morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-24
From: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg, TN

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

I took my first zero day today. Woke up early. Humpty said he is going to go home tomorrow because of his leg. I am very sorry to hear that, we have had such a good time. We went to breakfast at the pancake house, which was excellent. After breakfast, we went over to the outfitters to see what they had and to get our pictures taken for the "wall of thru hikers". Afterwards, took the 25 cent trolley around town. It is so nice to not have to walk everywhere. Stopped by the post office so Humpty could mail his stove and fuel bottle home so there would be no holdups at the airport. Also went to the grocery store to buy a few supplies for the second half of the Smokies. The afternoon was spent doing what you are supposed to do on zero days- nothing. For dinner, we weren't sure about what we were going to do. I suggested Wendys. Humpty asked how far it was. Without thinking, I replied, "Oh, it's walking distance". Humpty simply said, "Shoot Turtle, you're walking to Maine, everything is within walking distance!!" Of course. How silly of me. We finally decided on Pizza Hut, but they had no salad bar, so we passed that up. We walked down the strip looking for somewhere to eat and finally ended up eating at Wendys. Afterward, we rode the skylift up to the top of the mountain. They really need to install those on all the mountains throughout the trail. This town is really overwhelming on the senses, especially after being in the woods for three weeks. It has been fun, but I'm ready to go back to the woods.
Date: 2005-03-25
From: Gatlinburg, TN

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Up early this morning to see Humpty off. His cab came by around seven and we said our goodbyes. It was a very sad moment. Hopefully I'll see him when he starts south in June from Maine. I have really enjoyed hiking with him these past three weeks. I haven't just found a hiking partner, but a good friend also. Humpty, I will miss you. After Humpty departed, I walked to the outskirts of town to hitch a ride back to the trail. It was still very early, only about ten past seven, so I wasn't too optimistic about getting a ride anytime soon. But I had a ride in less than ten minutes. It was a trail maintainer on his way to work on some trail, and he was going right past the gap. I was back at Newfound Gap and hiking by 7:30. The trail past the gap was all up all the way to Icewater Spring Shelter. Met a couple of spring breakers there. "Quater of the way" had left his water bag at the shelter as I was told by the spring breakers. I'm pretty sure that I can catch him within the next couple of days, so I'm going to carry it for a while and see if I can catch him. Good hiker karma. I would hope someone would do the same for me. Charlies Bunion was really awesome. The views were spectacular. Couldn't have asked for a clearer day. Met Leaf there, and hung around for over an hour. Leaf says he wants to thru hike next year so I talked to him for a bit. Spent the whole day walking all by myself. The terrain in the second half of the Smokies has not been as bad as the first. Still lots of ups though. The shelter here is half a mile off the trail and I made it here around two, and decided to call it a day. Met Diesel, another thru hiker. Filtered water and talked to Diesel for a bit before he left. Had the shelter to myself for over two hours. Then Whitee came in. He is from Alaska and gets his name from the big white backpack he carries. A little bit later, Spiderman came in. He gets his name from when he would hike with his grandchildren. They would make him walk in front and clear out all of the spiderwebs. The shelter is not crowded at all tonight. Only us three plus a couple out here for spring break.
Date: 2005-03-26
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

Good hiking today. Ate some poptarts and then walked the half mile back to the trail. The rain threatened for a bit. It sprinkled for about ten minutes, then the sun came out and there was no more rain for the rest of the day. Made the five miles to Tri Corner shelter in a little over two hours, where I met Shatter, a ridgerunner. Talked to him for a bit. The privy here at Tri Corner is the nicest I have seen since I've been out here. The privy is so nice, it makes me almost wish I had to use it, ha. Walked all day by myself again. The trail still has a lot of snow and ice on it from the last storm, made it very slick. It's starting to get warmer, so the ground is all muddy and wet from the snow thaw. My boots were soaked in no time. Tons of blowdowns today that required me to take my pack off and pull it behind me. Got to the shelter again around two and found Quater of the way here. He was suprised to see that I had his water bad. I'm glad that I caught him. Also here tonight is Whitee, Spiderman, and a father and son. I got cell reception so I called home and talked to mom and dad. I'll be out of the Smokies tomorrow, and am looking forward to that. Hopefully I'll catch them by Hot Springs.
Date: 2005-03-27
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Green Corner Road, Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Happy Easter!Up very early today, around five. It was raining, so I waited for it to stop before I left, which was around six. Absolutely flew down the trail today. One mile was up, then the rest was down, all the way to Davenport Gap. Just past the gap, I was crossing a stream and I slipped on a wet rock. Since my boots are not waterproof, I tried to get out of the creek quickly. In my haste, I slipped again and this time fell on one of my Leki poles, bending it pretty good. Luckily, not beyond where I can't still use it. I just can't retract it. Crossed under I-40, the first interstate I've crossed. By 10:30, I was at Standing Bear Farm. I was originally going to just get my maildrop and keep going. All of my birthday cards were in this drop and I got twenty dollars from Ms. Sally, a friend from church, so I decided to stay overnight and take the afternoon off. Read all afternoon. Quater of the way gave me a book that he had finished called "Deception Point". Curtis, the owner of the hostel, shuttled us into town for some food. I was told that I missed Stick and Spoonie by two hours. They had spent last night here. The hostel here has a "permanent" resident named Snapper, who is a commercial fisherman and a rather shady character. I called Leki, but they are closed on the weekends, so I will have to try them again from Hot Springs. Hopefully I will also catch Stick and Spoonie soon also.
Date: 2005-03-28
From: Green Corner Road, Standing Bear Farm

To: Old Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: light rain

What a day! Up around six, and Curtis took us into town for breakfast. On the way back it started to rain. Called home again to talk to mom before I left. By then it had stopped raining so I started up the hill around a quater to nine. But the rain wasn't done yet. It turned into quite the downpour for several hours. Made the going very miserable. I ended up getting rather soaked. It took me almost four hours to make the seven miles to Groundhog Creek Shelter. The thought crossed my mind to stay there, because I was chaffing pretty bad. But the rain had stopped and Body Glide does wonders, so I pressed on. I walked all day by myself. The weather was actually not too bad after the initial rain, just cool and overcast, perfect for hiking. That is, until I crossed Max Patch.Max Patch is a big mountain that has no trees on top, just a big field, or bald. Supposedly it is a very pretty spot with great views. So when I got up there I half expected Julie Andrews to be up there with Captain von Trapp's children singing "Do-Re-Mi"What I got was "The Sound of Music" meets "The Perfect Storm".The wind was blowing over 50 mph sustained. The rain was stinging and I couldn't see anything. Once I got to the top, all there was was a post and the trail disappeared. There was a rock pointing off to the right, so I followed it hoping the trail was that way. Luckily it was. The wind was blowing so hard, it blew my pack cover off. If I hadn't been holding on to it, I would have lost it. Crossing Max Patch was the worst experience of this hike. After I made it up and over, I was looking forward to getting to Roaring Fork Shelter and getting dried out. I thought I had less than a mile to go. But when I got to the site, I was unpleasantly suprised that it is under construction. So unless I wanted to tent, I still had four more miles to go. Luckily, it was practically flat, because I was whipped. I came in to the Old Roaring Fork Shelter around 5:30. The only people here are two section hikers here tonight, David and Chris, real nice guys. Most of my stuff got pretty "damp", which is mildly putting it. Took some Ibeprofin, ate, and got dry. Sleep had never came so easy.
Date: 2005-03-29
From: Old Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

Up around 7:30, ate and packed quickly. The bad weather had passed, a nice a sunny morning. Quater of the way came in right as I was leaving, he camped at the New Roaring Fork Shelter site. I hiked the two miles to Walnut Mountain Shelter and read in the register that Stick and Spoonie spent last night here waiting out the storm. I decided that if I caught them before the next shelter, I would go all the way into town today instead of holding up at the next shelter. I hiked on and off with David and Chris for most of the morning. I was ahead of them a bit, when they called ahead for me to hold up a minute. They asked if I had seen the rattlesnake just back there. I had not. Apparently, it was lying right on the trail. I had just stepped right over it. Pretty scary stuff. I thought it was still a little early to be worried about snakes, but it was a little warm today. I caught up to Spoonie and Stick right around noon. They were layed out in the grass, taking a break when I came up on them. I had never been so glad to see them. The last few days hiking by myself had been kind of tough. I was happy to be hiking with my friends again. I walked with them the rest of the way into town. About three miles before town, we met Dude. Dude is the last southbounder for 2004. He didn't start until August. We talked to him for a bit and continued on towards town. Once we got to town, we went to the store and bought a pop, it tasted so good. Went to the post office to pick up our packages and went to see about prices at the hotel, which was way to high. We opted to stay at Elmers. It was kind of old and creepy, but Elmer is a nice guy. Did our laundry and ate at the Paddlers Pub. The laundrymat has a sign that says for hikers to remained clothed while doing laundry. Going to sleep good tonight, after doing thirty-five miles in two days. It is good to be back in the company of my hiking buddies too.
Date: 2005-03-30
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Gravel Road just past dam
Miles today: 5.1

After sleeping in, we all decided to spend the morning in town and take an easy day out in the late afternoon. We ate breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. I had the breakfast skillet, which was delicious and way overportioned. It was all I could do just to finish it. Toss in some very reasonable prices and great service and I was all set.Down at the outfitter, I bought socks and a bumper sticker that Humpty is going to love. It says, "Humpty Dumpty was pushed." While we were there, we met Baltimore Jack, a "trail legend" from what I hear. Spoonie asked him if he was a thru hiker, to which he just cocked his head and laughed. After several minutes of chuckling to himself and walking to and fro for dramatic effect, he reached in his pocket and tossed Spoonie a lighter that had his name and the 7 or 8 years he has hiked the trail.Can I puke now?But I suppose you are allowed to have a big head once you have hiked the trail that many times, so I didn't say anything. Afterwards, we went back to Elmers to pack up and stop by the post office on the way out of town. I also tried getting ahold of Leki and Jansport because of equipment malfunctions, but no luck. Headed back toward the outfitter for some Ben and Jerry's before leaving for the woods around 2 pm. The trail followed the river for a bit, then left the banks and climbed brutually to the top of the ridge. The climb wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that the weather today was exceptionally warm for March. It was quite uncomfortable, as you should be able to tell in my picture. Spoonie said I should smile, but I want the viewer to get the full effect, like he/she is actually there in the A.T. expericence!! We hiked about 5 miles and found a nice pound next to a hill with a feild on top. All four of us, Stick, Spoonie, Sci Fi and myself are cowboy camping. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically sleeping under the stars in nothing more than your sleeping bag. Today is the first day on the trip where it has been warm enough to do so.
Date: 2005-03-31
From: Gravel Road just past dam

To: Spring Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: moderate rain

I woke up around four to raindrops hitting my face. It was just a light drizzle, so I pulled my tarp over my bag. Stick was already up, packing. I said I'd go with him, just give me a few minutes to rest. I rolled back over, knowing good and well that I wasn't going anywhere. A few minutes later, it stopped raining and I drifted back to sleep.At six, I woke again to a light rain. Come to find out, Stick didn't go anywhere, either. This time we were up for good, and we were packed and hiking without breakfast within fifteen minutes. We stopped for breakfast at Tanyard Gap on an overpass for breakfast. That road led back into Hot Springs, and it was very tempting to hitch into town for breakfast, but we resisted. It was very slow going to the shelter, I just couldn't get it in gear. A lot of land that the trail passed this morning looked scortched, the remains from a controlled burn. At the shelter, we stopped for a snack and the long walk downhill for water. My filter is acting up, it gets clogged for some reason, I believe it is the prefilter, but for now I am borrowing auqa mira drops from Stick. We were getting ready to leave, and it started to rain, so we decided to wait it out. Stick said he was going to pull out his bag and take a nap. It was about ten. I decided this was a good idea so I did the same. Around two, we decided to stay the night. Two section hikers from Colorado came in for a break. We talked to them for a bit, they told us of logging in Colorado, really nice guys. They decided to press on in the rain. A little later, Gravity and Danger came in, they came all the way from Hot Springs. Also here tonight is a guy named Kitty Litter, who started near Franklin, and said he is going is far as he can get in 105 days. Spent most of the afternoon and evening reading. Going to try and get a good day in tomorrow, we'll never make it to Erwin doing 6 miles a day!
Date: 2005-04-01
From: Spring Mtn Shelter

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Once we were all up, Stick announced that he was going home. He was tired of being sick and was going home for a few weeks. After exchanging email addresses and phone numbers, he said goodbye and took two steps before shouting, "APRIL FOOLS!!" He was quite convincing and had everybody going. Stick, Spoonie and I were all walking together in the morning. Since Stick is still sick, he wants to go back into town to go to the clinic. Since Spoonie and I aren't about to let him go to town without him, we decided to go too, and get some breakfast. We hitch in at Allen Gap, and had a ride within 15 minutes that took us to the cutoff road. As soon as we got out of the truck and stuck our thumbs out, another car pulled up. This one only had room for one, so we told Stick to go and we'd get another ride, which we had in 5 minutes. While Stick was at the doctor, Spoonie and I went to the Diner, where I had another one of those delicious skillets. We told our waitress that we hitched into town just to come eat here and she said she would find us a ride back to the trail. We ran into Ravenhawk and Not Guilty in the diner, hadn't seen them since the southern Smokies. The doctor told Stick that it is just allergies, but gave him a prescription just in case. He had that filled, but it took a while, so we missed the ride that the waitress had found for us. Since we weren't in a rush anymore, we went to the phone to make some calls. I called Leki and Jansport and they are sending me replacement parts to Erwin. We hitched back to the cutoff and that's where our luck ran out. We waited for a hitch for the better part of an hour with no luck. Finally, a guy that was helping stock the creeks with trout came by and gave us a ride the rest of the way back to the trail. It was 5 miles to the shelter and they went by uneventfully. Made it to the shelter to find room for all three of us. The weather isn't looking too promising tonight.
Date: 2005-04-02
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: snow

There was two inches of snow on the ground and snowing heavily when I woke up this morning. And it was COLD!! Us three layed around in our bags until everyone else had packed and left. Finally I was able to drag myself from my warm sanctuary into the "crisp" morning air. We were slow packing and finally left around 10. The going was very slow. The conditions went from bad to worse. It turned into a blizzard. Visibility went down to practically zero and the wind howled terribly. The bad weather by-pass around Blackstack Cliffs was the logical choice. We met some people going southbound that looked like they were out for just the day. They all had ponchos on. I had on my longjohns, jacket, rainpants and rainjacket and was still uncomfortable, I know they had to be. This cold weather makes eating my snickers bars dang near impossible. They are like bricks. After a long, hard 6.8 miles, we decided to call it a day at the shelter. There was no way we were going to make 18 in this weather. We were completely drenched and were chilling fast, so into dry clothes and the sleeping bag first thing. After getting warm, I gathered some snow to melt for my dinner. Spoonie had decided to eat first then change, so she became rather chilled, so much to the point where she was on the edge of being hypothermic. She was shaking real bad so all three of us got in our bags and Stick and I layed on top of her to get her warm. It took us a while, but she warmed up. She gave us a scare there for a few minutes. Spiderman came in around 3:30 and other than that, no one else came the rest of the evening. Spoonie hung her hammock tarp in front of the shelter to keep out the snow and wind. It keep out the snow, but the wind seemed to cut right through it, making for a very cold night.
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Devil Fork Gap- Erwin, TN
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: clear sky

I couldn't bring myself to leave me warm sleeping bag in the early morning, so we had another start past 10 am. The blizzard was over, but it had left over half a foot of snow. The sun was shining, it was clear, and dead silent. It was like something out of a picture. Spiderman had left about two hours before us, and he was breaking trail the whole way. It's a good thing he was ahead of us, we would have gotten lost. With this much snow on the ground, you have to hike blaze to blaze, because there is no trail. Even with Spiderman leaving tracks for us, it was very slow hiking. We were still "post-holing". The views views from the top of Big Butt were spectacular. There was over a foot and a half of snow on top. Since I live in Florida, walking through knee-deep snow was fun for like 10 minutes. After that, I figured the snow really slows you down and my boots becamed soaked, and it was no longer fun. We caught up to Spiderman right before Flint Mtn. Shelter and walked with him the rest of the way. We made the shelter right around two. It had taken us four hours to hike the 5.9 miles. There was no way we were going to make the 8.8 miles to the next before dark. We could stay here, but we wouldn't have enough food to make it to Erwin. After much debate, we decided to hike down to the road and try hitching in to Erwin for the night. It was a long shot, since it wasn't a main road, and didn't seem like it would be too busy, but we were willing to give it a chance. Down at the road, we found out we were right about it being a slow road. After about 20 minutes, only two cars had passed. I walked to the top of the hill to see if I could get cell phone reception and call Ms. Janet to see if we could get a lift. While I was up there, a car was passing, and Spoonie literally jumped out in front of it frantically waving her arms. It was an elderly couple who were very kind and gave us a ride all the way to the Holiday Inn Express in Erwin, about a 20 mile hitch. At the hotel, we spent the afternoon showering, doing laundry, making calls, eating and getting dry. Stick and I wrote out a plan that puts us in Erwin in a little over two days. Hopefully we won't have any more delays. It was nice to have a warm place to stay after spending the last few days in the cold, wet snow.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Devil Fork Gap- Erwin, TN

To: Campsite, .5 mile past spring
Miles today: 9.7

Woke up and went down first thing to the lobby for that great breakfast that Holiday Inn always has. I definately got my money's worth! We all took our time getting packed up and were hitching around 9:30. Getting a ride back to the trail proved to be quite difficult. Finally, a very odd man picked us up. I probably wouldn't have taken this ride had I been by myself. He took us halfway. There were no cars passing by and we were in the middle of nowhere, still about 7 miles from the trail. Luckily, the first car that passed picked us up and brought us the remainder of the way. There was still a ton of snow on the ground, although it was melting, making a huge slushy mess. My boots were soaked in no time. On top of some of the summits, there are drifts up to my thighs. It's funny, because the temperature is warm enough so I can wear shorts, so I have pictures of me standing in snow drifts up to my knees wearing shorts! The snow really slowed us down. It took us four hours to do the six miles to the shelter. We stopped here for a late lunch/early supper and for water. We took our time there, hiking in the snow really wore us down. We left the shelter around 4:30, continuing on past Sams Gap, where we stopped for a short break. about 45 minutes later, we found a nice unmarked campsite with a spring. We are all tenting tonight, except Spoonie, who has a hammock. Watching her put it up was quite amusing. I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight, hiking in the snow really took it out of me.