morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-03-17
To: Amtrak day #1
Miles today: 0.0

I am now sitting here on the first leg of my Amtrak trip. The journey is now underway. It is scary in so many ways. Life is never going to be the same after this trip in many ways. I don't even know where to begin on my thoughts, I am not ready to open up to my thoughts yet. In due time I will as the hike progresses.   The first leg of this trip is only 1 1/2 hours into Boston. Once in Boston Mad Mike will pick me up and we will go to his house for dinner and sleep (I hope). Tomorrow Mad Mike, George and I will get back on Amtrak and take our final leg of it to Gainesville, GA. From there the Hiker Hostel will pick us up. Then Friday the will drop us off at Big Stump Gap.   At the gap we have to hike one mile on the Appalachian Trail to Springer Mountain (the start). Once at the start we will need to put one foot in front of other and start walking north on the AT. The first part requires us to walk back over the one mile we covered to get to the beginning, from there on everything will be virgin territory.   I sure hope I can get some sleep over the next two days with all this excitement.
Date: 2010-03-18
To: Amtrak day #2
Miles today: 0.0

We stay up until about 11 last night just sitting around talking, joking and telling stories. I finally laid down to sleep at midnight. It did not take long for me to fall asleep.   I only got 4 hours sleep because we had to be up by 4 am to catch the train at 5:15. It is 10:30 right now and I am really tired but cannot sleep so I sit here writing to my journal.   I stayed partially busy today listening to my music on my phone and chatting online with a friend.   I took a nyqil and tried to sleep but these seats very uncomfortable after sitting in them for 12 hours straight. The excitement is probably not helping things out either.   I have three more hours left on this train before we reach Gainesville to be picked up by the Hiker Hostel. I don't know how long the ride back to the hostel is, I think it is 45 minutes. I may take a nap once I get settled down in Dahlonega.
Date: 2010-03-18
To: Amicalola Falls
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We got picked up at the Amtrak in Gainesville today by Josh from the Hiker Hostel. After getting all settled at the hostel I made a trip to Amicalola Falls and registered at the visitors center as hiker #333. I climb the 175 steps to the first was crossing. Then went to the Len Foote Hike Inn to meet Survivor Dave.   We met up with Made Mike and George for a nice seafood meal. Now it is off to bed for the big day tomorrow.
Date: 2010-03-19
From: Springer Mtn

To: Hawk Mtn shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

8.8 miles in five and a half hours to Hawk Mtn shelter with a variety of people.   There weather was perfect for a starting date today. You could not have asked for a better day. I was surprised at my starting pack weight; it was 36 pounds fully loaded with food and water. I am going to work on losing 5 more pounds. We had a small incident when Josh our shuttle driver from the Hiker Hostel encountered a hiker walking up the forest service road. Josh stopped and asked if he needed a hand and the hiker started rambling and yelling at Josh incoherently. Josh got back in the truck and started driving off and as he passed the hiker the hiker intentionally hit the side of his van with a hiking stick. Josh kept his cool more then I think I would have, he stopped again and had a talk with the guy and then got back in and drove on.   We met Many Sleeps at the top of Springer who is the ridge runner. He was logging everyone¢s names, age and where they were from for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I also met some trail maintainers and I made sure I thanked them for all the work they do.   Hopper and I stopped at Springer Mountain shelter for a light snack. There was a crew there working on replacing the roof of the shelter.   During the day today Hopper, Mad Mike, Geo, Gypsy Girl and myself played leap frog throughout the day. When I say leap frog I me we would take turns unintentionally passing each other. The trails here are like highways compared to the parts of the AT that I have hiked in New England.   My left foot started bothering me today. I started feeling a hot spot on the bottom of my foot. When I tried to tighten my shoelaces, I noticed that the eye lets were pulled together on the lower part of my boots. I pointed this out to other hikers during one of the breaks today and Hopper offered to take me into Atlanta to the REI store for new boots if we could get a ride back to her car. I also need to get a new water filter because I made the mistake of packing an old water filter that was plugged.
Date: 2010-03-20
From: Hawk Mtn shelter

To: Gooch Cap
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: broken clouds

When I woke this morning at Hawk Mountain shelter it was 32 degrees. Geo thinks he counted 18 people at the shelter last night.   I made it four miles today to Gooch Gap. This was my plan for the day. Survivor Dave and Ghost Hiker we doing Trail Magic here. Dave had told me he would get me back to the hostel where Hoppers car was so I could get to the REI store in Atlanta to get a replacement pair of boots and a water filter.   Everything came together and I made it to REI tonight and picked up a replacement pair of boots, replacement water filter. I also purchased a hat with a visor. I had learned a lesson earlier today, that I should carry a hat with a visor for sunny days. Wearing a bandanna will leave a well-defined line across your forehead where the bandanna was and where the sunburn begins.   Tomorrow Hopper is going to slack pack me from Cooper Gap and to Woody Gap. For those that do not know what slack packing is; it is when someone drops you off and picks you up at the end of the day and you hike without your full backpack. I will get dropped off at Cooper Gap with just a small day pack and be picked me up at Woody Gap. This keeps me from carrying my full pack and will help me to cover more ground in less time.   I am hoping this will help me catch up to the group I started out hiking with. I really like this group. The plan is to slack pack tomorrow and then to add on a couple of miles each day with hopes of catching back up after three days.   Last night when I could not sleep I sat around the lean-to talking with Mad Mike and Trooper for a couple of hours until we finally got tired enough to sleep.   Everything should fine now that I have a new pair of boots and a working water filter. I have never felt safer around a group of people than what I feel now.
Date: 2010-03-21
From: Gooch Cap

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woody Gap, 8.3 miles   I got in late last night from getting my new boots and other stuff at REI. I returned to the hostel just as Josh (owner) arrived back from a shuttle run. It was a good thing I returned when I did because I did not realize that they locked the hostel doors at night. I would have been locked out without any of my gear. I would have been sleeping on the porch. I took Hopper to dinner at Olive Garden for dinner for helping me out. I have been craving for chicken alfredo since I left Maine to start my thru hike, it's one of my favorite meals.   The Hiker Hostel put on an awesome all you can eat breakfast this morning. After breakfast, I headed off to Wal-mart to get some snacks for my slack pack. I would be getting slack packed today from the trailhead at Gooch Gap to Woody Gap, I was hiking by 9:30am. What a great day today was even with the rain strong and winds. I made Gooch Gap shelter which is 3.3 miles and it took me just over one hour, I am impressed with myself.      On the way back to the car I ran into Fat Man (Joe) who introduced himself as a Whiteblaze.net member. After we started talking I remembered exchanging emails with him in the past on WhiteBlaze. He invited me to his place for lunch. There was a side trail off the AT not too far from Gooch Gap that went right to his house. What a place he has. He lives in a log cabin to beat all log cabins. He cooked up a burger for me and I had a few beers on tap. After a few beers I had to call it quits, I wanted to make it back to the trail without getting lost. If anyone runs into Fat Man (Joe) in this area of the trail and he offers you lunch or a beer, do not turn him down, you will not regret it.   Tomorrow morning I will be getting dropped off at the trail head and slack pack to Neels Gap.
Date: 2010-03-22
From: Woody Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light snow

Neels Gap, 10.6 miles.   I was dropped off at Woody Gap at 8:30. Another hiker named Dave was dropped off with me. Dave is an arborist from CT.   It was so peaceful and quite out in the woods this morning with snow falling throughout the day.   Buddy has not hiked with me for the last two so days now that means he is going to be known as a yellow blazer. That no good backpack free loading miniature troll. Buddy is my little troll that I carry on my backpack. He is a troll that a friend gave to me when I was station onboard the aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy.   When I arrived at Neels Gap today I ran into Lobsterman, Ass Kicker, Uncus, Gypsie Girl, Trooper, Geo, and Mad Mike. I was so happy to run into them here because that means that when I get dropped off at Neels Gap tomorrow I be right back in with the same group I left off with. I will not have to pick up any miles to try to catch up with them now.   Joey now known as Ass Kicker was also given his trail name by me a couple of days ago after he left Hawk Mountain shelter. He had his sneakers hanging from the bottom of his pack by there shoe laces and they kept kicking him in the butt. I told him we were going to name him Ass Kicker and the next thing I knew he had signed one of the registers using that name.   I went out to an all you can eat chinese buffet tonight. Now we are sitting at the hostel watching House on TV.   Today was my last day of slack packing.
Date: 2010-03-23
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

Low Gap shelter, 10.8 miles.    Today started out getting dropped me off at Neels Gap. I am on my own now with my pack from here on out. I am with my starting group now though. I stopped in to visit Winton, Baltimore Jack, Dart Man, Miss Janet, and Fishin Fred.   I left Neels Gap at 9:30 and arrived here at Low Gap shelter at 3:30.   Leaving out of Neels Gap was cold. Once I started climbing out of the gap the wind picked up and it started snowing.the snow did not last long because it turned to hail then to sleet. After two hours of that it stopped and the sun finally came out. The rest of the day stayed warm with the exception of the wind that would pick up every once and a while.   Olive Oil went flying by me today practically running towards the end of the day. I don't know where she gets all the energy.   I passed a lot of chestnut trees today, I knew this because last falls nuts were on the ground.   I am developing a very hot spot on the bottom of my left foot pad that has me very concerned. I will try an extra sock on that foot tomorrow and if that does not work I will use duck tape.   There are quite a few people here tonight. Freeman, Olive Oil, Bonney Boy, Geo, Charlie, another older coupe, Mud Bump and his friend, Uncus, Gypsie Girl, Mad Mike, Lobsterman, Ass Kicker, three other girls each with hammocks, another younger coupe.
Date: 2010-03-24
From: Low Gap shelter

To: Blue Mtn shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

Blue Mtn shelter, 7.2      Left Low Gap shelter at 10 am and arrived here at 2 pm. Made some good time today. The weather was awesome. I wish we could have weather like this every days for the rest of the trip.   I was going to go into Helen tonight but when I arrived here I just wanted to sit around and do nothing for the rest of the afternoon.   My feet are doing about the same as yesterday. The left foot is still sore and I am hoping it starts feeling better tomorrow. Time will tell you though.   Last night was my first night using the hammock. The temps at 9 am this morning was 35 degrees. I am sure it was lower during the night but I was warm all night in the hammock, in fact I was sweating at times.   Tonight here so far we have Geo, Gypc Girl, Castaway, Rabid, Freeman, Charilie, Charlie's Angles, Mad Mike, Snowman, escargo, Hoogan Doogan, Dutchess, Not Bad, Lobsterman, Murf, Ass Kicker   We have everyone sitting around the fire pit with no fire but some really good conversations going on. This is the best night so far, good people/friends. I hope there are many more like it.
Date: 2010-03-25
From: Blue Mtn shelter

To: Unicoi Gap
Miles today: 2.2
Weather: light rain

Unicoi Gap, 2.2 milesHad to come into Hiawassee to take care of a few lose ends. One of which was issues going on with the WhiteBlaze server. It seems as though mysteriously that the server started to get hacked as soon as I left Maine to head south for my thru hike. I have someone looking into this in depth for me. If we find out who it is then I will start processing any legal paper work that I need to do to to get the person or persons prosecuted.I am sharing a room with Gypc Girl tonight. She is a older woman from Australia. She is over here on a six month passport. I was originally coming to town alone but while waiting for the shuttle to pick me up she came down off the mountain and said she had hurt her ankle on the decent.Our first order of business when we arrived was to shower and get something to eat. We ate at the Corner Cafe and had breakfast, which was awesome. Next we went to the supermarket to get five more days of food.Mala came to the Inn today and set up his camper. We sat around talking for hours. Mala is a great guy and friend. Trooper and Bonny Boy arrived from Dick Creek later on in the afternoon, it was great to see them again. Then preceded to do laundry.Later we ordered pizzas. I had a pepperoni and bacon yum, yum. We all had a couple of beers with our pizza and just sat around shooting the breeze about our day and what lays ahead. We all plan on attending the Hiker Bash in Franklin next weekend. I am really looking forward to it.Gypsc Girl picked up an ankle wrap at Rite Aid today and started soaking her ankle in ice. Her ankle was really swollen and it turned black and blue. We tried to talk her into going to the clinic but she would not go. She keeps insisting she is going to hike out of town with us tomorrow. By the looks of her ankle, I have my doubts. We will keep an eye on her though.Our plan is to hike out of town tomorrow morning and get on the trail and get halfway between Unicoi Gap and Dick's Creek. Then come back into town again on Saturday for the night then out sunday towards Franklin.PS: I am really bumming that I missed Mother Natures trail magic yesterday. I was lucky enough that she was able to pass along some of her homemade peppermint patties to me though. Wow, were they good. Thank you Mother Nature and I am sorry I missed you and your other half.
Date: 2010-03-26
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Sassafrass Gap campsite
Miles today: 10.4

Sassafras Gap campsite, 10.4Z   Let me explain something to the people on my mailing list and those of you not familiar with motel arrangements for hikers going into towns. When hiker say they are sharing a room with another female or hiker it does not mean they are sharing the same bed with them. There are usually two bed or one of the hikers sleeps on the floor. This is done to split the cost of the room. I caught a little flack from some people from my mailing list yesterday because I mentioned I was sharing a room with Gypc Girl. There were two beds in the room a slept in separate beds. This allowed us to only spend $23 a piece on the room.   Gypc spent all night going into the bathroom and running. her foot under cold water. When she woke this morning the swelling had started going into her toes, she could not put her boot on. She talked to Mala and was able to convince him to take her to Franklin to the foot and ankle clinic. From there she will wait for our group to arrive and we are all hoping to leave the April Fool Bash together.   We received trail magic at Tray Gap today from Dr Dewrag and Jeff. They were cooking cheese burgers and Mtn Dew. It was great. The only problem was we could not stay and socialize. The wind was so bad that I think the temps were in the very low 30's. We were just to cold to stay. I hope they were not offended.   We are at Sassafras Gap and set up for the night. We will be going back into Hiawassee tomorrow. I am thinking I should be in town shortly after lunch if I can get on the trail by 7 am.   Rock Steady has spent the last hour getting a fire going. I did not think he would get it but he did.   The trail past Tray Mtn shelter is in bad shape, there are a lot of blow downs as in real need of trail maintenance.   This will be my third night in the hammock and my under quilt. So far I have really warm to the point of sweating.   It is still early but I am getting tired, I think I will go to bed very shortly.
Date: 2010-03-27
From: Sassafrass Mtn campsite

To: Dick's Creek
Miles today: 6.2

Dick's Creek, 6.2This morning was not a fun morning to be packing up and hitting the trail. The wind was blow at about 35 mph. I could not get my hammock tarp folded and rolled up, I had to stuff into the stuff sack because it was just to windy. My fingers kept going numb and I had to keep putting them in my pockets to get them warmed up.Left the campsite this morning at eight and made it to Dick's Creek at 11. I made good time this morning. The accent over Kelly Knob was not as bad everyone made it out to be.I ran into Tater who thru hiked in 2000 and was heading up to maintain his section of the trail. We chatted for a few minutes and his dog kept whining because she wanted to keep moving. I said my goodbyes and moved on down the trail.Just as I reached the road Rock Steady caught up to me. I was surprise to see Snowman, Escargo, Charlie waiting for a ride. They made the comment that I was really moving. I told them I was only doing 10 mile days. When the shuttle arrive Trooper jumped out and greeted me. I was hoping to spend a nero day with him but he was heading out. He said he was not going to be stopping in Franklin but was going to be passing through. He said he was going to be picking up a friend that was going to be hiking with him in Gatlinburg. It sounds like I may never see him again.Met another Mainer today who goes by the trail name Gut Hook. He is from Belfast.I am in a room by myself tonight, I could not find anyone to share the room with and split the cost.News got back to our group that Gypc Girl will be off the trail now for six weeks. She has a broken ankle. It looks like I will not see her again after Franklin. The group is starting to dwindle out now. Who know who I will be hiking with out of Franklin, it looks like I will be in a whole new group of people.Did the usual town visit stuff today, showered, did laundry, and ordered a pizza.Tomorrow Mad Mike, Geo, Uncas and myself will be heading out for Franklin. I will be leaving earlier then the other three because they are only planning on a 4.5 mile day and I am shooting for 11.8. It looks like I will be with a different group of hikers heading into Franklin. We will hook up again in Franklin I am sure.Now it is time to brush my teeth and go to bed. Hiker bed time for me seems to be between 7 and 8 as of lately.
Date: 2010-03-28
From: Dick's Creek

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

28 March 2010, Hiawassee   Today they called for extreme thunderstorm warnings. I have decided to take a zero day (day off). I really don't want to take a zero day. It is going to be boring as hell sitting around in this room all day.   I made a trip to Ingles Supermarket to pick up some ibuprofen and some snacks; while I was there I applied and received one of their discount cards. It saved me $1.18. I also stopped at Rite Aid and got some epsom salt to soak my feet in. I went to the Corner Cafe at 11:35 am and had a great breakfast.   Hiawassee is a nice cozy little town. It might be a place I could settle down in someday. The Hiawassee Inn is a nice inexpensive place to stay in. I have a roommate tonight. He does not have a trail name yet and I forgot his first name.   I have to leave town rain or shine tomorrow. I have to be in Franklin the morning of April 1st. That gives me three days of hiking with no days under 11 miles per day. This should not be a problem.   The Inn is all full tonight now. It seems like everyone came in from the rain.   Tonight I went to Daniel's for dinner, it is an all you can eat buffet. I went with Desert Reprobate. He has been running the shuttle bus for the Hiawassee Inn going between Dicks Creek and Hiawassee.   Ron Haven, the owner of the Inn started knocking on doors and asked if anyone wanted to go out for Mexican food tonight. I was full but went just to socialize. We got back late and then I sat in the office with Ron shoot the breeze for an hour or so.
Date: 2010-03-29
From: Hiawassee

To: Muskrat Creek shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

29 March 2010, Muskrat Creek Shelter   I got started late this morning. The shuttle left late. My start time was around 9:45. I arrived at the shelter around 4 pm.   For me this seemed to be the hardest day so far. The day was overcast all day. I passed a lot of places that were great views but I just could not see anything because of the overcast. It is suppose to rain tonight and the temps are already pretty darn cold. I took my pain killers and a sleeping pill a little bit ago.   I am really hoping to do a 12.2 mile day tomorrow, and the sun is supposed to be out for the rest of the week. This will make hiking a lot more enjoyable.   The sleeping pill is starting to kick in so now I need to close.
Date: 2010-03-30
From: Muskrat Creek shelter

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

30 March 2010, Betty Creek Gap   I was a little upset at myself today. I missed the side trail to Standing Indian Mountain. I did not see a sign for it. There will be plenty of more overlooks on this trip so I will not fret to hard over missing this one.   There was the smell of a skunk all through the air while walking today. I believe it was the ivy type plant growing on the ground but I am not sure. I looked around but could not find anything else it could have been coming from. At first I thought it might be a skunk but I continued smelling it off and on all through the day.   Today was a long day and the biggest mileage I have done to date, 16.2. I cannot believe I did 16.2 miles. I was going to stop at Carter Gap Shelter but Geo popped in just as I was getting ready to set my hammock up. He was going three more miles to the next campsite. It was only 2:15 said I decided to go with him. Maybe I should have stayed there though, I started developing a blister on my right heal. I also started developing some friction on my inner thighs from my shorts today; I hope this does not continue.   Here tonight are Shorts, Silverback, Radar, Chef, Trooper, Geo, Uncas, Mad Mike, Gut Hook, Hanns, Hoogan Doogan (now Giggles), Anthony (later to be Stick Shift), Chef, and Buckaroo who is from Saint Albans Maine.