morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-04-12
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter 

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

When I went to bed last night I was ready for a day off, but when I woke up this morning I was ready to go again! The thought of a shower at Fontana was motivation enough to make me want to go 12.8 miles. Cole¢s ear was looking much better. Cole headed out with instructions to stop in an hour. I caught up about 20 minutes later. We rested, chatted with other hikers, gleaned a little more duct tape to strengthen our repair job on our food bag, then I sent him on ahead again with instructions to stop at 12:30. At 12:50, I figured I should have caught him, but no Cole. At 1:00 I was getting worried. Still no sign of Cole. By 1:15 I was now in panic mode. I should have caught up to him by now. Did he stop somewhere and I passed by without seeing him? Did he mishear what time I wanted him to stop? Did he fall down into a ravine somewhere behind me. 1:25 I am in tears, not sure what to do. Go forward or turn and go back? I decided that I would drop my bag at the shelter that was coming up and retrace my steps to where we had rested two hours prior. When I reached the shelter, low and behold, there was my son. Instead of stopping when he was supposed to, he had decided to continue on to the shelter. He doesn¢t understand my very strong fear of losing him out here. It is hard to convey a mother¢s worries to a 13 year old boy. What he did understand once I pointed it out, was that it was a very hot day, he had traveled 4 miles without meeting up with me and he was carrying the water filter. We had a late lunch, rested a while and then carried on. Fontana Lake came into view and we knew we were near the shelter. At a parking lot about 1.5 miles from the shelter, Cole was stopped by a couple who had just packed up a table from doing trail magic. They pulled out a plastic bag and started loading him up. By the time I caught up to him, his bag was stuffed with four cans of pop, multiple packets of peanut butter crackers, peanut m and m¢s, granola bars and crackers. We walked together for the last mile or so along a beautiful pathway beside the lake. It was late in the day and the sun was going down. Cole couldn¢t use his poles because of the big bag of goodies in his hand, but he was ridiculously pleased. Once the Fontana ¢Hilton¢ came into view and we saw the restroom/showers, I was ridiculously pleased as well. It was a beautiful evening and we set up our tent on a concrete tent pad. There were people everywhere. More pop was being handed around. I had a nice warm shower, but then crawled into my dirty wool base layer before crawling into bed.
Date: 2018-04-13
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Zero
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

This morning we laxidaisically got ourselves packed up and took a shuttle to the General store and Laundromat. Out of five machines  only one washer was working so we had to wait for other hikers to finish.We weren¢t in a hurry though and there was a plug to charge our battery pack. It was sunny and warm and we had a nice table to sit at. We bought a few things from the general store and I worked on updating my journal. Once we had finished our laundry, a trail angel offered us a ride back to the shelter. It was the husband who had given us trail magic the previous evening. Before taking us to the shelter he took us to where his wife had a table set up for hikers, and once again she loaded Cole up with a bag of goodies. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and socializing.
Date: 2018-04-14
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 21 April 14th Fontana Dam Shelter to Mollies Ridge Shelter. 11.8 miles. We slept in the Fontana Shelter last night so that we could get ready faster in the morning. I was actually sleeping on a FLAT surface for a change. It seems like no matter where we set up the tent, I am either rolling towards Cole all night or sliding into the wall of the tent. The downfall to sleeping in the shelter is....the snoring!! There was a soft rhythmic hum that was coming from one side of the shelter throughout the night. That didn¢t bother me. However, on the other side of Cole was a loud, disruptive chorus without any kind of rhythm or beat. It was nasally grunts and guttural rasps in inconsistent starts and stops. It almost sounded painful and I was beginning to feel sorry for the poor fellow until I reminded myself that he was getting a good night¢s sleep, and I was not! Somehow Cole slept through it all. In the morning we were off bright and early, eager to see what The Smokey Mountains had in store for us. We paused at the Fontana Dam visitor Center. Although it was closed, Cole had spied a pop machine and wanted a Sprite to wash down his breakfast. Yes, I know that is a terrible thing to give a teen early in the morning (or maybe ever), but I am trying to keep this scrawny kid of mine from losing any weight. If he wants a pop and it is accessible, no problem. We had to hike across the dam, then along a road for a ways. Soon we reached the trail head where there was a box for us to put one half of our permits in. The other half of the permit has to remain in our possession the entire time we are in the Smokey Mountains.With permits deposited, we began the long and steep ascent up into the Smokies. It was an all day climb, taking us way up into the mountains where there is sure to be astounding views and unsympathetic weather...as we would quickly find out. Eventually our climb brought us to Mollies Ridge Shelter. The shelter was almost full and some hikers had already set up tents with the permission of the Ridge Runner who was there. The Smokies are different from the rest of the AT. You are only allowed to stay in the shelters. IF the shelter is full, you may pitch a tent near by. Normally I would prefer my tent, but because rain was expected that night, I was happy to stay in the shelter. There is another odd thing about the smokies. Section hikers get first dibs at the spots in the shelter. So, say I arrive and get all set up and cozy in the shelter and then a section hiker shows up...I (or another thru-hiker) gets the boot. Cole and I took the last two spots in the shelter. It was half full of boy scout section hikers. Luckily no other section hikers showed up, and we got to stay. The temperature was moderately cool. We were quite warm in our bedding. The snoring was soft and gentle and we slept well. Then it began to rain.
Date: 2018-04-15
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain began pouring down early in the morning. As the sky brightened, the crew of hikers huddled under their covers and protected from the elements by the shelter, were very slow to begin rousing. Cole and I ventured from beneath our quilts and began getting ready for a very wet and rather cold day. A few hikers seemed to be considering hunkering down in the shelter until the rain passed. With rain gear on, Cole and I boldly stepped out into the downpour and headed down the trail.Before I proceed, let me say this. I love my hiking boots. They are New Balance Model 1400 Men¢s 7.5 2E For a year now, these boots have brought me through all kinds of harsh hiking weather warm, safe and dry. But not today. Today they let the water in. A lot of it. On close examination I could see that the bottoms were pulling away just a wee bit. Water can easily invade through wee little openings, and it did. My right foot was soon drenched while my left was only slightly damp. The path wasn¢t difficult, but for some reason I was struggling. My right foot seemed especially sore...or maybe because it was wet it just made me think it hurt worse than usual.Around noon we came upon a blue blaze leading to Spence Field Shelter. We decided it would be a perfect place to stop for lunch. When we reached the shelter, we found a ridge runner inside sitting beside a fire drying out her clothes. (The shelters in The Smokey Mountains have fireplaces inside them) I put my wet boots and sox next to hers and we chatted for a while. She told us that the temperature was going to drop well below freezing overnight and on into the next day. My foot hurt, I was wet and cold. Sitting beside the fire getting dried out sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon before the freeze hit. But, we had only come six miles! I considered the fact that there were no guarantees that we would get a spot in the next shelter. I am a slow hiker and we are usually near to the last hikers to arrive at camp. I did not want to be setting up a tent in the freezing cold. There was also no guarantee that I would have the opportunity to dry out my boots at the next shelter. If we stayed, we were guaranteed to get dry and have a spot in the shelter. I felt a bit guilty for a while, but the decision was made. We stayed. Cole fetched firewood all afternoon to keep the fire burning. ( I did have to bribe him to do it  that by scratching his back) A small group of hikers showed up for a lunch break also, but they decided to press on through the rain. The sun came out for a brief time, but then the rain returned, heavier than ever. Nobody else arrived at the shelter. The ridge runner, Cole and I chatted until about 7pm and then hunkered down inside of our bedding for the night as the rain poured down and the wind howled.
Date: 2018-04-18
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The first thing on the ¢to do¢ list the next morning was to get a new rain cover for my backpack and shoe goo to try to repair my boots. As luck would have it, I scored a free rain cover from the hiker box at the NOC. In the same hiker box we got some cheese and cracker packs, shampoo and conditioner ( we don¢t carry those) half a can of permethrin that I was going to treat our footprint with, and a moleskin to put on my baby toe. What a haul! Next we took the blue trolly to Food City to resupply. We have become tired of the usual fair. Cole had heard from another hiker that the one dollar mini pies made for a good breakfast, so guess what we bought. Pie! We¢re packing pie! Back at the hotel I repaired my boots, sprayed the footprint, spent one hour on the phone with Straight Talk trying to successfully add more time to my phone plan, and had another long tub. Cole had been dreaming about a pizza buffet so we headed to Cicis for dinner. It was a productive day.
Date: 2018-04-19
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

During the month of April the Baptist church in Gatlinburg runs a free shuttle from town to the AT twice a day. We got ourselves moving early so that we could make it to the 8:30 shuttle. It was sunny, but windy and cold as we arrived back at Newfound Gap. The initial stretch of the trail was a long climb. With all of my layers on I thought I would be hot, but the icy gusts of wind kept cooling me right back down. The trail was pretty, and in the sun, while sheltered from the wind, I moved a bit more slowly, taking in the surroundings and enjoying the morning. When the meandering trail took me out of the sun and into the wind I pressed forward with increased speed and head bent down. Eventually we reached a ridge line which we traveled along for most of the rest of the day. The elevation was high, the temperature was cold, the wind was fierce and the sun had abandoned us. Where there should have been phenomenal views, there was only fog. In certain places along the ridge, sections of trees were loaded down with ice. As we passed by they rudely chucked rectangular shaped pellets of ice down on us. I was intrigued by the fact that the ice was all rectangular shaped, but not curious enough to stop in the cold to investigate. By mid afternoon, when we were not far from the shelter, the sun emerged to warm us. We found a sunny spot near the shelter to have our dinner and chatted with the other hikers who trickled in after us. I headed to my bed early as the temperature dove towards freezing. Cole filtered water for us for the next day, mingled with the crowd then came to bed too. At around 10: 30 I ventured out into the cold to use the privy. On the table outside of the shelter sat our water filter.....our water filter that had to be kept from freezing. Cole had forgotten to bring it inside. Ugh! It¢s a good thing that we have purification tablets. We would use the tablets until we could get a replacement for the filter since it was now untrustworthy.
Date: 2018-04-20
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

We spent a good part of the day walking along the mountain ridge again today, but the breeze was very gentle when it decided to blow, and the sun was generous with its rays. The ice laden trees seemed to have dropped their arsenal of rectangular pellets overnight. The trail was riddled with them. I hiked in my layers, accepting that I would be sweaty and hot while climbing, but comfortably warm while descending or standing still in the sunshine. It was a lovely day to hike and the views of the mountains were plentiful. Five miles from the shelter I came upen a couple sitting in the grass having lunch. I paused to chat. Their names were Boss and Vapor. What was amazing about them was that Vapor was completely blind. He uses his trekking poles like he would a cane. Boss guides him along telling him where obstacles are. How incredibly courageous!!When we arrived at Cosby Knob Shelter, the shelter was already quickly filling up with both thru hikers and section hikers. The tenting sites were limited and quickly filling up too. The section hikers told us that the shelter was completely booked. When section hikers book the shelter, thru hikers have to stay in tents. Instead of waiting around to see if they would get booted, many of the thru hikers elected to move out of the shelter and into their tents. Cole and I took a chance and stayed bedded down in the shelter. If the shelter was indeed completely booked, then some of the section hikers failed to show up. We got to stay in the shelter through the night.
Date: 2018-04-21
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Painter Branch Campsite
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

It was a gorgeous day to hike..practically perfect really! Today was our last day in the Smokey Mountains. After treating us so harshly, it was very nice of them to see us off in such a lovely way. Our first day in The Smokey Mountains had been one long uphill climb. Today, after an initial steep ascent, most of the trail out of the smokies was one long descent. Although you don¢t feel that you are working as hard on the descents, they are actually harder on the knees and feet than uphill climbs are. My knees have only just whimpered half heartedly up until now, but today they were doing some full on complaining. Coincidentally, so was my 13 year old. The former was treated with Tylenol and Advil. The latter received a scolding plus pizza and pop once we reached Standing Bear Farm, just outside of the smokies. In both cases I am not completely certain which remedy worked, but at this moment ( 8pm) I am not hearing/feeling any complaints from either party. Before leaving the Smokies we had to check out the very last shelter. It is the only shelter left that has a cage on the front to keep bears out. The rest of the cages were removed from the shelters because apparently people were feeding the bears through the cage and getting trapped inside.Once outside of the smokies, the trail led us down to a beautiful green valley and meandered along side a gently running stream. Wild flowers lined both sides of the path. It was a lovely change of scenery. Eventually the stream ended just past a waterfall and the trail stopped at a road. We had to follow the road for a way before we came to the trail again. It led us up a scary flight of stone steps and then through the trees for a short distance before we came to another road. Up that road was Standing Bear Farm where we filled our bellies with pizza and pop, purchased a few Resupply items and then pushed on.  A two mile up hill climb brought us to a lovely stream with campsites near by. As I type I am watching the sun set and listening to the stream. What a perfect ending to a lovely day.
Date: 2018-04-22
From: Painter Branch Campsite

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

We got off to a very early start this morning. Rain was in the forecast and we wanted to make sure we got a spot at the next shelter so that we didn¢t have to deal with a wet tent. It was mostly overcast today, but the sun made an appearance from time to time. It felt like there was a lot of climbing, but when isn¢t there? I struggled with the last few miles. It was exciting when the scenery changed as we crossed two balds. On the first Bald there was an FAA tower on the summit. Cole wanted to know if they would have a washroom and a pop machine. lol The second Bald we crossed was Max Patch. It is a popular site seeing destination and there were a lot of people about. On the Bald it was extremely windy and cold. At the top of the Bald Cole got at least half of what he was looking for. A group of people had set up some trail magic for thru hikers. They had pop(and beer) fresh fruit, cookies, and the fixings so that you could make yourself a sandwich. We stopped for a short time and enjoyed the offerings.Cole went ahead as we left the trail magic. Just after we came down off the Bald the trail split. Cole was almost out of sight, but I caught a glimpse of him heading in what I thought was the wrong direction. I stopped at the Fork and hollered to him but didn¢t get a reply. I continued on the correct path, not completely certain which direction he had gone.Shortly I came upon a hiker heading sobo and I asked him if a young teen had passed him by. He said he wasn¢t sure because he had just been sitting down off the trail a ways not paying attention. I asked him to keep a lookout for Cole, then continued on hoping that I would find him ahead. I didn¢t. However, after a while I head shouting from behind me ¢Mom, Mom!¢ He had indeed taken the wrong trail. When the trail faded and he couldn¢t see any white blazes, he had turned around. The hiker I had spoken to found him and had set him on the right course. I don¢t think that my fear of losing him is ever going to diminish.We were able to get a spot in the shelter and stayed dry through the night.
Date: 2018-04-23
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

All of our shelter mates were planning to head straight to Hot Springs today which was 17 miles away. I had never hiked that far and my tired feet were not really on board with that plan. When we set out in the wind and the rain, I wasn¢t exactly sure how far I would be able to make it. The weather was unpleasant and there were some miserable moments throughout the day when I questioned my sanity for wanting to hike the entire length of the AT. But, there were also times when the wind was calm and the rain gentle, and I was able to lift my head, take in my surroundings and find joy. A long stretch of the trail had us meandering back and forth down the side of a mountain. On one side we would be fighting against the elements trying not to get blown over and thinking that we should be wearing more layers. Then we would come around a bend and although we could still hear the wind howling fiercely, the air around us was calm. Numerous trees had fallen across the trail from the wind. One blow down was so big that we had to go a distance off the trail and then forge the way back to it. My feet were wanting me to stop. Desperately! There was a shelter at mile 271.3. It would put us within 3 miles of Hot Springs making it a 14.7 mile day. More rain was expected and so getting to the shelter sounded really appealing. Now if only I could convince my feet. Cole went ahead to save us two spots. I slowed right down to almost a crawl and took my sweet time getting through the last mile and a half. When I arrived, we were the only ones there. Later in the evening a girl named ¢buckets¢ arrived. It was a very small shelter with only enough room for five. Three fit very comfortably. Or should I say, three people plus all of the mice. I know there have been mice in the previous shelters. I have seen evidence of them. However, never have I heard them scurrying about right above my head all night long! It was creepy!
Date: 2018-04-24
To: Hot Springs NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light intensity drizzle

 We had a very short hike into Hot Springs this morning. I tried calling Laughing Heart Lodge to book us a room, but my phone kept telling me I was roaming when my plan is nationwide. So, we just showed up in the morning hoping for the best. They had no rooms, only tent space and bunks in the bunk room. We didn¢t know it but this did indeed work out to be the best. A lady there called the hostel down the road to see if they had a room available, and they did. Elmer¢s Sunnybank Inn and Hostel turned out to be a magnificent place. It is 170 years old and is furnished with antiques. It is on the national register of historic places. It is charming and quiet, full of history and character. We are staying in the Earl Schaffer room (Earl Schaffer was the first person to thru hike the AT) Earl stayed in this room during his thru hike. Our room has a huge balcony off of it. Normally they have dinner that you can pay extra for, but not today. We did sign up for breakfast though. They will ring the bell in the morning to let us know when breakfast is ready. It is just so charming and very tempting to stay another day....but the AT calls (and the pockets are only so deep!) I would love to come back here and visit again one day!
Date: 2018-04-25
From: Hot Springs NC

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

We used our earplugs last night for the first time on the trail. Our neighbours in the hostel were rather noisy until past 1am. The earplugs drowned it out nicely. There are lots of different kinds of people out here on the trail, with different motivation, different goals and different priorities. For some, it is a great big party, and when they get to town they ¢celebrate¢. This isn¢t the crowd that we hang out with, but sometimes they are hard to avoid. We have been told that the ¢party crowd¢ thins out the further along the trail you go. That will be nice. In the morning, Elmer, the hostel owner,made us a wonderful vegetarian breakfast. We had an omelet, toast, granola and fresh fruit. He rang the meal bell when it was ready and the four hikers (including us) who had signed up for breakfast all filed in to the small dining room ( there is also a much bigger dining room in the house). The food was beautifully laid out and it tasted delicious! Elmer told us a little about the history of the house and his collection of antiques. We also learned that it was his 81st birthday. It was a lovely breakfast and it was hard to pack up and get back on the trail, but we did. I¢ve noticed a pattern on the AT. When you arrive in town you descend down down down to a lower elevation. Then, you rest up, clean up, fill up your backpack with multiple days of food, and then they send you climbing back up up up the mountain quickly negating the positive effects of your zero/Nero. My delicious breakfast was heavy in my tummmy. My mom used to say not to go swimming on a full stomach. The same is true for climbing mountains! Don¢t do it on a full tummy!Rain threatened for most of the day but didn¢t actually follow through until into the evening. Cole hussled on ahead and secured us spots in the small shelter. We are trying to avoid using our tent in the rain. Yes, it stinks having to pack up a wet tent, but on top of that, the contents usually get wet too. The tent is a bit small for the two of us, and although we have become accustomed to the small space, there is no avoiding laying up against the walls at night. A new tent is coming though, so we only have to deal with this for a little while longer.