morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-16
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Yesterday I was wary of those pesky Ides of March, so I lounged around Cloud 9 all day. Good thing too, there were thunderstorms including rain, thunder, lightning, and even hail. Great time to be indoors. We watched The Faculty, Hellboy, The Matrix because guys were in control of the TV. At the beginning it was just me, Walker, Brush Strokes, Leaping Turtle, Pops, Ruby Tuesday (whose knee had healed since I saw him last, but was nursing bad blisters), Kota. Shortly after 10:00 a white van drove up containing none other than Dances with Mice. It turns out he was in the area to do trail maintenence, but got rained out. Instead he decided to cook for some hikers.   He brought a 10 lb slab of pork that had been marinating in goodness for 3 days to put on the BBQ pit. We all started salivating, Walker and I gave each other air high fives. We ended up all going to Ingles and buying things (besides resupply) to have as a side for the pork.Later more drenched hikers came in--a group I've been seeing at shelters since I started. Avalanche, Wooly Mammoth, Rabbit Foot and some others. Another trail angel, an '05 thru-hiker Slickrock came by as well with books, wheat thins, easy cheese and ice cream. It was a great (though chaotic) time. And let me commend Dances with Mice here--he cooks SO good! He juggles too. It really is very entertaining.It was almost a sad morning because I had to leave what Crutch calls the "Whirling Vortex of Fun," but it was a beautiful hiking day. Sunny and cool for the most part. I hiked 13 miles today, my longest day yet. It was an accident. I meant to only hike 11 or 12 and cap at Addis Gap. When I got there I threw down my pack, got out my Platypus to get some water 1/2 mile down a trail. Coming up the water trail was a homeless person with a dog. I immediately turned around and retrieved my pack to go to Deep Gap Shelter 2 miles away. I definantly hauled some, looking over my shoulder so often.I finally got to the shelter and told some guys here what happened, and the "homeless" guy came up to the shelter. Turns out he's hiking. His name is Harvey and the sweet dog's name is Sable. He really does look homeless, though. He wears a t-shirt and jeans, and all his front teeth are missing. I really didn't feel bad about the mistake--you can't be too careful. I wouldn't have stayed if it was just the two of us at the shelter.I had some of the best company tonight that I've had on the trail, and I FINALLY met some female thru-hikers. At the shelter: Pips, Butters, Long Burn, Applicator (he picked up that part of a tampon, thinking it was chapstik and can't live the name down), Respect (like the Adam Sandler skit--these guys are a blast, they say they quote the goat skit all the time!), Vagabond, Jersey, Rocko, and another girl whose name I can't remember.I had an excellent time around the campfire with these people. It was full-blown hilarity. Ths was the first night I haven't been camped with the older guys. I am now dying to meet Grateful Greenpeace and Bronco after all these stories about them.
Date: 2008-03-17
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I told Oliver today that I was definitely turning this thru-hike into a section hike. I've enjoyed being on the AT, but I'm a homebody at heart and I know that a month or two out here is going to cure my thirst for a little adventure. I'm not sure how long a section I'll do, I suppose when it's time to go home I'll know. That said....Georgia likes to name things "knob". Today I hiked over, I kid you not, Little Bald Knob. I did not sign up for this hike so I could look at little knobs all day. Tomorrow I'm going over As Knob. I feel like that's definantly missing its second S. Yesterday I went over Young Lick Knob. Really, people. You need to be careful what you name these mountains. Ah, the double entendres.Tomorrow is also NORTH CAROLINA! This shelter is a mere 4.3 miles away from the state line. North Carolina doesn't like to name things "knob". They like to say "latrine" instead of "privy" too. This shelter does, anyway. I just thought it was the NC influence.Today was nice, cool and cloudy. The hiking was...repetetive. No great views, just more mountains shrouded by trees. I'm ready to see some greenery. Flowers and leaves. I've noticed the beginning of new growth on the trees, but no buds yet. I figured out a job the devil could make people perform in Hell--rake the leaves. All of them. Off the Appalachian Mountains! By the time you cleared a little section it would be fall again and you'd have to start over. It's an ingenious, insidious plot. This is the kind of crap I think about while I'm hiking. It's lovely.I bit the dust and twisted my ankle today. I was headed down a steep hill strewn with my old friends, the fallen leaves, which covered an unstable rock or root. I stepped, lost my balance, and my pack and gravity worked together to pull me down. That wa the first time my trekking poles failed me. They still have a good track record, considering how often I've gone off balance like that. The ankle feels okay now.My body's starting to get used to this labor. Last week my eleven mile day killed me. Yesterday after 13 I felt fine. Could've also been the good effects of that zero day. Next zero will be in Franklin, NC. I still haven't recieved my hiker appetite. Should I call and complain?I'm writing early this time. I'm here at the shelter with Pips and Butters. They're trying to catch up with the remnants of their group: Ruby Tuesday and Kota. Group hiking sounds nice, but I'm still all by my lonesome. I get to set my own pace and hours. Fair trade.
Date: 2008-03-21
From: Ron Haven's Budget Inn

To: Ron Haven's Budget Inn
Miles today: 0.0

This pen has been stolen from: Diver's Supply. Thanks, Ash!I woke up and had a breakfast of champions. Microwaved pizza and a Mr. Pibb. Then I had a lunch of champions, microwaved pizza and water.I spent HOURS today watching a marathon of America's Next Top Model. Hours. I feel like I'm wearing lip liner because my lips are so chapped that there's a red outline around them. I've also showered recently. It's amazing.I washed my clothes and resupplied. Had Chinese for supper with Pops, Brush Strokes and Leaping Turtle. It was good. After eating we all added "In Bed" to our fortunes. Tomorrow I'm back on the trail. I hope the weather holds up.
Date: 2008-03-22
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: clear sky

Left Franklin on the 9:00 shuttle. I gave Vick at the front desk my last Newcastle. On the shuttle over to Winding Stair Gap Ron Haven told us a great story (he's the BEST storyteller) about an 80 year old man inadvertently getting high on marijuana. I wish I could've stuck around longer and hear more Ron Haven stories!I didn't feel like hiking today at all, but it was only about four miles from the gap to the shelter. I got here at 12:38 PM. This shelter is nice, although a little far off the AT. To the side of it lies a grassy field with a couple of trees on it. After I ate lunch I laid my sleeping pad under the one of the trees in the sun and read my book, then napped. After about an hour Marko from Birmingham, AL got here. We played two games of Yahtzee (with my new dice I bought at Wal-Mart yesterday), and we each won one. I found some magnets here and I've been playing with them excessively all day. I think they make the dice lucky.Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Leaping Turtle showed up at the shelter around 4 (in his new "kilt" that he bought from the Dress Barn, might I add) with a snack bag full of Easter candy he means to distribute on the trail tomorrow. Also here are Blake, Pops, Brush Strokes.We had a great roaring fire tonight, and someone said, "we should've brought some marshmallows to roast." I said, "we could always roast some peeps." And we did. We got into Leaping Turtle's Easter stash, with the evil intent of sticking a sharpened stick up a peeps butt and sticking him in the fire. We all got tons of pictures of the roasting process. It was a EUREKA! moment. Peeps taste BETTER roasted. Leaping Turtle said it was like a creme brulee peep: the sugar is scorched on the outside and becomes hard, while the inside is soft and gooey.I let all the guys know that while we're out here I keep getting the "we're men, we're men in tights" song stuck in my head. All the men out here DO wear tights--long underwear--usually under shorts. We started talking about Monty Python and I said one of my favorites was the Lumberjack song: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day. I cut down trees, I skip and jump, I like to press wild flowers, I put on women's clothing, and hang around in bars!"This was amusing because after the fire died down a little Leaping Turtle went to get more wood. He was in a tree, in his skirt, trying to break off a dead branch. It was priceless, and highly reminiscent of the Lumberjack skit.
Date: 2008-03-23
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Burningtown Gap
Miles today: 10.5

Livin' large. The Siler Bald Shelter group minus Blake have all encountered a trail angel (from Kerrville, close to San Antonio!) named Apple. We all entered the dome after 5:00 as the temperature was rapidly dropping. He gave us soda, hot chocolate, hotdogs, microwave popcorn, cookies and a HEATED (with wood stove) place to spend the night!All day I'd been hiking with Pops. He witnessed me fall down twice. Apple was our THIRD trail magic of the day. The first was from Carol, a Franklinite, who was handing out coffee, powdered donuts, and honey buns. The second was at Wayah Bald as Pops and I were eating lunch. Just as I finished my SPAM and cheese on english muffin we were offered huge pieces of cheesecake by some Virginians out for the day. The view from Wayah Bald was gorgeous. It was my first bald (I didn't go up on Siler), I've got more to come.All in all, a great day. The temp is below freezing, and it's 70 degrees in here. Wow.
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Burningtown Gap

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

It was a big day. I woke up in utmost comfort at Casa de Manzana. We had heat all night, and in the morning I was surprised to see snow. Flurries, that is.All day it was pretty cold, I think the warmest it got was in the 40s. That temperature isn't bad for hiking, you still get hot. I hiked with the same crew from last night, several of us were in a line.I'm too tired to write pretty. Long story short, there was much talk of hamburgers and beer, talk which led us to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We had burgers, we had beer. We had blackberry cobbler.And now I'm on a bunk in the room I'm sharing with Pops, Brush Strokes, and Leaping Turtle. Marko and Bronco are here too, somewhere.
Date: 2008-03-25
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero at the NOC. Great day filled with people watching, book reading, Blue Moon drinking, clothes washing, Sprite meeting, hamburger eating, and duck feeding.The outfitter here sells the book "Deliverance". It's not exactly a great way to attract people to the area and get them interested in white water rafting, which is the NOC's main business. They also sell "Into Thin Air" but not "Into the Wild," which I've been wanting to read. Not that I'm close to finished with "Bless Me, Ultima."'Twas a sunny day.
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafrass Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: broken clouds

We ate breakfast for the last time at the River's End Cafe. I put peanut butter on my pancakes because Brush Strokes had a jar with him that he was going to donate to the hiker box. It afforded some strange glances.The NOC isn't the most hiker friendly place. They treat you like they're just putting up with you until their real business starts in the summer. The bunks don't come with sheets (except the rubber sheets that cover the mattress) or blankets or pillows. You have to rent your towel for $1. We had to do a lot of walking on our "zero" day. We kinda counted it as a nero because we had to walk on the AT about 200 yards to get from our bunk room to the river and restaurant.Yesterday Mary Poppins and Sauerkraut showed up--it turns out that Little Fox had to go home, which left his daughter with her friend for company. There was more singing, which I thankfully was able to easily escape. I met Sprite and Mosey. Sprite (the hiker formerly known as Mammoth) said she and Mosey hike about 3 or 4 miles a day. That sounds pretty nice. She enjoys the camping more than the hiking, and apparently they cook really good food. I can certainly understand that sentiment. I was excited to meet Sprite, we'd been corresponding loosely on trailjournals for a year.I also met Bayou, the hiker who eats condiment packets as meals. The moment I met him I said, "I almost saved my mayo packets for you!" He was a little offended. Turns out he's kinda sensitive about it, and later he gave Leaping Turtle, Brush Strokes and Pops a good talkin' to. They thought it was funny. What's funnier is that the next day at breakfast, I could have sworn I saw Bayou's hand dart into the condiment basket when he thought nobody was looking for some free butter, jelly or coffee creamer.Yesterday afternoon Pops bought a 6 pack of Blue Moon and Leaping Turtle used his prodigious charisma to wrest 2 oranges from the restaurant. We spent some time drinking the cold beer with orange slices down by the river while we ate slices of rat cheese (Pops taught me this--it's sharp cheddar) and summer sausage.I didn't call home because I never saw a payphone and I'm saving the rest of my cell batteries for an emergency.Today after breakfast we packed our stuff and started the long walk up the hill. It was a notorious climb out of the NOC, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the climb down. I flow downhill like cold molasses. Uphill is better--no knee pain. I just take lots of breaks.We had one good view today. The advantage of hiking with a group is that it's easier to get a picture of yourself with the view. There's also a lot more laughter. Pops and Brush Strokes are always laughing about what they label the "sadistic trail designer". We always sarcastically declare that we wish there was some more elevation. Pops calls the little uphill stints in a mostly downhill stretch "insults".Tonight I'm sleeping in the shelter. It's a double decker and it has windows.I am very content.
Date: 2008-03-29
From: Fontana Dam

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

"The eyes, pink-rimmed slits, blinked, peered, then blinked again. The ears stiffened, the tail lifted, and from out behind came a big arc of piss, a sturdy yellow stream that, for some reason, made him think of Coors beer."--Joseph Caldwell, from "The Pig Did It". Thank you, Liz. This is one of the more thought-provoking quotes from the book you sent me. It was great because Oliver calls Coors, Bud Light, etc "piss beer." Amazing.Another zero day. Seems like I get a lot of those--but I figure I need zero days to enjoy myself. Tomorrow I head into the Smokies, but I have to go slow (6 miles per day) because my parents are going to pick me up at Newfound Gap for another zero in Gatlinburg. I wasn't planning on stopping there at all, but seeing family (and possibly boyfriend) seems pretty nice.People were still talking about Ass Rammer Ridge today. It was that bad. The hill out of Stecoah Gap. Bad. The biggest insult is that the mountain went unnamed in my guidebook. It's North Carolina's dirty little secret. So today we were joking that somebody should place a sign that said "Ass Rammer Ridge" at the bottom of the hill. It would catch on, guaranteed.
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Leaping Turtle says I had the quote of the day when I said, "Damn these legs. I thought I came from peasant stock!"I think we all left Fontana Lodge with tears in our eyes. We sure ate good here.First day in the Smokies. The weather is not encouraging. It looked like rain all day, but never did. I'm convinced it will tonight. Hope I stay dry. The next couple of days there are supposed to be scattered showers and thunderstorms. It's not encouraging at all. The climb out of Fontana Dam could've been a lot worse than it was. So far the Smokies have been generous with switchbacks. I hope this continues as I attempt to hike 12 mile days and have my parents pick me up at Davenport Gap instead of Newfound Gap.It was a long walk to the shelter. Towards the end of it there were Brush Strokes, Blake, Leaping Turtle, me, and Pops all in a line trudging dutifully forward. I'm sure it looked like a death march--it looked like any one of use could've collapsed at any moment. I can say this with a chuckle now, while I'm laying in my hammock (shelter is FULL!), but I was pretty downtrodden earlier.Yep, the shelter is full. A LOT of us had to leave Fontana today because it was the last day for I don't know how long that the damn dam (we made a lot of these cheesy jokes) would be open for hikers to walk across. People leaving tomorrow will have to take a two mile detour, and it was already about 12.5 for us straight across from the AT reception area. Poor suckers!It is 9:00, and it as grown quiet. We're all pretty beat, it was a rough day.
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I have never been so thankful to have shelter space! And I was almost too late, but somebody gave up their space in favor of tenting and I felt I had squatter's rights. Brush Strokes was going to give up his space, but now it's for Leaping Turtle. Here's what happened last night.I got wet in the cloud mist. I set up my hammock so that the tarp caught all the wind (Mollies Ridge Shelter was crazy windy because some genius decided to build it on a ridge with no wind blocks...). The wind blew my tarp into such close contact with my hammock that I got a ton of condensation on the inside of the tarp, which effectively soaked that side of my DOWN underquilt. It was also extremely misty, and moisture condensed on my hammock's bugnet, which dripped down onto my DOWN sleeping bag.There was nothing I could do about it, I just had to accept that I would be a little wet. So I slept on and off until 3:00, when I woke up to find an ocean massing underneath my sleeping pad. After some deliberation I took my hammock down and set it up under the shelter's covered cooking area. There was still mist and rain blowing in on me, so I went back out and unhitched my tarp. I took the tarp and folded it in half, just to act as a wind break and laid down. Moisture was still coming in. I got up and fixed the tarp to go over the hammock as usual, and finally laid down for good. Everything was still wet, including my DOWN jacket which I'd been wearing as I did all the work. The new set up ended up taking about 45 minutes. The sleeping bag wasn't completely soaked, it was just a little damp, so it still insulated. I was warm enough, but miserable. So tired.In the morning I found out that the exact same thing happened to Leaping Turtle, who also has a Hennessy. We stayed behind at the shelter waiting for our stuff to dry out a bit.I left the shelter at 1 PM, so I could only do 6 miles today. Met Pips and Sauerkraut at the shelter. It turns out that Pips's parents are meeting her on Friday too, and she is also having to go super slow. I thought I would do big miles every day and get to Davenport Gap by Friday, but this 6 miles per day schedule forces me to aim for Newfound Gap. Pips, Sauerkraut and I may go into Gatlinburg on Thursday and share a room before we meet our parents the next day.The weather was still shitty all day, but I could see patches of blue sky occasionally. This evening the sky cleared more. I'm hoping for a nice day tomorrow.Big crowd at the shelter--many familiar faces and voices. This is pleasant.It was Windjammer's birthday, so Bearpaw took a honeybun, smothered it in blue sugary icing and stuck three candles into it. We all sang "Happy Birthday" and then Coma, Rambo and Poker took turns squirting blue goodness from the tube into their mouths, which induced a massive sugar rush in all three.
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Derricks Knob Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: few clouds

I slept like Comatose (the hiker formerly known as Walker) last night--like the dead. I fell asleep by 8:30.When I woke up at 4 AM the wind was blowing hard and you could hear the rain on the shelter roof. When I woke up at 7 AM it was wet and gray and misty. When I got to Rocky Top at 10:30 AM it was sunny and there were big white puffy clouds everywhere. Right now we keep hearing thunder and see the clouds blowing back in. The weather here is bipolar.The day was glorious. I was taken aback by the views on Rocky Top. I was expecting to see nothing but white and gray all day and was ecstatic to find the clouds parting as we climbed up hill. Rocky Top was...rocky. On top. It was named appropriately.It was a fun hike at first. From Rocky Top you could see hikers just leaving camp, walking across the near bald down below a mile back, and you could see hikers walking on the ridge ahead. Ridge walking is great if the weather is good. There were a lot of sweeping views today. I think I got about half a dozen pictures at different angles of the same cozy green valley.We took lots of breaks--when you only intend to do 6 miles you can afford to dally. I learned that the sound I'd been hearing for weeks is a grouse flapping his wings in an attempt to impress the ladies.When I got to the shelter there were hikers everywhere sprawled on the grass in the sun. It looked like parardise, actually. I would never have guessed that 2 hours later black clouds would be rolling across the sky belching thunder. Whodathunkit.Good crowd here. I love listening to the banter between Rambo, Comatose and Poker. Tonight I guess it'll be just Coma and Poker, as Rambo hiked on ater eating a hand-me-down Mountain House lasagna.If they could bottle the smell of sunlight on falling leaves I would buy it.
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Derricks Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

I'm so high right now. Over a mile, in fact.This morning I woke up to miraculously wonderful weather after last night's deluge. It looked like we were on an island in a bay--above the clouds. I couldn't be thankful enough that I was not beneath them.Today's hike was not too hard--there was enough ridge walking to convince me that ridge walking is my favorite fairweather pasttime. I love when I can't decide which way to look because the views on left and right are equally splendiferous. My second favorite pasttime is unexpectedly entering a spruce forest. Yay for green (ever, that is) trees. If they could bottle that scent...oh, wait. They do. Pine Sol. The trees have got it right, though--they scent with subtlety.I got to the shelter around 3:30 to find V8, Bananas, Auntie Mame, No Eye Deer, Ginken already here. Who arrived later? Robin, Inspector Clouseau, Blake, Pinecone, Wind Up, Wildflower, Cuatro and Malamute. It's one of the smallest crowds I've seen in the Smokies. You're not supposed to tent unless the shelter is full, but they do it anyway. Nobody's seen any authority figures. You aren't supposed to have any campfires during a burn ban, but we built one of those too. It was a collaboration between about 5 different people. The shelter isn't full at all.We're all hoping for good weather tomorrow when we go up Clingman's Dome, but no one's holding their breath. Like I said, the weather here is bipolar.My hiker hunger is coming in. I ate a lot today and was still hungry. I'm really looking forward to Gatlinburg. I hope there's IHOP.