morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-14
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2

Day 33: Today we woke up extra early (5:45am) so we could hike into town by 8am for breakfast in Hot Springs. We were the first ones to leave camp. Twigs stuck his head out of his tent and joked, "it seems like you guys are excited for something". We had been dreaming about this massive breakfast we were going to eat for days. As we left camp I looked to my left and there was a mini cemetery with three grave stones all born in the 1800's and died in the early 1900's. I couldn't help but wonder if the bodies were still there as one grave had an extensive indent looking like the body was probably excavated or just buried with no coffin. We made it to Hot Springs as the sun came up. Our whole breakfast crew was here. We left our backpacks on the porch of the Smoky Mountain Restaurant and gorged ourself to a meal that could easily feed a family of 12. We then proceeded to find a room and landed at the Alpine Motel. Prior to the Alpine, we visited about four other places which were also very nice and antique. At the Alpine, we were greeted by Lynn who has worked there for five years. This motel reminded mom of hotels she used to stay in (With her Mom, Dad and brothers) when they would travel between Florida and Michigan back in the 60's! We don't think anything has changed much but it is a room with two double beds, TV and a great shower. After we settled in, we cruised main street and of course found a bunch of our hiking friends. Mom also got to meet Double Dare...finally. I met him back in Franklin. She has been wanting to meet him because he hiked the AT back in 2003. He is in a DVD that called "Appalchian Impressions." He is so positive and great to talk to. I guess the reason why he got the name Double Dare was because his family was on the show Double Dare and won. He also told me that he and his wife played an extra in Hannibal. We talked about going to Trail Days in Damacus, VA in May. We should be past this town but hope we can some how find a ride to this hiker event. It is definitely a must see/attend.We are deciding to take a zero tomorrow because of the Norovirus. It is now said that its being spread from the NOC to Erwin, TN, our next town. I spoke with Handstand who is in the midst of it all indicating 4/5 hikers have it. The virus is going to keep moving north latching on from hiker to hiker. We're hoping we'll be slow enough to not catch it. Mom and I both have been sneezing today but we think its only a cold. I have some DayQuil in our bounce box but have to wait until the post office is open to retrieve it. Miss everyone.Twix
Date: 2003-05-21
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

We woke up this morning to...well, take a guess. RAIN. No biggie, though. We're used to it now. Today's hike wasn't too bad. No huge PUDS, and some nice waterfalls to walk around. We passed by some gravesites, though, and I am finding this to be a bit disturbing. There seem to be a lot of gravesites, markers for crazy old loons and hermits, people who have pet rattlesnakes, and so forth. It's all very odd. I don't understand why we need to know that this mountain that we're hiking over was the home of some crazed lunatic who killed another person and got away with it. In fact, I'd really rather not know this information. You may as well mark off all the cathole spots that have been used, as well. Come on.I don't know...maybe I'm a little bitter from all the rainy days. ANYWAY...Today was a relatively viewless day, and we got to a nice, comforting shelter with much speed and efficiency. There were some horribly slick spots on the trail during the course of the day, though. I fell down and twisted my knee in every possible direction numerous times. In fact, there was one point to where I didn't really think I was going to make it up one of the uphill portions. It was a virtual mudslide. You would try your hardest to take a few steps up, and end up slipping right back down. Of course, it never occurs to you to just step briskly to the side of the mudslide and scramble on up, and you spend a good 20 minutes trying to get up this slope. All I can really say or do is to chalk it up to keeping the integrity of the trail and not straying from the path...not the fact that I'm an idiot!My knee's really killing me today, and the wet trail is not doing much to help. I hope we get some sunshine soon!Anyway, we ran into a few other thru-hikers at the shelter today, and also met up with yesterday's hikers, from Jer-Ber's cabin. One hiker, Joe Hiker, was heating up some water, and asked a question to everyone. I swear to God he said, does anyone want me to heat up some water for them? So, I answered, sure, I'll take some heated water. He looks at me strangely, says, "ookay..." and heats up some water to give to me. Turns out that he simply asked if anyone wanted some extra water. My bad.
Date: 2013-04-15
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Day 34: We decided to stay in Hot Springs for a zero day to enjoy this little quaint town. The trail goes through the town which is only 1 mile long. As we walk down the town we see several other backpackers, most of them we have hiked with at some point. The majority of us gathered outside the outfitters and talked about the places with the best hiker boxes. I heard several hikers received their resupplies and threw a bunch of food in the hiker box at the Hiker Ministry because they had too much to carry. I decided to go visit the ministry. I found some interesting food and some I didn't know what it was but it looked good so I took it. Mom was less than inclined to try food in unlabeled ziplock bags that was tossed in a box by some stranger. I told her this is part of the experience of the trail. We agreed to keep the food and try it on the night before we get to the next town just incase we get sick. I enjoyed hanging out with other hikers then Mitch and his adorable dog, Bella, hung out with me while I did laundry and other errands. His dog is a pitbull with midget legs. She is so lovable and trusting. She has a fetish with rocks. The first day I met her and Mitch on the trail, Bella was carrying a rock in her mouth while following closely behind her owner. It was great getting some animal love all day. It was getting close to dinner so my plan was to shower then eat an appetizer at two different restaurants. Mitch said he was going to hang out at the Tavern which was going to be my second stop so we decided to meet up later. I walked back into the motel room and immediately mom wanted to eat dinner at the Tavern so I decided to wait on the shower. We met back up with Mitch and Bella seconds after we had parted. I spoiled Bella with my leftovers then we left to finish our resupply at Dollar General.We will be back on the trail tomorrow, 70 miles to Erwin, TN. We will be avoiding all shelters and privy's to minimize our chances of getting the Norovirus. At times, We get cell service on the trail but we have not had cell service in a town since Franklin. The next time we update we should be over 340 miles!Twix
Date: 2003-05-22
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: light rain

Today, we awoke to ... just take a guess. More rain. It is becoming flat-out miserable to be out here in all of the rain. You don't want to hike all day in it, because you miss out on actual views. It becomes such a process of just going through the motions every day, and I know that the trail has not become this monotonous yet. Nobody wants to get going, but we do know that Erwin isn't too far away, but not hiking isn't making it any closer to us. So, we all eventually start to trickle out. I am the second of our group to leave, after Moss, and start ambling down the path. My knee is very stiff this morning, and the slick trail does nothing to help. In all actuality, it makes it much worse. As I am headed downhill, I start slipping, and twist my knee. Oh, it hurts. I sit down for a bit, and get back up to start out again. Unfortunately, there is pain with every step. I'm a good 2 miles from anywhere that I can do anything about it, though. I mean, I have to keep going. So, I painfully limp down to Sam's Gap. It takes 2 hours for me to do so but, luckily, the rain had subsided by this time. I sit down and snack on some gorp, and try to figure out what to do next. I look at my knee, which is swollen and bruised. That kind of worries me, as I didn't actually hit it on anything, and decide that it would be stupid to keep trying to hike on. I wrote a note for the rest of the group, letting them know what I was doing. In reality, I wrote a rambling, incoherent note about how I twisted my knee, and that I was in pain, and was going to possibly leave the trail for a while to stay with a relative in Tennessee (who was, at the time, a good 200-300+ miles away from where I was), and that I would e-mail them and let them know what was going on.I then hitched into Erwin, and got to ride in my first 18 wheeler. It probably wasn't the best time to do so, though, as the cabs are pretty far from the ground. Anyway, after quite an interesting drive (the driver was concentrating more on telling me what I should do than the road, and these roads are a little scary), I got to Erwin, and limped up to the pay phone at McDonalds. I called my mom, in hysterics, and talked to her for a while about what to do. She calmed me down and suggested that I find a place to stay, rest, and think it over. So, I found Miss Janet's. She greeted me immediately, and instantly realized that there was something wrong. Of course, once again, I ran into CloudWalker, who sat me down and made an ice pack for the knee. After finding some sleeping arrangements, Mr. Pumpy, another thru-hiker I had not previously met, sat me down and lectured me on hydration, as he could just tell that I wasn't getting enough water. After calming down a bit, getting a shower, and some clean clothes, I was able to clearly assess the situation. I decided to rest at Miss Janet's for a few days, and then take it from there. If the knee does not get any better in a few days, then I'll probably visit the good old Doc again, to see exactly what is wrong.
Date: 2013-04-16
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.8

Day 35: We went to the Smokey Mountain Restaurant...again, for the third day in a row. We met up with Even Beard and his dad Banter as we were walking down the street so they sat with us for breakfast. The Restaurant is filled with hungry hikers every morning so we walked in and said hi to about 10 of our friends.Afterwards we had to send our bounce box forward and send a few things home. We began walking with our bulky backpacks and a guy pulls over asking us if we were headed to the AT. "Of course" we said. He told us to jump in and he'll take us there. Thank goodness he did because shortly after jumping in the back of his truck I realized that I didn't know where we had to turn next to get back on the trail. The guy was really nice, a local that just came back from a section hike. He dropped us off right by a white blaze. We began walking and felt like we were on the beach. There was sand, a river with waves crashing in, and the scent of sea water. As we walked down the river we found Mitch and Bella. Bella had her head held high as she was marching around styling her new purple T-shirt that Mitch just bought for her. They were packed and were leaving soon.We hiked on and off with Mitch and Bella. He had no plans on how far he was going so I told him if he ends up camping near us I had a bag of marshmallows that we could roast. I believe that was enough incentive to hang with us. We made it to Deep Gap around 730. Mom went to get water while I set up camp. Bella came over to our tent so I let her in. She looked at the tent like it was a mansion (Mitch has a one person tent). I let her relax on the air mattress and she passed out for several hours while we roasted the marshmallows.When it was time for bed Mitch called Bella to his tent. She left but then immediately returned to our tent, I'm guessing for the soft bedding. After Mitch called her again she went back. We all exchanged a few giggles then it went silent. Twix
Date: 2003-05-26
From: Miss Janet's

To: Watauga Lake 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today is Memorial Day, and a bunch of us, thanks to Miss Janet, headed out to the Watauga Lake campgrounds to have a little get-together. It would be at least mid-day or afternoon by the time we got to the lake, so a few of us were throwing a few ideas around about slack-packing for the day. My knee was feeling much better, and I was REALLY getting anxious about hiking again. I mentioned to Magic Rat that I was thinking about slacking, and he said he was thinking the same. So, as people were preparing for the lake, the both of us started preparing, or at least started thinking, about doing a slack-pack. Of course, it would probably take a while to get dropped off, which was fine, so that gave us a lot of thinking time in between. At first, I thought it to be better just to go on to the Lake and enjoy the holiday. Then, I started feeling that I should accomplish something, and by that time, Magic Rat was beginning to think it would be better just to enjoy the day. We kept going back and forth with the idea, and decided on a coin flip. Well, the coin flip made the decision to just enjoy the day, and who were we to argue with the fate of a coin, so this is what we did. After a couple more hours of Lake preparation (building a grill, stocking provisions, etc), the group of us piled into Miss J's van and headed on to the Lake. Once we got there, Miss J headed back out to pick up the grilling materials....and came back a few hours later with grilling materials, and a van-load of hikers! She departed a few more times, in which she hit every trailhead and hostel in the vicinity, offering a free ride to and from the lake, and we ended up with a rather large assembly of hikers at the Memorial Day Party. We were even reunited with Moss, who had already left Miss Janet's, just the other day. It was one of the greatest times I've had on the trail so far. I hope these magical events keep happening!
Date: 2013-04-20
From: Spivey Gap

To: Erwin, Tn
Miles today: 10.7

Day 39: we made it to Uncle Johnny's Hostel. We hiked 11 miles and the day dragged on. We could see the town at the bottom of the mountain but there were an endless of inclines and switchbacks which made the time go extremely slow.The hostel was really neat. We also met up with Twigs and Guru. You can rent bikes for $2 so you can ride to town only about 3-4 miles. Not bad, right? Our legs burned the whole time. These bikes were a one setting gear bike and felt like you were going uphill both ways especially after hiking on a mountain all day. However, we were able to eat and get some first aid supplies at Walgreens. My foot is still having its problem. Today Every step was painful. I bought some gauze and athletic tape hoping I can give it more padding for a few days. As we were riding back to the hostel, we saw Mitch and Bella!! They were walking to town ater their 23 mile hike to Erwin. We told him how far it was so he decided to just order pizza. When we got back to the hostel he had a surprise for me. He found my trash bag!!! I couldn't hold back my excitement. Later that night there was Twigs, Guru, Monk, Coach, Sticks, Mitch, and few others all met in cabin J to watch Braveheart. What a nice day.Twix
Date: 2003-05-28
From: Miss Janet's 

To: The Trail!!!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, I said goodbye to all of my hiking friends today, as they were dropped off a few miles down the trail, where they had previously slacked to. I finished up my last errands, and decided to go explore the town a bit with a few other hikers, still at Miss J's, including Boomhouser, Singe, and Curly Dan. We hit the Erwin Burrito (and I can't say enough about this place - Bela Fleck had once been to the Erwin Burrito, and had a signed picture hanging on the wall), and, really, just ambled around for a while. When we got back to the hostel, Miss Janet was just pulling back in. She pulled me aside to talk to me about hiking out that evening. It was her opinion that I should hike with my group, since I was having knee problems, and that she had talked to them about dropping me a little further down the trail, where they would end up the next night, and I reluctantly agreed. I wanted to protest, but it was honestly not a good idea to hike by myself with a healing injury. So, the group of us at Miss J's that night decided on movie night, and I anxiously awaited the next day. I really miss the trail, and need to get back.
Date: 2013-04-22
From: Erwin, Tn

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 12.2

Day 41: It was great sleeping in a bed at Uncle Johnnies Hostel. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed. As we were packing, I put the movie Ren and Stimpy in the VHS. I forgot how gross and ridiculous the show was but I still couldn't take my eyes off it. Mom left the hostel to get on the trail a little before me and I left a little before Mitch. Of course, he caught up with me fairly quickly. We had bought way to much food for a resupply, one thing being an 8 oz sub that I ate within the first hour to reduce my bag weight. Mitch and I stopped several times along the way just enjoying the day and taking our time. We didn't catch up to my mom until later in the day and she let us know that we were slow pokes. We camped on top of a bald called Beauty Spot and the name says it all. You could see Erwin, Tn and several Mountains. We made a fire and watch the sun set. There was Bomber, Quaker, Giant Bane, PS and Catnip (besides us)Story about Beauty Spot: last year several hikers were sleeping on this spot when a man dressed as a Ranger came up and held a gun to the hikers telling them to line up and show ID. Something wasn't adding up to them so they took the guy and tied him up with their bear hanging line. The sheriff commented that the hikers made his job easier by tying the criminal up for him. His court date was last week but did not hear what the outcome is yet. Twix
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Miss Janet's

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: light rain

Well, today I get back on the trail, after about a week's worth of "rest," due to my knee injury. The group that is here at Miss Janet's started packing up to do a 19 mile slack-pack, but we got a late start. Not only that, but the skies opened up with more storms. It did not look promising. Earlier in the week, I had also learned that Boomhouser is going home for a while. He came out here to hike a small section, and wanted to make it up to Damascus, but is leaving earlier than anticipated. He's a good guy. I hope he gets a chance to get back out on the trail this year.After dropping everyone else off at Iron Mountain Gap for the slack, Miss Janet drove me up to Carver's Gap. She had spoken to Magic Rat, Nova, Tito, and Yogi (a section hiker who has joined us for a bit) about where they would be today, and wanted to drop me off nearby so I wouldn't have to hike alone with an injured knee. So, after sitting out a bit of rain, I said goodbye and parted ways. About 5 or 10 minutes into the hike, the rain began again. It drizzled on for a little while, but not too bad. What started wearing on me was the intense cold that we were going through. It was almost June, and I had all but one pair of clothing on, my hat and gloves, and I was still cold. Miss Janet had mentioned earlier that the weather was unusually cold, even for the mountains, and I now believed her. I made it down to the Stan Murray Shelter, with a few little knee aches here and there, but nothing major. Everything was extremely slippery and muddy, so I made sure I took my time. After checking the register, and seeing that my crew had not left their mark, I moved on to Overmountain. After a short, albeit very precarious, walk, I made it to the shelter trail. I longed for a break in the clouds and fog, because it looked like the views would be gorgeous from here. I could only hope for a nice, clear day in the morning, to catch the sunrise at this shelter. I got in and started settling in, and was soon joined by Magic Rat, Nova and Yogi. Buttercup had also joined us. Tito (aka Slideshow Bob) had stopped at the Roan Mt. Shelter to warm up, and had fallen behind everyone. He was getting some fierce blisters, as well, and was thinking of staying. We all had some quick meals, cocoa, and then huddled in for the night. It took everything we had to warm up (Yogi had even busted out the emergency blanket). If it's this cold in the morning, we will surely be rolling out of here late!
Date: 2013-04-23
From: Beauty Spot

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 42: We always have a certain goal on where we want to go for the day. Around noon, mom was waiting for Mitch and I. As we caught up to her she said, "I have an idea". When those words come out of a hikers mouth it means nothing short of something fabulous. There was a hostel 0.6 miles off the trail but six miles from where we were at. Her idea was to go there and eat pizza. We called first to make sure they had pizza. A sweet, chirpy lady by the name of Connie answered the phone. They didn't have any pizza but she was running into town and would gladly pick us up some Little Cezears. We took her up on that offer and made our way to the Greasy Creek Hostel. We backpacked the pizzas back to the AT and ate at Greasy Creek Gap. Mom went to bed while Mitch and I burned the pizza boxes to get rid of the smell and the trash. However, as the last flame faded we decided we wanted a fire so we dashed around the campsite gathering sticks to keep the fire alive. It was a fabulous fire in a great tenting area. Twix
Date: 2003-06-19
From: Damascus, VA

To: "The Place"
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I'm back in Damascus, and planning on heading out tomorrow a.m., along w/ a couple of other hikers. We decided it was not a good day to hike out today (primarily b/c of influence of other hikers I have been hiking with, trying to talk me into becoming a "tourist" hiker, but mostly because of the damn rain....I HATE YOU RAIN). Anyway, am hoping to start kicking in miles, and will hopefully be catching up to my "group" in about a month or so...we'll have to just see how it goes. Here's to a couple of days of sunshine!!!!
Date: 2013-05-01
From: campsite

To: Damascus, Va
Miles today: 1.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 50: we neroed into Damascus. Yes, 1.8 miles is a Nero, the ultimate nero, we technically walked off the mountain into town. This town has a hiker friendly vibe. It's small but all the houses are well maintained. Mom asked a few locals where the best breakfast was and they all said Cowboys. This restaurant was attached to a gas station but it was delicious! The owner, hikers call him Cowboy, was very friendly sharing tons of information about the trail and trail days! We made our way to the outfitters to get our dropboxes while Mom went to the doctors for antibiotics. They diagnosis was a Really Bad Cold. Afterwards, we went to the RV campsite in excitement that my Mom's friends from high school, Marilyn and Jack, were coming to visit. It was right on the trail so we set up Bluegrasses tent, stuffed all our bags in it and left for errands around town. By errands I mean eat and eat some more. It was later in the afternoon when Marilyn and Jack came into town. I thought I saw my mom leave the bar to go see them so I left. When I got to the campsite my mom wasn't there and it was my first time meeting them. I gave them a hug and it felt like I have known them for years. They had 3 adorable Westies: Mazy, Lexi, and Sierra. We had so much fun mingling and we got to sleep in their camper!Twix