morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-19
From: Allen Gap

To: Tanyard Gap
Miles today: 8.8

I believe I said something recently about not hiking in my share of rain so far. Today made up for it. Jeremy and Uncle Bob and I got on the trail at Allen Gap about 10:00 a.m., though it looked as dark as night. It immediately began T&Ling, close and frequent, and within a few minutes it was raining hard, we were soaked, and then it started hailing as well. Funny pieces of hail ¢ made me think of contact lenses. The hail was disk-shaped, convex on both sides, a little smaller than dime-sized. The trail, of course, turned to a stream, our feet soon were as wet as the rest of us, and we slogged on. After 12 hour or so the T&L let up, then later the rain gradually let up, and by the time we arrived at Spring Mt. Shelter at noon, the rain had quit, but everything was drippy and very damp. We put on some dry clothes and I scolded Johnny K, Fred, and Bugler for still being in their sleeping bags! Ate lunch and headed on toward Tanyard Gap, about 5.2 miles south. Soon after leaving the shelter the clouds broke up, the sun came out, and it warmed up immediately. Beautiful, bird-singing afternoon!
Date: 2006-04-20
From: Devil Fork Gap

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 8.4

Zero day of running errands, getting hair cut, and trying to find better leg gaitors. It seems OR¢s new soft gaitors only come in small/medium and large/extra large and I am somewhere in-between. I got the larger size and am taking a tuck in them so they fit my leg. The small ones involved a real struggle to get fastened around my boot.I am entering the data for the section from Devil Fork Gap to Sam¢s Gap done with Jeremy on 3/9/06.
Date: 2006-04-21
From: Spivey Gap

To: Nolichucky River, Erwin
Miles today: 11.2

Actually a zero day, but plugging in the data for Spivey Gap to Nolichucky River, done 2/26/06 with Jeremy. We had much nicer weather then than we are having today! Rain and T&L so far today and it is not quite 8 a.m. I will spend today cleaning and repacking my gear, cleaning house, and will get to visit with 2 of our children this evening.
Date: 2006-04-23
From: Devil Fork Gap

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Jeremy and I got on the trail at 9:00 on a beautiful morning, hiking south from Devil Fork Gap. We met many northbounders early in the day. I said something to Jeremy about keeping his eyes open for snakes as some hikers had seen a large copperhead on this section last week. About 5 minutes later, he says "There's a snake!" I looked on the ground in front of him and couldn't see any snake. "Where?" "On the tree." I looked on the large tree at the edge of the trail and all I could see was a large vine of some kind. Then I looked again and realized that was too black and shiny to be a vine. It was a monster black snake, head down, the rest of it stretched at least 6 feet up the tree. It seemed to be prepared to spend the rest of the morning there, so I took several pictures. We then got up our nerve to go past, meaning we would go only about 12 inches from it. We headed closer and he flicked his tongue our direction and started slowly moving on down the tree. We backed up to let him come down and cross the trail. As he pulled his tail end into sight, I decided he must have been 7 feet long. More pictures. Couldn't get all of him in the picture at once from up close, but you can get the idea. This was just north of Flint Mt. Shelter.After a short break at the shelter, we headed on. We climbed about 1 1/2 miles, passed the Shelton graves, and about a mile or so beyond, we stopped in a pretty meadow area for lunch. Jeremy had scrambled burned pancakes and I had peanutbutter/honey on tortillas. We were really watching the sky as it looked semi-threatening. No rain though. We hiked on and got to Jerry Cabin Shelter around 2:30 with lots of time to set up our tents, talk to other hikers, filter water, and journal. Jeremy accepted the trail name of Burned Pancake.
Date: 2006-04-24
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: few clouds

It rained on us during the night, but I slept quite well in my tent. Just as I was talking myself into beginning to pack up about 6:15, it started in with another shower. This didn't last long and soon I was stuffing my sleeping bag and squishing the air out of my Therma-rest pad - the beginnings of a new day on the trail. Burned Pancake and I headed out about 8:20 with cloudy skies, and by the time we got to the "exposed rocky ridge" section of trail south of Jerry Cabin, the clouds were breaking up and we had beautiful weather the rest of the day. We safely navigated the rocky ups and downs, meeting several "new" northbounders. Stopped at Little Laurel Shelter for lunch, then on DOWN the last 5 miles to Allen Gap. Tired knees, but not bad. Head out early in the a.m. to hike north out of Erwin.
Date: 2006-04-25
From: Nolichucky River, Erwin

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

On the trail northbound again! Got out early so DH could get to work in Asheville. It was 6:15 and cloudy, so pretty dark as I was navigating the muddy spots and slick logs before crossing the railroad tracks. Soon I was walking past the spot by NOC where our Nissan Pathfinder was stolen 10/04 by southbound hiker "Saved". Then I came to the creek crossing with no bridge that I have always before been able to rock-hop across. Not today; the water was too high to get across without soaking my boots, so I decided to practice for Maine fordings. Off with the pack, off with the boots, on with the crocs, on with the pack, knot boot laces together and toss around neck, grab poles and ford; then reverse the process to get boots back on. I knew there was another place I would have to do it again unless I wanted to do a long slippery log bridge with no railing or wire to hang onto. Then there were several blowdowns to navigate over, under, and around. So it was a rather slow start to ! the day.Thin Mint and Low Gear were at Curley Maple Gap Shelter taking their time about starting their day. Comfortably Numb passed me earlier. I saw no other hikers until just before I got to the shelter for the evening.I enjoyed the varied type of scenery in today's hike. There were rhodadendron tunnels, meadows, deep evergreen forest, and lots of wildflowers. There were ups, downs, and even some level ground to hike! It rained for about an hour, then sun, thunder, and finally a heavy, windy downpour. Shortly before Indian Grave Gap there were lots of wet, slippery roots and rocks to traverse. It was raining and I had my wide-brimmed hat on, looking down to pick my steps carefully when - bang! I nearly knocked the teeth out of my head crashing into a partially down tree about head level. But I haven't fallen yet!For wildlife, it was rather tame today-1 toad, 1 bright orange newt, and many snails. I had lunch at Beauty Spot and was keeping an eye on the dark clouds, but they all seemed to be blowing by to the south. Lots of rumblings to the south as I climbed Unaka Mt., but no rain. Then about 30 minutes after I got to the shelter, it started with heavy rain and wind, which lasted nearly an hour. I am glad to be in the shelter tonight! Also here are Comfortably Numb. Thin Mint, Low Gear, Mapman and Robin.
Date: 2006-04-26
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 6.9

Slept very well in the shelter, so well in fact, that I did not hear my watch alarm going off at 1:00 a.m. Robin asked me in the morning if I knew my alarm was set for 1:00. It has never gone off before; I got it turned off, but have no idea how it got on. I did have a young friend exploring the different functions a couple days ago...This morning before we could even finish eating breakfast, it began pouring. By 8:45 it stopped and several of us started out. Within 20 minutes it started again, light at first, then gradually harder. I was thouroughly drenched by the time it quit around midday. I also met Bluebird, another lady hiker who started near the time I did, but we had never run into each other yet. She was slackpacking 20 miles south into Erwin today.There were plenty of relatively small steep ups and downs today. My goal was Greasy Creek Gap (don't you love that name?). Friends Joe and Leola had invited me to spend the night at their home and I was to call from the hostel, Greasy Creek Friendly, for them to come pick me up. Arrived at the gap and there were nice little cards tacked to a tree with info for the hostel and a little map with directions as the hostel is about 0.6 miles down an unused logging road with a couple of turns involved. Connie greeted me from the yard and is a very nice lady! Soon I was riding home with my friends. Leola suggested she could pick me up tomorrow at Carver's Gap and take me out again Friday morning for another section. I weakly protested that that would be too much running around for them, but she prevailed. I then began thinking about how wonderful it would be to do Roan Mountain with only a light pack - wonderful! It was so nice to get a hot shower after being wet all day, do laundry, visit with my friends, and have a comfy, dry bed! Good night.
Date: 2006-04-27
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Carver's Gap
Miles today: 9.8

Roan Mountain has been climbed - by Transcriber! It was a gorgeous day starting with drippy trees and fog, then cleared by late morning to clear blue skies with great views from Little Rock Knob (nothing little about it) and Roan Mt. I took more pictures today than any other day so far. Everything just seemed picture-worthy, from the fog to the sun shining through the thick forest of evergreens to the beautiful vistas. I had a snack by a stream about a mile before Hughes Gap,then started the long climb up Roan where I had the whole Roan High Bluff area to myself. I did not see another person all day until the last 1 1/2 miles of the hike. I came out to the road at Carver's Gap at the precise moment that Leola drove up - perfect! Had a delicious supper and some visiting time and now this tired hiker is going to bed.
Date: 2006-04-28
From: Carver's Gap

To: US 19-E
Miles today: 13.7

Beautiful morning right from the start. No fog today. I headed up the balds north of Carver's Gap about 8:20 and was doing great until I began to wonder about the missing white blazes and the fact that I seemed to be heading over to the wrong side of the last bald. I had to backtrack to blazes and found that I had missed a sharp left turn and had just blissfully followed the well-traveled trail. Cost me about 30 minutes. At Stan Murray Shelter Expo and Recess were getting breakfast about 10:45. Red Truck and Piper passed through. I didn't go into Overmountain shelter, but took some pictures of it from the mountain beyond. The Hump Mountains are huge and the air was clear and gave great views with fluffy white clouds around. Took many pictures again today. I saw a bird's nest with 4 eggs when coming through the woods after Little Hump Mt. A group of about 20 section hikers came by while I was eating lunch on Hump Mt. I saw no long-horned cattle up there; kind of relieved, but I would have liked a picture from a distance!From there it was 5 miles of downhill with lots of long boulder fields to cross through. There were several hikers staying at the Apple House Shelter, 0.3 miles before 19E. I went on to the road and my friend arrived within 5 minutes. Great hiking day, tired feet and legs!
Date: 2006-04-30
From: US 19-E

To: Moreland Gap shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Big miles today! Must be all the good food the past few days - thanks Leola and Joe! I was a little nervous starting out today as the first few miles north from 19E have a reputation of some locals wanting to harass hikers. I was hoping to find other hikers around this morning, but saw no one until I was nearly past "the area". The trail here was exceptionally well-marked and my passage through the area was uneventful- just what I was hoping for. It sprinkled for a couple of hours, then was partly sunny in the afternoon. Jones Falls were spectacular, well worth the short side trip in there. There were some good ups and downs in the morning, then some quite easy terrain for the afternoon - its about time!I met Rabbit, who I had heard was hiking with Rusch Hour, the first hiker I met on the approach trail. Rabbit said Rusch Hour was coming along behind him; they were doing a 25-mile slack pack. And after a while when I had just stopped for lunch break, RH came along and we had a nice visit, catching up on our hikes since the first week.The shelter here is made for 6 and has 7 sleeping there, plus about 3 tenters. Sounds like most of them are planning on Kincora Hostel tomorrow which may mean no space by the time I get there. I have a drop box to pick up with my supplies to get me to Damascus. It will be a short day of about 6 miles.About 5:30, I passed the 400 mile mark - imagine that!!!Happy birthday Andy! How does it feel to be two?
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Moreland Gap shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 6.1

Beautiful morning, weather-wise. I was the last to leave the shelter, although I seemed to be one of the first to wake and start packing. As usual. I guess a lot of hikers don't bother with breakfast; and since they are in the shelter they have no tent to take down. They just stuff their bags and go. I need to have breakfast, brush, pack all my stuff, get boots and gaitors on; it always seems to take me about 1 1/2 hours.My knees are really having a hard time on the downhills, and I have a very sore toe. I think it is going to be a hard week. It was nice to have a short day after yesterday. I got here (Kincora) about 12:30 and there was still a couple of spaces! Hooray-I plan to get shuttled about 9 miles up the trail in the morning and slackpack southbound back here for another night. Then the next day, I'll get shuttled back up the 9 miles and start north from there. That way I will only have to carry 3 days of food as I head for Damascus instead of 4. Hikers have this certain way of thinking - "How can I carry less?"This hostel is really great. There are lots of people here. Several are planning to leave tonight at 2 a.m. and go all 50 miles to Damascus in 1 day - definitely not me! There are bunks for abot 18, plus some tent space out back, 3 bathrooms (such luxury!), 1 shower, 1 washer and dryer, and 1 phone. The owners suggest a $4.00 donation. I will certainly give more than that and I hope all hikers do. They also provide a free daily shuttle to town for resupply. I have all I want to carry from my drop box! There is also a living area, kitchen, and nice porch with a large picnic table.Well, time to finish this up and write some e-mails to send. Happy Birthday Jamie!
Date: 2006-05-02
From: US 321

To: Kincora, Dennis Cove Road
Miles today: 8.9

Short, interesting day with lots of variety. The weather was great in spite of rainy forecast. I started with a 3-mile nicely switchbacked climb of 1700 feet up to Pond Flats, then a 2-mile down, some of which was very steep with small loose rock which makes it easy to fall-but I didn't! Then some nice strolling through the rhododendron by Laurel Creek. All too soon the "stroll" ended and the climb up and down rocky cliffs along the river began, some of it quite interesting. The Laurel Falls were great, then the climb up out of the gorge with quite some distance of large rock steps - how do they do that? I saw my first blooming lavender rhododendron today. Also some trees cut down by beaver. Since today is the last day of my daughter's first year at Southern Adventist University, I thought I would give myself a "report card".Head: A (yesterday a C, but overall an A)Shoulders and Back: AHeart and Lungs: AKnees: C+ (they promise to try to do better)Right foot: A (being a real trooper)Left foot: D (definitely my problem child, but hoping to bring that up to a passing grade soon.) I won't go into all the details (privacy issues, you know), but this foot has 3 different issues, one of which is an extremely sore infected great toe. DH is being a hero and bringing my antibiotics up here to the hostel that I had ahead of time for this issue as I have a tendency toward this. Like a fool, I thought having the meds in the drop box would do-should have been carrying them as this cropped up very quickly.I am looking forward to seeing DH and also to whatever he brings for supper. Hope he can find his way here as it is a rather "out of the way" place.
Date: 2006-05-03
From: US 321

To: Iron Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 15.4

What a beautiful hike today! We started out at Watauga Lake area and hiked around the edge of the lake, then after going across the dam, we started a serious climb, all the while looking down on the lake to our right. The sky had those fluffy white clouds, there was a comfortable breeze, and the photo ops were many. Once we acquired the necessary elevation gain, the trail leveled out somewhat. We had good views of the lake for miles, then looked down on very green farmland. The trail was lined with lots of green grass and in some areas poison ivy.There are several hikers in the shelter and 6 tents set up. We had a discussion about the deplorable lack of privies in the NC/TN portion of trail. (I apologized on behalf of my homestate.) One more night in TN, and we enter VA, which, according to the handbook, will provide us with the blessing of privies!
Date: 2006-05-04
From: Iron Mt. Shelter

To: Abington Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

It seemed to me like I was doing a gradual climb all day, but the elevation profile assures me I actually lost about 300 feet in elevation. It was quite a warm day and was threatening thunder storms by the time I arrived here about 4:45. So far it has not rained though. Everyone here is quite eager to arrive in Damascus tomorrow (10 miles); some are planning to get up at 4:30 for an early departure. I guess they want a town breakfast. I will be happy to arrive in time for a town lunch - let's see...either pizza or Mexican (Baja Cafe), and maybe some ice cream for dessert! I was able to get cell phone reception and reserve a room at a B&B for the weekend, as DH and daughter are coming to visit.Trail magic today! Towards the end of the morning I met One Day, slackpacking south. We exchanged greetings and he said "Would you like a KitKat (candybar)?" "Well, sure - are you handing out KitKats?" He said while he was slackpacking he wanted to provide trail magic for his fellow hikers. Nice! Then this evening a hiker arrived at the shelter for the night and said "Anyone want an orange? Someone gave me 7 of them." Well, I was glad to lighten his load by the weight of one orange. It was good, too!Damascus is 1/5 of the way up the trail - awesome! A young hiker paused here for a few minutes to sign the register, then limped on. He is doing the 50-mile challenge from Kincora to Damascus in 1 day, only 10 miles to go! I believe he said he left this morning at 3 a.m. Glad I am not young and crazy! Slow and steady may not win the race, but it gets her done!
Date: 2006-05-05
From: Abington Gap Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Showers began in the wee hours of the morning, causing disruption in the plans of those desiring an early trip to town for breakfast. I was glad I had decided to sleep in the shelter and had no wet tent to carry out. It rained off and on for the first half of the morning, then gradually quit. I hiked with Lone Star the last 4.5 miles and we took pictures crossing the TN/VA state line. Arrived in Damascus about 12:30, and directed my tired feet down Main St. to the Apple Tree B&B. What a nice place! I just wanted to lay there and enjoy the comfort and beauty of the room, forever perhaps. But there is always much for a hiker to get done in town, so I set my priorities and got busy. Shower, put on rain gear so everything else could be carted to the laundra-mat, got a mini-sundae while the washer ran (life is short; eat dessert first), dried my things, went back to the B&B, changed into my clean hiking clothes, and headed to the outfitters to see what there was to see. I met up ! with Lone Star who had just finished working out her complicated schedule for the next few days. We were both ready to eat and went to the Baja Cafe and got quesadillas. Then back to my room to rest until DH and daughter arrived around 6:30. We had a quiet evening and it is great to see my family. DH made up a batch of his soon-to-be famous chocolate toffee to bring along-YUM
Date: 2006-05-06
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Spent the day with DH and daughter resting, eating, and walking a ways on the Virginia Creeper Trail. Beautiful weather, but that is supposed to change for tomorrow.Damascus is a pleasant little town, very hiker friendly, and everything a hiker needs is close by, except the grocery store, which is about a mile away. The library is right across the street from the Apple Tree B&B. I tried to check in with my journal, but trailjournals.com is unavailable; changing servers.We had a surprise visit in the evening from my folks from Hendersonville, NC. They also brought lots of food for the evening meal. I am going to be terribly spoiled by the time I get back to regular life!
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Start: DamascusDestination: DamascusSleep: HotelMiles: 0.0I was planning to head out of town this morning, but in the wee hours of the morning I awoke with a queasy stomach. By time to get up, I was having the runs and having second thoughts about heading out today. In addition, it appeared that a steady rain had set in. When you are out on the trail, you just have to deal with these things, but when you are in town, you have options - and I opted to stay in town. I strongly suspect that the problem is due to the antibiotics I have been on wiping out my "natural flora", so I got some acidophilus and hope to be back to normal tomorrow. It was wonderful to spend the morning with DH and daughter, then just rest all afternoon and evening, including resting my stomach with just eating some fruit and crackers. By evening "things" were settling down.
Date: 2006-05-08
From: Damascus

To: Lost Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

Felt great this morning and had another wonderful breakfast at Apple Tree B&B by Judy and Bob. We had fresh fruit chunks, OJ, English muffin, strawberries and cream on lady fingers (? something sweet), and spinach quiche. I didn't get hungry until lunch time!Headed out at 9:20 after making new friends at breakfast and doing pictures. The couple I met are from Michigan and she is a teacher and wanted a picture of this thru-hiker to put on the bulletin board in her classroom and they will read my journal. Today's hike was up and down mountains (I should create a template of that phrase) with nothing exceptional happening, just the usual foot pain, this time accompanied by thoughts of how painfree my days would be if I were home...no, no, no! My dad would be so sad if he had no journals to read!It occured to me today as I kept catching glimpses of that smooth, mostly flat Virginia Creeper Trail, running almost parallel to the AT, that the Appalachian Trail should be subtitled "The Hard Way to Get Anywhere". Ahh, but we do get the views, the excercise, and the feeling of accomplishment that cannot be had by coasting down the Creeper trail on a bike!