morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-09-15
From: Deep Gap

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: light rain

September 14, 2003, left Belleville at 9 am. We drove with pretty nice weather, a little rain now and then, to Knoxville-Tyson Airport. Got a Toyota Echo rental car, got the senior discount. We took off from there and drove down to Murphy, NC. Got there right at dark. Stayed at a real nice place, Sunset Motel for 29.95 Cindy and I are not real backpackers. We would love to complete the Appalachian Trail day hiking. It can be done, but not by us. So lets get some backpack mileage this week. We will do more backpacking in the Smokies and then you don't need to backpack til Vermont.September 15 we got up at seven, drove to Hiawassee and dropped off the minivan at Dick's Creek gap. Went around to Deep Gap, off of Hwy 64 about 11:15 am. Parked the car there and headed south. We¢re doing 6.9 miles, going to backpack and stay overnight at Bly gap. Today was a nice day, no rain all day, sorry, there was a little drizzle at Muskrat shelter. We made a few other stops for 10 minutes each, came up over a big mountain that wasn't on the profile map, got down to Bly gap at 4:15 p.m., set up our camp. We have a nice spring for water. The sun is not quite down at 7:24 pm. We are in our tent, our food is outside hanging on a tree limb. We are going to have cereal for breakfast and a candy bar for lunch tomorrow. We did pass one hiker today, he'd started a week ago from Amacalola Falls, he's looking forward to stopping at Franklin to get a hot shower, and he¢s worried about hurricane Isabella because his family lives in North Carolina. He needs to get off trail so he can call home and see if he needs to go home. I did have some trouble finding my pills, but I shook my backpack, and I can hear them in my pack. Beautiful evening, it is cooling off pretty good, we have 12 hours to spend in the tent tonight.
Date: 2003-09-16
From: Bly Gap

To: Dicks Creek Gap, US 76
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Okay it¢s the morning of the 16th the alarm went off at 7 a.m. we got up and got our food bags and now were breaking camp trying to repack the backpack. We had our cereal; we should be on the trail at eight o¢clock heading to our car which is 8.7 miles away. On the trail at 8:10 a.m., toward Dicks creek gap, a nice trail. The first thing we came to was the sign nailed to a tree, the, Georgia- North Carolina border.Today completes all of our Georgia Appalachian Trail. We met five hikers today from the Cleveland, Ohio hiking club; they hike one week every year for the last 14 years. there finishing Georgia today. Very interesting talking to them. We met those hikers right after Blue Ridge gap at 4.3 miles. We came to Plum Orchard gap, went to the shelter...we came down to the shelter which was three stories we really relaxed their, we took a 40 minute break.we took off out of there and had a couple of hard climbs we went down to Bowl gap and then climbed the Buzzard knob we were getting pretty beat we went down to Cowart Gap and took a 40 minute break 1.8 miles from the finish. At 2:17 we walked for one hour to Dick¢s Creek gap, we had to go over another bald knob. We drove around to Franklin and staying the night at the Microtel Hotel, $39.95 .tomorrow we hike in to pick up our car at deep gap. Lots of wildflowers have been blooming the last few days. We ate again at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Franklin, La Cabana.
Date: 2003-09-17
From: Bear pen trail, USFS 67

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 2.2
Weather: few clouds

Wednesday, September 17th the plan was to do 12 miles from Betty Creek Gap to Deep Gap to get our car but we couldn¢t find Betty Creek Gap parking in the morning. We decided to hike Bear Pen trail down to Betty Gap and then walk out and see where it met Forest Service Road 67. So we started at 10:17 at Bear Pen trail. a downhill hike for 1.4 miles to Mooney Gap at forest service Road 83. We walked another 0.8 miles over a slight rise out of the Mooney Gap and down to Betty Creek Gap. Got there at 12:07 and FS 67 was nearby. Then we had to walk back up and get our car, a three-mile road walk. Thats how we found a good place to park at Betty Creek Gap. So we spent another night in Franklin at the Microtel. Now Cindy¢s version:Early in the morning we took the wrong road out of Franklin in heavy fog. Terry was navigating, we ended up back in Franklin right by our hotel. We lost a half hour . We didn¢t trust or compass that was telling us we were going to wrong way. And then later, when we are not able to find parking for Betty Creek Gap, we hiked down some old woods road, we walked and walked and finally we gave up. But at another fork in the FS 67 road we tried another trail and still couldn¢t find the Appalachian Trail. Finally after we gave up on finding Betty gap, and went up to Bear Pen trail. One more item about the hike on the trail down to Mooney Gap. We heard a funny sound, it sounded like a dog lapping up water.It turns out it was just a culvert with water running through it but it sounded just like a animal lapping up water. Also when we got back to the car we took the forest service road 83 down to Franklin. it was pretty nice, but with one bad area, we got through it. A nice steep gravel road down to the valley.
Date: 2003-09-18
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Deep Gap, USFS 71
Miles today: 12.2

Today is Thursday September 18. We are doing a 12 mile hike from Betty Creek Gap down to Deep Gap to get our car. We got up at 6:15, had the continental breakfast, got out of there at seven o¢clock. We let Cindy navigate us back to the Betty Creek Gap at eight o¢clock. We got on the trail at 8:10 and had a nice pleasant ridge walk all the way to Carter Gap Shelter, where we are taking our first break at 10:15am. There was a lovely viewing point on the ridge where you look back east, the valley was filled with clouds.The people below would have thought it was a foggy day, but above 3000 feet it was sunny and clear. We have gone 4 miles so far. We left Carter Gap Shelter, went over a few little bumps, we came down to Coleman Gap. We kept going on from there and now we are 3.7 miles from Carter Gap shelter at Beach gap. It¢s 12:15pm. We are having lunch sitting down with our shoes off. its very enjoyable temperature now after being cool this morning. We have 5.3 miles to go, we must go over Standing Indian Mountain. Standing Indian mountain is 2/10 mile off the trail, a very nice overlook. Talked to some hikers from Florida, Sue and Mike, that had been there three times before. We sat with them on a ledge overlooking the valley, and talk about what we could see out there, including Brasstown Bald and maybe Blood Mountain. Had a nice rest there. It was very sunny and warm. After that we got on an old roadbed down the mountain. Near the end of the trail is the Standing Indian shelter.We stayed there a while drinking water and taking pictures. We got to Deep Gap about five o¢clock. Met a section hiker who had started in Springer. We rested there are while and took a long drive to Wesser, NC to drop off a car, then into Robbinsville, NC for another night at a Microtel Hotel.
Date: 2003-09-19
From: Stecoah 

To: Wesser, N.C. 
Miles today: 13.6

Today¢s Friday the 19th. We get up at 6:15 at Robbinsville, NC Microtel, got out of the hotel at 7:10. Another beautiful day, drove up to Stecoah gap, got on the trail at 7:50 for 13.6 mile hike South to Wesser .We are down the trail an hour and a half. We are at Simp gap at 9:20. Mike from yesterday¢s hike, trail name was Gatorbait or Gatorade since he is from Florida. He has 200 miles on the Appalachian Trail. We are at Locust Cove gap at 10:05. took a nice break there until ~10:20. it¢s a little deep spot. We are going up over a knob and down to another gap and then climb to Cheoah Bald. We are up on the first knob after Locust Cove gap taking a break at 10:38, having our first snack of the day. We think we have 10 miles to go today, at 3.6 miles,it¢s a very beautiful day, very quiet, cool and sunny. At 11:50 we reached Cheoah Bald, that was four hours ,5.5 miles. We went over to the bald area, some wide open views to the south. quite a bit of haze. we thought we saw Wayah bald and Albert Mountain and Standing Indian mountain. We stayed there a half-hour. walked to the other side and looked at the Smoky Mountains. There was a cold wind while staying at the bald. We saw people walking past on the trail. We left the bald at one o¢clock and came to Sassafras gap shelter at 1:30pm. A very nice shelter, double-decker, plastic windows with a privy and we both needed it. It¢s two o¢clock and we have to get on with our hike, we¢re only halfway thru. Now it¢s three o¢clock and were taking a break, cooling off our feet, 4.9 miles to go. Going downhill with 2000ft vertical down to go. Our feet are getting warm. We make it to the Jumpup lookout , at 4.1 miles to go , there are nice views looking out. It¢s a long long hike with lots of down down down. Saw ladies running up the hill for exercise and then ran back by us going downhill. it took us until 5:52pm to walk into Wesser. Go to the restaurant, the River¢s Edge, had two large sodas for $3.80 .  We drove out of there, picked up our car at Stecoch gap and drove to Cherokee, NC. We are in Cherokee now. It¢s about 8:15pm. We are going out for supper.
Date: 2003-09-20
From: Campcreek Bald, NORTH SPRING

To: Devils Fork, NC 212
Miles today: 12.3

Today is Saturday, September 20, 2003. We got up at 6:15 am at the Country Manor Motel in Cherokee. Got ourselves ready, drove in the dark. Decided to do Camp Creek bald to Devils fork, NC 212 which is a 12.2 mile hike but requires a 100 mile shuttle from here. We left a car at Devils Fork and drove up on Campcreek Bald. Parked in the same spot as Aprils hike and walked 7 minutes to the A T. We hit the trail at Bearwallow Gap at10:49am and took off rapidly north. They had rerouted the trail there to put it up on the rocky ridgeline. which makes it very hard hiking and slow. It was so slow going for a mile. Good views at Blackstack Cliffs, but too sunny and hot and buggy. We finally got off that ridge, down into the trees. Got back down onto a normal forest trail. Made some good progress, but it¢s going to be a warm day. At 3.7 miles we got to Jerry Cabin Shelter at 12:30 for lunch.Now it¢s one o¢clock and were starting to get back on the trail, but we must climb over a mountain. it¢s going to be a tough afternoon, we¢re enjoying ourselves. We left the shelter at 1:04pm, start the climb toward Big Butt mountain. took one hour to get there, a nice look out. We sat there and had water. Got on a woods road after that and follow that for a long way. We came to the 7.2 mile mark at the Shelton Grave site at 2:55pm. We sat there and had another drink. We put on some bug repellent, the Gnat¢s were trying to bite us. The Deet seemed to work, so we left there at three o¢clock. Right now it¢s 3:18, still on the old road ,a lot of bear scat on this road. We should be at the shelter by 4:20 with 2 12 miles to go. We are resting right now. Our trail left the road and headed down steeply and now were at Flint gap at mile marker 8.8 and it¢s 3:52 p.m.Now at 4:15 were at Flint mountain shelter with 2.7 miles to go, taking a short break. Mile marker 11.7 at 5:30 p.m. 6/10 mile to go, so we¢re very happy, on this hot day. The hottest day so far. There are Stinging Nettles on the trail. it¢s been a rough day. We should be out of here in 20 minutes.
Date: 2003-09-22
From: Watauga Dam Rd	

To: Hwy 321 Hampton
Miles today: 3.9

Today is September 22nd Monday. Stayed in Erwin, Tennessee. Got up at the Hotel Supreme. Got up at 5:45 am and got ready real quick, had the continental breakfast at the hotel, and left at 6:20 am, In dark and rainy conditions. Dropped our car off at Hampton on highway 321, drove the other car up to Watauga dam road for the 4 mile hike back down to 321. Got on the trail about 8:26 and went over a small hilltop. Went down to the dam road and followed it across the dam on Watauga lake.We took a few pictures and hiked on out of there, and on to the Watauga shelter. Stayed there about 40 minutes and several hikers came through. Bobby and Bill, a couple of trail maintainers from Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers, they were down here just doing a fun hike and having a good time. We had a good 30 minute talk with them and found out their doing the same hike we are tomorrow. Highway 91 to Watauga Dam road. We left there and it kind of rained on and off all day, and that's why we only did four miles today. So we walked on down to Hampton and got out at 11:30 am. We are spending the night in Elizabethtown, we are getting up early tomorrow to do a 16 mile hike. That's all.
Date: 2003-09-23
From: Tenn 91

To:  Watauga Dam Rd
Miles today: 16.0

September 23rd Tuesday. Hike from Tennessee 91 down to Watauga Dam road, a 16 mile trail which we started at 7:55 a.m. It's dam windy and cool today and foggy, it's everything today. We have to get on up Iron Mountain and then it's a bunch of up and down all day, down to Watauga dam road. Our new buddies Bobby and Billy were waiting at the trailhead for us.We talked to them numerous times during the day. At three miles down the trail you come to Grimstaff Monument, concerning this old guy who lived alone and on this mountain his entire life. His tomb is on the mountain and it says he lived alone, suffered alone, died alone. Sounds great. At four and a half miles we came to Iron Mountain shelter, we had a break there but no lunch and talked to our new buddies. We took off from there and went through a lot of up and down gaps, Turkey Pen gap and unknown gaps. Some backpackers passed us on one of our rest stops but we didn't get a chance to talk to them. Then we went on a long, long way before coming to Vandeventer shelter. We had a nice long rest here and ate our food and drink a lot of water. We had a big view from behind these boulders of Watauga Lake. We took pictures of Billy and Bobby but it was cold and windy out there. So at 3 o'clock we left there and had four and a half miles to go. We chased behind Billy and Bobby all the way to Watauga road. Finish the trail at about 5:12pm and went out for pizza with Bill and Bobby. Bill was almost run over by a logging truck and then the truck driver wanted to kill him. Billy was totally calm with the truck driver. Pizza was okay but it was getting late, and we had places to go. Billy talked us into having cake back at their truck, which we did. They also gave us wine to drink later tonight, which we will. We may do some trail maintenance next year with Piedmont Appalachian Trail Club. Those guys love the Appalachian Trail. We went back to the Days Inn in Elizabethtown for the night. That's the end of that day.
Date: 2003-02-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Welcome to my trail journal.    I hope to be able to keep this fairly updated as I hike the AT this year. I will mail my journal back to my wife and she will enter it so it will be about a week behind. I plan to leave April 1st from Georgia and get up to Mount Katahdin, Maine late september. I have thought this would be a great thing to do since I started backpacking, but I never thought I would have the opportunity to do so. I suddenly do have the chance and thanks to a great deal of support from my wife, Jessica, I'm going. She deserves quite a bit of praise for being so unselfish and conciderate of my dreams. She is going to have to support me while I'm hiking plus keep up on all the bills. She will have to do all the household chores. Some of the things she wanted to do this year like go to Jamaica for our 5th years anniversary and the countless concerts we attend every summer will not happen. She will not be getting a CD player for her car and the bedroom furniture will have to last another year. I have yet to meet a less selfish person, I hope I can make this up to her, at least I could stop throwing my dirty clothes by the bed.   I decided to Hike the AT aroung thankgiving and was planning on hiking from Georgia back home to Pennsylvania. I could then try to finish in 2004 the rest of the way to Maine. Jessica said I should do it all in one year since I don't know if I'll have the opportunity next year. So the entire 2171 miles this year it is. I researched gear and started an workout program. I decided that I would not buy gear unless I could hold myself to getting in shape. For the first time I actually continued a work out program for more than a week. I have increase my endurance and lost over 20 pounds. I research long distance hiking and feel I'm prepared mentally and physically. I purchase most of my gear by now, but I am still waiting for my backpack to be made. I feel pretty confident about my purchases and always had weight as the most important factor. I also have been dehydrating food and planning meals. I have dried spaghetti sauce to add to ramen noodles and dried veggies. I have been buying food each week and storing it in the basement and garage. I think I have enough now for 3 months but I haven't split it up yet. I will be sending about a weeks worth of food to post offices along the trail and supplimenting them with the occasional grocery store. It is now 6 weeks from the time I leave and the waiting is driving me crazy. I did all the fun stuff like go to the outfitters and buy new cool gear. Now it is just the boring stuff like working out and making final plans.    I believe that this will change my life on positve ways although I am not looking to find myself or the meaning of life or anything like that. I would like to be less materialistic, but going out and buying $2000 worth of gear doesn't seem to be the way to go about it. It will be nice to reduce my worries to just food, water, and shelter. Peace Dutch
Date: 2003-03-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well I've turned in my two week notice. My employer is quite busy right now and could use all the help he can get, but....I'm going hiking. I'm not much use to them right now anyhow. All I think about is hiking, I find myself daydreaming or just staring at something wondering if I could use it on the trail. I originally was going to work another week, but I need more time to get ready. I still have to put together my mail drops, see the dentist, and get a physical. I received my backpack yesterday, and wow is it cool. I have been using my old backpack loaded with books and full water bottles to work out with. I was thinking of using my new pack but I don't want to be jogging and rip it with a corner of a book. I will save it for practice hikes. I have my hammock tent up in the basement so I can spend quality time with it. I have told everyone I know, and a few I don't know about my hike.   I will go shopping this weekend and get the last of the clothes I need. I bought some waterproof nylon to make stuff sacks out of. I think I could buy lighter ones but I think it would be cool to make my own. The message boards are full of men taking kilts this year. Priding myself as being different I will not be in drag. My wife says a kilt (skirt) could cause chaffing anyhow. I can see all the kilt fairies puting vasaline on their legs now. I've notice the kilt wearers get very defensive about their new love for girl's clothes so I'll laugh quietly at them. Although I was thinking a nylon kilt would make good rainpants.    I've heard of a thruhiker, Soleman, that passed away days before he was scheduled to leave. I envite everyone to send condolences to his family on his trail journal on this website. I will have his name on a piece of paper for my hike. He will make it to Maine after all.    I've been quite careful lately, I think this is the most dangerous part of my hike. I fell today on some ice and landed on my arm. Right away I thought " Now you done it, gone and broke your arm, no hike this year". But I will not be damaged so easily.Well PeaceDutch
Date: 2003-03-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I tried to load my backpack. I think the ULA P-2 was a good choice for me. I find myself limiting the amount of junk I take because the just isn't room in my pack. Tomarrow I need to get to REI to buy the last of my clothes than I will be truly prepared with gear. I will also get a compression sack to make my fleece pants and jacket more managable. I am going to sleep ou for the first time in my Hennesly hammock tomarrow night. It will be a relitively warm day and should be close to the temps I will face in Georgia. The hammock is not the warmest sleeping arangement, and I am hoping the fleece will keep me toasty. I have both fleece pants and a jacket. At a weight of over 2 pounds it will be the first things sent home. My pack weighed 20 pounds loaded last night and I believe it will weigh 25 without food or water by the time I leave. I had hoped for less, but I cannot escape having a traditional stove and water filter.    It is hard to believe I am bout 3 weeks away from leaving. There is still 3 foot piles of snow in my yard. The reality of missing Jessica has become extremely real. I cherish every moment we get to spend together. Leaving for months at a time has brought to light how much I adore her and I feel the need to tell her often. In order the things I will miss the most is;JessicaAquarius-the very grumpy catMy VW busMy Lands End green full length robeMy very big bedConcertsSome things I won't miss are;Ladders TrafficReality TVWaking up at 4:30am to drive to Deleware
Date: 2003-03-28
To: Last day at home
Miles today: 0.0

Well the time has finally come for me to set sail. I will be meeting some new friends that will be taking me Atlanta and eventually to the trailhead. I will spend 2 days visiting with an uncle that lives in Alabama then back to Atlanta to get rid of a rented car and off I go. I think I have prepared well enough that I am not worried about to many things at this point. I do hope that my cook pot is big enough and that I brought enough food for each day. My pack weighs 18 pounds without food, water, and fuel. I am very happy with that especially since things kept getting added the last few days. It seems that all the fuss with keeping my weight down paid off. At the same time I have lost about 25 pounds from training. I'm sure I will lose 10 more as I hike. So when you really look at it as far as my feet are concerned I will weigh less with a pack than before I started training. If there were room I could take a bowling ball or maybe my cat Aquarious. My employer and best friend bought me pocketmail and 6 months of service. It will help to keep my journal updated. My e-mail address is dutch2003@pocketmail.com so feel free to communicate at will. Jessica will be trancribing for me as I go. Well I have some last minute details to do so see out there.
Date: 2003-03-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Today I spent visiting and meeting my Alabama family. It has been an incredible pleasure to get to fit this side trip in before I start my hike. I've enjoyed the southern hospitality and they treat me like a celebrity just because I'm going hiking. For about an hour, cousins, second cousins, and third cousins came parading in. I'm sure most of the children didn't know they had relatives in Pennsylvania, but that didn't seem to matter. Family is family to them and this part of the family all got together to meet me.   They made me drag out all my gear and asked tons of questions. I was happy to oblige since I love to talk about gear and the trail. Today the weather is quite cool. I am hoping for a little warmer weather for Tuesday when I leave. I managed to get in a morning jog and have called Jess three times since I have the chance. Tonight I will have to go to bed early so I can get up at 3am to drive back to Atlanta to return my rented car. For some reason when you ask for an economy car it is the ugliest car in the world. I think it is a Kia but I can't look at it from the outside since it is butt ugly. It is bright yellow (my favorite) and looks like the offspring of VW beetle and storage shed. It handles quite nicely, though, and looks ok from the inside.Peace,Dutch