morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-03-14
From: Backcountry campsite #33 GSMNP

To: Backcountry campsite #34 GSMNP
Miles today: 12.0

Day 2:I was up at first light and on trail at 8:30. I didn't see anyone at camp last night or this morning. The old settlers trail finished with many more home sites along streams & brooks with moss covered stones and a gentle flow. I tried to capture the beauty of these streams but a camera cannot contain it. One creek was called Noisy Creek, and it's name must be derived from the regularity of waterfalls and cascades. Redwine Creek was another. Three miles into my day I stopped to change socks and I saw a man coming up trail behind me. His name was Scott, and he was doing the entire OST in one day (day hike). His backpack was much smaller than mine. He said that it was 22 degrees when he started at 7:00. Shortly after we parted I came to a downed tree that rudely interrupted my path. I squeezed, twisted, & turned until I came out the other side. I later guessed that this was the point where I had sadly lost Joseph's sunglasses. (I'm sorry!!) Joseph and I found them a couple years ago in this very park...I think the universe had plans for the return of the sunglasses and I decided not to go back for them. Soon I caught up with Scott again and asked him if by chance he had seen the sunglasses. He answered no, and said that he would have but he went around the tree. That seemed to make better sense. I'll do that next time. :-)I saw Scott once more, then not again. Mileage at camp came to about 12 for the day. Tomorrow I will exit the park for a motel room and much needed shower. Then I will get a ride to Davenport Gap, where the trail leaves GSMNP. I've been lonely on these first two nights. I need companionship and Joseph convinced me to just get back to the AT. He is right. Tonight I'm camped in a rocky area near Cosby Ranger Station. I am in a stand of towering Hemlocks, and they are wonderfully healthy! Google 'hemlock woolly adelgid' to learn about the struggle of the hemlocks and the non-native beetle that has been introduced to the area to stop the plight. Goodnight!
Date: 2014-03-16
From: Davenport Gap

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Melissa arrived at the hotel just before 10:00a. She said I was the second hiker she picked up in the last week, but expected business to increase soon. We stopped at a market for me to grab some candy and cash for the upcoming days. At 10:30a I was dropped at the northern boundary of GSMNP at Davenport Gap. I paid her, she wished me well, and then left. It was raining and dreary. But I was ready. My clothing was a full body base-layer (wool), and full body rain gear over it.Because it wasn't cold I didn't need anything more. It rained the whole day. About 30 minutes into the hike I passed under I-40. After that the trail began the climb of Snowbird Mountain. It was a climb of 3,500' and I thought it would never end. Not only that, I had to descend the other side after the summit to reach the shelter. I decided to stay in the first shelter because tent sites are sans bear cables, and I don't care to fool around with hanging my food. The day was 10 miles and the rain wouldn't let up.Finally, around 6:00p I reached Deep Gap, the location of the Groundhog Shelter. I slopped down my pack and sat on the edge of the sleeping platform just inside. No one was there. I gathered water and soon realized how lonely the day had been. I saw two older men on the trail, opposite direction, and neither of them seemed happy enough to have been allowed to leave their bedrooms that day. Things were low. I laid out my sleeping stuff and heated water from the spring for noodles.After sending a few whiny text messages to Joseph and whining some more into his ear, another hiker arrived. It was Cloud Raven. He is thru-hiking the AT, and he and I were the only hikers to depart Davenport Gap on that day because of the rain. I told him I was discouraged and that I might head back to GSMNP in the morning. Joseph had discouraged that in earlier text/chat, and so did Cloud Raven. By the time I was in my sleeping bag at 8:00, I had decided to hike another day. I slept very well.
Date: 2014-03-17
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

March 17 - 7:30 and Cloud Raven & I are packing up to walk north. Still raining. Rain had pattered the tin roof all night, and the outlook was gloomy. Even though the weather was lousy, I had higher spirits thanks to my conversations with Joseph & Cloud Raven. Cloud Raven indicated that he was going to pass the first shelter which was 8 miles north and stop at the next, which was an additional 5 miles. I wasn't sure what my plan was, but I knew that being alone was not my best medicine. I departed Groundhog Shelter at 9:00 and arrived at the first shelter around 2:00. It was too early to stop and so I pushed on to Walnut Mountain Shelter. Thirteen miles was tough. I didn't have any particular long & hard ups or downs, but had plenty of both in moderation. Rain was constant and I was trying to regulate body temperature so to keep from sweating. I think I gave up because I just tried to be comfortable. The trail was chockablock with deep mud and was easy for slipping. One high point in the day was Max Patch, a bald mountain top that would surely yield wonderful views of the Cherokee Nat'l Forest if it wasn't so smazy. Where the trees broke, just before the grassy summit, I spied a day hiker dressed in all cotton & denim wandering the trail that led to a parking lot. His name was Lance, and he was visiting from Ohio to 'clear his mind'. We walked to the summit and discussed simple things like the mosses growing on trees in the area. He liked geology and I watched him fill a small glass jar with soil & moss or grass. I suggested that he goto Cataloochee, an unpopular but beautiful long cove in the northeastern section of GSMNP. On account that I had 3 copies at home, I offered him my national geographic map of the park. It seemed perfect since Max Patch was on the very top of the map, though outside the park boundaries, he could clearly navigate to Cataloochee. He offered me some of his Smart Water and I accepted, then he handed me a piece if quartz. We exchanged thank you's and goodbyes, and I walked on. I think he took some pictures of me before I disappeared into the murk. He liked Instagram. Max Patch was probably a mile long, and the trail was marked by posts erected from the ground that sported a white blaze. Shortly after the rain ceased and I stopped at a stream for yogurt-covered raisins & water. It was also time for dry socks and the rain window made this possible. I then trudged onward, not before finding a tasteful place in the stream to place my quartz given me by Lance, on account that I carry enough weight and I don't need to carry rocks. I think anyone whom crosses the stream will catch a glimpse of it.
Date: 2014-03-18
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

March 18 - the rain is tapering and things are looking up! I was on trail at 9:00 and soon found the south shoulder of Bluff Mountain. At about 3,750', I only had to climb to 4,600' to summit. The hard part was going down the north face. In the 4 miles to Garenflo Gap I descended 2,000' and my knees were beginning to fight back. The remaining 5-6 miles were fairly easy, the trail bisecting a ridge with a view of the monster I had just descended. It was quite a mountain... I found Cloud Raven at Deer Park Mountain Shelter with his tent pitched in the sun. I had started my hike at 9:00 and it was only 2:00. We had all afternoon to hang out, nap, gather firewood, and eat whatever we had remaining in our packs, for tomorrow would be Hot Springs! I offered him some instant coffee which he really liked. A little later two guys, a father & son, arrived after a 15 mile trek from the shelter I had bypassed the day before. They were a pitiful sight, especially the son. His insole had been slipping to the front of his shoe all day, and the descent from Bluff Mountain nearly killed me with perfectly functioning shoes. He didn't speak to anyone for about an hour. We had a roaring campfire, talked about easy things, and went to our respective nylon houses for the remainder.
Date: 2014-03-21
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

March 21 - Today was my first real experience with AT folk. I had to evacuate my hotel room by 11:00 and after that I went to get a quick lunch. I slept a little late because I was up late packing my pack and deciding what was unnecessary and mailed home such items. I filled a medium size flat rate box with things I brought that I really don't need. My backpack is considerably lighter now! Feels better.I also divided items into stuff-sacks according to the times in which I am most likely to need them and then placed the stuff-sack in a location in my pack that was easiest to access for the time in which I would need it. For example, I have a Night/Trail stuff-sack that is in the top of my pack and can be reached easily on trail and at night it goes in the tent with me. We will see if all this works. Anyway I was on trail at 12:00 today. I walked out of Hot Springs and followed the trail up a steep ridge overlooking the French Broad River. After that I climbed Brush Mountain and another mountain that I am tenting on now. At the shelter now is: First Blood from Germany, Z, Socks from Maryville TN, Blaze, Animal Planet from Ohio, and me. Socks said I need a new trail name so we shall see.I arrived at the shelter at 4:45 after hiking 11 miles. I saw a lizard today. Summer is coming!
Date: 2014-03-22
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was the best sleep I have had outside. I slept with my backpack in the tent at my feet to rest/elevate my left foot. This worked rather nicely because I was able to pack everything except my food bag (in a tree) and my tent before leaving the tent for the first time. When I did crawl out I saw two tents on both sides of me that were not there when I tucked in the night before. I don't know why people want to hike in the dark. The morning weather was good. The trail descended into Deep Gap, then into Allen Gap, where it crossed Hwy 70. Then the climbing began, 3,000' up Rich Mountain. I was moving slow, and trying not to sweat. It seemed to take hours. One thing is certain - if for one instant while dragging your body up a mountain or ridge, you glance at the horizon or the upward slope of the trail in front of you - every bit of willpower and strength is dashed away like campfire ash in a whiff or breeze. Even the sight of a few yards of steep grade trail can weaken everything in your core and tear down your spirit faster than sling-shot to the back of the knee. Don't ever look up, focus only on what lies at each step and forget everything else. At the top the path seemed to follow short intervals of up & down, like little mountains or a saw-blade ridge. The ground was covered in granite and the stones became larger & larger until I found myself scrambling on feet & hands to 'climb' the trail. I was absolutely caught off guard by this. Blackstack Cliffs, Whiterock Cliff, Baxter Cliff, and Big Firescald Knob. 'Cliff' is not a word common to the names of relief in the east, and certainly not the southeast. After all that mess I was starting to long for the shelter. After an hour or so of bouldering on the AT, I descended into Lick Log Gap. The descent was steep and my right knee and left ankle were getting fussy. I climbed Bald Mountain, then Andrew Johnson Mountain, and found the shelter on the right. I was so tired and achey that I went straight to dinner. There was a father & daughter at the shelter also with Animal Planet, Blaze, & Socks. The father was so unprepared, so negligent, so stupid, I couldn't believe the conditions he presented himself and his daughter on this housetop with such poor weather forecast. They wore blue jeans, cotton shirts, toy-like backpacks, waist length ponchos, tennis shoes... Unbelievablely dangerous gear and attire. And the father was the guy that told us of the snow coming in the night. Want to die on a mountain? Grab a pair of jeans and a cotton tshirt or cotton anything. In fact, it doesn't really have to rain or be cold - just break a sweat - and the hydrophilic nature of cotton & denim will cling to your skin & deliver hypothermia pronto! Anyway, I felt awful for the daughter. It did rain, and we had over an inch of snow above 4,000' at the shelter. I'm probably going to town soon because ankle pain/swelling won't taper.
Date: 2014-03-23
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Waking up in Jerry Cabin Shelter yielded a night time snow of an inch and it quickly turned into a deadfall rain. Everyone was slow to pack their things and eat because no one wants to climb mountains in the rain. At mile 10 or so was a shelter but further was a road which meant I could catch a ride into Erwin, TN. There is nothing exciting about Erwin. Nothing. I arrived on Sunday and this was most unfortunate because of the sin of conducting any exchange of currency, unless it be strictly tithing, on the sabbath. I couldn't buy food, supplies, goto the library, seek transportation to a less desperate or fearful community - nothing. Luckily for me, a Hindu couple was able to provide me a room with comfy things like a shower and clean sheets. Huddle House was the only other thing open, but I decided to eat what was left of trail grub from Hot Springs a few days back. Coming off trail and into a town after days of climbing mountains and finding that it is shut is so upsetting. I googled 'Erwin' to learn something interesting or maybe even useful about the town. I learned that the only thing remarkable that had ever occured happened on September 16, 1916 when the citizens volunteered their railway yard to serve as gallows for the execution of an African elephant. The elephant's name was Mary and she had killed her trainer the day before because he had shoved a piece of iron into an infected area of Mary's mouth. The trainer had no experience training animals and had never seen an elephant. The circus that employed the now dead 'trainer' and Mary was being pressured to destroy the animal, but had failed to do so after repeatedly shooting it and even electrocuting it. Erwin's rail depot manager suggested that the circus come to Erwin and as an opening act they would execute Mary by hanging for all to see before the circus began. They hoisted Mary by her neck with a chain but shortly thereafter the chain failed and Mary fell to the ground, breaking her hip bones. But don't worry - the rail depot manager was able to locate a stronger chain and Mary hanged for 30 minutes until she suffocated. She was buried in the rail yard. I wasn't able to locate any other remarkable information about Erwin other than shocking statistics regarding production of methamphetamine that would intimidate Gustavo Fring. And I can't help but regret that Mary didn't stomp the dude on a Sunday...
Date: 2014-03-30
To: Wrappin' it up
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hi everyone, I've been avoiding trailjournals because I haven't wanted to tell people that I have gotten off the trail. But it's true. I think 8 weeks may have been a longer shot than I expected - especially financially - but also because my left ankle was giving me trouble. And my right foot is numb on the top! So here is my plan -- I'll still hike 8 weeks -- just not in a single interval. I'll keep you posted!I also need to get ready for school at MTSU. I realized that my first class, the first time it meets, will be at the very moment of my Nashville State Commencement Ceremony at TSU. Can you believe that? I have to PICK. I'll be meeting my advisor Wednesday to see if I can change something and go to the graduation ceremony, but I have already made my decision if I am forced to choose. Can you guess what it is??I have uploaded some pictures, but you won't know yet what it is you are looking at without the captions. I'll be adding the captions in a day or two. My camera is waterproof & freeze-proof, but so much of the time I was trekking it was raining or sleeting or snowing and that type of hiking doesn't encourage picture-taking. I've been in Nashville just a few days and I already miss the culture of the AT. A day on the AT filled me with emotions from the domain of all real emotions. Mornings were good feelings - even when it was raining or snowing. Afternoons were good, too. Late afternoons is when my body offered encouragement to stop & rest or just go to sleep. And sometimes I ignored it and went on to the next shelter. Those times were when I paid the price of being discouraged. A healthy distance for me at the end of my trip was no more than 13 miles, maybe 12. Though I did a couple to 15. What I learnedYour body can take you crazy distances in short intervals; Your feet are important for moving, taking care of them is time consuming and worth it; Do not have your boyfriend/girlfriend drop you off at the trailhead; Try not to spend nights alone during the first couple of weeks; Hiking too long each day will make you exhausted and hungry and irritable (hangry) and vulnerable; AT hikers are always good people - always. The trail brings a simplicity to people that nothing else in life can deliver. It feels really good to just walk, when walking is the only thing to do before setting up your tent.
Date: 2014-04-03
To: The Last Business Trip
Miles today: 0.0

I'm in Winnipeg, Manitoba on my last business trip. My last business trip; wow, this is getting real. And tomorrow, I retire from corporate life and begin my new life, and that will start my AT process. This year will be my training time when I do several section hikes, with the goal of doing a thru hike in 2015.I consider myself an experienced backpacker, but I've only been out for a week at a time over the many years I've been backpacking; so I've never had to do the logistics for resupplying from towns. Reading about the hostels, the hotels and restaurants in the towns along the trail has me intrigued. I've always been impressed with the thru hikers who know where to go for a good deal, the kindness of the people in the trail towns, and the variety of facilities you find. This will be different for me as all of my previous trips were trying to figure out how to get as far away from town as possible, not get into them. This is going to be a grand adventure.
Date: 2014-04-04
To: Last Day of Work
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I thought it would never come and then it seemed to come all too quickly, I was done with work. I had been working for this company for 23 years, and was now retiring. It 'a like the end of the semester back in college, the finals are over and you can burn the book and the notes you so painstakingly took. It was quite exhilarating really! And a little bittersweet, certainly I would miss working with some of the people that I had grown close to, people that had supported me for so many years, people that I had hired and provided a new career. I wished them well and set off on my new life.
Date: 2014-04-06
To: On My Way to Amicalola Falls
Miles today: 0.0

After spending Saturday running around trying to buy and organize my food, buying a new iPhone, a last minute REI run to use the 20% off coupon that will expire while I'm hiking (thanks REI! Luv ya!), paying bills, and finally getting three hours of sleep - if it weren't for the last minute, I'd never get anything done. Hmmm, might have to think on that one.It was now time to go! Load the pack in the car and off to MCI. Fortunately my wife was flying out about the same time (opposite direction) and we were able to go to the airport together, say our goodbyes, watch her give that forced smile and say "have a good trip", knowing all well and good that she was thinking "why did I marry a crazy guy?"Delta treated me well with an upgrade and I sat in blissful comfort as we streaked toward ATL. The incongruity of flying a big aluminum tube (or aluminium as my Brit friends say ) at 500 knots so that I could get out and walk 178 miles at 2 mph struck me. In ATL Delta managed to deliver my pack intact, I hopped on the MARTA and off to North Springs station.I had arranged a shuttle with Survivor Dave and he has everything well organized. You've got to when your business is shuttling several hundred deranged hiker wanna-be's for a season. And after swapping stories on the trip we arrived at Amicalola Falls. Dave likes to take your picture in front of the Arch and fill you in on exactly what to do the next day when you start. It was then off to the Lodge for my room and dinner and falling asleep in front of the TV for the last time for the next two weeks. My wife is smiling now - "he always does that".   Hmmm, might have to think on that one.
Date: 2014-04-07
From: Amicalola Falls

To: Springer Mtn
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: moderate rain

I woke up in the Amicalola Falls a Lodge to the sounds of heavy rain. I grabbed a leisurely breakfast as the visitor center where you log in didn't open until 8:30. Everyone in the lodge was saying 3-4 inches of rain were expected, so you might want to delay a day. I strongly considered it, after all I'm not on a schedule. I went back to my room and decided I'd repack my pack, and as I did I unconsciously started pulling out rain gear. After I had I it all packed, the decision had already been made , I was going to go for it.The Falls were beautiful with all the flow due to the rain, and as I walked down all those steps I kept thinking about having to walk back UP all those 700 steps. The thing that struck me was how fresh the air smelled, the birds were chirping and I was glad to be walking.   I registered, section hiker number 774, and could have been thru hiker number 1039 had I been able to go all the way thru . And then back up all those steps in the rain. The steps were constructed by GA Corrections inmates "in cooperation with GA Natural Resources". It's amazing what you can do with a little free labor.Off onto the Approach Trail, and only 8.8 miles to Springer. I walked in the rain, solo, I only saw one other person the whole day. The forest still believed it was winter, with only a few trees with little tiny gene buds peeking out. It rained all day, hard rain, soft rain, rain that went sideways, big rain, mist and fog. I suppose the views were nice, but I could never see more than 200 feet.Finally at 5:30 I made it to the top of Springer, not a particularly tough climb but a hard pull for your first day out. My FitBit said 13.39 miles and 370 flights of stairs, okay that was a lot. I took pictures of the top, signed the log book, and made my way on to Springer shelter for the night. It was a good day, and I was glad that I didn't listen to the folks in the lodge about delaying a day.