morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-25
From: Greasy Creek Friendly

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

woke up and the yeast infection is worse. I love antibiotics... other than a few moments where I felt like I might be getting stronger, I don't feel like they have done anything for me, the spots on my legs seem unchanged and I perhaps have gotten some new ones still. I weighed my options last night when I realized I was getting an infection.        Option one - have Connie shuttle me somewhere to buy a treatment, it'd still be a couple days before I felt up to hiking. Between the shuttle and staying here, it'd probably be 100 bucks or so. I hated to do it, but I decided to call H&U to come get us. At first, I thought I still felt up to hiking 5 miles to Hughes Gap, knowing it was sunday and they wouldn't be able to come get us til after church. Then I just felt like all I wanted to do was to sit as still as possible somewhere comfortable, so we called H&U just before they headed to church and arranged for them to drive nearly 2 hours each way to come get us out in the middle of nowhere, TN this afternoon. We watched some movies to pass time. Seeker is feeling somewhat better and did the 5 mile slackpack as a test.        H&U showed up later on. I feel so bad for calling them. But yeast infections suck so bad and they understand. They took us to Walmart to get some medicine and I am going to try to see a doctor again tomorrow for the impetigo or whatever it is that isn't getting any better on my legs. a poem Jasper left in the register at Greasy creek: Stayed the night, our timing was swell,got in and had Pizza as the rain really fell.We watched some movies before hitting the bunk,then we split a pint of ice cream to offset the weather's funk.A doctor's visit awaits us in a town far away, we now wait for friends to pick us up today.We'd had a great week and we don't want to go town, but what else should you do when your body drags you down?Hopefully a diagnosis will end any further fatigue, cause its tough to make miles when you feel out of your league. We're grateful for friends who repeatedly come and get us, we're gonna treat them for dinner and dessert tonight if they'll let us. We'll be back soon and feelin the mood, you'll see a much better Doodlebug and Didgeridude!
Date: 2010-04-26
From: Asheville NC

To: Asheville NC
Miles today: 0.0

So we got in to see a doctor at another urgent care place. I was really hoping to save another 75 buck copay and called the one I went to last week hoping they would just extend the rx, but they wouldn't and the same doctor wasn't there that day anyway. So I went to a different urgent care place and the guy there didn't think it was impetigo but didn't know what it was and wanted me to see a dermatologist. Whic means more time off trail, but at least he got me an appt tomorrow. sigh.         Last week when we here, we tried to get together with another hiker couple I know from 2001 in Asheville: Foots A'Flame and Walk it Off. I started and finished the same day as them March 15- Sept 20. I hiked with them off and on down south, including going through the Smokies together, but then they took some time off and I got ahead of them until sometime in Maine. Last weekend, they ended up being busy, but I tried them again and they came out and met us for dinner tonight. I hadn't seen them since Trail Days 2003.
Date: 2010-04-27
From: Asheville NC

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

Went and saw a dermatologist today, she wasn't sure what it was either and wanted to do a biopsy. At that point I wanted to run screaming from the room. The last time I heard the word biopsy- things did not come out so well! I felt like I didn't have time to wait for that, so she gave me a month rx for another antibiotic in the hopes it would help. The yeast infection is doing better and I have meds to take in case I get another one. Bob and Mary Ann have been great, I don't know what we'd do with out them.
Date: 2010-04-28
From: Missouri

To: campsite past Hughes gap
Miles today: 5.5

Back to the trail finally! Yeast infection is better at least. We went back into Greasy Creek to say hi to Connie and fill up our water, then headed back up the .7 mile jeep road to the trail. It's been raining a lot up here the last few days, it was a pretty good 3 days to take off actually, there was even snow at higher elevations. We could see the top of Roan mtn driving up here- it was covered in white. We've been lucky like that this year with the weather. We got a late-ish start and only did a little over 5 miles. Today was a nice day and we had some good views at Little Rock Knob.         We just got started on the "Groan up Roan" - a bitch of a climb, 2300 elevatioin gain in 3 miles (not including a short down along the way- this is approaching New England gradients). The guidebook mentions a camp spot .2 past the road, which we did not see, but found this other spot ~.5 past, perhaps the guidebook is wrong? What am I saying? They are always wrong, the PCT guidebook with maps is sometimes called the Book of Lies. It was a chilly but sunny evening, Didge built a fire for us to enjoy. On the drive up, we could see the trees at the top several hundred feet of Roan covered with white stuff! Kinda glad we aren't up there yet, but I imagine its beautiful. The section after Roan ,which we hit tomorrow, is one of my favorite on the whole trail and I'm glad we didn't do it during a storm.
Date: 2010-04-29
From: campsite past Hughes gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

Just keep climbing, just keep climbing, climbing, climbing... I do a little mind game, to help myself get up hills. I told another hiker about it once and he said it would drive him insane to do the same- I count steps or pole plants. For me its about baby steps, setting small goals. So depending on the steepness and other factors, I give myself a mini-reward like a drink of water or a short break every so often, usually every 100 pole plants , more or less depending on terrain. I decrease it to 50 or 75 if its really steep. The climb up Roan is really long and steep, but eventually we got there and there was still remnants of snow in shady spots here and there from the other day. Ahhhhhh pines.....        We had another "Didgeridude misses the shelter episode" only this time it wasn't a big deal really, but he hiked an extra two miles or so. The turnoff to the highest shelter on the AT, Roan High Knob, is pretty well marked, but I also could see where a distracted hiker could miss it. I thought about leaving one of my hiking poles to catch his eye, but I had given him flak the other day and he thought I was being patronizing, so I didn't leave the pole. We try to remember for him to take pics of the map elevation profiles and guidebook pages, so he has the data, and I try to update him at each break on the next few miles- its x miles to water or a shelter.         This time I realized quickly he had gone by, esp. since some other nobo hikers came in 15 min after me and they hadn't seen him. This time I didn't need water so I just had a quick snack and kept going. 1.5mi later is Carver's Gap, so I waited for him at the road crossing as we'd agreed we'd do if we got split up again. About half an hour later he came back south, where I was sitting by the road chillin, not stressed at all.         Fortunately, he'd run into a guy who was sitting on top of Round Top reading , the guy said he had been there for hours and not seen me, so Didge figured out what happened and backtracked.        As far as a section of trail to rehike- this is a good one, the whole 5 miles from Carver's gap to the shelter (and really the next 6 miles beyond) is totally awesome! Its mosty open,grassy balds interspersed with scrubby vegetation, constant views and it was a gorgeous day. We hiked fairly late into the day, reaching Overmountain Shelter at dusk. Overmtn is aka the big red barn- it overlooks a heart wrenchingly beautiful valley.
Date: 2010-04-30
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: ridge past 19E
Miles today: 11.4

I love me some Overmountain Shelter. I wanted to stay here in 2001, but hit it midday and kept going. I hiked this section sobo after Trail Days in 2003- stayed here in some really crappy weather. The big red barn, tho extremely picturesque, is not very warm. This time, we tented in the field and we really took our time this morning and just soaked in the surroundings. Didge took some really cool artsy fartsy shots in the second floor of the barn. The slats are diagonal, and parts of were covered with a tarp on the outside, so there was diagonal pieces of light with different colors, add some movement swinging the camera around and it looks like a laser show kinda.        We finally got out of there around 10am or so. The trail climbs above the barn up to Little Hump, fantastic views back down the valley. The whole rest of the morning and early afternoon was spectacular hiking. This is easily my favorite section of trail in the south. In a way, it reminds me of the PCT- open views, many spots where you can see the trail for the next mile or two. I miss the PCT. But when I was hiking the PCT, there was things that made me miss the AT. They are both wonderful, but for different reasons.         It was really hot tho! By the time we got to Doll Flats, we decided a siesta in the shade was in order as we were both feeling overheated. There is still not much shade to be had at higher elevations though, so we hung out in the shade of a large rock for a couple hours. We bid farewell to NC there, for the last couple hundred miles we have been playing tag with the NC/TN line. From here, its just TN, til we hit VA. We hiked on around 5 pm, as we dropped in elevation, the vegetation got thicker. We saw the largest trillium I think I have ever seen, the leaves were larger than my hand! We stopped and cooked dinner at Apple House Shelter and then kept hiking. We crossed 19E a little before 8pm, hoping to find something not too far after the road, but the following couple miles were not very hospitable for camping and this section is reknown for problems with locals. There is even a sign at the trailhead saying don't park here overnight. So it's friday night and the trail is running along jeep/ATV roads. We keep walking until we reach a ridge that has some grassy spots off to the side, we are still kinda on a jeep road, but it'll have to do.
Date: 2010-05-01
From: ridge past 19E

To: random campsite
Miles today: 12.8

I think we heard one group of people come up on foot not too long after going to bed, but they soon left. We awoke to find we had a fantastic view from our campsite. Here at 3700 ft, there is a fair amount of green on the forest below us. We can see back to Roan and the top is covered with a cloud. I just missed my 2001 friends Jabez, John Y, and Briarpatch who are hiking there this weekend, I hope the weather clears for them!        This section is drastically different than in 2001, there was a major reroute. Now it goes by a couple waterfalls, which is awesome. The first one, Jones Falls, is wicked cool, at least 100 ft high. It has a free fall section in between some cascades over sheer rock. we took a long break here.        After that, the trail dropped down to walk along the Elk River, which looks like it would be an awesome float. The trail was in the floodplain of the river and there was a sweet campsite along the way. Next time, I will stay here. Overmountain to here would be about 15-16 miles. It was super hot today too- we should have stopped and swum there, but we stopped and took a siesta at Mountaineer Shelter, which also has a waterfall just before, the water source for the shelter is actually the stream that flows down to the falls. This shelter was built by Hardcore in 2006. Hardcore is a post Trail Days volunteer trail work trip- each year alumni and current hikers spend 2 days working on a big relocation or other big project, like building a shelter. In 3 years, the shelter is already peppered with extensive grafitti, probably more so than most shelters because it is made of smooth lumber and is conducive to magic markers. I am dissappointed to see graffiti from 2010 hikers I know.         We stayed there til nearly 5pm and then hiked til almost 8, getting in 12+ miles, not bad for us. We found a spot to camp just off the trail, someone had built a fire in a bad spot, thick leaf cover still and it was too close to a rhodendron bush, part of it was baked brown from the heat. Morons.
Date: 2010-05-02
From: random campsite

To: Kincora
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: few clouds

Headed to Kincora! We hustled a little to assure we made it there for the evening town shuttle. Another hot day, but very windy. We made the shuttle and went to town for food and groceries. We caught up with Stumblewolf, we hadn't seen him since Gatlinburg, 200 miles ago. We lucked into the treehouse- a lovely oasis for 2 a couple hundred yards uphill from the main bunkhouse.
Date: 2010-05-03
From: Kincora

To: Kincora
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We have essentially a private room for 8 bucks a night, so we opted to zero, it was raining in the morning, so the decision wasn't too hard. Laying around and reading magazines all day is my idea of luxury and there was plenty of reading material down in the bunkhouse. It was so wonderful in the treehouse. quiet. bliss. We took the shuttle into town again to get a phone signal and make calls home. Yesterday I got to ride in the cab of the truck, but this time we were in the back of the pick up and it was hell, I felt so ill on the curvy roads.         Kincora is a must stop, Bob Peoples is a great guy. He runs local trail crews and the Hardcore program. This year Hardcore is rerouting the lower section of the climb up Roan- yay!!! Switchbacks baby!         Tango came in today too! She was in Asheville for the same 3 days we were! And then her friend accidently dropped her at the wrong road and she didn't realize it til she was gone, so she had to rehike 7 miles. Bummer! The hostel has a really cool cat , Loki. very friendly, very demanding of attention, he plopped right down in front of Jasper and Tango, each while they were playing solitaire on the picnic table, rolled over on his back on top of the cards- pet me!!!
Date: 2010-05-04
From: Kincora

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

We intended to slackpack today and spend another night in the treehouse, but we missed the shuttle that left early so we decided to hike out. First highlight of the day was Laurel Falls, along with the first blooming rhodedendrons I've seen, and my favorite 100 ft of the trail, a section that runs along a rock ledge just a few feet above the rushing water of Laurel Fork.         After the section in the gorge, the trail climbs steeply and then descends back down, this is one place where I wish it could just go around somehow. Bob Peoples told us this section was slated for rerouting/switchbacks soon, probably Hardcore 2011, maybe we can help with it next year. We took a break at Watauga Lake and then hiked another mile to the shelter. We passed Tango's tent just before getting there. There are tales in the shelter register of an active bear. yay!!
Date: 2010-05-05
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

So around 5 am or so, Didge taps me on the leg urgently- there is something nosing around our tent. It even hit the plastic birdbath base drum which we keep under the fly outside. It has a distinct sound that is very recognizable. I'm convinced its a deer and tell Didge to go back to sleep. A short while later we hear a big crash a short distance away where our food is hung poorly in a tall rhodendendron. We both yell and clap and Didge gets up quickly and manages to grab the food bags where the bear had left them after getting startled a short distance away by the branch breaking and our yelling. Didge says he saw the small yearling bear and heard it whining, very frustrated its food was taken away. We're both wide awake now. Its 530am or so, maybe still an hour til light. We discuss our options which are: try to rehang, keep the food in the tent, or get up and start hiking. We opt to keep it in the tent and after it gets light, we manage to go back to sleep for awhile. We heard more yelling around the shelter but the bear didn't get any human food last night to my knowledge.         Shortly, we cross Watauga Dam, a large earthen dam. There is a road walk afterwards and an option to blue blaze a section of trail and skip a short climb by staying on the road, which we opt for. We stopped for lunch and water at a spring, where we met Montana and her dog Niko, a husky with one blue and one brown eye- very cool. Niko came and hung out with us in the shade while Montana was getting water at the spring.         We climb most of the rest of the day, tho somewhat gradually. We reach our intended campsite, where Tango's familiar blue tent is already set up. We try to be quiet in case she's asleep, but she's not, and we talk through the tent. I met my friend Loose Goose at this campsite in 2001. He was already camped and I showed up and he invited me to stay with him. It's a nice spot, perfectly situated between 2 shelters. It's just shy of 30 miles from here to Damascus, we're hoping to do that in 2 days.
Date: 2010-05-06
From: Campsite

To: Double Spring Gap
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

16 miles! whoo-hoo! It was a gorgeous day, we passed over an open section where the trail passes through a field and the trail is wheelchair accessible for half a mile or so. There was a farm house across the field and I couldn't help but think it'd be a great place for a hiker hostel, except Kincora and Braemar are only 30 and 20 miles to the south respectively and Damascus is less than 20 miles north. It'd be a cool place to live.         There was some interesting graffiti about Bob Peoples in Double Springs Shelter. Bob Peoples = Moses? I heard that when Bob Peoples goes to clear trail, the trees love him so much, he doesn't need a saw, they happily part for him.yeah! I also heard that Bob Peoples personally nurses overy baby animal on the AT for their first 6 weeks.And I heard that Bob Peoples sleeps with a night light because the dark is afraid of Bob Peoples.Word! I heard Bob Peoples smoked ganjia (yes that's how it was spelled) with Bob Marley.Well I hear Bob Peoples hangs up the bears at night so he can sit down to a leisurely candlelit dinner and a good night's sleep.I heard Paul Bunyan's ax was on loan from Bob Peoples. People are silly. Bob Peoples is universally loved, he's just a super guy. We ended up hiking late into the day to camp here with Tango again. 13 miles to Damascus!
Date: 2010-05-07
From: Double Spring Gap

To: The Place
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

We passed a couple water sources that hikers had made negative editorial comments on the signs about quality and distance. Luckily, we did not need water at either of these places. I saw some really cool flame azeala today as well as a few pink lady slippers. Jasper took a picture of a really cool spider. When we reached the Welcome to Mt Rogers TN/VA sign, there were some trail volunteers doing some prep work to replace the sign, cutting some new supports for the sign which would be replaced in a few days. We moved a little down the trail to take a break away from the chainsaw noise and then they moved towards us and proceeded to cut through another blowdown on the trail near us. They had some issues with the chainsaw, so it took quite awhile and we clapped when the large tree was finally cut through.        Down and down we went, until finally popping out of the woods between some houses. Some kids ran up to us and offered us banana popsicles! I love Damascus! The only other time I walked here, I had never been here before. Since that time, I have returned 4 times to the friendliest town on the trail, so to walk here again is very special. This is Jasper's third time here and Damascus is the place where he decided he wanted to hike the trail, so to walk here is a HUGE deal for him. It is weird to walk under the arch and into the park and see it empty, not packed with vendors, as the last 3 times I was here it was Trail Days. And so it will be again next weekend!         We stopped briefly outside Mount Rogers Outfitter (MRO) and this old guy saw our Aarn packs with the balance pockets on front and said- " You're gonna git rid of those once the weather gets hot! "- A) the balance pockets don't touch your body, B) its already hot and what little bit of thermal comfort I might give up is MORE than made up for by the awesomeness of the weight distribution. Nothing I could say to that opinionated old coot would make a difference , so I didn't bother. Later the same guy shaved his head over the toilet in the hiker hostel and didn't clean it up. Asshole. Didge cleaned up after him.         While I'm on a rant- sometimes hikers suck. There are several dozen towels available for hikers use at the honor system, 5 bucks a night, do it yourself hostel known as "The Place". Hikers are supposed to wash the towels with their own laundry- and there was not a single damn clean towel. After drying ourselves with our camp towel, we took several towels to the laundry and did them with our laundry.         We ate at Quincey's for the second time today and had a beer. Tomorrow we zero. It's the town-wide garage sale! Not like we will buy anything, tho!
Date: 2010-05-08
From: The Place

To: The Place- Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

the weather turned windy and chilly overnight. If its this cold down here at 2000ft, I can only imagine what it feels like over 5k up in Mount Rogers. It was a lazy day, we hung out with Holysmoke a bunch and made plans to get shuttled 40 miles north and hike south a leisurely 4 days back to here for Trail Days. Didge went out to Quincey's later with Stumblewolf, Johnny Walker, Holysmoke, Molasses, and Cotton. I was quite content to relax in the tent out in the yard of the Place and read a magazine by headlamp.