morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-03-22
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

Well I guess staying off my feet for 16 hours, combined with Advil, Celebrex, Tylenol and a muscle relaxer did the job, my knee feels ok (so far). Started hiking in a think fog, bit it burned off and turned into a beautiful day. Some steep climbs, some gentle climbs, some steep downs today had it all. We are constantly walking with mountains in view, they are awesome, but I find that I see so many mountains, that I take them for granted (until I hit a mountain top with a 360 degree view, then it is awesome again). Well today we pulled a long steep climb up Rocky Top. The view there was awesome!!! My knee held up and I kept trudging at a slow speed, finally making it to the shelter after too many miles. I rested in the grass, cooked and journaled in my bag. A good day! Met 2 ridge runner briefly, a man and a woman, met some weekend hikers, and some new thru-hikers. Lots of people here in the Smokies. General topics for conversation among thru-hikers; Farts, belches, food, snot, restaurant food, farts, salad bars, gear, burgers, beer, basically all conversations end up about food. Like what we are going to eat at the next town stop. Today it was Chiles restaurant food, the chips and queso, burritos, beer, etc. Last week it was Shoneys all-you-can-eat (AYCE) buffet. Next week maybe AYCE steak.The shelter is not full, but it¢s almost there. Slow Ride, Tree, Hotdog, Wench, Swift Sandals, Smokey T, Yukon Rasputon, Alaska and 2 others whose names I have forgotten. (Rabbit and Afterburner?). Time to take my medicine again, so goodnight to all. Life is good. Footnote: Mama and Papa Wench, your little Wench is doing ok out here. She climbs shaky fire towers, she is tougher than any old mountain, and she is especially good to old grumpy Hotdogs. She¢s been sticking close by as I hobble thru the Smokies, on my bum knee. She¢s tops in my book!
Date: 2003-03-23
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Slept ok last night, until my meds wore off. Tossed and turned for a bit then took pills. Slept and snored after that (so I am told). During the night we had a flood. Someone on the top set of bunks, rolled over in the night on his water bladder. He awoke thinking he had peed himself! Unfortunately he ¢peed¢ the person under him too (Swift Sandals). So there was a little commotion as he wrung 1 liter of water out of his bad, Swift Sandals quickly moved over away from the waterfall. Today was a short day, great views (awesome!), steep climbs, but still very nice (in an exhausted sort of way). Started the day a bit fuzzy in the head. The muscle relaxer I took last night, combined with caffeine from my coffee, gave me a bit of a buzz in the head. I quickly walked it off and saw some true marvels of the Smokies. Ridge lines 9-10 deep, sun with a cool breeze. But no water for miles on end (marked water sources were not to be found, but that¢s ok, we don¢t trust the data book anyway, so we had enough). We lunched at Silars Bald Shelter, laying out in the grass. Funny Note: we almost lunched 30 yards from the shelter, we stopped to rest and to look at maps, to see how far we were from the shelter. As we got up Wench said ¢it would be funny if the shelter was right around the corner¢, 5 steps later, I said ¢There it is!¢ We both almost fell over laughing.We ran into 4 guys from Indiana on spring break there. Later they showed up at Double Spring Shelter. We will be roomies tonight. Nice guys, not much out door experience, when they found out we were thru-hikers, I think they thought we were nuts (we are I guess). Now sitting in the sun journaling, what a great sunny day. More people here at Silas Bald Shelter; 6 spring breakers, and 5 thru-hikers; Fixy, Wench, Hotdog, Trail Frog and John. More farters and snorers, should be a long night. Life is good.
Date: 2003-03-24
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

Slept in today (sort of). The spring break guys and other thru-hikers got up at around 5:30 and were all gone by 7:15 (and a noisy bunch they were). We didn¢t sleep much either. We got up around 7:45 and after a quick breakfast hit the trail. It was a day of ¢oohs and aahs", "wows and awesomes!¢. This was a crisp clear day over some of the prettiest and highest mountains I have hiked. Awesome ridge-walks, awesome views, awesome cool weather (we finally started through pine-forests, I love that smell). Saw snow pockets, ice, and it almost felt like Christmas (later we saw a hiker wearing sleigh bells that made it complete). It was a strange peaceful day, only 4 people on Clingman¢s Dome, all thru-hikers and only the same other 2 people all morning en route to Clingman¢s Dome. Wench and I took Ted¢s flag up on the tower and had other hikers take pictures of us¢¦ Awesome! (and cold). From Clingman¢s Dome to Newfound Gap, we met many day-hikers and a few more thru-hikers (Thin-mint, 3 sock, Fiver and Rock Hound). What a wonderful hike! As we got near Newfound Gap, a large group of college students approached, asking ¢are you Hotdog?¢ I said ¢Yes¢. He replied ¢Mrs. Hotdog is waiting for you at the gap!¢. Our trail magic was there! So our pace increased. Did I mention that people call Wench, sir? Hmmm¢¦.. Anyway, as we got to Newfound Gap we were waved over and welcomed to the Trail Magic Chevy Tahoe. Mrs. Hotdog was there with 4 other thru-hikers. Water, soda, apples, bananas, cookies, donuts, and crackers. What a feast for 6 hungry thru-hikers (the others didn¢t leave until we did). For some it was their first Trail Magic! Very cool! They couldn¢t believe they came out of the woods to such a great surprise. As we sat and ate, Windex and Deep Sea (2001 Thru-hikers) came up and said hello and gave hugs to all. We packed up and headed to Gatlinburg, got to our hotels, rested then had a big dinner (salad bar and main courses at ¢the peddler¢ restaurant. This followed by laundry, hospital research (I¢ll go tomorrow) and a Jacuzzi bubble bath. Just finishing up my journaling and going to sleep at mid-night, sunburned and happy. Life is good.AM schedule: coffee, donuts and medical facility for my knee. Maybe a full exam. Drugs are keeping it working, but I¢m punishing it too much. I need to find the base problem and see how much I am worsening it by hiking on Celebrex, Tylenol and an occasional muscle relaxer. Follow up tomorrow.
Date: 2003-03-25
From: Newfound Gap

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: clear sky

Went to a Medi-center in Pigeon Forge, no help¢¦.Knee not broken, nothing torn, they said to rest for 2 weeks (oops!). Need to shop for food and hit the trail (rested 20 hours, close enough). More trail magic at Newfound Gap!! Saw Jan (Liteshoe) as we pulled in, gave her hugs, soda, and cookies! Other thru hikers came thru and they had a feast on donuts, crackers, cookies, soda, water and candy bars! Very Cool! Wench and I left for Icewater Spring Shelter, Mrs. Hotdog gave Liteshoe, Pop-Pop, and Live Wire a ride to Gatlinburg, then she turned around drove home to South Carolina (long ride for her, but she enjoyed supplying trail magic!! Again!). It was a nice gradual climb up to the shelter. We stopped and talked to many people along the way. People are really amazed when they find out we are hiking to Maine (so am I¢¦.). We arrived a the shelter and set up our gear. Sat around and talked to the group of people at the shelter, signed and read the register. As I was talking, some one mentioned that 2 of the people there were British south bounders. This seemed odd, I had met 2 Brits in PA at the Ruck (hiker get together) at Pine Grove Furnace Hostel (Iron Masters), so I asked if they were the same? YES !! It was Rob Tweeddle (Snowman) and Sean Johnson (Windchill). They are on their 3rd leg of their North American Challenge, raising money for Cancer Research (UK). They finished a biking and paddling leg and were now almost 2000 miles into their AT hike! Wow, great guys. They also had 3 friends with them on this section of their hike. See www.northamericanchallenge.com for more details of their fantastic challenge.After talking with them for a bit, I got started on dinner¢¦. 3 cheeseburgers packed in from McDonalds. Turned a few heads with that one (then I mentioned that breakfast was a filet mignon sandwich¢¦). Going to be a cold night and it looks like we will have rain tonight and tomorrow. Oh well, take the good with the bad and so forth. Going to do some long, slow miles this week, I need to take it easy on my knee, but GSMNP says I have to be at a shelter at night (hard to do low miles when the shelters are far apart and I only get 8 days to exit the park). I will take a day off in Hot Springs or sooner. I think I will have to take 2-4 days off at some point to rest my knee next month. Maybe I will rent a car and visit people. Anyway, left knee is so-so, now it aches when I hike, but not bad¢¦ I¢ll take it day by day, and see how it goes. Enough for now, it¢s past my 7PM bedtime, Life is good. People I remember today: Jan (Liteshoe), Smooth Navigator, Fly by Night, Pop-Pop, Looky Lu, Seattle, Homerun, Livewire, Snowman, and Windchill.
Date: 2003-03-26
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept late and started out at about 8:20. Had a cold breakfast (filet mignon, butter on a roll and a Nestles Crunch breakfast bar), and then hiked to Charlie¢s Bunion to play on the rocks for a half-hour. Great views, awesome place, took lots of pictures. The rest of the day was rather forgettable, except for the edge walks as fog rolled over and ridge walks when it cleared up. Lots of straight down drops next to the trail. Wench and I stopped for lunch under some pine trees (dry) and relaxed for a while. After about 8 miles I just got fatigued, tired, dehydrated, wet, exhausted (you get the picture). I just put my head down and trudged the next 4.6 miles to the shelter and was pleasantly surprised when it showed up before I expected it. The downside is that the mid-point water source was not there (no water), so we had to stretch 1.5 liters for 12.6 miles (nowhere near enough water). Well we ate a cold dinner (so we can eat a hot lunch tomorrow!), then sat around journaling and so forth. I went out to pee at 7:05 and saw bodies coming up to the shelter. Liteshoe and Pop-pop were walking in!! Cool. She finally caught up !! Pack 31 united! Now I can sleep nights. And may I say¢¦she was looking stylish in her hefty bag skirt! Well, it¢s way past my bed time (7:45) so I¢ll write more tomorrow. Good Night All!
Date: 2003-03-27
From: Tri Corner Knob Shelter

To: Mt. Cammerer Lookout
Miles today: 10.5

Did I mention that we have finished 10% of the trail? I felt like crap this morning, tired, dizzy, just out of it. We lunched at Cosby Knob Shelter (a hot lunch), and I felt much better after that. We hiked on to Cammerer Lookout Tower on Mt. Cammerer. Awesome views. Just Awesome!! 360 degree view of mountains, valleys. I took lots of pictures. En route to Mt. Cammerer, we passed a ranger and 2 hikers. One hiker was laying along the trail in his bag, the ranger was looking after him, he had been sick for a couple of days and couldn¢t go on. Ranger later started an IV and was waiting for horses to come up and get him. Looks like an early day tomorrow, all downhill to Davenport Gap, and maby a cheeseburger at Mountain Mama¢s, maybe on to Standing Bear Farm Hostel.The Mt. Cammerer Lookout building is a really cool octagonal shape. A walkway all around it gives a great view! Now it¢s 7pm, the sun just set (pretty cool), and the wind is just HOWLING around us. The building is shaped like the top of a lighthouse. This is a ¢MUST SEE¢ if the weather is clear. Not sure if you are allowed to camp here or not, but we did. (and we are very and will not abuse it). This is the coolest place I have seen so far on my hike.· Did I ever mention that I hurt my knee when I tripped over a tent line on March 3rd?· Have I mentioned that one good thing (like staying in the lookout at Mt. Cammerer) makes up for all the bad things that happened prior?Good night all (wind still howling!). Life is good.
Date: 2003-03-28
From: Mt. Cammerer Lookout

To: Standing Bear Farm Hostel
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, we woke up early and watched the sunrise over the mountains and clouds. Very cool! Very windy! Took more pictures of a cool sunrise. Liteshoe left early to eat at Mountain Mama¢s. Wench and I left later and headed for Standing Bear Farms Hostel (Maria and Curtis). A very cool, very laid back place. Wench, Liteshoe and I are the only 3 people here so far. Relaxing, journaling, doing laundry, showering and catching up on email. Later we are going to the Mexican/Bluegrass restaurant with Maria. Sounds very cool, 2 of my favorite things together¢¦.Earlier, as we hiked south from Davenport Gap, we met many nice folks doing trail maintenance from the Carolina Mountain Club (working on 100 miles of trail south of GSMNP¢¦.some in Tennessee¢¦). A beautiful section of trail south of I-40, the flowing stream is always nearby, very pretty and relaxing. We need to re-supply here to get to Hot Springs. Not sure what supplies they have, we¢ll see later. For now it¢s all R and R until I need to move again. Well I moved again¢¦.out to dinner at ¢The Front Porch¢ Mexican restaurant. Lots of fun, tons of food and good bluegrass music. We were there from 5 to 10, and then came back to the hostel and crashed. 2 beers in 1 night, a record lately¢¦makes me sleepy. We will re-supply and hit the trail again in the morning. Lots of hills to climb tomorrow.
Date: 2003-03-29
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

A good nights sleep, then a big breakfast (2 sausage, egg and cheese biscuits, donuts and a trail bar, and coffee). After dilly dallying around with Liteshoe, Sonic, Iguana, Iguana¢s sister, and a friend yet to be named¢¦..maybe Sleepy Head, Wench and I hit the trail around 9:30. It was a ling, drizzly, uphill climb the first 3 or so miles. Though we remarked at how our ¢trudge¢ steps up long mountains are much longer than they used to be. We are getting better trail legs¢¦.finally. Today was a short day, fog, drizzle were the rule of the day. Hiked past an FAA facility tower on the first mountain, a grassy bald¢¦kind of an eerie feeling seeing a ghostly shadow in the distance and hearing the generator hum. Once we got to the Groundhog Creek Shelter we stopped for the day (at about 1:15). Earliest shelter stop yet! But that is ok we have 11 plus miles to do tomorrow (possibly in the snow¢¦ maybe flurries¢¦Cool!). Ok, we sat around for hours, eating snakes, candy, Slim Jims, coffee, more candy¢¦still 2 hours to go before sleepy time¢¦. Sigh¢¦. 1st rule, never pee before 7pm, or you will have to go twice before it¢s time to get up. Did I mention how the power of suggestions works? Wench and I were hiking today and I commented on how the AT Blazes should be perpendicular to sea level (joking). Wench replied, ¢yeah¢¦these are almost making me fall of the trail¢ (and she instantly did!!). Her foot slipped, she caught it, then the inertia took over and down she went. She was ok, and we laughed so hard we were crying. No the trail is not all fun and games, but it has it¢s moments (usually associated with falls and bodily functions and noises). The reality of the trail I: pain, long, unrelenting mountains to climb with no views, or fogged over views. Body stench, clothes stench, peeing and pooping in the rain and cold, almost falling into your own ¢pile¢. Wet clothes and body, day after day. Being cold, thirsty, hungry, dehydrated, blistered, sore. Having your nose run for days, having to wipe it on hands, sleeves, hanky, anything in sight, eventually doing a nostril blast to clear them. Did I mention prune butt, crunchy butt, chafing (from pack straps and clothes). Skin drying and cracking, glasses that fog up, mist over, walking for miles without being able to see in the rain. Eating the same food, day after day, always dreaming about real town food. I know I didn¢t cover everything, but that will give you an idea of how it is out here. But 1 good day makes you forget the bad. Well, it¢s 7pm and time to pee and get into my bad, more tomorrow.
Date: 2003-03-30
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter (Snow)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Hmmm¢¦. In my reality list yesterday, did I mention snow ?!?! Well, I got up to pee last night and when I turned my headlamp on I saw 3 inches of snow. WOW! When we got up this morning, there was 6 inches of snow. By 9am there was 10 inches of snow. This may be a 0 mile day today, hopefully the sun will come out. I did a short test walk up the shelter trail: small tress laden with snow are bent over the trail every few yards, blocking it. 10 plus inches of snow is covering all the rocks and roots I ¢trip¢ on, now I ¢slip¢ on them all. I would like to hike on today but I would fall a lot and risk injury. May as well stay here and be safe, we have plenty of food. Some other hikers joined us last night, and set up their tents. A big branch snapped and fell neat their tent during the night and scared the hell out of them (needless to say they didn¢t sleep much). This is going to be a long day¢¦ I already took a few pictures, now we all are sitting in our sleeping bags, waiting to eat again. Well, about 10 more people showed up. The shelter only fit 2 more¢¦sooo, lots of people tenting or moving on.Note: It¢s 4:15 and still snowing ! More than a foot deep so far, and the temps are dropping. About 27 degrees so far, should be an interesting night. Tomorrow ¢we¢ will be the ones not in a shelter. We will wait for the others to break trail through the snow for us, then we will go. Looks like we will camp tomorrow night (in my airy tent¢¦should be fun). Note to self: If the snow reaches 2 feet, I¢ll stay another day here¢¦maybe¢¦ funny how weathermen stay employed. We heard that there was a chance of flurries¢¦hmmm¢¦ I guess the forecast changed after we started hiking¢¦ Time to eat again¢¦ more later.
Date: 2003-03-31
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: broken clouds

Well, it didn¢t reach 2 feet of snow! But we did get 16 inches and it hit 20 degrees. I slept late today; waited for everyone else to go, before Wench and I got up and hit the trail, let them break through the 16 inches of snow for us. Even with 10 people breaking trail, it was hard. Lots of trees and shrubs bent over the trail, we had to go around or bend under them. We did 11 miles today! A very tough day, picking up my feet over snow piles, stepping through uneven snow, sliding, slipping, falling¢¦ much harder than normal hiking. Fatigue hit me early; I could barely pick my feet up. By 12:00 I was useless, I couldn¢t go any farther (I needed fuel). We stopped for lunch and I had a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit to eat. This fueled me very well, and I made sure I ate plenty of snacks the rest of the day. We blasted thru the 11+ miles in good time, but we were tired puppies. See the sign for the shelter was a happy event. Soon were dry and warm again. I even feasted on Ramen noodles and beanie weenies!! Gourmet trail food!! Now I am snug in my bag, thinking back on today. Going over May Patch (mountain south of Hot Springs) in the snow is crazy!! We had trouble even finding the trail (it¢s a bald!). Even though 10 or more people had hiked in front of us, the trail was obliterated by snow, drifting in the high winds up there. I felt like I was climbing Everest! Wench was leading, but when we got to the drifted snow, I lead (my legs are longer and I had lots of trouble in the deep snow). We had to step, plant poles, step, plant poles, step into snow up to my butt, plant poles, climb out, and start over. All of this with a wind knocking you over! Not good weather to cross a snowy bald. But we inched our way up and across, then stopped out of the wind for water and snacks. Phew! What a day. One to enjoy telling people about. And now it¢s 7pm and time for bed. My dreams will be about snow storms. Life is good!! Tomorrow, another 11 miles then into Hot Springs for real food.
Date: 2003-04-01
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: few clouds

This day really sucked, hiking in deep wet slush all morning. My boots filled with water, my legs got fatigued and it was all uphill until noon (it seemed). Very hard to keep a positive attitude when mother nature is beating the hell out of you. Then this afternoon sunny skies, less snow, what a beautiful day!! The morning is forgotten, what a great day to hike (with an extra couple of pounds in each foot). No longer were our toes numb from cold water (it warmed up), ankles sore from sliding all over (and off) the trail. This morning we fell quite often, this afternoon I only fell once (a headfirst dive into Wench, narrowly avoiding sending her headfirst too). But when we arrived at the shelter, we were ready to stop. Very tired and in need of rest, we sat at the shelter and pulled our pruned feet our to our boots, wring out our socks, drank water and relaxed. We will head in to Hot Springs for breakfast, at the diner. We need a day off (or at least most of the day), to recover and get mail drops, new socks, dry our boots, mail extras home, buy food and check on trail conditions and re-supply points north of Hot Springs.
Date: 2003-04-02
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs - Elmers Sunnybrook Inn
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: clear sky

Well up early today, breakfast in town was calling. Hiked 3 plus to Hot Springs, had breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner (I didn¢t like it, I wasn¢t feeling 100%). Then on to ¢Elmers¢ Sunnybrook Inn (Hostel) to check in. Did laundry and walked around in my rain suit (only clothes not in the washer), ate ice cream and soda and sat in the sun (extra crispy). Spent a relaxing day in town, made phone calls, had a salad, burger and beer at Paddlers Pub, went to the outfitter and got new socks, wrote out post cards. A basic lay around kind of day. Now I am going over what food I need to carry for the next 7 days. Lots of weight to carry over some big mountains, en route to Erwin TN. This hostel is a huge house with antiques all over, nice place.Tomorrow I need to shop for food, go to the post office, outfitter (did I mention a diner breakfast?), then maybe a snack for the road. Sleeping in a real bed tonight, nice, no mice, more tomorrow. Did I mention how loud the shelter mice were? They were running on the tin roof making a racket! Pretty funny! On to Erwin TN!