morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Mollie's Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

4.5.05Day 238:35pm Note: This entry is being written w/ a miniature golf pencil from Fontana Dam (you know, the short, stubby, eraser-less kind) b/c I am, once again, pen-less. My uber-light, ultra-sleek pen given to me as a trail gift (Thanks Marlene and John!), which was the envy of many an ultralight backpacker, unfortunately ran out of ink in Fontana. Cupa Joe kindly lent me an extra that he was carrying, but somehow Weatherman appropriated it. In desperation, I grabbed this penci. Then, yesterday, on the floor of Mollies Ridge Shelter, lo and behold, an unclaimed pen sat, disconsolate and alone. I gave it a new home, but now it too has died. Hence, the pencil. Now that I've fascinated you all w/ that little aside, on to the day...The general consensus amongst folks here at Derrick Knob is that Wingfoot is a liar and his mileages are completely off. "That was a lot more than 4 miles from the last water source" was an aft-repeated phrase. Today did feel like a very long day, but the trail wasn't a smooth, gently undulating, dry footpath. It more closely reembled a river for periodic stretches, and a mudslide for others. Descending from Thunderhead, water was literally flowing down the trail. But, when I recalled last year, that section wasn't a river, it was a solid sheet of ice. So, I vastly prefered the wet muck to the slippery sheen. The climb up Rocky Top was torture, b/c my trail legs are still in hiding, but the vistas and the ensuing endorphin rush on reaching the summit made it all worthwhile. Looking out across the landscape, from that perch, it's indescribable, really. You can see Fontana Lake, where we started yesterday. And Clingman's Dome, where we'll be tomorrow. Up ther!e, you just feel invincible. And then the trail deals you a healthy dose of reality, w/ a hellacious descent.I'm tired, from today's hike, but not teetering on the edge of exhaustion, as I was yesterday. My only complaint lies w/ my feet -- they protested vehemently about being crammed into those damned trail runners again. Protested to the tune of a handful of blisters. The last 2 miles or so, it reached the point that every step prompted claims of abuse to the pain center of my brain -- from the toes on the downs and the heels on the ups -- that I didn't give a flying fig whether I'd have to tromp through muck and slush, I was putting my sandals back on. And my feet were terrificly happy. Tomorrow, I have no intention of subjecting them to that experience again, barring a torrential downpour. Ya gotta keep your tootsies satisfied. Thy're the ones that hafta carry me north.During one of my myriad breaks today, I sprawled out on a log that was simply too inviting to pass by. I laid there, and looked up at the sky. And as I did so, I experienced reverse vertigo -- I felt as if I was falling up, into the unending depths of the sky, and simultaneously falling down, into an impossibly deep pool of velvety blue. The only thing impeding my fall was the interlocking branches of the trees, weaving together into a net, cradling my fall.
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter?
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

4.6.05Day 245:30pm Lazy day today, only churning out 7 miles. Which meant -- a late start, an early finish, and plenty of breaks in between. Another beautiful day on the trail. And the trail itself was a definite improvement over yesterday -- a few scattered patches of mud, the snow virtually absent, and the trail resumed its gentle roller coaster ride, up and down the 'bumps'. Tomorrow we ascend Clingman's Dome, another significant milestone on this northbound journey. Two days ago, back at Mollies Ridge, the realization dawned that we had completed the 'chump change', the 175-odd miles above and beyond the 2000 mile mark. So, just a coupla thousand miles to go. Wohoo!As tired and spent and exhausted as I felt the past 2 days, my energy returned today. My trail legs even made several appearances, which were much appreciated. The hills are still sapping my breath, but the flats and downs I sped right along. We'll see how Clingman's treats me in the morning.I hiked by myself for much of the day, and as I did, a calm serenity overtook me. I regained that clarity, that enveloping sense of peace and self-communion that characterized much of my hike last year. I've ben hiking w/ other people so much this year, I haven't had the ample opportunity of solitude and self-reflection. zbut, I'm glad I was afforded it today. The views from the exposed ridgelines today mirrored my thoughts and self-explorations. Trying to look out into the wide expanse of my future, it was daunting or frightening, the not-knowing what comes next. Life has a way of sorting itself out. I've been sitting in the shelter (Yes, I'm wimping out and sleeping inside under threat of rain), watching this trio of blue spruces sway in the wind. Mesmerizing. Like watching the crackling fire burn in the fireplace. (If nothing else, we'll be warm tonight -- G, Toto, and Moose performed their manly chores and returned bearing 3 hefty armloads of wood. Now,!we just need someone to stoke the fire throughout the night...) My thoughts weave a tapestry as I walk, an organic flow of ideas, drawing from the past, present, and future. The very last stretch, before arriving at Double Springs, the arboreal makeup of the forest changed, from predominantly oak to a spruce grove. The rich piney scent permeated the landscape, and the blanket of pine needles muffled sound. It was a sharp transition, clearly defined, moss coating the fallen logs in green shrouds. A primitive wilderness. And then, the green roof of the shelter is visible through the branches. An intrusion on my 'wilderness experience', but sunch a welcoming sight. I haven't yet reached the point where I hallucinate the shelters, but I confess to muttering under my breath yesterday wondering where in the bloody Smokies was Russell Field Shelter. But, you can't just conjure them up; all you can do is keep on walkin'.
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

4.8.05Day 268am It's really strange, being in a 'home' environment again, after 3 weeks away from it. Having access to a full kitchen, and rooms w/ beds (and doors!), and even just simple things, like a staircase, and curtains, and comforters, and clocks. It's all so foreign, and yet simultaneously, so vaguely familiar, like the hazy vestiges of a dream in the moments just after waking. But, it's simple and easy to slip back into the seductive luxury of homestyle life -- the TV a constant white noise in the background, coffee perking along, dogs scampering about, people slowly rolling out of bed. The polar opposite of life on the trail. But oh so enjoyable. It does, however, make for a difficult reacclimation to hiking again. 4 days in Fontana taught me that. And, I'm actually gonna be off for that long again, this weekend, visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Which means that I'll be chasing my trail legs down the AT again next week. Can't be making this easy for myself now, can I?!12pm I heard through the trail grapevine that Mothergoose will be trailbound once again soon. I'm so glad to hear that. I was afraid that hiking out into that blizzard and then having to turn back may have been the proverbial straw -- she's had some pretty bad luck w/ the weather, and negative miles are always hard to swallow -- so it was wonderful to hear of her plans. I hope to catch her again out there. It's amazing how instantaneously people become family out here. The loud-mouthed uncles who tell stories to anyone who'll lend an ear (and plenty of people who won't). The affectionate aunts who envelope you in a bear hug and pinch your cheek every time they see you. The scatter-brained cousin who forgets everything, and leaves a breadd-crumb trail of dropped gear everywhere they go. The wayward son and responsible daughter (or, the wayward daughter and responsible son). The grandparents, so comfortable and fluid in their partnership, dispensing worldly ad!vice. Just one giant family.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Tricorner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: clear sky

4.11.05Day 296:30am Up before the break of dawn, an insistent pressure on my bladder rousting me from bed. Not exactly a restful night, as is the standard shelter fare for me. Plus, extricating myself from the lower bunk was a task in and of itself. I can't even sit up under there -- there's less than 2 feet of clearance. So, there was a lot of slithering and squirming and trying not to kick Low Gear on my left and G on my right. But, I'm out now, and have no intention of slithering back in. The shelter will be waking soon, and in the meantime, I'm enjoyng watching and listening to the world wake up around me. The birds have begun their morning chorus, a ruffed grouse performs his mating chest thumping routine nearby, the faintest tinge of red is visible on the horizon. Several dead spruce stand as stalwart soldiers, frozen from a time gone by.5pm Wohoo! I'm clean. I'm showered. I'm rested. I've had a Pepsi. And I walked 18+ miles. It was a surprisingly easy and relaxed pace despite the distance. I checked out of Tricorner Knob just before 8, and rolled into Standing Bear just after 3. So, I've been reacquainted w/ my trail legs. And I must say, it feels darn good. I was missin' them something fierce. Hopefully, they're here to stay this time. I was also reaquainted w/ Cuppa Joe and Break, heartily welcomed w/ a bearhug embrace (albeit a rather sweaty one on my part). Good to see that pair again. They're planning a slow and easy stroll into Hot Springs. After my lengthy miles today, 'slow and easy' sounds good to me.The stretch of trail coming down into Davenport Gap and then over to Standing Bear was phenomenal, just as I remembered it to be last year. I was afraid that my memories would surpass reality, but reality once again trumps the day. It was so green and lush, throbbing w/ nascent life. Wildflowers blooming in a bursting array of colors. A ruffed grouse startl... I startled a ruffed grouse out of the underbrush. A few chipmunks and squirrel sightings, scurrying amongst the saplings. The spring beauties were a carpet of white and green, blanketing the forest floor, interrupted only by a spattering of yellow, from the occasional trout lily. And then, further down the mountain, in lower elevations, a plethora of small white flowers, some bloodroot, some unknown to me. In the last mile or so, the trail meandered along a gently flowing stream. I followed the flight of a white butterfly for a brief stretch, the murmur of the babbling brook leaping over rocks providing a natural background music. I could almost discern voices in the sound of the water. The trillium have opened their buds, but have yet to unfold their petals. The whole area seems on the cusp of spring, of a new beginning. There is such vitality in the air.
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Hot Springs (No Entry for 04/13/05)

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

6:25pm To start this entry w/a quote, from Pacman: "I left the restaurant last night, and realized I had a pickle stuck to my leg."Linux: "But, did you eat it?"Pacman: "No comment. I plead the 5th."Yes, spending the day in Hot Springs. Which although I've accomplished virtually nothing, has whittled away to dinertime. Hard to figure how that works.10:40pm Just back from the Paddler's Pub. Hot Springs has been invaded by hikers. No room anywere. My plans of getting into Elmer's today were foiled by the fact that all the other hikers decided to stay another night. So, a full house at the Alpine Court Motel instead, complete w/ the television that gets no reception and the shower that doesn't turn off. Me, Cuppa Joe, Break, Linux, and... drumroll please... Weatherman. Yes, our comedic friend has returned. Also, anoher old face -- Eagle Eye! We irst met on March 14, 2004 , back at Stover Creek Shelter, two bright-eyed, bushy-tailed novices to the whole thru-hike thing. I knew he was out here this year, and I figured he'd catch me, considering my somewhat lackadaisical pace. And catch me he did. A gret reunion of '04ers -- me, Eagle Eye, and CJ. So wonderful to see Eagle Eye again; he seems much more at peace and comfortable w/ himself.Whoops -- light's out here. Will finish tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Hot Springs

To: Elmer's Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

4.16.05Day 343:15pm How is it that the days in which I accomplish absolutely nothing speed by faster than those in which I hike 20 miles? I've just been lounging about, whiling away the day, basking in the glorious weathre -- and suddenly it's mid-afternoon. Yes, I'm more-than-moderately envious of those hikers who managed to elude the tentacled grasp of Hot Springs magnetism and actually hiked out today. And yet the vortex has me sufficiently numbed that I'm perfectly content to simply laze the day away. Happiness is the perfect drug, is it not? For that's what I'm high on. Happy that circumstances have brought me to this particular place, at this particular time, surrounded by these particular people. The kind of circumstances that you can never plan for, can never arrange, that you simply have to allow to happen, allow the fluid ebb and flow of life's river to carry you on your journey. I'm sitting outside, in the garden of Elmer's, a semi-tamed landscape w/ a hint of restrained wildness, as if, if left untended, nature would reclaim this piece of land. The perfect setting for the Victorian house, slightly decrepit but laden w/ character, history and ghosts of residents past oozing from every creaky floorboard, the house a warren of rooms and staircases and chock-full of antiques. A place you could wander off into and lose track of time, lose track of yourself, travel back into a different era. And wake up, like Rip van Winkle, to a markedly different present. A pristine timelessness permeates the air here, an un-hurriedness and relaxation. Petals from a tree afire in a pink bloom rain down on me as I write, in pink droplets. The half-face of the moon is visiblee through the infant leaves on the trees. Hikers are scattered throughout the maze of porches and verandas, occupied in solitary reading and writing, or carrying on subdued conversations. There's nowhere else on earth I could picture myself w/ a greater sense of ease and p!eace and contentment.9:20pm So, I'm up in my room at Elmer's, reclining on my antique bed, tucked under the covers (b/c there's a decided chill in the air, despite today's balmy temps), and who strolls in but a sociable feline. He hops onto the bed beside me and curls up for a nap, purring contentedly. So, I doubly appeased my animal w/drawal today -- currently w/ my feline companion, and earlier I got in a little canine cuddling w/ the golden retriever Stoney. Definitely one of the things I miss most out on the trail is the animal companionship and contact that was part and parcel of my childhood. So, I get my fixes when and where I can. Such as now...
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Elmer's Hostel

To: Mill Ridge
Miles today: 4.9

4.17.05Day 3511am Looking down on Hot Springs from a rocky eagle's aerie. I was so happy to toss my pack on this morning, to sate the consuming hunger to hike, to feed my incurable addiction. Only planning a meager 5 miles, so I'm in no rush to reach my destination. And this seemed a picture-perfect spot for a little reflection. So many hikers in town the past several days, it's been hard to steal away for a few minutes of solitary time. There's a lizard hanging out, being neighborly, crawling upside-down, down a nearby tree. Brown-backed and blue-bellied.4:15pm "'Till they learn to be satisfied w/ what they are, they're going to be fretful about it. Waste of feeling, that is.'But it didn't seem to Lyra that she would ever grow up." --The Golden Compass, Philip PullmanI don't seem to be progressing much on the "growing up" side of things, but as to being satisfied w/ what I am? No frettin' here. The need for plans is in the past. Just fly-by-the- seat-of-your-pants living for me.10pm A 'true' camping experience tonight, a la summer camps and famiy vacations. As Gypsy Lulu remarked, "I've been camping for a month, and this is the first time I've had S'mores." Yes, roasted marshmallowy goodness, dispensed during a game of Mafia around the campfire. Which followed a smorgasboardal feast, a dazzling array of foods largely unknownst to us trail-bound folk. but, the Go Lite, Go Easy gang had decided to pack out a ton (Literally. A ton.) of produce, and cook 'em up after our hard strenuous 5 whopping miles. And so we did. Potatoes (sweet and russet) and onions slow roasted in the hot coals. Beans seasoned w/ chili powder (and soaked for 14 hours in Weatherman's Nalgene bottle). Sauteed tofu. Hummus. Fresh tomatoes. Refried beans. Nutella. Mass quantities of tortillas. Cheese and crackers. A few miscellaneous meat products. Raspberry sun tea. Ahh. Even after, I dunno, 8 or 9 hours of gnoshing and nibbling and sampling and then just plain eating, writing about this feast is making my stomach gurgle in anticipation. Just a splendid day. Played several hands of Spades w/ Boots, Bluelight, and Poet. Learned another constellation (Bootes) under the cloudless (and surprisingly warm) night sky. Over 20 other hikers were sucked into our GLGE vortex -- me, CJ, Break, Weatherman, Linux, Pacman, Gypsy Lulu, Touk, Poet, Stilts, Hard Core, Feelin' Free, Andyy, Freedom, Thatch, Serenity, Bluelight, Boots, Hooky, Tiny Dancer, Domino. Who needs towns anyway?
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Mill Ridge

To: Log Cabin Drive
Miles today: 13.2

4.18.05Day 369:30am Lately I've felt like I haven't gotten around to writing as much as I wanted, or really delved into the deeper explorations and discussions I desired. It's instead been a more superficial (if verbose) recounting of the day. Not that I'm disappointed or have regrets, b/c I love this journal, and I cherish the time I spend writing. And (gasp!), I've even come to love writing, as much as I used to dread it. I just find it interesting, the tone and direction this journal has taken. But, I don't consciously control the voice or subject of what I write. The pen goes in my hand, and the words start flowing.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Jerry's Cabin Shelter

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 17.1

4.20.05Day 385:35pm Spent the day hiking w/ Cuppa Joe, Andy, and Feelin' Free. As I'm packing up my sundry items (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, etc), I hear an "Oh sh#t!" from CJs vicinity. I look over, and he's staring at his pack, shaking his head."What's up?" I (not so) innocently ask, knowing precisely what's up. It all began yesterday, when a bottle of Estee Lauder perfume was discovered in a hiker box. Some friendly bantering and hypothesizing about what a cruel practical joke it would be to sneak it into someone's pack. And then, it's time to leave, and the perfum is suspiciously absent. But, before we hit the trail, Feelin' Free, feelin' guilty, fesses up to CJ. Laughing, he rustles through his pack and holds the bottle aloft. But then, as we prepare to leave once again (true Go Lite, Go Easy philosophy -- several false starts to every departure), the bottle is once again suspiciously absent."Oh, I threw it in the hiker box," Feelin' Free readily (too readily, perhaps?) responds. My initial supposition was that she snuck it back into CJs pack. (Or mine, perhaps?) But then, I thought, "No, she's too clever. She'll pack it out herself, and then tack it somewhere tomorrow, once suspicion has waned." Sure enough, Andy goes over to her pack last night, and holds up the perfume. He puts it CJs pack -- to stump him into wondering how he'd missed it. B/c earlier last night, he ripped his pack apart, ensuring that the white elephant wasn't there. Hence, the "Oh, sh#t" this morning. And FF immediately pipes up: "I was framed. Framed, I tell ya."Uh-oh. Time for a euchre game. Will finish the tale tomorrow.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Erwin

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

4.24.05Day 424:30pm So, gues where I am? You betcha. Still in Erwin. Still at the Super 8. Yeah, the snow falling outside this morning, and this afternoon, not feeling the go-out-and-hike so much. Well, actually, I am. A rather vicous case of cabin fever. But, not so severe as to force me out into that sub-freezing weather. Brrr. My brief sorties outside were just that -- brief. I jumped into Phoenix's van, in shorts, when he pulled up this morning. Rather regretted that decision. (Pants would have been the wiser choice.) But, I survived. I infiltrated Miss Janet's this morning, doing a little reconnaisance, seeing precisely who was foolish... ahem... brave enough to head out today. (The Bruces, Piker and Ms Mileage, and Squid Jerky) Plus, I'd heard a rumor that Burn (who I met last year at Jennings Creek, when Dad came down w/ a trunkload of trail magic of fresh fruit and homemade pies) was in town. Good to see him back out here again. Sounds as if he'll be hiking to Damascus, and will most certainly be hitting Trail Days. Gettin' to be quite a number of last year's AT residents out here.Apparently Cuppa Joe et al opted to head out today. Brave, hardy souls they be. Not so me. Sleeping out in that cold? Uh-uh. At least the snow has finally ceased. But, it's going to be bloody cold tonight. And reports from the incoming hikers speak of multiple inches on the ground. I can definitely forego that. I'm contemplating a slackpack instead. Ratle the purists a little more.