morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Hot Springs

To: Rich Mt. Firetower
Miles today: 8.3

We hiked out of hot Springs. Nice steep climb, even harder after a lazy day. I got some good pictures of a lizard that kinda posed for me for a minute or so. We hiked up to the pond where the hiker gathering was going to be. domino was already fishing. weatherman, scholar, and cuppa joe were already cooking potatoes and getting ready to start on beans. they had all packed up all kinds of food for everyone. I took my pack up to the tentsite and as I took it off I realized that the frame support had ripped through the fabric and was sticking out. cuppa joe and I got it back in but it did not last long. I will have to call Osprey when i get the chance. Everyone was there. we had the earlier mentioned, plus freedom, thatch, serenity, poet, boots, blue light, stilts, and more. We hung out for a while and decided to move on, but not before trying some sweet potatoes they had fixed. Moose and I did 5 more miles to rich Mt. firetower. there was a nice campsite there. another couple was there already but they had room for us. they were from englewood, FL. We discussed some of that area i was familiar with and after dinner Moose and I walked up to the firetower to see the sunset. It might have been the most impressive sunset I have ever seen in my life. the colors were perfect, the sun was full and orange, and you could just watch it fade behind the mountains from our unobstructed view on the tower. we took several pictures, (none will do it justice) and moved down to call it a day.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Little Laurel shelter

To: Sugerloaf Gap
Miles today: 16.1

We headed out around 9 or so with no destination in mind. The hike this morning was one of the best yet. We hiked over what is called firescald. It was almost all boulders and made hiking very tedious. I had to watch every step I made in order to not break my leg. It was fun but slow hiking. It was along a ridgeline with North carolina on one side and tennessee on the other. we stopped at Jerrys shelter for lunch then broke out. I did the next few miles alone til I caught domino and Poet. I hiked with them and talked about running marathons for a while. we passed a small puddle that must have had 5000 minnows in it. there was one every half inch at least. We took a short break at the Shelton graves. (might be related) the graves mark an uncle and his nephew who lived close by and were enlisted in the Union Army during the cival War. they were ambushed and killed by the Confederate army when returning home. After the graves we had downhill hike that seemed to last forever. It took its toll on me and I had to rest at the bottom, only .8 from Flynt Mountain Shelter. I finally got my second wind and kicked it into the shelter. I took time to clean up a little in the stream there, and soak my tired feet. that gave me all kinds of new energy and when Moose got there we moved on. A couple miles up the trail I was crossing a fence and caught up with Blue light and Boots. As I was crossing Blue light informed me that they had chosn a new pope. (she is a NPR nut)We climbed and climbed and climbed it tried to rain on us but it stopped just as I was getting out my pack cover. We got to Sugerloaf Gap and Poet was there and had her tent set up. We decided that was a good idea so we did the same. the only problem was there was no water so we had to ration. Moose and Hardcore Hiker showed up a little after we got the tent set up. Hardcore Hiker had no water so she had to hike back down the huge climb we just made til she found some. she must have been gone for 30 min at least. We were all worn out and sleep was no problem.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Sugerloaf Gap

To: Bald Mountain shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

Today has taken the cake for the best day so far. We broke camp early and did the 4 miles to Hogback ridge Shelter. We found out from snowman and Icicle that we had missed trail magic in the form of strawberry shortcake at the shelter last night, but the guys who brought it were running a shuttle at the road crossing 2.5 miles up, to the local diner. so we kicked it into high gear at the thought of food that was cooked by someone else. We made that trek in about 40 min. We sat at the road hoping that the gus were still taking people. After waiting for about 15 min a car pulled into the parking area off to the side of the road and out hopped Domino. BINGO we hustled over there and got a ride with Jus'feeblin'along to what could possiably be one of the best local diners ever. I had a salad, lasagna with garlic bread then the biggest double cheeseburger ever, and I am not joking, it was huge. (i got a picture of it). Afeter we ate he took us back to the trail. we were all so full we could not hike so we sat on the curd for a few minutes and got the energy. I was moving along and ran into Icicle on the first big hill out f the gap. She had passed up the cafe, so I had to rub it in a little. I caught her husband snowman jsut in time to scare away the snake he was trying to take a picture of. Just as I caught him we came accross a field where several trail maintainers were gathered after finishing their daily work. We talked to them and they offered us a nice cold frothy beverage which I gladly accepted. after another hour break we decided to climb to the top of big bald which was supposed to be one of the best views in the area. On the way up there I was talking to Icicle and thinking back on how great of a day it had been. I told her that if a day like this did not put a smile on your face then you didn't need to be out here. She agreed and I headed on. the climb to big Bald was not bad til the last 3/4 of a mile. but even that climb was well worth it when I got to the top. they were not kidding when they said that the view was spectacular. Dorthy and T-2 were there when we got there, then boots, bluelight, moose, hardcore hiker and I joined them. I stayed there admiring the view and relaxing for almost an hour then moved down to Big bald shelter where I stayed with Piker, Ms mileage, eagle eye, poet, nate, moose, woodstock (section), hardcore hiker, snowman, icicle, dorthy, and T-2. We had just finished dinner when to top it all off a guy named Bill showed up with more beer and oatmeal cream pies. Today could not have been more perfect. I cleaned off in the spring, put on some clean clothes, and went to bed, where i read a bible that someone had left there til i faded off to sleep. I may not have another day like this ever.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Bald Mountain shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Happy birthday Shelley. My sister is 22. Got up early this morning before everyone else. I was getting ready to cook breakfast when Cuppa joe, Feelin free, scholar, and andy come up the trail. they said that they had been hiking since 3:30 in order to catch the sunrice on big bald. It was good to see them. I was out of the shelter by 8:15 after talking for a while. I put on my music and off I went. All day long by myself. I made the first 10 miles to No Business shelter by noon on the dot. I ate lunch and decided to move into erwin. I left a note in the crappy register for moose, and put on my pack, and then i see moose. I think toay is the fastest he has walked since he got out here. I told him my plan to come to Erwin, stay at Miss Janets, eat burittos, and shower. He was up for it so after he ate we took off for the last 6 miles into town. the first 4 were not bad but the last two I wanted to die. My feet have never hurt so bad in my life. I had taped my two pinkie toes this morning cause they had bothered me yesterday some, but now i was really hurting. every step I took down that mountain almost killed me. That was the worst pain that I have had to endure so far on the trail. But we did make it. We had a little trouble getting a hitch into town but finally a girl who had started to thru hike this year, but had to stop because of a sprained ankle, picked us up and dropped us off at Erwin Buritto, where I had a huge steak buritto and a large thing of nachos. Moose and I walked to Miss Janets Hostel and got 2 of the last bunks. I just spent all afternoon relaxing on the porch. I got a shower and caught up on some journal entries. It looks like we are going to have foul weather all weekend starting with rain tonight and tomorrow, then turning into snow sat or sunday, so our plans are still up in the air.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We zeroed at Miss Janets today. It was laid back. The church had a BBQ dinner accross the road, so several of us went and ate there around 4. We took charge of Miss Janets while she was in Hot Springs. Most of the day was spent in the backyard throwing horseshoes with Piker, Burn, Moose, Ms. Mileage, and a few others.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Erwin, TN

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Well we are headed out of Miss Janets today headed for the mountains. the weather is bad but We are tough (right?). It looks like right now that Moose, Piker, Ms. Mileage, and I are the only ones who are leaving of all the hikers in town. That just means that we should be able to get a spot in a shelter. Miss Janets was the cooles place we have stayed so far, we had so much fun throwing horseshoes and hanging our with everybody. I got my new backpack yesterday. It is a little better than my old one, even thought it is the same model. I think I like the new model better, it has better padding in the shoulders and waist belt. I am mailing my pictures home so I should have some new ones up soon. I want to wish all the hikers luck when they do decide to leave, I hope that I will see you up the trail. Red Hat showed up here yesterday it was good to see her again. She was ahead of us, but got a ride back here. Also yestrday Morel showed up here, I had talked to him before I started the trail. It was cool to run into him. I did not know it was him for a couple hours but when we figured it out, it was cool.So it sounds like Domino won the hiker chili cook-off at trailfest in hot springs. So Congrats to him, another W for him.We headed out from Erwin around 9:30 after a shuttle to the trail from Phoenix, who we hope to see back on the trail as soon as he recovers from his broken foot. Moose, Piker, Ms. Mileage, and I headed the four miles up the trail to the first shelter. The snow was comming down, and the ground was covered the whole way up there. We got to the empty shelter around 11. We called it a day and crawled into our sleeping bags to stay warm. Several people started showing up and before we knew it we had 10 people crammed into the 6 man shelter. We stayed in our bags most of the day until Burn showed up with a few beers and food. So we got up and got a fire going despite all the wood being wet. Burn is the fire master. after a couple hot dogs I curled up in my bag and faded off to sleep before the sun went down.
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Curley Maple Gap Shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: scattered clouds

I was the first one out of the shelter this morning after a fast pop tart breakfast. Most of the day I spent alone which gave me some good time to think about how much I love it out here. Most of the people are great and I have nothing to worry about. I crossed Beauty Spot early in a driving wind, but did not stay long to enjoy the view. AS I was stopped taking a quick pre lunch snack break I met a SOBO named Uncle Kodak. We started in Maine in July and took a little time off to various reasons but is now back on to finish up. We talked for a while, and he gave me some good pointers. After that we had a long climb up Unaka Mt. It was really muddy due to melting snow which made the climb even tougher. After a few more miles I was convinced I had missed the shelter which was my destination. Then I ran into a huge uphill climb that I was not expecting. After a short break to get mentally prepared for climb I headed up. Not 100 yards up the hill I snapped a trekking pole in half. By this time I was getting really upset, so I sat down for another break. I waited til someone passed me to make sure I had not missed the shelter. Lobster passed and said he did not think that we had missed it, good enough for me, so on I went. It is amazing how hard it is to walk with one pole when you are used to two. I made it into the shelter right behind Squid Jerky, Piker, and Ms. Mileage. They had a fire going when I got there so I laid out my clothes to dry. Everyone started to show up and we ended up having several people sitting around the fire.
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Moose and I were the last ones out of the shelter. We knew we would have to move fast in order to get a spot in the shelter. We had heard that the weather was going to get bad this afternoon. All day long was a series of up and down's, you would think that I would be used to that by now, but it still gets to me. It started to spit rain on and off this afternoon, and there was still snow covering the ground in the higher elevations. Just as the weather started to get bad, we came upon Ash Gap. Goat Boy told me that we had about two more miles to the shelter with another 1000 foot of elevation climb. I was determined to make it so I ate a Snickers and dawned my rain gear and moved on. The wind started to blow and rain started comming down. the climb was bad and I was worn out, but made it to the top of Roan Mt. I could not see a thing when I got there so I moved on to the shelter. There was room in the shelter for me which I was glad to hear. This shelter was different than any others I had stayed at. It was fully enclosed with an upstairs and ground floor. It is also the highest shelter on the trail at over 6000 feet. This made for a cold night. Moose left his backpack outside and it froze.
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Roan Mountain, TN (Buck's Place)
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

We headed out of Roan Mt. Shelter and into the cold wet weather. The wind was howling as we made our decent. There was still considerable snow covering the ground and made for a few good pictures. We knew that most of the day would be fairly easy due to the loss in elevation, as long as it was not too steep. The long downhills the past few days had been getting to my knees and making walking painful. We climbed two big balds called Little and Big Hump. They were both amazing. You could see 2 miles in front of you and still see the trail going straight up the side of the mountain. Big Hump has steers on top of it, but they were not there when we climbed it, probably because of the cold windy weather. The wind was so bad going up Big Hump, that It actually blew me off the trail once. Once we crossed Big Hump, we passed the North Carolina border and another state down. We planned on staying the night at Apple House Shelter, but when we got there there was a menu for a new place in Roan Mountain. It said that there was free tenting and beer, so we decided to move on the .5 miles to the road and the one mile down to the place. We had heard really bad things about Road Mountain as far as the locals harassing hikers, but we had no problem. WE got to Bucks Place and ordered food. I asked about the tenting spot and they said that they had an extra apartment that we could all stay in free of charge, se we jumped on that opportunity. WE all grabbed a little bit of beer, and hung out. One of the guys that worked at Bucks Place offered to run us into town to go to an ATM. So Burn, Squid Jerky, and I headed into town. After getting money out of the ATM for Moose and Piker, I picked up some bologna, cheese and bread to make sandwiches. I bought all that and left. The guy who drove us down there told me when I got to the car that the owner of the store was going to call the police on me because he thought I was shoplifting. It caught me off guard and I went back in to see what the misunderstanding was. He told me that he saw my pockets bulging and just assumed. I showed him what I had in my pockets, (gloves, hat, trail mix) and he apologized and so did I for the misunderstanding. We went back to Bucks Place and ate. The rest of the night was spent hanging out and relaxing.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Roan Mountain, TN (Buck's Place)

To: Dennis Cove (Kincora Hostel)
Miles today: 23.8

We got up early and ate breakfast at Bucks and got packed up. Piker, Ms. Mileage and I had to walk the mile back to the trail on the road because we were not sucessful in our hitchhiking attempts. The profile map showed a fairly easy day so we planned on doing 18 miles to the next shelter. I stopped at Jones Falls, which was one of the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen. I spent about an hour there climbing and taking pictures. It started to rain on us early in the afternoon and it continued the rest of the day. It was not that bad and I did not even put on my raingear, just my pack cover. There were so many stream crossings and muddy spots it made the walking a little harder. I got to the shelter around 6 this evening to a full house. There were about 10 tents set up. I decided that I did not want to set up my tent in the rain, so I waited on Moose and we decided to head on in to Kincora, which was another six miles. Piker, Ms. Mileage, Squid Jerky, and the rest of the crew stayed at the shelter. We made it to Kincora just after dark and got a bunk in the hostel
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Dennis Cove (Kincora Hostel)

To: Dennis Cove (Laurel Creek Cabin)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Piker, Ms. Mileage, Burn, Chaos, and a few others came and got us after we resupplied in town. They had gotten a cabin at Laurel Creek Cabins. WE moved all our stuff and spend our zero day hanging out with everyone and relaxing. Burn had beer waiting for us, we are beginning to see a pattern forming with him and beer.
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Dennis Cove (Laurel Creek Cabin)

To: Dennis Cove (Laurel Creek Cabin)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We took another zero day today. We could not bear to walk out in the rain. This place is great. Burn, Squid Jerky, Ms. Mileage, and I walked up to Coon Den Falls on a short Blue Blaze trail from here. It was great. We all climbed out on a log that crossed the falls and sat under that falls while Burn took our picture. WE were all soaked and cold but we knew we had a warm place to come back to so it made it easier.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Dennis Cove (Laurel Creek Cabin)

To: Iron Mt. Gap
Miles today: 12.6

We left out of the campground around 11 this morning after hunting down Mooses tent that he left under the bunk at Kincora. Burn dropped us off and promised to see us at Trail Days. Moose, fireball and I walked the mile or so to Laurel Falls. We hung out and took several pictures before moving on. The trail was nice as it followed the creek for a mile or so before it started up the mountain. I was hiking in front of Moose and spotted a snake off to the right behind a rock. I yelled at Moose since he had not seen a snake yet on the trip. (no telling how many he almost stepped on). We took a few pictures and hiked on. On the ascent we ran accross a dog hanging out. He followed about 20 yards behind us for a few miles then built his courage and soon was on our heels. He followed us all the way up the mountain. It was obvious it was much easier for him that it was for me. I got to Watuga Lake around 3 and met up with Moose. We were trying to lose the dog because we can barely afford to feed ourselves, much less a dog. We hiked past the Watuga Lake shelter which was our original stop in an effort to catch up to Ms. mileage and Piker. We crosssed the Dam where there was a family out for a day hike. The kids were eating cheese and crackers so the dog adopted them and went off the other direction. I was kinda glad to see him go. A couple miles up the trail we finally caught Piker and Mileage and set up camp for them at Iron Mt. Gap. We camped with them , Okie, Restless, and T.D.S. (totally different subject). Before going to bed I did a 1 mile round trip walk down the road to the bathrooms by the lake for water.
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Iron Mt. Gap

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 35.0
Weather: broken clouds

We got up early but took our time getting out of camp. We rolled out around 9:00 and started our day with a steep uphill climb. Restless assured us that after this climb it was "Gravy". The terrain was not bad, a few rolling hills, but nothing too bad. We stopped and ate a small lunch at Iron Mt. Shelter. We joked about doing the 37 miles into town, and asked who would join us. We had no takers so we decided to hike on to where ever the trail took us. I took a few short breaks between each shelter then ate at every shelter. The further we got the more Piker, Mileage and I considered doing the whole 37. When we got to Double Spring shelter around 2:30 or 3 we cooked a big dinner and waited on Moose to see what he wanted to do. He got there and said he was staying. We had only done 11 miles but he was beat. We tried to convince him to move on a little but no chance. So we bid farewell and the three of us moved out with damascus on the brain. We kept moving and the hours and miles flew by. Before we knew it, it was 7:00pm and we were still 18 miles from town. We still had a full day of hiking ahead of us. It started to get dark on us and we watched the sunset over Watuga lake from the trail. When we got the the next road crossing and filled up our water supply it was almost dark and we still had 15 miles to go and just over 20 miles done for the day. We got our headlamps ready to go and took off. Soon it was as dark as it gets and it was a different hike all together. I stayed in the lead of the pack but we all stuck together. We passed several tents along the trail that we did not see until we were right upon them. We got to the last shelter before the 10 mile drop into town around 11:30pm. Everyone was asleep so we did our best to be quiet. We stopped just on the other side of the shelter for another snack to try and boost our quicky fading energy. Just after this we all started to feel the "Big Time" miles we had put in today, but we pushed on. Mileages blisters started asting up and I seemed to be getting the beginnings of shin splints, so we slowed to a crawl in some spots. We almost stopped around 1:30am, about 6 miles from town, but piker kept us motivated. He re-wrapped Mileages blisters and we moved on slower than ever. We crossed the Tennessee and Virginia boarder around 2:30 and decided to call it a night as soon as we found a good camping spot because none of us had the energy to hike any longer. We found a spot that would accomidate two tents about a mile down the trail so we were quick to get set up and go to sleep. By this time it was about 3:30am and we had 35 miles behind us after 18 hours of hiking.
Date: 2005-05-03
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up at 8:45 and heard Piker stirring outside the tent. We got packed up and headed to town for breakfast. We passed the campsite outside of town and realized we had gone further last night that we thought. We were in town in less than an hour and headed straight to the dairy King for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with all the people that we had not seen in a while. We found out that there was room at The Place, which is a hostel ran by the Methodist Church there in town. It was just wooden bunks, and smelled kinda funny, but it was a shower and a roof over my head for a night.