morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-02
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Now I'm really steamed. That darn mouse chewed a hole in my 2005 San Francisco Marathon hat! And he couldn't just chew in the back - no, he had to chew in the front, near the logo. Nurse Mousestomper, aka Toesocks, was no help. She only got one good shot at him, but was in stocking feet, which always gives the rodent the edge. So now I am annoucing a reward to the hiker who brings in this bad boy, namely 2 handfulls of gorp - and 2 Zone bars. Oh, I know that's extravagant, but it was a nice hat. Toesocks tried to make amends by cutting a strip of duct tape that I had wrapped on my trekking pole for just such emergencies, and patching my hat. The gray tape was a perfect color match for the hat, and so she assures me that I will retain my spot on GQ's list of Ten Best Dressed. El-Train had a tragic morning as well. He caught a lock of hair in the zipper of his sleeping bag, he broke a boot lace, and he spilt his hot chocolate. Together, we invented yet another use for the versatile blue bandana: suffering rag and crying towel. The hike today started in a cold 28 degree chill and the the foot path was flooded in many places with water from yesterday's thunderstorms. We tried to straddle the path to keep our boots dry, but soon they were wet and actually started to accumulate ice crystals. We hiked for two hours before we could stop shivering. The frozen ground make good hiking after that. The wet matted leaves froze together, and our hiking poles would pick up bunches of them, the size of dinner plates. They looked a lot like golden brown waffles, and we started to wonder how they would taste with just a touch of maple syrup. We also saw our first flowering blossom today, a tiny flower with four blue petals and a golden yellow center, which we think is called a bluet. We also saw a grouse, a titmouse, a chickadee, and a junco which accompanied us up the trail for quite a distance. We got to the NOC after hiking ten minutes short of nine hours, and the first person we saw there was El-Train. He was sitting on a park bench in new Salamon trail shoes, his old Lowe boots sitting on the ground next to him, and looking for all the world like the tableu outside the Forrest Gump Restaurant in Kaui - all he needed was the box of chocolates. We ate dinner with him later, but first went to the outfitter to claim our maildrop and get some small equipment replacements. They gave us a free Platypus bladder to replace our frozen and damaged MSR bladder - pretty nice folks at NOC.
Date: 2007-03-03
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

We left NOC at 7AM, in 28 degree temperature, for a 6.5 hour hike to Sassafras Gap Shelter. Along the way, we were passed by Frito, a thru-hiker about our age, but still working in Chapel Hill, NC, three days a week, and hiking the AT four days a week. El-Train also flew by in his new Salamon trail shoes, slackpacking with borrowed poles and day pack. He hugged us goodby and took off flying, Katahdin bound. We climbed up some of those notorious NC billygoat hills today, all the way to the Knife Edge, which is a rocky spine with sheer drops and fabulous overlooks of the Nantahala River on one side, and Fontana on the other. We met four volunteer trail workers, one with the trail name of Butterfly, who knew the mother (Ellen Ball) of one of Gloria's co-workers (Mary Ellen Klinner) at East Alabama Medical Center - small world. When we reached the shelter, we were greeted by a beautiful bluebird, which seemed to be hanging around the water source. I just about killed myself trying to negotiate a steep gully to the spring wearing my crocs - I grabbed a tree on the way down to save myself - and did Toesocks get a good laugh! (You just wait, Toesocks.) And to add salt to the wound, she daintily took another route down and was back with four liters of water before I could get my boots back on for a second try. Later in the evening, the winds picked up ferociously, and so we hung a transluscent plastic tarp across the mouth of the shelter, and we slept snuggly. Oh, and no mice.
Date: 2007-03-04
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

We awoke to 18 degrees temperature and snow flurries. We cooked a hot breakfast in the shelter, behind our transluscent plastic sheeting before setting off for an 8.5 hour hike to Brown Fork Gap Shelter. Our water bottles were slushy from the cold, but this actually improved the fruit punch-flavored gatorade. The ground was frozen, and we passed by several frozen water seeps. The snow was a half-inch deep, more in a few places. The green mosses and lichens were beautiful, being dusted with white snow against a backdrop of brown oak leaves and gray rock. By noon, the snow flurries had stopped, and the clouds dissolved or gathered into pillowy masses, allowing a brilliant navy blue sky to emerge. We saw juncos and a pileated woodpecker again today. The temperature had risen to 43 degrees by 1PM, but quickly started dropping thereafter, which we now recognize as the daily pattern. The climb out of Stechoah Gap would do a billy goat proud - who needs switchbacks? We got to the deserted shelter, read in the shelter book that there were no mice, and decided to position our packs at the head of our sleeping bags on the shelter floor as a wind break. It proved quite effective.
Date: 2007-03-05
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Visitor Center -Hiker Inn
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

We arose at 4:45AM, ate a bit of cold breakfast, and saddled up by 6:45 when the sun finally illuminated the trail. We ate the rest of our breakfast bars after they thawed, on the move. We were determined to hike 12.9 miles by 5PM and just missed it by about 20 minutes. The trail was frozen today, and so were our water bottles, since the temp was 18 degrees, eventually warming to 42 degrees. There were icy spots in the trail that made for slow going. We hiked past boulders covered by rippled sheets of transluscent ice, which had drops of water flowing down between rock and ice sheet, and looking like tiny living tadpoles, with bulbous heads and a wagging tail behind. Most unusual. We lunched at Cable Gap Shelter and saw entries by Alley Cat, Osprey, El-Train, Juniper, and Salamander - all of them are about two days ahead of us. Today's hike took on the character of a forced march by about 3pm when it seemed that Fontana Dam Village would never be reached. When we did enter the TVA park, we were discouraged to find that we had the reenter the woods for another 1.1 miles when there was a perfectly good paved road we could walk. This woods was the most desolate piece of landscape, all dead and stunted trees. Toesocks became discouraged as her knees screamed for relief from the long miles, many downhill. Everything in the park was closed, locked, deserted - the bathrooms, the visitor center, the showers. I hiked to the famous Fontana Hilton Shelter, and found it as spacious as advertised, and quite deserted. We phoned Nancy and Jeff at Hiker Inn, and Jeff came in a green truck to rescue us, sitting forlornly next to the Fontana Dam. We showered and Nancy drove us to Palacio's for some chicken fahitas. Fabulous.
Date: 2007-03-06
From: Fontana Dam Visitor Center -Hiker Inn

To: Hiker Inn
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero day to do our laundry, get supplies, catch up on our log, transmit photos and rest our knees for the 8 day hike through Smoky Mountain National Park. We are also taking time to enyoy Nancy's cat, a black tabby-colored longhair named Cat-zilla. I am typing this from the public library in Robinsonville where the library staff have been quite cordial. Yesterday had been a beautiful day to hike, despite the grueling last five miles of it, and we had many humorous moments. We started out wearing cold weather gear, including running tights, shorts, gaitors, two running shirts, windstopper jacket, ski gloves, neck bandana, balaclava, running hat and windstopper hood. As the trail progressed around southern and northern slopes, we continually removed and added layers of clothing, and substituted lighter gloves and ear muff. We tried to eat on the move, since it was so cold and we had so many miles to cover before nightfall. But we also had to stop for other needs, such as potty breaks, and even this can provide for some laughs on the trail. After one such very productive stop, I called to Toesocks: "Honey, that brings to mind a roto-rooterman's franchise-making dream! Could you cover that up with some duff? I'm trying to enjoy my Zone Bar." It was my favorite, peanut butter and chocolate - the Zone Bar, that is, not the other thing. (Note: the fastidious would-be hiker might find it crude to bring up a topic like potty breaks, but learning how to take a potty break on a steep mountain slope, while hanging on to a tree limb to keep from going over the edge, in 28 degrees ambient temperature and 20 mph winds - all of this is part of the grand adventure of an AT Thru-hike!) Tomorrow, the Smokies.
Date: 2007-03-07
From: Fontana Dam Visitor Center -Hiker Inn

To: Mollie Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

We hiked for 8 hours, ten minutes, today in 36 temp which varied widely on the cold side of the mountain. We saw a blue heron at Fontana Dam, and on Shuckstack Mountain we saw a small flock of eastern bluebirds, some juncos and a buzzard. We observed a purple violet, an unidentified white flower with ten petals, a budding miniature iris, thistle, rattlesnake plant, dandelion and spearmint as we climbed into the Smokies. By afternoon, we were hiking through ancient forests of gnarled old oak trees, growing amid the fallen trunks of long-dead chestnut trees, whose age was counted in centuries. Some logs were wind-scoured to a rough russet-brown,and others covered in moss so thick and textured as to look like green fur-coats. We met two ATC ridgerunners, Jim Mowbry and Josh, and three section-hikers, but were alone at the shelter. Mollie Ridge is a stone shelter with a tarp across the front to keep out the wind. The nighttime temp was moderate. We slept in comfort.
Date: 2007-03-08
From: Mollie Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

We hiked 11.5 hours today, with an easy start in beech forests with leaf floors of manilla and cinnamon. The mosses ranged in color from emerald green, kelly green, forest green. The lchens wereblue-green and sage in color. It all changed depending on the sunlight. We lunched at Spence Field with students from Roan Community College. We saw 3 section hikers. We spent the night at Derrick Knob with Combat, a SOBO, from Texas, and Tank. The last 4 miles were very tough and we worried because the blazes were too sparse. The temp today was 40. We saw 2 juncos and a robin, and we heard a barred owl in forenoon. We also heard a yellow warbler. There is still ice on the trailM but we have a hint of spring in 2 types of fern and a tiny blue .flower
Date: 2007-03-09
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

We enjoyed a mild night at Derrick Knob in 40 degree temp. We were up at 5AM along with a SOBO named Combat who hailed from Texas, and Tank. We saddled up and moved out at about 8:15AM. It was tough the first few miles, climbing the rest of the Knob. We enjoyed seeing juncos, robins and a downy woodpecker. We also saw two chipmunks. We reveled in the Spring Beauty sprouting from the leaf cover. The trees displayed unusual-looking fungi, some looking like clam shells or horseshoe-crab shells, and others even looking like large white dinner plates. We hiked six hours today, and were overtaken by Fruit Fly, a NOBO starting Feb 23 from Springer, who said five others followed him. We saw Jim Mowbley, the 64 y/o trail-runner, while eating lunch at Silar Bald. We got in a sponge bath today, toe care and a manicure before anyone else arrived at Double Spring Shelter. Gloria handfed the two resident juncos. As we unpacked at Double Spring, we noticed that a mouse at Derrick and eaten into our powdered milk, but we salvaged most of it. We were joined by Mark from Penn State, who was recovering from a truck that crashed into his car repair business in PA; and Mousetrap from Pitt U; and No Joke, a veteran from the Atlanta VA.
Date: 2007-03-10
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Mount Collins Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

We had rain early, and 40 degree temp, but the wind was less severe. We hiked for 6.25 hours non-stop. The section just past Clingman's Dome was tortuous because of thick ice in the footpath, in some places 12-18 inches thick., and running for as much as one hundred yards. Toesocks 1 fell in one such ice chute and couldn't get up, looking like a turtle lying on its green shell, or like some luge runner readying to go down the chute. "Don't move a muscle," I ordered, "until I can get to you." I made my way down to her by going hand-over-hand from tree limb to tree limb, my feet barely getting purchase on the icy rocks which abutted the footpath. When I got to her, I asked her to roll to her right, and unclip her pack. Clining to a Frazier Fir tree with my right hand, I reached down and lifted her pack up and into the trees with my left. Then, together, we hoisted her up and into the trees. When we got past the ice, we experienced an unusual medley of feelings: fatigue, relief, exhileration, and triumph - we had beaten the moutain this one time. Later in the day, we met five U. of Tennessee-Chatanooga students, one German dayhiker, and two section hikers. We were joined at the shelter by Jennifer (of Maine) and Pilgrim, traveling together. We were also joined by the family of Jimmy Smith of Memphis, with his son, son-in-law, (of Ashville) two grandsons and a boyscout. It was a big shelter and there was room for everyone.
Date: 2007-03-11
From: Mount Collins Shelter

To: Ice Water Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We were up by 5:15AM, packing up everything by Pixil light. Pilgrim had warned us that he snored, and he certainly lived up to his billing, despite trying a triple-dose of some OTC remedy. We hiked in heavy mist for the first 3 miles, but the temperature was mile. We hade to go around several blowdowns, but after that the trail to Newfound Gap was clear. There was some ice, but none blocking the taril. We med Ladybug, who was on a training hike after she and her husband came off their thru-hike for a family emergency. At Newfound Gap, we found Jennifer and Pilgrim having a picnic and we joined them. We made some phone calls, and played 20 questions with some travelors from Mississippi. We also met Comer and Jean, who have the distinction of being older and faster than we are. There were eleven at the shelter with us.
Date: 2007-03-12
From: Ice Water Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The temp ranged today from 32 to 40 degrees, as we walked 12.6 miles in 10.25 hours. We negotiated a horrendous ice chute with the help of Comer and Jean by bushwacking through the woods where possible - Comer is an excellent pathfinder and woodsman. We then discovered that Toesocks 1 had lost her cellphone and I had to retrace our steps to find it - luckily it was sitting on a log at the top of a rock scramble. Today we identified by their song, a peewee, a grouse, and a yellow warbler. We saw a robin, a junco, a nuthatch, and a blackcap chickadee. The trail was hard but gave us beautiful views of Charlie's Bunion and all the way to Sevierville. The last four miles were tough going, with ice in many places. We passed a lot of rock the same color as the tile in our Patrick Road kitchen. We enjoyed the sight of beds of moss, beds of Spring Beauty, Cinnamon fern, and North Carolina hemlock with its distinct citrus aroma. We were passed by Otto, Comer and Jean. Some eight hikers were already at the shelter, and we were the last ones in.
Date: 2007-03-13
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

The temp ranged fromn 40 to 70 degrees today, and we even saw two bees on a bed of Spring Beauties. We also saw moutain tea and pine trees as we descended out of N.C. hemlock and Frazier Firs. We saw a femaile grouse standing in the footpath near a spring, and she tried to lure us off into the woods away from her nest. Later, we heard male grouse drumming. We had ice at spots in the morning but none in the afternoon. In the morning I had the misfortune of losing my newest blue bandana, which grieved me greatly, as I had come to think of it as my shield and protection. In fact, my mind drifted back to the ancient myth that the women of Sparta told their men on the eve of battle, "Come back with your shield, or on it." (Meaning, die for Sparta before you dare throw down your weapons and run away.) And as I grieved, I thought of the Ode by Horace, "Armum virumque, cano Trojai, qui primus ab urbis." It is a poem in iambic pentameter, which has a beat and was meant to be recited to a drum beat - 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2,1-2, 1, 1-2-3-4-5. As I compiled my poem, a section hiker named Jerry came charging up to us to return to me my lost blue bandana. Anyway, here is the ode:Like sons of Sparta, bid us adieu, our friends from AORTA.One thing they told us, "Do not return, sans your bandana."Was I daydreaming, hiking along, and not really watching?But then there appeared, the hiker man, with my bandana.Later, we lunched at Cosby Knob with Jerry and Otto, and Otto stayed with us at Davenport Gap. I buried two dead mice from the shelter - someone has been poisoning them. We discovered later, that the surviving Davenport Gap mouse had chewed up my toesock! Just wait, buddy, you'll get yours!
Date: 2007-03-14
From: Davenport Gap Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today, Spring came to the AT. We saw no ice or snow, just blossoming amone, budding painted trillium, budding maple trees and a fluttering black-and-white butterfly! We also were annoyed by some black flies. The descent from the Smokies was made more beautiful by the lovely State-line Creek, which had some beautiful cascades over moss-covered boulders. Gloria almost careened off a 30 foot embankment for looking at the scenery. We pulled into Standing Bear after walking past a limited forest fire. Otto, Jennifer, Pilgrim, Kentucky Blue, Guthook, and Coughdrop spent the night with us, and helped me celebrate my 62nd birthday a day early. The owners, Curtis and Maria, and their two daughters, McKenzie and ?, were delightful hosts, and we highly recomment this rustic farm to thru-hikers.
Date: 2007-03-15
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

"It's my birthday," ...The hike started with 60 degrees temp and a steep 2,500 foot vertical climb up Snowbird Mountain. At the tope, we found ourselves on a bald that included a weather observation center. We were overtaken by Ky Blue, Coughdrop and Guthook, and we all stopped for a photo opportunity. Otto slack-packed today, and we met him going south. Later, Coughdrop helped my learn some features on my Treo, as he also has one. Today, we enjoyed seeing a flowering purple aster, bloodroot, spearmint, flowering fetch, century plant, a flowering purple violet, painted trillium, wild strawberry, and columbine. We stayed at the shelter with two section hikers, Mack (a ministerial professor at Wake Forest, and Big Cranky (a photographer at Wake Forest.) Dude, a NOBO, got there late.
Date: 2007-03-16
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: light rain

We arose at 5:25AM and were hiking at first light, 7:35AM, in a light shower and 50 degrees temp. The rain increased, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped to below 40 deg while we were crossing Max Patch, a tall bald. We took the wrong turn, got quite lost, and came off the Bald in the wrong place. Exhausted, we circled around and tried it again, this time making the proper turn. By then we were shivering and close to hypothermia. We stopped at Roaring Fork after 5.5 hours and decided to call it a day. Dude was already there warming up before he set out again for the next shelter. We changed into dry clothes, ate a snack, heated gatorade, and then ate a hot meal. I went to the creek for more water, finding it the color of urine. I pumped it anyway. A NOBO named FedEX got in quite late, about 7PM and joined us for the night. We put up our tent in the shelter to keep out the cold winds. Later that evening, the trees started icing up, and the snows came.
Date: 2007-03-17
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today we started out at first light, through ice and snow flurries, and promptly took a wrong turn at a stream crossing. After losing about 45 minutes, we were able to retrace our steps and find the trail. Fed Ex, who was ahead of us, bushwacked to a road, found the trail, and beat a path into Hot Springs, where he wanted to celebrate St. Paddy's day at a local pub. The mountains today were a winter wonderland, everything covered in thick layers of rhime ice, with chunks of ice falling from the trees, lying on hoar ice rising from the ground, as if offering themselves on an alter to a Sun-God who dallied until afternoon. When the sun did appear, it was hurtfully beautiful, so strong the effect on our unprotected eyes. We hiked long and hard today, desperately trying to get down to an altitude where the cold and wind would be abated. We spent the night in a cold and tiny shelter with Hatchet Jack (age 18, from Henderson, TN?) and Clem (age 20.) The temperature got down to 30, forming ice in our bottles, but it felt a lot colder than that.
Date: 2007-03-18
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

Our hands got incredibly cold in the 30 degree, windy little Deer Park Shelter as we readied for the short hike into the town of Hot Springs, where we could shower, warm up, eat, and thaw out our frozen gear. As we got there, we saw Turbo and Guthook on the pay phones, and T-Max at the local Smoky Mtn Diner, where we ate breakfast. The Alpine Inn was still cleaning rooms, but we left our packs there and checked in by 11:30 am. Both the restaurant and the motel are very nice. We then went to the Bluff Mtn Outfitters, where I am typing this. This is a terrific place as well. Even the Dollar General is hiker friendly with its stock. We are going to resupply, do laundry, and leave for the Trail in the morning.
Date: 2007-03-19
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

We ate an epic breakfast at Smoky Mountain Diner ad were hiking out of Hot Springs and over the French Broad River bridge by 8AM. The climb to Loves Leap is about 1100 vertical feet and provided great views of the river. We saw daffodils, a flowering Service Berry tree, a flowering red bud and some unidentified lavender flower. We ate a biscuit with butter and jelly by an old farm pond. By aternoon the temperature rose from 32 to 60 degress and we had to remove clothing to stay dry. The hike got tougher in the afternoon as we climbed Rich Mtn with fully provisioned packs. We got to the shelter at 4PM after hiking for 7:55 hours. Clem showed up at 7PM, and then Garrett, Hatchet Jack and Boblsled (from Columbus, GA) showed up. We slept snuggly with 6 in a 5 man shelter.