morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-03-20
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Keith shuttled us back to Walasi-Yi Center around 8:40. Mailed back a shirt, trowel, flip-flops, and a few smaller items. Hit the trail at 9:10. Rain and cold is supposed to hit today. Greyhound and Krispy Kritter and 2 left around the same time. Greyhound is amazing. He puts in 10 extra miles a day, just because he likes to hike. Base weight of 8-9 pounds. Shared more conversation. Learned a lot. Made it to Low Gap, cold and windy all day. 35-40 degree hiking. Arrived at around 2:30 in the shelter and 4 people were already there curled up in their bags. More were pouring in. Slept 10 in a shelter for 6. The late comers had to tent. Windy, cold, around 33 degrees and rain from 3:00 all night long. Very cold the next day.
Date: 2006-03-21
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 14.9

Hit the trail early, was the first one out of the shelter. Leap-frogged with Krispy Kritter all day. Ate a snack at Blue Mountain Shelter around 10:30, 7 or so miles complete. Continued leap-frogging with Krispy Kritter to Unicol Gap where the two of them will end their hike. Saw my first bear of the hike, got great pictures. It was cold and windy all day with a touch of rain. When I got down to Unicol Gap, KK and GH were hitchin into Hiawassi. They pointed to a truck where there was more trail magic. One of the thru hiker's uncle came down and was making hamburgers and hot dogs. I grab one of each, ate it. As I started, the fog was rather thick. Through the fog I saw a raise of a hand. It was GH. I waved, turned and started up. In seconds the figures were gone. I'll miss them. The hike to Rocky Mountain was hard. Went from 2950 to 3810 in 1.3 miles. Very hard. Climb then, later in the day, went up Tray Mountain, 3115 to 4930 in 2.5 miles. At Tray Mountain Shelter it was crowded again. A father and his 2 younger boys who were out for the night and "just the Ryans" and I sheltered. Posey Picker, 3 Australian sisters, Thelma and Louise, and others tented. It got cold, very cold, and windy. Temps dropped overnight to 15-20 degrees with wind chills near 0 degrees. Was warm in my bag. My second 15 plus mile day. Ready for another 10 plus day to Dick's Creek Gap to get into Hiawassi to resupply.
Date: 2006-03-22
From: Tray Mt. Shelter

To: Dicks Creek Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to cold, very cold. Dressed for hiking, got my food bag. Water bottle was mostly frozen. Too cold and windy to eat on top of Tray Mountain so I thought it better to hike up trail to a more protected spot. Bitterly cold, easily 0 degrees wind chill. Ate breakfast - kept hiking. My legs were feeling a lack of food. Very weak. Not ready for the climbs. I lumbered up them. Hard climb from Addis Gap to Kelly Knos. Just under 1000 feet in 1.1 miles. Ground was frozen, hard and slick. Made it to Dicks Creek Gap. Hitched a ride in 10 minutes to Hiawassi. Posey Picker, Car Bomber, and another girl jumped in for a ride to the Blueberry Patch. I got let off and found the Holiday Inn Express. Did laundry, went to post office, bought food, ate dinner at Daniel's Steakhouse. Jump in the whirlpool. On the way back from the whirlpool I saw the computer was empty and started entering my journals. Only got 3 in when who said hi, Wolf Paw. He hitched in from Unicol. He got lighter gear at Walsi-Yi Center. I will probably see them at breakfast. Can't hold my eyes open. Going to bed - shuttle at 8:00 to start my 6 day hike to NOC. All is good.
Date: 2006-03-23
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

Left Hiawassee with the 8:01 shuttle back to the trail head. My book tells me there is a 780 foot elevation change in 0.4 miles. That blew my mind. However, it turned out something was not correct. In fact, the 11+ miles was a good hike with reasonable elevation changes. Leaving Hiawassee, the weather channel said partly sunny, 50-55 day, 35 night. The day never warmed up past 30 and the night was 20 with winds of around 10-15 mph. Finished Georgia today. Seven days from Springer to North Carolina. NC started out very hard. Welcome to NC. Arrived at Muskrat Creek Shelter around 2:00. There was still room so I stayed. It got colder around 4:00, around 25 or so. It then began to snow. I ate quickly, jumped in my bag and fell asleep around 8:00.
Date: 2006-03-24
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Big Spring Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to 20 degrees, windy, 2-3 inches of snow. Water bottle and filter are both frozen. I managed to get about 1/2 a liter between the two. Although I like to be hiking by 7:00, I took my time to let the others break the path in the trail. I was out by 8:20. Just had time to set out my bag, eat a bit and went to sleep. At 6:00pm the temp was already at 22 degrees, and windy, very windy. That night dropped to 15-17 degrees. I was warm, safe, with almost a 20 mile day. Life is good.
Date: 2006-03-25
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I was tired of not having any water in the morning so I put 3/4 of a liter in my sleeping bag. To make the 9 miles by 11:00, I knew I needed to leave early and I did not have time to mess with my water. 5:50 I was up. By 6:30 I was on the trail. Only 2 climbs today so I was confident I could make it with 30-60 minutes to spare. I was done by 10:00. It had snowed a bit more overnight so being the first one on the trail, I did take one wrong turn. Actually, the trail turned and I didn't. I found myself standing there, unable to find the trail. I went back a bit, found a blaze that went to the stream. I looked across the stream and did not see any path or blaze. My first thought was, no way, not down the stream, but sure enough, about 30 yards down, rock stepping the whole way, a path and blaze appeared. The path was hard but ok considering the snow and wetness. Cold and windy all day. Temps around 25, with wind made for 10 degree wind chills. Everyone's complaining about the cold but I seem to like it so far. Along the trail I heard there was a shuttle that picked hikers up at Winding Stair Gap, some 28.4 miles from where I stayed. The late shuttle, however, was at 11:00am. I plotted my day and figured if I got to Big Spring Shelter today, I could get up early and pound out 9 miles by 11:00. So I went for it. Everything went fine except at the end of the day was a hand-over-hand climb up Albert Mountain, and Albert Mountain was a 5220 elevation. I started my climb at 5:00. One hour of light left and I knew I was the last one on the trail with a hard mile plus ahead. The path was hard with 40 foot drop offs. I took my time because if I slipped now, only bad things would come of it. It all worked out. Made the shelter right before dark. There was even a spot left so I took it. I don't have gloves, so my hands are frozen. Think if I wasn't so cold, and I was under a time restraint, I would have seen the humor. Actually, it was rather cool. Caught the shuttle, into Franklin for the night. Did laundry, thawing out, ate, life is good. Also, 2 instances of trail magic, both as if on cue, juice pouches when I needed them the most. This is the second time trail magic saved my ass. How do they know?
Date: 2006-03-26
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

First zero day spent in Franklin. I feel pretty good but with 115 miles including the approach trail in my first 10 days, I thought I would give myself a rest day. I have 57 miles to go in four days, then I hit the Smokies. Next zero day planned for Hot Springs. Franklin is rather dead on Sunday. Everything, including the coffee shops are closed. Ate breakfast at small caf©. Mr. Breeze left for the trail today. He is the last original person at the hiker hostel the first night. He went directly to Springer with conductor. The rest of us did the approach. I heard that there were over 100 people at the Holiday Inn last night. The very cold weather is causing everyone to clump up. I am 1-2 days ahead of that group and plan to stay that way. With food, warmth, and fluids, I will be ready.
Date: 2006-03-27
From: Franklin, NC

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Shuttle got us out late, hit the trail @ 9:30 which, for a 16 mile day is very late. 80% of the day was a climb. Went from 3750 to 5340. It became mild around noon or so, but since I left my shorts in Hiawassi, I needed to leave my shell pants on. A bit sweaty. We stopped at the Wayah Bald Observation Tower to eat lunch. Got to the shelter around 5:00 after a solid day of hiking. One spot left so I took it. The bear bag pulls were all broken so we needed to hang our food bags with our own rope. Mine got stuck, of course, but I eventually got it untangled. It became cold again around 5:30, but still not as bad as it has been. A low of 30-35 for the night, light wind. Nice for sleeping.
Date: 2006-03-28
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Wesser, NC, NOC
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Started the day at sun up, poked around, and on the trail by 6:30. Although the trail only had two ups, they were steep. The downs were steep as well so for only an 11+ mile day my feet are pretty banged up. The morning was mild, and made for a nice hiking day. The trail was not nearly as muddy as yesterday, but nothing but roots and rocks. There was a fire tower on Wesser Bald but I passed on climbing it since there were no views with all the haze. The bad thing about hiking early is that the haze does not seem to burn off until late afternoon, and by then I am in the shelter. After arriving the NOC at 12:15, I decided to take a room to eat, rest and attend to my blisters. Two days ago they were smaller then a pea. Today, there are bigger than a nickel. I drained them and wrapped them for the night. With the Smokies in 3 days, they are a bit of a worry right now. I have my biggest climb to date, tomorrow with at 16+ mile day, then into Fontana Dam the next with a 12+ day. The blisters will need to get better quickly. Ate dinner with group. Mr. Breeze & Pilgrim were among them. Posey Picker is in the NOC but did not come down. Not many people are talking about doing the 16 tomorrow. Too much of a climb. I don¢t disagree but we will see how far I get. 8:00, all packed, going to bed.
Date: 2006-03-29
From: Wesser, NC, NOC

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

Left NOC exactly at 8:00. I climbed, climbed and climbed. Hard day as expected. Jammed to Phantom, Peter Gabriel and Counting Crows all day. Arrived @ Sassafras Shelter @ 11:10. Kick Ass. 7 miles with an elevation change of 3,000 feet. Biggest climb to-date. Within 1 miles I had my wind-breaker off and 12 miles later took my vest off. Warm day, no breeze, 50 degrees. At the shelter met So-Ho, CJ - the 2 hikers who are named for various latin words. Grabbed some food, left by 11:30. Picked up Pilgrim @ Stecoah Gap. Still had 2+ miles to go. The last climb kicked my ass. 650 feet in just over 12 a mile. All toes and calves. The rest of your foot never touched the ground. 16.1 miles of the hardest day yet. The Brown Fork Gap Shelter slept 8 but there were only 4 of us so it was nice. Three other tents were pitched. Weather was nice, fixed first hot meal in over a week. A good day to be over with. Life is Good!!
Date: 2006-03-30
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up and on the trail @ 7:00. Pilgrim, Posey Picker and Mr. Breeze just pulled out. The two others were still sound asleep in the shelter. Never really got going all day. The trail, although mostly down hill was steep, rocky, roots and sloped. My feet hurt. Forgot to take my vitamin as I planned. Made it to NC28 and thought it was a 1 mile hike down the road to the dam. WRONG!! 1.4 miles of more ups and downs and we came out by the picnic area by the dam. Around 12:30-12:45. Phoned Fontana Village for pick up and the four of us jumped in. When we got to the Inn, they were all booked up. I just happened to call from the NOC and got a room. Splitting it w/Pilgrim. Picked up my mail drop. (Thanks Mel) Bought more food, showered, and will eat at 5:45. If all goes well, I will be in the Smokies tomorrow. Life is good.
Date: 2006-03-31
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up, mailed package back, caught 9:00 shuttle to dam. Yesterday was my worse day yet, but so far, today is better. Went from 1715 to 4020 in 4 miles. After that rest was good. Short sleeve shirt all day. Rain is supposed to happen tonight. 11 miles today. Blisters are no better but no worse. Big shelter, sleeps 16, 9 so far with at least 2 more coming. Tried tortillas and peanut butter, not bad. Tuna and mayo in another hour. In the Smokies. Day one was good. Planning on 11.7 tomorrow. Taking it easy for the first two days in the Smokies to rest up a bit. After that a 14 then 15 then 14 mile day. Mice are already spotted in the shelter. Still light and mice, not good. Day 15 - Life is Good.
Date: 2006-04-01
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: light rain

Was supposed to be a recovery day. First 6 miles were good. Last 7+ gave me the Smokies smackdown. Sharp up and downs the rest of the way to the shelter. Very muddy and rocky. I know I was in trouble when the sign said "No horses past this point". Same group as yesterday. 12 total. Pi is down to a 20 lb food pack. Nice guy. Train and Critter, Neffa, Gumby, Coyote, Pilgrim, and a group of 4 guys. Tomorrow is Clingman's Dome, the highest part of the AT @ 6643. Shelter will be 4 miles after that, 14+ in all. Smoky rules make thru hikers stay at the shelters. Therefore the group will probably be together most of the time. Weather was great, 60 or so. Nights are mild, around 35-40. Life is good.
Date: 2006-04-02
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day was good, warm, somewhat dry until Clingman's Dome. Rained, windy. Clingman's Dome was closed but I went up anyway. Too windy to eat lunch so I moved on. The climb after Clingman's was very different than the way up. Very rocky, wet, snowy. Had to add 1/2 mile down hill to shelter. Jim, an ATC trail runner was there. 4 hikers were already there. They were out for 5 nights going from shelter to shelter. Pilgrim's water bottle leaked on my bag. Not a good thing but foot box and torso section still ok. A big storm came through at night. It was crystal clear on one side of the ridge line but a huge thunderstorm on the other. Cool to watch. Eventually the storm hit. Lightning, thunder, heavy rain, wind and marble size hail. All went well. Good night sleep. Life is good.
Date: 2006-04-03
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Day started out warmer, 40 or so. Trail conditions were bad. Wet, muddy, and the trails turned to streams. My feet were soaked before I even did the 1/2 mile back to the trailhead. Got to Newfound Gap around noon. Mulled around for a bit. This is the major cross road of the Smokies and is a tourist destination. Kind of nice seeing people again but also nice to move on. The trail sucked all day. Mud and water, but once on the ridge line the views were the best I have ever seen, worth the sucky hike. With the late start at 8:30, the time at Newfound Gap, the bad trail conditions and a lot of photos, I arrive at the shelter late, 5:00. I quickly got cold. Hands froze but I managed to eat a bit. Almost out of food. One meal left for dinner tomorrow. Night was cold, very cold. Low of 25 degrees.
Date: 2006-04-04
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

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

Strange day, woke up, very cold. Put back on wet, frozen sock and put into my frozen shoes. Shoe laces would not bend. Too cold to eat. Hit the trail. 1/2 mile back to the trail, was very steep and wet. Ridge line was windy and cold. Then you would transverse to the other side of the mountain and no wind, sunny and warm. More great views. Lots of ice. Got to the shelter first in the group. Learned more about Phoenix, the thru hiker who died a few nights back. Bummer. The day was nice mid afternoon. When I got to the shelter - TRAIL MAGIC. Wow, what a lifesaver, again. 2 oranges, 1 apple, candy bars, carrots, cookies, can of coke. You cannot believe how much this helped. Thanks Pete. Brought everything up 3.9 miles. Getting cold again. Back down to 25 expected. Last day in the Smokies. 7 miles out tomorrow then the big push to Hot Springs. Zero day in 3 days. Life is good.
Date: 2006-04-05
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up @ 6:10am, 5 minutes before my alarm went off. Still dark, warmer than previous night, around 35 or so. First one up, first one out. Hit the trail @ 7:10. What a great day. By being first on the trail, I knew no one was around for miles in either direction. Stopped, took a shot of a beautiful sunrise. There was some wind but I was getting warm so I took off all my layers by 8:00. A bit cold but it worked out. The views, the sounds, kept on being fantastic. As the sun got higher, the mountains took on a life of their own. I tried to get a picture but the brush was in the way. I tried to get to the top of my morning climb, of all places, called Sunup Knob, but with every step I could see the mountains change. Too late for the picture, but for the rest of my life, this morning will be magical for me. After the climb, I started my final desent out of the Great Smokies. I went from 5050 to 1985 in 6.1 miles. Most was rocky but the last 2 miles let up and was great. The Smokies gave me safe passage for 5 days and 5 nights. It threw just a hick-up of what it is capable of and I am thankful for that. I went on to the Standing Bear Farm hostel. Only 10.4 miles today, done at noon. I was planning to move on but why ruin a good day. Took a bunk, ate, already feeling rested. I have 33.4 miles with big climbs over the next 2 days to Hot Springs. First a 14.6, followed by an 18.8. Hot Springs on Friday. Life is good.
Date: 2006-04-06
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Old Roaring Fork Shelter Site
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night at the SBF hostel was fun. About 20 total were there. Got up around 6:30 but did not hit the trail until 8:00. Lazy morning. Fussed a bit, reevaluated my food and left a lot behind. Never go to the store hungry. The day started out nice, 40 or so. The first hill took 2 hours but seemed ok. Trail magic at Brown Gap. 2 hot dogs and a soda before it started to rain. Once on Max Patch wind and rain kicked in. Too bad, cool place. Of course just as I got off Max Patch wind and rain stopped almost on cue. Pushed on to the newer Roaring Fork Shelter. 3:15 and still feeling good so with 5.7 miles to the next, I took off. In about 2.5 miles ran into the old Roaring Fork shelter. Still there so I stopped to take a look, older yes, but not as bad as some I have already started at. One person there, Posey Picker came a few minutes later, so we decided to stay. With the books showing it is no longer here, there is plenty of room to spread out. Will night out the severe thunderstorms forecasted for tonight. Hot Springs tomorrow. Can't wait.
Date: 2006-04-07
From: Old Roaring Fork Shelter Site

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

2 more showed up at the shelter last night. 5 total. Never did rain. Woke up to a warm morning. Two things came to mind. First, it will be a nice hiking day. Second, the weather only changes like this if a big storm is coming in. As it ends up, about 2 miles after the shelter, we were told that severe thunderstorms are headed our way with tornados. Tennessee did have tornados but I arrived in Hot Springs @ 12:15. 14.7 miles in 5 hours, never stopped, snacked on the fly. Hot Springs is full, no room on Saturday, so I will be moving on. Bummer. I need a zero day but I have to push on in the morning. My new boots are too big but my other ones are shot so they will have to do until Damascus in 2 weeks or so. Need to shave weight so I am sending back my filter, cookpot, stove, longjohns, heavy weight shirt and swapped out my 15 degree bag to a 30 degree. I have 10 bad bites, spider I think, so I added insect repellant. After 10 days, they are finally healing. Four to five days until food again, so I leave here with a full load. The heavy carb diet had kept my stomach big. 270 miles, or over 12 hard miles each hiking day and I am still fat. Go figure. Stats to date: Total days - 22 Hiking days - 21 Total miles - 270.7 Average per hiking day - 12.8 Zero days - 1 (Franklin) Turned ankles - 4 (2 today) Falls - 0 Tenting days - 0 Shelters - 14 Hostels/Other - 7 Poops in the woods - 2 (Smokies don't believe in privy's) Stumbles and/or near death experiences - 10,642 Adventure - priceless
Date: 2006-04-08
From: Hot Springs

To: Hemlock Hollow Cabins
Miles today: 16.3

Wow, what a difference a day makes. The thunderstorms came in last night. Not really all that bad when you are in a town. Hot Springs and I did not work out well. For over 100 miles I have been looking forward to my zero day. I knew that hitting a town like this on a weekend is a bad thing, especially a bad weather weekend. First the hikers ahead of you get into town and stay due to the bad weather, so the groups begin to morge. Then you add the towns real focus, tourism, and the last group in gets screwed. That's what happened to me. Found a room for Friday night, but everything booked for Saturday night. Everybody was scampering for a place to stay and one by one they were finding one. But sorry, even on the trail, I am still who I am and I simply don't or won't scamper. So I packed up and left town at 11:00. A late start, very late, but I left. 11 miles to the first shelter. Elevation change up the whole way, from 1290 to 3550. Normally not bad but rain is expected all day. And rain is what it did. Not heavy, just constant. I was soaked and cold. With the late start I hit the shelter @ 4:00. Small shelter, full, and the group there was not overly accommodating. That was ok since I planned on going 5.5 more miles to a place no one seemed to know anything about. I figured everything would be taken, but I could tent out and still use the facilities. I know with the overcast sky it would get dark in the mountains by 7:00. Still time to set up my tent. When I got there, a cabin was still available so for $30.00 + tax, I got this adorable one room, wood floor, patchwork quilt bed, table, microwave, refrigerator, etc., with heat and good lighting. Man, has this place lifted my spirits. First class for fog tonight. 16.3 miles today, a day that was supposed to be a zero day. But I am glad to be here, and not in town. The question is, will I move on, or take my zero day here, for my B-Day.
Date: 2006-04-09
From: Hemlock Hollow Cabins

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy B-Day to me. 47 and feeling every day. Almost took my zero day today, but decided to take off. Left late, 10:30, it is always hard to leave a soft bed, nice room, etc. 2000 foot elevation change right off the bat. Got it done. The rest of the day's hiking was weird. Poorly marked, steep rock climb, hard downs. Had to get here so I could make Erwin in 2 days. 19 hard miles tomorrow, 17 the next. Left foot still hurting a lot below toes. New shoes have not helped. 600 mg of vitamin I, no effect. Put 2nd sock on that foot to try and cushion it, no effect. Since I want to start hitting 15-20 mile day regularly, I will need to figure it out. Good day. 40-45 all day and sunny. Same for the next 2 days, I think. If all goes well, I will take my zero day planned for Hot Springs in Erwin. I think I am in need of a rest day. Life is good, a zero day will be better.