morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-01
From: Green Corner Road - Standing Bear Farm

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 13.6

So, after a lot of thinking, I've decided to get off the trail in Hot Springs and head back home. I made it 250 miles and met a lot of great people along the way, but have decided that thru-hiking is not for me. April Fools!!!Yes, that was a joke, but today was actually a really hard day for me but quitting is not even in my radar. We awoke in the diva cabin to rain hitting the roof and I had a hard time getting out of bed knowing we'd be hiking out in the rain. My heels and arches were already hurting just walking around the cabin and I decided that I'm definitely going to try out some insoles when we get to outfitter in Hot Springs.We said bye to all those staying at the hostel a few hours longer and I was drooling over the eggs, pancakes, and biscuits they were cooking in the hiker kitchen. I made do with poptarts, yogurt, and a granola bar but was craving a hot breakfast.We had a long climb (4.5 miles) up Snowbird Mountain...the rain had let up but the visibility was about 20 feet and it was super gray and foggy. I bet the views from Snowbird were great but we couldn't see anything. We stopped at Groundhog Creek Shelter for lunch and I had 3 amazing bean burritos and some chocolate. Just as we left the shelter the sky started to clear.A mile or so later, my pinky toe was hurting a lot so I stopped to drain the blister (I still can't believe I ripped that callous off!) and put a bandaid on. I must have aggrivated it even more and it really hurt to put any weight on it. I hobbled my way up the trail with 4 miles left to go for the day. But the flies were out in full force and the slower I walked the more the flies attacked me, so I sped up and winced with every step for the next couple hours. At one point I even let out a scream of frustration!But then, BUT THEN!, all my woes disappeared as I approached the summit of Max Patch, where we are camping tonight. Max Patch is a grassy bald with amaaazing 360 views. I can't even describe it. I must have taken 100 photos here in just the past few hours. I'm so glad the weather cleared up for us to enjoy the night. I made dinner as other hikers (most from the hostel) started to show up. There's probably 15 of us camped up here tonight but there's plenty of space to spread out. The sunset was indescribable and the packadivas and I set our tents up facing east so we'll catch the sunrise from our tents in the morning.There are no trees on the bald which means there's no place to hang our food bags. I'm a little nervous because it's the first time I've slept with my food in my tent with me. I'll be able to enjoy a midnight snack if I'm craving one, but I hope the bears and mice leave me alone!It's a windy night, and I'll be falling asleep listening to the coyotes howling in the distance. It's great to be back in my tent...I've missed it!
Date: 2009-04-02
From: Max Patch

To: Deep Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

So much for that sunrise! It started raining early this morning and the wind was blowing so hard all night. At times I really thought my tent would actually take flight with me inside it. The inside of my tent was a little wet this morning, but I packed everything up and hiked out in the rain, wind, and fog. Luckily the rain stopped early on and the weather today ended up being pleasant.I guess the surgery I performed on my pinky toe yesterday was a success because it felt so much better today. My feet were still pretty sore though, so I'm definitely looking forward to a short day into Hot Springs tomorrow.I'll be dreaming of omelettes and cheesy biscuits all night. Our plan is to start hiking by 7am in order to get into town by 9am and have a gigantic breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner.I can't believe we've been on the trail for ONE MONTH! With all my ailments prior to starting the AT (my rib and knee pain), I was skeptical that I would even make it this far. My body has been holding up well for the most part and the past month has been a blast. We'll have to celebrate in Hot Springs with a trip to the mineral baths for some R&R!
Date: 2009-04-03
From: Deep Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I hardly slept last night because the wind was blowing so hard that I was worried a tree would fall on us while we were sleeping in our tents. I heard a bunch of small branches snapping and falling to the ground, but nothing too major. I guess Rocket had a similar fear and got out of her tent late at night to see if any trees looked precarious.We stuck to our early morning plan and starting hiking by 7:10am. Just past the campsite is a graveyard with two gravestones. I'm glad I didn't know about that last night!Hot Springs is the first town that the AT actually goes through. Everything you could want is directly on the AT...the diner, hostel, post office, library, and outfitter. Our first stop was of course the Smoky Mountain Diner...once we all ordered food our waitress said: "Ya'll are just gonna die when you see how much food ya'll ordered!". She had no idea...we polished off every last morsel. I had an omelette with feta, spinach, and mushrooms, hashbrowns with cheese and veggies, toast, a biscuit, and split some strawberry pancakes with whipped cream. We walked across the street to Elmer's Sunnybank Inn to reserve rooms for the night. Luckily we did that first thing after breakfast because it fills up fast. The inn is an old victorian house from the mid-1800s owned by Elmer, who hiked the AT in the 1970s. We got a tour by another former AT hiker who is working here for a few weeks and we all fell in love with this place...dark wood, old staircases, large bay windows, oriental rugs, quilts on all the beds, and even a music room. It is super cozy and clean, and is definitely one of my favorite places to stay so far. OH, and the best part - a 4 course vegetarian dinner is served every night! (this was music to my ears)We did the routine town chores...laundry, shower, resupply (luckily I didn't have to buy too much because I had a maildrop here), library, and the outfitter. The outfitter here is definitely the best on the trail so far, fully equipped with organic and natural foods...and books! Finally a store with good books! I bought a book and a pair of superfeet insoles which will hopefully help with my heel and arch pain.Watched a couple movies back at Elmer's, then Tekla cooked up a wonderful vegetarian dinner...carrot/sweet potato/ginger soup, salad, sesame noodles with stirfry veggies, and pecan pie. Most of the hikers here are taking a zero day tomorrow but since we just took 2 zero days in Gatlinburg, we are moving on after breakfast.
Date: 2009-04-04
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

I had a great night of sleep at Elmer's and slept in until 8. The breakfast bell rang promptly at 8:30 and we all went to the dining room for pancakes, granola, and cantalope. The pancakes had walnuts and dates in them which I wasn't a huge fan of but I ate 2 anyways along with 4 slices of cantalope.We headed out of town around 10:30 and kept stopping every few minutes because our packs were so heavy! We are all carrying 5.5 days of food and I bet my food bag weighs 15 lbs! The good thing is that it will get lighter with each meal I eat but the first day out of town is always hard.We stopped for lunch around 1pm and I cooked up one of my favorite meals so far...a burrito with hummus, salsa, refried beans, and melted jalepeno jack cheese. SO good! Although, I got a little too excited about my lunch and almost sliced my thumb off while I was cutting the cheese into cubes. Blood was gushing from my thumb but I managed to clean it well and now it's all bandaged up. Tomorrow's lunch will be the same but with avocado added...I'm already looking forward to it!We had some nice views from the firetower on Rich Mountain and saw some gravestones on the side of the trail heading towards the shelter. Lots of people here tonight...some section/weekend hikers are in the shelter and there are probably 15 thru-hikers tenting just north of the shelter, many of which we just met for the first time today. Some of those tenting are Ducky (with dog Madison), Chuckles, Knuckles, Crispy, Preacher Man, Bow Willow, and Red Bear.It might be too soon to tell, but I think the insoles I bought yesterday are helping my feet. They didn't seem as sore at the end of the day and the hyperextended tendon behind my knee (which has been hurting since before Franklin) felt a lot better today. I am carrying my old insoles to Erwin, TN just in case, but I really think these new ones might do the trick!
Date: 2009-04-06
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 17.1

It's crazy how fast the weather can change. Yesterday was 85 degrees and sunny, but a front came through last night and today it was 35 degrees and snowy. I thought the trail was very pretty today...foggy and overcast in the morning and everything was covered with a dusting of snow in the afternoon. I was planning on meeting my dad and uncle at Hogback Ridge Shelter this evening but because of the weather, they decided not to camp out. Instead, they hiked the 2.6 miles from Sam's Gap to Hogback Shelter, met me there, then we hiked back to their car at Sam's Gap. My uncle even carried my pack for me! It felt so weird hiking without my pack, but it was a nice change of pace! The other 'divas opted to stick out the weather and are staying at the shelter tonight. Rumor has it that it's supposed to snow up to 12 inches in the mountains. I hope they stay warm up there! This is also my first night away from Rocket, Storm, and Grommet since the start of the trip. Hopefully we'll be reunited in the morning!My dad, uncle, and I are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Erwin, TN. Uncle Johnny's hostel was all booked with thru-hikers waiting out the weather. The Holiday Inn is really nice and there are other hikers staying here tonight...Boomer, Radio Freq, Bow Willow, and some others.My dad and uncle took me out for chinese where I got my tofu fix. Got some ice cream at Walgreens (Starbucks Java Chip, my fave) then headed back to watch the March Madness finals in the hotel lobby with some other thru-hikers. Thanks dad and Uncle Paul for all your generosity today!I'm not sure what tomorrow may bring...maybe a zero day, maybe a day of slackpacking, or maybe we'll head north with full packs. We'll see what happens in the morning...Exiting news for today: Today was my longest mileage day yet...just over 17 miles. Also, we crossed the 300 mile mark today!
Date: 2009-04-07
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

My dad, uncle, and I woke up (I slept like a rock, btw. Most comfortable bed ever!) still unsure of what we would do today. I heard from the other 'divas who stayed at Hogback Shelter last night and they said that it had snowed 2-3 inches overnight and that they'd come in to town to wait out the storm. They started hiking down to Sam's Gap (where my dad was picking them up) and the snow drifts were up to their knees in places and the snow was still falling. Because of their trail report, the three of us decided not to hike today. Instead, all 7 of us are going to slackpack tomorrow from Sam's Gap to Spivey Gap and spend another night at the cozy Holiday Inn.Thanks to my dad and Uncle Paul for driving us around town and treating us to a Mexican dinner!!
Date: 2009-04-08
From: Sam's Gap

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Slackpacking is genious. We hiked over 13 miles with packs that weighed less than 10 pounds. I hiked southbound with my dad and uncle while the other 'divas hiked north. My dad, uncle, and I started hiking south from Spivey Gap around 10:15 after dropping the girls off at Sam's Gap. We were relieved to see that a hiker had already started before us so we could follow his/her tracks instead of breaking trail. The snow wasn't too deep, less than an inch and muddy in places. But as we gained elevation the snow got deeper and deeper. My dad just hiked a few miles in then hiked back to the car, and my uncle and I pressed onwards and upwards.We climbed Big Stamp and then Big Bald (5,516 feet) and had amazing views. I was glad we waited out the weather yesterday or we wouldn't have been able to see a thing from the summit. The mountains in the distance were covered in snow which reminded me of hiking in Maine and New Hampshire. Big Bald was definitely a highlight on this trip so far...the views definiely rivaled those from Max Patch!We saw a few northbounders today (Chuckles, Knuckles, Moses, Cajun Dave) who I had met previously and were a bit confused to see me hiking south. My dad picked my uncle and I up at Sam's Gap and drove us back to the hotel. I went out for Chinese with the 'divas, made a quick trip to Walmart (gag), then back to the hotel to pack things up for tomorrow. On our way from the restaurant to Walmart, we saw a HUGE fire raging down the road, definitely the biggest fire I've ever seen. That portion of the road was closed but we got as close as we could to see what was going on. Word on the street is that it was the municipal building that was vacant except for old records. I'll have to watch the local news in the morning to get the full story.   I'll be leaving the comforts of the Holiday Inn in the morning, but am also looking forward to sleeping in the great outdoors again. Weather looks decent for tomorrow, but then rain comes on Friday!Apparently there is a stomach bug going around, and a bunch of thru-hikers have already gotten it. If you know me, you know how deathly afraid I am of the stomach bug, even though I've only had the bug once (in 3rd grade). I've been diligent about washing my hands (or using hand sanitizer), taking EmergenC, not sharing food with people, and avoiding shelters as much as possible. Cross your fingers for me!
Date: 2009-04-09
From: Spivey Gap

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 11.2

I said goodbye to Uncle Paul in the hotel lobby and then my dad drove me and the packadivas to Spivey Gap. He and Uncle Paul are driving back to Florida today, so we were dropped off at the trailhead before 8:30am. The hiking was straight forward today, nothing really to note except that almost all the snow had melted and it was close to 60 degrees...perfect hiking weather.I didn't stop for lunch on the trail so I got to Uncle Johnny's around 2 and hung out with Johnny himself and his dog Lamar until the rest of the girls showed up about an hour later. I picked up my maildrop and sorted through all my food for the next few days. Uncle Johnny says the number of maildrop packages he has received this year has gone up 75% since last year! We are tenting behind the hostel tonight for 8 bucks, which includes a shower. We just left the Holiday Inn this morning so I wasn't itching for a shower, but Uncle Johnny claims that the bathhouse has some of the best showers on the whole trail so I took one anyways to see for myself. He was right...the water pressure was so strong that it massaged my back making it hard to get out.I watched 2 new episodes of The Office (first time seeing it since I started this trip) in the hostel. Then Stride (GA to ME '08) showed up and will be hiking with us for the next 30 miles or so...it's great to finally meet her!Not too many others here tonight...just us, Ducky and Madison, Jones and her two dogs, Moses, and a southbounder (Free Bird?). The weather is supposed to be pretty nasty tomorrow, ugh!
Date: 2009-04-10
From: Nolichucky River

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: light rain

I slept alright last night except for all the barking dogs in the woods and the freight trains that roared by every couple hours. They vibrated the ground because we were so close to the tracks and the train breaks squealed for the longest time as it passed through.Anyways, I packed up and ate breakfast then weighed myself and my pack before heading out. I have gained 3 pounds and my pack surprisingly weighs 6 pounds more than when I left Springer. Isn't it supposed to be getting lighter instead of heavier?! I think it's all the food and extra fuel I'm carrying...We (packadivas + Stride) hiked out from Uncle Johnny's and about 20 minutes later the skies opened up and there was thunder and lightening directly above us and it started to pour. We hightailed it to the shelter which was about 4 miles away and had an early lunch (taco rice, black beans, corn, and melted cheese on a tortilla..yum). The rain didn't let up but we were all pretty cold sitting around in the shelter in our drenched clothes, so we packed up and moved on in the rain.A few miles later the skies cleared and the temperature warmed up. We were pleasantly surprised to find 6 cold sodas resting against the base of a tree as we crossed the road at Indian Grave Gap. Six sodas for the 6 of us...how perfect is that!? My clothes dried out as we hiked in the afternoon which I was super excited about because putting on wet clothes in the morning is not fun! The views from Beauty Spot were awesome and we were going to camp at Beauty Spot Gap but never ended up finding it, so we are camped at Deep Gap instead. We were also confused as to where Deep Gap was (the guidebook hasn't been too helpful today) but a turkey hunter dressed in full camo with a 5 foot shotgun pointed us in the right direction. This campsite is right on a US Forest Service road. We try not to camp near roads but more storms are on their way, there is a nice water source here, and there are 6 of us (safety in numbers). We got water, set up our tents, and ate dinner (two dinners for me to help lighten my food bag) just in time for the crazy storms. Ducky and Madison, the Tag Team, Ketchup, Ms. Muster, and Jones (with her 2 dogs) also showed up at this campsite (that is 11 women and 1 man...must be a record ratio for the! AT!).Apparently we are in the middle of a severe thunderstorm/tornado watch zone right now. I am cozy in my tent as the storm rages outside...crazy loud thunder and streaks of lightening directly overhead. We are all hoping this storm passes soon! I also hope that all the hikers ahead of and behind us are all safe and protected from the storm.
Date: 2009-04-11
From: Deep Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

The storms were really intense last night until 9pm or so. The rain stopped shortly after that and it was calm and clear for a few hours until the winds picked up in full force and continued to howl all night long and into the morning. It poured for most of the night also but I managed to stay dry even with all the wind blowing the rain in every direction.The 6 of us all slept with our food bags in our tents and in the middle of the night I thought I heard a bear walking around but figured it was just the wind. Plus there were 3 dogshere last night and I knew they'd scare away the bears if they were to get too close. Around 2am I was awoken by a motorcycle or truck revving it's muffler right next to our tents as it drove by. I don't even want to know what that person was doing driving around on a US Forest Service road in the pouring rain at 2 in the morning! I woke up at 7am and it was still super rainy and windy, so I just listened to music, read my book, and ate snacks in my tent for a couple hours. My uncle sent me a text message with the complete forecast for today and it was supposed to clear around 10am or so and turn out to be a really nice day. Instead of hiking out in the rain, we all just hung out in our tents to wait for the rain to stop. The wind and rain hadn't really let up by 10am, so we packed up anyways since we had about 14 miles to hike today. I haven't yet mastered packing up my tent in the rain, so it was soaking wet with a nice coating of mud when I packed it up.We had a climb up Unaka Mountain right away but it wasn't too bad, and the woods were foggy and eerie looking which was cool. The mountains were in a cloud all day and it didn't actually clear until around 5pm. Stride, Rocket, and I got to the shelter around 6pm and set up our wet tents right away so they had time to dry before the sun set. The others (Egg, Grommet, Storm) showed up as we were cooking dinner. We are all tenting tonight in a nice area behind the shelter. It is a cold night, but no wind for a change. The weather for tomorrow looks nice - we'll be climbing Roan Mountain which we heard still has snow on it from the snow storm a few days ago.Stride is unfortunately leaving us tomorrow to head back home but I've had a great time hiking with her for the past couple days and hearing the stories about her thru-hike last year. Maybe we'll hike with her again further up the trail!
Date: 2009-04-12
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

So much happened today, where do I start?!I had a great night's sleep last night...there was no wind so it was super quiet. I'm not sure how cold it got overnight, but I bet it was hovering around freezing. We all (packadivas + Stride) made breakfast and headed out around 8:30am.The climb up Roan High Knob was a pretty tough uphill for 4.5 hours. The views from the top were rewarding though and the weather was really nice. We hung out on the summit for a little bit with a day hiker and Cajun, then hiked a couple miles down to Carvers Gap where we were meeting Grommet's roommate Nina, Nina's mom, and Nina's mom's boyfriend. They prepared a nice Easter lunch for us and I had a big salad, fresh fruit, potato chips, cookies, and cake. Cajun, the Tag Team, and Ducky also joined us for lunch. Thanks to Nina et al for such a nice Easter feast! They are driving Stride back to Uncle Johnny's so we all said our goodbyes to Stride and took some photos before they took off. I really hope we get to hike with her again!It was hard to get hiking again after lounging around in the grass and stuffing our faces with food for a few hours. We finally left Carvers Gap around 4:30 and had about 5 miles to walk. We climbed Round Bald and Jane Bald, both with great views. I love hiking on the balds...sometimes they remind me of hiking in the southwest. Lots of day hikers out today since it's Easter Sunday and the weather is perfect. This is definitely an area I'd like to revisit - I found myself taking photos every 10 feet because the views kept getting better and better as we hiked onwards.We got to Overmountain Shelter around 7pm. I got water and was debating whether I was going to tent or stay in the shelter, but after the other 'divas arrived we decided to sleep on the platforms on the first floor which had views that looked out to the hills below. This is a famous/historic shelter on the AT and it didn't look mice-infested, so I was fine with staying in the shelter tonight. We cooked dinner and called it a night around 9:30, a late night for us. Ducky and Madison arrived at the shelter while we were cooking dinner and said she had started feeling sick not too long after lunch. She couldn't keep anything down, so Grommet stayed with Ducky and Madison on the 2nd floor of the shelter to help out in any way she could. Hopefully it is short-lived and she'll feel better in the morning.Lots of people here tonight, but Storm, Egg, Rocket, Cajun, and I are the only ones sleeping on the 1st first floor. Those on the 2nd floor (which is fully enclosed) include the Tag Team, Ducky, Grommet, Pogo, Cascade, Tekla, Elf, and a bunch of others. Ketchup and Ms. Muster are tenting not too far from the shelter.         Yay to one of my favorite days on the trail!