morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-01-01
To: Happy New Year - Class of 2011 
Miles today: 0.0

Happy New Year, everyone! We have been busy traveling and enjoying the holidays with family over the past week. We visited our son's home, Joyce's parent's home, and her sister's home¢¢all in lower Michigan. The past couple of days we have been driving down to Albuquerque, NM where our daughter currently lives. Tomorrow, we are headed to the Phoenix area where my parents and sister live. We plan to spend the next 5 or 6 weeks enjoying the sunshine and warm weather in Arizona. We have been missing out on our daily hiking routine over the past couple of weeks with all the travel and such. We plan to hit the trails daily while in Arizona and are hoping to lose some weight and improve our conditioning. As we are getting closer to our March 13 start date, the excitement grows!
Date: 2011-01-16
To: Hiking in Arizona
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We have been enjoying our visit to Arizona over the past couple of weeks. Last week we went camping out in the Tonto NF on Roosevelt Lake. The days were pleasant hiking with sunshine and temps in the 60s mostly. Nighttime gave us a good chance to test out our sleeping gear with temps dropping to the 25-30 degree range most nights. We enjoyed hiking to the various cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument. We also did the Frazier and Vineyard trails in the Tonto NF. We are less than 2 months to departure now!
Date: 2011-01-23
To: Heading Out to Tonto Basin Again
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Well, we are heading out for another week of camping and hiking in the Tonto NF at Roosevelt Lake. We are very glad we came to Arizona for a few weeks of training hikes. The weather back home is cold...minus 20 this morning (NOAA). We have been in AZ since January 2 and have had continuous sunshine and temps in the 60s to low-70s with very little wind...just about perfect for hiking. Back home, in addition to the cold and snow, our hiking would have been done with little elevation changes. The hiking in AZ has allowed us to do elevation changes of at least 500 or 600 feet on a daily basis. Most of the trails we have completed have a lot of loose rock, which gives the feet a work out. The days are flying by as we get ever closer to starting our great adventure.
Date: 2011-01-31
To: Our Last Week in Arizona 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We have really enjoyed our time in Arizona. We have had great weather the whole month of January. Today is the first day that we have a chance of rain...we shall see. We just returned to Phoenix after spending another week camping and hiking out in the Tonto NF. We did several trails and forest roads last week that had elevation gains of between 1000 to 2000 feet. So far we have had no blisters and feel that our hiking shoes are broken in well. We are dreading going back to the cold weather in Michigan but are getting anxious to get home to visit family and friends before we hit the AT. Thank you everyone for following our journal.
Date: 2011-02-03
To: Headed Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Well it's time to leave the sunny desert and head for home. We have had a nice time visiting my parents and sister over the month of January. The weather has been great for giving us opportunity to get in daily hikes with elevation gains along with 2 weeks of camping out. Tomorrow we head to Albuquerque to see our daughter Jenni who will be our "trail boss". This will give us a last chance to go over our mail drops and editing and entering trail journal entries. We are planning to send Jenni voice entries via e-mail over our I-phone to be edited and entered into TJ's.We also want to say a big Thank you to everyone who has signed our TJ guestbook, we really appreciate this. We can't wait to get on the trail and meet fellow hikers from the class of 2011!
Date: 2011-02-16
To: Back Home!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are back home in Michigan. We will miss the abundant sunshine and warmth of Arizona but it's always great to come back home. We spent a week on the way home with family in lower Michigan and enjoyed seeing everyone. Unfortunately we both caught the flu bug that was going around while visiting. Yesterday we went thru our packs and gear one last time and feel we have things down as light as they will be and yet still be safe during cold weather. Both of our packs should be around 30 lbs. or less with food, fuel and water as we start out. Just a few more weeks to go....can't wait to get rolling!
Date: 2011-02-26
To: Almost Ready
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We are 2 weeks away from flying to Atlanta and staying at the Hiker Hostel. We are very anxious to start the great adventure. We have dental appointments for teeth cleanings and hair cuts scheduled for this coming week. All the last minute details seem to be falling together as we get closer to our start date.   Back in January, while day hiking in Arizona, Thimbleberry had the thought that we should take practice photo simulating our arrival at the sign on Mt. Katahdin. This would give us a visual motivation as we walk north to the final goal. We actually plan to celebrate each 100 mile segment as we hike along. This is a more reasonable goal that is accomplished every week to ten days.    Again, we want to thank everyone that has signed our guestbook. Your kind words of encouragement are very much appreciated.
Date: 2011-03-05
To: Bon Voyage AT Dinner Party
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Our very dear friends Steve & Leanne hosted a "BonVoyage AT Dinner" in our honor. The invitation came with news that there was a strict dress code. Women must wear a skirt & tie, men must wear a striped shirt & hat, the sillier the better! We had so much fun with Penny & Eric and Pastor Paul & Lynet, as we were served a multi-course dinner. The courses were not always served in order or with utensils, but it was delicious! Watching our friends eat meat or cheesy potatoes or salad with their fingers or only a toothpick or a knife was hilarious. It confirmes that Greenstone and I are trail ready, we can eat whatever is available even with our fingers!Leanne served a delicious dessert, but it had no name, so we named it P.U.D.'s! We are excited that Steve and Leanne are planning on joining us on the trail for a few days of hiking in May. It will be great to see friends from home! Thanks Steve and Leanne for a great party!Counting down, one week from today we fly to Atlanta, then Hiker Hostel for overnight!
Date: 2011-03-10
To: Ready to Go!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It's hard to believe that after all the planning and dreaming over the past year we are finally about to begin the great adventure. Early Saturday morning we will leave from Michigan on an Airtran flight and arrive in Atlanta Georgia 2 hours later. We will be shuttled to the Hiker Hostel for an overnight stay and start on the trail Sunday morning. After climbing to the top of Springer Mtn. and taking a few pictures we will be on our way. We want to invite everyone to follow along as we travel along. Also thank you once again to everyone that has written encouraging words in our TJ guestbook. We will be assisted with our journal entries by the "Trail Boss", our daughter Jenni. We will be sending her updates via the I phone whenever we are able to acquire a signal. (not quite sure how often that will be) Besides the growing excitement of starting the trail, we are anxious to meet our trail family and friends. This is the final "Prep" entry, as we move on to actually being on the trail. See you all on the trail.
Date: 2011-03-12
To: Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Our flight to Atlanta was smooth and quick. We were in the airport by 7:45 a.m. Were picked up by Hiker Hostel, along with Turtle Feet, and Jamie & Ethan. We are now relaxing at the hostel. It is beautiful spot, we can look out and view Black Mtn. They deliver Chinese here to the hostel, so we are ordering out for our "last meal." We are so excited to get started tomorrow! Looks like the weather is going to be very nice, but you never know what the mountains have in store for us.
Date: 2011-03-13
From: Hiker Hostel

To: Hawk Mnt. Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day one of the trail is complete and we are relaxing by our tent! We started the trail at 10 a.m., hiked about nine miles total, filled up our water at a stream, and arrived at Hawk Mt. Shelter at 2:30 p.m. Weather was good with a mixture of sun and clouds (50/50) and the temperature reached a high of about 65 degrees. We worked up a good sweat on the trail. Also hanging out at the Hawk Mt. Shelter tonight are Gypsy Girl, Turtle Feet (currently enjoying her hammock), Flame and Pyro, and numerous others. Gypsy Girl is back for a second try this year after breaking her leg last year and having to quit when her visa ran out. She only has 300 miles left to complete from last year but has decided to hike the whole trail over again! Flame and Pyro, a husband and wife duo, are about our age and from Texas. Flame is starting her through hike, but Pyro is only out for the week. We saw a few people with pretty heavy packs today¢hope they are able to lighten up as they complete their thru-hike. We are tired but we made it, so I guess there is hope!
Date: 2011-03-14
From: Hawk Mountain

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 2! We left about 8:15 a.m. and the weather was partly cloudy, reaching the 70s with significant humidity. We hiked from Hawk Mountain to Gooch Mountain and setup camp at 2:30 p.m. A bear was reported near the camping area right before we arrived, but we didn¢t see any sign of it. Rain started falling about 3:30 p.m. Along the trail today we meet a number of hikers, but to mention a few: we met a hiker named, ¢Ick¢ and another guy named ¢Kris¢ with his friendly white dog, ¢Sierra.¢
Date: 2011-03-15
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Slaughter Creek
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 3: Rather wet and gloomy day on the trail today. We got a later start (8:45 a.m.) since we had to break camp in the rain. It rained all day and stayed in the 40s. Lots of water dripped down from the tree cover and we continually hiked in fog and clouds. Luckily we were refreshed by trail magic down in Woody Gap¢a cooler with sliced apples inside! Despite the rough weather we had a long day in terms of mileage; we finished up at 5:30 p.m. with 12 miles under our belts and did some ¢stealth¢ camping near Slaughter Creek. Today was one of those days where you are just glad to climb in your sack and sleep. We crawled in about 7:30 p.m. Unfortunately, I now have one equipment failure to report. My Big Agnes sleeping pad developed a leak and I lost some sleep having to blow it up several times during the night.
Date: 2011-03-16
From: Slaughter Creek

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 4: Hi all! Thanks to everyone for your continuing comments in our guest book. We love hearing from each of you. We had a foggy start to the day, which isn¢t surprising given the higher altitude. The weather was in the 50s all day. We hiked up to Blood Mountain, but unfortunately we didn¢t get to see the great views¢too much fog! We did call Thimbleberry¢s parents in Michigan from the top since we had a phone signal. Pyro and Flame joined us for the 2.5 mile hike down to Neil¢s Crossing, which goes pretty much straight down the side of the mountain. Just before 11 a.m. we reached Mt. Crossings (an outfitter). On the way we met some very nice trail angels: a church group serving up some ¢deeelicious¢ hamburgers. Thimbleberry and I ate two burgers each, and I considered having a third because they were so good but I was too full! We mailed the leaky Big Agnes back to Michigan and are now trying out a NeoAir pad purchased at the outfitters. We also bounced our first couple drop-boxes forward to Blueberry Patch Hostel and to Franklin in order to keep our load lighter. Pyro and Flame headed onward, but Gypsy Girl joined us in splitting the cost of a cabin at ¢Bobcat¢s Cabins¢ about three-quarters of a mile further along. The three of us feasted on frozen pizza and had fun together. Hit the sack about 7:30pm tonight.
Date: 2011-03-17
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: light snow

Day 5: Currently camped on top of a mountain about one mile shy of Low Gap shelter. Josh and Liz are joining us for the evening. Had phone service this evening and were able to call our kids (who were very happy to hear from us!). Our son is tracking our progress using an app on our iPhones and is actually able to keep track of us pretty well. Apparently even when we are not showing access to phone service he has frequently been able to locate us when we flip our phone on for a few minutes. From Jenni: I'm posting a Google Earth image of the trail route. If you look in the lower, right area of the map, you'll see "Blue Mountain Shelter," which is their destination for tomorrow. Thought this might give you a visual of the type of terrain and the distance they are hiking.
Date: 2011-03-18
From: Low Gap

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 6: We stopped today about 1 p.m. at Blue Mountain shelter. Since the shelter is on a mountain top, we had good phone service again. Today¢s hike was hot! The temperature was near 80 degrees and a few natty bugs were after us, but we had a nice breeze to cool us off. We have a tougher section of trail ahead of us tomorrow with several big peaks to get over. We are aiming for Tray Mountain shelter. Thimbleberry says, ¢We are having a great time!¢
Date: 2011-03-19
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a warm day on the trail with the temperatures in the 70s with some afternoon clouds. We had trail magic today in one of the gaps. Their timing was perfect! They showed up just as we were passing by. They had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, pop, cookies¢just about anything you could want. The view off the top of Tray Mountain is about 30 miles and is beautiful!
Date: 2011-03-20
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

Arrived at Blueberry Patch Hostel today! The hostel is host to goats, donkeys, and, not surprising, blueberry bushes. The hostel owner here is very nice and only accepts donations rather than charging a daily rate. Even better, they did our laundry and loaned us, and several fellow hikers, a car to go into town. We were able to stock up on some supplies and hit up an all-you-can-eat buffet! The flowers are bursting out on the trees and the fields are a lush green. Beautiful spring! Tomorrow we are taking the day off to rest up a bit.
Date: 2011-03-21
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero day today. We were treated to a feast this morning. Gary and his wife, who run the hostel as a ministry, provide a free breakfast. What a spread! Pancakes, blueberry syrup, sausage, biscuts, scrambled eggs, potatoes, and OJ. The hostel itself is a surrounded by mountains. Gary thru-hiked the AT with his son twenty years ago and the couple have operated the hostel for nineteen years. Our time here has introduced us to a number of great people. We met "Bluegrass" from Kentucky, a couple of guys from Rhode Island (one I recall being called "Tenderfoot" and the other Eagle), and a young guy from Iowa named Nate (Leap). We are curious to see if some of the others we've seen out on the trail will roll in before we leave. Our goal for the day is to take a stroll on the farm. We will head for the Georgia-North Carolina border tomorrow.
Date: 2011-03-22
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

After a refreshing break at Blueberry Patch, we set off for the North Carolina border after being dropped off at Dick's Creek. We hiked 9 miles today. Thought you might enjoy finally seeing a picture of Greenstone at this very fun odd tree at Bly Gap.
Date: 2011-03-23
From: Bly Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

We were lucky enough to get in to Standing Indian Shelter, which is part way up the mountain. We could see rain headed our way, so we packed it into the shelter in hopes of staying dry. By the time the rain hit, many other hikers had also arrived and the camping area was pretty crowded with tents. As the cold front headed through we had hard, loud rain and hail. We felt extremely grateful to have gotten the shelter!
Date: 2011-03-24
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Bearpen Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was sunny, but cool and windy with temperatures in the 50s. Perfect hiking weather! We reached the top of Standing Indian Mountain, about 5500 feet and then finished off with 13.5 miles for the day. We are stealth camping overlooking Bear Pin Gap. We were lucky enough to have trail magic from a fellow Michigander: a warm bowl of chili. A good way to finish off the day.
Date: 2011-03-25
From: Bearpen Gap

To: Stealth site 1.5 mi. South of Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: snow

Started out today in 26 degree temperatures, but we were blessed this morning to have trail magic again from the same wonderful gentleman from last night. He fed us bacon and eggs. We made it up to 1.5 before Winding Stair Gap and are stealth camping here. We were just talking about how we had not seen Josh and Warbler in a while, and at that very moment, they wandered in just below our camping spot!
Date: 2011-03-26
From: Stealth campsite 1.5 mi south of Winding Stair Gap

To: Winding Stair Gap (shuttle to Franklin)
Miles today: 1.5

We tented up on a ridge at a stealth campsite with our friends Josh & Warbler last night. We had off and on rain overnight but stayed warm and dry in our Tarptent. It was raining at daylight so we packed up and headed down the trail to Winding Stair Gap and were picked up by Ron Haven and taken to a motel in Franklin, NC. One can't say enough about the great help Ron is to hikers. We are enjoying hot showers, drying out, doing laundry, running resupply errands and of course eating out today. We visited the Outdoors 76 outfitters store downtown today. They seem to be really great folks. We also went out for an excellent Italian dinner tonight with our friends Josh & Warbler.
Date: 2011-03-27
From: Saffire Hotel, Franklin, NC

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hi everyone! We spent Saturday resting up and enjoying Franklin, North Carolina. After filling up on a fantastic Italian dinner yesterday and sleeping at the lovely Saffire Hotel, we decided to brave the forecasted rain and head back up the trail. The shuttle dropped us back on the trail about 12 p.m. and we hiked about 6 miles to a picnic area and had an early dinner. We hiked onward to just south of Wayah Bald and stopped to stealth camp in a beautiful meadow (see our picture page). The weather was in the low 50s today. Coaster and Warbler are here as well!
Date: 2011-03-28
From: Wayah Bald

To: Tellico Gap
Miles today: 13.0

Rain started overnight and continued through the morning. We broke camp at 8 a.m. and packed up our wet gear. It was a soggy and foggy day with chilly temperatures in the 40s and 50s. We were refreshed after about 8 miles with some trail magic: hot dogs, chips, and pop. With that, we were able to to push hard and finished off at 13 miles and are camped at Tellico Gap.
Date: 2011-03-29
From: Tellico Gap

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: moderate rain

We left Tellico gap @ 8:00 a.m. this morning under clear skies. We hiked up to the tower @ Wesser Bald and then down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, a total of 8.5 miles. Had burger lunch @ 1 p.m. and watched kayakers on the river. We will relax awhile then head out for a few more miles.
Date: 2011-03-30
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: snow

Last night we slept through thunderstorms but stayed dry and warm. We left camp at 8:00 a.m. and hiked a lot of ups today through mostly fog. At Sassafras Gap shelter, we ran into Warbler and Coaster about 11 a.m. We are currently stealth camping about a mile north of Stecoah Gap.
Date: 2011-03-31
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana Dam Hilton
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

We had rain overnight. Hiked most of the day in the 30s and 40s. Stopped and made some hot soup at 1 p.m. We climbed Jacob's Ladder today¢¢a one mile climb straight upwards! It was the kinda climb that will either kill you or make a man outta ya! Staying at Fontana Dam "Hilton" shelter. Its a huge shelter that sleeps 24. We are sitting around the fire ring tonight enjoying the view of Fontana Lake.
Date: 2011-04-01
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We were picked up and taken to the Hike Inn at 10:30 a.m. They did our laundry and we ordered take-out bacon cheeseburgers for lunch. We all went to town for supper at a Mexican restraunt. After we picked up a few supplies, we returned to the Inn. We met Mishka and Mike, a nice couple from WI; Daydreamer, a nice young lady from Germany; Tom, a retired professor from CO; Stanley Thermos, a young man who does great pencil drawings, and an Englishman, Morphine, who hiked the AT at 10 years ago.
Date: 2011-04-03
From: Hike Inn

To: Birch Springs
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We hiked to Birch Springs campsite by 1:30 p.m. and set up camp. Took a nap until 4 p.m. and made supper with everyone. Met Not Natasha at camp and also Memphis Rains. Also met a nice father/son team from Ohio. Sunny and 70's today.
Date: 2011-04-04
From: Birch Spring Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Up early and on trail by 7:30. We ended up at the Spence field shelter by 2:45 after hiking 11 miles mostly uphill. Temps 70's windy & sunny until 2:00. Cold front going thru so much cooler tomorrow. Met Hansel & Gretel a brother/sister thru-hike team.
Date: 2011-04-06
From: Sieler's Bald Shelter

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

The week thus far has been a chilly one! We spent one night with about 20 people packed into a shelter designed for 12 people. We did see our very first sign of wildlife--a deer! Woke up today after sleeping in the snow! It was about 25 degrees and we discovered that our wet hiking boots were quite frozen. Lesson: always loosen up your hiking boot laces before letting them freeze solid. Thimbleberry had to resort to loosening up her boots by sticking them between her legs!We climbed up to Clingman's Dome. We had cold, clear weather and temperatures were about 35 degrees with strong winds at the Dome. By the end of the day, as we descended in elevation the temperature came up into the 60s. Hiking into Newfound Gap, we spied a fluffy pink stuffed animal dangling off a pack up the trail ahead of us and soon ran into Flame (TX) and her pink buddy, Booboo. Pigeon was just ahead and we all hiked into Newfound Gap together. We were blessed to meet some great trail magic: subs, fruit, pop, and roasted chicken. We all decided to stick out our thumbs and hitch-hike into Gatlinburg, TN. Flame and Pigeon got picked up right away--strangely enough by a couple from Michigan, the UP no less! We were less successful, but luckily the fellow passing out trail magic was headed back and gave us a lift. We are staying at _________ hotel (Jenni can't remember the name, Dad will fill in), a great place for an inexpensive price! The owner is a Christian and has been a great host. We ate out at Texas Road House, had nice warm showers, and are now ready to crash and enjoy being warm tonight! We will likely stay in Gatlinburg tomorrow before headed back to the trail on Friday.
Date: 2011-04-09
From: Peck's Corner

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: light rain

We did 13.4 miles today from Pecks Corner to Cosby Knob Shelter. Great wildflowers along trail today. We are tenting tonight and hoping for not too many storms. Sadly, we are headed out of Smokey Mt Nat. Park tomorrow.