morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-11-30
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: few clouds

Gatlinburg!!!11/30/2007 9:21pm Last night was really not that cold. We had snack break on Charlie's Bunion before continuing on down to Neels Gap. We were supposed to meet our parents there but rumors of road closings got us scared. An hour later they showed up.We were going to hike up to Clingman's Dome but we heard that that road would be closed tomorrow (which is true), so we drove up instead. After going up on the tower we drove back down the mountain to Gatlinburg and checked into our motel. This city is incredibly commercialized; as is Pigeon Forge, where we ate dinner. It is past 9 o'clock which is way past all of our bedtimes, so we are going to sleep and get ready for a fun day of hiking tomorrow. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-01
From: Newfound Gap

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: broken clouds

6,643!!!12/2/2007 6:22pm For yesterday, December the first, two thousand seven. After packing our day packs and eating what little continental breakfast the motel offered, we were able to start hiking by 7:45am. From Newfound Gap we hiked up Clingman's Dome where we ate snack break on the highest point of the entire AT. We hiked over 24 miles and past 4 shelters before seeing Dad waiting for us. Dad and Mom had hiked up 5 miles from a parking lot with our stuff to meet us at the shelter. We cooked dinner over the fire and then just sat and talked with the 3 lawyers from Indiana, who were accompanying us till it was time to go to bed. Ok, bye
Date: 2007-12-02
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

2,000!!!12/2/2007 6:59pm I have hiked 2,000 miles on the AT as of today. Why must I hike 174 more miles to be a '2000 miler'? It is December. What are we still doing out here? We left the shelter with our day packs while the parents headed back down to the car. Seventeen miles later after taking a detour to a fire tower (unfortunately not located on the trail) and crossing the Fontana Dam, we met back up with our parents. We are now through the Great Smokey Mountains. I really liked this section of the trail. The mountains stretched so far and they were all connected not having any terrible gaps or hard peaks. The warm temperature (despite the high elevations) and the constant sunny skies (despite it being one of the wettest areas on the trail) might have helped to better my opinion of the Smokies. By crossing over the Fontana Dam we also left Tennessee for good. We have been in Tennessee for almost the last 300 miles; most of it (including the Smokies) being on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Now we are solely in North Carolina. Tennessee offered 3 very good hostels and many mountain balds with exceptional views. Tennessee: Territory Easily Nestling North Carolina Especially Smokies Speculates Exquisite Earth We are in the Fontana Hilton Shelter. Our parents are gone. Keisha is talking on the phone, acting giddy. I probably should go to bed now. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-03
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: clear sky

Gaps!!!12/3/2007 7:35pm "There are more gaps in this section of the trail than I have in my teeth"-Keisha. Thirteen to be exact. We would climb straight up out of one gap, hit some unnamed high point and go down and hit another gap.   We started the day at 1,775 feet and, after innumerable ups and downs, make it to Cheoah Bald at 5,062 feet. Cheoah Bald was not completely bald but did offer good views of the mountains to the south. Despite the threat of rain early, the sun shone full force most of the day providing excellent hiking weather. When the sun went down, it got chilly. We are at Sassafras Gap Shelter after an almost 22 mile day. It is cold, but definitely not the coldest we've been in. I'm guessing it's in the low twenties. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-04
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

Nantahala!!!12/4/2007 8:07pm Nantahala is Cherokee for "land-of-the-noonday-sun." But according to Keisha no one really knows Cherokee; people just make up the definitions based on what it sounds like. The hike started with a 7 mile descent to the Nantahala River and Keisha falling constantly due to the poor trail maintenance around these parts. When we got to the river we found a small lounge room in the general store where we could eat snacks and charge the phone. We ate a pint of Ben and Jerrys that we got at the outfitter and made some phone calls as we sat in that warm room for almost an hour and a half. From the river at 1,700 feet, we climbed up to Wesser Bald at 4,600 feet. The views from the observation tower were excellent. After lunch there, we climbed down to 3,800 feet then up to 5,000 feet as we raced to beat the dark. As we walked along the tree-clad ridge, we could look to our right and see a magnificent sunset. The sun disappeared from view at 5:23pm. We got in with the last couple minutes in the dark, mainly because our forever long snack break. We are at Cold Spring Shelter, elevation 4,920 feet! It is cold as usual. The good news is that we shouldn't have to stay at a shelter this high again. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-05
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Franklin!!!12/5/2007 10:50pm It is late. Very late. But I am in a warm house on a soft bed, so it's all good. After a little trouble getting the water pump to work (it had froze), we were able to pump water and start hiking. We climbed up Wayah Bald where we ate snack on the observation tower from which we could see Cheoah Bald and even all the way to Clingman's Dome. A total of 15.8 miles brought us to Winding Stairs Gap where, at just before 4:00pm, the Kempf's (friends of our Grandpa Kohns in Michigan, who now live in NC) met us. They took us to the post office then to their house where we were able to take showers and do a quick load of laundry before heading to church. We ate dinner before heading in for the Wednesday night service. After church we drove back to the house where we had chocolate cake and ice cream while watching basketball on TV before going to bed. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-06
From: Franklin, NC

To: The Kempfs/ Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The Kempfs!!!12/6/2007 11:29pm We can't stay here forever, though it certainly is tempting. We had an excellent breakfast. By the time we got up from the table, it was almost time for lunch. We went out for hamburgers and did some shopping while in town. When we got back we had afternoon tea and cookies (minus the tea). Next thing we knew Mrs. Kempf had prepared a fabulous chicken, potato, and green bean dinner. And after dinner we ate some more chocolate cake for dessert. As I said before; We can't stay here forever, though it certainly is tempting. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-07
From: The Kempfs/ Franklin, NC

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Double Digits!!!12/7/2007 7:47pm We hit under 100 in the "Miles from Springer" column of the book. The Kempfs dropped us off at the trail a little after 9:00am, after feeding us breakfast. We climbed up Albert Mountain where there was a locked fire tower. We got to the shelter early enough to gather firewood while Keisha sat in the shelter and whistled. We roasted marshmallows for smores while our dinner cooked and then ate dinner. Some people came by, but weren't staying in the shelter. After some difficulty blowing up our air mattresses, I spent the rest of the night listening to Keisha hiccup as we debated my cleaning skills. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-08
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Plumorchord Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Georgia!!!12/8/2007 7:37pm For the last 150 days I've been saying "Georgia" when people ask where I'm headed. I guess I can't say that any more. Now I'm heading onward to Springer Mountain. It rained last night and the rain/fog continued throughout the day. We had snack break on Standing Indian Mountain. I went up to the summit to look for the Standing Indian but couldn't find it. That was the last time we got over 5000 feet. As we continued, we passed Chunky Gal Trail and Keisha was confused whether she was supposed to take that or not. We had lunch at Bly Gap at the gnarled oak which was close to the NC-GA border. A short while later we hit Georgia, our 14th and final state. North Carolina bordered with Tennessee for 223 miles, including 72 in the Smokies. The AT then cut into North Carolina after Fontana Dam, leaving Tennessee. This last section included some great views from the balds in the Nantahala region. For North Carolina I'd say: Neighbor Of Rolling Tennessee Hosts Countless Areas Receiving Open Lookouts Including Nantahala Area. We are now at Plumorchord Gap Shelter having come in just before dark. We are in our final state. The end is so close. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-09
From: Plumorchord Gap Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zero Percent!!!12/09/2007 7:19pm If I learned one thing on this trip it would have to be: Never listen to anything anyone says when it is concerning weather. When people say such things as: "there's a zero percent chance of rain" or "the next couple of days are supposed to be real nice" it really means absolutely nothing. It rained early this morning, was cloudy all day, and rained as I ate dinner just now. This is the worst drought ever. Which simpky means it's always wet and there is no water anywhere. We went looking for water several times but had no luck. Fortunately, we did find some where we decided to tent, the old cheese factory site. I saw a bear today. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-10
To: Baggs Creek Gap
Miles today: 19.3

5 Month Anniversary!!!12/10/2007 7:46pm Five months ago at this time we were eating dinner at the base of Katahdin. It was still light and would be for another hour. We've been in the dark for over 2 hours tonight. We left our cheese factory site and hiked 19.3 miles over 5 mountains and into 10 gaps to make it to Baggs Creek Gap where we are tenting. I was able to watch a magnificent sunset from the top of Cowrock Mountain. The sun disappeared at 5:25pm tonight. The sky cleared completely allowing us a good view of the stars. Durning dinner we were able to see a comet make it's way across the sky and eventually fade out. Less than 35 miles to go. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-11
From: Baggs Creek Gap

To: Gooch Mountain shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

5's a Crowd!!!12/11/2007 9:03pm I am less than 15 miles from Springer. We hiked 4.2 miles to Neels Gap where we were able to charge the phone and fill up on water. We saw some other hikers there but assumed they were just day hikers. On top of Blood Mountain we realized that we had somehow caught up to 5 other Soboers. We got to Gooch Mountain shelter before any of them showed up. Right now there are 8 other people in the shelter and enough alcohol for every one to have a gallon. As they are acting like fools, Keisha and I played Yahtzee. We are on to Springer tomorrow. OK, bye
Date: 2007-12-12
From: Gooch Mountain shelter

To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

12/13/07 12:50pm "I now have a new respect for the term 'within walking distance'". This quote from a thru-hiker 7 years ago is so true. A 21 mile backpacking trip isn't a bad distance. 217 miles is an extremely long backpacking trip. What is there to say to describe 2174 miles? It is no trip. It is a life. I'm now wondering just what life I'll find next. Is there really life after Springer? Yesterday at 2 o'clock we were on top of Springer Mountain. We left the shelter early and ate breakfast when we hit the stream. We passed a giant hemlock grove at Three Forks. After 14 miles we were at USFS road 42, only .9 miles from Springer. This is where we met our parents. All 4 of us started up the mountain. Just one side trip to the shelter and hit the top. It was over. All that there was left to do was take pictures, drink a quart of chocolate milk, and hike back down, and drive home (which sitting in that car for the 6 hour trip home was one of the hardest things I've done in 5 months). Georgia was not my favorite state. Actually if it wasn't for Springer it would be tied for least favorite (with New Jersey). The gaps (over 35 named ones) and viewless summits did not go over well with me. Georgia taught me that: Gaps Everywhere Only Really Gives Immense Annoyance. Five months, two days, two thousand one hundred seventy-four miles. It is over. What else is there to say? Real food tastes so good. OK, byeTHE END
Date: 2006-12-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So this is it. I guess my new trail journal is the next step. A little about myself would be in order Id assume. What to say, what to say... Im currently out of school. Back in high school, I decided Id like to hike the AT. For the past 7 months or so, my life has been so twisted around its knotty self that I figured this is the perfect chance to leave for a while. I currently work at an outfitter and Im not really sure what Im going to do when I get back home, but Im not really worried about it right now. Anyways, enough on that. So in may I made my decision to finally go for it. With the support of my whole family Ive been working on plans as well as researching all the gear I was interested in updating to my collection for the trip. The fact that I find reviewing/reading gear reviews the most interesting past time during the late night bores after I get home from work makes this pretty sweet. I was planning on going solo mainly because mostly everyone will be finishing school and getting real jobs that dont often allow 6 month vacations. However, Eric, who I work with at EMS, has also taken some time off school and has decided to join in. So now I have a partner on the trip and were just planning out everything. As of now, our start date is probably looking at the end of March. Id like to miss winter as much as possible without leaving too late. Ive written too much so thats it for now.
Date: 2007-01-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

hey...happy new years! tonight ive finally finished doing the prep work of which towns im going through and where/how im getting my resupplies in. its looking that in the 14 states im walking through, im hitting 33 towns. 21 of them ill be getting the packages that i have to start getting together soon, 12 im going to buy everything in town. i think ive gone through about 3 drafts of 'itineraries' and im finally down to what looks like the final plan.so anyways. i got my pack that arrived a while ago but was wrapped up for christmas. i decided on the Granite Gear - Nimbus Ozone. 3800 cubic inches all in just 3 pounds. im still going with the tarp tent, you cant really beat the weight and versatility. boots im still not exactly sure about. im torn between light hikers or trail runners. im not really worried about it. the one thing i cant decide on is which sleeping bag to start with. it can get down between 0 and 20 degrees in the southern mountains. so i think my plan is to go with my warmer bag and switch out once the weather warms rather than going with just one bag. and off gear, tonight was the first night i got the nervous feeling about leaving. springer fever at its finest. id love to leave tomorrow if i could! i guess thats all for tonight. talk to you all later on. hopefully this bad cold will go away. bryanp.s. pray for snow!
Date: 2007-01-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hey all. Scratch that whole 'Ive finished planning' thing I wrote about last entry. Of course Ive changed my mind again!. Right now its looking that Ill cut down on mail drops. We're thinking the best thing to do would be to send out the drops every 150 - 200 miles. That would cut the drops to about 12 or so which would be a bit easier and we will suppliment anything we need in the supermarkets when we reach town. The reason for doing this is mainly because the mail drops will have mostly bulk items and items that are cheaper to buy before the trip at BJ's which would normally be too expenxive to not found in small grocery stores.I dont know if i mentioned it last entry, but our plan to leave is March 24, 2007 and fly into Atlanta, GA and on the 25th well make way for the trailhead 100 miles north and start the adventure. But anyways, thats the new update. Im getting really pumped for the trip and its coming up fast. Theres only about 60 days left before we take off to the southlands!Thats all for now.BryanLeave yourself open to good things.
Date: 2007-03-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So.Right now Im thinking that three weeks from the right now Ill be enjoying the frist night of about 150 nights on the trail. Needless to say my thoughts are constantly on the what-if's which only fall victim to the just-deal-with-it's. Im feeling really confident and getting really ancy. I cant say that Im not nervous though. Although I cant see why I wouldnt be. So anyways, a little bit of lots has happened in the past couple weeks. Ive decided to almost completely ditch the mail-drops plan thats been bugging me for months. Im giong to go with the flow and hit the towns and just buy supplies there. After weighing out the pros and cons of both stratagies, Ive come to the conclusion that I like the idea of not having a set schedule for food pick-up and the worries about the boxes getting to their destinations on time. Ill have maybe just a couple of them where its completely inconvenient to go into town. So, that solves that. Almost all of my gear is set and ready to go. All I want to do is weigh out everything packed up and see what we're looking at for a base weight. Im hoping to stay pretty low in pounds. Im not an ounce counter which is great seeing as I tend to obsess with the small picture. I just like to have a nice light pack. Lets just say Im more of a third-of-a-pound counter. Besides that, I dont really have anything super deep to put in for you to ponder over at the moment. All Im really tossing around in the space I call my head is what Im going to do when I get back from the trail. I know I know, one step at a time. First tackle 2200 miles, THEN worry about what comes after. But I guess thats just how it works. You finish planning something out, big or small, and instantly your onto the next plan. Sometimes you havent even started the first project and youre onto the next. Strange how that works out dont you think?Anyway, if I dont stop here Ill just keep on talking. So Ill hold off until next time. Take care of each other, Bryan
Date: 2007-03-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hey! We're taking off in 5 days. Im plenty pumped and plenty nervous. Tonight I managed to figure out the towns I will definitely be passing through. Im not sending any maildrops, but if you are in desperate need to send a letter, feel free to click on the 'Mail Drops' link and there are some towns ill be passing through. Ill check the post offices just in case and update the expect arrival times when i can. Anyways, Im keeping it short. Until next time. Take care, Bryan
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Franklin, NC

To: View Entry
Miles today: 36.9

Wow, what a change in weather. We started 80-90 degrees and all of a sudden were at 40 degrees during the day. Pulling about 20 at night. Anyways, we left Hiawassee and headed for Muskrat Creek. We crossed from Georgia into North Carolina which was a HUGE deal. Georgia was good and all, but after a few days, it got real boring. The sights were all the same. They call it the Blue Mountain Range for a reason. Every sight has hazy mountains that are just some different shade of blue. I guess we can thank the haze from Atlanta for that! That night a monsoon rolled in. We got stuck camping near a ridge on a mountain and with the wind, lightening, and sideways rain, In good judgement, we made our ways to the shelter at around 2 AM. It was wild. Ive been in a lot of bad weather, but this was the worst...it was awesome! So we sheltered in there and in the morning we took a zero day to hang around, dry out some gear, and rest up from missing sleep the night before. The next day we made a real decent day to make up for the day off. We headed to Carter Gap Shelter where we met up with a lot of cool people. There were some interesting characters there for sure. They were all great people. This was the night the temperature plummeted. The forcast for the next couple days was showing no more than 20 degrees at night which isnt that bad, but the windchill was going to bring it down to single digits. The timing was just right though as I had a package waiting for me in Franklin, NC. That leads us to where we are right now. We grabbed a room at the Saphire/Budget Inn in the real friendly town of Franklin. The owner of the inn is extremely accomodating, even more than the other inns we were at, we couldnt ask for more. If I was to sum up our visit to Franklin, I would say the majority of the excitment was completely demolishing the all you can eat steak house up the road. talk about a good time!Unfortunetly, this is the second town that has a broken picture CD maker so Im going to have to wait until Fontana Dam to get some pictures sent home and loaded. Anyways, until next time. Take care, Bryanp.s. Ive been given a trail name. Ive been dubbed 'U-Turn' after dazing out while hiking one day and turning onto the wrong trail 5 times in one day. Sounds a lot like my every day life!
Date: 2007-04-14
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hey just a short one. Its raining like crazy here in Fontana Dam, NC. Thanks for all the messages Ill try to update later on tonight. Trips still going great, knees better, supposed to be having some snow tonight, some say 3 inches, some say 10 inches. I guess we'll see.
Date: 2007-04-21
From: Gatlinburg, TN

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hey everyone. We stopped into Gatlinburn, TN to grab some food for the next week. I hope everything is going well where you are, everything is awesome here. We arrived in the Smokies just under a week ago and the area is beautiful. Gatlinburg is quite the town. Id say its a mix between Las Vegas without the casinos and Hampton beach without the water. What a trip! Its really overwhelming to see this place after coming off the trail. Anyways, the past who knows how long has been amazing. We went through Fontana Dam and the village down below it where we had to wait a day to get through that storm that hit up north. It nailed us pretty hard down here. The Smokies had 250 downed trees in about a twenty mile stretch. Talk about slowing you down when you have to walk over, under, and around huge trees across the trail. The people we have been meeting have been great as well. We fell into pace with some really cool cats. E-Minor, Six2, Fishsticks, Bullwinkle, Tigger, and Chuck Norris just to name a few. What a great group. I cant say it enough, I just dont understand the weather down here. Three days ago it was almost 70 degrees and the next day we were on top of Clingmans Dome and got 2 inches of sleet and snow. Of course today its back to early summer weather. CRAZY. Well thats all for now, my time is running out on this library computer and the kid next to me playing video games is weirding me out with odd looks and I think hes watching me type this. So until next time. Take care, U-Turn