morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-03-22
From: Carter gap shelter

To: Rock gap
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: light snow

Rained most of the night, at some point it switched to snow because there was a dusting on the ground and still some flurries at 8am when I got up. Shoes were frozen solid and wasn't very motivated to get up and out on the trail. Managed to eat a cold pop tart and force down a clif bar and half a cold chocolate weight gainer shake. Hit the trail at 9:50 and it had started to snow again. Took about a mile to get warm, but the snow was surprisingly nice to walk in; it hadn't accumulated more than a half an inch. It snowed steadily all day but did not effect progress, made it up albert mountain easily (5250'), which was a nice climb, and took some nice pictures and videos from the top. Descended to rock gap afew miles north and called for a shuttle. Did laundry again and ate dinner at cody's roadhouse, had chopsteak, onion rings, fries, salad, dinner rolls and two 32oz miller lites, ready for bed. Weather looks ok for the next couple of days.
Date: 2010-03-23
From: Rock gap

To: Franklin, nc
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Took my first zero day here in franklin, nc. Knee feels real strong, but my left shin is all banged up from yesterdays descent into rock gap. Have made good time and mileage to this point, so I don't feel too bad about resting for a day.Franklin seems to be a real nice place, especially for hikers looking for an affordable day or two off. A guy named ron haven owns several motels in franklin that all cater to AT hikers, he's hiked most of the trail down south and tells great stories -in a real thick southern accent, which adds affect- about the town and years past; who knows how many of them are true, but who's keeping track, he makes everyone laugh. I'm staying in the sapphire inn, one of the four that ron owns here, can't beat the price and the location in terms of places to eat and things to see in franklin.Spent most of the day uploading pictures onto shutterfly. There was a nice bar/coffee shop in downtown franklin called the rathskellar below; I used their computer to upload the pictures and drank a couple good german draft beers, bitburgers I think? Feeling good and with time to burn, I wandered around downtown franklin and made it to the scottish tartans museum. Bought dad a map of scotland which shows all the old clan territories, and did some research on the Torbett name; turns out we were affiliated with the campbell clan, which I had heard from dad and others in the past. When I asked what type of reputation the campbell clan garnered, they said "well....they slaughtered many of their countrymen," must have been nice people to work for. The tartans museum in franklin is the only of its kind outside of scotland, great place to visit or call if you're scotch-irish and looking for information on family history/lineage. See there website at www.scottishtartans.org. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, ate pizza at the main street pizzeria, iced my left shin, and ate dinner at a surprisingly good mexican restaurant across from the motel, mi casa it was called. In bed early tonight, getting picked up by ron's shuttle to go back to rock gap at 9am tommorow.
Date: 2010-03-24
From: Franklin, nc

To: Licklog gap
Miles today: 16.1

Got up early 6:30am, showered and caught the shuttle from the motel to the first baptist church in franlkin where they cook a free breakfast for hikers. Ate a healthy portion of pancakes, bacon, coffee cake and drank a cup of coffee and some oj. Really nice folks here, talked to a previous thru-hiker "clay" who organized this hiker feed and runs an organization called Appalachian trail servants, I think? They're a christian organization who do all sorts of events in franklin mostly, not sure though. People have been real nice in franklin, the town itself by coincedence, just yesterday was awarded the official title of an appalachian trail town by the Appalachian trail conservancy who was in town from their headquarters in harpers ferry, wv. Ron drove a bus load of us hikers back to the trail and I was back at rock gap at 10am, "slackpacked" 3.5 miles -leaving your pack hidden miles ahead at a road stop along the trail- from rock gap to winding stair gap, makes it a lot easier to hike without a fully loaded pack. Continued from winding stair gap up siler bald, then onto wayah bald whose ascent still had several inches of snow on much of the trail and mountainsides. Once I got to wayah, the rock tower had the most spectacular views of the trip so far. You could see almost 360^ from the top of the tower, in the distance their were the smokies and clingmans dome to the north, not too mention albert mountain and standing indian mountains to the south which I had hiked in previous days.Hiked onto licklog gap where I called it a day around 6 and pitched my tent about 50yds from the trail. Despite slackpacking the first few miles my left shin gave me trouble all day, still made pretty good mileage though. Gonna try and make it into the NOC tommorow just 15 miles frome here.
Date: 2010-03-25
From: Licklog gap

To: Nantahala outdoor center
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

Got up around 8:30am this morning, ate bacon, pepperoni, cheddar cheese, all wrapped in a tortilla, it was pretty good. I hike without a stove and any cooking devices to save on weight and time, have been happy with my diet and food variety so far, but a hot drink in the morning and at night would sure be nice when the weather is as cold as its been, 30's.Got going at quarter til ten and from the start my left shin gave me trouble. Descended into burningtown gap where "grits" the same guy doing trail magic from dicks creek gap in hiawasee, was again cooking burgers and serving other food and drinks for thru-hikers. I ate a burger quickly, said my thanks and moved on to ascend copper ridge bald. The shin feels better on the ascents, just as the knee did, but the descents are what really seem to irritate it. I have been favoring my right leg because of it, and feel like I've limped the descents of the past 30 miles, the most significant of which was down into NOC at 1723' from wesser bald at 4627', almost 3000' but spanned out amongst 6.5 miles of trail thankfully. Got a bunk here at NOC thanks to my girlfriend sarah who called ahead before noon to reserve; they were all booked when I got here at 4:30 so I was lucky, thanks sars.Watched parts of the ncaa tourney before bed and iced my shin. Seriously thinking about getting off the trail for a couple days to let this thing heal, don't want to, but I feel like its a wise decision considering the potential for a more serious injury the way I'm favoring my right leg. If I call some friends just a short drive away in knoxville, I could take time off there and come back here sunday afternoon with fresh legs, we'll see how it feels tommorow though.
Date: 2010-03-26
From: Nantahala outdoor center

To: Knoxville, tn
Miles today: 0.0

Gotta get off the trail for a couple days, my shin is now swollen in spite of the ice and the ace bandage I've been wearing. Though it really doesn't bother me going up these mountains, it's no fun desending them and that's half the battle. Called an old friend that lives in knoxville who I've known for almost 15 years (les salter) and he's coming to pick me up here at the NOC. Will have to figure out how ill get back here on sunday or monday, but it will figure itself out hopefully; gonna rest up for the time being and get this thing better so I can march on.
Date: 2010-03-27
From: Knoxville, tn

To: Knoxville, tn
Miles today: 0.0

Made it to knoxville last night around midnight. My buddy les picked me up at around 9pm and we drove in the wrong direction for about an hour so the trip back to town took a little longer than expected. Because there has been some pretty serious rock slides on two of the main roads headed in that direction, there's pretty much only one way to get to knoxville now. We had to drive through the middle of great smokey mountain national park on hwy 441 which is a pretty tricky drive during the day, let alone at night. Les was pretty nervous driving, and I don't blame him; 441 has some hairpin turns and some drop offs that are right next to the road and are hundreds of feet high.It was a good feeling getting to knoxville unscathed and was pretty tired so I fell asleep on the couch soon after our arrival. Today the shin is feeling a little better thanks to not having to endure a day full of hiking, and I also but a compression sleeve for my legs that seem to have made it feel better shortly after I put it on. I bought them from earth traverse outfitters here in knoxville along with new orange superfeet insoles that have padding on the toe section unlike the green ones I had before; already feel more comfortable than the green ones. Earth traverse outfitters is an awesome place, highly reccomend it. Got away with buying just under a 100 bucks worth of gear that will hopefully make things better when I get back on the trail monday. Getting a ride from les back to the NOC after tommorows elite eight game featuring our UT vols vs. mich state. Gonna see some old friends tonight and rest up some more, feeling good though and very happy.
Date: 2010-03-28
From: Knoxville, tn

To: NOC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Back at the nantahala outdoor center (NOC). Called earlier today to reserve a bunk in one of the hostels here and was lucky enough to get one again; stayed here last thursday. Before my departure from knoxville back to the NOC, we watched the UT mich state game. Not too happy with the result-lost by one-, but it was our mens basketball teams first trip to the ncaa tourneys elite eight, an accomplishment itself nonetheless, gotta love our coach bruce pearl. After the game, les gave me a ride back here to the NOC, we made much better time this go around; no wrong turns this time. It rained part of the trip and it looks like its been raining on and off most the day which makes me feel better about taking another zero today. Had some good views of great smokey mountain national park going through it on 441 again. Looks like there's still some snow in these parts above 5000' but it's melting more each day, an encouraging sign for my hike. Oh, saw a small herd of elk in a meadow just before leaving the park in north carolina, that was real cool. Writing this from the bunk in my hostel and I'm getting tired so I think ill turn in. Gonna try and get out on the trail by around 10am tommorow, scattered showers are forecasted but the next few days look to be real nice. Gotta pick up a new guidebook from the outfitter here as I seem to have left mine back in knox. The shin is feeling much better and these compression sleeves seem to help immensely; I'm very happy that I was able to take a couple days off though, and can't thank les and my other knoxville friends enough for picking me up and letting me stay at their house. Thanks again, had a great weekend and I owe you big time.
Date: 2010-03-29
From: NOC

To: brown fork gap shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up and had breakfast at the NOC's restaurant, probably my third or fourth meal at this place. Taking all these zero days has made me realize how much money I spend when I have such luxuries as food and beer at my immediate dispense. Accordingly, I'm glad to be getting back on the trail today even though the weather looks nasty.Had to buy another guidebook at the NOC'S outfitter as I seemed to have the left the pages of mine back in Knoxville. I travel with only about 20 or 30 pages at a time and will have the others mailed to me at the appropriate point; prevents me from having to lug the entire book around so I save a few ounces. Outfitter did not open until 10am so I didn't start hiking until around 10:40. The weather was awful all day, it spit rain during most of the hike and was foggy and cold as well. The hike out of the NOC, which is at a lower elevation-1,700' about-, back up into the mountains of southern NC was quite taxing; it was uphill or the first 6.5 miles. However, my legs and body held up extremely well despite the lingering shin pain. Felt really good considering the ailments I had been dealing with for the past few days, got to the shelter hoping to find space left so I wouldn't have to pitch my tarp, shockingly it was full...pitched my tarp in the cold rain and ate two tortillas filled with cheddar cheese, bacon, pepperoni and mayonaisse; it was delicious. Made pretty good mileage today around 16 and change; talked to sarah on the phone and going to bed early, 8pm.
Date: 2010-03-30
From: brown fork gap shelter

To: route 28 to fontana dam
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

awful sleep last night, slept at an awkward angle as there was no level ground outside the shelter, oh well. The morning and afternoon was great weather though; mid 50's to mid 60's, the rain had cleared and it was sunny all day.Starting out I knew I only had a 12 mile hike to get into fontana village and pick up my second maildrop from the post office. The hike down into the gap where rt.28 meets the trail near fontana was very pretty. You could see the lake from the ridge for a while before making the descent and it was a very cool site; crystal blue water in the middle of the mountains a few thousand feet below reminded me of lake tahoe. Got to the gap around 2pm and got a hitch from a nice older couple visiting their house in the mountains from florida. Picked up my maildrop right at 3pm and found mom had sent me 17lbs worth of food. She included a homemade loaf of banana bread, a 2lb block of cheddar cheese, a pound of summer sausage and plenty of pepperoni snickers and clif bars, thanks mom. Shared my banana bread with some other hikers and it was gone in no time, sorted through what I needed and what I did not then went back to the post office to find it was closed. Wanted to get back on the trail in order to make a few more miles to the first campsite in the smokies, but was carrying entirely too much, so decided to stay at the local shelter for the night then return in the morning to send some things home.Ate a late dinner and slept under the stars as the weather was not suppose to be too cold.
Date: 2010-03-31
From: route 28 to fontana dam

To: russel field shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

Great sleep without a tarp or any shelter last night, the moon was real bright without a cloud in the sky and the stars were spectacular without any light pollution. Got to the post office early and mailed what I didn't need on home. Hiked over the dam today and into great smoky mountain national park for the first time. The dam is a very impressive structure, the second largest of its kind in the entire country I believe? took some nice pictures and video.Climb into the park was pretty taxing, but I prefer the uphills to the downhills so it didn't bother me. Some real nice views of the lake and the surrounding mountains once you get to the higher elevations. Pushed on to the second or third shelter in the park and ate a two dinners worth of food; tortilla filled with summer sausage, precooked bacon, pepperoni and mayonaisse. Sharing the shelter with a large group thats been together since springer as well as a lady named Tina who lived in Herndon where I'm from and whose kid went to Herndon High School, small world.
Date: 2010-04-01
From: russel field shelter

To: double spring gap shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

Had a great hike today with some of the best views of the trip so far. Walked up Rocky top mountain -go vols-, onto thunderhead mtn. which had a view of clingmans dome and mount le conte off in the distance. Ate an early lunch at the top of thunderhead then hiked on. The heat actually became a bit of a problem today, temperatures were near 80 with not a cloud in the sky, nice to hike in under the canopy of trees, but a lot of the hiking today was on an exposed ridgeline. Didn't get sunburned but probably didn't drink enough water considering the heat and some of the climbs today. Made pretty good mileage today, but my left heel now has a blister as well as the ball of my left foot, will try and air them out and dry up tonight then monitor tommorow. Tenting in the grass outside the double spring gap shelter tonight, temps tommorow suppose to be even hotter than today, shouldn't be a problem as Clingmans dome is the first climb tommorow morning and it's up at 6,643'-the highest point on the AT. Eating dinner and goin to bed early 8pm.
Date: 2010-04-02
From: double spring gap shelter

To: newfound gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

The early ascent up Clingmans today was awesome, spectacular views of the park along the ridge a few tenths of a mile from the top then even better 360^ views from the top of the observation tower. Was kind of slow going as the snow became quite deep above around 5,500', and the top of Clingmans is still completely covered with a base of snow atleast 1-2' deep. The Smokies had one of the worst winters on record just as we did in the mid-atlantic this year. The descent from Clingmans into Newfound gap was really tough as snow still covered the trail for 6 of the 7 or so miles from the top into the gap. In spite of the recent warming trend, there were snow drifts at least 4' feet high next to parts of the trail; the temperatures above 5 and 6,000' are considerably cooler.Made it to Newfound gap around 2pm and was immediately greeted by two very nice folks offering sodas and food to thru-hikers as well as a ride into gatlinburg; previous thru-hiker Mark and his wife Wendy, they had an incredible story that needs to be shared by someone so I'll try and rehash it best I can. Mark first attempted a thru-hike with his 18 year old son in 2002, they made it to somewhere north of Demascus around Bland, VA but he had been ill with giardia for a couple weeks prior so he decided it was better to get off the trail. He encouraged his son to continue as it had been a goal of his for sometime, but his son insisted that they had started together and he didn't want to continue without his father. Accordingly, they both got off the trail and returned to Wendy and their home in Tennessee. A couple days after returning, Mark's son went to the eye doctor -for reasons I can't remember-, but the eye doctor found some abnormalities in his eye and insisted that he see another doctor. It turns out Mark's 18 year old son, who had just been in the middle of a thru-hike and had been feeling perfectly healthy, had a malignant brain tumor and was given a 10% chance to live. After months of Chemo and radiation therapy, their son beat the odds and the cancer and survived. Eventually after a couple years he made a full recovery but lost most of his hair because of the treatment, later he and Mark finished their hike in 2005 and Mark and his wife Wendy do trail magic when they find the time. Unbelievable story that I am sure I did not do justice for. So Mark and Wendy if you read this I apologize if I omitted anything and I'm sorry I forgot the name of you son -send me a message and I'll make the necessary changes. Thanks a lot for the food and the ride into gatlinburg, very nice folks!Got a cheap room at the grand prix inn and ate at the smoky mountain pub-not reccomended-, have to re-supply and get back on the trail tommorow.
Date: 2010-04-03
From: newfound gap

To: pecks corner shelter
Miles today: 24.8
Weather: overcast clouds

ignore the mileage, somehow it is off a little. I actually did more like 11 miles today from newfound gap to pecks corner shelter. I got a hitch back to newfound gap from two really nice ladies who happened to be sisters. One was a park worker previously whose husband was a wildlife scientist for the smokies, she had some real interesting things to say about the park and the wooly adelgid, a microscopic bug that is killing all the frasier furs in the park. Frasier furs grow at the top of a lot of the really tall peaks in the smokies, and they are on the brink of elimination by these bugs that are not native to the park or the region; a problem thats been going on since around 1980. I also forgot to mention that I saw my first bear a couple of days ago, north of the russel field shelter. It was a small bear, must have been around a year or two old because it looked no bigger than my dog who weighs about 80lbs. The bear took one quick glance at me and was off running in the opposite diretion immediately, I got to see it for only a few seconds, but it's my first bear sighting nonetheless.Got to hiking at 2pm after being dropped off at newfound gap. My heal blister is not getting any better and there was a lot of snow on the trail, things were slow going all day. Made it to pecks corner shelter around 7 and tented out front. If I havent already mentioned it, I do not like the shelters on the AT. I would prefer to tent any night with the exception of when its cold and rainy. There are however restrictions on tenting in the smokies, and the rule is that you have to stay in the shelters if there is room, and you may tent out front if they are full. thankfully this one was full.
Date: 2010-04-04
From: pecks corner shelter

To: cosby knob shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

Got going real late today, around 11:45. Today was the worst pain I'va had with my heal blister and it's not getting any better. I think its because my feet are wet all day because of the snow, plus these new balance have a plastic heal insert that it rubs against constantly.One thing I can't complain about is the weather that we have had throughout the smoky mountains. It has been unseasonably warm and every day the skies have been clear, very lucky considering these parts are use to cold rain and even snow during this time of year. The snow on the trail and the sides of the mountain is leftover from the long winter they had this year. Again, for most of the hike today there was snow on the trail, made it to cosby knob shelter around 6:30, ate two dinners and am tenting out front on uneven ground again, anythings better than the shelter.
Date: 2010-04-05
From: cosby knob shelter

To: groundhog creek shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Got out early today headed to standing bear farm just outside of the smokies. The last few miles in the smoky mountains was without snow thankfully. Crossed over the pigeon river, and under I-40 which is closed just east of here because of a rock slide. Standing bear farm is a hostel located just a tenth of a mile off the trail. I got there around 12:30 just planning to re-supply and keep moving, but I ended up talking with some other hikers and the hostels owner Curtis. My feet needed a break too so I decided to make it an extended layoff. I ate two pork rib sandwiches and three chicken sandwiches while I rested, also had a gatorade and a pepsi; gotta calorie up. Layed around at standing bear until 5pm then left abruptly as I wanted to get afew more miles in. Made it to cosby knob shelter about 8miles away. Ascended snowbird mountain which has a bald at the top and took some real nice pictures with the sun going down, one of the highlights of the trip. Got to the shelter almost in the dark around 8:15, ate and went to sleep.
Date: 2010-04-06
From: groundhog creek shelter

To: hot springs, nc-elmers sunnybank inn
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: few clouds

Biggest mileage of the trip thus far. Left the shelter around 9:15 and made it to the top of max patch bald around 11am, ate lunch there and enjoyed the view. Did not intend on going all the way to hot springs today but felt good enough to make a crack at it. Kind of hobbled into hot springs around 8pm and quickly got a room at elmers sunnybank inn; a popular hostel hear in hot springs. My heal blister didn't bother me as much today and yesterday, but I have gotten very good at dressing it with a padded bandaid and some duct tape, it still doesn't look like its getting any better, and I have been airing it out during the day at breaks and at night before I go to sleep. Showered and ate dinner down the street at the pub, had two orders of wings, one order of springs rolls, one order of fries, one order of onion rings, a salad, and two beers, goodnight.