morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-19
From: Brown Gap

To: Deer Park Shelter
Miles today: 20.1

Going over Max Patch Mountain was today¢s highlight. Wizard, Meanderthal, and others had actually spent the night on the mountain and witnessed the sunset. I had to content myself with the promised 360-degree vista the next day in the middle of the morning. Mt. Mitchell was where it always ways, lurking off to the east.It was a pleasant hiking day with sun and cool breezes. Because it preceded a town day in Hot Springs, it was also a high-mileage, downhill day. In the midafternoon I was descending at a fast clip when I stepped on a juvenile copperhead. This snake only wanted to get away, but it alerted me to a new concern.The group at Deer Park Shelter included Wizard, Meanderthal, Matt and Jill, Palm Tree, and three section hikers. We were all talking in a group at dusk when Willy Wallace and Zack arrived. Zack was American, but Willy Wallace was a Scot who was hiking before going to college. He advised us that he had adopted the name ¢Willy Wallace¢ because he figured most Americans knew Scotland best through the movie Braveheart, and I feared he was right.
Date: 2004-04-20
From: Deer Park Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I arrived at Hot Springs at 8:00 but could not get into Elmer¢s until 11:00, so I had breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Inn and shuffled down to Blue Mountain Outfitters. Once installed in Elmer¢s I showered in cold water (the washing machine was going) and walked up and down the main drag until I located the laundromat next door to Elmer¢s. I managed to finish reading McPhee¢s shad book. I was reading in the reading room, because Elmer owned a very large house with landmark status and he had preserved the parlor as a library. I struck up a conversation in this room with a hiker who was unable to get into the place because it was full. This was ¢Two Cents,¢ a garrulous nineteen-year-old Israeli. We were discussing the Arab world in general terms until Willy Wallace came in and the conversation soon turned into a debate about the grounds for Israel's claims to Palestinian land. The conversation became more general, and sometimes heated. As for the merits of the arguments, I¢ll leave those alone. I only hoped Elmer didn¢t consider the debate a disturbance.Elmer¢s vegetarian dinner was wonderful. I had been placed in a room with Digit, but he left and Meanderthal was put in with me.
Date: 2004-04-21
From: Hot Springs, NC

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

I did manage to anger Elmer this morning. I was waiting around for breakfast when it occurred to me that I hadn¢t signed up for breakfast on the chalkboard on the kitchen door. If I wasn't to stay for breakfast, I had to get back on the trail, which meant I had to settle up. Elmer was prepared to kill me for entering his kitchen while he was cooking breakfast. A student of Eastern religion, Elmer undoubtedly could have administered death by a thousand cuts with his spatula. But Freight Train, a hiker working there at the time, was helpful and understanding in checking me out. After all, a hiker could hardly be denied both breakfast and two hours of hiking time. I had little energy for the eleven-mile hike to the shelter, but when I got there I pitched my tarp on a flat area above it.
Date: 2004-04-22
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

Today the walk to Jerry Cabin Shelter was hard: a thousand-foot ascent in 45 minutes followed by a rocky ridge. The rocky ridge was interesting, offering good views and the challenge of negotiating rocks, but it went on forever. A blue-blaze trail was offered for foul weather. The blue-blaze trial was the original AT, but the AT had been redirected to the ridge. Earlier in the day I had taken a break at Little Laurel Shelter and met a hiker variously known as ¢Nutflush¢ and ¢Sunshine,¢ and ¢Rooster,¢ who was also a carrier of an external frame pack. Later, I pitched my tarp slightly down the trail from Jerry Cabin Shelter and dined at the picnic table with Palm Tree and ¢Stairmaster.¢ Stairmaster, a general surgeon, had the unsettling habit of commencing hiking early and hiking very long hours every day, so that he had managed to accomplish in one day what I had accomplished in two.
Date: 2004-04-23
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Arriving at Flint Mountain Shelter, I found Two Cents and Willy Wallace engaged in another argument. Zack and Mr. Cotton were on hand. I caught up with Willy later on a summit on a big log and we talked about his future plans and my 1998 wedding in Edinburgh.I stayed that evening at Hogback Ridge Shelter with Slow Barbara, Palm Tree, and Meanderthal. Wizard was present, but went on while I was getting water. Meanderthal tried to go on, but took off in the wrong direction, gave up, and came back. The spring at Hogback Ridge Shelter was a weak flow. The springs would get weaker as time went on, and it was disturbing to walk over so many dry springs in southern Virginia. While I was carrying a filter, I had not had to use it in Georgia, where the springs flowed strong directly out of the mountain. I suffered no ill consequences from drinking this water unfiltered and untreated. Either procedure compromised the flavor of cold spring water. But I was now finding myself making the 400 strokes it required to produce four quarts of filtered water.
Date: 2004-04-24
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

Perhaps I was undernourished, but my energy was very low getting up the side of Big Bald Mountain. Along the way, I encountered a strong-flowing spring that I tapped with nostalgic gratification. I had been walking behind or in front of Palm Tree during the day and talked with him atop the summit of Big Bald, with its 360-degree views. Palm Tree and I both exploited our elevation to place cell phone calls. I called the Nolichucky Gorge Campground and placed a reservation for two nights. For some reason, I was afraid I would have no where to stay in Erwin, and hoped to settle the matter by placing this call. Willy Wallace and Zack were also there, resting.Hiking with Palm Tree, I agreed to camp with him at Spivey Gap. Meanderthal arrived later and joined us. When we arrived, Palm Tree had discovered trail magic in the form of little bottles of orange drink. I was filtering water at the river when the persons responsible ¢ a hiker and his female friend ¢ arrived to collect the refuse. Meanderthal wanted to build a fire. I am disinclined to build fires unless wetness and cold make it the sensible thing to do. The evening was not particularly wet or cold, but Meanderthal¢s fire was a welcome thing. The conversation around the fire had much to do with Meanderthal¢s studies of Spanish and his art, and Palm Tree¢s experiences in Vietnam, how he had achieved a kind of fulfillment as a lieutenant with important responsibilities that he could not match in a desk job at higher rank.
Date: 2004-04-25
From: Spivey Gap

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Apparently I wrenched my right knee during this hike. I listened to the train, and photographed the Nolichucky River from the overlooks above the town. I arrived at the Chestoa Bridge followed immediately by Meanderthal. Palm Tree came out from the Nolichucky Hostel, right where the trail meets the road, to meet us. I told the two of them I had made prior arrangements to stay at the campground and they went off together.I showered at this establishment and washed my clothes. This was everything I didn¢t want: I was surrounded by campers and there were no hikers, and there was bandshell set up out the door of the empty bunk house. There was no food, no phone. Anyway, we had a delightful row with the couple who owned the campground as I tried to extricate myself from the place. I walked the three miles to the Holiday Inn Express and spent the night. Along the way, three Canada geese were standing with some horses in a field, and they honked at me like guard geese. While Holiday Inn Express could not offer proximity to services either, the man at the desk did furnish me with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Because there was no way to get cash, and because the Long John Silver's next door did not accept credit cards, dinner was a bear claw and a Coke. In other words, I had gained little by angering the proprietors at the Nolichucky Gorge campground. The problem with Erwin is its size: it¢s stretched out over seven miles. Miss Janet's hostel apparently offers proximity, but the Nolichucky Hostel provided the best arrangement for me, with its regular shuttles, its outfitting store, and its orderliness.
Date: 2004-04-26
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

The Holiday Inn was nice but far from the post office and only by chance was I picked up by a local man named Phillip. He dropped me off at the post office some 45 minutes before it opened and I continued walking north to find an ATM. I found one, got money, and killed more time eating a second breakfast at the McDonald's near the factory. Eventually I returned to the post office and picked up my drop box and then set out for the hotel in the rain. I was picked up again, this time by Uncle Johnny of Uncle Johnny¢s Nolichucky Hostel. I had already determined to move to his hostel and arranged to be picked up at the hotel when he swung through after picking up the breakfast crowd. As I was checking out of the Holiday Inn I saw a drenched golden retriever tied near the door of the hotel. An equally drenched young woman approached the counter as the man was completing my bill. This was my first encounter with ¢Pilate¢ and with ¢Jack,¢ the hiker dog owned by Pilate¢s friend ¢Polar.¢ I don¢t recall seeing Polar on this occasion, and Jack was the only one of the three I actually spoke to at any length. A nicely-dressed older woman, who was outside the hotel door waiting for her husband to bring the car around, asked me if Jack was my dog. This lead to a friendly conversation, during which I learned that she was from Erwin originally but now lived in Florida, but was making her yearly pilgrimage to lay flowers on the graves of her relatives, all now passed on.Arriving at the hostel, I was put in a private cabin. I found a copy of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer among the books on the shelf and read the bulk of the book over the two zero days I remained in that cabin. Otherwise, I was shooting the breeze with others up at the picnic tables in front. Dinner was a Mexican restaurant in the north part of town with Palm Tree, Sauerkraut, Rooster, and others.
Date: 2004-04-27
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I went off to breakfast with the group and sat at a booth with Rick and talked about his professional experiences. I delivered a bounce box to the post office. Back at the hostel, ¢Hillbilly¢ ¢butchered¢ my pack. Hillbilly was a hiker who had paused to work for Uncle Johnny, mainly in minding the store and managing the sleeping accommodations. In Hillbilly¢s parlance, ¢butchering¢ a pack meant examining its contents and deciding what could be sent home. Unlike Neels Gap, where personnel would perform this pruning function for a small fee, Hillbilly did not charge anything. He did, however, require that you agree to accept his decisions and act accordingly. I had declined this service at Neels Gap, but more recent leg troubles had made it more compelling. Hillbilly did not think my load was too far out of line, but he felt the gas stove was too heavy, that some of my clothing was redundant, and that the filter was heavier than vials of treatment chemicals. He promised to help me make an alcohol stove the next day out of the bottoms of two soda cans, and to sell me denatured alcohol, a wind screen, and the water treatment Aquamir. I made three visits to the post office. The first was to pick up my drop box the day before. Today the bounce box was shipped during the breakfast run, but later, back at the hostel, I still needed to unload some of the things Hillbilly told me to send home, especially the filter and the stove. I could not stay around for the breakfast run the next day, so I took a child-sized mountain bike, a day pack embroidered with flowers, and pedaled the three miles into the post office. Some suits downtown smiled at me openly, but I only smiled back. That night we went back to the north end of Erwin. I had dinner with Rick at Pizza Hut. Mo Juice and Beagle, who had arrived during the day, elected to go to KFC. After dinner, I bought a knee brace for my right knee.
Date: 2004-04-28
From: Erwin, TN

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Over the next few days I was to prepare for the arrival of family members who were to hike with me for two days. I was lethargic, perhaps because these plans forced me to under achieve. I could only walk fourteen miles in the next two days. That is, I could only walk fourteen miles in the next THREE days. This was a Wednesday, only I thought it was a Thursday. My brother Steve, his son Austin, and my brother Greg were to arrive on Friday. So I had three days to wait before their arrival, and only a short way to go.Walking past the Nolichucky Gorge Campground I encountered a photograph of a half-eaten man and some images of a large black bear. I attributed this horror to the campground couple. I pondered bears. I walked on through the rhododendrons, arriving a Deep Gap where I camped well downhill of the spring. A crowd of tents assembled up on the hill and these turned out to be thru-hikers, but all unknown to me.
Date: 2004-04-29
From: Deep Gap

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I walked to Iron Mountain Gap. Piney Ball was covered in thick pines and was quite impressive in its darkness and mossiness. Along the way, I met a turkey hunter (I had run into two others on earlier occasions) and we talked for some time about turkey hunting along the trail, and about the largeness of game in the Midwest as compared to Tennessee. I also met "Homeboy," who was waving a Snickers bar around.I walked a mile beyond Iron Mountain Gap to the meadow with the spring behind. I tented on a hill above the spring.
Date: 2004-04-30
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I walked back to an area above Iron Mountain Gap. Essentially, I spent the day, a windy one, in my sleeping bag. I went down to the road about 8:30 that evening. Steve, Greg, and Austin appeared at around 11:30 p.m. They had parked Greg¢s car at Carver Gap and then taken Steve¢s car around to Iron Mountain Gap, committing themselves to climbing Roan High Knob. This was gratifying to me because it was the most interesting stretch I could think of given the requirements of their trip, which were that their hike begin Saturday, May 1, and end early on Sunday. We hiked in the dark to the meadow, which was vacant, and set up camp. Greg insisted on a fire, so he built one and we drank wine and ate cheese and olives. We went to bed by 2:00 a.m.
Date: 2004-05-02
From: Ash Gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

We ascended Roan High Knob, somewhat behind the Boy Scouts. The mountain was fogged over and the winds high, but the climb was a good one. After photos and a look at some of the traces of the hotel, we started down. Austin and I led the way. We arrived at Carver Gap at Greg¢s car in rain and wind. Several groups were arriving and preparing to escape the weather, which was getting worse. The three of them got in the car after giving me some food and we parted. I didn¢t know what I was in for. I did not have a profile or much else but Dan ¢Wingfoot¢ Bruce¢s book to warn me that the next two hours would be spent climbing high, windy, rain-beaten balds to vistas I could not see. It was a pretty miserable time and my mind was focused on getting to the next shelter. It bothered me that I had looked forward to this section for a long time, because it had the oldest rocks on the AT and I had even thought I might pick up a small sample. However, the geological aspect did not seem quite as important under the circumstances.But after making it to the ratty-looking Stan Murray Shelter, I dried off and was soothed by hot chocolate and some of the food they had left me. I was soon persuaded to continue on to Overmountain Shelter, a large barn with a high capacity. I flushed a grouse on the way. The group there filled it to capacity. Among the people there were High Trailer, Rick, Stands-with-Fist, ¢Mushroom¢ and Robert, and ¢Little Chicken.¢ I mentioned flushing a grouse to some and they looked at me with incomprehension.
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Campsite at 396 AT Miles
Miles today: 19.1

Leaving Overmountain Shelter early as always, my goal was to get through and around Elk Park. I walked over Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain. It was a long ascent, initially very foggy, but at times it seemed things might clear. I met ¢Jetski¢ at some point, who passed me. At one point I was in a pasture with a long-horn steer. Eventually there was a long rocky descent to a lower elevation and then the AT led past Apple House Shelter. The AT then crossed the highway -- quite a speedway -- and then worked through the woods around Roan Mountain, NC. Early in the afternoon I had stopped just beyond the Elk River to eat lunch when High Trailer came along. We were both headed to Kincora Hostel, but it, and even the next shelter, were out of reach today for mere mortals like us. We agreed to camp together at a place designated as a ¢campsite¢ in Wingfoot¢s book, which we did.
Date: 2004-05-04
From: Campsite at 396 AT Miles

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 13.2

The temperatures plummeted overnight and, with no air moving, condensation formed and froze on the inside of my tarp. High Trailer had similar issues. In any case, we walked the 13 miles to Kincora Hostel over White Rock Mountain to Dennis Cover Road. As we came up the drive, one couldn¢t help noticing the Scottish and Irish flags flying from a tall flagpole ¢ this was a Scotch-Irish establishment. When we arrived, Beagle and Mo Juice were present and very helpful in orienting us. Bob Peoples, a very generous man operating his hostel on the honor system, was off with some of his guests moving the privy at Overmountain Shelter. At the hostel were Southern Man, Sue, Joanne, Matt and Jill, and a lot of other people, so many, in fact that some had to be turned away. Slowpoke was present, because he had pulled three muscles in his groin and he was there to recuperate. In the evening, a lot of us crammed into Bob¢s truck for the ride into Hampton, TN to the Asian buffet and to the grocery store.
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I walked on from Kincora to Vandeventer Shelter, a bit more than 16 miles away.I was amazed by Laurel Fork Gorge and vowed to return some day with a flyrod. Walking up the mountains near Wautauga Lake, I met Sunshine/Nutflush slackpacking back to Kincora, followed by Mo Juice, Beagle, and Sue. The walk on the paved road across Wautauga Dam was not particularly comfortable, but the views of the faulting in the high cuts were spectacular. Soon the AT left the road and I was climbing to cruising altitude on the ridge line that was to take us into Damascus. I pitched my tarp behind the shelter, against the rocks on the cliff.
Date: 2004-05-06
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 31.2
Weather: few clouds

This was my Damascus dash, where I tried to take advantage of the relatively straight ridgewalking. I walked from Vandeventer Shelter to within two miles of Damascus. I passed three shelters on this walk, stopping at Abingdon Gap Shelter to make dinner. I walked on until dark to a blue-blaze trail leading down a steep slope to a piped spring. Wingfoot lists this as the ¢old homestead¢ spring. Although I do not believe that camping on top of water sources is fair to people or animals, that night I collapsed on top of this one.
Date: 2004-05-07
To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: clear sky

I came into Damascus early and walked along the park, across Laurel Creek, and on into town, where hikers were very much in evidence. To begin with, I went to The Place. I was directed to The Place twice by Susanne, who was soon my host at the Hiker¢s Inn. I showered at The Place with no towel and then went to the laundromat where I spoke with ¢Southern Man¢ and called Lee. It was coming back that I saw Susanne¢s ¢vacancy¢ sign and stepped around back to the four-bed bunk house that had been converted from a mother-in-law flat. Susanne greeted me from the back door and I asked to stay for two nights. I went back to The Place to collect my things and met ¢Sarge,¢ who set about talking up The Place. I wouldn¢t dispute the matter, but I had made a commitment, so I left and installed myself at Susanne¢s, then went to Sicily¢s for spaghetti. I then made my first trip to Mount Rogers Outfitters. Eventually, I was sitting on a rock beside Laurel Creek, back at my attempt to learn to spot trout. I can¢t say that I was getting any better at this. There wasn¢t much surface insect activity.I was sharing a bunkhouse with Polar and her dog Jack, Hobbes, and Grasshopper. Grasshopper and I spent hours talking; we just hit it off. She was waiting for ¢The General,¢ a British hiker she had paired up with via the Internet. Although they were sharing carrying duties for shelter and food, Grasshopper and the General were at this point wildly out of sync in walking together. For dinner I was back at Sicily¢s with Polar, Pilate, Jack, Eric, and Nancy, where I tried the beef tips Hobbes had had the night before. Our visit to Sicily¢s commenced with Jack¢s trot through the dining room to the cash register in back. Jack spent the rest of the evening tied to a bike rack and being petted by a steady stream of dog lovers.
Date: 2004-05-08
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

A full day in Damascus. I was at the post office before it opened and set to watching the action on Laurel Creek (Laurel Creek is numbered among America¢s 100 best trout streams and Harry Sloan, in Virginia Trout Streams, writes that the best section of this, Virginia's best stream, runs through Pearisburg.) I was expecting a pair of trail shoes; these had not arrived, however. Extra food I bounced to Pearisburg. I picked up some chips and a six-pack of Corona, which I saw Susanne preferred. Susanne had already decided to make burgers for those of us who were around and I tended the grill.I made another trip to MRO, this time to buy a Trangia stove with pot ring, a small sack for the stove, and two 8-ounce bottles to be used to carry denatured alcohol. Then I went next door to the bike shop and bought a pair of Crocs, the camp shoes so many others had acquired earlier in their hikes. I had sent my heavy sandals home at Erwin and had been without alternate footwear since then. Susanne, a nurse anesthesiologist, was at work most of the afternoon and evening. During the afternoon, Rick came in to see if there was space for him and his son. We told him there was.I went to dinner that evening with Grasshopper to the Side Track Caf©. I wish we had gone back to Sicily¢s with Rick and his son Diego Dave. Upon her return from work, Susanne felt she needed to drive us a mile to the grocery store so we could buy ice cream. I was prepared to walk up to Cowboys just up the street. But it had been storming and rain was still threatening.