morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-06
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: clear sky

Today we got out of camp early in order to get to Neels Gap to reserve bunks for the night at the Mountain Crossings hostel (Walasi-Yi) and more importantly to do laundry and take showers. I was pretty much out of food and Storm was trying to give some of hers away, so I ended up making a quarter pound of spaghetti for breakfast. Yumm, thanks again Storm! It was a very short mileage day, and the hike up and over Blood Mountain was short and gradual. And totally creeptastic. It was gray, gloomy, socked in with fog, and just plain eerie. We didn't spend too much time on the summit because we had showers on our mind.Got to the hostel before noon and reserved bunks for the night. I entered my info in the register and I'm officially the 120th thru-hiker for 2009. I was glad to see on the board outside the hostel that tonight was "cajun night", complete with jambalaya and a showing of the movie Southern Comfort.   I picked up my maildrop and bought a few more snacks for the next few days. I don't want to run out of food again, so my food bag is probably a couple pounds heavier than when I set out 5 days ago. There are 2 resident kitties here and I've been trying to cuddle with them as much as possible before I leave tomorrow. Pirate (the caretaker at the hostel and trail legend) started some hot epsom salt foot baths for Rocket and I that we soaked our feet in while watching Borat. I can feel the blister on my pinky toe getting better already.At 6pm, dinner was cooked up by Pirate, and he even made a separate veggie jamabalaya for us vegetarians. And fudge ice cream for dessert! Apparently we are missing the Hiker Bash here tomorrow night, but we must press onward. I'm going to miss this hospitality!I caught a glimpse of my face after my shower today...nobody told me that my nose was as red as my montbell vest! It's been so sunny the past few days, I should really start wearing the sunscreen I've been lugging around for the past 5 days
Date: 2009-03-07
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: few clouds

Snorers should definitely be banned from sleeping in the hostel bunkrooms. No offense if you are a snorer, but come on! There were 14 of us awake the entire night while someone slept like a rock. Some hikers moved out into the common room in the middle of the night to escape the ruckus, while the rest of us lay awake for hours on end. Even 2 Advil PMs, a few NPR podcasts, and earplugs didn't do the trick for me. Needless to say, we all awoke a bit groggy after only getting a couple hours of sleep.Pirate cooked up some pancakes that we devoured, we bought a few last minute things at the store, and set out around 8:30. We climbed Levelland and Cowrock Mountains which both offered some great views, and decided that we should stop at Tesnatee Gap for lunch (a few miles ahead). My handbook says that historians believe that John Muir crossed the mountains at this gap on his famous thousand-mile walk from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico in 1867-68. As we rounded the corner into Tesnatee Gap, we had our first encounter with TRAIL MAGIC! Cold sodas, candy bars, chips, lollypops, bottled water, and chairs to sit in, brought by a couple families from Atlanta (which is a 2 hour drive from here!) We were all very appreciative and stayed and chatted for a while before moving on. I felt a little queasy on the climb out of the gap after having an orange soda, milky way, sun chips, and some dumdums, but I couldn't complain after such a nice surprise!The temperature reached 70 degrees today and it was so sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Most people here at the shelter tonight are sporting some nice sunburns. We really have been spoiled with the weather we've had for the past 6 days.I promise not to discuss my stench in every entry, but I must say that I've got to do something about my Under Armour Tech T. I washed it yesterday, but the fumes emanating from my shirt within 30 mins of wearing it have reached toxic levels. I got weird looks from the local day hikers out today as I passed them, and my hiking buddies can't stop downwind of me. The Tech T needs to go, and it needs to go soon. I think there is an outfitter in Franklin, NC where I can pick up a new shirt (I hope, for everyone's sanity!). Rocket's Tech T reeks also, but I won today's stink off.Anyways, enough about that! I am having a blast out here and can't believe we've been on the trail for almost a full week!Happy B'day Uncle Paul!
Date: 2009-03-08
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Our campsite last night was down from the shelter adjacent to a stream which drowned out all the noise (i.e. snoring) from the shelter and tenters above. We all slept like rocks, it was great.It was daylight savings so we lost an hour of sleep and so decided to take it easy in the morning since we had a short mileage day planned. As always, we were some of the last people out, but that doesn't bother us. We've been meeting up with more or less the same hikers each night...Egghead, Chopper, Maggie, iTrod, Big Riggs, and a couple new faces are here tonight. We really hope to catch up with Tagless and Tagalong in Hiawassee in 2 days.Not too much to note from the hiking today...relatively flat ridge walking with few gradual ups and downs. I got a really bad bloody nose after a couple hours of hiking, probably because it's been so dry. Some clouds rolled in today and we thought we would get some rain but they eventually cleared out and we have had a beautiful evening on top of Blue Mountain. Played Uno in the shelter after having 2 dinners, and we are all calling it a day at 8pm.   It's going to be a windy night but the temps probably won't get below 40.
Date: 2009-03-09
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I had my first mouse experience last night and it was absolutely terrifying. I was up most of the night anyways because the wind was ridiculous, but around 2am I started noticing mice running all over my tent, between the mesh walls and the fly (like 6 inches from my face). I had visions of the mice eating holes through my tent (has that ever happened to anyone? Actually, maybe it's best not knowing the answer to that) and then scurrying around inside my tent and across my face. Luckily that didn't happen! I grabbed my headlamp and noticed one of the mice was now crawling over my backpack which was in the vestibule of my tent. I knew I didn't have any snacks in my pack or tent, but after this continued for several hours I wanted to scream "What do you want from me???" but knew that wouldn't have done any good. So I lay in my sleeping bag for hours on end just praying they would eventually leave me alone. They finally went on their way around 7am (5 hrs later). I inspected my pack when I woke up and there were little gnawed acorn bits, so I knew the mice were feasting inside my backpack. I guess the shelter was infested with mice also, and they were crawling around everyone's heads all night. Glad to be gone from that shelter!Since I had such a rough night, I treated myself to listening to my ipod all day. It definitely helped the day move along since I was so tired. From the shelter, we had a long descent into Unicoi Gap, and shortly after arriving at the gap some locals drove up drinking Bud Lights out of paper bags and chain smoking. It was 10:30am so it was a bit sketchy but I was with a bunch of other hikers. The guys ended up giving us all tangerines and told us some ridiculous hiking stories...2 of the 3 guys thru-hiked a couple years ago.We then climbed up Rocky Mountain, descended into Indian Grave Gap, then up Tray Mountain to the shelter. This place is awesome...we are tenting far away from the shelter to avoid another mouse situation, and the view from my tent is incredible. The temps got up to 80 today so it will be another warm night.   I really hope I sleep well! I'm looking forward to going into Hiawassee tomorrow to pick up my maildrop, do laundry, take a shower, and most importantly have a big meal (we heard there is Mexican, mmmm). We want to get into town by early afternoon so we are going to get hiking around 7:30am, just as the sun is rising.
Date: 2009-03-10
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Our campsite at Tray Mountain shelter was amaaazing, definiely my favorite so far. I kept the vestibule of my tent open all night and the warm breeze was great, I slept so well.We woke up early and started hiking in the dark right at 7:30 just as planned. The sunrise was beautiful as we descended down Tray Mountain.We got to Dicks Creek Gap at 2pm, and Gary from the Blueberry Patch hostel in Hiawassee came and picked us up. He showed us around his property and introduced us to the goats and donkeys.   He did our laundry (I can't believe he doesn't mind handling filthy, smelly hiking clothes!) so we had clean clothes to wear to go into town. Gary lent us his jeep (how cool is that?!) to head into town for a few hours and first priority: large fries at McDonalds.   We then went to Ingalls to grab some last minute food items for the next 4-5 days...I picked up my maildrop at the Blueberry Patch so I didn't have too much to pick up. We finally got the Mexican food (and beers!) we've been craving for days at Monte Alban. I had veggie fajitas with refried beans, rice, salad, guac, and a Carona. We were all so stuffed afterwards that we couldn't even think about dessert. I'm soaking my foot in a hot epsom salt bath right now to help the blister on my pinky toe, and will probably go to bed soon. We decided to only hike 3 miles tomorrow, so we are going to hit up the library in the morning after Gary's famous blueberry pancakes.
Date: 2009-03-11
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Gary and his wife Lennie cooked us up an amazing breakfast this morning which they served in their house around the dining room table. I ate enough for 3 people...a heap of eggs, 3 pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup, and 3 and a half cheese biscuits which were amazing. To future hikers..don't miss this place! It's unreal that the hostel runs on donations only, I really hope people don't take advantage of that system. We made a quick trip into town to use the computers at the library, then went back to the hostel to pack up. Gary drove us to the trailhead around 1:30 in the back of his pickup truck, and it wasn't until after he dropped us off that I realized I left my poles at the hostel...ugh!! Gary found my poles and drove them to me at the trailhead (he really is the kindest person), and we set off around 1:45. We hiked 4.5 miles to Plumorchard Gap where we are staying the night with just 2 other people (1 of which thru-hiked in 2007) and a dog. It's quiet tonight, but rumor has it that there is a group of 20 thru hikers a day behind us...I wonder if some of them will catch up to us tomorrow.Speaking of tomorrow, I am looking forward to crossing into North Carolina!
Date: 2009-03-12
From: Plumorchard Gap Shelter

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Jebus(the former thru-hiker that was here last night) cooked us up some pancakes with honey before we took off for the day. It was super nice of him and they definitely hit the spot (in addition to my oatmeal and poparts!).Highlights of the day included walking through miles of green rhododendron tunnels and crossing into North Carolina. I had a celebratory snack at the state line (a bag of Skittles) and a big lunch at the old oak tree located just past the border. I bought an avocado in Hiawasse and made a wrap with avo, melted cheese, and pinto beans...now that is a great trail lunch.We are now camped out at Muskrat Creek shelter...we got here at 2 and thought we'd be the only ones here tonight since we didn't see another hiker all day. We were definitely wrong about that...hikers started arriving around 4 and now there are probably 15 people here! We met our first SOBO (southbounder) at the shelter, Mr. Magoo. I had an early appetizer around 4pm, and wasn't really that hungry for dinner, so I basically ate everyone's dinner leftovers that they couldn't finish...Rocket's Dirty rice, Storm's mashed potatoes, Grommet's bowtie pasta with cheese sauce, and Egghead's soba noodles with eggplant and summer squash. Just call me the human garbage disposal!I'm definitely going to miss the bear cables located at all the Georgia shelters...we had to hang our food bags from a tree for the first time tonight, which was hilarious. I'm also going to miss the privies in Georgia...the ones in North Carolina just haven't been as nice...Many thanks to everyone who has signed my guest book...the encouraging words are very important and will become even more important as I get further into this journey. I haven't had much computer time since I started hiking, but I hope to respond to everyone's comments soon. I have added photos to past journal entries, and hope to add more each time I get to town. Also (knock on wood), my body has been holding up really well. I'm still nursing the blister on my pinky toe, but my knees feel great (I'm so glad the leg lifts paid off) and my rib is almost completely healed. I've been lugging Advil around with me since Day 1, but suprisingly I haven't had to take any of it yet. The bottoms of my feet start to hurt after 5 miles or so of hiking each day, but I think that is more or less normal. I wonder if insoles will help with that. Hmm...something to think out before heading to the outfitter in Franklin in a couple days.1 state down, 13 to go!
Date: 2009-03-13
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

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

North Carolina welcomed us with rain and fog, but surprisingly more gentle terrain than Georgia. Today was our longest mileage day so far, but because of the cold rain, I only stopped once all day for a quick snack and got to the shelter by 2:30 and had a hot lunch out of the rain. Because I hardly stopped all day, my feet were killing me by the time I got to the shelter. We are all tenting tonight in the rain, and I'm already not looking forward to packing up a wet tent in the morning. Rumor has it that it's supposed to rain for the next couple days. Oh well, this is the first day of rain since we started, so I really can't complain. Even though it was rainy today, the woods were so foggy and mystical. I probably took more photos today while hiking than any other day because of how eerie and cool the rhododendron tunnels looked. We climbed Standing Indian Mountain today and I bet the views would have been great since the elevation was 5,498 feet but unfortunately there were no views, just gray fog.I'm really looking forward to Franklin, which we'll hike into in 2 days...lots of pizza and my 3rd shower in almost 2 weeks
Date: 2009-03-14
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light intensity drizzle

We had no intention of walking almost 16 miles when we left camp this morning. We were going to walk about 12 miles, spend the night at Rock Gap Shelter, then walk less than 4 miles tomorrow and head into town. It rained all night last night and didn't let up when we woke up, so it took us a while to get organized and pack up our wet, muddy clothes and tents. We set out around 9:30 and it was pouring and COLD and not too pleasant. I got a little ahead of the Packadivas (I forgot to mention earlier that we are all collectively called the Packadivas) and kept thinking how nice it would be to just hike into Franklin, where we can dry out all our gear and change into dry clothes. That is all I kept thinking about for most of the day, and because I was so deep in that thought, totally missed the sign for the shelter where we were all meeting for lunch. I walked about half a mile past the shelter and luckily ran into some weekend hikers who told me I had passed it. I knew I should backtrack, mainly because everyone would be wondering where I was, but also because I wanted to see if I could convince at least one person to come with me to town. I got to the shelter and the other Packadivas were relieved to see me (I knew they would be worried so I'm glad I turned around) and were shivering cold, soaked to the bone, and thinking the same thoughts as me about heading into Franklin. Done and done. We were going to hightail it into town. Our feet hurt, but thoughts of not having to set up our wet tents in the pouring rain kept us all going.We got to Winding Stair Gap around 5:30 and trail legend Ron Haven picked us up around 6 and brought us into town. Ron owns 2 motels and 1 hostel in town, all of which are hiker friendly. We checked into the Sapphire Inn and I took a quick shower before heading to dinner with the girls and Gone Walkabout. We saw Can-Do (who we haven't seen since Neels Gap) at the restaurant bar and chatted with him for a bit. We stuffed ourselves with food and now I'm in bed watching TV, extremely glad that we are warm and dry. We are taking a zero day tomorrow since we had a long day today and the weather for tomorrow looks crummy. Good day to do laundry, bum around town, and relax.      Oh, I forgot to mention the most exciting part about today...we crossed the 100-mile mark! Woohoo!
Date: 2009-03-15
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Today was our first zero day of the trip. We slept in, had breakfast at the Huddle House (I had a waffle, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and a biscuit), then did laundry down the road at Ron Haven's other motel. We crammed all five of the packadivas' clothes into one washing machine which was definitely a mistake...our clothes came out muddier and smellier than when they first went in! We split up our clothes and rewashed them. Much better! While our clothes dried, we walked across the street to Ron's new hostel and hung out with Miss Janet (the ultimate diva!) for a bit. The hostel is very cozy and clean, but it has been nice staying at the motel where we have our own rooms and bathrooms. Ron drove us and a bunch of other hikers to the local outfitter to pick up some things. I found a North Face shirt that I thought could replace my stinky Tech T, but after trying it on for seriously 30 seconds, it reeked! I knew at that moment that it would be just as bad as as my current shirt, so I decided against buying it. Looks like I'll be sticking with the stinky shirt for the time being...We made a quick stop at Sonic for jalepeno poppers, then on to the grocery store to resupply. We'll be at the NOC in 4 days, so resupplying was fairly straightforward. We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the street (we unfortunately never got that pizza we've been craving) and are now calling it a night. We are having breakfast at Miss Janet's tomorrow morning then taking the 11am shuttle back to the trailhead. We are so excited to have caught Tagless and Tagalong (the Tag Team) while in Franklin...I didn't know if we'd ever see them again! It seems like they've been consistently 1 day ahead of us for the past week, so I was psyched to hear that they were also zeroing in Franklin.Onwards and northwards :-) Flowers and old boots:
Date: 2009-03-16
From: Franklin, NC - Winding Stair Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up early in order to make it in time for Miss Janet's breakfast at the hostel down the road. It definitely hit the spot...biscuits with red pepper gravy (YUM!), scrambled eggs, and homefries. There were about 10 people at breakfast, and Miss Janet had us go around and name someone (living, dead, fictional, etc) we'd like to hike with for 3 days. Most people chose a relative or pet, but since it was only for 3 days and no longer, I chose Larry David. Hikers around the table not including the packadivas included Simba, Hatchet, Not Too Swift, Andy, Alone On The Summit, and a couple others.We went back to the Sapphire Inn and packed up our backpacks, made a quick stop for french fries, and got on Ron's school bus with a bunch of the people from breakfast for a ride back to the trailhead around noon. It was raining but the forecast called for clearing overnight and nice weather for the next few days. Andy carried a box of wine out of Franklin and Hatchet carried a bottle of wine. There were about 12 of us at the shelter by 2pm, and needless to say it was pretty rowdy for a couple hours, everyone huddled inside the small shelter as it poured outside and drinking wine. Some late arrivers saw how crowded (and rowdy) it was and chose to move on to the next shelter. There are probably 20 people here tonight...9 people crammed in the shelter and the rest of us are tenting. We are definitely in the center of the hiker bubble, I wonder how long it will be until we get spaced out again.On a different note...a quick word to all vegetarians: there are no longer vegetarian ramen flavors!! I went onto the FAQ page on the ramen website 6 months ago or so, and the vegetarian flavors included hot chili, oriental, and mushroom. I have 1 ramen soup in each maildrop and Peanut (a fellow vegetarian) mentioned that they were no longer vegetarian. I was skeptical because of what I saw on the website, but I checked the wrappers of the hot chili and oriental flavors (I haven't confirmed the mushroom yet) and they both contain beef flavoring. Ugh! I am keeping them in my maildrops though and just giving the flavor packets away and cooking the noodles with other veggie soup seasonings.Views at Siler Bald Shelter:
Date: 2009-03-17
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Had another encounter with the mice last night, although not as bad as Blue Mountain Shelter and this time it involved all the tenters, not just me. We were tented about 100 ft downhill from the shelter in a field, which must have been a home for lots of mice. The field mice are different from shelter mice in that they are smaller and not as agressive, and therefore easier to deal with. But still...I don't like mice! The hiking was very pleasant today and it was finally sunny and warm. We climbed Wayah Bald (5,340 ft) and had amazing 360 degree views. I could see the GA/NC mountains that we've already climbed and the Smokey Mountains that we'll hike starting in less than a week. We hung around Wayah Bald for an hour or so, eating lunch, soaking up the sun, and taking in the views. A few miles later, we stumbled upon trail magic in the middle of the woods hosted by Apple in a huge cubical expedition tent. He has a great setup inside the tent (which by the way weighs 70 pounds) with lots of chairs, a generator, heater, hot dog steamer, coolers full of soda, and cookies. He only gives trail magic to thru-hikers and says that 150 thru-hikers have already come through this year. He has the tent up for the months of March and November only, just for the height of nobo and sobo seasons. Unfortunately I don't eat hot dogs and don't like cherry cola, so I ate 5 cookies, hung around for a bit, then hiked to the shelter where we're staying the night. We have a great campsite with views of the mountains, although we can all already hear the mice scurrying around us. Here we go again! ;-) I'm looking forward to the NOC tomorrow...we may try to do some whitewater rafting on Thursday. Loon lunching on Wayah Bald:Trail Magic from Apple: