morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-05
From: neel's gap

To: low gap shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

this morning i got up, packed, talked to the guys at the center about my blisters, dressed those, and then had winton "shake down" my pack. in other words, he went through everything and took out what i didn't need. i was five pounds lighter when he was done... down to an even 40 pounds with four days of food and two and a half liters of water. ziploc bags are a staple when hiking light, apparently. these guys have people fly in from all over just to be outfitted for a thru-hike, so i'll go with their suggestions. the hike today was wasn't bad... scaled down intentionally... but my feet hurt pretty bad until they gave up and went numb. there are about 12 people here tonight, and half are camping like me. it's cold... too cold for my pen to write. good thing i brought a pencil too.
Date: 2005-03-06
From: low gap shelter

To: cheese factory campsite
Miles today: 13.0

good hike today. put in miles, but didn't wear myself out. i met up with some other people my age and we hiked together for a while... eaglefoot (found an eagle feather on the approach trail), kip dynamite (someone said he reminded them of "kip dynamite"), doc (recently got his phd in biochemistry) scrubs (looks like the guy from scrubs), she-ra (pending - her real name is megan), and sparkles (his girlfriend put glitter in his pack). most of us made it to the cheese factory campsite. i guess this used to be the site of a dairy or something. there's a comfort inn express in hiawassee that we are all looking forward to... weather is coming tuesday. megan had to go to down, and may hae stress fractures in her feet. i also got my trail name today... "pj." i was wearing my fleece pans around neel's gap and they looked like pajamas. i like it because it was also my dad's dad's name.
Date: 2005-03-07
From: cheese factory campsite

To: deep gap shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

today felt a lot longer than it was. tray mountain started the day... 1,100 foot climb in .8 miles. we met a hardcore hiker named walksalone, and he's staying in the shelter with us tonight. he did the AT in 2001, and is hiking a section to train for the pacific crest trail. tomorrow is hiawassee... that should be interesting.
Date: 2005-03-08
From: deep gap shelter

To: hiawassee (georgia) holiday inn express!
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: overcast clouds

woke up this morning to an inch of snow. although we thought most of the mice had been evicted, we were still raided... eaglefoot's packtowel was chewed to shreds, and doc's boots were filled with acorns. his name has since been amended to "doc acorn." short hike today, but it was bitter cold, snowing, and windy, so this was all we could have done anyway (or would have wanted to do). caught a ride into hiawassee in a pickup. all six of us (eaglefoot, scrubs, doc acorn, sparkles, kip dynamite, and myself) in the back. the holiday inn is fantastic. $60 per room is the hiker rate, and these are huge rooms. hot tub downstairs, too. we at at hardee's for lunch and a mexican place for dinner... and i feel GREAT. tomorrow we start picking up the pace, though kip has to go into town and see a doctor about his knee soon. hope he can catch back up.quote of the day:"i heard you saw a bear.""yep.""damn."*silence*
Date: 2005-03-09
From: hiawassee holiday inn express

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

we made good time today, but now we're in an interesting situation. spoonie love and that crowd took a zero day in hiawassee, so now we have everybody at the same shelter (which isn't big enough for all of us). they leave earlier than we do, and with weather supposedly coming in, we don't want to have to tent in snow/rain like we are tonight (snow). six mile day tomorrow is likely so we can break up the clump of hikers. i don't feel too bad about this, since scrubs, doc, and sparkles all plan to finish before august. eaglefoot (aka sherpa) stayed late at the hotel, so he's not with us, but we met up with megan again. we also crossed the georgia - north carolina border today... one state down!
Date: 2005-03-10
From: muskrat creek shelter

To: standing indian shelter
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: clear sky

low miles today, but the shelter is all ours. eaglefoot (aka sherpa... but he doens't like that name) caught up to us again, so it's back to the six of us. very cozy in this shelter, and we built a fire earlier. doc provided some entertainment with the story of the cremation of sam mcgee... appropriate since it's still frigid. big day tomorrow, 14 miles over standing indian and mt. albert.
Date: 2005-03-11
From: standing indian shelter

To: big spring shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

finally back to decent mileage. it feels good to do around 15 miles, but the weather was sporatic. it snowed for a while and still is as i'm writing. we're at 4900 feet so it's cold, too. hopefully spring will come soon. standing indian was an easy, gradual climb, but mt. albert was tough. the last half mile was basically a steep rock scramble. nice views from the firetower. eaglefoot didn't do the miles to keep up with us... oh well. we're staying with a couple brothers that are absolutely hilarious. they think people take trail names too seriously, so they go by ravenclaw and vulturefist.
Date: 2005-03-12
From: big spring shelter

To: siler bald shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

another good mileage day, but no real peaks or anything. our first trail magic at winding stair gap... a six-pack of 7-up. REALLY good after just water for days at a time. we can smell the smokeys now and can't wait, but the noc (nantahala outdoor center) is two days away and that is what i'm trying to focus on. we're all tired and hurting, but getting accustomed to that. just have to forget the pain, forget the weight on your back, and just put one foot in front of the other. or, as nathan said (he and his wife bottle are in the shelter with us tonight), "one step at a time as a slave to the blaze." this location is great... i have cell service and we can see the lights from franklin.
Date: 2005-03-13
From: siler bald shelter

To: burningtown gap
Miles today: 10.9

met a trail angel today... we had heard of a guy named apple that gives thru-hikers cinnamon rolls at burningtown gap, so we were going to stop by on the way to the next shelter. when we got to the gap, there was a huge tent set up and a southbounder named scooter was making hot dogs. i had four, a bunch of peanut butter cups, cookies, popcorn, and sodas. all for free, courtesy of apple. apparently he takes two weeks every year and sets up this tent for hikers. right now we're sitting around a kerosene heater and talking. tomorrow is noc!
Date: 2005-03-14
From: burningtown gap

To: nantahala outdoor center
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: clear sky

woke up this morning to cinnamon rolls and a warm tent... for free. apple's made our week! after a few early climbs and a great view from the wesser bald firetower (best yet), we descended 4500 feet. not fun... knees and feet took a beating. when we got to the noc, we learned that three church groups had filled all 60+ spots in the hostel (how nice of them). oh well. the noc is not what we had hoped for and doesn't hold a candle to walasi-yi at neels gap. we ate a late lunch at a restaurant and were shuttled to a cabin doc had found. the cabin is ok, but more like a double-wide. we're resupplied and very ready to move on to fontana dam. no cell service here either, so wesser has really been a disappointment.
Date: 2005-03-15
From: nantahala outdoor center

To: sassafras gap shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

had some eggs and toast at the cabin before we left at 11. at this point it's doc, scrubs, megan, sparkles, and me. lunch was at the noc even though we don't like the place. tough climb out of the gap... 3000 feet in 6 miles. definitely a good day to take it a little slow. tomorrow we're hoping to do 15 miles, then another easy 6 or 7 into fontana. it's a party in the shelter tonight... 15 people or so, jim beam, and a guitar (played by lyrical). doc gave me some homemade chili mix and it was a really nice change of pace.sparkles:"looks like someone lit her face on fire and put it out with a golf shoe.""she's like the bengals. uniform's ok, but the helmet's all messed up."
Date: 2005-03-16
From: sassafras gap shelter

To: cable gap shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

today sucked. we woke up for our 15 miler and it was raining. not big time, but a sustained drizzle, which is worse in a lot of ways. i'd rather have a downpour that clears up in a couple hours. so it stayed wet all day, leaving us all soaked and cold. learned today that the showers at the fontana dam shelter don't work yet, so we're considering a hotel. we could split the cost 7 ways since quarter-of-the-way (trucker i met at neels) and miles have the same plans we do. found out that i wasn't crazy after all when i heard strange noises at siler bald shelter... turns out nathan and bottle are notorious for "pink blazing" if you know what i mean.
Date: 2005-03-17
From: cable gap shelter

To: fontana hilton shelter
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: light rain

today was a lot like yesterday, wet and cold. it snowed this morning, so the trail was mud covered in leaves covered in snow. short day into fontana... we caught the shuttle into "town" - it's really a summer resort. the same lady that shuttled us rang us up at the store. limited food... i had to buy marshmallows to go with my lunches of tortillas and peanut butter because they didn't have any jelly or honey. sparkles is taking a zero day tomorrow - he is having some sort of allergic reaction to go with his blisters... nasty. hopefully he can catch back up with us on tuesday.i have my daily routine pretty much down now:7:00am - wake up, eat breakfast.8:15am - start hiking.~noon - lunch.~4:00 - get to destination, give or take depending on mileage.5:30 - dinner.7:30 - in the bag.breakfasts are poptarts and instant oatmeal. about three candy bars while hiking. lunch is some sort of bread (bagels, tortillas, pitas, etc.) with peanut butter and honey or jelly (or in a pinch, marshmallows). dinner is usually a couple of lipton sides or macaroni and cheese - anything cheap, filling, and full of calories. cheese or peanut butter thickens them up pretty well. meat (usually some sort of sausage) is a treat - most protein comes from the peanut butter.
Date: 2005-03-18
From: fontana hilton shelter

To: russell field shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

mixed emotions about entering the smokeys... it was nicer weather than it has been, and reasonably warm, but the alast 8 or 9 miles were really, really muddy. my shoes are soaked. mud is discouraging. messy, slippery, and wet. great view from the firetower on shuckstack though. i rook a video with my camera. the plan is to hike about 15 miles tomorrow, then 8 sunday, then 4 into newfound gap where megan's parents will pick us up. i need to start buying more food. the weight is worth it... eating is one of the most enjoyable things we do out here. ranger and throw and fetch are sharing the shelter with us tonight. this is ranger's 5th thru-hike attempt, and he's made it as far as conneticut before, so he's definitely familiar with the terrain. throw is an engineer of some sort with all kinds of degrees. if i tried to list them i would miss something. he has had stage four melanoma for two years now, and an experimental treatment has extended his life significantly. doctors usually give 6 months once you reach stage four. fetch is his service dog (which are they only kind of dogs allowed in the smokeys) and he keeps the shelter mice at bay.
Date: 2005-03-19
From: russell field shelter

To: silers bald shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

another good mileage day, though my feet were still wet from the mud yesterday. we built a fire and i'm drying everything now. 40% chance of rain tonight, but that could mean anything at our elevation. tomorrow should be nice. we'll go up and over clingman's dome tomorrow, so that's exciting... it's the highest point on the entire trail. megan is going to push through so she'll have a zero day at her house, and she'll pick us u pat 10:00 on monday. my whisperlite isn't burning well, and throw suggested low-grade gasoline. i wouldn't try it normally, but i watched him use it without incident, so i may give it a try down the road. ran into the other ridgerunner today (we met carl yesterday) and his name's mark. new guy, and pretty serious about his job, but nice enough. we met some weekenders at the shelter tonight and they gave us a cheeseburger to split. good stuff...
Date: 2005-03-20
From: silers bald shelter

To: newfound gap
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

palm sunday and the first day of spring! we climbed clingman's without incident, but it was way too cold to stay up there long. sunny and clear though, and that made for nice views. anyway, the plan was to stay at mt. collins shelter, but it seemed stupid to do 8 and 4 when we could just do 12 and take a zero day, so we're staying in sevierville today and tomorrow. we sat down on the grass in newfound gap for a while and the tourists (it's basically a big parking lot) gave us granola bars and cake. a little longer and we wouldn't have had to resupply. ate at the smokey mountain brewery in gatinburg with doc, scrubs, megan, and megan's parents (whose hospitality has been amazing). first time i've been full in quite a while. shook down my pack and cut about 3 1/2 pounds, so i'm happy about that. i was going to wait until i was home in greeneville to do that, but we're running a marathon into hot springs (70 miles in 4 days) and i don't want to be carrying anything i don't have to. it should be a good test for us to see if we're ready to kick up the miles.
Date: 2005-03-21
From: newfound gap

To: newfound gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

didn't really feel like i needed a zero day, but nobody else has had one yet. it was productive... i fixed my whisperlite (i hope) and for the time being it burns much better than it did. eggs, sausage, and english muffins for breakfast (megan is more adept in the kitchen than you'd think), leftover pizza for lunch, and some of the best chili i've ever had for dinner. did laundry, mailed 3 1/2 pounds of stuff home, and resupplied at kroger. we're picking up a friend of mine tomorrow, mike, and he's goinig to hike with us for a couple days.
Date: 2005-03-22
From: newfound gap

To: tri-corner knob shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

picked up mike at 8:30 and were on the trail by 10. most of the trail is still packed snow and ice. the morning was nice... we had a gorp break on charlie's bunion and lunch at a shelter. then the rain came. my boots and clothes are soaked, and it's pretty cold out. windy, too (not that i'm complaining). needless to say, the last 5.3 miles were probably the most unpleasant miles to date. on the plus side, we're not 1/10th of the way to katahdin! burger (aka megan... she likes this one) had some trouble switching from going towards home to going away from home, but she's fine now. i'll have to deal with that soon enough.
Date: 2005-03-23
From: tri-corner knob shelter

To: standing bear farm
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: few clouds

longest day yet, and we're thankful to be out of the smokies (that's the correct spelling, believe it or not). the first 10 miles were basically flooded from thunderstorms last night, and another hiker informed us of the "freedom step." it's the first step after the realization that your feet can't get any wetter, and therefore you're free to step anywhere. scrubs and i reached the lunch spot first and unpacked everything just in time for it to start storming again. even the optimist (scrubs) commented that it seems like the smokies just want us to leave. so it rained and i got soaked because my rain gear was already wet from yesterday, but at least it wasn't as ocld and the sun sorta came out after a while. definitely our toughest two days so far... too bad they were the only two mike spent with us. we're usually having a much better time. we're staying at standing bear farm tonight, and interesting little hostel just north of interstate 40. not yet is going to hike with us to hot springs where he's meeting a friend, so the group is back at five temporarily.
Date: 2005-03-24
From: standing bear farm

To: max patch
Miles today: 13.6

assessment of damage from the smokies: one (1) bent trekking pole, one (1) broken camera, and one (1) case of athlete's foot. glad they're behind us. we're camping on top of max patch tonight (a huge bald) and the views (360 degrees) are incredible. hope it doesn't storm tonight... if it does we're going to have to make a late night scramble off the bald. red blaze and not yet are both camping with us up here tonight.
Date: 2005-03-25
From: max patch

To: hot springs, nc
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

we were all on our toes last night listening for thunder (well, i know i was) so everyone was awake at 5 in the morning. we were gone by 7. broke our mileage record for the third time in four days, and hot springs is a great reward. i'm at home for tonight and tomorrow, then sunday we're all going to hike hot springs to allen gap where my parents will pick us up to stay at our place for the night. it's good to be home, if only for a day.
Date: 2005-03-26
From: hot springs, nc

To: hot springs, nc
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

taking a zero in hot springs was the brainchild of sparkles, but we took it anyway. scrubs stayed at elmer's, while burger (megan) and doc stayed at the cody house. i was in greeneville again.... went to johnson city to visit a family friend who was in a serious car accident last week (he wasn't expected to make it) and pick up a new hydration system. the platypus started leaking, so i trashed it. i could get a replacement for free, but if one leaks, they all do (twisted logic, but i'm mad at that thing for leaking all over me). i'm trying a camelbak this time. later i went back to hot springs and played risk with red blaze, doc, and scrubs. came in second to scrubs, but we all know who should have won.
Date: 2005-03-27
From: hot springs

To: allen gap
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

met everybody at 8:30 at the cody house and we're hiking again. wish spring would turn things green already... i'm sick of brown and gray all day. it was going to rain but held off, thankfully. we met hercules and fal, who treated us to homemade ice cream pie/cake and had some great stories to tell. they had a lot of food, too, but my parents had already planned on a big dinner. picked up by my brother, my parents, and my brother's friend, and we ate for a long time... hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, fried potatoes, vegetables, oranges... it was really good. we're being spoiled in the south, no doubt. so we're all at my place for the night, and tomorrow i start hiking away from home. that's a little tough, but at least i'm not in it alone.
Date: 2005-03-28
From: allen gap

To: flint mountain shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: light rain

cold and rainy all day, but it's going to be nice for a while now (hopefully). we woke up to a big breakfast of egs and bacon and english muffins. i felt ready to move on from home, but at the same time it's tough. every step i take now puts me farther from my friends and family. we met a member of our church at allen gap, Mr. Wells, and he wished us all well, which was nice. everybody is being very supportive. we packed up risk (the board game) on our way out... it started as a joke, but then we rationalized it. that should make things interesting in the shelters.
Date: 2005-03-29
From: flint mountain shelter

To: big bald mountain
Miles today: 17.7

beautiful hiking weather all day. blue skies, a slight breeze, and just a bit on the chilly side (maybe 45-50?). doc had trouble with his ankle early on, and it's just become worse throughout the day. when we get to erwin tomorrow he's going to get x-rays and see what's going on with it. big bald is comparable to max patch... there was a very nice sunset while i had my chicken alfredo (i'm getting sick of lipton sides).
Date: 2005-03-30
From: big bald mountain

To: erwin, tn
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

it was really windy last night - so windy that i had to re-pitch my tent in the middle of the night (it's designed to have the foot positioned into the wind). early start at 7:30, and scrubs and i got to miss janet's (a hostel) around 4:00. doc and burger hitched into erwin from spivey gap (about 10 miles south of erwin) to get doc to a hospital for x-rays on his ankle. he has a sprain and a bone bruise, so he'll be laid up here at miss janet's for a few days. tomorrow is a short 4 miles for me and scrubs, but burger is doing 14 to catch up. we'll be in touch with doc, and hopefully he'll catch up with us down the trail.
Date: 2005-03-31
From: erwin, tn

To: curley maple gap shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: light rain

great breakfast at miss janet's - bacon, eggs, and thick pancakes with bananas and vanilla ice cream. burger started at spivey gap and did 15 miles or so to catch up with me and scrubs, who only did 4 or so. doc is stuck for now, and the injury he has tends to be lingering. i'm sure we'll see him again, though... he has the conviction. scrubs and i stayed at miss janet's and ate pizza and ice cream and watched movies until about 2:30. we also got a lecture from miss janet about rushing the hike - we lost doc partly because we were doing so much, and really, we may all have more fun if we slow down a little. the plan is to be in damascus next saturday for a possible zero.
Date: 2005-04-01
From: curley maple gap shelter

To: cherry gap shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

we've lucked out so far - 80% chance of rain and we didn't even get sprinkled on. after tomorrow things should clear up for a while (supposedly). we climbed beauty spot (a bald) and found an suv full of teenagers that had car-camped there last night. road accesss doesn't bother me too much, but it sure puts a different perspective on things. the views are better, in my opinion, when you have to work for them. we're continuing to take it easy for now and plan on 14 miles tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-02
From: cherry gap shelter

To: greasy creek gap
Miles today: 6.9

ok, the plan for today was for us to stay at roan high knob shelter, the highest (and coldest) on the AT at 6,280 feet. it stormed all night, then started snowing in the morning. burger hitched back into erwin at iron mountain gap with sore ankles, and scrubs and i went 8.8 miles to clyde smith shelter at the base of roan mountain. it was still snowing at noon when we got there for lunch, and it had turned much colder and windy, so we did the smart thing and crashed there. unfortunately, to add to the fact that we were both soaked, snow was blowing in the shelter and getting all our stuff wet, too. around 3:00 corduroy (who we met at miss janet's) came in and informed us that it was going to be just as bad tomorrow, the day we were going to summit one of the more notorious mountains on the trail. so after som consideration, we packed out to greasy creek gap and the friendly (same as a hostel, with a less hostile name) there, then paid them to shuttle us to iron mountain gap, where my dad picked us up. so now scrubs, corduroy, billy, and i are waiting out the snow at my house. back on the trail monday.
Date: 2005-04-03
From: greasy creek gap

To: greasy creek gap
Miles today: 0.0

relaxing zero day, but not one we really wanted to take. my parents have been great about letting us stay here, and we spent all day eating, watching movies, going to the grocery store, playing frisbee, and planning to damascus. roan should be better tomorrow, although there will definitely be a lot of snow to hike through.