morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-03-29
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Super easy day. 3.3 miles of today was a road walk to the cafe and market. Got a western omelette (bacon, ham, mushrooms, peppers, cheese, 2 eggs), hash browns, biscuit with copious amounts of butter, and 2 pancakes drowning in syrup. Plus a glass of orange juice (craving, check!). Went to market and bought a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough Ben and Jerry's, a coke, and some oreos, plus our resupply stuff. Got a ride back to the trail head from a cool guy with a random 8 passenger van. So me, Achilles, Fancy Pants, Curry, and Lightning Jack started back on the trail. Feel like I zero'd today, fitness is increasing.
Date: 2012-03-30
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Trail legs are definitely here. Tendon, toe, and everything, feel excellent. Climbs and descents feel like I'm walking on the flats now, weird feeling. Anyways, rumors of trail magic in Spivey Gap of hamburgers and coke at 12 pm. So everyone slept in till 9 and left at 10 am because the gap was only 5 miles away. I was the first to get to the gap and low and behold there was a smorgishbord (however that's spelled, but it's the perfect word). A guy named Hui who thru'd in '06 was there and he's out for 21 days. I ate 2- 1/2 lb burgers (p.s. I like tomoatoes now!), 2 bowls of pasta salad, 2 cokes, and 6 cookies. Oh yeah... Easy 11 miles into Erwin, but it's the first time it's really rained in a while. I was ok with it, I like walking in the rain. Ain't no thang. Hostel in Erwin was $18 for a bunk! I said forget that and walked across the bridge and slept under the bridge. It actually is really nice under here. Someone has a picnic blanket stashed here that I found and am now sleeping on, I'm right on the Nolichucky river and life couldn't be sweeter. Fancy's girl Haley came into town, again... So he's off galavanting.
Date: 2012-03-31
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Another zero in Erwin, Tn. Great night under the bridge! Got a ride into downtown from a river shuttle guy. I was a little early for the library so I just walked around the square. Updated journal once it opened and bought The Fellowship of the Ring for 25 cents. Ate a whole pizza, 2 bananas, and some flat bread. Met up with Lightning, Achilles, and Far East Coast. We just hung around for a little then decided to go see the Hunger Games in town. It was actually pretty good, but the book was obviously better as always. After the movie we went to the grocery and bought two foot long brats, green and red peppers, and mushrooms. We headed back to the bridge and started to make a fire. I had a stroke of genius and decided I would try to make a grill for all this. So I made 4 forks and made what looked like a bed right over the fire. We then proceeded to slap on the bratwurst and peppers on the grill and saute the mushrooms in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Everything somehow worked out and it was my favorite meal on the AT yet. Including town meals.
Date: 2012-04-01
From: Erwin, TN

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: few clouds

Broke my leg, lost a shoe and my pack, ran out of water, and saw a bear. April Fool's... Anyways, long day. Rained some but feel pretty solid. Uneventful day really, just tarping it with Fancy right now. Weather cleared up but it's wicked windy! The tarp is being so loud.
Date: 2012-04-02
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: light rain

Another good mileage day. Me and Fancy have now left most of who we know behind and are meeting new people everyday because we're going faster now. Pretty sure we won't see Ren Man again, he's like 6 days behind and it would be too expensive to waut for him. Anyways, we decided beforehand that if one of us got hurt the others should continue. Easier said than done obviously. Gotta push really hard to meet Carrie in Shady Valley in time, so big miles for a few days to come. Rained majority of day and we had to climb Roan Mt. which is one of the highest peaks for a while. The climb up was just muddy, but the descent was literally now the Appalachian Creek. Complete with mini waterfalls and running water down the trail. It was kinda weird, to a point one's shoes cannot get any wetter so you stop trying to avoid the water lol. Feel great at shelter though. Weather is cleared up nice and I met a couple cool guys: Diesel with his dog Juice (he lives in Gallatin, Tn... weird), and Q-Tip with his dog Charlie (super nice and cute). This shelter is so rad, it's an old barn turned into shelter and it has the best view I've seen yet. It's a valley straight out of a movie, nothing man made in sight besides the barn itself. Sunset right now is AMAZING!
Date: 2012-04-03
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Feeling strong. Injinji socks and shoes are kinda falling apart already... Easy terrain today though. Stopped in at Roan and finally got some amazing southern BBQ (craving- check), fries, hush puppies, half of a 10 oz burger, and 2 cokes. Cool chick named Jennifer picked us up about 1/2 a mile down road and ate with us, drove us to grocery, AND drove us back to trail head. GOT A TUBE OF COOKIE DOUGH FINALLY!!!!!! (craving- check) and a tub of icing for a 1$ because you're not gonna not buy a one dollar tub of icing. So we're celebrating 400 miles at this shelter with Buzzkill, The Dude (cool guy), and Tater Tot (another cool guy). passed the cookie dougha nd icing 'round and had a ball. Tomorrow I'll feel like crap, but now I'm a happy camper. In Tn for good, so NC is officially bagged.
Date: 2012-04-04
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Laurel Fork Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

Great day of hiking, haven't felt this good in a while! Amazing views all day too. Ran into a cat named Napoleon and his German Shepard named Max. Cool guy, just talks a lot and is loud because he's half deaf. Excellent hike right beside Laurel Falls and the river, like right next to it on this rock ledge. You could step off the trail and into the torrent. It was beautiful. Probably second favorite section of trail so far. Oh, random beautiful women apparently like to day hike around this section. First there was a lady at Laurel Falls who was craving pretty, then there were three college chicks, and THEN there were three more high school girls who apparently were lost, because they were dressed in there sunday best and a pound of makeup on asking us how to get back to the parking lot... We were like 3 miles away and they had to go uphill. This must all be a test to see if we really are strong enough to thru hike...
Date: 2012-04-05
From: Laurel Fork Shelter

To: Iron Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 22.4

One of the longest days yet, but didn't feel that bad. Fancy pushed 30.2 miles to get to the next shelter and I was beat. We'll probably meet in Shady if not somewhere else. Carrie comes tomorrow, that should be interesting but fun. I'll be getting: -Summer bag-Chacos-Socks-iPod-The Hobbit-Treats!Feeling great besides my LEFT pinky toe now. Worried about switching to Chacos, we'll see. Stoked to be in a shelter because it's pouring right now. I got lucky and only sprinkled on. Don't know if Fancy is gonna keep pushing or what, don't know if I'm solo now or what... Town meal tomorrow! and I get to lose another 3 lbs in gear! Pack should weigh sub 20 lbs with food and water now. I figured out what my favorite part of the trail is. The SIMPLICITY. Me shaving items out of my pack no longer has to do with weight. It's all about thinkning about what I really need and don't need to thrive. Also discovered some Appalachian Trail Absolute Truths:1.There will ALWAYS be a climb out of town.2.There will ALWAYS be a dry spot in your instant potatoes.3.There will ALWAYS be a love of Snickers.
Date: 2012-04-06
From: Iron Mt. Shelter

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Super short day and some of the easiest terrain of the whole trail so far. Went in to Shady Valley, got a hitch after a mile and a half and gorged at the general store. A 1 lb burger, then a pint of ice cream. It was too easy to finish. Waiting for Carrie for 3 hours but it's nice to have some chill time. The store has some great classic rock playing and I'm just reading. Resupply kinda sucks here, maybe Carrie brought some good stuff. Holy crap she did! Food galore (thanks mom)! She brought a cool cat named Jonathan Rochelle who might be reading this right now! Let's make him feel awkward and explain him: He's 18 years old, a Fiji at Tennessee Tech, a science major, and has Bieber hair. Jk but seriously. Tried Chacos today barefoot. Kinda diggin it for sure but I may have to wear my socks with them because they rub. It was so f'ing cold tonight and of course I had my 40 degree bag in 35 degree weather. I let Carrie use my 20 degree bag and my pad so needless to say not much sleeping was happening. Flip's here, as well as The Dude and Tater Tot.
Date: 2012-04-07
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: clear sky

Another nero but it was a solid day. Good weather and good company. Tried sock with Chacos (Sockos), and it was very enjoyable! Probably stick with it for a while. No blisters yet in em so that's a plus.Loving the half baked cooking mama made!Damascus tomorrow!!!!! Can't believe I'm already this far... It's going by so fast. Carrie and Jon decided to hike into Damascus with me and get a shuttle back to the car which is a better plan and they'll get to see town. Pack feels so light and awesome. I've been rocking no hipbelt for a couple days now and now see why Fancy does it. So much better. Achilles, Scout, Q-tip, and Charlie are here. Everyone else was Damascus hungry... Speaking of hungry...
Date: 2012-04-08
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

Hiked into Damascus today with Carrie and Jon. Met the 3 brothers: Karuna, Super Beat, and Shankara. Cool guys for sure. Went to Quincy's and I ate a 12" pizza in about 9 minutes lol and we saved half of Carrie's for my enjoyment later. Sister and Jon got a shuttle back to Shady Valey and I headed over to some trail magic that was supposed to be going down. Got there and saw Fancy along with gallons of ice cream, strawberries, caramel, fudge, etc, etc. Caught up to Te Durchman, Badger, Glow Worm, Ron Paul, The Dude, Tater Tot, and Jeff Davis. We're all staying at The Place which is a church hostel and it's honor system for 6$! Got a shower and ate Carrie's pizza for dinner. Staying in a room with Fancy and the Brothers. Made a new stove that's a lot simpler and eliminates a lot of parts. Stayed up really late because it was Jeff Davis' 41st birthday. He's a weird guy.
Date: 2012-04-09
From: Damascus, VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

Another shorter day. It's easy to get stuck on easy miles. But good grade climb today and easy besides that. Chacos are starting to hurt a tiny. Fancy's getting shin splits so I'm hiking ahead right now. Had to night hike for an hour because we left town at 2:30 lol. But walked along cool river and an awesome bridge today. Tendon on top of right foot was excruciating last 4 miles for some reason. Hope that heals... Freezing tonight but No Sweat is letting me borrow a down jacket so that'll help. Hoping it warms up soon.
Date: 2012-04-10
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Passed into Grqceland Highlands today! Most anticipated section yet. This is the section that looks like Rohan from Lord of the Rings and has wild ponies everywhere! It did not disappoint. Amazing grade, scenery, etc. Saw 2 ponies today! Right after Mt Roger's (highest point in VA) there was a shelter and the ponies know that there's always food around those. So apparently they hang around it a lot. They wouldn't stop licking the salt off of us, it tickled and wa pretty funny. Walked barefoot through field for about half a mile today and then went to just no socks with Chacos. Actually felt pretty good. I HAVE WALKED OVER 500 MILES TODAY!!!!!!! A pretty big stepping stone for sure. This thing actually seems possible... Here's hoping. Celebrating with Fancy, Day Pack, and Dropout.
Date: 2012-04-11
From: Wise Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was SO FREAKING COLD! Coldest night on the trip yet. People's water froze and it didn't get better during the day. I don't gave pants and had to walk across open fields with a wind chill in the teens. It was in the 20' and I have a 40 degree bag. You do the math. Hard to start but got out about 8:30 and hiked in the strongest wind I've ever walked in. It was blowing us off the trail. Got a little warmer throughout day but ankle was so sore for first 13 miles. Surprisingly it started to feel 100% better after that. Shelter tonight is SO cool. It has a fireplace in it and I'm gonna build it up big tonight. Collected a lot of wood. I don't want to be cold tonight, as cold. Ordering pizza tomorrow at Partnership shelter! Miles are going by fast now!
Date: 2012-04-12
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Decided to take a lazy day at partnership. Fire was nice last night while it was going but I inevitably got freezing during the night and may or may not have spooned a little with Fancy. It's a weird bond, being constantly with someone who knows the pain and triumphs you have. Started the day off hurting but by 7 miles felt better. Ordered a pizza and calzone from The Tuscan to split with Fancy. That's right, pizza on the trail! It's a tradition though. Fancy is hiking on to meet his girl in Atkins and I'll just meet him in town tomorrow. Shelter is deluxe, has a shows and a loft! Gonna be warm tonight.
Date: 2012-04-13
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Atkins, VA
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: clear sky

Lazy day into and out of Atkins, VA. Tried no socks and got two bad blisters. Weird part was I didn't feel them while walking, so I popped those and hoped they would go away soon. Went to Exxon and got a slice of pizza, a deli sandwich, and a pint of moose track (of course). Resupply is really crappy but it'll have ot work. Mainly consisting of ramen and little debbies. Met up with Day Pack and am just sitting outside of Fancy's motel resting our tired bodies. After that, me and Day Pack went to The Barn and each got a 1 lb burger with everything (including bacon... of course) and a lot of curly fries. Didn't feel full at all but couldn't spend anymore money Craving pecan pie for like 200 miles now!!!! Anyways, we hiked back to the trail as it's getting dark. We run into the three brothers camping in the middle of a huge pasture that's gonna have an amazing sunrise! Sat around with Shancara, Super Beat, Coruna, and Day Pack watching sunset and then into my bug bivy (I set up my hammock by just using my trekking poles to hold up either end so it was like a tent. I've decided I'm gonna try to do a 32.6 mile day tomorrow... Terrain and weather looks decent and I feel good. Probably gonna regret it but I can't let Fancy be the only one with a 30 day =] Hope I don't die.
Date: 2012-04-14
From: Atkins, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 32.6

Holy crap... that hurt. Day started great, but eventually one of the blisters from yesterday on my big right toe was hurting so I started to favor the outside of that foot and therefore got a blister on my pinky toe! AAARRGGHHH! So sick of these stupid Chacos!!!!!! Rolled my ankles probably a dozen times pretty bad throughout day. Great views of VA today though. Beautiful countrysides and spring colors everywhere. Definitely my favorite state so farAround mile 26/27 started feeling really bad but decided to push to shelter. Night hiked into camp exhausted. Whole day took me minutes over 13 hours with about 2.5 hours of breaks altogether. So many breaks because there were three trail magics today! Weekends rock.1. PB&J sandwiches, crackers, and cokes in a cooler.2. Section hiker Scott gave me pretzels, cashews, an orange, and pumpkin bread cookies (so good!).3. Water in gallon jugs right before a 10 mile dry section. Most tired I've been yet, too tired to make dinner. So I threw up my tarp and immediately fell asleep.
Date: 2012-04-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.0

Got up super late and made a huge breakfast of toasted bagel with cheese and a pot of alfredo fettucini. Feel surprisingly fresh after yesterday. Only 14 miles today so that should help me recover. Gonna meet back with Fancy today sometime.Climb then flat for day. But it's so freaking hot! Praying for a stream to swim in and then all the sudden an unlisted creek beside a road comes out of nowhere so I took a nice dip and layed on a rock for 45 minutes. Feel nice and clean and cooled off so I guess I'll go hike. About 4 miles later whole right (big and pinky toe) were really painful. A nice reminder of the huge day I had.Met up with Fancy about 2 1/2 miles from shelter and hurting. He had caught up to me on the downhill, no one catches me on the downhill when I'm not in pain. Limped to shelter and ate a lot. Now it's to bed, hopefully feel better tomorrow.
Date: 2012-04-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.1

Day started nice but got really hot. Probably in the 80's. Don't have much of an appetite and consequently no energy. Decided to go to Trent's Grocery with Fancy and Day Pack about .5 mile off trail. Crossed this HUGE suspension that crossed a creek. It was kinda overkill but cool. So I got 2 hotdogs with everything, a quart of milk, onion rings, and an Arizona Fruit Punch for back in camp. Got super full and gross because I haven't had much of an appetite, but it all looked so good! Milk probably wasn;'t the brightest idea either. Thank God terrain was smooth to shelter. We both were really hurting about 4 miles from shelter though and limped in as it was getting dark. Found a sweet camp spot in the middle of a rhododendron tunnel to set up the tarp and quickly made home. Theme for day is dehydration. So dry for like 15 miles!
Date: 2012-04-17
To: Parrisburg, VA
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Pretty great day. Woke up at about 6:30 and had a 16 mile walk into P'Burg to get an ASIAN BUFFET!!!!!! Easy terrain besides a couple tough climbs but they all feel easier now. Still really tired and energy levels are low. Ate a big lunch and sped up some. Then there came this AMAZING view 3 miles from the town that had this rock ledge you sit on and hang your feet off of. Looked a lot like the famous McCafee's Knob. Hawks were flying everywhere showing off. Then the sun broke through and you could tell there were hot spots of sun becaue the hawks started to rise with the warm air probably 500 ft higher than where we were! Virginia is really beautiful.Got into town and headed directly to buffet. Go slightly side tracked when I noticed that Dairy Queen had a happy hour and shakes were 1/2 off. So of course we had to get one. THEN it was on to the buffet... it was glorious. Everything was just how I imagined it. Theme for the day is buffet.
Date: 2012-04-18
From: Parrisburg, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.0

Woke up to rain, wind, and freezing temps. Barely got out of my bag and packed up. Big climb out of P'Burg and that was the only thing that kept us from being hypothermic... just for a couple hours though. The wind kicked up and blew the rain in every crevice of our bodies and was in the 30's with a teen's wind chill. FINALLY made it to the shelter 6 miles in and Fancy and me looked at eachother and baoth said, "nero." So that's what we've been doing. Sitting in our sleeping bags trying to get warm. Foundout that our sleeping bags zip together and make a "Super Bag!" So much warmer together than seperate. Met Spider (finally caught up to him, and Sterling. Now Sterling is a crazy dude. He's been hiking the East Coast Trail (ECT) which starts in Florida on the Florida Trail and meets up with the AT somehow and contiues into Canada. I didn't know why he was so weird then I heard all that info and realized he's already been out here over 2,000 miles. I gues we'll all be that weird in the end... Eating our copious amounts of food we bought in P'Burg including 2 baguettes, cheese, a ciabatta loaf, and flatbread! Bread is good. Still rainy and cold! Theme for the day is hypothermia.
Date: 2012-04-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.0

Long day miles wise but felt very short. Got up super early and Spider was so pissed off lol (5:30 am). I was the last to leave out of Day Pack (who I now call Frodo becasue he has Hobbit feet, in 5'5", he carried an impossibly large load bc his pack weighed 71 lbs, and he's on an incredible adventure to get to a mountain that countless have tried and failed to reach. Sounds like Frodo to me), Fancy, and Sterling. Day started bleak and pretty much stayed that way. No rain and the temperature was actually nice and cool. No sun still...Feet fell excellent but right shin hurts. It's always something. That's all thru-hiking is; can you deal with pain and inconviences for 4+ months?Day flew by and I felt great after 24 miles. Guy named Bomber from Rochester, NY is staying at the shelter. He's kind of a toolbag. Then Swivel and Spiral came in late at about 9:30 pm. Maybe sun will come out tomorrow? Theme for the day is bleak.
Date: 2012-04-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 18.2

It was a really good day, it flew by. Chacos actually feel really nice today. Amazing views while walking through pastures, it all looks like a VA calender! Caught up to Swivel and Spiral pretty quick. They hike expecially fast, they just go ALL day from sun-up to sun-down. Fancy has pretty bad shin splints in both legs, and tendonitis in both ankles. He got in super late and a little bummed. He's talking about taking a week off the trail. Hope not. I'm sure he'll feel better tomorrow. Theme for the day is excellence.
Date: 2012-04-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.0

Got out of shelter super late around 10 am. Fancy's trying to heal and says he feels a little better. Ran into some suh-weet trail magic about 4 miles in. Babyfoot and his wife Judy set up a table and were cooking hot dogs, had chili, onions, cheese, fruit, vegies, cake, candy, and gatorade! We were the first hikers for them for the day becasue they'd just got there. We would have missed all this if we would've left when we usually do! Well left there feeling gross and of course had a HUGE climb (1,500 ft) straight uphill. That's where the day turned sour. 30 minutes after the climb, it started to rain (at least it's not cold and windy though) and stopped 2 hours later for about 2 hours. Then there's a part of the trail called The Dragon's Tooth that literally goes straight downhill. So steep that in parts they had to put in rungs for hikers to climb like a ladder. And in some parts they put in any so you had to use your hands and feet to scale these little ledges over a 15 foot drop. It was way cool but also way dangerous because everything was soaked obviously. After all that the rain started again. Everything was slippery and I was going fast downhill. Stepped on a root with my right foot, it slipped out to the left and BAM! Landed all my weight on my right knee straight onto a rock... right on the knee cap. Hurt so freaking bad I just sat there for 10 minutes squeezing it and pouring cold water on it. It was bleeding a decent amount as well. Other knee hit slightly so it REALLY hurts to walk. After a mile or so I kind of loosened up and could limp at my normal pace. Getting dark but the rain stopped thankfully. Tired after 20 miles though. Stumbled upon a shelter I didn't know about (I don't have the right part of my guide yet, it's in the mail) and decided to crash. All alone in a shelter for first time in 40 something days. Called family for company and didn't make a dinner. Just ate bread and a Snickers with peanut butter on it. Bed time. Theme for the day is suck.