morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-02-16
From: black gap shelter

To: gooch mountain shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

On saturday I officially began my journey on the appalachian trail. I hiked up the remaining mile or so to the top of springer from the shelter, where I said my goodbyes to my dad. The weather was pretty chilly and windy, which limited my time on the summit, but I was able to grab some pictures of the plaque and the first white blaze before heading out. As I started descending springer I began to realize just how large a task I'm undertaking. Ascending springer proved difficult, but the subsequent peaks would prove far more draining. I hiked along all day and about half way through my hike I encountered my first trail magic. There was a bicycle race being held on some of the mountain backroads, and there was a car parked at one of the crossings to help cyclists turn the right direction. One of the men inside offered me an extra base layer, but since I didn't need one he gave me some cliff bars instead. That really helped me out that day and gave me the extra boost I needed to make it all the way to Gooch shelter. Once I got there, I encountered a group of boy scouts and several other hikers including another thru hiker. The boys started a fire, which helped with staying warm, as it became blistering cold. In hindsight I should have pitched a tent next to the the shelter, as unfortunately I ended up next to a very loud snorer and didn't get very much sleep at all.
Date: 2013-02-17
From: gooch mountain shelter

To: blood mountain shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I will remember this day for quite a while. The day began with single digit temps and strong winds, and as I made my way along the wind grew stronger, as did the difficulty of the terrain. It was quite steep in many places, but luckily some hikers gave me some chips and a clementine which really helped to keep morale up. Another problem I had to face this day was a frozen water bottle. I had filled up both of my platypuses the night before and placed one in my sleeping bag. The other was left out and turned solid overnight. Coincindentally, the terrain I was covering had low water availability so I was forced to rely on only one water bottle. But all the suffering was well worth it, for at the end of the day I camped in a beutiful old stone shelter atop blood mountain. The skies were perfectly clear so I was able to enjoy a spectacular sunset and sunrise the following morning. The only bad part of this shelter was a giant rat which I happened to catch running at my trail mix bag. I smacked at him with my boot, then put my food in the ursac minor and had no trouble with him after that.
Date: 2013-02-19
From: low gap shelter

To: budget motel hiawassee
Miles today: 9.5

Today I awoke to a one inch coating of snow, but the weather lightened up during the day and got much warmer. The bad part of teh day was my knee, which was very painful sleeping on last night. It hurt quite a bit in the morning, but lightened up in the afternoon some. A fellow hiker lent me his knee brace for the day, which helped me out a great deal, and I hope to pick one up in town tonight. I plan to restock on some food, as my anticipated milage will be lower than my original plans so it will take me a little longer to reach fontana dam. I will also have to face being off schedule for my smokies permit, but they should be pretty flexible with it hopefully. I plan to hit the trail tomorrow morning and take it easy on the milage, then hopefully work up to more.
Date: 2013-02-20
From: budget motel hiawassee/unicoi gap

To: tray mountain shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was a good one, also happened to be my 23rd birthday (ended up getting some lucky presents in the form of whisky left by other hikers at the shelter). Flo (fellow hiker from Germany) made our way back to the trail in the late morning to a beautiful but crisp day. I bought a brace for my knee in Haiwassee which I have used every day since and the pain is almost completely subsisted (now its my heels which are getting sore). The hike was short and sweet and we arrived at the shelter before 1 and spent several hours gathering and prepping for a good fire. The Tray mountain shelter was quite nice and we enjoyed an excellent sunset and sunrise the following morning.
Date: 2013-02-21
From: tray mountain shelter

To: cowart gap
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

My knee started feeling much better, so I decided to up the mileage a little (ended up wishing I pushed to the Plum Orchard). I started off behind Flo but did not know he stopped to rest at the deep gap shelter so i ended up past him. when I arrived to an empty gap i assumed he had gone ahead so i set up camp and a fire. 45 minute later flo showed up and we roasted the last of the marshmellows. Then a local and wise thru-hiker appeared, said he ives a mile off the trail. He warned of impending rain, but I decided to rough it in my tent since I had been spending too many nights in the shelters. What made this day great was this man's stories. He talked of his thru-hike, what terraign we would encounter tomorrow upon entering NC and what to expect later down the trail. He even told of a close bear encounter in which he was charged by a mother with a tiny cub in new jersey. Flo puched on to the Plum Orchard, which the man spoke highly of, and I remained to endure the storm. I climbed in my tent to relax and polish my harp playing skills a bit, it was good to have a night alone. I slept quite well in my tent, although the corner of my bag got a little wet once the rain started. The real adventure began the next morning...
Date: 2013-02-22
From: cowart gap

To: standing indian shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light snow

I awoke to my alarm and a light rain at 530am meaning to hit the trail by 6 but the rain and the dark made motivation difficult. I managed to get on the trail by ten of 7, amidst the worst tent packing and bear bag removing ever (fun in a strange way). I started off quite fast and after about 2 hours I was joined by Flo who caught up from behind me while I stopped to tape my foot. We pushed up the 1200 plus elevation gain to the muskrat creek shelter for lunch, encountering rime ice, freezing rain, sleet, and 30 mile per hour wind gusts along the way...all in addition to the steepest terrain of the trail so far. But it was al worth the sufferring when we found ourselves in NC!!! We ate a nice hot lunch at the muskrat shelter then pushed the 7 miles to standing indian shelter....This night proved hard for the sleeping, as the tin roof was quite loud from the tattering of the rain drops. And the incessant foggy mist made drying already wet gear hard as well. I got a little cocky with my ursac minor and forgot to hang it...hence I awoke to lost trail mix in my food bag. As long as I remember to hang it in the future it should stay rodent proof, hopefully.
Date: 2013-02-23
From: standing indian shelter

To: long branch shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We missed out on some great views due to the mist, but this trail section offered some of the coolest features I've seen yet on the trail. We scaled standing indian mountain in the morning then continued toward Albert mountain, which has a short but very steep rocky section at the top, much like an adirondack slide in grade. As the trail winds up Albert it crosses many small streams and mossy cliffs with steep drops off the side, and combined with the mist it gave a great wilderness sort of feel. Most enjoyable terrain so far.
Date: 2013-02-24
From: long branch shelter

To: winding stair gap/franklin
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: mist

easy day, mostly downhill. Encountered some trail magic in the form of mountain dew at the black creek trailhead..great energy boost. So now I'm in town with flo for the night restocking on some supplies and resting my heels. Tomorrow will be an easy day too, just a few miles. Today was a great day for those hiking what I did yesterday, as the weather could not have been better. Looking forward to more great hiking
Date: 2013-02-25
From: winding stair gap/franklin

To: siler bald shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today flo and I hung around in Franklin for a few hours mostly eating and buying a few odds and ends. Then in the afternoon my uncle showed up, who had been driving in from south carolina to visit. We chatted for a while then eventually he gave us a ride back to winding stair gap. The hike in was fast, especially since I had thought the shelter was supposed to have a built-in fireplace. Instead it had a fire pit right up against the shelter, and as we built up the fire smoke eventually inundated the area. As we anticipated, rain arrived later in the evening and continued through the night and into the following day. Sometimes I enjoy the sound of a steady rain on a roof, but for some reason this night didn't yield me a very peaceful sleep and made the next days progress grueling.
Date: 2013-02-26
From: siler bald shelter

To: cold spring shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light intensity drizzle

Today seemed to take forever, despite the fairly reasonable mileage. It was certainly in part due to the scattered rain and wind, and the steep terrain at times did not help much either. The high point of the day (elevation wise) was Wayah bald mountain, which has a historic stone fire tower on top and provides excellent views (in good conditions). It offers panoramic views of several mountains the trail passes over, as well as most of the smokie mountain range. Despite the weather, I pushed on to the shelter down the mountain for a much neede lunch break. Flo and I have been stopping at shelters for lunch breaks recently, especially in poor weather. It helps to boost morale quite a bit, especially when I cook up a hot lunch. At the start of the final ascent to the cold spring shelter from Burningtown gap, I came across a man taking down some canvas tents, and he had a large flag out front labeled trail magic with symbols of the AT, PCT, CDT, and others. Apparently he had been giving out hot dogs, soda, chips and snacks for almost two weeks and even offered beds for sleeping. Unfortunately he had nothing left, but as I passed his vehicle a few hundred yards ahead I noticed a trash bag and my inquisitive self kicked in. I checked inside and sure enough amongst the trash there were some cookies and hot dog buns still in their packaging. They proved a welcomed addition to dinner that night, and helped to battle the cold and dusting of snow which ensued. I also got another scavenging gift earlier that day atop Wayah bald as someone threw away an entire tent into the bear trash bin. I capitalized and took the rain cover, which turned out pretty large and great for covering the front of a sheter to protect against wind.
Date: 2013-02-27
From: cold spring shelter

To: sassafras gap shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

Today was quite the rough hike, especially considering it ended up being much longer than I planned originally. Flo and I awoke to a crisp morning with a dusting of snow and were really hoping for some more clear weather to get in some good views of the upcoming nantahala gorge. We left camp around 9, passed over the fogged in observation tower on wesser bald's summit, and reached the "jump-in" slightly before noon. Thankfully the weather cooperated and the views were spectacular. There was a coating of rime ice on the foilage of higher elevation peaks, and the contrast was great with the green valley. Flo went ahead down the gorge to get his smokies permit and I remained another 45 minutes to enjoy the view, catch up on things with my phone, and charge my batteries in the wonderful sunshine. After discovering that my homemade beef jerky which I had been "savoring" for the past week had some mold on it, I ate what I could and decided to book it down the gorge. I descended the steep 4.1 miles in under an hour, jogging most of the way and skipping down the rock and tree root staircases with seaming ease. When I reached the bottom I felt some soreness in my right calf and had built up a heavy sweat so I chowed on a pint of reese's ice cream. I didn't spot Flo in the outfitters, where I assumed he went to get his permit. I later found out he was in a separate building up the hill, but since I didn't spot him I knew he had decided to push the 6.7 miles up the gorge to the next shelter. This section proved quite miserable and very slow going, and when I reached the "jump-up" view of the gorge I knew there was only roughly a mile and a half left of uphill then a small decent to the shelter. It ended up taking much longer than I had expected and I was exhausted and feeling very low on morale. I finally hit the downhill, and when I smelt fire in the distance I became excited and hurried to the shelter. In all it took me over 3.5 hours to reach the shelter from the nantahala center (not including having to search for 10 minutes just to find the trail which was hidden behind some buses at the railroad tracks) but it felt like much longer. I arrived to find two fellow hikers, Luc and Bull. Luc is hiking to hot springs as training for his hike of the PCT, and bull is thru-hiking. Shortly after, Flo arrived and we enjoyed a good fire with some marshmellows.
Date: 2013-02-28
From: sassafras gap shelter

To: fontana lodge
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: light snow

Today was another long hiking day, and featured one of the most challenging sections of steep uphill I've encountered so far, the often overlooked "jacob's ladder." Before bed and in the morning I looked over the terrain graph in my guide book and noticed it looked quite intense, but actually scaling it was another matter. It snowed the night before, but it looked more like small pieces of styrofoam rather than traditional flakes, and was only a dusting. It also differed from the previous night's snowfall in that no rime ice had accumulated on any of the vegetation. The cold temperature played a big role in today's hike, and especially in our decision to push past the shelters and make it all the way to Fontana Dam. Our base layers were quite wet, and since fellow thru-hiker Bull only has a 35 degree bag we decided it was worth pushing the extra 4.5 miles. After crossing many ridges and two gaps we reached "jacob's ladder" shortly after noon. Although it took nearly 40 minutes to ascend the .75 mile section we were soon relieved to find the brown fork shelter waiting for us after a short downhill for a much needed lunch break. Luc and Bull ate only a quick snack for lunch then headed out, Flo and I opted for a hot lunch for that must needed boost in body temperature and morale. I finally made it back on the trail, shivering and with numb fingers and toes. This prompted a huge surge in my hiking speed, and I soon found myself warm and at the front of the group. I also was feeling something brewing in my gut, which gave me some extra motivation to hurry up. When we made it to the small cable gap shelter, the guide book indicated only 5.5 miles remained to reach Rt 28. It seemed this should be ruitine terrain, but the extra rocks and tired legs made it a little slow going. I finally made it out at 530 after 9 long hours and over 20 miles, and was very relieved when we reached the hotel.
Date: 2013-03-01
From: fontana lodge

To: fontana lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Relaxing zero day at the lodge. At $15 per person four-ways, this accomodation was too hard to resist over spending the night at the fontana 'hilton' shelter. Only down side is that since we are here so early most of the services such as the general store are closed, making re-supply difficult. Luckily I had a package sent her for me, and the others tagged in along with a fellow hiker into Robinsville for food.
Date: 2013-03-02
From: fontana lodge

To: mollies ridge shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Luc Flo and myself got out to a late start after enjoying some breakfast at the lodge and a stop at the pit stop gas station. Bull, who had also shared the room with us planned to stay a night at the Fontana Hilton shelter awaiting a friend who planned to hike the smokies with him starting the next day. We hiked the 1.1 miles to the shelter from 28, and it proved a much steeper warm-up than we had anticipated. We crossed Fontana dam and finally entered the smokies officially around 1230, planning to hike 10 miles in to the first shelter. At the start there was a small dusting of snow and as we worked our way up in elevation it steadily increased. By about 7 mikes in there was close to 6-7 inches on the ground and it was falling heavily. These last 3 miles were pretty tough mentally, and a few times I found myself hiking for 20 minutes or more without seeing a white blaze, hoping I was still on the trail. The last mile or so was the worst however, as by this time the snow was 8 inches deep with drifts up to a foot or more. This made travel very slow, and the terrain was a consistent uphill on what I knew must be mollies ridge. It seemed to continue forever and each turn I could see another 100 yards of uphill ahead and I was just hoping for the shelter. I wanted nothing more than to stop right there and lay in the snow, but I knew it must be near. I kept reminding myself of some wise words a past thru-hiker said, "sometimes just put one foot in front of the other and you'll make it eventually." Never have I been so glad to reach a shelter. I arrived to find a ranger starting a fire in the built in fireplace(the first of such shelters on the trail) and a group of 4 section hikers. We enjoyed some stories and a little whiskey from the ranger, then climbed in our sleeping bags for the night.
Date: 2013-03-03
From: mollies ridge shelter

To: spence field shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today got off to a slow start just. It was rather cold when we awoke, and we didn't get out of our sleeping bags until at least 830, after the others had started a fire using a road flare and the ranger had kindly grabbed our food bags from the cables for us. After breakfast we head out and quickly agreed on only 6.5 miles for the day as there was a foot of snow on the ground and drifts that were knee deep. We reached the shelter before 3 and spent a great deal of time gathering firewood, and luckily someone before us had just had a fire and there were still coals left which made starting the fire very easy. We built up the fire very large, and as we hoped there were still coals in the morning which we used to make a small fire for warming our fingers and toes.
Date: 2013-03-04
From: spence field shelter

To: derrick knob shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: clear sky

Today offered some of the most spectacular scenic offerings I've been fortunate to see on the trail, and the nice warm sun overhead throughout the day made the terribly slow pace quite bearable. We scaled two mountains and got some perfect clear views of the distant clingmans dome and the surrounding smokie mountains. the descent and ridge walking proved not as fun and slow going, but finally we reached the shelter. The ranger had told us before that rain would be rolling in Tuesday, and we hoped this would melt some snow and make the terrain more travel friendly. This ended up not being the case.
Date: 2013-03-06
From: derrick knob shelter

To: silers bald shelter
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain rolled during the night and we awoke still quite cold but hoped to knock out some good miles for the day. We sent out on the trail quite late, and the weather ultimately proved too much for us. The rain was coming down and melting the snow to slush puddles in some places and leaving large drifts in other places. The wind was the ultimate force today, and it caused our fingers to become so numb and cold that we were forced to cut our day short 1.7 miles and camp at the closer shelter. We jumped in our bags to get warm and held out through the night hoping for better conditions the following day. The opposite happened. Overnight the rain changed to snow and another foot fell outside. The wind was so strong it blew snow into the shelter around the tarp and left a coating on our already frozen clothing and gear from the day before. Since we knew the only terrain ahead was either 1.7 to the next shelter or scale clingmans dome, we decided to take a zero day in the shelter. The day seemed to last forever, and we battled through more wind during the night. Because of the weather we neglected hanging our bags outside, so every noise we heard made us paranoid of bears. We awoke at 3am to a clinking sound of the pots and pans, but when I turned on my light we discovered it was only a lone mouse looking around for scraps.
Date: 2013-03-09
From: gatlinburg

To: pecks corner shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

today was great and had excellent weather. the man who runs the grand prix informed Flo and I of trail angels Godspeed & Mountain Momma, who offer rides for donation to newfound gap from gatlinburg on weekends. They were very nice people and had some good stories and advice to share. Godspeed hiked the trail several years ago with his son. They had to stop part way through their journey because Godspeed's son was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, however after a tough battle he managed to survive and three years later the pair went back onto the trail and finished it. Now Godspeed and Mountain Momma enjoy helping other hikers out along their journey, and in the summer months they even cook BBQ ribs for hikers.I found the broken in trail to be a welcomed relief over what we encountered several days earlier, and although it was mostly uphill the pace was fairly fast going. The sun was out all day, and the ridge after the icewater spring shelter offered excellent views. The sides of the mountains there were quite steep and it really gave the trail an alpine feel, especially with the snow. When we reached the shelter Flo and I ran into fellow thru hikers Arrowhead and Solo, and later were joined by several groups of hikers so the shelter was pretty full. Tonight I also began using the mouse trap which I bought in gatlinburg and it was successful.
Date: 2013-03-10
From: pecks corner shelter

To: cosby knob shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

I really enjoyed today's hike. It consisted of mostly ups and downs along ridges with a few major climbs up to the tri-corner knob shelter. Most of the other hikers got out early in the morning to get a head start so I had some more room to pack up my stuff. the weather was good again, although most of the other hikers were concerned about possible rain moving in during the evening and following day. There was plenty of ridge hiking again with lots of good views as I worked my way around the mountains. As the day warmed up I noticed the snow slowly disappearing in the lower elevations, but the snow persisted along most of the trail although only a few inches remained. I reached the tri-corner knob shelter early in the day and thought about pushing ahead to davenport gap, but decided against it so that I could remain hiking with Flo. I used the mouse trap again and it worked once more like a charm. Hopefully I can make the shelters more comfortable and rodent free for future hikers, although with the amount of trash I usually find and pick up at most shelters I am not surprised they hang around. It disappoints me to see how others deface shelters and leave trash behind. And its not just day hikers as many people think, as I usually can find at least one mountain house bag amongst the trash. If people would be a little more responsible then the woods would stay cleaner and more pristine, which is how they should be.