morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-24
From: Woodshole Shelter

To: Neel Gap
Miles today: 0.0

Got up this morning to a pretty windy day. We set out about 8:20 with Turtle (Matthew) and Switch (Gabriel). We hiked up Blood Mtn. Georgia's highest peak on the AT, it wasn't so bad. But I did manage to slam my right big toe into a rock, it hurt pretty bad! So there's my blood contribution to Blood Mtn.We made it into Neel Gap and the Mtn Crossing. It has been a great day, we took showers and did some laundry. We also Jason at Mtn Crossing do a pack shake down for us. Overall not so bad, but we were able to loose 11 lbs between the 2 of us. So we shipped some stuff home and will now be a little lighter and happier! Dinner tonight was prepared by Pirate and it was awesome! He had pork chops in the crockpot all day, but made Jamie and I a fresh salad and some pasta alfredo, as we are vegetarian. It was amazing. Pirate even said that he would make us pancakes covered in pork for breakfast! The people here are all so great!! We are a full house here in the hostel tonight, well full house for this time of year anyways. There is couple from Switzerland, Red Storm and Little Bear, two guys that are ending there trek here at the gap, and 2 guys that are hiking to PA. It's been a good crowd. We have also dubbed Coke to be further known as the Red Blaze! Switch came up with that as we were hiking into the gap and talked about that was all we really wanted!
Date: 2012-07-25
From: Neel Gap

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

So we have made it to Low Gap. We are a little behind but at this point it's ok because we are enjoying the journey.We played leap frog all day with Cleaning Bug and No Hurry, the couple from Switzerland, that made the day a little more fun. I felt today then I have the last couple of days, so that's good. It helps to be a little bit lighter weight wise and also to have been shown a few tricks by the guys at Neel Gap. Tonight we are a full shelter. One women Viola is out here hiking for her husband who passed away last year. She is doing Amicalola Falls to Fontana Dam and back, she is currently on her way back to Amicalola. Such an amazing journey to hear. She is doing it because he loved the outdoors and devoted his life to his family, she is also doing it for herself, even though she doesn't like hiking! She has a sketch pad with her and draws everything that wants to show her family instead of taking pictures. She is an amazing woman! There is also a guy here that is just out enjoying himself, he's got the time off work and hikes as far as he can in the time he has off, but isn't in any real hurry to get anywhere! It's gotta be great to have the attitude,especially in this world of hustle and bustle.Jamie saw a bear today! She was leading and saw it running down the trail in front of us. I didn't get to see it as it was already gone when I looked around the corner, but it scared her a little bit so I lead the rest of the day.We have trail names!!! I have officially become Cinderella, since I am usually out in front cleaning all the cobwebs off the trail for Jamie. Jamie has become Red Blaze, since she really likes coke and her fav. color also happens to be red. Overall it's been a good day, feet still hurt but my back feels pretty good. It's been great being the the shelter with so many people with great stories and all super nice.
Date: 2012-07-26
From: Low Gap

To: Tray Mtn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Long day today! this was our second almost 16 mile day. I must say that I felt better today then I did after our first day out, so it must be getting better!I saw my first bear today!!! he was just a little guy and walked right across the trail in front of us. That was pretty cool but all I could think was where's mama? We also heard what we think was another bear in the bushes. I saw a small tree fall down, stopped, looked back at jamie and started talking really loud and then heard the bear run off through the brush. We can also add a deer and a snake to out list of animal sightings for the day.We said good-bye to our Swiss friends at Unicoi Gap as they head into Helen for the day. We are still with Gainsville (John), he camped with us last night at Low Gap. We pushed him to keep going today, so he says. We would come upon him as he would be napping or just taking a break, he would but his shoes back on and start out again and we would take over his break spot. We did hike the last uphill section into the shelter with him. But Pretty sure we will part ways with him tomorrow as we head into Hiawassee and he continues on. It's been fun out here so far, but I still question if I can make a thru. My feet hurt so bad! my body is getting use to the wear and tear and my pack is feeling a lot better but oh- my feet!!! So I guess we will see.
Date: 2012-07-27
From: Tray Mtn

To: Hiawassee Budget Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We had a pretty good day today. 11 miles and now we are all snuggled into our beds and the Budget Inn with clean cloths, showered, and tummy's full on pizza and salad!! Not so bad if I do say so myself!!The hike today wasn't all that easy as we had our longest mile yet. Addis Gap to Kelly Knob! Straight uphill with an elevation gain of almost 1000 ft. all with in a mile!! It was crazy. Even with the uphill today we made our fastest time getting done at 2:30...pretty good for us and 11 miles.We did say good bye to Gainsville today as he continued on. It has been a good couple days hiking with him and wish him luck on the rest of his journey. Up until today the weather has been great, humid but sunny. But today we got our first rain, nothing to wet but still rain. I'm signing off now, sleep and the opening ceremonies for the Olympics are calling.
Date: 2012-07-28
From: Hiawassee Budget Inn

To: Plum Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up to a leisurely morning. Ate some left over pizza and took a shower, did a quick grocery run and finished packing. Sally gave us a ride back to Dick's Creek. Super nice lady and will for sure call her again when I come back through Hiawassee. Hit the trail around 12, talked a little bit with George and David, another father/son duo that first met at Tray Mtn. and got ready to hit the trail when huge group of people came into the parking lot. We were so not looking forward to being around them so we high tailed it out of there. It wasn't until we got the the shelter that I realized that in our haste I forgot to attach my chacos onto my pack!!! Total Suck!!!And little did we know that the party from the parking lot was heading our direction. But here we sit with 15 people ready to party. They were very nice when they started to trickle in and asked if it was ok that they stayed. It was hard to say no when they told us why they were there. They are here to spread the ashes of a friend that passed away earlier this year. This was one of the last places that they all came camping. So far they have been fun, loud but fun. It's like a live reality T.V. show. They have played with a large diamond back rattler, flinging it against tree where is actually flew around the tree and almost came straight back at them. Cut down a tree where 3 people were jumping on it while one pulled down and another sawed, it was a minor disaster waiting to happen! And also tried climbing another tree that had no limbs. It is the train wreck that you can't help but watch. We have sat on the edge of the shelter with George and David and just watched.It is amazing all of the stories that you hear out here on the trail. They are here to celebrate and remember, so for them it's a great time. I'm sure as the night goes on the stories will increase. They are all from Atlanta and said that they would look for my chacos on the way back down. Since I will be in Atlanta in a few weeks I am hoping that I will see my sandals again. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this story and the night continues on.Part 2: After dark the group went to spread the ashes and then came back to camp to eat the huge amount of food that they had brought with them. They invited all of us to join in the feast and it was really good. Tons of veggies and 3 pork loins. The party continued as we said our good nights. As the party came to a close Tommy and Danny, 2 of the guys that we first met, joined un in the shelter and the stories began. This shelter is 3 stories high, so Jamie and I are on the bottom, Tommy is in the middle and Danny joined by Nick, Ryan, and his dog Zelda are up top. Tommy was yelling down at us, so I finally got up and joined him in the middle to keep him from yelling so Jamie could at least try and sleep. The guys all told stories of growing up together and generally funny stories about their friend that had passed away. Around 3 the night finally wound down and all was quiet.
Date: 2012-07-29
From: Plum Orchard Shelter

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We got out of camp this morning the earliest yet, 7:10! I crawled up and said good bye to both Tommy and Danny, waking both of them up Hopefully we can reconnect when I am in Atlanta. Today we crossed the GA/NC border!!! One state down. The entrance into NC is one hell of a welcome. You literally climb straight uphill for almost 3 miles, wow what a workout!!!There were times today that both Jamie and I seriously considered calling it a day and packing in early. And by that I mean we were going to get off the trail and spend our last week of vaca doing something else. But for now we have decided to stick it out, eat some food, and get some sleep and re evaluate in the morning. We really only have a few more days since we will pit stop in Franklin here is a day or so. As much as we both long for the convenience of society we still feel like we will be giving up if we don't stick it out! I think that we are both just tried from the day and not really sleeping last night. Sure my feet still hurt and my pack is still heavy but we have come so far to give up now. So we will press on and hike for a few more days!
Date: 2012-07-30
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Big Springs Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept like a champ last night! first night on the trail with no siccadas, those bugs that have made so much noise since we hit the trail. It's so quiet when they aren't around. Woke up this morning to rain on the roof of the shelter and thought that this is going to be a long day! but it didn't last long and it was sunny most of the day. The miles seemed to fly by today. We hit Carter Gap for lunch around 11:15 which was close to half way! We had a nice long break and then headed out. We ran across a couple of ladies heading SOBO that were from Myrtle Beach. It had started to rain a little bit but nothing to bad, yet. Shortly after stopping to talk to them, came the rain! I guess we should count our blessings as this is the first day that we have had rain. But boy were we soaked! After a few stops in the Rhoddy tunnels we decided to just suck it up and hike in the rain. After about an hour the rain stopped, just in time for us to climb the rock face of Mt. Albert. It wasn't to bad but I was glad to be heading north up the wet rocks, it could have been disastrous going down them. We have said all along that the summits of mtns. need some singage since all of the gaps have them, well Alberts sign is a huge fire watch tower! Off came the packs and up we went. Gorgeous views from up there, even if we couldn't go all the way up to the top. So glad that the sun came out for that one! Comment of the day goes to Jamie " If I took my freshettte up there, I could pee off the top!"We headed back down the tower and the rest of the way into the shelter. The last couple of days when we have gotten into camp we have made dinner round 1 with mashed potatoes. It's totally the way to go! We eat our taters, finish setting up camp, and then it's dinner #2, clean up, water pumping, and bed. It's kind of amazing. Tomorrow should be an easy day as we head 9 miles into Franklin for our last trail town!
Date: 2012-07-31
From: Big Springs Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap/ Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Was woken up around 2:30 to some major rain. It was so loud on the shelter roof!! My first thought was is we needed to worry about flash floods, but the rain finally sub-sided and I went back to sleep. It was raining again however when the alarm went off this morning, so we opted to wait it out in the shelter. We entertained ourselves by reading and watching "Meteorologist Miller" give weather reports, quite entertaining!!! The rain stopped enough for us to go out and grab our food bag, so at least we weren't starving!The started slowing down around 12, but as it would slow down and then pick back up we waited around until 1:30 before we decided to risk it and head into town. We put on our rain coats and hauled some serious butt today! Made it into Wallace Gap, 5.4 miles, in about 2 hours. Got rained on a little bit but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. While we were taking a break at the Gap, George and David Drove up. We had said good bye to them a couple days ago as they were heading into Standing Indian Campground. So it was good to see them again one last time. George's wife had drove in from Chattanooga to pick them up and they just happen to be leaving when we were breaking at the gap, funny how some things work out!We said our final good byes as the rain started coming down again, so we hit the trail for our last little bit into Franklin. We made it into Winding Stair Gap, called our shuttle, and headed for the hotel. We were a little bummed that the hotel didn't have laundry and that the channel with the olympics wasn't working! Guess it will be an early morning so that we can get some clean cloths!
Date: 2012-08-01
From: Winding Stair Gap/ Franklin, NC

To: Silar Bald Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up this morning all comfy cozy at the Microtel Inn, had some waffles and a banana for breakfast and then headed over to the outfitters next door for a new pair of chaos. Still not happy about that one, but I know that my feet are going to be happier! We headed back to the trail about 2:40 after getting dropped off a the laundromat by Candy the hotel manager. We only had a short distance to go to day so it was pretty easy.Got into the shelter where a group from Bowling Green is out here for a freshman wilderness class. They've been eager and fun to talk to. There is also a trio of NOBO hikers that are heading into the same place that we are, so we should see them again tomorrow night. We are contemplating a 17.4 mile hike tomorrow, we might be crazy but it will make for a super easy day into the N.O.C. on friday. I guess we will have to see how the legs hold up!
Date: 2012-08-02
From: Silar Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Holy crap, we actually did it!! 18 miles!!! I feel pretty good in spite of the long haul. It was bush whacking day on the trial! Most of the morning was through over growth and berry vines, not the best when you are trying to get a long ways. The redeeming thing about the day were the observation towers at Wayah Bald and Wesser Bald. The Wayah Bald tower was a stone tower where you could actually see Albert Mtn. It was great to look out and see where we had been, especially since most of the trail you are under the canopy of trees are don't really get to see a while lot. But to have a sign that actually pointed out where we had been and then to look over and see just how far away it was, was pretty amazing.The Wesser Bald tower was awesome! a full circle view from the top of an old watch tower. It was only a mile from the shelter so knowing that we would make our long day, we relaxed on top of the tower in the sun for almost an hour. It was heavenly! you could even see lakes from up there, something that we had been missing during this hike. Back home when you hike you almost always hike into a lake or around a lake so it's kind of weird to hike for so long and never come across and lakes or big rivers. So it was nice to see some water even from afar. Tonight we are joined by Odie, Chris, and Danielle. The trio from last night. They are also heading into the N.O.C. and then to Bryson City for a rest day before they head north. Dinner was a communal feast, pretty much anything that we had left to eat that still sounded good got made and shared by everyone. It's good to have other people around! They also pushed us towards the end of the day. We had 1.4 miles uphill to get to Wesser Bald, they took off up the hill at a breakneck speed and we followed. We couldn't keep up but we did make it up the hill in 35 mins. Might not seem that fast to some, but for us that was super fast! We were booking it!! It's been a long day and I am turning in. Tomorrow marks our last day on the trial...
Date: 2012-08-03
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center/ Bryson City
Miles today: 0.0

And so our journey on the trail has come to an end for now. We made it into the N.O.C., got a coke, bought some new cloths from the outfitter, since we realized that we would be rejoining society and neither one of us would have any real cloths until Sunday when we got into Nashville. And then waited for the trio to join us as they were our ride into Bryson City. After they all showed up we loaded up in their car and headed to Bryson City by way of Fontana Dam, they had to get their permit to hike north. We checked into this super cute little motel,showered and then headed to the A.Y.C.E. Chinese place in town for one last family style meal with everyone. It's weird to be in a motel and not be thinking about how far we have to hike tomorrow, or what food we need to replace. There have been some highs and some lows on this hike and I am seriously going to miss it. There is just something about this trail that latches onto every fiber of your being. This section hike has been so incredible and I wouldn't trade the time I was able to spend with my friend, But I don't think that I am going to truly be happy with just doing sections. I think that this was just a jump off the cliff into a thru hike for me. And yes I may be crazy to say that I just hiked 140 miles and that I will gladly re-hike that same 140 miles when I actually set out to do my thru hike. But there were so many things that this last 13 days has taught me that I can now apply to my next step into this adventure. I'm still excited to go hiking and if I could I would get up in the morning, shuttle back to the trial and continue to hike, I think that's a good sign!
Date: 2013-02-01
To: Planning Planning Planning
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

My plane tickets have official been booked so that I can start my 2013 Thru Hike!!! March 22, 2013 will be the day that my hike begins! I can not be any more excited. Over the last few months since I have gotten off of the trail there is nothing that has consumed my thoughts more then getting back on the trail and now that I have my plane ticket and a couple of really cool girls to start hiking with I can not even begin to describe how excited I am. It seems like everything is falling into place...Only 48 more days!!
Date: 2013-02-10
To: Anxious vs. Excited
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I just got back from a work trip that put me in Atlanta for the past month. The entire time I was there all I could think about was how close to the AT I was and that I really wish that I had brought my hiking stuff with me, even though my work schedule did not allow for me to have any free time where I would have been able to hike. I guess I just wish that I could have been out on the trail already instead of working. Only 39 more days and that will become my reality!My Brother asked me today if I was anxious for my hike, my answer was "I am more excited then I am anxious!" I have to wonder sometimes if there is something wrong with me. Rarely do I get nervous or anxious about things that are new to me. I guess I live my life from one adventure to the next and thru hiking the AT is another adventure that I get to go on, and so at the end of the day after I have read every new post on whitebalze.net and caught up on some journals of fellow thru hikers I can go to sleep and dream about what is next to come and know that when I wake up in the morning I am one day closer and that much more excited for the next chapter in my life. March 22 can not get here soon enough!!!
Date: 2013-02-11
To: A Big Thanks!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Just wanted to give a big shout out to all of you who have been reading my journal and for those of you that have begun to follow me!!! I hope to meet some of you fellow thru hikers along the way and for those of you that can't be out there with me, I hope that this journal the next few months will give you an insight into my life on the trail and many laughs as well!!!
Date: 2013-02-14
To: The Good Badger Sponsorship
Miles today: 0.0

So I read about this sponsorship on facebook and figured, what the heck...All I had to do was make a video and then hope that it got picked to be in the finals...Well the finalists were picked today, and my video made it!!! I am pretty sure that I don't have a shot in hell at actually winning, but making the video was fun and I think that it's just another step in getting ready to hit the trail! But who knows I might be a silent creeper and win at the end instead of getting all of my votes in one day!!! If you are reading this and feel like helping out you can visit:http://blog.appalachiantrials.com/nicole-laeger-wants-the-badger-sponsorship-because/all you have to do is click on the little FB thumbs up like at the bottom of my video...You can even take a look at the video and see a little bit more about me and why I am hiking!!!But like I said I'm ok with not winning...I am just looking forward to hitting the trail and to even have my video picked is pretty freaking cool!!!
Date: 2013-02-27
To: Less Then a Month!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I can not believe how the time has flown by!!! I am less then a month away from starting the long trek along the Appalachian Trail...I can not even begin to explain how excited that I am!!!!My life in the last week or so has consisted of weighing everything!! and I do mean EVERYTHING!!! even those things that I know that I won't be taking...It's like a compulsion, I pick something up and think "huh I wonder what this weighs?" So into the spare bedroom I go to figure out exactly how many ounces the newspaper, the cup of water I'm drinking out of, or whatever random thing that happens to be in my hand weighs!In all seriousness I have also been weighing the things that I will be taking with me and have come to the conclusion that I am at a fairly decent base weight but have decided to change out some things last minute. The things that I am changing out are pretty big things! I have known for awhile that my pack was going to have to go I love it but at 5lbs it's just to heavy! So i have found a pack that comes in around 3lbs! I also changed out my sleeping pad to a foam ridge rest instead of taking my inflatable prolite, saving another 1/2lb and I changed out my beloved Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 and am now going with a tarptent. All of these changes have given me a slight bit of anxiety. I keep thinking "will I have enough time to really test everything?" "I'm I stupid for making so many big changes right before I leave?" and so on.It's crazy the things that we do in order to save a, ounce here and an ounce there. But in reality all of those little ounces add up and can be the downfall of a really heavy pack!! I am by no means an ultralight backpacker but I also want to save my feet a little bit of stress so I will continue weighing all of those pesky ounces probably right up until I leave me house for the airport...Less then a Month...EEEKKKKK!!!!!!!