morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-04
From: NOC, NC

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

The hostel last night was interesting with a group partying until 2 a.m. and then mice or other critters making a ton of noise on the roof. For awhile I thought the mice were in the room and thought they were in my feedbag. I checked, but didn't see any mice around my stuff so I went back to sleep. Dave said Goat, one of the very loud dudes, was in his room and talked loudly to himself when he came back. A little after going to sleep, Goat woke up and was yelling how do I get out of this shelter. He then proceeded to pee in the middle of the room. I'm so glad that the other ladies in my room were quiet. I woke up and was told that the restaurant started serving breakfast at 8. Kim, one of my roommates, and I headed over and had a fabulous breakfast. We were sitting next to Andrew who has decided to cut short his section hike. Then Sky King started surveying each hiker in the room on their plans on the day. He is extremely sore, but wanted to keep hiking and wants to get to Fontana Dam in two days. I heard that he decided to hike out today and passed where most hikers are staying tonight. I got packed up and started hiking up the mountain at 10. The sun was shining and I was so excited to be walking in the SUNSHINE. I saw my shadow today! The hike today was up 3000 ft in 6.9 miles and parts were pretty steep, but I just took my time. Since it was sunny, I took many little breaks and enjoyed the sun. I arrived at the shelter around 3, but decided to stay to meet some of the new hikers and to give my feet some rest. This is a huge shelter with many hikers here: Dave, James, Kiwi, Papa Kiwi, Joe, Laughing Owl, One Step, Googles, Snake Eyes, George and Logan. There is a church group here with many boys, but they are staying up the trail a bit. I've either left behind or been left behind by all the hikers I've hiked with in the past. It is always fun to meet new people and hear their stories. Kiwi has lost her headlamp and has spent the last hour looking for it. Several people are trying to figure out how to resupply before going into the Smokies. I have a maildop at The Hike Inn and a reservation for the night. It has been a most fabulous day with the sunshine, views and new people. Oh, I saw a snake that I startled while it was sunning himself in the middle of the trail. It moved just off the trail and let me take its picture before moving further into the brush. It has been most interesting to see all the different things people have cooked for dinner tonight. Kiwi and Papa Kiwi are making cheesecake. I try to go as easy as possible. My dessert was a zero bar. Well, time to get some shut-eye.
Date: 2009-04-08
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Fontana Dam, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I didn't write an entry yesterday as all I did was sit around watching the snow fall. I did want to make a short entry to let you know all is well and the snow has stopped and it is starting to warm up today. I will be heading into the Smokies tomorrow and it should take me six to seven days to get through the park. I don't know what my cell phone service will be like while in the park, but will email my journal entries to Mark as often as I can. So, if you don't hear from me for awhile, just know that I will emerge on the other side of the park sometime next week. The past couple of days have been hard for me to just hang around the hotel. I'm the only thru-hiker here and I feel a little isolated. There are several section hikers, but they seem to be here and gone. I hope all my fellow thru-hikers found a warm, dry place to wait out the snow storm. I have no cell or email service here at The Hike Inn which makes the waiting even harder. I only have service on the nightly run into Robbinsville for dinner and I was unable to get in touch with Mark last night. I was really looking forward to talking to him and it was hard for me to not get a hold of him. Hopefully I will reach him tonight.The snow stopped sometime during the night and it got quite cold last night. Today, the temperatures are supposed to warm up and start melting the snow. Even though the weather is beautiful today, I decided to wait until tomorrow to take off to allow the sunshine to at least start melting the snow in the mountains. I know that snow is beautiful, but I also know me and my limitations for cold and wet. I don't know when all the other hikers will be heading back out, but I know we are all bunched up at the different towns along the trail. This means we will be bunched up at the different shelters along the trail. In the Smokies, we are required to stay at the shelters. Hopefully, I will meet up with some hikers that I had lost previously due to the rain we had earlier. I am really looking forward to getting back on the trail tomorrow and the weather through the Smokies looks pretty promising. Most of the elevation thru the park is above 5000 feet and will be colder than in the lower elevation were I have the forecast, but I'm hoping for mostly sunny skies. I am excited to go thru the Smokies, but at the same time I see them as an obstacle to be conquered. Those who know me well know that I'm not all that fond (to put it lightly) of cold weather and the park with its higher elevation has the most potential for cold weather. Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. My next entry will be from the trail!I have to add this to today's entry. Another thru-hiker came in out of the snow. His name is Kuz (Eric) and he said his girlfriend has been following my journal and was concerned because I didn't journal yesterday. Sorry Kristen. I hear you are aspiring to be a professional snowboarder. Good luck in your dreams! Kuz looks like he survived the cold and snow okay. Till tomorrow!
Date: 2009-04-10
From: Russell Field Shelter, NC

To: Derrick Knob Shelter, NC
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: light rain

Wow, a shelter where hikers wake up early to get the day going. I got up, packed up, ate breakfast and the sky got very dark. I decided to put on the pack cover and rain gear and hiked out a little before 8. About 8:05 the lightening and thunder started, so I returned to the shelter to wait out the worst of the storm. Everyone was ready to go and just watching the storm. Charlie, the ridge runner, showed up trying to get us on the move. The lightening had stopped, but the rain was still pouring down. Everyone left at about the same time. I am the slowest and took up the rear. The trail today was more of a creek than a trail and seemed so dangerous that I was afraid to take my eyes off of it. Every time I tried to look around I'd slip and slide. I played leap frog with Tin Man and Gasper for most of the day. They go faster than me uphill and I go a little faster going downhill. It was good to talk to Tin Man today as he has a great attitude and helped lift my spirit about being so slow. The mud was even slowing Circuit Rider and Sherlock down as they only passed me at Mach 1 instead of at Mach 3. Ha. The mud was so thick in places that it was trying to suck the shoes off of our feet. The rain stopped during the morning and the sun came out for a little while, but soon the clouds came back. The rain has held off for now. It is supposed to be back tonight and tomorrow. I've seen some huge, gnarly looking mushrooms growing off the trees, but no wildflowers. As I walked the trail today I was straddling the Tennessee/North Caroline border. So my left foot was in Tennessee and my right foot was in North Carolina. The shelter is filling up and we are all hoping to have a couple of nice days of weather in a row. Tomorrow is either a short day at 7.2 or a long day at 13.5. The trail is wicked hard with all the mud and slushy snow that remains, so only time will tell how far I will be able to go. The shelter is full and there are people outside in tents. The thunderstorms have started and the rain is so loud on the roof that it is hard to talk. I'm on the second level and the roof is a clear plastic. I hope that we don't have lightening and rain all night. Also hope the roof doesn't spring a leak. It is chaos with hikers trying to fix dinner, get water and do other chores inside of here. Luckily, I decided to have my dinner early before the rain started and now I am buried in my sleeping bag watching the show. There are packs and wet clothes hanging everywhere. Should be interesting to get everything packed up in the morning.
Date: 2009-04-11
From: Derrick Knob Shelter, NC

To: Mt Collins Shelter, NC
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

Getting ready this morning was quite crazy with 18 people trying to prepare for the day in an area the size of my living room. There were clothes hanging everywhere and everybody's rainpants looked alike: black and muddy. Ha. Gasper accidentally put on the wrong pants and it was some time before the right pants got on the right person. Of course, the day started rainy and foggy and ended rainy and foggy. The forecast said it was supposed to clear up by noon, but the fog never lifted. Sigh. Maybe tomorrow. I hit two milestones today: Clingman's Dome (highest point on the AT at 6643 ft) and the 200 mile mark. Yeah!! I played leap frog with Tank and Leap Frog today as they'd stop at different places for snacks and Leap Frog would wait for his Mom. We all kind of got to Clingman's Dome about the same time. We had to take a side trail to get to the tower and we all went up there even though there was zero visibility. Tank and I went to the top of the tower and looked at the sign that showed us what we would see if we could see. Ha. We took pictures of each other with the fog as the background. The last 4 miles were crazy long. There were 3.5 and then the shelter was .5 off the trail. What are they thinking putting a shelter so far from the trail? Are they insane?Even though the sun never showed today, I am in a much better mood. I'm over Clingman's and looking forward to getting out of the Smokies and to lower elevations in the next couple of days. Tomorrow will once again be a short day of 7.5 miles or a long day of 14.9 miles. The trail started out in better condition, but by days end it once again became Appalachian Creek. There were moments today that I thought that I'd gotten off the trail and was walking down a creek instead, but then I'd see a white blaze telling me that this creek was the trail. There is also quite a bit of snow up in these higher elevations. Ugh! It is pretty cold tonight and I'm all bundled up with hand warmers and my down booties. The shelter is pretty empty with just me, Rock, Leap Frog, Madelyn, Tank and Joker. A lot of hikers from our last shelter said they were coming here, but haven't shown up. They must have decided to stay on the other side of Clingman's hoping for better weather tomorrow so they'd have views. Well, it's cold and I'm going to sign-off for the night.
Date: 2009-04-16
From: Roaring Fork Shelter, NC

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter, NC
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

The mice were crazy in the shelter during the night. I kept feeling them at the foot of my bag and I'd kick them. In the morning I found a shredded piece of foil on the floor at the foot of my bag. I could hear them throughout the night running around and chewing on stuff. Leatherfoot accidentally left a ziploc of peanuts out and they chewed a big hole in it and then climbed into Yoyo's bowl lying right next to the bag and used it as a privy. Crazy. I leave nothing out, but my shoes and haven't had anything chewed on so far. Thank goodness. It got really cold this morning and do you know what that means? The cloud cover has lifted and let out all the warmth (what there was anyway), but do you know what that means? SUNSHINE!! Yeah! The day was sunny and warm and much enjoyed!Iron Man got moving before I did and brought me my foodbag. So, I decided to have breakfast in bed. Ha. I ended up getting another late start, but eventually got going. Yesterday was almost all up and my legs were feeling tired. Today had a few small ups, but was a lot of downs. I walked down out of winter an back into spring. I saw large areas that were covered in little delicate white flowers. Lovely. I saw squirrels and chipmunks playing (not together). I saw two bluebirds and several other types of birds. I also had some views of distant mountains. I really like it at the lower elevations. I played leapfrog with Wendy and Matt throughout the day and stopped to talk with them a bit. Like me they are trying to get a bit separated from the large crowd of hikers surrounding us at the moment. There are a few that party hard wherever they are and we are trying to get away from that group. Easier said then done as I have heard their voices tonight as they wander into the shelter. She also feels a bit upset that she is allowing a few rowdy hikers from letting her hike her own hike. Those few are taking away some of the joy of the hike. Iron Man found some trail magic at a road crossing today. He was the only one that saw it and enjoyed a can of sardines. The shelter here is really old and dark, so I decided to tent. Also tenting are Matt, Wendy, Infinity, Black Hat and Lost Arcandian. Iron Man, Yoyo and Leather Foot are staying in the shelter. Tomorrow we hit Hot Springs and will be getting up early to get up in time to hit Elmer's place. I have been told that you have to be there by 10 to stay. If I don't get there in time, I'll find another place. I'm not having much luck at the hostels due to the party crowd anyway. Iron Man said that Elmer's is a must stay though due to the meals he prepares for hikers. He doesn't take reservations from thru-hikers though. I am going to try to get up early enough to get there. I truly am one of the slowest hikers out here. I think Floater is the only person I've passed that was actually walking. I usually pass people while they are taking a break. Today was wonderful and I hope to have more warm, sunny days.
Date: 2009-04-21
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter, NC

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: moderate rain

I slept pretty good in my tent last night and it didn't rain until it was time to tear down my tent. Figures it couldn't have held off for ten more minutes. I said goodbye to TinMan and Gasper and hiked out. I was a bit chilled and wanted to get moving. I was wondering what the trail would throw at me today when I hit a section of boulders to climb over. Figures. However, there was just that one short section of boulders. Then finally a nice double-track (wide enough for a jeep) trail. Easy hiking and then it started sleeting. Sleet hurts. Why oh why can't I have a nice trail with nice weather. I had on my rain gear already and I put up the hood and put on my gloves to try to protect myself from the sting. Nothing I could do but hike. I arrived at Flint Mountain Shelter and stopped to check out the shelter log, but it was full and had no recent entries. The sky totally cleared up and the sun came out. Yeah! I stopped at the water source for the shelter and topped off my water bladder. I was eating a snack and up walked TinMan and Gasper. They stopped and told me they were going to go beyond the next shelter and tent camp. They hiked on. Then up walked Tanglefoot. I had met him briefly the night before. We talked briefly and I found out that he was hiking with Tank, but Tank is young and is now three days ahead. He hiked on, but his pace was only slightly faster than mine, so I would catch up with him whenever he'd stop for a break. I reached a road and he was there eating lunch, so I stopped and ate with him. Really nice guy. Two section hikers, Postman and Crown Royal, started their current section here. There were two thru-hikers having lunch on the opposite side of the road. There was a stile (steps to allow hikers to go over a fence), but there was no fence to the right of the stile. We asked the other two thru-hikers if they climbed over the steps. One did and he said he didn't even notice that there was no fence. Ha. Tanglefoot and I walked around. We were basically going downhill for most of the morning, but now we had to go up hill. Tanglefoot took off and I followed. The wind started up and the clouds started moving in, but the sun peeked out every once in awhile which made me happy. We finally made it to top, so I got out the blackberry and sent my journal entry from yesterday to Mark. I was about a mile from the Shelter when I ran into Ramble On. While walking toward him it started to snow. WHAT?!? That's crazy. It just flurried a bit, then stopped but come on. Snow? We finally got to the shelter and no one was here. Wow! In the shelter tonight is just Ramble On, Tanglefoot and me. Camping outside is Postman and Crown Royal. It is still a bit early and more could still show up. It is very cold, so that's all for tonight.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Camping Site just before Spivey Gap, NC

To: Deep Gap, NC
Miles today: 12.1

It was hard to sleep last night with the train tracks being so close to the hostel. The trains ran all night and were constantly blowing the horn. Nice place though, right along the river. It wasn't close to anything and we had to rely on shuttles which I don't like. This morning they did a shuttle run for breakfast which put Tanglefoot and I getting out of Erwin at 11am. Ugh! To late in the day to be getting started for me. I like hiking in the morning. The weather was fabulous today with a high in the 80's. I was loving it. As always it was a climb out of town. Felt like a really long climb. We made it to the Curley Maple Gap Shelter and had a snack with Kiwi, David and James. We left them there and hiked on after a short break. I have a blister on each heel and they were hurting a bit all day. They are very sore. Towards the end of the day I felt like I was walking weird and it made my legs tired. We did go over Beauty Spot which is a bald. It is the first bald that I've gone over where the weather was nice enough to just sit and enjoy the views and have another snack. The area around the bald has been recently burnt. I don't know if it was a campfire gone bad or a controlled burn gone bad. We walked through that for what seemed a long time. There was one type of tree that looked really kind of neat. The outside was black from the fire and the inside was a shiny reddish-orange. We camped not to far from Beauty Spot in a little gap. We are here with two gentlemen (I can't remember their names) and Kiwi, David and James. I am glad to be in my tent where I have been sleeping the best. It is hard to come from town and be so tired. Wish I slept better while in town. It was nice walking on a dry trail today and to have warmth and sunshine. We had a nice sunset this evening which was an unusual treat. There was a thunderstorm brewing in the distance, but it broke up before reaching us. Hopefully another doesn't appear in the night. I'm beat and I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow. So until tomorrow.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Deep Gap, NC

To: Deep Gap, NC
Miles today: 12.1

It was hard to sleep last night with the train tracks being so close to the hostel. The trains ran all night and were constantly blowing the horn. Nice place though, right along the river. It wasn't close to anything and we had to rely on shuttles which I don't like. This morning they did a shuttle run for breakfast which put Tanglefoot and I getting out of Erwin at 11am. Ugh! To late in the day to be getting started for me. I like hiking in the morning. The weather was fabulous today with a high in the 80's. I was loving it. As always it was a climb out of town. Felt like a really long climb. We made it to the Curley Maple Gap Shelter and had a snack with Kiwi, David and James. We left them there and hiked on after a short break. I have a blister on each heel and they were hurting a bit all day. They are very sore. Towards the end of the day I felt like I was walking weird and it made my legs tired. We did go over Beauty Spot which is a bald. It is the first bald that I've gone over where the weather was nice enough to just sit and enjoy the views and have another snack. The area around the bald has been recently burnt. I don't know if it was a campfire gone bad or a controlled burn gone bad. We walked through that for what seemed a long time. There was one type of tree that looked really kind of neat. The outside was black from the fire and the inside was a shiny reddish-orange. We camped not to far from Beauty Spot in a little gap. We are here with two gentlemen (I can't remember their names) and Kiwi, David and James. I am glad to be in my tent where I have been sleeping the best. It is hard to come from town and be so tired. Wish I slept better while in town. It was nice walking on a dry trail today and to have warmth and sunshine. We had a nice sunset this evening which was an unusual treat. There was a thunderstorm brewing in the distance, but it broke up before reaching us. Hopefully another doesn't appear in the night. I'm beat and I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow. So until tomorrow.
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Deep Gap, NC

To: First Creek Past Clyde Smith Shelter, NC
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: few clouds

Today we hit a high in the 80's. Lovely. I was so happy! I hiked in a sleeveless shirt and shorts all day long. It was 65 degrees in my tent when I woke up. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. The top of Unaka Mountain was beautiful today, but not because it had vast views or was a bald. I got there early this morning which was perfect. It was covered with pine trees with absolutely no undergrowth. The ground was covered in pine needles. Quiet. The sun was just filtering down here and there creating spots of sunshine on the forest floor. It was moving and for some reason reminded me of the song How Great Thou Art. Great way to start a day. Here is another image. I was walking along and I start hearing what sounds like raindrops hitting the leaves along the side of the trail, almost like a popping noise. The sound moved down the trail with me. I looked closer and the sound is being made by what looks like hundreds of itty bitty grasshoppers as they were moving away from me. I have never seen anything like that before and it was pretty cool. Tanglefoot and I encountered six horses and their riders on a trail that was only one foot wide and went steeply up on one side and steeply down on the other. The horses were getting very nervous and anxious at seeing us with our packs and poles. Tanglefoot asked where they wanted us to go and they pointed up the steep side. We went a few feet up and tried to stand as still as possible. Two riders actually got off their horses to lead them, but they were still pretty spooked. I was glad when they all got by without incident. Horses are not allowed on the trail in most places and I bet they were surprised when they went around the bend and found a crew of trail maintainers. Bet they got an ear full. As we hiked on, we saw where the horses hoofs tore up the trail in several places. They are allowed on other trails and roads within the forest and I think they somehow got on the AT by accident. Tanglefoot and I were making good progress today, so we stopped and took a siesta for about an hour during the afternoon. Lovely to take the boots off and just relax in the middle of the day. And snack. We eat pretty much all day long. Ha. It was warm enough at camp to sit comfortably outside to journal and answer my email. We watched the sunset before crawling into our tents. I absolutely love this weather and can not believe the rapid change in the weather. I hope it stays this way. We didn't see many other hikers today. Where have they all gone? We were expecting people to pass us while we were napping and after we camped, but saw no one. Odd. Huge climb up Roan Mountain tomorrow and more miles to hike.