morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-02-19
To: an easy sunday night
Miles today: 0.0

I've been having a nice, laid back Sunday evening. My parents are both out watching Brokeback Mountain (excellent by the way. Heath Ledger pulls a Brando) and my brother is who knows where. I enjoyed leftovers from our Thanksgiving-style banquet from last night with some hot tea. And I'm resensitising myself via Jack Johnson, G-Love and K's Choice (thanks Becky) after an onslaught of commercials brought into my life thanks to an Olympics-driven TV binge. The only thing that would make it better is Casey, and he's not coming until next Saturday. I'm also almost finished with The Quest for the Lost City by Dana and Ginger Lamb, a book that came highly recommended by my dad as one of his favorite books when he was 12. It's a really exciting book. I cordially forward the recommendation to anyone reading this. I looked up the Lambs and there seems to be some heated debate over their work--they were explorers who apparently claimed to have discovered some Mayan ruins. Some people gave the book the fewest stars possible and some harsh reviews because they believe that they did not legitimately discover the ruins, that they had already been found. These people are broadly missing the point. The quest for their 'lost city' was their personal demon that they had to chase down until they reached a satisfactory conclusion. Whether or not what they found was archeologically legit, the book has some of the best storytelling I've read or heard in a really, really long time. Forgive them if at times the stories sound far-fetched. Perhaps some embellishment was involved. Perhaps a whole lot. Still, you can tell that it's not all made up, they really did backpack into the jungles of Chiapas in southern Mexico. The masterful writing and storytelling trumps any arguments from the fact-checkers.Anyway I've gotten really into this book, imagining I'm there with them. It makes me feel a need to go on all kinds of wonderful adventures all the time. Geez, the Lambs are so adventurous and intelligent they almost make me feel a little inadequate doing something as cushy as the Appalachian Trail! Well, it's a good start I suppose. I'm glad Casey's got a healthy adventuresome vein in him.
Date: 2006-02-24
To: holy moly, only a week!
Miles today: 0.0

Wow. Only a week until I leave New York. I almost said it's hard to beleive--but actually it's really, really easy to believe, it's so real! I'm finally going! WOOHOOOOO! I keep dreaming about what the first steps on the approach trail will be like--will the weather provide an inglorious but typical rainy beginning or a comfortable and heartily crisp morning? Will one of us say 'last one to the AT plaque's a rotten egg!' and bust out with a whoop and a holler? I suppose it doesn't serve any purpose to wonder about it, but it's these butterflies that are egging me on--after having comfortably emerged from the cocoon of my stomach, they set out to take over in my head and feet, while continuing to use my stomach as base camp. The diagram above illustrates this feeling.For anyone that is following this journal:I am going to keep journals the old-fashioned way, on paper. I will send them to the lovely Miss Tara (aka Rally, thru-hiker of '04) who will be transcribing them onto this website. Thanks Tara! This means that for the first week, there'll be a bit of a delay before the first trail post. After that I suppose they will be entered in bulk whenever I send an installment to Tara. I'll upload pictures from Casey's camera along the trail.Hey, it'll be funny to see how my writing changes on the trail. I write and think differently on a computer from on paper. Also, don't be shy to sign the guestbook--I'm like a puppy when I get mail, if I had a tail I'd wag it. I bet it would be fun to have a tail to wag.
Date: 2006-03-03
To: Last entry before we go...
Miles today: 0.0

Tomorrow we get in the car and start driving to Georgia so we can walk to Maine...seems pretty non-sensical, but there it is. I had a moment of trepidation this morning, but fortunately the feeling has since dissipated. Casey and I have been busy making last minute preparations--it seems like we've been preparing for a long long time, but somehow we still have a page-long 'to-do' list. We had a fun time at Campmor today, fidgeting for a half hour in front of the sleeping bag liners deciding whether or not to get them--they're priced like they're made of gold. We were walking away when we were overtaken by a fit of recklessness...we dashed back to the liners, snatched them up and walked quickly to the register, making sure nobody was following, like a couple of bandits getting away with some hot stolen goods. To make ourselves feel better about it, we hooped and hollered and yeehawed and did everything in our power to make sure that everyone up and down Route 17 knew we loved our new liners.We also got a heaping dose of civilization before going woodsy--I took Casey into NYC for the first time. It was fun to watch his eyes get huge and stare straight up in Times Square. We ate enormous quantities of greasy delicacies in a little hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown, were harassed by a restauranteur in Little Italy, ate a bagel and some weird small 'Mexican' food in the East Village, and saw the Bodies Exhibition at the South Street Seaport Museum--which is awesome, and I encourage anyone around there to see it, it's worth the fee.
Date: 2006-03-04
To: just kidding...one more
Miles today: 0.0

Yikes, we're leaving in a couple hours. Yesterday, I'll admit, there was a gap of time where I was really nervous. Which I suppose is normal. It passed in a few hours and then I felt fine. Casey and I distracted ourselves by making a new can stove because our other ones are too small for the pot we borrowed from my brother. All we've got to do is pack up our stuff, try not to forget something crucial, and go! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! It's sunny out and there's a blue jay picking through the snow on the lawn. Looks like a good driving day...wish us luck!Love,Emily
Date: 2006-03-06
From: The Trail!

To: Springer Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

WAHOOOOO! Casey and I have officially started the Appalachian Trail today. The drive down was pretty fun, and after goodbyes (my mom drove down with us), we stepped through the stone arch onto the Approach Trail. It was a great day! We had some wonderfully luxurious 1st-day weather--warm, slight breezes, not a cloud in the sky except for some long-tailed wispies mystically enshrouding the peaks of a mountain chain that we will call home for the next 6 months. On the trail up I saw a bright red beetle and a garter snake whose defense was to stay totally still.We met a couple named Jojo Smiley and Nomad 98, each of whom have hiked the trail 2/3 times and are here until Neel's Gap; a crew of '05 thru-hikers up for a reunion (EverReady, Whitey, and Long Stride); and a woman thru-hiking with her dog--Katie and Allie, respectively.The Approach Trail was not even close to how bad I'd heard it was. I imagined it to be an 8 mile straight up monster, but it was actually a really pretty hike that wasn't too hard at all. Springer snuck up on us--we kept thinking the trail was going to get harder until we bumped into the Southern Terminus plaque an hour earlier than we had bargained for. Hopefully tomorrow will be as lovely as today!
Date: 2006-03-07
From: Springer

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: clear sky

We woke up this morning a bit chillified--Casey wanted to take a picture of the frost on the tent but the batteries were drained from the cold. However, once we were up and moving it was a nice easy day. About 7 miles, mostly flat. We took our time--Casey made stops to set up his tripod and photograph running streams and scenic vistas, and we had a long lunch break at lovely Long Creek Falls. We met Cimaron, an energetic and cheerful man of 83 who's currently fighting cancer and attempting to be the oldest person to thru-hike in one year. He's got some great stories and a sharp sense of humor. I did unfortunately begin forming a little blister on my heel, like a budding hydra. It's like I'm growing a little me off my foot! Haven't named it yet--don't tell it, but I'm hoping it'll go away before I have to. Oh and if you're buying Lipton pasta sides, the Stroganoff's not half bad.
Date: 2006-03-08
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I forgot to write yesterday that Casey broke his pole-inventions--the epoxy snapped, so he might have to buy a pair at Neel's Gap.Another fair-weather day, but looks like that's going to change soon. We went through some rhododendrom tunnels surrounded by hemlocks (Tsuga canadersis), tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipfera), and black gum (nyssa sylvatica). I saw some kind of bird with a white belly, blue wings, and a needly black beak. Cimarron left the trail at Hightower Gap; on the other hand we met some folks that turned out to be a lot of fun--Hatteras Jack, who's trying to thru-hike by June; Rebeccah and Dylan, siblings going to Harper's Ferry; and Joe and Brendon, two firemen from Florida out for 10 days, who are incredibly different from us but really funny and good company, plus they built a fire for all of us to hang around after it got dark.Tomorrow, over Blood Mountain to Neel's Gap! Our first goal! We might have some pizza to celebrate...and maybe our friends from tonight will join us!
Date: 2006-03-09
From: Woody Gap

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

(morning)Last year Casey and I and a bunch of friends hiked about what we've just done. How is this trip better than the last? Let me count the ways:1. My pack is 10 lbs lighter.2. Last year the climb up Blood Mountain went way faster than expected. We thought it was pain-induced endorphins and ibuprofin, but this time we made it up, easy peasy, in 25 minutes without the vitamin I and almost no pain.3. The hike down Blood Mountain was just as long and hard as I remembered, but without the tearing up with knee pain at every step. No pain at all! Yaaay! Some combination of lighter pack, hiking poles, knee supports, pre-hike squats, and more appropriate footwear (last time I had my Doc Martens) makes me feel miles and miles better.4. Hasn't rained on us yet. This'll be the week for rain, but at least we had one nice week to start. Last time it rained the whole time, which was more miserable than today, with blue jeans, leather boots, and a heavy rubber rain coat that I had last time.Last night we visited our first AYCE and stayed at the Walasiyi hostel, met some new folks--Heather, Tom, Goat, Freight Train, Craig, Cathy, Alpine...who else? We'll see em all around again probably. Today might be from 11-16 miles, depending on how we feel by the end of the day. So far so good!
Date: 2006-03-10
From: Neel's Gap

To: Poplar Stamp Campsite
Miles today: 12.0

(same day...afternoon)Another spectacular day--spectacular views lurking around every corner! A nice hardy climb after Tesnatee Gap which felt really good after these loooong rocky downhills--plus we were rewarded with a new tulip bud and a patch of blooming deep purple crocuses--with bright yellow stamens. Casey also wants me to jot down some of the things Alpine (who works at Mountain Crossings, the Walasiyi gear place) was telling us. Half the year he's basically a professional hiker, the other half he's a professional diver--welds underground. He told us that one guy who works at Neel's Gap has done all 3 long trails (AT, PCT, CDT) each 6 times--3N, 3S--so 24 times total, about 50,000 miles! He also gave us lots of very useful advice and informed us that about 50% of people who claim to be thru-hikers on whiteblaze.net are lying and their advice doesn't make any sense! So if anyone out there is reading all those poots that say a 40 degree bag will do fine for a thru-hike starting this time of year, don't buy it! It's a rescue waiting to happen in the Smokies--a 0, 10, or 15 degree bag is more like it, and add 5 degrees to synthetic bags.And now the mac'n'cheese is ready, hooray!2 more days to Hiawassee--our next goal is the NOC.
Date: 2006-03-11
From: Poplar Stamp Campsite

To: Cheese Factory Site
Miles today: 12.4

We are camping at the old cheese factory site. A farmer set up his dairy (in the 1800s) here on this ridge on Tray Mountain and apparently made state fair award winning cheeses until the land just because too difficult for him to manage anymore. To celebrate, we ate...yep, mac-n-cheese! With some Texas Pete hot sauce--mmmm. Tomorrow we're going to set out early--get up at 6 as we've been doing, eat a cold breakfast, we got all our water tonight, and we're going to try 9 miles by lunch. Then we can set up camp, have a hot lunch (yay!) and loll around and stretch for the afternoon!
Date: 2006-03-13
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Hiawassee, Campsite
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday was the first real bummer day. I was pretty achy, so we stopped at Deep Gap Shelter--where it was a relief to find several other hikers who had a word or 2 to say about Kelly's stupid knob. Today, a ride into Hiawassee took us to the Hiawassee Inn, where we each had a shower and did laundry. We met a really interesting woman who worked there who is originally from Argentina but has lived here since 1971. She insisted on paying the $9.50 for our laundry and 2 showers and told us about the horrors of West Palm Beach, where she's seen kids get run over by drunk drivers and relatives get lost in drugs. Horrible place, never going back, she said. Understandably.It's nice to be clean, and Clasey and I went to Subway and each had a footlong Chicken Teryaki sandwich. Tonight, back to the trail and camp at the 1st convenient location. We're ahead of schedule, so it's time to cool our heels a little. Tomorrow, back to the grind--and across our first state border, GA-NC! I'm excited. It'll feel like a good accomplishment.
Date: 2006-03-14
From: Dick's Creek

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

Last night was really fun--we came back from Hiawassee and hiked a mile to set up camp on a low ridge covered with young swishy trees. The temperature was great--not so cold that it was uncomfortable to sit out, but cold enought that a cup of hot "swiss miss chocolate sensation" chocolate nabbed from a hiker box was greatly enjoyed. It was eerie weather--a thunderstorm was on its way, the spring tree tips were swaying and crackling against each other, and we could hear the storm wind miles away. It held out until we were settled in the tent--then it POURED. Thanks to the trust tarptent and our WM bags we stayed toasty and dry all night. By morning the rain had moved on and left a fierce wind in its wake. We packed up as best we could, with the tent flapping all over the place. Poptarts in hand we fled the ridge--when we got away from the wind we found ourselves all discombobulated--all the wrong layers on in the wrong order and our packs a bit of a mess from our rush to get to calmer ground. It was a fun 1st night of real weather. We take it as training for the Smokies where it'll be cold and wet for a week--but hopefully still beautiful!Today, a breezy 7.7 miles. Not sure if tonight will be as dramatic and exciting as the last, but I'm crossing my fingers for as warm and dry!
Date: 2006-03-15
From: Bly Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

Saw the first spring bluets today! We're getting some of 3 seasons-wintry frozen ground, autumnal leaves covering the trail, and springy wildflowers coming up.We just decided to skip over Franklin and head straight into NOC, since Indy donated a bunch of his food to us before he leaves the trail for home. So it'll be a full week back here in one stretch!Today was very easy terrain-wise and it looks like tomorrow will be too, so we're planning on going our biggest day yet.
Date: 2006-03-16
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Big Spring Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Holy Moly! Where to start with today? It was the perfect day! Casey and I woke up in good moods and laughing. I rolled up the tent while he got down the bear bag and we were on our way by 7:15, Quaker Oatmeal To Go bars in hand (which are really tasty by the way). We hiked up Standing Indian Mountain and decided to take the side-trail to the summit--well worth it!! The climb up was a piece of cake and we were rewarded with our first panoramic valleyscape of the day. The rest of the morning was fast on fairly level terrain. I hiked in front for a change which was refreshing. We got some doily-delicate snowfall which later mixed with some light hail which we could hear pummelling the leathery rhododendron leaves, but not see or feel. The plant life around the trail was a little different today, and very pretty. When we stopped for lunch at 12:30, we checked where we were and saw that 12 of our 14.5 miles for the day had already slipped under our sneakered feet.After that, some more easy climbing until we came to Mooney Gap--followed by Big Butt Mountain (really!). Which was great! The trail looked as though we were in the large garden in the back of an estate owned by some wealthy people who had hired a top-notch native-plant inspired landscaper. Water dripped off of tiers of moss and water rivvlets wound down licheny rocks into muddy puddles. And of course, more breath-taking panoramic views of the basin below with towns tucked between the crumpled mountains.After a while of visual perfection (oh, and the sun had come out by now) we saw huge flapping blue tarps a little up ahead--we saw a post in the ground engraved 'trail magic' and a little path. Followed it--jackpot! 3 guys were there, set up for the month, with a camper, a hammock, all they needed--and a fire going with a contraption of a grilling device made of old machine parts. They had cold soda, hot coffee, and food--I made myself 2 grilled ham and cheese and jalapeno sandwiches, had a soda and a couple of sips of Casey's coffee, and a handful of potato chips. The guys were named Gatorade, Fishin' Fred, and Keith. Fishin' Fred had met and named Gatorade and they split up, then he by chance found Gatorade doing this magic last year (on his thru), and didn't leave for a month. Easy to see why. Casey and I finally tore ourselves away from the friendly folks, warm fire, and non-prepackaged foods and headed up Albert Mountain. Albert Mountain was a super fun class 4 scramble to the top of a 5,250 foot peak with an observation tower--score, 360 degrees of panorama!Then came the only trip up, and even that wasn't so bad that we couldn't laugh about it--we didn't go far enough to the shelter before we thought we had missed it, backtracked, found a blue-blazed trail which we followed before realizing it was wrong too, then finding the shelter 20 yards farther than we had originally looked. But we arrived in good shape, got our chores done, and now it's bedtime.
Date: 2006-03-17
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

St. Patrick's DayAnother eventful day. At Glassmire Gap we were at 100.3 miles, our first hundred mile marker! We stopped to do a little jig and be impressed and happy with ourselves, and then pressed on. We encountered a ridiculous amount of trail magic today--first in the form of an '05 thruhiker (Crutch) giving out sandwiches and fresh fruit. I had a crunchy apple. Then not too far further we found...a waterfall that glittered with little Capri Sun diamonds! Someone had planted Capri Suns across the way, kept cool in the stream! And the craziest thing was that just yesterday Casey and I were talking about how great CapriSuns are. Wonderful. We hear there's a guy named Apple handing out soup and chili that we'll run into tomorrow...not counting on it, but wow. Oh and when we stopped for a break on the road that goes into Franklin, a guy named Pilgrim who's on the ALDHA Board saw us and stopped to chat and give us 2 oranges apiece. Golly, all this stuff just for walking...awesome. And as a side note, a lovely darkening sky tonight showed us some very Maxfield Parrish-esque clouds.Oh yeah, and now I'm 'Doodle' on account of my habit of doodling in all of the shelter registers instead of writing in them...and just enjoying doodling in general. Casey named himself Casey Jones a few days ago--he's getting his conductor's hat by mail when we wheel into the NOC in 2 days.
Date: 2006-03-19
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Just before reaching the NOC road crossing today Casey and I met a bosomy pushy lady and a cartoon characture of an oldish British lady. The pushy woman was telling the British woman about partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) and other planty things, so I asked her a few questions. She knew a ton and was really interesting, and I just want to write down what she said before I forget all of it: she grew up about 5 minutes from here in the mountains, and her grandfather used to take her and her brothers out and tell them what was what, so all her plant-knowledge was "second nature, you see." She could tell me any plant I pointed out and its usefulness. I already forget one--pinkish white flowers that grew in clumps and smelled like hyacinths, she called 'trilling-' something...started with an 'a' and sounded latin. Dang. Then she confirmed what I thought was Hepatica (Anemona acutaloba), pointed out some young trillium shoots, said that beech wood is excellent for fires, that partridgeberry isn't poisonous but doesn't taste really great either. A plant I asked about that looked like False Solomon's Seal on steroids she called Dog Hobble, and she showed us a small plant called 'Turkey Food' because it grows with 3 leaves. When it blooms the flowers are small and white, and it's edible--we all nibbled on some, it was very tasty--like mustard greens. She likes to fry it up with onion and bacon pieces. Also, a leafy purple and gree creeper that Casey and I had talked about before she called 'Galax'--Beetleweed (Galax urceolata). Interesting lady. Pushy and rude, but very interesting.Tonight, we're tenting between river and railroad tracks, to head toward Fontana Dam and the much anticipated Smokies.