morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-09-03
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Vt.9 Bennington
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: clear sky

Did I say it would be cold last night? It was baltic. Even with all my layers on, I woke up about 2.00am feeling cold. I hung on for the best part of an hour trying to close every gap to the outside world, draw every bit of warmth I could from all my clothes. Finally, about 3.00 am,I had to get up and pee. I was standing menacing a tree when I realised I didn't have my headlamp and didn't need to have it. Everywhere was bathed in a gentle, hazy moolight. Even as I stood shivering, I had to appreciate how beautiful it was.I went back to the shelter and remembered I did have an extra layer still unused , so this is the only time I have slept in my rainjacket. It helped, but daybreak was still a relief. The shelter is quite open to the east so the sun penetrated early into a little clearing in front of the shelter. Chipmunks race about. I've been studying birds, about the size of a thrush, but with bright yellow chests, and even saw (I heard it first) a hummingbird. But no dawn chorus. That's been a feature of the forest this year, the lack of bird sound at the start of the day. The only time I've heard it this year was out of the hills when we camped on the lawn of the Wileys' blueberry farm. I have no explanation for this.Not having had much sleep we felt low on energy this morning, but discovered as the morning passed that we were setting (for us) a cracking pace, at times close to 3 miles/hr. There aren't many landmarks today, our maps showed a number of lookouts, but we apparently flew past them without noticing. This could be due to our phenomenal pace but more likely they have simply disappeared as the years have passed and the trees have grown. Finally we did see an overlook and a good area to sit on Porcupine Ridge and we had lunch there. A talkative chap arrived with his dog Apollo and he talked without pause for half an hour about his experiences on the Trans America Trail. I hadn't heard of it and still am not too sure where it is. In the afternoon, we blasted on to the Melville Nauheim Shelter where we chatted to a hiker called 'Grasshopper' and then later ran into 'Beatbox' a second time on this trip who seemed still slightly dazed by his climb out of Bennington.Finally we made that steep descent down to Vt.9 - steep but not as bad as the descent from the south last Sunday - and quickly got a hitch into town. Once again we are in the Autumn Inn at least for one night.
Date: 2004-09-04
From: Vt.9 Bennington

To: Bennington
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

On Monday we meet my wife and mother-in-law at Newark, NJ and together we travel down to St Augustine, Fla. for ten days of R&R. Bennington is a smashing little town so we have stayed here today and then will take the Bonanza bus down to Newark tomorrow. From the trailhead, Vt.9 passes down through the outskirst of town (past our motel) and meets US.7 at Four Corners. This is the centre-piece of the town which is well served by banks, eating places and has all the amenities of a small county town. Pop. is about 15,500.I like this town. Some New England towns are so neat and tidy that they become twee, a chocolate box community, without real people. Other towns and cities take 'looking lived in' to an extreme and allow themselves to go to the dogs. Bennington has found a good balance I would say, it's both a working town with a certain amount of bustle to it but never too much, and this seems to blend perfectly well with a more bohemian community who provide many services here, esp some of the eating places. The Bennington & Rutland RR operated here for a hundred years until it closed in 1953. On Washington St, just off Main St.(on the west side of US7), the original station still stands, the area around it serves as the Farmers' Market at weekends.This morning we strolled downtown past the old brick factory of HE Bradford & Co. dating back to 1854 but now occupied by a company making power transmission equipment, and spent some time in the public library on Silver Street. The internet was our main concern, but there were plenty of interesting maps and books about the region that took our interest. To the west of town, the skyline above the trees is dominated by the Bennington Battle monument, about two miles out of town, and that's where we passed our afternoon. [more on this later] Today we also moved our base downtown to the Kirkside Motor Inn. As the name implies (at least to a Scotsman) the inn is next door to a church. It's close to Four Corners on the west side and puts us close to the Bonanza bus depot for out trip tomorrow. We have topped off a very fine day with a visit to the Madison Brew House Restaurant for dinner.
Date: 2006-08-01
To: Newark, NJ.
Miles today: 0.0

Last night presented us with a new worry. This hurricane season is proving one of the worst ever and now we have Hurricane Frances bearing down on Central Florida. We've been glued to The Weather Channel. A meteorologist called Stephanie Abrams has become our newest hero, as she stands at 45 degrees in a roaring tempest describing to us what is happening. Hoardings, strips of corrugated iron and branches go flying by as she speaks with amazing coherence, protected only by her rain jacket and hood. What a star!This morning we were tuned in once again when they flashed an emergency tornado warning for the Crescent Beach area south of St Augustine. That's exactly where we will be staying! Our plans may be starting to unravel.
Date: 2004-02-29
To: Time to Begin Again
Miles today: 0.0

It's that time of year again. The Holiday's are over, winter has come and, in the South, is pretty well gone. We've had some pretty days and milder nights, and the sun is trying hard to bring daylight earlier each day as I do my morning walk to keep in shape for my next trip. I've been thinking about starting this year's journal for weeks and its time to take the plunge and make it official. The last two years the hike seemed to take on a reality and make me feel more committed, once I make that first prep entry in my journal. The anticipation has been there since I got off the trail last year. The excitement has been building more since New Year's day and I find it hard to believe how fast the weeks have gone by, and here we are almost to March 1. Many 2004 hikers are already on the trail, and I have been reading their stories and daydreaming. I've felt that little tickle in my stomach each time one of them describes a section of the trail or a landmark in Georgia or North Carolina where I have been. In 2002 I did the section from Springer to Fontana Dam. Last year I completed the part from Fontana Dam to Erwin, Tennessee. I am way behind in planning for this year, but I will start at Erwin, of course, and probably go 50 or 60 miles past Damascus and on into Virginia. I've made many plans in my mind, but little real detail planning has been accomplished. I need new maps, data books, guidebooks and probably a few gear changes. But, that's just part of the fun, and I'll get immersed in it pretty deeply from here forward. I've been reading journals from other hikers for this year and previous years and following the forums, and many have said that the next section for me is very beautiful. Heading north from Erwin will put me into all new territory. The last two years I have completed all the sections where I had been on the trail before on short weekend hikes. So, I'm looking forward to Unaka Mountain, Overmountain Shelter, The Grayson Highlands, Damascus, and beyond. It may be hard to understand, but I think I get as excited about my next section as thru hikers do for their Georgia to Maine thru hike. That's just me, I guess. Can't wait.
Date: 2004-03-07
To: Making Plans
Miles today: 0.0

Something makes me want to go earlier this year. In 2002 I hiked from May 23 to June 6. Last year I hiked from June 5 to June 19. As always, I have lots of things going on at work and in my personal and family life that play a part in finding two plus weeks off for hiking. I've been walking the countryside near my home and really enjoying the woods without the leaves on the trees and the tangled underbrush encroaching on the trail. The cooler weather might be nice for a change. Last year it rained every day and night I was out. Needless to say, I walked the entire length of the Smokey's in a cloud with almost no views and only an occasional look down from the ridges into a draw or valley below. I had only a few glimpses of a patch of blue sky. I did not see the moon once all the way to Erwin, nor did I see a star in the sky at night. Having clearer weather and less of the canopy seems inviting. Maybe I'll try for early May, or even early April. There are lots of things to work around with either of these times, but I seem to have a growing desire to try and make it fit. So it looks like another 160 to 185 miles, somewhere in April or May and about two weeks hiking with one zero day is what I'll try to set up. Very similar to the last two years, just earlier in the year and starting a few hundred miles further north. Sounds great to me.
Date: 2004-03-21
To: Gear, Rides, Etc
Miles today: 0.0

My plans are starting to firm up a bit. I talked with my boss, who is also my best friend, and another close friend at work, and it just seems like no matter when I plan to hike there is always something that could interfere - so why fight it! I'm just going to choose a date and let the chips fall where they may. If you have read any of my journal entries from previous years, you know how supportive my wife has been, and she continues to encourage me for this year's hike and is helping me schedule around family vacation and other events. So it looks like I will attend a big meeting at work on Monday, April 26, and leave town the next day for Erwin. April 27th it is! With that in mind, lots of things have found their way onto my "to do" list. I'll be starting about six weeks earlier than last year and will be several hundred miles north of Springer, so I'm anticipating some colder weather. I've posted some questions on the forums about lightweight and small-packing sleeping bags. I really think I'll need a new one. I've gotten it narrowed down to the Marmot Helium or the Western Mountaineering Ultralight, so far. Lots of hikers seem impressed with these bags, so I probably can't go wrong. Just reading reviews and trying to make a final decision. It¢s a fun process. I'm thinking about a silk liner too. The rest of my gear looks like it will work ok, so other than replacing some worn out sox and checking stuff to see if it needs repair, my gear is in pretty good shape. I spent much of February messing around with the pot stand/wind screen combination that you make from aluminum flashing, and I got a good working model on my second try. I will use the homemade Pepsi can stove again this year too. As I go section by section each year, my trips are beginning much farther north, and much farther from Birmingham Alabama. The last two years Marlene has dropped me off, and returned to pick me up each time. Marlene has started her own home-based business, and she is getting busier all the time as her business grows. She would do anything to encourage me, including giving me a ride no matter how inconvenient, but I am trying to find another way to do it, at least for one of the trips. It looks like I can get a rental car, but the closest place to drop it off seems to be at the airport near Johnson City, Tennessee. A fellow named Tom, who lives a few miles from Erwin, has signed my guest book and we have corresponded by email since January. He seems interested in trading information about our hikes and has offered to shuttle me to Erwin from Johnson City. We still have to work out the details, but I'm excited that it might work out for us to meet and also solve my transportation problem. It's been great to see how hikers look out for one another. More to come!
Date: 2004-03-29
To: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

What a fun weekend! Marlene and I have been trying to plan something to do during Spring Break week, but nothing seemed to work out. Finally I called her on Thursday morning, March 25, and asked if she could be ready to go by late afternoon. Our destination was Gatlinburg. It might be hard to believe, but we have lived in Birmingham for 18 years and have never been to Gatlinburg. Many of our friends have gone at least once per year and several groups have camped in Cades Cove on a regular basis and visited Gatlinburg, but we just never made it. So, I worked early, left work early, and off we went. We knew we could not see everything in a town like that, so we just took it easy and scoped out the place. We ate well, walked the streets and visited shops, took in a show and had a great time. On Saturday morning we ate at the Apple House restaurant (something like that), and then took a side trip up to Newfound Gap in the Smokies. I showed Marlene where I had come through last year on the trail and we hiked a little way south so she could see it. I really like to have her see places I have hiked so she has a feel for the experience. Unlike last year, it was perfectly clear and we got great views to the surrounding ridges. Papa Smurf and Flame were there, giving out trail magic, and we talked with some of this year's hikers including SCUBA and Seiko, and some others who did not have a trail name yet. It was a great time and the ride up and down the road to the gap was beautiful. After some more ¢tourist time¢ Saturday morning, we left for Birmingham in the afternoon, arriving home early Saturday evening. On Sunday morning Marlene dropped me off in Shannon Valley for a practice hike from there back home. I just carried a daypack, but I needed to get some miles on my feet to make sure they got toughened up a little for the real thing. A few minutes into the hike I found my way to a new golf course that is under construction in the huge valley. The entire area is about to be developed and I wanted to hike it one more time before it all changes. The golf course was beautiful, and I walked it end to end and everywhere in between for about 3 1/2 hours. After that I followed old trails and did some bushwhacking back to civilization and followed country roads and gas line easements home - about 14 miles in all. It was a nice hike on a hot day, but I recovered quickly and felt good. All in all it was a great weekend.
Date: 2004-04-04
To: Details, Details
Miles today: 0.0

This weekend was spent making lists and checking them twice. I have my complete gear list from last year, a complete menu list from last year, a To Buy list and a To Do list. After spending the morning at choir practice for our Easter music program, I spent much of Saturday afternoon working on the "buying" and "doing" and made some real progress getting batteries, filters, matches, food, sox, and other equipment ready, and going over the maps and guidebooks to get a more complete itinerary planned. Things are starting to fall into place. My departure date will probably change to April 28 instead of April 27, and I emailed that to Tom the middle of this week along with possible hiking mileage and camping locations for my first few days. We will probably start to finalize our plans to meet in Johnson City and hike together for a few days at the beginning of my trip. I would like to have an overnight hike one of the weekends before I leave - at Oak Mountain State Park. I'm starting to feel the pressure of lots to do and time running out. It's ok, though, I'll just do what I can. Getting close now.
Date: 2004-04-23
To: Hikus Planningus Interruptus
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I almost got to the final countdown, but something has come up to delay my trip. Tuesday evening I was making final preparations for sending my first mail drop to Kincora, and going over my gear lists, food, and other supplies. I felt that tingle up my spine as I was getting into it, and my mind was slipping into that daydreaming mode of experiencing what it would be like in a few days, starting out in Erwin and heading north. Plans called for working Monday (4/26/04) and attending a large business meeting that I have about every six weeks. Tuesday was to be a work day to deal with any issues that came from Monday¢s meeting. Then at 6:00 Wednesday morning I was going to be standing there smiling at the rental car place at the Birmingham airport when they opened, to get a car and head out for the Tri-Cities airport near Johnson City Tennessee where I was going to be picked up by a friend and shuttled to Erwin for an over night stay at one of the hostels or a hotel. At sunrise on Thursday, April 29 I was planning to hit the trail. At 9:30 Tuesday evening I found out that a situation at my job was going to put a hold on my plans. Right now I¢m not sure when this business issue will start, how long I will need to be involved or when I will feel comfortable leaving for my trip. So things are on hold. I was looking forward to hiking in late April and early May rather than early to mid June. I hoped to enjoy some cooler weather, run into some of the thru hikers, and head back to Damascus after I came out of the woods near Marion Virginia to attend a day or two of Trail Days. It looks like that¢s not going to happen. The hardest part is not knowing what I will be able to do. It could turn out that I just hike 2 to 4 weeks later, or I could end up going in the fall, or possibly not at all this year. I hope to get things figured out this coming week. I¢ll just have to get along with whatever it turns out to be. I¢ll post again as soon as I know.
Date: 2004-04-30
From: Campsite 1/2 Mile South of Low Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: moderate rain

It is 6:40 p.m. at Clyde Smith Shelter. Here with me are Half Moon, Milo and Flamingo Joe. I have eaten supper and have all my gear ready for the night. Today has been hard physically, though I only had to go 10+ miles, because of the longer than planned day yesterday. I started just south of Low Gap and hiked to Cherry Gap Shelter for a rest break and to filter water. Took a break then moved on. None of the climbs today were really very high as far as total elevation gain, maybe 700 - 800 feet at most. But it was a day of humps. They just take the trail straight up the side, across the top, and then straight down the other side. This repeated all day long. The climbs are hard because of lack of strong lungs - shortness of breath - and the descents are hard on my feet. This is the second day, and I hope I "break in" soon. My pack is beginning to get lighter with all I've eaten. I have really enjoyed hiking in cooler weather. The underbrush is almost non-existent compared to the low growth and weeds crowding the trail in June. That is just what I wanted, and the forest is beautiful. Today was overcast all day and I must admit I did not miss the sunshine beating down. A perfect hiking day. It began to rain just as I left camp this morning - very light rain - and it rained for a couple of hours. I was thankful that the Lord held off the rain while I was breaking camp and packing everything up. Not much wildlife. I saw two deer go bounding off down hill as I spooked them, but not much else. No snakes so far either, and no bears. Really not that many birds either. It has been windy all day and very cool when I stopped as the wind would blow on my sweaty T-shirt. It's getting cold and we are sitting around talking. I will spend some time in the New Testament and maybe read some in Marilyn and Matt Heavilin's book "Grief Is A Family Affair". Feeling lazy so I may just hang out for awhile. Thought about Marlene today, wondering what she's doing. No cell phone service so I can't call in. Maybe tomorrow from Roan Mountain. Goodnight Sweetheart.
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Mountaineer Waterfall

To: Dennis Cove Road - Laurel Creek Lodge and Hostel
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

It is nearly 10:00 p.m. and I am at the Laurel Creek Lodge and Hostel. I have showered, done laundry and sorted through my mail drop box, ready to pack up for tomorrow. I will use the box to send home some unused gear to lighten my load. I am in the TV room watching a movie as I write, and participating in the chit-chat with a room full of hikers. As I came off the trail late this afternoon, John drove by in the hostel van and stopped to pick me up. Inside the van were Half Moon, Milo, Flamingo Joe and Diesel. They were on the way into Elizabethton TN to eat. Great timing! I had a T-bone steak, baked potato, salad, cold slaw, sweet tea and decaf coffee. It was great and made me feel satisfied. On the way back we stopped in Hampton TN at an outfitter for more denatured alcohol for my stove. Today I broke camp at Mountaineer Waterfall and was on the trail at 7:30. About an hour later I passed another campsite and Flamingo Joe and Milo were there. I had not seen them since early yesterday morning. They passed me on a break about an hour later. I hiked very strong this morning and made about 9+ miles by 12:30. I had lunch at Moreland Gap Shelter. It turned very cold while I was there and I had to bundle up to keep warm as I ate. Wanderer came in for a break. I left soon after, wearing my rain jacket and gloves. I almost always hike in a T-shirt, but it turned so cold I needed the extra warmth. From the shelter to White Rock Mountain I was seeing snow fluries and sleet. It didn't affect me or the hiking conditions, but it was interesting to watch. The descent down to Dennis Cove Road seemed very long, and it was more steep than I expected by looking at the elevation chart. It was perfect timing that as I walked off the trail at the road the hostel van was going by and came to a screeching halt to pick me up. I should be ready to leave after an early breakfast in the morning. The first climb tomorrow is supposed to be tough - that's what they say. I have gotten conflicting reports on that, so maybe someone is pulling my leg. I will spend a little more time tonight hanging out with the other hikers, then I will go to my cabin and read for a few minutes. I think I am getting stronger - I hope so at least. Once you get used to the effort it takes to hike its alot more enjoyable. Maybe I should not talk with anyone about how its going until at least after the first three or four days, because it takes that long to get confident and feeling up to the challenge. I thought about Marlene and the kids alot today. I miss her but am so glad she is so supportive of my hiking. Time to relax for awhile and then a good night's sleep. Goodnight Sweetheart.