morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-08-21
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Damascus 
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: scattered clouds

It was fairly bright in the woods last night with the moon almost full, but for reasons unknown, I just couldn¢t seem to fall asleep until 10:30 or so. Both Quiksilver and I were trail-ready at 6:45 for our NERO into Damascus.It was a mostly ho-hum treadway with one view and one 500 foot climb. Though we did encounter a bear crossing the trail in front of us about 50 feet away - which makes my 10th bear of the trip. While we hiked we could occasionally see the Virginia Creeper Trail off to our left, a former railroad line that had been converted into a bike/walking path that is mildly graded and travels along a beautiful mountain river.  But we¢re hiking the AT! Not some crushed-limestone Nirvana that goes to the same place. It¢s ups and downs for the likes of us!We arrived just after 9:30 and went directly to the 7 Trails cafe for coffee and their hiker special breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, two pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and a fruit cup) and then had some delicious banana pudding to round out the meal. $18 for the whole shootin¢ match  Then it was off to the Broken Fiddle Hostel for laundry, showers, head shaving (just me) and a light resupply at the Dollar General down the street. Mid afternoon we went back to the 7 Trails for a beer and while I was there, Mark, a friend from high school, was texting with me and then he called the bar to buy me a beer (pic above). Trail Magic from Michigan via electronic payment to my hand - sweet! That really made my day. Later we had dinner at the Damascus Diner and it¢s amazing the price difference between Virginia and the New England for a good meal. (I think I¢m starting to sound my age. I won¢t get into portions or early-bird specials).We¢re hiking out early in the morning and will have to cover at least 19 miles due to camping closures from nuisance bear activity. It also looks like we¢ll need to carry water up out of town as it¢s very dry up on the ridges. If water cannot be found we may have to duck into the Rabbit Hole hostel for the night, but that decision will come tomorrow. We are planning to cover another 40 miles Sunday and Monday before taking a zero day on Tuesday at Boots Off hostel next to Watuga Lake.But for tomorrow we¢ll be leaving Virginia behind and entering Tennessee.  11 states down, three to go!
Date: 2021-08-26
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Mountain Harbor Hostel
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

Had a nicely bright night with the moon shining down all throughout. About 8 pm I heard a fairly large tree fall somewhere down the hill from where we were camped. This is always disconcerting. That makes the fourth tree I¢ve heard or witnessed falling during my hike. I think I¢m good now on both falling trees and rattlesnakes, thank you very much. We left out just before seven with 18 miles on our plate. Water sources appeared to be plentiful so I left with only one liter of water and no plans to carry more than that all day. With my pack a bit fubar, the less weight I carry, the better. Quiksilver lead out for the first two miles, but when he stopped to filter water I hiked on into the very, very spider web covered trail. I silk blazed for most of the next 10 miles, given one brief respite when a NOBO section hiker came past me, but he had only been on trail for 30 minutes. Boo. I got into a pretty good hiking groove and the miles went by smoothly. I stopped just around noon after 13 miles and took a short side trail to Jones Falls which was spectacular. It doesn¢t have a high water flow, but it¢s roughly 100 feet high and cascades down in fine sheets. Quite beautiful. Quiksilver caught me at this point and took lead for the last 5 miles to the road crossing near Roan Mountain, Tn. Just as we reached the road, it began to rain. Quiksilver had called The Station at 19e Hostel to see if their bar was open. The owner David said it¢s always open for hikers. He even came to the trailhead and gave us a ride to his place a half mile away. We had some food and some beers as we watched the rain come down in sheets outside. After loitering for about an hour, we left just as the rain stopped and walked a mile to the Mountain Harbor Hostel where Quiksilver had a resupply box waiting and where he had booked us in for the night. This is a very chill hostel famous for their breakfast (with which we will be partaking on the morrow). After loading up in the morning, we¢ve got a steep climb up into the Roan Highlands and elevations over 6000 feet. But that¢s tomorrow, tonight I¢m going to relax and do some reading before we throw ourselves into the next 120 miles.  We did pass the ¢400 miles left¢ mark today. Which is fairly hard to comprehend. I think it¢ll feel more real when I get below 300 miles. One day at a time.
Date: 2021-08-31
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter 

To: Little Laurel Shelter 
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I was out on trail hiking just after seven this morning, but the combination of the hills and clouds left it fairly dark as I moved out. The weather forecast called for rain after 11am, so naturally it began to come down at 7:15. This is fine. It¢s not as if we expected to stay dry anyway and as long as your moving, it¢s not so bad. I knew that as far as hiking days go, today would not likely be a memorable one as there were only two areas that might afford views and the trail was overgrown in spots (intel from Section Hiker). Quiksilver had a planned rendezvous 15 miles out where we¢d check on the weather and plan the rest of the day accordingly. So I cued up an audiobook and just walked into the miles. The first big climb went up to an area named Big Butt. For reals. Big Butt.  My inner twelve year old was delighted by this.  I marveled at the one view afforded to me - a little hole through the crack in the trees. The trail up to the peak was a little hairy and downright stunk in places.  I liked Big Butt and I cannot lie. Go ahead, insert your own joke - oops! Didn¢t mean to say quite that!Anywho¢¦After stopping at Jerry¢s Cabin Shelter for food and water, Quiksilver and I decided to press on another seven or so miles to the next shelter area. We reasoned that if the weather did turn violent overnight, being near a structure wouldn¢t be the worst idea. I left out ahead of him just as the winds began to pick up. The trail climbed up and over Firescald Knob at 4500 feet and the wind was gusty and strong over the exposed bald. My hands were so wet I couldn¢t unlock my phone to take pictures, the views weren¢t great anyway thanks to the rain and mist.  The trail turned fairly rocky over the last 5 miles and I managed to roll my left ankle three times. Nothing horrid, just annoying.  I arrived at our target shelter just after four and did a hasty set up in the high winds, trying to beat the return of the rain. It¢s very windy where we are with gusts over 35 mph. I¢m a little nervous about my tarp set up in this kind of wind. I¢ve retightened my tie outs twice and I¢ll hope for the best. Also, previous campers here have said the mice defeated the bear cables and chewed holes in their food bags. So morning may tell a story on that front. Morning pack up will be in the rain as Ida passes through here tomorrow. At least the winds are expected to drop some after midnight. Tomorrow will be a long hike in the rain down to Hot Springs, NC. I¢m really looking forward to a hot shower and getting some laundry done. I should also have a pair of new shoes waiting for me.  My current HOKA Speedgoats have about 550 miles on them and are showing the miles. We are now under 300 miles to go until Springer Mountain in Georgia. If plans hold, we¢ll be there on September 23rd!
Date: 2021-09-04
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 17.56
Weather: few clouds

What a perfect hiking day today!  Temps were in the mid 70¢s with low humidity and though there was a lot of climbing to do the trail was nearly pristine with few rocks and gentle grades. I left the hostel just before 8:30 and about 10 minutes behind Quiksilver and Lamb¢s Ear and I had a ¢no hurry¢ mindset for the day. It seems funny to think ¢only 17 miles today¢ but that¢s what was in my head all day and I was able to enjoy the walk and soak in a beautiful day in the woods. With the low humidity and temps near 70 I barely broke a sweat even though we had over 5000 feet of elevation gain. I could get use to this. I stayed behind but in sight of Quiksilver and Lamb¢s Ear all the way up to the top of Bluff Mountain where they stopped for a well earned break. I continued on another three miles to the Walnut Ridge Shelter where I took five and had lunch. There were two section hikers there and I chatted with them for a while and learned they were from Ohio. Being that football season is here, we talked college football and bonded over our shared amusement at the continued hilarity of UofM football. Good times!The last 5 miles to Roaring Fork Shelter was a combination of downhill then gradual uphill, again over excellent trail. I should also mention that water was plentiful today and the streams were running clear and cold. I was anticipating that we might run into some weekenders at the shelter being that it¢s Labor Day weekend and this is the closet open camping area to the popular Max Patch bald. But there was only a couple from Columbus here (more shared amusement!) who are our hiking for a few days. So only 5 of us here tonight. We shared the picnic table and had our respective dinners and talked hiking and places we¢ve lived (I don¢t have much to share on that score).Tomorrow promises to be another great weather day and we¢ll hopefully have great views from Max Patch in the morning. Lamb¢s Ear has hospital obligations and will only be hiking with us for two days. So Saturday will be another short day as we¢ll hike about 16 miles to Standing Bear hostel right on the edge of The Great Smokey Mountain National Park where her car is parked. Hopefully we can get our Park hiking permits there and then enter on Sunday. We should be in Gatlinburg Monday afternoon as we scheme to enjoy the trail, see some sights, have some experiences, and aim for our September 23rd finish.
Date: 2021-09-06
From: Tri Corner Shelter 

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain started last night at 11:30 and came down pretty steadily until 4 am. The thing that I¢ve found¢¦different about hiking is that every campsite has it¢s own sounds, even in the rain. Different trees, different rocks, different tree frogs. In this case: a different roof on the privy. When the rain dropped on it it made what I can only describe (as weird as it seems) as a snuffling sound. So I spent the hour between midnight and one trying to figure out what I was hearing. That mystery finally solved (ok, it¢s not a bear) I got back to sleep. Quiksilver and I planned to hike out at 7 for the 15.7 mile hike to Newfound Gap where he had arraigned for a shuttle pick up for us at 1 pm. This did have me *slightly* on edge as you never know what the trail will be like until you actually hike it. There was a fair amount of climbing to do, though nothing like the previous day. We started out in the light rain and mist in a true Smokey Mountain morning. On a different day, it would have been a walk overflowing with views as for about three miles we crossed a narrow spine on the mountains with steep drop offs on both sides, North Carolina to the left, Tennessee to the right. As it was, we had a beautiful cloud walk. I checked our progress at 10 and we had covered nine miles in three hours. Slight edge gone!  Now I could throttle back just a bit as we had three hours remaining to cover the last seven miles. I stopped at 11:30 for a short break at the Ice Water shelter and there were two hikers still in the shelter having a lazy morning. Turns out, this was the only lazy thing about them. There names were Loco and Medicine Man and they are SOBO thru hikers that have covered the 1980 some miles from Katahdin to here in 84 days. They wanted to be the first SOBOs to Springer and will finish on September 13. They¢re averaging just shy of 24 miles a day - off days included. Medicine Man had hiked a 50 mile day just last week to catch back up to Loco. They have hiked in so much rain that they resolved to stay in the shelter until the rain ended. Then they were going to hike 26 miles in the afternoon. They will hike the last 211 miles in 8 days to finish on the 13th. Amazing. I realized I had stopped for longer than I had planned and had just over an hour to hike the last 3.1 to the road. Off I went, passing day hikers on the downhill like it were a paying proposition. Quiksilver had reached the parking lot at 12:15 and I cruised in at 12:45 and we hopped into Neil¢s shuttle for the ride down into Gatlinburg. Tomorrow is a zero day for us and I¢m pretty sure I¢ll have a few things to say about Gatlinburg!
Date: 2021-09-07
From: Gatlinburg 

To: Around town
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So here¢s the thing about Gatlinburg: it¢s kinda awesome. As long as you¢re fine with crowds, kitch, traffic, a bit more public smoking than the average town, slightly inflated food prices, tourist traps,  confusing street layout, and general sensory overload. Other than that: awesome!The biggest thing on the menu for today for Quiksilver and I was playing nine holes of golf in neighboring Pigeon Forge. We took a taxi over to the course this morning and we¢re paired up with two guys from Argentina, of all places. Lorenzo is visiting on a three month tourist visa (he owns a golf course in Argentina) and his friend Antonio lives and works here in Tennessee. It was a nice sunny morning and no matter how poorly we played, we couldn¢t change that (thank goodness). But we did have fun and it was a nice diversion on a non hiking day. It is interesting, last night we talked with a Romanian couple that just opened a food stall in town, got a taxi ride from a Russian immigrant with a booming cab business, and played golf with two guys from Argentina. In what is suppose to be Hillbilly Heaven in eastern Tennessee. Gatlinburg is an interesting place. So after doing the town thing - relaxing and eating too much - we have a short day planned for tomorrow as we have three days to cover the next 43 miles through the rest of the National Park. We¢ll cross over Climgmans Dome, the highest point on the trail at 6612 feet. We¢re getting a shuttle at 9 am back to Newfound Gap and the trail. We¢ll have to wait and see if the Smokies will be smoky or if we¢ll have some epic views.
Date: 2021-09-08
From: Newfound Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter 
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: moderate rain

I enjoyed an unhurried morning at the hotel in Gatlinburg and even indulged with another shower after eating some Cheerios. Our shuttle driver, Mike, arrived at nine for the drive back up to Newfound Gap where we had left the trail on Labor Day. I was guilty of some slight miscalculations, having downed a Diet Coke, a can of Iced Tea, and four cups of coffee before leaving the hotel, forgetting we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us. The last 10 minutes of the ride were a little nerve wracking, but thankfully, dry as well. Knowing we had three days to hike the last 43 miles of the National Park, we elected to go light today and hike a mere 12 up and over Clingman¢s Dome to Siler¢s Bald Shelter. Starting out with a low mileage day proved to be wise because both Quiksilver and I each felt about 10 pounds heavier after a day and a half in town. Still, we hiked the eight miles up to Clingman¢s in respectable time and though it was cloudy, we got some nice views from the observation deck. Leaving the summit, we knew we had checked off the ¢highest spot on the AT¢ box. We were also treated to sunny skies and nice ridge views for the the four and a half miles of the day into camp. We had the option of hiking another six miles if the the Siler Bald Shelter didn¢t have decent hammock options, but once we arrived we proclaimed the area satisfactory. There are bear cables here to hand food bags and backpacks and the business end of a busted shovel to help excavate cat holes. While Quiksilver was down at this spring filtering water, three large Whitetail Does walked up to the shelter. The first one actually half ran until skidding to a stop about 30 feet from where I sat. We studied each other appraisingly and after a minute. mutually agreed that we would peacefully coexist. Then her two lady friends also came up and they spent about 20 minutes around the outskirts of the building. They seemed very interested in the grass that I had¢¦watered earlier and the the three of them cleared that area in no time. Deer are cool. So shortly after departing back to the trail from Clingman¢s, we also crossed over the ¢200 miles to go¢ on our flip-flop thru hikes. It¢s beginning to feel real: the sense the the hike is nearing completion and that we have a little over two weeks to go. We both agree that we don¢t want to over-plan the last 200 miles and artificially limit how far we hike. We¢d rather hike 20 miles if that¢s what feels good and maybe take an extra nero or zero day if we get ahead of schedule. The main thing is to still enjoy every day out here. Tomorrow we plan to hike just short of 18 miles, though we do have a few rather steep climbs on the docket including Thunderhead Mountain and Rocky Top. We can bail out to another shelter at 15 miles, but if I were a betting man, I lay money on the 18.
Date: 2021-09-10
From: Mollie Ridge Shelter 

To: Fontana Marina
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

The winds really picked up last night, but in a strange way: there would be strong gusts followed by no wind at all. Then it would repeat. Luckily it did not rain and it was just windy. I saw a headlamp in use up by the shelter and then some talking. I looked at my watch and saw it was 6, so I figured Quiksilver was awake and talking to himself (he¢s getting old, it happens, poor guy).  But then I heard another voice and saw two lamps, rechecking my watch I saw I had misread and it was actually 4 am (I¢m getting old, it happens, poor me). Apparently a couple might hiked in to the shelter and we¢re trying to set up camp at 4 in the morning. The dude walked over by the bear cables and succeeded in blinding me repeatedly being his bright white headlamp (most have two settings, white light and a red light - the red is so you don¢t disturb others).  The two of them carried on a normal voice conversation for about 10 minutes before Quiksilver exclaimed from his hammock: ¢Could you keep it down?¢.  They then proceeded to whisper for a few minutes before settling in to the shelter. I was able to go back to sleep, Quiksilver wasn¢t so lucky. We both were packed up and hiking by 7:15, resisting the urge to talk loudly and stomp around, do unto others and that sort of thing. Sometimes my upbringing ruins potential fun. Six miles in we took the side trail to the Shukstack fire tower and climbed to the top of the somewhat rickety structure. We were treated with clear skies and 360 degree views of Fontana Lake and Dam and Clingman¢s Dome. We spent about 30 minutes at the top of the tower soaking it all in. After the last week of Misty, cloudy mornings it was nice to have a clear and sunny one. We met quite a few hikers today, day hikers heading up to Shukstack and section hikers heading into the park for 3-6 days of hiking. We keep getting ¢congratulations¢ from hikers but are a little superstitious about accepting them when we still have a lot of miles to go. We cruised into Fontana Dam at noon and went around the closed visitors center (Covid) and I talked to a some folks on a motorcycle tour about the trail. How this happened is one of them was reading a sign about the AT and said aloud: ¢who would be nuts enough to hike 2144 miles?!?¢  I stepped around the sign and said ¢it¢s actually 2193 miles now and I¢m just such a nut¢. Half an hour later we reached the end of today¢s hike at the Fontana Marina. We hitched a golf cart ride down to the water and I bought Quiksilver a birthday beer (today is his special day!) and we sat by the water until our shuttle arrived at 1pm. We¢re heading into Bryson City for the afternoon to resupply and hit the outfitter and a restaurant. Tomorrow we¢ll be slack packing NOBO back to the Marina and then back here to the Hike Inn hostel. I¢ll see if I can find Quiksilver a birthday piece of apple pie while we¢re in town. Then I¢ll make fun of him for being older than me. Good times!
Date: 2021-09-11
From: Stecoah Gal

To: Fontana Marina
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: few clouds

Had a great night at the Hike Inn including a cake and ice cream throw down for Quiksilver¢s birthday.  Nancy, the owner of the Hike Inn for 28 years, helped arrange the surprise celebration with Quiksilver¢s wife. Nancy runs a great hiker hotel, doing laundry for us and taking us into Bryson City yesterday for dinner and resupply. She really excels at taking care of hikers and the Hike Inn is very clean and comfortable. This has been a great stay. Nancy dropped us at the trail head at 7:30 for our NOBO slack pack back to the Fontana Lake Marina. We had another glorious morning with clear skies and a bright sun coming up over the eastern mountain ridges. We had a steep climb up Jacob¢s Ladder from Stecoah Gap, but we old guys (one of us older than the other) like a nice climb to start the day to get the muscles warmed up and stretched out. We had 13.8 miles ahead of us and the weather was perfect in the upper 60¢s with low humidity, it was enough to make one teary-eyed. We met four section hikers from Indiana and Virginia who were out for a four day hike and chatted with them for a few minutes. We had great views into the Smokies from the top of a ridge and soaked in the atmosphere for a moment. I¢m sure like many of you, Quiksilver and I spent some time this morning remembering where we were and our recollections of the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago. It seems like both a lifetime ago and just yesterday that the attacks happened. The simple heroism of those who ran towards the danger to help still humbles me two decades later. There are not many days where you can definitively say the world changed, 9/11 is undoubtedly one of them. The highlight of the day came on the last climb when we passed two other NOBO hikers. It took me a moment to place the faces, but it was none other than Inna Hurry and Inno Hurry (they actually are known as the the HMC now - Happily Married Couple) who I had last seen waaaaay back in Front Royal, Va back in April. They are still out on the trail working on their thru hike. They hiked up to Maine and then flipped down to Springer to hike north to their starting point in Daleville, Va. They have less than 600 miles to go and I know they¢re going to make it. Good on them!Tomorrow we¢ll go back to Stecoah Gap and go back southbound on the AT. We have roughly 150 miles to go and both Quiksilver and I are still enjoying everyday out here on the trail. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity and to have remained healthy enough to get this far. One day at a time.