morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-06
From: Cloud 9 Hostel

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 6:30am this morning because Trailfoot was a little loud while packing up his stuff. So, by 6:45am we were all awake and moving. By 8:00am, Kanati and I were ready to hit the trail. Stovie and Catfish, however, had opted to take the later shuttle. Well, Kanati and I split up as we were climbing some mountain, but we'd agreed to meet up at the Muskrat Creek Shelter. Well, about 1.5 miles shy of Blue Ridge Gap, I ran into 5 day hikers and they took my pic. I told them Kanati was behind me and to harass him!!!When I got to the stateline, I tried to turn my camera on to take my picture, but the rain from a couple days ago had messed it up. So, I waltzed across the stateline and continued to Bly Gap for a lunch break. As I began to climb out of the gap, I realized that NC must hate switchbacks because this mountain was awful. I guess it's true what they say, every state has it's own special way of welcoming you, and NC chose to do it with "Welcome to NC Mountain!!!"At 2:50p, I arrived at the shelter and prepared for the night. 30 minutes later, I heard the Kanati singing one of his songs. He was followed by Stovie, Todd, and Fester. We all collected wood and cooked around the fire...that's when the stories began!!! Unfortunately, I don't think I can share any of the stories, but man were they hilarious. We tried to hang a bear bag, but since none of us were very experienced, it turned out to be more of a mouse line because it was only 3-4 feet off of the ground!!! After this night, we all decided to stick together tomorrow night and possibly hike together for awhile. Oh! When Kanati was stationed in Germany, the conversion rate was $0.25 US for 1 Deustchmark (Ha Ha)!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2008-03-07
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter 2
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Woke up at 4am to the sound of rain beating down on the shelter, but it sounded so nice, I passed out until 6:30am. By 10am, we'd all planned to meet at the new Carter Gap Shelter and Stovie, Todd, and I hit the trail. Heck, this stretch of trail was not that bad. The only big climb that we had was Standing Indian Mnt. and it wasn't really that bad (we kept a 2.5 mile per hour pace all day) Man, oh man, there was a really, really fast moving stream with a broken tree across it that we had to cross. I honestly didn't think I was gonna be able to cross this bad boy, but I did!! Anyhow, we made it to the shelter to find Lady and the Tramp drying their tent off in the shelter and all of their wet stuff spread all over the shelter...Longskirt and Steady On were at least making room for us. Well, I think they were shocked to find out that we had 2 more people--Fester and Kanati--coming because they seemed reluctant to move their stuff any more. You should have seen their faces, however, when they saw two 22 year olds, one 29 year old, one 24 year old and a 62 year old hiking together...I thought they were gonna die!!Well, not wanting to inconvenience the people upstairs, we set up camp in "The Bat Cave." Oh yeah!!!This shelter has an overflow platform underneath it which we named the Bat Cave. After Kanati used some of his TN engineering, we all set up camp underneath...only to discover huge mouse holes. So, while I was cooking dinner upstairs, I heard Kanati covering the holes and saying, " if we cover up their back door, they'll have to go to the upstair's people and run up Longskirt's skirt!!!" I don't know if he knew they could hear him, but all of us started laughing--something that didn't end there! As we were getting ready to sleep, The Red Ranger pulled in. Eventually, we realized that if we don't stop laughing, we're gonna have to eat more because we are burning too many calories laughing!!! Oh ya! We are now an official team...Team Deustchmark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2008-03-08
From: Carter Gap Shelter 2

To: Haven's Budget Inn
Miles today: 15.9

Well, it had appearantly snowed during the night and I was awaken at 6:30am by the "Upstairs People" walking over us in their boots and the snow falling on Kanati's, Todd's and my face. Kanati then began shouting, "wipe your feet on the carpet!" As we were cooking, Kanati ate some Kanati-O's and left before us because he wanted us to catch him. Soon, Team Deustchmark was on the trail...strangely, we were on the trail before the people who had woken us up. By the time we passed [Fat] Albert Mountain, we met up with the Red Ranger and all had some snacks. He taught me something interesting: When it's raining or snowing, put sil-nylon sacks over your gloves because it'll keep them dry!!! After we finished eating, the snow began to come down a little harder and Team Deustchmark travelled as a cohesive unit--we were so close to each other that we kept joking that this was Nascar and we were drafting!!After a butt kicking climb from Wallace Gap-->Winding Stairs Gap, we all waited for Ron Haven to pick us up. When he picked us up in his AT Bus to take us to Ingles, we noticed another large group of hikers...that's right! For about 4 days, I have been 1 day behind Chili Mac, Toad, Memphis Tim, Halfbrew, Jessica, and The Mighty Pound and I finally got to see what they looked like!! After buying tons of food, we shopped hungry, we were dropped off at an All You Can Eat (AYCE) Chinese Restaurant.Oh! We're getting alot better at hanging bear bags. As Kanati and I were washing clothes, I called DeRosa, Naegele, Briana, and Pa to check in and see how things were going. It's kinda neat to hear from people you haven't spoken with in awhile...it kind of gives you a boost, especially when they are excited to hear from you!!! I guess I'm gonna hit the hay because it seems like a lot of people are leaving tomorrow and the shelter we're shooting for only holds 6 people...gotta get up early!!
Date: 2008-03-09
From: Haven's Budget Inn

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at Haven's Budget Inn at around 6:30am, packed my gear and began to eat some Cool Ranch Doritos. Well, Todd came over because Stovie and Fester were gonna take some badly needed zero day. We started the "shin dig" by watching MTV's Beauty and the Geek, but immediately broke it up when we decided to grab some breakfast from McDonalds. I bought an egg and cheese bagel, 2 Hashbrowns, a SEC Biscuit and a cup of coffee (this was mine and Kanati's food)!! As we were eating, Ron pulled up in his bus and we had to HUSTLE to get on before he left...we had forgotten about day light's savings time!!! During the ride, we met Twiggy, her husband Hunter, and Night Terror--a guy from Jackson, TN. So, we 3 Deustchmarkians and Night Terror hiked together.It wasn't really an eventful day until we got to Wayah Bald. At the parking lot, we met a guy who will be starting his SOBO hike this year and his dog Holcomb. As we were getting ready to leave the parking lot, Tracker--a section hiker--gave us Trail Magic in the form of Pringles, apples, water, granola bars, and soda. We all accepted and walked to the tower for lunch. Oh Ya!!! My first Trail Angel and Trail Magic!!!! After a beautiful break and photo opp, we continued until the Bartram Trail and AT split. I think it's neat that we were on the Bartram Trail because it's the same one Inman used in the book Cold Mountain! When we reached Burningtown Gap, which was 1.4 miles away from our destination, we saw a HUGE domed tent with a sign welcoming hikers to Trail Magic. Well, the fella whose tent it was is named APPLE, a trail maintainer, who offered us a wood stove, Hot chocolate, coffee, soda, and hot dogs. So, after a grape soda and 2 Veggie Hot Dogs, we continued to the shelter because Kanati is right, the more we keep sleeping in "hotel" style places, the less we'll want to sleep in shelters and in the woods!! While I gathered wood, Kanati and Todd built a fire. As we were gathering more wood, we noticed fresh bear tracks in the snow. Well, we decided to throw our food on the bear cables, but they were broken. So, we were on edge that night and decided to eat lightly. I ate my whole bag of Turkey Pepperoni, 3 Snickers, 1 Honey Bun, and 1 protein bar...I think I'm starting to get my Hiker's appetite. 8 o'clock was quickly approaching and we went to bed cold and slightly nervous. Oh! Night Terror decided to spend the night in Apple's tent!
Date: 2008-03-11
From: Grassy Gap

To: Cody Gap
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up around 7a and packed my gear up as Kanati was leaving...he told me that he had to get a head start because he knew I would catch him soon!!! It wasn't until 9a, however, that I was leaving camp, but before I did, I told Night Terror that we planned to tent at Cody Gap. So, I went about my walk over a couple of huge mountains. Soon, I caught up with Kanati and we pressed on to Sassafras Gap Shelter for a privy and snack break. As we were leaving, Brandon pulled in and was waiting for Ricky. We bid him farewell and then pushed on towards Cheoah Bald--the climb was harder than I thought it would be.When we got to the top, the view was breathtaking and worth the sweat it took to get there. We stopped for some photos and to enjoy the scenic view. Eventually, we made it to Stecoah Gap and right before Kanati went down to get water, a suburban pulled up and a maintainer came up and told us that he was checking his section for blowdowns around Browns Fork Gap. Just as he left, a Subaru pulled up and a couple, named Bob and Sue, brought out their greyhounds and walked them for a bit. Soon, they packed up their car and told us that they always wanted to be Trail Angels...so, they gave us some candy!!!After this brief encounter with Bob and Sue, we began our climb up towards Browns Gap--that Mnt. was HARD (the inclination was no less than 45*, but not greater than 90* and full of leaves). We then got off and headed to the shelterwhen we met the maintainer again. We thanked him for doing the work he does and he quickly apologized for that hill...haha! His name was El Grunt. Eventually, we got to Cody Cap and set up our tents. Well, we went to gather water and as we came up, we noticed Brandon sitting on a log waiting for Ricky. Well, we showed him where the source was and Kanati and I began cooking and preparing for bed just as Night Terror arrived. It was very windy in the gap, but we made it work. Since we were all in close proximity to one another, we chatted ourselves to sleep!
Date: 2008-03-12
From: Cody Gap

To: Fontana Hilton
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

Woke up this morning at 7a and ate my bagel and Nutella breakfast...Man was that filling. Not only does it pack 600+ Calories, but it tastes awesome! At 8a, Kanati was packed and on the trail. By 8:15a, I followed suit. At 9:25a, I caught up to him at the Cable Gap shelter and we read the register to see where Toddy Bear was at. Well, we headed on up toward Black Gum Gap...the hill was pretty rough on our still developing legs. The ridge walk was beautiful because we could see Fontana Dam the entire time. When we got to the Marina, we dialed 265 to get a shuttle to Fontana Village so that Kanati could get his package and re-up on some things. Being hikers, we immediately got out of the shuttle and ate in the Cafe...I had a chicken baguette, fries, a fruit bowl, and a slab of corn bread--what do you expect, I'm a Tennessean--you better believe it was filling!Soon, we headed back to the Fontana Hilton, and when we got there, I was very surprised to see Dr. Small Pot (His knee was hurting him and he was taking another zero day to allow it to heal). So, I used the facilities and ran into a day hiker...I think Night Terror and I creeped her out because we were talkative and she wasn't used to strange men just asking questions!! While charging our cell phones at the visitor's center, we ran into Tommy and KC, two SOBO section hikers who had just finished a rough day in the Smokies. After getting their wits about them, they joined us as we were cooking dinner and guess who appeared? The Red Ranger! When he pulled in, he had news of Stovie and Fester's progress. Well, I'm going to be honest...Dr. Small Pot is amazing at building fires. He had a bonfire blazing in 35 seconds...seriously, ask anybody who has spent a night with him! Anyhow, we began exchanging stories around the fire and Tommy told us about something funny while he was a pharmacist: A woman called and asked whether she needed to take the "morning after pill" after each partner or each time she had sex...he was only 17 at the time too!! Then Night Terror told a funny story about when he was in the ER, but I think I'll save that one for later! Well, it's time for bed!!!!
Date: 2008-03-13
From: Fontana Hilton

To: Russell Fields Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 4:30a this morning to the sounds of 3 Coyotes howling across the lake as the sun was peaking over the Smokies, but I went back to sleep because the howling was more peaceful than noisy. Even though the coyotes sounded really nice, I woke up at 5:30a to the sound of Dr. Small Pot packing up to hit the trail. Well, I figured I might as well use the privy since I was up. As I left my sleeping bag, I realized that it was a bit nippy, but decided to heed the call of nature. When I got there, it wasn't until 6a that I returned to the shelter because the bathrooms were heated and I fell asleep on the toilet--It was warmer than my bag!!!When Kanati and I actually hit the trail at 7a, the noise woke Night Terror up and he told us that he wouldl meet us at the shelter tonight. As I passed the bathrooms, I noticed Night Terror's permit for the Smokies and decided to carry it so that I could definitely assure he would have it. The view from Fontana Dam was amazing and worth all the time it has taken me to get here! I started to climb Little Shuckstack and didn't think it was as bad as people made it out to be...the climb out of Stecoah Gap was much harder. When I got to the top, I decided to climb the tower--I don't think the view was worth the climb, but that's because I was afraid the entire time up there--but I think it helped overcome some of my fear. While waiting for Kanati, I met Green Blaze and Roses...they are a married couple from Athens, GA...and they happened to pick up my beanie that some how slipped out of my pocket during the climb. As I was walking, I passed 5 Michigan springbreakers who were making their way to the Russell Fields Shelter and I told them that I would see them tonight. Soon, I caught up with Carl, a ridgerunner and he and I chatted while eating lunch at Mollies Ridge. As I was leaving, Greenblaze, Roses, and The Red Ranger rolled in. Once I got to the shelter, I met Wildcat (AT '04, PCT'05, and CDT[less 200 miles because of frostbite] '07-08) he's a really cool dude who was there to meet Kanati. We chatted for quite some time, but eventually Kanati and Night Terror rolled in and Wildcat opened his pack to reveal TRAIL MAGIC!!! He brought us fresh fruit, beer, crackers, pies and lots of knowledge. As he left, Night Terror and I did a combined dinner...instant mashed potatoes and Barbara's Dehydrated Egg dish!!! Now that I'm full...it's bed time
Date: 2008-03-18
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 7:30a and little Jake wasted no time engaging in conversation. After downing my last Cinnamon Raisin Bagel and Nutella, I had to respond to the "Call of the Privy." As I was walking over I began whistling a tune...I enjoy whistling much more. Well, I don't think the girl from UT heard me because when I got there, I almost walked in on her...good thing I decided to look first! Anyhow, I finished my business and began packing and was strangely the first one packed...I'm usually the person everyone is waiting on. After our good-byes, Toddy Bear, Other Jake and I hit the trail. Withing 2 hours, we'd made it to the Davenport Gap Shelter and found Night Terror eating his second breakfast. Soon, we all pressed on and caught up with Green Blaze and Roses on the bridge over the Pigeon River. We all took a break, took this chance to call family members/friends, and took pics of everybody on the bridge! After some discussion, we decided to go to Standing Bear Farms and buy a "Cook it yourself Pizza." When we got there, we met Curtis, his partner, and Launchpad. They gave us a tour of the facilities and we began to shop in their store. Oh! We were pretty upset with the pizza deal because the price was highly inflated--$10 for a $5.98 Digorno Pepperoni Pizza is a rip-off! Anyhow, we got enough supplies to take us to Max Patch tomorrow.As we began the climb up Snowbird Mnt., I took "point" because I had sectioned from I-40-->Hot Springs, NC last summer. Night Terror and I 'flew' up the mountain, but he let me get ahead because the 2 chicken sandwiches and 1 BBQ Sandwich had caught up to him. So, I was walking by myself for a bit. I stopped to drink some water, when I noticed Green Blaze and Roses down the trail. I don't really like hiking by myself anymore, so I waited. As we began the climb, Roses was right on me--she was so close, if I had farted and she had her mouth open, she would have tasted it...I call this "being within fart-tasting distance" of someone--that girl is really fast!! It only took us 1.5hrs to get to the summit and I ran ahead so that I could photograph everyone making it to the summit!!! The wind began to pick up while we were waiting for Night Terror, so we all put our wind jackets/shirts on. When we saw Night Terror breaking through the treeline, however, he was topless because he said it was hot...that was a sight to see! When we made it to the shelter, we met a father and his 13 year old daughter, who were from Oklahoma and on a Spring Break hike. They seem very quiet. Well, since we were gonna eat at Ryan's AYCE buffet tomorrow, I decided to gorge and eat 2 packs of Ramen Noodles with a whole pack of Instant Spuds! I feel pretty happy because I'm not going to bed hungry and my food bag only has tomorrow's breakfast...I'm getting better at planning my meals! Now we're all in our sleeping bags waiting for the storm to roll in. Oh! Even though the Companion says this shelter sleeps 6, there are 8 of us comfortably in here. I guess it's time to read more Garfield!!!
Date: 2008-03-19
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Home
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: light rain

Woke up at 2:20a because of hunger pains...this is the first time in my life I've been awoken by hunger (Now I know how my brother Raj feels)!! At around 7:30a, however, we all woke up and prepared to hit the trail for breakfast. I ate my Big Texas Cinnamon roll--460 Calories/190 calories from fat--to hold me over until Ryan's. Well, as we were packing, Green Blaze noticed that a mouse had made its way into his pack last night, didn't eat anything, but took a poop in his pack. Then, as Roses was laughing, she discovered that the mouse had chewed through her bag of trail mix, but didn't eat any of it. When she noticed this, she said, " See, Sarah Lee's trailmix is sooo crappy, not even the mice eat it. Do you know why? Because Sarah Lee doesn't even roast her nuts!" When she said this, I began laughing and was putting on my last boot...how funny is it that the mouse attacked their stuff last night? Well, as I was lacing up my boot, the lace broke. Upon further inspection, I realized that the mouse had chewed through my laces during the night--I had spilled some Gatorade on my boots!!!By 8:30a, everybody was situated and we hit the trail. Most of our conversations were about what we would eat first. Ya, this was a very important conversation because we learned some important strategies: 1. Soup only takes up stomach space that can be filled with more food/dessert, 2. Dessert doesn't have to be the last thing eaten...your body always makes room for more, and 3. Use the "flushable" privy whenever you're feeling full, and you'll have room for at least one more plate! At 11:15a, we reached the summit of Max Patch and were watching the storm clouds just roll by, but the view was still worth it! I noticed that the climb up Max Patch wasn't as bad as I had remembered when Ashish and I sectioned it (I'm happy to be getting my hiker legs)! We made our way to the parking lot so that Barbara would see us and waited. At 12:05p, my subaru rolled up and we all piled in. I, getting excited about all the food, drove down the road like a maniac...I think I made Toddy Bear and Roses carsick!!! We dropped Barbara off at work and I decided to not say hi to my father so that I could surprise him at home with the fact that I was taking a nero. When we got to Ryan's and I saw all that food, I--as well as everyone else--"grinned from ear to ear." We decided to make this eating trip a competition to see who could eat the most. By the time I threw in the towel, I had eaten 3 hot plates of food, 1 big salad, and 1 huge dessert plate. No matter what we tried to do, Green Blaze, Roses and I felt like we had to vomit...it didn't help that we were laughing the whole time either! But, I think Toddy Bear won! We then went to Wal-Mart to resupply and I dropped the crew back at the trail. When I got home, they were all pretty shocked to see me. I am enjoying spending some time with my family, but tomorrow I will hit the trail and head for Hot Springs so that I can catch back up with the crew/team. Well, I'm gonna enjoy hanging out with the family...so, Bye!
Date: 2008-03-20
From: Home

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: few clouds

I woke up this morning and it took a little time to realize that I was back in my bed and not in a shelter! So, after eating breakfast, I spent some more time with the family and called Kanati. He told me that he has been reading Stovie's journal and that he and Fester are gaining on us. Also, Kanati will continue hiking the trail on Tuesday...knowing his speed, we'll see him soon! By 6p, I was dropped off at Max Patch Summit and decided to hike to Hot Springs through the night. I was gonna stop in at Roaring Forks, but knew it would only slow me down. So, I continued. Nothing too exciting happened except that this was my first time night hiking in a long time. It was alright, but I don't think I'll do it again because you can't see anything. Oh! I reached Garenflo Gap around 3a and put my sleeping pad on the ground and caught a 5 hour "nap," When I woke up, I ate my Pop-Tart and hussled the last 6.6 miles into town!!!
Date: 2008-03-25
From: Johnson City, TN

To: Johnson City, TN
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up this morning and bought some doughnuts for the crew and drove them to Erwin to rent a room at the Holiday Inn Express. We know Toddy Bear LOVES to stay here and remembered that we all planned to nero here. So, after lightening their packs, we loaded back in the car and pushed on. Oh! As we were leaving Johnson City, we drove thru McDonald's for some food. Well, there were 6 people and 5 packs in Briana's Honda Civic and holding food made the trip more interesting. I dropped them off and told them that I would catch up with them soon. I hate having to take a zero, but I know my blister needs it. Well, I still have not popped it because I was told this would not be a good idea. Night Terror called me a couple of hours ago and told me that Green Blaze and Roses stopped short of Erwin with Other Jake, while he and Leprechaun hiked 25 miles in 8 hours. Man, those boys must have been running!!! Also, Toddy Bear reached the hotel and the clerk checked him in to the room and they are all back together. I'm gonna give him a call in the morning to fill him in on my current status. Now, I'm enjoying reading Stovie's journal and hanging out with my brother, Ashish, and Briana. I went to one of her softball games today and it felt good to just relax!