morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Tent, Painter Branch

To: Tent, midway New Roaring Fork Shelter & Footbridge
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was quite event filled. I sank to a new personal low. I picked up Pringles potato chips pieces off of the ground for my child, husband, friends (Silent Bob and Padre) and myself. I must say that we were really glad to get those gritty tasty bits of fatty goodness. Ok, maybe I'm not quite as pathetic as I thought. I did leave the crumbs. The day hikers (they have the best food) who had inadvertently spilled the canister was a little taken aback by our scrounging. I'm betting that a couple hundred more miles of trail and I won't leave crumbs on the ground. Did I forget to mention that you get really hungry hiking? Another highlight of our event filled day was the THREE mile detour that the Troll family and silent bob took. We got lost. Leaving the stile after max patch, we were supposed to cross the logging road and go back through another stile. Well we didn't see the white blaze on the 2nd stile. We also didn't see the 2nd stile. So we decided to follow the logging road down to a local horse trail and explore that for a while. You might not believe this, but walking THREE miles that don't count was not the best way to end the day. The highlight of the day was Max Patch. It is a mountain with a beautiful view. It was a farm that is now grass covered and looks like a park. It was windy but the sun was warm. All of us (including me) had hiked fast enough that we were able to spend an hour hanging out (ok - laying down) on top of max patch. When you laid down you could hardly feel the wind. It was a nice break, which we really enjoyed because the hike up there from brown gap sucked. I think something became unstuck in my hips and legs yesterday afternoon. As I was slowly hiking along, I somehow started thinking about my chief's incitation. We had to run 3 times a week at 0530 in the morning. All of a sudden one of the cadences we used to sing popped in my mind. That cadence helped me find my hiking rhythm. Today I was walking almost 2 miles per hr. It is really interesting to find out about all the people that you hike with on the trail. Take Padre, Troll named him because he looks like a serious young seminary student. Last night we found out that he is 17 and graduated early from high school. He starts college this fall and is hiking until his time is up. I would never have guessed that he was that young. He is a mature pleasant young man whom we enjoy hiking with. Right now he has a gnarly blister wound on his heel so he is only doing 12 or 18-mile days. We will miss him when he heals and really starts hiking. I almost forgot, Oblivious found more salamanders at our campsite today. He is happy. Well that is all for today. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Tent, midway New Roaring Fork Shelter & Footbridge

To: Shelter, Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

Yesterday marked 1 month on the trail for us. Today is the start of an entirely new month. Wow! 31 days and 267.5 miles. I am going to spend this entry giving you stats. Let the information updates begin. Total miles - 267.5 Total days - 31 Zero days - 4 Avg. miles per day - 8.6 Avg. miles per hiking day - 9.9 Showers - 5 (Neels Gap, Helena, Franklin, Fontana, Gatlinburg) Laundry - 4 (Neels Gap, Helena, Franklin, Fontana, Gatlinburg) Weather - everything that can fall from the sky except toads and locust. Trail names given - Squid Jerky by Troll, Padre by Troll, Metal Face by Oblivious, Keeper by Troll, Stilts by Troll. Troll falls - 0 (but he has had several spectacular saves) Anchor falls - 3 (got 1 today in the new month but I'm still counting it) Oblivious falls - 15 (two were head first into spots where the trail is narrow and deep - Dad had to pull him out) Troll injuries - left knee requires constant Motrin and brace, right knee not as bad, heel and toe blisters, sore pads of feet, chafing Anchor injuries - sore knees, right foot slightly sprained and growing bunion by pinkie toe, all blisters currently healed Oblivious injuries - chafing Best gear - trekking poles, crocs/waldies camp shoes, kilts, moving comfort bra, pocket mail, frogg toggs for child, Miox water purifier Worst gear - Frogg Toggs for adults Gear we are still unsure about - drippy Wal-Mart water bladders, alcohol stove to cook for 3 Troll doesn't like downhill¢s. I don't like uphills. Oblivious doesn't like cold. We all love the spring flowers. The trail is hard but we are getting stronger and are enjoying ourselves. It really is all about the journey not the destination. Oh, today Oblivious hiked with Silent Bob for a while. Silent Bob doesn't have much 10 yr old experience. Somehow he didn't realize that unchecked a 10 yr old has the capacity to babble endlessly on an infinite number of random subjects. Padre said that Silent Bob was a little shell-shocked when he came into camp with Oblivious. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Shelter, Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Tent, Hot Springs Campground
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: broken clouds

Well, we are in town again. This time we are picking up a mail drop. Hot Springs is tiny. I think it is 3 blocks by 3 blocks. Tiny. We walked in and stopped immediately at the 1st restaurant we saw. It took plastic and served BIG skillet breakfasts. YUM. Food. YUM. It seemed like a family reunion while we were there. We saw Domino (from the hiker hostel in Dahlonega), Touk (Springer), Skylark (hiker hostel Dahlonega), Ranger and Grunting Bear (Neels Gap) and more. We even met the famous Miss Janet from Erwin. Throughout the day we kept seeing folks we knew - Trip (Fontana), Metalface and Keeper (trail), Gypsy Lulu (Springer), Spike and Hopper (Davenport Gap Hitch). It was pretty wild. Laundry was washed. Boy was that badly needed. Since this is a tiny tourist town, there are not a lot of lodging options. For the Troll family hostels at $15 per person are not the most economical. That eliminated a couple of options. We wound up sharing a spot at the campground with Silent Bob and Padre. We actually stayed up past midnight around our fire. It is pretty neat for us to be catching up to folks that we haven't seen for a month. Faster people are still passing us all the time. I have decided that the people who come out here just to pound out 20+ mile days are insane. They walk from sunup to sundown or past that into the night. I literally saw one of those people charge up rocky top in the smokies without turning around to marvel at the view. I guess different strokes for different folks. I'm really excited that I am hiking faster so I can spend my breaks with my family just relaxing in beauty. I bought a hiking skirt at the local outfitter. Now I will fit in with my boys. I also was able to get my replacement shoes. We will see how this pair holds up. I'm actually pretty impressed with the local outfitter, reasonable prices and a good selection. They also have scale where I found out that I have lost 20 pounds. Tomorrow I think we will try to partake in the hot springs. I think a nice long soak in natural mineral springs has to feel good on an achy hiker body. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Tent, Hot Springs Campground

To: Tent, Hot Springs Campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Yes another big fat zero. Used this one to rest the body and mind. Since no reasonably priced hotel room in town has a TV (for Oblivious), we stayed at the campground. Town is tiny. Oblivious and I went to soak in a hot tub at the natural hot springs spa. It did feel good. Tomorrow we hike again. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Shelter, Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Tent, Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

I am laying down in my tent with sore feet. It was a hard day of hiking. I have decided that every day is hard, some days more so. Believe me I could continue with my whining. But I think I need to spend some time thinking happy thoughts. Otherwise I might just go and stab someone with my trekking pole. Today I walked through an entire field of purple violets. It was very cool. An odd thing were the many small grasshoppers. They seemed to be everywhere in the violets. I continue to be amazed by the quantity and diversity of the wildflowers. I am blown away by the different microclimates and micro biomes that we hike through. The difference between the dry side of the mountain and the wet side of the mountain is drastic. The wet side of a mountain is covered in a carpet of green. There are always violets, which are mixed with Dutchman¢s breeches, spring beauty, trout lilies, and bloodroot, may apples, hostas, and trilliums. Today while hiking one of the evil ups, we were on the wet side for an extended time. You couldn't see anything on the forest floor other than flowers. Then we got to one of the many evil false tops and crossed over to the dry side. The forest floor was covered in dead leaves. There were still violets but only a few. There are a few scattered flowers, but the overwhelming color is brown. Not only do the wildflowers change as we go along, but so do the trees and rocks. North Carolina had lots of slate earlier. Then it seemed to switch to sandstone and shale. Today slate returned to the mixture. Most of the trees seem to be deciduous. Occasionally, pine trees are mixed in. Rhoderdendruns are on the wet side, mountain laurel on the dry side. Today Troll and Oblivious took a break at a little stream. Oblivious did a belly flop in the water. He said it was so cold, he couldn't believe it. But that didn't stop him from playing in the water. Troll bathed. So did Oblivious, although you can't tell that by looking at my little dirty boy now. Today I think a lot of us differently abled hikers were miffed at Wingnut. I know that is not really his trail name, but that is what we were calling him after some of the data in his book today. The little 400 ft rise at the end of the day was a straight uphill that lasted over a mile. Judging by the entries in the shelter register, we were not the only hikers pissed at Wingnut after hiking to this shelter. I know his is not the only book or map that lied. But lying to hikers about end of the day climbs is just plain evil. Ok, I said no whining - only happy thoughts. Oh yeah, we have done over 300 miles now. Way cool. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Tent, Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Hotel, Erwin TN
Miles today: 2.4

Oh Mother Nature. She can be a cruel woman. We spent the night watching lightening and counting thunder seconds. Of course this was accompanied by pouring rain. Morning came and all looked well. We started hiking and it was actually a little cooler. It was nice. We hiked down to Sam's Gap where we met our faster friends. Sam's Gap can be a treat because you can hitch to a diner for a meal. We didn't get quite the same treat. A local farmer had passed on the weather report (confirmed by radio), more rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds and dropping temps today. Tomorrow the same with temps continuing to drop. Tomorrow night would bring snow. Sunday would snow and start to clear in the afternoon. Well, you know me and snow hiking. My whine factor seems to increase as the temp decreases and as precipitation increases. So into town we came. About an hour and a half after we got in it started pouring. It was very nasty and we couldn't even see the mountains that we were supposed to be hiking. We will probably be here a couple of days. We will use this time to do town chores. Laundry, shopping, eating, and showers. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Hotel, Erwin TN

To: Hotel, Erwin TN
Miles today: 0.0

Today the weather still sucks. Lots of rain and pretty cold in town. Probably much colder up in the mountains. Last night, Troll talked to a guy who did the trail 3 yrs ago. He told Troll that we are in the middle of some of the most difficult terrain for the north bounder (from I-40 out the Smokies and almost all the way to Damascus). Lots of pointless ups and downs (PUDS) with significant altitude change. The guy said when he did it and got here, he thought he wouldn't be able to complete the trail. It was beating him up that hard. But the good news was that about 40 miles out of Damascus, it leveled out a bit. He said thru Virgina there were days that were really awful. But they weren¢t all strung together like they are in this area. And in Virgina you can find yourself just hiking more without realizing it. I guess we will see. My bet is that I can still find plenty to whine about. But it does make me feel a bit better. The Troll family has found that we can hike 15-mile days with our packs. We just can't do multiple days of it in a row with heavy packs over harsh terrain. Well, we can do it, but then we become an angry bitter Troll family. And no one likes bitter angry Trolls. Ourselves included. Our new grand plan is to stick to 12ish days when we leave town with heavy packs. We will increase to 15s on the last 2 days when the packs are light. I think that will lead to happier Trolls. Since we are in town and I have no hiking stories to whine about, I will share random trail stories with you. At spring mountain shelter, Oblivious learned how to whistle using an acorn top. Fatty, Batman, Squid Jerky and Oblivious were all standing around the fire producing these ear shattering shrill whistles. It was funny to watch. Troll, Silent Bob and Oblivious frightened Padre away when the Troll boys starting humming bagpipe tunes and Bob started using one of his trekking poles like a drum major. Padre later complained that for the next 4 hours of hiking he had bagpipe songs stuck in his head. Overheard trail statements: At the shelter before Hot Springs approximately 30 seconds after someone woke up - "man, I gotta get me some moonshine and weed¢ By an old man passing me on the way down Rocky Top in the Smokies "If it gets much harder than this, I'm going to have to take up shooting pool". By 1 of 3 section hikers in Smokies during conversation about wildflowers "I put all plants into 2 categories - edible and inedible". At an un-named location a colorful local asked, "Do you want me to clean up your boy's Mohawk? My clippers are real hygienic-like". There have been so many little tidbits that I still chuckle about. This hike is defiantly a life journey. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Hotel, Erwin TN

To: Hotel, Erwin TN
Miles today: 0.0

Yes it is yet another zero day. This morning when we woke up, it was snowing to beat all. It wasn't really sticking down here in Erwin. But when a hiker came in from the trail, he said that the snow was up to 6 inches deep. So I think the zero was a good idea. As you can imagine we are quickly going stir crazy. Last night Troll and Silent Bob started catching quarters off of their elbows. You may remember this trick from junior high. You put your hand palm up on your shoulder. On your elbow, you stack quarters. Then you drop your elbow and catch the quarters in your hand before they hit the floor. Both of them caught all the quarters we had (15) without dropping any. So to make it harder, they tired double stacks of quarters. Silent Bob could catch double stacks of 5, Troll couldn't. Today on the lobby computer people started playing elf bowling computer games. We really need to hike tomorrow. Badly. I need to say hi to Squeaker. We miss you. Get well and give us your email address. Is Humble hiking? Snow bunny, thanks for the kind words that you and Hairball left in the register about my dad. Hope to see you guys at trail days. Take care and we will see you on the trail. (Tomorrow)
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Hotel, Erwin TN

To: Tent, Somewhere after Little Bald
Miles today: 9.3

Well let me start with the most important stuff first. The infamous and famous Miss Janet is awesome. Miss Janet runs a hostel in Erwin. Hers is one of the more famous hostels on the trail. You might think that would be plenty. NO!!! She arranged for all of the hikers in town at her hostel, the Super 8, and the Holiday Inn to get to the various places that they left the trail at. We left the trail 25 miles outside of Erwin. She took the 9 others and us all the way to Sam's Gap. How cool is that? Right now I am sort of angry with myself. By this time I think that my joints should be stronger. They are until they are challenged. Walking through snow, slush and yuck mud is challenging. Every step is a special little adventure. You see the trail and the direction in which it goes. However you have no idea in which direction your foot will slide, your ankle will turn or your knee will twist. The trail was not particularly evil in incline/decline today. It was very evil with mud. I discovered that tires and cars are not the only things capable of hydroplaning. I was certainly doing some fine AT mud hydroplaning as I slipped and slid down the trail. I know that when you drive and go into a skid, you are supposed to steer a certain way, but lots of accidents happen when people over correct in sudden jerky motions. Apparently, your knees, ankles, feet, and hips don't like sudden jerky motion to stop mud hydroplaning. I guess it has something to do with the physical limitations of ligaments and tendons. So I am already lying in my sleeping bag stretching and rubbing my feet and ankles. My sweet Troll cooked and did the camp chores. I am waiting until I can take more anti-inflammatory drugs. They are the best. We went up Big Bald today. Nice views. Of course I didn't take any pictures because I was concerned that I would fall. I did. My fall count is now 4. Oblivious' fall count is now 20. Troll still hasn't fallen but he slid a lot today. The trail is going to be a terrible muddy mess for days. 2 days of thunderstorms followed by a day of snow will do that. Today was nice but we are supposed to get more rain tomorrow. Ugh!! I read Cupcake's trail journal while I was in Erwin. She said her room smelled like stinky boots and farts and she suspected that all the hiker rooms did. Well she was right. I went around the hotel last night and this morning letting people know the Miss Janet shuttle schedule. I can tell you that each and every hiker room smelled FUNKY. This morning when the hotel lobby was full of hikers it smelled FUNKY. Miss Janet's fan filled with hikers smelled FUNKY. The sad part is that this FUNKY smell remained even after laundry and showers. Hikers smell exceptionally FUNKIER than submarine sailors. When I met Troll he was a submarine sailor and sometimes his clothes would smell a little funky from the recycled air. But looking back, he smelled much better then than he does now. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Tent, Somewhere after Little Bald

To: Hostel, Uncle Johnny's Erwin TN
Miles today: 15.2

What a difference a day makes. Today was so much better than yesterday. There was no snow or slush and little mud. The tendons and ligaments in my feet and ankles rejoiced. Happy-ish feet really can walk more. Today the hiking was also much easier. The snow took its toll on some of the wildflowers. Trillium flowers do not appear to like snow. All of the different violet varieties are completely unfazed by the snow. Some of the small tree saplings, that pop up before the established trees get their foliage, were fried. This will not be their year to succeed. I don't think that I have mentioned false peaks lately. They are evil. Truly evil. Today we only had one real hill - Temple Hill. It had 6 (let me repeat that SIX) false peaks. We had 2+ miles of switchbacks to get down to Erwin. I like switchbacks. They are good. But I am becoming a switchback connoisseur. The best switchbacks look something between an upper case W and a lower case w lying on its side. The worst switchbacks look like an upper case Z. I don't like a switchback to traverse the entire length of the mountain before it changes direction. Good switchbacks aren't too steep. The worst thing that a switchback can do is end in set of steep stairs. Somehow that seems to happen a lot. I think that we are officially in Tennessee now. The trail runs along the Tennessee - North Carolina border. We have crossed the border again and again ever since somewhere in the Smokies. No border signs yet, so we will have to look for something to take a picture of. We told Oblivious that he could be the 1st to cross into the next state. Since this border is so mixed together, he will probably have to wait for Virgina. Well take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Hostel, Uncle Johnny's Erwin TN

To: Tent, Beauty Spot Gap
Miles today: 10.8

I gotta get out of this place. Erwin is a hard place to leave. This was our 2nd time here. The 1st time, we left at 1130. Of course today was no different. We took the breakfast shuttle into town and ate well. There was then a little trip to the post office. What a haul. We got our resupply drop from home. Thanks Teri. Oblivious got another letter from Janet. Thank you, Oblivious really enjoys them. We got another care package from the Eastman's. Thank you Jonas and Eben. We really appreciated it. The Eastman's package included 2 cans of Pringles. The cans had special labels "certified dirt free". We shared one can around the campfire. We thought about sprinkling some trail dirt on them but decided to eat them like town treats. We got to see lots of trail friends in our multiple stays in Erwin, Birdhouse Bob (from Muskrat shelter), Hardcore Hiker, Stilts, Eagle Eye, Marcelo, and Trip. That was kind of cool. We also had trail friends get in touch with us via the guest book, Squeaker, Cupcake, Snow Bunny, and Louisville. We had a nice fire tonight and had lots of people camping around us. 3 section hikers, Padre, Silent Bob, Birdhouse and us. We will see what tomorrow brings. Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Tent, Beauty Spot Gap

To: Hostel, Greasy Creek Gap Friendly
Miles today: 12.5

Today there were 17 straight ups in 7.9 miles. I am wiped out and more than a little pissed off at some trail designers. We went from Beauty spot Gap to Unaka Mountain. There was a fairly steep switchback with lots of rocks. But what a nice payoff. The top of the mountain was a hemlock forest. It was very reminiscent of the damp redwood forests of northern California and southern Oregon. The forest floor was covered in pine needles and moss. It seemed very Druid like. It was dark and cool, very little sunlight made it down through the hemlock boughs. A ring of rhodendrums surrounded this forest. It was quiet and smelled so nice. Hard to capture in a photo (so I didn't try), but a treat for the senses. I wasn't surprised when the trails made me pay for that treat. It seems like every good thing has a painful price. There were some very steep rock steps. Not really my favorite. But then after what seemed like forever of this steep rock climb ended in a switchback. Switchbacks are good. This switchback did what switchbacks are supposed to do - take you down the hill to the gap. But then apparently, either North Carolina or Tennessee decided that they had exceeded their entire allotment of switchbacks. That must have been the case, because the trail went straight up. Of course there was mud. Lots of slick mud. And that was my day. 7.9 miles with 17 ups. There were also some straight downs. Oh yeah and then there was the rain. When it started as a light mist on one of the ups, I was happy. But it kept raining. And it kept getting colder. And the straight ups kept going. I think we need to start a letter writing campaign to the North Carolina and Tennessee state legislatures about their currently established switchback quotas. The quotas are way too low and need raised. They need raised quickly. Hiker knees, ankles, and feet are counting on you. Take care and we will see you on the trail.