morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-29
From: Lick Log Gap

To: Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

I really feel caught in the pull of the trail like a strong ocean current. Irresistible and compelling. As soon as I sit down and rest a bit I want to get up and get walking to see what's around the next bend or over the next mountain. A hike like this takes on a momentum of its own and I feel it's best just to surrender to its pull. The danger, of course, is out-hiking the body's capabilities and burning out. It's very, very difficult to slow down once you've established a certain pace. This journal actually helps me to eddy out of the current for a bit and stay in one place. It may add ten minutes or so to a rest break that I wouldn't otherwise take. Right now I'm sitting in the sun on a cool morning in a little meadow at Burningtown Gap. Just birdsong and wind in the trees.Spring in these mountains is just a vertical as it is a temperate event. When I started the descent from Wesser Bald lookout, spring was largely evident at 4,600 ft. The trail took me over the "jump off" and a knee testing 2,700 ft. plunge straight into spring. I could actually smell the fresh leaves on the trees! It feels very good to be surrounded by all this greenery. Tomorrow I'll resupply at the Nantahala Outdoor Center which is only a mile down the trail. My hiking diet is so nutritious that I don't have (yet) the usual thru hiker food cravings but I might eat breakfast at the restaurant there just for a change.
Date: 2007-04-30
From: Rufus Morgan Shelter

To: Cheoah Bald
Miles today: 9.0

Sometimes I'm struck by the wonderful absurdity of what I'm doing. It brings a smile to my face. I don't remember all that much about my '94 hike from Springer to Hot Springs, but I do remember there was a spot on the trail that iw as wondering what it would feel like to commit to a hike to Maine. I just passed that very place a mile back on this long, hot climb out of the N.O.C. at Wesser. And now I know. Wonderful absurdity. The N.O.C. was the complete pit stop. I started with breakfast at the restaurant. I've read books about AT through hikes where at least %50 of the book was a description of the food the author ate when he or she came into town. So I'm not going to bore you with endless details about meals consumed. I had pancakes, eggs, bacon and orange juice. I had breakfast with Bob, a section hiker out for a month who started the same day I did and we kept running into each other. He kindly insisted on paying so I got a free breakfast! Ok, I got it out of my system so no more food descriptions in this journal. Maybe. After breakfast, a visit to the outfitter to pick up my mail drop, buy a few items, then shower, laundry, phone call, and I was on my way. In and out in about four hours. So shorter mileage today. Onward and upward. I'm camped on top of Cheoah Bald which at 5062 feet has great views all around. I still had daylight and energy but had to stop because these mountain top with view camps are something of a rarity on the AT. And it's such a fine, warm, still evening.I had a good conversation with an 80 year old Englishman named Greene King who through hiked in '95 and is revisiting part of his hike. What a great blessing it would be to still be able to hike these tough mountains at that age! And with a pack no less.
Date: 2007-05-01
From: Cheoah Bald

To: Black Gum Gap
Miles today: 15.5

A fresh orange! Trail Magic at Stecoah Gap a production of Blue Tooth and Jelly Bean, a through hiker of '06 who is on the trail again a couple hours ahead of me. Jim was there who I last saw at the Trail Magic at Winding Stair Gap. He is a through hiker on about the same pace as me and without a trail name yet. Blue Tooth and I thought "Magic Magnet" might be suitable. We'll see if it sticks. My camp overlooks Fontana Reservoir with the Great Smoky Mountains looming beyond. I'll resupply at Fontana Dam tomorrow and head up into the Smokey's. I meet my first southbound through hiker named Hubcap (because he is actually carrying a VW hubcap along with him) who started last year at Katahdin in late June, got off the trail in December at Damascus due to injury and low funds, started up again this spring and is almost done. I didn't dare ask him why he was carrying that hubcap. When I asked him why he did the hike he said that when he started he didn't even like hiking much and was doing it to lose weight and just to see if he could do it. I find it absolutely amazing that someone who doesn't even like to hike would walk 2,000 miles. Go figure!
Date: 2007-05-02
From: Black Gum Gap

To: Mollie's Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0

I'm on the big climb up from Fontana dam and into Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The pack is heavy with 6+ days of food and I've still got 10 miles to go to get to the first shelter. Camping for thru hikers is allowed only at shelters but the normal reservations are waived. I was very curious as to what the trees at lower elevations that had leafed out too early and got frozen and now have dead brown leaves were going to do about their stupid mistake. But it looks like they had a Plan B all along as they are starting to re-bud. Not as dumb as they look. This makes me happy in some obscure way. I saw a big fat snake at the start of the trail but it refused to pose for a photo and disappeared into its hole. Second snake I've seen plus one good looking brown lizard with a black neck collar. It appeared to have small brown spots on it. Any herpetologists out there know what kind it is? Please inform.
Date: 2007-05-03
From: Mollie's Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday was a bear of a day in more ways than one. Because of the resupply at Fontana and the camping only in a shelter rule in the Park, I had to push harder than usual. I didn't make the shelter until right before dark. A long hard day but surprisingly enough, I have more energy today than yesterday! I guess that means my body is really adapting to the constant physical stress. I finally caught up with the first trailjournals journalist that I've been following. Doggiebag has had a tough time of it, getting lost and injured, and looking quite thin, but he's still going. But a least misfortune makes for an interesting story so check out his journal.On the hike up to Mollies Rdge Shelter there was a bear taking a siesta in a tree not 30 yards off the trail, and in the evening a saw a Momma bear with grown cubs just below the shelter spring. When she saw me she made a huffing noise at the cubs and they all ran away. No one else at the shelter (about 12) saw any bears yesterday.The trail from Mollies Ridge Shelter to the Derrick Knob shelter was surprisingly steep and rugged. It follows the ridge that is the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. So I get my third state. For the most visited National Park, this Smokie Mt. section of the AT was almost deserted today. The promised rain for today has finally arrived and I'm sitting quite snug on the top platform of the shelter listening to the rain drops spattering on the tin roof. There are 7 others in here with me and this style shelter has a chain link fence across the front to keep the people in and the bears out.
Date: 2007-05-04
From: Derrick Knob Shelter 

To: Mt. Collin Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain on the roof of the Mt. Collins shelter that I'm fortunately in is deafening. The thunderstorms were nice enough to wait until this evening to let loose.   Again very few people on the trail that entered the Smoky Mt. high country today with its fragrant red spruce and Frasier firs that made the going at times dark and gloomy. The AT reached its highest point at Clingmans' Dome at 6,643 ft. The view was poor due to heavy haze. I figured out today that so far I've been averaging 14 miles a day which is one more than I need to be able to complete the hike in the time allotted. This is why I usually write this journal during the day as my fingers are willing but the brain is blank. Partly because I haven't been sleeping near as well in the shelters as I do in my tent. And it's not just all the snoring, I brought ear plugs for that, maybe it's because they feel like living in a cage. Only four of us ended up here tonight. Carver, a local from Knoxville, Doggiebag, and Nine Lives. Carver is actually a mobile, backpacking trail magician, since on his weekend trips in the spring he packs extra vittles for the thru hikers in the Smokies. Thanks for the guacamole!
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Mt. Collin Shelter

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

I'm eating lunch in the Ice Water Spring shelter as the rain pours down again. So far I've enjoyed hiking in the rain though it's hard to explain why. The trick is not to get too cold. Precise layering is necessary to avoid over-sweating in rain gear, and to avoid being chilled by the damp. And with the rain, all the plants, if not the hikers, are happy.The trail today mostly followed a knife edge ridge as little as two feet wide in places. It felt like walking on the spine of the Smokies with views available on both sides if you could see anything through the rain and fog. Sometimes the fog would lift enough to reveal the cloud-veiled valleys and ridges below. Pure joy was bubbling up in me today for no apparent reason. Just an added bonus on a unique and beautiful section of trail in the Great Smokies.
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: light rain

It's been trying to clear up this morning with limited success. A few sunbeams made it through the misty fog but the clouds appear to be stuck on the mountains wringing out sporadic drizzle. I'm deeply impressed by the richness of the thru hiking experience so far. There's a sense of really living out here, not just going through the motions. It's deeply rewarding but not easy. I don't think any of us out here would be doing it if it was easy. Although I haven't been mentioning it much in this journal, much of my walking time is devoted to focusing my attention in the present moment and letting all thought, emotion, and sensation arise and dissipate in its own way. I'm finding the walking practice a good deal more challenging than sitting meditation practice in that there is much less of the blissful, quiet mind condition produced by sitting and a much more rapid fire arising of the ego related story lines. It's almost as if the constant physical motion stirs up more self-related constructions. But that's not to say that there aren't periods of pure presence and the taste of freedom. The beauty and challenge of the physical side of the journey has a way of shredding the ego mind much the same way the intensity of an extended sitting meditation retreat does. And maybe on even a more permanent basis. Onward through the fog. Tomorrow is the grand descent from the early spring ridge tops to the verdant late spring valley and resupply at Standing Bear Hostel.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Snowbird Mt.
Miles today: 14.2

A cold front has moved through leaving a perfect spring day. Brilliant sun, blue skies, and all the fantastic shades of spring green in the trees and plants. During the last five days in the high Smokies, spring was really doing its thing down in these lower elevations. Losing elevation was like time travel; jumping forward a week for every 1000 ft. descended. There was a huge Hemlock tree right beside the trail and since I'm fighting off a cold, I stopped to soak in the wonderful energy, the living life force called chi in Chinese, that these trees have in abundance. I do this by doing what's called Tree Chi-Gung, where I connect my energy field to that of the tree. Different species of trees have different qualities of energy and these big Hemlocks are the best I've found yet. It's no more possible to describe what these energies feel like than it is to try to tell someone what an apple tastes like.   One must taste for oneself.I said farewell to Doggiebag, who I had seen at every shelter in the Smokies, at the Standing Bear Hostel where he is waiting for his dog (which aren't allowed in the National Park) to be returned to him from the kennel. Standing Bear is a unique and rustic place with a fine restful atmosphere perfect for thru hikers who need some respite from the trail. I prefer to hang out in the woods so I headed up the long climb to Snowbird Mt. On my '94 hike it was tree covered so I was delighted to find open views. The trees and brush had been cut down to make a new grassy bald. Just another incredibly great day on the trail.(Pictures coming as soon as Techboy (Ryan Kean) gets back from out of town. (Claudia Kean)
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Snowbird Mt.

To: Catpen Gap
Miles today: 16.0

It's a crystal clear, warm, sunny day with a 360 degree view from the grassy bald of Max Patch. I'm not sure I've ever seen air this transparent in the Appalachian Mt's. Visibility must be near 80 miles. Perfect. I've been thinking about the difference between happiness and joy. This superb view on a perfect day makes me happy. When I walked up here in '94 the only thing visible was mist and rain and happiness didn't arise. To me, happiness is produced by circumstances that for some reason I find pleasing. It is always conditional. Joy is more mysterious, for it seems to strike one unawares, and move more by its own power. It is radiant, not circumstantial. But by observing carefully, I've noted that joy is always eternally available provided one has the capacity, grace, or luck to open inwardly toward it. When all the muck has cleared away, its the radiant groundlessness of who we are.I'm on a grassy bald just above Catpen Gap which happens to be my last campsite on my '94 trip. I'll be in Hot Springs tomorrow for a resupply stop and maybe take it easy and overnight there as I've picked up the first hot spots (potential blisters) on my feet and they might need a little preventative healing time. I have a great view from this sight and the air is still remarkably clear. The Smoky Mt's. are still visible, but off to the distance now in the south.
Date: 2007-05-09
From: Catpen Gap

To: Lover's Leap Ridge
Miles today: 13.0

A mourning dove is cooing, crickets are chirping, and I can hear the human noise from the little town of Hot Springs in the river valley below me. The section of trail I just hiked to my camp up here on the ridge is new to me because Hotsprings was as far as I went on my '94 trip. The only other section of the AT that I've hiked before is in the Shenandoah National Park. All the rest from here north to Katahdin is gloriously unknown.So far I'm amazed at the variety of interesting things I see everyday. This morning, walking down to Hot Springs, I was thinking that I hadn't seen a Cardinal or a Bluejay yet; birds that were common where I grew up in Northern Virginia, and in the next 5 minutes I saw both! It's an extraordinary sensual experience, this long, endless hike, and of course, there are many unpleasant sensations to go along with the beautiful ones such as the no-seeums chewing on my arms right now. I think I'll put on my long sleeve shirt.
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Lover's Leap Ridge

To: Log Cabin Drive
Miles today: 15.0

Spring is rising up the mountains in a green tide faster than I can climb them. I'm at the Rick Mt. fire tower with just another wonderful 360 degree view. Not the unusual crystal clarity of the last couple of days but still a fine sight to see. I'm finding the green spring leafy energy a palpable presence in the forest and I'm finding it as invigorating as a jump in a cold mountain lake. No lakes up here yet but I did pass a small dammed pond. The occasional view points from these fire towers on rocky bluffs provide a continuity to the journey, as I can see the distant mountains and ridges I traversed to get here and the enticing topography that lies ahead.Once the trees are leafed out at AT is often described as a long green tunnel and one can lose the sense of distance covered. But up on these views the magnitude of what one has done and what one is going to do becomes apparent. I feel a certain satisfaction in having walked from farther than I can see.
Date: 2007-05-11
From: Log Cabin Drive

To: 12/mile past Shelton Graves
Miles today: 13.0

Sleeping in the woods really does it for me as I can go to bed (thermarest pad) completely nackered, and wake up fresh and lively. Last evening I was too tired to write about the entertaining noises coming from the valley below. As I was setting up my tent, listening to the evening bird song, KA-BOOM, a shot gun blast less than a 1/4 mile away. Followed every few minutes by four more. This must be a usual occurence in this neck of the woods as the birds were undeterred and kept right on singing. I could also hear dogs barking and a mule braying on the farm down below. To add to the symphony, the Whippoorwills were out last night and I'd forgotten just how loud, strident and rapid-fire their calls are. Fortunately they weren't too close to camp so they didn't disturb my sleep.Reading shelter register at the little Laurel Shelter this morning I noticed that I've gained considerably on some of the trail journalists I'd been following before I left. Toodles is only 4 days ahead now and the Bandaid Kid, Chuck Norris and Tigger, are only 10 and 11 days in front. I'm stealth camping on a knoll just before the descent to Flint Mt. Shelter. The term stealth camp I just came across in Ray Jardine's book on the Pacific Crest Trail. It generally refers to choosing a camp that is out of sight in an undisturbed setting where there is no sign that anyone has camped there before. The idea is to leave it that way too. I found it a fairly strenuous day as there was some good elevation gain and a very rocky ridge section called Big Firescald Knob that had excellent views but short, steep ups and downs that the trail crews did a great job constructing some stone staircases on.
Date: 2007-05-12
From: 12/mile past Shelton Graves

To: 1 mile past Sam's Gap
Miles today: 14.0

I noticed yesterday that I have been hiking 21 days and gone 300 miles. A hundred miles a week pace. Its a little faster than I need to go so I have the luxury of slowing down as want or need arises. I'm impressed with this section of trail between Hotsprings and Erwin that I'm on. The trail is beginning to cross rural areas when it descends to the roaded gaps. Before the road crossing were still in National Forest lands. Now there is an interesting change from forest trail melting into rural areas with dogs barking, children playing, and roosters crowing, and then rising again into the woods. The variation in the texture and variety of the forest and plant life I find endlessly fascinating. This long green tunnel is anything but monotonous.I caught up to Otter and Max (who turns out to be a dog) at the Hogback Ridge Shelter. Otter is a Scotsman who lives in Maine and so is actually walking home. He's taking it easy since he injured his ankle a couple of days ago but is still moving along down the trail. The legs, knees, ankles and feet do take a pounding from this crazy business of trying to walk to Maine. It's really somewhat a matter of luck in escaping any trip-ending injury.
Date: 2007-05-13
From: 1 mile past Sam's Gap

To: Devil's Creek Gap
Miles today: 15.0

I'm drinking in the 360 degree view from the top of Big Bald Mt. at 5516 ft., the green leafy tide is just starting to rise up this high. It's not exactly a wild place as there is a jeep road up here and a subdivision on the next mountain over complete with little ski area.A cool breeze has blown away the clouds and rain of yesterday. I get a pleasant feeling of expansion when exposed to these huge views after being immersed in the forest for so long. There's a kind or reorientation - Oh, so this is where I am!   And now it's 3800 ft. down to the town of Erwin which I'll reach tomorrow and resupply.
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Devil's Fork Gap

To: Erwin
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

On the descent to Erwin for the first time on the hike I was feeling some real fatigue. I had been waiting for my body to tell me when to take a break so I decided to take a zero day in Erwin. A zero day is trail slang meaning a whole day with zero mileage on the trail. So I'm staying at the Super8 motel which conveniently has a free shuttle to and from the trail.
Date: 2007-05-16
From: Erwin

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

After being on the trail so long, staying in a motel was like being in a sensory deprivation tank.   No Whippoorwhils, Screech owls, or morning bird song to welcome me to the new day. I needed the rest but it feels great to be back on the trail.The Rhododendron are starting to bloom with their fantastic purplish flowers. I'm feeling good on the big climb up to Beauty Spot and Unaka Mt. It's a grey still day with a little light rain and a calm before the storm feeling, as a cold front approaches which could bring some thunderstorms later today, probably as I'm setting up my tent.
Date: 2007-05-17
From: Low Gap

To: Little Rock Knob
Miles today: 11.0

The cold front came through as promised with wind and rain which was kind enough to stop just as I decided to make camp. Coldest and dampest night of the trip so far. Today is sunny and fall like with a cool wind blowing. I just caught up with a band of young thru-hikers who had started 10 days before I did. I've never found any situation where the tortoise and the hare story that we learned as children is more applicable than thru hiking the AT. My relatively short legs give me a slow average speed, but I love walking, so I end up as the ultimate tortoise. Of course I'll never catch the real speed demons of the trail. Some hikers are capable of averaging 20+ miles a day. And today I stopped early due to low energy, a big climb up Roan Mt. immediately ahead, and a nice campsite with a nearby view.
Date: 2007-05-18
From: Little Rock Knob

To: Doll Flats
Miles today: 17.8

I had sent my cold weather gear home at Erwin, tempting the humor of the mountain gods. But I'm wise to their tricks and kept my warm jacket. I woke up to heavy fog and temps in the 30's. As I climbed up Roan Mt. it just kept getting colder and colder, and as I reached the top the spruce trees were coated with rhime ice from the freezing fog. The trail guide says the Roan Mt. highlands is the coldest place in the southern Appalachians. With wind chills in the low 20's I could well believe it. But with my rain gear over my jacket I've been toasty all day as long as I keep moving.I just ate dinner at the shelter of my dreams. Literally. Years ago I had a vivid dream about thru hiking the AT. In the dream early on in the hike there was a large red barn serving as a shelter situated on a grassy hillside. A perfect description of the Over Mountains shelter! Of course its possible I had seen a photo of it somewhere as it's quite possibly the most idyllically situated shelter on the trail. But more likely to me is it's just one of those dreams that happen to come true.