morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-28
To: Georgia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

This is my last prep entry before I leave for Georgia!I managed to get all my gear into the backpack, and the pack is a little heavier than I want. My boy scout training kicked in, and I kept adding stuff to bring along, "just in case". I'm hoping to shed some pounds as I figure out what I am not using, and I'm not likely to use. Better to have it at first, and then get rid of it, rather than need it, and suffer until I can get it. I'm not into the suffering thing. I know it builds character, but I have enough already, and I really don't want any more. My pack is going to weigh about 40lbs-45lbs when I hit the trail, with 12 of those pounds being food, and 2 quarts of water. Without water and food, I got the weight down to 30lbs. My bathroom scale isn't precise, so I will have to wait till I get to the start before I find out what I'm really carrying. But the weight is much less than I normally carry backpacking, and now I'm glad I was doing my training hikes with 40lbs on my back. I should be fine - especially since this is worst case conditions. I shouldn't have to carry this much again until I get to the Whites, or into Maine, and by then I would have gotten rid of my excesses! So I leave for Georgia in a few hours. I can't believe it's time already.
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Amicalola falls visitor center

To: Stover creek shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiker #491 to sign in at Amicalola Falls visitor center.Official weight of pack with water and food - right at 42 pounds.The day was moist!A very windy and foggy day to start the hike. The temp hovered around 40 degrees all day. brrrrr!But at least it wasn't raining!!Started off around 11am - took the top of the falls trail up to the falls... no view.. bummer. and then continued on. The approach trail was up and down, nothing too horrible. I got to springer mountain around 3 or so... took the required photos and continued on. It was too cold and windy to stay there for long. No views... was completely fogged in.got to the shelter around 5... ate dinner and set up camp. There are about 15 of us here... didn't get everyones name... I have trouble remembering names...heather and jim, doxie and aldo, streak and bones are the names i remember...Now i'm in my hammock and ready to try to sleep.11 miles doesn't seem so bad when you are sitting at home thinking about it... but it sure tired me out today.Want to add a thanks to Mountain Squid for the juice as I came down Springer mtn. It hit the spot and helped that last little bit to Stover creek!
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Stover creek shelter

To: Gooch mountain shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was fun, but tough! The weather was the same, foggy and cold and windy.. but it wasn't so bad when i was moving! I did a lot of that today... 12.3 miles! Went from Stover creek shelter to Gooch mountain shelter. The day started great! The trail went through pine forests and tunnels of rhododendrons, following a gurgling creek for about a mile. so nice!Stopped off at Long Creek Falls and took some pics, and then continued on... just about this time the fog rolled back in, and it was drizzly and windy the rest of the day; stayed like that until about 2... then it cleared for a bit, and i got my first views! It's pretty out here.Went over sasafrass mountain, and a couple of other big hills. Lots of ups and downs...feet are crying, but not too much. Massaging them now to make them a little happier.Tonight i'm in the shelter, so that some of my stuff can dry out...others in the shelter - bones, burrass, pokeywa, doxie and aldo, lexi and josh(?), heather and jim, walter, daniel(?), poney boy, and another guy who's name i didn't i catch.fun hanging out with this crew...time for bed...tomorrow -heading for somewhere in the vicinity of blood mountain...
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Gooch mountain shelter

To: Slaughter creek campground
Miles today: 12.5

Stayed in the shelter last night - and that was good.. It was sprinkling on and off all night. The day started off foggy and moist again... so that was a bummer, but the trail was nice... rolling, with gentle ups and downs. The trail was nice and soft too... made some good squelching noises and squishy noises as i walked... About 11 i got to woody gap and stopped to fix a blister... as i was sitting there, this man stopped to get dropped off for a day hike, he gave me a candy bar! How awesome was that?! Not long after, the rest of the crew from the shelter started showing up... we would end up leapfrogging each other the rest of the day. So as we all left woody gap, the sun came out!(angelic chorus)It was AWESOMEderek, pokeywa, burrass and i stopped at great rock outcropping to eat lunch and dry our stuff out for a while. lexi and joel caught up with us there. lexi gave me a good idea on how to make pudding which i will definitely try once my appetite increases.. i don't have the big lexan bowl to make the pudding, so she gave me another option... think icing bag for cake decorating...So the afternoon went by pretty uneventfully - met up with a guy doing a 20 mile training hike because he is heading out to finish the CDT, and get his "triple crown"... impressive...and i caught back up with the day hiker - i call him mr. super-nice candy bar man. At that point, i had to decide to go to woods hole shelter which was .4 off the trail, or continue .5 miles to here. Laziness won the day, and i came here. Nice view west, but ferocious gnats! Beware future hikers... bring bug spray. so now it is dark, and cooling off fast. Can see lighting in the distance. Hope it stays distant. Tomorrow i climb blood mountain, and get a taste of civilization at walasi-yi. And i get to call home and talk to my wife!Looking forward to it....
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Slaughter creek campground

To: Low Gap shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

wow! My legs are tired tonight. 14 miles doesn't seem so bad when sitting at home plotting things out... funny how it becomes something completely different when you walk it.Gorgeous views all day long, sunny with temps in the mid 80's made for a great walk, even if it was a bit long...I want to give a big thanks to the Georgia mountain resort ministries for giving us free hamburgers at Neels gap, and to the trail angels that gave us goodies on the back side of wildcat mountain, just when it was needed the most. Those cheetos got me through to the next shelter! I think those were the best cheetos i have ever eaten.So the day started with some awesome views from my camp. There was low lying fog this morning, which covered the valleys, and made the mountain tops look like islands on a white sea. Got out of camp and was up to the top of Blood Mountain (highest point in Georgia) by 8:45. Took some pics and signed the register... then moseyed on down the mountain to Neels gap. There i bought a knee brace and some trekking poles, on account of my right knee starting to hurt on descents. The poles are awesome! They help take the stress off my knee, and they help on the uphills too. Bonus!Then i got to have some free hamburgers via the Geogia baptist ministry folks - really nice people, and fun to talk to, and they weren't pushy or anything...very cool. So then began the 11 mile walk to low gap shelter... lots of big climbs, but outstanding views... and there was some good level hiking in there too, so that's why i'm not dead yet. Then there was Wildcat Mountain... straight up the mountain to the tippy top, then straight back down the other side. Why? Why did they do that to us? Why??? But wait, then there were people hanging out at the road crossing with beer, cheetos and chocolates! No beer for me, but i had some of them cheetos! and some chocolates. derek picked up his trail name "gobbles" on account of how fast he gobbled up the chocolate.So that got us through the last 4 miles here. The shelter is full, so most of us (there are about 30 people here tonight) are tenting. I can hear the stream, and my neighbor, bones, talking in his sleep. I like the noise of the stream... very relaxing and nice. A long day but a good day. Time for sleep.
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Low Gap shelter

To: Tray Mountain shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

brrrrrr! Tonight i am at Tray Mountain shelter and i am freezing my patootie off. It's been another cold, foggy, rainy day here in Georgia. Are you sure Georgia is experiencing a drought? Because from where i'm sitting, they have more than enough water.So today was long, but not too tough. I got rolling this morning about 8:30 with pokeywa and gobbles, and the terrain was really gradual all day. Some moments of toughness, but nothing killer. Well, until that 1000 foot climb out of Unicoi gap. owww. No good views today because of all the fog, bummer. Saw lots of places where good views should have been, but all i saw was white. I should have taken some pics and then photoshopped good views in later. Maybe tomorrow. It's been hovering around 40 degrees all day, and we had some serious wind. So i had on a lot of my layers to stay warm in the wind. I should have taken into account the sweat factor when hiking... d'oh!! Suffice to say, almost all my clothes are soaked. brrrrr! I am snuggled down in my sleeping bag with some of them around me in an attempt to partially dry them before morning. Oh yeah, i want to give a big thank you to troop 506, who set up a dinner station at one of the road crossings. Another hamburger and some soup! yummm! Made my day. A great way to have dinner on a crappy day like this. I also hurt the muscle at my shin bone, when i slipped on a wet rock... I took some vitamin i, and i hope it feels better in the AM. Will have to baby it for the next couple of days...Tomorrow is Hiawassee and a night in a hotel... I get to take a shower, and try to get my gear dryed out and washed. peeeeyewwwww i am stinky, and being wet constantly is not helping my odor factor. I can hardly stand to be in this hammock with myself. ha haStill having fun. This is way better than working....
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Tray Mountain shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap/Hiawassee
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Tonight i am writing from the comfort of a warm, dry hotel room in the bustling town of Hiawassee, GA. AHHHH. So nice.... especially after last night.So after i wrote the journal entry, i went to sleep... woke up lots of times to the howling wind, and the never ending drops of rain on my tarp. Unfortutely, i had the tarp set up wrong, so i got all wet. Seems like a simple enough thing to do, but i guess there is a trick to it. Apparently, i need to set up the tarp in a way to keep blowing rain out... My sleeping bag was soaked, all my clothes were soaked, and it was not fun. I stayed warm, but it makes for a long night. I need to find another hammock person to talk to, to find out the trick to keeping dry during a night like that one.Anyway, we got packed up and out of camp by 8, and made really good time today. it was windy, foggy and rainy and cold again today, so we were motivated to move as fast as we could. The terrain wasn't too bad, a couple of big ups and downs, but nothing like previous days. One really big up just before Deep Gap shelter, and then a long decent down to Dick's Creek Gap, and our ride into town. We got into our hotel room by 2PM, took showers, did laundry, shopped for food to get into Franklin, and ate at Daniel's steakhouse AYCE buffet.... mmmmmmm.. fried chicken, salad, mac & cheese.... soooo goood...Got to talk to my family, and let them know i'm nice and safe, and not out in the woods in the thunderstorms tonight. Also got to talk to my wife. yay!Gobbles, pokeywa and i are probably going to take a zero day tomorrow to avoid the torrential rains predicted by the weatherman... I need some time to rest my legs... my shin is still really sore, but feels a lot better now that i'm walking on flat surfaces. So back to the trail on sunday, once the weather becomes more agreeable.
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Hiawassee

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today was a zero day. We stayed at the holiday inn express again, but hokeywa moved over into my room. For all you thru's still out there, this is a nice place to stay.Oh yeah, i've been calling hokeywa the wrong name for a week... duh? so it's hokeywa not pokeywa.Today's activities included using the blow dryer to dry out my camera. It had gotten waterlogged, and had stopped working... i got it working again, but there are no pics from yesterday. I only took one today of the hotel. I hope to get one of Sally, the shuttle driver tomorrow, and of Moses and his family, who we've been hiking with for the past couple of days. They only have until the end of spring break to hike, so they will be off the trail soon. Nice people. Then i got my bounce box into the mail, and i wandered around town. Then i came back here and just kinda hung around all day - watched some tennis, soaked my feet in the hot tub, iced my shins, wandered back out to ingles to get some fruit and juice, and ate dinner. T tried to upload my pics from my camera, but the computer here didn't recognize my camera when i plugged it in. That was a stinker. Anyway, i didn't do anything exciting, but today was nice and restful.Lots of other hikers are in town... they came in from all over to avoid the tornadoes from friday... and they stayed an extra day like us to avoid the yucky weather too. I've seen burass, homes, bones, poneyboy, pod and rhody, moses and his family, sweathog, and about 10 other hikers i've seen but haven't realy talked to, so i don't know their names. The crowd around us has been fun... Lots of good people out here.Tomorrow our shuttle is coming to get us at 8, our hope is to beat everyone out of town, so we can get into the shelter. After our night on Tray Mountain, our game has become race everyone to get a spot in the shelter, and avoid being out in that kind of weather again. We'll see how that works for us. Fortunately, the next couple of days should be nice.We're looking at a long climb out of the gap tomorrow, but it will be good to be out hiking again.Okay, time to pack my pocketmail away, so i can get my pack all loaded up for tomorrow. It'll be a couple of days till i can send my entries to my wife, so stay tuned...
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Dick's Creek Gap/Hiawassee

To: Muskrat Creek shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

A good day today. We made it into NC!We got a ride back out to the gap with sally, and started hiking about 8:30. The final couple of miles in GA were gentle to us. The state gave us the equivalent of a goodbye hug. It was a good way to start the day, and it was gentle to my legs... yay!It was exciting to see the sign at the border... We stopped and took a couple of pics.. then went up to a campsite and ate lunch. After that, NC gave us the equivalent of a big slap in the face, and sent us a couple of giant hills. ouch...they were big... wow...but we made it over, and up to the shelter. Got a spot in the shelter tonight. Lots of people are here... here is a rundown of who's here:met half-cup, who is full of adventure, gobbles, hokeywa, bill clinton and his hiking partner laura, bidsong, flutewalker, bones, sweathog, gypsy, baltimore jack, creekdancer and her husband, steve and his son, landfill, and then about 8 others whose names i don't know, but i recognize from other shelters...it's fun. A lot of people i have seen on white blaze, or on hammock forums. Spent time listening to their stories, and hanging out.Bummer today that my camera stopped working again. I'm not sure what to do about it. I'll probably go with disposable until i can get a new digital...the legs are good.. and i will keep babying them for the next few days.time for sleep...
Date: 2008-04-07
From: Muskrat Creek shelter

To: Betty Creek campground
Miles today: 16.2

A long day but a good day!We got started about 7:50 this morning, and had a long, gradual climb up to standing indian shelter. The morning was foggy again, and by the time we got up there, it still hadn't cleared... so no good views. Missed them again! So we pushed on. Lots of flat and gradual downhills after the mountain... lots of walking through rhododendron tunnels, and we had a lot of stream crossings too. It was pretty. We got up to carter gap shelter about 1:30, and ate lunch. Carter gap shelter has 2 shelters. One looks like a hovel, and apparently, the other one is much nicer. We ate lunch at the hovel one, because we didn't see the pretty one till we were leaving. ha ha...We decided that we would push on, and try to get clear of the crowds... sometimes it is fun to be with so many people, and sometimes it is a bit much. They will all catch up with us tomorrow or so... should be fun trying to get the shuttle to town if they all want to do what we want to do. Tomorrow is a short day, as we position ourselves to catch the early shuttle.The views out here are amazing, and the hiking is good. My legs feel pretty good, although my feet are tired.Betty Creek campsite is pretty nice, and i am nice and comfortable in the hammock. I have some noisy section hiker neighbors, and bleck... now they are smoking cigars, and i am downwind. ghaaaaa... cough cough... i guess this is part of the adventure. I will return the favor with them when i keep them up all night with my snoring. muahahahahaha!Okay, it's 9:15... way past my bedtime. Time for sleep.
Date: 2008-04-08
From: Betty Creek campground

To: Rock Gap shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a pretty day, but it started off rainy and foggy. Woke up this morning at 2 to the pitter-patter of rain hitting my rain fly. I stayed dry, and warm though. We got packed up and out of camp by around 8:30. Met forest gimp as she came flying though camp. She was trying to catch crol/beautiful sage, who was out on the trail by 7am... First stop of the day was albert mountain. A gradual, fun climb out of the clouds along the edge of the mountain, to an almost rockscramble at the top. It reminded me of Old Rag in SNP (but not as intense). The tower was locked, but we had good views - again a sea of clouds with mountaintop islands... we left there and continued on. It was mostly downhill or level for the rest of the day. Tough on the legs and feet. We got to the shelter about 1:30 and i decided to stay put. My legs were hurting after the long day yesterday, so i figured it was in my best interest to put in a short day to let them rest. Gobbles continued on to town, since he has developed a cold, and hokeywa and i will catch up with him tomorrow. So i spent the afternoon stretching, and doing toe exercises, and resting, and talking to the people as they came and went, or stayed...Tomorrow is a resupply day - we will catch a shuttle into Franklin, NC, in the morning, and then back out again in the afternoon.So the crowd caught up to us... the older folks moved on to camp someplace else, but the college age kids have opted to stay. Tonight we have birdsong, flutewalker, bill clinton, laura, gypsy, hokeywa, hatchet, moccasin, snap, snack and a couple of others i have seen, but i don't know their names. Should be an interesting night. Gotta go to sleep early, so we can get our early start.Gotta catch that shuttle!
Date: 2008-04-10
From: Siler Bald shelter

To: Cold Spring shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

We are at mile 123.4 fun!Last night was awesome. Clear skies, gazillions of stars, and you could see Franklin all lit up down in the valley.We got started at the normal time of 8 or so, and backtracked to the trail, so we wouldn't miss the bald... and we got to Siler Bald close to 8:45. I was the only one who went up, and the views were cool. I didn't stay long though.. it was cold up there. The elev. was 5216 ft. I was almost at the same elevation as Denver. almost. So i took some pics and trotted back down to the guys, and we continued onward. Next cool stop was Wayah Bald. On the way there we ran across baboo, CC, Gypsy and Balt. Jack slackpacking it southbound from the Bald. So we got to the Bald after some large climbs, and the views were outstanding. Very cool. We hung out there for a bit, but it was too early for lunch, so we wandered down to the shelter and ate lunch there, while catching up with the shelter journal to see where everyone is. We continued on and got to the shelter around 2:45. We had a debate about whether to continue on, camp here, or stay in the shelter. Rumor has it that severe weather is on its way, so we opted to stay in the mouse-infested shelter, rather than have severe weather arrive on top of us at 4am. Oh yeah, the temp. is supposed to drop too, so we should have a high of 40 tomorrow. I can deal with the mice, but not with being cold and wet again. So bring on the mice. Should lend some comedy to the evening. We are going to haul butt to the NOC and try to get a bunk there to hide from the weather as much as we can.This shelter is old and not so nice, but the spring is good, and i can hear it gurgling from here. For now. All three of us snore really loud, so now that they have gone to bed, I don't know how much longer i will be able to hear it over the snoring. So gobbles just saw a mouse run into his pack, and he is very disturbed by this. He is trying to find it... and calling it names i can't repeat on here, since young eyes might be reading this, but hokeywa and i are in tears laughing. Like i said, let the comedy begin.... now he is paranoid that they are trying to crawl into his sleeping bag... this is hysterical... i wonder if i will find any surprises in my bag in the morning...The downside of this shelter also is that the bear cables are busted, and previous people left trash all over the place. bummer...Some other folks are camping here, so we've gotten a chance to talk with them... a father and his boys, but not the same from last night, and three teens with their black lab. Also got to meet pickles and onions(garlic?) when they stopped for water. Always fun to meet new people out here.Okay, time to call it a night...I'll tell you in my next posting how the night with the mice progressed... i can't say we weren't warned about them.... wheeeee!
Date: 2008-04-12
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafrass Gap shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Only 6.9 miles today, but they were ALL uphill! Steep climb out of the NOC today. The trail is now maintained by a new group of people, and they must have all been trained in Georgia! The trail has started going straight up the mountains again.... gasp gasp pant pant pant...We missed the thunderstorms last night by hiding in our bunk room, or by hiding at the paddler's pub. Woke up this morning to thunderstorms too.. but it cleared out by 9 when we started hiking. We got breakfast before we left, yummy OJ, and some yogurt with blueberries... yum...Once we got going, it was all uphill. We came up through oak forests, and as we climbed, the views got better and better... we left spring behind again, and we're back where all the trees have buds, but no green yet. There is a cold front coming in, so it's supposed to get cold for the next day or two... the "snow" word has also been mentioned in the forecasts... yoiks.We got to the shelter early, and just stayed... there are lots of people here tonight... let's see if i can remember everyone...hatchet, moccosin, maniac, gobbles, hokewa, everclear and chewbacca, diane, bob, 2 weekend hikers an their dog reiley, nightwalker, and another dude whose name i can't remember. Fun conversations and a campfire tonight. Legs are feeling good, we are going to push a 16 miler tomorrow....it's still fun to be out here...time for sleep....