morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-03
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: moderate rain

The theme of today is saturation. Rain. Lots of rain. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say it poured all day. I left the shelter in the pouring rain and walked down to the dam. The trail goes right over the dam and then into the Smoky Mountain National Park. The rain let up just enough as I walked accross to get a picture of me entering the park. The trail was very steep and became increasingly more muddy. The kind of mud that will suck a boot right off your foot if you're not careful. It's funny, at first you try to step very carefully so as not to get your feet soaked but eventually it will happen anyway and you can actually move much faster when you don't care. I got to the first shelter around 1:30 and went in to dry my feet. It was full of weekend hikers who got comepletely soaked under a tarp the previous night. I stayed a couple more hours then moved on to the next shelter. It slowly filled with all the people I've been sheltering with. We cooked and ate and the Tyler went to get some water and was gone about 30 seconds before he comes running back into the shelter saying "there's a bear!" We ran to look an it was probably about a hundred yards off. We settled back down and then someone looked up and the bear was sitting about 12 feet from the front of the shelter looking sad as if it wanted to play. It just wanted food and once it realized it wasn't getting anything, it wandered off. A great day to end a wet day. Tomorrow, more rain. Bring it on.
Date: 2009-05-04
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's 16ish miles were very tough. I feel more worn out today than the 22 mile day I did a few days ago. The trail was a lot of steep ups and downs. It rained gently most of the day so even though we were on high mountains, there were no views. The terrain has really started to change though. We went over several balds with huge rocks as well a deep gaps where everything is green. Even the ground and felled trees are covered with bright green moss. You can also tell there are way more plant species in the smokies which is actually a rainforest. Even in the rain and mist the smokies are really beautiful. We're staying in a full shelter with all kinds of section hikers. There are two Russians, a welsh woman and a guy from trinidad. The question of the day: when will it stop raining?
Date: 2009-05-05
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Gatlinburg TN
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: moderate rain

Today was good. I woke up a little early planning on getting to Newfound Gap early enough to hitch to Gatlinburg to resupply and get back to the trail to do a few more miles. It was raining lightly as I did the first few miles to Clingman's dome which is the highest elevation on the whole AT. I got there around 8:45 and climbed the observation tower. I was again in a cloud and there was no one else there at a usually crowded place. It was a pretty surreal moment, beautiful even though I couldn't see a thing. At this elevation, all the trees (mostly frasir and spruce firs) are dead, because of a combination of an alien insect and air pollution that causes acid rain. It's a sad way to see how the ways we consume energy affects the environment in real ways. From there the weather went back and forth between barely raining and briefly raining hard causing me to stop often and either put on or remove my rain jacket. I got to Newfound around 1:15 and it immediately started raining so I sat it out under a covered area by the bathrooms. By the time it let up the Brits were walking up. Newfound Gap has a ton of traffic going through it, mostly families and retirees driving through the smokies. There's a huge parking lot and people get out to looks out at the vistas. As we sat around, it was amazing how many people came up and asked if we were thru-hikers and wanted to take our picture. I guess it is a pretty unique thing to hike the whole trail. In addition to the highest point on the trail, I also crossed the 200 mile mark. There's a sign at the gap that says the distance to Katahdin is less than 2000 miles. Slowly but surely, I'm doing this thing. Right as the last people of the group arrived, a shuttle into Gatlinburg drives up so we hopped on instead of hitching. We went straight to wendys and ate an absurd amount of food. We took a trolly to food city to buy food for five days, which is really heavy! We then decided to stay the night since it was going to storm again and when you split a motel room between 4 people it's only 10 bucks each. I swore I wouldn't spend the night in gatlinburg because this town makes me want to barf but here we are. At least the Wendy's is only a short walk from where we're staying.
Date: 2009-05-06
From: Gatlinburg TN

To: Gatlinburg TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

So our shuttle was set to leave for the trail at 9:30 so we got up around 7 and began to pack our packs and get ready. About 9, when we were just about to walk to the bus stop when it started raining, hard. We turned on the weather channel and looked at the radar and it was storms, rain, precipitation, all day. We decided to zero. We were in two groups in different hotels so I tried to call Tyler to tell them we wanted to take a zero. I didn't get him so we decided to walk in the rain to tell them. Tyler calls about halfway there and he was sitting on the shuttle waiting for it to leave. I told him to get off and we all went to wendys. I was hoping to not stay overnight is this disgusting place but the weather is making us. We took the trolly to the library to upload pictures, made trail food for dinner and I even got to watch Lost. Back on the trail tomorrow, rain or shine.
Date: 2009-05-07
From: Gatlinburg TN

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up today and it wasn't raining! Finally! We packed up and went to this place called the donut friar for a donut and some coffee. Then to catch the shuttle. It leaves at 9:30 but goes the opposite direction of the trail to Pigeon Forge before going to the trail which meant we had to not only go to Pigeon forge (another crap tourist town) but had to wait until at least 11 before any actual hiking. Thankfully though, the weather was beautiful. It was nice to actually see some mountains in the smokies. The highlight of the day was definitely Charlies Bunion, a huge rock with an incredible view. Definitely check the pics of that place. I'm staying in a full shelter and hoping for more great weather tomorrow.
Date: 2009-05-08
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Was hoping for great day but woke up to the sound of pouring rain. Some people decided to take off in it but I decided to wait it out to see if it would clear up, which of did, but not before getting worse with really high winds and heavy hail. It blew over around 11 and the sun came out so, with the exception of a soaked trail, it was a beautiful day to be hiking. Today was the last full day in the smokies which is kind of bittersweet. The trail here has been very beautiful and it also represents the first major terrain change of the trail but it has also rained a lot and some of the park rules make it feel kind of restricting. Davenport gap shelter, where we're staying the night is just a couple of miles from the boundary of the park so tomorrow it's on to new things!
Date: 2009-05-09
From: Davenport Gap Shelter 

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I officially left the great smoky mountain national park to a very cool day of hiking. The terrain was pretty flat for a while which was nice since my pack is heavy with 4 days of food. Today was cool in that we passed a lot of things: the Pigeon river, I-40, and the standing bear hostel. We got to the hostel around 11:30 so we weren't interested in staying the night but we hung out there a while and made pizza for lunch and waited out the thunderstorm for the day. The atmosphere at this place was the best I've seen but they've perfected the art of nickel and diming. $1 for 15 minutes of Internet = lame. We moved on and had to climb most of the elevation change we lost coming down out of the smokies. The shelter here is pretty small, it only sleeps 6 so I'm camped nearby. Colin has the slackline set up but I think it's about to rain again...
Date: 2009-05-10
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today has by far been my favorite day of the trip so far. It rained a lot of the night but had stopped by the time I was packing up. The sun came out and we hiked on to Max patch. It's a huge bald mountain with really nice grass well over 4000 feet. You get an incredible 360 degree view of the mountains. We hung out on the summit for a few hours just drying our gear or napping. The weather really couldn't have been more perfect. I was really wishing I had a kite to fly up there so I tied some cord to my tarp and tried to get it to fly. It worked okay but was too heavy to get more than 6 feet off the ground. Once we realized we were starting to burn we moved on and the hike the rest of the day was really nice, near some pastures and along a nice creek. We should be in Hot Springs tomorrow which is exciting because it's the first "true" trail town since the trail literaly goes down main street. I'm hoping I have cell phone service there.
Date: 2009-05-11
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs NC
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

So we were really pumped about Hot Springs but it's been quite a letdown. There aren't really any good, cheap, hiker friendly places. It's like no one likes hikers but since the trail goes through town, they're kind of forced to cater to them. There's a hostel called Elmer's which is pretty famous but the owner was a real jerk to us when we went by so we didn't stay there. It took a while to find the best deal but we finally got a small "cabin" by the river. Then there's a restaurant called Rock Bottom which was cool until some of us got ripped off by their "pick four" scam. You're supposed to get any four appetizers for like $12 but they never tell you they're each 1/4 the size. Sneaky jerks. We've got the slackline set up and I'm slowly getting better at it. I can almost stand up on it. We're all just hanging out by the river mostly talking about how we're gonna get to Damascus for Trail Days. Can't wait to leave this crap town.
Date: 2009-05-12
From: Hot Springs NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

Most of today was spent running around hot springs getting ready to hit the trail, grocery, post office, outfitter, library. We did have a great breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner which was the only real hiker-friendly place in town. There were a lot of hikers hanging outside the library talking about how to get to Damascus for trail days. My plan is to hike a couple more days to Sams Gap which is right on the interstate and catch a ride there. Cody, the Brits and a few more decided to catch a ride straight from hot springs. I left town around 3 and enjoyed the first section along the river (even saw a copperhead) before a steady climb all day. Tyler and I took a side trail up to an old firetower to catch some views. It had a great view but the really spectacular thing was all the wild flowers carpeting the forest floor nearby, mostly white and purple trilliums. I stayed up at the tower a little longer than I should have so I had about an hour to hike the remaining 3+ miles to the shelter. I was definitely pushing it to have sunlight. I was moving pretty quickly and at one point stopped to take a picture. As I was playing with my camera I noticed something moving in the trees ahead. I looked closely to realize it was 3 small bear cubs hanging in the tree. I didn't see a mama bear but I knew she must be close so I got a few bad pics of them and moved along. That makes 4 bears now! Now all I need to see is a moose but I probably have to get to at least Vermont for that to happen.
Date: 2009-05-13
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Tyler, Christel and I heard there was a hostel right off the trail on today's hike that had cheap ice cream. That's pretty much all you need to say and we're gonna be there. It turned into a little more of an adventure than we planned. We got to a road which we thought was the place to turn to find the place and got off the trail. We left a note for ben to follow. We soon realized we weren't going the way the book said to go but could probably find it. At one point we saw this old cabin near the road that was falling apart and we went in to inspect. It looked exactly like Jacob's cabin in lost. When we made a turn, we left another note for ben, which was funny because we really weren't sure where we were going. Eventually we saw a man working in his yard and asked if he'd heard of the Hemlock Hollow hostel. He told us we were heading the right direction and were almost there. Booyah. We got there and enjoyed lunch with soda and ice cream. And after a while, Ben even made his way there. They had a lot of cool things there, chickens, a strawberry garden and I saw a goat. Hiking back to the trail we realized how easy the place is to find if you get off the trail at the right place. Oh well, our way was more of an adventure. Sheltering tonight hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow. We're planning on making it all the way to Sams gap tomorrow to hopefully catch a ride to Trail days!
Date: 2009-05-14
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 17.1

So last night tyler, ben and I decided that we'd do the 17 miles to sams gap where we'd catch a ride so we could be in Damascus by tonight. We were taking a break at a nice meadow at Devils Fork gap and we made a sign to use to hitch. We took a thermarest seat and arranged duct tape to say "TRAIL DAYS." We got to the gap around 5:30 and tried to find a place to hitch. We were trying to avoid setting up right on the interstate because I think that's illegal but by 6:30, and with a storm coming, we realized it was our only shot at a hitch. We decided that if we couldn't catch a ride, we'd sleep under the overpass which is something none of us have done. Ben stood at the edge of the road with our sign and it wasn't 20 minutes before a truck hauling a pop up camper pulls around. As it's pulling in, I see a city of Decatur license plate! A tall guy hops out and introduced himself as Green Bean. He thru-hiked a several years ago and was heading up to trail days. He didn't have room for us in his pickup because he had his wife, daughter and dog in there so he starts moving all kinds of stuff from the enclosed pickup bed into the camper to make room. He also opened a cooler full of soda and I had the best cherry coke of my life. He makes room and the three of us and our packs cram in. As soon as he shut the door, it was pitch black so we had to find a headlamp. An hour and a half later the door swings open and Green Bean says "welcome to Damascus!" The city was alive with people everywhere, especially bearded men. The first order of business was to find some dinner. Someone on the street told us there was free food at the Baptist church so we went and feasted on fried chicken and all kinds of fixens and they called them. Next we walked the mile or so to "tent city" to see if we could find our peeps who hitched from Hot Springs. Walking there, we passed an apartment building and someone had a guitar was singing a song about fried chicken. I love today. We found the others and set up camp. There are already a LOT of tents here and people are having fun. I'll be taking two zeros the next two days while I enjoy all the Trail Days festivities!
Date: 2009-05-15
From: Sam's Gap

To: Trail Days 1
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up in tent city to the sound of zippers, rustling tents and last night's empties being tossed into the dumpster. Everyone there most likely could have slept til 11 but the sun made it really hot in a tent by 8. Once everyone in our group had emerged we went down to the local school theatre to attend a lecture on the history of ultralight backpacking. I found the most interesting part to be about the difference between west coast and east coast gear philosophies. After that it was down to all the gear vendors to check out the latest gear. After that we knew that ALDHA was providing a free lunch to hikers. I believe ALDHA is the American Long Distance Hiking Association. The lunch was kind of meager and they obviously didn't expect so many people to come so I went to Subway to supplement. There was also a coffee shop with wifi so I grabbed a cup and hung out there a while. Tyler, Alex and I stopped at a swimming hole in town but I found the water to be way too cold to get in further than my knees. I made my way back to tent city for a trail food dinner and to await all the commotion. There are probably twice as many people here tonight than there were last night and there are big fires everywhere. Some people are just hanging out playing music in drum circles, others playing elaborate drinking games. There was one drum circle in particular that was especially populated. Tons of people drumming, others dancing and, of course, the police trying to keep it from getting out of hand, although I don't think you could gather a more peaceful group of people. Once I was ready for bed I put in my earplugs and they block out the chaos just enough to drift off to sleep.
Date: 2009-05-16
From: Trail Days 1

To: Trail Days 2
Miles today: 0.0

This morning at 9 we all made our way to the auditorium again to hear another lecture. This time it was by a man named Gene Epsy who was the second person to ever thru-hike in the early 50s. It was really something. He spoke softly and was sometimes difficult to understand but he was very entertaining as he told stories from his trip. It was kind of crazy hearing him talk about some of the same places we've recently hiked knowing how different it must have been to hike then. He said he would sometimes go a couple of weeks without seeing anyone. It was very neat to hear all this straight from a trail legend. After this I met up with the amazing Kim and Ryan Clevenger who are some friends from Atlanta that rented a house nearby for the festival. We made plans to meet up after the hiker parade. Next was a free hot dog lunch as everyone prepared and lined up for the parade. Now, a hiker parade may not sound all that thrilling to you but I'm telling you, it was awesome. People kind of line up by hiking class but the main focus of the event is the water fight which is more or less the hikers versus the Damascus locals. They line the streets with water balloons, hoses and super soakers and wait for hikers to pass. Then they show no mercy. I swear I saw a 50+ year old man pelt a young kid in the face with a balloon and then giggle like a school girl. Everyone loves it and has a great time. The water also felt really good due to the heat. Afterward, Tyler and I packed up our things and got a ride with Ryan and Kim back to the house, which was amazing. It was a bed and breakfast, only they had the whole house which meant everyone had their own room with their own bathroom. This was the first time I've showered with real shampoo and things other than just using whatever happened to be left over in the shower. We did laundry and they made a really nice dinner. Afterward we relaxed in the living room watching Beetlejuice. Yeah, that Beetlejuice. I'm pretty sure I'm in for the best night of sleep since I've been on the trail. Life is great.
Date: 2009-05-17
From: Trail Days 2

To: Campsite
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning, Kim and Ryan cooked an amazing breakfast. Sausage, eggs, pancakes. It was great. Then we went into town to take care of resupply while they biked the creeper trail. Then they took us to where we were picked up at Sam's Gap. It was cold and raining as we were dropped off right off the interstate and took off into the woods about 5. We knew we wouldn't make the next shelter since we were starting so late in the day. We didn't check the weather before we left so were a little surprised to hear that the temperature in Damascus would get down into the 30s which meant it would probably freeze as high up as we were. We found a good campsite as out of the wind as possible and are bracing for the coldest night we'll probably see.
Date: 2009-05-18
From: Campsite

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel
Miles today: 18.9

My watch said it was 34 degrees under my tarp when I woke up which means it definitely froze at some point in the night. I was wearing every article of clothing I brought and was warm enough. I woke up at one point and my knees were cold so I tied a bandanna to each and it helped. When I got out and could see since the clouds had gone, I realized we were right next to big bald which means we had hiked further than we thought we had yesterday. As I climbed it, there was frost on the mud on the trail. Big bald was another really awesome view. We hikes hard all day and made it to Uncle Johnny's just before the evening shuttle to town left. They let Tyler, Christel and I borrow some bikes so we put them in the back of the van so we could ride back. We all went to this Mexican restaurant to feast and then rode to a movie theater to see if we could see a movie. The only thing playing was X-Men which really isn't my kind of film but it was nice to watch a movie and have some popcorn. Next we went to Sonic for some ice cream and then had to figure out how to ride home. Tomorrow, we're planning on riding to town to take care of resupply. I definitely miss my bike!
Date: 2009-05-19
From: Uncle Johnny's Hostel

To: Beauty Spot
Miles today: 10.6

Uncle Johny does a morning shuttle to town so Tyler and I were able to throw the bikes in again. We had some breakfast at this little deli. (it was in a gas station) then we rode to town to take care of going to the post office, grocery, and of course, Wendy's. I journaled some at the hostel before hitting the trail. I was a moderate uphill climb out of town. As I walked up to Beauty Spot, I could see a whole bunch of people hanging out around the fire on top. They were mostly alumni still haning out post Trail Days. Lumpy (class of 08) introduced himself and gave me a beer. We all had a great time talking about hiking and laughing a lot. One of the guys, I forgot his name, made this huge bomb out of wax that really just caused a huge flame to fly out of the fire. Pretty exciting actually. We watched the sun go down over the mountains and went to bed.
Date: 2009-05-20
From: Beauty Spot

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

One hiker told us that the first mountain we were to go over today, Unaka, is one of his favorites on the trail. It was really unique. It was a spruce forest on top and felt as though it were far from the Tennesse hills. The guide book said it's reminiscent of the Maine woods, which gets me really excited about hiking Maine! The rest of the day wasn't too difficult and we got to the shelter nice and early so we had time to make a nice fire to hang out by. Tonight, it's Christel, Tyler, myself and two brothers, Spreadsheet and Government. So here's a story I'm probably obligated to tell even though it's kind of gross. I was peeling some skin off my leg where I had gotten a little burned at trail days and it was coming off in big pieces. I lay one on a rock by the fire and let it get nice and crispy. Then Tyler and christel told me I wouldn't get to Maine if I didn't take a bite. Let's just say, I'm going to Maine. (I spit it out though) Arent you glad you heard that?