morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Double Spring Gap

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

This shelter is the old-fashioned kind, with chain-link fence across the opening, designed to keep bears out! But in recent years the park service has been installing the wire bear cables to easily suspend food bags out of reach of bears, and has been educating campers to NOT feed bears. These efforts have led to the park service removing the fences from most shelters - but a few remain, and this is one.It also has a dirt floor and very old wood sleeping platforms, much shorter than the new ones, (we guess they were made years ago, when people over 6' tall were relatively rare). The stonework is beautifully done, with this flat, angular edged stone that is different from the more rounded field stone of New England. At any rate, we saved places by putting our mats down and then spent the rest of the afternoon talking with hikers, fixing dinner out on the lawn - no fancy cooking benches or tables here, so it was sit on the ground and cook!Fortunately it was warm and partly sunny, and a pleasure to sit outside doing these domestic things. I was getting suspicious about the weather in the Smokies, and wanted to be inside since we planned an early start and I think the chance of showers or soaking fog most nights is very high. Sure enough, sometime in the night it poured rain for a while. Rose to blowing fog, in the 50's I think, and ate a quick breakfast and set out by 7:30am to hike nearly 11 miles to Newfound Gap. You never know how the trail will be, but we were lucky that it was fairly good much of the time. We went up over Clingman's Dome, over 6600 feet, in the same blowing fog, depriving us of views altogether. Too bad - must be fantastic. There's a modern viewing tower as well, but I didn't go up it.11 miles under the best conditions is a lot of walking, and today's up and down, mud and roots, and slowly decreasing temperature and increasing shower activity required a lot of focus to accomplish. We came out at the parking area at Newfound Gap around 2:30, having made really good time for us, and as I stood there wondering what to do next, a big Jeep drove up and a friendly fellow asked if I needed a ride to town!Frank, Christina and daughter Amber vacation here from Nashville, and have picked up hikers before. We were SO grateful for this kind offer, and in no time were winding down the exceptionally scenic road to Gatlinburg. In town, they took us right to the Grand Prix Motel, known far and wide as hiker friendly. And within minutes our chilly, damp, stinking selves were in a warm motel room drawing lots on the shower...bliss!Tomorrow, a full day off. Get food for the next leg, rest, and relax.
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Newfound Gap

To: Newfound gap (Gatlinburg)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Great night's sleep in a real bed! We all got up early and went for breakfast at the pancake place across the street. Fortified, we then got on the trolley and saw much of Gatlinburg on our way out to the post office and supermarket. Nice day, with gorgeous flowering trees and pansies in planter boxes everywhere. The forecast had called for rain, but there were only brief showers, otherwise sunny and springlike.Shopping was fairly simple, and we were back at the motel by noon. I should mention that the leisurely trolley ride was fun for us, since we had planned a zero day here and the trolley is a good way to see the town. I suspect if you are in a hurry, it would be frustrating. The town has tons of hotels and motels like any big resort town, and great views of the mountains and a clear stream running right through town. People were flyfishing on it, although the folks we spoke to were not having much luck. Because it is a tourist destination, we did not stand out too much in our hiking shorts and crocs!It was my turn to do laundry, so I ran up and downstairs doing that for a while. It's a big day - I finally decided to lighten the load, and exchange the 2 pound air mattress and pump for a lighter women's thermarest. I also HAD to get new shorts, because the pants I started out with are falling off! (They SAID this would happen, but I didn't believe it...)So, pack will be a little lighter, which is very good. There are 2 outfitters in town, one right near the motel and one a trolley ride away, both well-supplied with stuff of interest to thru-hikers. So making these equipment changes was easy. Planning to hike out tomorrow noon or so, and our next stop is Standing Bear Farm, where we will resupply for the 30 or so miles to Hot Springs. Weather looks showery for tomorrow, then warm - good to get through some of the higher mountains while the weather is mild. I remember hearing about the vicious cold and snow some years during April, which is especially hard on hikers.We are seeing promises of spring in the new green leaf buds on many trees here in town. But tomorrow it's back up to late winter and the rest of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Newfound gap (Gatlinburg)

To: Peck's Corner
Miles today: 10.4

Foggy morning wake-up at the Grand Prix motel after a rainy night. We were planning to go only 3 miles, so took our time packing up. Had another good breakfast at the pancake house across the street and then started hunting up a way to get back to the trail (a winding 17 miles or so).We went over to the outfitter, the Happy Hiker, to send out some packages and the store clerk suggested that we try hitching a ride - it was Saturday and the store was right on the corner that people who are going to the national park pass by. She gave us cardboard and we made a sign saying "hikers to trail", and decided to give it 20 minutes or so. Within 15 minutes we were on our way back to Newfound Gap in the back of a little red pickup driven by an older couple who were cheerful about their offer. Wow - we laughed as we sped up the road, none of us having hitched before (and never would under any other circumstances!). The couple would not accept our money, and wished us a happy and safe journey.On trail at 12, where we ran into several hikers we know, all enjoying "trail magic" offered by Corkscrew - sodas, little Debbie cakes, and so forth. Off we went, high fog, 50's, pleasant enough.We reached Icewater Shelter by 2, but it was filled with fairly sullen hikers who neither looked like they wanted company nor with whom we could imagine spending an increasingly wet afternoon, so we decided to hike on. A LONG, fast hike later, we reached Peck's Corner shelter - by now (7pm) driving rain,but room in the shelter for us to have bottom bunk space, and a cheerful crowd well known to us straggled in all drenched and glad to have arrived. By 9, I had on dry clothes, had fixed dinner, got water from the roof drips, and was ready for bed! It was a first for us to change our plans from small miles to big, and fairly late in the day, but we are getting stronger so we can do this.
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Peck's Corner

To: Tricorner Knob
Miles today: 5.2

4-6-08start:Peck's Corner Shelter,mile 215end:TriCorner Knob shelter,mile 220.2today's miles: 5.2(shelter)First, THANKS to the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club for incredibly good maintenance of the trails here in a very remote area with little road access. Also for the privies at the shelters - a luxury you come to appreciate after not having them at some campsites!Yesterday was an exercise in patience, focus and acceptance - we went a lot further than we originally planned, and then the weather got rainier and rainier - by the time we were in the shelter it was DRIVING rain.This morning, however, it dawned crystal clear, sun peering over the eastern mts., and as people got up, every available bush, line, nail or beam was festooned with drying clothes. We had a short day planned, having done the long miles yesterday, so got up later and took our time eating and drying stuff out.Although we were hiking by 10, it was about a half hour back up the access trail to the AT, so our "real" start time was 10:30. Gorgeous ridge views all day - what the Smokies are famous for. Got to Tricorner Knob shelter at 2, with time to lie about and rest in the sun. Water comes out of a pipe right in front of the shelter, there's a modern overhang to cook under and a big skylight to take the gloom out of the low stone building, and also a decent privy not too far away - very nice setup!
Date: 2008-04-07
From: Tricorner Knob

To: Cosby Knob shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Slept poorly - partly the new, skinnier mat and partly a chorus of serious snorers - and I was glad to get up! Foggy and cold, at first. But by the time we left the shelter blue sky was showing through and it turned out gorgeous. Also, VERY good trail today and we did our miles in 4 hours.We decided to stay here and put in long miles (10) to reach Standing Bear Farm and the end of the national park tomorrow. The park has rules about where you can stay, so its often either a too-short day or a too-long one. We are still erring on the side of caution, but expect as we build up to be able to push more sometimes.People are talking anxiously about the big crowd of hikers making their way out of the park, and how crowded the hostel - Standing Bear Farm - will be. I've decided to give up worrying, since you can't predict how things are going to turn out, and worrying just ruins your mood and your day. And here, things often turn out better than you thought.So, we found a beautiful tent site, away from the shelter and its noise, and surrounded with a privacy screen of rhododendrons, and with a great view off to the east. We set up, and I relaxed and enjoyed cooking supper and going to bed early.I am loving this trail and this hike. What a gift! Every day is so interesting and different, absorbing, beautiful, challenging and amazing.Oh, and a bird like the winter wren, but not quite so long a song, woke us this morning. As good as it gets!
Date: 2008-04-08
From: Cosby Knob shelter

To: Green Corner Rd./Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Great sleeping in the tent after the shelters and snoring. Lovely sites at Cosby Knob, and the big crowd of hikers meant that we could tent legally because the shelter was full.Humid, warm day even at 8am when we started hiking. I had energy to go fairly fast, and try to get us a space at the hostel - and the trail, although rocky at first, was very forgiving and gently downhill most of the 10 miles.Around lunch time, as I sat to eat, a couple of guys with daypacks came up the trail and introduced themselves as from the St. Louis Dispatch (?), doing photo portraits of thru-hikers. So, I had my portrait taken, and all the others after me did as well. Since I hadn't looked in a mirror for weeks, I have no idea how I looked! He strange thing was that it didn't matter to me - I just looked like I looked, like a hiker.Near Davenport Gap, the trail wound for a while near an incredibly beautiful stream, with a rich array of spring flowers just making my eyes pop - nothing like weeks of brown and gray to appreciate the intensity of color.By contrast, the trail then went on roads for a short while, and even went under a highway - what a shock to the system, after the ultra quiet of the woods, (noisy sheltermates notwithstanding) to walk thru the underpass, barraged by the sound of civilization on the go. I guess I haven't actually walked under one before, and certainly not after 5 weeks in the woods. Like an echo chamber of roaring trucks, turned up super loud.Standing Bear Farm appeared after another 45 minutes of especially hot and hilly hiking, and I gladly flung my pack down and sat in the shade, cooling off and getting the feel of the place while other hikers milled about chatting or doing chores in what seemed to be a relaxed manner. It felt great to be there.This is an old farmstead, with fields, barns, farmhouse and a special group of outbuildings designed for hikers - outdoor kitchen, bunkhouse, computer house, resupply building, all gathered around a smooth-stone covered patio area beside a small brook - in which a clever hiker was soaking his feet.At the center of the patio was a fire ring, and solid benches to sit on. (Benches and chairs loom large when you've been squatting on logs or stones or bare earth for weeks). Off to one side was a shower house with hot water, clean towels and a sink (!). Things looked very promising.Rockhound, who works there, gave me the info on what was what, and also pointed out the bunkhouse or tenting options on the lawn, which I took up for us. When Auntie Mame and Bananas came in, we set up near some other hikers we knew, and were glad because the folks by the bunkhouse were partying into the night, and we were far enough away to get some sleep.The feeling of being on a lawn, with fields around, and flowering trees, and songbirds, with soft air like summer - all these different aspects now that we were down at 2000 feet instead of 4-5000 feet - was just stunning. We planned to resupply food from the adequate assortment here, and hike on in the morning to Hot Springs.
Date: 2008-04-09
From: Green Corner Rd./Standing Bear Farm

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 10.1

Songbirds woke us - new ones that I don't know, because we are in the south - and it had that warm, humid feeling that a true summer day has at home.As we headed back up the road to the trail I saw a bobcat dash across the road and up into the forest - we had a good view because although the farm was lush with new green grass, the woods were still bare and easy to see through. Amazing sight!And to match that wonder, my eye caught this intense red a little later along the trail - a firepink, (I think) which is brilliant red, the only red flower we have seen yet. Conversely, there is a flowering tree here and there which I think is called redbud, and it is a dark pink...go figure!But the effect of the occasional flowering tree in the brown woods was breathtaking - like a cloud of pink, the branches basically invisible against all the brown. So, things are perking up in the southern woods, and spring is starting to show.We set our sites on Brown Gap, 10 miles out, which was indicated in the trail guide as possible for camping, and having a water source. It turned out to be a fork in a forest service road, with a boggy area down in the ditch between the roads, not promising...but we found a couple of flattish areas, and the trickling spring which needed much patience to obtain water from, and it worked out.Roadside camping is not desirable, but the options were worse, and there were other hikers nearby, so we went with it this time. It's been over a month now, and the routines are very familiar. I'm stronger, less panting on the ups, and still no injury or pains. As the mileage increases there is likely to be unavoidable physical pain at times, but thankfully none of us are driven to hike at any cost to our bodies. Getting more appetite, as mileage increases, and need to carry more food!Communication is hard at times - cell phone coverage was poor in the Smokies. But it may be better soon. Computer access is very dicey, which means I may not be able to respond to the overwhelmingly kind guest book entries for a while. I can send journal entries to my transcriber only on a land line, not on a cell phone, so there may be a week's gap between entries - but I'm still hiking, and all is very well!
Date: 2008-04-10
From: Brown Gap

To: Big Rock Spring
Miles today: 14.2

Woke up before daylight but couldn't go get the food bags down because Bananas had hung them up last night in an appropriately distant tree - it would be impossible to find by headlamp since this was a "rogue" site, with no paths to common areas and no established bear bag lines...so I waited until light enough and then got the food bags.We got an earlier start - 7:45 - in order to go as far as possible and to get to Hot Springs on Friday, to get mail and sort things and still be able to mail out before the PO closed at 10:30 on Sat. These sorts of considerations do chew into the "wild and free" nature of the journey - but that's just the case, and we all are affected similarly.Big treat today was climbing up and over Max Patch, a truly bald bald - short lawn-like grass all over this big rolling mountain, with a little dirt path through the grass, and fence posts with the white AT blaze on them. Views in all directions were fabulous, it was windy but not too cold, and the whole effect was just wonderful. This is another famous AT landmark that I've read about for years - it was so amazing to actually be there!Very much lovely "cruising" trail today until the base of Walnut Mt, which turned out to be a steep, hot, dry, gasping grind. Can't win 'em all.We held a conference at the shelter and decided to go some more miles - to reduce the hike tomorrow into Hot Springs. The difference now is that we were all able to readily agree to this, after hiking 10 hot miles. So, we snacked heavily and set out with other hikers to make a dent in Friday's hike. Four hilly miles later found us at Big Rock Spring area, seeking a flat place to tent. We found such a place on a steep hillside, an old section of woods road that had clearly been used for this before, and gratefully flung down the packs and made camp.We had a nice view to the west,a lovely sunset, and a quarter moon appeared above us. All to bed asap, tired but not slain by the unusually high mileage today. Pleased we can now push on, at times, when it benefits us.It was also good to have gotten cell phone coverage on Walnut Mt so we could make a reservation at Bridge St. Inn in Hot Springs for tomorrow night. What a relief - there were so many hikers heading into town, as well as being a weekend and with a threat of rain, that we were really apprehensive about finding lodging.
Date: 2008-04-11
From: Big Rock Spring

To: Hot Springs 
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

During the night a strange sound rang out, something like "Rrahhh, rrah-rrah-rrah" with the first sound longer than the last three. Very raspy, almost a bark - I decided it was a screech owl, since it was better to be thinking about owls than baby bears or other larger animals... I need to look it up.Again we were all up early and booking it for Hot Springs, some 9 miles away. And hot it was...very humid too, and not very fun to hike in. Most of the hike was downhill, so it was not as bad as it might have been. We rolled into town at 12:30, in time to get mail and get settled in the Bridge St. Inn.We headed right into the Bridge St. Cafe for lunch, and they handily had porch seating so our not-yet-bathed bodies wouldn't put off the other diners. Checkin was 3, so we ordered lunch and just unwound, watching the stream flow by and the slow parade of other hikers coming into town. I had the best burger I ever had, with cheese and extra bacon - magnificent!Went over to Post Office for package I was eagerly awaiting from home, and it wasn't there. Had been mailed priority on 3-31...I was miffed. I'm thinking that UPS might be the way to go - they can predict with considerable certainty when a package will arrive, and they can track as well. I decided not to stew about it, in keeping with my efforts to relax about things and not get aggravated.We got into our lovely room and set about planning our tasks, which as you now know are many and various for the in town hiker. The layout of this town is very good, with grocery and outfitter within a couple of blocks. Bluff Mt. Outfitters also has quite a lot of food, and internet access which you can sign up for easily.And the soft summer air, flowering trees, just-leafing trees and shrubs, and even the sound of lawn mowers in the distance and the scent of new-mown grass contributed to a relaxed and happy ambiance.Supper at the Paddler's Pub, next door, also with outdoor seating and absolutely crawling with hikers. Here we caught up with Barley and Rain, who we last shared a cabin with at Fontana. Many others we know were there also.Nice.Went to bed fairly late, and sometime after that heard it pounding rain - YES! A roof! Beds! Dry!
Date: 2008-04-12
From: Hot Springs 

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

4-12-08Zero Day - Hot Springs, NC, mile 271.7(hotel)The rain let up just as we were getting ready to head for the Smoky Mt. Diner for breakfast - the Inn offers a continental breakfast from 8:30-11, but as hikers we needed both earlier and more substantial, so we plunged into French toast platters at 8, then around 10 swung by the Inn for muffins, fruit and excellent coffee. Perfect!The morning turned out clear and beautiful, sunny, mild and no humidity. It was very relaxing to wander around, chat to other hikers, finish errands, sort food and pack for the trail tomorrow without feeling rushed.And just as a finishing touch, the hair salon across the street was able to fit me in for a haircut in the afternoon, so I feel like a new woman - thanks, Debbie!Tonight we had a great dinner at the Bridge St. Cafe, with friends. Mussels, crab cakes, good wine, steak, shrimp and creme brulee delighted us. Also the atmosphere of a bustling Saturday night dinner crowd, not mainly hiker-oriented, reminded us of our pre-trail selves, those other lives we left temporarily to pursue this dream. Thanks, Christie and Michael!The weather is about to change to raw, rainy and possibly some snow - but we have decided to head out anyway and make some progress getting to Erwin. Good night from Hot Springs, North Carolina.
Date: 2008-04-13
From: Hor Springs

To: Spring Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 11.0

Well, we had the big discussion last night about mileage, and goals, and realized that we need something like 13-plus mile-a-day average from here on out in order to make Katahdin by the first of September...whoops, that's about double what we have been doing. Hmmmm.Slept fitfully, maybe brooding about this upping the ante. Anyway, got up and showered and headed back to the diner with A.M. and Bananas for breakfast, then packed up, sent a small box ahead of everything I could do without for a week, and hit the trail around 10am. Packs very heavy with 6-7 days of food. The longest stint we've done, and now the appetite is picking up, by far the most food I've ever carried.Gray, cool day - almost cold - with snow predicted for tomorrow. I would not normally start a backpacking trip with weather like this, but we'd already taken one zero, and after doing the math, well...We planned 11 miles to the shelter and we DID it! Everybody is in a low mood - the charm of the AT is dim right now. Guess it happens to all hikers at some point, but you just carry on. I've been so lucky to have had extremely good days almost all the time.Arrived at the shelter and found tent sites on a rise above it - we'd hoped for something sheltered from the wind, but that was simply not the case. The shelter itself was very small and low-roofed, and already had people and stuff in it. So tents it was. Snow squalls are ticking on the tent roof, but I have eaten and am cleaned up and writing this from my warm sleeping bag, so all is well. We'll see what tomorrow brings - there's a hostel at 5 miles if the weather deteriorates to an unsafe degree. After tomorrow the week sounds pretty good.