morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-03-03
From: Poplar Stomp Gap

To: Cheese Factory Campsite
Miles today: 11.6

Day 4 - Lordy Lordy, It's Day 4 (dy)Elevation: 2500'Hiking Time: 7:30-12:00 and 3:15-6:30I got up, packed up my stuff, which takes me about an hour all told, and raced to Unicoi Gap where some lovely friends picked me up and took me to their home for lunch, a shower, laundry, and good conversation. These were special friends: my former pastor and his wife, Keith and Marie Nickle, from my childhood church in east Tennessee. They have since retired in northern Georgia. I got all caught up on how everybody back home is doing. Unfortunately, many of my favorite people from the church are dead now. After lunch, Keith and Marie made me a sandwich to go and took me back up to the Trail. I hiked and hiked, trying to catch up with the boys from Low Gap but never did see them. I finally tented at what I think was the Cheese Factory campsite, but I'm not quite sure. Another successful food hanging, and a much better job of campsite selection. I almost got some sleep that night. So far, I've tossed and turned every night in a shelter or tent.
Date: 2003-03-04
From: Cheese Factory Campsite

To: Dick's Creek - Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 15.5

Day 5 - I Can't Believe I'm Still HikingElevation Gain: 3000'Hiking Time: 7:45-5:00The hiking is getting harder, either because I'm tired or because the climbs are steeper. I got mad for the first time today when I thought I was through climbing but I wasn't. I cursed the mapmakers for lying to me. When I looked at the map again, I realized that I had just read it wrong, so "I'm sorry mapmakers". I intended to go on another 5 miles to a shelter, but I just couldn't face another 1000' foot climb, so I got off at a road, and walked 3 miles down towards the Blueberry Patch hostel before a nice lady picked me up and drove me the last half mile. I had a great time at the Blueberry Patch Hostel. I was the only one there, which was disappointing, but it was like having a whole cabin to myself, so it wasn't bad at all. I got to sleep in a real bed! I slept very well. I also got to dry all of my things and learned how to build a fire in a woodstove. Gary and Lennie who run the Blueberry Patch are wonderful people. When I asked why they run the hiker hostel, they told me that the Lord had called them to minister to hikers. Simple as that. Gary and I had a nice long conversation about faith. I like Christians who practice their faith through actions and pray for your safety, versus other approaches to ministry which I will not rant about here. You've got to go along to get along on the Appalachian Trail!Also, after listening to me talk for less than 2 minutes, Gary guessed where I was from and he was a mere 10 miles off. That's pretty impressive. He really ought to go to Hollywood and teach Southern accents to movie stars.   Before I got out of Hiwassee, four other people prayed for my safety, including the guy at the post office and the man doing the recycling at the Ingles Supermarket.
Date: 2003-03-05
From: Dick's Creek - Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 6 - Hiwassee or BustElevation Gain: 2000'Hiking Time: 12:30-5:30I spent the morning in Hiwassee, getting some supplies and checking email. The postmaster weighed my pack: 27 lbs, 2 oz, including a quart of water. (I swear, that will be of interest to someone). I stuck out my thumb and hitched my first hitch the 10 miles back to the Trail. A nice young girl named Rachel, cruising around, smoking cigarettes in her Trans Am, gave me a ride to the Trail and was nice enough to stop back by the Blueberry Patch to get my trekking poles, which I had forgotten. Rachel lives in Fayetteville, NC, but her husband just got shipped off to Kuwait, so she is driving around visiting relatives until he gets back. Her husband dumped his MREs out of his ditty bag and loaded up with cartons of cigarettes before he left. He figured he could buy plenty of food with those cigarettes. I hope that works out for him so he's not hungry over there. I was nervous about hitchhiking and still am. Every female I know in her 30s has a childhood memory of the 18-year-old girl who hitchhiked and got her arms cut off. I have a clear picture of this girl in my head. She was tall, thin, had long, dark hair and, for a good month, begged me, via my television, to never hitchhike.   Yesterday, I met a real live Ray Jardine-type ultra lightweight hiker named GraveDigger. He is also a real live grave digger up in Martinez, California. If I can catch him again, I'll see if he'll go through my pack with me to see what I don't need. He was sporting a GoLite Breeze pack, which only holds 20 pounds total. My buddy Chuck would be proud.I noticed that my sentence structure is getting more and more mountainy, but I don't have computer time to fix it. Oh well, my accent is getting stronger, too.I hiked up to Bly Gap and tented next to a cool kid named Alberto on spring break from Georgia Tech. Alberto was one of the fastest hikers I've seen. He's studying electrical engineering at Georgia Tech, and I'm sure he'll be very rich one day and/or a Boy Scout Troop leader.Gravedigger showed up out the campsite at dusk and assured me that the bears were still hibernating, even though I saw a pile of bearscat on the Trail, so we did not bother hanging our food at Bly Gap. However, I did have a nice big pile of rocks by my tent to throw at the bears if they came by. Alberto put his food in a tree and a mouse got to his gorp. Bly Gap was marked my first really rainy night on the Trail and my first thunder and lightning storm. You just can't win in Bly Gap. Oh yeah, Bly Gap also marked my first state line crossing. I am now officially in North Carolina.
Date: 2003-03-06
From: Bly Gap

To: Carter Gap
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 7: Carter, Carter, Jimmy CarterElevation Gain: 3500'Hiking Time: 7:15-5:30Hey, the elevation gain seems to be growing every day! That's not funny. I found out today that if you leave duct tape wrapped around your feet for a couple of days, the skin looks dead when you take it off. It's kind of cool. I left in the wee hours and was so sleepy that I missed seeing the Gnarly Old Oak at the top of Bly Gap that is the symbol of the Appalachain Trail. No one can figure out how I missed this tree, since it is right in the middle of the Trail and apparently very large. I met Shrunk today, who is a psychologist surveying hikers to find out if our values change from one end of the Trail to the other. We're supposed to do another survey up in Maine to detect any changes.I was so tired by the afternoon that I lost my balance and fell down a bank. It was only a 4 feet high bank, so it didn't hurt, but the fall did elicit the following outbursts from me: "Oh, my" and "Doh". I'm really cleaning up my language out here.At the Carter Gap shelter, I saw Alberto the Spring-breaker, Eric and Christie who just finished a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, and the great "Martin from Austria (not Australia)". Martin is hysterical. He has ramen noodle appetizers before dinner and eats them with great joy. I asked him how far he was hiking the next day, and he said, "Oh, between 5 and 13 miles". I like that guy.
Date: 2003-03-07
From: Carter Gap

To: Rainbow Springs Campground
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 8: Rainbow Springs and the Big Big TreeElevation: 2300'Hiking Time: 7:30-4:00Everyone flew by me on today, allowing me to keep my hard-earned title of "Slow Hiker". I got close to the road turn-off to the Rainbow Springs Campground and decided to take a side trip to see "The World's Second Largest Yellow Poplar". The guidebook did not mention that "The World's Second Largest Yellow Poplar" was half a mile and 400' down a side trail. I didn't mind going down, but then I had to come back up the side trail. It was a very very large tree, though. I took a picture. Luckily, a man showed up with a miniature Snickers bar in his pocket. He just handed to me and said "this is what I would want if I had been on the Trail for days". I almost cried. I walked a mile down to the Rainbow Springs Campground from the Trail. The Snickers guy passed me in his truck right at the entrance and gave me another Snickers, and another guy stopped to chat about hiking and offered me a ride, but I was already there. I met the new owner of Rainbow Springs Campground, Amelia, and her husband and daughter, and found Martin tented at the campground. Martin lit the woodstove for me in the bunkhouse (thanks Martin!) and we ate lots of pizza. I was an hour into a long involved scheduling call with my Dad when the pay phone went out. I think we were both secretly relieved to get a break from that conversation. I think I must change my diet a bit. I've been eating a lot of crap out here. I'd hate to do all this hiking and not lose any weight. I got a couple of emails from hikers that I met on the Trail. I love technology. I'm waiting for Chief to get a move on and catch up. This was the day of the famous Albert Mountain scramble. The Trail up to Albert Mountain does contain a steep rocky bit, but it was nothing compared to the time the Orange County Sierra Club tried to kill me while rock climbing at Joshua Tree. I did not tremble with fear on Albert Mountain, and the views from the top were great. It got down to 22 degrees that night, and when I went to the bathroom in the morning, I found an entire church youth group sleeping on the floor of the bathhouse at the campground. The bathhouse has nice heaters. I chatted with them for a long time while I brushed my teeth. I met a police officer the next morning who gave us our first confirmed bear sighting of the season (he saw one in his backyard) and told me that "hitch-hiking is legal, well, there's an ordinance against it, but no one will give you a ticket unless you stand in the middle of the road stopping traffic or something". I asked him if any hiker had actually stood in the middle of the road stopping traffic, and he said "Yeah, but come to think of it, he was drunk". Wow.
Date: 2003-03-08
From: Rainbow Springs Campground

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 3.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 9: Tennessee Lady Vols Squeak By Mississippi State Bulldogs in SEC Semi-FinalsElevation Gain: 600'Hiking Time: 10:30-12:00So Martin and I get a ride from Amelia in her father's ancient pickup truck to the Trail, and I hike a luxurious 3.1 miles to the next road crossing, Winding Stair Gap, where I plan to hitch a ride into Franklin, NC, to spend the night in a bed and get my tent fixed. Boy did I get a big surprise. I rounded the last hill before the road and started my descent. I thought I was dreaming, but there before me lay an Orange Mecca. A former thru-hiker named Ox, also a huge Tennessee Volunteers fan, had set up a big tent with several bright orange Tennessee Volunteers director chairs, oranges, orange juice, soda, and donuts, and two of the chairs contained my buddies Martin and Alberto. What a welcoming committee. Turns out Ox was there to pick up Alberto and give him a ride back to Atlanta. Ox cranked up Rocky Top on his truck radio, and I sang at the top of my lungs with abandon, much to Martin's amusement. Today I saw my first snake on the Trail. It was only about a foot and a half long and did not have a triangle head, but I screamed like a 6-year-old girl anyway.This was the day that it dawned on me that people who live along the Trail, and former hikers, and many others, really look forward to helping thru-hikers. Some of these Trail Angels sit by the Trail all weekend and hand out food and other goodies. There are many reasons they do this, for some it is their ministry, some are giving something back to the Trail community or hiking community, some are lonely, and some are just real nice people. I think that much of it has to do with the naked appreciation of the hikers. We will weep tears of joy for soda. While sitting in the Orange Mecca, the last Southbound hiker of the season came through. He had some words of wisdom about thru-hiking. He said that hiking any long distance is essentially a selfish act, and if you just accept that, your hike will be much easier. After several rounds of Rocky Top, Ox gave me a ride into Franklin, NC. We stopped at the Eagle Outfitters store and I bought an extra sleeping pad, which is quite the luxury for a lightweight hiker, but it only weighs 11 oz. I got my picture made for the wall of thru-hikers at the store. I stayed at the Franklin Motel, run by very hiker-friendly folks. They had cable so I got to watch the SEC semifinal women's basketball game in which Tennessee just barely squeaked by Mississippi State. I ate a big meal at Mama's Restaurant. They had never seen anyone order green beans with a burger before. One thing that bugs me is that every Ingles Supermarket has a big sign on it that says "American owned", which, in the South, essentially means, "your money is going to local white people, not any of them damn foreigners". I find that offensive.
Date: 2003-03-09
From: Franklin, NC

To: Tellico Gap, NC
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: few clouds

Day 10: I Want the Ball in a Clutch SituationElevation: 4200'Hiking Time: 9:30-7:00I got a free ride from Franklin, NC back to the Trail from local Nantahala Hiking Club member Jack Coriell. While I was waiting for Jack, a pretty blonde woman in a pickup truck with a German Shepherd pulled into the motel parking lot and dropped off two other hikers - Tinman and Shawn. I've never seen anyone happier to be at a motel than Tinman. That kid was just beaming. Turns out this angelic woman goes down to Rock Gap Shelter every Saturday night during the thru-hiking season and cooks either dinner or Sunday morning breakfast for the thru-hikers and then takes them to town if they want to go. I think I love her. Today I saw my first bald. Balds are unexplained bare patches, like meadows, at the tops of some mountains near the Smokies. They are not above the treeline (there really is no treeline near the Smokies because the mountains aren't tall enough), so no one knows exactly how these bare patches were formed. I stopped and had a bagel, cheese, and tomato at Silers Bald, wishing I had a nice latte to go with it. (The first day out of a town, I carry fresh produce and eat it for lunch. There was a coffee shop in Franklin, but it isn't open on Saturday evening, Sunday, or Monday, so I didn't get to enjoy an espresso drink. Welcome to a small Bible Belt town on a weekend.) Then Matt from Gooch Mt. Shelter came over the hill! He picked up the name Curly. Good to see him again. Later that day, I ran into Trail Angel "Apple" (he had a name tag to this effect). Apple sort of yelled at me for there not being more hikers. He had been out in this clearing all weekend making hot dogs for the hikers that came by, and not many came by. He wanted me to take all the sodas he had, but I just couldn't carry them. My pack only holds 30 pounds. I felt kind of bad for Apple. He meant well.So far, we are really enjoying the Trail in North Carolina. Except for a few bumps like Albert Mountain, the uphill and downhill grades are much gentler, so they don't take so much out of you, even if the total elevation gain or loss is the same. Because of this, I came very close to my first 20 mile day today. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and call this my first 20 miler. I had to run down the last hill into Tellico Gap to get to Ron's Hostel before dark, but Ron's place was open and the spaghetti was cooking. There I met Greg, aka Lunaire, and we all talked about management consulting for a couple of hours. I'm not telling anyone else what I do for a living. Hopefully, I won't have to talk business again on this trip. The title is a quote from Kara Lawson, senior point guard for the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She made the game winning basket in the SEC semi-finals against the Miss. St. Bulldogs in the last 5 seconds with a solo drive down the lane. I think that seeing Coach Pat Summit of the TN Lady Vols on TV last night inspired me to do the 20 miles today.
Date: 2003-03-10
From: Tellico Gap, NC

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 11: Hey, Nantahala (Hey, Macarena)Elevation Gain: 1000'Hiking Time: 8:00-1:15Lunaire and I hiked from Ron's Hostel to Nantahala together. It was my first time hiking with someone on this trip. While hiking with someone has its advantages, it also has some drawbacks. For example, we missed the Trail turnoff and walked up a mountain on a very steep road instead of on the Trail, so we ended up "blue-blazing" without meaning to. On the plus side, I learned an awful lot about fencing and that I like the band Rusted Root (Lunaire has an MP3 player). I also learned that all meat comes from Indiana: "Meat is cheap in Indiana", said Lunaire. "Why is that?", I asked. "Because that's where meat comes from", said Lunaire. We arrived at the hiker-friendly white-water rafting center known as the Nantahala Outdoor Center, or NOC, for short. Lunaire and I ate copious amounts of food at the restaurant, and I took a book from the "take a book, leave a book" shelf at the restaurant. The next day I left pieces of a book, which only hikers can appreciate. We ran into a group of teenagers who were spending their spring break doing trail maintenance and staying up at the bunkhouse. One of the leaders, Jason, had hiked the Trail a couple of years before, and he was wearing my favorite pants, Carhartts.I was at the outfitters store getting some coffee in the afternoon, and a hiker blew in claiming to be on his 6th day, which is quite a pace (over 20 miles a day). This may have been true, but he really needed to get a belt and some anti-rash medicine because I could see his irritated hind section everytime he bent over. He also wasn't very friendly, or I probably would not have mentioned his irritated hind section in my journal.
Date: 2003-03-11
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 12: My First Zero Day! Today I did no hiking and went rafting on the Nantahala River. I met a nice couple, Carol and Robbie Einstein, who were entertaining their grandson Oppossum, who was visiting them on his spring break from University of Florida. I think his real name was Bryant, but he made a good Oppossum. The four of us went on the rafting trip, and everything was going fine until our guide was flipped out of the raft as we went through the falls. Poor ole' Kent. He got a big gash right on the schnocker. Turns out that Carol has cousins from Grainger County, Tennessee, so we knew some of the same people. Small world. I spent some time chatting with the other hikers: Curly, Scooter, Southern Yankee, and Martin from Austria. Martin ate 3 burgers and pie at the restaurant. It might be a record.
Date: 2003-03-12
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 13: Why Does North Carolina Hate Me?Elevation Gain: 5400'Hiking Time: 6:50-5:30This was by far the hardest hiking day yet. I take back every nice thing I said about the trail gradient in North Carolina. I guess most people do this in two days, but not me. And I collected a posse of boys from Nantahala. One of them had too much testosterone and couldn't be out-hiked by a girl, and the others followed him, so four of us did all 16 miles and the mile high climb. The other guys were nice, but Mr. Testosterone started a "girls are stupid and irrational" commentary to which I was subjected that night in the shelter. It wasn't aimed at me personally, except that I was the only female in the shelter. I think I'd rather camp alone in a rainstorm with bears than have to listen to senseless macho crap while I'm trying to go to sleep. That was the first time I was made to feel uncomfortable and disrespected on the Trailso far. Hopefully, I won't see that guy again.
Date: 2003-03-13
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam/The Hike Inn
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

Day 14: So Lazy, So LazyElevation Gain: 800'Hiking Time: 7:30-10:45I left before Mr. Testosterone, but he soon caught up with me. I ditched the boys at a road crossing and walked to the Hike Inn, figuring I'd make up the mileage on my zero day. I saw Brian, aka Scooter, one of the Penn St. engineers from Gooch Mt., who has to leave the Trail. Too bad, but I hope his buddy Curly keeps going on anyway. I spent the afternoon in Robbinsville, NC, updating my journal and investigating the town. I didn't want to take a day off, but I'm always glad when I do. The movie "Nell", starring Jodie Foster, was filmed in Robbinsville, and Jodie is a god here. Her picture is everywhere. I wondered around all afternoon chatting with people at the dry goods store, the pawn and gun shop, and the local sit down restaurant. I bought myself a turkey call at the pawn and gun shop, but I don't know what a wild "raspy old hen" is supposed to sound like, so I'm having trouble replicating the sound. I can make a nice oboe sound on it, though. Before long, we'll be eating nice fresh oboe on the Trail.
Date: 2003-03-14
From: Fontana Dam/The Hike Inn

To: Fontana Dam/The Hike Inn
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 15: Twice As Nice on the Second NightElevation Gain: 1200'Hiking Time: 8:00-12:30The Hike Inn folks dropped me off at the Trail to finish the last few miles to Fontana Dam, then came to pick me up again. I went back into Robbinsville, ate a nice big lunch, then piddled around at the library again.
Date: 2003-03-15
From: Fontana Dam/The Hike Inn

To: The Smokies - Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

Day 16: First Day in the SmokiesElevation Gain: 4900'Hiking Time: 8:00-3:30Entered the Smokies today from Fontana Dam. The Trail climbs up 3000' to the ridge-line, continues constantly up and down along the ridge for 70 miles or so, then climbs down 3000' feet into Davenport Gap. The views were nonexistent. Everyone was sort of depressed, mostly because of the weather, which was very cloudy and foggy and drizzly. Some of us were tired. We climbed up to Shuckstack, which is supposed to be one of the very best views of the Smokies, saw nothing, then continued along the ridge for several miles. I stopped at the second shelter and met Shawn (Pepper). Pepper and I got a kindling fire going long enough to dry out some big pieces of wood. A couple of college kids from Wisconsin shared the shelter with us. They were great. One of them had spent the summer in Alaska, working at a national park, and taught us how to build the fire out of wet wood. The shelter was dark and damp and covered with big pieces of tarp and a chainlink fence to keep the bears out. We were grateful for the tarps - they kept the wind out.