morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-03-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I made a personal promise in Jan that I would never EVER mention gear in this journal. I find espousing on the low weight and durability and R-values of various sleeping bags, tents and packs beyond tedious and boring. Tell me about the experiences on the trail, that's what I want to hear about!! Having said that:Frogg Toggs are the greatest rain gear ever made.  I can forgive myself for saying this because Frogg Toggs aren't really hiking gear but rather a state of mind and philosophical ideal. Buy the Ultra-lite2 jacket and pants for $35 including tax, wear them to church or yoga, and feel good about yourself.  I went out during thunderstorm conditions to give my stuff a good test, and while I struggled to hike at a good pace or sleep due to the wind and thunder, my Frogg Toggs made sure it was only my emotional state that was uncomfortable. All physical body parts stayed dry and ventilated.
Date: 2022-03-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Duke looks good. It's hard to make Arkansas look like a 2nd-tier team, but they're doing it.I'm starting my 2-week section hike on Tuesday. Minor and "pretender" status compared to those committed to a 2200 mile through hike, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. And now a word from our Sponsors. Actually, Stella Artois isn't sponsoring this hike, so they're more like Supporters, I guess. I think it's fair to say that Stella Artois will be supporting me for the next couple of weeks any time I'm close enough to a town that carries it. Cheers, everyone.
Date: 2022-03-29
From: Amicalola Falls Lodge

To: Stover Creek Shelter
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: few clouds

My wife and I spent the night at Amicalola Falls Lodge. I enjoyed the last bed/shower I would have for awhile; she complained about the thread count of the sheets. Anyway, she joined me for a mile or so on the approach trail to Springer Mountain (AT starts at Springer Mtn) and then returned to drive the 8 hours back to Florida. I think she had a much tougher first day than me.  I hiked 7.6 miles from the Lodge to Springer, and then another 2.8 to Stover Creek Shelter. Very full shelter and tent sites, but a great first day experience. Most were trying to thru-hike to Maine and full of energy and vigor.  Along the way I met Richard with Orange Hat. Richard previously was Richard with White Hat until he was almost shot during whitetail deer hunting season. Now he is Richard with Orange hat. Richard was from LA. I excitedly told him about my son who is going to school in LA and how much I enjoyed visiting California. After I rambled for a few minutes, Richard indicated that he was from Lower Alabama. Quite a character, Richard. Richard was a very experienced hiker, so I was surprised at how slowly he hiked. He said he likes to hike slow and only take breaks at the shelters and seems to enjoy it more that way. I eventually pulled away (too excited to go slow at Richard's pace), and then he passed me as I was enjoying lunch. As I pulled into Stover Creek Shelter at around 3pm or so, Richard was just leaving to go on to a campsite down the trail. Slow and consistent wins this race, I guess is the lesson. I hate lessons.
Date: 2022-03-30
From: Stover Creek Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Picture doesn't do it justice, but Gooch Mountain Shelter was overrun with hikers. At a shelter with about 12 shelter spots and tent sites for 24, there were over 75 hikers trying to fit in. Result: A lot of tents on slopes.  I was out of Stover Creek Shelter by about 8am and covered the 13 miles to Gooch by about 4pm. A young kid I met at Stover made it to Gooch by about 1pm. He got the first tent site, and I got the last one. Pretty bad, but at least I had a flat spot. Many others came in later and had to makeshift their tent setups.Big wind and rain that night, but my stuff stayed relatively dry, so happy about that.I've been surprised at the number of folks at my advanced age on the trail. I expected 90/10 ratio of young kids to older, but instead it feels more like 60/40. Tons of retirees who have been wanting to do this for a long time. One guy from Muncie IN had just retired, big knee wrap, and had hernia surgery 5 weeks ago, and now he's trying to make it to Maine. Just wasn't going to wait any longer to start.
Date: 2022-04-01
From: Woody Hole Shelter

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Tough day today. I decided I wanted to be in town to see the Final Four basketball games, so that meant I needed to get 15 miles in today, which included summits of Blood Mountain and Wildcat Mountain. I left Woody Hole at 6am and was on my way in the pre-dawn. Tough initial climb up to Blood Mountain, which is the highest elevation in GA at 4458 feet. Not Everest, but a real slap in the face in the pre-dawn hours. I then proceeded on to Neel Gap, where the Mountain Crossing outfitters have a location on site. They fixed my chest strap on my pack, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh coffee, apples and bananas they sold. Also re-supplied on Advil...The rest of the day was a series of pointless ups and downs, and Wildcat Mtn was a crazy big incline over a short distance. My knees really started feeling it at the end. Probably too many miles for me this early in the hike, but I think the Duke/NC match up is sports history given Coach K's last year, so pushed it a little bit.
Date: 2022-04-02
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I was meeting a shuttle by 2pm at Unicoi Gap to take me to town of Hiawassee. I was looking forward to shower and a wash of clothes, as well as the Final Four games. I got up early and made the 10 miles by 11:41am. I know this because I received a text message from my ride at 11:41 asking if I would be arriving early. I had arrived about two second before that text. She was at Unicoi Gap on another errand and could take me immediately to town rather than waiting another 2 hours. Good deal!The rest of the day was spent showering, doing laundry, resupplying, getting hiking poles, and eating. Felt good. Also, I caught up on news. Read that Megan Thee Stallion was now going platinum blonde, and it occurred to me that this is why more people don't hike the AT. You just miss too much news.Final Four didn't end like I wanted, but cheers to Coach K on an amazing career. Clearly set the standard for excellence in college basketball.
Date: 2022-04-03
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

I spent the morning organizing and packing, throwing out things I wasn't using to reduce pack weight, and figuring out food for the next 5 days. Shuttle dropped me off at the Unicoi Gap at 1:30pm, and I had an uneventful 6 miles to Tray Mountain Shelter. Tray Mountain was a steep climb and difficult for me after taking half a day off. I used my new hiking poles, and they made a big difference on how my knees felt. I'm pretty sure these will be a huge success.  Saw Red Panda tonight. When I first met him, I thought he said his trail name was Red Panther. Tonight, he corrected me and said, "No, it's Red Panda, although I like Red Panther better. Oh well, the trail has spoken, Red Panda it is." Red Panda started the trail with a pack weight of over 50 pounds. He hiked with it for more than 30 miles to Neel Gap, where the good people at Mountain Crossing helped him relieve some of the weight down to 30 pounds. "What did you have in there?" I asked. "Just a lot of MacGyver stuff that you would never really need," he said. His grandmother is intrigued with the AT and taught him a lot about the trail, so now he's hiking the whole thing. Super-nice guy.
Date: 2022-04-04
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

I was planning to hike 12 miles today to a campsite a couple of miles north of Dick's Creek Gap, then I realized I could sneak back into town at the Gap and see the NCAA championship game between North Carolina and Kansas (and get a shower, food, clean bed). "Good move," I think, as I enjoy pizza while watching the game. Good hiking day today using the hiking poles, I'm sold on them for anyone over the age of 50. My knees are grateful.  Tomorrow is supposed to rain buckets starting at about 11am, so I'm getting back on the trail at 7:30am to try to hike 4 miles to Plumorchard Gap Shelter before the rain starts. While waiting for my ride at Dick's Creek Gap, Smokey Bear noticed me and provided a much-needed Pepsi. Smokey hiked the AT during the pandemic in 2020 and did it all except for the Smoky Mountains, which were closed then. When he saw day hikers, he would tell them (as an expert) about the dreaded Appalachian Trail Spider that poisoned all who came in contact with it. Quite the character, Smokey.
Date: 2022-04-05
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Campsite past Plumorchard Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

I was able to hike the 4.5 miles to Plumorchard Gap Shelter by 11am, and then on cue the rain started and continued through most of the afternoon. Many chose to adhere to the "No rain, no pain, no Maine" mantra and continue on with their hikes. The wisdom of 55 years held me back in the shelter for the afternoon watching them come and go.  Most who stayed in the shelter that afternoon also decided to stay the night after the rain subsided at 4pm. I decided to hike a few more miles down the trail given my laziness for the entire afternoon. Had this picture of my wife asking, "How was the hiking trip you've been looking forward to for so many years." "Pretty good, really enjoyed sitting in the shelters," says I. Most who were staying were a little confused by my decision to start back up so late in the day. I didn't ease their fears by: (1) getting lost coming out of camp, doing a complete circle and reappearing before them, and then after a restart (2) forgetting my hiking poles and going back to camp to get them. "Now it's a thing, you have to go," said one.  I hiked about 2.5 miles out before I became concerned that I would get lost and eaten by any number of predators wandering the trail at dusk. This was the first time I had camped outside of the shelters. It was good! Much easier to relieve oneself in the middle of the night when you're not worried about going on someone else.Speaking of midnight relief, let's talk about one of the things I've learned on the trail. When I got my cool headlamp, I noticed it had three light settings. One was a nice broad beam a light - good. The second was a focused beam of light - OK, but not sure why I would ever use it. The third was a red light - completely useless. I took this ignorance with me to Gooch Mountain Shelter, where there were about 75 campers. In the middle of the night, I went out to use the privy and, given my placement in the camp, I wandered across the entire camp from my tent to the privy. I couldn't see too well, so I certainly used my headlight with the nice bright broad beam setting. The next morning, I got up early and noticed others up early as well - all using the red light. It turns out, the red light is a lot less intrusive to those who are sleeping than the bright beam I had midnight-paraded through the entire camp on my way to the privy. Lesson learned, forever and always. To finish the paragraph, the focused beam is very useful when hiking in mist or dark conditions. There were probably instructions somewhere that informed me of all this, but who has time for instructions?
Date: 2022-04-06
From: Campsite past Plumorchard Shelter

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Hiked 10 miles today to Standing Indian Shelter. I crossed into North Carolina today with Matt - notable because I would have missed the sign altogether if he hadn't called out to me for a picture. I expected much more fanfare than the small sign you see here, but I guess 78 miles on a 2200-mile trail is a bit ho-hum. Trail: "Nice job, little guy (patting me on the head), only 2100-ish more miles to complete a real man's (or real woman's) hike."North Carolina is definitely a better experience than Georgia, in my opinion. Georgia had so many pointless ups and downs. Many times you weren't actually climbing anything with a name, but it hurt all the same. Even when it was a Prestigious Name Mountain, it seemed to be summit-less. You'd knew you were at the top because the trail stopped going up, but there was no view or anything else of significance to see. And the severe downs seemed to all start within 20 feet of the finish of the ups. The GA trails were designed by sado-machochists who were trying to keep the good Georgia people home on Saturdays to watch Bulldog football. I guess it worked.North Carolina trail makers were rolling switchback loving people who wanted severe ups to be for an event. The rolling switchbacks are beautiful formations, providing relatively flat hiking surfaces over long periods of trail despite the relatively severe up or down landscape. Severe ups certainly exist in NC, but they are interesting ups with a payoff at the end like at Albert Mountain (to come). North Carolina clearly did not have college or pro sports to attend to in the fall or spring or summer, so there was nothing to thwart smart decisions on trail design. I would imagine NC's ice skating rinks are poorly constructed given Duke and NC basketball.I stayed at the shelter rather than tenting tonight. I arrived early enough to get the last spot, which was a good thing given the heavy rain again that night. I stayed very dry but got very little sleep - the rain is extremely loud on the roof of this shelter and continued for most of the night. Even after the rain ended, any time the wind blew strong, we'd have water coming down loud onto the shelter.This brings me to another item I didn't know. The wind noise in the Georgia mountains is beautiful and reminds me of ocean waves breaking onto a beach. It was very windy while in Georgia, and the sound that the wind makes in the Georgia mountains is a constant, beautiful white noise. I was fearful of it at first, waiting for the gust to hit my tent and blow it over. It never really happens that way. It's an accumulation of the sound of the wind across thousands of trees in the mountains that hits your ears without you ever feeling the full brunt of the wind. I didn't know it existed like this and it's very nice. I'm sure a lot of this is the placement of the shelters. So, good job GA on the placement of shelters, it almost makes me forgive you for the pointless up and down trails.
Date: 2022-04-07
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

I wanted to cover 16 miles to Long Branch Shelter today so I could easily get into town the next day (weather reasons). I started at 6am and hiked for the first mile in the dark (using the high beam setting on my headlamp). The first mile was the ascent of Standing Indian Mountain, so I wasn't going to be moving very fast regardless. After that, the trail opened up to relatively easy hiking and I could cover ground easily. In fact, I was passed by a running Weezer trying to beat her best mile time on the AT. She did it, but said it proves that it was a flat section of the trail.  Toward the end of the day, we climbed Albert Mountain, which at times involved throwing the poles up to the next cliff so I could get a handhold to hoist myself up onto the next cliff. Great summit with amazing views and a fire tower that heralded 100 miles on the AT.  The night's low temps were around 28 or so, the coldest so far. My sleeping gear is holding up very well to it, but I'm an active sleeper and woke up several times because of body parts exposed to the cold. Also, unfortunately at some point you have to actually get out of your sleeping bag in the morning. Very chilly.
Date: 2022-04-08
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

As I mentioned, I did higher mileage yesterday due to weather. A few days ago, I read the following weather report on ATweather.org for the evening of April 8:"Snow showers likely, with a low of around 24. Breezy, with wind of 20 mph and gusts as high as 34 mph. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible."It seemed like a good time to head to town and get out of the weather. Given the 16 miles yesterday, I had an easy 7 miles today to Winding Stair Gap, and a waiting shuttle ride to get me into Franklin, NC. No particular plans this evening, other than to do laundry, resupply for next week, and eat at Taco Bell and Dominos. Might watch a little TV...
Date: 2022-04-09
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Weather forecast said it would be clearing in the afternoon, so I arranged for a shuttle at noon back to Winding Stair gap and planned to hike 8 miles to Wine Spring campsite. It was a good plan, except that the weather never cleared. I spent the afternoon hiking in snow and ice during a snowstorm as the temps continued to drop. Wine spring is at an elevation of 5300 feet while the Siler Bald shelter is only 5 miles out at 4800 feet, so I grabbed a spot at around 3pm at Siler Bald shelter (caution vs valor). I spent the next hour in a sleeping bag getting warm and napping. By the time I got up at 4pm, Jet Ski, Lobster and Dorito (JLD group) had somehow started a fire (cotton balls lathered in vaseline as a fire starter, I was told). Never one to miss playing with fire, I fended off boredom for the rest of the evening with the JLD group by collecting wet firewood, drying it out next to the fire, feeding it to the flames, and snacking. Tom later joined us, having hiked 14 miles through the snow from Albert Mountain to our spot at Siler Bald shelter. It was a nice getting to know this group, not the worst way to spend a snowy, cold evening.  I went to sleep at around 8pm, hunkered down for temps of 27 degrees and wind gusts of around 30 mph. Sleeping bag did its job well, but I woke up many times throughout the night when my active sleeping resulted in various body parts out of the bag and exposed to the cold.
Date: 2022-04-11
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tom and I both planned for a 13-mile day to Sassafras shelter. This involved a 6-mile steep descent into Bryson City and then a steep 7-mile ascent to Sassafras Gap shelter. The morning descent was hard on the knees and other joints, as it's just relentless downhill pressure for about 3 hours. The payoff is great though. Bryson City is on the trail, and its most famous inhabitant is the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The NOC is a strong outfitter and a good place to print out the pass needed to enter the Smoky Mountain National Park. In addition to the NOC, there's a restaurant, general store, hostels and hotels, kayaking, and other things helpful for hikers. Tom and I met for lunch at the restaurant - I enjoyed salad, burger, fries and a beer, while Tom opted for salad, pizza and beer. Quite a treat on the trail. In the Far Out app, many hikers left comments about their intention to hike to Sassafras but were too buzzed to finish and instead camped short of this goal. Very understandable.As an aside, I'm finding that my cravings in town are for fresh fruit and salad. My meals on the trail consist of noodles, peanut butter, and granola/energy bars. When in town, I'm really enjoying the crunch of an apple or garden salad. When I do more of this in the future, I need to figure out a better trail meal plan - definitely bored with my food selections.The afternoon was a brutal 7-mile ascent, going from Bryson City at 1700 feet elevation to Sassafras Gap Shelter at 4400 feet elevation. A bit of a struggle for me here, and not helped much by the Stella I had for lunch.So another thing I've learned on the trail is the value of the Far Out app. I'm embarrassed I didn't use it initially, I just figured my guidebook would suffice. The Far Out app uses GPS to follow you through the trail and provides very accurate read-outs of how far you are from shelters, camp sites, the next water source, interesting views, roads/parking lots, and it also provides the elevations of the trail. After downloading, it works even without cell phone service and is a great safety tool. Comments left by other hikers are very helpful as well, and most of my shuttle drivers came from the recommendations of other hikers. Tomorrow is my last day on the trail, so I'm looking forward to getting up early, hiking down to Stecoah Gap, meeting my ride to Knoxville airport, a layover in Atlanta, and, if all goes well, I'll spend tomorrow night in my bed in Sarasota. Can't imagine anything going wrong with that plan...
Date: 2022-04-12
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up early and did an easy 7 miles down to Stecoah Gap by 10:30am. It rained a bit overnight so everything was wet, but it was a warm day so not much impact really. I met Fred, a great shuttle driver who took me to Knoxville airport. We never got on an interstate, instead taking the dragontail route, which had 318 hairpin turns over 11 miles. Motorcycles come here in good weather to test their skills, and Fred indicated that 5-8 are killed every year by going too fast through the turns. No guardrails. There are actually bleachers set up in certain riskier areas for spectators to watch the motorcycles flying by. Fred hunts bears during season, enjoys barbequed bear, and believes it really helps to thin out the population and keeps the surviving bears healthy. This isn't done in the Smoky Mountains National Park, and he believes aggressive bears are more of a problem there. Fred pointed out the Krystals to me where he was going to get a 10-pack on the way back. Great guy.I cleaned myself up as well as I could in the Knoxville airport bathroom, and then enjoyed lunch at Ruby Tuesday's in the airport. I fell dead asleep on both legs of my flight, and then met my ride and trail support manager, Kay, in Sarasota. Very hospitable welcoming from Kay, and a big thanks to her for supporting this indulgence!Vanity stats:1. Hiked 150 AT miles in 15 days2. Averaged 31,000 steps per day, with a high of 50,0003. Lost 7 pounds4. Gained 1 badass beard, soon to be shornThis is my last entry, I really enjoyed the two weeks and would encourage anyone to give it a try. It's a lot of fun!