morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-02-16
From: hawk mtn shelter

To: woody gap- hikers hostel
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night i was up every hour because my sleeping bag zipper broke .... I used one of the heater pads for my toes so I wasn't cold ..just still wired about the trip I guess. When I got to the shelter yesterday someone named Rockwood who I had corresponded with by e-mail had left me a note.He had stayed at that shelter the night before and since he knew we were both starting this weekend he wrote: O.M. where are you?? So I decided to get an early start and get to the next shelter before he left it .... I was awake anyway so I got up and packed my stuff and headed out at 7 am. It was cold that night and my water bottles were frozen but it actually made hiking better since the ground was frozen and not muddy. It was all up and down today ...big ups and big downs ...on the way up Sassafras mountain or as it is called "kick your --- mountain" I went up 1,000 feet in one mile which is quite an up hill battle. I have been telling people I am O.M. River ... I just keep rolling but the hills had me stopping every few hundred feet to rest. Anyway , I made it to the shelter at Gooch Gap (where I was planning to spend the night) by 11 am. and allthe hikers had left already .. I met a retiree who was taking care of the trail and checking on the shelter ..he told me that shelter was one of the coldest because the wind comes right up thru the Gap...and it was really cold when I stopped there for lunch. All day I have to add clothing then take it off as I heat up from the physical exercise ..and then add again as soon as I stop. Anyway this man has a son who lives in Allen Texas the same as my son David. It also turns out that his son is in Iraq because he works for AAFES so he is probably someone I would recognize if I saw him ..small world.. This trail maintainer told me I could probably make it to the next shelter (11 miles) since it was early so I headed out ...more ups and downs more GAPS ..a gap is the valley between two mountains but to me it just means GOING UP again... I pooped out at about 12 miles ,7 short of the next shelter and it was 2 pm ....oh no what would I do if I couldn't get to the shelter before dark, it is awfully cold out and the wind was very brisk....then I remembered that the hostel I stayed at was only 7 miles away from the Woody Gap entrance to the Chatahoochie National Forest where I wuld cross the road in about an hour. So I called them and they picked me up so tonight I get a shower ,a hot meal and a warm bed ...tommorow back to the trail but this is a great way to ease into this hiking thing,. 2 days exactly 20 miles ..I am 5 miles ahead of my schedule. Tommorow I should be able to go from Woodys gap to neels gap (10.8 miles) and stay at the hostel/outfitters store that the trail goes right thru at mile #30. 1% of hike is completed (almost) O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-17
From: woody gap- hikers hostel

To: Neels Gap Hostel
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: broken clouds

Neels Gap GPS coordinates N34 44.464 W83 55.237Recharged last night at the Hostel, Had a pizza for supper and am taking two slices with me for lunch. Today I went over Blood Mountain, 4500 ft -- tallest Mountain on the Georgia section. I met Rockstar(male) and Gungho(female) - hikers that are doing sections this winter. It was a long down hill to Neels Gap but at the bottom of the mountain is a nice hostel with bunks ($15) and a dinner for donations ...tonights dinner was beans and cornbread ...then most of the hikers watched BORAT ...kind of funny that every group in the world eas made fun of except hikers who I was sitting with ..most with beards.The following people stayed at the hostel >Just John, recently out of the Army, Dave whojust graduated college and who the next day I got to give a trailname to -SCOTTSMAN ( because he was hiking in a home made rain kilt), Journy dog, an older hiker like me who works for GM and is planning on retiring in April, he was hiking while the GM plant was closed but he plans on doing the whole trail this year. Also staying there was Primitive a 21 year old from New Jersey. He got his trail name because he showed up the first day with a blanket and a trap and made a shelter out of leaves and a sticks etc...O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-18
From: Neels Gap Hostel

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

Day 4 boots on the groundWoke up when "Pirate" the hostel care taker and cook woke us at 7 am.. He had some bagels and coffee ready for us and then I headed out. It was foggy and rainy all day ...Visibility was about 30 feet. I am sure I passed some fgreat observation sites but it didn't matter today. As I started up the mountain , Gungho and Rockstar were coming back the other way..they are doing slack packing which means they leave their packs at town and do sections of the trail and get back to town. Gungho said she had prayed for me the night before and I told her thanks , that I neede all the help I could get..Dave caught up with me after about an hour and we hiked together the rest of the way. This is when I gave Dave his trail name of Scottsman. He lives in Georgia and has done al ot of these trails before so he had a lot of good information. He is over 6 feet tall so I had fun keeping up with his stride.We got to the shelter about 1 pm , next shelter was 8 miles away so I decided to stay here. Primitive showed up and Dave and him left to go to the next shelter. At Low Gap Shelter was Cindy and her dog Shane. She had been here for two days because it was cold and rainy today and her dog was slow on the trail.Jpurney dog showed up abought an hour later. We set up our sleeping bags and got settled in the shelter when two 18 year old hikers showed up. The shelter holds 7 but with the 5 of us and a dog it was tight. The two boys told us they got up early which sounded ok to us but by early they meant 4 am. Thats what they did , got up at 4, cooked some grits and hit the trail ..they were trail fanatics.I had my concoction of instant mashed potatoes, instant stuffing mix and instant brown gravy. for supper. Tasty and hot and thats all that counts out here. I am now drinking water that I put clorine tablets in...OK but even with crystal lite the clorine taste lingers ..During the night Journydog startled me twice...first he said do you see that light ...it is a UFO...well there was a light in the sky, very bright and shining right into the shelter ...then it went black, then it came back on... We are hiking through an area that is next to where the Army trains RANGERS and I think they were doing night maneuvers. The next time Journy dog just jumped up, grabbed his food bag and ran out of the shelter ...He went out to hang his food ( which is what we are suppossed to do but with a dog on the premises we thought we were safe from bears) Turns out a mouse had got into his food bag, and was eating his trail mix..The mouse woke him up by dropping raisins on his head.Apparently the mouse was particular about what he ate.O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-19
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 5 boots on the groundIt was cold today and very windy. Journey Dog and I hiked together today and decided to make a long day of it so we could get to a town before the weekend when snow is predicted. We made it to the next shelter (7 miles ) by 11 am so we went on to Tray Mountain shelter. It was brutally cold all day, not a problem when you are moving but when you stop and you are sweaty you get cold really fast. The day was rough, but they are all rough because we keep going from 4000 feet to 3000 feet and then back up and down and up and down..The ups are hard and slow, the downs are slow and difficult because you don't want to slip. There was a lot of ice on the rocks today. When we got to the Tray Mountain shelter we found Primitive set up in the shelter in a new one man tent. It was so cold that I just got my water bags filled and set my tent up in the shelter as fast as I could. Journey dog also set his tent up in the shelter so we hoped no one else would show up. Tents are not the priority at the shelters and if anyone else came we would have had to move to a tent site. But the shelter did protect us on 3 sides.The wind was blowing so after some hot raman noodles, a candy bar, some trail mix and water I climbed into my sleeping bag.I have a new down bag and a new down jacket because back at Neels Gap the outfitter in the store there went thru my pack and got me to send 14 lbs of unnecessary stuff home and also upgraded my warmth with the new bag and jacket. Good thing because it was really cold as were on top of the mountain at 4200 feet. By the way ... my pack now only weighs 29 lbs and is fitted correctly to my body so it is really comfortable. I wouldn't made it much farther if I stll had to carry 40 plus lbs.O.M. River
Date: 2009-02-22
From: Dicks Creek Gap / Hiawassee Ga

To: Muskrat Shelter ... NC
Miles today: 11.3

start at N34 54.728 W83 37.130Question for Saco School > What happens to your breath when you sleep in a tent in the cold?Sunday Feb 22 ..Day 8 Boots on the ground (day 7 was a zero day in Hiawassee)There was a snow storm that went thru the area last night ...not a heavy snow just a dusting in lower elevations and an inch or so higher up. The scenery was spectacular with a white coat on everything. Today I passed the Georgia state line and entered North Carolina...went up to 4600 feet and stayed at Muskrat shelter. It was pretty cold ...I set my tent up in the shelter , about an hour later SHERPA came in and he set his tent up in the shelter too. I saw two hunters today ..they were looking for wild boars which have been taking over the area woods with broods of up to 40 in a group. They tear up the landscape pretty bad and the hunters (from Forest service I think) want to prevent them from getting a foothold in this area of the national forest.No cell service at the shelter so I couldn't call home.O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-23
From: Muskrat Shelter ... NC

To: Forest Service Road crossing
Miles today: 17.1

N35 2.3756 W83 33.1812 Question for Saco school > What kind of rock is it that is grey but very sparkly like it is embedded with millions of bits of silver ? Seems most of the trail in Georgia is covered with this grey rock that sparkles. I spend almost the whole day looking at the ground and I saw a lot of this rock.I woke up and it was really cold so I packed and started hiking as fast as possible. Sherpa was still packing but I left to get ahead of him siince he was a young person who would pass me anyway. Heavy hiking today , up to 5600 feet then across a ridge about 4400 feet. Going was slippery as much of the ground is frozen or snowy. My cell phone batteries were both dead , I think the phone was saerching for a singal all night ( I had it in my sleeping bag so it wouldn't freeze but I must have accidently turned it on). I knew Patty would be upset because I didn't call Sunday night so I decided to go as far as I could and see if I get could get to a town. No luck there since I was in an area of forest where the forest service roads were closed until spring. I went all day from 8:30 to 5 pm without seeing anyone else and then camped next to a forest service road.I made a fire to help keep me warm until I got set up. Actually it was avery pleasant night. I was in a lower elevation so it was a bit warmer. Everything still froze in the tent but I could feel the difference. Also sleeping on the ground instead of in the shelter on a wooden floor was more comfortable.I was at the base of Mount Albert and there was a spring nearby so I had plenty of water. I got up in the middle of the night and went out to see the stars, very bright. Life is good.O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-25
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: zero day - no where
Miles today: 0.0

Today I took a zero day in Franklin NC.... great hospitality from Ron Haven and his crew ...Ron shuttled us to town to resupply and will bring me to the trail head tommorrow morning.I was part of a North Carolina public television special today they are filming a travel show on Old Highway 64, North Carolinas Heritage road that will be released in about a year. They came to Ron Havens to interview him on all the help he gives hikers and then we took his yellow hiker bus up to the mountains and set up camp at an AT shelter so they could film hikers in action. I think I may have a cameo as I was asked questions while sitting next to the fire with other hikers. Ron Haven should be the "Garrison Keelor" of the south with the stories he tells while driving the bus...as we come in to town he goes in to his routine ..."This here is a good town, over there we got a store and over there we got usa post office " etc...He often makes references to Mr. Hainey ( from Green acres fame ) and I just wonder if that chaeracter wasn't based on Ron.Thanks Ron for the great hospitality and concern for us hikers.O.M.River
Date: 2009-02-26
From: zero day - no where

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 12 boots on the groundAfter a nice day off and a couple of good foot soakings in epson salts I am back on the trail.Spent the night at a shelter built in the 30's by the CCC..... small shelter and I kept hitting my head on the beams ( were people shorter then?).the shelter was made of real logs as in trees that they cut down right here and it had a tin roof. The roof must have had a leak because someone put a big section of duct tape over the seam. It must be good tasting duct tape because some kind of animal ( probably a mouse) was making a racket chewing at the roof tape while I tried to sleep. I heard a pack of coyotes in the distance.It took three slams of my poles against the roof to get them to go away. The mice don't bother me because I sprinkle some crystalized fox urine all around my stuff in the shelter. How do they get fox urine anyway? another story...but they sell that stuff at Ace hardware and it is to keep rodents away from your house so I thought I would try it. Seems to be working so far.Today I was fortunate to walk with walkinjim for a couple of hours. Jim has walked the AT and a lot of other places such as from Yellowstone to the Yukon.He started hiking in the 70's and has walked over 27000 miles. He has a show that he takes to schools etc. to get young people involved with the great outdoors. He plays music, takes pictures and talks about hiking..FOR INFO GO TO walkinjim.com >>> He took my picture so I may be on his web site. The rest of the day the trail was empty except for me.It was pretty wet and the mud caused my first slip. No problems , just a muddy pantleg. After that I switched from my hiking shoes to my boots. I am sure glad I kept these boots as it has been very wet out there.O.M. River
Date: 2009-02-27
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: moderate rain

Day 13 boots on the ground.It was an easy day today as I only had to go 11 miles to my destination the N.O.C. and most of it was downhill. The Cold Spring Shelter is at 4920 feet so I only had to go up to 5100 feet , down to 3850 and back up to 4600 before I came down to 1700 feet. Of course the mud makes coming down fun ... think Six Flags over Appalachia , mud slides that go on for ever, rock balancing, and the ups and downs of the foot powered roll-a-coaster.I am a couple of days behind on my journals so I don't remember too much about that day except that as I came in to the valley the rocks changed from the Georgia Basalt to a very pretty blue green slate. The whole mountain was made of slate. One section had a 50 foot section of slate that was broken into squares of many levels. Very similiar to the "Giants Causeway" in Ireland except these were all square while the Causeway is all round sections.I walked through about 5 to 10 miles of woods where all the trees were covered with a green fungus. Every branch , every tree, young and old, and even some of the rhododendroms at the mountain tops are covered with this green fungus. It is both scaly and also stringy so I guess it has different stages of growth.Anyway the whole forest looked as if someone had flocked all the trees for Christmas with a pale green flock. I wonder if the SACO sixth grade class can tell me if this is caused by a weakness of the trees from acid rain or if it is just a natural order of things. It was sad to see that even the rhododendroms were being choked out by this blight, some with half their flower buds turned black and their leaves spotted and brown.I didn't see anyone on the trail today but I did have 4 poles for the way down in the mud.Someone had left a set of poles at the shelter so I brought them with me. Good thing because with a pole in each hand and two poles on my backside I was covered whenever I started sliding in the mud. Only slipped twice today , no injuries!!!!When I got to the NOC I was treated to see Kayakers practicing in the river. This is a world class KAYAK training area and they were planning for a race on saturday. I ate at the river side restaurant (mmm burgers and chili) and started talking to another hiker there. His trail name is "E" ???? and as I told him about the poles he said were they green? Yep they were his.I stayed in a bunkhouse with the world champion snorer. This guty Mike told me he was a hiker and came up to do some of the trail but after a beer or two he came in the room huffing and puffing out of breath from the stairs. This guy could snore. I mean it was like living next to the train tracks, under the flight path for planes coming in to DFW. Needless to say I was up at 6 and out of there. The NOC had a nice shower and a laundry so I got cleaned up. It also had an outfitter store so I bought a new T-shirt (cotton - for town only) It is brown and says "Same shirt - different day" ..very appropriate for how things are going.O.M. River
Date: 2009-02-28
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Stecoah Gap Nc ( robbinsville)
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: moderate rain

Feb 28 Day 14 Boots on the groundas i said in the last post I was motivated by a heavy snorer to get up and go early this saturday morning. I left the NOC about 7 am and walked through fog and rain for most of the day. the hike out of the NOC goes from 1723 ft to 5062 ft in 8 miles ... quite an uphill trek. Great views but I couldn't see anything because of the fog. Just as well , if I had to see how high I had to climb I may have been discouraged. I spend an awful lot of time looking down at the ground. The plan was to get to Brown Fork shelter today (16 miles) but at 3 pm when I crossed NC143 I decided to head to town. I was soaked and my rainclothes had just about given up protecting me and anyway the forecast was for snow. I went to town ...ate at Subway at a conveniennce store/gas station and sat and listened to the local dialect of western North Carolina. Don't have a clue what the folks there were talking about. I stayed at a Microtel which basically is a holiday Inn with rooms half size. they take the Tv and put it on top of the wooden box that acts as a closet, and they give you a full wall mirror behind the bed so it looks like a big room, NOT!.I cranked the heat up and dried all my clothes. I met another hiker today, GearFreak, but left him at the road as he went ahead. I hitched into town with my "Hiker to town " Towel. I was hitching in both directions not knowing where the town was and I got picked up by a local who drove me right to the hotel.Robbinsville NC , not a big town, grocery store, Dollar store, Subway and McDonalds. Just need to dry out a bit and get some real weather reports.O.M.River
Date: 2009-03-03
From: Fontana Dam

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

After the snow I decided to make my way into the Smokies.I crossed Fontana Dam and up into the mountains where the snow was deeper than I had expected. It wasn't that they got more snow, still less than a foot; it was the drifts which always seemed to be in the trail, These drifts were up to 3 feet deep making every step a challenge. Like the worlds toughest stair master. Fortunately NOMAD left a day ahead of me and his footprints were there for me to follow. He tended to zig zag from side to side of the trail looking for the least amount of snow to walk thru. It was amazing that he even could follow the trail but every time it looked as if he had gone off the trail there was a white blaze on a tree. I left Fontana Dam at 1700 feet and spent the day getting to the shelter at 4360 feet. As I got near the shelter I always shout out "Honey I'm home" usually to no one. Today there was a father and son who were day hiking.Here were people who lived in Nashville who drove to the Smokies after the storm, to walk through the snow on purpose, and people think I am crazy.Anyway, Min and Stav were Bulgarian Americans and very pleasant to talk with. Stav built a fire ( the shelters in the smokies are stone 3 sided buildings with a fireplace and a chain link fence to protect you from bears) and they shared some hard boiled eggs and homemade peach preserve and bread with me. They left the next morning and I asked them to call Patty for me as I had no cell signal. Thank you guys!!Still a very cold night.O.M. River
Date: 2009-03-04
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Derrick Knob shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: scattered clouds

This was my worse day so far.First the morning was cold, never very pleasant packing and getting going. My boots were frozen stiff and hard to get on, my pants still had snow frozen to them and my gloves were still wet inside even though I had slept with them in the sleeping bag.Secondly, the snow was more of an obstacle and very difficult, again with stepping in someone elses footsteps. Now hikers tend to lift their feet as little as possible to move ahead, but today every step was down into 2 feet of snow and back out. I just couldn't make any good time.I had to cross over three peaks, ROCKY TOP , Thunderhead peak and Brier Knob, all over 5000 feet. The view from Rocky Top was incredible. It was a clear day and the storm had pushed pollution out of here so you could see for a hundred miles. I started carving O,M, in the snow banks every time I stopped.It was interesting that the animals were following the same footpriints as me. At one point I saw a big cats (mt lion?) footprints following Nomads footprints for quite a while. I thought maybe I would round the next bend and find Nomad had been the cats dinner. It was unnerving. At the first shelter I saw that Nomad had stayed there and made an entry in the shelters journal, so no dinner for that cat today. Still I couldn't make good time and my pace was down to 9 miles in 7hours. I was totally spent and depressed about the day and also about not having cell service. Once at the shelter I went down to the water source to fill up my bottles. The path down was like a frozen waterfall and steep. Once I filled my 3 bottles and my plastic jug I tried to get back up the icy trail . Seeing that it would be difficult I decided to walk on the snow on the side of the path instead of on the ice. I was up about 15 feet when I started to lose my balance, grasping a tree it started to bend so I switched to another that promptly broke and down I went backwards for about 10 feet on the ice. Whew nothing broken, and good thing since I was alone.Now I am really depressed about the day but I spread out my stuff and made supper when along comes GearFreak, a hiker I had passed twice on the trail. He was all enthusiastic about the views of the day. AWESOME, weren't they Awesome,He had made 13 miles today and was in a great frame of mind. I decided right there we were hiking together for the next couple of days.O.M. River