morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-08
From: Bagg's Creek Gap campsite

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 7:00 this morning in the clouds and was on the trail by 8:00. It was a tough day physically, but especially mentally. The fog didn¢t start to burn off until noon and it wasn¢t clear until 2:00. For the first 6 12 miles until we stopped for lunch, we had maybe 100 yards visibility. We were soaking wet from the fog, temperature dropped from 48 degrees when we first got up to 44 and there was a constant strong breeze to make sure we were chilled to the bone if we weren¢t already cold enough. Spending that much time in the fog was really depressing. I was beginning to think I wouldn¢t see the sun today, but once it all burned off, it was a beautiful afternoon in the upper 60¢s with blue sky. I¢ve been trying to keep sunblock on, but I¢ve gotten some sunburn on my neck and forearms. I hiked most of the day with Dylan and Jacob and kept up with them most of the time except for the steep climbs. I¢m pretty proud that I could keep up with 15 & 16 year old boys as well as I did. I thought I must be getting into pretty good shape until the end of the day when I started to feel like I was 90. I guess that¢s life on the AT, hike until you can¢t put one foot in front of the other and then climb one more mountain for good measure.I¢m camping with Bill, Don, Dylan and Jacob again tonight just beyond the Blue Mountain Shelter at a campsite right off the trail. We¢re on a ridge and have 360 degree views of the moutains. It¢s really pretty. You wouldn¢t be able to see the mountains if leaves were on the trees, though. We got here early and set up our tents and fixed dinner. I had Mountain House beef strouganoff again ¢ good stuff. (I had beef stew for lunch which really warmed the belly and soul after a cold, tough morning.) It started to get chilly before too long and everyone retired to their tents early.
Date: 2008-04-09
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Big day today! Woke up to a beautiful sunrise with NO fog and hit the trail at about 7:45. Climbed THREE mountains ¢ Rocky Mountain, Tray Mountain and Kelly Knob. I¢m not really sure what the definition of a knob is, but trust me, Kelly deserves mountain status (especially when it¢s the last climb of the day in the hot sun!). Actually the Rocky ¢Mountain¢ elevation is 4,017 feet and the Kelly ¢Knob¢ elevation is 4,276 feet.I hiked most of the day by myself because of so many big climbs. I started out with Dylan and Jacob (now know as Slim Jim) but I can¢t keep up with those young guys on the climbs and I was faster than Bill & Don. We caught up and had lunch together at the Tray Mountain Shelter. Boat, a thru-hiker was there also and we leapfrogged with him several times throughout the day. Bill (Jakebrake) and crew were initially planning to come over to Deep Gap, but I assume they ended up staying that the campsite right before Kelly Knob. They¢re planning to get picked up at Dick¢s Creek Gap tomorrow so I hope to see them to say goodbye. I¢ve really enjoyed hiking with them the last few days.Now that I¢m here and rested, I¢m really glad that I went ahead and knocked out Kelly Knob this afternoon. I had only planned on averaging 10 ¢ 12 mile days to get me to Newfound Gap on time to meet my family in Gatlinburg so I¢m already 13 miles or a full day ahead of schedule on just my 5th day. Since I¢m so far ahead of schedule, I¢m going to do a nero day tomorrow and just do the 3.5 relatively easy miles to Dick¢s Creek Gap tomorrow and relax all afternoon & stay at Cloud 9 Hostel. I¢ve read a lot of good things about it on Trail Journals.Deep Gap is a really nice shelter. There is a couple here in a tent and a guy my age who grew up in Cincinnati and lives in Oregon now and four younger guys. We teamed up to collect firewood and built a fire. It was really nice to sit by a campfire for a while for the first time on the trail. It¢s a lot of work to build a fire and everyone is usually too tired after a long day of hiking.
Date: 2008-04-10
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap (Cloud 9 Hostel)
Miles today: 3.5

As planned, did a nero (near zero trail miles) today. I¢m well ahead of schedule so a day of relaxation will really help. I got a nice hot shower and washed my clothes to eliminate the hiker funk. I just relaxed most of the day. Watched some TV and met some of the other hikers. We got to watch them restock the pond at the trout farm and I got some video of that which was pretty cool. We made a run to town to the grocery and decided to order pizzas for dinner. I got some pita bread, pop tarts and kool-aid mix to add to my foodbag for the trail. I was really looking forward to my bourbon & diet coke tonight, but the grocery store only had wine and beer. I asked the lady at the counter if there was someplace that sold liquor nearby and she said, ¢well, honey, you¢d have to go two counties over for that!¢ So I bought a nice bottle of merlot and enjoyed that.The pizza place was really busy so it took forever to get our pizzas, but it was really good when it finally came. I ate most of a medium pizza and drank half a two liter of coke.Cloud 9 was a really great place. I would highly recommend it. The owners, Frank and Laura were really cool and Crutch (not sure what his title is¢¦hiker advisor, chaos coordinator, cruise director, hostel manager) was great. For 20 bucks, you get space in the bunk house, shower, clothes washed (by you), ride from and back to the trail, ride into town, etc., etc. It¢s $10 to pitch a tent. There¢s also a big screen TV with satellite and computer with broadband internet access. This is the place to go if you want to get off the trail for a break in a very relaxed atmosphere and maybe drink a beer. I heard that the Blueberry Patch hostel is really nice, too, but a very different atmosphere and definitely no beer drinkin¢ there.
Date: 2008-04-11
From: Dick's Creek Gap (Cloud 9 Hostel)

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a shorter day, but it didn¢t feel like it. It seemed like 80% of the day was climbing. It was tough and I think the going keeps getting tougher from here on out. I didn¢t really get much sleep because of all the snoring in the bunkhouse, I need to learn to keep putting myself in those circumstances. Also, like an idiot, I left my foodbag on the floor and a mouse chewed through and ate some of the summer sausage I bought at Neels Gap. I threw away the sausage and repaired the hole with duct tape.There are many of us at Muskrat Creek Shelter from Cloud 9 as well as many more. There was an afternoon thunderstorm predicted so we were all racing here to beat it. I was the first one on the trail, but Boone passed me so I was the second one to arrive at the shelter. The storm did come and started at about 7:45ish. There has been some strong rain with lighting and thunder, but we¢re pretty well protected so not much wind. It¢s about 8:30 now and I have everything organized so I¢m going to hit the sack and go to sleep enjoying the raindrops hitting my tent while I¢m inside warm and dry!
Date: 2008-04-12
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up cozy and dry inside my tent at about 7am, but it was still raining and thundering ¢ I guess it had been most of the night but I didn¢t really notice, I slept great. It was definitely a pain to have to get up and dressed and put on rain gear to go to the bathroom (AKA big tree up the hill).I got my whole pack loaded up and carried it over under the shelter. Then I went back to take down the tent. Of course it was soaking wet. I got it all loaded up and took off. It had pretty much stopped raining by the time I left and after about a quarter mile, I was burning up with my raingear on so I stopped and took off the jacket. I left on the pants because I tend to splash up a lot of mud when the trail is wet.There was a sign at Deep Gap right before the climb up Standing Indian to use extreme caution because a bear has been taking packs and ¢shows no fear of humans.¢ I had seen a picture of the sign on trail journals at least a month ago, but somehow it seemed more real when I was standing in front of it. I was definitely much more aware of my surroundings as I hiked today. It didn¢t help when I saw a little sign on a tree several miles later that said North Carolina Bear Sanctuary right next to the trail. It was a fairly uneventful hiking day. The climb up Standing Indian was tough, but reasonable.I got to the Carter Gap Shelter at 2:00 and hadn¢t eaten anything since I had 2 poptarts for breakfast. Would you pull out your food bag on the trail by yourself after reading that sign?? I took off my rain pants and my hiking pants were damp from sweat ¢ the rain gear really holds in your heat. It was cool and really windy. I hung a line to dry my tent and fixed spaghetti because I needed something warm. Once my tent dried, I decided to go ahead and set it up and stay here.There are a lot of people here tonight from Muskrat Creek Shelter that I¢ve met before and a few new one¢s. John, Eric, Chris, Colonel Chaco, EZ Does It, Chipmunk, Happy Trails, Patience, John, Kelly & Dutch.
Date: 2008-04-13
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to 35 degree temp and 30 MPH winds! Not pleasant! The cold air got me moving quickly, though, and I was the first one out of the campsite before pretty much anyone else had even stirred.Climbed Big Butt Mountain and then Albert Mountain. Albert was probably the most fun I¢ve had hiking so far. It was a really neat climb with huge boulders that you had to climb up. It was by far the most unique part of the trail so far. There was a fire tower on top of the mountain that I warily climbed. It was pretty high and a little scary. The 30 MPH winds up there didn¢t help any. I couldn¢t feel my fingers for 15 minutes after I came down.A while later, I saw a group of hikers taking a break in the sun at Glassmine Gap. It was starting to warm up and it was right at noon so I figured I would rest and get a quick snack, too. They asked me where I had started that morning and when I said, ¢Carter Gap,¢ they said, ¢Wow, you¢ve had a big day already.¢ It wasn¢t until they said that that I realized I had already done 10 miles by noon and only 6 miles stood between me and a warm bed and bourbon in Franklin, NC! I started trucking and made it to Winding Stair Gap at exactly 2:30. Ron Haven was there to pick me (and a group of SOBO slackpackers) up shortly after that¢¦and before I knew it, I was checked into a room at the Sapphire Inn.I put on my rain gear and walked across the street to the Laundromat and washed all of my clothes and then went back and took a long, hot shower. When I went down to the office to check e-mail, etc., I ran into Colonel Chaco and Patience who were sharing a room. I had met Colonel Chaco initially at Cloud 9 and met Patience at Carter Gap yesterday. The three of us went over to Cody¢s Roadhouse and I got a big steak and baked potato (and several bourbon & cokes). Patience is deaf and neither Chaco nor I know any sign language so the giant piece of paper covering the table for kids to color on was completely covered with all of our written conversations during the entire meal.
Date: 2008-04-14
From: Wayah Bald

To: Winding Stair Gap (SOBO Slackpack)
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

Patience and I split a shuttle ($35 total) up to Wayah Bald to slackpack SOBO back to Winding Stair Gap where Ron Haven picked us up. I wasn¢t sure if it was a smart thing to spend the money knowing that I would have to pay for a shuttle again tomorrow to head out northbound from Wayah, but in the end, I¢m really glad that I did!As we started to get up into the higher elevations, it was snowing and it got heavier the higher we got. I had hoped to get to hike in the snow at some point and today I got my wish with the best of both worlds ¢ walk in the snow and then go back to a warm bed tonight at the Sapphire Inn.The snow was beautiful with just the right amount. It stuck to all of the tree branches and made the forest look like a winter wonderland. It was really a fun way to knock out a quick 10 miles on what would otherwise have been a zero day. I also realized just how many people I¢ve met on the trail because there were tons of people zeroing in Franklin today and it seemed like every half mile, I would run into someone I knew who said, ¢Hey, what are you doing, you¢re hiking the wrong way! (in many situations half nervous that maybe it was they who were hiking the wrong way)¢ So I had to explain every time, ¢Yeah, we stayed in Franklin last night and we got a shuttle up to Wayah Bald and we¢re slackpacking back to Winding Stair and staying at Franklin again tonight, yada, yada¢¦¢Colonel Chaco and I decided to act on some inside information that Crutch had given us while we were at Cloud 9: Ron Haven loves Taco Bell crunchy tacos. We went on the afternoon shuttle around town with the sole purpose of having dinner at Taco Bell (OK, that part was really stupid ¢ we felt like crap for hours after) and to get Ron a bunch of tacos. We both chipped in and got 10 tacos and when we got back on the bus and gave them to him, he was really excited and ate some at every stop after that. Other than destroying my stomach with taco bell, I¢m really glad that I went on the shuttle. Ron Haven is absolutely hilarious. He told story after story that would put Larry the Cable Guy to shame ¢ it was awesome. If you stay at either the Budget Inn or Sapphire Inn in Franklin (and you should), you really need to go on the afternoon (4:00) shuttle run just to hear the comedy stylings of Ron Haven even if you don¢t really need anything in town.
Date: 2008-04-15
From: Wayah Bald

To: A. Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

Got my wake up call at 6:15am at the Sapphire Inn and got up to start getting my pack together. I realized that I lost my pack cover somewhere and I was really frustrated. (After thinking about it, I realized that it must have slipped off at Carter Gap Shelter because it was raining when I left Muskrat Creek and I had it on my pack ¢ I had set my pack in the shelter near someone else¢s stuff while I had lunch and was drying out my tent. When I decided to just stay there and setup my tent and then went back to the shelter to grab my pack, I must have picked it up without the cover ¢ there¢s 30 bucks down the drain.) I guess I¢ll have to buy a new one at the Nantahala Outdoor Center when I get there. At about 7:00, I walked down to McDonalds and got some hotcakes & milk. It was really good!Went back to finish packing and then went down to the motel office to check e-mail, etc. and wait for the shuttle at 9:00. The shuttle driver was an hour late!! I was pretty mad, but that¢s what happens when you leave the trail and go into town, you¢re almost always at someone else¢s mercy to get around!Bama, Patience and I split the shuttle up to Wayah Bald and we got there and were on the trail a little before 11am. A MUCH later start than I would have liked.Today was a really hard day. I pushed myself harder than I probably should have, but there are freeze warnings out and I wanted to get down toward the NOC to be at as low an elevation as possible to try to be warmer. I ended up stopping at a really nice campsite right next to a stream down the hill from the Rufus Morgan Shelter. My knees were killing me from the well over 3,000 foot descent I made today. Going down steep hills is brutal! I could have gone into the NOC and paid to sleep inside, but I can¢t get any sleep with snoring in a bunkhouse and I didn¢t want to pay a lot of money for a resort room when I just came from 2 nights in a motel and will stay at the Hike Inn Fontana on Friday night. I¢ll sleep better in my tent and can go in to warm up and get a warm breakfast at the NOC in the morning.I did call Hike Inn to make a reservation and got the last room! I¢m just 30 miles away so that will be two average days hiking and an easy hike in Friday morning and I can relax most of the day Friday. And then Saturday morning, INTO THE SMOKIES!!
Date: 2008-04-16
From: A. Rufus Morgan Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 7am and was on the trail by 8 for the short hop over to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). First I stopped in to the outfitter to get a new pack cover to replace the one I lost (spent the same thing I did for my other one except this one is a piece of crap). I may need it because rain is predicted for Friday and Saturday. Next, I stopped at the restaurant and enjoyed coffee, French toast and biscuits & gravy. I probably should have let all that settle a little more with the climb ahead of me, but I just took a few pictures as I walked through the resort and headed up the mountain. I think today was definitely the toughest climbing day so far. To go from below 2000 ft. elevation at NOC to over 5,000 ft. at Cheoah Bald was tough!! There were some really pretty views I can start to see the Smokies in the distance. Water isn¢t as easy to find now as it had been in the past. I was bone dry by the time I got to Stecoah Gap and luckily there was a guy there to tell me where to find the nearby Spring because the directions in the AT guide are terrible. I definitely would NOT have found the water if that guy wasn¢t there to tell me (and I would have had to walk a LOT further to find the next Spring and I was already exhausted and getting really thirsty). Once I got water, I headed across the highway and up the hill toward Sweetwater Gap. I found a nice campsite up on the ridge, finished my end of day chores including dinner and now it¢s time for bed!!
Date: 2008-04-17
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana "Hilton" Shelter
Miles today: 15.1

Woke up at 7ish and called Janna to wish her a happy 15th anniversary. On the trail at 8:00 and arrived quickly at a big surprise. Apparently, the sick person who laid out the trial northbound out of Stecoah Gap did not believe in switchbacks. There were comments in shelter registers after it and people talking about it all day long. It was a totally unexpected and very difficult climb. I stopped at Brown Fork Gap Shelter to get water at about 9:00 and Pilgrim was there getting ready to head out for the day (I ended up running into him again at Cable Gap Shelter at lunch as well). For some reason, the day, especially the morning was especially mentally challenging. I think the combination of being away from my wife on our anniversary, having been alone on the trail and camping for the last two days (because I started 10 miles ahead of my group coming out of Franklin because of my slackpacking day), the surprise kick-butt climb first thing in the morning and the heat the day ended up bringing¢¦the combination just killed my spirit. I could barely put one foot in front of the other all morning. I forced myself to take a long break and fix a hot lunch at Cable Gap Shelter. That helped a little in the afternoon, but it still wasn¢t normal.Even though I was actually planning on stopping short of Fontana and camping and doing a nero day tomorrow, I ended up walking all the way to the Fontana ¢Hilton¢ Shelter. I wasn¢t sure if I was going to try to call the Hike Inn to see if they have a room for tonight or what (I have a reservation for tomorrow night), but once I saw this place (the big area around the shelter for the hikers), I knew I would stay here for tonight. No wonder they call it the Fontana Hilton. The shelter is certainly a nice one, but the views of the lake and the Smokies across the lake, the big park area for the hikers, a huge fire ring, easy walk down to the dam (with showers for the hikers there if you¢re interested) with incredible views down the Tennessee River Valley below the dam, etc., this place is awesome. It has been cool because I got to meet a whole new group of hikers that had been ahead of me. There were probably 20 or more of us who stood around the fire telling stories until 11:00. This is by far the latest I¢ve stayed up, but who cares!? I had fun and I¢m zeroing tomorrow!
Date: 2008-04-18
From: Fontana 

To: The Hike Inn (ZERO DAY)
Miles today: 0.0

Not much really to report today. I relaxed all day on the front porch of the Hike Inn and in my room watching TV. Got a ride into town tonight with Slo-go¢en who zeroed also and we stopped by the grocery store and had dinner (I had fried catfish which was really good). It was a good zero day ¢ I¢m rested and excited for the Smokies!
Date: 2008-04-19
From: Fontana 

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Got dropped off at about 9am by the Fontana shelter. I saw Colonel Chaco with Mudslide and Gypsy who were waiting on a shuttle into town for resupply. I talked to them for a few minutes and then walked down toward the dam. There was no one around so I just walked across (rather than taking the 2+ mile crappy blue blaze because the dam was ¢closed.¢) Hey, I was feeling crazy!Pretty much a non-stop climb all day, but most of it wasn¢t too bad ¢ especially after the day off. Plus, I¢m in pretty good shape by now. There were some awesome views. Although it was a little scary, I did climb the fire tower on Shuckstack Mountain. Once I was up on top, it was pretty cool and I got some great pictures.I initially stopped at the Mollie¢s Ridge Shelter, but it was pretty early and the ridge runner stationed there talked me into moving on to Russell Field Shelter. There are only 4 of us at the shelter so I just stayed in the shelter instead of pitching my tent.
Date: 2008-04-20
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

I¢m sorry, I don¢t have much of anything exciting to report for today. If I was at home, my journal would read, ¢I woke up, I got on the stairmaster at 8:00, I got off the stairmaster at 4:00, I fixed dinner and went to bed.¢ It was really a long, hard day continuing the climb to the highest elevations in the Smokies. There were LOTS and LOTS of climbs. It was foggy until about noon with maybe 100 yard visibility. I¢m sure I would have really enjoyed the views from both Rocky Top Mountain (I can¢t tell you how many times I broke into song to myself today¢¦¢Good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top, Tennessee¢¦¢) and Thunderhead Mountain¢¦.but not for me, not today ¢ all I saw was white. The sun tried to come out a few times today, but the clouds just kept beating it back. It was cold and windy all day. Definitely my least favorite day since I started at Springer. I really hope it¢s better for the climb and views from Clingman¢s Dome tomorrow morning!!!