morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-03
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Day 21 -Silers Bald to Clingman's Dome/Gatlinburg
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: clear sky

Circumstances forced us into Gatlinburg a few days early. One of us had enrolled at UTI and needed to clear a few things up. Fortunately for us, Duck Tape, who's from Knoxville, was meeting his dad at Clingman's Dome. He arranged a ride into town today and back to the trail tomorrow. Thank you.As much as we would have liked to continue for a couple of more days, we're learning that the trail makes a lot of your decisions for you and it's best to take the path it offers. We got up to very cold temps this a.m. So glad we were in the tents, it's much warmer than the shelter. Even so, my breakfast of a snickers bar was frozen. The hike to the Clingman's Dome Observation Tower was pretty easy and had lots of views. We saw another doe grazing along the trail and passed close enough to touch it. As we neared the tower we met Tony and Jessica who were walking the trail handing out magic. They hope to thru hike in the future and gave us some snacks and soda. Thanks guys, just what we needed.At the tower we met Teacher and Snacktime from R.I. who are going to each of the fourteen states that the trail passes through doing trail magic, and walking ten miles of the trail. An awesome homeschool experience for Snacktime. The tower gave us great views of where we've been and where we're heading, but the cold wind chased us down pretty quickly. We walked down the road and met Duck Tape's dad. There is no way we can thank them enough for driving us to and all around Gatlinburg. They went well out of their way to be helpful and we so appreciate it. Thanks again for all your kindnesses.Tomorrow we hope to put in about 12 miles and then pick up the pace a bit. We'll see where there trail sends us.
Date: 2014-05-04
From: Clingman's Dome/Gatlinburg

To: Day 22 - Clingman's Dome to Icewater Spring Shltr
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Three weeks. We passed 200 miles today! Duck Tape and his dad, Chris, picked us up for the ride back to Clingman's Dome from Gatlinburg. They brought some coffee cake that Duck Tape's mom made. About the best I've ever had! Thanks so much!After pictures and goodbyes, we headed out for Icewater Spring Shelter. It was downhill for quite a way in the morning, a nice change of pace. We passed a lot of day hikers and met a few section hikers. A lot of mini conversations during the day. We stopped at Newfound Gap for a snack at lunch and laid out in the sun for an hour, nice. Lots of people with questions about the hike. It's fun talking to them all and we enjoy the enthusiasm they seem to have for our adventure. The last part of the day was a climb to 6000' and the shelter. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We got in at 5:30, had dinner, set up our tents (the shelter was full, hooray!) and sat out watching the stars with Lee and Jeanie, section hikers from Virginia, Mad Science and Sunshine, a young couple from Indiana, Growler from Cleveland, and Duck Tape. A beautiful night with nice people.Goodnight all.
Date: 2014-05-05
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Day 23 - Icewater Spring to Tricorner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

One mile into our hike today we reached Charlie's Bunion, an overlook with the most impressive views yet. We stayed there longer than we thought we would. We just couldn't leave the spectacular vistas. Once we did drag ourselves away, we had a seven mile hike to water. Lots of ups and downs, but beautiful scenery along the way.We all got to Peck's Corner and the water was a half a mile away. Duck Tape and I dropped our packs and hiked down to fill up. M and N kept an eye on the gear and broke out the food. The trouble with going a half mile downhill for water is that you have to climb back up. Not fun.After the break M and N took off for Tricorner Shelter another five miles away. Duck Tape and I took our time hiking out. We talked and joked the whole way. It made for a nice hike.We got to the Tri at 5:30. One of the worst set ups we've seen. The privy was on the high, dry ground above the water source which ran into the shelter area. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they made this shelter. There was no area to tent so we had no choice but to sleep in the shelter. Snoring and mice, how nice. I guess we had to pay for the beautiful views at Charlie's Bunion.Night all.
Date: 2014-05-07
From: Painter Branch Campsite

To: Day 25 - Painter Branch to Brown Gap USFS 148A
Miles today: 7.7

After yesterday's 20 miles, a lot of sore feet and tired legs. We had planned on 13 or 15 today, but had to settle for 8.Kind of a tedious hike; lots of trees, lots of green, and limited views. Instead of wide vistas, I'm looking at the flowers up close. There were a pair of Lady Slippers right next to the trail; they reminded me of my mom. We used to see them sometimes down in Halifax at the camp, and she told me they were rare. I didn't see any more the rest of the day. We took a long lunch at Groundhog Creek Shelter. Another hot day, so it made sense to rest at the height of the day. There was a nice creek there for soaking our feet. We stayed for two hours.As usual the last couple of miles seemed to be longer than the rest. We walked into Brown Gap more tired than we should have been. The accumulation of miles taking its toll.The water source was kind of iffy, but I found a somewhat better one a hundred yards up an old gravel road. The drainage ditches along the road were filled with tadpoles. We watched them swimming around for a while wondering if they were edible. Food is a major topic out here lately and anything with flavor is discussed as a possibility. Nah.I started a fire and we were joined by three other thrus whose names I'm too tired to recall. Early to bed. We want to get 12 in tomorrow and make Hot Springs by Friday.Good night.
Date: 2014-05-08
From: Brown Gap USFS 148A

To: Day 26 -Brown Gap to Unnamed Gap Campsite
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: broken clouds

12.3 miles today. I woke up early, packed up and headed out ahead of the kids. I just needed to move. The heebie jeebies. The day began with a climb out of the gap, not too bad. Lots of woods. Treed in all around until Max Patch Road.I met Onesimus, a trail angel/proselytizer, who offered me an orange and a soda and talked of the end of days. I told him that the end of days would be less dramatic than he thought, and that I'd see him on the other side. He plans on following the trail so I'm sure I'll see him again. He's got a cool dog called Spencer that travels with him. I left a message with him for the kids to meet me on Max Patch.It was a nice hike up, the trees giving way to open fields. They keep Max Patch as a grass covered bald by controlled burns. It used to be kept clear by grazing cattle. There's a road that takes day hikers most of the way up. I met a few who were heading back down, and had the summit to myself. I found the geo marker for the top and laid down next to it in the grass to wait for the trio.Thirty minutes later Duck Tape came up. He said M and N stopped at a stream so Natalie could soak her swollen ankle. They showed up a while later. We hung out, ate and enjoyed the view. We hiked out together for the last eight miles to unnamed gap. The water is a half mile away, but the site is a good one; flat with plenty of wood for a fire. Lots of black flies though.All of our phones are dead. We had asked Amy to book us a room, and last we heard she was having difficulty. We'll see tomorrow. Definitely need to do laundry and take a shower, we all stink.Well, I'm beat. Time for bed. TTFN.
Date: 2014-05-09
From: Unnamed Gap Campsite

To: Day 27 - Unnamed Gap to Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Natalie was the first out and Mike shortly after. I finished packing and was about twenty minutes behind. Duck Tape was going to take a zero for mother's day so he took his time leaving. He was going to hike past us so that he could catch us on Sunday after our zero. Confused? Me too. The idea was to quick-hike into town to see what accommodations, if any, Amy was able to find for us. If there were none we'd hike on after resupply.I hustled out trying to catch the kids, but I had a lyric stuck in my head that I wanted to write down so after an hour I pulled off my pack and got a pen and paper. As I was writing two thrus came by. We said hello and they bombed on past. The second hiker is a guy I'd seen before. Looks to be in his fifties, seems nice enough, but each time I've seen him I've thought to myself, this guy's way too clean. He smells like a day hiker, all soft and soapy. He's clean shaven and his clothes always look fresh and shiny. I don't know how he does it, but I know anyone that clean isn't gonna run by me on the trail. I threw on my pack, cinched it down tight and took off at a trot until I was on his heels. I know; I'm out on the trail, supposedly enjoying the peace, serenity and companionship of the thru hiker community, but face it, I'm a nut.So I'm on the guy's heels and he's listening to the click of my trekking poles and my panting breath and he's bounding along down the trail. I'm thinking, this guy's a machine. Then I notice a little hitch in his step. He catches his toe a bit on a root. I hear him swear under his breath. A few steps on he kicks up a stone, another low grumbling curse. I know I've got him. He takes a deep breath and yells out, "I need a water break," and steps to the side of the trail. I dig my poles deep into the ground and leap past him. I don't look back and I don't slow down; we're two miles from the next shelter and damn it, I'm getting there first. This dirty, sweaty, hairy, old fanatic SOB will not be beaten. I know the guy has no idea he's been in a race. I know he probably thought I was just trying to get to a privy. Doesn't matter. I win.When I got to the shelter I told Mike about my incredible encounter and of the defeat of the good smelling guy, and he Miked me with a little smile and a tired shake of the head. Poor Natalie didn't get it at all. What I know is that those were the best six miles I've ever hiked. Thanks, good smelling guy.We finished the eleven miles to town in about four hours. Amy got us accommodations at Elmer's (which I complained about because I'm an ungrateful jerk. Sorry love. (*It's okay, honey, I still love you ~The Administrator*) We did laundry, drank beer, ate food and now I'm all better. Zero tomorrow!
Date: 2014-05-10
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Day 28 - Zero in Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We had an organic breakfast at Elmer's with some of the other guests. Nice conversation and a good meal, can't beat it.Lazed around and then went out for resupply at the outfitters. Someone said, "Well don't you say hello?" and there was Granite from Nashua who we hadn't seen in quite a while. I asked how he was doing and he lifted his shirt to reveal some staples in four different places on his belly. "Bear?" I asked. "Gall bladder," he replied. What he thought was nagging indigestion turned out to be a raging gall bladder. They removed it arthroscopically and told him he'd have a six week recovery. He's determined to thru this year and hopes to get home, get better, and get back on the trail southbound. From the short time I've spent with him he's given me no reason to doubt that he'll finish his hike. With luck, I hope to meet him coming south in a couple of months. He's staying at Elmer's too, so I hope to see him again before we head out. Best of luck, Granite and a speedy recovery.We've had meals at the Iron Horse and the Still Mountain Restaurants. Both places had good food and friendly staff. We also stopped at the Spring Creek Tavern for some designer beers, AOK. The kids are going to watch the Bruins and then go to the spa. I've got a few things on my mind so I think I'll just chill out at Elmer's. I'll wish all the moms a Happy Mother's Day now, while I have service. We wouldn't be here without you. Ok, and dad too.TTFN.
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Day 29 - Hot Springs To Spring Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

It was a slow start for us this morning getting out of Hot Springs, but things got interesting soon enough. We had breakfast, made a few resupply purchases, weighed our too heavy backpacks and finally headed for Spring Mt. Shelter. We crossed the French Broad River and were following the blazes along the shoreline when the lure of the river became too much for Mike and Natalie to ignore. Before you could say, "Let's" they had stripped down to skivies and were in the water for a swim. I headed back over the bridge to a convenience store for some water after talking to some southbound hikers who said water was scarce along the trail.After their swim we followed the blazes up a steeply graded trail to Lover's Leap, an outcropping along the river about 300' high. Just past the first overlook as I lead with Natalie then Mike following, Natalie suddenly called out, "Um, John." I turned to see what she wanted and she pointed down to the trail where a copperhead snake sat where I had just stepped. "That snake just tried to bite you. He just missed your leg.""Well, thank you for the timely warning." I said. "What kind of a snake is that?" she asked. "A poisonous one." I answered. "Wow, that would have made a cool entry in your blog. You could have written about going to the hospital and the treatment you got."To which Mike added, "Yeah, that WOULD have been cool.""I'm sorry I didn't have the near death experience you had hoped for guys, maybe next time."We tried to get a picture of the snake, but it took off into the brush. A valuable trail lesson about how little control we have over the events of this hike. Like life in general, you just put your head down and keep walking.We passed the first pond I can recall seeing since the start of the hike and took lunch just beyond it. It was nice, sitting under a huge tree relaxing and talking to hikers as they passed by. We met a young German couple, Andi and Ivana from Dortmund. There was Sarah and her lab, Brie, and a former marine who's name we didn't get.The rest of the hike afforded few views, though we were glad to be in the shade of the trees.We got to the camp site about 6:30. The spring there was running at a trickle even after yesterday's rain. It's been dry and water may be an issue tomorrow. We'll camel up here and see what happens.Night all.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Spring Mt. Shelter

To: Day 30 - Spring Mt Shelter to Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The early part of the hike was a series of P.U.D.s; nothing to see here folks, move along. At 8.6 miles in we stopped at Little Laurel Shelter and had lunch with Andi, Ivana, Chainsaw and an 80 year old on a section hike. We headed out for Jerry Cabin and it seemed more like home; lots of rock. There was an overlook called Whiterock Cliff that was beautiful. The first open vista in quite a while. The bugs chased us out though. After that, the trail became mostly boulders and I felt a bit homesick as we had to do a bit of scrambling. A tiny bit of hand over hand. It felt good. We walked the ridge for about a mile.After that respite, another series of P.U.D.s took us over the 300 mile mark. Shortly after that we got to the shelter. We found a nice tent site with a fire ring and I started a fire to clear out the bugs. Oh, I forgot to mention how bad the bugs are. We've been plagued by flies, black flies and noseeums; and let's not forget the ticks. Every time you stop the flies immediately attack. One type goes for the eyes, one for the ears and the rest bite any open skin you show, and with temps in the 80's you're showing skin. The smoke from the fire is the only thing that manages them.We invited Andi and Ivana over to eat with us by the fire and had a nice chat going when it started to rain. That made it an early night. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Bye for now.
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Day 31 - Jerry Cabin to Cascade at mile 310.1
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: scattered clouds

One month out. A sleepless night led to a late start and short mileage. A bit of everything on the trail; boulders, rises, long downhills, road crossings and balds, but all in all a blah day. Too tired to enjoy much.We had rain last night that made everything sticky and humid. Too hot for the sleeping bag, too damp to sleep in your shorts. Once the rain broke, the full moon lit up the night like a flare which got the owls calling, "Ahwhooo, ahwhooo," through the night; not conductive to sweet dreams.We did the ten miles by 3:30 and called it a day. We washed our clothes in a creek and hung them out in time for late thunder showers. Oh well, that's life on the trail. Night all.
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Cascade

To: Day 32 - Cascade to mile 328.6 Whistling Gap
Miles today: 18.5

Yesterday a man had hiked through looking for two of his dogs that had gotten away from him. I guess they get confused by all the hiker scents on the trail and can't find their way home. He asked if we'd keep an eye out for them, that they had his phone number on their collars.We started hiking about 8. I don't think it had anything to do with the lost dogs, but there were hounds baying last night for hours on end. Made for another restless night. I went out first, but M and N soon passed me.(I did take a side trail by accident for a while, DOH!) I got to the Hogback Ridge Shelter about 10:30; there were Mike and Natalie, the the two dogs they had found, and one happy owner, Rodney, a local farmer. We ate with him. He said he had had Luke and Taylor at his home the night before and they were helping him look for the dogs. He offered us a place to stay or a ride into town, but we wanted to get some miles in. As we parted he said anything we needed between here and Virginia was on him, just call.Further down the trail we bumped into No Pants. He's been hiking solo for a while. I think because he often stops to set up his camera for pics that it's hard to find someone hiking at his pace. About 4 miles on we met two women sitting on an open hillside who gave us oranges (which I had been craving all day), apples, chocolate, and hard boiled eggs. We chatted, thanked them and moved on toward Big Bald.The bald was awesome and quite windy. We ate lunch and lazed, but not for too long because it got chilly. No Pants caught up and sat for a bit before we moved on. We had hoped to do 20 miles, but we were getting tired and a storm was predicted for tonight, so after crossing Little Bald we decided to stay at Whistling Gap. No more camping up high in bad weather.As we neared the gap we could see a fire; it was Andi and Ivana, the German university students. We like talking with them and I think they enjoy the unusual English lessons we provide. A Boston accent adds a little flavor to the mix. We set up camp, talked, laughed, ate then headed to bed around 10 p.m. The rains came shortly after. Hoping to make Erwin tomorrow.Goodnight.
Date: 2014-05-15
From: Whistling Gap

To: Day 33 - Whistling Gap to Erwin, Tn.
Miles today: 12.9

The hard rain last night broke up enough to let us get the tents down this morning. We were heading to Erwin to pick up a mail drop for Natalie. Everyone is feeling kind of blah. Let me rephrase that, I'm feeling blah. Rotten mood, surly disposition; all I wanted was to do the 13 miles to Erwin and get a burger and a beer.The hike out was a roller-coaster. The air was misty as we started and became a full on downpour soon enough. Hiking in the rain isn't that bad except that I get more wet from sweating than I do from the rain. When I stopped to retie my shoe, torrents of sweat poured out of the sleeves of my rain jacket. The weather has turned cool so going without some kind of cover isn't an option. Amy is working on a new jacket for me.I soloed most of the day. Being miserable and wet left no time for pics and I was just pounding out the miles to get the day done.When we did get to the Erwin trail-head we decided to stay in town, eat and resupply. We looked at the guide and it seemed like everything was close to the Super 8 so we started walking the 3.4 miles to town down the drizzly road. Fortunately for us, a kind gentleman in a pickup truck pulled over and offered us a ride. He took us right to the door of the motel. Thank you, sir.The map, or our interpretation of it, wasn't quite what we thought. Things weren't as close as we expected. We walked 1.2 miles to a laundry and 2 miles to a Mex place (the only place in town that served beer with your meal). By the time we sat down to eat I was too exhausted to get the food down. I left the kids and walked back to the motel.When I got back to the room I looked in the mirror and I could see the problem; I'd lost too much weight too fast. The kids brought back the food I'd left behind and I finished that. I'm going to have to calorie up, fluid up, and put a little weight back on; or at least stop losing. I felt better after eating and talking to the Administrator. We'll try to lighten up the mood and fatten up the old guy over the next few weeks.Bye for now.
Date: 2014-05-16
From: Erwin, Tn.

To: Day 34 - Erwin to Indian Grave Gap @ mi 350.3
Miles today: 8.8

We met Two Long Braids and Cuddles, a couple of thrus, at breakfast this morning. They were headed back to the trail as well. Ate big, donuts, milk, waffles, juice, more milk, packed up and headed back to the trail. We got lucky; M and N met Kaitlyn, Miss Janet's daughter (Miss Janet is a well known trail angel and her daughter is following in her footsteps) who offered us a ride back to the trail-head. She said she's been up to Nashua and that she may be back again soon. I invited her to look us up. Thanks Kaitlyn!A nice hike today. A bit slower pace after the late start. We made ten miles and called it a day.
Date: 2014-05-17
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Day 35 - Indian Grave Gap to campsite 363.4
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy Birthday, Jean!       It got down into the 30's last night, 40's this morning. I left ahead of M and N and only saw one hiker, Joe, and his dog Bob. A very quiet day, most everyone has gone to Damascus for trail days (an annual event for hikers on the AT). We're trying to put in some miles so we decided to skip it.I was alone for nine miles when I took a break at Cherry Gap Shelter. The pair caught up while I was having lunch and we all hiked together the rest of the way. We ended up doing thirteen miles. It was very cool all day, cloudy with a breeze.We stopped at a campsite in an old apple orchard. It was pretty, a real nice spot. I got a fire going with difficulty; everything was still wet from last night's rain. Had a supper of summer sausage, pasta and cheese. We goofed around a bit and went to bed. Bye for now.