morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-15
From: Rauch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: few clouds

The weather was great and the miles flew by. Part of the reason is that the destination, 501 shelter, is famous. It is a four walled structure with tap water, a cold water shower, and bunk beds. It is about the size of a three car garage with 6 bunk beds around the walls and a picnic table in the center. The roof contains an octagon shaped sky light ¢ about 8 feet in diameter. The other point of renown is that one of the nearby pizza places delivers!So, as the distance to the shelter decreased the lure of pizza reached a fever pitch that can only be understood fully by long distance hikers. As I approached the shelter, a departing hiker, looking forlorn, said, ¢Pizza place is closed on Mondays.¢ Sure enough, there was a menu, and it said, ¢Closed ¢ Mondays¢.So, Mudflap, Siesta and I morosely started preparing the standard Ramon or Mac¢n¢Cheese. Just before I was putting match to stove, in walks a trail angel, Snack Break, with dinner for all of us.I haven¢t been sharing by shelter register entries in this journal, but this time is says it all:---------------6/15 Bow Willow would be crying in his beer but he doesn¢t have any. Nor any Pizza. HELP! Mudflap, Siesta, and I will think of something.Follow up: 1/2 hour after writing the above, Snack Break (GA-ME ¢07) showed up with carrots, garlic bread, rigatoni with sausage , and brownies. My cry for help was answered. It was sooo good, sooo unexpected, and sooo sooo nice.--------------------As we sat down to this feast, Catchup walked in and the four of us polished off a dinner theorethicly intended for ten.A fine way to celebrate 1,000 miles to go and 100 days on the trail.
Date: 2009-06-16
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Another good hiking day. The only difficulty is the rocks that the Pennsylvania AT is (in)famous for. They poke and jab and generally slow progress by 10 or 15 minutes per mile. Fortunately they aren¢t everywhere.My co-hiker, Mudflap, is getting off trail, probably for good. He¢s got some sort of leg problem that is getting progressively worse and this is his second thru hike and he sounds finished.During the night, we had a nice rain and the tent held up well. The last two days have been unseasonably cool ¢ night around 50, days in the low 60¢s. Actually, much better than hot and humid.
Date: 2009-06-17
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: light rain

Pennsylvania is known for having very rocky trails that hurt the feet and slow the progress. My experience is that while there are rocky stretches, they tend to only be a fraction of a mile long followed by reasonably rock-free stretches.However, the descent into Port Clinton lived up to its hype. About 1,000 foot drop in about 0.8 miles. It's like the trail builders were running out of time and decided to just skip the switch backs and go in a straight line. With care, it was not too bad of a descent but it would be a tough climb.Port Clinton is a little town with one Hotel with a restaurant, one other restaurant, a world class candy store, an outfitter who had little in the way of food and little else. For thru hikers there is a Picnic Pavilion owned by a local church and available for overnight stay. It is quite nice -- better than many of the shelters. The Pavilion could easily hold 20 people but there was only three of us so it was very spacious. The candy store is called "The Peanut Shop" and has a huge selection of nuts, trail mixes and candy. The candy displays are works of art. It was easy to buy $10 of fudge, trail mix, etc.Spent most of the day in the Port Clinton Hotel. Lousy service but pretty good food. Watched the rain and drank beer. The rain was ferocious at night. Although my tent was under the Pavilion's roof, the wind was blowing rain onto it and I moved it about 5 feet toward the center of the Pavilion to stay dry.
Date: 2009-06-18
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

For those who follow my journal: I realize I've skipped several weeks, I'll backtrack and fill in the entries when I have some time.I decided today to end my hike after a bit over 1,200 miles. It simply isn't fun anymore. It used to be that the good days were great and the bad days were adventures. Now, the good days are tedious and the bad days are discomfort that simply has to be endured. I never was out to prove anything to anyone else and I've proved to my satisfaction that I can walk any distance I need to. When I started, I thought it was 50-50 that my feet could survive the rigors of a long walk. I've been surprised at how smooth this journey has been physically. A few blisters and some blackened toenails were the only "damage". Excluding two cases of bad food at off-trail restaurants, I haven't been sick at all.My immediate plans are to:1) get a rental car and go to Delaware Water Gap to get my mail drop and to get my repaired pack and return my loaner pack.2) get to Chicago and visit my daughters and grand-kids for about a week, and3) find a leisurely way to get back to San Diego.I'll record details of these in some follow up journal entries and also reflect on what this journey has meant to me.
Date: 2009-01-01
From: Year 1989

To: Year 2008
Miles today: 1442.0

Bugsy and Burly Girl are hiking the AT one day at a time. The first hike on the AT was in NH in 1989. They continued to go to NH 2 or 3 times a year and hike trails in the White Mountains--sometimes the AT other times AMC trails. While trying to complete all of the AMC huts, Burly Girl tore her ACL and was laid up for a while. She documented the AT hikes that we had done prior to 2001 and a decision was made that we would attempt to hike the AT on weekends to see how far we could get.The first real year of progress was 2003. Unfortunately, the hiking season ended in mid-July when Bugsy broke his ankle while hiking on the AT in NY. Work and family slowed progress until our first big hiking years in 2007 (529 miles) and 2008 (537 miles) for a total at the end of the 2008 hiking season in November of 1,442 miles. This entry is to update our total trip miles.
Date: 2009-03-29
To: Preparing To Start
Miles today: 0.0

Greetings to all of you out there on and off the trail!We are Bugsy (Tom) and Burly Girl (Pam) and we are doing the AT on what we call the 20 year plan.We have day hiked different trails for the past 20 years. Most of our early years were spent on and around Mt. Washington in NH where we stumbled across this thing called the Appalachian Trail. When Pam had her ACL replaced in 2001 and was laid up for a while, she took out all of the old hiking photos, calculated how many miles we had hiked on the AT (only 78 at that point!), and the two of us came up with a plan to hike the entire AT over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, we had 4 very heavy work years after that, so we began in earnest in the 2007 season where we completed 529 miles followed by the 2008 season where we completed 537 miles.As we are no longer 21 and with both of us working fulltime in our own company, we decided that our plan would include long weekends and hotel nights. Too many nights sleeping out require carrying heavier equipment (although we have switched over to many lightweight items)and we need to preserve ourselves for the long haul.Having said that, we have managed to hike 1,446 miles only sleeping out 4 nights! In future postings we will tell you how we did this.We are ready to begin the 2009 season (maybe this weekend) and approach it with a combination of joy and fear. We are contiguous from Rt 26 in Maine down to McQueens Gap in TN. Although we have completed some of the most difficult stretches (NH), we have Maine and the Smokies left...not a 'walk in the park', and we know that we are looking at many overnights in the woods (which we do enjoy, despite the extra weight).The thru hikers are a true inspiration, and we have learned so much from everyone we meet. We also try to provide a little trail magic along the way, so if we run into you this year and you are out of propane or food, we will take you to town.I could go on and on but I will save more for future postings. Right now I am off to do a gear check list. Hopefully the mice didn't get into my leftover beef jerkey over the winter!Happy trails to all and we would appreciate any advice or kind words you could offer.Bugsy and Burly Girl
Date: 2009-04-05
From: Preparing To Start

To: TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

OK guys...we are leaving NJ tomorrow and heading to TN where we hope to start the 2009 season...we are psyched!!If you read our earlier entries, we are doing the AT on the 20 year plan and hope to finish in 2009 or 2010. 700+ miles to go...As we are no longer 21, we are staying in hotels, looking for road crossings, and taking care of ourselves so that we can finish.How is the weather in the NE part of TN? We will be around McQueens Gap and heading south beginning on Wed 4/8.Happy trails to all!B and BG
Date: 2009-04-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

False alarm...we thought that we would start last week, but business got in the way and we are now scheduled to leave NJ on Mon. for TN.How are the trails/snow/etc. in northern TN? We will be starting at McQueens Gap.Looking forward to seeing all of you thru hikers! Happy trails...Burly Girl and Bugsy
Date: 2009-04-15
From: McQueens Gap, TN

To: TN 91
Miles today: 10.2

Hike 1--Low Gap US 421 to TN 91We decided to break this stretch up into two hikes (early season wariness!) so we did the part from Low Gap/US 421 to TN 91 first. It was a bleary, overcast, chilly day with the temp in the mid-40s. We hiked through partial rain and sleet and the visibility became 50'. Went up Holsten Mt., stopped at Double Springs Shelter and finished in 3.5 hr. Met Knuckles and Chuckles again, us going the opposite way from yesterday. This confused them as they thought they had gotten turned around. They were attempting a 40 mi day into Damascus...oh to be 20 again!Hike 2--McQueens Gap to Low GapIt was nice to be back at McQueens Gap...this is where we left off last November, and this time there were no hunters with big guns!It was still raining, sleeting and poor visibility.
Date: 2009-04-16
From: Dennis Cove Rd

To: US 321/TN
Miles today: 8.9

706 miles to go on the AT!! One weekend at a time... Today was a beautiful, sunny day with temps in the 50s. We started out early this morning after driving way up a windy mt. road to Dennis Cove Rd.The trail followed a former logging railroad bed for quite a ways. We dipped down to river level, and were amazed by the size and the drop of the Laurel Fork Falls. Part of the hike downstream carried us along a ledge beside a large cliff. After the past few days of rain, we were fortunate that the ledge was not under water. It would have required a re-tracing of our steps back to the highwater trail.We continued along beside the water through the gorge. It was beautiful. At 3 miles we reached a turn in the trail that took us upwards over 1800' for the next 2 miles. This being only our 3rd day back on the trail meant the climb up was slooooow! At the top we met Tagless and Tagalong, thru hikers that were slack packing this section. We had been reading about them in trailjournals, so it was nice to meet them!From the top of the mountain, it was around 4 miles downhill. We had some partial views of Watauga Dam and the lake that we hiked around 2 days ago. Finally we got the pictures that we couldn't take then, due to fog.
Date: 2009-04-17
From: Walnut Mountain Road TN

To: US Route 19E
Miles today: 10.2

695.8 miles to go on the AT!! Another beautiful weather day. Started out in the 50s then on to the 60s and sunny...who could ask for more??Did 2 hikes today to equal 10.2 miles and bring us under 700 miles. The first hike was Walnut Mt Rd to Buck Mt Rd. We passed 20 thru hikers before lunch. For you parents who are tracking your loved ones the names we got were...Growler, Laurie/Kate (the Jumper sisters), Cricket, Steam, MadLib, Cotter, Bender, Texas Chill, Jones, Eager Beaver and Angry Beaver.There were more, but all that stopped to talk to us were in wonderful spirits..and why not....they were all enjoying the beautiful day after a lot of rainy/snowy days.We travelled downhill then came to Mountaineer Shelter where there were 2 groups of thru hikers lingering around the morning fire. This shelter was not even on our map or in our book but was a great new shelter.On to a waterfall, then an open field where 20 of the thru hikers tented last night right next to Elk River.We crossed into NC and met more thru hikers...hats off to all of you!!We finished with a 900' ascent to Buck Mt Rd...thanks to the Baptist Church for allowing us to park.Our second hike of the day was from Buck Mt Road to TN 19E. We left a car, but only for a couple of hours. Read in the postings that cars are stolen and vandalized, hence we have been bringing them back to the motel each night.That's it for today...happy trails!! Burly Girl and Bugsy
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Walnut Mt. Road, TN

To: FS Road 293
Miles today: 3.2

We are back down to TN this afternoon after going home to NJ for about a week to catch up on work, etc.It took us a while to find FS Road 293. We ended up driving down another road and saw a farmer amongst his Christmas trees (this is the #1 horticultural product of this area). Bugsy got out to get directions to the trail. He got the directions and also learned from the farmer that the trail went across his property, "up on yonder ridge". The farmer said that the 'government' had come out to buy his land. And he told them that he did not want to sell. He felt they had a lot more land than he did and didn't need his! He was a very nice man and told Bugsy how on a recent Sunday after church, he walked over to Roan Mt. along the trail. The most exciting thing about this hike was the park bench, yes, a real park bench! Right there in the middle of the wilderness! Bugsy and Burly Girl were sitting on the bench enjoying the view across to Roan Mt., some 20 miles away when 3 thru hikers (Ewok, MinnesotaAP and?) came along and thought they were seeing things. We told them they deserved the bench a lot more than we did as we are only day hiking. We surrendered the bench, took some photos with their cameras, and took off.We had done this short hike to break up the 13 mile stretch from Walnut Mt. Rd to Dennis Cove.
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Carvers Gap/TN 143

To: Yellow Mt. Gap
Miles today: 5.0

This was a long car plant, but one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever been on!Our first car plant was at the foot of the Overmountain Victory Trail which leads up .8 mi to Yellow Mt Gap on the AT. Our other car was placed up on Roan Mt. at Carvers Gap. We had hoped to drive all the way to the top of Roan Mt and hike down from Cloudland, but the road was not yet opened for the season by the US Forest Service.There were a total of 5 balds heading south from here. A bald is an area on top of a mountain where only grass grows. 360 degree views...clear day!! Hiked up through Catawba rhododendrum to the top of Round Bald--300'. Next was Jane Bald followed Grassy Ridge Bald. The views into the valley and over to Roan Mt. were phenomenal...a definite re-hike some day! We took our time in this area and took plenty of photos. Thru hikers should wait for a clear day to do this section!Saw a number of entries at the Stan Murray Shelter (where we had lunch) from thru hikers confirming that this was one of their best days on the AT so far!At the end of our AT day at Yellow Mt. Gap we took the Overmountain Victory Trail down to the car. This was the route taken by 1000 volunteers from NC, SC, and TN during the Revolutionary War to to hold off the British soldiers at Kings Mt. NC. This ended up being a key battle in winning the Revolutionary War. The trail was beautiful following an old road, through fields and next to a creek. Happy trails,Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-04-29
From: Yellow Mt. Gap

To: US 19E Roan Mt, TN
Miles today: 8.7

The first car plant was US 19E (where the book had advised us not to leave a car overnight)and the second car plant was back at yesterday's hike's end, Overmountain Victory Trail. Hiked .8 miles on OVT to the AT. It was a strenuous up! Almost immediately when we started up the AT towards Little Hump Mt. we had a great view back at The Barn which is the Overmountain Shelter. This can hold 25 hikers. We were passed quickly by Zippidy Do Da, Z, Stats, Curious George and others, all with broad smiles on their faces. And with good reason...it was a beautiful day and we all had 360 views from the tops of both Little Hump and Hump Mountains. Bugsy said that this was like the opening scene from 'Sound of Music'. Burly Girl thinks he has a thing for Julie Andrews! But first, re Little Hump Mt...it was a little deceiving...Bugsy, Burly Girl, Pickle and Trusty all thought they were at the top of Little Hump (due to the description in our hiking book). Lo and behold, there was another Little Hump, then a third before we descended to Bradley Gap. So much for going by the book!We could see forever from Hump Mt. and pulled up a large rock for lunch. We looked down on two horses and saw evidence of cows, but no cows.After being passed by many more thru hikers we descended into the woods and enjoyed the beautiful wildflower display.It began to rain, but we were so thankful that it had held off while we were 'up above'. We hiked downward in the rain finally ending up at the Apple House Shelter, we found all of the thru hikers that had passed us earlier in the day crammed into the shelter debating how to hitch a ride into the town of Elk, NC for a 'real' meal and some beer.Having an SUV at the end of the trail a mile away, we offered to shuttle them all into town. It took two trips, but we took a total of 9 thru hikers (including Zippidy Do Da and her hiking partner who were desperate to get to the post office in Elk for a mail pickup) and 4 of their packs. This group had been in the wilderness for quite a while so the call of hamburgers and beer was very strong!From the trail journal entry of Ramble On (see his entry of 4/30) the remainder of their night was filled with drama!Happy TrailsBugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-04-30
From: USFS Road 293

To: Dennis Cove, TN
Miles today: 10.4

Had a great, but challenging hike today. Were pleasantly surprised with the weather...it was supposed to rain/thunder, but nothing!We opted to break up the section from Rt 19E to Dennis Cove Rd into a number of segments, this being one segment, since we are day hikers.For the most part, a nicely graded trail. Rolling ups and downs with a good size down at the end. Visited the Mooreland Gap Shelter. It was sad to see the trash left behind and very unusal as well. Come on fellow hikers...lets pack it out!Don't look for any views on this hike, but the woods were beautiful!And thank you TN trail volunteers and staff for re-routing the trail around a couple of those hilltops it used to go over (although maybe that's why there were no views!).Bugsy and Burly Girl
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Roan Mountain

To: Iron Mt. Gap/TN 107
Miles today: 11.8

We divided this hike into two segments. We were originally going to do Hughes Gap to Iron Mt. Gap. We had placed our rental car at the Iron Mt. Gap Trailhead the night before. After the first hike, we had plenty of time and we decided to see if the gate at Carvers Gap was open to the top of Roan Mt. To our delight, it was and drove up and hiked down to Hughes Gap where we had started our first hike earlier that morning and left our car.First hike--Hughes Gap to Iron Mt. GapGot an early 7am start...straight up Little Rock Knob. The trail going up was well-graded and smooth. Going down the southern side was rocky and rooty and steep. Followed a rocky ridge until we came down to the Clyde Smith Shelter. What timing...the moment we reached the shelter, the heavens opened up and we spent the next hour napping (Bugsy) and reading the shelter journal (Burly Girl).Over the course of the day we saw at least 15 thru hikers (Blessed, Little Bear, IPA, Son-Shine, Solar System, Nanique, Solo, Lucky Star, Shameless Blueblazer, and Cogito amongst others). We write down as many trail names as we can as we hope to see many of them again in September in Maine.The weather broke and we hiked through fog and mist until after lunch.Second hike--Roan Mountain to Hughes GapWell...we still had our boots on, the SUV was at Hughes Gap so we drove the rental car up to Roan Mt. and hiked from the top down. At over 6,000' the first half mile of the hike down was like hiking in the Whites of NH. Lots of rocks and big steps over big stones complete with the smell of balsam fir. Burly Girl was in heaven (with the smell, not with the terrain). A thru hiker coming up stated 'it smells like Christmas'! Much longer hike time-wise than we anticipated due to the terrain (but we were glad we were going down and not up so late in the day!).Happy trails!Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Peak of Roan Mountain

To: Carvers Gap
Miles today: 2.2

Our final day before we have to return to civilization, so we wanted to complete our trek and fill in our gaps.Drove to the top of Roan Mt. and the early morning fog (had left the rental car at Carvers Gap the night before) and started our downward hike. Today was much easier and much more level than yesterday. There were stretches that had filter fabric and gray gravel.Reached the Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT at 6,000+ feet, almost the same height as Mt. Washington in NH! The shelter (it is a regular 4-sided cabin) sleeps 15 and there is water nearby. Very cool!We had partial views on the way out of Grassy Ridge Bald that we had climbed several days ago. Beautiful!This completes our AT hiking for this trip. We are heading back to NJ and are happy to have completed another 41.3 miles of the AT!Happy trails!Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-05-12
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

We're back on the trail after a week back home in NJ. As you might remember, Bugsy and I are attempting to hike the entire AT one day/weekend/week at a time. We sleep out as little as possible and we (I think) have suceeded in finding any and all road crossings that will allow us to divide large hikes into smaller pieces. This is what you do when you are no longer 20!It's been fun!Beautiful weather prevailed during today's hike. As we were travelling north to south, we met no fewer than 20 thru hikers, many of whom we had seen or met the night before at The Nolichucky Hostel (Uncle Johnny's) where we spent twonights in a cabin...more on Uncle Johnny's later.All of the hikers were in fine spirits as they told us of hiking in the rain for the past 9 days. There is nothing like sunshine and 60 degree weather!The first part of our hike was very wet and muddy, a conditon we attributed to the trail having been relocated and not yet 'broken in'. We climbed Unaka Mt. (1300'), had lunch at the top, then came down the other side to Beauty Spot, a bald with beautiful views. Later section hikers that we met said that this was a great place to tent and that they saw the sun set and the sun rise from their tentsite.Before Beauty Spot we enjoyed trading hiking stories and comparing experiences with Col. Mustard, a recent retiree, who is enjoying the trail after 3 weeks off for a broken arm. Go Red Wings (we hope that you were able to tune into the game tonight!).Now for Uncle Johnny's...this is a great hostel featuring tent camping, a bunk room (with TV) and private cabins. They run free shuttles around to the various trails so that hikers can slack pack. We had a private cabin (but shared bathhouse) that was fine for our two-night stay. And his store is stocked with anything that you could need or want for backpacking...a great re-stocking spot!Happy trails...Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...