morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-04-05
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

I entered the Smokey Mountains yesterday mornning. Before entering the Smokies I had to walk over the breast of Fontana Dam. The dam has an interesting story. It was built during WW2 to create electric power to support the warm effort.  At 480 feet high, it is the highest dam east of the Rockies. It's almost a half mile walk across the breast  The amazing thing is they built the dam 2 years. After crossing the dam I started climbing into the Smokies. The first stop was to drop off my thru-hiker permit in the drop box. The box was overflowing with hiker permits. In fact, when I opened the lid, 5 other permits fell out. So I stuffed mine and the ones that fell out back in and moved on. The Smokies are one of the few places on the trail that require registration. I think the Shenandoah's and Baxter State Park in Maine are the others.There a bunch of regulations that you have to agree to when you sign the permit. You're supposed to wear a mask when you're near people on the trail (no one does). Because the bear population is so large here you're supposed to hang your whole backpack on the bear cables, not just your bear bag (no one does). The most annoying regulation to me is that you have to camp near the shelter areas. We're used to just hiking along and just finding a flat spot to set up our tent. You can't do that in the Smokies. Again it's because of the bear population.The hike up to the mountains from Fontana Dam was long but not steep. In fact, it appears that the trail designers in North Carolina have made the effort to minimize steep ascents and descents. The elevations have been higher than they were in Georgia, but the trails are a bit easier on you're feet and knees. The photo in this post is from the top of Shuckstack Tower looking down on Fontana Lake and Dam.
Date: 2021-04-06
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: scattered clouds

A bunch of us from the shelter decided to hike three miles up to Clingmans Dome in the early morning to catch the sunrise. Clingmans Dome is the highest point on the AT, and it has a special tower for viewing the surrounding mountains. So one by one, begnning about 4:30 am, people started straggling up the mountain using their headlights. I started about 5:00, arriving at the tower at about 6:30.  The last time I hiked in the dark was with my friend Dave James on My Charleston in Nevada. During that hike my flashlight died about half way up the mountain. Dave lent me his backup flashlight that day.  This time I was ready and there was no problem with my headlamp. Sunrise was just after 7:00 and there we're about 30 people waiting there. The sunrise was worth the effort. It was beautiful.One of road crossings during the hike today was Newfound Gap. Passing through Newfound Gap is a significant milestone because that's where Bryson and Katz hung up their hike in the book "A Walk in the Woods". When they arrived there they got a shuttle into Gatlinburg. While there they saw a 4 foot tall Appalachian Trail map hanging on a wall. Katz looked how far they traveled so far and he said something like "Hey Bryson, we've only traveled an inch on this map". That's when they quit their hike the first time.When I passed through Newfound Gap there were lots of cars and people milling about. It turns out this is a popular place for people to take day hikes.  In addition, there was a van from a local Baptist Church handing out all kinds of goodies to thru-hikers. They had chocolate milk, apples and most of the other food major groups. So, about a dozen thru-hikers were sitting in the grass in front of the van chowing down. The local people were walking checking us out.  It felt like it was a zoo and we were the critters.
Date: 2021-04-07
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

We now have our trail names.  Lucy has been driving the chase car as we move along. She follows me along and we usually meet up at a road crossings or campsite at the end of the day. She also chases down other hikers, giving them rides to town and back. So she has been named Chaser.  A few different people have noticed that I can do fairly well climbing the hills. They've been calling me the goat. rodNreel took it one step further and named me Gray Goat because I'm a geezer.  I was going to call myself Rolling Thunder because I sometimes leave a trail of flatulence as I walk along. But you're not supposed to name yourself and no one else has experienced that (yet). So Gray Goat it is.So we can check the box on the trail names.Here are a few other trail names of people I've met:ReRun : an older guy who keeps wandering off the trail and then he has to backtrack.Kodiak : a big 300 pound guy who looks like Hulk Hogan. Very gentle, friendly guy. He keeps a slow but steady pace. He's the only hiker I've seen out here that doesn't use hiking sticks.The Last Boy Scout : he has already hiked the AT twice. Now he's hiking from Key West to Canada ... 4800 miles. And I thought I was nuts!Fire Goddess : a self-proclaimed pyromaniac. She loves fire. She would fit in well with our old Boy Scout troop.Stanky Leg : I didn't want to ask him how he got his name.Sometimes I have trouble getting good cell or internet service so these posts may be delayed by days.
Date: 2021-04-08
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: scattered clouds

This was our last night in the Smokies. Most of us are glad to be getting out of this park because of all the extra rules and regulations. Many of these rules relate to bear avoidance. The Smokies have one of the highest concentrations on bears in the country. And, sure enough, one decided to visit our campsite early this morning.At about 6:00 AM, while it was still dark, I heard someone yelling "Go Away Bear!". It was Stankey Leg (mentioned in my previous post. I crack up every time I type his name). Sometime before that, Stankey Leg noticed that his tent was jostled by something. He thought someone got up in the middle of the night to go to the privy and bumped his tent as he walked by, so he fell back asleep. It turns out a bear had ripped a hole in the side of his tent and snatched his backpack. Minutes later Stankey Leg woke up again and through this gaping hole in his tent he saw the bear's butt. The bear was just sitting there ripping through Stankey Leg's backpack.The interesting thing was that Stanley Leg had set up his tent in the middle of all the other tents. My tent was about 25 yds away. We were wondering why the bear chose Stankey Leg over the rest of us. It turns out that Stanley Leg left some trash in the bottom of his backpack.Once the shouts from Stankey Leg woke people up, the whole camp came alive with shouts of "Go Away Bear!". And flashlights from about 5 surrounding tents and the shelter we're focused on the bear. It was like the bear was on stage. In addition to all the shouts of "Go Away Bear", every now and then Stankey Leg would chime in with "F__ You, Bear".  I don't think the bear understood English because that didn't faze him either.  It was almost comical if it wasn't so intense.Well, the bear was still just 5 feet or so from Stanley Leg, and amid all of the yelling and flashlights and rock throwing the bear started to mosy on out of the campsite. Eventually, the bear just dropped the backpack after partially shredding it, and slipped away into the bushes.In the aftermath it wasn't so bad. Stankey Leg is a hard-core Tennessee boy, and he really didn't seem too frazzled by the whole ordeal. I would have fared much worse.I found out later that the park service sometimes closes the Cosby Knob campsite where we were at due to bear activity. I wish they would have told us.  The bear clearly wasn't afraid of humans, and that's not good.  I'm glad to be out of the Smokies.I met up with Stankey Leg again a couple days after the bear encounter. The picture shown in this post was taken then, after he got a new backpack.
Date: 2021-04-09
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

Last night, after getting out of the Smokies, I stayed at Standing Bear Farm. This hostel is only 0.2 miles off the trail so it's very convenient for hikers. There was a rumor circulating among the hiking community the night before last that a bunch of people were sick at the Farm, and many of the hikers were deliberately avoiding the place.I decided to go check it out anyhow with the intention of just getting my food resupply there if it seemed sketchy.When I arrived there I found that one of the people there, who was gluten intolerant, had too much of the stuff and got sick. That was it. The rumor was blown way out of proportion.Standing Bear Farm is a unique place. Most hostels have everything contained in one building. At Standing Bear there's a collection of out buildings : one for an outdoor shower, one for camper cooking and cleaning, one for resupply, and portajohns instead of a bathroom. All eating and socializing is done outside around a central fire pit. They have a regular bunk house, a tree house, and a creek house. I was able to secure the tree house for the night. I was happy with that. I had watched a number of YouTube videos about Standing Bear before starting my hike and I thought it would be cool to stay in the tree house; and it was. A bonus : the tree house is right beside a small stream. A perfect setting.Everything there is done on the honor system. When you check in they give you a small clipboard with a blank sheet of paper. Everytime you grab something like a beer or pizza or some supplies from their resupply building, you just write it down on your sheet of paper. When you leave, you just tally everything up and pay them. They only take cash or Venmo.I had a great time there. I spent most of my time sitting around the fire talking to other hikers. Some of these guys stay there for a week or more at a time, just hanging out doing some kind of karma thing. There's clearly a hippy-type culture there. It was a nice place with really nice people.Lucy is back on line now. She drove down from State College today and we're staying in our tent on the top of Max Patch tonight. I'm really glad she's here again.PostScript on the bear incident from last post: the National Park Service has shut down Cosby Knob Shelter due to "Aggressive Bear Activity". Stankey Leg is now famous among the hiker community.Question:. What's the difference between a homeless person and a hiker?Answer: Trekking Poles
Date: 2021-04-10
From: Max Patch

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

We camped on top of Max Patch last night. Max Patch is one of the "bald" mountains in this area. There a number of balds in the North Carolina/Tennessee section of the trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's not clear why these mountaintops have no trees. It's either because of farming way back when, or insects, or some other reason nobody knows about.Max Patch is the highest of the balds on the trail, and it is unique in that there are 80 acres of space at the top.  Max Patch is 4600 feet high, and all of the surrounding mountains can be seen. There was a full 360 deg panoramic view.  It was a great place to see the sunset and the sunrise. The attached photo shows setup and you can see rain coming from the right. By the time evening came there were at least 20 tents at the top.It was windy all night with sustained 20 - 30 mph winds, but the rain passed us by. We didn't get a lot of sleep but it was still a cool experience.Today we're heading into Hot Springs, NC for some R&R. It's a long hike but it will be good to get some real food again.
Date: 2021-04-11
From: Hot Springs, NC

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

We decided to take a zero (zero miles) today. Late yesterday we hiked into Hot Springs, NC.. I've hiking 21 days straight and it's time to take a break. Many if not most of the hikers have the same idea when they get to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is a small town of about 650 that's totally hiker-friendly. There are about 10 hostels/hotels in town and all of them are booked. Last night we stayed in a bunk room at the Trail-er hostel, which is a converted double-wide trailer. The place is managed and operated by Hot Pants, a young lady who completed her thru-hike last year. She keeps the place very clean. She's hoping they'll still call her Hot Pants when she's 80 years old.Tonight we secured a private room at The Laughing Heart Hostel. Another nice place. It's nice to have a private room.Hot Springs counts on the hiking community for commerce. They have businesses to support all hiker needs including an outfitter, restaurant that serve large meals for very reasonable prices, a Dollar General and Hillbilly Market for resupply, and, most important of all, at least 6 drinking establishments. Many of these places feature live music.We ate tonight at the Iron Horse Station, a restaurant/bar with very good food and beer.  We highly recommend it for anyone traveling through this town.So, Hot Springs is a great place to take a day off. Tomorrow we'll climb out of town and get back to trail life..
Date: 2021-04-12
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

Today there was a long climb out of Hot Springs. There was a net gain of over 2000 feet in elevation. That's not unusual for the trail. It seems that every time we visit a town or even some of the shelters, there's a long climb out. Today it felt tougher than usual. I think the day off kind of disrupted my hiking rhythm and it took me a while to get my mojo back.Lucy also had a rough day. She spent most of the morning driving around Tennessee and North Carolina trying to find a road/trail intersection we had previously agreed upon for a meeting. Most of roads in this area are dirt roads and they're not well marked.  When I arrived there she wasn't there. The cell signal was almost non-existent so I couldn't contact her. After about an hour of trying to call her I finally made contact. She had 5 miles to hike into the campsite. At least everything was fine.
Date: 2021-04-13
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint Gap
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Our original plan was to try to get to Erwin, TN from Hot Springs in 5 days.  In a moment of questionable judgement, I decided I could do it in 4 days instead of 5. The lure of Erwin includes hot showers, laundry, real food, and a Dunkin Donuts. It's the little things.So today was a long day. I started hiking at 7:30 AM and didn't stop until 6:00 PM or so. I've to realize there are no flat trails along the NC/TN border. It's up and down all day.  It was a long day and my feet were not happy with me at the end. The good news is that we crossed the 300 mile marker today.  Lucy could not find a convenient road crossing to meet up with me s she slept inside the truck. The rear seat flips down and it's just enough room for her to stretch out.  Since I was alone, I carried my hammock and tarp instead of a tent. I couldn't find an ideal spot for the hammock in Flint Gap, where I set up camp. But I found one that was good enough. I slept well and I was able to elevate my feet to give them a break.
Date: 2021-04-14
From: Flint Gap

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was another long day in our quest to get to Erwin early. Lucy decided to park the truck 6 miles north of our intended campsite at Bald Mountain Shelter. I proceeded to follow the trail from south to north. It was another day of big ups and downs. Lucy's entire 6 mike hike was uphill.There were two major highlights of the day: (1) the view from Big Bald the highest mountain of the day, was spectacular. There was a 360 deg view, and even though it was cloudy, you could see for miles around. (2) Trail Magic. A man and his wife drove to one of trail crossings and set up a table with food and fresh water. They were not hikers themselves. They just wanted to help hikers out. When I arrived there I had apple pie, a big glazed donut, and some other health food. It's hard to get enough calories. That was just what I needed to tackle the big mountain that was ahead.Lucy and I met up at the shelter as planned. We were both very tired. We fixed up our usual potion of dehydrated food and turned early.Tomorrow we should make it to Erwin. We're looking forward to it.
Date: 2021-04-15
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up early this morning to be able to get to Erwin by mid afternoon. I was hiking by 6:30 while it was still dark. There was a thick fog and it was kind of eerie hiking in the darkness and fog with a headlamp. Lucy got moving around 8:00. She was the second person to start hiking. Everyone else was still in their tents or in the shelter. There was a cold rain all night but it stopped just before daybreak.The hike was mostly downhill. Lucy had to go about 6 miles. Just before she reached the truck, a young lady she met on the trail caught up with her. This lady was complaining about her boots and needed a ride to REI. Lucy had some time to kill so she offered to take her to REI after the lady told her it would take about 1/2 hour to get there. We'll, it took an hour to get there and the lady spent an hour in the store, and then it took an hour to get back.  Lucy's a great trail angel.  Lucy just made it back to our rendezvous point in time to pick me up. The picture in this post was taken as I was coming down the mountain. These four volunteers were working on a stream crossing to make it easier for hikers to pass through. The trail is in very good shape due largely to volunteers like this.Tonight we're staying in a hotel in Erwin, TN. The last three days have been pretty tough and we're glad to be able to relax in comfort.
Date: 2021-04-16
From: Erwin, TN

To: Old Logging Road
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We had nice stay in a hotel last night. A warm bed, hot shower and clean laundry does wonders to rejuvenate the spirit. We also had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant.   This morning the hotel had grits for breakfast. We passed on that and went to the local Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a bagel. Just like home.I wasn't looking forward to the climb today out of Erwin. It's a 3500 feet climb to the top of Unaka Mountain. But it wasn't so bad after all. The climb was a steady shallow incline over 14 miles. Kudos to the person who designed this section of the trail. At the top of the mountain was a dense spruce forest with green moss all around. It reminded me of the northwest.Lucy met up with me at one of the shelters and we hiked along further to a unoccupied campsite on an old logging road. She spent the day handing out water and food to hikers at one of the road intersections. Tomorrow we'll tackle Roan Mountain, the last 6000 footer in the NC/TN section of the trail. After that the trail will get easier for quite a while.
Date: 2021-04-17
From: Old Logging Road

To: Carver's Gap
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: few clouds

Yesterday at 9:00am i hit my benchmark of 100 hiking miles to Katahdin. I'm still enjoying my role as trail angel and chaser....Trying to find Tom towards the end of the day has had its challenges. Most of the time in the mtns of TN and NC, there is no cell service. Thank God for the little blue dot on GPS in Google Maps. The AT crosses back and forth between these 2 states. Sometime when you are in NC the road is one route number ...however if you cross over to TN it can become another route number. Geesh! Just make a decision.Last night we were to spend the night at the highest shelter on AT --Roan High Knob@6186 ft. When i got there it was already sleeting. I am not a fan of sleeping outside in the cold so we made the decision to go down 600ft to where the truck was parked. I was much happier and toasty warm in our truck! Tom slept out in his hammock. BrrrrOn a nature note, I've seen three turkey (all hens) in the mtns. I got to talk to a mushroom hunter ...looking for morel mushrooms. He claims they taste like steak. Its a prized mushroom of gourmet cooks in France.And I learned that a "barred owl" makes the sound "who cooks for you". .. which i always thought was the great horned owl. We hear this owl sound almost every night in our tent.
Date: 2021-04-18
From: Carver's Gap

To: Elk Park, TN
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We stepped out of North Carolina for the last time today. The trail had been following the NC/TN line ever since we entered the Smokies. Now we'll be in Tennessee exclusivity until we enter Virginia in about 5 days. That's two states down, twelve to go.The hike today was mostly down hill, but there a couple significant uphills on Little Humpback and Humpback mountains  These mountains are unique because you can see the mountaintops from the base of the mountain. For me, it's easier to climb when you can see the end in sight. These mountains also have terrific 360 deg views.I ran into a group of Boys Scouts today on a backpacking trip. It brought back old memories of when I was a scout leader. The boys we're out in front trying to find their way and the adults we're in back picking up the stragglers... just like we used to do it.Tonight we're staying at Mountain Harbour B&B Hostel. They're supposed to have the best breakfast on the trail for 13 years running. We'll report on that tomorrow.We had some time to kill this evening so we took a short ride over to The Station at 19E hostel, which had bar food and craft beer. There we hooked up with Mellow and Ketchup (or maybe it's Catch-up), who we were leapfrogging the last couple days. Good food, beer, and conversation. It's cool to socialize with those you meet on the trail after a long day of hiking.
Date: 2021-04-19
From: Elk Park, TN

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: light rain

The breakfast we had this morning at Mountain Harbour B&B didn't disappoint. I don't know if it's really the best breakfast on the trail, but it was really really good. They had all kinds of fixings including strawberry cake, tomato pie, apple strudels, biscuits and gravy, baked egg souffle, and a whole bunch of other things. All of it was homemade. We were stuffed to the gills when we left there. I was so full that I couldn't eat anything while hiking for many hours.Lucy and I couldn't hook up to meet at the end of the day. There were no convenient road crossings. She stayed at a hostel off the trail, and I camped near a shelter.CatchUp decided that I looked more like a silver goat than a gray goat, and offered that up as a modified trail name for me. I never was that enamored with the gray goat thing, so now I'm Silver Goat. Changing your name every now and then is a good way to stay away from the police.
Date: 2021-04-20
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Boots Off Hostel
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

I met a real superhero yesterday evening. I was the only person at the shelter, making my supper and setting up my tent, when this guy came bounding in wearing a fish scale shirt. The typical greeting when you meet someone new is to ask him his (trail) name. He said his name was Aquaman.I said that's cool, and then the conversation went a little deeper and I asked him what he did in his normal life. Again he said "I'm Aquaman." I'm thinking maybe this guy is nuts and I better stay away from him.It turns out he really is Aquaman. He works part time for DC Comics. He said they pay him to travel all over the world to promote Aquaman. He does autograph sessions and photo shoots with other superheros. He showed me some of his publicity photos on his phone.He also gave me some really good advice on nutrition while on the trail.As far as I can tell he doesn't have any special powers, but there were a few waterfalls along the trail today, and he said he basically took a shower at each one. The air temperature was about 45 deg and the water is mountain spring water. Now I know he's nuts.So, I asked him why he did that and he said "I'm Aquaman."  I don't think I have any chance of becoming a superhero.