morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-06
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: TriCorner Knob
Miles today: 12.6

hiking by 9am or so, pretty good for us. we headed north towards Charlie's Bunion. Views were awesome, weather was awesome, the trail was mellow, tho there were still some patches of snow here and there. There were incredible views all morning, and more piney forest. This section of trail has spots where you are walking along a knife's edge ridge- steep vegetated hillside on either side of you, but the vegetation is sparse and stunted so you have great views.         We ate lunch at a rock ledge along the trail with great views. I love taking my shoes off and sitting on sun-warmed rock. We have gotten so incredibly lucky on weather for the last week. Who gets a solid week of sunshine in the Smokies in April? We do. I had felt lucky in 2001 it only rained half the days I was in the Smokies.         TriCorner knob shelter is carved into the side of a hillside pretty much. Most of the same crowd from last night is here, including T bone. There's not really any place to tent here, so luckily there was none of the "who has to stay in the shelter game". It was full already when Friar Tuck and Tango arrived, so T-bone sent them up the hill to a tent spot by the horse corral. (there are a few areas in the Smokies where horses are allowed- their use on certain trails predates the AT, so all the horse poop and erosion is grandfathered in. )         Around dusk, after dinner, we were all finishing up dinner (including some section hikers who had packed in produce and were simmering some very aromatic something, we all heard a yell from over by the bear cables. "Oh Sh*T!! Bear! Getta out here bear!!" A dozen headlamps pivoted in the failing light to see a BIG dark shape crash off up the hill into the woods. After a moment, I realize Jasper isn't around me and that HE is the one yelling at the bear. I'm glad we went over what to do if you see a bear. He did awesome. T-bone went over by him and they made more noise and made sure the bear didn't come back into the shelter area.         Awhile later, we are all in our sleeping bags and Tango and Friar Tuck come back down to the shelter- "the bear stole my pack!" Friar Tuck's pack was outside their tent, without any food in it, and the bear drug it off into the woods. It must have gotten food from a pack before. Now is about when the bears wake up from hibernation. And they wake up hungry. And those section hikers were cooking food that a bear could smell from miles away. I hope we can find Friar Tuck's pack in the morning.
Date: 2010-04-07
From: TriCorner Knob

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

A bunch of us fanned out in the woods around where they had camped and looked for any trace of Friar Tuck's pack. Nothing. Scat Tracker found some bear prints in the snow. I did find a watch just off the side of the trail near the shelter turnoff that turned out to be Friar Tuck's but he had lost it prior to the bear incident.         The mileage choices for today were 8 or 15, most of the hikers went for the 15, but Friar Tuck, Tango , and Jasper and I opted for the 8. Beans and Sweet Cheeks carried some of Tuck's stuff to the next shelter for him. I think Tango carried the rest of his food. He lost his wallet, camera, ID, rain gear, long johns, and various other items. He has his tent, sleeping pad and bag tho- so he's okay. He's taking it really well. I offered help getting to Asheville to re-outfit, I'm sure H&U would be willing to come up and get him, they have had their share of bear run-ins. But Tango also has friends in Asheville, so they are set, she was able to get a signal to make some calls.         Sheltering tonight. Cappy is hammocking, which T-bone has no problem with as it's low impact. Last night in the park, can't say I am going to miss the regulations. T-bone did tell us we could go a couple more miles and stay at Mt. Cammener Lookout,(which is against the rules, but he knows I was a RR and have Leave No Trace training. But the weather is supposed to turn overnight and I don't want to do the extra mileage to the lookout. (later I wish we had)
Date: 2010-04-08
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: moderate rain

Well our week of perfect weather has come to an end. The morning was clear and we had a great sunrise view. (should have gone to the tower! argh!) At that time, you could see clouds down in the valleys and soon after starting to hike, we were in the midst of them. We walked in the rain all day. By then, taking the side trail to Mt Cammemer view was pointless. Downhill in the rain, all day. We crossed the Pigeon River and Interstate 40 (which is still closed after months due to a rockslide). We rolled into Standing Bear Farm- the semi-private cabin was full, the bunkhouse nearly so. They showed us a shed we could stay in if we wanted privacy. Um no thanks. A couple with a dog came in later and took them up on it.        Their laundry system is a washtub with a dryer, which was broken. So we just hung up our dirty wet stuff around the wood stove in the bunk room. Mary Beth summed it up pretty well- she is a conservative , fit middle aged woman- she said, this is just a little outside my comfort zone. 9 years ago, this was totally my comfort zone, hostel full of smelly stinky hikers, but now, I'd rather stay in a hotel. With two people its about the same price anyway. But still , its raining , and I'm inside ,warm and sorta dry, I really can't complain. But IMO, Standing Bear has room for improvement. I do like their honor food system. They have a little building with fridges and freezer full of sodas, frozen pizza, misc other items, plus stuff for resupply. The items are pretty reasonably priced. You take an envelope and write down your info and what you had and then we you check out, you pay what you owe.
Date: 2010-04-09
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Uphill yay! The next 150 miles or so I have hiked twice before. Once in 2001, and again on spring break in 2003. All 3 times, I have stopped at Groundhog Creek- someday I will start early and camp on top of Max Patch (another 6 miles or so).         This climb kinda sucks, but once you get up to Snowbird, you have some views. It was a much nicer day than yesterday, sunny and clear. We tented! with no one in the shelter at all, which was good cause the platform was collapsed on one side and had a definate slant to it. We shared a fire with Nesta, Beaverchief, Tigerwoods, and Pebbles.
Date: 2010-04-10
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: campsite by stream
Miles today: 9.9

Had a slow start this morning, made it to Max Patch and hung out for a bit. It was a gorgeous weekend day and there were so many people up there, it was crazy. There were folks playing frisbee, flying kites, it was surreal. We found out we just missed trail magic, On the Loose had brought up beer and pizza with her dad (we met her a few days ago in the first half of the Smokies- she shaved her head for Locks of Love- she seemed really cool, but she was moving fast ). We managed to eak out almost 10 miles, camping at a random spot near the sound of rushing water. We had a nice fire.
Date: 2010-04-12
From: Deer Park Mtn Shelter

To: Hot Springs NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

Nature camped a ways up the trail so she could get a very early start to make it to town for a phone interview for a trail crew chief job in Maine. By the time we rolled in, she had finished the interview and felt it went well. Since Didge is considerably faster hiking than me and we weren't totally certain we really had a reservation at Elmer's, I sent him ahead to get there as early as possible. As I came into town, he was walking up to meet me to tell me the good news we had our room. So we then ate an early lunch at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Nature was hanging out outside, her phone worked in Hot Springs and ours didn't, so we decided to call H&U, only I called on her phone. MaryAnn recognized the number as Nature's but then it was my voice- hey Mary Ann, I'm in Hot Springs, guess who I met? I think Hot Springs is her favorite trail town and she and Bob are only about 45 minutes away- she said, "I'm coming up this afternoon!" I had a feeling she would! Later on, all 5 of us got together at a restaurant that has an outside eating area right on a creek that runs through town.         Hot Springs, NC is a neat little town. It and Damascus VA are by far the two best trail towns along the trail. Both towns have the trail running right down Main Street and both towns are welcoming to hikers, have several choices of places to stay ranging from very cheap to posh B&B's. I have never been to Hikerfest, Hot Springs' lower key version of Trail Days, but I hope to someday.         Damascus does not have Elmer's Sunnybank Inn though. It's a Victorian mansion with interesting history. Elmer is a former hiker who lets stinky hiker trash stay in his antique furnished house for 20 bucks a person. He also features gourmet vegetarian meals for dinner and breakfast. Nature was staying elsewhere, but signed up for the dinner as she's a vegetarian. We'll be eating breakfast there tomorrow. We met a ton of new hikers in town, including briefly a guy I had talked to online before the trail- Slackimus Maximus who lives in Missouri as well.         We went into the Dollar General to get some cheese and snacks and Jasper found a new drum! Many years ago he had found a plastic pillar in the crawl space of a place he rented and he will drum on anything to see how it sounds- it sounded pretty good but for some reason through the years he got rid of the plastic pillar. In planning for the trail, he searched for a lightweight drum to take. He googled plastic pillar in hopes of finding another whatever it was with no luck. he ended up finding an Udu drum made of a gourd. it weighs 13 oz and has a nice sound, but its not very loud and no one else can play it very well to say play along with Jasper while he plays didgeridoo. So we're in Dollar General and he spots it- the plastic grail. A birdbath base. It's a little heavier than the udu, but just over a pound. Didgeridude is happy. We send the gourd udu home with H&U.
Date: 2010-04-13
From: Hot Springs NC

To: Mill Ridge
Miles today: 5.2

we had a nice breakfast at Elmer's, tho we were the last to come down as we let the breakfast bell be our wakeup call. We meandered out of town eventually after getting our food sorted, we did send some extra gear home with H&U, but still my pack just felt sooo heavy leaving town. Hot Springs is a hard town to leave. I think it probably has the most dramatic town exit going nobo. You cross the French Broad River on a bridge and then head downstream parallel to the river for awhile, walking right along its banks. Then the trail starts to ascend quickly to Lover's Leap overlook. The trees are starting to green up now, the purple flowers on the redbud trees add just the pefect complement to the lime green leaves. So it was beautiful, but I was really really hurting. I just felt horrible, I don't know I drank one beer with dinner last night is the only thing I can think of. My wonderful husband Jasper took all the food weight out of my pack and that helped some, but I was just super duper slow and I felt awful. We made it 5 miles , just past a dammed pond along the trail- a rarity to see a largish body of water on the trail, it had cool reflections in the water. I remember hiking past the Mill Ridge area in 2003- I passed through it three times in 2003, I forgot my camera at a breakstop and realized it 3 miles later and had to backtrack. Mill Ridge is a grassy field, I thought we'd be able to find a camp spot, but the grass was the tall thick, hummock-y uneven surface kind of field- so we explored up a side road that led to a trailhead parking area with a flattish less hummocky grassy spot.
Date: 2010-04-14
From: Mill Ridge

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

a nice day for a walk in the woods.The trees have those early spring neon green buds, the sun was out all day. We have been feeling the heat and there is not much shade yet. I feel like I get depleted of electrolytes really easily now. We are trying to remember to make powerade more often now- every day at lunch if not the first break. I feel like I can bonk really easily still, but I do feel stronger than before. I still have these bumps on my legs- itchy but not horrible itchy like poison ivy or chiggers. I take benedryl at night fairly often so I don't wake up itching. We hiked a couple miles past Spring Mountain shelter to camp at Deep Gap.
Date: 2010-04-15
From: Deep Gap

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

The group we stayed with the night before Hot Springs all caught up with us today after taking a zero in Hot Springs. We did a long day for us, with a long uphill. There is a side trail I have never taken and don't even remember being aware of- to Camp Creek Bald firetower. Some people in the register were talking about camping on it. We didn't go. I saw pics later and next time I will go there- it looks awesome!         Once we reached the top of the climb after the shelter the trail got easier for awhile and there were some nice views along a rhodendron covered ridge. There were a couple side trails I thought would lead to more open views, but they were a dissappointment.                Then we passed a blue blaze bad weather trail. Hmm I don't really remember that from having hiked this section in 2001 and 2003. Turns out there's been a reroute. I feel like Earl Shaffer bitching they've made the trail too damn hard! I wish we'd taken the blue blaze which is probably the old AT. The trail went over White Rocks, someone has done A LOT of work- there were hundreds of stone steps- up and down repeatedly, but not really ever getting a good view until we'd been doing this for what seemed like a couple miles. By then we were too wiped to enjoy he view and were pushing it to make it to Jerry Cabin shelter before dark. This kind of reminded me of the day over Clingman's Dome, where we decided to push a big day and then had a surprise grueling challenge to slow us down at the end of the day.                 When we finally arrived at the shelter, there was a handful of people in the shelter, everyone else is tenting. that is one difference between 2001 and 2010, no one seems to really want to sleep in the shelter, including us. The tenting here is kind of sloping. We tented near the Gooch Crew , that group of Klarity,Red Lobster, Flycatcher, Sweet Tea, Tattoo and Power Nap. I guess they have all been hiking together since Gooch Mtn a couple days into the trail.
Date: 2010-04-17
From: Asheville NC

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

Jasper's mom Linda sent us an Easter basket here at Bob and Mary Ann's, also enclosing a card for the two of them- so sweet! I never got any care packages on my first AT hike, but I never asked for any either. H&U ran us around all afternoon after running Nature back to the trail in the morning. We looked for shoes for me and a new short sleeve shirt for Jasper. We ended up getting what we needed at an outfitter close out store- kinda like Sierra Trading Post, but local. I got a pair of North Face shoes with Goretex. I call then my Darth Vader shoes as they are black and gray, kinda mean futuristic looking. They had the same model without Goretex, which I would prefer as they breath better and dry faster, but the ones with the Goretex had more of a bootie feel- hugged my ankle better. I think that is one of the things I like about the Montrail Vitesse is they have this sewn in bootie instead of a traditional tongue. It just seems to hug my foot better. But alas the Vitesse is no more So we'll try this one and see how it goes. I'm bouncing the Vitesse to Damascus.         One of my major tasks to accomplish while in Asheville was get all my boxes mailed. I have like 4 boxes of crap here, including a laptop computer, I need to mail home, plus some food to either bounce ahead or mail home. What a chore, but I got it done. I also decided finally to see a doctor about the rash/bites? on my legs. They said it was impetigo and gave me a week of clindamyicin.I looked up online and it can cause mild fatigue, so maybe that's why I feel like crap when hiking, but more or less feel okay otherwise?
Date: 2010-04-18
From: Asheville NC

To: Asheville NC
Miles today: 0.0

Another great day with Bob and Mary Ann. We went to their church, which is the coolest church I have ever been to. It is called Jubilee! www.jubileecommunity.orgit is the closest I think I have seen of a church that seeks to embrace it all- it integrates Christian ideas with Buddhist, Nature, and other traditions. I have never been a church goer, I have never understood the "do it our way or go to hell" only idea. The congregation sat in a circle (our wedding the guests were in an arc around us). The pastor quoted Bob Marley, there was an interpretive dance, people held hands. It was awesome. After church, we went out to lunch with some of H&U's friends.
Date: 2010-04-20
From: campsite past Sam's gap

To: Bald Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

A pretty morning hiking, we had some nice views , took a break with Yahtzee and Carrie at Street Gap. As we climbed higher up Big Bald, the weather got nasty and we opted to stay in the shelter there, tho in retrospect, had we kept going down to Whistling Gap, it might not have been so nasty at lower elevation. It was a full shelter, there was only one spot on the bottom level. I can't climb to the top, there was no ladder and since the surgery where they took part of a stomach muscle to make a breast, I can't climb up on the second level. I'm not sure if its a range of movement limitation or lack of strength, I just know I physically cannot do it. New England with its large rocks to scramble up might be fun...         Tango came in later and tented. We ran into her slacking sobo the other day. She's done some stuff out of order here, I think she's actually a few days ahead of us on the trail. She wanted to slack into Erwin, so got a shuttle from Uncle Johnny's then was talked into doing a 19 mile slack north back to Erwin, had a bad night at Uncle Johnny's and just wanted out of there and so took their regular shuttle to the same spot and hiked north, leaving a 25 mi gap south of Erwin that she got shuttled back by Connie at Greasy Creek to do. Confused? It was nice to see her again anyway. She is also a breast cancer survivor.         So Jasper's on the top bunk and I'm on the bottom. It's nasty and cold here.
Date: 2010-04-21
From: Bald Mtn Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Yesterday a hiker named Olive Oil passed us on Big Bald. We had our full rain gear on, she was in a tank top and shorts, flying and doing a 20 from Hogback Ridge to No Business Knob. I remember just feeling- like wow, she's flying, then I remembered I did that same 20 mile day on a section hike in 2003. In 2001, I stopped at Whistling gap after 15 miles, a ton of other hikers were going for that 20 , but then they ended up doing a 27 to make it to town before a snow storm. I bailed at Spivey Gap in said snowstorm and slacked the rest the next day. I feel so slow this year. Yes I'm nine years older. But I was able to hike the same as recently as 4 years ago when I went out to the PCT for a month. But I must remember I had major surgery 15 months ago. I was on my third or fourth of six chemo treatments a year ago. A litle over 6 months ago, I finished 5 weeks of radiation treatments that burnt me so bad the skin turned a weird grayish black before peeling away. I know I should be more forgiving of myself. I didn't expect to be able to come out and do 20's or even 15's right away, but I had hoped to feel stronger by now. I don't know if the impetigo (or whatever this rash is) is what is causing the fatigue. We'll see what the meds do. We tented near the shelter along with a dozen other people.We had a nice fire and hung out with Grey and Silverbak.
Date: 2010-04-22
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Curley Map Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We had a little up and a down into Temple Hill Gap where we ran into Slackimus Maximus again. There was a good climb out of that gap and for the first time on this hike, I felt good! Once I am in shape, I like climbing steep hills, I just put it in low gear and chug chug up the hill. No stopping to let screaming calves relax for a moment or catch my breath. Maybe I am finally getting in shape, or maybe the meds are doing something. How exciting! After that climb, we topped out and then started the long decsent into the Nolichucky Gorge. There are some great views . I also talked to my dad on the phone while hiking down as there is a good signal here, since I-26 passes through Erwin, tho the trail does not cross it again.         We had 7 miles to Uncle Johnny's which is right at the base of the mountain where the trail crosses the Nolichucky River on a bridge. We have opted not to resupply in Erwin having gone into Asheville and sent a drop to Greasy Creek hostel 24 miles north of here. But we heard about Uncle Johnny running a lunch shuttle to an AYCE pizza place, so we pushed for that and partook. We met a bunch of new hikers. I got to meet Toothpick and Little Aspen who had let Didge use their phone the other day. We also met Gearbomb, Naptime, an older couple the Canadian Geese, and many others. We had to hang out outside the Dollar General after lunch and wait for the shuttle to return. We had 6 women hikers in one place at that time- that doesn't happen very often on this trail!         After lunch, we took showers at Uncle Johnny's and then headed back out on the trail and went 4 more miles to Curley Maple Gap shelter. The trail crossed the Nolichucky, then paralleled above it for a couple miles, then headed up a tributary drainage. The AT doesn't walk along streams much, so that was nice. I took a few pics of little waterfalls and there were purple dwarf iris growing here and there.
Date: 2010-04-23
From: Curley Map Gap Shelter

To: Unaka mtn
Miles today: 10.0

We continued climbing out of the Nolichucky Gorge in the morning, another 1400 ft elevation up to the top of Beauty Spot. We were greeted by trail magic! I think one of my favorite moments is when you are a few hundred yards away and you realize there is someone with a cooler waiting to feed hikers ahead. There is a moment where you aren't sure if its someone else out picnicing- people who just happen to be at trailhead. In this case, the trailhead parking is a little ways down off the ridge, but you can see it very well as the area is a bald and is open and grassy. So first you see people with packs at a trailhead- then you see there are people you know down there- other thruhikers- you know they didn't go down there without a reason- TRAIL MAGIC!!! It was Eureka's wife giving out the magic. She was out from KY to slack pack him and a friend for a few days. Awesome! Soda.... Doodlebug likes soda. It was damp this morning, so while on Beauty Spot, I dried out the tent fly. We really have been pretty lucky with the weather lately.        After the trail magic, we continued on to climb Unaka Mtn, which is very distinctive bc it has a large spruce forest on top. There is a large area the trail passes through where the canopy is so dense overhead, there is no undergrowth, the ground is covered with a thick layer of pine needles and little else except fallen branches. I remember hiking over the summit in 2003 and thinking it would be a cool place to camp. So we camped there, we actually found a firering and had a small fire. We heard there is a chance of rain tomorrow morning, so we have agreed if its not raining when we wake up , we will get up asap to avoid a wet tent.