morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-10
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, N.C.
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: light rain

I burned the last of my fuel last night while making an encore dinnerof oatmeal. Good timing! This morning I chowed down on an energy bar,and packed up in 15 minutes for a quick 4 mile schlep or so down tothe road crossing. Part way down, the skies opened up with torrentialrain, thunder, lightning, and a little bit of ice pellet action.I was the first down to the road, at a little before 9am. We allhuddled around until 9:30, when Ron Haven of the Franklin Budget Inndrove up in his short school bus. Yay! He drove around to a couple ofother road crossing to make sure there were no other hikers who neededa ride, then took us all into town. Between the hikers who werestaying another night and us new batch of folks, we filled the placeup.After quickly settling in and taking a nice hot shower to scrub offall the grime, a bunch of us headed over to the all-you-can-eatMexican buffet. It actually stacked up pretty well to some of theplaces in Austin. Surprising!We cruised over to the downtown Ingles for resupply, and hit up athrift shop to search for good reading material. Alas, not muchbesides romance novels and oddball titles like "Iguanas: How to keepand raise them" or the 1975 edition of the Guiness book of worldrecords.On the way back to the hotel, we passed asign that said "AT hikers,stop in for a free candy stick!" It was an advertisement for a localcandy shop. Stewball and I both got some ice cream. Mmmmm....and goodadvertising on their part! I got a blackberry flavored candy stick.By the time I got everything back to the hotel room, it was time to goout on another shuttle run. We stopped by the PO, a backpacking store,Walmart, and a few other places. While at wally world, I picked upsome waterproofing spray to recoat my packa, which I discovered had aslight leakage problem coming down the mountain today.I also picked up some hot pink nail polish to do my toenails, so I'dhave something to look at while I'm staring at the ground during therough sections. When Stewball popped his head in to say Hi, I offeredto do his nails too. He's hiding the evidence, but I have pictureproof. Mwaahaahaaaaaa!I think we're going to have a pretty big hiker hoard heading outtomorrow, after a bunch of us re all bunched up in town again from thebad weather. It poured off and on all day, and several tornados havetouched down in the area. I felt guilty about staying here in townearlier today, but not so much anymore. We all seem to be taking itfairly easy in the first few weeks.Well, time to go scrounge up some dinner and let other people use thiscommon area computer.
Date: 2009-04-11
From: Frankline, N.C.

To: Cold Springs Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Bright and early at 7 this morning, a couple of vans from a local church picked up hikers for an all you can eat breakfast buffet. They also took our group picture, and will be printing it out to send to our parents/significant others.On the bus ride back to the trail, we got stopped by a woman who works for the Nantahala section of trail maintainers. She invited us to drop by the headquarters to pick up our hiker Easter baskets. They were going to hand them out to hikers along the trail, amd jumped at the chance to give them to 15 hikers in one fell swoop.The trail was foggy and very ethereal looking all day. I hiked with bonesy, kogito and stewball, which made the miles fly by.Towards the end of the day, we came on trail magic in burningtown gap. They were giving out hot dogs, beer, fresh fruit and candy. Woohoooo! When I went up to the grill to get my hotdog, the guy in charge was none other than Mellow Yellow! He was part of the posse of hikers I knew from hiking in 2003. Small world.I snagged the last spot in the shelter. I like using them for variety, especially when they're full on a chilly, moonlit night.My right ankle and shin have been bothering me for a few days now, ever since I took a header. They got better in franklin after my Nero day, but now... Ow!I might have to slow down and/or stop for a while to let them heal up. I think I twisted the ankle and I might have a little bit of shin splint action going on. Sigh. Such a shame, since our little group is starting to come together.Sassy sunshine and daddy long legs are talking about getting our group together for a little whitewater rafting tomorrow at the NOC.We will see what happens..,,
Date: 2009-04-12
From: Cold Springs Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

My sides hurt from laughing so much today! Our group has really become tighter knit every day.Tonight we stayed up well past hiker midnight because we were all having so much fun around the campfire.A brief synopsis, because I'm so tired: we hiked to the wesser bald fire tower and had a long lunch on top, with gorgeous views all around, including the upcoming smokies. There was a 5+ mile stretch of almost all downhill that really, really, really hurt my shin/ankle. I fell down a few times, and got my trail name of Butter Toes. We did 11 miles into NOC, bought a bunch of beer, and camped out along the river with a roaring fire. Stewball had us all in hysterics with his animal noises and drunk poetry. We even took video.Time to go to sleep, I'm beat. We're all going to breakfast tomorrow morning at the resturant here at the NOC.
Date: 2009-04-13
From: NOC

To: NOC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Our group rolled out of camp at 8am for a liesurely breakfast at the River's Edge resturant. Stewball decided to stay with me and make sure I got the care I needed for my ankle/shin, while we saw everybody else off up the trail. It was sad seeing them go and not knowing if or when we'd see them again. Ah well, such is life on the trail. People take zeros, get hurt, or just go slower or faster, and eventually you usually bump into them again. I had a lot of fun being part of our rambunctious group while it lasted.After everyone else left, Stewball and I hitched to Bryson City. I bought some heat packs and a tub of tiger balm for my leg. The heat really seems to help.We spent a couple of hours at an all you can eat Chinese buffet and played two truths and a lie. We eventually hitched back, though Stewball was trying mightily hard to get us to stay in town for the night so we could to do karaoke! (I don't really sing in public. Eventually I'll get over it, but I'm still way too self concious about it).We hitched a mile up the road to get a frozen toaster pizza for dinner, and a deck of cards. We ended up playing poker and kings in the corner into the wee hours (past 9pm) with a couple of boyscouts in the community room.
Date: 2009-04-14
From: NOC

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

Stewball hiked on into the rain, while I got a piece of cardboard and a marker from the resturant to make a sign saying "Asheville".It took 4 minutes to catch a passing car going directly to the city, 77+ miles away. My ride was a nice Jamaican guy, who dropped me off at the Greenlife supermarket. I bought a bran muffin and waited on the outside patio for Mareena, my aunt-in-law. She heard about my gimpiness and offered to put me up for a few days so my leg could heal up. What a relief! And very sweet.So, I'm in Asheville for a while. Hopefully not very long, though it is nice to be able to hang out with my newly aquired family.
Date: 2009-04-17
From: Comfy chair

To: The sleeper sofa
Miles today: 0.0

Mareena took me to one of the local coops today, where I finally bit the bullet and shelled out $17 for a tube of Traumeel. It's a homeopathic ointment that contains arnica, calendula, chamomile, and a bunch of other good things that really work on bruises, sprains and strains. I've massaged it in 3 times so far today, and my leg seems to be doing much better. Even if it is just a placebo effect, it's working :-). I did a little grocery shopping at the coop as well, picking up some fresh found peanut butter, a sprinkling of sun dried tomatoes for throwing into dinners, some granola, dates, and dried apple rings. Speaking of food, we went out for supper to the moose cafe here in Asheville. I'll post a picture up later that Mareena took of my food. It was a massive plate of pulled pork BBQ. I need to get back on the trail just to walk that dinner off!In between the food shopping and the food eating, I did a lot of reading, and laying out on the porch to soak up the sun. Yesterday, I helped Mareena build a garden bed, transplant strawberries, and made and planted 5 varieties of potato bombs. It's nice to rest and relax in a house, but I'm getting really antsy to get back on the trail!
Date: 2009-04-20
From: Hotsprings, NC

To: Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

Mareena dropped me off in hot springs in the late morning. I strolled around, checked out the outfitters, the post office, and the library.The town was full of thru hikers. We exchanged glances, I'm sure both of us thinking the same thing....who is that and why haven't I seen them before? It's very easy to be in an insular hiker bubble, only knowing those within a day or two behind or in front of you.I sent some postcards, bought a boysenberry spritzer at the outfitter, and moseyed out of town. It felt very odd to be heading south.I decided to head south because the first shelter was really close heading southbound, Vs north. I'll take it slow for the first few days, and hopefully bump into the group of folks I was hiking with earlier. Then I'll flip around north, and not stop until Maine!It was an easy 3 miles to the shelter. I'm sitting here contemplating what to have for dinner. I can start to eat like a thru hiker again, yum! I weighed myself in hot springs, I'm clocking in at 175. I think I was 185 when I left.
Date: 2009-04-21
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: light rain

I slept in until 7:30, and hung out in my sleeping bag, watching everybody pack. I'm usually one of the first people up and out in the mornings, so it was an interesting change of pace.I started hiking at 8:40,and ran into my first north bounders at 9:20. There was a fairly steady stream of them until a little after 1pm. I'm now at the walnut mtn shelter, waiting for more hikers to come in for the night.Hikers! 9 of them and 1 dog showed up. I think the group I want to catch up to is one shelter or so behind. I'm going to stay here tonight, and wait for them to appear tomorrow morning.There are huge brush piles down the hill from the shelter where they're clearing meadows to make the area around the AT historically accurate. A bunch of us nabbed some smaller wood from the piles for a nice roaring fire up here on the ridge tonight.One of the hikers gave us a weather report from his radio - they're calling for hail, snow, and temps below freezIng tonight, and similar for tomorrow.Today started off rainy with a bit of hail, then was sunny and gorgeous. As soon as I got over Bluff mountain, it started to lightly snow. At first I thought I was imagining things...so I had to stand there and watch the snow accumulate against my black dress before I could believe it.The weather calmed down precipitation-wise, though it is cold and windy. I'm glad I'm sleeping in the shelter tonight. It's packed, and I'll be able to mooch some body heat.I need to rethink my sleeping pad situation. My pad is great for the hammock, but it's way too thin for comfort on hard wooden shelter floors.
Date: 2009-04-22
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke to snow lightly blanketing the landscape. There were pockets of snow inside the shelter, in some of the nooks and crannies.The wind had blown pretty hard all night, but most of the force was directed at the backside of the shelter. It was pretty warm though, as we had 7 in a space only designed for 5.We had laid our sleeping bags all with the heads at the back of the shelter to avoid the wind. You generally lay the other direction, because shelter mice use the back wall as their mouse superhighway, and do laps back and forth all night. Sure enough, I woke in the middle of the night to a mouse scurrying across my face.I lounged in my sleeping bag until I got too hungry, then made myself some hot chocolate and oatmeal. All of the other thru hikers left by 7am. I waited around until 10am for the rest of the group to show, then left them a note and started hiking northbound, figuring they would catch up later in the day.I ran into Torpedo as I was finishing lunch and the others caught up at the shelter 3 miles south of Hot Springs. Yay!We all hiked into town and got the most awesomest hook up ever - a free cabin rental for two nights, complete with our own private hot tub...courtesy of Stewball's friend. (Stewball lived in Hot Springs for the past 9 years, and has a lot of friends.)We all had dinner at the smokey mountain diner. Mmmmmm, juicy burgers.That night Stewball and I stayed up until 2am waiting for the hot tub to warm up. We got in when it was 97 degrees, and by the time we got out at 3am, it had reached a whopping 98.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up at 7 and soaked in theTub for 45 minutes before anyone else woke up. Ahhhh.Our quick side trip to the next town to pick up town munchy food turned into an all day affair. We picked up Bonesey's girlfriend from the Asheville airport, where she had flown in from Connecticut to surprise him for a couple of days.That night we grilled up burgers and veggie dogs, made some baked beans and a delicious salad.Another one of Stewball's friends (Randall) came over for dinner, and entertained us with his fiddle playing.I stayed up until an obscenely late hour, soaking and talking in the hot tub again.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero days are oftentimes more hectic than life on the trail.We started the day with a fantastic breakfast cooked by Daddy Long Legs and Sassy, then had to clean up our cabin and move out.We went to Asheville, again, to do laundry, resupply groceries, check out a music store, and go out to eat at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet called the Asiana. It was glorious!We didn't get back to Hot Springs until 11pm ish, and we still had to set up camp at a new spot. (courtesy of another friend of Stewball's, we got a free primo spot along the river right downtown, a smidge away from the AT).Stewball returned the van we had been borrowing late that night, and I drove us to the local bar in the other car we had borrowed, to fill up everybody's water containers so we wouldn't have to filter river water. As we were walking out the door, I made a snarky comment to some guys at a table about coming into a bar and getting only water, not beer. They had us sit down, and immediately bought us a couple of beers apiece.When we got back to the campsite, we had another beer and stayed up talking until late, again. I roughed it by sleeping on the ground instead of my hammock, because I was too tired to deal mentally with setting up the thing after so many hours running nonstop in Asheville. I need a zero day to recover from my zero days!In between all of the zero days madness, we took Torpedo out in Stewball's old car and Daddy LongLegs taught him how to drive stick. He picked it up wicked quick.
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Erwin, TN

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 24.2

I woke up at 5am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I logged into trail journals on the hotel's computer and updated milage and places stayed info. I'll eventually get around to posting the journals to go with those days (as soon as I actually write them).Bonesey and I said goodbye to Stewball, who's taking some time off for injured feet. After breakfast at the Huddle House, we caught a ride to the trailhead from Miss Janet.It rained off and on for the first few hours, then was a partially sunny, cooler day. Great for hiking! I took lots of breaks, and did a lot of moseying.My pack was too damn heavy to hike in anything but slow mode. With 5 days of food and 2 liters of water, it weighed 34 pounds. Granted, I'm packing 4 pieces of fresh fruit, 16 ounces of cheese, and some basil pesto...I dumped the little water I had left when I got to the first spring I could find out of town. The water I had was overly chlorinated and tepid. Spring water directly from mossy rocks always tastes the best. I haven't used my filter in at least a week.The trail had been relocated since the last time I went through here, with nice gradual ups and downs replacing steep ones. It was such nice hiking, that I hiked until dark instead of stopping at the shelter I had cooked my dinner at. (Dinner was broccoli cheese rice and vermicelli, with a side of fig newtons and homemade gorp, heavy on the coconut).If I had been thinking, I would have planned for 30 miles today to commemorate my 1 month trail anniversary today. 24 miles is still nothing to sneeze at. Happy anniversary to me!A couple of days ago was my 6 month wedding anniversary with Luke. I wasn't able to call him on the day due to no cell service, but was able to to talk to him for 2 hours a few mornings later, while hiking down the trail. It's been hard being away from him for so long, but I'm extremely grateful that he's this understanding about this one large life goal of mine. I'm looking forward to when he comes out to visit me on the trail!
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

was glad when I heard rustling from my neighbors tent this morning, a little after 6. I'm usually a morning person, and I feel guilty if I'm up making noise while others are trying to sleep. I was up and out by 6:50.It rained off and on, mostly on today. A lot of the precipitation was from the overhead clouds being so low and heavy that they drip drip dripped.I listened to my ipodamus most of the day. Weekend edition for the morning, then I switched over to mp3's later. I love listening to German industrial music on the steep, long slogs uphill. It took more than one album straight, just to get up 2/3ds of the first big climb of the day.I was glad it was cold and wet though. It made the climbing nicer than if it had been hot and dry. Going down hills was hell on the knees. Slippery and slow....I earned my trail name (Butter Toes) by taking quite a few spills in the later part of the day.The slugs have been out in full force with all of the rain. I saw a couple of really awesome banana-type slugs, and some newts.Time to hit the hay. I'm tired.
Date: 2009-05-03
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 33.6

Most awesomest day hiking, ever! Last night I suggested to Bonesey and Kogito (used to be Torpedo), that the upcoming 30+ miles could be done in one day. Bonesey set his alarm for 5am so we could get an early start.When 5am rolled around, it was pouring cats and dogs, so we slept in till 7. I got going at 7:30, with the guys right behind me. The first 9 miles flew by in two hours! We were running down the hills...At the first shelter, there was a cooler of trail magic, full of beer and sodas. Kogito took two beers for the road, and we both pounded a coke apiece. Mmm, caffeine!The next nine miles took three hours. At one point, we had to shoo loose cows off the middle of the trail.At a snack break at Mountaineer shelter, the guys there just shook their heads at us. They chalked up our day to "youth and lots of drugs". They wished us luck as we sped off for another 15 miles.The entire day it rained off an on. The trail was a giant slip and slide...you could get going down the hill pretty fast from the slippage.I rolled into Kincora just before 8pm. Bonesey and Kogito had arrived about an hour before. Both of them can really fly!We all had showers, and sat down to an awesome dinner of baked shells, salad, and garlic bread. Sooooo tasty and delicious!Since I was the last hiker in, I got the queen size bed in a private room that they usually reserve for couples. It was fantastic to be able to sleep diagonally.
Date: 2009-05-04
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 8.9

Today was a nice and relaxing day of slack packing. Bob dropped 6 of us off at a road crossing, to hike 8.9 miles south back to the hiker hostel.We hiked up and over Pond Flats, a pointy and steep climb. I extended my phiking poles on the downhill section, because it was so steep.The last three miles were some of the most beautiful so far. Waterfalls, gorgeous stone staircases, streams galore...We had a delicious dinner cooked by Baltimore Jack, and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Sassy and Daddy Long Legs rolled in to the hostel tonight. Yay!
Date: 2009-05-05
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Sassy and I hung out at the hostel, while some other hikers went out with Bob Peoples to do trail work.My ankle has been acting up lately, so I took it easy and did a lot of self massage.We went to the library to check our email, and picked up some chocolate items.That night I went to the grocery store for the group, and picked up supper fixins. We made a massive pan of layered nachos. Mmmmmmm.It's been really nice being part of a small group. I hope we can keep meeting up with each other down the trail, especially in towns/hostels.
Date: 2009-05-06
From: 321

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: moderate rain

Daylight came too soon for me, since I has stayed up until after 11pm talking to some other hikers on the front porch.Sassy, Daddy Long Legs, Bonesey and I made breakfast. We called it the Jenny Craig weight loss special - it was 12 eggs, 5 sausage links, 20 corn tortillas fried in butter, etc etc, split 4 ways.I wolfed breakfast and chugged some orange juice and made it out the door just in time for the 8:30 shuttle back to the road where my hiking had left off.It rained off and on all day, as usual. I took my time and only mosied 15 miles today. It was nice terrain, with no big hills.Now I'm snug in my sleeping bag in a shelter, hiding out from the rain.
Date: 2009-05-07
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It rained. Wow. What a surprise.It was squishy and slidey in the mud, so slow going into town. The last 7 hours I took veeeery slowly. My heels have been killing me lately, with cracking, sore skin.I crossed into Virginia at 4:45 pm. Wooohoooo!I met up with Bonesey at the hostel across from the outfitters, and sat around drinking grape juice and eating microwave popcorn while waiting for legs and sassy.Went out for burgers and beer. Didn't get to bed until 11pm.
Date: 2009-05-08
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero!We comandeered a car and drove to the big city for resupply. Sassy wondered why everybody was tailgating her...then realized the spedometer was in kilometers per hour.We had borrowed the car from Sandalwood, a really sweet section hiker from Ontario, who was staying in the same hostel as us.A nice relaxing zero, capped with a delicious homemade dinner by the hostel owner, Suzanne.