morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-04-19
To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0

A hiker from the Men's restroom cameover to tell us that the Rangers were sending up a shuttle to bring hikers down into Gatlinburg. We did not have an ETA, or how manyhikers would fit per load. About an hour later, two long vans from alocal church showed up for us. By the time Boo Boo and I got ourthings together and headed out to the vans, we were the last twohikers looking for a ride. The one van was already full. There wasonly one spot left in the other van, and some of the hikers told BooBoo to get in. That left just me standing there. The van driver gotout and came around the van, and said to me, ¢get in¢. Whatevermax capacity was, we were way over it. The 12 miles ride was a verytight fit, and about a mile from Gatlinburg a tree had come downcovering the road in the time the vans were picking us up. TheRangers came up and cut it up and had it moved off the road in abouta half an hour. Once in town, we checked into the Appy Lodge and gotcleaned up, then headed out for a nice meal at Mellow Mushroom on BobO'Donnell's. You see, before I left for this hike, Bob and I gottogether for a drink and Bob gave me some money telling me it was forthe time on the hike when I was beaten down and needed a drink. Itwould be on him. From Boo Boo and I - Thanks Bob.
Date: 2019-04-22
To: Mt. Guyot
Miles today: 12.5

4/22: Hiked 12.5 miles. It was a coldmorning, and the ground was covered in snow. After going over 6,302'Mt. Guyot the trail ¢starts¢ to head down hill. We Tented atCosby Knob shelter. Setting our tents up right next to each other, wewere both asleep by 7 PM or so and slept very well all night. In themorning, another hiker came over to me to say that a large black bearhad checked out our two tents completely about 9 PM that night. Boo Booand I had no knowledge of this happening.
Date: 2019-04-23
To: Standing Bear
Miles today: 30.7

4/23: Hiked 10.7 miles. After a morningclimb up Mt. Cammerer, it was down hill and out of the north end ofthe Smokey's . Just out of the park, we passed this hikes halfwaypoint and stopped for the night at Standing Bear hostel (Boo Boocalled this place ¢Barfing Bear¢). Everything about this placetold us to move on, but we needed to resupply so we spent the night.We shared a cabin with another hiker, a south bounder named Dan.4/24: Hiked 6.9 miles. During thenight, I was not feeling well and I got sick in the morning. Withthis, I last my hiking legs, but I told Boo Boo that I did not wantto stay at this hostel any longer than I had to. Coming back on thetrail, the first thing we had to do was climb 2,700' up Snowbirdmountain to it's 4,263' peak. Boo Boo had to just about carry me. I hadpromised her days before that we would spend the night a top MaxPatch Summit. We stopped about six miles short of it and tented atGroundhog Creek shelter. I just could not go on. After getting sickat dinner, it was off to a very early bed, and 12 hours of sleep. 4/25: Hiked 13.1 miles. Feeling better,but I could not eat all day. Let me tell you, Hiking and not eatingis a very bad plan. 6 miles into the hike, we were a top 4,629' MaxPatch Summit. If the Sound of Music was not filmed here, it shouldhave been. The view is world class. If it was not for some terribleweather, we could have stayed here a long time. We ended up tentingat Walnut Mountain shelter.Story of the day: Boo Boo meetsa friend. Just before we started the climb up to the summit at MaxPatch, we stopped at a dirt road crossing that had a parking lot formaybe two cars. We were in the true middle of nowhere. I sat down ona rock and Boo Boo dropped her pack and went across the road looking fora water source. Just then, a woman pulled into the parking lot andwas looking at me with some uncertainty and was just sitting in hervehicle. When Boo Boo came back across the road, the women then gotout of her vehicle and started talking to Boo Boo. I came to find outthat the two of them are in the same Bike riding club in TiftonGeorgia. It's a very small world.4/26: Hiked 13.1 miles. Boo Boo wassick during the night. We were heading into Hot Springs NC for amuch needed zero. The problem was, Boo Boo was sick and 13.1 miles isa long way to hike. It rained on and off all day, with a hail stormcoming in the afternoon. We pushed on, she is a true champion forsure. For the third day I was hiking without eating. Today was aFriday and upon entering Hot Springs, Boo Boo turned to me and said,¢I'm not leaving this town until Monday¢, that's two zero days.After checking in at Elmer's SunnyBank Inn, Boo Boo showered and wentto bed for 14 hours of sleep.
Date: 2019-04-27
To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0

Story of the day: Hot Springs,after Boo Boo went to bed, I went out for dinner and then down thestreet for a short show about Emma Gatewood (the first woman tothru-hike the AT). Sitting in the second row with Camp Finder, I didnot know that this would be the last time I would see him, and justthe start of my time with the Corey family (Google ¢ A mile intheir shoes) from New Hampshire that were sitting to my left. Thisfamily is made up of a dad, mom, girls ages 13 and 11, and a 8 yearold boy. The whole group was asked that if anyone was thru-hikingthe AT to stand up, they all did. I was sure that they did notunderstand the question - they did. We would be running into thisfamily for the rest of the hike.4/27: Zero Day. A lazy day, afterbreakfast we walked around town and checked out their town trailfestival and then I laid down for a nap and Boo Boo read a book. WhenI got up, there was another hiker (south Bounder) named ¢Too Many¢,on the balcony with Boo Boo. I talked to him for a couple of minutes,and when I turned to leave, he asked me if I was on youtube because heknew my voice. I said no and left. A few minutes later I came back totalk to him again, and told him that last year I was hiking up northat the same time he was, and we started comparing our hikes. I toldhim I ended my hike at Rattle River hostel, and was there from July6th to July 8th. He came back with a list of hikers by names thatwere there when he was, and asked if I knew them, and I said yes,they were there the same time I was. I asked him if he remembered Vinegar and his answer was no. I asked him about Stealth and he waspretty sure he remembered him. After about an hour, he came back tome and said he remembers me for I was the one who went to thehospital - Correct. Turns out, a year ago when I got back from thehospital on July 7th, Stealth and Vinegar were not there and I satdown and talked to ¢Too Many¢ for a couple of hours. Again, it's avery small world.4/28: Zero Day. Another great lazy day.After not doing much of anything, we went down to the Spring CreekTavern for a appetizer and called it a dinner.
Date: 2019-04-29
To: Jones Meadow
Miles today: 22.2

4/29: Hiked 8.3 miles. We knew that wewould be going up all day, so we planned to go short. The last coupleof miles were a real hard climb. Tented at a campsite on Richmountain near a Lookout tower with another hiker named Hugs.4/30: Hiked 13.9 miles. A great day fora hike. Early on, Boo Boo pointed out a Bear about 150 yards to ourleft. There was no ground cover in these woods, and you could see along way. Once that bear saw us, he ran the other way. We tented inJones Meadow which was a really nice place to camp.
Date: 2019-05-01
To: Blackstack
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

5/01: Hiked 13.9 miles. Well, today wepassed this hikes 300 mile marker. After going over Blackstack Cliffs,these cliffs were a much harder hike then planned for. We did make astop at Shelton Grave site. Some Civil war Union soldiers are buriedthere. After a hard day's hike, we stopped at Devil Fork Gap (NC 212)and got a cabin at Nature's Inn and hostel.
Date: 2019-05-02
To: Sams Gap
Miles today: 8.7

5/02: Hiked 8.7 miles. We decided tostay a second night at Natures Inn and Hostel, so we slack packed forthe day's hike to Sams Gap (US 23,I26). The climb up Lick Rock wasmuch more enjoyable without carrying a full backpack. Phoebe &Isaac, two hikers that we have known since our time in the womenrestroom at Newfound Gap stop in the hostel to resupply.
Date: 2019-05-03
To: Big Bald
Miles today: 23.7

5/03: Hiked 15 miles. Two more greatviews at 5,270' Big Bald, and 5,220' Little Bald. This was the fifthstraight day in a row of great weather. We went long because therewas just not a place to stop. We ended up setting our tents just offthe trail in a little opening.5/04: Hiked 8.7 miles. A somewhatflatter terrain for today's hike. Coming into Erwin TN for we had acabin waiting for us at Cantarroso Farm. Erwin was having their townfestival this day, and we walked the downtown to check it out. Whenwe were done, we walked about a mile to the Food County to resupply.On the way, we contacted a shuttle service to pick us up after ourresupply. What a great decision, for when we were done shopping, itwas raining cats and dogs.
Date: 2019-05-05
To: Unaka Mountain
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: moderate rain

5/05: Hiked 13.8 miles. Coming out ofErwin, it was an all day up, in a all day rain. 12 miles into the day'shike, we came to a place called Beauty Spot Gap. We had been toldthat this would be another great view. Upon getting to this bald, itwas raining sideways coming from our left. With no view to be seen,we were pushing on, when we heard someone calling ¢Trail Magic¢from our left. Three trail angels were set up in a parking lot, withhot-dog's, pop, hot tea, and much more. Boo Boo sat there having somenice hot tea, with me downing two hot-dogs and a diet coke. TheCorey family was here also. In this weather, standing there was notall that much fun so we moved on. A mile or so later, we came upon aChristmas tree in the woods for a little boy who had passed away. Amile past that, we were at the top of Unaka mountain, a dense spruceforest and a great place to camp. After we made camp, a number ofother hikers set up their tents there including the family.
Date: 2019-05-06
To: Cherry Gap
Miles today: 12.4

5/6: Hiked 12.4 miles. The rain did notlet up all night, and I could hear Boo Boo coughing very badly. Theday's hike was going to be up and down all day. About 3 miles intothe hike, we stopped at Cherry gap shelter for a break, and when wewere leaving, Boo Boo stopped me to say that she had bronchitis andcould not go on and would be leaving the trail 7 miles ahead at ahostel. About 2 PM we parted ways. This was by far the hardest /sadist day on the trail. I ended up tenting at Clyde Smith shelterfor the night.
Date: 2019-05-07
To: Roan Mt
Miles today: 15.6

5/7: Hiked 15.6 miles. The first 8miles of the day were the hardest, for I was going up and over Roanmountain at 6,212'. The third highest point on the AT. Anyone withbronchitis could not do this climb. Tented the night outside aconverted barn called Over Mountain shelter. A young women hikernamed Bruiser camped next to me.
Date: 2019-05-08
From: 19E

To: 19E
Miles today: 9.2

5/8: Hiked 9.2 miles. At the end of theday's hike, I came out of the woods with an Aussie named Tree Trunk upto a road called 19E, where I was to meet up with Boo Boo. She wascoming from her sister's house which is about two hours away. I justsat down on a rock when Boo Boo drove up, talk about timing! Westayed just down the road at a place called Mountain Harbor Hostel.After I got cleaned up, we went out for pizza. When we were done withlunch, we headed over to meet up with Sarah, Boo Boo's other hikingpartner. Sarah showed us the beautiful house she is building, andthen the three of us went out for dinner.
Date: 2019-05-09
To: 400 Miles
Miles today: 24.7

5/9: Hiked 16.7 miles. Today I pastedthe 400 mile mark for this hike. I did a short side trail to Jonesfalls, which was really nice. 12.7 miles into the hike, I was planningon taking a side trail to Upper Laurel Fork hostel for the night,but could not find the trail so I ended up going another 4 miles to acampsite where I tented for the night. I was sure of two things, thatI would be at this campsite alone tonight, and that this was bearcountry. After I was in my tent for the night, another hiker namedChris from Monroe MI came into camp and told me two other guys wouldalso be sending the night. There were no bear issues overnight, andwhen I got up, I saw that Bruiser had set up her tent right next tomine.5/10: Hiked 8 miles. Short hike day fora few reasons. 1) I was coming up to Pond Mountain which will be mylast hard climb for this hike and did not wish to go over it late inthe day. 2) If I would go over it later in the day, I would plan onspending the night at Watauga Lake shelter, which is closed due tobear activity. 3) Rain is coming. My thinking on this was that Iwanted to wake up and pack up dry. I knew I would be hiking in therain, but that would be okay for the rain should stop before I wouldset up camp that night. I spent the night at Black Bear Resort, a realnice place about 14 of a mile off the trail. Late afternoon, I went back to the frontoffice and on my way back ran into Bruiser, and wetalked for a while. This would be the last time I would see her.
Date: 2019-05-11
To: Laurel Falls
Miles today: 17.7

5/11: Hiked 17.7 miles. It rained ALLday. The temperature was in the low 50's which kept me from overheating, and with the rain, there was nothing to do but go forward.Early on, the trail goes down to Laurel Falls, with the rain it wasjust beautiful. The issue was, the white blades stopped when you gotdown by the water falls. I forged along the river for maybe half amile with no white blades to be seen. As I was coming up to a stonewall that would stop me, I asked the power that is for help with awhite blase. Just then, I could see one that led me around the stonewall and back up away from the river. The climb up 3,693' PondMountain was not all that bad, and the top was flat. Coming down wentvery well, and I ended the day tenting by Vandeventer Shelter.
Date: 2019-05-12
To: Nick Graindstaff
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

5/12: Hiked 14.4 miles. It rained allnight, and all this day. The trail was nothing but mud. From here toDamascus VA, the trail somewhat flattens out. I made a stop atNick Grindstaff Monument/tomb, It's in the middle of nowhere, butthat was appropriate, for the saying on it said ¢Lived alone,suffered alone, died alone¢. I spent the night tenting at DoubleSprings shelter in the rain.
Date: 2019-05-13
To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: light rain

5/13: Hiked 18.2 miles. It rained allnight, and most of today. The trail is nothing but mud and water.Nothing was going to stop me today, for I was heading into DamascusVA which is the end point for this hike. 15 miles in, I came to theTennessee, Virginia border. After a photo, I moved on. Lateafternoon, I came out of the woods and into the streets of Damascus.For most of this 500 mile hike, I was thinking that at this time, Iwould be singing and dancing. I did neither, I dragged my ass into thattown. I had told Boo Boo that I was going to spend the night at acheap hostel but it was at the far end of town, which was too far forme to walk. The Old Mill Inn is real nice, and more importantly atthe end of town where I was standing. After a shower, laundry, a nicemeal, and a couple of drinks, it was time for a good night sleep.5/14: Zero day. I met back up with BooBoo at our agreed upon place and time. We spent most of the day inDamascus VA, but spent the night in Abingdon VA where I used to live.I told her my legs were infected and when I showed her them, she justsaid that in the morning after breakfast, I was going to Urgent Care.I was not in dispute. 5/15: Zero day. As planned, afterbreakfast, off we went to Urgent Care where they did a blood test(abnormal but acceptable), and they gave me antibiotics (which Iwould be on for six weeks). After lunch, Boo Boo and I parted wayswith her, dropping me off at the hotel where I was going to meet upwith Dave Ziems for the drive back to Toledo, OH.Story of the day. The doctor atthe Urgent Care told me that this was her favorite time of year towork. I asked her why, and she said because ¢all you hikers come inhere all busted up, and I get to talk to you¢. I replied, ¢weonly do it for you¢.Story of the day. I'm not surewhich day this happened, but I liked it. In camp, a young hiker askedthe group in general, ¢how long will pepperoni last¢. An olderhiker answered back ¢longer then you will¢.
Date: 2018-10-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Ever since I completed JMT with my family 3 years ago, I have set my eyes on Appalachian Trail. I have been hiking and backpacking mostly in the western states of US, and around the world on some of the famous treks, but the green tunnel of AT has been calling me all the time. Just the thought of walking more than 2000 miles, one step at a time, made my blood running faster. Plus the lure of the legends, the stories of the human interactions, and the passion spilled from Ex-ATers' blogs pulled me closer and closer to AT. I want to experience them all. I want to see if my body and my mental can take up with the challenge. Now I make up my mind to start AT next spring. I have not set a finish date yet. I don't want to set one. I just want to see how far I can go. I do want to complete the whole trail in one season, to be one of the 2000 milers.
Date: 2018-10-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

In current modern world, most people have complicated life. I am no escape. Having been trained as a scientist, practiced software engineering, now manage our family business, I have been bonded to office chairs 5 days a week. This is not real me. My soul wanders freely. When other kids were taking an after lunch nap, I was roaming near my house to either draw flowers or looking for worms. I was also dreaming about be a nomad while working towards my Ph.D degree. I longed for a simple life, a life can allow me stay moving and stay outdoors.With the progress of technology, we have been creating lots of trash, burdening the earth and damaging the environment. By going back to simple way of living, I hope I can waste less. I can leave less impact to the unique planet that has been so kind to us. Hiking the Appalachian Trail will give me the opportunity to do both.
Date: 2018-11-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

It's 145 days before the start of my AT hike. Time to gather information and start planning. Just couple of days ago, I received the trail data book, planning book and a guide book. There are tons of information in these books. I will map out my rough itinerary in a couple of weeks. I also bought a wall hanging AT map that I put in my bedroom to look at it from time to time. It will give me an overall feeling of the trail at large. The most challenge task is to plan offload my work duties to someone else, with the possibility to multiple people so that our company will be still functioning as smooth as it is now. I have two to three months to plan this out. Life is complicated before it can become simple.
Date: 2019-03-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

14 days before my start time!Tonight I packed all gears that I plan to take with me one more time. When I laid them out on the floor, my first reaction was ¢Gee, why so much stuff?!¢ They weighed 21 lbs for my summer gears and 24lbs for the winter gears. I know, I know. I have been trying to practice lightweight backpacking for a few years. But A few heavy items have been never able to leave me. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 mirror less camera is one of them! And I don¢t feel comfortable without microspike for winter travel. The good thing is that I am not the one who can consume 2lbs of food on backpacking trips. At least not at the beginning two weeks. So my food weight will be lighter. I estimate my max pack weight will be about 35lb at the start, which is still manageable. In the past months, in addition to AT trip planning on paper, I also practiced snow camping, hiking in the rain, hiking with sandals for stream crossing. Mentally I am still nervous for the trip, especially with the weather report in the last month.Well, I am ready!In the next two weeks, I will prepare food for the first week. And my dear husband can join me for the beginning of the trip :-)
Date: 2019-03-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

4 days before the hike ...In the past two weeks I have been doing more preparations for this trip. Cut my hair very short, I was mentally committed to this journey. :-)Also I did meal planning and gathers all the food for 2 people for the first 6 days of hiking. The food I prepared for my husband and me are simple meals not much different from what we'd bring for weekend backpacking trips. For breakfast, it has oatmeal, milk powder, coca powder and crackers. We'll add bread or bagels before the day of our start date. For lunch, we'll have energy bars, dried fruits and nuts. Most of these were the things I bought from Beijing earlier this year. Even though I don't mind eating the ones available in US market, a change of the flavors is always nice. Lastly for dinner, we'll have angels hair pasta and home made seasonings and dried vegetables. We'll also have lentils and quinoa. Dried pork sung and salmon sung add to more flavors. We'll get a little bit of pickled vegetable later from Asian market. My plan is to do about 8 to 14 miles hike for the first week. Get resupplies for the first time in Hiawassee, Georgia. From that place, I'd expect no exotic Asian food in our diet for quite a time.Many of my friends invited me for lunches and wished me good luck. Thank you every one! Your encouragement meant so much to me.As time gets closer and closer to my departure date, I felt more calm and peaceful. The nervous feeling in my stomach that I experienced a month ago kind of subsidized. Reading trail journals of the hikers who have already started their journey before me helped. Knowing the weather will be getting better by the time I am out there in the open also made me more comfortable.
Date: 2019-03-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The first step! After almost 10 hours travel, started from 4:30am, we got to my friends home in SC. Thank you so much to Iris and Hu! When the flight approached the city, across the airplane left wing, I gazed at the clouds covered mountains, the place I will soon to call home for many months. The journey has started...