morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-09-24
From: blackrock hut

To: waynesboro, va
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Quick morning, very flat back to loft mountain where id gotten off in the fog on Saturday. Made it to the loft mountain camp store just in time for the laundry and showers to be closed for 2 hours for maintenance. Huge family tenting campground reminicent of upper pines campground in yosemite without the views. Decided id seen all there was to see of shenandoahs and walked the paved footpath from the campstore to the wayside and suddenly there was a bear in my path. He didn't like me so crashed off into the underbrush which spooked a huge 8 point buck back out of the underbrush and onto the trail.   He goes bounding off and I'm just sitting there with my jaw open. Shannies are cray cray. Got another burger from the wayside then hitched out with an older canadian couple who wanted to know why americans are so obscessed with guns. Did a fairly good job representing gunnies but I think this couple will probably remain happily in an upscale retirement community in canada.Went to the outfitters with grand plans of going really ultralight. Turns out that's expensive. Finally settled on a neoair mattress and aqua mira water treatment drops. Going to send my 2 man half-a-tent and water katadyn hiker pro filter home, and donate my shredded foam mat to a hostel hiker box somewhere.Got a free shower at the ymca and setup camp with the local homeless population in a city park. Half of them pretended to be AT hikers which annoyed me but I didn't say anything and instead meditated on the difference between voluntarily homeless alcoholics and voluntary AT hikers. Went to the desperately needed laundromat then hit the chinese buffet. Hard. Like 6 plates hard. Tipped the sushi chef $5 and he gave me literally a fistful of salmon sashimi, so good. Went to go resupply (never resupply when hungry) and noticed a very curious thing- my stomach was very full but my normally fat belly had disappeared so I had a bulge below my ribcage and a flat stomach. Most people would be happy about this but the scale at the YMCA had told me I've lost 25lbs since I started and that's kinda bad. Need to eat more peanut butter or something.
Date: 2013-09-25
From: waynesboro, va

To: cedar cliffs stealth camp
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to the sound of homeless alcoholics puking. Struck camp and walked a mile to the post office which was closed. Walked a mile to the "hiker-friendly" breakfast diner and literally stopped conversation when I walked in. Everyone stared. Not a friendly stare. Scrapple is on the menu special board. I'm definitely in the South. Had awesome french toast waffles. Left quickly. Walked another mile back to the post office. No camera charger, wait an hour for todays mail to be sorted. Sat for a half hour on the sidewalk looking at my gear and boxed up the tent, filter, bug pants, quick clot, nalgene bottle, and other small unnecessaries. Kept asking myself "what would mayday do" to get motivation to send off things I thought less than a month ago were necessities. Still no charger so dejectedly mailed out my package and left. Guess ill buy a new charger.   People who steal thru hikers stuff and promise to mail it back and don't, suck. Couldn't find the correct smartwater bottle to replace my nalgene so just got a cheapo liter bottle. Got a hitch back to the trail from a fat guy and on the way got propositioned 3 times. Politely said no and got the hell back on the trail. Met freakymike and friend at the trailhead and exchanged thruhiker gossip, there's a good group with jem, burger, and fries id love to be in, but they're still getting their legs and are a day behind. Set out and meet Smiles again, now solo and slackpacking north kinda oddly opposite of last time we'd met. I think she picked up on the funk I was in or maybe just her being alone, but she was less talkative this time. Said goodbye too soon and kept going to a beautiful 2 story shelter with a waterfall. 2pm. Too early to stop. Gonna push. Miles quickly become very rocky difficult and slow. Night falls and I'm seriously in the woods without a tent for the first time. Rig up a tarp that id been planning in my head but never tried yet. Its bear and bobcat country. Not going to sleep well.
Date: 2013-09-26
From: cedar cliffs stealth camp

To: harpers creek shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

it rained several times last night. Thank goodness for the tarp which was completely adequate thanks to light rain and no wind. Can see already this might be a problem in a real storm. Need to plan better to hit shelters and hike with a plan. Neoair mattress is sooooo comfy. Passed a bear on my way down the trail. With all that in mind, hitched out at 11am to Devils Backbone brewery and order a legendary cheezy burger. Amazing place, cornhole boards and picnic area outside, outdoor concert stage, and a place for AT hikers to shower and camp. Everything about the place reminds me of ATG in Louisville. Chatted up the few regulars that arrived for lunch and one paid for my burger without telling me, told the bartender to tell me he was impressed with my endeavors. This put me in a fantastic mood and now I'm headed off to tackle the Priest, 3100ft vertical climb. Or maybe I shall plan better and hit it tomorrow.
Date: 2013-09-27
From: harpers creek shelter

To: seely woodworth shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Loving suspension bridges. They creak and sway and tip and they're so massive yet can be swung easily with just a little bounce in ones step. Tackled the mighty Priest mountain which looks nearly katahdin scale on the elevation map and from hearing dayhikers talk about it but it was really over before I felt tired. Love these trail legs. I think the flop helped too because I was a little faster than the sobos who were still nursing their pennsylvania injuries. The best thing about virginia so far is their springs. Piped springs that taste so delicious I don't even bother treating the water. May regretthis soon, we'll see. Handstand the army nurse does it.
Date: 2013-09-28
From: seely woodworth shelter

To: punchbowl shelter
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Just a big big day. Not sure if it was bigger than katahdin's eve, but it felt big. Caught up with radar back from his conjugal visit, only to lose him again to another visit. Two owls went berzerk in the trees above the shelter last night, I guess one was in the others territory so they had a hoot-off.   Lots of hunters in the woods chasing bears with dogs, they're not allowed to shoot yet but every store I come to I check for cheap orange safety gear. What I really want is an orange trucker hat with an obnoxious squidbillies slogan on it. May just have to make one. Heel hurt in a strange way, seems bruised but the bruise moves from the left to center to right side of heel randomly throughout the day. Odd. These merrells are definitely not as supportive as the asolos were, even with superfeet inserts.
Date: 2013-10-01
From: thunder hill shelter

To: bobblets gap shelter
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Another big day. Started out by going thru the guillotine, a rock formation that definitely lived up to its name. Then passed a giant FAA radome installation and was really bummed Radar was so far ahead by this point and I missed what could have been a fantastic photo op since there were workers onsite that probably would have let us inside. Passed up a 200ft waterfall 1 mile offtrail, usually hit these but the whole range here is very dry and its hard to find water. Got to the 17 mile shelter and there was no water for miles, mosquitos (why???), and no radar. Figured he pushed to the next shelter but it was 6pm and sunset is at 7, dark at 8. Decided to push anyway. After dark, ran into a copperhead on trail for the first time in months which got my adrenaline going sky high. Very hard to see with headlamp against all the dead leaves on the ground. Got into bobblets (bobblets bobblets) and had the place all to myself. Shelter log saying a snake lives in the shelter with a map of the interior and the snake's territory. Couldn't sleep from all the adrenaline. Animals kept coming up all nite to drink from the rare spring next to the shelter.
Date: 2013-10-03
From: daleville, va

To: lamberts meadow shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Taking my sweet time checking out of the hotel. Think I'm on my 4th shower and 2nd visit to the continental breakfast. much better mood today but there's some tingling in feet and legs which usually means I pushed it too hard and there's some lactic acid or some sort of residual damage that a night of sleep couldn't clean up. Caught up on the news and got the official word that the national parks are closed. This could make doing the great smoky mountains interesting. >Tracked down my camera charger, the lady that took it had given it to the hostel people instead of mailing it like she said she would. They were very nice and will mail it, hope my spare battery lasts a week. :-/ might be light on pictures this week. the famous mcafee knob is tomorrow, I can't miss that shot.I got to the shelter after dark, the rocky terrain slowed me down and smashed up my heel a little more. But in it was a guy whom id been trying to remember his name for months, since the amazing hiker potluck on 7/25 at mark noepl shelter... (I forgot to write about this but it was one of the highlights of the trip). BOOTSY! This guy had played guitar all night and the whole 25+ person shelter crowd that night was singing along and sharing food and it was the best welcome back & inspiration for continuing on after my break. Truly the essence of AT hiker culture, concentrate. So he's in this shelter tonite out of nowhere, making up a section he'd missed on his thru hike. We catch up on trail stories, good to hear Button, Rise, Shine, Firehazard, Samba, and all the others from that group finished about a week behind me. We exchanged info and hopefully he will stop by LA next year on his way out west. Most importantly I finally got a chance to thank him for what had been a transformative night for me. Apparently it was for him too and we agreed it was definitely the sum of all parts there, and the trail provides the right people at the right time in amazing ways. There's definitely a current of good fortune and I'm very excited to be riding it.
Date: 2013-10-18
From: saunders shelter

To: damascus, VA
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: few clouds

Creeper trail, huge tourist biking path crossing AT, lots of muggles. Hit damascus by noon, hit bbq place the minute it opened. Twice. Got checked into ThePlace hostel and made it smell bad. Too worn to do laundry or shower. Rolled hikertrash style into town and hung out at the blue blaze cafe all day. Hit the postoffice and got 4 packages! Two had suprise hotsauce and halloween candy, which was amazing but the fact there was 2 pounds of each made everyone laugh. At any rate, sobos will be supplied with hotsauce from the hikerbox for at least the next year, and the halloween candy should last the 2 weeks to actual halloween. Cold weather down sleepingbag acquired and defective "20 degree" northface bag that becomes useless below 40 degrees shipped to warranty. We got invited to a party at the towns microbrewery, so we hit the thrift store for $3 costumes and walked out as rollerblading pacman, doctor, nurse, witch, russian spy, bum complete with bum wine, and richard simmons. Great night causing chaos all over town.
Date: 2013-11-01
From: hot springs, nc

To: hot springs, nc
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Yeah yeah taking a zero. Town is too great. Wander blearily into the diner for breakfast, got resupplied, bought pack of mousetraps, and tried to get a group together to go down to the hot springs. Got a time setup, went back to the hostel and passed out for the afternoon. Didn't wake in time for the springs. Went back to the tavern hoping the bartender would have more time to hang out, but it was Friday night and they were slammed. Already know like half the town by now and feel really at home. Poppabear gets a call that his dad is sick and needs help so has to make the hard call to quit the trail and go home. We pack him up and say goodbye, its really rough. The lesson of impermanence is really being learned hard, gonna miss that old hound dog. Hung around until closing again and finally got time to really talk with the bartender who had an amazing attitude and strength, with the wisdom of years of thruhikers passing through. Great night. No idea if I will be able to leave tomorrow.
Date: 2013-11-05
From: davenport gap shelter

To: pecks corner shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: broken clouds

Raining. Actually... Foggy; so foggy that it sticks to the trees and makes them drip. Which wouldn't be bad without a driving 25mph rain that lasted all day and made your upwind side soaked with windy fog. No visibility. 4000+ ft climb. Put head down and hammered out 20 anyway.
Date: 2013-11-08
From: mollies ridge shelter

To: fontana dam
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke to sun for the first time in several days. Ice everywhere. Iced mud socks. Ice shoes. The family staying with me gave me coffee. My stiff socks tore the skin on my toes. Checked out a side trail to shuckstack fire tower which was fantastic and had amazing views of Fontana dam and the last vestiges of fall, where winter hadn't killed everything in shaded ridges.Hiked down in a great mood, passed several section hikers coming uphill looking exhausted. Took a hot shower at the Fontana Hilton and enjoyed seeing all my friends' names in its long running logbooks. Taking a half day to walk off trail to sit and recharge in Fontana village. Love the freedom out here. Probably have to do a 2 mile road walk back to the Fontana Hilton in the dark soon. This is the end point of the tail of the dragon, deals gap, so the parking lot is full of hot cars and fast motorcycles. Interesting being an outsider surrounded by people from my old life.Trip miles on here don't reflect all these side trips to shelters, water sources, towns, etc so the miles I've walked are hundreds more than shown, but today I officially became a thruhiker by the ATC definition, with 2000 AT miles completed. Only 185 to the end.
Date: 2013-11-13
From: long branch shelter 

To: carter gap shelter 
Miles today: 8.6

Wake up really out of it. No snow but everything is frozen. Looks like the storm passed just north of us. Wondering if Bearbell got hit by it since he's about a day back. The shelter is really nicely built and clean. Kinda wishing it was a snow day and a bunch of people would just randomly show up and we could take a zero here. PT and Woody headed out. I wearily cleaned up and got going an hour later. The rhododendron are all drooping like folded umbrellas from the frost. Pass a large fire tower with the words "100 MILES" written on one of its legs. Realize this whole thing will be over soon. Passed several rock ledges that had become waterfalls made out of icicles. By noon I made it to the next shelter, planning to eat lunch and move on before I got cold.PT and Woody were still there, resting from their lunch break and adding small twigs to the coals that someone had left behind in the firepit. We started jokingly adding more twigs to the fire so we could stay warm and rest just a little longer and at some point the twig fire was big enough that it would have been a task to get it put back out well enough that we could leave. It was decided that gathering firewood would be an easier task, and the twig game escalated. At some point an official nero was declared. The twig game turned into a log game that ended when the logs were piled 6ft high, it took two people to move each one, and the whole firepit area was deemed a hazard.Made 3 meals between lunch and dinner. The shelter had a big warning about the "rodent problem" scrawled on an entire wall of the cooking area. So I spent the evening trapping mice and piling them on the sign. Halfway wondered if I should try cooking the mice and eating them Bear Grylls style, maybe add a little Sriracha, but eventually decided we'd gone feral enough for one evening.Less than 100 miles to go. Double digits.
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Greenwall shelter

To: Gov Clement Shelter
Miles today: 14.6

Another cold night last night. I have all my clothes on in the bag and still have cold spots on arms, shoulders and back where i press against the bag and compress the fill material. The day dawns cool with lighter breeze than yesterday and sunny. This will be another great day in the VT mountains. What makes the VT mountains so pretty to me is the color contrast observed in the mixed make-up of broad-leaved hardwood trees with lighter green leaves interspersed with stands of dark green conifers. Generally hardwoods predominating at low elevation and almost all spruce-fir conifer on the mtn tops. Smaller climbs today but still adds up to 2600 ft elev gain. Visual highlight of the day is Clarendon Gorge, a gigantic bedrock gorge with the Mill River rushing thru. Also have a 3 mi reroute of the trail on local roads to avoid damage caused by 2011 hurricane Irene. Pass Cold River, banks strewn with giant boulders dug out by the hurricane. Tonight share Gov Clement Shelter with 2 hikers, Twister and Gnome. Walk 14.6 mi today.Day 29. Total AT Miles: 1687.00
Date: 2013-06-08
From: Inn at Long Trail

To: Winturri Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today is my one month anniversary on the trail this year. Meet phoenix for breakfast at 7:30am. At 8am phoenix leaves to meet shuttle for her hike. Hiking at 8:45. Back at trail at 9:00am. Walk 18 mi today. Pass pretty cascade on stream feeding kent pond. Pass impressive thundering falls. Walk long boardwalk at river road where i leave milky way wrappers on phoenix car windshield so she knows i passed by. Stop at stony brook shelter to make rice dinner from 1:30 to 2:30pm. Remove boots to air feet at lunch. Walk 8 mi before lunch and 10 mi after. Lots of smaller ups and downs today still adds up to 3600 ft elev gain on day. Ford fast flowing, deep, silty, foaming stony brook on flip-flops and manage tn stay on my feet. Try to rock hop also high adjacent stream, rock rolls and get water in both boots. Poor decision my part to cross at that spot. Arrive winturri shelter 7:30pm for the nite. John from louisianna is there. Glad long, late day is done.Day 32. Total AT Miles: 1717.50
Date: 2013-06-09
To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Beautiful day on trail, sunny and warm. Hiking at 7am. Am shortly passed by bluesman and arrowhead, the 6th and 7th thru hikers i have met this year. They helped my friend phoenix cross a high stream yesterday. Drop 1200 ft to road crossing. On dana hill find two patches of a favorite plant of mine called bloodroot. Many have a flower bud, but none in bloom yet. Later in day find more bloodroot on hills further along the way. Pass arrowhead and bluesman at hiway crossing where they are taking a break. Ford high stream in bear feet at south pomfret road. Find n remove deer tick. Stop to make rice dinner n air feet at thistle hill shelter 1:30 to 3:00pm. My tender toes seem to be stable at present. After lunch trail drops 1500 ft to cross white river at town of west hartford. Trail passes thru town on roads n then under i-89. To end day climb 1000 ft to happy hill shelter. Arrive there 7:30pm. Hiker named dodger is there. Mosquitoes bad this evening. Many ups and downs on day tot 3300 ft elev gain on day. Walk 20.4 mi today.Day 33. Total AT Miles: 1737.90
Date: 2013-06-10
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

Trail notes monday 6/10. Cloudy bright day and warm. A good day with dry trails. Up at 4:40 and walking at 6:40am. Drop 1000 ft to cross connecticut river and pass from vt into nh. Road walk thru norwich, vt then over river then thru hanover, nh home of dartmouth college. Pass thru towns from 8am to 9am. After towns stop at velvet rocks shelter 9:30 to 11am to make rice dinner and air feet. steady climb thru pm of 1500 ft to moose mtn shelter for night. Hikers coach and kitchen sink two are here. Arrive shelter 3:30pm. Drizzle starts at 4pm and dense ground fog builds in. Supposed to rain all night. found big wood tick crawling on ankle today. Walked 16.8 mi today.Day 34. Total AT Miles: 1754.70
Date: 2013-06-11
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

High wind and rain all night. Not going anywhere today. Coach n sink staying put too. Gradual wind comes down and clouds lift about 3pm. use privy n filter water. Gets dark, clouds descend and rain resumes 5pm. Still raining time this report 6pm.Day 35. Total AT Miles: 1754.70
Date: 2013-06-12
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Hexacube Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: broken clouds

Rained into night last night. Rain heavier than previous night. Trees dripping in morning but not actively raining. Up at 4am. Walking at 5:45am. Trail wet and muddy and water running in places. Even so much is quite walkable. Drop 1000 ft from shelter to road. Then climb 1000 ft up n 1000 ft down over minor hill. Pass bluesman, dad john, bro andrew, n arrowhead. After 2 mi traverse begin 2100 ft climb of smarts mtn. Have some misty drizzle going up mtn, so use umbrella. Start day with rain jacket and rain pants. Remove jacket on big climb of smarts n put it back on near top. Interesting bedrock climbing south of summit on lamberts ridge. Views obscured by clouds. Drop 1800 ft on gentle grade from top to cross south jacobs brook on nice bridge. Filter water at small stream. Then ford north jacobs brook in flip-flops. 500 ft climb to hexacube shelter for nite. Am there 4:30pm. Make n eat rice dinner. Wash n chg into nite clothes. Arrowhead, Bluesman, dad n bro arrive for nite. Walked 17.7 mi today. Tot elev gain 3600 ft.Day 36. Total AT Miles: 1772.40
Date: 2013-06-13
From: Hexacube Shelter

To: Jeffers Brook Shelter
Miles today: 15.7

Day starts well. From shelter climb 800 ft to summit Mt Cube. Interesting climb on mostly quartz bedrock with many views along the way. Sunny and quiet with very still air on top. Some clouds far down in valley below. Descend 2000 ft to valley. Mid-morning high clouds move in. Rest of day is cloudy bright. Once in valley have rolling traverse over several low peaks with 3 highway crossings to approach big climb for tomorrow. Cross wet n mud stretch with many mosquitoes 1.6 mi long. After mud find n remove large wood tick. At 3rd road crossing ford adjacent Olivarian Brook on flip-flops. Almost across 20 ft wide stream and one flip-flop slips off foot. I struggle to turn on slippery cobbles and watch helplessly as it floats downstream, bobbing on the swiftly flowing water. Arrive Jeffers Brook Shelter 4pm. Soon after 6 happy, young thru hikers arrive: Monty, Count, Casey, Megan, Sweet Brown, Shake And Bake. Make n eat rice dinner. Later aunt of hikers brings pizza! I have 4 slices! Walk 15.7 mi today. Total elev gain 2400 ft.Day 37. Total AT Miles: 1788.10