morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-12
From: Franklin, NC

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: clear sky

Woke up this morning totally refreshed and feeling good. Walked around town to the grocery store and to the outfitter which are conveniently miles away from each other, so needless to say we didn't get out of town until late. The outfitter was awesome. I didn't need anything from there but it was a nice place. "Three Eagle Outfitters" is the name I think. They took a polaroid of us and put it on the wall. Cool! I bought a lot of food because there isn't any decent resupply at the NOC so I have to carry enough to get to Fontana Dam, NC where I have my 1st bounce box. Anyways...we got hiking around 2:30 or so after a very nice hitch from this cool college chick. Best ride yet for obvious reasons. It was warm & sunny and perfect for hiking. Since it was too late in the day for 16 miles, we pulled up at the next shelter. Nice shelter and a better front yard. We met new people and had a blast around the campfire. My buddy "MouseWheel" is a chemistry major & he got a mouthful of powdered pizza mix & blew it into the fire causing a nice explosion of pizza mix. I didn't know it would react to fire like that. I'll post the video on YouTube later or something. Best shelter night yet by far!WHITE BLAZIN'ALL DAY LAZIN'lolBigShanty
Date: 2007-04-13
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 7 this morning just as the sun broke the top of the mountain horizon. Got some decent pictures of it but they aren't as good as the ones you take right before the sun comes up. That 2 minute period before you see the sun is the most beautiful the sky will ever be. Especially in these majestic Appalachian mountains. The "PainTrain" got hiking around 8:30 and made some good time today. Almost immediately this morning we got our first bald. Siler Bald is beautiful. It's not as big as ome of the ones ahead but it's awesome. I rolled my ankle twice in 30 minutes this morning. Nothing too bad but just little wake up calls. Maybe I'd pay better attention if I made coffee in the mornings. "BigBy's" feet are blistering a pretty good bit so I hung with him most of the day. It was nice to slow down a bit. We usually do about 2.5 - 3 mph all day with a decent lunch break in the middle so we are almost always first to the shelter. The pace is a little bit much coming out of a town with a heavy pack. So it was nice to slow down a bit. We are supposed to be getting some deadly storms tonight and then snow sleet tomorrow & Sunday. We are hiking the 12 miles into the NOC tomorrow so hopefully we can get bunks in the hostel & get out of the weather. I just talked to my mom on "Bigby's" cell & she is going to meet me at Fontana Dam & put the "PainTrain" up in hotel for the night & take us out to dinner. SHE ROCKS! I can't wait to see her! I miss her!HAPPY B-DAY MOM!I LOVE YOU!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-14
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up around 7 this morning. The rain held out overnight. I heard we were supposed to get dumped on big time. We got hiking just after 8 as usual. We got a little bit of hail for a second but nothing big. We made really good time all day as usual. The only bad thing about today was the big down. Today has to be the biggest down of the trip thus far. My feet were hurting so bad today. I have never felt worse physical pain in my life than my foot pain today. I also got very dehydrated today. Bigby & I stopped 1 mile from the NOC so I could drink a liter of water from a stream. When we came into the NOC, there was some kind festival going on. Trials Mountain bike competition and some good rodeo kyaking going on. The weather was about 75 degrees and sunny with a nice wind from the north. We all did our laundry and went to the administrative building & got a room for the night. We took showers & then it started raining. ByteCode and I were the first 2 to get ready so we headed to the Rivers End restaurant for a couple of beers & pizza. Once the rest of the PainTrain got together, we all headed up to Relia's Garden restaurant where we all dined on the best food we've ever dreamed of! Buffalo steak & all the fixins plus a beer or three. After spending way too much money down there, we headed to the Paddler's Pub upstairs. We all ended up drinking a couple of more beers & played some pool before stumbling back to the room over a half mile away. Romin & Circadian stumbled off the trail about 11pm and we invited them to crash in our room with us. Tonight was the most fun I have had in one night in my whole life. I could spend the rest of my life here doing exactly this.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-15
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: snow

Got going this morning and BigBy & I went to the Rivers End Restaurant for a nice breakfast. We got our packs back in order and were out of the room by 10am. ByteCode boxed a couple of things & sent them to Fontana Dam. Bigby lost his cell phone & couldn't find it anywhere so he opted to stay behind & zero at the NOC with Grizzle & Achiles & ChurchMouse. So the PainTrain has lost BigBy only temporarily we hope. We want him to catch up. MouseWheel is no longer MouseWheel. We showed the founder of Etowah Outfitters the video of him blowing pizza mix on the fire & he named him SideShow. So MouseWheel is now SideShow. SideShow, LittleSpoon, ByteCode & myself walked the 7 steep miles to Sassafras Gap Shelter. ByteCode & I walked together all day & just south of the jump in, it started snowing on us. By the time we got up to the top of the climb it was snowing pretty good. It was 25 degrees and the wind was blowing at 35mph from the northeast. We got to the shelter & it was almost full. Shortly after we settled in, the shelter got packed in tight with hikers. This older gentleman showed up around 7pm & we made room for him up top right next to me. He snored like a woodchipper all night & I respectfully nudged him & suggested he roll over or get something to drink. Everyone got quite a kick out of me getting onto this guy all night. He was making such a noise at such a volume that he was keeping everyone up so I had to do something. Poor guy...everyone hated him & no one talked to him. He better get that fixed or he'll be kicked out every shelter on the trail. Fun day though. I'm glad I finally go to see some snow on the trail. I hope it's not up in the Smokies though.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-16
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up to snow & cold. Got water & got moving just after 8am as usual. There was about 1" of snow & the winds were about 20mph. Cheoch Bald is probably the best view so far. We stopped for a cold & windy lunch at Steeoah Gap & pressed on. We hit a straight up climb and huffed & puffed over that thing. We trudged along to the next shelter at 9.9 miles & decided to push here. I'm glad we did because we only have 5.5 miles into Fontana Dam tomorrow when my mom is meeting us. The PainTrain is excited! TwoWheel, ChurchMouse & Achiles are slack packing the 30 miles to Fontana Dam today. Wow, that's a lot of miles even without a pack. Well, I've had 2 dinners and am ready for bed. Good day. A solid 15 miles.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-17
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Cabin #473 at Fontana Dam Village
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Got moving around 8 this morning as usual. Only a short 6 and change today. I can't wait to see my parents at the dam. Got to the dam around 11am & checked out the "Fontana Hilton" Shelter. Nice place but little did we know my parents were not far off. We were walking down the road toward the dam & my parents came around the corner. They pulled over & we hopped in. My mom & dad were so glad to see me & I them. We got a little bit down the road & they revealed to us that they got us a cabin at Fontana Village for two nights. We each got our own bed & all that good stuff. We checked in & took showers & headed to Robbinsville, NC for lunch at Lynn's Place. My dad talked them into cooking all of us up some nice ribeyes for lunch. They were awesome. BigBy called LittleSpoon & said he was 2 miles from Fontana and that he's be in shortly. We got back to the cabin & he came down the hill. It was so good to see him again. My dad took all of us out to the restaurant on site at the lodge. It was pretty good & we all had a good time. We came back to the cabin & chowed down again on the homemade cheese dip my mom brought. She made us a coke cake too & it was awesome until the ants found it around 9pm. We put it in the freezer & in 30 minutes the ants were moving REALLY slow. My parents totally outdid themselves. They are true trail angels and have gone above & beyond. We have had the best time ever & we all owe it to my parents.P.S. Don't ever leave it to mom to bring food for resupply. I needed only 6 days of food. She brought almost a metric friggin ton.   It made my head spin!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-18
From: Cabin #473 at Fontana Dam Village

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up this morning & ByteCode & I went to the laundromat to do our laundry. The store opened up & we got some coffee & a muffin. We sat at a nice table on the porch & watched heavy construction equipment move boulders and earth for an hour or so. My parents & SideShow came down the road & pulled up on a golf cart. They were having a good time on that thing. We went back up to the restaurant for breakfast. ByteCode slipped away unnoticed & paid the bill. The breakfast sure was good. Thanks ByteCode! After that we headed back to the cabin & got our food bags & packs in order for the smokies. My parents disappeared on the golf card for a while. SideShow, LittleSpoon and Bigby went to do their laundry. SideShow returned with two 12 packs of Budweiser in arm. We started drinking about noon. My parents hung around until about 2pm. They made sure we were all equpped & had enough to eat and then they packed up nearly one metric friggin ton of food to take home. My mom got all weepy on me when she had to leave. It was hard to see my parents go but if I don't them again until October it's ok. It's ok because the last time was a total blast. I never imagined what they did for me and the guys. I hope one day I'm half the parent that they don't have to be.Then...ok so after they left we started drinking big time. WishBone & Robo came over along with Circadian & Ronin. We all had a damn good time. SideShow talked the lady at the outfitter into giving us 5 clubs & 5 balls & one round of Hillbilly Putt Putt. We turned it into "One Hundred Drunken Hill Billy Putt Putt". I came in dead drunken last. The rest of the night is pretty explicit & crazy. So I'll stop writing.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-19
From: Cabin #473 at Fontana Dam Village

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Got going this morning & walked down to the store for a blueberry muffin & a cup of coffee. We got packed up with way too heavy packs & said goodbye to the cool cabin we slept in comfortably for the past 2 nights. Thanks Mom & Dad! We got the shuttle to the Dam. We hiked across the dam which was pretty dang high. Then things went vertical & bad all at the same time. I was struggling from the get go. I struggled with my feet all day. My pack weight absolutely slaughtered my feet. No blisters but the bottoms of my feet felt like they were on fire. I hit my emotional low around mile 8 or so. 1 mile later I got my second wind & almost jogged to Mollies Ridge Shelter. It hailed on me for the last mile. I met the ridgerunner & he asked me a bunch of funny questions. He told me that it was an hour & 20 minutes to the next shelter & it was an easy hike. Everyone else who was there told me that the rest of the PainTrain left for the next shelter about 20 minutes before I got there. I shot outta there like a bullet & made good time to Russell Field Shelter. I caught up with the guys who had arrived shortly before I did. I haven't seen them for 9 miles. It was good to see them. I cooked up some cajun red beans & rice which has absolutely no taste. Then I crawled into my sleeping bag. I put in my ear plugs which are awesome & started to drift off. Just as I'm slipping into sleep, I get alot of water poured on my head. The people sleeping on the top level of the shelter spilled their water on my head. It got my bag a little wet put not too much. It was an accident but stil. Not worries though. It's zzzz time!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-20
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Siler's Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

Got going this morning around 8 as usual. Feelin pretty good for the first 6-7 miles then the feet started to hurt. The pack weight has a hugh effect on one's body. The trail is absolutely gorgeous today. We have been walking on a trail that has been covered on both sides by a blanket of small lavender flowers. There has to be trillions of them here. For over 20 miles they have been ever present. The views from the top of Rocky Top & Thunderhead Mts. are million dollar views. Spenee Field is absolutely beautiful. Briar Knob was brutal. At one point it was a vertical scramble. I must not be drinking enough water because around mile 12 I hit a wall. I felt horrible. My feet were on fire & I couldn't manage but barely 1-1.5 miles per hour. I think dehydration had a lot to do with it. The PainTrain was the first to the shelter. We layed around for a bit before sitting the bags & pads up for the night. Tonight I'm up top so as not to get spilled upon. I'm drinking alot of water tonight so as to combat the dehydration as best as possibly tomorrow. We got a fire going in the fireplace & the front of the shelter is completely covered with a tarp so it's nice & cozy in here. The shelter is full of thru an overnight hikers. Hopefully no one snores.DRINK UP OR DIE!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-22
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

Got up this morning after a good nights sleep around 6:30 or so. The sun came up just before I got out of the tent and wow did it heat up quick. I put my boots on and all was okay until I got out of the tent and put weight on my right foot. OUCH! Yesterday I did this wierd slip, fall, stumble thing & caught myself on my right ankle. It didn't hurt until 5 miles later when I got to camp & stopped hiking. It got really sore but I thought it was just temporary. It hurt all day today but I was able to make a decent pace. I had to favor it a lot though. My skin on the back of my left heel just decided all at once to tear off in a half dollar sized piece. So I walked with a piece of duct tape on my heel all day. I got to the shelter and there was a pretty nasty blood blister on my heel. So I'm pretty much falling apart. I guess it's time to order spare parts..haha! Aside from the constant pain, today was the most enjoyable hike ever. Today yielded the most beautiful views ever. Charlies Bunion is the most awe inspiriring place I've ever had the privelege to see. When I die that is where I want my ashes spread. The trail today was graded perfectly. Best section yet. Got to the shelter & soaked my feet in some cold mountain water. C-Shot brought a small guitar along & I played for the group and we all enjoyed passing it around.So aside from the pain, this has been the best day yet. Absolutely amazing! I have to to get my pack weight down though. It's busting me to pieces.A SIX-STRING & A MOUNTAIN SPRING,BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-23
From: Tri Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm Hostel
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: clear sky

Got moving pretty early. My ankle is hurting pretty bad and my left heel has a blood blister on it the side of a dime. After I walked about a mile, my ankle limbered up and my heel quit hurting. Made 7.7 miles and had lunch just before noon so I made good pace. I changed the bandage on my heel & popped a couple of Advil & kept on trucking. The weather was hot & sunny today. You could definitely tell you were leaving the Smokies. The forest got lighter and less dense. Coming off of Mt. Cammerer was pretty sad. I'm sad to leave the Smokies because they have been the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I made really good time all day despite the inflammed ankle and big blister on the heel. I saw a small forest fire in the distance today and heard the aircraft fly over it for a while. There was a cool storm well on the back side of Mt. Cammerer which I thought was pretty cool. I stopped into Davenport Gap Shelter long enough to massage my feet and grab a can of pork brains in milk gravy. Oh yes. But more about that later. I walked out to the next road & met up with Grizzle. We hiked probably a mile before we came upon the wierdest thing I have even seen. 5-6 people in the underwear drunk off their asses with a hemlock tree covered in beer cans and more beer in the creek to keep them cold. They had a fire going that had been buring for 2 days which is how long they had been there and drunk. It was the best thing ever! As we walked by they waved us over & promptly put beers in our hands. Grizzle & I had a beer and some complementary cheesewiz crackers & we left. I can't imagine what happend there later at night. Grizzle & I came out to the road & hiked under I-40 to this big store staircase and the AT. We hiked one very pointless uphill mile to the gravel road that would take us to Standing Bear Farms. We showed up just as some guys were going on a beer run. I took a much needed shower which ended just as the beers got back. I put my gear on a bunk in the bunkhouse barn thing and promptly proceeded to cook a digorno pizza and drink beer. I got SideShow to eat the porkbrains in milk gravy for $2. We played some guitar around the campfire and went to sleep. A good time was had by all.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-24
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a very sad day. I woke up this morning at a pretty decent hour and went up to the food barn to buy some damn expenseive food. The guys who run the hostel know they are the only resupply for miles so they more than double the prices on all of their food which is a craptacular selection anyway. But, oh well. I got packed up & paid my tab and since I was only doing 7 or so miles, I hung around till 11am. LittleSpoon was having something going on at home that was worrying the hell out of him for the past 3 days. He hasn't slept in 3 days. He was considering going to Ashville, NC and finding a way home. I hated hearing that but a man has to to tend to business every now and again so I didn't try to sway him because I could tell he had made up his mind. As I was leaving I looked him in the eye and told him "SHIT'LL BUFF OUT" and I walked away. I prayed for him for a while today on the trail. I prayed he would find peace in his decision whatever that may be. I had a hard uphill pull for a couple of miles just outside of the hostel. I got to the shelter a little bit after 2pm & laid my wet tent out to dry in the sun. The rest of the guys had been there for a while because they left before I did. Pretty neat little shelter down in a cove surrounded by big hemlocks. Awesome privy design too. So after a while some other people starting rolling in and I forget who it was that told me this but...they saw LittleSpooon grab his gear and head out to hitch on the interstate right after SideShow left which was less than 10 minutes after me. So the PainTrain is in pain tonight. We've lost a damn good man and a damn good friend. I wish I could have done anything to get him to change his mind but he was listening to his heart and that can't be changed. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-25
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mt Shelter
Miles today: 13.1

Woke up to a beautiful morning. Tennessee Jed Cowboy camped outside the shelter beneath the stars last night. Patch's left at 7:45 this morning. He is trying for a marathon today so he can make it to Hot Springs, NC to see his brother who has been ahead of us for damn near a week. My left heel is stil pretty rough and my right ankle is killin me so I start off a little slow. Hiked 6 or so miles to MaxPatch Rd where someone left us a bag of apples. I-AM-NOT got the last one but offered to split it with me. So we halfed it with my knife. Pretty dam good apple. After that we headed up to the summit of MaxPatch. What a gorgeous bald. We got up there & it was sunny and we had a pretty good wind going and there wasn't hardly a cloud in the sky. All my good friends were there except Patches & ByteCode. We laid out up there for over an hour. It was absolutely lovely. I left MaxPatch and hiked along fo the rest of the day. It was awesome. I passed some beautiful wildflowers and some nice streams. I got to Lemon Gap and set my pack & myself under a shade tree next to the road for 30 mintues or so. I enjoyed the place with the road right there and the butterflies were in full effect right there. As I headed out from the gap I picked up a pocket full of chives for dinner. The last 1.4 miles uphill to the shelter were quite hard but I enjoyed it. I got to the shelter & got the last spot which is sloping 10 degrees or so to the left. Just enough to slide off the mat & into the wall all night. Choch got there & because we all are trying to be gentlemen, we squeezed her in between me & SideShow.It's hot the mice are awake & moving now. I'm goin to bed.BigShanty