morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-18
From: Neel's Gap, GA

To: Low Gap, GA
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 6: In which Jess fails to properly dress herself, actually makes it somewhere on time, jokes about gay marriage in a decidedly red state, and has a stereotypically female reaction to a scale: I left the Hiker Hostel promptly at 7:30 AM, with my boots half on and only one side of my hair braided. There are stories about Pittsburgh, and how he will allegedly leave without you if you are not in the shuttle and ready to go at 7:30 sharp, even if your pack is already stowed in the back of the van. I did not think it would be a good idea to test the truth of his reputation. "You're limping," he said, as I hobbled out to the van with all my gear askew in my arms. "Naw," I said, "my boots just aren't all the way on." Once seated securely in the van, I laced my boots, finished braiding my hair, and explained to a curious CubTrax that the large patch of duct tape on my right knee was there because I "might possibly have burned a hole in my rainpants. Maybe." After an excellent chocolate-chip oatmeal cookie, courtesy of Mrs Pittsburgh ("My wife gets marriage proposals for these cookies," he said. "I'd offer," I said, swallowing, "but it might not fly too well down here"), Scholar, Cuppa Joe, Weatherman and I got off the shuttle at Neel's Gap and said goodbye to the others, who were headed up to Unicoi."How'd you sleep?" I asked Weatherman. "Enh," he said. "Got so nervous about my pack weight, I was up at three AM stuffin' turkey jerky in my mouth."At Neel's the devil's hook still hung by the door: the infamous pack scale, which I had been assiduously avoiding. I didn't really want to know how heavy my pack was. I couldn't think of anything I hadn't been using, and I was going to be carrying it all anyway, so why bother? But I finally broke down to temptation and slung the little beast up onto the hook, where I was pleasantly surprised to find that my pack, with winter gear, water, and a week of food, topped out at 34 lbs. Come summer I should easily be able to keep it below 30. One less thing, as Forrest Gump and I both like to say.The day is a gorgeous one - cool and sunny; perfect hiking weather, and all the views we were forced to imagine a day or two ago are made manifest. My left knee is helped by the knee strap I picked up at Neel's, but I should have picked up two: the right knee aches awfully on the downhills. We've been taking it slowly, enjoying the sun, watching the peaks recede into the distance.We set up camp at Low Gap in late afternoon; it wasn't much later that James, Amanda, and Mike showed up (they'd taken a zero at Neel's and gotten a late start that morning.) Weatherman picked up a neon yellow tarp at Neel's and Amanda said she could see that tarp a mile up the mountain.A good day.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Fontana Inn, Fontana Dam, NC

To: Fontana Dam Shelter, NC
Miles today: 1.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Since it seems that quite a few people do read these entries (as evidenced by the copious amounts of praise and propositions in the guestbook), here's some bonus reading for you-- check out this article, which ran in this weekend's Washington Post magazine, and which happens to be about the Fontana area of the Smokies that Jess is walking through in these entries. And now... Day 22, in which Jess walks a mile in her own shoes, thinks deep thoughts about space without actually traversing much of it, and watches a 1950s filmstrip which, sadly, is not about hygiene: A beautiful day to hike 1.1 miles.I didn't want to pay the money to spend a second night at the Inn, but neither did I want to head straight into the Smokies. So after a leisurely morning in Fontana Village, Cuppa Joe and I went back to the parking lot and hiked 1.1 miles to the next shelter, aptly called the Fontana Hilton: large enough to sleep thirty people easily, with showers and sinks and toilets nearby. We found Weatherman there too, as well as Linux, Torch, Trillium, August, and a trail angel named Wayback who arrived with bags of soda and candy. (Thanks, Wayback!)The night's rest had a remarkable effect-- my knees felt much better-- and I spent a little quality time in the AM with the "lending library" at Fontana Outfitters, i.e., a shelf full of donated books for the taking or the leaving, which confirmed my private theory that all such shelves in English-speaking countries contain at least one copy of any book by Dorothy L. Sayers. Heard from Red Hat, too, that Longhaul's off-trail with knee troubles-- say it ain't so, Longhaul! And just when I was finally catching up!The most interesting part of the day centered around a 1950s-type filmstrip-to-video of the Fontana Dam project of the TVA, screened in early afternoon at the outfitters. Fascinating footage with music and voiceover of tractors plowing down trees and huge dynamite blasts, counterpointed with commentary espousing wilderness-conquering, price-of-Progress mores. And funny to watch a group of dirty, back-to-the-outdoors hikers watching the movie.Later, hiking the short distance to the shelter, the mountains over the lake were spectacular, with all the forest beginning to mist green. And when we passed the TVA survey marker-- a small brass blue-painted circle on a hill-- I thought about this strange thing I am doing, this walking. Of wilderness and dams and cities and the way we define them in opposition to one another. Of how we conceptualize the spaces in which we spend our lives. That wild is not wild without tamed. Of negative space-- of the light between the leaves.
Date: 2005-04-07
From: Derrick's Knob Shelter, GSMNP

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter, GSMNP
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Yes, kids, we're back. While Jess is gimping it up in our nation's capital, she is getting all caught up on journal entries, which I will go through and snark on as best I can without neglecting my real job too noticeably. So here we have Day 25, in which Jess walks just long enough to make a teenage boy snicker, convinces people that going slow is the cool thing to do, gives herself a subtitle (doesn't that generally require a regular title first?), and fantasizes about electricity: The world¢s best day to go 6.9 miles. Rainy and misty plus my fatigue plus CJ¢s ankle plus the chance to lay up pre-Clingman¢s Dome and go over later, in clear weather- little other encouragement was needed. I talked Pacman, Linux, and Socks into doing a short day too. I said why push on in crappy weather when there¢s already a fire going here and you can go over Clingman¢s in sunshine? Pacman said I was like an infomercial for good living. I told him to consider it my new subtitle. Then we sat by the fire and joked about how hikers dream of inventing shelter amenities that already exist: a way to dry clothes! central heating! indoor plumbing! Next up, I shall reinvent the wheel. Planning a 14 mile day tomorrow, which will be my longest yet - but, I said, it¢s 3 miles from here to Clingman¢s, and after that there will only be 11 miles left, thereby reducing the problem to a previously solved one.
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter, GSMNP

To: Icewater Spring Shelter, GSMNP
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Day 26, in which Jess walks half a marathon, assigns Satanic attributes to the good people of Gatlinburg, misplaces one of her four possessions, meets someone truly certifiable, and noshes on my cheesy-flavored orange-colored snack food of choice: Longest day so far and I feel good! It¢s amazing what a quality pair of knee braces and a couple of weeks can do. Milestones: 200 miles done today! Over halfway through the Smokies, and safely past demon-town Gatlinburg. Pacman and Linux woke up at 5AM to hike the 2.9 up to Clingman¢s for the sunrise even though it was cloudy and barely finished raining. I thought of going along, but though better of it when I looked at the sky (also when I couldn¢t find my headlamp). CJ and I got up to Clingman¢s a little later and a very nice lady gave me a granola bar. thank you, lady. Then I listened to her interrogate Cyclehiker (emblem hiker of 2005: dude not only plans to walk from Georgia to Maine, but to do so carrying an 18-lb. bicycle. So: if you think I¢m crazy. All I¢m saying.)At Indian River Gap, TABA (of the AirFrance van) showed up with snacks; at Newfound Gap, CJ ran into Skeemer, who plied us with candy bars and Cheezits. I no longer have to worry about running out of lunch food, thanks to them. Sweet!
Date: 2005-04-09
From: Icewater Spring Shelter, GSMNP

To: Tricorner Knob Shelter, GSMNP
Miles today: 12.6

Day 27, in which Jess visits a mountain that needs a podiatry consult, drops the words "denizen" and "reconnaissance" both, comes close to losing her shirt to a farm animal, watches people eating pure fat on a spoon, and ponders interstate urination: Up to Charlie¢s Bunion this morning and such views! A whole new park. Groves of firs. Places that look like Vermont. Then sheer dropoffs, and mountains misty blue in the distance. Downhill I sing to myself; uphill the cadence of breath takes over. I¢m at the shelter now and among the current denizens are a trail crew on horses. Before they arrived I¢d spread out my damp clothes on a bush to dry and then once they got here I had to run like hell to save my t-shirt from getting eaten by a horse. (nobody panic; the reconnaissance was successful.) Pacman is moaning about how his stomach is beginning to digest itself. Serenity is donating some raw oats to his cause. mmm. The trail crew wants to know if we mind if they sleep naked. Meanwhile BMoney and Jukebox are eating, and I am not making this up, spoonfuls of straight peanut butter with Parkay squeeze butter dolloped on top. ¢Butter peanut butter butter!¢ says BMoney. ¢Delicious!¢ I think I must not be a real hiker yet as I find this disgusting. The past couple of nights have been cold and I think tonight will be, too; I¢m dreaming of tomorrow night¢s shelter, a full 3,000 feet lower than this one. Latest news, and I nearly fell over when I heard: ¢Captain Chaos has been demoted to Private Chaos for skipping the Smokies.¢ Maybe Civilian Chaos. Or Civilian Minor Disturbance.Quote of the day:Jukebox: My guidebook says this shelter is in Tennessee, but its privy is in North Carolina.CJ: You could piss across the state line.Me: Every boy¢s dream.
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Tricorner Knob Shelter, GSMNP

To: Davenport Gap Shelter, GSMNP
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 28, in which Jess waxes Thoreauvian and gives me little to mock: I am having a strange time situating myself within a journey. Ruffed grouse like a heartbeat in the brush. Birdsong down here, low, at 2600 feet. I have missed this: sitting on a hillside with a pen and a page. I have been so busily thinking forward. A strange sort of push. Still so beginning: here, at the end of four weeks. Time moves oddly. And so it is strange and not when Pacman says he feels as though he¢s been out here forever.Small purple moths, and grassy hillsides that look snow-covered but aren¢t: that many wildflowers. The mountains have been imbued with a bluish haze all week- the Smoke of the Smokies - but from here, in the fading afternoon light of the valley, there is a russet pinkish cast and blurring to them, soft and distant at once. It¢s been a long day and a good one, and yet I am uncannily disquieted at the end of it. The scope of the sky is too big, and crossed with chiaroscuro branches. Such silhouettes. On a hillside in France I did this too - sitting, while the light fades. Under the electric fence, or a mile from the road, there is still a boundary crossed.Two weekenders at a trail intersection told us to take the 0.6 mile side trail to the Mt. Cammerer Lookout. The best view in the Smokies, they said. So we went. Views all around. A wooden gazebo window-strewn. Pacman climbed rocks like an insect, and Linux watched. When we left, a hundred ladybugs were crawling on the doorframe.
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Davenport Gap Shelter, GSMNP

To: Standing Bear Farms, Hartford, TN
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 29, in which Jess rejoices by asking a bunch of rhetorical questions, laments her leisurely journaling, compares me to icing (mmmm... icing...), and reports on the weather: Just out of the Smokies - what bliss is this? the sun shining? a day with no socks? Springtime in the valley, and all the dogwoods blooming? My first shower in a week? Lulu and Linux playing pennywhistle while Pacman chases guppies in the stream and Curtis teaches his two little girls to fish? Life is sublime at 237.3 miles. Now if only I could keep up with my journal entries. (I think I am just as glad that Sara is on Spring Break: Des Moines right now. Kind of a reprieve. But I think her editorial comments are more fun to read than my entries, anyway. The icing on the cake, as it were, only for all those people who eat off the icing and leave the cake behind. You know who you are. Mom.)Overview of the Smokies:-6 days, of which:-4 sunny-1 rainy-1 overcast.No complaints, given that I¢d expected to be cold, wet, and miserable all week. I will say it¢s hella cold sleeping at 5900 feet. But Standing Bear Farms is warm, and lovely, and heavenly. That is all.
Date: 2005-04-12
From: Standing Bear Farms, Hartford, TN

To: Painter Branch campsites (NC/TN?)
Miles today: 2.3

Day 30, in which Jess requests praise for managing to walk two miles, tries to lure others to her slothy ways, watches a hiker make like a Microsoft employee with the spreadsheets, begs for mercy from yours truly, witnesses the adage "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," and is designated the master of being light and easy: Not a zero day - grant me that much at least - not quite a zero day. Technically. My headlamp is shining through the silnylon of my tent wall right now and I am watching raindrops collect like amoebas on the other side. Spent the day at Standing Bear outwaiting sporadic thunderstorms, hving decided to hike out only 2 miles to the first campsites anyway. CJ tried to convince Serenity to Go Light Go Easy with us; she asked how on earth we thought we thought we¢d ever get to Maine and she didn¢t think she had enough money for a flip-flop. CJ took this as a personal challenge and promptly sat her down with a spreadsheeted schedule. Scholar read; Linux and Pacman alternately ate, paced, and played horseshoes; and I spent nearly all day hunched over the table in the hiker kitchen, trying to catch up on journal entries and begging Sara not to kill me. Pleasant, sitting with a mug of coffee at one hand and classical music playing on the radio, while hikers wandered in and out: Snowbunny, Hairball, Cyclehiker, Domino, Chickadee, Poet, Freedom, and Thatch. Linux and Pacman played a tiebreaker game of horseshoes and paced aimlessly until they couldn¢t stand it any longer. They left, and we said we¢d be along. Somehow it was 7pm by the time we left. Scholar¢d said she was staying. CJ was tempted to do the same. And I felt a familiar sinking feeling: sucking vortex no no no, all I have done for 24 hours is sit on my ass and eat, I need to leave, and Hot Springs is so close - ¢I¢m going,¢ I said, and the other two decided to leave as well. Turned out to be a lovely night for an evening constitutional, though my left calf was a little stiff. Scholar gave me a botany lesson - turns out fire pink is named not only for its color, but because the ends of its petals are notched as if with pinking shears. Who knew? It was so late I¢d assumed the boys would have decided to push on past the campsites, but after an hour of walking, there was smoke rising from behind the trees near the river - we found them by a campfire. ¢No way,¢ said Pacman, seeing us walk up, so late - ¢No one can go that light and easy. You¢re the masters. ¢ ¢We thought you¢d push on,¢ I said. ¢I took a three hour afternoon nap,¢ said Linux. We sat bythe fire. Idle talk of sunrise on Max Patch. Of hiking there tonight. ¢We could,¢ I said. ¢Can¢t violate the Prime Directive,¢ said Pacman. GLGE reigns supreme. The lightning is getting closer. I¢m glad we stayed put.
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Deer Park Mtn. Shelter, (NC/TN?)

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

Day 33, in which Jess skips the most important meal of the day, calculates distance in the civilized world relative to the distance between her tent and the crapper, finally does something about her hair, revels in cleanliness, loses half her wardrobe in the laundry, makes a comparison between Hillary's famous climb and her present gluttony, and neglects to file her taxes: Linux, Pacman and I rose at first light and packed quickly ¢ no breakfast, just on the trail as quickly as possible, headed into Hot Springs and ¢ we hoped ¢ arriving early enough to get spots at Elmer¢s for the night. I was a little weary from the late night yesterday and the steep downhill first thing in the morning, but town was calling! We arrived just past 8 AM and found everyone in town ¢ a massive party. Ate enormous quantities of food at the diner, and then found out Elmer¢s was full, but we got a motel room to share with Scholar and Cuppa Joe.Main Street in Hot Springs IS the trail, and it¢s kind of brilliant. The post office is closer to the motel than most privies are to shelters. Stopped there, bought a hairbrush at the outfitters (I accidentally left my old one at Standing Bear, thirty miles back, and let¢s just say the lack had become visible), did laundry, and showered, and I¢ll be the first to admit that while I like hiking and all that, I also dig being clean. Mmm. The only downside to the errands was that one of my socks went into the washer and did not exit the dryer. That¢s a travesty, out here. I pay more attention to my socks than probably ever before in my life. I suppose I¢ll have to suck it up and buy another pair.Spent hours in the afternoon lazing on the lawn outside the motel, along with Feelin Free, Linux, Pacman, Scholar, Poet, Jake Break, Lowgear, CJ, Domino, Stilts, the Gypsy Sisters, and Butterfly Moon ¢ and then Weatherman of all people showed up. BfM tells us Phoenix is off the trail now with stress fractures ¢ sorry to hear it. Later, a large group of us found ourselves in the music room at Elmer¢s, wearing odd hats and jamming while Domino improv-ed song lyrics; I met two new hikers, Nick and Dave, who have no trailnames and were not enthused by my suggestion that they consider going by Dick and Knave; in the evening, another large group congregated at the Paddler¢s Pub, singing Reno Dakota over pitchers of beer, listening to Lulu¢s stories of working on a boat, and eating pizza for the same reason Hillary climbed Everest: because it was there.Pacman says I am getting sherpa feet.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Alpine Court Motel, Hot Springs, NC

To: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 34, in which Jess retrieves her fan mail, buys food like it's going out of style, becomes one with inertia, waxes nostalgic about the smell of cholesterol, and makes the long trek from one motel to another: I ran a few errands this morning ¢ the post office again, where I picked up marvelous packages from Jaime and Deborah and Emily ¢ thank you all so much! ¢ and then went grocery shopping and sat with all my food piled around me, and Raz (Bruce Moose now) made fun of me. I checked my email at the outfitters and spent a little while online trying to figure out how to get in touch with Nikon customer service (one of my camera batteries has gone suddenly defunct), then greeted Ranger, Grunting Bear and Cyclehiker as they arrived in town. I wasn¢t planning to take a zero day per se, but¢¦why not? Now I find myself passing most of a sunny lazy afternoon on Elmer¢s lawn, gradually and repeatedly shifting to stay in the sunshine. Tulips and a bench swing. A cot on the slanted porch of a ramshackle house. The air smells like fry from the diner across the street and it reminds me, unaccountably, of Liam¢s Onion Rings from the snack shack at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod, so many summers of my childhood, thronging back, here so far from the ocean. But there is a robin on the grass.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC

To: Campsites by concrete dam & pond, NC
Miles today: 4.9

Day 35, in which Jess spents the entire day either eating or whining about how the food in her pack is weighing her down, uses the word "logy" (perhaps a Britishism, perhaps a typo?), does things to tofu that I didn't know were possible, and reflects that the real reason she came out on the trail was for the eats: Another lazy morning, punctuated by a gourmet Elmer¢s breakfast, and I finally managed to leave town around three in the afternoon. I walked alone and my pack was heavy with food and my body logy from the rest, whining, ¢Are you really going to start this walking thing again?¢ So the five miles from town to the campsites may have been my slowest yet, but no matter. Just past the concrete dam pond was a huge grassy field peppered with tents and people ¢ everyone I¢d seen in town, more or less, all congregated around a campfire with large amounts of food in preparation. I saut©ed some tofu I¢d packed out with onions, garlic, soy sauce, and lemon and donated it to the communal food stash; Cuppa baked potatoes; Scholar passed around tortillas and Nutella; Lulu and Serenity saut©ed huge bunches of what they termed ¢mystery greens,¢ picked from the pond area. I don¢t know what they were, but they were really good. Weatherman made guacamole. The Gypsy Sisters passed around cheese and crackers and hummus and summer sausage. Freedom offered some nuts. Someone else ¢ I¢ve forgotten who ¢ passed around pots of baked beans. Replete, we sat around the fire and ate s¢mores and I spearheaded a giant game of Mafia, which made me think affectionately of college buddy Josh, bar none the best Mafia narrator I¢ve ever seen in action. Sprawled on the grass, the day seemed one of those early summer ones that lasts forever, and I thought, This is why I came out here, and I don¢t want this trip ever to end.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Flint Mountain Shelter, (NC/TN?)

To: Low Gap campsites, (NC/TN?)
Miles today: 14.9

Still gorgeous. And getting warmer. I can¢t believe this string of good weather days. Even more deadblazing in the morning, and a good time hiking with the Gypsy Sisters. Took a long lazy lunch at Hogback Ridge, where we caught up with Linux and Pacman and Ranger. Cuppa, Scholar, Feelin Free, and Andy arrived just before we left (they¢d been about a half a day behind since the night they stopped at Nean¢s and the rest of us pushed on.) but the rest of us were planning to go on to the campsites at Low Gap. So I walked with Pacman and talked of cabbages and kings; someone wrote ¢DEAD --->¢ in pebbles at Sam¢s Gap (later we found out it was Gypsy) so we wouldn¢t miss graves up a hillside at the road crossing. It¢s funny how at every road you look both ways and invariably, somewhere within sight, is a state line sign. Never sure exactly which side I¢ll be on. We arrived at the campsites a little before dark; besides Ranger, the Gypsy Sisters, and Linux, Nick and Dave were also there, as were AWOL and Swamp Thing and a very reclusive older couple whom we hypothesized were actually Ray Jardine and his wife. It was Ranger¢s birthday so I gave her the Mountain House Raspberry Crumble Cuppa gave me in Hot Springs ¢ I¢d been saving it for a special occasion, and the time seemed fitting. She shared it around. There was a campfire, and much food. I slept cowboy-style, as I have most of the week.