morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-31
From: Hiker Hostel

To: Springer
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up at 4:30 am this morning for a 7am flight. Didn¢t sleep well at all. I fell asleep at midnight, then woke up every hour pretty much. My mouth had the taste of stomach acid all day. Flight was long and we slept as much as possible. Got to Atlanta around 2pm, took the train to meet up with our ride. The wonderful people at the Hiker Hostel (Josh & Leigh) pick up people from Atlanta and take them to their place for the night. Its 2 hours away from Atlanta to the trail. There were about 8 of us total & about 14 leaving tomorrow that are staying here tonight. Mike & I were only 2 of 4 westcoasters. I¢m tired, nervous, & excited at the same time. Rainy right now. 50% chance tomorrow. Hope we¢re hitting the dry 50%. We are carrying four days of food & our next stop is Neel¢s Gap (30 miles). My pack weight is 21 lbs (with food & water & feul) & Mike¢s was 24 lbs, lightest 2 in the hostel!
Date: 2009-04-01
From: Springer Mountain Parking Lot

To: Camp near Hawk Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 7.8

-We have decided to combine a summary from both of our journals to avoid redundancy so we are both writing part of each day.The Day of Great Expectations:It was a beautiful day, mostly downhill. We got dropped off in the parking lot closest to the start of the AT and had to backtrack a mile to the real start. It was so cool, so many people of all ages (and sizes) were starting their thru-hike. There was a really tough section between Three Forks & Hawk Mountain (800 feet gain) but even that was spread out in between 2.5 miles. A gnat flew into Vanessa¢s eye and Mike had to pick it out with his finger. Now she really knows why the reporter went ghetto (visit youtube.com, search ¢reporter goes ghetto¢ & watch top one). We hung a bear bag for first time but we were too lazy to find a tall tree with a suitable branch. So if there be bears, let them be midgets.
Date: 2009-04-02
From: Camp near Hawk Mt. Shelter

To: Blackwell Creek
Miles today: 7.0

Tested!It rained pretty hard last night and again today. Our tarp held up pretty well & we stayed dry last night. We did learn one thing, tie out your corners diagonally. Even if there is a small tree that looks like it could have been a tent stake in a past life, resist the urge unless its exactly 45 degrees. Otherwise your tarp will lag at that spot and collect rain. It wasn¢t a big deal until Mike kicked the pool up to vacant the water only to have it funnel into one of his dry shoes.Today was a ¢muddy tobagan slide¢ as fellow hiker, 10 Sticks, put it and we spent the up hills trudging along as usual but the downhills were steps and slides, interrupted by near slips. The ground was so muddy we were more concerned about getting our gear dirty than injuring ourselves.
Date: 2009-04-03
From: Blackwell Creek

To: Unnamed Creek Past Dockery Lake Trail
Miles today: 8.25

The Day of FirstsA day full of firsts for us on the AT. We stealth camped for the first time on a secluded spot alongside Blackwell Creek. It was nice because just a over a small hill off the trail, not only were we streamside, we were alone. It rained so hard it was as if someone was pouring buckets on our tarp, but we managed to stay dry, except for 2 drips in our tarp. Why does so much gear that is made to keep out the rain require that the consumer has to seal the seams theirselves?Luckily, by midmorning the sun finally broke through and saw our first clear vistas. What a spectacular view it was! Reminded us the reason we are hiking this.At Woody¢s gap we experienced our first trail magic. Trail magic is when locals bring thru-hikers food or drinks just to give a hiker something they would never carry. It is an act of kindness that locals do. Anyway, at Woody¢s Gap (which is at a road crossing with a picnic area) a nice gentleman was having a picnic with his kids and packed 2 extra sandwiches for hikers. We took one and let the other group near us take the other. It really came at the right time because we started the trail with 24 and 21 lbs of weight, including food & water so we didn¢t have any extra food. Just enough, as opposed to the surplus of food most people carry. Just what we needed to hike the last 3 miles of the day. We are stealth camping again at a small unnamed creek right below a ¢Granny Top.¢ There is a huge 10 room house only 14 mile away (or less). He is watching TV & has his fireplace going while we are braving the elements.We are a little short on fuel (enough for food but not for tea & coffee) so we decided to make a small cook fire. After two days of hard rain there was not a stick of dry wood. We had to cut into the wood to get to the dry parts. Good thing we brought the bigger knives. Starting a fire with wet wood is not easy, even with a cigarette lighter. We can see why ¢survivorman¢ is so estatic when he gets one going with two sticks. Mike flicked the Bic so many times his thumb was as sore as a crackheads. After about 2 hours, Vanessa declared ¢I give up.¢ What a motivator that was for Mike.
Date: 2009-04-04
From: Unnamed Creek Past Dockery Lake Trail

To: Slaughter Creek Tent Sites
Miles today: 4.4

Short day today. Left camp at 11am & finished at 2:30pm (only hiked 4.4 miles). We want to get to Neel¢s Gap tomorrow early in the morning since we had to buy food there, use the internet, laundry, shower, and get a room. So a 3 mile hike (1 mile is 700 ft up/ Blood Mountain) and then we will get a room or cabin. The gnats love Vanessa. She ate 3 today on accident and about 5 flew into her eyes in only four days (and two of these have been bug free rainy days!). We were at a campground, called Slaughter Creek. It¢s Sat. night so no solitude tonight. There are some people with wine and they¢re so loud talking about Italian salami vs Hungarian salami (only $4 at whatever store). Blah blah blah. We are camping with some cool people, Bluestraveler (who did the whole trail last year & is doing 14 this year). He is a fountain of knowledge. Also, PoliPoli & Plowboy are sharing our site since the campground was full. They were the other 2 Westcoasters (Washington State) from the Hiker Hostel the first night.The ground is littered with acorns. Never seen real acorns before.April 5+ to come in 4-5 days?
Date: 2009-04-05
From: Slaughter Creek Tent Sites

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: few clouds

At 1:30 am last night we were awoken y the salami crowd. Of course they were loud all night. Someone yelled ¢Its one in the morning, everyone is trying to sleep.¢ One of the ladies yelled back ¢I don¢t fucking care. There is a bear here; honey did you hang our bag properly?¢ Of course they didn¢t and their food wrappers were everywhere. They were so loud all night, no one felt sympathy. I knew we were in trouble when after the wine they brought in platapus bags were gone they brought out both scotch & bourbon (& there was only 6 of them).We had a short day, 3.5 miles to Neels Gap & Mountain Crossings, an outfitter on the trail. They were nice & helpful. The Leki Guy replaced my bent Leki trekking pole shaft for free even though the warranty doesn¢t cover it. The Trail Dames were here with free cheeseburgers, hotdogs, chips, chili, & their love. It was pretty cool & very tasty.We are staying the night here in the hostel. 16 bunk beds in one room; pretty packed in here. But everyone has done laundry & showered so the smell isn¢t bad. The shower was wonderful. Chris & Paula (Plowboy & Poli Poli) taught me (Vanessa) to play cribbage & we all 4 played.We sent home from Neel¢s Gap: compass, Mike¢s sunglasses, Vanessa¢a moleskin notebook, & swapped our flip flops for Waldies (apparently the OG Crocs).
Date: 2009-04-06
From: Neels Gap

To: Hogpen Gap
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Left Neel¢s Gap & it was cold. The wind was harsh. We didn¢t leave until 12:30pm because we were waiting for the mail lady with our rain mitts we accidentally left in LA outside Mike¢s parents house. There was once again trail magic. Again, cheeseburgers but since it was Monday, there were less people so the burgers were thick. This group was a church group.Another instance of trail magic occurred today when at one point where the road crossed the trail, somebody left a 12 pack of cokes (in ice!) for thru hikers. Mike & I split one & left the last 2 for others.We continued on until the last water source for the day to cook dinner & get water. It was so cold it took Mike about five minutes for his cold fingers to be able to flick the lighter. After we ate, I decided we had to walk at least 10 minutes (just to warm up). By this time it was snowing.We crossed the road (Hogpen Gap) and walked 5 minutes. By this time snow was falling fast. Chris, Paula, & 5 others stopped to camp. We set up our tarp low to the ground, got our bags, & fell asleep. Paula was worried about our tarp & snow but I was more worried about the fact that they had a 40 degree bag.
Date: 2009-04-07
From: Hogpen Gap

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Snowed In: 0 miles, 0 Day in Helen, GAWe woke up to about an inch and 12 of snow. It was cold! Leaving the sleeping bag was tough. We finally packed up and decided to go to town (we were only 14 mile away from the road). Since we didn¢t know when the when the weather would improve, we figured better safe than sorry. We hitchhiked into Helen, GA. Helen is a kitsch Bavarian-style town. We are sharing a room w/ Chris & Paula. Just playing cards. Tomorrow will be partly sunny so we will be back out.Ate some pretty good Germain food for dinner. Mike & I split a wurst platter of weisswurst, knockwurst, bratwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut, and red cabbage. Too big for one but perfect for two.Went to the bar to 4 other thru hikers. It was karokie night and some of the locals were so good I thought it was the jutebox playing. Everyone in Georgia has been very nice to us.
Date: 2009-04-08
From: Hogpen Gap

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

We hitched out of Helen this morning and got a ride from the second car. The guy drove about 15 miles out of the way to take us to the trailhead before going to another campground to pick up his wife & kids.Did our biggest mileage day of the AT so far. 11.6 miles, although about 4 of those miles were relatively flat. One mile was rocky and that was a tough one.Met a group of 2 guys with about 12 dogs, about 5 pit bulls leashed & other dogs with a tracker thing around their necks sniffing around. I asked what they were doing. ¢Wez hoggin¢ was the reply (which translates to we are hunting wild boar). Since it isn¢t hunting season I guess they were using pit bulls instead of guns. Although they said they were hunting boar, we think they were hunting bears, A few bears have been taking hikers¢ food and we think maybe there is a bounty on them. They told us they got one bear already.About 5 miles away one of their tracking dogs was hanging out doing nothing. He followed us for a bit.Tonight we are sleeping in our first shelter, Blue Mountain Shelter. We tried to pitch our tarp but it was way to windy so lucky for us there was room. It is better not to stay near the top of the mountain with the tarp. These mountain ridges are windy. We like the people, all the hikers are real nice, but I miss the solitude of our stealth camping. ¢ Vanessa
Date: 2009-04-09
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Wolfpen Gap
Miles today: 9.1

We spent our first night in a shelter as we were up on a ridge with wind spilling over from both sides. We couldn¢t find a suitable spot for the tarp and there was room for two more in the shelter. The mice were terrible. They are completely brazen & show no fear crawling all over your sleeping bag, even over your face! We left our cups out with bits of oatmeal from the prior morning breakfast (opps). Needless to say, they had a dinner party in our mugs as evident by the urine & feces they left behind.We did about 9 miles with a couple of climbs. I think we¢re getting our trail legs a little. We¢re pretty good at ¢dead reckoning¢ but today we got into camp over an hour ahead of schedule. We are planning 9 more tomorrow into the town of Hiawasee (for a resupply and a well deserved night in a motel.My pack broke but I managed to fix it temporarily with dental floss until we get into Franklin, NC. Brian from ULA-equipement.com will send me a replacement at our next mail drop. Not only do I love the pack, but the customer service is topnotch.
Date: 2009-04-10
From: Wolfpen Gap

To: Dicks Creek Gap (stayed night in motel in Hiawasse
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

We stayed the night at Mull¢s Motel in Hiawassee, GA (which apparently Bill Bryson (author of A Walk in the Woods) stayed in). It was raining and we needed to resupply. The most amazing thing happened on the way to Hiawassee. We met Yoon from Seoul, Korea.Yoon read the book ¢A Walk in the Woods¢ & was inspired to walk the AT himself. He saved his money for 3 years and trained by carrying a 55lb pack of bricks around his neighborhood. And so, on a rainy day in Georgia while we were racing into town to get a restaurant meal and a motel room, we bumped into him. I greeted him in Korean and before he could even smile, he broke down in tears.It turns out that he doesn¢t speak English other than ¢hi, bye, thank you¢. He had been walking for 10 days in bad weather without being able to talk with anyone, and the joy of human conversation overwhelmed him. He walked on while Vanessa and I collected water but I was sure we¢d see him again.We ended up eating dinner at Daniel¢s Steakhouse (all you can eat so all the hikers in town were there) with Plowboy & Poli Poli. Yoon walked in with his hiking buddies he met on the trail: Steve, Eric, & Martin (two young Americans & one young Canadian). We invited them up to our room and we drank beers while I translated for Yoon all the things he wanted to say to his 3 friends that had been looking after him on the trail.Yoon said he felt like he was winkling with 2 medals on his chest; the first for walking nights for 3 years and the second for making it to the trail on Springer Mountain. I really hope he gets his last medal. I hope Vanessa & I get ours too.
Date: 2009-04-11
From: Dicks Creek Gap (stayed night in motel in Hiawasse

To: Campsite between Blue Ridge Gap and Rich Cove Gap
Miles today: 5.8

Today before returning to the trail we did chores; I did the laundry while Mile handled groceries. Talked to a really nice lady at the laundrymat for about 12 an hour. We were 5 minutes late for the closing of the post office (and it was Saturday!) but the post office worker took our package anyway.Had no problem getting a ride back to the trail (southern hospitality is no joke). Today I felt like I dragged ass but we made good time considering we didn¢t start hiking until 1pm.
Date: 2009-04-12
From: Campsite between Blue Ridge Gap and Rich Cove Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Today we crossed the stateline into North Carolina. Georgia was well maintained, thanks to the Georgia ATC. The Georgian ridgerunner (someone who walks the trail to clean trash & look for parts needing to be fixed) told us that Nantahala Forest (this part of N. Carolina) is the hardest part of the southern 12 of the AT. That kind of demoralized me for about an hour (and the 12 mile /500 ft climb, the toughest so far didn¢t help). Today was tough! Both of us felt it (but we kicked ass nonetheless!).It is Sunday so we saw a lot of day hikers with their dogs. We miss our dogs. Sleeping in Standing Indian Shelter tonight. Hope the mice aren¢t as active as they were in the last one.
Date: 2009-04-13
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: light rain

No mice in the shelter. I think there was too much rain for them to come out of their holes. We had to pitch our tarp so low that we could barely move around. By hey, that¢s a sacrifice we¢re willing to make for a one lb shelter vs a 4lb tent. Usually its roomy.
Date: 2009-04-14
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Winding Stairs Gap (Franklin, NC)
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Rain again. Today was a challenge for 2 reasons, our biggest mileage day (12.2m) and Albert Mountain. Albert Mountain is about 400 ft up in less than 14 mile. First time this trail I had to use my hands to climb up rocks. It was tough but we were happy when it was done. We walked 8 miles before lunch and I was exhausted. Can¢t go that long without eating anymore rain or not (besides, that¢s what trail mix is for).I really like our ponchos. On wet days, they serve triple duty as rain gear, pack covers, and as ground sheets. We walked in them all day and didn¢t overheat at all. Walking all day in our raincoats made us sweat buckets. Hopefully we won¢t need to use our ponchos for a while.We are starting to get our trail legs. We¢ve done approx. 10 miles (or more) for the last 3 days. Its not just the mileage but our pace has improved dramatically.Besides being wetter, after the first 100 miles, hikers seem spread out thinner along the trail; the last few days we barely passed other hikers and few hikers have passed us.We are in a motel in Franklin. Tomorrow is our first planned ¢zero¢ (and we plan on running errands).
Date: 2009-04-16
From: Winding Stairs Gap (Franklin, NC)

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 6am this morning. Mike said ¢do you want to take the 11am shuttle instead?¢ Um, I didn¢t even know about the 11am shuttle, just the 8:30am one, so yeah, getting up was a little difficult (but we made the 8:30am shuttle after all). Walked 11 miles today, same old ups and downs. 11-12 miles a day seems like a good pace for us right now.Wayah Bald was pretty cool. There is an observation tower there, made from stone, in memory of John B. Byrne (who was a Forester in Nantahala National Forest in the 1930¢s). The view from the top was amazing!We¢re sleeping in the shelter (too lazy to pitch the tarp) with Shelby & ¢Student.¢ ¢Student¢ is a high school senior who is walking a month of the AT for his senior project. What a lucky kid to go to such a progressive high school.
Date: 2009-04-17
From: Wayah Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Today we made good time so we hung out at Wesser Bald for 2 hours. We met some day hikers at the top of the observation tower. It was a guy, his wife, & 10 month old baby. He just came back from his 3rd time in Iraq and just met his 10 month old daughter last week. His wife was in the army too & left Iraq because of her pregnancy. He said even though the was isn¢t popular at home, he has been seeing progressive improvement each time he has to go back. They were all really nice & we spent an 12 an hour talking to them. Then we hung out there 1 12 hours using the phone. Slept in the shelter as all the suitable spots were taken. The ground is hard in the shelters.
Date: 2009-04-18
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center (N.O.C.)
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: clear sky

Hiked a short day today, mostly downhill. I¢m still slow on the downhills. Got to NOC at lunch time. The Nantahala River is impressive. It is the river where the movie ¢Deliverance¢ was filmed. The river is a big rafting & kayaking river, that is also popular for flyfishing.Spent 2 hours in the outfitter so Mike could get a new backpack. The other one just wasn¢t working for him. In the end, it was between the Gregory 265 & the Granite Gear Nibibus Meridian; the Gregory won out because it fit him better.We then hung out by the river with Zuma, Sam, Maxwell, and Student for a bit. The river was cold when we put our feet in.Ate dinner with Waterboy & Maxwell. Maxwell is getting a semesters worth of college credit for hiking the trail providing he makes sculptures and writes poetry. He is a Fine Arts Major. Waterboy is a retired supervisor for a company that builds ships for the US arm forces, including all the aircraft carriers. Wow, it takes 5 years to build n aircraft carrier! He is an avid diver with over 1000+ dives under his belt. Impressive. His stories renewed my interest in learning to scuba dive.
Date: 2009-04-19
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center (N.O.C.)

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Spent last night at a motel at NOC & left full of pancakes & sausage. The climb out of NOC was tough! Combined with cold and wet weather, we only made it to the first shelter about 7 miles all uphill. We stated at 1750 ft & finished at 4330 ft. The shelter was full; there were about 15 of us sleeping in it with more camping outside. I was the only woman there.The next shelter only holds 6. I think we will walk past it and stealth camp. The shelter after is 15 miles out, which is still outside our range.
Date: 2009-04-20
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Cody Gap
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

Another rainy day but some sun. Nantahala means ¢land of the noonday sun¢ in Cherokee and it seems to almost always be sunny for an hour in the afternoon. Got to the shelter at 3:00pm. Sam was trying to start a fire (too bad it started raining again about 10 minutes after we left). It was tempting to stay but it was too early so we pushed on. The last 2.6 miles between the shelter and our campsite were tough (very rocky).Another hiker commented that 2.6 miles really felt like 5 miles. We had to pitch the tarp in the rain and stayed in the bags all night. It has been raining a lot.
Date: 2009-04-21
From: Cody Gap

To: Fontana Dam, N.C.
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Rain all night but yay! It was clear today, even got some sun later in the day. Worked on my downhill speed today (ss50 ft down). Mike suggested I walk with only one trekking pole on the down and rely more on my feet. He¢s right and it did help. I need to pick up downhill speed so we can increase our daily mileage. Were in Fontana Dam Resort. Nicest room we ever been in for $60.It¢s so green here, can¢t wait for the Smokies.
Date: 2009-04-22
From: Fontana Dam, N.C.

To: Fontana Dam Resort
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

0 day at Fontana Dam Resort.Zero is a beautiful number. Although my mind wanted to continue on, my body didn¢t. So we took a day off. The Fontana Dam Resort is exactly like the resort in ¢Dirty Dancing¢ and we¢re here during the off season. There is no force greater than the gravitational pull of a motel bed after a week of hiking, particularly in the morning. We just left the Nantahala National Forest. Nantahala means ¢Land of the noon day sun¢ in Cherokee which translates to ¢it rains all the time, except mid day. The only caveat is ¢unless you¢re in a motel room, which is case sunny & clear¢Tomorrow we begin the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We expect a lot more diversity (there are more varieties of trees & shrubs there than the whole continent of Europe), and according to some, the first ¢breathtaking vistas. Judging by the databook, it looks like a lot of climbing, especially the first day. Regulations require that we stay in shelters so we got earplugs since some of our fellow hikers saw logs in their sleep.Today was a relaxing day as we had almost no activity.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Fontana Dam Resort

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was hard at any angle. We had our longest day on the AT thus far, 15 miles. We decided to do the Great Smoky Mountains without a resupply which means we started with twice the food. And last but not least, it was a hellish climb out of Fontana Dam, 2200 ft in 4 miles.We are all crammed in Russell Field Shelter, which is caged in, to keep the wild things out. I hope tomorrow is easier.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: clear sky

Today was a short day mileage wise but it was another tough one. According to the 2 ridge runners, the section between Spence Field Shelter and Derrick Knob are the hardest of the Smokies. I don't know, yesterday was pretty hard.I saw a deer this morning in front of the shelter. According to KT, the deer was older judging by how white his nose was. The first 3 miles were good, 1.5 hours; but the last 6 were tough. Lots of ups and downs. We got to the shelter at 3:30. It was nice to get to camp early.