morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-02-13
To: Rock Gap Shelter - 102.8 miles so far
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

CoexistenceLast night at Carter Gap Shelter, and tonight at Rock Gap Shelter, I've shared my space with some big spiders. They looked the same; I took pictures of both. Both nights, they brazenly sauntered on over to the little area that I had staked out on the floor. Tonight I actually said to this one out loud, "You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone." If spiders can think, I imagined it must have been mystified by all the bright flashes of light that were coming from my flash as I tried to get an acceptable picture of it as it was moving (but then again, it really wasn't that different from lightning flashes during a thunderstorm). Eventually it started heading up the wall and I lay down for the night on my back in my sleeping bag.An hour or more later, I'm drifting off to sleep and I feel something fall on my face, and that something felt to have been just about the right size and weight to have been that spider! I think to myself "Spider, if that was really you, you went too far. I didn't really want to have that close a relationship." Instinctively, my hand had already gone up to brush away whatever it was that had fallen on me. But then I stood up, got up out of my sleeping bag and sleeping bag liner, and thoroughly shook both them and my clothes out onto my sleeping pad.All of that vigorous shaking produced no spider...
Date: 2005-02-16
From: Derrick Knob Shelter - 185.6 miles so far

To: Wesser Bald Shelter - 128.2 miles so far
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

MudslideI didn't see it. Two fellows I passed later on said they didn't see it either and they had looked back at this area from another vantage point. But the warning sign and red ribbons guided me onto a new trail, maybe one or two weeks old. It seems to have been routed around trees, but the bushes had to go. Some thorny plants still existed on the new trail; they are "flora non grata" on a hiking trail and will surely be banished from it in short order.   Under ordinary circumstances you only meet thorny plants when forced to go slightly off trail due to a downed branch, say, and there you find the thorny plants lurking. Sometimes they are brave and dare to hug the sides of the trail, but not often.
Date: 2005-02-18
To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter - 149.9 miles so far
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Like a mirage in the desertWhen it's getting late in the day and I am feeling about ready to be at the shelter I'm headed for (when not camping), it's easy to imagine that that's it just ahead... It doesn't seem to matter that I know my pace and, surprisingly, can make a pretty accurate estimate of when I'll very likely arrive there. I've seen large clumps of dense bushes in the distance, or overturned trees (as in the photo) and imagined that the shelter was already at hand... Sometimes when very tired I was certain the shelter had to be just around the next bend, but it wasn't, nor was it around the bend after that.
Date: 2005-03-11
From: Erwin, TN (338.7 miles so far)

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

SuperlativesI noticed that many of my AT experiences can be described that way. I wrote earlier that I believed that being on Max Patch, NC (at 4629')on Tuesday afternoon, 3/1/05, during a winter storm, was the fiercest winter conditions I had ever experienced. To me it's a bit surprising that I could have an experience that I considered to be that extreme in just one month on the trail. One month is only about 1/5 of 1% of my entire life, so how could that be? I think in part it's subjective: this weather felt very severe at the time and everything I was comparing it to was far in the past and perhaps largely forgotten, so maybe I am a bit biased. The other possibility is that in everyday outdoor activity people tend to pick and choose the conditions they experience. Perhaps you have a weekend trip scheduled and very bad weather is forecast, and so the trip is cancelled or rescheduled; this would deny you the extreme experience. Also if you are a student or commute to work and there were a blizzard, it would be quite likely you would just stay home that day. But on the trail I am just taking whatever comes. For sure if the weather is very bad, I am not feeling strong, or not feeling very well, I put in a short day, but I still (so far) have always gone out and did what I felt up to that day. Had I not camped just a few miles short of Big Bald (5516') and was up on it on Tuesday, 3/8, following a 2nd snowstorm and during high winds, I might have found it even more extreme, just one week later. (One thing that consistently occurs is when you meet someone who's travelling in the opposite direction and you talk about the trail ahead. In nearly every case they'll say that they had a pretty tough hike, but it'll be easy for you since you're headed in the other direction. People will say this even if it's up and down all day and both directions are about the same, or if their direction WAS actually the easiest of the two!)I have more superlatives to report. The Great Smoky Mountains had one last chance to get me with its icy conditions, on the day (2/25) I went from Peck's Corner (mile 214) to Cosby Knob Shelter (mile 226.9), but it did get me and it did get me good. I passed through an area above 6000' where the whole trail was covered with THE most slippery ice, and with no way to skirt around it; I fell on it 3 times. And I thought the snow-covered, rocky "Exposed Ridgeline Trail" section of the AT was THE most treacherous of the entire hike so far. (There's even a blue-blazed "Bad Weather Bypass" trail that lets you safely avoid it in bad conditions.)   Similarly, some of the sights, and especially the people I have met, have led to some most positive and enjoyable experiences I have known.
Date: 2005-03-11
From: Erwin, TN

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

CyclesThere are lots of components to the hiking experience that have a cyclical aspect to them. The weather is just one example. During much of the early part of the hike I would experience 2-3 mild, sunny days, then 2-3 rainy, icy, windy ones. For sure, this type of weather is not typical to my native New Jersey. In NJ, if it gets very cold and we get a day or two of snow, perhaps it will go right into the 40s the next day and some of the snow will start to melt. But in Georgia and North Carolina, a lot of times it would go right into the upper 50s and even 60s. Such a vast change in conditions from day to day!But there are many more things in the day-to-day hiking experience that have an ebb and flow to them. The trail designers seem to have purposely laid out the trail so that there is good variety in what you do from day to day: it's not always hard climbs and steep descents; sometimes you get a whole wonderful day of gently moving through the forest on the cleanest of trails, and these tend to follow the very hard days. Your physical condition may slowly wear down since you the last time you had a good shower and a huge, satisfying meal. But counterbalancing that is large weight that a full load of food and cooking fuel adds to your pack, when you first start back on the trail after resupplying. On the other hand, as your food supply runs down, your eating choices lessen, and so the snacks and meals you may have looked forward to are no longer as able as they had been to provide an uplift.Sometimes the cycles are not really sychronized one way or the other. But do you remember the idea of "biorthyms"? (Do they still exist?) There were supposedly physical, emotional, and mental cycles, based on when you born, that led to days where they reinforced each other positively or negatively and where you were predicted to be relatively strong or weak. In the hiking situation you can be on your 5th continuous day of hiking, be in cold weather and high winds, with the trail you are on happening to be one where you move along a western slope exposed to the deepest snow and strongest winds for hours at a time. At the same time you are on the last of your food. This would be the most challenging of circumstances - all of the cycles seem to be pushing the same way.   The opposite occurs too. It can be calm, 60 degrees, and you find yourself on a wonderful, clean, smoothly-flowing trail, with your pack feeling light (as if it's not even on your back) and everything seeming effortless. Everything is going your way. Isn't this just how it is in life in general?The ONE thing that is under your control is your mental outlook. With a postive outlook you can compensate for any negative factor. You KNOW you'll get over the next hill; after all, you've gotten over all the prior ones.   You KNOW a cold day WILL end and a beautiful, mild day may be just around the corner, just as it was last time.
Date: 2005-03-28
To: Mount Rogers NRA, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Never pass up an opportunity to ...wash, do laundry and any repairs on a warm, sunny day when you arrive early at the place you want to be.dump trash. Have it ready when making a grocery stop, passing through a town or a park, or even a parking area that may have a trash receptacle.buy quality food at a good price. An offer of a ride to a major grocery store, or the loan of a bike to get there should hardly ever be passed up; the same goes for an unexpected meal.decide whether to fill your water bottles.top off your fuel bottle. You may not have another good chance for a while.contact your family or friends (Thanks to Bob Peoples for reminding me of this one.)save your digital camera contents to a CD or some other media; you don't want to risk losing it.charge any rechargeable batteries, especially for your camera. I came very close to having dead batteries (both the battery and the spare) twice.acquire a quality plastic bag at the right price: free with your purchase. They're interesting and can be used to store food or toiletries, hold water, wash clothes, or provide another layer of protection around something valuable.take a side trip to see something of note. Think of the effort it would take someone else (or you, in the future) to get to the point from which it's just a short side trip.try to learn something from (or at least about) most of the people you meet for more than just a brief moment.write down an idea to pursue before it becomes just a forgotten thought.
Date: 2005-03-30
To: Todd
Miles today: 0.0

Hello,Tom wanted me to put in an entry introducing myself. My name is Todd, and I've volunteered to type up Tom's journal entries for the remainder of his hike. I'm a 29 year old computer programmer in Michigan. I've been camping and hiking most of my life. As a teenager, the Boy Scouts got me into things like canoeing, sailing, and backpacking. I guess I've always loved time spent in the outdoors. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I ruptured an achilles tendon during a soccer game. I'll be off crutches by mid-summer, but I don't expect to be cleared to carry a pack right away. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll be living vicariously through Tom and the other journalists here.-Todd
Date: 2005-03-31
To: Little Wolf Creek, Southwest Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Moose LegsThe third most significant hiking experience I've had on the Appalachian Trail was the repeated fording of Little Wolf Creek. Number one was climbing Max Patch in a winter storm; number two was tent camping just prior to Big Bald eight days later (I never told you about this!) I'd been thinking on and off about developing my "goat legs", referring to someone gaining the surefootedness of a mountain goat with repeated practice. What I was to find was that I really needed "moose legs". The ability to move through shallow water, filled with potentially slippery rocks and an uneven bottom, without catastrophe. There are twelve crossings of Little Wolf Creek in about two miles, most of which would have been dealt with by a bridge anywhere else. It feels as if the intent is to drive the hiker into the water repeatedly, as it isn't possible to make nearly any of the crossings by walking on logs or rocks. On the first crossing I tried to get across quickly, using a few prominent rocks sticking out above the water's surface. I wasn't using any hiking poles for baance, the rocks were slippery, and I went in. My boots, socks, pants, the bottom half of my shirt, and the contents of my jacket pockets were all soaked. On the next few crossings, I didn't try to use rocks, but still tried to go fast, and still fell in. Five times in all, sometimes on my front, sometimes on my back. I went in twice on one of the crossings; as I was getting up, and before I could get my balance, down I went again. It was unfortunate that no one was there to to witness any of this, or even to see me hiking along soggily aftwerwards, with my boots making squishy noises. I camped shortly thereafter as I needed to first, dry out, and second, check the condition of everything in my pack. I'm happy to say that my sleeping bag, electronic equipment (camera, USB adapater, recharger, etc.), and packed clothing were all unaffected. I had a rain cover on the pack at the time, things were packed carefully, and the pack only went in the water for a few seconds at a time.When it came time to ford Stony Creek a couple of weeks later (the bridge is out due to a hurricane last year), my approach was much more studied. I packed my gear even more carefully, switched from my hiking boots to my running shoes, and acquired two lengths of rhododendron two miles prior, to help brace myself against the current. This time I tried to cross as slowly as necessary, very carefully choosing where to place each foot. One or two occasions I was caught like a crane on one leg when the spot I had chosen for the other foot turned out to contain a sharp rock or to be deeper than I expected. That spot had to be rejected, and the sticks helped me stay balanced until I chose another. Though I had rolled my pants up above my knees, the water was deep enough that the lower two or three inches got wet. But this time I crossed in about two minutes, and without incident.
Date: 2005-04-03
To: Southwest VA
Miles today: 0.0

How I get goingAt times I've felt sluggish, mostly early in the morning. I'm not like the horse always ready to bust out of the gate. When I'll feel like this isn't predictable, but I've found it's much less likely if I've had a big dinner and lots of water the night before. (A big dinner might be a Lipton rice dish, two cups of cereal with dry milk, some chocolate and some lemonade!) It's independent of how much sleep I get, as there have been lots of times I've been up thinking or listening to the radio, gotten 3 or 4 hours of sleep, and felt fine the next day. But when I'm moving along and recognize this feeling, what I try to do is focus on my form and not on my speed. If I'm going uphill, I'll take only long strides, placing my feet carefully, no matter how slowly. Making noticeable progress in just a few steps is psychologically good; shuffling along with tiny steps is just as equally bad. Your body shouldn't be telling your body that it's tired; your mind needs to be telling your body that we're moving forward. I sometimes think of what it would be like with deep snow, mud or ice, that this is benign in comparison or that I'll think back fondly on this whole experience for years to come, and how fortunate I am to have this opportunity and ability. (It truly has been more fabulous than I could have ever imagined.)Accept it as a challenge: How gracefully can I move these large, jagged rocks? Or, how effortessly can I make it to the top of this hill? Or, can I pick the right pace with which I can make it all the way to the end of the climb without having to pause to rest? I like this last exercise because it reminds me that I'm not at the mercy of the mountain or the trail. And to succeed, "they" just have to run out of elevation gain before I run out of endurance! If I don't succeed, it's no big deal; I can try it again another time.Once I thought of just trying to move as silently as possible. Just trying to be noticeably less noisy will slow you down a lot. In the first hour I tried this, a deer remained standing in the trail ahead of me, just looking at me, rather than bounding off into the forest. And the birds seemed to stay on the ground longer before fleeing to the safety of the lower tree branches.
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Southwest VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

620 Mile MaintenanceBy trying to regularly maintain my gear, I am hoping to prolong its life and spot any developing problems before they become too serious. A bad scenario is a boot sole becoming detached or a backpack strap failing while out on the trail. Even worse would be not having the materials with which to attempt a repair. Boots are especially hard to care for since you not only need the materials, but also the right weather conditions for a long enough time: the boots are supposed to start out clean and dry, and the treatments then be given time to work. Here's what I did for my boots while in Pearisburg, VA:I bought new insoles, laces, and Shoe Goo at Walmart, then threw out the old insoles and laces.I washed the boots inside and out with a small amount of mild soapI left the boots to dry in the sun and wind for almost a whole day (I had good conditions.)I applied Shoo Goo to the place where the leather uppers attach to the soles, and let that sit for a few hours.I applied NikWax (leather treatment and water repellant) and let the boots sit again.How long will the boots last? Only time will tell.I had more to do while in town. Local people are sometimes amused bu hikers willing to walk thousands of miles on a trail, but reluctant to walk a mile or two between this place and that in town. The reality is that there is often a lot to accomplish in only a limited amount of "town time". Here's the rest of my Pearisburg to-do list as an example. There were more things to do than usual, but you get the idea.Go to the post office to get the package containing a 3-season sleeping bag, replacement shell mittens, and down cleaner.Call Walmart about getting a refill of a NJ prescription at their store.Get directions to the Walmart and go there. At Walmart, backup my digital camera memory to CD, compare rechargeable AAA battery systems and choose one, buy a phone card, seam sealer, and groceries, and pick up the prescription.Pitch my tent and reseal the seams.Get directions to a laundromat and go there. Besides doing clothes, wash and dry my down jacket and winter sleeping bag with the down cleaner that came in the mail. (The drying of the down items is the time consuming part.)Repack the food I just bought (throw out the boxes, etc.).Get a haircut. (I walked to two places and both were closed at 10 AM without explanation. I asked two people if there were any other places I might try, didn't learn of any, and gave up on this. I did eventually get a haircut at a third place suggested by one of the librarians later on.)Try to find an O-ring to replace the one I used to repair my stove.Try to buy Coleman fuel by the ounce. (The store listed in the guidebook, Little Giant Grocery, went out of business, so no luck here.)Pack my winter gear and bring it to the post office for mailing.Charge my new rechargeable batteries.Check e-mail, etc., using the internet at the library.Upload some photos and do my best to update my trail journal.
Date: 2005-04-28
To: Shenandoah National Park
Miles today: 0.0

Harsh TruthsOne of the people I met on the trail an my first day in Shenandoah Nat'l Park reminded me of my Aunt Pauline, not only in appearance but in the sound of her voice. So there was not just the usual friendliness you feel towards fellow hikers, but an immediate extra kind of intamacy that came from that sense of familiarity. Her name was Patricia. After chatting for a while I mentioned that I had lost 33 pounds in my first 31 days, without even trying. She replied, "Don't lose any more weight. You look gaunt!" Later we got to the topic of footwear. She had on light trail shoes, and I was wearing heavier leather boots. Looking at my boots she said, "They look worn." I told her I had just cleaned and waxed them again that morning. She answered, "They just look like they have a lot of miles on them. Did you have them for a while before you started the hike?" When I said "No, they were new," she laughed! I revealed that I had been trying to take care of them, to see if one pair of boots can last the whole way.There was no maliciousness in anything she said. They were just honest words, expressing opinions different from the ones I had held. I took her picture and she squeezed my hand goodbye as she headed for her car, trying to beat the downpour that was threatening to break out at any moment.
Date: 2005-05-10
To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA
Miles today: 1088.5
Weather: clear sky

Listening to the leavesBesides actually looking for interesting things and trying to detect unusual movement, you can also listen to sounds in the leaves. Mostly, the sounds you hear will be of creatures trying to hide from one, or put more distance between them and you, and they won¢t be quiet about it at first. So, if you look to where the sound came from right away, you have the best chance of seeing them. After that they may freeze to avoid detection, like a chipmunk, lizard, or frog, and will be harder to see. But though I never tried to consciously study the specifics of the sounds, when I heard a sound off to my right the thought came to me: sounds like a chipmunk. I looked to where the sound had come from, and it was! Later in the morning came another sound, this time near my left foot. I thought: lizard? Yes! Peering into the leaves where it was trying to hide, I could see the shiny blue scales on its still partially uncovered back. (What is it with me and blue lizards?) It was 14 weeks on the trail to the day. Thinking about it some, I realized the creatures were either different in some important way or doing different things. A squirrel scampers directly through the leaves, is bigger and heavier than a chipmunk, but seems to have slower leg turnover. A chipmunk may run along a log and only make a brief dash in the leaves. A bird on the ground is either hopping from one spot to another, or up to a branch. Deer are very noisy, even if far away. They often make a short loud noise, followed by a few seconds of silence; then there¢s a huge racket as they bound through the woods. The slithering of a snake (I had heard on the afternoon before.) makes a sound unlike the others.         I thought about this again in the afternoon when I met a young person out day-hiking, who enthusiastically asked me lots of questions. I showed him my pictures and video clip of the snake, told him I¢m learning things everyday, and that starting to recognize some sounds in the leaves was my most recent revelation. Describing the idea aloud to another person served to bring the idea further into focus. Amazingly, while I was camping in the woods and cooking dinner that afternoon, I heard a single, very light, crashing sound nearby. There it was another few seconds later, and it was getting closer! What could it be? I looked down and saw a tiny brownish toad (I think) only about 1¢ long from front to back. I would never have guessed that such creatures inhabit the Pennsylvania woods.         The fellow I spoke to on the trail earlier in the afternoon thought that familiarity with these sounds would have been something the settlers had had. I imagined it might be trivial for someone who spent most of their time outdoors, perhaps even an Indian child of age three.