morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-06
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: broken clouds

"Trail Magic" strikes agian. When we woke up and tore our camp down to pack out for Newfound Gap our trail angels had sausage biscuits "to go" for us. We had 4.5 miles to hike out to the gap and at about 2 miles we came out of the woods at Indian Gap where there is a small parking area. I saw a woman leaning on her pickup truck as I came out of the woods and I said "Good Morning". She asked if I was a thru hiker and I said I was and she said to come on over. She had chicken salad sandwiches, oranges, bananas and soda. We had just encountered another trail angel. We all just looked at each other and couldn't quite believe the treatment we were getting. I think all of us are a bit mistified at how great these people are. Another car pulled up with a woman and her mother. She asked if we were through hikers and came over to talk to us. She wanted some pictures with us (Bee Keeper, Milo, Hatteras and Nuke) and her mother. We gave her mother a pair of trekking poles and put her between us-she was thrilled. We left Indian Gap and walked the last 2 miles to Newfound Gap and as I came out of the woods ANOTHER trail angel had left a bag hanging in a tree full of candy for us. Then, to top off these 4.5 incredible mile, as I crossed the highway with the rest of our group I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Bert, his wife and another of his friends, our trail angels from the Mt. Collins shelter, waiting for us. Here we thought we'd have to hitchhike into Gatlinberg and there were our trail angels waiting to take us in-just unbelievable!! These are just fabulous people who enjoy helping the thru hikers and I can't tell you how much we all appreciate their efforts. Once here we got rooms at the Grand Prix Motel. I'm sharing a room with Beekpr and the rest got separate rooms. We seem to always have a great time together. This is a terrific group of hikers to be going through the Smokies with. The weather is supposed to be stormy tonight and tomorrow morning which is when we will be returning to the trail. We hit another milestone today by going over 200 miles. We've done about half of the smokies and we're anxious to get back to see what new adventures we'll have hiking through the other half.
Date: 2003-04-07
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

We got a late start back to the gap out of Gatlinberg this morning. We caught a ride back to the gap from a taxi service in town for $8.00 a piece which we figured wasn't too bad for a 13 mile trip. I packed my rain gear on top of my pack since the weather in Gatlinberg was partly cloudy and mild so shorts seemed to be the dress of the day until we got to the gap that is. Up there at 5,000 feet it was raining and the wind was blowing making it very chilly so on went all the rain gear before we started to climb out of Newfound Gap. The rain stopped after abut 30 minutes but it looked threatening so we left our gear on. I have to tell you, when you're climbing with a heavy pack you're gonna sweat inside all that rain gear so you get wet anyway. It did protect us from the cold wind though. I just listened to the weather report and for the next 3 days they predict moderate to heavy rain with possible flooding below the high elevations. In other words-wet hiking!! I don't mind the rain so much as I do missing the great views when the trail is socked in.Hatteras has a possible injury, probably a tendon, in his foot and may have to go off the trail at Davenport Gap. We're hoping it goes away by then. He's been a great hiking partner.Beekpr, Milo, Hatteras, Nuke and I arrived at this shelter about 4:30 p.m. It's newly renovated with no cage and instead a canopy built out from the shelter with benches and tables for us to cook on-super shelter!Tomorrow we're going to Cosby Knob Shelter, about a 13 mile hike, which is about all we will want to do in the rain.Well, I'm finished eating, purified my water, put on some dry clothes, hung my food bag and I'm about ready to turn in and listen to the radio, if I can get any stations, before conking out for the night. Think sunshine for tomorrow :).
Date: 2003-04-08
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The expected rain did not hit us as predicted this morning but it remained foggy with no good views throughout the day. We hiked about 13 miles today and since we kept our rain gear on - you guessed it, sweat city. One of the most uncomfortable feelings on the trail is sweating inside rain pants as you're climbing, your legs sticking to the material-yuk! No matter what the claims, you will sweat in any rain gear trudging up a mountain.I hiked most of the day with my usual group but we spread out along the trail about midday. Sometimes when hiking by yourself you get these tunes in your head that you just can't get rid of. Today's selection was The Beatles, "I Am The Walrus". I hiked along for about 2 hours whistling and humming that d--- song until I ran into Nuke and the rest of the gang. Ko Ko Ka Cho! Hatteras is feeling better and took it slow but arrived at the shelter about 45 minutes after we arrived. Hopefully he'll do well tomorrow.There have been a lot of injuries over the past week, mostly sprains, strains, shin splints, knees, ankles and feet. A hiker that has been moving with us, "Jakes Dad" will be going off the trail at Davenport Gap for shin splits. Bee Keeper is complaining of calf pain and I have the usual aches and pains. Thank god they just come and go.It's presently 4:30 p.m. and the shelter is full and it's now raing hard. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better. Our last day in the Smokies.
Date: 2003-04-09
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: light rain

As predicted it rained all night and during our hike down to Davenport Gap, about 8 miles. Bee Keeper, Milo, Nuke, and I caught a ride to Mountain Mama's store and bunkhouse. Hatteras was picked up by his parents, who lived near by, and is going home with them to rest his injured foot. Hopefully we will see him up the trail soon.We decided to stay in the bunkhouse at Mountain Mama's. They take your $15.00 before sending you out to find a cabin. Can you say shack, in my humble opinion! We are staying in one called "The Hilton" with a rotting deer head over the door and broken steps. If I hadn't seen this place for myself I wouldn't have believed it. Can you say Deliverance! There is one thing I can say about this place, in my opinion, it makes you want to get back on the trail A.S.A.P. I have to say though, they make an awesome cheeseburger. After 3 days of heavy fog and rain the decision to stay here was made to try to dry out.We are heading for the trail tomorrow and expect to take 2 1/2 to 3 days to make Hot Springs. There is the possibility of some snow tonight in the upper elevations. Sure would like to see the sun again!Our 6 hiking days to get through the Smokies were marked with 2 days of sun and 4 days of rain. The Smokies, on a clear day are awesome and any other adjective that expresses the word WOW! I'm sorry that we missed so many great views but happy for the ones we got. It was a fun experience. With the A.T. you have to take the good and bad weather together so we take what we get.
Date: 2003-04-10
From: Davenport Gap

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: moderate rain

It's my birthday today and I'll say a rather memorable one. The plan, because of the threat of snow, was to get out of Mountain Mamma's shacks and take what we thought would be an easy 2.4 mile hike to Standing Bear Farm Camp Ground since we heard it was much nicer-which it is. It poured all night raising stream loads to heavy torrents making it dangerous to cross. We got a shuttle back to where we left off yesterday and started the hike to the next camp ground as it poured and the temperature dropped. As I mentioned before about streams loads, we had to make 4 rather dangerous stream crossings within the first mile out to Route 40. In the second mile after reaching the other side of the highway we proceded the last mile to the camp ground. There were 7 of us including Bee Keeper, Milo and Nuke. About half way there I was hiking with my head down because of the driving rain and watching my foot placement and didn't see the tree that had fallen across the trail just at my height, about 6'5", and the next thing I knew I was on my butt after taking a whack to the top of my head. I'm ok, except my pride of course As we got to about 200 yards of the camp ground there was one more creek crossing. This one more dangerous then the last four and much wider. Bee Keeper found the only place to attempt the crossing but it menat our boots were going under the water. We took our time and all 7 of us made the crossing with water squishing out of our boots. Anyway, it's about noon right now and the rain has turned into heavy snow. We're worried about the people that continued to the higher elevations. I'm presently in a cabin for 4 with real beds. Bee Keeper, Milo and Nuke occupy the other 3. The cabin is built over a raging creek with windows on all sides and French doors and we're all laying in bed trying to get warm since it's freezing in here. The snow is accumulating very fast and I'm happy we made the decision to go no further today.All in all this will be a birthday I won't soon forget. Tomorrow is supposed to warm up a bit and if it does, we'll be pushing on into the mountians and on our way to Hot Springs finally.
Date: 2003-04-12
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Brown Gap
Miles today: 12.5

We finally got underway today and made some progress toward Hot Springs. Since none of our gear, including our boots, dried out we (and many other hikers) decided to take a shuttle into Newport, TN, about 20 miles away, and motel it for the day. The heaters in the rooms did the job for us and boots and everthing got dry. I'd like to thank the owners of Standing Bear Campground for taking us in and then picking us up at Newport and depositing us back on the trail today.Today was the first day in the past 6 that the sun came out. A great day for hiking at last. We hiked in just over 10 miles today with the snow and mud from the melting snow it made our progress slower than usual epecially on the uphills of which there were many. Two days ago, as we were crossing that last swollen stream before Standing Bear Campground, Beekpr broke one of his trekking poles on his attempt to cross. He rigged up a type of splint to keep it together but a slip in the mud on the way down our last incline for the day broke it again. For the time being, until he can get it fixed, he found a suitable wooden staff that should work fine.It seems the weather delays we had over the past 2 days was enough for Hatteras's foot to feel better and resume his hike today. He walked into our camp about an hour after we arrived. It was really great to see him. Our original hiking group that entered the Smokies together is together again.We're tenting in Browns Gap tonight. As you enter the gap and turn right you're in North Carolina, turn left you're in Tennessee-how cool is that!Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny day also so we should make some good progress. There is still a lot of snow at the higher elevations but it's melting rapidly now, which of course turns the trail into mud city. We should make Hot Springs by Monday afternoon. In time to get our mail drops before the Post Office closes with any luck.Well, I'm finished eating dinner, bear bag hung for the night and relaxing in my tent on this fine Appalachian Trail night. Not much more one could ask for.
Date: 2003-04-13
From: Brown Gap

To: Deer Park Shelter
Miles today: 20.1

Another beautiful day for hiking-hardly a cloud in the sky. We started out from Brown Gap around 8:00 a.m. and started the climb that eventually took us to Max Patch at 4,629 feet! God, talk about spectacular, the views were awesome. The top of Max Patch is a bald with thick green grass over its large summit area. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of Ireland with the rolling green hills all around.We ate luch today at Roaring Fork Shelter around noon. Our group is still together, which consists of Hatteras, Nuke, Milo, Beekpr, myself and a new addition, Mountain Dew. Back to the shelter, it's one of the best designs I've seen on the trail so far. It was donated to the A.T. by the Marching Mountain Mammas and there is a picture inside showing that group. Thanks ladies, you have one of the best shelters around.We decided during lunch to do the last big elevation gain before Hot Springs and that is Bluff Mountain at 4,686 feet. On the way down we would start looking for a good campsite for the evening. Well, things don't always work out the way you think they will and instead of a good campsite we found water with no tentsites and tentsites with no water, so we kept going until we got to Deer Park Shelter. Hatteras, Beekpr and I are tenting while the rest are staying in the shelter. So instead of a 14 to 15 mile day we went 20.1 miles and my aching body feels every mile of it, as do the others. The one good thing about going that far is we have an easy 3.2 mile hike into Hot Springs tomorrow where we'll stay and resupply for the week long trip to Erwin, TN. Many of us, including me, have mail pick ups here too.We arrived at the shelter tonight around 6:30 p.m. and set up our tents, ate and are jumping into our sleeping bags early to sleep off this long hard day of hiking. Our next destination as I mentioned is Erwin, TN and I'm planning on 5 to 6 days to go the 68 miles. I'm looking forward to the next adventure.
Date: 2003-04-14
From: Deer Park Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

We arrived in Hot Springs this morning and what a pleasant small southern town. We checked into the Alpine Motel at 9:30 a.m. but since no rooms were ready we headed for breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner and, may I say, they know how to serve a good breakfast. After getting our rooms and showers, which we needed badly, we got down to the business of laundry and resupplying for the next 6 days which will take us into Erwin, TN. It takes a bit of planning to take enough food for that many days and not over do it so you can keep the pack weight down as much as possible.We're all still feeling a bit achy from yesterday's 20 miler and it's good we have this day to recuperate. I have a few new aches I didn't have before so I'm hoping the day's rest and a few Ibuprofen will take care of the problem.We'll be heading out in the morning, after another great breakfast at the diner, and back into the mountains.Beekpr, Hatteras, Milo, Nuke and I are enjoying our day off but we're all anxious to make progress on the trail tomorrow. I'll be writing next from the trail.
Date: 2003-04-15
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

We took our leave this morning of the village of Hot Springs and crossed the bridge over the French Broad River and followed its banks for about 1/2 mile until it took an abrupt left and up we went. First with a 510' extremely steep climb to Lovers Leap Rock and then we climbed some more to get our elevation back for mountian travel. You can always count on a long day whenever you're leaving a trail town or most of the gaps we encounter.It seems the rhododendrons are follwoing us up since Georgia. Many parts of the trail have them flanking both sides so that they form tunnels as you walk the trail. I'm hoping they follow me up through Virginia since they should be blooming by then. Milo saw the first snake of the hike so far which we believe to be a rat snake. Still no signs of rattlers or copperheads but as the days get warmer I'm sure they will be appearing.We hiked about 11 miles to Spring Mountain shelter and found a perfect place just above the shelter to tent for the night. Since we got here rather early, around 3:15 p.m., we had time to rinse the sweat out of our shirts and wipe the days grime off our sweaty bodies. The sun made short work of drying us off.After dinner I did something I haven't done in years, just laying back in the grass and looking up through the trees and watching the clouds drift by-now that's relaxing.Beekpr seems to be doing fine with his calf problem and Hatteras' ankle is holding up well also. Unfortunately we all seem to have new aches and pains almost daily, especially us over 50 year old guys.Well Hatteras just stopped by my tent to inform me that there was a beautiful full moon rising and I should grab my camera-hope I can get a decent shot.
Date: 2003-04-16
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

Today was what we figured to be the hardest of the 5 days of hiking to Erwin since there were several steep climbs. Well it was a tough day and the 1,00 foot climb in one mile right after lunch at Little Laurel Shelter had us all sweating and feeling a bit beat with 5 1/2 miles to go to our campsite. I thought the worst of the day was over and we should have an easy hike to camp along the ridges but I was wrong! We had a stretch about 2 1/2 miles long right after White Rock Cliffs, which by the way are stunning when you first spot them. The trail was pretty bad after leaving there, more like an obstacle course with big and small rocks littering the trail the whole way making the footing bad and slowing us down quite a bit. The other problem was the blow downs which we encountered about every 10 to 20 yards. I was hiking with Beekpr and Hatteras at the time and it can get a bit comical watching how everyone gets past each obstacle. If anyone thinks that the A.T. is a nice smooth trail let me set you straight-it can really be an obstacle course between rocks, roots, ruts, mud and the many blow downs all along the trail. A blow down is a tree that has fallen across the trail and the challenge is to find a way over, under, around or through. Anyway, we arrived in camp tonight around 4:15 p.m. and found some good tent sites about 100 yards from the shelter. We're kind of grouped together with Milo, Nuke, Hatteras and my tents in one area right next to the trail and Beekpr just down from us on the other side of a big rhododendron tree. It was still warm enough when we arrived to wash off the sweat from the days hike with water from a nearby spring. We don't use soap but it still feels great to wipe off with a wet bandana before making dinner. Speaking of warm, it looks and sounds like we are about to loose it to a cold front moving in tonight. I can hear the wind picking up in the trees right now as it's coming in and, with 70% chance of rain tomorrow, it looks like a wet one. I'll tell you though, outside of being with my wife and son, there is no place I'd rather be.
Date: 2003-04-17
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm presently hunkered down in my tent listening to it pour outside. We were lucky today since the weather reported high winds and thunderstorms to commence around noon and last until noon tomorrow so we had our rain gear on the top of our pack load so we could acess it easily. Fortunately for Beekpr, Hatteras and myself, the rain held off until about 4:00 p.m. today and since we got into camp at 3:30 p.m., we had time to set up our tents and eat. The shelter was full so tenting was our only choice. I actually would rather tent anyway, even in the rain, to avoid the sardine effect the shelters have crowding people together. On the other hand, packing a wet tent is no fun either.Our hike today took us to some beautiful overlooks along with an interesting memorial stone we passed honoring Howard Basset as the place his ashes were scattered. Howard was one of the first 50 hikers to complete the A.T. back in 1968. We also came across 3 gravestones, just off the A.T., of the Shelton brothers who were in the Union Army coming home to Tennessee to visit their families. They were ambushed by Confederates along with their 13 year old nephew and all were killed. This is part of the history one can only find on the A.T. and this is just the beginning. I talked with Beekpr and Hatteras about our plans for the next couple of days and we're in agreement to try a 15 mile hike tomorrow, weather permitting, and then an 11-12 mile hike in to Erwin, TN on Saturday, probably late afternoon, and spend Easter Sunday there. I'll let you know tomorrow if we were successful.
Date: 2003-04-18
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Stoney Steps
Miles today: 15.7

As predicted it was a very wet morning to take down your camp. You try to get everything in your pack while you're still in your tent since it's raining ourside and then make a mad dash out and attempt to take your tent down and keep it a s dry as possible. What a laugh that is. Beekpr, Hatteras and I didn't come close. We all packed soggy tents and rainflys and had to carry them all day. About midday it stopped raining but man did we have mud on the trail. Beekpr had 3 slips today landing on his butt. Good thing he had his rain pants on since they're easier to clean. We also had a long climb up to Big Bald at 5,516 feet which would have normally been spectacular with views but today we were just walking in a cloud and you couldn't see past 40-50 yards, and since it was cold and windy, we went down off the bald as quickly as we could.We have a great campsite tonight with a very pleasant sounding stream about 20 yards away.Tomorrow we'll push into Erwin, about 11 miles away and should get there around 1:00 p.m. for some very badly needed showers and resupply for our next leg. We're arriving a day earlier than we planned last week so we're hiking at a good pace.As I'm laying in my tent I was thinking how good it will be not to be eating noodles for at least a day and a half and have some real food-looking forward to Erwin!
Date: 2003-04-19
From: Stoney Steps

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 11.2

We left Spivey Gap with all the determination needed to make a head long pursuit of Erwin and a hot shower. We covered the 11.2 miles in just 4 1/2 hours-not bad for 3 old farts (Beekpr, Hatteras, and myself). Nuke, Milo and the 3 of us stopped at the Nolichucky Hostel to get a drink and "Uncle Johnny's" 35 cent Snicker bars. He was a great guy and, even though we weren't staying at the hostel, gave us a free ride to the Holiday Inn Express a few miles away. We spent a very relaxing day at the motel ending with a great dinner at the River's Edge Restaurant complete with Blue Grass entertainment.Tomorrow being Easter Sunday we plan on taking it easy and getting our resupply for the next leg of our hike. Beekpr and I will probably go to a Sunday morning service and Monica, Hatteras' girlfriend, will drop us off. We met Monica yesterday and I can see why Hatteras picked her, she's a great lady.I think I'll make this short tonight and grab some shuteye since I'm feeling pretty drained. Looking forward to a nice day tomorrow.