morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-06
To: Camp Creek Campout
Miles today: 0.0

Mac and cheeze never tasted so good!!! Even if it took 45 minutes and 6 oz of fuel to cook it! Chuck and I took our stoves out for a trial run. We hiked in to Camp Creek yesterday and spent the night. My sister and her kids went with us and we had a ball. 6 year old Austin tried out his new backpack and Lexi slept in a tent by herself and the dog. It was supposed to rain, so we were going to try out our selected shelters as well. The good news is, It didn't rain, The bad news is, Chuck got just as wet sweating in his tent. He has decided he needs a bit more room as well. My hammock worked great, but I might have to take my bigger thermarest. I kept warm enough, but there was a definate cold spot everywhere that ventured off the mat! Our stoves, on the otherhand, were not quite as simple as we had hoped. It was a long time between set up and actual dinner! Thank god for jellybeans :-) So, after 16 oz of fuel we managed to cook a mac and cheeze dinner and a tuna helper! We made hot chocolate on the fire in about 3 minutes!!! Maybe we'll double up on the peanut butter, honey sandwiches. Those were mighty yummy on top the waterfall. I am going to do it! Happy trails,
Date: 2005-03-14
To: Mail Drops are done!!!
Miles today: 0.0

I can see the carpet in the living room again! There's space on the kitchen counters and the front porch has room to get through to the door! For the last week or so, Chuck and I have been shopping, sorting, counting, and resorting to get everything we can think of into 16 boxes without going over 2 lbs per person per day. (Well mostly, I have been while Chuck has been downloading all the shelters into his GPS). It's a lot of little trips to the store for more candy bars and tuna helpers, etc. Then find the right size box for each drop, add little things like bug repellant, spare socks, and new batteries for the cameras. Mom gave me a new compactflash camera card, smartwool socks and fleece vest for an early Easter gift, now I just got to fit it all in my pack. Chuck's tying his coat on the outside of his pack! Maybe I'll just leave the sleeping bag and tent behind, Sleep in my down jacket curled up under a poncho and call it good! I've got my summer pack all figured out. It's this wintery stuff that's tearing the seams of my pack! I sure don't want to go back to my old huge 7000 cc North Face pack. It weighs almost 7 lbs empty! Is it too late to rearange the mail drops for a flip flop where we start at Harper's Ferry and do the ends in summer? Oh no, forget that. Those boxes are taped shut and I'm not touching them again till it's time to mail them! I'd rather spend the day looking for software that converts waypoints to something the GPS can recognize! For some reason, it takes three of us on three computers with three different downloading devices to get it all worked out. And for what? Aren't there any signs to the shelters? It's not like we're going to just happen to miss one with 40 others leaving footprints in the snow ahead of us! OK, so we're having fun getting organized, a little frustration here and there, but mostly lots of fun. I'm still going to do it! It's only 18 days and counting.Happy Trails,
Date: 2005-03-19
To: I'm Full!
Miles today: 0.0

My sister, Kristie and nephew Austin took me to dinner tonight. Not just any dinner, probably the best dinner I've ever had in my life. She picked me up in her new car with Austin properly opening and closing my door for me! Wisked me off to the best restaurant in Scottsdale. Valet parking and everything! My brother-in-law, Bill is the corporate executive chef at Mastro's, I think they are one of the top 5 restaurants in the US, I don't know for sure, not my ususal type of dining, but I must say! For growing up vegetarian, always ordering some kind of meat so I could get to the potatoes and vegetables, Tonight, I had the MOST DELICIOUS prime rib, Even with exceptional, better than any I've eaten before sides of potatoes au gratin and sugar snap peas, a warm spinach salad, and wonderful crab cakes for an appetizer! I still could not get over the flavor of that beef! And fortunately, they make sure there's more than enough. I'll have some good eating in the morning! Bill ordered our deserts for us, so thinking I'd better save room, I had to put down the prime rib, forcefully, deliberately, with great hesitation, and try a bite of a new butter cake the chef Matt had just made. Oooooo! I have never tasted anything so sweet, yet still crisp, and topped everything off with a grasshopper! I'd never had one of those either, but it's kind of like the little chocolate mints they put on your pillow on a cruise ship all blended up like a milkshake! OK, so I'm no restaurant critic, but I will say, If you're going on a hike for six months knowing your going to live on oodles of noodles, well, my sister knows exactly how to send me off in style! Thanks Kristie!!!! And thanks to all there who wished me luck on my journey. It will be interesting to see what I think when I return. I'm sure many a mile will be spent savoring this last supper, salivating at the memory, anticipating the victory dinner!So, now with just less than two weeks to go, I'm full, my stomach's full, and my packs really full. Actually, I'm planning to go underpacked at 31 lbs for the first three days. If I can manage that, all will be wonderful. If I freeze to death, well, Bisbee and I might be crashing in Chuck's tent! He's packing on the heavy side, figuring he can make it three days with 40 lbs and then dump what he don't need. I'm not seeing much that he won't need! Anyways, I am going to do it! though I'm too full and too tired to go on anymore tonight, so, Happy trails,
Date: 2005-03-26
To: Pool Party
Miles today: 0.0

Pool Party? yes, we had a send-off party complete with cake and ice cream poolside style. Huge margaritas, hamburgers and hotdogs, and dodge ball in the pool. It's going to be missed, that's for sure! I pushed Chuck in twice, (Just for the record, He only got me once!) My cousins, Allen and Heidi are a lot of fun! They're from North Carolina, so I'm picking up the accent early! My Aunt Marylou didn't go swimming, but she got wet anyway. Uncle John and cousin Ron called to wish us luck from Maryland and my friend Ed called from Oregon. This is most definately a multi-state adventure. Chuck's friend Jim dropped by from New York (OK, so he's a truck driver). We finished off watching 2000 miles to Maine on the big screen. Next week, it's all back to basics. No ice cream, no margaritas, no hotdogs, no heated pool, but we'll be doing it! Not watching someone else do it! We'll begin driving Monday. Stopping to visit along the way and then it's uphill to Katadyn. Chuck's friend Jim has pledged to give up cigarettes the day we hit the trail and to not smoke another unless we quit the trail. I think we have got some great incentives. For one thing, how else we gonna get to the reunion in July?
Date: 2005-03-27
To: Easter Surprise!
Miles today: 0.0

Happy Easter! Well, today certainly was full of surprises! I thought I was playing Easter bunny. I spent the morning hideing eggs and candy and prizes in my yard for the relatives. When they called to say they would be a little late, I was a bit disappointed. I had lots to do to get ready for Georgia. Guess how I felt when they showed up with funny hats, balloons and cake for another send-off party. Well needless to say, I gave up on packing. Never give up a chance to have a good time! So we had a hillarious easter egg hunt, great food, pool party, and lots of fun just hanging out on the porch swing! I even got the old kayak out for some roll practice. Why not! I never thought I'd even get to sit in it again! And it did come back with a little encouragement from the peanut gallery! The roll, I'm talking about! So, anyways, I'm not packed at all, but I'm still going to do it.Happy trails,
Date: 2005-03-28
To: On the Road to Georgia
Miles today: 0.0

It was a lovely, beautiful Arizona spring day! I ran around the house like a maniac loading food out of the fridge, doing last minute laundry, and searching the place for a lost cat! Finally at 11:00 the back of the pickup was bursting and I could wait no longer. I rushed a mailbox key off to Mom and hit the road. Chuck's following me in his car. It's so loaded down, his headlights are shining at the sky. Bisbee is right at home in the truck. He's got his head on my lap as I drive. But--- Toto, we're not in Arizona anymore. By the time we got to New Mexico, I had my heavy coat on and long pants. The wind was threatening to save us half of our tire wear. I hear later that we were followed by a nasty snow storm for two days! But we made 600 miles and spent the night at a Stuckey's Dairy Queen on Route 66. Wind still whipping the canopy about! I'm still going to do it!Happy Trails,
Date: 2005-03-29
To: On the road again!
Miles today: 0.0

Another day, another 700 miles. Made it to Little Rock, Arkansas to meet Chuck's friend, Jim. He treated us to dinner at the Petro! Thanks, Jim. We needed that! Had wind, but not as bad. Made good time except for losing a gas cap. Thank goodness for Wally World! It was just down the road a mile and they had the right one! Lexi, Chuck lost his hat in the wind and he swears, you had something to do with it! I'm keeping it short now that I'm on cell phone internet. I am going to do it!Happy trails,
Date: 2005-03-30
To: Tennessee Relatives
Miles today: 0.0

Another long drive day. Jim showed us how to make good time. We made it to Rockwood, Tennessee and just in time for Ham and potatoes. It was a wonderful brown sugar ham and fresh homemade mashed potatoes. I met my cousins: Michelle and Ronnie and Fred and Katherine and Dezarae. We spent the evening getting acquainted and studying the maps. Hopefully tomorrow we will have pictures! I am going to do it!Happy Trails,
Date: 2005-03-31
To: Amicalola Falls, Georgia
Miles today: 0.0

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OH MY! Ok so we didn't see lions, but we did see a tiger and 6 bears at the Bear Zoo in Cherokee, North Carolina! We fed them too! It's kind of like opening the door when you go over a cattle guard before a trip to the mountains. It lets the trolls in so you have a good trip. If you forget to take them, they spoil your trip somehow. We'll we didn't cross any cattle guards, but when we saw a petting zoo. We decided to make sure to be kind to the bears. We don't want them spoiling our trip! We dropped off Chuck's car at the end of the Smokies. It made it all but the last .2 miles before we had to use a tow rope! Chuck almost pushed it off a cliff. Luckily he only skinned his knee! Met quite a few hikers today. Most are starting with us tomorrow. Chuck and Kate have no trail names, as well as Danny. I'm sure they will soon! We ate well at the Amicalola Falls Lodge and are spending the night there. Hope we're ready! Tomorrow's the day! I am going to do it!Happy trails,
Date: 2005-04-01
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: moderate rain

Hi to everyone. This is Jellybeans mom typing the following updates. I am not the writer my daughter is, but there is no way to update where they are. So here goes. Jean will edit the notes, when she can. It was good to hear from them. We started at Springer Mountain, hiked back to parking lot and continued to Hawk Mountain. It was a long hard hike. It is cold and wet.Day 1: April 1, 2005Starting Location: Springer MountainDestination: Hawk Mountain ShelterDaily Miles: 8.5Trail Miles: 7.6Total Miles: 7.6We officially began the Appalachian Trail this morning after a good nights sleep at the Amicolola Falls Lodge. Unfortunately, Bisbee couldn¢t be in the lodge, so I slept in the truck with him. I sorted thru my extra gear to make sure I could live without it. Chuck and I signed in at the Visitor¢s Center. They took our picture and we weighed our packs with 3 days food and water. Chuck is starting with 51 lbs. I¢m starting with 31 lbs. We took the forest service road up to the Springer Mountain Parking Area about 0.9 miles from the summit. It was forecasted to be violent winter weather, mostly it was just foggy and a little warm rain here and there. I wore my poncho from time to time. Chuck and I hiked up to the summit with our packs (Don¢t ask why) and took photos. We Hiked 7.6 miles more to get to Hawk Mountain Shelter. Chuck set up his tent and went to bed. I set up my hammock just in time for the rain to start. Spread my pack out on the shelter floor in front of a crowd and cooked a Mountain House Oriental Rice and Chicken meal on the Tinman¢s pepsi can stove. It went out just as it came to a full boil. I gave it to Chuck to eat, figuring he just didn¢t want to get out of his tent and went to bed hungry. I won¢t do that again. In the middle of the night, Chuck was cleaning up the spilled meal he couldn¢t eat from the bottom of his tent. There was another black lab sleeping under the shelter so I figured Bisbee would buddy up with him, but apparently he wandered around all night. I could hear him shake his collar from time to time and he came to give me kisses through the mosquito netting a couple times. It rained hard all night. The wind blew hard all night. Yet I slept warm in a zero degree Hollofill bag on top of the ultra lite 34 Thermarest in a Hennessy Hammock with the undercover and pad. I didn¢t want to get out in the morning. I tried to call out on my cell phone. I had service, but not everyone else did! I got a hold of my brother in law, Bill, and let him know we were on the trail. I could barely hear Jim. He made it through his first cigarette free day.
Date: 2005-04-02
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Cooper Gap
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day # 2 It is snowing and blowing. Chuck's legs are wobbly and feeling tired. We hiked into town and stayed at Motel 8 to thaw out, rest Chuck's legs, check his blood pressure. We thawed out our dog and gave him a much needed bath in the tub. I hope they didn't mind. We learned what the true meaning of ALMOST.It means you are somewhere between here and there, from one to 1,000 miles, but you are almost there. We are going to do it.Day 2: April 2, 2005Starting Location: Hawk Mountain ShelterScheduled Destination: Gooch Gap Shelter Actual Destination: Cooper¢s GapDaily Miles: 3.9Trail Miles: 3.9Total Miles: 11.5After finally falling asleep about 0100, I woke up to snow falling. Not sticking, just falling. Still windy, Chuck boiled water for oatmeal while I filled our water bottles. There were lots of tents around the shelter. Slowly it started to clear out. We packed up started out again. Lots of people were on the trail as well as a whole bunch of weekend warriors out for an exercise. Chuck was having trouble with weakness in his legs. They just couldn¢t push him up on the hills. We stopped often, and he even laid down once, but it didn¢t pass. The snow was starting to stick and the temperature had dropped below 30. We pushed on another half mile or so to Cooper¢s Cap and called for a shuttle back to the truck. While waiting along side the road, Bisbee started to shiver. Then Chuck started to get cold. I cooked some ramen noodles, but he could hardly swallow them. I set up the tent and we all crawled in just as previously cold windy snow turned violent. One could have easily died of hypothermia up there. I¢m glad we were prepared. I used my down jacket to keep Bisbee warm and gave Chuck his sleeping bag. It was a long wait for the shuttle. We holed up at the Super 8 in Dohlenago and went through the packs again to see what we could live with out. I dropped an OR rain sombrero, fleece gloves, my extra pan, lid, cozy, and bowl cozy and lid (They were just in the way), my Z-rest and Bisbee¢s tent. In all, not very much, maybe 3 lbs. Chuck chucked a lot of extra clothes, a fleece vest, a pair of pants, his belly pack, his GPS, his camera, his old batteries (8-10 AAs), lots of extra snacks and his colorful flag and stuffed animals. It was probably 6 ¢ 8 lbs. It might make a difference. We strung our wet gear from one end to the other and took long bathes. Bisbee looked a lot better. He was covered in mud from head to tail. What a good trail dog he is though. He stays close, carries his own food and some water, his water dish, brush, and leash. Everyone loves him.
Date: 2005-04-03
To: Gooch Gap
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: clear sky

Well !!! Day three, we slack packed today for 5 miles. The weather is better. Chuck is doing fine. Good Day. We are going to do it.Day 3: April 3, 2005Starting Location: Cooper¢s GapScheduled Destination: Woody Gap ShelterActual Destination: Gooch GapWe weren¢t sure what we were going to do this morning. Chuck was not sure his legs would work at first. By the time we cleaned up the room and repacked everything, he was feeling a little better. I thought it would be good to get out and walk and stretch out our leg muscles, so he climbed the stairs at the hotel and said they¢d be up to a short slack pack. We packed a day pack and moved on down the trail. I¢m sure we¢ll get a lot of flack, but it¢s slack pack or no pack at this point. Chuck said he was going home if he can¢t walk today! But it turned out to be a beautiful day! We moved along, slow but steady and met our shuttle at Gooch Gap. He took us back to my truck at Woody Gap. It¢s cold and windy up here, but it¢s not raining yet!!!
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Gooch Gap

To: Henry Gap
Miles today: 8.3

Full packs again. We are doing fine. We stopped in Suches for lunch. A Typical Georgia town, with pick-up trucks and flat tires and a real southern accent.We went to the grocery store to add some fresh produce to our pack. The produce section is special. It gets a front window view of town. The produce is in cardboard boxes. We grabbed some potaoes, rotten in the center. Oh Well.!!We ate lunch on the porch at the store and ate pringles and orange soda pop. The dog ate jerky. We found two geocaches today. They were great.We are going to do it.We went from hypothermia to too hot of weather. We went over Blood Mountain and saw a historic cabin. It is beautiful. I dropped my camera, and now it won't stop taking pictures. I have to turn it to playback to shut it off. But, we still have pictures. Will post soon. we ate on top of the big rock.We are going to do it.Day 4: April 4, 2005Starting Location: Gooch GapDestination: Henry GapDaily Miles:Trail Miles:Total Miles:We Shuttled back to Gooch Gap for an easy hike to Woody Gap. Chuck¢s doing pretty well. His blood pressure is where it belongs. Met Alvin, ¢Chipmunk¢ as well as ¢Pathfinder and ¢Double step¢. Took time to find two geocaches. They were good ones too! Not far off the trail and cleverly hid. Drove my truck into Suches, GA, such as it was! Stopped at the general store for lunch and ate on the picnic tables out front. The produce department was interesting! A box of potatoes, a box of tomatoes, a box of bananas, and two boxes of onions on the shelf near the window along with a copier machine. The store was well stocked with trail foods and I splurged and ate Pringles with my bologna sandwich. Bisbee got more jerky. We¢re supposed to be losing weight, but we are sure eating good! Anyway, back to Woody Gap and on up the trail. Chuck emptied more stuff out of his pack and we were off. Then I promptly returned to get fresh batteries for my camera. Oops! I tried to catch up with Chuck, but failed to notice the trail of jellybeans he was leaving behind. Everytime he saw a sit down log, he left a jellybean. Guess I should have sat down more. Met ¢Fancy pants¢ and Kate, Kevin, and ¢Low Gear¢ just as they were pulling off at a campsite for the night. ¢Fancy Pants¢ and Kate were at Amicalola Falls the night we stayed there. He gave us some fuel to leave at a convenient hiker box. ¢Low Gear¢ was packing a heavy load: 46 lbs plus 8 lbs of water. He must drink a lot! Chuck and I found a nice campsite near Henry Gap and had a pleasant evening, ate our noodles and went to sleep. Bisbee didn¢t like sleeping in the tent with Chuck and as soon as he opened the door, Bisbee escaped and spent the night on my poncho under the hammock. We heard owls and dogs and cars. Not really a wilderness setting, but beautiful in its own way! We¢re still doing it!
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Henry Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Today is great. It is sunny and breezy. The views are stupendous. We have phone service at last. We are feeling great. We are going to do it. John, We understand exactly how you hurt your foot on your hike here.Day 5: April 5, 2005Starting Location: Henry GapDestination: Neels GapDaily Miles:Trail Miles:Total Miles: 30.5Beautiful sunrise! Packed up early and began the climb up Blood Mountain. It was going to be a long day with full packs. The weather was wonderful. The views were awesome. We couldn¢t have asked for a better day. The trail was tough, but we learned the meaning of ¢You¢re almost there¢. It¢s like in Mexico, when they say manana, the literal translation is tomorrow, but really it means, not today! Well ¢almost there¢ can mean anything from around the next turn to many miles away! What you can get from the well meaning encouragement is that you are not there yet!!! So on we went up the mountain! And on up the mountain. We did get there! And it was an interesting shelter. I signed the log and read entries from others who had been there in the ¢80¢s. Back then it apparently had a door and shutters on the windows. I ate lunch up on the big rock and wrestled with Bisbee. He is loving all this! I¢m so glad I brought him. I caught Chuck trying to take a nap in the shade. As we were leaving the shelter, I holstered my camera and it fell on the rocky trail. I tried to fix it and put the shutter button and spring back together, but I can no longer use the zoom or any of the menu options. I have to turn it off and on to take a single photo, but it still takes photos. So off we went down the mountain, past a balanced rock and into Neels Gap. We¢re really doing it now. Resupply time! Our mail drop was there! We got showers and did laundry and sorted out food for the next three days. We¢re still doing it!
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Neels Gap

To: Hog Pen Gap
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I met a girl from phoenix who lives not 5 miles from me! ¢Phoenix Rising¢. She said she hated me because when I weighed my pack it was only 22 lbs. without food and water. Chucks was only 24 lbs. We¢ve come a long ways. I¢m sending some CD¢s with photos home. On up the trail to Tenastee Gap with a quick drive back to get my truck. Except that I stopped on the way to Blairsville to check out Booger Hollow Store and then get some chicken and pork chops from the world famous Blairsville Restaurant. Bisbee and Chuck sure enjoyed them! We met ¢Wheels¢ a section hiker with a different sort of self shuttle system. He has a motorhome which opens up in the back so he can load a motorcycle. He also tows a vehicle. He stages all his vehicles and then hikes between them. We said goodbye and then headed up a steep hill for Whitley Gap shelter. I should have read the book I guess, because when I got to the blue blaze trail, I took a photo of the sign, but didn¢t really read it. After hiking what seamed like two miles down the blue blaze trail, I turned around. We weren¢t there yet! So we hiked back to the trail and on to Hog Pen Gap and returned to Tenastee Gap where there was less wind. Yes, the book says the shelter is 1.2 miles off trail. Why would they put a shelter so far off the trail? Chuck might not want me to do the research anymore, what a disappointment! But, we¢re still doing it!