morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-12
From: NOC 

To: NOC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Zero day at the NOCExpenses: $14 for 2 breakfasts         $9 for lunch         $4 for ice cream         $8 for resupply (had mail drop for rest of needs)         $12 for dinner      Total miles today 2.0 Trail miles 0.0 Spent the morning saying goodbye to the folks who are heading up the trail today. Will not see most of them for either a long time or perhaps at all.   Hit the restaurant about 0800 and read through the whole menu and could not find a meal that had enough food in it. So, what the heck, I ordered 2 breakfasts. Bacon and eggs, with hash browns and a biscuit. For my appetizer I had an order of French Toast. That held me till lunch time when I had a wrap and a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I feel much better. Can't wait for supper.   Went to the outfitters and had them dismantle the shoulder straps on my backpack and reassemble to a better configuration. The original guy did not get it right as I have been getting cramps at the base of my neck between the shoulder blades. We'll give this new adjustment a few days to see if it is more comfortable.    As I recommended by a number of people on the WhiteBlaze hiker DB I decided to buy a set of the Frogg Togg's rain gear. I am not real impressed so far. They are light but definitely not very durable. I have a shoulder seem that is separating already. The worst thing is that the velcro flap that covers the zipper adheres to the jacket fabric like glue, so it is very difficult to actually unstick and fold over the zipper. It is clear that the pulling it away from the main jacket fabric will eventually do real harm to the jacket. It seems odd, but the Togg's seem much more bulky than my North Face rain jacket as well (just counting the FT jacket of course. And the FT stuff sack needs to be chucked for a better one. All in all I would say the Togg's are a mediocre product not suitable for extensive use. The caveat being extensive. Having had rain for 10 of 13 days (yes it rained again) and cold every day the jacket has already been used a lot. At the present wear rate it has no chance of making it all the way to Maine.WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-14
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: moderate rain

Total miles today 15.5Trail miles today 15.2Start at Sassafras Gap shelterFinish at Cable Gap Shelter at AT mile 156.0staying in tent1800 ft of ups 3100 ft of downs      I am tired tonight. I appear to be gaining a lot in strength though as I hiked the first 9.1 miles today in 4 hours and the final 6.1 in 2:35 hrs. That is an excellent speed for a geezer like myself. Now I have to work towards getting my endurance built up so that I can up the mileage. But that will have to wait awhile as I have to take about 5 zeros after tomorrow and go home to my daughters graduation from college. Then my sister and I are going to hike the GSMP together and take 6 days. So no high mileage there. This will be good conditioning for me and I should be getting trail hard by then. We will see.   Well I have wiped out each of the last two days. These are the first complete falls of the trip. Both times on slippery rocks. Today had a section where the rocks were covered in moss and still wet from the rain (yes it rained again last night and a little this morning). It was a pretty wild slip but I landed on my ass so there was little danger. It kind of looks like it might rain this evening as well. Pretty cloudy and a cold wind blowing. If I am remembering correctly it has rained at some point on 12 of the 15 days I have been on the trail. Now I did not get soaked every time as sometimes I was in my tent and once in the hostel at the NOC.   The reasons I always camp in my tent rather than sleep in the shelter with the other hikers are; I don't want to bother folks with my snoring, I like to go to sleep (at least try to) at 9 PM and shelters are often noisy after that, I am bothered by others snoring and restlessness just as they would be by mine, and I like to get up about 0630 to get hiking by about 0730 and this would wake up almost all the young people and about half the old ones. Plus it it is a lot more like camping and there are a LOT less mice running around waking me up. The kids caught 8 with their mouse traps last night in the shelter. As long as the PETA people don't catch them they will be providing a much appreciated service I am sure.   I may well be by myself tonight as the 2 youngsters that were at the shelter last night said that they were going to try for Fontana which is 6.6 miles farther than I am and I don't think any of the others could make it this far in a day yet. WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-15
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Visitor Center
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Total miles hiked today 6.9Total trail miles's today 6.9Start at Cable Gap ShelterFinish at Fontana Dam visitor center at AT mile 162.91000 ft of ups2200 ft of downsstaying at Hike Inn hostel   Well I have reached Fontana Dam at the southern entrance to Great Smokey Mountain National Park. This is kind of a major milestone in thru hiking the trail. I will be heading back home for a few days for my daughters graduation from college now. I expect to be back on the trail on Sunday. I hope it is warmer and dryer then. It rained again last night and this morning. Makes 13 of 16 days with rain. I hear that the rain is very bad up in New England, but there are probably only a few hikers that far north this time of year.   Speaking of bad weather. The proprietors of the Hike Inn at Fontana said that they heard that it snowed in GSMNP a couple of days ago. It is definitely cold in the mountains down here right now but a lot of it is also due to the high humidity and wind.   Both of these factors are making the cold, which is generally in the low 40's seem a lot worse. -while the day time highs are normally in the 50's it has been cloudy and windy almost all the time. Many days the mist has been so thick that it is like walking in a cloud. Everything is wet and brushing against the underbrush is chilling on ones bare arms and legs. The side effect of this is that the forest has a special character that is sort of primal. It is dark and does not at all feel friendly. Sound is muffled and one can literally see the mists swirling around the trees. With a little imagination, one can mentally convert the forest one is seeing to the giant trees of the past and pretend to be in the world as !Daniel Boone or Davy Crockette saw it. It must have been a forbidding place. Come prepared it says. Or pay the consequences.Wyoming   Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-16
From: Fontana Dam Visitor Center

To: at home
Miles today: 0.0

Zero dayStart Hike Inn hostelFinish Home   I am off the trail for a few zeros to attend my daughters graduation. This is a great feeling of satisfaction. Kind of shallow of me I know, as she was the one who did all the work, but the feeling is there none the less.   It was a 7 hour drive home from the Knoxville airport where I picked up the car. That was after a 90 min drive out of the mountains to get there from the hike inn. I was pretty stressed for the long trip up I-81 after a couple of hours. Ones perspective changes pretty quick. At first it was "Boy, these people are going really fast!" and then a couple of hours later it was "I wish these people would just get the hell out of my way!" Best get me back in the woods.   I have sad news (for me anyway). My sister who was supposed to join me this weekend to hike through GSMNP was doing her last training hike in the Colo Rockies this Sun. She was coming down a steep rocky trail at 10,000 ft or so during a snowstorm and slipped and fell. She dislocated and broke her ankle in 2 places. As it was 1600, cold and snowing this was not good news. She was 5 miles from the road head. Her husband was with her and, as they knew she could not be moved due to the obvious nature of the break, he broke out their survival gear and sleeping equipment and made her comfortable. He managed to get a minimal cell phone connection and alerted the Mountain Search and Rescue team. But the connection was intermittent and they did not have a GPS to pass coordinates. Just an approximate location. A couple of other people who came by that were heading out before dark promised to pass their location to the rescuers. About dark the first of the team arrived and realized that they would have to take her UP the mountain rather than down as the was an old jeep tail that was closer and more convenient than the 5 mile rugged trail. So another part of the team traveled up the jeep trail and descended down to her. They rigged a stretcher and carried her up to the jeep which had to navigate down through the snow in the dark. The docs relocated the ankle on Sun night and then performed surgery on Mon to put the bones back in place (pins and all that stuff). This is pretty sad as we have talked for many years off an on about doing something like this together and this was the first time it had worked out. Hopefully she heals well and we can try again sometime.BTW. I weighed myself when I got home and I have lost 3 lbs since I started the hike. I definately cannot keep that up as I would end up weighing about 120 lbs when I finished. Have to eat more. Wyoming
Date: 2006-05-17
From: at home

To: at home
Miles today: 0.0

Zero DayHome   I am pruning my gear today. So far I have cut out 1.2 lbs. This is good progress I guess. Still thinking of replacing my Frogg Toggs jacket with my North Face. This would add in 0.2 lbs. I would keep the FT pants. Will likely buy a proper stuff sack for the rain gear as I hate the FT one. As I was weighing my gear I noticed that the tent seemed much heavier than I had measured before. I figured that I must have made a mistake when weighing it before the trip. But then I also decided to hose off all the dirt (mud actually) as I had not had a chance to do this since the Cloud 9 hostel. I has been pretty muddy and wet. After the tent had dried I was back to my original weight. I washed off 0.6 lbs of dirt! Pretty amazing.   To further cut down weight I am going to buy a smaller titanium pot to replace my stainless steel one. About the only thing left to do after this would be wholesale changes in equipment and I am not quite ready to do that. The logical thing to give up would be my cushy Thermarest pad as it weighs 1.3 lbs. But even it is not soft enough that I can sleep on my sides as my hips sockets hurt too much. Maybe after I harden up some more I could go to one of the lighter pads. I could tear apart the guide book (Wingfoot's) but that seems a little extreme and the book was not really designed to be torn apart as it is not organized in that fashion. Another thought would be to dispense with the AT maps as I am not using them at all. Just the guide book as it is so complete that the maps are not necessary. Some hikers like them for the elevation profiles but the guidebook provides good data there as well. Almost no one actually seems to look at the map part of the maps. They only seem to be useful if you have to consider bailing out in an emergency. My cautious nature makes me reluctant to part with them for that reason, but once again the guide book lists all road crossings in detail. I could cut a pound or so by going to a single wall tent, but the folks using them the last few weeks have not been able to keep dry in the tent like I have with my Hubba from MSR. When it rains a lot, and the humidity is very high and the temps are cool there is no way a single wall will stay dry inside. I have seen no one using a true tarp or hammock yet. Almost everyone is racing for the shelters. It sort of makes one wonder if these other sleep systems are so great why no one seems to use them except when the weather is perfect doesn't it? One couple I met was carrying a prototype Henry Shires (sp) tarp tent that they were supposed to be testing for him, but they stayed in shelters and never once got it out to see how it performed in the rain. While it was far too humid for anything to dry in my tent at least it was not dripping inside of it. Though there was significant amounts of water running down the inside of the rain fly it dripped off the edges onto the ground.Wyoming
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Fontana Dam Visitor Center

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

Total miles today 13.7Trail miles today 13.5Start Fontana Dam visitors centerFinish at Russel Field shelter at AT mile 176.4Staying in shelter4400 ft of ups1700 ft of downs   Well I am in GSMNP "The Smokies" finally. It is like I never left the trail! Almost as soon as I started hiking it turned cloudy, then it drizzled just to taunt me, and then it rained for a few hours. I got soaked...as usual. Fell down twice today (think of a turtle on its back wiggling its legs) and almost about 10 other times, but no harm no foul I guess. The trail was really slippery. The mud in this area is like grease. Today makes for my 14th day of rain.    The trail in the park so far is really easy walking. It is graded so even a horse can walk up it. So even if the climbs are high they are relatively easy. The climbs getting in and out of the NOC were much worse than what I have seen here so far. It must get worse later on.    I was told all the shelters were going to be full (you have to have reservations in the park to stay at the shelters unless you are a thru hiker), but neither this one nor the other one I passed by were even 25% full. I think that the rains must have chased them back to civilization.    It is 8:30 pm and it is raining pretty hard again and the wind is picking up. It would seem as if this place would qualify as a temperate rain forest. It is going to be cold tonight I think. Probably in the low 40's with very high humidity and wind.   Well I guess that is it for tonight. WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Total miles traveled today 14.9Trail miles traveled today 14.7Start at Russell Field shelterFinish at Silers Bald shelter at AT mile 191.13500 feet of ups 2300 feet of downsstaying in shelter   Well, it did rain again today, but only long enough to get my feet soaked and a few other parts. It was generally warm except for when the clouds blew in and the rain came.   I saw 3 wild boars this morning. They were rooting around in the ground trying to find their breakfast. When they saw me they ran off snorting about the interruption. Saw two sizable piles of bear poop and some tracks in the mud, but once again¢¦no bears. I saw some prints of what I assume were coyotes and some very large prints that sort of looked like deer, but they were much larger than normal. That is about it for wildlife.   Tomorrow I cross over Clingmans Dome which is the highest point of the AT at 6600 feet. Today's travel turned out to be fairly strenuous. It could be because I was a little tired from yesterday and that I lost some conditioning due to the 5 day layoff. Of course I am at higher altitude and do not have the high level of red blood cells of someone who lives at this altitude. I will be out of these higher areas before I have a chance to get any high altitude conditioning as that takes 2 to 3 weeks.Wyoming Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-23
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: clear sky

Total miles today 15.8Trail miles today 15.5Start at Silers Bald shelterFinish at Icewater Spring shelter at AT mile 206.62600 feet of ups2400 feet of downsstaying in shelter   Today was glorious! The sky was blue right from the start and stayed that way all day. It was warm but not hot. In the shade it was cool and on the tops of the mountains the wind was brisk and cold.   I took another tumble today (nothing new there). It was the same old story. The knee flipped over and went CRACK. But, remembering my promise to Mr. Knee about not hurting him anymore, I let myself collapse and went to the ground. Only damage was a dime sized hunk of skin torn from one knuckle. Just a little blood. As an aspiring ultra-light hiker I can just consider it cutting a little extra weight.    Missed seeing a bear again today. Apparently, a Mormon bear was wandering down the trail. Now it might have been a Catholic one, but can¢t be sure as I did not see it myself. But considering that Catholics are sort of considered to have fallen from grace in these parts I am voting for it being a Mormon bear. Now you ask, "How could there be such a thing?" Well Mamma Bear was wandering down the trail with three, yes three, cubs. Ergo¢¦what else could it have been? For more animal stories see tomorrow¢s journal entry. I am spacing them out. Don't want to spoil you.Wyoming   Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-24
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

Total miles today 12.7Trail miles today 12.6Start at Icewater shelterFinish at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter at AT mile 219.2staying in shelter1900 feet of ups2100 feet of downs   Big day today! Passed 10% of the trail. A milestone! On top of that it was another glorious sunny warm day. We must be building up some bad karma for some gigantic thunderstorm, hurricane, or something.   A story I am passing on I was told today. It concerns a special species of flying squirrel known locally by hikers as the Fontana Flyer. This squirrel was observed to exhibit what was assumed to be slightly suicidal tendencies. While a couple of hikers were at Fontana Dam preparing for the jumpoff into the Smokies a Fontana squirrel was scampering around on the dam. Suddenly, with no warning and for no apparent cause, Sir Squirrel decides to jump off the dam...on the river side. Now this is not some leap from tree to tree, but off about a 480 foot drop. Sir squirrel sails off to apparent oblivion. Said hikers comment on this rather ambitious Base jump and the likely sad consequences for Sir Squirrel. To their great surprise, said squirrel eventually flares to a four point landing at the bottom of the spillway and scampers off. And humans thought that they invented this sport?   I am seriously thinking of shooting for a 20 miler tomorrow. This would get me to Standing Bear Hostel. Shower, bed, shave, laundry, etc. The pull is strong. We will see what happens. Both knees hurt today, but the feet were pretty good. And I have not yet succumbed to the lure of vitamin I (Ibuprofen to you non-drug users) as have most of the other hikers I am with.Wyoming   Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-25
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: moderate rain

Total miles today 18.5Trail miles today 18.1Start at Tri-Corner Knob shelterFinish at Standing Bear Hostel at AT mile 237.32300 feet of ups5600 feet of downsstaying at Hostel   Well I am out of the Smokies. It rained like crazy today. I thought I was hiking slow, but later when I saw how far I had gone I realized I was moving fast. This was most likely due to the lightening bolts that were slamming into the mountain all around me. Might have had my heart beating a little faster than normal I guess. I was a little uncomfortable carrying two aluminum hiking poles. So I just carried them in one hand thinking that if the lightening hit them it would only fry one side of me. Very clever I thought. HA! as Tom would say.   The saga of Blister Bill and the banjo playing Bear   Late one night a few weeks ago Blister Bill was snoozing away in the shelter with the other hikers. Now shelters are not just smelly places full of unwashed hikers. They are also very noisy at night when folks are asleep. Usually 4 or 5 are snoring at once and making other unmentionable noises. Now Blister Bill is usually one of the more accomplished snorers, but on this night he was awakened by a most unusual noise. It sounded like a strange kind of banjo music. Somewhat out of tune and off key, but still...this was a matter of some concern. He was in the southern Appalachian woods after all.      Now Blister Bill was not real inclined to investigate, but after awhile he could not resist. So armed with his trusty micro light, and dressed for combat in his Waldies and skivies, Bill ventured out. Following the sounds Bill soon came to the area where the food bags were hung. And what does he see but standing next to the steel cables holding the food bags was the Banjo playing bear. This bear was busily strumming the cables and eagerly watching the food bags dance in the air. Being a brave soul, Bill said "HEY!" The bear looked over at him and said in a growlly southern drawl "You didn't have to get down to your skivvies just for me Boy" and turned and walked off into the woods.WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-26
From: Standing Bear Hostal

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: few clouds

Total miles today 16.6Total Trail miles today 15.5Start at standing Bear HostelFinish at Roaring Fork shelter at AT mile 252.8 (BTW the guide book is way off on where this shelter is located. Everyone thinks that they have missed it because it is almost a mile farther up the trail than the guidebook says)Staying in my tent4400 feet of ups2900 feet of downs   Today was really hard. Between the long day yesterday, the heat, the humidity (it rained buckets for about 6 hrs last night) and the big hills I was pretty wiped out by about 1330 hrs. I was dragging big time. It felt harder than any day so far.   THEN! I came to Max Patch. This is a giant Bald (down here that means a hill with only grass on it). The views from the top were awesome. Easily the best I have had. It would be one of the greatest places in the world to have a house except for the fact that on a calm day the wind is about 40 mph going over the top.    I thought of about 3 good stories today but the heat seems to have burned them out of my head.Wyoming Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-27
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: (no name just along trail) at AT mile 272.6
Miles today: 19.8

Total miles today 20.9Trail miles today 19.8Start at Roaring Fork shelterFinish at (no name, just along trail) at AT mile 272.6Staying in tent   Well, today was both a failure and a success I guess. I covered more miles than ever before. But I could not get a room at the Hostel as it was full. The campground was full of thousands (yes thousands) of tourist and bikers so I deferred and decided to walk on out of town. It is Memorial Day weekend and there is no place to stay and the prices have been jacked up. It was $5 for a shower. Also, resupplied at outfitters for 71.83 to get me to Erwin (includes a new stove because my other one died).   Ordered up 2 pizzas for dinner though. That should make me feel better. Guess it will be a late night as I will have to walk a couple more miles to get clear of town. I can see that towns and taking days off in them are not going to be high on my list.   The pack is going to be heavy with enough food to get me to Erwin and extra water for a dry camp.   Later that night:    I am about 2 miles outside of town and 600 ft back up in the mountains. Camped on a little ridge that is just wide enough for my tent before the slopes fall away in either direction. It was tough leaving town after eating 1 1/2 large pizzas (I just could not eat all of both of them...so sad). And the hill was brutal after such a long day. For the first time on the whole trip I had to rest going uphill. I had begun to think I was beyond that. The truth hurts I guess.   One bit of exciting news...I covered 109.7 miles in the last 7 days. This is my first week over 100 miles.   I will need lots more of them. In fact I will need quite a few weeks between 120 and 140 before I am done.   Tired.Wyoming. Which way is North?