morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-20
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: overcast clouds

(Craig says..) Happy Easter! I looked outside my tent for a basket but unfortunately the Easter Bunny don't hike. Woke up to cool, overcast weather, and the odd sound of cars whizzing by. About a 12 mile hike from the shelter we took a side trip down a steep blue blaze to see the second largest poplar tree in the US - Wasalik Poplar. And, well, it was indeed a large tree. It stood out in a forest of mostly second and third growth and its branches were about as thick as the surrounding trees. Some people had carved their names in it and the plaque that had described it was gone.   The remaining hike to Winding Stair Gap was the longest 3.8 of our lives. Erin¢s feet were screaming. We probably could have gotten there in a mile but the meandering trails really wind you around for a while before you get to where you want to go. Usually it¢s nice but we were looking forward to Franklin.   We met up with Patty and The Fat Man (who we¢ve shortened again to FatNut) at Winding Stair Gap and were picked up almost immediately by a family wearing their Sunday best. I didn't want to get too close to them. I probably could have dirtied their clothes by just looking at them. We all hopped in the back of the pickup and took the long road down into town looking back out at the high foggy mountains we had just been hiking.           We were dropped off in front of an outfitters where we could get a 6L water bladder and a new headlamp for me. The headlamp turned out to be 42$ which is about twice as much as it costs back home. The Fat Man left his boots at the shelter and bought Teva sandals to hike in. Then it was across the street to McDonalds for a health stop. Yum. Lots of soda consumed. Then we got a second hitch from a second pickup to the Franklin Motel.           The Franklin Motel was great. On site laundry, a real bed, a television, a phone, a soda machine. We took advantage of them all. I recommend it to other thru-hikers. We made a trip to the grocery store for resupply and some beer, got dinner at a down-home southern diner, and spent the night watching the Osbournes with FatNut.
Date: 2003-04-21
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Wayah Bald Campsite
Miles today: 10.5

Erin says:We woke up in our room at the Franklin Motel a tad later than we wanted to. Patty and the Fat Man (FatNut) were ready to go. The motel offers a free shuttle back to the trail. We weren't ready to leave yet, and it was POURING rain out. The driving, hard rain that hurts. So we slowly got our gear together and were contemplating waiting out the morning in the restaurant next door. However, the trail shuttle woman (Ann) offered to come back to get us after dropping off FatNut. So, we took the offer and she picked us up at 11:30 am. Still raining. Craig graciously offered to sit in the back of the pickup in the rain and allowed me to sit up front with Ann. Craig is wonderful!!! I said I would sit in the pickup too, but he said no. So we left and Craig got rained on at the start but then the rain stopped! By the time we got to the trail he was dry from the wind whipping his rain gear. Nice! At the trailhead as we were starting to leave, a couple in a truck pulled up next to us and offered us Snickers (with almonds! yum!) A little trail magic. They said their son was also thru-hiking and they wanted to help out other hikers. Craig then kept the karma going by helping a fellow hiker who just came out of the woods hitch a ride. She was a tad scared to hitch a ride all by herself, so Craig stood with her until a suitable ride came by.Then we were off! Our hike today was a gradual uphill, all the way to Wayah Bald. A beautiful bald with a stone fire tower on top. We got there around 7pm and took in the views. It is really amazing to be on top of a mountain and see grass (balds) around you. There are also stumpyish flowering trees. It is very peaceful. We wanted to camp on the bald, but you are not supposed to. So we hiked down the bald 1/2 mile to the campsite. It got dark and really cold and really windy very quickly. Tonight is the first night that Craig and I are camping all alone in the woods! Yikes! I am not scared or freaked out though. Probably because I am so tired that I don't really care about wild creatures in the night. Craig and I tried to start a fire tonight, but it was way too windy. No luck. It took our water forever to boil on our stove because we don't have a windscreen. We wound up eating in darkness, huddled together because of the wind. I will be excited when it is morning again - warmth! I will also be excited when Craig has another headlamp! It is very starry out right now, I sure wish it wasn't so chilly because I'd like to have a look. Time for bed.
Date: 2003-04-23
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Swim Bald
Miles today: 11.6

Craig says...) Six miles down followed by a 5.6 mile up. Luckily therin lies the NOC, (Nantahala Outdoor Center.)Another oasis between mountains...More on that later... We woke up early this morning after a difficult night's sleep. Erin's allergies have prevented any air from circulating through her nose and there was a root the size of my arm running diagonally across my back pitched at such an angle that it slid me into her. In the middle of the night I tried turning around and sticking my head through the foot box and my feet through the top by Erin's head but that didn't work well either. Eventually I found a crooked slant that was quasi-comfortable and stuck with that and we both slept. Erin with her nose and I with my root....just settled in for a long summer's (fill in blank)We woke up sore but excited for the NOC. It was a very brisk sunny morning. You could see your breath. Someone said it was in the low 30's! That's a great temperature for hiking if you ask me. But for some reason I had a hard time getting started. I wasn't up to the challenge of catching up with Erin's 40 minute lead like we usually do. So I mosied my way down with a hot, triple-bagged cup of Laura Lynns finest blend (laura lynn is the Ingle's generic brand) As I walked down the temps gradually rose until it felt like summer,the new leaves were out and I'm pretty sure I saw a snake sneak off into the underbrush. My knees were a little sore by the time I got down to the NOC. Erin was talking to a guy named 'highway' and drinking a Fanta Orange soda. I stared and drooled at the soda for a second, said a quick hello to erin, introduced myself to highway, and sprinted over to the soda machine to have what she was having.We walked over the Nantahala river via a brige with a white AT blaze and soaked our throbbing feet in the freezing water, drank our soda, and watched kayakers paddle by in dry suits. Periodically a trourist train would chug by behind us. It was   We got food next door at River's End Resteraunt; black bean burgers with 'award winning' chili, fries, side salad, sweat tea, and iced coffee. After lunch it looked like Erin was going to pass out in her plate. Bought a new headlamp at the NOC for 30$ (a princeton Lightec which actually turns out to be better than the Petzl Tikka I had before. .8 oz heavier though! Oh my) Erin's jealous of it. She's got lamp envy. Met up with FatNut and John (who lived in Nashua for a while) then hit the trail again at around 4:50 PM. A nice four hour break. The trail just went up and up. We planned on stopping at 2.2 miles but place was packed so we filled the 6L bag, I gave erin my sleeping pad, tied the 6L to my pack and continued hiking. (6L of water is very heavy!!!) Ended up hiking almost 6 miles, just short of Swim Bald. Stopping around 8:30. My feet were aching. Hot spots all over. Erin chugged up like I've never seen her hike before. We ate a cold breakfast of cheese crackers and a s'mores pop tart, hung the food bag and listened to the owls....
Date: 2003-04-26
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Free Internet Location
Miles today: 0.0

Craig Says...Hello everyone! We're in Fontana Dam, NC right now, a dry, off season, resort village on the southern border of The Great Smokey Mountains National Park (TGSMNP) Erin and I have agreed it's a combination of Dirty Dancing and The Shining....Unfortunately it costs 20 cents per minute to use this thing so we can't write scrupulous detailed accounts of our days like the previous. In fact, we can't write anything at all in that we've just spent fifteen minutes getting this far. We hope to find FREE internet in Gatlinburg, TN in a few days? Don, Erik, and Chris Fall know this place well....Thanks for signing the guest book. It's great to know people are taking the time to actually read them, never mind actually writing something and cheering us on. We miss everyone. Actually we miss the showers and pre-filtered running water the most but you guys come a close second!Erin says: So, we still do not have trailnames, but thanks for the very funny suggestions from all. We're working on it. We have met more interesting hiking folks, and are learning much about how to get by in rain, mud, and sweaty hell. just kidding. we are doing really well. i have a juicy blister on the side of my heel that i have opted NOT to pop, i will just nurse it and hope it doesn't get close to the size of a grapefruit. we have been enjoying our rest and will head into the Smokies tomorrow!!! We should hit Clingman's Dome on Tuesday-ish and it should be interesting....6642 ft! Yikes. Our total mileage is about 166... more accurate details to come. If you would like to send us mail or goodies... the next addresses would be:Erin Harris and Craig BibeauGeneral DeliveryErwin, TN 37650*hold for AT thru-hikers(about 2 weeks)Bye!
Date: 2003-04-27
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Birch Spring Gap Campground
Miles today: 7.0

Woke up late today. Very sunny and hot. Ate a lunch of wheat thins and cheddar cheese then caught a shuttle to the Fontana Marina about 1.8 miles from the dam around 12:30/1:00. Got to the dam around 2:00ish I'd never seen a damn before. Alot of cement. Fontana Dam is 485 ft. Largest in the East (or so the little sign says). The trail/road passes right over the dam. Pretty neat. An old skinny man with a bushy white beard and a tag on his chest that said "trail runner" came up to us and asked us our names, age, starting date, and where we were from..He said he was taking a survey of thru-hikers coming through. I guess we were the 825th to pass by Fontana Dam since March 1st. I'm not sure how many started. Usually it's around 2,000-3,000 according to the statistics over the years but don't keep me to that. After the damn we started up a nice paved road and passed the sign, "Welcome to the Great Smokey National Park" with a white blaze painted on it. We were now officially 'in'. Nothing really changed. The scenery is stayed the same, no elephant came stomping by, but the mountains ahead are about 1000 ft higher and the rules of camping changed much....We are no longer allowed to camp wherever we want to. From now untill we reach the other end of the Smokies, we have to camp at designated campsites and shelters. If you don't, you're looking at about 250$ And word has it, the ridgelines are often patrolled by rangers on horses. Up we went, climbing back out of Fontana Dam 700' to to near 5000' or so. We saw big piles of bear scat; (bigger than normal lumps of berry-filled poo) Coyote crap, (like dog crap but creamier.) and most commonly horse manuer, (no description nessecarry) There were great vistas here and there. It was very, very hot and we were both quite stinky again and soaked in sweat. I climbed a rickety tower on Shuckstack mountain and caught a nice breeze and a view. Everything was covered in a thick haze, or 'smoke' hence they call it the 'smokies'. However, this smoke is really smog drifting in from the fossil fuel burning plants out west 'George W's Texas' and getting stuck here in the appalachians. So the park should really be called 'The smoggies" By the time we got to Birch Spring Gap we were exhausted and we'd only hiked 7 miles. We both agreed that the distances seemed much further here than in the previous sections. We had the camp to ourselves. The upside to having designated camp spots is that everything is set up. There's a metal fire ring, a nice walkway to the water nearby, bear cables, tent pads. It's quite nice. And even better, we had the place to ourselves. We set up our tent, spread out our things by the fire ring, made a rather larger than necessary fire, and made a wholesome gormet feast of Ramen noodles with canned chicken finished off with the last nips of alcohol (J&B and CC) courtesy of Erin's mom. It cooled considerably after the sun went down and we sat staring into the fire for what seemed like a long time before heading to bed.
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg, TN)
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: few clouds

Woke up at 5:00AM with the stars still shining. The lightning never came close to shelter. Everything was soaked with dew. Weaver made the oddest sleeping 'noises' I'd ever heard. And I come from a family of odd sleeping noises so I've listened to my share. Notice I refer to it as a 'noise' and not a snore. Because it cannot even be classified under the broad category of snoring. It barely qualified as human. This was more like a prolonged anguishing death rattle. Like a mule dying of hunger. There was no rhythym. A two second brey followed by a long crescendoing 20 second dying whimper. But I'm thankful. I'm pretty sure it's what kept the bears away. Crusty-eyed we did the morning thing. Poptarts! for breakfast. Erin's allergies were bad all night.With mugs full of coffee in hand we headed out at 6:40 AM, our earliest start yet. Started climbing up the rocky side of Clingman's right away. A rude awakening. It's wierd to sweat heavily at 7:00 AM. Rather invigorating really. The smell of wet earth and pine filled the air. The sun just casting its first rays. Our brains were still asleep. Got to the top of Clingman's at 8:30 AM and climbed the spiral ramp to the top of the tower. Treated to a great, clear, 360 view. The smog hadn't had a chance to settle yet. We kept going, over Mt. Love, past Mt. Collins shelter, and down to Newfound Gap (5,054) by 12:00.Parking lot was teeming with tourists. Seniors in Ford Taurus's with rental plates. Finally got a hitch down to Gatlinburg by a couple in a pickup truck. The road down was beautiful! Even better than the Kanc. You don't get a sense of how high up you are until you get a ride back down. It was great! The wind blowing. Putting your feet up. They even gave us apples and gatorade. Then it started to rain.And it rained hard.So hard it hurt.and with the rain comes the pollin. I looked over to Erin who was pushing against her eye with the palm of her hand. She said she though her eye was going to explode. She looked miserable. The couple was nice enough to bring us through town, to the post office, and then to the Super 8. Trail Magic baby!
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Newfound Gap

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

erin says:we left gatlinburg in the early afternoon. however, we were having a little trouble getting a hitch back out to the gap. i'm standing beside the road all smiles with my thumb out, but no luck. in the distance craig sees a VW bus and predicts: "oh yeah, that i bet will stop for us." sure enough, the bus pulled over and a really nice hiker couple picked us up. we squeezed into the back of the bus (filled with clothing, a cute dog, dog chow, etc.) and enjoyed the steep winding climb back up to the gap.the weather was nice and tourists were all over the trail. it took a while to get going because we were constantly stopping on the trail to let day-hikers by. We got to Charlie's Bunion - a great rock lookout spot. Very beautiful and picturesque. We took photos and enjoyed the late afternoon sun. My stomach was a tad off, so we took it easy. We hiked until almost dark and arrived at Peck's Corner shelter, a good .4 off the trail. The shelter was full and there were no decent tent spots, so we ended up setting our tent up at the top of the shelter trail... right near the privy. Yeah, we're tenting by the shitter. It is fine, really. We probably smell worse than anything eminating from the privy. Craig and I are definitely enjoying the 2nd half of the Smokies. It is beautiful walking along the ridges - great views. My legs feel stronger after the 2-day rest in Gatlinburg.
Date: 2003-05-04
From: Peck's corner shelter

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

erin says:A great day of ridge walking - our legs feel good. We smell the great scent of pines - reminds me of Maine. Craig says: Took a picture at a spot where a previous picture had been taken 5 years ago during a trip to the smokies. Can't wait to put them side by side...anyway. Go on Erin.Craig and I were planning to grab water and make dinner at Guyot Spring (6200') but we never found it. Or the Mt. Guyot side trail - both were listed in our data book but there were no signs or side trails. So we chilled at the crossing of the A.T. with the Snake Den Ridge Trail and had a late lunch. However, we were surrounded by flies, very loud ones. Our last full day in the Smokies and I have been cruising up and down the hills. Hiking is much more fun when you physically feel good. My two greatest discoveries in the Smokies have been:a. the heel to toe walking technique that saves your knees and helps propel you further - this works on the flat parts really well.b. loosening my shoulder straps on the uphills so that my pack rests almost entirely on my hips - makes it much easier to power up a hill.These little things may seem silly, but they help out a lot!
Date: 2003-05-06
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 10.1

erin says:Who wants to leave a dry place when it is POURING out? We certainly did not. We left Standing Bear in the early PM, still raining like crazy out. It was really nice to make coffee this morning using a propane burner instead of our stove! Turned out that the rain finally stopped for a while for us. However, it was pretty freaky for a while as we were trudging up a mountain and the wind was whipping..... fresh downed trees and limbs all around us. Craig and I were both a little freaked. Do you run? Do you turn back? We just kept going. Today we called the A.T. the "Appalachian River" or "Appalachian Stream". There was so much rain falling, and water seemed to be everywhere - including the trail. We had to cross many streams - no place dry to put your feet. We were soaked! Sometimes it was hard to get any solid footing, I was afraid of falling and being swept away. Thankfully, we made it across each stream. The squish, squish of mud under our feet got old real quick. It is hard to get good footing or get into a good hiking pace when you are constantly sliding and off balance. Strange too to see campspots totally flooded. I am really glad we stayed at Standing Bear Farm last night. We are missing the Smokies a little bit. We climbed Snowbird Mountain today - only 4263', but it felt like a huge climb because we came out of a gap at 1400'. I miss ridge walking! Plus, once we got over the mountain we went right back down down down, knowing that we would have to climb another big hill soon. We got way down in elevation and came to Groundhog Creek Shelter where were were planning to stay. It was full and there were no campspots. So we hiked on to Brown Gap. We are tenting here and hoping that it doesn't rain on us. Craig valiently tried to make a fire tonight - no luck, everything is so wet! Our socks and shoes feel like a hundred pounds. We resorted to burning toilet paper - the smoking from the fire helps to keep the gnats away. I'm trying to keep my spirits up in all this rain - as soon as the rain stops for a few moments, out come the bugs! They really seem to like dive-bombing Craig's head. And they seem to be fascinated with flying into my ears. Ugh. Dinner tonight was yummy though, we did a Spanish and chicken rice combo with pieces of summer sausage tossed in. pretty good. Craig had a hard time trying to hang the bear bags because all the branches from the trees would fall because of the weight of our bags and the branches are so brittle! He had better luck on a branch close to the road at this gap. we've been here for a while and not a single car has come by. i wonder if parts of this road are flooded or washed out because of the incessant rain? this rain stuff is supposed to continue until sunday. geez. earlier i was reading and craig listened to the radio, but we had no luck trying to get a weather forecast.
Date: 2003-05-08
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: pub
Miles today: 0.0

erin says:i feel like we have earned this zero day! we raced here to be able to do it. today we have been enjoying the wonders of this small trail town.we slept in, showered again, and then proceeded to do our laundry. our room smelled pretty yucky this AM from all our gross, wet gear. Craig set the tent up on the lawn to dry. our clothes are drying in the sun.then off to lunch at the town diner. yum - craig and i split an "ultimate club" sandwich and a "chicken philly". so good to eat real food. we also had coffee!!! we lazed around the hiker outfitter store reading hiking books. i did some research about wildflowers along the trail. we've seen: pink lady slippers, mountain laurel, white and yellow trilium, bluets, sweet cicely, and many others. we drank soda - a town must-have. We spent the afternoon snoozing in our room and hanging out by the laundromat chatting with other hikers. fun to tell them about our long hike! FatNut arrived around 4:30pm - they were impressed with our big day yesterday. Craig and I called home, we learned about the collapse of the Old Man. We couldn't believe it. I got a little teary on the phone with my parents. Wow. I guess I feel some sort of attachment to that whole area in the Whites since I spent so much time up there over the past year. Plus, I can always remember driving past the Old Man as a kid on our way up to the lake in Maine. We'd always get out at the "viewing area" to go the bathroom and take photos. So strange that it is gone.After talking to our parents, Craig and I went over to Paddler's Pub and hung out with all the hikers in town. We drank Highland Gaelic Ale (on tap!), ate dinner and relaxed. A great day off.