morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-16
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

We got up decently early, about 7:30 and got packed up. I mailed my bounch box to Hot Springs, checked out of the hotel, and met Planet of the Apes at the General Store. They were waiting on laundry to dry, so we had a very healthy breakfast. I had a chocolate milkshake, ham and cheese Hot Pocket, Twix candy bar, and a Sticky Bun. However, Cornelius had a chocolate milkshake, two jalapeno Hot Pockets, a candy bar, a beef tips with corn and rice TV dinner, a sticky bun, and a breakfast buritto. I don't even know how thats possible. We got a shutle back to the trail, and finally got back on the trail about noon. We hiked at a pretty leisurely pace and took our time going across the dam. It was pretty cool with some great views. We took plenty of pictures and had a good time goofing around. We even got to see a little of the sun. We had to hike up a road to get to the trailhead. The whole day looked to be extremely uphill. We ran into a RidgeRunner, who are somewhat of the caretakers of the AT. He went over all of the backcountry rules with us again. As we hiked, it continued to get colder, windier, and rainier. It was an absolutely miserable day, which makes the miles drag by slower and slower. We were originally headed to the shelter past Mollies Ridge, but when we got to Mollies, the people had a fire going and just enough room for us. We crammed 15 people into a 14 person shelter, so needless to say, nothing dried. I cooked some Ramen and crawled into my bag. Way too cold to do anything else. Triforce was there, and there were quite a few other characters there as well, so it brightened the mood up a bit. I was cold all night, but much warmer thanks to my new bag.
Date: 2008-05-17
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: clear sky

Woke up cold. A lady with a thermometer said it was 35 degrees at about 7:30, so I can only imagine how cold it got last night. I had a Pop Tart and finally got moving. Of course it immediately turned into a beautiful day, one of the most beautiful that I have had on the trail. Spring Field was absolutely beautiful, There were flowers and trees blossoming everywhere. I ate lunch at Spring Field Shelter, there were two ladies with horses leaving when I arrived. I met a guy from Oregon doing some section hiking, but he really seemed like he wanted to thru hike one day by the questions he was asking. From there it was a tough climb up to Rocky Top, but definitely the best view so far. There were beautiful mountains on every side, and the sun was beaming down, lighting up the landscape. Almost made me not want to leave. The next mountain was Thunderhead Mountain, but it was covered with trees. The rest of the day was just as beautiful. I stopped at the shelter before Siler Bald to wait on Cornelius and Dr. Z. they were feeling good so we moved on to the next shelter. Ringold and Triforce were already there with a fire going. I made some garlic pasta shells with salmon and a snickers for dessert. MMM. Barometer is dropping and its starting to get cold. Another day in the Smokies. I have a new journal now, so I played some catch up and went to sleep.
Date: 2008-05-18
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: light rain

Woke up and of course it's extremely windy and cold.(I hate the smokies) Hiked up to Siler Bald after finally getting out of bed and having some pop tarts. No good views, everything foggy, cold, looks like rain. Got a picture of myself that I think expresses my misery. I hiked to Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point on the AT. I went up in the tower but was pretty much in a cloud, so no views. Of course, because its the smokies. I did get someone to get a picture of me though. It started sprinkling as soon as I got off the tower. Let the misery begin. FREEZING rain and cold winds ALL DAY. I had planned on stopping at the next shelter for lunch and warmth, but it ended up being half a mile off the trail. (I hate the smokies). So I decided to forge ahead another 4.5 miles to Newfound gap, a touristy area, in hopes there might be a roof of sorts. I finally made it down to the gap, no roof. I ate lunch under the awning of the bathroom building. Just enough to cover my pack and upper body from the rain. Got a few stares from the tourists as I sat there devouring candy bars. My hands were so numb it took about five minutes to tear the wrapper off. I thought about going into Gatlinburg but decided against it. So I started on the 4 and a half mile uphill to the next shelter. For some reason the Hawaiin Christmas song from Christmas Vacation started playing in my head as I was trying to think about warm things. I just started laughing and of course thought of Scuba Steve. That made the day a little more bearable. I finally made it to the shelter and was glad to see a tarp covering the door to block wind. Sat down and tried to warm up. It was really early so I crawled in my bag and did some updates in my journal. Shelter was loud and pretty annoying. Two guys who started April 3 and just now here. Pretty slow movin. But a few nice section hikers too. Triforce showed up a little later so I cooked dinner with them while continuing to dry out. Had some hot chocolate which was well deserved. Got in bed and worked a little more on the journal and then my pen ran out of ink. Then the sun came out. I just gave up and went to sleep. We hate the smokies. It will probably be a gorgeous day tomorrow.
Date: 2008-05-19
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up and it was still freezing. The sun was coming out but still had freezing winds coming in. I had a delicious Blueberry Pop Tart for breakfast and started hiking. I started out wearing a Capilene Zip Top, Precip Jacket, a beanie, and some gloves and I was still cold. I had to pump water which froze my hands even more. The trail went along a ridge all morning with freezing winds pounding in from the west. Every now and then the trail would drop down on the east side, cutting the wind, and making it incredibly hot. But then the trail moved back up on the ridge into the freezing wind; doing this over and over. It made it really hard to keep a comfortable temperature medium. I walked right up onto a deer, probably five feet away from it until it ran off. Most of the day was really pretty with easy climbs and descents making it an enjoyable day. I listened to the She and Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) cd for the first time and enjoyed it. Around 1 I came upon Triforce eating lunch in a little grove of trees, blocking that wind on the ridgeline. I decided to stop and eat my lunch with them. I don't think I mentioned it, but Planet of the Apes never showed up at the shelter last night. I guess that with all of that terrible weather yesterday they mustve went in to Gatlinburg or stopped at another shelter. But I've still enjoyed hanging out with the Triforce. Two of them are brothers, Jarrod and Logan (22 and 20) and go to U of Florida, and the other one ,Sam, goes to FSU. They remind me a lot of my friends from home. They finished eating lunch before I did so I sat by myself lounging and enjoying the warm sunshine. The tops of my ears are getting sunburned, so I put some sunscreen on, and its funny because the smell instantly reminded me of being home, out on the water. I wasn't in any hurry as I was making pretty good time so I stopped at Tri Corner Shelter and Triforce happened to already be there. I filtered some water and talked for a while then moved on. The las 1.5 miles were a tough uphill, but the last 2 miles always seem the longest. The shelter was pretty full but there was room for me and Triforce. There was an Australian man there named Racoon, a guy who used to be a chef (Kitchen Sink), and two older couples who are hiking the trail as far as they can until they stop enjoying it. Kitchen Sink did some work directing a relief kitchen in Pass Christian after Katrina. Everyone is really nice, and its really enjoyable to sit around with everyone at the shelter and talk every night. Then I tried to write with my pen again, to no avail. Then went to sleep. "Its a Cosby sweater" - the shelter name made me think of that line from High Fidelity.
Date: 2008-05-20
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: few clouds

Got up today and had the usual Pop Tart for breakfast. Feels really good this morning, as in not freezing for the first time in a while. We're going to eat lunch - real lunch- at Standin Bear Hostel, which always makes the day go by faster. One challenging uphill this morning, then all downhill to Davenport Gap and the exit of the Smokies! I really think they hate us, the clouds seem to be following us out of the park. Listened to Eddie Izzard and then Flight of the Conchords. I seem to keep going back to these CDs; should probably get some new CDs. I passed the other couples from the night before on the way down, and Triforce passed me at the very bottom. I passed Chef (now known as Remy after lengthy discussions of the movie Ratatouille) taking a stream shower and doing some laundry in a big waterfall so I stopped and soaked my head for a bit. The trail went out into a road, and crossed over a beautiful river, then crossed right under I-40. From there it was about a mile to the hostel. It was a really interesting place, with a nice bunkhouse, kitchen, laundry with old fashioned hand washing, and a small resupply store. You pretty much just started your own tab, and paid whenever you were done eating. I had a breakfast Hot Pocket, chicken sandwich, Butterfinger, a sleeve of Oreos, and a Coke. We sat around in the kitchen awhile and talked and looked at last months Backpacker with all of the natural hot springs out west and wondered why we are on the AT.Curtis, the owner, showed up before long and was a real character. I left and headed back up the trail as its only 7.2 to the shelter. Tough 3,000 foot climb and rained on and off. I got to the top of Snowbird Mountain where there is a FAA air traffic control radar that looks like a UFO. Great views all around with some beautiful thunderheads moving off to the east(luckily). Easy descent to the shelter. Met Andre the Giant and a father and daughter section hikers. Triforce had luckily picked up some trail magic gatorade and sunflower seeds, so we passed them around. We had the usual dinner and goofing around, talked about Krispy Kreme for a while, then went to sleep.
Date: 2008-05-21
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up very late and leisurely this morning -7:30, which is late for hiking.Cooked some oatmeal and sat around for a while and talked more about food. Jess, the dad, is a pilot with Northwestern and told us a little about the FAA tower we passed. Turns out Triforce also enjoys Eddie Izzard as much as I do. We didn't actually leave camp until about 9:30 or so. Pretty tough up and downs, and the "Green Tunnel" can get a little boring after a while. Triforce caught up with me at the climb up Max Patch. Huge bald mountain with probably the best views that I have had so far. Extremely windy up top and very cold. Met 3 guys who had camped there the night before. The soldier, Cognac, of the 3 had left the trail magic the day before. We sat down and had some lunch, bagel w/ tuna and mayo, Gardettos, and peanut butter with a spoon. Remy set up his fly to his MSR Hubba tent so we could block some of the wind. I see a guy walking up the hill, so we just casually say hello, and it turns out to be Joe Davis, my freshman college roommate! Very random. He is camping just down the hill and doing some flyfishing with his brother. When we started to pack up the Hubba tent, we noticed that it was very good at catching the wind, so maybe it would make a good kite. Sam and I got out our bear bag cord and tied it to the ends of the rainfly. Remy and Jarrod each took a cord and we let it go. It flew great! and we probably got it about 50 feet up in the air. I took some videos, if you search for Sam Stewart on the trailjournals homepage, it should be under his video section. We stayed up there for about an hour flying that rainfly, then finally peeled ourselves away to start hiking. Easy hiking all afternoon. Stopped to talk to the 3 guys we met on top of Max Patch and they told us about the Smokey Mountain Diner in Hot Springs and the 12 oz. hiker burger that they have. Sounds like good dreams tonight. The water at the shelter was terrible, and the shelter register had all sorts of stories about bear problems at the shelter. We made a fire and Sam got too much smoke in his eyes and they swelled up really bad, then he dropped his peanut butter tortilla and started crying from the smoke - but it looked like he was crying because of the dropped food, so we had a good laugh. Because of the bear problem, we had to use the PCT bear bagging method as opposed to the regular throw the line over a branch and tie it to the tree trunk method. Finally got into bed and caught up writing in my journal. We're jumping at about every sound we hear outside the shelter, and now Jarrod is readying the flash on his camera so we can blind Bearzilla if he decides to visit us tonight.
Date: 2008-05-22
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Well, we made it through the night alive, although we jumped at every noise we heard. And then it turns out that Remy had a candy bar wrapper in his pocket all night. Got up around 6 am, had a Pop Tart and hit the trail around 7:20. One big climb in the morning, then downhill all the way to Hot Springs. I FLEW down the mountain, really ready for Hot Springs. I did 13.1 miles in 4 and half hours. As I walked into town, I hear someone yelling my name; I turn around and of course it is Needles standing on the balcony of the hostel. Stopped and talked to him for a bit. Always happen to see him in the most random places. I went straight to the Yellow Teapot in hoes for some espresso. No such luck, so went with a Darjeeling Estate Tea which I really enjoyed. I got a room at the Alpine Court, right next to the Triforce. I went to the diner and had a pizza and a coke, glorious. Picked up my food drop and bounce box and the outfitter, went and had a shower, then changed into some real cotton clothes. Wnet back to the Outfitters for awhile, had some coffee (which was excellent), then threw some laundry in and read for a while and talked to Jim on the phone. I made an appointment for a massage at the Hot Springs resort - my muscles are very thankful. Went back to the Outfitters (the entire town is like 200 yards long) with Triforce and their mom happened to walk in. Jarrod is going to a wedding, so his mom drove up so he could have a car. She took us to dinner at the diner, so I had my second meal there for the day. Then we went to the gas station and picked up some Sweetwater (i will miss you in VA). Mother Triforce brought Remy's computer, so we were able to watch some episodes of The Office and 30 Rock that we had missed. So at like 10 when we were done, it was way past my bedtime. I went back to my room, and then Needles and Planet of the Apes stopped by and talked for awhile. We discussed at length the Seinfeld episode where George gets a massage. Then I got in bed and fell asleep before I could even finish one episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Date: 2008-05-23
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

ZERO DAY! Woke up around 8; so nice to sleep in a real bed and not have to walk anywhere when you get up. Took a shower then mailed my 40 degree bag home, its been cold lately. I saw Triforce and went to the Outfitter with them. I had a massage at 10:30, for which my muscles wrote me a very nice thank you note. Have to move out of the motel since its full because of Memorial Weekend. So, I got a room at Elmer's Hostel, which is a really cool old Victorian house. Decided to go to lunch at the cafe with Planet of the Apes, Conductor, Needles, Greg - from Bham, now a grad student in literature at Maryland-, and Harve 58 - older guy probably about 70 who is hiking from Alabama to Maryland; his great grandfather escaped from a Union POW camp near Maryland during the Civil War and walked all the way back to Alabama, so Harve is retracing his route. I had my first Reuben sandwich in 2 years, since the last time I had one I got food poisoning. Next we went to the ice cream shop and I got 2 scoops of Cookies and Creme, so good. Went back to the Yellow Teapot to get on the internet and update my journal. I went to eat at Paddler's Pub with Greg, pretty cool guy, he's hiked most of the trail and is doing a small section to Damascus so he'll probably be with us a lot. Remy downloaded the new episodes of The Office and 30 Rock, so I went to their room to watch them. Conductor's wife came into town, so Cornelius and I walked down to the pub to get a drink with them. Greg and Stubbs were also there. We tried to put some Flight of the Conchords on the jukebox, but apparently someone had pumped about 15 bucks into the jukebox and decided they wanted to hear every piece of work ever recorded by Eminem and/or Dr. Dre. Needless to say, our songs came on about 2 hours later. Cornelius and I went back to the hostel around midnight; of course he decided to have chips and queso in bed, and I went to sleep.
Date: 2008-05-24
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up around 8 am and had breakfast at the hostel. All the food served there is vegetarian, so we had Pecan Pancakes with granola cereal and melon. All the food is locally grown, and some of it is even grown in the back yard. Needless to say it was a very good breakfast. Planet of the Apes and I then packed up and moved to the laundromat to throw some clothes in the wash. Naturally, I went to the gas station, bought a box of Nerds, and ate them in like 10 minutes. The post office was closed, so I had to walk down to the outfitters to UPS my bounce box to Damascus. We also stopped at a yard sale on the way, too bad we have to carry everything we buy. That novelization of the movie "Mars Attacks", was really begging to be read. Picked up some socks and food at the outfitters. I'm really excited about these Clif Mojo PB&J bars. Jarrod and Sam said they really taste like PB&J. By the way, Sam bought a hiking kilt at the outfitters, so he will now be known as The Highlander. Since the pub is just right across the street, Planet of the Apes and I decided to grab some lunch before hitting the trail since its 10 feet from the trail. (The trail goes right through the middle of town, there are markers on the sidewalk so in going to the outfitters you actually walk on the AT itself) Town days in great towns like Hot Springs just make it way too hard to leave. We had some Jalapeno Poppers and Buffalo Wings which I will more than likely regret on the huge climb out of this valley. There was a group of leather clad bikers at the table next to us, they were really nice and asking us all about our trip, and of course thought we were crazy. As soon as they left, another couple who had been listening in on our conversation moved to that table next to us and started asking us questions. The man has been thinking about doing a thru hike in a few years maybe when he retires. It's always fun to talk to people about our trip. Kinda makes you feel like a VIP since everyone can always tell that we're thru hikers and love asking us tons of questions about it. We finally made it out of town and it was a very steep climb up some exposed cliffs, making it very hot with the sun beating down. We're only doing about 11 miles, but its all uphill. We got to the shelter at almost 8; Triforce minus Jarrod was already there with their mom, we also met Always Changing and Never the Same, Tailgunner, and The Mule. The shelter is full so we set up hammocks and tents. Luckily we picked up some hot dogs and S'mores before leaving town, so we had a wonderful feast over the fire. Cornelius' food bag was so heavy that it took both of us to get it hoisted into the air when we bear bagged it. That took a while but we had a good time. Then crawled into the hammock, went straight to sleep, and apparently slept through the sounds of something moving around in the woods just outside camp.
Date: 2008-05-25
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: few clouds

Very lazy morning. Got out of bed about 8:30, very comfy in the hammock last night. Packing up, I discovered a seam starting to tear on the side of my pack. If it gets any bigger, stuff is going to start coming out of the side. Luckily I had a cell phone signal, so I called Dad and he is going to call REI and hopefully get a replacement pack. That really put a damper on the morning since I have a few days to go until a town, and hopefully my pack doesn't completely fail before then.Got a late start, but its mostly downhill out of camp. Listened to a bunch of Of Montreal to get me going. I reached Allen Gap around noon and talked to Cornelius for a while. We saw a sign for a hostel thats coming up and is only about half a mile off the trail. We're thinking about stopping there for lunch, but Dr. Z is way in front of us and chances are that she didn't stop at the hostel for lunch. So 1.5 miles later we ditch our packs in the woods and walk the half mile to the Hemlock Hollow. Nice little place on a creek with tons of coffee and tea to choose from. Greg and Always Changing and Never the Same were already there. I had two Hot Pockets, 2 Ice Cream Sandwiches, and a Dr. Pepper(bad idea). We also picked up some fresh coffe packets so Dr. Z wouldn't be too mad at us. Walking back to the trail we found some wild strawberries which were delicious. Picked up our packs and made it to the next shelter where Dr. Z had been waiting about 2 hours for us. Left the shelter and followed a very rocky ridgeline with some beautiful views, but made for slow progress. Got to the shelter where Tailgunner, Conductor, and Mule were already there. All the water sources around here have been pretty bad. Hopefully not signs of a drought coming. Had some Teriyaki Noodles with chicken which was not bad. We made a fire and finished off the s'mores then talked around the fire for a while. It's chilly outside but I'm still sleeping warm in my MHW bag.
Date: 2008-05-26
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Slept in late again - about 8:00. Got up and had some Cinnamon and Apple oatmeal to warm up a bit. We made some of the coffee that we bought at Hemlock Hollow yesterday which was very very good. Left camp about 10, listened to White Stripes, The Killers, and Jack Johnson. It was a very pretty bald on top of "Big Butt", but the rest of the day was in the woods. Made it to Flint Mountain Shelter for lunch. Conductor and Mule already here. Everyone else showed up about 30 minutes later. Had a peanut butter burrito which was excellent. We played with an old Mad Libs book for a while. Tough, long climb all afternoon. Passed Conductor, he thinks he may have pulled a muscle. Passed Mule just before the shelter, which was already pretty full. Got one of the last spots. The water was .25 miles away which took forever. Cooked soem Parmesan Pasta with chicken which is probably my favorite pasta flavor so far. I was still hungry so I had another PB burrito and a Toblerone. Remy started up singing Bohemian Rhapsody again with hopes that everyone would join in. Sat around the fire and talked for awhile. The older guy at the shelter was actually stationed at Keesler for a while, so we talked a bit about the coast. Then read for a while. I'm reading Everything is Illuminated, which is one of my favorite movies, and so far I'm really enjoying the book also.