morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-13
From: Dicks Creek Gap; US 76

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: few clouds

4/13The day started out with the most delicious breakfast, served at the hostel: pancakes, sausage, hash browns, homemade blueberry syrup, hm cheese biscuits, hm sausage gravy, OJ, and coffee. After everyone ate and packed up, he dropped us back off at the trail. My next resupply is going to be in 6 days. That winds up being 10+ pounds of food on my back. Uf da!We were only 8.9 miles from the NC border and that had us pretty motivated. Those 9 miles had us climbing 1200 feet and the mile or two after that had us climb at least another 500 feet. The state line is right before Bly Gap, so I expected some downhill. Nope. Bly Gap was just where we got up onto the ridge. The going up just wouldn't stop. The switchbacks were at 90* angles rather than the usual 170*. Very tiring.  It felt like a stairway to Heaven.X and I stopped for dinner at Muskrat Shelter where most of our group were stopping for the night. We decided to press on after eating. Gary, who runs the hostel, said that the five miles to the next shelter were easy miles and we were only tired, not sore. Apparently he forgot about the giant mountain we had to go over to get there. It was a very long and hard day, leaving me pretty grumpy and demoralized about making the time that I wanted. However, my worst day out here is still far better than most days back in the rat race.Lessons learned:1) My body knows when enough is enough. Listen to it you big dummy!2) Several people have complained about ticks but X and I have yet to get one. I made the connection, with the help of Thin, the ones with ticks are wearing white clothing.This is clich©, but here's a song I'll leave you with:In my mind I'm goin' to CarolinaCan't you see the sunshineCan't you just feel the moonshineAin't it just like a friend of mineTo hit me from behindYes I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind
Date: 2012-04-14
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Glassmine Gap
Miles today: 17.2

4/14Another bitter cold morning. It started off with me being offered to smoke pot with Undecided. I declined and was on my way after breakfast. The very first mountain got me above the mile high mark (Standing Indian Mtn, 5498'). The first eleven miles of hiking were very easy, mostly flat with gentle ups and downs. Along with that most of the time was spent hiking through rhododendron thickets. Finally some shade! With the easy terrain and the lack of a view, it was easy to forget I was in the mountains. Just as that thought crossed my mind, there was a short side trail to an overlook. It was magnificent.X had left camp 30 min before me, and it took me until 3:15 to catch him at Betty Creek Gap. After 11 mi, he was tired, but I still had plenty in me due to how easy those miles were. So he and I split ways. The next day, he was to head into town to catch a bus back home. His father was in a major accident (a motorcyclist was going 100mph), and so he's going to help his parents for awhile. If you're the praying sort, please keep this family in mind.The next 2.5 mi were spent climbing up 1000' to the top of Albert Mtn. At parts it stopped being hiking and became rock climbing. It was fun. At the top was a fire tower, but it was welded shut. I decided to camp at a shelter that was under construction but could never find the place. So I eventually stopped on the side of the trail with Lone Star. Once he gets to Maine, he's going to turn around and ride his bike back to TX.Lesson learned:If the trail is steep enough to warrant using your hands, don't try to stay upright and use the trekking poles. It is easy to push up and then lean a little too far backwards.Here's another Frost poem I've enjoyed:Wind and Window FlowerLovers, forget your love,And list to the love of these,She a window flower,And he a winter breeze.When the frosty window veilWas melted down at noon,And the caged yellow birdHung over her in tune,He marked her though the pane,He could not help but mark,And only passed her byTo come again at dark.He was a winter wind,Concerned with ice and snow,Dead weeds and unmated birds,And little of love could know.But he signed upon the sill,He gave the sash a shake,As witness all withinWho lay that night awake.Perchange he half prevailedTo win her for the flightFrom the firelight looking-glassAnd warm stove-window light.But the flower leaned asideAnd thought of naught to say,And morning found the breezeA hundred miles away.
Date: 2012-04-15
From: Glassmine Gap

To: Wine Spring
Miles today: 14.5

4/15Two owls having a conversation woke me up this morning. One was directly above my head; the other off in the distance. While tearing down camp, Loner came walking by. He has a 15lb pack, including food (but not water)! After leaving camp, a little ways down the trail, there was a box hanging from a tree with a sign. A park ranger, and previous thru-hiker had strung up some trail magic!  All that was left were two bags of cinnamon & brown sugar kettle corn, but that bag was so tasty that I even licked the inside of the bag clean. A little ways down from there, I came around a bend and heard in the distance the sound of a flute. It was erie and beautiful and alluring. I thought maybe the sirens had come to seduce lonely hikers. I had to meet this crazy thru-hiker who packed a concert flute, so I walked down to Rock Gap Shelter. His name was James and his brother was there too, Rocky. James is a chef, and Rocky just graduated with a degree in geology.  They make a pretty good camping team as far as skill sets.At the bottom of the hill, Rock Gap, there were trash cans! This is exciting to hikers because trash is dead weight in our pack. If you ever want an easy way to do trail magic, just pull up into a gap with garbage bags and haul their trash out for them. Also at this gap, there was supposed to be a blue-blazed trail to the 2nd largest poplar in the US. It is 27' in circumference, but is now dead. The loggers left it standing back in the day because the oxen couldn't pull it. A little further down the trail, I got to Winding Stair Gap. Here US 64 takes many hikers into Franklin, NC. I carried on , but this spot marks the 5% completion point!  I only have to do that 19 more times!  I'm using 5% increments as goal markers as VA has 500+ miles of trail and it can get depressing trying to get to the next state.I met up again with Chainsaw here. He had gotten a day ahead when I went to stay at the Blueberry Patch. On the other side was a lovely waterfall that we enjoyed together. We kept running into each other all day and eventually started hiking together.  There has been much more water in NC. The water sources in GA were little trickles. Some parts of the trail have been going down the middle of a stream! After crossing our very first bald (Siler Bald) we made camp most of the way up Wayah Bald. Wayah is Cherokee for wolf. NC is famous for its balds, which are mountain tops covered in pasture rather than woods. Our campsite was called Wine Spring but alas, no spirits were to be found.  Eventually, James and Rocky, and John and his friend Tristan joined us. John had arrived real late to Deep Gap Shelter the night we were there. He had picked up his friend Tristan, also a chef, in Franklin. They are both from CA and John just graduated from HS.Lesson learned: the gnats go to bed at dusk.
Date: 2012-04-16
From: Wine Spring

To: US 19; US 74; Nantahala River
Miles today: 19.1

4/16Got an early start out of camp, 8am. Finished climbing to the top of Wayah Bald and enjoyed the pleasure of some paved trail, trash cans, and a stone tower!  It was mostly cloudy, the clouds dark with the threat of rain. The sun rays that broke through and played across the valleys were breathtaking. Most of the day, there was a 30% chance of rain, so Chainsaw and I were hoping to make it to the NOC so as not to have to sleep outside in the rain. We hustled most of the day. We were rewarded with another fire tower on top of Wesser Bald. I also saw my first snake today. We pulled into Wesser Bald Shelter at 3:30pm. Chainsaw decided to call it quits for the day as the chance of rain was going to go up to 70% by 7pm.  He wanted to guarantee that he'd stay dry.I decided to push on to the NOC, trying to cover 6 miles in 3.5hrs. From there the trail set out upon this knife-edged ridge covered in rhododendron thickets. The ridge suddenly dropped off at Jump-up Lookout. It was like coming out of a tunnel to find yourself on top of the world. The trail dropped off too, and it was very tricky getting down. As the trail descended further into the Nantahala Gorge, the vegetation grew more and more lush. It was beautiful after 9 days of thickets and bare trees.The Nantahala Outdoor Center, NOC, is a little village set up around whitewater rafting. Several times a day, Fontana Dam releases water making for some nice rapids. There are several restaurants and stores as well as motel rooms, cabins, and a bunk house where I stayed the night. It was very nice to shower and do laundry. No more stink!Lesson learned: don't buy everything at the grocery store that looks like good camp food. I had four days worth of food left over.  That's a lot of extra weight.
Date: 2012-04-17
From: US 19; US 74; Nantahala River

To: US 19; US 74; Nantahala River
Miles today: 0.0

4/17In the morning I struck upon a bit of luck. One of my bunk mates had an Osprey pack and pack cover just like me. Her cover was a large but the pack is a small, while I have a medium cover for my large pack. We traded and our covers work much better now.I had breakfast down at River's End with a bunch of other hikers. There was Six Six, named for his height. Kamikaze and New York Woodsie are sisters from upstate NY. Sling Blade is from VT. There was Pep Talk and Lucky Charm, a bf/gf couple from WI, just S of Eau Claire. There were several others too. They all started on the first and had formed a large traveling family of sorts. It was cool to get to hang out with them. Many were taking a zero day to rest and stay out of the coming rain. I was taking a zero day too. I played around at the NOC for awhile until Chainsaw came down off the mountain. After he cleaned up, we had lunch with Mountain Surfer. He had invested significant research and money into buying the lightest gear available. His goal is to do the triple crown, the AT, CDT, and PCT back to back to back. The previous day I had done 19 miles with an early start. He did 25 but didn't start until 11am and took a 90 min lunch break.Chainsaw had left his car at the NOC. After lunch, we drove an hour to his mountain house outside of Brevard, NC. Yes, I went to his house without knowing his name. We both emptied our packs and did a thorough shakedown of the gear for ways to save weight. Eventually his best friend and usual hiking partner, Padfoot, arrived. We went into town to eat dinner, resupply, and let C. do his laundry.Lesson learned: laundromats close earlier than restaurants and grocery stores. Do laundry first, not last.
Date: 2012-04-18
From: US 19; US 74; Nantahala River

To: Stecoah Gap; NC 143
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: moderate rain

4/18Padfoot and Chainsaw had to go back into town for laundry. When they got back we hit the road. We drove two vehicles, leaving C's truck with our packs at Stecoah Gap. There were quite a few hikers there eating lunch who had been hiking all day in the rain. The sight of us dry and slack-packing made them grumble. P drove us down to the NOC to start our hike. It was about 1pm.The rain had stopped and it was hot and muggy. The climb from the NOC to Cheoah Bald has 3300' of elevation gain. Thank goodness we were packless. We were sweating bullets.We caught up to Pep and Lucky taking a break. After a minute of chatting, the skies opened up. It rained for the rest of our hike. We stopped at a shelter to refill on water. It was a sad sight. There were about 15 hikers huddled up in there, wet and weary. One hiker had a mini six string and was playing depressing music. It looked like something out of the Grapes of Wrath.Cheoah Bald is supposed to offer a beautiful view of the Nantahala Gorge, but we were in a cloud. The rest of the hike was uneventful, other than much slipping going down a muddy trail and wet rocks.  At the truck, a hostel had left some trail magic as advert on a picnic table. We enjoyed a come and a little Debbie, and changed into dry clothes. We stopped in Bryson City for dinner at a dive of an Italian place, but it was good pizza.Lesson learned: rain in the mountains is dangerous. It took us several hours to fully warm back up after getting dry clothes on.
Date: 2012-04-19
From: Stecoah Gap; NC 143

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

4/19We woke up early to get some McD's for breakfast and to hit the laundromat to dry the previous day's clothes. Chainsaw had arranged for someone to take us back to Stecoah Gap. We loaded up and were going to set off. Our driver, Marion, was an older woman. At first the key wouldn't turn, so she took off the e-brake, put the car in neutral, and took her foot off the brake. The driveway was steep and the engine wasn't powering the power brake system so we rolled into a fence post. I was on edge for the whole two hour car ride, especially the foggy mountain road sections.  There was one cool view on the drive up on the Blue Ridge Pkwy. We were at 6000' and the tops of the clouds were at 5500'. It looked like we were up in the Himalayas with the sea of clouds and occasional mtn poking through.We made it to our destination fine. We enjoyed the last of the precious day's trail magic, and off we went (it was noon). Chainsaw and I parted ways as his pack is about 15# heavier than mine. My goal was Fontana Dam Shelter and his was only Cable Gap Shelter. The hike was uneventful. The shelter though was amazing. It's nicknamed the Fontana Hilton. It sleeps 24. It has a real bathroom with hot shower! A bunch of us stayed up late telling funny stories. I met a group of four who grew up in Charlotte and taking a semester off from UNC (Nuts, Marty McFly, Nemo, and Sarah).Lesson learned: don't waste energy getting angry at the uphills that seem pointless. To a certain degree, this whole trip is about futility.
Date: 2012-04-20
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

4/20I got a ride into town in the morning. The guy driving the shuttle was Rock Ocean. He had recently bought a '82 VW van/RV thing. It looks just like the Mystery Machine (Scooby Doo). His plan is to ship it to England and from there he will drive it all the way to Sydney, Australia. For now he's just following his buddy who's thru-hiking and offering shuttles along the way. Dogs are forbidden in the Smokies so he's keeping one hiker's dog for him.After getting back from town, I set off across the dam. Chainsaw was 50yds ahead of me!  We hiked for a ways together, until we got to some steep climbs. He was supposed to stop at the same shelter as I, but he never made it, due to his heavy load.Along the hike, I saw some ants devouring a live centipede. They had chewed his legs off and so he was writhing in pain. It reminded me of the one chapter in Walden. I also saw a massive deer, with a huge floppy tail. The tail was black with a white border, and white rings of fur around the eyes. He was just walking along the trail 30yds in front of me. After a few minutes he saw me and bolted. Other than that, the hike was pretty uneventful. I think a lot of hikers stayed in Fontana to celebrate 4/20.At the shelter was Adam Bomb and three weekenders who had to exit the park the next day because they didn't make reservations. For most everyone, to camp in the Smokies, you have to reserve your spots at the campsites and shelters that you plan to stay at. Thru-hikers are exempt and every shelter has 4 spots reserved for us. Everyone, before entering the park has to fill out a form with info and itinerary which functions as a backcountry camping permit. The Smokies is a very large area of wilderness. They do this to keep tabs on everybody and so that people only camp where there are bear-hang cables. Anyways, these guys had 50+ # packs, one of them was at least 80#. Their bear hang bag was 80 liters in volume. My whole pack is only 68 liters. They did let me try a shot of their $89 scotch and gave me some snacks to lighten their load.
Date: 2012-04-21
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

4/21It was a dreary day all day. It was foggy and misting, with the occasional sprinkle. The climb to Derrick's Knob Shelter was pretty tough. With each day, the penalty for not eating enough gets bigger and bigger. One instant oatmeal packet doesn't do it for breakfast and two is a lot to choke down when you've had it a bunch of days.  I need to start buying more snack foods and just eat as often as the hobbits.  I stopped for lunch at DK Shelter. There was another of those giant deer just hanging out and eating grass. He'd occasionally look at us but seemed relatively at ease with our presence. We were also treated to a couple of chipmunks scurrying all over the place. With a solid meal and a relatively flat trail, it was smooth sailing to Silers Bald Shelter. I even saw two giant turkeys along the way. I was thinking of pushing on another 1.8 miles to Double Spring Gap Shelter but rumor was that it was already full and it was going to rain pretty hard that night. As soon as I made the decision to stay, the rain started to pick up. Good call Oaf.There was a group of eight weekenders at the shelter as well as Chris (forgot his trail name). I had shared a bunk room with him back at the NOC. About 30 min later, Jam Session comes strolling up with a guy who introduced himself as Dry Ice. He seemed a little awkward. They decided to push on despite the rain and full shelter. 10 min later, JS returned as he left his rain jacket behind and decided to stay for the night. He was happy to be relieved of DI because he had decided they were hiking partners that day and wouldn't leave JS's side.  From JS, I learned that DI had recently changed his name from Lazy Susan. There had been all sorts of rumors going around about LS: that he had gotten drunk at the Fontana Hilton, verbally harassed some women, threatened to kill them when they called the cops, chased them with a big knife, was arrested and thrown in the drunk tank for the night, was banned from the TVA and Smokies, and that there was now a manhunt to find him.  Intrigue on the trail!The day finished off with a game of pinochle with the weekenders. They let me try a shot of whiskey to boot. Also, at some point in the day, the trail started following the NC/TN border. 3 states down, 11 to go!  The trail will follow the border all the way to VA.
Date: 2012-04-23
From: Newfound Gap; US 441

To: Newfound Gap; US 441
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

4/23The Argos were gracious enough to drive me back up the mountain. Along the way we picked up Doc Holiday. He originally thru-hiked in '71, and is one of the first 100 people to ever do it. He is a college prof (all things sports management and health) from ME on sabbatical to section hike. He was interesting to talk to as he's had 40 years to reflect on the phenomenon of thru-hiking and the influence that experience has had on his life. He wants me to write an article on the different experiences of introvert and extrovert thru-hikers. As we climbed the mountain, the conditions grew steadily worse. At the gap, the wind was 30+ mph with stronger gusts and the snow was coming down. The parking lot was icy. I decided to take a zero day and not slip off an icy rock, break a leg, and freeze to death. Doc Holiday braved it though. We picked up Spark who had hitched up there that morning, but decided it was too cold. On the way back down, we warned other hikers trying to hitch up. One was even wearing shorts. They didn't believe us. It was bad enough they were salting the main road and closing side roads.I spent the day exploring Gatlinburg, immersed in touristy material culture. Didn't buy much except some supplies at the outfitter and some artisan donuts.  I did go to the aquarium which is supposed to be the best in the country. I doubt it was the best but it was really good. The one massive tank had tunnels underneath; another immersive experience. It felt weird leaving two weeks of woods to walk the bottom of the ocean for an hour or two. I love aquariums though.  Afterwards, the Argos picked me up and let me stay another night at the cabin! Such wonderful people.
Date: 2012-04-24
From: Newfound Gap; US 441

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

4/24The day started with a hot shower to loosen all the muscles. After breakfast, they took me back up the mountain. This time the tops of the mountains looked clear of winter and Newfound Gap was Jack Frost free. The send off was a bit like I had been adopted. Even their grown and married children were asking all sorts of questions about me over the phone and wanting the link to this journal. The climb out of Newfound Gap grew increasingly treacherous with snow and ice. It was slow going. At one point I slipped and stumbled forward, causing me to punch a tree. At another point I slipped and fell where the trail had NO ice except for a tiny bit of black ice on one spot of a rock. The snow on the ground was beautiful, especially when the sun poked through for a few seconds. Once back on top of the ridge, it was easier going. There was one part of the trail that was slightly downhill and solid ice. I just planted my feet and used my poles to push me down the trail. It was pretty fun.I stopped for lunch at Icewater Spiring Shelter where I picked up Late4Dinner as a hiking partner for the day. We had some good philosophical discussions. It wound up snowing most of the afternoon. The snow was falling in the valley at first, but the wind was blowing it up the side of the mountain onto us. I had never seen snow fall up before. Most of the time, it was snowing Dippin' Dots instead of snow flakes. I had never seen it precipitate that way before. Angel Hair Noodle Head informed me that night at the shelter that in CO they call it "grapple." There were other times it fell in flakes, especially when the wind wasn't blowing. It was beautiful to just stand and watch these large wet flakes float back and forth silently to the ground. I tell ya, the weather in the Smokies is finicky.  There were points where the parallel ridges on either side and of similar elevation looked completely free of snow and ice. A few trees were freshly fallen due to the weather. With the packs on, we were forced to army crawl under them. Better that on ice than in mud I guess. We found out from a guy at the shelter that night with a thermometer that it had never gotten above 25*F all day. I would officially call this a winter expedition. Bonus: I got to see a mouse. Also, Mt. Sequoyah marked the 10% completion point. 18 more to go!We stopped at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter for the night. It was very crowded and we all huddled up to fight the cold. We squeezed 20 people in there when it was only meant to sleep 12. Doc Holiday and Atom Bomb were there. Somebody had built a fire in the fireplace and tarps were hung over the front so that it was only tolerably cold inside the shelter. The spring was also 10' from the shelter, making doing dishes super convenient.