morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-04-14
From: newfound gap

To: pecks corner
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Up early to meet the shuttle driver, free courtesy of FBC Seiverville, and back to the trail. When we got to Newfound Gap there was more trail magic from FBC Seiverville- candy, cokes, fruit. I got a banana. I had been trying to find fruit for two days. There was not one piece of fruit for sale in all of downtown Gatlinburg! Walking down the trail today I met a 72 year old man hiking to mount Leconte with his two 17 year old grandsons. Another 52 year old man was at the shelter tonight with his 19 and 17 year old sons. He gave several of us thru hikers a chocolate chip cookie. We gave him the trail name Cookie Monster. Good to see generations coming together over hiking. More beautiful views on the walk today. It was a Ridge walk again but today was a little different because much of it was on a "hog back". That means the trail is only a few feet wide and there is a straight drop off on both sides. Often the trail was only as wide as my hiking pile is long, and the drop off was 80 or 85 degrees at the sides. It made me nervous. I'm afraid of heights. I just look at the trail and put one foot in front of the other. I saw my first trout lily blooms today. These wildflowers grow in colonies that botanists tell us are often over 100 years old. Their green leaves with mottled purple coloring are almost as pretty to me as their yellow flowers.
Date: 2017-04-15
From: pecks corner

To: pecks?
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was an ordinary day hiking. Nothing really spectacular happened, but there was progress. I hiked 12 miles, made some new friends at the shelter, and hiked most of the day with Persistent, a 61 year old hiker from St. Louis. I guess a lot of life is like that. We get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to work, do what are supposed to do for the day, and we make progress. My feet hurt some today, but I guess that's like life, too. We keep going, seeking to make progress, and suffering makes it satisfyingly worthwhile. This is the weekend that Jesus suffered for our progress. His suffering, much worse than mine, made it worthwhile for us all. And I'm Grateful2.
Date: 2017-04-16
From: cosby

To: standing bear
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I made it out of the Smokies! The views were great but the trail surfaces were eroded in so many places that walking was often difficult. As I climbed down from 5000 feet to 1500 feet I noticed a distinct change. Life on the trees and ground in the form of leaves! I had not seen leaves on trees on the trail since I began the journey. It was so good to see this sign of life. It almost felt like I walked from winter to spring in a few hours. Gone were the bare tree trunks and solid brown floor covering. In its place were millions of little fluorescent green tree flags and wildflowers everywhere. There was mayapple, dwarf iris, bluets, trillium, and rue anemone. I even saw some false Solomon's seal flowers. I'm looking forward to walking in the green leaves of life for the rest of the trip. From death to life in such a short time. Kind of appropriate for this Easter Day, don't you think?
Date: 2017-04-17
From: standing bear

To: roaring fork
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Stayed last night with Persistent at Standing Bear Hostel. It's very rustic to say the least. Dirt on the floors. No indoor plumbing and just a small step up from the shelters. The proprietor needs a course in hospitality. ( "Don't stand on this porch. You can't bring your pack over the bridge. You shouldn't order from Amazon. Here, I don't have time to put these sheets on your bed. Etc.") I guess he deals with a rough customer base most of the time and has to be that way. Last night though, one of the workers and their family brought food for all the thru-hikers for an Easter meal. What a wonderful giving gesture. Thanks Leo. It was delicious. Spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes,baked beans, and my favorite, fresh fruit. No one gets fruit on the trail, so we were all excited to get some. 15.5 miles today. My longest yet. I've now completed well over ten percent of the entire trail. Today we went over Max Patch bald, one of my favorite places on the bottom half of the AT. it was my third time here and each time the views take my breath away. 360 degree views for maybe 75 miles. We could see the heavy rains falling on the mountains where we had hiked yesterday, yet we stayed dry. I'm Grateful2 get to see so much of a wonderful creation.
Date: 2017-04-18
From: roaring fork

To: almost Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Rained a good part of the day today. The big question when it rains is, "Do I put on my rain jacket?" Is it better to put on the jacket and get wet from profuse sweating? Or should I just get wet from the rain? Tough call. I think it depends on the overall temperature because a rain jacket basically becomes the protection from the cold and wind. I put it on once in the morning because I was cold. I sweated like a cold glass of iced tea on the Fourth of July. It rained hard this afternoon, and I didn't put the rain jacket on because it was warm and humid. The rain drenched me. Liked that better. Can you say, "hiker shower?"I set up the hammock and cooked supper in the rain this evening. Now I'm in my hammock and it's not raining, but the wind is howling. 14.5 miles today, and only 3 miles to Hot Springs, NC in the morning. Everyone at the shelter is talking about going to Hot Springs for food. Hamburgers here I come.
Date: 2017-04-19
From: almost Hot Springs

To: hot springs
Miles today: 3.4
Weather: broken clouds

Got up early to be able to spend the day in Hot Springs. Hiked a quick 3.5 miles to get to town for breakfast- 3 eggs, hash browns, pork tenderloin, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and 3 Dr Peppers. Hiker hunger. Lunch three hours later. Went to the outfitter to pick up my Amazon food resupply and a gear package from home. My wife and son are doing a great job as the support team. Couldn't do this without them! They even included dark chocolate m&m's. Yum. Part of the resupply were more short pants. Tried them on and they don't fit. I've lost 2 pants sizes! I had to buy new ones at the outfitter. Hiking with a 35 pound pack over mountains is a giant workout.
Date: 2017-04-20
From: hot springs

To: deep gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Left Hot Springs today with a full resupply (almost 40 pounds) headed for Erwin,Tennessee. Hot Springs is a nice little trail town where the AT goes right through the only main street in town. The town is maybe three blocks long. Headed across the bridge and up the trail to Lovers Leap. It was steep and kind of scary. I kiddingly told my hiking partner, Persistent, that I was not leaping off with him. He replied, "You jumping off by yourself?" It was a two snake day today. First I saw a five foot black rat snake. It startled me for a second because it was laying stretched out on the trail from side to side. After my initial surprise I scooted it off, took a pic, and kept walking. The second snake was a twelve inch garter. It startled me also because it chose to suddenly shoot across the trail just as I got to it. It was probably six inches from my shoe when it decided to move. I'm not scared of snakes, but they both startled me. Twelve more miles behind me today. Tomorrow I cross the 300 mile mark. I'm starting to pick up the pace some because I want to get to Maine before it gets too cold.
Date: 2017-04-21
From: deep gap

To: jerrys cabin shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Today was a tale of two different days. The weather was beautiful this morning. I camped at a site past the shelter site, so Persistent and I were the only ones there. We left early;we were the first ones on our section of the trail. I have done this before so I knew what it meant. Going first, I was the Designated Spiderweb Destroyer Ninja. Hundreds of times the DSDN has to knock down the spiderwebs. When you see them you can slash them with a trekking pole. The problem is that they are very hard to see. The standard method of DSDN removal is with your face. You bash open the spider's front door with your nose, and then obliterate the entire spiderweb with your forehead, cheeks, and chin. The best part is when the web strings off of your eyelashes and won't let go. It sticks in your beard and sometimes tickles your ears. The spiders seem to me to be pretty much unintelligent. They keep putting up their webs across the trail day after day, hoping that today will be the day that no hiker DSDN will knock it down. Not too smart. They are smart enough, however to be able to predict my height. Every web seems to be hung at face height. All spiders seem to be dumb, except for the one who was able to clone himself into Spider-Man. I guess there's always one smart one in every bunch. Tomorrow it's someone else's turn to be DSDN. The second half of the day it rained. I was supposed to go over some spectacular cliffs this afternoon at Big Firescald Knob, but the thunder, lightning, and rain made us all take the bypass trail. Never have liked the idea of being lit up by lightning. I also went over the 300 mile mark today!
Date: 2017-04-22
From: jerrys cabin shelter

To: sams gap
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Worst day ever. Today was the worst day ever on the trail. Last night it poured down rain. I managed to stay dry under my tarp in my hammock though. Left out this morning attempting to do my biggest mileage day yet, almost 16 miles. About three miles into the hike I twisted my ankle. It was ok until I decided to take a break about three miles later. When I got up to leave, my ankle didn't want to work correctly. It hurt. As I limped slowly down the trail it began to rain hard. Persistent, my hiking partner, patiently waited for me at a gap. I knew I was slowing him down, and now it was raining even harder. I began to have thoughts of quitting the hike. I'm the slowest hiker out here. The younger hikers fly by me. The older hikers creep by me. It's discouraging sometimes. This pack is heavy. The trail is a sloppy, muddy mess. Now my ankle hurts(in addition to the bottoms of my feet, my back, shoulders, calfs, and quads). I am having a lot of trouble sleeping also. My artificial shoulders hurt when I sleep on the ground, and my legs cramp all night when I sleep in my hammock. Some days it's some fun. Other days it's no fun at all. Did I mention the pack is heavy? The best day ever. My wife called with great news this afternoon. We have been looking for a camper cover for my pickup truck. My oldest son located one, and my wife had just driven to Franklin,NC to get it installed. She was on her way to pick me up if I could get to a road. It meant a 16 mile day would now be an 18 mile day, but Persistent and I made it after 12 hours of hiking, mostly on a bad ankle. We are on our way now to Chattanooga for a zero day at my house where we will retrofit the truck bed for a sleeping station for the trail. We are going to try a thing called a "key swap". Every day one of us starts out on the day's trail section from the south. The other one drives to the north end of the section, parks the car at the trailhead, and starts walking south. We meet in the middle, "swap keys", and when the northbound hiker gets to the truck he returns to pick up the other hiker. The beauty of this plan is threefold. First, we don't have to carry heavy packs (5 pounds versus 30 pounds). Second, we have a truck to use in the evenings to go out to eat or run errands. Finally, we have a dry place to sleep with a comfortable bed. A key swap should allow us to make bigger mile days without being completely worn out every evening. Hope this works. From the worst day to the best day with one phone call! I'm Grateful2.
Date: 2017-04-23
From: Chattanooga

To: chattanooga
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Spent today in Chattanooga fixing the truck to be able to sleep in it most nights. We will sleep at trailheads as much as possible while doing a key swap. Worked till midnight to get the back of the truck waterproofed. My wife sewed curtains and covers for the foam beds. Ready for the trail now.
Date: 2017-04-24
From: chattanooga/ Spivey Gap

To: Erwin
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Drove four hours this morning from Chattanooga to Spivey Gap. Hiked all afternoon to get in eleven plus miles to Erwin. Hiking without a heavy pack was great! I kept count of the hikers because I was going against the grain ( north to south). 36 hikers passed me, and I knew 19 of them. They all had the same questions. Why are you going north? Where is your pack? Who is slackpacking you? Most of them were jealous. "I wish I could do that." I heard it over and over. Everybody hates a heavy pack. One guy said kiddingly, "That's cheating." The official Thru-hikers Rules Handbook doesn't make mention of minimum pack weight. It only says you have to hike the entire trail. (That book doesn't really exist, but it ought to for some OCD hikers.) Having a truck tonight was wonderful too. We went to Walmart and then to a Mexican restaurant. I ate two plates of food- a burrito, enchilada, chalupa, chili rellinto, beans, rice, a full bowl of jalape±os, two baskets of chips and salsa, and several glasses of water. A hungry hiker is a thing to behold. Then we parked the truck at the trailhead and had my first good night of sleep on a soft, flat bed on the trail.
Date: 2017-04-25
From: spivey gap

To: sams gap
Miles today: 13.0

I started at Spivey Gap and finished at Sams Gap. Almost 14 miles today. GAP. It's a three-letter word for lots of four letter words. I don't like it when I see that word in the guidebook. Gap. I think it's an old English word for "a knee-straining descent followed by a lung-bursting ascent." No one likes gaps except Michael Strahan. And he's made a good living featuring a gap. Gaps are tough for hikers though. The best thing about a gap is that sometimes they have roads going through them. A chance for a hitch into town or maybe even trail magic. I have walked some tough gaps so far. I'm sure many more await me. Interesting fact - gaps up north are called "notches". A five-letter word for many four-letter words. I may come to dislike that word, too. Slid through the mud up and down Big Bald with everyone else today for 13 plus miles. Watched one woman face plant while coming down the mountain. Glad she wasn't hurt. This evening we parked the truck on top of Beauty Spot near dark and watched one of the best sunsets ever!
Date: 2017-04-26
From: Erwin

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: moderate rain

About once a week out here I see a bear. Sometimes the bear is standing and sometimes crouching. Sometimes it's just a cub. I have included one to the right. Funny thing about these bears though. When I get closer to them, they all seem to turn to tree stumps and downed trees. They just look like bears. I've talked to several hikers and they see them too. No live ones yet. Camped back at Beauty Spot after 12 miles today. We are joined by about fifty other admirers of the beauty of this Spot. From here I can see at least three sets of ridges in the distance. The sun turned the sky orange and the mountains from green to orange to purple to midnight blue as it went down. Crayola crayons doesn't have as many colors as I saw in the sunset tonight. Grateful2 be here.
Date: 2017-04-27
From: Beauty Spot

To: iron mountain gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Hiked out from Beauty Spot this morning. The winds last night had to be over 40 mph. Several times they literally shook and rocked the truck. I awoke feeling sorry for the hikers in tents on top of the bald. When I encountered them later in the day they all talked about the high winds. To the left is a picture on Beauty Spot where there is a field of pretty yellow flowers, golden ragworts. They look nice, but looks are deceiving. They were used as a folk remedy by the pioneers but modern medicine has found them to be toxic to humans. Kind of like life sometimes. What looks good often causes the biggest troubles. Thanks to all of you who have signed my guestbook and emailed me with encouragement. It means a great deal to me out here. I am sorry but I don't have the time to answer them all. Please know that every one of them is important to me. Several of you have asked what the trail itself is like. Here is a pic of some of the trail I walked/climbed today.
Date: 2017-04-28
From: iron mountain gap

To: carvers gap
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked 16 miles over the second tallest mountain on the AT today with an elevation of over 6100 feet. Roan Mountain is dominated by Frazier and Balsam fir trees. Roan Mountain is also home to the highest and often coldest shelter on the AT. My legs are tired tonight. I'm attempting to do over 100 miles this week with a zero day at both ends. That's about how many miles a week it will take to finish at Katahdin in September.
Date: 2017-04-29
From: Hwy 19E

To: Carvers gap
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night was an adventure of sorts. We found a nice parking spot for the night just inside the national forest next to the AT. Unfortunately it was also near a residential area. As we were setting up, a redneck in his thirties comes riding down the paved road on a four wheeler and stops at our truck. He lets us know in a menacing way that we were not welcome there. We decided to relocate. We found a church down the road where a deacon was cutting the grass. We stopped and explained our situation.  The nice man said the people of his church liked hikers, and we were welcome to park in the church lot. However he said he wouldn't advise it. He said some of the people in the area didn't like hikers. Hikers had parked there before and had their tires slashed and their windows all busted out. Then he went on to say that someone had even burned their  church down and the sheriffs department and even the FBI couldn't find out who did it. It had cost them over 100 thousand dollars to rebuilt it. It was a nice building. We decided to move on. We ended up paying $10 for secure parking at a nearby Hostel. Money well spent. This morning I hiked against the hiker grain, going north to south. I started at 2900 feet and climbed to 5600 feet without a downhill break. Took me over two hours just to get to the top of Big Hump. I could be wrong, but I think this may be the longest continuous uphill ascent on the entire AT. It doesn't get much press because most hikers go the opposite direction and because it is a gradual ascent. But it still may be the longest continuous ascent. At the top is Big Hump, a giant bald, followed by Little Hump, followed by the famous Overmountain Shelter, followed by Jane Bald, followed by Round Bald. When I was going over those balds it felt like I was on a different planet. The moon maybe. I started singing "Fly Me to the Moon" at the top of my lungs when one of my friends passed me going the other way. High winds and no trees for miles along with 360 degree vistas. Tonight we are parked at Dividing Ridge Hostel in Hampton. The Hostel is run by Michael and Rikki, a really nice couple with three kids. No charge, just whatever donation we can make. They provided showers and bathroom facilities and even offered to shuttle us both in the morning to the trailhead. Tomorrow we will have to put on our big packs for two days because there are no road crossings for thirty miles. Then they will shuttle us north for a twenty mile return hike. They have offered to let us park the truck here for the next three days. They have a large sign in the Hostel that states, "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Appropriate. I'm in need of rest after 15 miles today and I'm Grateful2.
Date: 2017-04-30
From: Hey 19E

To: Moreland gap
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: few clouds

This morning Michael from Dividing Ridge Hostel shuttled us back to Highway 19 E. for a two day wear our big pack hike over 30 miles. It was supposed to be 18 miles the first day. We had to do a 30 mile hike because there are no good road crossings on that section. I was feeling good; hiking strong. Then it happened. At 13 smiles in I had a fall. I caught my toe on a root while going downhill and face planted. I lacerated my forehead and nose, and broke my nose. Blood everywhere; on my arms and legs, on my clothes and pack, all over the ground. The first hiker to come by stopped and asked me if I was ok. Haha. Several hikers stopped to help, and we got the bleeding under control. I was miles from civilization so we debated about what to do. I was concerned about internal bleeding or concussion. No cell service either. Go back 6 miles to the nearest travelled gravel road for help? Go forward 5 miles to the next shelter and hope I was ok and that someone had butterfly strips for the cuts? Go forward 11 miles to where I knew there was a Hostel and I could get help? The eleven mile option was out because I couldn't make it by dark. I felt I probably needed medical attention so the shelter option was out. Persistent and I started backtracking, knowing that there was help that way eventually. We had also noticed a little used gravel road about a quarter of a mile that way. Maybe we could get phone service. We started walking slowly. I was woozy but ok. When we got to the little used gravel road, no cell service. We were trying to decide what to do next when I noticed a car parked just around the bend of the road. I started hollering, "Hello. We need help." After several times of hollering, someone answered back. A family just happened to be there gathering mushrooms. They agreed to take me to the Hostel where the truck was. Persistent chose to continue hiking to the shelter. I got in the car to go toward the hospital. Ten minutes down that gravel road and I had cell service. Michael from Dividing Ridge Hostel agreed to take me to the nearest medical facility, Sycamore Shoals Medical Center, located the next town over and away we went. Michael waited with me for three hours in the emergency room. CTscans showed no broken facial bones except for my nose. They glued and taped my forehead back together and sent me back to the Hostel. Michael and Rikki have been so caring; I don't know what I would have done without them. Don't know what this injury means to my hike. I know I won't be hiking tomorrow. Broken nose and lacerations and black eyes and feeling dazed. Not exactly what I expected for today but I'm Grateful2 it wasn't worse.