morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-05-10
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Shelton Grave (stealth camp)
Miles today: 19.7

Damn longest day yet!!!! Not quite 20 miles. Sadly my right knee has started feeling sore which is making me feel concerned; Sweet Potato poked it and I almost bent his finger backward from the unexpected pain of it. I challenged myself to get up at 6, which I did! Finally, time for breakfast. However it¢s not as if I were very fast, we left camp at 7:45. Hiking down, we passed people who were going to temporarily close down the shelter we had just tented at last night due to the mama bear sightings. This was at the heels of gossip spreading like wildfire up and down the AT grapevine that someone has gotten bitten by a bear at Cosby Shelter in the Smokies - she was in the privy and didn¢t hear people shouting at her that a bear was lurking, and got bit in the ass. The rest of the hikers had to help her fight and chase off the bear, but she still was able to hike out of the Smokies under her own power. Last word was she was getting medical attention and then would be hopping straight back on. What a legend. Bears aside, let¢s turn to food. I think I¢ve got the fuel dialed in regards to more carbs, as I definitely feel consistently strong throughout the day and am not bonking anymore. In addition I bought a long straw that you would use for a bladder system to add to my Smartwater bottle, which solved my hydration issue as I could sip and hike instead of having to stop and take my bottle off my pack for a sip. Dialing it all in!We stopped at a shelter for lunch, where a guy offered his unsolicited opinion on our calorie loads and how he was going to do a marathon day - yet we saw him set up camp before we stopped for the day so who¢s laughing now? We had a quick dinner with PBJ, and I ate more food from my reject pile (packets of chicken SUCK and I do not recommend as they a) taste bad and b) weigh an absurd 5oz each). The knee pain kicked back in after the dinner shelter so we stopped short of the 20 mile and camped at Shelton Grave -which marks the burial ground of 2 Civil War soldiers who were killed coming home to visit their family - I paid my respects to the graves to make sure the ghosts wouldn¢t harass us in the night and  asked them to protect us from the bears (it¢s not that I believe in ghosts so much as it can¢t hurt, no?). Although walking in to the site, I saw a movement almost wept in terror as I thought it was a bear, but it was a deer LOL. Puffy update - alas it was cold during the night but I was determined to not admit defeat re sending my coat back.
Date: 2023-05-11
From: Shelton Grave (stealth camp)

To: SamÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap
Miles today: 14.1

I woke up at 5:30 to pee, and noticed Sweet Potato hissing at me out of his tent. I put my ears on and asked what he was saying and he said he heard coyotes prowling in the camp and we should make noise to keep them at bay. It was the first time I¢ve seen him nervous and rattled. As I had just woken up, I just loudly talked about the first things that came to my mind, which was Jewish deli food and narrating what I was doing in my tent. Apparently the coyotes came closer to Sweet Potato¢s tent so I talked louder and then they finally moved away from our camp. He screwed his courage to go out and pee and it turns out the coyotes were in fact¢¦ deer. Maybe the same deer that scared me yesterday going into camp. Tricky buggers!Unfortunately my knee still hurt, and this was the first non-blister pain that carried over to the next day on the trail which had me concerned - I couldn¢t find my knee brace, think I left it in Hot Springs :(  - so I taped it for extra support.We hustled out of camp as we wanted to see if we could beat PBJ to the hostel, as he usually departs camp at 6:00. At the end of today¢s hike I limped down to Sam¢s Gap and was so pumped to see the road that I let out a roar. While I had given the Nature Inn hostel owner sufficient heads up on our arrival time, when I called her again at the gap she was very blas© saying that she was 40 minutes away. Sadness! However we had hot girl manifested trail magic across the road in the shade, which was amazing so we drank water and ate snacks, talking to hikers who had caught up to us. By the time our pickup came PBJ had just arrived 20 seconds prior, so we were able to joke that he was the slow one today. Once deposited at the hostel, I sprinted to shower (the horror of not being to shower asap at Discerning Hiker still weighing on my soul) and felt refreshed. Our cabin had a screened-in porch with a hammock so I swung the afternoon away looking at the trees rustling softly as the creek clamored nearby. Bliss.
Date: 2023-05-12
From: SamÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7

I woke up at 2am hungry, and went to eat a bag of Lays. While eating them I was contemplating the hostel signs, and realized that they were warning about bears on the property - to which I thought ¢ohhhhhh I see¢ and went into the bathroom to eat the chips in safety. After that I went back into bed, had a lazy lie in and then hit the trail. And there was yet even more trail magic! Today it was a cookout of breakfast - pancakes, hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, and even seltzer! So good and a great way to start off my birthday.After that we actually got on the trail but it started raining so we had to cut short our hike and hide out at the next shelter. Despite the rain ruining our hiking plans, we got a beautiful view of the clouds rolling off from the bald. I swapped clothes to get dry, made food, called a friend from the privy, and hunkered down in the shelter with everyone else. Crypt reappeared from her zero, where she somehow was able to fit in a trip to see Taylor Swift perform in Nashville and made it back to hike the next day. What a legend. Apparently Erwin has a hibachi place so will be hiking to that tomorrow - no one can stop me!!!
Date: 2023-05-13
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Uncle JohnnyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs 
Miles today: 16.8

Thunderstorms were forecasted, so we left camp at 7:05 in order to try and beat the weather. It was an easy day hiking with rolling downhills (as we know I hate downhills and rocky downhills) which made my knee feel a little better. We stopped for lunch at No Business shelter with various folks we knew stopping by to eat as well. After lunch we trotted off into Uncle Johnny¢s around 3:30 and then a well-deserved shower (it didn¢t rain but it was humid as hell). To my delight there was a package from Gigi waiting for me, with Zabar¢s babka! I almost wept.I got hibachi as a belated birthday dinner with some folks, and punch drunk from the sodium high we staggered home unsuccessfully trying to get a hitch. Well, until I told Sweet Potato to look molestable and then he immediately got us a hitch (it was the hostel owner but still LOL). It was my first time riding in a truck bed and it was nice watching the mountains recede as we sped through town back to Uncle Johnny¢s for a night of catching up with other hikers.
Date: 2023-05-14
From: Uncle JohnnyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs 

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 8.4

We had a late start today as we had to food supply and of course get Taco Bell. Multiple hikers had waxed rhapsodic about how good it was, and this outing did not make me a convert but I had ordered a crunchwrap supreme which may not have been their best offering. While waiting for it to open for the day, I was sitting on the curb chugging a gallon of Fairlife chocolate milk, to which Crypt walked up to me and cracked up at the sight. After slowly packing we shoved off, but it was SO humid out it felt like slogging through water. Sweet Potato offered me a Taco Bell quesadilla (he had packed out 5) and to my horror I realized they were fucking delicious! I was also really hungry so that could have been a factor. We finally made it to camp (this was a ¢drink 4L of water¢ type of day due to the humidity, but I realized that I packed too much food so I put my spare food inside my sleeping bag stuff sack which I then placed on top of a bulletin board type situation and hoped for the best. This is not best practices, do not do this. I just didn¢t eat as much as I expected I would today due to the humidity killing my appetite. Fun fact, the babka weighs more than my tent - it clocked in at a whopping 22oz compared to my tent¢s slender 17.7oz. Must consume ASAP.
Date: 2023-05-15
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 17.9

Today was kind of a ¢put your head down and hike¢ day with not that many interesting things happening. Although at lunch I talked to some hikers who used to live in New York, so it was nice to bond over that. I am enjoying my close up of rural Appalachia, but sometimes I just want to make niche jokes with fellow New Yorkers! Thankfully it was less humid today, but that meant it started to rain buckets which means squelching in my shoes for miles which honestly is the worst part of hiking - the trench foot!!We got to the shelter, had dinner, and passed out early as it was too gross out to be awake.
Date: 2023-05-16
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: CarverÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap
Miles today: 10.0

I woke up and realized that I should probably go into the hostel early to rest my knee as soon as possible (I honestly should have done a zero at Erwin) so we decided to do a short day and shuttle into Mountain Harbor B&B which was voted best breakfast on the AT 13 years running!First impression is the place is nice but isolated (they won¢t give you shuttle rides to town which is frustrating as it¢s not within walking distance, and a hard hitch). However a lot of friends were there when we walked in! Including one who was far ahead of us but had taken a few days to recover. Unfortunate for her joints but it was an amazing opportunity to catch up with her as we hadn¢t seen her since the Smokies. It was a very nice place to chill out, aggressively ice my knee, and call around trying to schedule a PT appointment to look at my knee. I took advantage of the full size sofa in my room to stretch out and watch Netflix while RICEing my knee. It also had a jacuzzi bath tub with changing color lights, which don¢t mind if I do in re making my bath a light show.
Date: 2023-05-17
From: CarverÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gap

To: Carvers Gap
Miles today: 0.0

Breakfast was dope, it was staggering in both quantity and variety - but the cappuccino muffin and tomato pie were the standouts to me. Post breakfast we got a ride from Cindy, who is a legend - basically she¢s a local who was annoyed at the hostel owners for refusing to shuttle hikers to town and thus stranding them, so she gives free rides out of principle. A super nice, interesting woman who was fun to talk as we drove around in her Smokies edition Jeep doing resupply. We decided to zero tomorrow to really recover, so the day got even lazier. It was a weird vibe of ¢I¢ve been off trail for weeks, and what do I do with my life?¢ even though it had been 1.5 days of resting. LOLOL. But nonetheless it was just a super nice lazy day of napping, movie watching, chilling out, and icing my knee. No complaints here. At dinner 4 more of our friends rolled in, and we had dinner with them - I ordered a patty melt, onion rings, and chicken wings. My quest to find a good cheeseburger on the trail continues! I¢ve noticed on the trail that no one seems to understand that medium rare means a pink interior - alas alas. Life is hard but I shall continue to consume cheeseburgers until I find ~the one~.Post dinner I lay in bed but yearned for another cappuccino muffin so I went downstairs to the kitchen and score! There were a bunch laying around so I took one and happily scarfed it down. Life is good.
Date: 2023-05-19
From: Carvers Gap

To: Meadow
Miles today: 17.2

Knee feeling ok and back at it with a slackpack catch up to where we were! The views today from the Roan highlands were stunning, and by far my favorite views on the trail. Call me boring but there¢s something so gorgeous about rolling grassy ridge walks that go for miles, as you see raptors wheeling overhead in a cloudless blue sky.I tried looking for the rare Grey¢s Lily while hiking but didn¢t see any.  Of all the sections of the trail, I would recommend this for views and accessibility!! Unlike a lot of the trail which is obscured views and needless PUDs and MUDs. Always butt day on the AT. A dicey moment struck when the urge to go hit me and I realized I forgot to pack my trowel. Thankfully Green Mountain Girl walked by and when I begged to borrow her trowel she gamely lent it to me, telling me I could give it back to her when I passed her next. The trail truly provides, although honestly I would have just dug a hole with a stick if needed. When we got back I had a California roast beef at the cafe at Mountain Harbor, and then we did a few more miles hiking in the gloaming as we were meeting Sweet Potato¢s cousin tomorrow and he wanted us to be as close to the meetup spot as possible. I personally don¢t like hiking bat sunset as I want to be done with chores and get a chance to relax before bedtime, but you can¢t always win. I¢m slow on downhills so have to sacrifice time elsewhere.
Date: 2023-05-21
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Black Bear Resort
Miles today: 6.4

Another humid and sticky day. Our friend PBJ, true to his platinum blazing name, got us to stay at another hostel - this time a nice cabin with 4 bunk beds. A different hiker said they would meet us there, but didn¢t end up making it.At the resort we met a couple who met on TikTok and I reflected on the cultural divide between Gen Z and millennials (I insist I am cusp but sadly am just the youngest of the millennials. I for one welcome our Gen Z overlords). Today was a lot of sitting around in malaise feeling like I should be productive, but then too lazy to. I did order new shoes at least - I outgrew my current pair and my pinky toes scream for space and the pinky toenail situation is starting to look dire.  I unsuccessfully tried to live stream Succession as it aired (rural America and fast wifi do not go hand in hand), but was mollified with a Chinese buffet which was simultaneously not good but also amazing for being some fucking variety in our food. SP turned down the chance to pack out Taco Bell, which was so out of character for him as he is their biggest fan and he loves to lecture me on how great it is while we hike. I had a feeling he would regret it in the morrow.
Date: 2023-05-22
From: Black Bear Resort

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 16.1

This morning a hostel employee told us an anecdote from his thru hike back in the 90s when he hitched a ride, and then the driver tried to take him for a ride if you catch my drift. While I was listening to his story I was more entertained by how thick his Boston accent was, and by the adorable puggle he tucked under his arm while driving a golf cart around - it was a very sweet scene. Today we had 572 steps down to the falls (¢oh rapture¢ says my knee with sarcasm), and SP zipped down to the bottom and sat while I slowly and gingerly walked down. I met the Beast while inching down, and she was awesome. She thru hiked last year, and was filling in the few missing sections she had so she walked with us for a while and sold us on aquablazing the Shenandoah. We had lunch at Lake Watuaga, which was LOVELY. The picnic tables were in the water so we could soak our feet while eating, and it was a beautiful sunny day. It felt like we were somewhere more glamorous, like Italy. I could see 2 hikers we knew swimming and it looked like they had a blast - I don¢t like going for a swim if I¢m not showering that day as a rule, as I feel pond water gets swampy but it looked so refreshing. There was a sweet brown pittie near us that kept coming over to cuddle / beg for food and for us to throw sticks for her to retrieve. Two guys pulled up in a minivan and asked about our hike, and after the conversation tried to give us $10 for our time which we politely declined. We were happy to talk about our experiences and getting paid for it made it feel mercenary versus an organic conversation.We hiked around the lake (sadly the water tasted AWFUL; nothing like cold, delicious, refreshing mountain spring water as this was warm and stagnant¢¦) and when we stopped to chat with a SOBO hiker SP¢s water bottle fell out and rolled down a hill! So there was a tense few minutes where he had to climb down to retrieve it and haul himself back up. Very dramatic. Afterwards we hiked across the dam (and the 2 hikers we saw swimming caught up with us at this point so we walked with them) and upwards. Unfortunately it was a dry section (why is VA so dry?????) and I was THIRSTY and had very little water left and had to drink from Adam¢s water :( We took a break to eat snacks and hopefully find the will to keep going to get water, and after 2 hours of thirst and humidity we FINALLY GOT COLD REFRESHING MOUNTAIN WATER!! We made dinner, and then hiked a little further to stealth camp in yet another zone of bear activity. Ah!! Hopefully no midnight visitors.
Date: 2023-05-23
From: Stealth Camp

To: Low Gap / US 421
Miles today: 19.5

I slept well last night, and SP did not as he heard a nighttime visitor in the camp and it kept him up for an hour. I¢ve come to conclude good hearing is more of a detractor than a help on trail, as it makes every nighttime sound scary versus the likely reality of it just a deer being stupid.Highlights today include the hermit monument (the epitaph was ¢he lived alone, suffered alone, died alone¢ - which  ouch), and hiked in a super pretty meadow / pasture. Due to seeing bears twice in 3 days, as well as reports of a juvenile male bear hanging around Abington shelter that wasn¢t deterred by shouting, we decided to head into the next town early and slackpack the remaining miles tomorrow to minimize our chances of a bear encounter. Everyone on the trail seems to want to see a bear until they actually have to stand off against one, and then they lose all desire to see another one which is reasonable, really. Due to jumping ahead, we were able to have dinner with Crypt who we hadn¢t seen in a week. The diner had great service, I ordered chocolate milk which they were out of (as Damascus just had Trail Days where thousands of hikers, alums, and hanger ons descend on this tiny town) and instead of saying ¢sorry, we¢re out¢ they sent someone to run to the supermarket and buy more milk. While tasty, it wasn¢t as good as Fairlife in my humble opinion. Post dinner (and chocolate milk), we ambled to our hostels and admired the pretty sunset over small town America before crashing for the night.
Date: 2023-05-25
From: Damascus (!!)

To: Stealth Camp 
Miles today: 9.3

Today¢s mileage was an approximation as we hiked on (creeped along?) the Virginia Creeper trail. This morning I had a lie in to the decadent time of 9am, and then a whirlwind morning of doing town chores. We saw PBJ walking into town, and stopped to make plans to meet for breakfast. Then it was to the post office, where my shoes were waiting but they were too small since I ordered W shoes but apparently mine were M? My pinky toes were sad to hear the news, as they yearned to have space to roam free. We resupplied (cough, paid through the nose) at Damascus Outfitters where there was freeze dried mango sticky rice!! Unfortunately for me I noticed this after SP saw and immediately grabbed the entire available stock for his bag, no mango sticky rice for me. However I did get Pro Bars which were absolutely delicious and became my favorite snack bars that I¢ve had on the trail, edging out Killer Dave¢s trail mix bars. Post food shopping we went to the cafe ostensibly for breakfast but really as another stop on SP¢s chai latte tour of Appalachia. Sadly for SP the place was out of chai and it was revealed they made it with mix versus actual spices, so he wouldn¢t have wanted it anyway. He¢s randomly snobbish about Taco Bell and chai, and a degenerate about everything else. While researching aquablazing, PBJ came in and updated us on everything we¢ve missed since we saw him at Black Bear Resort. Post lunch I stopped at the other outfitter in town to look for Topos, which they didn¢t have, however they had the mango sticky rice and for much cheaper! Ha. PBJ was there as well, and he kindly offered to mail my shoes for me. It¢s now 1 or so at this point, and we finally leave town and meander along the Creeper as I was super sleepy. While walking, someone in a car shouted that he had something for me to match SP¢s hat and then threw a straw coolie hat at him and sped off. Completely random and ridiculous. Hiking onwards we ran into Green Mountain Girl who was delighted to find out I was Jewish (I said ¢tushie¢ lol), and walked past Hellbender cafe, which was  situated right on the Creeper in the middle of nowhere. Alas it had closed an hour earlier - although the staff closing up kindly offered to let us use the bathroom or refill water. We made dinner there, and hiked a little further on to stealth at this pretty spot by the river bend sprinkled with massive boulders. It began to rain, so I crawled into my tent to pass out.
Date: 2023-05-26
From: Stealth Camp 

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.1

We hiked a little more of the Creeper (this New Yorker was able to activate my superior flat, paved  walking speed) and had a very early lunch at Saunders shelter where I saw my trail fairy godmother WGUW¢s graffiti from her previous thru. Further along we ran into Phoenix slackpacking, and past Rabbit and Respawn hanging out. We made it up a pretty hill where I had inexplicably amazing cell service, so I called my family to say hi. We later manifested trail magic, which ended up being clementines, cookies, trash can, a bathroom, and a muscle roller! Post snacking and rolling our legs, we hiked up to the shelter, refilled at a delicious spring stream, and saw a mom and her foal grazing outside of the Grayson Highlands boundary which meant they must have jumped the fence. We petted the foal for a few minutes, and watched him scratch himself on a tree with gusto. Fascinating and adorable. At the shelter we ate with a group of Germans, who made a working bong out of an apple during dinner - German engineering at its finest! There were TONS of weekend warriors and other ¢civilians¢ camped at this site as it was at 2 major tourist spots: the highest point in VA (Mount Rogers) and the Grayson Highlands (adorable dwarf ponies!). I also belatedly remembered it was a holiday weekend (time is very different on trail and is measured by light and amount of food left, versus petty things like ¢clocks¢ and ¢calendars¢. Alas tonight is forecasted to be cold, and I did not have my puffy which was unfortunately another point in SP¢s favor who likes to lord the fact that he has his puffy over me every single time he wears it. So I elected to sleep in the shelter to be¢¦ sheltered from the cold aka steal from folks¢ body heat.
Date: 2023-05-27
To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 17.0

In the morning we hiked up to the top of Mt Rogers, the tallest mountain in VA (mileage includes the 1 mile round trip blue blaze). Aka we stood on top of a boulder surrounded by trees, and then on top of another boulder which could also be the tallest point. The surveyors installed 2 peak markers as they weren¢t sure and hand waved it. Today we hiked through the Grayson Highlands proper and saw more adorable dwarf ponies grazing, chilling, flirting, napping. I don¢t have any other notes from today, but when we got to shelter it was supposed to be bad weather yet again in the night. However there was no room at the shelter as it truly was maxed out in space, but the thru hiking community is kind and generous so they helped us move the table to outside the covered porch to free up room to tent and be more shielded from the elements than put in the open.