morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-03-17
From: Rice Fields Shelter

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 12.7

Rainy and cold day on top the mountain that finally cleared as I made the descent toward Pine Swamp Shelter. I wrote in the shelter at Rice Fields how the ATC would like to break up the "bubble" and spread people out. I wanted to do my part. However. This is a solitary hike and it is not cutting it for me. It is not the miles but the smiles and I did not bring a mirror. I don't what else to say L. P. if you take the people out of the woods, it becomes just rocks and trees.
Date: 2015-03-18
From: Pine Swamp Shelter

To: home
Miles today: 2.4

Having abrubtly discontinued all communication in this journal. I did not want anyone jumping to conclusions on rumors of an alien abduction. So I thought it proper to quiet such fallacies with an update. Most could tell quickly from journal entries that loneliness is a huge weakness in my personality and that my days were numbered in Virginia. A lonely night in the Pine Swamp Shelter re-enforced such conclusions. I made the short walk to the highway crossing and had a bite to eat and was determined to continue at least to Glascow. Alas I continued across the highway at Stoney Creek only to lose the trail a half mile in. Backtracked and navigated the section once more and still no trail. Another attempt was again fruitless. Once more back on the asphalt I made my way towards town and accepted defeat. Fortunes as it would be turned positive on getting home and I was in Ronoake on a bus home before dark.
Date: 2016-11-28
From: home

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It took me over a year to prepare myself mentally to bring conclusion to this AT Journal. It was hard somehow to accept that something that I had planned for and dreamed of for so long had come to such a short conclusion. I have read countless journals and pay homage to those that succeed. But more often than not they end in what would appear to some as failure. I have the view that an incomplete hike is just a change in itinerary. It does certainly bring one to humility. So much of who you are is invested in the hike. Expense of so much resource only to abort ones goal.But as I reflect on this dream for the present abandoned. I have not been left stagnant as have thought for many months. But only today in ending the post that I realize that I have continued to have great adventure. This perhaps is the common theme for the vast majority that abort their hike. I think that in seeking to fulfill that need for adventure they simply move to a different outlet.
Date: 2014-11-27
To: This is it!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, after several years of talking about hiking the AT we have decided that 2015 is the year for us. My wife of 30 years and I have been reading everything we can on the AT including journals on this site and it has been a real pleasure listening to others adventures on the AT. I can only hope we will have as much fun.
Date: 2014-11-29
To: Hike on the River Lark
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a beautiful day here in England, especially for the end of November. We did a very nice 7 mile hike along the River Lark. This was one of hundreds of public footpaths here in England. We have been trying to do a good hike every weekend for the past year so we are hopefully as prepared as we can be for our AT hike. Depending on the weather, we may do another hike tomorrow.
Date: 2014-11-30
To: Going Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

After nearly 20 years living outside the USA, the last 16 years being in the United Kingdom, we have made the decision to move back to the good 'ole USA. We will miss many things about living in the UK. Especially the network of public footpaths throughout the country. This is a walkers paradise. From the village we live in we can hike to numerous other villages by utilizing the network of footpaths. The majority of these footpaths are on private property but they are open to the public. It was through our enjoyment of spending many weekends hiking the footpaths across the UK that we started thinking of completing a long distance hike of the AT. We have spent the past few years reading all we could on the AT and taking recommendations on what equipment we should get to complete the hike. We have been buying and testing our gear over the last year or so and I believe we have everything we need to start. I guess we'll know for sure once we start. We are looking forward to meeting and getting to know the hiker class of 2015.
Date: 2015-01-07
To: This is the year
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Well, it's 2015 now and this is the year we will be attempting our through hike. We have been talking about this and prepping for this for a few years now and it's hard to believe we will be starting in just a few short months. I hope all our fellow 2015 through hikers had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We had a wonderful last Christmas here in England. Our Son was home from University in the states so we enjoyed having him back in the house for a few weeks. We spent a week in Germany going to Christmas markets and enjoying some bratwurst and drinking lots of gluhwein. During our 16 years of living in England we have been to the German Christmas markets 14 of those years. That is one thing we will definitely miss about living in England. We continue to do some local hiking when time permits so hopefully we will be in OK shape to start the trail. I'm sure we will both still be quite sore after the first few days but maybe not as sore as we would have been without doing any training. This past weekend we went on a 7 mile hike on one of the local footpaths near the village we live in. It was a nice hike along a river most of the way and then through some wooded areas. We are keeping busy with our move back to the states. Our household goods are to be packed up on the 21st and 22nd of this month and then we are to complete the sale of our house on the 23rd. As of now we are looking at flying back to the states on February 1st. Then it will be time to finish up buying any last minute items we need for the trail and continuing our training until we start our hike the first week in April.
Date: 2015-02-09
To: PT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

About a month ago we began training again more regularly (4 to 5 days a week)for our upcoming thru hike. We had gotten away from doing much training for several months with everything that is going on in our lives at this time. Now that our household goods have been packed up and are on a ship on the way back to the states and we have sold our home here in the UK, we can get back to preparing for our hike. This past Saturday we did a 12mile hike around the village of Barrow in Suffolk county. It was a pretty typical day weather wise here in the UK. Quite overcast with a slight bit of rain. The trail was crazy muddy and several times we had to stop and try to get all the mud off our boots because they were becoming so heavy. Still, we had a great day and it made me realize how much I will miss the Public footpaths that cross just about everywhere here in the UK. Today we did a PT session with one of the Air Force folks that we work with. SSGT Haney forgets sometime that we are more than twice his age. He definitely worked us out hard today! I will be feeling this workout even more tomorrow I'm sure. Brian has been a great training partner and friend here in the UK. We will sure miss him when we are gone. I know we will be in much better shape than we would have been if we wouldn't have been working out with him. Best of luck to all the hikers already on the trail and to those about to start. We look forward to meeting some of you soon!
Date: 2015-02-21
To: Cold weather test hike
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, we have been back in the states for nearly a week now and it has been snowing and crazy cold since we got back. What were we thinking moving back to the states???? I haven't seen this cold of weather since we left the states 20 years ago. I guess it can only get warmer from where we are now. We went on a 6 mile hike this morning to test out our cold weather gear and I'm happy to report that for the most part we were warm and comfortable despite the fact that it was only 15 degrees when we started out and it snowed the entire time we were hiking. My toes were the only thing that was cold during the hike. I know now that I will need to wear 2 pairs of socks when the weather is this cold. I'm hoping that since we are starting out the first week of April we won't see temperatures this cold. The mittens we used kept our hands nice and warm and the beanies we bought worked well in keeping our head warm. Connie used her balaclava and was very please how well it kept her head and face warm. The Smart Wool thermals we both used worked great. I would definitely recommend the Smart Wool thermals. They are very comfortable and keep you nice and warm without sweating. All in all a good test hike for our cold weather gear. We are hoping to take a few more hikes over the next several weeks to test out the rest of our gear. To those on the trail now, best of luck and stay warm!
Date: 2015-03-04
To: Hiking in snow
Miles today: 0.0

It is hard to believe we are just 1 month away from starting our AT thru hike. We have been planning this hike for quite some time now and it has always seemed so far in the future but it is nearly here now. We did about a 6 mile hike the other day on a section of the AT here in Virginia. We started at Bears Den Rocks just off of Route 7. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid 30's. We had our packs at about 20 pounds which will be just under the 25-28lbs we are hoping to start off with. The trail had several inches of snow which made things a bit slippery. However, it was the freezing rain we had the day before that made it really difficult in some areas. We both had several slips and nearly fell at least a dozen times. Thank goodness for the hiking poles. I have a better appreciation now for how critical hiking poles are to keeping you upright. They saved us both more than once. I really feel for those who are on the trail now and hiking in this snow and ice. I hope you are all doing well. All in all a good practice hike and we learned a lot from it. I've uploaded a few photos of the hike and the beautiful scenery.
Date: 2015-03-12
To: Sugar Loaf Mountain
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we went on an eight mile warm up hike at Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf Mountain is located just outside of Frederick Maryland. I started out with my pack weighing about 24 pounds and Connie's pack was about 20 pounds. So this was a close approximation of what we hope our packs will weigh when we start or thru hike. it was a beautiful day with lots sunshine and blue sky. the trail was quite snowy still in some places but the temperature was in the mid fifties which was perfect hiking weather. There was some good elevation changes on the trail today which gave us a good workout. We were both feeling a bit worn out by the end of the hike and our feet were a bit sore. I guess we still have some getting in shape to do!
Date: 2015-04-04
From: This is it!

To: Sassafras Mountain 
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

In the beginning, day 1 of our thru hike is finally here!  After spending 2 nights with our son Tyler in Knoxville, he drove us to Springer Mountain to start the trail.  Tyler walked the 1 mile with us from the parking lot to the start of the trail and then walked back with us.  We said our goodbyes and then we started our adventure.  We had weighed our packs and they were heavier then we had hoped to start out.  my pack weighed in at 34lbs and Connie's pack weighed about 29 lbs.   we were both about  8 lbs over what we wanted to start.  We were planing on doing about 8 miles the first day but we're feeling pretty good so we ended up going nearly 11 and a half miles finishing up at Sassafras mountain.  We had a great first day of hiking.  The weather was wonderful, blue sky and sunshine.  At mile 4.3 we received our first trail magic.  the GA Outdoor Adventure club had a tent set up and they were serving hot dogs and burgers along with all kinds of snacks, fruit and drinks.  What a way to start the trail!  Can't  wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Date: 2015-04-05
From: Sassafras Mountain 

To: Lance Creek
Miles today: 12.8

We spent our first night in our tent, home sweet home.  we got up around 7:00 am, packed our gear and were on our way by 8 00.  We hiked about 3 miles to Justus Creek for breakfast.  Oatmeal, dehydrated apples (from the UK) and tea were served.  After cleaning up, we hiked with a few breaks until lunch at 13:30 on top of Ramrock Mountain. Someone had left poptarts, trail mix and pasta along the trail.  Guess it was too heavy.  We took a break and had a pack of s'more poptarts.  A nice long break to rest at lunch and then on to a long steep hike up to Preaching Rock.  With no rest for the weary, we pushed on to Lance Creek for the night.  This is the last place to stay before heading into bear country where a hard food canister is required.  Half of all Georgia must be hiking this weekend as the place was packed.  We set up camp along with everyone else.  Dinner, cleaning up and ready for bed by 20:30.  Yes, we are tired.
Date: 2015-04-06
From: Lance Creek

To: Whitley Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We awoke early this morning at 0530 and decided to get started hiking. It was 0630 by the time we broke camp and cleaned everything up. We had to use our headlights for about the first 45 minutes since it was still dark. Around 0800 it started to rain and we had to get the rain gear out and put our pack cover on. Today was going to be our first big climb of the trail, Blood Mountain. We started this morning at an elevation of 2880' and the top of Blood Mt. is 4461 feet high. We spent the whole hike up to the top of Blood Mt. in the rain and when we got to the top there was supposed to be a great view but all we saw was white clouds. We could only see about 50' the visibility was so bad. We continued on our hike and made it to Neel Gap around 1130. Neel Gap has the distinction of being the only place on the trail where the trail actually goes through a building. We had our lunch while there and then continued hiking in the rain all afternoon. Most of the time it was like hiking in a small stream since it was raining so hard and the water was always running down the trail. We had thought about spending the night at Whitley Gap Shelter but it was 1.2 miles off the trail and we decided to continue on. We ended up stopping around 1830 when we saw a small camping area just off the trail. We set up the tent in a downpour which was not a whole lot of fun. We had hiked about 17.3 miles today and we were exhausted! We hadn't planned on doing that many miles in one day this soon in the hike and we were both sore. It was good to get out of our wet clothes and put on our dry night clothes.I will say, if April showers bring May flowers then this part of GA should have a lot of flowers come May!
Date: 2015-04-07
From: Whitley Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We went to sleep last night to the sound of rain and wind. We had one area of the tent that had a small leak along one of the seams which made for a long night. By the time we woke in the morning I think everything we owned was wet. So, this morning we put on cold wet clothes to start the day. That will sure wake you up in the morning! At least it was only drizzling this morning and not a downpour. We hiked about 2.5 miles and then stopped at the Low Gap shelter and had breakfast, instant oatmeal. We saw Castle Builder (his trail name) there we met him yesterday at Neel Gap. He was just breaking camp and was getting ready to start hiking so we hiked with him for awhile. He is much younger then us and outpaced us in a short amount of time. It started clearing off and we were no longer walking in the mist of the clouds. After a very hard climb over moss covered rocks and walking in a steady stream of water, we arrived for lunch at the former Rocky Knob Shelter. The sun was shining so we took the opportunity to take off our boots and socks and have them dry. We also took out some wet items from yesterday to let the sun dry them. After lunch, we continued our way to Blue Mountain. This was not as hard as the previous climb but it was slow and steady to the top. We reach an elevation of 4025 and quickly hiked down to Unicoi Gap at 2949 feet in less than 1.5 miles. As we approached the road crossing, trail magic was waiting! Our fourth day on the trail and our second trail magic. How lucky are we? Tom, a thru hiker who hiked in 1975 was waiting with coolers full of cold water, soda and Gatorade. He also had snacks from Lance and Snyder's. (He is a rep for Snyder's.) The cold drinks were lovely as we were very hot from the humidity and the running down the mountain side! We chatted with Tom. We learnt his backpack from 1975, 40 years ago, is in the AT Museum. We will look for this when we pass through Harpers Ferry. We continued to chat with him and a few other thru hikers enjoying the trail magic while we waited for our shuttle to Best Western. Yes, we are going into town of Helen, GA for the night. We need to dry our equipment and reseal the seams of our tent. We didn't enjoy the rain coming through the tent seams last night.
Date: 2015-04-08
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Addis Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

After waking up at the Best Western we were at the Ace hardware store at 8 o'clock when it opened.   We bought the supplies we needed, headed back to our room and sealed the seams on our tent. We then went and had breakfast while the sealant dried. We were going to catch a ride back to the trail with the BW shuttle but we saw Tom from yesterday and he gave us a ride. We were back at the trail and hiking around 1030.   The climb out of Unicoi gap was brutal, we climbed for an hour straight. Coming down from this climb was a man and his two kids who were cooking hot dogs and they had lots of snacks and fruit.   Trail Magic is a wonderful thing. The next big climb of the day was to the top of Tray Mt. This was a 1300 foot elevation gain in just 2.5 miles. These climbs would have been hard anytime but it was in the eighties today and we were really hot since we didnt have any shorts with us. We werent expecting it to be this hot yet. We hiked the rest of the afternoon and called it a day at Addis Gap at 1830.   Dinner and then a half mile walk down a service road for water. While retrieving water, we enjoyed the cool water on our hot tired feet. It was very refreshing.
Date: 2015-04-09
From: Addis Gap

To: Blue Ridge
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

After a restless night of sleep, we were on the trail by 7:21. We hiked 2 1/2 miles to breakfast. While we were eating breakfast we saw a beautiful red headed woodpecker also enjoying breakfast. Another morning of up hill, hot hiking. We came down the mountain to Dick's Creek Gap. We took a break and a little bit of trail magic appeared. We were given a bottle of water and fruit snacks. Lots of hikers were going onto Hiawassee. It was tempting to leave the trail but we hiked on - all up hill for the next hour. We stopped for lunch on top of Bull Gap to relax and cool off. It was another hot, sunny day. Sweat was pouring out of us. After a nice rest, we continued on another few miles to call it an early day at 4:30. We set up camp and took an hour to finally relax before dinner. We had a beautiful camp site on a little knoll. After dinner we watched a beautiful sunset and had a nice evening by a campfire. Four other hikers were camping also, Rollo, Ghost, Walkman and Matt. After a bit of socializing, we all hit the sleeping pads at hikers midnight, 8:30.
Date: 2015-04-10
From: Blue Ridge

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: moderate rain

We woke early this morning, 0630 and we were out of camp and hiking by 0715. We reached the GA/NC border in less than a hour. Hurray! We finished our first state! We were taking pictures at the border sign when it started to rain.   So out came the rain gear and cover for the backpacks.   We then hiked for the next 2 hours in a downpour. We finally stopped at a shelter and we made some hot tea. It stopped raining while we were at the shelter so we continued hiking. About an hour later it started pouring again.   Coming down off the one mountain we saw a trailer by a service road and we were hoping it was going to be some trail magic, but no such luck. We continued hiking in the rain across a rocky trail which was very slippery since it was wet. We stopped for lunch in a shelter to get out of the wind and rain. Of course, it stopped raining. We decided to continue hiking. The path was a stream of water. Slippery, muddy and just mucky. (North Carolina has some black soil.) We heard scratching in the brush, we were hoping for our first bear. No, it was a grouse with his feathers displayed. What a sight to see. We were covering more distance and feeling well. So we continued passed our original site to camp. Just as we were approaching a camp site, it started to rain yet again. We decided to stop at this point. We had completed 14 1/2 miles. A good distance given the weather. The rain stopped. We set up our tent. And hung our wet socks and rain gear on the trees. We continued to set up our sleeping items and put our packs in the tent and it started to down pour again. We made dinner in the tent. While eating, we remembered our socks outside. Guess we get to wear clean socks tomorrow. We ventured out of our tent to find others camping. Ghost from last night, Big Jim who we met at our first trail magic, Cashmere and her friend. We talked and found out the camper was trail magic but we had been to early. Oh well.. more trail magic down the trail we hope.
Date: 2015-04-11
From: Beech Gap

To: Wallace Gap
Miles today: 16.0

We left camp around 7:36 this morning and started our day's hike. In a short distance we caught up with Big Jim and hiked with him the rest of the day. Around 0900 we stopped for breakfast.   It was a chilly morning so we opted for some oatmeal.   We continued hiking the rest of the morning and made good time because there were no big climbs. That ended at 1215 when we started the climb up Albert Mt. This was the hardest climb yet, the last 400 feet of elevation climb was done in just .2miles. At some points it was like rock climbing. Rock climbing anytime is hard but try it with 30 pounds on your back! We finally made it to the top and were rewarded with a great 360 degree view from the top. We even climbed up the fire tower for a better view. We also reached the 100 mile point here!! Only 2087 more miles to go but who is counting! We had lunch here and hiked on again. Just past Long Branch Shelter was a stream and a nice waterfall and we took a short break here. We continued on to Rock Gap and found a coke someone had left by the trail for a bit of trail magic. Of course we took it with us and the next place we stopped to filter water we left the coke can in the water awhile to cool it off. We only hike another half mile or so and stopped for the day. We split the coke with Big Jim, never had a coke tasted so good. We hiked about 16 miles today and we were beat. Hiker's midnight hit us early.