morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-13
From: NOC

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

I did a hellatious climb with some awesome views out of the NOC this morning. Ijust beat the rain and sleet into Sassafras Gap Shelter. I was literallyrunning down the trail, and just as I ducked into the shelter the friggin skieslet loose. It is pouring, and the ice is beating the hell out of this tin roof! I MUST have a guardian angel. It better stop soon because I've got miles to make.I'm going to have a little lunch, hope it at least slows up, and then pick myway back up the "Appalachian Grease Slide."It is also COLD! I'm sitting here in my Marmot Wind shirt, and my WesternMountaineering Down jacket for all you gear freaks, and I am toasty. I do haveto admit though that my legs are a little nippy in shorts.Gotta run eat. It is still pouring and the trail is turning white. Afternoonhiking looks like it may be a little sketchy. Hope there is somewhere dry tocamp.The slack packers stopped in at the shelter during the storm. They were soaked! Poor Wiley (Muddbutt) did not even have a rain jacket! They were all freezingand had to keep moving to keep warm. I felt so badly for them. They justlooked miserable dripping everywhere. They did not stay long. They weresupposed to meet their ride at lunch, it was now 1 PM, and they still had 6.7more miles to hike. I hope their ride had a good book.Passed "Walking Jane" and "Simon" (the dog) around 2:30. They are slack packingback to the NOC. I hope they make it before dark. There are some treacherousand muddy downs, and they still have at least 8 miles to the NOC.Cheoah Bald was all boxed in with clouds. What a climb for no views. I couldtell they would have probably been pretty impressive on a clear day. How couldI tell? Well, clearly there was a lot of day hiker traffic (numerous fire rings,trash, erosion, etc.), and it was no easy hike up, so I'm assuming the viewswere drawing the tourists.Against my better judgement, I'm camped about 2/10's of a mile above Stecoah Gapfor the evening. It has been drizzling for a while, and since it is beginningto pick up, I figured I had better set the tent up while I could still keep itsemi-dry.It looks like a cold dinner tonight, but that's ok. I'll probably stop a fewmiles in tomorrow and make Mac and Cheese for breakfast. Yum!On a side note, I've found it easier to journal throughout the day when I takebreaks. I'm afraid it may be a little disjointed this way though. Today'sentry is the first time I've tried journaling this way. Not sure if I like it. What do you think?
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 1.0

Dude! I did 15.1 miles yesterday! My first "over 15 miler" yet. Unfortunately, as I limped and hobbled around the corner at almost 8PM last night into the Fontana Dam shelter, the thrill of completing 15 miles and having my name yelled "Mayfly!" by other hikers, was lost amidst the haze of fatigue I felt. It is rough getting old. It is even rougher realizing that about half my sentences now begin with "Dude." I'm not sure which is worse.I limped down the hill with a half grin half grimace and a muttered hello, and immediately began scouting the area for a level tent site. The beautiful shelter was not an option. I finally wedged onto a slightly slanted slit of grass, and spent most of the night crawling back up the tent after I had rolled down. Oh well...I actually slept better than usual. Maybe b/c my body was more accustomed to constant movement already, and the stillness of sleep is still rather a shock for it. I'm hoping it soon adjusts to being still for long periods of time.At 10PM last night I woke up to OMG....SNORING! I had camped far enough away I thought to remedy myself of this. I peaked out the tent to see a vague dark shape near my tent from which this sound was emanating. I muttered some explicit remarks rather loudly and the noise ceased. This went on repeatedly throughout the night. That and the rolling allowed for little sleep, but those moments of quiet levelness were deeper than usual.This morning I peaked around the corner and saw the culprit. Some dude had layed out his sleeping bag on the ground about 10 ft. away from my tent, and it appeared to have been the one snorer in the area. Of all the places to sleep, and he had to collapse near me. He was still sleeping. I could have been quieter as I packed up my gear.Nancy from the Hike Inn picked me up around 9AM at Fontana Dam...I swear everyone that picks me up in a vehicle always has a certain golden glow around them...and we headed back to the Inn. I'm here for the night and then headed out first thing in the morning. The Inn is cute, and Nancy and Ed are extremely nice. Nancy even stopped on the way back so I could grab breakfast at a small country store...frozen pizza, 2 pepsis, bag of cheez-its, and a small block of cheese. A snack until I get to some real food. Rumor has it that there is an all u can eat pizza hut buffet in town. Ha! Gotta scoot...I think the buffet is opening. I'll try and find some scales tonight, so I can validate that I'm the first thru-hiker to ever significantly gain weight.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

I would just like to say the TOE is healed, and I only have one band-aid on myfoot! I am almost in perfect trail form....sorta. I also weighed myselfyesterday and about fell over. The scales showed me gaining a pound. No way! My clothes are looser. My jowls have shrunk, and my thighs no longer chafe fromrubbing. I MUST be gaining muscle! That's it...My brother and his wife came up to find me Saturday, and we stayed inRobbinsville, NC. They dropped me off at Fontana Dam on Sunday morning. I LOVEseeing my 3 month old nephews! They are only going to be tiny babies for solong. I sure wish they lived closer to me.The first day of hiking in the Smokies was absolutely beautiful. It was clear,low 70's with a ton of hikers out on Sunday. I almost missed my turn due to allthe horse trailers, and from what I hear several hikers did go the wrong way. The AT in the Smokies is the only section on which people and horses use thesame trail. I just love wading through horse crap. Some rancher down here musthave a ton of bucks.It is funny how my hiking has improved. I came around the corner this afternoonand there was some poor section hiker red faced leaning on her poles. She washeaded in the opposite direction. With a pained expression on her red sweatingface she said "Does this trail just keep going up?". I felt badly for her. Ilooked back over my shoulder, and then said "Yea, but just gradually.". "Howbout your way?". "Straight up for 2 miles she said." "I've been walking straightdownhill for the last two miles.". I grimaced and said great to be empathetic toher misery, and spent the next 2 miles looking for the "straight uphill" I neverfound. Three weeks ago I would have probably been suffering right there withher.Got into the shelter around 5:30 and went hunting for a tent site. In theSmokies you have to stay in the shelters if they are not full. If they arefull, then you can tent. There were only 4 people staying in a 16 personshelter, but just in case some showed up later,, I tented....:-). Lights out, beautiful day, time to snooze.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

I would just like to say the TOE is healed, and I only have one band-aid on my foot! I am almost in perfect trail form....sorta. I also weighed myself yesterday and about fell over. The scales showed me gaining a pound. No way! My clothes are looser. My jowls have shrunk, and my thighs no longer chafe from rubbing. I MUST be gaining muscle! That's it...My brother and his wife came up to find me Saturday, and we stayed in Robbinsville, NC. They dropped me off at Fontana Dam on Sunday morning. I LOVE seeing my 3 month old nephews! They are only going to be tiny babies for so long. I sure wish they lived closer to me.The first day of hiking in the Smokies was absolutely beautiful. It was clear, low 70's with a ton of hikers out on Sunday. I almost missed my turn due to all the horse trailers, and from what I hear several hikers did go the wrong way. The AT in the Smokies is the only section on which people and horses use the same trail. I just love wading through horse crap. Some rancher down here must have a ton of bucks.It is funny how my hiking has improved. I came around the corner this afternoon and there was some poor section hiker red faced leaning on her poles. She was headed in the opposite direction. With a pained expression on her red sweating face she said "Does this trail just keep going up?". I felt badly for her. I looked back over my shoulder, and then said "Yea, but just gradually.". "How bout your way?". "Straight up for 2 miles she said." "I've been walking straight downhill for the last two miles.". I grimaced and said great to be empathetic to her misery, and spent the next 2 miles looking for the "straight uphill" I never found. Three weeks ago I would have probably been suffering right there with her.Got into the shelter around 5:30 and went hunting for a tent site. In the Smokies you have to stay in the shelters if they are not full. If they are full, then you can tent. There were only 4 people staying in a 16 person shelter, but just in case some showed up later,, I tented....:-). Lights out, beautiful day, time to snooze.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Siler's Bald

To: New Found Gap
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Origin: Siler's BaldDestination: New found GapMiles: 12.5Date: 4/19/05Grand Prix HotelToday was not as hard as anticipated. As we speak I'm in Gatlinburg, TN waiting on "The Haters" (Muddbutt, Mimi, 50 Short, Slick) to call me for dinner. I started out the day at Siler's Bald with still sore feet from the previous day's 17 miler. I could also tell my legs still needed a little more recovery time. I'm sure this won't be an issue in a few more weeks.I was at Clingman's Dome around 11:00. Clingman's Dome is the highest point on this coast. It even has an observation tower near a parking lot for all the tourists. This is where I talked to "The Slackers", formerly known as "The Haters.". They were headed into Gatlinburg, TN, and told me to come along. Although I appreciated the offer, I told them I was going to move on.I zipped on down the mountain to Indian Gap where another hiker was talking to a couple of guys in a pick-up. A conversation took place, my warning bells rang, and I felt better going into town than moving on to the next shelter where I knew it would just be me and this other hiker. When the Slackers came up a few minutes later, I told them I was hitching in with them for dinner.I hitched in with the Slackers with a couple on their honeymoon. They were driving a white van with "Just Married soaped all over it. They said we looked pitiful and exhausted standing there with our thumbs out. We made the guys sit down while we gals got the ride.The slackers are taking a zero tomorrow. I'm headed out at 8AM in the morning on the shuttle. A couple more days and I'm out of the Smokies.Time to hit the sack.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Newfound Gap

To: Tri-Corner Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Today's hiking was amazing. I ran ridges most of the day, and the views were breathtaking. I took a bunch of photos which I hope turn out well. Charlie's Bunion was cool. I love scrambling around on the rocks.I'm still in the Smokies and can't tent. Usually I stealth, but there is not even a place to stealth at this shelter. There is one spot, but Kaeto, the Japanese magazine writer, has it already so he can work on his laptop in private in the tent. I'm not really sure I would want his spot anyway. He set up his tent next to waste containers, underneath food bags on the bear cables. Hmmmmm....Today was a fast hike. I decided to power after Lizard and Angel, and see if I could keep up. They are two very strong hikers, but I finished only 20 minutes behind them. I wanted to see the pace it would take me to do their mileage. I'm getting stronger daily, so a couple more weeks should have me at the pace I want to set.The shelter was about half full. Cold Feet was there. I was sure she would be a couple of days ahead. I knew some of the others but not all of them. Some I've just seen once or twice in passing, and I think several were section hikers. I wanted to throw a rock at the kid cooking his supper on the sleeping platform. Use a little common sense dude...and people wonder why the critters drive them crazy in the shelters. One of the many reasons I try to stay away from them unless I have to sleep in them.I'm off to dream with the critters.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Tri-Corner Shelter

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

Today was a long day...my longest so far from a mileage stand point. Suprisingly I feel better than I did after my 15.6 yesterday. I think the piggies are finally starting to toughen up.Today's terrain helped with the mileage. There were a couple of good ups, but it was mostly downhill. I've developed a kind of flexed leg skating style on the downhills. It allows me go faster downhill without as much impact on my knees.I met a blast from the past as I rounded the corner today. I came nose to nose with a very large red mule being ridden by a very large man in overalls. I skidded to a stop quickly looking right and left for a place to step out of the mule's path. The rider looked down at me and said "He's so tard, he ain't pain yo no tension.". I swear he said it just like that except with a long slow southern drawl. I would have love to have been a fly on the wall as he tried to communicate with some of my brethren behind me from the west and northeast.   I didn't get the rider's name, but his handsome charge was Luther.My next trail traveler to be met was about a 5' black snake. Thru-hikers have a tendency to always watch the ground in front of our feet. This is partially due to the fact that we are moving very quickly over very uneven terrain. I did not see Sir Snake until I was almost on top of him. He certainly made sure I knew he was there though. He lunged at me across the trail, and then swayed menacingly in a coil as I recovered from my nearly fatal heart attack. I then tried to skirt around him as he turned with me pretending to be a mean ferocious rattle snake. Even his little black tail tip was quivering as if it had a rattle. I finally left the trail, slid down around him, and headed on my way.I'm now in the Standing Bear hostel. I can't tell you where it is. It is an old farmstead that appears to be at least 100 years old. They've converted one of the old buildings to a bunk house that hikers can use, and I've snagged a bunk next to Buzz and Matt who I caught up with towards the end of the day. Matt is a thru-hiker from VA and Buzz is from Michigan. Matt is twenty something and Buzz is 60 something. They hike together.Gotta scoot, and go grab my food drop I had sent here.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Standing Bear Hostel

To: Brown's Gap
Miles today: 10.1

Origin: Standing Bear HostelDestination:: Brown's GapMiles: 10.1Date: 4/22/05I got NO sleep at the hostel. Buzz can SNORE. First up and first out this morning. I stopped in at the first shelter, and it started storming like hell.Buzz, Matt, Lizard, and Angel showed up and we all decided to wait out the rain. The wait lasted 3 hours as none of felt like getting caught in more storms.Around 4PM a guy wandered in with no pack and informed us that if we were to go 2 more miles up the mountain, the Georgia AT club was grilling out on one of the fire roads, and would serve us dinnerm. I've never seen hikers pack up and hike so fast in my life. Yes, I was one of them.The club had driven their SUV's up the roads and set-up a nice spread. We pitched our tents, ate dinner, and sat around chatting for a while before heading for the tents where I hunkered down and got blasted by thunderstorms all night.I forgot something. This morning about an hour after leaving the hostel, I was climbing switchbacks, and saw a freakin black bear! He was about 40 yards below mw walking parallel to me. I dropped my poles to get my camera, and he heard me and loped off down the mountain. Angel, Matt and Buzz said no picture, no count, and they had all seen Bengal Tigers chased by the Gingerbread man that day also. Butt heads!Goodnight.
Date: 2005-04-23
From: Brown's Gap

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I'm sitting here in Walnut Mountain Shelter in my sleeping bag. It is well below freezing, and I'm watching it snow outside as Buzz snores and my other 5 shelter mates sleep buried in their sleeping bags. Did I mention it was only 6:30? We have all been here since around 1:00 PM.I left Brown's Gap after breakfast with the GA AT club. It was pouring and cold, but I was convinced it would clear up and had on shorts, t-shirt, wind shirt, and rain jacket. When I hit Max Patch 3.5 hours later, the temperature had plunged, there were wind gusts up to 50 mph, and the sleet felt like it was blasting the skin off my legs.I hit this shelter, and am joined by Angel, Lizard, Pete, Buzz and Matt...all thru-hikers. It has to be in the 20's. The little three sided lean-to is ancient, and Buzz and Angel have rigged up a tarp across the front to try and keep out the wind and snow.It took me at least an hour once I arrived to warm up, and that was an hour after I changed into dry clothes and climbed into my 15 degree sleeping bag.I'm headed into Hot Springs tomorrow. I have a food drop and I'm taking a zero day since I will be getting in late afternoon tomorrow. It's almost seven and time to snooze.
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Walnut Mountain

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up at about 1 AM this morning in a very small old three sided shelter on Walnut mountain with snow blowing across my face. It was cold as hell and my 15 degree bag was struggling to keep me warm. I had hiked the previous day in sleet, and over the course of the evening the temperatures had dropped further and the sleet had turned to snow.My socks were frozen this morning. My water bottle was frozen, and both shoes were filled with snow. There was about 3 inches on the ground, and it was snowing even harder when I got up.   I crammed on my frozen shoes, packed up, and headed out behind Buzz who post holed through about 5-6 inches for the first few hours. In some instances there were drifts almost up to my knees, and the hiking was exhausting. We could not stop b/c it was too cold, so we hit the first shelter in ten miles in about 3.75 hours. We were cruising!We stopped in at the shelter for a quick break, and then headed on to Hot Springs. Town never looked so good. Buzz and I grabbed some rooms, and then Lizard, Matt and Angel arrived. I will be taking a zero tomorrow, and then I'm headed out Tuesday morning.I've had fun hiking with these guys, but Angel is getting off in a couple of weeks if not sooner, Buzz is leaving tomorrow, and Matt and Lizard like the shelters. I'm guessing I won't see this gang a lot longer. The hikers will start spreading out pretty soon, and even more will start dropping off I'm guessing. From what I understand, about half have dropped off by Damascus, VA which is only a few weeks away.Ya know what, I was going to take a zero tomorrow, but I'm actually thinking about heading out tomorow. I'll see if I can get everything done tomorrow morning. I really prefer hiking on my own, and it would be good to leave before the "gang."Lights out
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I decided to stay in town today. I had a bunch of chores to get done, errands to run, and my fanny hurt. I fell 3 times yesterday coming down the mountains in the snow, and have a bruise the size of an apple on each cheek. I woke up this morning stiff and sore, feeling like someone had been beating on me. Those roots are slick!I had breakfast this morning at the local diner, and grabbed lunch at a local deli. All I do is eat while I'm in town, and in between meals I'm snacking and planning the next meal.I've also run into hikers I've met over the last several weeks. I saw the "Jersey Girls" yesterday. It was great seeing them. They started around the same time I started several weeks ago. I saw them this morning again as they came searching me out to give me a six pack of New Castle. They are good gals. It was good to see them. They also informed me they now have trail names.....Dirty and Litmus. I have to get the story behind those, but it will have to wait since they headed out this morning.I changed hotels today, but the room was not ready, so I sat out on the front Lawn with Navigator, Hot Crotch (not as bad a name as it sounds), Lizard, and Angel, drying out my tent and footprint, and sipping New castle. I passed them out to everyone, and we each had one.Tonight will be an early night. I'm ready to get back out, and we are supposed to have nasty weather again at the end of the week. I'll be leaving early in the morning.Some other things done in town.Replaced Brasslite stove with Pocket Rocket.New GatorsBought CrocsSent home flops, old stove, batteries for camera.Food shoppingHoney Container boughtChecked e-mail since have no signal here, or have had one for the last several days
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Hot Springs

To: Somewhere in the woods
Miles today: 16.3

Best I can tell is I'm close to an old logging road. Lizard, Angel and HotCrotch are camped about 30-40 yards away.   We hiked until after dark b/c oftrail magic. It was tough finding a place to pitch tents.I left Hot Springs this morning after making calls on the pay phone for about 30minutes. The town has several motels, but not a single one of theseestablishments has phones in its motel rooms, and there are only 3 pay phonesin the entire town.I goofed around, stopping at some overlooks and a cool little well stocked pond,and also took a break to check my Blackberry messages from the last several daysand send some e-mails. The other 3 hikers mentioned above caught up with me,and we hiked together about 11 miles chatting and bantering back and forth.We had lunch at the first shelter where there were about 5 other thru-hikers andheaded on down the trail b/C it was cold and windy and we wanted to make a fewmore miles.It began to rain fairly steadily and poor Lizard and Angel were miserable. Theyare both from Arizona and can't stand the rain. Hot Crotch is also a rain whimpfrom Texas and high tails it for the closest shelter at the first sign ofdroplets..Lizard's knee was pretty swollen, and as they all sulked down into Allen's Gaplooking like soaked rats we saw a sign for Trail Magic. Everyone went intooverdrive, and we headed to the magic to be greeted by great angels giving outstew, soda, and an awesome desert! Thank you Trail Angels.We did not leave until 7:30, and struggled through the dark to find a place tocamp. Lizard's knee is also pretty swollen, and she will probably have to gointo the hospital tomorrow. It looks pretty ugly.It's getting pretty late. Night all......