morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-04
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut (915.8)

To: Hightop Hut (903.4)
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Fitbit:32,715 steps14.27 miles239 stepsSlow start. Got out at 9:45. Just talking to hikers and chilling. Two large deer walked right up to the shelter. We could have touched them. Hope hikers aren't feeding them because that will surely lead to their demise. Got a photo of them with Paul's boots (#PaulWalksOn). Very cool. We made good time and finished around 4:00 pm. It was looking like a bad storm so we thought we'd do an early night and get in the shelter before everyone stopped. Surprise to us it was nearly full. We are squeezed side by side on the upper layer or what I refer to as the mouse run. These thru hikers are bonded and funny. They hiked up about 50 cheeseburgers and a big 24 pack of Busch beer. I partook of the offered beer and hope I sleep soundly with all these probable snorers. Diana and I are down on food but not worried because in this part of the SNP we are never to far from food. We can survive on our dehydrated meat. There is a spring by the but that is fast and cold. They cooled the beer in the spring.One female hiker got super excited about the boots. She's a hard core Dirtbag Diaries (@ducttapethenbeer) fan so I gave her my last Paul card. I should've gotten 100 more. I could've given them out easily. This has been so much fun. Weird not to know these hikers but fun to see the culture alive and as vibrant as usual. It's only 6pm and we are in bed. The thunder is booming and it's dark in this shelter. Everyone's smoking so much I might sleep even better than I thought. it's like a cloud in the hut just wafting up and lulling us all to sleep. Ahhh the trail. Tornadoes and hail predicted tonight so we stopped at 1pm per ridge runners advice. At Loft Mt campground in a tent (@REI).
Date: 2016-10-14
From: Shenandoah

To: MovieLand
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Paul's Boots Documentary Helping each other achieve our dreams.Here is a documentary with Cubby and I. We were honored to carry the boots of a man from Australia, named Paul, whose dream was to hike the AT. He died before achieving his dream. His wife, M'Lynn, wrote a beautiful and touching letter to the podcast Dirtbag Diaries (the BEST podcast ever for outdoorsy people). I heard her letter being read and instantly started boo hooing. I connected with the thought of a dream unfulfilled. I was 50 years old when I got the strong impulse to hike. I knew I would never be as able as I was today. Against all negativity I persisted and pushed to get on the trail. Paul's story reminded me of how close I was to not doing it. The production company Duct Tape Then Beer, the creators of Dirtbag Diaries, captured this story in this meaningful documentary. Cubby and I were thrilled to be able to carry Paul's boots through our original stomping ground, the Shenandoah National Park. We were surprised and thrilled to see a bit of our story in this documentary. In a few weeks we will be the feature story on Dirtbag Diaries Podcast. They wanted to hear the story about a mom and her kids on the trail. Ill post a link to it when it comes out. Still working diligently on a book. Would love to see more moms and their kiddos out there...especially girls! We can do it! The Appalachian Trail...making strong women one step at a time!
Date: 2019-02-22
From: your home

To: PCT bound
Miles today: 0.0

Time really does fly...especially if your body is getting old and decrepit. So I am now 55 years old, five years past my thru hike of the AT. I am possessed to try for the triple crown so I better get my butt out there and just do it. It seems like every week or so I hear of a friend's newest, scary diagnosis. Makes me know that in a second it can all change. I know I can take pain, which I am sure will happen again with even more intensity,  so I need to get out there before I get one of those dreaded decrees. Gratefully I am still healthy and not too much overweight. Yes, the muffin top came back. Gotta get rid of that again so I am committed to hiking the PCT this summer. Geezy, it is so hard to plan for. Maybe since I am an east coast kind of gal that far west coast seems so intimidating. I am watching the snow pile up which causes me to watch way too many avalanche and ice pick axe videos. I never had these kinds of fears with the AT. I am looking at location devices, crampons, ice picks and bear canisters. These are all things I never carried on the AT. High water crossings and desert worry me less. As a Floridian I can take heat and have this certainty that water won't kill me...unless its in ice form. This time I won't have my kids for any long amount of time. The nerve of them...they went off and got their own lives. Little Cubby, the last to abandon me, leaves for college this year. She has agreed to set out with me and get me going before she departs for greater things. Badonk is actually getting married and heading out to Hawaii. Could she be any further from me? She has tentatively stated that she and her fiance will join me on their way out. I am hoping Whoops and Boots(Beast) also join me for a week or so. I am trying something new. I will be hiking with two friends who are MUCH younger than me. I am calling it the "Me and the Millennials " hike. I am hiking with two NYC art students, ages 22 years. I will introduce them if all of this actually pans out.So off I go. Not certain if I will blog here on the PCT logs or on my own site. It is called I am CoMOMdo. I don't really have it up and running yet. My daughter's boyfriend is creating it with me. Hopefully before I leave it will be done. Either way or using both I am sure to blog again. I thank all of you who remain my connection to the world when I am in the back country. Peace Out!
Date: 2012-11-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

So, with next to no backpacking experience, how to go about planning and preparing for the tremendous challenge and logistical nightmare of a 6 month long backpacking odyssey? Well, one day at a time, one step at a time. I did a lot of reading and started gathering gear, and Mike and I took off for our first shakedown hike--a three day backpacking trip through the beautiful Savage Gulf State Natural Area, here in Tennessee. I would call it a comedy of errors, but it really wasn't very funny. First problem was the weight of the gear. What felt light at home was heavy-really heavy. "Every ounce counts!" became my motto, quickly. Mike already owned two backpacks, a large, external frame pack, and a smaller, internal frame pack. The smaller one looked like it was just made for me, and felt comfortable at home. But on the trail it felt like it was full of lead, and it put a lot of weight on my shoulders, and it pulled and rubbed and oh--it was uncomfortable. Lesson number one learned--get a lighter pack, and have it sized and fitted to my body.Lesson number two involved boots. My hiking boots were so heavy that before too long it felt like it was all I could do to use my leg muscles to lift my feet, one at a time, and drag them further down the trail. I threw those hated boots away, as soon as we got home!Lesson number three was about the food. I had brought way too much. They say you pack to your fears, and evidently my fears revolve around being hungry. We had about twice as much food as we needed, and thus, yes you guessed it, too much weight.Lesson number four was about my conditioning. I felt like I was in pretty good shape--I can kayak rings around younger folks, and I live a reasonably active life, and I do yoga several times a week. Let me assure you, this does NOT translate to being hiking-level fit! I was huffing and puffing, straining on the uphills, sitting down at the side of the trail in an apparent stupor, and I am embarrassed to say, I let my sweet husband carry my pack for me, a time or two. What a wimp I turned out to be! I limped and whimpered my way into our campsite each night, wondering how I had turned from a tough and hardy modern woman into a snivelling weakling over a few short hours.To be fair, the weather was really bad--scorching heat, interspersed with periods of rain. And the terrain was hard, too. Sometimes the trail was really a big rock field, and we were picking our way through it, sometimes on our bottoms, scooting along, looking for white blazes painted among the boulders. And to add insult to injury, on the way home I said, "What are these little dots on my legs?" only to discover later that I was eaten up by chiggers! Nasty creatures, they are, and I was scratching my legs bloody days later.But, I am an eternal optimist, and I realized that this was a Very Valuable Journey. I learned so much, and knew that these lessons would serve me well on Shakedown Hike Part Two, which I was already planning.
Date: 2013-03-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

What a great day today! Hubby St. Mike and I drove to Dahlonega this morning. The weather was cool and rainy, an inauspicious start to my journey. We went to Amicalola State Park and procured a picnic shelter because of the drizzle. My kids and grandkids soon arrived and the rain soon stopped and we had a wonderful picnic and Easter egg hunt. My kids surprised me with a cookie cake, card, and some thoughtful presents. Then we took the easy way to the top of the falls--we drove! It is a beautiful place and I had a beautiful day with my family. Soon they all had to head back home with their tired, dirty, sugared-up kids. I signed in officially-I. am hiker. number 749! Then we went to the Hiker Hostel to say hi. I have seen so many pictures of the hostel that it felt strange to look around at a place I have never been, but that was still familiar. I'm settled in at the Days Inn now,exhausted. Tomorrowmorning we ddrive to the top of Springer, and the adventure begins! Excuse my typos, I am practicing on my new phone. Photos soon, I promise.
Date: 2013-04-07
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Hi folks. This is Kathy's husband. She is on the trail and will be updating us as soon as she has cell service. I spoke to her briefly last night until we lost her connection. She was at Tray Mountain shelter. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and encouragement to her.She's finally able to get through and here's her entry for April 7. Okay my first day on my own, out of the hostel, and I haven't had a phone signal all day long. I will transcribe this entry whenever I can, whenever I get a signal. I guess I took some of the amenities of the hostel for granted. I am really glad to be out on my own, off the slackpack, in spite of the lack of amenities. It is a feeling of such freedom, no schedule to adhere to, no shuttle waiting for me at the end of the day, no stress of knowing that I'm keeping them waiting. My pace slowed down even more, if you can believe that. Up until today I've been averaging just under 1.5 mph, which is pretty slow. Today its been even less than 1 mph! There are a few reasons for this. One is the unaccustomed weight of the pack on my back. It really makes a difference! Another is the killer terrain I hiked today. I'll tell you more about that in a minute. And the third reason I walked so slow was because I could. I took a long lunch break - my first of the entire hike - because I could. Freedom! The terrain was really killer today though. It started immediately with a 1.4 mile climb up Rocky Mountain, with a gain in elevation from 2,949 feet up to 4,017 feet. Then that was followed by a 1.3 mile descent, and as I've explained, descents are not faster than ascents for me. Then, immediately began the loo-oong 2.5 mile climb of Tray Mountain, my least favorite mountain in the world. I thought I would never get to the top, which is 4,430 feet high. There were several false summits, where you would think you were finally at the top, but - surprise! - you weren't and just had to keep climbing. Finally made the true summit, then 0.5 downhill to the shelter for my first shelter experience. Set up the hammock, walked to the stream and got my water, ate my supper, hung my food bag to keep it out of Smoky's clutches. Washed my feet, washed my face and hands, changed clothes. Chilling now, looking forward to bedtime even though it's only about 6 pm. Lots of interesting people here tonight, I love hearing the trail talk swirling around me. One young fellow has the worst blisters on his feet I've ever seen. They hurt to look at. Big, deep, open, raw. One of his buddies here put Super Glue on them, now his toes are all glued together and they are cutting them apart with a knife! My pack weighed in at 25 pounds fully loaded. That's really not bad. The plan for tomorrow is 7.4 miles to the next shelter, over much gentler terrain, although there is one mountain unfortunately placed at the end of the day.
Date: 2013-04-08
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: clear sky

Did I say it was going to be gentle terrain today? Kelly Knob was one of my hardest mountains yet! It really should be called a mountain, not a knob, it deserves more respect than that. It reduced me to a whimpering shell of a woman. Trudging ve-ry slowly down the last blue blazed trail to the shelter. The uphill was only one mile long, and it was only a gain of 867 feet, but it felt much worse. I guess because it was at the very end of the day. A 7 mile day, which isn't much for most people, but I'm still getting used to the weight of my pack. My plan is to hike 3.6 miles in the morning to catch a shuttle to the Blueberry Patch Hostel. Here's the kicker - it's a 9:30 AM shuttle! I really don't think I can walk 3.6 miles in the crazy Georgia mountains by 9:30. I think I'll try though.Last night was so cold! Last night's shelter was at the top of a mountain and the wind whipped around all night, from 12 different directions. Tonight's shelter is in a gap, down low, so hopefully it will be warmer here. It is astonishing that you can freeze at night and drown in sweat while getting a sunburn during the day. I've got to tell you about the people at the shelter last night. It's been bugging me. There was a group of very nice, friendly and helpful young people there, who used the F word at least once in every single sentence. What is the point of that? It served as every part of speech - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and interjection. Do they not realize how degrading that is to themselves? Now some of you probably think I'm a prude. Maybe I am. No, I'm not, I wasn't shocked at the language. I was disgusted by it, and I pity them, and I wonder where their mothers were, with a bar of soap, ten years ago when this was getting started. There were also 3 or 4 people at the shelter about my age, who respect ourselves enough to not talk like that, and these young people dropped the potty mouth when conversing with us. So they can talk decently, and they do realize that it is offensive in most situations. I guess they would say that it's just a word, not a big deal. But words have power, emotion. There's no such thing as just a "word". Words have meaning and the spoken word tells you a lot about the speaker. These otherwise smart and friendly young people's words did not speak well of them. It's not a generational thing either. My generation had foul words too, the F word and others. We could have chosen to use them, and some did, for shock value or to rebel. But we always understood that it was vulgar and not appropriate for casual conversation. Sorry for that diversion! Back to hiking - lots of Germans hiking the trail. Two at the shelter tonight. I'm tired - early to bed tonight.
Date: 2013-04-09
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 3.6

I set the alarm on my phone for 5 AM so I could have some hope of making the 9:30 shuttle. I got up in the dark and took my hammock down and packed my backpack, all by the light of my headlamp which I tried not to shine towards the shelter or the other tents. I was on my way by 6 AM, night hiking by headlamp. I got to watch the sun rise over the mountains to the east. Beautiful! I hiked hard and made Dick's Creek Gap by 9:15, in time for the shuttle. Gary and Lonnie Poteat run the Blueberry Patch Hostel, and they are wonderful people. The hostel is homey and friendly, and they provide generous and thoughtful services to hikers. Gary, a former thru-hiker, washed my stinky clothes for me. I hung them on a clothesline to dry in the warm sunshine. After a nap a group of us went to Hiawasee. Gary took us in his Jeep. I had the world's best cheeseburger, bought some new groceries, and am now back at the hostel, organizing, re-packing, and getting ready to hit the trail again tomorrow. This short hiking day was good for me.I am about to enter a long stretch in the wilderness. It may be as long as 6 days before I see a town again. So if a week goes by with no new entries, don't worry about me. I will catch you all up as soon as I can.
Date: 2013-04-10
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Unnamed campsite
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was a beautiful day on the trail. I woke up in the hostel to a wonderful breakfast featuring blueberries from the hostel's blueberry patch. I met some great folks here, including Rock Solid and Greybeard, two hikers aged 80 and 81. Rock Solid is making his 3rd thru-hike having completed previous hikes in 1993 and 2003. When not hiking he works at Target unloading boxes.I hiked today with Nightingale, a nurse from North Carolina who is about my age and hikes at a similar pace to me. It was fun having someone to hike with, the time passed more quickly and she makes me laugh. I hike a little faster than her on uphills (I can't even believe I'm writing that!) and she hikes faster than me on downhills, so it all seems to work out. I'm hot today, and I sweated a LOT and the back of my neck sunburned. We didn't get started until 10:00 - breakfast at the hostel. The first shelter was only 4 1/2 miles away, but we wanted to go a little farther because bad weather is predicted for tomorrow afternoon.   We want to be able to make it to the next shelter early in the day tomorrow.   So we hiked 2 miles past the shelter and camped at a pretty little site. Another couple, Freefall and Footloose, were there too, so we didn't feel isolated. Shortly after we arrived a section hiker named Glenn came, and he was sick. We think he was just pushing himself too hard in the heat.   Tomorrow my first state line!
Date: 2013-04-11
From: Unnamed campsite

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

Hard walking today folks. Don't let the short distance fool you. Steep, steep climbs today. At least the weather was cool, but we knew that was because a big weather front was coming through. Nightingale's phone worked briefly and she was able to get a weather report from her husband. The forecast was for rain starting at 4 pm, with thunderstorms starting at 7 with potential for hail, high winds, maybe even tornadoes. That sealed the deal, we had to make Muskrat Creek Shelter early in the afternoon.    So we huffed and puffed, puffed and huffed, strained and heaved all day. We didn't see many other hikers today, I think most people got off the trail in advance of the weather. The highlight of the day is that we crossed our first state line, from Georgia into North Carolina! One down, twelve to go?    Finally we made it to the shelter by 2 pm. There was only one hiker here at the time,an older experienced hiker, Pacer. Soon we were joined by Shockarone and his girlfriend Andrea, by a father and son team, and a nice guy from Asheville. I gave someone a trail name! Sweet little Andrea took it upon herself to build a fire and every time we looked up she was carrying huge logs to add to her wood pile. I called her a lumberjack and it stuck. Andrea is now Lumberjack!   This will be my first night sleeping in a shelter. I'll let you know tomorrow how it went. I have no mat or pad so I'm on the hardwood floor. There are seven of us sleeping cheek by jowl, the guy from Asheville is sleeping on the picnic table. I'm worried about the mice, but I guess I'm more worried about the weather.    Shockarone and Lumberjack have battery operated Christmas lights so our shelter is quite festive on this dark, cold, windy night. We're waiting for the storm to hit.
Date: 2013-04-12
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Beech Gap Campsite
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

The storm last night was a doozy. Pounding rain, howling winds, thunder and lightning. I was glad to be in the shelter. I stayed dry since I was in the middle, but theguys on each end had to sleep in their rain gear because rain blew in on the sides of the shelter. Sleeping in the shelter wasn't bad. Staying in hostels you get used to the idea of males and females, friends and strangers, all sleeping in the same room. And there is a real camaraderie among hikers. There were no mice, I guess they hunkered down to wait out the storm too. Today we did a long 2.4 mile climb up Standing Indian Mountain. It is very cold and we are very tired. I am going to sleep in Nightingale's tent with her. Maybe it will be warmer and I'm too tired to hang my hammock anyway. Goodnight.
Date: 2013-04-14
From: Betty Creek Gap Campsite

To: Wallace Gap--Franklin, NC
Miles today: 9.2

Wow, what a day! We hiked out of our campsite and approached the dreaded Albert Mountain. On my elevation profile, the summit is nearly a vertical line. Up we climbed, and sure enough, near the top we found ourselves having to climb with hands, feet, knees, whatever body part we could use to grab a rock, root, handful of mud, anything. I wish I had pictures to document this fiasco, but pulling a camera out of my pocket was about as likely as sprouting wings and flying to the top. The trekking poles, which are normally so useful as I hike, were useless in this situation, and either hung loosely from my wrists, or were pushed up onto a ledge ahead of me, and picked up as I slithered past them. We grunted, heaved, and occasionally came close to swearing as young people who could move like billy goats went blithely around us. But, we made it! The top of Albert Mountain is nearly bare of vegetation, very windy, and has a fire tower on the very top. The top of Albert Mt. is notable for another reason also. It marks 100 miles hiked! We were so excited! We had no interest in climbing the fire tower, but we did take pictures with us using our hands to make out the numbers one-zero-zero, and writing 100 in the dirt and taking our pictures with it. So silly, but we are quite proud of ourselves.Finally we hiked down off the mountain, because we still had quite a way to hike to make it to Wallace Gap where Mike was going to meet us a 6 PM. We chose that time because that would give us enough time to make it at our regular 1 mph pace. And of course good old Albert took more than his share of our time. So we turned up the gas and made it to the gap before 5:00! Mike wasn't there, of course, and a light rain was falling, so we sat at the side of the road, in the rain. Two other hikers joined us, Germans named Hansel and Gretel. Two cars stopped, one to offer us a ride, one to hand out beers. People are extraordinarily nice. Soon enough Mike was there, early, and we all piled into a Jeep already crowded with Mike, his stuff, our two dogs, stuff he brought for me, a dog kennel, etc. But we added four hikers and four huge backpacks to the mix, and drove to Franklin. We dropped Hansel and Gretel off and they found other hikers they knew. Town is full of hikers. We got rooms at the Sapphire Inn, and ate Mexican food, and had a shower. That may have been my favorite shower, ever. It had been how long since my last shower? Blueberry Patch, I guess. I keep my hair up under a buff and just ignore it. I was getting a little--how to say this delicately--gamey? But, some soap, shampoo, lotion, and I am a new woman.And a tired woman. Good night. Did I tell you I have the sweetest husband in the world?