morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-19
From: Silvers Bald

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: few clouds

Apr 19th E: Newfound Gap (hotel)S: Silvers BaldMiles: 40.3 ¢ 27.8 = 12.7It had become overcast and foggy yesterday afternoon, but we had hopes for clearing sky¢s for our climb to Clingmans Dome today. At first it didn¢t look good ¢ it was foggy and wet in the morning. The ridge was engulfed by clouds but the sun was trying hard to burn it all off.The skys cleared as we neared the summit of Clingman¢s Dome.The observation tower was overrun with high school students. After hiking almost 200 miles to get here, it was quite humorous to hear a woman claim that she wasn¢t going to go up the ramp to the 50-foot tower because the 1/4 mile walk from the parking lot had been quite enough for her already.Four hours later after hiking through lots more mud, we came out at Newfound Gap, which was full to the brim with cars and people enjoying the view from the safety of the parking lot.Find Me¢s mom, Wendy, was there with the van, and once again I got a ride into town in the van.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-20
From: Gatlingburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Apr 20th E: Gatlinburg (motel)S: GatlinburgMiles: 0Another 0 day. After six days of hiking a zero day seemed like a good plan. Nothing special happened all day. I shopped for food, had a casual lunch at Subway, tried to see an IMAX film, but the theatre was closed.Blaze showed up at the Brand Prix around 5:00. Blaze, Hep cat, Sassy, Kodiak, and I went out for dinner around 7:30.Hep Cat and I were hoping to get out on the trail early, but the forecast is for rain in the morning.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-21
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: moderate rain

Apr 21st E: Pecks Corner (tenting????)S: Newfound GapMiles: 50.7 ¢ 40.3 = 10.4Our goal of 15 miles to Tri Corner Shelter was foiled by a late start today. We awoke to a thunderstorm around 7:00am. After waiting out the rain until 10:30, we hitched a ride back to the gap where it was still cloud covered and raining lightly.We had a wet start for the first 1.5 hours, but the sky¢s slowly cleared revealing the wonderful views from the ridge, that I remembered from last year.At one point I heard a strange sound to my left and turned to look a grouse right in the eye.I was surprised the bird didn¢t run off sooner.At the trail junction to the shelter, we debated briefly about pushing on to the next shelter, but it was 5:00 and the next shelter was 5.2 miles away, just a little too far for the late afternoon.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-22
From: Pecks Corner

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: light rain

Apr 22nd E: Cosby Knob Shelter (tenting)S: Pecks Corner Miles: 63.6 ¢ 50.7 = 12.9It was supposed to be partly cloudy today, but I awoke to entirely cloudy ¢ actually I was in the cloud. The temperature had dropped all night also so it was around 35 ¢ 40 degrees with a wet fog blowing through the campsite.I hiked in shorts all day, but had a jacket, gloves, and a hat on most of the time. At several points where the trail ran along an exposed ridge, rhime ice had formed on the trees. Fortunately it never really rained and as long as I kept moving, I stayed warm enough. It cleared a bit late in the day but stayed cold.The shelter filled up early and by bedtime, there were 14 tents scattered around the area. This is my last night in the Smokies so I won¢t have to worry about staying near shelters any more.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-23
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Apr 23rdE: Standing Bear Farm (tenting)S: Cosby Knob ShelterMiles: 74.0 ¢ 63.6 = 10.4Lots of fun today. The sun was out this morning but it was still nice and cool for hiking. We got out of camp later than normal, around 9:30.Since it was a clear day, Hep Cat and I took the side trail to the Mt Cammeres lookout tower.Last year it was overcast and I skipped this view. From the lookout, it was downhill to Davenport Gap and the border of the national park.After a mid-afternoon cheeseburger break at Mt. Mamas, we continued on to the I-40 intersection, where after some convincing, I jumped into a nice cold mountain stream. Hep Cat chickened out and just waded in up to his knees.A mile or so later, I headed to Standing Bear while Hep Cap, Loony, and Sven Saw continued on for a couple of miles to a campsite.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-24
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Apr 24th E: Roaring Fork Shelter (tenting)S: Standing Bear FarmMiles: 92.5 ¢ 74.0 = 18.5I got up early so I could catch up to Hep Cat, Loony, and Sven Saw. On the trail by 7:30, I found them still packing up camp when I passed them an hour later. I was on a roll on a long, 2500-foot climb so I kept moving. They caught up to me later in the morning when I stopped for snacks. By late afternoon, we had made it to Max Patch[pics]It was breezy and overcast but still a great place to hang out. I had carried 4 cans of Mt. Dew and shared the trail magic with Hep Cat, Thumper and Bear Bait.I had hoped to camp near the summit of Max Patch, but it didn¢t look promising for the sunset and the weather report was for 50% chance of rain overnight. Since it was just 4:30, we all decided to push on to the shelter.[GW/dvs]
Date: 2003-04-25
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

It was supposed to rain today so I expected to wake to a wet tent. I managed to get up early enough and pack up before the rain started. I hiked hard all morning to try to get as many miles done as possible before it started raining. Other than a few showers, the heavy rain held off until I made it to town around 1:00.On the way into town I met Batch, an 81 year old thru-hiker. He is hiking again after thru-hiking with his wife in 1992. He hikesa lot faster than many of the younger hikers and has a really light pack.In town I got a room at the Ducket House for Friday and Saturday night. The Duckett Houseis a B&B with special discounted rates for thru-hikers, just $30/night including a nicefamily style breakfast in the morning.The town is absolutely packed with hikers tonight leaving very few lodging choices forfolks coming in later in the day.
Date: 2003-04-26
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After a filling breakfast at the Ducket House, I avoided a wet, rainy walk into town by gettinga ride from one of the B&B owners to the post office. It was Saturday morning and I hadto get my bounce box in the mail before the post office closed for the weekend.Since the PO was only open from 8:00-10:30 it was full of hikers sending and picking up packagesI spent the day dodging the rain and wandering from the outfitter, to the diner, the pub, and so on. Around 1:30, Find Me tracked me down at the inn and invited me to join her, her mom, and another hiker for a soak at the hot springs. Of course I immediately accepted the invite andenjoyed a hot soak for about an hour.Later in the afternoon, Kodiak & Sassy and their parents offered some trail magic for hikers at their cabin at the campground just outside of town. They provided huge amounts of tossed salad, fresh spiced bread, macaroni with spaghetti sauce (home made of course), and lemonade.The Paddlers Pub was the last stop for the evening for a couple of drinks with Vagabond, Find Me, and Wendy. In addition to the good company, hanging out with Find Me and Wendy has theadded benefit of rides around town or back to the B&B at the end of the evening.
Date: 2003-04-27
From: Hot Springs - Paddlers Pub

To: French Broad River campsite
Miles today: 0.25

After another nice breakfast at the inn, I packed up and headed to the other end of townto the Hot Springs where I treated myself to a relaxing massage. This was actually myfirst professional massage and I can't for the life of me figure out why I haven't treatedmyself to this before! The only downside was that it was too short.After the massage, I wandered back into town around 11:30 and ended up joining Blaze and his Mom and Aunt for lunch at the diner. His Mom was nice enough to treat me to lunch overmy objections--more trail magic!Around 1:00 Kodiak Sassy, Hep Cat, and I were supposed to meet to plan a trail dinner (hot dogs, etc.) just a few miles out of town. I should have known from last year that getting outof Hot Springs after lunch was going to be difficult. This town emits a mysterious forceon hikers that keeps them walking back and forth down main street for days at a time.Kodiak and Sassy had decided to stay in town for another night so Hep Cat and I were a bitundecided about what to do all afternoon.Around 3:00, HepCat, Mellow Yellow, and I headed to the pub. Hep Cat managed to break freeof the town vortex and hit the trail around 5:00. I didn't actually find enough willpower until9:30pm. The pub had a live bluegrass/country band start playing late in the afternoon.Eventually Searching and Monster (two brothers from Wisconsin), Kodiak & Sassy, Blink Blink &her boyfriend, Find Me & Wendy, and Rumbler showed up for dinner and drinks. The eveningwas full of great company, bad dancing, and some good laughs between the hikers and someof the locals. Around 9:30, I put on my headlamp, walked about 1/4 of a mile down the trail along the riverand pitched my tent on the side of the trail right next to the water.
Date: 2003-04-28
From: French Broad River campsite

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Note to self: If you generally need to use the privy in the morning, don't camp between a cliff and a river.By camping on the trail, I managed to get going this morning before 7:30. I forgot to fill upon water before leaving town and drinking river water isn't high on my "favorite things"list so I hiked for about five miles with just a 1/4 liter of gatorade before getting to a springto refill.I had lunch at Spring Mt. shelter, where I caught up with Hep Cat and Colby. Colby ishiking from Hot Springs to Maine and today was his first day on the trail. He is planning on 20 mile days to get to Damascus in just over a week. It must be nice to be 20 something.By mid-afternoon, I was at Alan Gap where I found Wendy waiting for Find Me.After a nice break with soda and candy, Hep Cat, Colby, and I headed uphill for 4.5 miles to the shelter. We had run into another stash of trail magic just up the trail where I had filled myNalgene bottle with ice. Despite the heat, enough ice remained by the time that we reached the shelter so we could enjoy cold sodas (also carried from the road) at the end of a long day.
Date: 2003-04-29
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: light rain

Hep Cat and Kodiak had a bit of a struggle with the bear bag line last night, but it was probably worth the fight. About a mile out of camp today, I heard something large crashing through the underbrush. I stopped and spotted a bear cub looking at me from a tree about 30 feet away. Before I could get my camera out the cub scooted down the tree and took off down the hillside.I made good progress for most of the day. Kodiak, Sassy, Hep Cat, and I kept running into each other at breaks and road crossings. Of course we ran into Wendy again at one of the crossings.We also met Viking and Flatlander at the Flint mountain shelter where we had our lunch break.The climb up to Frozen Knob was a steamy, hot, climb but I took advantage of the springrunoff at a nice waterfall. It was so hot that I just climbed up to the falls, leaned in and letthe cold water run over my head. Heaven!My wet shirt and shorts kept me nice and cool as I hiked up the remaining 1000' or soto the top of the steepest section where I waited for Hep Cat to catch up. This was going tobe a tough and hot afternoon hike on his first 20 mile day and I thought we could both usesome company for the last few miles.The shelter area was packed with hikers. By doing 40 miles in two days we actually caught up with the huge crowd that had left Hot Springs before us. Kodiak had waytoo much energy when Hep Cat and I arrived and he even offered to get water forthe two of us. I had stayed at Hogback Ridge last year so I know that this was an offerthat absolutely could not be refused--the water source here is about 1/2 mile awayfrom the shelter!
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: few clouds

By doing back to back 20 mile days, Kodiak, Sassy, Hep Cat and I had put ourselves ina position to make it to the top of Big Bald by lunch time today. Apparently I hearda rumor about trail magic there at lunch time and told everyone about it. I thinkthis must have been while I was drinking at the Paddlers Pub because I don'tquite remember the source of the rumor.You have to be very careful out here when you tell other hikers about trail magicthat is 50 miles away. Despite my warnings and lack of any sort of confirmation,Hep Cat and Kodiak were convinced that Big Bald was going to be covered in hot dogs, hamburgers and cold soda.Of course when we made it to the top of Big Bald right on time for a nicetrail magic lunch we had to be satisfied instead with an outstanding 360 degreeview of the surrounding mountains.What do you think everyone is going to remember? The beautiful view? Hardly.The other big story of the day was the weather.The 10 mile morning hike to Big Bald was quite warm withthe sun penatrating through the still minimalforest canopy making the 1500' elevation gain a bit sweaty.During my 2002 hike, this bald was in the clouds and I had no view at all here.I probably spent too much time in the sun at lunch time on the bald since I havea pretty nice sunburn now at the end of the day. Hep Cat and I missed Kodiakand Sassy at the top of the bald--they had already moved on. It turned outthat hanging back was just the right thing to do today.We were the last of the lunch crowd to leave the summit and as we packed upwe started hearing thunder in the distance.With the unobstructed views on the bald it was easy to see that Mother Naturewas going to be a little noisy this afternoon.At Big Bald shelter just a mile or so from the summit, Hep Cat and I went backand forth about moving on. The thunder stayed in the distance and was movingaway. With only 5.5 miles to our campsite mostly downhill, we moved on.About an hour later, a thunderstorm snuck up on us in minutes. We stayedright on the edge of it but stopeed at a gap to wait it out before going up and overone last high point called "High Rocks".Other than a brief shower and a few close lightning strikes, the storm passed on by without incident.At High Rocks we found pockets of pea-sized hail on the ground and thetrail full of rain debris where the rushing water had pushed leaves aside.In talking later with hikers that were ahead of us on the trail during the stormwe found out that we had stayed just south of a violent hail storm that nailedall the hikers on the 12 miles of trail from High Rocks to Erwin.Camped at the gap tonight are: Hep Cat, Sven Saw & Loony, Kodiak & Sassy,Mike, George, and Scott, and of course Wendy who was once again at the roadwith goodies for all the hikers. This time it was fresh melon and oranges.
Date: 2003-05-01
From: Spivey Gap

To: Nolichuck River
Miles today: 11.2

Our wake up call this morning was provided by a cacaphony of bird calls.For what ever reason, the forest at Spivey Gap was full of songbirds andthey all seemed to be happy that the rain had stayed away all last night.The trail into town was easy going. Kodiak, Sassy, and myself made itto the road before noon and called the Super 8 for a ride into town thehotel.After a quick shower we headed to the PO for packages, Erwin Burritofor luch, and then to the laundromat for the obvious. Anotherstrong afternoon thunderstorm blew through while we hung outwashing our clothes.Once again, many of the hikers within 10 miles of Erwin were treatedto heavy rain, lightning, and hail.I had invited Wendy out to dinner to thank her for all her trail magicover the last few weeks. She stopped by around 6:00 and her andFind me, Hepcat, Kodiak, Sassy, and I went out for Mexican food.
Date: 2003-05-02
From: Erwin

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Another zero day for me in Erwin TN. We had afternoonthunderstorms over the last couple of days and I justmissed being pelted by pea-sized hail during Wednesday'sstorm. Everyone north of Hep Cat and I by about .25mile had to run for cover.I pushed pretty hard from Hot Springs doing 18, 20,15, and 11 mile days so it is time to relax again. I'mnot in any hurry as I'll make it to Damascus five orsix days before Trail Days. I'm not sure yet if I'llhike further or not before coming back to Damascus forthe party.I headed over to Miss Janet's House to see what was going onthis morning. The gang (20-25 hikers!) was in the middle of a huge breakfast.As usual the house was anything but quiet.I found a couple of 2002 hikers in the crowd: Trip and Marshy(who I knew as Jimmy last year).Miss Janet provides shuttles for hikers who want to slackpackand stay in town. A large group including Kodiak & Sassyheaded out around 12:00 for a 20 mile slack back into town.Another big thunderstorm came through in the afternoonprovided some excitement for everyone hiking back into town.I saw Mellow Yellow and Monster in town. They are bothresting up due to shin splints.Hep Cat stayed at Uncle Johnny's by the trail, so Ididn't seem him until dinner.The gang met at Erwim burrito (more Mexican food!) for foodbefore catching the 7:00 showing of X Men 2.This is one of the few trail towns with a convenient movie theatre.Based on hikers reactions, you'd think that "moving pictures"were invented during the five weeks we've been on the trail!
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Erwin
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: light rain

Two nights in a hotel room was enough so I packed up and headed over toMiss Janet's for breakfast. Miss Janet has a family style breakfast almostevery morning and then starts taking people out to various trailheads tocontinue their hike or to slackpack back into town for another night.Today, Miss Janet was organizing a special overnight trip to anearly Cinco de Mayo celebration near Sams Gap.Instead of hiking out of town, I decided to slackpack from Indian GraveGap back to town so that I could join the festivities at Sams Gap.This was my first time indulging myself in a slackpack. Last yearI was a purist and didn't slackpack or hike south except for thefinal climb up Katahdin (and back down).This year I'm flirting with the darkside a bit to see what I wasmissing.After getting back to Miss Janet's around 5:30, I hopped in the first van loadto the party. Tom and Michelle, the hosts, were letting everyone tent intheir yard (really more of a mountain meadow)so the van was loaded with 10 hikers and packs.Tom and Michelle's place was in a hollow right next to Sams Gap.They provided hot dogs, hamburgers, burritos, salad , soda, bear andmore for everyone.All told, about 40 hikers showed up.Everyone socialized around the bonfire until after midnight.The Tres de Mayo party was one of those special events that makesan AT thru-hike so memorable: great hospitality, interesting peopleand stories, beautiful surroundings, and lots of food and drink.Tom and Michelle are thinking about opening a hiker hostel nextyear in this location. I hope so!
Date: 2003-05-04
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: broken clouds

Miss Janet drove us back into town this morning to her house andthen returned to Sams Gap to bring back morehikers.While I waited for her to return (I needed a shuttle back to Indian Grave Gap),I enjoyed a big breakfast organized by Boiler Plate and some of the otherhikers staying at the house.Around 11:30 we loaded up the van and headed out to the trail.I was feeling lazy and was going to skip about 12 miles ahead inorder to catch up with Hepcat but Miss Janet was having nothing ofthat.She guilted me into starting where I left off at Indian Grave Gap.Once I was on the trail, I felt great and managed to pound out almost17 miles while starting after 12:00.By the end of the day,I had caught up with the hikers who had been dropped offat the next road crossing.
Date: 2003-05-06
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Campsite near Walnut Mt. Road
Miles today: 20.6

Despite the wind and the rain, the weather had improved by morning.The sky was overcast but the clouds were quite hiking allowing goodviews of the valleys below the ridge.I wanted to get up and over the next two balds, Little Humpback andHumpback before the weather turned ugly again so I was on thetrail around 7:15.I ended up hiking the entire day without running into any otherhikers until settting up camp at the end of the day.The views from the Balds were impressive. On the top ofHumpback the wind was quite strong but warm and there was norain.I had to share the trail with a few long-horns before droppingback into the trees for several miles down the road.I almost went into town to avoid the rain forecast for theafternoon, but pushed on instead towards my next resupplyat Dennis Cove Rd.I'm getting close to the end of my hike this spring and it ishard sometimes to feel committed to walking every mileof the trail. It isn't likelast year when I had a definitive goal. This year I'm just out onthe trail to enjoy the trail and although I'm aiming for Damascus,I don't feel the need to hike every mile of the trail as I makemy way north.Three miles of the trail I hiked last year has been replaced witha new seven mile section to resolve some land dispute issues.The new section was quite nice passing two waterfalls andthe Elk River.The first cascade, Jones Falls, may be one of my favorite fallson the trail.The side trail dumps you out at the bottom of the falls with watercascading over a rock outcropping 60-70 feet overhead.I pushed on through almost an hour of heavy rain and finally set up camparound 3:30 because my wet feet were startingto get rubbed raw in several places.This was the first time I had any trouble with they shoes I hadpurchased at the NOC and I was a bit puzzled with the problems.Having wet feet for two days due to the rain is probably thesource of the problem andI'm pretty sure some thin liner socks would help avoid theproblems.As soon as I set up camp, washed off, and changed into dry clothes, thesun came out. I relaxed by the trail all afternoon.Kodiak, Sassy, Play, Sidewinder, and Parkway all pased by andhiked on to the next shelter -- a 26 mile day for them.