morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Crosby Knob Shelter

To: Waterville School Road
Miles today: 10.4

Our destination for today is to finish with the Smokies and arrive at Standing Bear Hostel. For the most part the hike was all downs other than a 2+ mile uphill in the beginning. At one point we clocked in at 3 miles in an hour. We arrived at Davenport Shelter to eat lunch and avoid a wicked storm. We observed a mouse as it ventured out to retrieve a crumb. Boy, sure would hate to spend the night in that shelter. To date, that is only the second mouse that we've seen. Knock on wood. The weather turned icy cold in minutes. We put the rain gear on and moved on, .9 of a mile to go to leave the Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked down past a very beautiful stream and criss crossed over country roads, over a bridge, under I-40 and up the side of a mountain and back onto and up a gravel road before finally coming to Standing Bear Hostel. And, there was no room at the shelter. So, we talked the owner into (for a fee) taking us to Newport, the nearest town, in search of a motel. We first retrieved a mail drop that we had previously sent there which was waiting on us. We loaded all of our stuff and Mamma Bear and the Cubs stuff into his van and off we went. We had to go by Mountain Mamma's, another hiker hostel, so that Mamma Bear could pick up her mail drops. We waited up he road while she walked back to the store. Something about a feud or someone not liking someone or something. Newport was about 20 minutes driving time from the trail. We found a Motel 6 with an in-house laundry and took rooms there. Did the routine: took a shower, did the wash, went to eat, went to bed, watched TV and were thankful that we were not out in the weather.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Newport, TN

To: Zero Day, Newport, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Rain. Walked about 1 mile, round trip to Wal-Mart. Trip took 4 hours with a stop at Cracker Barrel for eggs over medium. Rain. Harder rain. Cold. Lousy weather. Back to the room. Rain and snow predicted for the mountains for tomorrow. Undecided as what we're going to do.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Zero Day, Newport, TN

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up all through the night listening to thunder storms and rain beating against the window. Awoke at about 7:00 AM to a snow storm outside. Went outside to get a Sunday paper from the box and about froze to death. Spent a lazy day in the room and pulled out the maps and made a decision to skip on to Damascus, VA, after we hike up to Hot Springs, NC, our next destination. We need to make up about three weeks. We'll simply tack on the miles at the end of the hike, a common practice among thru hikers.
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Waterville School Road

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

As we got back up to the trailhead around 11:30 AM, right down the road from Standing Bear Hostel, we met up with some of the people who were staying at Standing Bear Hostel when we had arrived there to find it full. The horror stories we heard about the hikers who had stumbled in, cold, wet and snow drifting up to their knees up on the mountain during the past few days while we zeroed in Newport made us feel lucky to not have been out in it. The whole 7 miles was pretty much an up but we made good time and it was a beautiful sunny, but cool day. We got to the shelter about 5:30 PM and set up our tent on a nice level site and cooked dinner and roasted marshmallows and turned in for the night. I had surprised Fancyfree with a Coke from town. We put it in the stream to cool it and shared it. Oh yeah, Babe!
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Up and at em' by 8:00 AM, had an extra cup of coffee to go with our peanut butter and blackberry jam bagel and up the road we went. The ups were indeed up today, almost like Georgia ups. We hiked over Max Patch today, what an experience. Max Patch is a big mountain that is like a pasture. Snow was still on the top and the wind almost literally blew us over, it was so strong. We would like to go back there when the weather is nicer. We saw some, how should I put it, country folk or hill people, 3 men, looking for what they said was ramps. Looked like to me they were looking for the still and they acted very suspicious. Oh well, old cops suspicious minds never die. We finally got to the shelter, and thankfully we got 2 of the 3 remaining spots. It is slated to rain. And, you don't need the weather channel to figure it out by the looks of the sky.
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

Heavy rain overnight, but none in the morning when we awoke about 7:00 AM. Breakfast in bed today and a second cup of coffee, compliments of Fancyfree. Wow! Heavy hike today, but it sems like we're getting our trail legs. Rain off and on today and some hail about the size of BB's. Cold. We got to Hot Springs about 6:15 PM. We had trouble finding a place to stay and luckily we got a room at a cottage next to Momma Bear for one night. Shower and off to eat at the Paddler's Pub where we ran into Diesel and Walks With Grace. His hand was all healed up and they were planning on hiking out in the morning. Sure was good to see them. Two huge hamburgers and 3 pitchers of Yuengling later, we finally called it a night and went to the room and tried to watch a movie and fell asleep.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Due to the decision we made to skip ahead, Malia is driving in from Johnson City, TN, to pick us up and take us there so we can take a few days off to take care of some personal business and prepare for the next leg of the hike, up to Pennsylvania where Sonia will pick us up at Port Clinton. Of course we had to have a good ol'country breakfast at the local eatery and visit the outfitter. We mostly sat around all day, outside,as we had to check out of the cottage by 11:00 AM and it was rainy, off and on. We finally went to the library which opened at 1:00 PM and stayed there for a couple hours. By then it was raining pretty hard but we walked back down the hill into town and finally into Paddler's Pub and had an early supper of, you guessed it, hamburgers and beer. Oh well, we knew it was 5 o'clock somewhere, if no where else but Key West. Malia arrived a little late mumbling something about this road wasn't supposed to take you there or the Map Quest lied or something. Anyhow, she was there and we loaded our stuff up which we had sitting on Mama Bear's porch, hugged her and the cubs and said good bye. We have been hiking with them since Georgia and will miss them. We will see them again in Damascus in two weeks at Trail Days.
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Zero Day

To: Johnson City, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Awoke to another rainy day. Imagine that. We dressed in jeans and cotton shirts and regular tennis shoes and boots. Our clothing was way too big. Footloose has lost 21 pounds and now can wear a 36" waist trouser, down from a tight 40" waist at the start of the trail. Fancyfree has lost 11 pounds and has lost inches down 4 sizes from where she started. The pants that she wore before we started were too big for her so we went to storage and got smaller ones for her to wear. Oh yeah, Babe! We ran around, to the post office, the bank, the outfitters and of course Wal Mart. We also drove up to Danascus, VA, about an hours drive from here and picked up a Big Agnes sleeping pad. While we were there we saw Skylark, a lady we had hiked with on our very first day and last saw at Neel's Gap.
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Johnson City, TN

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Tried the Big Agnes out, boy, what a difference. Spent most of the day enterning info into the computer. Went out to Erwin, to Miss Janet's and met her and dropped off a huge box of stuff for their hiker box that we had overpurchased for the hike. Noodles, crackers, soups, candy bars, stuff like that. Back to the computer. Still cold, windy and rainy.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Johnson City, TN

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Our original plan was to be back on the trail today and it was a beautiful day too. But, due to not being able to take care of all of what we needed to do, we stayed one more day. We are going to drive the truck up to Damascus and pick it up when we hitchike back there in 11 days. We cleaned and waterproofed the boots today, made last minute purchases, went to I-Hop for breakfast with Malia and Rylei, went to Barnes and Knoble and loafed for about an hour, entered more info into the computer and read the Sunday paper. The weather channel says no rain for at least three more days. Looking good!
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Johson City, Tennessee

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We arrived in Damascus, only to realize that we had left our hiking poles at Malia's house. But, the good news is that it is raining and cold outside. Not a good day for setting off. AND, it's our anniversary anyway, a good day to celebrate. So, after depositing our packs on an empty bunk at The Place, a hiker hostel, we departed for Johnson City, to pick up our poles. After picking up the poles we went to a Thai restaurant and had a very nice dinner to celebrate our anniversary and of course a trip to Barnes and Knoble, which was right next door. We went back to the hostel, a Methodist church sponsored victorian house, that is used exclusively for hikers. They have converted the rooms by putting up bunks and there is a bath and shower upstairs and down. There is a $4.00 per person, per day, donation that is paid on the honor system. The Place is a very famous place on the trail and we are glad to be staying there. We took a walk later on in the evening and walked down by an old coverted mill and checked out the waterfall and potential trout fishing opportunities. We also had a beer on the deck as we sat and looked out over the waterfall. Quite a sight.
Date: 2005-02-14
To: Getting Ready
Miles today: 0.0

Hello Everyone,I figured I had better get started on my journal entries, so here goes.My first name is Forrest which is also my trail name. I have had some others suggested but I always come back to Forrest as it means "of the woods" which is who I am, but more about that later. My excitment level is building by the day! I'm only 5 weeks from the start of my thru hike attempt after patiently waiting for over 30 years. I'm a 49 y/o guy who was is in between jobs because of my job being eliminated. I worked 27 years for a major electronics company as a environmental tech and then they decided to go out of most of their computer hardware business. So suddenly I have a 6 month window to pursue my dream of an AT thru hike. I have had the good fortune to hike around the US. I have section hiked about 700 miles of the AT, done week long hikes in the Canadian Rockies and Colorado and done numerous hikes all around the Northeast so I'm ready to head north.I will continue my journal soon with entries about my hiking equipment, my hobby of wilderness survival skills, my best friend and wife of 28 years and my two daughters which are blessings.
Date: 2005-02-15
To: Getting Ready
Miles today: 0.0

I'm back.I have been upgrading my equipment over the past few months. Most of my old equipment is 20+ years old. The Camptrails external frame pack has been replaced with a ULA P-2, Peak 1 stove replaced with a MSR Simmerlite, Camptrails bag is now a Slumberjack Ultimate and on and on. I have been able to drop at least 10 pounds from my pack weight, of course that has also lightened my wallet considerably as well. I think it is a smart investment in me trying to save the knees, feet and back additional wear and tear.More soon!
Date: 2005-02-16
To: Getting Ready
Miles today: 0.0

For this third entry I'm going to talk about my hiking partner, best friend and wife. They are all the same person. Nancy and I will be married 28 years in April and have never been apart from each other for more than a week. Although this will be a pretty big adjustment for both of us, she is very supportive of this journey and excited about being able to be my support crew from home. We have always hiked together but she feels that a thru hike attempt would be too much for her and she doesn't really have the desire. We hiked Shennadoah NP last summer and she said then that that was her last long distance hike. She is looking forward to having the summer off. As I will be hiking NOBO on the AT our oldest daughter (20 y/o) will working as a missionary in Papua New Guinea and our youngest daughter (17 y/o) will be helping mom with the homefront, working and hopefully hiking with dad.The next enrty I do will be talking about my hobby of wilderness living skills. Although I don't plan on using them to make my hike a success, they can make it more enjoyable and comfortable.
Date: 2005-02-23
To: One Month to go before Starting NOBO!
Miles today: 0.0

Hello again,I just came in from gear testing my new sleeping bag out on our back deck. After 1 1/2 hours at 20F I was still toasty warm. I will have to do an all nighter soon but not tonight. One of my life long facsinations with the great outdoors has been learning as much as I can about all the plants and animals, etc. I had been exposed mostly to identification, botanical names and some uses until a few years ago. I then met a couple from Owego NY who run a wilderness school based on Native Americans skills and practices. The classes they teach are from the era of when everything you needed was in the woods. All your food, medicine, clothing, shelter and tools. But most importantly they teach all of these things are a gift from God and they should be only taken with respect and appreciation. My daughter and I decided to attend a class for primitive firemaking and cordage and I was hooked. I have continued to expand my skill base with other classes and practice for a few years and although still a novice compared to what I want to learn, the woods are a very incredible place. I hope to take time to include learning as I walk north. So if you run into me on the trail I'd love to share some of my knowledge.One month from right now I will be on an Amtrak train heading for Gainesville, GA. I will be picked up and delivered to Springer on the 24th and the journey will begin. I don't know how I can contain my self for another month! I will have a few more entries before I leave for Georgia.
Date: 2005-03-05
To: The Pack's Loaded!
Miles today: 0.0

Hello everybody!Only two and a half more weeks until I start my hike. Today I decided to do a trail ready pack load. I was quite pleased because my guesstimated pack weight would be about 20 pounds (minus water and food) and I loaded everything up and weighed it. The actual weight was 20.5 pounds, which is 10 pounds less than I used to carry with my old gear. I had an overall goal of no more than 30 pounds and that should be no problem. I have been carrying 25-28 pounds over the winter on my practice hikes, so I should be ready for the real thing! My pack load should reduce somewhat after the colder weather is gone, as I can send home some clothing and get a lighter sleeping bag.I have been breaking in my second pair of hiking shoes, which I've never had to do before because I've never been on a hike where I needed an extra pair of shoes. I'm using Vasque Zephyr GTX's and so far after wearing pair #1 for the past two months, I really like them.Today I was also working on my mail drop list. I'll try and post them here once they are more firmed up. To keep the excitement level down, I just recently started telling people in my church and other friends about my journey. But now the cat's out of the bag and the excitement level is definitely going up!****Hey Kevin, I'm hoping to get to PA so we can hike together. With any luck and God willing, it probably will be mid June. Nancy and Laura will be posting here for me, so they'll know my exact schedule.****My 17-year old daughter, Laura, and my wife, Nancy, will be maintaining my journal entries for me while I am hiking. Laura loves the outdoors and backpacking, and is disappointed that she can't hike the whole trail with me, but will be section hiking. She also shares my hobby of wilderness living skills, and has attended several classes with me. How many 17 y/o girls do you know that can braintan a deer skin? But she excels in many other areas. She is an excellent student and recently advanced in 7 instrumental and vocal categories in our local Teens Involved ministry through Word of Life.My 20 y/o daughter, Sara, left today to spend spring break in northwest Florida working for the Mennonite Hurricane Disaster Relief Effort program. She is leading a 10 person team to help people continue repairs from last summer's hurricane damage. I am proud she is willing to give up beach time for community service.I'll have a couple more entries before heading for Georgia. Laura will probably also write an entry soon to introduce herself.
Date: 2005-03-21
To: My last preparation entry
Miles today: 0.0

This will be my last preparation journal entry before I leave for Georgia. I have updated my gear list and added the first few maildrops of the trip. The maildrops will be adjusted as I progress.I am having a lot of emotions that I am sure are normal before beginning something like this. I am anxious to get going and at the same time not anxious to leave my family. My family is very supportive of this journey so they are booting me out in two days either way! My brother lives next door so help is close by if needed. My church family at South New Milford Baptist Church has also been very supportive and encouraging, they are an awesome group. That is a lot of comfort to me, because if my brother isn't available to help, my wife can call upon our christian brothers and sisters. I will really miss them all. I could ramble on, but I won't! Hey, I heard that "thank you".My wife and daughter will be taking over journal entries for me on Wednesday. They will be talking to me and will have my actual trail journal that I will be snail mailing home. I maybe able to do an occasional entry "live" from the trail when I'm in town or at some of the hostels. We hope to update it at least once per week. Well, the waiting is almost over and this journey is about to begin!
Date: 2005-03-24
From: Springer Mtn

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Hi, this is Nancy -I'm taking over making Forrest's entries since he is now on his way! About 11:30 on Wednesday morning, Forrest and his brother, Cooper, headed to Philadelphia so he could catch the train to Georgia. He called me from the South Street Station about 2:30. At that point he just had to wait til it was time to board the "Crescent" Amtrak train, leaving at 4:40. He should be arriving in Gainesville Georgia about 7:40, Thursday morning. There he will be picked up by Josh and/or Leigh from Hiker Hostel and be headed for Springer Mountain! There has been so much preparation and excitement building to this point, it's hard to believe this hike is finally getting underway! The last couple of days at home were very hard - making all the final choices of what to put in the pack and what to leave home (it wound up being just around 30 pounds with the food and water) and just thinking about being away from home and family for possibly 5 or 6 months! Having pretty much always hiked as a husband and wife team and sometimes with daughters along, too, it is strange for Forrest and me to have him head out by himself. But I'm really behind him all the way in spirit and I'll be praying for him all the way, too. I want to thank Cooper for taking him to Philly, especially since he had to drive home to NorthEast Pa in a bad snowstorm! Also thank you to Kevin and Laurie for stopping in on Tuesday night and bringing the gift, that was really an encouragement! Thanks to everyone who has said they will be praying for Forrest, we appreciate that so much.Hopefully we'll have another report from Forrest soon!(Addition to today's journal - after getting a call from Forrest on the 25th I added his destinations and mileage for today)
Date: 2005-03-25
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: clear sky

Forrest just called... he was on the top of a mountain (not sure which one!) and had a cell signal. So I have news to report!First let me back track a little. In the last entry I wrote, Forrest was waiting to catch the "midnight train to Georgia". Everything went pretty well on the trip down. Forrest had a really nice 'seatmate' - Millie, a retired schoolteacher, whom Forrest enjoyed visiting with. Thank you, Millie.... maybe we will take you up on the offer of using your guest room if Forrest makes it to Swift Run Gap! The train arrived in Gainesville about an hour late because a car had been hung up on the tracks somewhere in Va. and after it was taken off they had to wait for an inspector to come check the rails. Forrest said the train was actually pretty comforable but he wasn't able to get much sleep. Josh from Hiker Hostel picked him up and drove him to the approach trail to Springer Mtn, and Forrest was on top of Springer right at noon Thursday the 24th. As of that time, he was the first one to sign in the register who was starting that day! He hiked 8.5 miles for the day, stopping at Hawk Mtn Shelter (but he did use his tent instead of sleeping in the shelter). Two other people camped there - "Sweet 16" (a retired lady section hiker) and "Biscuit" (another thru hiker) with her dog "Cola". So he had two ladies to visit with! (Lucky or what?) Today Forrest planned to hike to Woody Gap which would be 12.5 miles for the day, more than he had thought he was going to do in the beginning, but he is planning to go to Neels Gap tomorrow and that will make 10 miles to do tomorrow. He is feeling good and not having any physical problems so far. The weather also has been warm and nice. He said his pack seems to be one of the lighter ones out there. Although he said it still would be nice if it was LIGHTER! The mountains down there in Georgia are lots of ups and downs. But he said he'd heard so much about Sassafras Mtn. (and how bad of a climb it was) that he actually didn't think it was as bad as he expected!Wildflower enthusiasts (I am one, so bear with me) - Forrest said the Bloodroot and some trillium are blooming along the trail. Since we just had 6" of snow here the other night, that sounds great! It sounds like other than missing home, that he is doing well. Forrest told me today that he was holding his own little "prayer meeting" - praying for lots of folks at home, to help keep his mind from getting down about missing us! So, let's keep those prayers going back in his direction, too! Thanks everyone!