morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-12
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Lodge
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: clear sky

Today I only hiked 5.5 miles as I wanted to stop at the Fontana Resort Lodge. That was a very comfortable nice place to kick back. Free coffee. Very elegant facility. There was a Honda rally with over 300 people there with their little Honda sports cars racing all around. At some point in the day they drove a section of road called the Dragon¢s Tail, which apparently has a lot of sharp S turns. They were speeding around, cleaning their cars, talking with each other and having a lot of fun. There were people here from as far as Oregon.I met 2 nice DNR fellows from MN, Dream Walker and The Dealer. I had dinner with Pokey and her friend, Alex, a young man from New Jersey. I also met a young man from England named Charles, Trail name Chas 11. Earlier this week he turned the wrong direction when leaving camp and walked 9 miles the wrong way, then had to turn around and walk those same 9 miles back. That would be tough!!Near Fontana Village is Lake Fontana and Fontana Dam, which is part of the TVA hydro-electric system. It was a good day and a good rest. I had a very good meal at the Fontana Lodge. It was a good time to take a break from the Trail. Tomorrow I will head into the Smoky Mountains.
Date: 2012-04-13
From: Fontana Lodge

To: Great Smoky Mountains
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: few clouds

Today was a short day as I only did 7 miles. I was late getting a start out of the Fontana Village Lodge because I waited for a package from the post office. I received a food package from my sister and some gifts from my daughter, including a Kindle and Girl Scout cookies! I shared the cookies with other hikers who didn¢t have as much as I had and they were greatly appreciated. I will learn how to use the Kindle and that will be helpful because once you are through hiking for the day, there is not much to do on the Trail except sit around and talk. Today¢s hike was not a bad hike. We stopped at a campsite in the Smoky Mountains, so I am now officially in the Smoky Mountains where there are a lot of new rules and regulations. The hike today took me across Fontana Dam, a huge structure, then down along a road for a little way, then up into the Smoky Mountains. I plan to go to bed early tonight as I am quite tired.
Date: 2012-04-14
From: Great Smoky Mountains

To: Russell Field Shelter, Blount County, TN
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Today I met up with Becky and Steve again. They now have Trail names, Wildfire and Hoot. I met Earthworm and Exodus. Exodus is so-named because he likes a particular Bob Marley song with that title. I also met Puddle Jumper and Josh (from Minnesota). It was a beautiful day and I have been blessed lately with good hiking weather. It¢s been cold and windy, which is great for doing long hikes. No rain lately, although I hear there is some coming. Tonight I am spending the night at Russell Field Shelter. Just before dark a group of young men came in from a nearby town. They are attempting to hike the Smokies from one end to the other. The shelter was actually quite crowded with 25-30 people. There were many in the shelter and others camped around the shelter. I met Gravity Girl and her husband, Easy (from near Detroit), Rotatus (from upstate New York) and Red Rover, who seemed to be hiking with Rotatus. I have only talked to one person who has seen a bear. They saw a mother bear with her cub. Several have seen deer, but I have not. I have seen a few snakes, a couple of squirrels, and lots and lots of red-headed woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers. In the night I hear many owls. There is a lot of wildlife, but I haven¢t seen any bears yet and probably won¢t.
Date: 2012-04-15
From: Russell Fields Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter, Sevier County, TN
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: broken clouds

Today¢s hike was rewarding in that there were several great views of the distant mountains, but the hike itself was very difficult. We started off easy, but the last 6-7 miles was very hard with lots of steep ups and downs. At times we hiked through areas called ¢balds,¢ areas on the top of the mountain where there are few trees with mostly just grass. The scenery is so different after being accustomed to walking through the woods. I was very I was glad to finally stop for the day.There are a lot of rules and regulations in the Smoky Mountain National Park. You can only pitch your tent and camp around a shelter if the shelter is full. The theory is that this will protect the grass and wild flowers near the shelter. However, in several places they have removed the privy, so you still have to tromp around in the grass and wildflowers to find a place to ¢do your business!¢ They also do not allow dogs in the park, but they do allow horses. I don¢t understand that.After traveling 9.2 miles, I spent the night in Derrick Knob Shelter. There were a lot of people there, including the 7 young men hiking together that I had met previously. I met several new people including Union Jill, a very nice lady from England who is attempting a thru-hike, Water Boy, Red Fox, Puddle Jumper and Shrink. I also met Easy Mile, a lady from Saskatchewan. She said the temperature back home is in the 20s and it is snowing, so she is happy to be here! Sweet Spot was also there. I met her a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to quit the hike 2-3 days ago, but called her husband to come get her and he wouldn¢t, so she is going to go ahead and hike through the Smokies. I was glad to call it a day and spend some time reading a book in my Kindle.
Date: 2012-04-16
From: Derrick Knob Shelter, Sevier County, TN

To: Along the Trail in TN
Miles today: 7.2

It was a beautiful day, fairly easy hiking, with some excellent views. I didn¢t want to put in a long day, so I stopped after only a few miles because I was having good phone reception and could make contact with some friends and do some things with my electronics that I couldn¢t do in the woods. I also had some battery remaining, so I was able to use my phone.Today we saw several deer that were quite tame, coming within 10-20 feet of people in the campground, and a turkey. I have seen salamanders. One big lizard ran up on a rock and was doing what looked like push-ups, nervously watching me as I struggled past. I saw many grasshoppers, an oriole and some other beautiful birds I could not identify. I still see pileated woodpeckers, but not as many as before. Along the Trail there is much evidence of feral pigs tearing up the ground looking for worms, grubs, roots, etc. I think the National Park Service is attempting to trap some of them and remove them, as they are quite destructive and may even be a risk to hikers should they be encountered. Dimples and Griffin showed up at the camp. I hadn¢t seen them for a few days. Red Bear Field was also there. He is a nice young man with lots of red hair and a huge red beard. It was a pleasant day at the campground with a great campfire going. I had a good time hanging out with that group of nice folks.
Date: 2012-04-17
From: Along the Trail in TN

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 3.1
Weather: broken clouds

This was a fairly light day with somewhat of a difficult walk, mostly uphill, to the top of Clingman¢s Dome.   Rain was threatening, so from Clingman¢s Dome we had a few great views, but it was very interesting because in some places the clouds were actually below me. There was a fairly good crowd of tourists there. After we saw the vistas and enjoyed the view, I asked several people for a ride back to town (Gatlinburg). Dr. Wilcox, an ER physician from Memphis, and his family consented to give me and a couple of my hiker friends a ride. Shrink and Gary, a very nice young man with a bleached red Mohawk haircut, and I rode in the back of the truck down to Gatlinburg. We got a room and were able to get out of the rain and sleep in a bed for the night.   It had been 5 days since I had taken a shower and I was looking forward to eating some cooked food and restocking my grocery supply. I also needed to do laundry. It was a good day, a good hike with beautiful views, but also a good day to get into town and take care of necessities. I was surprised how many of my hiker friends I saw in town including Orca, a bartender from Oregon, Red Rover and Lucky. I hadn¢t seen Lucky in 10-11 days, but he popped up across the street so we stopped and talked for a while. There were quite a few people staying at the Grand Prix Hotel that I was able to spend time with. I checked the internet to see that my journal seems to be doing well. It¢s the first time I¢ve been able to see it for several days. I plan to hitch-hike back to the Smokies in the morning, but the time away from the Trail to clean up has been refreshing.
Date: 2012-04-18
From: Gatlinburg, TN

To: Icewater Spring Shelter, Swain, NC
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: moderate rain

I enjoyed a wonderful all-you-can-eat breakfast at Bennett¢s Rib House in Gatlinburg this morning, then caught an early afternoon shuttle back to the Trail along with Napster, Puddle Jumper, Captain and Slushy. We crossed over Clingman¢s Dome, the highest point on the AT, 6643 feet. Today¢s hike was short since I didn¢t start until very late. It was cold, rainy and foggy with no views at all and the Trail was very sloppy. I stopped at Icewater Spring Shelter, which is at about 5900 feet. This shelter is not enclosed, so when mosquitoes become a problem, people staying here will be chewed on all night long! The shelter was full, so I pitched my tent nearby. I have seen various kinds of tents along the Trail, some sleek, some bulky, some for 2 people, but all fairly sturdy. Some people prefer to sleep in a hammock as opposed to a tent. Others sleep on top of a tarp, in their sleeping bag, with a tarp over the top of them. The crowd here, oddly, was comprised mostly of older people in their 50s. The average age is usually about 26. I am proud to announce I have not yet met anyone on the Trail older than me at age 66.
Date: 2012-04-19
From: Icewater Spring Shelter, Swain, NC

To: Copper Gap, Swain County, NC
Miles today: 9.1

Today began with a spectacular sunrise! We were high enough (5900 feet) that we were actually looking down on the clouds. As far as you could see were clouds with portions of mountains sticking through. It looked like hippos in a big pond (except of course the clouds were white!). It was beautiful and I took several pictures. Not long after beginning my hike I visited Charlie¢s bunion, a large stony outcropping. Red Wolf was the only person I saw today and I have run into him on multiple occasions. I got tired later in the day and decided to ¢stealth camp¢ at Copper Gap. It is illegal to ¢stealth camp¢ in the Smokies. You are supposed to stay in shelter. If the shelter is full, then you are to camp near the shelter. An average shelter holds 12 people and is very dirty. The last shelter where I stayed had 17 people crowded inside because of rain. Today was a very good day even though I didn¢t hike many miles.
Date: 2012-04-20
From: Copper Gap, Swain County, NC

To: Cosby Knob Shelter, Haywood, NC
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

When you stealth camp, as I did last night, you are supposed to hang your food in a bear bag on a rope thrown over a limb. Somehow the rope got tangled and tied itself up in a perfectly good knot and I was unable to loosen it so I could raise the bear bag. I had to cut the rope. Sorry, Tom! Also, I noticed for the first time in 2 decades I can sleep quite comfortably on my stomach! I have lost 26 pounds and my clothes are falling off! I have no appetite, but otherwise feel great.Today is my youngest grandson¢s birthday. Fortunately I was able to find a spot where I had cellular signal and I was able to call him and sing happy birthday into their answering machine so he could listen to it later. This is a tradition that I enjoy. Tomorrow I will try to do the same for my oldest granddaughter¢s birthday. Today¢s weather was cool and dry. I encountered the wreckage of an airplane scattered about, but there was no information posted regarding when the crash happened, etc. I am currently camped near Cosby Knob Shelter, which is packed with people. This isn¢t the greatest campsite because it is a bit too hilly. I met some new people here including Carver, Fizz and Count Chocula, folks from the Nashville, TN area, as well as a couple of young men who are southbound. They started in Connecticut on February 10. When they finish this section of the AT they will go to Florida and do some hiking there.   Tomorrow I will be out of the Smokies. The Smokies are truly beautiful and very well maintained. The northern half of the Smokies has very little, if any evidence of feral pig damage which was quite common before I reached Clingman¢s Dome. Tomorrow I will hike over 10 miles so I can get to Standing Bear Hostel where I plan to spend the day.
Date: 2012-04-21
From: Cosby Knob Shelter, Haywood, NC

To: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today is my oldest granddaughter¢s birthday, so I was able to find signal and call her, as well. She was able to take my call and I was able to talk to her, Paige, her father, Brian, her sister, Haley, and her brother, Kyle. I miss them very much and wish I were there for her birthday party tomorrow, but I am on the Trail. It rained hard the last 2-3 hours of today¢s hike. The Trail was muddy and slippery and difficult. A portion of the Trail went under I-40, under a bridge and across Pigeon River.   I arrived at Standing Bear Hostel late afternoon today, quite tired and wet. I was able to take a shower. Their washing machine was simply a washboard, a ribbed metal surface in a wooden frame. You just rubbed your clothes back and forth on it until you thought most of the dirt was out! They did have a good dryer, so at least you could get your clothes dry, which is more important to me than being clean. The hostel was packed and the only place for me to sleep was on the porch. That was fine. I inflated my mattress, threw my sleeping bag down and was quite warm, cozy and out of the rain! The only glitch was that the resident dog, Biscuit, wanted to sleep with me. I convinced him otherwise. There was a big doghouse in the yard and because the hostel and porch were full, a late arrival, a young man from Charlotte, NC, slept in the doghouse! It was spacious and dry and he said it was a great place to be!
Date: 2012-04-22
From: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN

To: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Standing Bear Hostel is very unique, to say the least! It is owned and operated by Curtis and Maria, who do everything they can to accommodate as many hikers as possible. It is an open, free area. It¢s a great place to socialize. Rocket-Man, the main employee, was great! He went out of his way to make things convenient for me, taking me under his wing, which I very much appreciated. He wears coveralls and wears his hair long, kind of a grizzly looking guy who could have been Willie Nelson¢s son! He was super-nice and is a great worker. There are multiple buildings on the property including ¢The Honeymoon Suite,¢ a 10x10 building with no heat and no bed, just one bench. It can sleep as many as four, but you still have to put down your air mattress and sleeping bag. Another is a bungalow with four beds, two in the upper loft. There is no privacy at all and it is first-come, first-served. The ¢Bunk House¢ sleeps 14 and has a wood burning stove in the middle. It is a comfortable, warm place, and has a kitchen/dining room where you can use the appliances and cook your own food as long as you clean up your mess. The laundry area consists of a dryer and a washboard. I had never washed clothes on a corrugated metal surface before, but it seemed to work pretty well. I was most thankful for the dryer, as my clothes got very wet while hiking in the rain. Another building is a grocery store, of sorts. It is based on the honors system. You make a list of what you take and pay by cash or credit card before leaving. One building that looks exactly like an outhouse, and may actually have been so at one point in time, is now the computer room. You can use the computer for $1 per 15 minutes. And of course, there was a privy. Use of the dryer, dining area and kitchen appliances was free¢¦so was use of the washboard and privy!
Date: 2012-04-23
From: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN Slackpacking

To: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was a zero day; I hiked no miles. Curtis shuttled us from Standing Bear Hostel to Elmer¢s Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs, NC. Pokey and I and Union Jill had lunch at the Smoky Mountain Diner where they served huge portions of great food and lots of great coffee. I saw Slayer, Baby Scrooge and True North, as well. I did some shopping and some laundry, got cleaned up and just kicked back and recuperated from the difficult weekend hikes.I went to the diner again mid-afternoon and drank coffee and did some reading. I met a very nice gentleman who lived in Alaska for 20 years and who now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. I also saw Animal, Griffin, Dimples, Red Bear Field and Lieutenant Dan. I head more stories about Sunday¢s bad storm and that quite a few people were in distress. In particular there was a 60-year-old fellow found wandering around on the mountain without his backpack. A symptom of hypothermia is confusion and he apparently was suffering from that. I assume he is now doing well, but I don¢t know that for certain.That evening we had a gourmet organic/vegetarian meal at Elmer¢s. Elmer is renowned for his cooking and hospitality. He used to be a teacher of oriental religion at Duke University. He bought this place 20-25 years ago and has since opened his home to through hikers and cooking them these great organic meals. Elmer is quite interesting and a very nice person
Date: 2012-04-24
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC

To: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: light rain

This morning we had breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner across the street and then caught a ride back to where our hike stopped. We slack-packed the 14.4 miles back to Hot Springs, taking only necessities including some snacks, water and an emergency blanket. Because we were carrying less weight, we were able to walk much faster and it didn¢t take any time at all to do the 14.4 miles. During today¢s hike I saw quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations that remained after the previous two days of cold weather. This evening we had another excellent organic/vegetarian meal at Elmer¢s Sunnybank Inn. Those present included Slayer, B1, and B1¢s uncle, who dropped in later. (I believe they are from New Hampshire.) Another gentleman, Diesel, joined us. He claims he got his name because he is slow to start and is slow uphill! The meal was very enjoyable, as was the conversation which Elmer gets started by asking us to tell our name, where we are from, etc. He asks more thought-provoking questions such as ¢If you could choose someone to write your biography, who would it be and why?¢ or ¢If you could be born in another time and place, tell what time and place and why.¢ Elmer¢s Sunnybank Inn is a great place to visit, Elmer is a wonderful host and I highly recommend stopping there.
Date: 2012-04-25
From: Elmer's Sunnybankk Inn, Hot Springs, NC

To: The next shelter...
Miles today: 10.7

We got a late start getting out of Hot Springs, partly because the meal at the Smoky Mountain Diner was so good and partly just because it just took us a while to get going. The hike was very difficult in the beginning as we had to cross over a river and there was a lot of uphill climbing. As the day went on we could hear thunder and the rain got closer until finally the rain started about 7:00 p.m. and we stopped and pitched our tents just short of the shelter because we wanted to get out of the rain. Lieutenant Dan hiked by after we had set up camp, but everyone else was already in the shelter just on the other side of the hill beyond where we stayed. During the night it was very windy and there were storms all around. I did have phone reception, so I was able to catch up on conversations with some people. I have seen beautiful, very abundant flowers along the Trail, especially Trillium. There are also many different kinds of ferns and May apples and other flowering plants I cannot identify. The trees are also beginning to leaf out. There are many wild berry bushes along the Trail and in the fields around it. The rhododendrons are thick and it won¢t be too long before they bloom. I still have not seen any morels, but I saw several people in the woods digging up ramps (wild onion/garlic type plants), which seem to be fairly prized around here.
Date: 2012-04-26
From: The next shelter...

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: light rain

We started the day in heavy rain, with strong wind and much lightning. Once the storm passed it was cold, damp, and foggy. The hike was very hard and mostly uphill. We saw several trees that had recently been blown down and there were many large limbs on the Trail, most of which I was able to clear away. There was a big tree down by a campsite where there were 5 tents. It would have been catastrophic if the tree had fallen toward the tents, but it fell harmlessly in another direction. The people in the tents did hear it crash to the ground and were quite alarmed by that. Apparently people who love the Trail sometimes have a memorial of their life placed along the side of the Trail and today we saw several of these markers.   Tonight I am sleeping in Little Laurel Shelter with B1, Orca, Missouri Mule (a 65-year-old gentleman) and Prada. Missouri Mule is almost my age, but I still have not met anyone my age or older. I am fairly proud of that, as I am seemingly the oldest person hiking at this time. Of course, there may be others that I just have not yet met. There were 6 or 7 people sleeping in tents or hammocks, and I also saw Lieutenant Dan, Animal, Griffin, and a gentleman who needed to sew a patch on his pants. I gave him some suture material I had brought along and I assume it did the job.
Date: 2012-04-27
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Bald Ridge
Miles today: 10.0

Today was a better weather day, cloudy early, then sunny and no rain! I saw a man running toward us who was obviously out for an exercise run. I have no idea why he chose to run here, but apparently he does that fairly often as he was running fast and looked to be in pretty good shape.   I have noticed that the higher we go, the fewer plants are blooming and the fewer leaves are out. The scene changes dramatically within an hour or two as we descend. The valleys are lush with thick plants and the trees are leafed out. It¢s like going from full blown spring at the bottom of the mountain to the beginning of spring at the top. Going further north we also see more blooming and foliage, so it seems that spring is not only a seasonal thing, but also a vertical thing as the higher you go, the less developed the plants are. The plants and ferns are just beautiful here. There are also lots of berry bushes. They don¢t have berries yet, but there are blossoms and I believe there will be an abundant berry crop here soon. There is still snow on the ground in some places.Today we walked to Bald Ridge and it was just beautiful. This is mostly a grassy area with few trees. Typically mountains have trees everywhere, but occasionally there is a bald and the AT goes through several. These areas are unique in themselves, but also when on the bald you have a spectacular, unobstructed vista of the surrounding mountains.