morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-04-15
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: light snow

Morning rain turned to sleet then to snow as temperature dropped below freezing. Woods along the trail were beautiful, but I was too cold to appreciate the beauty. First time in my life that I grew ice sickles from the brim of my hat. Planned to warm up at the first shelter then push on to the second to cover half the distance to New Found Gap, but by the time I got a little feeling back in my fingers it had gotten even colder.   I will take a chance I can get a message to Bob tomorrow to pick me up at Clingman's Dome. If successful I will have a short -- hike in the morning. If not it will be a long cold 12.- miles to civilization. Beside me in the shelter is a couple from Maine hiking with their 7 year old girl and 9 year old boy. They had through hiked 12 years ago and met a family with young kids that impressed them; so when their kids were physically strong enough for the adventure they planned their family through hike.   When I told the little girl, Cartwheel, my trail name she recited the prologue of Moby Dick. A tear bringing experience as she shyly but proudly recited and I huddled in my sleeping bag trying to get warm. Mom explained that granddad had been an English teacher who taught Moby Dick every year and had his students and kids memorize the first page of the book; so mom had her kids memorize it.
Date: 2014-04-16
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Clingman's Dome
Miles today: 4.6

In the middle of the night I checked the temperature. Inside the shelter with rows of hikers huddled side by it was 27 degrees. Woke up to find my boots and water bladder frozen. I packed up and started walking expecting another miserable day. However, the sun came out, the temperature rose and it became a beautiful hike to the highest point in the Smokies. The ice on the trees and plants sparkled in the sunlight and the air was exceptionally clear giving great views from the ridge line. Having little circlets of ice drop off the tree limbs and fall on my head as I walked was a strange sensation. The path was somewhat treacherous with patches of ice where it was shady and slick mud where it was sunny.I was finally able to get a text through to my brother Bob and confirm that he would pick me up at Clingman's Dome and take me to his home in Atlanta. The drive with him was beautiful.   I was delighted to see the National Park filled with visitors enjoying our shared treasure in all sorts of ways including a crowd at a roadside bear sighting. Bob shared stories of travels in their recreational vehicle and refueled my interest in following their example after finishing with this exercise.When we got to Atlanta both Bob and Barbara commented on how skinny I looked. I suspected I would loose some weight and had noticed that my love handles had shrunk to something more like love tabs, but I still have my old man's tummy bulge and was surprised to see I had dropped from 180 to 164 pounds.As always the trail makes you really appreciate the simple pleasures of a refreshing shower, a good meal, and a warm soft bed.
Date: 2014-04-17
From: Brother's Home Atlanta

To: Brother's Home Atlanta
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Call last night from May Louise who is in Memphis with son and 5 grandchildren visiting relatives. They spent the afternoon racing rubber duckies down the miniature Mississippi River on Mud Island. My annoyingly mature granddaughter got on the phone to let me know that she was disturbed by old photo in a montage on Aunt Imogene's wall that shows me at a Kingsport FunFest event dancing in a chorus line in combat boots and a tutu.
Date: 2014-04-18
From: Clingman's Dome

To: Newfound Gap mile 206.8
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Bob and Barbara drove me back to Clingman's Dome with my daypack then dropped my backpacking pack off at a hotel in Gatlinburg.   Drive from Atlanta to the Smokies is beautiful. All the trees are budding and putting on their new leaves. Occasional dogwoods stand out in bright white glory.Slack packing is wonderful,   With almost no pack weight and a downhill route I felt like I had wings on my feet and finished the 8 mile walk in about 4 hours. Even with wings a young fellow from Florida who covers 20 miles a day soared past me. On the trail I caught Linda or Little Trickle, a young nurse from New York. She had passed me after the campfire where I learned her trail name story, but had an injury and had to get off the trail to recover. We hiked together and talked for a while when I heard a stumble and curse behind me. She had fallen and broken her glasses. I offered to stay with her and help her find a way down to Gatlinburg, but she planned to stop, put in contacts, and then perhaps camp for the night.A nice couple from Wayland, Michigan, ? and Peg Barghahn gave me a ride to Gatlnburg, unfortunately while putting on my puffy to keep from getting chilled, I took my camera out of my windbreaker pocket and left it in the back seat of their car. The next day they tracked me down through the hotel; so my stupidity was not too costly.Nathan and Marcus, ML and the kids and I all got to the hotel about the same time. We walked to a pizza restaurant and had fun playing with the kids including dancing with them on a balcony to a country band, but little time for conversation.Laid out my upcoming route. I will have 3 days with Nathan to finish the Smokies and 3 days to Hot Springs, then May Louise will pick me up to go to Carbondale for our SIU presentation. My bad hearing causes me to miss a lot of the conversation around me, but I caught the following conversation. The crowd in the shelter last Tuesday included a half dozen college girls from Canada who were hiking the Smokies as part of a wilderness leadership development program and a young section hiking deputy sheriff. Predictably the deputy was flirting with the girls. He told them that when he stops a pretty girl for a traffic violation he always gives her a ticket because they normally charm an officer and don't get their fair share of citations. On the other hand if he stops an overweight, unattractive girl he always lets her off with a warning because "fat, ugly girls never get any breaks".
Date: 2014-04-19
From: Newfound Gap mile 206.8

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

After pancake breakfast with the kids May Louise dropped Nathan and me off at Newfound Gap and spotted Nathan's car at the end of the park. The 30% chance of rain turned out to be a chilly all day drizzle.   Hiking was still pretty comfortable if we kept moving. Although we did not get started until 12:30, we covered the 10.4 miles at a decent clip and got to the Peck's Corner Shelter a little before dark. Trail was beautiful and occasionally opened up to dramatic vistas through the rain clouds. Charlie's Bunion was as dramatic in reality as it was in my 60 year old memory from my Boy Scout hike to it. It is a great place for the iconic picture of a lone hiker standing in a rocky craig surveying vast open spaces, but given the wind, rain, cold and lack of good camera we settled for some quick shots on Nathan's phone of me standing a couple of steps up the precipice. Only problem was the last mile when my knee gave up on downhill walking. I had to hobble in stiff legged with Nathan urging me on.
Date: 2014-04-20
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Crosby Knob Shelter 
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: few clouds

Last night as we were having supper another hiker called from inside the shelter to let Nathan know that there was a mouse in his pack. We interrupted the meal and got everything with an odor in the bear bag before any damage was done. We hung our damp clothes on a line in the shelter and I left my wet wool Tilly hat atop my hiking pole leaning against the side of the shelter wall to dry.   I awoke to discover that a mouse had eaten away a large hunk of the brim. We will get to see if the Tilly folks really mean it when they say they will replace any damaged hat.Delightful day hiking with Nathan.Total distance from Peck's Corner Shelter to Crosby Knob Shelter was 12.9 miles plus 0.4 for climb back to trail from Peck's Corner gives a total of 13.3 my longest day yet. Hiking with Nathan to talk with made the miles go by easily and my knee behaved without repeat of yesterday's misery. Some of the ridges yesterday and today were surprisingly narrow. We would walk on a 12 to 18 inch wide path, have 6 inches of greenery each side of the path and beyond it dramatic drop offs on both our right and our left. Had my third fall of the whole trip. A root caught my trailing foot so it could not come forward and catch my weight and my forward momentum brought me to the ground. Happily the only damage was a scrape on my shinbone and a small hole in my rain pants where the scraping rock punched through. Today is Easter and walking along we spotted on a rock with a small shelf beside the trail an Easter egg. Best guess was that it was a grouse egg that had fallen to the trail and been placed on the rock by another hiker, but we kept an eye out for a white rabbit.
Date: 2014-04-21
From: Crosby Knob Shelter 

To: Standing Bear Hostel 
Miles today: 10.4

Another beautiful day.Nathan continued to prove his usefulness. Having his experience and extra hands with me made the set up and packing process go faster, lightened my pack load as he carried our food, and provided hot coffee each morning. In addition he spotted a printing error in the AT guide that put the elevation profile and benchmark locations out of sync, solved a leak problem with my water bladder, and taught me which kind of moss makes the best toilet paper.Trail today was not as steep as we had anticipated, so we made good time. We stopped for some photos at one of the dramatic overlooks we passed and noticed the change of how far into Spring the foliage had come as we changed elevations. We passed through some beautiful sections of the forest where the trees were spread out enough to give a long view up and down the mountain under them and the ground was covered with lush new green plants interspersed with wild flowers. We picked up Snail Man, a young hiker from Denmark with knee problems and a damaged boot who before his problems had been walking up to 20 miles a day. We took him to supper with us and then Nathan carried him on to Asheville.May Louise's spotting of Nathan's car at the edge of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park worked perfectly. Nathan took a shortcut trail to his car and met me at the Pigeon River Bridge and took me down I-40 a couple of exits to a delicious early supper at Cracker Barrel. I have developed a hiker's appetite and was amazed at how much food I put away.After we sorted a few items to my pack, he headed back to Asheville and work while I climbed over one final steep hill to Standing Bear Hostel. The hostel prides itself in its primitiveness complete with chickens wandering the yard and a tub to wash your dirty clothes in. Nevertheless the shower was hot and the bunk is dry and warm; so it provides all the essentials.I am looking forward to completing the three day trek to Hot Springs and meeting May Louise there for our trip to SIU.
Date: 2014-04-22
From: Standing Bear Hostel 

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter at Deep Gap 
Miles today: 7.2

Gang at Shelter just pointed out that today is Earth Day.Predicted rain started to fall as soon as I left shelter and continued through the day, but only fell in a chilly drizzle and never turned into thunder shower. Four mile climb out of Pigeon River Valley was grueling as predicted; so I stuck with my plan of stopping at the first shelter after only 7.2 miles. Remaining 26.2 miles to Hot Springs will require two long days to get there by Thursday, but the terrain will be flatter and the weather is supposed to be pretty. At the top of Snowbird Mountain at the end of my four mile climb I had a delightful surprise. Sitting by the trail was a rain and wind shelter with camp chairs, hot chocolate, doughnuts and fresh fruit. "Apple" from Cincinnati comes to the area for two weeks each year to provide surprise trail magic to in expecting backpackers at the top of Snowbird Mountain. He found an old dirt road that lets him drive his pickup to the trail there. Top of Snowbird is a bald similar to Max Patch that I will climb over tomorrow. Nathan reminded me that we have been to the top of Max Patch before. He took May Louise and me there for a picnic several years ago. We have pictures of us watching folks flying kites and Bomber exploring an unmelted patch of snow while AT hikers trudge past. I could see nothing but rainy mist at Snowbird, but should have great views from Max Patch tomorrow.Mice in this shelter are unusually bold exploring during daylight hours. I hope I can hang everything so that nothing else gets eaten by the mini-bears. I have met several hikers who told me they had heard the story and recognized me by my half eaten hat. By evening rain stopped and skies cleared, but not in time to dry my sweat soaked clothes. They will be miserable to put on in the morning. Entertainment at the Shelter included everyone watching and taking photos as an experienced hiker performs self surgery to treat a bad blister.
Date: 2014-04-23
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter at Deep Gap 

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Six miles to Max Patch was a fairly grueling climb. I listened to our Tom Paxton CDs on my iPad while I climbed. His love songs made me miss May Louise and our boys. Max Patch vista was even grander than my memory from when Nathan took us there a few years ago. The parking lot at the base of the bald was full of cars. Lots of folks were out enjoying the marvelous area. The rest of the day's hike from Max Patch to the shelter was one of the prettiest sections of the AT I have seen and was relatively easy. Much of the section follows a cascading mountain stream and cris crosses it and its tributaries.Tomorrow's 13.1 miles to Hot Springs is mostly downhill and should not be too difficult if I don't have knee problems. I like to ask fellow hikers what led them to take on this project. The answers are almost always interesting, particularly the stories from the older hikers. One section hiker from New York City started his hike as a personal response to 9/11. A fellow I met today who was making frequent stops to take pictures had spent two days pay as a teenager to purchase a book of photographs along the Appalachian Trail and had wanted to make the journey ever since. He retired early to care for his aging parents. After seven years his mom died last December so now he is free to make the journey. When I arrived the small shelter was full and all the tent spaces near it were taken. I set my tent up in an attractive site by itself at the top of the hill
Date: 2014-04-24
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC mile 273.9
Miles today: 13.1

Weather was beautiful and hike was mostly downhill. Got to the Laughing Heart Lodge where May Louise had made reservations for me by 4:30. It is a beautiful facility. Used to be a Jesuit Retreat Center. Unfortunately they are booked for a big wedding tomorrow night, so she will not be able to spend a night here with me. Staff at the Lodge found an alternative place for us in town. A pleasant room with a deck overlooking a pretty creek.The lodge is not the local facility with the hot mineral water spring the town is named for, but my bathroom has a big tub. My soaking bath in it felt so good I was tempted to spend the night there.My waist has shrunk enough that all my pants droop. I may look like Sad Sack in the suit May Louise is bringing for our SIU presentation. I had a wonderful potluck supper. Each Thursday evening Hot Springs has a community supper. The event started a few years ago as a way to use the surplus produce from a community garden, but it has morphed into a community provided supper for trail hikers. The event does wonders for Hot Springs reputation as a trail town, but the lodge staff tells me that shortsighted City officials see the supper as a unnecessary charity. As a result they don't support the supper and they charge the community volunteers for use of the Town's Community Center where the suppers are held. Lodge has a comfortable common room with an eclectic library. I will be tempted to spend tomorrow sitting there and reading.
Date: 2014-04-25
From: Hot Springs, NC mile 273.9

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0

After a delightful breakfast visited with Laughing Heart Lodge hostess and part owner Karen Moore. She told stories of her son's realizing his childhood dream of growing up to be a cowboy. He married an indian girl who inherited the family ranch in Oklahoma and adopted three Comanche children. Karen also told me about spending a number of years in a nondenominational cloistered facility in Richmond, VA.Spent the morning in the Lodge's peaceful lobby catching up my Journal before loading my pack and moving to the Springbrook Cottages where, with Karen's help, I reserved a unit for May Louise and me.While walking through town I stopped in their Visitor's Bureau Office. The had a well designed display of local history and an enthusiastic staffer who did a good job of selling her community. Learned that the boy's and girl's trade school that became Warren Wilson in Asheville was founded in Hot Springs. Also, when World War II began German Citizens on ocean liners docked in the US were interred and sent to Hot Springs to wait out the war. A number stayed after the war. As a result of the combined influence of the school and the Europeans, the local schools continue to have higher performance and graduation rates than other Western North Carolina Districts.May Louise arrived in time for a late supper and was delighted with the pretty Mountain stream beside the deck at the back of our unit.
Date: 2014-04-26
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Pennyrile Forest State Park, Kentucky
Miles today: 0.0

We had Coffee Shop Breakfast at the ArtiSUN Gift Shop next door to our cabin where May Louise shopped buying a stained glass window piece for our downstairs bathroom and a bookshelf for beside her bed. The manager explained that she had collected the names of everyone in town who had through hiked the Appalachian Trail and discovered 25% of the Town's population had completed the trek.We drove to Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park in Kentucky to spend the day preparing our SIU presentations. It is a beautiful, isolated facility with a lodge and rooms overlooking a lake.We took time after supper to attend a bat show with the Park naturalist. Unfortunately the bats did not cooperate.
Date: 2014-04-27
From: Pennyrile Forest State Park, Kentucky

To: Pennyrile Forest State Park, Kentucky
Miles today: 0.0

Rain started and continued through the day and we spent a peaceful day assembling our PowerPoint shows and polishing our presentations.We were so focused that we worked through the Lodge's supper hour; so we drove to the the only available restaurant, the Dawson Springs McDonalds. Since it is the only option in town, the fast food joint was packed, but it provided the worst McDonalds meal either of us have ever had.
Date: 2014-04-28
From: Pennyrile Forest State Park, Kentucky

To: Carbondale, IL
Miles today: 0.0

Dramatic thunderstorm hit during the night making it a very good night to be indoors. We awoke to all the birds chattering to each other about the storm they had huddled through.The rain continued as we drove to Carbondale.The air conditioner was not working properly on the van, so I made an appointment with the local Illinois Honda Dealer to take the car in for maintenance. In addition both of the automated side doors had quit working. I had checked fuses and that was not the problem. When I explained my problem to the service manager he smiled and then pointed out to me the little switch on the dash that turns off the side door openers. It is healthy to be reminded of your personal stupidity.Did a little research on the Paul Simon Institute before we arrived. Founded by the Senator, it bills itself as a "Do Tank" instead of a "Think Tank". As a result, Director David Yepsen and several of their other staffer's background is from the media instead of academics. Yepsen spent his career as the DeMoins Register's political reporter and was the national expert on the Iowa presidential caucus process. As a result he was full of stories about Presidential candidates and Iowa and Illinois politicians.Yepsen took us and Keynote Speaker Sean Creighton to supper at the Giant City State Park Lodge. The Lodge is an impressive stone and log structure built by the CCC. Beside the Lodge is a duplicate of the Virginia CCC worker statute. Creighton is Executive Director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education and a associate of Richard Florida's Creative Class Group consulting firm. The Council is a voluntary association of over 100 colleges and universities that among other things allow students to take classes at each other's institution with no exchange of funds. The evening's conversation was delightful.
Date: 2014-04-29
From: Carbondale, IL

To: Souther Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Miles today: 0.0

The Conference was held at the Carbondale City Hall and Conference Center instead of on the University Campus. They had a good turnout and we had a marvelous time visiting with the attendees and hearing the other presenters.Our presentations went well and I think we held the attention of most of the audience. I talked too long and too slowly, so there was not time for my "Lessons Leaned" wrap-up after May Louise finished her part of the presentation. Although I think we held the audience's attention, I had trouble keeping my eye off the lady in the center of the room who not only went to sleep during my presentation but slipped into open-mouthed snoring.Between the end of the conference and supper we spent a couple of hours lounging in the Carbondale Barnes and Noble Store. I purchased an interesting book that I am looking forward to reading in, an anthology of "Poems that Make Grown Men Cry".We finished off the day with a delicious Thai meal shared with one of our favorite friends, ex-Intern and Paducah Public Information Officer Kristin Gregory. Before becoming Director of Project Compassion at the Vine Church in Carbondale, she served as Chamber of Commerce Director. In addition to catching us up on her life she shared insights that gave context to the discussions we had heard at today's Conference.
Date: 2014-04-30
From: Souther Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

To: Memphis, TN
Miles today: 0.0

David Yeosen and SIU's MPA Program Director Randolph Burnside arranged for me to talk with interested MPA students at the Simon Institute. To my surprise a dozen or so students and five faculty members showed up. The session was even more fun than the Conference. Of course May Louise will remind me that a fresh audience of eager young people willing to listen to my City Manager's stories is my definition of hog heaven. In addition to visiting with the students and staff I talked for a while with the one Professor I remember from my service on the SIU MPA Advisory Board, Dr. John Hamman. On our way to Memphis we stopped at the National Quilt Museum so May Louise could visit briefly with her staff members and see the exhibits they had up for this year's Quilt Show. As always May Louise's staff and the Museum volunteers were delighted to see her and wished she were still Executive Director. The displays in the gallery were marvelous. Since this was the 30th anniversary of the Quilt Show, they had an exhibit of top prize winners from the last three decades. There was also a fascinating display from their annual contest to make new quilts mutating a traditional quilt pattern and an European exhibit based on the theme "Distortions".We arrived in Memphis in time for supper with May Louise's brother, Niece Cherisa and her toddler Evan, and a collection of cousins.