morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-27
From: Gooch Gap

To: Blood Mountain
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Blood Mountain, 4,460' 9:00 pm.Another gorgeous day! Unbelievable! "BOB" (the sun) was with us most of the day. Temperatures were in the upper 70s, no wind.Tom and I broke camp leisurely and said ¢good day¢ to those who had stayed at the shelter a couple of miles back as they headed north past us: "Coyote", "Pipesmoke", "Blue", "Wiley and Roadrunner", "Pack Rat", and "Trail Bear". To our surprise, one of the first ones to come by was Don from California, now officially dubbed, "Turtle Don", who, with very little coaxing, joined us for a cup of coffee and stayed on for one of our breakfast burritos (dehydrated scrambled eggs and bacon, American cheese on a wrap).Although we got off late, Tom and I made good time on a relatively flat ridgeline that took up most of the morning. By late morning we were at Woody Gap, where we had our first experience with an AT phenomenon known as "Trail Magic". Trail Magic is when somebody provides food or refreshments to hikers just for the heck of it. In this case the ¢Trail Magic,¢ was being provided by Suzy and Craig Miles, who were two of the most incredibly cheerful people I¢ve ever met. They were passing out eats like chips, donuts, sticky buns, peanut butter crackers and the like, along with sodas, waters, and to us NOBOs (hikers heading north) compliments of the local church. Halleluiah! Tom and I stopped for a late lunch and soaked our feet in a stream before heading toward the Woods Hole Shelter. When we got there we were still feeling pretty good, so we decided to go for it: and pushed for the top of Blood Mountain, one of the higher peaks in Georgia. We arrived at the summit at 6:30, concluding a nine hour day of hiking that covered a total of twelve miles and the 1,500' ascent of Blood Mountain in the last mile and a half. We were glad to be there.After setting up our tents and getting organized for the evening, we checked out the original stone shelter that sits atop of Blood Mountain (one of the few of its type on the Trail). Upon returning to our camp, were we cooked dinner (Lipton Chicken Fettuccini with foil-packed Chicken-of-the-Sea tuna and dehydrated peas). As we finished up, we were joined by a very curious spotted skunk. The skunk climbed through Tom¢s pack a couple of times before latching on to a Cliff bar wrapper and heading for the woods. He was happy with his treasure and we were happy with his departure. Unlike his striped cousin that moves more slowly with a rumbling kind of gait, the Spotted Skunk is built low to the ground and whips around like a weasel, darting every which way, seemingly at once. At first, Tom thought our friend was a weasel or marmot or something along those lines and before he was about to encourage its departure from his pack by throwing something at it before, I pointed out to him that such an approach might just warrant a response neither he nor I would probably not exactly appreciate. So enlightened, restraint and patience prevailed.
Date: 2004-03-28
From: Blood Mountain

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 2.0

Truly, a day of rest for Tom and me! Because we decided to push to the top of Blood yesterday afternoon, today we¢ve got only 2 miles to go to Neels Gap, where Tom¢s wife, Susan, is going to pick him up. We hiked out and met her around 1:00pm. After sharing a real live lunch at a real live diner (and some of the best fresh-baked brownies she¢s brought along) they departed for Atlanta after dropping me off at the Cabins in Goose Creek, GA, for a hot shower and a night spent in a real bed.I must admit though that so far neither food nor sleep has been an issue for me. My food planning has worked out pretty well and Tom and I slept soundly in excess of 8 hours each night. Frankly, I¢m eating and sleeping better than I do at home.So far my journal entries have been ¢reports¢ of where we¢ve gone and what we¢ve done and not very much about what we¢ve seen and experienced, and certainly not much about what I¢ve felt. Words, not images, fail me in his department.Perhaps one of the things I wish I could describe to you would be the park-like nature of the woods we¢ve trekked through these past few days. Almost everywhere we¢ve been there¢s been a lack of undergrowth, while this is a surprise to me. Except for the Rhododendron, some of which reach 20¢ in height, there are few low bushes or trees to block sight lines into the woods This means when you look to the sides of the trail you can see a surprisingly long distance, especially now before the leaves are on the trees. With only dead leaves on the forest floor and plenty of light filtering through the hardwoods overhead you can clearly see the contour surrounding you as you walk.On top of all this it is quiet. Soundless is more like it. Other than an occasional woodpecker or an infrequent songbird, these woods are still. Between the contours of the ravines and knolls, the gaps and the pitches, the shadows and the light, and the pervasive silence, the sense of these woods is unlike anything I can recall having experienced previously. I¢m glad I¢m here to take it all in.However, before bed, ¢Blue,¢ and I met a group of hikers and were ferried into Blairsville for dinner, to an ¢All-You-Can-Eat,¢ joint where we each tried to outdo one another in terms of volume consumed. When we boarded the Goose Creek van, after dinner, there sat one of our contingents of fellow NOBOS-a very dejected ¢Pack Rat,¢ dressed - clean travel clothes, his knee wrapped in an Ace Bandage and his hopes for a successful ninth attempt at the AT Thru hike obviously dashed. It was sad at losing a comrade-even though the personal ties were scant- had an impact. He¢s the first person, I¢ve known who set out at the same time that I did with the same high hopes and expectations only have to succumb to the rigors of the Trail and throw in the towel.
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Muskrat Shelter 

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

What a difference a day makes! The snow stopped around 1:00 am and a cold gray cloud engulfed my tent and filled the woods. By morning though, most of the snow that had fallen had melted and the temperature was notably warmer. By 9:45am when I set out, BOB had arrived, and the skies were clear. Before long, I was hiking in a tee shirt and shorts with the temperature in the upper 50s. The day was clear with blue skies, glossy green Rhododendrons and patches of white snow punctuating the brown and grey trees. What a palette God has to work with!Truly a great day to hike. Around 11:30am I arrived at Deep Gap and was treated to some spectacular ¢trail magic¢. Three former Thru Hikers (¢Red Truck,¢ his son ¢Green Truck,¢ and their friend ¢Blaze¢) had set up a tent (a pavilion is more like it) and were providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the day to all AT hikers. After four eggs, three sausage patties, two biscuits, a couple of cups of coffee and some conversation with section hikers from Georgia (¢Patches¢ and his wife, ¢Saint¢), I set out again and burned every calorie I had consumed in the next two hours climbing to the top of Standing Indian Mountain. Its peak is at 5480¢. I was exhilarated by the climb, the views and by being able to do this. Feelin¢ good!A couple of miles further on, I ran into Carl and ¢Norway¢, along with two real fun characters I had heard about; ¢Vocal¢ (yes, he¢s a talker!) and ¢Flippy.¢ They¢re all young and move fast, but (to both their surprise and mine!) I was able to keep up with them and churned out the remaining three miles to Carter Shelter in just under an hour and 20 minutes. This may not sound all that fast but when you¢re carrying a full pack and walking up and down ridge lines on uneven footing, it sure feels fast. The workout felt good, and after reaching the shelter I called it a day, content to air out my clothes, my sleeping bag and tent in the sunshine, to cook dinner (Lipton Fettuccini noodles with a can of chicken breast, crackers and cheese, decaf coffee and cookies¢¦ pretty good feedbag if I do say so myself!), and bunk down for my first night in a shelter shared with only two others (my trail friend ¢Coyote¢ and ¢Yoyla¢, originally from Minnesota.) ¢Patches,¢ and ¢Saint,¢ are tenting nearby.The moon is full and the woods are brightly lit. It¢s cold like last night but at least there¢s no snow. Miss Piggy is hung in a tree. So now if the snoring of the others and the antics of the shelter mice don¢t keep me awake, bon nuit!
Date: 2004-04-05
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Rainbow Springs Campground.Today proved to be a bit of a ¢busman¢s holiday¢ for this hiker. After 11.5 hours of solid sleep, a big breakfast at Mama¢s restaurant, and a long hot bath (during which time my laundry was washing in the hotel¢s machines), I checked out and walked a mile to Three Eagle¢s Outfitters. For the next two hours I managed to take five pounds out of the weight of my gear by buying a new tent and pack for the next section of my journey. This necessitated me completely packing and unpacking the new pack several times, weighing elements of the new and old equipment, etc. I won¢t tell you how much it cost me per pound but ¢less weight is less weigh!¢ My goal is to get another five pounds out before undertaking my next section of the trail.Before leaving, Jackie (the salesperson) called one of the local AT club volunteers and arranged a ride for me from the store to Rainbow Springs Campground where I¢m staying tonight. Marge took me there and waited til I checked in, then drove me to Wallace Gap where I planned to go see the second largest poplar tree in the world (¢so big 14 people can hold hands around it¢). When we arrived there though, I learned from two Thru Hikers who Marge was picking up, that ¢Turtle Don¢ had recently left Wallace Gap heading for Winding Stair Gap four miles away. Marge kindly backtracked so she could drop me off at Winding Stair Gap and I began to walk south with a Cliff bar for ¢Turtle Don¢ ¢to do a little ¢Trail Magic¢ of my own. I met him about half way between the two gaps, and we sat on a log and ¢got caught up¢ on AT gossip ¢ who was where, how they¢re doing, etc. It was good to see him and he admitted that, just like me, in the past day or so he felt stronger and as if he had fallen into a comfortable groove for himself. After a while, we parted, and I continued south to Wallace Gap, then on toward my original destination, the John Wasilik Memorial Poplar. Soon, however, I ran into ¢Blue¢, now limping along on a bum ankle, (which I had already heard about from ¢Turtle Don,¢). She was heading toward Rainbow Springs Campground for the night. So not to miss the chance to do double duty, I played ¢Trail Angel¢ again and relieved her of her pack and walked with her the mile and a half to the campground, talking all the while about how good a pizza was going to taste once we got there. Unfortunately, when we arrived the camp store was closed so instead of pizza, the best we could do was to split my last dehydrated dinner and a frozen cheeseburger found in the refrigerator of my cabin.It¢s now 9:45 pm and I¢m about to go to sleep. I hiked seven miles today and bought new, lightweight gear. I never did get to see the world¢s second largest poplar tree and probably never will. But I did get to see a couple of trail friends whom I¢ll probably never get to see again. I realize now that the AT is much more about people than about places.
Date: 2004-04-07
From: New York City

To: New York City
Miles today: 0.0

Some really good news to report! The way things have developed here on the work front, it now appears that I will be able to return to the Trail earlier than expected! Originally, I thought it wouldn't be returning to the trail until approximately June 1st, but now it looks like I'll be back at it beginning the First of May (that's "5/1/04" for those of you who are more numerically oriented!) That's a whole month earlier, and only a week and a half away (i.e. ¢11" days)! Can't wait!Once I get back to Winding Stair Gap (where I left off), my plan is to head North (duh!) to get through the Smokies before I have to leave again to attend my Mother's 95th Birthday Party in Harrisonburg, VA. (Roll back the carpets and kick up your heels, Mom's gonna party tonight!) After that, I'll then return to the office for a couple more weeks.My current focus is to get 10 pounds out of my pack and 10 pounds off of my body... after all, "weight is weight" no matter where/how I'm carrying it! I am now 5 days into the first week of the South Beach Diet so it¢s going to really have to "kick in" if I'm going to make my goal in the shortened time available.More to report later: Its dinner time and I've got to go eat another steak... (Something, I would love to be able to do three weeks from now when I'm hopefully approaching Clingman's Dome and on my 5th freeze-dried pasta dinner!)
Date: 2004-04-30
To: Here Today Gone Tomorrow
Miles today: 0.0

Well, tomorrow at this time I'll be somewhere on the AT, northbound from Winding Stair Gap. The car service will pick me up at 5:45AM for a Delta 8:00AM departure to Atlanta. The same car service that drove me back to Atlanta when I left the Trail a few weeks ago will pick me up in Atlanta and take me back to the winding staircase. En route we'll stop at Three Eagles Outfitters in Franklin to pick up some fuel for my stove and the small "drop box" I sent to myself of things I can't take on the plane with me. The driver doesn't know it yet, but we'll also be stopping for a big, fat sloppy burger along the way: to hell with the South Beach diet -- I'm talking about the last shot at real food before two weeks of dehydrated dinners!If all goes according to schedule, I should get to the Trail with plenty of time, recover from my noontime heartburn, to hike to the Siler Bald Shelter and set up camp well before nightfall. From there, the plan goes like this:"GSMNP" is the abbreviation for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that requires you to get a permit stipulating which nights you will be staying in which specific shelter areas. Without a permit, you're subject to a fine. In the GSMNP, all hikers must stay in shelter areas (as with all those marked "shelter" belowdateLocationMilesMail DropFriday 4/30Siler Bald Shelter3.7 #1Saturday 5/1Cold Spring Shelter12.4Sunday 5/2Nantahala Outdoor Center in Wesser, NC11.5#2Monday 5/3Cheoah Bald8.1Tuesday 5/4Cable Cap Shelter 14.0Wednesday 5/5Hike Inn, Fontana Dam, NC5.5#3Thursday 5/6Birch Spring Tent Site in GSMNP5.9Friday 5/7Spence Field Shelter in GSMNP10.8Saturday 5/8Silers Bald Shelter in GSMNP11.8Sunday 5/9Gatlinburg, TN near GSMNP12.5#4Monday 5/10Peck¢s Corner Shelter in GSMNP10.4Tuesday 5/11Cosby Knob Shelter in GSMNP12.9Wednesday 5/12Standing Bear Farm, Hartford, NC10.2#5Total: 118.7Rarely do I intend to actually stay in them unless it¢s raining, as I greatly prefer to stay in my tent nearby and, considering I just got a new lightweight MSR "Hubba" tent just big enough for me, my sleeping bag and my boots, this is all the more my preferred sleeping arrangement- close enough to enjoy the camaraderie and ¢fellowship,¢ of the other hikers at meal times, but far enough away to avoid the snoring, stirring, and farting of people packed too tightly on the wooden platform used to make the shelters. The wood creaks and resonates like a drum whenever anyone shuffles in their sleeping bag, or gets up to take a pee during the night (no matter how quiet they try to be). Did I forget to mention the shelter mice? They scurry all through the night rummaging through packs in search of snippets of food and crumbs, and as they do so climb over you as you sleep. NO THANKS!Anyway, this is my plan for the next couple of weeks... now, let's see how things unfold. Bumpo
Date: 2004-04-30
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: moderate rain

Rain. But I am here so who cares?35 lbs! That¢s 13 lbs. less weight that I am carrying on my back now than I was when first started out six weeks ago. That includes the 1 12 lbs. I took off my feet by going to Trail Shoes instead of the leather boots and socks I had worn previously, and another 8lbs. from my body from dieting. It¢s no wonder I felt like I was flying up the Trail coming out of Winding Stair Gap this afternoon! What a difference! Bring on them steeps!Another notable difference is the Trail itself. When I left here a few weeks ago everything was still brown: brown trail, brown forest floor, brown trees, brown grass. Now the only absolute brown is the Trail itself, lined with violent green grass and flowers (Bluets and Violets, mostly). There aren¢t many leaves yet, and still none are out at the higher elevations, but there¢s a pastel haze of green buds around every limb. You can still see into the woods, but not as far as before. Soon the leaves will obscure all the long views into the woods, hiding the ravines and the bed-sheet folds and contours of the terrain that I have found so enticing.After two hours of intermittent rain and drizzle, I arrived at the shelter which has one other occupant tonight, Kevin (¢Take-A-Break¢) from Georgia. We enjoyed a relaxed evening and, like the rain, some lazy, intermittent conversation (both the rain and the conversation flowed easily). Before sitting down to do my journal I read the shelter Log Book and found scribbling¢s from old friends, all now well north of here, probably in Virginia.All of a sudden as I read through the Shelter Log my mouth fell open as I came to a lengthy, two page entry by ¢Turtle Don,¢ in which he implores anybody who knew how to reach ¢Bumpo in New York¢ (me) to convey a message of great appreciation. He listed how grateful he was to ¢Bumpo¢ for his kindness. Listing things like offering him coffee and an egg burrito one morning, helping him adjust his pack, meeting him with a Cliff Bar on the Trail, etc.) These things apparently meant a great deal to Don. I was really touched to find such an unexpected ¢thank you¢ note while sitting here in the wilderness. It kinda felt like a note in a bottle addressed to me that had washed up at my feet from someone so far away. I can assure you that the things I did were certainly ¢no big deal¢ but it¢s nice to know that they made a difference to him. What a great touching and humbling way to be welcome back to the Trail.
Date: 2004-05-01
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: clear sky

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit (There. Now, I will have good luck for yet another month.)Rain. A slow start after a great couple of breakfast burritos, then out into the rain! After 2 hours it let up some, and turned to drizzle that kept vacillating between dripping and flowing showers. But at that point, it really didn¢t matter because everything (except my feet, thankfully!) on me was soaked, (My pack was dry, too, thankfully!)Visibility was all of 40 yards, so the ¢tremendous views¢ that were advertised for the top of the Wayah Bald (pronounced ¢War-yuh¢ by the locals) Stone Observation tower were non-existent. In spite of the dreary weather, I felt really good and just being back on the trail after a few weeks in New York boosted my spirits and my steps. I arrived at Cold Creek Shelter at the same time as "BOB" (remember "BOB" the "Big Orange Ball", aka the Sun?!) and the skies quickly began to clear. Hopefully tomorrow will be bright and dry. I have not yet seen the surrounding mountains. There are seven others here at the Shelter, all Section Hikers, five of whom are: Peter, ¢Take-A-Break,¢ ¢Whittler¢ (who was the first person on the trail to recognize the international fellowship symbol on my hat!), and a college-age couple, ¢Tiga¢ and Joe. It is apparent that the entire ¢2004 Class of Thru Hikers¢ are now all further north, leaving the trail virtually deserted. From the time I left this morning until I arrived here, I didn¢t see or speak to another soul. I miss the camaraderie and fellowship that I enjoyed during my first two weeks on the Trail. I wonder if it will develop here among the Section Hikers, but I have my doubts. These are good folks, for sure, but I think that we Section Hikers are "hikers" first and foremost which is different from "Thru Hikers" who are characterized by a time-constraint and sense of urgency (and, perhaps, doubt) that we aren't. The common goal isn¢t as compelling nor as unifying a factor for us as it is for the Thru Hikers. If something goes wrong for a Section Hiker, we just get off the trail and re-group to pick back up some other day. Not so for the Thru Hiker for whom "something going wrong" usually means the end of a dream. That dreaded possibility must serve as a pretty powerful bond fortifying them together (But right now, for us Section Hikers, the sheer hardship of the crappy weather is certainly a unifying factor for us!).While coming over Siler Bald about half a mile out this morning I passed a very large deposit of bear scat which now entitles me to authoritatively answer the proverbial question, about certain potty behaviors of bears in the woods, the answer is ¢unequivocally yes.¢
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Hike Inn, Fontana Dam

To: Hike Inn, Fontana Dam
Miles today: 0.0

Today is my daughter Kim¢s birthday. Happy Birthday, Kim!I spent most of the day today at the Robbinsville, North Carolina at the local library online, making phone calls, reading my Fed-Express package of daily e-mails and updating my ¢Trail Journal,¢ entries. Usually I call in my journal when I have a cell signal and my new assistant Phoebe gets to decipher what I meant from what I said and post it on the website for me. She¢s new with the Company and is going to be a great addition to the team.