morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-08
From: Stover Creek

To: Hawk Mountain
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up a couple times last night. Heard a strange animal, it may have been a turkey but it was the middle of the night so I don¢t know. Got up about 9 or so, hard to tell without a watch. Ate leftovers from last night then on our way. Went about 3 miles then had pb and raspberry jelly burritos and that was really good. M&Ms from Rachel made a perfect dessert. The last 2 miles were kinda rough uphill and muscles were sore. We are staying .2 miles from the shelter and it¢s nice and quiet. I expect rain in the next couple days as today was cooler and very misty and overcast most of the day. Took a nap after camp was set now its supper time. Beef stroganoff and beef jerky yum. Cooling down already, maybe low 40's tonight, today¢s high was in the 60's . Seems like everyone is going further and faster than we are but I keep telling myself that it was the tortoise that won the race not the hare. Jerrame is having fun trying to hang the bear bag right now. Stayed at Hawk Rest campsite.
Date: 2008-04-09
From: Hawk Mountain

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: few clouds

Oww. Today was rough, made it to the Gooch Mountain Shelter and we are camping behind it. Only 7 or 8 miles but it was up and over 3 mountains. Last night about 100 army guys came through our camp on drills. Breakfast was granola then off we went. Lunch and dinner were the same as last night. So many sore muscles after today. Feet feel like wood blocks hitting the ground. A lady at this shelter said she saw a bear at the last shelter around breakfast time. I sure didn't see it but there is still time. Heard barred owls last night and the Pileated is still calling and laughing at us as we walk. I wonder how many people have ever seen Sarah scamper down a mountain chasing a sleeping bag. I can raise my hand on that one. I can't remember a time I have seen her scamper so fast, it was just a sleeping bag and feet all the way down, then poof, her and the sleeping bag were gone. A minute or so later she reemerged with her trophy kill... a blue sleeping bag. Ok so my sleeping bag rolled down a mountain. No big deal right? Happens to everyone, was only 300 ft or so. Nick you would have been rolling. Anyways today was rough, oh yeah about 80 or up and sunny. Jerrame is quite sunburned. So we will see what tomorrow brings.
Date: 2008-04-10
From: Blackwell Creek

To: Big Cedar Mountain
Miles today: 7.4

Woke up really sore today, didn't leave camp until 10:45. Had eggs and grits for breakfast, not the best. It needed hot sauce. A pretty easy hike today, up and over 1 mountain, but mostly gradual stuff. Got to Woody Gap and headed into town. That 2 mile walk was rough. Got to the town and found the post office new food was great. Sent a bunch of food back. A very wonderful guy gave us a ride back to the trailhead. On the way into town I stepped off the road and twisted my ankle. Not bad but it¢s a little sore now. A biker kid as in pedal bike gave us a tip about a campsite 1.5 miles from Woody Gap. But some guys were already camped there. Went a little further and found a spot but I feel like a storm is coming and the tree next to our tent was dead, with a big limb hanging over the tent. So we went looking for a new spot and found a flat spot in about the same area. After Jerrame cleaned it and we had both been walking around in it we realized it was PI (poison ivy)!!! So we kept our old spot and hoped for the best. No pileated today. It was a much younger forest.
Date: 2008-04-11
From: Big Cedar Mountain

To: Big Cedar Mountain
Miles today: 0.0

As I write this we are experiencing our first T-storm. Woke up today and had a little rain during the night but no tree fell on us. We hiked less than a 1/2 mile and found the real campsite that we had been told about. We filled up on water at a nearby spring then decided to rest for the day. I wanted to let the blisters and my ankle heal. So we spent the day eating, sleeping and I did some laundry. I didn¢t do it early enough and now we have wet shirts and socks. A strange guy came into camp a couple times. We keep seeing towhees all around, on the ground scratching in the leaves. Tortilla chip casserole for supper was much better than it was at home, still needed hot sauce. Well better sleep and hope the lightning isn¢t to close. You can view one more picture from this day in the photo section.
Date: 2008-04-12
From: Big Cedar Mountain

To: Blood Mountain
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Still raining when we woke up. It¢s a bit of an adventure to try and pack everything up without it getting wet. Didn¢t do to bad, got the pack covers on and our rain gear.... and it stopped raining. Made it to Jarrard Gap for lunch and the first shelter by 1 so we kept going and are now on top of Blood Mountain near the shelter. Blood Mountain is quite the climb but we did pretty good. Think our bodies are starting to get used to the work. They say that you develop a trail appetite and I think I might be getting mine. I am always hungry. Hamburger helper tonight is amazing, I could go on and on about how good it was. Tomorrow we will get to Neels Gap and get a few things that we forgot. Hard to believe it has almost been a week already. The time is just flying by.
Date: 2008-04-13
From: Blood Mountain

To: Wolf Laurel Top
Miles today: 5.7

Rough night of sleeping- was cold and windy and I think the sleeping bags were made out of a screen door, air flows right in... On top of that Sarah gets grumpy when she can¢t sleep. About the middle of the night I feel a wrap on my back, I thought it was just Sarah kicking around, so I push back, about 5 seconds later...whap... she hits me again followed by an angry "Your on my sleeping pad!!!" now as far as I knew I didn¢t levitate to her side, so confusion set in so what else am I to do when I have an angry Sarah punching me, I said "Uhh...uhhh....sorry??" Only 6 miles today but we stopped in Neels Gap for a long time, got new sleeping bags and had a guy help us weed out some extra gear. Didn¢t have to much extra. Yay. Last night the wind was 60 mph and up so not much sleep. Then 2 miles down to Neels, knee is pretty sore. Cheddar potato soup for supper is soo good. It has been flurrying tonight. Kinda strange to go from mid 70's to below freezing. Staying on Wolf Laurel Mountain tonight. You can view one more picture from this day in pictures.
Date: 2008-04-14
From: Wolf Laurel Top

To: past Poplar Stamp Gap
Miles today: 9.1

Snowy. Cold. Blah. Yup woke up and it was snowing. Thought "hmm it will quit soon" it didn¢t. It snowed all day and was cold and windy and wet. Yuck! We made it 8 miles real close to Poplar Stamp Gap. Lots of up and down of course cause its mountains, but lots of fairly easy going also. Temps in the upper 30's but wind chills drop it. Sleeping bags were warm last night but still didn¢t sleep good. Hope tonight is better. Legs, feet and hips hurt. Feet hurt the most. Jerrame is doing well, just his feet hurt. Hope we get used to it. Knee is still sore going downhill but the flats and uphill are fine. The wind is picking up right now; hope it¢s not too bad tonight. Breakfast - quick hot cereal. Dinner - cheddar potato soup.
Date: 2008-04-15
From: past Poplar Stomp Gap

To: Rocky Mountain
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to sun!! It was still a little chilly this morning but it was still a big improvement. Had left over cereal for breakfast it is even better with syrup. Made about 6 miles then stopped for lunch at Blue Mountain Shelter. The trail today was really rocky, meaning step from one rock to another. Then a very steep down from Blue Mnt. to Unicoi Gap. A fellow hiker by the name of Crest gave us some good Mexican food He had got from town. That was nice to not have to cook supper. We are a little low on food now cause we sent a bunch home and now our appetites are growing. However all that heavy food and water makes climbing the next mountain tough. Muscles are sore but right now it's just a general tired hopefully a good night¢s sleep will help.
Date: 2008-04-16
From: Rocky Mountain

To: Blue Ridge Swag
Miles today: 7.7

 Oh man my feet hurt. If I was at home I would not be walking. A couple of really rough mountains cut our miles down lower than I wanted of course we need to work on getting started a lot earlier in the morning. Stopped at Tray Mountain Shelter for lunch and met a guy named Bruce, who was laid up with a bum knee. We talked to him for awhile and then on our way. A couple of miles after that ran into a southbound thru hiker who was almost done. Had hoped to make it to Sassafras Gap but I could not walk any more. So we camped at "swag of the blue ridge" tonight. Tomorrow we get to town hopefully. We will have to hitch hike and I hope we get a ride quick. Clean clothes and new food will be great. Would also like new and knees but I will take what I can get. Need to step up the mileage but it's tough going.
Date: 2008-04-17
From: Blue Ridge Swag

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

It was about 7 miles to the trail head "Dicks Creek Gap" when we got there I got my first experience with hitchhiking. Not fun. We had to wait maybe a 1/2 hr. before a couple of guys in a truck picked us up. We got to the Holiday Inn Express in Hiawassee and got our room then walked a couple of blocks to the post office. We also went to the grocery store right next door. Got hats to cover our faces, necks and ears. Bought some fruit and veggies at the grocery store also. We ended up with way too much food and no way to get it back home. So our packs are going to be super heavy. I had hoped to do laundry while I was in town and the motel had a washer and dryer but once I got all my clothes in the washer we found out that it was broken. It didn't agitate the clothes at all. So the clothes are halfway clean. Our shuttle is picking us up at 7:30 in the morning so off to bed with me.
Date: 2008-04-19
From: Rich Cove Gap

To: Wateroak Gap
Miles today: 7.4

Rain rain go away. It rained last night, correction it poured all night and most of the morning. We got a super late start because I wanted to get stuff dry. My pack got wet from the water coming in the vestibule. Jerrame's did also but not as bad. The tent stayed mostly dry. Jerrame was grumbling about a couple of drops that came through but not me. Once we got going it seemed like we walked forever before stopping for lunch. But it was only like 5 miles. Oh yeah we are both sick of hot cereal. Triscuits are amazing for lunch and dinner tonight. We stopped at Water Oak Gap tonight because we ran out of daylight. Got to see the full moon rising from behind some clouds. Last night we heard some coyotes and barred owls calling. Then this morning the barred owls were calling again. Slept good even with the rain. Hope tonight is even better. Knees and feet still hurt but Advil seems to help. Hope to really bump up the miles tomorrow. There are more pictures to view for this day.
Date: 2008-04-20
From: Wateroak Gap

To: Timber Ridge, NC
Miles today: 9.6

Burrr! I thought for sure the cold was over with, but this morning was cold enough we didn¢t want to get out of the sleeping bags, eventually we did giving us a late start once again (are you seeing a pattern) went 2 miles to deep gap and stopped to get water which turned into the first fiasco of the day. The water purifier decided it was taking the day off- of course you can take it apart and clean everything but what was wrong? The check valve. So I broke the purifier fixing it. $60 wasted because you can¢t use it for a boat anchor either. The second fiasco was the walking germ bag that kept somehow passing us every time we stopped. She was about the slowest hiker I have ever seen but every time we stopped about 1/2 hour later we heard... hack hack cough cough stumble stumble. We had to deal with this person until she decided to camp where we were having our dinner. The finale was "Can someone throw my bear rope?" We are happy about the mileage today (more than 10) tomorrow we plan to get up earlier, hike for a while, take a break and eat breakfast, then hike until lunch and then break, hike then dinner and then hike a little more. Hopefully the breaks will ease the foot pain a bit, give them a rest. The final fiasco was the stove leaked alcohol in the pot. We thought we got it all out but some was still in there and its not good seasoning.
Date: 2008-04-21
From: Timber Ridge, NC

To: Glassmine Gap
Miles today: 9.8

Today we crested Mountain Albert. We weren¢t sure what to expect because it was a little shorter than standing Indian Mountain and we did that yesterday and it wasn¢t too bad. However it had a bypass to the summit and that is usually a bad sign. Well it was a very rough climb. There were parts where I was using my hands to help pull myself up. Once we got to the top the view was amazing. Thankfully my knees didn¢t hurt to bad and we were able to get about 10 miles in from Timber ridge trail to a little past Glassmine Gap. Stopping to eat supper, then going another couple miles seems to work well. It¢s hard to guess the time without a watch. Tomorrow we reach Franklin! Hopefully no rain tonight. Hit the 100 mile mark today!!!! There is also a picture of Raphael here too!
Date: 2008-04-22
From: Glassmine Gap

To: Franklin
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Got up not so early today (of course) and headed for Winding Stair Gap. My knees were hurting REALLY bad and about 1/2 way down the mountain I had my first big moment of "I can¢t do this" but I picked myself up and kept going. We took a side trip to see the Wasalik poplar which was huge. When we go to the trail head I had just sat down to rest when a car pulled up and offered us a ride! YAY! Hardees for supper again then a long walk to the post office, maybe 2 miles, then back with a heavy food box. We will be sending a lot of food home. But better too much food than not enough. Think tomorrow will be a zero day to rest the knees and get caught up on writing. Stayed at the Sapphire Inn. Oh forgot to mention we had a disturbance last night, think it was a limb falling. Then on the way to the W. tree we saw another limb fall right next to us. Hope it¢s not a sign =) 6 miles on the AT plus 1 more to the tree and about 4 miles of town walking.
Date: 2008-04-23
From: Franklin

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Decided to make today a zero day. Spent most of it watching Spike TV and eating, wrote some letters to people and sorted our food. At 4 the shuttle came and took us to the post office so we could send our extra food home, then off to the outfitter store. We just looked around and then went next door for a knee brace, then the shuttle went to Wal-Mart. Jerrame got us a pizza for supper and we each ate 1/2. I can¢t believe I ate that much, Spent a lot of time typing these journals online. We had hoped to get to Hardees one last time but they were closed. Hopefully today will help my knees heal. The shuttle comes to pick us up at 9 to go to the trailhead.
Date: 2008-04-24
From: Franklin

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Caught shuttle to Winding Stair Gap (where we left the trail on Wednesday) from Franklin. Had "zero" day yesterday.Finally got some journal entries sent out, so check out the ones from 4/7.Off to a good start today, on the trail by 10. Wearing my knee brace seems to help my knee, I think the day off also helped. We went to the campsite right before the Wayah Shelter. We climbed Wayah Mountain and it was a pretty tough long climb. Wayah Bald has a stone observation tower we were looking forward to climbing, only one problem, there was a drunk aggressive looking guy standing in the tower doorway. Well I was walking behind Sarah and she dead stopped, I thought "HUH?" figured it out and saw the guy was just staring at us, no howdy, nod, or anything. We walked on up anyways and noticed he had a 2 wheeled scooter parked in the tower, and he was very wobbly. The guy started quizzing us about a car that was in the lot somewhere close by. He must have thought I sounded aggressive and went on the defense. Later on he came up and asked "are you guys ok?" to which I replied "are you?¢. Just a kinda odd man, the whole time he was there he just stared at us, luckily he thought he had better things to do and left.
Date: 2008-04-25
From: Wayah Bald

To: campsite past Rocky Bald Lookout trail
Miles today: 7.9

Today I was a big lazy bum and didn't get out of bed until 11:00. Yesterday was really rough and I wanted to recover a bit. It seems to have worked because my knees don't hurt. We did 7.5 miles today and that was pretty good since we didn't leave camp till 1:30. So far all I have talked about is good food and no bad but today we had some really bad breakfast. Cornmeal mush from a recipe I had was so gross I was gagging. Bleck. We made it to the Cold Spring Shelter by 4:30 and had lunch. Then another couple miles to our campsite, got here about 7:30 and had time to get the tent rain ready. We walked in some rain today but it wasn't bad since it was warm out. Had a mouse chew on my water hose (the bite piece). Jerrame is being very difficult today, I think he had too much sleep.
Date: 2008-04-26
From: Campsite past Rocky Bald Lookout trail

To: Jump Up Lookout
Miles today: 5.2

Once again a 1:30 start, the alarm went off at 8 and as soon as it went off it started to rain. So we went back to sleep. The tent was dry when we woke up so we packed up camp and ate lunch, then on our way. It started raining at 2:00 so we hauled butt to the next shelter. We made it there by 3:30 but it was full so we kept going. The fire tower on Wesser Bald was really cool you could see the storm and rain off in the valley but we decided to not stay up there too long. Took a little break after the shelter because our lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen (from racing the storm to Wesser Bald). Well it ended up raining just a little, no storm. We made it to the Rufus Morgan Shelter and had hoped to set the tent up inside so we would be protected from any rain. But... a group of guys showed up so we moved down by the creek and set our tent up. Made about nine miles today and we stopped at 6:30 so we are moving pretty quick.
Date: 2008-04-27
From: Jump Up Lookout

To: Swim Bald
Miles today: 10.1

It¢s morning as I write this. I don¢t usually get to write in the morning but we are held up in the Rufus Morgan Shelter waiting out the rain. We were cooking breakfast when there was a rumble of thunder so I started to tear the tent down and we got the pack covers on and the rain started. So we sat on a log eating and Jerrame says "we should go to the shelter¢, duh, so we ran for it then the rain picked up and dumped! During a break we ran and got the packs and as soon as we got back the sky opened up. Whew close one. Bought some stuff at NOC (lunch stakes, a dinner) then off we went. It¢s almost all uphill. Made it almost all the way up Swim Bald and stopped for supper, we were going to head past the shelter but it was 7 and no campsites were listed in the book. So we decided to stay put and hope to make up the miles tomorrow. Really wanted to go further but ran out of time. Alarm is set for 6 tomorrow we will see how that goes, supposed to storm bad tonight and rain tomorrow. Today was light showers all day it wasn¢t to bad it kept us cool.PS heard a whippoorwill all night last night
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Swim Bald

To: between Sweetwater Gap & Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Alarm went off at 6 and we were ready to go except it was pouring rain. It had been pouring all night. It finally quit around 9 and we packed stuff up. My pack was pretty wet and the tent was soaked but as much as it rained it¢s not too bad. Cold, windy and misty so far. We ate lunch at the shelter then off we went. Once again we ran out of light before we went as far as we wanted, Hoping to make Fontana tomorrow, it will be about 14 miles. It¢s frustrating having to stop before you feel like it. But with the time it takes to set up camp and get the food up and for me to write we have to stop about 7 to get it all done.
Date: 2008-04-29
From: between Sweetwater Gap & Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana Village
Miles today: 13.5

Our first really long day but to reverse a bit, it rained again last night, yes that¢s right, again. And the wind was about 60 mph. When we woke up the rain drops were frozen to the tent. Got water at the first shelter (Brown Fork Gap Shelter) then had lunch at the Cable Gap Shelter, saw germ bag again, and we think the cough is turrets. So we can't be too mean. The last 5.5 miles to Fontana were very long with lots of down. We got lucky and had a ranger give us a ride into Fontana Village. So by the time we got our room it was 6:45 and everything was closed. So we went to the grill and had a huge cheeseburger and onion rings. Jerrame had a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Pretty sore after all those miles and a lot to do tomorrow so off to bed with me.
Date: 2008-04-30
From: Fontana Village

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 1.1
Weather: clear sky

Today is about as close to a zero day as you can get. We got our mail, packed our food and went down to do laundry and to write. As we were sitting there a bunch of hikers came down and sat with us. Crutch, Becca, Krnl. Mustard. and a couple others. Got done with the laundry and took a shuttle up the trail and did a mile. When we reached the shelter it was 3:30 and the next campsite was 5.5 miles. Very strict camping in the Smokies so we reluctantly decided to stay at the Fontana Shelter. It holds 24 and it was pretty empty so maybe not too bad. Went and looked at the dam and read all the info in the visitor center. Then back to the shelter. Crutch and Becca showed up with hotdogs. So now we are waiting to eat. Hopefully tomorrow will bring us more miles. Staying in the shelters will cramp us up but we will try to get through as fast as we can. Not looking forward to communal sleeping.
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

The shelter wasn¢t too bad however I had too many marshmallows and I couldn¢t sleep. I had brought out a baggie of mo cookies to the fire last night and everyone says they are "hiker approved" we stopped at the dam to take some pictures then off we went. Saw some cool animals along the way. A deer and then a cool lizard on the Shuckstack firetower. But the most exciting thing was the timber rattlesnake. I was a couple miles out of Fontana and I needed to pee so I saw a rock and went down the hill to it, then I saw another rock with a flat spot behind it. I ducked down under a limb and heard "rattle, rattle, rattle" I looked up in a hurry and the snake hurried and hid under a rock. I could still see his tail sticking out shaking. It was quite exciting. He had me moving back fast. We made it about 10 or 11 miles to the Mollie Ridge Shelter. Met a ridge runner named Jim, he was staying at the shelter also. Ridge runners work out on the trail 10 days then home for 4. PS the snake was about 1.5 inches in diameter
Date: 2008-05-02
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We got up early but let everyone clear out of the shelter before we left. The first 6 miles were the easiest of the trip, stopped at the Spence Field Shelter for a nice long lunch. The problem is that after lunch the hike never goes easy. We climbed to the top of rocky top then over thunderhead. I was beat when we reached the shelter. Oh yeah forgot to mention the howling wind all day. Company at the shelter wasn¢t bad, it was pretty full, 6 plus us. There was Hickory, Linda, a couple of younger guys, and 2 guys from Cleveland. The night was windy but warm. I slept ok but Sarah ended up losing her sleeping pad. The young guys set a record, they were up at 6 but didn¢t leave the shelter till 8.