morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-21
From: Neel's Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Man, I really must have had my wheaties this morning. I was the first person out of the hostel this morning and foot-to-dirt at 7:45. I didn't really try to be out the early, it just sorta happened. Woke up at the same time everyone else on the hostel did, when Pirate turned the lights on at 7:00 with, "Time fer Breakfast!". Had a stack of pancakes and a banana, packed my stuff, and out I went. Didn't see another nobo until Walking Man passed me at about the 8 mile mark. Felt good all day and made great time. It was nice and cold in the morning, which helped - it both keeps you from being all sweaty, and it discourages long rest breaks.Decided to sleep in the shelter tonight since there's supposedly a chance of rain overnight and tomorrow morning. In here with me, from my left to my right are: Mary & Gritty (a couple), Jersey Girl, myself, Moose & Buddy (also a couple of sorts. Buddy has 4 legs and a tail), Racheopod, and Walking Man. Pickle and Swamp Ape 6 have their tents set up nearby, and there's half a dozen other tents set up across the creek in the camping area.
Date: 2009-03-22
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain campsite
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Hiked all day with Pickle, Swamp Ape, Moose and Buddy. We added Racheopod to the group after our lunchbreak at Blue Mountain shelter.   Another perfect day, weather-wise. The rumored rain never materialized and it was clear skies at dawn. We are trying to break the run to Hiawassee up into 3 longish days and one short one. Looks like we'll be able to do that with the 10 mile days yesterday and today, and a 10 or 12 mile tomorrow, followed by either a 5 or a 3 mile day into town.There's a group of us camped atop Rocky Mountain tonight in a beautiful little campsite. The group is the 5+dog that hiked in together, plus Ryan and Jeremy who came up the mountain on the late afternoon after an adventuresome town stop in Helen. We built a campfire and sat around telling bad jokes until dark. A portion of the evening's entertainment was provided by Pickle's self surgury removal of a toenail. I even have pictures of that, which I will hopefully get a chance to upload, along with all the rest of them thus far, from Hiawasee.
Date: 2009-03-23
From: Rocky Mountain campsite

To: Addis Gap campsite
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: scattered clouds

The plan is coming together. The "quartet plus dog" made the ten miles we needed today to set up an early arrival in Hiawassee tomorrow. We have a decent climb up and over Kelly Knob first thing off the bat in the morning, but otherwise it's a mostly downhill 5 mile hike into town. There's still some debate as to where we're going to stay. It'll either be at the Blueberry Patch hostel, or we'll split a room at a motel right in town. Part of it will depend on which option is more dog friendly.Since I know some of you enjoy the goofy trail names, camped here tonight are: Moose & Buddy, Pickle, Skunk Ape (who I think I accidentally called Swamp Ape yesterday), Green Algae, Captain Carknuckle, and Teagan & Bonnie.The highlight of the hiking today was a trail magic hiker feed at Tray Gap. Bill from Rome, GA was there with his grill handing out cheeseburgers and Mountain Dews. We got there at about 10:30am, but it's never too early for free cheeseburgers and mountain dew. After a week of drinking basically just water all the time you can really feel it when that caffeine kicked in. It really helped the 1100' climb up Tray Mountain.Otherwise, not much to report. Weather is still perfect, although there's apparently a pretty solid chance of rain day after tomorrow. Hopefully it goes through while we're in town. Health-wise all us well: no blisters, and nothing hurts significantly more than anything else. The tendon on the back of my left knee is tight every morning, but it doesn't really hurt and it works itself out after a couple of miles.Should have pictures posted after the hiawassee stopover.
Date: 2009-03-24
From: Addis Gap campsite

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: broken clouds

Town day in Hiawassee. The 5 miles into town today definitely dragged on, but we made it eventually. The first hitchhike of the trip went well. Took us less than 20 minutes to secure a ride into town in the back of a very nice gentleman's pickup.The four of us plus Buddy, who has recently been given the trailname "Medicine Balls" due to his, um, issues with chaffing, are staying at the Hiawassee Inn. Leaving soon for dinner at the Mexican restaurant, and resupply at the grocery store.Weather looks to be going into the crapper overnight. Our current plan is to do a short day tomorrow to the first shelter to sit out at least some of the rain.
Date: 2009-03-25
From: Hiawassee

To: Plum Orchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

4 and a half whole miles for the day. Cold, wet, foggy hiking. But the Plum Orchard shelter is a pretty awesome site at the end of the day: two levels off lofts, the top one with lookout windows, and a nice covered picnic table and cooking area. Even the privy has a roof on it, thankfully.Dry and toasty in the sleeping bag. Might write more later, but I think a nap is in my immediate future.
Date: 2009-03-26
From: Plum Orchard Gap Shelter

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Another short day walking in the rain. Started off raining very heavily, but that tappered off by about 11 and changed to wind and fog.The big achievement of the day was crossing into North Carolina. We had packed up 4 celebratory cans of Miller High Life to toast the occasion, but it was too cold and windy at the state line to even think about doing that. Instead we saved them for here in the shelter.To make the rest of the run to Franklin with the food we have left will require us to up the mileage a bit for the next couple of days. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.Right now it just feels really nice to be in dry clothes and in the sleeping bag. The fact that the wet clothes from today will still be wet when I have to put them on tomorrow morning is something that I will try not to think abut for a while.
Date: 2009-03-27
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: moderate rain

Big day today, lots of "most"'s: most miles in a day, fastest average hiking speed - almost 2mph, and the worst hiking weather ever. It rained basically all day, varying between a drizzle and a downpour, with plenty of wind and fog thrown in for good measure. We made good time because it was too cold to stop. Even lunch was abbreviated: a couple of snickers bars while standing in the rain.But we made it, and we are warm, dry, fed, and in bed at 7:13.Tomorrow is still a bit up in the air. The original plan was to 12.1 miles tomorrow and then a short 3 mile day on Sunday into franklin. But now there's a forecast for thunderstorms, hail, and tornados tomorrow night, so we are now contemplating a monster 15 miler instead. We shall see.
Date: 2009-03-28
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Franklin
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: moderate rain

Rain! Monster day into Franklin today. The quartet were on the trail at 7:20am! Any earlier than that and we would have needed headlamps to see where we were going. The morning started off just foggy and cool, but by 10 we were back to marching in the cold rain again. Turns out miserableness is a pretty powerful motivator. We made the almost 16 miles to Winding Stair Gap by 3:30. There was a lot less of our usual hiking chatter though. We were on a mission: dry beds or bust!Got the shuttle into Franklin and snagged the second to last room at the Sapphire Inn. We're planning on a zero day tomorrow.
Date: 2009-03-29
From: Franklin

To: Franklin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero day in Franklin. I know the term "zero day" implies some sort of restful or even lazy day, but when you only get into civilization once a week there's a lot of things that you need to get done. And since you either need to walk or be driven everywhere the errands take longer than they normally would.Here's the itinerary for the day:-Breakfast, from the Hardee's across the street because we all slept in too late to catch the 7:30 shuttle to breakfast.-Laundry, which requires a 4 block walk to and from the laundramat. We combined all of our wet stuff into two loads, which was nearly everything. (I walked there and back and there again in my long underwear bottoms and my rain jacket) Then when those loads were we changed into the clean clothes and washed everything else. There's some logicistics involved in getting every single piece of clothing you own washed at the same time.-The lunch. Leftover pizza from last night. We ordered 3 18" pizzas to split between the 4 of us, and only had a couple of slices left over.-Big shuttle run in the afternoon: Outfitter, where I successfully managed to not spend any money! Yay! Followed by Walmart for food resupply, then to a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner, and then a quick trip next door for donuts and snack food for in the morning and overnight in the room-Then back on the Ron Haven Shuttle Bus for the ride back to the Inn.See, a very full day.
Date: 2009-03-30
From: Franklin

To: Wine Spring Campsite
Miles today: 8.2

Ugh. Lazy hiking day today. We had planned on 11 miles, but none of us were really feeling it today so we pulled up short. Pickle is having some foot trouble, Skunk Ape is still recovering from the rain-induced chaffing, I have a sore right ankle, and Moose was tired. Only buddy seemed to be excited about hiking today.But, the weather was excellent! Cool, but lots of sun. There was hoarfrost and patches of snow up high in the mountains as we climbed up above 5400' today. Took a lunch break at Siler Bald and enjoyed the views. I have a bunch of pics of that to post when I have a chance.We are camped in our little tent city of just the four of us down by a little babbling stream. I think it's going to be a cold one tonight.
Date: 2009-03-31
From: Wine Spring Campsite

To: Campsite near Rocky Bald
Miles today: 9.8

A little of the trail legs returned today, and we made better time as a whole. Had the first real wildlife sighting of the trip today. We scared up a nice sized whitetail deer while hiking along in the morning. Other than that it's been all chimpmunks, squirrels, and birds.It threatened to rain all afternoon, and finally started to rain steadily just after I finished the dinner chores. We each dove for our respective tents and were basically trapped in there for the next 15 hours. So the next time you're inconvenienced by having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, instead of groaning, be thankful that your trip to the toilet doesn't require putting on a rain jacket and standing in a 45 degree downpour.On to the NOC tomorrow!
Date: 2009-04-01
From: Campsite near Rocky Bald

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Luckily the rain let up about 8:00am, and we were able to get packed up without getting too soaked. It's still no fun to pack up a soaked tent though. Thick fog all morning, but it gradually lifted and we even got to see the sun a little in the afternoon. The big hiking event of the day was the 3000' drop into the Nantahala Gorge over the course of the last few miles. The knees are sore, but they survived.Pickle, Skunk Ape, and I are rooming together in the inn. Moose and Buddy had to get their own room in the hostel. Pretty swanky room for us hikers too: Two double beds on the main floor and a third in a loft above.Supposed to rain tomorrow, and we have to climb all day to regain the altitude we lost on the way in here. Should be fun. Forecast right now is for snow on Sunday, which will probably be the day we enter the Smokies. Hopefully that will get revised as we get closer to it.
Date: 2009-04-02
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: sassafras gap shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

It's sort of inevitable that as I complete parts of this hike that I compare them to the '06 hike. I definitely don't have clear memories of every day's hiking from that trip - sometimes the miles just blend together - but every so often there's a landmark day that is memorable enough to compare with. Today was one of those.As far back as the first week in Georgia hikers talk about upcoming climb out of the Nantahala river gorge at the NOC. And they do not refer to it fondly. It's a climb of some 3300' over the course of 6 miles. And we had to do it in the rain and fog.But here's the good news: in '06 that climb took me all damn day, but this time we were at the shelter by 2:30, and we didn't even get on the trail till after 10am. One of two things: I'm in better shape than three years ago, or the mountains are shrinking.Supposed to have lots of wind and potentially severe storms tonight. Hope the shelter doesn't leak. (or fall down)
Date: 2009-04-03
From: sassafras gap shelter

To: Cody Gap Campsite
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

We pushed a little extra tonight to shorten tomorrow's hike into Fontana Dam. Pickle and Skunk Ape both have packages waiting for them at the post office, and it closes at noon. If we miss it, we'll have to zero.It rained hard for most of the night, but there was little thunder and thankfully the shelter roof didn't leak. I was on the upper sleeping level with Skunk Ape, Pickle, Big Foot, and Knees, with Moose & Buddy, Bonnie, Tegan, Firecracker, and Rayel down below. The threat of rain sure does fill up the shelters.Back to civilization tomorrow.
Date: 2009-04-04
From: Cody Gap Campsite

To: Fontana village via highway 28 road crossing.
Miles today: 8.8

Fairly uneventful day hiking into Fontana. Once we realized that getting into town by the post office's closing time of noon was impossible we slowed down and cruised in about 1. Pickle, Skunk Ape, Moose, Rayel and I are sharing a 3 bedroom cabin that is nicer than most apartments I've lived in. But thanks to a very nice desk clerk its still only about $20 per person. We will zero here tomorrow.We have a member of our hiking party. Buddy the dog left this afternoon to stay with Big Foot (former known as "Stats") and his wife to spend a week there and then go to Conneticut with Moose's mom. Dogs aren't allowed in the Smokies, and 3 weeks on the trail is probably long enough for a puppy like Buddy. He will be missed. He did an excellent job cleaning the cooking pots every night.
Date: 2009-04-05
From: Fontana village via highway 28 road crossing.

To: Zero Day at Fontana Village
Miles today: 0.0

Being a hiker is hard. After a round of Mini Golf we came home to the cabin, started a fire in the fireplace, cooked some chilidogs and made pizza, and then sat around and watched tv. I think after this movie is over I might go soak in the whirlpool tub for a while. Like I said, being a hiker is hard.We are hiking out tomorrow, and it's supposed to snow.
Date: 2009-04-06
From: Zero Day at Fontana Village

To: mollies ridge shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light snow

As we sit here in the shelter, in bed at 7:30pm, there is about 4" of snow on the ground outside. The wind is howling, and a spray of snow keeping finding it's way in through the wall next to me and onto my sleeping bag.We got a late start and didn't get really moving until after 11. The snow started in ernest around noon and has yet to let up. The wind on the climb up was pretty brutal. Easily 20-30mph. Sometimes we would get lucky and the trail would take us to the leeward side of the ridge, but usually we were stuck right up there on the top in full view of it. We made very good time though! 12 plus miles, over a mile of total vertical climb (once you count the up, down, up again disances), and we only took a couple of rest breaks once the snow started. It's all about the modivation.We passed the time hiking with our usual "alphabet" game - things like, "movie characters from A to Z" - and by improvising grandeous entries in Moose's fictionalized imaginary trail journal. "Day 24: The last of the food supplies have been exhausted. The survivors have begun calling 'dibbs' on various body parts of our fallen comrades. Skunk has his eyes on a particularly meaty looking calf muscle, but Pickle continues to insist that she is not yet dead." It really doesn't take a whole lot to amuse us anymore.
Date: 2009-04-07
From: mollies ridge shelter

To: Zero Day at Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Stranded in the snow. Woke up this morning to 6" of snow on the flats, and drifts of 12-18". Temperature in the shelter was 24. This particular shelter has three stone walls, with the fourth open side blocked off almost completely by a big brown Forest Service tarp.It didn't take much discussion to come to the group decision to stay put. We could have pushed the 3.1 or 6.4 miles to the next two shelters, but logistically that distance doesn't really help us, and we'd run the risk of getting there only to find it packed full of others zeros, leaving us with nowhere to sleep. So we stayed here where our stuff is already all spread out.We spent the day pawing at the snow like bison to find firewood underneath. The shelter has a fireplace, and we kept it going all day even though it did very little to actually warm the place up. It helped psychologically at least, and gave us a way to dry clothes and warm toes.Sun should be out tomorrow. And it is supposed to be warmer.
Date: 2009-04-08
From: Zero Day at Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Don't let the low mileage fool you, today was some hard hiking. In the morning it was postholing through the snow, 6" on the flats and drifts up to your waist in a few places. Then as the temperature rose in the afternoon the trail changed to ankle deep slush and freezing mud. We only averaged about a mile an hour and got here at 3:00. At that point we decided that it would take too long to get to the next shelter, so we pulled up short and stayed here.The shelter is absolutely packed tonight. There's our group of 4, plus Peanut Butter and his dad, brother, sister and her boyfriend, who were with us yesterday. And then there's about half a dozen hikers who were bottled up at the dam by the snowstorm and pushed the 16 miles all the way to here. After 5:00 a pair if father/son duo's pulled in too, looking for their reserved spots in the full shelter. Room was made, but just barely. This shelter has a listed capacity of 12 people split over its two decks - at my count we have 19 sleeping bags on the platforms, plus more on the table and the floor.
Date: 2009-04-11
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Water Shealter
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: light rain

Nero day back onto the trail. Once again the weather forecasters lied to us. It was supposed to clear up by noon and be 65 degrees this afternoon. Not. Even. Close. At 7:30pm it is 40 and fogged in. But hey, they say sunny and 70 tomorrow!Shelter is packed tonight. There's a combination of new faces, like George and Logan (a couple, "George" is a girl), Many Names (who we met briefly at Fontana), Infinity. And some old faces that the weather has caused to catch up with us again, like Leprechaun, Tape Worm, and Big Camera. Plus half a dozen "blue jeaners" (a slightly derogatory thru-hiker slang for umderprepared boy-scout-type hikers) walked in after 5 with reservations. So we're squished.
Date: 2009-04-13
From: Icewater Spring Water Shealter

To: Cosby ridge Shealter
Miles today: 7.7

Of course the good weather couldn't last. Wind and rain came in overnight and we awoke to fog and mist. Very windy hiking today, at times gusting hard enough to knock all 4 of us sideways a step off the trail.Shortish day today, only 7.7 miles, and we made it in just a little over 3 hours. Tomorrow will be a downhill run out of the Smokies. Can't wait to be down in elevation. Hopefully that alone will help the weather
Date: 2009-04-14
From: Cosby ridge Shealter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Of course The Smokies couldn't let us end on a high note, weather-wise. We awoke to fog, and rain, again. Ugh. Started off hiking in a light rain, which continued off and on for the rest of the day. The fog did break long enough for some nice views from the Mt. Cammerer fire lookout tower, which made the 1.2 mile sidetrip there totally worthwhile. We have to thank Spotlight for persuading the four of us to take the sidetrail there. And his logic was right; sometimes we thruhikers are so deadset on getting from A to B that we miss some really awesome things that are just off the trail.Tonight we are sharing the cabin at Standing Bear Hostel (as opposed to being in the roudier bunkhouse), along with Sun Seeker. Gonna eat a couple of pizza's, perhaps drink a beer or three, and resupply and recharge for the next little push into Hot Springs.But the important thing is: We Are Out Of The Smokies! The mountains threw everything they had at us: rain, snow, sleet, wind, cold, thunder, lightning, mud, slush, smud, and even begrudging sunshine, but we made it through.One side note about today's hike: we passed by the rock that ended my '06 hike. I didn't recognize the little rock that I rolled the ankle on, but I did remember the big rock that I sat on while I waited for the pain to go away. It didn't. But at least I came back. We had a brief moment of silence there at the rock, and then we moved on. Life is too short not too.
Date: 2009-04-15
From: Standing Bear Hostel

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We are being total slackers on our way to Hot Springs. Most everyone else did twice the mileage out of standing Bear that we did today. But there is method to our madness. Looks like we are finally going to have a run of nice weather, and we are trying to set ourselves up to camp atop Max Patch bald in the nice weather. We could have gotten there with a 14 mile day today, which I think we could do, but the weather today is, of course, crappy. Well, not crappy by our new standards. Foggy and scattered showers is now what we call "good" weather. But tomorrow is supposed to be clear, and dare I say it, sunny. So we have another little 7er tomorrow, and we should be on the bald in nice weather. Or at least, that's the plan. We will see if mother nature cooperates.
Date: 2009-04-17
From: Max Patch Bald

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: clear sky

Three years ago I did 3 limpy miles on my last day of hiking to get into Hot Springs. Today "the centipede", as people are calling our little troupe, pulled a twenty miler into town, and I'm not even really very tired. The feet are a little sore, but nothing serious, and still no blisters.Had a glorious sunrise on Max Patch, which helped get us up and moving at an early hour. That, plus the perfect weather and the promise of a trail magic dinner in town gave us the inspiration and the motivation to change the plan and go the whole way. Of course, we missed the trail magic by a few minutes just like we did at Newfound Gap, but hey, at least we made it to town. To console ourselves for missing the free hotdogs we went out for steaks and beer.We're tenting it in the pavilion area at the campground near the trail magic crew. The price is right; $5, and we'll be at the front of the line for trail magic breakfast in the morning. But, there's also quite a group here, and it may be noisier than I'd like. After 10 hours of hiking today I would to get some serious tent time in.