morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-03-28
To: Work
Miles today: 0.0

   I find myself starting to disassociate from everyday activities as my mind starts to focus more on the upcoming hike. Work has become more of a chore than it should be, even given that we are currently a little short of meaningful work. I have never been comfortable putting up with the part of work that gets wrapped around human weaknesses like advancing your career at the expense of others or instead of getting the job done. Project decisions made to enhance ones status that result in making it harder to actually accomplish anything has always driven me nuts. Now that I know that I do not have to suffer through it much longer I am finding it harder and harder to keep my mouth shut about it. Failing at keeping my mouth shut is more like it I guess.    I really do not want to return to such work following my trip. The thought of choosing to come back to this kind of a situation in seven or eight months is sort of terrifying. The lure of big money is easy to fall victim to and, even though I don't really need the kind of money I can make now, I am afraid that I will succumb to the no effort comfort presented by the job. It would be a terrible waste at this point in my life, but I see others make the same mistake over and over again. Most of them are just going through the motions. They are bored and unhappy with the state of affairs, but afraid to do anything about it. I understand this as it will definitely be hard to choose to make a lot less money and to live a lot less affluently than I have been for years. But I want to choose in the future only to do things that really need to be done. I am getting on in years now and there is no more time to waste on things that I do not consider really worthwhile.
Date: 2006-04-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Less than two weeks to go now. Still have a few tasks around the place left to finish, but they are manageable and not creating any pressure. It is definitely time for me to move on. Work is a complete waste of time at this point.   Not because I am sick of the work, though I am, but rather because they are giving me nothing to do. I need something meaningful to do or I struggle to maintain equilibrium. I am dangerous when I am bored and always have been. And not always to myself, but mostly.   I am always somewhat disassociated when between life phases. I have been in this place for a year and a half now. Ever since I found out about the cancer. Even though that seems to be behind me now the effect remains. I can't shake the feeling that I no longer have lots of time to get around to doing a lot of the things I have wanted to do. And I don't just mean fun things like hiking the AT. The AT has become a mechanism for me to release myself from the past. I know that some of those who know me will wonder what I mean by that. No, I don't think in any way that what I spent my career doing was a waste or without meaning. I have a great sense of satisfaction about those days. Everything did not always go as planned nor even end up with a positive result, but all in all it was rewarding and served a higher purpose. But I am past that now. It is all broke and I no longer believe that it is fixable. One requires some patience to operate in that world and my tank is! currently empty.    Another factor driving my outlook on life is that I have come to believe that there are other things that need more attention than my previous work. I hope to be ready to work on them when I am done with this. More later...    Which way is North?
Date: 2006-04-30
To: Springer Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 0.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Total miles:9.2Trail miles:0.2Location: Springer Mtn. ShelterStart: Amicola Falls Visitor CenterSleeping in tent9.2 miles traveled today3000 ft of ups1300 ft of downs It is about 5:30 in the morning and the train will arrive in Gainsville, Georgia in about 90 minutes. Mark, one of the shuttle providers found on Trail Place, is going to pick me up and drive me to the Amicola Falls visitor center. So, if all goes as planned I will be hiking sometime this morning.   I sat next to a 21 year old most of the way down from Washington. I don't often get to listen to a young person talk about their plans and dreams. It is an interesting mix of enthusiasm, hope, insecurity and fear. If I had to guess I would say that he doesn't feel that his desires are sufficient to meet the expectations he feels have been placed upon him. His way of speaking about his future seemed to have an underlying wish that I express validation for his choices. I figured, 'Why not? There's no cost to me.' and provided enough reinforcement to seemingly satisfy him. I don't know that I would want to be a young person in this world. It must be infinitely intimidating.   Dawn is breaking now and folks are starting to stir. I am ready to get the show on the road.   1645 hours. I am set up in my tent at the Springer Mtn shelter. I started hiking at 0900 and arrived at the AT terinus on Springer Mtn at 1400. This was a little faster than I had planned on going but it was overcast with temperatures about 50 light drizzle and winds blowing about 35 mph. In my shorts and t-shirt I was cold and kept myself warm by walking a little faster. It worked out well except for my fingers were kind of numb for a couple of hours. That was fixed by a big dinner of 4 servings of mash potatoes mixed with a pack of gravy mix, a bunch of little sausages and 4 tablespoons of butter. Plus 2 tortillas. My tummy hurts a little, but yum anyway.   Setting up my tent was fun. As I am camping on top of the mountain it is still very windy. Normally I don't worry about staking my tent down as it is a free standing type. But, it kept trying to blow away. After it tumbled into the bushes even with my pack inside I finally had to give in and get the stakes out. Where I am camped is almost 3800 ft in elevation and most of the trees have not gotten their leaves yet. Down lower there was LOTS of poison ivy already. But probably too cold for ticks up here. Guess I will be having those encounters at a later date.   So far so good on physical things. The left knee was a little painful as well as the left foot. But this is to be expected according to the doc. Have to see how it goes during the following days. No blisters. I don't even smell bad yet. I think.   According to the Ridgerunner camped on top of Springer I am about the 750th thru hiker he has signed through. I do not know how many have signed in at the Visitor center. Seven thrus started today.WyoWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-01
From: Springer Mtn. Shelter

To: Justus Creek
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Total miles today: 14.1Trail miles today: 13.4start at Springer Mtn Shelterfinish at Justus Creek at mile 13.63100 ft of downs1900 ft of upssleeping in tent   Well today was kind of interesting. I got to eat lunch with the US Rangers. Where I am hiking is right next to Ft Benning where the Rangers are trained. While I was walking this morning there were lots of explosions in the distance as well as small arms fire and some light machine gun. Later I was at Hawk Mtn Shelter eating when 5 Rangers walked up. It was clear that they were the instructors as they were not carrying weapons and had clip boards and were discussing how the students were doing. Later about 30 of the students walked by on their way to set up an ambush.   After yesterdays cold today was very pleasant.   It rained much of the night so it was pretty wet today and muggy. I ended up walking farther today than I had planned but the legs held up well. The left knee was sore by the afternoon but not bad. My feet definitely needed a rest. I have had a headache most of the afternoon, most likely due to the heat. I drank lots of water.   Well I am definitely starting to stink now. I rinsed my clothes in a creek as well as myself. Probably won't help much.WyoWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-02
From: Justus Creek

To: Slaughter Creek Campsite
Miles today: 13.7

total miles today 14.4trail miles today 13.7start at Justus Creekfinish at Slaughter Creek Campsiteat mile 27.3 of AT.2800 ft of ups1300 ft of downs   Several people have seemed surprised that I am traveling alone. But it only seems that way. There are a lot of people out here hiking. On the first day I saw about 60 people hiking, on the 2nd day about 50 and today only 8. The reason for the drop-off is that I am now pretty far out in the backcountry. I will cross a big mountain tomorrow and will be near a main hiking place again (Neels Gap) and will likely see a greater number again.   The trail has a number of nice views along the section I walked today (yes I took some pics). Even though there are lots of forest service roads crossing the trail, for the most part, the views showed no sign of man. One can see that the trail has had heavy usage down here as compared to some areas further north. There are many times the numbers of campsites here as one finds up north. There are fire rings everywhere. Kind of ugly, but people are fascinated by having a campfire when they are "in the wilderness". I was the same when I was young. I would build a campfire just to sit and watch it.   No blisters yet. But then I have not walked a whole day in wet shoes yet either. I will get my turn I am sure. The knee did not hurt much until the end of the day. But by then almost everything (especially the feet!) hurt so the knee was kind of lost in the noise.      Tomorrow I go into town to resupply and shower. I am not sure if I will spend the night or not. There are no restaurants at this location so that eliminates what would be a big draw. We'll see.Wyo Which way is North?
Date: 2006-05-03
From: Slaughter Creek Campsite

To: Baggs Creek Gap
Miles today: 7.4

Miles hiked today 8.0Trail miles hiked today 7.4Start Slaughter CampsiteFinish Baggs Creek Gap AT mile 34.7ups 1800 ftdowns 2000 ft   As someone has mentioned about the difference between miles hiked and trail miles hiked, what it boils down to are the distances to water, shelters and resupply locations don't count as part of the trail. Also the first day I had to walk the approach trail that is 8.8 miles to get to where the AT actually starts on top of Springer Mtn. I expect that I will have about 100 or more extra miles by the time I am done.   I arrived at Neels Gap at about 0930 and am in the Hostel taking a shower, doing laundry, resupplying with food and sending e-mail. I will get some lunch soon and then be on my way.   A shower, laundry, lunch and food for four days ran me $53.   Last night we had quite a bit of rain from some thunderstorms. It was pretty noisy with the rain beating on my ten, the wind howling and the occasional lightning bolt. It has been consistently windy the last four days. About a 15 mph breeze is blowing right now. This is a good thing as it is keeping most of the bugs at bay.   Only the big ones can fly threw it. Course one of them just bit me on the elbow and I have a lump about the size of a dime now.   Saw only six other hikers today. I had plenty of time to cover more distance, but I am being lazy. I spent three hours at the outfitters talking and selecting food. I watched them tear apart a couple of hiker¢s packs to help them get the weight more manageable. The outfitter at Neels is famous for doing this for new hikers. A great many people start the AT without any idea what they are doing. A lot of them do not even make it this far before they give up in frustration or exhaustion. But of those that make it to Neels they have undoubtedly saved the hikes of a lot of them. They have pictures of some of the things that they have taken out of packs. A 2 burner Coleman stove AND a propane tank for it for example. Cast iron frying pans, hatchets (I actually met a guy at Springer who had one too!). I have met 2 hikers who were carrying 14 DAYS worth of food. At a minimum that would be 20 lbs and maybe as much as 30 lbs. I thought that I liked to carry a lot of water! (I drink like a fish), but I met one hiker who was carrying   twice what I had. I am rapidly cutting back and now always try to arrive at the next spring almost empty. Yesterday I went through about 7 liters of water. Later in the summer I will have to be more careful as some of the water sources may be dry. Especially if Virginia's drought continues.Learn to do everything. Specialization is for insects.Wyoming
Date: 2006-05-04
From: Baggs Creek Gap

To: Blue Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Total miles today 13.7Trail miles today 13.6Start Baggs Creek GapFinish Blue Mtn Shelter at AT mile 48.32600 ft of ups 2300 ft of downsStaying in tent. All nights spent intent so far.   Well I finally got to find out how well my shoes are going to work when wet. Just after lunch it started pouring rain which kept up for an hour and then off and on for another hour. Needless to say the trail was a river and I was thoroughly soaked from the waist down from the rain and the sometimes ankle deep water I had to walk in. One also gets wet under the rain suit from sweat if they exert too hard also. Which is kind of hard not to do when you are going up and down hills. But no blisters!   Saw about 12 hikers today and there are 6 others at the shelter O am at tonight. Met my first other thru hiker since the first day at this shelter. He started the same day as I but we just ran into each other. We were discussing our schedules and plans and they are pretty similar. We both hope to be able to hike straight thru, but are not sure we can do it.   The shelter looked like a hobo's convention as everyone had a line up drying all their clothes, socks, tee shirts shoes, rain gear, packs, etc. While everyone was cooking we had an engrossing discussion about the best use of rain gear. We decided that there is no sense in rain pants. They don't keep your feet, socks or shoes dry and we all wear shorts. So when it started raining no one used them. Someone said that we need rain shorts not pants and that was considered such a good idea that a couple of us are thinking of cutting the pants off at the knees. Sounds like a plan. I will let you know how it works out.   Tomorrow will be a very rough day with lots of steep hills. Hope the feet can take it. They were getting pretty sore when the rain started and then the cold rain seemed to make them feel better (course the rest of me didn't feel quite as appreciative). But, I guess the new therapy is to soak my feet in cold water in the middle of the day.    Time for bed. WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-06
From: Sassafras Gap

To: Dicks Creek Gap
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Start at Sassafras GapFinish at Dicks Creek Gap AT mile 66.6Total miles today 9.0Trail miles today 6.1   I am staying at the Cloud Nine hostel just outside of Hiawassee, Ga. I have to resupply with about 4 days of food and hopefully will get a good restaurant meal tonight.   Saw a 5 ft long Black snake today. Think I got a good pic of him, but he just laid there looking at me until I went for my camera and then he took off. That snake and one other that I almost stepped on are the only wildlife, other than birds, that I have seen s far According to a hiker that was about 2 hrs behind me he saw a mother black bear and her cub on the trail. Rats, that would have been a good picture.   Well I got into town and made a mistake. I went to the grocery store before I ate. When I was hiking back to the hostel I was thinking, "You bought too much food! This bag weighs too much." Lesson learned. Eat before you shop. Speaking of eating. I went to an all you can eat buffet. Salad; then a plate of mashed potatoes, fried chicken and muffins; then a plate of mashed potatoes, swiss steak and corn. Thinking that was enough I went out to hike back to the hostel. On my way by the Dairy Queen I suddenly decided that a large cherry shake would be a good idea. Hmm...could be my hiker appetite has kicked in already.   Supposed to rain again tomorrow. If so, then that would 5 days out of 8. It was nice to get dry after being mostly wet for two days.      Interesting thing from this morning. I wake up about 0600 and through my bleary eyes I think "there is smoke blowing thru the tent!". My tent has mosquito netting for the walls and a rain fly over that. It looked like smoke was coming in one side and going out the other. So I scramble out of the tent thinking I might have a problem. What do I find but the thickest fog I have ever seen! It was so thick that I could not even see more than 3 feet.   Other hikers I have talked to said that you could see fog inside the shelters were they were at. Everything got wet. Even stuff inside the tent that had been dry.WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: moderate rain

Total miles hiked today 12.0Trail miles hiked today 11.61400 ft of downs 3500 ft of upsStart Dicks Creek GapFinish at Muskrat Creek Shelter AT mile 78.2Staying in tent   Forgot to mention that yesterday I spent 20 at the hostel, 17 on meals in town and 38 for resupply food.   For the other hikers out there who might read this the new hostel at Hiawassee, Cloud Nine, is REALLY nice. It will be almost impossible to top this place.   Well we called it right today on the rain. It was raining when we woke up and started hiking at 0745 and still raining at 1600 when we stopped for the night. Needless to say, the fond memories of being dry, clean and a comfy bed from last night seem like a dim memory. It never got above 50 today so with being wet and having a gentle breeze blowing it was kink of brisk in my tee shirt and shorts. Gave me incentive to hit the hills hard to generate warmth.   I am done with Georgia!!! Only 13 more states to go. I crossed into North Carolina this afternoon. And immediately had to hike up the steepest hill of the trip, which was not helped at all by being slippery from the rain. Where I am camped tonight is at 4600 ft in elevation and one of the peaks tomorrow is 5498 ft and will be the highest until the high parts of Great Smokey Mountain National Park.   I am most definitely ready for a couple of nice warm sunny days in a row. I have had to start rubbing alcohol on my feet and then baby powder. Being wet so much they are trying to rot.    I saw about 20 boy scouts today. The poor kids looked really sad in the rain, but still insisted they were having a good time. Three of the hikers who were at the hostel last night are staying in the shelter I am camped by. Only one is a thru hiker, but the other two are going as far as Penn. I have met only 2 other people attempting thrus so far, but there are several others who I have just missed for some reason.   Physically I am holding up well. My knee still hurts some on downhills, but (knock on wood) it seems to be a little less than before. Guess that is it for the night.WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-08
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Total miles today 16.3Trail miles today 16.2Start at Muskrat Creek ShelterFinish Betty Creek Gap at AT mile 94.4ups 1800 ftdowns 2100 ftStaying in tent   The mileage monster got me today. When I reached the location that I had originally planned on camping at it was only 1400 so I decided that I was good for a few more and ended up with a rather high day for this early. I have hiked with Beth, another thru hiker, for a couple of days as we have been going the same speed. We will likely travel together until the NOC as we are planning on the same speed for the next 3 days as well. Then I am going to take a "zero" meaning that I will not hike for a day. Then I will have another 30some miles to Fontana Dam where I have to go home for my daughter¢s graduation from college (yippee!).   Woke up to rain again today, but it only lasted for a couple of hours and it was light. The land was covered in low hanging clouds still though so it was like walking in a constant mist and was pretty cool. Late in the day around 1700 the sun finally broke out. Had not seen it in days. Hopefully it will be nice and clear tomorrow. Have not had a day like that yet.   Walked through miles of large Rhododendron bushes today. Too bad they were not in bloom as I can imagine that it would be spectacular when they are. Just a little too early in the year I guess. There are still some trees that are not fully leafed out as well.   Just had a young guy pass through our camp at 1830 hrs who had already done 25 miles today and was going to do 3 more. Part of the last 3 will be one of the steepest climbs around at 500 ft gain in .3 miles. He was wearing regular tennis shoes and no socks. Youth is wasted on the young.      WyomingWhich way is North?
Date: 2006-05-11
From: Cold Springs Shelter

To: NOC 
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

Total miles today 12.4Trail miles today 11.4Start at Cold Spring ShelterFinish at the NOC at AT trail mile 133.8900 ft of ups4300 ft of downsStaying in hostel at NOCExpenses: $31 for 2 nights at NOC         $24 for 2 meals   Woke up to rain (naturally) and hiked in rain for hours. But found out later that several other groups of hikers got hailed on. That would suck! Lots of very high winds today. I was worried at one point about having a tree come down on me. I kept an eye on the upwind ones when the real strong gusts came through. The forest is littered with trees that have been blown over so it is not out of the question. 30some years ago I was camping in British Columbia when a giant pine tree about 100 feet tall fell and landed not far from our tent. The phrase "being squashed like a bug" would be most appropriate should this happen. So I was on the lookout.   I am staying at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in N.C. tonight and tomorrow. This is where they held the Olympic kayaking competition for the Atlanta Olympics. It is very pretty here.   I will add another entry from here tomorrow as I intend to zero here. Need to rest up a little and make arrangements for shuttles, etc to go to my daughter¢s graduation from college.Wyoming    Which way is North?