morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-17
From: hard core trail maintenance/hampton,tn

To: elmer's/hot springs,nc
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

elmer's/hot springs,nczero mileswoke up this morning and walked down the hall of the motel and got coffee. took "liteshoe" some coffee and packed up my stuff and then met"lwop" and "pez" for breakfast. we drove to where we met "bob peoples" and the hard core trail crew and drove out to do more trail maintenance. "liteshoe" had to get back to civilization by morning, so we left out at noon to get me back to hot springs,nc and she headed back home to southern pines,nc. i checked myself into elmer's and went to the library and then out for dinner. i really want to thank "jan liteshoe" for a great time at trail days. i had a blast and she was a big part of it. i sorted out my bounce box and got a box ready to send home. i'm sending my winter sleeping bag home....hope that's not a mistake. it will be good to get back on the trail again so i can get some rest. i've run into "crash test dummy", "squirrel meat", and "shoe" since i've been back in town. my next stop will be erwin,tn. i should be about 3 nights on thetrail before i get there. it may take a little longer depending on just how tired i am tomorrow. good night from elmer's.
Date: 2004-05-18
From: elmer's/hot springs,nc

To: 1 mile north of deep gap, nc
Miles today: 13.6

tuesday   13.6 miles today1 mile north of deep gap,nci got up about 6am and went to the "smoky mountain diner" and had breakfast. "shoe" joined me but he only had coffee and a biscuit because he was signed in for breakfast at "elmers". i got my pocket mail and spent a little while learning how to use it and went to the pay phone and got some messages. this little thing weighs 8 oz and according to "jan liteshoe" it will work great as long as i keep it away from moisture. you hold it up to a phone reciever and after you dial a toll free number, it sends and recieves emails. i think this will make it alot easier while i'm hiking because it isn't always easy to get to a library, but there are usually phones every few days. it was good to get back on the trail again today after being at trail days for 3 days and then 2 days of trail maintenance with "bob people's" hard core trail crew. i finished resupplying and got 6 oz of denatured alchohol for my stove and ate lunch before i headed up the mountain. it was only 5 or 6 weeks ago when i did this next 100 mile section with "jan liteshoe". it is amazing how the forest has grown in that short time. i got alot of nice views looking back down at hot springs and the french broad river. most of the day today was spent climbing from 1300' elevation at hot springs to 3550' at the top of "rich mountain". the blaze azaleas are starting to loose some of their blossoms, but still lok very nice. there were alot of mountain laurel blooming.....mostly white ones, but there were a few pink ones. as "bumpo" puts it, there were lots of ppf today {pretty purple flowers}. that the easy way to say it when you don't know what the heck they are. there were lots of pyf! and pwf too. does anyone want me to explain that???i saw "louisville slugger" at "elmer's" who i had hiked with some back on my first nobo hike.i also saw "bud from oregon"{his real trail name} and "kev-dog" who i had last seen at bly gap. "buick" and "grey squirrel" were also in town. "spider" and "brother" had just been dropped off. they worked on the hard core trail crew with me. i had stopped at a nice pond about 5 miles into my hike today and sat on a little bench that someone had built and ate a hamburger i packed out and drank a cke i also packed out i fed some of the small fish in the pond. when i got to spring mountain shelter, i ate a roast beef sandwich i had packed out.....no ramen today!!! it's almost dark and i'm listening to an owl in the distance and a few mosquitos just outside my tent. these are the first mosquitos of the year for me....oh boy. i've got a real nice stealth tent spot with lots of soft leaves and i'm looking forward to a good nights rest. after trail days and the work crew, it feels good to be back in the woods where i can catch up on lost sleep. it rained for about 1 1/2 hours this afternoon. i saw a wasp nest hanging above the trail that was the size of a large grapefruit.
Date: 2004-05-19
From: 1 mile north of deep gap, nc

To: 1/2 mile south of devil fork gap,nc
Miles today: 21.0

21 miles today stealth tenting1/2 mile south of devil fork gap,nci finally saw some bears, but more on that later. last night i was sleeping in my tent at a nice stealth spot and at 10:20pm i woke up to some noise close by. i listened and figured out it was a bear on the side of the hill. he was rolling downed logs and rocks out of his way looking for food and they would roll down the mountain for a ways. i listened to him for a while and thought to myself that he wouldn't be here if he knew i was near. after a while i fell asleep again only to wake up to more noise after midnight. there were some deer nearby and they were in a playful mood and would chase each other. it made lots of noise in all the leaves, but it was fun to listen to. when morning came, i packed up and decided to look for a nice place for breakfast, but i only ran across one spot with nice long distance views, but i would have had to sit in the trail. i hiked down to allens gap and scared up a couple of turkeys on the way. i made coffee and breakfast and while i was eating, "grey squirrel" hiked by. i started hiking up the mountain and caught "grey squirrel" after a while and we talked for a bit before i hiked on. about 2 miles before little laurel shelter, i heard a noise up the hill above me and it was a mother bear and 2 cubs. they got nervous and hightailed it down the mountain running by me about 50' away. those were the first bears i've seen on this hike. i stopped at little laurel shelter and got more water. the springs that were running so nicely just 5 weeks ago are either dried up or just flowing enough to get water. there are still a few good ones, but i'm going to have to start paying more attention for a while. i hiked up to white rocks cliff and took a break and enjoyed the views. it was mostly cloudy, but the clouds were above me. this is the second time in two months that i got to do the new ridge walk. it takes alot longer, but it's much more fun crossing that area on a high ridge. last time there were about a dozen people up there and this time there wasn't anyone. i stopped at jerry cabin shelter and ate a very early dinner. today was a low energy day for me, so i stopped alot. after about an hour, i hiked up and over "big butt mountain" and by the shelton graves and on to flint mountain shelter. "james" was there. he's a thru hiker i met earlier in the hike, but i don't remember where. i ate and then hiked on about another hour to this spot. it's just now starting to rain. i'm in my tent and ready for some sleep. there weren't as many wildflowers today.....maybe because of the higher elevation.
Date: 2004-05-20
From: 1/2 mile south of devil fork gap,nc

To: just south of spivey gap,nc
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: few clouds

22 miles todayjust south of spivey gap,ncstealth tentingi slept great last night. i got up this morning and hiked 1/2 mile to devil fork gap and sat on the stile and brewed my coffee and ate my breakfast. only about 4 cars came by the whole time i was there....some traffic jam, huh?? i was trying to wait on the grass to dry in the field i had to walk through. i hiked past another road and then an old barn, then started climbing the bumps in front of me. i climbed up to "frozen knob" at an elevation of 4580' before i got to where i took my first break. on the way i hiked by a really nice 20' waterfall. i saw 4 orange newts this morning and bird egg shells that were laying in the trail after they had hatched. they were blue eggs, don't know what kind of bird they came from, but the interesting thing was that the 2 blue bird eggshells were about 10 miles apart. they were both laying in the trail. it was a humid morning after the rain last night and i could feel it climbing the mountains. once i got up on a ridge, i had a nice breeze to help cool me off. i stopped at hogback ridge shelter and had an early snack and resupplied with water. i hiked on and ran into "grey squirrel again. we figured out he passed me while i was down at the shelter eating. we sat by a spring and drank the cool water and talked a while and i hiked on. i went back down in elevation to 3800' at "sams gap" and from there climbed back up to 5516' on top of "big bald". i could see for miles on top of that mountain. it turned into another beautiful day and there were mountain views in every direction. i must be getting into chipmonk territory. i've only been seeing one or two a day and today i must have seen over two dozen. i hiked on down to big bald shelter and ate an early dinner. "bluebird" was there and we ate dinner together and talked while we tried to keep the swarming black flies off of us. she said that her job in the telecom business had been done away with and she had read "jan liteshoes" journal from'03 and that jan's journal and an article in backpacker magazine had inspired her to hike. she went to trail days and saw jan and i in the sidetrack cafe. she had wanted to meet jan, but didn't want to interupt. i said...you should have interupted. jan would have loved to talk to her. i told her i would tell jan and since she is transcribing this journal for me....i think she knows now. i hiked on and soon ran into "grey squirrel" again getting more water. he doesn't go to shelters i guess. i've not seen his name in a register yet. we talked a bit more and i hiked up ove "high rocks" and then on down here to "spivey gap" and this nice soft tall grass that my tent is set up on. i'm listening to a couple of owls talking to each other....sure is nice out here. in two days i've only seen three other thru hikers. town food tomorrow!!!!
Date: 2004-05-21
From: just south of spivey gap,nc

To: holiday inn express in erwin,tn
Miles today: 11.4

11.4 miles todayholiday inn express in erwin,tnmotelin' it tonight i woke up last night and because of the clear skies, it was just a little cooler. i was slightly cold in my new summer quilt and i figured it was because i didn't have anything on my head. i put on my wind hat and fell back asleep until morning. i stealth tented in an open field last night so i knew there would be alot of dew on my tent this morning. normally i tent under trees and on dead leaves and i have no moisture problem. i knew today was a town day so i didn't worry about it. i got going early today. i started hiking at 6:25am and stopped at "no business knob" shelter for a quick break and was surprized to see there were still some hikers there. it was "sweedish", a thru hiker and a girl that was with him that was getting off the trail in southern,va by the name of "shannon". we talked for a while and i was busy washing my shirt and bandana getting ready to go into town. it helps to look a little cleaner when you go back into civilization. i saw a 4 1/2' black snake that had to decide whether or not he was going to let me by. i just waited and watched him and pretty soon he slithered away. i also saw some lady slippers and on my way down the mountain into erwin, i saw alot of beautiful mountain laurel blooming. i ran into "grey squirrel" again. i always seem to be passing him and when i stop at a shelter, he gets ahead of me again. we've been stealth tenting within a mile of each other for the last three nights. when i got down the mountain at 11:00am, i just kept walking and got on the service road and walked to the new gas station with an a&w and a long john sivers. i had a double cheese burger with fries from the a&w and then i had a fish and shrimp platter from long john silvers. i walked next door and checked in to the holiday inn express. they even have a computer in the lobby for guests. i took a much needed shower and washed my clothes in the tub and now i'm waiting on them to dry so i can go out and get a cup of coffee. i'm sending this in early today because i'm not going to do anything the rest of the day except lay in this air conditioned room and vegetate. they are really great here at the holiday inn. there's coffee all day and for the thru hikers, they even give you a pint of ben and jerrys ice cream. i enjoyed my favorite...cherry garcia. i"ve been catching up on email and making some phone calls. i even ordered a computer for my grandkids so they can keep up with my journal and email me along the way. i let my other two grandchildren use my home computer, so now all 4 of the grandkids (and their parents) can keep in touch with me easier. my clothes are clean, my tent is dry and i"m going to make a few more phone calls.
Date: 2004-05-26
From: 1 mile north of 

To: kincora hostel,tn.
Miles today: 10.9

10.9 miles todaykincora hostel,tn.6:05am i'm laying here in my tent and i'm being sung to by a mockingbird....my favorite way to wake up. it's mild out and pretty windy. i haven't heard a weather forcast in days, so i guess i'll just start walking and see what blows in.7am i sitting here by an old logging road that we used to get back to where we did the trail work after trail days and my coffee is brewing and i'm eating breakfast...life is good.9:30am i'm at moreland gap shelter and just taking a short break before heading in to kincora hostel. i haven't said a whole lot about the blaze azaleas lately because for the last 100 miles or so they've been past there prime as far as the blossoms go. well, today is different...they are in full bloom and are beautiful. at 8:30am, i was walking along and i heard what i first thought was a string of firecrackers that someone had set off about 100 yards to my right. i stopped and listened and realized it was a huge tree that was falling over. first was the cracking noise and then a crashing noise and then a thump that i thought i could feel. it was by far the biggest tree that i've ever witnessed falling in the woods. the last time i was at this shelter was last winter and in addition to about 4" of snow already on the ground, i woke up with an additional 3" of snow that blew in the shelter and was covering everything including me. 12noon i'm at kincora hostel. i carried a trail rake in from two miles back up the mountain and bob was standing out front when i came in. i said "hey bob,are we done with the card core trail maintanance from trail days yet?" today was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain, but held off. time to get cleaned up. i've been sitting out here on the porch of the hostel talking to bob peoples and he told me that he's put in a request to atc to name the blue blaze at greasy creek gap, the "liteshoe wrongway trail". if you take the "liteshoe wrongway trail" you will miss the greasy creek friendly hostel and there's no tellin' where you might end up. bob is going to try and have a sign posted there by early spring next year if he gets approval for the new name for that trail.we were supposed to go into town at 3pm, but bob's wife has his keys and she won't be back until about 8:30pm. i found some salsa that someone had left and knocked that off with some tortilla chips that were left. i still wasn't full. i found some hotdog buns and mayonaize and 4 eggs and fried the eggs up and had some good egg sandwichs. i think i can wait until 8:30 for dinner now. the hikers that are here at the hostel are "bearkiller", "dave underfoot", "swedish", "shannon", "underhill", "knuckles",and "samarri". another good day on the a.t.
Date: 2004-05-27
From: kincora hostel,tn.

To: kincora hostel,tn
Miles today: 0.0

zero mileskincora hostel,tnI decided to stay here and take a zero day after I realized that this was a holiday weekend and my bounce box is in Damascus,Va....only 2 to 2 1/2 days north of here. This morning I got the bright idea of calling the po up there and they said it would be no problem to move my box over to the outfitter's that will be open. After all the hikers left that were moving on this morning, I cooked up some Jimmy Dean sage sausage and 3 eggs and a couple pieces of toast for breakfast. That was nice and I had plenty of coffee to go with it. Pat Peoples took Paparazzi, Shannon, Swedish, Bearkiller and myself into town to take care of some odds and ends. My main goal was to stop by a motel I had stayed at during hard core trail maintanance and get my bill straightened out. They had charged my credit card twice for one night stay. We stopped at Walmart, White's grogery store, the po and Winn Dixie. There were a number of trees that blew over in last nights storm. About 5am it rained really hard again, but so far has held off and been pretty nice today. I did typical zero day stuff...I ate, I read, I took a nap, and I ate somemore. Paparazzi shared his ice cream. I made sure I had enough food in my bag to get me 50 miles. I seem to have enough to get me 100 miles, so I should be in pretty good health when I get to Damascus,Va on Sunday morning. I'm planning to get there then because I think I know a place that has a Sunday afternoon buffet. Hey, I've got to keep my weight up and that's not easy when you burn about 6000 calories a day. Cato and Zipoff just got in and offered to take me to town so I could get dinner and I gladly accepted their offer. Hummmm, what should I have for dinner??? Zero days are nice, but if I took too many of them, I might not be able to see my feet after a while.5:30pm Well, I just got back from town. Cato and Zipoff offered to take me with them to eat at a local restaurant called the Laurel Creek Restaurant. Yep, these zero days are tough. The hikers that are her tonight are Zipof, Cato, Paparazzi, Kev-dog, Sammari, Tiger Lily, Swedish, Shannon, Sticks, Underhill, Knuckles and myself. Hiking out in the morning and looking forward to a good walk. Another great day on the A.T.PS I'm trying out this capital letter thing....just for Chief.
Date: 2004-05-30
From: Dave's Place, Damascus, Va.

To: Damascus, Va - Holiday Lodge Motel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero milesDamascus, VaHoliday Lodge MotelI woke up at 5am again and just layed around for a while. I took a shower and Jay and I walked up to Cowboy's and waited on them to open. Pretty soon Cowboy came up and let us in for coffee and Cowboy, Geezer, Jay and I talked about 1/2 hour before we ordered breakfast. I ordered blueberry pancakes and Cowboy told me that they get all there blueberries from up in the mountains when they're in season and freeze them. They were really good pancakes. LoneWolf came in and I talked to him for a little while and then came back here to Dave's Place and it's 9am and I'm just waiting on the buffet to open at 11am. Zero days are so hard. I saw Freebird and met Flying Monkey of '99 and we talked for a while. 10:45am Only 15 minutes until the buffet opens. I just got back from The Sidetrack Cafe. I talked to Mountainman for a while. It's a sad day today because this is the last day for The Sidetrack Cafe unless someone comes along and buys it. He is closing it down for good at the end of the day. I've had lots of good times in that place. Damascus just won't be the same for the hikers without the cafe.Jay and I were eating at The Old Mill outside by the river when it started raining, so we went inside and got a seat overlooking the river and the falls. The buffet was $16.00 but was well worth it. They had smoked salmon, prime rib, stuffed chicken breast, pork loin, great variety of fruit and vegetables, complete breakfast and really good cheese cake. I went back to the outfitter with saving a couple more ounces and a little volume from my backpack and went from a .9 litre cooking pot down to a .6 litre pot. I made sure there was enough volume to make my coffee every morning and it just made it. John, the shutle driver for Dave came by at 1pm to give me a ride to the motel out by the interstate, so i picked up my bounce box and a surprize box from Quincygirl and my backpack and got a rom for the night. I spent the afternoon going through my bounce box and eyeing the chocolate nut brownies that Quincygirl baked for me {thanks alot Qg} and eliminating even more stuff from my pack. I am using a ULA p1 backpack and I still have way too much room in it. I may have to look for an even smaller backpack. I took a short nap and woke up and walked to the corner Subway and got a 6" sub....that was all I could eat. I got my other pair of running shoes out of my bounce box and sending the pair I've been wearing for the last 200 miles on ahead to Pearisburg, Va. I keep changing back and forth the shoes I'm wearing and I hope that these two pair of Asics running shoes will last me for the whole hike. I'm not hiking out until Tuesday morning, so it's rest, rest and rest.
Date: 2004-05-31
From: Damascus, Va - Holiday Lodge Motel

To: Damascus,Va. - Dave's Place Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Zero miles todayDamascus,Va.Dave's Place Hostel7:40 am I'm really being lazy today. It's almost 8am and I'm just now waking up. At about 6am there was a severe thunderstorm come through. Time to go find some coffee.8:10am It didn't me long to realize I needed my coffee this morning. I'm sitting at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant and sipping my coffee...looks like I might make it today. It was raining on me while I walked up here, but not very hard. I played that little peg game they leave on the tables and the first time I left three pegs which is pretty good for me. The second time I played it I only had one peg left. I don't think I've evr only had one peg left. I looked to see what it said if you get that far and it said "you're a genious". Well, they don't know me very well. I think I was just plain lucky, but I was smart enough not to press my luck so I put the game down and didnkt play it again. I may never play it again, in fact I know that I'll never play it again. I won!!!2:10pm I'm sitting out in front of Dave's Place on the porch and I'm watching it rain and eating popcorn. I left the motel just before 11am and stood out front for about 20 minutes before I got a ride back to Damascus with Mohammad. He owns Sicilies Pizza Restaurant and was just out getting some vegetables. I stopped in at Mount Rogers Outfitters and got the key to room #5. I got some wire and snips from Jeff and reworked my stove stand. I went to a smaller pot so I needed a smaller pot holder.I walked down by the river and it's real high and flowing fast after all the rain we've had lately. I talked to Zipoff and Cato who just got into town and then Paparazzi came hiking in and he had a ride to the store, so i jumped in the back of the truck and went along. I bought a bag of popcorn and some snickers. Wish that I had waited on the snickers because they were cheaper at the Dollar Store. There's a guy sitting out front in his van playing a guitar and he's pretty good. Knuckles, Kev-dog, Underhill stopped and asked if I wanted to go to a movie. Knuckles mom and dad are in town and taking them all to Abington. I said I would pass since I've been eating popcorn already. 4:40pm It's early and I'm already done with dinner. I'm just waisting time on the porch again. I saw it was supposed to be 96 degrees today in Florida. It's 70 degrees here. Hummm, wonder where I'd rather be. It's good nap weather....seeeee ya.It was a good nap. I sat outside and more hikers came in. Swedish was going slower because his knee has been bothering him. I've been in town too long. I'm looking forward to hiking out into Grayson Highlands in the morning after I send my bounce box ahead at the po. I talked to two more hikers that are getting off the trail here.