morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-06
From: Delaware Water Gap in jersey

To: Brink Road shelter
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: broken clouds

      After working in N.Y. at the Pepsi show all week,I was lucky enough to go to my freind Chuck's house in New Jersey. I went out to dinner with his loving family and then it was back to his house where I would spend the night. In the morning Chuck and I went and had a little breakfast then he drove to the trail head in New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap. Thanks again Chuck and many thanks to your loving family.       I started hiking at 9;30 hoping to go 16 mile after being off for 5 weeks. The hike did not go quite like I had planned. When I reached Blue Mountain Lakes rd I found it was closed. The nice thing about this section of the trail is that the trail is fairly nice;a few rocky places but no big ups or downs. the problem is the shelters are pretty far apart and there is limited water sources. I went on to Brink Road shelter arriving there at 7;30 pm. Not too bad a day for being off the trail for 5 weeks! Hoping to do 20 more miles tommorow and then maybe bumping it up a little more the next day. So happy trails for now.       latta>southside
Date: 2009-07-01
From: Erwin,TN, Nolichucky River

To: No Business Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: scattered clouds

**no reception**We left Knoxville today around 10am. Ashtons mom made us stop at a personal security store for some "bear protection". Surprisingly the store owner was being interviewed by a local TV station (WATE) and they seemed very interested in the hiker story. Ash was cornered and forced to give an explanation of our upcoming hike and her moms fear of bears. All this while I waited in the car. After the interview we headed to Erwin, TN where we ate lunch at Dolly's Cafe, our last real food for the next six days. After a nice lunch of sandwiches and fries we headed to Johnny's Hostel to begin our AT adventure. If today's hiking is any indication of the trip to come it should be great. We hiked 6.3 miles to No Business Shelter. The weather was great today- 80, breezy, and sunny. The views into Nolichucky Gorge were "gorge-ous". We completed the hike in 3.5 hours and increased our elevation from 1700 feet to 3251 feet. We have now finished our dinner of spaghetti and mashed potatoes and are on our way to the tent. We plan to get an early start tomorrow and look forward to the rest of our trip. In Him,Josh and Ashton *Squeeler went unused Moms****See link for live footage of Pokey's interview...Knoxville man's business helps people fight attackers.***
Date: 2009-07-02
From: No Business Shelter

To: campsite near Street Gap
Miles today: 16.8

Started about 6:30 at the No Business Shelter. We spent our first night in our Tarptent and it worked great. After eating breakfast, cleaning up and filtering water we began our hike a little before 8. Our plan was to hike 10.6 miles to Bald Mountain shelter but reaching that goal mid afternoon we decided to push on. The views from Bald Mountain were amazing. While on the bald the wind picked up, it began to rain, and the temp. dropped to around 50 degrees. We decided to continue moving on very quickly. We hiked on another 5 miles from Big Bald and are currently camping on a ridge. The sun set was beautiful from our camp site and we hope to be up in the morning for the sunrise. We hiked about 16.8 miles today and summit ed the one of the highest points for our trip. All in all, we would classify today as strenuous. We will definitely sleep well tonight and are hoping for minimal soreness tomorrow morning. Thanks to everyone who posted on here- we really enjoyed reading them. Hope all is well with you and yours.In Him,Josh and Ashton*still have not used the Squeeler, it remains dead weight*
Date: 2009-07-03
To: Ridge South of Flint Gap
Miles today: 15.5

Today started out below 50 degrees which was very chilly when you add in a breeze. We wore all of our clothing including rain gear as we fixed breakfast and broke camp. The weather has been amazing so far. We both woke up a little sore this morning but loosened up quickly as we began to hike. We met a very nice group of dayhikers from Atlanta and a backpacker from OK who offered to share his food with us. The hiking today has been very diverse; ups, downs, ridges, gaps, roads and farms. We've seen very little wildlife other than the standard squirrels, birds and deer. Signs of many others but no sitings. We covered about 15.5 miles, passing up two shelters and several campgrounds. We are camped about 3.5 miles North of Jerry's Cabin Shelter on top of a ridge. We can hear fireworks from the south. We met another young couple (Dan & Claire) who offered to let us stay at this site with them. After supper we built a big fire and sat around and talked until almost 10:30. Its time for bed now. Morning comes quick. See you all soon.In Him,Josh and Ashton
Date: 2009-07-04
From: Ridge South of Flint Gap

To: somewhere beyond Allen Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We just wanted to post a little something today while we had signal. Things are going well today. Currently we are eating lunch on a ridge near Big Firescald Bald. Our plan for the rest of the day is to make it to Allen Gap and hopefully a little beyond for camp. Tomorrow night we should be nicely settled in Hot Sprongs, a day ahead of schedule. We have really enjoyed reading all of the journal entries. Hope everyone is doing well. Happy 4th of July! In Him,Josh and Ashton** Skinners, we will see you in Hot Springs tomorrow (or on the trail trail))
Date: 2009-07-04
To: Hostel near Allen Gap
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We broke camp around 8:30 this morning. Much later than we'd hoped but a start nonetheless. Looking at the map, we had guestimated that today would be one of our shortest days but the terrain proved to be very rocky which slowed us down tremendously. It ended up being a very long day even though we only logged 13.3 miles. We traversed grassy balds, rocky ridges, streams, woods...you name it, we saw it today. After today's hike, there's one thing we both agree on...uphill is better than downhill. I know this sounds crazy but carrying a loaded pack down a long hill does more lasting damage than uphill. The upside to all of this hill talk is that the views were AMAZING! We met several day hikers and a handful of backpackers including; Coach Willie, Grunt and the Homeward Bound Couple. We are still working on trail names of our own. Ideas for Ashton include Pokey and Gidget. Let us know if you have any suggestions. Tonight we are staying at Hemlock Hollow hostel. Its .6 miles off the AT near Allen Gap. Today's push positions us for a 16.3 mile march to Hot Springs tomorrow. It sounds like a lot but we are determined to get there a day ahead of schedule. Wish us luck!In Him,Josh and Pokey
Date: 2009-07-05
From: Hostel near Allen Gap

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

Our night at the Hemlock Hollow Hostel was worth every penny. The accomadations were nothing more than a small cabin and a bath house but it was all we needed. It was nice listening to the rain last night and knowing all of our stuff wouldn't be wet in the morning. The Kinsley's that run the hostel were extremely friendly and full of stories. We woke up this morning to our 5:30 wake up call from the local rooster and a morning greeting at the front door by the hostel dog, AT.   After packing our bags this morning we left our small cabin by the creek and enjoyed a free cup of coffee and a history lesson by Mrs. Hattie. Mr. Fred drove us the 0.6 mile back to the trail head and we started our 16.3 mile trek to Hot Springs. As soon as we began hiking it started to rain so we stopped and put on our jackets and pack covers. The jackets did not last long because we quickly began to overheat from the climbing. Despite the heavy rain we kept a steady pace and managed to put behind us the majority of the hill climbs by lunch. We decided not to stop for lunch today because of the rain so we snacked the whole way. Clouds blanketed most of our hike but Josh got some pretty cool pictures today from a fire tower and we had a really nice view of Hot Springs during our descent.. Once we arrived in Hot Springs we decided to stay at the Mountain Magnolia Inn. We hiked a little ways out of town to the inn and were shown the back door to our room (probably because we looked and smelled horribly). The Innkeeper, Julie, convinced us to eat at the inn tonight so took a quick shower, tried to find clothes in our bags that stinked less than the ones we had on (that didn't happen), and found the dining room. We terribly under dressed but no one seemed to care. We both chuckled as the server brought us our first dish- mustard goat cheese with fresh salmon ans capers on a cracker. It was delicous and fancier than anything we have had in 6 months, much less the last week. We ended up having a house salad, pecan encrusted trout, fried chicken, veggies, cheddar grits and squash casserole (take that Knoxville crew).. It was all heavenly. To top it all off we ate dinner on the front porch and got to watch the clouds roll over the mountains. We are now headed to bed and looking forward to tomorrow. We are going to stay in town to run a few errands, pick up our box at the post office, and most importantly find a laundry mat so we can wash our clothes. Tuesday morning we are planning to leave and begin our final half of the journey to Newfound Gap. Hope all is well with everyone else.In Him,Josh and Ashton** the squeeler is taking a rest in Hot Springs, no bears here**
Date: 2009-07-06
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was our first "zero day" meaning we logged no official AT miles. The only hiking we did was around town running errands. Our first stop was the post office to pick up our drop box which had been shipped ahead. This contained resupply items and a change of clothes for town. We then located a laundramat and gave our hiking clothes a much needed bath. While waiting for our clothes to dry we visited the local library to check our e-mail and catch up on outside news (Steve McNair found dead...5 killed in fireworks accident on Ocracoake Island...maybe its better if we don't check the news!). We also took the chance to upload some pictures from our trip so far (see past entries for photos). We visited a few gift shops and ate lunch at a diner. The rest of the day was spent napping, reading, planning the next leg of our trip and just relaxing. Tonight we ate supper at the Rock Bottom Tavern. The food was great but no comparison to our first night at Mountain Magnolia Inn. We are ready to hit the hay in our upgraded room (another story). Tomorrow will be a big day kicked off with an all you can eat breakfast that is out of this world. We should be back in Knoxville by Saturday. In Him,Josh and AshtonPS- Ashton almost used the Squeeler on an overly friendly local at the laundramat today
Date: 2009-07-07
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: few clouds

We weren't able to leave Hot Springs until 10am due to check out, breakfast and a few other errands that had to be taken care of but we still managed to hike 18 miles which is our longest day yet. We did a lot of climbing today with very few views (mostly wooded areas). Tomorrow should be much more eventful. We will cross Max Patch mid morning and hope to be at Davenport gap by evening. We have seen a lot of bear warnings in this section! Tonight we are staying at the Roaring Fork Shelter. There is one other hiker here named Todd. He's from Indianapolis and is headed to Hot Springs tomorrow. Pretty quiet so far.In Him,Josh and Pokey
Date: 2009-07-08
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

Last night was a pretty restless night...The Todd snored like a 500lb black bear. Needless to say we both woke up constantly thinking our food was being dragged off into the woods. We got up early this morning and started our hike. The views from Max Patch were beautiful and the weather was great until about mid day when it started to pour. We ducked into a nearby shelter for about an hour and enjoyed our lunch and the opportunity to stay dry. When the rain let up we hit the trail for our last big climb of the day. Shortly after we started hiking, it began to rain and even with jackets and pack covers we were soaked in no time. We made our way to Standing Bear Hostel around 6pm where we met some other hikers hiding from the rain. The showers and dry beds were a nice treat! Not to mention the pizza. We sat in the makeshift dining area and talked trail for hours. We're here tonight with Ron, Trail Granny, Eric and hostel staff. Ashton is a little sore tonight so hopefully a good night's rest will heal her quickly. Time for bed. In Him,Josh and Pokey
Date: 2009-07-09
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday hit me (Ashton) pretty hard and I was hoping a night at the Standing Bear Hostel would help me recover from all of the downhill we traversed yesterday. After a quick shower and a warm pizza I went to bed sore and achy but still planning on finishing out our hike (we had another 35 miles to go). This morning did not turn out quite as I had hoped. When we finally got out of bed around 7:30 a.m. I realized my right knee was pretty swollen and sore so after much debate Josh thought it would be best to end our hike 2 days early and go home. My mom drove to the hostel in Waterville and we left our trip around lunch. I am a little disappointed we didn't get to finish our hike to Newfound Gap but I have to say I am pretty proud of what we accomplished. For our first "long" trip together, Josh and I covered a little over 100 AT miles and have a lot of wonderful memories. I am definently up for another long hike in the near future and am looking forward to applying all the new things I learned this trip. We are currently at my parent's home in Knoxville and will be returning to Nashville in a few days. Josh has to do a few work related things here in Knoxville for a couple of buildings his firm is working on. Since we have a day off tomorrow we are thinking about going on a day hike. I have definently found a new fondness for the woods and enjoyed being able to spend a wonderful 9 days with my husband and all the other hikers we met along the way. So for now, we are now official AT Section hikers and looking forward to what God has planned for us in the future. In Him, Ashton (and Josh)
Date: 2009-01-05
To: Prologue
Miles today: 0.0

Hi everyone. Thanks for checking out my 2009 Appalachian Trail journal. I¢m Marc DeLuca, from Charlotte, NC. I¢ve dreamed of hiking the trail for over six years. Now is the time to take the walk of a lifetime!After discovering the Trail Journals website I became immersed reading all the journals of others who have gone before me. It was all good stuff and helped me realize just what it takes to complete a long distance hike. I was amazed to discover how different everyone approaches hiking the AT. Sure there are some basic camping skills needed but what fascinated me most was how everyone ended up ¢hiking their own hike¢. I hope to do the same.I¢ve been fortunate to hike several sections of the AT on both the North Carolina and Virginia sides. It¢s definitely not a cake walk and something to be respected. So how does one prepare for such an experience? Well I¢ve trained hard over the past several years by running in a dozen marathons, several ultra-marathons, and participating in numerous long distance cycling events.In 2008, I completed a cross country self-supported bicycle ride from Yorktown, VA to Astoria, OR. Check out my daily bicycle journal of the trip here: Three Spokes and a Mirror. I hope all that exercise pays off!Well, trail life calls. I can¢t wait to walk down the long green tunnel.Update: - I completed kayaking around the entire state of Florida!  That expedition took 4 months to complete the 1515 mile circumnavigation. Check out the blog here https://kayakaroundflorida.wordpress.com/- I summited Mount Kilimanjaro! However, after reaching the rim of the crater had to be evacuated due to high altitude sickness.  https://www.wbtv.com/story/32709845/retired-cmpd-major-back-home-after-kilimanjaro-climb-safety-scare/
Date: 2009-01-08
To: When to Start?
Miles today: 0.0

Deciding when to start comes easy for most hikers. Not for me. There are two options I¢ve wrestled with for quite a while. The first is to do a traditional northbound (NOBO) hike leaving mid-March from Springer Mountain, Georgia and ending on Mount Katahdin, Maine in September. It will be a cold start and there will likely be large crowds- no, throngs of other hikers then. The alternate plan is to do what¢s called a ¢flip-flop¢. This would involve leaving from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in mid-May, hiking NOBO to Mount Katahdin then catching a ride back to Harpers Ferry and hiking southbound (SOBO) to Springer Mountain finishing in November. There will be fewer, hikers, a better chance to catch good weather, but more logistics involved putting it all together.Right now, I¢m leaning towards a mid-March start. Maybe some act of providence or a sign will appear and point me towards the best option?Hmmmm¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦.
Date: 2009-01-10
To: The Trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The 2175 mile long Appalachian Trail (also known as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail) was conceived in 1921 by Harvard educated forester, planner, and conservationist Benton MacKaye (rhymes with sky) and completed in 1937. The footpath winds along some of the most scenic, wild, and diverse lands of the Appalachian Mountain range. It crosses 14 States.When Benton Mackaye proposed the concept he was convinced the rapid pace of urbanization along the East Coast was having a disastrous impact on the environment. Therefore the Appalachian Trail was intended to become a wilderness sanctuary providing people a place to go to renew and reflect. Navigating the trail is done by following "blazes¢- white two by six inch vertical markings painted on trees, rocks, or any other object in view of the hiker. There are over 165,000 blazes on the trail. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), headquartered in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia serves as an all volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and management of the trail. According to the ATC:¢¢ Approx. 1500 people start hiking the trail each year, only 21-27% finish. ¢¢ An entire thru-hike can take up to six months to complete or 5 million steps. ¢¢ 65% of the hikers travel northbound (NOBO), 10% southbound (SOBO), and 5% flip-flop. ¢¢ The lowest elevation is 124 feet, the highest 6625 feet¢¢ There are 240 shelters spaced out about a days hike apart along the trail¢¢ The first 2000 miler was Myron Haliburton Avery¢¢ The first reported thru-hiker was Earl Shaffer (1948)¢¢ The oldest thru-hiker was 81 year old Lee Barry (2004)¢¢ The first female solo thru-hiker was 67 year old Emma ¢Grandma¢ Gatewood (1955). She reportedly only wore Keds brand tennis shoes and carried a small knapsack. Interesting stuff, huh?
Date: 2009-01-15
To: Gear
Miles today: 0.0

Shopping for camping gear is a funny thing. There¢s so much stuff out there it¢s hard to decipher what¢s good to carry and what isn¢t. A friend of mine, Alan Helms (Scar Tissue) hiked the trail SOBO several years ago and always said there¢s good weight and bad weight. For example, he would rather carry a heavy stove and be able to boil water and cook food faster rather than save weight with an alcohol stove. Everyone has their own preferences. My problem is I¢m a gear head and love having all the neat toys. Yes it¢s expensive and if you¢re not careful all that light weight gear adds up!Over the years I¢ve experimented with lots of different gear combination's and only recently became comfortable with what I¢m carrying. There¢s no doubt I¢ll modify my system even more on the trail. The two areas most likely to change are my clothing selection (I tend to carry too many) and water filtration method (pump or drops). Wonder what will get chunked first? I can¢t wait to see.In October, a buddy Jim Windle and I drove to Hot Springs, NC to meet Wayne of Bluff Mountain Outfitters for a shakedown of my pack. Another friend, AT thru-hiker Dave Haggist (Recurve)recommended I do this. Wayne methodically went through every item in my pack and offered suggestions on what to keep and what to toss. Luckily, only several items were questionable. These were:Snow Peak mini-solo titanium cook pot- Way too small to survive on. Wayne suggested a larger pot size to cook in.Water bag in plastic holder- It took up too much room.Various carabiners- Too many and too heavy.Sitting pad- Too large. Will use a closed foam pad that¢s smaller.My pack weight minus food and water was 24 lbs. Not too bad for a winter pack. I even discovered some more items to eliminate once I got back home.Yippee!!!!!
Date: 2009-01-18
To: Shakedown Hike!
Miles today: 0.0

It¢s time for a shakedown hike to see how all my gear performs in the field. In November a couple of friends, Alan Helms and Stan Cook, called to see if I was interested in a five day hike along the AT and Bartram Trails in North Carolina. Of course I was!We had a wonderful time and a perfect trip to practice setting up and taking down my new MSR Hubba HP 1 person tent. There's plenty of room inside the Hubba and the side door panel made getting in and out a snap. This tent's a keeper!I hiked in Keen Targhee II mid boots and didn¢t get one blister. That¢s a first. I think the combination of these boots along with a set of Bridgedale Trekker socks with REI sock liners really helped. I read somewhere to soak your feet in a solution of strong tea a couple weeks before your hike. The tannins in the tea supposedly toughen up your feet. Old wives tale? We¢ll see.Keep smiling¢¦¢¦¢¦.
Date: 2009-01-20
To: Can You Hear Me Now?
Miles today: 0.0

I spent the other night over at the home of Ron and Wendy Horton. We ordered take-out pizza, talked about the hike, and caught up with one another. What a great time. Ron will act as the official transcriber (Thanks!). He's a tech-savvy creative guy so there's no telling what other enhancements he'll dream up for the journal. The plan now is to mail Ron my daily journal entries and photo memory cards for uploading to the website. While this will delay journal updates I won't have to worry about getting access to computers in towns or carry a bunch of tech gear in the pack. I'm slowly learning to think in ounces.........
Date: 2009-01-22
To: Maildrops
Miles today: 0.0

So much to do! Mid-March will be here sooner than expected so it's important to keep an eye on the check off list to make sure nothing is forgotten. The task today is managing maildrop supplies. The US Postal Service accepts packages for anyone not permanently located through what's known as "General Delivery" service. Many thru-hikers use general delivery for re-supplies or to be able to receive hard to find items while on the trail. Packages, however, must be labeled a certain way. Here's an example:The Hikers (real) NameC/O General DeliveryCity, State, Zip CodeReturn Address"Please Hold for AT Hiker"Estimated Date of the Hikers ArrivalIn addition to general delivery packages, I'll use what's called a "Bounce Box" to send items ahead of me. This will be a large Priority Mail box containing all the extra gear I don't need to carry at the time like Summer/Winter items, extra batteries, or town clothes. As long as the box isn't opened or taken out of the post office it can be bounced forward any number of times by just putting a new label on it. Cool!Maildrop boxes can be obtained for free from www.usps.com. I ordered a variety of sizes and also split them up between standard Priority Mail and Flat Rate types. You'll find a wealth of information on mailing packages at WhiteBlaze.net.My girlfriend Kim will act as logistics officer. She did a marvelous job during my cross-country bicycle ride last year so I'm fortunate she agreed to help out this time around. Her upstairs entertainment room was transformed into a mini-shipping center to make it easy.