morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-03-25
From: Sassafrass Gap Shelter

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

It snowed last night. That's: it snowed last night. When the sun came up, it rained ice from the trees. Cheoah Bald was quite beautiful: above the clouds, trees covered with frost. Today I didn't look at my watch until Stecoah Gap: 1:10 pm. Someone left trail magic on the picnic table. I gulped two cokes and a snickers bar hoping to propel myself over Stecoah. What a climb! Still don't know what time I arrived. There is a lot of trash here. Set up the wet tent so it would dry before it rains again. It is now raining. One couple from Montana and Perrigrine are in the shelter.
Date: 2011-03-26
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: moderate rain

Didn't look at my watch again today so don't know what time I left; probably about 9am. Scott was at this shelter when I got here. Later, Pilot came in. Both moved on. Set up the wet tent in the rain. Rain has subsided for now. Cooking oatmeal in the shelter. It was an easy hike here. Don't want to do 12 plus miles, so instead will get into Fontana about noon tomorrow. Have to spend a night then deal with the post office Monday morning.
Date: 2011-03-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Our hike this time is a section of the AT beginning in GA at Springer Mtn. We start April 1. For the past month we have been accumulating gear and food to carry/ship. We have set up 4 mail drops and plan to get off the trail at 4 places between Springer and Fontana Dam. Being prepared for the weather is a guessing game - spring time variability goes from heat wave to blizzard - especially this year.
Date: 2011-03-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I went to the US Post Office to mail out my first re-supply box today. I was shocked to learn that the box would arrive on Monday (28th). It would sit for a week before my planned stop to get it. I'm going to send it Monday - give it some slack time in case of problems but still with plenty of time to get there.   I am through trying to lighten up my pack. Last year I hiked with 42 lbs, so I guess I can do 40 this year. I am waffling on whether to do the Amicalola SP hike to the AT or just get a ride up one othe USFS roads to the start of the AT.   The hike to get to the trail is sort of a tradition, but it is 8.8 miles pretty much all up and it's the first day on the trail. My hiking partner is going the USFS route so she'd be a couple months older by the time I meet up with her at Springer.
Date: 2011-03-30
To: Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Now readers you will have to shift gears. The hikers are on their way and The Scribe has taken control of this journal. Last year I was "Trail Angel" and this year I am "The Scribe".BBK and F (waiting for a trail name) headed out at the crack of dawn with their fantastic driver "King of the Road". F's husband volunteered to drive them down to Georgia to the start of the trail and will make the return trip at the end of their section hike to bring them home again. What a great guy!!They got down into Virginia and stopped for the night. Message from BBK just came in (isn't technology wonderful?)"We have just returned fron dinner at a local place, Mrs. Rowe's, and the food was homestyle and very good. I had pork chops, mashed potatoes, and corn - it was just right. The drive was easy and we pulled in at 4 or so. Happy hour of wine (thanks, Chris & Les) and chips set the tone for a relaxing evening. I am going to read a bit and then sleep. Tomorrow we get a complementary continental breakfast, but it has eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. It doesn't sound like a continental breakfast."
Date: 2011-03-31
From: Virginia

To: Amicalola Falls
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

BBK, F, and King of the Road made it to the lodge at Amicalola Falls by late afternoon. It is a beautiful lodge and was not full as they had thought it might be. The approach road from the highway amounted to a beautiful 32 mile drive through the mountains. Evening temps were around 45 with a wind. A little cold, you might say. But the forecast is for dry and sunny for their first day of hiking. That is something to cheer about. Over a buffet dinner they thought again about their first day hiking and how much to try to do. They decided to take the service road to Springer Mt. and skip the access trail. This is suppose to be a pleasant hike, not torture. They found that many would be doing the same in the morning and they got their directions to the service road.An evening crackling phone call home finished the day.
Date: 2011-04-01
From: Amicalola Falls

To: Hawk Mt
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

47 degrees and sunny. It was a long drive to the sevice road where BBK and F bid a sad farewell to King of the Road. But they were ready to be on there way. They started around 11 and did the mile hike south to the start of the AT. Then the mile hike back and on to Stover Creek where they had lunch. They had originally thought they would only go that far the first day, but it was only 1:30 and they were feeling good. So on to Hawk Mt. F's conditioning paid off and she left BBK in the dust on the uphills. It will take him a few days to get up to speed.All equipment worked wonderfully. BBk's new pack was very comfortable. Tent setup, water purification, and dinner prep went as he remembered. The over night temps were nippy and his sleeping bag and hat were perfect, as was his new reivelcloud jacket.The shelter was the most crowded that BBK had ever seen. He counted 25 tents and the shelter was full. I don't even want to think about the state of the privy. This shelter had a line with 4 bear bag hangers. Each hanger had 8 or 9 bags. And one of the hikers had strung another line.With this crowd there were lots of people to talk to. They met an older woman named KnicaKnic, a woman from Brattleboro,VT, Dave from Albuquerque. Dave had done the whole AT before and was now just doing a section.
Date: 2011-04-02
From: Hawk Mt

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Little did our hikers know that camping near a Ranger Training Center would be a problem. About 10PM (after hitting the sack at 8)the downed pilot grid rescue search practice started and went until midnight.. It periodically sounded like a locomotive rumbling right over the tent. The heliocopters never got to their side of the mountain, but that is what it sounded like.The hike this day took them over 3 mountains and was quite a grind. Sassafrass was the last and it was a tough one. Gooch Mtn Shelter had 6 camp sites and had 2 or 3 tents per site. Then there were other tents going up away from the shelter. And, of course, the shelter was full. BBK & F did not get in early enough to get good tent spots. BBK was on a slope and all night his sleeping bag kept sliding down toward the end of his tent. So he did not get a good nights sleep.
Date: 2011-04-03
From: Gooch Mtn Shelter

To: Woody Gap AT Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: clear sky

BBK & F decided to make today a shorter day, only 5 miles and stay at the AT Hiker Hostel in Woody Gap near Dahlonega. There is a shuttle that picks up hikers and returns them to the trail the next day. There is also a shuttle that takes them into Dahlonega with 2 stops - the pizza place and Walmart. Their destination was to be the pizza place.Scribe was hoping to get some pictures at this stop, but BBK was having trouble downloading to his thumb drive and the hostel workers weren't of much help. Probably have to wait until the next computer rears its head.
Date: 2011-04-04
From: Woody Gap AT Hiker Hostel

To: Woodshole Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

Refreshed BBk & F headed out for a pleasant rambling hike to Woodshole shelter. They knew bad weather was coming and wanted to enjoy the day but get in early enough to set up and eat before having to hunker down for the night. They opted to stay in their tents. The shelter was full and the campsite was again pretty full. They had the sense to pump their water on the way in to the shelter site. The water was 1/2 mile from the shelter, on the way in. Some did not do that and had to trek back in the rain to get their water replenished. It was windy even during meal prep time - 25 to 30 mph. They expected the rain by about 8 and hustled to get set up and in their tents early. Fortunately they did as the rain started around 6:30. They were snug as wave after wave of wind, thunder, lightning, and rain rolled through until about 3 AM. And even in the morning they were in no hurry to get out of their tents. It had been cold during the night and BBK found his tent rain fly was frozen and iced in spots. So they stayed in until 7:30.So from locomotives overhead to thunder and lightening. In the morning everyone was in good humor and they shared lots of laughs about the situation.
Date: 2011-04-05
From: Woodshole Shelter

To: Walasi-Yi Hostel
Miles today: 5.0

The next stop is a shelter, again with shuttle service. It would also take them into town for a fee. The first restock boxes were waiting for them, so that worked out well. F had more food than she needed and will probably rethink her supplies. She was even going to ship her extra home. Walasi-Yi Hostel is not the best place to spend a -0- day and our hikers are looking for another spot for the next night. They knew it would be another cold night so all the hikers were looking to get off the trail and they were lucky to have a place to stay, but...........Tidbits:BBK told me the stories they heard from hikers who opted to go higher up the mountain last night to the next shelter (inspite of the incoming weather). At that shelter there was one pesky bear who figured out how to get down the bear bags that were hung from the wires. Then when he came back he climber a tree and from a branch pulled bags up to get the food. He even got one bag of food from the shelter (a hiker brought his in to keep it from the bear). Needless to say several of those hikers were now without food and would have to restock in town today.They met a girl from Poland, Maria, who is taking 6 months to hike as much of the trail as she can. They spent quite a bit of time talking to her.Their jackets and rain pants were great!!Trail magic:Yesterday - sausage and biscuit sandwiches, drinks and cookies along the trail.These provided by "Trail Dames". They will provide in one area for a bit and then move north to follow the crowd. All out of their own pockets and from the goodness of their hearts.Today - there was a group cooking hamburgs. Curt got the last two for himself and F. Sure tasted good. Maybe BBK won't lose the weight he lost last year.Cell phone coverage is spotty, so not able to get the updates as frequently as last year. Scribe was a little worried when she read about the storms going through the south and hadn't heard from them. But all is well.
Date: 2011-04-06
From: Walasi-Yi Hostel

To: Whitley Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: clear sky

Today's -0- day turned into a hiking day. The hostel was not what they wanted it to be and there was nothing to do in the area should they have had the day to themselves. Good weather is upon them for about a week. They got up to a beautiful sunny warm day and decided that the trail was the place to be.Last night for dinner they were surprised when a group from The Georgia Mountain Ministry Church showed up with tons of spaghetti, meat and plain sauce, salad, and peaches. And they would not take any donations. What fantastic trail magic!!They met a fellow who had stayed at Blood Mountain Shelter, where the bear was. He lost his food and a lot of his cookware. The bear had taken his stuff and scattered it through the woods. So he had to replenish. Many of the hikers in the hostel, BBK & F included, helped him out with food. Then he just had to buy some cooking pots.They also met Floco & Mark Trail and enjoyed a long interesting conversation with them. Mark Trail apparently was the name of a comic strip from many years ago that had some forestry tips in it. It is not one that I remember.And, lastly, the fellow in the bunk above BBK was Ben from Munich, Germany. He worked at Siemanns which is just next door to the MTU office that Scribe went to for business trips. BBK had much to discuss about the places that he had visited when accompanying Scribe.
Date: 2011-04-07
From: Whitley Shelter

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

The destination for today was Low Gap and that low was 2,000 feet. Tomorrow they will go to Blue Mt at 3,800 feet. But for today they did have a steep ascent up to Poor Mt and ended up in the gap by about noon. They have to pace themselves because their next lodge destination is set for Sunday and Hiawassee Inn which is a Budget Inn. However, they don't serve wine or beer on Sunday, so our hikers are going to delay on the trail so they get to the Inn on Monday for the wine and beer. This kind of planning is critical.Cell reception wasn't the best today, probably because they were in the gap. What I did get was that they have met some very interesting people. This hike seems to be about the people and the trail magic. The number of people in the shelter/camp areas has thinned a little, but there are still quite a few people on the trail and they seem to be making many friends enroute. The greetings are plentiful as Scribe listens to the background comments.These are a few of the names that I picked up today:Ash - who started hiking in jeans & sweatshirt and gradually picked up gear as he went.SolarMichael - from Moorhead College who made his own tent out of tyvek.2 ladies from Cincinnatti who hiked with F for a while todayLil Engine - a SOBO (southbound) hiker who started last year 6/30 and hiked until 12/5, when he had to get off the trail. He started again 2/15 this year and is almost done.And a fellow hiking the trails to get nature pictures of the animals - bear, fox, wolf.
Date: 2011-04-08
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Helen, Ga
Miles today: 9.0

BBK & F hiked to Blue Mt. Shelter and then headed in to Helen, GA for the night. They were on the trail by by 8:30 and into town by 3 or 4. Scribe finally asked the questions - Are you looking up and are you looking down, Bo Bo? What do you see? What is the trail like? How does it compare to New England hiking? And so here are the answers to these questions. The trails are more open, less rocky and with few roots. It is a mature oak forest, so they don't have the underbrush that wrecked BBK's pack and tent sack. The forest floor is leaf and pine needle littered. The mountain tops are balds with little growth, just rounded rocky tops. There are ups and downs to the daily trail, but not to the degree that he had on the Long Trail in VT.They are passing through lots of Mt. Laurel and the like that are not in bloom yet. But the wild flowers are abundant - about a half dozen kinds, bloodroot being one of them.An e-mail was waiting for me tonight so I will add that here - word from the trail:I am in Helen, GA...a faux Bavarian town...built for tourists. We came here once with Karl and Betsy. On the trail today F was hiking with the 2 ladies from Cinn., OH and they were going to go to Helen from the Gap (Unicoi) that the trail passes through. One of the ladies, Trail Stroller, needed new boots due to her current boots killing her bunions.Once F got the idea of getting off the trail she wanted to get off to. It was not that hard to convince me to go too. We had been talking about how good a pizza and a beer would taste. So here we are in the Helendorf. Karl and Betsy will know of this place.Anyway we hiked 7.2 miles to the shelter and F announced that it would be a good idea to go a little further to the Gap, 2 more miles. The mountains here are really great...mature oak forests with Mt. Laurel and Rhododendron swaths here and there. They are beautiful and filled with people vacationing, hiking, camping, kayaking. I am amazed that these great mountains are virtually unknown in the Northeast. We have met lots of interesting folks. And the trail is really crowded at the shelters. They say that once you're out of GA the volume of hikers diminishes drastically. We'll see. The shuttle will pick us up at 9 AM tomorrow and deliver us back to the Gap so we can resume hiking up to Tray Mountain, a 1000 foot climb out of the Gap.The computer here does not have USB ports available to guest users so I cannot upload any pictures from the camera. Hopefully I will be able to do it in Hiawassee, our next stop, in 2 days.Each day we notice that we are able to handle more hiking and steeper climbs. The weather has been great ( aside from that one stormy night).
Date: 2011-04-09
From: Helen, Ga

To: A bit past Tray Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 9.0

The shuttle picked them up at nine and got them back to the trail. The hike to Tray Mt. Shelter took BBK and F over 3 mountains. They found The shelter and camp sites full with weekend hikers and thru hikers. They were amazed at how many were out camping and not all of them a pleasure to be around. So it was decided that they would move on. They went a couple more miles and stopped at a camp area between shelters. This would be the first night with no privy. But the weather has been great and the hiking a joy.It was a long day of hiking, bringing them into camp late afternoon. Scribe and family were gathering for a birthday celebration and BBK put in a phone appearance before settling in for the night. It was good for all of us to chat.
Date: 2011-04-10
From: A bit past Tray Mt. Shelter

To: Hiawassee Holiday Inn
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: few clouds

BBK & F have had 2 killer hiking days and are looking forward to a -0- day off the trail tomorrow. Just got an e-mail from BBK.               ============================Notes from the trail:We had a tough day of hiking yesterday, pushing past Tray Mtn. shelter to "The Swag of the Blue Ridge" fancy name for a low spot on the mountain ridge. We were able to set up camp on a small flat area and we were so tired that we didn't even eat dinner - just some snacks. This morning we skipped breakfast to get a jump on the day, up a large Mtn. and then up a second, not as large mtn. The downhill into Dick's Creek (where we got a shuttle ride to Hiawassee) was seemingly endless. My feet were complaining all the way down the mtn. WE are staying at a really upscale motel. The Hiawassee Inn told us they had no room for us for tonight (Sun). So we booked Holiday Inn Express (at twice the price) and it is magnificent. I have a Jacuzzi tub, a small seating area and a giant bed. F's is the same.            ==========================================BBK & F picked up their shipped restock boxes at the Hiawassee Inn and took them to their luxury hotel. BBK had quarters in his box and found the laundry right near his room. So with laundry done he and F were ready to think about dinner. They were both up for a nice fresh salad and heard that the local grocery store had a nice salad bar as do many of ours here. So that was the plan - get a salad and some snacks and return to the hotel. Unfortunately no wine or beer tonight. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a -0- day. The hotel has a pool and a hot tub. So they can hang out by the pool and take some time to explore the town. At this point they could use a day off the trail and the hot tub should be good for the feet. BBK has found the mountains to be magnificent with nice views. Water flows in cascades, not waterfalls. There are no lakes along the trail for swimming. And the mountains, though not steep, seem to be endless. An uphill hike could go on for 2 miles and the same down into the next gap. It is punishing in it's own way.At the Holiday Inn BBK hopes to be able to download his camera pictures and e-mail a few to scribe to add to this journal. So look for those the next time you check on BBK & F.
Date: 2011-04-11
From: Hiawassee Holiday Inn

To: Hiawassee Holiday Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

-0- day today gave BBK & F a chance to have a wonderful leisurely breakfast while they read the paper. The buffet had eggs, sausage, juice, coffee. In other words real food. They walked around town and spent some time at the library downloading pictures. Scribe has been able to load the few that were e-mailed north into the Photo section of the log and has added some to the previous days.A few other hikers were at the Holiday Inn and they have heard of many who have given up and left the trail - as many as 40 a day.For dinner they hit the grocery store for beer and wine and decided to cook one of their extra hiker meals - a Knorr Side - for dinner instead of going out. The microwave in the room came in handy. Tomorrow morning they will get shuttled back to the trail. They have made arrangements with 2 ladies who will pick them up. Many along the AT in the south make a living or donate their time to the hikers heading north, especially in the early months when the head count is high. BBK & F will have a tough day ahead of them - short miles (4.5), but up, up, up.And so to enjoy the luxury for one more night - a shower, a sitting room, iced tea and some ice cream, and a bed.
Date: 2011-04-12
From: Hiawassee Holiday Inn

To: Plumorchard Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

BBK & F were picked up at 9 and taken back to the trail. They were sad to leave their nice warm haven. They hiked 4.5 miles to the Plumorchard Shelter and were miserable. It was cold, rainy, windy and they had corn snow to deal with. By noon they were at the shelter and just hunkered down, trying to get warm. This is one of the newer shelters and holds 14 people. Only 5 were staying that night, so no need to set up tents. F finally climbed into her sleeping bag and later in the afternoon dozed off for a short nap. BBK & F were joined by Beast who is hiking in the shoes with toes. He would like to be barefooting it, but these are the next best thing.Some old friends came through, had lunch and moved on:SolarCatfishReverendRiver DawgThey were a raucus bunch and lots of fun to visit with.Pokey and Mark came through also. Pokey was very cold, hiking without having enough layers on. They were concerned about her, but she got warmed up and then she and Mark put on drycleaner bags and headed out again.The twins - otherwise known as Oak & Maple came through. They are college kids from VA who are doing the whole trail.
Date: 2011-04-14
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Missed BBK's call today and yesterday was an early call, so not much to report. BBK left a message when he called that they were at the top of Standing Indian Mt, at the shelter there. This was about 1:00. They had had an easy hike to get there. It was sunny and a good hiking temp. That shelter was to be their stop for the day, but they decided to go another 4 miles to get to Beech Gap. They were expecting rain and wanted to get down off the mountain and into the gap. Hopefully we will connect tomorrow.