morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-30
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Low Gap Campsite
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: clear sky

(Willie)Wow, was today a big day or what. Not only did we pass 300 miles, but we also had the strange idea to go for our first 20-mile day. The idea was to spread out further from the rapidly thinning group, but also to set ourselves up to get into Erwin for lunch in couple of days. That was the plan at least, but then again, nothing goes according to the plan now does it? We got up early, but started hiking late. We decided not to take our usual long break in the morning, we took two semi shorter ones. I wanted to get 11 miles in before lunch, we only made it 9. To top it off, the warm temps and the 3 miles climb up Frozen Knob was enough to push Erin¢s toes over the limit, which slowed us down to our slowest pace yet. When we got to the Hogback Spring Shelter to refill on water I was more than excited to find that the water source was about .3 miles downhill from the shelter! So my plan to leave the last shelter no later then 4:00 got blown away, as we strolled out at about 5:20. The next 2.5 miles to Sams Gap went by smoothly and luckily Erin got her groove back, because there were some tough climbs coming out of the other side of the gap. But we managed to get to the Low Gap campsite around 8:00 with light to spare. Then it was a mad dash to get the tent setup and the bear bag hung before it really got dark so that we could finally eat diner. Umm, garlic roasted potatoes with added cheddar cheese. It¢s about 10:15 now, and time for bed.Life Lesson: Just because you're squating behind a big tree, that doesn't mean you're blocked from all directions. Look both ways for trail placements before you pull down your pants!
Date: 2007-05-01
From: Low Gap Campsite

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: few clouds

ErinLast night was much better sleeping in the tent. We were not on a slope and we didn¢t put the tent fly on so we had a slight breeze. It was a great night up on the mountain! We got up around 7:00 and were hiking by 7:45am. We had a little more than 6 miles to get to Erwin, TN and then the Pizza Hut buffet. We caught a few good views of the town and the river and I think we heard a dozen trains roll thru town while hiking. We got to the road by about 10:30 and walked across the 43rd bridge of our hike. (Oh by the way, I have been counting the bridges we have crossed since Georgia). Across the bridge was a car with G-Force and One Day heading out to the trail. The guy that had dropped them off offered to take us back to Miss Janet¢s hostel¢¦and of course we took him up on that offer.When we arrived at Miss Janet¢s I could tell it was a hiker house. In the front yard there were hiking boots used as flowerpots, and 3 or 4 hikers sitting on the porch. We first hit the post office and picked up a package from Will¢s mom (thanks!) and then it was over to Pizza Hut to eat ourselves silly!! While eating we saw Big Daddy, I-pod, Sylvan and Blue dog. By the end of the meal I think I drank more then I ate, I seem to always be more thirsty when I get to town than hungry¢¦even though while hiking I drink over 2 liters of water. Now we are sitting here in our rain gear (the only thing left to wear) in the laundromat waiting for our clothes to get clean. We decided to stay at a Super 8 Motel to have our own room, phone, shower and toilet. We should be moving on tomorrow and hope to meet up with my parents in a little over a week!!
Date: 2007-05-03
From: Nolichucky River (Erwin,TN)

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: scattered clouds

(Willie)Well, today we did something that not a lot of hikers seem to be able to do. We walked out of Erwin the day after we got there. Erwin seems to have a knack for sucking hikers in for a couple of days, but we were able to fight the town¢s powers. We weren¢t able to stay away for long (I¢ll get to that in a little bit), but at least we were able to leave.This morning, we got up and loafed around in the hotel room for a while trying to figure out how to fit all the food that we had into our packs. I knew we should have taken a second look at what my parents sent us before we went shopping. Oh well, food never goes uneaten when you're on the trail, so seeing that we found a way to put it in our packs, it will find a way to get into our stomachs.When we were finally ready to go, we paid $5.00 for the free shuttle back to the trail head. Apparently, the free shuttle was only at 7:00 but you have to pay for the one at 9:30. As we started to climb out of town I noticed that my legs were acting a little sluggish. Maybe I shouldn¢t have stayed up until 1:30 to watch the Red Wings game on TV, but I guess I¢ll manage. Despite what both the hotel guy and the PO lady said, it started to sprinkle on us before we made it to the first shelter for break. I thought we were in the clear when it stopped and the sun came back out, but I guess not. A little after break we started to hear the familiar sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. It became clear quickly that we were in for our first real storm of the trip.As we passed through Indian Grave Gap the thunder turned into a full fledged storm. We couldn¢t even get the ¢1-1 thousand¢ in between the thunder and the lightning. We found Sven and Uff-da hiding in the rhododendron bushes when the hail started and thought that that might be a good idea. When the hail went from pea size to grape size we all decided that this was crazy so we decided to go back to the road and if someone was willing to pick up 5 wet hikers (Sylvan decided to join our train as well) then we¢d hitch into town. Within about 15 minutes a lost semi came up the road and said that if we could get him to a major road he would take us anywhere. So now we¢re all dried out and back in Erwin for the night ready to watch some more hockey.Life Lesson: Too many to choose from. Pick your own and go with it.
Date: 2007-05-04
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: light rain

(Erin) We woke up in a hotel again today¢¦we had planned on getting a ride to the trailhead by Miss Janet (a hostel owner in Erwin, TN) at 10:00 but when we got down to the hotel lobby we were not the only ones waiting for a ride from Miss Janet. We called Miss Janet and we weren¢t going to get a ride until 12:30 so we decided to try using our thumb to get us there. So Willie, Sven, Uff-da and Sylvan all started walking up the road with thumbs out hoping for a ride. It took a while but finally someone stopped and we all hopped in the back of a pick-up truck and we were driven to the trailhead. The forecast for the day called for more rain so we wanted to get to at least the first shelter before the rain hit. We made it just in time for the thunder to start rolling in while we were walking up to the shelter. I think today is the earliest that we have ever gotten to a shelter; we didn¢t have much to do but eat and watch the fire burn. Tonight the shelter has August, Sven, Uff-da, Gingersnap, Orange Moon, Lucky, Robo, Willie Goat and me. People have been playing cards, and chess and mostly eating to kill time before we all go to sleep.
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

(Willie)We managed to luck out yesterday by getting to the shelter just before the rain hit, but no such luck today. I guess that when you¢re packed in the clouds all day long, you¢re bound to get a little wet. Yeah, not much by way of views today. If you happened to be within 15 feet of one maybe, but other than that, forget about it. We definitely had to be careful today. The wet leaves and mud were just begging for a repeat performance of my last trip through here. Last time, I fell 3 times coming through this stretch, but some how we both managed to stay on our feet this time. With no views and an on and off drizzle we just kept plodding along the first 8.8 miles to the next shelter where we stopped for a lunch break. Once we started to shiver, it was time to start moving again. Never fear, the big climb up Roan High Bluff was just ahead, and that was sure to warm us up in a hurry. Other then dragging on for far longer than expected the climb up our last 6000¢ mountain until we get to New Hampshire went pretty well. With the rocks and pine tree smell, I could have closed my eyes and believed that I was back in the Adirondacks where I grew up hiking. About half way up the mountain, we even started to hike up out of the clouds and started to dry out a bit. When we got to the shelter we were surprised to find that it was an old ranger¢s hut that with the loft sleeps about 15 people. We also found out that we had missed some pretty nice trail magic on top of the mountain, but luckily Radar and Usual Suspect were nice enough to bring a couple bags of hot dogs and hamburgers up to the shelter. Nothing like eating some burgers while trying to start a fire with nothing but wet wood.
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Apple House Shelter
Miles today: 14.7

(Erin) Today we set out at 7:50am with our rain coats on. We were rained on while we walked down Roan Mountain, but then it pretty much stopped once we were out of the woods. We stopped at the bottom in a parking lot to use the bathrooms and fill our water bottles. The clouds were moving really fast so at one point we were packed in the fog and then the next second it would be completely clear and then the fog would roll back in again. We did make it to Round Bald with a view which was really nice for a change. We could see for miles and miles all of the mountains we still had yet to walk over. We kept walking and when we got to Jane Bald we couldn't see anything again with all the fog. By the time we made it to the first shelter the clouds and rain were gone. It turned out to be a nice day after all. In the afternoon we hiked up Little Hump Mtn. and Hump Mtn. We took a good hour break with Sven and Uff-da on top of Hump. We only had a 5 mile down hill to get to the next and final shelter. When we started hiking the down hill went by pretty quickly, we walked thru the trees and down past a stream that took us to the shelter. The only people at the shelter were Sven and Uff-da, everyone else from the night before had either pushed onto the next shelter or the hostel so we had the shelter all to ourselves. Just now while I was trying to write in my journal we had a moth dive bomb us and attack us with its red eyes. Sorry to say, but I just killed the moth. I had to kill it or I think it would have attacked us all night¢¦night folks
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Apple House Shelter

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: clear sky

(Willie)Just about the most exciting part about today was that we finally had a day with no rain. I guess I can¢t be too greedy, 4 days of rain in a month really aren¢t that bad, but it¢s easy to complain about the weather so why not. So of course, I still need to find something weather related to complain about. Today it was the chilly start that wasn¢t too pleasant. This is May right? Should I really be wearing a hat and gloves and be able to see my breath in the morning? I didn¢t think so either, so I didn¢t complain one bit when it warmed up once the sun came out. After that it was another beautiful day for hiking.As far as the hiking went, there wasn¢t too much to get excited about on the trail today. We pretty much just wondered aimlessly through the woods for 18 miles, hopelessly at the mercy of the person who laid out the trail. We had to go off the trail for any excitement today. First we found a .1 mile side trail to the Jones Falls. They were by far the best waterfalls we¢ve seen yet and well worth the .2 mile detour. The top section had a large drop off and it was followed by some really nice cascades. Prefect spot for a snack break and for a rinse if you ask me. For lunch we stopped at the Mountaineer Shelter, which was built last July and is probably the newest shelter on the trail. With the 2 person third floor penthouse suite the shelter can probably sleep 16 comfortably. Man, that would have been a nice spot to stay the night, but we had to settle for an hour long lunch break in stead. The next shelter 9 miles further up the trail would be our home for the night. Along the way we even passed the 400 mile marker. Only 17 plus centuries to go!Life Lesson: Check the fire pit location and wind direction before hanging your stuff out to dry. My shirt was right in the smoke path for most of the night and pretty much made my eyes water the next morning when I put it on.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Pond Flats Campsite
Miles today: 11.8

(Erin) Today was a bit different than normal. We woke up at the shelter with only 6 miles to get to Kincora Hostel. We left at 7:45am and made it to the road by 10:15, we were booking it down the mountain. At the hostel the next shuttle into town wasn¢t till 2:00 so we had a while to wait. So what would any hungry hiker do??? Order pizza of course!! So everyone that was at the hostel put in an order to Pizza Plus. The pizza was delivered by a guy with an orange Mohawk and huge holes in his ears. He informed us that he would bring us cigarettes and beer if we needed it. Anyway¢¦ we ate the food and then around 2:00 we were taken into town. There were 9 people in the bed of a covered pick up truck and 6 in the cab plus one more for the driver. So with 16 in the truck, we went down 17 switch backs. I¢m sure Ryan would have puked 3 times before getting to town, fun times!! We left the hostel by 6:00 and had a heck of a climb to get over before bed time. The first part was nice walking along side a river, over 2 more bridges and then the uphill! Wow, I think that if the trail was trying to get us to either quit or have a heart attack it was on the climb today! I was just glad that we were doing it at 8:30pm and not in the middle of a hot, hot day. My calves were on fire, I was licking the sweat around my lips and I was sucking a lot of air to get up that hill. I¢m sure I couldn¢t have done that climb a month ago with out a good sit down, take my pack off break in the middle. But now I guess I¢m in much better shape, even though it still kicked my butt. Tomorrow is a down hill day to the lake for some swimming and then another monster up hill to hike along the ridge.
Date: 2007-05-09
From: Pond Flats Campsite

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: broken clouds

(Willie)I think that I¢m just going to stop saying that today was a little different. For some reason, they all seem to be a little different lately. Today started off with a nice easy walk down Pond Mountain to the Watagua Lake. Thank God for public beaches, the bathrooms came in really handy seeing that the stretch from Erwin to Damascus doesn¢t have any privies. After using the facilities we were treated to some trail magic. Jellybean (class of 06) and her friend were by the lake with candy, fruit, and hot dogs. Not the most nutritious breakfast, but it went down all the same. From there we moved about a mile down the lake shore where Sven and I went to test the water. It was a little chilly but the dip was more then refreshing.By that time it was about 12:00 and we were finally ready to start hiking. Not bad, 4 miles in 4 hours, now that¢s a rough pace. From there the actually hike was pretty challenging. After going across the Watagua Dam we started the climbs that I had hoped not to do during the heat of the day. Oh well, better luck next time, hot sunny afternoon it was. The climbs were long and pretty steep with plenty of MUDs to go around, but not nearly as bad as yesterdays climb. We got to the Vandeventer Shelter and took about an hour break before going the last 6.8 miles to the next shelter. We seem to be making a habit of rolling in to the shelter around 8:30. Maybe we just plan it that way so that Radar has time to make a nice fire for us to cook on.Tick Count: 1
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Abington Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: few clouds

(Erin)   Today we left a little later then usual¢¦8:55am. The trail wandered through the woods for the most part and then went through a cow pasture. Too bad there weren¢t any cows in the pasture; it was pretty with all of the wild flowers everywhere. It wasn¢t a very hard day, and we had lunch with Sven and Uff-da at Double Spring Shelter (which actually had 2 springs). Then we had another 8.3miles to get to the next shelter. Again the trail wasn¢t too hard and we wandered up and down hills till we reached the Abingdon Shelter. We actually got to camp in the day light with enough time to spare and hang out before going to bed. I hope to sleep well tonight, I¢m excited to see my parents tomorrow in Damascus, VA. I¢m not sure how it will work out since the last time I talked to them was when we were at the hostel 3 days ago. We are planning on taking a zero day with them, so I¢m excited about that¢¦its been over 3 weeks since we took a day off. I don¢t want to get too burned out on hiking before we even get through Virginia!!
Date: 2007-05-12
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

(Erin) Well today was the start of our third zero day so far, wow did I need it. I can¢t believe I have come from Fontana Dam with out taking a complete day off from hiking. It is also the first parents visit so far and they got to see how we really smell and look after over 460 miles of hiking.   My dad rented a house up on White Top Mountain about 17 miles from town called the Enchanted Lodge. It was so nice to stay in a cozy house and not a hotel again. We were able to cook food and do laundry just like we were at home. We had told them that we didn¢t want to do a ton of walking around¢¦good thing there was a carnival going on in town so of course we were going to check that out. It was also town-wide yard sale day in Damascus so my Aunt Cheri and mom were in heaven. We walked around town until we couldn¢t stand it anymore and then went to the store to buy steaks and potatoes for dinner. It was sure nice to get a home-made meal instead of going out to eat. Back at the Lodge we had a lazy day, Will and I took naps and then we waited for dinner to be ready. I don¢t think we stopped eating the whole time my parents were with us¢¦ Anyway, so after dinner we got in the hot tub to relax a bit and then went to bed soon after. It was so nice to get to see my parents and Aunt, I can¢t wait for the next time we get to see family again. Thanks again for coming and pampering us for a weekend, hopefully we can do it again soon!!
Date: 2007-05-13
From: Damascus, VA

To: Campsite - Pond
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

(Willie)All, good things come to an end I guess, and today we saw the end of our first family visit on the trail. Erin and I seemed in no hurry to get ready and to say goodbye, so we weren¢t ready to roll out the door until 10:45. The hardest thing was packing our food bags. Between what Erin¢s parents brought us and what we got in the mail (from both them and my parents) we had so much food. It was great to have so many options, but it was hard to put things in the ¢we won¢t take this¢ pile. I just wish we could have carried more. When we were finally ready it was back to Damascus to go the outfitter for a new filter, socks, and alcohol before heading to ¢The Place¢ for our last lunch. Mrs. Jones made us some great chicken salad sandwiches, which went down with little to no effort. After lunch, just like that it was time for our visit to come to an end and our lives on the trail to continue. Goodbyes are always tough, but they seem even tougher when you don¢t know what lays ahead. We just have to run up Virginia to get closer to home for some more visits.When we started to move our feet towards Maine again it was about 1:00. The first stretch of trail was pretty unremarkable. It¢s amazing though how much your feet complain after getting a brake. (Get used to it feet, you¢re not going to be done for a long time.) We eventually got to VA¢s first climb, Straight Mtn. The trail up Straight was anything but straight, with 21 switchbacks to get us up 700¢ in 1.5 miles. Just to give a comparison, last week we climbed up 700 feet to the top of Hump Mtn, in 1 mile, with no switchbacks. Yeah, this stroll was a little different and it seemed to go on forever!We stopped in for dinner at the Saunders Shelter before moving on another 2.5 miles to set up our tent next to a nice slimmy little pound with some pretty noisey inhabitants. We had just enough light left to eat a snack and hang our bear bag before it was time to slip into our new summer sleeping bags. (Yeah, we switched to our warm weather gear so it¢s bound to get cold soon.) Ah, the sounds of the great outdoors. Now where are my ear plugs so that I can get some sleep!
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Campsite - Pond

To: Campsite -past Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

(Erin) Today we set out by 8:30am with a bit of a chill in the air. Within a half mile we met some trail maintainers that had just put the finishing touches on some steps and a bridge they had been working on all week. They all came out of the woods just as we were walking by and wanted to watch us walking across the bridge. We were the first ones to cross and wanted to hear the Ooo¢s and Ahhhh¢s as we walk. We thanked them for all the work they do on the trail and kept on hiking. We went another 4 miles and got to the next shelter by 11:00 for our first break and to use the privy. I had a little Debbie brownie and Will had a nutty bar and we also pumped some water. The privy was a bit different; when I walked in above the seat it said ¢Lorax Loo¢. Someone had written the Dr. Suess story of the Lorax on the walls of the privy so I had something to read while I sat. In the register we noticed that Sven and Uff-da were trying to make it to Wise shelter and if we were going to catch up we would have to do a 21 mile day. (we¢ll see if that happens). We kept hiking and soon got to the top of White Top Mountain (the town we stayed in with my parents). Then it was onto Mount Rogers (tallest point in VA). This is one part of the trail that I had done before so I thought I would recognize some of it, but we were hiking in from a different direction. By the time we made it to Thomas Knob things were starting to look familiar. We stopped at the shelter and had dinner with the gang (Orange Moon, Gingersnap, Lucky, Sylvan, Bludog, and Sven came back to get something he left behind.) We stayed and ate the mountain house dinners my mom had gotten us. Yum were they good after a 17 mile day. I had the lasagna with meat sauce and Will had the teriyaki chicken with rice. We ended up switching half way and liked each others better. After eating we walked 15 more minutes to where Sven and Uff-da had set up their tent and tented next to them. We started up the fire again and tried the Harry Potter jelly beans that we had picked up in town. Flavors such as; rotten egg, bacon, booger, vomit, sardine and grass to name a few. I was too chicken to try the nasty ones but they had no problem and grossed themselves out while standing around the fire. Tomorrow we go thru Grayson Highlands and hopefully we get to see some ponies!!