morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Big Spring Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Eric and I both froze in our sleeping bags last night. When we got up at 7:30 this morning, it was about 20 degrees outside. It was by far our coldest night yet, and the temperatures were pushing the lower limits of our sleeping bags. When we get into town tomorrow, we're going to go to the outfitter and try to figure out how to make our sleeping systems warmer, whether by getting thicker sleeping pads, or warmer sleeping bag liners. The weather is only going to get colder over the next month, especially when we get into the Smokies, so we're glad to be taking care of this now. Once we get our new tent (also at the outfitter tomorrow), we might sleep in it instead of the shelters, because tents supposedly add about 10 degrees of warmth, whereas the shelters are only 3-sided, get drafty, and have cold air come up through the wooden floor boards.Today was a good hiking day. It snowed off and on and was very cold, but we had gorgeous views. We went over three 5,000-foot peaks, our highest mountains yet. And after a particularly difficult climb, straight up rocks, we came to an observation tower on the top of Mount Albert. We climbed up as high as we could go in the tower, and standing up there, we had the most amazing views we've had yet, and we really felt like we were on top of the world.Now we're at a shelter, getting ready for another night in the low 20s. Also here is another thru-hiker named Newt, three guys who tented by our shelter last night, whose names I don't know, and Lotus & Brett, who also tented by our shelter last night. All are thru-hiking. We might not be able to get all of our errands done in town tomorrow, after hiking 9 miles to get there. So we may be spending the night in a hiker-friendly motel, Ron Haven's Budget Inn. But if we do spend the night, we hope to be hiking again the following day. Hopefully we won't be taking any more zero days for a little while. The weather's supposed to be warming up some in the next few days. I'll try to dream of sunny places while I'm shivering in my bag tonight. Be grateful for your heater.
Date: 2008-03-25
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

Last night was another very cold night, getting down to about 15 degrees. We were up at 7:30 and hiking by 8:00 am this morning. When it's that cold out, pretty much the only thing you can do to warm up is to hike. The terrain was pretty easy for most of the day and the miles flew by quickly. At one point we hiked up the trail next to a beautiful waterfall, and when we got to the top, where the trail crossed the stream, there was some trail magic waiting for us! Sitting in the cold water were about 15 Capri Suns, put there by some wonderful trail angel. We each enjoyed a cool and refreshing beverage, and then continued on. By 11:45 am, we had done our total miles for the day, which was 9.1. We arrived at Winding Stair Gap, a road crossing with a parking lot, and there we were met by even more trail magic! Bill and Eileen were sitting by their car, offering passing hikers coffee, hot chocolate, and yummy treats to snack on. Also sitting there were our friends Brad & Aggie, who we hadn't seen in about a week, ever since Brad had Bronchitis. After about 10 minutes of standing there, a small yellow school bus pulled up, a free shuttle for hikers headed into town. We hopped on and got shuttled to the Budget Inn, where we are staying for the night. Blythe is also here, as is another girl, Sunbeam, neither of which we had seen since we left Cloud 9 several days ago. Lotus, Brett, and the other 3 guys who have been tenting at our shelters for the past 2 nights are also here. We heard that our friend Roger (Corkscrew) decided to go home to Seattle for a few days, but we hope to see him back out here soon! Blythe might also be heading home for a while, to Vermont, as she's been feeling homesick lately. Just when we thought we'd met back up with all of our friends, too. Come back soon, Corkscrew and Blythe!We showered, did laundry, ate pizza, and went to the post office, grocery store, outfitters, and Wal-Mart... basically we did everything a hiker could need to do in a town. We picked up our new tent in town, and Eric also got a new pair of boots in a bigger size, which should be a lot more comfortable and help his feet to be less sore.We set up our new tent in our motel room, and we've been hanging around, eating yummy snacks we bought at the store, like a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk. Mmmm. We even got to watch American Idol on TV, which I was happy about, because it was just plain luck that we ended up in front of a TV for the second Tuesday night in a row. Did I mention we watched it last week at Cloud 9? (Go David Archuleta!)It's now almost midnight-- way past our normal hiker bedtime, and we've got to get up early to finish last minute errands, like going to the post office again to mail more things home. So I'm off to bed now, where I will be thoroughly enjoying my comfy mattress and heater. :-)
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

It was so nice sleeping in a real bed last night! We woke up around 8:00, showered again (sometimes it takes a few washings to get rid of our hiker stink), packed our stuff, cut our tyvek groundsheet down to fit our new tent, and did various other last minute things. We must have been running late, because all of a sudden it was 10:30, and we still hadn't gone to the post office to mail our stuff home. The shuttle taking us back to the trail was leaving at 11:00.So Eric took off running, with our old tent, his old hiking boots, and other small items we were sending home. It was about 1/4 of a mile to the post office, and somehow he managed to get there, buy boxes and packing tape and even a poster tube to fit the tent poles, assemble the packages, mail them all, and come running back, all tired and out of breath, right at 11:00. I was impressed. If he hadn't made it back in time we would've either had to find a taxi, or hitch-hike.We got back to the trail around 11:30, and started out hiking with a big group of people, including Sunbeam and Brad & Aggie. After a few miles, we stopped and took a lunch break on top of Siler Bald--a beautiful field right in the sun. Also breaking there were Sharkie & 3 Cats. We continued on for about 7 more miles from there, and then we came to Wayah Bald, which had a lookout tower with maps of all the mountains we could see in every direction. It was amazing to see some of the previous places we've been so far off in the distance. Finally we made it to the shelter sometime after 6, set up our tent nearby, and ate dinner. Also here are Itrod, Sunbeam, Brad, Aggie, Sharkie, 3 Cats, Wooly Mammoth, and Bus Driver. Now we're hanging out in our new tent, staying warm. It's only supposed to get down into the low 40s tonight...a nice change! Well, off to bed now!
Date: 2008-03-27
From: Wayah Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Eric and I enjoyed sleeping in our new tent so much that we didn't get up until after 9:00... our latest start yet! We hiked a fairly easy 11 miles today. Brad, Aggie, Sunbeam, and Bus Driver all leap-frogged with us on the trail. We stopped and took breaks together whenever possible. After a rather tough uphill climb at the end of the day, we came to the top of Wesser Bald, where there was yet another observation tower for us to climb up. Although it was a bit rickety and had two broken stairs, it offered great views.Now we're at a shelter with Brad, Aggie, Sunbeam, Bus Driver, and a guy named Moss who we met the other day in Franklin. Itrod is tenting nearby, but there were no other good tent sites around, so we're trying to cram 7 of us into a 6-person shelter. All of our sleeping pads are slightly overlapping and we're so close our elbows are touching. I hope I don't accidentally roll over and try to snuggle up next to Bus Driver for warmth! It's strange having someone else (besides Eric) sleeping so close to me!
Date: 2008-03-28
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Tyre Top Campsite
Miles today: 8.2

Sometime last night I rolled over in my sleeping bag to get some air and I caught a big whiff of skunk. Yum. No one saw any sign of it and by morning, luckily there was no longer a smell of it either.Today was a good day. We had a fairly easy 5-ish mile descent into the NOC, or, the Nantahala Outdoor Center, a little village area on the trail. We stopped and bought more food for the next couple of days in their outfitter, and we ate a great lunch in their restaurant. Eric had a Philly Cheesesteak, I had a grilled chicken sandwich, and we both had salads on the side. Then we shared a brownie a la mode for dessert. It was delicious!We decided not to spend the night at the NOC, which Brad & Aggie, Sunbeam, Itrod, and Bus Driver are doing, and thought we'd tent somewhere instead. There's an 8-mile uphill climb out of the NOC, which they warn you to try to split between 2 days because it's tough. Since it was sprinkling off and on, and it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, we decided to only hike 2 miles up out of the NOC to a campsite, where we could set up our tent and be dry. We got here around 4 or 4:30, ate an early dinner, hung our bear bags, and climbed into our tent around 5:30. Other than a very short sprinkle, though, it never really rained! We hung out in our tent for a couple of hours, looking at the map and guidebook, and Eric taught me how to tie a couple of different knots, including the taut-line hitch and two half hitches. Finally around 7:15, Stehanie, Jon, Dirty Harry, and Knuckles showed up and set up their tents nearby. Shortly after that it started raining--finally! The rain we had been waiting for all evening and had cut our hike short for! It turned out we could've hiked for a couple more hours and still stayed dry. Who knew?!Now we're all bundled up in our tent, and the rain has let up momentarily. As I've been writing this, we've just caught smell of another skunk in the area. And something just brushed up against the side of our tent, right next to my sleeping bag. Eric and I both heard it and saw the tent move. I jumped a mile and scrambled over to Eric's side of the tent, and he yelled out "Hey! Go away, skunk!" I hope it does!
Date: 2008-03-29
From: Tyre Top Campsite

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: moderate rain

There were no more signs of the skunk last night, but at around 5 in the morning it started to thunder storm pretty bad for a couple of hours. Eric and I decided to sleep in and didn't come out of our tent until sometime after 9:00 am, when the rain had let up a bit. We had several really steep and strenuous climbs today; it was our toughest day yet, by far. We stopped and had lunch in Sassafras Gap Shelter, where we ran into Moss and Bus Driver. Bus Driver decided to stay there for the night, but Moss and Eric and I pushed on the 9 miles to the next shelter.It rained several times in the afternoon, which made the trail all muddy and slippery. We finally arrived, wet and exhausted, at Brown Fork Gap Shelter around 7:15. It turns out there had been some people set up at a parking lot we passed a couple of miles before we got to the shelter who were doing trail magic earlier in the evening. They were gone by the time we got there, but Moss, who knew we were still coming behind him, brought us 2 hot dogs, an apple, a pear, some brownies, and some rice crispy treats! He hauled them up a really steep climb in a plastic grocery bag, just for us. It was such a wonderful surprise! Stephanie and Jon gave us 2 hot dogs, as well, so we had quite a great meal after such a long day!Eric's new boots have been doing really well, as have mine. We still get some soreness in the bottoms of our feet, and also in our muscles, especially after climbs like we had today. But so far we have no real injuries to speak of. Now we're tenting near the shelter, along with Stephanie, Jon, Dirty Harry, and Knuckles. Moss and Slow Stepper are staying in the shelter, along with a group of about 6 guys and their dog, who are having a bachelor party. Tomorrow's going to be another 13ish mile day, down into Fontana Dam. We'll stay the night in the shelter there, and then Monday morning we'll pick up some packages that are waiting for us at the post office. And after that we will be heading into the Smoky Mountains!
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was another long, hard day. The climbs weren't as bad as yesterday's, and in fact, a lot of the day was downhill. But by the end, our feet were killing us from all of the walking on rocks, roots, and funny- angled sections trail.We stopped at a shelter after about 6 miles and cooked a hot lunch of ramen, and then continued on for what seemed like a never-ending 6.6 mile descent into Fontana Dam. We're staying at a really nice shelter here, known as the "Fontana Hilton." It sleeps 24 hikers, with a floor and a loft on each side, and a hallway through the middle. The shelter's in a really nice location, overlooking Lake Fontana, and it has picnic tables, garbage cans, and bathrooms with running water nearby!We decided we're going to take a zero day here tomorrow. It's been about 10 days since our last zero day, and these last two days have left us hurting.In recent trail news, the Appalachian Trail normally goes directly across the top of the actual Fontana Dam, but starting tomorrow (March 31st), they're closing that section of the trail for construction. So we're going to have to follow the official trail re-route an extra 2.5 miles around, including an extra 500 foot descent and 500 foot ascent. Grrrr! But this way we'll get to see the dam from the bottom, which is different. We're just missing the closing of the dam by one day; if it weren't for our zero day, we would've made it across. But we definitely need to take the day off before we head into the Smokies. They have a lot of steep climbs, including the highest point on the entire AT-- Clingman's Dome. So we want to be totally rested and ready for them. Tomorrow should be a good, relaxing day. We'll pick up our packages at the post office, eat good food, do laundry, and shower. Oh! And rest our feet! I'm looking forward to it.
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up around 8:00 this morning, packed up our stuff at the shelter, and walked over to the Fontana Dam visitor's center, where we called for a shuttle to come pick us up and take us to the lodge. We checked into a room around 9:30, showered, and then ate breakfast at the lodge restaurant. We napped, did laundry, watched TV, went on the internet, picked up packages at the post office, and hung out around the general store and outfitter in town. Brad, Aggie, Sunbeam, Bus Driver, and Wooly Mammoth all arrived today, and they, along with Stephanie, Jon, Dirty Harry, Knuckles, and Moss are taking a zero day tomorrow. So we decided to stick around one more day and zero tomorrow as well. Pretty much all of our friends are here, so it should be a good day.
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Fontana Dam Lodge

To: Fontana Dam Lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was a nice, relaxing day. We slept in, ate breakfast at the lodge restaurant again, took naps, watched TV, went on the internet--it was more or less a repeat of yesterday, but slightly more relaxing because we had less to do.We were happy to be in a town again on a Tuesday night, and watched American Idol. Did I mention that I got Eric hooked on it? Tomorrow Eric will want me to call my mom--from the top of a mountain--just so we can find out who got voted off. It's kind of funny. I'm glad to now have a fellow idol enthusiast hiking with me. It makes it easier to justify wanting to stay in towns on Tuesday nights, he he. Just kidding. If all goes well, next Tuesday we will be no where near a town, but come next Friday, April 11th, we're hoping to be arriving in Hot Springs, NC, just in time to take another zero day and celebrate my birthday! Officially, I'll be turning 26 that Friday, but I think I've decided I'd rather just turn 25 again...so I might just be telling people that.We'll be receiving mail at the post office in Hot Springs, which can be sent to us at: General Delivery; Hot Springs, NC 28743; Hold For AT Hiker, ETA: 4/11. I forgot to add this address to our list of mail drops. Speaking of journal-related things, you can now reach my journal through a direct link:www.trailjournals.com/aquamariaAnd don't forget to check out the map of our progress. The link to that should be listed in the "About" section on the side of my journal. Try zooming in to different levels, and make sure you check out the satellite view! Thanks to Eric's dad for making the map possible, and thanks to my dad for keeping my journal up and running! We're going to be hiking out of Fontana Dam tomorrow--in the rain! It's forecast to rain every day until Sunday. Pray for us, that we stay warm and dry in the Smokies, and that we don't have any unfortunate bear encounters (I heard somewhere that there are over 1600 black bears in the Smokies). We should be re-supplying in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in about 4 days, so hopefully I'll be sending some more journal entries then. Goodbye, for now!
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Fontana Dam Lodge

To: Birch Spring Campsite
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: clear sky

We slept in and had a leisurely morning, checking out of our room at 11:00.A shuttle took us to the start of the trail re-route (which bypassed thedam), and we started hiking around 11:30. We had to hike way down to thebottom of the dam, down a road, over a bridge, and back up to the top of thedam where the trail picked back up. Although it was way out of the way, itwas beautiful hiking along the river, and there were black and yellowbutterflies flying all around us.It never actually rained, although we had heard it was supposed to. Nowthey're predicting a 60% chance of rain for tomorrow, and a 90% chance onFriday. We climbed up to the top of Shuckstack Mountain late in the day and went upto the top of the observation tower. About a mile later we came to thetent site we're staying at tonight. Also here are Brad & Aggie, Sunbeam,Hi-lo, Itrod, another guy named Brad, Columbus, Bahama, and Hot Wheels &Shutterbug. This is the first time we've been in serious bear country, sowe're a little bit nervous in our tent. A few people saw deer today, andColumbus saw a bear! The only thing Eric and I saw was a groundhog (and Ithought of you, Mom). I hope we get to see a bear sometime while we'rehere... I've never seen one in the wild.
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Birch Spring Campsite

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

It rained briefly in the night last night, and today was a lovely mix ofrain, fog, cold, and high winds. It was basically pretty miserable outsidetoday, and it was so foggy that we wouldn't have seen a bear unless it wasright in front of us. We finished our 11-ish miles by 3:30, and we've been hanging out in theshelter ever since, trying to get warm. This is the 3rd shelter we've seentoday, and so far all of them have had big tarps hanging across the front,which really helps keep the wind out pretty nicely. Because we're in a national park, and because there are so many bearsaround, they have all these strict rules about where you are and are notallowed to sleep. Everyone camping in the park is required to carry abackcountry permit with them at all times, and you're only allowed 8 days tomake it the 60-something miles all the way through. Every shelter in the park sleeps 14 people. Four of those 14 spots arereserved for thru-hikers. Non thru-hikers get all the other spaces, if theyneed them. But thru-hikers are required to sleep in the shelter unless it iscompletely full. And if at any time a non thru-hiker shows up, a thru-hikermust give up his spot in the shelter. Even if it's raining. So right now, there are 13 thru-hikers sleeping here, and no one is allowedto tent outside because we're not full. But if a big group of nonthru-hikers showed up at the shelter late tonight, only 4 of us would get tostay here. Everyone else would have to go set up our tents in the rain. Weird, huh?Here now are: Columbus, Sunbeam, Hi-Lo, Itrod, Brad, Bag Lady, Bahama, HotWheels & Shutterbug, and Brad & Aggie.It's now 8:20 and I'm off to bed. It's just starting to get dark. Mosteveryone is already sleeping, although a few are still up in their sleepingbags, reading or journaling. I hope we don't get any visitors in the night,whether other hikers or uninvited animal guests.
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was another rainy, windy, foggy, day of cold yuck. In many places thetrail was like a muddy slip 'n slide, whether going up or down, you slid afew inches with each step. In other places the trail was a literal river.Our boots are caked in mud, and our clothes have splatters all over them. It's pouring down rain right now and I am very happy to be dry in mysleeping bag. Also here are Brad & Aggie, Sunbeam, Bahama, Deep Thinker, andBullwinkle. Itrod and Hi-Lo decided to stop for the night at a shelter about6 miles back, and Hot Wheels & Shutterbug and Columbus went on ahead toanother shelter about 3 miles ahead. We thought about going to the next onebut it started down pouring right as we arrived here, and we were very happyto be able to get out of the rain. I'm looking forward to sleeping in a warm bed tomorrow night, when were-supply in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. From the hotel (when it's not so cold),I'll tell you all about Eric's new trail name!
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Newfound Gap

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: few clouds

The motel we stayed at last night was very small and Christian-oriented.Their office is closed on Sundays, and since there is no one there to takeyour key, there is no official checkout time. As a result, Eric (or should Isay Tailgate?) and I were in no big hurry to get going, and didn't actuallyleave the motel until around 1:30, at which point we only walked a blockaway to the outfitter. We weighed our packs at the outfitter and I was very happy to discover thatwith water and food for 6 days, my pack only weighed 28.5 pounds! I wasexpecting it to weigh a lot more and was so surprised that I had managed toshed so much off of my initial starting weight of 32.5. Eric's pack weighed34.8, which he was also happy about. At the outfitter we met a local couple named Kacey and Steve and their13-year old son, Robbie, who offered to give us a ride back to the trail,which was wonderful because it was 15 miles away. Thanks so much!We didn't actually start hiking until about 4:00, at which point it was fartoo late to reach our original destination, which was 10ish miles away.Because the rules in the Smokies force us to sleep at shelters, we had tostop at the first shelter, a whopping 3 whole miles in from where westarted. Although it was a short hike, the shelter is really nice withgorgeous views of the mountains all around--our first real glimpse of theSmokies. There are about 14 hikers at the shelter right now, although several peopleare breaking the rules and set up tents even though the shelter isn't fullinside. Shh! Don't tell! There are many people here who we don't know, but there are a few familiarfaces: Hot Wheels & Shutterbug, and Mango & Canuck, who rode with us fromthe outfitter back up to the trail this afternoon. We met another couplehere tonight named Gucci and Bearfoot. They're our age and seem really fun;we hope to be staying in the same shelters that they are for the next fewnights. We're not sure what happened to Brad & Aggie and Sunbeam, who stayedat our motel last night. Either they decided to stay another night in town,or they hiked on to the next shelter up the trail. But out here you meetcool people and make new friends everyday, so it's okay when you getseparated from people for a while.