morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 5.7

March 24, 2004 Wesser Bald shelter/ Nantahala Wesser Campground   Not as cold last night and the morning was nice. Hiked the 5.7 to the NOC and got a root beer (pepsi machine was out of order). Decided to walk the mile to the campground. Little store next dorr, not bad. More Later
Date: 2004-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.9

March 25, 2004   Nantahala Wesser Campground/ Sassafras Gap shelter   Well, I think this has been the hardest day hiking for me. Going up most of 5062' to Chedah Bald, all but 1.1 miles was a rough one. Met with a few hikers and we all agreed this one was a killer. The shelter is down in a ravinr, too steep for my pleasure and the only semi flat campsite is right in the trail so we are camped out there.=, right next to the sign. We are shooting for Brown Fork Gap shelter tomarrow. Thats 9.1 miles of rought terrain from what we hear. Hope it's the the boulder hopping, thats fun. I'll let you all know. More Later
Date: 2004-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.1

March 26, 2004   Sassafras Gap shelter/ Brown Fork shelter   Either I'm getting in trail condition or that lady didn't know what she was talking about. The first 7.5 miles blew by like a walk in the park and then the last 1.5 was a KILLER. I think is was straight up. After being out here for this long I thought that my calves were getting in shape but today was a total calf burner. It seemed like my feet pointed straight up. Not doing too bad for an old lady. We did the 9.1 miles in 5 and a hald hours and had an hour lunch break so 6 and a half hours of hiking isn't too bad. So we're at the Brown Fork shelter just chillin' out. Oh! some of the 9.1 was boulder hopping yeah! Sharing the shelter witha couple from NC, Anne and Chris and their Husky Bo. Bo got an extra dinner tonight. I made our gourmet dinner of Ramen noodles and dished it out to the two of us , set mine downon a log to get the bread(bagels) and the wind came up and blew it over,Right into the dirt, well first I wanted to cry ( I was hungery) then I laughed because thats something I would do, dump my food. What a clutz. So cup of soup came to the rescye. More Later
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.1

March 27, 2004 Brown Fork shelter/ Cable Gap shelter   Since its 13.4 miles to Fontana Dam we know we would never make it by noon ( P.O closes at noon on Sat.) so we are taking the next two days to get there. Only walked 6.1 today and will do the 6.6 to Fontana sheltertomarrow. The Fontana shelter is supposed to have a shower as well as a privy so a shower before town sounds good. More Later
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

March 27, 2004         CONFESSION TIME!!!!   For those of you who know the saying "weebles wobble but they don't fall down" it's false! So far I have taken two ankle twisters that put me to my knees(no damage)thank GOD. Then I learned the hard way the true meaning if turtling. Going up one of the many hard ups Tonguetied stopped at a rock so I could take a short break. Well I put too much butt and not enough pack on the rock, the weight of the pack pulled me right over. There I was flat on my back (pack) butt against the rock, legs in the air laughing my head off. Tonguetied laughed so hard he couldn't help me up and that made it even funnier. All I can say is thank GOD there wasn't any film left.*** Weebles do wobble and they do fall down especially if their blonde.***
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.6

March 28, 2004   Cable Gap shelter/ Fontana Hilton   WOW! The Fontana Hilton is truly a great shelter, a double sided 2 story with pinic tables. The shower is a short quarter mile walk but well worth the walk. It feels good to feel clean and fresh. After a week of walking you try to walk away from your own smell, maybe that why some of these guys go so fast. Well, into the P.O tomarrow and a room at the Fontana Inn if theres room. I have to tie up this journal so it can go home. Sure will be nice to get rid of the weight of the pictures. My own fault for not sending them home last week. More Later
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

March 29, 2004   Fontana Hilton/ The Hike Inn   Got to the P.O and had to wait until 11:30am to get our package so we went to the park across the street and waited and wauted. We got there at 8:30am. Then had a problem finding a bank that could handle our transaction. After an almost all day adventure we landed at The Hike Inn with Jeff and Nancy, the nicest people you could ever meet. This is definitely the best place to stay. We would give them a five star rating for all hiker services. We have a room with a kitchenette, coffee and all the fixings, shuttle to town, laundry service,etc. Anyone who can , should stop and stay with Nancy and Jeff. More Later
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

March 30, 2004   The Hike Inn   After the stress of yesterday we had no time to relax and refresh so we decided to stay another night. The weather station says rain and possible snow tonight and tomarrow morning. We're hoping it passes by the time we get ther, by there I mean up into the mountains. Its been raining off and on since early morning and will probably continue. All we can do is start out tomarrow and see what we meet. Wish us luck. More laterLike a silly I forgot to put a journal book into my maildrop so I have nothing to keep the journal on. So until I can get another I will call home and Let dawn and Kris update where we are from the calls. So there will not be a daily account for awhile. Sorry everyone. More Later
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hello everyone,   I hope you have enjoyed weebles and Tonguetied's journal. I have had a ball typing it because I laugh at some of the things that my mom wrote. I do apologize for taking so long but I have to do entries on my time off from my classes. I am finished for now and I am turning things over to weebles. I hope I did a good job. Just so you know the notes with the astrek*** are from me, I just can't help adding my two cents to something. I hope you keep coming back to see what my silly mother and TongueTied are up to.                Thank you,                   Kristina
Date: 2003-10-15
To: Planning
Miles today: 0.0

Ok....I grew up only miles from the Appalachian Trail crossing in Hanover, NH but never really paid much attention. I've driven across it in Killington, VT at the Long Trail Inn, seen thru-hikers in Manchester, VT thinking that there was no way I'd even let them ride in the bed of my truck....Ok....that was a few years ago. Today, I asked my husband if he wanted to hike the AT with me. This might sound easy enough but it wasn't. I'm not a hiker by any stretch, my husband is a HUGE outdoorsman and loves the extreme variations of every sport. I haven't worked in a while as I travel with him on business away from home but he works for a major corporation. Could it be done? Actaully, I thought his company would say no to a 6 month leave of absence, putting me in the clear.....It didn't work that way, he would have even found a hiking parnter in one of his "way-up-there" bosses if we weren't planning to hike together.ok....here comes the planning, the buying, the reading, the trails, etc!
Date: 2003-12-01
To: Planning
Miles today: 0.0

How much stuff is out there???? A dozen trips to REI in Nashville later, I have a new pack, hiking poles, all kinds of clothes to keep me dry and warm, and little things, too. Did you know that a $20 pair of "panties" from Patagonia could really make the difference? I know this because I went through 5 trial pairs to see how they held up and whether or not they covered my butt or all crammed into a huge wedgie. Running bras make a difference too, built NOT to chafe (I don't think I've ever written that word before...). I have rain gear, fleece, all kinds of great stuff!
Date: 2003-12-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Christams!! I love Christmas! Luckily I had most of my gear and made it clear that I was not to get gear as a gift from my hubby, so he didn't. My sister-in-law Melinda gave us some great stuff for the trail, waterproof matches and some emergency supplies. My mom got Tom some hiking socks but I think that's about it. Everything I got is post-trail stuff but it was nice that everyone didn't run out and try to find us gear. My mom would somehow manage to find frilly pink stuff from somewhere!
Date: 2004-01-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I had Lasik surgery on both eyes today in preparation for our trail journey. My husband had his surgery in January 2003 and it seemed like a good idea to have mine prior to the trail. Guess what??? I CAN SEE!! I wasn't blind before but I couldn't recognize people I knew across the room without knowing their profile or how they moved, couldn't drive or watch tv without glasses, and couldn't wait to be free of them. The surgery was kinda freaky but it lasted less than 5 minutes and I was able to see, with blurriness, immediately after and watched tv a few hours later without a problem. The best part? Seeing my husband's sweet smile from across the room...
Date: 2004-01-10
To: Welcome to Our Journal
Miles today: 0.0

Welcome to Tom and Jan's AT Journal. We are glad you decided to visit. Jan and I will be starting our hike on March 1st, 2004. We have spent the last several months planning, accumulating gear, testing, returning gear, buying more gear, packing, unpacking, hiking, camping, returning gear, buying more gear, hiking some more and planning. Whether we like it or not we are about to be complete with the preparation stages and moving onto the real action. We hope you will stop by once a week or so to check on our progress. Hopefully we will be able to share some great stories of our adventure as we attempt to hike the 2170 miles from Georgia to Maine.
Date: 2004-02-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's almost time! I'm getting nervous, seems like there it so much left to do before we leave. Then again, it could be the realization that I came up with this crazy adventure in the first place! Just need to buy the food for our first week and get our "info packet" to friends and family and go through our gear one more time and we'll be good-to-go!
Date: 2004-02-27
To: Packing
Miles today: 0.0

Ahh, the joy of trying to cram 4 days worth of food, a tent, stove, water filter, clothes, sunglasses, pots, sleeping bag, bazooka, ammo, 4-wheeler and what seems like a gazillion other tiny things into a marble bag, just kidding about those last two items. Over the past several months we have loaded our packs with everything we thought we would carry on the trail and headed into the woods for the weekend. Most of the time we carried a full 4-6 days of food, or so we thought. Funny thing is, we seemed to always have plenty of space left in our packs and we were sure we had everything we needed and very little of the less useful "just in case" items. You pretty much learn to throw the boy scout "always be prepared" term out the window, especially when you see the amount of gear adding up that you would need to be prepared for all the things you can think of that could happen on the trail in 6 months. Do we really need that back board? or the neck brace? What about the satelite phone? Who gets to carry the defibrillator? Actually I guess that motto might mean be mentally prepared for anything...guess wolfcookie doesn't get to carry a defibrillating heart thingy afterall.Anyway, back to the current packing quandary. We spread all our gear out in the parents living room, which we have taken over for the week, and began the process of stuffing things into ziplocs and then into the packs. In the past I was able to fit all the camping gear, ie tent, stove, etc into my pack plus 4 days worth of food. Somehow it turns out I was not able to get all the food into my pack. It appears we never really estimated the number of snacks we should carry and therefore never packed anything more than one days worth of candy bars and crackers. We also seemed to have left most of the drink mixes, like powdered milk, at home on our weekend trips. With all those items identified as "needs" it appeared wolfcookie would need to carry some food. Problem is, she loaded everything she normally carried into her pack and there was no room for food. We both stood back and stared at our packs slightly perplexed. How did we go from "testing" and having plenty of room to this? So out everything came again, we sorted through all the items and got rid of anything redundant. How many matches do you really need anyway? 4 days till the next resupply, we light the stove for breakfast and dinner only...hmm eight matches should be plenty. the other 50 go into a mail drop. We managed to eliminate a few items and then rearrange others. Finally, after one of us standing on top of the pack jumping up and down and the other pulling on the zippers and compressions straps I am happy to say that both packs are fully loaded. Wolfcookie's pack is about 35lbs and I am at 45lbs, four days worth of food an a 100oz. of water each. And the good thing is the packs will get lighter each day, in theory, as we eat...until that first maildrop which weighs 18lbs....ahhhhhhh Now all that is left is to send out the last minute emails, add labels to the mail drops and give the parents a quick education on how to add journal entries and pictures to this web site.
Date: 2004-02-29
To: In Atlanta
Miles today: 0.0

We are in Atlanta and ready to begin our journey. We rented a car Friday night and started driving at 10:30am on saturday morning. We made it to Gastonia, NC where we decided to eat dinner and spend the night at 8pm. We were so tired that after sitting down to dinner and ordering we asked the waiter to make our order a to-go order so we could go back to the hotel and crash. Normally driving doesn't wear us out that much. It could have something to do with the fact that we were up until 2am the night before getting all the last minute details written down and taken care of before we left. We planned to leave PA at 8am but didn't get on the road until 10:30. This morning we woke up, dumped our packs out and re-organized them again. We loaded then in the rental and drove into Atlanta. Our friend picked met us at the airport and gave us a ride back to his place were we had our last good supper for who knows how long. Tomorrow we get picked up and driven to Springer to begin the journey.   The excitement is growing but I still don't think either of us know what to really expect. The next report will be written by the parents hopefully within the next week.
Date: 2004-03-06
From: Springer Mtn, GA

To: Neels Gap, GA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tom and Jan walked in rain every day and reached Neels Gap a day ahead of schedule on friday, March 5th at 5 p.m. Tom said they slept in shelters every day but one which they spent in their tent. He said it was the coldest temperature but they kept warmer in the tent than previous nights in shelters. The weather has been too cloudy and rainy to enjoy the view. Experienced people at the outfitter had them send home 14 pounds worth of gear that they wouldn't need. They are both still very excited about their adventure. They have been hiking with eight other people. They slept in on saturday and when tom called us at 3 p.m. he said it was sunny and warm and they were getting ready to head out for another week of hiking. They hope to reach Dicks Creek Gap/Hiawassee,GA. by march 9th or 10th. They will hopefully mail us some photos by then. Linda a.k.a Mom
Date: 2004-03-09
From: Neels Gap, GA

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hi everyone, it is tuesday and Tom is still on the phone with his dad. He said after talking with us on saturday they headed out for this week of hiking and had bad weather everyday. Yesterday they walked 9 miles and 12.5 today. They walked in wind, snow and sleet and finally came out of woods not knowing which direction to go and saw a parking lot so they decided to catch a ride into town as they are still a day ahead. Well neither Tom or Jan have ever hitch hiked and after rigs, suvs and a few cars going by, Tom said that Jan said to him, "Man, you're pretty shitty at this!" Tom was cracking up telling me this! Jan was busy the past couple days covering her blisters with mole skin and tom has been doctoring a few things but they are still on a high about their adventure and intend to do the whole thing. He said temperatures have been cold 30's days and 20's at night. Sunday night and monday night they were quite nervous in their tent listening to the wind and trees cracking. Tom said at one point it sounded like a frieght train coming down on them and the sides of the tent were going in and out and howling all around them and they looked at each other and said "we are in for big trouble." They survived the past four days of hiking and are now in the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee, Georgia and plan to stay there till thursday for a much needed rest and some healing. Their phone number there is:1-706-896-8884 room 203! they will leave thursday morning. They went out for burgers, onion rings and french fries, chicken fingers and salad bar and said a burger never tasted so good. Tom said when they got back to the hotel all they could smell were their stinky hiking clothes which they will wash tomorrow. Jan bragged to Tom that she couldn't smell hers thinking hers didnt get smelly till she opened a bag and phewwwwww, what a smell. They are just glad to be warm and full after four hectic days on the trail. Night to all!
Date: 2004-03-15
From: Rainbow Springs Campground, Franklin, NC

To: Silers Bald, NC
Miles today: 8.0

Hello, ALL!!! (This is actually Tom and Jan.) We are spending the night here in Rainbow Springs, and we're thankful that you can't call us this time!! Thank you to everyone who called us in Hiawasee, we really appreciated it and it lifted our spirits. Lets just say that we had to unplug the phones because of how many calls and what time they came in! We've had 2 great hitch-hiking experiences, the first was out of Dick's Creek Gap from Bud and Mary Lynn Scott and the last was today by Bill and Betty Ruff (I'm trying to do this by memory so I hope I got it right!). Our first Trail Magic experiences were just excellent and we thank you all for taking pity on the nasty, dirty hikers and hope you got the smell out of your vehicles! Really nice place here at Rainbow Springs CG, we hope to join our fellow hikers in the wood-fired sauna soon after we finish our pizza! Going back to the outfitters to see about more possible gear changes, lightening of our loads. Feet are getting a little better but still feels like hours and hours in high heels at a bad job! Hopefully it will get better soon. Still enjoying each other, we can't smell each other so that's a plus! For all of you that left us messages, thanks and we hope the rest of you do too. It would make Gary's life easier if you left them here on the site rather than email to him, if you can avoid it! Hmmm....hey, did any of you know (and why didn't you warn us!!!) that you CAN get diaper rash at 28 and 30 and that you CAN get sun burned in March, in the woods, in the snow storm???? Tom is never going back to work, sorry Mike and Diane! Hope everyone is well. We miss you guys and I'm having a hard time being away from a phone, well, not really! Ok, that's it for 35 cents a minute! Love to all.-Wolf Cookie and Dances With Wolf Cookie
Date: 2004-03-17
From: Siler Bald, NC

To: N.O.C.
Miles today: 0.0

Tom called us at 10 a.m. this morning Thursday, from Franklin, N.C. He sounded a little tired but happy! They are still making good time but both are battling sore feet. Jan seems to have burning feet after a few miles "like 7" on the trail. No wonder! they are meeting lots of other hikers and enjoying their company! A couple days back they and their fellow hikers were all suffering from tired feet so they all sat down and removed their shoes and just as Jan finished removing her shoes a guy come up over the hill and said,"why are all of you sitting here, I'm a Trail Angel and I have some goodies for you down below. They were all scattering to get shoes on and beat it down the path to real food. This guy goes by the name of Apple and is from Austin Texas and he built a tent like dome that looks like half a soccer ball when he gets it all together. He sewed blue and red tarps together and used metals to construct it. Tom said it was real neat. It holds 30 people and I believe tom said it takes the guy half a day to set it up. So he furnished them with hotdogs, sodas and lots of other goodies and they all spent the night in this dome.In the morning he provides the hikers with hot cinnamon rolls. How wonderful to have these trail angels along the way! He let them know that when they get out of the smokey mountains the trail angels there provide steaks etc. Thank God for these wonderful people. Tom and jan were heading out after our call and hoping to reach Fontana Dam, N.C. within 2 and a half days. We received some pictures and will be trying to load them into the journal. The hikers pooled their money and rented a house last night and purchased 8 pizzas and other snacks. A break away from the hike! They will be calling us in three days.