morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Super 8 Motel, Erwin, Tenn.

To: Super8 Motel, Erwin, Tenn.
Miles today: 0.0

Sletp great. Rainyall day so far. Had bowlsof HoneyNut Cheerios and Corn Flakes(yep, I ate 2bowls of cereal!) with milk(such a treat) for breakfast-mmmm. 11:30 headed out to hike to Food Lion, Walgreen's and McDonalds forlunch, but as we stepped into the lobby, Miss Janet(local hostelowner) pulled up to see who needed a ride anywhere, so we jumped in along with The Band Aid Kid. Went to her house where picked up more. She dropped us off at Food Lion, took others to Subway to get lunch. We shopped for food resupply and bought hotdogs for lunch and a brownie(another treat splurge ) from the parking lot festival going on. Fred also bought a camera jump stick thing from Radio Shack for less than $13from theRadio Shack nextdoor to Food Lion(how convenient)so it won'tbe long and we'll be adding pics to the journal, so check thephoto link soon for visuals of our hiking odessy. Then Janet came back topick usup and took us to her house where she gave Fred a buzz haircut(it wasgetting long. She creatively carved the AT symbol intohis hair. Pics of the "do" will be posted once Fred peels himself away from the golf match on tv and the Derby coverage. After Janet cut Fred's hair, she cut a couple of the other hikers' hair, too. One of the guysgot her to cut AT symbols intoeach side of his hair. After our stopover at Janet's, she dropped us off at Walgreen's where we resupplied on Gauze pads for my lingering blisters(2) and some moreibuprophen and antihistamines if needed. Once we returned to our hotel room, Fred called Allento inform him of Fred's selection of the soon-to-be Derby winner. Getting set to take another shower--boy, it's so nice to feel cleanand have good smelling clothes. Of course, once we return to the trail tomorrow a.m.. it won't take long and the sweetness will fade. Our packs will weigh heavily onour backs tomorrow as we resupplied with some better-quality more nutritious food:Mountainhouse Lasagna, Mtnhs Rice and Chicken, Lipton/Knorr Red Beans and Rice, Asian Chicken Fried Riceand pkg of Perdue Chicken to add to dinners. Breakfast for both of us will be Kellogg's Granola with Raisins cereal,; lunches are dried fruit and nuts bags.Fred's lost enough weight he had to cut another notch in his belt to cinch it tighter. We're feeling good and strong. Weather forecast is for temps in 80's and sunny for upcoming wk./ Hope heat doesn't slow us down; should make it to Damascus for festival easily. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Super8 Motel, Erwin, Tenn.

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 6:30 to eat cereal with cold milk and bagels in hotel lobby with the other hikers. Raining outside. Just Jack says he's gonna go to a doc to see about his bad cold. Certain and Persistent are going to slackpack at 11. We got shuttled with Nightwalker(from state of Washington) to the trailhead/bridge in front of Uncle Jonnie's Hostel by Mr. Patel, the Super 8 manager. Started hiking at 8:30. Not raining when we started, thank goodness. Sun came out around noon, but temps stayed in the 60's. Morning hike was super easy, crossing lots of fast streams, pace 2mph plus. Since making such good time/distance we hiked past our original goal. Of course, that meant we had to finish our day with lots of steep, long ups. Planning on sleeping inside the Cherry Gap shelter are Hurdy Gurdy Man, us and others(a7 total). Further is camping and so are bunch of others. Clear, very chilly night. Our water filter broke today. The connection tube snapped off, from a point recessed inside the housing. Boo. We'll miss the clean taste and sediment-free filtered water. Nightwalker gave us iodine tablets before he left to hike until dark. Not looking forward to iodine taste in our water, plus it turns the water an orange color. Once we get some Propel powder or another additive with some vitamin C in it, the water color will clear up and the taste will be camoflauged. One hiker here cooked breaded catfish alfredo for dinner over the campfire for his dinner. We had Mountainhouse(a dehydrated meal, just add boiling water to the ziploc pkg and wait 10 minutes or so. I had the Mountainhouse laasagna, Fred the chicken and rice. Pretty filling, but need a lot of spices to make it more tasty. The dinner hour and wind-down time passed cheerfully with good conversation.
Date: 2007-05-07
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Very cold in a.m.(44 degrees). Alpine Strider, who arrived at dusk last night, was first to leave the shelter. When she rose it was freezing, with ice crystals in waterbags. Because of the cold, the rest of us headed out after 9-quite a late start. Long 4hr plus hike of mostly steep ups. A sign tacked onto a tree warned of us a disgruntled AT neighbor with dogs who tries to scare off hikers. Thankfully, we never encountered the fellow or his dogs. Stitch and Jellybean(Jellybean is on trailjournals.com site)(she and Stitches are 2 ladies who've thru-hiked sometime in past yrs) slackpacked by this shleter with a bag full of apples and oranges= trail magic! Hurdy Gurdy Man and Almost Lucky are here, too at 3p.m. and got some fruit, too. Fred and I had apples. Jellybean took pictures of all of us, so you might look at her trailjournals.com site's photos and see us there. Ramblin Man and son Corporal just got here as The Bandaid Kid left after stopping for a minute. Observation hightlight of today: for a couple of miles the dry leaves alongside the trail would crackle and stir, yet there was no wind. We paused to see what could be causing it. Grasshoppers-hundreds of them! They hopped all over the leaves as we passed, making them rustle and quiver, almost like a stadium wave. Bloody Nose, an upcoming senior at Washington & Lee University, arrived a few minutes ago. He was fun to talk with.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overlook Mountain Shleter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

Up and out by 7:10. Stopped on trail to eat breakfast and later on again to change out of our cold weather clothes as we'd warmed up hiking uphill. It was cold this morning, but not down to freezing like yesterday. Hurdy Gurdy Man got up when Fred awakened him, per his request and headed out within minutes of us. We leapfrogged with him up Ash Mountain(tough, steep, steady climg--not an easy hike!), followed by a briefer incline up Roan Mountain which is about as high as Mt. Washington(6000+ft.elevation). The air smelled like Christmas cause of the dense forest of spruce growing on the mountains here. Hurdy Gurdy Man, Noggin(the gourmet cooking hiker), Futz, and us took our lunch break at the shelter at the top of Roan Mt.. Then it was a long downhill on the rocky stream/path. There was trail magic at the road crossing at the bottom before going up the rolling balds of Humpback Mt.. The trail magic was provided by Jellybean, courtesy of her husband, Bluetooth. He had a cooler of CapriSun juice drinks, SunnyDelite drinks, and a huge bag of jellybeans. He took our pictures and we signed her register. Thank you, Jellybean and Bluetooth! Today was beautiful: sunny, cool in the low 60's, low humidity, so the views were amazingly crisp and awesome. Tonight we're staying at a shelter that's a red barn, once used for a movie set. We're sleeping over the loft. Others are braving the winds by sleeping on the large, sleeping platforms below, some others tenting. The shelter overlooks an expansive valley where numerous mountains crinkle and fold down to form a bowl as far as the eye can see. This shelter actually has a privy(many don't). The privy has corrogated metal walls on 3 sides going up to shoulder height, no roof, and the toilet seat faces the valley--what a view! Today I saw a snake on the path to the shelter; it flicked its tongue and shimmied away. Haven't seen any scat for 2 days now. Oh, an owl just hooted. What a nice evening sound. The only worrisome aspect of this shelter is that we're seeing mice running about. Hope they keep their distance from us and our food!
Date: 2007-05-09
From: Overlook Mountain Shleter

To: tenting at Mountain Harbor Bed &Breakfast
Miles today: 8.7

On the trail at 7:10. Ate breakfast on the trail after about 30 minutes of hiking uphill. Great views overlooking the valley and barn beneath us. Climbed about 3 hrs up an undulating steep bald with strong 20-30 mph winds hitting our right sides. My fingers were stiff and cold, but body comfortably warm.Finally we crested the bald. The skies were full of wind-driven cloud blankets. Then it was downhill over a long jumbly-tumbly path. We're camping out in a pasture beneath the hillside main house, next to the barn where several horses and goats live. The barn's upper level houses the hostel.A stream runs beside the barn; loads of butterflies around the stream. A deck extends off the second story hostel and has chairs and tables for relaxing. A wonderful setting for just sitting! August is washing our clothes, we've showered, and will go to dinner soon(being shuttled by owner, Terry). Bunch of us are now back from dinner at Dairyland. Ate spaghetti, salad, toast, and shopped for resupplies at the gas station/food store next to the diner. Today's trail observations: cow scat on the balds(never saw any cows), coyote scat, and saw 2 deer's tails as they bounded away.
Date: 2007-05-10
From: tenting at Mountain Harbor Bed &Breakfast

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: broken clouds

Up at 6:30. Sunny and warm. Breakfast was a feast! Mary, wife of owner Terry, fixed a tremendous spread. Everybody(That Finn Couple, Gray Turtle, Vegas, Stitches, Half Pint, "Smooth"Tommy, Google and Sunshine, and some others I don't know the names of)filled up. Terry took the backpacks of many of us up to Abby's Place(hostel 13+miles up the trail) so we could slackpack and pick them up. It was good and soft terrain, easy on our feet. Had to cross wide fast stream on was to get to Abby's Place to pick up our packs. Vegas, Smooth Tommy, Stitches, and Half Pint stopped at Abby's for the night. Fred and I picked up our packs and continued to hike. Finally arrived at this shelter still under partly cloudy skies, temp reached about 78. Hiked at 3000+ elev so day was full of greenery. Here at the shelter is HoJo, tenting are Smokestack and Those Two Finns(a nice couple from Finland) so far. HoJo gave Fred some gravy for his mashed potatoes. I had a container of Homel Chili with Beans, the rest of the bana chips and a Butterfinger candy bar. Google and Sunshine arrived at 9. A group of Missippi State College students are tenting here for the night and made a big fire in the firering in front of the shelter. A nice night for all.
Date: 2007-05-11
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: tenting at Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 6.0

A mouse ran over Fred's head during the night! Didn't bother Fred, though. We met Copperhead on the road as we walked over to the hostel. She was heading out to get back to the trail northbound. It's good to see her again and to know she's doing well. We took showers, washed our hiking clothers, and hung out on the hostel porch til about 5 p.m. when the owner, Bob Peoples, and his friend, Mountain Squid, took two loads of us into a Hampton, Tenn. shopping center to the grocery store(yep, it's time to resupply)and we all got large $5 pizza's from Little Caesar's there for dinner. We all sat at the picnic table outside the grocery store to eat our pizzas. Stitches shared the 1/2 gallon of rocky road ice cream with everyone who had his/her own spoon. Guess what...besides Stitches, I was the only person with a spoon! I dug in and really enjoyed some heaping spoonfuls of cold, sweet chocolately yumminess! There are probably about 20 hikers staying at Kincora. Most are in the bunkhouse, or the neat treehouse(built up in a tree-really. Four of us are tenting in the sideyard. One of the tenters is Further(and his dog Kelsey). It's neat to see them again. Today's trail observation: a lady-slipper orchid-pretty pink. The Peoples have horses and pasture, 9 cats, and several dogs. Oh, one of the couples here is Chuck Norris and Tigger, who hail from Va.Beach, and recently relocated to Florida. Chuck Norris(not the actor by that name) and Tigger post to trailjournals.com, too, so you can look them up if you like). Smooth Tommy gave me a Butterfinger candybar. I'm gonna save it for tomorrow night's dessert. Thanks, Smooth Tommy!
Date: 2007-05-12
From: tenting at Kincora Hostel

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Left at 8:05 after good night's sleep. Some of the gang are slackpacking again today. Toady we hiked beside the beautiful Laurel Falls which had stone steps and loads of boulders. Then it was a steep up with switchbacks. Very cloudy day-blanket cloud cover, cool in the 60's, but humid so dripping sweat. So much for the fresh, just showered feeling! That didn't last too long! We saw lots of blooming flaming azaleas with bright orange blossoms, blooming mountain laurel, and some blooming rhododendrom. Now we're at the shelter cause it's flat-out raining. U-Turn and Red Arm(2 guys) are here with Lunar. Red Arm and U-Turn showed us a picture on the digital camera of the goat that followed them up the path from the road to this shleter. How bizarre for them! We never saw any sign of the goat during our walk here. Red aArm and U-Turn left the shelter when the rain stopped and intend to hike non-stop til they get to Damascus! Whew, that'll be BIG miles, about 40! Smokestack is here for the night, Christian, and Andrew with a small-sized black lab are also here. I called Mom several times, but the cellphone connection was terribly garbled and static-filled. Happy Mother's Day tomorrow, Mom! For dinner I had a cheddar broccoli Knorr's pasta dinner that was tasty and the candy bar dessert . Fred had a chicken Knorr's dinner. We added tuna to the dinners(the store didn't carry ready-to-eat chicken in pouches). We used Aqua Mira liquid water purifying drops that Ringmaster gave us for the the first time. We added some powdered Propel to the water after treating it with the chemicals. The water tastes far better than the iodine water. Christian pointed out the short chestnut trees growing around the shelter. He also told us about running across a rottweiler asleep on the trail. The dog woke up agressively barking and threatening. Christian ended up having to back up to a road, hike up the road, then reenter the forest to go around the dog. Glad we didn't run across the dog. There was a shelter register entry from the day before from a hiker saying she was chased by a dog up to the shelter. Sounds like that dog is quite a problem. Andrew showed his digital pictures of a couple of different varieties of orchids he saw along the trail today and some other unusual plants(he's a horticultural major). It was interesting. Wish I knew a little bit more about the foliage that our feet pass by.
Date: 2007-05-13
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

Up and out at 7:05 on the trail. Sunny, mid to low 70's. Saw and heard a pileated woodpecker drilling on a tree near the shelter. Almost every day we hear one. Today's hike had a long steep up, then several hrs of ridge running and some more ups. Trail today was the quietest it's ever been- hardly a bird singing. Saw lots more squawroot(looks like golden pinecones growing out of the dirt).
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: tenting at The Place, Damascus,Va
Miles today: 25.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Yep, you read it right: we set a personal record hiking today: 25.9 miles!! Perfect day weather-wise, Fred's feet-wise, terrain-wise. Met interesting guy hiking, Tyvek, whose gear was all Tyvek tape constructed. Tyvek usggested we look up his website: thelongroadhome.org to learn more about his mission. Hiking today was fantastic. The hostel here is run by the First United Methodist Church. We're tenting in the sideyard. Many hikers here and at other places in town for the trail days hiker festival this week. Showers and clean clothes are in our near future! Ate at Bajas, a mexican restaurant. Good food, large servings, good place. Late night. Turned in at 10 p.m.
Date: 2007-05-15
From: tenting at The Place, Damascus,Va

To: tenting at The Place, Damascus, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Up a few minutes after 6. Cool and sunny. Breakfast of biscuits at Cowboys where a bunch of hikers and locals eat. Next stop is to change into rain suits, wash clothes at the laundromat, and get set to meet the First Baptist Church senior adult group who're hosting hikers for refreshments this afternoon at the gazebo in the town park about 1/10 mile walk from here. We walked to Mt. Rogers Outfitters before laundry time and began working on solving our trail probs: 1. broken water filter, 2. my leaking Platypus hydration system bite/mouthpiece, 3. Fred's air-leaking self-inflating air mattress. Over the course of the day, thanks to the helpful and knowledgeable staff, particularly Jeff and the kind woman of Mt. Rogers Outfitters, we received a replacement filter chassis which fixed prob#1, replaced my bitepiece fixing prob.#2, and Jeff sealed the pinpoint hole in Fred's air mattress(Fred located the hole by a section-by-section dunking in the laundromat utility sink)--Jeff fixed our prob.#3. Whew! That resolves all of our trail issues and annoyances, at least the ones we can control(wish we could do something about steep uphill climbs ) It's afternoon now. The First Baptist refreshments were delicious! Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, cake, watermelons, fruits, and drinks were a treat. Served at tables beside the gazebo under sunny, breezy skies, it was a nice time with friendly folks. Susie Montgomery, the outgoing bed and breakfast owner who welcomed us to town when we came down the trail Monday evening was one of the key servers. The Baptist Church has a full schedule of events for hikers during this festival week, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of everyone we're meeting. ...Now it's 5 p.m., Stitches, Wolfhound, Smokestack, Stroker, Optimus Prime, Keymaster, Moosehead, Golden Child, Patches, Buffalo Bill, Bear Killer and son Scout, and Leatherneck to name a few are here or staying in nearby hostels or b&b's. Heading over to the Baptist Church caty-cornered to The Place for tickets for Thurs nights home cooked meal being served(there's a cookout tomorrow night for hikers, too), then mosying down the road to Dot's Place to eat with Smokestack, Leatherneck, Wolfhound and others. The Place is filling up inside and the yard is just about full of tents now. At least 30 people may be staying here, with more to come over the next couple of days. They're coming from all over the world.
Date: 2007-05-19
From: tenting at The Place, Damascus, Va

To: tenting at The Place, Damascus, Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Busy day. Highlight of morning visiting Gad and others, including Mr. Happy(on trailjournals.com) at Back Home Again Cafe's tent. Boy, was the mate(needs accent over e)good with maple syrup and honey added! Hikers, make sure to drop in to Back homoe Again Cafe in Rutland, Vt for refreshment and uplifting environment. Tomorrow morning we'll be back on the trail. We're both looking forward to hiking again and seeing the sights up at Grayson Highlands.Happy trails!
Date: 2007-05-20
From: tenting at The Place, Damascus, Va

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: few clouds

Clear and cold--fingers freezing! Packed up; went to Mojoe's. Sat on couch there with Wolfhound, Stitches, and Granny Franny there, too. Left town at 8:10. There was trail magic of a gala apple in a bag hanging from a tree on the trail! Inside the bag were business/calling cards from Butch Cassidy and Patsy. Take It Easy sends thanks to them! The day warmed up rapidly causing me to stop and take off layers of clothing to be more comfortable. It seems that daily, it goes from super chilly, breath visible in the air, to sweaty after the first hour and first steep climb. Even so, I like to stay bundled up til I've warmed up, then strip down to shorts and short sleeved top. We also received magic at the shelter--what a day! A couple who were celebrating meeting at this shelter during their thru-hike yrs ago brought up a 6 pack of beer. Each of us got one. The couple also packed out our trash. How thoughtful! They had another mission on the mountain, too. Earlier this afternoon a realtor showed them a house for sale with property that abutts the forest. They're excited about the possiblity of living adjacent to the forest and easy access to the AT. We wish them luck with the purchase. At the shelter are Soot, Corker, Persistent, Red's Man, Nimrod, Cuyahoga(Stephanie), Young Eagle, Big Brother, JB. The neat surprise of the day was meeting Melk(named for the way she pronounces "milk"). Melk is the daughter of a woman who signed my guestbook, letting me know she's reading it to scout out the trail just ahead of her daughter and her daughter's on the lookout for me. Finally Melk and I meet! Melk's a neat person, full of good humor, is ably handling trail challenges, and smart, too (this is an inside joke that Melk and those who stayed overnight at Lost Mt. Shelter this night will "get" ). Some tented and some of us stayed in the shelter. Soot informed us there's a resident mouse(if there's one, there's a dozen)in the shelter, but that doesn't deter any of us. A typical shelter mindset prevails. Not much interferes with sleep.
Date: 2007-05-21
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: clear sky

Most all of us got a good early start hiking. All (except Cuyahoga and Soot who got later starts) stopped for lunch in a grassy area with a few shade trees near Elk Garden and a road crossing. It was so nice to sit and laugh together about the fun conversations of the previous night as we looked at the hill across the road that would be our next up. This morning we'd already dealt with a long hour uphill that made us seat. AFter lunch we hiked up Mount Rogers, which wasn't too tough at all. The day was partly cloudy/partly sunny. We all stopped for a snack at the shelter near the top of Mt. Rogers. I got trail magic of a real Moon Pie from another hiker who was passing by. Yumm! Next to the shelter were some wild ponies we took pictures of us with. After the excitement of the ponies, onward we all trekked. The descent from Mt. Rogers was trying--Fat Man Squeeze tunnel was FULL of rocks, up and down for hours, watching each foot placement. Melk, Persistent, JB, Birdman(a recent arrival on the trail-hiking NOBO), Corker, Red's Man and Nimrod here at the shelter site. Take It Easy tried everyone's phone(our battery is shot)attempting to reach his sister to let her know we'll be ready to be picked up tomorrow, but couldn't get any of her phone numbers to ring. How can that be? Everyone else is able to make calls from here--why aren't we able to? Maybe we're not supposed to get off the trail-ha, ha! This shelter is the dustiest and dirtiest yet. A fine, powder-like rust colored dirt is everywhere, getting all over us and our stuff. The water source is a slow moving large puddle. We are so glad we have a working filter now and don't have to scoop up the dead insects and use chemicals only to purify our drinking water. The water here is full of debris and murky. Not ours, though--our filter screens all of that gunk out. Rain poured down around 7:30 or so, flooding Young Eagle's tent. So he moved into the shelter for the night. Now the shelter occupancy is maxed with 8 of us shoulder to shoulder--cozy, tired, and glad to be dry. Red's Man and Nimrod are tenting succesfully in their new tent-dry and comfortable. Rain stopped by 9.