morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-01
To: Springer Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.2
Weather: clear sky

Although it says I only walked .2 miles I really did 9, but I had to hike 8.8 to the trailhead. Today was great. I woke up at 2:45am at my Uncle Ronnie's house, drove back to Atlanta airport, and got rid of my rented car. I am still amazed at how ugly that thing was. There will be a picture to follow for those with strong stomachs. Woods Dragon and Bernie picked me up and hooked up with their brother. I enjoyed a 9am cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake. I can eat whatever I want. We all arrived at 10am and their brother and his wife drove a car to a parking lot not far from where we will be staying. I couldn't wait and headed out alone. Wow it is steep, but when I got to the top of the 1st hill there was a parking lot and a well-timed public bathroom. Things pretty much go my way and this bathroom was no exception. The falls are really cool. I waited for my friends to get to the top and headed on out. I thought I would be climbing one large mountain (Springer). It's actually is 3 hills you wind up climbing. Just as I got to the shelter where I planned to camp, the forest Nazi showed up talking down to everyone about where they can camp and not camp. The forest Nazi who is really the shelter caretaker and a camper started yelling at each other. With all the testosterone going on I decided to camp away from the freaks. I set up my hammock near two very young kids that are thru-hiking, Nuts and Twig. They are extremely nice but they only look twelve. After a while my friends showed up and I had spaghetti. Woods spilled her supper on the ground and Bernie shared hers with her. Woods pack weighs a lot, she will either lose some of it or she will get used to it. I am really happy with my weight but I will have a hard time fitting 7 days of food in my pack. I think I can strap a fleece to outside to make more room. I see a lot of people with too much weight. We all hung our food bags; bears are a big problem here. I'm now in my hammock. It is quite warm and my bag isn't zipped. There were 16 inches that fell 2 nights ago in the Smokies, so I hope this 70 degree weather last. Well off to sleep I go, I am sure I will sleep well tonight after my long day.Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-02
From: Springer Mountain Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 2: real nice trails today. We were planning on pressing on but Bernie's feet are a mess, and Woods feeling the weight of her pack. I think they were keeping a very fast pace and they could certainly slow down. We stopped at our planned stop so we are still on schedule. I am glad to stop since I was able to bathe and wash my hiking clothes (sorta). I also am beginning to get a blister but it is real small and not too bad at all. There are about 20 people in and around the shelter and it is only 3pm. Last night I didn't sleep very well waking up every hour. It was really windy and my rain fly came loose. It was flapping in the wind all night. Since I have not perfected getting in and out of my hammock in a timely manner, I let it flap. It wasn't too cold, though, and it is only supposed to get warmer as the week goes on. The bugs are definitely out, but it is mostly gnats and flies. My biggest ailment is sunburn. Shaved head, loosing my hat, no leaves on the trees and the Georgia sun is not a good combination. I will be wearing my bandanna until Neels Gap where I will buy a hat. Tonight I will be having instant soup with bacon and olive oil. I'll get 4000 calories in somehow. Tomorrow we plan on staying at Gooch Shelter. I suspect it will be just as crowded as tonight. Last night they had a bunch of mice. I will be staying in my hammock unless it rains and then I will see.Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-03
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: clear sky

OK¢¦ the first day was tough, but I was excited and nothing bothered me. Yesterday was easy and beautiful. Today was the best by far, after a warm night and a decent night of sleep. I woke at the same time as everyone else. Some people are organized and break down camp really quickly and took off. First out was Cathleen, a woman from Wisconsin that looks like she is young with grey hair. She has been with the pack the first two days and is quiet, but you can tell she knows what she is doing. She is the quiet competent type, just like me if I would shut up and knew what I was doing. Reason left next with two other guys. I didn't want to be the slacker so I packed up and headed out. Today has some of the hardest hills that Georgia has to offer and after a one mile downhill came Sassafras mountain. I jogged the downhill and walked fast up the other side. I caught Reason going up, and we hiked for the next couple miles. We passed the two other guys and soon I felt the need to jog for a while. Reason suggested stopping at Justice creek for awhile, about 1 mile from the shelter. When I got there at noon there was no way I was going to pass up wading in the water and rinsing out sweaty clothes. I found Cathleen a short distance further down the stream. Soon everybody showed up and we all waited out the afternoon sun joking and discussing schedules. There is definitely a group of us that stick together. We decided rather than doing 15 miles and taking a day off at Kneel gap we will do about 11 tomorrow and hike 4 instead of a day off. This will still keep us on schedule and we can drop off Bernie and pick up our first food drop that my friend¢s brother will deliver. After that we plan to increase the mileage to about 12 a day. These hills are extremely steep, up and down. Every time you get to the top of a hill you look for the highest and steepest mountain around and sure enough the trail will head up it. Very few level times just up and down. I enjoy every bit of it even the ups. Time to cook dinner.Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-04
From: Gooch Gap Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night I woke at my usual time of 3:30am. I listened to the radio for 2 hours. There is a good classic rock station out of Atlanta. It seems like they play Ozzy every 3rd song. I even heard War Pigs. At 5am I had to pee again. This makes every night that I slept in my hammock. This time I decided rather than struggle back in my cocoon I would start to pack up. It then became my goal to be the 1st out of camp. When you are just getting up and you see someone who is all packed and ready to go, you can't help but to be impressed. So I went to say goodbye to everyone and notice Reason had left in the middle of the night. Drats, foiled again. I had some shoulder pain and a new blister on my right foot. I stopped to bandage up my toe and Ely was coming down the trail. I really don't like to be passed, so I high-tailed it up the hill. Ely passed me in no time at all. About a mile down the trail I found his hat so I tried to catch up with him. After a long 9:30am lunch break, three hikers that I really didn't care for caught up to me. They have to mention that they hiked the PCT with every other sentence. I really pushed on to try and stay ahead of the very noisy bunch. The forecast was for rain and it has been threatening all day. Just a few sprinkles were all that came down. I saw a couple that were putting on their rain gear, but I told them not to worry because things naturally go my way and it wouldn't rain until I got too hot. I arrived at the shelter at 2pm just as Ely was leaving, so I was able to return his hat. I figure that I needed a hat but this increases my chances of getting into heaven. I was just glad to get rid of the weight. Actually, my weight is really down since I only have 1 day of food left. I tried to eat as much as possible. I have to eat even though my appetite isn't catching up yet. Well it is raining really hard now and I still have to do chores. Everyone has come in by now and are trying to get dinner down before sundown.Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-06
From: Neels Gap (Walasi-Yi Hostel)

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night I got a good night¢s sleep in a bed. Got to eat leftover pizza for breakfast. Woods Dragon and I mailed 16 pounds to Hiawasi Center. It was mostly food but I also shipped my water filter. I tried the Aqua Mira for the first time today and it was fine. It is kind of hard to get used to the black specks that are floating around but you really can't taste the difference. With daylight savings time and since we had to wait until the store opened to send mail, we didn't to hit the trail until about 9am. Woods Dragon kept right behind me the whole way. Twig, Nuts, and Steamer cut out about half an hour before us and Reason just wasn't sure when or if he would leave. I caught up to Twig and Nuts about half way. Just before the shelter, I caught up to two more that had left this morning from the hostel. There were some great views and photo opportunities today. The shelter is filled with everyone from yesterday. There are about 30 people here somebody brought a guitar.   There is the first fire I've seen so far. It is pretty good ambience. I cannot think of a more diverse group. There is a girl that looks like she is from a Ricola commercial. The older crowd is well represented along with a group of partiers. As I am writing this, Reason came in. Our original group is all together except for Cathleen who didn't stop at Neels Gap yesterday. My left knee is pretty sore and walking on the rocks bothered my feet more than I remembered. I made an Alfredo pasta with sun dried tomatoes and smoked trout. Man, was it delicious and I tried to eat every little scrap from my pot. I went down to offer some of my smoked trout to Woods Dragon, Twigs, and Nuts and Woods spilled her supper again on the ground. She is really becoming a real thru hiker since she ate what she could off the ground. My tolerance for dirt is almost nonexistent any more. I only draw the line when I see a full bug, other than that it isn't worth trying to pick out. From what the weather forecaster says we are expecting a huge storm tonight. I'm extremely tired and will try to get an early start in the morning. Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-07
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Cheese Factory
Miles today: 13.0

Today is like no other. First of all, it was the best night for sleep. I must have been tired because I fell asleep with all the festivities of our new trail mates. I woke up at 2:30 am in a real bad thunderstorm and checked to see if I was getting wet. There was a little dripping and I decided I'd be dry enough. Next thing I know it is after 7am. I think I got 11 hours of sleep. There were about 30 people camping in and around the shelter. I didn't get off till after 9am because it takes longer to pack in the rain. Steamer left as soon as I got up and he was never seen again. I left with a bunch of the partiers but they were quite fast and I am really trying to take it easy on my knee. Coming down a steep hill, the trail turned into a mudslide. All morning we were in a thick fog and everything was dripping wet. I stopped at the top of Blue Mountain and ate some lunch. M&Ms, Payday, and a Powerbar were on the menu today. As I was done, Woods Dragon showed up followed by Twig and Nuts. Nuts gave me some vitamin I (Ibuprofen) for my very sore knee. I felt much better and was able to walk a better pace. When I got to the bottom of Blue Mountain, there were trail angels handing out trail magic. They had Gatorade, cookies, soda, fruit, and sweets. Just then the sun started shining. I waited until I saw Woods coming down and headed up the other side where I found a nice cascading waterfall. I was able to bathe and I tied my shirtsleeve to a branch of a log that was in the water. Hundreds of gallons of water flowed through my shirt. I have felt dirtier today than any other day. Just before I got to where we agreed to camp, I stopped and waited for the group. We supposedly are at the site of an old cheese factory but none found the actual site. This is the first time we didn't camp by the shelter. Reason came in at 7pm and we all decided it will be time for a zero day on Wednesday (a zero day is a day you don't walk any miles). We all really need it. It is amazing the whole gang has stayed together so far. There is one addition and that is Loser. He is the one with the guitar, and is from York, PA. We out-walked everybody else except for Steamer who we think is 2 miles down the trail at a shelter. Speaking of which, we are only two miles behind our schedule, but with the zero day we will drop further behind. It is okay, though; we will be much faster in about two weeks. They tell us that is the point we get our trail legs. I hear the town we are going to is big and has many great restaurants with seafood and steaks. I cannot wait. And only 12 miles stand between us and a hot shower. Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-09
From: Dick's Creek Gap (Hiawasse Inn)

To: Hiawasse Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Ahhh, a zero day. Everyone needed it for different reasons. I needed it to get dry and rest my knee. I woke up barely being able to bend it. Ice and a hot soaking bath helped a little, but when Big E and Loser got Reason and I for breakfast I wasn't able to keep up on the half-mile walk. After breakfast Big E and Loser said goodbye and hit the trail. Reason and I hit the town. First up, a cheap pair of flip-flops for Reason. Then we stopped at the laundromat to check it out and ran into Woods Dragon. Next, we went to the library and used the Internet. I went back to the room and took a nap (I know tough life). About 3pm, I went back to the laundromat where Woods was still doing laundry. She was there all day trying to revive her sleeping bag. I washed my clothes and stopped by the library where Reason was setting up a trail journal. Twig and Nuts were also there and this was the first time I saw them since we got to town. Next stop was the pharmacy. I got a knee brace and ibuprofen. We eventually all got together for dinner. We decided on Chinese since it was close and it was raining. Dinner took forever and Dairy Queen was closed by the time we got out of there, no peanut buster parfait. Tomorrow we still have chores do. We will have a short hike just to get us in the woods again. My knee is feeling better with the rest, brace, and vitamin I. We are planning a big 6 days to get to Natahala. I think we are going at a great pace. There are a lot of people dropping out because of injuries. We have been taking care of ourselves and each other. We all have injuries that we could say we have to drop out. You just can't carry backpacks over these mountains without something hurting. The difference between the ones who drop out and the ones that continue is stubbornness and positive attitude. I don't see anyone in our group that is wavering at all. I don't have any illusions about all five of us walking up to Maine together; we are beating the odds if just one of us gets there. It is just good to be on the same page as the group and our combined efforts make each individual¢s goals easier. Actually, I just wait until they tell me where to walk to and I follow the path until I get there. We should have about a day and a half of rain and some snow, but then it will get dryer. Next we will put on some serious miles and are out of the state of Georgia by noon on Friday. One state down thirteen to go.Peace,Dutch
Date: 2003-04-10
From: Hiawasse Inn

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: light rain

Today Reason, Twig, Nuts, Woods Dragon and I all hurried around town to get supplies and get to the motel to get a shuttle back to the trail by 11 am. I went to the grocery store and bought some summer sausage, hot pepper cheese, and some tortillas. I also went to Subway and bout a sub for the trail. The sub was so big I couldn¢t fit it in my pack, so I just ate it.   Reason, Twig, and Nuts took the first shuttle and then Woods and I went to the Blueberry Patch Hostel where we had a mail drop sent. They were very nice and took us the rest of the way to the trail. I have way too much food for the five days I¢m planning and should have left some behind. It was cold and drizzling for the three hours it took to lug the 20 lbs. of food to the shelter. At the shelter, everyone was already in their sleeping bags. The sleeping bag on the far right was Cathleen. It was really good to see her again. I made my spaghetti and was the envy of the shelter. I even had spaghetti wrapped in a tortilla with hot pepper cheese. Everyone (there were 13 people) stayed in the shelter except for two frat boys that were scared off by all the commotion of everyone laughing. They are calling for 2 ¢ 4 inches of snow tonight. The shelters are usually dirty and infested with mice cleaning up after messy hikers. The mice chew holes in your backpack and will run across your face while you sleep. For the second time, I have met Lone Wolf. He is a well experienced hiker, but what stands out the most is he snores very loudly and while he is awake, never shuts up. He mostly talks about his mother or his 60 lbs. of light weight gear he¢s toting. Woods gave me a Vicadin for my sore knee. I can still get rock and roll stations on my little radio. Time for bed. Good night.
Date: 2003-04-11
From: Plumorchard Gap Shelter

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, I woke up for the first time in a shelter. A shelter is like a cabin with three sides and sleeps 4 to 20 people. Main complaints about shelters are mice, mice feces, people that snore, and hard floors to sleep on. I thought it was supposed to snow, so my hammock was not ideal. As it turns out, meteorologists here, as back home, call for 2 to 4 inches of snow when they really mean 0 to 6 inches. I was disappointed to find no snow at all. I thought it would be cool to hike in a couple inches. Everyone was snoring except for me, of course. The loudest by far was Lone Wolf. Woods was talking about possibly stopping at the next shelter which is 7 miles away. I made it clear that I wanted to go to the following one 12 miles away. I know whenever the group says they will see at the first shelter that means that we will stop at the easiest one. We also agreed to meet at the GA/NC border. My knee really hurts and I can¢t put much weight on it. I was the second out of camp after Cathleen and arrived at the border around 11:30. Reason, who has been picking up his pace since he lessened the weight of his pack, soon came by and we ate lunch. The girls showed up in about an hour. They looked tired, and I knew they would want to stop at the next shelter. I said I was moving on and without much fanfare said goodbye. I turned the next corner and saw the mountain peak that I had to climb. It was covered with snow. Alas, I would not be disappointed and would get to hike in the snow after all. The skies still haven¢t cleared and the clouds make an eerie fog at this altitude. I saw the shelter that everyone was staying at and it was tiny. The frat boys were there but they decided to move on to the next shelter like me. I wanted to stay with my friends but if I only walk 7 miles, it would fill me with self-doubt. This is my second week and it is time to do 12 miles. The walk was much more difficult that I expected with my bad knee and the trail was really muddy. Everything was snow covered except the curvy muddy footpath. I was feeling pretty alone and started regretting not staying with my friends. Soon someone said, ¢Hey good lookin¢!¢ Here comes Reason strolling along. Pretty soon, we were at the shelter with Cathleen and the frat boys. There were also weekend warriors tenting around the shelter. I¢m sleeping my second night in a shelter about 5,000 feet above sea level.
Date: 2003-04-12
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Big Spring Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

I woke up to pee and there was a strange light in the sky. It was the moon. I haven¢t seen the sun or the moon in 8 days. Soon everyone was getting up and there was a new tent that wasn¢t there the night before. Lone Wolf comes crawling out. As it turns out, he was going to stay at the shelter the girls stayed at but it had about 20 people in and around a shelter that holds 8. Plus, they were busting on him for snoring so he picked up his bag and walked 5 miles in the dark to our shelter. Oh, lucky us. I had a big day planned, so I headed out early. It was cold but the sun was shining and you could tell it was going to be nice. The top of Indian mountain looked like a bob sled run. The trail was an icy depression in the snow running in and out of rhododendron tunnels. I stayed on top of the ridge until about 10 am. Then I descended into spring. Soon all the snow was gone, and flowers were blooming. My knee was getting better, but my ankle started to get sore. The first 10 miles flew by and soon I came upon Cathleen sitting at a campsite. She asked where I planned to camp and I told her I was planning on hitting the shelter 4 miles away, but if she needed company I would set up there with her. I could tell she didn¢t want to camp alone. She decided to go to the shelter and soon Reason happened by. We were all going to climb Albert Mountain together. It looks steep on the topographical maps. Soon there were fantastic views of a huge valley below us, but then the trail turned into more of a ledge on the side of a cliff. I was walking on a one foot wide muddy path that you can¢t tell what is attaching it to the rock face. What kind of cruel joke was it to put the trail on a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. It was at this point when I was hugging the rock face with my pack extended over the ledge that I thought of all the people who supported me and encouraged me. I know now these people are trying to get me killed. Pretty soon the really steep part came up. It was more like rock climbing and I would have to throw my hiking poles up on a boulder and climb up it. There was no dirt, just big rocks the size of VW Bugs. We climbed 800 feet in 0.3 miles. At the top there was a fire tower that had a great 360 degree view. We finally wound up at Big Spring Shelter. Another night in a shelter.
Date: 2003-04-13
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

Today my ankle is killing me and it is swollen. There is no bruising, so I don¢t think it is fractured. I was the last out of camp and then I stopped at a stream, boiled some water and took a bath. It is amazing how smelly I can get in just a couple days of hiking. I really took my time since my ankle was really hurting me. It took me all day to get to the Siler Bald Shelter and had to walk 0.5 miles to it. As I got there, Reason said, ¢Turn around, Mister, we¢re going to the bald on top of the mountain.¢ Well, the top of the mountain means 0.5 miles back to the AT and then 0.5 miles up to the top of the mountain, then 300 feet to the top of the bald. (A bald is a grassy top of a mountain.) At the top there were some Phish phans with a tape player so I got to listen to some tunes. We all watched a fantastic sunset and all slept under the starts. The frat boys were also there along with Cloud Walker. The night was great and you could see forever. My ankle hurts so bad I can¢t put any weight on it. Although I am really tired and can¢t walk, this is one of the better nights I¢ve had.