morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-04-19
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mount Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

Today I reached mile 200 and it was definitely earned. I reached Clingman's Dome which is the highest point on the entire AT. When I first entered the Smokies, I thought the hike to the shelter was relatively easy. I thought that if that was it, then I didn't get how people said the Smokies were one of the harder sections on the AT. Well, the past two days have shown why. They've definitely been the hardest back to back days that I've had so far. I also decided that this was the time I was going to up my miles per day as well. Between these two things, I've been pretty exhausted by the time I've gotten to the shelter. Yesterday I was fast asleep before 8. Today I probably won't be up much past that.All of the shelters in the Smokies have been made of stone and they have all had stone fireplaces built into them. At each one that I've stayed at, there has also been another hiker who has taken advantage of that and built a fire using dead wood from off the ground. It was really nice the first night because it did get rather cold and the fire helped keep the shelter area a little warmer. It wasn't need as much last night because it didn't get as cold, but it was still welcome. Except when he got up at like 4 in the morning to light it back up and it lit the shelter up as if someone had turned on a lamp.Breakfast: 4 Kind peanut butter breakfast barsSnack 1: The last few slices of dried mangoes that I had.Lunch: Pea tortilla peanut butter taco and some dried apricots. I really need to get something else when I resupply. Peanut butter is getting old, fast. Also, I thought the apricots were going to be like what I get in some trail mix, but these were a lot softer and chewier. I didn't hate them, but I would have preferred the ones like I got in the trail mix.Snack 2: A few dried apricots. Recovery Drink: One package of Carnation Instant Breakfast. Dinner: A bag of Knorr chicken flavored rice with two packets of Starkist BBQ chicken. This was better than the Teriyaki mix from yesterday, but some of the rice was a little crunchy. This has been a problem with all the Knorr rich packets because I'm just adding boiling water to the packet and letting it sit for 15 minutes or so. You're supposed to let it simmer in boiling water for about 7 minutes, but I don't want to waste the fuel or dirty a dish if I don't absolutely have to.Dessert: 20-25 Sour Patch kids.
Date: 2023-04-20
From: Mount Collins Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter 
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a pretty easy day. I got started on the trail at 5:30am. I had heard there was a free shuttle into Gatlinburg that left Newfound Gap at 10:00am and it was a little over 5 miles from the shelter, so I wanted to make sure I got there in time. It turns out I didn't need to leave quite so early because the hike was very easy. I ended up getting to Newfound at a little past 8:00am. It was nice to have the extra time though. I got to throw away some trash, use the restroom and just relax for a little while.The Sevierville First Baptist church is the group that does the free shuttle. They also setup a trail magic table that had all kinds of snacks. There were oranges, bananas, honeybuns, trail mix, Nutter Butter, just to name a few things. They also had a cooler full of water, pop, and various other drinks. They put out chairs to sit on, they had plastic bags you could take, it really was a full service trail magic stop. It was definitely the largest and most organized one I've come across.I left Newfound Gap on the shuttle at 10:00am and it took about 20 minutes to get to Gatlinburg. I thought I had been there before, but none of what I saw looked familiar. They did have an NOC building (which is affiliated with the NOC from a few days ago), but overall it wasn't a great resupply town. It was very touristy, so there were no grocery stores in the area that we got dropped off at. There was a Walgreens, but it was pretty small and didn't have much that a hiker could use. Though I did get some Starburst jellybeans, so it wasn't a complete bust.For lunch I had Cicis pizza with some other hikers that I've come across a lot. 10 bucks for all you can eat pizza and pasta is a pretty good deal for a calorie deprived thru-hiker.I got back to Newfound at about 2:00 and was on the trail shortly after. It was only about 3 miles to the shelter where I was staying, but it was almost all uphill. It was gradual though so overall my hiking day was pretty short and easy. I also hiked the entire way with another hiker named Woobie. He's a retired army guy, so it was nice to have someone to talk to while I was hiking. It did take my mind off the effort and made the climb seem a lot faster.Breakfast: 4 Kind peanut butter breakfast bars.Trail Magic: A lot. I had an orange, a package of Nutter Butters, a cinnamon roll, and a Yoo-hooLunch: Cicis pizzaRecovery Drink: One package of Carnation Instant Breakfast Dinner: Backpackers Pantry Shepherd's Potato Stew with Beef. This is a top pick for me. The only negative is that even at 2 servings, it's only 430 calories. When I get it next time, I'll see if I can pair it with some shredded cheddar cheese to give it some more calories.
Date: 2023-04-23
From: Pigeon River Bridge

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

I got playfully made fun of a little bit this morning. There were two other people sleeping in the same area that I was in and apparently about 30 seconds after we turned the lights out at around 9:00am I was fast asleep. They knew that I was asleep because I started snoring. The woman who was staying there (her trail name is Slaw) just thought it was funny that I was so tired that I fell asleep so quickly. I had been up since about 3:00am. so I was pretty exhausted. There were even times earlier in the day when I'd dozed off for a few minutes before I realized it.I knew it was going to be a short hiking day (about 7 miles), so I decided to leave the hostel a little late. It was about 10am when I got back on the trail. It was a moderately difficult hike. I started at an elevation of about 1,371 feet and got to 4,263 feet at the top of Snowbird mountain in about 6 miles. There weren't any real steep climbs, but it was a steady uphill almost the entire way. The weather was also pretty mild and towards the top even got a little chilly because of the wind.There was a pretty neat landmark at the top. About 50 yards or so from the trail was a large antenna. It was an FAA radar antenna used for air traffic control. Unfortunately I couldn't get too close because there was a fence around it and all kinds of warning signs posted.From there it was about 2.5 miles and 1,400 feet downhill to the shelter where I was going to stay. It was about 3:00pm when I arrived at the shelter and I did think about trying to do a few more miles, but just decided to take it easy. Instead I made the decision to get to Hot Springs in two days instead of the planned three I was originally going to do. So, tomorrow will be another big mile day.Breakfast: Fried cranberry bread with bananas, strawberries, and whipped cream that was made by the owner of the hostel. He also made baked apples and I had a cup of hot chocolate. I'm writing this a few days after the fact and can't remember if I stopped for lunch.Recovery Drink: I was a little cold when I got to the shelter, so I tried adding boiling water to the Carnation Instant Breakfast mix. It was good, but next time I won't use boiling water because it was too hot to drink right away and took too long to cool off enough.Dinner: Knorr rice with chicken added.Dessert: Starburst jellybeans
Date: 2023-04-25
From: Unnamed Tent Site

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: clear sky

Not much about the hike into town to talk about. I was on the trail at about 6am and got into Hot Springs at about 9:30am. I could start seeing the town from up in the mountains probably about 45 minutes to an hour before I actually got there. It started out as a bit of a morale boost, but I was starting to get impatient towards the end.I got checked into the Iron Station Inn, went and got some breakfast, and spent the day resupplying, eating, resting, and relaxing. It's a very small town, you can walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes, so there isn't much recreation to do. Which I'm fine with. I think I've pushed myself a little too hard the past week because my Achilles tendon area is starting to get pretty sore. I've already taken full advantage of the jacuzzi tub in my room, so hopefully that and the time spent without 30+ pounds on my back will give it enough time to settle back down. I'm also going to take it a bit slower when I start back up again on Thursday.The one downside that has been hanging over my day so far though is what's up ahead. In planning my next week or so, I checked the weather and it looks like it's going to be pretty crappy for the next 3 or 4 days. There are supposed to be rain showers and thunderstorms pretty much everyday until at least Monday. I know it's part of the deal with this whole trip, but it still brings me down quite a bit. It's not really the rain so much as the rain combined with the low temperatures. I'm just a little tired of having to wake up cold every morning. It's almost May, in the South. Where are my warm temperatures? Breakfast: 4 Kind Dark Chocolate Cocoa breakfast bars. These are a little better than the peanut butter ones. But that might just be because I'm sick of peanut butter. Lunch: Country Fried Steak meal at the Smokey Mountain Diner. It was an 11oz country fried steak covered in gravy, two scrambled eggs, hash browns, and a biscuit with more gravy. I ate it all and it was fantastic.Dinner: Iron Horse burger with fries at the Iron Station restaurant which is right downstairs from my room. It was basically a 1/2 bacon BBQ cheeseburger. Maybe it's because it's been a while, but I thought it was a really great hamburger. Dessert: A brownie sundae. It was a brownie sundae. Simple, but good.
Date: 2023-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I didn't do much today except hang out in my room except when I left to go eat. I did meet up with TrailTripper, HipHiker, and Walkie Talkie for lunch. They were the three ladies that i had met at the tent site two days ago. I actually saw them yesterday when i was coming down for dinner, but they were leaving as i was coming down. It was nice to see them still in town and have lunch with them.I will say that being in town or staying at a hostel has been a bit of a double edged sword. It's nice to get into a bed and rest and relax for a night or two, but I do find that it takes a little extra effort to find the motivation to continue. These days off remind me what it's like to feel comfortable on a regular basis and it's hard to give that up.Breakfast: French toast meal at the Smokey Mountain Diner. It was three pieces of French toast, two scrambled eggs, and a sausage patty. It was good, but pretty basic french toast. I think they just used white bread. I prefer something like Texas toast or brioche bread. I'm spoiled I guess.Lunch: Grilled cheese with tomato soup at Vaste Riviere Provisions. I'm not sure what kind of cheese they used. Some kind of white cheese, but it was pretty good. It's been forever since I've had tomato soup, so I can't really compare it, but I thought it was good enough that I ate it all.Snack: Bavarian Cream fried pie from the Hillbilly Market and a chocolate milk. The Hillbilly Market is supposedly known for their fried pies, but I thought mine was just okay.Dinner: A chicken burrito from Grey Eagle Taqueria. It was about the size of a Chipotle burrito and it had chicken, cheddar cheese, rice, black beans, and curtido (which is lightly fermented cabbage and other vegetables). It was a solid burrito and I'd get it again.Snack 2: Starburst jellybeans
Date: 2023-04-27
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today's hike started out okay, but ended less than pleasantly. When I left Hot Springs at about 8:45am, there was a very light sprinkle of rain. It only lasted about 30-45 minutes. It was a pretty decent climb almost the entire hike, but I've come to expect that whenever I leave a town, hostel, or hostel drop off. All these places, for geographical reason, are located in the gaps of the Appalachian Mountains. So it's always like several thousand feet to get down to them, then several thousand feet to get back up into the mountains when you leave.As I mentioned, it stopped raining about 45 minutes after I started and remained that way for about 5 miles. It stayed cloudy, a little misty, and occasionally pretty windy. There were times where the wind gusts got so high that even though I was moving, I still got a little chilly at times.Unfortunately starting at around noon, the rain started back up again. It never got to a torrential pour like I've been in before, but it was a steady light to medium rainfall all the way until I got tobthe shelter. Even now it is still coming down fairly consistently, though I'm hoping it let's up long enough that I can go get some water without getting soaked.One good thing is that I got to the shelter at just the right time. It's very small, I think the guide says it's built for five, but we were able to fit six, and there were already three people in it when I got here. It was maybe 30 minutes later when enough people had shown up that there was no more room. So, no pitching a tent in the rain for me today.The weather is supposed to be equally bad, if not worse, tomorrow. I haven't decided yet whether I'll just hike the 8 miles to the next shelter, or the 15 to the one after that. It'll depend on what the weather is like in the morning and how I'm feeling when I get to that first shelter.Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, a large slice of Virginia ham, home fries, and two pieces of wheat bread with strawberry jam.Snack: Second Nature Omega MixLunch: It was raining, so I didn't stop for lunch.Snack 2: Nice! Tropical Trail Mix Dinner: Peak Chicken Coconut Curry
Date: 2023-04-28
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Little Laurel Shelter 
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was a short day, but it was pretty tough. Lots of uphill climbs and not many flat areas. I did stop at the Southern Cookie Lady's house, which is right off the AT for a nice peanut butter cookie. She also had fresh water and garbage cans, which is always welcomed.When I got to the first shelter, which was only about 8.6 miles from where i started for the day, it was only about noon. But almost as soon as I got here the cloud cover rolled in and shortly after that it started raining. I just decided that I didn't want to hike in the rain again, so I'm staying at this shelter for the night. The weather tomorrow looks like it might be nicer until the late afternoon, so I'll see about making up some of the miles then.Breakfast: 4 blueberry fig nuggets. Snack 1: Nice! Tropical Trail Mix Trail Magic: Peanut Butter cookie from the Southern Cookie LadyLunch: Peanut butter and Omega Mix tacoSnack 2: Boston cream pie honey bun. It was good, but had hardly any filling.Dinner: A package of Idahoan instant mashed potatoes with two packets of Great Value pulled pork. This was a good combination and was pretty filling.
Date: 2023-04-30
From: Rector Laurel Road

To: Sam's Gap/Nature's Inn Hostel
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: light rain

As expected, the climb up and over Lick Rock was tough. I'm glad I decided to stay at the hostel, because even partially rested, the whole 8 miles to Sam's Gap was pretty difficult. Though I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I started at 3:00am.I went back and forth about getting up so early, but the guy that I was banking with had a major snoring problem. So, when I woke up for the third time at about 2:15am, I just decided to get up and get moving. In hindsight I don't know if it was the best decision or not, but I did make it to the hostel at about 8:30am, so I have spent most of the day being able to relax.It didn't rain a lot during the hike, light showers on and off a few times, but it was humid and damp the entire time so I still got pretty soaked. Night hiking is also an interesting experience. It's generally quiet and because your sight is limited, you're forced into a kind of tunnel vision as you're walking. It's also kind of nice to get where you're going, the sun is brand new, and you've already put on several miles for the day. However, I don't think I'll do it again soon unless I really have to. Because of the limited visibility, I have to concentrate harder on where I'm stepping, especially when going downhill. It also means that I woke up earlier, so I'm also not as rested as I could be. Maybe when it starts to get hotter I might reconsider, just to avoid hiking in the blistering sun.Breakfast: 4 Kind Dark Chocolate Cocoa breakfast barsLunch: Great Value meat lasagna at the hostelSnack: An orange Dinner: A baked potato with pulled pork and house made BBQ sauce. It was overall good, but they didn't have any olive oil that I could rub the potato with so the skin was extra crispy.Dessert: A Fat Boy ice cream sandwich and a Dr. Pepper
Date: 2023-05-02
From: Spivey Gap

To: River Rd/Uncle Johnny's Hostel/Erwin, TN
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: moderate rain

Last night or maybe early morning it did rain at the campsite a few times where I stayed. Fortunately it was very light and didn't last long. It wasn't even enough to leave the ground wet in the morning when I woke up. It's still a bit chilly in the mornings, but not terrible. Once I'm up and moving, I warm up pretty quick.Terrain wise the hike was pretty easy. As usual there were some pretty sharp inclines, but for the most part it was pretty flat. Though a lot of the flat parts were either fairly rocky or fairly rooty, so it did do a number on my feet. Also, there was like a 2 mile stretch where I really had to go to the bathroom, but it was literally a 60 degree incline on one side of me and a 60 degree decline on the other side of me. That was an uncomfortable few miles.Though the trail doesn't go directly through Erwin, TN like it did Hot Springs, it is close enough that like Hot Springs, you can see it from the trail quite a while before you actually get to it (or in this case as close as you can get, which is about 3 miles). I think from the first time I saw it, it was about an hour before I actually got there.Despite the easiness of the terrain itself, for whatever reason I still hard a hard time of it today. Maybe it was pushing myself a little too hard yesterday since I got such a late start. I'm staying at Uncle Johnny's hostel, which is right off the trail and neat Erwin. Hopefully a good nights rest is all I need, but I may take an unplanned zero tomorrow depending on how I feel when I wake up. I'd rather not if I don't have to, but I've got to take care of myself if I want to make it all the way to Maine.Breakfast: 4 Nature's Bakery Blueberry Fig BarsSnack: Package of peanut butter crackers.Lunch: I got to the hostel right around noon, so I didn't really get a lunch. They have a store here, but I guess there was only one person working at the time and he was gone to shuttle some people into town. They didn't have a very good selection anyway. Recovery Drink: 2 Yoo-hoos. I would have preferred chocolate milk, but that's all they had.Early dinner: 3 piece chicken meal with fries and mac and cheese at bojangles.Dessert: A bottom cream and butter pecan donut from Dunkin DonutsLate snack: 3/4 of a bag of brocolli, cauliflower, and carrots and a pint of chocolate milk. It was too much.
Date: 2023-05-03
From: Uncle Johnny's Hostel 

To: Unaka Mountain
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: clear sky

I was feeling good this morning, so I decided to go ahead and get back on the trail. Now that I'm at my camping spot tonight, I'd say it was the right choice. In fact, though the trail wasn't too bad, I'd say that mentally this was one of my best days yet. I was still about as sore as usual when I got to camp, but I still felt really good.I think yesterday I just pushed myself a little too hard and didn't eat enough throughout the day. I think another thing that may have helped today was that I didn't have any kind of urgency to get to my destination. I knew I wasn't staying at a shelter, so I didn't have to hurry to try and get a spot. The weather forecast was great, so I didn't have to hurry and try to beat the rain. And since I knew I was going to a campsite, I didn't really have to worry about finding a spot. If it was full, I had enough time to just fund another. It allowed me to just hike at a decent, but not hurried pace. I also took a couple of snack breaks and a good lunch break. I made sure to get plenty of food when I resupplied at Food City yesterday. My next resupply is scheduled for 4 days, but i probably have enough food for 6. Like I said, I was still sore as ever when i got to the campsite, but I wasn't also mentally exhausted as well.I actually did end up hiking an extra mile and a half. I was going to stay at a campsite in Beauty Spot Gap, but when I looked on Farout, there were comments under the Unaka Mountain waypoint that said it was like tenting in a park or an enchanted forest. I couldn't pass that chance up and I have to say I can understand where they are coming from. The entire summit of Unaka is just a bunch of Spruce trees. The ground is covered in Spruce pine needles so it's very soft. I've got a couple of pictures (or I will when my reception is good enough to upload them) that give an idea of what it looks like.So far I'm the only person at thus tent site, so this may end up being the first time I've spent the night somewhere by myself. Hopefully this enchanted forest doesn't become a horror forest at night.Breakfast: An individual serving of Honey Nut Cherrios and an individual serving of Frosted Mini WheatsSnack 1: A Snickers and some dried fruit mix.Lunch: Some summer sausage, cheddar cheese, and dried mangos.Snack 2: Dried fruit Dinner: A large ham and cheese sandwich that I got from the Food City deli section yesterday. It was very bready.Dessert: Sour Patch Kids