morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-01
From: Neels Gap Hostel

To: Blue Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Happy April Fools!I can't seem to get in touch with Little Moose despite my attempts. I might try to call 3 oz or Junkie to get his home # again. It sounds, from his scratchy cell phone message, like he could meet up with me on Saturday in Hiawasee, but playing phonetag doesn't make for great planning, so who knows!Gotta wait until 8:30 Am anyway because I need to resupply a bit here at Neels. the weather always seems worse here in the AM. This morning, it's looking like we've got rain, sleet, and bits of hail. To me that means fast hiking, and more red thighs, crap!yep- red thighs it was as I hiked through falling snow being blown into me sideways & frozen snow icicles popping off of the branches to try & impale themselves in me. Fat chance buggers, but try anyhow if it makes you happy! The lee side of these Georgia mtns. catches my breath with awe, it's so beautiful...but the hard winds on the other side cause my eyes to look down & I miss it all. I sang an Ani lyric over & over in my head about it..."When I look down, I just miss all the good stuff, but when I look up, I just trip over things..." --so true, I've found those roots again!Tonight I bunked down with Chigger while a section hiker, whom I've since named 'Dad' shared his spaghetti dinner with me. It was wonderful, and then another section hiker filtered my water for me...I think they were impressed that I was hiking in a skirt through this weather. They just hooked me up with love, treating me as if I were their daughter, it was great!
Date: 2004-04-02
From: Blue Mtn. Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I forgot to add that yeasterday I did speak to Little Moose, and I'll be meeting him tomorrow AM. I can't wait!! The sun woke us up today...and the mouse. But it set Chigger's & my mood to 'hope' meaning that we hoped the whole day would be sunny. Sun in the AM hasn't been something we've seen much of since the start. Yeah, well, by lunch time itw as snowing on us again & overcast. I can't thank Sus enough for her hat. Also before I left Neels, I thought I lost my liner gloves, so I bought a new pair. Then this AM, I held my hands too close to my stove & burned a hole in the thumb...lucky the fabric didn't stick to my thumb. Then, as I was packing up, I found my old liner gloves. How about good luck, eh? And speaking of good luck, I finally did it, I made it to a hiker feed in the woods! It was put on by Moo and Gordo, and there were flourescent signs (15 of them) lining the trail the last 1/2 mile to the feed. I had corn on the cobb...grilled in the flames of a big beautiful fire...and a tomatoe stuffed with seafood casserole. It was awesome. I met at least 20 other nobo's at the feed as well, some in front & some behind, who shared in the festivities. After about 3 hours, I bailed out to finish the last 2 miles to the shelter before dark. With 2 shots of blackberry brandy and 2 cups of beer in me, I'm glad I wasn't night hiking...could get dangerous!Tonight my 'dad' and I reunited at the shelter. I wrote in my journal, ate a pop-tart, and hit the sac. I've been doing okay with my WFR studying, but I've really got to improve on that score.
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I hiked what felt like a very long 3 miles from the shelter to the road where I found Little Moose waiting in his car. It was a happy reunion, and we talked and waited for Chigger to show up before heading into town for a resupply. Moose will be with me through to Franklin in 2 1/2 days. In town, we got the whole Hiawasee story from Moose over bagels, muffins, and tea. Then it was back to the trail for one of the sunniest & warmest days yet! It was slow hiking though as much of the trek was uphill. Somehow we skipped lunch through it all, but managed to pack our bellies with lunch & dinner at the campfire that night. Most of the people from the hiker feed are here tonight, Banana had some heat problems today, but she appears fine now. I just met Didi, another gal here today too. There's a whole slew of boyscouts at the gap tonight, and it's pretty amazing that we all had flat ground to lay our tents/tarps...now I understand the benefits of hammocks. Chigger & I scouted for quite a while before choosing the perfect tarp setting real estate to lay our heads. Tons of giggles as we flopped our bodies down all over the ground in test-runs for the flattest ground. PS: we made the state line today, and it was Chigger, not Moose, who peed at the border this time!
Date: 2004-04-04
From: Bly Gap

To: Carter Gap
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Not a bad hike today, but that's not to say that the morning was easy. It was like a strait up climb that seemed to say to us, "hey you're in N.C. now, and let's not forget it, buddy!" ...what a welcome, eh?the rest of the day went fairly nice though, the sun was out, but so was the wind (in my opinion, perfect combo), our stops weren't too long or the goosebumps began to show. We lunched at some 1/2 way shelter and played some mind games of which we were able to get hints on, something I KNOW Junkie & Riddler would have whooped our butts for, had they known. Last time hiking, hints were a major 'no, no' in any of our riddles. We pulled 15 today, despite LM's blisters, and came to a shelter site with about 4 different groups already tented out. It was very unnerving, as we'd passed barely anyone all day, and yet where we stop for the night is just crawling with folks. Oh well, so we've got the old, yet to be torn down shelter at this spot...of which only 1/2 of it looks like it won't cave in on us in the night. Little Moose is writing Maude right now, who's in Ecuador at the moment and soon to be in Alaska...crazy gal--she's so cool! I think I'll write her next because I doubt I'll get much space in his postcard. (a few min. later) Yep, I was right...gotta write my own card. Finally, I'm exhausted and will sleep well tonight. It's taken a while to get used to the trail & sleeping habits, but for some (welcomed) reason, today wore me out, and that's a great feeling. I hope I don't just trudge through this completion hike due to my time frame...I still want the sporadic adventure of the last hike.
Date: 2004-04-05
From: Carter Gap

To: The Franklin Motel
Miles today: 15.8

Yeah, I'm really not doing a good job of studying for my WFR recert while on the trail. Shoulda' known...hiking the AT is just too social a scene for study time. ...things to work on I suppose. Today Moose's feet were looking and feeling really damaged, and I was wondering how we'd be able to pull the near 16 miles we needed to get into town. We managed to do it however, with the helpd of yummy brownies, games, breaks, and the company of new trail friends such as LL Fuzzy, Stargaze (and her dog sadie), Blue, and others. The firetower on Albert's Knob was pretty cool, and I gotta hand it to this part of the country for their awesome mountains upon mountains upon mountains that stretch to the horizon. We got a hitch into the Franklin Motel and throughly enjoyed the large beds, showers, clean laundry, and delivery pizza. Moose was such a good sport about the hiking and I'm glad that he & Chigger got along so well. It's been really gun having him along, and I'll be sad to see him go, especially since I doubt I'll be able to see him for his & Racheal's wedding this summer. Ah, but I forgot about the reunite at Trail Days. Okay, good. Happy thoughts again!
Date: 2004-04-06
From: The Franklin Motel

To: Campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

After a great (and cheap!) breakfast across the street, Chigger & I bade Moose goodbye at teh motel while Kathy (a wonderful lady who colunteers her time to drive hikers to the trailhead from town) started her truck engine to take us back to the trail. About 4 miles into the hike, I had to dial 911 on my cell phone...again, these are the times that I do appreciate this heavy technology that I've been carrying all this time. For any WAFA's, WFR's or WEMT's out there, here's the story:S: Sunny afternoon, Couple on honeymoon, horseing around on Indian Mtn, playing with snow, etc. Husband ran & fell on the hill, hitting a rock with his left knee. 1 1/2" by 1" gash on knee, patella exposed, bleeding profusely. No other injuries. A: noneM: noneP: noneL: water before hiking (1 hr. previous), snacks with them. E: fooling around on mountain. The bleeding stopped quickly enough with applied pressure, but the debris wouldn't fully flush out of his wound no matter how much water (pressurized) I applied. The EMT's arrived an hour after the incident and took Freddie away in a litter carry on an ATV. Chigger & I had prepared a SOAP (incident report) form, and had a ball exercising our WFR finesse--yes, we're the nerds who actually like being involved in these types of situations. We even got non-latex gloves from the EMT's to fill our first aid kits with! (Yes, hikers really do get excited about even the smallest of hand-outs.)The whole ordeal, once out of our hands, drasticly reduced our daily miles, but that's okay because Chigger wasn't feeling so hot anyway... tummy troubs...plus I got the chance to meet Groovy, and I fell in love with him immediately. He's got a really thoughtful way about himself, and we spent a few hours that night talking about everything. My sobo friends had met him and stayed with him in Atlanta after their hike...and once again by chance (if that's how you're inclined to perceive things) things work out so that we meet too! Most importantly, we recognized the comfortable, peaceful, sort of fearlessness that the AT life has bestowed upon us. It taught us that it's okay to talk to strangers, and hitchhike, and be spontaneous, it's okay to hike alone, even if you're a girl...the AT life has showed us that life IS safe, it's peoples personal fears that are their demise, not the 'fearsome' world. So anyway, we recognized that it's important for us to try and emulate this understanding and freer lifestyle once off the AT as well, despite what culture teaches. Man, that Groovy really helped me define a great teaching that I had gained from the AT, but hadn't previously put to words. Wonderful. And with slight guilt, I've decided to go to bed smiling tonight in pleasant thoughts rather than study my WFR skills.
Date: 2004-04-07
From: Campsite

To: NOC (under the stars)
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So, I left Chigger this morning, sad but true. We think she's got a stomach bug and it's slowing her pace down quite a bit. I hiked most of the day alone. I met this guy Turtle Don and later this gal Coyote, and she's who I'm spending the night with now. I kind of convinced her that we'd have a free place to stay and beer with my friend SquirrelMaster who is working as a rafting quide at the NOC...but wouldn't you know it, we never found him, and there wasn't a bar because we were still hiking through dry counties. WHEN WILL THEY END?!? Oh well, it just made for more sporadic planning on our part as we found hitches to the nearby gas station for resupply and dinner. I fondly recall being scrunched in with wet kayak gear in a minivan. Then we managed free showers and playing in the Nantahala river, courtesy of a newly made friend who loaned us his unused pack towels. I smell so clean now, it's great! Only think is, my face, arms, neck, and middle of my legs are bright pink from sunburn. The weather has changed yet again. The black flies are out, and I have yet to get some sunscreen for my quickly peeling skin.
Date: 2004-04-08
From: NOC (under the stars)

To: Brown Fork Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

yea, so i started the day huge. Huge helpings of biscuts, hashbrowns, and a killer veggie-omlet at the Rivers End Restaurant in the NOC. Then Coyote & I hopped on over to the outfitter for a new pair of Waldies (she lost one while playing in the river the night before--that's one of those adventures I won't detail here, but it was fun, silly & memorable to say the least!) I got my much needed sunscreen and promptly lathered up my face, with the creamy-dreamy goodness. I do beleive I was moaning with pleasure in the store, while tourists looked on incredelously. Then it was up, up, up (Ani references not intended, though they cast a smile) the 6 mile incline and back into the mountains. I re-met Welsh Nomad...I had seen her last year on the trail with Junkie, when she was doing a testing hike. That night I had to tarp it, and share with Coyote, because at 6 pm the shelter was full. Roadster is now also part of the Coyote, Snail crew now. She's a cartoon artist who's been working her summers as deck hand on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska for the past 3 years. She's pretty cool! Lastly, I've just done the mileage, and in order to reach Big Bald by the 19th, I've got to average 16's from now until then. Is it possible?
Date: 2004-04-09
From: Brown Fork Shelter

To: Fonana 'Hilton' Dam Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

So the miles came by pretty easy today and I was able to take a nice long break for lunch while waiting for coyote & roadster. Once we got to the shelter, we realized that the stores in Fontana Village all closed by 5 pm...shoulda figured on that one I guess. So, we did the next rational thing, and looked for a ride to the 28 miles away "nearby" town of Robinsville. First, however, Coyote and I decided we needed showers while Roadster was using the phone. With only one shower working, no locks on the door, and no towels to dry off with, it was quite the squeelishly-giggle filled adventure. The more I hike with Coyote, the more I think nakedness is just part of the whole trail experience. Once we smelled relatively normal, we then put on our raingear (can we say, yuk!...it was humid outside & we were sweating in our waterproofs...but they were the cleanest of our clothes, and we were intending to do laundry that night) and managed to persuade a family to give us a hitch in the back of their pick-up. The hitches in and out of town were each about 45 min. long, and we were so windblown by the end that it didn't look like we had showered at all. --Still, we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves for pulling off those longer hitches, and convincing a cashier at Subway to give us free cookies to boot!When we got back to Fontana at 9pm, our next mission was laundry. Our thoughtful driver even provided us with reading material while waiting for the laundry. Yes, it was religious, but it came complete with cartoons...so hey, take what you can get, right? Moojuice and Beagle's friend, 'H', drove us back to the shelter...lucky us because by that time it was dark. Best moment of that ride was singing 'Hakuna Matata' and 'Somewhere Out There' at the top of our lungs in the back of the third pickup of the day. Tomorrow we may attempt another hitch back to the Village for breakfast before making it into the Smokies.
Date: 2004-04-10
From: Fonana 'Hilton' Dam Shelter

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

So, once again, mission accomplished. I polished off a gigantic buffet breakfast before heading into the Smokeys. I hiked with Coyote most of the day, which made for much singing, riddles, and storytelling. So far, the Smokeys don't look much different than anything else that we've been hiking through, but the mesh-metal cage that covers the opening to this shelter is sure weird. I feel like it's more caging me in than caging the bears out. Not sure that I appreciate it. Here's a list of the folks I've met between yesterday and today: Moojuice, Beagle, Jerry (Bo...the dog), Bluegrass, PalmTree, Digit, Roadster, Saltlick, Archi...(wait, what was it? triceritops-man, or dino-bird, or stegasaurus'adee?...anh, it's too hard to remember his name, so we make up our own for him.), Lonesome Dove, and Catdog. Quite the crew, wouldn't you say?Well, it looks like I'm full and tired right now, but it's only 7pm, and I know if I go to bed now, I'll have to pee in 1/2 an hour. Oh, what to do!
Date: 2004-04-11
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Silars Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

So, se la vie...it rained today. What started out as drizzle mysteriously got harder the moment I decided to risk it and take, ahem, leave a dump in the 'toilet field' (where do the sign makers come up with these names?). But yes, that's right folks, from what I've seen, the Smokies have thus far been in favor of having pooping parties in large fields verses allowing for any private moments of expulsion in those neat recepticles I fondly call privies. It's a strange world. And yes, I got very wet at the begining of my day thanks to the lack of roofing over my toilet area. Anyhow, Coyote and I lunched it with this guy Arch..teryx....there, i wrote it! and he kinda creeped us out, so we made a plea in the register to our friends behind, with fingers crossed that they would follow our path so that we wouldn't be sleeping alone with the sketchball we now refer to as 'dino-bird'. One knight in shining armor arrived to protect us, but valient and smart woment that we are, we actually ended our hike one shelter earlier than dino-bird, and not only escaped the dude, but sheltered in with 3 very nice fellows who helped us start a fire, and played Eucher with me. I can't tell you how proud I was on the moment that the losing team had to "milk-the-cow". Little Moose, if you're reading this, I've passed on the strange tradition. And Bluegrass, we're glad you came after us, and happy to hear that everyone else who read our 1/2 serious, 1/2 comical entry (in the last register) got a good laugh out of it.
Date: 2004-04-12
From: Silars Bald Shelter

To: The Grand Prix Motel 
Miles today: 14.0

So the alarm was set, and we were out of the shelter just as the light was poking through the mist. It was our plan to get the miles into town done with early so that we woulnd't be night hiking out of town. Plans changed however, once the rain began pouring down on us and the wind picked up. Then we began thinking about town not only for it's groceries, but also for its dryers. Once we became drenched to the bone, and hiking in squishy boots, we then started making mental lists of possible friends in the area that we might call on to house us for the night. Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT, was not quite the picturesque moment we had hoped for. After hightailing it to the road (in a record 6 hrs..yea coyote & snail!) we met Wayne's parents who gave use homemade banana bread and a warm spot in their car until we were able to get a hitch into town. Never met Wayne, but sure liked his parents!The hitch into town was a lucky hitch too, as we scored a ride with a family (the cute son sat next to me!) who gave us Easter candy. It was doubly good, as I had nearly forgotten about Easter myself. Once in town all plans for calling friends were scrapped as we headed for the cheapest motel in town with coin laundry. At the motel, laundry and hot showers were of utmost importance, but closely followed by our quest of food and beer. I saw my friend Sarge, (whom I had last seen in Waynesboro) at the motel, and he and I later on had dinner with some other hikers at the brewery. Go figure it was another Karyoke night--just like it was in Waynesboro the last time I saw Sarge. Coyote & I stayed at the brewery until 12:30am dancing up a storm in the company of 2 young ridgerunners, one of whom we had met in the smokies earlier in the week. 'Dino-bird' managed to find the 2 of us in town, but I think he finally got the hint that we weren't interested. It was lightning all around us as we ran back to the motel that night, laughing the whole way. Just another fun adventure with Coyote...she and I have been having such a good time together, it's too bad I'll be pushing on tomorrow, when she'll be zeroing.
Date: 2004-04-13
From: The Grand Prix Motel 

To: Tricorner Shelter
Miles today: 15.0

Up at 6:30 am to the sound of rain. I slept for another 30 minutes before forcing myself out of the warm bed adn back to the trail. I left Coyote and Bluegrass to their dreaming while hoping for a hitch in the rain. 20 minutes later, I got my wish, and was in a dry car with 2 twin grannies. Yea!Plans today were to hike 23 miles to a.)get back on track and b.)get away from Archi... for the final time. By shelter #3 that I came to however, I stopped for good. True, I probably could have made the distance further, but the day had poured on me with rain, and topped my drenched body off with a nice pelting of hail too. The weather is said to improve tomorrow, so why not tack on the extra miles then, right?I met some new folks today, lets see if I can do the name game again: there's Wayne, John, Kristen, Flushnut, Cuppajoe, and Nathan. I'm at the shelter with them tonight, and Wayne is trying, very patiently, to light a fire with all the wet wood. An hour & 1/2 later, and he's got it...that's dedication!
Date: 2004-04-14
From: Tricorner Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel 
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: light rain

Man, it was a gorgeous morning to wake up to. About a 3 inch layer of white snow covering everything. Not quite beautiful enough to make me jump out of my sleepingbag though...not when I knew I had solid frozen socks & waterbag to lookf forward to. Still, it doesn't get much prettier. Once I did finally get up and going, I walked maybe 1/2 a mile inside the shelter, trying to break in my solid frozen boots before stepping out into more coldness. However, then when the boots started bending, I was moving real fast. The snow was still coming down, and it was like a winter wonderland. Wayne and I stopped a few different times to admire some snow covered branches, or the quietness that enveloped the lee sides of the mtns. We talked most of the time though, and the miles just flew by. The warmed up, and now soggy boots weren't even much of a bother when we had determined that we'd be staying in a hostel that night. We reached the hostel by 4pm and I got in a nice warm shower and dried my clothes too! Then it was time for a beer & food run. There are about 8 of us at the hostel tonight, and I've just called Elmers B&B to reserve a spot for myself in Hot Springs for 2 days. Then it was a quick call to my parents to let them know that all was okay. Oh yeah, and one more thing, we're toying with the idea of calling Wayne 'torch' because he's known to pull together a fire nearly every night, despite pre-existing weather conditions, such as snow, rain, or hail.