morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-03-20
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Campsite north of Plum Orchard
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: clear sky

My shuttle ride to the trailhead didn't show up until 1230. Then, the driver had a bunch of other people to shuttle around, and I didn't get back on the trail until 230 pm. I did make an equipment upgrade while in Hiawassee: I bought a new down jacket. "Big Puffy" that I was carrying was as heavy as an anchor, and my new one is just as warm at a mere 6 oz. The jacket maker is new to the outdoor clothing scene, so I picked it up at a reasonable price. My original plan for today was to hike to Bly Gap, just beyond the Georgia / North Carolina state line. Unfortunately, since I got to the trailhead late in the day, I had to settle for a 6.7 mile day. Scouting the trail guide, I noticed a listing for a campsite 2-3 miles from the North Carolina border. When I initially arrived at this location, I was a little put out: it was sort of a crappy looking campsite. The listed water source was from a natural spring (which is good) but the water flow was weak; about the size of a pencil. It was taking a long time to get water, and while I was staring off in space, I noticed the slight hint of a trail leading up a small hill. Inspection of said hill revealed a picture-perfect campsite, and I set up operations there, grateful for my good fortune.Mashed potatoes and salmon for dinner (it tasted great) and I was in my sleeping bag by 7pm. Tomorrow I'll be in North Carolina!
Date: 2014-03-22
From: Standing Indian shelter

To: Carter Gap shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

During a moment of clarity this morning, I wisely decided to make it an easy day, and stop at the next shelter (Carter Gap), 7.6 miles away. Physically, I felt good after getting out of the sleeping bag, and was actually not intimidated by the Standing Indian Mtn climb first thing this morning. On a side note, when a hiker sees the word "Gap" on the trail, or in the trail guide, it is almost always associated with a climb. And usually a big one. For some reason, these "gap climbs" seem to happen as the first order of business on the day. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, your leg muscles get warm quickly, while on the other hand, it can be a tough pill to swallow right out of the gate.As it turned out, the Standing Indian Mtn climb wasn't that difficult. Additionally, I met a very nice lady at the top, who was part of the Nantahala Hiking Club, a locally based volunteer organization who cares for a 60 mile section of the trail. Diana showed me a little-known side trail that lead to an incredible view of the valley below. While I was at the top, I had the remarkable good fortune of meeting Bill and his wife Sharon (Day Glow and Blue Bird, respectively), also members of the local hiking club, and experienced backpackers. Somehow, Bill and I started talking about backpacks, and I told him that mine just didn't feel right. For the past week, it felt awkward on my back. Bill happily agreed to have a look at it. During Bill's careful inspection, he discovered that I had my hip belts on backwards, and one was even on upside down! Moreover, the yolk on my pack was a full two inches out of adjustment, and my load lifter straps were not seated properly. Wow. Bill truly showed how much he cares about hikers by taking time out of his busy day to make sure my backpack fit me perfectly. My pack now fits me like a tailored suit, which included a major adjustment to my overall disposition. Bill, if you're reading this, I owe you a great debt of gratitude. The check is in the mail. Really.I spent the next few hours hiking with Day Glow, Blue Bird, and Diana. It was truly my pleasure to hike with them. Thank you for showing me all the tiny little secrets on your section of trail. Diana, good luck with your upcoming thru-hike. I have a feeling you'll do great.While I had a short day, I think today was my strongest hiking day yet. I crushed the 7.6 miles I wanted to cover, and was in camp by 2 pm. Could've been because my pack felt good on me?I spent the night in the shelter, due to rain in the forecast, and my disdain for packing a wet tent has been well-established.One of my shelter mates was a quiet gentleman in his 70s (I'm guessing). George and I stayed up late by the campfire, talking about his childhood, his extensive and impressive education, and about life in general. It was my pleasure, George. I hope I'm hiking the hikes you are when I'm in my 70s.
Date: 2014-03-25
From: Franklin, North Carolina

To: Franklin, North Carolina
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

I suppose I could label today as an unplanned zero day. Although, at the end of the day it's still a no miles day, it just makes me feel better to call the day due to weather! The weather forecast had been calling for "wintery conditions," but when I woke up this morning it was sunny and clear. These conditions did not last, and by 1pm there was a steady snowfall in Franklin, NC. By 830pm, the town looked like a winter wonderland. If I needed any further reassurance that I made the right decision in taking a zero, several AT veterans (at least 2 with a successful thru-hike) were coming off the trail in the early afternoon. They managed to snag the last room at the hotel I'm staying at--from what I gathered, vacancies in town were at a premium. The weather forecast for tomorrow appears to be more favorable, and my plan is to be on the move by 9am. My next stop is Bryson City, NC., which I should reach by Sunday. So, one more night of town food and pillows. Talk to you all from the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC).
Date: 2014-03-28
From: Wesser Bald shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 5.9

Call it "mail-it-in-Friday" if you wish, but today was a planned gimme day. I'm not sure why I thought it would take me 4 days + to make it to the NOC, but here I am, two days ahead of my schedule. Nothing too exciting to report today. The NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) sits about 6 trail miles below Wesser Bald, and I made the trip in a little under 3 hours. The promise of cheeseburgers and fries is surprisingly motivating. There are reports of thunderstorms moving in tonight and tomorrow, so accommodations at the NOC are tough to come by. I opted for renting a small cabin off the NOC property for a reasonable price. I probably could have a scored a bunk at the hostel, though I have to admit, I'm grateful for being left alone to watch tv and lay in bed tonight. Thanks to the owners of Nantahala Cabins, Michael and Jeanette. Michael was kind enough to take me to a grocery store where I could buy food to cook in the cabin. As much as I'd like to take a zero here, I'm off in the morning--most likely to hike in some rain. Hopefully not too much!Next stop, Fontana Dam, and the southern entrance to The Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
Date: 2014-03-29
From: NOC

To: Sassafras Gap shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: moderate rain

My plan today was simply to make the climb out of the NOC to Sassafras Gap shelter--an "easy" 6.7 mile uphill hike. As I previously mentioned, Michael and Jeanette asked me if I'd like to zero today, due to the weather, and sweetened the deal by offering me a half price rate on their cabin. I declined. A common mantra of the trail is no rain, no pain, no Maine. I figured hiking in the rain is part of the experience, and Michael gave me a ride back to the NOC. I did a little browsing / shopping at the NOC's excellent outfitter store, and walked out with a wrap-around knee brace. My left knee in particular has been fairly sore, and i figured a knee brace could offer a bit of support. After about an hour of shopping, I set out for the climb to Sassafras Gap. The rain was initially light, and I ended up stripping off my rain jacket before I even made a mile. The next 6 miles would prove to be some of the most difficult hiking I've ever done.First, was the extreme uphill nature if the trail. There were switch backs at the beginning of the climb, which quickly gave way to straight up hiking.As if that weren't challenging enough, the rain and wind REALLY picked up closer to the top of the mountain. At one point, I stopped to deploy my rain jacket, but by then it was far too late: I was soaked to the bone. At one point, I questioned my decision to hike today, and secretly wondered if I was a strong enough hiker to have attempted this hike in these conditions. And then, out of the blue, there was the shelter! Relief gave way to near-despair when I discovered the shelter was full, and I'd be pitching a tent in the rain. On one hand, it had been a while since I'd had to tent in the rain, and I sort of saw it as my turn to do so. On the other hand, I was wet, cold, and worn out. While scouting a suitable location to tent, I slipped on a patch of muddy trail and landed flat on my ass. Add muddy to the growing list of complaints. One unique challenge to tenting in the rain is getting undressed, and into dry clothes--inside a tiny tent. All without compromising the dryness of clothes and sleeping bag! But, after you figure out how to accomplish this task the first time, you know how to do it the next time. I did cook dinner in wet hiking clothes, followed by the downing of a 24oz tall-boy beer I packed out of the NOC. Morale certainly improved, and I was in my sleeping bag by 550pm. Warm and dry.The usual noise and chatter from those in the shelter ceased by 7pm. Seems everyone shared in the misery of today's hike.
Date: 2014-03-30
From: Sassafras Gap shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 6.7

I woke up in the middle of the night to condensation dripping on my face. I somehow found my headlamp, and inspection of my surroundings revealed inches of snow around my tent. I'd pulled the rainfly guy lines out tight, to reduce the chances of condensation inside, but when the ventilation areas are packed with snow, there's not much I could've done differently.Around 9am, I decided it was time to put the wet hiking clothes back on, and get to the business of today's hike. While I was at the shelter making a breakfast decision, I met Bragan, another wet and discouraged hiker, who was thumbing through his trail guide. Bragan was considering hopping off the trail at Stecoah Gap, and renting a cabin at Cabin in the Woods. I immediately told him id split the cost of a cabin with him, and made the phone call. Donna at Cabin in the Woods told us she'd pick us up at when we got to the gap. Hooray!While the weather today was sunny and pleasant, the trail was a muddy, slippery disaster. Both Bragan and I took a fall (or two, in my case) but nothing serious. The six inches of snow that fell last night cushioned those blows. Still, the slog down the trail was slow and difficult, particularly after falling a couple of times. One tends to wonder when their luck will run out in avoiding a fall injury, which seems to reduce hiking speeds.After departing Sassafas at 10am, we made it to Stecoah Gap around 2pm--a respectable time considering the conditions. Donna and Phil of Cabin in the Woods, put us up in a great cabin, then fed us dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Just what I needed after two days of tough trail. My original plan was to spend the night here, then start the trek into Fontana Dam, and the beginning of the Smokies. Unfortunately, I'd been experiencing a nasty pain on the outside of my left foot. Basically, if I didn't plant (and push off) with my foot square to the ground, every step I took was agonizing. I first noticed this during the climb out of the NOC, and dismissed it as a cramp in my foot. Having put nearly 14 (hard) miles in without improvement, I decided to take a zero day with Donna and Phil. We'll see how it feels in the morning.
Date: 2014-03-31
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

No improvement with the condition of my left foot today. In fact, I was having a difficult time walking up slight inclines. At breakfast, I asked Donna if there was a place where I could get my foot checked out. She agreed I could have a stress fracture in my foot, and told me of an urgent care clinic in Bryson City. Sometime in the early afternoon, Donna gave me a lift to the clinic, where I was told I could indeed have a stress fracture (worst case) or an overuse injury (best case). It seems that stress fractures don't usually appear right away on X-rays, so no definitive diagnosis could be made. With that, my foot was wrapped in an Ace bandage, and I was told to stay off of it for "a while."My new plan is to keep my foot wrapped, iced, elevated, and gobble down 800mg of vitamin I (ibuprofen) every 6 hours. Clearly, hiking in the Smokies with a bad wheel is not smart, so I'm going to zero here for a few more days and re-asses closer to the weekend.Donna and Phil have been terrific hosts, and I've been fortunate to have a great place to convalesce.
Date: 2014-04-03
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Okay. I think my foot has healed to the point where I can move on. As much as I've enjoyed my stay at Cabin in the Woods, the combination of perfect weather, and too many Saved by the Bell reruns, it's time to go. My plan tomorrow is to slack pack (carrying only 1 day of provisions and essentially no gear) from Yellow Creek back to Stecoah Gap. This is primarily a safety decision, where I can get off the trail if foot related issues return. Also, I think it makes more sense to go down a tricky section of trail, Jacobs Ladder, rather than up. If I can complete this short section without problems, I'll resume hiking from Yellow Creek into Fontana Dam, and the beginning of the Smokie Mountains. I'll have one chance to bail out at Fontana if there are problems, but I feel good that things are fine now. Once I start the Smokies, there's no escape route for 30 (ish) tough miles. Naturally, I'll post my progress over the next few days.
Date: 2014-04-05
From: Yellow Creek Gap

To: Fontana Dam shelter
Miles today: 7.8

Day 27I'll spare everyone the boredom of rehashing my "easy" 7 mile (and some change) day, hiking from Yellow Creek gap to Fontana Dam. How many ways can you describe a 7 mile day? I would like to thank Donna and Phil from Cabin in the Woods. They proved to be great hosts, and good company while my foot returned to some semblance of normal. Donna and Phil opened their home to a stranger, who incidentally smelled terrible, and did it with a smile. Thank you both. I'm going to miss you guys, and our dinner conversations. Donna cooked for the hikers practically every night. Sometimes it was just me for dinner. Good people with a flair for sarcasm--mostly the kind of people I tend to enjoy being around. Thanks again for everything you both did for me.Now then. Fontana Village is a small resort town just off the trail, and (obviously) close to Fontana Dam. The village has just about everything a hiker could ask for, including a general store capable of a full resupply. Which I took advantage of. The biggest issue here is price. There aren't any other resupply options for miles, and they cater to a captive audience. That said, the owners are nice and let me drink all the free coffee my bladder could handle. I even got a free candy bar after my resupply tab exceeded a certain amount. The food selections are specifically packaged with the hiker in mind--and I lost my head in here buying food. It was stuff I thought I needed, but almost certainly too much. When I picked my pack up after resupplying, I knew my pack weight was far from ideal: around 40 pounds. This included 2 Bud Light tall-boys, a Dr. Pepper, and a small bottle of orange juice. I planned on drinking the beer before I went up the mountain...but ahhh not at the Fontana Dam shelter, because that was not permitted. Mm hm.Later that night, a former thru-hiker showed up with some trail magic in the form of a case of beer. The large crowd (gathered outside the shelter mind you) enjoyed a few cold ones. The Fontana Dam shelter is nicknamed "The Hilton," because it'll sleep 20, has a shower, and nearby electricity. Regrettably, I missed the photo op. Tomorrow is day 1 of the Smokey's and promises to be a long one. I was in the sleeping bag and asleep before 9pm.
Date: 2014-04-06
From: Fontana Dam shelter

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 28Day 1 of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park (GSMP) featured a 5 mile up hike as the first challenge of the day. We're only talking a 2000 foot (positive) change in elevation over 5 miles, which ordinarily isn't too horrible. Looking back, the climb out to Shuckstack fire tower wasn't too bad, but when I saw a sign indicating I'd only hiked 3.4 miles, it was a little demoralizing. I mean, it did require serious effort to get there.The original plan had been to stop at a designated tenting spot about 5.5 miles in. Well, when I got there at noon, I wasn't ready to call it a day, so i pushed on to Mollies Ridge--roughly six more miles of PUDS (pointless ups and downs). PUDS is an affectionate term hikers use to describe sections of trail that run relentlessly up and down, with no return on investment, like a nice view. Nope. Just more up and down hiking. I did meet Tom and Tassie (with a "T," per Tom), section hikers from the Detroit area. Really cool people. Probably Red Wing fans, but classy folks anyway. And this is where we get to discuss the rules in a national park. First, one must obtain (read as buy) a permit to be there. Second, in the case of GSMP, thru hikers must relinquish shelter space to section hikers if the shelter is full. So, the White Elephant in the room when a thru hiker meets a section hiker is rule number 2. Of course, this time of year the trail is an even mix of section hikers and thru hikers, meaning someone (read as thru hiker) could potentially get stuck tenting in the notoriously nasty weather in the Smokey's. The three of us had a very brief conversation regarding rule 2, and my position was basically that I didn't care one way or the other. I'd tented in some slop before, and whatever circumstances came to be...well, no big deal to me. Fortunately, when I arrived at Mollies, there was still plenty of shelter space left. Which was good, because it rained hard for 11 straight hours shortly after I arrived. On a positive note, the shelters in the Smokey's are very nice, complete with indoor fireplaces, and plastic roofing. They typically sleep 12-14. Everyone got a shelter spot tonight, and the sound of snoring was drowned out by the rain and wind pounding the plastic rooftop. I was certainly grateful to be inside and not in a tent. I can only imagine my night if I'd stuck to my original plan, and stopped at the 5 mile mark. Yikes.
Date: 2014-04-09
From: Double Spring Gap shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Wendy, I know I promised to get you a picture of Clingmans Dome while I was here. Unfortunately, the weather was most uncooperative, and it's not the picture I had in my head before I arrived. I probably won't be back here again for a long time.I'd been hiking with a guy named Double Shot for a couple of days, and a lot of our conversations were about food. Mostly, we agreed we could eat everything in our food bags in one sitting. Double Shot has been to Clingmans before and was practically certain that the gift shop sold snacks and drinks. On the order of hotdogs and nachos and cokes. We'd been talking for DAYS about how glorious it was going to be to eat a gift store hotdog, and we could cut the anticipation of today with a knife. Hell, even the guidebook made reference to the possibility of snacks and drinks! How could we lose?I left the shelter well before Double Shot this morning, and made the steep three mile climb to Clingmans in about 2 hours. And promptly walked to the gift shop. That is to say, I skipped seeing Clingmans Dome first, to go get a hotdog. Of course, when I went inside there was no tell-tale evidence of hotdogs. They had bottled water and chocolate bars. They did have a nice fire going inside though...it was of little consolation.As I was walking back up to the dome, I ran into Double Shot, who had the same idea about skipping the view. He had a huge smile on his face and said, "Well?!" I said, "Oh yeah dude. And they just fixed the chili machine." He was really pumped up about it before I broke the news. "Man, they don't have shit down there. Unless you want to carry around a ceramic coffee mug." The look on his face was of utter and complete dejection. I really felt bad, and yet I was laughing almost uncontrollably. I don't think he paid a visit to the gift shop.I ran into Fuzzy getting back on the trail. I hadn't seen Fuzzy since early in North Carolina. It's funny how happy you are when you see a familiar face. All of my previous hiking associates are days ahead of me after my quadruple zero at Stecoah. He asked what I was up to, and I told him I was bailing at Newfound Gap and taking a zero in Gatlinburg, TN. Sadly, he had just left Gatlinburg, and didn't seem interested in going back. We chatted for a few minutes and figured we'd catch up with each other outside the Smokey's. I hitched a ride into Gatlinburg with a couple from Connecticut, who'd been day hiking in the area. Thank you Jeff and Paula! Love your taste in music, by the way.Around 3, Fuzzy called me and asked what hotel I was staying at in Gatlinburg. I told him, and he said he'd call me after he checked in. It seemed that he'd got a late start to the day, and didn't see any point in hiking 3 miles to the shelter. Rather, he hitched back to Gatlinburg for a zero. We grabbed some food (of course) and talked about where everyone was, and how they were doing. I applied a few beers to relieve some minor aches and pains, and we people watched in Gatlinburg.