morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Gatlinburg TN (Microtel) 

To: Gatlinburg TN (Microtel) 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 21Well it¢s officially been 3 weeks on the trail. For those keeping track 2 weeks in the wood and one in a hotel room. Another zero day so soon? I had planned to roll into town today to avoid the severe weather heading this way. Instead I got here last night and yes it¢s 75 and sunny. But weather is coming; I think my brother Mike is calling me ¢Sunshine Hiker¢. So far most of my zero days were just because I didn¢t spend the night 3 miles out of town. So I have all day in lovely Gatlinburg TN. There will be no dwarf tossing this time around, the I-Max burnt down and I have yet to see another hiker. If one day in Gatlinburg doesn¢t send you running back to the woods, nothing will. According to Leon they are trying to de-commercialize Gatlinburg. What? That¢s like trying to take beer out of Wisconsin! It¢s just silly. There are way to many hotels, shops, food, chapels of love, and Ripleys for any good. There is a disproportionate amount of white trash mulling around. The poor mans Vegas i like to call it. Went to the library don¢t know why my journal is still behind. Will have to call Bullfoon and make sure he¢s received my journals. I may post a couple if I¢m here tomorrow. Stopped by the outfitter and got my pic put on the wall. Our 1999 pictures were all still up there. It was amazing to see everyone¢s picture, just like yesterday. Also did laundry and grabbed lunch. I saw Capt. Chaos and Dave/Lisa (Blazin Cajuns) they were headed out. Grey Walrus & Pathfinder are somewhere in town through I have no idea where. Watched ¢Love Actually¢ and chuckled. Loved where the English guy goes to Wisconsin to pick up chicks. If I stay tomorrow I think I may upgrade to the Hampton or something with a pool. See it¢s going to thunder tonight and rain all day tomorrow. I¢ll probably leave on Friday where yes it¢ll be raining but promises of sunny skies for the weekend. I¢ll be going straight for Hot Springs NC and doubt I¢ll stay in a hotel again till Erwin TN. Can¢t wait to see Miss Janet, may even stay there a night. Pretty soon this will have to turn into a hike or I¢ll be broke. Well I couldn¢t find anyone tonight so I bought a Guinness and some pizza. They melted new cheese on the pizza this scares me. I mean it had to be made today right? It looks like rain tomorrow so I¢ve opted to move up to the swankier Hampton Inn. Capt. Chaos called wants me to go out and aboat with him. No good can come from this. Met up with Domino, Jake, Chuck, Trip, Bruce Spruce, Chaos, one of Chaos¢s friends. Also saw Sunshine. Draggin, Gypsy, Bassline and Touk.
Date: 2005-04-07
From: Gatlinburg TN (Microtel) 

To: Gatlinburg TN(Hampton Inn) 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Day 22Last night after a Guinness at TGIF we crawled over to the brewery for 33oz beers and a tasty meal. There was live music and good times. A humorous moment last night on the way to TGIF we ran into Bassline, Touk & Gypsy coming from the liquor store with some beer. This lady carrying a kid comes over and asks Domino to get a beer out of her bag. Domino searched, but found nothing. Bassline offered up a beer. I couldn¢t believe that hikers had just been yogied by a lady with a kid. Spent a quite day in Gatlinburg if that¢s even possible. I seamed sealed my tent fly and sat in my recliner. My room at the Hampton is great. Have a balcony over a river. Could have got a Jacuzzi/fireplace but I¢m cheap. Thought about staying one more day, but could lose my mind. My only question is that as long as they¢ve built 10,000 shops and restaurants with 2 miles of each other would it have killed them to build a freaking Starbucks! Try to find mocha here? I tried 4 local shops, all which were closed. Ahh the troubles in thru-hiking. If I¢m not too lazy I¢ll be shuttling out tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-09
From: Gatlinburg TN(Hampton Inn) 

To: Ice Water Shelter (tent)
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 24Well the sun was out this morning so it was time the Hampton Inn and I parted ways. I was disappointed to find out there were no biscuits and gravy today. Waffles would have to do. My shuttle wouldn¢t arrive till 11:30am. So I sat in the lobby and said my goodbyes to the front desk staff. They tried to load me up with breakfast goodies. The shuttle out was full of fun information about bears & panthers/bobcats. Had some disturbing stories about yellow jackets (Bumble bees). In Gatlinburg they were the size of small birds. When I asked about the bear that killed a lady a couple years back, I got an interesting story. Seems the story that I got was she came in-between a cub & mother. There hadn¢t been a death from a bear east of the Mississippi for 40 years and longer down south. What I never heard was that she was out there with her estranged husband. There are a whole mess of crazy other facts, but in the end it was ruled a bear attack. What I took from it was be more worried about going into the woods with your estranged husband than bears.When I reached the Dome parking area there was a sea of people. Lot¢s of questions. Going skiing are you? I heard that one 4 times. Most would walk 20 feet then have to sit on a bench. Absolutely amazing how out of shape everyone is. It was a good climb as I was even huffing. I think in ¢99 I suggested they put these benches on the A.T. It was good to be back on the trail. Soon as you hopped on everyone disappeared. I ran into Ranger and Grunting Bear having a snack on the trail. After that I was pretty much by myself. I did pass a trail crew twice doing a little maintenance. I¢m glad I got off the other day rather than trying to make it to Mt. Collins Shelter. The trail was tricky at times. It was a lot drier today. Mostly it went along a happy grade. It was 7 miles to Newfound Gap where the trail goes through a parking area and where I hitched on Tuesday. There was an alarming amount of people hiking on the A.T. One couple looked like they just hopped out of their car and was 2 miles down the trail. I set up camp just above Ice Water Shelter. There are about 8 tents. Some people I actually know. G, Ktr, Cupcake and Scholar. Early night as I dabble with doing 20 miles tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Cosby Knob Shelter (Tent) 

To: Ground Hog Shelter (Tent)
Miles today: 17.6

Day 26Last night there was an owl on each side of the shelter site. They talk to each other half the night. They actually said who-who. Tree Trunks came in at 9:30pm and took the last shelter space therefore justifying my tenting. Up and on the trail by 7:30am. It was 2 miles uphill then 5 or so down. My feet aren¢t liking down, especially when it¢s miles of down. It was good to get down into the valley¢s, not that it wasn¢t nice being up on the ridge. Everything down in the valley is alive. Water is running over rocks next to the trail, flowers are everywhere and everything is green. It¢s also bloody hot, temps in the mid 80¢s. We crossed the Pigeon River on a road walk over a bridge, then proceed under I-40 and back into the woods. There is an unhealthy amount of stairs leading up into the woods. Did I mention it was hot? I skipped Mountain Mama¢s this year and headed for Standing Bear Farm (Hostel). Some did both. It was 1.3 miles to Mountain Mama¢s or .2 to Standing Bear. I had planned to buy some snacks and head right back out. When I arrived Soulman, Brownie, Bassline, Gypsy, & Tuck were leaving. Toolman, V3, Packman aka¢¦bag of cats, Break-a-leg & CuppaJoe were all there. So shopping I went. Bought many snacks and lunch which would be 2 Jimidean breakfast biscuits and a coke¢¦oh & a pack of choc. Doughnuts. Curtis runs the place with his wife and really go out of the way to help you. Most spent the night, but I eventually hike on. I saw Bag of Cats with his feet in the river so I thought I should probably do the same. Feet were still angry from that big downhill. Then Toolman & V3 wanted to split a pizza¢¦hmm let me think..yep. So 3 hours later I finally crawl out. Serenity & Tree Trunks were headed in as I left. At Pigeon River we were under 1500ft, atop Snowbird Mtn is 4250ish. In other words we hiked up the rest of the afternoon. I had plan to camp but the 1st one came quick, after that there was no water. I saw a perfectly good big tree broken in half. I saw no lightning marks, I suppose it could be wind, but finally decided on monkeys. Don¢t laugh they can be testy little creatures when pushed. Maybe they escaped from the zoo, perhaps someone stolen their tambourines who knows? I reach the trail leading to Ground Hog Shelter. Soulman & Brownie are tenting before it. Toolman & V3 come in right after me. So the 5 of us are all tented before the trail to the shelter. We had a fire and entertaining conversation. Soulman is from Vermont, Brownie from South Carolina and used to be head bear chaser in a Girl Scout camp. Toolman & V3 are from Georgia and sing as they hike. In fact just minutes ago they did a stunning rendition of ¢how bizarre¢ nite.nite¢¦
Date: 2005-04-12
From: Ground Hog Shelter (Tent)

To: Deer Park Mtn Shelter (Tent)
Miles today: 23.0

Day 2723 miles over rolling hills covered in clouds to reach blue skies. I was lying in my tent marveling how it didn¢t rain the night before. As I sat there it started to sprinkle. This sped things up, I was hiking a little before 8am. The trail went up for the 1st 6 miles till you reach the top of Max Patch a grassy bald. I only saw one person in the first 6 miles. He had a big woolly beard and was wearing camouflage-hunting clothes with a shotgun on his shoulder. This should have alarmed me. Turns out he was hunting turkey. It was sprinkling up on Max Patch and no one was around so I moved on. Usually, it's a beautiful place to stop and hang out. The trail though wet was enjoyable, running through tunnels of green and along small creeks. The trail was confusing at times as it appeared to go several ways at once. I eventually get to Roaring Fork Shelter for lunch at 1pm. Inside were a father and son section hikers and Wisconsin Dave. I told dave my feet were killing me. He tells me the night before he had spilt his boiling water from a pot on to his foot. So he had one foot pretty badly burned. He wins, i can't compete with that. Someone was coming to pick him up. Bassline, Tuck, Gypsy, Soulman & Brownie all arrive and call it a day. Another lovely rendition of bob marly's noworries. Lots Michigan/Wisconsin talk as 4 of us were from one or the other. It was too early for me to stop hiking so I move on at 2pm. I get to Walnut Shelter, which is completely encased in a cloud. Very windy and wet. Bluff Mtn was next and all the way up I was in a cloud. I don¢t mind hiking by myself, though when I¢m crawling over a mountain completely covered in a cloud with the charlie brown halloween tree's everywhere. I can¢t help but think it would be less spooky, if someone were around. When I started down the other side, that¢s when the clouds opened up. For 5 miles it poured. I was completely soaked. I walked 2 to 3 hours in the downpour, as there was nothing else to do. I had planned to camp up top but it was all misty and I had no intentions of camping in this crazy rain so on I went. The only thing between the shelter and me was Lamb Knob. It had to be a knob they never end. I think I¢ve mentioned before that knobs are right up there with steps when it comes with things a thru-hiker could do without. I got to the shelter a little after 7pm. Draggin, Blue Eye, Krazy Kate & Radio was there. The sky was blue and I was happy. One would think I could have gone the last miles into Hot Springs on my new found happiness, but not so. My feet were threatening to explode. Sacrifice themselves for the rest of the body. So here I stay. The other hikers seemed to have a hint of doubt about rainstorm. They said it only rained about 5 minutes there. I turned to set up camp and heard something. Turns out there was about a foot of water in my trusty pack cover. This seemed too satify everyone. Breakfast in Hot Springs tomorrow. If it rains tonight or tomorrow I¢ll probably spend the night.
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Deer Park Mtn Shelter (Tent)

To: Hot Springs NC 
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

Day 28 Well my sunny skies lasted about an hour. I set up my tent and went to sleep. Around 11pm the skies lit up along with my tent then the thunder and rain came. In the morning all was wet. Draggin¢, Blue eye & myself ran to Hot Springs for breakfast. Smoky Mountain Diner. Biscuits & gravy, eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, too much coffee. Off to the post office where I pick up my maildrop and a package from Bullfoon (transcriber and AT¢99 hiking partner) it¢s got the F-troop name on it. How¢d you know I need sock liners? Thanks for the great stuff. We then went to the outfitters to purchase stuff we don¢t really need though I did get a new pack cover that I desperately needed. We then got a room at a hostel, which seemed like a good ideal. It was a small house on the way into town. Four bunks in one room and two beds in another, satellite TV, kitchen, bath, and a fireplace. Went to the Paddlers Pub for a burger and a Guinness. Chaos, Trip, Chuck, Jake, G, Toolman, V3, Blue eye, Bearbait, Redhat & Draggin joined us. Bearbait is an older gentleman that is thru-hiking the trail. He always seems happy too see me and i enjoy running into him. When i tell him that i spent 4 nights in gatlinburg he about fell out of his chair. Shortly after Draggin, Grey Walrus, Pathfinder & myself went to the diner for dinner. Then back to the pub for a drink with Walrus & Pathfinder. Today was too much work. When I get to Erwin, I¢m getting a hotel and doing nothing. Much thanks to Toolman and V3 for bringing a bag that I left at the pub up to the diner in the rain. Hope to be in Erwin by Monday. Leaving tomorrow, journal was starting to look like a town guide.
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Spring Mountain Shelter (tent) 

To: Jerry Shelter (tent)
Miles today: 15.4

Day 30 Woke up pretty early broke camp before 8am. Though after coffee I didn¢t actually leave until 10am. 3 miles later at Allen Gap there was a sign for trail magic just up the road. Blue eye, Lyrical and I all went. Fal & Hercules own a beautiful home and thru-hiked in 1999. I never met them but do recall seeing their names. We had soup/biscuits, lemonade, coke, and ice cream cake. It was great.Most of the afternoon went up. It was once again beautiful out blue sky¢s, low 70¢s, just a great day to be walking. We had lunch at Little Laurel Shelter then pushed on. We had only planned to go a few miles and camp. Lyrical stopped after a few and we opted to go over Blackstack Cliffs. Views were great. From there the trail takes a different route than in ¢99. It goes up and over exposed tops of rocky hills for over a mile. A great trail, unbelievable stone work. Trail crew should pat themselves on the back. We crawl into the Jerry Shelter while it was still light out. We set up our tents just a little passed the shelter. Long day, very tired. There¢s many coyote¢s howling, very cool.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Jerry Shelter (tent)

To: Tiny bit passed Sams Gap
Miles today: 17.6

Day 31 Up and out of camp a bit earlier today 8:30am. It¢s a brisk 38°. If the temperature didn¢t wake you up Big Butt Mtn would. Yesterday during our trail magic, they told us that a month earlier a girl came in who sent all her winter gear home. This is in March. When we were hiking into the Noc a couple weeks ago it was 88°, two days later it was 34° and snowing. In other words future thru-hikers keep your cold weather gear at least until Damascus VA if not Atkins VA. So 38° out made for quick hiking. Had we done another 12 mile last night we would have had killer grassy campsites up top. Today was pretty uneventful. It was another beautiful day highs in the upper 60¢s with lots of sunshine. The trail was great. Frozen Knob kind of catches you by surprise. One of those hills that never ends. Stopped by the shelter said hey to Gray Walrus, Pathfinder, Capt. Chaos, August, Rocky & Hareball. After the long hike for water we decide to push past Sams Gap. We didn¢t get to far into the woods. We are close to the road although it doesn¢t look like there¢s access from the 4 lane (freeway) road. Bob, Spice rack, Jukebox & B money are all ahead by a little. Should be in Erwin by Monday morning. My sprint service sucks lately surprise, surprise. Of course Verizon works everywhere. If I see the ¢can hear me now¢ guy I¢m going to give him a whack with my trekking pole.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Tiny bit passed Sams Gap

To: No Business Knob Shelter (tent)
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 32 It¢s hard to believe that just one month ago I was boarding a flight to Atlanta and meeting Professor for another walk in the woods. Even harder to believe is that I¢m still out here. We started hiking by 8am our earliest in some time. It was a 6-mile or so hike to Big Bald. The trail weaves up and over some wooded hill that opens up into pastures. Eventually putting you on Big Bald. Big Bald is a grassy summit with panoramic views. So we took a 2-hour lay in the sun break up top. The wind was pretty fierce, though the sun kind of balanced things out. Spicerack, Jukebox, B-money & Capt Chaos all joined us. Oddly Capt. Chaos is deathly afraid of grassy balds. The trail then follows open grass areas for a bit, then back into the woods. Up and over lots of hills to Spivey Gap. We take another break just past Spivey Gap. Blue eye had crackers and pepper cheese. Which he happily shared. A life saver as I was pretty famished. The trail climbs for a mile or so then is almost flat again; it weaves in and out of the hillsides. We are camped .1 or maybe .2 past the shelter and six miles from Erwin. After setting up camp we head to the shelter to mingle. Blue eye has got pretty crazy with the food bag hanging. Almost professional. Capt. Chaos mooned me this morning on Big Butt Mtn. Just thought you all should know. Tomorrow to the Holiday Inn Express then over to visit Miss Janet and have an Erwin burrito.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: No Business Knob Shelter (tent)

To: Erwin TN (Holiday Inn Express)
Miles today: 6.2

Day 33 Up even earlier than the day before. Town-day my favorite. 6.2 miles into Erwin. We walk over and around some hills today. From high-a-top Temple Hill you could see the Holiday Inn Express glowing in the morning sun. You could also see the Nolichucky River from equally high up. We played leapfrog with Spice rack, B-money & Jukebox. I can always tell they are coming up from behind me as they are always singing. We came out at Uncle Johnnie¢s and have a coke while we wait for him to open up. I bought a new set of gaiters. I¢m running out of stuff to replace. Miss Janet pulls up to drop off hikers and we wonder over. I haven¢t seen Miss Janet since 1999 at Harpers Ferry WVA. I first met Miss Janet back when we crawled into Erwin during my 1999 hike. Please refer back to my 1999 hike the Erwin days, trail days & July 6th. She was just shuttling back then and now runs a full hostel. The place to be in Erwin. It was full so we go to the Holiday Inn Express. Can you find a better hotel? You would think I work for them, but no. Blue and I split a room $30 each. Fresh cinnamon rolls, you can do laundry, they have Internet, breakfast and there¢s an A&W in the parking lot. Did I mention the hot tub? We are off to town to do grocery/post office chores. It took about 10 minutes to hitch. Miss Janet picked us up from the grocery store and we visit the hostel. Where we see Red-hat who left the trail with a numb arm, pain in the chest and not feeling all that well. She has been checked out and all is ok. She¢s a tough cookie. We were all happy to see her. Grey Walrus & Pathfinder were there. The familiar ¢you¢re my boy blue¢ came from the backyard. Yes Capt. Chaos is in the house. We eat a Erwin burrito. One of everything¢¦well just about. As we wait for our ride Bramble had a chat with us. I first met him in Helen GA. He¢s a big guy with long hair and usually wears a kilt. Think professional wrestler. He¢s waiting to see if he will be on Survivor. If I were CBS or any network I would put him on TV. You have to meet him to understand. He¢s hiking for a cancer, diabetes¢s and a couple other things. We did eventually get back to the hotel. Worked on my food drop. We ate at A&W and watched where pudding came from. We also ate our free pint of Ben & Jerry¢s J I wonder how the Bramble class show is going? When we left the hostel Bramble was telling how he made pine needle tea to save someone. A good source of vitamin C you know.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Erwin TN (Holiday Inn Express)

To: Deep Gap (tent) 
Miles today: 12.2

Day 34 Call the world¢s top minds. I don¢t know how it happened, but Worries got out of Erwin without a zero day. Some things just can¢t be explained. I woke up around 8am and climbed down to breakfast. Blue eye was chatting with a fellow hiker though I can¢t remember her name. MEP! I will call her happiness in frogg toggs since that was what she was wearing. Breakfast consisted of 2 bowls of Fruit Loops, 2 bagels with cream cheese, 2 slices of raison cinnamon toast, a cinnamon roll, an orange, banana, Krispy Kreme doughnut and an ice cream. Blue eye¢s sister stopped by along with her husband and 2 kids Adam & Emily. Blue eye headed out as they were going to hike a bit of the trail with him. He even managed to get Adam to carry his pack. Before he left he gave me a Zero bar (candy) oh the humor. I sat around another hour trying to decide whether I was going to hike today. I insist the big bag of cookies that Blue eye was carrying had nothing to do with me leaving. It was sunny out for the 6th day in a row. How could you not hike? In fact ever since I bought my new pack cover it has yet to rain. As I slowly climb out of the Nolichucky River valley the temp is in the mid 80¢s. It gets cooler as we climb, but still warm. I ran into Blue eye and family as they part way. Very nice people hope to see them again up north. We take a break at the Curly Maple Gap Shelter where Soweja, Don & myself gorge ourselves on Blue eye¢s cookies. Soweja I¢ve seen or run into off and on since Hot Springs when I took I picture of him and his girlfriend. I could never remember his name, always called him Sequoia. We reached Beauty Spot, a high open grassy area. The sun was shinning above us, but thunder was rumbling right below and next to us. We thought it would be best to get to lower ground. Which leaves us at Deep Gap right next to a road. Camp it is. We never do get wet as it looks like the storms would build right next to us and then float the other way. I had an email from my friend in Iraq. He¢s on leave for 2 weeks. He asked how the buddha was doing? While I have lost weight the Buddha isn¢t going down without a fight. It¢s betting my feet or knee¢s will give out first. So up and down mountains I go.Transcribers note: Buddha=gut