morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-04-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.1

Crazy BritToday was a great start at 7:00 from the Hostel, which put us 7:30 start on the Trail, just what David wanted.Had just a 2.5 mile climb out of Spivey Gap, had a great hike, once we got up to Elevation it was just small up and downs, great hiking. Had lunch on top of No Business Knob, great views.As we approached Erwin we could see the town for miles out, up down, up down, we looked out over the town and the Nolichucky River, I am really lucky to experience these fantastic views.There were a lot of switch backs going down to town.The trail comes out on the River Road right by the bridge over the river, just down the road is Johnny ¢s Hostel. We went in got a cold drink, it was here we were going to meet Dan. We are going to stop at the Cantarroso Farm and Apiary, really cool place we have our own cabin with 4 beds, kitchen and Bathroom, even has a composting toilet. Mike the owner gave us a tour of his home great house, even gave us a beer while we did our paperwork.Mike said there was fishing gear I could use, so I took advantage of his offer no fish tonight but will try again tomorrow.We went into town for dinner at an Italian Restaurant,good food had to buy a beer from next door to drink with my dinner.We are back at our cabin watching a movie, tomorrow is a zero day, so hope to try my hand at fishing and we will sort out our hiking.The really bad thing is that Dan cannot Hike for 6 weeks. He has a torn Meniscus and a Stress Fracture, this puts him out of hiking with us but he is going to Slack pack us for a few days. He¢s a cool guy, sat around now having a beer watching Bruce Willis in Live Free or Die Hard.More Tomorrow11.1 mile29.123 steps118 floorsAny one can walk on the FlatOnly got 1847.1 miles to Mt Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Crazy BritNo miles on trailToday was our Zero day had a lie in until 7:00 then had breakfast sat around chatting. It is raining outside and it¢s freezing cold, the rain stopped for an hour so I tried my hand at some fishing in the river.No luck the river was raging and had risen a lot because of all the rain up in the mountains in NC, they really effect this River.The boys were watching a movie, after this we went into town to Walmart to resupply, picked up subway, subs for lunches, back to our cozy Cabin. Yes it is still Cold and Raining again, we had bought our dinner in town at ¢Pal. A burger and milk shake diner¢.Tonight we are invited to the Main house to have a taste of Mead made by Peggy aka ¢Queen Bee¢ and her Husband Mike aka ¢Bubba Bee".Great evening there were four other hikers staying so we had a good time, big log fire nice and cozy.Back down the road to our cabin played a movie then bed we are slackpacking tomorrow it¢s going to be a nice 12 mile day.No miles todayAnyone can walk on the flat. ¢ found some today outside the main house it was fenced off so can¢t even walk on that¢.Only got 1847.1 miles to Mt Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-08
From: Erwin river road

To: Beauty Spot Mt
Miles today: 11.8

Crazy Brit hereWhat a day started of with me packing my gear and getting in the car, Dave asks if I am ready to go, I say yes let¢s Roll, he points out my Treking poles hanging on the cabin hook Opps!!Dan is driving us up to the mountain top at Beauty Spot Mt. Dan cannot Hike with us at the moment because of a torn Meniscus and a Stress Fracture. He still wants to be part of the team so he is going to Slackpak with us for the next few days.When we got to the mountain top it was all covered in snow, what a Sunday. We are in are own Church, with a Congregation of 3 people, you could feel the power of Nature, it was awesome. We started hiking really amazed at the absolute Beauty of this Mountain Top.We hiked down the Mountain and came to a road with a van set up by Trail Angels they had Hot Coffee and Biscuits and Sausage, these people are out here every weekend feeding hikers.Soon our Congregation of 3 had blossomed to 8 really cool people, great fellowship, this is a real Church, Fellowship great people good food.We had to force our selves away to carry on hiking down the Mountain.Great hiking nice trail, the Trail Maintainers here do a great job.We had a great day we stopped for lunch at a nice spot, I opened my bag S..T I had forgot my lunch, this is a bad day, I am so mad with myself, will never happen again.We made good time and came out of the woods to find Dan parked waiting for us.We again went to Walmart to get more Stuff, and then had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, good food.Now back to cabin having a beer watching a movie Then Bed11.8 miles. 25.250 steps 38 floorsAny one can walk can walk on the flatOnly got 1835.3 miles to MT Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.6

Crazy BritStarted out today in snowy, cold, weather there was no visibility because of the mist and snow.We started at 7.:0 am and headed up to Beauty Spot Mountain heading North, we had 15 plus miles to do a 15 mile hike to get to a hostel we are staying at tonight, our hostel is Mountain Harbor Hostel, real cool place .We were booked into the Station Hostel but once seeing our accommodations we blew them of, shame they have a great Tap room with good beer, they have a lot of work to do to get up to standard.Just because we are hikers and live in tents most of the time, we are clean and have standards.Our hiking was great up on the high elevations, but as soon as you got down a few hundred feet the snow was melting and the trail was full of mud, thick clinging mud. When it was not like that it was slick mud and you were slipping and sliding all over the trail.We came out to Greasy Creek Gap and there sat on a rock was Dan our Slack pack chauffeur, he had walked up a mile on a forest track to meet us, he was also testing his bad knee.Great to see him out in the woods enjoying himself,he led us down the trail to his car. OH MY he has beer in a cooler, what a guy.We went to our Hostel it was a dump we did have a beer, then booked into a better hostel, we are so lucky to get a place .We are now at the Mountain Harbor Hostel it is awesomre nice fire in the loft clean bed and bedding .Tomorrow we are hiking over Roan Mountain at an Elevation 6186 feet going to be cold up there, lots of snow, hope the wind is down. See you tomorrow14.6 miles36.326 steps230 floorsAnyone can walk on the flatOnly got 1822.8 miles to go to MT Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.8

Crazy BritWhat a day Dan dropped us off just up past the Greasy Creek Hostel had to do a bit of four wheeling in a two wheel car. Dan is awesome he is very frustrated that he can¢t hike but he is making it so much easier for Dave and myself.We had to walk about a mile to get to the trail all uphill, and to think this mile doesn¢t count.We started down the trail all ways a bad sign going down hill, we know we have to climb over 2500 ft today, to the top of Roan Mountain, we are starting at 4034 ft.The climb at first was up to the views at Little Rock Knob. It is really hard to describe these views, they are really spectacular, you can see for miles and miles.We had a descent to Hughes Gap, this is the start of the climb up to the top of Roan Mountain.This is one hard climb even tho they have put switch backs in, we got to a point where you could see a defined line where the snow started.First it was just powdered snow, then the ice started it got worse and worse, and to make it worse the ground was rock solid so it was hard to get grip with the Trekking poles.You could easily get into big trouble if you were not careful. We got to the top thru a pine forest the smell of the pines were really strong Amazing!!!On the top there was the site of the old Cloudland Hotel, what a place this must have been $2 per day, $10 per week and $30 per month to stay in Absolute luxury.We came to Carvers Gap and there was Dan parked ready to pick us up he is doing a great job Slack packing us around this week.We are back to the Hostel, I get the Pot bellies stove going in the main room of the loft, have dinner, going to get a shower then it¢s bed for me. Speak to you tomorrow we are going over the Big Balds tomorrow highest will be Grassy Ridge Bald At 5899 ft of Elevation.13.8 miles32.132 steps263 floorsAnyone can walk on the flat only got 1809.0 miles to Mt Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-11
From: Carvers Gap

To: US 19
Miles today: 15.2

Crazy BritGreat start to our day today! We had the Famous Mountain Harbor Breakfast it was Huge with all the food home baked and fresh.It¢s true this is the best breakfast on the trail .Dan dropped us of at Carvers Gap, and we all walked up to the top of Round Bald. Dan had brought his Mum up here a few years ago, she thought it was awesome.We got to the top had a photo shoot and Dave and Myself hiked on over Jane Bald and on to the highest Bald Grassy Ridge Bald At 5899 ft of Elevation .You have to see these views to really appreciate it you can see for miles all the little houses set up in the mountains, these people must come from Florida.We had a long time hiking down hill at least 7 miles over rocks and boulders really hard work, we stopped for snacks looking over some great views.Going down hill is really had on your legs and knees, and it went on for hours.We were once again staying at the Mountain Harbor, got in and had a Chicken sandwich which was really good now we are up in the loft sat around a Pot Belly stove exchanging stories,these young guys out here on the trail are really nice people.Well we are out tomorrow Slackpacking going in a reverse direction, going to be headed south so we will pass all these guys again.In fact in the loft tonight are two young guys we met on the first day on the trail.More tomorrow15.2 miles36.422 steps178 floorsRemember anyone can walk on the flat. ¢Ain¢t no flat around here ¢Only got 1796.1 miles to Mt Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.5

Crazy BritHi there great day hiking today we are again Slack packing, going South to go North. This way it¢s easier for Dan to get to us on the Forest trails.We thought this would be a 11 mile hike, but it turned out to be 13.5 miles.We thought it would be downhill according to the Trail map, Wrong!!!!It was a lot of uphill, not hard but just hard enough to be a bit strenuous.I had, had a really bad night with toothache, this was a big problem on the trail.When Dan picks us up later he will take me to a Dentist in Blowing Rock.Our hike was really great with fantastic views, wide open Vistas, Forests with Huge hard wood trees, and beautiful Waterfalls.After about 12.5 miles we came to a nice spot on the trail and there sat on a log was Dan, he was testing his knee, seemed to work out great. He will leave us on Tuesday to go home and get his knee up to strength.We drove back to Blowing Rock, and made arrangements for me to go to the Dentist, not looking forward to this.Dan took me to the Dentist, they did an X-ray on the tooth and the dentist said he could pull it out right now, OH MY! I explained that I was going to meet Juliet my Step Daughter for Dinner in about Two hours so could I come back Tomorrow. O/K be here at 4:00 tomorrow and I will pull it out for you.We rushed home Juliet and Matt her boyfriend was already there, Awesome!I rushed in Big Hugs and I get a shower borrowed a shirt from Dan and we had a Great dinner, made my Hike, Juliet is a very special girl.But I am really not looking forward to having my tooth being pulled, my hiking partners are making fun of me, they wang to here the crunching of my jaw and the whiring of the drill.Crazy Brit out13.5 miles33.066 steps175 floorsAnyone can walk on the Flat. ¢ except when you have a raging toothache ¢Only got 1782.5 miles to go to MT KatahdinPS we passed. The 400 mile mark
Date: 2018-04-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Crazy Brit hereNo MilesAt Dans Mums house in Blowing RockLazy day had coffee then walked up to town for a coffee and Bagel, did some errands, mended a water faucet in one of the showers, took a ride into Lowe¢s for some parts, did some shopping, had a couple of beers .All the time waiting for the hour of 4:00 pm when I have to go to the dentist to get my tooth pulled, this is not supposed to be part of the AT Trail.Of course my so called friends are making fun all day with drilling sounds, crunching sounds teeth cracking, in fact just being friendly and making me nervous as hell.Well time comes and we drive to the dentist, of course Dave talked to the receptionist and asks if he can come in and take photos of his friend being tortured.He has the gift of the gab and is there in the room filming me being prepared for surgery, at this point I told him to GO.Had a filling that was loosened by the cracked tooth, then he started on my tooth. He is good only had little bit of tooth to grip, he pushed and pulled, not good, finally it came out, OH my it¢s over.Came back to Dans house feeling like sh**, went to sleep and when I woke up the guys had gone to thx TZvern for dinner.I felt much better, followed them to the Tavern, had Dinner and a couple of beers, life is good again .Now home watching a movie having a coffee.I am BackNo milesNot many Steps5 Times up the stairsAnyone can walk on the flat ¢ even me with a bad tooth extraction ¢Lots of miles left to MT Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Crazy BritNo miles day 35 was spent getting over my dentist visit, he had advised me not to hike, so strongly I took his advice.To tell you the truth my jaw was hurting like hell. He was a great dentist but never had much to work with, hence the problem getting the bloody tooth out.It¢s still a bit sore but taking the antibiotics and painkillers, all is going ok.Lazy day not doing much, went up town to get coffee an a bagel then had lunch watched a video then up for a pizza. No hiking being spoiled,but we do know a really bad storm is heading our way with at least 3 inches of rain and snow at high elevations.
Date: 2018-04-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Crazy BritWe awoke to heavy rain and high winds our storm is here it was raining like hell. We went up to town for breakfast got soaking wet had to put our cloths in the dryer, on the AT Trail you don¢t carry extra clothes so it¢s kind of hard when you are stuck in town for a extended amount of time.Anyway we went out shopping at the local supermarket ¢ Food Lion " and we are all ready to start hiking on Monday morning at first light, I just hope it stops raining.We have to climb some high elevations so there maybe snow up there, hope not.It is going to be very muddy on the trail all the streams will be in flood so should be very interesting.It¢s really shitty weather this year, lots of people are saying this is really one of the worst years to attempt a Thru Hike .We hope to be in Damascus by early Friday, it looks like we may get a break in the weather, hope so because we are back in our tents ,and I hate packing up then setting up a wet tent .Damascus is a big item we are almost 25% done. From there the next big one is Harpers Ferry which is considered halfway.But hey I am getting ahead of myself, let¢s get back on the trail, get rid of this sucky weather and start hitting the miles.Just hope none of our hiker family is pug there in this really bad weather. Hope they all got into a Shelter somehow.We will see in the next week how many made it to Damascus the Main Hiker friendly town.Crazy BritNo miles on the ATAnyone can walk on the FlatLots and lots of miles left to get to Mt Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.1

Day 37What a day, we started out great went to Breakfast in Blowing Rock, the restaurant we went to had been flooded out overnight, in fact we had to remove the sand bags from the front door.But they were ready to start serving at 7:00 sharp. From there we drove to U S FS 293, Dan dropped us off there, he was going to fly back to Florida to get his knee sorted out.Dan has been great to us Slack packing us around the Trail so we had a nice warm bed, and a good dinner in the town of Blowing Rock.So sad to see him leave instead of hiking with us on the trail, but he has promised that as soon as his knee has healed he will meet us somewhere up the trail.We started hiking North, bit different having full packs, you can sure feel the difference.As soon as we started gaining Elevation it started to snow and the temperature started to go down. It got worse and worse, then the wind started to blow up in the high 20 mph range and gusting higher up to I would estimate 30+mph.The scenes of the snow in the forest are fantastic, the biggest problem was that because of the weight of the snow the Rhododendrons branches are real low and you have to keep ducking them and when you hit them you get covered in snow.Also there are a lot of wind blown trees across the trail, and you have either go around or climb over.The snow is laying a lot now and blowing right in our faces, but as we descend the snow gets lighter.Now a new problem arises the Trail is flooded with water as the run off from yesterday¢s storms has caused the streams to flood, this went on for a mile or so until we came out on the road leading to our Hostel Bear Creek Hostel and Cabins. We book in and I buy a beer. I need it after today, we go to our cabin only to find that the heater is not working .It is freezing so we get another heater to dry out our wet shoes and socks, I go to the common room to watch a video leaving David in the cabin, kind of funny he got locked in and had to wait for me to open the door. Now in my sleeping bag fully clothed to keep warm, it¢s still snowing so don¢t know what will happen tomorrow, it¢s supposed to be in the 50s fat chance of that, it¢s an interesting journey so far11.1 miles29.805 Steps175 floorsAnyone can walk on the flat ¢ not when it¢s covered in Snow¢Only got 1771.4 miles to MT Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-17
From: Bear Creek Hostel 

To: Boots Hostel
Miles today: 9.0

Crazy BritYou may think we are just going from Hostel to Hostel, and at the moment you would be right.This is because at the moment our weather system is all kind of crazy, we have had really bad rain so all the campsites are flooded.If they are not Flooded, the ground is frozen and it¢s hard to get tent pegs in, OH what joy.The snow is really bad on the higher Elevations, the trail is very icy .We had to go down over to the Laurel falls, going down was a bit dicey as the rocks were covered in ice with a dusting of snow, the word STUPID comes to mind.Once down there you are stuck you have to walk the trail, which of course is flooded in places then you have to traverse a shear rock face with a fast flowing river, just dying to see you fall in and get swept away. David had told me to unbuckle my pack in case I fell in.NICE. !!! Of course the rock ledge has ice on it. I took a video but this will never show you the power of the river, and to think it had fallen by 4ft.Then of course we got to the point when we had to climb out of this Gorge, you obviously can¢t just climb up so the AT Trail designers have put in switch backs, these go on for 3.5 Miles. YES 3.5 miles it¢s crazy, OH did I forget to tell you we are Hiking in Snow and Ice and it¢s blowing like Crazy.Good job there is not a psychiatrist here we would all be commuted to the Nut House.After climbing out of the gorge it was just a three mile down hill hike to the Boots Off Hostel. We have a little Cabin really Cool place, I am in the top bunk have a fold down table to hold my Beer, going to be real cosy here tonight.We have a worry that one of our hiking buddies is heading to a shelter up really high on the mountain above Watauga dam and he is 3000 ft above our site, the wind is going to be up in the 30mph tonight so that will drop the temps way down.His Trail name is ¢Old Man." but he is only 64 just looks old with a big full beard, really nice Guy, Stay Safe My Friend we will see you tomorrow, don¢t want to hear anything bad on the Hiker Hot Line.We are in our little cabin it¢s just like a Tiny House, really Cool, we are waiting for the shuttle that will take us into town so we can eat Real Human Food and maybe get a beer or two.Life is good out in the Mountains we will be in Virginia in Two days, Can you Believe it!The one bad thing is that Virginia is 500 MILES LONG!!!!!!!.The longest State on the Trail, in fact it¢s a Quarter of the Trail .Time to goCrazy Brit Out.9 miles23.167 steps124 FloorsAnyone can walk on the Flat. ¢ try finding anywhere flat here you need Crampons to go to the Bathroom¢Only got. 1762 miles to go to MT Katahdin.
Date: 2018-04-18
From: TN91

To: Boots off Hostel
Miles today: 21.5

Crazy Brit21.5 miles. Well what a day we are Slackpacking again today. Had breakfast and got a ride to TN91. We were down to do a 21 mile day, it was a bit cool to start but the sun soon came out so we were soon stripping of the layers it was great hiking not to many big ups or downs.We were up high on the Ridge line all day with great views of Watauga lake, really great day, all was going nice I am feeling real good, no really bad pains just the normal aches.No Pain - No Gain - No Maine.We came out of the woods on the Watauga Dam Road, looking down the road were three Cops Cars lights flashing with a small yellow car sandwiched between them. Being nosy we walked down to see what was going on.They were searching for a gun that the guy from the yellow car threw out the window, by being Nosy Rosies we missed our White blaze on the other side of the road , so we walked on for a bit 1 mile,found our mistake and then compounded it by thinking we could just bushwhack up thru the woods and pick up the trail.Well we did eventually find our trail but it cost us an hour, just because we never wanted to add on a couple of miles.I must admit though by this time we were pretty well beat, and with only 3.5 miles to go were not thinking very smart.Any way all ended up good and we walked across the Watauga Dam road and on to the Boots off Hostel, back into our little cabin to get a cold beer,we are all waiting for the shuttle into town.We all cram into the Suburban and head to town, first stop is Subway, I get two 6 inch sandwiches one for now one for lunch tomorrow.Next is Macdonalds get a large fries and a Latte Coffee, next is the Dollar General where I get some snacks a Pink Flamingo for David and a little seal for me, I did think it was a Manatee oh well I have a Mascot ,they never had a Teddy Bear will look in Damascus.Well time to close as its bedtime Crazy Brit out.21.5 miles45.931 Steps275 floorsAny one can walk on the flat wish I could for a change Only got. 1742.3 miles to Katahdin
Date: 2018-04-19
From: TN91

To: Campsite just outside Damascus VA
Miles today: 19.1

Crazy BritWe are now in Virginia the AT longest State, in fact when we eventually come out of Virginia we will have done half of the Trail.Today was tough not the miles as we are getting conditioned to hiking the miles and carrying our packs, mind you it is hard sometimes on the very steep climbs.Today we got dropped of at Tn 91 and our goal was to get to a campsite just outside of Damascus, we hiked 19.1 miles over pretty good Terrain, lots of small ups and downs.The Wind was forecasted to get up to 30 mph with stronger gusts. Man was it cold we had to wear our buffs over faces to stay warm.When we started we had to Walk thru a series of fields all marked out with white blazes these are used by Invalid people in wheelchairs so they can say they went on the Appalachian Trail really good.We are all set up at our campsite it¢s really cold outside the tent but here I am as snug as a bug.Tomorrow we will go into Damascus for breakfast. We have a reservation at the Hiker Inn for Friday so tomorrow will be a Nero, chance to get some washing done, get some food and a couple of beers.Will report tomorrow19.1 miles today46.152 steps275 floorsAny one can walk on the FlatOnly got. 1723.9 miles to MT Katahdin