morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-14
To: Mail Drop
Miles today: 0.0

I have just added a few mail drop location to the page. Although, we don't plan to use mail drops to re-supply these are post offices that are right on the trail or places that I know that I will stop. So if any one would like to send any mail you can send it to these places. Unfortunately, I really don't have a clue as to when I will be at these places. If Sam and I come up with a general schedule I will put estimated dates on the site. If not, I will try to keep you all up to date as to when to start sending to which place.
Date: 2004-03-23
From: Springer

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

Well the trip is off to a great start. We had beautiful weather for our first day. It was a little cold in the morning but it warmed up fast. There were a few climbs that were steeper then expected but we made it. It helps that we are only carrying enough food to get us to Neels Gap(30.7 miles away). I was kind of surprised at how few people we saw on the trail. I guess that it is the middle of the week and just about everybody is hiking in the same direction. However I think that most of the wildlife is still sleeping because I only saw a couple of squirrels, a butterfly, a wood pecker, and a couple of barking spiders. I have to say that this is the nicest shelter that I have ever seen. It is 2 stories and has a roof over the picnic table. Much better then anything that I have seen in the Adirondacks. I am loving the trail food already, chicken fried rice with tuna for dinner. Um Um good. All in all, I wouldn't complain if every day on the trail was like today.
Date: 2004-03-24
From: Gooch Mtn Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

Another great day weather wise. I even got my first sun burn. Yes Mom, I should have worn sunscreen! We climbed our first real mountain today. It was Blood Mt (4461'). This is actually the highest that we will get in Georgia. It wasn't that bad of a climb, only 600' in a mile but my legs did feel a little like it was day 2. So far, I think that my training at the YMCA had helped out a lot. Although I am not that sore, I do have a tight muscle behind my right knee that is kind of painful. Hopefully a little bit of Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and time will loosen it up. We actually saw a good number of people on the trail to day. The most interesting was a group of Army rangers that were on a training run through the mountains. Let me tell you, I am glad that I was wearing shorts and a light shirt and not full army gear. The original plan for today was to stop at Blood Mt, but when we got there we were both feeling good so we pushed on to Neels Gap. So now we are staying our first night in a hostel. Not to bad, $16 for a bed and a shower. I also got a chance to use the phone, re-supply at the camp store, and watch some movies.
Date: 2004-03-25
From: Neels Gap

To: Blue Mtn 
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 3 wasn't that bad. My muscles were a little tight but the knee is a lot better. Mile wise this was our longest yet and it seemed like it. We experienced our first Trail Angles today! At Hogpen Gap there was a couple in the parking area with a trunk full of sodas, fruit, and other snacks. It felt good to sit, relax, and chat with them for a while. It is really nice to see people like that. Thanks guys. Well I started to toughen up my feet today, I went the last 7.5 miles w/o socks. I got a few hot spots but not too bad. We had our first exposure to ¢trail tulips¢ today. No that¢s not a real type of flower, it¢s actually a nice little name for when you go to dig a hole and end up getting some toilet paper instead of all dirt. I guess that that is the risk you take staying at a shelter with not outhouse. One thing is for sure, I¢m going to make sure I wash off the shovel before I put it back into my pack. Well, it is about 6:00 now, I just finished my diner and now I am on to tea. After that I am going to wash my feet and go to bed.
Date: 2004-03-26
From: Blue Mtn 

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today was the hottest day yet. It was around 80 at lunch time. Man, that might not be that bad for people down here, but for us northern folk it was pretty hot. I think that Mom might have prayed a little too hard for nice weather for her vacation in Florida after dropping us off at Springer. This was probably the hardest climbing day yet. We had at least 5 climbs that lasted 30 min. or more. Thankfully my legs help up. Oh I have to tell you about last night! Well I didn't got to bed right after diner, instead we gathered up some fire wood and had our first camp fire. It was a lot of fun, because the other people at the shelter were really interesting. Nathan kept us laughing with his classic campfire songs, and the volcano goddess kept the fire going until around 9:30. Sam suggested that I take the trial name Lobster Legs because my calves are just fired. Its funny, because I never put sunscreen on my legs. I guess that I will have to start now.
Date: 2004-03-27
From: Deep Gap

To: Standing Indian
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

'Welcome to North Carolina. Now here go straight up this mountain. Oh you made it, well take this one, and how about another one. If that's not enough to stop you, try walking on this trail with rocky footing while the sun bakes you at around 80 degree.' Needless to say, it didn't take us long to say that we weren't very big fans of N.C. I guess it started off on the wrong foot because last night the shelter was full of very loud snorers who after keeping me up all night got up and started banging around at 5:30! I mean really even the people who slept in outside of the shelter were complaining about it in the morning. I guess that there is a few good things about the mountains in N.C. First of all, it means that we have completed our fist state only 13 to go, and secondly we did have a few more nice views today from the higher elevation. Aside from that there were a lot of weekend hikers out today, we even got to see how a group of old grown up high school buddies act in the woods, it was pretty humors. Hey we even got some more trail magic today. Just before we started our climb up Standing Indian mountain we came across a bag of sodas. that was pretty refreshing and it gave us the energy we needed to finish the last mile. I guess that the day really wasn't that bad after all.
Date: 2004-03-28
From: Standing Indian

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: broken clouds

Well I guess that I will have to wait until after we get out of N.C. before I pass judgment on the state as a hole because today was a much better day! For starters, we survived our first night in a tent and our first bear bag survived the night as well which is a good thing. The trail today was full of gradual ups and downs and a couple of steeper climbs, including Albert Mtn. which had a fire tower on top. The significance of this is that it gave us our first few of Franklin which was about 9 mi. away. From then on we had a lot more energy, because Franklin meant a bed, shower, and All You Can Eat buffet. That all made it easier to go the 23.5 miles.
Date: 2004-03-30
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Well, we survived our first full week. So far, not to bad! Man, it is amazing what a 0 day can do for you. The miles seemed to fly by today! We almost got our first taste of hiking in the rain, but it stopped raining just before we got to the trailhead and it stayed dry for the rest of the day. However, it is a bit cooler today. We are even suppose to get some snow tonight. That should be interesting. It is hard to imagine getting snow after having such great weather. But hey I guess that we are just about due for some. Other then that the most interesting thing we came across today was the Wayah Bald stone observation tower. It was kind of cool to be able to see all that places we hiked and the places that we are going to hike soon.
Date: 2004-03-31
From: Cold Springs

To: Sassafras Gap shelter (4330')
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.' Well, calk one up for the weather man, they actually got one right (sorry if I offended any body out there but you all know that it¢s true!). They said that it might snow in the upper elevations last night and I guess that our shelter at 4920' could be considered part of the upper elevations because we had a couple of inched of snow on the ground this morning. And it didn't stop there either. After a couple of hours it started to ice on us and then as we dropped in elevation it changed to rain. Fun stuff. Then in the afternoon it stated to rain around 2:00 and it was sticking to the ground by 3:00. So there was a couple of inches on the ground by the time we got to the shelter. Other then that it was a down and up kind of day. We stated by going straight down for about 7 miles from Wesser Bald to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). After that it was a 7 mi uphill climb to the shelter. What really helped was the nice big chilly cheese burger that I had at the Rivers End down in the NOC. That really hit the spot. And the 10% hikers discount wasn't bad either.
Date: 2004-04-01
From: Sassafras Gap shelter (4330')

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: light rain

'Slippin¢ and a slidin¢.' Well today was an interesting day. We started out with another couple of inches of snow on the ground and more falling. This made the climb up Cheoah Bald a bit difficult. Near the top there were drifts about 8" deep. But my SealSkin socks held up well so it wasn't that bad. What made it really interesting was the fact that the next 14 mi. or so was all mud and mostly downhill. I slid a few times but managed to keep my butt off the ground and clean. There ended up being around 19 people at the shelter last night and I am glad that we got out ahead of most of them or the trail would have been really nasty. All and all it was a good day of hiking despite the snow and ice that fell for most of the morning. But the shower here at Fontana Damn sure felt nice.
Date: 2004-04-02
From: Fontana Damn Inn

To: Fontana Damn Inn
Miles today: 0.0

We decided to take a day of rest before we hit the Smoky¢s. I think it was a good call because it is a pretty nasty day weather wise. This also gave us time to spend with our newly found frinds Joel, Lauren, and their dog Roots. The were even nice enough to share a hotel with us to save some money. Oh yeah, Lauren sort of gave me a trailname. She decided that I should go by the name WillieGoat. The Willie part is obvious but the Goat part is part because of the word Billy goat, part because goats are mountainous animals so that would make since, and part because she really likes goats. Sam and I decided that that was too complicated so I may just go with Goat.
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Fontana Damn Inn

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: broken clouds

Welcome to the Great Sloppy ... um, I mean the Great Snowy ... oh yeah the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, that¢s what it¢s called. Man it was a sloppy day. The temps were in the 50's, which wasn¢t bad, but that made some of the 6-12" of snow in the mountains melt a little bit. Where the sun had hit the trail was a large puddle/river and where it hadn't it was a giant snow cone. Good thing for waterproof socks. The worst my feet got was cold since it was surrounded with snow or cold water most of the day. As far as the hike goes we raised 2300' pretty quick and then stayed around 4000' most of the day until we climbed to the shelter at 4915'. One noteworthy thing is that we ate lunch at Mollies Ridge shelter. This was big because it was exactly 174.1 mi. into the trail. Now we can officially say that we have less than 2000 miles to go. Oh yeah. don't worry Dad, we remembered to set our clock ahead.
Date: 2004-04-04
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Mt. Collin's Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

Another interesting day today. For one thing, it is all downhill form here. We reached to top of the AT today, which is Clingmans Dome at 6643'. The funny thing is that we still had some uphill later in the afternoon, figure that one out! We sort of had our own little Everest expedition today; not only because of the height, but also because of the weather. For most of the day we were hiking through a foot or more of snow with cold temperatures and blistering winds. The cold weather that we have had the past couple of days hasn¢t helped the 14 - 18" of snow that fell late last week melt at all. Every once in a while we would hit some mud but then it was back to snow. We basically had to struggle for every step we took today, all 20 miles of them. Other then that we summited 9 peaks higher then 5300', which is roughly the size of Mt. Marcy (the tallest mountain in NY for all of you non NY folks), including 4 peaks above 6000'. Heck we are sleeping tonight at 5870'. Did I mention that the weather was cold up there? I even had to put on pants and thick gloves, and you all know what kind of sacrifice that is for me. And now that I¢m getting ready for bed I have on just about every piece of dry clothing that I¢m carrying. I knew there was a reason for that pair of long underwear.
Date: 2004-04-05
From: Mt. Collin's Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: clear sky

Today was a pretty painful day! It started out with temps in the teens. Heck just about EVERYTHING was frozen this morning, including my socks and sandals. The straps were so stiff that I could hardly get them on my feet and then when I did I couldn't adjust them to make the fit properly. I could hardly to wait to get to Newfound Gap about 5 miles away and I could only pray that the rumors of heated restrooms were true! Even the water in my Nalgene bottle started to freeze on the way down. It started to warm up in the afternoon but that made the snow soft and harder to get through. Having to push through that was really tiring. Hey we passed another milestone today. We are now past the 217.4 mile mark which means that we are more that 10% done! Other then that it was another high day today. We never dropped below 5000' and we climbed 2 more 6000' peaks. The really good thing is that we will be done with the Smokys tomorrow!
Date: 2004-04-06
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

Up, up, down, up, down, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, down ... All those downs can only mean one thing, the end of the Smokys! That's right, we are done with them. For me this is a really big accomplishment. In my mind, if we made it through all of that stuff I don't think that there is much (other that illness or injury knock on wood) that can stop us! It feels really great! The best part of today was seeing the snow start to disappear as we dropped in elevation. Sam and I agreed that if we never have to hike through snow again this trip it will be way too soon. Tonight we are staying at this really cool hostel called the Stand Bear Farm. The owner is really relaxed, there is a pantry full of all the food we needed for diner (I had a microwavable cheeseburger and a rib sandwich) and to get us to Hot Springs all we have to do is keep track of what we take and pay him before we leave. In addition to that there is a computer with internet access, a washing machine, shower, fire wood, and a mattress. All for $15, not a bad deal if you ask me.
Date: 2004-04-07
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Deer Park Mountain
Miles today: 30.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Man, today was one bizarre day. It started off weird when we decided to try to hike 30 miles. This was by far our longest day and it came off of a late start today too. Next up was a 4 mile uphill with a space ship on top. The book said that it was a FAA tower but it sure did look like a space ship to me. After that was another really long and tiring uphill. This time we went straight up for about an hour. Next came Max Patch, which was our first real bald. When the say bald they really mean bald. The whole mountain was only covered with grass! No trees or rocks or anything! That was really strange. Next the trail seemed to wonder around for miles. It felt like we were going in circles or figure eights or something. After that came a mountain that had all of the brush burned off of it. The whole mountain side was black; it looked and smelled really nasty. Well that took us to about 22 miles and the rest of it was just really long. I felt like I was just sort of throwing one foot in front of the other. It was pretty exhausting. The reason we did so much today was to make it easier to get to Hot Springs tomorrow. It will only be a short 3 mile walk to get to a nice big hot breakfast!
Date: 2004-04-08
From: Deer Park Mountain

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

It is finally time to rest after the Smokys. Although I don't think that I would have needed it so much if we didn't push so hard yesterday. But hey I¢ll have no problem recovering with a nearo (near 0) day today. I had a nice breakfast this morning that consisted of a bunch of French toast, a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, and a large class of OJ. Can't wait to go back for more tomorrow morning. We are staying at a campground here in town today to save some money and because this is really the only place Fullmoon, a new friend of ours could stay with his dog. I am still debating whether or not to pay to sit it the hot springs. I don't know; a 102 degree mineral bath might be what the doctor ordered right about now.
Date: 2004-04-09
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Today ended up being a little harder then I expected. First off it ended up being an 11 mi day instead of a 10 mi day. This may not seem like much but that last mile is a killer if you¢re not mentally prepared for it. And secondly the last mountain (which wasn't even labeled as a mountain in the book) just kept going and going. It must have had 4 false summits! That just drains you when you are expecting to be almost done. Besides the ending, it was a pretty nice hike today. We started off with a steep rocky climb out of Hot Springs. However, the warm sun baked rocks brought out a handful of sunbathing lizards. Next we came across a damned up pond in the middle of no where. It had a couple of benches around it so we took the opportunity to join Fullmoon, Jessy, and Midas for a break. After the break we came across some strange terrain, like some dirt roads and a field built to attract and feed turkeys and hogs. The day was capped of nicely by seeing a 2 foot long black snake in a stream that we crossed. That might be a sign that the wild life is starting to wake up and come out to have their pictures taken.
Date: 2004-04-10
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today had its ups and downs. For starters we hiked the first 4 mi. to Allen Gap with Fullmoon and Jessy. Not that Sam is bad to talk to in all but it was refreshing to have a third person in on the conversation. After we left him my legs seemed to get real sluggish. I noticed that Sam was starting to slow down too. Maybe all of the long days of the Smokys are starting to catch up to us. Right now I am thinking about taking a 0 day in Erwin even though we just had a nearo in Hot Springs, but we will decide that when we get there. Back to the hike, we had lunch on top of the White rock cliffs today. That provided some nice views which are always welcomed at lunch time. After lunch we followed a trail labeled as an 'exposed ridge trail'. That was really neat; it started with a lot of white rocks/steps. It almost reminded me of some ruins form a Tomb Raider movie. Then we got to the ridge. That was really cool. The mountain went straight down on both sides of us. The only bad part was that there were a lot of big steps that got tiring, my right knee even started to hurt after a while. I took some vitamin I and stretched a bit extra, hopefully that helps. Other then that we are sharing the shelter tonight with a thru hiker named Mr. Freeze and a father with his two daughters out for the weekend. This is the fist time since the Smokys that we are sharing the shelter (except for with some four legged animals of the mouse kind).
Date: 2004-04-11
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 29.4
Weather: moderate rain

Happy Easter everyone! And what better way to celebrate (if you can't be with your family) than with a couple of pieces of Easter trail magic. First when we got to Devils Fork Gap there was a couple giving out Easter eggs filled with candy, including Jellybeans (take that Satan how is that for a good place to celebrate Easter). Man did those jellybeans taste great. I didn't realize how much I missed the Easter candy jar at home. I won't take another sip until the jellybean taste was out of my mouth. Next, at Sams Gap we found a cooler with beer and soda, a jug of OJ, and a bag with food. There wasn't much food left but we managed to find a couple of peeps. Man did that Sprite go down easy. In the afternoon it was back to business. We had a long climb up Big Bald Mtn. It topped out at 5515'. We got to Bald Mtn. Shelter at 3:30 and decided that that was too early to stop so we pushed on to a campsite about 5 miles further. This is when it started to rain and things got a little messy, but it wasn't that bad. Once at the campsite we choose not to put up the tent in the rain but rather to push another 5 miles to the next shelter. Man how bad is that when 5 miles doesn't seem like a lot to add to the end of the day. This pushed today¢s total up a little higher then expected but hey, every step we took was getting us a one step closer to the All You Can Eat(AYCE) lunch buffet at Pizza Hut in Erwin.
Date: 2004-04-12
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 6.7

Today we complete our steps to real food (if you consider Pizza Hut real food that is). I was glad we were getting to Erwin today because the weather had a nasty feel this morning. We were going to sleep in after our long day yesterday, but at 7:15ish the wind was blowing like crazy and the sky was getting pretty dark. So instead of sleeping in we started at our normal time to try to beat the storm to Erwin. We didn't completely beat it but we beat most of it, it was only starting to rain when down to the Nolichucky River. From there we hitched to town in the back of some guy¢s truck. The rain coat did alright while walking, but it was a different story in the back of a truck driving down the road. When we got to Miss Janet's House and it was already pretty crowded, but we claimed the last couple of couch spots. Next up was the Pizza Hut A.Y.C.E. lunch buffet. Man, can a couple of tables of hikers go through a lot of food. I ate so much food that I thought that I was going to hurl it back up. Boy was I full. We even had to stop to rest and digest on the side walk before waking the mile back to the hostel. We spent the rest of the day doing wash and watching movies at the hostel. For diner I finally fulfilled the craving for Subway that I've had since Franklin, NC. On top of that I added a box of Cheese Nips and some apples and bananas that I picked up at the Food Lion. Basically the whole day revolved around food and the TV. What a life.