morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Low Gap, GA

To: Unicoi Gap and Hiawasee
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: light rain

Today was a relatively easy day of hiking, beginning with a very gradual uphill walk on an old roadbed. We broke camp around 9:30 and made good time. The weather was near perfect at first, but got hot later in the day. We had lunch at Blue Mountain Shelter before hiking down to Unicoi Gap where we hoped to catch a shuttle into Hiawasee, GA for a zero day. When we arrived at the gap, the shuttle from the Budget Inn was there. Though we weren't planning on staying at the Budget Inn, I negotiated with the driver to give us a ride to town. He would not, however, agree to drive us the additional 1.7 miles to the Lake Chatuge Lodge where we had made a reservation for two nights. We got to Hiawasee around 4 and tried hitch-hiking with no success. As we walked down Main Street to the other end of town, we walked into a place that the guide book describes as an outfitters but was really a gift shop with some items for backpackers. We bought some stove fuel and a couple Mountain House dehydrated dinners and asked the owner of the shop if there was a taxi in town. She said, "there used to be but the car broke down, but this is a very hiker friendly town. Just stick put your thumb and you'll get a ride." We took her advice, but got no better results than before we walked into her shop. We ended up walking the 1.7 miles to the lodge, with a stop at the Bear Meadows Diner for a big dinner along the way. Our room at the lodge was the presidential suite. We got a great rate for a spacious room overlooking the lake and with a bathroom equipped with a whirlpool bath. Just what the doc ordered for two weary and dirty hikers. Our room also had access to an adjoining meeting room equipped with a kitchen. We relaxed and read after our baths and showers, and I spent a little time trying to catch up on our journal.
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Deep Gap, GA
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

I'm writing this in our tent at Deep Gap after the toughest hiking day we've had so far. We are experiencing our first thunderstorm.  Several lightning bolts hit within a half mile and made us a little nervous, but the front seems to have moved on and the time between lightning and thunder indicates that the action is miles away now.  It's raining pretty hard now, but we are dry (so far), and the rain is cooling things off nicely.  We are carrying food for six days, and so our packs are heavier than they've ever been. We added a combined 18 pounds of food to our packs - 3 pounds per day.  I estimate that I added 11 or 12 pounds to mine, and that it was about 46 or 47 pounds at the start of the day.  Yuk! Laura's pack is right around 30 pounds.  Today's hike was 13.1 miles with an elevation gain of 4500 feet.  The profiles at the beginning and end of the day were really challenging.  The first 2.7 miles: a thousand feet elevation gain in the first 1.4 miles followed by a 900 foot drop in 1.3.  This was followed by  a 1300 foot gain in 2.5 miles. We ate lunch at Tray mountain shelter where we met Taylor from Portsmouth, NH and a guy from Lancaster, PA and had a good chat about gear and the upcoming storm.  It's expected to rain all day tomorrow after thunderstorms tonight.  The latter have begun and it's pretty exciting.As grueling as the hike was today, we did pretty well.  It was a warm and humid day with a high of about 80, and, though the terrain was moderate after lunch, we both were tired and hot, so stopped and took an hour long siesta.  That felt really good and made the last big uphill of the day - 860 feet in 1 mile a lot easier.  It was still really tough, but Laura set a good pace and we stopped only twice for 2 minute breathers.  We were the last to start and the last to finish today, pulling into camp at 6:15.  There are a number of familiar faces here.  It was good to see Steve from Boston (44 is his trail name), who started with us, as well as Titan, Chutki, and several others whose names aren't coming to me.Tonight's dinner was excellent: vegetable soup that Betty from Christ the King church gave us (dehydrated of course, but the best soup we have had yet) and garlic mashed potatoes with salami cut up in it.  Really yummy and filing.  We finished up our cleanup after everyone else had tucked in for the night, and I put our bear bags up: embarrassing how much food we have.  We then went to the spring - 200 yards away - for a sponge bath (I really don't like going to sleep all sweaty and yucky) and more water.  Tonight will be the first real test of the tent. It is pouring now, but so far so good.  Good night.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: Deep Gap, GA

To: Bly Gap, NC
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: moderate rain

Despite the hard rains last night - which lasted until about 6 AM - we stayed dry and warm in our Big Agnes Copper Mountain tent. Yeah!   When we got up shortly after 8, almost everyone had already left. We had our oatmeal and tea, packed up and got on the trail shortly after 10. What was great about waiting until after 8 to get up was that the tent and footprint (the tarp that goes inder the tent) had been almost completely dried by the winds that continued to blow. Wish I could say that was planned, but if it was, it wasn't by me.Today was our last day of hiking in Georgia. It was cloudy all day, but didn't rain, and the clouds were actually welcome in that they blocked the sun on a warm day and do made hiking more pleasant. We made it to Dick's Creek Gap shortly before noon and found some trail magic: oranges, bananas and Fig Newtons. While we enjoyed the welcome magic, a guy named Wayne came up to us and struck up a conversation. Turns out he had left some of the trail magic. He asked if we needed anything, but we politely thanked him and told him that we were traveling heavy with food and so really didn't need anything else. Wayne was day hiking and headed north on the trail a good 10 or 15 minutes before we ended our break. At mid-afternoon, we ran into Wayne again at the side trail to Plum Orchard Gap Shelter. Wayne was headed back to Dick's Creek Gap and asked if we would like some beer tomorrow. Now that's an offer that's too good to turn down. He said he would leave us some IPA at the next road crossing which we would encounter tomorrow. Wayne explained that he was getting some beer for the guys staying at Plum Orchard Gap shelter , and that he would leave it on the north side of the toad crossing off to the left 20 or 30 feet so that it would be hidden enough that other hikers wouldn't take it. If there wasn't a good spot on the left, Wayne explained that he'd leave it on the right side. Wow! What a guy! After chatting with Wayne for a while, we took the side trail to the shelter and met up with Chris and Tim (with their dogs Maya and Porter) as well as Titan and Fifty. We all marveled at what a wonderful guy Wayne is. Laura and I cooked an early dinner - we had arrived at the shelter at about 3:15, and as we were cleaning up, we discussed whether to push on further or not. We decided to push on another 4.5 miles to Bly Gap which is just north of the GA/NC boarder. We said our goodbyes to the guys and hit the trail again a little before 5. The hiking was relatively easy, and we made good time, arriving at Bly Gap around 7:30. The winds had picked up and it looked as though more rain was heading our way, so I readied the tent while Laura fetched and purified water, and we are now snug in our tent enjoying tea and cheese sandwiches as the rain begins. There are two other hikers in the immediate camping area and another two on the other side of the ridge.
Date: 2014-04-30
From: Bly Gap, NC

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: moderate rain

It rained pretty hard again last night, but no thunder and lightning this time. Again, we stayed dry in the tent and slept in - at least compared to the others who camped at Bly Gap last night. As I got out of the tent at 8:15, I saw the last camper leaving. Once again, we hit the trail around 10ish and covered a few miles before our first break around noon at the Muskrat Creek shelter. We met Andrew and Ross there while we had a light snack. They are a father-son duo from Florida (Ross being the dad) who were the guys on the other side of the ridge last night. After our break, we pressed on to Deep Gap - another four miles up the trail - where we expected to find the golden beverage that trail angel Wayne had said he'd be dropping in the woods today. Shortly before getting to the gap, the cloud level sank to our elevation and it began to mist heavily. We got to Deep Gap and looked all around but found nothing. We were disappointed, but not too, as the whether was cold and wet and getting colder and wetter by the minute. We scratched our heads and wondered, and considered enlisting the aide of a group of Methodists returning from a day hike who were wondered what we were looking for. (We knew they were Methodists from the lettering on the two vans parked on the dirt road at the gap.) After abandoning our search for the brew, we pressed on a mile up the trail to Standing Indian Shelter located on a ridge about half way up Standing Indian Mountain. We arrived there at 3:15 and there were three people wrapped in sleeping bags in the shelter. While we considered our options, Ross and Andrew arrived and crowded into the shelter with us. Visibility was very poor, so if there was a view, we couldn't appreciate it. There was a cold and very wet wind blowing into the shelter. I was not comfortable with the idea of spending the night in the shelter, and the good spots for a tent outside the shelter were all under puddles, so, after warm Ramen and egg-drop soup, I suggested to Laura that we get down off the mountain before stopping for the night. We were already chilled just from sitting in the shelter while cooking and eating our Ramen, and it didn't look like it would be a comfortable night at Standing Indian - in the shelter or in a tent. Moving on was the right call as the hiking was easy, it warmed us up, and we got off the mountain and out of the wind. We prayed and sang as we walked in the rain. We arrived at the Beach Gap tenting area around 7:15 and we had it to ourselves. The weather cooperated very nicely and gave us a 30 to 40 minute rain-free period around 7:15 in which we set up and got into out tent for the night. We again enjoyed a light super of hot tea, cheese and crackers, and trail mix before reading to each other and falling asleep to the sound of rain on the rent. All-in-all, a very good day despite the weather.
Date: 2014-05-02
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0

What a horrible night!  Whatever Laura and I ate last night caused our bodies to purge themselves of all food and fluid. The same happened to Chef.  I was finally able to fall asleep around 5 AM. I slept until after 7 when the other campers got up and started their morning routines, and I got out of my bag around 8.  Laura stayed in her bag and dozed.  Chef got out of his bag around 8 as well but was unsteady on his feet.  Other than a very sore throat - which I attributed to my bodies "purge" reflex - I felt fine.  I was, however, very thirsty and hungry.  I drank a lot of water, starting with just a few ounces to make sure it would stay down followed by at least a quart.  I ate a granola bar and an orange and, at around 9:30 was about to make some oatmeal when a young women walked around the side of the shelter and asked, "are their some sick people here that need a ride into Franklin?"  Titan and Fifty, who had packed up and left a little earlier, had flagged down an old jeep Cherokee at Rock Gap (about a quarter of a mile from Rock Gap shelter) and asked the driver if she would be able to help a few sick hikers get into town.  It turns out that the driver (Kathy) was a shuttle driver for hikers wanting to get to and from Franklin, NC and the trail, and the young woman riding with her was an employee of the Budget Inn in Franklin.  Long story short: we got a ride to the Budget Inn, checked in to room #15 (Laura's favorite hotel room ever!) and Laura slept while I went down to the local convenience store and bought 4 quarts of Gatorade, milk, crackers, chips, etc.  After returning to our room, I drank 2 of the 4 quarts of Gatorade, ate and fell asleep for a few hours.Later in the afternoon, I went out and explored Franklin, did some more grocery shopping, got some fries at Motor Co. Grill, and went to an outfitters named Outdoor76 that, in addition to being a pretty good outfitters, has a little bar with 12 taps of excellent beers and ales.  I had a good talk with the manager and a couple customers.  I checked in on Laura a few times during the afternoon: she slept a lot, drank Gatorade and water and nibbled a few crackers, but was not interested in dinner.  I was still pretty hungry and joined a number of hikers at the Motor Co. Grill for dinner.  During dinner, one of the other hikers mentioned that there are plants that look like ramps that are poisonous. When I returned to our room, I did some web research on ramps and poisonous look-a-likes. Turns out that there are several plants that look similar to ramps, that grow in this region of the country and that are poisonous: Lillys of the Valley, Trout Lilly, False Hellebore and Skunk Cabbage.
Date: 2014-05-04
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

We awoke early and went to MacDonalds for breakfast because it turned out to be the only place open on Sunday morning at 7:00 for breakfast in Franklin. We should have just had oatmeal in our room.At 8:00, Kathy, the woman who had brought us into Franklin on Friday morning, met us at the hotel to shuttle us back to Rock Gap. We left our backpacks with 44and headed back to the trail. Kathy dropped us at Rock Gap at 8:30, and we returned to the Rock Gap shelter to do a little investigation. Having researched the poisonous plants that look like ramps, I wanted to see if there were any near the shelter that Carrol or Chef might have accidentally mixed in with the ramps. I fou d false hellebore growing with the ramps (see photo taken today and posted with the 5/2 journal entry). I also found Lillys of the Valley growing nearby and Skunk cabbage growing somewhat further away. All look similar to ramps, and all are poisonous. I suspect that some of the false hellebore was accidentally picked and mixed in with the ramps that Laura, Chef and I had in Thursday night. Laura and I slack packed the 3.8 miles from Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap in an hou and a half and got to Winding Stair just as 44 (Steve Crowe) and our packs were being dropped off. Laura felt fine during the 3.8 mile hike and was ready to hike with backpacks. We headed out of Winding Stair gap at a good pace and made good time throughout the day. Our plan was to do 12 or 13 miles and camp along the trail.When we got to the area where the campsite was supposed to be, the three of us (Laura, 44 and I) searched but foul not find a campsite. We debated going back a few tenths of a mile to an OK site we had seen by a spring, but decided to move on rather than back. We headed for Wayah Bald -about 2.5 miles on. This turned out to be a really good decision, as we got to see sunset from the lookout on Wayah Bald. Cameras can't really capture the beauty of sunsets, especially an expansive, 360 degree sunset from atop a mountain, but 44 did take a photo of us in the waning light. It was a beautiful day - so welcome after what we had been through in the last few days. Someone we met on the trail said, "The trail giveth, and the trail taketg away." This was one of the "trail giveth" days.After the sunset, we made our way down from the summit a few tenths of a mile to the Wayah Bald shelter where we tented. 44 said to Laura, "I witnessed it. You wanted to push on today." Laura really was strong today. It so good that she is fully recovered.
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

There were a lot of people in the shelter last night. It was a pretty cool night, but with canvas covering most of the face of the (full) shelter and a fire in the fireplace, we were cozy. The wounded warrior kept the fire going late into the night, and I put my ear-buds in and listened to music on my iPhone to help fall asleep. Laura and I are not accustomed to shelter sleeping ¢ preferring tents, hostels and hotels ? - so we did not sleep as well as usual.During and after breakfast we talked with Felicia (Chutki) who was debating whether or not she should quit.   Laura talked with her for a while and helped her with her decision: she decided to quit. We got off to a late start. The weather was sunny and cool (not cold), and we had beautiful views all day.Near the top of one of the peaks, we met up with Andrew who was taking a break and had just seen a rattle-snake. We looked for it but it had apparently scooted away.Toward the end of the day, Laura was getting a little frustrated and she encouraged me to move on ahead so she could have some alone time. I got to Silers Bald shelter around six, Laura arrived about 30 minutes later. The shelter was not full, so we had to spend the night in the shelter (again). Shortly before dusk, one of the hikers sharing the shelter with us walked down to the spring for water. When he got back, he told us that as he was filling his water, he heard a grunt and, looking up from his water bottle, saw a wild boar standing there a few feet away. I guess it was a friendly boar, as he slowly stood up and walked back to the shelter without incident
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Hi-lights of the day were Clingmans Dome, where the views were good, but not great because clouds were rolling in. We arrived at Icewater Spring Shelter around 7:30 PM and we're greeted by Fletcher - the trail runner responsible for this shelter. Nice guy. He chatted with us while we ate our dinner. Fortunately, the shelter was full, so we got to sleep in our tent. We talked with a few hikers after dinner, but heard the distant rumbles that soon turned into nearby thunder, so headed to our tent. The storm was brief, but followed by a couple hours of steady rain that lulled us to sleep.All-in-all, today was a beautiful day.   At our current pace, we'll be out of the Smokies in a couple days.
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: light rain

Incredibly awesome views east and west as we walked along The Sawteeth and other knife-edge like saddles between the mountains.   We remained between 5400 and 6300 feet above sea level the entire day with moderate ups and downs. Beautiful cumulo nimbus clouds occasionally shadowed the sun, and we heard occasional distant rumbles of thunder.
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: scattered clouds

A long way down.  Beautiful views from the saddles between mountains. Mt Camerer lookout ok but not worth the effort (0.5 miles off trail). Shin splints really hurting.  Lots of bear scat around Davenport Shelter.  Left the Smokys.  Arrived at Standing Indian around 8.  Great place.  Ate burgers and pizza. Our cabin spans the creek, and we have it to ourselves
Date: 2014-05-15
From: Brown Gap

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: moderate rain

Slackpacking from Browns Gap back to Standing Indian. 9.8 miles. Slack packed in order to determine if the shin splint (left leg) was likely to improve with moderate hiking or if I needed to take several days off. My shin hurt somewhat during the hike, but not nearly as bad as yesterday on the long downhill out of the Smokeys.
Date: 2014-05-21
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 14.9

Broke camp at 9:25.  3 miles relatively flat followed by 1600 foot rise in the next 3 miles.  Crossed stream several times on clime.  Photo of cascade.  Under I-26 - parking area with garbage cans on NC side.  Really hoping for a Gatorade (trail magic) but none available.  Spring 1 mile on other side of I-26; Laura pulled out a powder packet of Diet Peach Snapple which we added to a pint of water. Delicious!  Got to campsite at 6:35.  Water plentiful, but campsites not good: all  pretty unlevel except one which is in a bowl about 10 to 12 feet in diameter.  If it rains a lot tonight, the run-off would collect under our tent.  With chance of thunderstorm 50 %, we chose the site in the bowl anyway, reasoning that it will need to rain hard more than an hour before we'd get enough run-off to get us wet. Pickles and Skipper and their dogs Zoe and Seamus arrived as we were wrapping up dinner.
Date: 2014-05-22
From: Low Gap

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

It did rain last night - thunderstorm at 11:50 that lasted about 45 minutes.  Tent held up, and we stayed dry, despite drainage into the bowl in which we were tenting.  Footprint got wet, but tent bottom was dry.  Wasn't easy getting Laura up because she did not sleep well.  She was anticipating having to move the tent in the middle of the night - something we would have had to do if it rained hard for more than an hour.We broke camp at 9:25 and had 3 miles (1.5 hours) of mostly uphill hiking from Low Gap to Big Bald.   The view was spectacular - well worth the work getting to it. The cloud formations, the rolling mountains of various hues of green, blue and gray extending in every direction . . . what an incredibly awesome sight. I was so overwhelmed when I got to the top that I teared up. We took a nice long break at the top - huddled down just a few feet below the summit to get out of the strong cool wind. I put my drenched Smartwool T-shirt on the summit post to dry and donned a dry T-shirt and my long sleeve shirt to stay warm during our break.After the experience on Big Bald, the rest of the day was pretty mundane in comparison, though beautiful by any other standard. We had lunch at Big Bald shelter a mile off the summit and decided we'd try to make it to No Business Knob shelter for the night.The last 3 miles per the guide book were a lot more than 3 miles! They seemed to go on and on and on. We were pretty frustrated. We were hiking at our normal pace of 2+ miles an hour, and the terrain was fairly rough, but not terrible. But the distance between landmarks in the guidebook has to be wrong. The guidebook indicated that the water source at the shelter was sketchy, so we decided to fill up our water bags at a spring before the shelter and carry. As best I could tell, we'd have to carry only about a half mile. After carrying for what felt like a mile, I decided to put one of the water bags I was carrying in my backpack. Not smart! The screw cap on the water bag loosened up - I guess due to the jostling around in my bag - and I didn't notice until there was water running down the back of my leg. Fortunately, my clothes and sleeping bag remained dry in their stuff sacks, though my sleeping pad did a get wet. We eventually made it to No Business Knob shelter at 7:20. It should have been called No Nothing shelter: no water, no privy, no picnic table, no bear cables. And the shelter itself was falling apart. Not that we really care about the shelters that much since we almost always tent rather than stay in them. Shelters = mice, snoring people and exposure to mosquitoes (though, thankfully, these have been almost completely absent so far).We got our tent set up quickly as it was threatening to rain (wind picking up and thunder in the distance) and got into it to cook and eat our dinner before going to sleep. There was a nice group of young adults here who are also in tents or hammocks. Nobody's in the shelter . . . except perhaps the mice.