morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-17
From: Tricorner Knob Shelter

To: Mountain Mama's Hostel
Miles today: 15.7

Hiked 7:30-3:45 to Davenport Gap, then another 1.5 miles down a gravel road to this hostel. I was dying for a cheeseburger, and Mountain Mama¢s came through -- along with fries (wonderful!), Mountain Dew, and a Smoky Mountain Fudge Chocolate Chip ice cream cone. This is heaven!As I was walking my extra 1.5 miles down here, I had my doubts -- a gravelly road with no traffic, but, sure enough, here it was -- food, showers, and dry sleeping quarters.Hiking was not too tough today, though a long, long downhill the last few miles was really hard on the feet.Cloudy and windy all day, but no serious rain until I arrived here -- where I¢m very happy to be.The Smokies provided great weather, fantastic views, and some very tough hiking. I¢m glad to have them behind me. Now I can camp where it suits me.Took that duct tape off of my tibia to see how it looked. I think that skin really needed to see some air -- pretty ugly. Will re-tape in the morning.It¢s tough to judge the number of thru-hikers in the Smokies, because there are many non-thru-hikers here, too. Very late one afternoon, a ridge runner told me I was the 20th thru-hiker he¢d seen that day. The first night, there were only five of us in the shelter, four the second night. So many tenters the third night (near Newfound Gap, a popular spot) that it was hard to count thru-hikers, but the fourth night I¢d estimate 12 of us.The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States. I¢m sure you know which one is first...Chimpy¢s (Chimpy is my ¢trail name¢ -- more on that later) Hiking Theorem of Pi: Regardless of what signs, maps, or guidebooks say, the last ¢mile¢ of any day¢s hike is really 3.1416 miles.
Date: 2003-04-18
From: Mountain Mama's Hostel

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 12.5

Hiked 9:30-4:30. Had to stop here because no reliable water supply for several miles after this.Uneventful day -- alternately cloudy, foggy, rainy, windy, cold, sunny. Lots more uphills than downhills.Some comments on mileage. My goal, in order to finish in mid-September, is to average 13 miles per day, including the zero days. For example, I¢m at about 247 miles now in 20 days (19 hiking days and one rest day) for an average of 12.3 miles per day. Hard to predict what will happen. Barring injury, I should be in better shape later, and will have easier terrain in the mid-Atlantic states, at least. New England gets tough again, much like North Carolina and Tennessee.Guys now love to talk about their 20-mile days -- apparently some measure of testosterone. I don¢t think I¢m in shape for those yet.There are also the off-A.T. miles -- to get to water, shelters, towns, grocery stores, etc. that are not included in the miles shown at the beginning of each section of this journal. I¢d estimate these extra miles at about two percent of the trail miles.
Date: 2003-04-19
From: Brown Gap

To: Between Garenflo Gap and Deer Park Shelter
Miles today: 18.2

Hiked 7:15-5:30. Splendid day!(a) Sunny and cool all day.(b) Max Patch Mountain was a spectacular bald! The only still-bald bald I¢ve seen on this trip.(c) Trail magic hit me big-time. While sitting on a log near Lemon Gap eating my Pop Tart ¢lunch,¢ in comes Rambo First Blood (trail name), who¢s here just for the day to distribute free groceries to hikers. I got a banana, oatmeal cookie, cinnamon roll, and four Nutri-Grain cereal bars. What a boost! (d) I¢m only about five miles from my much-anticipated visit to Hot Springs. I wasn¢t planning to come quite this far, but had to keep going to find a camping spot.Most thru-hikers carry these guides:(1) Guidebook with great detail for that section, including map. The map is the biggie, showing vertical profile, shelters, designated campsites, and, in some cases, water sources.(2) A.T. Data Book -- a list, by mile, of all designated campsites, shelters, roads, and reliable water sources, towns, post offices -- as well as grocery stores, restaurants, and lodging within a few miles of the trail. No detail at all, but a very reliable resource.(3) A.T. Thru-Hiker¢s Companion -- gives interesting details about many of the items listed in the Data Book, especially towns and lodging.When I left the Smokies, I entered a new guidebook (Tennessee-North Carolina) territory, leaving behind the Georgia-North Carolina territory. Unfortunately, the Tennessee-North Carolina Guidebook won¢t get to me (via mail) until I reach Hot Springs. As a result, I¢ve been pretty much ¢hiking blind¢ the last two days -- and you probably thought I was so organized.
Date: 2003-04-20
From: Between Garenflo Gap and Deer Park Shelter

To: Bridge Street Inn; Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked 7:30-9:45.Easy hike into Hot Springs -- food, bed, bathtub, newspapers, TV -- I¢m soooo happy to be here, even though there aren¢t a lot of choices for restaurants and lodging.Many (approximately 50) thru-hikers are here. Most of them I¢ve seen before. This is the first ¢trail town¢ (town that the trail actually goes through). Here¢s a list of all of them that I¢m aware of, showing mileage and population:Mile 271 -- Hot Springs, NC (population 645)Mile 461 -- Damascus, VA (981)Mile 1008 -- Harper¢s Ferry, WV (307)Mile 1106 -- Boiling Springs, PA (2769)Mile 1131 -- Duncannon, PA (1508)Mile 1202 -- Port Clinton, PA (288)Mile 1278 -- Delaware Water Gap, PA (744)Mile 1729 -- Norwich, VT (3544)Mile 1731 -- Hanover, NH (10,850)Damascus is sort of the capital of all trail towns. Its big Trail Days Festival is May 10-18. I should be past there by that time, hopefully. I¢ll be taking a zero tomorrow, to give body and mind a bit of much-needed R&R.
Date: 2003-04-21
From: Bridge Street Inn; Hot Springs, NC

To: Bridge Street Inn; Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Taking a zero today -- nice!Did laundry last night. Will get my mail drop from Rosie at the post office today. Other than that, will just eat, sleep, read, and plan for the next mail drop.As you might expect, knowing me, I¢m not one of the in crowd when it comes to thru-hikers. It¢s not just my age (almost 59) that separates me, nor my introvertish nature. I notice that virtually all thru-hiker conversation revolves around the hike -- tents, sleeping bags, stoves, water filters, food, shelters, mileage, trail names, etc. I¢m much more interested in what¢s motivating these people to do this and how they¢re working it into their schedules. In fact, I plan to start asking that of all I talk to for the next few days.I also notice that virtually none of them are the least bit interested in what¢s going on in the rest of the world -- not even the war in Iraq. I, on the other hand, can¢t wait to get my hands on a newspaper or my eyes on a TV every chance I get. I also greatly look forward to my evening devotional Bible reading and my pocket novel.I wonder which bodes best for the success of a five or six month trip -- one obsession (the hike) or varied interests, many of which are somewhat thwarted by the isolation. Which of the two can be most easily maintained for such a long time?Hikers tend to hang out here at Hot Springs for quite awhile, probably for the first chance to bond en masse with others who¢ve survived the very tough first 270 miles.Funny thing -- I referred many days ago in this journal to two talkative guys in a shelter trying to one-up each other on hiking knowledge (and keeping the rest of us awake). One of those (to whom I¢ll give the fictional trail name ¢Gabby¢) resurfaced a few days later outside my room at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (keeping me awake again). Lo and behold, I was awakened again from my nap yesterday by the gregarious Gabby as he happily described his hiking exploits over the phone outside my room. I wonder if we¢re destined to continue this pattern of bumping into each other every few days. Sure hope not.
Date: 2003-04-22
From: Bridge Street Inn; Hot Springs, NC

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Went from 9:00 to 5:15. Nothing noteworthy about this day. Cold, windy, threatened rain all day, but never did.Because of my left leg shin splint problem, I had asked Rosie to send my other boots to Hot Springs -- just to see if that might help. Despite the fact that she sent them Friday morning by priority mail, they didn¢t make it today. I left forwarding instructions with the Hot Springs Post Office, so I should be able to pick them up at Elk Park in eight or nine days. Hope my taping does the job in the meantime.There¢s another social thing among thru-hikers that¢s pretty interesting. At the shelters and some other locations frequented by hikers are 8 1/2 x 11 notebooks (¢registers¢) where thru-hikers put notes, some quite extensive, signing trail names. By this method you can keep track of those ahead of you -- and even become acquainted, sort of, with people you¢ve never seen. Through this ¢grapevine,¢ many thru-hikers keep well-informed as to how others are getting along. Some people really get into this, and I expect I will, too, when our numbers thin out further in the weeks ahead (assuming, of course, that I¢ll not be one of the victims of attrition).Note: More info on trail names later.
Date: 2003-04-23
From: Allen Gap

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

Hiked 7:30-6:30.If not for my left foot, this would¢ve been a fantastic day. Even with the foot, not bad at all.Sunny and cool. With the exception of a 3 1/2 hour uphill grind at the beginning and a two-hour downhill grind at the end, pretty level hiking. Scenic, too. Unlike anything else to date, the view to the left (north) was the wide Tennessee Valley -- farms, villages, etc. Kinda nice! Everything else has just been mountains and wilderness.Even had some meadow walking, which is a nice change of scenery. Also, a Civil War ¢battlefield;¢ actually the graves of two union soldiers and their 13-year-old helper, who were ambushed on that site.My shin splint (if that¢s what it is) seems to have gradually moved around to the left side of my left ankle. During a very rocky mile, the pain became unbearable, so I taped it better -- and later re-taped it twice. Seemed to be okay then, but the tape wore a humongous blister on my Achilles, so I had to stop and doctor that. Feel sorry for me yet? Didn¢t think so. At one point on the trail someone had written ¢300¢ in little stones, so I must¢ve passed the 300-mile mark.
Date: 2003-04-24
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Big Bald
Miles today: 17.0

Hiked 7:30-6:00. Much like yesterday for scenery, but mostly cloudy. For the first four hours my ankle was hurting. I decided all of that tape was doing more harm than good, so I took it off (except for the part on my blister) -- and said a prayer. Walked the rest of the day in total comfort -- first time in many days! I¢ll leave it to you to figure that out.Once I crossed Sam¢s Gap (U.S. 23) in mid-afternoon, everything looked vaguely familiar, because I hiked this section a few years ago. This will be true of certain sections in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. I¢ve not hiked any parts of the A.T. in other states.
Date: 2003-04-25
From: Big Bald

To: Best Southern Motel; Erwin, TN
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

Hiked 7:30-5:00. Much of today¢s hike was really level, as I skirted most of the mountains, rather than going over the tops. Nice! Not much in the way of views, of course, but that¢s okay. If it hadn¢t been so foggy, there would¢ve been great views from Big Bald and from High Rocks -- I¢ve previously been to both.I covered the 68 miles between Hot Springs and Erwin in four days, which is pretty fast for me; my feet and legs are feeling it. I¢ll take a zero tomorrow, rather than tempt injury fate.There¢s a trend, especially among the younger people to carry very little weight. The leader of this ¢go lightly¢ movement is Ray Jardine, who recommends traveling incredibly light by going without:Sleeping bag (use a quilt instead)Tent (use a tarp instead)Water filter (use purification tablets or take your chances)Stove (eat ready-to-eat food)Boots (wear running shoes)Poncho (carry umbrella instead)Trekking polesHis theory is that with so little weight, you don¢t need the support of heavy boots or trekking poles. You¢ll also go so much faster that you can make it into town more frequently for food and emergency needs.Lots of thru-hikers in my ¢Class of 2003¢ (including me) are certainly looking for ways to cut weight. I could cut major weight by going without a tent, but I love crawling in my cozy little home at night. No way I¢ll give that up...yet.
Date: 2003-04-26
From: Best Southern Motel; Erwin, TN

To: Best Southern Motel; Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Enjoying a zero day. Feet and legs feeling much better. Ran my errands this morning -- laundry, some first aid supplies, breakfast, snacks. Now catching up on the news -- in papers and on TV.So how are the thru-hiker numbers going? All I can say is this: During my four-day, 68-mile hike from Hot Springs to here, I passed no one, while only six passed me. I¢d have to conclude from this that either (a) a lot of hikers are going the same speed or (b) a lot of slower hikers have dropped out. It¢s somewhat surprising to me that, despite my 17-miles-per-day pace, I passed nobody. Apparently, 17 miles per day isn¢t all that fast for that stretch of the A.T., even though it was hard for me.Town visits are a real temptation. I think Big Paw said it well in the register in the next shelter after Hot Springs. His note: ¢Had to get out of Hot Springs before it was too late.¢ The lure of returning to normal life -- I expect it hits all of us at times. Of course, if we did return to normal life, I¢ll bet we¢d be lured back to the A.T. -- you know the greener grass theory.
Date: 2003-04-27
From: Best Southern Motel; Erwin, TN

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

Hiked 7:30-5:30. It was a two-mile hike from the motel back to the trail. Lovely day -- cool, sunny. Highlight was the Beauty Spot -- the third lovely bald on this trek.Note: You don¢t need to be a hiker to visit these three great balds -- Max Patch Mountain, Big Bald, and the Beauty Spot -- you can drive up to all three.Also some lovely pine forests -- I love walking on those soft needles. However, for two or three miles, the pine forest had been burnt to a large extent by last year¢s fire. Smelled quite sooty -- yuk!Also got some more trail magic -- a guy was passing out chocolate chip cookies and bananas at one of the road crossings.I haven¢t said much about wildlife in this journal. That¢s because there¢s not much to say. Here¢s what I¢ve seen in my four weeks on the A.T:1 mouse on my head while sleeping in a shelter (not uncommon)1 bear1 rattlesnake (small)1 garter snake1 deerMany squirrelsMany birdsIn fact, not many hikers have seen even one bear. I do hear coyotes some nights.The grouse are the most noteworthy. These wiseacres like to hide within inches of the trail; then when the hiker gets within a few feet, the grouse tears off with a furious, noisy flapping of wings, scaring the hiker half to death.This brings up the topic of toilet habits in the woods. Here¢s the story on that...uh-oh...my pen seems to be running out of ink...
Date: 2003-04-28
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Carver Gap
Miles today: 17.0

That¢s the toughest 17 miles I¢ve ever hiked! One of those up and down days -- exhausting enough, but capped off by a late afternoon three-mile steep ascension to the top of Roan Mountain (6285 feet). That was excruciating! The top of Roan Mountain is a beautiful semi-bald. Tip: This is another great spot to drive right up to...if it doesn¢t bother your conscience that for me it was a two-hour agonizing uphill hike from Hughes Gap.Another cool, sunny day -- amazingly good weather. When I say ¢cool,¢ though, that doesn¢t mean I don¢t sweat...a lot...especially on the uphills. It¢d be very interesting to see what I weigh now, compared to when I started 30 days ago (177 pounds).I¢m not camped at a campsite tonight. Unknown to me, they¢ve relocated the A.T. in this area, so there were no nice, level sites. I walked until I could go no further, then pitched my tent, cooked supper, and here I am -- totally exhausted. Good night.
Date: 2003-04-29
From: Carver Gap

To: Shadylawn Motel; Newland, NC
Miles today: 12.9

Hiked 7:30-3:00. What a great day of hiking! Mostly balds -- Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain. Fantastic! Walking on grass. Great views in all directions. I did this section a few years ago, but it was on a rainy, foggy day, so I saw nothing then.After reaching Highway 19E, had to walk about 2 1/2 miles into Elk Park, only to find the motel recently closed. No problem -- the Shadylawn Motel shuttles hikers, so they picked me up. Great!Picked up my mail drop at the Elk Park post office, but no boots! Where are they? Your postal service dollars at work.I¢ll run errands in the morning and hit the trail tomorrow afternoon.
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Shadylawn Motel; Newland, NC

To: Who knows where?
Miles today: 12.0

Hiked from 10:15 to 5:00.Due to recent relocation of the trail -- not reflected in my handbook or map -- I don¢t know where I am -- just somewhere on the A.T., probably three miles or so from the Moreland Gap Shelter. It¢s raining hard, so there¢ll be no supper tonight. Bummer. Good thing I had the Hungry Man breakfast at the restaurant this morning.Nice variety today -- some cow pasture hiking, a cemetery, a church, a river -- all on the A.T. Thundered all day, but didn¢t cut loose until late afternoon.A milestone today -- left North Carolina behind. I¢ll be in Tennessee for the next four or five days before tackling the big one -- Virginia. I¢ve been back and forth between North Carolina and Tennessee for quite a few days now; the A.T. is actually right on the border much of the time.Other good news: Rosie¢s coming down for a visit Memorial Day -- only 23 days away! That¢ll be double zero days for me. Can¢t wait! How I miss that woman.Made a big decision today. When Rosie comes down, she¢ll bring my bivy -- a waterproof ¢sack¢ to be used in lieu of a tent. This¢ll save me a lot of weight, at the cost of some flexibility during really bad weather (like tonight). The weather should be getting warm by then, and I just can¢t see me lugging a pack this heavy when it¢s hot. I¢ll also get rid of my fleece sweater then. I¢m thinking, too, about using purification tablets instead of a water filter.
Date: 2003-05-01
From: Who knows where?

To: Laurel Fork Hostel
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I was certainly wrong about last night¢s campsite. It took me until 11:15 this morning to reach Moreland Gap Shelter, so I must have been about six miles away. The A.T. relocation appears to have added about five miles to the length, although I¢ve talked to nobody who seems to know for sure.These additional miles will throw off the ¢miles hiked¢ and ¢miles to go¢ numbers on the website. We¢ll continue to use the old 2169-mile number because (a) we don¢t know how many miles were added by the relocation, (b) there may be other relocations later, and (c) it gets too confusing otherwise. Just remember: I did hike more miles than shown there.Today¢s weather was great until about 1:00, when a frog-strangler of a storm came up suddenly. For that reason, I decided to call it a day when I arrived at this lovely, brand new hostel only a half mile from the A.T. on Dennis Cove Road. I have my own cozy little cabin -- couldn¢t be happier! I wasn¢t looking forward to another wet night camping. That means no cooking (maybe) and it means carrying extra weight (wet stuff) the next day.I¢m right beside a lovely little stream. In fact, I just saw a guy catch a rainbow trout -- about a foot long. Yummmeeee!Note: I weighed in here today at 163 pounds -- a loss of 14 pounds since the start -- and this was after eating a big cheeseburger meal.
Date: 2003-05-02
From: Laurel Fork Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked 7:45-6:15. A hard up-and-down day. Highlighted by Watauga Lake and Watauga Dam. Lowlighted by a furious, scary thunderstorm at 4:00, while I was high on a ridge near here, bearing the full brunt of it. In fact, I feared a tornado and took cover on the leeward side of a big rock.All is well now, though. This tent site is beautiful, overlooking Watauga Lake far, far below.I learned about ¢slack packing¢ while at Laurel Fork Shelter. Those guys will, for a fee, take the hiker to the trailhead and pick him/her up at the end of the day (either direction -- northbound or southbound -- so you can choose the easier direction), cook a meal for the hiker at the beginning and at the end of the day. Thus, the hiker travels packless and sleeps at the hostel. You can do this for three sections (50.4 miles) between Dennis Cove Road (where the hostel is) and Damascus, Virginia. Several thru-hikers are taking advantage of this. I was tempted, but decided to remain a ¢purist,¢ at least for now.I do believe I¢ll be doing some serious equipment evaluation at a Damascus outfitter next week. I, like most other thru-hikers, am really desperate to shed pack weight, and am now thinking of a one-man tarp in lieu of tent. A smaller, lighter pack may also be in order...
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked 7:45-5:15. Not much to say about this hike. Lots of fog, lots of rain, thunder, and lightning. Main objective was to get within a one-day hike (14.9 miles) of Damascus, which I did. Fortunately, the rain has stopped, and the sun is out, so I may be able to get some clothes dried out.There¢s a lot to be said about food for thru-hikers; in fact, it¢s our number one obsession (followed by pack weight and mileage). Imagine a life where the problem is not getting enough fats and carbohydrates! That¢s us. We¢re burning so many calories. Constantly hungry. On the trail, the staple is pasta/noodles/macaroni -- easy to prepare and weighs little. Trail mix (nuts, M&M¢s, raisins) is almost everybody¢s snack food -- all three ingredients are wonderful. Pop Tarts are somewhat of a luxury treat (because of weight -- and they get all crumbly), but we all love ¢em (brown sugar cinnamon -- my fave).When in town, the main attractions are cheeseburgers, salads, fruit, and ice cream. Most would add beer to that list, but that doesn¢t apply to me.Actually, my trail diet is a little different, because I have a wonderful wife who dehydrates food and mails it to me. When I set up camp, the first thing I do is rehydrate such items as beans (various types), potatoes, onions, noodles, and spaghetti sauce. This takes about 45 minutes. Then I just mix my choices and heat it. Wonderful! Rosie varies the ingredients so I don¢t get bored.She also sends me dehydrated apple slices, pineapple slices, banana slices, and peach slices. I eat them dry as snack food. All four taste great!In addition to water, I drink lots of Gatorade (made from powder), sweetened Koolaid, and hot chocolate.I eat only one meal a day -- in the evening -- and snack continuously from morning to night -- probably not recommended by nutritionists. I¢m always hungry. My lemon-flavored Chapstick is a constant temptation.