morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-04
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Another interesting day. Every day on the AT is interesting, maybe they aren't all fun or pleasant, but they are certainly interesting. The wind was blowing hard as usual last night while we were all asleep in the shelter, and a huge limb fell down on the shelter roof with a tremendous CRASH! It was really scary. Several headlamps came on instantly and the mystery was solved. Today I only had 8 miles to walk to get to the road crossing at Davenport Gap where Mike was going to meet me. And he wasn't going to be there until 6 pm because the herb show in Asheville didn't end for the day until 5. So I didn't need to hurry, but I did. For one thing, I was eager to get down off that mountain, because it would be warmer down below. And for another reason, a park ranger I met along the way told me that rain was coming, to start at about 2. So I hurried right along. There's a shelter, the last shelter in the Smokies, the Davenport Gap Shelter, one mile before the road crossing. My plan was to wait there out of the rain and eat lunch there, then walk to the road crossingand meet Mike at the right time. When I got to the shelter I was surprised that it still had the chain link fencing across the front. All the Smokies shelters used to have the open side covered by this fence, making the shelters into bear proof cages, with the hikers in the cage. They've all been removed, replaced by better policies. Except here was this shelter with the cage, and a sign saying not to cook or eat at this shelter, because food odors attract bears. I decided there must be troublesome bears in this area. And I was alone there for four hours. I decided not to risk eating my lunch. I ventured outside my cage to collect firewood, which I brought back inside. I closed myself inside, made a cheering fire in the fireplace, and did sudoku puzzles. Eventually a couple of section hikers arrived so I had company until it was time to go.I met Mike and we came to Asheville, to a warm motel room and I took a very long, hot shower. It feels great to be out of the weather, although it is also cold and rainy here. Tomorrow is the last dayof the herb show, which has also been plagued by the bad weather. Oh well, I'm glad I'm here to help.
Date: 2013-05-05
From: Davenport Gap

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 0.0

After a good night's sleep in a warm dry motel, we went to church at St. Barnabus and then we went on to the herb show at the Asheville Farmer's Market. It's unseasonably cold and still raining. It rained all day long, quite heavy at times, so traffic at the show was pretty slow. We were under a roof but open on all sides, so rain blew in and it was a problem keeping the products dry. And it was so cold! And I came down off the mountain to warm up and get dry! Still, there were a lot of good people there, and our results were good enough that we could see that if the weather were better this would have been a good show. So we would be happy to come back next year. And we were able to buy some herb plants we haven't been able to find anywhere else.So,we packed up, went out for a nice dinner, and did the rest of my errands (laundry, sewing my pants, again. ) Tomorrow I go back on the trail and hope for better weather. And guess who called today? Nightingale! She's back on the trail and bypassing the Smokies for now because of the weather. So we have plans to meet tomorrow and resume hiking north together. It will be great to see her again.   You know that I'm glad to be out of the Smokies, but I know that doesn't mean the trail becomes easy. There will still be mountains, that will still be cold and windy on the tops, there will still be rocky trails, etc. But the Smokies do present some particular challenges, and I'm glad to be past them. Next stop is the town of Hot Springs, a famous trail town that i'm really looking forward to seeing. It's about 30 miles away, so maybe three days? I hope spring comes soon!
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Davenport Gap

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 9.6

What a difference 24 hours can make! Yesterday I was freezing in the rain in Asheville,today I walked in shorts and a tee shirt in the warm sunshine! Rain remainedin the forecast, but I was fortunate not to see a drop. St. Mike dropped me off in the wilderness after a nice big breakfast at IHOP. As always, I was sad to see him go. Thehiking felt good though, and I barely feel the pack on my back anymore. I hiked a five mile ascent of Snowbird Mountain, and was richly rewarded at the top by a gorgeous bald. It felt just magical, walking through a beautiful sunny meadow with 360 degree views of trees and mountains, all under a blue blue sky. I took some pictures and will post them, but they only show a segment of the whole, and so they really don't do the scene any justice at all. There is an FAA tower on the top which makes it all quite surreal, it seems so out of place there.   I couldn't help but think of Area 51 and wonder if the government was housing aliens in there. Finally I got to the shelter, and Nightingale was there!   It was great to see her again, and we will be hiking together again. There were two very interesting young men there and we had some good conversation. Life is good on the AT, I just hope this nice weather holds. I've had enough cold and rain for a lifetime.
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter 

To: Lemon Gap 
Miles today: 11.6

What a day! When I say every day out here is an adventure, I mean it! Nightingale and I walked along in our usual light hearted way, and laughed and told jokes and tried to remember all the lyrics to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. " It was a great day of hiking, and then, oh my goodness, we came to Max Patch. I am not kidding, you all must make plans immediately to go see Max Patch! It is a mountainwith a bald on top, but that just doesn't begin to tell the story. I loved Snowbird Mtn. yesterday, but Max Patch just dwarfs Snowbird. It was seriously almost a spiritual experience to stand up there and look around. I don't know how else to describe it. Again, I took photos, but they will not show you the dramatic scope of the place any more than my poor words can describe it. You really have to go see it! The good news is you don't have to hike the AT to see it. There is a parking lot at the bottom, and you can easily walk up to the top and see the same view I walked 250 miles to see!But we finally had to leave it, so we walked on, all the way to a small, unnamed camp site near Lemon Gap. We are the only people here. Nightingale has a hammock now, and it's her first night to sleep in it. Unfortunately as soon as we started setting up the rain started falling, and we did a very rushed setup. My trees aren't quite as far apart as I like, so I have a bit too much sag, but I'm not going out in the rain to change it, and I'm sure it will still be more comfortable than a shelter. Night all. Go see Max Patch.
Date: 2013-05-08
From: Lemon Gap 

To: Hot Springs 
Miles today: 14.4

Well, I'm in a moral quandary tonight. Maybe you all can help me. What a day! Again! Every day out here brings some new adventure. I can't wait to tell you all what happened today, and maybe you can tell me what I should do tomorrow. It rained all night last night. I slept well in my hammock, too much sag and all. I was warmer and more comfortable than in a shelter, and I was dry. Not Nightingale though.She was wet, cold, absolutely miserable. Somehow, I can't figure out how, her hammock leaked. Everything she owned was wet, including her sleeping bag and all her clothes. We were about 14 miles by trail to the town of Hot Springs, which was our next stop. But nightingale wasn't going to be able to hike a 14 mile day over two mountains with heavy wet gear and wet clothes. Fortunately, or so it seemed at the time, we were less than half a mile from a road crossing where we hoped to either catch a ride to Hot Springs, or call for a shuttle. So we packed up our gear, and even a lot of my stuff was muddy. It's hard to stay clean and dry when sleeping outdoors in the rain. We walked to the road crossing, which was disappointingly devoid of cars. In fact, it wasn't much of a road, or much of a crossing. We had no cell service. We walked a bit in each direction, but saw nothing, there was nothing to see. Finally we decided to walk on the road that went downhill, reasoning that it was most likely to come out on a major road, since most country roads go up the mountain, not down.So we walked. And walked. And kept walking. By the time we started to realize that maybe we had chosen the wrong way we had gone too far to be willing to consider turning around. To make a long story short, we walked at least 10 miles down that gravel road, and my feet keep reminding me of that fact. We finally ended up in the countryside where we got a ride with a sweet older couple named Bob and Betty. I think they saved our lives. They drove us to a town called Newport, where we were able to get a second ride into Hot Springs. At last! We would have gotten here sooner if we had just stayed on the trail but of course we had no way of knowing that at the time. We got a room in a hostel, did laundry, and ate some hot food. Now here's my quandary: I have a 14 mile section of trail behind me that I haven't hiked. Nightingale wants to skip it, saying we hiked the same distance, just on a gravel forest service road instead of on the AT. She wants to hike north out of here. I agree with her that we hiked the same distance as we would have hiked had we stayed on the trail, but it's NOT the AT. I feel I should hike that section, but a shuttle back to Lemon Gap would cost $55. That's a whole lot to me. Is Nightingale right? What should I do?
Date: 2013-05-11
From: Allen Gap

To: Little Laurel Shelter 
Miles today: 4.8

Pitiful miles today, I know, but we're having to work around the weather. Rain was forecast for all afternoon and evening, so we stopped at this first shelter to wait and see what's going to happen. Neither of us wants to either hike or camp in the rain today. We would have liked to stay in Hot Springs another day and let this weather front pass, but it's just getting ridiculous, we just spent three nights there. We are hikers, not vacationers, and it was time to hike on.The shuttle dropped us at Allen Gap this morning, and we commenced a long uphill hike. It was warm, quickly starting to feel hot with the humidityand the exertion required to carry a heavy pack uphill for four miles. The Green Monster felt very, very heavy, after a zero day, a slackpack, and the addition of five days of heavy food to get me to Erwin. I'm not ashamed to admit that I huffed and puffed all the way here, sweating heavily. It was a real struggle for me.The annoying bugs were still out in force today, but the rain has sent them all away. It has cooled down tremendously and is supposed to be 38 degrees tonight. Yikes! I am so ready for warm weather! I mistakenly thought the cold nights were a thing of the past. Sigh. Mike is picking me up in Erwin to take me to Trail Days in Damascus. I just have to be in Erwin by Thursday, which shouldn't be a problem. Trail Days is a huge hiker festival in Damascus, Virginia. We were invited there as vendors for this year, so it works out great- -we get to experience Trail Days, spend a few days together, and hopefully make some new customers for Coyote Cove (and some money) all at the same time. I still want to give Mike a break from all the extra work he's having to do while I'm on the trail, so I will work at the booth all three days so he can be free to look around, or ride his bike on the Virginia Creeper Trail. Come see us, May 16, 17, and 18!Addendum: It's actually been a very nice afternoon/ evening hanging out here at the shelter with some very interesting people. There is a group of 6 boy scout leaders who are section hikers and they have been a lot of fun. And, they know how to make a roaring fire out of wet wood! And then there No Rush, who trains the bartendersfor Jimmy Buffett's restaurants. All in all, an unexpectedly enjoyable day.
Date: 2013-05-13
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

Last night was the coldest night I've spent on the trail so far, outside of the Smokies. Brrr! Have I ever told you that I hate being cold, more than almost anything? One hiker with a thermometer said it got down to 33 degrees last night. I believe it, I was too cold to sleep much--it just wasn't a good night. Where is Spring???The trek to Erwin continues. More varied terrain today, which is always nice. I crossed a stile today, over a fence and through a pasture. The woods were full of little streams and one glorious waterfall. I saw very few other hikers today, and there are only three of us in the shelter tonight. The other hiker is a 6'6" ultramarathoner who easily does 20-30 miles days, and longer. He will be in Erwin tomorrow night! It will take Nightingale and myself until Thursday to get there!It's cold now, and I'm hoping it will be warmer than last night.Since this is a short entry, I'll take this opportunity to tell you about HYOH. It stands for Hike your own hike, and it gets said a lot, and in different contexts. When written it is always given the acronym HYOH. It means you have to figure out for yourself how to hike the trail, and that your hike will be different than anyone else's. It means that you can listen to other hiker's methods, gear, ideas, etc, but you can't pattern your hike after theirs. Hikers tend to be very opinionated about their methodology, and only too willing to share their insights with others. You can't allow yourself to be swayed by their arguments. If something someone else is doing works for you, great, but if it doesn't, just dismiss it. There are lots of ways to hike. Just for one example, let's take pack weight. Of course, lighter is better, but how light is too light? There are ultralight people out here, who forgo lots of things other hikers would consider essential. Some ultralighters don't filter their water, for example. They don't bring a stove, eating only cold food. They don't bring extra clothes, or even a tent or other shelter, planning to sleep in shelters the whole way. These are some of their choices, and the payoff is a really light weight on their back. At the other end of the spectrum are people who are willing to carry 50 pounds rather than give up some of what they consider essential on the trail. Most hikers fall somewhere in the middle, of course, but every piece of gear is a compromise--weight vs. convenience vs. cost. You have to make each decision on your own, decide what works for you on your own hike. The other side of the HYOH coin is, not only should you not pattern your hike after someone else's but then you also should not judge those who choose to hike differently than you do. Their hike is theirs, and it is valid. It seems to me that the HYOH philosophy has a wider application, to life as well.
Date: 2013-05-16
From: Erwin, TN

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

I don't have a whole lot of interesting things to report on today. I hung out in the motel room until the cleaning ladies started getting testy, then I moved my pack and myself into the lobby to wait for Mike. The motel owner was really nice and gave me a newspaper and the remote to the tv. Nightingale had gone to do laundry. Mike finally arrived and it was so great as usual to see him. We loaded up into the van already packed to the gills for our craft show at Trail Days, and drove to Damascus. It's a cute small trail town, already filling up with hikers. I'm hoping to see some of the people I had known earlier on the trail, all of whom are now far ahead of me,while I'm here this weekend. It was easy to find the craft area and we did most of the setup, something I haven't done since last fall, as Mike has done all of our spring show setup alone (I arrived in Asheville after he had already set up.) Then we looked for a place to camp, not really wanting to stay at Tent City, which is party central. We got lucky, former hikers with a house and a nice flat yard right across the street let us camp in their yard. Mike brought a two person tent for us, which will be really cozy. Then a late supper, and now (yawn) bedtime. Looking forward to tomorrow!
Date: 2013-05-17
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We slept last night in the two-person tent, on a one-person air mattress. It was a little. ...cozy, but quite comfortable really, and I like to cuddle anyway, and there have been so many nights I wished he was there to keep me warm, so it was ok. I sat in my craft tent most of the day while Mike got to ride his bike on the Virginia Creeper Trail. Sales were slow, as I anticipated, but not non-existent. One of the things I love about craft fairs is the people-watching, and of course that's even more fun at a hiker festival! Hikers by their very nature are interesting people. I saw some hikers I've known on the trail, and it was fun to reconnect (and see how far ahead of me they've gotten! ). I saw Little Janie, it was good to see she's still on the trail, and only a day or two ahead of me. After we closed the" store" for the day we went to Tent City for the free showers, which actually cost five dollars each. We had a nice dinner, then went to hear Warren Doyle speak. He's one of the trail legends I guess you could say. The church he spoke in was quite warm, his talk started at 8:45 pm, and he turned off the lights for a slide show, so of course St. Mike immediately fell asleep. I don't care, at least until he starts snoring! Mr. Doyle wouldn't have been able to hold Mike's attention anyway, as he's quite. ...deep, and quotes a lot of poetry, which I love, but which make Mike's eyes glaze over.Tomorrow, more craft show, more hikers to meet, and the hiker parade, which I've been looking forward to,having earned my spot with the class of2013.
Date: 2013-05-18
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I have written more than once about how much difference 24 hours can make, usually talking about the weather. Today's event showed me dramatically how the world can change from one moment to the next.I was walking down the main street in Damascus in the middle of the hiker parade, revelling in the silliness, taking pictures of the crazy costumes, listening to the hiker talk swirling around me, trying to avoid the water from the many squirt guns. Suddenly there was screaming coming from behind me, then a car came plowing through the crowd of hikers. There were people hanging from all sides of the car, trying to stop it. There were people under the car, being dragged. There was a young woman hanging from the hood, being run over by the front wheels. Looking back, there were other people laying on the street behind the car. Time slowed to a crawl. I tried to help, everyone did. It was chaotic and unbelievable. I won't give any more details about the specifics out of respectfor the privacy of the iinjured. I don't know how many were injured, or how seriously. I did see at least three helicopters come and airlift victims, and several ambulances. I saw the man in the car,I was very close. He was elderly and appeared confused or befuddled. It wasn't until I was almost back to the craft show that I realized how close I was to being injured myself. The car came up behind me and to my right, missing me by a foot or two. I was trippedby the legs of the woman being dragged. Please pray for the injured, for the driver, and for the witnesses who are traumatized.
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Damascus, VA

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

I feel like my Trail Days ended at about 2:30 yesterday, even though I'm still here, and the festivities continue. Things are just different now, or I guess my reactions to them are different. The hiker appetite disappeared suddenly. The contra dance we went to last night was a good one with live music and I like to contra dance, but just couldn't work up any enthusiasm for it. A car unexpectedly drove through the craft fair yesterday at around closing time, through the main aisle where people walk. It was just another vendor, pulling his car up closer to his booth so he could restock, but I panicked. I am tired of town and can't wait to get back to the woods tomorrow. I went to mass this morning and thought about feeling grateful that I wasn't injured. But if I'm grateful that the car took the path that it took, missing me by a couple of feet, doesn't that mean I'm glad that it ran over other people instead of me? How can I reconcile that sentiment? Why shouldn't he have hit me? It's all so arbitrary. I'm back in my booth now, and it's alternating between sunny skies and thundering rain. I think we will probably take down early and go back to the Super 8 in Erwin for the night. I'll need to do laundry, repack my pack, and go to a store to resupply my empty food bag. Next weekend is our last craft show until fall, it's in Banner Elk, NC. It will be nice to have another weekend with St. Mike, and one of our daughters will be there too. I wonder how far I can walk before then? I feel like it's time to start churning out some miles.
Date: 2013-05-23
From: Greasy Creek Friendly 

To: Greasy Creek Friendly 
Miles today: 0.0

I have mentioned my faith often, and I do believe that things always work out for the best. This recent situation with me doubting my hike has turned into a blessing.I told you all at the beginning about my mother, who was 90 years old and ill. It pains me so to write it, but I just got a call from my sister that Mom passed away this afternoon.I have three sisters that were staying with her, although Mom was up and about right up to the end. As the nurse in the family, I was going to go stay and take care of her at the end. I didn't get that chance, or get to say goodbye, because she didn't linger, which is a blessing for her. If I hadn't been having doubts about my hike, I would have been on the trail instead of in this hostel, and I might not have gotten the call. So even my doubts put me in the right place at the right time, where I'm stationary and St. Mike can come get me.So I'll be leaving here in the morning, to go to my Mom's house, and will stay several days, through the funeral. Then, I will be getting back on the trail.   So there won't be any new entries from me for a few days, but I will be back. If you are a praying person, say one for Mom, for me, and for my family. One thing, Mom didn't understand the hike. But the last time she mentioned it, she did say it was" interesting" . I took that as at least a little sign of approval.