morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-02-27
To: Mail Drops
Miles today: 0.0

If you go to the section of this website entitled Mail Drops you will find a rough sketch of our mail drops. One thing is that we plan to use a self sustain tactic on the trail where we mail ourselves things on the trail. So this does not mean that we are expecting to recieve packages or letters on the last 12 mail drops unless we send it to ourselves in which case we should be expecting it. We will mail ourselves food for the first month before we leave. But this will enable people to send us things if you wish. The way to do this is put on the letter or package exactly what you see under the mail drop. Ex.PAT GANNONATTN: Hold for AT Hiker ETA 8/4General DeliveryMonson, ME 04464This will enable you to communicate to us. Realize we have only have a general idea of where we will be on the trail so it is best to send something 2 weeks before our estimated arrival date. But we will check into these places to check if we have mail. Please feel free to send us whatever you wish within reason. peace
Date: 2006-02-28
To: Good Bye for a while!!
Miles today: 0.0

Well this is the last entry I will submit before hitting the trail. As the trail is a mere hours away I cannot think of anything else but the trail even though theres been so much going on. I am very happy to have given myself this opportunity of a life time. My packweight comes in at a modest 35 pounds which i am pleased with. The past three weeks have been constantly packing and unpacking my pack which i have gotten suprisingly quick at. I am very happy with our selection of gear and if you want to check it all out just go to the gear page. I cant tell you how much i look forward to the getting to know the trail and meeting all kind of wild and crazy people like myself. Sometimes i think to myself how crazy i am for trying to do this and that im up ubove my head in the trail. But hopefully once i get out there everyone is just as crazy as me for doing it and we'll all have some good old crazy times in the mountains. So farewell everyone, I wish the best of luck to everyone while i am gone. Maine here i come!!! Katahdin calls. We'll be out there playing frisbee, singing, dancing and having some good fun. I cant wait! Everyone whose hiking HAPPY HIKING!! and ill see you out there. Peace
Date: 2006-03-01
From: Springer Mnt

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Well the Appalachian Trail! How to put it in words? Challenging is one word that comes to mind. The first day and we put in a good workout. I woke up at 6:30, an hour late. We ment the Rowlands at Waffle House and started up. We arrived at Amicalola Falls and signed in around 10:00 AM. We then weighted our packs and took some pictures then headed off for Springer. My pack weight 41 pounds and every step of the way I thought about every one of those pounds. Today was great though. I was finally out here doing what I love to do, adventure. The day was a gorgeous one with beautiful skies and a nice cool mountain breeze to cool us off. We hiked the 8.7 miles with a little difficulty but it was amazing hiking the first miles of our journey. We met Stumpknocker and Many Sleeps on Springer. Micheal from REI was at Hawk Mountain Shelter when we arrived. It was nice to see a familiar face. There are a handful of people staying at the shelter tonight. We dicided to set up tent so we wouldnt have to stay in the shelter. As soon as we got to camp we talked and played frisbee. We set up the tent and took a very refreshing nap. We woke up and cooked dinner and got water. The one thing I was worried about on the AT was having to go #2. But actually I went today on a mountain enjoying the sunset and mountain view while relieving myself. Now its time to say goodnight. It was an awesome day on the AT.
Date: 2006-03-02
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It was an awesome day on the AT, but before I start on today I want to say that the stars glowed last night. There were so many stars out and it was a beautiful night. We woke up this morning around 10:00 and no one else was at the shelter. 10:00 is pretty late by AT standards. It was a good restfull night though. We woke up and it had been raining for the last couple hours and it was very misty. Not very good visibility. So we set out and Applepie was setting out also from lunch. We walked with her but soon the amount of breaks we were taking caught up to us and she went ahead. We then were met with our first "trail magic". Otto, a former thru hiker, prepared us grilled cheese and OJ and a special dessert that made our hike a lot more enjoyable. I found a good walking stick today that definitely helped me through the day. I really enjoyed the trail today as there was an awesome feeling of truly being on the AT. We ate lunch by a river and filled up there. We then hiked 1.3 miles to Gooch Gap Shelter where we ate mac and cheese and had some fun with the other hikers. Hopefully the stars will be just as beautiful as last night.
Date: 2006-03-03
From: Gooch Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

Boy what a day! You dont know the meaning of 14.2 miles until you've walked it with 40 pounds on your back up and down mountain terrain with our final summit being Blood Mnt. We started our day in Gooch and about an hour later we met Otto once again with egg,cheese, and ham sandwiches, and once again he blew our minds with generosity. He also had 3 other friends from Boone NC named Steve, Krispy, and the janetor. They were awesome and so generous. We then took off toward Woody Gap. When we arrived at Woody Gap we got lunch and Otto, Krispy, and the janetor were hiking right behind us. We told Otto that we were trying to get to Neels tonight and he said we wouldnt make it without some night hiking. He was right. We pushed on to Jarrad Gap and up Blood Mnt. We were suprised at how fast we got up Blood When We got up there the Jolly Green Giant, Compat and turtle D and M were up there staying the night. We told then we were pushing on to Neels and they wished us good luck. We were up on top of Blood to see the sunset so we knew we had no time to delay if we wanted to get to Neels before it got too cold. It would have been nice to stay on Blood but the fact that we had no food or water made us push on. We made it to Neels in time to enjoy a Sprite and set up shelter. Our longest day on the trail yet. Woohoo!
Date: 2006-03-04
From: Franklin NC

To: Baggs Creek Gap
Miles today: 4.2

Well today was the shortest day on our journey so far, but it was not uneventful. First we met our good friend Casey "Puckre" Tucker at about 10. But there was lots to be done. We needed a new pump for our stove because ours had broken the first day. We then needed to do laundry. This was a time costly mistake. As soon as I put our clothes in and the detergent in and the clothes got a little wet the well at Neels Gap ran dry. It took about 2 hrs to get water again and finally our clothes were being washed. In the meantime I bought SuperFeet soles for my boots. We got our picture taken and signed in at Neels Gap. We finally finished everything we needed to do in Neels. Oh yeah and we got our first mail drop full of Snickers, Oatmeal, pasta, and mac and cheese!! We finally got hiking around 3:30 and the first mountain was almost all straight uphill. But after that it was smooth sailing from there. A short day proved an awesome break from our long hike yesterday. Well the three of us got to the campsite and cooked mac and cheese. It was delicious. Then we turned in for the night. Having Casey around is an awesome treat for the next 4 days. Well until next time
Date: 2006-03-05
From: Baggs Creek Gap

To: Chattahoochee Gap
Miles today: 11.4

I have to apologize because I am actually writing this on the 8th. I got lazy writing my journals so details might be sketch. Today was our first full day with Puckre. So Puckre, Orangatang, and I headed out around 10, i think. We walked our 11 miles and got to Chattahoochie Gap where we had an awesome campfire with Krispie and the janetor. Krispie is an AT thru hikere and they are hiking to Virginia this year to prepare for the PCT. They had some good stories about the AT before we hit the sack. It was a good day on the AT.
Date: 2006-03-06
From: Chattahoochee Gap

To: Cheese Factory Campsite
Miles today: 8.0

Today we woke up and it was really foggy. We walked about 5 miles to Unicoi Gap where we hitched a ride into Helen where we ate a spectacular Wendy's lunch. The Orangatang did some laundry and I filled up our fuel, 21 cents for gas! We then went to the grocery store and hitched a ride back. We were into Helen by 11:30 and out by 3:30 so we made pretty good time. Hitchhiking was a lot of fun as it was our first experience. Two nice men gave us rides. Then we resumed our hiking to Cheese Factory and made a great campfire and ate dinner. Our first town day on the AT. Hooray!
Date: 2006-03-07
From: Cheese Factory Campsite

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We had a real rough day on the AT with a strenous 1.9 miles! Puckre is ditching us at Dicks Creek so we decided to take it easy and have some fun. We arrived at the shelter and ate lunch and played frisbee. We climbed a tree way up high and that was fun. We played some more frisbee until dinner. By the time dinner rolled around there were probably 20 new hikers that all started a couple of days later than us. It was nice to see a lot of new faces. We climbed back up in the tree and watched the sunset. Then we had a big campfire with Kurly, Captain Kangaroo, Tofurkey, Swanson, and 2 section hikers Achilles and Gumby. We had some fun times and everyone thought it was funny we didnt even do 2 miles. But its all good because its nice to be able to take it easy for the first week out here. We're not getting to Maine tomorrow as Micky One Sock reminded us. Some of these hikers are killing themselves to get miles in but miss a lot of the smiles and fun. We are out here to have the time of our lives and hike 2174 miles while we are at it. As the motto says, "Its not about the miles, its all about the smiles". We live by that out here. The AT is full of smiling faces and only a couple hikers seem to have it rough. Unfortunely it is the last full day with Puckre and he will be sorely missed. Until tomorrow.
Date: 2006-03-08
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite after Dicks Creek Gap
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a sad day as we walked to say goodbye to Casey. We woke up around 9 and headed out of the shelter by 10. We had a good day of hiking but pretty rough. Kelly Knob was probably the roughest mountain for us so far. Not even Blood was as tough as this. We finally got to Dicks Creek to say goodbye to Puckre. His company will be sorely missed but he will be in our thoughts. We walked the final mile to our campsite, ate and wrote our last 3 days journal. We got some big days coming up so time to say goodnight.
Date: 2006-03-09
From: Campsite after Dicks Creek Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow!, this is what you call a tough day. We woke up early to try to do a 20 miler,well just under, but that didnt happen. Got water this morning and met Bird, a section hiker from University of Charleston, who was chill. We took off around 8:30. Got going and the last miles of Georgia gave us a run for our money but we got through it and ate lunch right after we crossed the border. One down and thirteen to go! Some pretty big hills in NC but we'll be okay. We had to stop at Standing Indian Shelter because of the wind and chance of rain. Probably the roughest day on the AT so far. Can't wait to get into Franklin and relax a bit.
Date: 2006-03-10
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Rock Creek Shelter
Miles today: 19.7

Our first day almost at 20 miles! Started off the day kinda tired from our first 15 miler yesterday, but today was the perfect day to get some miles in. The day started with Standing Indian Mountain which then led us winding through the beautiful Nantahala Wilderness. Not a lot of steep climbs but rather long mild uphill and downhills. Pretty soon we were on a roll and pushing hard. We came to Mnt Albert where at the top was an awesome rock climb almost a half mile going up summitting at over 5000 ft. The view from the top was magnificent. I told the Orangatang that this was the most of the world I had ever seen at one time. It was magnificent. We were planning to stay at the shelter on Mnt Albert but past it up to try and get a 20 miler, or at least close to it in. We did it and got to Rock Creek Shelter just as it was getting dark. We ate and found out that we can get into Franklin early to do a lot of stuff we need to get done and have a good town day. Tomorrow is going to be really good for us. A great day on the AT. Looking foward to hitting Franklin tomorrow with Bear and Snake.
Date: 2006-03-11
From: Franklin NC

To: Franklin NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well everybody we are on the trail. We are taking a town day in Franklin North Carolina, staying in a motel, eating $12 worth of Mcdonalds breakfast, resupplying, eating all you can eat steak, goin bowling and getting some brewskies. Just wanted to say hello and whats up and although this is kind of a side journal ill tell you the low down. The trail has been awesome. Its been a challenge but its what we expected. It is so beautiful out here and such a simple life. We eat, sleep, walk, and try to eat some more. We were so fortunate to have Casey Puckre out on the trail with us for 5 days through Georgia. We are out of Georgia which is pretty cool. Puckre was a lot of fun and we called him our Tom Bombadil, for you LOTR fans. He lead us out of the Shire. Well we are on to conquer our 2nd state and it will be quite a state. It holds the highest point on the trail, Clingmans Dome, in the Smokies which will be awesome. We are really looking foward to the Smokies and should have some pristine hiking. We cant wait to see everybody when we get back and should be posting some real trail journals sometime. Everybody peace out and keep the love spreading. Oh yea i have a trail name Stinky!! I actually adopted the name heading down Springer although the Orangatang had been calling me that for some time. So i didnt really get it because i was that stinky but ive been doing a good job of getting stinky, but no more than other thruhikers. Peace.
Date: 2006-03-11
From: Rock Creek Shelter

To: Franklin NC in a bed!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Wow what a day on the AT. We woke up around 7 because last night we stayed in the shelter with Bear and Snake, so the sun woke us up. We woke up, packed up, and set off to meet Ron who was picking us up at 8:30 to go into town. We went to McDonalds at around 9:30 after checking into our room. I ate $12 worth of McDonalds breakfast and a lady there said she knew we were hikers by how fast and how much we ate. We then headed over to the outfitters to pick up some gear we needed. We then headed back to the motel for some laundry and a shower. First shower in 10 days!! I was "Stinky". After a shower and a couple cold ones we hit up the all you can eat buffet for 3 helpings of incredible food and dessert. We went back to the motel and watched some TV. We then proceeded to order pizza and I ate a whole pizza. Boy hikers can eat! Its amazing that we still lose weight. Got to get some sleep because we still have to go grocery shopping in the morning. Just more food to eat hooray!! An awesome town day and still technically no zero days. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Date: 2006-03-12
From: Franklin NC in a bed!!!

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Well we woke up today around 8 and went grocery shopping. We came back and ate breakfast and picked up our room and packed our packs. We checked out of the Budget Inn by 11 and was out on the AT again by 12:30. It was a very relaxful day yesterday being in town chilling and eating. But we got back on the AT and flew through the 7 miles we did. We played frisbee and ate a lot of our food. We walked out of the grocery store with a ton of food. It was tremendous, the only problem was carrying all that food up the mountains. My pack was probably as heavy as it was when i was carrying 5 days of food and we only had 3 days worth. But it was a good day on the AT. A lot of people are still in town or way far ahead of us so we were pretty a lone out here. Bear and Snake, who we came in with did 3 miles and then headed back into town for another night of town fun. It was tempting but we needed to get moving or else we'll fall behind. We hope to get to the Nantahala Outdoor Center in two nights. Also we forgot to refuel the gas for the stove so we may only have enough for 1 more night so we got to get there. It was a gorgeous day on the AT.
Date: 2006-03-13
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we woke up probably around 9 and hit the trail by 10. We walked almost to Wayah Bald before it started to rain. This was our first hiking we had to do in the rain. We suited up in our rain gear and I got to finally use my umbrella, pretty exciting! I didnt have to use it for long though as it was mostly just overcast today. We ate lunch on Wayah Bald and Compass and Snake came in behind us. Compass decided to push on with us and we pretty much hiked with him the rest of the day. Right before the shelter we were met with some trail magic. Apple who will be starting the AT on April 1st gave us hot dogs, sodas, Snickers and Reeses. Thanks so much Apple. So many people are out here trying to help everyone reach Katahdin. Its awesome! The remaining 1.2 miles werent so hard at all and we arrived at the shelter around 5:45. We set up tent and got some snacks and relaxed before writing our journal and heading to bed. Another good day on the AT! Peace out!
Date: 2006-03-14
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Today we woke up and it was so windy and cold. We woke up around 9 and started hiking by 10, our usual routine. We left Compass at the shelter who was waiting for Bear and Snake. It was a gorgeous day, a bit cold, but not a cloud in the sky. We had some awesome views of the mountains. We only had 11 miles to go before we got to the NOC. It was awesome hiking with nice rolling pathways to walk. The AT has really shaped us up because both of us have said our packs weigh so much less. It really is starting to feel as if we have 10 pounds instead of 35. We got to the NOC and had a good meal of chili cheese fries, chili, and a double bacon cheeseburger with all the Sprite I could drink. It was awesome. We then started walking to the grocery store. Some very nice people stopped to pick us up because they had been kayaking and stopped to start walking because they had lowered the water and someone picked them up. Its awesome to see how it all goes around. But they only had to drive us a tenth of a mile. Oh well its the thought that counts. Nice people. We got back to the Nantahala and sat around and listened to the river. Its a full moon tonight so we are looking foward to that. Peace out!
Date: 2006-03-15
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Locust Cove Gap
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

We woke up today by the riverside of the Nantahala around 9. We woke up and ate a big breakfast at the restraunt and then picked up somethings at the outfitters. Bear and Snake came up to us as we were playing frisbee and asked us if we wanted to go whitewater rafting. We said that sounded tempting and we thought about it and decided to check it out. Well it turns out there are better rapids up at Hot Springs so we might go there. So we pushed on 7 miles to the next shelter and we got there and cooked up some mac and cheese. Helium, Ramble On and Treefingers show up to take a quick break before going another 3.6 miles to the next campsite. So after a couple minutes we decided to go on the 3.6 miles and try to get to Fontana Dam tomorrow night. So we will have St Patty's day off in Fontana before hitting the Smokies. It'll be awesome. But we took off with them and climbed the Bald at a pretty brisk pace just in time to see the sunset over the mountains and valley. It was beautiful. We saw Fontana Lake where we will be tommorow. Its crazy to see how far you travel in one day. We night hiked to the campsite made a campfire, talked and stuffed ourselves with food. We then fell asleep under the stars cowboy camping. It was a pretty friekin awesome day on the AT.
Date: 2006-03-16
From: Locust Cove Gap

To: Fontana Dam, The Hike Inn
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up before the sun came up because Helium likes to wake up ridiculously early. He managed to get Ramble On and Treefingers hiking at about 8. Orangutan and I decided to take our time, play some frisbee and get breakfast before hiking. We hiked our 17.1 miles taking breaks at shelters. These guys like to do 6 miles, take a break, do 6 miles, take another break, and then finish the last 6 miles. We adopted this today and it seems to work well in order to put some miles in. Well by the time we got to Hwy 28 it was too late to call the shuttle and so we started walking into Fontana Village. We didnt get very far before Helium and his stepdad picked us up and took us to the Hike Inn. When we got there Ramble On and Treefingers were also staying there. They took us into town to pick up groceries and get Wendy's!! We went back to the Inn grabbed a shower and relaxed and watched TV. A pretty good day on the AT.
Date: 2006-03-17
From: Fontana Dam, The Hike Inn

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Today was exactly what we needed, no miles. We woke up and watched the Flintstones for an hour before we switched rooms and went into town. In town we hit up the library where we typed up our journals and then got another incredible Wendy's meal. We returned to the Inn and celebrated St. Patty's Day eating and watching TV. It was a very relaxful day and the Hike Inn was a nice place to stay. Until next time
Date: 2006-03-18
From: The Hike Inn

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

We started off today where we left off on Thursday at US 28. We had a mile and a half before we hit the Smokies but we were excited to finally be in the Smokies. The first couple miles were tough but we got our first real wildlife expirience when two deer came crashing thru the forest. We ate lunch with a group of section hikers and proceeded to Mollies Ridge Shelter where we met Kim and Dave, we decided to name Dave Barnacles for no reason and hopefully it will become his trail name. We used an apple and ate some mac and cheese. We then talked a little bit before hitting the sack. Our first day in the Smokies and they are really pretty. Peace