morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-28
From: Horse Gap

To: Stream near Woody Gap
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked 13 miles today so that we could have a shorter day tomorrow when we plan to go to town and shop, do laundry, rent a room to take a bath and purchase a tent repair kit for Green Hornet. We encountered trail magic again today in the form of bottled water at two road crossings. We also found a Bobcat grader and Slim got on its back and Bogey took a picture. Sorry its off color. Must be the cold weather. We met a lot of folks hiking north: Tango, Hawkeye, Weatherman and a man with his two sons whom we met near Gooch Gap shelter and a school group out on a day hike near Woody Gap. We stopped at Woody Gap and made mac and cheese for dinner and then we went another 3 miles. The temps started in the high sixties and went near 90 and we were grateful for the clouds that protected us from the sun's rays. We also wore Lighweight long-sleeeved shirts to protect us from the sun. Two hikers, from Indiana, Dirty Dozen and Jungle Jim weren't so lucky and got sunburned. After the 13 miles we planned to camp at the creek but as we approached we saw 4 tents in the area and heard loud music from a radio so we hiked a bit farther so we could have quiet and get a good night's sleep. We're pooped to put it bluntly. Still wearing shorts and long-sleeve tops. The trees still do not have leaves so there is no protection from the sun's rays. Its 8:30 and we are in bed after giving each other foot, leg, back and neck massage. Tomorrow a short day. What a blessing to be here.
Date: 2007-03-29
From: Stream near Woody Gap

To: Goose Creek cabins at Neel Gap
Miles today: 7.4

Not counting the 8.8 mi approach trail we hiked 30.5 miles and it was beautiful. The creek where we camped was such a nice place and we left there at 9am. We stopped and talked with Doug and Graham from NC. We could really relate. Hope to see more of Doug. Graham leaving the trail at Neel Gap. The terrain is either getting easier or we're getting stronger. Meeting lots of nice folks along the way. We seem to be leap-frogging with Dirty Dozen and Jungle Jim, two young fellows who are very pleasant and don't seem to care that we are old enough to be their grandparents. On the way down from Blood Mt, Bogey slipped and fell backwards on some awful rocks full weight on his tail bone. Slim was leading when she heard the slippage take place, turned around to see him still in the process of sliding across rocks on his back. Then he did a complete roll and Slim dropped everything and ran to his aid. He was bloody from his knees down and scraped his tail bone. We're glad that he could still walk when he got up. Bogey said he mixed some of his blood with the Cherokee blood on Blood Mountain. He decided that he must be more careful on the rocks especially with hiking poles. He believes he did not place them solidly when he stepped up. When we reached Walasi-yi at 12:30 one of the staff tried to repair our tent pole but we finally called REI and they gave us a number to call and now we have a new set coming to Franklin on Wednesday next week. Staying here at Goose Cabins is a retired national guardsman from PA and Clipspringer who is from South Africa and has a visa for 6 months. Both are hiking north. Thanks Woodensticks for letting us know of Goose Creek its $45 for #4 cabin, $5 for laundry, $6 for shuttle to Riverwalk Restaurant where we had a BBQ chicken, fries, corn fritters. Sure beats trial food. Bogey had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Oh yea, Coca-cola too.
Date: 2007-03-30
From: Goose Creek Cabins at Neel Gap

To: Poplar Stamp Gap
Miles today: 12.0

Temperatures were finally where they should be this time of year, in the 40-50 degree range and much more comfortable to hike. We met a girl hiker from Arkansas whose trail name was Copperhead and I said I can see why...she had beautiful red hair. We were with the leaders of the pack leaving Neel Gap but gave it up to take a nap in the warm sunlight that appeared about 1pm. We just had to stop and smell the roses. Doggie Bowl was there with his dog and we hiked close during the day. It was cloudy this morning, windy and about 45 degrees and on the mountain tops the trees touched the clouds and as a result there was some minor precipitation. The hiking here is a bit strenuous but we're doing okay. We arrived at Low Gap Shelter to find at least 20 hikers in the shelter and in tents. Just to name few: Dazzle, Pickle, Six-two and wife Emily, Copperhead, Dirty Dozen, Jungle Jim, Doug, Garzog, Dozin Doe and Moon Fire. We pushed on to find a place to camp since it was crowded there. Tomorrow we'll head out early, about 7am to take advantage of the cool morning air. We will shoot for the old cheese factory tomorrow. We had to don some gloves and vests to keep warm until the sun appeared. It's colder tonight but we're snug in our sleeping bags in the tent. Sleep is calling. Goodnight from the Georgia mountaintops.
Date: 2007-03-31
From: Poplar Stamp Gap

To: Tray Gap
Miles today: 12.4

We hiked 7 miles by 11:30 and are now at Blue Mt shelter with Doug. We have a few miles more to do before we sleep. We leap-frogged all day with Dirty Dozen and Jungle Jim and came to Unicoi Gap at 1pm and had no success thumbing it to Helen or Hiawassee. It really didn't matter which town we got a ride to because all we could think of was fatty, high calorie burgers. It ended up there was a note on a sign that said a troop of boy scouts were doing a service project for hikers just 4.4mi farther north on the Trail. After some tough ascents we were greeted by a whole troop of scouts who served us big burgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings, potato chips, water, juice, apples. We thought we'd died and went to "food heaven." All free. All tasty. All wonderful. It was totally worth the extra miles. Thank you Troop 605 from Baldwin, Georgia. We are kicked by all the very steep ascents. Off we go to la-la land.
Date: 2007-04-01
From: Tray Gap

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: light rain

Woke up to a misty rain and 55 degrees. The rain became steady by 9:30 but we were fueled on by breakfast via the scouts of sausage, pancakes, hot cocoa, blueberry muffins. It got colder and windy on the mountain tops. By the time we reached the shelter we were cold and hungry. We took the top bunk and are here resting, drying out stuff and warming up. A group of 5 young men from the Maine Train arrived at 3pm and are staying here too. Then two young women pitched a tent nearby and then other hikers came later including JD (Dazzle) and Green Hornet.
Date: 2007-04-02
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Campsite at 73.2 mi 
Miles today: 10.1

Today we made a quick 3.5 miles to the road at Dicks Creek Gap and began to walk toward Hiawasee, GA. We got our first ride - in the back of a pickup truck driven by three men on their way to work. They spoke Spanish and I'd wished Sweet Violet was here to help communicate. It was fun feeling the 55 mph breeze in the truck bed for the 11 mile trip to town. Really refreshing and with beautiful, pastoral scenery all the way to Ingles grocery where we dropped $22 for three days' food to hold us until we reach Franklin, NC on Friday. We were lucky to be standing there when Clipspringer walked up and were so glad to see him. Just then a volunteer shuttle driver stopped and said he was going back to the trailhead and he could drive us back so off we went and got back on the trial at 1pm. We brought along jello for a late night snack. At Plum Orchard Gap shelter we met three trail angels, Magic, Allen & Gary, who provided hot dogs cooked on the open fire with chili sauce, chips, cookies, everything a hiker needs on a hot April day. There with them was Jake Williams a hiker, and Seattle Sailor and his lady friend whose name I forgot. The angels were kind and we thanked them. We left at 4pm and walked 2 more miles to camp in the woods near water. Each night we each bathe in a just 8 oz. of water and give each other foot and leg massage before bedtime. It was a great day and we are both having a great time. We still are having a hard time keeping our gear organized and always asking each other where's this? or where's that?
Date: 2007-04-03
From: Campsite at 73.2 mi

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: broken clouds

We are tenting at Standing Indian Shelter. No dew had fallen when we awoke today. We entered North Carolina early in the morning at 75.2 mi. and hit Bly Gap a little later in the where we had our photo taken by a father and son who were section-hiking. It was tough hiking out of Bly Gap but we remembered that from our section hike of this area so it was not a total surprise. In our opinion, next to Maine the Nantahalas are the toughest section on the A.T. Bogey's leg is still healing nicely from his fall on Blood Mt, no signs of infection. We are doing about 2mph through here, a half mile less than our standard but we push on, slow and steady kinda like the Energizer Bunnies.We met Bama and Lipstick near Chunky Gal Trail. Bama thru-ed last year and Lipstick is a big fan who signed our guestbook and was hoping to meet up with us. They're both sweet angels who can make a tired soul feel a whole lot better. And they did. From the forest service road just 2 miles before the Standing Indian Shelter we made some cell phone calls to mom and Sweet Violet. We do not get good reception in these mountains with Cingular Service. The Verizon folks do much better.We are now at Standing Indian Shelter with JD formerly Dazzle, Beast, Scribe and Gadget. Scribe twisted her ankle and just got back on the trail after a week in Franklin. We got here at 4pm, the shelter was full and thunderstorms are predicted for tonight and we are tenting. We are getting ready to sleep. Tomorrow we shoot for Betty Creek Gap at 94.4 miles. We'll see. Hope for the best. Plan for the worst. Take what you get and..make the best of it.
Date: 2007-04-04
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We were awakened at 1:30am with lightning, thunder and heavy rain. It finished about 5:30 and we got on the Trail at 7:30am. The storm wasn't so bad but the slope we were on made it difficult to stay to the front of the tent. We stayed dry except that because of the slope water ran under the tent and soaked up through the floor but our foam mats kept us dry above. There is a labradoodle dog on the trail that has bitten three hikers so far but it seems the owners, a thru-hiker couple, do not understand that their dog should not be on the Trail. Bogey has his pepper-spray ready just in case. We arrived at our camp at 1:30 and spread out the wet gear and now Bogey is sunning himself on his foam mat and Slim is wading in the creek and soaking her feet. We are meeting a lot of thru-hikers as we go and we try to post their names here. Today we met Nice Enough and Torpedo (also on trailjournals) a couple from Minnesota, Cheeks from Virginia and La-La. Tomorrow we summit Albert Mountain. Many hikers do not like Albert. At 5220' he is a formidable climb. There is a gravel road bypass trail but no self-respecting thru-hiker would do that. There is a firetower on top but I don't think anyone can go up it but we heard that some hikers are going to camp under it. We are going to Wallace Gap tomorrow then to Franklin on Friday morning and a zero day.
Date: 2007-04-05
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

Temps 6am 29 degrees; 1pm 55 degrees. Staying at Budget Inn Franklin, NC. Woke up to temp of 29 degrees. Found out later from the motel manager that the place where we camped, Betty Creek, has a resident bear with cubs who was disturbing hikers. Did we get lucky or what? Actually we slept well there with the sound of the stream singing all night long. We had to layer clothing today because of the cold and wind. Bogey wore long sleeve Capilene shirt, then a puffball jacket, fleece pants and shorts, wool gloves, wind-block fleece hat. Slim wore the same except for an added fleece hoodie. Slim shed all the heavy stuff by noon. Bogey remained layered. The climb up Big Butt Mt was interesting -- a steep, narrow sometimes rocky path, with 1000+ ft drops. This hadn't changed from 1997 when we did this section. The climb up Albert was rocky and often a scramble but very much worth the effort. After those and a few more steep climbs we hiked mostly graded trail. We hit the 100 mile mark today just .3 mi south of Glasssmine Gap and arrived at Winding Stair Gap at 3pm and tried to use our unreliable cell phone and as usual there was no network. A young woman was parked there and we asked her if we could use her phone to call for a ride to the motel in Franklin. She was so kind to allow use to use her minutes. We called Ron Haven who picked us up and shuttled us to his motel for a night of real food, laundry, phone calls, restocking, shopping for hankerchiefs. Seems we are using them hard. We picked up our new tent poles at the post office and lo and behold they were exactly what we ordered. Then we went to an all-you-can-eat steak house for $9.99 each (Yes its true!). We had lots of meat, veggies, Pepsi and fruit. Things we don't have on the trail. Then we did our laundry, checked the internet and our website. Most news was good but also we found out that a very dear friend and beautiful lady in her 90's who has loved hiking all her life has serious circulation problems and is now recovering from surgery. Slim's mother is still having severe back pain and we are worried about her. We realized that hiking the trail is nothing compared to what they are enduring. We pray for them.We are now sitting in the motel room and Bogey is watching TV while Slim pokes away at the Pocketmail machine. We want to thank everyone who has read or signed our guestbook and wished us well. It really means a lot. We don't often have the opportunity to respond because of limited internet access so please forgive us. Tomorrow - a long earned zero day.
Date: 2007-04-06
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

A zero day is when you hike zero miles on the Trail. It was due. We finally took a day off to do our laundry, mail back the old tent poles, get some writing paper and pens and mail our CF card to Sweet Violet. We walked about four miles to Three Eagle Outfitters where we met Dirty Dozen and Jungle Jim, Green Hornet and a few other members of the Maine Train. These are now seven members of the Maine Train: Clint, Uncle Tom, Steve, Chad, Green Hornet, Gen Lee and Queso Dick. Here at the motel we met Mother Nature from FL and Hangman. We met a lady, Half-pint who is hiking with her 14 year old son, Short Stop, but I heard that he has to go back to school in Michigan and his mom will continue on her own. Others we met are: Farmer, pronounced Fama for the Massachusetts accent where he hails from. Carpenter is also from MA. He continued north when we went to Franklin on Thursday. We hope to see all these folks again. Tomorrow we're off to Wesser, NC. When we began on March 26 the high temps were in the 80's tomorrow we will be lucky if it hits forty but we are prepared. We do not expect to send any winter gear home before Pearisburg, VA. We are 2 days behind our tentative schedule but then who cares about schedules? We're free to go as fast or slow as we like. We're having a great time. Another goal of ours was to make it to the Budget Inn in NC and we hit it. That's all folks!
Date: 2007-04-07
From: Franklin, NC

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Total Trip miles 116.7 Motel. Temps 25 degrees at 2pmOur First Slack-pack day. Slack-packing is when a hiker takes a hike with just a few items in his backpack or no pack. A group of us were warned by Ron Haven, the owner of the motel that the weather was too cold for us to stay in the woods tonight, minus 5-10 degrees predicted. We heard there were many hikers taken out last night because of the bitter cold and wind. The Motels in Franklin are full because of hikers coming in from the cold. We all took Ron's offer to shuttle us to Winding Stair Gap and then picked us up at Wayah Bald 4 hours and 10.1 miles later. The bus was overfilled with hikers, dogs and packs as Ron drove us up some steep, winding dirt roads from Franklin to Wayah Bald.We hiked those 10 miles in 4-6" of snow with Grin, Two dogs, Mother Nature, Spaceman, Forest, Torpedo and Nice Enough and JD and Beast and when we reached the goal while waiting for Ron to take us back to Franklin we ate the cold pizza we'd brought along. Then in town we went for dinner and did the laundry. Now we are in the motel room getting our gear packed for tomorrow. Bogey is titling the photos and Slim is doing Pocketmail and we are soon ready to go to sleep. Lets hit it and call it a day. Goodnight all.
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Wayah Bald

To: Near the Jumpup
Miles today: 13.5

Today started with a bus ride to Wayah Bald by Ron Haven. The bus was full of hikers, guys, girls, old folks, young folks, dogs and each had a backpack. The old school bus was just the right size for a crowd like ours to get intimately acquainted since we were stuck in there like sardines in a can. Not something we'd enjoy in the non-trail world but delightful here. Ron told stories of his boyhood in the Nantahalas. He is unique character with all the charm of Colonel Sanders and the wit and humor of Mark Twain. At 9:15am he dropped off all 24 hiker folk. Some went south others north, us being among the latter. The crowd soon dispersed as we all found our own pace. Bogey and Slim took it easy enjoying the snow on the bare tree branches, the ice crystals on the sides of the Trail, the tree-size Rhododendrons. We totally enjoyed the day even though it never got above 45 degrees but it was sunny when we were on the south side of the mountains. On the north or east it was much colder. Most of the day it was 25 degrees and tonight it should drop to the single digits. We had brought pepperoni pizza from Franklin for lunch and dinner and it really was a treat. We hit the Jumpup at 5:30pm and took a few photos. Bogey caught Slim peeing in the woods and snapped a picture. We continued hiking until 6pm when we found a nice spot on the side of a hill to pitch the tent about 2 miles north of the Jumpup. We made chicken noodle cup-a-soup to warm us before bed. It is getting much colder now. We have 5 layers of clothing, silk long-underwear, shirts, puffballs, hats, gloves, 2pr socks and are in our sleeping bags. p.s. We always wear our silk long-underwear for bedtime in order to keep the sleeping bag a little cleaner.Using the cell phone, we finally connected, there was a network! and Bogey made reservations with the Hike Inn at Fontana Dam for Wednesday. We've been quite fortunate that we've had rain only twice in two weeks. One was a thunderstorm and we were told there was not enough room in the shelter that night. We were safe but we've been trying to teach the newbie hikers that shelters are to be safe havens for everyone in severe weather. Its just proper Trail etiquette even if the shelter is rated at "x number of persons" you just pack them in until the shelter bulges even if everyone has to give up some comfort. In Maine in 1997 Bogey and I were at Full Goose Lean-to when severe weather was forecast. We were the first ones in the shelter. By nighttime we had 23 hikers and one dog in that shelter and everyone was safe and slept well during the pouring rain and we had great fun together playing cards and talking. We may be a bit overboard on this but severe weather such as Thunderstorms, Tornado watches, hurricanes are exceptional weather conditions and we have to be exceptional people and take care of each other out here. Hope you had a Happy Easter. We thank God for the gift of his Son not just on Easter but every day.
Date: 2007-04-09
From: North of Jumpup

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

High temperature: 45 degrees. 90% cloudy, 10% sunny.We got an early start and it was 25 degrees. We took down the tent and had a healthy breakfast of Snickers bars. Today we passed beautiful waterfalls where icicles formed on the rocks. Then there were ice crystals formed like stalagmites on the side hills. The view to Nantahala from the mountain was a welcome sight since we knew we'd soon have a hot meal at the restaurant at Nantahala Outdoor Center. We were wearing mid-weight capiline shirts and puffball jackets, fleece pants and shorts over the pants. Slim wore a cap and used her headband to keep her ears warm. Bogey wore a balaclava in the morning. We started north out of the NOC at 1750 ft to 4750 ft at Swim Bald, a strenuous climb that took us 4 hours and 12,000 calories! We should be skinny as rails but alas we are eating enough to keep our belly fat. We're at Sassafras Gap Shelter where Slim did a mud slide down the hill as a greeting to those already there. We're here with Mother Nature, Beast, JD, 2 Dogs, Grin, Spaceman, Forest and Moongoat and his German shepherd dog, Otto. For dinner we had meatballs and sauce MRE's and for dessert a Milky Way bar. Called mom today and she is still having pain but is busy with a family crab, shrimp, ham Easter dinner with all the trimmings. We heard that there will be trail magic at Stecoah Gap tomorrow, burgers and hot dogs. Coca-cola? We'll be in a mad rush to get there before everything is gone. Off to sleep and then for the big run. Here's some little words of wisdom that Bogey and Slim realized today: "Just when you're old enough to know everything you can't remember anything."
Date: 2007-04-10
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: High Top
Miles today: 16.3

Tempuratures: low 30 at 7am, hi 65 at 2pmWe started of at 7:15 am and in a few minutes arrived at Cheoah Bald where we tented years ago when we did this section and we had frosted flakes for breakfast. The Nantahalas are just as tough as ever. Many folks rate this stretch as the toughest section of the A.T. But in our opinion the first 200 miles of Maine are toughest. But when the northbound hikers reach Maine they are in better condition than here in NC and we believe that is what leads to the former opinion. But many of the ascents are straight up because the ridges are often too narrow for switchbacks. We were the first ones out of the shelter and the last to arrive at the destination shelter. We're just having too much fun and we like the tent better than a shelter. Most of the shelter dwellers out-snore Slim anyhow. We put in an extra mile to tent at High Top. We were surprised to find Trail Magic at Stecoah Gap after 6.3 miles just in time for lunch. Jellybean and Bear-Bear, 2006 thu-hikers, sponsored it with hot dogs, salad, sodas, snacks of all kinds and lots of chatting with other hikers. We called home and wished Slim's brother, Tom, a happy birthday. Tomorrow we will visit the Hike Inn with Jeff and Nancy Hoch whom we stayed with before. We will do some shopping for food and pick up our first maildrop at Fontana Dam. We hope there is no terrorist alerts because we will not be able to hike across the crest of the dam to enter the Smokies. Instead we would have to go way down and then way up. Sad that we are living in a time when these things are so prevalent. Just a note: we saw the cave where Eric Rudolph hid out from the FBI. It was along a major road, just a small rock cave. We hung our food bags in a tree and Slim ate a Milky Way bar, Bogey a Snickers. The camera went on the fritz. It kills 2 batteries each day and we believe the slide that turns it on may not be shutting it off so we have to put the batteries in each time we take a photo. We could buy a new camera but we don' want learn how to use another camera. It is getting cold. Gotta shut down and sleep. We're sliding in the tent. Goodnight.