morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

NOC14.9 miles (133.8 total miles)I woke up this morning again to the sound of owls again. "Oo-oh Oo-ooo!" they hooted to each other just before sunrise. It had been the warmest night so far. With daylight savings, it is still hard to get an early start. I enjoyed seeing the city lights twinkle down below as I got out of my tent in the early morning.Most of the day was pretty easy. We had 2 moderate climbs up Copper Ridge Bald and Wesser Bald. (I am still wondering when we'll get to a bald that doesn't have trees on top). Both climbs had an easy grade, and we cruised along on auto-pilot. We knew there were showers and cheeseburgers down below.With just 5 miles to go leaving Wesser Bald, we hit the wall. We had already done about 10 miles, and it was a little after noon. At the rate we were going, we'd have cheeseburgers in 2 hours. The trail then took on its own crazy course. The first mile was up and down 100 feet over and over. Then there was a rock staircase that went way, way down. Our feet pounded all the way. Then to tease us we would suddenly head back up, only to follow with another vertical drop. It was a tease with civilization so close. We had to stop a few times to rest our pounding feet. I had wondered yesterday how the trail could go up all day. Well, today it dropped to a steep bottomless end. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to pound for miles down a rock staircase.We got to the bottom at about 3:15. We walked right into the Nantahala Outdoor Center, an excellent resort specializing in rafting. We got 2 spaces in the hostel. I had forgotten how dirty you get when you go 5 days in the woods without showering. After 30 minutes in the shower, I was almost clean (I'll have to finish that job tomorrow). Then we headed down to the restaurant for cheeseburgers. Let me tell you, there is no better feeling in the world than being clean and eating in a restaurant after spending almost a week in the woods.We are taing a full zero day here at NOC tomorrow. We need a serious day of recuperaton. Then we're going to cut back and take it easy. 50 miles in 3 days is too much, especially when we don't have any real deadlines. We keep meeting amazing hikers with cool stories to tell. Life is hard these days, but rewarding and fun.
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Locust Cove Gap

To: Locust Cove Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Locust Cove Gap10.6 miles (144.4 total miles)We were about to leave NOC early this morning, but decided to have a decent breakfast. After all the junk I ate yesterday, I couldn't think about starting the day off with cereal bars. So I had one last real meal, which settled my stomach fairly well. We also had a guess that our friend "Last Minute" Mark would be around to surprise us. But after a quick look, we couldn't spot his car.We had quite a nice climb out of NOC. It is scary to hear about a 3300' climb, or that it is uphill for 8 miles. But if you put those together, you have a nicely graded trail. For the most part it was fairly easy. We took it slow, knowing at most we would only do 10 miles. We stopped on top of Cheoah Bald, then pushed on for the last of the day's hike.We got to our campsite before 3:00. We set up the tent quickly as rain threatened. We tried to get a fire started, and moderately succeeded. We held off on dinner as long as we could, hoping Last Minute would show up from the road 3 miles away with hot dogs. Finally we gave in and ate our noodles. We were joined by Motorin' and Free Heel, and by Circuit Rider and Sherlock, who we learned were also friends of Hopeful who were positioning themselves for the gathering at Stecoah Gap tomorrow.Finally it started to rain. I put away all my stuff for the night, and was about to stay dry in my tent when I heard, "Hey, how y'all doin'?" Last Minute was staning beside me with his full pack on, drenched in the rain. Instead of hiking 3 miles in to meet us, he had hiked 10 miles to try to catch us. And worse yet, he brought the rain. As everyone in our tent city was under cover, I stood in the rain to welcome Last Minute.Eventually the shower had passed, and everyone emerged. We figured out that of the 8 of us tented out, 5 of us had thru-hiked before. The conversation turned to trail gossip, and I felt bad for the 3 we had left out. It was fun catching up with Last Minute, and just being goofy again. We talked about all the funny moments from '03, and where everyone ended up. As the rains came back, we all eventually retired to our tents. I fell asleep to the sounds of Last Minute humming to himself, zipping stuff up, and fiddling around in his tent. Just like old times.
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 3.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Stecoah Gap3.1 miles (147.5 miles)We woke up to sunny skies this morning. We didn't have far to go, so we had a leisurely morning. That is quite rare for JoAnne and I. We sat around as everyone emerged from their tents and started their mornings. We had breakfast and some conversation. A couple of turkey hunters in full camo walked through camp, announcing to us that today is the first day of turkey season in North Carolina.We did a short and easy 3 miles down to Stecoah Gap. It was fun hiking even just 3 miles with Last Minute again. (He was our hiking parter for the last 1200 miles of the AT in '03) We got to the gap and found a huge tent set up with food underneath. About 20 minutes later, our friend Hopeful showd up. He brought a barbecue and even more food. He was very excited. It seemed like for the first 5 minutes he was at a loss for words except for, "Wow, it is so good to see y'all!"We were amazed that without even trying, our schedule had us hiking right into his party. Hopeful explained to us how his birthday party tradition started. Almost 10 year ago, his family asked what he wanted for his birthday. "I want to go feed the hungry hikers" was his answer. Today he had 38 hikers come by, and we all ate hot dogs, beans, chips, drinks, and desserts. Hopeful would personally greet each hiker, and explain to them that "The only rule is that if you leave hungry, it's your own fault".We sat around Hopeful's birthday for about 7 hours. The weather was perfect. We had nothing else planned for the day, and had to wait until Monday to get our mail from Fontana Dam. So we took it easy. We realized the best inexpensive motel in the area was probably at Fontana Dam, so Last Minute drove us there.We cleaned up, and decided to go out for a night on the town. It was funny riding around with Last Minute, who we usually just hike with. I felt like a high schooler whose friend just got his drivers license. We drove out past Stecoah Gap, where we saw Hopeful and Ox about to depart. They suggested we go out for dinner before their long drive home. So we found a restaurant in Robbinsville for dinner and more trail talk. Hopeful hugged us all one last time, "It is SO good to see y'all!" Thanks, Hopeful, for the excellent hiker bash. Last Minute wouldn't let us pay for our meals or our motel room tonight. He also gave us some dehydrated meals, and drove us all around the area. Thanks, LM, for taking care of us, even though we're not "thru-hikers" this year. It has been fun hanging out with our old hiking buddy, like old times.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Walker Gap

To: Walker Gap
Miles today: 11.5

Walker Gap11.5 miles (159.0 total miles)Today was another beautiful day in southern Appalachia. We had a leisurely morning hanging out with Last Minute. We checked out Fontana Dam, and looked around some of our old landmarks. And Last Minute made sure we were well stuffed before we hiked out. He forced us into a buffet for breakfast, a big lunch, plus several sodas and ice cream. He wouldn't take no for an answer, and wouldn't let us pay. We hit the trailhead drowsy and full at about 1:00.Just for old times sake, Last Minute wanted to hike out with us just a short way. We reminded him about the deadly climb just ahead, but he didn't mind. In fact, he wanted to bring his full backpack with him. So we suggested he empty out his backpack and take some of our weight up the horrible climb. This was a great plan for all.We headed out of Stecoah Gap for the horrible climb that is unofficially called Jacob's Ladder. It was typical trail for a while, but there was no doubt when the climb started. The trail went straight up the mountain. My pack was 5 pounds lighter, with Last Minute lugging my tent. My calves burned as we slowly trodded up the mountain. After about 10 minutes we hit a false summit, then continued on even steeper. I couldn't imagine any trail planner creating a route directly up the mountain like this. After a good, slow 20 minute trudge, the trail turned and went down the ridge. I never understood why sometimes the trail will continue to climb almost to the top of a mountain, then come back down without ever reaching the summit. Usually this annoys me, but today I was just glad the horrible climb was over.After a bit more hiking, Last Minute announced that he had to return to his car and to his job. He told us several times how hard it was to see us hiking north on the AT, and to have to turn around and walk the other way. We parted ways, promising to meet back up in a month at Trail Days. We hiked on uneventfully for the rest of the day. The trail meandered over mostly easy grade. We had no goal in mind, other than to get as close to Fontana Dam as we could to make for a short day tomorrow. We ate dinner at a shelter, and pushed on into the evening. The sunlight was dwindling, and we finally settled in at a campsite next to a stream near Walker Gap. We had hiked 11.5 miles, which we were happy with after a 1:00 start. Tomorrow will be an easy 2.5 miles to Fontana Dam (where we ironically spent last night). We will take most of the day to do our laundry, get our mail, and do any last tasks before hitting the Smokies. I feel very content.
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: light rain

Derrick Knob Shelter11.7 miles (185.6 totsl miles)Okay, these are the Great Smoky Mountains that I remember. We woke up to the sound of rain on the tin roof of the shelter this morning. Usually in a hurry, we took it slow, hoping the weather would calm down. JoAnne had some coffee, and I had some hot chocolate. Our options for the day were at 3, 6, 12, or 18 miles. Pretty much no one wanted to leave the shelter this morning.Finally in a pause in the rain, JoAnne and I took off. The rain held off for quite a while, and we made it to the next shelter in about an hour, relatively dry. We had a snack, and pushed our luck with the weather again. This time we didn't do so well. The trail was mostly easy, but the rain came down on us pretty hard. Luckily we had a shelter where we could stop for lunch, and try to warm up a bit out of the rain.After about an hour, the rain had tapered off again, and we took off for the next leg of the day's hike. It looked to be another quick 6 miles, but the trail got a bit harder. I realized after a while that the trail was difficult because it was going to different vistas so we could see the views, but all we saw was fog. It was a very long, tough six miles, and the whole time we felt like we were racing the rain.The nice thing about the Smokies is that many of the shelters have a fireplace built in. We got to our shelter just before a downpour. We gathered some wet firewood, and somehow got a fire started again. As a repeat of yesterday, we all peeled off our wet clothes, and watched them steam by the fire. We tried to stay warm by sitting by the fire, putting on all the clothes we had, and eventually just getting into our sleeping bags.We are pretty much with the same group as last night, minus the horse people and plus two who came up a side trail. Someone with an AM radio confirmed that the forecast still calls for clearing up tomorrow afternoon. I hope so. Right now my boots are drying by the fire, and I'd like for them to stay dry this time.
Date: 2005-04-14
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Mt. Collins Shelter13.5 miles (199.1 total miles)Hey, whattaya know! The sun does shine in the Smokies! Last night was probably the coldest night we've had so far on the AT. But when I woke up this morning, I heard no rain hitting the metal roof. I peered outside to make sure it hadn't just turned into snow. But no, the skies were clear. Could we be in for a nice day?It was a little tough getting going in the cold morning. JoAnne took off hiking in her try-to-warm-up super speed. It seemed like a long 5.5 miles to the first shelter. But when we got there, we stopped to enjoy the sunshine. We layed out in the sun for a half hour, just enjoying the warmth. The fields were green with a sparse population of trees. The skies were blue. Yes, the Smokies were beautiful.We headed on less than 2 miles to the next shelter. We got some water here, and prepared for the climb up Clingman's Dome. As we were leaving, a ridgerunner came down. First he asked to make sure we weren't cooking inside the shelter. We told him that if we come to a shelter in a downpour and there are already 3 people cooking inside, we're not going outside to cook. He concurred. Then he found a novel that someone had left in the shelter and asked me to pack it out. We were about to climb the highest point on the AT, and he had me packing out someone else's trash. Wonderful.We headed out over Clingman's Dome (the highest point in Tennessee, and the highest point on the AT). It was actually a very nice climb. I think climbing a "dome" is much better than climbing a "knob" or a "peak". The sun had been shining all day, except for one substantial cloud to our west. We joked that the cloud would be overhead when we hit Clingman's. And sure enough, just as we got there, the cloud blew through. We sat and waited, hoping it would pass. We ate our lunch and talked to some tourists. The wind still blew the cold cloud right through our spot. Finally we decided it was too cold to wait, and started the hike down. Sure enough, we looked back after about a mile, and the summit was as clear as could be.We hiked down almost 4 miles to our shelter for the night. We were greeted by a very nice section hiking couple from Georgia, and were soon joined by 3 "gear testers" from Alabama. One of the gear testers had hiked out way too much food, and offered us some. JoAnne took a pack of tuna, which worked out well as we were wondering if we'd have enough food to make it through. Our dinner consisted of "real" hot cocoa and a beef dish, all courtesy of my sister. It was a chilly night, and we were in our sleeping bags early again. It was cold, but we were so happy for a day of hiking in sunshine.
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: clear sky

Tri-Corner Knob Shelter20.1 miles (219.2 total miles)Today was another great day. For those who think hiking the Appalachian Trail would be pleasant, sunny days of walking gradual climbs, today was one of those days. Our shelter options were at 8, 15, or 20 miles. We were up and out this morning, doing 5 mostly easy miles before I even had breakfast. The sun was shining, the birds we chirping, and the air smelled like pine.We stopped for a long break at Newfound Gap. We ate breakfast and answered questions for the tourists. After a hour, I still had a hard time getting up to go. Town was just 15 miles away (with real food), and I needed some sort of boost to get me up the next mountain. I felt bad as I talked to tourists, as the whole time I was onlly wondering they'd have an extra soda or cookie to spare. But as we were thinking about leaving, a car pulled up, as a trail angel was dropping off a hiker. He pulled out a cooler with 2 sodas left. His name was Dan, or "Just Feeblin' Along". The soda was the boost I needed. I didn't need all the luxeries of town, but this soda was the treat I needed.We flew up the next mountain, and quickly past the shelter. We stopped to check out the great views from Charlies Bunion. There was not a cloud in the sky! Our afternoon was long, but fairly easy. The minutes passed into hours, which equated to miles. We hit the shelter for the night at 4:00. It was only another 5.3 miles to the next shelter, and we were still feeling good.We sat at the shelter sign, debating the pros and cons of doing an extra 5.3 miles. Then along came our friend Wanderer, the 70 year old thru-hiker. He reminded us what a beautiful day it is, and that 5.3 miles was nothing. "I could jog that!" he said. So we decided to go on as well, completing second 20 mile day. We finished our miles in great time, and pulled into the shelter before 6:30. Ah, another great day, feeling great in the Smokies.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Hot Springs, NC

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

Hot Springs, NC0 miles (270.7 total miles)I slept well here at the campground, despite the circumstances. I think I counted 4 times that the train went rumbling by with its horn blowing. It was a little scary to be woken up by a train that sounds like it is about to run right over your tent. But I was always back asleep in no time. The roosters started calling at about 4:30 this morning, but I even got used to that.It was a very hot day here in Hot Springs. We noticed yesterday as we came down from 4500' that it is a lot warmer down here at about 1300'. So today as we walked around town, it was hot. Someone had a thermometer that read about 85 degrees. We saw a few hikers leaving town at around 2:00, up the steep climb out of town in the heat of the day. We thought they must be crazy. Hot Springs is a very cool hiker town. It always seems like Saturday, with lots of people (mostly hikers) milling around town. It takes a while to get anything done because there are hikers everywhere to stop and talk to. We caught up with some old friends who took a day off, and some friends caught up to us as we took the day off. There is a great laid-back feel to this friendly hiker town.We took our time in getting all our chores done. After an early breakfast with Florida, we sorted through our mail drops as we did our laundry. I went to use the library computers to check up on news from the outside world and to read other hiker journals. We went to the outfitter so we could buy a new water filter, as ours was getting hard to pump. And we spent the rest of the day catching up on post cards and email.We had a great time with our mail drops today. JoAnne's parents sent a box, which included some energy bars, a phone card, a meal of Indian cuisine, dried mangoes and some pumpkin spice granola that JoAnne got especially excited about. Last Minute sent a box which included some spaghetti sauce that he dehydrated, and some coffee singles for JoAnne. And Moo & 42 (GaMe '03) sent us a fun box that included cookies and gatorade, and even some teriyaki noodles to make up for the ones we couldn't eat when our lighter went out. The great part is that between these 3 boxes, we didn't have to resupply at all. It turned out to be exactly what we need for the next leg of our trip. Thanks!I really like it here in Hot Springs, and here at the campground. But tomorrow it's back to work. We're going to try to leave pretty early to get our climb out of the way before it gets too hot. We were planning on only doing 11 miles to the first shelter, since I always have a rough time leaving town. But if we get an early enough start, that may be too early to stop. If the weather holds out as it is supposed to, we can just hike until we're tired, then put up the tent.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Flint Mtn. Shelter

To: Flint Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 16.0

Flint Mtn Shelter16.0 miles (303.0 total miles)Our friends FAL and Hercules (from the beef stew trail magic) told us the weather was about to change. Their forecast called for thunderstorms tonight, then a strong cold front tomorrow. It is supposed to be 28 degrees and snowing in the mountains over the weekend. So JoAnne and I are in a weird place. We are too far from Erwin to hike right in, and too close to Sam's Gap to hitch in for the weekend. Plus we are meeting JoAnne's sister on Saturday morning. So we are trying to figure out how best to handle this cold front.I slept great in our little cabin in the woods. Our host, Nean, is a 3-time triple crowner. That means that he has hiked the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail each three times. He was very humble, and concerned for our stay. It was in such a great setting, I wished we could have spent more time there. But we wanted to beat the afternoon thunderstorms, and left by 7am.The trail started with a long, sustained climb that was hard to start the day with. The cloud cover soon parted, and we were left with another hot day. The trail climbed to a fork between the AT and the bad weather alternate trail. We continued on the AT, and soon found ourselves on top of this rocky ridge. There were stone stairs and sharp rocks along a thin ridge. Neither of us had any recollection of this from last time we hiked. It was a fun half mile or so, but very hot on the exposed mountaintop. How could we not remember this? As we stopped for lunch, we met up with another hiker named Bodacious. He had hiked this section twice before (including in '03), and said it was new to him. As far as we all could guess, the bad weather route used to be the AT, and the ridgewalk was all a new route.After a stop for lunch, we headed up Big Butt Mountain. It is another fun climb, and the summit is just a labyrinth of rocks and shrubs. Somehow we came out on the other side, and finished a long, steep descent to the shelter. It seemed like a long hard day, and we were glad to be done.I am not sure what our plans are from here. We are only 11 miles from the road crossing where we are to meet JoAnne's sister in 2 days. If the weather is bad, we may just hitch into town early. Or we may just do a slow 8 miles tomorrow, then 3 down to the road on Saturday. Knowing us, we'll end up in town tomorrow, having dinner at Erwin Burrito.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Sam's Gap

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 0.0

Sam's Gap0 miles (314.2 total miles)I can't believe how the weather has changed. We had a long, wonderful spell of warm sunshine. I knew it would end sometime, but I didn't expect it to end in another snowstorm. Luckily we were in town to meet Bubble (JoAnne's sister) and family. The snowstorm just forced us into town a bit early, and made us stay late.We had a relaxing couple days off, and enjoyed visiting with JoAnne's family. The timing was perfect. Erwin is a bit spread out, so our guests drove us around in the snow. We had breakfast at the Elms, and dinner at Erwin Burrito. We did our laundry, and spent time playing with Baby O. (Baby O signed his first hiker register at Erwin Burrito)We were so glad to be in town in this bad weather, we spent some time driving around to find hikers who may want a ride into town. We drove up to Spivey Gap and didn't see anyone. It was a cold 35 degrees. We waited for a while, but realized most hikers were probably either in town, or in their sleeping bags in the shelters. We put a few cokes in the stream there to hopefully bring some help to anyone out hiking in his cold weather. So we headed back into town.We have a shuttle back to Sam's Gap tomorrow at 8am. Bubble said that when driving home today there was 3 inches of snow there, and only 1 lane of the highway was open. Tomorrow we head out immediately over Big Bald, which is over 5500' in elevation. The sun is supposed to come out for a day and a half. Hopefully that'll be enough time for us to do the 24 miles (in the snow) and get back here to Erwin. I also hope we don't freeze at night.