morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-18
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

People were moving a little slow this morning at Low Gap. I didn't get out until around 10 AM. Sugar Grits decided to zero here with One-2-Many and Hangman to give her knees a rest - I am sure we will run into each other later on down the trail. I haven't seen Timex or Grace - not sure if they hiked out in this cold or not.The trail to Blue Mountain was very rocky and slick. Along the way I saw several patches of ice and icicles - some were over 3 feet long. I resisted the temptation to bust one off and taste it...Couple of people were at the shelter when I got there - Coyote, No Reason (he just finished a "yo-yo" - walk north to Maine then turn around and walk south - and was now going back up again), and Tarpenator. They wer all at Low Gap the previous evening. Coyote wasn't feeling real well - he had gotten dehydrated and was not sleeping well. No Reason and Tarpenator got him hydrated and full of food but he needed to get to a town to rest and get his gear sorted out.Tomorrow - Unicoi Gap and the dreaded Tray mountain...
Date: 2007-03-19
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Beautiful sunset from Blue Mountain. This shelter is situated where it pretty much faces East - and the wind, so it gets pretty cold up here.Got out around 8:30 and headed to Unicoi. That was a steep climb down - thankfully the switchbacks kind of softened the climb down. But the climb back out on the otherside of the gap was a long, long, long climb. Very little even trail.At Tray Gap a day hiker gave me some orange juice - man, did that taste good. I sucked every drop out of that little plastic bottle. Tray Mountain was a killer. I kept thinking I was near the top but it was another switch back and another climb. And climb. When I finaly got to the top I had to put some warmer clothes on as it was pretty windy. And some awesome views. I took some pictures but they don't do it any justice.Tarpenator was at the shelter (and had been for awhile) and was gathering fire wood to get a good fire going. I set up my tent and cooked dinner, then went and talked with the other hikers for awhile. There was one guy that just got his trailname - Fidel. And he looked exactly like Fidel Castro. It was a good night. Also another couple that I had been talking to since Low Gap came up with there trailnames - he was Dog and she Slinky - from the old Slinky Dog thing.I think I will skip Deep Gap shelter and go the extra 3.5 miles into Hiawassee tomorrow. I will probably take a zero there and let these old bones have a night in a real bed.Ah, life is good. Still smilin'....
Date: 2007-03-21
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Made it to Hiawassee yesterday. That climb down into Dick Creek was long... and there were a couple of little climbs towards the end that really iced things - I was ready for a town....I am here at the Holiday Inn Express. I've hit Daniels twice now and think I have finally brought my quota of vegies back up.Zeroed today, will head back out tomorrow, probably only to Plumorchard. We'll see.Later.
Date: 2007-03-22
From: Hiawassee

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Shoot - overslept this morning. Still was able to grab some breakfast and get to the postoffice - sent bounce box to Fontana and a card to Shanon, sent some stuff home.Got a shuttled to the trailhead at Dicks Creek with Dragon Lady and Hermit - they had thruhiked previously and were just out for a few weeks - they are from Cedar key.Met Hangman and 1-2-Many at the trailhead, Lisa - now Stretch - was dropped off at the same time from the Cloud 9 hostel. Trail was steep most of the day with few level spots, but just before Bly Gap I crossed over into NC! woo hoo! one state down...Stayed at Bly with the Cedar Key couple, Slinkey and Dog,1-2-Many and Big Dave. Not sure what happened to Hangman.Saw some bear scat by the water source so everyone is making sure they have all of their food, snacks, toothpaste, etc. in their food bag - and getting that up in a tree at least 10 feet.In my tent now for the evening, about 8PM. There is an owl in a tree not far from the gap that is already calling out with another one off in the distance answering.
Date: 2007-03-23
From: Bly Gap

To: Standing Indian
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Got off to a fairly early start - 0815. Long, long pull out of the gap. Got to Muskrat Creek shelter about 11. Thought I had forever lost one of the zipoff legs from my pants when Smokey-t came in and handed it to me - sweet!Hiked with Smokey-t off and on from the shelter to Deep Gap - an interesting woman. She was hiking with a barefoot hiker - yes, barefoot - named Dirt Nap.Had lunch in the gap and rested for about an hour. The Cedar Key couple hiked in and rested for a few minutes with me. I called and talked with Shanon for a few minutes then headed out to climb Standing Indian - well, at least the .9 mile to the shelter.What a climb. I am now sitting in my tent after trying somewhat unsuccessfully to talk with Shanon. It's really weird how the cell coverage works up here - you can have 3 bars of service anthen none - a little frustrating.   Maybe I can talk with her tomorrow - I miss hearing her voice.Owls are again calling. I need to find out what kind of owls these are - hope I can see one of them.This shelter is a well used one, by hikers Scouts and locals. They recently put in a privy - but it was evidently designed and built by a committe - the opening faces the shelter. Yep, while you sit there doing your "business" you are in full view of everyone in the shelter....1-2-Many said there were bear prints down by the water source - hope everyone has all of their food hung.Tomorrow - getting to the top of Standing Indian (groan) then on to either Carter Gap shelter or Betty Creek.
Date: 2007-03-24
From: Standing Indian

To: Betty Creek
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Man, do I stink. Did 11.3 miles today, about 3.8 more than I had originaly intended to - that is the longest yet on this trip. Got to Carter gap shelter about 1pm so just decided to keep going.It has been unseasonably warm up here and the gnats and biting flys are getting to be a pain. These biting flys actually draw blood - just little black things but they sure pack a wallop.Camped here with Slinky Dog and the couple from Cedar Key. This camping area evidently gets a lot of local use - it is pretty trashy but flat enough and the water is decent - a spring flowing right out of a small knoll just down from my tent - cold and clean.Phew - just got another whiff of myself....Views today were awesome. First from Standing Indian then from a little side trail off the ridge. I took several pictures but don't think they will do the view justice. Maybe if I can try to put them together in a panoramic view it will show more of it.Finished off the summer sausage at dinner by putting it into some ramen noodles...it was edible... the hiker appetite must be kicking in as an hour later I was hungry.Still no word from any of the other hikers about Timex, Grace or Sugar Grits - hope they aren't off trail.Tomorrow we have Albert mtn to do. Sort of a rock scramble going up fairly verticle for about 1/4 mile. There are some great views from the top. After that I will probably head to Rock Gap shelter for the night.Did I mention that I stink?
Date: 2007-03-25
From: Betty Creek

To: Franklin
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Got out of camp around 0815 and made pretty good time to Albert Mountain. That was a fairly tough climb.I started up doing pretty well, but finally stopped and stapped my poles to my pack. When I went to put my pack back on my water bottle popped out and bounced almost all the way to the bottom. $%#&&@#! A little insult to injury...After retreiving my water bottle - and having a little talk with it - I resumed my upward scramble. Reached the summit about 11 and took a long break - which included a short nap.I got up the courage to climb most of the way up the old fire tower and took some pictures - great view from up there but realy made me nervous being up there. Came back down and gave Shanon a call - I already mentioned the weird cell coverage up here - as long as I stood in one specific spot I could talk - 1 foot in any direction and zip.Hike from there to Rock Gap was pretty uneventful but hot. It was probably in the 80's with little shade as there are no leaves on the trees yet. I did get off the trail at one point for about 30 - 40 yards before I figured out I misses a turn. Backtracked my steps and found where I had gone wrong.For those that aren't familiar with the AT, the trail is marked with periodic 6" white blazes - we follow those faithfully. They are on the trees and sometimes on the rocks. Sometimes we get into an area that has the blazes a little further apart - some second trail sense kicks in and you immiediatly start scanning all of the trees in front and behind until you locte one - and your heart rate slows back down.When I got to Rock Gap shelter - Trail Magic - soft drinks sitting in the spring. Most satisfying. Slinky and Dog came in later followed by the Cedar Key couple.Slinky, Dog and I sat around resting for a few minutes while the Cedar Key couple headed up the trail to find a level tent spot away from the nearby road. We started talking about hamburgers and pizza when we were going to Franklin the next day - the temptation just got to us so we called the local hiker motel and got a ride into town and a room at the Sapphire Inn - a pretty nice place for $35 bucks a night.Got a BBQ sandwich and a beer from a joint across the street - will do laundry tomorrow and visit an outfitter as that water bottle that bounced down Albert mtn has a small crack in it. Hope I can get that done along with getting this journal updated in time to get back to the trail early enough to get to the next shelter - Silar Bald, about 7 miles.
Date: 2007-03-27
From: Franklin

To: Wine Springs
Miles today: 11.9

Long, long day. Started out with a shuttle to Rock Gap at 9AM. Along the way the driver - Ronny Haven, owner of the Haven Budget Motel and the Sapphire Inn (where I stayed) - suggested we leave our packs at Winding Stair Gap with a church group that was doing trail magic and slack pack the first 4 miles. Sounded like a most excellent idea so I did.While I am on the subject of Ronny Haven, I can't say enough good things about him and the services he provides us hikers. His motels are clean, reasonably priced, he shuttles us all over Franklin at no extra charge - just really goes the extra mile. Much appreciated and highly recommended.After picking up our packs - and getting a cold cherry Coke from the church group - we started the long pull up into Silar Bald. I was hiking with Slinky & Dog at the start but slowly pulled away from them. Once at the Bald I had lunch and napped until they and another hiker named Kiwi caught up.Along the way a small bird started chirping near the trail - I whistled back and it came closer. It was about the size of a cardinal but had a beautiful splash of a orange-red color on it's chest. I couldn't see the rest of it - just the chest. We played the little whistling game for aound 40-45 minutes with him just staying about 10 feet in front of me, bouncing on up the trail with me, Kind of neat but after a while I guess he got tired of playing and flew off.After reaching Silar Bald we started the long uphill towards Wayah Bald, with our destination being Wine Springs. Along the way we passed several temping campsites but there wasn't any good water nearby.Eventually we climbed up - and I mean up - into Wine Springs and set up camp. I had pretty good cell signal and called Shanon - it was good to hear her voice. I sure do miss her.Tommorrow - summit of Wayah Bald, Wesser Bald and Wesser Shelter. It's going to be one of the longest days yet.
Date: 2007-03-28
From: Wine Springs

To: Wesser Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: clear sky

Had the owls do a little seranading early in the evening and while I was just falling asleep I could hear a coyote howling way off in the distance - just one, and I didn't hear any response to it. I didn't think we would be a around them until the Smokies but I guess they are coming down further South.Since this was going to be such a long day I headed out of camp fairly early and began the climb up to Wayah Bald and the stone tower there. The views from there were awesome, and you could see way off in the distance some of the mountains we had climbed - Standing Indian, Albert, Silar - they seemed so far away that it sort of boggled the mind - had I really walkd that far?And on the other side of the tower you could see some of the mountains we had yet to climb - with Cheoah Bald dominating.Got good cell signal so I called Shanon and we alked for awhile. Things appear to be going well at home and she is busy fixing up the guest room now that our nephew has bought a home and will be moving soon.At around 1:30 I got to Cold Springs shelter and had lunch. This is a very old shelter having been built by the CCC back in the late 30's. Very mousey. Got water and headed out for Telico Gap, the next place that I promised myself I would take a break.After resting up there I did the remaing 2.2 miles - all up - to the Wesser shelter. Along the way I passes the old Wesser Bald fire tower but was really too tired to walk the 50 - 60 yards to and climb.Finding a level place to put my tent near the shelter was a little difficult. I finally found a somewhat decent spot but as I type this am already starting to slide a little bit - oh well.Have already heard the owls out. I think there was some kind of fracas going on as they got real loud and sounded agigated (can owls sound agiated?) then shut back up. Hope they aren't going to do that all night.Need to dress a blister and get some shut eye - heck it's 8:45 - past my bedtime! So I will close for now.Tomorrow - a little more up then a whole lot of down as we head into Nantahala - the "NOC". By the way, Nantahala means "land of the noon day sun" in Cherokee.
Date: 2007-03-29
From: Wesser Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: light rain

Woke up to the sound of a light rain falling. I was afraid that it would rain all day but it soon stopped. Hiking with rain gear on stops just short of being miserable - you get real hot, sort of like being in a sauna.I went ahead and got everything packed up while still sitting in my tent and then went ahead and packed the tent up. If it was going to start raining again I wanted to have the tent packed so that I didn't have to carry the extra 1 - 2 lbs. of wet tent. It did start sprinkling again so I put my pack cover and hoped that it would not go into a full rain.As I was getting reay to start out and was visiting the bushes, I could hear several turkeys gobbling not too far off. Sounded kind of neat.About a half hour after starting out it did begin raining fairly steadily and pretty much stayed like that for the remainder of the morning.Even with rain the views from way up on the ridges were great, especially from this one area of rocks that we had to traverse known as "jump up". A little slick but took it slow.Stopped by the very dumpy Rufus Morgan shelter for a snack. There is no way I would stay in that shelter - you might as well go ahead and dump your food bag out for the mice as soon as you get there 'cause one way or another they are going to strongarm you out of it.Got into NOC about 1:30 and got a room by the store and restaurant. Grabbed a shower and then a veggie burger at the restaurant - it was good. Picked up my food drop at the store along with a card from Shanon - just about cried as I read the card - and then found another one inside the food box!After calling home I went back to the store to pick up a fuel cannister when I spied a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey. It was good - even poured a little Coke into the carton to make a little float just to finish it off.I'm back in the room now after going back to the restaurant and raiding their buffet - two helpings of salad and a fully loaded large potato - yes folks, I think the hiker appetite is kicking in..So - tomorrow the steep and long pull out of NOC towards Cheoah Bald (5,062 feet - we are at 1,740 feet right now - ugh!). Someone somewhere wrote that the climb out of NOC is probably what Purgatory is...
Date: 2007-03-30
From: NOC

To: Sassafras Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up fairly early and hit the restaurant up for a buffet breakfast - eggs, hash browns, grits, sausage gravy, bacon, coffee and OJ. I only had seconds on the bacon, grits and a little gravy. Gotta fuel the hiking machine, ya know...The climb out of NOC definately goes in the books as a tough one. Started out steep then got steeper. The first mountain was Swim Bald at 4,720 feet - we started at 1,723 feet.The views were magnificent. At one point there was a rocky overlook that looked back over the valley and beyond. It was almos a little surreal, looking out, seeing where the colors were darkening in the lower levels and working up to the lighter colors along the tops of the mountains and ridges, all the time wisps of fog would dance around, obscuring some areas.Up at the higher elevations the trees are somewhat stunted from cold temps and wind. Many of the larger trees are missing upper branches due in part to the ice storms they get up here. There is also alot of damage done to the trees due to the constant acid rain that is carried in clouds.Walked through dense tunnels of rhododendrums often today. I hiked most of the day by myself which was kind of nice. In the afernoon when it got warm I would stop for a few seconds in some of those rhododendrum sections to cool off - it was 8-10 degrees cooler under them.Have also notced trees similar to dogwoods are blooming - small white and pink flowers.And speaking of flowers, they are beginning to bloom all around. Small blue ones, white ones with yellow centers, some with large white rather elongated petals. Very pretty - guess spring is coming to the montains.Got to Sassafras shelter around 2PM. Thought about continueing but am tired. Flint & Jubilee along with Chill-out are camping up on the ridge above the shelter, Slinky, Dog, Chico (a very funny younger guy) and I are in the shelter.Getting late and I need to make some miles tomorrow if I am to get into Fontana Dam Sunday afternoon.
Date: 2007-04-01
From: Cody Gap

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to the sound of rain around 2:30 in the morning. Started out with a light splattering then began to come down fairly hard, with the wind gusting. Rained pretty much the rest of the night - I woke up a couple of times and checked the tent for leaks - none, which with a down sleeping bag is a good thing.Got up about 7:30 and packed my pack while still in the tent. It was still raining just not as hard. Fixed some coffee and had poptarts for breakfast.It rained all morning with the wind really gusting. Along with rain came the fog, and the visibility dropped to about 30-40 feet. No views today, although I did get some quick shots of the dam at one point before things closed back upThe rain made the trail super slick and slowed the progress considerably. I'm glad I went the extra the day before - that would have been a pain. I passed one spot where someone had slipped and and gone shooting off the trail - I found out later that it was "Third Time's the Charm".Well, I had my first real fall on the trail today as well. As I was stepping over a rock while going down hill, my foot shot out from under me and down I went. As I headed down, I some how twisted around, landing on my pack with my head pointed downhill - I slid for about 10 feet looking like a turtle with my arms and legs flaying around. I had to undo my pack straps and sort of flip to the side - off the trail - to get back up. Since I had my pack rain cover on, I had a slick surface that had attributed to my stunt. Nothing broken or hurt, just my pride - sure glad no one was around to have seen it...Finally got to the Fontana Dam Welcome Center and gave Jeff a call. A few minutes later Nancy picked me up and took me to their place. A shower and some clean, dry (actually warm) clothes picked my soggy spirits up and I started drying out my pack and tent.Evidentally that fall had damaged my pack cover as everything was pretty wet. I keep my sleeping bag in a separate plastic bag inside another bag in my pack so it was dry - most everything else was a little damp, though. I set the tent up outside for awhile to dry but it started raining again so I did the best I could in the room. Hopefully it will be dry before taking off tomorrow.Nancy took all of us into town for dinner - Chinese AYCE (all you can eat) and then to Ingles for anything that was needed. I picked up some trash compactor bags to put in my pack and around the tent to see if that would help keep things dry for the next bout with rain.Got everything together for tomorrow's hike and have put a box of things to send home together. One of the things was my water filter. I have been just treating my water with Aqua Mira and not doing any filtering.So - tomorrow the Smokies. Once I get past Spence Field on Tuesday, I will be in new territory. Brother Bill (StewMan) and I hiked up here a few years ago but I got sick and we had to head back down.Still smilin'....
Date: 2007-04-02
From: Fontana Village

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Got up early at the Hike Inn and was shuttled to the dam by Jef around 8:30. Mulled around the dam taking a few pictures before starting the actual climb on the otherside of the dam. The walk across the dam, by the way, is pretty neat. The fog was sitting across the river like snow - I was hoping that it would lift and I could get a shot of the water woth the cloud above it but am not sure the images I took will show any of that.Started the climb up the fairly well graded trail. It was steep going but no where near what I have been climbing. About a mile up the trail I turned to start up another switchback when - as I turned - my right knee gave out from under me - painfully. I evidentally pulled my nemisis - the muscle that runs along the inside of the knee (the "IB-something-or-another"). I have injured that sucker several times.Immiediatly took a couple of ibuprofen (vitamin-I)and sat there. I actually started to cry, thinking that I had just ended my hike.After hobbling down off of the mountain - resting about a dozen times - and back across that damn dam, I called Shanon and told her what had happened - actually I think I started blubbering again, still afraid that I had ended my hike. For good.She calmed me down and got me to start thinking about options - where to go, what to do, how bad did I think it was, etc.I went into the bushes above the dam and layed down for a little while with my leg elevated to let the meds start working. After about an hour or so I decided to get a room at the local Fontana Village and get some ice on it. I yogi'd a ride to the place, checked in and immiediatly began the ice treatments.A long story short, I am going to stay here for a couple of days then start back up - probably on Thursday. I think I will spend Wednesday night at the Fontana shelter (the "Hilton") 'cause I sure can't afford staying in this place - besides, I don't want to get too used to sleeping in a nice bed and clean sheets - or using flush toilets...Later...