morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-03-08
From: Plum Orchard Shelter

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It was day light savings time so when I woke up at sunrise I was a little shocked to find out it was already 8 but was feeling so much better today. I must have slept for like 16 hours total yesterday and I felt pretty refreshed getting up. Even with the multiple disturbances through the night I felt like it was a solid nights rest Also discovered I wasn¢t really alone at all last night and had an intense battle with some mice that lived in the roof of the shelter. I woke up a couple times to find them scurrying across the rafters the worst part though was when I saw one crawl out of my pants pocket. I was pissed about that since the mouse ate a hole into my pants pocket about the size of a half dollar but lesson learned I guess. Just make sure there¢s nothing in your pocket before ya go to bed. After all that realized I left my TP at the Hostel yesterday but thank God there was a magazine there so I wasn¢t left to use leaves, which can end badly.Took off for Standing Indian Shelter and didn¢t get there till pretty late in the day and when I got to the shelter it was full and I was gonna sleep on the table but everyone snuggled up and made a little extra room. Made me a happy camper since I knew there was gonna be some weather coming in overnight and I really don¢t like breaking down my gear in the rain. The water source was awesome and had a log going across it that you could sit on and clean your feet off which felt amazing. The stream itself was pretty cool too and I walked up a little way to undam some of the stream at a natural fork. That¢s always been one of my favorite things to do ever since I was a little kid and I try and rework water at almost every stream I cross. There was a bunch of people at the shelter tonight and we all had a nice little time around the fire; there was a couple of section hikers there and they had some questions about the trail so we sat with them for a while BSing and answering questions. Bright Side made us all gather around the shelter for a group photo which I thought was a pretty cool idea. Slept right underneath a picture of a moose that said ¢he watches you sleep¢ it was pretty creepy honestly and it stared me down all night.
Date: 2015-03-09
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to a coating of frost over everything and there was even still a little snow fall as we had breakfast. A lot of folks left early to try and get a head start on the day but I still needed water and stuff so I was one of the last ones out of the shelter yet again. Planned on pushing hard through the rain and frost to try and make it to Long Branch shelter for the evening and hoping to get a spot in the shelter. Had a great walk and started with Ewok for a while but I needed to make a little better time if I was gonna make it in before dark. Passed by Carter Gap Shelter around noon and ate some lunch a little further up the trail, should have stopped in though apparently there were a few folks having lunch. Passed a group of spring breakers about 20 strong and waited as they all crossed a log, which offered a nice little break and some conversation. Cleared up a little bit around 2 or 3 and crossed K2 who was taking a rest by a creek didn¢t look like a bad spot with the sun shining down for a little while but I kept on trucking. Went over Albert Mountain which was by far the hardest climb we¢ve made so far, it¢s an almost vertical rock scramble up to the fire tower. I saw a guy working his way up the scramble as I started to approach the climb; he was cussing and swearing with every step he took and I could understand why it was brutal hardly even used my poles it was all hands.The view from the top was so worth it seemed like I could see for miles since some of the fog and cloud cover had blown away. The pictures I got just don¢t even do it justice this rain and fog has been ridiculous and you can¢t even realize the scope of the pictures. From what I¢ve heard though the tower isn¢t always unlocked so I got really lucky getting a view from the top of the tower and it looked they had recently redone the inside. I really regret not camping out up top there it was pretty much windproof with the windows closed and they¢d recently refurbished. It was around 430 when I got up there so it would have been totally reasonable to stay out up there, but if anyone does it in the future I¢d just ask that you respect the tower and not deface it!!When I pulled into the Shelter I was expecting to see a bunch of people since it was a 16er but to my surprise there were only two other people at first. Eventually Mowgli pulled in followed by Avatar, Dowel, Amy and Sofa King. I¢ve been getting really sick of mashed potatoes already and decided to mix it up a bit by putting them on a cheddar jalapeno burrito and it was pretty damn good in my book; I¢m calling it the mashed potato burrito. After dinner there was some shelter talk and after a while I slipped off and gave Mary a call then drifted off to bed.
Date: 2015-03-11
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was the most mileage I've done yet, it was a 17 mile push to the NOC with Mowgli and Rambling Man. Alex was with us on and off but he'd sprint ahead sometimes and then we'd end up passing him as he rested so we kind of leap frogged with him for the first part of the day. Was a little worried about that kinda millage but Rambling Man gave us the confidence that we could do it, there was no doubt at all when we ran into Fresh Grounds though.After my two omelets and two pancakes I was feeling ready to go and conquer some mountains. The climb up out of Brown gap was a little slow and sluggish with all the food in my belly but felt good as we got to the top of the mountain. It was cool talking with Rambling man for the day he's got a lot of old stories and hiking knowledge, whenever he had advice to offer we stopped and listened. Ended up making pretty good miles with Mowgli pacing and our conversations seemed to make the hike fly by and before we knew it we were running the last few ridges and the sun came out for us. The days that the sun is shinning feel like a god send with all the rain we've had and I'm quick to try and lose layers to enjoy some sunlight on my skin. Got super lucky as we came across the fire tower and we could actually get some views of the valleys and mountains we'd been hiking.Made awesome time as we hiked today and pulled into the NOC around 330 and sitting out in front of the beer store were Jesse and Johnny with some cold ones. I ran inside and grabbed a couple for me and Mowgli and again we sat out front looking like some hobos in the sun until we all loaded into the back of Johnny's friends truck and headed to the cabin for some BSing and grub. Me and Mowgli ended up running over to the little restaurant before they closed and grabbed some burgers which weren't too bad for 9 bucks a piece.
Date: 2015-03-13
From: NOC

To: Sassafras Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The plan for last night was to sneak into Cabin D the communial house place and crash in there on a couch but there was a huge gorup of college kids and they were out on spring break with their school drinking and carrying on till midnight so I knew I wouldn't get any sleep in there. I stayed in the Base Camp Kitchen at the NOC for free since Jesse and Johnny were staying there I figured if anyone gave me trouble I'd just say I had to sleep up here cause they were snoring so loud. Had one of the room cards so I wasn't worried about catching any crap from anyone. Mowgli and Ryan ended up staying out in front of the door out on the porch of the cabins since they could never figure out where I was at.We all rendezvoused at Jesse and Johnny's in the morning and decided we'd go hit the little restaurant for breakfast before we took off for the trail. I had the biscuits and gravy only to be sorely disappointed they weren't like back home at all not enough lard for my taste, luckily I got some eggs too. At Breakfast Tom noted how it was Friday the 13th... why did he have to do that... my spotify broke and I lost what had been about 6 months of a free trial, damn.Other than that the day wasn't too bad besides a little bloated climb. After the high mileage we'd done the day before we were all pretty happy to settle at the first shelter we came by. Best part of the day was knowing that I'd gotten to talk to Mary for so long the night before and that made me happy.
Date: 2015-03-14
From: Sassafras Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Pushed like 15 miles today in order to get to Cable Gap so I could go and see Mary tomorrow with a nice short little hike. The climb down into and out of Stecoah Gap was hellacious and poor Patrick fell twice on the way down. I was moving kind of slow with the rain and fog coming in but as I started to get close to the road I saw what I thought be trail magic hanging from the tree and I sprinted down to it. Unfortunately it was just one of those hanging bug catcher things, so disappointing.I decided to stop and eat some food since I was so let down by that little bug catcher thing. It was also pretty discouraging since I hadn't gotten much of a view going over any of the climbs cause of the rain. I was a little hesitant when I crossed the road since some of those cars and trucks were flying up over that hill but was pleasantly surprised to find that an eagle scout had built the stairs I was getting ready to climb so I stopped and grabbed a picture real quick.That climb out of the Gap was by far the hardest I've made yet and felt like it was nearly vertical climbing up out of there. The entire way up I kept thinking to myself who ever designed this section of trail must not have ever taken a backpack with them because there wasn't a single switch back. The view from the top was another beautiful cloudy sight with visibility about 200 feet out and I didn't like it one bit after that vicious climb.There was a small gap just before we got into Cable gap with a road running across that had a cooler filled with a couple sodas and I grabbed myself a dr pepper. Since I was only about a mile from the shelter I decided to take it with me and enjoy it for dinner, excellent choice if I do say so myself. The shelter was tiny but it was a pretty cool old one with the floor just about touching the ground, rustic splendor as we call it at Rock Enon.After I fixed up dinner I wanted to try and get a hold of Mary before we meet up tomorrow so I ended up hiking a mile back to that small little gap for service. Unfortunately I didn't get any and added and extra 2 miles to the day for nothing, but it was crazy how fast I could move without my back on which was kind of encouraging. On the way back to camp i had to stop and appreciate the huge burl on the tree across form the shelter it was so big it had absorbed some acorns into it which was pretty cool.
Date: 2015-03-18
From: Fontana Dam

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The last couple days with Mary were amazing and I definitely needed the rest. The oddest sensation though was riding in the car after 2 weeks in the woods without being in one it felt like we were speeding along and I felt sick a couple times. The Fontana Resort was awesome other than when my phone reset itself while updating on their WIFI and I lost all the pictures before I got to North Carolina.Mary ended up leaving at about 330 today since it was just so hard to say goodbye again, that was the only downside to the visit. I took off over the dam and stopped as I watched Mary drive off into the distance as I walked off into the woods. Didn't hit the real trail head till about 4 in the afternoon and hauled ass 10 miles in about 4 hours up into the Smokies to get into the first shelter.the hike up was amazing and had the trail all to myself and caught another beautiful pink sunset as I was trekking along. Pulled into camp late at about 8 o'clock with a head lamp and saw 5 standing out in front of the shelter. I was a little worried at first I might have to set up in the dark but luckily there was plenty of room inside for me to get all set up and a nice fire going as well. The goal is to try and get in 20 miles tomorrow and make it through the Smokies before they realize I don't have a permit.
Date: 2015-03-19
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It pissed rain all day today from the time we got up till I finally pulled into a shelter. The original goal was to try and hit my first 20 mile day today but there was no such luck with all that rain coming down. I honestly almost stopped at the shelter that was only 4 miles away with how nasty it was out I had almost no desire to hike through that wind and rain. The hike today would have been beautiful with all the little balds we passed along the way but today they were literally painful. The wind was blowing so hard that the rain not only came in sideways but felt like air-soft pellets hitting me in the face and hands as I went up over the little balds. All I could think about was that scene from Forrest Gump when he talks about all the different kinds of rain and I'm at the point where I think I can actually relate to that, I've had 3 days of full sunshine from morning to evening it's been a little discouraging. By the time I got to Derricks Knob I was pretty much done for the day and decided to call it quits there satisfied with my ten mile day. I wasn't the only one in there nearly everyone from the last shelter had decided to take a break here too and ended up stopping for the day. My gear I was wearing was completely soaked but everything that was in my dry bags stayed dry thank god so I could change into some dry but smelly clothes. This wasn't the case for everyone though and some guys really looked like they were hurting especially Werewolf who was shivering inside of his bag since all his gear was wet. He looked miserable and I was a little worried about him getting hypothermia so I boiled up some water and threw it into my Nalgene for him to stuff down into his bag and warm him up. It was crazy how quick he came back to life after that was down in his bag with him he started talking and moving around again which was a comforting sign. Not too long after that the beast that's Laughtrack came giggling up into the shelter in short shorts and a rain jacket looking redder than the koolaid guy and we were all a little worried but she ended up being just fine and had a lot of experience since she'd hiked the PCT last year and ended up being fine once she got some dry clothes on. The Smokies can get pretty serious pretty quick if you don't know what you're doing, they've got a mind and weather pattern of their own.
Date: 2015-03-20
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mt Collins Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Still more rain and fog as we woke up unfortunately but that's just how the Smokies can be sometimes. There's not too much to say about the hike today it was kind of a Meh day since we were gonna be going by Clingmans Dome but we were trapped inside the clouds. By the time I got to the trail head for the tower there still was no change in the weather so I didn't even see the point of hiking off the trail to get a few of more clouds and ended up just trucking along.I ended up running into seeker and pliskin and the three of us hiked off to the shelter together which made the days hike a little better. The last couple miles felt like they just melted away as we went along BSing and just having a good time. That always seems to help pass the time quicker when you've got someone to talk to had really good conversations with the both of them about completely different things. Pulled into the shelter around 5 and had to go hike even further down the trail to fetch water and I offered to fill up everyone since it was such a far walk.The back of the shelter had seen a visitor of some kind, I figure it was just a racoon from the way it had been scattered and we didn't see any bear poop. I still think it's a little early in the year for most of them to be out yet but I have seen a few droppings so far. Other than that I haven't seen much in regards to wildlife I think most critters have been hiding out on these rainy days and I don't blame em.Also have been starting to see the people that have been hiking super fast doing 20 plus mile days right off the bat. Nearly all of them hiked the PCT last year and they just hadn't gotten enough of the woods yet and from what I hear each hike is it's own thing and the trails are pretty different. Tonight I ran into laughing baby and he's working on a project where he asks everyone in the shelter what it is that motivates or drives them in life and I was the only one from the shelter that night to be a part of it because it got dark. I decided my motivation was Freedom being able to do whatever I want whenever I want however I want. It was an interesting question since I hadn't even stopped to ask myself that since I've been hiking definitely gave me some more food for thought as I hike on
Date: 2015-03-22
From: Pecks Corner

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Had a pretty easy day today and was loving life when the sun came out again. I'm actually starting to get a little sun burnt which feels like absolutely amazing believe it or not. I started out pretty slow since it was kinda cold still and wanted to give the fresh cuts on my toes a little chance to heal up before I was pounding them again. The toe felt fine all day now that I've drained it that was definitely the right call and I'm so glad that I did it.Hiked most of the day alone other than people going by until about 1 oclock and I ran into 4 who stopped with me while I was getting a little snack. We hiked on for a couple of hours together talking about what was going on back home and things like that. He's a really cool dude and I look forward to hiking him and 5 more as the hike goes on. Pulled into the shelter at about 3 and decided I was gonna stay there for the night but 4 pushed on to do a 20 mile day my hopes was to stop at standing bear tomorrow and got my clothes washed and dried since they're starting to get a little ripe.
Date: 2015-03-23
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night Rambling Man gave me the lowdown on the situation over at Standing Bear and I wasn't too keen on hand cleaning my clothes so I decided to pass on that one. I pushed for 18 miles my longest yet which I'm glad I ended up doing. I was one of the last ones out of the shelter again so I walked pretty much alone all day which I don't mind a bit I enjoy that time with my thoughts to myself i find it really peaceful and soothing.The hike was great and I was in the sun pretty much all day long which always makes for a great day of hiking. When I hit Interstate 40 I got so confused as I crossed over the bridge I couldn't figure out which way to go and went back and forth over it 3 times till I figured out we were supposed to go to the under pass. That was a sketchy little intersection and I didn't like it one bit I double checked before I crossed anything and still didn't feel safe.When I finally made it across the road I felt relieved and ready to push on and get to the shelter which was still a few miles out. I was worried it was gonna be filled up but I pulled in and there wasn't a soul to be found and I thought I'd get it to myself until Mrs. Dash and Beaker showed up. I didn't mind it a bit though since I prefer having people around me out here in the woods it can comforting to hear other peoples voices. I was able to get a couple calls out surprisingly which helped make the evening go by quick and I finally got to talk to all my buddies back home.
Date: 2015-03-24
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Wasn't a long one mileage wise but today felt like it took forever since I didn't get out of camp till 10. That's been my latest start yet but I'm finding I enjoy it more when I take off in the morning and get some down time at camp in the evenings. Didn't see a single person on the trail till midday and I went over Max Patch.It was honestly one of the most disappointing parts of my trip so far. The views were amazing but after that long hike alone it was so disappointing to see a bunch of people up on top of it and then the road and parking lot down the hill. It honestly took away all the magic from the moment to see all those people of there who hadn't even worked to get there. The worst of all though was that there were two obese people kind of meandering along the summit and the lady was talking about how it wasn't worth the walk. I honestly wanted to go over and say something to her about how she had walked maybe a quarter of a mile from the parking lot but I just put my head phones in enjoyed my view of the Smokies and my lunch.Other than that it was an amazing view from the top and probably my favorite place visually it was awesome to look up and see the huge mountains I had just spent 5 days hiking through. That really helped put my hike in perspective and made my distaste for everyone up there so much more real. Luckily I didn't have to hike the rest of the day in anger once I hit Lemon Gap.Got another dose of Fresh Ground trail magic which will always brighten your spirits making ya happy and full. Fresh Ground was down in town when I pulled up so Clifford got me all squared away with some grub and talked for a bit till Fresh Ground Showed up and I was filled to the gills with Hot Dogs and home fries. They invited me to stay for dinner and then breakfast in the morning by Walnut Mountain Shelter is the oldest shelter on the trail built in 1932 so I felt obligated to stay there that night.It was only a mile climb to the top of the mountain but I felt so bloated and disgusting I had to stop for a solid 30 minutes and rest to let my stomach digest some of the food. When I finally got to the shelter I was pleasantly surprised to find I had it all to myself which made it a little more special after my disappointment on Max Patch. My phone and battery bank died so I spent the night up top of there alone and in silence which I found to be really peaceful this time around and not nearly as scary as Plum Orchard, I could picture myself sitting there with Earl Shaffer himself.