morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-10-21
To: Things carried and not used
Miles today: 0.0

A somewhat longer title for this entry would be "Things I carried, never used and was glad I had".Looked through my pack to see what I didn't use the entire trip. Mostly things in the backup/emergency category.Packet of first aid stuff including tick remover, folding scissors   3.3 oz.Backup bottle of alcohol fuel with duct tape wrapped on it            5.1Small roll of emergency toilet paper (just in case)                  1.1MicroPur water purification tablets                                 0.2Spare Microlights and CR2012 batteries                              1.2I never used my poncho/tarp as a tarp. Always managed to stay in a shelter on the trail. Certainly used it as a poncho, particularly the last week. However, this meant that I never used the titanium stakes or the extra piece of silnylon that velcos on the front to close off the tarp when pitched in rainy weather.Tarp stakes                                                            2.5 oz.Tarp front closure piece                                             3.1So this was over one pound of gear that I carried, but never used. Might be able to leave some of this behind, but not much. Again risk/benefit considerataions come into play. Happy Home Trails
Date: 2004-07-08
To: I want to hike how far???
Miles today: 0.0

I finally got the nerve to tell my parents that I am planing on thru-hiking the AT .... kind of. I think what I actually said was some thing more to the effect of "maybe after I graduate I think that I might want to go hiking for a little while. Maybe the Appalachian Trail or something". The truth is that I have been hatching this plan for the past two years, and there are no "maybe's" in my determination to at least give it a try.I grew up in northeastern Ontario (Canada), off the map as far as most Ontarians are concerned. After all it is past cottage country. Being Canadian the things that I think I will miss the most while on the trail will be real beer, coloured money (you don't actually have to look at it that way), words that end in "our" instead of "or", the letter "zed", universal health care, kilometers, kilograms and Tim Horton's. I'm headed to the land of Super Wal-Mart, Little Debbie, Kraft Mac & Cheese degrees Fahrenheit, miles, ounces and outlet malls.At the moment I am half way through fourth year of university at the University of Guelph, about an hour outside of Toronto Ontario. I am studying Biological Engineering, which is not really what anyone ever thinks it is. It is a cross between Chemical/Process Engineering and Biomechanical Engineering. In Canada, at most universities, the university spring semester is over in late April. I have decided to hike northbound, even though my start date is a "bit" later than most. At this point I think that I will be going back to school in the fall for a second degree, which dosen't leave a lot of time for my hike. I have decided that I will just hike as far as I can while having a good time. After all the trail isn't going anywhere.
Date: 2004-08-03
To: Escape from the big city
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday was Civic Holiday in most of Canada, a statutory holiday that occurs the on the first monday of August. The long weekend gave me the opportunity to get out of the city and back to northern Ontario. Most of the weekend had fantastic weather. It rained Saturday morning, but it cleared in the afternoon. The wind Saturday afternoon and Sunday was fantastic so I spent a good chunck of time on the lake windsurfing. Monday morning I went out canoeing for a few hours. I'm back in Toronto now, rather sad that I am stuck here in the humidity and smog.I'm not doing much in terms of preparation at the moment. I figure that I can't plan most things anyways. I do read whiteblaze.net religiously though. At this point I figure it's the best preparation that I can do. How else would I have discoved that some people are so anal that they have to walk in and out the same trail to a shelter as not to miss a single meter (err... foot) of trail. And my friends at summer camp thought that I so so anal they made up a disorder for me - OCAR - obsessive compulsive anal retentive.One reason that I haven't done much preparation is that I am taking a summer university course in cellular biology (for fun). The exam is in one week; so at the moment that is my main focus.katie
Date: 2004-08-09
To: Changes
Miles today: 0.0

1. In the grocery store today I saw PB with chocolate. I swear I came up with this idea four years ago. My friends just laughed at me and told me that it was Nutella. I think Kraft has monitoring my thoughts. (Kraft is the number one penut butter seller in Canada, apparently they don't make PB to sell in the US) I would have chosen a better label colour than pink/magenta though.2. Caramel Aero bars are the offspring of regular Aero bars and Caramilk bars. Kind of like the sport, not really doing either job well. In civilization there should be no half ass efforts. Dear chocolate bar gods, please bring back the pepermint Aero bars.3. I am finnaly going to get out on the Bruce Trail for a section hike (of three days). If everything goes according to plan I will hike from Georgetown to Burlington (approximatly 70km or 44 miles). 4. I was layed off from my job today. It was at my request, and I am actually quite relieved because there wasn't really anything for me to do. Doing nothing was really stressing me out. I might find another job for the fall semester, or I might just take some classes for fun.
Date: 2004-09-17
To: Back to School
Miles today: 0.0

Well, it is back to school for one more year. I'm not really having fun right now because I feel so stressed out about what I am going to do next year after my hike. After I quit my job, I had the chance to go on two hikes. One was a solo trip on the Bruce Trail between Georgetown and Burlington. The weather was great the whole time and it was a good chance to work out problems. I went on a second hike with a friend on the Western Uplands trail in Algonquin Park. We did the 32km loop on a weekend. There was almost no one on the Bruce Trail, but loads of people hiking in Algonquin Park. This picture was taken from our campsite on Maggie Lake. There were a couple of loons that called back and forth all night long. I miss the outdoors already!
Date: 2005-01-18
To: The end/begining is insight
Miles today: 0.0

It has been a while since I have updated my journal with the goings-on in my life. A lot has happened in general but not much in terms of hiking or trip preparation. Firstly I would like to say a big thank-you to all the people that have left me encouraging messages. It is really neat to get messages from U of Moo grads; engineers, fellow Canadians and people are just interested in hiking.I have started my last semester of school taking the fun combination of Digital Process Control Design, Occupational Biomechanics and Ergonomics and Biological Engineering Design IV. Swimming is almost over - just over a month until my last meet as a varsity swimmer is over. I feel sad about that but in just over a month my training for the AT will begin.The biggest reason that I did not update my journal until now was that I was feeling a bit discouraged due to a series of calf injuries. I got a pair of custom orthotics and things seem to be going well now.I have obtained almost all the gear that I think that I will need at the beginning of my trip. The only big item left is a new sleeping bag. I have also been thinking of getting a new digital camera, but it isn¢t necessary. Christmas provided a new backpack, down vest, socks and a sleeping bag liner. I just ordered an ATC membership, maps and the data book.The winter semester exam schedule has been released and has helped narrow down my departure date. My last exam is over at 9:00pm on Wednesday April 20th. My start date will be somewhere between the 22nd and 25th (I need the 21st to recover from the 20th).
Date: 2005-03-01
To: IRON RING!!
Miles today: 0.0

The count down is on. Count down to the end of school, and count down to the start of my hike. This picture was taken after the iron ring ceremony for the class of 2005 at the University of Guelph. The iron ring is worn by grads of Canadian engineering programs to remind us as engineers to work ethically, to the best of our knowledge and ability; that the public is depending on us to operate with their safety as our first priority. You wear the ring on your small finger of your working hand. Now all the rings are stainless steel.I ordered my sleeping bag from MEC. It is on back-order, but should arrive well before I leave for my hike. The only 'big' things that I have to get are transportation to the trail head and health coverage.
Date: 2005-04-26
To: North Spring Station
Miles today: 0.0

Well, my journey has begun, even though I haven't done any miles on the trail yet I have seen so many new things and met some new people.My mom and my little sister dropped me off at the airport today in Toronto. Check-in for the flight went quickly and I got through US Customs without too much hassle. The officer didn't seem to think that hiking the AT was odd, but the fact that my parents were letting me go alone was. I had a direct flight from Toronto to Atlanta and it was only supposed to take 2 and a quarter hours. We ended up getting to Atlanta an hour behind schedule due to thunder storms around the airport here. The plane that I came down on was the smallest plane that I have ever been on - a 50 seater.The airport in Atlanta seems like the largest airport that I have ever been too, or maybe it just seems that way because it is one giant building, or I wasn't alone in those other airports. The airport even has a sort of subway thing to bring you to the baggage claim area (all the luggage ends up in the same place). The trains has two sets of doors like an elevator (ie one on the train and one in the wall where it stops. The train itself reminds me of the funny litle Metro subway cars in Montreal.   When I got to the baggage claim area my bag was allready there. Talk about service!Taking the MARTA to the North Springs station was my next adventure. MARTA stands for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. They have 2 main rail lines that sort of form two 'y'crossing in the centre of town. There were not very many people on the southern part of the trip, but even once we got downtown there were not as many people as I thought there would be for a train downtown at 5:20. Compaired to my Toroto rush hour experience on the TTC I was kind of disapointed.I meet Leigh from the hiker hostel at the North Spring Station. She had picked up another hiker at the airport, Pathfinder, who had started the trail April 1st, but her partener had quit and she had returned home for a bit to regroup before returning solo. She is going up to Natalahala tommorrow and starting there.I was amazed at how green everything was here. Back in North Bay there is still some snow here and there and Guelph hardly has leaf buds. It was barely above freezing this morning when I started out and it was above 10 degrees Celcius now. Everything looks so green and lush. From the road I saw Dogwoods in bloom as well as Flaming Azelias.We stoped at WalMart in Dahlahoga. It is a super WalMart and really the bigget single shoping store I hae ever been into. It was a grocery store attached to a huge WalMart. Bigger than Canadian Tire combined with a larger grocery store. I only stayed in one small corner to get apples and salami (no meat or fresh produce across the border!)Everything here seems to be so big compared to in Canada. How can everything be bigger still in Texas?
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Springer Mountain

To: Justis Creek
Miles today: 13.6

Today is my fisrt day on the trail. I got up when Pathfinder got up to shower. For breakfast Profile/Josh made french toast.There was also scrambled eggs, which were perfectly cooked. I think that they don't use ketcup on their egs here because no one else put ketchup on their eggs and there was none out. Maybe it is a Canadian thing. Just like the salt and vinegar chips that I had last night thattasted like malt vinegar instead of white vinegar. I am going to miss real salt and vinegar chips and ketchup flavoured chips.I thought that I was going to have to go to the post office to mail my food drop for Fontana Dam but Profile weighted it, looked up the price on-line and I left it with him to mail. We drove to Springer Mountain. It takes some time to drive ther, not because the hostle is a long way away, but because there is no road directly across. He droped me off at the parking lot at about 9. After a few pictures I was off up the mountain. It wasn't too far up the mountain.The terminus seemed ok, but not spectacular. There was a good view of the mountains off in the distance. I took some pictures of me with the plaques and signed the register. It was hard to take pictures of me and the plaque. For one I had to lie on the ground with my head beside the plaque, for the other I used the timer on the camera and balanced it on the tree in front of the plaque. The firt time that I tried that a big gust of wind came and blew the camera over. It smashed on the ground and the battery came out. I put the battery back in and thankfully it still works. The hike down went ok. There were three hikers heading down when I got there at 10. The trail was pretty much all downhill from there to Three Forks. I stopped there for lunch. The salami that I got yesterday was really good with cheese, Wasa and apples. Right after I left the campsite where I had lunch I pased two fishermen. The trial is really straifgt forward and easy to follow. I went up Hawk Mountain, at the top there is a stunning view of the valley below. I got to the shelter at 2:30 and decided not to stay there even though most people do heir first night on the trail. I came to hike after all. By the time I got to Sasafrass Mountain I was pretty tired. The climb up and down were both pretty windy so when I stoped at Coppers Gap I was pretty chilled. I had dinner there; beef strogenoff. It was ok, but therre were funny little bits of dehydrated beef in the sidekicks that were sort of chewy.I certainly wouldn't wantto have this at my home. Making dinner used the last of my water so I definatly had to keep going. It was only 2 miles to Justis Creek, so i should be there in an hour. The rest made me feel good again and the walk to Justis creek was pretty good. I got there about 7 o'clock and was in my sleeping bag by 8. Today was an amazing first day on the trail.
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Justis Creek

To: Wood's Hole Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

When I got up this morning the hiker in the hammock was already gone. It seemed like it was frezing cold this morning, my hands were especially cold, but as soon as I started walking the temperature was fine. I ate my breakfast of oatmeal bars as I was walking. Before I knew it I was at Gooch Mountain Shelter. This shelter was gorgeous, I wish that I had been able to walk to it the night before. If I had known what it looked ike it might have been enough motivaton to get there.The wild floweres along the trail are beutiful. There seem to be purple violets all over. There are also small white and yellow flowers. I passed one older gentleman as I was hiking this morning. I stopped to chat a bit. He seemed to be a bit envyous of my planned thru-hike as he commented that his body wouldn't let him do it at his age. I hope that I look as good as he does when I am 80.I got to Woody Gap for lunch. I sat at one of the picnic tables and spread out my tent and sleeping bag to dryout from the condensation. There were a couple of local guys there on a break for lunch there and one was kind enough to take my picture with the Woody Gap sign. Hiking past Woody Gap this afternoon I have met many more hikers. This morning when I was hiking there wasn't cloud in the sky but now it has clouded over.While I was walking in the afternoon it started to sprinkle a little. bit. After a while I was convinced enough to put my pasck cover on. A few minutes later I meet a turkey hunter onthe trail. I told him that I hadn't seen any turkeys, and he told me that it was probably because my pack cover was too bright. A least the hunter thought that I was too brightly dressed, probably means that I won't get shot.I turned off at the shelter trail for Wood's Hole. The water is a tiny little spring half way to the shelter. The shelter took forever to get to, I didn't think that I was ever going to make it. Eventually I did, and when I got there there were two sleeping bodies in the shelter. We each made dinner. I had pesto sidekicks which was pretty good. Afterthat we hung our food up the bear wires. These contraptions put any other hanging job that I have ever done to shame. I hung my pack on a hook on the wall, crawled into my sleping bag, got changed and went to sleep. It started to rain once I got into bed, how sweet it is to be in a shelter tonight.
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Wood's Hole Shelter

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today Alan and Sawbuck got up before I did. I packed up and was down the trail not long after then though. The first climb of the day was up Blood Moutain. Going up seemed not to bad there were a lot of switch backs. The slelter at the top is entirely constructed out of stone and has four walls. I stoped to signthe register before heading down, there wasn't much to see other than clouds.Comming down the mountain I got lost twice. One time the trail turned 90 degrees but I kept going straight. I scrambled down a big rock face only to find no trail at the bottom. Needless to say I didn't think the trail was very well signed in that section.When I got to Neel's Gap Sawbuck and Alan had just finished their showers and had their cloths in the washer. I got a post card for my parents before I had a shower and put my stuff into wash. The employees at the Outfitter didn't know how much a post card to Canada was so they phoned the post office to find out. Next time I will know that it is 55 cents.I learnt a few other things today. In the states the blue Powerade flavour is called Mountain Blast, while in Canada it is called Berry Blitz. Also when everyone talkes about havng Liptons for diner in their journals they are eating what I know as Sidekicks. They had lots of poptarts for sale too; honestly it dosen't seem like a very good breakfast to me. My lips have been chapping like crazy so my most valuable purchase was lip balm.The other two set out 15 minutes a head of me. They thought that they wanted to get to Low Gap Shelter tonight. Apparently it might rain so getting to a shelter tonight might be a good idea, I'm just not sure I want to walk that far.Hiking this afternoon was nice. The views are kind of the same along the trail and so are the plants. Today I saw a lot of white trilliums. It is funny how many trilliums I see here, it is the provincial flower of Ontario but I had never sen one until I was 17 years old. It is too cold where I live for the to grow.I got to Low Gap shelter at 7:30. I wish that the shelter was about 1 mile closer up the trail. There were 3 local guys at the shelter who had made a fire. I put my food up and packed up then went to bed.
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: moderate rain

Today was a rainy day. Lots of rain but lots of neat hiking. No views at all today; it was like walking through a rain forest. It was misty and there was water dripping off all the leaves. With all the early morning rain little streams of water were running down all the rock faces. They were beutiful, almost hypnotizing. Watching the water trickle is very relaxing. Lying in the shelter listening to the rain on the roof is a live performance of those nature cds. There were a lot of small white violets a long the trail today and less purple violets.Tonight we stayed at Blue Mountain Shelter. Alan, Sawbuck, Papee, and Goodwill are here as well. It seems funy that I haven't met any other female hikers. I guess it has only been 4 days.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was another wonderful day. I am starting to think that I write that everyday. The hiking was not too tough today. I don't feel like I have much to complain about. It seems like all that is in the shelter registers is people complaining about blisters, hills, heavy packs and the weather.Today I saw lots of butterflies. Some were yellow and pink, others were blue. I saw a lot of small blue ones today. They would appear when I was feeling a little down or a little tired one would appear around my feet. They were beutiful, the colour of the sky andmade me smile every time I saw them.I am looking forward to going into town tomorrow. I have been finding that I think about food more and more. What I miss the most is dried fruit bars. We have fruit and veggie bars in Canada that have 3 servings of fruit and veggies in them. It seems to me that they should be stocking the shelved with something like that right beside the ramen. I can't wait until I get my food drop in Fontana Dam. I think that I will be there is about a week. If I remember correctly I should have 7 of them. Yeah!
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Today Sawbuck, BeMe (Alan) and I got up early and hikedthe 4 miles out to Dick's Crek Gap. From there we hitched into Hiawasee. In town we ate at the Huddle House then got a room at the Hiawasee Inn. We did laundry and then went to Rite Aid. I got some chocolate bars to send to my sister and some post cards as well as batteries and a phone card. We went to the Mexican restaurant for lunch which was fantastic.On the way back we stopped at Ingles which is a grocery store then the post office.Hiawasee is a beutiful little town. It is surrounded by a large lake and of course the mountains. Down in the vally here it is a lot warmer and the leaves are out on all the trees. Most of the stores that hikers would want are all along Main Street pretty close together.Being town makes me miss being back home. I think that being in town is not very stimulating for my mind. Too everyday, not what I came here for. I can't wait to get out on the trail tommorrow.