morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-02
From: Wesser/NOC

To: Bryson City
Miles today: 0.0

My Mom's friend Joan has opened her home to us for the weekend. She is such a nice person to offer us a warm bed and use of ther TV to watch the Tar Heels play! We stopped by the grocery store to get supplies for the weekend and some for next week. We did laundry, made phone calls, updated the journal and had quality time with Mom. This has been very relaxing. During our long hike a few days ago, I strained by achilles tendon and George got some blisters on his heels. The time off has helped us heal. I so happy that the Heels won and are in the finals. We debated staying until Tuesday to watch the game but when we woke Sunday morning we decided that it is better for us to hike. We'd hate to lose 2 nice weather hiking days. Hopefully we can get the game on TV. So today we're packing up and Mom will bring us to NOC. We will stop in Gatlinburg this weekend to get a resupply box and stay the night. I decided to break up our next few mail drops and send some of the stuff ahead to a new location that is closer than our current schedule. Maybe we'll get to update the journal this weekend. If not, we'll do it when we can or Mom will for us. Thanks for the great words of encouragement in the guest book. We're having a great time and are very glad to be on this journey. We miss you all!
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Fontana Dam Village

To: Fontana Hilton
Miles today: 1.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Sunday Boots and Blue Light hit the trail at 2pm Daylight savings time. They walked 7 miles to the Sasafras Gap Shelter and shared it with several campers. Monday was a sunny day and they walked on , planning to stay at a shelter close to Fontana but when they were 4 miles from Fontana and it was still light they decided to push through to Fontana and try and catch the Tar Heels in the National Championship game. They got to the road, got a ride to the Inn, arriving after dark but before the game. They walked a total of 22-23 miles! Being a UNC Alumni Blue Light was thrilled to watch her team win the Game!! I think she will get the award for the Alumni that walked the longest distance to see the game!! They begin the Trek through the Great Smokey Mountains Wednesday. Carol (Chris Mom)
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Fontana Hilton

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

First day in the Smoky Mt's. A huge climb to get up in the mountains. That was painful. In the Smokies you have to stay in shelter's if there is room. Day or section hiker's get priority though. We stopped a bit early because I was tired but that extra rest did me well. For the most part we will walk the top ridge of the mountains not having to go up and down too much. Must be through the Smokies in 7 days though.
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

Short hike today. Decided to take our chance at seeing the sun rise at Clingmans' Dome tomorrow. So we stopped hiking at noon and stayed about 3 miles from the Dome. If the weather is nice we'll get up at 4am and hike to see the sun rise. We spent the day hanging out with our friends Cupcake, KTR, Snow bunny, hair ball, poppy and a couple of section hikers. We had a blast. One of the section hiker's brought fixings for back country pizza. We had 'real' pizza cooked over the fire with melted cheese and sun dried tomato. Gourmet!
Date: 2005-04-09
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: scattered clouds

 Awesome morning! Not a cloud in the sky. Saw the stars at 3:30am and decided to make the hike to Clingman's. That is the highest point on the entire trail. We arrived at 6am and the sun began to peak through around 7. It was an awesome view. Our #1 experience so far. We talked our friends into going too so there was a group of us. OUr first night hike. WE used our flash lights and tried to make noise so that any animals that may be out would be warned! It was COLD on top of the dome. Wow, I mean windy and really cold. WE covered in our sleeping bag. PIctures to come when dad gets the cardFrom there we hiked to Newfound Gap and found a ride to Gatlinburg from this very nice lady Karen. Thanks Karen you were a god send!Nothing to write home about with Gatlinburg. We were overwhelmed by the circus nature of this town. Boots said it was like the State Fair! Good analogy. I ended up getting some type of cold while I was there. Ran a high fever on Sunday night. WE still left the next day though.
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Gatlinburg, TN

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Too sick to hike any more than 3 miles. A nice family from Wisconsin (the Strange family really that's their name) Brought us to the trail Thanks! My body gave out on me so Boots hiked a mile to the shelter to drop his pack and then came back for me to take my pack to the shelter. I ran a high fever all night.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

We walked a few miles so that we could get alittle further through the smokies. Not fun when you're sick. We ran out of water too so by the time we got to our shelter I was in bad shape. More rest tonight and we will go shorter tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: light rain

Feeling much better. Actually hiked a long way today. We stopped at Mountain Mama's to get a great cheesburger. That gave us some extra energy so we decided to push on . Got caught in a bad rain storm. We got soaked and hoped to find space in the shelter to stay but it was full. WE pitched the tent and that was awful. We did say dry during the night. The next morning it was so cold and it made for a tough tear down. The sun was coming out though so hope is around the corner.
Date: 2005-04-14
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Great day! Full Sun Carolina blue sky! Thank goodness. Went to Max Patch today. We spent 2 hours up there drying out our stuff. So now we have dry everything and we heard that we can expect several days of sun! HOt springs tomorrow. Met Huff and Puff on Max Patch. Thanks for the treats. Max Patch is awesome. 360 view of the mountains and surround areas! Couldn't ask for anything better.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Concrete Dam and Pond Field
Miles today: 5.1

Short day for us. It was such a pretty day. Full sun and warm. A group of fellow hikers decided to set up camp in a nice field and take the day to enjoy the sun, relax, and just hang out. So, twist our arms...we decided to stay. In total there were 25 of us we camped out that night. We built a fire and some folks packed out yummy food from town to cook. We sat by the fire after dark and played the game Mafia. It was fun and we even had somores to make! Thanks to Scholar for those. We walked ahead of the big group the next day. We started to do some longer mile days. Everything is starting to bloom. The trees are so green at lower elevations and we are enjoying the spring flowers. The trail is lined with this bright green grass in many areas. It reminds me of easter grass. It is so pretty to walk through.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Concrete Dam and Pond Field

To: Camp Creek Bald Firetower
Miles today: 15.8

Longer day. We want to pick up our daily mileage to be able to cut down on the number of days of food we carry. We have started to ask Boots mom to cut down the number of days of food I have set aside for our mail drops. We are getting too much since we hike longer days. Trying to figure out how much food to carry can be a challenge. We are starting to eat more though and our appetites are increasing. In case you are intrested, our meals consist of bagels with cheese or peanut butter and jelly for breakfast for me and Boots has poptarts, granola bars, granola. For lunch we have cheese on tortillas or various snacks like beef jerky, soy nuts, seseame sticks, candy, nutella (the best thing that has happended to the trail!). For dinner we have either broccoli and cheese rice, mac & cheese, or lipton chicken dinner, oh and sometimes we have stuffing. We add either tuna, chicken or ground beef to whatever dinner we choose. We use olive oil in place of buttter and we have parmasean cheese. Our food is working out well although we do get sick of some items and we add new things when we shop in towns.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Camp Creek Bald Firetower

To: Sugar Loaf Gap
Miles today: 16.1

We were very lucky to run into some trail magic today. A couple who lives near the trail who completed the trail a few years ago, opened their home to hikers for a hot meal of stew and ice cream cake! Fal and Hurricane were so kind to feed us and share their stories of the trail. We enjoyed chatting with them and the food helped to push us along.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Sugar Loaf Gap

To: Whistling Gap
Miles today: 17.5

We tented by ourselves for the first time today. We decided to push beyond the last shelter because we had daylight and energy. We found this great campsite at Whistling gap. It was nice to spend time alone. We built a fire and cooked our dinner over the fire that night. Earlier in the day we were lucky to encounter a trail angel who was shuttling hikers about 3 miles down to road to a local diner for breakfast or lunch! I have to say that this was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. We just got there when it turned to lunch so they had a lasagne special. Yummy! Homemade lasagne with salad and garlic bread for $5! That's what I had, Boots went for the double cheese mondo burger with bacon! It must have been 5 inches high. We both splurged for the homemade blackberry cobbler with ice cream. What a treat. We were very full when we got back to the trail but that boot of calories gave us enough fuel to hike a long day. We also encountered a group of trail maintainers near Big Bald that were doing trail work. They were giving out beer to hikers. We were still too stuffed to have one but it was a nice thought. We hiked Big Bald. At the top it is 5516 feet. From where we got off for our meal that was almost a 2000 ft climb! But once atop the bald it was mostly a nice view. I say mostly because as you get up there about half of the mountains that you see are dotted with houses. You'd have to see it to understand how much that ruins the view. I guess its all in the name of progress but its sad to see the wilderness being slowly destroyed.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Whistling Gap

To: Uncle Jonny's at Nolichucky River
Miles today: 13.5

Hiked down into Erwin today. It was a hot day and I started having trouble with my feet. For several days (when it is hot outside) my feet are swelling in my boots. I think it is because my boots are gortex and they are made to keep your feet dry so they don't breath well in the hot weather. Also my feet are getting bigger from the hiking and along with the swelling the boots are tight. As we hiked down 2000ft into Erwin, I was in so much pain. The balls of my feet were screaming at me. To the point where once I got done I was in tears! Boots and I decided to stay the night in Erwin even though it wasn't on our original plan. I needed to give my feet a rest. I ended up getting a ride the next day from some section hikers to the nearby town of Johnson City, TN to an outfitter where I could buy trail runner shoes to replace my boots. Most hikers will change into these sturdy sneaker like shoes once the cold weather passes. I found a pair that fit well and also bought some new insoles that had more padding the the ball of the toe. Cross my fingers this will help. I will carry my boots to Damascus though just in case. We stayed at the hostel. It was hot but a good price. Tomorrow we'll take a zero day and get a cabin so we can have a more comfortable place to sleep.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Uncle Jonny's at Nolichucky River

To: Uncle Jonny's at Nolichucky RIver
Miles today: 0.0

Bad news with the weather. The forecast is calling for SNOW this weekend!! It was 80 degrees yesterday and snow 2 days later! We will be leaving though even if it snows. We don't like to stay in town for too long. The trail begins to call to us and we want to be hiking not sitting around. IT rained most of the day today. Not a good sign but glad we have a dry place to rest. We wanted to check our email today at the library so we took the shuttle into town but the library didn't open until 11 am when our shuttle was heading back to town. We ended up spending some time chatting with a very nice man who owns a local computer store. He offered us to use his computer! THanks!!! That helped up update the stats on our hike.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Uncle Jonny's at Nolichucky RIver

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: light rain

A short day today. Knowing that the weather was getting bad we decided to just hike to the first shelter and stay the night. At least we'd be getting out of town. My feet are doing better but now that the weather is bad I'm still going to wear my boots. They perform well in the cold weather and I'd hate to get my new shoes wet and muddy right of the bat. We stayed with cycle hiker at the shelter. It was a cold night! And we awoke to small snow cover. Maybe 1-2 inches over everything. So pretty! It remindes me of when I lived in NY. Its tough to get moving in the cold weather. YOur sleeping bag is so warm! Looks like the next few days will be interesting as we see what becomes of this storm.Alot of our fellow hiking friends are staying in Erwin to ride out the storm.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Curley Maple Gap Shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

HOLY SNOW!!! It was fun hiking today. Tough in the snow and blowing wind. It was really cold so we kept moving. I did enjoy the surroundings though. The snow is beautiful when it is untouched. It makes for an exciting hiking day.
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: few clouds

Twenty miles today! Wow and over tough terrain. We hiked over Roan Knob the highest point we'll we crossed since Clingman's Dome and highest we'll cross until the northern states. The trail was straight up too. Often (if the trail is nice to you) it will be a gradual climb up an around the mountain. Well this was just about a direct straight up hike for miles. I think it was 2000 feet in under 2 miles. We were still hiking in the snow although the weather was getting nicer. Now the snow on the trees was melting so it was just about raining from melting snow. We just can't win. The rain gear goes on the rain gear goes off. As we climb the temp lowers too. for every 1000 feet up the temp drops between 3-5 degrees. So it wasn't a warm hike unless you count the increase in temp due to the uphill climbing. We ran into some trail magic at the top of Roan. A couple of hikers who completed the trail (Nemo and Alabama) had soda, fruit, and little debbie cakes at the Roan shelter. We would have stayed there since it was about 5pm when we arrived but it was bone chilling cold. This shelter was not in a good location. So we pused further. Tried to get to Over Mountain Shelter which we had heard was a nice place. An old barn that was converted to a shelter. But I was in pain due to some type of shin problem. I've developed tendonitis in my ankle/shin area. I think it was caused from some new insoles I got (I think I already wrote this in the journal, sorry if this is a duplicate). The pain is pretty intense. We were hoping that the next shelter wouldn't be full and we were in luck. We stayed with Retro and decided to get up early the next day to push on to the next hostel - Mountain Harbor to rest my leg. Still cold as anything, probably only in the 20's at night. We stay warm though in our sleeping bags. I have a fleece liner too that keeps me warm.
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: Mountain Harbour
Miles today: 10.4

I sent Boots ahead of me today because my leg is in alot of pain and I wanted to make sure we could get a spot at the hostel. Its a bummer to finally kick my cold and be getting in better shape and then develop this foot problem. I changed to my new trail runner shoes today to see if that would work better for my feet and I went back to my old insoles. Hopefully rest will help.The hostel is AWESOME!! The best so far. Alittle more expensive ($17 per person) but they serve dinner for $5 and breakfast for $3. That makes it a very good deal. Boots did get us a place and a good one too. The folks here have renovated the upper portion of their barn into a lovely guest space. It is top notch with a nice porch that overlooks a stream. We got a king size bed, with sheets!!!, in the loft. 5 other hikers shared the space with us. Nice hot shower, wood stove, kitchen. And Mary made us dinner! Spaghetti with meat sauce (we'd been craving that) garlic bread and red velvet cake for dessert! Wow! To top it off she had us dining at her table that was set with real plates, glasses, and a table cloth! Such luxury. In total there was about 15 of us there. We had the wood stove cranked up so hot that the loft was too warm when we went to sleep. Finally during the night it cooled off and I had one of the best nights sleep in a long time. When we're on the trail I sleep in 2-3 hour increments. Its kinda uncomfortable in a mummy sleeping bad and you can only move around so much. A real bed was great!Breakfast was awesome too. Biscuits and gravy, fruit, coffee, juice, etc. Such a nice couple and they even did you laundry for you!! It was tough to leave but good to rest my leg. We started out at about 11 the next day.
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Mountain Harbour

To: Campsite near stream
Miles today: 13.8

Since we got a late start we didn't hike too far. We enjoyed the day although it rained quite a bit. This part of the trail is interesting because in a few areas the AT assumed the land from the property owners using eminate domain rights. This was about 20 years ago but some of the towns people are still angry. There are stories of folks putting fishing hooks on fishing line that you can't see across the trail so hikers run into it. There was one area that just felt weird as we walked through it. Like there were bad vibes. I later found out that that was the area that the local burned down a barn, home, and some other buildings after the AT took control of the land. After awhile you get to good areas. A nice river and stream. My leg was still hurting quite a bit so we walked slowly. We decided to pick a nice spot by a stream to camp. We have a picture of it and that should be updated online soon. We were able to make a fire. We had purchased a pack of hotdogs in town and we cooked them before we left. So they made for a good lunch and then for dinner we heated them up over the fire and toasted the buns in some butter. Yummy dinner! We hiked the next day to another hostel to rest for the day.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Campsite near stream

To: Kincora Hiker's Hostel
Miles today: 10.0

Another great place. Very different that Mountain Harbor but great. This place runs on a donation basis. Bob Peoples and his wife run it. They are retired and this is one of his hobbies. He doesn't do it to make money, instead he does it to help the hikers. He is the nicest person I have met in a long time. He'll do anything for hikers and the AT. He is a long time volunteer and trail maintainer. He gave shuttled us in to the post office and store for free! The hostel has a kitchen and fridge so we could shop for food and prepare meals (other than the stuff we do over our camp stove). I bought POPCORN and REAL butter!!! My favorite. He also has a phone for use so we could call home. It does get busy there though. The first night there weren't too many people but by the second night a big group arrived and we must have had 25 or more there. We read books and relaxed. I really needed a zero day to help with healing my leg.
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Kincora Hiker's Hostel

To: Kincora Hiker's Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

We stayed at the hostel again today. Its good to rest my leg but it gets alittle dull at this place since there isn't a library near by. Although we should stay another day to help my leg, I think we'll push slowly to Damascus, VA where we can have some more services available to us. It is about 45 miles away so we could make it in 3-4 days. We'll head out tomorrow morning at some point.I talked to my Mom about my leg. She is a nurse practitioner and has several friends who specialize in orthopaedics. She said it mostly likely is tendonitis and that the best thing is rest, ice, and ibuprofen. I can continue to hike and it shouldn't get worse but I will continue to have pain until it heals. We're considering taking some time off to give it time to heal. It is hard to do so but even worse to hike in pain. I just pray it will get better soon.
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Kincora Hiker's Hostel

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: moderate rain

We decided to head out. I spent alot of time over the past few days icing my leg. It feels much better. Boots is going to carry a lot of my stuff so that I can keep my pack weight down. We don't have too much food since Damascus is close so it shouldn't be too heavy for him. The hike today was tough but beautiful. We had to go up and over a mountain. 2000ft up and 2000ft down. But the best part was Laural Falls! So pretty. The trail wraps around this river/stream for several miles. We took pictures and we'll post them soon.When we made it to the shelter there was still space available! It rained alittle during the day but looked as though it was going to pick up. And it did! I think it poured have the night. There were several of us in the shelter. But we were dry. I don't think I ever explained how I got my name Blue Light. Way back, when we were in Franklin, NC we needed to do laundry. I wanted to clean everything I had but still needed something to wear of course. So right next door to the laundramat was a Kmart. I took a look around and ended up finding an entire outfit (socks, shorts, sweatshirt) for $2.30!!! Hence the name Blue Light after the Kmart Bluelight special.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 13.6

The trail is nice a rolling. After our hike up and over the mountain we did a gradual climb up to about 3000ft and then we stayed about at the elevation until Damascus. We had some ups and downs but it was a nice day. Such a pretty trail with great views of Watauga Lake. Funny thing we encountered a CAT ont he trail. He looked very healthy and obviously cared for by the hikers. I think he is a shelter cat because there were not homes even close to where he was. But many entries in the shelter said he was well fed. We have a picture that will be online soon. We stopped for lunch at an awesome overlook. We tented with most of the rest of the people at the shelter. For the first time the shelter had lots of room and almost everyone decided to put up their tent.
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Iron Mtn Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Making our way toward Damascus. My leg still hurts. Not as much in the morning but it kicks in after lunch. I put a cold water pack on it a night and am doing lots of stretches. looks like we'll rest in Damascus. We made very good time today and got to the shelter at 3:30pm after being the last ones to leave camp at 9:15am! We need to lazy day. Most of our friends decided to eat dinner when they got to the shelter and then hike forward a bit so they could get closer to Damascus. I really wanted to but my leg hurt to much to continue. Its really hard to see everyone move on and we have to sit. There isn't much to do at the shelters so alot of times you just wait for it to get late enough so you can go to sleep. We did meet a few new folks who stayed with us. We all got up very early (6am) to get into town for breakfast. Pancakes!!