch as well as Ewok, Karaoke, Rolling Thunder, and Bright Side who stopped by for lunch while I was napping but I just threw my ear plugs in. It was really weird being in the shelter all by myself and I could hardly get a text out, felt really alone and didn¢t enjoy it one bit this time. The night up on Tray wasn¢t like this at all and I think it was because I was confined in my tarp which gives a sense of comfort but this shelter was huge and it was an odd feeling to be there all alone.