morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-27
From: Sams Gap, NC

To: Spivey Gap, NC
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It looks like we were right to camp where we did last night. We went by the campsite in Low Gap this morning and there definitely wouldn't have been room for us with all the other hikers who had planned to stay there last night.Last night was so comfortable that I slept until after 8:00 this morning. We didn't leave camp until around 10:00. We still did 12.5 miles to Spivey Gap, though. That leaves just 11.3 miles for tomorrow.Crabby talked to his brother last night and found out that some serious rain was headed our way this afternoon and into tomorrow. We didn't really see any rain until we got on top of Big Bald, which had a gorgeous view, and could see the storm coming. Bald Mt. Shelter is about a mile north of there, so we hurried down Big Bald and to the shelter before the rain hit us. We ate lunch there and met Cayenne, Tailgate, and Hot Sauce and his dog Presley. Hot Sauce said that when they stayed at Walnut Mt. Shelter, the notorious bear showed up and Presley scared it off. I'm not sure ZigZag would have done the same thing.Cayenne and Tailgate are actually camping with us at Spivey Gap tonight. They were happy to see us here because the campsite's located right next to a pretty quiet road and they didn't feel great about staying here alone. Now they've got me thinking about it, too. Great.I was cold at the shelter because the rain had brought with it a raw, cold, damp air. We couldn't wait to get moving to warm up, so we finished lunch and headed into the rain to hike 5.6 more miles to Spivey Gap. It wasn't hard rain, so my feet didn't get wet and I generally stayed dry. My sealing job on my Packa seems to have helped...for now. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. No big deal. Even if it puors and I get soaked, I'll be in Erwin tomorrow night to dry out.Just before we reached our campsite, I heard 2 owls calling to each other. I've heard that a couple times on this trip and it's very cool.My shirt still smells like Fritos.Crabby and I have 11.3 miles to hike tomorrow to get to the Nolichucky River and we'll hitch a ride into Erwin from there. We want to get there as early as possible, so I've set my watch alarm for 6:00. We have bounce boxes and a box of cookies from my mom at the post office and I can't stop thinking about a big juicy burger from Hardee's for lunch.
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Spivey Gap, NC

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 11.3

I had a dream last night that I was working for some big corporation that was laying people off and I had to do a presentation for management on why I should be able to keep my job. Ew.It rained throughout the night and we had to break camp in some light rain this morning. The rain was persistent and grew stronger as we hiked, so withing a mile or two crabby and I were both soaked. My feet stayed dry for a good while, though.After 4 or 5 miles we came to a blocked off section of trail and saw a large recently-burned area beyond it. We were rerouted onto a dirt forest road around a mountain and discovered that the entire mountain had been burned in a controlled burn. Some areas were still smoking and we even saw one tree that was still in flames at its trunk. We caught up with Cayenne and Tailgate on the forest road and we were all delighted to have skipped one of the 3 uphills of the day...until the forest road set us up a VERY steep and long hill to put us back on the A.T. From there the trail was more moderate and we made it to the Nolichucky River by 12:45. I guess getting up early was a good idea...who would've thought?Crabby and I called the Super 8 from the river and a shuttle (the owner's little Honda) picked us up a half hour later. Tailgate and Cayenne were in the shuttle, too, so we were a little cramped...5 people and 4 big packs. Crabby and I dropped our packs in our room and headed straight for the Hardee's. It was a mile away and apparently Erwin doesn't think sidewalks are necessary, but the walk was worth it. I got the biggest burger they have...a 2/3 Pound Monster. Gross to you, but heaven to me.We stopped at the post office on the walk back to the motel. I picked up my bounce box and 2 other boxes...one that I had expected from my mother and another that was a surprise from my friend Christine. Luckily, my mother had limited herself to a shoe box full of stuff, but it was all good. Homemade cookies, Slim Jims, Skittles, etc. My nieces even threw in a wind up car and some glow necklaces. The box from Christine felt pretty heavy, so I was almost dreading opening it. I was happy, though, when I saw that she had baked me a banana bread. She sent it express mail, so it was still fresh...and delicious! She also put a bunch of notes from friends in the box, which was maybe the best part. They were great to read. Really encouraging. Jim's note told the story of Glenn bending down to look under his DeLorean and taking a tailpipe to the head. Man, that made me laugh. If only his DeLorean had a working flux capacitor, he'd have been able to go back in time to warn himself.I called home tonight to thank my folks for the mail drop. I've updated my "Mail Drops" link in my journal to show the next location where I'll be receiving packages. I'll try to keep it updated.Man, I'm on the slowest computer EVER. And the space bar sticks. I miss my laptop.
Date: 2008-04-29
From: none (zero day)

To: none (zero day)
Miles today: 0.0

Two more mend down. Muffin Paste and Bobcat are leaving the trail. I'm not great friends with either of them, but I'm friendly enough with Muffin Paste and they're both good guys. I'm sure we'll see the crowd thin out in Damascus, too. It's sad to see people go, but it makes me feel good that I'm still here.Crabby and I were in the motel lobby this morning and I noticed Jitterbug eating breakfast. She and I had been at the Hiker Hostel together before I started the trail, so I said hello. She and her husband Hoover had their car with them, so they gave us a ride to the laundromat, saving us a pretty long walk. Really nice of them.We checked out a little late after making the manager panic a little and headed to the post office to send our bounce boxes. One of the post office employees was teasing a local she knew and said, "I'm gonna whip you with a wet noodle, that's all there is to it." No joke. That's what she said.We walked across the street to Sonic for some lunch. Ever been to a Sonic? You can order from your parking space or walk up to a big menu board, press a button, and shout your order into it. 5 minutes later someone brings your food out to you...and you tip them! Hmm...We called Uncle Johnny's Hostel for a ride back to the trail. We had only planned on doing 4 miles, so we hung out on the deck of the hostel for a bit. A few minutes later we were surprised to see Mustang Sally get out of a car at the hostel! Then Crabby called Strider to see what he and Tracer were up to, and while we were talking to him Colby walked out of the woods! Needless to say, we ended up zeroing at Uncle Johnny's. It turns out that Colby spent 11 days at Cloud Nine Hostel in Hiawassee trying to get his knees right, only to leave there and push hard enough to mess his knees up again. I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail tomorrow. Crabby wanted to stay here more than I did, but I don't mind too much.
Date: 2008-04-30
From: Nolichucky River

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Dude. Spicy Guacamole Pringles. Get some.Crabby's being picked up on Tuesday by his rental car company at Kincora Hostel in Dennis Cove. We just need to get there by Monday night, so we're doing 11 and 12 mile days. The first 2/3 of the hike to Dennis Cove has a lot of ups and downs, so that sounds just fine. The 50 mile section between Dennis Cove and Damascus, VA looks pretty tame, so I'll probably do some higher mileage days there. I'll be saying good bye to Crabby at Kincora Hostel, but hopefully we'll meet up again after he returns. He'll definitely be missed. He's been a great friend.My pack's heavy. I think I bought too much food.We met Vigil Auntie, Y, and Rhino at Curley Maple Gap Shelter when we stopped there for an early lunch. The register showed that a girl had woken up in the middle of the night to find a snake curled up on top of her sleeping bag. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like that.We found our campsite in Deep Gap after a fair amount of searching. The guidebook was a bit (and by "a bit" I mean "very") ambiguous, so we kept going down side trails looking for a campsite and water that wasn't there. We're a pretty big group tonight...me, Crabby, Tailgate, Cayenne, Vigil Auntie, Y, Colby, Sojo, and Boat.We ran into The Colonel while he was slackpacking southbound and he told us he saw some snow on Unaka Mt., which we'll be going over first thing tomorrow. These high elevations are tricky. Just when you think you're done with snow...I can't believe tomorrow is May. Today is day 45 on the trail. Wow.
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Deep Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a long, hard day, even though it wasn't a huge mileage one. Lots of ups and downs. Everyone went to bed immediately after dinner. I'm very, very, tired and we have a really steep climb up Roan Mt. in the morning, so I'm going to sleep now. I can only hope my loyal fans will understand.
Date: 2008-05-02
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

It's all in the socks...maybe. My feet have been taking a beating on downhills and long days. It's been really painful. I've worn some holes in my really thick Smartwool socks, so I bought some thinner Bridgedales to replace them. Like magic, the soreness and pain lessened with the thinner socks. I guess the thicker ones were making my feet get squished in my boots. The Bridgedales are better quality, too, so maybe they'll last longer. Exciting stuff, huh?Well, we climbed Roan Mt. today. It was a tough climb...steep and long. In those situations, I tend to just keep my head down instead of looking at the daunting uphill in front of me. And I don't usually see a point in stopping, so I just keep going. I thought I had reached the summit at one point today and I almost punched Crabby in the mouth when he told me we were only 2/3 of the way up. Jerk.Crabby and I summited Roan Mt. just before Cayenne and Tailgate. We used the bathrooms (tourists can drive to the top, so there are bathrooms with running water) just because we could and read the sign that gave a few details about the old Cloudland Hotel that used to stand at the summit.We ate lunch at the Roan High Knob Shelter (the highest shelter on the A.T. at almost 6300'!) and met Professor Long Johns and Mary Poppins there...nice folks from Oregon. We pushed on to Round Bald, which was windy and had a pretty 360 degree view from the top.We're spending the night at Stan Murray shelter. There's a cold breeze blowing right into the shelter, so we're tenting.Still no AT&T signal, so I couldn't call Tara tonight. I know we're in the woods, but that's getting old. It'll be a while before I see her and I can't wait. I wish I could talk to her more regularly. I wish AT&T would just buy Verizon. You know it's gonna happen anyway, so let's just get it done.I want a hot dog from the hot dog guy at the Alewife T station. Maybe two. With ketchup.We were planning to resupply at a small market 1.2 miles off the trail tomorrow afternoon. There's no place to camp once we get back on the trail, so we might stay at a cheap hostel for the night. It's only .2 miles off the trail and they'll shuttle us into town. Sweet. It's supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon, too, so it'd be nice to be out of the rain for the night.
Date: 2008-05-03
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: US 19E, TN
Miles today: 10.4

I woke up a few times during the night thinking the wind was gonna lift my tent off the ground, but I still managed to get a good night's sleep and I felt refreshed this morning.Today was windy. Really windy. It was warm but the wind made it seem cold at times. When we went over Hump Mt. the wind was trying to rip my pack off of me, but I put up a good fight. Hump Mt. was nice and I'm sure the view is gorgeous on a clear day. It was totally socked in when we summited, but we had a pretty good view on the way down.The descent from Hump Mt. was tricky at times...a lot of slick black mud that reminded me of the bogs in Ireland. I sipped on the same type of mud during a rain storm about a week ago. My feet flew out from under me and I landed on my side, right on top of my trekking pole. My hand was stuck in the pole's wrist strap, so I couldn't get up. It was a pretty funny scene and I can't believe Crabby wasn't laughing like crazy when he tried to help me up.We hit some sweet trail magic today from Crawl Dog (a 1998 thru-hiker) and his wife Jenna...beer, chili, grilled cheese, and all kinds of snacks near Overmountain Shelter. We helped them haul some of the stuff up from the parking lot and set up some canopies to keep the rain off of us before enjoying the fruits of our labor. Overmountain Shelter is in a beautiful spot with a gorgeous view. We ended up staying for over 2 hours. We had only planned on 10.4 miles for today, so it wasn't a big day and the trail magic didn't put us behind schedule.We're at Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel tonight and Y, Vigil Auntie, and Raccoon and his wife Lipstick were here when we arrived. Y and Vigil Auntie are staying "uptown" in a room with a hot tub in the B&B while Crabby, Raccoon, Lipstick, and I are staying in the hostel. The hostel is a converted area above the barn, so there are sheep below us. You'd never know it, though. It's pretty cool.Vigil Antie told us about a snake that came after her today. Scary stuff.We signed ourselves up for breakfast in the morning...bright and early at 7:30. We're hoping to do some decent miles tomorrow so we can get to Kincora Hostel at a good time on Monday so it's probably good that we need to get up early.I said "y'all" by accident today. Uh-oh.
Date: 2008-05-04
From: US 19E, TN

To: Hardcore Cascades, TN
Miles today: 15.0

We passed 400 miles today! We did 15 miles, our longest yet, and we're camping at mile 401...me, Crabby, and Raccoon. After 13 miles we stopped for a beak and I soaked my feet in an icy cold stream. It helped a lot and I can't even describe how good it felt. Gonna have to make a habit of that.I felt pretty good today..probably a combination of the terrain being a little easier and my having had a huge breakfast full of protein and carbs. Check this out...Mary (at the hostel) made french toast, tons of bacon, eggs, fresh pineaple, home fries, and monkey bread, which may be my new favorite thing. I went up for seconds and thoroughly stuffed myself before saying goodbye to our hosts.Mountain Harbour hostel is the best place I've stayed yet. Mary and Terry were insanely nice and the hostel was really homey. I slept in the loft in a soft bed with soft sheets, a soft pillow, and a homemade quilt. And the farm was serene with a stream running through it and horses and goats grazing.
Date: 2008-05-05
From: Hardcore Cascades, TN

To: Dennis Cove, TN
Miles today: 9.3

We made it to Kincora at a decent time today, so we were able to shower and do laundry before Lipstick drove the 3 of us a ride to a mexican restaurant for dinner. A new friend named Uphill joined us, too. I had 4 burritos, 2 tacos, and lots of refills of my margarita glass...happy Cinco de Mayo!Mustang Saly's here. She's been slackpacking south, so she's technically 10 miles ahead of me. The terrain between here and Damascus is supposed to be pretty good, so I'm shooting for some big miles tomorrow.I have to say good bye to Crabby in the morning. I'll definitely be missing him so we'll have to make sure we hook back up somehow when he returns.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: Vandeventer Shelter, TN

To: Double Spring Gap, TN
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: broken clouds

Tara and I had planned to talk last night but I was exhausted. I woke up early this morning and got to say hi while she was on her way to work instead. Even after spending time on the phone, I was able to leave the shelter at 8:00, which helped with today's distance, I'm sure.When I first crawled out of my sleeping bag this morning, I was kneeling in the shelter, turned around, and I hit (SLAMMED) my head on the 4x6 in the ceiling. I hit it so hard that I expected gray matter to be leaking out of the side of my head. Even the people outside the shelter heard it and we all laughed at the clumsy guy. Wait...The view from the back of the shelter is amazing. I sat on the rocks and looked out at a beautiful scene of mountains and Wautauga Lake while I ate breakfast. I could've sat there all day, but fortunately the poop conversation happening behind me gave me good reason to get moving.Well, I pushed hard today, but I didn't make it the full 22 miles I was trying for. I'm happy with my 20.2 miles, though. That's still impressive for me. My body agrees...the chafing and minor blisters on my feet and a pain (like a pull) on the top of my calf muscle are what really made me stop earlier than I had hoped. I'm camped north of Double Spring Gap, TN. I stopped hiking around 7:00, less than 2 miles short of the shelter. There's no campsite or water around, but luckily I thought ahead and hauled 3 liters of water with me from the last water source (I also carried someone's big nasty bag of trash that was left there). The past 2 days have been hot, sunny, and sweaty, so I've been carrying more water than usual. This time I was planning on stopping for the night, so I filled my water bladder to the top.I went off the trail about 25 yards to find a spot for my tent on the side of the ridge. It's not the best spot, but it'll do. It's a little creepy camping alone, especially off the trail. Tenting here gives me a good cell signal, though, so I was able to talk to Tara for a while tonight. Finally. It's been over a week since I've talked to her and it's been tough. I talked to my parents today, too, and they sound like they're doing fine.The midges (or some equally evil species of black fly) are out in force and they did all they could to aggravate me while I was setting up my tent and eating dinner (just a Snickers bar tonight...didn't feel like cooking). Now I'm in my tent and those dirty little wannabe mosquitoes can't get at me in my mesh fortress.Tomorrow looks like a fairly easy day. I'm 9 miles from the Virginia border and 12.5 miles from Damascus, VA, where I'll stay tomorrow night. I can't wait for pizza! The scenery over the past 2 days as I've been approaching the VA border has been a lot different from what I've seen in the rest of TN and NC...more rolling hills and densely covered mountains. Very pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing similar stuff in VA. The trail spends about 500 miles in VA, so I'll be there a while.
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Double Spring Gap, TN

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Woohoo! I'm in Virginia! It feels REALLY good to be here. Damascus has been a big milestone in my mind, so I'm happy.I didn't have the best night of sleep on my bed of rocks last night, so I was pretty tired this morning. I'm a bit of a mess today...I woke up with scratches on my legs from walking through briers looking for a camping spot last night and a pretty sore calf muscle from pushing too hard yesterday. When I started hiking this morning, I came to an old shelter about a half mile from where I camped last night. I totally would have stayed there last night but it wasn't in the book. I was a little peeved at old Bobby McCaw for leaving that out. My leg actually got a little worse today, so I'll zero here in Damascus tomorrow to give it some time to heal a bit. Then I'll take it easier on the trail...20 miles is just too much for me. My knees are a little sore from the distance, but they're not too bad. I should probably drop some stuff from my pack to cut weight, too.Today was overcast pretty much throughout the day, but it thankfully didn't actually rain until my tent was already set up at The Place, a hostel run by the Methodist church in town. I decided to tent because the bunks in the hostel are just plywood bunks and I figured it would be loud in the hostel at bed time. I was right.As soon as I walked into town I saw an ice cream shop and started salivating. A large cup of Cookies N' Cream did me well. I stopped at the post office to pick up my trekking pole part that was supposed to be forwarded from Fontana Dam, but it wasn't there. I don't think I'll ever actually get the thing. I went to The Place, set up my tent, and took a shower before going to the library to jump on the Internet. Tailgate was there, too.Colby came in the library and said hi while I was there. We met later at Dot's Inn for some dinner and brew with Professor Long Johns and Mary Poppins. It's the only bar in town, so all the hikers were there and it was packed. I had already scarfed down a pepperoni pizza an hour before, so I just got a salad. I figured it was a good opportunity to eat something nutritious. I'm back from the pub now and I smell like smoke, which I'm not used to. Smoking in public buildings has been banned for a while now in Massachusetts. It seems like everyone here smokes. Everyone.I was heading out of Dot's to find a pay phone and call Tara (surprise, there's no AT&T signal here) when Professor Long Johns told me about a guy down the street from there who keeps a phone on his front porch for hikers to use. Sweet deal. I thought he'd want to take nude pictures of me or something in exchange, but nope...I just used the phone and went on my way.Wildlife sightings: Just after passing the old shelter two white-tailed deer ran across the trail in front of me.
Date: 2008-05-09
From: Damascus, VA

To: none (zero day)
Miles today: 0.0

I had breakfast with Colby, Professor Long Johns, and Mary Poppins at Damascus Eats (tons of good food for $4.35) before running all kinds of errands today. It was a productive zero day and I think it was a good rest for my calf, which is still sore but feeling better.I finally got new boots! I was in Mt. Rogers Outfitters and heard an employee named Tom helping Meat Bag and Doxie get some shoes fitted. He was using big words like "metatarsals" and "the", so I figured he knew his stuff. He spent probably an hour and a half with me until we found the right size boot and combination of socks to wear with them. My feet have been killing me at the end of every day of hiking, so we think my boots were just too tight. Through Tom's seemingly scientific sizing methods, I ended up with a size 14 instead of my usual 12! Tom also got on the phone with Montrail, told 'em what was what, and handed me my new boots for free under warranty. Heck of a guy, that Tom.Damascus is so hiker-friendly!Raccoon, Lipstick, and I went to Sicily's for some Italian food for dinner. It wasn't the best I've ever had but it was better than I had expected, so good enough. Mustang Sally's here, too! I caught up with her at the Vandeventer Shelter a couple days ago and she just caught up with me today. She came into Sicily's when we were there and was all excited because she had just gone to the liquor store with a bunch of people and bought a few nips. She gave me some Glenlivet scotch. Sweet lady.Damascus is an extremely hiker-friendly town, so it might be a little hard to leave tomorrow. It's just comfortable here.