morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-13
From: Springer Mtn

To: Hawk Mtn shelter
Miles today: 7.9

What a great day today was. At Hawk Mtn Shelter now! Sleep in until 7:30, was up and out by 9. O yeah, last night there where 6 of us in the shelter. Me, Frankster, Turbo, Pocahontas, Achilles, anda guy who I call Glee, the last two are just here for a weekend trip. We are all here tonight minus Turbo and Pocahontas. Turbo is 18 and his base pack weight is 10lbs!! Wow!! I'm so about to ditch some stuff at Neels Gap prob gona have to spend money I don't really have budgeted to buy new stuff. The 45lbs is a little to heavy. Hoping to cut at least 10-15 ivs. I'm shipping clothes home, all my hammock except for the dry fly, I'll us it as a shelter. Sending some other unneeded things, and prob gona buy a new pack. The things I will keep are my clothes I'm hiking in, one sweater to sleep in, my zero Degree until it gets warmer( thanks Wendy! It's a life saver on the cold mountains), my rain jacket(sending the pants back), prob going to change out my stove for a alcohol one, ditching the water pump for a new one that is only .3oz, keeping half the med for sleep and pain( rest going back), my water bottle is going!, ooo I could go on about the changes, but I will digress. LolOn a most awesome note, it only took me 2 hours to get to the falls today. I waited for Certain, she arrived around 12:55. It was so awesome finally meeting. She thru-hiked the AT in 2007/2008. He journal is a great read! We takes online for about a year before 2007 when we both planned to hike the AT. We were to meet half way, but as life turned out I didn't make it. When I knew I was going to hike again this year I e-mailed her and just our luck she was going to be up here this weekend and we were able to meet. She's hiking with a wonderful group of ladies who remind me a lot of my Gals from Mississippi. She gave me a AT charm to take all the way to Mt. Katahdin. She did the same when she hiked so its a good luck charm. We said our goodbyes. Really great time. I also meet Daddy Longlegs who hiked in 1987, wow. Very nice meeting him. Today was a really great second day of hiking/ 1st official day of hiking on the AT. I've already eaten dinner and now just enjoying the hammock since I'll only have it two more days. My soul feels so at peace here. 5:22Steps-23,179Floors-12510.33 milesLater!!!!
Date: 2013-04-14
From: Hawk Mtn shelter

To: Lance Creek
Miles today: 16.2

Today was an amazing day. I woke up at 5:10am energized to hike, so I packed up and headed out! I started the decent into hightower gap then to Horseshoe gap then cooper gap. I'm going to admit to my stupidity right now!! So I always wondered why do thy call them gaps??? In the past I was thinking to myself, these are small valleys, well I understand now. It just hit me on the trail, "It's like gap toothed people"!!! My ahhh haaaa moment on the trail! I could totally see a gap toothed person while hiking today. Lol Well back to hike, I was blessed with great weather for most of the day. I had an amazing sunrise as I hiked over the first mountain, don't ask me which one cause the guide book doesn't say, I kinda think that should change!!! I did 3 very step mountains, but my "Bottle Tops" candy really helped me make it. I saw many squirrels, chipmunks, and two bears!!! Yay!!! Day three and bears!!! They ran away before I could get pics but it was great! I caught up to Steph and Kathleen they told me i had just climbed Sassafras mtn and i was shocked!! i thought that was after Blood Mtn tomorrow??? Ive read a lot of people's post saying that is harder than Blood Mtn. if so then I'm not as worried as I was about Blood, I thought (although step) Sassafras and Justus were ok. Then they headed out from Justus creek where I got resupplied water. At Gooch Mtn I met them again and did lunch... Peaches and cream oatmeal and tuna yummy!! Lol it gave me much needed energy I had just hiked 7.7 miles, and just needed more energy to keep on cause I felt great still. Steph and Kathleen headed on again. It then started to rain a little on my way to Woody gap. I put on my rain jacket and pack cover. I caught back up at Woody gap (my first major rood crashing - Ga 60). We then hiked on about 20 min in it started to rain harder and the wind picked up a lot. It was like this until we reached Lance Creek, a great stop today. I'm using just my Dryfly as a tarp and sleeping on the ground ( well ontop of my Big Angus) it's not the best setup, but I'll deal with all this tomorrow when I make it to Neel Gap. That's where I'll change what I can, cause changes are needed to this setup. It was really a great day and I feel good. Great views, great people to hike with, great climbs, and now fun learning a lesson about hiking gear. I might be a little wet in the AM. Lol oooo well. My fitbit stats today (although I know they are off by a few miles due to my small steps taken today uphill):Steps 45,610Floors 365Miles 20.37Later
Date: 2013-04-15
To: Bull Gap
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: light rain

Another amazing day! I started at 4:50 this morning I couldn't sleep anymore so just headed out. Wasn't much to see in the first two hours since I was hiking by headlamp and the mist in the air didn't allow me to see much. It had me thinking a lot tho. How life use to be a lot like hiking by a headlamp with little sight to the future. This year has really helped me see what my future can be and I'm very happy with the direction so far! So I made it to Blood Mtn, the hike for me wasn't all that bad, the only tough part (if you can say that, was going down Blood Mtn but to me it was exiting!)Then made it to Neels Gap and Mountain Crossings outfitter!! Just a great place. I had an Oreo ice cream bar, 3 Yoohoos, a hotdog, and Oreo cookies!! Yummy!! I then shipped lots of stuff home, and bought several items to make the journey much lighter and better. A Big Angus UL1 (great deal), therms rest sleeping pad UL, new filter (3ozs from the 1lb one I had), just a great day of getting my pack down from 45lbs to 34 with food and water. And soon if I can afford a new pack I'll loose 2 more lbs!! Yay!!! The staff at MC are the best! Meet lots of great people people today, No Rush, Ginger Guy(don't know his name), two chicks from NJ, True and her dog Villy. This community of people are great and so positive! Today's stats per FitBit:Steps 25,141Flights 198Miles 12.99Later!!
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

So tonight looks like an early night. Lots of rain and I'm in my tent already. Lucky it held off for about an hour so we could eat and set up camp. NOTE: I have been spelling Kathleen's name wrong. It is Catlian. So today I slept in a little got packed slowly. Then Me, Catlian, and Daniel left camp headed to Tray Mtn Shelter. Im really glad to have only done 7.7 miles today cause my feet needed a rest from pushing them the last few days. Also today was a lot of straight up and down then up then down!! Etc. I must say it is well worth it tho. The camp site we chose is amazing with a wonderful view. I might think otherwise when the lightning rolls in, but for now it's awesome! So me and Catlian gave Daniel a trail name we think he likes. Speak Easy Stumble. The first part I want go into but he seems to stumble on everything. It's pretty funny. These two are great spirits on this journey. Today was tough but amazing views!I'm thinking tonight is going to be movie night. I rented Pitch Perfect and still haven't watched it, so thunderstorm night will be movie night!! Yay!!!! Fitbit stats:Steps - 24,828Floors - 283Miles - 11.06
Date: 2013-04-24
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

4/23/2013 17.4 miles FitBit Steps 43,437 Floors 460 Miles 19.35 Great day with some amazing views. I'd say the best views to date. Could see the Smokies today from Wayah Bald lookout. It's a beautiful stone structure that tells you what your looking at umrah direction. The hike up to Wayah was pretty tough today tho. Kinda cold in the morning and I was sweating like crazy!!! It was worth the view tho. You could see at least 30miles in each direction. Meet a guy in top called 3 man because he's carrying a 3 person tent. He says he is closterphobic, funny. The next big hike of the day was up to Wesser Bald Observation Tower. It was prob the toughest hike thus far for several reasons. 1. It was 770 feet up in 1.4 miles, 2 it was extremely hot, 3 I wasn't feeling all that well. Not sure if its just the long miles I'm not use to on the body or the Hot/Cold/Hot/Rain....etc. When we (oooo yeah spell correction again!!! Lol Caitlin, not Catlian... Lol ) finally made it to the shelter I knew I wasn't going to put up the tent (We Includes Caitlin and Danie). I took several pills ate some Red Beans and rice, and a PB&J tortilla Yummy!! I went to bed around 8:20. Between the pills and my feeling bad I needed the rest. To bad the nice didn't know this. I think the ran around until 1am. I hope they are happy with the crumbs they got. Lol 4/24/2013 5.7 miles. So today was pretty rough. I woke up feeling kinda sick still. Although it was a lot of down today I did have one nice view that I shared with Britain (a guy who shared the shelter with me Caitlin and Daniel last night. Most of the day was spent ready for some Chocolate Milk... The most awesome part about today was that I encountered a snake that did not like me very much. Lol Made it to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) in about 2 hours. It's really great here. I'm choosing to stay the night due to the way I feel. Don't want to ruin my trip cause I have a 24hr cold. Took a shower already and Caitlin and Daniel have taken off for the next site. I'm sure I'll see them in a couple days cause I think they are going to spend a day/night in Gatlinburg. That should have us meeting up again next week. Pray that I feel better tomorrow. The Bed and hot shower hopefully will help. Now just watching the US Freestyle Tram Trials (kayaking). Later!!!!
Date: 2013-05-04
From: Max Patch service road

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: few clouds

5/3/2013 Miles 20.4FitBit is messing up??? Ugh. Prob the condensation. Max Patch USFS road to Hot Springs, NCToday was later start than I wanted, but I got great sleep tenting. No Snoring!!!! Yay!!! Left camp around 7:50am and headed up to the summit of Max Patch. Really nice easy uphill. Although there was no view due to the fog/clouds it was still pretty cool cause the wind was blowing so hard I could barely hear myself think. I really do think if I would have had a big kite I could have flown, it really was fun. The day was mostly spent doing very easy ups and downs (For the most part). Bluff Mtn was prob the hardest climb of the day, but that only lasted about 20 min. I actually did a little (very little) trail running today. Mostly on the downhills. I made the hike from camp to Lemon Gap in about 2hrs & 30min. Then the rest of the day in about 4- 4&1/2hrs. 20.4 miles in around 7 hours is a good day. So on top of one of the peaks I was able to get ATT to connect long enough to chat with my sister Toi while I hiked. It's always good talking to family. I also called and tried to get a room, but places were full, so I posted on FB for someone to check for me. When I made it to Hot Springs the first hostel I get to Laughing Heart lodge I walked up to see if they had Internet and "Chuck Norris" (not the actor) was here and I explained why I needed it. He then said I already had a room here, that someone had called for me. WORD!!!!! Thanks, still not sure who called but I was happy. Went into town did laundry, and got some Chocolate Milk.... Yummy!!!! Ran into Mercury and he said he had a bed for me already at SunnyBank... Dang we need to start talking before we leave camp. Killer bunked with him tho, and I'll stay with him tonight. Had some great conversation with Killer, Patches, GrillCheese, Pickles, and Ghost. Then came back to relax, journal, and sleep in a comfy bed!!! Great Day!! Later!!!!!
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Hot Springs

To: Deep Gap camping
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

5/4/2013Zero dayWell slept good last night at the Laughing Heart Hostel. Very friendly people here. After I got a fan for the room cause the guy in the next room snored... What is it with the snoring already... Lol Just hung out for a couple hours at the local coffee/art studios shop. Also went by a local ministry for the town and chatted with a really nice lady who helps run the place. Got back to SunnyBank where I stayed for the night, and watched Cloud Atlas. The place is very old, like 175years old or something. But has a great horror movie vibe about it. Which I love. Very comfy bed!!! 5/5/2013 13milesFrom HotSprings to Deep GapSo really not a lot to say about today. We all slept in due to the rain and I seriously debated staying another night. But hey that's why I'm out here. To experience the journey. Even in the freezing/windy/rain. BTW that's the combination I don't like. Went and had a great breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. The food is great!!! Saw G-Ma there. What a great lady!!! 71/smoker/and hiking the AT!! She inspires everyone she meets. And boy what a great spirit. Just so positive!! Left out and got some FaceTime on the Internet with Kathy before me, Mercury, and Killer headed for a trip in the rain. The start of the day wasn't that bad due to the lower elevations, but when we got up above 4,000 it started to get cold windy and raining more. I was soaked and def ready to stop by the time we got to the shelter, which was a little over 10 miles in. Me and Mercury were ahead of Killer so we decided to push on another 2+ miles to get to Deep Gap, where btw there is no stream as both guide books indicated. And it's raining??? Strange. Jungle Jim showed up and pitched tent beside us, then Killer came in. She mentioned that 4 miles away was a hostel/bunks, but instead of going we just stayed here. We all pretty much just got in our tents to get dry and warm. It's pretty cold tight now even in my zero degree, mainly my feet will not warm up. It still is raining. Really hoping that it lightens up enough by the morning to get everything packed to hike in the rain again. I'll also have to put on wet clothes because FrogTogs are not waterproof as they said they were. I give them 2 stars out of 5 just because they kinda keep me warmer than nothing, and they kinda block the wind ("kinda" is the key word)!!! Well since I'm in the tent for the remanded of the night. It's just 7:43, I'll be watching two episodes of a Scifi show called Defiance. It's good so far. Well nite world!!! Later!!!!!
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Deep Gap camping

To: Flint Gap Campsite
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

5/6/2013 18.7 milesFrom Deep Gap campsite to Flint Gap campsite. Short words for thought about yesterday before I begin today. So if your ever at a privy and you accidentally drop all your T.P. in the privy (don't ask), Snicker Bar wrappers from your pocket do work!!! Just Saying!!! "Ask and it shall be give to you"..... "Where two or more agree"!!! Yeah I just put some scriptures together, but boy was this the truth today. So I'm laying in my tent this morning not wanting to hike in the rain. I then around 8:10 decided that it was time to get up and put on my wet clothes. Laying in the tent and whining in my head cause of the rain is not what I came to do. Upon getting out Killer poked her head out it was just sprinkling from the tree drops at this point which made it easier to pack everything up. I saw some blue sky in a little part of the sky and told Killer, Mercury, and Jungle Jim I just said a prayer that it would be nice and not rain today. I then asked if they agreed, and all said yes!!! Wow!!! Thanks Jesus cause it worked. I was just happy the first hour that it wasn't raining, but more and more blue sky came out during the morning, and I have you know that no rain today!!! Woohoooo!!! So the trail today was that much more beautiful than if it had rained. My goal to start out the day was to camp before "Big Butt Mtn" for real that's the name!!!! Lol which was around 15miles. With the great weather I got in 18.7. The start was pretty steep up hill to the tower. No real view, but I had Att signal and utilized it with several calls and a TJ update. "Hump" was up there and he had just paid some guy who was the son of the Hostel they stayed at and he forgot to pay on his rush out this morning. The guy came to find him for $26. After this the trail went thru some great rocky areas with some super awesome overlooks of the valley. The the trail split kinda Good weather go right, bad weather go left. I got to go right cause of the great day of weather, wowzer!!! Just beautiful and fun. The trail was on rocky ridge line for a good mile or so, and the views were some of the best so far. After this the trail went down again toward the shelter that I only stopped at to get water. Then I headed up again as usual after a shelter. It was a doozy, but then this turned into a whole new hike where we hiked on fields upon the tips of mtns and down nicely graded trail. The trail actually was part of some type of ATV road but it was a nice easy hike. We then passed thru an area known as Shelton Graves. Yes there are graves but it is a magical looking place. After another easy .4 miles or so the trail went down down down, then who do I see Mercury and he has already set up camp. Says the shelter is about .8 miles away, but I'm hanging here with him. We were both happy when we realized we hiked 18.7 miles today. Then around 8 Killer showed up. Now it's around 9:25 and I'm about to crash!!! Gona try to make it to Erwin by Wed sometime. Later!!
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Flint Gap Campsite

To: Campsite South of Spring Gap
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

5/7/2013 12.7Deep Gap campsite to side campsite mile south of Spring Gap. Well we were blessed with another beautiful hike today, well up until say 30min ago.. Lol My goal today was to make it to Low Gap, which is about 3 miles north of here, but when the rain came down I made the executive decision to stop at the area I'm at now by a spring some 10 feet away. So here is how the day has gone. Up up up up up up and more up. A couple beautiful views today, so I can't complain to much. The interesting part of the day was meeting people who have been reading my Trail Journals. Its nice to get live positive feedback. Meet several folks today, but the only one I can remember the name for is RobCop. Very nice guy with a brace on one leg, hence the name. Very positive spirit to him. So as I said the day was mostly up, not overly tough, just a little upset with the rain right now. It's suppose to be rain and thunderstorms all day tomorrow. Sucks!!!! But very much a part of the journey!! I set up camp here cause I was like, better to only have one day/night of cold wet clothes than two. So tomorrow ill set out in the rain and end in it looks like. Unless I'm willing to hike 24 miles tomorrow and hitch a ride into Erwin and stay a night. Hmmmm options?? Lol Well for now I'm mostly dry (my tent got a little wet inside while setting up) and glad of it. Blessed to have another day on the trail!!! Just a side note. I have not worked In over a month, and I have less than 1,900 miles to go!!! Woohoooo!! Keep prayers coming!!! Later!!!
Date: 2013-05-08
From: Campsite South of Spring Gap

To: Temple Hill Gap
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: scattered clouds

5/8/2013 20From Spring South of Street Gap to Temple Hill GapAs they use to say in church. "How Good Is He??""ALL THE TIME"!!! That's how today feels. So I woke up to no rain, and looked at the forecast. It said no rain until 11am then thunderstorms afternoon. So I slept another our and headed out at 7:20 exactly. The climb was pretty easy, up but a decent incline most of the hike up to Big Bald. (There was one moment i was like, "please make the uphills stop", but then remembered that it wasn't raining and stopped the complaint.) One of the three climbs I'd have today. Big Bald was foggy and windy, so no real views. As I was headed down to get to US 19 I did take my first whip out!!! And I felt stupid for it. I mean yes there was lots of mud and such all day on the trail, but I was looking at a tree, then stepped down to a rock I knew was there. I guess I had to much mud on my shoe so I just keep going down. Lucky me Old Yeller caught me on my bottom so my butt didn't hit the rock. Thank goodness for old wood hiking sticks. The rest of the day I was a lot more careful. Reached US 19/Spivey GapWow what a climb out if there. The only easy part of it was that you have a nice stream to enjoy going up. Then it was a nice grade (mosty down) going from the top to the shelter "No Business Knob Shelter". I made it 17.6 in exactly 7 hours. It was 2:20 when I arrived. Wow!! Great time. I chatted for a bit with two guys, then headed out to finish my 2.4 miles to Temple Hill. Temple Hill isn't really a camping place, it's a cross section where another trail meets the AT. Me am Mercury are here for the night. Lucky for us it has not rained all day until 15 min ago... All dry in the tent!!! Yes!!!! ALL THE TIME!!!!!! Tomorrow is just 3.4 into Erwin where I will resupply and stay the night. Later!!
Date: 2013-05-09
From: Temple Hill Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel Erwin TN
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: light rain

5/9/2013 3.9Well last night was interesting! I had taken a sleeping pill, so when I heard a loud engine I just thought I was dreaming. Nope!! Someone in a truck decided to drive up the side trail that we were camped on that crosses the at at Temple Hill Gap... Really!!!! Me and Mercury were kinda shocked and his words to me were "You better help if they try to linch me". :-) we laughed, but both knew this was something that could happen in the backwoods. Lucky they just made a u-turn and went back down. We noticed in the morning that the truck came about 6ft from our tents. Crazy!!! Today has been pretty relaxing. Only did 3.9 miles into Erwin where I'm staying the night at Uncle Johnny's for the night. Had a good breakfast and ate lunch at McD's!!!! Free wifi. Saw Daniel today, he's been sick and had to go to the hospital. He's better now, but he looked pretty bad earlier. Killer said she had gotten sick also, but is much better after a nights rest sat the Super 8. Her and her Dad are slack packing from US 19 to here so she can make up for the lost miles yesterday. Her mom is great, she reads romance novels like my mom use to. Very good conversation with her. Walked around the business district of Erwin, all of 10 min, and came across Gay Street. Lol Just chilled the rest of the day at the Hostel. Chatted with several hikers. Stealth, Jim the Machine, Jungle Jim, RobCop, Malarky, and Tumbleweed. Great times! Later!!!