morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-03-24
From: Newfound Gap

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

I should have known better. when I woke up this morning it was drizzling, so I really took my time peeling myself out of the comfortable bed and packing all of my clean stuff into my dirty bag. I tried to make sense of the weather report, but it didn't seem to focus on the location I was interested in. After a refueling stop at a Denny's in Pigeon Forge we headed back up into the dreaded Smokies. A little ways after Gatlinburg it started to snow. It was beautiful, and families were parked alongside the road frolicking and having snowball fights. The higher we climbed the more snow there was. At Newfound Gap there was between 2 to 3 inches. I should have asked Dale to turn the car around and take me back to his house. The first 3 miles were actually very pleasant, except for the full belly, full food bag syndrome. I've always liked walking through falling snow because the air is calm and peaceful and everything sounds muffled. I stopped ar the first shelter to get out of the snow for a minute and to sign the trail register. There I found Turtle M and Turtle D whom I had met way back at the Sassafrass Gap shelter. It's funny how excited I get to see people I've met only briefly out here, but there's something about seeing a familiar face that makes the day less lonely. We exchanged greetings and then on I marched. Speaking of a familiar face I also ran into a man I had seen yesterday morning who had offered me a ride into Gatlinburg. I had more time this time so I stopped to get the scoop. It turns out that when he thru-hiked the trail several years ago he had problems getting a ride into Gatlinburg, so now he comes up from Atlanta once a year to help other hikers get a ride into town. He was a really nice guy.The 7 miles from the first shelter to the second became long and arduous due to the snow. By the time I stumbled into Peck's corner at 5:30 it was about 8" deep and still snowing. I had been battling with my platypus huse during the last 3 days. It won, it's now a solid tube of ice. So, I got into the shelter thirsty and exhausted. Turtle M and Turtle D showed up about an hour later, right before I fell asleep.
Date: 2006-03-25
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Tricorner Shelter
Miles today: 5.2

I've decided that I shouldn't make any more plans to meet with people. It seems that as soon as I do, the trail conspires against me and does everything in its power to slow me down. I just made plans to meet my Aunt Janet at Hot Springs, and now I'm stuck in a major snow storm. The 14" of snow on the ground (and still falling) turned my plans for a 13 mile day into a 5 mile day. How am I supposed to let her know I won't be able to make it in time? I want out of the Smokies!Four of the men at the shelter this morning decided it was way too dangerous to walk anywhere today, and then they kept trying to describe the horrible things that would befall me if I left. I left anyway and they will be glad to know I made it here alive. I ran into the Turtles a couple of miles before the shelter and I walked with them the rest of the way since I figured safety in numbers. Unfortunately I got a little damp today so that I was very chilled when I got to the shelter. I got changed into dry things and crawled into my sleeping bag for the afternoon while watching the rest of my shelter mates busy themselves trying to build a fire to thaw their stuff out. At about 7:30 we were joined by 2 more hikers, Beamus and South Paw, who turned out to be the last of last year's southbound thru-hikers. I was fascinated, of course, so I grilled them with questions until I'm sure they were quite sick of me.
Date: 2006-03-26
From: Tricorner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

There was still snow on the ground when I woke up this morning, and it was still only 20 degrees. That meant that I spent at least an hour peeking my eye out of the little hole of my sleeping bag weighing how hungry I was versus how cold I could become. The hunger eventually won out. But it didn't stop me from crawling back into my sleeping bag yet again.It turned out that those two southbounders were even later risers than I. I wasn't sure if I should see that as a sign that my late morning starts wouldn't prevent me from finishing my thru hike or as a sign that I should speed it up a little since they'd been out here for 8 months. Either way I'm glad I procrastinated because I was able to coerce them into telling me some of their fascinating stories.I did eventually hike a little bit today. Farther, in fact, than yesterday but still not far enough to take me out of the Smokies. It even started to clear up today. The walking was easier at lower elevations, and I could actually see some blue sky and sun. At one point I was able to gaze down into the snowless valley into which I'd love to be hiking.When I arrived at the shelter at about 3:00 I was seriously considering going on to Davenport Gap, but I decided that another 5 hours of walking into unknown conditions wouldn't be very wise. So I stopped and got right back into my sleeping bag. Lately it feels like I get out of my my bag and get packed up only to unpack and get back in only a few hours later. It will be nice when it warms up, which will hopefully be tomorrow. We were joined this evening by three groups of section hikers, so the shelter is pretty full. I don't mind though because I find them more animated and fun to observe than thru-hikers. Several came in with cotton sweatshirts and one was even wearing the ever-dreaded jeans. The family that was up on the loft with me was especially fun and kept me entertained all evening. Two of the five were sisters from a family of six whose names all begin with J just like my mom's family. The nephew was perhaps the most entertaining of all. He seemed to be almost as hungry as me. I hope they're able to stay warm tonight, I guess we'll see tomorrow.
Date: 2006-03-27
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: clear sky

Despite my anxiousness to get out of the smokies, I never really though that there was some line that I would cross where the snow would be gone and the temperature would be 60 degrees F. The funny thing is that that is exactly what happened. The section hikers survived the night, albeit a little colder and with a little less sleep than desired. The nice family gave me some Honey Gu because I think they were a little dismayed at my stock of food. I was last out again, but at the very reasonable time of 9 am.As I climbed down out of the park the temperature began to increase and the snow began to melt. I¢ve had these giant marshmallow sized ice cubes frozen to the zippers of my rain pants for the past three days and as they got dragged through the wet snow they turned into giant snowballs. Eventually it got so warm even those broke off. At Davenport Gap I took off my cold weather clothes because they simply weren¢t needed. It was an amazing feeling.For a while today I kept crossing over a beautiful, clear little stream whose water tumbled over all different sizes of waterfalls. I felt so good and it was so beautiful out that I couldn¢t resist taking off my boots and plunging in my feet. It was cold, but boy, did it feel good. By 2:00 I had crossed under I-40 and arrived at the Standing Bear Farm. This was where I had planned on staying, but my chicken side came out again when I saw the country farmhouse, pick-up, and man who directed me to do something I couldn¢t understand ¢over yonder.¢ So I fled back to the woods where at least I know what¢s going on. The only sad part about not staying at the hostel is that the nice family this morning had offered to take my garbage, but I refused because I thought I¢d be out of the woods that night.In the end my planned short hike became the longest hike I¢ve done so far. I could¢ve stopped at a campsite, but I felt really good. Maybe the snow storm workout helped strengthen my legs. When I got to the shelter tonight I met a fellow thru-hiker named Minnesota Smith who told me that I had made a mistake by not stopping at Standing Bear.   That¢s okay though, I¢ll be in Hot Springs in just a couple of days.
Date: 2006-03-29
From: Streamside Campsite

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

My watch alarm was set for 6:30 this morning because I wanted to get into town in time to get all of my chores done. Sutpidly, I forgot about this and put my earplugs in, so I didn¢t hear the alarm when it went off. I was still able to leave before 9, so I figured I would make it into town before the post office closed. There was only one major climb today, Bluff Mountain, and I got it out of the way right away this morning. Lately I¢ve been noticing that I¢ve started to clock-watch. I think I¢m getting a little bored while hiking, so I keep looking at my watch to see how much farther I¢ve got to go. It¢s kind of like taking a very long car ride.Bemis and Southpaw have left some very funny entries in this last section of trail registers. I don¢t know where they got them, but somehow they got some paper clippings with pictures of a young David Hasselhoff gazing intently into the camera. They taped them into the registers followed by a ¢HHT¢ (Hasselhoff Hiking Tip) that usually has to do with staring into David¢s eyes before drifting into a deep sleep. Those guys crack me up.I¢m a little disappointed with the city of Hot Springs itself, probably because I¢ve been looking forward to it for so long I had imagined it a little bit bigger. It¢s tiny, and for a town that has a trail running right through the middle of it, they seem kind of impervious to hikers. I got to the post office before it closed and then headed for the closest inn, which happens to have a caf© underneath it. The caf©, sadly, isn¢t open for the season yet and the inn, though very nice, is missing some things I really need, namely towels, a phone, and a washing machine. I used my pack towel to take a shower and then headed out to check out the outfitter and utilize the Laundromat, but I was thwarted yet again when I found out that both closed at 5:00, which was right about what time it was.At least the pay phones were still open, and even though I didn¢t get the fulfilling conversation I was looking forward to, what with the car noise and all, I got to talk to Robert and my mom. Robert and I had our last little talk about his coming to visit me on Sunday, so now I have another schedule I have to keep to. After our conversation, I walked over to the diner which was thankfully open until 7:00. I had a delicious burger, salad, and pie, and officially met Chestnut and another hiker named Ian, both of whom are doing big miles.Speaking of big miles, tomorrow I have to do close to 20 if I want to meet Robert on time. Since I have to leave really early he convinced me to skip laundry day until Erwin, now he¢ll smell me before he sees me.
Date: 2006-03-31
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Flint Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a good day. Just like last time a good night¢s sleep helped to rejuvenate me. I could see on my map that today¢s hike would be less difficult as well as shorter. What I didn¢t see on my map was the fun rock scramble across a ridgeline that slowed me down this morning. It was fun because it took concentration and it was something different from what I¢d been doing for the last four days. Plus, the scenery was beautiful.After lunch the walk got even better as I crossed over balds and through fields, and eventually, ended up walking on an old carriage road which was nice on my legs and helped improve my pace. I went past a few graves today, which I always have to stop and inspect because I find them fascinating. I noticed that rain clouds can fool the birds. When the air gets still, the birds stop chirping because they think it¢s going to rain, but if the sun peeks out from behind a cloud or if the wind picks up again they start singing. It seems that they¢re no better at meteorology than I am. I also noticed that the trees around here are sick. Many seemed to have lost the will to live and just fell over, roots and all. There was a whole grove of branchless, barkless trees about two miles before my destination shelter. It makes me wonder why.I pulled into the shelter tonight just as it started raining. No tent for me, I¢ve learned my lesson from the last time it rained I¢m sleeping in the shelter tonight. I haven¢t seen anyone all day, and there is no one in the shelter tonight. I¢m still in this weird hiker void caused by the snow storm and road closures. Tomorrow I have to do big miles so I can get to Robert on time, maybe I¢ll catch the stragglers of the group I know is in front of me.
Date: 2006-04-01
From: Flint Mtn Shelter

To: Bald Mtn
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

The first day of April and spring is in the air. I saw three animals today, a squirrel, a mole, and some turkeys and that¢s more than I¢ve seen so far this whole trip.I had an early start this morning because I knew I needed time to walk over 18 miles today. I was worried that the long distance might make me bored and depressed again, but this, fortunately, was not to be. It had stopped raining by the time I woke up and the clouds hung around until I stopped at the Hogback Ridge shelter for lunch. I changed out of my rain gear and headed on my way.There were a lot of ups and downs today, but I would frequently look at my map and tell myself, ¢Just a 45 minute workout and I¢ll be over this beastie.¢ This really seemed to work for me. I kept up my pace and I didn¢t look at my watch so much. Plus, as an added bonus, I got to look at my map a lot and I love maps. I¢ll probably keep using this technique since it worked so well.I crossed my second interstate today and this is where I saw my first other hikers of the day. They were day-hikers and they were trying to decide which direction to travel. I suggested north, but they went south. This is unfortunate because only 2 miles up the path, I ran into this lovely little bald with views all the way up to big bald, my nest big monster to climb. It seemed so far away it was hard to believe I was going to reach it on foot the same afternoon.I did make it to the top, and I was rewarded with a 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape. It was absolutely breathtaking, but so was the wind so I hurried on to the shelter scaring up about six turkeys on the way. After so many days of solitude, Imagine my surprise when I found two thru-hikers in the shelter, Karuna Miel and Cookie. It was nicke to have company after so many days alone, and I went to sleep very happy.
Date: 2006-04-02
From: Bald Mtn

To: No Business Knob
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: few clouds

Today was pick up Robert day! I had set the alarm on my watch for 7:00 am because I was worried that with the time change and all I might not wake up in time for our 12:00 meeting. I needn't have worried though, because I was so excited I kept on waking up every hour or so. I ate my breakfast, packed my bag, and said goodbye to Karuna Miel and Cookie. About 15 minutes later I said goodbye again after running back to the shelter for my forgotten hiking poles. Six miles seemed to stretch into an eternity, but I finally arrived at Spivey Gap - even a little bit early. The truck pulled up and out jumped Robert with my requested Subway order. After he double checked to make sure that the dirty street person on the side of the road really was me we hugged, we chatted, and we ate on the bank of a little stream. We only hiked about 5 miles to get to the shelter, but it gave Robert a chance to see and feel some of the ups and downs of the AT. He got to meet some of the other thru hikers that I'd already met like Cookie, Chestnut, and Snake. I was happy that he'd be able to put a face on the people that I talk about day-to-day. We put up our tent and lounged around for a while before eating dinner. We took a little backpacking quiz from the magazine Robert was reading and in the middle we started to hear what sounded like really loud wind. As soon as I realized it was rain that was coming our way I yelled that we should probably get out of the tent quick to go to the bathroom before it was too late. We ran for it, and then we fell asleep listening to the sounds of the thunderstorm outside our tent.
Date: 2006-04-03
From: No Business Knob

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 6.3

When we woke up this morning it was still raining, but by the time we had eaten and were ready to go the weather had started to clear. It was another short easy walk back to Uncle Johnny's Hostel where the car was parked. I asked Robert what he thought about the AT and he said that it was fun but he couldn't do it for an extended period of time. He also said that he thought rhodedendrons are creepy. We spent the rest of the day trying to feed my hungry stomach and finish other town chores. In the end we didn't get as much relaxation time together as we wanted, but that's how it's been at every town so far. We did have time to sit in the hot tub, which was nice for my feet and legs, and to watch a movie. Next time we hope to have a longer visit.
Date: 2006-04-04
From: Nolichucky River

To: Curly Maple Gap
Miles today: 4.2

I was worried that taking a zero day on the day that Robert left would make me really sad and lonely, so I opted to take a "nearo" instead. This means I walked just enough to keep my mind focused on hiking, but not enough to put any stress on my body. Leaving Robert became a little easier because of a little 4-legged trail angel. Right when Robert gave me a hug and said goodbye this corgi-looking little dog came running up to me. I started hiking thinking it would eventually turn and run back home but after a half a mile I realized it was planning on coming with me. I didn't think his little legs would make it all the way to Maine, so I turned around and walked him back to town. Uncle Johnny said someone probably abandonded it so he took it in and fed it, and told me he would try to find someone to adopt him. So I ended up walking the first .5 miles of the trail three times, but like I said, it kept my mind off of Robert leaving so it was a good thing. For some reason the easy 4 miles to the shelter seemed to take forever and were very difficult for me. Maybe it was frustration because I knew it was supposed to be my day off, or maybe it was the big hill in the way. About halfway up Chestnut came cruising by. I tried to speed up and he tried to slow down for about 5 minutes to chat before I told him to go on before he killed me. When I got to the shelter Chestnut was there, and I said hi again before pulling out my lunch. Ian came by a few minutes later and, to my horror, they talked about how easy the hike was. As we were talking Snake came up, and I got to meet Stinky and Orangatan, whose trail register entries I'd been reading for a week. After an impressive display of candy everyone left except for Chestnut who decided to opt for a nearo with me. That was about as eventful as my day got. I met a lot more people: Matt, No Worries, Little Brother, Bushwhacker, Kurly, Swanson's and Pebbles. I played some cryptograms and ate some more food. Matt also decided to stay at that shelter, so he, Chestnut and I had some conversations and laughs. After I settled into my sleeping bag to write in my journal Chestnut laughed at my mouse and now porcupine phobia, and then indirectly suggested that instead of getting a summer bag that I should just buy a piece of plastic at the hardware store to wrap myself in at night. He had seen a section hiker do just that, and we laughed late into the night about good ole "Crinkle".
Date: 2006-04-05
From: Curly Maple Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: clear sky

I was only planning on walking 18 miles today, but Chestnut convinced me to do 21 so that I would have my first day over 20. He said that it gets easier after you've done it about three times. It started well - my legs and feet felt really good after my nearo and the distance wasn't mentally bogging me down. Robert had bought me some jelly beans, which he had been told would help boost your energy when going long distances, so I ate a handful of these whenever I started to feel low. It really worked! The hike itself was pretty uneventful, but I never got bored. I saw a skunk and a deer. I tried listening to my headphones but the battery died. I walked and walked. At about 19 miles I really started to get tired, and when I pulled into the shelter an hour later I was so exhausted I was clumsy. Jaywalker was there and he watched my clumsy legs fail me as I tried to step up into the shelter - it was my first fall in a shelter. I got water from a spring that seemed miles away, rewarded myself with Mountain House spaghetti and went to bed, way too exhausted to write very much.
Date: 2006-04-06
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was the best sleep of my whole trip. When I woke up this morning I knew I had a shorter day so I took my time getting ready. But not too long...today I had to climb Roan Mountain and, according to my map, it was going to be tough. It was cool and overcast when I got started, and I ended up leaving my sweater on all day which is very unusual. I got some gorgeous vistas as I was gaining elevation this morning. You could see little farms in the valleys with the mountains looming behind. Today I decided to give Ian's no-watch method a try. He called it liberating but it was maddening to me - I couldn't tell how far I'd gone, how much daylight I had left or, get this, what time it was! I wrote this in the Roan mtn shelter register when I stopped to have lunch at who knows what time. It was cold at that shelter, which is the highest shelter on the entire trail, and as I ate it began to rain. This was when my daily plan of camping out 2 miles north of Overmountain shelter changed to sleeping in Overmountain shelter. I'm glad I made the change. First of all the trail got washed out late in the day and my legs got tired, and second of all, the shelter was awesome and the surrounding landscape was even better. I passed one shelter on the way that had a little green tent pitched inside. Who would possibly pitch their tent inside a shelter? It was Sticker whose last words to me had been, "You should write your social security number on your arm so that we can send your family flowers," way back on that snowy day at Peck's Corner. I continued on until I got to the Overmountain shelter. There was a plaque there explaining the significance of the Overmountain Trail, which intersected the AT at that spot. Evidently frontiersmen used the trail to get to a famous Revolutionary War battle, which they won. I think about armies out here a lot, actually, and how difficult it would be to march hundreds of miles over the mountains with artillery in those stiff uniforms. It humbles me in my self-wicking, hydro-phobic clothes and 35 pound pack. The shelter itself was a barn that had been converted into a shelter. Rumor has it that some movie was shot there. On the bottom level there were the standard platforms and then the entire loft was a third platform, which is where I slept. There were a bunch of people at this shelter, all of whom I had previously met, and they were celebrating No Worries' 19th birthday. I went to sleep feeling old.