morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-30
From: Apple House shelter

To: Sugar Hollow
Miles today: 6.7

8:55 PM Sugar HollowThis has been a successful day. I rested well in my tent at Apple House shelter. I walked down the highway to J¢s Market. I learned that they only take cash. I walked to the post office, got my package, sent a package and got cash back from my debit card in conjunction with paying for postage and stamps. I walked to J¢s Market, bought my groceries and fuel and sat out front to eat my picnic. The manager of the store was very nice, as was the cashier. The manager generously shared his own lunch with me. He said his Mama cooked a big ham last night and made a lemon pudding cake, so there was plenty to share. After eating my lunch, I packed up and walked on back to the trail. I made it to a very nice campsite before 7:00 PM. Just on the other side of the meadow are two very nice fellows from Cambridge, England. They hiked 15 miles today and 20 yesterday. They will probably make it to Katahdin before their 6 months visas expire.I meant to write about the longhorn cattle I saw on Hump Mountain yesterday but I think I forgot. The top of Hump Mountain has a couple of fences with gates for the AT. There were some impressive cow pies in the trail and on both sides. When I topped the summit, I could see cattle lying in the sun about a half mile away. As I got closer, I saw they were resting on the trail. As I went through the gate, a big bull, with a rack of horns 6 feet wide and a brass ring in his nose, stood up in the trail and faced me. I started talking to him to comfort myself. I asked him if it would be okay if I just walked around in front of him. I then threaded my way through the cows, wishing I had the courage to stop and gaze for a while at the little brown calf sleeping peacefully beside its mother. I did look back, after I had passed the whole group to see one cow, which had been sleeping before, blinking at me with a surprised look on her face. Her horns were only about 4 feet wide. Cows may not be wildlife, but passing right by those cattle was as exciting as seeing the deer near Erwin and coming over Unaka Mountain.I walked over stiles and through a cow pasture at Devil¢s Fork, but I didn¢t see any cows there.One thing I have puzzled over, walking down the Tennessee / North Carolina line, is why there are so many large rusty metal objects along the trail. Do some people dump near the trail as a statement to hikers? Are there large metal objects all over the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains, and I just happen to see the ones near the trail? I wonder if people think it is OK to dump unwanted items into any convenient creek.
Date: 2004-05-01
From: Sugar Hollow

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

12:50 PM Big Pine MountainI washed bandanas and underwear this morning, and as soon as I was finished, it started to rain. It was a light misty rain, but I couldn¢t hang my clothes on my pack to dry.The sun is out, and a breeze is blowing, so my lunch break is beside the trail in the shade of some eastern hemlocks, while my clothes are on a line in the sun. One hiker has passed and was astonished by my array of bandanas. There are nine of them on the line. He said he has never seen anyone have more than two. He asked me if they were for sale and what I used them for. Such nosy questions! I do seem to be accumulating bandanas at an alarming rate. When I find one, I can¢t leave it. Instead of being packed out as trash, it gets washed and added to the collection.The flower of today is showy orchids. I have seen about 15 clumps of them this morning. I took a picture of one clump with my newest camera. I hope that we will be able to see a little detail in the photo.I have been thinking about the smell of formaldehyde that I detected Wednesday walking up Beartown Mountain and Roan Mountain. I wonder what living creatures synthesize formaldehyde in that sunny slope of green things, insects and composting logs and leaf litter. I wonder if there was enough formaldehyde in the air that afternoon to have contributed to my difficulty climbing that mountain. Today the air is cool. It is still partly cloudy, but the mist seems to have moved on. Time to pack up my bandanas and move on myself.9:25 PM Moreland Gap ShelterI have no idea how far I walked today. The map and the data book do not match with the time between various landmarks. The Thru-Hiker¢s companion says the Elk River Relocation "adds several miles to the trail." Everyone was complaining that it took much longer to get to the shelter than they expected.There are a lot of people at this location, including a couple of guys who had said they wanted to go to Kincora today. Stretch is here, the one who took a picture at Cable Gap shelter and had his wife send it to John. Doc arrived at the shelter the same general time that I did. Rooster had told me about Doc, someone who had impressed him. He had said I would meet Doc, and I did. We had an interesting conversation about the frustrations of working in public health, specifically the hassles of government work.My pack suffered a minor disaster today. The lid came loose on the zip-lock bowl I had my salmon and pickles in and the juice leaked all over the stuff-sack which was holding my food and down into the pack itself. Fish oil is a great bear attractant. I will never be able to get all the smell out of my pack. I put some soap directly on the spot that has the most salmon juice on it, but it was getting too dark to go back down to the water to get enough to rinse it. I just put all the food dishes and stuff-sack in the pack and hung the whole pack in a tree. This could be a noisy night.
Date: 2004-05-02
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Kincora hostel
Miles today: 6.0

Kincora hostelIt seems that I did hike 11 miles according to the map measurements, but the uphills and downhill made the distance more than that. I think the worst part was that I didn¢t get my dinner at my usual time of about 5:30. I was just so determined to get to the shelter. My pack did attract coyotes, who made some really loud calls very close to my tent. I tried to see them with my headlamp, but I couldn¢t. They sounded very excited and frustrated. I wondered if this was going to go on for a long time, but after a couple of minutes all was quiet. That was it, except the wind picked up around 3:30 AM. This morning was a little rainy. I was glad I had the shelter for packing my tent. The wind did a trick with my bear line while I was pulling it down from the tree. I could not get it loose. I finally had to cut it. My 50 feet of line is now down to 38 feet. That should be enough for most situations. I never could get the line to work stringing between 2 trees anyway. I finally got away for Moreland Gap about 10:25. The rain was light and intermittent until I got to Dennis Cave Road. Then it started to pour. I was very wet by the time I had walked 0.2 miles up the road to Kincora. It is a typical hostel ¢ crowded, noisy, messy ¢ but I have everything I need ¢ a ride to the grocery store and restaurant, a place to wash clothes, a dry place to sleep and to get my pack in order. The shower was pretty nice too. Right now the rain is falling softly outside, people talking softly in the sitting room on the other side of the wall, and I am stuffed from eating too much in one day. I am sleepy, but I know I will have to get up soon to go to the bathroom. Sleep is the priority at the moment.
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Kincora hostel

To: Watauga Lake shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

9:30 PM Watauga Lake shelterI forgot to mention some of the people I found at Kincora. Joanne was there and so was Slowpoke (Cameron Bright, who left the AT at Bly Gap and was lost for 5 days). Slowpoke had pulled a muscle in his leg at Beauty Spot on Friday. Joanne volunteered to go with him to the hospital and then landed at Kincora on Saturday for him to recuperate with Joanne playing nurse for him. They expect to stay at Kincora until Wednesday. Slowpoke seems pretty miserable while Joanne appears to be having a blast. She continues to enjoy sampling the trail.My night at Kincora was acceptable, but not great. A dog in the bunkroom upstairs kept moving around during the night and his claws clicked and scratched on the wood floor. I was glad when it was morning and time to get up. Someone¢s alarm went off about 4:00 AM, but that was too early to get up. I waited until 6:00 AMThe special flowers today were bleeding hearts, yellow dwarf amarillis and pink lady slippers. I was surprised and delighted to see the pink lady slippers, but I¢m sure that it is blooming now on the shores of Watauga Lake because we are near 2000 feet elevation. Pink lady slipper blooms on Rabun Bald around Memorial Day.I fell down twice today. Neither time did I have my pack on. The first time, I was checking out a blue-blazed trail. I stepped on a tree root and it took my foot right out from under me like a greased slide. I went flying and the stick went sailing over my head and landed about 10 feet away. The second time I fell, I was trying to put my pack on after a break. I lost my balance and fell about 10 feet down the side of a steep hill into a briar patch. Fortunately I dropped the pack as soon as I started to fall, so I didn¢t have to haul it back up the hill out of the briars. I just had to get myself up the hill. I am amazed that I can fall without getting injured. I can see how people break an arm or a leg. It is impossible be so careful as to never get off balance. Still, I am reminded to be very cautious, and be extra careful when I am tired.
Date: 2004-05-04
From: Watauga Lake shelter

To: Iron Mountain
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

9:50 PM campsite on Iron MountainI finally saw may apples in full bloom today near the Watauga Dam. I saw a vast expanse of the flowers I am calling purple Columbine (until I can figure out what their true name is). I saw more pink lady slippers. A pair of them growing on a rock were so sweet. I just had to take a picture of them. When I was at the Vandeventer shelter making my late lunch / afternoon "tea", I got distracted by a conversation with Wildman. I noticed that the camera fell out of the pocket in my pack, but then I forgot about it. When I left the shelter, the camera was hiding in the shadows and I didn¢t see it. I had gone down the trail about 15 minutes when I suddenly had the urge to reach back toward the packet that I keep the camera in. The zipper was open. Then I remembered that the camera was lying on the floor of the shelter. I dropped my pack and scurried back up the hill to the shelter. I¢m glad I remembered it before I was an hour or more down the hard trail.I think I am finally ready to send my jeans home. I have been given a sign that it is time. The sign came in the form of a toileting accident. Not having a privy available has distinct disadvantages other than the effort one must expend to dig a hole, etc. This morning the urge came about dawn. I didn¢t think I needed my headlamp, but I didn¢t realize my right foot had grazed the pile until I was ready to change from my camp shoes to my hiking boots. I notice a leaf stuck to my right Croc. Then I looked closer to see what was holding the leaf in place. There was nothing I could do except start cleaning the mess. In the course of my morning activities, I had tripped over one corner of my tent, so I had that to clean that too. The little spot on my jeans and the perfectly round spot on the toe of my sock will have to wait until I get to a washing machine. Thus it happened that I will have carried my jeans 40 miles without being able to wear them, since I had to fold them up and put them in the bottom of my pack. Clearly it is impractical to have clothes that can¢t be effectively hand washed in a stream and dried hanging from my pack. I surrender (to all those who recommend against taking jeans on the AT).While walking today, I had a revelation about mileage disparities. The distances given in the data book are point to point on the map. The steep parts have many switchbacks in the trail which are (I think) not considered in the given mileage. There were so many switchbacks on the section from Highway 19 to the Moreland Gap shelter that the actual distance walked could have easily been 14 miles. I want someone to hike the AT with a surveyor¢s wheel and find out how long it really is.
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Iron Mountain

To: Low Gap
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

9:45 PM Low GapI hiked a long way today, and I hope to get all the way to Damascus, 14.9 miles, tomorrow. If the trail is as gentle as the last part of today¢s trail, I can do it. The most remarkable things I saw today were the Uncle Nick Crinastaff (?) Monument, epitaph "he lived alone, suffered alone, died alone." And a vacant farm with an empty barn, empty pastures and a burned house. The house had wrought iron posts on what had been a porch. The posts were bent toward the house. The porch was covered with rusty roofing nails and shattered glass in the place of windows and the front door. The basement contained a wash tub, bed springs, a bathtub, a porcelain kitchen sink and various other metal debris. It appeared that every piece of the house that could burn was completely consumed. The pine trees in the front yard were green on the side facing the road and brown on the side facing the house. It was eerie to walk the trail directly through the vacant farm. I wanted to know the story of that place.I am camped tonight above highway 421. It is not a very busy highway, but it certainly has some noisy vehicles from time to time. I hope that there is not a lot of traffic tonight.
Date: 2004-05-06
From: Low Gap

To: The Place, Damascus
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: few clouds

10:20 PM The Place, DamascusI did it. I left camp at 8:20. It seems that it really takes me 3 hours to do everything I need to get away. I got up at 5;30 and started organizing my pack. Then there was getting water from the spring down by the highway, cooking breakfast, morning toileting routine, taking down the tent and packing up. It just takes that long.The trail wasn¢t exactly flat all the way to Damascus, but it wasn¢t too bad. The chief focus for the day, other than moving steadily toward Damascus, was keeping away from the poison ivy. At the higher elevations, there were lots of red leaves reaching out for my bare legs. Closer to Damascus, at 2000 feet, the leaves were a brilliant green, but just as ominous.The biggest challenge was deciding how much water to carry. I carried my usual 1.5 liters for the 5 miles from Low Gap to Abington Gap shelter. Then it was 8 miles to the next spring. I gambled that 2 liters would get me there, even though the afternoon was hot, between 75 and 78 degrees. I made it without getting heat stroke, but when I did, a huge cup of Tang with salt in it sure did go down easily. My biggest motivation to get to Damascus tonight was food. I had nothing interesting left by the time I reached Damascus. No Tang, No milk. No chocolate. No cheese. My food inventory at this moment consists of 2 packages regular flavor instant oatmeal, 1/2 pound angel hair pasta, 1/2 pound soy protein, a package of miso soup base, 1/4 pound raisins. I have 1/2 ounce of alcohol fuel. I need to resupply ¢ big time.Fortunately I arrived at The Place a little after 8:00 PM, dropped my pack, and headed to the Side Track Caf©. There was a hiker dinner for $6.00. All I could eat of pot roast, noodles, potatoes, luscious gooey brownies and vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. I don¢t even feel too full. After dinner, I came back to The Place, took a shower and put on my least sweaty clothes. I¢ll hit the laundry in the morning after I shop for some used shorts at the Church of Christ Indoor Yard Sale.
Date: 2004-05-07
From: The Place, Damascus

To: Feathercamp Ridge
Miles today: 3.4

3:00 PM        The PlaceI¢m working on getting organized, getting my package ready to mail and will get on the trail, so I don¢t have to spend another night in town. The noises of town killed my sleep last night. I slept in the hostel because the highway noise from US 58 was so bad outside, but someone woke me up getting up to go to the bathroom at 1:45 AM and the rest of the night was a bust. Tank snores loudly but intermittently, the worst kind of sleep deterrent. The streetlight right outside the hostel buzzed with a continuous low-pitched him. I felt like my whole body was vibrating with the electrical hum. I finally went outside and walked the streets of Damascus from 2:30 AM to 4:00 AM. The only thing happening in this town, at that time of night, are huge 18-wheelers roaring through, about one every 10 minutes. I tried sleeping again, but it was no use with Tank¢s snoring. I went out on the porch with my sleeping bag from 4:30 to 5:30. I think I might have dozed a few minutes during that hour, but the birds were making a racket by that time. It was time to get up. So I got up and read a few chapters of the gospel of Mark in the kitchen, waiting until I could go to breakfast. The Side Track Caf© had a sign posted saying "Open around 7:00 AM." Well, at 7:20 AM, it was still dark inside and I was getting chilly standing around. Cuppa Joe said that Dairy King had a good breakfast, so I walked up the street 4 blocks and was quite satisfied.I¢ve done my laundry (wearing my "new" Nike shorts that I got at the yard sale for 50 cents). I got my groceries ¢ way too much. Now if I can get everything else together I¢m out of here.9:40 PM Feathercamp RidgeIt was hot when I finally hit the trail at 5:45 PM. I suppose for the best that I left so late, because it was 80 degrees and very sunny. I had been in the sun a lot of the day because of running errands here and there. Damascus is a small town, but the laundry is on one side of town and the supermarket was on the complete opposite side, a full mile apart. Fortunately the hostel was located in the center of town. The post office was about 3 blocks from the hostel. Before I left town I had probably walked about 7 miles between 2:30 AM and 4:00 PM.It was a struggle in the heat to get to my goal, a campsite on the ridge as far away from US Hwy 58 as I could get. It would defeat my purpose to walk too far because the AT crosses US Hwy 58 twice after leaving Damascus, and the AT parallels Hwy 58 for a stretch in between. I hope to walk that section tomorrow and be past it.I enjoyed my supper of fruit and a KitKat bar. It has cooled off some, now 70 degrees in my tent. I hope and pray for an uneventful night.
Date: 2004-05-08
From: Feathercamp Ridge

To: Lost Mountain shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: few clouds

10:00 Lost Mountain shelterI had originally wanted to go 15 miles today, but it was just not possible for me. These mountains may not be as high as some, but there are still plenty of steep parts on the trail. I carried too much water most of the day, which really slowed me down. The data book lists "reliable" water sources. There were plenty of places to get water besides the ones listed. The main factor allowing me to get 12 miles was that I am now a 2-stick hiker. Yesterday evening I stopped to take a picture of a view I loved. When I was putting my camera away, I noticed a stick poking out of a mountain laurel bush. It was a 1-inch dowel with a tapered end, the sort used as tool handles. I took it as a gift. I started a rhythm of walking that seems to ease the stress on my knees and helps give me some extra speed. Unfortunately, even with two sticks, one can fall down. I was zipping along on a level part of the trail when I tripped over a huge pine tree root. I didn¢t see it at all. I am truly amazed. I didn¢t get hurt again.The trail at that point was crushed pine needles, not a rock in sight, and only that one root to grab my tow. This time I had the sense to take off the pack before getting up.I was startled today when I cleaned out my boots at lunchtime to find a huge centipede in the toe of the boot. I had hiked all morning with that thing jammed against my toes. I had dumped my boots before I put them on, but I had no idea I needed to search for stowaways before putting them on.
Date: 2004-05-10
From: Deep Gap campsite

To: Little Wilson Creek Wilderness
Miles today: 8.0

9:45 PM Little Wilson Creek WildernessI have found another wonderful campsite ¢ secluded, a flat place just big enough for my tent, the only sound at the moment is the constant murmur of Big Wilson Creek about 1/4 mile down the slope. I washed bandanas and socks today at Deep Gap, hung them on my pack, and then, at Thomas Trail shelter, hung them on a clothesline. The bandanas were dry by the time I left there, but the socks went back on the pack. For the next 3 hours there was intermittent rain sprinkles ¢ just enough to have to cover the pack. My socks are still wet. They will be hanging on the pack again tomorrow.I think I have discovered the source of the formaldehyde smell. My alcohol bottle leaks when it gets hot. I think it is reacting somehow with the material of my pack and releasing formaldehyde. I have been carrying my air pollution source around on my back. No wonder I have been having a lot of trouble with wheezing since the weather has gotten warmer. Tomorrow I will pack the alcohol bottle in a different location in the pack and when I am in town get a new container for alcohol. I hope that clears up the mystery.Clearly, I am not able to hike 15 miles per day in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The trails are impossibly rocky. Wilburn Ridge really made my knees and ankles tired with all the climbing over loose rocks. The two sticks were lifesavers. I saw lots of pony poop and about 7 ponies, including one cute little foal. Casey/Dingle met me coming south just before I crossed Wilburn Ridge. He was very excited about the ponies. He had scratched behind the ears and nearly lost his hiking pole to a foal who wanted to chew on the strap and handle. The ponies generally ignored me, except 2 guys who looked hopefully at me to see if I was offering anything interesting. The ponies were not a problem for me. The cattle I had to get by yesterday at Elk Garden were a little more intimidating, especially since one bull was mooing very loudly right before I passed by, as if he were in great distress. There is coyote poop on the trail and I heard the cries of the coyotes shortly before he was mooing. I don¢t know whether that had anything to do with his unhappiness, but I didn¢t feel very safe walking by a skittish bull that weighed at least a half ton.
Date: 2004-05-12
From: Troutdale Baptist Church

To: Brushy Mountain
Miles today: 12.9

9:20 PM Brushy MountainI have landed at another perfect campsite. I am right at the edge of the trail beside a babbling stream. I am about 1.8 miles form the popular Partnership shelter at Mount Rogers NRA headquarters. Everyone who started out with me this morning and everyone who passed me going north today was looking forward to the facilities of that shelter, even if they planned to go farther before night. The closer I got to the shelter the more I knew that was not where I wanted to be for the night. It is right on the highway, the same highway that runs in front of Troutdale Baptist Church. I did not sleep well last night, so I knew I had better stay deep in the woods tonight. My only worry was that the data book did not reference water anywhere between Trinipi and Partnership shelter. I knew that if I didn¢t find water before dark, that I needed to be as close to Partnership shelter as I cold get. The map showed a stream, so I was hoping I could get water and find a flat place nearby. I crossed the stream, the first one in more than 6 miles, right at 7:00 PM. I found the little flat place immediately following the stream crossing. I couldn¢t ask for more. The flowers for today were a couple of pink lady¢s slippers, another orchid that looks a lot like showy orchid, but not exactly. When I was thinking that this dry rocky mountain has little interest, I would see something spectacular.