morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-04-14
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Hopped on the trail this morning at 8:00. Temp was around 50 degrees but it had been much colder during the night. Miles had a migraine during the night so had to stumble along using a headlamp to the cable where our bags were hung to keep our food and other items away from bears (not that we've seen any of them). Note that things aren't as easy as at home.We had a 5.9 mile descent of 2300 feet to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The AT goes right through the complex which is a big kayaking center. Staying in a hostel for the night giving us a chance to shower and wash our stinky clothes. Had a great burger and fries. Got to chat with many visitors who have questions about the whole backpacking process. Spoke multiple times to an eighty year old man who had hiked about a quarter of the trail in 1975. He kept stressing to take our time and enjoy every moment. Meeting folks along the way is one of the best parts of this journey.Had two big packages waiting for us here. One was a resupply box with our food for the next three days from Bek and Zac along with a sweet note. Thank you both. And another box from Dorcas and family with lots of trail foods and a note of support from Shannon. It was so nice of them. After getting to the complex and finding that they only carried Coke products, Side was thrilled to find two bottles of Mt Dew in the box. They know him so well. And Miles will be looking trendy with neon green duct tape on her foot blisters. Many thanks.Starting to see flowers blooming along the trail which makes Miles happy so the camera keeps coming out. We've been seeing Bluets and yesterday saw a long stretch of Myrtle. Today saw hillsides dotted with dainty white flowers that look like Marsh Marigolds according to our nifty little AT tree and flower guide. Spring is springing.No surprise, tomorrow's hike starts with an almost six mile ascent of 3000 feet. Yippee.
Date: 2013-04-15
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Cheoah Bald Campsite
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Left the NOC at about 9:10 for our crazy climbing day. It was an endless climb for sure. Miles decided that even though she doesn't like the ups much that she was going to go slow and use one earphone to the baby iPod and let music carry her up. She actually enjoyed the climb for the most part and loved hearing songs she hasn't heard for some time. Side left her in the dust and she'd find him relaxing along the side of the trail frequently chatting with someone. He sure has good uphill stamina.Stopped at Sassafras Gap shelter to filter water and chat with some friends who were staying there. Ran into Teasips and Javaman who we haven't seen for about a week. They stayed at the shelter along with Something Indian (can't ever remember the first word in his trail name) and his two sons Low Gear and Low Drag. Because we just love uphills today we continued on another 1.8 miles and are tenting on top of a mountain, so far by ourselves. Wide open view on one side of just mountain after mountain. We can see a couple of small sections of road and a building or two. That's it.Saw some great views today including one back down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center where we stayed last night.Oops, we have company. A guy from Atlanta out for a short trip set up a tent on top also. Chatted with him over supper as we looked at the beautiful view to the east. The bugs drove us batty. We're on a ridge so we found a good lookout on the western side to watch the sunset. What a great camping site (unless we freeze tonight). Hoping for a restful night. Miles had a great night last night after her migraine medicine and muscle relaxer kicked in.
Date: 2013-04-16
From: Cheoah Bald Campsite

To: Cody Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: broken clouds

Okay, starting to journal in a rip roaring thunderstorm. Had some gigantic claps and pouring rain. Came upon us pretty quickly as we were finishing cooking and we just managed to get everything stored in the tent or under the vestibules. We had just gotten the tent dry from this morning. Oh well. Here at Cody Gap (hey, shout out to Cody) with 6 other tenters and there's another tent set up a short distance away. Now we're having some wind and hail. Dirt is splashed up the sides of the tent. Yippee.Hoped to have a nice sunrise this morning from out great vantage point but we were in the clouds this morning and the wind was really blowing. The tent was wet and Miles sleeping bag was a little wet. Shared a poptart and headed out. The intention was to make a bunch of miles today to make tomorrow a shorter day because we're staying at a hostel and want to get clothes washed and get organized for our venture into the Smokies. But this turned out to be a bugger of a day. The terrain was tougher than how it looked on the map, it was stinking hot when we got to the part called Jacob's Ladder and we had to climb straight to heaven. Got so bad we were only able to go from the shade of one tree trunk to the next gasping for air. Sure would have been nice to have a switchback or two. Stopped to filter water shortly after and then continued on our way to Cody Gap. An exhausting day and now with everything wet and muddy from the downpour, it will take us a long time to break camp in the morning.Fortunately we did get to eat a meal before the storm but we didn't get to eat the freeze dried ice cream from Rose and Wayne. Guess it'll have to be tomorrow night. Drat. Have an 8.6 mile hike tomorrow.Good news - the storm has settled down and the rain has almost stopped. It's 8:15 and Side has been sawing logs for 30 minutes. He frequently can't stay awake for the journaling. Nighty night.
Date: 2013-04-17
From: Cody Gap

To: The Hike Inn at Fontana Dam
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: broken clouds

Happy Birthday Shelley!First must mention the trail magic we received yesterday at Stecoah Gap. Passed a hiker going the opposite direction. He asked if we were thru-hiking and when we said yes he told us he had just left a cooler of drinks and snacks ahead along the trail and we should help ourselves. Random acts of kindness. He Who, we thank you.Had a wet, dirty tent to deal with this morning. Packed up and out at 8:15. Seems Side picked up some of the electric charge from last night's storm and was like he was shot from a cannon all day. Miles could sometimes see his orange pack way off in the distance and sometimes not. Miles was slooow. We hiked 8.6 miles to the Route 28 crossing at Fontana Dam. Our plan was to stay at The Hike Inn so we were supposed to call them and let them know whether we wanted to be picked up there or at the dam 1.4 miles ahead. We opted to get that additional mileage in but wanted to change our mind a little down the trail when it started thundering good and loud. Great. And there was some uphill that Ms. Slug of the Year could barely lift her legs to climb. Why does it always look so easy on the map - want my money back. And to top it off they thought it would be fun to not bother putting out white blazes. Hey just walk around a bunch and see if you can find the right way. Obviously hikers like to walk. Right? With 0.3 miles left, our ride came to see if we'd rather get picked up there but we trudged on. Started to rain just as we loaded our gear in the back of Nancy's car. Oh, lucky her -she had to ride with us in the car with the windows up. Poor thing. Swung by the post office to pick up our resupply box and our bounce box. Thanks Bek, Zac and Colette. Side got his Mountain Dew fix at a little store.In our room, showered and waiting to get back some clean clothes. Usually it's rain gear that you wear while your stinky clothes get washed. Still amazing that people actually wash your gross clothes for you. Soon we'll get delivered to town to resupply and have dinner. Don't need the resupply part.Made a decision to take a zero day here tomorrow to get someone we know a little more ready for - yes folks, you guessed right - a huge uphill climb into the Smokies. Miles will be working on a foot transplant tonight.Went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Good meal and a latte for Miles. Lazing tonight.
Date: 2013-04-18
From: The Hike Inn at Fontana Dam

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hung out in the room puttering around. Went through the bounce box and resupply box and reorganized. Set up the tent outside to dry out. Went into Robbinsville early. Had lunch and then went to the library to upload photos from the camera. Will hang around and then have dinner and pick up the couple of things we need. Just a day to rest up for what's to come.
Date: 2013-04-19
From: The Hike Inn

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

Happy Birthday Dan!Starting to wonder if this is vacation or a hike. Weather was predicted to be bad and it was. Rained like crazy today but we were lucky and didn't have the predicted severe thunderstorms, at least not here in the lowlands. The place we were staying was full so we got shuttled to Fontana Lodge which turned out to be full of hikers and was very reasonably priced. Much more comfortable here. Wish we had come here yesterday also. Our friends Teasip and Javaman who we had dinner with last night have dropped off the trail due to injury.Had a nice dinner tonight and lazing around again. Watching the news about the search for a suspect in the unfortunate events in Boston. Sad to hear what has happened while we're hidden away.
Date: 2013-04-20
From: Fontana Lodge

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

Reluctantly left the comfort of the Fontana Lodge and headed into the Smokies. Did a lot of climbing today but wasn't as bad as some of the previous days. Saw some nice views back down to the dam as we climbed higher and higher. Saw clusters of flowers and tufts of new grass coming up amid last year's dried, brown leaves and fallen limbs.Hiked 10.7 miles to Mollies Ridge shelter where we stayed in the shelter with a dozen others surrounded by many tents and hammocks... a result of everyone backed up due to the weather. Large group around the campfire tonight before it got too cold.
Date: 2013-04-21
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Cold and windy overnight. This morning it was still cold, so a quick breakfast and off. The first half of the day wasn't too difficult. Saw a turkey standing on the trail. Snuck in for a photo op. Second half of the day was lots of rugged ups and downs. Beautiful views from Rocky Top. Called the grandchildren - they were celebrating Robert's birthday early. Got into camp at 5:30 and then raced through the work to set up camp. Tenting tonight. Early to bed.
Date: 2013-04-22
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

We've been hovering on the North Carolina / Tennessee border as we navigate through the Smokies. Never sure which state you're in. Although the shelter we're staying at tonight must be in NC because there's a privy. The past few shelters have not had a privy and word was that TN doesn't allow privies.This morning there were three young deer hanging out not far from the shelter. For the longest time they were munching on leaves and playing with each other and didn't seem to mind us all watching. Sure was cute.Had a pretty easy day today only hiking 7.2 miles to Double Spring Gap Shelter. The terrain wasn't too bad at all. Got a view of Clingman's Dome when we were atop Silar's Bald. In camp, took some time to rinse out some clothes and hoping they'll dry. The wool tends to take forever to dry so good thing the wool's supposed to hold down the stink.Having trouble identifying the flowers even with my AT guide. Seeing so many of these adorable short, little flowers with dainty purple stripes and simple, ordinary leaves. Carl, help us out here.Ate a lot tonight, more than usual. Side had his first Ramen - he's led a sheltered life. The shelter is starting to fill as more hikers keep showing up. This is the last shelter before we climb Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the entire trail. Tomorrow we'll do a short day as well so we can hang out at the top a while. Side's praying for vending machines and Mountain Dew as there's a road to the top and lots of visitors.The shelter is now full and a few tents and hammocks about. Not nearly the big crowds of the previous few nights. Fire going inside the shelter. We are sleeping in our tent tonight.
Date: 2013-04-23
From: Double Spring Gap

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: clear sky

Happy birthday Robert !Yeah, we passed the 200 mile mark today! Less than 2000 miles to go.This morning we had deer grazing peacefully by the shelter again. Today we climbed the remainder of the elevation to 6655 feet to Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT. Go us! There is a long curving ramp at the top. Beautiful views in all directions but breezy so we couldn't stay long. They have placards posted in all directions identifying the many mountains in view. It was neat to see some of the places we've already been and also some of the places we'll be traveling to. Side and some friends made the half mile trek down to the visitor center because there was supposed to be vending machines. No such luck. Wasted mileage except they did find some expensive chocolate bars they had to buy to justify the walk.Many folks had driven up to the top. It was fun to talk with them about our journey. Some didn't really have much of an understanding about the trail.Then, of course, we followed up with a descent down the other side and then the normal climb up to a shelter. We've been hiking the last day and a half through pine forests. Such a sweet smell and a comforting feeling. Many big blowdowns- huge trees. We'll be sleeping in a full shelter tonight with a few tents set up outside.Mountain House meal with coffee, hot chocolate and miscellaneous goodies. Trying to nourish ourselves for another day. Yesterday was the best we've done at eating significantly in the evening. The key is to stay hydrated, eat well, and sleep well. Not always possible to do all three. Tomorrow we have another short hiking day and pick up our resupply box that is being delivered to Newfound Gap. Thanks to Bek and Zac.
Date: 2013-04-24
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy Birthday Tim !Out on the trail at 8:00 this morning which was really too early given that we only had 4.5 miles to hike to Newfound Gap to get our supply box delivery that we had scheduled for 12:30. We got there early. Newfound Gap has some great views and there was one tourist bus after another (culture shock). It's located right on the NC / TN border. There was a Microtel van wanting to take folks to a nearby town. Sure was tempting.Called our supply provider and she was able to get over a half hour early. There was a threat of thunderstorms so we went racing the remaining three miles up to the shelter. Well actually Side went racing and Miles had her own pace. Made it before any rain and started cooking up some of our new, yummy food to warm us up. Once again we were freezing when we stopped hiking. The raspberry crumble was exceptional.Been raining on and off now. Shelter is already full - everyone wants to be in and dry tonight. Campfire going in the shelter which helps with the chill. Thinking it will be cold and damp tonight. Still haven't broken out my hand and toe warmers so maybe this is the night.Tomorrow we hike a longer day. Hoping to go 12.6 miles. Working our way towards the end of the Smokies.
Date: 2013-04-25
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We're continuing to travel along the NC / TN border. Today we hiked 12.8 miles to the Tri-Knob Corner shelter for a total of 222.4 miles. This was a "Wow" day with so many breathtaking views. The clouds were hanging down between the mountains. So gorgeous. The Charlies Bunion Trail (which Side has renamed Side's Bunion) was beautiful. The camera was in and out of the pack so many times because it was impossible to not try to capture the image. Not the same as seeing with your eyes though. Hiked along many ridges today where it dropped off on both sides. Good time to plant those trekking poles for extra security.There continued to be many huge blowdowns. Kudos to the maintenance crews who cleared trails we traveled yesterday. Today's trail needed some work.Hiked leap frog with Cynical Indian, Jack Rabbit, Low Drag, Story, and Mammoth. We're all staying in the shelter tonight. Getting a campfire started. Our sleeping spot is near the fire. Supposed to be cold tonight, below freezing so we should be toasty.Had Cheezits for snack today and thought of snack time on Thursdays with Robert and Jilli. Lasagna for dinner tonight. Delicious but the cheese sticks badly to the spoons and is about impossible to clean. Caramel latte to drink. Nice trail dinner.Still one or two days until we're out of the Smokies. Have a long, long descent out. Not sure we can do it all in one day. So hard on the knees. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings.
Date: 2013-04-26
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Okay, folks - we've done it. We're out of the Smokies.We slept the best last night of any night on the trail. Hiked a long day of 15.7 miles. There were some ups but it was predominantly down. Had some interesting views on our way to the first shelter. Saw more in the way of towns in the distance. Dropped out of the pine forests so started seeing flowers again. That was a treat.Made it to the first shelter about noon and decided to continue on. We're supposed to have rain tomorrow so decided it would be better to hike in the rain down at an elevation where it would be way warmer. Somewhere along the way we decided to make our way to a town via shuttle. We were smelling so bad and really needed to have our clothes cleaned. Cynical Indian and his sons decided to do the same so we're all holed up in a Days Inn in Newport, TN. Showers felt tremendously wonderful. Didn't even want to get out. The five of us went to Shoney's and boy did we put away some food. Everything on the menu looked so yummy. The guys all had the buffet making many trips. When we were done eating, we were tired and realized it was past our hiker bedtime.Our plan is to take a zero day here tomorrow. Having breakfast with our friends and then will head to the laundromat and to Walmart for resupply to get us to Hot Springs. Looks like a lot of rain in the forecast for coming days. Our plan as we head back to the woods will be a little different than it has been. We're out of the Smokies now so don't have the restriction of having to stay at the shelters. As a matter of fact, it's recommended to avoid shelters until we're out of TN as hikers have been coming down with a nasty virus. We will be trying to camp on our own trying to stay away from other hikers.Ah, a mattress again. What a delight.
Date: 2013-04-27
From: Davenport Gap

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Went to Waffle House for breakfast with the guys. Had a huge breakfast and finished most of it. Seems the hiker appetite is starting to kick in. Walked up to Walmart for resupply. Cleaned up our equipment some. Getting laundry done was a bigger fiasco than need be but we finally have clean, slightly wet clothes. Hopefully they'll dry by morning. This little town stop was more expensive than we hoped. This isn't a trail town - too far from the trail. Rather than supporting hikers they seem to take advantage of them. If I were to hike the trail again I would avoid it. Time to get out of town.
Date: 2013-04-28
From: Davenport Gap

To: Painter Branch Campsites
Miles today: 4.8

Had breakfast with the guys at Cracker Barrel. Another huge meal. The pants were getting a little big but guess they might just start fitting again. Raining pretty good today. Checked out of Days Inn and find that the shuttle service isn't available until 1:00. Jeez. Think this would have been a good day to just stay in bed. We'll miss the guys. They're slowing down some to connect with the Mom and the family.Sat outside of Cracker Barrel waiting for the shuttle service. Chatted with quite a few folks about the trail. Met a couple originally from Pittsburgh and chatted about the Laurel Highlands hiking trail. Yep, it's still raining.Hit the trail at 1:30. After 4.8 miles we came to a campsite with water and decided to stop there. Short mileage but with the late start and the gushy trail, it was good enough for today. The rain gear makes you sweat so your clothes are almost as wet as if you weren't wearing rain gear at all. Now you're at camp. Everything you're wearing is wet. Even with pack covers, the packs get wet. Trying to get the tent up in the rain is fun. We've learned how to get the rainfly on first and then put up the tent to keep it mostly dry. You throw a bunch of stuff in the tent and then you can't move inside to actually inflate the air mattress. You have to put all the food and anything that smells and any garbage in the bear bag so we're trying to eat cinnamon buns, which happened to be at the top of the pack, before Side can get in the tent. You're ripping your wet clothes off and trying to get dry ones on. So much wet stuff and nowhere to put it all. Don't you all wish you were here? Or are you still enjoying the lattes in your recliner?Hearing voices. More campers have arrived. At least we're in our sleeping bags. Gonna be hungry later though. It's only 6:15. And gonna have a good backache by morning. Turns out that we have quite a few neighbors and a dog. Yeah. Thought we were miles from nowhere.
Date: 2013-04-29
From: Painter Branch Campsites

To: Campsite just before Lemon Gap
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

Started the day with a climb up Snowbird Mountain. There was an FAA tower there and beautiful views. Some miles later we dropped down to Brown's Gap (shout out to all the PA Browns). It was about there that we were alerted to some upcomingtrail magic, supposedly spaghetti in 30 minutes at Max Patch. Unfortunately for the first time we had cooked lunch so it wasn't as exciting as it might have been. So we wandered along for half a mile and came upon a sign saying Max Patch was another 3.5 miles away. Okay, no way that was going to be 30 minutes for anyone. So when we finally made it to the summit of Max Patch, sure enough there's a sign about trail magic in the parking lot 0.4 miles down. Now we had just climbed up the other side and by the time Miles, the slug of an uphiller, gets to the top she can see Side nearly to the spaghetti tent at the bottom. Apparently it's every man for himself. It's windy at the top so she's freezing and now it appears she's giving up all the altitude she worked so hard to make to trek down to join in the spaghetti fun. And you guessed it, the trek back up wasn't all that fun. But it was wonderful magic and meant we wouldn't have to cook later. Many thanks to "Two of a Kind", 2010 thru-hikers, who drove up from Florida to serve spaghetti all day to this year's thru-hikers. It's unbelievable how folks go out of their way to do wondrous things for us. We couldn't be more grateful.We wanted to hike a lot of miles so that we could make it to Hot Springs tomorrow so we passed up one campsite and continued on to another making our total miles for the day 16.4 (the feet say ouch, Side's bunion is screaming ). It was just starting to get dark as we began to set up camp. There were probably already ten tents set up there. Everyone is avoiding the shelters.Found out tonight that our Pennsylvania family lost a good friend today. We'll miss John. He was such a sweet man. Our thoughts and prayers are with Minnie and the family.