morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-02-20
To: sorry mr. b!
Miles today: 0.0

i just realized that all my elementary school teachers have been reading my journal in complete shock. see, back then i was shy to the point of being almost mute. i barely cracked a smile, much less a joke. i'm still very quiet upon introduction, but a little less timid with words. i just had to post and apologize for my "colorful" language. so, sorry mr. b. you gave me the gift of quality literature back in third grade, but i'm afraid i went from cleary, dahl, and van allsburg straight through austen and chaucer to sedaris, thompson and weiss. somewhere in there, i picked up some choice notions and a horrible case of potty mouth. this journal may get a little rocky along the way, but don't worry, you guys planted a solid heart. thanks for remembering that shy little girl.
Date: 2004-02-21
To: stuff n things
Miles today: 0.0

i'll keep this short and sw--well, i'll keep it short anyway... as you hopefully know by now, general ross in all his manly glory has bumped up his flight date to the third of march. we're all feeling the relief of not having to pace for his catch up, and pissing ourselves with excitement for the big meeting. ross, burn, joy, brothernature, cgiddy, sugar daddy (although i don't have a dream of catching him), brian, and myself, all starting within the same week. no better team of friends could have been ordered. we'll be eating paper potatoes and playing truth or dare in our jammies soon, kids. P.S. - the wedding's still on for trail days, and ross and i expect to see you there. (we're registered at REI and saks)
Date: 2004-02-24
To: approach trail
Miles today: 0.0

originally, brian and i had planned on hiking the approach. not sure why, and not something we'd given a lot of thought. grizzly adam brought up the subject yesterday and through forcing us to think about it, convinced us that it's not worth the effort. i know it's tradition and crap but do i strike you as a tradition kinda girl? 8mi of blue vs 2kmi of white...i think i'm gonna get on with the white. i wasn't gonna post about this until the start of my hike (one week from today) but sugar daddy instisted. here's a take from an email of explanation which i wrote to him this morning: "as far as the approach/tradition thing goes. my goal here is to walk the entire at. not to please all the over-the-top traditionalists. i'm not baring my ass on mt washington or walking naked on the third full moon in the summer or any of that crap. if i fall upon a tradition, it'll be coincidental with something i'd want to do anyway. i absolutely refuse to do anything simply because "it's tradition". the very idea of this hike in my social context goes against traditions unknown. i mean my god, i'm a domesticated woman, hiking, unmarried, with hundreds of dirty men. why should i take a traditional approach to such a non-traditional decision? that wouldn't make any sense. so f*** the approach. and its mom."this is as my intentions presently stand. if i get there and decide, barring tradition, that the approach is a trail i feel like hiking, then i'll hike the approach. but believe me, i'm not going to do anything just cuz "tomtom the tri-nippled marshmallow burner" started a tradition of it. screw that. dare you to try to change me, middle agers. really i do.
Date: 2004-02-25
To: gear
Miles today: 0.0

i figure i should give you a gear listing, since i made a mess of my mom's living room by laying everything out yesterday. disaster.so here it is:CLOTHING--3 pr heavy weight hiking socks-heavy patagonia pants-2 long sleeved shirts (wicking)-ems long underwear; top & bottom-sports bra-2 pr ems liner socks-4 pr cotton underwear (probably gonna change that)-hat, gloves, headband-cotton running shorts-fleece (mt hardwear)-rain jacket (north face)-lowa boots GENERAL--gregory zpack-mt hardwear dimension 1 sleeping bag (20*)-mt hardwear superlight 60 mat-OR gaiters-ems women's poles-mt hardwear back country approach tent-mpio mp3 player-tikka head lamp-'04 handbook-pocketknife-2 granite gear compression sacks-brunton sherpa weather center-adidas prescription sports sun glasses-sony dscp10WATER--1 nalegene bottle-1 2 liter platypus-katadyn (pur) hiker filter-small royal blue stuff sackMEDICAL--1 roll self adhering gauze-space blanket-travel purell-alcohol swabs-foot fungus swabs-neosporin-adhesive bandages-corn rounds-blister patches-duct tape-red stuff sackPOTTY STUFF--tampons-tampax wipes-bio TP-ziplocks-stuff sack marked, "stinky"-sm lt blue stuffsackCOOKING--2 nesting pots-scrub pad-msr superfly stove-fuel-bandana-pot holder-waterproof matches-titanium spork-msr stuffsackAM--nail clippers-yellow stuff sack-ziplocks-bandana-tampax wipes-travel toothbrush-travel toothpaste-hair ties-listerine strips-pack towel (hand size)-multi vitamins (gnc women's ultra mega)-vitamin e-glucosamineDAY/HIKING--green stuff sack-2 cho-pat dual action knee braces-bandana-postit pad-blistex-aleve-pack cover-shoe laces-batteries-polarized lens-memory sticks-hair clip-penPM--med royal stuff sack-pocketmail w/case-razor head-rebottled dr bonner's-ear plugs-mini cards-floss-melatonin-1-travel jager-travel malibuFOOD--lg royal stuff sack-assorted lipton noodles, carnation, oatmeal, dry meals, energy bars, tuna pouches, etc. 4 days to start.alna sunset - Click picture to see full sizeso that about does it for what's on my back. obviously, some of the clothes will be absent from my pack since, like i said, i'm not hiking naked. with water and food, the pack should come out somewhere around 30lbs. i'm not complaining. leaving tomorrow for my uncle's house in virginia, stopping in philly to pick up brian. saturday night's greensboro, nc, where hopefully i'll catch grizzly adam. sunday and monday, atlanta, tuesday springer. my next entry will be written on the trail.
Date: 2004-03-03
From: Stover Creek Shelter

To: Sassafras Mt.summit
Miles today: 8.5

this morning we left the shelter around 8:30 after a night of rain and took things as easily as possible. we stopped at long creek falls for pictures and a peepee, and disovered that the rain from yesterday had penetrated the membrane from my pack cover and rendered my camera retarded. oh well, i'll just have to use that warranty. i still got to peepee and the weather was great for the rest of the day--upper sixties, rising baro, and a nice cloud cover. we were plagued by school groups until stopping at hawk mountain shelter, where we took out an hour for lunch and blister taping. yes, i have blisters already. it took some persuading from brian, but we pressed on. just before coming upon the base of sassafras, i accquired a new friend. a leaf eater aphid type thing named max landed on my boob and took cover in the green of my shirt for a bit. we stopped to take a picture of him which didn't come out, so brian tried to delete it but instead deleted his entire memory card. max stayed with me through the stream of curses and halfway up sassafras before my pit stench became a little too disorienting. the rest of the part made it to the top and joined josh there for the night. we set up camp, cooked dinner ~20 yds (NW) from the tent, then visited with josh for a bit. probably the coolest kid we've met so far. he's from upstate ny and barely flinched when i told him that the wash cloth he'd just used under my recommendation was made by tampax. "c*** wipes" are ok by him. always good to meet an advocate. as the sun set, josh went back to his camp, brian hung the food ~30yds down wind (NE) from the tent and we went to bed. around midnight i woke up to horrible thud coming from josh's side of the trail. a series of thuds followed along with vibrations. i guess josh's food bag was hoisted too high for the bastard because directly after the last thud i heard a rustling next to the tent, followed by a nose taking me in. i tried waking brian, but he just grunted so i figured it would be best for our situation if i just let him sleep in silence. dumbass skipped our food bag enirely, opting instead to sniff around our cooksite before dropping northwest down the mountain towards the road. stupid bear ruined my damn beauty sleep! hope josh is ok...
Date: 2004-03-04
From: Sassafras Mt.summit

To: gooch gap shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

well, turns out i wasn't just dreaming about the bear last night. there were ground disturbances all over camp, and even though josh didn't wake up in the night there were deep imprints directly under his food bag and claw marks directly south of. stupid bears.we got a late start after i downed three pain killers. they turned out to work more on my brain than on my muscles. at cooper gap we busted a left onto the road, seeing as we had run out of water brushing our teeth.the whopping 5 covered today were fairly uneventful, outside of my having my feet taped up again. i guess we saw some cool moss. oh and we saw teenagers with huge guns. by huge guns i don't mean biceps. i swear kids these days are just gonna shoot their eyes out. of course, i'm assuming it had something to do with the military since we heard lots of practice fire from the shelter and one hiker said he found a simulated granade. i personally would rather believe it's a recently erupted gang fight between territorial hermits. shh.so we ate lots of dinner, chicken ramen and old tuna is a bad idea. we're fighting over who has to finish it. packed shelter tonight, and by the gaseous looks of the meals of my sheltermates, looks like i should turn in early if i wanna get any sleep. the bombs should start dropping around midnight by my calculations. long hike tomorrow, hopefully.
Date: 2004-03-05
From: gooch gap shelter

To: wood's hole shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

ross came in last night to gooch after i had written yesterday's entry. 16 miles his first day! insanity. he's the best thing to hit the states since frozen garlic bread, for which i have an intense craving right now. started the morning's hike (again, with no sleep) with brian, then was joined by guinness and co. and ross. guinness and co. stopped to slack pack at woody gap, then brian and i had a little spat about food and tents and hostels etc. long story short, he hiked on, left my gear with ross and fell off the planet. he talked about finding a bus station from neels gap which would have been 16 miles in the rain for him. i'm sure he could have made it but the mommy tick in me's making me worry. ross and i tented out after a good time of riddles and such at the shelter. names i remember, sort of, are tim, james, sanford (yes from trailjournals!), t, sanford's awesome partner midas who now loves the decemberists thanks to ross's minidisc player and my brilliant taste in music, and sweating pig. i think it was sweaty pig. neels gap and a shower tomorrow.
Date: 2004-03-07
From: goose creek cabins

To: Wolf Laurel Top
Miles today: 3.4

left goose creek around noon today after getting all of our communications sorted. i bought 2 sandwiches, 2 dried servings, some juice, 5 slices of salami, and some bateries from walasi-yi. with our late start and the nap we took on levelland mt, we only made it 3.4 miles before the storm found us. but the way we see it, 7.5 miles spread over two lazy days is better than one zero day. we spend less money this way and don't have anything to get used to.sharing wolf laurel top tonight with a local couple. ross thinks it's funny how locals always seem to carry the biggest tents and hike in the thickest jeans. it's true, you know. brian and kara are nice despite their weekend warrior gear, and we've managed to make a nice pile of red coals in the pit even with the rain. i rehydrated some fantastic rice and chicken from mountain house for dinner and ross hung the rest in a tree. it's f'ing freezing so i'm not expecting to sleep like i did last night. tomorrow will be slow as ross's leg hurts and my whole body hurts. love it.
Date: 2004-03-08
From: Wolf Laurel Top

To: Sheep Rock Top
Miles today: 6.6

easy day today, outside of the climb out of testnatee gap. that was just generally crappy. and i didn't like it at all. cold tonight with talk of snow. we'll see what we get.oh, and i fell for the first time today. just the ankle roll/kneeling proposal kind, though. i'm saving the full on face plants for more public displays.
Date: 2004-03-10
From: Blue Mt. Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap; Helen, GA
Miles today: 2.2
Weather: clear sky

ross and i froze last night. so did the water and my sweaty shirts cuz moron and nitwit forgot to bring them in the sleeping bags. woke up around sunrise; got up around 10:30ish. pepper made sure with her tongue that we stayed awake for that entire interval. also, she came out back to pee with me when i finally went vertical. i guess girls just like to pee together, human, canine or otherwise. so we went to peepee. and were successful in our peepee expedition. in that we managed to not pee on ourselves or each other. which is always good, i think. oh woops i mentioned urination a whole mess of times. that means i'm a skank ass hoe, right freud? my b.anywho, we had originally planned to hike past tray mt., but since i'm a raging pansy, my blisters got the best of me and we decided to hitch to helen. on the way down to the road we stopped at a brilliant little cooler which had been left by a really amazing trail angel. apples, orange juice, and v8. i grabbed a v8, ross an orange juice, and after a brief sit down, we began 2004's first hitching experience. soon enough, we were in some teenage boy's truck bed, white knuckling the tailgate while he squealed around the curves.we had read that helen was an alpine themed town, but we didn't expect the bavarian section of epcot frikken center. it's like there's a town ordinance requiring all business signage to be printed in the same silly, storybook font. this calls for some exploration. tomorrow.we hit the super 8 for a $35 room, put down our packs, and walked over to wendy's, where i wolfed a tripple burger and ross played it safe with a chicken sandwich. what a wussbag.back at the motel: phonecalls, showers, incredibly bland delivery mexican food, and bed. did i say bed? i did. so happy.
Date: 2004-03-11
From: Unicoi Gap; Helen, GA

To: Helen, GA
Miles today: 0.0

woke up early, watched dazed and confused. as you could probably guess, parker posey's my hero. we reluctantly decided upon a zero day, and eventually made it around to the motel office, then downtown helen. ross got all excited over some weird t-shirt shop which was blasting deep purple, then we found a rocks/birdhouses/windchime shop which was kind of interesting. lunch at blimpies, then groceries from the store on the way into town. funny story, actually. the girl who rang our order had to check my id for the wine i bought, and not only did she not know where maine was, but she also had no idea about the existance of the appalachian trail. none whatsoever. i mean we're talking "y'all are what? nuh-uh. really? nuh-uh. you mean that whole way? nuh-uh." she was in such awe that ross had to remind her to take our money so we could leave. i guess i just expected all residents of trail towns to know that they're residents of trail towns. oh well. on our way back from food shopping, we stopped at hansel and gretel's candy store and bought some chocolate stuff. then we stopped for fudge. then i realized that helen, ga has two antique reproduction photography studios. the kind where you put on a smelly old bodice and have your portrait taken in sepia. two. just slightly strange. glass blowing, pretzel shops, swords...i'm surprised we didn't see any six foot rodents with bowties, to be honest. ah, i miss disneyworld...back at the motel again. more phonecalls, pizza, dumb tv, more bed. i'm going to marry a sealy.
Date: 2004-03-12
From: Helen, GA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

this was a fun one. as we were packing up to leave this morning, i suddenly felt a little funny. by funny, i don't mean funny at all. cuz puking yesterday's meals into a smelly motel 8 toilet bowl is just the opposite of funny. oh, and by puking i mean violently projecting all of my digestive contents while holding on to the tank for dear consciousness. oh, wait. i just talked about something that happens naturally from time to time in or around my body. what does that mean, shelby? am i subconsciously longing to pop out some kids? did i not get enough attention during my oral phase? (hehe)anywho. i spent all day in bed, puking, lapsing in and out of naps, and trying to listen to jeopardy while poor ross ran around trying to keep amused. hopefully this'll pass.but while i'm (not) on the subject, i'd like to address the really harsh hate mail i've been getting. my body's falling apart organ by limb, so you'll have to excuse my over-sensitivity. shelby, you're a moron. freud wasn't even a psychologist. he was a medical doctor. i talk about pee in this journal because peeing in the woods, for women, happens to be a major event. if i went into as much detail as this event deserves, you'd develop an austrian accent, damnit. the really inspiring quote which used to appear after every entry was 1) automated and 2) a f**king inside joke between myself and burn. as for my negativity. sorry, but these first few hundred miles aren't a series of picnics. if i was really as negative as you obviously are, like you, i'd never even set foot on the damn trail. so pipe the hell down. and stop reading my journal if it's so distressing to you. ugh. do i have to wipe your ass too?
Date: 2004-03-13
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Tray Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 5.5

woke up semi-early and hitched a $10, 7am shuttle to unicoi gap from the hotel. ross dropped off some mini cartons of orange juice at the same place we found our magic a few days ago, and we were off. lots off company on the trail today, including a group of japanese men. interestingly enough, their gear was fundamentally familiar. external frame packs, aluminum poles, etc. i ripped a hang nail without realizing it until seeing blood all over my finger. that was kinda gross. doesn't really hurt, but i put a bandaid on it for removal later on in the healing process. it's ripped in such a way that ripping or clipping it further would result in disaster.on the way up tray mountain i started to feel a little dizzy, then a lot dizzy, then a little pukey, then a lot pukey, then i had a panic attack, then i tried to puke, but nothing came out because i hadn't held anything down yesterday. we got to the shelter and ross made some ramen and couscous while i stretched out on my mat and played with one of our shelter mates, the governor. who's a beagle by the way. i downed the pasta and tried to relax while the governor and his hiker left and other hikers came and left. there was talk of a "group of sorority guys" coming to the shelter, which made me sit up for two reasons. one, that the messenger of such awful news didn't know the difference between a sorority and a fraternity, and two, that i hate frat boys. these frat boys were said to be especially wretched; camouflage-clad and some even carrying machetes. i tried to find something positive about the news upon which to dwell, really i did, but my god there was nothing. we decided to tent at the shelter, frat boys or not, and while ross was fiddling around with the gear, i went to pee. i made sure all the males at the shelter knew i was peeing, too, so that they could later sniff around for hormones. i mean, that's why i went to pee in the first place. so anyway, after i came back from peeing, i met a guy, longshot i think was his name, who said that the frat boys had actually moved on past the shelter. relief. ross was overjoyed. i felt a little better in the next few hours, sunning on rocks, joking with ross and the like, but right before bed i had to make a trip downhill and behind a tree. more puking. most of the pasta is now somewhere below that awesome view from the ridge. the puking continued through the night, pasta, phlegm, then green bile, every few hours into a ziplock bag. few of, really. i was pretty loud too. so i'd just like to appologize to the 20+ hikers who "slept" at or around tray mountain shelter on the night of march thirteenth. i didn't mean to piss you off. honest. sowwy...
Date: 2004-03-14
From: Tray Mt. Shelter

To: Steeltrap Gap
Miles today: 1.9

oooooooooooh my tummy. ross packed up this morning, putting most of the weight in the z-pack and letting me carry his lightened golite. (ross is my hero, by the way) we started off around noon or whatever after i had about half a cup of chicken noodle soup. then we stopped about four times so i could go off and heave behind trees and stumps and boulders and things. it finally snuck up on me while i was on a pee break. surprise surprise, it also happened to be the moment when all those frat boys passed by. i'm pretty sure the sound of them (unmistakable really) is what set it off in the end. anyway, we made it halfway up young lick knob before realizing that going any further would be pretty stupid. i hadn't digested anything in 3 days and was just too weak for any of it. we turned around and settled at steeltrap gap which was directly at the base of the hill. there was a neglected campsite there with an extra neglected fire pit, but there was also a sign pointing to a water source which wingfoot had failed to mention in his guide. make note of this source, kids, cuz the next one's not til sassafras gap. which i guess isn't far away, but whatever. since we had quite a few more hours of daylight left, we decided to work on the site as a way of curing our boredom and repaying some of the trail magic ross had experienced in '01. he broke firewood and kindling and cleared layers of ash while i gathered and rearranged the stones which had been knocked all over the area. some idiots never seem to understand the concept of sardine tins not being able to burn in camp fires. jeez louise. tin cans everywhere, broken glass, reynolds wrap, dirty tissues... just nasty. we packed all the garbage that wasn't dangerous to pack (dangerous being rusty cans and glass) and set up our own fire after setting up camp. the site really turned out to be a nice spot. good night sleep after a light meal of watered down cheddar and broccoli soup. hopefully i'll be better tomorrow.
Date: 2004-03-15
From: Steeltrap Gap

To: Dick's Creek Gap; Hiawasee, GA
Miles today: 8.9

started around 8 after a great sleep, made pretty good time considering my state, even with my own full weighted pack, and didn't see a soul until sassafras gap. he was a previous thruhiker and was thinking of continuing on the iat after katahdin. don't recall his name, but i believe he was from harmony, maine originally, now rhode island.the frat boys were holding down adis gap, whooping and yelling about who knows what. one of them probably gunshotted (is that a word?) a skunked bud ice for breakfast. i bet that was the source of all the hoopla. they went quiet when we passed, no doubt to scope out ross's tits, but started up again when we got a little ways up kelly knob.speaking of kelly knob, kelly can go right ahead and bite my ass. that ascent reminded my tummy to continue hating me. i didn't ralph, though. amazingly enough.we stopped in at deep gap shelter to use the privy and check the register. everybody's so far ahead. oh well, we'll see them at trail days. we met melissa and her dad, paul at the shelter. melissa's thruhiking and her dad's just starting with her. she'll go on alone after dick's creek gap. we talked about getting together tomorrow night in hiawassee, which might be a pretty good time. when we heard the frat boys yelling tarzan-esque mating calls, we figured it was about time to be moving on. so we hiked another hour or so down to the road, a descent which nearly killed our knees. long shot was there fiddling around with the governor. i waved goodbye from a bag of organic manure in a truck bed, and we were off. nicest people gave us the ride and dropped us off at the post office. no packages, so we walked to the holiday inn and forgot to stretch. a bath and a shower later, i still smell, and i can barely walk! good day though.