morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-02
From: Erwin, TN

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I was fully packed and ready to go when the shuttle left for town at 9:00. At the post office I retrieved what I needed out of my bounce box for resupply items for the next 6 days to Kincora. I also mailed home a few colder weather clothing items that it doesn't appear I'll need (I hope). It seems substantially warmer here than during my last trip.By 11:30 I was on the trail again and heading out of town. I always enjoy these town days for about 1 day, then it's time to get back into the woods again.Just after leaving town the trail crosses the railroad tracks and a long coal train passed just as I got there. I think the same thing happened to me in '07, too. A long train, as it thundered past not 10 feet away.Not far beyond, the trail leaves the river canyon and heads up a side drainage, Jones Branch. I stopped at the bridge as I started up the creek and a wood thrush began singing from a low perch about 20 feet away. I stood for about 10 minutes and listened to the amazingly complex song, which I have rarely heard from that close. Wonderful harmonics!It was a warm and humid day topping out at 77°. I stopped for a break at Curley Maple Gap Shelter then pushed on towards Beauty Spot. Off and on I hiked with 3 thru-hikers who have been walking together about 3 weeks now. They are Ross, PC, and Still Steve. We were also joined later by Trucker; a fellow from NM who had just retired from the Defense Dept after a career in satelite surveillance.We all stopped at the top of Beauty Spot and gathered wood for a fire, then began cooking dinner as the sun set. We had a very enjoyable evening cooking around the fire and looking down on the town of Erwin in the distance. This is one of the tallest peaks in the area, and row on row of ridges and peaks marches off in all directions to the horizon. The others had all set up tents to camp, but I was out of water after making dinner so I decided to head down about a mile to the Deep Gap campsite where there is a nice spring so I could eat breakfast and still get an early start.The north skyline however is dominated by the bulk of Unaka Mt. I'll climb it first thing tomorrow morning. But for now, the view from Beauty Spot was great.I left about 7:30 pm for Deep Gap. Turns out I remembered this spring and campsite well from my '07 trip because I had camped here then too. The spring is a square concrete box with a strong flow and pvc pipe outlet. I also remembered that the campsites were really poor, all on a slant. Not a one is anywhere near level. But, with less than half hour of daylight left to hang a bear rope, set my tent, and get camp ready for the night, there was no time to get picky. I am certain this is what happened to me last time I was here too!Funny how life seems to replay itself on the trail. A night on the slant is still better than spending another night at Uncle Johnny's. Tomorrow, up and over Unaka Mountain first thing. Just as I finished writing up my notes for the day a barred owl began hooting nearby, and a group of coyotes yipped for a few minutes. Say goodnight Gracie!
Date: 2011-05-06
From: TN Rte 19E

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

Woke up this morning in my tent on the lawn at Mountain Harbor Hiker Hostel, along with 11 other tents. At 7:30, we all went inside for the most amazing breakfast I have ever had on the Trail, and for only $9.00! It was AYCE (all you can eat) and true gormet quality. A total of 24 starving hikers were there, and there was food left over! It was everything I had been hearing about for the past 3 days. I would have been foolish not to have atopped.By 9:30 I was northbound on the trail again, happy and bloated. Within an hour it began to rain, but never too hard. By lunch time the rain was done and it remained cold and partly cloudy the rest of the day. Near the top of the first hill a barred owl began calling from nearby and I carried on a conversation with it for a few minutes, much to the amusement of Stearman and Lone Star. I hiked off and on all morning with these 2 long-distance hikers. Steerman is a thru-hiker who takes her trail name from the maker of the last bi-plane to be in service in the U.S. military. She had flown a Steerman recently and LOVED it! Steerman is an energetic E.R. nurse with a curious mind and outgoing, bright and bubbly personality that brightens everyone and everything around her. Quick to laugh and fast with a joke, she is a small woman who walks fast and carries a surprisingly large pack, but makes rapid progress up the Trail. Lone Star is a recent retiree, from Texas obviously, who is doing a long section, from Springer Mt, GA to Damascus, VA. He has hiked a lot in Colorado, and the San Juan Mountains in particular. It seems likely I may see him again in Colorado later this summer. A warm and friendly guy who I look forward to seeing again.I stopped for lunch at Mountaineer Shelter then pushed on over pud after pud, finally arriving at Moreland Gap Shelter about 5:00. I considered continuing on to get closer to Dennis Cove Road for tomorrow morning, but just didn't have the energy to tackle the next hill just beyond the shelter. I hope the Post Office remains open in Hampton until noon tomorrow so I can retrieve my bounce box and send it on to Damascus, VA. There is a rumor that this post office may close at 10:00 AM on Saturdays. If so, there's no way I'll make it in time. Also, with so many hikers in the area, Kincorra may be full tomorrow by the time I get there. I'll have to wait and see when I get there.
Date: 2011-05-07
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 6.1

Got up about 6:00 and decided to forego a hot breakfast to get on the trail early. I was hoping to get to Dennis Cove Road early, get a bunk at Kincora, then hitch into Hampton, TN to get my bounce box before the post office closed at noon Saturday). It was a nice morning for walking with cool temperatures and a light breeze. It was 47° when I left the shelter, and 55° when I got to Kincora.When I got to Kincora at 8:45 I was told the post office closed at 10:00 on Saturdays, not noon like they do other places. Besides, Bob Peoples had already been to town and picked up all the hiker mail this morning. My box had apparently not arrived from Erwin yet. I tried calling the post office but could not get voice service. So, I'll have to resupply in town tonight and hile on. Monday, i'll call the post office and ask them to forward it to me, either in Damascus or in Erwin.Baltimore Jack is here helping Bob run the hostel and is very entertaining with his stories of the trail and people who have hiked it. He spent all morning cooking up a big breakfast platter for the 20+ hikers in the hostel. It was well worth waiting for and a vert interesting morning listening to all the stories. I also was able to get my laundry done, take a shower, and get together a shopping list for the next section to Damascus, VA.At 6:00 a total of 14 hikers crammed into Bob Peoples' chevy puckup truck for the evening resupply ru to the local IGA. Down the windy mt road we went and a half hour later we arrived at the supermarket, where we all poured out of the truck, much to the amazement of the folks parked next to us in the lot. An hour later we had shopping done, dinner finished (at Arby's), phone calls made (there is no voice service at Kincora), and crammed back into Bob's truck for the ride back up the hill. I remember this crammed ride into town very well from my last visit here, it seems to be a requisite part of the Kincora Experience.
Date: 2011-05-08
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

What a day! Started with a Birthday breakfast for Lone Star (57) courtesy of Pebbles, then a good conversation with Bob who remembered me from my '07 hike, then a wonderful hour at the Laurel Fork Falls taking pictures and socializing with the dozen other hikers there, then a black-billed cuckoo along the Laurel Fork river walk, then, my first rhododendron in bloom along the old railroad grade through the Laurel Fork canyon (!), then, my first flame azalea in bloom coming down from the top of Pond Flats mt (!), then trail magic lunch with a local family at Watauga Lake as they celebtrated Mother's Day, and then finishing with an excited eastern screech-owl around the shelter at dusk! Overall, it was a fairly low mileage day, but a wonderful day full of sensory overload! A GREAT day on the AT!
Date: 2011-05-09
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 21.2
Weather: clear sky

Got an earlier start this morning, on the trail a bit before 8:00. Had a very nice walk along the shore of Watauga Lake over to the dam. Got a few photos of the lake in the morning light and mist. Very pleasant.From the Watauga Dam Road the trail enters the Big Laurel Branch Wilderness. The trail was a pretty much constant climb up the spine of a long sloping ridge for the next 12 miles, gaining 2,000 feet elevation in the process. In most places the grades were not too steep, just constant and continual as the ridgeline got progressively higher and higher to the north. The first 5 miles of which had almost constant views of Watauga Lake to the east, getting further and further below. The trail stayed pretty much continually on the crest of a relatively narrow ridgeline, and because the leaves were not out much on the trees along the ridgetop yet, there were often fine views through the trees in both directions. The crest of the ridgeline topped out a little over 4,000 feet and stayed there for about the next 6 miles. I remembered a number of viewpoints along the way, and enjoyed walking into familiar shelters from '07. I remember having really enjoyed this day of ridge crest walking in fine hiking weather, and did so again today. A blue sky day with bright sun and moderate temps (high 68°); another fine day for hiking! I got a bit sunburned though.The best birds of the day were 4 - 5 black-billed cuckoos along Watauga Lake and the dam road, and a very close look at a male scarlet tanager. I almost got a photo of the tanager but he flew just a second before I snapped the photo. I also heard Swainson's thrushes and blackpoll warblers singing for the first time, obviously northbound migrants that were confused about where they were. Wood thrushes and a winter wren were birds I hadn't heard in a few days.When I came up to the Cross Mt Road with Cruiser we saw Bear Sweats sitting in the trailhead parking lot with several other folks. It turned out to be Trail Magic, courtesy of Mikey, a 2010 thru-hiker and his girlfriend who were on their way to Trail Days. They had bacon cheeseburgers on the grill, fresh fruit, a variety of munchies, and cold soda and beer! Needless to say I stayed for dinner!A few minutes later Pebbles and Clean Shave came in. They had left Kincora about 8:00 this morning with day packs and were hoping to reach Damascus before midnight tonight. That would be 51 miles in 16 hours! Pebbles stayed a little less tha half an hour then pushed on. Clean Shave had twisted his ankle about 7 miles back and was only planning to go to the next shelter for the night. Still, that was 30+ miles today for him. Wow!I ended up going to the next shelter and tenting along with 5 others. That will leave about a 15 mile day to get to Damascus tomorrow afternoon. It is still too early for Trail Days, so I may do a 1 overnight in the Grayson Highlands in the mean time. It will depend on how busy town is. Since this is the 25th anniversary of the Trail Days celebration, it should be a fun gathering.
Date: 2011-05-12
From: Thomas Knob Shelter Area

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: broken clouds

Was woken up early this morning (about 4:00) by 2 saw whet owls calling back and forth to each other from opposite sides of our campsite. Briefly, a whipporwill joined in, then quit to let the owls continue the conversation. I had heard these 2 owls talking briefly right after I went to bed last night but they hadn't lasted long due to the thunderstorms rolling past and the regular but brief bouts of hard rain. By early morning, the rain had quit but it was foggy and quiet, except for the owls that is.After breakfast, Cruiser and I had just left camp when we found several newly constructed spider webs that were jewelled with water drops from the night's rain. Pretty neat.We decided to pack up and head back to the vehicle, drive around to the Troutdale store/restaurant, then back to Damascus via 3 trailheads to see if any hikers needed a ride back to town.I thoroughly enjoyed the drive around the perimeter of Mt Rogers NRA. Very pleasant rolling farmland with some wonderfully enticing trout streams. Mark and I need to meet here and spend a week or so fishing and camping sometime.By 2:30 I was back at 'The Place' setting up my tent in the yard; me and about 60 of my closest tenting friends. Sitting here on the back porch of 'The Place' I can hear the cheers from the eating contest next door in the Church parking lot. I'm also watching the constant stream of hikers parading past on their way to and fro, as the last remaining tenting spots rapidly fill in. Trail Days begins tomorrow!
Date: 2011-05-14
From: Damascus. VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was the big day for the Trail Days celebration; the day of the Hiker Parade and Hiker Talent Show. I got a cup of coffee at the perpetually packed MoJo's Coffee House then went to 'In The Country' for breakfast. I ended up eating with Yukon and his friend, 2 section hikers I had met here in '07. After breakfast I updated my Trail Journal then went over to SunDog Outtfitters to partake in the free hotdogs and watch the parade participants assemble.While standing around in the SunDog parking lot I ran into JB and Tony Tiger again and saw Kokepelli for thw first time since our trip on '07! Kokepelli is 5 to 8 years older than I am and had to get odff the trail for several weeks in VA because she discovered she had been victimized by identity theft. Unfortunately, the tume required to resolve it prevented her from being able to complete a thru-hike that year. She then flipped north and did extensive sections of all the remaining states to get a feel for the whole trail and stay connected with her trail friends.The Hiker Parade was very fun and wacky, as usual. Lots of hikers dressed up in funny costumes, and everyone packing heat in the form of water pistols, super soakers, water cannons, and water balloons. Everyone in the parade and watching it from along the route expects to get wet as a casualty of the running water fight that is a central theme of the parade. This year was no exception. I ended almost totally soaked in spite of fending off nearly all the balloons that came close. The warm weather made it all great fun. Damascus sure knows how to put on a great parade and host a very fun party!After the parade I stayed in the town park and watched the Hiker Talent Show. It didn't seem quite as good this year and was interrupted twice by close thunderstorms. By yhis time it was nearly 6:00 so I went up to Nama Hen's house to visit with her for a few minutes. JB was there and we spent quite a while looking at Mama's photos from out '07 hike and talking about all the folks we had hiked with. Because Mama was on her way to another friend's house party JB and I walked over to the Laurel building to watch a new video about an '08 hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. JB knew the film maker because they had started the same day but JB styed ahead of him the rest of the trail and never saw him again. It was filled with great scenery and jokes that only long distance hikers could relate to. What a trip!After the movie JB and I had dinner at the packed pizza parlor with Goldie and Cruiser. Another great day of friendship on the trail! Especially good to be sharing it with JB again!Trail Days - not something I'd want to do every year, but I'm very glad I took the time to stay for it. Tomorrow, I'll catch a ride to Erwin, TN with Cruiser, stay over 1 more night in Erwin, then catch a shuttle back to Asheville, NC. Back home, and back to work, too soon! Happy Trails to all my new, and old, friends!
Date: 2011-03-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

In a week (Thursday, March 10) my partner Doug and I will be heading down to Mt. Springer from Sandpoint, Idaho. I am looking forward to the cross-country drive. I hope to be on the trail on March 16, the day between the Ides of March and St. Patrick's Day!Friends and family members have been asking many questions about my upcoming experience: "How many miles will you walk in a day?" "How often will you sleep in a shelter?" "How will you keep in touch with us?" "How is the water along the trail?"Obviously, I have no answers to these questions. Once on the trail, I will develop a rhythm and pattern. I have never done any serious hiking east of the Mississippi. So, every day will be a new experience for me.The bottom line is that when it is no longer fun, I am heading home.
Date: 2011-03-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The departure clock is ticking. Before I forget, I want to thank the many hikers who have provided journals on this website in previous years. I have gleaned so much useful information and tips from them. Thank you for taking the time to share what you have learned. This is one hiker who is very grateful.As I look ahead, I don't know how often I will have access to a computer in order to make entries. I will do my best to keep up with this journal when I am on the trail. Since I won't be carrying a device that will allow me to make entries on a daily basis, I will try to keep this profile updated on a town-to-town basis.
Date: 2011-03-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I am ready to hit the trail. I had planned on hitting the trail on March 2, but icy roads and snow delayed our departure out of the Idaho panhandle. Finally, it got too late for my partner Doug to drive me to Mt. Springer, drop the car off in Arlington, Virginia, and fly back home. Work obligations began piling up for him.So, I have been ready to be gone for the past two weeks. I will spend the next few days before my departure going through gear and trying to remember where I packed everything. Since I am hiking alone, I will be carrying everything, including the tent, stove, water filter, and food ¢ items that can be shared with others when not hiking alone. The two-week delay has an upside. The late-winter weather might be exiting by the time I hit the trail. Of course, one can't predict the weather, but I am hoping that two weeks might bring on a little more movement toward spring!
Date: 2011-03-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My backpack has been ready to go for the last two weeks. I will unpack it tomorrow and go through everything one more time. I need to remind myself where everything is! It is a bit heavier than I prefer (around 35 pounds), but I just can't predict the kind of weather I will be facing on the AT in late March and through April. I am looking forward to the stop at the backpacking store at Neels Gap (thirty miles down the trail). I am curious to see if I have packed any "unnecessary" items. I am sure that the staff will be helpful in this regard.One thing I have to thank several thru-hikers for is the suggestion to take one's vitamins along on the trail. I have put my daily vitamin dosage in small coin envelopes and packaged a two weeks' supply in ziploc baggies. I have enough vitamin supplies to last me close to seven months ¢ just in case I move slower than planned! I will have them mailed to me (thanks to my sisters and their husbands) as I move northward.I have said my goodbyes to family and friends. It is time to hit the trail, though a drive across country comes first.
Date: 2011-03-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Doug and I are in Dahlonega, Georgia, after four days of driving across country. We left Sandpoint on Thursday, March 10, and spent our first night with friends in southeastern Idaho. The next night found us in eastern Colorado near the Kansas border. Saturday was the killer day. We drove over 1,000 miles and collapsed in Nashville, Tennessee. And this was the night when we had to "spring ahead" on the clock time-wise as well go through several time changes! So, come Sunday morning, we were a bit ragged.On Sunday we visited friends in Oneonta, Alabama, before scooting up to Dahlonega. We are here a day earlier than planned. I will use today to go through my backpack once more and memorize where everything is. There are two routes to the main departure point of the Appalachian Trail on Mt. Springer. The most commonly used route is an 8.8 mile hike up to the starting point. The other is a .9 mile hike on a trail that is gotten to using Forest Service roads. The approach hike is not considered part of the AT. Right now, I am leaning towards the latter approach!I might leave for the trail a day earlier than planned. My departure date is Wednesday, March 16. The weather for that day is sunny with a few clouds. I might take off tomorrow, though, depending upon the weather. Rain is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. The desk clerk at our motel mentioned that hikers have been appearing in numbers. Trail traffic has picked up in the last two weeks, he said. I can totally understand. The temperatures are warming up, and the hills are showing signs of spring. Redbud and tulip trees are blossoming. Daffodils are in full glory. I am looking forward to spring in Appalachia. Though I will not know the names of all the flowers, bushes, and trees that will be coming alive with color and growth, it will be a visual feast.My next entry will be a trail entry rather than a "preparing for the hike" entry. Mentally, I am ready to hit the trail and begin walking. What a way to experience spring and nature's rebirth!