morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-10-24
From: Miss Janet's House (Nolichucky R) Irwin, TN

To: Bald Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 16.9

Day 115 (Tuesday)Up @ 8am & called Danny for a ride to trail @ 9:30. Jack decided to hang around, so I hiked out alone, meeting Leprechaun about 1hr into the hike. It was near freezing out. Had some great views of the Nolichucky River on the way out of town, & stopped for lunch @ No Business Knob shelter from 1-2pm. Hiked on, not waiting for Leprechaun due to cold & reached Bald Mtn Shelter @ 7pm, in freezing wind after losing the trail on an old routing after missing a switchback & spending an hour piling up deadfall to prevent anyone from repeating my mistake. Dinner - beef, broccoli & brown rice w/ soy sauce & hung my tarp over the front of the shelter to block the wind. In bed @8:30 pm. Overnight low 20 deg F. On the cold side of comfortabe, but still comfortable in my 32 deg bag w/ silk liner & all of my clothes on (exc. rainwear).
Date: 2006-10-25
From: Bald Mtn Shelter, TN

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 146 (Wednesday)Up @ 7:30 am to the sound of a large, black animal walking arund camp. Started making noise in case it was a bear & looked out to see a large, black animal with long, spindly legs. Thought to myself, "there's no way there's a moose this far sout" & put on my glasses to see a horse running around camp grazing on grass & leaves. Took some pics, made breakfast in bed (10 grain) & took a nap waiting for the weather to warm up. Woke up again @ 11:30 & hit trail @ 12:30. Hiked past a bird banding station & ran into the horse again just N. of Big Bald (grazing). Called my cousin Melissa, a horse expert, for advice & she had none, so I called the forest servicewho called the Green County sheriff (even tho I wasn't in Green County) who referrred me to the city of Irwin whor referred me to another sheriff until eventually I was told to call a 3rd sheriff when I got to Sam's Gap if the horse was still with me. I asked if they intended for me to try to bring the horse 8 mi down the trail to Sam's Gap, & they said, "I guess." After crossing a dirt roadd just N. of Big Bald, I called the sheriff & asked why they couldn't just meet me w/ a horse trailer there instead of trying to bring the horse 8 mi (which the horse clearly had no interest in) & they claimed inability to locate me or to direct someone there. Meanwhile, the horse ran away & when I called the sheriff back to report the situation, they said another sheriff more familiar w/ the area said to turn the horse loose b/c people on the NC side let their horses run loose there. I let the woman at the forest service know & she acted suprised. I suggested she notify a ranger. Also, fed the horse 2 granola bars on Melissa's advice before it broke free. Returned to big bald for pictures & met 4 local women & relayed the story. Hiked on @ 3pm passing 1 hiker & then a group of 2 w/ Hike Alaska hats on, 1 of whom had an AT GA-ME '75 tattoo on his leg. They asked about water sources on the trail ahead. I told them about the horse & how they wanted me to bring the horse 8 mi & he said, "Nope, sorry, not interested." I wasn't entirely sure if he was referring to my story or to the propsect of walking a horse 8 mi. Reached Sam's Gap (Interstate 26) @ 6pm, had good cell signal & talked to Kellee & the 'rents. Ajusted meeting time in Hot Springs due to losing 10 mi today dealing w/ the horse & need to hike 20 mi Friday instead of 10. Reached Hogback Ridge shelter @ 7pm & decided to call it a night. Dinner - BP Beef Stew. In bed 8:30pm.P.S. There was a fence crossing at Sam's Gap that would have prevented a horse from reaching the road.
Date: 2006-10-26
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC

To: Little Laurel Shelter, NC
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 147 (Thursday)Up @ 7am. Skipped breakfast due to being about outt of water & not wanting to hike the 0.3 mi to the source for the shelter. Planned to do breakfast @ Big Flat campsite 2 mi S. On trail @ 8am. Unable to locate campsite or water @ Big Flat (there were several possibilities & I didn't want to waste time investigating them all). Hiked w/o water over Frozen Knob, ate some apples from an apple tree in a bald on the south side of the knob & then found a good spring next to the trail @ 11:30 am. Crossed Laurel creek 3x on the way down to Devil Fork Gap, crossing @ 1:30pm. Sun came out & it warmed up significantly, so I changed out of tights & hiked in shorts the rest of the day. Reached Flint Mtn Shelter @ 3pm & took a lunch break, making the mistake of eating PB & Tortillas before my water was treated & gettin peanut putter stuck in my throat. Read a register going back to earlyy spring w/ entries from Compass & Stinky theorizing that Minnesota Smith is actually Bill Bryson, to which M.S. replied, "If I'm Bill Bryson, will someone please tell me how to access bank accounts under that name?" Also read a great poem from NOBO "Caveman" :Today was hotI was notPeanut butter goodLike a lotGoing to hike moreHope poem wasn't bore.Hilarious. Hiked on @ 4pm over Big Butt (heh heh), passing 2 ection hikers from Nashville, TN along the way. Reached Jerry Cabin Shelter @ 7pm & found a group of 3 Irwin-Hot Springs section hikers & another group of 2 on the same section tenting. Decided to hike on to Little Laurel Shelter, night hiking along an exposed ridge w/ gusty winds (there was an inclement weather bypass that I chose not to take). Great views in the dark from the ridge. Rassed a side trail to a firetower @ 9pm & took it only to find unclimbable radio towers at the end. Reached the shelter @ 10pm & met NOBO section hiker Bookworm (GA to "until the ice freezes me in"). Read a lot of register entries about trail magic from FAL & Hercules (Great waffles, but will preach fundamentalist doctrine). Set my tent up in the shelter to block the wind. (Bookworm had a tarp strung in front of his sleeping bag). Dinner -BP Beef Stroganoff. In bed 11pm.
Date: 2006-10-27
From: Little Laurel Shelter, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

Day 148 (Friday)Up @ 7 am to high winds & overcast skies. Skipped breakfast in favor of promise of waffles @ FAL & Hercules'. Wrote in register, "Off for waffles w/ a side of bible thumping." On trail @ 8am & reached Allen Gap @ 10:30. Walked over to FAL (Free at last) & Hercules' house (nice log cabin) & hasd waffles, hott cider & burritos (all excellent) & listened to their view that there can only be 1 correct religion & they believe it is Christianity, based on evidence as stated in the Bible & proof that the bible is the word of God. They gave me a book to read & I promised to. they also said they were taking care to inform people of their beliefs b/c there werew concerned people were making a mistake by not accepting Christ. I thanked them for the food & info & hiked on @ 12pm. Passed Spring Mtn Shelter @ 2pm & registered my plan to take 3 days off & wrote a goodbye note to Jack & hiked on past a sidetrail to Rich Mtn firetower. (Didn't go up b/c clouds promised a lack of view & I was tight on schedule for 6pm rendezvous w/ Kellee after staying a bit longer than planned @ FAL & Hercules'. Crossed US 70 @ Tanyard Gap @ 4pm & hiked into Hot Springs, passing 1 dayhiker w/ 2 dogs along the way. Had some good views of the French Broad river on the descent into Hot Springs after descending below the cloud ceiling & reached Hot Springs right on schedule @ 6pm just as kellee was pulling into the parking lot @ Paddler's Pub. Parked & checked out the outfitter & bought some new Columbia shorts (my old ones were shredded to the point of borderline incecency by thorns) 20% off, & a book, Culture Jam. Over to Paddler's Pub for drinks (Highland Oatmeal Porter - brewed in Asheville - very good), but decided not to stay for dinner due to lack of a non-smoking section. Dinner next door @ Bridge St Cafe & Inn (Tuna special - very good) w/ live dulcimer musinc from Wood, Wind & Wire. Over to ASheville for the night @ Country Inn w/ navigational assistqance from Kellee's new toy. TomTom. In bed 11pm.
Date: 2006-10-28
From: Ashville, NC

To: Ashville, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Day 149 (Saturday)Zero day in Asheville. Up @ 8am, breakfast in the lobby (standard hotel fare). Went to Black Dome outfitters & then Diamond Outfitters in Asheville & got a new frame for my Osprey pack (old 1 snapped at some point; I don't know when), some G wash & wax to restore the water repellency on my Gore - tex & stormsocks (lightweight neoprene socks), Also noted they had Hennesy Hammocks on sale for $125 (a very good deal). Lunch @ Thai restaurant in downtown Ashville - I had a pumpkin curry dish - very good & then back over to Hot Springs for deep tissue massage @ the spa (very good). Got a new base layer top (Mtn Hardwear) to replace the 1 I sent home along the way & is now misplaced. Dinner in Downtown AShville @ the Bistro, after parking in a unicipal lot for $3 w/ an automatd vending machine that a line of people were having a hard time using despite the presence of a homeless man dispensing helpful tips such as "You must know your space number before you begin." and "Put in a $5, kiss it goodbye; the machine does not make change." After dinner, got a $5 T shirt at the general store. Read 1/2 of Culture Jam back @ the hotel before going to bed @ 11pm.
Date: 2006-10-29
From: Ashville, NC

To: Ashville, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Day 150 (Sunday)Up @ 9am (actually 8 due to change to standard time). Breakfast @ hotel before going over to Biltmore for the day.. Took the self guided audio tour of the estate house & did the top 3 floors before breaking for lunch @ the stable restaurant (BBQ plate), taking the "behind the scenes" tour of some of the servant facilities & heating & electrical plant - very cool, & touring the basement. Checked out the gardens before heading over to the winery for a behind the scenes tour where we learned that they sometimes add sugar to the wine to boost the alcohol content(my snobby Cornell wine preofessors would be horrified). Did some tastings (many decent wines) & had dinner @ the Bistro next to the winery. Cheked out the hotel before leaving, but it was too dark to see the grounds.
Date: 2006-10-30
From: Ashville, NC

To: Ashville, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Day 151 (Monday)Breakfast @ the hotel & then spent the morning waalking around downtown Ashville. Lunch at the soda counter in the old Woolworth store now converted to an art gallery (Chicken salad sandwich & cheerwine). Spent the afternoon driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Mt. Mitchell (highest MT in NC w/ summit closed for renvation) & did a small (2 mi) hike around Craggy Dome before returning to Ashville for dinner @ ______. Did laundry & organized balance of food drop (split into 7 days t carry & 7 to forward to the NOC due to plan to hit Gatlinburg & Franklin on weekends).
Date: 2006-10-31
From: Ashville, NC

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

Day 152 (Tuesday)Up @ 8am & packed up, spending a lot of time looking for a missing jetboil cozy that turned up in my clothes bag. Breakfast @ hotel & then over to Hot Springs where I picked up a permit for the Smokies, a care package from Tom & Eluisa (including 3 bags of candy, graham & gourmet crackers & pumpkin & almond crunch (Mrs May's)). Went over to Bluff Mtn Outfitters for some cheese after saying goodbye to Kellee & ran into Cowsie on her way to talk to the 4th & 5th grade classes @ the Hot Springs School. Tagged along w/ Cowsie to the school & talked to the kids (they had tons of questions) who had just adopted 1 mi of the AT. Took some pics & 1 of the kids gave us some gorp. Back to the diner for lunch (comped in exchange for talking to the kids) & met Easy Rider. We all went over to Elmer's (Sunnybank Inn) to stay for the night. Did some hot tubbing @ the Hot Springs spa. Stopped @ the outfitter & got a new pocketknife (4th of the trip - lost the 3rd just S. of Kincora, but found the 2nd; just wanted a better one & it was only $4. Met Link in town & watched the trick or treaters @ Elmers after dinner @ the Diner w/ Just Jim, on an unplanned flip-flop from Harper's Ferry. Went to a Haloween party in the woods w/ everone + "Tater" (NOBO GA to Hot Springs who got a job @ Elmaers & stayed after starting w/ a 130 lb pack full of potatoes), former thru hiker John, & Tater's friend Jesse (local) (both dressed as braveheart characters). Party in the woods was great - pavillion decorated as Ducket house, hosted by Miss Hot Springs (dressed as a Geisha) & featuring a great group of people, some folks from an intentional community called Wild Roots, and some whitewater rafting guides. Great time. Caught a ride w/ a guy back to Elmer's @ 2:30 am.
Date: 2006-11-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Walnut Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

Day 153 (Wednesday)Up @ 8am for 8:30 breakfast ($6 @ Elmer's - pancakes, cereal, coffee, juice). Waited around for Curtis from Standing Bear Farm Hostel to bounce forward 5 days of food (Just Jim told me he was running a shuttle to town that morning). Cowsie, Easy & Link all hiked out ahead of me.
Date: 2006-11-02
From: Walnut Mtn Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm Hostel
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 154 (Thursday)Up @ 8am to a windy, overcast day. On trail @ 9am after learning from Link that Birdnut was close behind. Reached Roaring Fork Shelter @ 11am & met Smoking Jeff &_________. Ate cheese & crackers from Tom & Eluisa & traded extra crackers for miso soup. (Mice got into my foodbag last night & ate into the graham crackers (1st time all trip)-fortunately no other damage). Ice formed on grass & tree branches overnight, btw. Hiked across Max Patch @ 2pm. (Had wanted to make max Patch Mac & Cheese there, but it was too cold & windy). Ceiling lifted just above the summit to afford great views. Passed Groundhog creek shelter & ate some Haloween candy someone had left hanging there in a plastic jack-o-lantern. Reached a campsite 2 mi S. at dusk & found Easy, Link & Cowsie setting up camp. Hiked passed over Snowbird Mtn under a near- full moon to Standing Bear Farm, arriving @ 8pm. Dropped my stuff in the bunkhouse & went to check in & met Curtis' wife, Maria, their 6yr old daughter (busy reading a book about Cookie Monster), & a friend of theirs.   Watched an episode of The Office & Deal or No Deal before having a Digiorno pizza for dinner. Ran into Smoking Jeff & friend (abandoned their campout due to tired dogs (pets - not feet) staying in the cabin. Hung out with them & ended up sleeping in the upstairs bunk in the cabin (much nicer than the bunkhouse) sometime after midnight.
Date: 2006-11-03
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Mt Cammerer Fire Watch
Miles today: 8.2

Day 155 (Friday)Up @ 8am; in bed until 9:30 on a very cold morning (had a very warm night's sleep in the 40 degree cabin under Curtis' vellux blankets. Breakfast - carnation instant w/ coffee courtest smoking Jeff & hung out for a while while Curtis shuttled hikers. Maria made spinach quiche & invited us in for 11am brunch. Cowsie showed up & ate w/ us, leaving EZ & Link sitting outside. I showed them where the pizzass were & started packing up, when Birdnut showed up. We caught up for a while (hadn't seen him since Maine) & I hit the trail @ 2:30pm, after checking email. Hiked into the Smokies & hit Davenport Gap shelter after crossing under I40 & over the Pigeon River. Had dinner @ the shelter w/ Cowsie, Easy & Link before night hiking up to Mt. Cammerer under an almost full moon. Reached Mt. Cammerer fire watch (not a tower b/c it is built on the ground) & settled in for the night. In bed @ 9:30pm. Temp inside building 33 deg f.
Date: 2006-11-04
From: Mt Cammerer Fire Watch

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 156 (Saturday)Up @ 6:45am for a brillian sunrise (many pics) thanks to all the air pollution in the smokies (best sunrise of the trip - hands down). On trail @ 8am - ground frozen solid. Met 2 guys @ Cosby Knob shelter, 1 of whom was an engineering manager for Sea-Ray in knoxville & happened to have an open process engineerin position (traded contact info) who also climbed Mt. Rainier (a trip I have been contemplating for a while). Talked for a while before hiking on. Passed fmr. thru hiker, Woldpaw?, who congratulated me on going the 0.6 mi off the AT to Mt. Cammerer saying, "Good for you - most thru hikerrs, if it' not under 0.2 off the trail, it doesn't exist." Reached Tricorner Knob shelter & met Carter?, a guy who dropped off rgisters at several of the shelters & hiked on to Peck's Corner @ 5pm, where I met Jeremy, a kayak guide from Kittyhawk, NC (GA-CT '05) & we ended up w/ a total of 10 in the shelter for the night, including 1 group of 3 from Knoxville & 1 goup of 5 from Atlanta/Chatanooga including a 14 yr old we dubbed "Bellows" after he blew 2 fires for about 3 hrs straight (plays trumpet in H.S. band in Chatanooga). 34 deg in the evening. In bed 10:30 pm.
Date: 2006-11-05
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg, TN_
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Day 157 (Sunday)Up @ 7:30 am, on trail @ 9 - last out w/ group of 5, who let me have the trail thinking I would be faster than them (I wasn't really). Hiked a brisk pace to the 1st view trying to impress them, but they kept up pretty well. Great views all day from the ridge. Caught Jeremy on the phone @ 10:30 & tried to make calls from the spot w/o success. Met a british flip-flopper, "Clusterfuck" (or Charlie Foxtrot if you prefer) & talked about his dual MP3 player system (Downloads a 60gb player to a 1gb each day for play during the day-I will definitely use next thru hike). Caught up to the group of 5 w/ Jeremy just N. of Charlie's Bunion at a great overlook & had some lunch. Yogi's a few cheese sticks & Bellow's dad gave me 2 lbs of gorp (very good-had macadamia nuts in it). Hiked on to Charlie's Bunion, which was crawling w/ 10 day hikers. Met 2 section hikers on the overlook N. of the Bunion who insisted we were on Charlie's Bunion at the time, according to their GPS. The Binion also had a sign advising parents to control children tightly due to "dangerous cliffs." Passed several more dayhikers on the way to Icewater Spring Shelter (all walking to Charlie's Bunion from Newfound Gap - 7.6 mi roundtrip). Picked up water from an icy draw about 20 yards N. of icewater spring & hit the shelter @ 2pm. The shelter was a beautiful sunny spot. The group of 5 showed up & started playing spades. I cooked up some miso soup & aired my feet out. Birdnut showed up @ 3pm & we talked for a while & then Easy, Cowsie & Link arrived.   We hiked into Newfound Gap @ 5pm & I hitched into Gatlinburg w/ a family from VA out visiting the University of Tennessee (their son is a senior in H.S. looking to study nuclear engineering). Went to the Grand Prix hotel after cruising the strip (verry touristy) to meet Link, Easy & Cowsie, & found they had no vacancy. Eventually they let me stay in a room where another guest was storing some antiques; Link Easy & Cowsie were at another hotel. Met them for dinner @ Smoky Mtn Brewery (Bacon Bleu cheese burger, beer sampler, porter & 2 rounds of Jager shots courtesy Cowsie). Grabbed 1pt Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie on the way back to the hotel. In bed @ midnight.
Date: 2006-11-06
From: Gatlinburg, TN

To: Doublespring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 158 (Monday)Up at 9am, laid around until 10:30. Breakfast @ Pancake House - waffles, eggs & sausage. Met Easy, Cowsie, & Link & went over to the Happy Hiker where I had my picture taken for their wall (they had pictures of all of the NOBOs from back when they were relatively clean-cut). Got a cup of coffee w/ cocoa & ran into Jeremy. Went over to the library to do some email & then had lunch @ a gyro place before hitching back to Newfound Gap w/ a couple of kids from Clemson, SC, 1 of whom was planning to join the Coast Guard. What started as a bright sunny day was now rainy, cloudy & windy as I hit the trail around 3pm. Passed a guy hiking w/ a dog even though he knew he wasn't supposed to be; passes the trail to Mt. Collins shelter & hit Clingman's dome around dusk in 40 degree rain with 30-40 mph winds (miserable weather). Climbed the observation tower just for kicks & threw on a polypor top & goretex for the hike to Doublespring Gap, where I found Cowsie, Easy & Link along w/ SOBO thru hikers Boots (f) & Kansas (recent Cornell grads), Goldbond (f) & Kingfish, who thankfully had a happy fire going. Ate dinner & got in bed around 8:30pm. Dinner - adventure foods tex mex pasta salad - worst meal of the trip. Hands down.
Date: 2006-11-07
From: Doublespring Gap Shelter

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 159 (Tuesday)Up around 8am & on trail around 9 behind Goldbond, Kingfish, Easy, Link & Cowsie. (Boots & Kansas still in bed looking like they were going to zero). Still drizzly, windy, & cool. Hit Silers Bald around 10am; passes Derrick Knob shelter around 11 and stopped briefly for an early lunch & hit Spence Field shelter around 4pm after crossing some open balds in drizzly rain w/ no views & found Easy, Link & Cowsie w/ a fire going in for the night. Had some chicken soup & hiked on around 5pm, hitting Russell Field shelter around 6pm.. Dark, clouds, rain, & a nice pile of dry firewood with firestarters in the shelter made me decide to stay despite the possibility of finding Birdnut, Kingfish, & Goldbond @ Mollie's ridge shelter 2.5 mi S. Dinner B.P. Pasta primavera? Dried shoes out on fire & melted 1 slightly, but not too bad. In bed at 9pm, alone in the shelter. Outside temp, 43 deg f.
Date: 2006-11-08
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Day 160 (Wednesday)Up at 8am; still rainy & windy out; breakfast- Bob's 10 grain hot cereal; on trail @ 9am; passed Mollies Ridge around 10:30 & had an easy descent to Fontana Dam, passing 1 NOBO section hiker (doing the Smokies) along the way who said, "Great day for hiking, isn't it?" I replied,"Actually, no." (He was being sarcastic - I just didn't feel like playing along.) Reached the Dam around 3pm & declined a ride to town (Fontana Village) while walking across the dam (thought it might be a hard spot to get back to). Took some pics, suprised to find Homeland Security didn't ban photography of the dam. Water levels in the lake behind the dam were very low. Reached the Fontana Dam shelter, known as the Fontana Hilton (nominal 20 person capacity - looked like it could really hold around 40) around 4pm after passing by the visitor center, which was closed for construction. Restrooms @ the shelter were locked, so I walked back to the visitor center to ask the construction workers if the restrooms there were working & they apologized citing a lack of water in the system. We talked for a while & 1 of the guys said he was proud of me & asked when the last time I saw TV was, to which I replied 2 days ago (Gatlinburg). Went back to the shelter & suddenly felt violently ill & went to bed w/o dinner in hopes that extra stomach acid would kill whatever was causing it. In bed at 5pm. P.S. Passed the 2000 mile mark today & celebrated w/ some Dickel left in the shelter (nice trail magic). I took it with me to prevent any abuse by youth groups who reported having been tempted by it in the register.