morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-08
From: roaring fork shelter

To: deer park mtn shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

didn't rain last night like we thought it might. i slept pretty well too. my plan for today was to walk to the deer park mtn shelter, 11.7 miles away. from there, it's a sweet 3.4 miles into Hot Springs tomorrow morning and i'll stay there wednesday night. it was cloudy all day but didn't rain on me while i was walking. the temperature dropped to around 50* around 11am. i got to the shelter at 12n exactly and immediately started asking myself why i got up early to get here at noon with nothing to do! sigh... so chances are this journal entry will be a long one--fair warning.i forgot to mention that about a week ago my hiker appetite kicked this. this means that i can't eat enough of anything. you know how when you go to a restaurant and stuff yourself silly and you can't dream of getting dessert cause there's no more room in your stomach? radio shack and i have decided that we've become walking food incinerators and most of the food we eat gets burned up right away.in fact, i'm going to be walking into town tomorrow with nothing but olive oil and salt & pepper. talk about cutting it close. so now i'll have to start carrying more food i guess. sine i'm hungry voluntarily, it's not so bad, but let me take this opportunity to remind everyone that i'm doing this hike to help raise money for an organization, the Parish Kitchen that feeds peoples (AND CHILDREN) that are hungry, INvoluntarily. if you can just spare a little, it counts. their address is in one of my eariler "prep" journals. just wanted to mention it.ever since we've come down a couple thousand feet, the wild flowers and trees have started showing some color. unfortunately, this also includes some patches of poison ivy which i need to avoid like the plague. but the hillsides have some purples and reds now, which is a nice change from the brown of winter.in general, things are great. i'm hiking as much if not more as i had planned. the day is for solitude and thinking (or singing depending on my mood). in the evenings and at camp,   the people are loads of fun. it's tough and challenging, but worth it in every way.
Date: 2003-04-09
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

right before it started getting dark last night in the shelter, i decided it was the perfect time to do some situps. of course i was in my sleeping bag. radio shack said it made for a silly vision of a giant inchworm on pixie sticks.it rained all night, which was actually a good thing because it dampened the sound of the mice playing mouseball above our heads ALL NIGHT. at least the shelter didn't leak (i later found out that the walnut mt shelter that mule, driver, neely, tunnel vision, and noah were sleeping in leaked all over them). radio shack and i were out on the trail by 7:15 (this is a record for him). we were out of food so we rushed the next 3.2 miles into hot springs for breakfast. so officially, this wasn't a "0" day since we did hike some of the trail today, even though it took less than 1.5 hours. the smoky mt. diner had the best breakfast though and we ran into skeemer, cool foot (i hiked with him in the very beginning), freemont, and others. after gorging ourselves, we got a room at elmer's hostel. i think we're blessed with good luck, cause we picked a great place to stay. if there's any house in this town that is haunted, i'm sleeping in it. i love it here and it's right in the middle of town, highly recommended to future hikers.we did the normal boring town chores.later, mule, driver, neely, tunnel vision, and noah got into town around 12n and we had lunch at the pub with them. the pub had cheesecake so i'm a happy camper. driver is going back home as of tomorrow morning--he was only out for the first month to hike with mule. it's so sad to see him go. driver, you'll be missed but hopefully i'll stay in contact with you after all this. i'll be thinking of you when i eat that mountain house cheesecake you gave me!i also decided to change a major piece of my gear around. i had though that the tarp tent i had was a great way to save some weight, but have decided to switch to a small bivy tent instead. the outfitters they have in this town rocks and had an incredible selection, including a cheap bivy that i am now the proud owner of. so...if any lightweight hiker out there wants to buy a tarp with bug netting along the sides, send me an email, it's in perfect condition.so anyway, there have got to be at least 30 other hikers in hot springs right now. this weekend is the "trail fest" so most of them are staying for that. but they're also predicting snow tomorrow so a lot of people (including myself) are going to hold out here for a day to let it pass over. no sense walking in miserable weather if it's this easy to avoid, right? right, i'm out here to have fun. besides, they have good CHEESECAKE here). i'll leave here friday morning and miss the festival, but i'll be in the mood to do some miles by then.well, i'm going to bed, it's 10:30, which is about 2 hours past when i usually go to bed. hope the ghosts in this place let me sleep!
Date: 2003-04-10
From: deer park mtn shelter

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: moderate rain

just a slow town day. it poured rain the entire day and hikers walking into town from the trail said that there was snow up on the mountains. one way or another, i'll be back on the trail tomorrow as soon as skeemer buys me breakfast (i bought his today). radio shack and i left elmer's hostel this morning and walked on the AT right through main street to the cabin that noah, neely, mule, and tunnel vision where we're going to sleep tonight. not a very exciting day, a very WET day, but good company. i might be loosing this gang tomorrow since they're staying in town one day longer.it's still suppose to be cold for one day longer, and get warm on saturday.
Date: 2003-04-11
From: Hot Springs

To: Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

there's something wrong with my eyes and vision today. everything's cloudy and foggy, no matter how much i rub my eyes...no wait...it's the bloody cloud that i've been walking through all freakin' day! last i check it was mid-April but i'm obviously wrong since there's snow on the ground here and about 35*. anyway, got up really early with radio shack for breakfast courtesy of skeemer, yummy. while eating, radio finds out that he can get a shuttle 14 miles north and hike back to hot springs without his pack, and then stay another night in town (its called slack packing) i didn't want to do this cause i'd already spent 2 nights here, wanted to get back on the trail, and wanted to walk 19.6 miles, not just 14. so radio and i parted ways today, but he's planning on meeting some friends in town and then catch up with me in a week or so. i also left noah, tunnel vision, mule and neely today--who knows if we'll meet up again? i sure hope so, somewhere down the line. happy birthday to tunnel vision on monday! i was kinda bummed about loosing all my hiking buddies in one day but i got over it. the weather today was COLD, which is great weather for high miles since i don't want to stop hiking cause it's the only way to stay warm. it's not so great weather for enjoying walking though. i got into the little laurel shelter around 4pm, and have spent most of the time since then in my sleeping bag. skeemer, fire angel, charlie, and goldwing are here too. as of today i have promoted myself from padewan (sp?) hiker to jedi hiker. what is the secret, you ask? SNOT ROCKETS. aren't you proud mom?skeemer and i are on about the same schedule for the next 4 days, but we hike separately. oh, and the competition is dead, as far as i'm concerned. we decided to let it lie, since that's not what either of us are out here for. that's MY story anyway. :-). we still have a wager regarding charities, but that's for a good cause.one of the muscles in my left leg was giving me problems today, mainly when going uphill. depending on how this feels tomorrow, i'll either do a 12 or 20 mile day--no sense straining it if it is telling me to slow down. it's nothing serious though and i'm not worried about it.charlie has promised me that it will get warmer someday, but probably not in april... i guess it's not that bad and i knew it could get this cold, but that doesn't mean i can't complain about it.HOWEVER, if it's like this in june and july i'm going to crack.
Date: 2003-04-12
From: Laurel Shelter

To: Near Old Barn
Miles today: 14.4

what a change a day can make! we woke up to ~50* and it got warmer from there, the snow had already started to melt in front of the shelter, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. charlie was the first on the trail with me right behind him and we hiked together the rest of the day. he's got to be the most physically active guy out here (mainly long distance cycling, but marathons and ironman's too). our paces are about the same but today they stunk. the weather was great but don't forget the FOOT of snow left over from two days ago. it's twice as difficult walking through snow--takes lots more energy and concentration, not to mention the glare from the snow blinding you. and that was when we were up on the ridge tops at the beginning of the day. later today, we followed the trail down several hundred feet. woo hoo! no more snow to walk through! hey kids, what happens to snow when it melts? welcome to the appalachian river trail! this is the conversation that happened in my head: right side of brain: "la la la, got to avoid stepping in the ankle deep mud, don't want to get my boots and socks wet" left side: "hey, clair! listen to me for once! your socks are already soaked, your toes are cold, your boots weigh more than normal because of all the WATER and SNOW that you've already walked through! why not just walk right through the mud? your boots can't absorb anymore!" and so i did and it was fun, thanks lefty!charlie and i got to flint mt shelter at 2pm and decided to press on 3 more miles to this old barn along the AT that hikers can sleep near. this makes for a 14.4 mile day and i'm happy with that. skeemer read my note about where we were going in the flint shelter register and decided to hike 3 more and camp with us. a guy named bodie is also here (he met my mom while she was doing trail magic). this is my first night using my new tent, right next to a creek--i'll take the sound of running water over snoring anyday.my leg didn't really bother me today. hopefully it was a one time thing. i've got a steady huge climb tomorrow so that will be a good test.my uncle jack is going to try to meet me towards the end of april and i'm going to try to make it to damasucs by then, which means no more easy days (read: less than 15 miles) for a while. this will be fun though--since i've lost my group anyway, i might as well have fun challenging myself without having to work with other people's schedules. and maybe i'll catch up to fubar and LT. besides, the weather is suppose to be good for the next week or so. (hopefully that means no more snow!)songs in head today:slipping into the twilight zonecall me pretty (not sure if this is the title)lidia the tattooed lady (i never said i WANTED them in my head)speaking of music, bodie just asked me to listen to a tape on his cassette player, which he just got from a friend, he wanted to share it with me. woo hoo! maybe i'll have new songs stuck in my head for tomorrow. thanks bodie!
Date: 2003-04-13
From: Near Old Barn

To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.9

i slept okay in my tent, there was some condensation in the morning though, but it worked fine. I was up and out on the trail by 7am, with charlie and skeemer close behind me. it was a long day for me--20.9 mile day, my longest yet, and it was Not over easy terrian. i was even planning on going beyond where I'm camping right now, but mag and dag were here so i decided to stay. this was probably a good decision since my knees were planning to revolt soon. overall though, feeling pretty good. tomorrow i've got 11 miles into erwin. i hear they've got a movie theatre there too...so here's a question: who's smarter? the hiker who decides that she doesn't need sunscreen because it's too heavy or the hiker who carries it and forgets to put it on? i think i failed this IQ test...i'll be burned tomorrow. Lesson learned. but i've got this cool tan--you can tell where the hand straps to my poles went and you can tell that i'm always wearing short sleeves.i also got some surprise trail magic today. after a quick snack on top of big bald i was about to walk across a dirt road when a truck rode by, saw me, and drove back to where i was. the gentleman asked if i was hiking all the way and when i said yes, he said "do you want some chocolate?" i said yeaaaaa... "do you want some water?" i said YEA (i ran out about a mile ago). "do you want some fruit?" i have no pride after hiking over 300 miles: Heck Yea! i find out later that the chocolate he gave me is really high quality stuff. everthing but the water was packed out to my campsite that night and shared with the other hikers. this guy made my day.at one point today i was (finally) going downhill and ran into some muddy slush. suddenly i became Mud Skiing Clair for about 4 feet. lucky i had my trekking poles or i'd be Mud Butt Clair!songs stuck in head today:the dumbo's "when i see an elephant fly" and "pink elephants"the horrible "almond joy and mounds jingle" (the worst part of my day)tried to sing "american pie" but kept getting it confused with weird al's star wars parody.next long mileage day, i swear i'm using my radio!and next time i plan on at 20+ mile day, i'm going to look at the mileage first!
Date: 2003-04-14
To: Erwin
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: few clouds

I'm going to make this journal short cause i'm tired. slept out under the stars last night, good sleep. it was an 11 mile day into erwin and i got to the road around 11am. this was my first time hitchhiking alone and after only 5 minutes of walking along this road, some guy in a van pulls off and takes me into erwin. we had a good talk and right befor he drops me off in town he says that he's vanilla ice's brother. i wasn't sure how to react to this so i said what a small world it is and thanked him for the lift.i walked to a hostel run by someone everyone calls Miss Janet. She is my hero. she is the coolest for too many reasons to name, but she opens up her house to hikers as if they were her children. i had 3 glasses of milk! and she drove us to the pizza hut for their lunch buffet! other people i met/saw here: skeemer, lemming, drifter, crystal, road runner, skittles, mag, dag, boarder reaver, deja vu, songbird, juniper, sandals, and other whose name i can't remember.miss janet rents a big screen TV during the hiker season and has a great selection of movies to watch (they're watching princess bride right now). AND I'm wearing jeans right now while my clothes are getting cleaned. she's got a bunch of old clothes you can wear around the house. this place rocks, highly recommended. i'm meeting a LOT of new faces--people that started way before me and they've been here for DAYS, some even a week. the only problem with this place: it pulls you in and it's hard to leave. if it wasn't for meeting my uncle, i might be "stuck" here too. i met up with lemming again and he is interested in pushing to damascus in a week too, so we'll be on the same schedule for a while. me tired now...me go sleepy.
Date: 2003-04-15
From: Erwin

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0

i woke up to someone being sick in the bathroom. and it was lemming, my was-gonna-be hiking partner until damascus. there's been this thing we're calling the hiker plague which has been going around since the beginning and lemming has it and he's going to stay at miss janet's for another day. i'm hiking alone again..but i can take it! bring it on! boo ya!i had breakfast at miss janets and it was the best--literally th best breakfast i can remember, probably because of a combination of the community and the never ending supply of food. i didn't get back on the trail until 10:30 and rode with dag, mag, boarder reaver, and drifter. i had plans to hike 16 to a shelter but because of the late start thought i might not make it before sunset.about 5 miles into the trail i cross a road where a forest ranger, frank, comes up to me and says they're doing a controlled burn on the A.T. and he has to shuttle me around it, which totalled to about 2 miles that i can't walk. and if ANYONE says i didn't hike the AT because of those 2 miles, well that's just plain silly. besides, i talked to miss janet about coming back next year to help her out--i'll just hike that section then.so i got shuttled and watched the smoke rise where i could have been walking. i was very happy to not be caught in it. i had a mountain to climb today too--the summit didn't have any views to speak of, but it's my favorite mountain so far: on the top, when i finally got there, it was shadowed with spruce that smelled wonderful. the floor was covered with needles. for lack of a better description to do it justice, it reminds me of the description of fangorn forest. i hope to camp up on top in the future.i was in the shelter i had hope to be at by 5pm because of the shuttle too. fido dido is here (met him right before franklin--if i could find some sandals for him to wear he would look WAY too much like my uncle jay), along with cruiser (alumni AT hiker doing a section), mag, dag, jersey, boarder reaver, and two others who are section hiking (can't remember their names). weird observation of the day: i can hike for miles and miles perfectly normal with a 30 pound pack on. BUT, when i get into camp and take my pack off and relax, i look like some kind of zombie from a B movie. and i'm not the only one: all of the hikers out here have the same problem. i even stretch some each day but it doesn't help. i'll have to walk around with my pack on when i get home!well, on to roan mt for tomorrow!Editor's Note: I put you down for 16 miles even though you were shuttled for 2 of it.
Date: 2003-04-16
To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: scattered clouds

i didn't get much sleep again because of the snoring--well, one of the things i want to work on is to be more tolerant of other things...how convenient that i get to sleep next to the snorers! oh happy fate!i was on the trail by 7am, right behind fido. we met up again at a shelter for a snack and to get water. my plan was to hike about 17 miles to a campsite on the other side of roan mt. so i'm climbing up this rocky part and who should be waiting at the top but lemming! he got over being sick this morning and got a hitch near this part of the trail and had been waiting for me. true, he's missed a 20 mile section but he's planning on coming back to hike it while i'm in damascus. so we were back to the original plan of getting into damascus together by monday night.roan mt was one heck of a climb. holy freakin' cow! there was still some snow on the top too.so remember how jus 3 days ago i said that my next 20+ day would be over easy terrain? needless to say, i'm a doofus. i kept humming the song from alice in wonderland: "i give myself very good advice, but i very seldom follow it." yea, today was my biggest day yet of 21.5, with the roan mt climb in the middle. i'm beat but happy i pushed on: i have no doubt i'll be in damascus by monday night now. tonight, i'm sleeping in overmountain shelter, which is actually an old barn that's been fixed up as an AT shelter. it could easily sleep 30 people and there are at least 20 here right now. a very cool place.
Date: 2003-04-17
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0

lemming and i got out of the barn shelter early. it was a beautiful morning and we had two balds to climb during it. the wind was incredible! there were no trees to shield us and we were leaning to the left so that the wind didn't knock us off to the right. after we got back into the trees and camre to the next helter for snack, lemming walked on ahead so that we could both get some solitude into the day. at one point i was near a road when a car pulls up, sees me, and moves on but i can't tell where. a couple minutes later i see the same car parked really close to the trail. there's a young guy in it, he asks if i've been hiking far and then asks if i'm hiking alone. WARNING DANGER WILL ROBINSOM! i would rather get out of this situation than have a bigger problem on my hands so i promptly fib and say there's a guy in front of me (which was true) ane one behind and we were going to meet for a snack just up ahead. i did not get good vibes from this guy and was happy to get out of there. in this specific area, many thru-hikers have reported lots of hostility from the locals so that didn't help my perspective either.anyway, i moved on up the trail and ran into lemming talking to jan liteshoe (she's got a journal on this webpage) who was slackpacking and we chatted for a bit. after that lemming and i hiked a couple more miles until we found a campsite next to mountaineer falls. the weather let us set up our tents and have a hasty meal before it started to rain. and now i'm in my tent listening to the rain come down, wondering how my new tent will do. all told, we think we did about 16 miles but aren't possitive because the A.T. people have recently rerouted the trail. well, I'm in for a possibly wet but definitely long night tonight!
Date: 2003-04-18
To: Kincora hostel
Miles today: 14.8

i hope i can say that last night was the worst night out on the trail. my bivy tent did nothing to keep the water out. in fact it was very efficient in letting the rain in and NOT letting it out. somehow i still gome some sleep, but as soon as 6am rolled around i was up and out of that clair-made-lake and packed up with a wet tent, wet clothes, and wet down sleeping bag. it was only drizzling when i got out on the trail. lemming had a roomy, dry tent so he had less of a reason to rush out so we were going to meet at Kincora hostel, 14.8 miles away. the sun was struggling to shine through the entire day and i was rooting for it--my gear had to air out today at some point. the trail at the beginning was a bear--there weren't any huge elevation changes but there were a heck of a lot of little ups and downs with nothing flat in between. i think being chilled throughout the night, fighting a cold, and a combination of an exhausting terrian took its toll on me. but after the first 8 miles were over, the trail landscape changed and it got easier to push through. i got to the hostel by 1pm. the place is small but wonderful, another must-stay for future thru-hikers. the first thing i did when i got here was to lay out my wet gear in the sunshine, which i was lucky to have. i'm still meeting a lot of new people and there are some here who i met at miss janet's. swift sandal is here, fly by night, jan liteshoe, crushy, wench, hot dog, spiro, and zamboni to name a few. there are others who's names i haven't caught yet. spiro and zamboni had a great imitation of what bears say, which can be summarized by them saying "dude" "duuude" back and forth to each other. very funny for me!a couple of us went out to an asian buffet. now, we're all just hanging out, sharing extra food with each other. my gear is finallyy dry and i'm going to sleep to the sound of snoring instead of rain. i'll take it! good times had by all. tomorrow, i'll be 2 days from damascus.