morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-10
From: Brown Fork Gap

To: Fontana Dam Visitors Center
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

I am writing this sitting in my room at the Hike Inn after a large Mexican dinner of chilaquiles in Robbinsville. I am currently eating Haagen-dazs ice cream out of the container and I believe I may finish the entire pint! I think I have finally gotten my hiker appetite! It was an easy hike today. The last few miles all downhill into Fontana Dam, which is huge; the highest dam east of the Mississippi.The only excitment today was that I was up on a ridge when a thunderstorm came through. I got off as quickly as possible and the storm never came directly overhead, but it made me nervous. Jeff, here at the Hike Inn tells me that two hikers have already been struck by lightning this year and that whenever there is warm weather (as is forecast for the next 3 days) there is a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I will try to be at the shelters a little earlier for the next few days. He also tells me I will have plenty of company on the trail and in the shelters in the Smokies. Since you are required to stay at shelters in the Park, to minimize impact and because of bears, that is annother good reason to try to get in early. I don't want to be left out with the bears!I am the only person here tonight, about two weeks behind the big volume, which is all to the good as far as I am concerned. I am enjoying hiking alone mostly. The company in the shelter last night was nice because there were only a couple of us, but I don't want to be competing for shelter spots or packed in like sardines. Well, lets hope the Smokies won't be too crowded. It sounds like the weather will be perfect. I am looking forward to everything but the 4 mile climb out of Fontana Dam with 6 days of food (enough to get me to Hot Springs) I have learned though, that if I take it slow and keep putting one foot in front of the other I will get there.
Date: 2005-05-11
From: Fontana Dam Visitors Center

To: Russell Field Shelter, Great Smoky Mtns Nat. Park
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: few clouds

It was a short day today. I stopped at around 4:30 when I reached the shelter, and had dinner. I decided I couldn't face the climb to the next shelter today so I've settled in with a young couple on the second day of a three day hike and two women from San Diego, section hiking the Smokies. Today started with a 4 mile 2300 ft climb up Shuckstack Mountain, really tough with 6 days of food in my pack. The early mist had cleared by the time I got up to the firetower and the view out over the lake and the surrounding mountains was wonderful. It really was like being on top of the world. With the extra weight I was moving slowly, and took time to enjoy the view and to talk to the ridgerunner for that section, and to some day hikers. Even so, and in spite of my splendid breakfast of oatmeal with ice cream, I was pooped by the time I got the shelter, my short goal for the day. I had hoped to do another 3 miles to the next shelter, but I couldn't face the 900 ft climb (in 1 mile, no less). So, I'm saving it for tomorrow, for a 16 mile day tomorrow instead! Meanwhile I'm working on getting my pack weight down by eating as much heavy stuff as possible.I still haven't seen any bears, but there's lots of bear scat on the trails and people reporting bear sightings. One group of people saw 8, all together! This is one of the old style shelters so it has a chain link fence across the opening to keep the bears out. The effect is that we are in a cage, like the animals are at the zoo. A little depressing, but safe. I wonder if the bears will come at night and poke food through the fence to see if we will eat it. I can hear them now, "oh, look at that one over there with the funny hair!" I realize this is shameless anthropomorphizing, but the fence really does make the point that this is their habitat, not ours.So far the Smokies have been very beautiful and very tough walking. I have at least another day and a half of up and down before it evens out, but everyone says it gets much better then. I can't wait! I'm ready for some easy days, and looking forward to a rest in Hot Springs.
Date: 2005-05-12
From: Russell Field Shelter, Great Smoky Mtns Nat. Park

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: broken clouds

Here I am in a lovely shelter with a nice clean spring for water and a privy, and I'm all alone! Everyone said there was no way I'd be alone in the Smokies, and I know that the next shelter south, with much poorer accomodations is close to full. The system in the Smokies is that unless you are thru hiking you have to make reservations for the shelters and then stick to your itinerary, so people end up all piled up together. I'm glad I made the decision to move on, even though there were thunderstorms in the offing. They stayed to the south, though, and I'm watching a beautiful sunset.I wish I could describe to you what it is like here. Imagine walking down a dirt path, through an open woods with birch and maple, thickly carpeted with grass and wildflowers. Then imagine climbing up and down and along narrrow ridges with views for miles on either side of smoky mountains, and coming out onto the top of a bald, a mountain top with a meadow on the top, thick grass and flowers and sometimes wild cherry trees in bloom or blueberry bushes. It truly is a park, both wild and garden-like at the same time. The weather, which has been warm and sunny, has contributed to the feeling of paradise, although it's been hot enough to make walking thirsty work in the middle of the day. It makes early morning walking even more attractive, and I am up at 6:30 and out before 8 every morning.I have been thinking about walking (in case you were wondering what I think about), and I have come to the conclusion that I have two ways to walk. They both have positives and negatives. The first is towards a goal, getting to the shelter before dark, or over this d---d hill, or to Hot Springs for a shower and a bed. This way is good because it gets me through the times that are difficult, when I am tired, or hurting, by focusing my mind elsewhere. I tend to pay later though in fatigue and discomfort for pushing that way, and I don't enjoy the walk as much because my mind is not where my body is, and I don't notice the trail around me as much.The second way is to walk with mind and body in the same place, right where I am. This has the virtue of allowing me to savor each part of the hike and notice all kinds of small details in the experience. I have noticed, however, that when I walk this way I tend to slow down considerably so that my pace begins to resemble that of an old mule ambling down the trail. Probably eventually, when I got tired, I would just stop, wherever I was. I don't think I'd make it to Maine that way! So each has its virtues, and I try to switch back and forth as appropriate.Well, it's getting dark and my company for the night, the shelter mice have emerged to play. Just as long as they don't run over my face, that's all I ask! Tomorrow I will finish the climb up to Clingman's Dome, at 6643 ft the highest mountain on the trail. I'm looking forward to it. Today is my sister Sally's birthday, so "Happy Birthday, Sally!" I hope you got the card I emailed.
Date: 2005-05-13
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

I had a good night's sleep last night despite the mice and woke up early and ready to go. The climb up to Clingman's Dome was easy, a lovely walk through a conifer forest with lots of moss and old downed trees. I decided to have a hot breakfast before I left, and managed to set fire to my bandanna in the process. Since it was a goner anyway I decided to put it in the firepit and let it burn so I wouldn't have to pack it out. Another hiker came by and when I explained this, he commented "some people go to extremes to be lightweight!"The shelter tonight is really nice. It even has a skylight. I'm planning a long day tomorrow, 20 miles if I feel up to it so I'm to bed early. It's 8:00 and everyone else is already asleep here. I don't think I can go to sleep quite yet, but I'll read the trail guide a while first, to check out all the uphills for tomorrow.
Date: 2005-05-14
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: broken clouds

I have observed that all of the people passing me on the uphills say how much they use their poles on the uphills and how much help they are, so I have been asking questions about how they use them and watching them. Today I learned to use my poles on the uphill. Although I am still not very good at it, and my arms and shoulders get tired it has still made a huge difference. I walked over 20 miles today and am less tired than I have been after 15. Technique can make all the difference! I'll probably be sore tomorrow, but it will get better with time. I am in my last shelter in the Smokies tonight. I have a short (10 mile) walk out to the hostel tomorrow. Today was cool and misty in the morning and intermittent thundershowers in the afternoon. I managed to avoid the worst of it, though. I was in a shelter having lunch when a drenching rain came through. The rest of the time was just sprinkles. Unfortunately it meant you couldn't see much again. The brief glimpses I got when the clouds lifted were wonderful, but very brief, so I had to enjoy a walk in a pine woods with mist instead of mountain views.The big excitement of the day came when I rounded a corner of the trail to find my way blocked by about 8 horses and as many people. Although for the most part the AT is not open to horses and pack animals, in the Smokies they are allowed. This group was headed to the shelter where I had lunch, and very romantic and dashing they were. The horses were big and gentle, carrying either saddles or packs, and the people all geared up in those fancy rain coats with the deep split in them for riding and great hats. They all had beautiful southern accents and manners, and I felt like I wandered into some movie or novel. After that the two last miles of the trail coated with horse manure were somewhat of a letdown!I am in the shelter tonight with three men out for the weekend, and two people on a fast section hike, who were with me last night as well. There are also two thru hikers, one came in late, but the other, a 75 year old gentleman from New castle, Great Britain, sat and chatted with me for awhile. This is the second time he is hiking the AT, and he has done many other trails. He had lots of great suggestions for trails in England, although he said he likes the long trails best.
Date: 2005-05-15
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Here I am at Standing Bear Farm Hostel, where I arrived at around 1:30 after a late start and a slow, muddy, slippery walk through the rain. Since it was just rain and not thunder it gave me a chance to use my umbrella. It took a few minutes to get it rigged to my pack so it didn't slip, but once it was fixed it worked great. It keeps my top half and the top of my pack dry,where the pack cover doesn't reach, so I can hike with just rain pants and stay cool. The only flaw is that the angle is not adjustable, so I can only see 3 feet ahead going uphill! I'm working on it, but it still beats being wet and hot.Standing Bear Farm is a restored farm from the 30's where Curtis lives with his two little daughters and Maria. The barns and outbuildings have been converted into a bunkroom, laundry room kitchen and showers, all connected with gravel paths. I am sharing the cabin, which has a stream running right by (and under) the deck outside, and handmade rustic furniture. The walkways are planted with flowers, and flowering trees. It is quaint and charming, and comfortable. The couple sharing the loft above me have been here for a week and I can see why!Tomorrow I climb up out of the gap and head toward Hot Springs. The weather is supposed to be good for the next few days so I should cover the 33 miles in two days. Then it will be time for a zero day!
Date: 2005-05-16
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I am here on Walnut Mountain in a cute little shelter with Karen from San Diego, a section hiker I met in the Smokies with her hiking partner, Carol. They both stayed at Standing Bear Farm last night, but Carol decided to get a ride to Hot Springs and Karen decided to walk, so we walked together today. It was a first ever 20+ day for Karen with a backpack, and only my second, so we were both pretty tired when we got to the shelter. The weather cleared overnight, though, and it was beautiful hiking weather.The best part of the day was hiking over Max Patch, a really large bald. From the very top of this rounded, grass and wildflower covered mountain you could see for miles in all directions. Wow!I've had my dinner (home-dried macaroni casserole) and am sitting in the growing dark as the sun goes down in front of a nice warm fire. It's a little smoky, but the wood is still wet from the rain yesterday.Only 13 miles and 10 of them downhill into Hot Springs tomorrow. I hear there is a good ice cream store there, so I'm already planning on an hot fudge sundae (maybe two!) I can't wait. I've run a little low on food these last days, so I'm getting hungry for carbs. Time to go snuggle in the sleeping bag and hope the smoke stays out of the shelter.
Date: 2005-05-17
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: House Inn, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: scattered clouds

made great sundaes, is closed on Tuesdays, so no hot fudge sundae! I did have French silk pie at the diner though, and when I got to the bed and breakfast there were letters and packages for me. Thank you all! My friend Christin sent gorp and chocolate covered raisins. What an angel! I came into Hot Springs having eaten every scrap of food I had. Lunch was a little piece of cheese and some salami. I was calorie-starved! Since the box was half-gone in the first 10 minutes I don't think they will make it back on the trail.I also got questions from people about some things I have omitted talking about in my journal, so I will try to answer some of them.People wonder how I can be writing my journal on the trail. I carry a little keyboard and screen that records, sends and receives emails. Every night after I get into a shelter or camp I sit down and write the day's entry, sometimes in my sleeping bag after dark, with people snoring all around me. Then when I get somewhere where I have phone access I dial an 800 number and hold the device up to the receiver and push a button. The two beep and whistle at each other and voila! I have email. My journal entries are emailed to my technical consultant, my son J, who posts them on the website. All guest book entries are emailed to me, so when I get to a phone I get to read them as well.Question 2 was about what and when I eat. I have prepared food ahead of time, except for lunches, which I buy in towns, and it is mailed to me along the way. So far that has worked out pretty well, although it means that sometimes I am climbing out of a town(it's always up out of a town) with 8 or 10 pounds of food, which almost doubles my pack weight. Ugh! I have found that I need to eat smaller meals frequently or my performance really suffers, so I have breakfast in camp, cold if I want to get going or have a long day, and then second breakfast on the trail between 10 and 11, then lunch between 12 and 2, second lunch at around 4 (unless I'm low on food), and dinner in camp. It's alot of eating, and it helps to have easy-to-eat stuff like gorp and trail bars.Finally, I am not a fast hiker. My top speed is about 3 miles an hour and I average closer to two, so I cover the longer distances by walking from early in the morning until evening. I try to alternate hard and easy days. The weight I am carrying, the distance and the amount and steepness of elevation gain are what determines how hard a day is. For example, yesterday, with a 2400 gain out of Davenport Gap, plus several other steep ups over 500 ft and over 20 miles distance was a hard day, but it helped that my pack was light, because I had only a days worth of food. I planned a light day into Hot Springs as a rest, 13 miles 10 of it down hill, with minimal packweight, and if my feet didn't hurt so much it would have been a piece of cake! I try to take a rest day every 10 days to two weeks, but it is really clear when I need it. My body just sort of quits!Hope this helps. Please write and ask if you have more questions.
Date: 2005-05-18
From: House Inn, Hot Springs, NC

To: Duckett House Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Zero days are a sort of a mixed blessing. I know I needed a day off, and I certainly feel more rested, but I've also kind of lost momentum. It's going to be hard to start up again, particularly because this has been such a pleasant place to stay. It makes it harder that, as always, it is uphill out of here. The trail is getting progressively easier though, now that I'm out of the Smokies, easier grades and less elevation, more road crossings and civilization. I have mixed feelings about that. I appreciate the improved comfort, but miss the wildness of the Smokies. Coming out down out of the mountains to a town is a strange experience. In the first place, you can hear any human settlement from miles away. They give off a sort of loud hum, like a giant beehive, interspersed with beeps and trainwhistles and dogs barking. (The sound of a dog carries an incredible distance.) After the quiet of the woods it is overwhelming and somewhat distasteful, but also welcome, since it means creature comforts. Now that I am out of the Smokies I will have very few days that will be free from human noise until I get to Maine.Hot Springs is a very small town, but very friendly. People passing on the street wave and say hello, and the people in stores are helpful and warm. It's been very odd to walk dow the main street of this tiny town and be greeted over and over, and to hear my name called again and again, as hikers I have met on the trail come into town and see me. I walked into the diner to eat tonight (with two friends I met on the trail) and saw six people I knew! I have been catching up with some hikers I didn't expect to see again, and some who are a day behind me caught up with me today because of my zero. So far I have not met any other women thru-hikers but I know there is at least one ahead of me. One Star is a very strong hiker, though, so I probably won't meet her. People have been asking me what it is like to do this as a woman. I have to say I don't think about it a lot. Thru-hikers are all alike in some ways and all different in others. My gender is a difference just like Mike the Hike's age is (he's 75). We all have to solve the same problems to walk the trail. In general the other thru-hikers have been completely accepting of me. A few weekend hikers have asked questions that indicated that they thought I shouldn't have been allowed out on my own, or questioned my physical ability, but not the other thru-hikers. I think everyone knows what it is like and what it takes to do it, and assumes that if you are there, you have the right to be there. The phrase most often repeated is "Hike your own hike", meaning that everyone has to do it in their own way, and that all ways are equally valid. That applies to gender as well as other differences in style and approach. After all, I don't really have a choice! I am female, so that's how I have to do the hike.
Date: 2005-05-19
From: Duckett House Inn

To: Log Cabin Road, TN
Miles today: 16.3

Well, I feel like I wimped out today. My plan was to go another 3.3 miles to a shelter, but an assortment of factors decided me otherwise. It was not one of my best days today. My heels are still painful from the blisters. I have hayfever and have been sneezing and blowing my nose all day. And, I had to climb 2200 feet out of Hot Springs with a pack full of food. The shelter is another 3.3 miles uphill, and I wouldn't have made it until 8:00. Finally a rainstorm is supposed to come in tonight. It's supposed to rain tomorrow too, but at least this way I will start out dry.So, I almost broke my rule about not going a half a mile or more off the trail for shelter (wasted work), but the cabins here were .4 off the trail! It seemed the best option, all things considered, so here I am, having paid $30 for a cabin all to myself, in a very nice hollow by a river, somewhere in Greene County, Tn. I'm feeling a little guilty, because I just had 2 nights in a bed, but my feet are thanking me. I seem to be the only person here tonight, but the couple who own the place tell me that, until a few weeks ago there was a steady stream of thru-hikers.As for my feet, as far as I can tell, the problem is that my feet have suddenly grown too big for my shoes, something that I have read happens. I discussed the problem today with every hiker I met and they all concurred that that was likely the problem. They also all said I was lucky not to have had a problem until now(small consolation).The best plan then seems to be for Allen to bring me a larger pair of shoes when he comes to meet me in 9 (or maybe 8) days. Until then I will just have to tape them and limp through the day. If it gets unbearable I can try walking in my Tevas for awhile, too.This is not something to lookforward too, however, and, along with the impending rain and the hayfever, it's making me feel more motivated to go home than to hike. A bad case of low morale! I am coping with this by bribing myself with promises of seeing Allen, and getting to stay in Damascus if I keep going for another 150 miles or so. I also talk to myself a lot on the trail, although the conversation is usually completely inane. For example, on the long uphills I find myself muttering up, up, up with each step.As you can tell, I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself, but, on the bright side, I'm in this nice dry cabin. I've had dinner and a shower (they don't have those in a shelter!). And I'm getting to sleep in a bed. Tomorrow has got to be a better day!