morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-07-21
From: West Carry Pond Lean to

To: Caratunk 
Miles today: 14.0

Had to start early today to get to the ferry in time. I woke up at 5 and started hiking by 645. It was nice getting miles done in the morning. I had 10 miles done by 11. Rain came down for awhile and cooled off the day. Lots of waterfalls coming down the mountain. Got to the ferry at 130. 40-4 and I were the last two hikers to cross the river today. I helped the ferryman put away the canoe for the day. Stopped at the Caratunk House to resupply and drink a strawberry milkshake. The owner gave me a ride to Northern Outdoors where I split a room with Logan (Spicey Boy) and Twinkle Toes. Got a shower, watched Roadhouse, and ate dinner at the brewery here. The blueberry beer isn't that great. By my count I have 10 days left after Monson. I've been going a lot slower and taking more breaks throughout the day. Every view feels like the last chance for me to soak in the scenery and the end seems very close. I am proud to be in the final days of my hike, but also sad. I'm going to miss this.Levi
Date: 2019-07-22
From: Caratunk 

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 5.7

Got out of town around 9:30 after breakfast at the brewery. Northern Outdoors gave Buckles, Twinkle Toes, Spicy Boi, and I to the Caratunk House next to the trail. Spicy Boi and I didn't leave till close to 2pm. Hung out at the hostel and talked with the other hikers. Met a guy once I got on trail who was wearing a shirt wrapped as a skirt, no shirt, and pine branches stuck in his headband.  Found some loons on the water and took pictures. I've been hearing them often at night. The shelter was lively. Two section hikers happened to be air force pilots turned commercial pilots and knew some of the same people. I learned more than I wanted to about commercial airplanes and auto pilot. Got to bed at 7.Levi
Date: 2019-07-23
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-to

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean to 
Miles today: 22.0

Early start. Up by 5 and out by 6:45.Spicy Boi and I hiked together for most of the day. Ran into a cooler of trail magic at the base of Moxie that still had ice cold soda, candy bars, and apples.Moxie Bald was an unexpected 360 view. I stayed up there close to an hour making phone calls and enjoying one of the last good views from the mountains.Later in the day we stopped at Moxie Bald Lean to and sat at the edge of the pond on a picnic table for over an hour. Really going to miss this scenery.Covered the distance by 7. Had the shelter to myself, everyone else tented. I guess the bugs are bad but I'm used to covering up at night.Some Southbounders lit a fire. I put in my earplugs and was asleep by 8.Levi
Date: 2019-07-24
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean to 

To: Monson 
Miles today: 9.0

Hung out with the Southbounders till 9. Took my time on the trail getting to town. I can't stop listening to Georgia by Phoebe Bridgers. All the feels. Monson is a great trail town. Got a quick hitch and stopped at the general store, post office, and gas station before heading to Shaw's. Met Buckles, Twinkle Toes, and Spicy Boi at the hostel. Hung out with some cool Southbounders. Drank wine, played music, climbed a tree, slack lined, and traded trail stories. Levi
Date: 2019-07-25
From: Monson 

To: Monson 
Miles today: 0.0

Decided to take a zero here instead of hiking out the 4 miles I had planned. Went through my mail drop, trimmed my inserts to fit my new shoes (Hoka Trail Goats), and made sure everything else was topped off before heading into the 100 mile wilderness. Spent the afternoon and morning lounging around. Not sure what to do with the rest of my day. Maybe I'll get a post done about the emotions I'm going through getting close to the end. Stay tuned. Levi
Date: 2019-01-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The 320 miles from Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, to Katahdin are between us and a completion of the AT. All the 800 miles of section hiking were repeated in 2010 on our attempt to through hike which ended in Pennsylvania that year. The following year ended in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, and the third year at Pinkham notch. The AT itself will harrow you, but not finishing will plunder your peace even more in my case.However, we needed time away from it to do other things like long distance bicycle trips. It happened that we found success on those trips and restored our craving for adventure. The realization that we will probably be able to handle bicycle trips longer than the ability to backpack the AT gave birth to the idea of a through hike. We vacillated whether to just pick up where we left off or try another through hike.  We will begin our hike a little differently this time by starting in Waynesboro, Va (Rockfish Gap). We were going to start in Maryland, but that meant the Shenandoah National Park facilities would still be closed when we got there. The ability to carry less food due to the waysides is a nice feature of hiking the Shenandoah miles. So the plan is to start at the southern end of the park and continue south to Springer mountain. From Springer, we will rent a car to head back to where we started and head north.
Date: 2019-02-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The first attempt to thru hike entailed listening to the continuous humming of the food dehydrator for food preparation. We wasted a lot of time, energy, and money because the chicken we dehydrated was like rocks to the point that another hiker didn¢t even allow his hungry dog to have it for fear it would harm its gut. Some things like dehydrated spaghetti sauce worked out well, but it¢s not worth it in our estimation. We¢ll start out using Mountain House meals for dinners, and figure out something for breakfast and lunch.We started before with a pump action water filter, switched to Aqua Mira after a few hundred miles to save weight, then switched to a gravity filter. We¢re trying the Sawyer squeeze this time. We also have changed to the Big Agnes Copper Spur tent as our old Big Agnes Seedhouse has done its duty. Our packs are the Deuters that we started with in 2010. They are banged up, but we haven¢t been able to find anything as light that we like as much. If they fall apart, we¢ll have to replace or have our old Mountain Smith packs from section hiking sent to us. The rest of the gear is a combination of old and new. Some things that are definitely new to our experience are carrying a recharging device and Guthooks app. We certainly don¢t have the app figured out yet, but it sure seems like a great tool. Probably one of the most important aspects is to train, and we have been doing things differently this time. The past involved logging miles without regard to improving balance or strengthening our core and upper body. We started weight training in the fall and included yoga, piyo, and Tai Chi classes. The intention of these classes was focused on preparation for the trail, but we found out they were more than that. Each of the instructors eclipsed our expectations, inspired a true interest, and imbued us with the recognition that the classes were more than a tool to enhance a backpacking trip. I guess we can think of Melanie, Laura, and Frank as our first trail angels of this hike.
Date: 2019-02-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Choosing to tackle something that feels safe and instilled with security is inherently not the description of an adventure. A choice based on one¢s own volition carries the burden of coping with the outcome. Therefore, an expected outcome ought to be part of the plan. The goal is a thru hike and the ability to adapt to ¢what is¢.  Before selecting this adventure, we needed to establish whether it came from inspiration or desperation. We compromised by agreeing to the desperation of needing the completion and the inspiration to make the hike more than a means to an end. So we will start our steps with the goal in mind, and the candor to be flexible to what the trail offers. To only dwell on the miles left diminishes the present glory that may be right in our face. One of my favorite quotes is ¢this day will never come again¢ by Thomas Merton.
Date: 2019-02-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A small amount of this, and a small amount of that equals large amount of weight. We always tried to be discretionary and prioritize, eventually achieving pack weight of about 30 pounds.Weather is fickle and in charge, so judgement is key to safety and comfort. Filed away under ¢lessons learned¢ is the blunder made on our first thru hike attempt. We got through the Smokies and felt relief from the threat of cold weather. When we got to Hot Springs, we made a trip home for Too Soon¢s mother¢s 90th birthday party and to see our dog, Parker.I got the bright idea that we could swap our sleeping bags for our lighter ones and also leave some other cold weather gear home. This seemed brilliant as we would reduce pack weight and the postage to send them home anyhow, surely very soon! Leaving Hot Springs in drizzling rain and chilly, it was nice to start climbing with a little less weight. It got colder and colder, and I started to wonder if I had made a judgement error. That was a miserable sleepless cold night followed by a few more, and taught me at least one lesson. The first thing Too Soon did when we got to Erwin was go the a dollar store and buy two fleece blankets to augment our light bags. They only had children¢s, and Too Soon ended up with Cars, and I got Tinkerbell. Of course the projected pack weight savings was now eliminated, but we were warm! As soon as we were certain of warmer weather, we cut the blankets in half.
Date: 2019-02-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

The preparation list is a living entity. I look forward to crossing things off only to add additional. Planning snacks and lunches yielded bulging food bags so we just started consuming them rather than carry later.Support boxes are filled and ready to mail next week. They contain a variety of things that may or may not be needed or wanted, but it will help trying to find stuff.This is a practice journal entry using phone.
Date: 2019-02-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It¢s 20 degrees outside, and the Doves are busy building a nest on the swing that is still raised for winter. They lost their previous nest in the windstorm last week but are determined to not relocate. Watching them is beautiful as they work together using little bits of twigs, straw, and other available construction materials. When I brushed the dogs in previous years, they would gather the fur.As the birds prepare a new house for the arrival of the family, I doubt if they ponder the potential dangers and struggles they may face this season. They sing and take flight to accomplish what needs done at this moment. I spoke about lessons learned in a previous entry, and I will add the joyful birds to that list. Instead of always worrying about the past and letting that influence the future, maybe the birds can sort it out with their example to be interested in the present.
Date: 2019-03-12
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Paul Wolfe shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Dropped the car off at Enterprise to discover there was only one person working and unable to take us to the trail head. She called a cab, and we finally got going after 3. Christian, a runner, saw us trying to get a selfie by the sign. He stopped to talk and took our picture.The trail was great and we passed a few more people along the way. We passed an old stone chimney, then a very old graveyard with headstones so weathered they looked like grey teeth sticking out of the ground.We started descending to the trail to discover trail that hadn¢t been maintained yet. We climbed over down trees and bushwhacked the rest of the way. A great shelter with picnic table and privy. The water source was the raging creek. It was very cold and struggled to keep warm enough, but the birds were singing this morning, sun filtering through the trees, and filled with gratitude to be able to do this.
Date: 2019-03-13
From: Paul Wolfe shelter

To: Dripping rock trail head 
Miles today: 9.3

We put our very cold hiking clothes on, ate a Mountain house egg breakfast, and coffee. Packed up and rock hopped across the swiftly running creek. It was a little tricky to find the trail due to blow downs and no blazes. Finally, Too Soon spotted a blaze, and we started climbing out.One switchback after another and awesome views got us up the mountain. I saw a chubby grey squirrel playing on a log, but not much wildlife yet. The ground is brown and abundant snapped trees from a harsh ice storm. Although birds sang good morning to us, only soaring birds off the ledges seemed to be around.We reached a trail junction, and I had better signal, so I did yesterday¢s journal. As we left from there, I noticed Too Soon limping. He fell pretty hard yesterday buckling his right knee underneath him as his pack pushed him forward. He claimed it was OK, but we slowly kept going. We stopped for lunch on a nice rock beside a waterfall coming off a boulder. The water at first looked green, but as I gathered it, I realized it was picking up the color of the moss it traveled over. I filtered enough to get the day done.We crossed magnificent rock ledges looking out at ski slopes on distant mountains. The day started to seem long, and we knew we needed to get back to town to get a knee brace and rest Too Soon¢s knee.John, an avid local hiker and friend of a lady we met on the trail yesterday, was hiking towards us towards the end of the day. He asked us if we were the couple who left Rockfish Gap yesterday and chuckled that news travels fast in this area. He was out for an afternoon hike but graciously offered to take us into town where he lives after he is done.We sat at the trail head parking lot enjoying the rest and talking to a cyclist riding the Blue ridge parkway. Soon John was back and took us to a CVS to get a brace, then to a hotel. The trail provides goodness in many ways, but trail angels are the most profound blessings of all. Thank you John.
Date: 2019-03-15
From: Dripping rock trail head 

To: ReidÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap
Miles today: 4.9

John, our trail angel, picked us up and brought us back to the Dripping Rock trail head where we last left. Sunny skies and warm temperatures started today¢s hike. Too Soon wore the knee brace and did much better today than the hiking the day after the fall. John told us the miles would be rocky, and they were. We were on a ridge line most of today¢s hike. The birds were more active today with warmer temperatures, and their songs were far better than any headphones. The ground is still brown with old leaves, and not much spring yet.We stopped at a beautiful spring underneath a big rock and filtered two liters to have with our Spam and tortillas. We each had a nutter butter cookie.At Reids gap we decided not to push the knee any further and called Royal Oaks cabins. Chris picked us up, and we volunteered to clean the cabin for half price. It¢s lovely here and Remi, the German Shepherd, is sweet.
Date: 2019-03-16
From: ReidÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap

To: Tye River
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

Kris dropped us off at Reid¢s gap to slack pack over Three Ridges Mountain. We got an early start in 32 degrees and sun peeking through the trees. Muddy areas were frozen, and the treadway began really nice. I stopped on the climb to put a bandage on my big toe, and Feral, who had started at Springer in January, stopped to chat. He wants to be finished by June 1 so he can also hike the PCT. besides Feral, there were several hikers out today. A lot with their dogs, and one had two beautiful Australian Shepherds.The trail turned to boulder fields off and on until the last two miles which couldn¢t have been nicer. There were magnificent views since no leaves blocking the distant mountains and beautiful valley below. The houses looked like doll houses and the junction of the ravine behind them a sight to savor.We stopped at a giant log and had lunch, then later stopped at Harpers Creek shelter to rest for 10 minutes. We had prearranged a pick up time with Kris, and time had been absorbed in the boulder areas so break time limited.We crossed the suspension bridge at the Tye river, and Kris and Remi were waiting for us. They had only been there 5 minutes so all worked out.I did yesterday¢s journal on the trail when I found service, but Kris rebooted the system so I might get this posted tonight. I have very scanty cell service here.
Date: 2019-03-17
From: Tye River

To: The Priest shelter 
Miles today: 5.3

Kris dropped us off at the Tye river, and we soon entered the Priest wilderness. We climbed the mountain for the next 4.8 miles to reach the summit at 4063 feet elevation. The treadway was really good except for minor sections near the top, and passed a beautiful waterfall that looked like sparkling emerald water cascading since it took on the colorful moss background. I was amused by it since it was Saint Patrick¢s day. Abundant magnificent views without the blockade of foliage was a benefit of still winter conditions. We had full packs and though very cold outside, we had soaked clothing from sweat. About 1 mile from the summit, a group of Boy Scouts passed us as the were descending the mountain. We continued on to the shelter and debated whether to go further or stay put since the next shelter probably too far for us right now after that climb. We decided to stay and immediately stripped off wet clothing and put on camp clothes. We strewed our shirts out in the cold but sunny areas and even our puffies. We tried to keep comfortable enough with our rain jackets, but not able.We put our sleeping pads and bags down and got in for awhile to get warm. After an hour or so we got out to filter water from the spring and cook dinner. We had to get back in the bags soon, and Patrick showed up. He set up a tent and waited on his friend who was going on a long section hike.
Date: 2019-03-18
From: The Priest shelter 

To: Buena Vista 
Miles today: 5.2

Another very cold night in the shelter even with putting the tent fly over our sleeping bags. No birds singing, but morning arrived. We started packing up gear, and I first got a leg cramp kneeling to roll up and stuff my Neoair sleeping pad. Then leaning over to stuff sleeping bag and pack, my back torqued and into spasms. I knew I had not hydrated enough yesterday then had gotten cold. I moved carefully until it loosened up a bit, then eased myself off the shelter platform. Our water tubing was frozen and water bags slushy so we got more spring water and filtered into empty bottles. After two bottles of water and a hot coffee, I knew I had to be able to hike out of there.Patrick was heading back to Roanoke today after seeing his friend off to continue hiking. He had gotten to the shelter via an impassable by vehicle forest road that junctioned with the AT.His vehicle was parked at the bottom of that road. He said he would drop us at a small town on his way home. We continued on the AT then found the road he indicated and started down it. It was a really nice hike passing many campsites and the spur trail to Crabtree falls. We finally found Patrick¢s vehicle and sat on a log while we waited for him. He is a fun adventurous guy with many stories. He had warned us that the backseat of his car was missing since he drives part time for Uber, and Saturday night, a 25 year old girl had had an accident in his car. She had been Saint Patrick¢s day partying. We got into town and cranked up the heat. I put Melaleuca on my back and stretched after a hot shower. It will be sore for awhile, but we¢ll hike out Wednesday.We got a subway and stayed warm the rest of the day.Maybe we should have started in Georgia where warmer and less difficult, but we now have Humpback, Three Ridges, and the Priest done. We¢ll keep hiking toward spring and finding amazing people along our way.
Date: 2019-03-19
From: Buena Vista 

To: Buena Vista 
Miles today: 0.0

My back still sore and touchy, but improved. With more attention to needs, will be out of trouble. We did our laundry, made some shuttle arrangements, and worked on logistics. The forest road put us near Montebello, so we¢ll have about 16 miles from Fish Hatchery Rd to Rte 60 to make up later since shuttle will drop us at Rte 60. We have already hiked that area twice before, but it doesn¢t matter if we can accomplish this thru hike.With shuttle back to the trail arranged, we decided to take the Maury express to the Walmart in Lexington to buy Mylar emergency blankets to augment our sleeping system. The Express is 50 cents each way per person and runs on the hour. It was like taking a tour of the area as it makes numerous stops at all kinds of places. An Uber would have been more direct for sure, but also the cost of a shuttle back to the trail.
Date: 2019-03-20
From: US 60, Long Mountain Wayside 

To: Punchbowl Mountain overlook BRP
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

Oma dropped us off at US 60, Long Mountain Wayside, to slack pack what is a great section of trail. Everything still brown and covered with dead leaves, but starts out fairly smooth and soon hiking through Brown Mountain Creek historic area. Following a creek with evidence of a past community with stone fireplaces and remnants of foundations, we soon were at the Brown Mountain Creek shelter. We stopped long enough to sign the shelter log. Miles passed and the Lynchburg reservoir became in view to our right. The trail skirted around it until we came to the suspension bridge. My heel was hot, and I wanted to get my boot off to check for a blister, so we decided to sit on the steps of the bridge and have lunch of our usual spam on tortillas, cookies, and m&m¢s.We started climbing Rice Mountain immediately after lunch. We called Oma close to the summit to let her know we were ahead of schedule.About a mile and half before Punchbowl we were startled by the roar of fighter jets. They were so close, and the noise deafening. Oma told us later they come out to do mountain maneuvers from Virginia Beach.We head out with full packs tomorrow.
Date: 2019-03-21
From: Punchbowl Mountain overlook BRP

To: Buena Vista 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

It¢s starting to seem like a relocation instead of a hike. The night before last I had a toothache, and I took an antibiotic that I had with me. After about an hour, it subsided somewhat. Hiked yesterday with mild toothache, but again last night, same scenario.Called a local dentist this morning, but they had a full schedule, and only one dentist working as the partner away at a meeting. The staff said to give them time to listen to their answering machine for cancellations, and if they had any, she would work me in. I was using Too Soon¢s phone at the time, but gave her my number as that¢s the one usually used.We took the bus to the pharmacy to look for clove oil and get a prescription my home dentist called in for me. The local dentist did call back, but on Too Soon¢s phone that was being charged. There had been a cancellation, but by the time we called back, Too Late.So I¢ll have faith that the antibiotic will work, and we can get going.