morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-27
From: Standing Bear Farm/Hostel

To: Standing Bear Farm/Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a day to just eat and relax. Since we sent a food drop box here, we didn't have to walk around a town to resupply. Our only chores were doing the laundry, recharging our phones, and fixing our meals. It was still a very interesting day thanks to the steady stream of hikers arriving and departing. This place is just a farm with several buildings set up to welcome and accommodate tired hikers. It may not suit everybody, but we love it here. There is a store room stocked with all kinds of foods and other supplies that hikers would want. Another building houses the kitchen and laundry room. The kitchen is well equipped and has a large meal table for hikers to gather around. It's also where the phone charging station is, a popular spot. The laundry room has a standard clothes dryer--free, not coin operated. The washer is more rustic--two wash buckets, one for washing and one for rinsing...by hand. So it took Woofie a little longer to do the laundry. The privy is just like the ones at the trail shelters, no water, just a composting system where you "flush" by adding a handful of dry mulch to cover your "addition."And as relaxing as it is here, there's no oversleeping in the morning. The only rooster residing here makes sure of that.
Date: 2015-05-28
From: Standing Bear Farm/Hostel

To: Standing Bear Farm/Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Mr rooster woke us up again today. We took a second zero to fully regain our strength, so today we just ate and relaxed and met another wave of incoming hikers. After lunch we had a nice surprise. We found a scale at the bunk house so we each jumped on it. After our two-week workout Woofie has lost 11 lbs, and I've lost 13. And that's after we've spent the last couple of days eating as much as possible, especially pizza. But we're ready to get back on the trail again. Now that we're out of the Smokeys, we can hike along and stop wherever we find a suitable camping spot. So we expect to make it to Hot Springs, our next resupply town, in 4 or 5 days. The next shelter is about 7 miles from here, so we'll head for that. But there are places to camp before and after it, also. It'll be nice to have a choice.
Date: 2015-05-29
From: Standing Bear Farm/Hostel

To: Ground Hog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

This morning we awoke to the song of a whippoorwill outside our window at the crack of dawn, followed immediately by the crowing of Mr Rooster. Good thing we hadn't planned on sleeping in. We got all packed, had a good last breakfast, paid our bill, and got going on the trail by 8:35. In spite of the good time we had at the hostel, we'd had all the rest we needed and were anxious to get hiking again. The morning started out sunny and cool, just right for the long climb out of the valley. We stopped at a campground about halfway to the summit for lunch. Just after we started climbing again it started raining, so we put on our pack covers. We continued hiking in the rain, since it kept us nice and cool. When we got to the top of Snowbird Peak, it was still raining so I couldn't use the phone to take any pictures. The top is a grassy bald with a wonderful view. There is also a communications station on the top, but we didn't stop there due to the rain. Just past the summit and down a couple hundred feet of elevation was another campsite. It had stopped raining by then, so we stopped for a second lunch break. The last two miles down the mountain to the shelter took us only one hour. For us that was flying. Tonight we're sleeping in the shelter to stay dry and get an early start in the morning. There are three others with us in the shelter and a half dozen tenting. The next shelter is about 8 miles from here, so we'll head for it tomorrow.
Date: 2015-05-30
From: Ground Hog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a day of many climbs. We started at about 2800 ft this morning at our shelter and climbed up and down eight different peaks, reaching the highest elevation over 4600 ft. The hard part was having to climb up and down again and again all day. Now we know why they are called PUDS (pointless ups and downs).The high point of the day, meaning both the best and the highest, was reaching Max Patch, a grass covered mountain bald with excellent 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Our weather was perfect, sunny and cool with a slight breeze. We were very lucky to be there on a day like today. Many hikers experience high winds or clouds blocking the views. And it's not even safe to be there during a thunder storm. We stayed there for about an hour resting in the sun and talking to other visitors. One nice couple even gave us candy bars as trail magic. A road comes up to parking lot near to the top, so this is a popular place on nice weather weekends. It was an easy two-mile walk down to our shelter. We're the only ones in the shelter tonight, and there are three others tenting. We are half way from the hostel to Hot Springs now. Woofie is looking forward to eating in the diner there.
Date: 2015-05-31
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woofie said last night that all the climbs had worn her legs out, so we decided to make today a short day. The next shelter is only 4.9 miles away. We'll stop there and be close enough to Bluff Mountain that we'll be able to do that big climb tomorrow morning. We were ready to get going by 8:30, but just then a family came into the shelter area. They're doing a two-day hike, so they had lots of questions for us. They even offered to cook us some of the eggs they had brought to cook for breakfast. We declined the eggs, and finally got going by 8:40. The trail today was what a walk in the woods is supposed to be. It was mostly flat with gentle ups and downs, but all with a downhill trend. We crossed streams several times. Many of them had log bridges over them. We came to a forest service road with a parking area about 11:00 am, so we stopped there for lunch. After lunch the trail climbed up 750 ft over then next mile, but the shelter where we planned to stop was just over the summit. We got there by 12:30 pm. Just after we arrived, two young hikers came by going southbound (SOBO). One had an accent so we asked where he was from. When he said he was from the Ukraine, I shocked him by greeting him and conversing in Russian. He was really impressed that I even knew the Russian word for chipmunk. They hiked on, leaving us alone at the shelter. The rest of the afternoon thunder storms rolled through. It rained on and off. And we thought it would be nice to be under cover for the day and tonight. But when the first heavy storm hit, we found out that the shelter roof had leaks. It turned out that the six-person shelter could only keep four people dry because of the locations of the leaks. So to be safe we covered our sleeping bags with the waterproof sylnylon tarp we carry for protection from the rain. We didn't think we'd need it inside a shelter.
Date: 2015-06-01
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

It stopped raining last night after we went to bed so we got to sleep just fine. That was until a big hoot owl perched right outside our shelter and let out a full chorus of hoots, waking up everyone in the shelter. Other than that and our normal routine of nightly nature calls, we slept peacefully. We got an early start this morning because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Woofie wanted to get all the way to the next shelter, which was 9.9 miles away. Although it started out warmer than usual, we made good time, stopping for lunch at 11:30 and second lunch at 2:30. Not far from where we ate, we reached the 100-mile mark for this year's hike. And just after that it started to rain again. We had heard thunder rumbling while we ate. But it was just a gentle rain, and it felt good to be cooled by it while we hiked. We walked in the rain all the rest of the way to the shelter, arriving at 4:45. Then it stopped raining. A girl that had passed us earlier was already set up for the night in the shelter. We put our stuff in, too, and fixed supper. Before we finished eating it started raining, and three more girls showed up, two of whom were accompanied by dogs. Well, with the ruckus the four girls made and the prospect of dogs in the shelter, we decided that a night in our tent instead of the shelter was a better idea. And even though it's still raining, we know that we'll have more peace and quiet and stay dryer in our tent than in the shelter. Tomorrow we get to town. Yeah, the diner is calling. But not until after a shower. We'll be staying in a boarding house in Hot Springs that caters to hikers. They also serve AYCE vegetarian meals for breakfast and dinner. I'm game for trying the dinner, but I haven't any idea what vegetables would make a good breakfast. Maybe a bowl of raisin bran or corn flakes with bananas on them. I think the diner will be calling then, too.
Date: 2015-06-02
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

It rained most of the night last night, but we were snug in our dry tent and slept the best since leaving Standing Bear Farm. With only a little more than three miles to go to do get to town today, I figured we'd be in town by lunchtime. Woofie had other ideas. Up by 6:00, we were packed and hiking in less than two hours, getting under way by 7:45. Now I know that it isn't coffee that gives Woofie her energy, it's just the idea of getting coffee. She took off down the trail like she'd thrown extra coal on the fire to get a full head of steam, then she lit her afterburners. She flew down the mountain, covering the last two miles in about 40 minutes. By 9:30 we were at the Sunnybank Inn where we'll be staying the next two nights. We spent most of the day taking care of things we needed or wanted to do. Shower - needed; hamburger lunch - wanted; laundry - needed; dry out the tent - needed; get snacks at DG - wanted. We ate dinner here at the Inn, an AYCE vegetarian four-course meal, served promptly at 7 pm. Elmer the owner had us each tell a little about ourselves and what we each thought about a provocative question. The question this evening was what invention would you wish hadn't been invented. Lots of interesting conversation followed when we'd each taken our turn. We learned after dinner that this very house is where Earl Shaffer, the first person to complete an AT thru-hike, stayed during his first hike, as well as during his second and third thru-hikes many years later. It's an amazing feeling to know we're staying in a place of such historical importance to the AT.
Date: 2015-06-03
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Hot Springs is our favorite town on the trail, so far. Everything we need is either right across the street or just a couple hundred yards down the road. Besides getting a nice rest from hiking and eating everything in sight in the diner across the street, we were able to take care of two important items today. First, and most important, we satisfied Woofie's withdrawal symptoms from lack of shopping by hitting the local outfitter hard. We upgraded our sleeping bags to ones that are better suited for warmer temperatures and also weigh less than half as much as our old ones, savings us 1.5 lbs in each of our backpacks. Then we got lighter weight shirts, pants, and socks. We expect to cut 3-5 lbs from our pack weights, making hiking a lot easier. And Woofie had a great time shopping, too. Second on the list was having ice cream cones. Sooo good...nuf said. Tomorrow we're getting shuttled north up the trail halfway to Erwin, TN. We'll hike back south to Hot Springs so we can resupply again. Then we'll shuttle back north and continue hiking north to Erwin. This way we can cut the trip to Erwin into halves and only need to carry half as many days' worth of food at a time. On a different topic...We've noticed on the trail that quit a few hikers, usually younger ones, don't take their personal safety very seriously. What I'm talking about is hiking with ear buds on and listening to music or audio books while hiking. Many hikers find that it helps them to not dwell on any fatigue or other discomfort that might spoil their enjoyment of the hike, itself. But with their minds preoccupied, their lack of attention to the dangers on the trail put them in serious jeopardy. Just in the last couple days, we've met two hikers who said they barely missed getting bitten by a rattlesnake. Both said they were listening to something in their ear buds and didn't notice the snake until after they'd passed it. In both cases they were lucky, because the only reason they weren't bitten was because the snake chose not to bite them, but could have. And there's no help available if they'd gotten bitten. People need to put those ear buds away while hiking and save them for camp.
Date: 2015-06-04
From: Devil's Fork Gap

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Today we did something new. We got shuttled up the trail about 33 miles north, and we hiked south back toward Hot Springs. Before leaving town, we mailed our surplus items home, checked out of the Inn, and ate a nice big breakfast meal at the diner at 11:30 am. Our shuttle driver picked us up at the outfitter at 1 pm and drove us up into the mountains for about 40 minutes to Devil's Fork Gap where the AT crosses TN route 212. The small parking lot at the trail head is right on the NC/TN border. There was a 20% chance of a thunder storm this afternoon, but the 80% chance of no storm won out, so we had a nice hike to the shelter. We knew we were only going about three mile to the nearest shelter today, so that's why we could leave town later in the day. There's one person in the shelter tonight, but we're tenting near the shelter. Tomorrow we'll hike south about seven miles to the next shelter. We plan to spend five nights on the trail and hike back into Hot Springs on the sixth day. We've already made our motel reservations for next Tuesday night.
Date: 2015-06-05
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite at mile 304.0
Miles today: 3.2

Today started off full of promise and was great until right after lunch. Then we lost the trail and the rest of the day was a total disaster. In the end we backtracked to a place on the trail we had passed earlier, where there is a spring and a campsite. All in all, we walked about 10 miles today and finished only 3.2 miles from the shelter we left this morning. But at least we know where we are tonight.The problem is that just before reaching the summit, the trail splits and goes three different directions. All the guide books just tell about a short spur trail you can take if you want to see the summit, or go the other way to avoid the summit. The spur trail returns to the main trail after passing the summit. First we did the spur trail, eating lunch on the summit and continuing on. We followed it for about a mile and a half, but got more uneasier about it by the minute. The trail blazes seemed very old and very sparse. And the trail itself didn't look as heavily traveled as what we're used to seeing. So we turned and backtracked up to the split to try the other "main" trail. That trail was more like a stony road and we could see no hiker footprints at all. Half a mile down the mountain the road just ended in a grassy field with huge puddles and no sign that anyone had walked there. So we backtracked to the split again. This time we hiked back north to where had come from until we got to a place we could stay over night. We couldn't risk staying anywhere else because our water was getting low. And just to end the day on the same note, it rained just as we got to the campsite for about an hour. We're hoping a northbounder passes by that can tell us where the trail goes after we pass the summit of Big Butt Mountain. Yes, that's really it name. We're still waiting.
Date: 2015-06-06
From: Campsite at mile 304.0

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: few clouds

After a day of disaster, we had a day of triumph. We left our campsite at 8:10 and hiked back to the summit of Big Butt Mountain, where we ate breakfast. This time we saw the blue blaze trail that we missed yesterday. Missing that landmark caused all our confusion from that point on. A ways farther along the trail we met a northbound hiker, and he confirmed that we were on the right trail. We were on the right trail yesterday, too, but didn't know it. But we played it safe, and everything worked out. We finally made it to Jerry's Cabin Shelter by 10:30. While there we met a young southbounder who told us about a side trail that would let us avoid the difficult climb and terrain ahead of us that traversed a rocky ridge. The Bad Weather Trail, as it's called, goes around the mountain and is much easier and safer. We took that trail, and it saved us a couple hours. Woofie was a real trooper today. We made it all the way from our campsite, past the shelter we were supposed to stay at last night, and on to the shelter we planned to reach today, in spite of yesterday's trouble. So now we're back on our schedule to reach Hot Springs in three days.
Date: 2015-06-07
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light rain

Today was a perfect day for hiking. The temps were from the mid sixties to the mid seventies with a nice breeze to keep the bugs away, and the sky was clear. Trail condition couldn't have been better--soft, smooth, dry, and with a gentle downhill grade. The woods were open and airy with good views through the trees. We knew that there was a store five miles from the shelter that served ice cream, so we made it there by 11:30 am. That's when the perfect day ended. It turned out that the store is open every day 8-5 Mon-Sat. Today is Sunday...Closed. So we ate our own lunch, sitting on the lawn next to the store. It was nice there. And after lunch we only had 3.7 miles to reach the shelter. The rest of the day was just the opposite. It was hot, in the mid eighties, and the trail was steep uphill to whole way to the shelter. We had to stop, rest, and drink every couple of minutes. We stopped at a small spring half way up the mountain to refill our water bottles. It was a slow process because the water was only slowly dripping. It took a few minutes to fill each bottle. It was good, because that gave us a good rest. We drank two bottles while we rested, so we really refilled all four of our bottles. It took us over four hours to reach the shelter because of the heat and the steep climb. Tonight we're staying in the shelter. We're too tired to put up the tent. Tomorrow morning we climb to another peak a mile and a half away, before beginning the final descent back into Hot Springs. But it's 11 miles away, so we'll take two short hike days and arrive there on Tuesday in time for lunch.
Date: 2015-06-08
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite at mile 278.5
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Staying in the shelter last night had its good and bad points. On the good side, we didn't have to set up the tent or take it down this morning. Also, there was a nice big tarp that we used to cover the opening of the shelter to block out the wind. It made the shelter much cozier. On the bad side, it was a really old shelter. Back when they built this shelter, people must have been a lot shorter, because we couldn't lie down on the sleeping platform with our legs straight. If we did, our feet hit the back wall and our heads hung over the front edge of the raised platform. So we had to sleep on our sides with our legs bent all night. We awoke this morning to a thick fog in the woods. It was good that we didn't tent last night, so we didn't have to carry a wet tent today. We started hiking by 8:10 and by 9 am the fog had lifted and the sky was clear. But it was very humid and it got hot pretty quickly. We stopped at a spring by the trail to fill our water bottles. While I was filling them, Woofie drank a whole liter bottle. She was feeling low today and may have been dehydrated from yesterday's hike. We ate lunch right there and she finished off another bottle with her meal. So I had to fill the same bottle three times. I also filled both of our spare bottles. We left carrying six liters instead of our usual full load of four, because we knew the campsite where we planned to stop tonight had no water source. We needed the extra water to cook our meal at the end of the day. A mile before reaching our campsite it started to rain, so I put up a tarp shelter and we rested about an hour until the shower passed. When we got to the campsite listed in the guide book, it wasn't very good, being next to a buggy pond, so we hiked on to find a better spot. Tonight we are tenting in a lovely campsite covered with soft leaves. I set up the tent, found a nice tree to hang our bear bag, and fixed supper. It was so good. The weather cooperated nicely by holding off raining until we finished eating and had climbed into the tent for the night. We should sleep well tonight listening to the gentle rain in the woods and on our cozy little tent.
Date: 2015-06-09
From: Campsite at mile 278.5

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 4.1

It rained all night last night, sometimes quite hard. This morning the rain had stopped but there was heavy fog. Although we had to pack up and carry a heavy wet tent, we knew it would be short hike day back to town where we could dry it out. The first three miles down the mountain toward town rolled by easily, and we could see the town below by 10 am. We figured we'd be there in another half hour. But the last section of trail was very steep, rocky, and dangerous with rocks to climb down along high cliff ledges. We had to go very slowly and carefully. It took an hour to get down that section, which led us to the trail running beside the French Broad River a half mile from town. We finally arrived in town by 11:30 and got to the motel where we'd reserved our room a week ago. After a quick shower we went to the diner across the street and ate the biggest hamburger we could get. Then we had ice cream cones for dessert. We spent the rest of the day resting and sorting out our gear. It was a hot and sunny day so I got the tent, tarps, and backpacks nicely dried out. Later we saw a hiker we'd met on the trail going by, and she came and sat with us on the lawn in front of the motel and chatted. Later she joined us for dinner at the diner. It was a nice way to unwind after a strenuous six days on the trail.
Date: 2015-06-10
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

It's good to be feeling back to normal again. We like our room in the Alpine Court motel better than the one we had last week in the Inn. This time our room has heat and air conditioning, as well as a bathroom that we don't have to share. We decided to stay another day here. We talked to the motel owner a bit when we paid him for the extra day. He is also the mayor of Hot Springs. Staying in town isn't as expensive as you'd think. If you choose the places to stay recommended in the hiker guides, they are the ones that are hiker-friendly and give nice low hiker rates. In Gatlinburg the Grand Prix motel only charged $45 a night. Standing Bear Hostel charged $25/person for our tree house cabin. The Sunnybank Inn charged only $20/person. And here at the Alpine Court motel, the hiker rate is $55/day. We spend more per day on food at restaurants, and our biggest expense is at the outfitters, where we not only buy our new supplies of hiker meals, but also new hiking gear. It turns out that we need to buy smaller hiking clothes almost every week, which really pleases Woofie. And last week we spent big bucks replacing our big heavy sleeping bags with nice light weight ones that take only 1/4 of the space in our packs that the old ones took and weigh less than a pound. The old ones weighed over two pounds each.