morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-13
From: Springer Mountain Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

Well today is officially the start of the trail. We kicked off fairly early. Raz and I started hiking with Wyatt and Travis. They¢re an odd breed. Wyatt with his piercings and Travis with his tattoos and piercings really stand out on the trail. Plus Wyatt is the first guy that I have seen so far that is hiking in a kilt. We met Dad in the parking lot just north of Springer, stole a couple Snickers, and kept going. We were in the back of our group. Raz fell behind me early. So I walked by myself through the first half of the trail today. It was until now the most beautiful trail I have ever been on. Thick green trees covered the trail. The trail was not hard at all, the first half. I waited for Raz for 30-45 min at the first bridge, but no sign of him so I moved on. I ran into Ian and Ryan taking a break so I stopped and had some trail mix. We went on and made a stop at Long Creek Falls. This was an awesome waterfall. Snapped a few pics and headed towards camp. The last half of this section was tough. There was a lot of uphill heading into Hawk Mountain. Ian and I took a break and took off our packs. After 5 min or so we headed on. About a mile down the trail I realized I had left my trekking poles sticking in the ground when we had taken a break. So I dropped my pack, and headed back to get them. After about a half a mile I saw Wyatt and Travis headed towards me. They asked if I had left my poles. I said yes thinking they had picked them up, but they said they were still there. They thought I was in the woods, doing my business so decided to leave them. I got them and headed back. I still pulled into camp around lunchtime, calling it an early day. The shelter started to fill up early, by 4 or so all the spots were claimed. More people started showing up and tenting outside the shelter. Before long we had probably 30 people there. It was wild to say the least. We hung out. Later a couple guys rolled in. They were SOBO¢s who had started in Maine in Sept. They had to snowshoe through some of the trail. But this was their last night and the finish on Springer tomorrow. We talked to three girls that camped behind us. They were on Spring break and had driven down from Wisconsin to hike for the week. Cool girls, I think Wyatt was especially taken by them. We hit the bed early hoping to get good nights sleep.
Date: 2005-03-14
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

It stormed last night and the shelter leaked a little on me and I woke up. I had just fallen back to sleep when I woke up to a mouse standing on my forehead. I shook my head, knocked him off, and went back to sleep. Raz and I were some of the last to leave the shelter. Both of us felt great today. It was dreary and wet this morning. The fog was so bad that any views we would have had were obscured. We kept on up Sassafras Mountain, which as been nicknamed ¢kick your ass mountain) and for good reason. It was tough, I am not sure if it was as tough as the approach but it was hard as hell. We did that and came down on the other side past some volunteers from New Hampshire on Spring break. We thanked them and moved on. We hiked down with Echo, Betty, Red Hat, Raz and I. We came to a road crossing and met 4 girls from Michigan. We took this time to take a break. And if these girls are reading this, I told them I would say hi and put their picture on here so I hope they see it. We continued on and had more energy that ever. The walking was great. We just kept walking. We made it to a stream and ate some lunch. My lunch was some peanut butter on a strawberry pop tart. It gave me the energy to keep going. We came to a stream and decided to bathe there. So we were stripping down and heard dad yelling over the ridge. How he found us I have no clue. Everyone kept telling him that we were behind them so he headed south until he saw us. We went to Gooch shelter with him. Drank a mountain dew he had brought in for us and decided to move on. We felt so good we went on to Woody Gap and tented there. Dad had 3 pizzas and half case of beer waiting for us. We enjoyed that and called it a night. Hope to wake up in the morning, and lighten my pack a little by sending some stuff home with dad. He is headed back today, so no more help from him. It sure was nice to have him here just for security in case something went wrong early. I am ready to move on now. But I am glad he was here.
Date: 2005-03-15
From: Woody Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

Raz and I hiked out of Woody gap this morning with Neels Gap in mind. Before we even got our stuff packed and got out Wyatt and already made it to Woody Gap from Gooch Mt. Shelter. So we gave him our last beer and he went on. Raz and I made pretty good time to start and Caught Kevin a little later. We finally found Wyatt and he hiked with us the rest of the way. We stopped at Jerrard Gap for a hot lunch and a good break. It was decided that we would still try to make neels gap before the outfitter started. So we hiked hard the last 4 miles up and over Blood mountain which is the highest point on the trail in Georgia. It was an awesome view but we really did not have time to enjoy it. We rolled into Neels gap around 5:30 and got a cabin at Blood Mountain Cabins. The guy was really nice and loaned us his car to go into town where Wyatt, Kevin, Raz, and I did alot of damage to the KFC buffet. We got back to the cabiin and relaxed and decided to take a zero day tomorrow.
Date: 2005-03-16
From: Neels Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We are taking our first zero day of the trip and it is much deserved after yesterdays haul up blood mt. Going up was bad but i think that coming down off of it was worse. I woke up early around 8:00 and Raz cooked all Wyatt, Kevin, and I some eggs and bacon. Keving decided to head on out and meet up with his wife. Then Wyatt and I went up to the office and did a load of laundry. While our clothes dried we walked up to the outfitter and watched them go through hikers backpacks trying to help them cut down on weight. We ran into the three niblets in the hostel and they told us that they were getting their car back so they could drive us into town and grab some beer. While they waited on the person to drop off their car Raz, Wyatt, and I had them go through our packs and try to cut weight. none of us were able to cut much off, but i did send home a few things to cut a couple pounds off. Wyatt rode into town with the niblets, and got back with a few beers. We all ate on the Mac and Cheese that I had cooked. I decided I had too much so I decided to cook it all for dinner. After dinner the girls made us some cheesecake and then the twins braided my hair. all of us hung out for a while then the girls went back to the hostel and I went to bed.
Date: 2005-03-17
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light snow

All of us got up early this morning and checked out of the cabin. We had to give the owner of Blood Mt. cabins a special thanks because of all his help. I could not have asked for a better host. It really gave me a good taste of people along the trail. After that we headed up to the outfitter to check email and get ready to leave. As always we got a later start than we wanted. We had hoped to leave at 9:00 or so but around 11:15 or so we were headed up the trail out of Neels Gap. The hike was fairly tough, but the weather was even worse. It was sleeting and snowing all day. It was not too bad and it made for a grat view along the trail. The snow and ice was sideways on all the tree branches. Wyatt snapped one of his trekking poles but was able to fix it with the ever popular duct tape. We made it into Low Gap just before dark. The shelter was full, and everyone was tenting it. We set up camp about 100 yds from the shelter. Raz slept under his tarp, I set up my tent and rainfly, but just used it for gear and decided to sleep in Wyatts two man tent with him.
Date: 2005-03-18
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Wyatt and I woke up early and decided to get out as fast as we could in order to claim a space in the next shelter. When we woke, the condensation was so bad inside the tent everything was soaked and alot of it had frozen. I heard someone say that it was 23 degrees when we walked out of camp around 7:30. Raz did not want to head out that early so Wyatt and I went on. We made really good time and were at Blue Mt. Shelter at 11:15. I thought about it and decided just to call it a day. Everyone came through for lunch and we got to hang out for a while. Most people moved on but a few decided to stay. Hopeful hiker, long haul, raz, Wyatt, Joe, and a few more (sorry if i forgot you) decided to stay. It was really windy on top of the mt, but it really warmed up so we strung out a clothes line and hung all our gear to dry. I ate the entire time and never could get full. After about three meals we built a fire and talked for a while. Just after dark we putout the fire and crawled in for the night.
Date: 2005-03-19
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Man what a wild day. Long Haul woke us up as the sun was about to rise. It was amazing to see the colors and watch the sun poke its face over the mountain tops. I tried to take some pictures but I am sure that i did not do them justice. I cooked up some grits and we headed out of the shelter at 8:00am. raz, Wyatt, Joe, and I hikes the 2 miles down into Unicoi gap where we hitch-hiked into Helen, GA. We were picked up bay a man and his son driving a flatbed pickup truck. The four of us piled on and held on for dear life as the driver whipped around 180 degree turns. We made it the 10 miles into town alot colder and with a little more respect for our lives. We walked from one side of town to the other picking up a few food items. While sitting outside the country store where we resupplied eating a bag of chips a couple ladies stopped and asked if we were thru-hikers. We all stated that we were and they asked if they could take our picture. One of them was a school teacher and had been teaching her class about the trail and several of the kids had expressed interest in doing the trail when they got older. They bought a map and a camera. we all signed the map (our first autograph) and took pictures. I think it is good that they are teaching children about things like this at a young age. I hope that some of them get to experience what it is like to be out here. After all this we walked to the other side of town to grab a bite to eat at Wendys. the looks we got while walking through town were priceless. We ate at Wendys and met up with another hiker, Bones. While leaving wendys Raz knocked the tip off of his dringing hose and sprayed water all over the place, causing a big scene in the middle of a crowded store. We decided it was time to get out of town and back on the trail. So we hitched a ride with a guy who we found out later was drunk, but we feltsafer with him than on that dang flatbed truck. We were right back on the trail and we started with a long steep climb out of the gap. I hiked into the Cheese factory site and as I rounded a turn in the trail I see a grill and a picnic table covered with food. Crash!Bang! and his friends were cooking on the trail for hikers. My first bit of trail magic. What a day. So I ate a burger and a hotdog and a few veggies, thanked them and moved on headed to Tray Mountain. I arrived on the top of tray at the shelter and claimed a spot there on the shelter floor. We sipped on the small bottle of rum that we had picked up in town while sitting around a campfire. then just like clockwork, the sun went down and so did we.
Date: 2005-03-20
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Hiawasse, GA
Miles today: 10.6

Once again we woke up around 7am. I got packed and headed out with James. It must have been 8 or so when we finally got out. We decided last night to go on ahead and head into Hiawassee and get a hotel room. We hiked the 7 miles to Deep Gap shelter and ate lunch. We met up with Amanda there and we all decided to hike in together. So her, james, wyatt, and myself hiked in to Dicks Creek Gap and hitched a ride. More hikers showed up while we were waiting for a ride and we ened up riding with Scholar as well in the back of a small toyota. This was by far the safest ride we had experienced so far. We got to the hotel and checked in. We did a load of laundry and went to Shoneys to eat. A lady named slick rock who hikes quite a bit gave us some cokes and snickers in the parking lot and drove us to shoneys. She ate with us and gave us a ride back. I love how we are treated so far, the people have been so nice. After we got back to the hotel I soaked my feet in the hot tub and typed all this stuff up in the lobby of the hotel. I think I am getting ready to hit the sack.
Date: 2005-03-21
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hey lets try this again. I did this before and somehow lost the whole page. I am going to use this day to rest up and recoop. Therefore I will not have much to tell. So this will be my rant and rave page. I am going to include ramdom thoughts and stuff that has come to mind over the past week.I want to thank Mom and Dad for all the help financially and support they have offered me while getting ready and doing this trip. Without them there is no way I could be out here. They have allowed me to experience something great that I will never forget. I want to thank Josh and his family for their donation to my trip, and Rodney for his many donations and support. I think Rodney may be my number one fan, or he thinks I am an idiot and is just being nice. Either way, Thanks. I want to thank Haley for the shoes that have made this trip easier. There are many more people, and thanks to everyone else.I want to tell the two ladies that we met in Helen, GA hello. I think that it is a great thing that you are doing by teaching your students about the Trail. It is great to see them become interested in this at a young age, because as they get older the likelyhood that they will start something new like this is rare. I hope that they will enjoy the pictures and the map. I would also like to tell the daughter of one of the ladies Happy 21st Birthday. Live it up!And a note for everyone reading my journal, thanks for the support! If and of you have questions or just want to say hi, email me at jakeky@gmail.com I love to hear from people when I get into town.As far as the trail goes, it is alot different than I expected. I have met some really neat people. It is just as much a social thing as it is a hiking thing for me. The mountains are great. The pictures can't do the views justice or represent the feeling I get out here. I have never been so happy and felt so free. I would never come home if this paid better.
Date: 2005-03-22
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We left Hiawassee this morning around 9:00. An ex thru hiker named Corsican had loaned Raz his car, so he came and picked it up and he and his wife shuttled all of us to the trail head at Dicks Creek Gap. Raz and I let the rest of the crew go ahead. We were kind of tired of the media circus that was following the Wyatt show, so we held back. As we got ready to hit the trail we saw several spring breakers from West Palm. They seemed like really nice guys. One of them let me use his cell phone to call my Dad and wish him a happy 50th birthday. The rain started sometime around 11 or so. By noon it was pouring and we were walking in a thunderstorm. The rain never did let up. We crossed the Georgia, North Carolina border in the rain and just kept going. Red Hat and Mother goose were camped at the Bottom of Bly gap. they looked at us like we were crazy when raz and I said we were going to push on to Muskrat Creek Shelter which was close to 4 more miles. I had heard horror stories about the climb out of Bly Gap and was not looking forward to doing it in the rain but I had no choice. Before I knew it the climb was over with and it was not as bad as I had heard. By the time we were to the top we were both soaked to the bones and just kept walking to stay warm. We got to Muskrat creek shelter around 6 or so and just as we expected the shelter was full. True to hiker tradition we were able to cram in. raz had to sleep at the foot of the sleeping platform by everyones feet, and I had to sleep on the table under the bear bags. probably not the safest place to sleep but I just wanted to stay dry.
Date: 2005-03-23
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Standing Indian Campground
Miles today: 4.0

I woke up safe and sound with no tragic bear attacks much to my relief. Everyone was up and out of the shelter early but I was in no hurry due to the fact that I had to walk down to Standing indian campground to meet Jay and Justin, two of my friends from home. The original plan was to meet them where the trail crosses the parking area at Deep gap, but the road was closed to I had to hike the 4-5 miles off trail down the Kimsey Creek trail to meet them. Raz and I left the shelter around 10 or so and started the hike to Deep Gap where we ate lunch. Raz decided he was going to make it a short day and hike into standing Indian shelter. So he headed up the AT and I headed off a blue blaze to meet my friends. The kimsey creek trail was terrible. half of it was down a creek bed that still had water in it. I did make it to the campground which was also closed. I walked to the main entrance and did not see them anywhere. I finally did see them drive by so I headed up the hill where I meet up with them. We set up camp off a side road. We built a fire and I went to bed when the sun went down. They Were still up waiting on Jason who was driving up from Alabama to meet them.
Date: 2005-03-25
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

We were up around 5 this morning and boy are my feet sore. We only had 9 miles to hike into Franking where I would meet Dad, Ruth, and Brit. I knew I would have time to relax there, but I needed to get my stuff from Wyatt before he left. I hated to leave Jay but I have to get my stuff and he knows dads number. raz and I headed out on fairly easy terrain. We hiked into glasmine gap and were able to celebrate our first 100 miles on the AT with a snack cake and a few pictures. We walked on into rock gap where we took a blue blaze .5 miles down to see the Second largest poplar tree in the world. It was neat but it was dead so we hikes the .5 back to the AT and moved on. We hiked into Winding stair gap and scored a ride with a family that was out for a day hike. We hit up a pizza buffett and then found Wyatt, James, Amanda, and freeze dried, and got our stuff. Wyatt has taken the name paperboy, that name stems from his crew of reporters following him all over for a news story. Dad picked us up at the hotel and took Raz and I to the cabin they rented. We were able to get a shower and do laundry. We had begun to smell funny. We went to the store and bought food and came back ate and watched a little NCAA tourny.
Date: 2005-03-27
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are still just chilling in Franklin. Raz and I are getting a bit uneasy being in the cabin but the rest is good for us. Dad, Ruth, Brit, Raz, and I went to First United Methodist Church here in Franklin to celebrate Easter. It was nice and the people were very friendly and welcoming. I had to ask the girl at the grocery store that did not sell pita bread where i could find some. Bi-Lo seems to be the only store in the south that sells pitas. I guess we will hit the trail in the morning for a rough 4 miles out of town.
Date: 2005-03-28
From: Franklin, NC

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: light rain

 Wow, what a day for just doing a few miles. The weather was great in Franklin, but when we got back to the top of the mountain it was raining and starting to spit snow. After the short hike I hade to take a half mile side trail to get to Siler Bald shelter. I arrived there to find myself alone. I swept out the shelter to get it ready to sleep. From the way it looked I thought it might just be Raz and I. Raz showed up a few minutes later. Shortly behind him was Stumpy and Turnankle. When they showed up all of their gear was wet and they were cold. I felt bad for them it seemed like they were ill prepared today. Since it was raining and all wet they only way they could dry their clothes was to build a fire inside the shelter. The fire smoked us out of the shelter so we spent the rest of the evening outside in the cold. just before dark Dave and Lisa, (brother and sister), showed up. They had trouble getting comfortable with the smoke but eventually adjusted. Around 9:00 they let the fire die and everyone faded off to sleep.
Date: 2005-03-29
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

 We left out of Siler Bald and headed up the trail. Raz and I have taken the rail names Bruce Spruce (me) and Bruce Moose (Raz). Short story to the names but not worth telling. We were taking a break at a road crossing and a truck stopped by to tell us that there would be trail magic consisting of hot dogs and cheeseburgers. He offered to take our packs to the top of the hill, we declined but his talk of food gave us a little motivation. On the way up to the top of Wayah bald for food we passed a guy building a fire. We told him that there was food but he looked at us like we were dumb and just nodded. We made it to the bald and at the food that River Wizard cooked us. He does this every year on the same day. We hung out at the trail magic for an hour or so then the guy we passed shopwed up. He thought we weer joking about the burgers, but he gladly joined us for a beer. His name was Giel, or G. he was from Quebec. Then made our way up to the top of Wayah Bald. the view from there was amazing so we stayed there for another hour. We pondered staying there for the night, but after several pictures we decided to move on to the shelter. Just before Log Lick gap there was a major trail relocation due to a landslide on the trail. We rested at the gap and echo and smilin Joe showed up. I hiked with Smilin Joe the remainder of the day. we decided we could not hike together because we would kill ourselves, we were both hiking fast. We got to Cold Spring Shelter for the night. there we met up with captin chaos, doc Holiday, Pathfinder, and several others. G showed up there and we got to talk a little. He is only out for a month. He is a rapper. He raps in french. After a little sample of his talents we all laughted ourselves to sleep at the expense of captin chaos. He kept us quite entertained.
Date: 2005-03-30
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: clear sky

Today we had a short day to Wesser bald. On the hike up to the top I saw the first flower that I had seen on the trip so far. I took it as a good sign of what was to come. Of course I had to snap a picture of it. At the firetower on top of Wesser bald you could see forever. I was up there for about half and hour before Moose showed up. We decided to just do the .8 to the next shelter. We had lunch under the firetower and took time to take several pictures from the platform on the top. I took a great video of a ladybug that did not turn out. finally moose and I decided it was time to move on, but said that we would return tonight to catch the sunset. We hiked down the hill to the shelter. While we were stopped short of the shelter filtering water I met a guy named domino from Florida who told me the story of a special moment he had in a horse stall in Paducah when he was 11. I moved down and claimed my spot in the shelter. I had no more than gotten my stuff spread out and dinner cooked when Scholar, Break a Leg, and cuppa Joe showed up. I was sure that they were way ahead of us. It was nice to run into them again.