morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-09-20
From: West Carry Pond Lean-to

To: Avery Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

Day 17On the trail by 07:10 for a big day.Stopped at Flagstaff LaKE ABOUT 10:00 for soup and let Cloudwalker catch up.Weather was good. Passed the 2000 mile mark on the AT. (Not my 2000 mile yet!)Climb up the Little Bigelow Mtn was steady with lots of day hikers along the way. The view at the top was amazing. Looking back at Flagstaff lake and looking forward to Avery Peaks and Sugarloaf Mtn. Reached the Safford Notch Campsite by 17:00 and we decided to push up Avery Peak for the sunset. Missed it by about half hour. Cloudwalker took one of my food bags to lighten my pack!The views from Avery Peak were just shilowots(sp). Had to put on fleece and rainjacket to stay warm and don our headlamps to descend to the col between Avery Peak and West Peak. Cloudwalker promised we would be at our campsite by 21:00. Descending the steep boulder fields with just headlamps was slow. But we made it. Set up tarp on the tent platforms and went to bed with just a bit of hot chocolate. A most memorable day! I would not have done it without Cloudwalker!
Date: 2008-09-21
From: Avery Memorial Campsite

To: Stratton
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 18Nice campsite on the tent platform. In spite of camping at over 3500 ft, it was fairly warm. Woke up with the campsite in a cloud. The climb up to the west Peak was cloudy. No more views other than fog. Descent down from the west Peak took a long time. 3 hours for 3 miles to the Horns Pond Lean-tos. Cobal the caretaker is a former Peace Corp worker who will be at this site until the middle of October.Reached Hwy 27 by 16:30, where another slack packer was waiting to be picked up by the shuttle from the Stratton Motel. Hardly any wait.Cloudwalker has bruised his foot in the last day.He will be leaving me at Stratton.I will be continuing with a straight push to Andover, another 75 miles away.The terrain looks tough! Consequently, I plan to just go lean-to to lean-to assessing my condition at the time. This stretch will take me 7 to 8 days.After Andover, I will again assess whether I can push on for the final 5 days into Gorham.. God willing, I can do it. Otherwise there is another time.Leaving Cloudwalker hurts. He has been a good hiking companion. I will give more details about him at another time.
Date: 2008-09-22
From: Stratton

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 19Ate my Hungry Man's Dinner for breakfast, then bid farewell to Cloudwalker.The return shuttle to the trailhead was supposed to leave at 10:00. I had been ready since 09:30. Sue - the Stratton Motel host - had to light a fire under the other hikers to get a move on. These NOBO's seem to have no motivation to get back on the trail! Made up to North Crocker Mtn 5.2 m in ~ 3 hours! Good time.Took another hour to get to South Crocker Mtn. The views of Avery Peak, the Bigelows are amazing. The descent down to the Crocker Cirque Campsite was through a boulder slide. Quit scary! At the Crocker Cirque Campsite are tent platforms on which I set up my tarp. Spiritual Pillgrim (Thru-hiker 2006) was already set up. He is peak bagging. That is he is summitting all the over 4000' mtns in the New England States. We collaborated in a campfire that night as it was getting cold.
Date: 2008-09-23
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Spaulding Mtn Lean-to
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 20What a cold night. My digital watch indicated zero deg C. Ice formed in my water bottles. I wore all my clothes and I had my thermal rest pad under me, and my foam sitting pad on top of me for extra insulation. I shivered all night!!I started to think about getting off the trail at Rangely, another 3 days away.I don't want to face another night like this!! I should have brought along my sleeping bag liner!!!The ascent to the Sugarloaf sidetrail is really steep. 3 miles and 3 hours. At the junction there were a number of other hikers who had already dropped their packs and taken the detour. After thinking about it for 15 minutes, I dropped my pack as well. It was so easy hiking with out a pack!! At the top of Sugarloaf, I thought about going back, getting my pack and descending Sugarloaf to the base lodge and home! However, I continued on for another 2 hours to Spaulding, by 14:30. Spiritual Pillgrim showed up a little later after bagging Mt Abraham and completing his 10 year quest for all the plus 4000' peaks in New England.About 17:00, an influx of 8 NOBO's came into the shelter. They had completed a 16 mile day cf with my easy 7 miles.
Date: 2008-09-24
From: Spaulding Mtn Lean-to

To: East of the Horn
Miles today: 10.0

Day 21What a change in temperature. It only got down to 8 deg C last night. Should I push on to Andover?While packing up, a moose came right up to the shelter. We were startled, and unable to get any decent photos, although we did snap away. What a start to the day. This should be another easy day - only 8 miles. Reached the Poplar Ridge Lean-to by 13:30. In the shelter there were laminated pages giving Poplar Ridge Trivia. I had to take the pages down to the stream and clean off all the mud on these pages. The trivia was dated 2007, and mentioned of a possible construction of a campsite another 2 miles and 2 hours away. Reading the shelter register, another hiker confirmed that campsite. However, there is no mention of water sources for another 6 miles. I repacked my bag, filled my water bottles and took off. Reached this campsite under construction by 16:30. With just 2 liters of water available, I nursed my water supply and just made do with half a liter for cooking. There were no tent sites, no tent platforms, so I set up my hammock with tarp in case it rained. I was very satisfied with doing the extra 2 miles that day.
Date: 2008-09-25
From: East of the Horn

To: Rangely
Miles today: 8.0

Day 22 - Final DayWhat a warm night. The temperature only dropped to 14 deg C. Even in the hammock, I shed my fleece pants and used my sleeping bag just as a cover. Is the weather trying to trick me? Looking at my options. Getting off at Rangely, I can arrange transport back to Waterville and bus back home. Getting off at Andover, I would have to go on to Gorham, then Boston then back home. Rangely, appears to be the preferable town to get off the trail.A big front is being forecasted for this weekend. Another reason to stop!Summited the Horn in about a hour. Above the treeline, the Saddleback ridgeline is awesome. Somewhat like the Greyson Highlands without the ponies! This is the best vistas south of Kathadin. You can see the trail up to the Saddleback Mtn. Oh yes, while on the ridgeline, the hymn "My Father's House" kept buzzing through my head!!!At the summit of Saddleback, I encounter Sanborn. We exchanged photos, and then he remembered me from the Smokies in 2007! Go figure!From the summit of Saddleback, I had a choice, 1.5 miles to the Saddleback baselodge or 5.7 miles to Hwy 4. I chose the AT. Along the way, there were the Caves. These are supposed to be a minor Mahoosic Notch. I didn't enter the blue blazed trail as I didn't know where they actually led. If the actual Mahoosic Notch is like these Caves, I don't fancy the prospects! Reaching Hwy 4 by 14:00, it took another half hour before a good Trail Angel picked me up and delivered me to the Gull Pond Lodge.Called home, and asked my wife if I could come home. Found out that my eldest son is on his way home from Ontario.I then called my sons cell phone, and he will be detouring to Rangely to pick me up on his way home. Isn't life sweet!!
Date: 2007-04-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 106.6

Note: Mileage recorded is what we've hiked last fall. It DOES NOT include the 8.5 mile approach trail from Amicalola Falls State Park in GA to Springer Mt., which in my mind counts as it's mileage underfoot on our adventure.Here we are; safe and cozy on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Fred's watching a golf match on tv and I'm sitting here pondering the trip ahead. Packing is virtually all done, as we already have all of the essentials from our previous outing last fall. I don't know how, but amazingly my pack is a couple of pounds lighter than it was back then. I guess leaving out a paperback book helps. I never found time to read back in Sept., and with the prospect of more of a social life on the trail now, I definitely won't get around to reading. It was surprising how fast time flies when we stopped each day to set up camp. Somehow we'd pitch the tent, cook up dinner, I'd write up the journal entry for the day. Then the next thing we knew it would be dark so we'd crawl into our sleeping bags around 7 p.m. Our Sept. AT hike lasted for 10 days. We had the experience of not seeing a soul for a three day stretch. Just us and the forest creatures. It made for a quiet campsite. I doubt if that'll be the case this spring. It's great to have the peacefulness of nature, but it'll be exciting to see who we share the trail with. I've been tracking the trail journals of some of the people who are starting out this week. We figure some of them will be around Winding Stair Gap by April 14. It'll be fun to meet them. We're ready to hike!
Date: 2007-04-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Our excitement is building! Trail dreams have begun. It won't be long and I won't be tossing and turning; I'll be so tired out I'll sleep well curled up in my sleeping bag. Fred and I are going to make the rounds of a couple of our favorite restaurants with friends over the upcoming nights and try to get our fill of their yummy dishes. We'll miss our friends and will look forward to reading their messages in the guestbook here when we get into towns. Happy trails!Yellow Jacket and Fred
Date: 2007-04-03
To: Ready...set...
Miles today: 0.0

We woke up to a cooler morning today. We've been sleeping with all of the windows open for the past few days. It's almost like camping...kinda. We hear so many early birds singing loudly at predawn. Out on our deck last night we listened out for the great horned owl pair that lives on our lake, but they didn't put in an appearance or treat us to their hoots. It'll be so neat to get back on the trail and hear the various owls call, as they did last Sept.. We're fine-tuning our gear. Fred's discovered a drink cap that's just the right size for our happy hour jigger on the trail. The best thing to go with water for a bedtime toddy is a wee bit of scotch ;-> . Yesterday we fit in 9 holes of golf together. Maybe whatever skills I'm acquiring will still be there when we return from hiking. But that's pretty iffy. Fred's heading out today to play 18 with a golfing buddy. It's a beautiful day to be outside. We can't wait to get back on the trail!
Date: 2007-04-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The countdown has begun! Saturday we'll be getting back on at Winding Stair Gap where we'd gotten off. So many little chores and details to take care of, that we feel we may be overlooking something crucial. Friday night our friends Amy and John treated us to a fantastic evening of conversation, delicious food(Amy's yummy vegetable lasagna),entertainment provided by their delightful son, Sam, and a review of our pack contents. It's great to have friends who share our hiking enthusiasm. They got us even more excited and ready to go! Last weekend one of our favorite couples, Gary and Anet, treated us to a fantastic home-cooked gourmet meal--what a fun night! And last night we went out for Italian with a couple of our other special friends, Marsha and Melvin, who had us over after the dinner for a movie- another good time! If this keeps up we won't have to cook at all before our hike . The signs of trail fever are evident: we're often fiddling with the stuff in our packs, reading current hikers trailjournals, and adding to our "to do" list. I'm looking forward to cleaning the house from stem to stern this week cheerfully since I won't have that chore for quite a while. Well, off to my yoga class at Bally's and Fred'll work out on the machines and walk. Can't wait to get back to the trail!
Date: 2007-04-15
From: Budget Inn, Franklin, NC

To: Budget Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Had good nights sleep. We're feeling fine, even Fred's troublesome plantar fascitis is dormant. Walked the couple of blocks for Hardee's breakfast biscuits. Today's forecast: winds 25-40 mph, gusts to 60 mph, rain and snow showers, freeze warning tonight, temps 60 day/30 tonight. That's here in town at approx 1200 ft elevation, so up at 4000+- ft AT it's much colder. Glad we're here Planning on enjoying the warmth and watching golf on tv and see what tomorrow's weather forecast is. If it's ok, we'll get back on the trail tomorrow. It's 11:50 a.m. now and Ron says they're calling for 1-2 inches of snow and cold winds tomorrow. Hmmm that'll put hiking tomorrow questionable.
Date: 2007-04-16
From: Wayah Bald

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Thought we'd do another "zero" mileage day, but when Fred went to the office to get free coffee he rushed back saying, "We're going!". Driver and 5 hikers(incl.us) got dropped off at Wayah Bald(boo! we have to rehike 4.5 miles that we did Saturday, but rds too impassable for any other shuttles). Guys had to drag two glown down trees off the icy forest service road in order to get up to the bald to be dropped off. Thank goodness the trees split into pieces when they hit the road, otherwise the guys would've had quite a job, and no one wanted to have to hike all the way up the slippery road to the bald. Just Jack discovered just after the van pulled off that he'd left his wallet in the van. Oh, No! He made a phone call to Ron, who said the driver didn't have a cell phone with him. Eventually, Jack will get his wallet by receiving it by mail to Fontana Dam. At our start today the winds were 35-40 mph, temp.32 degrees. Snow 1-3 inches covered the trail. It warmed to 62 degrees by 3 p.m., but the wind is still up, perhaps diminishing slightly. It is sunny, tho. Great hike. The shleter was full(Sir Privy Winks who earned his name with courage--a story behind the name, Michigan Woverine, Just Jack, and Hong Kong Fooey). We tented with a smidgen of difficulty cause of the strong winds. Saw three turkeys together hustling up the trail a few ft in fornt of us. Walked up the tower observation deck-awesome view-could see the snowy Smokies!
Date: 2007-04-17
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: clear sky

30 mph winds all night, temp in a.m. 42 degrees. Wind chill during night was bad. We were cold, but not shivering, wore ALL our clothes to sleep. Slept some. Heard owls call. Shelter group left for NOC early to get all you can eat breakfast, 'cept Just Jack. Lots of long downs with rugged rocks and root steep areas and some ups. Pretty views. Descent to NOC was 25 degree to 30 degree slopes. Taled to Just Jack upon arrival at NOC(he was having tourists take his picture). Just Jack heaaded to next shelter 7+ miles north. We bought new 20 degreee sleeping bags, mailed old crummy 40 degree bags to Mom alonog with some other unneeded stuff in another box. Got BBQ (Fred) and hummus (me) sandwiches for lunch. Did wash, look showers. Soaked feet in river. Fred having some foot pain . Today's temps 70 degrees up top, beautiful day! Shame Fred's feet were tender after one hour hiking. They felt fine at start. Fred anticipates slower progress to accommodate foot pain. Lots of kayakers to watch here. Went to pub over restaurant for Highland beer, than to River Restaurant for dinner. Got call from our next door neighbor that wind knocked down a tree onto our deck. She and another neighbor(our association prersident) got the tree removed, but our deck is broken up and the deck furniture is beyond hope. Oh well, we'll figure out the rebuild when we return.
Date: 2007-04-18
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Locust Cove Gap
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Good sleep last night in two bunk bedroom in dorm-style chalets. Mostly kayakers(20 yrs olds) here. Set out at 8:50 a.m. under sunny skies, temp 52, no wind. Continuous rugged uphill virtually all day til one hour descent to campsite. 6:58 we're in our tent after great campfire conversation and dinner with Iceman, Mignon(aka Buttercup or Blondie), Usual Suspect, and G-Force. All retreated to tents when rain began. Foliage notes: still winter in upper elevations where most of our hiking is done. Gray, silver lichen covered trees, with occasional sprouts trailside peeking up, no new leaves on trees. Unreliable footing over rock-strewn areas where I had an "almost fall" (knees didn't hit ground-so doesn't count as a fall!). Fred and I stopped periodically during day for him to take shoes off, letting feet dry and rest. This helps tremendously. Rain slacked at 7:37 p.m. so Fred tightened tent lines; others and I take forest bathroom breaks. Temps dropping. Sir Privy Winds went on to hammock under a rock overahng ahead.
Date: 2007-04-19
From: Locust Cove Gap

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

47 degrees, no wind in a.m.- wonderful! All broke camp in 20 staggered departures. Partly cloudy with occasional sun. Temps up to 63 degrees, windy the last two hours of hiking. Trail gave us everything today: prolonged STEEP ups before Brown Fork Shelter, then loads of rocky and wet transit and lots of blow-downs(wind felled trees from rercent storm) to go over, under or around. Saw a man and 2 women with 2 goats as pack animals(goats..not the women!!)One woman used the roadside porta-john at he crossing(so did I) and was worried about the yellow jacket I'd seen in the unit. Thank goodness it didn't stir during my visit! Nor was it bothered by hers. Got second trail magic - it came from Iceman's brother from Montana(a hiker guide himself) who was waiting for Iceman and Mignon at the road crossing just before Cable Gap. Iceman's brother gave us Yeungling Black and Tan's(beer) and offered us some of the huge bag of Costco gorp(raisin/nut/M&M mix) After that he drove Iceman and Mignon to Hiker Inn. Next day their plan is to slackpack. Now we're in Cable Shleter under totally cloudy skies and getting very chilly. G-Force is here and Ali Babba and a couple of guys tenting at tentsites distances at least 25-50 yds away from the shelter. We're staying in the shelter with G-Force who has a rotten cold and Ali Babba cause it looks like rain. Sir Privy Winds just stopped by and is hiking on. Today we started at 8:20 a.m. and finished after 7 hrs 15 minutes.
Date: 2007-04-20
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana "Hilton" Shelter
Miles today: 6.6

G-Force, Ali Babba, and us started out staggered a little bit at about 8:20 a.m. under sunny skies, slight breeze, temp at 42 after chilly, damp night and yes, it rained immediately after dinner. Great hike today: some rock strewn slopes where c=footing was tricky. I finally had my first fall. Knees didn't touch the ground but I slid onto my side when a hugh rock I stepped onto decided to become a teeter-totter. Absolutley no injuries incurred, thank goodness. Absolutely gorgeous day, lots of gentle ups and downs, perhaps only a few steep ups and downs. Still lots of blow downs to negotiate. Birds' song accompanied us during our hike, lots of greenery and forliage as we decended to Fontana Dam and registered to enter Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Hustled up the steep climb to the Fontana "Hilton" Shelter which has a beautiful site overlooking the dammed up water. As of noon it's us, G-Force, and Eagle sleeping in this 20-25 person shelter(one large shelter/shed with a set of platform and upper deck surface along the two outer walls). Got shuttle into village where we ran into and talked with Just Jack(he's now reunited with his wallet ) , ate a burger at the Grill, doing journal at the computer here, now going to get resupplied at the Outfitters with our food to last us til Gatlinburg. All's well, feeling great, even Fred's feet aren't a problem anymore as long as we take rest breaks while hiking and he does a lot of stretching. Heading back on the shuttle to the shelter now it's 5:05 p.m.
Date: 2007-04-21
From: Fontana 

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We left the shelter at 8, hiked for 8 hrs.50 min. It's been sunny, partly cloudy at times, mostly uphills , but footing was great throughout the entire day-amazing! Cuase our packs were extra full of food we'd bought, they weighed heavy on our shoulders and backs. during all of the uphills particularly. Temps today were all over the place: from hot and weaty to chilly. So we stopped to drink and take off clothes just to put them back on several times. Talked to a GSMNP ridgerunner at Mollies Ridage Shelter as we were passing by. He was doing a survey, finding out the home states of hikers. While talking to him, up cam Iceman, Mignon, Two Weeks& 3 Days(a Pennsylvania man who'd talked to us back at the Fontana Grill). The unusual sighting of the day was passing a gray haired woman sitting on the side of the trail with just a blue bra and hiking pants on(her shirt was next to her). She was rubbing her right shoulder and looked distressed. Fred asked her if all was ok, she said yes in a sobbing voice. He asked her again, smae response. So on we walked. Later at night the others said they'd passed her, but she was dressed and wouldn't make eye contact when they spoke to her. Odd; hope she's ok in every way. At the shelter tonight: Iceman, Mignon, Usual Suspect, Two Weeks & 3 Days, Brady( a Harvard grad), Jake(formerly worked at the restaurant at Grove Park Inn, NC), Paul, and two guys who hiked in at 8:30 p.m.(late!). Today we heard lots of birds,including woodpeckers drumming, saw a dead mole on the trail, lots of may apples sprouting, lots of horse manure(this section of trail is shared). Ramen noodles with sun dried tomatoes for dinner.
Date: 2007-04-22
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

Starting temp. 47 degrees, left at 7:50 along with the others. Hiked today for 8 hrs. 44 min.. Not a cloud in the sky all day long. Temps got up to 75, but the breeze kept us from dripping sweat. By lunch time we'd both just about hit bottom of our 2 liter bottles. We refilled and hung around for about an hour with Iceman, Mignon, Usual Suspect, Brady, and Jake in the sunshine at a shelter. Hike today was up and down with some loose rocks in the steep areas to challenge our focusing abilities. Glorious views; walked thru grassy pasturelike balds and forests, still no leaves on trees, with gournd covered by tiny 5-petaled white flowers, 2-3 red threadlike stripes opn each petal with yellow centers, and another flower that has 5 yellow petals 1.5 inches long that fold back while the pistol and stamen hand down toward the ground. Only us and Two Weeks&3 Days at this shelter, so not much snoring tonight . We're glad to have a quieter night ahead. In the Smokies you have to stay in the shelter, unless it's full, then you may camp. So since the ridgerunners check on the shelters, we won't be camping til we exit the Smokies in approx 4-5 days if rain slows our progress. It's chilling down rapidlyl and the wind is picking up. We had loaded baked potatoes and a nut/sesame sticks/almond trail mix for dessert. It's 8 p.m. now, time for bed!