morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-02-12
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter 
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Tumbleweed left before us and we left at 9:00. Another perfect hiking day, warm when moving cold when stopped. Something very terrible happened around 12:00. We had just finished going up a hump when I turned around. Jim was giving me a very strange look. I thought there was a bear behind me or a snake wrapping around neck so I quickly looked around. There was nothing. Then he said, "Your therma-rest is gone." I took my pack off and looked, and, sure enough, it wasn't there. I back-tracked a little ways and looked for it, but didn't find it. My theory is that it slipped out and fell down a hill. It will probably be recovered thousands of years from now and be put on display in an ancient history museum. When we made it to Justus Mountain we noticed another problem. The day was getting hotter and our water supplies were diminishing. We had stupidly not filled all of our water bottles that morning and were now paying for it. Such is the life of the newbie hiker. A trail maintenance guy eating lunch and drinking water (mmmm, water) on the top of Justus Mountain told us that Justus Creek was only a mile and a half away. A parched hour later we were gratefully refilling our bottles. We made it to the shelter around 2:00 or 3:00. Tumbleweed was already there. We built a campfire and ate supper. I didn't sleep very well that night. I laid my emergency blanket under my sleeping bag to cut down on the draft, but that didn't improve the padding. It was a long and fitful night.
Date: 2005-02-14
From: Shelter Before Blood Mountain Shelter

To: Neal's Gap (Walasi-Yi Center)
Miles today: 4.1

A short but grueling day. It rained all morning and the hike over Blood Mountain was very hard. When we made it to the top the rain was, at times, blowing sideways. There was no view at the top because the fog was too thick. We made it to Neal's Gap at about 10:30 - 11:00. I took a hot shower got dry clothes on and slept for three hours (they had beds!). Jim and I were both starting to get a cough, so we decided it would be best to rest here the next day before heading back out. Tumbleweed was there and two others. There was Jeremy who had been camping on Blood Mountain for a while. And Larry (Pied Piper) who I think is a thru-hiker. Jim and I got a ride into town that evening and ate at a local buffet. Didn't do too much else that night.
Date: 2005-02-15
From: Gooch Mtn Shelter 

To: Shelter Before Blood Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We cheated today. We were low on fuel so we decided to follow Tumbleweed and take a short-cut into Suches. We started hiking at about 8:30 and made it to the Suches General Store around 10:00. I grabbed a bite to eat, called home and we hit the trail again around 11:00. We decided to push a little harder today so that we could have an easy hike into Neal's Gap the next day. We arrived at the shelter around 4:00. Tumbleweed had barely beaten us there. It was almost too wet for a campfire, but we managed to get a weak one started. It was another unrestful night.
Date: 2005-02-16
From: Neal's Gap (Walasi-Yi Center)

To: Laundry
Miles today: 0.0

Took our first zero-day. Slept in and did laundry. I also had the outfitters look at my pack and give me suggestions. They managed to skim off 12 pounds, which was a huge help. Met a few more thru-hikers today. Apple Pie stopped, did her laundry and was back on the trail in no time. Chasing Amy and Mall Rat also stopped in today and spent the night in the hostel. Pied Piper and Tumbleweed also stayed another night, and Jeremy had to leave for Atlanta. We watched Wayne's World that night. A very stupid yet funny movie.
Date: 2005-02-17
From: Neal's Gap (Walasi-Yi Center)

To: Some Shelter
Miles today: 10.5

Had our best day yet. Left the hostel around 9:00 and hiked all day. The pack felt amazing, almost like it wasn't there. Jim and I were both still couging and hacking. Made it to the shelter and found that Pied Piper and Tumbleweed had beaten us there. It was a cold and rainy night.
Date: 2005-02-18
From: Some Shelter

To: Helen, Ga
Miles today: 6.5

It was a cold morning, but when we got going we were able to warm up. Pied Piper and Tumbleweed had left ahead of us, Tumbleweed having fantasies of getting to Helen and buying some beer. As we hiked Jim's cough was getting worse. at about 11:00 we made it to Blue Mountain Shelter for lunch. Pied Piper was there resting, along with two other thru-hikers. They had spent the night there and were just now getting going. They planned to hitch a ride into Helen that afternoon. They left before we did and we could hear them half-way down the mountain. Jim's cough was getting worse, so we decided that Helen wouldn't be such a bad idea. We would hike to Unicoi Gap and hitch a ride. When we got to Unicoi Gap Tumbleweed, Pied Piper, and the other two hikers were already there. Tumbleweed and Pied Piper were already trying for a ride. After about 10 or 15 minutes they got one and found out there was also room for two more. Jim and I had gotten there last so the other two hikers took it. Fortunately, two minutes later we also snagged a ride. A retired Army special forces guy named Stanley stopped for us. Stanley said he always picked up hikers and he wasn't afraid of hitch-hikers. It was no wonder. He had served in a bunch of different places: Grenada, Beirut, Nicaragua, Panama... I don't think many hitch-hiker's would be able to mess with him. He brought to the Helendorf Inn, a nice cheap place a few blocks from the edge of town. We got a room, ate, went to the local grocery store and watched TV for the rest of the day.
Date: 2005-02-19
From: Helen, Ga

To: Nowhere
Miles today: 0.0

In my day we had to walk 5 miles just to get to a doctor's office. That's exactly what we did today. The nearest doctor was in the next town. Fortunately, we got picked up by a sheriff who drove us the last half-mile and told us if we went to the sheriff's office we would be able to get a ride back. The doctor told Jim he had bronchitis and gave him a bunch of medicines. She told me that I might have an infection and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. She also told us that if we weren't feeling better in a couple of days she would stop by our motel and check us. We were walking back to the sheriff's office when a local guy in a pick-up truck stopped and asked if we needed a ride. We said we did and he drove us all the way to the Helen pharmacy. We picked up our meds, Jim got his head buzzed, and we spent the rest of the day watching movies in our motel room.
Date: 2005-02-21
From: Helen, Ga

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

9:00 - Got ride back to trail9:15 - Started hiking. Steady rain forces us to keep raincoats on.1:00 - Rain stops. Jim removes raincoat. 1:15 - Sudden freezing rain and hail. Jim scrambles to put coat back on while I stand by and laugh.4:00 - Make it to shelter. Three other hikers are here. Unfortunately I didn't record their names. They know who they are.6:30 - In bed.
Date: 2005-02-22
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Hiawassee, Ga
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Jim's calf was hurting this morning, so we decided to hitch a ride into town. Got a room at the Hiawassee Inn, which is owned by 2 texans and caters to hikers. Had supper with Will and Amy that night. They're thru-hikers also. That night we watched Get Shorty.
Date: 2005-02-23
From: Hiawassee, Ga

To: Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

No miles today. Got a free shuttle from the motel to Blueberry Patch Hostel. It's a nice place. Owned by Gary Poteat and his wife, it's got beds, refrigerator with drinks, microwave, stove, shower, and they even do your laundry for you. Met up with John, trailname Cat, another thru-hiker. Got a bunch of ginger cookies from home, ate them all.
Date: 2005-02-24
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Gary's wife made breakfast for us this morning. It was great. Pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup, eggs, biscuits, and sausage. Then Gary provided us a free ride back to the trail. About 2:00 today we reached the GA-NC border, our first state boundary. Upon entering NC we got to climb a really steep mountain. Got the shelter about 4:30. Cat was already there. Jim had to do a job really bad. According to the guidebook there was a privy, but according to the register there wasn't. After a few minutes of frantic searching he went to the woods. A few minutes later Cat walked out a ways to do his dishes. He looked up a small hill, and behold, the privy was found. He shouted out to Jim that the privy was located. "Where?" we both heard from the other side of a bush. "Up the hill," was the response. "Ohhhhhh, up THAT hill."
Date: 2005-02-25
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Not too eventful. Started early, got in camp by 1:15. Cat arrived about 2:00. Made instant pudding. It was kind of runny and lumpy but still good. Earlier we had read about a pack stealing bear. So that night we got our pots and my whistle ready to try to scare it away if it came.
Date: 2005-02-26
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

No bear last night. Left camp around 7:30. Made it to Albert Mountain around 10:00. Albert Mountain is over 5000 feet and very steep. Cat climbed it first with me close behind. I managed to climb it in about 30 minutes. Got to the top, took off the pack, and had a snickers bar while enjoying the view. Ten minutes later, Jim decided to show up. Old farts climb mountains slow. The rest of the day was a slow decine in altitude. Made it to the shelter by 1:30. Cat arrive 15 minutes later. Didn't do much. Just made a fire, ate, and went to bed around 6:30.
Date: 2005-02-27
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It happened around midnight that night. I heard a sound and woke up. I groggily looked to the opening of the shelter and saw a dark figure. Thoughts raced through my mind, skunk?, coyote?, raccoon? I frantically searched for my light and turned it on. It was aimed at me so I was blinded for a moment. I heard the creature move and finally got the light to shine toward it. It was then that I said, "What the crap is that?" and nearly gave Cat a heart attack in doing so. He sprung up and it was then that I discovered the identity of the thing. It was a dog. It entered the shelter with its tail between its legs and its head down. It forced its way onto my therma-rest near my feet and laid down. The three of us decided it wasn't a threat so went back to sleep. Over the course of the night I ended up surrendering the entire lower half of the therma-rest to the dog as it slowly crept into my space. It hiked the 4 miles to the road with us that morning, and managed to hitch a ride with Cat into town. Cat was able to reach the dog's owner so everything turned out fine. Cat, Jim, and I are splitting a room tonight, it's only $15 split 3-ways. We had huge a breakfast this morning. 3 courses plus a sundae for me. Later that day, Jim and I were walking all over town trying to find the Ingle's grocery store. We were lost when we saw a hispanic guy walking toward us. Jim asked him, "Where's the Ingle's?" "No Ingle's," was the answer. "No Ingle's?" Jim asked confused. "No ingles," was the response. "Ah, no english." Then Jim, using his infinite genius powers, attempted to describe what we were looking for, "Grocery, hmmm, er, grocerio?" The hispanic guy was giving him a really weird look now so Jim said good-bye and we walked on. As we went on Jim said, "I think I insulted his mother or something."
Date: 2005-02-28
From: Franklin, NC

To: Sitting Around Doing Nothing
Miles today: 0.0

Hmmmm. The next few entries will be a bit challenging. I didn't regularly keep up my journal far a small stretch so I will do the best I can. Don't remember much about this day. I think we did laundry in the morning followed by eating at Subway. I picked up another book at a used book-store (World History, A Brief Introduction. Very exciting with many plot twists). Then we hung out in the motel room the rest of the day watching Jim's favorite soap operas. Hugely exciting.
Date: 2005-03-01
From: Franklin, NC

To: Stone Tower 
Miles today: 10.0

Trying to remember this day... Ah, yes. March 1st, how could I forget. We shuttled back to the trail at about 9:30 and encountered something interesting. A foot of snow had fallen in the mountains the past few days. It had been six or more years since I had seen snow that deep. At first I hiked through it like usual. But pretty soon I discovered that hiking through deep snow is a lot more work than hiking without snow. My legs got tired quicker and I was forced to slow down. A few hours into it we rested near a shelter. Cat was already there and was about to leave. He decided he was going to push 16 miles that day. Too much for Jim and I, we planned to pitch a tent at a camp-site around mile 12. Pretty much the whole day was just an endless cycle of walking through knee-high snowdrifts and ankle high normal snow. About 3:00 we were freezing our butts off and decided we needed to find shelter soon. We found shelter in the form of a restroom near a road. We decided that if we couldn't find a place to pitch a tent soon we would backtrack and sleep there. Not a fun idea, but it would be warm. We hiked a bit further and, fortunately, found a large stone tower built on top of, what I think was, Wayah Bald. We entered the structure and pitched the tent inside. We had snickers bars and crackers for supper and went to sleep. Outside the wind was blowing all night, but inside the tent it was warm.
Date: 2005-03-02
From: Stone Tower 

To: Cold Springs Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Got up. Boots were frozen. Used toe warmer things. They worked. Got out of tent. Froze. Put on down jacket. Stayed warm. Took down tent. Fingers froze. Put on mittens. Fingers still froze. Started hiking. Fingers started to thaw. That morning Jim and I decided that hiking in snow sucks. We decided to make this day short and just hike to the next shelter, which we believed was about 5 miles away. Turns out it was 7, but we made it there by 12:00 after 4 hours of strenuous hiking. The rest of the day was spent reading and trying to stay warm. Between 4:30 and 5:30 five more people arrived. First came Boomerang and Jeremy (no trail name yet). Then came Feather and Heidi. And Mark came in last. The shelter was only built for 6 people but we managed to cram 7 in with no problem. All the body heat kept it very warm all night.
Date: 2005-03-03
From: Cold Springs Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

We got up late that morning. Mark and Jeremy were the first to leave. Jim and I left about 7:45 and headed for the NOC. The weather was warmer and around 10:00 we moved out of the snow. We had lunch at the next shelter at 10:30 and continued hiking. We got our first view of Fontana Dam and the snow-covered Smokies today. By 12:00 it warmed up significantly and I was hiking in a t-shirt and light pants. There weren't any major climbs, it was mostly a gradual downhill into NOC.About 1:30 we made it. Boomerang, Heidi, Feather, Mark, and Jeremy were already there. Mark and Jeremy stopped at the River's End restaurant for a bite to eat and went another 7 miles to the next shelter. The rest of us decided to stay at the nearby hostel for a night. Lunch was excellent. A burger and pecan pie and ice cream for dessert. After lunch I went to the outfitter and had a look around. I noticed they sold pints of ice cream. Score! I bought one and ate the whole thing. The rest of the day was spent showering, doing laundry, and doing nothing.
Date: 2005-03-04
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Ate a big breakfast at the River's End breakfast with Boomerang, Heidi, and Feather. Then I went to the outfitter and bought a box of pop-tarts. I gave two to Boomerang and ate the other six. That gave me a good kick that lasted the rest of the day. It was uphill all day. Some of it was particularly steep. At about 1:30 I discovered a rocky ledge a few feet off the trail and decided to rest there. The view was amazing. When Jim made it up he took a few pictures and we rested there for about 30 minutes. Then the sun suddenly disappeared and it got cold fast. So we just started hiking again. We arrived at the shelter at about 2:30. Boomerang, Heidi, and Feather were already there. While Jim was looking through his newly purchased Wingfoot book he discovered that there were places in it such as "Unnamed Summit" and "Unnamed cliffs". So he took it upon himself to give these places names. Nothing else interesting happened that day. Just the usual shelter activity.
Date: 2005-03-05
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Brown Fork Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: light rain

It rained all night. I was afraid we would be walking in it the next day, but it stopped before dawn. Jim and I were the first ones out of the shelter, at about 7:30. After about 15 minutes of hiking it began to rain ice. We both stopped and donned our rain jackets and gaiters and put our pack covers on. The ice shower stopped as soon as we finished doing this. We hiked to Stecoah Gap, about 7 miles, with our rain stuff on. Then it cleared up and started getting warmer, so we removed it. As we were doing so, visions of Jim scrambling for his rain jacket in the hailstorm flashed through my mind. After Stecoah Gap it was a gradual climb until we hit an unnamed mountain, which I will call Mount Thymbra after the battle in which Cyrus defeated Croesus the king of Lydia. Anyway, Thymbra was very steep and seemed to go on for forever. On most mountains you are unable to see how much further to the top and so you build up a small hope that around the next bend you will be there. Of course, the next bend is never actually the top, but at least it gives you a sense of hope. With Mount Thymbra, there was no false sense of hope. The trail went straight up and you could see that. So we started climbing. I made it nearly to the top when I discovered a cliff about 50 feet off the trail. I stopped there and waited for Jim to catch up. It was another cool view. As it turned out, the cliff we were standing on was actually The Great Whazoo Cliff, named the day before. After TGW Cliff it was another 30 minutes to the shelter. About an hour later two southbound section hikers arrived. As it turns out, one of them, Tim, knew a guy from our church. In fact, he had just talked to him the day before. Small world. Those two, Tim and Ken, were really cool. They offered us chocolate, a bean burrito, a memory card for Jim's camera, a salt and pepper shaker, and cooking tips.
Date: 2005-03-06
From: Brown Fork Shelter

To: Fontana Dam, NC
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We said good-bye to Tim and Ken and were on the trial by 7:00. Jim had made reservations at the Hiker Inn in Fontana Dam, owned by Jeff and Nancy, back at the NOC, so that's where we headed. It was a good hike. Just a few uphills in the morning and a gradual downhill the rest of the day. We saw Bill, the human, and Bandit, the yellow lab, about 10:00 at a shelter we stopped for lunch at. They were headed to the Hiker Inn as well. Cat had been at that shelter two days before us. About 2:00 we made it to the Fontana Dam visitor's center. Fontana Dam is the highest dam in the eastern U.S. We called the Hiker Inn from there and Jeff came out to pick us up. As he drove us to the Inn he told us what he knew of the weather in the Smokies. A storm system was expected to dump snow on them the next day. We decided we would stay at Fontana until the storm passed. When we arrived at the Inn, Boomerang, Feather, and Heidi were already there. I took a shower, and Jeff did my laundry. Bill and Bandit arrived a while later. At about 5:00 Nancy drove a buinch of us into Robinsville and we annihilated a chinese buffet. After that we stopped at Ingle's and picked up some food for breakfast, and Nancy drove us back to the Hiker Inn.
Date: 2005-03-07
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Food
Miles today: 0.0

Around 11:00 Jeff drove Jim, Bill, Feather, Heidi, and I to Robinsville. He said Nancy would pick us up at 5:00 at the grocery store. The first place we went was, of course, the pizza place. It was a pizza buffet and we ate for an hour. Then we waddled over to the library. We spent about 2 - 2 1/2 hours there. When we were done we were about to walk to the grocery store, which was about 1/2 mile away, when it started to rain. We had hiked through days of rain before, but it seems that when hikers arrive in town they get wimpy. Jim went back in to ask if they had a cab service in town. They didn't have a cab service, but one of the women who worked there volunteered to drive us. So we gratefully got in and arrived at the store dry. We first hit the drug store. Jim needed to buy CD's to burn his pictures onto. After consulting with two of the employees as to which type of CD he needed he picked up a pack of five. A few days later we discovered that these were not CD's, but were instead DVD's.After the drug store, the five of us invaded the grocery store. Jim and I decided that we were going to buy six days of food to make through the Smokies. We didn't want to stop in Gatlinburg, which is halfway through the park, because we heard the prices there are very high. I went to pick up enough Snickers bars to last the two of us six days. At two a day each that's 24. As I was cramming the Snickers bars into my basket a little kid standing nearby watched in astonishment. His eyes got wider the more bars I crammed in. When I paid for the food the cashier asked if I had one of their stupid cards. I asked if I could get one. That was my second card. I now have cards for both Ingles and Winn-Dixie. It was then that I decided I would collect them from the various stores I encountered on the trail.When we were done shopping Jim, Bill, and I hit the nearby Sonic while Feather and Heidi sat on the sidewalk near the Winn-Dixie eating cereal and guarding our supplies. After the Sonic it was about 4:00, so we sat on the sidewalk for an hour waiting for our ride. At one point an employee from the Winn-Dixie came out and looked at us like we were loitering hobos. He asked us what we were doing and Jim replied that we were just hikers waiting for our ride. A look of understanding crossed his face and he went back inside. At 5:00 Nancy arrived and we returned to the motel. I spent the rest of the evening watching TV and eating.
Date: 2005-03-08
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: NOC and Franklin (again)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

At about 8:00 this morning Jim and I received an offer from Puff Turtle, a thru-hiker with a car, if we wanted a ride to the Franklin outfitter. Since Jim's boots were hurting him and he wanted to get trail running shoes, and since my agenda consisted of sitting around the motel doing nothing, we both decided to make our second visit to Franklin. We first made a stop at the NOC to pick up Eric, another thru-hiker who wanted to go to Franklin. Before we left the NOC, however, we had breakfast at the River's End again.The drive to Franklin took about an hour. Amazing. It had taken us a week to make the same trip. When we got there Jim got the shoes he wanted. His boots had weighed 2 pounds each. These shoes weighed 1 pound each and were very comfortable. They say that 1 pound off your feet is 6 pounds off your pack so that was a huge difference. My boots weigh 1 pound 9 ounces and I will probably switch to trail shoes later on, but since I'm not having problems with the boots I'm going to keep them for a while.We made a couple more stops in Franklin. The grocery store (Ingles, already have it) and the Burger King for a shake. Then we drove back to NOC and dropped off Eric and returned to the motel. After reviewing the weather Jim and I decided to that we would go the next day. They were predicting snow flurries on Friday and it would be clear otherwise.