morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-11-27
To: Test Picture Day
Miles today: 0.0

I now have almost all of my new gear for this winter walk. I'm still waiting on my new sleeping mat. I was told it should be in today or tomorrow. I'm also waiting on my 4 point ice walkers, but it might be another week before they get here. I'll talk more about all my winter gear after I get back from walking with Hammock Hanger in the Smokies. I want to thank three of the smaller (one store) outfitters and my friends that either work at them, or own them, that always go out of their way to help me with everything I need; 1- Greyhound from Travel Country Outfitters in Orlando, FL. 2- Jeff and Tom from Mt Rogers Outfitters in Damascus, VA 3- Winton and Alpine from Mountain Crossings Outfitters at Neel Gap....just down the road from me here in the north GA mountains. I would highly recommend anyone wanting to get outfitted for backpacking to call on any or all of the above mentioned people. They know their stuff and don't try to sell you stuff you don't need. I would have saved a lot of money on gear I didn't need, had I known these guys when I first started buying backpacking gear. I do recommend REI's (a large, nation wide outfitter) long sleeved light-weight and their mid-weight microfiber shirts. I wear both of them together on all of my cold weather walks as my base layers. I can usually get by with just those when the temperature is above 25 and it's not too windy when I'm walking. They hold up WAY better than the Pataonia shirts I used to buy. While I'm putting plugs in, I have to mention Jan Liteshoe's book called "The Ordinary Adventurer". It's about walking the Long Trail in VT and is a very good read about what long distance backpacking is really like. You can check it out at www.funfreedom.com ......but I have to warn you, that if you buy the book from her in person, have the CORRECT change. I've bought 2 books from her and never got any change back. ;-)) I'm hoping to follow Jan's advice on my winter walk this year and NOT walk as many miles each day.....although, I don't think I could possibly do the super short and easy days of walking that she and Clyde did. Ha!!   I will try to cut back some on my mileage though. :-)) When Mrs Gorp read what I said in my entry dated 11-26-07, she said that no one would ever believe that she really asked me for my PIN #.....could I make something like that up?? ;-)) The picture in today's post is my first "test" picture with my new cell phone with the 2 mega pixel camera. I sent it to my email and uploaded it from my laptop to my journal. I took it this morning. It's a picture of my RV in GA. I'm hoping this will work for my journal by taking a picture with my cell phone camera and sending it to my transcriber, who will then upload the picture and my journal entry everyday to my online journal at www.TrailJournals.com/Stumpknocker
Date: 2007-11-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

OK, the walk on the Benton McKaye Trail in the Smokies is on for Monday. It will be about a 95 mile walk and I'm really looking forward to it. Hammock Hanger thinks it's going to take about 10 days....I disagree. ;-)) I'm still waiting on my new sleeping mat. If it doesn't come in today, I won't get to try it out on this walk. I'll have to take one of my old mats. The main reason for this entry is just for another "test" of the picture quality of taking a picture with my cell phone, then sending it to Gmail and uploading it to Trail Journals. I can see that the quality is not going to be as good as with my regular camera, but at least this will be a way to post daily pictures from the Trail while I'm out walking. I've been messing around with the settings on the cell phone's camera...and this may be as good as I can get it. I will do a test or two while I'm in the Smokies next week to see how that goes under the actual Trail conditions. I was hoping for some really chilly weather so I could get some shots of a frozen "Hammock Hanger" in the Smokies, but the weather forecast I looked at only has the lows going down into the 20's. That will still be good to test this new thing I'm trying....and that "warm weather walker" from Florida should survive the weather just fine. :-)) I'm busy taking care of all my normal pre-hike routines.....going out to dinner with Mother Nature and Smokestack tonight, then thinking of going to Ron Haven's Christmas party in Franklin, NC tomorrow. Got to golf with a friend in Hayesville, NC when I get back from the Smokies walk. It's tough getting ready for another long walk. Ha!! ;-)) One looooong month left till I'm up on Springer Mountain to follow a dream..............
Date: 2007-12-08
To: Benton MacKaye Trail
Miles today: 0.0

12-8-07This is another test...my first attempt to send a picture from the Trail and text from my cell phone. Hope it works! :-)Hammock Hanger and I walked a part of the BMT in the Smokies. We started on 12-3-07 at Davenport Gap.Our first day was a short 8 mile day, but we had to climb to our first "official" Smokies campsite at the summit of Sterling Mtn...almost 6000 ft high.It was a great start with chilly weather. The wind was gusting to about 35mph and the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees by the time I got near the summit.Hammock Hanger was taking her time with the climb, so I headed 1/4 mile down a side trail for water.I was surprised that my water bottle had started to ice up already...guess I didn't realize it was that chilly out yet.Hammock Hanger still hadn't made it yet, so I walked back down the mountain about a 1/3 of a mile to where I'd remembered trail that was sheltered from the wind.I got out my new JetBoil stove and made my dinner.I ate my dinner and Hammock Hanger still hadn't showed up. I was starting to get worried about her when she came around the corner.She looked relieved to see me, but she was cold and tired and her lips were a shade of purple I hadn't seen before.I fired up my new JetBoil and made her a cup of hot chocolate to help warm her up.I got her moving up the mountain again when she finished that.I went on up to the summit and sent up my tent. When Hammock Hanger got to the top, I told her to put her sleeping bag in my tent. There was no way she could sleep in her hammock in that weather....really!! :-)She got in the tent and set her head at my feet. I got in and crawled into my new Western Mountaineering 0 degree bag and was nice and toasty.Hammock Hanger couldn't quit shivering, so I gave her a space blanket and told her to put it inside her sleeping bag and on top of her.She eventually warmed up...I know; because I wore out 2 batteries in my mp3...she snores!!Even the high winds and The Grateful Dead couldn't drown out her snoring!! :-)I got so warm in my new sleeping bag that I had to unzip it about midnight and drape it over me like a quilt. I LOVE my new sleeping bag!!Hammock Hanger said she heard me when I did that and it "pissed" her off. (her words) :-)It was 15 degrees in the morning and still windy...a beautiful day for a walk in the mountains!! There weren¢t even any bugs out. ;-)I'm going to cut this short since it's mainly a test.We had a good walk for the next 4 days...even though I had a hard time keeping track of where Hammock Hanger was.She got to a trail junction on top of one of the mountains and decided for some reason to take the trail that headed to the NC coast instead of the BMT...but I'll let her talk about that in her own words in her online journal. ;-)I have to say that I really love walking this time of year!I also want to mention I spent 5 whole days on the Trail and never saw another person.
Date: 2007-12-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Time for another update about the up-coming walk. I will be walking north from Springer Mountain in just two weeks from today!I've been busy taking care of things that needed to be done before I start walking. I had an extra thing thrown in this time frame too....I had told the neighbor that I would sell my RV and RV lot. Their daughter and son-in-law are buying it!That meant my stuff had to be packed again and put in storage.I'm just about done with that, except for a few things I'll use till the closing. Thanks a bunch to Mother Nature and Smokestack who insisted I store my stuff at their place rather than pay for a storage building.I'm also acclimated to cooler temperatures now. If you read Hammock Hanger's account of our recent BMT hike, you might have caught the part about me not having any electricity in the RV.Well, that's worked out great to not only get used to chilly weather, but also to test my winter gear out more.I woke up this morning after sleeping on my new Exped mat and having my new Western Mountaineering sleeping bag just draped over me like a quilt and I looked at the indoor/outdoor thermometer. It was 16 degrees outside.....and 16 degrees inside. :-)I had slept very toasty all night and didn't want to get up yet. I figured that it might start getting warmer if I just stayed there sleeping on the floor.I looked up a while later and it was 15 degrees. That didn't work. :-)I got up and started my coffee and put some clothes on, then decided to do a journal update, so I took a picture with my cell phone camera of the thermometer. It had warmed up to 18 degrees inside by then....just because I have to boil water for my coffee.I'm typing this entry on my cell phone keypad. Even that's working out better. I'm getting used to typing on the smaller keyboard.I bought a few new stuff sacks the other day, but other than that, I was ready to start this walk.I have been eating pretty good too. I met some Trail friends over in Helen, GA last Sunday night for an AYCE crab leg dinner. Chief, Carlene, Mother Nature and Smokestack were all there.I got a nice picture of Chief and Smokestack that I may post later. (Hey Chief....for $10.00 it could be destroyed) 8-)It's warmed up to 19 degrees here in my RV this morning. My fingers are chilly, so I'm going to end this and go back to my morning Starbucks. :-)
Date: 2008-01-20
From: So. End of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

To: Weekend at the SoRuck 
Miles today: 0.0

This is just a short summary of a loooooong weekend with lots and lots of hiker friends.I spent a couple days with Chief, Xmas, Ed, Superstar and Kevin at Goose Creek Cabins getting ready to spend a couple days at the SoRuck with some REAL hikers. ;-)It was almost nonstop talking to friends, watching slide shows of other Trails and eating at NOC and the SoRuck.I made lots of new friends, met lots of people I'd not met before, but who are following along with my walk in my journal, and got to spend a lot of time talking to old friends. It just doesn't get any better than that! :-)My favorite quote I can remember was when Gutsy asked Lone Wolf what he did. (wanting to know what he did for a living)Lone Wolf answered: ¢I aggravate people on White Blaze". :-)Anyone who has spent anytime on Whiteblaze.net knows what I'm talking about.The most lame thing that happened was Liteshoe sneaking a rock in my backpack that she had wrote: www.funfreedom.comI can't believe she would stoop so low as to put a heavy rock in my pack....knowing I would be already be carrying a food heavy pack up the long climb into the Smokies tomorrow.She is such an amateur prankster. LOLI am really looking forward to getting back on the Trail tomorrow so I can get some rest. I am not used to all these late nights.Wing-Heart is driving me back to Fontana in the morning and I will start climbing the AT into the Smokies.....without Lameshoe's rock hidden in my pack. :-)A great weekend surrounded by GREAT friends!!! :-)
Date: 2008-01-25
From: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg, TN

To: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a good zero....lots of rest and good food. :-)It started when I walked to a local breakfast place and had bacon, eggs and pancakes....and coffee.I walked back to the room and lounged around till almost lunch time. :-)I was starting to run low on canister fuel and I wasn't sure if I could get any before Hot Springs, so I walked up to the Happy Hiker Outfitter and met Barrett.He got me the fuel and I started looking around the shop.I saw a pair of Yak Trak Pros in my size and tried them on to see how they fit.They weighed about half what my ice walkers weighed, so I bought those and will send my ice walkers home before I leave town tomorrow.Barrett wanted to get my picture for the hiker wall, but was busy with a sale, so I told him I'd see him tomorrow before I left town.I walked out the door and guess what was right across the street?.....a Kentucky Fried Chicken! :-)I picked up lunch and took it back to my room and ate, then rested some more.I'm getting pretty good at these zero days! :-)I was just about falling asleep at 2pm when the room phone rang. It was the front desk telling me there was a hiker there looking for me.I walked down to see who it was and met T-Bo. We had talked on my journal guestbook before, but had not met each other till now.We know lots of the same people...as it always turns out with hikers and we sat there in the lobby for over an hour talking.He's hiked way longer than I have, so it was good hearing some of his stories about the Trail before my time. :-)He had some business to take care of, so I thanked him for stopping by and I headed back up to my room....then it hit me!!....it was dinner time!! Ha!! :-)I had spotted a Shoney¢s earlier and knew they used to have a weekend seafood buffet, so I walked a few blocks to go there for dinner.I spotted someone I knew just before I got there....it was T-Bo and he was busy talking to a friend.It was cool to walk down a street in a strange town and run into someone you know....even though I haven't known him long.I told him I was heading to Shoney¢s for dinner and he joined me....and paid for my dinner!! :-)T-Bo....thank you, thank you!!! :-)We had a good meal and more great conversation. Turns out he's doing a thru hike in '09.I thanked T-Bo again and I headed back to my room.Gatlinburg was surprisingly crowded for this time of year.Got to say that I've really enjoyed my stay here and will definitely come back next time I walk through the Smokies.Maw-ee didn't think I could send in a picture of my cell phone, but surprise! :-)You don't have to carry a mirror when you have a digital camera either. I just smile and take a picture of myself to make sure I don't have any spinach stuck between my teeth. Gotta have multiple uses for everything. :-)I can even make phone calls on the little bugger. Ha!Another great day on the Appalachian Trail! :-)
Date: 2008-01-27
From: Peck's Corner Shelter, GSMNP

To: Cosby Knob Shelter, GSMNP
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

I woke up at 5:30am and stuck my stove out the tent and into the snow.I needed my coffee this morning. My throat has been a little scratchy since the SoRuck....and I'm not a good sick person. :-(The warm coffee helped....and the eight mini donuts picked up my spirits. :-)I had ice all over the inside of my tent this morning and it was 16 degrees.I started packing up and when I rolled up my tent, it was about twice as heavy.Caveman and I talked a while, and then I headed off up the sidetrail to the AT. It was .4 miles long.I got to the AT at 8:30am and headed north.I camped at 5,280 high last night and my first climb was up Mt Sequoyah at 6,069 feet high.That slow climb helped warm me up.I still am stopping all the time and just staring off to the distance....this is a gorgeous place!I descended some before climbing Mt Chapman at 6,417 feet high.It stayed chilly and there was plenty of snow at this elevation.I was getting hungry, but decided to go another mile to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to eat lunch.I was walking along and taking pictures when Caveman passed me.He was headed to the shelter too.I made some lemonade when I got there and had a can of Vienna sausages, diced peaches, dried pineapple and some nuts.I laid my sleep mat out on the snow in the sun to eat. The sun felt great! It was about 32 degrees.I decided to move on because I still had almost 8 miles to the next shelter and I didn¢t want to get there too late.The climb took me almost back up to 6,400 feet at Mt Guyot.I had been checking this morning for cell service to send in yesterday's journal. I had good cell service, but no data service....until I got up Guyot.I stopped in a sunny spot out of the wind and sent in pictures and my journal from yesterday.Caveman rounded the corner and when he saw me, he dropped his pack and took a break.Once I had everything sent in, I got up and headed north.Caveman and I walked together for the next few miles.We actually walked out of snow as we got down below 5,000 feet....at least we were out of snow on the sunny side of the mountain.We both took a break. I put my pack on after about 5 minutes and headed on.The last few miles went by quickly.I had taken my Yak Traks off when we took the last break and the downhill walk with very little snow was easy.I did have one more climb over Cosby Knob, then before long I saw the sidetrail to the shelter.There was a young guy there by the name of Neal. He's out for a few days of walking since school let out for him.I made some Chamomile tea and grazed on some jerky, dried pineapple, Fritos and nuts for dinner.The temperature got up to 35 degrees today and had full sun. That felt great when I was out of the wind.I'll be at Standing Bear Hostel tomorrow and will try to talk about more gear and answer more email.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail! :-)
Date: 2008-01-29
From: Standing Bear Farm Hiker Hostel, Hartford, TN

To: Standing Bear Farm Hiker Hostel, Hartford, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, this little bug I have has turned into a full blown cold. :-(I still can't believe I caught it because I'm usually so careful when I'm around a group of people. This is the first time I've ever been sick on the Trail....other than when I had Lyme back in '02....and it stinks!I walked out of the hostel at 7:30am. I was all set to make some coffee....and I really needed it this morning too. :-)Curtis asked if I wanted to ride to town with him and stop at Wal-Mart. I said yes because I wanted something for the cold symptoms and I needed breakfast for my walk into Hot Springs.I got that stuff and had shrimp and vegetables for lunch along with OJ and cold medicine. I had a dizzy zero today as is always the case when I'm around other people....I tend not to do all the stuff I wanted to get accomplished.I have to say I really did enjoy my stay here and Curtis is a great host and friend.One of the nice things about this stay is that Curtis' and Maria's girls are getting older, so Maria came out and talked...and brought out a delicious dinner she had made!I really hadn't had a chance to get to know her before because she was always busy with the young girls, but she is very nice to talk to.Thank you Curtis and Maria!! I really enjoyed my stay. :-)I'm not going to do much journaling about today....other than to say I took way too many pictures of my winter gear and talked a little about each picture.Poor Mrs Gorp probably turned her computer on and cussed me when she saw 30+ pictures to upload.I may actually have to start paying her. ;-)I talked to her later and I believe she's posting them in my "gear" section of the journal.I'll let her add a comment here if she wants; :-)[Transcriber's comment: Click on the blue gear box to the left]Hope all the pictures and the captions answer some of the questions I've had from some of you.The stuff I use certainly wouldn't work for everyone, but for me it's very important to sleep warm, so I am willing to carry an extra 2 pounds between my sleeping bag and down mat to make that happen.I could save 2 pounds if I could just give up the Starbucks.......Another great day along the Appalachian Trail! :-)Ps. A short note about answering my emails and thanking people who've signed my guestbook. I'm hoping to do that from Hot Springs if I can get cell reception.I just didn't get around to it today. :-(
Date: 2008-02-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I took NyQuil last night just before nodding off and I slept well....and woke up feeling a bit better. :-)My room has a refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker, so I made coffee and had some cereal for breakfast that I bought last night. I had cold milk with it too. :-)My plan today was to just lay around as much as possible and give the ol' body a chance to heal.I'm really glad I got in here yesterday because it was raining a cold rain overnight and this morning....and I'm sure that was probably freezing rain in the mountains.I normally wouldn't mind that too bad, but not when I'm not feeling 100%. :-)I did post the last two day¢s journal from the computer at the outfitter.I bought a few supplies there, then came back to the room and had some chicken noodle soup for lunch.Chicken noodle soup always makes me feel better. :-)A nice afternoon nap followed.I think I'm getting good at these zeros! Ha!! :-)I laid around all afternoon and must have slept a couple hours.When I woke up, I realized it was dinner time. :-)I walked by the outfitter and talked a while, then went to the diner and had a steak fajita with unsweetened tea.When I got back to the room, I took a couple NyQuil and watched TV till falling asleep.A very good zero along the Appalachian Trail! :-)
Date: 2008-02-06
From: Sams Gap, TN

To: Sams Gap, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Today was another one of those great zeros....I missed walking through some severe weather, I ate plenty, I answered all my emails sent to me and people who signed my guestbook and I got plenty of rest. :-) I ate breakfast here at the Holiday Inn Express, answered emails till lunch, ate lunch next door at Long John Silvers (not all that good), slept a lot this afternoon, then got picked up by Miss Janet and went out to dinner. When Miss Janet picked me up, she asked what I wanted to eat. I told her to choose and she said; Well, we could go out for ethnic food. I asked her what kind of ethnic and she said; We have 3 types of ethnic food here in Erwin....Chinese, Mexican or Hillbilly. :-) She chose Chinese and we had a good meal. That was pretty much all that happened on my zero in Erwin, so I thought this would be a great time to put a poem that a friend, Allen, sent me a while back about his winter walk. Here it is....with his permission; Winter Walk The woods in winterSeem devoid of soundBut stand at the edgeQuietly and listen "Chick-a-dee-dee-dee" is the callThen a soft tap, tap, tapThe flutter from a group of sparrowsMoving from ground to bush Now step in a few stepsAnd hear what's revealed A scratching high in the treesAs two red squirrels play They stop upon your invasionScolding from separate perchesJoined by a raucous jaySounding alarm then flying off Moving further thru the woodSnow crunching with each stepA grouse, flushes at your feetYour heart now beating like a drum Slowly the "silence" returnsCreaking of the trees in the windPop and groan down at the lakeAs winter makes more ice Crows noisily come to roostAs the sun nears the horizonA wonderful walk in the winter woodWith cold clean air to clear the head                              Allen K. Bishop Thanks Al....that really sums up a "winter walk". Another great day along the Appalachian Trail! :-)