morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Newfound Gap

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Dan and Anne drove us from Knoxville to the Sugarland Visitor Center. Along the way we went through Pigeon Forge and started to count how many Pancake Houses/Pancake Signs we saw. We must have seen 50 of them. What is it with Pancakes down here? In Nebraska we eat a lot of pancakes but we don't have signs every three feet advertising that fact.When we got to Smoky Mountain National Park, the road to Newfound Gap was closed. Snowplows were still clearing the roads! So Dan and Anne dropped us at Sugarland Visitors Center so we could wait for the road to open and hitch a ride up to the Gap.The road opened a few hours later and we hitched a ride with two women, Cindy "Wild Woman", and Marteen (sp?). Wild Woman was very excited to be giving a ride to AT Thru-hikers. She knows Ed Wright, the author of 1000 Hikes to LaConte Mtn. After we got dropped off by WildWoman at the gap, we were immediately treated with some trail magic. A young couple was offering snickers and other snacks. The woman's mother had hiked the trail two years ago. I think their names were Kerry and Carla, or something like that. Thank you trail magic.It was a long six hour hike. Snow was deep in places, above knees, but mostly shin or lower. It was very slushy and very wet. Cubtrax shoes were completely soaked, and squishy socks. It wasn't cold out, so her feet never got cold.We made it to Pecks Corner shelter before dark. We had followed Rainbow and Sparticus' foot prints/post holes in the snow the whole way there.We did see one mouse at Pecks Shelter, it was just around the entrance to the shelter, but it never really came inside. We never saw or heard it after dark.The day we hiked Clingman's Dome we ran into a Ridgerunner named Shatter and he asked us to drop off new Trail Registers at Icewater Shelter and Pecks Corner Shelter. While in Knoxville we picked up two spiral bound notebooks and packed them into the Shelters. We dropped them both off today.In bed at 8:15pm.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The morning started at ~6:30am and there seemed to be a game of chicken going on. There was a northbound solo hiker, Rainbow & Sparticus, and us three. Solo NoBo got up first and seemed ready to go but hesitated. Sparticus and Rainbow got up, but when they started to cook breakfast, the Solo NoBo realized that S&P weren't going to leave before him. We didn't want to get out of our sleeping bags until somebody else left.If you haven't figured it out yet, it was a big game of chicken as to who would leave first to break trail through the snow. We all realized last night when we came to the shelter that there were no footprints on the trail leading beyond the shelter. So we knew that whoever left first would be breaking trail for the rest of us. Solo NoBo ended up leaving first and then we decided to get up and start packing up.We left the shelter at 9:15am and got to TriCorner Shelter for lunch at 12:30pm and then headed onto Cosby Knob Shelter for the night. The day was tough hiking, 8-10" of snow, but it was sunny and reached 50-55 degrees today. Cubtrax shoes and socks were soaked again, but not cold.We are doing some word puzzles tonight in the shelter.Sparticus & Rainbow were with us tonight in the shelter along with three 16y/o highschool girls from East Lansing Michigan on Spring Break. Can you think of any three, better yet one, high school girl that would want to backpack the Smoky Mtn's for Spring Break? Much less, parents that would let them drive from Michigan alone and then backpack alone? Actually, it says a lot about the confidence these girls had and the courage the parents had to let them. They were fun and didn't seem worried about anything. They were nice kids. One of them forgot her spoon and was just using a flat rock she had found to eat with. They just seemed to take everything in stride.
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Waterville School Road
Miles today: 10.4

Last night while at Cosby Knob Shelter, a bear visited the privy. He didn't actually use it, just slammed the sides of it so hard it sounded like a shotgun. In the morning we found that the huge and heavy blue barrels that surround the privy were all tipped over and pushed around away from the privy, along with some food trash that some unresponsible hiker had left behind was missing.The three highschool girls heard all the commotion, as we all did. They just asked "what was that?" And then looked out of the shelter for a few minutes to see if they could see anything. We heard some huffing and heavy breathing, but never actually saw the bear. The girls took it all in stride and within a few minutes went back to sleep. It is a good thing that all of us had our food hung up on the bear cables, who knows where that bear might have been looking for food next.This morning was a beautiful sunrise. We got off to an early start at 8:15am. We found fresh bear tracks on the trail as we hiked out from the shelter. It was mostly downhill today. The sun was warm, it was 84 degrees by 1pm. We had lunch outside the Davenport Gap Shelter.Near the end of the day, we crossed the interstate and climbed up some big stone steps. We walked another mile to the Hostel - Standing Bear Farm. We ended up staying in a cabin where the creek runs right underneath the floor of it. The cabin wasn't all that great, but the concept of water running right beneath us was pretty cool. Sparticus and Rainbow showed up a little later and shared the cabin with us. We took showers, did laundry and shuttled into town, by Curtis, the owner of Standing Bear Farm, for ice cream, milk, and beer. On the way back from town we saw Beartrax and shuttled him to the Farm.We had pizza for dinner and resupplied at the Farm for the next few days of hiking. We packed up tonight so we would be all ready to go in the morning.
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Waterville School Road

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: overcast clouds

This was our longest day so far. We left Standing Bear Farm at 8:15am, we just ate our muffins and danishes and said goodbye to Sparticus, Rainbow and Beartrax. Sandman found a wheat-penny on the road and picked it up for good luck.Within the first hour of hiking, we saw three white tailed deer. They saw us too and turned and ran. The trail was long with gradual uphills. Sandman's comment about today's hike was "This trail is kicking my butt today!" Actually, he has said this numerous days and we have now decided to include it in the trail journals on each day he says it. Seems there are more days he says it than not.We found Trail Magic at Max Patch Road. There was a plastic bag hanging on a metal post. Inside were slices of cheese pizza wrapped in foil. They were left by "Spiff" '03. Thanks Spiff. Cubtrax and Boston did not hesitate to eat the pizza. We offered some to Sandman, but he declined. We still can't figure out Sandman's criteria for what he will or will not eat. Seems he'll eat EVERYTHING, especially if it is bad for him, but then he turns down free pizza on the trail. Go figure!Max Patch was gorgeous! Windy, but not cold. Spent a lot of time taking pictures up there. Cubtrax and Boston dillydallied, but Sandman seemed to want to hurry on. We liked it a lot up there.When we got to the bottom of Max Patch, there was a Rhododendrom tunnel. It was really cool to be in there. We took lots of pictures. We went another two miles to where the new Roaring Fork Shelter is being built. It is no where near completion. Just a few logs. The privy is new and nice though. We had a snack there and moved on. We hiked another 4 miles or so. These went pretty quick since it was mostly flat. Made it to Roaring Fork Shelter by 5:30pm.Another hiker named Don was at the Shelter also. Two other hikers, probably section hikers, were tenting nearby. No sign of Sparticus and Rainbow. There was Trail Magic at the Shelter. It was Skittles and Jellies in a plastic bag hanging on one of the mouse hangers. We ate the skittles, but the jellies were in little glass jars and didn't go with any of our food so we left them.We had dinner and dessert tonight. Dessert was banana cream pie pudding. It was a Mountain House dessert, left over from a previous backpacking trip. Boston went to take a bite of it and inhaled the graham cracker crumb topping. This caused a huge choking fit for over 5 minutes. Needless to say, that is a dessert that will not be going on any other backpacking trips.We are staying in the shelter tonight because the forecast is for rain. We hung our food in a tree tonight, there were no bear cables. Water from the stream was a little cloudy and dirty with sand, so we let it sit over night to settle before filling our water bladders.
Date: 2005-04-07
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

It sprinkled rain twice last night for a few minutes, but woke up to a nice morning. No mice in the shelter last night. Got up and moving at 8am on the trail. Had a nice climb up to Bluff Mtn, and then Lambs Knob. Sandman did better with the ups today. Stopped in at Deer Park Mtn Shelter for a short break and to read the register. We were looking to see where Ninja and Stealth were at. Seems they went into Elmer's yesterday.We headed to Hot Springs and arrived at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn just in time to see Ninja and Stealth as they were heading back out onto the trail. All is well with them. We are staying at Elmer's. It is a huge old white Italianate Victorian built in 1875. Very authentic. Not much has changed.Sandman did fall today! We would like to tell you that it was on a steep incline over a crevasse trying to save a fellow hiker who just got back from Mount Everest, but we are sorry to report that the fall occurred outside the laundromat on the concrete. It was a spectacular wipe out. He went to get up from the picnic table and got his leg/foot caught underneath it, so his whole body was going and his leg was stuck in place. I would give his landing a 9.7, only deducted for technical merit, but high scores on artistic impression! There was no wine involved in the fall, just concrete.Did laundry and checked out the Outfitter in town. While at the Laundromat we saw Tater. We then went up to the library to check email and update our journal, but it was closing in 30 minutes, so we could not update today, we will do it in the morning.We had dinner at the local Cafe. It was a very nice place. We had trout, pork chops and veal cutlets. We ate with Acronym and Jersey. Then went next door to the Paddler's Pub for drinks. At Paddler's we met Jim "Chubby Knuckles", Fall-Out, and Baltimore Jack. Baltimore Jack told us to stay at Kincora in Dennis Cove. Boston got a little tipsy but made it back to Elmer's with only one incident of tripping in Ramsey's Convenient store parking lot. No fall though.
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

ZERO DAY! Last night was the latest we have stayed up since we started this whole excursion on March 7th. We were up way past 11pm.We had breakfast this morning at Elmer's. It was pancakes with hot blueberries on them, cantelope, fresh milk and granola. Good breakfast. Elmer was there and ate breakfast with us.We went to the Outfitters in Hot Springs to resupply for 5 days. We plan to be in Erwin, TN then. Sandman bought new pants because he has lost over 17 pounds and 2 inches off his waist.We got our bounce box from the P.O. today, charged the camera batteries and cell phone then sent it back out to Erwin, TN.Thanks SupplyGuy and Mom for the goodies in Sandman's box that you sent him. They were great.A relative of Cubtrax is in town visiting today. She drove in from Kentucky. She has been able to see how the whole resupply thing works. It is quite a chaotic mess when it occurs. She has got a "behind the scenes" view of what is needed to supply for a few days of hiking.We plan to go to Mountain Magnolia's tonight. We plan on heading back out on the trail tomorrow after breakfast with Elmer.
Date: 2005-04-09
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Log Cabin Drive
Miles today: 16.3

Wouldn't you know it, it rained all day yesterday and we mean it rained! That is just our luck so far, all the rain when we are not hiking. How great is that?We ate at Mountain Magnolia's in Hot Springs for dinner last night with Cubtrax's relative from Kentucky. Acronym and Jersey Judge were there for dinner also. They actually rented a room there to spend last night there. They rented the "Garden House," a mere 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom with jacuzzi house complete with an herb garden outside. They had us over for some wine after dinner and to rub it in a bit. We stayed at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn again last night and had breakfast there before heading out for the trail this morning. Breakfast was fantastic again.We packed up and hit the road, we mean trail. Well, the trail is the main street in Hot Springs, so it was both trail and road today. We were on the trail by 10am after Sandman stopped at Bluff Mountain Outfitters to buy some Frogg Toggs. They are rain gear that are extremely lightweight. It was a beautiful day today on the trail. It got up to 70 degrees and was sunny all day long. We crossed over and then walked along the French Broad River for the first .75 miles. We climbed up to Lovers Leap Rock, then Rich Mountain and the first shelter of the day, Spring Mountain Shelter. We filled our water up and signed the trail register. We saw that Ninja and Stealth left a message for us in the register. We had lunch earlier at Mill Ridge where there was a beautiful lake with bass and blue gill swimming around. We met a couple with a german shorthair pointer who said they had just seen a bear running down the hill in the direction we were headed. Never did see it.At Allen Gap we saw a sign that said "Trail Magic 300yds" It was wonderful, food and company were great. Hercules and FAL sure know hospitality. Thanks so much to you both. Thanks for the great soup and cherry pie with ice-cream, it hit the spot. Fall-Out met us there and hiked with us for the next mile with us and shared in the following Trail Magic.We hiked on to find a campsite and after 1 mile we arrived at Log Cabin Drive where there was another Trail Magic Sign. Of course, if you have read any of our journals, you know we always follow trail magic. We ended up meeting Nean and enjoying his company. Thank you Nean for EVERYTHING! Nean is a neat guy, he is a "Triple-Triple Crowner". Quite an accomplishment. He has hiked the A.T., the P.C.T., and the C.D.T.. All of them three times.Back at Allen Gap there was an interesting old gas station called "The State Line Station and Cafe" We looked in the windows and there were still chips and snacks in there on the racks even though it looked like it hadn't been operated in decades. It's as if someone closed up shop for the day and never returned the next day. Kind of like a time warp. It would be interesting to know the history of that place.We saw some grave markers today. (We also saw grave markers just outside of Deer Park Mountain Shelter the same day we arrived in Hot Springs.)In bed by 8:45pm after a nice hot shower.
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Log Cabin Drive

To: Campsite just beyond Flint Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 16.9

We hit the trail at 8am and began our climb. We walked along an extremely exposed ridge line with huge boulders to climb and hop around on. Climbing the rocks was change of terrain for us, something unique.We then climbed Big Butt Mountain. We liked that name, it just sounds neat. Can't imagine anybody with a big butt making it this far!We stopped at Jerry Cabin Shelter for lunch and to refill water. When we arrived there were already 5 hikers and a dog there. Three of the hikers were eating in the shelter. We hate to be sticklers about his, but we just don't understand how hikers do not know that shelters are for sleeping, not for eating. We thought we would give the hikers the benefit of the doubt, thinking they were day hikers who just didn't know any better. As we all were leaving though, they said that they were section-hikers hiking from Springer, GA to Damascus, VA and that they had already hiked big sections in PA and NY. So you answer us this? How does a hiker who has hiked hundreds of miles on the trail, still not get it? Shelters are for sleeping, not for eating. The cracker crumbs they decided to leave behind on the bunk platform may not have been any concern to them, but you can be sure the hikers who had to sleep there that night figured out why you don't eat in shelters when the first mouse ran over their sleeping bags to get to the cracker crumbs. And to top it off, it was a beautiful day and a picnic table was provided!Between Jerry Cabin and Flint Shelter we saw Bassett Memorial and Shelton Gravesites. The Shelton graves are north of Big Butt. This is the final resting place of William and David Shelton who lived in Madison Co, NC, but enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. While returning to a family gathering during the war, the uncle and nephew were ambushed near here and killed by Confederate troops.It was sunny and up to 75 degrees today. Cubtrax saw a white-tailed deer this morning.We are tenting for the first time since Brown Fork Gap Shelter before the Smoky Mountains. This is Sandman's first night in his new tent, we will let you know how it turns out. He was happy when he was setting it up.Boston and Cubtrax tried a new Lipton's Side tonight. It was Nacho Pasta. It was pretty tastey, we will do it again. But it is time for Mrs. Lipton to come up with something new. We are sure their product development could come up with a Lipton Side that has an extra packet in it containing chicken or beef in it.Worked on word puzzles in our tents before bed. Sandman took a few pages in his tent and Boston and Cubtrax had the book. In bed by 7:15pm.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Campsite just beyond Flint Mtn Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: clear sky

We got on the trail at 7:45am. It was a slight downhill at first, then a big up to Frozen Knob. We stopped at Hogback Shelter for water and then climbed up to High Rock.We had lunch at Sam's Gap where we met "SeaBear". He is a Fed-Ex driver who happened to be on his lunch break. We learned that he has thru-hiked both NoBo and SoBo. He hiked with us on the trail for about 30 minutes. Real nice guy and thanks for hiking with us.We planned on stopping at Low Gap for the night, but never really found the location of Low Gap. We must have been making better time than we gave ourselves credit for, so we were further along than we thought. We ended up climbing Big Bald (5,516') and Big Stamp. While on top of Big Bald, Cubtrax and Boston took a break and lots of pictures. We took pictures of the marker on the top of Big Bald. We also took a picture of Sandman on Big Stamp from Big Bald and then took a picture of Big Bald from Big Stamp.We continued on to Bald Mountain Shelter. We got to the shelter and started dinner and filling our water for tomorrow's hike. A hiker approached us, who we thought may have been a day hiker. It turns out, he was "Trail Magic with a Day Pack". In his pack he pulled out the unexpected. Three Budweiser Selects and three Oatmeal Cookies. Where else can you be in the middle of nowhere and have someone walk up to you after a long day and offer you a long beer? Life is Good. Thank you Bill. He has hiked the entire A.T. He lives just off the AT.Today was BIG MILEAGE and BIG CLIMBS. The payoff will be at the end of tomorrow when we can get into Erwin, TN.We hung our food and hit the bunks at 7:30pm.
Date: 2005-04-12
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Nolichucky River / Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: light rain

We got up a little earlier today knowing we had 16.9 miles to get to Erwin, TN, with rain looming in the skies. We left the shelter at 7:38am. We picked up our hiking pace thinking of the nero/zero in Erwin.Sandman said at our first morning break, "I am just EXHAUSTED!" It was good weather for hiking today, cool and overcast, it never went above 55 degrees. We met "Larry" on the trail, he had been following our journal and recognized us immediately. He was very friendly and took our pictures. He was hiking from Erwin to Hot Springs. Good luck to him.We made miles quickly with only a few climbs. We stopped at No Business Knob Shelter to check register and eat lunch. It started to rain lightly on us at 12pm and continued until about 1:45pm. As soon as we got there, Sandman again said, "I AM EXHAUSTED!" He also added, "My legs and arms are jello." He was whipped today and the thought of making it to Erwin's Holiday Inn Express was the only thing keeping him going. The first thing at the Holiday Inn was hot showers for all of us. A nice woman working at the front desk drove us to Backwoods BBQ for dinner. The food was great! Very good ribs and pork.Friends/hikers of Miss Janet's, Mountain Dew and Biscuit shuttled us to Miss Janet's to get our bounce box and packages and then back to the Holiday Inn. We will be staying with Miss Janet tomorrow night. While at Miss Janet's we saw Tater, Baltimore Jack and Double-Heeler.Back at the Holiday Inn - Sandman on laundry detail. Boston and Cubtrax are updating the journal. We will go to Miss Janet's tomorrow for R&R, Relaxation and Recouperation.We finally got our Ben & Jerry's fix. The Holiday Inn provides a free pint of B&J to any hiker who rents a room from them.That's all for now. We will be in bed soon, but happy to report that it is a bed with a soft mattress and clean sheets. Oh, it is raining now and has been raining hard since we got to the Holiday Inn. It is expected to continue through tonight and tomorrow. Imagine that, we are in town again for another rain storm. Life really is GOOD!
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Nolichucky River / Erwin, TN

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We zeroed today. Got up and had a great breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express. We went to the post office and grocery store to resupply. We bought all our food for the next 8 days to get to Damascus, VA. We are carrying 5 days of food with us and mailing 3 days of food to Kincora in Dennis Cove. We walked around Erwin, TN a little and ended up eating at Elm's Cafe. Great food for little price - $2 hamburger was as big as the plate and the prime rib special was worth the $11. We finished it all and got an incredible dessert - a hot fudge brownie sundae! We don't know where we put it all, but we got 'er done!Sandman bought a knee brace for his right knee, it has been bothering him quite a bit. He is hoping it will help.We made some phone calls to some friends back home. It was good to talk to all of them. We miss our friends.