morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-02
From: Springer Mountain shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: light rain

It rained most of the night and blew hard at times. I've been told that this spring has been unusually dry so I guess we need the rain to keep the springs running.I got up at 7.30 and packed up, in the rain. Suddenly I realized I couldn't find my binoculars. I tore my pack apart looking for them - twice. No Bins! The only place I could have left them was back at Black Gap Shelter, 1.5 miles back at the base of Springer Mt. Well, the day was still young and the distance not far (1.5 miles), so off I went. When I got to the shelter, no Bins! So, back up Springer Mt I went, for the second time in two days.Back at my tent I had lunch and enjoyed the fact that it had quit raining. I dried (mostly) some of my gear then packed up to hit the trail. On a hunch, I went over to where I had first set my pack down and kicked at the leaves, just in case. There were my Bins, hidden under the leaves. 3.0 extra miles of trail today and they were hiding at my camp all along! Oh well! But, if this is the worst that happens to me, it's going to be a great trip!I got out of camp at 12.45, headed north on the AT for the first time. Felt good to be following white blazes instead of the blue blazes of the Approach Trail.Just before Stover Creek Shelter I topped out of a small valley with some nice big hemlocks, and suddenly a barred owl called "who cooks for you". I called back and we carried on a conversation for a few minutes.It was actuqlly quite hot today in the afternoon sun with no leaves out on the trees on the ridge tops yet to provide shade. I stopped for rest and photos at Long Creek Falls then pushed on for Hawk Mt Shelter. Rolled in at about 5.30 and set up my tent beside Alpine Strider.The shelter is full and I guess there may be another 20 people camped nearby. I was glad to stop because my feet have been wet for 2 days and are starting to blister. The sun today means dry socks tomorrow! The outside of my left knee is bothering me too, especially on the downhill, and on the uphill, and there hasn't been much level terrain lately. So, I'm moving a little slower than I usually do with a pack and am glad I've planned low mile days for today and tomorrow.I couldn't help but think that today was Monday and I could have been going to the office and banging out another BA! But instead, I had another great day on the trail! Thanks so much Pauline (and Mike J, Mark and Skip) for being so supportive of this trip in spite of the extra work I've left behind.PS Overnight several Barred Owls carried on a lasting discussion from all around the shelter. I have no idea what the discussion was all about but they sure seemed to be enjoying it!
Date: 2007-04-03
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

It was a hot and dry day today with sunny skies and light winds. I had come prepared for highs in the 50's and nights near freezing. I was not prepared for hot sun and highs in the mid 80's. Sunscreen was appreciated today, and to think I almost didn't bring any to save weight. With no leaves on the trees on the ridge tops yet there was nowhere to hide from the sun and my pale CO legs 'aint seen sun in a long time!Had a fun day going in and out of spring. On the ridges it's still winter with no leaves out and very few flowers popping up. In the Gaps however, spring has sprung. There are leaves partly out on most trees, flowers are in bloom, and the woods are looking very green.Today was a considerably more rugged day with many more long ups followed immediately by steep downhills into the next gap. I left the shelter about 9.30, passed thru Hightower Gap, then up and over a steep hill and back down to Horse Gap. Then it was up Sassafras Mt with a steep 700 foot climb. I've read that some folks call it "Kick your Ass Mt". Personally I didn't find it that tough, just hot and humid with no water for the next 6 miles.I got some good looks at Black-throated Green Warblers on top of Sassafras Mt but there aren't really many birds up on the ridge tops yet. I heard an Eastern Bluebird but couldn't track it down.From Cooper Gap up and over Justus Mt was a tougher climb for me than Sassafras because it was steeper, hotter, just as long, and I was beginning to wonder how long my water would hold out. I had brought 2 full liters with me and was still wanting more. Justus Creek was very nice when I finally arrived. I soaked my blazing dogs and filtered just enough water to get the next 1.3 miles to Gooch Mt Shelter.I could hear Army Rangers on the firing range down in the valley off and on all day. Just after dark a running gunbattle erupted just across the valley from the shelter. It quickly died away then resumed again 15 minutes later just around the corner from the shelter! After all the automatic weapons fire finally died away we could hear lots of yelling and shouting from the rangers - they must have been having a ball! Apparently Camp Merrill is nearby and this sort of thing is expected along this stretch of trail.I found the downhills tougher than the uphills. My left knee is painful and by trying to duck walk downhill I managed to create two good blisters on my right foot. Such is life on the AT.I got to Gooch Mt Shelter by 4.00 and hung everything up to dry in the hot sun. By 7.30 pm a fierce thunderstorm rolled through and soaked my tent again. Oh well, it was nice to be dry while it lasted. Now that the ranger gun battle has ended I can call it a day too. Another great day on the AT!
Date: 2007-04-05
From: Blood Mountain Shelter

To: Neels Gap, Walasi Yi
Miles today: 2.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to 22 degrees and a 25+ mph wind. What the heck, perfect conditions to get out and watch the sunrise from a peak with a 360' view! After putting on just about every piece of clothing I had carried up the mt, I began to stumble my way back down the mt.I had been afraid that my right ankle would baloon up over night and make for some tough hiking down to Neels Gap this morning. This short piece of trail is said to be steep and rocky and tough on the knees. Once under way I took it very slow and steady and managed to creep along, arriving at Neels Gap about 10.30. Alpine Strider had gone blazing on down and had reserved a room for me in the hostel so I was in no need to rush to beat the crowds.Mountain Crossings is an excellent outfitter in the Walasi-Yi building that caters to and cares for AT thru-hikers. I purchased enough food to get me to Dicks Creek Gap, about 4 days up the trail. The guys in back managed to find and patch the slow leak in my nice new thermarest that had been letting me down (literally) every night since i'd left Springer Mt. "No charge for the time or repair"; what a place! I also did laundry, took a shower, and found a few items to send on ahead to myself at the N.O.C. This will give me another 10 days to decide if I can really live without them before going into the Smokies.I also got a chance to read a number of guestbook entries from friends that have logged in to my web site this past week. How great to hear such words of support and encouragement from people I love and respect! A great lift for spirits that are stil high; thanks everyone!I tried all day to post entries to my web page but could not get a web data connection tht would last long enough to allow me to do any editing. Sorry guys but it will have to wait until later down the trail.
Date: 2007-04-06
From: Neels Gap, Walasi Yi

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I got up and tried to access the internet again to download journal entries, but couldn't get through. I was really hoping to upload my journal entries today before leaving Walasi-Yi.I mailed a box to myself c/o the Nantahala Outdoor Center and think I've reduced my pack weight about 4 lbs; doesn't sound like much but today it felt like a fair amount.I hit the trail about 9.45 in a cold hard north wind wearing most of my clothes (at least they were all clean now!). The temp was hovering at 32. Up the mountain I went on the steep climb and was soon warm enough inspite of the wind.Alpine Strider, Terrapin and I hiked together off and on most of the morning. I also leapfrogged back and forth with Stephanie and Rachel, two sister thru-hikers I first met at the top of Amicalola falls on my first day out. They are from MI and I guess them to be in their late 20's. I also leapfrogged several times with Joseph and Marie, a young couple from Athens (near Atlanta) who are on their first backpacking trip and planning to go all the way to Hot Springs, NC. Joseph grinds stumps for a living and has some amazing tatoos on his left arm and shoulder with lots of red and other colors. I haven't been able to get a good look at them yet or ask him about them, but they are both good folks to be around.I hiked up and over Wildcat Mt with a ver friendly gentleman who was out day hiking to Woodley Gap Shelter. He is the administrator of a military school in Gainesville, GA and was a lot of fun to visit with as we walked along. He had followed some other hikers on trail journals and was interested in reading mine. Just one of the many neat folks I have met on this trip so far.Not much for bird life today due to the high winds and the cold weather. I am guessing that this latest cold front has pushed out the flocks of migrants I was seeing the past few days. I got a few good looks at juncos and towhees today - Oh, and I got a great look at a Black Vulture that went over me at an overlook going up Cowrock Mt.It is quite cold and very windy here at the Low Gap Shelter. I am tenting again as the shelter is full and about 15 are camping around it. The temp is 33' in my tent and my thumbs are having a devil of a time typing this tiny querty keyboard correctly! Two wrong letters for every right word.But, all in all, another great day on the AT!
Date: 2007-04-07
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up at 6.00 and decided it was too cold to get up so I laid back down again. By 7.00 it was not getting any warmer so I got up anyway. My merlin said it was 13' out and the 15 mph north wind made it feel even colder. I had brought my water bladder inside the tent and stuffed it under my thermarest and it stayed thawed but the tube had frozen so the net result was the same. I'd left my 4L water tank sitting under my tent fly and it was frozen solid. So much for a hot breakfast! I ate a granola bar and a cliff bar in my bag then packed up and hit the trail by 8.30.Just as I left the shelter area it began to snow flurrie, which kept up most of the morning. It was a relatively easy walk to Chatahochie Gap, mostly along old woods roads. In spite of the cold and windy weather it was actually very pleasant walking once I got moving. There was supposed to be very nice views of Brasstown Bald, the highest peak in Ga, from the trail here but I was never really sure which peak it was because they all appeared to have trees on them.The walk down to Unicoi Gap was fairly steep and rocky and I was very slow. My left knee is still quite painful on the downhills and I do not trust my right ankle much yet, though it is doing remarkably well all things considered. I am just thankful to still be walking north and basically keeping up with my schedule.Made it to Unicoi Gap where Gavel and Flax Seed were hitching a ride to Helen, GA to stay at the Day's Inn; they'd had enough of the cold. Alpine Strider, Thumper and I decided to continue on and camp at a low elevation somewhere up the trail. We filled our water bags at a stream crossing a short ways out of Unicoi Gap and proceeded to carry them all the way up and over Rocky Mt and down to Indian Grave Gap where we eventually camped. This put us another 2.5 miles beyond Unicoi, which was further than my feet wanted to walk today, but the terrain and altitude left us little choice. It is 9.00 pm, I'm in my tent, and my Merlin says it is already down to 24'. This time I have stuffed my platypus water bag and water filter down inside the foot of my sleeping bag. I hope they don't leak!While talking with thumper tonight we discovered he knows Jackie Sulek from the Audubon Society in his home town in FL! I worked for Jackie as a Ranger-Naturalist on the Long Trail on Mt Mansfield, VT the summer of 1979 and haven't seen her since. What a small world! Thumper is from FL and is a dentist retired from the FL Dept of corrections. He told us his most famous patient was Ted Bundy. Thumper has been good company to hike with today and is quite interesting to talk with. I first met him at the top of Springer Mt signing the register on April 2. He is also hoping to "do the whole enchilada", as he puts it; making Alpine Strider laugh at how we Americans butcher the English language!Another great day on the AT!
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: few clouds

It turned out to be another cold night last night (19'), but not quite as cold as the night before. My water tank did not freeze (or leak in my sleeping bag) so I had water for a hot breakfast.Thumper and I headed up Tray Mt at about 9.15 this am. The climb was short and sweet but took only about 1/2 hour. On the summit it was relatively calm, sunny and warm with clear skies and good views. From the top we had great views of Brasstown Bald, the highest peak in GA. Some of the best views of the trip so far! The forest near the top was a lot like the summit of Blood Mt, a forest of pygmy mt laurel.North of Tray Mt were several miles of very nice trail that was great fun to walk. Relatively easy grades, gentle terrain, and grassy trails along the crest of narrow ridge tops with nice views off both sides through the tops of leafless trees.Thumper, Gavel and Flax Seed decided to camp at Addis Gap but I decided to keep going to Deep Gap Shelter. This meant 2 more miles and over Kelly Knob, another 1,000 foot climb, then back down again to the same elevation I was at in Addis Gap! It turned out not to be too bad and I made it to the shelter in about 50 minutes. It looks to be another cold night again tonight and the radio is predicting all time record low temps. I brought my filter and water bag to bed with me again tonight!I hope everyone had as good an Easter Sunday as I did!
Date: 2007-04-09
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 2.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Not as cold last night because a complete overcast had rolled in over night. I had slept with both my water containers again last night but probably didn't need to. I got on the trail about 9.00 and made it to Dick's Creek Gap by about 11.00. There was a lot of moderately steep downhill along the way so I was taking it pretty slow.When I arrived at the gap I found my first "Trail Magic". Indiana Jones, a thru-hiker from a few years ago had driven out from Indiana to meet a friend and had stopped here to feed any hikers that happened by! She had spread a tablecloth on the picnic table at the trail crossing and laid out a wide variety of fruit, cookies, cold soft drinks, sliced meat and cheese; just sit down and help yourself! What a surprise, and what a Lady! Thanks so much Indiana Jones!Alpine Strider, Joseph & Marie, and I all got a ride from the owner of Cloud9 Hostel down to the Blueberry Patch Hostel in Hiawassee. There, we met Gary Poteat, the owner and another trail legend in his own right. A former thru-hiker turned hostel proprietor and all around very nice man. With us 4 the hostel was full with 8 folks.After settling in and taking showers we headed to Hiawassee to pick up supplies. I also spent an hour or so and uploaded a bunch of journal entries to the web. We had dinner in town then Gary picked us up and brought us all back to the hostel where he entertained us with words of wit and wisdom from his years of trail experience. A very nice evening with some great folks. Oh, another guest (whose name now eludes me) is a true Durango native, born and raised! She and her boyfriend are hiking the trail together and were tking a few days to let her knee injury heal. What a small world!If you ever get a chance to hike through this area, be sure to stop and stay at the Blueberry Patch with Gary and Lennie. They are genuine folks who care. They make their home your home, and I sure felt at home with them. Thanks a bunch Gary!
Date: 2007-04-10
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Took my first "Zero" day today (I hiked 0.0 miles, on the AT that is). I had a great breakfast made by Gary and Lennie, which of course featured their famous pancakes and home made blueberry syrup! What a treat! I can't say enough about these good folks and their generous hospitality!I hated to leave but also felt quite guilty taking up space in the hostel on my zero day, space that some other hiker should really experience; so off to town I went. I'm at the Holiday Inn Express in the center of town and have a room right next door to Thumper and Flax Seed. I spent nearly 2 hours at the library trying to upload digital photos to my journal, without success. The library computer software did not have the ability to reduce photo sizes so I still can't get photos from my thumb drive to my journal. The library in Bayfield and Durango each had it and my practice runs there were both successful. Sorry folks but I'll try again at the next town. I'll head out tomorrow AM with Thumper and Flax Seed and we hope to make the NC state line by evening!Happy Trails to all!
Date: 2007-04-11
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Bly Gap Campsite
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

Caught a shuttle from the Hiawassee Holiday Inn Express to the Dick's Creek Gap trailhead and we were deposited back at the trail in a light mist. I had had an early breakfast with Thumper and Flax Seed and we shared the cost of the shuttle back to the trail ($8 each). The sky was completely overcast when we left town and the forecast for today was for light rain in the AM, changing to steady rain with thundershowers in PM. But, it was time to get back on the trail again.Hiking in the morning was actually quite nice with heavy fog and mist hanging close around us and temps hovering in the low 50's. We made good time to Plum Orchard Gap Shelter and took a break for lunch. Within 20 minutes in walked Alpine Strider, Gavel and Tortuga. Crazy Horse, 2-Dogs and Hippie had been at the shelter overnight and were trying to get inspired to go out into the rain. Instead they were brewing coffee, smoking and waiting to see what the weather would do. They tried hard to convince us to just quit there instead of continuing on in the rain. Soon, in walked 3 more hikers.By 1.00 I headed out with Alpine, Thumper, Flax Seed and Gavel; we were determined to sleep in NC tonight. When it was clear we were leaving 2-Dogs and Hippie also left.We got to the GA/NC State line around 4.00 and took the requisite photos of each other posing next to the sign - our first state completed! One state down, 13 more to go! To put it another way, 75 miles down and only 2,100 more to go!Rain was beginning to really set in so the 4 of us decided to camp at the Bly Gap campsite, just past the state line. Alpine did not want to tent in the rain so she kept going the remaining 3+ miles to Muskrat Creek Shelter.Just after we got set up, Sir Privy Winks came by to get some water from the spring. He got his interesting trail name the night of the big storm at Gooch Gap Shelter. He had not set his hammock very well and it came down during the storm. The shelter was more than full and it was past midnight so as the rain was pouring down and the lightning thumping all around he ran for the only dry roof with space available, the privy, where he spent the remainder of the night. At least he stayed reasonably dry and actually managed to get some sleep. I don't know him very well yet but he seems very friendly and a good guy with a good sense of humor. I guess that goes without saying since he has allowed the trail name to stick. Several days later I understand that for his heroic act of self sacrifice he was knighted by another hiker with their Swiss Army knife, so now he is known as "Sir" Privy Winks.Northbound again; Smokies, here we come!
Date: 2007-04-12
From: Bly Gap Campsite

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

I left our campsite and within about 200 yards came upon the famous old Oak tree in the clearing I have seen so many photos of. Photos of people perched on it's branches like so many nylon-clad Christmas ornaments. Thumper and I took photos of each other in the tree then continued on our way.This AM we awoke to clear skies, the storm and fog of yesterday had gone. There was a cold gusty westerly wind, but really an ideal day for hiking.The graded relatively easy switchbacked trails of GA appear to have ended at the state line, replaced by trails with no switchbacks that go straight up the spine of the ridge, much like in New England. As Crazy Horse told us yesterday "NC doesn't want any wimps on the trail". Today definitely was a day of ups and downs, but the trail seemed rougher, steeper grades, and rockier than what we had seen in GA.Most of the morning was spent climbing up to Muskrat Creek Shelter, then some gentle ridge running, then up steeply again as we skirted around a tall ridgeline on our way to Deep Gap. At tht point we began a 2-mile uphill grade climbing Standing Indian Mt. This is our first mt over 5,000 ft of the trip. About half way up I stopped briefly at Standing Indian Shelter to sign the register. Slow Poke was there drying his wet gear and setting up camp. With a stiff wind blowing directly in the front of the shelter I decided to move on. When I arrived at the top of the mt I was disappointed to find there really was no view. Dense Rhododrendron thickets and tall trees left little opportunity.The trail from the top of Standing Indian Mt begins a large lazy 'S' turn that will take us a long way back to the south, almost to the GA border. It's strange walking south on our way north! I caught up to Gavel about 4.30 at Beech Gap where we decided to camp and wait for Thumper and Flax Seed. We also took the opportunity to dry our gear that was still wet from yesteday's all-day rain.My left knee is a bit sore today but I think it is getting better. I bought a light knee brace in Hiawassee and have worn it the past two days and it may be helping. My right ankle is doing much better now and I have quit wearing the ace bandage, though I still do not trust myself on the downhills not to turn it again so I continue to take it slow and lean on my poles.The best bird of the trip so far was today on my way down to Deep Gap. I heard a Winter Wren singing from just above the trail. It has been about 15 years since I have heard a Winter Wren. Such a beautiful bubbly song from such a tiny bird, one that is nearly impossible to see.So ends another great day on the AT!