morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-03-20
From: Rock Gap

To: Franklin, North Carolina
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up early so could catch the shuttle bus owned by the First Baptist Church of Franklin, NC that drops by the motel to bring hikers back to the church for the ¢hiker¢s breakfast¢ which opens at 7:15 a.m. The Baptist Church has been doing this for years. The meal offered is ALL YOU CAN EAT pancakes, bacon, orange juice and coffee. Just the fact that I don¢t have to cook it is one plus but the food was great! There were 30-35 hikers present when our hiking group arrived. The walls of the room where we were eating are covered in large sheets of white paper. Each year a fresh ¢sheet¢ is begun with hikers encouraged to ¢sign-in¢ using their trail name and the date they were eating at the church. The dates of coverage posted went yearly from 2009 to the present. It was pretty neat to be able to look at all the years posted and see entries for many hikers whose journals I have followed on TrailJournals.com over the last few years. In fact, I recognized the names of many people who have written books about the AT that I have read. One really nice thing that they did (among all the nice things they did for us!) at the Baptist Church was take each hiker¢s photo plus gave you note paper to write a note to a loved one¢¦once they developed the film, the note and photo would be mailed home. Mine (of course) went to my lovely wife back in Boise!We were back at the hotel by 8:30 am and then off to visit the outdoor shops. I broke down and bought a new stove that heats water faster! It is a little heavier but should use less fuel but performs more efficiently. BearCat ordered a hammock/tarp/down quilt underlining to replace his leaking tent. Problem was¢his order wasn¢t going to arrive until Friday and it was only Wednesday! However, the weather forecasts we had heard indicated that a winter storm was almost on us and the weather was turning bitter cold, particularly at higher elevations. We could expect freezing rain, below 20 degrees at night and winds picking up. Well, that was enough to convince us, as a ¢group¢, to extend our stay in Franklin, NC for two extra days!
Date: 2013-03-21
From: Franklin, North Carolina

To: Franklin, North Carolina
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

A winter storm has us ¢hunkering down¢ in the Sapphire Inn in Franklin, NC while we still wait for BearCat¢s new sleeping equipment to arrive. Early this morning I went down to the hotel lobby where the shuttle just got back from picking up hikers coming off Albert Mountain. I started talking to one of the ladies who came in. She indicated that it was so cold last night up where she was staying on the mountain that her water bottle, which was inside her sleeping bag, had ice crystals in it when she woke up. This was confirmation that we made the right decision to remain in town until the weather improved!We spent the day ¢shuttling¢ around town, going to the ¢AYCE¢ restaurants where we proceeded to stuff ourselves! Even with the loading these last few days, I can tell that I have lost some weight already from the days and days of hiking, climbing, etc. We picked up odds and ends at the local outfitters while some of our group resupplied at a local grocery store, Ingles. I didn¢t have to resupply because my wife had already mailed me a ¢drop box¢ with more food¢¦it was waiting for me when I arrived in Franklin.
Date: 2013-03-22
From: Rock Gap

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: overcast clouds

This turned out to be not quite a ¢zero¢ day. I had originally planned to hike until I got to Winding Stair Gap but, as you may remember from an earlier posting, my hiking group had already called the shuttle and I just barely reached Rock Gap when the shuttle arrived. So, I thought¢¦¢why not go back up on the shuttle to Rock Gap and walk with a day pack to my original destination¢?   So I did!First, I got up at 6:45 am today and went back to the Baptist Church for another round of pancakes, bacon, coffee, and orange juice. Yep..and another photo of me that I sent with a note back to my wife in Idaho. (Will share the photo soon!) I got back to the Sapphire Inn around 8:30 am, noting that my hiking buddies were still ¢waking up¢ and starting to move around. Then I caught the 9 am shuttle that motel owner Ron Haven runs twice a day back up to Rock Gap. Just as an aside, I am sure many of you might not think too much of some of the hotels/motels we thru-hikers stay in along the way. But the one thing I can tell you for sure is that we have met nothing but really helpful people. Ron Haven, owner of the Budget Inn and the Sapphire Inn in Franklin, NC provides phenomenal service to thru-hikers at no charge! Nine other hikers with fully loaded packs got off at Rock Gap along with me.Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap is only 3.7 miles so I brought water and snacks but not all the equipment I normally have with me. I started walking about 9:45 am ¢ it was very cold but only scattered snow at this point. This part of the Appalachian Trail was 1/3 up..1/3 level.. and then 1/3 down. I reached Winding Stair Gap about 11:20 am and waited to catch the shuttle back into town.Lunch was at Corbin¢s ¢All You Can Eat¢ Buffet..dinner at Pizza Hut and then back to the room to soak my feet in epsom salt in preparation to get back on the trail on Saturday morning. BearCat¢s equipment had arrived today and there would be a break in the weather¢¦time to push on!
Date: 2013-03-23
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

And away we go! Two-Socks, DBCooper and I took the 9:00 am shuttle back to Winding Stair Gap, the first stop on the trip. I got off with about seven (7) other thru-hikers but none from my group. BearCat and Tuesday had indicated that they would come out on the 11:00 am shuttle. Neither Two-Socks or DBCooper had hiked with me yesterday to ¢slack pack¢ from Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap¢¦so they would start the day at Rock Gap which was 3.7 miles behind me. Since they are faster than me on the ¢uphills¢, I figured they would catch up with me somewhere down the trail¢¦this did not happen!I hiked about 4+ miles, coming to the sign for Siler Bald Shelter. Since it was a half a mile East of the AT, I went on by rather than checking it out. Just did not want to add to my distance today because it was going to be a long one! Reaching the Wayah Crest Picnic Area at mile post 115.6 (almost 6 miles from my start), I encountered tremendous TRAIL MAGIC!! ¢Trail Angels¢ had chairs set around a roaring fire for thru-hikers and lots of wonderful food to share ¢hot dogs, hamburgers, beef stew, coffee, hot chocolate, sodas and fresh fruit! I had eaten a big breakfast but still tried to ¢make myself proud¢! By the way, I have not weighed but I am convinced I have lost about 15 lbs already.I continued on down the trail (or should I say UP the trail at this point!) to Wayah Bald to the stone tower. The Wayah Bald Observation Tower is located at the area's highest point (5,385 feet); the stone observation tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 for fire detection. The Appalachian Trail and Bartram Trail cross at Wayah Bald. There were some good views but dense fog was coming in and the temperature was in the 40s.I continued on to the Wayah Bald Shelter, having walked a total of 11 miles that day. Being the first one to arrive at the shelter at around 5:30 pm, I seriously thought I might be the only one who would be staying there that night. But, about 6:00 pm, a married couple with their dog (M80 and Trooper with dog, Willow) arrived and pitched their tent nearby. A few minutes after that a young hiker (Cheddar) came into the shelter..so there were 2! Twenty minutes later, a father/son combination arrived and pitched their tent ¢the father was ¢Medicine Man¢ (pharmacist) and his son was Kudos (because he likes to eat them so much!). No sign of my hiking buddies¢¦.Even though the ground was wet, Kudos built a great campfire. As people do when they are hiking, we shared stories about the trail, etc. I found out how M80 got his trail name¢¦seems he threw a lit M80 firecracker at a bear¢s butt that had his food bag and was trying to make off with it! The firecracker scared the bear enough to make it drop the bag and run¢¦so M80 got his food back!I went to sleep with a loud rain coming down on the tin roof of the shelter¢¦
Date: 2013-03-24
From: Wayah Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: mist

The first part of the day was uneventful¢¦and I hiked alone¢¦my hiking partners had never caught up. After about 5 miles of hiking I reached Cold Spring Shelter at mile post 125.6 where I stopped for lunch. I recorded a ¢monologue¢ video that I will have to share when I can upload it off my camera. Next I headed down to Tellico Gap which was not quite 4 miles on. In the gap I met a young man who was offering trail magic. Holding out both hands, he had a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) in one and a Cherry Cola in the other. Since I had a pretty steep climb in front of me, I opted for the Cherry Cola! He was an interesting character¢¦had thru-hiked in 2009 with the trail name ¢POX¢. When I asked to take his picture, he said ¢yes¢ but that he would need to ¢throw a paper bag over his head¢ to keep up the persona! I continued on UP the trail to arrive at Wesser Bald at the fire tower. When I realized I had cell coverage, I called my wife to talk for a few minutes. I could tell while I stood there and ¢chatted¢ that the temperature was dropping¢¦so I asked Nancy to check the weather forecast for this area. Ugh! More snow expected after midnight, temperatures plunging, and a winter storm advisory posted! If I had known this back at Tellico Gap, I could have called for a shuttle to a hostel. As it was, I saw no one else around so that might mean I would be up here by myself. Since I was about 6 miles from the Nantahala Outdoor Center, there was no way I could push on that night¢¦twilight was upon me. My wife agreed to call the NOC to make reservations for the next night and I would just ¢make do¢ for the night. I got off the phone and went on down to Wesser Bald Shelter.When I arrived at the shelter, no one was there¢¦although there was one tent pitched up away from the shelter. No one came in later and I had the shelter to myself. It was getting cold..and started raining. Having looked for a ¢bear bag¢ tree, the hard and steady rain convinced me to simply hang the food bag from the shelter rafters. I cooked my last Mountain House dehydrated meal...not much else on hand but I had a 'drop box' of food waiting for me at the NOC. I did get to use my new, fast burning MSR Reactor stove!Finally, I set up my sleeping arrangements and went to bed around ¢hiker midnight¢..aka..8:00 pm. It was really getting cold!
Date: 2013-03-26
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0

I spent the day hanging around the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Nothing to read so I checked out the equipment on offer and chatted with other thru-hikers. The General Store at the NOC closed again at 4 pm today because of the winter storm advisory. My wife checked online to find that the temperature on Cheoah Bald where I was next headed was in the single digits again today. And they had more snow over night. It is still bitter cold down near the river too! Glad I have a warm place to stay, hot food to eat and a warm shower!Still waiting on TwoSocks and DBCooper to arrive ¢ no sign of my hiking partners. But I heard late today from another thru-hiker that they may have gotten off the trail and been shuttled to a hostel at the Aquone Cabins¢¦for both Monday and Tuesday night.Tonight I am joined by a young thru-hiker called Salad Days...he said he picked the nickname himself to remind him of good memories. Just before we were ready to go to bed, Rokk came in having hiked a lot of miles today in crappy weather and had just got in. In fact, they told him to find an open bunk and get someone to let him in..and he could pay tomorrow.You know..I have always enjoyed meeting people but I seem to be more talkative out here on the trail! I think it is because I am walking most of the day with little or no human contact...my hiking partners tend to be way ahead of me, especially on the uphills. So when I get to a point where we have stopped for night, I guess I make up for lost time! No alcohol required!
Date: 2013-03-27
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0

The weather was supposed to improve somewhat today so I am planning to head back out onto the trail tomorrow. The last winter storm advisory ended last night¢¦although it was still cold! I have not liked having to take all these zero days so early in my AT hike¢¦but common sense tells me I am better off not fighting the extreme cold, snow and wind on the mountain tops! Some of the ¢ridge runners¢ (those who hike regularly on the mountain trails) said that this was the coldest start period for AT thru-hikers in at least 10 years! I did find out that my hiking partners should reach the NOC in the afternoon. So I headed over to the library in Bryson City, NC to see if I could upload my photos to send to my wife for posting. You know, it is very frustrating to have this wonderful camera (COOLPIX AW100)¢¦and an EXTREME HD SD card that holds loads of photos and videos¢¦and not be able to share it with anyone! So, what do you know¢¦the library did have a device to ¢plug-in¢ an SD card! However, there were so many photos I had to try to use my wife¢s account on transferbigfiles.com¢¦and, either that website didn¢t like IE (Internet Explorer, which was the only web browser the library had on their computer) or IE didn¢t like the website¢¦I could not make it work! Can you say FRUSTRATING?! I may just have to mail the SD card to Boise and have my wife ship it back after taking the photos off.My ride showed up at the library then and we headed back to the NOC. Soon after I got back, here came TwoSocks and DBCooper! We all were put in a hostel 4-bunk room higher up the hill because a large group of students were coming in to stay at the NOC. Young teenage girls were walking around..up and down..to check out 'things' after we got back from eating in the restaurant. I heard them 'talking and giggling' late into the night (or late as far as I was concerned!)...I should have picked a bed further from the outside wall...
Date: 2013-03-28
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Time to leave the NOC! The weather had improved¢¦.the winter storm had moved on. We started with a big breakfast¢¦because today we had a long continuous climb¢¦almost 7 miles of uphill..we were told by the locals that this was the longest continuous up on the entire Appalachian Trail. I am here to tell you¢¦it kicked my butt! Although not as hard on your knees as going downhill, the continuous up challenges your breathing...makes you stop more often to catch your breath...and grab a swallow or two of water to quench the ever present thirst.When we arrived at Sassafras Gap Shelter, there fortunately was room for us...although it was full by the end of the evening and some people were pitching tents. You may remember my mentioning Salad Days, a young man who shared the NOC hostel with me on my second night there. Salad Days had actually left the day before me, but when I arrived at Sassafras Gap Shelter, he was still at that shelter. His hiking partner, a young lady he had met early on his hike while in Georgia, had become very ill. Salad Days had taken a zero day to be with her as she tried to recover from what they thought was food poisoning. Sad thing was they were still at Sassafras Gap Shelter when we left the next day. Hope she got better! We all worry about what to do when illness or injury happens out here so far from medical assistance.Another early turn in tonight..exhausted from all the uphill today.
Date: 2013-03-29
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Wouldn¢t you know it..today¢s hike started with a pretty steep up before settling into gradual downhill until Stecoah Gap. I know that there are always ups and downs...but starting out with a steep ascent quickly takes the ¢starch¢ out of me!It started snowing at lunch, then rained and/or snowed from lunch on. I came into Stecoah Gap to find really wonderful TRAIL MAGIC!! Two thru-hikers from last year ¢ trail names ¢Whitewater¢ and ¢Video¢ ¢ offered cheeseburgers, chips, cookies, soft drinks¢¦in other words, the works! When you are starving on the trail, food like that is just heaven. One of them handed me a plate with two cheeseburgers, but for some reason I could only eat one. I gave my other to another thru-hiker called ¢Mallet¢, who ate mine and 2 more on his own plate!Now leaving the trail magic at Stecoah Gap, I was ¢rudely surprised¢ by a section of the trail called Jacobs Ladder. Punishing climb! Just outside of Stecoah Gap, the mountain was nearly vertical, with short switchbacks that would look like a ladder if viewed from a distance or aerial. It was actually tougher than Blood Mountain in Georgia or Albert Mountain in the Standing Indian area of NC to me. The only thing that kept me going was knowing the shelter couldn¢t be too much farther...I hoped!So on I hiked to the Brown Fork Gap shelter. We had a full shelter that night with very cold temperatures, especially after being wet all day.
Date: 2013-03-30
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana 28 AT Crossing
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Headed out on the trail this morning with Two ¢Socks and DBCooper¢¦..they very shortly pulled away from me and I did not see them again until the end of the day!It was overcast for the first half of the day. And, for some reason, I hit the ¢wall¢ early today. I so wanted to stop¢¦but I didn¢t. I knew I had to go on. I think the wet weather had me frustrated and I was certainly ready for some warmer weather!Lunch was at Cable Gap Shelter¢¦needed energy for the nice long mile climb coming up after lunch. Then, finally, there is a 4 12 mile descent into the Fontana Dam area. There had been so much melted snow and rain that many of the sections were nothing but pure mud. Miserable walking!I had planned to stay at the Fontana ¢Hilton¢ which is what thru-hikers call the Fontana Shelter. It is what you would call an ¢improved¢ shelter, significantly more enclosed with solid wood platforms for sleeping on. You enter through a central breezeway, with platforms (upper and lower) on either side of the opening. Impressively, there are showers and REAL bathrooms close by in the Fontana Dam facility which adds to the ¢specialness¢! However, after all the wet in the last few days¢¦and knowing that I didn¢t have a clean or very dry piece of clothing on me, I instead opted to stay at the Fontana Lodge. Two-Socks and DBCooper were long gone by the time I got down to the Fontana 28 AT crossing. So, I called for a shuttle and not too much longer I was on my way.Can you imagine the feelings when the shuttle pulled up in front of the Lodge at Fontana Resort Village? From extreme outdoor ¢roughing it¢ to one of the most pleasant hotels I had been in (or so it seemed)!? As you can imagine, I took advantage of any and all amenities! Two-Socks and DBCooper already had a room with two queen beds¢¦they allowed me to share. After a nice warm shower, we all ate dinner in the Lodge Restaurant¢¦fabulous¢¦a steak (and I did eat all of this!). Clothes were washed and dried..stories of the ¢trials of the trail¢ were shared¢¦and off to sleep we went on the nice, wonderful beds¢¦.aaaaahhhhhhhhh¢¦.ssssnnnnnzzzzzzz
Date: 2013-04-03
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: ClingmanÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Dome side trail at mile marker 198.6
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: broken clouds

Today I am headed to the highest point on the entire trail¢¦Clingmans Dome. Most of the trail, naturally, will be uphill! Only going 4.3 miles today so we can get out in enough time to shuttle down to Gatlinburg, TN for resupply. Plus, knowing I go slower on the uphill¢¦and most of today IS uphill, I wanted to give myself all the time I needed to make it to the Clingmans parking lot to meet the shuttle. Just a note¢¦I haven¢t seen Two-Socks or DBCooper in 2 days.Up, out of the sack, packed and gone¢¦without breakfast. I was looking forward to being in Gatlinburg. Breakfast was eaten around 10:00 am at the Double Spring Gap shelter, approximately 1.7 miles up the trail from Silers Bald shelter. Reading the Double Spring Gap shelter journal, I discovered that Two-Socks and DBCooper had spent the night there¢¦only 1.7 miles ahead of me! There was one thru-hiker, named Pastor, who had not yet left Double Spring Gap when I arrived. He was hiking southbound and had come from Newfound Gap to Double Spring Gap yesterday. We were in for a lot of icy trail coming up Pastor said ¢ I told him of a few icy patches he would encounter heading South. Pastor shared that he had fallen 15 times on ice from Newfound to Double Spring on yesterday¢s hike! My thoughts? Hhmm..yeah it might be slick but¢¦.I thought Pastor was exaggerating. Had I but known...The AT was full of icy ruts and ice on the sides. It was difficult to walk to say the least¢¦.very, very slow going¢¦difficult and treacherous getting up hills. As always, Postman was ahead of me. On what little downhill there was, I would pass my hiking partner until I got to the next uphill. Amazingly, I did not fall once! Still have a little ¢rock dancer¢ in me (my nickname from my early years..a play on my initials RD). Postman¢s cell phone got better coverage so he had already call for the shuttle to meet us at Clingmans parking lot at 12 noon. Later that morning he called to change the meet time to 12:20 pm because Postman didn¢t think we would make it by noon. I walked into Clingmans parking lot at 11:55 am with Postman behind me by a few minutes. Two-Socks and DBCooper were waiting for the same shuttle.The rest of the day was sunny, bright and beautiful. We were shuttled down to the Grand Prix motel in Gatlinburg where I booked into a private room with a king size bed for 2 nights. I was taking my first zero in 8 days because it was time to rest my feet. Just to let you know¢¦the Grand Prix was truly a hiker¢s motel, meaning a lot less than everyone else would accept but cheap and out of the weather. My toilet wouldn¢t flush, the television didn¢t work, there was mold in the shower¢¦but I was inside and the bed look relatively clean. At least they fixed all the broken items and I took a shower anyway!
Date: 2013-04-04
From: ClingmanÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Dome side trail at mile marker 198.6

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Raining cats and dogs today, I am grateful to be sleeping inside rather than in a wet tent!Food...that is what thru-hikers think about when they get to town! I certainly did my share of eating today....a big breakfast, a visit to the Ole' Smoky Candy Kitchen, barbeque for supper and lots of snacks in between...and some portion of beer and wine with dinner and after dinner respectively. Resupply of food was a necessity so Postman and I did some shopping at a local grocery store as well.I spent the day wandering around Gatlinburg. Also took the shuttle out to the Library which is away from the downtown Gatlinburg area to try to send the photos I had taken to date to my wife for posting...well, that didn't work! A library staff member suggested I try the Walgreens in town because they still processed photos on site.My kind of relaxing day...