morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-12-03
From: Marion va 

To: Marion va 
Miles today: 0.0

We got up a bit hungover and Kate was hungover enough to suggest a zero and I was not opposed. We got a cab to Hardee's for breakfast then walked to the post office. They had my quilts and the classical guitar book I'd ordered, but not the bounce box. Before Thanksgiving I'd called pearisburg PO to have them forward to here, but when I checked the tracking it had somehow been all over the place and ended up in narrows, va, just outside of pearisburg. They did indeed have it and forwarded it to damascus. Also on the tracking history it had gone to Roanoke, then Charleston wv, then Richmond, then pearisburg again, then narrows. Go figure. We walked back to main street and on the way passed this tiny little storefront just jam packed with reptiles. The blue iguana. It was really cool and had a lot of exotic species. The dudes pet tortoise, some west African species the size of a dog was roaming around and scared Kate half to death when she almost tripped on it and it moved. Then there was luther, a free roaming lizard the size of a cat who loved to be pet. When I pet his belly he'd cock his head back and close his eyes in ecstasy. They had snakes, albino frogs, chameleons, horny dragons you name it. And scrambling mice and rats. One lady in there had something crawling up her sleeve, and I'm like, is there a mouse up your arm? And she's like yeah, but it's a rat. I just bought him to feed my snake but he's too cute and friendly so now he's my pet too and his name is peppermint. That place was so random and fantastic. When we left though I realized I'd forgotten to bring my sleeping bag to mail off and the post office was closing in minutes. Tomorrow is Sunday so I'd have to carry it. Huge mistake. No ups or fedex either. They did have a music shop so I got strings for my guitar and played banjo for a while. So rusty but it was great to play.  We looked up the bus which was coming in an hour or so and went into the wooden pickle to wait. We ended up staying longer and got a cab back to the Walmart to resupply. Tealeaf and buckshot were there and we got to split some stuff. They were more hardcore than us and on their way back to the trail. We went back to the room, did laundry, and veged out ordering pizza later on. I did a lazy restringing of the guitar and just replaced the broken one to play the xmas tunes.
Date: 2016-12-04
From: Marion va 

To: Marion va 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We got up early to get back out there and I realized that with my quilts and the sleeping bag there was no way everything was fitting in my pack. I'd have to strap it outside. It was raining too and with the added bulk I couldn't get my pack cover on. Then I picked it up and with the food water and two sleeping arrangements I just wasn't having it and Kate wasn't too disappointed to have a double donut day. We decided to go all out and switch hotel to the fancy historic francis marion downtown and got the king suite.  The lady was nice enough to let us check in at 1030 and give us the military discount. Everything was closed except macados so we went back there for lunch then just holed up and watched world War II documentaries and football. I got to play some xmas Bach on the restrung guitar.
Date: 2016-12-05
From: Marion va 

To: Hurricane mountain shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

We were totally ready to pass this one by and head for the next shelter 4 miles away, but right when we got to the turn off my stomach was feeling weird and it was drizzling so we stopped. At lunch at the last shelter I had some serious hip muscle flare up too and I could barely sit down at the table. Luckily a couple alleves made that a non issue for the afternoon hike but I'm a bit worried about that for tomorrow. I'm currently in the shelter with snacks and dice, and unfortunately snacks is brown blazing back to marion tomorrow. We just met dice a few days ago and Kate has met snacks before but this was the first meeting for me. I've seen her in the logs and she always puts what food she's dreaming about which I assume is how she got her name. This is the first night back out with the newly restuffed quilts and I'm in the shelter because it's supposed to rain all night and morning. We had a nice cloudy hike today with no rain. The highlight was a good size waterfall, comers creek falls and the Mt rogers visitor center which was open when we started today. The lady there gave me a cup of coffee and we got to see a hellbender, this giant salamander that lives around here. Tealeaf had been hearing and drawing about this in the logs. They had one in an aquarium and while not big enough to ride, it was about a foot long.
Date: 2016-12-06
From: Hurricane mountain shelter

To: Thomas knob shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Holy shit. I think the hike into here takes the cake for the most scared I've been this whole trip. It had been raining and misting all day and after lunch at the wise shelter we decided to just go another 5.2 to this one and call it a day. We had 2 or 3 hours left of daylight and figured we'd get in just before dark. Started off fine even though it was still raining. We saw some of the Grayson Highlands ponies and we're trudging along. No views with the rain but it was really pretty. Then it got rocky and slippery.  The trail was pretty much a flowing stream and before we knew it it was almost dark and we were still almost 2 miles away from the shelter. This was all above 5000 feet at this point. The rain and fog picked up and now we were soaked and could only see about 3 feet in front of us. This was no big deal on the rocky passes or forest, but then we hit open balds with 30 or 40 mph winds. We were in real danger of losing the trail now and had to go super slow and blaze to blaze to make sure we didn't. At one point we came across another crew of ponies just standing there in the dark, rain, and fog. Their glowing eyes in the mist nearly made me soil myself. The four ponies of the apocalypse. I thought judgement was nigh. I was already in adrenaline, survival mode.  Thankfully we dipped back down into a forest after what seemed like eternity and at least if we got lost from then on we could back track to there and set up camp out of the wind. When we finally caught sight of the shelter it was the best feeling ever. We got into dry clothes, made hot toddies with what little water we had left and nipped on the fancy scotch I'd bought in Marion. We're both out of water but there was no way we were going the 10 feet outside or whatever it was to get more. We had a dry dinner with whiskey and it just feels good to not be dying of exposure right now.
Date: 2016-12-07
From: Thomas knob shelter

To: Saunders shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we woke up to most of the gear frozen pretty stiff as well as most of the ground iced over. It was a mostly clear and beautiful day and I finally got to see some fantastic views that Grayson highlands is known for. I watched a gorgeous sunrise from a rock pile behind the shelter. The spring, and all water sources for that matter, was flowing like a fire hose. I got water then we incubated the essentials while making coffee and eating breakfast. It took us a while to get going and probably does in general with frozen socks and shoes before the sun really beams in. I really didn't mind this time either. The sun, blue skies and views were a welcome contrast to last night's conditions. We had lunch by another fire hose of a spring on a sun burnt ridge with a great overlook. We laid out all our wet gear and clothes and got everything dried out. Not long after that we saw horizon slack packing going north. He's a nice guy and I hope we get to hang with him soon. We hadn't seen him since Bennington Vermont and the brewery that caused Kate's epic 5-14 day hangover. This was the first night I'd set up my newly stuffed quilts in the hammock and I was pretty cozy. We had the shelter area to ourselves and it was a nice pine forest.
Date: 2016-12-08
From: Saunders shelter

To: Damascus va
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning Kate left before me and headed back on the shelter side trail we came in on. I left a while later but came to a fork and took the blue blaze trail to the right which actually bypassed a quarter mile or so. So when I got back to the trail I was 50 yds ahead of her and now she's accusing me of treachery. I didn't lose sleep over it. We had a short day mostly downhill into damascus which is great being directly on trail. The timing worked out well and we went to mojos for lunch, next door to the outfitter, downtown to the other outfitters trying to trade out my darn tough socks then the post office before it closed. We met crazy larry as we walked by his place and then got a lovely day of a lot of trail magic. A lady was driving the opposite way and started honking at us. She pulled over visibly excited that we were sobos and said when we get to davenport gap to please call her so she could give us a place to stay for free and take us resupply before the smokies. At first I thought she'd been honking for me to get out of the way as she turned but then I saw all the AT stuff on her car and her request didn't seem scary at all. Just super nice and convenient since standing bear near her place we've heard had gone to shit. I'd been here before on my first section hike with Ryan and it was nice recognizing a town. By far the best and nicest outfitter was mt rogers and the dude there talked our ear off and gave us a bunch of handwarmers for free. We checked into woodchuck hostel and then tealeaf and buckshot rolled up in a giant van. They'd zeroed in town and the Mt rogers guy had just given them his van so they could go watch a movie in the next town over. We all went up to damascus brewery which was actually open and had a great time. Some more magic when the owner of the marion hotel drove a half hour to personally give Kate her wallet she'd left and the 4 snickers I'd left. He took two sips of a beer then headed back. Later on this dude lumpy and his friend Melissa joined us and he was quite a character. Think he's been around the trail life for a while. We fended off some belligerent locals then all went back to ljmpy's to have some moonshine and hang out. Some good stories. I didn't realize it since wed gone in the side door but he's living in Dave's place across mt rogers that I'd been in before.
Date: 2016-12-09
From: Damascus va

To: Abingdon gap shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

They cooked us a great breakfast at the hostel and we lingered for a bit. I went down to the outfitter and got a brand new pair of darn tough socks for free with their lifetime guarantee. Pretty excited about those. I also shot the breeze with jeffro at mro some more. Nice dude. We ordered a pizza since the whole town is shut down food wise in the winter then headed out. After a climb we hit TN! feels good to be out of VA. It was cold and getting colder so we braced ourselves, ate quick and got in bed.
Date: 2016-12-10
From: Abingdon gap shelter

To: Iron Mountain shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

Today was a really tough start. I was pretty warm in my hammock considering it was 10 degrees outside, but when I checked my phone I got the message my grandma had passed away. At first I was relieved because she'd been in pain and on the decline for months. But when I started hiking it hit me hard. I was glad to be hiking. I think it's as good a way to grieve as there is. And it was so painfully cold this morning that I couldn't really process it until I was full stride and on my own. Not being able to feel your toes is a good distraction. It never got above freezing today and that's presented a whole new set of uncharted hiking territory. I can't use the bladder hose because even if I tuck it in my shirt the part by my neck freezes. The bladder itself is OK thankfully since it's rufht on my back. To drink on the go I used my fleece and waste strap like a kangaroo pouch and put my water bottle wrapped in a wool sock down my shirt with my water filter.  I like that better anyway because any weight off the back feels like you're not carrying it at all. We caught up with tealeaf and buckshot for lunch at the next shelter and these hunting dogs were howling up a storm on the way in. I was scared at first because I could hear one of them closing in on me but when it got close just wagged it's tail, said hi and sprinted back to its friend when he howled back. All 4 of them came to visit hoping to get some scraps or steal our food outright. They were all nice hounds with a bunch of radio collars on. Hunting dogs with no master in sight.  One of them came back by itself and had a really bad gash on its butt. We called the number on the collar and it followed us like 2 steps behind all the way to the next road. We got ahold of the owner and he said he'd been out bear hunting. That just seems terrible. Dogs getting mauled, bears getting mauled then once they tree it the hunter comes and shoots it. Most people don't eat bear meat either. I was kind of disgusted by it but the owner seemed nice and concerned for the dog, sure this happens often, and thanked us for bringing her back. It was all I could do to keep Kate from stealing the dog.
Date: 2016-12-11
From: Iron Mountain shelter

To: Watauga dam
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

What a difference 10 degrees makes. It was probably a little under 20 this morning and never got above freezing all day, but 20 felt downright cozy after yesterday. There were good views of Watauga lake from the ridgeline for most of the hike. We had lunch at Vandeventer shelter which I remembered from the section hike with Ryan. It's got good views from a little rock outcropping out back. It didn't occur to me during that hike, but the shelters in Tennessee don't have privies and a lot don't have picnic tables either. Most just have a shovel as a courtesy shithole digger. That's kind of annoying but I must say it's extremely satisfying digging with a real shovel after using my trekking pole the whole trip. We got to Watauga dam which is really beautiful. These huge exposed mountain sides jut out of the lake and you can see every layer of rock. There was some confusion on where the Riggs were picking us up so that took a whole to sort out and we ended up backtracking a bit to meet them. They'd agreed to take the 4 of us in for the night and were excited to see Kate. They were some of her favorite clients too. I'd only met them once before but they're really nice ladies. And they took us all the way back to boone. They have 5 dobermans and 2 birds so there were plenty of animals to play with. The birds are so funny too. We had a late dinner and some beers and it was great to be in a nice inside bed for the night.
Date: 2016-12-12
From: Watauga dam

To: Boone nc
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We were going to head back to the trail but as buckshot pointed out it was supposed to rain all day and if so we might as well zero and do two longer days than have a short third day into mountain harbor. The Riggs were pushing us to stay too and it didn't take much convincing. They made us a fantastic breakfast. It's funny in the morning when they're feeding the dogs the birds will yell at the dogs if they're barking and say things like, gamme, quit it! Paula has a really nice banjo a friend made her with a beautiful painted drum head. I played that all morning. Really miss the banjo amd looking forward to having my instruments back.   We all went downtown boone and ate at lost Provence brewery, or beer factory as Sadie put it. That's a cool place with delicious food from a big wood fired pizza oven. Afterwards i got a photo playing docs guitar and we went to the two outfitters in town and I got a liner advertised to add 25 degrees of warmth. I've heard these are all a sham but if it adds 5 degrees I'll be happy. The mast general store was a great outfitter. Huge with creaky wood floorboards. Later on they made us a big steak dinner and we all hung out drinking and carrying on. And so far all this meat eating hasn't destroyed my stomach so here's hoping!
Date: 2016-12-13
From: Boone nc

To: Moreland gap shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: light intensity drizzle

We got up relatively early and Paula was nice enough to take us to Bojangles on the way back to the trail even though Sadie and I got into it and she clearly prefers hardees biscuits.       It was a much easier drive back and I was kinda bummed to be back hiking and not zeroing again petting the dogs and talking to the birds. It was so nice of them to put us up. It was off and on raining all day but the hike was really pretty. It was a decent amount of climbing too, 4 or 5000 feet I think. Laurel falls and that creek area was a highlight. That might be the biggest waterfall on the whole trail. I remember being impressed on my section hike here and this time it was just gushing too. After that it started to get dark and rain again in a thick fog. That was a tad annoying hiking in the foggy rain at night.  It was warm at least with very little wind for 4000 feet so it could've been worse. And the trail was easy to follow too.   I wish it hadn't have been so foggy because at one point a pair of owls making a ruckus at one another flew right over our heads and close. They didn't sound like barred or screech, so maybe great horned owls. There another kind too I might be forgetting. We were going to push past the shelter but it was still raining when we got here so decided to stay.
Date: 2016-12-14
From: Moreland gap shelter

To: Mountain harbor hostel
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I left early and decided to go on ahead solo today for the first time. Kate was pissed. I was sick of night hiking and just wanted to see how fast I could pull. After having lunch at this cool shelter, mountaineer falls, she had caught up and was eating by a waterfall. So I had to leave her again, further exacerbating the situation. There was another cool waterfall and tons of streams all day. There was a couple good views and one at the end was of a snow covered mountainside. When I got to the hostel it was another really talked up place that was just super disappointing. The dude was very curt and took my money and gave one word responses. Most of them no. The general store was closed, no where we could walk to, no one delivered food, no taxis, they wouldn't take us anywhere, no breakfast in the morning, the WiFi didn't work, etc. I'm paying him 50 bucks for a shuttle to a rent a car place tomorrow morning and when he said no breakfast I was like we'll can we drive through somewhere and I got a " I guess so". I asked if they had any food I could buy and he said no. Luckily his wife walked in and offered some frozen pizzas for 7 bucks. At least it was something. The hostel itself is nice and we actually ended up with a full house. Beside Kate, me and tealeaf and buckshot, horizon showed up and so did two other sobos wed never met before. Tonic and I can't remember the girls name. We all had some fun commiserating about the upcoming sub zero polar vortex coming and lack of amenities here. The terrain coming up is supposedly a bit hairy, up at 5 and 6000 so most are gonna wait it out or slack a small section.
Date: 2016-12-20
From: Mountain harbor hostel

To: Carvers gap
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: overcast clouds

A five day hiking break and a heavy pack make for some tough hiking. It was a beautiful day though and we got great views through the roan highlands. It was a series of balds with spectacular views. We were resting at a shelter about to head out when I was just spent and realized there was a shuttle hostel option at greasy creek and didn't care if it was going to cost 1000 dollars, that's what I wanted to do. CC ran the place and her dude gadget were really nice. Really fast talking kinda eccentric folks but super warm and good people. We mentioned we had been jonesin to watch groundhog day sinc Ed they mentioned they had tons of movies. He didn't have it bu th downloaded it for me and put it on. It was great.
Date: 2016-12-21
From: Carvers gap

To: Cherry gap shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: few clouds

We settled up with CeeCee at greasy creek, had some cold pizza and hot coffee then headed out for carvers gap in her car. We were going to be passing a spot about 6 or 7 miles ahead of us on trail so decided to hide our stuff there and slack those first miles. Only problem was CeeCees car wouldn't start after we did. An NCDOT truck passing by tried to give us a jump but that wasn't working either. Luckily I had my auxiliary power thing which worked for CeeCees phone because hers was completely dead and I had zero service. Her boyfriend Gadget showed up, luckily his van started, and we got to carvers gap only about an hour later. They're nice folks and quite the odd couple. There was a lot of ice and snow on the ground but it was another beautiful, pretty warm day. We took the little side trail to see the roan mountain high knob shelter, the highest one on the trail. It's actually surrounded by firs and has an upstairs so didn't look as cold as I thought. It was mostly downhill from there and really nice to be slacking, although something always goes wrong when we slack. It was a bit of a rude awakening when we put the full packs on too. I was still pretty sore all day but we made the miles at a good pace. And today is the winter solstice so we start getting back some daylight minutes. Also apparently it's hike naked day. I thought it was just summer solstice but according to cc it's all the solstice. It was actually warm enough to consider it and I think Kate did so more seriously than I did, but alas we were too lazy. It was dark when we got to the shelter but it felt balmy compared to when we left. It was nice chilling at the picnic table not trying to rush off to bed.   This is the first time I've slept in my hammock for a week.
Date: 2016-12-22
From: Cherry gap shelter

To: Uncle johnny's hostel
Miles today: 17.0

Today was mostly downhill after unaka mountain and I really don't remember much else about the hike. Beauty spot was a nice bald and had a random bush decorated with Christmas ornaments that was a nice touch. Uncle johnny's is right on trail and had a lot of potential but ended up kind of bleh. The guy manning it was really nice though. He talked of a dinner shuttle and where to find beer and walmart etc. When the time came though about an hour later they didn't feel like doing the shuttle anymore. He also spoke of a space heater and Netflix and vhs player with tapes. Also all no shows. It was nice enough though. They did have bikes you could use so I went to the gas station for beer and snacks while Kate ordered delivery. When I got there I realized I'd actually stayed at the hotel next door with Kelly and her friends when we went skiing at wolf mountain last year. That was kind of weird riding in and suddenly knowing where I was going. It was unfortunate the vhs didn't work because they had the bodyguard which wed been discussing recently re Kevin Costner body of work. This after watching the mostly terrible dances with wolves vhs at mountain harbor. We were almost on a run of Costner vhs viewings. Shame.